Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters.
Updated 1/22/2021
Chapter Fourteen
Traps
Harry and Hermione Apparate into the building alongside two other people, Terry Boot and Jason Caldwell (who was a friend of Terry's that he trusted). It was almost odd, unnerving and completely normal that immediately after Harry had made the effort to be around Ari (and it appeared that their relationship was going to go back to normal), Hermione and his old relationship remerged effortlessly. After seeing Harry's face (and more importantly Ari's face) she could tell things were better and she no longer had to keep up all her energy to be angry at Harry. She felt so relieve that she was even able to have the best night sleep since she got to Shell Cottage.
For Harry's part, he felt relieved, immensely relieved that things were going back to normal, not only between Ari and him but with Hermione, too. However, it was the fact that he had finally came to terms with his guilt, and once again being pardon by the people it affected most, that made him really relax. Ginny nearly beat him up when he told her, she had been trying to force him to come to terms with this (though only half-heartedly knowing it doesn't really help him to open up) for a while now and told him it was stupid that he always had to put himself through so much pain all the time.
The next morning at breakfast Harry and Hermione were perfectly normal to each other, they were laughing, joking and teasing each other with such ease that it made everyone, expect Ron and Ginny, stare at them unnerved. This just made them laugh more, and that afternoon was spent peacefully at Shell Cottage until they had to leave so they could go to the meeting with everyone at noon. The meeting that followed was very long and the planning took up even more time, and with Hermione and Harry's working seamlessly together again things became easier to manage.
It quickly became obvious to Harry that he would have to take Hermione with him, not just because she was one of the people he implicitly trusted but her skills where very valuable to this mission. Before Ron was on board with this, being comfortable with them going into the open without him, he needed to be convinced that Jake Robinson was really the leader. He didn't bring this up as everyone was making the plan; they needed to get this all figured out if it was ever going to work, and he didn't want to delay them. So he waited until they all got home to voiced his doubts to Harry and Hermione, which didn't come as a surprise to either of them, both expecting this long before now. It wasn't until Ari returned to the tent (they had decided to talk this over in Ron and Hermione's tent), that Harry got an idea that he thought would be a good way to convince Ron … if it worked out the way he hoped.
"Ari, can you help me with something?" Harry asked and then looked over at Hermione (and Ron). "If that's all right with you."
Ari rolled his eyes shook his hand and nodded towards his parents. 'I don't mind and you don't have to ask them.'
"I really do," Harry said nodding his head towards Hermione and she made a face. "If I showed you a pictured of the Death Eaters we know of … could you point out the ones that you saw there …" Ari nodded his head and Harry flicked his wand and all of the pictures appeared on the table. Ari quickly looked them over and pulled out ten pictures, including the one of Jake Robinson. "It looks like you know eight more people then Teddy did," Harry said gravely.
"Well, I spent more time with the Death Eaters," Hermione translated in a cracking voice for Ari.
"Hm …" Harry frowned by what Ari 'said', and not liking the fact of the way he stated (well signed) it so nonchalantly. "Out of all the people here … who seem to be in command?"
"Ah … is that what you are after?" Ron said shaking his head and looking skeptically at Harry, who just nodded as a replied.
Ari shrugged and pointed to Jake Robinson, who was the unnoticeable Death Eater that was holding him captive. 'I'm not sure, but I think that he was.'
"Why?" Ron said frowning.
Ari made a series of hand gestured, signs, and pointed looks and it took awhile to communicate, but Hermione was eventually able to translate it. "I'm not sure, it was this guy (Ari had been pointing to the Death Eater that was with him the most during his torture) that I … er … saw most and tortured me (Hermione had a hard time saying that) but this guy (pointing at Jake) at first seem so inconspicuous, but I felt weird near him, like he was putting something on … and at the end … he seemed like he was the one giving orders."
"Is that good enough for you?" Harry asked Ron, this should be more than enough to make this clear to him.
