Chapter 4 – Harry
Ginny woke with a throbbing headache. As she tried to move she found her entire body was in pain, clearly the Death Eaters had not been content with just knocking her out. As near as she could tell she was covered with bruises and cuts and had several broken ribs.
As she opened her eyes she found herself in a small prison cell. The back wall was concrete but the other three walls were made from thick steel bars. Looking around she found that her cell was one of several. The room she was in was long and narrow. There were half a dozen cells lining the walls on either side of a wide walkway that went down the center of the room.
Looking into each cell she found they were all empty except for one, the one next to her in fact. Lying on a cot next to the bars separating their two cells was a figure with black unruly hair. Harry!
Ginny moved as quickly as she could her body protesting with every motion. Finally making her way to wall of bars separating them she reached out to touch his hair. As her hand approached the bars she received a violent electric shock that sent her sprawling on the floor breathing heavily in pain.
It took her several minutes to recover and carefully sit up again. Observing Harry through the bars she noticed he appeared to be in about the same condition as she was. She watched him for several minutes the slow rise and fall of his chest reassuring her that he was still alive.
"Harry." she said, "Harry. Harry!"
Her voice increased each time until she was yelling his name. Not once did Harry so much as flinch.
"Must be a silencing charm on the cell." Ginny mumbled to herself.
Waving her hand she tried to determine what spells were in place on the wall separating them but nothing happened. As she looked at her hand in confusion she realized she was now wearing the same black bands on her wrists and ankles that one of the Death Eaters they had captured at Malfoy Manor had described. Groaning in frustration she realized she had no magic.
Ginny crawled to the back of the cell and leaned against the concrete wall to begin a vigil of her husband. As she watched him sleep she wondered what she was going to do now.
Albus received no reply after knocking on the door of Ginny's room at the Leaky Cauldron for several minutes and finally decided to let himself in.
"Alohomora! Ginny? Ginny?" he said as he searched her room.
Finding the room empty Albus cast several spells to make sure everything was ok. He was surprised when he discovered the residual magic from a portkey next to her bed. His surprise changed to worry when he was unable to determine what the portkey's destination was.
Sitting down he began pondering the situation. 'Did she go willingly or was she forced? There's no other magic or mess in the room to indicate there was a struggle so she must have gone willingly. Was she alone? Where did she go? I can't find a destination so it must be unplottable by whatever means. Where did she get the portkey?'
As he went over the day's events in his mind Albus suddenly realized where the portkey had come from, Narcissa's necklace. Becoming even more worried than he had been about Ginny's safety he apperated back to Malfoy Manor.
After being greeted by a small elf he was led to a sitting room off of the main hall to await the arrival of Narcissa Malfoy.
"Professor Dumbledore, what can I do for you?" she asked wasting no time with pleasantries as she entered the room.
"Mrs. Malfoy. You wore a necklace that was also a portkey. I would like to know what its destination was."
At the mention of the portkey Narcissa looked like she wanted to be anywhere but where she was at that moment. "I don't know."
Albus was using minor Legilimancy on her and knew that while she was telling the truth, it wasn't the whole truth. "Narcissa," he said letting a bit of his aura become visible around him, "I need to know where that portkey goes and I need to know now!"
The threat was clear in his voice and actions and Narcissa cowered under his gaze. "I… I don't know exactly. It goes to Riddle Manor but I don't know where it is, it's unplottable."
"Do you have any others?"
"No, that was the only one."
Growling in frustration he left a shaking Narcissa and apperated back to the Leaky Cauldron.
Harry woke with his entire body aching as he had for the last few days. As he opened his eyes he realized he was not in the same cell he had been beaten into unconsciousness in the day before. Pulling together what energy he could Harry managed to sit up on his elbows and take a look around.
As he scanned the room he noticed the cells were all empty until he reached the one next to where his cot lay and saw a figure sitting slumped against the back wall, a figure that had long fiery red hair.
Harry's heart lurched at the sight of his wife in the next cell. As he took in her appearance he could see that she was in about the same condition as he was.
"Ginny." he said trying to get her attention. "Ginny!"
Reaching towards her his hand was almost touching the bars between them when he was thrown violently back from his cot.
The flash of light from the shock and motion of being thrown across the cell was enough to get Ginny's attention. With a great deal of pain and effort she managed to get close to the bars. She watched as Harry lay still for several minutes obviously in a great deal of pain before he turned to her and managed to give her a smile. Grunting and groaning the whole way, Harry managed to get up and return to the cot just across the bars from Ginny. He was greatly heartened when she blew him a kiss.
For a long time they tried to communicate through the silencing charms finding it painful to be so close yet unable to comfort one another.
Ginny watched Harry's frustration grow. She smiled as she saw the familiar sight of him running his fingers through his hair and finally down to his neck where he began rubbing away the tension. Her eyes grew large as he touched his neck reminding her of the phoenix necklace Albus had given her the day she left Hogwarts.
