Harry Potter and the Eye of Isis

Chapter 20 - Ransom

May 16, 1997

Clutching his chest, Harry staggered to the nearby wall and pressed a hand against it in order to steady himself. He began slowly rubbing his chest as a tear of pain formed in each eye. "Dobby," Harry whispered, associating the intense pain to his house-elf.

Slowly, the pain subsided, but the feeling that Dobby was in trouble did not. The hand on Harry's chest instinctively went to his forehead, clapping his palm over the scar as it began to tingle. Harry squeezed his eyes shut and concentrated on not letting the tingle turn into searing pain. He couldn't let Voldemort into his mind again, and he couldn't, no matter how much he wanted to, let his curiosity over what the madman could possibly be up to cloud his ability to keep control of his mind.

Harry tried to shake the feeling as he resumed walking towards the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. He was already several minutes late for tutoring, and was certain to be hexed upon entering, but as he drew closer his steps became much more difficult to take. A force within him wouldn't allow him to ignore the concern that was racing over Dobby's well being. He knew that he had to do something about the ache that wouldn't subside. He needed to know why he felt that Dobby was in danger.

Defense Against the Dark Arts would have to wait. Harry quickly reversed his course, heading towards the headmaster's office. Somehow he wasn't surprised to see that the stairs to the headmaster's office were already revealed; almost as if Professor Dumbledore was expecting a student to need entry. Harry slowly climbed the spiral staircase, rubbing his chest again, and knocked on the headmaster's door.

"Come in, Harry." The quiet voice invited.

Harry pushed the door open carefully and entered with caution, making sure that no one else was in the room, and hoping that Dumbledore would not misconstrue this meeting as one to regain favour. Harry's reluctance to confide in Professor Dumbledore had not foreshadowed his thoughts until that moment. Harry was certain that only Dumbledore could explain why Harry suddenly felt as though Dobby were in grave danger.

"Have a seat, Harry," Dumbledore pointed at a chair opposite his desk. Very slowly, Harry approached the chair and sat as if he were greatly fatigued. Dumbledore was not slow to notice this. "Have you had another vision?"

"No," Harry slowly shook his head. "I haven't had one in months. I feel something..." Harry shifted his eyes upwards as he tried to put it into words. "Something has happened to Dobby."

"What did you feel?"

"A few minutes ago I felt a pain in my chest and for some reason I associated it with Dobby. He's not dead, is he?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "If Dobby had died, Harry, you'd know it. There is a very deep bond between a house-elf and his master. It's the way that Dobby knows when you need him or when you're in trouble."

Harry knew that Dumbledore was already aware that something had indeed happened, and Harry could only wonder how long he intended to wait before telling him what it was. "What's going on?"

"Earlier this evening your Uncle was found tied up in your bedroom and your Aunt was missing. Magical signatures indicate that she was abducted by two men."

"Death Eaters?" Dumbledore nodded at his question. "How did they get into my house?"

"I can only assume that the longer you're away from home the weaker the charm gets, and if Voldemort himself didn't go there it would be possible for others to penetrate the charm if they meant you no harm."

And they didn't mean Harry harm, they meant his Aunt harm. "They want me for her?"

"We haven't heard anyone's intentions yet, Harry." Dumbledore sighed. "She isn't the only person who was abducted tonight Harry. A witch was also taken--"

"Mrs. Weasley?" That's why he felt that pain, Dobby was trying to tell him that he needed him. "They took her too?"

"Yes, Harry," he confirmed. "Dobby was not found at the Burrow either, so it is my assumption that he is still with Mrs. Weasley. I'm certain that he tried to protect her, and warn you when he failed. That is the pain you felt."

Harry said nothing as he stood. "Where are you going, Harry?"

"He obviously wants me," Harry stated plainly. "I'm going back to Egypt."

"I can't let you do that, Harry--"

"With all do respect, Professor, just try and stop me."

