Chapter 30: The Silver Paw Rat

Ellie whipped around and found herself staring into a familiar pair of brilliant green eyes. Her heart leapt for joy as she flung her arms around Harry.

"I'm so glad you're here." She whispered in relief.

"What on earth are you doing here?" Harry asked sternly, pulling out of the embrace.

"I wanted to make sure that my mum was alright, and I kind of accidentally found my way here." Ellie replied. "Are you feeling alright Harry? You don't look well." She commented.

Harry was looking very drawn and uncomfortable.

"I'm fine." He replied shortly.

"How do you accidentally find your way to the secret hideout of the most evil wizard alive?" Asked Ron, who was crouched next to Harry.

"Pretty much the same way I accidentally landed in Hogsmeade." Ellie responded curtly.

"It's way too dangerous for you to be here." Harry said earnestly.

"Dangerous for me? What about you? You've got to be crazy to waltz into your arch-enemy's hideout with just your two best friends."

"Says the muggle with absolutely no way of defending herself." Ron scoffed.

"Would you mind leaving my moronic decisions out of the conversation for two minutes?" Ellie testily asked Ron.

"Stop it, both of you. Besides we're not here by choice, believe me." Harry said gravely.

"What do you mean?" Ellie asked.

At the same time, both Harry and Ron glanced over Ellie's right shoulder, to where a very grief stricken Hermione was peering over the rocks. Before Ellie could ask what was going on, Hermione spoke.

"Both of my parents are being held captive." She said with a slight sob.

Ellie remained silent. She knew exactly what Hermione was going through, except Hermione had both of her parents to worry about. Ellie peered over the edge and looked down at the cage like bubble.

"They're the ones dressed in the dentist uniforms, sitting next to the lady in the floral dress." Hermione said, sadly gazing down.

"Oh. My mum is the one in the floral dress sitting next to the couple in the dentist uniforms." Ellie said with a small grin.

They all sat quietly, watching the activities below.

"What are they doing?" Ellie asked as she watched three Deatheaters measure out ingredients and pour them into the cauldron.

"Voldemort is trying to make a de-muggleizing potion." Harry answered.

"What?" Ellie asked in bafflement.

"Remember when I told you about Voldemort's hatred for his father and all muggles?"

"Yes."

"Well, he's trying to create a potion that will remove all the muggle blood from him, making him a pure-blood." Harry paused. "He sees his muggle blood as a weakness, and believes that if he was a pure-blood he would be a more powerful wizard. What he doesn't understand is that your blood line doesn't affect how powerful a wizard you are."

"Ironically, you need a muggle to make a de-muggleizing potion." Hermione added.

"It doesn't make any sense why anyone would go through all that trouble if it wasn't necessary." Ellie said shaking her head.

"He's an evil psychopathic wizard, nothing he does makes any sense." Ron quipped.

"But, why isn't the potion working?" Ellie asked.

"It's a very complicated potion that involves the most precise measurements. It's also a potion that only works in theory. No one has ever attempted to make it before." Hermione said.

"So, what do we do now?" Ron asked.

"I think we should go get some help." Ellie suggested.

"No. We need to rescue them now." Hermione spoke with determination.

"Are you absolutely mental?" Ellie asked incredulously. "There are ten of them down there, and only three of you. Plus, they are far more skilled and ruthless then you are. The odds are definitely not in your favour."

"Ellie, at this very moment they are making another batch of that potion, which means that they'll need to use another muggle. Now, there are only four muggles left, and three of them are our parents, so the odds aren't in our favour there either. If we had time to get help we would, but unfortunately we don't." Hermione was on the verge of tears.

Ellie hated to admit the fact that Hermione was right.

"So, do you guys have a plan, or are you hoping that they'll just let us walk down there and take our parents without saying a word?" Ellie asked sarcastically.

"Well, it's obvious that they out number us, but may be we could find a way to distract them." Harry began to think out loud.

"But there is only one way in and out of the cave." Ron commented.

"Harry, are you sure you're alright?" Ellie asked again.

She had notice Harry rub his scar a few times and tiny beads of sweat were trickling down his face.

"Yes! I'm fine!" Harry said definitively.

Harry, Ron and Hermione continued to discuss a suitable course of action, when out of the corner of her eye, Ellie noticed something move.

Sitting very still at the top of the ramp was a scrawny grey rat. The rat seemed to be staring at them, as if it understood every word they were saying. However, there was something else about the rat that struck Ellie as being extremely odd.

"That's strange. It looks like that rat over there has a silver paw." Ellie commented.

The trio abruptly stopped their conversation and followed Ellie's gaze to where the rat was sitting.

"We have to leave, now!" Harry said urgently. "It's Wormtail."

"What?" Ellie asked not understanding what Harry was talking about, but before she got an answer, the rat transformed into a short, stout man with a metallic silver hand.

Ellie was too shocked to scream. Harry was the first one to draw his wand, but the second he had it out the wizard hit him with a disarming charm. Harry's wand landed five feet away from the cave entrance. The grubby looking wizard suddenly shouted "Intruders!" at the top of his lungs. Hermione and Ron began to fire several spells and hexes. With four loud cracking sounds, four Deatheaters suddenly appeared before them.

