Chapter 17: Rescue Mission
"The Cruciatus Curse ought to loosen your tongue," Umbridge said quietly.
"No!" Hermione shrieked. "That's illegal! The Minister wouldn't want you to break the law, Professor!"
"What Cornelius doesn't know won't hurt him," Umbridge was smiling. There was a nasty, eager look on her face. It was downright terrifying.
"Crucio!"
Harry had braced for this the moment she threatened it. He fell to his knees, shaking, his body bucking and writhing unconsciously, but he did not cry out. He gritted his teeth tightly, so tightly it hurt, but he would not give her the satisfaction of hearing him scream. Distantly he realized, in his agony, that where the pendant rested against his chest...didn't hurt..somewhere he thought he heard someone sobbing...
Umbridge stood over him, smirking as the pain dissipated. Harry stared up at her defiantly, and gave a hoarse laugh.
"Sorry to tell you, Professor," Harry panted, "But you're really not that good at that spell. You've got nothing on Voldemort. I'm not afraid of you."
"I really hate children like you," she said vehemently. "Somebody has to act around here. Cornelius never knew I ordered dementors after Potter last summer, but he was delighted to be given the chance to expel him, all the same...nasty, queer children just have to be dealt with."
"That was you?" Harry gasped, still trembling with the after affects of the curse, forcing his way to his feet.
"Somebody has to take action," she raised her wand and Harry braced himself again. "Cru-"
"NO!" Hermione shouted in a cracked voice. "No! Harry-Hary we have to tell her!"
"No way!" Harry yelled, turning to her.
"We have to, Harry, you can't let her...what's the point?!"
Harry stared at her, disbelieving. Hermione began to cry weakly.
"Well, well, well!" Umbridge looked disgustingly triumphant. "Little Miss Question-All is going to give us some answers! Come on then, girl, come on!"
"Er-my-nee-no!" Ron shouted through his gag.
The sounds of the galloping centaurs and the blundering giant were growing fainter and fainter in the Forbidden Forest. As Harry listened to them his scar gave another great thorb and a wave of terror swept over him-they had wasted so much time.
"Smart plan," Harry spat, rounding on Hermione. "Really, really, smart plan. Was the part where the centaurs almost killed us too part of it? Sorry-don't answer that. Where do we go from here?"
"We need to get back up to the castle," Hermione said faintly.
"By the time we've done that, Cedric will probably be dead!" Harry shouted, kicking a tree. "And it's all my fault! If I just-"
"Harry, cut it out!" Hermione shouted. "That won't help him. And if it's any consolation, I'm pretty sure they're using him to get you there. They won't kill the bait until they get whatever the bloody hell it is they want." She took a deep breath, sighing. "Besides, we can't do anything without wands. Anyway, Harry, how exactly were you planning to get all the way to London?"
"Yeah, we were just wondering that," a familiar voice from behind her said.
Ron came into sight, followed closely by Gavin, James, Neville, Ginny and Luna. All of them looked a little worse for the wear, but all were looking rather pleased with themselves.
"So," Ron said, "any ideas?"
"How did you all get away?" Harry asked in amazement, taking his wand from Ron.
Ron grinned, "Gavin and James showed up-Kayla followed them but Gavin made her go back to Ravenclaw Tower after they got us free. Couple of Stunners, a Disarming Charm, an Impediment Jinx. Ginny was brilliant. Anyway, we saw you heading into the forest out of the window and followed. Harry, what did you see in the fire? Did you contact the Order? Has You-Know-Who still got Cedric?"
"Yes," Harry's scar gave another painful prickle, "I'm sure...I'm sure Cedric's still alive but...there wasn't anyone at Grimmauld Place. They're probably out there looking for him but...by the time they find him it will be too late. And I have no idea how to contact them. It's...it's up to us. I can't see how we're going to get there to help him though."
They all fell silent; the problem seemed insurmountable.
"Well, we'll have to fly, won't we?" Luna said, matter-of-factly.
"Over here," Harry said, leading the way to the battered telephone box and opening the door. Strapped diagonally across his back was one of the D.A. First Aid kit; he prayed he did not need to make further use of it that night. Earlier, at Hermione's insistence, he had hastily swallowed a mouthful of the blue potion for nerve damage. "Come on!" Ron and Ginny marched in obediently; Gavin, James, Hermione, Neville, and Luna squashed themselves in after them. In the end, Harry barely fit.
"Whoever's nearest the receiver, dial six two four four two!"
"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business."
"Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger," Harry said very quickly, "Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, Gavin Afumba, and James Shafiq. We're here to save someone, unless your Ministry can do it first!"
