Hey Everyone... I'm back with Chapter 111. Enjoy!
"We've waited long enough," exclaimed Jane.
"You are risking everything, Miss Jane... You are risking the boy's soul," warned the Practitioner.
"The longer we wait, the stronger You-know-who gets," retorted Jane.
The Practitioner sighed. "We will start the preparations, are you sure the boy will agree to the ritual?" he asked.
"He has to... He has to agree, or we continue without his consent," replied Jane, coldly.
Jane was strolling around the Monastery, looking for Harry. Her glance finally fell on the top of a tree, on Harry.
"Harry, we need to talk," exclaimed Jane, loud enough for Harry to hear her.
"I'm not going to allow anyone to force me into dark magic, Jane," retorted Harry, sternly.
"Do you not have even an ounce of desire to find out where You-know-who has hidden his Horcruxes, to find them and destroy them?" asked Jane, a little annoyed at Harry's stubbornness.
"I do, Jane... And I will find them and destroy them. But I don't trust you, I don't trust your intentions," replied Harry, bluntly. "You are consumed by your desire to possess the Deathly Hallows, and I've been reliably told what that does to someone," he added.
"My desire to kill You-know-who outweighs my desire for the Hallows, Harry... I want the Hallows for the very reason," replied Jane, instantly.
Harry, however, did not seem to be convinced, in fact, he didn't even seem interested in getting convinced.
"For someone so clever and smart, you seem to miss the most obvious things," remarked Jane, bitterly. "Or maybe... you are just another Hypocrite," she added.
"What do you mean?" retorted Harry, confused.
"You talk about staying away from dark magic... If you haven't realised, you are not the one who is going to be performing it, we have trained Practitioners here who would... But let's keep that aside. Over the last year, who have you been training with?" remarked Jane. "Oh yes... Professor... Benjamin White," she said, sarcastically.
Harry stared at Jane, without an expression on his face.
"Do you know the truth about your trainer, Harry? Or do you simply ignore it?" asked Jane, staring back at Harry, and observing a slight twitch on his face.
"Whatever lies you have to spew about him, won't work Jane..." retorted Harry. But he knew that Professor White had another side to him, a side that he had only seen a few times.
"So, you are a hypocrite," remarked Jane.
"So, is this what you have come down to? Name-calling?" chuckled Harry, sarcastically.
"I'm just trying to understand what I've done that's so much worse than your Professor. If you can tolerate him... learn from him... after everything he did for the Deathly Hallows... why not give me a chance?" replied Jane.
Harry's resistance gave up. "What are you talking about?" he asked, a little curiously.
"Have you ever heard the name, Gellert Grindelwald?" asked Jane.
And sure enough, Harry had heard the name before, many times, in fact.
… Professor Albus Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945 …
… I don't know much about him. Just that he was a dark wizard... And was imprisoned for his acts in the 40s …
… "But why would he go after Nurmengard?"
… "Nurmengard castle means something to the wizarding world," replied White. "It was built by Gellert Grindelwald a long time back," he added …
"Dumbledore had Grindelwald released from Nurmengard... and brought him to Hogwarts, under a disguise," said Jane.
Harry stared at Jane, taken aback. "You are lying," he said fiercely.
Jane took out a chain from inside her pocket and held it out for Harry to see. "See this?" she said. "This was Grindelwald's symbol... The symbol of the Deathly Hallows," she added.
The moment Harry's eyes fell on the chain, and the symbol of the Hallows, his memory took him back to a time when Ron told him and Hermione about the Hallows. Harry remembered seeing the symbol engraved on White's suitcase.
"But he couldn't be Grindelwald, there's no way," thought Harry to himself. He couldn't believe it, but the longer he thought about it, the more difficult it became to erase the thought from his mind.
"You are really cheap, do you know that?" retorted Harry. "Did you really think you could manipulate me that easily? Okay, what if he really is Gellert Grindelwald in disguise? How does that matter? If Dumbledore trusted him enough to bring him back, I trust him," he added, fiercely. After a brief pause, he continued, "He has done nothing but help me get better, help me protect myself, help me get better off You-know-who..." he finished.
"I admire your loyalty to him, Harry. All I seek is for you to give me the same benefit," remarked Jane. "You know it as well as I do... No one's defeating You-know-who without destroying his Horcruxes. Please allow me to help you in finding the Horcruxes," she said. "We find the Horcruxes, we destroy the Horcruxes... And I'll let you go back to your life and you can go back to hating me, despising me, I don't care," she finished.
"Or what?" retorted Harry, instantly.
