Chapter 17 – The capture

The corridor was long and dark. They were moving swiftly without making any sound. Carola was walking beside Harry, two other Aurors behind them. He had chosen the best to accompany him in but the whole team was waiting outside if needed.
Ginny had left two days before and Harry was glad of it. Glad she was on the other side of the planet, far away, out of danger. James and Albus were at Hogwarts the safest place where to have them. Nobody could touch them there. As an added precaution however, mindful about the easiness in which Sirius had managed to get into the castle and lure him out in his third year, had asked and obtained from McGonagall permission to send a couple of Aurors in disguise to have them followed in their whereabouts. They obviously had to be kept in the dark, not to be alarmed by this proceeding.
Soon after Ginny was gone, he had been to pick Sunrise up from the kindergarten, informed the teacher that for a while they would have kept her at home and left her to the exclusive care of Molly and Arthur. He hadn't explained why, and they didn't enquire thinking he had done it to please them. They had been much disappointed by their decision of sending her to kindergarten and they were always begging to have her there.
Without their knowledge, all the protective spells he could think of had been casted on the house and on them.
He still wasn't sure how much to believe about Sunrise's prophecy nature, but he didn't want to take any useless risks. That night he had tried to have a better insight, but Sunrise hadn't been able to give any.
Harry was basing all his speculation and setting all his hopes on the fact that she had use the words "want to hurt" and not "hurt". It wasn't much to build on especially because Sunrise was still in that phase where mistakes in speaking were common but not having anything else to cling to, he decided to believe the difference crucial. Nothing was written yet and everything could change. And he was ready to fight to death not to have it written.
He had worked himself to exhaustion, but it had borne fruit. The Inferi guy was under siege and unwarily so. His seconds counted.
It was going to end that day.
The corridor terminated with a flight of stairs going down, the walls were scraped off, dirty, covered with graffiti. It was a disused factory in the north, a forsaken place, dangerous, damp. Moss was growing in corners, rubbish, and traces of fire everywhere.
That flight of stairs had been skilfully concealed to muggle's eyes and to most of the magical population would have been invisible likewise. But not to an Auror's trained eye.
Seeing that place it was easy to understand why the disappearances had almost ceased. Most of the people who took refuge there were rejects of muggle society, people nobody noticed the disappearance of; homeless, junkies, criminals time to time.
Not all of them however, and the wizard should have been a bit more careful in choosing its victims.
That place was frequented by young people in quest for adventure, exploration parties of muggles who wanted some nice shots of an abandoned place or simply the gusto of the adrenaline ringing being in a forbidden, dangerous place.
Some of those disappearances had been reported and through research Harry had nailed the place.
They descended for quite a while, darkness swallowing everything making necessary to grope the wall not to stumble. They didn't dare to light any of their wands for fear to be discovered. They had only one shot, they couldn't allow themselves any false step.
The stairs ended in a long corridor, on one end a door was ajar and a flimsy dancing orangish light came from behind.
The smell was strong and pungent. The floor was damp and slimy, and they had to walk extra carefully not make any splashing noise. By the weak light they could see the water gleaming and puddles of darker liquids filtering from the closed doors on either side of the corridor. Harry stooped down to have a better look and brushed his finger on the ground. It was water mixed with blood. The air was stale and the humidity so high that, despite being still winter, they were all sweating profusely. It wasn't a coincidence. It would have made lighting a fire very difficult and that was one of the few things Inferi were afraid of.
He gestured to the other Aurors to be ready, wand in hand.
The place was brimming dark magic, Harry could sense it all around, he could even see it, a slight blurring in the air right in front of him. It wasn't easy to discern but to a Auror it was unmistakable.
He halted, his eyes darting left, right and centre trying to understand what it was and how to pass it unscathed. He didn't have much time to ponder over it, every second could reveal their presence thinning their chances of success.
Surely it was going to neutralize any protection charm or disillusionment charm, it was a classic and they didn't even think to protect themselves in any way, it was never an option. But there was something else; surely an alarm of some kind and none of them could fool themselves in not imagining what was hidden behind all those closed doors, ready to awaken by their presence, a presence that would have been known as soon as they would step through that barrier.
