Chapter 3 – Malfoy Manor
After eating dinner Ginny and Albus raised their hoods to once again conceal their features and prepared to apperate to Malfoy Manor. Just as they were about to leave Albus placed a hand on Ginny's shoulder.
"Wait, I just had a thought." the old man said to her before turning to address the room. "Dobby!"
A moment later a loudly dressed house elf appeared in front of them.
"Master Dumblydore is wanting Dobby and I is coming. What can Dobby be doing for you sir?" asked the excited house elf.
"Dobby we need your help. Can you keep our secret?" Albus asked.
"Oh yes Master Dumblydore. Dobby is always keeping your secrets sir and yours Mrs. Potter ma'am."
"Dobby we're going to Malfoy Manor and would like you to tell us what you know about it."
Dobby looked very nervous. While he held no loyalty to the Malfoy's they still frightened him, and at one time he had been bound to keep their secrets.
Dumbledore seeing his reaction to the request dropped down onto one knee and held the small house elf's shoulders.
"Dobby I'm sorry to ask this of you and I would normally never put you in such a position but we believe Harry is still alive and we're looking for him."
At the mention of Harry Dobby seemed to come to a decision. "Harry Potter is a good and noble wizard. He freed Dobby. Dobby will help free Harry Potter."
They talked for almost half an hour discussing the layout of the house. Dobby told them about the secret rooms they knew about from Draco as well as some secret passages. He said that while the house elves at the manor would not help them from fear of being punished he believed they would not interfere either.
Having all the information they needed, Ginny and Albus apperated into the front hall of Malfoy Manor. As they appeared another small pop sounded and Dobby appeared next to them with a resigned look on his face. A moment later another pop sounded and a second house elf appeared. At the sight of Dobby the elf looked fearful and disappeared followed immediately by Dobby.
Ginny and Albus shrugged their shoulders and began working their way through the house. They started by making a quick sweep of the ground floor. As they entered a large living room they found two men both of which had the dark mark.
"Stupefy!" Ginny and Albus yelled out.
The men both dropped and were immediately bound. After searching the men for magical items and snapping their wands Ginny and Albus hid the bodies in a small closet and resumed their search of the large home.
Finding no one else on the main floor they climbed the staircase and began their search again. In the third set of rooms they looked in they found Narcissa Malfoy.
"Stupefy!" Ginny said stunning the Malfoy matron.
Though she didn't wear the dark mark they took her wand and a portkey necklace she was wearing before binding and hiding her in a closet. They found no additional people on the remainder of the second level or the third.
As Ginny was descending the staircase to the entrance hall with Albus following closely behind she was hit in the shoulder with a cutting curse. The force of the spell caused her to fall back onto the staircase which turned out to be lucky as several spells passed through the air where she had been standing blowing large chunks out of the wall beside her.
Albus sent a ball of magic into the entrance hall which exploded in a bright flash as it impacted the floor temporarily blinding the Death Eaters. Jumping over the rail he landed lightly on the floor and began firing stunners. He'd taken down three men when he heard a blasting curse impact the floor behind him and turned to find two more Death Eaters bleeding and unconscious on the floor. Looking up at the stairs he saw Ginny standing at the rail with her wand pointed at the men. Her shoulder was bleeding and she had a look of anger plastered on her face.
Albus scanned the area for more Death Eaters finding none as Ginny joined him in the large hall.
"Thank you Ginny." he said as he cast a healing charm on her shoulder to stop the bleeding.
She waved of his thanks and he smiled as he heard her muttering under her breath. "Stupid Death Eaters."
Dobby popped into the entrance hall a moment later and immediately found himself facing two wands.
Ginny and Albus sighed in relief and lowered their wands as they realized who it was.
"Dobby is sorry but the other elf's warned the Death Eaters you was here." Dobby said worriedly. His worry changed to a smirk as he continued. "They will not be bothering us any more though."
"Do they know who we are or why we're here?" Ginny asked quickly.
"No ma'am, they is only knowing two peoples in black robes are here uninvited."
"Dobby, secure these men. There are two more in a closet in the living room and Narcissa is upstairs. Gather them all together we're going to search the dungeons." Albus instructed the elf.
Dobby nodded and began his assignment as Ginny and Albus ran to the secret entrance to the dungeons.
