Disclaimer: Harry Potter still not mine.
A/N: Lots of great reviews, thanks to everyone who left a comment! Please keep them coming! A little bit of statistics: Watching Over Harry has been Favorited by over a thousand readers now and nearly 1500 story alerts! Thanks to everyone who has taken an interest in my little story! Now on to the next installment of Watching Over Harry.
Chapter 34
Ritual House: Black Manor
The walls that made up the large circular room of the ritual house glowed eerily; varying shades of green and red seemed to slowly swirl within the stone as it traveled around the room. The low torchlight cast enigmatic shapeless shadows in all directions.
Lilith Zabini was floating in air about four feet off the ground; her hair was blowing around her head in slow motion as if made to do so buy some unseen wind. Her arms were angled down her palms facing forward in a look of supplication. Her eyes were closed and her face was completely slack.
Narcissa, Luna, and Tonks under Bill's direction set up the ward anchors and spells needed to induce the hallucinogenic state they would need to trick Lilith's mind into giving up the secret to Voldemort's base of operation. The curse would allow the caster to control what the victim would see and hear creating a lifelike representation of what the caster wanted the victim to see. This was similar to what he, the twins and Charlie had done to various Death-Eaters but not as terrifying.
Bill prepared himself mentally for the ritual; creating the illusion could be mentally and magically exhausting if it took too long. The ward anchors around the circular room where etched with specific runes that corresponded with similar runes drawn upon Bill's forehead. The anchors would draw upon Bill's magic and create the illusion within the room itself and not within the mind of the victim. In this way all of the senses were involved which added to the realism of the ruse.
Once all of the victim's senses were engaged he would gently enter Zabini's mind and bring to the fore any detail that could be used to aide in creating the correct look and personality of Voldemort so as to not raise suspicions that what she was seeing was fake. Performing passive Legilimency and maintaining the illusion increased the amount of concentration required to maintain the ruse.
It was also a gamble, if Zabini felt his presence in her mind the ruse would fail and they would lose any opportunity to retrieve the information they needed from her in a benign way. He would also use the opportunity to discover her motivations for her attack on Harry.
Much like a dream the illusion would have neither beginning nor an end. However magic would fill in the wholes by pulling forth past interactions with the Dark Lord creating a sense of continuity that the brain could not differentiate from real memory. That was the hope anyway.
Bill Weasley head of House Weasley, leader of the Dark Mark Killers, and captain of the militia of House Potter-Black stepped into the ritual room and immediately had to steady himself from falling to his knees, the power created in the room by the ward anchors and activated by the runes on his forehead forcefully leeched onto his magic.
The chamber remarkably seemed to amplify the power the runes gave to the curse. Out on the streets of Knockturn Alley he had never felt such a pull at his magic when using this curse to disable the Death Eaters. It took him several seconds to focus his mind and get his bearings. Once he had acclimated to the new level of power being drained from him he began to focus on the matter at hand.
"The Dark Lord commands your presence." Bill whispered, planting the first seed in Lilith's mind. Lilith's own mind would provide the atmosphere and environment the illusion would create. But it was Bill's use of Legilimancy and magic that would cause the runes to activate and then create the illusion.
The ritual room slowly morphed into an ancient Church courtyard, with a large stone archway. Dying and dead trees lined the outer stone wall which was only about a meter in height. The church seemed to have been long abandoned. Bill wondered if this was a predetermined place that Voldemort called her to when he wanted her.
A shadow began to form in the graveyard next to Bill; darkness coalesced around it slowly taking shape of humanoid form. The creature was pale and hairless, slits for a nose and pair of lifeless red eyes, he was a small man which surprised Bill, who like many other witches and wizards believed that the darkest wizard in a century was larger than life. But he did sense the evil that was in the man if Zabini's memories of the man were correct.
Although the illusion looked and had the feel of Voldemort it was through Bill's mind that was linked to the curse that would animate him. Bill covered his head with his cloak so that his face was not visible. "Let the game begin." He whispered.
The body of Lilith Zabini was slowly lowered to the floor and as soon as her feet touched the stone ground opened her eyes. She quickly looked around, confusion showed on her face for a fraction of a second but then was gone as the curse did it's work. She slowly walked through the old gate that was only hanging by one hinge and made her way to her lord who would be in the middle of the court yard underneath the stone archway.
Spotting her lord she approached noticing another was standing off to his side with his hood up and head down. Lilith Zabini knelt in front of her Lord and kissed the hem of his cloak.
