A/N: Another big update in one day! I hope everyone enjoys it, although the end isn't particularly plot-relevant. Hopefully this doesn't seem too rushed. Read and Review.
Harry didn't like this plan. Rodolphus had extracted all of the necessary information from Dawlish through a variety of unpleasant methods before brutally killing the man and dumping his corpse in the middle of Diagon Alley. His mentor clearly wasn't thinking straight, as the aurors had to know that Rodolphus was planning something now.
Either way, it didn't really matter. He had to go to get Bellatrix from Azkaban and hopefully keep Rodolphus from getting captured as well. And since the greatest defense Azkaban possessed were dementors – beings whose effects could be partially negated by skill with occlumency – breaking into the famed prison wasn't as hard as most thought it would be.
The manipulation of dementors was what Harry's part of the plan depended upon. He didn't know the patronus charm, so his only way to avoid getting his soul sucked out by the monsters was to avoid detection. That was where his mastery of occlumency came in. He was thankful to William for forcing him to master the art, instead of just relying on better-than-average shields. It would make all the difference in this mission.
Dementors were one of the most feared beings on the planet thanks to their powerful abilities. They detected creatures by their emotions, the key part of their plan. Harry would be able to move undetected around them so long as he kept his mind blank and hidden from their metaphysical gaze.
Harry didn't trust it, however. Rodolphus wasn't acting with the cold logic he'd instilled into Harry, and was allowing his emotions to cloud his judgment. While Harry had no doubt in his ability to complete his mission, he expected the Ministry to lay a trap for them, or at the very least have a strengthened force at Azkaban.
Nevertheless, he waited on the cold shores of eastern Scotland with his irrational mentor. Rodolphus was pacing, an action that caused the disillusionment charms they had placed on each other to ripple and allow observant guards to notice them. Harry snarled at Rodolphus and forced him into their cover.
Rodolphus snarled back and Harry thought the man was about to curse him for a moment. He readied his own wand to stun his mentor, although it proved to be unneeded. The older man remained behind the large boulders, quietly talking to himself.
Harry looked at him nervously, wondering if whatever magic he had done to Bellatrix to keep her sane had somehow loosened his own grasp on reality. Rodolphus was acting far too strangely for it to be natural. He shrugged it off, however, instead focusing on the small wooden boat that was docking at a pier several dozen feet away.
"Rodolphus," he whispered, "get ready. The boat's arrived."
He and Rodolphus waited for the sailor of the boat to get out before they made their move. Harry slowly crept towards the old man and the guards stationed at a small boat house, his disillusionment charm hiding him from their eyes. Just as he entered optimal range for stunners, Rodolphus sprang into action.
With a feral roar the older man revealed his presence and erratically hurled killing curses at the guards. Several impacted the ground around the previously bored guards, while most simply continued streaking into the sky. Only one hit its target.
Harry hissed in annoyance as Rodolphus broke his cover but backed him up. He stunned the two men that Rodolphus had missed, dropping them to the ground. Next he stunned Rodolphus. If aurors had been stationed here than they would both be dead from his idiocy. When potentially fighting against aurors, it was best to err on the side of caution. Rodolphus had just trampled that cardinal rule of dark wizards into the ground and tore it into tiny pieces.
The two men that were stunned were easy enough to kill. Avada Kedavra killed them cleanly and painlessly. When they were dead Harry transfigured the corpses into large mounds of pebbles that he cast into the sea. No one needed to know the dead men were gone yet.
Next he brought Rodolphus back. They put on the dead mens' clothes before walking towards the boat. While they were entering the boat that was enchanted to take them to Azkaban within just a few minutes he scolded the man.
"Rodolphus, breaking into Azkaban was your foolish idea. You made this plan, so the least you can do is stick by it." Harry said angrily, glaring at the man. Normally he wouldn't have dreamed of raising his voice to Rodolphus or disrespecting him, but this idiotic fool of a man wasn't his Rodolphus.
Rodolphus simply glared back but grudgingly nodded. Harry decided that was the best he would get out of him and forced his attention to the churning waves. He was amazed they didn't simply swamp the boat and drag them down into the abyss, but the wonders of magic could seemingly avert any sort of basic logic.
The waters of the North Sea were rushing past them at a speed no muggle boat could reach, and Harry could already see the massive fortress steadily getting closer. Both of the boat's inhabitants gripped their wands tightly as the boat increased in speed, quickly entering the prison's dock.
A lone auror met them, not appearing to notice anything off about them. Just to be sure Harry met his eyes and discretely used legilimency against him. He was satisfied when he detected nothing but boredom from the lonely auror.
He and Rodolphus walked by the auror silently, doubting the oppressive atmosphere of Azkaban allowed very much idle chatter. As they left the dock and entered into the main fortress, he recounted the directions they would need to take. Rodolphus had practically torn the man's mind to pieces in his attempts to glean the necessary information, so it would likely be accurate.
Rodolphus suddenly stopped, forcing Harry to turn back to him.
"What is it?" Harry growled, unwilling to waste any time. Every moment was another that the Ministry could use to lay a trap.
"I can't go in there." Rodolphus explained, seeming the sanest he had since Bella was captured. The former death eater also seemed nice, something that Harry never expected from the feared Lestrange. "My occlumency shields just aren't strong enough. You go in and find Bellatrix and I'll start eliminating any guard that gets in the way."
