Cruelty and Death

July 18th

6:21pm

Malfoy Manor, Wiltshire

Harry

"My morning has been uniquely frustrating," Voldemort hissed, his hand outstretched. Harry, pinned to the wall by magic, couldn't help but feel a little glee at whatever was causing the Dark Lord problems. "Greengrass has proven quite disruptive."

Harry struggled against the magic but couldn't break free so instead settled for something equally as satisfying. "Another kid you can't kill?" Harry tutted, "I wonder what they're saying about that."

"Insolence only brings pain." The force holding him against the wall intensified as Voldemort asked, "where is the bulk of your forces?"

"Listen, Tom," Voldemort sneered but stopped at that, "I don't want to hear about your girl problems."

Voldemort's sneer deepened as he leaned in. "You think of yourself as one with an unshakeable constitution," the Dark Lord shook his head and conjured a seat for himself. Harry dropped to the floor and did his best to avoid any painful movements. "It is a shame we are tied to this prophecy," Voldemort started, his tone more contemplative than rageful, "Dumbledore never managed to bring so many together."

"Their disdain for you and your cadre of psychopaths brought them together."

"No," Voldemort replied, "you have a talent for such things, it is clear. The people you have rallied only fight harder in the wake of your capture; such devotion is rare."

"Like I said," Harry retorted, "that has nothing to do with me." Voldemort's good mood was putting Harry in a state of anxiety. 'Could this all be a set up… is everyone already dead?' He couldn't let his doubts show, every ounce of weakness will only serve to egg the Dark Lord on.

"Even so," Voldemort began dismissively, "you yourself weaken your forces because of your very nature. Sentiment Harry, I've told you before, it is a weakness. You feel beholden to them, responsible for their lives, which makes killing them much sweeter as I'm sure you understand."

Harry narrowed his eyes at Voldemort and sarcastically spat, "I'm sure we'll arrive to the point eventually."

"Petulance is unbecoming, Harry," Voldemort chastised as if they were just chatting. "But be careful what you wish for."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Voldemort ignored the question and instead stood from his chair and vanished it before speaking in a tone of finality. "Last chance, open your mind to me or don't, the blame for what happens after will be solely yours."

Harry felt no small amount of dread but continued his stony exterior. "My answer hasn't changed, Tom, nor will it."

"We shall see," Voldemort returned cryptically. He then turned his head sideways without taking his eyes off his most valued prisoner and called out, "Macnair!"

Harry couldn't help but feel the cold flush of fear run its course down his body, 'he wants to see my reaction, he knows I'm not going to like whatever happens next.' He was right, for a moment later the lumbering form of Macnair entered his view and along with him was a person with a bag over their head. Harry didn't need the bag to be pulled up to know exactly who he was looking at, tattered blue jeans, straggly blonde hair and a charm around her neck. Somehow, Voldemort had captured one of his closest friends.

Voldemort took over guiding Luna and sent Macnair away with a wave of his hand. Harry tried his best to keep the distress away from his face but if Voldemort's unnatural toothy smile was anything to go by, he had failed. His jailer pulled the bag from Luna's head and through it to the ground.

Luna had a small cut on her cheek and a large bruise on her head but otherwise seemed completely content, how much of that was just her resting face he couldn't tell. She looked around the cell, completely ignored the Dark Lord standing next to her and finally rested her eyes on Harry.

"Harry," she happily greeted, "Daphne will be pleased to know you live."

"Miss Greengrass will unfortunately be waiting a long time to see her lover again," Voldemort smirked at Harry as he continued, "or a short time, depending on what you believe." He flexed his hand and Luna was transported to the cell wall adjacent to Harry and chains sprung to life to restrain her. Luna still seemed unusually unbothered about the whole ordeal, inspecting the chains with obvious intrigue.

"Riddle, she's got nothing to do—"Harry tried to angrily reason with Voldemort but he shut it down.

"No, she has a very important role to play."

Harry's mind worked like a factory turning his helplessness into rage, he pulled at the chains and tried to use his magic to help but it did nothing except make a loud rattling noise. "Potter manor!" he tried, grasping at straws to try and buy him time to escape, "we gather there!"

Voldemort drew his wand and calmly palmed it. "It's certainly large enough," he looked to be thinking it over before glaring at Harry, "that is precisely why I checked it the moment we knew you were rallying people to your side. The house is still a pile of rubble, just as I left it." The Dark Lord strode to Luna's side and roughly jabbed his wand into her cheek, the action alone enraging Harry, "you will open your mind to me or I will make you sit here with her corpse until you do. I don't care if it takes years, you will wither and fade as she decomposes right before your eyes."

