Disclaimer I don't own Harry Potter. All rights to the characters and universe the story belongs in belong to JK Rowling

Chapter 16 - The Curse of Brilliance

Harry looked down upon on two figures before him, both of them were blooded, fear etched upon their faces. They disgusted him. The Carrows had caused so much pain and now they were scared of their fate.

He pointed his wand at the man, Alecto, aiming for the spot right between his eyes. 'You don't deserve to die.' It wasn't Harry's voice that spoke. It was malformed and snakelike. 'You deserve a fate worse than death, no matter death will have to do.'

There were two flashes of green light and the Carrows slumped unmoving. Harry turned away from them and caught his reflection in a window. His face was pale, his head bald, there were slits where his nose should be and his red eyes reflected angrily in the glass. Terrified Harry started to run.

'You will never be rid of me Harry Potter.' A voice hissed. Harry looked around for the source but found none. 'We are the same. Your anger is my anger.' Harry started panicking searching for a way out.

'There is no hiding from me fool! I'm hear inside your head.'

'You're wrong!' shouted Harry into the darkness that engulfed him.

'Oh am I. Then why did you want to kill. I've felt that want, craved for it. You know what you felt, you wanted to end their lives. You wanted to watch the lights leave their eyes!' Harry couldn't respond he felt the darkness taking over. 'I know Harry, Lord Voldemort always knows.'

He was falling and had no way of stopping, Harry's world was spinning and he was sure it was the end when...

Harry bolted upright shaking and sweating. He pulled his duvet around him trying to get some warmth back into his chilled bones. He was breathing heavily, he looked around his bedroom searching for something, anything that would take his mind away from what he had just seen.

His eyes rested on a picture of himself, Ron and Hermione form their first year, they were waving at him. Back then he would never have imagined killing anyone, never mind murdering someone in cold blood. Yet just under forty eight hours ago he almost made that decision, who was he kidding, he had made it. Trott managed to change his mind.

The mirror on his bedstand vibrated and an angry voice shouted 'HARRY! HARRY ARE YOU THERE?' The silencing charm he had placed on it had warn off.

Without thinking about it, without even considering whether he was ready to face her, Harry picked up the mirror. 'Ginny?' He asked tentatively.

'Where the hell have you been? I've been worried sick! Ron said you weren't at St Mungo's and you didn't answer your door! You shut off the floo so no one could get in! I thought the worst Harry I was about to send him to the morgue!' Ginny's tirade was in full swing when she caught sight of his pale face through her anger 'Harry?' she asked, her anger deflating immediately. 'What's wrong?'

Harry opened and closed his mouth a couple of times but no words come out. How could he tell her what he had almost done, the line he was so willing to cross? 'Harry please talk to me.' She pleaded 'I promise you can tell me anything.'

Harry took a few minutes to respond, when he did his voice was shaking 'I'm not sure I can tell you this. I almost did something terrible Gin.'

'Anything Harry. Anything at all. Please tell me, my idea of the worst thing probably doesn't match up to yours and I don't want my imagination to run away with me.' She said with a small smile trying to drag him back out of the shell he had formed around himself.

He didn't react to the humour, his eyes just dimmed a little like he was falling into eternal darkness. Which, of course, was exactly how he felt. 'I almost became something I hated Ginny, in fact I did become it. Leanne got to me before I crossed the line though.'

'Harry just tell me what happened. It'll be OK, do you want me to come over? I can use the map to leave school and apparate.'

'No, I wouldn't want you to get into trouble.' It was clear to her though that he wanted nothing else than for her to be there and she felt more than a twinge of anger that she wasn't with him. She was sure what happened wasn't that bad, Harry would never cheat. So how bad can it be?

'OK was it while you were on the raid?'

'Yeah.' He said weakly.

'OK then start with that, then build up to where you became this "monster"' She was careful to drip the word in sarcasm 'you claim to be.'

He began telling the story and as he talked it became easier. Ginny became visibly terrified as he explained the transformation of Younis Priory and his subsequent fight with the werewolf. She audibly gasped when he told her how close he came to dying at the hands of the short haired wizard.

'… I arrived at an old abandoned tube station and was about to head up the stairs guessing that is where Priory and his accomplice escaped to. That was when they turned up.' His brow furrowed and his voice held anger, however, it wasn't the same anger it held when faced with the Carrows in person.

Sensing something was wrong and this must be where whatever happened, happened, Ginny prompted him 'Who arrived Harry?'

'The Carrows.'

'Merlin those bastards are working for them? What happened?' Harry averted his gaze from the mirror. Becoming increasingly worried she tried again 'Harry, what happened?'

'I – I became angry. I've only felt anger like it before when I've been in Voldermorts mind.'

'It's OK to be angry after all you've heard about them. I don't blame you, I would be more annoyed if you weren't angry.' She said.

'You don't understand Gin, I felt like I was him. I – I.' He closed his eyes so as not to see her reaction 'I almost killed them. I wanted to kill them.'

'By almost though, what your saying is you didn't.'

