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Chapter 50: The Search for Harry

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Everything that could be prepared in advance without tipping their hand had already been done. The group had divided into two strike teams. The first team, commanded by Fleur, included Hermione, Hooch, Alicia Spinnet, Katie Bell, Angelina Johnson, Joan Brennan, and Charlie Weasley. Their job was to enter the main lobby of the Ministry and grab Harry’s body. At the same time, team two, led by Gabrielle, and comprised of Neville, Luna, Ginny, Remus, Euripita Balzhoff, and George Weasley, would enter the veil room and try to recover Harry’s soul. Poppy, Desiree, and Penelope Clearwater would stay in the void and provide support from there. By four AM, Fleur had located the two position beacons; by ten after four, everyone was ready to go.

In the lobby of the Ministry building, Goyle heard a strange sucking sound and thought Crabbe had nicked something to eat from the canteen. He looked around and saw that Crabbe was still asleep and snoring, so it couldn’t be him. It was a few more seconds before he realized what it was, a hole was appearing from nowhere right in front of him. Just a great bloody black hole!

He started shaking Crabbe to have some verification that he wasn’t dreaming, but the silly git wouldn’t wake up properly. Walking out to look at the phenomena, Goyle saw it was just a large black hole hanging in the air about a foot or so off the floor. Crabbe finally asked him what was going on.

“Oy, look at this, what the fuck do yeh think it—.” But Goyle didn’t get to finish the question. From seemingly out of nowhere, Crabbe saw a black boot fly out and bury itself in Goyle’s groin. Goyle gave a shriek of terror as his testicles were crushed, and bent over violently in an instinctive reaction to save what was already lost. As his head swung down level with his hips the boot mysteriously appeared again from nowhere. This time it struck right in the center of Goyle’s fat face, sending a spray of blood and a few teeth in all directions. The impact snapped Goyle’s head back so hard that the neck probably would have broken if not for the ponderous rolls of fat that surrounded it. Goyle’s body flipped back to land hard face up on the floor, and lay still.

To Crabbe’s horror, he now saw the owner of disembodied boot jump from out of the black hole that just hung there in mid-air. It was the mudblood Granger girl, she had her wand in her hand and her eyes quickly darted around the room, seeking out her next target. She quickly found it in Crabbe. Seeing the look of deadly malice in her eyes as advanced towards him, Crabbe dropped his wand and ran screaming in terror to escape.

Unfortunately for him, in his panic to escape he immediately ran into one of the floor to ceiling stone columns which lined the main hallway. The collision broke his nose and stunned him, which easily allowed Hermione to get to him. Pushing against the stone column and pinning his throat there with her forearm, Hermione rapidly slammed her knee into his exposed groin three times. As she released him, Crabbe could only make a gurgling sound as he collapsed to the floor.

“That felt good,” Hermione muttered to herself. Then she pointed the tip of her wand at the prostrate figure writhing in pain at her feet. She had never actually killed anyone yet, but this was as good a time to start as any. “Avad—,” she began the killing curse, only to have Fleur step up and stop her.

“These two helped kill father, they were Draco’s lookouts while he worked on the cabinet.”

“I know that, Hermione,” answered Fleur. “This isn’t an act of mercy. Leave them here and let him find them. I think they’ll have some explaining to do.”

“That would be an incredibly cruel thing to do,” said Hermione after a moment’s thought on what the two would face when Voldemort called them to answer for their failure. “I am very embarrassed that I didn’t think of it first.”

The two walked back to the opening to the void, where the rest of the strike team had formed a defensive perimeter. “All right, everyone,” said Fleur, “let’s make some noise, REDUCTO!”

She sent a blasting curse into the security desk that had held the sleeping forms of Crabbe and Goyle only moments before. The force of the blast reduced the desk to kindling and splinters. Immediately there was a loud wailing sound echoing through the halls of the Ministry as the Caterwauling Charms were initiated to announce that intruders were using magic in the halls. The rest of the team immediately followed with their own spells to add to the confusion.

“Let’s grab and go,” yelled Fleur. Charlie grabbed the spear with Harry’s head stuck on it, while Alicia levitated Harry’s body off the mounting it had been left on. The team then jumped back into the void and closed it behind them. In less than a minute, Harry’s corporeal remains had been successfully snatched from its display area without any casualties, and left in the care of Desiree and Penelope. The rest of the team was now on its way to carry out the last phase of the mission.

At the same time as the first team went into the lobby, team two entered the Veil room in the Department of Mysteries. The four coven members there began calling to Harry while the others formed security. Remus Lupin had insisted that he act as the host body for Harry’s soul as his experience with trying to control his Lycanthropy had best prepared him for dealing with another entity inside of his mind. He positioned himself right in front of the veil, but was careful not to let it touch him. Ginny began calling out to Harry, giving him a focal point in this world to come to, finally she heard Professor Dumbledore’s voice faintly saying that Harry was coming through.

There was a loud tearing sound like bedsheets being ripped to pieces, followed by a rush of air. However, it wasn’t air, it was some sort of ether that had come across the divide, it had to be Harry’s soul. There was a cloud of what looked like a faintly glowing vapor hovering in front of the veil near Ginny. The vapor appeared to be trying to touch Ginny.

“In to me, Harry,” shouted Remus as he stepped up next to Ginny, “join with me. I’m your host body.” The glowing cloud of ether swirled in confusion for a moment as Harry tried to understand what he needed to do. Then in a final flash the ether flew into Remus’ chest and lodged there. Harry was back, but in a very delicate condition. Remus staggered and almost fell against the veil, but Ginny and Luna caught him.

“We’ve got, Harry,” shouted Ginny. “Everyone back into the void, return to base.”

The team piled back into the opening and it closed behind them.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

“Well that’s done,” sighed Albus Dumbledore as they stared at the veil flapping gently in whatever wind gave it motion. “We’ve done all we can do for them.”

“That’s true,” said Moody. “It’s up to them now, not our problem anymore.”

“Have you got a date for the dance tonight?” Myrtle asked Arthur.

“Well … ah … no,” replied Arthur nervously. “I mean … I’m a married man.”

“Not now, not here,” said a grinning Sirius Black as he hugged Tonks to his body. “You did say until death do you part, didn’t you? Well, look around, Arthur, you kept your word.”