Harry's anger slipped from his fingers as he realised what was about to happen. "No point in begging, right?" Voldemort wanted to see him suffer in this way, wanted to force him to be the bad guy in another attempt to break him. 'Even if I give up everything, I'll be made to watch them all suffer anyway.'

"No. Decide."

Harry flicked his eyes between Voldemort and Luna, he had already made up his mind and yet he couldn't bring himself to condemn a friend, an innocent friend to their death. It was all starting to make complete sense, Voldemort's emphasis on responsibility and loyalty was simply a tool to make this decision all the more impossible.

He looked at Luna, still in a world of her own, unaware she was about to be murdered to make him feel sad. Unexpectedly she snapped her gaze to his and spoke in a voice unlike her own, "beware the snake in stone."

He didn't know what that meant, just like all of her little bursts of prophetic statements, it could mean anything. Harry shook his head; he knew in the grand scheme of things it was the right thing to do but it still felt wrong. He would at least do her the dignity of looking her in the eyes as he sentenced her.

"I'm sorry," he stumbled on the words and looked down before catching himself and continuing, "I'm sorry Luna."

Luna blinked her eyes rapidly and looked around confused. "Harry, where—"she was cut off by a flash of green light, ending her life instantly. Her body was rocked back by the spell and so its trajectory downwards was continued by sliding along the cell wall until she was slumped over, lifeless.

Harry stared at her body for what felt like an eternity, only when his eyes caught movement from the Dark Lord did he direct his attention there. A dead stare met one of cold malice, Harry's face betrayed the draconic rage erupting from deep within.

"Witness," Voldemort nodded his head to his recent victim, "the consequences of your actions." He left the cell, leaving Harry to do just that.

July 19th

10:03am

Black Chateau, Loyalist Headquarters, Isle of Man

Daphne

Daphne pinched the bridge of her nose, despite the recent victories, things were still going wrong. She was on the edge of the campsite nearest to the apparition point, awaiting confirmation that the taboo and the trace were down. She wasn't alone, however, the one bump in the attack she had planned the night before was the capture of Luna Lovegood, resulting in an irate Neville Longbottom vying for her attention.

"The second Harry was gone you went off to look for him, the second!" he shouted. Neville's backbone had increased with his skill, but she would be lying if she didn't sometimes miss the old Longbottom. "I'm only asking for leave to do the same."

"I know what you're asking, you've asked more times than I can count." She turned away from the sea to give him her full attention in the hopes he'd get the message. "I've already interrogated several death eaters, they physically can not say where Harry is. Luna is likely being taken to where he is as well to try and get him to reveal our secrets, therefore she is on her own."

"I can't believe you," Neville barked in disgust, "I thought you actually cared about us, about Harry."

"Don't you dare." Daphne stepped forward and leaned in close to track his eyes as he bowed his head. Neville's entire posture had reverted a year and looked as though he were about to be scolded by Snape. Daphne, however, was pissed. "I know the feeling of being unable to save someone you care about; I've done unspeakable things in my quest to get him back. Don't tell me I don't care."

"I want to find her," Neville earnestly argued. He then seemed to get an idea as his shoulders squared and he looked her in the eye, "if you don't let me leave, whatever happens is on your head too."

Daphne was simply stunned at the audacity and thankfully, for Neville, the teams had arrived back from their research task. This gave her only time enough to impart some final words and considering how he was speaking to her; no mercy was the play. "You were her partner, she trusted you to get her home the same way you did her," she walked past him and spoke behind her as the distance between the two increased, "if you're looking to place blame, find yourself a mirror."

She left Neville in her wake, if he wanted to leave she couldn't stop him but she wasn't about to give her permission either. The large returning group approaching her had been spread out across England, all of them with the same orders; confirm the trace and the taboo were down. By the looks of things, everyone had returned in good shape and only the naturally grim people were frowning. Family members from across the camp came to greet their loved ones as the group began to disperse, the odd laugh of relief overcame the sound of the sea. Moody was at the head of the pack and making his way towards Daphne, her keen eyes detecting the small spring in his step when a plan goes well. She allowed herself a faint smile as moody approached, another disaster would've been extremely disheartening.

"Mornin' lass," the old warrior greeted before standing loosely at attention.

