Hmm, I only just realized that Harry & Co. were born in and graduated the same year as me…neat. What's that? 'Screw the author's notes and get on with the bloody storytellin'?' Oh, I see…Impatient, are we? Didn't like that last cliffhanger bit, did we? :: Ducks Barrage of Flying Squirrels affixed with Bayonets :: A'right, a'right! I'm going, I'm going. Sheesh… ~8]
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Disclaimers: What? Disclaimers? Instead of biting off your nails in anticipation like Amerkat, you're actually stopping to read the Disclaimers!? Bah! Read! Read! Or, see any previous chapter *_* It's allll you.
Chapter 17: Within the Serpent's Snare
Out of breath, Hermione stopped to clutch at the stitch in her side as she neared the Great Hall. No sooner had she rounded the corner when she saw Ron peering closely into the armor of a knight's statue. "Ron!"
Ron jumped, startled. "Hermione? What are you doing here?" As she ran towards him, he took in her overall disheveled appearance. "You've been running a marathon or something--?"
Her eyes wide, she fervently scanned the hallway around them. "Ron, where's Harry?" The wizard jerked a thumb back behind him. "He ran to grab the Invisibility Cloak we left in Binns' classroom. Fred and George were helping us plan our route on the Map in there. Why?"
The instant she opened her mouth to speak, they both heard a pained cry resonate in the distance. Alarm flashed in Hermione's eyes as she dug her fingers deep into Ron's arm. "Oh, Gods, that sounded like Harry…"
Upon hearing another scream Hermione and Ron turned and ran faster than thought possible towards Binns' classroom. Finally, they burst through the door, and much to their horror realized that their arrival was a moment too late.
The two friends watched panic-stricken as the two Harrys were sucked into oblivion before their eyes.
"Harry, NO!!!" Hermione ran forward with an outstretched arm towards the pair, but Ron grabbed her other arm and pulled her back. "Ron--?!"
"Hermione, wait--!" The young girl spun on her friend, her countenance a mixture of anger and disbelief. She looked into Ron's pained eyes, and then at the grip he held on her wrist. He shook his head sadly. "You might have gone with them, Hermione, wherever that would be. I wasn't about to lose you, too!"
She relaxed her body with a defeated sigh, bringing her head down. Ron released his grip gently and moved to bring her towards his shoulder. "It'll be alright, Hermione. We'll get him back--"
Hermione's head shot up, tears in her eyes as she vigorously shook her head. "No, Ron. You--you don't understand. That thing wasn't Harry's doppleganger, it was his fetch." Ron furrowed his brow in confusion. "What do you mean, his fetch--?"
Waving her hands about in frustration, Hermione tried explaining herself to Ron. "His fetch, Ron. It's this, this thing sent by another witch or wizard to sort of capture and bring back someone, in this case Harry to…to Voldemort."
"What? Hermione, are you sure about this--?"
The young girl nodded her head with exuberance. "Yes! My book said that while anyone had the capability of creating such a monster, only those of the darkest order were known to do so."
Ron sighed heavily. "Alright, alright, even if it was…him…that--that still doesn't explain why it looked exactly like Harry--" Hermione took a step back, looking to where Harry and his twin had stood only a few moments before. "Look, this fetch can take on the appearance of a doppleganger if its sender wants it to. That way no one is confused by the sudden appearance of a new face, or in this case, student. I suppose if it kept in hiding then no one would really notice that there were two Harrys running around this whole time."
"Wait, let me get this straight--what you're saying is that You-Know-Who used his magick to create something that looked exactly like Harry, and was sent here so it could bring Harry to him?"
Hermione sighed in exasperation. "…Yes."
Ron looked down sadly, then to the spot from where his friend has vanished. "If you're right, then--he's got Harry…" he trailed off softly in disbelief. "Do you think this's got anything to do with Malfoy's disappearance?"
"I don't know, Ron….I don't know." Hermione then grabbed his arm gently, guiding him towards the door.
"C'mon. We've got to find Dumbledore now."