Harry turned his back quickly on his headmaster and retreated from his office. He fully expected Dumbledore to place some sort of spell on him but he didn't. Instead Dumbledore had a slightly bemused look on his face that Harry did not to see.

Harry went straight to the dungeons. Professor Snape was sitting at his desk reading when Harry knocked but did not wait for a reply or invitation to enter. "Voldemort has kidnapped Mrs. Weasley and my Aunt," he told the professor as he stormed in. "I'm going after them, will you come with me?"

Snape laid his book down on the desk. "Just what is it you think that you and I can do?"

"He wants me right?"

"Presumably."

"And he'd like to kill you. Two for two." Snape seemed to contemplate this for a moment. "You know that I'm not ready to face him. I can't go alone," Harry didn't flinch as he admitted this to the man whose tutorials had spilled over into intense Dark Arts training. "There's no one else I'd ask to go with me."

"Why me?"

"Because you're the only person I trust right now." As much as it pained Harry to admit it, it was certainly true. He may not like the Potions Master but he certainly trusted him implicitly.

Snape opened his mouth to speak but never said a word as a black eagle flew through his office window. It perched itself directly in front of Harry and stuck out its leg. There, Harry removed a black envelope with the Dark Mark on the front. The bird hurried off as Harry opened the envelope and read aloud.

"Harry,

I've something that belongs to you. If you want to see them alive again I suggest you get to Cairo by midnight."

Harry crumpled the letter in his palms. "I have to get my other wand from my dorm."

"I'll meet you at the entrance in ten minutes," Snape stood. "Cairo is a long journey, so we haven't much time."

Harry ran from the dungeons for his dorm, arriving in less than five minutes. He was thankful that dinner was still being served in the Great Hall because very few people saw him running through the castle and through Gryffindor Tower. In his dorm, he tossed his Hogwarts robe to the side and slid into the plain black cloak that Voldemort had given to him during his last trip to Egypt. He opened his trunk and removed the box that his second wand was kept in. He removed the wand from its holster and looked at it for a brief moment before returning it to the holster. Harry dropped to his knees and quickly attached the wand to the inside of his left calf. After securing it, he rolled his trouser leg back down and reached into his trunk for his second holster. He didn't bother to close his trunk as he ran from the room clipping the second holster onto his right forearm and strapping his wand in.

Harry wasn't paying attention to his surroundings as he pushed the portrait of the Fat Lady open and exited the common room. He immediately collided with a body just outside the portrait hole.

Ginny fell straight to her bottom at the force with which Harry hit her.

Harry extended a hand to help her up and she took it. "I'm so sorry, Ginny," tears swelled in his eyes as he pulled her to her feet. "It's all my fault," he told her as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tightly into his body. He buried his face against her neck and kissed her flesh very softly. "I'm so sorry."

"It was an accident, Harry," she told him as she returned the embrace, but not quite as tightly. "I'm sure you didn't mean to knock me over. No harm done."

Harry pulled away from her just enough to look into her eyes. "I've done so much harm, Ginny, but I can try to make this right." Harry tipped his head towards her, bringing their lips so close that they were almost touching as he whispered, "I'll bring her back...I promise you. I want you to know before I go, that you've meant the world to me. I never wanted to hurt you, Ginny, I hope you know that. Don't ever forget me; I'll never forget you Ginny."

"Where are you going, Harry?" Ginny asked with fear but he didn't answer. "You're coming back," she insisted, but he remained silent with a resolve in his eyes that almost frightened her. "Tell me you're coming back," the request finally produced tears from Ginny, "please, Harry..."

Harry couldn't answer her pleas, unsure if he could promise her that much. He knew he needed to leave but his eyes could only find her lips. Soon his mouth met hers and he kissed her softly and sensually before prying himself from her embrace and bolting down the corridor; leaving Ginny with more questions than answers. She could only watch his robes billowing out behind him for a few seconds more.

