Unofficial Portkey Archive

A forewarning, a few of you may have to refer to chapters 12 and 13 of The Path Ahead to understand the context of the flashback, if you can't make any sense of it at all, let me know in your review and I will try to explain it.

All right, here's the beginning of the answers. No more plot setup (well, maybe a little), from here on out we start to see the final rising towards the final battle. I realise the name of the chapter spoils it a little, but try to forget that fact as you're reading.

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Chapter 11: Assault on Malfoy Manor

Harry and Moody both appeared in the atrium of the Ministry at the same time. It was obvious those who were working there had been informed of the attack during the commemoration; there wasn't a witch or wizard in sight who was standing still. It took Harry and Moody five minutes to cross the fifty feet to the lift and get in, and it was only by shouting, "Floor two, please!" that they managed to have the button for their level pushed.

"Bloody madhouse," Moody grumbled as he fished his key out for the special door. Muttering to himself, he inserted it into the lock and swung the door open. Harry followed, and was surprised to see his instructor stop at another door only one farther than the one he and Hermione usually trained in. Harry noticed that instead of a keyhole, there was a space about a quarter inch deep, a quarter inch wide, and three inches long in the otherwise flawless surface of the door.

"We've been next to Pettigrew all this time?" he asked with a frown.

"Yeah," Moody growled, searching his pockets for something. "Not a whole lot of space down here, Potter. Ah, here we are." He pulled out a thin, silver rod with elaborate carvings on it, and inserted it into the space on the door. "Works better than a key," he growled, seeing Harry's confused look. "The carvings match magic patterns in the door. Kind of like them muggle eclectic locks with cards and stuff."

"Electric," Harry corrected. A loud buzz sounded and Moody opened the door before removing the rod and replacing it in his robes. Following his mentor inside, he noticed they were in a room very similar to one he had seen in one of Dudley's action movies once. It was completely dark, save for a dim light coming through a large window that showed the room Pettigrew was being held in. He saw that on Peter's wrists were two blue, glowing cuffs, that weren't chained to anything at all.

"Could I talk to him...alone?" Harry asked.

"I was hoping you'd ask that, actually," Moody replied, fishing through his robes again and pulling out a flask. "I need to see how well you can interrogate someone. We'll make a lesson out of it." He handed the flask to Harry.

"What's this for?" he asked, swirling around the faintly familiar purple contents.

"In case you need to persuade him to talk," Moody said with a sadistic grin. Comprehension dawning on Harry, he nodded. "Door's open." Without another word, he opened the door leading to the holding cell Peter was in. With a quick look, he confirmed his suspicions that the window allowing watchers from the other room was in fact a one-way mirror. Upon hearing someone enter the room, Peter looked up and promptly cowered into one of the corners.

"Oh, come now, Pettigrew, no need to be scared," Harry said with an evil grin. "Not unless you plan on holding your tongue."

"W-w-what do you want?" Peter stuttered.

"The truth," Harry said simply.

"About?" Wormtail asked with a hint of relaxation, seeing that Harry wasn't actually going to kill him on the spot.

"When Lucius was killed you became Voldemort's right-hand," Harry said matter-of-factly, not caring when his prey flinched at the sound of his master's name. "We know there's a spy in the ministry. Who is it?"

"I-I don't know," he replied.

"Somehow I think you're lying," Harry said, removing the flask from his robes. "Do you know what this is?" He held the flask in the light, making it barely discernable that it contained a dark purple liquid. "I said, do you know what this is!" he bellowed when Pettigrew didn't respond. Hastily, he shook his head.

"You should," Harry snorted. "You forced it down the throat of my fianceé." Wormtail's eyes widened with the realisation of what the potion was. "Though, you'll find we've altered this one a little bit," Harry lied, having a flash of inspiration. "This one doesn't take three and a half days to work. More like three and a half minutes."

"W-wait!" Peter shouted, trying to stop Harry from advancing. "Please. Don't."

"Why shouldn't I?" Harry asked.

"I...I can't tell you," Wormtail spluttered.

"What, who the spy is, or why I should stop?" Harry asked.

"Both," mumbled Pettigrew. Sighing, Harry removed the stopper from the flask and pointed his wand at the cowering man.

