Disclaimer: J K Rowling owns the rights and likenesses of all the characters in the Harry Potter series. This story is meant to add to the world she created. Any conflicts are accidental and they yield to her reality (canon).

15. Into The Face Of Evil

Harry found himself walking to the gates of Hogwarts with one thought on his mind, sorrow. He recalled the conversation from the night before in Dumbledore's office. Kingsley, Arthur, and Dumbledore were explaining today's plans. In gratitude or payment, Harry was going to sit in on Bellatrix's interrogation.

Harry was headed for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to meet with Kingsley and Tonks who were conducting the 'interview'. Once the anti-apparition wards were behind him, Harry disapparated to the Ministry atrium. As the fountain swam into view, Harry noticed, or was noticed, by some of the people bustling about. Always finding himself the center of attention, Harry proceeded to the guard station to have his wand checked.

After grabbing the wand back from a star-struck guard, Harry continued to the lift. Not more than six feet later, an alarm sounded causing the guard to snap to attention. He hailed Harry and asked him to stop. Harry turned, fixed the guard with a withering stare, and continued on his way to the lift. The guard silenced the alarm and shook his head. Thankfully this lapse in protocol would be easy to get out of since it was The Harry Potter after all.

The lift sounded level two, the gates opened, and Harry exited heading for the offices that were down the hall. Once he entered a large room with cubicles scattered about, a friendly face appeared.

"Wotcher, Harry," said a smiling Tonks. Harry smiled his first smile of the day and greeted her back. She was as youthful looking as the first time Harry saw her. 'Must be the metamorphmagus in her,' thought Harry.

They were quickly joined by Kingsley. He was complaining about lazy guards and regulations being ignored. Harry snickered, but said nothing. Kingsley led them back to the lift and pressed the button for level nine. Harry fought the flashbacks of the last time he went to that floor.

Kingsley explained to Harry that Bellatrix was being held in a Department of Mysteries holding cell. The interrogation was going to be held in one of their rooms as well. Upon asking, Harry learned that Ministry rules regarding prisoners were different when the Department of Mysteries was involved. Certain rights were not enforceable and various techniques were permitted. He explained that this was only permissible considering that the person was already a trial-convicted criminal and an escapee.

Harry was not concerned with the finer points. He only wanted to find out what she knew. His mood darkened and he began putting himself in the proper state-of-mind for what was going to occur. Exiting the lift once more, Harry found himself being led down a familiar hallway, but they turned into a shorter hallway leading to the left that Harry didn't remember existing before. They came to a dead end and Kingsley raised his wand and tapped two stones speaking what had to be a password.

After a few seconds, the wall shimmered and Kingsley walked through the stone barrier. Harry followed and Tonks brought up the rear. They gathered on the other side meeting two individuals who wore dark grey, hooded cloaks covering all identifiable features. The two people stared at the three visitors and one finally spoke.

"Mr. Potter," said a gruff voice. "You have an unverified wand on your person. Present it for documentation, please."

Kingsley and Tonks turned to stare at Harry. It was illegal for wizards to carry more than one wand on their person unless they were certified by the ministry.

Harry stared at the person who spoke to him and responded in a firm, even voice. "Not likely."

Those in the room could tell a battle of wills had been started. The man said one word in response, "Why?"

"My reasons are my own," was the brisk response. "The wand you are asking about is no concern of yours. Now, may we complete our business or is this going to become an issue?"

"Policy dictates…." The man's reply fell short as he apparently met Harry's gaze which was unyielding and had an edge to it. "I will have to clear this with the head. Please remain where you are and talk to no one." The man turned and hurried down the only corridor out of the room.

Tonks had an entertained look on her face and Kingsley's was one of toil. Harry remained stoic and stared down the second man who did his best to appear strong. The silence stretched on and Tonks seemed to be getting restless. She was slightly bouncing on her feet in place obviously holding in her enthusiasm. She was ever the rebel when her life wasn't at stake.

