Chapter 35
The Truth
It was fifteen minutes later that Harry and Ginny traveled through the Floo Network to Kingsley's office, carrying the records they had been researching. Once they arrived, Kingsley locked the door and began to look through the documents for clues to the identity of Voldemort's heir.
"See the intervals," explained Harry, indicating the initials that Ginny had discovered, "this one visits on the third and fourteenth of every month, and the other on the eighth and twenty-third."
"Proudfoot and Sabrina must know who they are; they're in control of the recordkeeping out there. I know Proudfoot is out there now, and Sabrina is with Tim going trying to plan a course of action. Have you spoken to Ron?" Kingsley asked.
"No, I haven't. I hadn't spoken to anyone until we contacted you," said Harry.
"I'm going to send him a message; if I end up sending you out to investigate this, I don't want you going alone. I'll call Tim back as well, and Lansing can go too. I'm glad you noticed this, because Umbridge was close to that heir, and this span covers the time when she was in prison," Kingsley said.
"'Was' close?" asked Ginny quietly.
"There was a Dementor attack on Azakban the night you all went into hiding; Rowle, Umbridge, Travers, the Carrows… they're all… well, they're not dead per say but… you get the idea," Kingsley said darkly.
"No," Harry said in shock. "That's half the group right there; this should make whoever this is easier to catch, right? That doesn't make any sense though; why kill off all your supporters?"
"Well, apparently failing isn't tolerated well by this Heir. It wasn't by Voldemort either, but I think he had much more control of the group than this person does," Kingsley explained. "That's one of the reasons we've had trouble forming a plan. The trail has gone cold; we don't even know where to begin now that we don't have any people to interrogate," said Kingsley.
"Speaking of knowing where to begin, someone around here has to have access to a pensieve," Harry said.
"Um… yes, there is one down in the Department of Mysteries, and I even think the Law Office has one," Kingsley replied thoughtfully. "Why?"
"I want to go over the memories Dumbledore and I examined and just recheck my facts. The fact that this person who keeps visiting is from Albania has me curious as well, because that's where Voldemort spent so many years in hiding," Harry explained.
"That's an idea," Kingsley said in approving tone of voice.
"It was Ginny's" said Harry proudly.
"I … well, I … I just said what you were thinking," sputtered Ginny, blushing as Harry squeezed her hand.
"Do you two want to go down together? Or do you want to be taken to where Ron and Hermione are, Ginny?"
Ginny looked at Harry, she didn't want to leave him, but she also didn't want to be a distraction to him while looking through the old memories. Plus, she felt that some things that he and Dumbledore discussed were exceptionally private, and she wasn't sure which memories he would be visiting. She remembered him telling her briefly about the night Dumbledore died, and refusing to talk about the cave they visited; she had no desire to see this particular memory as it seemed to bother Harry so much he didn't talk about it.
"I'll… I'll just wait for Ron and Hermione. If you find anything out I'm guessing he'll come in, right?" She asked.
"Ginny, you can stay with me. I don't mind-"
"No, Harry," said Ginny, squeezing his hand. "You'll focus better this way. I can stay here until Ron and Hermione get here and then I'll just go back to Sommerset with Hermione until you're done."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'll be fine. It'd be different if you were leaving, but if you're just going down to another department I'm not worried," she said with a smile.
Kingsley nodded. "I'll send for Ron and Hermione now; Harry, if you want to go down to the Department of Mysteries, you'll want to talk to Max Memorian, he'll be able to get you to a pensieve. We'll be up here. Wear your cloak while you're walking down there," he advised.
Kingsley pointedly walked toward the fireplace to summon Ron and Hermione, allowing Harry to pull Ginny into his arms, kiss her gently and squeeze her once before he pulled out his cloak and headed out the door. Ginny watched him go, feeling anxious but hopeful at the same time; perhaps this would all be over soon.
It wasn't five minutes before Ron and Hermione stepped through the fireplace, both looking slightly concerned as they looked from Ginny to Kingsley.
"Okay, so explain what's going on?" Ron asked as he walked over to the desk where the papers Harry and Ginny brought were laying. He and Kingsley began to discuss the findings when Hermione tapped Ginny on the shoulder.
