Chapter 5: Return and Rescue
Harry cursed in different languages as he realized what Salazar had planned to do. He only hoped that Salazar would marry and have a baby or it will be the end of Harry's future. He now knew why Salazar had insisted on performing the blood brothers ritual and cursed the cunning of his friend.
The spell required that the caster or the one on the receiving end of the spell to have any ties with the time he wanted. Salazar had a blood bond that would enable him to travel to Harry's time easily, but Harry wondered about Rowena.
He shook his head and cleared his thoughts, leaving the problem until it presents itself in the future. He looked around him and noticed that he was in the ruins of the scientist's house. He waved his wand and muttered 'Tempus' to determine the time. It was October 15, 1996. He sighed in relief, seeing that he landed in the right timeline but his eyes widened as he saw the date. He was missing since the first half of July, just after the will reading. He wondered if the order and his friends were looking for him or not, seeing that he was away for four months.
He moved out of the house, his trunk in his pocket and Hedwig on his shoulder, but the realization that the scientist died in the explosion hit him. He felt his bond with Salazar de-activate and his link with Voldemort come alive again. What he liked and hated about the bonds of Salazar and Voldemort that they remained even through the massive time travel he went through.
Building up his mental walls, Harry blocked the link from being used or detected by Voldemort, something he learned during his travels with Salazar. Sadly, he found no spell, potion or ritual that would cut the link and the only way of removing it was by killing one of the linked wizards.
"Well, I still have time before announcing myself," Harry said before closing his eyes in concentration and bringing his both hands together, as if praying. With a few murmured sentences, a glow appeared in front of his eyes and began to take shape.
After a few minutes, a raven solidified in front of his eyes and cooed softly. Harry smiled and rubbed the raven's chest for a few moments before taking out his wand. The raven was a result of a successful summoning, an art that Harry had learned throughout his studies with different tribes.
It enabled the caster to summon a creature to do what he wanted. The larger the creature, the harder the summoning would be on the caster and the farther the creature's place, the harder to summon. Harry decided on a raven since they were the next creatures after owls that would deliver a message. He decided to write a letter, to settle his friend's worry over his death so they would expect his return.
Dear Old Man,
Do not lose hope yet. When courage's weapon is on fire and the walls are excited, it will mark my arrival.
Mischief managed.
Harry knew that Dumbledore would understand what Harry was talking about in the letter, but he could not risk letting Voldemort know of Harry's survival yet. He tied it to the raven's leg, which gave a bow to Harry and flew away. It was 7 p.m. so Harry decided to plan a rescue that occupied Harry's mind since he time-traveled to the past. He placed Godric's ring on his finger and tapped it with his wand, saying the activation password.
"Take me to Ancient and Powerful House of Gryffindor."
He arrived in front of a gate of a castle, which Harry had only visited once in the past. The gate was adorned with Griffins, rubies and surprisingly a statue of a Dragon with a lightning bolt on its chest on one side and a basilisk on the other side. It was the first time that he had ever seen this symbol and assumed that Godric had put it after he left. He touched the lightning symbol with his wand and waited. He did not have to wait long when a voice echoed around him, coming from the Griffins.
"Enter Lord Harry, friend of Gryffindor."
Harry chuckled at Godric's use of sentient guardians. It was a spell that Harry picked up during his travels and had taught it to Godric. It was an advanced form of animation, which enables the caster to give the animated object other properties beside the obvious ones. He entered the castle grounds and looked around, admiring the beauty of the gardens. It was filled with lilies, roses, and lavenders. Entering the castle, he was greeted by a house elf.
"Good evening, sir. I is Blinky at your service," said the house-elf bowing to Harry.
Harry smiled at the house-elf and replied, "Hello Blinky, my name is Harry. It's nice to meet you." The house-elf's smile grew at Harry's reply and he mentally thanked Godric for freeing the house-elves, who refused to stop serving the Gryffindor family even after they were freed.
"I will have a tour of the castle, Blinky. Can you please unpack my things in the master bedroom?" Harry asked smiling kindly at the little elf. Blinky bowed and disappeared with his trunk and Harry was relieved that the house-elves still occupied the castle, as he did not want to take care of the huge castle by himself.
