Wow, I can't believe it's Tuesday already! That weekend went by too quickly. I hope you enjoy this next chapter!
When the green fire cleared, and the trio reappeared in the center of the Ministry of Magic, Harry could hardly believe his eyes.
They were standing at one end of a very long hall with a highly polished, dark wood floor. The peacock-blue ceiling was inlaid with gleaming golden symbols that were continually moving and changing like some enormous heavenly notice board. The walls on each side were paneled in shiny dark wood and had many gilded fireplaces set into them.
Every few seconds, a witch or wizard would emerge from one of the left-hand fireplaces with a soft whoosh; on the right-hand side, short queues of wizards were forming before each fireplace, waiting to depart.
Halfway down the hall was a fountain. A group of golden statues, larger than life-size, stood in the middle of a circular pool. The tallest of them all was a noble-looking wizard with his wand pointing straight up in the air.
Grouped around him were a beautiful witch, a centaur, a goblin, and a house-elf. The last three were all looking adoringly up at the witch and wizard. Glittering jets of water were flying from the ends of the two wands, the point of the centaur's arrow, the tip of the goblin's hat, and each of the house-elf's ears so that the tinkling hiss of falling water was added to the pops and cracks of Apparators and the clatter of footsteps as hundreds of witches and wizards appeared.
Harry had believed Slytherin Manor to be very impressive his whole life, but now he saw it was absolutely nothing compared to this.
Kingsley pulled him and Sirius through the throng of witches and wizards, all hurrying about, and over to a large golden desk. Above it hung a sign which read SECURITY in large lettering.
"We have to register our wands." Sirius explained as he handed his wand over to the scruffy man behind the desk. Harry did the same, and the man inspected both of their wands. He placed them on brass scales, and a sheet of paper was printed with their wand specifications.
"You are clear to go." The wizard handed their wands back to them.
"Thanks." Sirius said hastily, and he stored his wand in his pocket.
Harry copied him, and they rejoined the mass of people. Kingsley led them to a grouping of elevators. They got in an open one, and the doors shut.
Next to Harry, there was a flash of bright red hair. Harry whipped his head, expecting to find Mr. Weasley standing there, but instead, there was a man with horn-rimmed glasses, busily shuffling papers. Harry looked away.
If he hadn't known better, he would have thought this boy was related to the Weasleys. But they had never mentioned another son before. The elevator went down a few levels, and it came to a sudden stop.
"Level two," A woman's voice rang out, "Auror Headquarters."
Kingsley grabbed Harry's arm and led him out of the elevator and into a hall, Sirius close behind. The floor they had just entered was perhaps even busier than the last one had been. All around them were people.
There were a number of offices and large rooms. Harry noticed that whenever someone opened up one of the doors, a blast of sound came out. The rooms must all be soundproof.
Hanging on the walls were the faces of some well-known Death Eaters, including a jeering picture of Bellatrix.
Maps covered the entire wall, and each map had small pins in it, perhaps marking the suspected location of each Death Eater. He could see that none of them had pined where the Manor was. They must not know its location.
"This way," Kingsley said, leading the way down another hall, which was slightly less crowded than the previous one. They traveled down it for a short while until they eventually stopped in front of two identical doors.
"Sirius, you will have to wait outside with me. We can watch if you want."
"Yes," Sirius said at once.
"Harry, I will need to take your wand." Kingsley said.
"No," Harry said firmly, "It stays with me. I refuse to answer anything without it."
Kingsley sighed heavily, "Fine, but you will have to put it in a bin inside of the room. You will still have access to it, but you can't touch it unless you have permission to."
"Great," Harry smirked. If he really needed it, he would be touching his wand, whether he had permission or not.
"We are going in here," Kingsley gestured to the door on the left. "You will be in there." He pointed to the door on the right.
"Okay," Harry said calmly.
"See you in a bit, Harry." Sirius said, and both he and Kingsley entered the left door.
Harry could see that Sirius was nervous, but he was not. He had been trained for this; he knew what to do. Harry entered the right door and closed it behind him.