The man returned and informed them that the issue had been cleared by his superior. He led them down the darkened hall and to the right at a T-intersection. They made a few more turns before coming to a door marked "Interview 4". They entered and found another robbed figure standing behind a table with an official and accurate Dictation-Quotes quill set, parchment, and ink bottle set up. On the other side of the room sat a woman chained to a chair.

Bellatrix looked worn, weak. She had a vacant look in her eyes and they failed to focus on anything or anyone. The escort took up a position just inside the door which he closed solidly. The other man took a seat in the corner of the room behind and to the right of the table. He said that she had been dosed with veritaserum, but she had proven resistant to the affects. Kingsley, Tonks, and Harry took seats behind the table.

"What were your plans prior to the Hogsmeade attack?" Asked Kingsley.

"The restoration of our Lord," replied Bellatrix evenly.

"How did you plan to achieve those plans?"

"By following the procedures our Lord left after his first reincarnation."

"How far along were you in those plans?"

"We were quite well advanced in the process," Bellatrix wavered. "We only had two steps…"

"Only had two steps, what?"

Bellatrix seemed to fight the potion or another magic was at work in her preventing her from answering. Harry was not finding their progress encouraging.

"Did you like that spell I used in Hogsmeade, Bella?" Asked Harry.

"No," was the prompt response.

"You will answer the question or you will get another chance to experience it." The fire in Harry's eyes returned and he was looking deadly serious.

"We only had two steps left in returning our Lord to his body," forced Bellatrix.

"What are those steps?" Harry took control of the session.

"We…" Harry drew his wand and tapped his left hand with it intently never removing his eyes from Bellatrix. "We need the blood from an enemy, strong enough to be worthy. We also needed our Master's wand to complete the spell."

"The specific wand is the key then?"

"Weaker blood was used and another wand, but the results were inadequate for our Lord. The blood would have been acceptable, but the wand wasn't in tuned with our Lord. Your wand would work, but our Lord wants his wand used."

The last bit was so forced that Harry doubted that the veritaserum would garner much additional information. Another dose was unlikely to work since immunity or brain damage could result from prolonged exposure to the potion.

"Where is your base of operations?" Asked Kingsley sensing the waning control.

"Can't tell."

"Fidelius Charm?"

"Ye…To hell with you Potter!"

"Who are the others associated with you?

"There are no others, boy."

Harry stood and glanced to the guard in the corner. "She is at her limit for the potion. Do what you feel is necessary to gain any additional information. All activity is secret and undetectable."

Harry felt the anger returning and his desire for revenge increasing. He fixed a malevolent gaze on Bellatrix and smirked when she realized that for once she wasn't in control of the situation.

"You can't," she screamed. "You are a goody-goody. You won't stoop to our levels."

"Really?" Harry asked giving his best dark look. "You sure of that, bitch?" Bellatrix lips quivered involuntarily. "You should know what I can do. You helped teach me a few things, remember? You pushed me to a breaking point when you killed Allison that day. You killed the mother of my child. Do you really think I won't do what is needed to stop what you are doing? I am already going to hell for what I have done. What is a little more?"

The mood of the room changed as Harry vented. Kingsley and Tonks looked slightly scared. The chair Bellatrix was sitting in was vibrating. It was a visual indicator that Harry was barely in control of his magic. The Unspeakables in the room seemed anxious, if you could tell without a face to read. Bellatrix went from defiant, to stunned, to wary, to downright worried. She knew what could happen when the rules didn't apply and no one would dare speak of things best left unsaid.

Harry lifted his wand slightly and pointed it at her foot. He tilted his head a bit and asked, "Names of those involved or we begin. You remember how this works. I have a clear memory of it from last time."

Bellatrix couldn't believe that the tables had turned this much since that night all those years ago. She knew some actions were atoned for during life. Some just couldn't wait until death to be repaid. Her last hope was something she had abandoned all those years ago during Hogwarts, morality.

"You can't, you won't. You couldn't live with yourself. Think of your daughter."