"Unfortunately," Ron sighed. "Fine, I guess I'm on board with this … thanks Arthur."
And now they were walking in the large building (that at least twenty people should be working in but it appeared to be completely empty) waiting for the pop to indicate someone else Apparating. Harry could tell this was indeed a trap, every instinct in him was telling him it was one, but he still got himself ready to ambush the ones that were supposed to come, Hermione right by his side. Neither one of them saw it coming … the spell that hit each of them in the back.
"It was so nice of you to drop in," a cheerful voice said from one of the corners of the room. It was hard for either Harry or Hermione to register this, they where both recovering from being stunned. "I was almost expecting you to realize that this was a trap … it was a little too obvious to me, but Dolohov thought it would be safe … that you would never figure it out," the voice added now sounding disappointed.
"Where are we?" Harry said finally getting up (and helped Hermione up too) and looked at who was talking to him.
"In one of the offices in this building," the man, they recognized as Jake Robinson, said. "It was easy enough to clear, a few displacement charms and no one came near the place."
"And you just let them walk away … you didn't kill then?" Harry asked.
"What's the point in slaughtering defenseless people … they wouldn't have put up a fight," Jake said causally, waving his hand.
"So, am I speaking to the leader of this little army?" Harry said.
"Don't play games with me, Harry," Jake said again disappoint but now there was something almost fanatic and superior about him. "You knew as soon as you got those records you were after last week who I was … I supposed the want-to-be a good guy now gave them to you like I planned. He really was quite secretive about it though, not one of my Death Eaters will ever think of suspecting him … Anyways, where was I … ah yes, I knew you wouldn't have bothered with this place if you didn't think I was the leader so …"
"What do you want?" Harry interrupted; he didn't like the way this guy kept blabbing.
"Come now Harry, there is an order to things … I can't go to the end when you don't know the beginning," Jake shook his head.
"And why would you tell me any of this?" Harry asked starting to really hate this guy and his confusing way with dealing with things.
"How will you ever hope to defeat me if you don't understand me, Harry?" Jake nodded his head again, sounding serious and sincere, as Harry and Hermione exchanged a shocked look. "Aren't you wondering how such an average person became the leader of the Death Eaters? How I got everyone to follow me?
"I never tried at school," Jake continued as if they had agreed with him though they didn't give any indication that they cared. "I didn't see the point other than to make my father happy … and it was more fun to see him yell at me for my 'Acceptable' grades. I contemplated getting straight 'Outstanding' on my N.E.W.T's; it would have been so amusing to see the astounding looks on everyone's faces (and I would guess they would all think I cheated) but I work too hard at fading into the background to blow this on a mere whim.
"As soon as I was finished with school I knew what I had to do; I needed a good fight and the idea of taking you on really appealed to me. However, I also knew that it wasn't as simple as that; you wouldn't be alone and I needed an army if I was ever going to really beat you. It wasn't easy getting people to follow me, who would want to follow someone that can't excel in any subject and was just a young punk," Jake smirked at that, finding amusement in the memories. "I knew the Death Eaters would be the easiest to convince, and as soon as I convinced one, I would have them all in no time. It was almost too easy, all I had to do was show them how capable I was … that none of them could defeat me and they all fell in line to rally for my cause. They think I wanted to cast out all the … what was it, oh yes 'undesirables' from our community. You were the top of the list, Hermione," he added smiling pleasantly at her (like he thought that would be good news or something).
"The next group was nearly as easy …" Jake said though his voice was a little bored now. "Now I had some followers people believed me (in me) more readily and I hardly had to say a word to convince them to fight for me. You know Harry you really shouldn't have persecuted the pure bloods, mainly the rich pure bloods, so much. There are a lot of powerful and influential people that are not pleased that you keep cutting their power and influence. And then they are many up starters that were excited and hopeful at the end of the war (and with some of your new laws) that they would get a chance they always wanted only to be disappoint that they would only get so much …"
"Did you get anyone that didn't starve for power?" Harry spat bitterly.
