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Chapter 16: An Attempted Rescue and a Dark Victory
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Ron and George had found the Squib who knew his way around Britain. At first, he gave them vague directions to somewhere in Spain and spoke about how lovely it is there this time of year. After much frustration, they managed to secure a map of England from the Squib with the names of several possible locations from Harry's dream near London circled on it. They finally returned with the map and gave it to Harry. Ron kept looking at Hermione whenever he had the chance, but he would hide his face from her when she looked back. Harry, at the moment, did not care about the problems between his two best friends, for his mind was preoccupied.
Their plan was: Fred and Ron were to create a diversion with mini-rockets while Hermione and George came with Harry. They were to fight off any Death Eaters and warn Harry if any came. Meanwhile, Harry would try to find the place where Ginny was and help her to escape. Harry would have preferred to have Ron and Hermione at his side, but under the circumstances, Hermione refused to work with Ron. It was a loosely organized plan, and they hoped that it would work. With the plan settled, they Disapparated. Ron had suggested Floo Powder because he did not want to go through with Apparating with George again, but Hermione shot down the idea; partially because she remembered from Harry's dream that Voldemort had a fireplace; partially because they didn't know the exact name of the place they were traveling to; and partially because she wanted to see the look on Ron's face as he side-along Apparated with George again.
They had to Apparate several times before Harry recognized the exact place from his dream.
"Well, Harry, look familiar?"
"Um... hold on..."said Harry. He waited for the dizziness he felt from Apparating to dissipate and then checked out the scenery. It was the same exact place.
"Yep, this is it, guys! No more Apparating!"
"YES!" yelled Ron happily, relieved to be on solid ground.
"Gee, Ron, I don't think you said that quite loudly enough," said Fred.
"Yeah," continued George, "with you around, You-Know-Who won't need any of these Extendable Ears... in fact, he might need earplugs."
"Sorry, guys," Ron mumbled, turning as red as his hair.
"Forget it, Ron, let's just go already," Harry said, anxious to continue.
Meanwhile...
"They're here," said Voldemort, "I can see them through Potter's mind. Wormtail, fetch Nagini. I will have her watch Potter. I grow tired of tracking Potter." Voldemort coughed lightly.
Wormtail immediately left, whimpering.
"Oh, Harry, you cannot possibly escape from this," whispered Voldemort to himself, and he let a small triumphant, bone-chilling laugh escape from his lips, and a few bronchial coughs.
Back to our young and dashing protagonists...
"Ok, Fred, Ron, you know what to do. Hermione, George, cover me." Ron and Fred split up from the group and Hermione and George stayed with Harry. Harry felt that as if they were being watched.
"Well, this is going to be quite fun," said George. "I hope Fred brought the Ton-Tongue Toffee. Can you imagine Bellatrix Lestrange with a four foot tongue? Ha ha!" George's joviality in the face of death did not sit well with Hermione, who was paired with him in this rescue mission.
Harry began to head down a different corridor from Fred and Ron. He found a small flight of stairs, heading down to a door. It was completely unguarded, but it was easy to tell that someone was inside, as two voices were heard. Harry was just about to pass it when he thought he heard someone crying in the room.
"Harry, is someone crying down there?"
"Um... I can't see through walls, Hermione."
"Sorry..."
Harry suddenly heard a hissing voice behind them. "Mussst watch Potter... fresh meat... wish to kill..."
Harry quickly turned around and said "Immobilis!" and a beam of light came out of his wand. It hit a large purple snake which immediately froze. Harry felt his scar burn inconsolably, and the pain brought him to the ground.
"Harry?" said Hermione. "Are you ok?"
"Oh, yeah, doing great, Hermione. I hear a snake behind me telling me that it's watching me and it wants to kill and eat me, my scar is ripping my forehead in half, so Voldemort is obviously nearby... I feel great, Hermione."
"You're almost as bad as Ron," said Hermione, rolling her eyes.
Harry looked at the frozen snake. It looked familiar... he remembered that he saw that snake the day he was at the graveyard with Cedric and Voldemort.
"I think that was Nagini, Voldemort's snake," Harry realized aloud.
"Well, stop thinking and start saving! You're 'the chosen one', not me," said George, tired of standing in one place. Harry shrugged and began to walk down the stairs to investigate who was crying and who else was in the room.
"Cover me," said Harry. "If things get bad, Disapparate. I'll find a way out... somehow... is that a sign over there?" asked Harry, pointing to the wall.
"Yep. It says that we are here, which is in the main dungeon corridor. The exit is down the hall and to a left, and it says 'The Dark Lord resides in Sector 48 B', which is down the hall the opposite way, up the stairs and to the left."
"Well, that solves that problem. At least I won't get lost."
"Harry, be careful."
"I will be. Cover me." He started down the stairs.
Harry felt sort of scared. He wasn't sure to expect. Voldemortwasn't grandstanding like he usually did. He usually would have Harry in front of him and his Death Eaters and say something to the effect of, "before your very eyes, I shall make this boy disappear!" and get oohs and ahhs from the crowd. He was like a Muggle magician that way. Harry smirked at the thought of Voldemort pulling a rabbit out of a hat.
Harry got to the door, which turned out to be locked. He opened it with an "Alohamora!". Strange. He thought it would be more difficult than that. Things were definitely different this time.
He looked inside and saw a sobbing, red-haired girl. He entered the room cautiously, watching out for any other person.
"Ginny?"
The girl turned around and looked into his eyes through her tear-streaked ones. Harry felt a strong urge to kiss her, but he shook it off. What the heck is wrong with me? he thought. I don't like Ginny that way... right?
"We have to get out of here before Voldemort--"
"--before I what, Potter?"
Harry turned around and saw his slightly sickly enemy.
"Ah, I see you have not fully recovered yet?" Harry said recklessly.
"Shut up, Potter."
"You know, I actually have a few cough drops here, Voldy..."
"I don't care what you have! And NEVER call me 'Voldy'! Crucio!" Harry, who had grabbed his wand, was about to disarm Voldemort, but he was not quick enough. Ginny began laughing haughtily, in a way most unlike herself.
When Voldemort finished torturing Harry, he used Immoblilis on him. "By the way, Potter, this isn't Ginny. You've stupidly fallen into my trap, and so have the rest of your friends. They won't remember any of this by the time I'm done with them. Oh, no, I am not going to kill you or them--not until I get what I need. Aw, upset that you may never see them all again? Or your precious little Ginny? I can see into your mind, Potter, I know your thoughts, I know you have begun to fall in love with her. It's rather sad to see that you've chosen to be like that weak-hearted Dumbledore." Voldemort smiled slyly and laughed in his bone-chilling manner, ending in a few coughs becoming of a villain. The girl who looked like Ginny laughed with him.
"You know who this is soon enough. By the time you do, I might be finished dealing with your friends... or maybe not. Maybe I'll make them suffer a little... or a lot. If you try to escape to rescue them or yourself, which I know you'll be stupid enough to try, you won't make it past the door. It's now heavily guarded, you see." Voldemort turned to leave.
"You are mine, Potter. You can't escape from Lord Voldemort." He looked directly into Harry's electric green eyes, and Harry's scar erupted in pain. He could not move because of the curse Voldemort placed on him. Voldemort left him, laughing.
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