Jane sighed. "Or you'll force me to do things that you won't like," replied Jane, calmly.
"Do your worst," said Harry, instantly.
Harry was lying on the floor, unconscious. Jane watched everything with bated breath.
The Practitioners had Harry surrounded, there was a big fire lit up in the middle of the room, right beside Harry.
"Are you absolutely certain this won't hurt him?" asked Jane.
"Pain is inevitable, Miss Jane," replied one of the Practitioners standing beside her.
"What if he can't take it?" asked Jane.
"A consensual being, willing with able mind and body, will fight the pain," replied the Practitioner.
"What about him?" asked Jane.
The Practitioner remained silent in response.
Soon, the Practitioners started chanting. Slowly, one of the Practitioners took out a coin and placed it on Harry's forehead. The moment the coin touched Harry, his body started to levitate. Within seconds, Harry's body floated directly on top of the fire and as Jane watched in horror, Harry's body started to float down, slowly, into the fire.
The Practitioner's voice echoed inside Jane's head. "The fire won't burn the boy but will cause him incredible pain. He must fight it, for there is no other way"
Harry's body had now been fully immersed in the fire. For a moment, everything looked fine, Harry remained unconscious, the Practitioners continued their chants and the fire blazed away.
But then, Harry's eyes opened suddenly, and the room no longer just echoed the chants, but also the screams of Harry Potter.
Harry started yelling at the top of his voice, the blood-curdling kind of scream.
" … Let me go …"
" … Let me go …"
" … Please …"
" … Let me go …"
Harry repeatedly pleaded. He tried to move but he was paralysed throughout.
"Harry, dear, please endure the pain," came Jane's voice. "Please... I'm so sorry," she said.
But Harry continued yelling. If not for being depressing, blood-curdling, and intolerable, the scene was quite magical. Harry's body was engulfed by fire, but he wasn't burning. The Practitioners seemed unaffected by Harry's screams and continued chanting.
A short while went by, as Harry continued yelling. His screams had died down a little, but by no means was he suffering any less of a burning sensation.
Jane, standing a few feet away, could no longer tolerate seeing him suffer.
She pulled out her wand and pointed it at Harry.
Right at that, moment, one of the Practitioners, waved his arm sharply and Jane got pushed back, instantly. A couple of Practitioners standing near the entrance moved towards Jane immediately and grabbed a hold of her. Within seconds, Jane found herself escorted out of the room, away from the ritual.
Jane struggled to get away from them and finally managed to do so. She instantly had her wand pointed at the Practitioners.
"I can bring this place down, within seconds..." threatened Jane, angrily.
"And where would you go, Miss Jane? What would you do about the Dark Lord?" asked one of the Practitioners.
"Let us do what you asked us to do," said the other Practitioner.
And with that, the Practitioners went back inside and shut the door on Jane's face.
…
It was a little over a couple of weeks later, that, one evening, Harry was finally let go, and Jane received her first piece of news.
"We have located the first Horcrux," remarked the Practitioner, beaming widely, as he walked over to Jane.
"How is Harry? Can I take him back to his room?" asked Jane.
"We have only located the first Horcrux, we still have to find the rest," replied the Practitioner.
"This has been enough of a torture... We can resume later," exclaimed Jane, strongly.
"As you say, Miss Jane," sighed the Practitioner.
Harry was unconscious and had been so for the past few days. The Practitioners assisted in moving Harry back to his room. It was only a few hours later, that Harry woke up.
The moment Harry's eyes opened, he woke up with a jolt and looked around in a jerked fashion.
"Harry... Harry..." exclaimed Jane and knelt down nearer to him. "You are alright... You are fine... calm down," she whispered as she hugged him gently.
Harry was weak and could hardly move his muscles. However, within a few seconds, he had mustered enough energy to push Jane away.
"I'm sorry," muttered Jane.
"Did... any... g... g... good... come... of this?" asked Harry, in a pained voice.
"Don't worry about all that right now... We need to get you back in shape," replied Jane and poured a dark red liquid from a pitcher into a small goblet and handed it to Harry.
Harry tried to lift his arm, but couldn't muster enough energy to do so.
"May I?" asked Jane and once Harry barely nodded, proceeded to help Harry drink up the potion.
Harry dozed off almost immediately and only woke up a couple of times throughout the night.
The following morning, Harry looked much better than he did the night before, and he seemed to be, at least superficially, back to his spirits.
"This place is evil, you are evil," groaned Harry the moment he woke up.
"Welcome back, Harry Potter," smiled Jane.