“But Molly will be along sometime … won’t she?”

“Yes, Arthur, she will eventually make her way here,” said Dumbledore. “But there was a reason why the old rituals set death as the limit, here it’s a new world, new opportunities for happiness, you are free of what you did on Earth, for better or worse.”

“Anyway, what happens in heaven stays in heaven,” said Tonks as everyone laughed.

“Come on and join us at the party, Arthur,” said Sirius. “You’ll have fun, who knows — you might even get some, right, Myrtle.”

“He just might if he plays his cards right,” replied Myrtle to a red faced Arthur, with a particularly sexy looking grin on her face. “Might do him a world of good, too.”

The group wandered off towards the wall of light and disappeared beyond it until only James and Lily were left staring at the veil. They stood there silently for a bit and then James spoke.

“Our little boy has done well. I wish we could have been there for him. Lily … I am sorry I trusted Peter, so very sorry.”

“I guess you thought you were doing what was best, James. You didn’t want to die anymore than I did. I was just so damn close; all my life I wanted a family, a career, money and position. For the first time I nearly had it all, and then that little rat friend of yours whom you trusted gets me killed. I just couldn’t stand the sight of you after that.”

“I lost everything too, there and here, worst of all I lost the love of a good woman whom I adored, and I lost my son. The only thing I had left was the guilt that it was my decision to use Peter that had caused it all to happen.”

“You can stop blaming yourself, James; we both knew the risks when we joined the Order, there were a dozen different ways we could have been killed even if we had survived that night. Voldemort would have still been out there looking for us, trying to kill Harry. At least we were able to save him.”

“Thank you for coming back here with me, to at least pretend for his sake that we were still together. It was so good to see you again after all this time, you’re still as beautiful as I remembered. I heard you and Phillip Bobblebrook are living together now.”

“Yes, we have a small place, but we get by all right. Is Sirius keeping you well supplied with girls like before? You’re not letting Desiree’s gift collect any rust are you?”

“Actually I’ve been seeing Amelia Bones for about a year now, and we seem to hit it off nicely. She moved in to my place a couple of months ago.”

They stood there for a minute, staring silently at the ground, neither knowing what to say anymore. Both knew that what had once been between them was gone now.

“James, I have to go back now. Look … I want you to know that I forgive you for what happened that night. It’s all in the past now. I’m sorry I blamed you for it all like I did.”

“Thank you,” whispered James, staring into those beautiful green eyes.

“When Harry gets back here to stay we’ll have a big get together, explain everything to him. He’ll understand better then. Goodbye, James.”

James Potter watched in eerie silence as Lily walked into the mist heading back to the light. Once upon a time, in another place, they had loved each other more than life itself, now she walked away a virtual stranger that he hadn’t even seen in over fifteen years. As she disappeared into the mist James bowed his head and began to cry. The pain of losing her was still there, it was always there.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

“What a bunch of dimwitted arseholes,” thought Pansy Parkinson as she and Jizzlobber, now in the form of Percy Weasley again, walked through the cellblocks. Security was now under the control of newly appointed Death Eater wanna-bes who had no training as Inquisitors. Most were merely thugs and bullies with no professionalism. The prisoners were all being beaten and starved to death. These idiots didn’t know to apply pressure in controlled amounts to keep a prisoner in debilitating discomfort and fear, but in no real danger of death. They had no understanding of psychology, and that the fear of pain provided more results than the actual delivery of pain. A complete set of amateur wankers.

Of course, she and Percy had to pretend to be as equally unknowledgeable as the rest to blend in with these simians. Moving carefully, she had located Luna’s dad lying on the cold stone floor of an isolation cell. He had been severely beaten and kicked in the head. He might make it if he had proper care within a day, otherwise he would die. With no one watching, Pansy reached inside her robe pocket and brought out a rejuvenating and healing potion that Desiree had worked up for her to give the selected prisoners. It would help him recover quickly.

Kingsley Shacklebolt was nearby; he had been suspended strappado fashion with his hands behind his back. Both shoulders were dislodged and he was literally quivering in pain even while unconscious. His body was covered in bruises where he had been kicked and beaten. This looked like Alecto Carrow’s work to Pansy. Pansy deliberated giving some of Desiree’s potion to him, but decided he was better off unconscious than awake right now.

They looked for Molly Weasley and found she had been removed from her cell to an interrogation room by the Carrows. They were still in there working on her now. Arriving at the interrogation room Pansy was appalled by Molly’s condition, but had to fake glee at the sight. Molly had been raped several more times since Arthur’s death, and she looked to have been raped again tonight by Amycus who was sitting there grinning as his sadist sister used a riding crop to whip Molly across her rather buxom breasts. This would be a think fast situation.

“What do you want here?” shouted Alecto coldly.

“I heard you had the Weasley woman here, this is one of her git who has so far survived by claiming he is loyal to our Master. He wishes now to join our ranks. Madam Umbridge wants his loyalty tested to see if it is genuine. So, I thought of an entertaining way of doing it.”

“And how do you propose to do that, girl?” asked Alecto, now getting interested.

Pansy deftly unbuttoned Percy’s robes and dropped his trousers and pants using her wand, showing a huge cock of at least ten inches to the Carrows. “This is your Master’s enemy, boy,” Pansy said while pointing at Molly Weasley. “Prove your loyalty to the Dark Lord, mount up on dear old mummy and let her see her darling little boy fuck mummy’s cunt.”

Jizzlobber hesitated, he wasn’t sure if he should really do this to Mistress Ginny’s mother. Pansy then pulled her wand and pointed it at his heart. Then she winked at him.

“Prove your loyalty, boy, or do you need a taste of the Cruciatus to help you remember your duty. Madam Umbridge wants to know whose side you are really on in this fight. Now either fuck your mother, or I’ll crucio you until your guts burst inside you. Move!”

The two sadistic siblings were now thoroughly intrigued, here was a new twist on torture even they hadn’t tried before, far more interesting than the same old boring shit they had been doing to kill time. They stepped up beside the moaning body of Molly Weasley and drew their wands; they wanted front row seats as Percy slowly spread his mother’s legs apart and knelt between them. The Carrow’s interest was now so fixated on him that they failed to notice that Pansy had maneuvered herself behind them with her wand out. As Percy hesitated again before penetrating Molly, Alecto cackled in glee and raised her wand to punish him for his hesitation.

