Disclaimer: The rights of Harry Potter belong to JK Rowling and Warner Bros. I am making no financial gain from this story whatsoever.
A/N: I've now given the story a Mature rating. I suspected this change in my profile. This chapter has got violence in it, and so should the rest of the story. It wasn't easy writing one part (you'll know what I mean). I was tempted to change it, but it fit, somehow.
One reviewer's kindly pointed out that there hasn't been much action for a while. I think I agree, and will try to balance it out. As for plot development, perhaps I remain too much with people's reactions. I'll try to keep that, and still get the plot moving. Got to make sure I don't get you lot bored.
HP Lexicon was quite helpful in this chapter, as a source for spells used in the books that I've forgotten. Much thanks to them.
Thanks for the reviews, that's the only thing that makes writing a happy endeavour.
Chapter 11
Memories
The manor loomed over them. It even looked appropriately daunting, due to it's inhabitants. The half moon was the only thing that illuminated the environment.
Crouched in the bushes a few hundred metres away, hid many wizards.
"So?" whispered Ron. "What's the deal?"
"It seems like the place is empty," Remus stated.
"Could be a trap," said Neville.
"Could be that they're sleeping," Hermione countered.
"You could all shut up and let us plan," snapped Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody. "Speculation's not going to get you any closer to the answer. Always assume that the situation's a trap, and you won't ever get surprised."
"Yeah, yeah," waved Seamus Finnegan. "Something about 'Constant Vegetable' and all that. We remember."
Remus had to hold Moody down. "Not now, Alastor," he urged.
"What do we do, then?" Ron asked again.
"It depends if Voldemort is indeed there," said McGonagall.
"If he is," someone said in the shadows ahead of them. "You most definitely do not belong here."
"Wha-?" Remus stammered.
Moody waited for nothing, and sent a stunner towards the sound. The spell just drifted over the grass.
"Not bad, Mad-Eye," said the voice, now behind them. "But totally unnecessary."
"Harry?" asked Remus.
The figure walked out of the shadows in the trees to reveal himself, confirming Remus' guess as true.
"Hi, hi and all that," he said, looking around.
"Harry," Hermione said. "I thought you were in Eindhoven."
"I came back here to find an item," Harry said. "And just when I was going to return to the Netherlands, I find out of this operation. Can you tell me what the hell you're doing?"
"A mission?" offered Dean tentatively.
"Idiots! Voldemort's in that building," Harry snarled. "I specifically said, no, ordered, that no-one is to be near Voldemort. No matter what!"
"We thought of that," Remus said. "But decided, by majority, to try and storm the place. There are a few interesting things in there. Plus, we have the help of Aurors, who are on the other side."
"Weasley, Granger," Harry said. "I told you to stop this, should it happen. You know precisely why you shouldn't be here."
"We voted on it, and we were out-numbered by everyone else," Ron explained.
Harry looked around in disgust, and saved the best of his glares to Ron and Hermione.
"This is a military team. There's no democracy here. Majority means sod all here," he spat. "I said no approaching Voldemort. That means no approaching him unless I am with you. If they realise we're here, goodness knows what'll hap..."
At once, the manor sprung to life. Every window lit up, and a sound, possibly an alarm, blared.
"Oh, sod it," Remus moaned. "They heard us, or detected the stunner you sent, Moody. Nice one, ol' chap."
"Retreat, now!" Harry ordered.
"What?" exclaimed Hermione. "The Aurors are going to attack. We can't abandon them."
"So we're going to attack Volde-bloody-mort with no plan?" asked Harry wearily, rubing his eyes. "Blast it. Attack!"
They rushed to the side wall.
"Hold it!" yelled McGonagall, stopping the group. She waved her wand and the wall glowed in six or seven different colours.
"Look at the echantments on that," Hermione gasped. "It would've killed half of us."
Harry wasted no time. He looked at McGonagall, and counted to three. At three, they waved their wands in a complicated pattern.
Nothing happened.
