Living inside Yesterday
Potter47

~ Part Three ~
Prisoners of the Mind

"Time flies."
~ Vergil

~ Chapter Fourteen ~
Just Like Old Times

Luna ducked, and the spell flew past her. Right at the people standing in the door way. Luna, from the floor, looked up to see Harry and Ginny.

The flash of green light was headed for Harry's chest. Luna realised that it had not even been intended for her. She heard Harry say some spell, grabbing Ginny around the shoulders and pointing his wand. She couldn't bear to watch, and buried her face in her arm, blocking anything from view. There was nothing that could stop the Killing Curse. Nothing.

Time seemed to stop. She heard nothing. No scream. Nor any other sound. It seemed like the world froze.

She looked up, at Voldemort first, and what she saw nearly gave her a heart attack.

He was frozen.

"Luna, are you all right?" said Ginny's worried voice. Luna turned around, and saw that the green light, the Killing Curse, had stopped, in midair.

Harry had fallen to the ground, clutching his forehead. "What-" he said, trying to block the pain. "What did you do to him?"

She stared in amazement for a moment before she realised he was speaking to her.

"Oh!" she said. "I cut off his thumb."

"You what?" he said, staring at the Dark Lord. "How?"

"With my Harpy," she said, and held out the knife.

"Your what?" asked Ginny. "That is not a harpy. Harpies are not...knives."

"It's called a Harpy," Luna said. "My father's Muggle-born, and he has always told me to have something non-magical to defend myself with. I thought this would be more useful than pepper spray."

"Right," said Harry. "I suggest we get out of here."

"Wait," said Luna, staring at the Dark Lord. "How did you stop time?"

"I didn't. It's called the Tempus Fugit spell, and I'll explain later."

As they were about to leave, Harry doubled back, and made his way toward Voldemort. In his right, thumbed, hand, was the thirteen-and-a-half inch yew wand. He reached toward it, and pried it from the Dark Lord's hand. Voldemort would be in for quite a surprise when time returned to normal.

They made their way out of the room, following Luna back toward the dungeon cell. The spell would have to be lifted once they got there, but that would be dealt with when the time came.

"What have they been doing?" Ginny asked Luna as they made their way down. It unnerved them that no Death Eaters had been seen.

"Well," said Luna, "Hermione had been Portkeyed here, and they forgot to take her wand, so when Lucius Malfoy came to the cell..."

She began to explain what had happened in the cell.

"And then Ron said something and woke me up-"

"Ron?" asked Ginny, a small smile tugging at her lips. "You called him 'Ron'."

"Oh, I forgot you didn't know about that. I have been for a while now."

"And then what, Luna?" asked Harry.

"And then..." She stopped walking, and narrowed her eyes.

"What?" asked Ginny.

"I don't remember. I know something must have happened, but the next thing I knew I was being taken to You-Know-Who."

"What about Ron?" said Ginny. "And Hermione. Do you remember them being taken?"

"They were taken?"

"How 'bout we get moving?" asked Harry hurriedly. "I don't know how long the spell takes to wear off, but it must eventually."

"Right."

They kept going, and were soon at the dungeon level. They saw a light, as if that of a wand, from one of the barred windows. They crossed the remaining distance, and opened the door. It was not locked.

"Trelawney?" Harry asked no-one in particular.

"What is she doing here?"

She looked rather odd - even odder than usual - as her eyes were glaring at Hermione, her mouth was half-open, as if she was about to speak, and her finger was in front of her face, as if she was telling Hermione off, Naughty, naughty! like she would a small child.

"Looks like she's a Death Eater," said Luna, as if it was to be expected that the Divination Professor was wearing the black robes of the Dark Lord's servants. "You-Know-Who was asking about her, you know."

"A Death Eater?" Ginny said disbelievingly.

"It would seem--"

The reply was cut off as time once again moved at the normal speed.

"-listen here, little girl," said Trelawney in a voice most unlike her own, "I am sick and tired of you treating me like some sort of fraud. You treat Snape nice enough, and-"

"That is completely different!"

"Oh, really? How?"

"Excuse me?" Snape said to the two witches. "I think there are important matters to deal with at the moment."

"Like what?" said Trelawney rudely.

"Like the fact that Potter is standing right there, along with Weasley and Lovegood."

* * *

Ow.

That's the first thought that passed through the Dark Lord's head when time returned to normal.

That hurt.

For it is, indeed, quite painful to have one's thumb cut off, bone and all, leaving just a slight stump extruding from his left hand. His wand hand.

Wand.

His wand was gone. It disappeared. The last thing he remembered was casting the Killing Curse, on-

Potter!

Potter took his wand. How in hell did he learn the Tempus Fugit spell? It was not at all what he was expecting. Not at all. It was Dark Magic, for starters, and he had no idea that Harry Potter knew - or would be willing to use - Dark Magic.

And now, he was wandless, thumbless, and Potter had got away.

Not to mention the fact that he was loosing quite a bit of blood. Scarlet blood. Maroon. It matched his eyes.

And here's where the problem lies: Even if, by some miracle, one of his Death Eaters would have the power to create a new thumb - as he had done for Wormtail's hand - he would not trust it. It was an immensely complex spell, and not many wizards could do it. In fact, Voldemort had a sneaking suspicion, that only Dumbledore would be able to accomplish it and, of course, that was never going to happen.