"Are you all right?" she whispered.
Ginny nodded, giving Hermione a small smile as she shuffled her feet. Hermione eyed her curiously, wishing they were alone so they could talk.
"Do you think we could go down to my office, Kingsley?" Hermione asked. "I have some paperwork that I could pick up to work on while I'm home," she explained.
Kingsley and Ron glanced at each other, both of them shrugging their shoulders slightly. "Sure, I think that would be okay," Kingsley said.
"After that, maybe you can just go to our office, that way we can come down and tell you what's happening when we figure out a plan," Ron suggested.
"Yeah, yea… we can do that," Hermione said quickly, watching as Ginny nodded in agreement. They stepped out of the office and walked toward the lifts that would take them to level four where her office was located. When the lift was closed and they were alone, Ginny burst out laughing.
"What's funny?" Hermione asked.
"I don't know!" she said, wiping a stray tear from her eyes. "I'm anxious because it feels like maybe this will be over but I'm worried about what's going to happen. But, at the same time, I'm so happy and I just-"
"You've been with Harry since we all went into hiding, haven't you?" Hermione asked.
"Yes…" Ginny laughed, flushing with color.
Hermione grinned. "Well… I take it you finally got to use your contraceptive potion then?"
"No, I gave it all to you."
"WHAT?"
"Shhh!" Ginny laughed. "I'm just kidding – completely kidding! I had some; I had some this morning with breakfast."
"All right, you scared the daylights out of me. That's not funny," Hermione scolded.
"Perhaps not, but the look on your face was worth it," Ginny said as they exited the lift.
They walked swiftly to Hermione's office, which was thankfully empty, and gathered her paperwork that she had been searching for. They then walked back to the lift and ascended back to level two and walked to the Auror office.
The office was empty, so they quickly shut the door and walked to the very back where Ron's and Harry's desks were located. "So," Hermione began, sitting down and looking at Ginny with curious eyes. "I'm pulling a you and I'm asking you to tell me, leaving out intimate details, how your… night… was."
"You're pulling 'a me', I like that," Ginny said with a laugh. She blushed brightly and stared at her hands. "I didn't think I could ever, ever, feel that way. It's still kind of sinking in to be honest, and then we found all this stuff in his files and came here, it's been a bit of a whirlwind for me really," she said with a sigh.
"What prompted you guys to start looking through the files?"
"I woke up last night, and there was Harry, sitting on the edge of the bed reading through them. I asked him to come back to bed, which he did. He said… he said he had been thinking that that – us, together and alone – was all he would ever want, so I think he feels like he wants it to be over quicker."
"I think we all do," Hermione agreed.
"I agree, and that's why when I woke up I started looking through it. Hearing him say that made me realize how much I really do want him; not just in that way, but … it never even fazed me when you and Ron got engaged, or Angelina and George. I just felt happy for you, and figured it would come in its own time. Now, after being alone with Harry and not having anything to do or anywhere to go… or anyone around… it was wonderful. And I want it; I want the ring, and the dress, and Harry to think of me as a wife, all of that. I feel like a girl," Ginny said with a laugh.
"You are a girl… I mean, I guess I've never checked but I always assumed –"
"Shut up, you know what I mean," said Ginny as she watched Hermione chuckle.
"Harry already thinks of you as his wife, he just doesn't realize it yet," Hermione said.
"You think so?"
"Yeah, I do. I don't think he realized how much he needed you until you weren't there. I expect when you showed up on his doorstep he probably attacked you."
Ginny smiled. "After interrogating me for a minute, then yes, he did pretty much."
"I'm glad to hear it. I was so worried about him when Ron told me that he was by himself; Harry likes to think he functions well on his own, but he doesn't," Hermione explained. "When Ron left and it was just Harry and I camping and wandering from place to place, there was about a week or so when neither of us talked to each other. Harry would take out that map of his and just stare at it; I know he was just watching for your little dot at Hogwarts, you were on break though so he never got any relief that you were okay. But it hit me then that he didn't realize how much he needs people: you, Ron, me. It probably hit him hard when he was completely alone like that."
"That must have been an interesting month, when Ron was gone," Ginny said.
