Heinrich Grindelwald and the Tide of Darkness
Chapter 5
There was little he could do but stare deep into the eyes of the upcoming committee of wizards. One of them was wearing billowing green robes and appeared to hold his face sternly. His father was sourly looking at the green robed man, while Lillian seemed to be spotting tears streaking down her cheeks as Lily tried to console her as best as she could.
"Minister, are you really sure…" James Potter tried once more to speak, his voice mournful.
"The noble members of the Wizengamot have voted, Lord Potter," the magical minister replied curtly. "It is in the best interests for Miss. Granger to remain imprisoned for life. There will be no changing the sentence. Even visits should normally not be permitted. I am stretching the boundaries of the law as it stands: I hope you understand as much." The voice was mellifluous as the group took the stairs to go upwards.
"She's innocent you…" Heinrich could hear Lillian's voice come through the stairs as the group climbed upwards, while he and Gellert waited with bated breath for them to pass. Luckily they hadn't been in their direct path, and even more luckily they had gone upwards while their target was downwards.
He still remembered Gellert's display of Azkaban's floor map. It was triangular shaped and much like Nurmengard required one to walk from one long corridor to another before reaching a flight of stair to get down a level. However differently from Nurmengard, there was also a smaller tunnel that went from the executioner's chamber all the way upwards towards the sky. It had been a small act of mercy: those condemned to the kiss could see the sky one last time before being killed.
There were grates all along the tunnel, and of course all that one could see was but a small slim piece of blue, but apparently it was enough for many to simply surrender without fault to the Dementor's kiss. It was a bit of a sad history, but it went to great lengths to show just how dehumanizing the prison was if all it took was a sliver of blue to calm the prisoners sent to their death.
Slowly, Gellert stopped pinning him to the wall and gestured for him to follow. Since the wizard did non cast the spell again neither did he. The two walked downwards slowly, Gellert taking the point as of the two he was the one who'd have taken care of heavy lifting. Technically Heinrich was there only to deliver the blood and pronounce the incantation. Nothing else was required of him, yet at the same time he was beginning to wonder if he should unclasp the invisible cloak and let the invisibility one go above and beyond.
No. Not just the Invisibility cloak. The Cloak of the Deathly Hallows themselves. He had never thought much about it, but when you end up spending a month with a wizard who spent most of his life researching them, and with nothing else to do, eventually the chatting had moved to the Deathly Hallows and what they were.
One was a gem that could make the bearer able to speak to the shadows of the dead; the second was a wand more powerful than anything else, the third and final…he was wearing it on him since he had nicked it from the Weasley boy. The cloak of invisibility that could truly do what the others could only pale to compare to: it could hide the user from anything. Hiding from death was of course something he didn't wish to try, but still he knew that if push came to shove, he had a reliable plan to fall down on.
They had to descend to the deepest levels of the prison to reach the cornerstone's room, and in order to do that they had to pass through three different underground levels. Quietly, Gellert began to step through the stone corridor with his wand forward, the flickering lights barely illuminating the few small and dingy cells in which the rotten remains of wizards stood as an eerie reminder to those who walked that eventually, they were but mortals in wait for their death. Once a wizard was kissed after all, what need was there to care for the body? Sure, it would breath and its heart would pump, but there would be nothing in it, nothing at all to make it move or talk or anything.
For all aspects, the person would be dead and deceased, but the body would only ever so slowly rot away. If no family claimed them, then a few were selected to stand in the dingy and small cells, and act as a grim reminder to those who would soon come and join them in their death: there was no escape from Azkaban after all. Or at least, that was how the story went. How it truly would go from that moment onwards, Heinrich didn't know…but he was writing history, in that precise moment he was walking together with history and writing upon it.
The first evasion from Azkaban would hold Hermione's and Hagrid's names, and with the people distracted they wouldn't even realize it, but they'd lose their wards to him. Azkaban would be his by the end of the day. The simple feeling of power entered his body like a curse as he felt giddy. The fortress would be his, the power of the Dementors at his disposal. He would…no. He would do nothing for the moment. First he had to actually do it, and only then he would hold his dreams of glory and world conquest.
Few steps more that resounded all the more noisily in the silence of the long corridor filled with rot and the decay of the bodies, and Heinrich found himself muttering a question in a low whisper.
