Voldemort Ascendant

Chapter three: A risk worth taking.

The blade swept down quickly, and half a dozen orange heads rolled off the edge of the table, landing at the blade-wielder's toes.

Across the table, Justin watched the tops of the carrots go randomly flying, and then sent Parvati a meaningful look. 'Clearly, she's lost in deep thought,' he said solemnly. 'I'm sure she's pondering how best to seduce me. She finds my arse irresistible, you know.'

'Oh shut up, Justin!' Parvati giggled, and smacked him with a bundle of celery.

Justin was half-right. Hermione was lost in deep thought, though hardly thoughts of him. Every so often, her eyes flicked to where Sally-Ann was roasting several different meats, her thoughts on Sally-Ann's lover, the dungeons, Harry, and how she might be able to work these connections into a solid, workable plan.

Without warning, something small and hard struck her between the eyes, and she looked up as several of the other servants burst into laughter. 'Huh?' she said absent-mindedly, and looked down to see a cherry tomato rolling off the table to join the carrot heads at her feet.

Justin gave her a broad grin. 'You haven't said a word for over an hour, Hermione, and you've got a pile of chopped carrots and other scraps at your feet bigger than a dragon-turd.'

'Oh. So I do,' she replied, and lifted her feet from the scraps. 'I was thinking about some things,' she informed him, and plucked a handful of pea pods from the pile of vegetables that needed to be prepared for dinner. Her forehead was puckered, and her eyes continued to look perplexed.

'Well that much is obvious,' Justin enunciated. 'But exactly what, pray tell, are you thinking about?'

'Oh . . . nothing much, really,' she replied half-heartedly, not taking her eyes from the peas.

'You're thinking about my arse, aren't you, Hermione? You're thinking about how much you'd like to ravish me-' he stopped as Parvati thwacked him with a lump of pumpkin. 'Ow,' Justin complained, and rubbed his chest. 'You could have crippled my nipples with that, Oh-Mistress-Of-Kinky-Vegetable-Pain.'

Parvati gave an exasperated sigh. 'You're thinking about him again, aren't you? Well it's just not on, Hermione. There's nothing any of us can do for him, so we're better off just forgetting about it,' Parvati said, and sent a hard look at Hermione.

'Thinking about who? Who's him?' Justin asked.

'There's always something that can be done, and until I've thought of a plan, I won't ever stop thinking of him,' Hermione replied, her voice soft.

'Who is 'him'?!' Justin demanded.

'Don't you realise that you're not just risking yourself and him, you're jeopardising the rest of us mudbloods? We all stand to receive the blame if anything you try fails, Hermione.'

'Risking who?' Justin cried, his voice desperate and shrill.

'Only if I fail, Parvati. And I don't plan on failing. Don't you think I'd measure the risks first? Make sure my plans are foolproof? He's too important for me to wantonly risk on a chance or some whimsy plan,'

Two large potatoes suddenly flew through the air; the first colliding soundly with Hermione's left shoulder, the second narrowly missing Parvati's nose. 'Who is he?!' Justin yelled.

'HARRY!' both girls screamed in response, and suddenly quieted. The entire kitchen had stopped in its tracks, all eyes focussed intently upon the three.

'Harry?' Justin asked in a whisper.

Hermione nodded, Parvati threw up her hands. 'He's alive and being kept in the cells that used to be the Slytherin rooms. And I plan to get him out of there,' Hermione replied.

Justin remained perfectly still for approximately five seconds. Then, one eyebrow rose comically high into his brow. His mouth sagged at the right corner. His left hand moved down to his backside where he seemed to be digging, before rising back up to the table, where he mimed holding something large. 'Of course,' he said slowly. 'Here, allow me to gift you with this flying pig that I just withdrew from my arse, in order that you may fulfil this quest,' he said, his voice completely deadpan.

'Oh shut up, Justin,' Parvati snapped. 'This is serious. Harry's being kept in the dungeons, guarded by dementors and Death-Eaters. The students all say he's mad. And Hermione . . . our very own mudblood servant . . . plans to rescue him somehow.'

'That's right,' Hermione said softly. 'And I will, too.'

'Harry's alive, then?' Justin asked seriously. Hermione nodded. 'How do you know for sure?'

Hermione sighed impatiently. 'Zabini hinted at it a couple of days ago, and it's all the students are talking about in the hallways and the Great Hall.'

'You don't go into the Great Hall,' Justin pointed out.

'No, but I do,' Parvati snapped, and thrust a loaf of bread at Justin. 'Take that into the Great Hall, and just listen. Or go ask Draco Malfoy what it is that he listens to when he's getting off with his little girlfriends. Go on!'

Justin dropped the bread to the kitchen table. 'Alright, so Harry's alive, then. And you mean to rescue him, Hermione?'

Hermione nodded. 'Isn't that what we've just established?'