Harry didn't like this deviation from the plan – Rodolphus was supposed to be his backup and hold off any aurors, not attack them – but acquiesced. The plan was terrible enough as it was, and denying Rodolphus a chance to mess it up during the most crucial part of the mission was a boon for him.
He continued into the fortress, ignoring the lone guards he passed. They seemed to be shivering despite the glowing patronus that stood by each of their sides. Harry wished he could have one, simply because the air began to feel warm by them. Although the mental effects of the dementors were blocked by occlumency the physical effects of their presence remained.
There was only one guard between him and the cells. Harry didn't bother trying to talk his way past the guard, instead killing him with the avada kedavra and taking his key ring. He transfigured the body into a small bone before kicking it to the corner of the dark room.
He used the largest key on the chain to unlock the magically sealed door and entered Hell.
Entering the cell block of Azkaban was by far the worst experience in all of his fourteen years of life. The air suddenly turned icy and fog filled the long corridor. Several dementors stood in front of the cells, draining the emotions and life from the inhabitants. They ignored him, unable to even detect him through the powerful shields he forced into being.
Harry took small glances into the cells as he passed them, looking at the tiny spaces in disgust. Their inhabitants were even worse. They were all pathetically skinny and weak, with their heads being disproportionately large in comparison to their bodies. Lank, oily hair obscured most of their faces, although the ones that weren't being fed on pathetically crawled towards him with skinny arms and legs.
He ignored their hoarse pleas for mercy, instead keeping his eyes straight ahead. Bellatrix would be on this level since she would be on trial in just a few days. They wouldn't put her in the truly horrific levels of Azkaban until later, hoping that she would stay relatively clean until trial. The Ministry wouldn't want someone seeing what Azkaban did to the truly unlucky offenders, after all.
It took all of his concentration to stave off the dementors' influence. Their terrifying aura prodded at his shields, trying to dismantle them and feed on his emotions. Even if the dementors didn't know he was there, their auras were still draining for him to hold back.
Finally, however, he found Bellatrix. Her long hair was dirty and unkempt, but otherwise she looked fine. As she turned her head upwards to glare at him he realized that she held the unmistakable signs of physical abuse. Bruises and small cuts littered her face, and had it not been for her distinctive hair he wouldn't have recognized her.
He used the key with her cell number on it to open the door and tried to get close to her to give her comfort. The moment she saw his face her mouth twisted into a sneer and she looked at him in disgust.
"How dare you try to touch me, you filthy half-blood!" She screamed; all traces of sanity gone. "The Dark Lord will crush you when I find him, and he will reward us for finding you!"
Harry recoiled, his face twisting in hurt. His occlumency shields dropped from the shock of Bella – the closest thing he'd ever had to a mother – speaking to him like that. He quickly regained his focus, and gazed at Bella impassively. The pain of her words still showed in his eyes.
"Don't you recognize me?" He asked quietly. "You've taught me almost everything I know! You're my parent!"
"Does wittle Harrykins love Bella?" She cackled, twisting her form of endearment into an insult. Bellatrix suddenly seemed to regain sanity for a moment and glared at him with hateful eyes. "You don't know me, little half-blood. Roddy," she said with venom in her voice, reverting to her childlike nicknames, "twisted my mind, made me love a filthy half-blood like yourself!"
Harry gritted his teeth, realizing the full depths to which Rodolphus had sunk. That didn't stay for long. The fact remained that he had never known Bella, that she had been a fake. The true Bellatrix was this hateful bitch.
"But I'm going to twist his mind…" Bellatrix mumbled. "I'm going to twist it until it snaps! Then he'll learn his real lesson. Maybe I'll pluck out his eyes and make the filthy half-blood eat him. He'll learn what a real cruciatus feels like…"
His mouth twisted into a snarl and he stunned her. He was stunned at the revelation that everything he had experienced with Bella for the past six years was just a result of a mind twisted by legilimency. The woman that had taught him how to duel and had practically raised him into who he was today was a lie.
Harry glared at her inert body, fighting down the wild desire to boil her blood in her veins. He couldn't kill her. Perhaps there was a way to get his Bella back. She had never had a strong grip on sanity anyways, so maybe it wouldn't matter if he pushed too hard with legilimency.
Yes, he could –
Blackness overcame him and he fell into unconsciousness.
Xx
He awoke in some sort of hospital. His wrists were chained to his bed, but the gloves he had worn to cover the glowing of his hands whenever he used magic were still there. The room he was in looked to be made of thick blocks of stone, although a large window allowed moonlight to stream in.
Harry was formulating an escape plan when a set of doors he could see in the corner of his eye opened. Several figures entered the room, although it was the one leading them that caught his interest. The lead figure entered his vision, allowing Harry to make out details.
It was certainly a he. The man was very thin and tall, and looked to have a very long beard. He walked over and stood in front of Harry, and he could make out bright blue eyes and a crooked nose. Those characteristics were unmistakable, belonging to the wizard that was feared as the most powerful protector of Britain.
Albus Dumbledore.
"I see that you are awake." He said kindly, although Harry could detect the steel underlying it. "Now, I am afraid that we have never been introduced. May I know your name?"
