"We were in the damned cabinet for twenty minutes before we got here!" Yaxley snarled at Draco Malfoy, "I thought you said that thing was fixed, boy!"
Draco sneered, "I said it was almostfixed, you imbecile."
Placing a placating hand on his son's shoulder, Lucius looked at their leader.
"And what a job you've done; wonderful," The Dark Lord praised. "I do, however, hope the…defects will not be still present when we return."
"He's a bloody hero," Fenrir growled, "Can we get to the reason we're here?"
Rowle nodded, "Right; focus."
The Death Eaters split into pairs: Draco with Lucius, Yaxley with Amycus Carrow, Rowle with Fenrir. They stealthily swept through corridors, each duo creeping into a House – sparing Slytherin – in search of the students from a list on scraps of parchment.
The Malfoys crept into Ravenclaw, cast a silencing spell on a Terrance Strout and Evelyn Ward,towing the Muggle-Borns from his House.
Rowle and Fenrir collected two students from Hufflefuff, Justin Finch-Fletchley and Patrick Bagby, while Yaxley and Amycus invaded Gryffindor Tower.
Amycus and Yaxley entered the common room; Yaxley looked to his companion, "Isn't that Mudblood girl Snape's had in Gryffindor?"
Nodding as his eyes filled with deviance, Amycus responded, "You're right; I'd almost forgotten."
The pair ascended the staircase to the girls' dormitory and quietly entered; they stood in silence, looking around the room at the sleeping students.
"What's her name, again?" Amycus asked as quietly as possible, "Something 'Gr…"
Yaxley's eyes scanned the short list of names, seeing only 'Grant Bradbury' and 'Hermione Granger', "Hermione Granger?"
"Yes, that was it."
"Well, which one is she?" Yaxley asked, receiving only a shrug in reply. The men crept through the rows of beds, thinking that perhaps the beds had name plaques; they were about to give up when Yaxley hissed to get the other's attention. He gestured wordlessly to an empty, perfectly made bed. Amycus frowned, not understanding; Yaxley tapped his toe on the trunk that was halfway under the bed. Amycus bent closer and squinted to read the nametag:
This case is the property of: Hermione Jean Granger
Amycus growled in disappointment at his desired target's absence and gave a nod to acknowledge he realized the girl was not there, then frowned, "Who else's on there?"
"Colin Creevey," Yaxley replied, "Oh, and Dennis – brothers."
"Should we get 'em both?"
His mouth turning up in deviance, Yaxley said, "No, we'll see if the younger one's tongue will be looser if he wants to get back to his big brother."
"Right. So, what's another one?"
"Lindsey Abbott," Yaxley replied.
The pair cast Silencing Spells on the students and hauled them away.
Once the Death Eaters had returned to Voldemort, he asked, "Were there any complications?"
Each shook their head; Rowle spoke, "'Cept we didn't know how to get into that damn Hufflepuff basement; I swear, I just poked what looked like a lid, and, outta no where, I get sprayed with vinegar. Fucking school. But, we got these two eventually."
Voldemort didn't act as though he was interested at all, and he silently strolled in front of the silent-but-clearly-terrified spoils.
"Which is the friend of Potter? Is it this one?" He asked, his cold eyes on Evelyn Ward.
Obviously concerned for his safety, Yaxley replied, "N – No, My Lord; she wasn't there."
Hateful eyes narrowed at the Death Eater, Voldemort hissed, "She wasn't there? How is that possible?"
"I don't – I don't know, My Lord. I'm sorry, My Lord."
Voldemort turned his eyes to Amycus, "It looks as though your 'fun' with the other girl will have to wait until our official invasion, Carrow."
Amycus gave a nod.
The Death Eaters had returned to Malfoy Manor, their captives were tossed in the basement; Voldemort descended the stairs to appraise the spoils again.
Slowly walking in front of the six students, The Dark Lord said in a conversational tone, "Greetings, Mudbloods. You're wondering, I'm sure, why it is that you've been brought here."
"You want information about Harry Potter," Justin Finch-Fletchley spoke heatedly, "We're not stupid; we know who you are."
His eyes snapped to the speaker and Voldemort sneered, "As noble as your words are, surely you are aware of what I am capable of, if you truly do know who I am."