Although he had toured the castle in the past with Godric, he had missed the homey feeling it gave him when his other friends were with him. After a long tour, he settled in a study trying to come up with a plan to capture Bellatrix or rescue her if she was still imprisoned in the dungeons he saw in his dream. He doubted that Voldemort would imprison her after applying the imperious potion but since it was Voldemort, everything was possible.
After a few hours, he went to sleep purposely allowing the link to activate. He needed to know where Bellatrix was imprisoned, what he came up with was considered the most dangerous and stupid plan to complete. He was going to use legilimency on Voldemort to find the place. He found himself in the same room he was in before, this time Bellatrix was not the only person tied up. He was surprised that after four months, that Bellatrix was still tied up in the same position, in spite of being fed the imperious potion. The other person was in the dark so Harry was unable to find out their identity.
"Bella," hissed Voldemort. "I don't know how the traitor, Severus, was able to give you the counter potion to the Imperius potion, but he was killed for it. You will be mine, I assure you. I will have it brewed again and you will obey your rightful lord. You will not be able to escape the Malfoy manor, Bella, so don't even try."
Voldemort laughed maniacally as Bellatrix's anger appeared on her face. He turned to the other prisoner and hissed "And you, my pet, will be the right tool for the ritual." He left the dungeon cell but not without minutes of Cruciatus to both prisoners.
Harry woke up with a start, sweating as the dream ended. He cursed when he heard that Snape was killed trying to give Bellatrix the antidote. What confused him was Snape giving Bellatrix the antidote. Moreover, did Dumbledore even know the circumstances behind his spy's death?
He deactivated the link and thanked Merlin that Voldemort was stupid enough to tell the place. The only problem would be the wards surrounding the manor, which would present a problem. He was thinking on how to find the Malfoy Manor when an idea popped into his head.
"Dobby!" As he said the word, the little elf appeared in front of him. Dobby's eye widened and he was hugging Harry's leg in a flash.
"I knew that master Harry Potter sir was not dead as everyone said. I is glad to see you alive, Mr. Harry Potter sir," said the excited elf jumping up and down in front of Harry.
"It's good to see you too, Dobby. I missed you," said Harry kindly, patting the elf on the head. Dobby's eyes widened again and he hugged Harry's leg again.
"Sir is too kind to Dobby. What will Harry Potter require from Dobby?" said the house-elf.
"Dobby I need your help in rescuing someone. And the place where the person is held is your old home." Harry explained to the elf, hoping that he would help him. Dobby's eyes held fear in them as he remembered the Malfoy family and their treatment.
"I need you to take me there, Dobby. You won't stay long at the place, just take me there and leave again," said Harry reassuringly, patting the elf's shoulder. Dobby nodded his head and replied, "I is going to take you there, Harry Potter sir."
Harry sighed as Dobby told him his answer. He was glad, since Dobby was able to bypass the wards on the house since he was an elf. Harry took out his wand and summoned his battle robes, readying himself for any confrontation.
He decided that during the night was a good time to attempt the rescue mission. He looked at his watch and waited until it was 2 a.m. to begin the rescue. He wanted to avoid facing Voldemort in a ground where he would be at a disadvantage. He waved his hand, wandlessly summoning a nearby book towards him, something that resulted from his control on his magic.
Harry's control on his magic increased during the years he spent with the other founders, making him succeed in casting simple basic spells, like the Lumos or summoning charms without a wand. However, after performing the ritual to increase his magic, he had to practice more control to perform any other spells wandlessly.
Currently, he could perfectly perform summoning, banishing and the Lumos charms successfully but he vowed to work on increasing his control, something which Dumbledore and Voldemort were good at. When the watch rested on two, Harry called Dobby who was in the kitchen with the other elves, preparing to leave for Malfoy Manor
"It's time, Dobby. Take me inside the Manor and I will go from there," said Harry to the little elf who grabbed his hand, preparing for the travel. They disappeared from the Gryffindor castle and reappeared in an empty room that contained dusty items.