"You could tell me why I'm here first. And then you could release me. Then I'm sure we could work out an arrangement." Harry said, although he made sure to keep his tone relatively respectful. He might as well try and not make an instant enemy out of the ancient man.
"Ah, the insolence of youth." Dumbledore chuckled. "But I suppose your first request isn't too harmful. You're here because it isn't every day a child is found in Azkaban. I'm afraid I can't allow you leave quite yet. I have many questions."
Harry nodded slowly. "We're in Hogwarts, I presume?"
The ancient wizard nodded.
"Ask your questions, but first tell me what happened to Rodolphus." Harry sighed. He was in an incriminating position, after all, and he doubted the Ministry knew he was here. Dumbledore had all the power here, and it was useful to resist.
Dumbledore looked surprised at his acceptance of the situation and looked to one of the tall figures behind him. "The veritaserum, Severus?" Before the man could step forward, Dumbledore answered his last question. "He is in Azkaban, awaiting trial with Bellatrix. You cannot save them, I'm afraid."
Harry obediently opened his mouth, despite the twinge of anger as he heard Rodolphus' fate, as the hospital bed angled upwards, allowing the potion to enter his throat. He was glad they chose veritaserum. It was slightly easier to manipulate than some truth potions. And even better for him they only used two drops. Three would have made this much more difficult.
"A mere precaution." Dumbledore said as he poured it down his throat. "We need to have the full truth, after all. Simply nod when you are ready."
He nodded and allowed the interrogation to begin. Dumbledore stared into his eyes, and Harry realized that the man would be double-checking his answers. Apparently he didn't completely trust in potions' infallibility. Harry adjusted his occlumency shields accordingly, projecting appropriate emotion where it was required.
"What is your name?"
"Hadrian Crux Lestrange." He responded blankly, the words forced from his mouth. Simply presenting an alternate truth would hide the truth he didn't want getting out, as the identity was no less true for him.
Dumbledore looked surprised for a moment before continuing, although he didn't allow any of his shock into his voice. Harry thought he saw a slight hint of suspicion in his eyes before the ancient wizard wiped it away.
"What were you doing in Azkaban?"
"I was attempting to free Bellatrix Lestrange."
"How old are you?"
"Fourteen."
Dumbledore looked satisfied with the answer, although he had a troubled look on his face. He was probably about to start asking the real questions.
"How did you and Rodolphus Lestrange get into Azkaban?"
"We neutralized the guards and took the boat."
"How did you avoid the dementors without a patronus?"
Harry felt a brief surge of panic before he quashed it. This was a question that he couldn't twist.
"Occlumency."
The old wizard frowned. "Thank you for assistance, Mr. Lestrange. I will be back tomorrow. For now I need to think about what to do with you."
He just nodded, silently waiting for Dumbledore to leave. Escaping shouldn't be too hard so long as Dumbledore didn't interfere. The ancient wizard wouldn't have put too tight of security around him, since he likely believed Harry was just above average.
"Nymphadora, could you please stand guard over Mr. Lestrange? Don't let anybody in or out."
One of the figures behind Dumbledore nodded and gave a salute. Dumbledore and that other man – Severus Snape, was it? – left. Harry looked around the room for a moment before sighing in boredom.
"I remember you." Nymphadora said. "You were at the raid we did on that death eater compound weren't you? You killed good men that day."
"Oh, yes." He said, his mind going back to the raid. "You were the one that levitated me up, weren't you? That was rather fun. By the way," he grinned, "you should probably know that I still bite."
She glared at him, her pink hair transforming into a vibrant red. He noticed that she wouldn't meet his eyes yet. It looked like he would have to anger her a lot more before he could make his escape.
"Do you even remember the men you killed? We lost four of them."
Harry yawned, trying to goad the woman into meeting his eyes. It was rather fun to act so obnoxious. Perhaps he would have to do it more often if he ever got captured.
"Sorry, princess. That was just another Tuesday for me."
Nymphadora finally lost her composure when he dismissed the deaths of her coworkers. She glared at him, finally meeting his eyes. It was then that Harry struck, using all of his talent in legilimency to delve into her mind as painfully as he could. The force of her anger wasn't nearly strong enough to keep him out, and he found himself flashing through random memories. He only saw glimpses, but the recklessness in his mental attack had caused unbearable pain for her.
She was in too much agony to scream, but the overwhelming pain eventually forced her unconscious. The only sound in the infirmary was a small thunk as her body hit the floor. Harry grinned and forced all of his hatred and rage – most of it came from his memories of the true Bellatrix – to the surface.
He forced it into reality, and the chains that bound him to the bed were simply melted by silver flames. Unfortunately his gloves were destroyed by the magic; leaving his luminescent hands open to the world. It didn't matter, since Nymphadora was the only one that could see them. And she was in a bit too much pain for that to happen.
Harry carefully got out of the bed, ignoring the slight pain that resulted from his lack of blood flow. The aches weren't too bad, but they were an annoyance. He didn't kill Tonks, not wanting Dumbledore to see him as a true threat. If that happened he wouldn't survive long.
The young wizard ignored the writhing woman on the floor, instead focusing on the wand that his captors had laid on a small tray. He was astounded at their carelessness and idiocy – really, who left a wand where their imprisoned owner could easily get to it? – before picking it up. Although he would have to get it checked for any charms later, it would work fine for now.