"One last chance," Harry said. Though Wormtail was visibly shaking from fear, he remained silent. Using a spell he once saw in one of Hogwarts' many tomes, he forced Pettigrew's mouth open. He was just about to pour the liquid down his throat when he had a sudden flashback.

The two students pushed him into the wall and held him there as he whimpered.

"Y-You wouldn't," he said through gritted teeth as a tear made its way down his cheek. The two students pinning him to the wall laughed.

"Perhaps there is an alternate way to solve this problem," Harry said, stepping away and re-stoppering the flask. Pettigrew breathed a sigh of relief at this. Harry was just about to speak when he heard a buzz in his head and a soft tap on the glass of the mirror. "I'll be back in a minute," he said.

Rushing to the door, he opened it to find Moody giving him a curious glance.

"What was that all about?" Moody asked once Harry had shut the door.

"I have an idea," Harry said. "If it doesn't work, then I'll dump the potion down his throat."

"You have the antidote on you, right?" Moody asked. Harry pulled back his robes to unveil his potion belt, and sure enough, in the first slot was the antidote that he had made during his first potions lesson, along with two others. "All right, then," he sighed. "Go back on in there."

Harry mouthed a 'thank you' to his mentor and stepped back into the room. He conjured a chair for himself, and sat down, reclining in it slightly.

"Who the spy is," he said contemplatively, "that's something very important that I need to know. But it will have to wait for the moment. There's something else I've been wanting to talk to you about for a long time."

"A-and what's that?"

"Bertha Jorkins," Harry said.

"Th-the witch that I brought to...to..."

"To Voldemort, before the Quidditch World Cup four years ago," Harry interrupted. "Yes. Why did you turn her over to him?"

"He would have wanted me to," Peter replied simply. "And it turned out that doing that saved my life."

"So you would give a woman you were possibly in love with for many years to the Dark Lord without a second though?" Harry asked with distaste. "Just to save your own skin?"

"I-I-I don't know what you're talking about," Wormtail said meekly.

"How could you not know?" Harry asked.

"Not know what?" Peter asked, his interrogator's frustration worrying him. Harry furrowed his brow and went into thought.

'I couldn't have dead-ended this so easily. How could he not remember her?' Harry asked to himself.

'Maybe a powerful wizard put a memory charm on him,' Hermione's voice replied.

'You can hear me?' Harry asked, slightly surprised.

'I'm standing next to Moody," Hermione said. 'Everyone was okay, and I wanted to be here for this.'

'I'm glad to hear that,' Harry replied. 'Both parts.'

'Good. Well, get on with it already.'

Harry turned to face Peter and had an idea. He knew that Hermione was referring to Dumbledore's memory charm, but he had a feeling it was something else. The fact that Dumbledore was one of the best spell casters in existence probably had something to do with it.

"Peter," Harry said sweetly. "Do you know what it feels like to be under the Imperius Curse?"

"I...no," he replied, confused. "Why?"

"Voldemort has never cast it on you?" Pettigrew shook his head. "Now we're getting somewhere." Confused, Peter looked up at him. "I wonder," Harry said, though more to himself than anyone else, holding his wand in both hands. In a flash, he pointed it at Wormtail who had enough time to recoil, but couldn't do anything else as Harry shouted, "Restuto!"

Peter's eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he started to shake slightly. Knowing from past experience with Remus that this was typical, he simply put his wand back in his robes and interlaced his fingers, waiting for the target of his spell to come around.

It was about twenty seconds later when Pettigrew regained focus, and upon seeing Harry, his eyes became as wide as saucers.

"Brings back memories, doesn't it?" Harry asked with a sick smile. "Now then, tell me what Bertha Jorkins meant to you."

"My god...." whispered Pettigrew. "What have I done....?"

"Why don't you tell me that?" Harry asked, glad to have gotten somewhere. "What did Bertha Jorkins mean to you?"

"Harry..."

"Answer me!" Harry yelled. Pettigrew immediately recoiled and slumped down into the corner of the cell.

"She...I killed her..." he whispered.

"I know that already," Harry said, getting frustrated. "Peter...just tell me what happened with her."

