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The Light at the End of the Tunnel.
Chapter eight: The Torture Chambers.
Lupin felt the portkey slam them into the ground on the outskirts of Hogsmeade. He got to his knees and put his head in his hands, letting out an anguished cry. Fury, worry and distress flooded through him. It felt like he had failed, he was meant to keep Harry alive and safe but he had failed. The worst thing that could have happened had happened and Lupin hated himself for it. He stayed on his knees and wept tears of fury, disappointment and helplessness. They had come so close, so close to getting out of there but then, at the last second, everything had fallen apart.
It didn't feel like a victory to him anymore, it felt like they had failed. It didn't matter that Fudge gad been killed and that they had escaped. Harry hadn't and that was all that really mattered. Fudge being assassinated meant nothing anymore. Harry had been captured and Lupin knew with certainty, would be tortured. Torturing by Aurors was brutal. It employed many tricks of the muggle world but added more of their own. Sensory deprivation was a huge part of it. Your senses were so screwed up that many wizards could be broken and driven insane in hours. The thought increased the distress Lupin was feeling.
One of the surviving assassins knelt down in front of Lupin.
"That was Harry Potter wasn't it?" Lupin nodded silently.
"Then we'll go get him back." Said the other. "We'll go to Dumbledore and he'll sort something out." Lupin nodded and stood up shakily and they began the walk back to Hogwarts. The only thing that he could see in his mind was Harry killing that last Auror and throwing down his weapons. Even in his surrender he defied them. He killed that Auror as one final act of defiance. He made sure that he didn't go down without a fight. Harry was strong willed and wouldn't break without one hell of a fight. The thought brought a small smile to Lupin's lips. Inspired and encouraged he quickened his pace.
The gates of Hogwarts loomed in the distance and the inspiration that Lupin had felt a few minutes ago died. He had no idea how he was going to tell Dumbledore what had happened. How Harry had been captured. That was the worst possible thing that could have happened and it had happened.
They were halfway up the drive when Dumbledore and McGonagall came running out of the double doors. Lupin stopped and waited for them to arrive. The look of pure joy on Dumbledore's face increased the helplessness and feeling of failure Lupin that was coursing through Lupin.
Dumbledore stopped short when he was near to them. He frowned slightly,
"So few of you have returned." The comment infuriated Lupin somehow. It felt like Dumbledore was blaming him for it.
"That's what you get when you send people on a suicidal mission with no plan whatsoever." He snapped before turning away. Dumbledore and McGonagall looked shocked at the angry outburst from the normally passive Lupin. Dumbledore opened his mouth to say something then closed it again.
"Where's Harry?" He asked simply. Lupin turned back to face him.
"He was captured because I couldn't stop them. We nearly escaped and then he was captured. I screwed up and Lily and James' only son is about to be tortured." Lupin put his head in his hands again and Dumbledore was stunned. He couldn't believe it. Without another word he turned and strode to his office.
He was in a state of shock. He had never really expected them to escape but when he saw that some of them had he had been so sure that Harry would be one of them. He gave the password to the stone gargoyle and stepped inside his office. He walked behind his desk and sat down.
For the first time in his life Albus Dumbledore felt helpless. The wards on the Ministry could not be broken through for at least another two days by which time Harry would either be mad or dead. Knowing there was nothing he could do until the two days were up Dumbledore put his head in his hands and wept.
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Two Aurors walked over to Harry and grabbed an arm each.
"Get your hands off of me, you bastards." Harry growled at them. When they didn't respond he kicked one, the Auror let go of his arm and Harry elbowed him in the face, the other Auror punched Harry round the face and quick as a flash Harry punched him back.
Another Auror stepped up too him and pointed Harry's sword at his throat. Harry glared at him but didn't move.
"Good." Said the Auror, "Now you can come quietly or we will force you. Easy way or hard way. Which one?" Harry said nothing but merely continued to glare at the Auror. The Auror sighed, as if in regret. He signalled two more Aurors forward and they went to take Harry's arms. Harry shook their hands off.
"Excellent. That makes our job so much easier." They began leading Harry towards the lift. Harry looked around at the number of Aurors guarding him. There was at least twenty of them. Harry laughed out loud.
"You need twenty men to guard just me," he said scornfully he pretended to pause, "But then again it took you over a hundred to capture me." His attempts at taunting the Aurors seemed not to work for they continued walking towards the lift.