He stunned Nymphadora to put her out of her misery – a sign to Dumbledore that he didn't kill for fun – and walked over to the window. There was no way he would find his way out of the castle if he tried to go through it, and if he did try it would put him at risk of running across more of Dumbledore's people.
Instead, he went the much riskier way. He applied sticking charms to his hands and one foot before putting his wand in his mouth. It was dangerous, but he couldn't think of a better way out. Even they wouldn't be foolish enough to put a broom or other flying device in his room.
Harry carefully climbed down the side of Hogwarts, steadfastly refusing to look down aside from the glance that confirmed he could go straight down without falling. This was by far the most dangerous stunt he had pulled, and it was going to require both concentration and luck to pull off.
The stones were surprisingly smooth, and he was never scraped or hurt by them. It was odd, but he just chalked it up to magic. Harry carefully continued the climb until he was only a few feet above the soft green lawn of Hogwarts. He was beginning to tire from the constant sticking charms he had to apply to his hands and feet to keep from falling, and he was quite glad that he wouldn't have to use anymore. Now he just had to get far enough away from the castle to apparate.
From the Lestranges' stories about Hogwarts that they had told him just in case he was captured by Dumbledore and brought there, the Forbidden Forest was the first area he could apparate from. Portkeys apparently worked anywhere in it, although the Lestranges had told him not to depend on them.
So he set off to the barely visible forest. The only light was from the moon, and a quick disillusionment charm rendered him barely visible. Harry was nearing the border into the woods when he heard someone moving. He looked in the direction of the noise and barely dodged a stunner.
Harry withdrew his wand and quickly conjured his slabs of stone before applying a night eye charm. The night was suddenly as bright as day, and he could see several men in front of him, each raising their wands.
"Lestrange!" A voice he recognized as Moody's called out. "You can't beat us. Put down the wand and don't resist. And don't try that damn trick you did last time or I'll have to put you down for real."
He didn't say anything back, but cast a homenum revelio. The three in front of him were his only enemies. Good, that meant he just had to fight them off before Dumbledore arrived.
The younger wizard didn't have to wait long before three stunners flashed towards him. Their intense light hurt his charmed eyes, but he allowed his stones to block them before responding. Harry leapt into action, forcing three long whips of flame to emerge from his wand and snap towards the three wizards.
His whips tore through the protegos the men conjured, shattering the shields and wrapping around his enemies. Mad-Eye resisted and destroyed the whip trying to grab him, but the others weren't so skilled. The whips encompassed their bodies, searing into their flesh painfully before yanking them towards Harry.
Harry let them draw closer before going in for the kill. He didn't want to, not when it would set Dumbledore after him, but escape was more important. A bludgeoner crushed one's chest before he moved to the next one.
As Harry prepared to cut the man in half with an overpowered cutting curse, one of his levitating slabs of stone were turned into dust. He wasted no time and killed the man pulled towards him before turning back to Moody. The old man was slowly walking towards him, hurling powerful blasting curses at Harry's defenses.
Harry didn't bother with a fancy spell chain or elemental spell. He allowed the man to grow just a little bit closer before he moved. His wand cut through the air as he yelled out "Voragus!"
A small chasm erupted underneath Moody. The older wizard growled in annoyance before simply levitating himself out before he hit the bottom and looked for Harry.
Harry, however, had taken the short break to escape. He was only a few feet away from the Forbidden Forest by the time Moody had gotten out. The older wizard had no chance to get him now that he was so far away.
Despite the fact that few spells would hit him from such a long distance, the former auror continued to throw stunners at Harry. They all went horribly off course, and Harry laughed as he finally entered the safe zone. He apparated away the second he felt the powerful wards of Hogwarts shrink away, and heard Moody's cry of rage before he was warped away to his new location.
Xx
Harry found himself in a crowded bar in Knockturn Alley. He had been here several times and knew that it was too dangerous for an auror to even think of entering. Magical creatures and dark wizards as well as other assorted lowlifes were the bar's main demographics, and he noticed that they looked curiously at him as he appeared in their midst.
The bartender seemed to recognize him, but didn't say anything as a hulking werewolf walked towards him. He was flanked by another werewolf and a small, ratlike man. Harry gazed impassively at them, waiting to see what they wanted. If they thought he was easy prey…well, he would just have to fix that perception.
Soon the werewolf had pushed through the bar's other patrons and stood a mere foot away from him. Harry wrinkled his nose as the werewolf's breath hit him. Aside from the dirt and sweat that pervaded his nose, the man's breath smelled like fetid, rotting meat.
"Well, well. What do we have here?" The werewolf said in a deceptively kind voice. "A little sheep that wandered away from home, perhaps? It would be a shame if a wolf got you."
"Back off, mutt." Harry snarled, rolling his eyes at the werewolf's dramatics. The hulking man growled at him, a powerful noise that attracted the rest of the patrons' attention.
"Don't talk like that to me you filthy little wizard!" The werewolf hissed. "You can't even use magic yet, so don't think that you're better than me. Besides," he said, looking around at the assorted creatures, "you won't find any help here."
"I don't need help." Harry responded. The anger that was building up in him since Azkaban was about to break his composure, and he found himself itching for a fight. "Not with a mongrel like you."
