Chapter 11

Harry woke up the next day to the vibration of his pendent, which he now always wore. Bill's face appeared on its surface. "Attack on Gringotts," the eldest Weasley son informed heatedly, "Aurors are stalled, and the goblins are being knocked about by You-Know-Who. We need help."

Harry heard the voice of several other Order members say they'd be right there, Harry said the same.

He tumbled out of bed and hurriedly dressed. Once fully equipped, he teleported under his invisibility cloak to the Gringotts lobby. Immediately he noticed the large number of goblins slumped unconscious on the floor, against the walls, or at their desks. A few were still standing, Harry noticed that one of them was Griphook; they were steadily throwing head-sizedfireballs at the Death Eaters who were trying to gain control over the bank.

Harry also saw Bill shielding the goblins from the occasion curse the Death Eaters got out, along with Dung, Charlie, Snape, and Remus. Quickly, Harry went over to help them. He whispered in Remus' ear to let his guardian know he was there, then fired a shield to cover Bill.

"Get the unconscious goblins out of here," Remus told him, lips barely moving.

"Alright," Harry replied, "Be careful."

So Harry, ducking stray curses and spells, creeped over to the goblins slumped against a wall. One at a time, Harry slipped them under his cloak and carried the out of the hall and into a more secure room. Once he'd gotten about ten of them safe, the Death Eaters noticed. They tried sending curses in his directions, but the Order members were too quick and shielded Harry from the ones he didn't block himself.

Just as Harry came back from transporting another goblin, he felt a bone-breaking hex hit him in the leg, amking his face turn grey and beads of sweat roll off his brow. An unwanted memory flashed in his mind:

He barely contained a wince. Not at the sharp pain from the breaking of his entire left leg, but at the harsh laughter of Voldemort at his resistance.
It was clear that none of them had expected Harry to last this long, and that Voldemort had yet to kill him. Harry thought it was because of fear; a stupid thing really.
Then Pettigrew approached, causing Harry to snarl. Even though he could not see, Harry could always tell the traitor apart from all the other scum there. The Death Eaters laughed at his actions, then Wormtail punched him in the shoulder—hard.
Harry gritted his teeth to mask the pain…he'd get them back if it was the last thing he did…

Rage filled Harry and he jerked out of the memory. It was time to return the favor they'd given him. Ignoring the crunching pain of his leg, Harry threw off the cloak and shouted, "Ignis Morde!" A large, red fireball with sparks of black appeared at the end of his wand, growing rapidly in size. After only five seconds, it was six feet in diameter and Harry launched it towards the Death Eaters. Some dissaperated, some dodged, but some of them were hit—frozen in shock that Harry had used the fireball curse, a curse that was considered dark magic.

The Order members halted for a moment in surprise as well, but then resumed stunningor disarming the remaining Death Eaters. Harry himself continued to evacuate the unconscious goblins—now only seven were standing—in other rooms. When he came back out, only one Death Eater remained standing; they dissaperated with a pop.

Harry then helped the Order members and aurors, who'd been able to break through the barrier of Death Eaters after Harry's spell, to transport the thirteen Death Eaters who'd been captured to Shadow Hold.

Remus took him aside once that was done. "Are you alright Tallon?" he asked, worry written all over his face. "You're limping."

"Hit with a bone-breaker," Harry replied numbly, "Got me in the leg."

Remus paled, "And you've been walking on it for an hour? Merlin, Harry! Come on, you've got to get that fixed."

Harry's mouth twitched in a smile, Moony had just sounded a lot like Madam Pomfrey. "It can wait until we figure out what happened to them," Harry said, gesturing to the goblins who were slowly waking up.

Remus scratched his head. "Oh, alright; let's ask Bill." They went over to the curse-breaker and inquired about it.

"No idea," he replied with a shrug, "Wish I did though."

Harry frowned, then walked—or rather, limped—over to Griphook, who had fallen unconscious right before Harry had used the fireball curse. "Hello Mr. Harry," the goblin said.

Harry smiled. "Hi Griphook. Are you alright?"

The goblin nodded. "Yes, it was not harmful, merely…annoying."

"What'd he do?"

"He entered and asked us to join him." Griphook informed Harry stiffly. "We said no—we shall remain neutral. Then, as a reply, he left and began to destroy the magic protecting this building and all beneath it. We had fallen unconscious because we are all connected to the wards, and whenever one ward fell, one of us did as well."

"And now the wards are back up?"

Griphook nodded. "That they are."

"Thanks Griphook; you sure you'll be okay?"

"Yes Mr. Harry, I am quite sure—though I ask the same of yourself." He nodded at Harry's twisted,broken leg.

"Oh, I'll get it fixed; I just wanted to make sure everyone is okay. Take care Griphook."

"The same to you, Mr. Harry." The goblin left, and Harry returned to Remus.

"Voldemort was bringing down the wards," Harry informed him.

Moony rubbed his face with a hand, "Oh dear…Are they back up?"

"Yeah."

"Good, then let's get that leg of yours fixed—the rest are at Headquarters."

Harry nodded and teleported with Remus to Headquarters. Once there, he saw that the others had gained injuries as well. Madam Pomfrey was there, seeing to Ron's broken arm, and a nasty burn on Hermione's neck. Splikvin was healing a cut on Sirius' shoulder, and then came over to Harry. "Nice leg Potter," she said with a slight grin.

He smiled tiredly, "Thanks Professor."

She tapped her wand gently on his leg and muttered an advanced healing spell. The sharp pain of the contact soon vanished to be replaced with the more intense, grinding pain of his leg shifting back into place.

Once everyone was healed or had arrived, Dumbledore asked Harry to brief them on what happened to the goblins. When Harry finished, he received a few surprised looks from the others. "What?" he asked, looking around.

"The goblins never talk about the protections on Gringotts, Harry," Bill explained, "They don't even tell the other people who work there."

The only reply Harry could think of was: "Oh."

Draco appeared as people were beginning to leave. Quickly, he informed them that Voldemort was growing restless and annoyed by the increasing losses he'd suffered so far. Snape darkly noted that the Death Eaters would most likely be punished for it. "Drink the Cruciatus Potion." Harry suggested to Draco.

"The what?" he asked.

Snape glared at Harry, "We do not know if it works yet."

Harry thought about it, then pulled a vial of it form his jean pocket and downed its contents. "Try it." He said, looking at them.

Even Snape lost some of the color in his face. "What?" Hermione screeched.

Harry sighed. "Try-it." He repeated. "I know it will work." He looked at his Slytherin friend. "You shouldn't have to endure the Cruciatus for doing the right thing. Since no one trusts the potion, which makes you immune to the curse, I want you to try it."

Draco shifted nervously. "Are you sure?"

"Harry-" Dumbledore and Sirius began, he looked at them.

"It's not like it hasn't been used on me plenty of other times," he growled softly; they stopped. "One more won't kill me."Harry looked back at Draco. "I'm sure—go ahead." Ron was being visibly held back by his arm by Hermione and Remus by Splikvin as Draco raised his wand.

"Crucio." He said, pointing at Harry. Just like Salazar had described, Harry felt the curse hit him, but, unlike the other times Voldemort and his lackeys had used it on him, didn't feel the pain. He shrugged, "Nothing at all." He couldn't keep in a small smile at the blinking faces around him. "Anyone else want to try?" They shook their heads, so Harry offered Draco a vial of the dark blue potion. "It should last for a month."

Draco took a breath, then swallowed the contents of the vial. He made a face, "Can't say much for the taste."

Harry chuckled.

Coming Up:

(A Shorter Chapter Than Most)

Occlumency

Then:

Playin' Hard