Chapter 02
• Escape •
They say there is always an opportunity for those who are patient enough.
Mine came, red carpet and all.
One moment, likely during the day, I felt them coming. For the first time in ages I felt a person, many people in fact. Their magic filled me with a fire that I hadn't felt in a long time.
The magic that lapped at my head me made me shiver involuntarily.
Shiver from the magic which lapped at my senses I felt such elation that I would have visitors. Mostly it was a culmination of many things. I felt emotion take hold of me, something I hadn't felt in a very long time.
Their power was enormous, nothing like the Aurors I had sapped before, they had power that I needed. The moment I felt it there was an overwhelming desire for it. I fed from them, not in large amounts, but very slowly and from all of them. Their magic was plentiful and I had no need to take it all.
Around me the box, which had kept me in an eternal night for so long, folded away. A blinding light filled my eyes and I felt a soft breeze touch my skin.
While my closed eyes slowly adjusted to the presence of light after so long, I shivered involuntarily again, this time because the lack of heat. The cell I was in had no heat or cold, it was perfectly matched for my body temperature and now it was not, it felt as if I'd walked into winter.
While my eyes adjusted I listened to the sounds that finally returned to my ears. The deep, labored breathing indicated that one of them was out of shape. It was obvious who it was based on their power levels. One man was so significantly different for the rest that he stood out like white on black.
No one spoke, leaving me to breath and find myself. It was a gracious gesture and I was happy that such a thing was given to me, I expected little from the ministry. I also knew that something was about to happen, there was a reason that I was surrounded by people who were the best, the most elite people I'd ever encountered.
My sight returned as slowly as they adjusted to the light. Opening them was easy enough, but I could see nothing more than massive amounts of light. Everything was so blurry it faded into a series of colors.
Standing in the middle of the crowd I reasoned with myself that perhaps I was being liberated, that it was a ceremony to release me. Even if it wasn't true I had no immediate plans of escape. Whatever the reason I had been released I would have time before I was returned to the emptiness. For now I had to replenish the magic that had left me while I was in the box.
Soft lines formed and then more defined shapes until I could eventually read the paper that had been sat in front of me.
The one single female that was in the group stepped forward and started into my eyes.
"Your crimes have been brought before the jury of council members. By unanimous votes the Wizengamot council has decided the punishment for your crimes upon the wizarding community and the world."
"Crimes?" I asked. My throat rasped from the lack of use. The last time I had spoken was a very, very long time ago. In fact, I hadn't spoken in such a long time that I'd almost forgotten what my voice sounded like. "And does the council feel it was fitting that I not be invited to my own trial?"
The girl trembled for a moment, shaking her head slowly.
From the moment I glanced into her eyes I knew it was a farce. She was likely the most powerful person in the room. I could see in her eyes while she stared at me, she was only playing a part. While around her everything continued on our eyes locked and for a brief moment it was almost as if she were sizing me up.
She was defining me with her eyes.
When she finally broke eye contact I felt relieved. For an instant I had almost been beaten down just by her stare. But, glancing around, I found that she was the only person who even dared such a thing. The other eyes in the room shifted to the floor with my stare. Every one of them, save the woman, was afraid of me. I relished the feeling that filled me.
"For the crime of killing ministry officials--" The woman's voice broke through my emotional state, angering me.
I turned to her and stared at her again. This time she did not tremble, rather try to stare him down again.
"Death Eater spies. They deserved far worse than the…" There was no way I would make this easy on her.
Trying her best to ignore me she continued on. "For the crimes of willingly killing muggles."
"Fools who let Voldemort control them. They didn't deserve any better."
She already seemed flustered and when I spoke, for one brief moment I saw someone else appear before me. There was something strange about her, more than her determination that filled her. She knew me somehow.
"For killing Aurors and other helpless victims of the Dark Lord."
Her voice brought back the reality of the moment. "No longer helpless," I muttered. Enjoying the game we were playing. I hadn't had anyone else to play with in quite a long time. "…and Aurors who were foolish enough to be captured."
"Just as you were." She replied calmly.
Now I had the upper hand and wasn't going to give it up. "Aurors who were easily broken. Aurors who gave up their secrets. I freed them. I took their pain and suffering away and loosed the bounds of life which held them. Just as I have been forced to do to others."