"To hell with it," growled Moody. He made a stab with his wand, and the whole wall exploded.
"Subtle," said Remus, sardonically.
"Effective," replied Moody.
A group of Death Eaters waited for them as they entered the new 'door' they created. A spacious garden was what they entered, with a fountain in the middle, spouting water high into the air. No introductions were exchanged, apart from a stream of lights.
McGonagall conjured a wall right between them and the Death Eaters.
"Right," Remus said. "They were waiting for us. Ron, Hermione, stay on the left. Dean, Seamus, the right. The four of you will attack. Moody will stay behind in the left, defending Ron and Hermione, while I'll do the same for Dean and Seamus. Harry and..."
"No time, we'll do our own thing," Harry interrupted as the wall vanished.
They quickly went to their assigned areas. McGonagall stayed at the back, turning rocks into animals and sending them to the Death Eaters. Harry remained in the middle, directly facing the enemy.
"Relashio," screamed one of the eight Death Eaters. The night darkness vanished with the light of countless spells cast.
Hermione blocked that one spell, and sent back a blasting curse. She missed her target.
"Avada Kedavra!" yelled another.
"Mobiliarbus," Remus cast, moving a tree right in front of Dean, blocking the curse.
"Expelliarmus," Seamus called, sending out the red light. One of the masked opponents lost his wand, and a rapid stunner from McGonagall knocked him to the ground, unconcious.
The group of people in the garden roamed around, dodging, jumping, blocking. The wave of arms became a blur. Four more Death Eaters fell down.
Harry remained stationary, oblivious to the madness around him. His eyes were half closed, and he held his wand high, motionless, uncast.
"Harry, be careful!" shouted Hermione, as a spell missed him.
"Ignore him," said Moody.
"I'll defend him," McGonagall stated, and directed her efforts in blocking all spells from getting to him.
Dean fell down to a stunner. Seamus doubled his efforts, with Remus joining him in attack.
Two more Death Eaters were stunned.
"Crucio!" screamed one of Voldemort's followers.
Ron rolled on the ground, screaming. Hermione switched from who she was dueling with to stun the Death Eater who had cast the unforgivable on her friend. It was an error, as the former Death Eater then cast the disarming spell on her. Her wand flew to the side. The Death Eater raised his wand, aimed at Ron, still on the ground.
"Avada Keda-"
Hermione jumped on Ron, still woozy under the effects of the torture curse. The Death Eater stopped his incantation in shock.
"No matter," he cackled, and left the wand pointed on Hermione. "Ava..."
"Stupefy!"
"Stupefy!"
"Stupefy!"
Three stunners hit the Death Eater, one at a time, sending him flying back.
One Death Eater remained. Remus, Moody, and McGonagall jumped on him, while Hermione and Seamus awoke Ron and Dean, respectively.
"Seamus, take Ron and Dean out of here," Harry said, still in thought. "Hermione, find some way to contact the Aurors. Make sure you all retreat."
"Decided to return, haven't you?" Seamus asked. "Could've used your help."
"Sorry about that," Harry said. "Remus, will you join me?"
Moody was just finishing off the last Death Eater, and Remus was brushing off the dust on his robes.
"Sure, Harry."
The two of them entered the main door, with Hermione, Moody and McGonagall ran behind them, intending to follow them in. The three stopped suddenly, as a purple light covered the doorway.
"What's this?" Moody exclaimed, trying to push through the solid light, to no avail.
"Voldemort," Harry said simply. "Run."
"We can't leave you," Hermione said, anguish in her voice.
"There's nothing you can do to help, now," Harry replied firmly. "Flee you fools!"
McGonagall and Moody left, to find the Aurors and retreat. Hermione remained for a bit, trying to remove the wards, but gave up and left, under further prodding by Harry.
The pain in Harry's head intensified. He quickly occluded his mind, removing it, and the tendrils that were trying to enter his mind.
"Hello, Harry," a voice hissed behind him.