"Why isn't there any stench in the air?"
Gellert grumbled a single word back. "Inferi."
Heinrich eyes widened as he once more gave a look to the nearest corpse, who was now actually looking back at him and following him with his gaze. The body was half-rotten, bits and pieces of bones emerging from various spots in his sickly green skin and yet his eyes looked at him, with a fierce reddish hue that seemed to show all the malevolence and anger that he could never comprehend in a lifetime. Why would anyone hate the world so much that it would show in the eyes, red or crimson that they were, and still deeply loathe him as he walked through? He didn't know. Maybe they were made to be that way, but weren't Inferi souls trapped in the bodies of the dead to begin with?
"We're near the first block," Gellert whispered as he carefully added, "Keep the notice-me-not charms up Heinrich. You don't want the prisoners to see or notice us." The old wizard murmured.
He nodded back to the man, concentrating once more as he slowly began to move his wand gently around himself. He didn't trust everything to be smooth, so it was better to be already prepared in case he'd need quick reflexes. The squeaking sound of a mouse caught his attention for a second, but he dropped it as soon as he realized that the rat in question was scurrying his way back towards the exit. He didn't question it, as he was too busy looking forward, trying to avoid staring into the cells of the condemned to death.
"Yer been a good dad, ye know I know." A burly voice caught his attention, and that was what made him still and whip his head to the side quickly. Rubeus Hagrid stood in a cell that could barely contain him, even when the half-giant was crouched down and as small as possible. His beard looked shaggy and grown, and he clearly did seem to have famished in the place. He had been there since Christmas practically, that would have meant what? Seven months? Had he been left to literally die alone in there?
"Yer been good, I swear tis true." The half-giant added to no-one in particular, "Ye had a kind heart ye had. Could've lef'me wit' da giants, they'd have killed me in a blink but ye were a kind dad, ye always were." The groundskeeper of Hogwarts was practically whimpering in his cell.
"Heinrich." Gellert hissed slowly, looking at him. "What is it? Oh wait." The old wizard moved slowly back towards the half-giant, and then cussed in some sort of Germanic language. "Damn it." Grindelwald finally muttered. "All right. I had a contingency for this." From his inner pocket he unzipped a small pin, one of those used to normally hold baby napkins together, one of those nursery ones.
"Listen Heinrich," the old wizard added, "When you get the wards, you'll have to lower the ones against portkeys in the death rows understood? Otherwise it won't work." Quietly, the wizard levitated the pin and pinched it inside the beard of the giant. He wouldn't feel it and it would still count as body part, then he turned and bit his tongue.
"What's he doing in the death rows?" Heinrich hissed in a low voice, as he frantically looked around, "Wasn't the sentence meant for life?"
"Yes, that's why I don't like this." Gellert commented, "Keep an eye out for the cells then, but…be prepared for the worse. They might have gotten the Granger girl before us." Those words said, they both began to walk again towards the end of the corridor, where a thick leather covered door stood.
The skin of its wood was a strangely sickening yellow tint, the same color as pus, while the leather seemed to be bubbling up as if sores had just then appeared for their presence. He didn't discard this to be some sort of trap to keep out the wrong guys, namely them, but he was surprised when Gellert strode confidently forward. His wand moved in zig-zag patterns and with systematic precision, and with each movement the door's skin covering seemed a little less prone to explode. With a final flourish, the door unlocked and sprung open with a soft clank.
Heinrich looked back nervously, glad that the few prisoners near the door hadn't even taken time to worry about them.
"Desparo. Now. Follow me quick." The order came and Heinrich concentrated once more. Grabbed by undead hands and carried deep in a gurgling maelstrom at sea, being eaten alive from the legs upwards with no chance of escape. Screaming until his voice went sore as his only help left him. The clouds started to pour down rain as darkness reached for him to hold him at her breast and never let him go, to crush and asphyxiate him to her depths. As despair clawed within his soul and his appearance morphed ever so slightly, he could see Gellert dashing forward the corridor, his own dark fog-like semblance making him look like a Dementor flying quickly.
The reason was apparent at the end. A man was standing halfway through the corridor, carrying what seemed to be a man forward. The man itself was dingy looking and quite frail, he was severely malnourished and appeared to be crying hysterically.
