Hey everyone,
IMPORTANT UPDATE! This will be the last month where I will be updating all 14 stories at the end of every month. I am just going to do the same thing everyone else does; either fully finish a story and then post the full thing or finish a chapter and then post it once it's written. However, there are stories, like to Read Into The Universe, where I will probably try to finish the whole thing and edit out the mistakes and whatnot and only then post the finished product.
I'm sorry if this upsets some of you, but I know about myself that I NEED to do this. Over the course of the last few months, I just haven't felt as if I have given these stories the attention they deserve and while I am happy with some stories and how some chapters are written, do I just feel lost and disappointed looking back on others. I'm just starting to feel like thinking: "I could have done better." when looking back at some of the chapters I wrote, so I made this decision. Onto the story.
I can honestly say that I am very happy with this decision to categorize the Death Eaters. It is going to make things much easier for everyone; both the Wizengamot, Harry and his friends and me as well. And after some thinking, did I realize that it will also give me more of a chance to both summarize the day of trials and give more detail to the "special" cases. Plus, it will make it easier to decide who comes back and when.
Win-win-win,

Venquine1990
Shout-Out To:
Jostanos

Chapter 08
Early And Late

11th of June 1998
Ministry For Magic, London
Discord's POV

"Good morning, everyone. Enjoy your breakfast and please listen as I have some very special announcements. Last night our new friends helped me make some discoveries and decisions as to how to make our trials go a little bit faster. After this Death decided to pitch in and sent us several rolls of parchment that described each and every of our left over Follow Losers and their crimes. And precious Mss. Sparkle here sorted them all."
I tell the Wizengamot as they appear in the room, a portable table in front of their seats with a plate filled with their favorite breakfast set on top of it. Some of those around me look shocked at this and a man in the rows above says: "Wow, Death really is trying to help us out a lot, isn't he?" To which I shrug and say: "Like he said, if Fate hates a Potter, he loves that one. And both Death and I think that Fate is overdoing her hatred for this one."
At this a lot of those around me nod, yet I also notice a contemplative look on young Hermione's face. Twilight then steps forward and says: "As Lord Discord said. I categorized the – ehm – Follow Losers, was it? Anyway, after categorizing them, did I summarize their worst crimes. Say, if their worst crime is the destruction of multiple objects and buildings, I summarized that by writing down the worst one. So now, we don't have to bother giving names or saying worst crime, which can spare us several seconds per Loser.
And my friends and I already did some calculating. By just skipping to only the worst crime and with Discord just silencing the Losers so they can's scream profanities or anything, we can speed this all up with 10 seconds per criminal, maybe even fifteen. And if you do the calculations right, that can make us speed the trials up with 25 to 37 minutes, which gives us time for another 6 to 9 criminals per day. And considering we still have almost 5300 left –."

The girl leaves her sentence hanging there and everyone nods as I say: "Still, we managed to get 312 criminals done in only two days. That means that, with this new method, we should be able to get to #469 or so. Now, who's ready to get started? Don't worry, you only need to raise your wands, you don't need to speak, remember?" And while some of those around me look a little queasy, does everyone still nod and I turn to Twilight.
The girl nods and uses her own special magic to levitate the new sets of lists over. She makes them float in front of her, their titles at eye level and sends me another nod. I nod back and snap my fingers. And instantly a gruff looking man with beefy arms and actual tattoos all over his arms, his legs, which are visible thanks to his torn pants and even his head and with beady black eyes appears in front of me. I turn to Twilight again and she states:
"We're on our Destruction list. Ahem, worst destruction; orphanage with all orphans scared inside the building." And while the man wants to laugh, does no sound leave his lips. I look up and the whole left panel lights up after which the man disappears down the portal. I turn to the portal that connects my realm to this room and because the portal is now from floor to ceiling, do I see a small girl appear right in front of it, crouched down in fright.