"Not really," Jake smiled. "It was the easiest means to go by … which I normally would hate to do but I really couldn't bother waiting any longer on building an army … I wanted to fight you. You were such an easy target too. Everyone could see the value in having you killed," Jake smile broaden even more after that sentence.
"And what was your reason for killing me," Harry said glaring at him (no fear showing in his eyes).
"You would put up the most challenge," Jake said his eyes expanding as wide as they could go making him look insane. "You asked before what I want … why am I doing this? I'm doing this because it's fun … the ultimate challenge. Not only are you capable of escaping any situation, which I knew before from what all the Death Eaters said, but was quite pleased to see how you implement it to this situation, but you were also someone that could raise an army against me in no time. Think about it Harry, how many people could come up with fifty odd 'solders' in three weeks, not to mention doing it while they're hiding out for the most part. And that's only the people that you know you can trust … you have so many more people just dying to help you.
"And then you have people like her," Jake said now giving his full attention to Hermione. "I thought for sure there would have been some deaths at the Ministry attack, not Harry's of course, no that would have been rather disappointing if he was to die so easily … but your defense was more brilliant than I would have guess?"
"What you didn't think a 'Mudblood'," Harry said spitting out the word bitterly. "Could have done something so brilliant?"
"Harry, I thought you understood me better than that," Jake said rolling his eyes. "I don't care if someone is a Muggle-born or their blood status at all or even what species they belong to. I'm not a Death Eater, at least not in the sense of what that meant in the last war. I know that none of that really matters … it doesn't determine how strong or weak someone is. Besides, not one of my people has any doubts about Hermione's skill … they would be beyond stupid if they did.
"Anyways … I see myself as an agent of chaos," Jake said suddenly smiling, looking quite insane again. "The point of this whole thing for me was to see if I could do it. My goal is merely to flip this word on its head and the first and most important step is getting rid of you, the heart of the rebellion."
"It won't stop anyone from standing up against you," Harry said defiantly.
"I know, but I image that once you're gone, the world will become mine in no time," Jake shrugged.
"And what do you do after you get rid of me and you win this stupid war of yours?" Harry asked; there was a note of confusion in his voice.
"Yes, you're starting to understand," Jake smiled at him happily (not looking quite as insane for a few seconds). "Once I get there … if I get there … I'm still not sure if I'm really going to win this," he added in excitement and Harry and Hermione exchanged another uneasy look; didn't he already have them … what was with all this explanation anyways. "I'll likely turn around and fight the Death Eaters … they should be the strongest opponents after our world will be left in ruins.
"None of them know this of course," Jake continued. "Well I'm sure Lisa does … I might allow her to join me … it would be a shame to have to fight her … but she might not like that I'll have to fight Mark … he will be the most interesting fight," he was now talking excitedly to himself, seeming to forget that anyone else was in the room. "I'll have to attack a group first … their shock of betrayal should be more than enough to suffice …"
"You're insane," Harry said getting Jake's attention again; he didn't care to hear more about Jake's crazy plan.
"Probably, though I'm sure you would think that about all Death Eaters so that's not really saying anything," Jake laughed and then added more seriously. "But now I think it's about time to get down to business. You must be wondering why I told you all this … I mean shouldn't I have just killed you and stop with all this monologuing. Well, you see, I thought that since you believed that information is the key to defeating me I would allow you to find out more about me … to learn that you really can't defeat me even if you stop me, I'm having fun playing the game. I anticipate our next fight will be more entertaining for, you see, I'm going to let you go, Harry … this game is much too fun to end so quickly."
"This isn't a game you bastard," Harry shouted, trying to take a lunge at him but discovered that he couldn't move at all.
"Calm down Harry, that won't help," Jake said. "Besides, you haven't even heard the most troubling part of coming here today yet. I can't let you walk out of here unscathed, you're going to have to pay the forfeit first … it's too bad you didn't bring Ron with you … I would have preferred to have to kill him," he was now pointing his wand at Hermione. "This really is too bad, that I have to kill you, you really are the most entertaining of my opponents, and quite impressive with all the ways you have come up with to avoid all of my attempts. I contemplated making you insane like I did with Arthur but …"
"Don't you dare say his name," Hermione shouted glaring at him beyond angry now.