Ginny made several quick attempts to open the secret door before Albus pushed her aside. "Reducto!" he yelled blowing the hidden entrance to bits.
Before the smoke even had time to clear Albus ran down the stairs that were now visible followed closely by Ginny.
At the bottom of the stairs was a long corridor with several doors and a couple hallways leading off of it. The first room they came to appeared to be a potions lab but there were no Death Eaters there so they left it alone. Moving on they came to a hallway that branched off from the main corridor. Following this new path they found a series of doors which led to small, simple yet comfortable bedrooms, none of which were occupied.
As they returned to the main corridor Albus had to dive to avoid the sickly green light of a killing curse. Ginny immediately kneeled looking around the corner with her wand out and stunned the Death Eater. She ran down the hall to bind the man she had stunned while Albus checked several doors she had passed finding no one.
Reaching the end of the main corridor they found a large door which wouldn't open and once again Albus blasted it out of the way. Spells immediately shot through the opening impacting the wall on the opposite side of the hallway.
Ginny began hurling stunning curses around the corner but could hear them impacting a magical shield of some kind. Risking a peek around the corner she found two death eaters standing in front of an open door. Raising a shield of her own she jumped into the hallway with Albus and both sent Reductor curses at the pair of Death Eaters destroying their shield in seconds and sending them flying backwards where they landed hard on the stone floor of the corridor.
Running down the hall to the open door the Death Eaters had been defending Ginny caught a glimpse of two death eaters supporting a third person with messy black hair just before they disappeared.
"NO!" she yelled.
Albus immediately appeared at her side with his wand pointing into the now empty cell.
"He was here." Ginny said looking at Albus with tears leaking from her eyes. "They took him."
Dumbledore ran into the cell and began casting spells. Several different colored lights appeared before he picked up a rock and cast a spell, he then turned to face Ginny. "It was a portkey. I have the destination. Finish searching this level I'm going after him." Before Ginny could argue Albus had disappeared.
Groaning in frustration Ginny finished searching the cells in the corridor she was in. There were no more Death Eaters but there were several prisoners both muggle and magical one of them she knew from the Order of the Phoenix.
"Mad Eye?" Ginny said as she entered the last cell.
The normally grisly ex auror looked up from where he was sitting against the wall not knowing what to think about the robed figure entering his cell. He was surprised when the hood lowered to reveal Ginny Potter.
"Potter?" he asked.
Ginny smiled. "Yes Moody, it's me. I'm gonna get you out of here."
"Who stays in the master bedroom at HQ?" he asked suspiciously.
"Buckbeak, the hippogriff Harry and Hermione used to save Sirius." she replied.
A grin broke out on Moody's face before he became serious again and grabbed her arm. "He's here, Harry's here, he's alive."
"I know." she said sadly. "They took him before I could get to him. Do you have any idea where they might have taken him?"
Moody shook his head. "Sorry lass, not a clue."
Ginny nodded and patted his arm. She then tore a strip of cloth off of his tattered robes and turned it into a portkey. "This will take you to the Ministry Atrium. I'm going to send the other prisoners along about ten minutes after you arrive. Get Shacklebolt or Bones there and tell them not to question the prisoners for at least an hour."
"Why's that lass?"
"Albus and I have gone rouge. We don't have any backing in what we're doing and our methods aren't entirely legal." she began, bringing a grin to Mad Eye's disfigured face. "I need time to question the Death Eaters we've caught, send them to the Ministry and get out of here before the aurors show up. Oh, and they don't know who we are so keep our secret, please."
Moody nodded still grinning. "Excellent. I'd go with you if I could but I spect you an Albus are more than enough for the job. And don't worry; I'll keep your secret."
With a final nod Ginny tossed Alastor the portkey and he disappeared. She was leaving the cell when Albus came down the hallway.
"Please tell me you found him." she said looking at her mentor hopefully.
Albus sighed. "I'm sorry Ginny. The portkey took them to muggle London. I searched but could find no trace of them."
Ginny slumped to the floor in a fit of despair. Tears ran down her face and her shoulders shook as she cried. She felt arms wrap around her and leaned into their comfort crying harder than she had been.
"There, there child, don't give up hope. We will find him, I promise you that." Albus said softly.