Hermione shrugged. "It was frightening more than anything; but it taught us both a few things about ourselves and about each other. Harry is one of my best friends; it was hard for me to watch him purposely make himself suffer. Which is why I'm so glad that he came to his senses; I was about to hit him upside the head with something," she said.
Ginny smiled. "Well… before I get my hopes up about anything, let's just see what happens with this other stuff going on."
Hermione nodded in agreement. They began to talk about what had been happening in Sommerset with Hermione's parents when the door opened and Proudfoot, Tim and Sabrina walked in. "Well, we have missing persons in our office," said Tim with a teasing tone in his voice. "What brings you here?"
Ginny briefly explained what had been found in the files Harry had taken home to the three of them; they all looked curious at the developments. "Harry is doing some research, but Ron and Kingsley were looking for you two," Ginny said, nodding toward Proudfoot and Sabrina in turn.
"Oh, I'll pop up there, then; I'd like to have a look at those logs," Sabrina said quickly. She looked sheepish and uncomfortable as Ginny observed her, wondering if she was thinking of their last encounter in the Leaky Cauldron. Sabrina said nothing more and quickly exited the room, confirming Ginny's suspicions that she was either embarrassed by her audacity or didn't wish to talk to Ginny any longer; which the latter didn't consider a loss.
Tim and Proudfoot began to bury themselves in various tasks, every so often asking Hermione and Ginny what they had been up to during hiding. After a half an hour Proudfoot stood and stretched tall. "I'm starving, is anyone else hungry?"
Tim shook his head, but Ginny and Hermione looked at each other. "I'm a little hungry," Hermione said quietly.
"Come on; I can take you down to the café and we can get something. It won't take more than a minute," he said, gesturing them toward the door.
"Well… wait. Maybe you should just bring them something," said Tim quietly. "I mean… if Ron and Harry are expecting you to be here, they'll freak out if they come and you're not."
"We'll only be gone a few minutes," said Proudfoot. "You're not going anywhere are you?"
"No, I'm not planning on it," said Tim.
"Well, then you can explain in the event they do stop in, right?"
Tim shrugged but eventually nodded, though his expression remained concerned. "I'll… do my best, I suppose. Are you two okay with going?" he asked.
Ginny glanced at Hermione, who shrugged and nodded her head. "We'll be okay. I think they'll be consumed for a while anyway," said Ginny. They bid Tim farewell and walked out the door with Proudfoot, talking about the different types of sandwiches offered at the café located in level eight of the Ministry.
Tim remained in the office reviewing the few statements they had managed to get from the Carrows and Umbridge – who was furious about being abandoned during her attempt to kidnap Ginny. The curse had been enacted that prevented her from being able to reveal any specific details about her assistant during the attack, the only thing she did reveal had everyone in the office confused beyond belief.
"The one you are looking for has an ostentatious appendage; he used those appendages to abandon me, bloody coward. But the main one is a princess who should have been drowned in the river Severn… but apparently her mother thought she should be saved," Umbridge said.
"What the hell does that mean?" Tim had asked her while Sabrina watched curiously.
"When you figure it out, you'll see the answer is right in front of you," Umbridge replied.
Tim tried to recall the conversation a hundred different ways, he'd looked over numerous myths about princesses being drowned in rivers and appendages, but nothing had come up.
While his mind was racing, the door opened up quietly, the only sound being a creak heard only as it shut. Tim raised his eyes. "I didn't think you'd be back yet," he said in a curious tone.
"OBLIVIATE!"
There was a flash of light, and Tim slumped against the desk, his eyes unfocused and blurry.
There was a knock at the door of Kingsley's office; he walked away from where he and Ron sat examining additional logs from Azkaban. Ron heard Kingsley greeting Sabrina and welcoming her inside.
"There's a reason for this, I'm sure, but we'll need to know who these people are, who they were visiting, and why so frequently," Kingsley was saying as he and Sabrina approached the desk.
Sabrina nodded and leaned over the desk to review the documents. Ron moved away and watched from the opposite side of the room; he and Kingsley had narrowed down several ministry employees with the initials SVL and MEP and were hoping she might be able to identify who would be visiting and why, though it was a bit of a surprise that she had showed up before they had summoned her.