When I focused on her again I saw a different person. She had been playing games, just as I had assumed, but something about what I had said made her different. "I never gave them what they wanted."
"You did." She said, her voice taking a different tone. "Had you not, you would not be here today."
The way she spoke… she was hinting at something and I did not understand. I took the moment to stare into her eyes again and I saw something that was buried deep. The corners of my lips turned up just slightly as she fumbled for her words, unable to think under my stare.
Another voice continued what she was saying, by far the weakest man in the room. He barely registered at all when I'd felt the others. Apparently he was a Ministry Official. "Harry Potter, your sentence for the above crimes and others not yet mentioned is death."
I laughed. It was deep and hearty because my voice had returned to its usual self. The others in the room stared at me confused. "A squib comes to give me my sentence?" I laughed again while the man trembled in rage, turning dark shades of red. The other Aurors looked between each other, somehow awed by the thing I had understood so quickly.
While they muttered I decided how to best escape and took the initiative to do so. I was very interested in the woman, but I could find her at any time, and do it somewhere that was much safer for me. "Harry Potter is dead friends. He died a long time ago in a battle like none you've ever seen. He died a hero. I am no more Harry Potter than you are Voldemort.
Whether it was that they had become even more afraid, or they thought me insane, they raised their wands to strike me down. Everyone, except the ministry official and the woman who stood in front of me. She stood motionless, returning the smile I had showed her moments before.
The official nodded his head. "Good," he said, sounding as confident as possible, but still deeply colored from the anger. "Then this shall be much easier than was previously anticipated."
I took the moment to smile brightly again, and then, I disappeared.
The confusion I caused only lasted a moment, but enough time to move out of the path of wands which had been pointed at me. When they cast their spells I was not on the receiving end of them. I found myself hiding behind the woman, if she was here for any other reason than what it appeared then I wanted to know. Even if she wasn't she would make a good shield should they find me.
Her strength was now far superior to any others in the room. Though I wasn't sure why I had taken less of her magic than the that of the other wizards.
"He apparated." She said softly, then held out a strange object that was blinking red. I'd seen something like it before, during my training to be what I'd become.
"Andrews! Did I not tell you to strengthen the apparition wards in this room?"
One of the Aurors groaned and started to claim he had but she would not let him. She was in command again. "I want to know where he went. NOW!" She roared, it was apparent that she was in charge. Every member exited the room except the ministry official and the man who was guarding him.
The man who had given me the sentence of death looked around, scared. "You will find him, will you not?"
The urge to spill his blood started to surge through me.
He really was a weakling, as much of the government was. I despised him and I wanted to rid myself of his presence. Forcefully I suppressed the urge. There was something far more complex going on, something I wanted to know of more than I wanted to kill the man.
"I will determine how the prisoner escaped and track him down myself. The whole team will be assigned to him and as you know we've never failed."
Trembling, the man nodded and covered his fear with a smile. "Alright. We'll leave you to your work then. Please don't take long. We can't have someone like that wandering through the community. It'll be just like… him returning."
When they had gone I found myself alone with the woman. I knew she knew I had not gone and I wondered why she had done such a thing. My mind began working again as it had been trained, I started to see and feel more. The room was pale white, nothing distinguishable about it, a single exit that disappeared into the wall when the door was closed. My box was in the air, held by magic. No windows or any other distinguishable features, it was another box.
There was something else that my mind discovered.
The woman.
She was young, maybe a year or two older than me, and very desirable. Even if I hadn't been in a cell away from the pleasures of life I would have found her very attractive. Now I found it hard not to touch her, especially when I was standing this close.
"You can do it if you'd like." She whispered and closed her eyes, waiting for something.
Quickly I suppressed my feelings and moved away from her, into the shadows of the room. There was a light coming from what had to be a hidden window and I stood directly below it, where there was no light. "You're very attractive you know." I said haughtily, being careful not to loose my voice.
If she had been surprised, which I doubted very much, she hid it very well. "That's not saying much from a man who hasn't seen a woman in three years."
She knew exactly where I was in the room, even had I not spoken. I decided that I would let her see me, she had deserved at least that.