'You can't be serious,' Justin whispered in dread. 'By the light, Hermione . . . how the sweet merry fuck do you plan to get away with something like that? Have you even thought about what it is you're saying? The conditions that we're living under these days? This isn't one of your little first year escapades, Hermione! Ron's dead, Harry's locked away. For fuck's sake, Dumbledore's skull is mounted over the dais in the Great Hall, so you know he's not going to be watching over you and exerting his subtle influences this time! These are the days of Voldemort's Ascendancy, Hermione! This school alone is home to more than one thousand students, each and every one of them trained to the hilt in curses, hexes and Dark Arts. How do you, a wandless mudblood slave, plan to get past even the first year students without a wand?'

'Not everything in this world comes down to magic, Justin,' Hermione responded quietly.

'But even if you did get past the students, what about the numerous Death Eater professors around the school? We've got wizards from around the world teaching Dark Arts here, Dark Arts we've never even heard of! And the dementors that guard the dungeons? Do you think they'd spare you, just because you're Hermione Granger, formerly the greatest student to come out of Hogwarts in a century? Light, Hermione, they'd be on you and giving you the kiss of death in half a second!' Justin hissed.

'I know that!' Hermione cried loudly, and slammed her palm against the table. 'I know the risks, down to every last one of them!' she continued, her voice becoming shrill. 'I know that I have no wand, and no defence. I know that over one thousand students, loyal to the Dark Lord, are housed within the walls of Hogwarts, and that each and every one of them is adept with not only mundane curses, but the height of all formerly unforgivable curses. I know that some of the most proficient curse-casters in the wizarding world teach at this school, and that Voldemort often passes his nights here. I know that dementors guard Harry day and night, and what's more, that Harry's apparently stark-raving mad, so even if I did somehow manage to get to him, there's a high chance that he wouldn't even recognise me, and might very well draw the attention of the dementors. I know that England has been taken over by Death Eaters, that I have no likely chance of even getting Harry out of the Hogwarts grounds, and even less of a chance of getting outside of England. But you know what?' she asked, breathless. 'Those are risks I'm willing to take when it comes to Harry. I refuse to believe that the Boy Who Lived is destined for madness within some dark, forgotten cell beneath the castle he once called home.'

Justin and Parvati stared at Hermione, wide eyed. Around the room, the other mudbloods, numbering less than a dozen, were all staring at Hermione, equally wide eyed. 'Light, Hermione,' Justin said quietly. 'No need to bite my bloody head off.'

***

His body was wracked by trembles, from head to toe. His teeth chattered loudly in his head, and if he'd tried to pick anything up, he'd have failed miserably, for his fingers jittered violently. His spectacles had fallen from his head unnoticed, and now lay cracked and twisted several feet from his body. It didn't matter; he didn't need his glasses to see the visions within his mind.

The nightmares were coming quick and fast now, his moments of lucidity and wakefulness becoming fewer and fewer. His arms remained largely wrapped around his knees, which were drawn up tightly against his chest; though occasionally he clapped his hands against his ears at those moments when he was certain his skull would shatter from the momentum of the screams and cries. It wasn't so much an attempt to block out the voices; he knew they weren't coming from outside, for they lived within his blood now. Rather, it was an attempt to keep his head from exploding, as if the force of his hands alone might keep him in one peace.

Save us, Harry! Protect us!

He was there again, stumbling over the bodies, jumping and starting at claps of thunder and blunt screams. Something was moving towards him quickly, coming at him from behind. Quickly, he reached for his wand, only to realise it wasn't there. Light, where's my wand? Where's my wand!? Spinning around, he located the source of the sound . . . a dog, impossibly large, leaping at him.

Don't leave us, Harry . . . Harry!

'Sirius! It's you!' he cried out. At that moment, from the corner of his eye, he saw a ball of green light headed straight for him, and suddenly he understood what was happening. With that knowledge, time slowed. Sirius, leaping at him, his giant paws colliding with Harry's shoulders, knocking him to the ground . . . and the light, the ball of green light - the killing curse, he knew - enveloping Sirius. Landing hard upon the ground, Harry raised his arms, grabbing Sirius and shaking him desperately; knowing his Godfather was dead, that he'd saved Harry and chosen death . . .

You killed him, Harry! He died for you, so that you might save the rest of us . . . but you failed us all. . .

Harry felt his heart shatter into one thousand shards of glass, each and every one piercing his chest, travelling through his blood, stabbing him, leaving him in agony. His cry, when it came, was a roar of silent agony; tearing through his throat and escaping his lips like a hot ball of pure energy, leaving him weak and vulnerable in its wake.

He doesn't care about us . . . he'd rather sacrifice those around him, those closest to him, in his efforts to survive.

Coward, we depended on you for salvation!

We gave you the world, Harry Potter, and you betrayed us with your cowardice.

Why did we place our faith and redemption in the hands of a child?

'Sirius,' Harry wept into the darkness, 'I'm so sorry I failed you.'

