Chapter Twenty: The Fall of Redcar

It was nearly dawn and the entire force of the hunters sat quietly on their haunches as they waited for the signal to invade the camp from their leaders. Finnegan waited in the frosted grass and stared at the compound intently, waiting for something, a predetermined signal.

Having seen whatever it was that they were waiting for, Finnegan motioned for Cresswell and his crew to get to the fence. Finnegan had split his force into two. The only thing that remained was for Spinet and Weasley to take down the wards. It didn't take the duo long before turning with triumphant expressions. They joined Dennis' crew, intending on helping find Harry and Ron.

"This set of wards was built to be brought down. Dolohov may have been a Death Eater, he may have bargained his release, but I know that if he had wanted to put upwards that would keep out an army, he would have." Bill said quietly as they watched Cresswell's group enter the large building that housed the children. Every alarm was silenced, every footfall was muffled, every guard was stunned and obliviated. It was almost too easy.

They went from room to room, liberating the inmates, carrying the children that were unable to walk. Some were healthy and had obviously been treated well but most bore signs of abuse. The children were only given the bare essentials for their needs. One room consisted only of children who were starved to see if they could conjure food. One room held three living children and nine cadavers- their dead parents and three other children. The look in the eyes of those children was truly frightening. There was a detached insanity that flowed out of the kids that would unnerve even the most hardened of criminals. Cresswell had three guards take the children immediately to St. Mungo's, the only magical hospital still operational in Britain. The only place that could simultaneously treat them and restrain them. Their minds had been irreparably broken. Dirk shuddered in revulsion. Who would lock children up in a room with their dead parents or with any dead bodies for that matter? What kind of monsters were these people?

The further they infiltrated the building the worse it got. It was the expression on the Hunters faces that had the last of the guards screaming in terror. Not one muggle that experimented on the children was taken alive. One of the last rooms they came to, held only one of the two adult wizards that were still alive in the whole place.

Lucius Malfoy was a mess. He was standing naked in the center of the room, his wrists bound behind his back and his elbows attached to a rope that was secured to the ceiling. It was obvious he was in great pain. His shoulders were grotesquely pulled out of socket, the skin deeply bruised. There were cuts all over his body. One of his eyes was swollen shut and the other was streaming red rivulets. Tears of blood or puss. Dirk couldn't tell from his vantage point.

With a wave of Cresswell's wand, Lucius was released from his bonds. Lucius slumped to the floor, finally passing out after Merlin knows how long. Dirk knew he didn't have enough skill to treat Lucius' more serious wounds and passed him off to Dean Thomas. For a moment, the two wizards looked at each other grimly. It was worse than they had feared. He used his teeth to uncork one of the healing potions that he carried with him and forced it between Lucius' lips, hoping that it wouldn't cause complications to his dislocated shoulders.

"Take him to Hermione. St. Mungos won't treat him because he was a Death Eater." Cresswell murmured. With a crack, Thomas and Malfoy were gone.

He took a second to gather himself before moving on to the next room, hoping that he wouldn't find Nott's corpse surrounded by a bunch of scarred children.

The moment he opened the door, he regretted it. Nott was laid out naked on a cold metal operating table. The flat kind with restraints. One of the muggle scientists that was in charge of most of the experiments that went on in that hell hole, was leaning over Theo. Theo's face was contorted into one of horror, a silent scream frozen on his face. His eyes were wide as he stared unblinkingly at the ceiling. His whole body rigid as if rigor mortis had already set in. Cresswell panicked. Hoping that Theo was in fact still alive. He turned his attention to the doctor, who had a small curved knife in his hand and long thin strips of Theo's skin were laid over racks to his left. Nearly all of the skin of his left leg had been flayed, from his hip to his toes.

Cresswell motioned for his team to take care of the muggle as he cast diagnostics. He had never been so glad to see the blue spark that indicated life. Theo's body had just frozen with the shock to his system. He realized how messed up it was to be relieved that eighteen-year-old Theodore Nott was merely in shock from his wounds. He gathered Theo into his arms, waiting only long enough to pour a vial of healing potion down his throat.

"Murray, grab the rack of skin and take them to Hermione at Malfoy Manor. I will take Theo personally."

When he apparated to Malfoy Manor, it was in complete chaos. He yelled for Hermione, forcing Murray to keep close. He didn't know if Hermione would need the skin that was ripped from Theo's body. He hoped regardless that she would be able to fix him.

"Here!" Hermione yelled, waving at them over the milling people.

Quickly they set Theo down on a cot and Hermione began to work on him. Narcissa was standing behind her, trembling as she healed Lucius' minor cuts. A healer that was given sanctuary by Hermione was working on his shoulders' displacement.

"You should have told us to prepare for so many hurt people! We would have set more up, been more prepared if we had known you were going to shut Redcar down today." Hermione admonished.

"I realize that now. Do you need his skin?" He asked her. She shook her head as she forced a pain potion down Theo's throat. Cresswell turned to Murray. "Get rid of it but for the love of everything good, do not burn it." Murray nodded before apparating both himself and the skin elsewhere.

"I will never know how someone could do this to another person," Hermione whispered furious tears on her cheeks.

"Nor I. Even Voldemort did not commit these atrocities. Don't get me wrong he was horrible, did terrible things, tortured, killed and maimed but this… this was a whole new level of evil."