* * * * * *
Harry awoke abruptly to another splitting headache. Pushing himself gently off the floor, he found it to emanate an intense chill which made his blood run cold. Lucky for him only his outer robe had been taken; he was still warmly clothed in much of his school uniform, though he was missing his wand. The wand…
Why hadn't Sirius' wand worked? He felt a twinge of sadness lurch within his stomach as his imagination ran the gamut of his darkest fears. "…Sirius? No…"
A hissing voice snapped Harry out of his reverie, one he hadn't heard in a quite a long time. "Black had nothing to do with this, Potter. It was all of my master's ingenious design. And might I mention that he's very pleased to have you here amongst us again, Sssssss."
Harry looked up and gasped, the reptilian eyes unmistakable even in the near darkness. Slithering closer to Harry, Nagini flickered his forked tongue as he awaited the young boy's response in Parseltongue. Harry scooted back up against the wall, his eyes never leaving the serpent's. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he then responded with a rather blatant question. "What does he want with me this time?"
Nagini narrowed his eyes into slits, his forked tongue lashing out once more. "You'll find out soon enough, unfortunate one. Patience is a virtue, after all," the large serpent hissed, raising itself up to be eye to eye with Harry, "though not one I'm very well acquainted with." The snake fashioned its best approximation of a smile as it bared its fangs, rearing back as if to strike.
Harry ducked instinctively, covering his head with his arms. Just then a door on the opposite side of the room opened, flooding the barren cell with flickering torch light.
"Nagini! There'll time for that later. He is ready for the boy."
The snake turned and hissed angrily at the intruding Death Eater before reluctantly slithering away. "Rest assured, Potter, that should we meet again you won't be so fortunate next time," it spoke, so that only Harry could understand him.
Allowing the large serpent to pass, the hooded Death Eater then walked into the room. "Get up," he commanded, standing in front of Harry. Harry scrambled to a standing position, his legs threatening to give way. "Where are you taking me?" he asked shakily, knowing full well where he'd be going. His only hope was to stall the other wizard for even a moment or two longer.
"Where do you think?"
They were taking him to Voldemort…In a moment of panic Harry charged forward, rushing the Death Eater in an attempt to knock him to the ground and run off with his wand. Before he had even taken a step the Death Eater's fist was at the ready, knocking Harry clean across the temple. Harry cried out as the back of his head smacked against the stone wall. He wasn't given the chance to fall as the Death Eater took hold of Harry's left ear, jerking it forward.
"Unless you want this pierced the hard way," he growled, "you will come willingly." Harry was then shoved none too gently as he stumbled towards the doorway, making sure he was a few paces in front of the Death Eater as he followed the narrow passageway.
Moments later he encountered a high, spiraling staircase, and unsteadily began to ascend it. At the top, two large doors replete with the insignia of the Dark Mark stood before Harry. The Death Eater moved forward and shoved them open, then forced Harry into the room that lay ahead.
It was much larger than Harry's cell had been, and excruciatingly brighter. His breathing grew erratic when, from across the room, he saw Voldemort rise from his chair, waiting in anticipation. Harry averted his gaze as he walked forward, unable to look directly at the Dark Lord. He and the Death Eater finally came to a stop, and Harry could hear Voldemort's footsteps clack across the surface of the stone floor as he approached.
Harry continued to hang his head down, not quite ready to face the embodiment of his and the Wizarding World's worst nightmare standing before him. The option, however, was not his to decide. He felt a cold, bony hand lift his chin up, only to meet with the face of Evil he had long grown to both loathe and fear.
"Don't look so ssscared, child. You knew this day would come."
* * * * * *
Ron and Hermione sat next to one another across from Dumbledore's desk, fidgeting with anxiety in their seats. The venerable Headmaster paced worriedly in front of his students, his head hung low in thought. He glanced occasionally at the door, as if he expected someone to walk through at any moment, but neither Ron nor Hermione had heard him summon anyone.
Ron watched as Dumbledore wrung his hands incessantly, an act he began immediately after Hermione had mentioned the word 'fetch.' The repeated motion terrified Ron not only because it was something he had never seen the older man do, but also because it suggested to him that his headmaster was more distressed at that moment than he'd ever care admitting to. Neither of these thoughts quelled Ron's fears concerning Harry's safety in the least bit.
