Chapter 22: The Dementor's Soul

Matt blinked. His eyes were still blurry. He made to reach for his glasses from the bedside table but his arms wouldn't move. He couldn't feel the warmth of his quilt. Had he kicked it off again in the night? It felt like he was sitting on cold stone. Maybe he had fallen out of bed? Why couldn't he move his arms? And what was that red light? He blinked again. There was the limp form of Prof. McGonagal at his feet. No, this was not his dormitory at all. His memories whooshed back to him and he sat up straight, the ropes around his wrist pulling against the tied up forms of Liam and Bridget behind him.

Rodolphus Lestrange was standing by a great stone basin that seemed to be filled with something that was neither liquid nor smoke but glowed a faint blue, not entirely unlike the sampo had, Ceelee just behind him. Holly stood before him as though in a trance, her arms hanging limply by her side. A large black cloaked creature floated over a stone platform, chains encircling its grey scabbed wrists, a pale blue patronus of a wolf prowling about it. Rabastan was watching it gleefully as he stood beside a long metal table. "Sectum Sempura!" he said, slashing at the area that might have been the Dementor's stomach. A pouch of glowing orbs fell out, hanging by greasy black innards.

"Holly, come forward." Rodolphus said, silkily.

"Don't hurt her!" Matt cried. "Please!"

Rodolphus smiled at him. "It's really too late for that." From his pocket he produced a glowing red stone. It seemed to pulse like a heart beating in his hand. "I see you and your friends are awake. I remember you from the bridge. What was your name again?"

"Does it matter?" Matt spat.

"No, not really. Celestina tells me you are a squib. Is that true?"

"Ceelee!"

"He's the first squib at Hogwarts," she supplied. "And no threat to you."

"I don't know whether I should kill you or congratulate you. It's clear the standards here have slipped since I attended," Rodolphus said.

"Carrow! What's going on?!" Liam had clearly just woken up.

"Isn't it obvious, Gryffindor? Or are you as dumb as the rest of your ilk?"

Matt could feel Bridget squirming beside him. Liam threw himself forward, pulling them all against their joined ropes painfully. "Dammit Carrow! I told you we couldn't trust her!"

"That might be the most intelligent thing I've ever heard you say, McLaggen," Ceelee taunted.

"She's such a good girl." Rodolphus stroked her head. "The master will be quite taken with her I'm sure." Matt thought he saw the briefest grimace of disgust when Rodolphus touched her, but then, that was probably only because that was what he wished to see. He couldn't believe she had betrayed them. Had it all been a lie? "Now then, Holly, please come here."

Holly did as she was commanded.

"Please give me the master."

She reached into the front pocket of her overalls and pulled from them the little white mouse and handed it over to Rodolphus.

"My friend, you are looking well." Rodolphus said, and by the mere act of shifting his hand his fingertips began to glow and the mouse levitated over to the table where it lay. Wandless magic! "There now. Let's make you more comfortable." He snapped his fingers and suddenly the mouse began to grow and distend until it was no longer a mouse lying on the table, but the body of a fully grown man with skin the color of milk and hair like dried straw. "Hello, Bartemius."

"That's Barty Crouch jr.!" Liam shouted.

"Very good, young man."

"But he's dead," Liam said. "He died in Azkaban!"

"Obviously the reports of his demise were somewhat... exaggerated. Not for the first time, either, were they, Barty?" The body didn't answer.

"How?"

"Well, it was rather simple really." Rodolphus twisted his fingers and scenes, as though from a movie, appeared within a circle of flames. "After the dementor administered the kiss to Mr. Crouch his body was taken back to Azkaban to waste and die as an example to us all. Obviously, it did not have the desired effect." Matthew watched as the prisoners revolted, a skeletal woman blowing a hole in the side of the island prison and laughing maniacally as the others escaped on brooms. Two emaciated men whom Matt recognized as the Lestranges broke into the cell where Barty Crouch jr. sat, listless, looking more like a corpse than a man. They ducked under his arms and, between them, hoisted him up.

"We need to go!" a large blond man shouted, waving them on. "The dementors won't be held off much longer." Matt watched the shadows of men battling dementors cast in the glowing blue of the patronus.

