Chapter 94: The Lost Friend
Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own only the original characters I create.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 94: The Lost Friend
"Who are you?" she asked.
The words hit Harry like a punch to the gut. He felt his chest tighten, his throat close. He had known it would be bad. He had prepared himself for the worst.
But he had not prepared himself for this.
'She doesn't remember me at all.' He thought. 'I came too late...'
Bellatrix placed a hand on his shoulder. "Harry, I know how you feel but we need to go. The guards will be discovered soon, so we don't have much time before escaping becomes impossible."
Harry didn't move. He stared at Pansy, at the shell of the friend he had lost. He remembered her fierce loyalty, her sharp wit, her determination to uncover the truth about her brother's death. He remembered the way she had stood up to Ron Weasley on the train, the way she had clutched Alistair's tie like a lifeline.
"Harry." Bellatrix's voice was firmer now. "We can help her, but not if we're caught. We need to move...NOW."
Harry nodded, though every fibre of his being screamed in protest. He reached out and took Pansy's hand. She did not resist. She did not react at all.
"We're going to get you out of here," he said, his voice steady despite the tears streaming down his face. "I promise. I'm going to help you remember."
She blinked, her expression unreadable. Then she looked away, back at the wall.
Bellatrix raised her wand. "Somnus."
Pansy's eyes fluttered closed, and her body went limp. Harry caught her before she could fall, lifting her carefully into his arms. She was so light...far lighter than she should have been. He could feel every bone through her thin robes.
Bellatrix then applied another spell on Pansy to make her body levitate like a baloon. "It's best to carry her like this since we dont how she'll react otherwise."
Harry nodded. It was true. They didn't know the depths of what the Ministry had done to Pansy's mind, so she was completely unpredictable right now. "I'll carry her."
"Let's go," Bellatrix said.
They moved quickly through the Re-Education centre, past the cells filled with hollow-eyed children, past the guards who were too focused on their cruelty to notice the two figures carrying a sleeping girl.
Harry forced himself to keep his eyes forward. He couldn't look at the children. He couldn't think about what was being done to them. Not now. He had to focus on one thing at a time.
'I'll come back for you,' he promised them silently. 'I'll save you all.'
They reached the entrance to the facility and made their way back up the dark corridor, through the heavily warded doors that Bellatrix unlocked with her stolen badge.
The abandoned office was exactly where they had left it, the door still closed, the corridor still empty.
Harry pushed open the door.
Rabastan and Amycus were waiting inside, the two kidnapped guards still unconscious at their feet. They looked up as Harry and Bellatrix entered, their expressions shifting from tension to relief.
"You found her," Rabastan said, his voice soft.
Harry nodded, adjusting his grip on Pansy's limp form. "We need to go. Now."
"Any problems?" Amycus asked.
"Polyjuice failed at the last moment," Bellatrix said. "We had to fight our way in. The guards are down, but they'll be discovered soon."
Rabastan's expression darkened. "Then we need to move faster. The rendezvous point is the Atrium. We need to get there before the Ministry locks down the building."
They ran.
The corridor was dark and silent, with only the sounds of their own footsteps.
They reached the intersection where they had split from Tom's team hours earlier.
And then the alarms began to blare.
It was a piercing, shrieking sound echoed through the corridors, followed by flashing red lights that bathed everything in a sickly crimson glow.
"What the-" Amycus started.
"The Wizengamot team," Bellatrix said, her face pale. "They've been discovered."
"Oh no...Alecto." Amycus muttered the name of his sister.
"Its okay. Tom will keep them safe." Rabastan said with full confidence in their leader. They all looked up to Tom Riddle.
Harry's blood ran cold. Tom, Fenrir, and Alecto were still up there, fighting Dumbledore's supporters.
"Dont worry about the other team, we are the ones further away fromt he exit now." Rabastan said, his voice urgent. "If the Wizengamot has been compromised, then the entire Ministry will be on alert. We need to reach the Atrium before they seal it, or we will become trapped in here."
They moved faster now that stealth was no longer necesary.
Ministry officials appeared in the corridors, their faces panicked. They didn't seem to notice the four figures rushing past them...or if they did, they were too concerned with their own safety to intervene.
Aurors, however, were a different matter.
Two of them appeared at the end of the corridor, their wands raised. Their eyes went to Harry and the girl wearing the re-education uniform he was carrying.
"Halt! In the name of the Ministry!"
"Take them down!." Bellatrix didn't slow down. "Stupefy!"
The first Auror crumpled.
Rabastan took down the second with a quick Petrificus Totalus.
"Keep moving!" Bellatrix shouted.
They burst into the Atrium and found the chamber in chaos.
Ministry officials were fleeing in all directions, their arms full of parchment and personal belongings. Fireplaces flared green as people used the Floo Network to escape.
The golden statue of Dumbledore seemed to watch over the pandemonium with cold, indifferent eyes.
And at the far end of the Atrium, more Aurors were arriving.
"There!" Rabastan pointed towards the fireplaces on the left side of the hall. "If we can reach those, we can escape."
Bellatrix raised her wand. "I'll clear the way. Rabastan, Amycus, cover us."
They ran towards the fireplaces.
Bellatrix was like a whirlwind of destruction. Her spells flew faster than Harry could track them. Stupefy, Petrificus Totalus, Expelliarmus...each one finding its mark with deadly precision. Aurors crumpled to the ground, their wands flying from their hands.
This version of Bellatrix Lestrange may be good-natured and kind, but she was still a terrifying witch when she fought.