"How did you know we needed to talk?" asked Ron curiously.
"Ran into Hermione and Ginny at the office," replied Sabrina. "This could be Meredith Parsons, her brother is imprisoned out there for several burglary attempts. The SVL I'm not sure; let me see the list you compiled again," she said, reaching for the piece of paper Kingsley was holding.
There was a glimmer of light from under the door and a small silvery beaver floated into the room. "Atrium," the message said.
Kingsley sighed. "Can you two continue to look over this while I go see what Lansing has to say?" he asked. Ron and Sabrina both nodded as they watched Kingsley exit the door.
"When did Harry take these home?" asked Sabrina.
"Not sure," Ron said.
"You two have kind of gone separate, have you?"
"Erm… no, not in the slightest. Obviously, hiding puts a damper on seeing him, but that doesn't mean anything. He's still my best mate," Ron said defensively.
Sabrina nodded, not lifting her eyes from the paper. "You think he feels the same way?"
Ron scowled. "I reckon. Can I ask what the hell you need to know this for?" he said, dropping all pretenses.
"Just curious…" she muttered, still keeping her eyes on the paper.
Ron made a face; he wasn't sure if he wanted to review the material with her if she was going to give him an inquisition about his friendship with Harry. He was well aware that Sabrina had told Harry that Ginny was better off without him, which Ron thought was out of line considering she barely knew Ginny or anything about their relationship. He didn't exactly feel like being analyzed by her at this moment, which was something she tended to do with everyone.
"I'm going to go check and see how Hermione and Ginny are," said Ron.
Sabrina didn't answer, so Ron shrugged and walked toward the exit from Kingsley's office. He had just placed his hand on the door knob when the strangest feeling came over him. Pulling out his wand instinctively, he turned just in time to see Sabrina pull hers out and aim it at him.
"STUPEFY!" they both cried at the same time. Ron's wand was still leaving his pocket, and the spell missed, instead hitting Kingsley's desk and chipping part of the wood. Sabrina's spell hit Ron square in the chest and he fell back, cracking his head against the door as he slumped limply to the ground.
Hermione and Ginny had finished their sandwiches and were now walking back to the office, talking lightly with Proudfoot as they ascended in the elevator. When they stepped off, a large crowd of people had gathered around the fountain for lunch time, talking loudly and bustling between offices.
"Oh no, I suppose we should go around, since you two are technically supposed to be in hiding," Proudfoot said, shunting the two girls in the opposite direction.
Hermione and Ginny followed a little reluctantly as they looked at the crowd. "I don't think it will matter; it's not a known fact that we're in hiding," Hermione said.
"Well, just in case; they're still investigating people in all the offices. I wouldn't want someone to see you and then relay information that you were here," he said, sounding concerned about that possibility. They had begun to walk toward a hallway that linked the Law office around to the Auror office, and once inside the tunnel both girls began to feel slightly disoriented.
When they reached the Law office, Proudfoot opened the door that led to the second path and frowned slightly. "We'll have to go back," he said. "This is blocked now, I forgot."
Hermione and Ginny glanced at each other. "Well, we can just go out the door and across the hall now; it's not-"
"Actually, no you can't," came a light voice from the doorway of the office. Ginny and Hermione turned sharply around to see a cloaked figure holding up a wand in their direction. They both moved to reach for theirs, but Proudfoot had already turned and wordlessly disarmed them both, catching their wands as they flew high in the air out of their reach. A few seconds after that, a misty haze settled over the two girls and they collapsed to the ground, asleep from the spell that had been cast.
Harry stared blankly into the blue liquid, watching his thoughts swirl around and trying to pick out connecting points. He brought his wand to his temple again and watched the silvery strand flow into the liquid. He leant down and immersed his face into the thoughts, feeling himself spinning and landing just behind where he and Dumbledore stood.