"You'd still attract woman even in your state. You're not the most unpleasant man I've ever met."
She was flirting with me.
I didn't feel the overwhelming need, not yet, I was still far from escape. I had to be in some place where it would be difficult to escape.
"This trap was made for Voldemort himself. It no longer had a use when you defeated him and so it sat awaiting another occupant. It's sad that they had to use such a thing on you, it's a waste of space."
The woman moved towards me invitingly and I shivered. "Why was it you felt that you should help me to escape?"
"You've yet to escape."
Her comments were snide, but not at all rude. She was truthful, I hadn't escaped yet, I didn't even know where I was. I drifted from the shadows. She was playing games with me and I wanted straight answers. I did not feel the need to fool around when my escape was so close.
"Debt. I owe you a great debt, I am here to pay that debt and possibly gain a friend."
"Friend?" I asked before thinking. I had no friends, they had died and abandoned me. That was all they ever did, caused pain. I had no need for friends.
The woman pulled off her cape and unbuttoned the first few buttons of the blouse she wore. I watched interested. In the nape of her neck, just above the collar bone was a long thin scar that stretched from one side of the neck to the other.
Someone had slit her throat at one time, and it didn't look is if they'd done a good job. I'd seen enough of that sort of thing that it didn't occur to me she was trying to show me something important. She had survived the wound, which meant she was very lucky.
"When I was young, nearly ten, I was kidnapped by Voldemort."
She said his name again, not an ounce of fear in her. I admired her for being strong and I conceded to hear what she had to say while I made plans to escape her as well.
"My family was very influential in the magical community and he wanted them to help him. He also wanted me for reasons I still do not fully understand. Voldemort approached me after I had been stolen away from my family and told me that I could be a great person, that many things were in store for me." She added calmly while buttoning up her blouse and putting back on her cape.
"For you time has passed slowly, much different than the outside world. I said before that this place was designed to contain Voldemort. It has two extremely useful properties. When it was first created it was designed for one specific purpose to block magic, inside and out. Nothing could enter, no magic could leave. There were a few things that were allowed to insure the captive was kept alive, but very little magic could enter or exit. You no doubt felt the effects." She smiled wryly.
Yes. That was part of the reason I had never tried escaping from the box, I had no magic to use. When they'd come it was the first time I'd felt my magic since almost the beginning. It was no wonder that they'd used the box for me. They were afraid of me, tremendously so.
"The second feature was used because we needed to be able to monitor you easily. Time was slowed down within the box. You were twenty-one when you entered into it, and now you are twenty-two. I was almost thirteen, but now I am nearly twenty-four. Many things have changed since your time."
Eleven years had passed in the box, thirteen years in all.
Had someone told me this other than her, I would not have believe them. So much time had gone by that I couldn't comprehend the things that would be different. People I knew would have grown older, had children of their own, and their children might even be going to Hogwarts.
"Even at such a young age I was well aware of whom Voldemort was. Being a single child I was also quite strong willed and I refused to join him when he asked. I even went as far as spitting in his face. He was not at all happy about it and had me tortured then eventually killed. Fate seemed to have something else in mind, because only a short time after it happened a handsome hero with dark hair and green eyes came to my rescue. He brought me back, giving me life again. It was quite remarkable."
It was then that I recalled what she was talking about. Aja Stark. She'd been taken captive and her parents were threatened. A mission that I was going on had been changed to include her rescue. It was my first real battle with Voldemort.
He was not there, but I found her, killed only moments before by a man I despised. When I looked down at her I saw Cho Chang, she had been in a similar position when she had died. The thoughts were too much and I did something that was quite illegal, something that I had been forbidden to do.
My puppeteer had taught me many things to insure my triumph in the battle against Voldemort. He forced me to learn things that were disgusting, he taught me things that were difficult. He taught me every bit of forbidden magic he knew. There was a great deal of things I learned from him.
I used that magic, breathing life into her again. It was difficult, and had sapped me of a great deal of magic. It only worked because she had not been gone for long. But it did work, she did live. Her family was overjoyed and thanked me for returning her safely. I never spoke to anyone of what I had done.
"Aja." I whispered.
When I spoke her name her face lit up brightly. She was overjoyed I remembered who she was.