Rabastan and Amycus flanked her, their spells creating a wall of defensive magic that kept the remaining Aurors at bay.
"Go, Harry!" Bellatrix shouted. "We'll hold them off!. Take your friend out of here. You know where to go."
Harry nodded. He remembered every part of the plan. They had prepared several different escape routes, depending on how the situation developed.
Harry ran, Pansy's body levitating at his side. The fireplaces were close now, just a few more steps...
And then two figures stepped out of the crowd, blocking his path.
They were both tall, with red hair and freckled faces. The older one had long hair tied back in a ponytail, with a calm, calculating expression. The younger one was broader, with the build of someone who spent his days outdoors...he looked like an older version of Ron, but harder, more weathered.
Harry had never met them, but he recognised them immediately after a single glance. These have to be Bill and Charlie Weasley.
"Going somewhere, Potter?" Bill asked, his voice cold.
Harry stopped dead, his heart pounding. He adjusted his grip on Pansy, his wand hand trembling with exhaustion.
"Get out of my way," he said, his voice low and dangerous.
Bill's lips curled into a thin smile. "I don't think so. You're a traitor, Potter. A fugitive. You're coming with us."
Charlie didn't speak. He just watched Harry with an unreadable expression, his wand raised.
Harry glanced back. Bellatrix and the others were still fighting, still holding off the Aurors. They couldn't help him. He was on his own.
He looked at Pansy, at her vulnerable sleeping face.
'I have failed to protect you before...I won't fail you again.'
Gently, he set her on the floor behind him, out of the way of the spells.
Then he raised his wand.
"I'm not going anywhere with you. And you are not taking my friend either." His wand burst out of the holster and appeared in his hand.
The duel between them was brutal and fast.
Bill was an experienced duellist. His spells were precise and powerful. He fought with the calm efficiency of someone who had been trained by the best.
Charlie was less skilled than his older brother, but he fought with the ferocity of a wild beast, his curses flying with reckless abandon.
However, Harry was no longer the naive boy he once was when he awoke in this new world.
In a matter of months, thanks to the grimoire's inner world, he had squeezed years' worth of magical study into mere months. He was no longer at a disadvantage.
Bill sent a blistering curse at Harry's chest...a dark, jagged spell that crackled with black energy.
Harry didn't dodge. He raised his wand and cast a spell he had learned from the grimoire.
"Aegis!"
A shimmering, golden barrier materialized in front of him, far stronger than a standard Shield Charm. The curse struck it and dissolved into harmless sparks.
Bill's eyes widened. "What the-"
Harry didn't give him time to finish. He swept his wand in a wide arc.
"Verbero Maxima!"
A massive concussive blast, invisible but devastating, erupted from his wand. Bill was thrown backwards, crashing into a pillar. He grunted in pain but managed to stay on his feet.
Charlie charged forward, roaring with fury. He cast a rapid series of curses, one after another, trying to overwhelm Harry with sheer volume.
Harry spun, his wand moving in a complex pattern.
"Speculum Aeternum!"
The Eternal Mirror Charm sprang to life...a shimmering, reflective barrier that caught Charlie's curses and sent them flying back at him.
Charlie barely managed to dodge his own spells, his eyes wide with shock.
"What is that?" he demanded.
Harry didn't answer. He pressed forward, his wand a blur of motion.
"Luminas!"
A blinding flash of light erupted from his wand, far brighter than a simple Lumos. Bill and Charlie both cried out, shielding their eyes.
Harry used the distraction to cast another spell, one he had been practicing for weeks.
"Fulmen Frigidum!"
A bolt of cold, blue lightning shot from his wand, striking the ground between the two Weasleys. Ice spread across the marble floor, trapping their feet.
Bill struggled to free himself, but the ice held fast. "You little-"
Harry raised his wand again.
"Ventus Gladius!"
A blade of wind shot forward, slicing through the air. Bill managed to raise a shield, but the blade cut through it like paper, leaving a deep gash in his robes and a thin line of blood on his cheek.
Charlie finally broke free of the ice, his face twisted with rage. He lunged at Harry, casting a curse at point-blank range.
Harry didn't flinch before acting. "Verbero," he whispered.
The concussive blast caught Charlie square in the chest. He flew backwards, slamming into the wall, and crumpled to the ground, unconscious.
Bill stared at his fallen brother, then at Harry. For the first time, there was fear in his eyes.
"You... you're just a child," he gasped. "How..."
"I'm not a child anymore," Harry said, his voice cold. "Come after me again, and I won't hold back."
He raised his wand one last time.
"Stupefy."
Bill's eyes rolled back, and he collapsed.
Harry stood over the two fallen Weasleys, his chest heaving. He had won.
Without help.
Without anyone saving him.
He had grown.
Harry turned, scooping Pansy back into his arms. Bellatrix, Rabastan, and Amycus were still holding off the remaining Aurors, but they were being overwhelmed.
"Go!" Rabastan shouted. "We'll cover you!"
Harry ran to the fireplace, Pansy clutched against his chest. He grabbed a handful of Floo Powder and threw it into the flames.
" To the Knights Rest!"
He stepped into the fire, and the world twisted around him.
They emerged in the entrance hall of an abandoned wooden cabin located in the middle of nowhere. One of the many safehouses prepared by the order.
Harry was still carrying Pansy, her body limp and lifeless in his arms. He looked down at her face, at her closed eyes, at her empty expression.
"You're safe now," he whispered. "We are both safe."
They made it out. And he finally got his friend back, or what was left of her.
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