"Ní mhaireann solas na maidine don lá." // "No morning sun lasts all day."

About twenty or so minutes later, after slipping out of the station themselves, Jacob, Newt, Lally, Theseus, and Tara were shuffling down the Berlin streets in a rather tight-knit formation.

Eventually Newt, who was leading them, made a sharp and abrupt turn down a dark, but wide alley. They quickly found themselves encased on either side by tall, looming brick walls.

“Right…Well, here it is.” Newt said, coming to a stop in front of the barrier at the end of the no-outlet passageway. 

It wasn’t until those trailing behind him managed to peer over his shoulder, that they were able to gleam the sight of a large, shimmering crest that was etched into the wall itself. But just as quickly as they had come to that realization, Newt had begun to walk forward again, and in a light gust of air, disappeared through the wall and from their view completely.

The remaining members of his crew were quick to follow in his footsteps.

Once emerging on the flip side of the magic wall, they found a much larger avenue splayed out before them. Huge banners were draped down the sides of dark buildings. Each of which towered high into the sky, and completely lined either side of the road. Every single one bore identical campaign depictions of one Anton Vogel, the German Minister for Magic.

At the furthest end of the busy street, sat the largest building of them all. And even in the dark of the night, they could make out the massive crowd standing at the base of the grand staircase that led up to its doors. It was clearly split between two warring sides; some holding signs with either the last name or face of Liu plastered on it, others holding ones with Santos.

As their group began to shuffle down the road, Tara let out a breath of realization.

“The German Ministry.” she whispered.

“Yes.” Newt confirmed, sounding just as uncomfortable.

“I take it we’re here for a reason.” Theseus huffed.

“Yes.” Newt repeated. “We have a tea ceremony to attend. And if we don’t hurry up, we’ll be late.”

The Magizoologist surged forward, heading straight for the crowds and the staircases beyond them, thus forcing the rest of his party into a half-jog in order to catch up with him.

“Jacob!” Lally shouted back over her shoulder, as the Muggle had been momentarily caught staring up at the hundreds of wanted posters that decorated the flickering street lamps dotting the edges of the sidewalk. “Stay with the group!”

The rhythmic chanting of the Liu and Santos crowds quickly filled their ears as they attempted to shoulder their way through the protests and up towards the entrance of the Ministry. The noise quickly grew deafening, and occasionally their bodies would get jostled around amongst the masses, nearly toppling them over at some points.

At some point during the chaos, Tara had felt a large hand envelope hers as Theseus somehow reached back and found her amongst the throng. He pulled her along with him without so much as a second thought, ensuring that she wouldn’t get lost or knocked to the ground.

It wasn’t until they finally weaved their way out of the crowds and onto the first couple of steps that he let her go, surging forward to lead their group instead. And there had been a moment, however fleeting, where her hand had remained outstretched, not exactly ready to let go of him just yet.

At the top of the staircase, three German Aurors had stepped out into their path, and Tara had been rather quick to notice the way that their focus darted specifically towards Lally and Jacob.

Theseus straightened out his spine, an aura of command that he so very rarely used in the grand scheme of things immediately surrounding his body as he looked past the two Auror’s. Instead opting to stare down the man still stationed back by the door.

“Evening, Helmut.” 

“Theseus.” the older wizard replied just as shortly, walking forward and taking the first few steps down to meet them. 

As he did so, Theseus nodded over his shoulder.

“They’re with me.”

Tara glanced back over towards the Auror blocking Lally and Jacob. His gaze had snapped to Theseus as he had spoken, eyes widening in clear recognition. Looking for direction, he then turned his attention back towards Helmut.

The older wizard waited a beat before nodding, and the Auror retreated back to his side.

Theseus led the group up the remainder of the stairs and through the front door of the German Ministry.

Emerging out into the Grand Hall, they were greeted by the sight of hundreds of well-dressed wizard delegates. They were all milling about the large, ornate room, teapots floating hither and yon in the air above their heads.

The group continued to follow in Theseus’ steps as they traversed the hall, though technically Newt was the one directing his brother which direction to head in. The Magizoologist had his head on a swivel, clearly searching the room for something in particular.

