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Chapter 8 - I Am Become Death
The mission was uppermost in his mind. Harry looked at his companion, as she walked stiffly beside him. In some ways, she was so much like Ginny - beauty, strength, power. Yet, the similarities made the differences all the more glaring. There was coldness in her that made her a complete contrast to Ginny. Ginny was fire, Daphne was ice.
"Do you want to stop for lunch?" Harry asked. He himself was fine, but spoke out of concern for the girl. They were outside a pub, and the smell of roast chicken was very strong.
Daphne shook her head. "You can go if you want. I will wait outside."
Harry sighed. "No, forget it." Their mission was important. It would be good to get it done with as fast as possible. "You clear on our individual roles?"
"I will distract the guards while you free the prisoners. On your signal, we all retreat."
Harry nodded. She was clear and succinct. How they did their own bits was up to the individual. They were planning to storm into a minor prison, to begin with. It only held a handful of rebellious muggleborn witches and wizards, those who had never posed any real threat to the Monarch, but had annoyed him enough to have them imprisoned.
But every additional hand was welcome. They had to grow their forces in small amounts before they could storm any of the major prisons.
"You have changed, Flint."
Harry was surprised by Daphne's admission. Not knowing what else to say, he shrugged. "So have you."
"Surprisingly, true." Daphne's voice was as cool as ever. "Earlier, you would never stop harassing me for sex, and I would never yield. Now, you seem to be one of the nicer guys around. But you don't seem to be attracted to me at all."
Harry was stumped. Not knowing what to say, he grunted. Flint's memories assaulted him. He had indeed been after the girl in Hogwarts. Sighing, he said, "Perhaps I fell in love with someone."
"This Weasley girl," Daphne said. "I hope she is worth it. You've thrown aside a comfortable life and joined in a fool's quest with the rest of us victims of the Monarch when you needn't have. I hope she is worth it."
Harry was beginning to get slightly worried. Daphne's voice wasn't just cold, it was detached. So completely detached that it reminded Harry of himself during his Azkaban relapses. He looked at her in concern. He had heard from Elphias Dodge about her situation and that Narcissa Malfoy had managed to spirit her away to her paternal home. As he wanted to use Grimmauld Place as base of operations, involving her was necessary, not that it was a problem, considering the intensity of her hatred towards the Monarch.
"It was a foolish hope," Harry said simply, "that Voldemort could give anything but a world of slavery and suffering."
"Yet, so many fell for it," said Daphne. "Including you and I." They walked in silence for a while. "Do you remember your final year? I was in my fourth year."
"What about it?"
Daphne didn't say anything for a moment.
Harry suddenly realized what she was doing. She was testing him, suspicious that he might not be Marcus Flint. He tried to focus and bring back Flint's memory. What he saw disgusted him. Suddenly, he was scared. He was alone in a secluded area with a dangerous woman who had every reason to hate him. He had been careless again, not figuring out how each individual would react to Marcus Flint.
"I took your younger sister's virginity because you denied me yours," Harry whispered in horror. "And I gloated about it to you for a month."
Daphne didn't say a word.
"I have changed," Harry said, wondering how many of Marcus Flint's crimes may come to haunt him. "I know there is nothing I can do to make up for it -"
"There is something."
Harry looked at her.
"I want to hear Lucius Malfoy scream," Daphne hissed, emotion creeping into her voice for the first time, utter hate. "No matter how filthy your actions were in Hogwarts, for some peculiar way, she adored you. She never lost her smile until she was forced into the Malfoy household."
"I give you my word," Harry promised. "Lucius Malfoy will pay and you will be there to witness it."
Her features relaxed slightly. "Then, let us kick some butt."
Harry grinned at her. They were very close to their destination. He waited in his position, safely concealed by an illusioning charm, while Daphne went ahead. After a few minutes, Harry followed. He grinned when he saw Daphne had lured the guards to a corner by giving them a more than generous view of her body, and he slunk in under the charms towards the prison cells.
It was dark. He had to enter the dungeons. He didn't cast any noisy magic as he maneuvered his way through. But he did cast a Lumos, which signaled to the prisoners of his presence.
"Remain silent while I speak. The Order of the Phoenix has been reformed," said Harry. "I am here to free you." He quickly cut through the prison locks and bars. "Here are portkeys." He handed them a phoenix pendant each. "The activation code is Albus Dumbledore."
By the time he reached the last prisoner, the others had left. Harry peered through the prison and got a massive shock. "You're alive?" he asked in disbelief.
In front of him was lying Bill Weasley. True, he looked very little like the impressive curse breaker Harry had met, especially with his blonde hair, but it was Bill. Harry could recognize his face.
"You know me?" asked Bill in wonder. "Before falling, I changed my hair and eye color. I was taken for a common muggleborn by the enemy. Who are you?"
Harry's eyes dimmed. "A friend." He closed his eyes. "This is too much." He picked up another pendant from within and used the charm Amos Diggory had taught them. "Portus." The pendant shimmered blue. "Here. The activation code is your sister's full name."
"Ginny!" Bill gasped. "She is alive?"