"He's too heavy!" Rabastan cried. Though it was clear Crouch was so thin even Matt could probably have lifted him, prolonged time in prison had probably left them too weak for even such a small task.

"Then leave him. He's as good as dead."

"No!" Rodolphus ran from under the arm of the living corpse and grabbed the large man's wand. "Sorry, Barty." He waved it and in a moment Barty Crouch jr. was transfigured into the form of a white mouse. He scooped up the mouse and put it in the front of his shirt as the wall blew out and a crew of black cloaked figures with silver masks rode up on brooms.

The scene changed to a large room in an opulent mansion. The woman from before, with wild black hair and heavily lidded eyes, still sunken and wasted, paced back and forth. Rodolphus was seated and Rabastan standing by the door. The white mouse lay still on a Moroccan style octagonal end table, next to a decanter of scotch and a half filled rock glass. "What are we supposed to do about him?" She asked, pointing to the mouse. "Even if we can preserve his body he has no soul!"

"We'll get his soul back, Bellatrix," Rodolphus said.

"And just how do you propose we'll do that?"

Rabastan warily raised a finger. "There is a theory, that dementors don't actually instantly consume the souls of the people they kiss, but they store them, siphoning off their happiness to live off of."

"Then whatever dementor has Barty's soul will starve," Bellatrix Lestrange said caustically.

"If we can just find the dementor that kissed him, we should be able to harvest his soul and return it to him."

Bellatrix threw her hands up in exasperation. "And how do you propose we do that?"

"The Philosopher's Stone," Rodolphus said, taking a sip from the glass.

"Oh why didn't I think of that? I'll just pop on over to Borgin and Burkes and pick one up."

"The Dark Lord has the power. What did he say when you spoke to him?"

Bellatrix rounded on him. "The Dark Lord doesn't care!" she hissed. "He told me to bring Barty to him and he would make the end quick and merciful."

Though he did not move there was a notable change in Rodolphus's aspect. "Quick and merciful? Has he forgotten what Barty did for him? How he went to Azkaban for him? How he risked everything to bring him back? Has he forgotten his most loyal follower?"

"We went to Azkaban too! We were just as loyal as he was!"

"Have you forgotten how many times Barty saved our lives?"

"I remember it was his carelessness that got us caught."

"Each of us played a role in that night."

"Let's say he could make a Philosopher's Stone, or find one, or whatever. We'd still have to find the dementor who has his soul. How long do you think that will take? How do you propose to keep his mind from deteriorating until then? Who knows how much of it's already gone."

"We'll transfer his memories. I will take them."

"And how do you propose we do that?"

"Dumbledore has an item in his office, the pensieve-"

"Dumbledore?!" She cackled. "Dumbledore?! Do you expect to just waltz into his office and say 'Excuse me, Prof. Dumbledore, but might I use your pensieve to remove the memories of my dead friend and put them in my own head?'"

"Once the plan has been completed the Carrows say they will be more than happy to support us."

"The Carrows twins? Amycus and Alecto? They couldn't even curse themselves out of a burlap sack. Do you even realize how mad that sounds?!"

"I'm sure you would be the expert."

"Oh of course! You think I'm mad. You want to rely on the help of the Carrows? Does Amycus know about you and his wife? I've seen you with her."

"I was not the first to forget our vows."

"You're just jealous he chose me. You should be honored that of all women he selected your wife to be worthy of him."

"I assure you I am far from jealous. He is welcome to you, Bellatrix. You know why he won't save Barty, don't you? It's because he feels threatened by him."

"Ha! Do you really think the Dark Lord would feel threatened by the likes of Barty Crouch jr.?"

"You know as well as I what Barty can do. And the Dark Lord knows it too."

"Are you suggesting my Lord is afraid of him?" Bellatrix was incredulous.

"I suggest nothing. He is ready to murder his most loyal follower because he is afraid that someday he will surpass him."

"I am his most loyal follower!"

"No my dear, you are merely his whore."

Rage flashed in her eyes. "I should take that mouse to him right now." She reached for the comatose rodent.

Rodolphus pulled his wand on her. "You'll do no such thing."

She laughed, the sound turning into an insane giggle. "You really think you can take me on?" She reached for her wand.

