Gilded Cage
Disclaimer: None of this is mine. No profit is being made. Story is intended to be a non-infringing fair use of JKR's original (and brilliant) characters and magical universe.
Prologue
A few hours before dawn, the sliver of a new moon set beyond the forest, leaving the open moor in nearly blinding darkness.
With a whisper of displaced evening breeze, three cloaked figures materialized in the shadow of an old ruined embankment. Crouching low to the side of the hill with their wands drawn, the three waited silently until it was apparent that their appearance had gone unnoticed.
Two of the figures crept 20 meters or so down either side of the embankment to check for guards along the crumbling wall at the top of the hill. Returning quickly to the central figure, they indicated that the area was clear.
The central figure muttered a string of Latin that caused the security wards surrounding the embankment to glow for an instant, showing a complicated web of multicolored threads representing the various spells woven into the wards.
After a moment's contemplation, the central figure pulled two potion vials from her cloak. She trailed a drizzle of the first potion along the base of the wards and dipped her wand into the second potion before drawing a series of runes in the air while murmuring more Latin phrases. As the glowing runes melted away, an archway blinked faintly into existence to allow passage through the wards.
"20 minutes. No more," hissed the caster of the archway. The others nodded as they slipped through the wards and up the hill.
Finding an even darker nook in the old stone wall, the two climbed and vaulted the wall, finding themselves in the overgrown ruins of a derelict Roman fortification. Walking confidently to the southeast corner, one cast a wordless spell that caused the ground to open, revealing stone steps leading downward.
Following the path of a memorized map, the two silently descended and then made their way through twisting passages. They slowed when they reached the glow of torch light. Peering around the next corner, a Death Eater guard was discovered and disposed of with silent spells to cause coma and binding. Two more guards were similarly dispatched before the cloaked figures reached their destination.
The third guard had been stationed before the door to a windowless cell. The door opened to the twitch of a wand and one entered while the other stood sentry.
Inside the cell, the figure approached a loose pile of robes and knelt down to gently check the hidden body for signs of life. Finding a faint pulse, the figure let out a sigh of relief and scooped up the limp body.
They retreated swiftly back the path that had brought them to the cell, hesitating only when they heard the sounds of spell casting as they were about to emerge back up to the surface. The one rearranged the feather light body he carried to his left shoulder so that he held his wand at battle ready.
At the top of the steps, an ongoing battle came into view. Three Death Eaters were sprawled in various positions where they had fallen. At that moment, a fourth Death Eater landed a strong magenta hex upon their ally, who shrieked and staggered backwards before falling.
Both of the returning cloaked figures hit the fourth Death Eater with a combination of hexes that had the effect of throwing him against a nearby boulder, freezing him, binding him and placing him in a coma.
After the unburdened figure scooped up his ally, the two disapparated, each with an unconscious body in his arms.
TBC