When they arrived one of the Aurors pressed the button and they gathered around Harry to prevent him running from them. The whirling of the gears got louder until they stopped suddenly and the lift doors slid open.
The Aurors shoved Harry inside where he smacked against the wall, causing him to flinch with pain as pressure was put on his wounds. The Aurors showed no reaction to Harry's pain. Half of them stepped inside, including the one who appeared to be their leader, and the other half stayed outside. When the lift doors had closed the leader took out his wand and muttered a few words. Another panel of buttons appeared next to the normal one. The leader reached forward and pressed one of them. Harry leaned forward to see which button had been pressed and felt a wave of fear rise up in him. He took care not to show it.
"Torture Chamber? Original. Tell me, should I be scared by that because considering what it took you to capture me I don't hold much faith in the effectiveness of your torture." He said contemptuously. Whether it was Harry's defiance or the insult that got to the Aurors he didn't know but a second later he felt himself shoved up against the wall by the neck with a man glaring at him and his fingers tightening on a wound on Harry's arm.
It felt like his arm was on fire, such was the pain coursing through it but Harry refused to show it.
"Do you want to take your hands off of me?" He asked disdainfully.
"You won't be so damned cocky soon." Snarled the Auror. Harry laughed in his face.
"Piss off, what's there to stop me." The Auror punched him in the face, a punch that sent Harry's senses reeling. The Auror went to punch him again but the leader intervened.
"That will do. He'll be broken soon enough." The Auror relented and dropped Harry to the floor where he lay panting for breath.
The lift stopped and two Aurors hauled Harry to his feet. He attempted to resist but one of them punched him in the stomach twice and dragged him to his feet. The pulled him out of the lift and half dragged, half pushed him down a stone corridor to a door at the end of it. One of the Aurors opened it and pushed him inside.
Whatever Harry had expected, this was not it. Inside the room was a single chair placed in the centre of the room. There was no elaborate torture equipment or deadly poisons stacked around the room. Merely a single wooden chair in a stone room with a few torches to give off some dim light.
The two Aurors dragged Harry over to the chair and forced him down onto it. The first Auror pinned Harry's arms painfully behind his back and the second tied them with a coarse rope that dug into Harry's wrists and rubbed painfully every time he moved them. The leader of the Aurors went and stood in front of him and all but two other Aurors left the room. The two Aurors went and stood at the back of the room, hidden in the shadows.
The leader smiled at the obvious pain Harry was in.
"Comfortable?" He asked pleasantly. Harry glared at him. His arms were pinned up high on his back, forcing him to lean forward painfully and his wrists were being rubbed raw by the rope. Sadistic bastard He thought bitterly, you're bloody enjoying this. Screw you. There is no way in hell that you will break me, you bastard. Not bothering to disguise the hatred he was feeling Harry glared at the Auror.
"Very." The Auror was still smiling when he slammed his fist into Harry's stomach and then into his face. Harry grunted with the pain but refused to cry out. The Auror shook his head sadly, as if what he had just done had caused him great pain.
"We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. Your choice." The Auror spoke pleasantly, as if he was being generous in giving Harry a choice.
"Or we can do this the way that will send you to hell." Harry growled at him. The Auror shook his head again and took out a wickedly sharp knife.
"Now, now. That's no way to speak to your superiors." He said softly, as if he was rebuking a small child. The Auror was still smiling that stupid friendly smile as he stepped up to Harry; he traced the knife along one of Harry's more serious wounds, a wound that was healing. His eyes met Harry's for a second before he plunged the dagger deep in to the wound. The dagger bit deep and the pain was intense. Harry fought to stop himself from crying but could not stop one small cry of pain escaping. Tears pricked at his eyes as he glared pure hatred at the Auror.
"Bastard." He spat. "You bloody sadistic bastard." The Auror smiled again and closed his fingers around the fresh wound and squeezed tight. The pain was twice as intense. It felt as though a hundred knives were ripping and tearing at his flesh. Harry screamed with pain and found himself fighting unconsciousness. He refused to break this early, to give the Auror the satisfaction of breaking him so quickly. He closed his eyes and screamed, pouring all the hatred and pain and fear into each cry. He screwed his eyes up tight and refused to give in.
He felt someone punch him in the side of the head, a blow that sent his senses reeling and made him want to be sick. He opened his eyes and saw the Auror grinning.
"Now. Let's get down to business." He walked over to Harry and tried to pull back the hood. The securing charm Lupin had used was powerful and try as he might the Auror could not pull back the hood. Harry laughed out loud.