Harry didn't want to think about her. "My friend is outside. I have to go. The portkey will take you to the Shrieking Shack. Find your way to the Whomping Willow through underground routes. There is a knot which stops the tree. When you encounter a barrier, keep your mind cool, think about Ginny and Dumbledore, and walk through the wards. You will find your sister."
Bill gaped at Harry in disbelief. "How can I thank you for this?"
There was only one way. "Nothing more than what your heart already yearns. Stay with your sister. Guard her with your life. Don't let her make any foolish decisions. Keep an eye on your sister-in-law. Watch your daughter grow."
"Gabrielle is alive? I have a daughter?" Bill croaked. "Please don't torture me so."
"Her name is Victoire," said Harry. "Go, quickly." But before Bill could depart, Harry grabbed him by the collar roughly. "Don't let Ginny marry Malfoy! They will destroy her, you hear me? Don't let her do it!"
Bill stared at Harry for a long moment, as he walked towards the exit. "Can I take any message from you to her?"
Harry paused. He thought for a moment. Sighing, he said, "Tell her I'm sorry. Remind her of my oaths. Tell her… ask her what was it about Harry Potter that was lacking in Marcus Flint?" he asked in frustration, but then he froze. He was being selfish again. "No, don't ask her that. Just tell her I'm sorry."
Harry walked out and his heart skipped a beat. He had tarried for too long. The guards had Daphne trapped, stripped and bound. More than that, Bellatrix Lestrange was with them, taunting and mocking Daphne Greengrass. Harry felt something snap inside him.
Perhaps it was because of Daphne's willingness to overlook Flint's atrocious acts and give him a second chance. Perhaps it was simply his aversion to any form of molestation. Harry raised his wand, his faithful Phoenix Feather wand. Bellatrix Lestrange looked fearsome. He only had a sixth year education, and he wasn't even very good at that, plus some additional memories from Flint. But he didn't care anymore.
Bill would look after Ginny; he could trust him to do that.
"Confringo!" He used Flint's favorite curse. He liked playing with fire.
But the element of surprise didn't work for him. Bellatrix summoned one of the guards in the path, who burnt to crisp instantly. She looked at him gleefully.
"Well, well, well," she chimed. "If it isn't little Flinty. The rest of you stay away." She warned the other prison guards. "He is mine."
"Incendio!" Harry cast.
Bellatrix simply slapped it away with a flick of her wand. "I have been looking for you," she hummed in a sing song voice. "Your little game cost me the Monarch's favor, Flinty. That wasn't very nice of you."
"Sectumsempra!"
"Ooh, little baby wants to play," Bellatrix swayed out of the path of the curse. "One last free shot, Flint. One last free shot."
"Incarcerous."
"Nice," said Bellatrix as ropes surrounded her. "I wasn't expecting a year two spell." She closed her eyes and the ropes just seemed to vanish. "You have a lot to learn, little baby. You duel like a fifth year student."
Harry gulped. She was so true. He moved to a side for a better angle. "Stupefy."
"Ha." Bellatrix jumped aside. "Crucio."
Harry dodged it. "Confringo."
Bellatrix summoned another prison guard in the path. "My turn, Baby Marcus. Crucio," she sang. "Crucio! again." She tutted when Harry jumped out of the path. "Uh uh. Crucio is good for you."
The third one was the one which Harry couldn't avoid. But to his surprise the pain of the Crucio seemed dampened. He frowned. It was painful, true, extremely painful, but nothing as bad as the experience he had with Voldemort putting the same curse on him. Was it because Voldemort had more power? Or was it because what he had suffered in Azkaban was beyond a couple of Cruciatus Curses?
He didn't know why, but the curse didn't affect him that bad. But he still closed his eyes. Bellatrix was correct. He was hopeless when it came to dueling against one as experienced and powerful as her. Both she and Voldemort seemed to be able to deflect curses and do magic without even thinking.
With his eyes closed, he focused on Flint's memories. Surely, Flint must know something.
"That Bellatrix… isn't she something, Flint?"
"Yes, Rabastan."
"Now don't go all 'Yes, Rabastan' on me. I know very well you've slept with her too."
"Yes, Rabastan."
"She really is something. Can cast a Crucio as nasty as… no, you didn't hear me say that. But if she does have a weakness, it's with any mind magic. A good Imperio would out her faster than…"
"Rabastan, you've drunk enough. Let's go back."
Harry bid his time. He took a deep breath, fiddling his wand. The Cruciatus hurt, but he could tune the pain out. It was nothing as bad as the Azkaban cold that swept through him. "Confundus!" he sent, and miraculously, the pain left.
"Where am I? Oh, Daphne, sweetheart. Here, take this robe. You might catch a cold," Bellatrix rushed to the naked girl.
He had done it. He stood up. Out of the eight prison guards, six were still alive. Harry observed the charred remains of the other two he had killed, albeit accidentally. Surprisingly, he didn't feel too affected by their deaths. After all, his first kill was at the tender age of eleven. He raised his wand.
He looked at Daphne, still tied up, but no longer naked. Then he turned viciously to the guards. But before he could cast a curse, he heard those dreaded words.
"Avada Kedavra."