They had told Dumbledore everything, from the fetch's first appearance to Draco's subsequent disappearance. If he was even the least bit disappointed in them for not having told him earlier, he certainly wasn't showing it. Hermione suspected that he was more shocked than anything, and they would most certainly be chastised for their actions later.
Before she could dwell on it any longer, the door behind them opened in a rush. McGonagall walked in, not bothering to even close the door behind her.
"Excuse my tardiness, Albus, but some of the students heard screams, and now rumors are starting to fly off the broom handle."
Albus held up a hand. "Minerva, please, shut the door first and come in." McGonagall took note of Ron and Hermione, who she thought looked as if they were going to begin crying at any moment. She then directly addressed the headmaster. "Where's Potter?" she asked apprehensively.
Dumbledore closed his eyes briefly before looking up at his fellow instructor. "We…don't know, but we're certain that he's been fetched for."
Her eyes grew wide. "A fetch? Albus, no…He's done this, hasn't he?" she asked sadly.
Dumbledore nodded. "More than likely. And please, Minerva, call him Voldemort. He is no more human than we are."
McGonagall lowered her head slightly, her reproachment causing her to blush in front of her students. "What, what are we going to do?" she asked anxiously.
Dumbledore sighed heavily, then looked up at his guests. "I know someone who might be willing to assist us, but telling even you who it is would compromise h--that person's position. These walls have ears, as the Muggles say."
Hermione spoke up nervously. "But, we'll still be able to help, right?"
The headmaster sighed once more, as if a weighty decision had been placed on his shoulders. He was quiet for several moments before responding. "With Harry's search? Not directly. I've…another task for you." Standing up, he placed his hands on the desk and leaned forward. "You say you know exactly the location of Mr. Malfoy?"
Both Ron and Hermione nodded with certainty, oblivious to McGonagall's confused look. "Yes, sir, we do."
Dumbledore stood back from the desk, straightening himself tall. "Then I'm entrusting you with his...rescue, if that is indeed the case. I would prefer to go with you, but I must remain here, in case my absence were to beget another dire situation. If you'd like, I'll find you an instructor--"
Almost simultaneously, Ron and Hermione replied with a rather forceful, "No!" They didn't want to imagine the consequences if anybody else, let alone a professor found out about the Marauder's Map. Hermione quickly explained. "No, that's alright, Professor, we can handle it. If it's alright with Professor McGonagall, though, we'd like to take Fred and George with us."
Before McGonagall could even utter a question Albus nodded. "Most certainly. That is, if you give them your blessing, Minerva?" he asked with a small smile. McGonagall shook her head in defeat, sighing. "I suppose I could let them out of detention a bit earlier than planned. At least this way they can't possibly get into any more trouble doing…whatever it is you want them to do. I'm rather afraid to ask at this point."
Hermione and Ron slyly smiled at one another before turning serious once more.
"Minerva," he then addressed, "I'd like you to explain what's going on to the other Professors, and employ their assistance in quelling any rumors the students might be spreading."
She nodded and turned to leave, but Dumbledore held up a hand. "Before you three go, however, I don't want anybody mentioning Voldemort's name to the other students. We haven't the time needed to deal with another situation, let alone this one. I wish good luck and the brightest blessings to all of you."
With that said, Ron and Hermione stood up and exited after McGonagall, shutting the door behind them. Dumbledore sighed tiredly at their departure, closing his weary eyes. He then placed his elbows on the desk, leaning forward to let his forehead rest against the heels of his hands.
He didn't even want to imagine what was being done to Harry at that very moment…wherever he was.
* * * * * *
Looking upon Voldemort's withered and sinuous face, Harry was reminded of just how tired he really was, tired of living his daily existence in constant fear, tired of the weight of the world being put on his shoulders just from his bond with this man.
His unwavering stare bored into the hell-fire eyes of the other wizard. "If you're going to kill me, then kill me," he spat bitterly, "I'm through with being frightened of you."
