Griphook grabbed the sword of Gryffindor and hobbled over toward the exit.
Harry struggled trying to break Antonin's spell, but it was of no use. If he managed to get loose, he planned to use the Sectumsempra spell on Antonin, but only if he could get a clear shot without a chance of hitting Hermione or Ron.
"My lady what do you want to do with him?" Antonin pointed to Harry still on the ground. "Want to use a few of your favorite spells?"
"No, not today," Hermione said. "You should go summon our lord. Probably can't do it from here with all the magical…"
"No, absolutely not." Antonin interrupted her. "After what happened last time, someone decided to summon him…" He looked over to her with genuine fright in his eyes. "He broke into your vault, to steal from you. Surely you want to punish him somehow?" A smirk spread across his face. "Or I could do it for you?"
"No, definitely not," Hermione said.
"The goblins were right. You're not Bellatrix," Antonin said. He knew there was no way the real Bellatrix would let something like this go unpunished.
A still groggy Ron began to recover from his own stunning spell, and his eyes opened wide with the realization that Harry was captured. Hermione pointed her wand at Antonin.
"I guess the fun is over," Antonin said calmly.
"I think it is time you left," Hermione demanded. Ron too pointed his wand at Antonin.
"Or what?" Antonin chuckled, unconcerned. "Go ahead, knock yourselves out."
Hermione's jaw dropped slightly, and her eyes opened wider as she realized the most probable reason Ron's spell went wrong and it also explained Antonin's total and complete lack of concern. "Don't," she commanded Ron, then looked to Antonin. "You have some sort of shield charm that reflects attacks against you back to the attacker, don't you?" Hermione asked.
"So, what I have heard about you is true. You really are the brightest witch of your age," Antonin stated.
Upon hearing that, Harry realized he needed to rethink his plan. He briefly imagined himself firing Sectumsempra at Antonin only to have it rebound on to himself, Ron and Hermione. Malfoy was fortunate to have Professor Snape come to his rescue, but he was pretty sure they would not be so lucky.
Antonin pointed to Harry. "I could release him, or I could kill him. The choice is yours. Give me back Bellatrix's id," he commanded.
"Fine, give it back to your precious Bellatrix." Hermione tossed the id at him. She feared for Harry's safety and really doubted Antonin's words were worth anything, but the id she no longer needed, and it was a small enough request that it was worth taking the chance.
Antonin released Harry from the binding spell right away with no hesitation.
The Hufflepuff cup glowed an angry red and shook. The stones sparked with a dark blue-black light and then soothed to a golden color. Ron and Hermione both noticed and were not quite sure what to make of it.
Hermione couldn't hide her shock as she watched Harry get up again. She was so sure Antonin wouldn't keep his word.
Harry groaned as he got up.
"What did you do to him?" Hermione glared at Antonin.
"You think this is my fault?" Antonin said a bit angrily.
"He is right, it isn't. It was that burning treasure," Harry explained.
"Which I got rid of for you. You're welcome!" Antonin said sarcastically knowing full well nobody thanked him for that.
"I admit, I am surprised. I thought for sure you would either kill me or take me to Voldemort," Harry admitted.
"Yes, if the dark lord hadn't pissed me off, I definitely would have taken you straight to him," Antonin admitted with a nod.
The Hufflepuff cup vibrated and shook again.
"Consider yourself lucky. The first night Voldemort came back, one of the first things he did was straight up murder three of his followers," Harry said.
"Are you serious?" Antonin asked in disbelief.
"Yep, he was very disappointed in them for taking so long to bring him back." Harry remembered that horrible night in the graveyard.
"I am starting to think they shouldn't have brought him back at all," Antonin said.
"Obviously!" Hermione nodded, "And we're trying to make sure he dies permanently this time. For that, we must destroy that." She pointed to the Hufflepuff Cup. "It holds a fragment of his soul." The Hufflepuff cup vibrated even more vigorously than before.
"His soul, you say. Not for long." Antonin pointed his wand at the Hufflepuff cup. "Avada Kedavra." Green energy emitted from the end of his wand and completely enrobed the Hufflepuff goblet.
"Do you think that will work?" Ron asked incredulously.
"Maybe. That is exactly what that spell does. It rips the soul out without harming the body," Hermione said.
"Yeah, that is what I was thinking," Antonin agreed.
They didn't have to wait long to get their answer. Voldemort's soul fragment floated out of the cup appearing as a tiny, shredded form of his former self.
"How dare you," the spirit screeched.
This tiny little spirit of Voldemort inspired laughter more than fear in the golden trio. "Even though that was an unforgivable curse, somehow I can forgive him for that one," Hermione admitted.
"Me too," Harry agreed.
Antonin saw himself stuck back in that cell in Azkaban with dementors circling around. "Shit!" he trembled as he spoke. He could feel his heart beating much faster than usual. He took a few steps back and tripped over some little trinket that in his own mind looked like a skull. Magic suppression handcuffs formed over his arms.
'You should have saved me,' he heard the familiar voice of his cousin who died long ago. He looked at her. She used to be so vibrant, and full of life. Her formerly auburn hair turned white, her round face and body seemed too thin. Most of her former beauty was gone.
"Elina, is that you?" Antonin asked.
'Of course, it is me,' Elina replied. 'Why didn't you save me?'
"I tried," Antonin insisted. "If you didn't kill yourself, I would have…"
"You wasted your time on that worthless ministry. You should have come for me yourself," Elina said. "You didn't even avenge my death.'
"I tried," Antonin said, as dementors closed in on him.
"Who is Elina? Who is he talking to?" Hermione asked as none of the trio could see her, his cell or the dementors.
"That nasty little spirit is probably doing the same kind of mind games the locket did on me," Ron declared.
Hermione pointed her wand at Voldemort's little spirit. She did a transmogrification, to duplicate the Basilisk's power of petrification since she knew that it was possible to turn a ghost to stone. This indeed worked. The statue of Voldemort consisted of a light airy pumice rock, yet it still bared a passing resemblance to the dark lord.
Hermione leaned over Antonin. She seemed to have a warm glow around her and the appearance of an angel. "Are you alright?" she asked. She reached for him and helped him up.
Antonin breathed a sigh of relief at the realization that he was still in the vault. He glanced at his arms and was glad to see there were no magic suppression handcuffs.