Chapter 33
To Find A Missing Kin
It was now a week since everyone in the crumbling mansion last saw Bellatrix. Harry had called all his contacts to put out feelers discreetly to find her. Mundungus Fletcher was called upon to find her but all to no avail. Kreacher could not reach out to his mistress through location spells and elven Occlumency. There was a state of frenzy in the house and even Fawkes from where he perched high above the beams of the disintegrating ceiling flew around sporadically as he too could feel the tension for he was a phoenix and a sensitive creature for that matter. After another week of searching, nothing could be given to account for the strange disappearance of the mad witch. Harry and Neville had just returned home all bloody from a raid. They had raided a Death Eater garrison in Godric's Hollow in search of Bellatrix but after killing every Death Eater available, there was no information on Bellatrix's location.
Harry stormed up the stairs to wash down the blood from his body. He threw off his clothes and stood under the shower as the hot and cold water magically washed him clean. He watched as the water dripped over his body mixing with the blood and swirled down the drain. As he washed his body, he thought hard of where she could be and sighed in frustration.
"FUCK'S SAKE!" he swore in anger which was immediately following by a loud popping sound and Harry groaned as the pipes burst flooding the bathroom.
"Accio towel!" He wrapped the towel around his body and yelled for Dobby.
"Master Potter?"
"I have made a mess in the bathroom mate. Can you sort it out?"
The elf nodded and walked away to the bathroom. Harry dried his body and collapsed on the bed in search for an answer but there was nothing in the world that was making sense. She never gave a clue as to where she was going. He selected some clothes from his wardrobe and in a matter of seconds, was inside Neville's room.
"Neat freak," Harry muttered as he noticed how tidy his friend's room was. He could hear the water dripping from the shower and a gentle scrubbing noise from the bathroom. Harry knocked on the door and the water stopped flowing.
"I am off to see the bitch Greengrass. It's a business visit," Harry announced. Neville responded with a low grunt and again the sound of water broke the silence.
"Right," Harry muttered. "He's in an equally foul mood as I am." He climbed down the stairs and run into Kreacher scowling and muttering obscenities to himself.
"Kreacher."
"Master Potter sir," the elf spat and gave a low bow.
"Take me to where Daphne Greengrass lives," Harry ordered and took the elf's outstretched arm and in a bang of bright light, he stood in front of the silver gates of Greengrass mansion.
"I will find her Kreacher. You have never doubted me, do not doubt me now," Harry said firmly and squeezed Kreacher's bony shoulder. Kreacher nodded in respect and in another snap of his fingers, he was gone. It was still summer time but the heavy presence of Dementors around the country made the weather change without warning. On this very day, the wind though it blew gently was chilly and the sun sometimes appeared after a thick train of clouds had passed away to give a brief beam of its rays. Harry took his wand from his pocket and tapped gently on the gate with it. An elf appeared out of nowhere and stared gently at him for a few seconds.
"What the fuck are you staring at?" Harry growled.
"Sorry Master Potter sir. It is an honour to usher you in," she squeaked and snapped her fingers to open the gates. He followed her down the long drive way, up a stone staircase, through a door, down a hallway covered with portraits of people Harry presumed to be Greengrass ancestors and followed the elf into a waiting room.
"Please wait here," she instructed and disappeared to announce his presence. Harry looked around him and noticed another side of the house he had not seen before although he was very sure that he had mapped out the house and its plans the day he stumbled on Draco harassing Daphne in one of the rooms a year ago.
"Must be some fucking shifting architecture," he observed and stared at a portrait of Daphne's parents high up on a wall away from him. "She has her father's eyes," he observed and stared deeply into the sky blue eyes of the man with a stern looking face and a well chiseled jaw.
"Fighter this one," he remarked and turned his attention to a dark haired woman with purple eyes and a soft face. "Interesting family," he remarked again and turned around almost when the elf appeared again.
"Mistress will see you now," she said with a curtesy and offered her bony hand. Harry grabbed it and in an instant he was swirled away and appeared seconds later in Daphne's study he was acquainted with. His host was dressed in a flowered black dress, with her traditional bun severely fastened on top of her head. There were stacks of papers on her desk and some floated in the air.
