1 Chapter 21
Crabbe's pacing began to make me nauseated. He wiped the sweat from his brow and walked back and forth in the sweltering hot room. The shifting stone snakes on the ceiling seemed to move slower as the room got hotter. Stinging sweat seeped into my eyes, but I didn't want to wipe it away. I was afraid that Crabbe would notice half of my wand sticking out of my pant pocket, so I didn't move.
Crabbe suddenly turned to me. "Are you positive it was a Death Eater in the woods?"
"I think so…" Crabbe stood above me with a menacing stare, "I mean, I didn't just right out ASK him…"
"Don't joke with me," he huffed.
"I don't know," I said helplessly, "I just assumed that since two Death Eaters were attacking the house, that the man outside was one, too."
"Did he say anything?"
"I don't remember," I shook my head slightly.
"You don't remember? For godssake it was less than 6 hours ago!"
"Well excuse me!" I spat, "but since then I've had an Everbero spell or whatever you call it cast on me, and that didn't help my memory a bit!"
There was a long silence. Crabbe took out his wand and held it loosely in his hands. Then, with the wand in his right hand, he straightened his arm and touched the tip of the stick to my forehead. It was cold as ice.
"You better not be lying, Potter," he whispered, "because illegal curses are my specialty."
I breathed shallowly, staring cross-eyed at the wand.
"Did he say anything, or didn't he?" Crabbe repeated.
I tried hard to remember. The dissipating fog. The musty closet. The painful ankle. I recalled the feel of the cool glass window, keeping me away from saving Mrs. Figg. The man captured me, holding my arm behind my back, pulling me away. Through the memory of emotion, a harsh whisper emerged: "Don't cry, it'll all be over soon…"
The pressure of the wand's tip on my forehead increased. "Well!?" Crabbe snapped, shoving his wand forward.
"Yes," I said. Crabbe pulled the wand away but kept it in his hand.
"What did he say?" Crabbe looked nervous.
"What does it matter?" I asked. "Who is it that you think was there?"
"What did he say!?"
"Who are you afraid of?!"
"I AM NOT AFRAID OF MALFOY!" Crabbe hollered. He pointed his wand straight at my face. The beginning of a curse on his lips, I hastily decided that the time was right. I pulled my wand from my pocket and yelled the first spell that came to mind. "Densaugeo!"
A bright burst came out of my wand and Crabbe stepped back from the force of the spell. After a couple dazed moments, Crabbe blinked, and then looked down at himself to see the affects of the magic. With a small smile he spat, "Nice try, Potter, but it looks as though you'll have to try again." I took a step back as Crabbe raised his wand to me.
"CRU-THIO!" A small spark came out of his wand, followed by a hiss of smoke. "Wha-in-tha?" Crabbe's hand flew to his mouth and his eyes opened wide. His teeth were growing steadily larger and larger. I'm not sure what made me remember that spell just then, but it sure saved me a lot of pain.
Crabbe glared at me angrily. "Impedimenta!" he managed to shout the curse through his large teeth. I slumped to the ground, unable to move my legs or arms.
Crabbe quickly began to shrink his teeth back to normal size, while his Impediment Curse wore off, and then I could move again.
With a quick Alohomora, I unchained myself from the wall and stood up to face Crabbe like a man.
"INCENDIO!"
"RICTUSEMPRA!"
A burst of flames hit Crabbe in the shoulder and set him aflame. I began to laugh at him as he danced around trying to extinguish his robe. Tears sprang to my eyes, and I realized I couldn't stop laughing. A thousand feather-like touches tickled me all over through my clothes. I fell to the ground again, gasping for air.
"Finite Incantatem" A shrill voice echoed from the doorway. I gulped down a lungful of air and turned to the voice. The tall, ominous, figure lowered his wand. I realized with a jolt that it was Voldemort…
His long robes trailed behind him as he stepped into the room. The snakes on the ceiling moved quickly, slithering in excitement. I felt all the blood in my body drain to my feet as he spoke.
"Crabbe, leave us."
"Master… I am honored that you acted so quickly to arrive—"
"Silence!" Voldemort glared at Crabbe. "Leave us. Go revive Goyle and wait for me."
Crabbe stood still for a moment, and then looked at me, then back at Voldemort. "Yes, master." He headed for the door, but stopped abruptly. The pale, pointed face of Lucius Malfoy appeared behind Voldemort.
"What? Why is Malfoy--?"