Voldemort stepped back, a malevolent smile displayed across his features. "Oh, I have no intention whatsoever of ending your life just yet, Harry. I wouldn't dare allow you the luxury of a quick death, not after all the pain and suffering you've caused me these passst fifteen years."
Try as he might, Harry couldn't help the look of terror that passed briefly before his eyes, unable to hide it from his adversary. Voldemort mentioned nothing of it as he continued. "Before we can continue with our pleasantries, I'm quite sure there are more than a few questions on your mind. Care to ask one?"
The first thing that came to Harry's mind was, "Why? Why chase after me with a doppleganger? Why not just do it yourself?"
The dark wizard laughed heartily. "You can't be serious? What, did you honestly expect me to simply snatch you from the shadows? I would be detected by that old fool that serves as your headmaster in but a moment's time. No, thisss was a far too engaging game of cat-and-mouse to watch for me to interrupt it. Besides, who else to better go undetected at Hogwarts than a student?"
Harry sighed in irritation. "That I understand. But why not a double of my friends, my professors? Why me?" Voldemort shrugged, a faint smile forming upon his lips. "Because I've no desire to drive them insane, only you. I imagine that at first you thought that you just might be going mad. Besides, child, it was not a doppleganger I sssent for you, but a fetch."
"A fetch?" Harry shook his head in confusion. "But, Hermione found--"
Voldemort's eyes flashed as he ground out his next words. "She found quite a few things that she wasn't meant to. I knew I should have killed off that damned mudblood when I had the chance."
Harry felt a heated blush radiate across his cheeks at the mention of the word, but knew better than to speak out. Once a Slytherin, always a Slytherin…
He ignored Harry's heated face and continued. "No matter, her day will come soon enough, as will that of all those you love and cherish." Voldemort drew a great rattling breath before continuing.
"To answer your question, a fetch is quite a masterful creation, if I might sssay so. You see, since I was still weakened from our last encounter, I thought to prepare a vessel in which to store most of what precious energy I had left within me, a practice among us darker wizards nearing obsoletion in these modern times. My hopesss were that it might renew itself more quickly in another, younger body as I continued to heal. I then chose to fabricate a being in your image, which, through the sharing of my power, would in a way take on my attributes and sssuch, including my voice. It became my surrogate child, if you will."
Meeting with Harry's slightly confused but nonetheless hardened glare, he went on. "Unfortunately, it was not strong enough to survive on its own by the time it was needed, so I endowed to it a bit of Wormtail's life essence. He certainly won't be needing it, anymore." At this, Harry only then realized why the groveling servant had yet to make an appearance.
Wormtail was dead.
Voldemort resumed. "Were there any drawbacks to my creation's acquiring of Pettigrew's characteristicsss, then I'm not yet aware of them. They hardly seem substantial in the wake of my attributes, at least one of which seems to have been intensified sssomewhat in its possession." He then slowly moved a bony finger towards Harry's scar. "Wouldn't you agree?"
Harry's eyes widened as the finger drew closer. Voldemort only chuckled, then pulled it away. "We'll reserve that for later." He began to circle Harry once more. "Are you certain there are no other questions you're just dying to asssk?"
Harry spoke up unsteadily. "Nagini told me that Sirius' wand wasn't his at all, but yours."
The other wizard nodded his head in satisfaction. "Yesss, yes it was. I thought maybe your stupid little friends might have figured out it was a Portkey before you did the hard way. But, how could they have possssibly known it for what it truly was, instead of a cheap trinket sent by your bastard of a godfather?"
Harry had to bite the inside of his lip to keep from opening his mouth, teeth already clenched in anger. He knew Voldemort was only testing him, and he would not acquiesce to playing along with the Dark Lord's games.
Voldemort sensed Harry's anger, and simply smiled at the boy, reveling in how he had to strain himself from issuing a rebuttal he would no doubt regret. "None of that matters now, however, not anymore. I do hope your most recent words to those closessst to you were endearing, for they are the last they'll ever hear coming from your mouth."