"The Dungeons are down the stairs across the hall, Master Harry Potter sir. Dobby is going to wait until Harry Potter summons Dobby again for leaving," said Dobby and snapped his fingers, disappearing to thin air. Harry sighed and prepared for a long night. He disillusioned himself and opened the door, looking around for any Death Eaters. He found two Death Eaters who he identified as McNair and Dolohov, guarding the stairs leading two the dungeons. The two Death Eaters were talking to each other and laughing quietly, not paying attention to anything else around them.
'Well, no one is crazy enough to enter the Headquarters of the Death Eaters voluntarily,' Harry thought as he approached the two wizards, still disillusioned. He took out both wands and with a wave and spells later, both wizards fell on the floor stunned. Harry passed them and proceeded down the stairs to the Dungeon, encountering booby traps and wards that responded to the Dark Marks. He worked fast as he brought down the wards and dispelled the booby traps, knowing that the stunning of the Death Eaters will be noticed soon.
After what seemed like eternity, Harry arrived at the cell which the prisoners in his dreams where held. He pointed his wand at the cell door and murmured. "Invenio Externus intentio."
The cell door glowed red, indicating wards and traps on the door. He pointed his wand at the door again, this time to try to bring down the wards.
"Perfringo claustrum Magicka." The door turned black, indicating the success of the spell.
"Solvo tectum." Another ward was broken. Harry cursed as his performed the spell.
'The damn cell door has more wards on it than the Ministry of Magic,' thought Harry angrily. The spells he was performing on the door were capable of bringing moderate and some powerful wards in one go, but Voldemort was being careful after Snape tried to free Bellatrix and had applied his power into the wards. He pointed his wand again at the door one last time and muttered. "Neco substantia Magicka."
The door groaned and the rest of the wards were brought down, leaving Harry panting heavily. With an 'Alohomora', the cell door opened, allowing Harry entrance to the cell. Bellatrix and the other person were tied at the end of the cell, and they looked to be sleeping. Harry waved his wand, relieving both prisoners from their chains, waking them up with a start.
"Please don't hurt me," Bellatrix mumbled and curled into a ball. Harry bent down beside her and took her in his arms, something that surprised the other witch. Seeing that Harry forgot to take the de-aging potion, Bellatrix was terrified when she saw him.
"James Potter," she mumbled before crouching in a ball again. Harry sighed and went to the other prisoner. It was a girl that Harry had seen before but never talked to her. Her name was Blaise Zabini, a quiet, shy, and beautiful Slytherin that he had classes with, but never interacted with her.
"Blaise, I'm here to get you out. Don't worry," said Harry soothingly. It seemed that luck was not on his side. Blaise backed away, muttering about strange dreams, which made Harry's job even harder.
'This is going to be a long night,' Harry thought with a sigh. He decided that this was not going as he wanted and summoned Dobby. The elf was frightened when he appeared in a cell, but calmed down when he saw Harry in front of him.
"Dobby, I'm sorry to have summoned you early but I need you to take these two back to the Castle and then come and get me," said Harry to the elf who nodded and disappeared with Bellatrix and Blaise. Harry felt a ward being applied and tensed, trying to recognize the ward. After a lot of sensing, he gasped in horror when he realized what the ward was.
"Anti-Elf wards? Who the hell would know these wards?" Harry asked loudly to himself.
"I would, Mr. Potter," said the voice, of which Harry was familiar. He turned and looked in the eyes of Lucius Malfoy, gritting his teeth at seeing the second in command of his parents' murderer.
"Mr. Malfoy, Did you enjoy the short vacation in Azkaban?" taunted Harry. The older Malfoy hissed in anger and shot the killing curse at Harry, which he dodged skillfully.
"Crucio," yelled Malfoy at Harry. Harry waved his wand and a chain, which lay on the floor, flew to intercept the curse.
"Abscido legio," sent Harry a limb-paralyzing curse, which Malfoy dodged.
"Avada Kedavra," sent Malfoy in anger, seeing that his curses were either blocked or dodged.