"Thank you," the cool female voice said. "Visitors, please take the badges and attach them to the front of your robes." Eight badges slid out of the metal chute where returned coins usually came out, Hermione handed the top most mutely to him. It read:
HARRY POTTER
Rescue Mission
Rescue mission...
"The Ministry wishes you a pleasant evening," the voice said as the box deposited them in the Atrium.
There was no one around; it was eerily quiet, the only sound was the rush of water from the golden fountain. Harry sprinted as he led the others down the hall, towards the elevator, and as soon as the cool voice said "Department of Mysteries," took off at a run again.
Harry turned toward the plain black door. After months and months of dreaming about it, he was here at last...walking through...They were standing in a large, circular room. Everything in here was black including the floor and ceiling-identical, unmarked, handle-less black doors were set at intervals all around the black walls. As soon as the door they walked in closed, the walls began to spin, rotating around them faster and faster...then abruptly stopping.
"What was that about?" James whispered fearfully.
"I think it was to stop us knowing which door we came in from," Ginny said in a hushed voice.
"Where do we go then, Harry?" Ron asked.
"I don't…" Harry trailed off, then swallowed. "In the dream I went through the door at the end of the corridor from the lift into a dark room, that's this one, and then I went through another door into a room that kind of...glitters? We should try a few doors," he said hastily. "I'll know the right way when I see it. C'mon."
They went through several doors, James marking each with a fiery X as they did, and eventually opened the door into a very large room. It was dimly lit and rectangular, and the center of it was sunken, forming a great stone pit some twenty feet below them. In the center of the floor was a raised stone dais and upon this dais stood an ancient stone archway. Unsupported by any surrounding wall, the archway was hung with a fluttering, tattered black veil.
"Who's there?" Harry scrambled down the benches one by one until he reached the bottom. "Cedric?" He approached the archway, drawn by the strangest feeling that there was something standing right behind the veil on the other side of the archway.
"Let's go," called Hermione from halfway up the stone steps. "This isn't right, Harry, come on, let's go…" She sounded scared, even more so than she had in the room with the brains...yet Harry could not help feeling as though the archway held an odd kind of beauty about it.
"Okay…" Harry did not move. There were faint whispering, murmuring noises coming from the other side of the veil. "What are you saying?"
"Nobody's talking, Harry!" Hermione said, now moving closer to him.
"Someone's whispering behind there…" he moved forward out of her reach, transfixed by the veil. "Can't anyone else hear it?"
"I can," a soft voice beside him spoke, and Harry turned in surprise to see James, a distant look on his face.
"I can hear them too," Luna breathed, joining them around the side of the archway and gazing at the swaying veil. "There are people in there!"
"Harry-everyone-we are supposed to be here for Cedric!" Hermione's voice was strained now.
"Cedric," Harry repeated, still gazing at the continuously swaying veil, "Yeah…"
A memory of Cedric slid into place unbidden in his brain; Cedric, captured, tortured, screaming, fighting, and here he was staring at this archway...He took several paces back from the dais and wrenched his eyes from the veil.
"Let's go," he said softly.
Once again, the walls of the circular chamber spun. The next door they tried was locked; it resisted Alohomora and everything else they tried. But the door they tried after that…
"This is it!" Harry knew at once.
Clocks were gleaming from every surface, large and small. Harry led them onwards, sprinting frantically past rows of bookcases and desks, through another door…They were there, they had found the place: high as a church and full of nothing but towering shelves covered in small, dusty, glass orbs. Harry shivered; the room was very cold. Edging forward, peering down one of the shadowy aisles, he could not see the slightest sign of movement nor hear anything.
"You said it was row ninety-seven," Hermione whispered.
"Keep your wands out," Harry commanded, leading them forward.
They passed row eighty-four...eighty-five...Harry was listening hard for the slight sound of movement, walking along very quickly, but Cedric might be gagged now, or else unconscious, or...he might be already…
No, he cut off the voice of doubt firmly, grazing a hand over the teardrop gemstone suspended by magic in the center of his pendant.
From somewhere distant, the location not quite locatable in the echoey chamber, a pitiful whimper of pain sounded out. Harry's jog morphed into a desperate sprint.
"Ninety-seven!" Hermione whispered.
"He's right down at the end," Harry said, his mouth dry. "You can't see properly from here…" And he led them forward, between the towering rows of glass balls, some of which glowed slightly as they passed. "Anywhere here...really close...Somewhere about...here?"