"Is this a bad time?" Harry asked.
"No Mr. Potter, the papers will sort themselves out," she replied and took a chair across him.
"So, how can I help you today? Are we still building bridges?"
"Fuck your bridges Greengrass. I see business letters all over. My company is thriving and threatening to swallow yours. Let me buy it off you," Harry gloated. The mysterious witch chuckled and shook her head. "I cannot sell my family's inheritance over to you Mr. Potter."
"Of course. I understand you perfectly," Harry replied and stared at her. They just sat there in silence and said or did nothing. Her face muscles did not twitch and neither did Harry's. None of them blinked either.
"Is this a staring contest?" she asked barely opening her mouth.
No
She looked at him in disbelief and shifted in her chair. "How did you get inside my head?"
"I am Harry Potter. I go wherever I want to."
They talked about nothing in particular because Harry was in a foul mood and was trying hard not to reveal anything to show that Bellatrix was missing because he did not trust Daphne. He gently tried to probe her mind but was confronted by a very strong mental shield.
"Are you trying to probe my mind?" she asked again breaking the silence.
"No Greengrass, my magic since its return sometimes behaves sporadically. Just this morning I woke up in the stables without clothes. I however do recall sleeping in my bed the previous night," Harry said calmly easing into the lie.
"Interesting. That must be a sight," Daphne replied silkily.
"Only you in this vast mansion," Harry muttered. "That must be difficult."
"It actually isn't. Tracey Davies sometimes lives here with me or Astoria comes over when she isn't on an assignment for Professor Snape. Sometimes it is just me and the elves. They make for good company especially when I threaten them to let me cook on my own." Harry scoffed and shook his head.
"Draco Malfoy has returned of which you are aware of no doubt. He lives here until such time that he is called by the Dark Lord." Harry grunted in understanding and could feel his blood boiling.
Fucking Malfoy! I should have suspected him to know where Bellatrix was! Stupid move Harry!
He got up after mentally chiding himself and walked to the gramophone in the corner of the study.
"Nice collection," he observed as he run his fingers through records of Offenbach, Mozart and other composers.
"Oh you listen to the Weird Sisters?"
"The Ghost of Michelle is the reason I have this record," she answered. Harry continued looking through her collection and shook his head.
"We need something unusual today. Something foreign and less English to go with this cloudy-sunny day," he observed and snapped his fingers. A record appeared and he chuckled in amusement as he stared at it.
"What is it?" she asked him but he ignored her and levitated the record unto the gramophone and returned to his seat. He waved his wand at the gramophone and the most melodious tune filled the room and she watched as her guest tapped his feet softly to the music.
"It sounds really old. What is this?" she pointed in amusement at the gramophone.
"Musetto by Domenico Modungo. My Italian is just not perfect enough but it does have a nice jig," he commented. As the music played, the house elves brought in trays of food to serve them. Harry levitated a tray and selected a glass of water. He muttered a spell over the glass to check for anything out of the ordinary before taking a sip. Daphne sat on the floor a few metres away from Harry and looked at him whilst she nibbled on a cupcake. Harry remembered the Basilisk's suggestion and thought about how best he could bag and tag Daphne away into the Chamber of Secrets. As they continued to make small talk, Harry heard a voice behind him and frowned.
"Why?"
It's nothing. I thought I heard something," he replied. Daphne continued talking about how impossible it was for members of her family to cast a Patronus and how it disturbed her.
"All you need is a happy memory and the desire to cast one. I can teach you when I get this war behind me."
"That would be gracious of you Mr. Potter."
Harry heard the voice again and narrowed his eyes into slits.
"Bella?"
"Excuse me?" Daphne asked and looked at him quizzically.
"Thought I heard a voice," Harry replied but he hardly finished his sentence when he heard the voice louder and clearer this time in the voice of Bellatrix Black.
Harry
Harry stood up quickly and aimed his wand at the gramophone. The music stopped abruptly and Harry focused in the silence that now prevailed, waiting for the voice. He heard it again and he walked out of the study with Daphne close behind. He walked about following the voice.
Harry
Harry
Harry went down the stairs in a hurry chasing the voice of Bellatrix.