"I fail to see your weak power or knowledge being enough to cast this ward, Malfoy," Harry said, trying to distract the Death Eater. He came up with a plan, which he was sure that Malfoy would not catch.
"Shut up Potter! The great Lord Voldemort was the one to cast this ward, entrusting me with its control as with the other wards," said Malfoy proudly as he blocked a stunner from Harry.
"Oh please! You screwed up by allowing me to rescue the prisoners," said Harry and allowed Malfoy to disarm him, feigning helplessness.
"Your pathetic, Potter" said Malfoy as he caught Harry's wand in his hand.
With a speed of lightning, Harry had his other wand out, "and you're stupid Malfoy, OBLIVIATE EXIMO." The spell caught Malfoy off guard in the face and since Harry did not concentrate on a single memory when doing the spell, all the memories were erased.
Harry sighed in relief, exited the room, and called Dobby to him again. This time, the elf appeared with a panicked face but was relieved when he saw Harry.
"Take us home Dobby," said Harry with a tired smile and Dobby complied and both of them were transported to Gryffindor Castle. As they appeared in the castle, Harry immediately asked about Bellatrix and Blaise.
"They were taken to the Hospital wing of the Gryffindor castle, sir," said Blinky to Harry. He took off towards the hospital wing and arrived to see an elf tending to the two witches.
"I'm sorry Master but I'm not a qualified healer. They need to be treated by a professional wizard or witch," said the elf to Harry before disappearing. It was at times like this that he missed Helga's healing or Salazar's potions. He wished desperately for help and summoned healing books with his wand. He proceeded to apply the spells. Some of the wounds would reopen again after Harry closed them, which made him wish he were at Hogwarts.
In the office of Albus Dumbledore, a bird lifted its head, as if listening to something then disappeared in a flash of flames. With a song, the majestic bird appeared in front of Harry, startling him from his thoughts.
"Fawkes," exclaimed Harry in relief. "I need your help. These girls are hurt and the wounds won't close."
The bird lowered its head on the wounds, healing an injury after another, leaving a relieved Harry. After the phoenix closed the last injury on Blaise, Harry approached the bird and rubbed its chest.
"Thank you Fawkes," Harry said tiredly, patting the bird on the head. "I'm really thankful that you are here." Fawkes trilled softly, rubbing his face in Harry's neck then disappeared in a flash of flames. Harry summoned a vial of post-Cruciatus to him from his trunk and made both witches drink it. Their faces relaxed after drinking the potion, which Harry was thankful for as he passed out on the bed next to them.
In the Malfoy Manor, Voldemort arrived after being notified by a Death Eater that a duel took place. He was enraged at being disturbed but his curiosity to know who infiltrated the supposedly heavy warded and guarded HQ.
As he entered the cell which Bellatrix and the Zabini girl should have been held in, he only found Lucius Malfoy unconscious on the floor. His wand flew to his hand, which he waved, enervating Lucius Malfoy.
"Where am I? Who am I?" asked the blond Death Eater. Voldemort hissed an unknown spell and a vapor appeared above Malfoy's head. Voldemort's red eyes flared and he hissed angrily
"Avada Kedavra."
The bright green beam of the killing curse flew from his wand, killing Lucius Malfoy instantly. He knew that the memories were not blocked, but removed, so there was no use of Lucius to him anymore.
"Find who did this and bring him to me," Voldemort hissed and pointed his wand at the Death Eaters, "Excrucio maxima."
All the Death Eaters fell screaming on the floor at the mass Crucio curse. The spell was lifted after thirty seconds and Voldemort hissed again in anger "Find that person NOW."
At Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry the next day, a raven arrived with the morning post and headed towards Albus Dumbledore, who was eating his food and looked every bit his age since the supposed death of Harry Potter. The raven landed in front of the headmaster and extended its leg, presenting the parchment to him. The headmaster relieved the bird of its parchment and was surprised when the raven disappeared in a golden flash, its mission completed.
Dumbledore opened the parchment and read the note. At first, he did not understand the meaning but it dawned on him after a while. For the first time in four months, Albus Dumbledore sat smiling cheerfully and ate his food eagerly.
