"RUN!" Bella heard the boy shout as the shelves and prophecies crashed around them. The Death Eaters had been taken by surprise. They had thought that the children were trapped, with no escape. When had they worked this plan out? Bella was furious that none of the other Death Eaters had noticed, but she didn't have time to dwell on that now – they must catch Potter and the other children and get the prophecy. Bella held her arm over her head and began to run down one of the closest alleyways that hadn't been hit by the Reductor Curse, heading towards the exit door, as she was sure that that was where Potter and his friends would go. The shelves and prophecies were falling and crashing all around her, but she did not notice. Her main aim was to get Potter. Bella had come to the end of the isle when she saw Potter and two of the others running into the Time Room, and closing the door. Rodolphus reached the door first and tried to open it. He couldn't. They must have sealed it. The Death Eaters were crowding around the door now, all of them apart from Nott. Bella could see him at the end of one of the other isles, with blood pouring down his face. He had gone very pale. He must be quite badly injured. It seemed as though Jugson had carried Nott out from beneath the crashing shelves.
"Leave Nott, Leave him, I say – his injuries will be nothing to the Dark Lord compared to losing that prophecy. Jugson, come back here, we need to organise! We'll split into pairs and search, and don't forget, be gentle with Potter until we've got the prophecy, you can kill the others if necessary – Bellatrix, Rodolphus, you take the left; Crabbe, Rabastan, go right – Jugson, Dolohov, the door straight ahead – Macnair and Avery, through here – Rookwood, over there – Mulciber, come with me!" It was Lucius who had given the instructions.
Bella hurried off to the left, with Rodolphus following her. They opened door after door, none of which had anyone in, nor did they lead anywhere else. Bella couldn't see or hear any of the other Death Eaters now – they must have spread out over quite a distance. She was becoming impatient now. She wanted to be involved in the action. She really wanted to hurt Potter and his friends. To teach them a lesson for messing with her. She pulled open another door. It led into the Death Chamber, which had several doors leading off of it. Rookwood had told them all about this room. To avoid the veil which was in the middle of it. Suddenly, Bella could hear a commotion coming from somewhere nearby, but she couldn't work out where it was coming from. She and Rodolphus looked at each other before opening the doors, but none of them led to the source of the noise. Rookwood was unexpectedly opening doors over to her right, while Rodolphus was on her left. Bella was becoming frustrated again because none of the doors seemed to lead anywhere. Finally she opened a door and saw people. It was all six of the children! They did not look good! "There they are!" She shrieked with excitement, ran into the room and began firing stunning spells at the group. Potter was holding up the ginger haired boy who was laughing incessantly, a blonde haired girl was holding up the ginger haired girl who was pale and looked as if her ankle was broken. The third boy looked familiar but she couldn't see his face properly as he was carrying a third girl. Potter ran through one of the doors, dropped the ginger boy, while the two girls followed. He ran back in and helped the other boy through. Bella was so close but he slammed the door closed in her face and she heard him shout "colloportus." As he had slammed the door, the one by which they had entered closed as well, and the walls began to spin. It was no use shouting "Brain Room" to the walls, as Potter had magically sealed it. She looked around to see Rodolphus and Rookwood standing right behind her.
"It doesn't matter!" Said Rodolphus "There are other ways in – WE'VE GOT THEM, THEY'RE HERE!" He shouted this so that the other Death Eaters would be able to hear, and Rookwood said "We can get in through the Death Chamber." The door opened, and they ran through. Bella could see Lucius and Mulciber, who must have heard their shouts, and just entered the Death Chamber.
"They're all in the Brain Room" she told them. They ran up the stone benches, following Rookwood, and he threw open the door. The blonde girl had been in the middle of sealing the room, and Bella heard her spell become a scream as she flew across the room. "Get Potter!" She shouted at the other Death Eaters, as she ran at him. He dodged her, and began to sprint the full length of the room. She wanted to curse him, but couldn't risk it. Not while he still had the prophecy.
"Hey. Hey, Harry, there are brains in here, ha ha ha, isn't that weird, Harry?" It was the confused and laughing ginger boy who had said this.
"Ron, get out of the way, get down –" Potter shouted at him, but the boy paid no attention.
"Honest, Harry, they're brains – look – Accio brain!" He said. Everyone seemed to freeze to watch the brain fly out of the tank and towards the boy. Bella stared in spite of herself – she knew that now would be a perfect time to get Potter, but there was something mesmerising about watching the brains progress across the room. "Ha ha ha, Harry, look at it. Harry, come and touch it; bet it's weird–"
"RON, NO!" Potter shouted at the boy called Ron, but he was too late. The boy caught the brain in his outstretched hands, and immediately began wrapping itself around his hands and arms.