"I didn't do it. I didn't do it. I didn't do it. Please no. Please mistake was. Please. Please. Me not…Me not did…I didn't…I didn't do it." The weak whining of the man soon turned into a pour screeched of fear as Gellert moved closer and closer still. Was he going to smack against the other guard or what? Heinrich followed as fast as he could, and it was that he realized that the cells around them didn't hold only corpses rotting away, but also breathing people shackled to the walls, wailing and screaming in agony as foul retched Dementors stood nearby, hovering close, ever so close…but not giving the kiss. No, just hovering.
Just hovering and doing nothing more, as if the screaming humans were nothing more than a television program to watch and enjoy a little at a time. He felt sick…was this the place where the Dementors ate? Was this their…canteen? The screams, the shivers down his spine and the despair that carved a deep niche within him.
It was ironic, but the sheer presence of a Dementor merely intensified the spell itself, yet a single fleeting moment of hope destroyed it. That was when the blood curling shriek of the guard caught his ears, Gellert had merely dashed straight through them and the guard had shoved aside the prisoner, letting him hit the ground. Heinrich didn't stop to look back at them, he just ran and ran and hoped that among the screaming men and women Hermione wasn't there. He didn't feel much for the girl, but he knew what it meant to be falsely accused, and this fate, this torture…he wouldn't give it to his worst enemy.
"Bloody bastards! You…" The guard of course was pissed, and Heinrich heard her all the way till the end of the second corridor, were as soon as he reached he realized the door wasn't actually a door. It was just a ramp of stairs going down, a mere ramp that seemed to hold no stairs however. Gellert simply jumped down, hovering as if he had been born to fake being a Dementor, and Heinrich couldn't help but follow, hoping desperately that his intent was enough to cast a silent Leviosa. The adrenaline of the run mixed with the sheer willpower to plead for his success apparently moved his wand to compliance, and he found himself floating downwards the seemingly smooth ramp of stone on the trail of Gellert's own black foggy tail.
"Go right." He heard the growling distorted sound of Gellert's own voice coming ahead of him, and he complied immediately, albeit it resulted in him impacting against the stone side of the stairs at first, before actually passing through the archway right behind Gellert. The staircase apparently could have kept going down, but he didn't wonder on what could be hidden even more down below. All that he cared for at the present was getting out of this thick oily darkness that surrounded them like a blanket.
It had to be magical. There was no other explanation of why he could not see what was ahead of him, but could easily see the light coming from the stair-less, strangely nausea inducing, ramp of stairs he had left behind. The sensation of disquiet soon morphed into uneasiness, and then in nausea as he realized that he wasn't hearing Gellert any longer around him. He couldn't see right from left and not even his hands came into view when he lifted them to him. Maybe he could try and remove the Desparo spell, maybe he could try and hope and…
"Don't." The gruff voice of Gellert reached him. "Don't move." It added slowly, and so Heinrich did not move. He stood still, holding on firmly to his belief that nobody would come and save them, that everything would remain as always unchanging, that he would be feasted alive by a horde of carnivorous subaqueous zombies in the midst of a maelstrom while slowly drowning…and in the midst of that, light finally came into view and…and he had to plead himself not to stare.
There was but a single wider hallway they were standing in. A set of doors, four in number, stood in front of them without any sign to recognize what they could mean. A bunch of figures stood in a giant cage placed in one side of the hallway, all blearily looking in their direction and whimpering, probably having thought of them their executioners.
"Check the doors." Gellert muttered while pointing with a gesture of the head as the old wizard instead moved towards the giant cage. Probably the man was looking for Hermione for him? He gulped down nervously as he hovered towards the first door, and cautiously clicked it open. A Dementor was feasting upon the trembling and convulsing form of an old uncouth man who was being devoured and deprived of his soul. It didn't look like a kiss to Heinrich. It looked more like a veritable butchering. He closed the door quickly, and moved to the second one.
In this the Dementor was hovering peacefully, the body of an already feasted upon woman standing there, her mouth open and a dribble of drool falling down her chin. He repressed the need to retch as the Dementor in question looked at him, looked towards him and appeared curious. He couldn't see him now, could he? But maybe he could see the door having opened and no-one having entered it. If he did…
"I can have another?" The Dementor asked. Carefully moving closer, "I can?" The shriek was a shriek but…but somewhere, deep down, Heinrich felt something tug and pull and move and twirl as he realized that the same tone the Dementor was using…was the same tone of Heather when she wanted a rat, or of Sophie when she was hungry, or the same whimpering sound of Fluffy who still wanted more. It was the 'Oliver Twist' sound of 'please can I have more', and this sound…this sound made the thing inside of him snap and growl out in his voice.