They reached the end of the row and emerged into more dim candlelight. There was nobody there at all, even the earlier sounds were gone, all was echoing, dusty silence…
"He might be near," Harry whispered hoarsely, looking around desperately. "Or maybe…"
"Harry?" Hermione said quietly again.
"What?" he snarled, rounding on them. Hermione opened her mouth, then closed it, as if at a loss for words.
"I don't think Cedric is here, mate," Gavin said softly, stepping up beside her.
Nobody spoke. Harry felt sick looking at them, he had led them here...but he could not understand why Cedric was not there! He had to be here. This was where he, Harry, had seen him...if he wasn't here, where was he? Could they ever find him? They had to! He had to be here!
Harry ran up and down the rows, desperately, but there was no sign of Cedric, nor any hint of a struggle...
"Harry?" Ron called.
"What?!"
"Have you seen this? It's...it's got your name on it."
Harry stared at him, then moved a bit closer, looking at the orb Ron was indicating…
S.P.T. to A.P.W.B.D.
Dark Lord
And (?) Harry Potter
"Harry, I don't think you should touch it," Hermione said sharply as he stretched out his hand.
"Why not?" he said, struck by a feeling of recklessness, of desperately once to-just once-take his fate into his own hands. "It's something to do with me, isn't it?"
"Don't, Harry," James was looking at him intently.
"It's got my name on it," Harry insisted.
He closed his fingers around the dusty surface. He had expected it to feel cold, but it did not, it felt as though it had been lying in the sun for hours. Harry was struck suddenly by an odd feeling of impending consequence; he got the sense that something dramatic...something important...was about to happen. He lifted the glass ball down from itself and stared at it.
Nothing happened.
And then, from right behind them, a drawling voice said, "Very good, Potter. Now turn around, nice and slowly, and give that to me."
Black shapes were emerging out of thin air all around them, blocking their way left and right; eyes glinting through slits in hoods, a dozen wand tips were pointing directly at their hearts. One of them, Lucius Malfoy by the voice, was standing slightly to the front, hand outstretched.
"I'm sure Ceddy would appreciate it, Potter," a sing-song female voice said beside him.
Another figure cloaked in black walked out of the shadows to stand beside him, pulling off her hood. Azkaban had hollowed Bellatrix Lestrange's face, making it gaunt and skull-like, but it was alive with a feverish, fanatical glow. She was not alone.
Held in a chokehold, gagged, practically dragged along...was Cedric. Blood dripped continuously from somewhere on his left arm. Tremors wracked through his body. His face was pale with fear, so much so that he half resembled a ghost. It didn't look like he could walk or stand if the Death Eater was not holding him. Tears were streaming down his face and his eyes…
When his eyes met Harry's, filled with a terrible fear, a desperate longing, and so much hurt ...Harry felt his heart shattering. And he felt the shards dig into his soul, cutting like daggers. It took every ounce of self control he had to not rush forward immediately.
"To me, Potter," the drawling voice of Lucious Malfoy repeated.
Harry could not break his boyfriend's gaze. "Cedric…" Distantly, he heard his voice break.
Several of the Death Eaters laughed. "The Dark Lord knows your weakness! The Dark Lord always knows!" the harsh female voice cried out.
"Always," Malfoy echoed softly. "Now, give me the prophecy, Potter."
Cedric was shaking his head, the movement so slight but so...defiantly deliberate.
"No." Harry spoke almost without realizing it. "Where is your boss anyway? Too much of a coward to step out of the shadows?"
Again, the Death Eaters laughed."The Dark Lord has better matters to attend to," Lucius Malfoy drawled. "Did you really think he was here? You need to learn the difference between life and dreams, Potter." His voice turned flat. "Give me the prophecy or we start using wands."
The female Death Eater cackled, stroking Cedric's head, "Not that we haven't had our fun already, isn't that right, Ceddy?"
She hurt him. It was clear in the tone of her voice, in the way Cedric flinched away involuntarily from her touch.
Blinding white-hot rage poured through every fiber of Harry's soul. Abruptly he rose his left hand high, holding the grey orb of glass in the air. "If you lay another finger on him," he growled. "If you attack any of us, I will smash this. I don't think your boss will be too pleased with that, will he? " He turned slightly to the figure beside him, James. "Don't do anything," he muttered. "Not yet…"
The Death Eaters were silent. Harry would not think what to do but keep talking, his eyes never leaving Cedric. He had to get Cedric away from them somehow, safely, and he could not let the prophecy fall into Death Eater hands. He could feel the others pressing in tightly next to him. He was hoping they were all thinking hard about ways to get out of this, because his mind was blank.