Harry
Harry
The voice took him into a hall and he was cut off at an exit point by Daphne.
"Calm down Mr. Potter. Don't make the portraits nervous," she whispered and grabbed his wrists.
"What the fuck is happening in this house?" Harry asked her in a dead tone and he could feel his magic around him in the atmosphere. Daphne looked at him in silence and said nothing but let go of his wrists.
"Get the fuck out of my way Greengrass. I do not wish to kill you, yet," he hissed and walked past her as she stepped aside to let him pass. He continued to follow the voice until it became louder in an adjoining room.
When he entered the room his head was hit with a strong surge of pain and he held it as Bellatrix's voice echoed loudly in his head.
"I'm here what the fuck?" he hissed through gritted teeth and walked around the room.
Harry
Harry
Harry
He continued to walk around the room when her voice ceased calling his name and looked around.
"Homenum revelio," he muttered and waved his wand around the room. There was a bluish tinge around the room for a few seconds but the spell revealed that nobody was hidden by magic in the room.
"Where is she?" he muttered under his breath and heard a noise from behind a shelf that stood facing the window. He walked gingerly towards it with his wand drawn and did not see anything out of the ordinary. The white oak shelf contained books on poetry and stories by Edgar Allan Poe. Harry looked behind it and found the bracelet he bequeathed to Bellatrix and sucked his breath. He levitated the bracelet towards him and as it got closer, he could hear loud whispering voices and screams of a fight echoing around him. The bracelet landed gently in his palm and then he heard it in a loud voice.
She's a pirate!
"Greengrass," he growled and yelled in pain as he felt something stab him in the back. The object seemed to drill its way inside his body and he was thrown on the floor by some strange force as tried to grab it and pull it out. Whatever had stabbed him with was potent and was making its way slowly inside him. He got on his feet, spun around dizzily and opened his eyes in shock when he saw Daphne behind him with an expression of nothing written on her face. She was not grinning, she was not sad and she was not frightened. She just stood there, cold and emotionless at that particular moment.
"How do you manage to switch from a scared bitch to a cold calculating one?" Harry wheezed as he fell on a knee.
"I just stabbed you with an orc made dagger. You do not have much time –"
She was interrupted by loud banging noises and a team of Snatchers and Death Eaters materialized before them led by none other than Draco Malfoy.
"Darling Daphne," he drawled. "You have done the impossible. You have made Potter kneel before your gracious presence," he mocked and his team of thugs supported him with a chuckle. Anger flashed momentarily on her face which caught Harry's dazed attention but the weakening of his senses he was experiencing from the witch's attack did not make him so sure of what he saw.
"Why are you angry?" he muttered but she slowly backed away from him and disappeared around a corner.
"What did you do to your aunt, Draco?" Harry asked and groggily got on his feet.
"Shut up Potter," he replied. Harry grunted and stamped his feet on the ground in anger. A curtain caught fire causing the hunting party to take a few steps away from the young legendary wizard. Draco put it out with a snap of his fingers and glared at them.
"He's weak. Get a grip or I will personally end you!" he hissed.
"AVADA KEDAVRA!" Harry bellowed and watched as the spell hit a Death Eater and immediately, the fight ensued. He was feeling pain in his chest and was finding it difficult to see properly. He muttered a spell to slow the spread of the pain and using a table as a shield, he attacked with fury.
"Come here!" he taunted and banished a Snatcher towards him, who became the target of a myriad of Killing Curses. Harry used his body to shield him from stray spells as he cast some of his own.
"I thought you said he was weak!" a Snatcher said to Draco as he took cover behind a wall.
"Shut up and fight!" Draco retorted and sent him flying towards Harry. Harry blew him to bits with a Reducto curse and resumed his carnage on the lower levels of the mansion.
"AVADA KEDAVRA!" Harry side stepped to his left quickly and ginned. "You are dead," he whispered and grabbed a sword from the wall. He again banished the Death Eater towards him and cut his head clean off before hacking his way around the house. He was slowly losing grip of reality and his senses were beginning to dull again but he continued to fight. He threw the sword heavily at Draco who blocked it and sent it flying into the ceiling. The duel had gone on for thirty minutes and Harry was already soaked in blood. His shirt was almost in shreds and he could feel his muscles aching. He barged into an empty room and took cover behind a wardrobe. He took in deep breaths and gnashed his teeth in anguish.