“EXPELLIARMIS!” shouted Pansy and both of the Carrow’s wands flew from their hands. “STUPIFY!” she then shouted and the twins collapsed in place beside Molly. “LEVI CORPUS,” she said, and a wave of her wand the two stunned bodies were floated in the air to the corner where they were out of sight of the door. A few more flicks of her wand and the couple were bound and gagged.

“Change into her form quickly,” Pansy said to Jizzlobber, indicating Alecto. The was a quiet shimmer of light and where Percy had stood there was now Alecto Carrow. “If anyone comes to the door send them away rudely, like she would.”

Pansy went to Molly Weasley and forced some of the reviving and healing potion into her mouth. “Please lie still, Mrs. Weasley, help is coming to save us — I hope.”

At that moment they heard the alarms going off in the building. The party was starting. In only a few moments there was a loud knocking at the door, Alecto answered it.

“Madam Carrow we’re under attack!” screamed a panicked Millicent Bulstrode. “What do we do?”

“The enemy must be trying to enter through the lobby,” shouted Pansy. “I think everyone should immediately go up to the lobby and help defend the building there.”

“Yes, yes, that’s right,” said Alecto. “You girl, I’m putting you in charge, grab everyone you can find and go defend the lobby. Do it now before it’s too late!”

The building shook a bit as the strong Reducto spells vibrated through the structure. Millicent was now near hysteria. “But I can’t leave the prisoners unguarded.”

“Get up there and fight for your Lord and Master, you cowardly little cunt,” Alecto yelled shrilly at her and the others in the passageways behind her. “Move now or I’ll have the lot of you flayed alive and roasted.”

As a group, they took off running for the stairs that led up the several flights to the first level. Alecto shut the door and turned around to give Pansy a relieved look that the bluff had worked. In the new silence of the room Pansy heard a strange sucking sound and a black ring started to form in the space right behind her. She had been told by Hooch that something like this would happen, but this kind of magic still spooked her a bit. She stepped back and raised her wand.

“It’s all right,” said Jizzlobber as he returned to elf form. “It’s how Mistress Fleur and the Master travel.”

Now it made full sense to Pansy how Potter had stayed out of sight, she had heard tales of those who travel in the void that existed between the worlds, but thought it was all just fairy tales. Now the hole opened and out stepped Madam Hooch, wand at the ready. Pansy made sure her hands were in plain sight. Then out behind her came the whole lot ready for action.

“I’ve sent the guards up to the lobby, Mrs. Weasley is badly hurt, I gave her some of the potion, as a nice bonus the Carrows are coming with us too. We need to hurry and free the others.”

With Jizzlobber back in form as Alecto in front, Pansy, Hooch, Johnson, Spinnet, and Bell set out to free Kingsley and Mr. Lovegood. Charlie and Joan stayed to guard the return path back to the void while Fleur helped get Mrs. Weasley and the Carrows into the void. There were nearly to Kingsley’s cell when they heard the sound of running feet coming towards them.

Millicent Bulstrode turned the corner and ran into Pansy who caught her in a hip roll and threw her hard to the floor. As Millicent’s wand arm hit the stone floor there was a loud snap as it broke. The frightened girl screamed in pain that quickly turned to terror as the sole of Pansy’s boot pressed her squirming body down onto the floor. Looking up at her attacker, Millicent saw Pansy’s wand pointed at her forehead. The look on her former Slytherin roommate’s face told her that she was about to die.

“Don’t kill me, don’t kill me — please don’t kill me, Pansy,” the terrified girl blubbered. “I don’t want to die — please don’t — please don’t kill me.”

Pansy never cared that much for Millicent even though she had shared a room at Hogwarts with her for six years, but she couldn’t just kill her, especially like this. She pulled the injured girl to her feet and shoved her back towards the room they had just left telling her to surrender herself there and she could live. They locked the stairway doors leading up from the cells and went looking for the other prisoners.

Pressing on, they retrieved Kingsley Shacklebolt and Xenophilius Lovegood from their cells and began working them back to the void. The operation had gone almost like clockwork without a hitch, and that was scary to Pansy, nothing ever worked this good. As she passed the stairway, the locked door at the top exploded inward with incredible force. Pansy and Katie Bell were knocked to the ground by the concussion. As she sat up spitting out stone dust, Pansy heard a shrill shriek of rage above her. Standing in the doorway was Bellatrix LeStrange with a host of Death Eaters behind her.

“YOU TRAITOROUS WHORE!” she screamed as she raised her wand, “I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!”

“Some witches just never learn,” thought Pansy, as she was already instinctively bringing her wand to bear. “She missed killing Potter in Godric’s Hollow by taking time to run her mouth, and now she’s done it again.”

Several bursts of green light were already speeding upwards at Bellatrix as Hooch, Angelina, and Alicia had all immediately sent killing curses at her, causing Bella to dive for cover. The curses went instead into the crowd of amateurs standing dumbly behind her. The crowd scattered amid shrieks of panic as those hit began to fall dead, and those nearly hit ran for their lives. A round of Reducto curses aimed at the ceiling and walls followed close behind to collapse them and clog the stairway and passage with rubble, giving the group time to escape back into the void.

“Well it looks like I’m not an undercover agent anymore,” Pansy said as she darted into the void. “Where the hell am I?”

“It takes a little getting used to,” said Katie, “but it sure beats having to fight our way out of there.” There was a chorus of oy’s to that statement. They slowly filled Pansy in on what was happening as they walked briskly to catch up to the others.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

In the large kitchen of the bed and breakfast at Masham, the extra large sized cauldron was ready and boiling over the medieval style pit fireplace. Oliver Wood, Richard, and Jeanne had kept it ready since the teams had left. Now the hole in space opened, and Richard was relieved to see Joan step out unharmed. The others spilled out till the room was quite crowded. The prisoners and injured were carried downstairs, while others took up defensive positions in case of a surprise attack on the house.

“All right everyone,” said Fleur, “I’ve never done this before so I’m going to need all the help I can get here, but we need to move fast. The revitalizing potion is ready, we need the ingredients put in the cauldron in this order. First, the bone.”