After a while she managed to get herself under control. "Moody was one of the prisoners here, I spoke with him for a few minutes and then sent him to the Ministry." She began as she wiped away her tears. After explaining to Albus everything she had told Moody they went to provide the other prisoners with portkeys.
Tonks was standing in the Atrium of the Ministry of Magic wondering what she'd done to pull this assignment. As she stood speaking about nothing important with her fellow aurors she saw a man appear next to the fountain. She was surprised when his appearance didn't correspond with the previous Death Eater appearances. This man was neither bound nor stunned.
Drawing her wand she approached the man carefully, her fellow aurors taking up positions to her sides.
"Mad Eye?" she asked as she caught a glimpse of his face. He looked more haggard than she'd ever seen him and was missing his wooden leg and eye but she was sure it was him.
"Aye Tonks, it's me." He grunted out.
"What did you tell Harry about where he kept his wand once?" she asked following standard Mad Eye Moody protocol.
The old auror grinned. "I said better wizards than him have lost buttocks keeping it there."
Tonks chuckled and put away her wand moving to help her friend and mentor up. "Damn Moody what the hell happened to you?"
"I was captured at Hogwarts. Look, I need Shacklebolt and Bones here now."
Tonks nodded to one of the other aurors and he left to summon them.
"Come on Moody," she said helping him to a chair, "take a seat, you look like crap warmed over."
After helping him sit down she turned to another one of her auror pals. "Go find a medi-witch and something to drink."
Before he left Moody jumped into the conversation. "Make it a few medi-witches some more aurors and enough for several to drink."
The auror nodded and ran off to do as he was asked. Tonks wondered what that was about but decided to wait for Shacklebolt and Bones to arrive. A minute later they did.
"Auror Tonks, report." Kingsley said as he and Amelia approached the auror who was helping a man in a chair.
Tonks just nodded and pointed the grisly old auror she was helping.
"Alastor?" Amelia said hopefully.
"Aye." he replied. "I was freed from the Death Eaters, several more will be following me and some captured Death Eaters after that. The person who saved us asked me to ask you to wait an hour before questioning them."
"Who was it Alastor?" she asked.
Mad Eye shook his head. "They wore a black robe with the hood up, looked like there was a shadow concealment spell on it."
Amelia and Kingsley nodded. "Anything else?" Kingsley asked.
"No, that's it." He replied.
A medi-witch arrived and began working on Alastor. Amelia and Kingsley stepped back from the group and cast a security bubble around themselves.
"Thoughts." Amelia said.
"Simple really, they don't want the aurors showing up wherever they are while their interrogating the Death Eaters."
"Why not send the freed prisoners after the Death Eaters?" she asked.
"And keep them imprisoned for another hour while they do it?" Kingsley asked in reply.
"Good point." Amelia replied. "At least that serves to confirm their intentions are good."
Noticing the rest of the liberated prisoners were now arriving Amelia cancelled the security bubble and she and Kingsley went to help.
"Damnit!" a frustrated red head yelled as she threw herself into a chair in her hotel room at the Leaky Cauldron.
Albus stood before her. "Calm down child. I know this is hard and no doubt harder on you than anyone else but we will find him."
The interrogation of the Death Eaters they had captured had yielded a bit of new information but nothing very useful to them. They now knew Harry had been placed in wrist and ankle straps which suppressed his magic. This was why Albus artifact had not detected Harry's magical signature. They also knew the two Death Eaters who had disappeared with Harry were Marcus flint and his father Edward.
"Get some rest Ginny. I'm going to the Ministry to check on things and see if I can find some addresses for the few names we have. I'll be back as soon as I can."
Ginny nodded collapsing on her bed in tears as soon as Albus left. She cried for over an hour for having come so close and failed, for what Harry was going through and for feeling so helpless.
As she rolled over trying to get more comfortable she felt something in a pocked dig into her side. Reaching into her robes she removed an object and sat up straight as she realized it was the portkey necklace she had taken from Narcissa Malfoy.
Without a second thought she drew her wand and activated the portkey.
Albus arrived in the Ministry Atrium to find Amelia Bones preparing to leave.
"Amelia, you're working late this evening." He said in his normal happy voice his eyes twinkling all the while.