"Not yet. Not yet. Hold. I will come with more. I promise." His voice came out as a shrieking sound, halfway lament and halfway painful, halfway curse to the sky and halfway promise to hell and beyond. The Dementor nodded slowly with its head, and then wistfully began to move the corpse in a corner. Wistfully. He had just used the word wistfully for a Dementor. He closed the door quickly and moved on to the third one, hoping to find Hermione and…
And he found her, yet she wasn't alone. Three Dementors hovered near while a fourth conversed with a man wielding an axe.
"It is not proper." The Dementor said with his voice grave. "This makes it painful. Not a good feast."
"You know the rules, scum." The axe bearing man spoke, "They asked me to make it like this." His axe was moving towards Hermione's right hand. "They wanted her to never be able to wield a wand again, even in death."
"Pain does not make good feast. Relaxation does." The Dementor countered.
And in that moment, Heinrich left the spoken words to Salazar Slytherin.
"MOLEO!" His wand rose in front of him as a gnashing sound filled the room, while twin rotating ethereal spheres launched themselves forward from his wand, pushing and flying through the room as they connected with the right side of the guard in question. The spheres kept on moving around, literally grinding themselves deep within the side of the wizard in question who screamed in pain as he fell on the ground, his axe cluttering near him while his left hand went for a wand, but Heinrich was faster.
"TRUDO!" The next instant, all the bitter anger at the situation surged forward as crooked looking lances that seemed filled with bloodlust flew in the air with a speed he could have rarely seen. They impacted against the man, completely impaling the Azkaban guard to the floor as the various lances hit far more than mere vital spots. Wickedly pouring themselves in hands and feet and knees, they made sure that the last breaths of the man in question would be painful, as painful as he could make it so.
Then, of course, he found himself staring at the four Dementors who were looking at him with interest.
"You spoiled him, brethren." The Dementor 'chief' spoke, "Why did you do so?" It asked, looking at him with interest. He was speaking with a Dementor, and yet the voice didn't feel like a sharp shriek or a loud wail, it seemed…human? Could such a figure hold humanity within it? How were Dementors born to begin with, after all? Some said they were mutations of Lethifolds, but…
"I…I'm here for the girl." He wailed back, and was met with a nod. A nod of acknowledgement, something he could not understand. Why were they acknowledging him like that? Why weren't they… Why weren't they fighting back?
"Then take her." The Dementor replied, "But know that none of our prisoners may leave Azkaban alive, young one." Oh so now he got it. The Dementor 'Chief' thought he was a young recently birthed Dementor. Maybe he could play it off and wait till he got to the cornerstone, and from there…hope blossomed in him again, and this time he cringed as the Desparo spell came loose.
Silence. There was silence in the room as four Dementors watched the fifth stand still and yet as they watched they couldn't help but hover a bit closer.
"We have no eyes to see, young one. Human wizards do, however. I suggest you hurry." And it was then that Heinrich realized he was still covered by some sort of hazy fog, but this one, this one came from the very tip of his wand. What…what had Ollivander said about it? Shroud…Shroud of a Dementor? Was this…was this what it meant…the…he moved, as fast as he could and not trusting his wand to keep supplying this sort of 'shroud' for long. Quickly, he latched onto the belts that apparently were holding the girl tied to it, and then unbuckled them. The moment he was done, the shivering girl literally fell on the ground, trying to crawl away.
"Why are you letting me go?" He asked, as he grabbed the girl with his left hand. The whimpering cries she made as he held her closer made his heart cringe, but he had to carry her out after all. He was glad for all that running Gellert had made him do. At least he could easily do so.
"You will fail youngling, just like others who still hold to their humanity do. In the end you will consume yourself with grief. Worry not, no-one is a judge here…we have already been judged and found lacking after all by the gods themselves, what else is there to insist upon?"