The werewolf grinned, showing teeth that had been filed down to points. Without warning, he launched a powerful punch at Harry. He grinned and caught it with his silver hand, the magic in it strengthening him beyond anything the mutt could achieve.
His foe's grin dropped in astonishment as Harry caught his fist, only to vanish completely when Harry stared into his eyes. All of a sudden the werewolf found himself screaming on the ground as Harry brutally tore into his mind.
Harry gave him one last kick before walking away, the anger finally gone. The other patrons stared at him in confusion before helping the massive werewolf up. He had a feral grin on his face as he walked up to the bartender. It was nice to be able to do anything he wanted, completely unrestrained and in control for once.
"Can you check this for me?" He said, handing his wand to the bartender. "I think someone's trying to track me."
The bartender nodded and cast a series of diagnostic charms on the holly wand. It surprisingly came up with nothing, and the grizzled man handed his wand back.
"Nothing. What happened to your parents, kid? I heard about Bellatrix but I thought you and Roddy escaped."
"We had a…falling out." Harry said bitterly, ignoring the idiocy of discussing it in public. "Can you get me to France, preferably inside of the best place to find mercenaries? I'm not safe here."
"Sure, kid." The bartender said before frowning. "I can get you a portkey in a few minutes, but it'll cost you."
Harry mentally cursed, but he resolved to find a way to get out of it. His mind flickered to some of the "jobs" the Lestranges had done for the bartender. The man was surprisingly powerful for his job, and practically ran this section of the Alley.
"I know that my parents would have done a few jobs without pay, specifically so they could call in a favor. I'm calling that debt in."
"Alright." The bartender smirked. "Wait here for a few minutes. I should be able to get a portkey for you. Then you can run off to France and do whatever it is you people do."
The bartender called in a replacement, and Harry took a seat. His hand tightly gripped his wand, and he almost hoped that someone would try to pick a fight with him again. It had turned out to be a great stress reliever.
Unfortunately, the bartender returned before that happened. He had a small sock in his left hand, and he threw it over to Harry. Although he didn't fully trust the man, he had to use it if he wanted to stay safe.
"Just say portus." The man advised. Harry nodded his thanks before using the portkey. A moment later he found himself trapped in a whirlwind before landing heavily on his feet.
Harry found himself in the middle of another rowdy bar, although this time the chatter was replaced with French. He made his way to the bartender here, who was a pretty woman with short blonde hair.
"Aren't you a little young to be here?" She said in French as he neared. "We don't serve minors."
Harry just grinned as charmingly as he could. "I'm not here to drink. But could you tell me where the mercenaries are? I'm looking for a friend of the family."
The woman nodded cautiously and pointed him over to the far corner of the small room. He thanked her and walked over, eying it carefully. A dozen wizards were sitting there, joking and drinking together. They looked up at him curiously, some looking as though they wanted to laugh.
"What do you want?" One of them said politely in French, unsure of whether Harry was representing someone that had a contract.
"I'm looking for William Walus." Harry responded; smirking as they all widened their eyes in confusion.
"And what do you want with him?" The same man asked. "He doesn't do amateur contracts. So unless you have real business, scram."
"I'm not hiring him." Harry growled, stepping closer. He noticed that their eyes were suddenly drawn to the hand holding his wand. "He was my teacher and I need his help."
The men burst into laughter, causing the younger wizard to frown in annoyance. One of them nearly coughed up his beer from laughing so hard.
"What's so funny?"
"Walus wouldn't teach a little run like you." The same man chortled. "Hell, he doesn't even teach any of us. His prices are so outrageous and his standards are so high that no one can keep up with him. Now get lost. Unless…" the man grinned, "you think you can prove that he taught you."
Harry grinned back, gripping his wand tightly. This would be fun. He prepared for anything that the man could throw at him.
"Rico, Wilkins," the man said, "make sure our spells don't damage this fine establishment. And runt, no lethal spells. Any damage comes onto our tab."
He nodded and waited for the man to get up. The moment he could defend himself Harry launched into action, sending a flurry of stunners and bludgeoners at the mercenary. Surprisingly the man defended himself, albeit with difficulty, and launched a streak of sickly yellow light at him.
Harry batted it away as it neared him and flicked his wand upwards. A bludgeoner appeared beneath the man's legs and hit him in the groin. The other mercenaries laughed as his opponent fell over from the pain, dropping his wand and leaving him defenseless.
A quick stunner put the man out of the fight, although he used an enervate on him a moment later. One of the other men helped his foe up, although they were still chortling.
"Do you believe me now?" Harry asked. The mercenary just groaned and used a numbing spell. When his pain had vanished he looked back at Harry.
"I believe you." He wheezed. "Not because you beat me, but because you knocked that cutter away. That's Champion level dueling right there. Only William ever really managed to teach people how to do that."
"Now where is he?" Harry questioned, losing his patience. The fight was fun, but he needed William's help. He was tired; he had been in several fights in the last…twenty four hours? He didn't even know how long Dumbledore had kept him. William was the only person he could go to, and he didn't need this idiot delaying him.
"He just walked in." The mercenary grinned. Harry turned around only to see that the man spoke the truth. William had just entered the bar and was looking over at them. His dark eyes widened when he saw Harry and he rushed over.
"Harry?" He exclaimed, his Scottish accent rising up due to his shock. "What're you doing here?"
