Fractal
Chapter Twelve
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There came footsteps. Draco immediately stood up, as did Kelsey. He pushed her behind him, against Saron. Though he probably couldn't do anything against a full Death Eater - one more powerful than his father - he was opting to try. A young boy, fifteen like himself, stood in front of the bars of the cell, smirking at the three of them. Draco's jaw literally dropped ten feet. Kelsey gasped.
"Potter! What the hell are you doing here!?" Draco hissed, coming right up to the bars and grabbing Harry's Gryffindor robes. The black-haired boy just looked back at him, smirking. It wasn't the smirk that frightened Draco, it was his eyes. The normally crystal clear green orbs were clouded over and distant, if he were really not even there, controlling his own actions.
"Hi Draco." He said simply, grabbing Draco's wrist and forcefully pushing him off of himself. Draco hissed in pain as Harry twisted it slightly, making something crack in his arm. Luckily nothing broke but the silver-haired Malfoy knew that he would have a bruise on him there soon. Soon Harry's smile turned foul and he stepped aside to permit Lord Voldemort room to look in on the trio. Draco felt his muscles tense, his hand reaching for his wand...
"Yes, you are a spunky kid, aren't you?" Voldemort said, glee shining in his bloody eyes. Behind him Draco felt Kelsey shaking, grabbing onto his robes for support. She whimpered behind him; obviously she had never seen Voldemort before today. Well, neither had he, but perhaps he had a better stomach for things like this.
"Whatever you say, Lord." Draco said, putting heavy sarcasm on the last word. Voldemort glared at him, then waved his hand. Harry took a key from his belt and opened the door, walking in and grabbing Draco and Kelsey. Saron, who was bound by his feet to the ground, could go nowhere, though he tried to nip at the Potter boy's robes as he passed him. Kelsey and Draco struggled against a boy who wasn't supposed to be that good at sports but found that they could barely move his arms. Where had this increased strength come from? Voldemort stepped aside so Harry could move out of the cell and he moved in this time himself, using his magic to unlock Saron's cuffs and force him to walk behind him calmly, as if he were willing. Draco could feel his friend's struggle, but didn't want to try telepathy here in case it alerted Voldemort to his powers.
"Where are we going?" Draco asked once he, Kelsey and Saron were forced down the hall, passing several cells. Some were empty, and some were not. Kelsey found herself closing her eyes when she saw something moving within one of the cells, not wanting to see what it was for fear that she might either throw up or faint. Then again, knowing her, she'd probably do both.
"To change you." Voldemort said with that hint of something else going on behind the scenes in his voice. Draco narrowed his eyes, wishing that he could feel comfortable about his position. He knew that trying his wand here would be useless; Voldemort would catch him easily and Harry would probably knock him out before his hand got there halfway.
The five of them stopped before another wooden door, this one made of what looked like stone. Harry knocked on it five times and it opened automatically, swinging on it's rusty hinges by magic. Probably an enchanted door, Draco mused. Like Voldemort would settle for anything else. The door led to a room; all around there were huge stone pillars, each seemingly supporting the roof. In the middle of it, surprisingly, there was a hole that showed clear sky. To Draco, from what he could see of it, he would have guessed that it was about ten-thirty in the morning or so. There was a small cage off to the side and Harry threw Kelsey in there, as well as Saron. The girl immediately clamped her arms around Saron's neck, who bent it over so it was like he was hugging her. Her brown hair fell in front of her face, hiding her scared chocolate eyes. Draco wished he could do more for her, but in the situation currently...
"Put him on the altar." Voldemort commanded Harry, pointing to the raised platform of smooth marble in the centre, right under the light. This was done and Draco found himself being chained to the stone, feeling the hardness under his back, making him quite uncomfortable.
Draco. Saron's voice came to him. Draco almost gasped but managed to catch himself before either Voldemort or Harry caught on. He remained silent, and he felt Saron's understanding.
I'm going to get you out of there. When Voldemort isn't watching I'll blast your chains, then get Kelsey and myself out, alright? His friend asked him. Draco merely uttered an understanding, more of a feeling than a thought. To the outsider it would have looked as though nothing had happened, which was good.
"Now then, Harry. Would you like to do the honours?" Voldemort said, stepping back out of the small circle that was carved around the altar. Harry stepped up, holding a cup in his hands. Something was glowing within it, glowing a beautiful silver...With a gulp Draco recognised it as unicorn's blood. Probably Saron's. What were they going to do with it?
"What....what are you..." Draco's voice was cut off as Harry sudden grabbed his jawbone and forced his mouth open, causing the pale-faced one to fight back. His eyes grew wide with the horror; they were going to make him drink it! Voldemort watched from a distance as Harry gently tipped the silvery blood into Draco's mouth, forcing his mouth to stay open.
There was a sudden gathering of power; Draco could feel it in the back of his neck, sort of tingling in that way; like ESP or something. It was then that he knew it was time. In a sudden flash of white light and an accompanying crack and rattle, Draco's chains were released and fell to the floor around the altar. He immediately sat up and spit the entire contents of the blood, which he was surprised to see did not linger at all in his mouth, as if it were waterproof, into Harry's face. The Gryffindor boy gasped in surprise, shaking his now wet hair. It was dashed with bits of silver that actually made his hair look presentable. Draco took no time in putting a plan into action; he grabbed his wand and pointed it at Voldemort, uttering the now familiar curse;
"Crucio!!!" He said with spite, making the lord immediately fall to his knees, screaming in pain. There wasn't time to be happy, however; Saron had used his small magic powers to get himself and Kelsey out of the cage by busting the locks and was now herding her towards the door. Voldemort was screaming for the pain to stop and Harry was trying to get the blood off of him. Draco gave the Gryffindor another shove on his way out, making him sprawl over the floor, next to his master.