"We were always really good friends," he said softly. "I didn't see much of her after she graduated, but I always really liked her."

"So why hand her over to Voldemort?" Harry asked.

"I...I don't know why I did it," Peter replied.

"May I venture a suggestion?" Harry asked, having a very good idea of why he did do it. "Cast your mind back to, say, oh, I don't know, summer of 1980." Pettigrew looked up at this. "I couldn't tell you the exact date and time, I'm not you. But tell me about the very first time you met Lord Voldemort."

"He told me to join him or die," Peter whimpered. "I didn't want to refuse him." Harry stood up and walked over to Pettigrew.

"I know when I'm being lied to," he said pointedly. "And I know you're lying. I think perhaps, that maybe it wasn't that you didn't want to refuse him, it was that you couldn't refuse him. And you're embarrassed because of your weakness." Pettigrew looked away, giving Harry all the confirmation he needed.

"Well, let's talk about it, then," Harry said, narrating to the room. "Here you are, all alone, walking somewhere, I would presume, when you're accosted by some death eaters. You're taken captive, and thrust before Lord Voldemort himself. After pitifully begging he not kill you, he performs a very complex version of a memory charm that instead of erasing memories, it alters them. Having brainwashed you to believe you're a death eater and loyal to him, you immediately turn on James and Lily, resulting in their deaths. Does that sound about right so far?"

Pettigrew simply whimpered.

"Upon nursing your master back to health some five years ago, you encountered Bertha Jorkins, and promptly subjected her to the full fury of the Dark Lord," Harry continued. "Not remembering that you ever cared for her, or who she was, it must've been quite easy for you. You always were strong and confident when in a position of power, Peter."

Wormtail still said nothing.

"You know," Harry said, resuming his seat. "I think Sirius was wrong. All those years ago in the Shrieking Shack, when he said that you were a traitor to Lily and James, you were never a traitor by choice. You were simply too weak to let yourself be killed for your friends, and instead were brainwashed into thinking that Lord Voldemort would lead you to the promised land. Just like a typical cultist. Is that accurate?"

Pettigrew did nothing but lay curled up in his corner, although it seemed he had started to sob slightly. Grumbling, Harry got up and was about to exit the room to talk with Hermione and Moody, when his captive's voice stopped him.

"Harry...I was too weak....too weak to save James and Lily. And you saved my life from Remus and Sirius."

"I know that already," Harry said, turning to look at him.

"They...they gave me friendship when no one else would, and I turned on them," he whimpered. "I'll tell you what you want to know..."

"But?" Harry asked when Peter had trailed off.

"You have to promise me to keep me locked in this cell," Pettigrew answered. "Not anywhere else. Especially not Azkaban. Here. I-I-I can't be set free...the death eaters will hunt me down now that I remember the truth. Or worse, he'll find me and make me think I'm a death eater again."

Harry turned and looked at the mirror for confirmation.

'Moody says that'll be doable,' Hermione said in his head. He nodded once and sat back down on the chair.

"Okay, then," Harry said, taking a deep breath and sitting back down in the chair. "Let's try this one more time. Who is Voldemort's spy in the ministry?"

"Draco Malfoy," Peter replied. Inwardly, Harry frowned. Although he had a feeling all along that it was Draco, he had hoped differently. "At least he was."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"When I got captured, he was still working for You-Know-Who," Peter said. "Although, the Dark Lord always thought his loyalties were to be questioned. I don't know if he's still a spy or not."

"Saving Ginny, was that part planned?" Harry asked.

"On the Hogwarts Express last year?" Peter asked, prompting Harry to nod. "Yes, that was a setup. Lucius and the others had two objectives. The first was get Hermione from you, the second was to attack Ginny and have Draco save her. It would get him in good graces with everyone."

"What about afterwards?" Harry asked.

"He was to try to set up a relationship with her, and eventually get in to the Order of the Phoenix," Pettigrew said. "Either way, he was going to be let in to the ministry on Lucius' name."

"Draco killed his father, though," Harry said. "You know that. How could he still be a spy after murdering one of Voldemort's inner circle?"

