Chapter 7 - The Unholy Alliance (Part 1)
"....and unlike some people I know, I believe him."The DA members looked nervously at one another. Harry had repeatedly said the same thing to them but they refused to believe him. They purposely closed their eyes to the possibility just because believing otherwise was so much simpler. But they should have known better. After all Harry was the only one who have fought with Voldemort directly before. He was the only one who could tell the difference.
The Headmistress seemed terribly unnerved by Luna's outburst and was not able to say anything so they looked helplessly upon the Potions Master to take charge of the situation.
"If you insist. Tell us what you saw and let's see if it's real." said Professor Snape evenly, his expression unfathomable as he contemplated silently on what he just saw. Luna had always been shy and reserved. It was very disconcerting to see her suddenly burst with power of such magnitude in a fit of anger....just like Harry.
The others waited patiently as Luna pacified herself before she shared her vision with them.
"It would be faster if you see it yourself." said Luna, then with astonishing speed and unbelievable magical release, she conjured a white sheet over the wall and closed her eyes in intense concentration. Unsure of what to expect, they just stared blankly on the white sheet and waited. Then to their amazement, images started to appear on the screen enabling them to clearly visualize Harry's condition.
"H-how ----" Ron began to ask but Professor Snape glared dangerously at him.
"Don't interrupt her!" he whispered angrily.
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Harry's hands were held tightly by two thick silver chains - the only things that were keeping him from falling into the roaring inferno four feet underneath his thin body. Around him were ten hooded figures moving about in a fluid motion while two others were mercilessly taking turns into whipping his already unconscious form. His clothes were torn from the lashes and blood was oozing from his wounds but his tormentors' lust for affliction seemed insatiable.
"Is he weak already?" asked a cold voice of a figure who had arrived to check on the captive's condition. The man had claw-like fingers and ruby eyes. It was Voldemort.
"Yes, Master. We have been doing this for an hour now even after he collapsed from the pain. I don't think he would be doing much magic now." declared one of the whippers proudly.
The dark lord cackled with delight at the news then he flicked his wand slightly at the captive. "ENERVATE!"
At the spell, Harry's eyes weakly opened but he did not seem surprised at seeing Voldemort in front of him. Nor did he appear terrified. In fact, if one would look closely, one would notice a hint of amusement there. Contrary to their assumption, he was not unconscious...He was merely pre-occupied with establishing a connection with his girlfriend so that at least one person would know the truth even if he failed to survive this latest encounter. "Hello, Tom."
"So you're obsessed with pleasantries now, Potter? Don't worry, I can play along." said the dark lord in mock amusement. "Hello, Harry. I'm 'pleased' to meet you."
"No, Tom. I am the one PLEASED to meet you." said Harry and was elated to notice a shadow of uncertainty cross Voldemort's face.
"What do you mean?" asked the evil wizard venomously.
"You mean you don't know?" Harry feigned ignorance and donned a shocked look. "But your minions claimed that you were omnipotent and all-knowing...Oh, well, I guess everybody was entitled to his or her own opinion." Then he smiled widely at the dark lord.
Voldemort stared at the boy in confusion. He was not used to this abrupt change in Potter's attitude towards him. Whereas before, he could easily scare the boy, now it seemed that his long time enemy felt confident enough to scorn him despite of his obvious disadvantage. Maybe the boy was planning another surprise...yes, that must be it.
"Wormtail, bring the captives now!" he yelled instead, hoping to pull a few surprises of his own.
Within minutes, Wormtail arrived with Draco and Ginny and pushed them in front of Voldemort. But Harry still seemed unperturbed.
"What are you up to, Potter?" asked the dark lord coldly.
"Nothing. You were the one who was up to something. Faking your death like that...Merlin! You should be ashamed of yourself... really, imitating Wormtail of all people...tsk...tsk..tsk... I expected more from the DARK LORD." scoffed Harry, putting an emphasis on the 'LORD' part in the most sarcastic tone that he could manage. From his high position, he noticed a slight smirk on Draco's lips and he pondered whether it would be possible that Draco was not as bad as he thought. Maybe Luna was right...