"It was really too bad about him," Jake sighed and it actually sounded like he meant it. "My Death Eaters demanded blood and they really didn't like the boy. I had to do something and that was the most obvious choice. But you should know that he was brave up until the end," he kept going on sounding sincere and not teasing at all (and Hermione kept glaring at him), though it was obvious that he thought Ari was in a worst condition than he was. "He really is one of the strongest people, at least mentally, that I have even met. Taking everything that was thrown at him, you really should be proud of him …"
"I am," Hermione said still glaring as her voice broke; but knowing that his guy didn't know Ari's true condition was a relief (it would be unlikely they would ever try to bothering him again).
"Good, I though you would like to know that before you die," Jake said gravely. "I'm truly sorry it has to be this way … but it's the only way to get Harry into the game … losing someone that he loves so dearly."
"You don't have to do this," Harry said trying to struggle with whatever it was that was holding him but it was no use. "I'll fight harder …"
"I really do," Jake interrupted still sounding grave. "Avada Kedav_a" Nothing happened, except Hermione was smirking and Harry let out a sigh of relief.
"What did you do?" Jake questioned looking incredulous and … excited! "C_ucio" he shouted and nothing happened again. He looked like he was concentrating hard on something and when he spoke he sounded a little winded. "How did you do that? You took away my r's."
"Correction, I took away your Latin r's," Hermione said. "Otherwise you would have noticed by now that something was wrong."
"Very clever," Jake smiled brightly, a reaction that was unnerving Harry and Hermione, who expected him to be enraged by this. "And you even prevented me from being able to think curses too. This won't stop me you know, I will think of a way to get around this … it shouldn't be that difficult … if there's a way to do it then there must be a way to undo it."
"True," Hermione admitted still looking smugly at him. She knew as soon as she found this spell that it would be useful (and she only had to make a minor adjustment to it to make it work for their situation), the only thing that was dangerous about it was that it seriously drain the magically energy of whoever cast the charm (so Hermione was feeling rather weak at the moment). The other thing about the spell was that it could only be used on someone once, which was a fact that she didn't really want to share at the moment … it would be nice to think of this guy wasting his time on trying to get around this spell. "But it won't help you out today."
"And this won't save you," Jake said. "And it makes the fact that I will have to kill you more painful … you seem more fun than Harry … Now how should I do it … some regular spell that has no r in it … there is something poetic about that …. But then there's always a physical attack … hmm … I've never done that. That should work nicely," he said smirking madly again and advanced on her … then suddenly he flew across the room.
"You are not putting a goddamn hand on her," an angry voice said and Ron appeared out of nowhere a second later and soon there were sounds of a major battle going on.
"I'm impressed," Jake said wiping the blood from his nose looking at Ron. "I didn't realize you were there. How did you do it … no one could have Apparated in here after they did and I'm sure it was only the four of you that were here at first …" He continued to mutter, all the while smiling.
"Stop your muttering and tell me where their wands are," Ron shouted and nodded towards Harry and Hermione.
"In the top shell of the desk," Jake said pleasantly. "And I'm so pleased by your planning Harry … very clever of you. Too bad for you all, my exit plan doesn't have an r in it." And before Ron could raise his want to curse him, Jake waved his wand and the flood beneath him broke and he fell to the next level, got up and started running. Though Ron wanted to go after him he couldn't leave the others helpless.
"This should do it," Ron waved his wand at Harry and Hermione and a moment later they were free to move again, and then handed his wand to Hermione (her hand was stretch out in expectation) and she made fast movement to get hers and Harry's wands and make sure that their wasn't some kind of curse on them.
"It looks like everything went as plan … I told you, you didn't have to worry," Hermione said to Ron.