Sunset rushes for her and gently lies a hand on her shoulder, the girl cringing, but then actually rushing for Sunset, whose eyes are still alight with her power. The girl cowers and whimpers and Sunset seems to wake up and whispers: "She was stuck in that caved in building for a whole week. No one came to save her." This infuriates me and I hear Twilight whisper at me: "It was on the description. His partners put a spell on the wreckage for exactly that purpose."
"A Notice-Me-Not spell. That is just disgustingly disturbing." I hiss back and Molly Weasley rushes over to help take the girl from Sunset, conjuring a teddy bear to comfort and reassure her. "Several predator cages during one of the busiest days of a local zoo." Twilight then says and I realize that someone new has come down from the ceiling. And because I know that this destruction endangered the Statute of Secrecy, does it not surprise me when the left panel lights up yet again.

The Follow Loser falls down and the next victim that returns actually comes back lying on his back with his arms above his head. The man seems completely out of it, that is until Pinkie crouches down next to him and asks: "Hi, you've been brought back to life. There are no carnivores here, don't worry. Want a cookie? Or would you rather have a cupcake?" And while I wonder how she could pull these treats out of her hair, does she startle the man out of his fright.
"I guess we'll be getting victims based on the crimes committed from now on." I hear Hermione mutter and Ron smiles as he says: "Only better. That will give us more of a warning on when we can expect our friends back." At which I smirk at him before Twilight mutters: "This name sounds familiar. The home of Andromeda and Ted Tonks, finished by burning with Fiendfyre." And instantly both panels light up, yet the left one still takes the majority.
And while she had, previously, been helping Molly coddle and reassure the poor first little girl, does Andromeda now rush for the door to my realm. And just in time as it gives her the chance to jump her husband, who appears there. "ANDY!""TED! TEDDY! MY LOVE! YOU'RE BACK! I MISSED YOU SO MUCH!" The poor woman cries and Ted asks: "Wait, back?" But then he sees me and somehow this seems to explain it to the man.

"Guardian of the Potters?" The man asks and I nod as he says: "Ah, James explained that to me before he died. Thanks." And while I quite appreciate how direct and accepting the man is, does he guide his crying wife back to her seat, before he asks: "Wait, where's Teddy? Where are Remus and our daughter?" But while Andromeda cringes at the latter, does she mutter: "My old friend Abby came back too, Ted. She's looking after Teddy."
The man nods, his eyes proving he understands what isn't being said, but while Andromeda whispers something in his ear, does Twilight read out the next crime. And like this things keep going. Twilight reads out the worst crime, keeping to only a few short words and sentences, the panels light up, the Follow-Losers get sent through on either a Death or Redemption sentence and then Harry, Sirius, Charlus and the girls help the returned souls into the room.
And while I can definitely notice that we are actually indeed going a nice bit quicker, making me think: "We might actually reach two hundred this time around." Do I also feel myself fighting the urge to look at George Weasley, who I have no doubt is sitting on pins and needles right now. And yet I can also see Twilight going further and further down her little list, which makes me wonder: "Were they wrong about the cause of death?"

We reach past the halfway point of Twilight's list when Rainbow does her delivery dash for lunch and she even gets a nice cup of hot cocoa for the little girl as well as the same beverage for all other returned souls. And while those returned definitely feel awed and amazed at seeing these girls in action, do I also consider this a good thing as it helps them recover from – or at least forget about – the cause that brought them in here.
Yet then suddenly Twilight says: "Wow, we're at the last one already." And this both amazes me as it's only three o'clock in the afternoon, but also annoys me as I just can't help but feel as if something is wrong. And when Twilight reads: "Hogwarts wall, one casualty. Wait, why is this the worst? I didn't write that down." Do I instantly hiss: "Fate. That bitch just can't stop interfering." Yet this is ignored as Ron shouts:
"THAT'S FRED! FRED DIED FROM A WALL COLLAPSING ONTO HIS CHEST AFTER IT WAS DESTROYED!" And George goes on: "AND IF HARRY HADN'T KILLED RIDDLE THAT NIGHT, I WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO CONTINUE POTTER WATCH WITHOUT MY TWIN BROTHER!" And this makes the entire left panel light up, a lot of those around me white at the idea of no Potter Watch during the war.