"I can't tell you here." Harry said, nodding at the other mercenaries. William nodded back.
He turned towards the other mercenaries. "Bugger off! I'll talk to you idiots later."
The mercenaries got up, although they grumbled and jeered at William as they left. William sat in the newly unoccupied booth, motioning for Harry to sit across from him.
"Now," William said, folding his hands in front of him, "why are you here? This isn't exactly a good place for a teenager to be, no matter the amount of training you've received."
"My parents and I had a…falling out." Harry answered, unwilling to tell the man of his parents' true identities. William might not care too much about laws, but he had a strong moral code that the Lestranges had undoubtedly violated many times over.
"What happened?"
Harry just shrugged back at him. His teacher got the message and dropped the subject for now.
"Anyways, you're the only person I could think of, so I just tracked you down. I remembered you were going into mercenary work again, so I just went to the best place to find mercenaries in France. Do you know somewhere I can stay?"
William frowned, but eventually nodded. "I don't actually have a home." He admitted. "But I could talk to the owner of this place and see if they would let you stay here. Do you have any money?"
He shook his head. Rodolphus would have been the one to have any of their money, and he had never confided in Harry as to where he had stored it. And even if he had access he doubted there would be much. They were forced to steal most of their things to begin with, and Rodolphus had spent most of their resources towards Harry's training and necessary materials for potions and such.
"That might be a problem." William said. "No one will let you just stay here for free, but I could get you a contract."
"Aren't I a little young for mercenary work?" Harry questioned, raising an eyebrow. "I doubt many people will be very confident in the work of a fourteen year old boy."
"That would normally be the case." The older man admitted. "But if I vouch for you someone will be desperate enough to give you work. Normally I would give you a share of my money, but I know how skilled you are. The only thing holding you back from being one of the greatest fighters of our time is lack of experience."
"So this isn't even about me obtaining my own money." Harry said. "You just want me to become a better fighter?"
"Exactly!" William exclaimed. "And you'll make plenty of gold doing it. Once you start making an impression on people, your age won't be such an issue. People in this business value efficiency more than anything, and I know that you'll get everything done personally."
Harry nodded slowly, coming around to the idea. Although he wasn't confident in how easy William made his success seem, he supposed he didn't have anywhere else to go. He didn't have the vast network of contacts Rodolphus maintained, and even if he had access to them they wouldn't help him since his parents weren't around.
"Good. Now wait here while I talk to the owner. She'll be interested in this, I'm sure of it."
He waited and watched as William walked towards the bartender and began speaking to her. It looked like he was making very profitable promises or flattering her, as she began to smile widely. Harry idly wondered why every bar owner seemed to work their own establishment in the Magical World.
Nevertheless, William walked back with a smile on his face. "You've got a room on the second floor. First one on the right."
"What did you have to promise her?" Harry asked warily. Not many people would just let him stay there, even if he was paying. Letting a fourteen year old just stay in a bar was quite suspicious.
"We'd both give her a small percentage of our earnings." William shrugged. "Not much, but enough to pad her income. She didn't want to accept at first, but I managed to convince her that you were a prodigy and would do good work."
Harry ignored the last part. He doubted she even cared about him; the owner probably just wanted William's money. As skilled as he was he had to be bringing in bags of gold.
"By the way," William interjected with a smirk on his face, "she gave me a way to keep your age from being an issue with your clients. Have you ever heard of an aging potion?"
XxXx
Harry had to fight down a gag as he forced the vile potion down his throat. William leaned against a wall, silently laughing at Harry's expression. Soon, however, the worst of the potion's effects kicked in. Bones shifted and grinded together; flesh stretched and bubbled to cover his suddenly larger body; organs shifted and grew to accommodate his larger body. He tried to scream at the sheer agony of the change, but his throat suddenly closed.
His pain ended several moments later, much to his relief. He realized that he had fallen from the floor and disgustedly pushed him back up. The pain shouldn't have incapacitated him like that. Nevertheless he was slightly awed at the changes the potion had done to him.
He now stood half a foot taller and his body felt much stronger than it had previously. Power flooded through his body, causing his skin to tingle. His hands were glowing without him having to force magic into them, and he noticed that William was looking at him with approval.
"I can't even recognize you as the prodigal runt anymore!" William laughed. "Now how do you feel?"
"Great!" Harry exclaimed, although he was surprised by how deep his voice had become. "The change hurt like hell though."
"That's why barely anyone uses those potions. Most people only use it for entering competitions they are too young for, although there are precautions against such methods now. If they weren't so cheap to make I doubt anyone would produce them."
Harry nodded and grabbed his wand. "How long will I be like this?"
"Twelve hours." William said as he looked at a small, faded scrap of paper. "You'll notice the effects slowly wearing off after eleven."
"That's all the time I'll need." Harry said in approval. "Do you have my portkey ready?"
William grinned and threw a small rock at him. Harry nimbly caught it with his offhand, and he heard his mentor wish him luck before he was whisked away be its magic. He found himself in a whirlwind before he found himself in some sort of shed. It was covered in a variety of tools and was well lit. Several other people were with him, although Harry recognized their photos.
Three were rather average looking, with pale skin and brown hair. They also had the perfect build for a fighter and were glaring at him in annoyance. The last was more interesting. She had short blonde hair and green eyes and was quite small. Harry didn't underestimate her though – she had been put in charge of this contract for a reason.