Harry reached the entrance of the castle and found Professor Snape waiting for him there. The two began a quick pace away from the castle and towards the Forbidden Forest where they could safely Apparate. As they were passing Hagrid's hut Professor Dumbledore came out. Harry and Snape both just looked at him and then each other and ran to their destination, unwilling to let Professor Dumbledore dissuade the choice to leave. They were at the edge of the forest before Dumbledore was close enough to say anything to them, and he was forced to simply watch as they disappeared into the woods.

"I thought he might try to stop you from leaving," Snape said with a bit of curiosity but not surprise. The thought was fleeting though and he was returned to the task at hand by Harry's question.

"How far do you think I can Apparate to?"

"You tell me?" Snape turned the question but did not receive a response. "I suppose to southeast England...do you know where Brighton is?"

Harry nodded quickly trying to picture it in his mind. "I've seen pictures of the cliffs overlooking the English Channel."

"I'll meet you there."

Harry nodded again as he closed his eyes bringing the image of Brighton clearly into his mind. Without a sound, Harry Apparated, closely followed by Severus Snape. The two appeared on the cliffs of Brighton, twenty meters apart. They walked towards each other and Harry said nothing as he looked from his professor to the sea. It calmed him for a moment and Harry savoured the brief feeling of tranquillity before rushing off to meet his destiny.

"Can you Apparate again?" Snape broke the silence by asking. "The closer we get to Cairo, the less severe the reaction will be to travelling by portkey."

"Yes," Harry answered. "I can Apparate again." He knew this Apparation would most certainly be his first over water. He would have to Apparate across the English Channel, but Harry didn't know why that would be so difficult. It was only water. If he could Apparate from Scotland to Southern England, he could Apparate across the English Channel.

"Where?" he asked his professor.

"Paris." Knowing Harry had never been to Paris, Snape was forced to choose a destination he was certain to have seen many times. "Right under the Eiffel Tower."

"The Muggles--?"

"You don't know any wizarding parts of France, do you?" Harry shook his head to the question. "We'll have to hope for the best."

Again, Harry nodded at Snape just before closing his eyes and bringing the picture of the Eiffel Tower into his mind's eye. This time Harry did not Apparate quite so silently. The soft pop was still quiet enough not to draw any attention to himself, but Snape knew it would not remain that way for much longer. Harry might be improving his Apparation skills, but he was still a novice at it, and multiple long distance Apparations in such a short time was going to drain his energy.

Within seconds of arriving directly under the Eiffel Tower, Professor Snape joined Harry's side...a little too closely. Harry had to dive out of the way to keep Snape from splinching with him. If Harry's sudden appearance in France had gone unnoticed, he certainly no longer enjoyed that luxury. Scores of people had stopped and stared at the strangely dressed men that just fell over for no apparent reason.

Snape grabbed Harry's arm and tugged him up to his feet again before they both fled the spotlight of the moment. They tucked into the shadows of a nearby building and just stared as the crowd they had caused to gather dispersed.

"Did they see you?" Snape asked.

"Not until you fell on me," Harry answered with a bit of a nip of coldness. "Where to now?"

"I think a portkey would be best now."

"I can Apparate one more time," he said, wanting to stay away from the portkey as long as possible. To date, all of Harry's transports by portkey had resulted in his being sick. He couldn't chance that on the way to face Voldemort.

Not having time to argue with Harry, Snape nodded and said, "The Parthenon."

Harry could picture that, and so he disappeared again, but this time with a much louder pop. When Snape arrived at the Parthenon, Harry was on his knees breathing heavily. He needed a few minutes to recover from the non-stop Apparation, and the distance he had covered. Frankly, Snape appeared to be surprised that Harry had even made it that far in such a short amount of time.

Harry didn't ask Snape what he was doing as he rummaged around a pile of rubble in the corner. It was obvious that he was looking for something big enough to convert into a portkey. He finally returned with an empty soda pop bottle. Harry stared at it with dread. He'd rather give Apparation another go than portkey.