“I take it we’re not here for the finger sandwiches?” Theseus asked in a low whisper.

“No. I have a message to deliver.” Newt replied vaguely.

“A message?” Tara piped up, slipping in between the two Scamander brothers as they continued walking. “To who?”

Instead of answering her, Newt just stopped walking entirely. The rest of them were forced to do much of the same. And it wasn’t until they did, that Tara realized they had somehow lost Jacob and Lally in the crowd.

Following Newt’s eyeline to the opposite end of the room, they found themselves staring at the man whose face had been plastered on the large banners back outside the Ministry, Anton Vogel.

The man was mingling amongst some of the other delegates, a bodyguard flush to his side along with a female attaché that was occasionally whispering things into his ear.

“You are joking.” Theseus scoffed.

“No.” Newt replied, immediately tearing off across the room.

Tara and Theseus exchanged a wary glance before following, trailing a few steps behind the Magizoologist as he semi-boldly approached Vogel and his guards.

“Herr Vogel, I wonder if I could have a word.”

The older wizard’s head turned rather quickly towards him, as if startled.

“Merlin’s beard! It’s Mr. Scamander, isn’t it?”

“Herr Vogel-” Newt repeated, taking another step forward. But immediately, the wizard’s bodyguards materialized in his path at an intimidating speed.

In response, both Theseus and Tara appeared on either side of Newt, the latter of which stared back and forth between the guard and the attaché with something close to murder in her eyes. She was quickly possessed with the rather terrifying knowledge that she was more than prepared to kill anyone who so much as looked at the Scamander's the wrong way.

Vogel stared down at Newt for a moment longer before waving his hand, dispelling his guards without a word. The older wizard then took a few steps down, meeting Newt halfway.

Tara and Theseus stayed a respectable distance back, allowing them some semblance of privacy, while also keeping keen eyes on the guards that remained a few paces to their right.

Once the two were done speaking, Newt had significantly straightened his posture. While Vogel, in contrast, remained rather relaxed. 

After another long moment, the female attaché shuffled up the stairs and back to the older wizard’s side.

“It’s time sir.”

Vogel turned back to Newt first.

“Is he here? In Berlin?” he asked, no longer whispering.

Newt didn’t respond.

“No. Of course not. Why leave Hogwarts when the world outside is burning?” the Minister said with a scowl. “I thank you. Mr. Scamander.”

In a flash, Vogel was gone. As were his two attendants.

With a heavy sigh, Newt took his first few steps back down to rejoin his friends. As he did so, the sharp sound of someone clinking their spoon against a porcelain teacup, instantly silencing all of the noise in the hall.

Everyone’s attention quickly turned towards where Vogel’s attaché was standing at the head of the room. She jutted out her pointy chin, stepping to the side and letting Vogel himself address all those who were gathered before him. His appearance was met with polite applause.

“Thank you, thank you. I see many familiar faces here tonight. Colleagues, friends, foes…” he cut himself off with a good-natured laugh. “Within the next forty-eight hours, you- along with the rest of the wizarding world- will choose our next great leader. A choice that will shape our lives for generations to come. I have little doubt that no matter who should triumph, the Confederation will be in able hands. Liu Tao. Vicência Santos-” the man had gestured towards the two wizards, who Tara hadn’t noticed, until that moment, had been standing at the front of the room, surrounded by their own respective entourages. “It’s at moments such as these we are reminded that it is this peaceful transfer of power that marks our humanity and demonstrates to the world that, despite our differences, all voices deserve to be heard.”

At some point during his speech, Tara’s eyes had been drawn away from Vogel, catching onto movement at the very edges of the hall. There, she rather quickly focused on a group of tall, black-robed Auror’s. They looked eerily similar to the one that she had seen on the train platform earlier in the evening, and as she continued to watch them, appeared to be strategically placing themselves about the room.

She quickly nudged Theseus’ ribcage, silently urging him to take notice as well. And when he did, she felt his entire body tense up next to her.

“Even voices which many find disagreeable-” Vogel was continuing on in the background as Theseus turned to his brother.