One of them had the unfortunate luck of apperating directly in the path of Hermione's petrifying spell.

Spells were flying around in every which direction. Ellie quickly ducked as a red ball of light just barely missed the top of her head. She looked up to see Hermione block one spell successfully, but only to get hit by another that was heading for her at the exact same time. Hermione's wand went soaring in the air, landing at Wormtail's feet. Ellie glanced over at Ron, who was wearing a defeated expression. He had already lost his wand, but Ellie wasn't sure how. The cave was now silent. The battle was over, and they had lost.

For the first time Ellie had the chance to take a good look at the four Deatheaters who appeared. The one farthest from her had long platinum blond hair, with cold piercing eyes that were carefully examining Harry's wand. There was no need for anyone to tell Ellie who it was; the resemblance was uncanny. It was Lucius Malfoy, Draco Malfoy's father. The next two Deatheaters both had similar features, except one was stockier than the other was. The final Deatheater was the only woman in the group. Her dark heavy lidded eyes had absolutely no emotion behind them, which gave Ellie chills down her spine.

"Well, well, well…What do we have here?" Lucius said stepping forward. "Shouldn't all of you be safe at your precious Hogwarts with your precious Dumbledore protecting you?"

"Shouldn't you be rotting in Azkaban?" Harry rudely retorted back.

"Yes." Lucius smiled. "But fortunately for me the security at Azkaban isn't what it use to be." He said smugly.

"Why are there only three wands? Where is the fourth one?" The thinner of the two dark haired men asked, glancing at the two wands in the metallic hand and the extra one that Lucius had.

"That one didn't have a wand." Wormtail said pointing at Ellie.

"Oh, this must be that muggle I've heard so much about. Ellie, is it?" Lucius asked maliciously.

"A muggle in my presence?!" The woman suddenly raged.

"Why should that bother you? Voldemort is half muggle." Harry curtly stated.

"That's not going to work on me this time Potter." The woman sneered. "I thought you would have learned last time how dangerous it is for you to play hero, or do you have to lose another one of your loved ones to learn your lesson?"

The woman pointed her wand at the group the exact same time Harry stood up. Ron, Hermione and even Ellie tried to restrain him.

"Bellatrix, don't." Lucius said in a warning tone.

"Let him go! Let's see how brave he thinks he is." Bellatrix coaxed, not paying any attention to Lucius.

"Bellatrix, you know you can't hurt him. That is for the Dark Lord to do." Lucius stated.

After a moment, Bellatrix reluctantly lowered her wand. She looked like she was pondering something.

"I think it's time we go see the Dark Lord then." She cruelly smiled.

Bellatrix raised her wand again. Three ropes shot out from the tip, and wrapped tightly around Harry, Ron and Hermione, pinning their arms to their sides.

"What about the muggle?" The stocky wizard asked.

"I wouldn't worry about her. What's she going to do? Run?" Lucius scoffed.

Ellie kept her eyes down, as she was lead along the narrow spiral path that protruded crudely from the cave wall, leading to the cavern floor. She didn't want to look at the cold and pitiless expressions on the other Deatheater's faces as she made her way down.

"Eleanor!" Mrs. Richards screamed in a panicked horror.

Ellie glanced up at the bubble that was near the bottom of the ramp, where her mother was being held inside. She couldn't shake the terrible feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"Hermione!" Mr. and Mrs. Granger yelled in shock at their daughter's presence.

All three parents had their hands pressed to the bubble's interior, and watched helplessly as their daughters were led across the cavern floor.

"A family reunion, how sweet." The cold, high pitch voice of Voldemort spoke.

Ellie, Ron and Hermione were led to one side of the cavern, while Harry was taken to Voldemort.

"What do I owe this visit Potter?" Voldemort asked in a slightly amused tone. "A failed attempt at a surprise attack? Trying to spy on me? Or are you just doing a favour for one of your friends that will only end up getting you all killed?"

Harry didn't respond, and kept his eyes fixed to the ground.

"Your Occlumency abilities aren't as strong as you think they are." The Dark Lord taunted. "You have information I want. Give it to me!"

Without warning Voldemort pointed his wand at Harry and shouted "Crucio!".

Harry began to shake in agony. The Deatheaters began to laugh, and they laughed even harder when Harry's knees buckled beneath him.

Ellie had the overwhelming feeling of wanting to do something, wanting to make it all stop. She glanced at Ron and Hermione, who helplessly watched on. Ellie looked back to Harry who was trembling harder.

"Fighting only makes it worse Potter!" Voldemort bellowed.

Ellie's panic dramatically increased. She had to make him stop, but how?

"A diversion or distraction." The voice inside her head shouted.

Her eyes began to dart around the cave, searching for ideas. Finally, she saw it. The hilt of Harry's wand was sticking out of Lucius Malfoy's pocket. Without a second though Ellie grabbed the wand, pointed it at Voldemort and screamed "Expelliarmus!".

A small dull scarlet ball of light emerged from the tip of the wand, and hit the back of Voldemort's hand. The yew wand fell to the ground, rolling only two feet away from where Voldemort was standing.