"Stupid bastard. Don't you recognise a securing charm when you see it?" Harry knew as he spoke that he would pay dearly for his words but it was worth it, to get one small victory over his torturers. For the first time the Auror's face grew angry. The next second Harry felt a flurry of punches slamming into his body, each punch sending him closer to unconsciousness. Harry made sure he was laughing throughout.
The Auror drew the knife again and slashed it across Harry's face. The knife sliced through the hood and cut into Harry's cheek. His cheek began to bleed heavily and Harry reckoned he would have another scar.
"Right." The Auror had dropped the friendly, pleasant act and was breathing heavily and glaring at Harry. "Who are you?" Harry glared back.
"Death's right hand." Harry snarled. The Auror's face was impassive now. If Harry's answer surprised him he took care not to show it. He calmly walked over to Harry and cut open another wound.
"Who are you?" The Auror asked again.
"Death's right hand." Harry repeated. The Auror twirled the knife around his fingers.
"Tell me who you are and this can all stop. All this pain, hate, fear and anger. All of it can stop. If you just tell me who are you." When Harry didn't answer the Auror stepped up to him again and punched Harry in the chest and then in the face. Harry lifted his head and glared at the Auror.
"I am Death's right hand. And don't forget it." The Auror unleashed another flood of punches onto Harry but Harry was beyond felling them. The pain had dulled to numbness and Harry could no longer feel anything anymore. He was too near unconsciousness to feel anything.
"Is this the best you can do?" He asked the Auror mockingly. For the first time since Harry had laughed at him a wide grin covered the Aurors face.
"Oh no. This isn't the torture. This is just the warm up. The torture is yet to come."
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There was an emergency meeting for the main members of the Order in Dumbledore's office. Most people were looking shell-shocked, unable to believe what they were hearing, though a good deal of the women were crying.
"So what do we do?" Asked Arthur Weasley when Lupin had finished telling his tale. Dumbledore had sat behind his desk with his head in his hands while Lupin was telling the rest of them what had happened, but now he looked up.
"We can't do anything for two days. The wards are too strong." This remark was greeted by outcry.
"Albus, we can't just do nothing! The poor boy is in there being tortured and you want us to sit around here twiddling our thumbs. We have to do something. You know what Wizarding torture is like. By time the two days are up he will be insane!" Dumbledore looked up sharply.
"There is nothing we can do Molly, the wards cannot be broken through for another two days. What would you have us do?" Mrs Weasley fell silent. She knew, along with the rest of them, that there was nothing they could do. Dumbledore sighed.
"Ron and Hermione have the Guardians ready to move at a seconds notice. I suspect the DA will launch their own rescue mission if they feel that we are taking too long. Harry has a number of people ready to obey his commands without hesitation. We are not short of numbers, so at least we know that when we can launch a rescue mission it can be launched with speed."
"For now, however, we can do nothing but trust that Harry will not break without a fight. We have to trust that Harry's will to survive will see him through this. That no matter what happens to him; his will and strength of mind will see him through." The members of the Order fell silent. They could do nothing but trust.
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At that moment Ron, Hermione and the lieutenants from the Guardians were sitting in the Room of Requirement around a large table making their own plans.
Samia lent back in her chair and surveyed the room.
"It just demonstrates their loyalty though, formed up for three hours and not one complaint." She shook her head in wonder, "Very different from our days as Aurors." Ricardo Mantela, the Spaniard grinned.
"Si, pero el jefe…" The Spaniard shrugged and looked around, "He has our respect, si?" Seeing their puzzled faces he quickly corrected himself, "The boss? He has our respect, yes?" The rest of them nodded.
"He's got our respect. Much more then our bosses at the Ministry." Confirmed Titus Calartius.
"Well then, let's go get him back." Said Hermione.
"How? Dumbledore said the wards were too strong to get through." Said Danny.
"We'll find a way. The important thing is that we have people down there ready to get in straight away, when the wards do come down." Danny shook his head. We can't have any of the Guardians down there. They could be recognised and then the Aurors would know who they had captured." Ron lent forward in his seat.
"So launch the DA. They won't be recognised and we can give them cloaks just in case." He turned to Hermione, "One of us could lead them and we could get him out easily if we know where he is." The Guardian Lieutenants nodded.
"The DA are good and they are extremely loyal to Harry. They would fight like demons to get to him." Said Athena.
