Hi all. This is a big one!
Firstly, I'd like to thank you all for all of your reviews thus far. I love reading and replying to them.
Secondly, I'd like to thank Arnel for all of her help.
Thirdly, I really hope you like this chapter! Read on!
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Category: Alternate Universe, Post-DH/AB Characters:All Genres: Action/Adventure, Angst, Drama, Romance Warnings: Disturbing Imagery, Mild Language, Negative Alcohol Use Rating: PG-13 Reviews: 154 Summary: Harry Potter awakes from a coma into a new world built on foundations of lies and deceit. What happened to him? And why have his friends and family turned on him? Harry Potter may have won The War, but can he win his life back? Hitcount: Story Total: 64303; Chapter Total: 4124 Awards: View Trophy Room Author's Notes: |
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As the days and weeks passed, Harry Potter became more and more involved in his godfather’s hunt for justice. Each day Sirius came back with more information about Aerys’ atrocities and illegal activities. It was over a month since Harry’s escape from the medical facility, a month of hard work for Sirius, and emotional hardship for Harry, but it seemed to be coming to fruition. Harry sat at the kitchen table, the pale glow of a setting sun shining through the windows, bathing him in light. It was yet another Saturday night that Harry was spending alone, both Sirius and Edward had left early that morning. Sighing in frustration Harry found himself reflecting on the past few weeks. Sirius had done an amazing job in gathering evidence and witnesses using his old school friends and contacts. Harry had never seen his godfather so driven and determined in the whole time he’d known him. Sometimes Harry worried that Sirius was too emotionally invested, too determined in bringing down Snidefish and thus restoring Harry’s life. There were days when Sirius would come home pale and shaking from exhaustion and the stress of travelling, while trying to avoid detection from Aerys’ squad, which was still maintaining their search for Harry. There were other days where things had obviously not gone to plan and Sirius would come home in a terrible mood and would turn to the bottle to drown his frustrations and anger. One such evening was just last week when Sirius announced his arrival home by slamming the front door shut behind him. It had been almost midnight it and had been obvious to Harry that Sirius had been drinking when he had gone down to investigate the commotion. His godfather’s eyes were bloodshot, his body unstable and his breath stank. “I’d thought you’d given up drinking!” Harry had whispered furiously, pointing accusingly at Sirius while trying to stay quiet as to not wake up Edward. “Ne…never s-said that,” Sirius had slurred, stumbling past Harry into the kitchen. Harry was having none of it. “Where were you all this time, because you sure as hell weren’t at the Ministry!” “I…I don’t need to explain my-myself to the likes of you!” Sirius had countered, bending over and opening a cupboard, his back to Harry. “You could have been caught, stumbling around like a drunken idiot. What were you thinking?!” “I was trying not to,” Sirius had replied, turning around with a newly opened bottle of firewhisky in his hand. This only made Harry angrier. “You’re bloody pathetic!” he hissed. “Look at the state of you. Give me that bottle.” “Who put you in charge,” Sirius spat, taking a big swig from his bottle. Harry took a deep breath and calmed himself, he being angry was not going to solve anything, it would just make Sirius more stubborn. “Sirius,” Harry said calmly. “This isn’t helping anyone, least of all you. Just put the bottle down, please, for me?” Sirius lowered the bottle from his lips, but didn’t release it completely. “You were doing so well, you haven’t drank in over a month. What happened today to make you like this?” “Bones is dead.” “What!?” Harry exclaimed. “Madam Bones is dead. One of the only people in the Ministry we could trust, the only one with the power to help us, is dead.” Harry sat down at the kitchen table in shock. Sirius sat opposite him, whiskey still in hand. “H-How?” Sirius looked at him gravely. “Snidefish is on to us somehow. Someone obviously told him about us digging for dirt on him, and he knew she was the only person in power that he didn’t have in his pocket. She had always challenged him because she saw the conniving little rat for what he was, this was just another excuse for him to kill her.” “That evil bastard.” Sirius nodded solemnly. “Is there anything to tie Snidefish to the murder?” Sirius shook his head. “They’re making it look like an accident.” “This is our fault, Sirius,” Harry said sadly. “If we hadn’t started digging, she would still be alive.” “This isn’t on you, Harry, or me,” Sirius said firmly. “Snidefish is an evil character, it was only a matter of time before something like this would happen, so don’t start blaming yourself.” Harry shook his head, ignoring his Godfather. ‘Yet another body on my hands,’ he thought to himself. ‘Madam Bones has been added to the list with Remus, Tonks, Moody, Fred and countless others.’ Then an unpleasant thought occurred to him. “What about poor Susan?” Harry asked. “She was her Aunt, wasn’t she?” Sirius nodded. “And she was the only hope we had. She was the only one we could bring this evidence to, she was still well respected in the wizarding world and people would have listened to her.” He took another swig of firewhisky. Harry shook his head. “Well, drinking isn’t going to help anything, Sirius. Give me the bottle.” Reluctantly Sirius handed it over. Taking it, Harry walked over to the sink emptied it. “Hey!” Sirius exclaimed. “That was expensive, fine quality whisky!” “That shouldn’t concern you,” Harry replied indignantly. “Fine,” Sirius grumbled. “Get me a bloody cup of tea then.” Returning to the table he handed a steaming mug of tea to Sirius and sat back down, putting his head in his hands. “What are we going to do?” he asked despairingly. “Is there no one else we can bring the evidence to?” Sirius shook his head. “I can’t because I’m still a criminal in many people’s eyes, even if my name was cleared, and the evidence will be dismissed. Robards has already had his name dragged through mud with Aerys leaning on the media to ridicule him. Who else is there after that?” Harry thought for a moment as he felt panic setting in. What if he will never be able to bring down Snidefish? Will he ever be free? Then a thought came to him. “Kingsley! What about Kingsley? How come you’ve never mentioned him before? Surely he’d help us?” Sirius looked sadly at Harry, making Harry’s stomach turn over. “Oh Merlin. He’s not…he’s not dead, is he?” “No, not dead,” Sirius replied, “But driven into hiding like you are now. Kingsley was Snidefish’s main rival for the Minister of Magic position, and he was always the more popular candidate. Snidefish rightly saw him as a threat, and so drove him into hiding.” “Do you know where he is?” Sirius shook his head. “It’s almost impossible to find an Auror when they don’t want to be found.” But Kingsley was the only hope they had, so from that evening on Harry and Sirius spent every afternoon, after Harry had finished his rehab sessions with Browne, on organising their evidence and working on finding Kingsley. That evidence lay before him now, bathed in the evening glow. There were three piles of files, each file stuffed full of various statements, affidavits and eye witness reports. The sight of these files filled Harry’s heart with hope and pride for his godfather. They had everything they needed to bring down Aery’s. They had two accounts from goblins in Gringotts of Snidefish embezzling money from the Ministry’s account into a personal, off-shore account. It had taken Sirius some convincing to get the goblins involved in what they considered a ‘wizard’s dispute’. A promise of payment with some expensive Black family heirlooms had quickly changed their minds. They had nine accounts from random passers-by that witnessed acts of brutality against ordinary members of the public by Snidefish’s private guard. They also had three inner Ministry officials who claimed to have been offered bribes by Snidefish personally, a further five claimed to have been offered bribes from his representatives. All eight had accepted the bribes, which weakened the impact the evidence would have in the courts, but the eight officials claimed they would have been risking their lives if they hadn’t accepted the bribes as Snidefish would have deemed them untrustworthy. They had four accounts of blackmailing, including Sirius’ and Edward Browne’s. Then they had the most important account of them all…Harry’s. Harry had a compelling account of kidnap and being unlawfully detained in an unauthorised medical facility. If all of this evidence was proven in front of the court, Snidefish would be looking at life in prison. Their main problem was they needed to give the evidence to someone reputable and popular whom they could trust. They needed Kingsley, in other words. ‘My luck must be changing,’ Harry thought to himself with a smile, as just last night they had made a breakthrough in that regard. Robards had given them a surprise visit as they were tidying up after dinner and had presented them with a letter that had been written by Kingsley and dated over two and a half years ago. “This,” Robards said, as he lay the letter out on the kitchen table, “is how we find Kingsley. He sent this to me two weeks after he went into hiding.” “How does this help us?” Harry asked. “It’s written in code. A code he had developed himself shortly after Voldemort’s reappearance and he only taught this code to a few people, me being one of them. I hadn’t thought of deciphering it until now as I thought it best for Kingsley that no one knew where he was, me included.” “How long will it take to decipher?” Sirius asked. “Not long, and it would be even quicker if you two would help me.” Harry nodded enthusiastically. The thought of being involved in something important gave him that rush of excitement that he hadn’t felt in years. It was just like going on another adventure with Ron and Hermione. His heart ached at the thought of his friends. “Let’s do it.” “The code,” Robards explained, “is this. As you can see, Kingsley has underlined certain words throughout the letter. If you take every underlined word and look three words previously, those are the words to the hidden message. Understand?” Harry and Sirius nodded. They had spent the next two hours deciphering the hidden message from the letter. The hidden message now lay before Harry, written by Sirius on a scrappy piece of paper. It read: ‘I have always liked emerald caves.’ Harry had been repeating that strange, seemingly inconsequential statement over and over in his head as he tried to figure out what Kingsley had meant. They had spent much of last night and early this morning searching various maps and books for any mention of places known for emeralds or caves, and surprisingly they found quite a few. They had ruled out any long distance locations, as it would have been impossible for Kingsley to have travelled abroad through various security checkpoints without detection. After much deliberation, they had narrowed it down to four possible locations earlier this afternoon thanks to Edward’s significant geographical knowledge. Sirius was out investigating the first location, which was an inn called the ‘Emerald Cave Inn’ situated in a remote, hidden away village near Cornwall. Edward was investigating the second location which was a holiday destination called ‘The Emerald Village’ located on a small island just off the coast of Wales. They had left together before sunrise this morning before going their separate ways. Harry was expecting them back soon enough. The final location they had chosen was the one they thought most likely. There was a cave located in the south west of Ireland, called Crag Cave, which had long been in wizarding history books for its magical healing properties. Reportedly, deep down in the bowels of the cave, there was a pool of emerald coloured water, which could apparently cure many magical ailments and injuries. For this reason, among the local wizards in Ireland, it was regularly called the Emerald Cave. Sirius believed, and Edward agreed with him, that this was the most likely destination that Kingsley had fled to as it was the furthest one could get from England without having to travel through Portkey checkpoints. And so Harry waited, impatiently tapping his fingers against the kitchen table as he awaited their return. Harry was frustrated that he hadn’t been allowed accompany either of them on their journeys, but he was adamant he would travel to Crag Cave should the other locations prove fruitless. Harry was about to get up and make a cup of tea when he heard a commotion outside the front door. ‘That must be Sirius or Edward,’ Harry thought to himself as he headed towards the door. But as he peered through the small peep hole, he saw the imposing figure of Robards standing on the doorstep, his shadow cast upon the door by the sun that was nearly below the horizon. He opened the door to let the Head Auror in. “Ah Mr Potter,” Robards said with his thick Scottish accent, shaking Harry’s hand, shutting the door behind him and following Harry into the kitchen. “How are you today?” “I’m fine, thanks. Just waiting for Sirius and Edward to come back.” “Ah, yes, that’s why I’m here. I wanted to talk to Sirius about that. Do you have any idea when he will be back?” “Soon enough, I expect,” Harry replied, glancing at his watch. It was eight o’clock. “They said they’d be back around now, actually.” Robards nodded. “Do you mind if I sit and wait for them?” “No, not at all,” Harry replied, sitting down at the kitchen table opposite Robards and pushing the piles of evidence aside. “What do you want to talk to Sirius about?” “A few of my team have investigated Crag Cave, which we believe is the most likely place Kingsley had disappeared to. It’s a dangerous place, not just from a physical perspective, but magically too. There is a lot of raw magic there, magic that we don’t understand, let alone control. It could potentially be a dangerous operation, and I think you will need protection.” “You want to come too?” Harry asked. Robards nodded. “Myself and two Aurors that I trust with my life.” “It can’t be that dangerous if Kingsley is living there.” Harry reasoned. “It is a strange place, Harry. The myths say the Cave has strong healing properties, but many who go there seeking healing never return.” Harry was about to respond when he heard the front door open and close with a bang. “Harry?” a voice called. It was Sirius. “In the kitchen.” Harry called back. A few moments later Sirius appeared looking dishevelled, windswept and thoroughly exhausted. “Ah, Gawain, waiting to see me, were you?” he asked, tiredly slumping into a chair. “Yes. I’m guessing Kingsley hasn’t been found?” Sirius shook his head. “I haven’t heard from Edward since this morning, but he wasn’t staying at ‘The Emerald Inn’, that’s for sure. Robards shook his head. “Crag Cave is the most likely location.” Sirius nodded. “Agreed. We are heading there tomorrow.” “Actually, Sirius, that is what I came here to talk to you about. A few of my men have scouted the perimeter and the entrance