"I suggest you leave before I get angry, Crabbe." Voldemort drawled. "You almost destroyed 2 years of work with your little 'scheme'."
Crabbe stood dumbfounded. "But sir, I thought—"
"Exactly! You thought! A mistake I will never let happen again!" Voldemort raised his wand. "Now go." Crabbe backed away from Voldemort's wand.
"You heard him, Crabbe." Malfoy smirked and stepped out of the doorway and into the room to let Crabbe through. Crabbe didn't move.
"Master, I caught Harry Potter for you!" I almost rolled my eyes at the obviousness of his statement. "I've caught him so now you can kill him!"
"You fool!" Voldemort advanced on Crabbe with his wand still aimed. Crabbe backed away until he hit a wall. Voldemort stood inches from Crabbe. "Do you have any idea what you have done? You killed a member of the Order of the Phoenix!"
Crabbe's eyes grew wide. "She was a…? But I…" He began to shake his head quickly. "N-no, sir" he stuttered wildly, "I didn't… I—"
"Don't lie to me! Malfoy saw the whole thing!" Voldemort's unearthly voice echoed. "I can't believe what you've done, Crabbe. You probably thought that you were terribly clever after finding out how to get past Dumbledore's spell. The fact is, Malfoy learned how to almost three years ago!"
Crabbe gulped, and looked like he was about to cry.
"Malfoy grew a brain, and decided to wait. There was more than a spell protecting Potter. Arabella Figg, of the Order of the Phoenix, was placed by Dumbledore to stop anyone who found the loophole."
"And you can't just up and kill someone from the Order of the Phoenix." Malfoy stepped forward. "You're instantly the second most wanted wizard in the world after this."
Voldemort nodded in agreement. "You won't have the Death Eaters protecting you, either, Crabbe."
Crabbe just about fainted. "No protection! But sir, I was trying to help you! And I didn't—"
"I can't waste time protecting a wizard who got himself into such a mess!" Voldemort stepped away from Crabbe and pointed at the door. "Go."
With a stumble, Crabbe walked out. Voldemort shifted his gaze to me for the first time. His stare made my skin cold and clammy. I gripped the wand at my side tighter, although I could barely feel my fingers.
Malfoy took a step forward and stood next to Voldemort.
"Lucius, you leave too." Voldemort didn't even look away from me as he spoke.
Malfoy gave a slight bow to Voldemort, and then strode out the door.
"I mistakenly had an audience the last time we met, Harry Potter. I see now that the only way to get rid of you is to do so in an… ungentlemanly manner." With a flick of his hand, my wand flew from my grasp and landed at his feet.
The door to the room slammed heavily and the light dimmed to a dark green.
"I suppose that even though my servants make mistakes, I should make the best of each one." Voldemort swished his wand. "Crucio!"
Sudden, severe, indescribable pain shot through me. It felt as though every molecule I was made of was trying to rip itself away from my body. I screamed blindly, suddenly on the floor. Long seconds later, it stopped, but even the memory of the pain was horrendous.
Voldemort chuckled shrilly. Maybe it was just my ears ringing, but I thought I heard a dull thud from the other side of the door. I brought my hands up to my face, trying to make everything stop spinning.
"Crucio!"
The pain came again, if not worse than the first time. All I did was scream. I could barely breathe, but every breath was devoted to yelling incomprehensively, as though it would help ease the endless torture.
All of a sudden, I saw the room become brighter through my clenched eyelids. The agonizing pain left, and the echo of my yell was all I could hear.
I opened my eyes and saw a figure in the open doorway. With a yell, the figure pointed their wand in the room and thick, heavy smoke poured from the ceiling. Voldemort and the person at the door disappeared from view. I tried to stand up, but everything still hurt too much to move.
A dark shadow appeared at my side and grabbed me around the chest. I tried to fight from their grasp, but I couldn't. It seemed hopeless… there was nothing I could do to stop them. But, instead of hurting me, the shadow lifted me up, and stood me on my feet.
I heard Voldemort's irritated growls across the room. I tried to run to the door, but stumbled. An arm circled around my back, and hastily led me toward the light. We stepped out of the darkness and the door slammed behind us.
The arm supporting me let go, and I numbly slumped to my hands and knees. The carpet felt warm underneath my hands. My vision was blurry, but I could see two cloaked figures sitting next to me.
"Hurry!" One of them said, and suddenly, the rug lifted right off of the ground. I pushed myself up to my knees and rubbed my eyes furiously. I turned to the voice, and saw the worried but smiling face of…
"Mrs. Figg!?"