He bit back the next question. It was of no use to actually ask more when his purpose was to leave. As he did leave the room, he realized he had closed it behind them and none had made a move to open it. After all wasn't it strange for a young Dementor to do this? Then again he had no idea how the people acted around there, and at the present he was holding a sniffling young girl who was probably still awake out of adrenaline.
"There you are." Gellert whispered, hovering towards them still 'dressed' in Dementor clothes. Hermione's whimpers grew, as the old wizard looked over the girl and then commented. "Did something happen?"
Heinrich blinked. The rooms…they were probably soundproof. The door had probably closed behind him when he had entered, and as such…he still did nod, but then whispered back.
"Nothing important." He added carefully, as a squeak sound came to his ears again.
"Rat." Hermione whispered, "Rat." She added as the small mouse, hadn't he seen it before? Came crawling out of a corner and towards the girl. She apparently held enough spirits to grab a hold of the pet, before murmuring once more. "Rat."
"Strange pet. Don't want to know." Gellert commented flicking a pin at him, looking sharply at the other side of the hallway, where apparently nothing stood in sight. "We have to go that way." He supplied, hovering away from Hermione who took a deep gasp of relief. Gellert was probably having fun with the 'hover' and Dementor costume, albeit both were actually spells and to be used for different situation. The Desparo had been meant to mimic Dementors aura in battle, to scare away troops of weak willed individuals, and the Leviosa charm…well, it was meant to fly, not get people to mimic Dementors even better.
Heinrich followed after having secured the pin to Hermione's hair. The girl didn't seem at all fazed by that, instead holding tightly onto her rat as her life depended on it. Probably it had been her only form of friendship in this hell, and because of that…because of that she had attached herself to it.
He would probably have to tell Machiavelli not to eat the rat at Durmstrang…if his owl was still alive. He doubted his Hybridized pigeon-chicken-parrot-owl had enough brain cells to survive alone, but he could still hope. There was probably Fluffy with him keeping him company after all, and if not, then…maybe Sophie would have apparated there once or twice. Probably to keep an eye out on things…and make sure the hybrid poultry didn't try to fight his way against a bear or something like that. He slightly smiled at the tender thought, the probable lack of Dementors nearby and the fact that they were at the end of it seemed to lift his spirits after all.
Gellert was soon tapping with his wand a set of intricate patterns on the seemingly white wall, and yet as he did that Heinrich couldn't help but realize that small glittering runes were appearing one after the other. For how long had the man prepared for this? Was this smoothly done operation the result of all of his planning? Was this the result of the great mind that was one of the first Dark Lords to nearly conquer the world? In the end over fifty runes lit themselves along a pattern on the wall, and with a hiss, Gellert whispered.
"Come here Heinrich. Move it and bring forth your blood." At those words, he gulped down nervously before moving closer to the pattern, hearing only the words that Grindelwald whispered to him, "Now put your hand against the wall and recite together with me."
"I seek my rightful throne."
A loud set of clacks began to echo throughout the hallway, as Hermione appeared to be letting out a startled whining sound before collapsing on the ground.
"I seek my scepter and my orb."
The sound grew in intensity, how could the other guards not hear it? How could they not hear the whirring noise of mechanisms moving and interlocking, or the sound of magic working its miracles? Were they blind?
"I seek my mark on the wall."
And then the walls parted as magic washed over him, letting his eyes see a small dingy room with a slightly out of bounds stone of pure white marble. Etched upon its surfaces in red crimson bloods were wards of such might and power he felt his legs wobble, and yet he could not stop walking forward, for they called to him and to his blood, and he called to them and to their power. Alluring, powerful, ready to be at his command with but a touch…
And as his fingers touched on the surface, blood flew out from his very pores as his name was asked…but what was his name after all?
The name, his name…Was he Harry Dursley, Doe, Potter, Scamander, Grindelwald, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff? Was he any of those names in the end? He was Harry, Heinrich or maybe even Salazar reborn? But did it matter what name he signed himself with?
Of course it did not…and so he wrote that which defined him the most.
He was King.
The feeling ceased, and he breathed in slowly before exhaling out. He could feel every step he took on the castle's floor as his own, and he could sense all those that walked upon it, and yet the question remained…what to do? He could crush them, could he not? He could kill them, could he not? Wasn't the minister in the fortress itself? Wasn't he…oh, so he was going downwards slowly, hesitantly, holding back his 'family' from reaching them…he could feel it, he could feel the Dementors stirring around the castle, the Wards updating them, telling them who was their ruler, their leader, their chief. Yet he knew he had not come here to conquer this castle.