"No, but we can." Rabastan was standing with his wand pointed at her back, Magnus Rossier had appeared from the right corner, the wand so familiar to Matt, drawn.

"Alright." She said her head twitching. "Fine. Let him waste away and die. But remember this day." She pulled her wand as the brothers readied to attack, she vanished in a puff of smoke.

"It's not working!" Rodolphus now sat on the floor of the headmaster's office. A thin sliver of whispy smoke trailed out from his temple and back into the pensieve. Above him the same blond man lay on the same silver table. "Why isn't it working?" he said through gritted teeth. Amycus and Alecto Carrow helped him to his feet.

"I read that cells can carry some form of genetic memory from their parents. Perhaps the reason the memories won't hold is that there simply is not enough familiar for them to cling to," Rabastan said.

"Does Barty have any family left?" Rodolphus demanded.

"Not with his mother and father dead. Though perhaps he might have a close cousin."

Rodolphus plunged his face into the wispy smoke of the pensieve. Matt saw moments of Barty Crouch's life flashing past. Holding up an award for his father only to be chastised for interrupting. His mother holding him, covered in mud, as his father lambasted him for getting so dirty right before the Ministry Dinner Party. The owl arriving with the news of his twelve outstanding OWLS now his father would be impressed. It was as expected. And then suddenly they stopped on the image of a baby with milky, almost translucent skin and pale yellow hair, cradled in the arms of a woman who was humming a lullabye. His head rose from the wisps. "There is a child."

"That's Bertha Jorkins!" Liam shouted. "The missing ministry official. I remember Rita Skeeter was all over the ministry about her disappearance. She never mentioned she had a child."

"That is because Ms. Jorkins didn't know herself."

"How is that possible?" Bridget could not keep from asking.

"On a house call to the elder Mr. Crouch, Ms. Jorkins became aware of Barty's presence."

The scene in the flames followed along. "You're... You're Barty Crouch jr." she said, with something akin to terror in her eyes.

"But Barty was able to convince her that his father had railroaded him in order to preserve his own name."

"If I was really a Death Eater would my father really have broken me out of Azkaban? Would he keep a guilty man in his own house?" Barty said to Bertha Jorkins.

She leapt at him, giving him a warm embrace. "Oh, I always knew you were innocent! Everyone told me I was mad, but I knew you would never - you could never..."

"In her he saw a way to escape from his confinement," Rodolphus continued.

"You need to get me out of here," Barty said, sitting on a couch in some living room.

A cup of tea was set in front of him and Bertha sat down next to him. "I'm working on it. Believe me, I am. I've almost got enough to get us both to France. I've put in for a transfer. That way I can take care of you."

Barty covered her hand, still holding the tea with his own, "You already take care of me. I've been hopeless for so long, and now..." Though the words and the gestures were romantic, Matt could not see a trace of love in his eyes. There was the sound of someone apparating in the foyer. "He's home early. You've got to go! Out the back door!" Barty whispered urgently. He threw a sheet over himself and lay still. Matt heard the sound of the back door.

"Barty! Was that you?" an older man with a neat mustache said as he entered the room, Matt could see him through the thin fabric. "Oh good, you're still where I left you." He sat down and took up the cup of tea. "Winky? Why did you make two cups of tea?"

A female house elf in a snowy white tea towel with a nose the size and shape of a large tomato appeared. "I... I thought you might have tea with the young master."

The older man looked down at the covered form. "Next time consult me before you waste tea."

The house elf smashed her head against the coffee table, leaving a deep wedge shape in her forehead. "Yes, master. Winky is very sorry. She will not be doing that again."

"Good," He said, taking a sip.

"Perhaps it was the need for human companionship, though more likely it was merely to fully convince her to continue with his plan, but Barty entered into a physical relationship with the woman, the results of which, you see before you," Rodolphus said, indicating towards Holly.

Barty watched, amused as Bertha Jorkins bounced the baby in her arms, humming. "When you didn't return for so long I was afraid you had given up."

"No. Never! Mr. Crouch sent me to Albania and I stayed a little longer to have her where no one would question her name. I named her Holly. Holly Crouch. I hope that's alright. She looks just like you, doesn't she?"

There was the sound of someone apparating in the foyer. "You'd better go." Barty shepherded her toward the door.