"After I was brought back I started seeing things. I dreamed strange dreams. They weren't so bad at first, fighting mostly and lots of it, love too, but it was very rare. But then I started to feel tortured in my dreams. I had no idea what it was I was feeling but it was horrible. I understand it now, that when you brought me back you connected us. I saw things that were unimaginable to most wizards I've ever met. My parents thought it was because of the things that had happened while I was captive."
Slowly she stepped forward. Now she was unbalanced, revealing things she'd likely never told anyone. "When I was younger and had constant visions of Voldemort I had a difficult time revealing them to anyone."
I too had felt like that even too my closest friend many time. Hermione, she'd always been concerned and it helped. Ron, when he was my friend he was always worried, but it didn't seem that his concern last long.
"I started to find out other things about myself. I had abilities that were very unusual, things that few people have ever been able to do. It took some time, but by the end of the first year I knew why. I made a promise that I'd be the best. I excelled in everything and pushed myself to the limits. By the end of the fifth year I had surpassed even the seventh year students in knowledge."
"Even the hardest things came easily. I shared knowledge with you somehow. When I tried things you'd done it was as if I'd once known them, a very long time ago and I only had to remind myself of them. Even before I graduated I was offered a job at the ministry. There I easily moved through the politics and became a special Auror."
"It was then I finally found out where you were. It took a great deal of work to make sure that you were given the opportunity to escape. I know everything you've ever done, I studied the recordings of you escapes in Azkaban, I saw what no one else saw. Given even the slightest of chances and enough power to sap you'd easily escape."
She knew.
Was it possible that everything she was saying was truthful? In my life similar things had happened. Though, for me I had been so young that I never remembered anything form then so I'd likely forgotten all of the memories.
"It doesn't matter now. You can transform into something small, can't you?"
Slowly I nodded, still at odds with myself whether I should trust her. "How small?"
"As small as possible. If I am going to set you free I have to transport you in this." From within her blouse she pulled out a necklace with a tiny amulet. "The barriers to stop you from escaping are complex. The most complex thing I've ever come across. It took a great deal of research to find a way around them. I did find a way and so now I am giving you an option. You can trust me and hide within this charm or you can fight your way through the ranks. You will likely win against the Aurors, but even if you do this place will be sent to a place where there is no escape."
"A place of no escape…" I mumbled. The box I had been secluded too was very much like that for me.
What she was asking was difficult. I had no way of knowing what it was that the charm would do. It was difficult to imagine returning to the cube after being released. "Alright." I finally said, sighing slowly. "I'll do it. Something small?"
It took a great deal of concentration to do it, I thought of the smallest thing I could imagine and then pictured it in my mind. When I opened my eyes again the woman who I'd stood in front of was huge.
She bent down and placed her finger down next to me. Even her finger was gargantuan. It took great effort to even get as high as the top of her finger.
She swept me up quickly and a huge red object was placed next to me. The charm on her necklace had opened up. I crawled in and I was jostled again, then enclosed in the tiny charm.
A second later it opened up and was sat down on something, leaving an opening. I spent several minutes trying to decide what exactly I would do. After a long time I finally walked, or the closest thing to, out of the charm to see why we had stopped.
The room I had been in was gone, instead it was replaced by a huge, luxurious room.
The change back was not so difficult. It was rather fluid, and came much easier than the original change. It was then I discovered the clothing I was in was little more than rags. Tatters might be a better word to describe it. I was standing in an elegantly designed room wearing clothing that I had had on for more than a year.
Aja saw my concern. I hadn't even noticed her, she seemed to appear not long after I changed back. "There's clothing in the closet for you and the bathrooms free." She offered politely. I relaxed, feeling a bit like I had when I had lived with my aunt and uncle. Stupid Muggles, and the worst sort. They hated magic because they did not understand it, and they did not understand it because they did not want to understand it. They had died a long time ago, but I did not grieve their death.
The shower was the most delightful pleasure I had undergone in an extremely long time. It had been so long since I'd taken anything resembling a shower that it was as if I were washing away my former life. Soft robes were waiting for me when I left the shower, they were wonderful to touch and felt even better when I put them on.
It was good to be alive again.
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