Harry turned. Standing right in the middle of the entrance hall, all alone, stood Voldemort.
"Remus," Harry said. "Run."
"No bloody way," replied Harry's former professor.
"You see, Harry," Voldemort said. "Light wizards have no rule, no order. They think too much with their hearts, and not their heads. This werewolf knows very well of the outcome of fighting a wizard like me. Yet he still remains, for you. They'll all die, simply for you. How do you keep such deaths off your conscience?" He laughed.
"Fool," Harry spat. "They die fighting against what you bring. They die for what they believe! The likes of you will never understand that."
"Such idealism," waved off Voldemort. "The goal is never attained. Us pragmatic people realise that it is in power where victory lies. Not determination.
"Enough," the Dark Lord hissed. "You are conserving your magic, I see. You felt our battle coming. You have progressed, Harry."
"Remus," Harry said. "Do nothing."
Remus watched Harry explode. Harry ran around Voldemort with such speed, clearly assisted by magic. Voldemort remained in his spot, apparently unable to stop Harry.
Harry jumped on the wall, bounced off it, and quickly leapt to the adjacent wall. He did it a couple of times, until there was one corner left.
"Idiot boy," spat the Dark Lord. "I am the heir of Slytherin. You wish to trick me with parlour tricks. Sometimes I wonder if I selected the wrong household that Halloween night."
Harry, thinking Voldemort was bluffing, ran forward and jumped. He soared through the air, covering the distance toward the corner. Time seemed to slow, the corner wall approaching ever so slowly. When the wall was less than a metre ahead of him, he raised his wand, about to touch it...
A sharp and extremely powerful tug was felt in his midriff. He stopped in midair, and was thrown back. He fell on his back on the ground, groaning at the pain the crush on his spine caused.
"Crucio."
The torture the curse wrought hit Harry, and with his back already in extreme pain, Harry screamed. Suddenly the pain stopped.
"Perhaps I shall end you in a... distinctive manner," the Dark Lord mused. "Make you an example of all who defy me."
Voldemort raised his wand, and let it down fast, with a swooshing sound. Harry saw something appear out of it, which then quickly flew towards him.
Just as it neared him, though, Harry's view was blocked by a large object, looking up, Harry gasped.
Remus stood over him, and took the brunt of the mysterious object. He stumbled to the ground, but quickly got up.
Harry arose, and saw what hit Remus. A long, thin metal rod was protruding out of his waist.
"Remus," he groaned.
"See?" Voldemort waved. "Your followers will die for you. And to their death, you send them. Behold!"
Voldemort moved his wand again, and with another swoosh, sent another towards Harry.
Remus moved quickly in front of Harry. A scream came out of him.
Harry looked at the rod, and clenched his hand on the wand in fury.
The second rod was made out of silver.
Harry screamed, and sent out a blasting curse. He poured his rage into it, his desire to destroy Voldemort to pieces pushed him on..
It hit a shield the Dark Lord must've conjured previously. Only when the curse hit it, did the electric blue sheild appear for a second, before disappearing again.
Swoosh! Another scream.
Voldemort was now targeting Remus.
"The rage you feel," the Dark Lord called. "It is only normal. Light wizards like Dumbledore foolishly tell you to ignore your own wishes. Embrace it. Can't you feel it's power?"
Swoosh!
"Avada Kedavra!" Harry shouted furiously. A green light erupted out of his wand, bright and large, flying towards Voldemort.
Voldemort disappeared, and reappeared a few feet to the left.
Swoosh!
Remus could no longer stand. He turned to Harry.
"Run! It's not your time," he gasped.
And he collapsed to the ground, five rods, four of them silver, embedded in his chest.
"Accio silver rod!" Harry chanted. One of the rods extracted itself, with difficulty, from Remus motionless body. Harry guided the rod, and sent it through the purple light field. The purple light vanished.
Harry didn't hesitate, running at top speed outside. He used magic to run even faster. He knew when he was beaten.