And even before the bastard Follow Loser has fully sunk down the portal in the floor, has the entire Weasley family rushes for the portal, all of them shouting their son and brother's name respectively as they jump onto him, causing him to almost drown under a pile of arms and crying redheads. This makes me snicker and makes everyone else also smile as Fred asks: "Okay, what's going on? Harry?" To which the teary-eyed boy answers:
"You – you died, Fred. Just as you remarked on Percy's resignation, the wall beside you exploded and the explosion killed you. But my – my family a-apparently has a guardian and he – he's working alongside Death and – and they brought you back, Fred. They're – we're – bringing everyone back." Fred looks thoughtful of this for a moment, but then laughs and says: "Death by explosion, now that's just too iconic."
"THAT'S NOT FUNNY!" Even Molly is shocked as it's not her who shouts this but George and Fred cringes and whispers an apology to his twin, who pulls him even closer, even as the rest of them want guide the duo back. But I shake my head and say: "Head upstairs. I have an ever expanding bedroom up there." And while the whole family sends me a grateful smile, do I turn to the Wizengamot and say: "And maybe it's better if we do that to all returned souls from now on."

Everyone nods and Andromeda says: "I'll help guide them there – well, starting tomorrow." And the way that she squeezes her husband's hand in desperate need says everything, making me nod. I turn to the room at large and ask: "Well now, we actually managed to cover a total of 188 cases. Do you guys want to continue and start a new list or just recover and restart tomorrow?" To which Kingsley instantly says: "Let's move on. We still have 5100 cases to handle."
Everyone nods and Twilight moves the old list away and makes the other ones float in front of her again. I make the next Follow Loser come down and instantly Twilight cringes. I turn to look at her and wince myself as I say: "I got this one." The girl gives me a grateful nod and leaves for my realm as I tell the hall at large:
"We've got the rapists this time. Also, some of these bastards did kill their victims, some did not. I will indicate this by saying either saying the number one or two. One if they did, two if they didn't. If they did, expect that victim to be the next returned soul." Everyone nods and I say: "Elesa Thornsberry, fourteen year old in front of killed boyfriend. Two." And instantly the entire left panel lights up and the man sinks down.

I turn to the portal and it seems that the poor girl's boyfriend has been brought back as he shout: "YOU LEAVE ELESA – Wait, where am I?" And Harry is quick to explain things to him and guide him upstairs. And while I can barely believe that this spared us another two seconds, which will save us a whole minute for every 15 cases and thus about 13 minutes for every 200 cases that I hope to cover a day.
"And seeing as how we need about 4 minutes per case, that will give us 4 more cases per day. So let's see, 5100 divided by 204 – we'll need another 25 days. Damn, well, it's already less than a month, which we thought it would take only two days ago. Yeah, this cutting down method is working." And while I think this, do I cover another case, calling out the number 1 this time and indeed the rape victim appears as the rapist gets send down.
Yet at this I wince as she, like Marlene McKinnon appears completely naked and instantly Rarity reacts. And instantly a huge diamond covers the portal as I say: "Okay, new rule. I am going to cover the portal. Make a wall that, while you can't see through it, you can still walk through it. These are all mostly rape victims, after all, so most of them will be naked and we don't want to humiliate them upon their return."

Everyone nods and another snap of my fingers sees this done. I take a deep breath and return my focus where it's needed. And to my growing sense of accomplishment do we actually cover another 62 cases in the next three hours. Yet only one of every three cases turns out to be a one where the other two are constantly twos, thus making it so that every three cases or so someone probably appears on the other side of the portal fully dressed.
A few of them also, for some reason, chose to enter the Wizengamot instead of heading up to my enlarged bedroom, yet I just shrug this off every time it happens and smile as Pomona Sprout and Minerva McGonagall take over where Molly and Andromeda had left off, comforting and reassuring these returned souls as they help them to a seat. There are even a few who actually retake their lost seats in the Wizengamot upon their return.

