Chapter 30

Bring Me Strength

Harry fell face first onto the cold ground of a dark room. He wasn't sure where he was but he knew he was far from Hogwarts and its protection. He stood up and looked around. The room was small; probably smaller than Harry's dormitory. He gulped as he saw through the darkness. There were shackles lining the walls and dried blood on the wall and floor.

It was a freezing cold room with no windows. There was only one door that obviously led in and out of the room. Harry ran up to it and pulled the knob. It wouldn't budge. He felt for his wand and found that he no longer had it.

Harry took a deep breathe and tried to open the door with wandless magic. There was no such luck. He could feel his hands begin to shake and he looked around. What was he supposed to do now?

Quite suddenly, the door swung open and Harry fell backwards. He tried to hide his fear as Death Eaters poured into the room. His scar ached and burned as Voldemort stood outside the door looking at Harry. Out of the darkness, Harry could see his blood red eyes watching him.

"Well Potter, I see you are quite comfortable in this room. My little friends here are bored; they need to practice some spells. We have decided that who better to test them on then our guest here! Enjoy," he sneered. Voldemort smiled and closed the door leaving the room.

Harry looked around. There were four death eaters pulling out their wands looking at him happily. He scrambled upward and set his eyes at one of the death eaters he knew to be Bellatrix.

"We learned some new spells boy. I hope you enjoy them," Bellatrix screeched happily. The other death eaters began laughing uncontrollably.

"Dollor mas alla," Bella said waving her wand. The spell hit Harry and he screamed louder than he ever had. It was much worse than the cruciatus curse that had been used on him. Instead of feeling knives penetrate his skin; invisible knives were cutting Harry deeply on his arms, chest, and face. It was unbearable pain that ended in a matter of seconds.

Harry let out a couple of ragged breathes hoping that the torment was over but that was not the case. He let out another scream as two more curses hit him.

"Albus! They took my son and I WANT HIM BACK!" Lily screeched at Dumbledore as they had an emergency Order meeting. Ginny, Ron, and Hermione attended it as well as the other members and teachers.

Harry disappearance had been sudden and shocking. He had willingly given himself up to Voldemort to save Ginny and she felt the guilt. She looked around the meeting area and noticed how many people were worried for Harry.

"I know Mrs. Potter but we have no idea where he is," Dumbledore tried to explain. Lily didn't seem to care, nor did James.

"ALBUS! THAT IS NO EXCUSE!" James roared. His temper was flaring. His son was gone, probably being tortured at this very moment.

Dumbledore sat down and put his head in his hands. He didn't know what to do. Harry was more than a student to him but he couldn't do anything for him.

"Albus, please! We have to find him," Molly yelled at her former Headmaster. Harry had saved her daughter but now he was in grave danger. She felt the pain as if it was her own son.

"I don't know what to do," he whispered. Everyone remained quiet. Dumbledore had never not known what to do. He just always knew; knew how to deal with a tough situation, knew how to grieve, knew how to do anything.

"Professor," Ron whispered.

Dumbledore looked up.

"Do something. Get Snape to do something; he could go to Voldemorts headquarters and see what is going on with Harry. Please don't leave Harry out there," Ron begged. Hermione was too distraught to talk and Ginny was in pure shock.

Dumbledore nodded and tried to break down the situation in his head.

"Professor," Ginny said quietly looking up at the headmaster, "Professor, can we make a deal?"

Albus nodded to his pupil and waited.

"If you don't find Harry, I will never forgive you," she said truthfully. With that, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione walked out of the room leaving everyone quite shocked.

It was now a week later and Harry was yet to be found. Voldemort hadn't called Snape to his service yet and it was an agitating wait.

Ginny was not the same after the attack and no longer spoke. She could be found crying in bathrooms and her dorm. Once or twice she had fallen to the ground sobbing in the middle of the hallway.

Hermione was keeping herself busy doing more homework; including Harry's and reading as many books as possible. She didn't want him to flood her mind.