As he ran, he pointed his wand behind him, over his shoulder, and shouted, "Accio Remus!" He then cast another spell, which helped as he conserved his magic before. Two of the main pillars holding the entrance of the manor shattered.
The foundations of the manor shook. The house groaned, as if in a struggle, and then the roof over the whole entrance are collapsed, and the rest of the roof quickly followed.
Harry was outside the compound when Remus summoned body reached him. He checked the objects that each Order member carried, and saw that they were in Hogwarts.
He held Remus' hand with his left hand, and extracted the portkey with his right hand. He said the password, and felt the pull on his navel.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Harry sat at his office, his pensieve in front of him. He procrastinated in looking in it. There was something... wrong?... in seeing who you were, but who you could never be. Arrgh! It was too confusing. If Harry had his way, he'd toss the bloody thing into the Thames. After, of course, blasting it into a million pieces.
Why, then, was he about to enter the pensieve? Why was he about to see himself, with his own two eyes? A vision of the man he was. Would he like himself, or be disappointed? He really didn't want to know.
Polanar. When Harry found out that he had been working alongside a former Death Eater, he had to find out why. What would've happened for him to do it? Was it a change of ideologies for him, or a partnership of necessity?
He hopped into the pensieve, into a random memory.
Harry fell into a building. The hall he was in was massive, and extremely crowded.
Underneath a massive chandelier, consisting of thousands of multicolour crystals illuminated by hundreds of flying, bright yellow objects, countless wizards and witches, dressed in various dress robes, mingled. Music was blaring loud. A party of some sort was going on.
Harry saw a younger version of himself standing alone nearby. He looked about twenty. While he looked very similar to how he remembered himself, the weary lines of battle and sorrow were gone from his face. His eyes, however, still burned as usual, the emerald colour shone brightly behind his glasses.
Harry observed what caught the younger Harry's attention. Standing by the drinks table was Hermione. She was standing close to a handsome man, laughing at what he was saying, her arm on his shoulder.
Younger Harry turned in another direction, which the visitor Harry also looked at. Ron was seating on a chair, a brunette witch seated beside him. She was telling him something that seemed to be interesting. Ron embraced her while she talked, and she returned it.
Harry turned his head, along with the other Harry. He saw the dance floor, and wondered who Harry was looking at, within the whole crowd. Then he saw her red hair. Ginny was dancing with a dark-skinned wizard, and she was leaning her head on his chest as they rotating slowly around.
The two Harry's looked back, and saw Fred laughing with Angelina Johnson. She was seated on his lap, a mock angry look on her face. She leaned her head towards Fred and stole a quick kiss.
"I'm back," a voice said behind the memory Harry, and both turned around.
A stunningly beautiful witch stood behind him. Her long, black hair flowed behind a gorgeous face. The non-memory Harry gave a wolf whitsle. The memory Harry gave a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"Miss me?" she joked.
"As can be expected," replied Harry.
The witch looked around, and then said, "The party's going to end soon. I should be going home. Want to come along?" What she wanted was obvious. The hungry look she gave him, as if he was the only piece of bread in a barren wasteland of starving people.
The memory Harry seemed to remain emotionless, but Harry knew himself, and saw the flash of anger that quickly disappeared in his eyes.
"I have work to do for the Ministry in the morning," Harry said. "Perhaps some other time."
"Mmm... perhaps," she replied, still staring at him. "Well, I best be off."
Harry watched her leave, and a look of disgust came on his face.
"They're all the same," he spat. "They don't know me, not even my father's name, nor do they care, but what's under my trousers is a mystery to them, and they all want to be Sherlocks."
The memory Harry threw the glass of water he had on his hand to the side, not reacting to sound of breaking glass, and walked, determined, out of the hall. He fixed a smile on his face. Ron noticed him leave, and got a concerned questioning look on his face. Harry waved, trying to fake a cheery manner. Ron waved back, and returned to his conversation.