"Alright." She barked in a cold voice. "Now that everyone is here, we can get underway. Our newest arrival is a newbie, so keep an eye on him. We don't get his share if he dies. Our target is simple: the French Ministry is having a problem with a few wizards kidnapping and killing muggle women, but don't want to let them get a break and go to Endroit Sombre. No survivors, don't harm any of the muggles or prisoners."
They all nodded in understanding before setting off. The blonde woman placed a restraining hand on Harry's shoulder to keep him from following the others.
"We're going around the back. Watch out for traps and don't wait for me to tell you to kill."
Harry nodded again and waited for her to show him the way. He followed closely behind, placing a disillusionment spell on himself as they left the safety of the area. It was night out, and he noticed that it was extremely cold. An oppressive feeling hung in the air, and Harry instantly recognized it as dark magic. Someone had been playing with rather dangerous rituals, it seemed.
Their target was a large home about half a mile away, or so the contract said. He couldn't see anything yet, and silently applied a night eye charm on himself. Best to see everything on a mission with people like this.
After ten minutes of silently walking through overgrown lawns in an ancient, decrepit neighborhood they saw the home. The blonde woman raised her wand and disillusioned herself before proceeding. Harry was impressed by its strength, although it didn't match the sheer power his possessed.
Another five minutes passed before the woman crept into the house, unlocking the door with an overpowered alohomora before silently slipping in. Harry nearly stumbled as he entered, unused to this body. The woman sent him a death glare, but none of the inhabitants seemed to be attracted by the noise.
He didn't cast a homenum revelio, due to the sensation it caused to those that it detected it. This would be much easier with stealth, and he found the countless lessons Rodolphus had drilled into his mind surfacing. Magic wasn't quite as useful for making one stealthy, as charms could weaken and break at random times. One could only be sure of their own body and its capabilities when it came to these situations.
After sweeping through the house, they found a lone man sitting in a chair reading a book. The lamp he had on blinded him to their presence, and Harry waited for the woman to do something. She quietly motioned for him to make a move, and he quickly fired a bludgeoner into the man's throat.
His partner looked at him, clearly impressed, before moving past the dead man. Harry thought that this would be an easy mission considering the lack of wards, but that hope was evaporated when orbs of light suddenly lit up the large home.
Harry instantly raised a shield, while the woman took cover behind a large sofa. He cautiously lowered the wand when no one appeared, but pulled it back up when he heard crashes and screams from the upper floors.
"Keep searching, I'm going to investigate! The idiots must have been caught." His partner hissed. She practically sprinted out of the room, leaving any pretense at stealth behind. Harry just sighed and followed her out, taking the alternate way that she did.
Now that the lights were on, he wiped away his night vision. The home was rather nice, he noticed as he cautiously walked around. It was clearly muggle, as the paintings were inert and lifeless. There were hints of magic everywhere though, belying the true nature of its occupants.
Harry continued to investigate, searching for any of the women the wizards had kidnapped. He had little luck until he ran into a rather short wizard with unkempt facial hair and hair just as short as he was.
The small man looked at him in surprise for a few moments before raising his wand. Harry was already in action by that point, however, and just as the little wizard raised his wand Harry killed him with another bludgeoner to the throat.
Harry kicked the body out of his way and continued down the hall towards a tall, thick looking door. It was of higher quality than the other doors, so he judged that it had to contain something important. He pushed it open, and when it had revealed the contents of the room he quickly took cover behind the wall.
A split second later several killing curses streaked through the door. Harry didn't bother going through the door, instead opting to make his own entrance. His blasting charm was much less controlled than it should have been, albeit much more powerful. Harry barely had time to frown at his lack of control before the wall simply turned into powder.
He charged through the new entrance, dodging the lethal flashes of green light that streaked at him. Harry twisted his wands and conjured several of his levitating stones just before several voices shouted out the killing curse again. The curses impacted his stones and shattered them, but another flick of his wand restored his shields.
Harry began to laugh as he saw the pitiful wizards attacking him. They were standing above a woman's body, but they were all so short and deformed that he couldn't believe they posed a threat. All of them were clearly experimenting with dark magic far beyond their limits for their bodies to have been warped so much.
They took offense to his amusement and shouted out the killing curse again. His stones easily blocked it, and he responded in kind. His flurry of brutal spells – spells many saw worse than the Unforgiveables, such as entrail expelling curses, blood boilers, and flaying curses – landed on each of the four wizards before the slow fools could react.
He laughed again at their screams of agony, although they quickly died from the terrifying curses. Harry used a few spells to throw them into the corners of the room. Now that the rather disappointing bunch of dark wizards were eliminated, he walked over to the woman.
She was still breathing, and appeared to be conscious. Harry supposed she might have been under the imperius, and he cut off the thick cords of rope that bound her to the stone table. When she was still completely inert, he realized that they had paralyzed her as well. Considering that it took a good bit of power for spells to last after death – even simple ones like a petrificus totalus – it seemed that his former foes weren't so weak after all.
Harry conjured clothes for her as she began to push herself up and threw herself onto her rescuer gratefully. He winced as she hugged him, and gently pushed her off. Physical contact wasn't something he particularly enjoyed. She gratefully pulled on the clothes, and the wizard looked away in embarrassment.