He was watching the memory of Dumbledore and himself visiting Slughorn's unaltered memory of Tom Riddle's Horcrux question. It was quite possibly the strangest scenario Harry had found himself in. There was Dumbledore as he always had been: tall, his white beard flowing to his knees, his hand blackened and burned from the curse on the Gaunt ring. And Harry stood next to him, possibly an inch shorter than he was now, untidy hair and glasses. Harry walked around and walked right up to the image of Tom Riddle in the memory, knowing that he couldn't be seen by anyone.
Harry stared, memorizing his features: Tall, handsome, jet black hair and dark chocolate colored eyes. His jaw line was angular and strong, his nose perfectly shaped and centered in his face. Riddle's smile never reached his eyes; it was flattering but not genuine.
Once Harry had memorized as many of Riddle's features as he could, he sighed and pulled himself back out and into the dark room that the Department of Mysteries worker had led him to. Harry put the tip of his wand into the silvery contents and watched them swirl, going over various events in his head.
Kreacher confirmed that the person did not break the charm on Grimmauld Place to enter; they had the password to gain access to Harry's residence. Harry thought back to all the people whom he had given the password in case they needed to reach him: Ron, Hermione, and Ginny obviously; George, Angelina, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. He knew none of them were involved, so he continued through his mental list.
Kingsley, Lansing, and Tim all had access, so did Neville, Proudfoot and Sabrina. Before Kreacher was murdered, he had also given the password to Eva Fabela from the Law office+ in case she needed to reach him for comment while she was reporting the stories. But no one else he could think of knew how to gain access to his residence.
Taking this list, Harry thought back to the initial break-in to the Ministry. Ron, Hermione, and Ginny again, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Proudfoot, Lansing, Kingsley and Sabrina were all there. During the investigation, they had concluded that only someone who was at the party could have gotten access to the offices, which excluded any of the Death Eaters or other Shadow members that were now incapacitated.
Harry began to pace, trying to piece together more events in his head. The break-in, the poisonings, what else had happened? There was a missing piece somewhere that Harry wasn't connecting.
There was a knock at the door, and Harry whirled around to see the guard who had let him in peer through the door. "I'm sorry, Mr. Potter, but there is a young man out here who is demanding to see you. He says it's urgent."
Harry nodded and exited the room, pausing and widening his eyes as he saw Draco Malfoy pacing back and forth anxiously in the hallway. Harry walked over to him and waited for him to speak.
"Somewhere else," Draco muttered, not looking up at Harry.
"Is there somewhere private?" Harry asked the guard, watching as he indicated a room at the end of a short hallway. Harry nodded his head and motioned for Draco to follow him. When they got to the room, Harry stood in the doorway while Draco walked inside; Harry's hand was wrapped around his wand tightly, ready to pull it out in a seconds notice.
"I'm not going to attack you," Draco scoffed as he took in Harry's posture.
"I'm not going to trust you," replied Harry.
"All right. I can help you… I have information-"
"What are you talking about?" asked Harry, stepping forward into Draco's face. "How long? Why didn't-"
"Just, shut it okay! I can't say much… obviously you've realized –"
"You're under the enchantment," Harry confirmed, shaking his head as Draco stared at his trainers. "Never learn, do you? First Voldemort and now this; you and your parents are –"
"Potter, just… we weren't involved this time, with any of it! But… because we were in His confidence, my parents knew about this. They told me when it all started happening again. After I was … well I'm going to call it poisoned, and went after Granger, they explained to me what happened. But then we were put under the enchantment because we knew too much," Draco explained rapidly.
"So you knew enough to be placed under the enchantment, but you aren't involved," Harry said, watching Draco nod. "Like I said, I don't trust you and I think this is a bunch of bull."
"After the end of the war we backed out, we wanted nothing of it, and that's why we've kept our head down! That's why we cooperate with anything you want! If we started doing anything, even going out in public or … going to the bank… anything, both your side and her side would be on us!" he exclaimed, rather wildly.
"I still don't believe it."
"Fine. Fine! I'm not going to convince you because I can't talk about it anyway, unless I want to die obviously," Draco spat. He looked pale and was slightly out of breath, Harry wondered if he'd said too much and perhaps the curse was starting to act.
Draco reached into the pocket of his robes and handed Harry a flask full of silvery liquid. "My mother… has been suffering, because of this… situation," he explained. "People have been staying at our house, destroying our things, cursing us ever since she made a poor error in judgment and confronted the heir about using me. She has since then been under a slow acting curse that will only resolve itself if this person dies."