Memory Harry apparated to his home, with Harry following. They both stood at the entrance to a large house. Memory Harry unlocked the door and walked in. He greeted no one when he entered. There was none to greet.
Harry followed his memory upstairs to the bedroom. His memory kicked off his shoes, and with a deep sigh of sadness, jumped onto the king sized bed, and went to sleep with his dress robes.
The memory ended, and another began.
Harry was walking in a neighbourhood in the night. He was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, making him look just like a muggle. Harry reckoned his memory was a couple of years, maybe more, than the previous memory.
The quiet of the night was suddenly ended by a large explosion. Harry jumped to the ground, a wand in his hand. He turned around, trying to determine the location of the sound. He waved the wand, and found out.
He quickly apparated a couple of hundred metres towards the explosion. He apparated twice more, with the viewer Harry following, and then found himself in a street with one of the houses ablaze. A group of people, muggles, stood at the outside, shouting at the burning house.
"No freaks allowed!" they screamed.
The memory Harry waved his wand, and the group of muggles flew back, falling on the ground a few feet away. He waved his wand again, and the fire subsided a bit. It returned, though, just as high as it was before.
"Damn, the gas must've exploded," muttered Harry.
The muggles got up by now.
"He's one of the freaks!" one shouted.
"Let's get him," yelled another.
"Come!" shouted Harry. "You cowards prey on the weak. Here's your chance with someone who can fight back."
The muggles stopped, looking around unsure. Harry showed no fear, in fact he was walking towards them. He raised his wand, and let out a few fireworks and dazzling colours, accompanied by bangs and screeching sounds.
The muggles turned and ran, but didn't go far. He conjured up ropes, and the muggles were wrapped in them. He then stunned them all to unconciousness.
He turned back to the burning house, and tried to cool the it down. The gas leak, however, prevented this. The fire persisted, and Harry fell to his knees in horror.
A rustling sound occured, and Harry turned. He saw the bush shaking. He quickly banished the bush away as he got up.
A small girl lay on the ground, wearing her nightdress. She couldn'thave been older than nine years old. She was shaking in fear, and drew away when Harry approaced.
"Please, don't kill me!" she cried. "I don't want to be a freak."
"I won't hurt you," Harry replied. "And you're not a freak."
"Help my parents," she stammered. "They're in the house."
Harry waved his wand toward the house,casting many revealing spells. His head dropped.
"I'm sorry," he said softly, his words barely audible over the crackling fire. "It's too late. They're gone."
She wailed. "But they weren't freaks," she moaned. "I was the only one!"
Harry hugged her, and waited until the muggle authorities came. He tried to comfort Clarice (he later learned her name) as best as he could.
When the police arrived, he told them what had occured, not before removing the fact he was a wizard from the memories of the muggles. He did tell the truth, nonetheless.
The memory ended with Harry watching the firemen dousing the house with gallons of water.
Another memory began.
Harry was standing in a forest. The memory Harry looked about the same age as he did in the earlier memory. Polanar was standing before him.
"What do you want?" Polanar asked cautiously.
"You seem to be causing some trouble to the Ministry," Harry said. "I want to help."
"Why?"
"Don't get cocky, Death Eater," Harry growled. "I know of your past, and I'm not allying myself to you. At the moment, we have a similar enemy, and it may be... profitable, if we help one another."
"Can we trust one another?" asked Polanar.
"You can trust me," Harry replied. "As long as our goals, and enemies, are the same, we shall be fine. But I won't trust you, and as soon as things change, I'll kill you. I'll warn you first, though. Give you time to make a run for it before I get you. You will pay for joining Voldemort."
"Aren't you risking your life?" Polanar queried. "You clearly don't trust me."
"And I never will," Harry remarked. "But I've dealt with your master. You will be too easy. Should I just think that you're betraying me, you die.
"So," Harry said, with a bored expression, "you're interested?"
"Of course," Polanar waved. "No one would refuse the assistance of the Harry Potter."
A/N: Please review.