Then it's finally dinner time and while I can tell that a lot of those around me are utterly and mentally exhausted, do I still cough to get their attention and ask: "Alright, we now have over 500 souls returned and with a lot of them, they are homeless as their homes were destroyed by the Death Eaters. And I don't mean to be rude, but while I don't mind housing these souls during the trials, I don't plan to do so during the night. Anyone an idea where they could go?"
To which Minerva instantly speaks up and says: "I've spoken with Madam Rosemerta and Aberforth Dumbledore last night. Both of them and Tom the Barkeeper of the Leaky Cauldron will be only too happy to take in all of our returned friends. I also have the House Elves who have been preparing all of Hogwarts' private quarters for multiple residents and even put the rest of the restauration of the castle on hold for the time being."
I nod at this and say: "Alright then, I'll just go ask the Weasleys what they want and then poof you all gone. And for the record, guys, we got a total of 250 cases done today. Good work. If we can manage this every day, we'll be done in 20 days from now, which is a good week sooner than we first anticipated. Good work, everyone." This makes the whole hall shine as the returned souls actually congratulate the others with their work.

I head inside and smile at Harry, Charlus and Sirius before heading upstairs and telling those up there, who are mostly dressed in loose fitted cloths that they are gripping on like lifelines: "Good news, everyone. You'll be staying at either private rooms at Hogwarts, the Leaky Cauldron, Three Broomsticks or Hogs Head. Now, if you could all please form four groups depending on your preferred choice, I will poof you all there."
This makes the group share a few hesitant looks, but then Bill says: "You can trust him. He's the Guardian we told you guys about, the one that punished all those bastards that hurt you." And this inspires the group. And while I am not surprised to see that a large portion of the group moves together in a pile on the far left, do I still feel the need to say: "Just so you all know, Hogwarts is – a little damaged. It was the final battle warzone."

Yet this doesn't bother anyone in the first group and while Arthur actually needs to tell the second group that the Leaky Cauldron doesn't have enough rooms for all of them, does the group resolve this, by one of them saying: "The three of us are sticking together, Mr. Weasley. We can share a bed no problem." At which the man nods before I snap my fingers, poofing them all gone. I then turn to the Weasleys at large and Molly says:
"I'm going to go get little Stephany." I nod at her and follow her and her family back downstairs. Harry and Sirius make sure to both give Fred another hug, the young man happily returning the hug before they all head out. And little Stephany instantly rushes for Molly as soon as she spots her, the girl clinging to the mother of many as I snap them and Hermione back to the Burrow. And another snap of my fingers poofs the rest of the room empty.
I breath out in slight exhaustion as I have been needing to send small bouts of magic to my fingers ever since we were nearing the end of the destruction list just to keep them from hurting from all the many times that I snapped them. Yet when I reenter my realm, does Mrs. Blush hand me a small bottle of gel as she says: "Here, this is to help with sore joints and bruises. It may be Muggle, but it works wonders, trust me." And I smile as I thank her.

In the mean time
In the realm between
Death's POV

"You are going too far, Fate. And you know it. You did that on purpose. You purposely changed that description to make Fred Weasley be part of the group who would come back last. You are interfering too much. You know you don't have this right." I angrily snap at the being before me, who just looks at me with a glare of annoyance. Yet at this I aim my palm at her and growl: "You stop here, Fate. If you interfere again, I will end your existence, capish?"
The being's eyes widen and she sighs as she mumbles: "Fine. I got it." But before she can turn her back on me, do I growl: "You know I'm not just doing this for Harry. You messed with me all those years ago. All those in my realm are on you. You know they weren't supposed to come there the ways that they did or at the times that they did. I am just cleaning up your mess. So stop making your own mess worse already."
At this the deity sends me a dirty and insulted look, but I just stare back at her, having several millennia of existence over her. The deity groans, actually sounding more like a teen than the one she has such a deep hatred for and storms off. I shake my head at her and turn around myself, determined to get myself back in a good mood by torturing and punishing those who have been escaping my grasp for too long – and failing to notice that I am not alone.

Wait, who else is there?
Well, that's a story for next chapter and I plan to expand on the world-building a little in that one. And while I may have only brought two significant people back this chapter, did I still very much enjoy it. Though don't expect anyone else back for a while. The Rape list is going to continue into, at the least, the next two chapters, but after that, I am going to cover the other topics as well; torture, Snatchers (who only just Snatch, not kill), traitors, spies and of course murderers. Though I might just do those at the very end.
Not entirely sure,

Venquine1990