"Maybe, but I still don't fancy watching the Killing Curse be directed at you. You don't know how hard it was," Ron stated as he remember want he went through today.
It was two hours ago, about a half an hour before Harry and Hermione left, and Ron Apparated to the Ministry alone. They figured that if they were going to have to do this, they would need more than the odd fighters they picked up, they would need the help of the Aurors (they were more skilled and use to fighting like this). So that was why Ron was now marching down the corridor to meet the Aurors, which seeing as he was second in command, it was easy enough to get them there.
"I need to see everyone in the conference room now," he shouted as soon as he got there and ignored the incredulous looks he was receiving form everyone. Most people followed his command immediately, but there were a few people that hadn't reacted at all. "I mean everyone," he glared at the stragglers and waited for them to get in the room before joining them.
"What's this about?" Lor asked. "And where have you and Potter been for the last three weeks?"
"Fighting of course, which you should have been able to guess by all the Death Eaters I've call the department in to take them to Azkaban," Ron said. "Take one of these and pass it on (Ron handed the closest Auror a bag full of clips). In about ten minutes we are going to be transported somewhere that the Death Eaters are going to be attacking. You will need to use a Disillusionment Charm so that no one sees you and these clips should not only transport you there but make you undetectable too. So, if everything works out, the Death Eaters shouldn't know we are there at all. If they do, it should be pretty obvious and we will have to fight but let me make myself clear right now … no one is to fire until you get the sign … which is the clips heating up, you got that. Also, you have to use the stunning charm …" Ron said.
"Why, there are so many other charms that …" Lor began to ask.
"Trust me … it's not the only thing that will work but it's something that we do know …" Ron said.
"What are you talking about?" Lor said confused.
"Most spells won't work right where we are going and there no time to explain more so just use Stupefy," Ron said and then looked at the room at large and asked if there was anything else and when no one said anything he said, "Good, get disillusioning yourself then."
When the remaining time was up everyone was pulled always, except for one person who had dropped the clip and was shocked out of the Disillusionment Charm (Ron smiled at the forethought that Harry had that if there was another Death Eater in the Auror office that he would likely drop the clip so that he could inform the Death Eaters). The next second they were at the warehouse undetected.
The hardest part of this mission was watching Harry and Hermione (and Terry and his friend) walk around in the open. He noticed as soon as he got there that Hermione silently cast the charm that was suppose to make it impossible for anyone to say there r's when they were trying to cast a spell. It took all of his strength to watch Harry and Hermione get stun, but they needed to know how many Death Eaters there were, which was a good thing, because there had been fifty of them. There were only twenty Aurors (including Ron) and six more invisible fighters (Bill, Charlie, Neville, Ernie, Michael and Eric Summers), plus the four open fighters who were now all out cold.
"What should we do with the extras?" one of the masked Death Eaters asked kicking Terry.
"Just leave them for now," Jake said carelessly as he looked intently at his real prize. "And bring Potter and the 'Mudblood' to the office," Ron followed as the Death Eater levitated them to that room and was force to watch and listen to all of the crazy things that Jake had spat out.
"Whatever Ron," Hermione said as she picked up her wand and handed Harry his, bringing him back to the present events. "He didn't do anything to them. And we really need to get down there … we might still have a chance to end this today.
"Let's get out of here then," Harry said running out of the office and the others followed him.
O
He landed harder than he expected but he was still able to get up without any problem. As he ran to the room to where all of his followers were, he noticed that a fierce battle was in progress, it just made him smile broadly. He never expected Harry (and all the people that were working with him especially Hermione) would come up with something this good. He was rather disappointed when he thought that only four of them came, after all they did cast a spell that was suppose to tell him how many people were in the building, no matter what their disguises were (he was still confused and elated that they got around that one). He thought that Harry had severely underestimated him or that Harry was so eager for this to end that he would stumble into the rather poorly thought of trap. "They were more clever than I thought," he muttered to himself. This will be more interesting than I was counting on. That's when he noticed that his followers were having difficulty casting spells, they were unable to use their r's too (making him more excited).
