Harry lay trapped in a cascading wave of dark chaotic power, which dug into his form, scalding flesh and singing hair. Pain swept over his mind, sinking into every crevice of his brain as uncontrollable spasms twisted his body unable to move from the staircase. His face was contorted into a mixture of agony and helplessness and despite all of Harry's training; he could feel a dark hole in his mind just within reach where he could go to be safe, where the harsh pain of the outside world couldn't touch him. It beckoned and beckoned as his body jerked in pain under the throes of powerful dark magic, until he was less of a hole and more of a void that threatened to suck him in. The part of his mind that lay beyond pain and pleasure, the cold, analytical and logical section knew that if he submerged his mind into the void then he would never return, he would resemble the victims of the Cruciatus curse who had snapped and gone insane, lost to the waking world. But the other parts begged for relief, needed it badly, needed to escape this horrible agonising pain that was beyond anything Harry had faced before.
Suddenly, the pain was gone and Harry could distantly feel his body flying through the air, landing in a crumpled heap at the bottom of the stairways. A familiar feeling washed over him, one that he always recognised and associated with Dumbledore and Hogwarts, but it was weaker than he remembered. The feeling seemed to stroke his forehead, ruffling his sweat covered hair, before fading away, leaving Harry to face reality alone. With pained green eyes, Harry slowly looked up, grunting at the effort of moving. He was in the hallway outside the Headmaster's office, which had closed up once again, and out of the trap. As he staggered up, Harry's pain-stricken mind raced to analyse what had just happened. The nearest he could guess was that Hogwarts, the unbound part, had used her miniscule power to free him, to save his life.
"Intruder!" Somebody screamed loudly, but without emotion. "There is an intruder outside the Headmaster's office!"
Harry jerked his head up. A ghost wearing a Death Eater's grab was pointing at him, his dead eyes blank as he raised the alarm. With a grunt of effort, Harry flicked his wand, making three shaky movements that were impeded by his quivering hands. With a loud screech, the ghost disappeared in a puff of white smoke, dispelled but not destroyed.
Harry quickly staggered away from the Headmasters office, moving slowly in wavering steps. After a few dozen paces, he groaned in pain and leant against the wall, resting his sweaty and heated forehead again the stone. His entire body throbbed with a constant dull ache and Harry could feel that his magic had been weakened considerably. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out two vials of a bluish-purple colour and opening them up, he downed the two in a single gulp. Instantly, Harry could feel the pain in his body dimming and his magic slightly strengthening and straightened up. He needed to get out of the castle immediately. But that was easier said than done. Although the potions Harry had consumed had helped, they did not totally remove all of his weakness. Rather, they worked like a shot of adrenaline, boosting his reflexes and magic, but only for a limited time. They were a standard carryon for all Raiding teams because unlike most potions, they did not generate any magical aura that could be detected.
Avery scowled, her beautiful features twisting as she regarded the gargoyle guarding the Headmasters office. Behind her, two robed and masked Death Eaters stood still, while another worked quickly, waving his ebony wand in a series of advanced detection spells. Avery sighed with impatience, fixing the wand-wielding Death Eater with an icy stare, her blue eyes flashing angrily. The Death Eater gulped and stopped waving his wand.
"The inner wards don't seem to have been disturbed," He said. "But there's a chance that somebody activated the outer rat-catcher. I'd say the bastard was in there or about a minute."
Avery raised an eyebrow at that. The rat-catcher was a particular nasty ward created by the Dark Lord himself. When caught in it, it was said that the pain the victim suffered was just as bad as the Cruciatus Curse, if not worse. Only an extremely powerful witch or wizard could have broken free, and as far as Avery knew, she only knew two wizards with such power.
"You say that somebody was caught in the rat-catcher for an entire minute, yet there is no body nearby," She said coolly. "There are very few wizards who have the fortitude to continue moving after such a shock, the Dark Lord and Potter being the only two I can name."
"Potter? Potter's here?" One of the Death Eater's behind her exclaimed incredulously. "He's good, but he's not that good to get past the Hogwarts wards."
The Death Eater paled at his dangerous tone, taking an unconscious step backwards. "I'm just telling you what I've detected."