Hermione got the leg bone of James Potter that she and Balzhoff had gotten from his grave right after sundown; she carried it gingerly to the cauldron. As she held it over the boiling liquid the group recited the incantation together.

“Bone of the father, unknowingly given.”

“Now your part, Luna,” said Fleur with a sorrowful look as Luna slowly stepped forward with the largest butcher knife from the kitchen in her right hand. The next ingredient required a servant of the soul to willingly sacrifice a significant piece of his or her flesh. In Voldemort’s case, Pettigrew had cut off his own hand. Voldemort had later created him a new hand for him as a replacement. To decide who would sacrifice for Harry the five of his coven had drawn straws. Luna, as was her usual luck, had lost.

“Fl…, fl…, fle…,” she stuttered in fear, she finally concentrated and raised the knife when she heard Neville walk up to stand beside her.

Neville dropped his trousers and pulled down his pants exposing his genitals, with his left hand he grasped his testicles, in his right was a knife. “Together, flesh of the servant, willingly given,” he shouted as the others joined in, then Neville drew the razor sharp knife across his scrotum and severed it. He didn’t cry out or do more than make a face of pain, as he tossed the severed flesh into the cauldron without even looking at it. He then stepped back as Desiree caught him and carried him down to Poppy. Everyone watched him go.

“The enchantment is started, we have to keep the ceremony going, people, lets focus,” said Fleur. “Bring in our special guest of honor. Sister Ginny, would you care to assist us in this part?”

“I’d be happy to oblige, Sister,” replied Ginny in a hardened voice as Amycus Carrow was dragged screaming into the room. Ginny took the butcher knife from Luna’s hand and tore open Amycus’s robes and trousers. With one hand she grabbed the end of Amycus’s cock, fully erect from terror, and placed the blade of the knife at the root.

“This is a little down payment for raping my mother, you piece of shit,” she said almost spitting each word into his face. “All together, sisters, blood of the enemy forcibly taken.” With that she severed Amycus’s penis and held it over the cauldron so that the blood would pour into the potion.

Amycus screamed in pain as his cock was slashed from his body, he tried get away from Ginny and her knife, but unfortunately ran into little Luna. Luna had already seen the brutal treatment her father had received in prison, and a babbling Millicent had told her that it was Amycus who had administered most of the torture. Now with him standing directly in front of her the pent up rage boiled over in her. Screaming in rage, she grabbed his head and viciously slammed her knee into Amycus’s bloody crotch. As Amycus’s body convulsed forward in pain, Luna drove her thumbs into his eyeballs, the sharp nails gouging them in the sockets and blinding him. His screams were raised to an even higher pitch and he tried to fall, but Luna’s knee caught his testicles again with all her weight behind the blow.

Falling to the stone floor Amycus tried instinctively to cover his shattered groin, but Luna already had other targets in sight. Luna was now wearing heavy boots like the other girls wore and she drove the toe into the side of Amycus’s exposed chest with a sound that someone had hit a bass drum, repeated kicks to the chest resulted in a sound like small sticks being snapped as Amycus’s ribs were broken and driven into his chest. The screams of pain turned into a gurgling sound as Amycus began to spit blood from his rib-perforated lungs. Unable to restrain herself any longer, Ginny came over and joined in kicking Amycus in the abdomen with her boots with the blades extended. In seconds, the floor was slick with blood as Amycus slipped into shock.

“Ginny, Luna, break time is over, we need you back here,” shouted Fleur, as the two shaking coven members were brought back by the cauldron, Hermione and Gabrielle put their arms around them to calm them down from their rage. “We’ve got to save Harry.”

Fleur nodded to Charlie and George. They brought Harry’s decapitated corpse and head to the cauldron and dropped them in. On contact the potion went into a rolling boil as the energy was being released, it had the form, all it needed was the soul to put inside it. Voldemort’s old body had been destroyed in the blast, the deformed pseudo body he had created over the years was made to serve, but it had left his new body a deformed looking creature. Because of the petrifaction, Harry’s body was relatively intact for reconstitution. The new body should be a perfect match.

Remus now approached the cauldron and mentally summoned up Harry, and expelled him into the rolling potion. The five witches of the coven then joined hands and formed a circle around the cauldron; they silently recited the ancient spell of making, focusing their will on Harry’s dead body being reconstituted using the corpse as raw material. The potion then ignited into a bright yellow flame, the smoke choked the room. It was belated obvious to them why Voldemort had done his reconstitution ceremony outside.

Everyone was coughing and crying from the smoke and didn’t notice at first when the fire under the cauldron went out and the sound of the potion bubbling stopped. Then they gradually noticed the silence. Fleur managed to open a window and Hermione made a wind flow through the house blowing the smoke out with it. When it was clear enough to see, the group saw the cauldron just sitting there, then, to everyone’s amazement, a hand appeared gripping the lip and trying to pull upwards. Running to look in the cauldron, the coven saw a miracle, Harry Potter, alive and sitting in the bottom looking confused.

He was back. Harry Potter had returned from the grave.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

“AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHRRRRGGGGGHHHH!” screamed Lord Voldemort as he surveyed the wrecked lobby of the Ministry building and the empty podium where Potter’s body had once lain. Before him, the battered and bruised Crabbe and Goyle knelt shaking in terror. “You stupid turds are even more worthless that your parents were.”

“But …but … it wasn’t our fault,” blubbered Crabbe, the pounding pain in his groin intensifying his terror. “They came from nowhere, they just stepped out of a hole in the air and were standing there, we fought them, but there were too many of them.”

Goyle simply lay curled up on the floor clutching pathetically at his bloody abdomen. His face had become so swollen he was almost unrecognizable. Lord Voldemort focused on the minds of his two dim witted minions and saw their thoughts. The worthless bastards had been asleep on duty, they had allowed his enemies to slip into the Ministry unchallenged. Their thoughts were jumbled and clouded, but it was clear that rather than stand and fight the two had done nothing but try to flee to safety. His fury boiled over at their incompetence, an example would have to be made of this.

“CRUCIO!” screamed the Dark Lord as he pointed Excalibur at the two. The two boys began rolling on the floor shrieking in agony. Most of the new Death Eaters recruits looked away in terror or began to feel sick. As Voldemort held the two under the curse he looked over to his pet waiting coiled nearby. “Nagini, come,” he said in Parseltongue.

