Support System

Chapter IV - Explain it to me

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Harry opened his eyes with a sting and lifted himself up from some hard, granite-like surface. His first view of his new home, however, devastated his awed eyes: he was trapped inside a small holding cell behind iron bars, facing an identical row of cells opposite him, which was separated by a narrow passageway. The entire area looked similarly granite-like, although Harry eyed only what unsubstantial torchlight permitted. The air was also perverted with a blistering heat, which led Harry to believe he was trapped in a dungeon somewhere.

His wand and glasses were gone, although his clothes remained unchanged. No message was written anywhere for Harry, and he was without a bed, toilet, food, water, or tools of any kind whatsoever. His head unhelpfully ached excruciatingly, threatening to leave him unconscious again.

Harry barely could handle the realization that he was going to be a prisoner in inhumane isolation, maybe for an unending period even....

Two hours passed as this solitary confinement chilled him to the bone like a disquieting ghost. Finally Harry heard echoing footsteps descend some remote stairway. Surprise left him trembling anxiously as the footsteps grew louder and louder. Staying very aware and curious as the mysterious someone's shadow approached, Harry was doubly shocked upon facing the person: a glaring Severus Snape audaciously stared him dead in the eye. And despite his self-incriminating presence, Snape delightfully grinned at Harry, the miserable captive...

Taken sharply aback, Harry gasped before furiously yelling, "SNAPE --IT'S BEEN YOU TIPPING OFF VOLDEMORT! I ALWAYS KNEW YOU WEREN'T TO BE TRUSTED!!"

Snape continued laughing as Harry's anger escalated. "Feeling contemptuous, Mr. Potter? Dismayed your friends can't save you anymore?" he entertained curiously, fingering his chin. Sarcastically enraging Harry, he continued in utter glee, "Then again, my deceiving of Dumbledore is the sheer reason we stand in our positions, after all. I suppose your anger is justified, hmm?"

But this exchange was short-lived, ending before Harry could respond. A certain voice, known to them for its bone-chilling presence, stupefied them silent. Sounding from an overcastting shadow, it softly inquired, "What's all this needless noise about, Severus?"

Harry and Snape's hearts skipped a beat immediately as Lord Voldemort stepped into plain view. He searched them carefully with his reddish eyes, becoming astute to the scene. Once finished, Voldemort turned to Harry (whose skin crawled upon sight) and asked sardonically, "What's the matter, Harry, not feeling up to color?"

Petrified motionless, words failed Harry. He tried hiding how anxiety ripped him, but was already failing at hiding his hatred. Voldemort didn't press Harry despite his unresponsiveness, studying his apprehended state. Satisfied, Voldemort wholehearted into malicious laughter, but meanwhile Harry already eyed a far more important matter: Voldemort subtly equipped a brand-new, smaller wand at his side - changing everything. Foreseeing Harry's doom pleasantly, Voldemort focused his reddish eyes on Harry as he made a few practice motions with his wand, which he then pointed directly at Harry, who, belittled, failed to conceal his terror and flinched several feet back.

Snape appeared lost in wonderment, fascinated by his master's work. Paying Voldemort worshipful regard, Severus persuasively said, "Just as I warned Potter, his friends can't save him now ... Oh my Lord, will the pleasure be mine in watching the famous Harry Potter finally die?"
Voldemort smiled brightly, filled with malicious intentions. Not directly answering, the Dark Lord asked Harry, "At last I'm destroying you, my greatest enemy long-sought! Harry Potter, have you any last words?"
Harry gaspingly shook drastically, but then surprised everyone by indignantly retorting, "You're a coward, Voldemort, to finish me off when I'm unable to defend myself! If you really are the age's greatest sorcerer, you'll frown upon shaming your own abilities by killing me, your GREATEST enemy as you said, under this safe-net." Hanging onto these coaxing words, Harry was all ears, eyes, and intuition on Voldemort.
A stretched contemplative moment preceded Voldemort's surprise overwhelm into laughter. After sufficiently displaying his utter amusement, Voldemort fingered his chin thoughtfully, sighing, "Hmm."

Harry held his breath....

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HARRY POTTER REMAINS MISSING ONE MONTH LATER AS FELLOW PEERS BEGIN SIXTH HOGWARTS YEAR

By Rita Skeeter

A despairing thirty days later, Harry Potter's whereabouts are still unknown. As follow-up readers know, on July thirty-first - coincidentally Harry's sixteenth birthday - four expert Aurors arrived to escort Harry from his Muggle relatives into Arthur and Molly Weasley's custody. Albus Dumbledore himself had secured the top-secret trip, but an unknown internal traitor tipped-off He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named Accordingly, Potter's escorts (Alastor Moody, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Nymphadora Tonks, and werewolf Remus Lupin) faced a brutal interception of Death Eaters: Azkaban escapee Bellatrix Lestrange, Narcissa Malfoy, Thomas Nott, and former executioner for the Ministry, Mr. Macnair, successfully murdered Moody and Shacklebolt; conversely; Nott and Macnair were also killed, however, which evened the body count.

But regardless, Lestrange disengaged Harry of his guards with a formidable whirlwind charm (which killed Moody and Shacklebolt), and thereafter it's well-presumed that he was arrested, murdered, or both. Pessimistically, Auror Tonks witnessed for but a brief moment He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named spontaneously hovering nearby, too. It was a most misfortunate, cowardly means by which Harry was ascertained into evil custody.

But functioning as the sole piece of actual news, embarrassingly, the memorial service honoring these fallen warriors is set for this evening at Hogwarts. Orchestrated by Dumbledore himself, the service will coincide with Hogwarts' annual start-of-term ceremony. With an expected 500 guests, it hopefully will launch enough momentum to trigger the Ministry into affirmative action. Then, perhaps, the Prophet's October follow-up might actually be at least somewhat compelling. - September first, 1996

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Skeeter or not, the article explained the infuriation that Ron and Hermione felt presently toward the Ministry. In this very moment, they actually sat without Harry on the train to Hogwarts for the first time...

Hermione leaned her head onto Ron's shoulders subtly, but he simply took a rare opportunity to really glance into her dreary eyes. But the moment ended quickly when Hermione, frustrated, sat up straight. Reading the Prophet article had greatly upset her, apparently, for she complained indignantly, "My God, Ron, I really miss Harry so, so much, and I can't stop wondering if he's been murdered by now! For Merlin's sake, it absolutely drives me mad how inefficient the Ministry's been!" Folding her arms at her chest, she took a deep breath, adding sarcastically, "I mean honestly, is he not the Boy-Who-Lived?"

Ron agreeably nodded in equal disgust for the Ministry. Reddening in face and balling his fists, Ron exclaimed, "Yeah, and not only that, but we can't forgot how they're not even correcting the rumors that Professor Lupin isn't trustable! The Ministry needs to intervene since it's only because he's a werewolf!"

Hermione adamantly agreed. She feverishly began saying, "How disappointing is it that intolerance breeds most effectively when it is most dangerous--" But Hermione was cut-into by the train's sudden loss of light and movement:

They'd abruptly just halted, tossing unreadily, against improper tracks!

Looking over at Hermione, Ron whimpered fearfully, "Oh bloody hell, what's happened now!?" But she looked as lost and anxious as he felt.

Worsening matters, some horribly massive object pounded against the train externally, too. Loud screams fearfully unleashed everywhere - the train was under attack!

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