“Newt, any of those lot familiar to you?” he asked in a whisper.

The Magizoologist quickly turned his head over his shoulder, his expression falling the instant that he did so.

“Paris,” he whispered.

Tara’s skin began to burn hot.

“The night that Leta…”

She couldn’t bring herself to finish that sentence.

“They were with Grindelwald.” Theseus confirmed.

Tara had immediately made a move to start pushing through the crowd, but Theseus was just as quick to react. Something that in hindsight meant that he had anticipated her doing that exact thing. Grabbing a hold of both of her shoulders, the Auror spun her back around, rather forcefully, so that he could look at her head on.

“Don’t.” he hissed. “This is not the place we want to start a fight.”

Tara’s nostrils flared in defiance, but Theseus’ gaze was one of steady seriousness. And she knew that arguing with him would be pointless.

Acknowledging her visible resignation, Theseus nodded his head.

“Stay here.” he ordered, his hands slipping off of her shoulders. “I’ll go check it out first.”

“Theseus-” she whispered worriedly, but by then he had already begun to shoulder his way through the crowd.

“Where is he going?” Newt asked, immediately appearing at her side.

Tara didn’t answer him. Instead, she disobeyed Theseus’ order and began to follow his path through the masses, Newt swiftly in tow.

Back at the head of the room, Vogel was still speaking. And what he was saying didn’t exactly register in either of their brains until it was already far too late.

“And so, after an extensive investigation, the Confederation has concluded that there is insufficient evidence to prosecute Gellert Grindelwald for the crimes against the Muggle community of which he was accused. He is hereby absolved of all of his alleged crimes.”

Both Newt and Tara skidded to a halt, their heads turning to make stunned eye contact with each other.

The room around them exploded in a flurry of sounds. Mostly outraged shouts and confused jeers, but scattered amongst them were hoots and hollers of violent delight.

Up ahead, they heard a gruff voice shout above the rest.

“You’re under arrest!” Theseus barked. “All of you! Wands down!”

Newt and Tara quickly pushed the rest of their way through the crowd until they finally stumbled into a small break in bodies, allowing them a clear view of Theseus pointing his wand forward at five German Aurors. But the moment that they had done so, the bright flash of a spell hit Theseus directly in the side of his neck. His body collapsed to the ground in a heap, revealing Helmut, the wizard who had met them out on the stairs, walking forward with his wand arm still raised.

“Theseus!” Tara screamed in spite of herself.

“Nehmen Sie ihn weg.” Helmut barked at his men in German.

Two of them swooped in to lift Theseus up by his arms and began to drag him towards the back entrance of the Great Hall.

As Tara started surging forward, Lally and Jacob had somehow managed to find them amongst the growing chaos. And despite her hand already on her wand, Tara didn’t make it three steps towards those who she had her hunters sight set on, as a hand wrapped itself tightly around her wrist.

“Tara, Tara- Not here!” Lally shouted from her side, struggling against the witches' strength. “Tara, we don’t stand a chance!”

Helmut had turned around to lead his squadron of Auror’s out of the Great Hall, pulling along the unconscious Theseus with them as they went.

“No-”

“Let’s go Newt!” Lally shouted over her shoulder. “They have the German Ministry! We’ve got to go!”

“It ain’t right! It ain’t right! That’s not justice- extended investigation- were you there? I was there, you let a killer off!” Jacob’s voice cried out from somewhere back behind them.

Lally instantly disappeared from Tara’s side, grabbing a fierce hold of the Muggle instead.

“We have to go! We have to go! Jacob, let’s go!
Newt had been quick to step up, grabbing a fierce hold of Tara’s arm in Lally’s absence, beginning to drag her away with him.

All around them, the volume of the crowd continued to rise, chants of Grindelwald’s name, sprinkled amongst shouts of indignation, began to echo off of the walls just as they managed to burst out of the main doors of the Ministry, retreating off and into the cover of the night.

Tara felt the burn of her tears as they cascaded down her face, the noise fading into the background, only to be replaced by the loud thumping of her own uneven heartbeat.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* : ｡☆ﾟ.･ ───