of the cave, and we fear that it will be a dangerous expedition.” Sirius raised his eyebrows. “You want to come too?” Robards nodded. “Just me, Clint and Dundon. You know them, don’t you? They are very trustworthy.” “I don’t know, Gawain. The fewer people who know about what we are up to, the less likely it is that Snidefish will hear about it.” “These are very trustworthy men, Sirius. They want to bring down Snidefish as much as you do. We will need their assistance, I know we will.” “Fine,” Sirius conceded reluctantly.”Bring them. Meet us here tomorrow morning at 6am. We want to bring Kingsley back and still have time to discuss our next move tomorrow evening.” “I’m coming too,” Harry asserted, cringing at how childish that sounded. “No, Harry,” Sirius began, but Robards cut across him. “Actually, Sirius, I think it would be a good idea for Harry to come with us. Kingsley may need to be convinced to come back and Harry’s situation will prove good motivation.” “Fine, you can come. But you have to stay under the cloak unless I state otherwise, okay?” Harry frowned. “I’m an adult you know! I can look after myself.” “Don’t start, Harry,” Sirius warned. “Do as I say or you won’t be coming at all.” Harry grunted his agreement. “Excellent,” Robards said, standing up and reaching for his cloak. “I will see you tomorrow.” Sirius and Harry both nodded their goodbyes. Harry glanced at the cloak again. It was almost nine. “Edward is late.” Sirius’ brow furrowed. “I know. I hope he is okay. He did have further to travel than me.” Sirius’ stomach grumbled and he grimaced. “Have you eaten?” Harry nodded. “Well, I’m going to make something for myself.” Harry nodded and headed into the living room, sitting down on one of the squashy armchairs. He took his glasses off and tiredly rubbed his eyes. The emotional rollercoaster of the week he just had left him feeling drained. Leaning back, keeping his eyes shut, he had almost drifted off to sleep when a loud bang at the front door had him jumping to his feet. He dashed into the hallway to see Edward stumble inside looking absolutely exhausted. “Edward! Here, let me take that,” Harry offered, taking Edward’s cloak. “Go into the kitchen, Sirius is making dinner.” Edward nodded slowly, and stumbled into the kitchen, leaving Harry looking worriedly behind him. Harry had grown fond of the man over the past month, and couldn’t help but think of him as an honorary uncle. After hanging Edward’s cloak up Harry went into the kitchen, hoping Edward was okay and eager for information about his journey. Sitting down, he looked at the doctor. He was ghostly pale and was shaking and he had a small cut on his right cheek. “Are you okay Edward? What happened?” “He’ll be fine once he’s eaten,” Sirius cut in, placing a large bowl of spaghetti Bolognese in front of him. Without saying a word, Edward dug in, shovelling forkfuls of pasta into his mouth, the heat from the food steaming up the glasses that sat at the end of his nose. Harry let Sirius and Edward sit and eat in silence. He kept stealing glances at Edward, who wasn’t as pale as before, but was still trembling quite badly. Then it dawned on him. Standing up, Harry went over to one of the cupboards and pulled out a bar of chocolate. Opening it, he broke off a chunk and handed it to Edward, who looked at it with his eyebrows raised. “You ran into some Dementors, didn’t you?” Edward nodded. “Eat that chocolate,” Harry urged, “It will help.” Doing as he was told, Edward finished off the last mouthful of his dinner before eating the chocolate. Almost immediately some colour returned to his cheeks and the trembling eased. “Wow,” Edward said, speaking for the first time. “Chocolate really does help.” Harry nodded. “I’ve had to use that trick a lot of times. So, what happened?” Now slightly energised, Edward explained how he Apparated part of the way to Emerald Village, stopped to have a break because the distance was too far to travel in one go. When he finally did get there, he investigated the village, asking locals whether they had seen a tall, impressive looking black man wearing an earring and colourful clothes. No one had seen him, but Edward had seen signs of a forest nearby and thought Kingsley could be hiding in there. He had gone deeper and deeper into the forest when he felt the air suddenly go cold, and he could hear strange voices in his head. He described how he had turned around to see two Dementors hovering behind him. Having never been taught how to perform the Patronus Charm, he had sprinted away as fast as he could and was very lucky to escape. “Merlin, Edward!” Sirius said. “I’m sorry. I wouldn’t have sent you up there if I’d have known there would be Dementors. I thought they had all left the country after they were banished from Azkaban after then end of the war.” “Don’t worry about it,” Edward replied. “You couldn’t have known.” “I can teach you how to perform a Patronus Edward, if you want.” Harry offered. Edward smiled. “You can train me for a change.” “Why don’t we sit in the living room and we can discuss what is happening tomorrow?” Harry and Edward nodded their agreement and followed Sirius