'I know, that's only because Leanne stopped me. I had disarmed and wounded both of them. I was about to cross the line. I was about to kill them when she got there and told me to stop. I was so close Ginny, I was so close to becoming like him, like Voldemort.'

Ginny's face became harsh 'Never, I repeat never, compare yourself to Tom Riddle Harry.' He tried to interrupt. 'NO! I don't care how similar your abilities are, you are not the same men. You are nothing like him. I should know, I know you both pretty well remember?' He shuddered at the memory of the diary.

She continued in a harsh tone 'I've had him in my head too. Being angry doesn't make you Voldemort.' Her demeanour softened then 'You aren't him Harry. You don't have it in you to be him. You may have felt the anger, you may even have wanted to release it but you wouldn't have done. You're not him Harry, you never will be.'

'How can you be so sure?' he asked desperately.

She smiled 'There's too much good in you, there's something in you that he never had, and you already know what that is. I fell under Tom Riddle's spell in my first year. You've never had me under a spell, just being you was enough. Just Harry.'

'Just Harry.' He mimicked under his breath.

'Just Harry.' She repeated smiling brilliantly. Something about being called just Harry – not the chosen one, not the boy who lived, just Harry – and then being accepted for it made him feel considerably lighter.

I don't know how she can still accept me after all this. What would I do without her? 'You're brilliant you know that?'

'I know, it's my curse.' She said, whipping her hair around so the light reflected brilliantly from it. He smiled his first true smile since the raid, mesmerised by the sight of her. 'There we go, now was that so hard? I mean you were even worse than normal broody Harry.'

'I suppose I was wasn't I.' He chuffed.

'I know you're struggling with what you almost did. Don't dwell on it though, you didn't cross that line Harry. I don't think any worse of you for it.'

'I love you, you know that?'

'I know, and I love you too. Now I'm pretty sure Mom is cooking up a feast why don't you go over. I know they are all worried about you.'

'Yeah I might just do that. I wish you could be here too.'

'So do I. Christmas isn't that far away though. Then it won't be long until I'm done and I'm out of here!'

Harry grinned 'I can't wait, the Quidditch league won't know what hit it.'

'Damn right it won't. I love you Harry and I always will. Do me a favour though, don't leave me hanging after a mission like you did? I've been worried sick.'

'I won't I was just unsure whether I could face you. I don't feel like myself.' He mumbled.

'I know, you can always tell me though Harry.'

'I know, I love you.'

She waved 'Bye Harry, speak to you tomorrow yeah?'

'Definitely, Bye Gin.' He gave her a wave of his own and dropped the connection.

On Thursday Harry returned to work in much higher spirits than he left. When he arrived at the Burrow for dinner after talking to Ginny, Molly refused to let him leave and forced him (almost at wand point) to stay with them.

Normally he would have hated the attention, but he was warmed by the fact they wouldn't abandon him. Molly's cooking was amazing as always and being around family helped him to cope. They hadn't judged him for what he wanted to do, merely accepted it and offered their support without suffocating him.

Harry had barely sat down at his desk when he was interrupted from taking a long swig of his coffee. 'Hey Harry, how are you feeling?' Asked Trott, there was still concern in her voice although not as much as the night of the raid.

'Morning Leanne, yeah I feel loads better. Thanks for the time off yesterday It was good to be with family.' He said with a small smile and a gesture at the group of Weasleys on his wall.

'It's no problem. Now come on, that coffee's going to have to be to go, we've got to look over the headquarters.' Harry stood and followed her to the apparation point 'The prisoners were all processed yesterday and O'Manda is leading up the interviewing team.'

'What about the people in St Mungos?'

Trott frowned and rubbed her eyes 'There are no further deaths, however, it looks as though the man bitten will turn into a full werewolf.'

'Shit!' Harry exclaimed 'That potion has just made this about a thousand times worse!'

'I know, now they can change when they want.'

'It's worse than that though, it must have elements of the wolfsbane potion in. I think Priory was in his right mind when he transformed.'

A look of shock wrote itself over the blonde witch's face, she paled considerably 'What makes you say that?'

'He seemed sharper than the werewolves I fought in Hogsmeade. It was like he knew how to fight, not just randomly hacking away like an animal. Then when another wizard turned up to help him, Priory was ordered to leave and he listened.'

'Have you included all this in your report?'

'Yeah it's all in there.'

'OK, we'll look at that later.' Harry suddenly had an idea and sent of a Patronus. 'Who was that to?'

'Dave, I reckon he will want to know about the Wizard I was chasing before I met the Carrows. It'll be worth asking them about him.'

Harry walked into the hideout and took notice of the small forensic team which were trying to match the magical signatures of known Death Eaters and other wanted criminals to the site. This was a tough task and not entirely accurate as the magical signatures of each person become tangled with each other.

The two Aurors walked straight through the room towards Priory's office. Upon entering, Trott banished the large map on the wall to the evidence room at the ministry.

Harry took a look inside the draws with the same eagerness that Ron attacks his Sunday Lunch. 'You've been itching to get in those haven't you?' Asked Trott with an amused expression.

'Yeah, it's been killing me, you know?' he rubbed his hands together 'Hopefully we'll find something useful.'