"Let's go!!" Draco screamed, jumping up on the back of Saron. Kelsey was running beside them and locked the door with a powerful containment spell before jumping up in front of him. Saron powered his legs as fast as he could, winding and weaving through the tunnels as fast as he could.
After many minutes, there was a cracking and crashing noise in the distance. Apparently Draco was now too far away to use the curse on Voldemort and he had blocked it; he had also broken down the door, it seemed. He knew that the duo would be after them soon and urged Saron to move faster.
I'm going as fast as I can! If this is correct, we should be passing through a magical barrier... Just as he said that he ran through a wall, appearing through the other side in the Forbidden Forest. Draco had closed his eyes in fear of hitting the wall, but when no pain came he opened them.
"We're out!!" Kelsey rejoiced happily, but it was short-lived. There was a wild screaming and the duo looked behind them to see none other than Harry Potter chasing wildly behind them, riding atop his own black steed. Voldemort was nowhere to be seen, probably still too weak to come after him.
"FASTER!!!!" Draco screamed atop of Harry's own wild war cry, grabbing Kelsey around the waist again for support. She didn't notice and grabbed Saron's mane so she wouldn't fall off, leaning slightly in and down so their movements would become more streamlined. Saron powered wildly through the trees, not caring about the transmitter trees and spies. Time was of the essence, and if they went any slower at all Harry would catch them, and they would all become dead. Draco and Kelsey grabbed on with all their might to each other, closing their eyes slightly against the wildly fighting wind, Saron's hoof beats pulsing in their ears like the beating of a heart.
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Hermione was picking at her lunch half-heartedly when she heard something. No, more like felt something; nearly everything in the Great Hall vibrated. The cups and dishes were rattling, and something underneath the ground almost roared like the running of a great waterfall. Dumbledore immediately stood up, apparently sensing something. Snape stood up as well, eyes narrowing. They glanced at each other, immediately rushing from the teacher's table down through the Great Hall, outside. Several thousand students followed them in a mad rush, trying to see what was going on. Hermione was one of them, finding herself pushing past many faces and bodies to be the first on the line.
Once outside, she found Snape and Dumbledore frozen on the slightly yellowed plain of the Hogwarts grounds, staring over at the Forbidden Forest. The thundering was coming from that direction, no doubt about that. Soon Hermione found herself joined by Ron, who gently grabbed her hand and squeezed it, probably for his comfort more than hers; the brown-haired girl could tell that he was afraid, very afraid.
Suddenly, something broke from the trees. There was a flash of white and gold, the thundering of hoof beats in the distance becoming increasingly louder. Hermione gasped; it was the unicorn, and there were people on it's back! She would have bet anything that it was Malfoy and perhaps that missing Ravenclaw girl. The unicorn rushed past Hagrid's hut, running as fast as it could go. Then, behind it, came something else. Hermione narrowed her eyes, trying to see what was chasing them. Then, in a loud splintering of wood and other assorted materials, the shack that had once been Hagrid's hut exploded in a flash of red light, sending wooden beams and various things like furniture stuffing flying all around. Several students gasped; what had that been?!? Though she was sure that no one else could see, Hermione saw something else run out of the forest; it was an all black horse, black tack and a rider cloaked and dressed in black. The horse jumped the shredded house and came down upon the ground tearing up the grass and dirt. It thundered after the unicorn, the rider holding out something that looked suspiciously like a wand.
As the two animals got closer, Hermione could see Malfoy's trademark silver hair and pale face. She could also see the fear on his face. This surprised her; that someone else on that other horse must have been really dangerous. She focused on the black rider. His face was hooded but she caught the corner of something flashing under it; glasses. She looked harder and found something else that made her heart stop; a Gryffindor patch. The red and gold was unmistakable. She gasped and Ron looked at her in a confused manner.
"What is it, Hermione?" He asked, holding her hand worriedly.
"Ron....that guy in black....it's Harry!!" She said suddenly, feeling rather faint. Ron looked at her in a wild, confused manner, then to the figure in black.
"No, it can't be....why is he chasing Malfoy like that then?" Ron asked. Hermione felt her eyes roll up and she suddenly became rather weak. Ron caught her as she fell and held her as the two parties came running towards the group of students.
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"Damn it, they shouldn't be there! He's gonna hurt them!!" Draco said, narrowing his eyes at the group of students standing stupefied behind the two equally dumbfounded teachers. Kelsey had screamed and nearly fainted when Harry had blown up Hagrid's home; only a bit of a slap had kept her awake. He couldn't have her falling unconscious, not now. Draco raised his hand, tried to warn the people away from Harry's dangerous ride...
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"Professor, he's saying something." Snape said, narrowing his eyes. Draco was waving his hand frantically, pointing back to the castle. Dumbledore saw this too and wondered....
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"Damn, they're not listening!" Draco hissed as Saron thundered even closer to the mob. More and more people were gathering at the site; they had no idea whom was chasing him.... Draco could almost feel Harry grin; he screamed once more and raised his wand, preparing a spell.
"AVEDA....!!!!!" He howled, pointing his wand to Draco; or, so Draco thought...
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"What is that light!?" Snape asked, suddenly becoming worried. He felt like fleeing, but for some reason his feet would not move from their spot....
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Draco's eyes widened in a sudden realization that hit him full in the face. Azkaban....Twenty dead.... He raised his voice, screaming to the Professors, but it was too late.
"KADARVA!!!!!!" Draco felt the power sizzle and crackle as it passed him....
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Ron looked up and screamed; a green light came towards him, forcing him off his feet. He felt himself falling to the ground from the shockwave, hitting the dirt and getting it ground in his face.
Then all went black....