A few moments later the crowd recoiled in fear as a huge snake uncoiled and slowly slithered towards his Master. Releasing Crabbe and Goyle from the torment of the Cruciatus, Voldemort stared down at the two with no measure of pity in his eyes.

“Kill them,” he said.

“Yes, Master,” hissed the gigantic snake. The snake moved surprisingly quick, and wrapped her body around the still stunned Crabbe and Goyle. As his coils began to tighten the two were drawn tight together against each other, Crabbe struggled to get free and fought against the snake until the snake struck and drove its fangs into his face. Blood spurted from the screaming boy’s wounds and ran down his body to the floor. Goyle looked like he was trying to scream but the coils were already too tight for him to draw breath. The great snake then pulled them in even further with its contractions; their bodies began to bloat outward between the coils as they were squeezed. There was the sound of snapping like wood in a campfire as their ribcage collapsed. Finally, with a sickening splattering sort of sound, Goyle’s body burst open blowing a fountain of blood into the air, a few seconds later, Crabbe’s followed suite. The great hall became silent as a grave.

“Severus,” Voldemort said loudly to Snape, so that the others standing around frozen in horror could hear, “since these two allowed Potter’s corpse to be taken from us, their corpses can replace it to illustrate the new standard price of failure to serve us properly.”

“Yes, my Lord,” muttered Snape. “I will see to it immediately.”

Turning to Bellatrix, Voldemort gave her a very dangerous look that made her shiver. “Now tell us what happened in our dungeons, how did they get in there? What happened to the prisoners? Who is in league with our enemies? TELL US!”

Bellatrix explained as best she knew, but a lot of it she had to theorize.

“So the Parkinson girl and the Bulstrode girl were traitors? What about the Carrows, are they traitors or are they dead?”

“I don’t know, my Lord, we can’t find any way they got in, or left. They collapsed the walls and sealed themselves in, but nothing was there when we searched, nothing. They must have changed form or disapparated out.”

“That is impossible in here,” snapped Voldemort. “They got out some other way.”

“My Lord, there are the old stories of those that could travel in the void,” said Bellatrix. “They could seem to appear and disappear as they willed.”

“If such a thing exists then there is only one who would have had the knowledge of the old magic to have performed it,” said Voldemort, “and Severus has seen to it that he and his line are no more.”

“Potter had an invisibility cloak, and all those whom were identified by name as being part of this attack were ex-Ministry security agents who had been issued camouflage cloaks of their own,” said Snape.

“Our thoughts as well, Severus,” said Voldemort. “Those two fell asleep at their post and allowed the enemy to slip in here under their noses. How they did this is not our greatest concern, but why. We can understand why they wanted the prisoners, they are sentimental idiots, and such an act would appeal to them, but why take Potter’s body?”

“A diversion, my Lord?” answered Bellatrix. “The guards all claimed that Alecto ordered them to come here as soon as they heard sounds of the fighting. Everyone left to obey their orders.”

“But why take Potter’s dead body? It has no use to them; they could just incinerate it and deny us our prize.”

“You said they were sentimental idiots, my Lord,” replied Snape. “Perhaps they wanted him to have a proper burial like the Homeric heroes were afforded.”

“That’s doubtful, Severus,” mused Voldemort.

“Then maybe the fools have it in mind to bring their chosen one back to life again,” laughed Snape, the others joining in on the joke.

Now in Voldemort’s mind the kernel of a fear was slowly taking root. Potter had known about his Horcruxes, he had even destroyed some of them, but how many? Were they all destroyed, was it just the two of him left now, with nothing binding them to the Earth? If Potter knew about them then could he have made his own? No, Potter was too weak to commit murder. But was there truly a way that Merlin had taught Potter to cross the veil? Potter had witnessed his rebirth and knew of the ceremony.

“Severus, who was on guard at the door to the Department of Mysteries last night?”

“Young Yaxley, he is still there I believe my Lord.”

“Accompany us, we must see him immediately.”

In the Department of Mysteries anteroom Yaxley was quite fearful, it wasn’t often that the Dark Lord spoke directly to him. He answered the questions truthfully; he knew the penalty for lying. Snape immediately disavowed that he was not the one Yaxley saw enter with Pansy. Voldemort took the news quietly, and left for his office.

“Severus, he has crossed the veil, they are trying to restore Potter to life,” said Voldemort. “I want you to go to Godric’s Hollow immediately, to the cemetery. Find the grave of James Potter and see if it has been disturbed, then I want the remains of the corpse exhumed entirely and utterly destroyed, not even a bone fragment must be left. Do this for us now.”

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

Outside he could hear the birds chirping as he lay there still sleepy in the bed, turning he opened his eyes and saw Ginny there beside him, her eyes staring deep into his.

“Harry?” he heard her say in a strangely questioning sort of way, like she wasn’t sure.

“Good morning, baby,” Harry muttered, his tongue feeling slightly twisted like he had gotten into way too much of Ogden’s Old Firewhiskey last night. “You won’t believe what a crazy dream I had last night. I dreamed Voldemort killed me and I was in this strange place like heaven, but they wouldn’t let me in.”

Harry then turned to look around him and jumped a bit, which hurt because his muscles felt stiff; surrounding the bed was a large group of people. Most he knew right away, but some he didn’t, one of these walked up to him and extended his right hand.

“Richard Clearwater, Earl of Masham, welcome back to the land of the living, Mister Potter,” he said as Harry saw all the others begin to laugh and cry at the same time. “I’m your host; these are the field headquarters for the Order of the Unicorn.”

“Ah…, thank you, Sir,” muttered a confused Harry as he shook Masham’s hand.

“The membership roll has grown a bit since you left us, Harry,” said Fleur indicating the new faces, “but we lost some too.”

“I know,” said Harry, now realizing it had been real as the thoughts of what had happened poured back into his mind. “So it really happened … I was really dead?”

It took a while for Harry to get up, he felt so weak he could barely stand. Ginny and Hermione got him dressed and brought him into the kitchen for something to eat. There he found out that he had been dead for nine days, and had been reconstituted right after dawn the day before. He had slept for 32 hours, the first 24 of them in the void. No wonder it had all seemed like a bad dream. Slowly, as he ate, Harry related parts of what he had witnessed; leaving out the embarrassing parts where Ron punched him in the knackers and Myrtle was his great aunt.