"Lucius had gotten on You-Know-Who's bad side," Peter replied. "He had failed in just about every task before finally managing to capture Hermione and the other girl Ginny. Draco was ordered to kill his father in front of you all to 'prove' that he was no longer on the Dark Lord's side. The Vulnero Draught that Hermione and Ginny drank was never the version to cause bleeding. It was all a ruse to get you and Draco to come and rescue the girls. The Malfoy's house-elf had been given instructions to listen to Draco, not Lucius, and so everything you found out from him was set up too.

"Lucius never knew of these plans though," Peter continued. "He was fed the same story you were, and believed every word of it. Draco murdered him, as instructed, and by doing so not only got into the ministry, but the good graces of Dumbledore and the Weasley family."

"And now he's a part of the Order..." Harry growled. "How do you know all this? I thought Voldemort never told all his plans to one servant."

"I already knew that Draco was a spy working for us," Peter said. "Once Lucius was dead, I took over as the Dark Lord's second, and he told me why what had happened was a success."

"What was Draco to do after all of this?" Harry asked.

"Use his position to his advantage," Pettigrew said. "If he couldn't get into the Order, he was to slowly take over the ministry."

"God damnit," Harry muttered. Making up his mind, he quickly stood and Peter recoiled. "I'm not going to hurt you, Peter."

"I....I'm sorry, Harry," he sobbed, returning to some of his former pitifulness.

"So am I," Harry replied. "I don't know if I'll ever be able to forgive you for not giving your life for my parents, just like they would have done for you." He squatted down next to the shaking heap of a man. "But I appreciate what you've just done for us. If it makes any difference, I think that my parents and Sirius appreciate it too, wherever they are."

Harry stood up and walked away, leaving the room just as Peter broke out in hysterical sobs.

He didn't say anything to Moody or Hermione as he stormed past them and out of the room. Even Hermione's shouts couldn't halt him. It wasn't until he was nearly at the lift and Moody seized his arm that he finally stopped and turned around. When he did, he eyes weren't of their normal green, but a flaming red.

"Potter, where do you think you're going," Moody growled, not letting go of Harry's arm as Hermione came running up behind them.

"To get that son-of-a-bitch," he replied in an equally low growl. "Now let go of me before I make you."

"Today is Malfoy's day off," Moody said, not letting go, though loosening his grip slightly. "Not surprising, really."

"Harry, please," Hermione begged, terrified of the evil glow in his eyes. "Don't make any rash decisions."

Slowly, the red tinge faded from his gaze, and he took a few deep breaths to calm himself.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I just wanted to get ahold of him so badly."

"And we will," Mood replied, finally completely releasing his grip on Harry's arm. "We just need to go about it the right way."

"And what way is that?" Harry asked.

"Stealth," Moody replied with a crooked smile. "We'll simply remove him from his home, but we'll do it quietly."

"Isn't that illegal?" Hermione asked.

"Without the proper paperwork, yeah," Moody replied. "But seeing as how Kingsley happens to be a 'good friend', I doubt anything will come of it, even if we're caught."

"What happens if we're not caught?" Harry inquired.

"Malfoy becomes a prisoner of the Order," Moody responded with an evil grin. "Your interrogation of Pettigrew wasn't recorded, not by an official source, anyway. Right now, the ministry has no record of Draco ever being a spy. If we capture him without raising any alarms, we can take him to headquarters and...what is it that muggles say? 'Have our way with him'?"

"I'm not entirely sure that's what you mean," Harry grimaced. "But I get the idea. Who's going with us?"

"Just us three," Moody replied. "Can't take anyone else without arousing suspicion. Besides, you two are better fighters than most of the people here as it is." Harry glanced at Hermione.

"I'm coming, and nothing you say will change my mind," she said before Harry could say anything.

"I was only going to ask if you were sure you wanted to get involved in this," he said.

"Well, you have my answer," Hermione replied.

"All right. Let's get moving then," Harry said with a sigh. Moody nodded and they stepped into the lift.

"Malfoy Manor is located on the very top of Mosshead Hill in Wiltshire," he said as the arrived at the lobby. "Apparate to the village in the valley below. The entire hill is Malfoy property, so we can't apparate any closer or we'll trip off wards." Harry and Hermione nodded once to show their assent before Moody disappeared with a pop.