She thought she might have had Harry's weak point with that speech, but her hopes were quickly dispatched along with the cohesion in her left foot.

A mumbled spell from Harry and the bones in her foot were shattered. The sound from the spell working was drowned out by Bellatrix's screams. The seconds carried into minutes. Harry remained impassive while Bellatrix acclimated to her new level of agony.

"Think of my daughter, eh?" Said Harry. His eyes boring into her's. "You have no right to say that to me. You ruined her childhood by killing her mother that day. You should have known that mentioning her would only result in your pain. Answer the question or your pain is only beginning. I have many more spells saved up for you. You might recognize a few of them. Remember?"

The room was silent for a few minutes. Only Bellatrix's heavy breathing broke it. Another refusal to answer resulted in Bellatrix's left knee being hit with a bone exploding curse. Tonks had to look away from the sight. Kingsley seemed slightly sickened and the Unspeakables were paying very close attention.

Harry's eyes never left Bellatrix's. He was unwavering in his speech or actions. He asked again and Bellatrix hesitated for a second, and then told Harry to do something rather rudely. Her right femur was split in two as a result. She whimpered after the screams subsided. Another prompting resulted in a longer hesitation.

"I have never used this spell, but I think now is a perfect time to try it." A wave of his wand and an audible pop was heard from her left shoulder. She screamed in agony as her shoulder bones were separated from each other. Harry moved his feet for the first time since it all began. He walked to her and placed his hand on her shoulder area roughly. Bellatrix screamed again as bones rubbed together improperly.

"Ready yet?" Asked Harry.

"Not yet you bastard," forced out Bellatrix.

"Fine," responded Harry. He trained his wand on her right arm at her elbow. He made a small side-to-side motion and a red beam shot out and struck her arm.

She paused a few seconds, and then she started hyperventilating. Her screams traded airtime with her rasping breaths. The others in the room didn't seem to know what the spell was. Harry silenced Bellatrix and explained.

"An amputation hex. It is not real, but she sees and feels as if her wand arm has been removed. I have also been hitting her with spells to prevent her from passing out."

Those in the room were looking to each other in shock. They were trying very hard not to lose their breakfast. The minutes went by as a silent woman shifted in agony. As she began to lose her expressiveness, Harry cancelled the silencing charm.

"How about now?" Asked Harry as if he was merely asking someone for directions to the nearest tub stop. "I can keep going or I can come back tomorrow. Either way, you will tell me who is working with you and where they are."

Bellatrix looked completely spent and defeated. She raised her head slightly and told him that Malfoy and his friends were involved. She gave a list of a few other older members who had slipped through the last set of hearings. She gave what she could because she was in such a state of delirium from the pain, and she couldn't tell the difference. She couldn't give a location due to a Fidelius Charm.

"Thank you for your information, bitch," Harry said. "Now, let's see if they can fix you up without any lasting affects."

Harry turned to the others in the room and they all hustled out of the room and into the hallway. Once the door was closed, Harry turned green, then pale, then he promptly threw up all over the floor. Once the dry heaves subsided, he pulled a dull grey potion from his cloak and swallowed it. Tonks vanished the sick with a wave of her wand. A few minutes of deep breaths and calming motions, Harry opened his eyes to find the others staring at him.

"What?" Harry asked. "Never seen anyone get sick after committing atrocious acts?"

"I am just surprised you held it in as well as you did, Harry," said a slightly peeked Tonks. "Maybe I should be scared that I managed to keep it in."

"I can't believe that you managed to do what no one else has been able to do," replied Kingsley. "I may not have liked the process, but I am not going to fault anyone or anything when it concerns that woman. She has killed too many of my friends to deserve my pity."

The Unspeakable from the corner spoke up. "I am impressed Mr. Potter. I never believed you had it in you to do something like that."

"If you knew what I had endured at her hands, you would be surprised by my control." Harry said with a sickly look. "Do I understand that she will never again see the light of day?"