"You called for me my Lord?" The exotic beauty asked keeping her gaze downward.
"I have need of you Zabini." The illusion of Voldemort spake.
"Of course my lord?" Zabini replied and began to remove her clothing. A stunned Bill had to shake his self from his stupor at the sight of the woman undressing.
"N-not t-that!" the Voldemort doppelganger spoke hurriedly.
"My Lord?" Lilith asked in confusion. Her master never stuttered before.
"You are here for another purpose."
"And how may I serve you my Lord?" she asked.
"This is my newest servant William Rua, he will need access to my headquarters and thus he will need to be told the secret." Voldemort told the busty witch.
"Of course my Lord." Lilith said but then did not say anything further.
"I waiting Zabini! Reveal the secret to my servant." Voldemort snapped.
"Forgive me my Lord; I simply await your pass phrase to access the secret in my mind before I can reveal it." Lilith replied cocking her head in concern. The Dark Lord, to assure that no one could learn of the secret by means of legilimency or torture added a secondary security measure only known to him and Zabini. It was the pass phrase that unlocked the secret, a post hypnotic suggestion that when spoken would unlock the secret buried in her mind.
Bill froze. He was unsure how to proceed. He had never encountered this kind of security measure before. There was no way of knowing what the pass phrase could be. What was it? Was it in English, latin, Gaelic? He had no clue. This was not good, not good at all. He had no idea how to retrieve the secret, even with Legilimency there was no way for him to trick her in bringing it to the fore of her mind if the knowledge of it was buried in her mind completely forgotten until the pass phrase was spoken.
Bill pulled out his wand and immediately stunned Zabini. Rubbing his face in frustration he had no idea where to go from here. The environment of the room changed once again and returned it to the circular stone ritual room it had been before.
oooOOOooo
Harry and Bella were getting concerned, the hour mark had already passed and Bill and the others had not returned with Lilith. The soirée was beginning to break up and Lady Davis had been inquiring about the whereabouts of the Lady Zabini.
Amelia approached the couple and whispered in a hushed tone. "I received word from Nymphadora." Amelia shook her head slowly. "It didn't work. The secret is somehow protected by a pass phrase. Without it Zabini cannot access the secret within her mind."
"What about Legilimency?" Harry asked. "Wouldn't that be able to unlock it?"
"I'm afraid not, not without ripping her mind to shreds. She would be little more than a vegetable afterward if we went that route." Amelia stated morosely.
"Then I say we rip her mind to shreds!" Bella harshly whispered back. "This is war Amelia, and we need to use every method at our disposal if we're going to win this!"
"But love…"
"I know what you're going to say Harry…" Bella interrupted. "But what other choice do we have. We can't just let her go. Bill said that she would remember the conversation with the fake Voldemort plus if we tried to obliviate her and send her back to the dark wanker he will know that something happened to her and then we're back to square one with no way to learn where he is."
Amelia and Harry looked at each other and then back to Bella. "Harry…" Amelia interrupted his thoughts. "…for obvious reason I can't condone what would be the torture of another human being, manipulating them is one thing but this is quite another. As minister my responsibility is for the welfare of all magicals."
"But she is a Death Eater Aunt Amelia and…"
"She is an unmarked Death Eater Harry, and it would be hard to prove otherwise to the members of the Wizengamot. She is from an old family and like it or not that holds some sway with many in our governing body. Besides we have no evidence that she is anything more than simply Voldemort's secret keeper, and we can't even prove that, the fidelius charm prevents veritus serum from working." Amelia stated in a conciliatory manor.
"So what do we do with her the Aunty?" Harry asked.
"Unfortunately Harry, we lose this round. The best move would be to obliviate her of the last two hours. Most likely Voldemort will discover this and he will recast the fidelius charm and we are back to where we were." Amelia sighed heavily. "I'm sorry Harry but, I can't think of any other solution."
Bella wanted to scream out in frustration. "Amelia what is one life compared to hundreds and possibly thousands that could be killed or worse because we let this opportunity pass us by? In this case I believe the end justifies the means. And don't give me that look Amelia! I know what you're going to say, that that was exactly what Dumbledore had planned for Harry! This is different!" Bella hissed.
"How Bella? How is this any different from what that manipulative old bastard wanted to do with my godson and your husband!" Amelia roared.