"Let's go," Harry said, and before Hermione could respond, he disapparated.

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He reappeared in a back alley between two wooden buildings. Moody promptly shushed him as Hermione popped in next to them.

"All right," Moody said, drawing his wand. "Take out your wands." They did as told and he promptly tapped them with his own. All three glowed slightly pink before returning to their normal color. "Good. That'll let us -"

"Communicate through our wands," Harry finished. "Krum used it last year when we were rescuing the women," he added, seeing Moody's appraising look.

"Right then," he said. "Now walk with me." He walked out of the alley onto an empty street and turned left. Harry and Hermione followed him and quickly fell in step. "This is one of the smaller all-wizard villages," he said as they walked at a reasonable pace.

"Shouldn't we be a bit more cautious?" Hermione asked. "Walking around in broad daylight like this for everyone to see?"

"No one here will have heard of us, much less know what we're here for," Moody replied. "Probably the only village in all of England that doesn't know who You-Know-Who is."

"Why is that?" Harry asked as they passed a small pub.

"Too isolated," Moody replied. "The Prophet won't deliver out here, they don't have an owl station for about two hundred and fifty miles, and the wireless doesn't get any reception. It's perfect for the Malfoys, they could have as many death eater meetings as they wanted an no one would suspect a thing."

"Won't seeing outsiders in such an isolated place cause suspicion?" Hermione asked

"Nah, it would just be pub talk for a couple days," Moody said. "No one in this town is wealthy enough to leave and tell anyone except for the Malfoys, and they're not the most popular people around here. That's why they live up there." He pointed to a large mound of Earth that could hardly be described as a small hill.

Standing easily 3,000 feet tall, the 'hill' was not what one would consider 'unusual'. Covered in a lush, green forest that ran all the way up the sides until the very top, it looked as natural as anything in nature would. The only exception was the bit of black, bare rock exposed at the very top, along with a small speck, which was undoubtedly Malfoy Manor.

"That's Mosshead Hill?" Hermione asked skeptically. "That's a mountain!"

"Yeah, well," Moody grumbled. "We get to climb it."

"You're joking, right?" Harry asked, staring skeptically at the mansion situated probably more than a half mile above the ground on which they were standing.

"Hey, you're the one who wanted to do this in the first place," Moody growled as they reached a trail that led up the tree-covered mountain. "Now it's unwise for us to all go up the same path. I know there's no separating you two, but I'm taking the way up on the other side."

"You won't trip anything by apparating over there?" Harry asked.

"No, I'll make sure I go a safe distance away when I reappear," he replied. "Now listen carefully. There are sure to be wards placed all around the mountain. You can't dispel them, it'll set off alarms. You have to go around them."

"How are we supposed to do that?" Harry asked.

"Well we didn't spend any time preparing, so we don't have a layout of the area," Moody said. "However, you wands should react whenever you near one of the wards. Nifty side effect of the communication spell."

"Let's get moving then," Hermione said. Moody nodded once and disappeared.

"You nervous?" Harry asked as they started trudging up the hill.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't," Hermione admitted. "This is my first 'raid' after all."

"It's not that bad," Harry said. "Just gotta be 'vigilant'." They stopped when a crackling started emitting from Harry's wand. He took it out and found that instead of a ward being nearby, Moody was simply talking to him.

"You on your way, Potter?" came his voice through the wood.

"Yes, sir," Harry replied, continuing up the trail with Hermione.

"Good, listen, only talk if you really have to," Moody said. "Some of the wards are attuned for sound."

"Not a problem," replied Harry. "What do you want us to do when we get to the top?"

"I'll find you," Moody said. "Lay low near the edge of the forest, but stay on alert."

"Gotcha," Harry said.

"Over and out."

'Well, it looks like we'll be talking like this the whole way up,' Harry said silently.

'At least we still have the ability to talk,' Hermione replied.

It took them the greater part of two hours to finally reach the forest's edge near the summit. There hadn't been as many wards as Moody suspected; Harry and Hermione only had to re-route their course four times throughout the hike. After waiting for about ten minutes, they heard some branches near them rustle, and Moody stepped into view.