"Of course you'd laugh seeing someone in pain," scowled Harry, unhappily.
"I'm truly sorry for what I'm putting you through," apologised Jane, but Harry didn't seem to buy it just yet.
After a few minutes, she spoke up.
"So, Harry... do you want to know what fruits your torture bore?" she asked. Harry's ears perked up and he glanced at Jane eagerly. "We have good news and bad news, which one do you want first?" asked Jane.
"Good," replied Harry.
"We know where to find You-know-who's first Horcrux," remarked Jane, smiling.
"We only know the location of the first Horcrux?" asked Harry, shocked. "What about the rest?" he continued. "I don't have to go through that again, do I?" he asked, hesitantly.
Seeing the expression on Jane's face, he gave an exasperated sigh.
"Everyone here is evil... pure evil," sighed Harry, loudly. After a moment, he continued, "This was supposed to be the good news? What's the bad news then?" he asked.
"It's in Gringotts," replied Jane, mournfully.
"Gringotts? The bank?" asked Harry, shocked.
"Yes... We might as well forget breaking into Gringotts," sighed Jane.
"Did you think he'd have his Horcruxes, lying around randomly for us to find?" retorted Harry. After a pause, he continued, "Where inside Gringotts? Which vault is the Horcrux in?" he asked. "And what is his Horcrux? DO WE AT LEAST KNOW THAT?" he finished.
"We know that the Horcrux is some kind of a cup. A golden cup, with a badger engraved on its surface. But, we don't know which vault," replied Jane, sombrely.
"Jane," exclaimed Harry, angrily.
Jane immediately walked out of the room, leaving Harry to himself.
A few hours went by and Harry had spent all of it wondering how they would break into Gringotts, and even if they could, which vault they'd go to.
"Surely the Horcrux wouldn't be in any random vault," he thought to himself. "Does Voldemort have a vault in Gringotts?" wondered Harry. "The Horcrux might be in one of the Death Eater's vaults," thought Harry. That seemed the likeliest possibility. His mind went back a few years when Lucius Malfoy had slipped Riddle's diary into Ginny's bag. If Lucius had the diary, then it must be someone else with the cup.
"A cup with a badger engraved on it's surface," wondered Harry. "A Hufflepuff cup," thought Harry to himself. "But why a cup, what meaning does it have?" he wondered, but no answer came to him.
It was well past evening and closer to midnight when Harry heard footsteps.
Jane entered the room, with a big smile on her face, and quite a few visible bruises all over her face and arm.
Harry glanced at her. "You didn't blow up Gringotts, did you?" he asked, sarcastically.
Jane grinned at him. "Not yet," she replied and went back outside the room, only to return a moment later. But this time, she came dragging something along with her.
It took Harry a second, but horror struck him immediately.
"Jane," exclaimed Harry. "Is that a person?" he asked and got up instantly, rushing towards her.
"You'll thank me in a moment," replied Jane as she waved her wand at the unconscious body.
Harry glared at Jane and then stared at the body. The face was initially quite unrecognizable, but then Harry realised who it was.
"Oh my God," gasped Harry.
"You're welcome," chuckled Jane.
"This is Bellatrix Lestrange," gasped Harry, speechlessly.
Jane and Harry stood side-by-side as they stared at Bellatrix, sitting unconsciously on the floor, her back to the wall.
"How did you find her?" asked Harry, a little astonished.
"Finding her wasn't that difficult... And she's half the witch she once was, ever since the Battle of Ministry," replied Jane.
"What happened in the battle?" asked Harry.
"You don't know, do you?" sighed Jane. "She took on the Phoenix Juniors, and lost," replied Jane, smiling.
Harry stared at Jane in shock. And he finally gave a brief, but proud smile.
"What's your plan?" asked Harry.
"She pretty much confessed that You-know-who gave her something important to keep in her vault. But, we can't be sure if that was indeed a Horcrux or just some artefact," replied Jane. "Tomorrow, Bellatrix will go to her vault at Gringotts, and bring us the artefact," she remarked.
"How?" asked Harry but almost immediately, realisation dawned on him. "Imperius?" he asked, instead.
Jane nodded in response.
The following morning, both Jane and Harry were excited. Bellatrix was tied up, her wand confiscated and she was rendered mute as well.
"I'll apparate with her to Diagon Alley," said Jane. "And control her from there," she added.
"You are not leaving me here," protested Harry instantly.
"Harry... You will only be a liability to me," remarked Jane.
"Oh come on... Please, I promise I won't attract anyone's attention to you or myself," pleaded Harry.
