Oleandra felt only numbness as she stared into Yaxley's lifeless eyes.
"You'll get used to it," said Mai, clapping Oleandra on the back. "This isn't a war that will be won within a few months, or even a few years."
If this is what it felt like to take another life, then Oleandra never wanted to get used to it— but the Muggle-Born prisoners were staring at her with eyes full of hope. There would be time later to wallow in self-pity, so she rose to her feet.
"Two paths lie before you," Oleandra said, addressing the Wizards and Witches gathered below her. "Stay here and lose everything, or follow us and fight to reclaim our future."
Putting it like that, she wasn't leaving them much of a choice…
"Oh, and if you'd like to make yourselves useful," Mai chimed in, gesturing at the Stunned men and women littered across the stands. "Those of you with wands or strong shoulders, would you mind carrying these Gold-Capes for us? I'll explain once we've rejoined the main group."
Oleandra frowned.
What on earth did Mai want with them? Nevertheless, she said nothing, watching as the Wizards and Witches hoisted the unconscious Heliopaths onto their backs or lifted them into the air with a flick of their wands.
With inhuman grace, Oleandra stepped off the elevated judge's bench and landed lightly on the floor without a sound, eliciting surprised oohs and aahs as she emerged perfectly unscathed from the ten-foot drop. Grumbling, Mai took the long way around to rejoin her on the floor, and together, they led the group out into the corridor, where the previously jailed Muggle-Born were waiting for them anxiously.
"See these Gold-Capes?" explained Mai, pointing behind her with her thumb. "They're Muggle-Born, just like you and me."
"Again, I'm not Muggle-Born," said Mafalda hotly.
At once, the unconscious Heliopaths were met with a storm of vitriolic glares from the Muggle-Born. Few things inspired such hatred as traitors, as Oleandra knew from first-hand experience. Whether branded a Blood Traitor by Pure-bloods or accused of Dumbledore's murder by Harry and his companions, she had endured it all.
"You must have had a good look at them on the way here, or when you were arrested," Mai continued, entirely unbothered. "Well, you would have had an even better look once they'd turned you into one of them."
Oleandra then revealed what the various Ministries of Magic had been up to behind the Wizarding World's collective back, concealing their dirty little secrets behind the doors of the Department of Mysteries.
How the rapidly increasing number of Muggle-Born children worldwide posed a threat to the Statute of Secrecy.
How the Ministry viewed the birth of magical children to undesirable Muggle parents as a danger to society's stability.
How Project: Heliopaths sought to address both problems at once, by removing Muggle-Born children from their parents and raising them as obedient operatives, trained from birth to dismantle Muggle society from the top down should the Statute ever be breached!
"Pure-Bloods! Death Eaters! He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named! The Ministry! The Wizarding World itself! They all fear what we can do!" shouted Mai. "From the very beginning, the only reason they ever let us be part of their society is to control and undermine us!"
"She's right!"
"Kill 'em all!"
Oleandra gave Mai a sideways glance.
Perhaps this had been the true magic all along. She could see it in the Muggle-Borns' eyes; Mai was stirring them into a frenzy with nothing more than her words. She had to admit her sister's speeches were far more inspiring than a simple, "Follow me or die."
"Magic is humanity's birthright," Mai declared passionately. "Dumbledore was on the right track with his Order of the Phoenix, but striving merely for the status quo is not enough to bring about real change. My name is Mai Dulac, and I invite you all to join my Order of the Round Table. Follow me, and together, we will restore the world to how it ought to be."
Lofty ideals aside, none of these flowery words would mean anything if they couldn't escape alive.
"Here's the plan," Oleandra explained. "Level 9's lift won't be able to fit all of you at once, so I'll create a diversion on the upper floors to draw attention away from your escape, while Mai leads you to the Atrium on level 8 to flee through the Floo Network."
"The address you'll need to call out at the fireplace is Number 14, Hyde Park Street," Mai said. "I've left something rather like a Portkey in the park, which will carry us far from the Ministry's gaze. Unlike the Floo Network, this magic cannot be tracked."
Once everyone had memorised the address, Oleandra and Mai led the group up the stairs to level nine, where a solitary lift awaited at the end of the corridor. Due to the intricate layering of spells throughout the Ministry, stabilising the underground and warping space to divert nearby Muggle infrastructure, the lift was not enchanted with an Extension Charm, meaning it was exactly as big on the inside as it appeared on the outside. It would take at least three trips to ferry everyone to the Atrium, by Oleandra's reckoning…
"I'll go with you," Mai murmured in Oleandra's ear as she pressed the up-arrow button on the lift. "In case we have to abandon the last group."
Within moments, the lift screeched to a halt on their level, and its golden grilles slid open. Oleandra and Mai stepped inside, and as many people as could fit pressed in behind them, crowding them against the walls. With some difficulty, Oleandra managed to press the number eight button, and the lift clattered into motion.
"Thursaz, Thursaz, Thursaz, Thursaz, Thursaz, Thursaz…" Oleandra muttered under her breath, as the lift rapidly ascended to the floor above.
Runic magic worked on a delay underground, which might not necessarily be a such a bad thing, after all…