into the living room. “Right,” Sirius said. “Tomorrow, at 6am we leave for Crag Cave. Robards and two trustworthy Aurors will be accompanying us. Robards will create a Portkey for us to bring us to Castleisland, which is in the west of Ireland and is the closest town to the cave. It’s a wizarding town, so we don’t need to worry about the Statute of Secrecy. After your experience today Edward, I understand if you don’t want to come with us.” “I’m coming,” Edward replied sternly. Sirius smiled. “All right, then.” “Are you sure Robards’ Aurors are trustworthy?” Edward asked. Sirius nodded. “I’ve dealt with them, they are good men. “We have planned all we can,” Sirius continued. “We don’t know what to expect once we get there, so we need to be careful. Constant vigilance, as Moody used to say.” Harry smiled. They chatted idly for a while before Harry could feel his eyelids getting heavy. “You should go to bed, son.” Sirius whispered, trying not to wake Edward who had fallen asleep about thirty minutes previously. Harry nodded tiredly and stood up before glancing at Edward. “How come you never told me about Edward before?” Sirius shrugged. “We just fell out of contact after school. Your parents and Moony never really knew him. He’s a good man though.” Harry nodded. “He is. Night, Sirius.” “Night, Harry.” Harry stumbled up the stairs in his tiredness and struggled into his pyjamas before slumping onto his bed. No matter how tired he was though, he knew nothing would quench the nervous excitement in his stomach about tomorrow’s adventure. Ha rry rubbed his eyes for what must have been the one hundredth time that morning as he urged his body to wake up. He stood with early morning shivers in a jumper, t-shirt and worn jeans in the living room with a blurry-eyed Edward and Sirius who was looking quite...well…serious. It had just gone 6am and they were still waiting for Robards and his Aurors to arrive. Sirius impatiently checked his watch again. “Where is he?” he mumbled. Sirius was about to check his watch again when there was three loud cracks outside of the front door. Sirius bustled out into the hallway. “You’re late,” Harry heard Sirius say. “I know, sorry,” Robards replied as he walked into the living room followed by two burly Aurors. Harry returned their nods of greeting with one of his own as he took in their appearance. Both were tall and stocky in stature, their muscles visible through their robes. One of them, called Dundon, was Irish who had short black hair and a handlebar moustache. The other man, Clint, was American, had straight blond hair and was wearing stylish sunglasses. “Okay,” Robards said, addressing the group. “I have brought the Portkey and it is set to go in three minutes’ time. Make sure you have everything you need before we go.” Harry double checked that he had the Invisibility Cloak and one of Edward’s spare wands. Sirius thought it was a good idea for Harry to have a wand, if only for appearance’s sake, so it at least looked like, to any potential enemies, Harry had a means of protecting himself should he take the cloak off at any time. “Okay, everyone ready?” Robards asked the room at large. When everyone nodded he said: “Okay, place a finger on the kettle, then.” Harry placed a slightly trembling finger, more out of excitement than fear, on the brass kettle. Harry looked around at the faces of his companions, the steely determination on Sirius’ face, the slight look of apprehension on Edward’s and the impassive, almost disinterested looks on the faces of Clint and Dundon. Then Harry felt it. The strange pulling sensation tugging at his navel, and then his vision blurred his head spun and then with a loud thud, everything stilled. Harry stood and brushed himself down before looking around as the others did the same. They had landed in a small field overlooking a mid-sized town. The field had obviously been laying fallow for quite some time as the grass was thick, long and straggly and the bushes that ran around the perimeter were wild and unkempt. Harry had to cover his eyes with his hand to see what was behind him; such was the strength of the early morning sun. Behind him stood a dense forest, not unlike the Forbidden Forest with the way the canopy of trees blocked all sunlight from reaching the ground, no matter how strong. “Okay,” Robards said, who had obviously adopted the role of leader for this expedition. “That forest is where we are headed. It is thick, dark and runs for miles, and the cave is located somewhere in the centre.” “Harry. Put the cloak on now,” Sirius said, looking stern. Harry rolled his eyes, but did as he was told. “Okay. Let’s go.” And so they set off, meandering through the tightly packed trunks of the trees. Harry heard a chorus of ‘Lumos’ as the morning sunlight was soon extinguished by the thickly leaved branches overhead. Harry stuck close to Sirius as he had been instructed, but couldn’t help letting his eyes wander. It had been a while since he had last left Grimmauld Place, let alone be immersed in nature. It was not a picturesque place, however. The lack of light prevented the growth of any colourful plant life or shrubbery