"Go ahead, threaten me," Justin said, "We both know that if you kill me, I can't give you anything you want."
"Ah, the bravery of Gryffindor."
"I'm a Hufflepuff, actually," Justin squared his jaw, "But that doesn't mean I'll give in to your bullying, and it doesn't mean I'll sit by and let you hurt anyone."
Dennis looked nervously between the two.
"A Hufflepuff, really?" Voldemort eyed Justin, "How…unexpected. Unbelievable, honestly."
Crossing his arms, Justin hoped Voldemort couldn't see his hands shaking as he said, "B – Believe it."
Wordlessly, The Dark Lord glared at the boy, flicked his wand, and watched him crumple to the floor, lifeless; Lindsey and Evelyn screamed; Terrence Strout, Dennis Creevey, and Patrick Bagby stared in shock and horror.
Voldemort was unfazed, "Bravery is merely stupidity in action," he paused. "Onto the reason for your attendance; Bella!" the wizard called out. A moment later, Bellatrix entered the basement, followed by Fenrir, Yaxley, Rowle, Lucius and Dolohov.
"Welcome, friends," Voldemort greeted his followers, "Our capture of these has provided a perfect opportunity to practice the spell Bellatrix has created; Bella, would you?"
Her chin in the air, Bellatrix stood facing her fellow Death Eaters; jerking her head slightly toward the students, she said, "Pick one." When it became evident that they had each chosen a victim, the woman said, "The words are defaeco neam crux sano; I admit, it's rather long, but it's three curses in one. Go on, then; defaeco. neam. crux. sano."
Each wizard attempted to say the incantation, but became tongue-tied or mispronounced the words.
"Imbeciles," Bellatrix spat, hissing at her fellow Death Eaters, "Try it again!"
On the fourth attempt, Lucius Malfoy was successful; Dennis twitched and collapsed to the floor. One by one, each of the Death Eaters made progress in using the spell; their captors were soon writhing on the floor in agony as deep gashes were cut into their flesh, blood pouring from the worlds. The students' screams echoed off the walls of the basement, as scarlet rivers flowed along the cracks and crevices. The Death Eaters used to the new curse on their victims for several long minutes.
Panting heavily, Patrick struggled to his feet, "What do you want us to tell you?" he asked, his voice weary.
"I require information…information about Harry Potter," Voldemort answered.
"What sort of information?" Terrence asked.
"Apparently, he has been regularly meeting with Dumbledore, and I need to know why – I need to know what the headmaster has been discussing with him."
"I didn't even know he was doing that," Patrick commented, "We're not friends enough for him to tell any of us that, anyway. He really only hangs out with that Ron Weasley kid and know-it-it-all Granger girl."
His hateful eyes flitted to Yaxley as Voldemort questioned, "Granger? Isn't that the one Severus…?"
Yaxley nodded.
"And the girl wasn't there, you say?"
"No, My Lord, she wasn't," Yaxley confirmed.
Voldemort's eyes glinted with red anger, "Go Floo Severus."
Yaxley hurried into the living area, flicked his wand toward the fireplace to fill it with flames, then grabbed a handful of Floo Powder; he threw the dust into the fire, "Contact Severus Snape.
Snape was sitting in his chambers, poring over a Muggle book, Oedipus Rex, when a fire suddenly came to life on his hearth; he lifted his eyes to the flames and was shocked to see the head of Yaxley, "Yes?" the professor asked.
"He wants you," was all that Yaxley said before the fire fizzled to nothingness.
Snape jumped up, tossed a bit of Powder into the fireplace and spoke, "Malfoy Manor" as he stepped into the stone cavern.
"My Lord?" Snape said to Voldemort once he was standing in front of the infamous wizard in the mansion's dining room.
"During our visit to Hogwarts, we had a certain student we wanted to bring back with us," The Dark Lord said.
Snape cocked his head slightly, then quickly employed his Occlumency.
"Where is your little toy? She was no where to be found at the school…" Voldemort hissed.
Quickly, the professor answered, "I believe there was a family emergency."
"I see," the evil wizard replied, "Perhaps her Muggle parents died…" Voldemort spoke hopefully.