"Bellatrix Lestrange. You have been brought in front of the Wizengamot on the serious charges of murder, torture and affiliating yourself with the Dark Arts. You have been accused of using the Unforgivable Curses in situations that cannot be declared as 'self-defence' and of being in close contact with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, without notifying the Ministry of Magic. How do you plea?"
It was a warm summer afternoon in the middle of July; just one month after Harry Potter had defeated Lord Voldemort. Harry himself was sitting in the crowd of onlookers at Bellatrix Lestrange's trial, a look of content on his face. Ron Weasley sat on his left, holding hands with Hermione Granger. Harry's two best friends smiled at him then turned back to the trial at hand. Harry looked to his right, studying the face of the person sitting next to him. Neville Longbottom's round, normally friendly face was impassive. Harry sighed and looked past Neville, to the love of his life, the most beautiful redhead he had ever laid eyes on. Ginny Weasley was staring up at Bellatrix with a look of mingled hate and disgust. She turned her head to Harry and gave a quick smile, before looking back up at the podium. She and Harry had decided that they would sit apart for this particular trial and Harry had invited Neville to sit next to him in her place. They both knew that he needed support on this day, for it was this Death Eater who had inflicted almost as much pain on Neville's life as Voldemort had on Harry's. Harry sighed and turned back to the trial.
"Bellatrix Lestrange. Answer the Wizengamot. How do you plea?"
"I don't plea to blood traitors, Half-bloods and Mudbloods such as yourselves! I have pride in my pure blood! The blood in my veins comes from The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black!" Bellatrix screeched. Her face was contorted in glee; she looked insane.
"Mrs. Lestrange. The purity of your blood does not matter to the Wizengamot. Your sentence will not be altered in accordance of your ancestry. Neither will the outcome of this trial. Now how do you plead?" Tykan Smidgskin glared down at Bellatrix. He could not stand Death Eaters. He was a Pureblood himself, but his wife was born to Muggles, meaning his children were Half-bloods. He hated the causes Lord Voldemort and his followers had stood for. Smidgskin was pleased to be Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. He was hard on the Death Eaters, and he had a right to be. They had destroyed the lives of every single person in the world. Sadness was a chain effect, for once one person's loved one was killed or tortured, their sadness wore off on their friends, whose sadness wore off on their friends. And there had been many deaths, oh yes, many deaths. Many people, Muggle and wizard alike, had lost ones they loved. The Death Eaters had also suffered, even if the world hated to admit it. The Dark Lord never hesitated to kill off his followers if they spited him, and the Aurors killed many others. Yes, the Death Eaters had suffered, but Smidgskin did not think that they had suffered enough and he was in a position to do something about it. He gave life in prison for the lot of them, although he personally thought that they should get worse.
Harry laughed inwardly at Smidgskin's thoughts. Last year, in his seventh year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, several members of the Order of the Phoenix had privately tutored Harry. He had been taught Legilimency and surprised all by how fast he caught on, considering his Occlumency attempts. He quickly became one of the most accomplished Legilimenses of all time. So accomplished, in fact, that he could delve into the minds of others without having eye contact with them.
"Mrs. Lestrange. We will ask only once more. If you give up your right to a fair trial, we will find you guilty on all counts. Now how do you plea?"
"You don't understand, do you?" she asked, with the air of one superior to another. "Even if Potter here," she sneered at Harry, who raised his eyebrows, "defeated the Dark Lord, he has not defeated the Death Eaters! There will be a new Dark Lord; we'll always be here. You can't stop us. Do you feel safe now, because he's gone? Your security will not last, I will rule, or my dear brother-in-law, Lucius, will rule. I'm right in saying that you haven't caught him yet, aren't I? Yes? Well then, let me have the honour of re-introducing you!"
There was a flash of light as the doors banged open on either side of the chamber. The Death Eaters stormed in, throwing curses at the spectators. Harry knew that these were the men yet to be captured. He drew his wand, but before he could utter a spell, a dozen of the Dark wizards were surrounding him, throwing curses. Ron, Hermione and Ginny threw spells back at the Death Eaters, trying to help Harry out. Harry looked around for Neville and found him in front of Bellatrix Lestrange.
Harry took one look at him and sighed. It would not be a good idea for anyone to try to free Lestrange. Neville was not about to let her get away from justice again. Harry went back to the task at hand.
Ginny's wrist was limp, it looked broken, but she was still firing spells at the Death Eaters with her good hand. Hermione was nursing a cut on her arm, but she too was still fighting. Ron was fine and Harry grinned when he saw him perform a perfect Petrificus Totalus! curse that sent his victim to the ground, stiff as a board. Harry was quickly reminded of the DA lessons he had held in his fifth year, where he had taught Ron that very spell.
"Stupefy!" Harry roared. How could this have happened? How could a bunch of people in cloaks and masks, known to anybody who was anybody in the Wizarding World as Death Eaters, slip into the Ministry of Magic undetected? Did they have inside help? Who was the traitor?
Harry sent another Stunning Spell at the Death Eaters. A very familiar drawl lazily said, "Protego!"