and the place had a dense, somewhat unpleasant atmosphere. It definitely didn’t have the feel of a place where people would go on nature walks. Harry felt his heart rate quicken and beads of sweat begin to dot his brow as the terrain became steeper. After what felt like an hour, they came to a stop, but not because they had arrived. “What was that noise,” Edward asked, turning his head rapidly from left to right. “What noise?” Harry asked from beneath the cloak. They all listened hard for a few seconds and were about to move on, when they heard it. A loud human-like shriek reverberated around the trees. Harry wanted to investigate it, and by the looks of it, so did Sirius. Perhaps sensing this urge, Robards said: “Leave it. It doesn’t concern us. Stay focused on the matter at hand.” And with that, they headed onwards, the terrain getting steeper still. After another ten minutes Harry was panting hard and sweating due to the heat under the cloak. “We’re nearly there now. Just another five minutes, I reckon,” Robards called from up front. “Thank Merlin for that,” Harry muttered. He heard Sirius snort “C’mon, son, nearly there.” Harry, after another two minutes of walking, could definitely tell they were getting close. It seemed like the air was getting thicker and Harry could feel a certain...energy around them. It wasn’t pleasant, though. It felt rough, untamed, wild. They continued forward for about a minute and then a shout came from above. “Found it,” Clint called, his thick American accent echoing slightly amongst the trees. “Over here.” Harry and Sirius who had been walking side by side rushed forward, following the sound of his voice into a sort of clearing. The canopy was less dense and so the area was illuminated slightly by the sun. Harry gasped when he saw the entrance to the cave. It was large, at least twice as tall as Harry and over five times as wide. It looked very out of place in its green surroundings with its harsh grey rock face and jagged edges. There was a small indent carved into the stone that read: “Crag Cave...The Emerald Cave...all is false...leave now.’ “Sound promising,” Harry heard Edward mutter under his breath. “Okay,” Robards said, keeping his voice low. “This is as far as we have prepared for. None of us know what to expect when we get inside, so keep your eyes peeled and your wand hands steady. Let’s move.” Robards led the way into the cave entrance, and the others followed close behind. It started off like a narrow tunnel, despite the large width of the cave mouth, and soon they had to follow each other in single file. They travelled deeper into the cave, now on a downward slope that brought them under ground-level. The steady, rhythmic dripping of water was all that could be heard apart from the shuffling of footsteps on hard granite. They kept heading downwards for another five minutes before the cave began to widen up and began to get...brighter? “Is it me or is it getting brighter?” Harry whispered to Edward from beneath the cloak. Edward nodded. “It’s definitely getting brighter.” The grey granite walls were beginning to be bathed in a bright, emerald green, the more intense the colour became the further they progressed. “We’re getting closer to the centre.” Robards called, his voice echoing against the granite walls. They travelled on for another five minutes when Harry heard Robards gasp, followed by the gasps of both Clint and Dundon. When Harry caught up to them he could see why they did. The cave had completely opened up into a humongous cavern that was over 500 metres wide and 200 metres tall. Large emerald stalactites hung from the ceiling and stalagmites grew up from the ground beneath them as if trying to meet them half way. But what was the main cause for exclamation was the large pool of bright emerald water that sat right in the middle. It was very wide and looked very deep and it shimmered and sparkled, despite there being no apparent source of light. It bathed the entire cavern in an emerald glow. Harry thought it was mesmerizingly beautiful. He bizarrely felt drawn to it. “Wow!” he heard Edward gasp. They all stood in silent wonder for a few minutes until a human scream tore their eyes from the pool’s beauty. “What the hell was that?” Sirius asked. Before anyone could respond there was another scream, this time from behind them. “What the hell is going on here?” Edward asked, fear evident in his voice. “C’mon,” Robards said, his tone deadly serious. “We need to find Kingsley.” They moved on slowly, the rock underfoot slippery and wet as they walked around the perimeter, heading towards what looked like another tunnel on the left side of the pool. They all kept their heads down, focusing on placing their feet steadily, when another scream came from right behind them. They all whirled around and there was another scream, this time from Edward. A small man stood naked before them, yet he was like no man Harry had ever seen. His body was stick thin, his ribs protruding alarmingly from his sides. There were large deep cuts all along his body, including his face, his chest and his legs, all of which seeped a green-coloured puss. But