Warning: This chapter has some disturbing images. Some might go so far as to call them gross. Also, I am evil.

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Chapter 25: Allies

I woke to a throbbing head, much worse than before. When I forced my eyes open I could see the room lit by a faint green glow. I focused; it was coming from a few glowing words inscribed on the floor: "Stay here, getting help."

As I read the glow faded word by word, leaving me in darkness. Damn him, if he thought I would just lie here and trust to Ministry, even Canadian Ministry, competence. And couldn't he have transfigured something and filled it with water? I was desperately thirsty. It would have been easy for him; he was the one with the wand, my wand.

I pushed myself up and started feeling around on the floor. There was less light seeping in from the window now; either the moon had left this side of the building in shadow or the clouds had thickened again.

Finally my fingers closed on the soggy wool of my sock. I picked it up carefully. The glass shard was still intact. I adjusted it until I had a fairly good grip. At the very least I could arm myself, even if I didn't have a way out. When they came for me, perhaps I could get the drop on them. On second thought, when they came for me, I would rather not be here at all.

I leaned against the door. All was quiet. I tried the handle. At least Shacklebolt had left it open for me. I held the door closed while I considered. I didn't want to try going up the same stairwell they had brought us down. I could try hiding in another room. At once I realized that I knew where the house elves were being held, if this really was the WC I had seen from the outside. It would be down the corridor about six or seven doors along after the corner of the building. I could use pieces of my clothes, perhaps I could free them. A freed elf could be a formidable ally.

I opened the door and slipped into the pitch-black corridor. I put my left hand on the wall. I would have to feel my way. I couldn't go very quickly, since I couldn't afford to trip and make noise, but I felt a crawling urgency to get to my destination.

The distance to the corner seemed to stretch interminably. I almost laughed with relief when my knee struck the wall of the corner. I ran my hand along the wall as I turned and started counting doors. I thought I would have to try several when I approached my target, but the rumbling snores and the heavy wooden bar indicated the correct door without a doubt. I had been worried that the snoring indicated some sort of guard, but with the bar closing the snorer inside, it must be another captive.

I carefully set the bar against the wall and eased the door open. I pulled it to after me and stood against it motionless while I tried to make out the dim shapes around me.

There was a hissing sputter to my left. I swung around with my glass shard ready. A sharp white light was blooming in the hand of a short figure against the wall. I could barely make it out at first, half-blinded by the glare. I crouched ready with my makeshift knife, but the figure didn't move. I blinked as my eyes adjusted.

It was a goblin, a female, attached to the wall by some sort of rope threaded through a collar. A prisoner? She watched me without any sign of alarm. The light in her hand came from a small metal ball that continued to hiss and flicker. I hadn't seen a light quite like it; I assumed it was goblin-made. As the figure wasn't moving, I took advantage of the light to examine the rest of the room.

The light revealed a small classroom, no desks, but a dusty chalkboard still mounted on the wall. Slumped against it, snoring heavily and wetly, was a forest troll. I knew they weren't unknown in the northwest, but I hadn't seen one in person. Ever since the Fremont Bridge incident, they stayed well clear of Seattle and its surroundings. It was very large, even folded against the wall it took up most of the room. It didn't look at all well. I walked around it in a wide berth. When I came around its right side, I could see the problem.

Its skull was partially caved in, the shaggy reddish pelt matted with black blood and its right eye forever closed. Its right arm was gone, cut cleanly from the shoulder, the bloodless wound showing the joint and muscles perfectly. I looked away. I doubted it would ever wake again.

Along the back wall, under the window, was a row of wood and wire cages. I could see a quick movement inside one. I went closer and peered in. House elves. The one who had moved was watching me warily from the corner of its cage. Another that I could see in the next cage over took no notice of me. Past that, the cages were lost in shadows, but I could hear some slight movements. I leaned forward and spoke quietly.

"Avi sent me. If I give you clothes to free you, can you get out?" He stared at me for a moment, motionless, then pointed at the front of the cage and the large metal lock that hung from it. I brought my fingers close to the lock. It didn't feel charmed, unlike the cages, but I could guess it was goblin-made from the look of it and that I could see no keyhole or combination at all. It was completely featureless. I hadn't the slightest idea where to start trying to open it.

Goblin-made. The goblin woman was patiently watching me from her spot across the room. I had the uncomfortable feeling that she had been waiting for me all along. I went back to her. "If I free you, can you open the locks?" She nodded.

