Neville

We were taken down to the dungeons and each locked in separate cells. I didn't think the dungeons had ever been so full. Along with us from the DA there were a few other people locked down here for petty misdeeds. They all looked pretty gruesome with big gashes running down the sides of their faces and huge black and blue marks blossoming on their arms. And they hadn't been caught out of bed after hours, hiding in a broom closet, overhearing one of Snape's top secret conversations for Hogwarts reform, with ten cans of paint and brushes to be used to graffiti the castle. I wondered what would happen to us. There were some pretty ugly torture items down here that the Carrows no doubt loved to use on misbehaving students. There was a chair with nails sticking out of the seat, and a pair of shackles hanging from the ceiling almost identical to the one Filch had hanging in his office. This one, however, looked recently used. I shivered.

For a few fruitless minutes I tried to pick the lock on my cell, but the bars were too closely put together to allow even a finger through and there was nothing in my cell that could have been used as a lock pick. I wished I still had my wand with me, but Snape had snatched it out of my hands when he hauled us out of the cupboard and threw us in here. I'd never seen that Carrow girl look as happy as when she locked us down here. They must have some pretty bad punishment in store for us.

I discovered that if I stuck my head against the bars of the cell I could see into the cells farther down the line, into maybe the fifth or sixth on either side. Craning my neck I thought I could see Ginny in one of the cells, sitting with her back against the wall.

"Ginny?" I whispered, "Ginny, is that you?"

"Yeah," she said, "You figured a way out of these yet?"

"No," I sighed, "There's nothing in here to pick a lock with. And they took my wand, too."

"Me too. What d'you reckon they're gonna do to us? 'Cause there's a kid next to me who looks like she's been tortured, cut up, and then hung from the ceiling for three days."

"Everyone looks pretty beat up. And those Carrows have such sick, twisted minds I know they'll come up with something horrific."

"What were you saying about me?" A new, low drawl came from the corner of the room, which was hidden in shadow.

"Draco, bring that boy out. I need to ask him a few questions."

Malfoy emerged from the corner, a slight grin on his face. "Move your fat bum, Longbottom." He said, pulling open my cell door and holding it open for me. I ignored him as I walked past; looking instead into the corner where the first voice had came from.

He stepped out of the shadows then. The other Carrow, the brother, someone I hadn't seen too much of during school. He leered at me, the flickering light of the dungeon casting eerie shadows across his face.

"Hello, ugly." He said, "Thought I heard you say something 'bout me back there. Just wondering, you know how people always want to keep up with their reputation. Now, what was it that you said?"

I glared at him, but kept my mouth shut.

"Pity, pity." The Carrow said, "I was almost about to let you and your little nasty friends go, but I can see now how uncooperative you are. I believe that to cure you of your insubordination you could go the next two days in here without food and water, of course. Oh, and I almost forgot! Draco, the whip!"

Malfoy came back from where he was lurking in the shadows, holding a bullwhip that must have been twenty feet long. Along its edge were nasty little spikes that looked sharp enough to lop a finger off.

"Twenty lashes for uncooperativeness, Longbottom," the Carrow said, "And, let's see, ten for each of you friends. Be thankful it isn't more.

'Oh, and so you don't escape…" he said, then flicked his want at me, "Petrificus Totalus!"

I froze and the Carrow cracked the whip above me. I winced in anticipation.

The first crack was like ice. I could feel the spines against my back, ripping and tearing into my skin. It was agony, pain unlike anything I'd ever felt before and I knew that if I had been able to I would have been screaming at the top of my lungs. Behind me I could hear the Carrow laughing heartily as he brought the whip up for another one.

Crack, second. Crack, third. Crack, fourth. By the fifth whip my body was screaming in protest. If at any time I could have broken a magic curse with sheer brute force that time would be now. But the curse was strong and it remained intact, even though everything in my body fought for the slightest movement, even the twitch of a finger, which would break the curse.

After ten more lashes I had lost all the feeling in my body. Only five more to go…

For the last whip the Carrow put in more strength, enough almost to make me fall over. But it was done, and suddenly the full body bind curse was taken off. I suddenly fell to the ground-my legs seemed to have given out on me.

"Draco. Put him back in the cell."

Malfoy kicked me inside, slammed the door shut, and locked it with his wand. I slid across the freezing concrete on my arms and chin, and then stopped just before reaching the wall. I lay on the ground and shook with pain and fury. The screams behind me told me that the others were being as brutally tortured as I.

A/N: Review or the Carrows will come to your school (believe me, I have connections and just might make it happen…).