"So," Harry said shakily, "what kind of prophecy are we talking about? How come Voldemort wants it?"
Several of the Death Eaters let out low hisses.
"You dare speak his name?" Bellatrix whispered.
"Yeah," Harry said, maintaining his grip firmly on the glass ball, raising his wand to point at her head, "Yeah, I-I dare speak his name."
Because he's pathetic, he wanted to shout. He tortures children and rules through fear. You are nothing but a slave to him, less than human. But he could not, would not risk antagonizing her further when she had Cedric at wand point.
"STUPEFY!"
"No!"
A jet of red light had shot from the end of Bellatrix Lestrange's wand, Malfoy had moved to deflect it, but before he could Gavin had stepped in, conjuring a shield in front of Harry. The stunner hit a shelf a foot to the left of Harry and several of the glass orbs there shattered; releasing two pearly white ghostly figures, fluid as smoke.
Lucius Malfoy was shouting at the Death Eaters not to attack. Harry asked again about the prophecy, desperately filling up time, stealing glances every moment to look at Cedric.
"Because the only people who are permitted to retrieve a prophecy from the Department of Mysteries, are those about whom it was made."
"And why did he want to steal a prophecy about me?"
"About both of you, Potter. Haven't you ever wondered why the Dark Lord tried to kill you as a baby?"
Harry stared into the slitted eye holes through which Malfoy's gray eyes were gleaming. He kept Malfoy talking to distract him.
"Let him go," Harry said flatly, turning to stare at Bellatrix Lestrange as an idea began to take form.
"Oh, not so fast Potter…" Lucius said.
"Let him go," Harry said, "and when he's halfway to us, I'll roll you the prophecy."
They were silent for a long moment, then Lucius Malfoy nodded, jerking his head towards Bellatrix. She pouted, pulling Cedric closer and whispering something into his ear, and then abruptly shoved him forward.
Cedric stumbled, trempling, and fell to his knees, struggling. The Death Eaters laughed, a strange sound echoing off the hall of prophecies. Cedric looked up, and met Harry's eyes. Silently, with every fiber of his being, Harry willed Cedric to fight.
I can't lose you. Please. I know you can do this.
Cedric stood up and, slowly, as if every step was a marathon, began to walk forward. Harry's grip on his wand tightened as he struggled not to run to his soulmate. When Cedric was about a third of the way towards them, Harry's muscles tensed to run.
"NOW!" he yelled.
Cedric dropped to the ground, curling into a ball and shielding his head with his hands. Seven different voices behind him bellowed "REDUCTO!" just as Harry, with all his strength sprinting forward, shouted, "PROTEGO!" Seven different curses flew in seven different directions and the shelves opposite them exploded as they hit. The towering structure swayed as a hundred glass spheres burst apart, pearly white figures unfurled into the air and floated there, their voices echoing from who knew what long-dead past amid the torrent of crashing glass and splintered wood now raining down upon the floor…
Harry ran, the charm protecting him. He was only a handful of steps away when another voice rang out.
"Crucio!" Bellatrix Lestrange shouted, almost gleefully.
Cedric screamed. Harry saw red.
"Stupefy!" Harry's wand cut through the air, followed quickly by a flash of red. It did not hit her head on but collided with an unstable shelf, forcing her backward, forcing her to release the curse.
Harry's arms wrapped around Cedric, and he wanted nothing more than to hold him close forever, but they had to move. With a swish of his wand, the gag was gone. He pulled him desperately to his feet, thankful Cedric somehow still had the strength to stand. Practically carrying him by his right arm, which he draped around his shoulder, Harry moved forward.
"Har.." Cedric muttered, his voice slurred and hoarse.
"I'm here," Harry said through gritted teeth, still clutching his wand and the prophecy, hobbling them forward. "Don't you dare die on me. I need you."
The others reached them at that moment. Wordlessly James fell in beside him, taking Cedric's other arm over his shoulder and helping him practically carry Cedric forward. Gavin was there a heartbeat later, shielding them and taking point as neither Harry nor James could move about as freely.
Glass was raining down all around them. Spellfire shot through the semi darkness, accompanied by the occasional physical blow. The Death Eaters were close, sending curses after them. They were all yelling, there were cries of pain, thunderous crashes as the shelves collapsed upon themselves, weirdly echoing fragments of the Seers unleashed from their spheres.
All that was important was the warm, breathing body of Cedric pressed into his side. James and Harry sprinted onwards, wishing for all the world they could stop as groans of agony escaped Cedric. At times, Harry was not sure his boyfriend was even conscious.