He found the room empty, and the only furniture in there was a table with chairs on either side of it. One had chains that would surely bind him. He chose to sit in the one with no chains. They could tell him to move if they wanted him to.
He was just about to sit when he heard the door open quietly behind him. He looked up and dove to the ground. A green jet of light narrowly missed his face, and it crashed into the wall behind him with a defining bang.
Harry drew his wand and sent a paralyzing spell flying towards the other person. They quickly ducked, and Harry was able to get a clear view of their face.
It was a man, a Death Eater.
Harry jumped to his feet as another spell blasted where his head had just been. A fire blazed in Harry's eyes as he shot spell after spell at the Death Eater. He was not going to let him get away, not after this.
The Death Eater did not stand a chance.
One of Harry's spells hit his square in the chest, and he crumpled to the ground, stunned, not killed.Harry did not want to kill anyone anymore, besides Voldemort, but that was not really by choice.
Harry walked over to where the man lay and flipped him over onto his back, being excessively rough. Augustus Rockwood lay before him, unblinking.
Harry looked down at him in great disgust and then promptly bent down and punched him in the nose. It started to bleed profusely, but the stunned man didn't seem to mind.
Sirius and Kingsley burst in a few moments later, but they were too late. They looked around the room, then down at the Death Eater. Harry took Rockwood's wand from him and then used it to tie him up.
"Next time, I would do a background check on anyone who is going to be interrogating me. Augustus Rockwood is a Death Eater. He has been for years."
"So I gathered." Kingsley said. He made Rockwood levitate out of the room. Harry watched as he floated down the hall.
"Harry," Sirius said quickly, "Are you okay?"
"Yes, that was nothing. I would have thought Voldemort would have sent someone more powerful to fight me, like Bella maybe. Rockwood is practically a joke."
"Bellatrix would have a hard time getting into the Ministry." Sirius pointed out, "But that's not the point. Are you sure you're okay? Not bleeding or anything."
"Yes, I'm fine." Harry assured him.
"You knew that was going to happen, didn't you? That's why you wanted your wand."
"I guessed it might. It seemed like too good of a chance for Voldemort to pass up. Even if it didn't, though, I feel better with my wand."
"Good thing you do because you would most likely be dead by now." Sirius said.
"Yes." If Harry was being honest, he would have probably been able to take Rockwood down just from pure strength and by using wandless magic, but having a wand was much easier.
Harry brushed his hair back off of his forehead but then quickly pushed it back down. He didn't want to be questioned about his scar.
"Does it hurt?" Sirius asked quietly.
"Not right now, but I am sure it will once he finds out that Rockwood failed. Even if he never expected him to succeed."
"Anything we can do to stop it?" Sirius asked.
"No, just get out of here quickly."
"I'll try, but it's not really up to me."
"I know," Harry said. Just then, Kingsley entered again.
"Rockwood is being detained as we speak. Nymphadora Tonks will be interrogating you instead." Harry raised his wand as she walked in, his eyes narrowed, his face cold.
"Relax, Tonks is fine." Sirius said, putting a hand on Harry's shoulder. Harry lowered his wand slightly but kept his eyes on Tonk's face.
Harry knew she was fine. He had already met and talked with her, but he did not want to give anything away.
"She is fine, Harry, not a Death Eater." Kingsley said.
"You think I don't know that? Just because someone is not a Death Eater does not mean that I can trust them."
"You can. Even if you can't, you will have to because you have to start your interrogation." Kingsley said. Tonks entered the room, and Harry followed her. Kingsley shut the door and locked it from the outside.
"Take a seat." Tonks said, smiling. Harry sat on the edge of the chair with chains, but they did not wrap around him. He was not sure if that was a good sign or not.
Tonks sat down opposite him and said, "So, tell me about you. Where did you grow up? Who raised you? Where did you go to school?"
"Slytherin Manor. Bellatrix Lestrange raised me and trained me in the art of fighting. I never went to school, I was trained at home for my whole life." Harry figured it was wiser not to mention Voldemort's part in his upbringing.
"Okay," Tonks said. "Tell me more about your training."