Ron, by far, seemed affected the most. He had always been so close to Harry and Harry seemed to keep him together. He was the glue that kept him and Hermione together. He had become quiet and would normally just sit and look at Harry's bed as it lye empty for seven days. He felt no urge to do anything and would skive off classes to sit in Harry's usual spot by the lake.

He had been told the news of Lily and James Potter return and felt anger burn within him. Harry told him about them and told him how much he missed them. All that time they had been here. Now Harry was gone and they were here for no reason.

The whole school seemed to have been affected by the disappearance. People were scared to turn corners, to go onto the grounds, to be alone, or anything else. No one felt safe anymore; not even the teachers.

Many people were thinking about leaving early; going home and being home-schooled the rest of the year in the safety of their home. It was a welcome idea but no one had left the school yet.

It was only a matter of time.

Harry's world was spinning. He had just been tortured for an hour and they left him, attached to the wall with blood pouring from his body.

Harry had changed a lot over the course of a week. He was now bloody, bruised, and battered. He didn't know where he was anymore and had no sense of time; the days came together as one long hell.

He still had on the clothes had worn to Hogsmeade; a pair of jeans, an old quidditch jersey he had gotten at the beginning of the year, and a pair of new trainers. The jeans were now ripped, the shirt was in shreds, and the trainers looked to be five years old.

Harry was matted with blood and sweat. His ribs were beginning to show since he hadn't eaten for a good three days and got occasional water breaks. His lungs felt as though they were going to pop. He was hardly unable to breathe. The times he was asleep were the times the death eaters went to go and kill more people. His eyes were baggy and he had deep, brown colored circles underneath them. He was paler now and could hardly move from his torturing sessions. Voldemort had not personally laid a hand let alone a wand on Harry but he knew soon enough it would be his time.

They had learned new curses, one worse the next. Some entered his mind and mocked him, told Harry things that made him want to give up. Others brought pain to every inch of his body and cut him.

Harry didn't know how much he could take. The time he spent alone in the cell, it was quiet so Harry had time to think. He would think about his life, his parents whom he had seen at Hogsmeade, his friends, and Ginny.

Ginny was the one however, who kept his strong. She told him in his mind to keep going and fight whatever they throw at him.

Her voice was his strength.

"Albus, it has been more than a week since he was taken. We can't leave Harry any longer, Severus knows where he is! It's time to get him before it's too late," Minerva said firmly at the next Order meeting.

Dumbledore nodded. He had to agree; from what the former death eater had told us, Harry was much worse for ware and probably couldn't make it another day.

"Yes, we will devise a plan now and set out to save Harry tonight. We can not wait any longer," he said to the people in front of him.

Lily burst into tears as she thought of her son. She was going to save him if it was the last thing she did. James pulled her close to him and sat, waiting.

"Severus here has figured something out and will carry out our plan of attack. Severus, please tell everyone your plan," Dumbledore instructed. Snape stood up and looked around the table.

"The dark lord is very, very protective. Potter is in a very confined space," he stoppe for a moment, "in other words a torture chamber. It is only used on his most prized guests you could say. It is protected with many spells and most of them are dark magic. Now, we will need to get as many people as we can since there are many death eaters on the premise. I will start out the plan by going there and asking for my time for 'fun' with Potter. The Dark Lord will agree since he normally watches the sessions. Outside, you all will apparate behind the trees and sneak up on the guards. It will be an ambush, they only have three outside and the rest inside. I will take Potter, run and everyone will fight the death eaters off. I can not apparate inside the headquarters so I will need a portkey that will activate at a certain time. Albus you will provide that. We will leave as soon as possible," Severus said strongly. He did not like the boy but he knew what pain he was experiencing and he had seen him. He looked dead but that damn boy was still holding on.

Everyone in the room nodded and stood up. They gathered the things needed and Snape nodded. He apparated out of Grimmauld and to his master.