"All right…" Harry said, taking the flask.
"Figure this out, get it solved, so she can get help. You… owe her, so to speak," Draco muttered.
"Yes… and you owe me," Harry reminded him. "If this doesn't make sense, I'm coming for you."
Draco nodded as he pulled his cloak around his shoulders and walked off without another word.
Harry made a face, but walked back to the dark room with the pensieve and shut the door. He watched the silvery substance float into the bowl, wondering exactly what he was about to see. Harry inhaled and leaned over to immerse his face in the liquid once more.
He fell into what he recognized as the Malfoy's main sitting area of their elaborate house. Narcissa sat stoically in the corner, and Harry stood behind her; he realized these must be her memories. Voldemort was pacing idly back and forth, he seemed to be lost in thought; Bellatrix sat anxiously next to Narcissa, as though awaiting an order. Travers stood in the corner, his face impassive as he watched Voldemort's movements.
There was a knock on the door, and Lucius Malfoy entered. "My Lord… there is a … girl, here to see you," he said quietly.
"Your description is vague, Lucius," Voldemort replied quietly. "This girl is who and why does she seek my council?"
"She says she's related to you," Lucius said unceremoniously.
Voldemort paused and looked up at Lucius with his red eyes. "Relation… send her in," he said with a sneer.
Bellatrix looked curious, Narcissa and Travers were both impassive, but Voldemort looked vaguely intrigued. A few moments later, Lucius came back with a figure in a black cloak. The figure approached Voldemort and hissed a greeting which Harry assumed was Parseltongue. Harry felt relief that he could no longer understand it. Voldemort's eyes widened in shock. "Who are you?" he asked.
The figure lowered its hood and Harry swore loudly before moving himself from the spot and stepping nearer to Voldemort to see the figure; to be sure… he had to be sure…
Dark hair hung round her face her thin face, and dark chocolate brown eyes watched Voldemort with anticipation. She was the spitting image of Tom Riddle in his youth, and Harry found himself breathing heavily in rage and shock at the realization that came crashing down on him.
Sabrina.
"Explain yourself," Voldemort hissed venomously.
"Amaria Arbnori, from Konispol; she sends her well wishes on your new quest," Sabrina said in response.
"Amaria…" Voldemort said, allowing a flicker of comprehension to cross his face. "And you are…"
"Her daughter."
"Her daughter… and mine," he muttered.
There was a collective gasp from the room; Bellatrix leapt up, her eyes alight with jealousy. "It cannot be… it cannot…"
"It is Bella, I assure you," Voldemort said, a trace of laughter in his cold voice. "This is the pure-blooded child of Amaria and myself… I taught her the Dark Arts during my travels in Albania, much as I taught you, Bella. She was, intriguing, worshipful, a model student.
"And yes… there was one night… a night before I left, and that is where you come from. I am surmising your life history, tell me your story…" Voldemort said, gesturing for her to give her name.
"Sabrina," she replied. "And I've taken the liberty of infiltrating the Office of Magical Law Enforcement."
Voldemort's expression betrayed him for only a second; he was impressed beyond his intentions. "This is helpful, yes… However, why have you come?"
"I have come to learn," said Sabrina, her voice full of longing. "My mother has succumbed to this human weakness, but she said that you… you know the secrets; you know the steps toward immortality that she was too cowardly to take."
Voldemort laughed lightly. "Yes, I do know the secrets… but I do not believe I will share them just yet. I am intrigued by you, and your heritage is another accomplishment of mine; welcome to our ranks… but you will need to prove yourself before we will travel down that path."
Voldemort looked her over, as though he were sizing up a horse for breeding. "You are yet another tether I have to life. My blood runs in your veins, the blood of Slytherin… an unintended consequence of my union with your mother, but one that will benefit me, and possibly you in the end," he mused.
"Come… I long to introduce you to our group, you will be most adept at leading them and-"
"Leading?" spat Bellatrix. "My Lord… how can you be assured that she is yours? And without proof… without any previous loyalty toward you, where as I… we," she explained, indicating to the others in the room, "we have been loyal from the beginning. Where was this Amaria when you were alone?"