"I learned how to fight and some military techniques. I learned a lot of spells that are… not considered normal."
"I bet you did." Tonks said, frowning. "How did you find out about your parents?"
Harry examined her face for a moment, wondering how she knew. Obviously, she knew from the Order, but how would the Ministry have known? Maybe Dumbledore had met with them? Nevertheless, he could see no harm in answering.
"I caught wind of rumors surrounding my parent's death, so I asked him."
"Who?"
"Voldemort. I asked him about my parents, and he admitted to killing them. I left the Manor as soon as I found out."
"Where did you go after that?"
Harry wasn't sure if he should answer her truthfully or not. "I remembered learning where a hideout for the Order of the Phoenix was. I went there, and they brought me to another house. I am not sure where it is, exactly, though."
Tonks nodded. "What were you told about your parents? What did you think happened to them?"
"I thought that someone from the Order killed them, and that Voldemort saved me."
"And were you marked?"
Harry hesitated, but knew they would be able to easily prove if he was lying. "Of course I was."
"Let's see it." Tonks looked at him expectantly.
Harry sighed looked at her for a moment before slowly rolling up his sleeve. The odd eye marking peered ominously at them. Tonks reached out almost subconsciously to touch it. Harry jerked his arm away from her.
"Why is it different then all of the other ones?" Tonks asked quietly. Harry didn't answer her right away.
"Because he wanted to set me apart from the others."
"Why?"
"I'm Harry Potter, surely you don't need me to continue?"
Tonks laughed a little. "We will have to take a closer look at that. For now though, someone will be in here shortly to perform Legilimency on you to make sure you were telling the truth."
She stood and made her way over to the door.
"Good luck, Harry," She said with a wink. Then she exited the room, leaving him all alone once again.
Harry prepared himself for whoever was coming in next. He knew what they would do once they found out his mind could not be penetrated. Draco could barely get in, and he was one of the most powerful Oclomens Harry knew. And it was just because Harry trusted him.
He took out his wand once again and trained it on the door. He heard loud voices outside.
"You will not be hurting him." Sirius said loudly.
"I will do what I choose to in order to get information out of him!" a gruff voice retorted.
"No, it is illegal to torture him. You can't do it." "I have special permission from the Minister to use whatever force necessary to extract information from this boy. He is an enemy."
"No, he is not!" Sirius exclaimed, "He is on our side!"
"Prove it!" the man said. Sirius didn't say anything.
"That's what I thought, you can't. But when I am done, we will see if he really is on our side." The door opened, and a tall man with dark hair and cold hazel eyes. Sirius was right behind him, but the man shut the door in his face and locked it so he could not enter.
"Hello," He said in an icy voice, "I will be looking into your mind. I suggest you not resist, or else we will have to use more extreme force."
"Fine," Harry said. "I won't resist, but you won't be able to get in. I have been doing this for a very long time."
"We will see." The man said, and he walked over to the opposite side of the desk. He did not sit but pointed his wand at Harry.
He barely processed what was happening before he was blasted backward into his chair by the force of the spell. Harry did not, however, see memories flashing before his eyes. He could feel the force of the spell, see the man trying to break in, yet his mind remained as impenetrable as ever.
Harry had been planning on trying to show the man something, but his sudden spell had caught Harry off guard. He could do nothing now except wait for the spell to stop. The man tried for a little longer, but eventually, he stopped and looked at Harry curiously.
"Well, it seems your mind is, in fact, impenetrable. I think we should loosen it up a bit and try again, no?"
Harry mentally prepared himself for what was about to come. He was going to let it in, not all, but some, maybe most. He would be tortured, and he would feel it. He lowered his defenses like he hadn't done in years. He was ready for this, and even if he wasn't, the man was already pointing his wand at Harry's chest once again.
"Crucio." He said calmly.
As soon as the spell collided with his chest, he started to scream. The sudden shock of pain had been worse than he had anticipated. He had let his defenses down too much, and now he had none. Now, he must endure the full effects of the curse, whether he liked it or not.