"So we'll send the DA?" Asked Ron. Everybody nodded.
"So who should lead them?" Ron asked Hermione.
"I will. You stay here with the Guardians." Ron thought about for a second then nodded.
"You did better with the DA at Hogsmeade." He admitted, "Yes. You go."
Ricardo grinned broadly.
"So we are going to get our comandante back." Ron nodded gravely.
"Yes. We're going to get Harry back."
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Thirty minutes later the DA and the five Guardian Lieutenants were walking down to the Forbidden Forest, watched by Dumbledore from his study window. He turned to the Order members in the room.
"The DA are going." They nodded. It had been expected. Dumbledore made a decision.
"Lupin and Kingsley will follow them tomorrow. The DA can fight their way through and Kingsley and Lupin can get Harry out with the cover of the DA." Lupin and Kingsley nodded.
"We'll get Harry back, Albus, don't worry. With the DA, we can't fail. Not with their loyalty." Kingsley reassured Dumbledore in his deep voice.
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Hermione and the DA sat astride the thestrals that had been summoned by the blood several of the DA had cut their arms to produce. They were ready to leave for the Ministry. Ron held onto Hermione's hand. He was worrying about her but took care not to show it.
"Good luck, Hermione, I know you'll get him back for us." Hermione smiled and bent down to kiss him.
"Don't worry Ron. I'll be fine. See you when i get back with Harry." She smiled at him again. Ron laughed.
"For Harry."
"For Harry." She echoed. Ricardo stepped forwards and kissed her once on both cheeks.
"Bueno suerte, Hermione." She smiled at him. That didn't need translating. They needed all the good luck they could get against a couple of hundred Aurors." She smiled once more at Ron and then turned to the DA.
"For Harry." The DA repeated it and Hermione turned back to her thestral.
"The Ministry of Magic." The thestral took to the air and the rest of the DA followed Hermione's example. Within seconds they were just specks in the sky.
Ron turned and found the Spaniard next to him. He punched him on the arm playfully.
"Watch it, mate." Ricardo guessed what he was referring to.
"Ella es tu novia?" Ron looked puzzled, Ricardo quickly translated,
"She is your girlfriend?" Ron nodded.
"Yeah she's my girlfriend." They stayed silent as they watched the dots in the sky growing smaller.
As they went to try and rescue Harry.
A/N Another chapter out. Sorry about it being late, I did have a lot of coursework to do (I explained in my bio if you managed to read it.)
Ok. This chapter has been a dodgy chapter to write and unfortunately I cannot say much about it. I can't say why it has been dodgy for that would give a lot away. You'll just have to trust me that it will work out. Without saying too much, anything that you think is vague, or different has been done so on purpose and will be explained in the next chapter. Trust me.
Secondly, before anyone asks, and in case anyone is wondering, I'm not Spanish. I am studying Spanish for my GCSE's, although you will have probably have guessed that! Next update soon, about a week, maybe less.
Dark Phoenix Mortal – Thanks for the review. Never heard of him, what has he written. Is that a good or bad thing?
Jade Sierra Snape - Thanks for the review.
Colm - Thanks for the review. Are my cliffhangers really that good? Cheers.
Anonymousy – Thanks for the review. Him and Mr Attwood. My maths teacher.
Aizan19 - Thanks for the review. Sorry you don't like gore and violence. This fic will have a lot more romance in it soon, but there will be a lot of gore and violence at the end.
The Enchantresses - Thanks for the review.
Dragon Swords Master - Thanks for the review. Twists are good! I like throwing in twists. It stops the story from becoming predictable. Believe me, there are a lot more twists to come.
Goddess Usaqi - Thanks for the review. I enjoyed reading that review; it was a nice one to receive.
El-permenente - Thanks for the review. Cheers. Here's some of what happens to Harry.
Trunks2598 - Thanks for the review. Oh I'm sure! Here's a small teaser, it's going to get a hell of a lot worse before it gets better.
FSI - Thanks for the review.
The Phoenix King - Thanks for the review. I'm glad it was scary. That's how it was meant to be. Here's something I've worked out. I reckon that Wormtail will kill Lupin. Voldemort gave Wormtail a silver hand at the end of GoF when Wormtail chopped off his hand for the potion. What kills werewolves? Silver. Also JK quickly makes a reference to the moon. And we know that JK likes to do things like that. What do you think?
Keep reading and reviewing 'cos I'll keep writing.
Fireboy