Avery nodded slowly, halting her companions objections.. "Very well," She said. "Send a message to initiate a search. All Death Eaters are to search the castle, floor by floor, room by room. After the castle has been searched, send a team to inspect the outer grounds."
The Death Eater nodded and placed his wand on his temple, screwing his eyes shut as he concentrated. After a few seconds, the tip of his wand glowed in a silvery hue and with a grand flourish; he sent a silvery misty light akin to a weak Patronus, through the wall.
"You two, come with me," Avery ordered to the Death Eater's behind her. "If Potter is here, we must catch him!"
Avery stalked off with one of the Death Eater's, while the other lingered back.
"And you. If we find nothing, I will place you in the rat catcher for a minute and see how far you get." He whispered harshly.
The Death Eater's eyes went wide with shock and his chin trembled.
From up the hall, Avery whirled around, her dirty blonde hair sweeping through the air like a billowing cloak.
"When I say search, I mean search now !" She snapped. The Death Eaters jumped to attention and quickly strode into their search pattern, fearful of their superiors wrath.
Harry waited silently under a powerful invisibility charm as a portrait slowly scanned the hallway he was in carefully, before turning around and walking into another frame beyond Harry's sight. Slowly, he silently walked from underneath the shadow of a large suit of armour and turned into the next hall, trying in vain to ignore the tingles of pain that kept sweeping his body. All of the healing charms he knew had not had much of an effect and he knew that powerful dark magic lingered in his body, doing nothing but harm.
Suddenly his small crystal grew warm and Harry carefully pulled it out of his robes, which were visible only thanks to his heavily charmed glasses. The crystal was let off two small pulses of weak light and Harry's face grew grim. Ron had detected more activity than usual and Harry felt sure that the Death Eaters were scouring the castle for the intruder. He could not be caught or detected like this, not in his weakened state. He would be no match for the twelve Death Eaters stationed at the school at the moment. With a look of determination that few could see, Harry walked briskly through the darkened hallways of Hogwarts, the only sign of his fatigue and injuries present in his slight limp. The feel of the evil magic radiating off the Horcrux in his robes was enough to spurn him on when he wanted to rest.
Avery and her burly Death Eater companion walked softly down the hallway. The Death Eater next to her was waving his wand absently, viewing a small trail of red and gold sparks with narrowed eyes. Somebody had performed a restricted invisibility charm, a powerful piece of magic only the most capable of wizards and witches could perform. Whoever they were dealing with, it wasn't a student, which meant that there was an unlicensed wizard or witch on the premises.
"Snape's going to get it now," The large blonde Death Eater said softly, grinning maliciously with broken teeth. "Letting an intruder in like this… The Dark Lord…"
"Will execute you if you reveal our intentions to whoever may be under that invisibility charm!" Avery cut in with a low hiss.
The Death Eater grinned at her and waved his wand in an elaborate manner, muttering a few choice Latin phrases under his breath. The tip of his wand glowed and cackled with yellow bolts of magic that shot off into the walls on either side. "I invented this spell myself," he said proudly. "If you tie it into the ward, it'll reveal anything within a thirty metre distance. Watch."
The walls suddenly sparked with yellow luminous light, which flashed in a series of bursts as it shot down the hallway, driving back the darkness. Avery looked quite impressed, sending her colleague a rare look of praise, before she stiffened. She felt the man next to her do the same as down the hall, the yellow magical light flashed onto a section of air and turned light red. The air rippled, sparkling in a rainbow-coloured hue as a shroud of invisibility was torn aside, revealing a black-robed figure with messy dark hair flecked with a light scattering of grey and hardened emerald eyes framed behind a set of round glasses.
"Harry Potter!" The man whispered with shock.
Harry grimaced as his invisibility shroud was torn away with ease, feeling impressed with the spell work despite the inconvenience. He faced the two Death Eaters, his wand hung loosely in his right hand by his side. He noted the tall burly blonde man, remembering his face from a report he got from his spy as being a terrific magical tracker and curse breaker. The women on the left though, made Harry blink.
"Avery?" He asked slowly, a small smile coming over his face. "And here I was thinking you had died at Malfoy Mansion."
"It will take a far greater wizard than you to kill me," Avery responded coldly, motioning quickly with her right hand and both she and the male Death Eater approached him, splitting up and moving to both sides, ready to attack at a moment's instance.