it was the man’s eyes that caused Harry’s stomach to wretch. His eyes...his eyes were bright white, like two shining beacons from inside his skull, and there were no pupils. The group stood in silent horror, each of them afraid to move. Then another scream sounded from directly behind them. They spun around to see a woman standing before them, similar to the man, naked with deep cuts along her legs, stomach and breasts, her bare arms outstretched towards Robards, deep seeping gashes along each one. They stood stock still, when suddenly the woman screamed and lunged at Robards, knocking him over and down the slippery slope towards the pool. “ROBARDS!” Sirius bellowed as he saw the Head Auror tumble downwards and come to a stop just before the pool. He had successfully stunned the woman as they fell, who now lay in a heap beside him. Both Clint and Dundon rushed down to their boss, Sirius, Edward and Harry (still under the cloak) went carefully behind them. Harry heard Robards groan as he approached. “Merlin, he’s bleeding!” Harry heard Dundon say as he hauled his boss to his feet. Indeed he was. Blood seeped through the right sleeve of Robards’ robes. Pulling the sleeve back revealed a hideously deep cut, sinewy bits of flesh mixed with the gushes of blood and what looked like the white of bone. Harry had to close his eyes in an effort not to wretch. “Let me see,” Edward said, pushing his way to the front. Robards shook in agony as Edward examined the wound. “This is much too deep for me to treat here with a healing spell. He needs to be brought to a hospital immediately; he’s losing too much blood.” “Okay,” Sirius said urgently, “bring him to the entrance, then Apparate him to the nearest hospital you can think of. Dundon, you go with him.” The Irishman nodded his agreement. “That will take too long!” Clint stressed. “He’ll die from blood loss long before you get out of this cave, and if not, that Apparition will certainly kill him!” “What else can we do?!” Sirius asked. “Use...use the water,” Clint suggested tentatively. “It’s supposed to have healing properties, isn’t it?” “I wouldn’t do that, it’s not safe,” Edward warned. “What choice do we have?!” Clint countered. “He’s lost so much blood already, he’ll never survive an apparition. Here...” Clint grabbed Robards who had gone pale and was shaking and writhing in pain, and pulled him by his healthy arm towards the pool. “Don’t, Clint!” Edward warned. But the Auror ignored him. He pulled Robards’ injured arm out and began to place it in the water. “DON’T USE THE WATER!” a deep, yet familiar voice boomed around the cavern. “Kingsley!” Sirius gasped, as the ex- Auror appeared from a tunnel before them. “DONT USE THE WATER!” Kingsley boomed again as he ran to them gathered at the pool. Harry turned back around to see that it was too late, Robards’ arm was already fully immersed. “Why? What’s going to happen to him?” Edward asked. Before Kingsley could respond, Robards stirred. “Robards, sir?” Dundon asked as he hauled his boss to his feet. “Are you okay?” “Look!” Clint shouted triumphantly. “His arm has healed. I told you!” And so it had. What had been a horrific combination of blood, torn flesh, ligaments and bone was now a completely healed arm. “Incredible!” Edward gasped. They silenced as Robards’ eyes opened. “That was a close one eh?” he croaked. Sirius laughed in relief, yet the relief was short lived. “You fools,” Harry heard Kingsley mutter before an ear-splitting scream pierced the air. Harry stared in horror at Robards who had now doubled over and was...was clawing at his skin with his nails, causing big red marks to appear along his arms. “HELP ME!” he screamed, but the group could only watch in horror as Robards’ eyes, once blue, rolled back into his head and turned bright white. “What’s happening to him!?” Edward shouted in horror over the commotion. Robards had now fallen silent onto the ground at their feet, curled up into a ball. “He’s fainted due to the pain,” Kingsley explained sadly. “The water can heal all wounds but it boils the blood inside the body, which causes immense pain, which is why all of the people have deep gashes in their skin as they try and to release the boiling blood from their veins. The pain is so intense it can drive people insane, which has happened to the people you have already seen in here. It also causes permanent blindness, which is why his eyes are white. “Will...will he live?” Edward asked tentatively. “Depending on the amount of water that got into his system, perhaps. But for most it is cruel to let them live in such agony. You need to bring him to a hospital immediately.” “We will,” Sirius said. “And you’re coming with us.” Kingsley shook his head. “I came here thinking it was a magical place of healing. When I realised what it was, I had thoughts of leaving, but I couldn’t leave these people to die in agony. I have set up a camp just through that tunnel where I have potions to ease the pain. I won’t leave these people to die in agony.” “You have to come with us,” Sirius pleaded. “Aerys controls the Ministry, you know how evil he is, you are one of his victims.” “There is no case