I examined her collar and the ring on the wall; they were both solid metal, I didn't have a chance with them. The rope was another matter; it felt charmed, but I had to try. I sawed at the rope with my shard of glass, but I only succeeded in putting a gash in my thumb when it skipped across the fibers. Even holding it against the wall and bearing down hard with the glass didn't make a nick. The goblin was shaking her head at me. The charm protecting it, whatever it was, was greater than my bit of glass. I would need something resistant to the magic, something sharp and powerful. A house elf could probably do it, but that just led me in a circle.

I would have to search the room and hope that I could turn up something, but a great deal of the room was covered by the sprawling body of the troll. I didn't really want to try to move it, if it did wake, it could easily reach across the room and tear my throat out. Of course, I mused, as long as it didn't wake, it could do something much more useful. I touched the clammy flesh of its arm. For I moment I felt like I was standing, dizzy, on the lip of one of the rubbish pits, the smell of blood and decay crashing over me, looking down on all the 'raw materials' piled up. I shook my head and pushed the memory away. The troll wasn't dead, not yet anyway, no raw materials here.

I picked up the troll's remaining hand gingerly and waited, but the snores didn't change their cadence. I began to heft the arm towards the goblin.

That finally disturbed her equanimity. She quickly edged away to the end of her rope. That didn't help me at all, I couldn't reach her. "Get back here!" I hissed at her. She stood back against the wall and watched me warily. I dropped the arm and approached her.

"Do you speak English?" She shook her head decisively. I sighed; this wasn't the time to be literal. "But you understand it, yes?" She shook her head again. Ridiculous. I went on.

"I'm trying to cut your rope. I don't have anything else to use! I need you to get back in reach. Do you really think that troll is going anywhere?" Somehow, despite her total lack on English, she miraculously seemed to understand me. She pushed away from the wall and came inching back toward the arm. I hefted the hand up and positioned the thumb and index claw on each side of the rope. The claws were metallic and razor-sharp. I hoped the troll would not wake. The claws slipped off twice before the goblin pulled her rope tight and held the index finger in place while I sawed away with the thumb. Finally the strands of the rope frayed and parted. She was free.

The troll was still snoring deeply. "Locks," I said. She shook her head mutely. "Locks," I repeated, gesturing to the cages. The goblin woman looked up at me and then pointed at the ceiling. She closed her hand over the metal sphere. The hissing stopped with a snap and the room plunged into darkness. I could hear the door opening.

"What? Wait!" I lunged for the door and out into the corridor. The hallway was black. I stopped dead; there was a scuttling sound to my left. I went after it as quickly as I could in the dark, running one hand along the wall, my other out in front of me.

I stumbled into a corner once, but when I pushed myself back off the wall I could see a faint glow from a staircase to my right. A small shadowy figure was disappearing up the treads. I sprinted after it. The stairs put me back in the spell-lit ground-floor corridors, the light stinging my eyes. I could see the goblin woman ten meters down the hall, doing something to one of the classroom doors. I ran towards her.

As I neared, I could hear voices behind the door, raised, arguing in Gobbledygook. If she got the door open she would raise the alarm. I had to stop her. My hand fell on her shoulder. As usual I was too late; the door was already swinging open.

Lee and one of the goblins were in the middle of the classroom arguing, Lee leaning across a small table. They turned towards us as the goblin woman slipped under my hand and started to run to them. I snatched at her, too slow. There was a movement on my right at the corner of my eye; a goblin was coming at me very fast along the wall.

I grabbed the still-moving door to hold it between us, but Lee must have cast on it. It wrenched out of my grasp and slammed behind me. Shit.

I backed away from the goblin, pulling out my glass shard. The goblin had a knife. Was it that knife? My stomach dropped. Whatever it was, my sliver of glass looked pathetic against it.

There was a thud from the middle of the room. I glanced over, still backing up. The goblin in the middle of the room was pulling a knife free from the goblin woman's neck. There wasn't any blood. She was on the floor, bucking and clawing at her throat. Lee was shrieking, "Anno, Anno!" I didn't look again.

The goblin closest to me made a dash to the side. It was trying to get behind me, I realized; if it could get me at the back of my knee, it could bring me down… I slashed at it with my glass shard. It scuttled out of the way then made a move to the side again. This time it ducked beneath my swing and slashed the side of my calf. I staggered back. The door came open then, slamming against the wall. Incredibly, the long bony head of a thestral was coming through, and another. I couldn't make any sense of it at first, until I saw the red-robed Canadian aurors mounted on them. There was a wand pointed at me and then there was nothing.

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A/N: I am evil. And by evil, I mean leaving town for two weeks, so unfortunately there will be no more updates until just before or after New Years'. Hey, now you have plenty of time to drop me a line and let me know what you think, I'd love to hear it!

Thanks to all my readers and reviewers, and a special thanks to my anonymous reviewers, since I can't answer you directly.

Happy holidays, everyone!