Quickly checking to see that it was still there she smiled when she found that it was. "Albus, I need you." she said to no one.
Albus was sitting in the dark of Ginny's hotel room trying in vain to figure out what to do when his phoenix Fawkes appeared in a burst of flame. Flying toward Albus he offered the old man his tail feathers.
Albus grinned hoping beyond hope that this meant Ginny had remembered her necklace.
Grabbing hold of Fawkes tail feathers he was lifted from the ground and disappeared in a flash of flame.
Harry's eyes grew large and Ginny laughed out loud when Albus Dumbledore appeared in the cell next to her.
"Albus!" she cried, tears of joy running down her face as she gave him a quick hug.
"I see you managed to find our missing Mr. Potter." he replied smiling at Harry through the bars of the cell. "Fawkes, please bring Harry to us."
In another series of flashes Fawkes reappeared in Harry's cell and brought him back to Ginny and Albus side.
"Ginny!" he said pulling his wife into a hug. "You came for me." he said quietly.
"Of course I came for you, I love you." she said the tears shining in her eyes as she leaned in for a quick kiss. Their reunion ended far quicker than they wanted it to because of the pain they were both in.
Examining the bands around Ginny's wrists and ankles Albus found that each one looked like a strip of metal that had been bent around the limb the two ends then connected with a black pin that resembled a long rivet making the ornaments permanent. Any spells he tried to cast on the bands seemed to be absorbed by the metal. After several moments a grin appeared on his face.
"Not to worry Ginny, Harry, I believe I have a solution."
With a wave of his wand he conjured a pair of muggle bolt cutters and made quick work of the bands around their wrists and ankles. As they came off Ginny and Harry could feel their magic beginning to return. They were shocked when Albus handed each of them a vial of the restorative potion they normally used.
"Don't look so surprised, I know all about the rituals you went through." he said with a mischievous grin.
"You know about that!" Ginny replied with no small amount of worry.
"Of course, who do you think led you to the book and the necessary artifacts to perform them?" Albus watched his charges almost laughing as the pieces fell into place. "Did it escape your notice that our power levels are almost identical? How do you think I became this powerful?"
Ginny's eyes opened wide at the realization and she grinned as Albus began to chuckle at her. Harry and Ginny felt much better a few minutes later with their magic and energy restored but their injuries still caused them a great deal of pain.
Once again Albus reached into his robes and removed two vials of pain relieving potion. After administering one to each of them Albus cast a charm creating a tight bandage around their chests to immobilize their broken ribs.
Picking up the bolt cutters he had conjured earlier Albus concentrated on the hospital wing at Hogwarts and muttered Portus. "This will take you both back to Hogwarts where Madam Pomphrey will be able to patch you up. I'm just going to clean up here a bit then I'll follow along."
"No." Harry and Ginny both said at once.
"There are probably ten to fifteen of them left. I'm not going to leave you alone to face them all." Ginny told Albus adamantly.
Harry nodded at what she said before adding his own two Knuts. "And I owe a few of them."
Albus grinned having suspected that would be their response but he felt it was worth a try. "Alright then, let's go see if we can find your wands."
Harry and Ginny shared a knowing grin before closing their eyes and concentrating with their wand hands raised in front of them. A moment later their wands appeared in their hands and they both grinned at a shocked Headmaster.
"Most impressive, I must remember to have you show me that little trick some time."
Muttering a few spells Albus made quick work of the cell door and the trio made their way out of the cell and into the corridor. Passing through the door at the end of the cell block they encountered three Death Eaters who had come running at the sound of the cell door being blasted from its hinges.
"Stupefy!" Harry, Ginny and Albus shouted together each taking out one of the Death Eaters.
Albus and Harry guarded the hallway while Ginny removed the Death Eaters left sleeves, cast a revealing charm on the Dark Mark, snapped their wands and bound each one. When she was finished with all three she gave one of them three drops of veritiserum and woke him.
"How many Death Eaters are in this building?" she asked.
"I'm not exactly sure, about sixteen or seventeen."
"Where are they?"
"They're in the dining hall having breakfast."
"Stupefy!"
After re-stunning the Death Eater she gave him the antidote to the truth serum, changed the sleeves she had removed into portkeys and sent them to the Atrium at the Ministry of Magic where aurors would be waiting to apprehend them.
Finished with her work she nodded to her companions and they began looking for the dining hall and the rest of the Death Eaters.
Kingsley was exhausted. After hand selecting a group of his most trusted aurors they had stayed up all night interrogating each of the Death Eaters they had in their holding cells and preparing the charges against them.
It was just after breakfast time and he was accompanying a group of aurors who were leading some of the prisoners to the courtroom where the Wizengamot was convened when an urgent call came through a magical speaker system in the Ministry.