Something else was hidden but Harry couldn't put his finger on it. He was sure that having time to analyse it properly he could have guessed and probably annihilate it in a matter of minutes. Although he didn't have that luxury. Only a nod to his crew was needed, they were all getting to the same conclusion. They worked elbow to elbow with Harry for so long that they were capable to interpret any slight gesture he addressed them. They had been trained by him, all accustomed to take quick resolutions, to keep a cold mind in front of danger and to be ready to risk it all.
They started to run toward the door at the end of the corridor. Each one of them passing the barrier got soaked completely by water making the casting of any fire spells almost impossible to achieve.
Grunts and swishing sprouted all around them coming from the different rooms and when they reached the light, the creaking of doors being opened was audible. The two Aurors closing the line turned to face what was advancing determined to buy time for Harry and Carola on front.
Harry kicked the door open, his wand ready, shouting a warning to the wizard inside.
The man lurched in surprise and darted from his chair backing against the wall.
He was short, lanky with sand blonde hair that almost covered his dark eyes. Before their coming he was bent on his desk scribbling with his quill on some parchment.
The room was scanty and gloomy. The walls yellow and dirty, a long sturdy wood table was taking a big part of it. Resting on it there was a naked body, pallid and rigid in its death. It had already been deprived of both legs and arms that lay orderly on one side. Some other limbs were dangling from hooks protruding from under the table's rims. A bucket positioned under it was collecting the blood that was dripping from a hole under the body.
A scene of that kind would have given a strong sickness to the toughest of man, but it didn't affect Harry that much. He had witnessed that and worst doing his job.
He made a quick assessment of everything surrounding him and of the wizard. In his surprise he had left his wand on the desk and was too far from it.
As he was about to cast a spell to immobilise him, he found himself thrusted roughly in the room by the Auror behind him that had been hit by an eight feet Inferi.
None lost their balance; with a flip they were back on their feet, but that distraction had been enough to give the dark wizard the chance to lunge on his wand.
Carola was soon on him with a spell that was parred easily.
Harry was about to help out but under his eyes a ghastly vision appeared on the door.
The Inferis were disgusting, their putrid skin was dangling from their body revealing gnawed muscles. They were all freakishly tall and the juncture of their bodies were all rimmed with black stitches. Their mouths half open as in stupor and the eyes, the ones who still had them, were glazed by a hollow emptiness. They advanced steadily notwithstanding the two Auror's efforts and it was clear very soon that they were greatly outnumbered.
One Auror was trying to cast a fire without success and the other was attempting some slashing spells that had very little effects on those magically modified bodies.
Harry saw the necessity to call for help and the only way was a Patronus. It was never easy to cast one under mind challenging situation, but he couldn't allow himself to fail. He swept away the reality he was living, he cancelled the Inferis from his mind, the mutilated corpse on the table, the dangerous wizard behind him casting spell after spell trying to escape and found himself sitting in his leaving room, Sunrise on his lap showing him the "flower" she had drawn, he was running with James at dawn in the wood, he was flying on the Thames with Albus at night-time and he was in the kitchen with Ginny, washing dishes while joking and laughing, her golden eyes, full of mirth and love, on him.
The phoenix unfolded its wings on their heads, its silvery light blinding them for a moment in the darkness of the room.
A cringing angered growl rose from the Inferis; they winced, crouching and covering clumsily their faces and bodies from the light.
Harry was already triumphing, but it was, unfortunately, a triumph of a short duration. On hearing the dark wizard mirthless laugh, he saw the phoenix colliding and fading against the barrier. Darkness fell again and the closest Inferi, already steady on his feet, swiftly tried to strike him.
He ducked just in time, but he was left with no choice but to join his colleagues finding a way to neutralize them hoping that Carola wouldn't let the guy escape.
