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Last of The Fae Chapter 160: Stand Off
🕑 Added 2025-04-29 23:38:29 +0000 UTC"LORD THANE FAE, THIS IS THE BRITISH MINISTRY OF MAGIC! YOU ARE SURROUNDED! COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP AND YOUR WAND SURRENDERED!"
The magically amplified voice echoed across the estate grounds, shaking the walls of the jet. The windows vibrated as robed figures began to descend from brooms and Apparated in formation, cloaking the perimeter in a show of force.
Inside, Mirabel yanked on her robes and concealing underclothes, practically snarling as she winced through the tension still tingling through her aching body. "What in Merlin's name are they doing?!"
She turned on Thane, who was calmly fixing the cuffs of his robes. "Has the Ministry completely lost its damn mind?!"
Thane's reply was smooth, dispassionate. "I doubt they ever possessed one to begin with."
He reached into the inner lining of his robes and retrieved his Fae Mirror, the obsidian surface flickering to life with a pulse of silver glyphs. He handed it to her without looking up. "Contact my fiancée. Let her know the Ministry's finally decided to put the final nail in its coffin."
Mirabel took the mirror, jaw tight. "What exactly do you think this is about?"
Thane smirked faintly as he straightened his collar. "Likely a response to the spectacle in Brazil. Which, as you know, was very intentional."
Mirabel rolled her eyes as she activated the Mirror, holding it to her ear. "I know this is a waste of breath, but I feel obligated to remind you that being an unregistered Animagus is grounds for imprisonment in Azkaban."
"I'm aware," Thane said, utterly unbothered. "But I promise you they won't be arresting me today and even if by some miracle they manage to put me in cuffs there isn't a cell that can hold me."
The mirror connected, and Mirabel spoke swiftly, "Yes, hello Ms. Greengrass. I'm afraid I have some rather unpleasant news…n-no it's not r-related to that...yes it's the ministry... quite a few I count at least twenty most likely more...yes of course."
Mirabel handed the mirror back to Thane, who caught it with a practiced ease and lifted it to his ear. The faint shimmer of silver light over the glass cleared to reveal the poised, cool expression of Daphne Greengrass.
"Yes, dear?" Thane greeted smoothly, his voice tinged with affection beneath the formality.
Daphne didn't miss a beat. "So, I assume the rumors my mother heard about your... display in Brazil weren't as far-fetched as she originally believed?"
There was a flicker of amusement in her voice, though it was buried beneath the crisp edge of practiced restraint.
Thane didn't bother to deflect. Instead, he met the question with one of his own. "Do you believe it was the wrong course of action?"
Daphne scoffed, her lips curving ever so slightly. "Not at all. I'm just relieved we skipped to the inevitable conclusion. Fudge was never going to go quietly. And you were never going to descend far enough to wrestle with him in the mud. It was always going to end with him barking orders up from a pit he keeps digging with his own two hands."
Thane let out a soft chuckle, that rare sound that managed to sound both dangerous and sincere. "A vivid picture. How does your mother feel about it?"
There was a pause—just long enough to signal that the question had struck a nerve. Daphne exhaled lightly. "She's... cautious, as always. Your decision to withdraw entirely from the British market already had her walking a tightrope. Now? She's waiting to see which way the wind blows."
Thane raised an eyebrow. "So, are you telling me to tread carefully?"
A smirk danced on Daphne's lips. "You're a dragon, my love. You don't tread—you fly."
Thane's eyes gleamed.
"And besides," Daphne continued, tone turning practical and almost dry, "short of killing the Minister in cold blood in front of a crowd of witnesses, I doubt there's anything you could do right now that would outweigh the millions of galleons the Brazil deal is about to generate. And the future billions down the line. My mother can posture all she wants, but she's no fool. She knows what prosperity smells like."
"Good because it will be a miracle if I don't burn down every single bridge between me and the ministry by the end of this," With that final remark Thane put the mirror away and turned towards the door.
“LORD THANE FAE! THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING! COMPLY IMMEDIATELY OR WE WILL BE FORCED TO ACT! DO NOT ATTEMPT TO APPARATE—NULLIFIERS ARE ACTIVE IN A TEN-KILOMETER RADIUS!”
Mirabel stepped up beside Thane, her wand already in hand, her expression hardening. “Do I need to ready myself for a fight?”
Thane didn’t look at her. His gaze remained fixed on the door as he responded with quiet confidence, “There’s no need for you to get involved in this theater.”
Without further hesitation, he unlatched the heavy door and swung it open, stepping out into the chilled evening air. The fold-out stairway extended with a metallic clank under his feet as he descended, his robes catching the breeze like a war banner.
Before him, the tarmac had transformed into a war front. A semicircle of Aurors flanked by enforcers in the air on brooms stood at full readiness, wands pointed and twitching with restrained magic. The tension in the air was suffocating—pure mana bristling at the edge of an eruption, thick enough to raise goosebumps on the skin.
Thane walked unhurriedly, his hands visible at his sides, every step radiating supreme calm. He scanned the crowd until his gaze landed on a tightly packed formation at the center. Surrounded by heightened security and trembling with righteous anticipation stood the source of this entire debacle.
“Minister Fudge,” Thane said, his voice clear and unnervingly composed. “What is the meaning of this?”
It wasn’t a shout. It wasn’t a plea. There was no fear, no heat—just the cold, level question of a man already above the game being played around him.
Fudge’s face was flushed, his eyes bloodshot with fury and manic triumph. He stepped forward, trembling with the weight of his own importance, “Lord Thane Fae, you are under arrest! On suspicion of being an unregistered Animagus! You will surrender your wand and be taken into custody for magical assessment and interrogation to determine the extent of your violations!”
Thane stared at the minister for a long moment before letting out a sigh, "No."
At almost the same moment, every pair of eyes blinked at Thane's frank one-word reply.
"Are you trying to deny the fact that you are an Animagus?" Fudge asked almost giddily wanting Thane to take the bait.
"No, I am an Animagus, I've been one since my first year at Hogwarts," Thane answered, "However after learning about the particular nature of my transformation I realized that it was information better kept to myself."
"That isn't how the law works!" Fudge roared, "You can not simply decide you are above it!"
"Oh but I can," Thane retorted, "They only apply to those who submit themselves to the powers to be either out of fear or a need to be part of the society that enforces them. I have no desire for the latter, and I certainly don't fear you."
Fudge's face warped into a mask of fury and rage as Thane looked down at him both literally and figuratively, "Your arrogance has truly gotten the better of you Fae! Do you think that you are invincible? If so perhaps it may remind you that there are over fifty wands pointed directly at you! It doesn't matter if you fear me or not, you should fear for your life!"
Thane paused again looking at the sea of faces as if analyzing them, only to shake his head, "I'm afraid there isn't anyone present who poses a threat to me and now I must ask how exactly did you expect this encounter to go?"
Fudge snarled, "Enough talking! Raise your hands or you will be subdued!"
"If you know I'm an Animagus then you certainly know or have word of what I transform into?" Thane asked addressing Fudge directly before glancing at the sea of Aurors conspiratorily, "But the true question is...did you tell all these fine officers?"
With a single sentence, a seed of doubt was planted as Fudge faltered, something noticed by every person present, "Y-you wouldn't dare attack the ministry!"
"I would prefer not to, but you aren't leaving me much choice," Thane replied, "The fact of the matter is you can not persuade or threaten me into compliance which leaves force as your only option. If you use force I will resist to protect myself and while I will try to spare the lives of the men and women you are using as puppets I can not ensure there won't be casualties."