***

On her hands and knees, Hermione scrubbed the class room floor with a vengeance. Across the room, Justin gave a high-pitched squeal of horror, then held up something long, thin and blood-smeared. 'What the sweet merry fuck do you suppose this used to be?' he demanded, then with a grimace of disgust, he tossed it out the window. 'Ugh, I swear scrubbing the potion's room floor is the single worst task we have. Snape may have been a twat, but at least we never had to slaughter what we worked with in his classes.'

Hermione said nothing, simply dipped her scrubbing brush into the bucket and continued scrubbing, her face severe.

'Oh come on, Hermione . . . please don't do this. We're only trying to protect you, surely you know that?' Justin asked, sitting up and staring at her.

'And who protects Harry?' Hermione asked curtly.

'Hermione . . . Harry has survived just fine these last two and a half years. Why the sudden need to rush in and rescue him?'

Hermione sat up and fixed furious eyes upon Justin. 'Because I wasn't sure he was even alive until now, Justin! Then suddenly I find out that not only is he alive and kept within the dungeons, but that he's also being tormented by dementors and has also lost his mind. That is why, Justin,' Hermione snapped. 'And he is hardly fine - since when is being mad just fine, Justin?' she continued, and slapped the scrubbing brush back within the water, sending a shower of bubbles and filth towards Justin.

Justin scrambled back a safe distance and continued to watch Hermione, who studiously ignored him. Finally, Justin sighed loudly. 'Hermione . . . even if you did rescue Harry and manage to get him off the grounds . . . where would you go?'

'New Zealand,' Hermione said immediately, thinking of Zabini's comments about the Phoenix's hiding in New Zealand.

'New Zealand?' Justin asked, his voice doubtful.

'Justin, I know it seems ridiculous, but don't you understand? It's not important where we escape to, only that we escape,' Hermione emphasized.

'And what about the rest of us?'

'Ideally, the rest of you would help me in rescuing Harry, and we'd flee together, leaving no one except themselves to blame,' Hermione replied shortly, her voice crisp and emotionless.

'You really think this is possible? That we can rescue Harry and escape?' Justin's voice was genuine; he was willing to suspend judgement for the time being, if only because he respected Hermione.

Grateful, Hermione nodded. 'I firmly believe that anything is possible, if approached the right way.'

'Have you never thought it strange that no one has ever attempted to reclaim Hogwarts? We know that our own ministry was taken over by Voldemort and the Death Eaters . . . but what about the foreign ministries? Why haven't they demanded a return to the way things were, or tried to overthrow Voldemort? What if there is nowhere to escape to? I'm not trying to discourage you, Hermione . . . I just think we need to cover all our bases, take into consideration that we haven't been outside these walls since the last stand and we don't know what the world outside is like anymore.'

'What if there is a world to return to out there, Justin? What if there is a war being fought against Voldemort, and we just haven't heard about it?'

Justin gave her a doubtful look. 'You don't truly believe that, anymore than I do,' he replied gently.

Hermione paused, then continued scrubbing. 'I don't claim to have all the answers, Justin.' Finally she stopped. Sitting up, she rubbed her lower back, and gave a weary sigh. 'Even if Harry were dead, Justin, don't you think enough is enough? We've been here for two and a half years, and never once tried to escape or fight back-'

'Because they'd kill us, and we know that!' Justin interupted indignantly.

'So we just continue to slave away here, robbed of our dignity, humiliated on a regular basis, until the day we die? What sort of a life is this, Justin? Would it really be that much worse if we were dead? So many times I've suspected that they only keep us alive because this is worse than death. And I think that's why Voldemort has kept Harry alive, too. Because he suffers far more now than he would if he were simply killed and sent to the afterlife. Do you know how many of us Harry witnessed die that night?' Hermione asked. 'Half the Weasley family, Dumbledore, Sirius Black . . . it hurt me to see them die, Justin, but to Harry they were family. They brought light into a life that had known only darkness. And unlike us, under the influence of the dementors and the isolation, Harry is reliving it every hour of every day. Harry presents no threat to Voldemort any more, so Voldemort keeps him alive, torturing him without laying a single finger upon him. A fate far worse than death. And as for us . . . kept alive as a reminder of our impurity.' Hermione paused and cast Justin a wretched look. 'Don't you think the risk of death is a risk worth taking, if it means we have even one small chance of escaping all this?'

Suddenly, Justin's world shifted from black-and-white, and he discovered grey.

Seeing this, Hermione pressed her case. 'Do you want to die here many years from now, still slaving away in the name of the Dark Lord, never having even tried to fight back? Or do you dare take a risk, dare to gamble on that slim chance of escape . . . are you willing to die trying, and at least take with you that knowledge that you tried?'

Justin looked Hermione in the eye. 'I don't want to die an old man within these walls,' he whispered. 'I'm willing to die trying, though.'

Hermione gave him a radiant smile. 'Me, too,' she whispered.

'Do you have a plan?' Justin asked, his voice hopeful.

Hermione looked at Justin steadily. 'Yes. Yes, I do.'