Trott snorted at the eager expression on his face 'You know curiosity killed the cat don't you Potter?'

He mocked an aghast expression 'It can also save lives though. Besides cats have nine lives, so I reckon I've got a few in the bank.' He turned away from his companion and decided to finally satisfy some of his curiosity.

He removed a few sheets of paper that looked like instructions to a potion and sent them to the evidence room. There were also some books on werewolf transformations and research behind lycanthropy. I suppose they needed these to activate the gene that causes the transformation.

He was at the bottom of the last draw when he noticed a letter. He unfolded and read it, with Trott peering over his shoulder.

Younis

You have been made. The Aurors are planning a raid, we do not want anyone caught and we definitely don't want any of our plans for the Lycan potion to get in their hands.

You are to return and leave Britain behind. Bring the faithful with you, kill or leave behind anyone else.

Do not attempt to fight them, they are more prepared than before and we want to remain in the shadows. We are not ready to be outed to the world.

If you stay and fight there will be consequences regardless of whether you win or lose. Our employer will not be happy. Do not disappoint us.

Regards

T.B.

'It seems like Younis doesn't handle orders well.' Mused Trott.

'Either that or this was planted.' Said Harry darkly, remembering vividly the last time he was hoodwinked by something like this.

'Hmmm, do you really think that's possible?'

'It's something we should consider. They would want to cause confusion to make us turn on each other, so the line about knowing about the raid could be to do that.'

'Maybe, either that or we do have a mole.'

'Can you make a list of people who you trust without question in the department?'

'Yeah, it'll be short though.'

'Add Kingsley and Neville to that list and organise a meeting with them on Sunday midday at 12 Grimmauld Place' he wrote the address down on a scrap piece of parchment as he spoke to her 'show them this, it will get them through the Fidelius Charm.'

'Why not just in the office?'

'Well for a start off if there is a mole we don't want them to know we're onto them by holding a secret meeting in front of them.' Trott made an agreeing sort of face. 'Also, that was the place where the Order of the Phoenix used as headquarters so it's secure.'

'You think there's a mole then?'

'I'd rather not, and I'm definitely not jumping to conclusions, that's cost me before. Caution is usually best exercised though. Hopefully we all agree this is a ruse and we can go back to normal.'

Trott furrowed her brow as she made her decision, once decided she slowly nodded 'Ok we'll do this. Like you say best to be cautious. We still need to run through the usual meetings on this so as not to arouse suspicion. We'll then discuss everything further on Sunday.'

Harry handed Trott the letter to keep hold of and they moved out of the office, each deep in thought about the consequences of what was written. They walked into the laboratory behind the large silver door and walked over to a man in white overalls who was waving his wand over a cauldron.

Harry looked around whilst Trott talked to the man about what he had found so far. There were various potions in various stages of completion. Being far from a specialist, Harry left them to the people who actually know what they're doing.

Deciding that his efforts were best made in trying to find out where Priory disappeared too Harry headed out the back towards the station where he fought the Carrows. As he walked he realised that he had never heard of an underground in Birmingham.

When he looked at the walls, he realised how smooth they were and he started to wonder whether it had been made by magic. Upon reaching the station he climbed the stairs to see if he could find some kind of trail.

At the top of the stairs, he arrived at a small landing with a singular green door. He pulled the handle and stepped into a large room.

For the most part it was empty apart from an old boot which had been flung haphazardly at the wall. That's how the Carrows got here, they must of portkeyed in. He pointed his wand at the old portkey, banishing it as evidence.

That's when he noticed a large painting of a map of Europe, similar to the one on the Priory's office, on the floor.

Again, there were places marked in the wizarding world across the continent, what caught Harry's attention were other markers that seemed to mark other locations. What really irked him was that he couldn't focus on them, so he had no idea what they were marking.

They must have a strong confounding charm on them. I'll have to ask Leanne if there is anything we can do on them. Frowning to himself he stood over one of the spots causing a wave of nausea to pass over him, he stumbled away and sat down before he threw up. Wow, that was weird.

Staying as still as possible while his head was spinning, like the morning after too much Firewiskey, he started chuckling to himself in his light-headedness. Curiosity really did kill the cat. Was the thought that seemed to have set him off on this drunken interlude. After ten minutes he had calmed down and managed to get back to his feet.

He went back to where he had just stood on the map and knelt down before the exact spot he felt nauseous. Going more carefully he decided to run his hand over the spot, as soon as it was hovering in place it started to shake and went numb. Harry yelped as he pulled his hand away rubbing it to try and get the blood flowing again.

I need a way of us tracking these locations so we can visit the vicinity. Thinking hard, he decided the best way forward would be to mark a circle around the points where he could feel the Confundus Charm. Walking up and down in a similar fashion to mowing a lawn, Harry stopped around every place on the map he felt the charm, then marked a red circle around the location.

After he had stopped in eight different locations, all of which were in different countries, he finally got to the end. Feeling sick to the stomach he gingerly walked back down the stairs and made his way to the laboratory, he only made it halfway before chucking up all over the wall. Least there wasn't more.