"What the fuck did she do?" he muttered and let out a painful cough.
"My muscles never ache from a duel" he moaned and closed his eyes. He saw a house elf hiding under a chair and raised his finger to his lips indicating for her to be quiet.
"Dagger?" he asked and the elf snapped her fingers providing him with a gleaming blade. Harry winked in appreciation, the elf nodded in response and covered her huge eyes with her bony hands when the door was blasted open.
"Potter," Draco called out and Harry grabbed the dagger firmly as he crouched in anticipation. He didn't bother to reach out for help because he knew without a doubt that Daphne had anticipated such an attempt from his end.
"Okay Harry," he muttered. He rolled out from his cover and tried to cast a spell but Draco disarmed him and charged at him. Harry tripped him up by turning the floor into ice and in a loud grunt, he lifted Draco into the air and slammed his body on the floor, cracking his head open. He slashed his face with the dagger and was about to stab his throat when he was banished aside by his bride to be.
"You fucking maggot!" Harry hissed and sent the dagger flying at her, accompanying it with some dark spells but she easily dodged them all and stared at him. Fenrir Greyback strolled into the room and smirked at Harry, followed by the Carrow twins.
"Attack," Fenrir said softly and in two bounds, he was almost upon Harry. Harry managed to blast him through the wall and smirked when he saw Daphne wince from the damage caused to her property but missed the cutting hex the Carrow twins sent at him and held his chest in anguish as the blood poured from his body.
It isn't a Sectumsempra curse his instincts told him and he was thankful as Madam Pomfrey's basic healing spells stitched his skin into place.
"Alecyto and Amycus Carrow," Harry remarked and whistled the moment his knees started wobbling. They sent a spell Harry did not know of and he raised a Protego charm in defense and responded with some of his own. He caught a Reducto curse with his left and sent it at them, blinded them momentarily with a bright light and spat the blood from his mouth.
"SECTUMSEMPRA!" he roared and sent the curse flying at them. Thousands of cuts appeared on their bodies and all they could do was collapse on the floor as they started to bleed out. Harry held his knees in exhaustion and looked around him for any sign of danger. He could see Daphne in a corner of the room petrified at what she just witnessed. He aimed his wand at her and was about to cast a spell when Fenrir reentered the room through the large hole in the wall looking furious and menacing.
He grabbed a piece of the stone slab and hurled it at Harry who smashed it into bits midair and sent the rubble flying at the werewolf. Daphne rolled into action and together with the now injured werewolf, forced Harry into a defense position. Harry could feel both his knees wobbling now and a loud ringing noise in his ears. His scar was sizzling and he was beginning to wonder if Voldemort was coming.
They forced him towards a window and all he could do to prevent death was banish the objects in the room to receive the impact of whatever spells they cast at him. Harry Potter began to fear the worst as he continued to hold unto life and was wondering if Bellatrix was dead. He found it difficult to concentrate and hissed in pain when a spell hit his wand shoulder. He switched his wand to his left hand and provided a decent enough performance to the surprise of his attackers.
"Let me turn you into one of my wolves Potter," Fenrir offered in a deep voice. "You could be a great werewolf," he added and fired another Killing Curse at Harry. Harry looked around him and realized that he was out of objects to defend himself with and his attackers were also aware. In a flash Daphne hit him with a spell which sent him crashing through the window.
As he fell, he focused the last of his energy in invoking the spell that made his folk fly but it was failing.
"MOTOS!" he yelled
"MOTOS!" he yelled again and in an instant, he felt as light as a feather and saw that he was in a plume of colourless essence. He steered his body upwards and flew away towards the direction of his home.
"He won't make it," Daphne said as they watched him fly away. "I stabbed him with a cursed object to destroy him from the inside. I suggest you get some men on the grounds to search for his dying body within a three mile radius. We may save him and deliver him unto out master," she said in a cold tone and turned to leave Fenrir Greyback with the dead bodies of the Carrow twins.