Ginny was pleased to know that her father and brothers were all right, Luna cried when Harry told her about meeting her mother. Harry explained as best he remembered why everything had gone so wrong in Godric’s Hollow. Then it was his turn to listen as he found out what had happened since his death. Poppy came by to marvel at Harry, she said that she had seen a lot of things but she never thought she’d see the dead come back good as new. Harry asked how the hospital ward for the Order was going.

He was told that Amycus Carrow had died of internal injuries, Neville had been healed somewhat, but his castration was now permanent, and Millicent’s broken arm had finally been healed. Kingsley, Molly, and Mr. Lovegood were recovering using the healing potion made from Phoenix Tears, Veela Honeydew, and some of Poppy’s custom remedies. Remus brought Harry his invisibility cloak and the Black Wand that Desiree had gotten out of the Unicorn. He also brought Harry his old wand that he had lost in the fight at Godric’s Hollow. Remus had gone back later when it was relatively safe and found it.

“Voldemort’s not stupid, Harry,” said Hermione. “He quickly figured out that we were trying to bring you back. He sent Snape to the Godric’s Hollow cemetery to check your parent’s graves. The bastard exhumed their bones and incinerated them.”

“We staked out the old Gaunt house where the ring was hidden and Rookwood came by searching for the well. Voldemort knows that his Horcruxes are being destroyed,” said Fleur. “He’ll have to make more now.”

“I don’t know if he can,” answered Hermione. “A soul has to have some continuity to exist; each Horcrux made makes the remaining soul have to stretch farther because you’ve ripped a part of it off and detached it. So each new one becomes harder to make. That Voldemort was able to make so many Horcruxes is quite a testament to his initial power.”

“That’s why he was boasting in the cemetery that night after he came back about having gone further than anyone else towards immortality,” said Harry. “He had made more Horcruxes than anyone else ever had to power to do before him.”

“Exactly,” said Hermione. “But I think he has already stretched his remaining soul almost to the snapping point with all the ones he made. I doubt he can rip anymore of his soul off with just a simple murder. His soul is so depraved now that just killing someone doesn’t have any meaning to him. It would have to be something that even he saw as a new low to do it, and he might make himself a vegetable trying it.”

“How’s that?” asked Pansy.

“Remember what they look like when we bring them back out of the Black Room?” Hermione asked, as Pansy and the other Inquisitors in the room remembered those that had been fed to the Dementors. “Once the soul has been sucked out, they are mindless zombies. If Voldemort stretches his soul too thin it can simply pop like an overblown balloon, just disintegrate right inside him. He’d be left in a vegetated state just as if he was Dementor dinner.”

“So if we just wait then Voldemort might just destroy his own self?” asked Angelina.

“Or if we wait he might be able to make a new Horcrux and hide it where we can’t find it, and we start all over again,” added Katie Bell.

“Whatever we do we need to move quickly. He’ll be more afraid now than ever since he knows you’ve destroyed his Horcruxes,” said Pansy from the corner. “He’ll have a bunker mentality now, and seal himself up in the Ministry building.”

“We got in there before, and I have markers in the void now so we can navigate better,” said Fleur. “We can be in there and hit them hard today if we need to.”

“You are forgetting something important,” said Ginny. “Voldemort still has the sword obeying his will because he has a touch of Harry’s blood in him. We need Harry to control the sword.”

“I’m not able to stand up to him just yet,” said Harry. “I’m still weak and disoriented from what happened, I need a little time, I need to go back into the void for a bit.”

“Mum and Poppy will take care of you, Harry,” said Fleur. Turning to Hermione, she said, “It wouldn’t hurt if we had some more information out of Alecto on Voldemort. It’d be nice if somebody knew how to sweet talk her into telling us something.”

“It doesn’t hurt to ask,” said Pansy with a wicked grin.

“Just if you don’t answer,” added Hermione as she led the way down to the basement.

“You know, I’m starting to take a liking to you, Granger,” mumbled Pansy in faux disgust as she followed her down the stairs.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

THE DAILY PROPHET

POTTER GANG REMAINS AT LARGE AS

MANHUNT FOR MINISTRY MURDER CULPRITS

GOES INTO FOURTH DAY

Official Ministry Release to the Daily Prophet

By Head of the Ministry Department of Information

Rita Skeeter

In an official release by Rita Skeeter, the public is notified that the Department of Magical Law Enforcement is expending all efforts to capture the culprits sought in the brazen murders of two Aurors in the lobby of the Ministry of Magic Building four nights ago; and the torture and murder of two agents of the Inquisition.

Aurors Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle were hailed as dedicated young protectors of the peace who were viciously murdered in the line of duty by members of the Potter gang who entered the Ministry building by means of treachery to steal the body of their former leader Harry Potter, and free imprisoned sympathizers awaiting trial for their crimes.

In addition to the cold-blooded murders of the Aurors, two loyal agents of the Inquisition, Amycus and Alecto Carrow, well known for their restraint and acts of kindness to those accused of crimes, were abducted during the raid. Last night their battered, tortured, and naked bodies were found in the inner courtyard of St. Mungo’s hospital. Amycus Carrow had apparently been brutally beaten to death soon after his abduction; his genitalia cut off and placed in his mouth. Alecto showed signs of repeated and prolonged exposure to the Cruciatus curse, and died of massive internal hemorrhaging due to a large metal rod being driven through her vagina and into her bowels.

Madam Umbridge, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, has announced a 10,000 Galleon reward each for known members of the Potter gang who have already been declared outlaws.

By order of the Minister of Magic, any member of the magical community may capture, or kill without notice, any proclaimed member of the gang to receive the reward. He additionally gave notice that the following names of traitors and escaped criminals have been added to the list of outlaws: Pansy Parkinson, Millicent Bulstrode, Percy Weasley, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Molly Weasley, and Xenophilius Lovegood.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

“So none of our Horcruxes can be located then?” asked Voldemort.

“It appears, my Lord, that somehow they have all been tampered with, we must assume Potter’s cronies either have them, or they are destroyed,” said Snape.