It felt as though every nerve in his body was on fire, and his vision had started to flicker in and out of focus; however, as he lay there, he realized that this was not as bad as traveling into Voldemort's head.
The more Harry realized this, the more he started to regain control. Soon, his screams were forced, and he could feel only the slightest sting from the curse.
Suddenly, the man relented; however, there was no relief because he started to break into Harry's mind again, Harry still on the floor in front of him. No matter what he did, though, Harry's mind was as unyielding as ever.
They continued on in this cycle for some time until Harry finally had enough. This time, when the man tried to break into his mind, he deflected the curse and stood.
"Y-You are getting nothing from me. Just stop. It's not working."
"We will try until I get something out of you."
"No, we won't." Harry said firmly. He walked over to the door and exited the room without looking back.
"Come back here." The man cried, but Harry paid no attention to him. Harry walked into the hall and entered the other room where Sirius and Kingsley were waiting for him.
"Harry, are you…" Sirius started, but Kingsley cut him off.
"Potter, I insist you go back into the room and continue the interrogation."
"No," Harry said flatly, "I refuse to continue being tortured like that. He has gotten nothing out of it besides the fact that he can now recognize the sound of my screaming."
Harry's hands were shaking from the repeated torture. He clenched them tightly, not allowing them the satisfaction of seeing him weak. Kingsley sighed and looked at the door. The man was standing in it, looking furious.
"He is right." Kingsley said finally, "This is not helping."
"I think I know something that will help." The man said with a twisted sort of smile.
He gestured for Kingsley to come over to him and then whispered something to him. Kingsley shook his head and whispered something back. Neither Harry nor Sirius could hear what the men were saying. Soon enough, Kingsley turned and looked at Harry with a pitying look on his face.
The other man spoke, "We are trying something new. You will have to come with us. No more torturing you, I swear."
Harry looked at him suspiciously, but he didn't think he had much say in the matter. He walked back towards the man, and when he reached him, the man grabbed his upper arm firmly and led him back into the hall.
Kingsley walked in front of them, and Sirius stayed close behind, his eyes scanning Harry, who remained as nonplussed as ever. He would not show fear or anger or anything. He would stay cold, stay relaxed, stay alive. The man forced Harry to stop just before they reached the main hallway; however, Kingsley kept walking.
He entered a room and quickly exited it again, followed by four other men. They started to approach Harry, and he barely had any time to wonder what they were doing before he felt the man's grip on his arm tighten.
Suddenly, Harry was slammed hard against the wall, the man grabbing onto his other arm tightly. Harry started to throw the man off and would have succeeded if it had not been for the four other men who had now joined the fight. Sirius looked as if he wanted to take them all on at once.
"No Sirius." Harry said sharply, "Stay out of it!"
Sirius backed up, looking fierce, as if he wanted to argue. Harry's wand was forced away from him, and his hands were handcuffed behind his back.
"What is this for?" He spat at Kingsley.
"Sadly, we are not convinced that you are not an enemy spy, so we must take you into custody until we can prove your legitimacy."
With that, Harry was forced down a corridor and down yet another long hallway. This one did not look like an office, though. Instead, each door had a small window in it, and Harry could see the unconscious form of Rockwood in one of them.
They were locking him up.
Harry was forced head-first into one of the cells, and the door was closed and locked behind him. Harry could see through the small window that Sirius was still trying to get to him.
"Sirius, stop. They will just lock you up too." He said firmly.
"No, you can't do this!" Sirius exclaimed, "What has he done?"
"I am sorry, Black, but we must do this." Kingsley said. He looked as upset about it as Sirius did, but there was nothing either of them could do.
The man who had tortured Harry was ushering everyone out of the long hallway, Harry's wand clamped tightly in his hand. The door at the end of the hall closed with a resounding THUNK, and the makeshift dungeon was cast into almost total darkness.
At least there were no Dementors here, Harry thought. Dementors would make everything so much worse. He had never actually been around one, but he had heard chilling tails when he was young.
Harry's arms were aching terribly, and even though it was very dark, he could still make out bruises forming when he rolled up his sleeves. He dismissed them, though, deciding to worry about it later.