"No, I'm staying."

"You can't."

"No. I'm going to confront him. When he sees his grandchild he'll have to accept that you cannot be kept cooped up in this house any longer."

"Barty Crouch sr. was understandably furious."

The scene moved forward quickly as Bertha Jorkins confronted the older man and a heated argument ensued. "If you don't let us go I'll tell the Minister of Magic what you've done! When he sees Holly, he'll sack you! It'll be all over the papers!"

Panic, horror, fear, rage, flashed in his eyes as he raised his wand and yelled "Obliviate!" The force of the spell knocked the woman off of her feet. She lay on the floor next to the screaming baby. Barty Crouch jr. went for her wand. "Stupify!" The younger man lay still on the floor. Barty Crouch sr. stared at the scene. "What have I done?"

He bent over to check the woman's pulse, and nodded, satisfied she was still alive. Taking an invisibility cloak, he covered Barty. He took the baby in his arms and bounced it a few times. Holly instantly stopped crying and smiled at him. He returned her gaze with a momentary softness that just as quickly hardened. He looked away from the baby.

A few minutes later she awoke. "Mr. Crouch?" she said as she got up. "What am I doing here?"

"I was telling you that I was going to decline your transfer to Paris. You are too important to the ministry."

"Paris?, why would I want to go to Paris?"

"Change of scenery, I think you said. Something about a bad break up?"

"Oh! Dennis? But that was ages ago. I must have put the transfer in and forgotten about it. Paris? Really!"

"Yes, that must have been what happened." Holly giggled from Mr. Crouch's arms.

"Oh what a cute baby!" she exclaimed. "Whose is it?"

A pained expression flitted across Mr. Crouch's face. "Her parents were killed by Death Eaters. I was going to take her to a family friend to care for her."

She waggled her finger at the baby who clasped at it. "Oh she's such a love! I've always wanted a daughter."

"Yes, well, maybe someday you'll have one."

"Not likely, with the men out there today."

"Anyway, I really must be leaving. I'll see you out."

Matt heard Bridget choke back a sob.

"Of course, a memory charm powerful enough to make her forget her own child did leave Ms. Jorkins a bit addled. She never did recover her full senses. Mr. Crouch quietly transferred her to Ludo Bagman's care. And the child he sent to live with his old friends Larry and Denise Mills. Which is where we found her. Though they were unwilling to part with her easily."

The child, a much younger Holly, not more than five, hid behind a loveseat clutching a stuffed bear to her chest, her eyes shut tight in fear as there was the sounds of a violent scuffle and two green lights flashed above. Then there was silence. Suddenly a large hand reached out and grabbed her arm. She shrieked.

She was pulled to the pensieve crying as they plunged her face into the watery pool. Wisps of memories swarmed her head, entering at every point. Her mouth was frozen open in an endless scream as the thoughts wormed their way into her mind.

They were now on a street somewhere in London. "Watch over them, Euphemia," Rodolphus said, handing the unconscious Holly over, the mouse Barty Crouch jr. in her pocket.

"As if I don't already have my hands full." the unpleasant looking woman said as Rodolphus handed her a large sack of galleons. An Augury watched from the upper window.

Rodolphus traveled the stone along the tips of his fingers. "Philospher's Stones are ravenous. They must be made through the taking of life and fed in the same way, always demanding more food of its owner. Of course, Mr. Flamel never had the stomach for such a thing. Kill a phoenix to make a stone and it rises from the ashes. Kill a rat to make a crude version. Enough to keep he and his wife alive, though not to restore youth. Fortunately, our dear friend, Magnus, does not suffer from the same weakness." Rodolphus rolled the stone within his hand, bringing it up to the tips of his fingers so the glowing red caught the light as he looked into it. "The funny thing about a Philosopher's Stone, it knows it is an abomination, a violation of all the laws of magic, and thus it seeks the life of its creator most of all as vengeance for its very existence. This stone, this poor creation born from the bodies of mice and rats, has drunk deep of its creator's blood, absorbing his magic. And the blood of the wife and many others as well. But now, Barty, that we have all the pieces. It's time to bring you back."