Harry noticed that Voldemort's eyes rose to meet those of the Death Eater nearest to them. "Vincent, would you please take Harry--"
Harry decided that whatever was about to happen to him could wait, and he quickly interrupted the dark wizard. "Wait! I've got one more question!" Voldemort turned to him impatiently. "What?"
Opening his mouth, Harry stuttered slightly. "I-If the fetch is a part of you, then where is it now?"
Voldemort looked down his nose at Harry, his eyes narrowing as if the young wizard had somehow discovered his creation's flaw. "That is sssomething I'd also like to know. After it brought you here, I've been unable to locate it. I sussspect it inherited its own 'free will', or what have you, from both myself and Pettigrew. I had placed the Imperious curse on it to do my bidding, but I fear that has sssince worn off. Now it is able to come and go as it pleases, teleporting with but a thought to where it wishes to travel, with the use of a ssspecially constructed Portkey I've designed."
Harry's eyes widened at this last revelation, but Voldemort continued before he had a chance to think further on it.
"But, no matter as to where its gone. I have no further use for it, now that you're here." He finished speaking with a tight-lipped grin of sorts.
Harry spoke again in a rush of words. "But if it can just teleport, then why'd it have to go through the Fat Lady--" He was silenced with a fierce backhand across his face.
Harry stumbled, but was forced upright by the Death Eater behind him. Voldemort drew in close to Harry, his voice strained with hostility. "There will be no more interruptions, do you understand? I've waited far too long for thisss, and I'm not about to delay the inevitable another moment more!"
Voldemort then stepped back, scrutinizing Harry's form for some time. Finally he addressed the Death Eater standing behind the boy. "I want you to take Harry to one of the lower levels, I don't care which. I sssimply want to hear the echo of his screams." He paused, smiling when Harry blanched in fear. "And find Gregory, he'll enjoy thisss. Make our little celebrity bleed for me."
The Death Eater, Crabbe, spoke up hesitantly. "Are we to collect the blood now, my lord?"
Harry gasped, then began to tremble ever so slightly when he heard this. Blood!?
"No, not yet. I'd explain myself to young Harry here, but then we wouldn't have anything to talk about later, now would we?" He paused, watching the boy's terrified expression. "This is sssimply…for fun."
Harry whimpered as Crabbe clenched his hand around a fistful of hair, using it to steer Harry down the dark staircases. Wherever he was, Harry was certain that'd he never been there before that night, the flickering torchlights setting the unfamiliar hallways alight.
He was beginning to wonder if they'd ever reach the bottom when the stairs finally ended. The Death Eater roughly maneuvered Harry down a rather dark passageway, finally coming to a stop before a large wooden door with a few iron bars at the top by which to let light in. Crabbe kicked the door open, throwing Harry down onto the stone floor. The light that shone within all but disappeared when Crabbe slammed shut the door behind them.
A stab of fear shot through his body as the Death Eater approached him, and he wondered if he'd honestly ever see his friends' faces again.
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Whoo, that was my longest in awhile. Yay, me! If any of this seemed confusing, I promise I'll explain it more in further chapters as I cough workoutthedetails cough Oh, yeah, and this will NOT be a death story, don't worry ;]
According to this book I've been referencing (which I've just realized I've packed up and is now at my parents' home, so I'll paraphrase here until I can find the book title), a Fetch is supposed to be a supernatural creature which takes on the appearance of another in order to (you guessed it) fetch that person for someone else. Everything else I've (right again!) made up, for this here be a work o' fiction.
Before I jet, I forgot to congratulate Tarawen, who submitted my Fiftieth review. Your fantabulously free No-Prize will be arriving by owl someday soon! ;) Thanks so much for the reviews, guys!
Rolllllll Calllllll: Lady Foxfire! Raven! Allocin! Loopy! Je suis le Vampire Lestat! Tarawen! Iris! Zahrah Thomson-Radcliffe! Guess! Beccy! Amerkat! Mouse! Lili! Lady of Arundel! ArchArtist/Writer! Breea! Lassy D! Kim! Urania! Quoth the Raven (Nevermore?!)! AAAANNNNNDDDDD Melanie! Yay!!! ~8]