“So, we must repeat our process to make another of us to bind us to this world. It is fortunate that we possess the sword; only by its power could we split ourself again. Still it will be dangerous to attempt, we must not rashly rush into this. If Potter is back he will need considerable time to consolidate his body, just as we did. We want you to bend all efforts into finding his lair before he is strong enough to move against us. I shall study in private upon the chances of our safely creating a new Horcrux.”

“Yes, my Lord.”

“Also, Severus, what is the report on the Carrows, there is a rumor something was written on them by Potter’s bitches.”

“Alecto was tortured, a professional job by the look of it. We must assume she talked to ease her death agonies. There was an inscription burned into her forehead, ‘no more mercy.’ I personally incinerated the bodies so they wouldn’t be seen. As for Amycus, he was beaten to death in an act of rage soon after he was taken, his cock was cut off and the blood squeezed out of it.”

“The blood of an enemy, forcibly taken,” muttered Voldemort. “The grave of his father disturbed, a leg bone unaccounted for, and a coven of servants who would willingly sacrifice their flesh for him. But how could he have come back through the veil? Unless he has some magic from Merlin I know not of, maybe he isn’t lying after all.”

“Potter is a lying brat, my Lord, I know him, I wasted six long years watching his smug superior act. Just like his father, always thinking he was too good.”

“You let old grievances cloud your judgment too much, Severus, do not underestimate the boy. If he truly has managed to come back to haunt us then it is a feat of magic worth being smug over. Double the security, we can’t go back into hiding now so they know where to find us. Now we must find them and strike first, or wait for their move.”

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

Millicent Bulstrode sat naked in her cell in a state of despair. The mudblood Granger girl had transfigured an old packing crate into a barred cell and she had been placed inside with a bucket to defecate in and some copies of the Daily Prophet for tissue. She had listened as Alecto screamed in pain while she was tortured in the adjoining room, and finally killed. She had shook in terror as she waited for them to come to her, but they had not bothered her yet. Even if they released her she knew she would die, the paper said that she was now an outlaw; she would be killed on sight by the servants of the Dark Lord.

After nearly a week in captivity she was startled awake from her fitful sleep by the sound of heavy footsteps coming towards her cage, it definitely wasn’t the elf who brought her food twice a day and emptied the bucket. Looking up in the dim light Millicent saw Pansy Parkinson and Percy Weasley standing there grinning down at her.

“Hello, Millicent,” said Pansy jauntily, “I thought you might like to stretch your legs a bit.” She then opened the door to the cage and cast a binding spell on Millicent’s arms.

“This way, please,” Pansy said while beckoning her towards another room. Millicent had little choice; she knew pleas for mercy would only fall on deaf ears. She was led to a locked door leading into a room with straw on the floor, sitting in there were two other naked figures. She was roughly pushed from behind and fell to the floor skinning both her knees. The other two prisoners turned to look at her and she saw that they were Pansy Parkinson and Percy Weasley. They were filthy and stank of feces and urine. Their bodies were covered in cuts and bruises indicating rough treatment, their legs had short lengths of chain that bound them to the back wall.

“Does Mistress wish us to chain this one too,” asked the Percy standing at the door.

“It is not necessary, she and the others will be dealt with tonight, she is going nowhere,” said Pansy.

A confused Millicent stared between the two sets of Pansy and Percy around her. The two standing over her began to laugh as they saw her confusion.

“I don’t think she’s figured it out yet, let’s help her,” said Pansy, and then the two standing figures shimmered as they reverted back to their real forms, that of changling elves.

“Now do you understand, stupid witch?” said the other elf as the two relocked the door and left still laughing.

“Milli?” came a tired and distressed voice from the form beside her. “Is that really you?”

“Yes, Pansy,” Millicent said while crying and sliding closer to her old roommate from Hogwarts. The two had never been close friends at school, but any comfort was welcome now.

“I’m sorry they got you too, Milli, I think he’s finally going to have us killed tonight.”

“Who, Harry Potter?”

“No, Harry Potter is dead; I mean the one who planned all this.”

“Who is it?”

“You won’t believe me,” sobbed Pansy.

“Oh, she just might, Miss. Parkinson, give it a try and see,” came a voice from the barred opening in the door that made Millicent jump. It was the voice of Albus Dumbledore. There was a click of the latch and the door opened revealing Professor Dumbledore and Fleur Delacour. “And how are you enjoying the country air, Miss. Bulstrode?”

“But you’re dead; Professor Snape killed you last year.”

“That’s exactly what I needed everyone to believe, isn’t it; especially little Tommy Riddle who was targeting me for death. Therefore, I conveniently died, and he stops trying to kill me, the perfect win-win situation. But I’m afraid I couldn’t afford to really die when I was so close to what I had waited sixteen years for, I was not to be cheated of my retirement, of my legacy.”

“Why don’t you tell her, daddy, I want to see the stupid look on her face,” said Fleur with a short laugh.

“Daddy? You mean you are her father?” mumbled Millicent. “But I thought you were….”

“Queer?” asked a smiling Dumbledore. “That was just one of my many little charades. And Fleur? Yes, I am her father, and through her mother I learned of the Golden Unicorn and the wealth and power the Potter family inherited, and I wanted it all for myself. You see I intend to live a long time, when I hid the Philosopher’s Stone in Hogwarts seven years ago I made sure I stored up a nice little supply of elixir for myself. Even diluted, it will last me and my family a century or two while I make a new stone for myself to return me to eternal youth, but it won’t be cheap. Nicholas Flamel had a personal fortune to buy the materials and equipment he needed, I only had a professor’s salary. I needed a fortune of my own, and the Potter’s hoard of gold from the Golden Unicorn would serve nicely.

“I was working on a way to take the elves for myself when what good fortune should befall me, but the birth of a baby and the telling of the prophesy. I knew Voldemort couldn’t ignore the threat, so I made sure that it would reach his ears. I was the one who let slip to that stupid Lily Potter about the power of the ‘old magic’ invoked by a love sacrifice to destroy the attacker and protect the object of the sacrifice. Everything worked perfectly, the Potter’s were dead, Voldemort too, or so I thought, Black in prison, and me as Harry’s guardian.