"Stupefy … Stupefy … Stupefy …" he shouted taking out three fighters as he enter the battle. "Just Stupefy them," he ordered his followers and all of them did as they were told immediately (expect for Mark who seem to have adapted to the curse easily; which wasn't good for the Aurors, Jake smiled), though he could tell they didn't like that.
"What the hell is happening here?" Lisa shouted at him. "Do you know how they all got here without our knowledge?"
"They knew it was a trap and prepared abundantly (and brilliantly) for it," he said smiling. "We're not capable of using any spells with a r in it."
"Stop being so damn cheerful about that," Lisa shouted at him and was infuriated farther when he chuckled. "What do we do now?"
"Hm …" he said thoughtfully; he hated this and gave them five more minutes but it wasn't hard to see that they couldn't win here. "We have to get out of here … Everyone …" he started but Lisa covered his mouth, not allowing him to speak.
"Are you crazy … we still outnumber them and we can win this," Lisa shouted at him. "We don't need another lost."
"That's nice, but the problem is we can't win," Jake said calmly to her. "We can knock them all out, but we can't take them with us … and it will be hard to kill them all at the moment … I'd image others will be coming here soon enough … if we don't leave now we risk never leaving and I'm not done having fun yet."
"Damnit," Lisa said; she could see that he was right (and his carefree way was bothering her at the moment). "Everyone, get out now!"
"I really do love how you take command like that," Jake smiled broadly at her.
"Shut up you git," Lisa said shaking her head. "And stop grinning like that … no one is going to be happy after what happened today."
"I am," Jake chuckled reveling in the fact he could be himself for a few more seconds. "Don't worry; I'll play my part right when the time comes … like I always do."
"I know," Lisa sighed but returned his smile, she couldn't help it, his excitement was contagious and she knew it didn't bode well for his opponents.
O
"Damn," Ron shouted, it was only two minutes after he joined the fight, with Harry and Hermione and now all of the Death Eaters were escaping and there was no way to stop them. "I thought we were supposed to set up an anti-Apparation charm … who was supposed to do that again."
"Bill and Charlie," Hermione said. "But it looks like Charlie was knocked out and Bill had at least five people on him …"
"There nothing we can do about it now," Harry sighed. "We need to round up the Death Eaters and see if anyone else was hurt."
Harry and Ron then went to organize the Aurors, ten of which were still standing, to get the Death Eaters taken care of. At the same time Hermione, with Bill's help, was reviving their allies, most of which were just stun, however, there were some that were hit with something more sinister then just Stupefy.
"Some of these are really serious," Bill muttered looking at one particular bad looking body. "I thought your charm was supposed to stop this."
"I told you that it only prevent the most deadly of curses, the Unforgivable and most of the known curses that cause harm, but that it wouldn't stop everything and there are too many curse to block with only taking out one letter," Hermione said harshly, her voice wary and she was really starting to feel the effect of the said charm.
"I'm sorry," Bill said pinching his nose, it was a stressful fight. "I didn't mean to blame you … It was really helpful."
"It's all right," Hermione waved him off and then she noticed the bloodstain body and rushed over to him and not realizing until she got there that it was Neville. He was in really bad shape with small cuts all along his body and he was so pale that she thought he might be dead. "Neville," she gasped kneeling down next to him in a panic and feeling his neck for a pulse and only relaxing when she found on seconds later, though it was weak.
"Is he all right?" Harry asked, he was white as a ghost as he looked down at his friend; and as if he was answering Neville chose that moment to cough.
"I don't know," Hermione said muttering things over him but nothing she could do here seem to work. "I think he needs a healer."
"Take him to S … home … er … your home," Harry said looking grave but he still didn't trust the hospital to be safe enough in situations like these.