"Good morning Madeye," she returned and gave him a look to indicate that his antics were unnecessary. She then swept her hand in front of her, beckoning him to join her on the walk back to the main building. "I assume all went well?"

"Aye," Moody replied as he limped alongside her, "every team reports the same thing, the trace and the taboo are down. I would suggest continuing to probe it for the next week or two to verify."

Daphne flicked her head to the side to a mediwitch who was looking to pass in front of them to let her through. She didn't hear the mumbled appreciation as the woman raced across their vision and into the mess of tents to their left. "I agree," she finally said, "but in groups no smaller than twelve, I won't have any more needless casualties."

Moody hummed as they passed the makeshift workshop for the twins. "Longbottom on your arse?"

Daphne nodded to the twins who were tinkering with what looked to be one of the fireworks. Despite being in a dangerous line of work, they divided their attention to wave at her and Moody. "I'd be much more concerned if he shrugged it off," Daphne admitted, returning to the conversation. "Reckon we could get someone to tail him, make sure he doesn't do anything foolish?"

"That can be arranged," Moody confirmed. She could feel the side eye he was giving her as they continued. He was wondering if she was going to do anything foolish, a fair question given the circumstances. Perhaps Sirius' new bout of isolation and Remus' sleepless nights had brought with them an expectation for her to crumble as well.

Daphne sighed as they neared the house, with each victory a small sprout of morale returned to the people but everyone was still struggling to reconcile whether to believe Harry was alive or not. She herself couldn't decide, 'he's either dead and Voldemort is mutilating his body or he's alive and Voldemort is mutilating his body…' Every time she gave the thought any time in her head she could feel her emotions swelling up quicker than she could manage and so she shut it out and choked them down. Rage was her only ally and comfort these days, sure she had scores of aurors and good samaritans to call upon but they were no use for the battle in her mind. It was unhealthy, that she knew, but no one else could do the things she would to get him back so she needed to be in one piece.

"Listen Greengrass," Moody spoke in a tone that suggested he needed to get something off of his chest, "many of our group know you on a personal level, as such they're going to be gentler when discussing this subject."

Daphne covered her curiosity with a smirk. "But not you?"

"No lass," Madeye refuted with a sad aura about him. "Harry has been gone for nearly two weeks, if he aint dead then he's wishing he was." Daphne's smirk disappeared faster than she could think, replaced with a deep frown and anger rising in her chest. "Wait," Moody continued, cutting off her all-consuming rage, "I'm telling this because you need to be ready."

"I know what could happen–"

"You don't," Moody denied, "you've closed your heart to it, this I know. But have you considered the possibility we will never get him back? That Voldemort uses him to get to you? That we get him back but so much of him is lost that it would've been better that he died?"

Daphne refused to look at the man, the truth was she had considered all of those possibilities in her moments of weakness, and they were the very reason she had so much pain to draw upon. She flushed the images of her worst nightmares from her mind and turned to Moody with schooled features. "Let us hope it doesn't come to that, for their sake."

Moody stared at her and only responded after getting over his astonishment. "You're cold, girl, remember the Ice Queen is only a moniker."

July 20th

3:08am

Malfoy Manor, Wiltshire

Harry

Her skin was paler than he thought possible, the tragedy had made him realise he'd seen very little of day-old corpses. A death eater had come in and propped up her lifeless body against the corner of the cell, taunting Harry the whole time. The most painful part of this torturous experience was that the chains holding him in place were two short to let him close her eyes and so she stared at him every moment of every day. In his most lucid moments, he sometimes forgot she was dead, only to feel the guilt come crashing down soon after.

A fortunate side effect of Luna's death was that Voldemort had taken a leave of absence when it came to casting unforgivables at him for hours. Snape had visited twice, forcing him to chug potions at unhealthy rates. Pepper up, nutrients, numbing agents, the whole lot just to get him to a point where he could escape.

'I can barely lift myself up, how the bloody hell does he expect me to escape?'

"Maybe some of that neat magic you've been practising mate."

Harry struggled to move his head over to see his redheaded friend standing in the middle of the cell. "Are you daft?" Harry glared at his best friend, "I can't stand"

"Pfft." Ron waved him off and crouched beside Luna, moving her face side to side and poking, "poor thing, that's what you get for being close to Harry."

"Shut up Ron." Harry was too tired to really argue with him.

Ron left Luna's side and sat down, leaning his back against cell bars. "Yeah… being friends with you was like a ticking time bomb but that's why I loved ya."