"Haven't you heard?" Harry asked lightly. "I am the greatest wizard in Britain, superior to everybody else, including you half-blooded inferior piece of muggle filth, Voldemort."
"How dare you…" The male Death Eater started, his voice tinged with rage at the insults directed to the one wizard who respected more than his own father.
Harry's wand suddenly blurred as it swung into action and there was a flash of blinding golden light and a noise much like a gunshot as a bolt of sizzling magic erupted from the tip, lancing towards the Death Eater as Harry gave a powerful underhanded sweep. Golden sparks rained to the ground as the Death Eater was struck, collapsing to the ground as his wand was vaporised underneath a wave of cackling energy. Avery raised her wand as Harry swung his back to her, his gaze deadly serious, while the fallen Death Eater moaned in pain, his barely conscious brain noting what was happening
"It's quite sad how easy it is to manipulate Death Eaters," Harry said quietly, his face set in stone. "Although it seems that you're not similarly affected."
Avery said nothing but she tensed, her body coiling in readiness to strike out. Harry could see her eyes scan over her companion and then himself. Suddenly, realisation swept through her eyes and her posture relaxed as she smiled coldly and smugly.
"So, you were caught in the Rat Catcher," She said in a smooth voice, eyeing him with unhidden delight.
"Rat Catcher?" Harry repeated. "So that's what you called that ward. I'll admit, it's a very nasty piece of magic, though I was able to easily break free."
"Liar!" Avery said in a voice little above a whisper. "I can see it in you. You're tired, you're hurt… you're in pain! Your weak and you can barely stand on your own power."
Harry didn't react to her words but he did take a small step backwards, feeling wary of the women in front of him.
" Avada Kedavra!" Avery suddenly hissed. A coil of dark magic zapped from her wand missing Harry as he dove to the side. Although he muttered no incantation, a dark blue spell whooshed from his wand, frosty icicles spiralling madly towards the Death Eater, who raised her wand and wordlessly conjured a physical shield. A dark red metallic shield appeared in her right hand, shimmering with suppressed heat. The icy blast simple melted as it smashed upon the shield and blocked a flurry of low-level beams and blasts of light with ease.
This gave Harry the time to jump back to his feet again and he moved quickly, flicking his wand in a series of sharp gestures while dodging an orb of cackling purple magic. With each flick, a thin slither of gleaming silvery magic shot out towards Avery, a dozen in total. Avery raised her shield in response and although the first six or seven silver bolts were deflected, cracks appeared on the shield and it shattered in her hands. But Avery was quick and she jumped back, waving her wand and summoning a powerful globe of shimmering bronze magic to envelop her, while moving onto her next offensive spell.
As the last four or so bolts and Harry's subsequent roaring beam of crimson magic crumpled on her advanced shielding charm, a sickly purple and green streak of light lanced towards Harry, who back-pedalled quickly, ducking under the curse that would have infected him with several highly deadly plagues. As he rose, he wordlessly summoned a nearby suit of amour, directing it at Avery, who noticed his intentions and swiped her wand with ease, deflecting the flying hunk of metal with a shower of red sparks.
"You're looking a little tired," Avery said, grinning mockingly at her opponent from behind her shield. "Would you like a rest?"
Harry said nothing but levelled his wand at her. "Avada Kedavra!" He hissed, his mind focussed on the intent of death. But instead of the normal coil of blinding green light and the roaring wind that accompanied it, a splatter of green sparks spat from the tip of his wand in a small breeze. Although the sparks broke through Avery's shield without any problems, they died out as they did so. Harry sagged, drained and tired, but he kept his mind fully focussed on the duel.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk," Avery said softly. "You can't even produce a decent Killing Curse. And to think, this is the most feared wizard of the 21st century."
Harry responded with a ball of suppressed lightning and Avery conjured another globe of glowing bronze magic. The ball exploded violently on the shield with the noise of a thunderclap and small cackles of lightning rained down on the shield, which shimmered madly as it absorbed and neutralised the offensive magic. Another sickly green and purple streak of light zoomed towards Harry, who, too tired to dodge, batted it away with a glowing wand tip, the motion flowing on into a whip-like movement. A blazing whip of yellow and red fire spat from his wand, flicking through the air as Harry expertly whipped it across the shield.