Bellatrix Lestrange had only been feigning and waiting for Harry to throw off his guard. Harry's vision darkened, and he felt a familiar searing pain in his chest, and all he could think was, 'No! Not again! Not her!'
But fate would not be denied, nor would Dumbledore's curse. As Marcus Flint's vision dimmed, so did Bellatrix Lestrange's. But as he died, Harry's vision dimmed at first, and then became clearer, and the perspective shifted. He gazed into the shocked and disbelieving eyes on Marcus Flint's body as Bellatrix Lestrange looked at him, moments before she breathed her last in a foreign body.
Dumbledore's Gift had claimed its second victim.
Harry was confused. He had thought it was a one-off thing, not something perpetual.
"Remember my last, Harry Potter. This curse will not release you until Hogwarts is secured from all its foes."
He felt cold as he understood the full implication of those words. Did it mean he couldn't die? Immortality, was it a gift or a curse? But it wasn't truly immortality, was it, being enslaved to a different body. He looked at himself and shuddered.
Bellatrix Lestrange. She was perhaps one of the five persons he hated the most, the others being Voldemort, Lucius and Draco Malfoy and Severus Snape. Being trapped in her body was not going to be pleasant. For one, who would believe Bellatrix Lestrange to be repentant of her crimes. And even if she were, who would forgive her?
No, Harry was screwed. He could not return to the Order of the Phoenix. Or to Hogwarts.
"Mistress Lestrange?"
Harry turned his head, feeling Bellatrix's long hair swoosh around uncomfortably. Despite her insanity, she smelt very pleasant. He took a deep breath and reflected. He felt sick doing so, but to not use this new resource pool would be foolish.
Bellatrix Lestrange was correct. He was hopeless when it came to magic. But now he had access to her every memory. He grinned. He knew exactly which curse he would use on the guards. It only needed to be cast once and it would take care of all six guards. In fact, the worrying thing would have been if there had been fewer foes.
"Fiendfyre!" Harry sent, and saw the shock and horror in the eyes of the guards, as a devilish green flame emerged. It took the shape of a grim, to Harry's surprise, and raged from each person to the next, completely consuming their flesh and bones. Something else that surprised Harry was that Bellatrix rarely used that curse. It was as if Flint's affection for fire merged with Bellatrix's affinity of dark curses.
Harry was shocked. He had just taken six lives without hesitation. He took a step back. Bellatrix Lestrange had a sick mind, a sick disposition towards life. He was being affected by it. He understood just exactly what was happening.
Marcus Flint had been a weak yes-man to the senior Death Eaters. Bellatrix Lestrange was anything but weak. After the Monarch and Lucius Malfoy, she was the most terrible of his foes.
Harry closed his eyes, trying not to relish the screams of the prison guards in front of him. They had to die, but not in such a ghastly manner. Fiendfyre was a most painful curse, a sort of a combination of Cruciatus and Avada Kedavra, so to speak. But what had been done couldn't be undone.
Harry opened his eyes. The fire grim was staring at him in satisfaction. Harry nodded and it disappeared. When all that remained of the prison guards was ash, Harry turned to face Daphne, who was completely terrified. To Harry's shock, he also detected a tear in her eye, as her gaze flicked down to Marcus Flint.
"Diffindo," he cut off her binds. He looked at her squarely in the eyes, "I gave you my word. Lucius Malfoy will scream and you will be there to witness it. Keep my secret to yourself alone." He needed an ally within the Order.
Daphne gasped and took a step back, staring at the mad witch in a new light.
Harry turned around. The Order would have to make do without him. They had Remus Lupin to guide them. Hogwarts would have to make do without him. They had the two Weasleys and a Spymaster. He had a new task. He had to learn magic from Bellatrix Lestrange's memories. He had to become powerful, to become someone who wouldn't fight like a foolish fifth year student. He needed to become a real threat to the Monarch.
Being Bellatrix was disgusting, but oddly, he also found it intriguing as well. She knew so much about the enemy. She had such vast knowledge of magic. All of it was now his.
"Who are you?"
Harry turned around. Daphne was looking at him, and her cold and indifferent mask was thoroughly pierced by fear, confusion and hope. Harry smiled at her. He wasn't sure how it would appear on the face he was currently wearing, but from Daphne's sudden stiffening, he knew it wasn't as peaceful as he intended it to be.
So, who was he truly?
"Who am I… Interesting question, Daphne," he called out to her. "You see, the thing is I have never been the same person for long. I have been a freak, a saviour, a champion, a traitor, a corpse, a Death Eater, a warrior… I have been so many things that I don't know what my identity truly is," he whispered. "But what is important to me is to figure out who or what sort of person I am right now… What do I want to do next? Where do I want to go from here? Who do I want to kill?"
Daphne gaped at him.
"Kill?" he wondered out loud. "Am I really beginning to acquire this madwoman's blood thirst?" Harry frowned but then he grinned viciously. "No, just her memories. She does have some interesting techniques that I, the real me, wants to experiment on my foes." Harry shuddered. He knew exactly what he was.
"I am become death," he muttered, "a destroyer of worlds. Now, where did Bellatrix read that?"