"Because, Harry is not protecting the hiding place of a bloody mass murder, that's why! Sweet Morgana! Amelia if we let her go we could be extending this war by years, we have a chance here, a chance to bring the suffering to an end! A chance to for Susan and my babies to grow up without the fear of some crazed bastard hunting them!" Bella returned fire, her eyes glowing from the buildup of her magic due to her anger.
Amelia sighed deeply, rubbing her face with both hands. She realized that this was a pivotal decision in her short term as Minister. If she allowed Lilith to go free it could drag the war on for who knows how long, but could she live with herself knowing she was sentencing an intelligent and vivacious woman to mental ruin.
Her thoughts turned to her beautiful niece and her new fiancée, to Luna and Hermione and then to all the children that could lose their parents or parents that may lose their children. She then glanced at Bella's hands that were resting on her belly as if shielding her unborn children from the evils of the world.
It was a terrible decision for anyone to have to make but in the end she knew that it was the right course. She sighed heavily again as the weight of this decision seemed to collapse hard down on her shoulders.
"Let's get the information…whatever it takes. I'll support you Harry even if it cost me my position later, I will support you. It is the right thing to do." Amelia smiled warmly at Harry even though her eyes were watery with the weight of her decision.
Harry took his godmother in his arms and hugged her tightly. "I know this is more than I should ever ask of you. I wish there was another way, I really do. But know this, you will always have my love and my support. I love you Aunty." Harry whispered into her ear.
Amelia nodded into his shoulder and then pulled herself back together and stood up straight putting on her professional face. "Thank you Harry and I love you too." She smiled and cupped his face with her hands. Taking a reassuring breath to cleanse her mind she turned toward Bella. "Let me send a message back to Nymphadora with the go ahead to proceed." Bella nodded and gave Amelia an apologetic look which Amelia was grateful for. She knew that her honorary goddaughter was just saying what needed to be said and she loved her for her candor. With that Amelia went to the balcony to send a message via her patronus to Nymphadora.
oooOOOooo
Nymphadora re-entered ritual house and gave the nod to an awaiting Bill and Narcissa who both solemnly returned the nod before entering the circular ritual room. Lilith was still unconscious and magically restrained to a chair. Another chair sat facing her where Bill made himself comfortable for the unpleasant task ahead.
Narcissa poured a potion down Lilith's throat that would weaken her mental defenses enough that Bill could slip through her occlumency shields with relative ease, and another potion to put Lilith in a relaxed physical state.
Bill knew that he had to pull up any memory where Voldemort was the focus. Depending on how many interactions she had had with the dark lord this could take some time. The danger would come where he encountered protected memories. He would have to rip through those protections; these protections were usually anchored deep within a person subconscious and were particularly hard to find.
The only means to isolate them was to destroy all other memories surrounding them, in essence you were erasing a person's life, their schooling, family, people they grew up with or loved, everything was destroyed. They only caused confusion and noise while trying to focus on the protected ones so they had to be wiped out.
Bill would try and leave as much as he could intact, but even with minimal damage, Lilith Zabini would never be the same, it was a long shot for her to even be able to return to some sort of normal life, most likely she would join the Longbottom's at St. Mungos for long term care. Bill focused on the task at hand by taking a deep breath and clearing his mind. He opened his eyes and stared at the unconscious form of Lilith Zabini. He raised his wand and whispered "rennervate!"
Lilith Zabini's eyes snapped open but before she could utter a word Bill had cast his next spell. "Legilimens!"
oooOOOooo
Harry, Bella, Hermione and Luna all bid adieu to Lord and Lady Greengrass, and thanked them for the wonderful and productive evening. The Greengrass were given an invitation to come to Black Manor for dinner before Daphne and Astoria returned to Hogwarts. Lord and Lady Davis who were leaving at the same time had given up on finding Lady Zabini, assuming that she had made her own way home. The Davis' bid their host goodnight but not before inviting Harry and Bella to their own home for a more private meeting.
The Potters stepped out of the floo back at the manor and quickly made their way to the ritual house. Their ears were greeted by the piercing screams of Lilith Zabini as they entered the dwelling. The exotic beauty with all her beauty and charm looked like a wraith of her former self. She was deathly pale her eyes filled with excruciating pain, a trickle of blood was seen falling from her left ear and her body seemed to randomly spasm.
Bill Weasley sat across from her, sweat dripping from his face, body rigid. He seemed to be struggling to maintain his control. It is not commonly known but most curse breakers are master occlumens and as a necessity had to become masters in legilimancy as well. The first was to protect their minds against the myriad of curses, jinxes, and spells that were common place in their line of work; the later was needed in case one of their co-workers fell victim to the many mind attacking curses that the ancients used. This skill was used to bring their comrades back by skillfully repairing the minor and some times major damage to their psyche and subconscious.