Avery staggered, her shield flaring up at the powerful flaming whip. She managed to stay upright as Harry drew the whip back and cracked it at the shield again. This time Avery lost her balance and stumbled, veering to her left and leaning against the wall. She dispelled her shield just as the whip cracked again, the fiery conjuration radiating an intense heat as it missed her by mere inches. She threw herself to her right, rolling over and coming to a stop at a crouch. A jet of silver-streaked magic erupted from her wand, only to be batted aside by Harry with his blazing coil of fire.
As Avery sent forward a barrage of streaks and blasts of light, Harry flicked the whip back towards himself. The fiery length flew back, coiling around the tip of his wand and forming a shield of flames, which Harry used to block the incoming curses. As Avery prepared another barrage, Harry flicked his wand and the large fiery shield was banished towards Avery with a grand flourish. Avery widened her eyes and rolled to her right, feeling the heat of the fiery shield as it passed by her. As she came to a crouch, she suddenly noticed that Harry, in his fatigue, had extended himself on the last spell and his shoulder and the lower part of his back was exposed. Harry knew it as well as realisation flooded his eyes.
Time seemed to move slowly for both duellers. Harry started to draw back his shoulder, his meagre magical reserves already forming into a shielding charm. His green eyes locked onto Avery's blue eyes and she felt his Legillimency, which was of moderate skill but severely lacking when it came to her own, enter her mind. For a moment their gazes locked, minds meeting and battling. Avery knocked aside his probe and in what seemed like an eternity, flicked her wand to the slightest degree, the fastest and one of the most powerful spells flaring from the tip. Her lips rolled around the syllables and Harry tensed his body, his wand moving back in a futile attempt to block the next spell.
" Crucio!"
From the tip of Avery's wand came a flash of crimson light that zapped towards Harry, breaking through his barely formed silvery globe of magic and striking him deep into his shoulder. Harry tensed and let loose a cry of pain as the Unforgivable struck him. The feeling of a thousand white hot knives digging into his body overcame his mind with blaring pain too intense for rational thought to ignore. While wizards of Harry's calibre were able to partially ignore lower level pain curses, the Unforgivable broke all barriers within the mind, neutralising the endorphins that stimulated pleasure while increasing the maximum pain levels the body could take. To be put simple, no wizards or witch had ever been able simply ignore the Cruciatus Curse.
He fell to the ground, a loud hiss of pain emerging from his mouth as he dropped to his knees, his wand falling from his twitching hand. His entire body was shuddering in agony, his brain barely functioning. He tried in vain to keep his eyes focussed on Avery, to draw on his wandless magical skills to stop the pain, but they blurred with unshed tears of anguish as drool dripped down his chin, and he fell to the ground in a twitching shuddery heap, his head lolling to the side.
He had only been under the curse for twenty seconds, but it had felt like an eternity as pain pulsed through his system. His mind, barely capable of conscious thought at this point, registered a dark blur in his vision, and somewhere in the back of his brain, he identified the blur as a suit of armour. As he thrashed on the ground, he managed to raise a single hand and with the last efforts of his normal consciousness, drew on his magic and summoned it.
For Avery, she watched impassively as the figure on the ground thrashed before her very eyes. Her blue eyes were hard, her face stony and determined and her knuckles gripped tightly on her wand, keeping the Cruciatus flowing to incapacitate the wizard before her. Next to her, the other Death Eater had managed to get to his knees and was watching the spectacle with pleasure-filled eyes, his face alight with dark enjoyment. Suddenly, a suit of armour standing silently along the wall close to Harry was magically tugged from its spot and summoned towards the figure on the ground. Avery's eyes widened as the flow of the Cruciatus Curse was interrupted by a layer of shiny metal and watched as the figure on the floor stopped thrashing.
Harry felt the absence of the Cruciatus Curse as soon as the armour blocked it and couldn't help a huge sigh of shaky relief exit his mouth. He glanced up, his body still twitching in the after-effects of the curse and with a quick gesture of his palm, banished the armour at the two Death Eaters. Avery gave a cry of surprise, automatically sending out a blast of destructive magic from her wand that caused the armour to explode in a ball of fire, but the shrapnel tore into her hastily raised shield, tearing through the weakest parts away from her face and torso and impaling her arms and legs with dozens of shiny metal splinters. The other Death Eater, on his hands and knees, was too low to be struck but Harry managed to stagger up, his wand zooming into his hand, and level it at him.