“I dumped the little git on his muggle relatives and paid them off to keep him ignorant of his past. That left me license as guardian to control his fortune and live in luxury while I waited till he arrived at Hogwarts. Once there I would have him under my control, all that was left was a marriage to one of my daughters, a grandchild to raise under my strict control, and then do away with poor Harry for good. The elves must obey Harry’s child and its guardian.”

“Which just happens to be me,” said Fleur opening her robes to expose her six-month bulge. “When my baby is born the bloodline and power of Merlin will be forever merged with that of Godric Gryffindor. I will raise him to adore and obey dear ma-ma and dear gran-pa-pa in all things. The Potter fortune will be all ours.”

“We shall live like bloody oil sheiks,” cackled Dumbledore, “and when we perfect our own Philosopher’s stone in a few decades, or a century at most, we shall live that way forever in eternal youth and vigor!”

“There only remains one little fly in the ointment,” said Fleur.

“Yes, my darling, little Tom Riddle survived his encounter with young Harry. I didn’t know about the Horcruxes then, no, I must admit I miscalculated on that little detail. But, not to worry, it has played to our advantage in the end game, I have an old friend who also wishes to share in immortality situated very close to dear little Tommy at this very moment. He has been very helpful from the beginning, passing information, learning where the Horcruxes were hidden so I could collect them. He even saw to it that we were able to sneak into and out of the Ministry the other night while he was absent. Tomorrow he performs his greatest service yet, he will reenact the famous scene from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar where Caesar gets his, a month and a few days late, but you get the point.”

“As will Voldemort!” squealed Fleur.

“But what about the others, Granger and Weasley?” asked Millicent.

“Oh, they believe that I’m dead and that Harry really was brought back by some silly magic spell we put together, but the real Harry is quite dead, that’s why I needed the body back, can’t have two Harry’s lying about you know. However, with the real Harry dead the elves immediately began to obey the mother of the new Master,” Dumbledore said while indicating Fleur.

“And I told one of them to pretend to be the newly reincarnated Harry and to tell no one of it. Once Voldemort is dead tomorrow night, we will stage the return of Harry who will publicly defeat Lord Voldemort, as played by another elf, and become the new Minister of Magic by acclaim. Once in power we will see to it that Harry’s old friends get quietly sent to the Dementor’s on various charges, and that’s that. Daddy, mum, my sister, and I will covertly run the Ministry, and be wealthy and immortal.”

“Yes, my darling daughter,” said Dumbledore as he placed a little kiss on her forehead. “Tonight we are simply tying up the loose ends, of which you and your two companions in misery here, unfortunately are. Even though I eventually came to loath that pathetic Headmaster’s position, I still have a soft spot for my old students, so don’t worry, my dears; I have ordered that your deaths be quick and painless if you cooperate. Resist and I’m afraid it will hurt some.”

Fleur called in the two elves and told them to carry the three prisoners to the Godric’s Hollow cemetery and kill them. “Use the wands to burn the words ‘no mercy’ in their foreheads, leave the bodies where they’ll be found in the morning. We’ll have poor little Tommy Riddle soiling his linen, he’ll want only his most trusted servants around him.”

“Exactly how we want it,” laughed Dumbledore as he nodded his head vigorously. “Tomorrow night, my darling child, you will be one of the richest women in the world. We must be ready to make final preparations, our friend will be coming here as soon as he can slip out of the Ministry unnoticed. He has already confirmed that Voldemort knows his Horcruxes are destroyed, and plans to use the sword to make another.”

“Get on with it; fail me and I will have you both skinned alive,” Fleur said to the elves as she and her father left the room. The elves nodded and grabbed the three prisoners, Percy immediately began crying out that he didn’t want to die. There was the strange feeling that accompanied disapparation and Millicent found herself and the other two prisoners among the rows of headstones and monuments in the Godric’s Hollow cemetery.

The three were unceremoniously dumped on the ground for their execution. Percy clabbered to his knees, his and Pansy’s legs were still bound by chains but their hands were free, while Millicent was just the opposite. Percy grasp at the elves pleading piteously for his life, but to no avail. Then Percy made a desperate grab for the wand. Pansy joined in the melee and the elves went down in a pile with them. Millicent quickly got to her feet, she wanted to help but she had no use of her hands. Within seconds there was a series of pops as more elves with wands arrived, called as reinforcements by the other two.

“Kill them, kill them all,” the elves in the pile yelled to the arriving elves. Millicent knew she had only one chance, she must try to run for it, the others were lost. She ran zigzagging through the headstones hearing the cries behind her. There were two cries of “Avada Kadavra” in elf voices followed by the death screams of a man and a woman.

Millicent ran on in terror, her lungs bursting for more air, she collapsed against a tall monument in the shape of a death angel which looked down upon her. Then she heard them coming, the pitter-patter of running little feet, and the little high-pitched whispers as they searched for her to kill her. She held her breath as she heard two of the elves stop just behind the monument she was hiding behind. Millicent knew she was only moments from death.

In front of her she saw a large shadow move, it was a big black dog out scavenging, but the short stature elves couldn’t see over the stones as clearly as she could, they thought it was her running away from them. They called to each other and ran after the blur of motion yelling to each other to kill it. There were several blasts of green light and finally the yelp of a dog that was cut short. They would be coming back now; she had to make a run for it. Millicent ran as hard as she could for the cemetery gate opening into the streets of town. As she pushed open the gate it made a loud creaking noise, she heard yells among the headstones. They had heard her and were coming.

Still naked and her hands bound, Millicent ran through the now darkened streets screaming for help. A few lights came on in the windows of the still habitable homes there, and then there was a popping sound around her, she was now surrounded by wizards of the New Godric’s Hollow security forces.

“Please help me, they’re trying to kill me,” she gasped out of breath and nearing unconsciousness.

“Who are you?” demanded a security officer.

“I’m Millicent Bulstrode … I’m an Inquisitor … I was kidnapped by the Potter gang… I escaped … they’re after me … I have important information for the Dark Lord.”

Behind them, the confused officers heard running feet. “There she is, kill her…” came the cry, followed by several green lights as death curses were rapidly fired towards Millicent. Millicent threw herself flat and the curses missed, returned curses from the security officers drove the elves back to regroup. Millicent was grabbed and disapparated to the security center and placed in a cell while the Ministry was informed. Despite her fear, Millicent managed to pass out on the hard cot out of sheer exhaustion.