"You're the worst," Harry smiled as he said it, he had missed Ron's banter more than he realised.

"Yeah, I was sometimes," Ron nodded his head and smiled, "remember the Tri-Wizard?"

Harry chuckled a little, "yeah I remember, you were a right git."

"Can't argue with that." Ron chuckled a little too before asking nonchalantly, "say, how's Hermione… you looked after her after I was gone right?."

"I–"

"Nah you don't have to answer that, I know you left her depressed and alone–"

"Alright!" Harry exclaimed angrily before calming down a moment and saying quieter, "I get it."

Ron wasn't troubled by his outburst, in fact he was grinning ear to ear. "That right there is what I'm looking for. The determination, the rage, find it, that's the only way you get out of this cage." Ron stood up and swiftly crossed the cell, crouched down to Harry's height and continued fiercely, "what you did to Umbridge, that big vampire to Pettigrew, that's what I need from you."

"I know–"

"No you don't know!" Ron was yelling now, Harry grew concerned the guards might come to investigate. "You didn't know how to save Cedric, Katie, Luna or me," Ron counted off his failures on his hand before he pointed his finger at Harry, accusing him directly, "you got us all killed and now you're too weak to save even yourself."

"Ron–"

"Shut it!" Ron cupped his hands over his face which calmed him down if only slightly. "Don't you see Harry? You need to wake–"

"Up! Food's here, halfblood." The distinct sound of the cell door unlocking echoed in his cell as the guard came in with whatever gruel they had deigned to feed him that night.

Harry looked around the room in confusion. "Ron?" he asked,

"Ron? Man he's working you good, your buddy's been dead for a year imbecile, his family should be here to keep you company soon though." The death eater put the plate of food on the ground and kicked it over to Harry which caused it to spill everywhere as the plate shattered. While Harry was trying to sort out what was real and what was fake, the guard moved over to Luna and inspected her corpse. "Isn't this a pretty one, shame we didn't get to break her in first, bit young for me but i know Macnair would've had some fun."

"Take that back," Harry ordered the man although with his fatigue thoroughly set in there was little malice laced in the words.

The death eater turned around and marched over to Harry, a serious expression on his face. Harry tried to match it with his own menacing glare but failed dramatically. Just as the death eater was towering over him, the man broke out into a laugh. "You've got nothin' left, Potter, you need to learn to know when you're beat." The death eater delivered a swift kick to Harry's abdomen which caused him to grimace and fall on his side. He didn't stop there, continuously kicking into Harry's side as he spoke, "maybe we'll let you watch when we bring in your pal Greengrass, heard she's got a sick little sister for Macnair too."

"He's right," behind the death eater stood Ron, glaring at him. KICK. Harry looked at him confused as he reeled from the previous kick. "You stay here, you're going to watch everyone suffer the worst things." KICK. Harry tried to stop the array of images that came to his mind, horrors he'd wish upon no one. KICK. "Are you going to let that happen?" KICK. "Those vile deaths will be on your hands." KICK. "Since when did Harry Potter falter in the face of insurmountable odds?"

'I don't.'

"Dig deep, find it." Ron crouched down as the death eater delivered the final kick.

Harry stared at him a moment, he doubted he could accomplish what Ron asked of him without the horcrux boosting those feelings. But he had to try and so he closed his eyes and remembered. Flashes of his past came to the forefront of his mind, a kaleidoscope of suffering and pain, his own and that which he had inflicted. He could feel the evocative memories flood his magic, igniting the fireplace of his core into a raging inferno. The chill of the breeze on his skin evaporated as the magic burnt the atmosphere around him making the air stand still. When he opened his eyes, Ron was gone and the death eater was halfway across the cell, his back was turned and he was leaving after a successful beating with his wand out to lock the door behind him. H

Still in his chains, he thrust his hand out as much as he could, concentrating on the top of the man's cloak and then pulled it back in. The magic reacted as intended, folding itself around the part of the cloak near the man's shoulder blades before pulling back to its master. The death eater was pulled back, falling in such a way that his cloak covered his face by the time he hit the floor, his wand clattering to the side. While the guard flailed and tried to get the cloak out of his face, Harry pounced. The man had freed himself from the cloak but was too slow to roll back to his feet and so Harry managed to get a grip on his neck with a chokehold.