" Re… Refgra!" Harry intoned in a weary and exhausted voice, his mind to dazed and wracked with pain in order to wordlessly cast the bone-breaking spell.
The Death Eater howled in pain as a crackling grey curse enveloped his arms and he collapsed to the ground as they were noisily broke, loud snaps echoing in the darkened corridors. As he fell, Avery, with blood leaking from her four limbs, tried to shakily raise her wand, but Harry wearily lashed out with his wand, a diagonal downward stroke that Avery felt as a blow to the head, and she collapsed to the ground, barely conscious.
Without giving the Death Eater's another thought, Harry staggered away from them, disappearing into the dark corridor with a heavy limp, his wand held loosely in his right hand and leaving two wounded Death Eater's lying in the middle of the hallway.
Draco Malfoy stood in the entrance hall as the last of the newly summoned Death Eaters disappeared into the school in groups of three. Dressed in fine green and silver silk robes and covered with a brilliant white fur coat, he shivered at the coldness and wandlessly and wordlessly conjured a warming charm around himself and his wife, Pansy, who stood next to him in a revealing and expensive sleek azure and white dress robe and laden with expensive jewels, including a particularly beautiful golden amethyst necklace.
"Draco dear, do you really think it's… him ?" She asked him, tossing dark curly ringlets out of her face.
Draco frowned, his face worried. "Merlin, I hope not," He said. "Or else Severus is going to be in a lot of trouble. Honestly, I don't think that Potter would attack Hogwarts. As far as I know, there's nothing here for him to gain."
"That just goes to show Draco, that you know very little," Somebody whispered in a cold voice.
Draco whirled around, his wand whipping out with and casting a split-second spell, a disarming charm that rocketed from his wand with great speed, while preparing to cast a powerful dark curse. He never got the chance as the figure stepped out of the shadows; his wand held high and caught the spell in his left hand with a muttered incantation, throwing it straight to Draco, who realised his mistake too late as his wand was ripped from his hand and he was pushed not-to-gently back.
The wand flew threw the air and landed in the palm of Harry Potter, who emerged from the shadows with gleaming emerald eyes, watching Pansy fumble with her wand in terror. It only took a slight flick and a murmured spell to disarm her as well, sending her wand skidding along the length of the entrance hall.
"Potter!" Draco hissed, half in anger, half in fear. His pale blue eyes watched the dangerous man in front of his very carefully.
"Draco," Potter responded carefully, tiredness carefully but not completely hidden in his voice. He glanced at Pansy, his eyes raking her form, and for a moment Draco could have sworn that his lips curled into a truly warm and genuine smile that spoken of hidden secrets and portrayed a certain understanding that Draco didn't understand. But it was gone before Draco could be fully sure that it was there.
"That's a lovely necklace you have their Pansy," Potter noted, his face blank. "I, ah, always knew that purple looked good on you."
Pansy flushed and Draco was horrified to know that he couldn't tell if it was due to fear or embarrassment.
"Mr Malfoy, Mrs Malfoy, I bid you a good night," Potter drawled and limped to the open doors, his eyes carefully flicking over Draco. As Draco watched him go, Potter threw his wand to the ground and just before he exited into the dark grounds, he turned around and threw him a quick wink. Pansy blinked as Potter left and watched Draco jump to his feet, his wand zooming into his hand from across the hall.
"Call the Death Eaters and Aurors," He managed to utter to his wife.
Pansy watched him carefully as he stared outside with a neutral expression, and then strode to the nearest fireplace, throwing in a handful of powder and watching the flames flare green as she contacted the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
Ron watched the castle anxiously from a dark enclosure within the Forbidden Forest, his mind furiously wrestling the possibility that Harry had been captured, or worse, killed. The kidnapped student that had been transfigured into an animal had been placed into a cage and shrunken, and now resided in his dark and scorched battle robes. As he was debating with himself whether to go back into the castle, despite Harry's strict instructions and orders, a dark figure staggered into the tiny clearing and Ron sighed with relief as he recognised Harry and stepped out from the darkness, revealing himself.