Crabbe's pacing began to make me nauseated. He wiped the sweat from his brow and walked back and forth in the sweltering hot room. The shifting stone snakes on the ceiling seemed to move slower as the room got hotter. Stinging sweat seeped into my eyes, but I didn't want to wipe it away. I was afraid that Crabbe would notice half of my wand sticking out of my pant pocket, so I didn't move.
Crabbe suddenly turned to me. "Are you positive it was a Death Eater in the woods?"
"I think so…" Crabbe stood above me with a menacing stare, "I mean, I didn't just right out ASK him…"
"Don't joke with me," he huffed.
"I don't know," I said helplessly, "I just assumed that since two Death Eaters were attacking the house, that the man outside was one, too."
"Did he say anything?"
"I don't remember," I shook my head slightly.
"You don't remember? For godssake it was less than 6 hours ago!"
"Well excuse me!" I spat, "but since then I've had an Everbero spell or whatever you call it cast on me, and that didn't help my memory a bit!"
There was a long silence. Crabbe took out his wand and held it loosely in his hands. Then, with the wand in his right hand, he straightened his arm and touched the tip of the stick to my forehead. It was cold as ice.
"You better not be lying, Potter," he whispered, "because illegal curses are my specialty."
I breathed shallowly, staring cross-eyed at the wand.
"Did he say anything, or didn't he?" Crabbe repeated.
I tried hard to remember. The dissipating fog. The musty closet. The painful ankle. I recalled the feel of the cool glass window, keeping me away from saving Mrs. Figg. The man captured me, holding my arm behind my back, pulling me away. Through the memory of emotion, a harsh whisper emerged: "Don't cry, it'll all be over soon…"
The pressure of the wand's tip on my forehead increased. "Well!?" Crabbe snapped, shoving his wand forward.
"Yes," I said. Crabbe pulled the wand away but kept it in his hand.
"What did he say?" Crabbe looked nervous.
"What does it matter?" I asked. "Who is it that you think was there?"
"What did he say!?"
"Who are you afraid of?!"
"I AM NOT AFRAID OF MALFOY!" Crabbe hollered. He pointed his wand straight at my face. The beginning of a curse on his lips, I hastily decided that the time was right. I pulled my wand from my pocket and yelled the first spell that came to mind. "Densaugeo!"
A bright burst came out of my wand and Crabbe stepped back from the force of the spell. After a couple dazed moments, Crabbe blinked, and then looked down at himself to see the affects of the magic. With a small smile he spat, "Nice try, Potter, but it looks as though you'll have to try again." I took a step back as Crabbe raised his wand to me.
"CRU-THIO!" A small spark came out of his wand, followed by a hiss of smoke. "Wha-in-tha?" Crabbe's hand flew to his mouth and his eyes opened wide. His teeth were growing steadily larger and larger. I'm not sure what made me remember that spell just then, but it sure saved me a lot of pain.
Crabbe glared at me angrily. "Impedimenta!" he managed to shout the curse through his large teeth. I slumped to the ground, unable to move my legs or arms.
Crabbe quickly began to shrink his teeth back to normal size, while his Impediment Curse wore off, and then I could move again.
With a quick Alohomora, I unchained myself from the wall and stood up to face Crabbe like a man.
"INCENDIO!"
"RICTUSEMPRA!"
A burst of flames hit Crabbe in the shoulder and set him aflame. I began to laugh at him as he danced around trying to extinguish his robe. Tears sprang to my eyes, and I realized I couldn't stop laughing. A thousand feather-like touches tickled me all over through my clothes. I fell to the ground again, gasping for air.
"Finite Incantatem" A shrill voice echoed from the doorway. I gulped down a lungful of air and turned to the voice. The tall, ominous, figure lowered his wand. I realized with a jolt that it was Voldemort…
His long robes trailed behind him as he stepped into the room. The snakes on the ceiling moved quickly, slithering in excitement. I felt all the blood in my body drain to my feet as he spoke.
"Crabbe, leave us."
"Master… I am honored that you acted so quickly to arrive—"
"Silence!" Voldemort glared at Crabbe. "Leave us. Go revive Goyle and wait for me."
Crabbe stood still for a moment, and then looked at me, then back at Voldemort. "Yes, master." He headed for the door, but stopped abruptly. The pale, pointed face of Lucius Malfoy appeared behind Voldemort.
"What? Why is Malfoy--?"
"I suggest you leave before I get angry, Crabbe." Voldemort drawled. "You almost destroyed 2 years of work with your little 'scheme'."