"Glad to see you made it," Harry whispered.

"No time for pleasantries," Moody said, eyeing the mansion.

Despite looking small from the bottom of Mosshead Hill, Malfoy Manor was easily half the size of Hogwarts. Standing four stories tall, the entire exterior was made out of gray marble, with ivy vines running up and down the sides. 'Typical Slytherin colors,' Harry thought.

"I did a scan of the area on my way over here, and the best odds we have of entering are through the kitchen window," Moody said, pointing at the right side of the house. "No wards to avoid by going that way." Harry and Hermione nodded, and the three of them made their way around the edge of the forest until they were facing the side of the mansion that the kitchen was on.

"What if we're seen?" Harry asked. Moody responded by hitting him hard on the head with his hand, and he felt the familiar sensation of a Disillusionment Charm on him. Hermione, not wanting to be hit by Moody, put it on herself, and their instructor quickly followed suit.

"Right then," Moody whispered. "Let's go."

Moody went first, Hermione in the middle, and Harry brought up the rear. He listened so as to know where Hermione was standing at a given time so he didn't bump into her. About a minute later, they were next to the manor, standing beside a closed window. He heard Moody give the window a quick ward-check with his wand, before he heard him mutter 'Alohomora.' The latch on the window clicked and Moody slid it open. Harry listened carefully as he heard one person climb in through the window, then another. Holstering his wand, he climbed up into the kitchen and found that Moody and Hermione had taken the charm off. Tapping himself on the head, he removed the charm and slowly his body reappeared.

"Good," whispered Moody as softly as he could while closing the window and re-locking it. "Now let's find Draco without attracting attention. If you have to cast any spells, do it silently." Harry and Hermione nodded in understanding as they quietly left the kitchen and found themselves in a long hall, with a set of stairs at the end of it.

'Let Moody know we should try upstairs first,' Harry said silently. Hermione tapped Moody on the shoulder and silently pointed towards the ceiling when he looked at her. Nodding, he made his way to the stairs and slowly started walking up them, all the time keeping his back to the wall.

Harry was thankful that everything in the mansion seemed to be pristine and well kept, he didn't know what would happen if the stairs had creaked during their ascent. Reaching the landing on the second floor, Moody's eye swivelled around and he nodded up at the ceiling, telling them they needed to go higher.

As they reached the third landing, Harry saw that one of the door across from them was open. He gasped inwardly as he noticed that the room was carpeted and the walls were a deep green, along with a silver, serpentine chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The fireplace, thankfully, was not full of purple flames at the moment.

'We have to hurry,' Harry said to Hermione as they continued up to the top floor. 'Voldemort might be here.' She turned to face him with eyes wide.

'How do you know?' she asked.

'That room,' he said nodding at the room on the landing below them. 'It was the one I saw in my dream with Voldemort a month ago.'

'If he's here, let's hope Moody sees him before he sees us,' Hermione said as they reached the top landing and Moody halted them.

'If he's here,' Harry replied. 'We're all screwed already.'

Silently, Moody used two fingers and pointed left down the hall. Understanding, Harry quickly but silently moved to the other side of the closed door. He could hear papers rustling from inside. Hermione stayed on the side of the door closer to the stairwell, and Moody stood directly in front of it, wand aimed right at the oak.

Moody nodded at Harry, and he put his hand on the doorknob. Harry could feel Hermione's nervousness grow, but before she had time to think about it, he had flung the door open and Moody had sent a stunner right at a wide-eyed Draco Malfoy. The beam of light hit him right in the chest, and he collapsed on top of the desk he was behind.

"Quick, grab him," Moody hissed as the three of the rushed into the room. Harry quickly bound Draco's hands and feet with ropes while Moody hastily shoved all the parchment that was on the desk into his robes. "Apparate back to headquarters," he said. "It doesn't matter if you set off the alarms on the way out, it'll be too late for them to do anything."

Moody and Hermione disappeared instantly with a pop, and just before Harry disapparated with Draco, he swore he saw the same red eyes that haunted his dreams floating in the doorway.

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A long chapter to write. Just a quick snippet of what's to come:

If you think what Harry almost did to Pettigrew in the chapter was bad, wait for the next one.