The death eater thrashed in his grip, but, even weakened by weeks of torture, Harry's hold was solid. Harry knew the man was running out of air, meaning he was at his most dangerous and as he tried to adjust to accommodate that fact, the guard was able to slip some fingers in between Harry's arm and his throat. The man got a big gulp of air and his thrashing renewed with a desperate vigour, if Harry didn't change tactics then he would lose his hold in moments. He squeezed harder with his right hand and grasped for something to help him with his left.

"Hrgh!"

The death eater looked down and found a piece of the ceramic plate he'd shattered earlier was embedded in his stomach with Harry's hand attached to it. Harry wasn't done though, he ripped the piece free and plunged it back in five, ten, fifteen times, ripping open the stomach of his victim. The death eater had given himself over to shock, his hands came free and hovered at his side uselessly as his mind failed to make a decision. Harry's violence had taken a new stage as he rolled the man off of him, took the keys to his chains and popped them off.

The death eater, bleeding out and prone, pulled himself towards the door with one of his hands, leaving a trail of blood on the cell floor. Harry let the man get close to the door, following his prey with a predatory gaze, only springing into action as the man's hand reached the threshold of the cell. He grabbed the man's legs and pulled him back in, circled to the side and dragged him to the back of the cell where the chains laid. He propped the bloodied man up on the back wall and looked him in the eyes. 'Delirious but conscious, this'll get his attention.' Harry picked up one of the chains and began to wrap it around his neck.

"Hmmm!"

The death eaters' pitiful moan of protest made Harry's estimation true, yet that didn't give him pause, if anything it spurred him on. The man weakly tried to raise his arms to stop Harry but he slapped them to the side with one hand and continued wrapping the chain around the man's neck. Harry stepped back when the job was done, chain in hand and ready to squeeze the life out of the scum before him but he saw something in the man's eyes that stopped him – hope.

Harry followed his gaze and saw the wand that had fallen to the side was ever so slightly sliding closer to its owner. Harry flicked his eyes to his captive and saw he was completely focused on the wand and in his vindictive state an idea popped into his mind. He subtly levitated the wand with his empty hand, floating it through the air painstakingly slow, watching as the man grew more and more sure of his success. At the apex of his certainty, Harry plucked the wand from the air and revelled in his previous captor's surprise.

Harry sneered at the slime below him and found the reversal of their positions ironic enough to mirror the words uttered mere minutes ago. "You need to learn to know when you're beaten." The guard's eyes widened and his mouth opened, likely to cry out some final plea but it was halted in its tracks by a simple arm motion.

A loud crack echoed down the hallway as the man's neck broke, followed by the metallic sound of the chains hitting the cell floor. Harry took a breath and looked to the ceiling, his eyes blinked rapidly to get rid of the spots popping up in his vision but it looked to be a losing battle.

"Danny?"

Harry spun around and pointed the wand at the door, the sound of another guard shuffling towards his cell filling the air. He hugged the wall and slid closer and closer to the front of the cell with his wand raised. Harry looked down as something caught his eye and saw that the first guard had managed to get a small amount of blood outside of the cell and into the corridor.

"Oh bugger!"

The shuffling turned into a sprint as the guard likely saw the door open and the blood Harry had just noticed. Fortunately for him, the guard had a severe case of tunnel vision and ran headfirst into the cell, stopping when he saw his colleague dead.

"Merl–"

"Lacero.''

The spell left his wand and cut open the next man's throat. This one fell face first with a heavy thud on the account of being a significantly larger man than the first. Blood poured from his neck, steadily creating a puddle around his head. Harry waited a moment, holding his wand on the man to see if he was going to get up before peeking his head out into the hallway and identifying that the coast was clear.

He stepped out into the hallway and he realised that he wasn't wearing shoes as he stepped in the blood. He turned back into the cell and stepped over the bleeding out fat man and crouched in front of the first guard, stealing his boots and putting them on. His shiftlessness couldn't be amended, the first guard's shirt was riddled with holes and there was no chance he was moving the big one.

He spun on his heel in his new shoes and was halted by the catalyst of his escape. Luna still sat in the corner, decomposing in Voldemort's cellar and, whilst the notion was able to give Harry more rage fuel, he wouldn't allow the indignity to stand. Harry grabbed her limp arm and threw it over his shoulder then put his hand under her right thigh, using this leverage he lifted her up over his shoulder. She was surprisingly light, even as dead weight and Harry only had to readjust once to be comfortable.