"Harry!" he hissed softly.
Harry looked up at him with tired and pained emerald eyes and Ron hitched a breath at Harry's condition. He was shuddering slightly, a tell-tale sign of Cruciatus exposure, and his face was pale and clammy. A faint trickle of blood was dripping from his nose and he could barely walk, his wand held loosely in his hand.
"We need to leave, now!" Harry muttered, darting his head behind him.
"Did you get it?" Ron asked quickly as he summoned two broomsticks from the foliage, once again courtesy of Harry's secret spy.
"Yeah," Harry said tiredly, blinking rapidly as he eyed the broomstick. "But there was some… trouble in getting out, and I got… held up."
"I'll say," Ron muttered, worry thick in his voice. "Will you be able to fly?"
"It's only two-hundred metres… to get past… the wards," Harry murmured. "I… can make it that… far."
Ron nodded and watched Harry carefully as both wizards mounted their broomsticks. With a gentle push, two dark blurs shot from the ground and into the deep forbidden forest. After a few minutes of careful flying, Harry felt his skin tingle as they past the wards and knew that Aurors and Death Eaters would be apparating in a matter of seconds.
"Raise the mark!" He managed to bellow as the two shot to the ground, reaching for his portkey.
Ron nodded and raised his wand, bellowing the incantation and gripped his own portkey. A huge fiery red and golden phoenix riding in a clear blue sky amidst white fluffy clouds shot into the sky as the two wizards disappeared as their portkeys activated. It was the flaming mark that greeted the Aurors and Death Eaters that apparated in seconds later, pouring into the forbidden forest in a flurry of black and blue robes.
Adrian Pucey was relatively young wizard in the mid forties, with dark brown hair, light blue eyes and a permanent sneer on his face that reflected his status and wealth. Despite that, Adrian was not an evil wizard. He did his job, managing the finances of the entire Ministry of Magic, loved his wife, Helen, a former Durmstrung student, and doted on his only daughter, Daphne. His loyalty to Lord Voldemort was only surpassed by the love he carried for his family and as he sat down at the grand oak table in the dining room, he was about to realise that soon he had to choose between the two.
At the moment, Adrian was absorbed in the newspaper in front of him, ignoring his rich English breakfast of bacon, scrambled eggs and fried tomatoes as he stared unblinkingly at the front page. However, he was drawn from his stupor as a dozen or so owls emerged from the gigantic roof in a tumble and whirlwind of feathers and hoots. One particular barn owl let out an annoyingly loud screech as it dropped its letter on the table and Adrian winced, glaring at the bird angrily as it flew away. What really got his attention was the red-feathered hawk, an uncommon but not impossible postal bird, which swooped down and settled on the table before his raven haired wife, who took the scroll of parchment strapped to the bird's leg with a delicate hand.
Adrian watched as she opened it and scanned it, noting the way her eyes widened with horror and her cheeks paled with fright. As a tear trickled down her face, he hurriedly stood up and strode quickly around the table.
"What's wrong?" He asked her in concern.
She merely handed him the letter, which he took and read, his face paling after each word.
Pucey Household
This is the Order of Phoenix. We have your daughter, Daphne Pucey, the true reason behind last night's raid. Her professors, and by default the Ministry, has been led to believe that you retrieved her last night in order to present her to a possible spouse. DO NOT INFORM THEM OTHERWISE. We both know that the Ministry and Lord Voldemort cares little for others and should they be informed, you would all be executed for treason and Daphne would have her mind ripped out in order to discover the various details of Azkaban she may have come across.
This something we all want to prevent and it is in both our interests to resolve this quickly and more importantly, quietly.
In exchange for your daughter, we want 650,000 Galleons. As Head of Magical Economics, I am confident that you will be able to procure this money easily, although it would be wise if you left Britain soon afterwards. Lord Voldemort does not take kindly to betrayal and eventually he will find out.
We will send you the transaction point in four days. Rest assured that no harm, both physical and mental, will come to your daughter in that time. If you do not meet our price, I will be hard pressed to assure you of this again. On the third day, at midnight, the hawk will return. If you are unable to procure these funds within the allotted timetable, inform us of how much you are able to obtain, and we may be able to negotiate. However, we will know if you're lying- our people are everywhere. Do not forget that.