"I can't be positive, but I think he needs more then I could help him with," Hermione said, she was now cursing the fact that she couldn't use all of her spells in this room to make sure. "He really needs to see a healer, Harry."
"Just take him home," Harry said paling father and waited until she was gone before he turned to Bill. "I need you the get Strout."
"He's a brain specialist," Bill said but when Harry didn't say anymore, Bill just nodded and Apparated to St. Mungo's.
O
As soon as Hermione got Neville to her tent she conjured a bed and levitated him gentle onto it, and then quickly went to her cabinet that was filled with supplies and got a blood replenishment potion and a bottle of essence of dittany. She first tried to close the wounds with every spell she knew, but there was no use, then she tried the dittany and though it did help a little, the cuts were not healing properly. Knowing that this wasn't going to work for long she then gave him the potion. Some color returned to him, but she also notice that his wounds were now bleeding more than before. She sighed and tried to think of something that would stop the bleeding and all she could come up with was putting bandages on him that were charmed to prevent bleeding, but it wasn't going to be enough (and they weren't even as good as the bandages at St. Mungo's would have been).
Ten minutes later, however, with the help of the blood, Neville opened his eyes, coughing so loudly that it made Hermione startle and come to his side. "Don't try to get up," she said pushing him gently back down. "How do you feel … and what happened to you?"
"I feel like I have a million small cuts all over my body," Neville said in a week voice. "And I image I lost a lot of blood too. As to what happened …" He paused contemplating, breathing deeply. "Everything was going as plan … your charm worked perfectly …"
"I wouldn't call this perfectly," Hermione said gravely; but he just gave her a weak smile and grabbed her hand reassuringly.
"We were warned something like this could happen," He stated. "As I was saying, your charm worked perfectly and we were able to take about ten to fifteen of them off guard … I could tell they were trying to use the killing curse but of course it didn't work and we were able to stun most of them after their failed attempts, they looked confused when their spells didn't work.
"It was Mark Moon that did this, I held out as long as I could but he was able to adapt quickly to his limitations … I've never even heard of this spell he used … Scindo … at least that's what it sounding like what he said. Anyways, I dodged the blunt of the spell but I was still hit and this is the result …" Neville finished pointing at himself, and Hermione pale, thinking of the damage this spell could have done if Neville was hit with the full force of it. "Mione, I consider myself as a decent dealer … not as good as I use to be, but still competent … but even if I practiced nonstop I know I wouldn't be able to handle that guy."
"Then don't fight him," she said simply but she was still looking at him full of concern. "Neville, I can't …"
There was a pop from outside as Harry and Ron walked into the tent and a second later another pop was heard and Bill, with Healer Strout following him, appeared in the tent, too. Hermione raised a questioning eyebrow at Harry for that one but didn't say anything.
"Hmmm … Neville, what have you done to yourself?" Healer Strout said examining his body. Neville had been one of the few people that were completely devoted to one of the healer's patients, even though he knew they would never get better, and the healer had a lot of respect for him. After finishing the examination he looked more grave than before, but also hopeful. "I've seen cuts like this before, in the early stages of the last war … there were always multiple curses on our patients …" Strout said darkly, trying to shake his head of that memory. "I know what the potion is called that could heal him … I'll be back soon … and keep him stable and talking and if I'm not back in an hour give him another blood replenishing potion."
After the healer left Hermione sent Ron to get Hannah (making sure he warned her how serious this was but that Neville should be okay) and when she came they gave them some space, though Hermione stayed closed by incase she was needed. Fifty minutes later Healer Strout returned giving him the potion and telling him that he will have to take two doses a day for the next few days and at least one blood replenishing potion today and tomorrow just to be safe.
A/N: I thought it was important to get to know the bad guy in all this and I don't know, I thought it would be interesting is it was someone that didn't really have a master plan and just wanted to destroy everything in his path and be smiling while he does it (enjoying the challenge all the more when the fight is good). The next chapter will go back to Ari and his struggles and I'm still not sure which way I'm going to handle that but I guess we all will find out in the next time.