we can bring against him that will be successful.” “Yes, there is. Harry, take off the cloak.” Sirius ordered. Harry did as he was told and whipped of the Invisibility Cloak. “Harry? What are you doing here?” Kingsley asked, puzzled. “Shouldn’t you be in America?” Harry shook his head. “I’ve been in a coma for the last three years. I only woke up just over a month ago. Everything you have read or heard about me is a lie created by Snidefish, used for his own personal gain. He had me kept in a hidden medical facility where only Sirius knew where I was, and he has been forced into secrecy.” “Merlin!” Kingsley breathed in shock. “You see, Kingsley!” Sirius continued. “We have cases, loads of cases and evidence of how Aerys has ruined lives, yours and Harry’s included. With your help we can bring him down. Harry saved us all only to have lies written and published about him for three years! Help him at least! He deserves that much.” Kingsley considered this silently for a second, then nodded. “Okay, let’s go. Our priority is to get Gawain to the hospital. Clint, Dundon, Apparate him to the Mater Hospital, it’s the one nearest here, located just outside Castleisland. I’ll accompany you.” Turning to Harry, he said: “You go with Sirius and...what’s your name?” he asked Edward. “Edward.” “You go with Sirius and Edward. Are you still staying in Grimmauld Place?” Harry nodded. “Okay. You three go there. I’ll meet you there in a few hours or so and we will discuss Snidefish. Let’s go.” They rushed out of the cave, Clint and Dundon carefully levitating Robards in mid-air. When they finally found the exit the group split up. “See you in a few hours!” Kingsley called, before he created what looked like a magical bubble around Robards and then Disapparated with Clint and Dundon. “Okay,” Sirius said, panting slightly. “Let’s go.” He grabbed Harry’s arm and Disapparated, with Edward in tow. Harry sat in a squashy armchair in the living room of Grimmauld Place, anxiously tapping his fingers on the arm of the chair. He glanced at his watch. It was seven o’clock in the evening, nearly three hours after they had returned. Harry glanced at Sirius and Edward who were both sitting anxiously like him. Suddenly there was a loud crack at the front door. Sirius rushed into the hallway, Harry could hear his godfather greet Kingsley before they both entered the living room. “What news?” Harry asked urgently. “How is he?” “He will live.” Harry, Edward and Sirius all sighed with relief. “They were able to prevent the water spreading through his entire body, stopping the pain and therefore preserving his sanity. However, they can’t cure his eyes.” Kingsley added gravely. “He is permanently blind.” “Oh Merlin,” Harry said, putting his head in his hands. “He was helping us! He didn’t deserve this.” “It is as much my fault as anyone else’s,” Kingsley said. “It was because of me you were all in the cave in the first place.” “The only person who has any fault for all of this is Snidefish,” Sirius said sternly. “He’s the reason you went into hiding in the first place. We need to bring the bastard down.” Kingsley nodded his agreement. “And the sooner the better. Robards will need to stay in hospital for the next few weeks or so as he learns to live life without sight. His disappearance will not go unnoticed by Snidefish. He will start asking all sorts of questions, and investigations, on top of the ones he’s already doing searching for you two if Clint and Dundon are to be believed. We need to act now.” Sirius nodded. “Okay, then. Come into the kitchen and Harry will tell you his story before we show you all of the evidence. Then we can add your case to the list.” They all followed Sirius into the kitchen and Harry explained his story, and how Edward had been blackmailed and kept out of the loop about what had been going on. They spent the next hour explaining and going through all of the evidence before adding Kingsley’s account to the mix. When Kingsley was clear on everything they went back into the living room and stood before the fire. “Okay.” Sirius said. “Everybody clear on everything?” “Yes,” Edward answered. “We have the evidence, now we need Snidefish.” “This could be dangerous,” Kingsley warned. “Harry, given your...situation you should keep the cloak on at all times.” Harry grimaced but nodded. “Everyone have your wands at the ready,” Kingsley said. He glanced at his watch. “It’s 7:30pm. Hopefully, we won’t meet too much resistance given the fact working hours are over, but you can never be too prepared.” “Constant vigilance,” Sirius said, smiling. “Everybody ready?” Everyone nodded, each with a steely determination on their faces. They were finally going to get the bastard who had caused each of them, and so many others, so much pain over the years. Kingsley went first, throwing Floo powder into the fire turning the flames green. Sirius went second, followed by Edward. Harry took the remaining pinch of Floo powder, thrust it into the fire before standing into the green flames and said, with a steely determination, “The Ministry of Magic!” |
| Reviews 154 |
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