After what it seemed ages but could be only a few minutes of dodging blows and casting spells with little or no effect, he heard a shout and Carola shouting his name. He turned just in time to see her being attacked from an Inferi and the dark wizard with a smirk on his face pointing his wand against her.
Collecting all his strength, he front kicked the inferi he was fighting against in the stomach. It was only pushed back of a foot but that was all he needed. Covering quickly the short space separating him from the wizard, he gathered again all his strength and with a jump kick well aimed hit the wizard's wrist making his wand fly far from his hand.
A crack and a piercing scream announced him that the guy wouldn't have been able to hold it again for a while. As a safe measure, taking him by the neck and hooking his legs to nail him on the ground, he stomped on the other wrist crushing that too. He finished the whole thing with Body binding jinx. Freezing the wizard in his agonising scream.
The situation was desperate, they were all surrounded trying without effort to bring down the Inferis army. He had let instruction to the Aurors outside to join them upon not seeing them out in a matter of minutes but unfortunately, he realised, a matter of minutes was going to be definitely too long a time. They still had only a matter of seconds before to meet a very unpleasant end.
No spell seemed to have more than a momentary effect on them.
No fires could be summoned in that damp environment.
None except one.
And Harry took his resolution.
He shouted to his colleagues to be ready to retreat; he had only seconds to carry out his plan.
A new phoenix shot from his wand circling in the room, the Inferis all winced.
'Follow it' Harry shouted as the phoenix was heading toward the stair.
He shot a second one to give them more time. They scampered quickly out of the room protected from the luminescent birds who were fast losing contour, the dark magic so strong affecting their shine.
They were all approaching the stairs and Harry shot a last one.
Carola, before to disappear, looked behind her sure to find Harry tailing but when she realised it wasn't the case, as Harry had only advanced as far as the threshold of that room infested by Inferis, faltered. Him, perceiving it, gestured her firmly to go, an order she knew she had no choice but to follow. When she disappeared, he mastered his resolution and did the only thing he could think of to destroy all those monsters.
A dangerous resolution that could have easily costed him his life.
He took a second to concentrate and performed the difficult piece of magic. It was Dark magic, powerful and difficult to tame.
He never used dark magic if it could be avoided but that didn't mean he wasn't able to, he only decided not to. But sometimes evil could be swept away only using the same evil.
Only when the dark uncontrollable wild beasts made of Fienfyre left his wand to attack whatever met their jaws, his eyes rested on the petrified figure still crouched on the floor. He hesitated, a hesitation that could have proved fatal in such moment.
Through that man many muggles and magical people had perished, three of his best colleagues had perished. He thought about his visits to their families, the unabridged sorrow he had to witness, the threat to his family… And hardening against him was about to turn his heels and leave him to his destiny, but at that moment their gazes crossed, and Harry read there that fear of death who united all men and damning himself for his excess of humanity, dodging a vile giant snake who darted against him, he shot in the room, lifted the paralysing spell and prodding him on his feet carried him on a shoulder and ran toward the stairs knowing that a wrong step on the slippery floor it would result in both their death.
The beasts, who had already consumed the shrieking Inferis, were tailing them and Harry could feel the scorching heat lambing his ankles while flying toward the exit. The man was heavy, but he felt it not, so impetuously the adrenaline was pounding in his veins.
Carola's silhouette was projected on the top of the stair, her face in the dark a second before was gleaming now, revealing a stark horror. Harry had enough presence of mind not to turn preferring to simply imagine the scene presented to her.
The sight of the exit though, gave him new energy on his otherwise exhausted body to run up the last flight of stairs. Jumping aside, she let him pass. He dumped the dark wizard on the floor, who had fainted in the meanwhile, on which Carola performed promptly an incarcerous spell leaving Harry free to cast every single piece of magic he could think of on the door, to seal it against the destructive power of the Fienfyre.
Spell after spell the door disappeared enchaining the raging beasts underground doomed to stifle in that dank darkness.
The whole gruesome laboratory destroyed, the Inferis swallowed by flames.
He had managed. He had done it. He was alive, his family was safe. The bad man captured.
It was over.