"Albus, I'm a bit surprised to see you here. Perhaps we should go to my office."
"I think that would be a good idea." Albus replied gesturing for her to precede him.
They didn't talk on the way to her office, neither one feeling like engaging in idle chit chat about such inconsequential things as the weather. After taking seats on either side of her desk Albus cast several privacy charms on the office.
"Albus, what in the hell is going on?" Amelia said getting straight to the point.
Albus let out a deep breath before answering. "Harry's alive."
"What?" she practically yelled her eyes going wide.
He let out a small chuckle and nodded. "You heard me correctly. Harry Potter survived the Battle of Hogwarts. He is alive and in Death Eater custody." Albus looked long and hard into Amelia's eyes before continuing. "I require a witch's oath that anything more we speak of tonight will be kept between the two of us."
Amelia looked back at Albus taking in the deadly serious expression on his face. "Of course Albus." Holding her hands in front of her palms up with her wand lying across them she made her oath. "I Amelia Bones do hereby swear on my magic that I will never divulge the contents of the conversation I am about to have with Albus Dumbledore. So let it be sworn, so let it be bound, so let it be done."
A tingle of magic swept through the office and they both knew she was magically bound to keep her word.
"This is a list of Death Eaters." Albus said as he handed her a piece of parchment with four names on it. "I need any known addresses the ministry has for them. Please use as much discretion as you can."
Amelia nodded standing up. "I'll have Kingsley do it, give me a moment." She said as she left the office.
Several minutes later she returned. "He's working on it. Why don't you tell me what you can?"
Albus nodded. "From studying memories of the final battle I believe there are approximately 50 Death Eaters on the loose. I am systematically hunting them down and interrogating them for any information they have on other Death Eaters and the location of Harry Potter."
"And the method's you and your partner are using are less than legal." she added.
"Partner?" Albus asked quizzically. "I don't believe I mentioned anything about having a partner, but yes as you've said my methods are less than legal."
Amelia looked at Albus shrewdly. She was sure he wasn't working alone but it was clear he had no intention of letting the name of his accomplice be known. "Very well, what of the Dark Lord?"
"I have no proof at this time but I believe he is either dead or has been reduced to less than spirit as he was nineteen years ago. Hopefully when we find Harry he can shed some light on that subject for us. Who do you have looking for the rouge vigilante?"
She laughed at his reference. "Kingsley's in charge he was going to assign two trusted aurors to the case placing the lowest priority on it. I'm not really sure if he's gotten around to making the assignments yet." she said with a grin.
Albus chuckled. He knew Amelia was a good person and would know what was going on when she saw his correspondence with Kingsley. He was glad she was willing to help him with this.
"What are your plans for the Death Eaters you now have in custody?" Albus asked.
"Our holding cells are beyond capacity right now. As you know we have thirty cells and we already had fourteen in use. With the additional twenty four Death Eaters we've received recently we've had to double up some of the prisoners. I've had Kingsley call for an emergency meeting of the Wizengamot so we can start pushing their trials through and move them to Azkaban.
Kingsley returned with the information Albus needed and after saying their farewells Albus left to return to the Leaky Cauldron.
Ginny stumbled as she reappeared. A quick assessment of the room told her she was in trouble. It appeared to her she had found the rest of the Death Eaters.
The room was a large meeting hall with several tables and benches. She tried to apperate out but apparently there were anti-apparition wards in effect because she didn't go anywhere. Throwing herself to the ground she barely avoided being hit with several curses.
Raising a shield Ginny began using her strongest blasting curses on the crowd of Death Eaters knowing with the odds stacked against her at about twenty to one stunners would do her no good. Using the smoke and flying debris for cover she teleported to the other side of the room. While teleporting wasn't warded against it was only good for line of sight jumping so would not help her escape.
Before the Death Eaters located her she began animating several pieces of furniture to help her fight and to protect her. A chair jumped in the way of a killing curse and exploded to her right bringing her attention to a Death Eater there. She cast several spells but he was an excellent duelist and was able to avoid or deflect her curses with ease. Seeing an opportunity she summoned a bench from behind the Death Eater knocking him to the ground where she hit him in the chest with a Reducto.
As she turned around she felt something hard hit the back of her head and the world went black.