Perhaps that was a blessing.
At some point they had separated from Ron, Luna, and Ginny and lost them. Harry could only hope they were still...fighting. He, James, Gavin, Cedric, Neville, and Hermione eventually made their way to a sort of office, and they were quickly followed by the Death Eaters. Dueling erupted around them.
"WE'VE GOT HIM!" The Death Eater nearest Harry yelled, "IN AN OFFICE OFF-"
"Silencio!" Hermione cried.
"Petrificus totalus!" Gavin shouted, as the second Death Eater raised his wand. His arms and legs snapped together and he fell forward, face down onto the rug at Harry's feet, stiff as a board and unable to move at all.
The Death Eater Hermione had just struck made a sudden slashing movement from his wand, followed by a streak of purple flame. It passed right across Hermione's chest; she gave a tiny "oh!" and then crumbled onto the floor, unmoving.
"HERMIONE!"
The three of them, Harry, Cedric, and James fell to their knees besides her as Neville crawled rapidly toward her from under the desk, his wand held up in front of him. Slowly, they all gathered around her.
Don't be dead! Harry thought desperately, Merlin, Hermione, we can't do this without you! His hand brushed against her, warm...definitely still alive…
Cedric let out a small groan of pain. As the fighting raged around them, as James and Gavin and Neville guarded their backs, Harry swung the bag off his shoulders. Cedric took the potions he pressed around his lips, his hands shaking. The dark blue one for the Cruciatus, a Wiggenweld Potion, a Pepper Up...
"Where are you hurt?" Harry said softly, wanting desperately to help.
"Wrist," Cedric said through gritted teeth, his left arm trembling violently as he held his hand out, palm outwards.
Harry was nearly sick. The flesh of Cedric's wrist was burned horribly, down to the bone. The wound oozed liquid every moment, weeping. His fingers curled in slightly, as if stiff, the joints replaced with tight metal. His hands shaking, Harry traced a circle gently around the edge of the wound with his wand.
"Oblivisci Dolorem." His voice broke as he incanted. Even as the magic settled into Cedric's pain, he felt something in him crack, and tears began to escape him. The mark of their love...the mark of everything Harry had come to associate with life and happiness and goodness...was gone. Shakily, he began to wrap the wound in a bandage from the pack. A gentle hand rested on his shoulder.
"It will grow back," James said softly, taking action and conjuring a tight sling for Cedric's arms. "Harry, it's a magical mark-it will grow back. We're going to get him out here. We're going to survive this."
"Ternal…" Cedric muttered, the weak smile he had given Harry vanishing.
"What?" Harry turned to his boyfriend. "Cedric, don't talk, save your entergy!"
" 'ternal!" He insisted, weakly weaving a hand towards Hermione. "In...ternal. Gold potion. 'Mione...needs...it. Now."
James, understanding Cedric's words pointed his wand towards the pack, even as spellfire began to rain down around them again. Gavin turned, defending them.
"Accio Stabilization Draught!"
A triangle shaped vial of thin golden liquid popped out of the bag and flew to his hands. He passed it to Neville, spinning in the next heartbeat to deflect a curse. Neville pressed it to Hermione's lips, letting it dribble down her throat. Weakly, she coughed, but did not wake.
Steely resolve entered Harry's mind. They were going to make it out of this. They had to.
"Neville, everyone, we're not far from the exit," Harry whispered. "We're right next to that circular room...If we can just get you all across it and find the right door before any more Death Eaters come, I'll bet you can get Hermione and Cedric up the corridor and into the lift...Then you can find someone...Raise the alarm…"
"And what are you going to do?" Cedric said, his voice sharper than it had been before, though still hoarse and pained.
"I've got to find the others," Harry said. "Cedric, can you stand?"
"If I have to," he said flatly. "Does anyone have a spare wand?"
"Here," Gavin said, tossing him a plain, straight wand of light gray wood. "Got this off one of them."
"It'll have to do," Cedric muttered, pushing himself to his feet.
He swayed and Harry moved to catch him, "Cedric, you have to get out of here."
"If you think for a second in hell," Cedric muttered, "I'm leaving you idiots, you're wrong. You came here...because of me. I'm not leaving you; I'm going with you. I can fight. Help me get to my feet."
"Cedric, you were-!" Harry protested.
You were tortured. The unspoken words seemed to hang in the air.
"Yeah," Cedric growled, his eyes flashing dangerously. "And that bitch is out there. She doesn't get the satisfaction of beating me down, of taking me out of this fight. Help me to my feet. We're all getting out of here."