Crabbe stood dumbfounded. "But sir, I thought—"
"Exactly! You thought! A mistake I will never let happen again!" Voldemort raised his wand. "Now go." Crabbe backed away from Voldemort's wand.
"You heard him, Crabbe." Malfoy smirked and stepped out of the doorway and into the room to let Crabbe through. Crabbe didn't move.
"Master, I caught Harry Potter for you!" I almost rolled my eyes at the obviousness of his statement. "I've caught him so now you can kill him!"
"You fool!" Voldemort advanced on Crabbe with his wand still aimed. Crabbe backed away until he hit a wall. Voldemort stood inches from Crabbe. "Do you have any idea what you have done? You killed a member of the Order of the Phoenix!"
Crabbe's eyes grew wide. "She was a…? But I…" He began to shake his head quickly. "N-no, sir" he stuttered wildly, "I didn't… I—"
"Don't lie to me! Malfoy saw the whole thing!" Voldemort's unearthly voice echoed. "I can't believe what you've done, Crabbe. You probably thought that you were terribly clever after finding out how to get past Dumbledore's spell. The fact is, Malfoy learned how to almost three years ago!"
Crabbe gulped, and looked like he was about to cry.
"Malfoy grew a brain, and decided to wait. There was more than a spell protecting Potter. Arabella Figg, of the Order of the Phoenix, was placed by Dumbledore to stop anyone who found the loophole."
"And you can't just up and kill someone from the Order of the Phoenix." Malfoy stepped forward. "You're instantly the second most wanted wizard in the world after this."
Voldemort nodded in agreement. "You won't have the Death Eaters protecting you, either, Crabbe."
Crabbe just about fainted. "No protection! But sir, I was trying to help you! And I didn't—"
"I can't waste time protecting a wizard who got himself into such a mess!" Voldemort stepped away from Crabbe and pointed at the door. "Go."
With a stumble, Crabbe walked out. Voldemort shifted his gaze to me for the first time. His stare made my skin cold and clammy. I gripped the wand at my side tighter, although I could barely feel my fingers.
Malfoy took a step forward and stood next to Voldemort.
"Lucius, you leave too." Voldemort didn't even look away from me as he spoke.
Malfoy gave a slight bow to Voldemort, and then strode out the door.
"I mistakenly had an audience the last time we met, Harry Potter. I see now that the only way to get rid of you is to do so in an… ungentlemanly manner." With a flick of his hand, my wand flew from my grasp and landed at his feet.
The door to the room slammed heavily and the light dimmed to a dark green.
"I suppose that even though my servants make mistakes, I should make the best of each one." Voldemort swished his wand. "Crucio!"
Sudden, severe, indescribable pain shot through me. It felt as though every molecule I was made of was trying to rip itself away from my body. I screamed blindly, suddenly on the floor. Long seconds later, it stopped, but even the memory of the pain was horrendous.
Voldemort chuckled shrilly. Maybe it was just my ears ringing, but I thought I heard a dull thud from the other side of the door. I brought my hands up to my face, trying to make everything stop spinning.
"Crucio!"
The pain came again, if not worse than the first time. All I did was scream. I could barely breathe, but every breath was devoted to yelling incomprehensively, as though it would help ease the endless torture.
All of a sudden, I saw the room become brighter through my clenched eyelids. The agonizing pain left, and the echo of my yell was all I could hear.
I opened my eyes and saw a figure in the open doorway. With a yell, the figure pointed their wand in the room and thick, heavy smoke poured from the ceiling. Voldemort and the person at the door disappeared from view. I tried to stand up, but everything still hurt too much to move.
A dark shadow appeared at my side and grabbed me around the chest. I tried to fight from their grasp, but I couldn't. It seemed hopeless… there was nothing I could do to stop them. But, instead of hurting me, the shadow lifted me up, and stood me on my feet.
I heard Voldemort's irritated growls across the room. I tried to run to the door, but stumbled. An arm circled around my back, and hastily led me toward the light. We stepped out of the darkness and the door slammed behind us.
The arm supporting me let go, and I numbly slumped to my hands and knees. The carpet felt warm underneath my hands. My vision was blurry, but I could see two cloaked figures sitting next to me.
"Hurry!" One of them said, and suddenly, the rug lifted right off of the ground. I pushed myself up to my knees and rubbed my eyes furiously. I turned to the voice, and saw the worried but smiling face of…
"Mrs. Figg!?"