Harry Potter
Commander of the Order of Phoenix
Azkaban Island
"Merlin!" He breathed as he stared down at the attached lock of black hair. Even though he had not cast any detection and identity spells, he knew without a doubt that Daphne was in the hands of the Order of Phoenix. He collapsed into the chair next to his sobbing wife, placing a hand over his face in shock and horror. "Merlin, help us all."
The Daily Prophet
Hogwarts Raided by Harry Potter
Infamous Criminal Wounded Badly
By special correspondent Maria Skeeter
Department of Media Affairs
Last night, the once thought impenetrable wards of Hogwarts were breached by the infamous criminal, Harry Potter. Although his motives remain unclear, it has been learnt that during the raid Harry Potter was struck down by respected Death Eater Linden Avery with a Cruciatus Curse and wounded badly. Without proper treatment, specialist Healers have theorised that some of the spell damage inflicted upon Potter could have permanent effects. This marks a joyous day for the Wizarding World as the possibility that Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix may be close to defeat…
… Linden Avery, daughter of Marcus Avery, a decorated war hero of the Dark Lord's revolution, is expected to be awarded an Order of Salazar Slytherin for her continued bravery against the Order of Phoenix. Avery, aged 26, confronted Potter during a recent raid against Malfoy Manner, home to the Head of the Magical Law Enforcement and Head of the Disposal of Renegades, where she was severely injured in the line of duty. Only days later, she was again part of the elite team that drove the Order of Phoenix off the island prison of Morsmordre, where several Aurors were brutally hacked in their sleep. This latest confrontation again adds to Avery's already impressive retaliation and she is fast on the track in becoming a hero…
… Draco Malfoy, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, was also present on the scene and personally drove Potter through out of the castle and into the grounds. Both he and his wife have already been personally commended by the Dark Lord Himself, and are also expecting a declaration to praise their heroic efforts. Mr Malfoy met with the press late last night and assured the Wizarding world that everything was under control. It was expected that…
Salem Scrolls
Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix Strike Again!
Harry Potter, known worldwide for his infamous rebellion against the self-styled Lord Voldemort, leader of the British Ministry of Magic, is at it again. This time, his latest escapade involved the infiltration of the famed Hogwarts School of Dark Arts, Britains most advanced centre for magical education. Harry Potter, aged 40, has slowly escalated in raids and attacks from his island fortress Azkaban in the past few weeks, resulting in hundreds of British Auror casualties.
In the United States, there has been a considerable fan base for Harry Potter and his cause. Harry Potter, a former Auror and protégé of the famed Albus Dumbledore, an internationally recognised wizard of good, has received both blinding criticism and praise for his efforts against the despotic ruler of Britain. Although certain sections of the Warlock's Congress speak harshly against Potter's actions, many others praise him for taking a stand against so obvious an evil.
William Reilly, a member of the Institute of International Cooperation, had this to say.
" Honestly, we're not getting involved. Both Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort are very powerful wizards and there are few that rival them out of Britain. Hell, Voldemort is widely considered to be immortal, for God's sake! How the hell do we fight against an army led by an immortal wizard? And Harry Potter, well, we've all heard the rumours about him. Let them fight it out over there and pray to whatever gods you believe in that whoever emerges the victor leaves us alone!"
Britain, the world's oldest origin of magic, is considered to contain most of the world's most powerful wizards and witches, and although some American supporters may support Harry Potter and some may rally against him, all will agree that a war with Britain is to be avoided.
Deep within the bowels of Azkaban, Filius Flitwick and half a dozen skilled curse-breakers stood in a large darkened room, staring at something intently. Moisture dripped from the cold rocky walls and only a few floating lanterns lit up the current object of interest. An ancient sneakoscope lay innocently on a stone pedestal, but Filius knew what it truly was and was treating it carefully.
"Alright everybody," He squeaked seriously. "Let's destroy this abomination!"
Slowly, the curse-breakers circled the pedestal and raised their wands, preparing for the gruelling task of destroying one of Lord Voldemort's heavily warded and protected Horcruxes.