He pointed his hand at the dementor and red lightening flew from the tips of his fingers, slicing through the sack of souls. The dementor's shrieks pierced Matt's ears and his wrists instinctively strained against the ropes in a vain effort to cover them. Rodolphus extracted a golden glowing orb from the ruined sack, striding over to the metal table where his friend lay, he opened Barty's mouth and guided the orb in. Barty Crouch Jr.'s body glowed red, and then lay still.

Suddenly he took a deep breath. His eyes flew open and looked about. He sprang from the metal table. "Come now, old friend," Rodolphus waved him over to the pensieve, though it was clear from the faint red glow about Barty that this was less a suggestion and rather he was being compelled to motion. "Holly, come here," he ordered, directing her path with his finger.

Matt watched as Holly walked over to the pensieve, her entire body shaking like a leaf.

"Now, then, let's have a little look, shall we?" Rodolphus suggested.

She shook her head. She was fighting him!

"No? Well, we can't have that." He made a fist as though he were griping her mind and threw it toward the pensieve. Her head jerked forward into the silvery waves. Immediately wisps of memories began to swirl around her head. "That's better." Rodolphus made a motion with his hand and wisps began pouring from her head and into a glowing ball of memories. She screamed. Red lightening flashed as the death eater intensified the transfer.

"No!" Matt shouted, straining at the ropes. Rodolphus chuckled as the ball grew. "There, that should be all of them." Holly's body became limp and fell to the floor.

"Holly!" Matt cried.

"Now then, Barty, come forward." Barty did as he was told and placed his face into the liquid. The glowing ball merged into his head. Barty's face jerked up. A smile spread across his lips. "Rodolphus! It is good to see you old friend!" They embraced. "I'll take the stone." Rodolphus handed it over to him. He strode over to Matt and his friends, taking Bridget's chin in his hand he turned it up toward him. She stared at him with undisguised malice. "And I see you brought the Selkie girl. Very good. And the squib. And a Gryffindor. Good, we'll need him to open the door."

"I'll never help you!" Liam said. Ceelee smacked him in the back of the head.

Barty waved his hand, shutting Liam's mouth. "Silence. I don't need you to talk." He turned to his friend. "Rodolphus, this really is spectacular. The Dark Lord will be so pleased when we give him this."

Rodolphus's face fell. "I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the Dark Lord was killed three years ago."

"Yes, he was. But with the selkie girl we can bring him back."

"I'm not certain that would be such a good idea. He did order you killed."

"Nonsense. That was clearly one of Bellatrix's lies. She felt threatened by me."

"What about the girl?" Rabastan interrupted, standing near Holly.

"She's dead. Leave her. She's of no more use to me."

Matt saw red. He threw himself forward against the ropes only to find they were no longer binding him. He flew at Barty Crouch, knocking him over. The stone flew from his hand, rolling on the ground. "Get the stone!" Rodolphus yelled. Matt rolled, regaining his feet in time to grab the stone.

"Catch!" Ceelee shouted. Matt saw Liam and Bridget catch their wands. A stunning spell flew at Liam from Rabastan, but Bridget blocked it. "Matt!" Ceelee cried. She tossed him his wand just in time for him to use his wand to block a blast from Rodolphus, but this time, instead of simply absorbing the blast, the energy shot out from the tip, blasting a few stones out of the wall.

"What?" Matt looked at the wand, and then the stone in his hand. He felt the power coursing through him from the stone to the wand, as though he were its conduit. He smiled. "Reducto!" He shouted, aiming for the pillar next to which Rodolphus stood. It exploded spectacularly, throwing the death eater to the ground.

"What's going on up here!" Magnus shouted. "Hey! That's my wand!"

"Stupify!" Matt shouted, feeling the power flow through him. Was this what it was like to be a wizard? Magnus dodged, wand at the ready.

"Magnus!" Barty shouted, gesturing to the other two to stop. "Hold your fire!" He turned to Matthew. "You're the squib. The one who crossed the lake with us. You can put your wand down, I won't hurt you. I know what you want. You want to become a real wizard. I assure you, with the stone we can make that happen. I know you can feel its power coursing through you. The ministry won't allow you to keep it. They force you to give it to them so they can lock it in some vault in Gringotts forever. But, if you come with us, we won't steal it from you."