"Don't act like a child," Snape said without looking at him.

Harry sighed in irritation as he lifted himself to his feet. "Let's get this over with."

*

Ginny sat curled up in her chair, tears streaming down her face. She had figured out who it was that Harry was going to save--only one person made any sense. She'd tried justifying it being anyone else, but her presumption had to be correct. Harry had gone to save her mother.

She couldn't forget Harry's words to her or the delicate kiss he placed on her lips before running off. He was Parvati's boy friend, but she was the one that he said good-bye to. She couldn't decide if he had done it because it was her mother he was going to save, or if he had wanted to touch her one more time before going to his doom, or if she had simply been the only to say good-bye to since he had collided with her.

The reason didn't matter, what did was the fact that her mother had been abducted and Harry had gone after Voldemort in order to get her back. It was the first time that Harry had sought out Voldemort, and maybe that's what scared him so. No matter what the reason for his reservation and fear he seemed sure that he wouldn't return this time.

"What's wrong, Ginny?" Ron asked quietly as he sat down next to her.

"Harry's gone," was all she could say and thankfully it was all she needed to say.

Ron hadn't seen him return from Professor Lupin's lesson yet, and Neville was sitting on the other end of the common room reading a book. "Do you know where he went to?"

"He's gone after Voldemort." She looked her brother in the eyes. "He took Mum, Ron..." Tears burst from her as she sobbed loudly. "Voldemort took our mum!"

"How could he take Mum?" Ron's first emotion was anger. "The Burrow has anti-Apparation wards on it! That means someone had to tell a Death Eater where to find the Burrow." Ginny nodded. "Who?"

"Doesn't Dumbledore think one of our brothers might be a Death Eater?" she asked through her tears. "It has to be Ron, one of them is a Death Eater."

"Do you think one of our brothers is a Death Eater?" She only nodded. "But which one could it be?"

Ginny tried to swallow the lump in her throat but no amount of saliva could dislodge the vessel of fear that had settled within her. "I think its Bill. Someone had to tell Voldemort all that stuff about Egypt and get him close enough to Mum. He's the only one that makes sense."

Ron ground his teeth in anger as he wrapped his arms around his sister to comfort her. "I hope Harry kills him." Although Ron wasn't certain his best friend was capable of murder regardless of the changes that had occurred with Harry in the past months.

Vengeance obviously boiled in his veins...Ron had known that when Harry admitted that he had used an Unforgivable on Voldemort, but he never expected to see the guilt and remorse laced in Harry's eyes as he admitted it. Ron certainly felt nothing but pride in Harry, but he was merely a spectator in Harry's life this year, and there had been, and continued to be nothing that Ron could say to his best mate to cheer him up. He realised that there was no consoling a person resigned to the fact that he must learn to commit murder.

Professor McGonagall stepped through the portrait hole and looked directly at the Weasley siblings. Their embrace suggested that they already knew what she was coming to tell them. "If you two would be kind enough to come with me," she instructed as she stood right in front of them. "Your father needs to speak with you."

Ron nodded his head slowly as he rose to his feet, lifting Ginny along with him. He kept an arm around her as they slowly followed their head of house towards the portrait hole. "Hermione and Parvati don't know that Harry is gone," Ron told her quietly. "Maybe they should come with us?"

McGonagall shook her head sharply as she looked back over her shoulder at them. "This does not concern Miss Granger and Miss Patil. I will speak with them about Mr. Potter's disappearance, but first you two will report to Professor Dumbledore's office to speak with your father."

Ron didn't say another word as he followed Professor McGonagall through the corridors to the headmaster's office. He kept Ginny close the entire way, not releasing his grip on her until they entered the office and saw their father sitting in a chair in front of the fire covered in soot. He'd obviously flooed over and not bothered to clean himself up. The look on his face suggested that he didn't care about much of anything at the moment, in fact, he seemed unable to talk as he looked up at his two youngest children.