"She will be healed by a recent healer-trainee and then she will be shipped off to a private cell in Azkaban that isn't known to anyone but the Unspeakables," answered the man. "Rest assured she will not escape again. Her memory will be adjusted to prevent her from remembering today, but not too much that we can't bring it back should further information be required. That will save us time should it be necessary."

"Harry," queried Tonks. "What was that potion you took?"

"It was a nausea potion with a mild calming draught added in."

"And you made it?" Came the amazed reply from Tonks. "Or did you have a certain person make it for you?"

"You know that Potions was never my subject, no thanks to Snape. And no, he didn't make it. I had my daughter brew the potion. She is quite skilled in potions you know."

Tonks laughed some at the answer while they were led out of the Department by their guide. With quick thanks and farewells, they were back in the lift headed to the atrium. Harry broke the silence.

"She never should have mentioned Samantha. She had no right to do that. Now, what are we going to do with the information, Kingsley?"

"I will make a report to Dumbledore tonight and he will decide from there. I have to report our findings to my superior now so we can begin surveillance on these Death Eaters immediately."

"I hope we do things better this time than we did last time around," said Harry. "I will not stand idly by this time and let things happen around me. I will not lose another friend to these hate mongers."

Tonks accompanied Harry to Hogwarts and relieved Marrows. Harry found Samantha in the common room and asked her to come with him. Four hours had passed since he left for the Ministry and it was nearly two o'clock in the afternoon.

Harry led Samantha to his private office and sat down on the couch. She joined him and he swept her into a hug. He held on as if his life depended on it. Sensing something happened during his trip to see Bellatrix, Samantha remained quiet for a bit. When the embrace lessened, she spoke up.

"You did what was necessary, Daddy. Remember that."

"How did you get so wise, Honey?" Asked Harry staring into his baby's green eyes so very like his own.

"By spending time with you of course," said Samantha with a smile. "Now is not the time for guilt, Father." The look on his face said otherwise. "Would you do it again now that it is over?"

Harry thought for a moment. "Yes, I would."

"Then it was necessary and you shouldn't think about it anymore. What is done, is done. What is the next step then?"

"I will find out tomorrow most likely. Dumbledore will need the night to think over our course of action before a meeting is called."

"So you just needed a hug from me?"

"I needed to be re-centered, my dear. And you are the best at doing that."

"Well, I am here everyday so feel free to ask anytime." She hesitated a short time thinking over her question. "Was it really that bad?"

"I was not friendly towards her," said Harry quietly. "I did terrible things to her. Things she did to me years ago while trying to learn the prophecy. I am ashamed of myself now."

"You reap what you sow, Father. She knew that when you showed up I bet. You are still my daddy and I love you no matter what happened to her." Samantha gave Harry another deep hug closing her eyes.

"I will be fine as long as you here to straighten me out." He planted a kiss on her forehead. He found her loving smile warming and familiar. He relived the first time he saw Allison. She wore that same smile and it had melted his heart. All the barriers he had built up to protect himself from Voldemort and his life crumbled under the smiling gaze of one woman. He knew then, that he was doomed to love her forever. He was so grateful that the love was returned easily. Otherwise his torment would have been prolonged.

Now, he had that same smile directed at him only from his daughter. "You look so much like your mother right now. She saved me when I met her. That same smile saved me then and you saved me now. Don't ever change yourself, Honey. You are a very caring, loving person. The world needs more people like you."

"Yes, Father. Are you going to break into song now?" Samantha asked cheekily.

Harry had to laugh. This was so like Allison, too. Serious and supportive until the mood needed changed. The remainder of the day was spent talking and playing games as a family.

Samantha returned to the common room near curfew and was swarmed by her friends asking what happened. She told them it was family time and that everything was okay.

The next day classes continued as normal and Samantha could be found waiting to hear what was going to happen next. Defense was more intense than normal. Many students were sporting minor bumps and bruises until they stopped by the hospital wing. The day's lesson of offensive dueling spells had many realizing just how critical speed and determination was in their spell work. Only Samantha found the class a little slow for her tastes, but her childhood explained all that away.