A Few Minutes Later
Harry could see the roof of his mansion as he moved about in the sky. He flew downwards and suddenly started to lose consciousness. He could hear Bellatrix chanting she's a pirate in his head and remembered the day at Grimmauld Place when she came from her room and muttered the same phrase over and over again.
He remembered all those times he knew that Daphne was a double agent and how he wanted to kill her but Trelawney's prophecy made him rescind his decision.
She's a pirate
"Bellatrix," he muttered as he felt his mind slipping away. He crashed through the old roof and hit the floor with a sickening thud. He could hear Fawkes screeching loudly and he could feel himself being levitated.
He was slipping in an out of consciousness and was muttering names to anyone who was there.
"Master open your eyes," he could hear Dobby calling out but he sounded so far away.
"Harry don't you fucking dare die!" Neville ordered and felt his boots flying off his feet. Kreacher was running about and apparating about him with vials of potions and he seemed to be channeling smoke around his body.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Harry whispered slowly as the light around him grew dim. "SNAPE! NARCISSA! SIRIUS! NYMPHADORA!" Harry bellowed and collapsed into oblivion.
Within the geography of magical Britain is the infamous Crouch family house. A house that was the centre of political power in Britain but had slowly turned into a ruin and a hot spot for Death Eaters ever since Bartemius Crouch Junior had revealed he was a Death Eater. Crouch Senior was never able to recover from the shame and spent the last of his days rotting in a cell from a curse his own son placed on him.
The old building stands in the middle of thousands of acres of land and is surrounded by lots of forest vegetation. On the family land is a the Crouch family crypt where all the members of the family are buried and for the purposes of the war going on between the forces of darkness and light, the crypt had been reconstructed by magic to detain prisoners. It was known to only a few including Voldemort himself and this was where he kept the most troublesome members of the Order of the Phoenix. The area around the crypt had a smell of death and decay from Voldemort's constant presence there and due to this, all the Dementors in Azkaban had migrated there to wallow in the atmosphere of death the crypt provided.
Members of the Order of the Phoenix were effective in their operations and were never caught save a few who were always liberated by their comrades in arms. There was however just one prisoner in the crypt the Dark Lord personally tortured because that prisoner had butchered an entire village of Death Eaters single handedly with magic and some complex Muggle contraptions the scholars in Muggle Studies were unable to identify. Voldemort himself tortured his prisoner for destroying one of his projects to develop the perfect magical community not because the prisoner used magic but the use of Muggle contraptions to Voldemort was an insult that could not be forgiven.
Voldemort ripped into the skin of his prisoner with a hex and hissed in delight as he felt the power radiating off his body. He slammed the prisoner into the wall and stopped all of a sudden.
"Nagini I hear voices," the dark wizard muttered and apparated out of the cell. He appeared at the entrance of the crypt and they who saw him bowed to the ground in reverence.
"The brothers Lestrange," he announced and walked towards them, his dark green cloak billowing about him. "Rise."
They got on their feet and presented Bellatrix bound in a spell to Voldemort. The dark wizard stopped in his tracks and glared at Bellatrix, his eyes livid with rage. His nostrils opened and closed in anger as he stood there watching the captive.
"How is this possible?" he asked after a few minutes.
"The Greengrass heir my liege," Rodolphus spoke. "She and the boy Draco managed to capture her. We lost many men if I may add but it was worth it. She will be of use to you my lord. I have no doubt."
"With the Elder wand at your disposal you will be able to extract her most basic memories," Rabastan added.
"I am powerful Rabastan. I and I alone, not the Elder wand. It is merely a tool for my power. Dumbledore possessed the Elder wand but could not do powerful things," Voldemort corrected.
"Yes my lord," Rabastan replied meekly.
"Away with you," he ordered and they apparated at his command leaving Bellatrix alone in the presence of the embodiment of evil.
"I will not kill you dear child. I will destroy your soul from the inside and leave you empty so as to make you the born killer I know you to be. After you have outlived your usefulness shall Lord Voldemort kill you," he said softly and stroked her face.
"What are you waiting for Tom?" Bellatrix spoke to his surprise. "Fucking get on with it already!"