He checked the hallway again before stepping out of the cell and making his way to the left end of the hallway where the stairs laid. It was a short trip up the stairs and at the top of them he could see a door to the gardens at the end of a hallway laden with paintings and decorations. He got low and crouched his way down the hallway, careful not to wake any of the paintings that slept all around him.

'Malfoy Manor no doubt, no one else is this rich,' he thought as he approached the doors to the gardens.

The door was nearly double his height and had intricate embroidery on the frame with details in the glass panes too. Harry worried about the sound and so he secured Luna with one hand and brought the death eater's wand up to cast silencing charms from top to bottom. Only once he was satisfied with his charm work did he reach out and pull the handle down and push the door out.

He was hit with a blast of cool night air, making him instinctively draw on his magic more to avoid freezing up. The gardens were extensive it seemed, tall trees and reeds with the odd bench or table scattered around the grounds. He was certain he saw a peacock peek its head out at one point as he continued hugging the wall but he paid it no mind. He followed the wall of the manor as far as he could until he reached the hedge but back pedalled as he saw a man start to come through it.

'Of course, just as I'm about to be free…' Harry squeezed into a small alcove on the side of the wall and did his best to place Luna down respectfully. He could hear the clack of boots on the cobbled path coming closer and closer and knew that they would be discovered if they stayed there. 'No chances, not tonight.' Harry's tightened features from putting Luna down carefully effortlessly returned to predatory the moment he needed them too. He crouched low and listened as the steps got closer and louder, his stolen wand close to his chest and ready to cast.

'Three, two–'

Harry jumped from his position but had underestimated the closeness of his target and thus crashed into him. The two tumbled onto the grass and frantically rose to fight, Harry had only gotten halfway when he cast a tripping jinx at the man's feet. The spell was redirected into the dirt and instead of returning fire the man commanded, "stop this."

Harry recognised the voice immediately but didn't lower his wand. "Snape," he whispered.

"Are you gravely injured? You're covered in blood." Snape didn't bother with pleasantries; he only spoke with purpose as he moved to hide in the shadow of the manor. Harry saw him cast an imperceptible look at the corpse of Harry's friend before turning an expectant gaze to Harry.

"No," Harry replied, "it's not mine."

"Good, leave."

'That was the plan…'

Snape pivoted and strode onwards towards the manor as Harry picked up Luna again. The final stretch, he could feel the anticipation overtake the anger he had kept a grip of for so long that night. He lowered his head as he stepped through the illusion instinctively, half expecting twigs and leaves to graze him. But they didn't, and as he stepped out into the countryside, not so unlike that of the Burrow's he let out a long exhale before disappearing from Malfoy Manor a free man.

A/n: Alright, big one this one. Basically, the final chapter in the first mini arc for the first arc. I feel a little iffy about ending Harry's captivity so early but I also can't see where else this goes beyond what's already happened. It's also a little call back to one of the first lessons Harry learnt from Moody, don't assume your opponent is done unless they are incapacitated or dead, Voldemort mustn't have learnt that one.

Please don't call for my head in the reviews for Luna, I love her too but someone had to go and no one else fits the bill. It was at least a quick one, as demonstrated by our resident douchebag 'Danny' it could've been so much worse. Voldemort's last act to break Harry succeeds, until it doesn't.

Daphne is, as always, cold af. No action for her today but she got her chance to be a bit of an arse to Neville. Yes she's being a bit of a hypocrite but she could handle herself (clearly), Neville would've been captured and used as another way to break Harry. Moody giving it to her straight wasn't entirely planned but it fits well with his character. In turn, Daphne having already considered everything he said also fits, rue the day Daphne thinks Harry is dead.

Now I'm gonna be completely transparent here. The Ron/Harry sequence was heavily inspired by a scene from 'The Walking Dead' which I won't reference because of spoilers but it fit so well. I hope you all enjoyed Danny's brutal death cause I was certainly itching to get Harry back on top. Threw in a cheeky "it's not mine" cliche too cause who doesn't love that?

Idk if this is something y'all would be interested in but I was chatting with my grandmother about this and she asked if I do maps for the places I set the scenes in and I do. She suggested releasing them for everyone's benefit so lemme know if you wanna see a visualisation of the Hogwarts Ambush, Azkaban and The Chateau. I'd probably just chuck it at the front of the story as a separate chapter.

Hope you all enjoyed it and if you're an avid gamer as I am I've started posting content on my Instagram and TikTok! Just search up my handle and you'll find me :)