He conjured a cup of water for her as well, and ignored her as he waited for any of his allies to enter. This had to have been the most concentrated bunch of the wizards, so they should find him pretty soon. For now he would keep the young woman safe from any danger.
The wizard idly wondered just what kind of ritual the dead men had been attempting. Blood was spattered everywhere in the dimly lit room, and most of it hadn't come from the corpses. Quite a bit of it had permanently stained the wooden floor around this sacrificial table, so he assumed that the wizards had been kidnapping women for a blood sacrifice.
He frowned as that possibility entered his head. Blood magic was a little known field, but it was powerful. The result of that was rampant terror regarding its use, although he admitted in cases like this he could understand that fear. From their warped appearances it seemed that the wizards had been trying to increase their own power, or at least enchant a very powerful magical item.
That was a rather unlikely possibility though, even considering his own limited knowledge of blood magic. It was too complicated for him to learn in the short amount of time he had had before being placed under William's guiding hand, so he only knew that it was powerful and labor intensive. No enchantment would be worth that.
So it seemed that they were trying to increase their power. Of course, he though, the amateurs had botched something. Only magic darker than anything even Bellatrix had been willing to delve into would warp someone's body and mind. Blood magic wouldn't have done those things to their bodies had they done it correctly.
As someone entered through the door, Harry put those thoughts away. It wouldn't be useful to know anyways. Harry examined the figure and noticed that it was his former partner. She was rather pale and sweaty, although her tired look morphed into an impressed smile as she glanced around the room.
"Good work, now is the woman okay?" She asked.
Harry nodded. "I got to her before the idiots," he motioned to the ravaged corpses, "could proceed in whatever ritual they were performing. She's completely fine physically, although I doubt she's unscathed mentally."
"That's not our problem." The mercenary replied coldly. "I've got a portkey for you. Say "base" and it'll take you back to the bar. Take the woman with you. We'll mop up anything else. Your payment will be waiting with Walus."
She tossed a dirty looking sock to the floor. Harry looked at it in disgust, although he picked it up and held it out to the woman he saved. The woman placed a hand on it, and just as Harry prepared to leave the disgusting room his partner said something.
"William said you would do well." She smiled, a stark contrast to her previously icy personality. "I'm glad you delivered. Someone will be at the bar to pick her up."
Harry silently nodded back and said the word that would take him back to his home. The woman held onto him tightly as they were pulled into a whirlwind.
XxXx
"So, runt." William laughed. "Charlotte told me you exceeded her expectations. Coming from that icy bitch that's practically screaming praise for you. How did your first job go?"
"Good." Harry replied as he lounged back into the padded seat. He was in the booth the mercenaries had been at previously, and they were currently getting drunk as celebration for his first completed job. Of course, they would have gotten drunk regardless. Now they just had a reason.
The girl had been taken away practically the moment she arrived, although not before thanking Harry graciously and pecking him on the cheek. Harry blushed, an odd feeling for him. Despite his personal embarrassment, he found it oddly relaxing to simply enjoy the fun as the mercenaries kicked up a small party in the bar. The other patrons joined in, although he and William were hiding in the back in attempt to avoid the festivities.
Aside from the ten galleons given to the bartender – he had to give her a tenth of his earnings, an amount he didn't particularly like, despite the fact that he still had ninety galleons left – his gold had been put to use by William in buying a round of drinks for the patrons. William had assured him that it was a traditional part of the celebrations, although Harry doubted the sincerity of such a statement.
Nevertheless, he allowed it. Now he was speaking to his mentor about the contract nearly three hours after he'd returned. The other patrons left them in peace, which was probably the entire point of the charity now that he thought of it.
"It was disappointing, actually." He admitted. "I had been expecting real dark wizards, not malformed fools that couldn't even perform a ritual correctly. Is this the average job?"
William shook his head. "We usually face worse. Despite what we call ourselves, we aren't really mercenaries you know. Although we work for money and private individuals on occasion, most of our contracts come from the Ministry. We do jobs too dirty for the aurors or hit wizards and go after people the French Ministry doesn't want escaping in court."
"That explains some things." Harry sighed as he leaned back even more. He was tired and wanted to go to bed, but he supposed that William had more important things to tell him. "I suppose that's why we're paid so well? A hundred galleons is a good amount of money, after all."
"Yeah." William nodded. "Hell, in the more dangerous government contracts we get backup from hit wizards and the French aurors. Sometimes people like me – guys with lots of experience – even work with Unspeakables. We're the French Ministry's dirty little solution to their dirty big problems. Anyways," he continued, eying the tired boy closely, "you look like you're about to collapse. Go on up and rest, you've probably been up for a day."
Harry tiredly nodded and stood up, shoving through the drunken patrons. He nodded at the bartender before walking up to his room. He didn't bother taking his bloodied clothes off before collapsing into the bed. While the lack of structure and rules was fun, it was certainly tiring.
As he closed his eyes, he wondered when he would be able to return to Britain. Even if the real Bellatrix hated him, Rodolphus might not. When he was ready, he would return and save them no matter what.
His vengeful thoughts were cut off as blackness overcame him, introducing him to the world of dreams. Harry wouldn't awaken until his aging potion wore off and his body was painfully returned to its natural state.