"Dementors! Away with this traitor. I shall visit her soon," he hissed and laughed gleefully as the Dementors surrounded Bellatrix and levitated her into the crypt.
POTTER MANSION
Kreacher returned with the members of the Black family including Severus Snape and rushed towards the table to assist Dobby with healing spells. Neville was muttering a spell from a book and was trying to extract the object from within Harry but to no avail.
"Harry!" Sirius cried and jogged to his godson. "What the fuck?" he asked in confusion when he saw his godson's badly bruised body. Harry's right shoulder snapped loudly and they watched as it started to swell.
"Cursed object," Narcissa observed calmly and looked at Snape. Sirius and Nymphadora were doing their best to assist Neville and the elves but they could feel Harry's body failing. He started coughing out dark blood and his glasses had cracked into his eye from the crash. Nymphadora extracted the glass from his eye and jumped back when she saw that his eyes had turned pure white.
"Step aside you foolish boy," Snape ordered and shoved Neville aside. He took off his cloak and quickly rolled up his sleeves to his elbows.
"Black try not to squeal," the Potions teacher muttered and traced his index finger around Harry's chest muttering a spell and slowly Harry's chest sliced open releasing a lot of blood.
"Black get all that blood in the bubble!" he barked and Nymphadora chuckled because she could tell Snape was enjoying this moment ordering her cousin about. Harry's ribcage was visible as Snape continued to chant the spell and they could see the hilt of the dagger burrowing its way towards Harry's heart, cutting every organ in its path.
"Who did this?" Sirius asked in disgust.
"He went to see Daphne Greengrass," Neville said silently and Snape looked at him darkly.
"I don't know what happened at her place, but he told me he was going to see her and now look," he pointed at the damage the blade was causing.
"He always wanted to kill her," Sirius wailed and smashed a chair into bits in anger.
"Calm down Sirius," Narcissa said soothingly and rubbed his back. "He won't die."
"Longbottom prepare a Draught of Living Death now!" Snape barked and in an instant Neville was out of there in search for ingredients.
"That takes time to prepare and we don't have time," Narcissa commented.
"He understands what he has to do. His skill in Herbology and Potions is exceptional. I trust his judgement," Snape replied as he watched the blade cutting away inside Harry's body. Neville returned moments later with some fresh leaves and rubbed them together in his palms quickly. They could see smoke slowly making its way through his palms and a gentle blow of air from Neville's lips sent the smoke directly inside Harry's lungs.
"Excellent work," the Potions master remarked and continued parting Harry's ribcage. He slowly put his hand inside the cavity and gently tried to extract the blade but it was proving difficult to do so. Harry opened his eyes and they could see it rolling about like marbles in a glass jar.
"Severus?" Sirius muttered and watched tensely as Snape tried to extract the knife.
"Got it. Almost there," he replied and gently withdrew his arm and brandished a blade made of flint in the air. The knife shot into the air and tried to attack him but Narcissa trapped it in a bubble charm and scoffed in amusement. Nymphadora added an extra protection charm to the bubble and examined the blade closely.
"Orc made," Sirius observed and shook his head.
"These blades aren't on the market. They are banned," Snape commented as he worked on stitching Harry up.
"Are things really banned these days? Nymphadora quizzed. Snape sat in a chair and washed his bloodied hands with water Dobby offered. Kreacher took over patching Harry up and when the final sinew stitched back into place, Harry sat up abruptly and looked around him, panting heavily.
"They got Bellatrix again!" he cried and held his head in anguish.
"Calm down pup," Sirius cooed and hugged his godson tightly. "Tell us everything. No need to stress, we're here now. Don't want to risk you bleeding inside again." Harry's body stopped shaking with rage and calmly narrated the events of the day to them.
Sirius collapsed in a chair when Harry was done. Nymphadora's hair turned red and caught fire and Narcissa Malfoy ran a finger through her hair and paced about in deep thought. Snape continued rinsing his hands but everyone was clueless as to where Bellatrix was. Narcissa stopped pacing and looked at Walburga Black's sleeping portrait with a glint in her eye.
"Sirius, we need to call Andromeda," she said quietly.
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