"Yes, I faked my own death. Since I could not get hold of that ridiculous prophesy, I devised another way to find out how you plan to defeat me. Clever, am I not?" said Voldemort and his eerie laughter filled the room once again. "Now, I know your ultimate plan and I'm pleased to inform you that our brother wands won't have to duel with each other again."
"Why? You've forced Mr. Ollivander to make you another wand?" asked Harry nonchalantly. At the look of surprise on Voldemort's face, he added somewhat coolly. "You didn't think I'd figure it out, do you? Mind you, I knew about Bellatrix too. She was the person behind the mask and you put a spell on her voice and taught her enough wandless magic to effect the deception. You just forgot one minor detail, though. Even if you were able to force Ollivander to add Fawkes' feather into her wand, it WAS still HER wand and I happen to know that SHE, NOT YOU, was the one who killed Sirius. You should have gone all out with your juvenile scheme and let her use your wand."
Voldemort was momentarily taken aback by this but he recovered rapidly. He gave him a mock applause. "Splendid! But you're wrong on one account. I happen to like my wand and it will stay that way, whereas yours was already.... broken into half....by your own headmistress." He said slowly to let the devastating news sink more painfully but if he was expecting Harry to look angry or sad, he was severely disappointed. Incensed by his lack of response, he levitated the days' newspaper so that the boy could read the bad news for himself.
"Well?" prompted Voldemort.
"Well what?" said Harry, his face blank.
"What do you think about those little headlines bearing your precious name? Were you shocked that the wizarding world don't see you as a hero now? Even your friends and former allies have deserted you now..." sneered Voldemort malevolently.
"Actually - No. It would take more than that to shock me now. So what do you plan to do after successfully ruining my reputation?" asked Harry with the same blank expression. "You'll threaten to kill me again?" he added disdainfully.
"Threaten? Not threaten, Potter. I'll kill you this time and without your annoying intrusion, I would be free to conquer the wizarding world once more." said Voldemort, his eyes glinting evilly at the prospect of finally being able to remove the most dangerous obstacle in his path.
"Oh please,don't tell me we're back to that again. Honestly, couldn't you come up with a better farewell speech? It loses its sting once heard too often." said Harry, the derision in his voice was unmistakeable.
"Is that so? Maybe it would be more entertaining if someone from your own house kills you instead." He motioned Ginny to come forward gave her a wand then he pointed his own wand at Draco. "Kill him now, child, or I'll kill the young Malfoy."
Harry glanced at the two captives and saw Ginny crying silently as she took the wand handed to her with a trembling hand. Draco mouthed a hasty apology to him and lowered his gaze in defeat to avoid witnessing the event. Harry immediately lost his concentration and the connection with Luna was instantly broken.
"It's okay, Ginny. Do what you must. I understand."
Voldemort became suddenly wary of his easy compliance and decided to hasten the process. "CRUCIO!" he sent the spell at Draco whose weakened body rapidly fell on the ground in pain. Then he turned to the girl impatiently. "DO IT NOW!"
"A-Ave-da K-Ke-dav....ra...." murmured Ginny tearfully and fell to the ground in remorse as she saw the green light struck Harry squarely on the chest. Sobbing hysterically, she now realized that she had indeed foolishly chosen the wrong side. She had just murdered one of her best friends -- the same person who saved her before. How could she? She was even worse than Voldemort!
Seeing her disconsolate state, Voldemort decided that two more commands would be enough. But he did not need to stay. After all, Harry was dead and there was no need for him to waste any more of his precious time.
"Wormtail, I'll leave you here to destroy the evidences. Drop the bodies into the fire." ordered Voldemort wickedly, then he turned to Draco. "Mr. Malfoy, due to your father's recent achievement, I'm willing to give you another chance to make up for your earlier disobedience. Dispose of the girl and you can come back to my good graces. You don't want to be a disappointment to your father, do you?"
Draco, whose face was still hidden, changed his expression to one of aristocratic haughtiness before he faced the evil man. "Yes, My Lord. It would be a pleasure." He heard him inform Wormtail that they would be leaving. Maybe, now's their chance to escape...