"Malfoy! Show yourself; let's settle this man to man!" Harry yelled to Malfoy Senior.
"You are no man, Potter. You are a boy. You only defeated the Dark Lord because he was vulnerable, he was weak, you are nothing but lucky. You are nothing, boy, nothing. And this time around, we will succeed in killing you!"
Hermione, Ron and Ginny were all held up in their own fights; they had drifted away from Harry, leaving him to battle five Death Eaters on his own. There was no one around to help him; everyone else was either fighting, hurt, or dead.
Across the room, Neville Longbottom was still standing in front of Bellatrix's chair. She was chained in and unable to move, but Neville did not want any of the Death Eaters getting close enough to untie her.
"Do you really think you can win, Longbottom? When I am free, you will be my victim. Potter was the Dark Lord's, but as he will be killed sooner or later, my goal will be you. You won't be hard to kill, but that's not my plan for you, boy. I'd rather you join your parents in St. Mungo' s. Every corner you turn, you'll see me and I'll get you in the end. I will be free soon enough and the games will begin."
"You wish," Neville replied, surprisingly calm as ever. Fighting the Dark Arts over the past four years had brought a great change in Neville. He was no longer the boy who always messed things up; he had turned into a very mature young man. He always kept his temper and his thinking was quick. He had helped the Order many times since he had come of age and for once in his life he was proud of himself, as were his friends and family. Neville saw the Death Eaters surround Harry; he knew his friend was getting tired. He bit his lip.
Harry needed help, but if Neville left Bellatrix would be out in the open, easy for the Death Eaters to get to. Neville watched as Harry defeated two of his pursuers. He saw him stumble, still firing his spells. Why wasn't anyone helping him? Didn't they care? But Neville knew his thoughts were unfair. There were many Death Eaters in the chamber and the people who were still able to fight were doing so.
"Someone help Harry!" Ginny shrieked. Neville turned towards her. Ginny had been the first girl he had ever liked. She was still so kind to him and he didn't want her to get hurt. She was one of his best friends. He knew that, if anything happened to Harry, her spirit would break. The Wizarding World needed Ginny. She was an inspiration to so many. He could not let the Death Eaters do that to her. Neville took one last look at Bellatrix and then hurried off to join the fight.
Harry looked around him. He had Stunned two of his enemies but three others remained and he knew Lucius Malfoy was one of them. He felt a bit dizzy and knew that his energy was running out.
Neville ran over to Harry. How many times had his friend saved him from situations like this? Harry was always there to help Neville and now was his chance to repay him.
"Incarcerous!" Neville pointed his wand at one of the Death Eaters, watching ropes fly from it and wrap themselves around the man.
"Impedimenta!" Harry and him called out at the same time, causing the two remaining Death Eaters to fly across the room.
"Thanks, Neville. One more minute of that and I would be a goner."
"No problem. Just returning the favour. Do you think they'll be waking up anytime soon?" he asked, staring at the Death Eaters.
One remained motionless, crumbled against the wall. The more fortunate Death Eater stood up, his mask sliding off his face. Lucius Malfoy turned to Harry and Neville, a triumphant look on his face.
"What are you so happy about, Malfoy? You're trapped!" Harry yelled, looking at Draco's father with disgust.
"Oh, no. No, no, no!" Neville was looking horror- struck, staring up at Malfoy.
"Neville, what's wrong? We have him, he can't get away."
But Neville was pointing up at Malfoy, his face now contorted in rage. "We sent him right to her! Right to her, Harry, they're going to escape!"
"I- what? What are you talking about, Neville?"
"Come on! I had to leave Lestrange unguarded in order to help you. There was no one else. And we just sent Malfoy right over to her. As soon as she's released, they'll be able to flee. There are hardly any Aurors in here and most of the Order is out, rounding up the remaining Death Eaters. Who, let me remind you, are here! We're no match for them!"
"Oh," said Harry stupidly. "Oh!" he repeated, fully understanding. "Let's go!" They sprinted across the room, but Malfoy saw them coming and shouted, "Diffindo!" breaking the chains that held Bellatrix to her chair. He threw her a wand and once again shouted a spell.
"Morsmordre!" A skull flew out of his wand, a snake protruding from its mouth. The Dark Mark hovered over the room and the Death Eaters that were still fighting ran to the exits, throwing hexes over their shoulders as they went.
"The Dark Mark must have been a signal," said Neville glumly. He couldn't believe that Bellatrix had escaped yet again. He and Harry had celebrated together that night, the night when they had first gotten the news. The news that Bellatrix Lestrange had been captured and that she was awaiting trial at the Ministry. He remembered thinking that it was finally almost over. Lord Voldemort was gone and Bellatrix Lestrange was going down with him. He and Harry had been so happy that night. The two people that they hated most in the world were gone. The two people who had ruined their lives and who had destroyed their parents. They were finally gone.
Now Neville was staring at the spot where Bellatrix had disappeared. Harry was also looking at the door. "Damn them," he said quietly.