"Harry, you are in no state to be outside. If the death eaters see you, that's it, you won't be able to defend yourself," replied Jane. After a moment, she continued, "I'm not destroying the Horcrux without you," she added.
Disappointed, Harry shook his head in disagreement, but he knew Jane had made her mind up.
Promptly, a few minutes later, Jane apparated away with Bellatrix.
It was an anxious next few hours for Harry. He had absolutely no idea what was going on in the outside world, whether Jane was successful, or if Bellatrix escaped somehow. Had a duel commenced? Did You-know-who realise what was happening and confronted Jane? No idea, what... so... ever.
But after a long time, Jane arrived, along with Bellatrix.
"Jane," exclaimed Harry. "You're back," he sighed.
"Harry," exclaimed Jane, excitedly and held out the golden cup.
The moment Harry took the cup into his hands, he got this strange feeling like he knew the cup, or that it belonged to him somehow.
"Oh yeah... this is it," remarked Harry.
Jane pulled out her wand and pointed it at Bellatrix. She conjured a few energy ropes to keep her immovable and turned her mute. And finally, she hit her with a few stunning charms, knocking her out.
"Come on, Harry," said Jane and took the cup into her hands.
The pair walked out of the room and slowly out of the Monastery.
"Grab my hand," said Jane and hesitantly, Harry took her hand. Instantly, the pair apparated away.
The moment they landed, Harry flung himself away from Jane and came to a halt. His head was spinning a bit.
"Are you alright?" asked Jane.
"I'm fine," replied Harry. "Where are we?" he asked, looking around.
"The outskirts of the town, well away from anyone's eyesight or earshot," replied Jane.
She proceeded to put a few charms around themselves, to hide in plain sight.
"How do we destroy the Horcrux?" asked Harry.
"Well... last time, I had to use fiendfyre to destroy the diary," began Jane. "But this time, I have this," she remarked and pulled out a knife.
"A knife?" asked Harry, unimpressed. It didn't look like an ordinary knife, though. It had a majestic royal purple handle that gleamed in the sunlight, with traces of silver that ran down in a familiar pattern. And the sharpest of silver shining blades.
"Not an ordinary knife, Harry," replied Jane. "The Practitioners have imbibed this with powerful magic," she added.
Jane placed the cup on the ground and held the knife tightly.
"Jane... careful," whispered Harry.
"You too," whispered back Jane.
She took a deep breath in and stared intently at the cup. All her wants and desires came in front of her eyes.
With a powerful force, Jane struck the cup with the knife. Instantly, the environment around them was filled with screeching yells, coming from the cup. And at the very same time, there was a thudding sound.
Jane turned around and found Harry, collapsed on the floor. He was spasming, his whole body shaking.
"Harry," exclaimed Jane immediately and knelt down to him.
As the screeches from the cup continued, Harry continued spasming. Jane stayed close to him, unable to do anything to help him.
"Avada Kedavra," yelled Jane, pointing her wand at the cup.
Instantly, the screeches died out and Harry stopped convulsing, and he fell unconscious.
"Harry," exclaimed Jane, trying to wake him up.
Harry opened his eyes a few seconds later and stared blankly. "What happened?" he asked, struggling to get up, but eventually up on his feet.
His eyes fell on the dismantled cup, that had turned dark black from its shining golden. He bent down to pick up the cup when Jane stopped him.
"Harry," she exclaimed, urgently. "Don't touch it," she yelled.
"Fine," said Harry and intently stared at the cup.
"One down," sighed Jane, a smile forming on her face.
"Three to go," sighed Harry and glanced at Jane, a smile on his face as well.
The pair shared a moment before Harry spoke up. "What are you going to do about our guest?" he asked.
"She has served her purpose, it's time to say goodbye," replied Jane, calmly.
Jane pointed her wand at the demolished cup and instantly, it disappeared.
"Come on," she said and held out her arm.
Harry took her hand and immediately, the pair apparated back outside the Monastery.
A quick walk and they were back to the room, Bellatrix lying there on the floor, tied up and unconscious.
Jane waved her wand at her and instantly, she regained consciousness.
"You bit..." began Bellatrix cursing when she stopped. Her eyes had fallen on Harry.
"Aww... poor baby, look who we have here," chuckled Bellatrix.
"Shut your mouth," snarled back Jane. "Or I'll sew it shut before killing you," she threatened.
"Entire country is looking for you... and here you are, cosying up with this bitch," sniggered Bellatrix, glaring at Harry.