The only other solution would be to heal it. To seal the wound, and lose all chance of ever having a thumb again. Ever.

His thumb was throbbing now, and the pain was growing. He was losing focus, from blood loss. He had no choice.

He willed it closed. Concentrating as much as was possible, he willed his wound healed. It was no small task, and - again - not many could do it. Within moments, the wound was healed. He had four fingers on his left hand, and it looked as if he never had another. It would be incredibly difficult to hold his wand, and he would likely have to use his right hand. Meaning a decrease in power. It was like trying to write with a quill in the opposite hand. It never came out how you wanted it to.

Voldemort was many things. He had many talents. But one thing he was not: ambidextrous.

The pain ceased immediately, and with a wave of his hand, (wandless magic would not be a problem) he cleaned the blood. It would not be good, if someone was to acquire something of his, and use Polyjuice. They would be able to control his Death Eaters. Do whatever they wanted. No, that would not be good.

He's still here...

The thought came into the Dark Lord's mind, as if a fresh scent had wafted into his nostrils. As soon as he thought it, he knew it was true. Positive. Harry Potter was still in the Riddle House. The Dark Lord could still get him. He could get his wand back.

And with that thought, Lord Voldemort disapparated.

* * *

"Ha!" said Trelawney triumphantly.

"What was that for?" asked Snape.

"I told you all he was here. And you didn't believe me! I was right, and you were wrong!" The Divination Professor sounded, not for the first time, like a six-year-old.

"How are you two?" asked Hermione quickly. "Are you all right? Is everything okay? What happened?"

"Breath, Hermione," said Ginny calmly. "Slow down."

Hermione took a deep breath, and then said, "Well?"

"We're okay, Hermione," said Harry. "We're fine, but-"

"Oh, thank goodness," she said. "We've all been so worried..." Her gaze shifted to where Luna was standing, and, in a different tone of voice, said, "Oh, you brought Luna."

She seemed to think about this for a moment, before realising what it meant.

"You fought Voldemort, didn't you! Luna was with Voldemort. You must have fought him. You must have won!"

"Calm down, Hermione," said Harry. "You sound like Dobby. I wouldn't say that I fought him, Hermione. I saw Voldemort. But if anyone fought him, that would be Luna."

"Luna?" asked Ron, who had been recovering from the frequent use of the Dark Lord's name. "You fought You-Know-Who? But-"

"I didn't really fight him," she said, casually. "I just cut off his thumb."

"You what?" said Hermione. "How in the bloody hell did you do that?"

Snape, Harry, Trelawney, Ginny, and Ron all stared at her. She had sworn. Hermione Granger had sworn. Luna, on the other hand, answered her question.

"With my knife," she said, pulling it out of her robes. She held it at arm's length, as if to let Hermione hold it.

"You cut off his thumb," she said, as if trying to believe it. "You cut off Voldemort's thumb."

"That's right."

"But...why?" asked Hermione. "You could have killed him, and been done with it. This all could have been finished-"

"No I couldn't," said Luna confidently.

"Well, why the hell not?" Wow; twice in forty-seven seconds.

"Do you honestly believe that just anyone could kill him? If I tried to stab Voldemort with this knife, it would probably turn around in my hand, and stab me, right in the heart."

Ron winced once again, but he wasn't sure if it was from the stating of the Dark Lord's name, or from the description of Luna being stabbed. In the heart. He winced again.

"Hermione, you're a smart person and all, but you haven't lived in the wizarding world your whole life," said Luna. "In the Muggle world, anyone can kill anyone. It's simple. They shoot each other. Poison. Bombs. But here, things are a whole lot more complicated. And I bet that he's not the only one that not just anyone can kill. There are probably others."

Hermione looked somewhat hurt. She wasn't sure if Luna was insulting her intelligence or merely...doing something else, but that fact alone hurt her. If she couldn't tell, then that didn't say much for her brain, did it?

Snape, who had been looking at Luna as if she had predicted the future, said, "You are correct. Not anyone could kill the Dark Lord. But it just so happens that the only one who could--"

But before he finished the sentence, a very soft crack sounded from by the door. Everyone turned, and they realised for the first time that seven people were not meant to fit in this room at one time.

"What was that?" Ginny asked softly, whether to the room at large, or to Harry, who was next to her.

He swallowed. "That was someone Apparating."

"But it was too soft. When Dad Apparates, you can hear it through most of the house. That couldn't have been someone Apparating..."

"Oh, but it could..." whispered a soft voice in her ear. The next thing she knew, an arm was around her neck, making it hard to breath. But it wasn't an ordinary arm. No. Something was just...off.

~ Author's Note ~

Sorry for the short chapter. I decided that part three should have six chapters, instead of five, and part four should have four chapters, so this one kinda got left out. And the chapter title contest will be extended until the end of chapter sixteen. Please review anyway.

Thank you.

~ Next Chapter ~
Children of the Mind

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,
it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness,
it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity,
it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness,
it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair,
we had everything before us, we had nothing before us,
we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the
other way—in short, the period was so far like the present period,
that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received,
for good or evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only."
~ Dickens

~ Coming Soon ~