"Harry, look what's happen – No – no – I don't like it – no, stop – stop –" The boy was beginning to panic as the tentacle like ribbons began to wrap themselves around his chest.
"Diffindo!" Potter shouted, pointing his wand at the tentacles, obviously hoping that this would sever them. But it did nothing. The boy fell over, thrashing against the tentacles which were mercilessly wrapping themselves around him.
"Harry, it'll suffocate him!" It was the ginger girl, obviously the ginger boys sister, who had screamed this, and Bella could hear the panic in her voice. A stunning spell shot from one of the Death Eaters behind her. Bella wasn't sure who had cast the spell – they must have done it silently. Personally, she would have let the girl watch her brother die, but she supposed that this shut the girl up.
"STUBEFY!" The other boy shouted, pointing his wand at them and Bella now knew why she recognised his face. He was the Longbottom boy. He looked like his mother had done. Defiant. Fighting until the end. But she had destroyed her and the boy's father, and if she got the chance, she would destroy him. "STUBEFY. STUBEFY!" Nothing was coming from the boy's wand – clearly he was not as good a wizard as his parents had been. Again, a stunning spell was cast by one of the Death Eaters behind her, but this time, they missed. Potter and Longbottom were the only two standing now, but Bella could see that they were willing and ready to fight again. Two more spells were shot at the two boys, but they both missed. Bella began to run at Potter, but he must have been expecting this, as he began to sprint for the far end of the room. He was holding the prophecy high above his head, making it clear that if he went down, the prophecy would go down too. That must have been the smartest thing the boy had done all evening. Bella followed him, and from the sounds of it the other Death Eaters were following. Potter ran through the open door, and fell down the tiered stone benches that they had climbed up earlier. Bella followed him through the door, and climbed down the benches towards him. Looking around she could see that Rodolphus, Rookwood, Lucius and Mulciber had followed her out of the Brain Room, whilst Jugson, Crabbe, Dolohov, Macnair and Avery were making their way into the Death Chamber from some of the other doors. They were all laughing at the boy. Rabastan must have been incapacitated somewhere, and Nott was still injured from the stunt with the shelves in the Hall of Prophecy. Potter had collapsed in a heap at the bottom of the benches, but Bella could see him start to get up. His legs were trembling, but he was still holding the prophecy. It was amazing that it hadn't smashed as the boy fell. He was backing away from them now, into the centre of the room, towards the dais with the veil on it. As he reached the dais and climbed onto it, all of the Death Eaters had landed on the same level, and began to close in.
"Potter, your race is run, now hand me the prophecy like a good boy" Malfoy drawled, removing his mask.
"Let – let the others go, and I'll give it to you!" Potter said in reply. Bella laughed, along with some of the others.
"You are not in a position to bargain, Potter, you see, there are ten of us and only one of you … or hasn't Dumbledore ever taught you how to count?" said Lucius.
"He's dot alone!" The Longbottom boy had come out of the Brain Room and was scrambling rather clumsily down the stone benches. "He's still god be!" The boys nose was bleeding and looked as if it was probably broken – it was distorting his speech.
"Neville – no – go back to Ron –" Potter pleaded.
"STUBEFY! STUBEFY! STUBE–" He had been pointing his wand at each of the Death Eaters as he spoke, but again, nothing happened as he cast the spells. Crabbe had moved behind him, and seized the boy, pinning his arms to his sides. He struggled against Crabbe's grip, but he couldn't free himself. The Death Eaters laughed at him.
"It's Longbottom, isn't it?" Malfoy sneered "Well, your grandmother is used to losing family members to our cause … your death will not come as a great shock."
"Longbottom?" Bella repeated, she was grinning now, enjoying herself. "Why I have had the pleasure of meeting your parents, boy."
"I DOE YOU HAB!" The boy yelled, and he began to struggle even more against Crabbe's grip.
"Someone stun him!" Crabbe shouted.
"No, no, no" Bella replied "no, let's see how long Longbottom lasts before he
cracks like his parents … unless Potter wants to give us the prophecy."
"DON'D GIB ID DO DEM!" Longbottom yelled. He was still struggling, knowing what he was about to face. "DON'D GIB IT DO DEM, HARRY!"
"Crucio" Bella said, revelling in being able to do this again. The Longbottom boy screamed and curled up into a ball. Crabbe was still holding him, so he was being held off the floor. Bella only cast the spell for a couple of seconds, to give both boys a sense of what the rest of the evening could be like. Longbottom was on the floor now, Crabbe having dropped him, and he was twitching and screaming in pain. "That was just a taster!" she said "Now, Potter, either give us the prophecy, or watch your little friend die the hard way!" She saw it in his eyes first, the look of defeat, and she knew that she had won. He held out the prophecy, and Malfoy moved forwards to take it.