"All available aurors report to the Atrium immediately! I repeat all available aurors report to the Atrium immediately!"
Kingsley pulled his wand as he addressed his fellow aurors. "Stay with the prisoners. After they're chained to their seats in the courtroom join me in the atrium."
After receiving a nod from the group Kingsley quickly disappeared down the hall.
Harry, Ginny and Albus methodically worked their way through Riddle Manor. As they approached each door they would cast a spell making the door invisible to them so they could see what was on the other side without exposing themselves.
Albus cast the spell on a large wooden door with a silver serpent embedded in the wood. "There are two in here." he said. "It appears to be the throne room."
"What are they doing?" asked Ginny.
"Nothing their stationed on either side of the door, perhaps they're waiting for their master's return. Harry, is Voldemort dead or simply reduced again?"
Harry grimaced slightly as the memory of the final battle returned to him. "He's dead. His soul no longer exists. I destroyed his body too though it wasn't really necessary without a soul there's no way to bring him back."
Albus nodded a look of relief flowing over his features as he let out a breath he'd been holding. "Good. They don't look like they're going anywhere anytime soon. Let's continue on."
Harry and Ginny Nodded and the three returned to checking the doors. A few minutes later Ginny cast the spell on a pair of double doors off the main hall to reveal the dining hall they had been looking for.
"Bugger!" she exclaimed.
Rather than the seventeen or so they had been expecting there were around thirty people in the room all with the ugly aura around their left forearms.
Harry and Albus joined her to appraise the situation. After a couple minutes Harry spoke.
"Come on, I have an idea." he said leading them back to the throne room as he explained what he had in mind.
After reaching the door with the silver snake on it the three rushed in and stunned the two Death Eaters before they could respond. After snapping their wands and casting revealing spells on their arms they bound and portkeyed one of them off to the ministry. The other they cast several illusions on making it appear as if he had been tortured and killed and placed him on the floor in front of the large obsidian throne that dominated the back of the room.
Raising his wand Albus performed some complex human transfiguration on Harry. Ginny shivered at the sight of him when the Headmaster was finished. Standing in front of her was an exact replica of the Dark Lord Voldemort.
"Wait," said Harry, "you should mess up my robes and maybe bloody me up a bit."
With a nod Albus made the changes. "Are you sure you want to do this Harry? I'm sure we can find another way."
Harry shook his head. "No, this way we can be sure we get them all. You're both clear on what to do right?"
Ginny and Albus both nodded before leaving the room. On her way out Ginny cast a spell on the door to reveal the Dark Mark on anyone passing through and make it ache in pain.
Harry waited for a minute after they left before taking a deep breath and approaching the stunned Death Eater. Placing the tip of his wand on the Dark Mark he cast a complex spell to send a summons through it alerting the other Death Eaters that their presence was required. Finishing the spell he did his best to radiate hate and malice and sat on the throne shuddering as he did so.
In seconds the masked Death Eaters began filling the room. Harry sat quietly a look of hate plastered across his transfigured face glaring at the scared and shaking men below him. Ten minutes passed before they stopped arriving and Harry was surprised to find that there were by his count thirty nine, quite a few more than they thought there were.
"Report." Harry hissed out making the anger in his voice clear for all to hear.
One of the Death Eaters stepped forward swallowing audibly as he looked at the body of the apparently dead Death Eater lying before his Lord.
"Master we thought you had fallen and left the battle."
Harry growled through his mask at the shaking Death Eater. "Crucio!" he yelled watching as the Death Eater was hit by the jet of light. He held the curse on the man for a long minute before releasing the screaming man from his pain. "Leave me you coward, and pray I don't kill you later."
As quickly as he could the Death Eater dragged himself from the room.
"It appears as if I have surrounded myself with sniveling cowards. Who among you believes that I could ever be defeated by Harry Potter?" Harry ground out malice dripping from his voice. As he looked around the room it was clear that no one was willing to answer.
After several tense moments one of the masked figures stepped forward hoping to get back in his masters good graces. "My Lord." he began. The man shuddered as the red eyes of the Dark Lord fell upon him. "W… we did manage to capture Potter. He is in a holding cell as we speak."
Harry's face twisted into a maniacal smile. "Then we shall have to prove to you once and for all who your master is. Take three men with you and bring him back here to me."
The man bowed and after grabbing three other Death Eaters to accompany him left the room to fetch the Dark Lord's prize.
As the four Death Eaters turned a corner on their way to the prisoner they were met with several stunners. Unprepared for an attack in the Dark Lord's base of operations none of them had a chance to respond.
"We must move quickly my dear," Albus said as they worked, "there are more of them than we thought. While I was pretending to scream under Harry's Cruciatus Curse light show I counted thirty eight Death Eaters."