"Excellent choice, Draco. Your father shall be pleased. We'll be expecting you at the Malfoy Manor soon." said Voldemort and ordered his other servants to disapparate with him.
When Voldemort and the other death-eaters were gone, Draco and Wormtail immediately dropped the pretense and hurried to Ginny's side.
"Ginny, I could erase your memory of this if you want." offered Wormtail but the girl shook her head vigorously.
"No, I want to remember every detail of where my foolishness had led me. I want to instill in my mind that I had just murdered one of the kindest person I know. If I have to go to Azkaban for that, I will." cried Ginny and continued to sob uncontrollably.
"This is all my fault." said Draco in agony and held the weeping figure in his arms.
"Draco, Ginny...that's enough...You must escape now. Don't waste time. Voldemort will get suspicious if I don't turn up at the Manor soon." said Wormtail nervously.
"No, you must come with us. We need your help. We don't know where to go." said Draco in desperation. "And we must take Potter's body with us. The least we could do is give him a proper burial."
Wormtail silently struggled with himself before coming up with a decision. Voldemort would kill him anyway if he found out that he let the two escape. "Alright, I'll come with you." He unlocked the chains on Harry's hands and levitated him carefully to the ground. Then, he took out the portkey that he had prepared earlier in the hope that the opportunity to flee would come up. Within seconds, the four were transported to a place that only Wormtail had any knowledge of.
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The onlookers panicked slightly when the images on the screen disappeared. The last scene they witnessed was that of Voldemort forcing Ginny to slay Harry and using Draco as the instrument to ensure her compliance.
"What happened?" asked Snape, deeply disturbed by the scene. It was very real and the possibility of Harry's survival was almost non-existent.
"The connection was broken even before you woke me up. Harry must have broken it off or something ... I'm not sure what it meant..." replied Luna miserably.
"So what are we going to do now?" asked Fred.
"I don't know."
"Severus, did you recognize the place?" asked the stunned Headmistress.
"Unfortunately not." said Snape with uncharacteristic sadness in his voice.
"Then, I guess we have no way to locate them unless H-harry survived and decided to communicate with Luna again." said Hermione, feeling guilty that they had not taken Harry's warning seriously before.
"Sorry, but I don't think I could forgive you and your sister if she went through with it." said Luna truthfully at Ginny's brothers. "Cho and I already suspected her before but your emotions got in the way."
Ron, Fred and George sadly lowered their heads in shame. What Luna had said was true. If they had not been too stubborn, then they would have found out sooner what Ginny was up to and they would have been in the position to help her return to the right path. They protected her too much...and now, all of them were paying the price. This was war, and in war, ties among friends and families were usually not as strong as the bonds of choice.
Cho looked from the Weasley brothers and the irate Luna and decided that it was time to steer the discussion to a safer topic. "Luna, I was thinking... Can you also communicate with Harry through that mind projection thing?"
"I don't know. I haven't tried it yet." said Luna then furrowed her brow once more in concentration.
"Then maybe you should try." said Cho hopefully.
"I just did but there was no response." said Luna in defeat.
"Well, at least we were able to unravel part of the mystery." said Hermione to cheer everyone up. "Now, we know Voldemort's still around and that he designed a most elaborate plot to divide and conquer the wizarding world and to eliminate his enemy in the worst way possible."
"You consider THAT a good thing?" said Lee in confusion.
"Yes. It is better than not knowing anything at all." agreed Cho.
"By the way, how did you learn to do that?" asked Neville in wonder, pointing at the make-shift screen.
"Harry taught me. I also wondered why he was exerting so much effort into teaching me but now I understand completely. You did not believe him and the DA lost its purpose. But he knew that this is going to happen so he decided to share what he knew with me and we spent most of the time practicing spells. He prepared me for the worst." replied Luna in a cold voice that they had not heard before. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to rest."
"Luna..." called Snape when she was halfway up the stairs.
"What?"
"Nothing." replied Snape after a moment's hesitation but Luna nodded as if she was able to read the silent question in his mind.