Hermione seeing Bill's state moved to hold him and give him encouragement. She was quickly grabbed by Narcissa and pulled away from the redhead.
"You can't interfere Hermione." Narcissa told her soothingly. "He needs to maintain complete focus or he will lose the connection."
"But…he looks like he is in a lot of pain." Hermione whimpered.
"It's a difficult process against an unwilling target. Their minds are locked in a battle of wills it is not an easy process. Zabini will be throwing what defenses she has at Bill, and he will be attempting to destroy them as he searches for the memories we need.
Lilith Zabini let out another blood curdling scream and then suddenly fell silent. Her eyes were still opened but seemed to be completely glazed over, her body limp but upright.
"What just happened?" Harry asked to no one in particular.
"He's managed to finally break all her defenses, now it's just a matter of how long it will take to sort through her memories until we find the pass code and then the secret. I suggest the rest of you go back to the house. Nymphadora and I will remain here to help Bill. We'll notify you as soon as we have anything." Narcissa told her family.
"I-I want to stay as well." Hermione stated.
Narcissa smiled at the young witch remembering what it was to be young and in love. An image of her sixteen year old self hiding in a broom closet with a sixteen year old Remus Lupin flitted across her mind.
"Very well Hermione, I will have Hermes bring us all some tea." Narcissa told the young witch. Hermione smiled back and took a seat to wait.
Harry, Bella and Luna all retired back to the house and took seats in the main parlor. The old grandfather clock in the corner showed 12:45 a.m. Harry wondered how long it would take Bill to find the secret or if he even would. It was all such along shot and he hoped that it was not all for nothing. To destroy the woman's mind and not find anything weighed heavily on him, even if she was a Voldemort supporter it was an awful state to put someone in.
The Longbottoms came to mind and how Neville struggled everyday with the knowledge that he and his parents would never enjoy a normal parental and child relationship. Lilith Zabini had one son…Blaize. He had for all intents and purposes made the boy an orphan. Yes he was a Slytherin and part of the group that persecuted him.
Although Draco had seemed to have had a change of heart and was now in a sort of witness protection program in France with Lady Parkinson. Harry chuckled silently at the thought of Draco with Pansy's mother. Narcissa was overjoyed that her son was safe and according to the French enjoying a new identity in a heavily muggle town.
'Would Blaize have switched sides?' Harry mused. 'Would Lady Zabini have switched sides if she had been approached and offered protection?' It was all a mute point now; events had already been set in motion that ended any possibilities for the exotic woman.
"Harry…Harry…Harry! Wake up!"
"W-wha-what is it Cissy?" A groggy Harry asked. He had fallen asleep of the large sofa with Bella comfortably lying halfway on top of him. He glanced at the clock which now showed 5:30 a.m.
"It's done, we have the information." Cissy told him softly.
Harry sat up quickly which earned an angry groan from Bella who had been rudely pulled from a rather erotic dream starring her husband.
"How's Bill?" Harry asked in concern.
"Exhausted, Hermione took him up to her bedroom and his tucking him in, I sure she is tucking herself in with him." Cissy smirked. "She stayed awake the whole time pacing back and forth like a caged animal until it was over."
"What about Zabini?" Harry asked hopeful that she wasn't completely lost.
Narcissa slowly shook her head. "There wasn't anything Bill could have done to repair all the damage. The pass phrase was buried so deeply within her psyche it was completely shredded. I doubt she will know her own name." Narcissa stated sadly.
"I've sent messages to all the family and the others to be here at noon to discuss what we have found and put our plan into motion. In the mean time I think a nap for all of us is just what the doctor ordered." Narcissa yawned.
"Oh and Harry, Bill found quite a few disturbing details about the Lady Zabini, she was quite the… uhmm…for lack of a better word, psychopath. I hope that helps put your mind at ease. I know you have probably been stressing your self about what we have done. I want you to know that I believe it was not only necessary but justified as well." Narcissa kissed Harry on the cheek and then went to her bedroom for a bit of sleep. Maybe she would have a dream about a certain handsome werewolf.
oooOOOooo
A/N: I know, I know it's a short chapter. But I wanted the next part of this story to have a chapter all of its own. So please bear with me. I do hope you liked the chapter though and would be so kind to leave a review.