"Thirty eight!" Ginny exclaimed now worried about Harry being alone in a room with that many Death Eaters.
Albus nodded. "Yes, we must be ready to help him at a moments notice."
Working quickly Ginny and Albus broke the stunned Death Eater's wands removed their sleeves, bound and portkeyed them to the Ministry.
Harry waited a couple minutes before addressing the Death Eaters next to him.
"You two." his hissed out, "Fetch me some food. Now!"
The two men hurried out of the hall. A minute later Harry began again.
"What is taking so long?" he said now fairly glowing with magic in his 'rage'. "You four" he said pointing at a group to his right, "go see what's taking so long." After giving a short bow the group left the room.
"What have you been doing since the battle?" Harry asked looking around the room at the frightened Death Eaters. "I feel there should be more of you. Where are the rest of my servants?" The Death Eaters arrayed below him visibly flinched as he yelled out his question.
After several moments another Death Eater stepped forward. "My Lord, we have been hunted the last few days. Many of our number were captured but we managed to capture one of those responsible last night and have them in a cell next to Potter. She is his wife the one known as Ginny Potter."
Once again the twisted smile appeared on Harry's face. "Perhaps she would like to watch as I torture and kill her husband." he said cackling evilly. "You four, go fetch her as well." He ground out as he pointed to a group close to the door. The group immediately left the throne room sighing in relief to be out of the angry Lords presence as they left.
Harry was beginning to get a little worried. He recounted the Death Eaters and was down to twenty four but that was still a lot to have in one room. He was worried they were going to get suspicious soon when their companions didn't return.
Not knowing what else to do other than keep chipping away at their numbers he returned his attention to the Death Eater who had told him about Ginny. "So a little slip of a girl got the best of my Death Eaters? Is that what you're telling me!" he roared. "Stupefy! Incarcerous!"
Turning to the other Death Eaters he continued. "Your four take him to a cell to await his punishment unless you would rather it be you."
Quickly the four indicated levitated the bound Death Eater and left the room.
Now Harry was really starting to get antsy about the remaining Death Eaters. He could see they were starting to wonder why the others had not returned yet and looking into the eyes behind the masks he could see the wheels beginning to turn on a few of the faces. Harry had managed to half their numbers but his plan hadn't taken into account that there would be almost forty Death Eaters.
The final pieces clicked into place for a few of the Death Eaters when the 'dead' man at Harry's feet started to move as he began to recovered from the stunner he had been hit with earlier.
"That's not the Dark Lord!" one of the Death Eaters screamed. "Capture him!"
Harry quickly stood and jumped behind the large throne his broken ribs protesting in pain at the sudden movement. As several spells passed over head he grinned as thought of Ginny's necklace that he was now wearing, "Albus, I need you."
Relief swept over him as he heard Ginny and Albus voices casting spells a few seconds later. Joining the fight from his position behind the throne he began stunning Death Eaters as fast as he could. Between the three of them the battle didn't last long.
Ginny and Albus had taken a couple cutting hexes and Albus had a broken left arm from a bludgeoning curse but otherwise they had all managed to escape unscathed.
Kingsley's jaw dropped at the sight that greeted him as he ran into the Atrium at the Ministry of Magic. Stunned and bound Death Eaters were scattered everywhere. There had to be at least thirty or forty of them. "Great Merlin, Dumbledore. What the hell are you doing out there." he muttered.
A moment later he was joined by an equally stunned Amelia Bones. "Kingsley, what are we going to do with them all?" she asked a bit shocked and awed at what was happening.
"I don't know we'll just have to make due I guess."
A moment later a battered and bruised trio appeared in front of them.
The pair's eyes grew wide at the sight that greeted them. It was Albus, Ginny and, "Harry Potter!" Amelia exclaimed.
Barely able to restrain herself from hugging him Amelia took in their appearance and summoned several healers over to help them.
"Albus you're going to have to give us time to try some of these Death Eaters, we don't have nearly enough room for the ones we have in custody now let alone any more." Amelia said to Albus as his wounds were being treated.
"Not to worry Amelia, that is the last of them. There may be the odd Death Eater out there who didn't respond to the summons or wasn't marked but as far as we know we have captured them all. And Mr. Potter has been able to confirm that Voldemort is indeed dead."
A large smile graced the face of the Head of Magical Law Enforcement at this news. The war was over.
Later that day there was a large reunion where Harry endured many hugs, congratulations and teary eyed people that were happy to see him alive.
When Hermione was finally able to pull herself away from her best friend who she considered a brother she went to Ginny giving her a big hug as well.
"I'm sorry I didn't believe you Ginny." Hermione said softly with tears in her eyes.
"It's ok Hermione."
Hermione shook her head. "No, it's not I should have believed you. I thought a long time about what you said when you left that day and thought about what I'd do if it was Ron. And you were right, I would do anything."
Finis