Now, the only thing he was concerned with was escape.
His eyes traveled over to the door to his tiny cell. He waved his hand, and it popped open. Harry walked out of his cell and up to the second door. He could not go out there like this.
He needed to become invisible.
He moved his hands towards himself, sweeping them around his body. He watched as he disappeared from view. Harry smirked to himself. He had turned himself completely invisible. He scanned himself up and down to make absolutely sure all of his body was invisible.
Once he was convinced, he carefully opened the door and slipped out. No one had decided to guard it, so he had no problem going unnoticed by the masses.
Just then, Harry heard something. It was Sirius, but he couldn't see where he was.
Harry carefully followed the sound of his voice, taking care not to bump into anyone. Soon, Harry reached a door where Sirius seemed to be. He was in one of those special magical offices that blocked sound. Harry couldn't imagine how loud Sirius must be shouting to be heard from here.
Harry waited outside of the room, ready to slip in if the opportunity presented itself. Soon, Sirius quieted down, and someone exited the room. Harry took this opportunity and slipped inside just before the door closed.
Inside, there was a large table surrounded by chairs. Sirius, of course, was sitting as far away from the door as possible. It looked as though he wanted to say something, but Harry saw Kingsley give him a warning look, and Sirius stayed quiet.
Harry started to make his way around the desk, trying his best not to hit anyone. He arrived at Sirius' chair without anyone noticing he was there. Now for the hard part. How could he make his presence known without making Sirius jump?
He noticed a spar piece of parchment on the ground. If only he could get the quill off of the table. He looked around carefully, making sure that no one was looking.
All eyes were trained on the door, with the exception of Sirius, who was looking at Kingsley with an expression of great distaste on his face. Harry quickly grabbed the quill and sank down behind the table.
Quickly, he wrote:
I am here, invisible. Leave the room and make sure to keep the door open so that I can get out. I need my wand. We will have to hurry once they figure out that I am gone. If all else fails, go without me; I will find my way back.
Harry reached up and dropped the parchment in Sirius' lap. He jumped slightly, but no one seemed to notice. He scanned the note and then, glancing around, gave the smallest of nods. Suddenly, he stood.
"I am going to inform Dumbledore of what has happened; he will want to know." He announced to the room, "I will need the boy's wand back."
"Why?" one of the Aurors asked.
"Dumbledore will want it, I am sure." Sirius got to the door, Harry close behind him. Sirius opened it, then he paused. "Where would I be able to retrieve the wand?"
Harry took his opportunity and exited the room. He waited in the hall right next to the door.
"Go to the first office on the left. Tell them I sent you," Kingsley said.
"Thanks," Sirius said, and then he closed the door hard. Harry touched Sirius' arm to let him know he was there, and they both headed to the office, walking so fast that it was practically a run.
"Go to the elevators and wait for me," Sirius said in an undertone. Harry touched him again to show he understood and then carefully made his way to the elevators.
He waited by the closest one and watched as Sirius entered the office. He exited moments later with Harry's wand in his hand.
Harry dashed to him, grabbed his arm, and pulled him into the nearest elevator. The big metal doors closed, and Sirius breathed a sigh of relief; however, Harry knew the danger was not yet over.
"Harry, are you okay?"
"Still breathing." Harry said quickly, "Let's get out of here, then we can talk." S
irius nodded and offered out his wand. Harry took it and put it into his holster. The doors opened again, and Harry held onto Sirius' arm as they both made their way over to the fires. Harry couldn't believe they were going to make it out that easily.
Then he heard a voice behind him. "Come back!" it was the man who had tortured Harry.
"Sirius Black, come back here!" Sirius started to run to the fire, Harry at his heels. Sirius dove into the closest fire as a spell burst right above his head.
They could not see where Harry was, but they seemed to be guessing. Harry leapt into the fire right after Sirius, and a split second before he disappeared, Harry cast a spell on all of the fires.
Instantly, bars appeared over all of them, preventing anyone from following them. A spell slipped through still, hitting Harry before he too, disappeared into a whirlwind of green flames.