"Daddy?" Ginny called out to him as she fell at his side, her arms quickly wrapping around his waist.

"Ron, Ginny," he rubbed Ginny's back absent-mindedly. "Last night I had to go to Little Whinging...where Harry lives because his aunt was abducted by Death Eaters...when I got home your mother wasn't there...she's been taken as well," he said it quickly hoping that spitting it all out in one sentence would make it easier to hear, but it was obvious from Ron and Ginny's lack of reaction that they already knew, or had an idea, that something dreadful had happened.

"Harry and Professor Snape left the castle last night without my permission," Professor Dumbledore informed them.

"Harry will get her back, Dad," Ron said confidently as he turned his attention to Professor Dumbledore. "Who could've taken her, sir? The Burrow is unplottable."

"Well," Dumbledore said softly, as if it would hurt less if he were quiet about it. "We've known since Harry returned from Egypt that one of the Weasley boys is a Death Eater. Fred, George and you were quickly ruled out, but Bill, Charlie and Percy were all still probabilities until last night."

"Its Bill, isn't it?" Ginny asked.

"No," Mr. Weasley looked away. This was something he didn't want to admit. It wouldn't have mattered which one of his sons was the Death Eater, any one of them would have broken his heart just the same.

"Bill and Charlie were at the Order meeting yesterday." Dumbledore explained as he kept his eyes focused on Ron and Ginny. "And we received intelligence this morning that confirms that Percy flooed your mother yesterday morning. We presume it was then that he learned the location of the Burrow again."

Ron closed his eyes briefly as this scenario unfolded in his head. "Of course she'd tell Percy, especially if he was offering to apologize." It made sense to him now and it also made him immediately suspicious of another questionable individual that Percy liked to keep company with. "That means Fudge is a Death Eater too!"

"I'm afraid that is also a conclusion I've come to as well," Dumbledore conceded. "And I was unable to locate him this morning," he continued. "If Cornelius Fudge is a Death Eater, it explains a great many things about his actions in these last few years."

"I always thought Malfoy had him in his pocket," Ron gritted his teeth as he thought of how Fudge had tried to make Harry look crazy a year ago, and denied so adamantly that Voldemort had risen again. "He wasn't in Malfoy's pocket...they were simply Death Eater chums!"

"I understand your outrage, Mr. Weasley," Dumbledore said calmly, "but now is not the time to panic."

"Harry doesn't think he's coming back." Tears fell from Ginny's eyes as she voiced her fear. "He said...he said something to me that, well, he thinks he's going to die this time." Ginny couldn't look at anyone as she continued. "I saw Harry as he was leaving the common room last night. He promised me that he'd get her back, but he said good-bye to me as if he were never coming back."

"Wait, what about Dobby?" Ron inquired. "He was with Mum right?"

"We found no traces of Dobby, Ron," his father answered. "Not even his body. He must have been taken with your mother--"

"Or made himself invisible and bound himself to her. Either way, I believe he's also been taken."

"What are we going to do now?" Ron didn't want to be told nothing again, but he could see the words forming on Professor Dumbledore's lips. "We have to do something! Isn't it obvious they went back to Egypt? Bill knows that place like the back of his hand; we've got to do something!"

"Ron," Mr. Weasley spoke again, "there is nothing you can do. Your brothers and other members of the Order are in Egypt right now looking for traces of them. But they could be in any temple, pyramid or chamber. We've just no idea where they are other than Egypt."

"Don't you give up on him," Ron squatted down next to his father seeing the desperation in his eyes. "Don't give up on him, Dad. Harry can do it. If there's one person in this world that can bring her back, it's Harry."

"Harry's a boy, Ron," Mr. Weasley wanted to have faith in him but how was Harry going to save his wife? "A very powerful wizard is inside of him but he's not fully trained yet--"

"He'll do it," Ginny affirmed. "He promised me that he would bring Mum back and I believe him."