Voldemort turned his red eyes on Bellatrix, who backed away, her eyes alight with fear. "Amaria was in hiding herself, for asserting her own pure-blood heritage. And you step beyond your boundaries, Bella. She speaks Parseltongue, resembles myself in my youth… and I can sense power from her. Demonstrate for me, Sabrina, something your mother taught you," Voldemort asked.
Sabrina turned her eyes on Bellatrix, who was watching her closely, every feature of her once beautiful face reflected anger. Sabrina lifted her wand and flicked it; a spider crawled out the tip of her wand and toward Bellatrix, who laughed as it approached. Sabrina flashed a menacing grin and flicked her wand again.
The spider grew, and with complete conscious control knocked Bellatrix to the ground. She pulled out her wand but the spider shifted and turned into a thick blanket of black material that lay over Bellatrix. Harry watched as the woman began to gasp for air and struggle against the fabric, which was wrapping tighter and tighter around her with each passing second.
"STOP!" Narcissa yelled, jumping up from her chair. She turned her wand onto Sabrina who merely looked her way and held up a hand. Narcissa was thrown back against the wall sank to the floor, clawing at her throat as though an invisible hand was strangling her.
The fabric covering Bellatrix then changed into flames that circled her and kept her prisoner as she got to her feet, rage alight in her features.
"Impressive…" Voldemort said impassively. "I'd suggest you keep your thoughts and opinions to yourself, Bella," he said snidely, turning back toward the door and motioning for Sabrina to follow.
The scene shifted, and Harry was watching as Narcissa stood against a wall cowering in fear. Lucius and Bellatrix were on the floor screaming in pain; Draco was hiding in the corner, his hands covering his head trying to block out the sounds that echoed from the room.
Voldemort stood over Bellatrix and Lucius, his features full of rage; Sabrina stood behind him, watching with impassive curiosity at his methods of torture.
"This is the last time… the last time your mistakes will continue to defeat my plans," Voldemort spat venomously. "Escaped again, you cannot even keep an unqualified wizard teenager under your charge."
"My lord, the house-elf assisted-"
"I don't want your pathetic excuses!" Voldemort shouted, flashing his wand again at Lucius and watching as the man convulsed on the floor. The curse lasted only a few minutes before Voldemort stood, his chest heaving with his labored breaths.
"YOU!" he barked at Sabrina, who stepped forward instantly. "Be warned, this is retribution for any failure on your part as well…"
Sabrina nodded, her eyes unafraid.
The scene shifted again, and this time Sabrina was at a desk in the Ministry. She was in Umbridge's office alone, writing a note. The blood quill was in her hands; she showed no pain as she wrote the words "Complete your task" again and again on the paper. A group consisting of the Carrows, Malfoys, Roldolphus Lestrange and Travers stood in the corner watching her. It was obvious by their posture and level of comfort that this scene had been going on for some time.
"Now you," she said, handing them the quill, scoffing when they shook their heads. Blood dripped over her hand as she held out the quill, making soft sounds as it hit the carpet. "You'll burn the mark onto your skin but you won't agree to finish his work?"
"It's over… he's gone and this is-"
"It is not finished," she hissed at Lucius Malfoy. "This boy… this person who robbed me of my teacher, he will pay. And with his blood, we will resurrect the Dark Lord, and complete the work he had set in motion. The way to immortality will be found, and once it is we will rule over the mudbloods and muggles again."
Narcissa shook her head. "We cannot… we were too involved in this last defeat, we did nothing-"
"You did nothing… I am aware of your two-faced betrayal. I do not wish you to be involved in the work to restore my father; you abandoned him once and he let you back, but twice… he would not. He said it was your last mistake when the boy and his renegades escaped from your grasp; and I will keep his promise if you do anything to interfere with my plans," she threatened.
Lucius moved to say something, but Sabrina walked forward and held her wand to his throat, causing him to gasp and struggle for air. "The Avada Kedavra will kill you much too quickly… I prefer a longer route," she said quietly before releasing him. "Get out of my sight… and anything said about my existence or our plans will cause you more pain than lack of breath will."