He had come here to subtly get what he needed and then disappear.
So he turned around, ready to leave, and the wards obeyed him even without him speaking it out loud. It was but a thought and the Dementors flocked out of the death rows, flocked out to stall and gather time. Yet he felt it, he felt those creatures wonder if reckoning was at hand and yet he stalled them again, not yet, he thought, not yet.
He neared Gellert and the fallen Hermione, and as he looked into them both he merely nodded once, quietly. The next moment, Gellert snapped his fingers and the portkeys began their pulling out. The sensation passed strangely, as he fell on the ground harshly and began to spasm.
It was like awakening to a cold freezing bath in the water. The lack of all that magic, the lack of all that power running through him as he commanded a fortress of veritable magic and power…he felt so devoid after it that he just, he just thought about going back. Yet he knew he couldn't and began to breathe uneasily, as he tried to calm himself.
Next to him he could see the surprised and shocked face of Hagrid looking around with a mixture of wonder and worry, while Hermione was frightened out of her wits, holding her pet rat tightly to herself as an anchor of safety of sorts. Of all the animals she could choose, she had to go with a rat. Of course it wasn't as if Azkaban had a selection of animals, but the very least he had hoped for would be a sea-gull, if really he had to be nitpicky about it.
No, in truth he wasn't nitpicky. He was cranky. He was feeling the lack of all that delicious feeling of might and power. It had been so powerful, so…so wonderful to have the possibility to squash like bugs those insignificant…and he had stilled his own hand, and for that, right about then, he took a deep breath of relief.
"Good. Perfect plan. Perfect execution. Nine out of ten because you lack originality however." Gellert commented, "But why go with something that doesn't work after all?"
"Wer…Wer am I?" Hagrid asked, carefully looking around while catching his breath. The burly half giant had been in the prisons of Azkaban for far more time than Hermione, and yet out of the two he was the one who seemed the less affected. Probably had to do with the Giant blood or something like that.
"You're safe Hagrid." Heinrich replied slowly, "I…I got you out."
Hagrid blinked, before narrowing his eyes for a moment as he looked over him to try and get a hang of precisely who was the one that had saved them probably. After a few seconds, he finally guessed.
"Harry?"
"I'm Heinrich now. Heinrich Grindelwald to be more precise." He replied quietly, trying a little smile.
"Oh 'Arry yer a life savi…wait. Yah said Grindelwald?" Hagrid muttered, "Now wher' did I hear 'bout that…"
"Gellert Grindelwald." Hermione droned out slowly, "Really Harry?" The young girl piped in, chuckling while shaking her head, "Really. Really, really, really. You're real right?" She finally asked.
"Oh right! The bad guy Dumbledore defe…oh shmuck…ya going ta kill us?" This time Hagrid's voice was filled with a bit of regret, "I mean, it's not like…"
"No Hagrid," Heinrich replied quietly, "I got you out because you were burned by Dumbledore…He used you and left you in the prison."
"But he's Dumbledore!" Hagrid exclaimed, before suddenly lacking in breath and falling down straight on the ground anting, "And he's…well…he's good!"
"Hagrid?"
"I think they both should rest." Gellert commented nicely, "I do think I have an extra-large room for Hagrid, they can wash later on I suppose." The old wizard suggested kindly.
"If this is a dream, I don't want to wake up." Hermione whispered as she slowly wobbled on her leg. "Let's go Ratman," Hermione added, holding her rat close, "Let's find a room all right?"
The rat squeaked in reply, and Heinrich sighed as he showed the way to the girl, who was apparently coping with it in her own way. A strange one, but a way nonetheless…still, even if he no longer had the power of the fortress coursing through his veins, he felt giddy all the same.
He had done the right thing after all.
He had done the good thing.
Author's notes
The guy with the axe is the Death Eater with the axe of the canon book the prisoner of Azkaban. Found it fitting to get him killed instead of Buckbeak. That said, there is always an aftermath for these events. Like Heinrich realizing he just killed a man this time around, or you know, finding out he speaks the same language as Dementors and things like that. (Oh and the Potter Family's friendly prison visit! That one's in the next chapter)