Matt felt the power of the stone pulsing through him. Crouch was right, they'd make him give it up. The Ministry wouldn't want to allow him to keep it. It wouldn't matter if he was finally able to do magic. He felt his wand, warm in his hand, for once it truly felt like his and not simply a stick. He was a wizard. He saw all his dreams before him. His mother crying tears of joy and his father cheering him on as he performed a simple levitation spell, he saw himself hoisting the Quidditch cup from aloft his broom, walking the halls a Head Boy badge, a dozen NEWTs with a bright future ahead of him - all he had ever wanted if he just... He felt the shape of the coin Tip had given him in his pocket. All he had ever wanted...

"Ceelee!" he shouted, throwing the stone to her.

She caught it easily with the reflexes of a seeker. The second it touched her fingers it burst into flames. She grasped it with both hands. Her eyes flew wide open turning a bright, glowing red as flames shot from her hands and forearms. Red lightening crashed and crackled all around them.

"Fall back!" Barty shouted, covering his head with his wand. The Death Eaters fired indiscriminately at the students as they fell back toward the window when suddenly there was a great crash. Tip Walker smashed through an upper window followed by Cass Weasley, Liberta Jones, Phichit, Izzy, and the entire Gryffindor quidditch team. Prof. Jones leapt from her broomstick to McGonagal.

"Living Death potion." She unstoppered a vile and administered it to the Headmistress. Just then, a curse singed through her grey hair.

"Liberta Jones. It's been a long time," Barty said with a bow.

"Not long enough, Crouch," she growled.

"Do you really think you can take me on without that old cripple? Crucio!"

"Protego!" Lightening struck beside her. "Carrow!"

"She's... she's absorbing too much of the stones magic," McGonagal croaked from the ground where she was slowly propping herself up. "Someone needs to absorb some of it... or she'll die."

Matt tried to run to her but was blocked by Magnus Rossier. "I'll be having my wand back now." He held out his hand expectantly.

"Not on your life!" Matt said, ducking a blow. He danced between Rossier's curses, but still getting no closer to Ceelee.

Barty was showing exactly how he got twelve outstanding OWLS holding Boots Luna, Creevey, Card, and Wycliffe at bay as well as Prof. Jones, while Bridget and Phichit took on Rodolphus. Tip was proving he was hard to hit, ducking Rabastan's curses as Liam fought on the other side. He must have landed a few of his own because slugs were pouring from the Death Eater's nose.

"Heads up!" Cass shouted and a stone pelted Rabastan across the back.

"Bonzer shot!" Tip shouted. Cass circled around on her broom, preparing for another.

Ceelee screamed, her entire body cast in glowing red. Lightening struck all over the small room. Liam ran to her and grabbed her from behind, pinning her arms to her sides. "Come on, Carrow," Matt heard him whisper into her ear, "let's see what you've got. I can take it."

Power flowed from her into his body. Matt could see him grimacing in pain, but he did not let go. The red of Ceelee's body faded and she went limp in his arms. The stone dropped from her hands to the ground.

"Grab the stone!" Barty yelled.

Rodolphus blew back his attackers with a curse and ran for the stone. Magnus caught Matt in the side with a blow, knocking him to the ground and ran for the stone. Matt was helpless to stop him. He felt his wand twitch in his hand. There was still enough power left from the stone for one more shot. "Reducto!" he shouted. The stone shone brilliantly as its own power was turned against it. Then it slowly turned black and crumbled to dust just as Lestrange reached it.

"I'll murder them! I'll murder them all!" Rodolphus screamed.

"Oh no you won't." McGonagal was standing, braced against her desk, wand at the ready.

"Retreat!" Barty shouted. He whistled and at once four thestrals crashed through into the room. They mounted the beasts and flew from the tower.

"Ceelee!" Matt cried. He watched as both she and Liam wavered and collapsed to their knees, their eyes shut, Liam still holding Ceelee tightly to him.

Prof. Jones was bandaging a large badly burned slice in her arm with a strip of her robe. Card had been stunned and lay unconscious on the floor with a number of others who had been wounded. "Holly." Matt crawled over to Holly and placed his fingers on the side of her throat. There was no flutter of life beneath them. "Holly!" She did not answer, only lay still, staring at the portraits above her with sightless eyes.