The scene changed once more, and Sabrina was sitting in front of Lucius at Malfoy Manner again. She was drawing her wand across his throat slowly, watching as he struggled for air.
"This will bind your tongue, it was getting too much use… now, Draco, you say the friends… his friends are the best path to him?"
Draco didn't nod or respond in anyway, Sabrina stood and walked toward him, her eyes flashing menacingly.
"Yes," Narcissa said quickly. "That's the best way… Potter will do anything for his friends."
"Stupid and simple… just as he appears," Sabrina muttered. She moved very quickly then and drew her wand across Draco's and Narcissa's throats, watching as they collapsed on the floor. "Very well, I'll take that route then. The curse will keep your voices quiet, you know the consequence if it doesn't." With a cold glance at the group, she walked toward the door and outside.
Harry pulled himself out of the pensieve, his thoughts racing wildly as he raced out the door and to the lift. Once he was on level one, he ran straight to Kingsley's office. He threw open the door, but the room was empty; papers were scattered about, and a large chunk of wood was missing from the corner of the desk.
"NO!" Harry shouted. He turned and raced to the Auror office, throwing open the door there to see Kingsley and Lansing standing over Tim, examining him closely.
"Where- what happened?" He shouted, causing Kingsley and Lansing to jump.
"We're not sure… Tim can't… well, he can't remember a thing from today or last week. He's-"
"Where's Ginny? Where are Ron and Hermione?" Harry asked frantically.
"I left Ron with Sabrina in-"
"NO!" Harry screamed. He ran to her desk and began throwing the drawers open, frantically searching for some clue to their whereabouts. "It's her! She's the heir!"
"What?" Lansing asked. "No… no she was with the Law Office for-"
"A year! A year before she joined, that's because she infiltrated to get close to Voldemort! She's the heir!" Said Harry. He stopped his searching and gave them a brief rundown of what he saw in the pensieve.
"I can't… no, it can't be… it just can't be," Lansing said. "She-"
"She is, I swear it! Damn it!" he said, throwing another drawer onto the floor. A map tumbled out, it had several places marked on it, one being Konispol, Albania. "SEE! She's from Albania… Voldemort and her mum most have met when he was there! And the initials!," Harry cried, holding up her Ministry contract that laid in the bottom of the drawer. "Sabrina Velna Lutz – SVL!" He handed the paper to Kingsley, who's eyes widened in shock. "Where is she? We've got to find them!"
"Harry, just calm down," Kingsley said. "---------Maybe… if we can get Tim talking, or remove the charm-"
Harry almost knocked Kingsley aside as he strode in front of Tim and pointed his wand directly at his temple. "Rememorari," he shouted, causing all of them to jump again.
Tim's eyes glazed over, and he shook his head slowly. He looked up at Harry with a blank expression.
"Tim… please… where's Ginny? Where did they go?" he said, desperation creeping into his voice.
Tim stared at him for another moment, then seemed to come to his senses very suddenly. "PROUDFOOT!" he shouted, "that's what Umbridge meant! Ostentatious appendage… Proudfoot is involved… and… and," Tim sputtered, his eyes flicking back and forth rapidly.
"Sabrina!" Harry shouted, anger bursting out of him at the situation.
"She … she stunned me, or something… I don't know," Tim said. "Ginny and Hermione… they went with Proudfoot for … for something to eat… they aren't back?"
"No," Kingsley said in a somber voice. He looked over his shoulder at Harry who was panting and trying to marshal his thoughts. "Are you sure, Tim, are you sure they went with Proudfoot?"
"Yes… I told them not to; I said Harry and Ron would panic and-"
"Ahh!" Harry suddenly shouted; the three men looked over just in time to see him stumble into Proudfoot's desk, clutching his right hand tightly. "My… my charm… it's … ahhh… it's been activated," he said staring at his hand. "They're… they're by the sea, near Azkaban," Harry said.
Before anyone could stop him or respond to his proclamation, Harry had stepped outside the door and took off in a sprint toward the lifts, desperate to get to where Ginny, Ron and Hermione were and save them from whatever Sabrina had planned.