"Forget about me, what is your Lord going to do to you, when he finds out what you've done?" retorted Harry, smiling. "Bella..." he added, after a dramatic pause, imitating Voldemort from his visions.
There was a visible change in her expression.
"You should check up on your mudblood girlfriend, Potter... While you are getting your rocks off, she's shedding tears... I did the deed myself, savouring both..." taunted Bellatrix, but before she could finish, there was a flash of green light.
"Avada Kedavra," muttered Jane and Bellatrix Lestrange was shut silent forever.
Harry shuddered for a moment. "Wh... what did she say at the end? About... about Hermione?" he asked and glanced at Jane. Jane remained silent for a moment. "Jane," exclaimed Harry. "What happened to Hermione?" he asked, angrily.
"I'm sorry, Harry," began Jane mournfully. "I only found out about it, yesterday... From her mouth," she continued, as she pointed at Bellatrix's dead body. "Hermione's parents were killed some days back," she informed.
Harry's head dropped. He was almost expecting news of this kind, he was dreading it.
"No..." groaned Harry. "No, you are just messing with my head," he whimpered.
"I... wish... I was," sighed Jane, as she sat down on the floor, dejected.
Harry sat down as well, speechless.
The pair sat in silence for a few minutes.
And then finally breaking the silence, Jane said as she stood up, "I'll take care of her body... They shouldn't suspect foul play just yet."
"Let me go," came Harry's feeble voice.
Jane glanced at Harry, sorrowfully.
"Jane," called out Harry, a little more loudly. "Please let me go, I need to go back home, to my friends... I can't stay here while they suffer there," he said, strongly. "Jane, please," he repeated as he got up.
After a few moments of silence, Jane responded. "Fine," she said, simply. She put her hand in her pant pocket, took out a necklace and threw it at Harry for him to catch. "Here's your totem," she said. "And your Cloak," she added as she handed Harry his Invisibility cloak. "You have your wands, your totem, and everything else... you will regain complete strength within a matter of a couple of weeks," she added and stared at Harry.
Harry stared at back Jane, befuddled. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Is this a trick?" he asked.
"No, not a trick, you are free to go. I'm no longer going to keep you here against your wishes," replied Jane.
Harry stood rooted at his spot. Suddenly, he didn't know what he should be doing.
"If I was in Hermione's position, and even if I knew what you were doing here, I'd want you by my side," remarked Jane. "If I were you, I wouldn't think twice. I'd go be with Hermione immediately," she added. After a pause, she continued, "John was the closest I ever had... And when it came to him, and for that matter, for him, when it came to me, logic and rationale were thrown out the window. We did what our heart told us to do," she said, calmly.
Everything went quiet for a couple of minutes. Harry was lost in thought and Jane stared at him contemplating his response to her.
Jane continued after a while, "Harry, what you are doing here is playing the long game," she said. "We won a small battle today, we may have lost a lot of small battles and we will lose a lot of small battles. But that doesn't matter, because, in the end, if we play this war smartly, we will be the ones standing in the end," declared Jane.
After another brief pause, she continued. "The situation back home is quite terrible. Even if you were to leave now, how would you go to Hogwarts? You-know-who has his lackeys everywhere, and I mean everywhere... Hogwarts is in an open rebellion against the Ministry. The country is in a turmoil," she announced. "Tom Riddle won the war, Harry... He saw an opportunity and took it... This is his world and we're just living in it," she added.
Harry remained quiet throughout Jane's speech.
"I want you to stay," finished Jane and walked out of the room.
Harry, slowly slid back down to the floor. He was rendered speechless by Jane. Every cell in his heart told him to leave, but there was a small something inside him that told him to do the unthinkable.
Jane came back to the room a few minutes later.
"Daisy is quite relentless, isn't she?" chuckled Jane. "She keeps calling me, keeps telling me to come home and talk to her," she said. "She thinks she can talk me into letting you go," she smiled. After a moment, she continued, "I really should have built in a way to have 2-way communication," she said. "Alas, I'm thinking of sending her a letter instead, I need to be careful, though," sighed Jane.
Harry nodded subconsciously.
Jane stared at Harry, walked over to him and sat down beside him. "Harry, I suggest you take some rest... Relax and think things over, and let me know when you decide what you want," she said and patted his back.
"Hmm..." responded Harry.
Far away, a certain needle in a watch finally moved from "Mortal Danger" to "Safe".
Hope this chapter brought a smile to your face... Let me know how you are liking this story since the "Battle of the Ministry".
PS - I'll be back with Chapter 112 later this week. Until then, Ciao! ❤️