(A/N: Wow, we're slowly coming to an end with this story! Please, pay attention to the last chapters, since are going to be really intense. Hope you'll enjoy!)
Chapter 30. NIGHT OF NEW MOON
...
Loving each other just a bit
It's like blooming
It helps, you know
At not dying.
Without hiding ourselves,
Showing us out
We can elude
The solitude.
...
"Loving each other just a bit" by Lucio Battisti
That morning, Harry woke up abruptly from the terrible crash of thunder. He stood up and walked to the
window. The storm had started the previous evening but was still lashing against the trees; the rain was falling in
sheets and the dark sky was continuously lit by lightning bolts.
Even though it was the beginning of May, it looked like a really cold day. It still had special meaning for Harry, however. The following night would be a new moon and he would see Sirius Black again.
During the last two weeks, thanks to Hermione's help, Harry had managed to get ready for the ceremony by the Veil of Death.
In the meantime, Mrs. Weasley had sent an owl informing them that Bill was now out of the hospital and was recovering at the Borrow.
It was a Thursday and it had passed by as usual: two hours of Herbology followed by two hours of Defense Against the Dark Arts, then lunch, and finally two hours of History of Magic and two hours of Potions.
When the three friends headed to the Great Hall for dinner, they were exhausted but still excited about the upcoming events.
After dinner, Harry went to McGonagall's office to serve his detention. He sat in a desk in front of the teacher and started writing lines as usual on a piece of parchment, keeping an eye on his watch, hoping to be finished soon.
After 10 PM had passed, Professor McGonagall finally let him go and once out of the classroom, Harry ran as fast as possible back to the common room, which was still full of students. Ron and Hermione were waiting for him, sitting in front of the fireplace.
"Is everything ready?" asked Harry, getting seated close to them.
"We spoke to Mark an hour ago. We should meet him by the Forbidden Forest at eleven o'clock," replied Hermione, looking around warily.
"The invisibility cloak is ready in your school bag!" added Ron with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.
"The bowl of pure water, the flower, and the candle?" Harry asked anxiously.
"Mark will take care of that. And the object owned by Sirius?"
"Ready!" said Harry, slipping his hand under his cloak, where he was hiding the two-way mirror. "Now, we just have to wait."
"Are you sure it's worth it? I mean, we're going to break quite a lot of school rules tonight, and I still think we should've told Dumbledore."
"Of course it's worth it, Hermione!" replied Harry, annoyed. Then he became serious.
"Maybe it isn't a good idea for you to come with me..."
Hermione felt deeply offended by those words.
"Harry Potter, do you think that I'd ever let you go and do something this foolishness all alone?"
Harry smiled at her, feeling thankful.
"The same for me!" added Ron, strongly.
The three friends became silent, and spent the following hour sitting quietly by the fire.
= = = = = =
Ka-booooom
Harry, Ron, and Hermione were quickly crossing the castle grounds and the crash of thunder made them jump. In that moment, the three friends squeezed themselves even closer together under the invisibility cloak, their clothes completely soaked.
They reached the meeting place by the Forbidden Forest, trying to avoid going near Hagrid's hut. They stood there a few minutes, looking around.
"There's no one here, and I'm soaked to the bone!" protested Ron.
Harry started to worry, fearing that his cousin had encountered trouble on his way.
"There he is!" Hermione had just seen Mark and the three of them ran to greet him. The wizard was coming out of the forest and was soaked from head to toe, just as they were.
"It's so good to see you again!" said Harry warmly; Mark's smiled seemed forced. He looked emaciated and had deep black circles under his eyes. He seemed really nervous to be there.
"Are you ready Harry? On the count of three, you should touch this Portkey and we will arrive at our destination." Mark took a used ashtray out from his cloak.
"Hey, wait a minute! We're coming with you!" protested Hermione. Mark looked deeply upset and replied animatedly.
"It's a bad idea. I'm sorry, but you'll have to stay this time."
"No way!" said Ron, moving in front of Mark and frowning at him.
"I'm not coming without them!" added Harry, in the end.
Mark stared intensely at the young wizard and realized that it would have been useless to argue with him. He sighed deeply and then spoke.
"All right then. On the count of three, we'll touch this Portkey. Ready? One, two..."
Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at each other nervously, and then stretched out their arms toward the ashtray.
"Three!"
As soon as their fingers touched the Portkey, they felt an incredible jerk pulling them from behind their navels. They saw a whirlwind of lights and images and after a few seconds, they found themselves in a completely different place. They staggered a bit before falling to the ground.
Harry looked around; the place was dark, lit only by a few beat up lampposts. He then noticed that it wasn't raining, and the air was tepid.
Harry stood up and stretched out a hand to Hermione, helping her up, as Ron used a drying charm to dry his clothes and hair. When he was finished, he looked around. "What is this place?" he asked, uncertain.
"I don't know!" replied Harry, getting more and more worried.
It was a circular courtyard, with horrible, broken houses all around it. The ground was paved with ragged, dirty stone blocks.
"It looks like Diagon Alley, but it's gloomier," commented Hermione, squinting her eyes to read a few worn out signs hanging from the stone walls.
Mark was silently staring at the three of them. Harry felt an awkward feeling in his heart and moved closer to him.
"Where are we, Mark?" he asked, even though he had already guessed the answer. Mark didn't reply and lowered his gaze.
"It's Knockturn Alley!" exclaimed Hermione, alarmed. She was absolutely right. Harry already knew this place, as he had been there before.
Harry frowned at Mark, feeling betrayed.
"I need to know why, Mark! Don't you have anything to say?"
"That's right! He doesn't have anything to say, silly boy! You've done a great job, Mark. Just like we had requested."
Harry knew that sharp and cold voice and looked for the source of it. In deep horror, he saw the witch he hated the most, the one responsible for Sirius Black's death.
Bellatrix Lestrange was slowly coming out of a dark alley in front of them, armed with her wand and nothing more. Her long gray hair fell untidily over her shoulders and her eyes were lit up by a reckless twinkle.
The three friends walked backwards and took out their wands, ready to fight.
"Your cousin did a really good job, Harry. He managed to allow us to meet one more time." Bellatrix ended the sentence with an evil laugh.
Harry couldn't believe what she said. He felt his heart beating faster and the anger inside him rising.
"I trusted you, Mark, but it was just a trap! Why? I need to know why!" Harry shouted, deeply frustrated. He asked himself how he could have been so stupid and reckless, to trust someone like Mark Evans.
"Harry, I didn't want to, please believe me!" Mark tried to justify his actions, but Bellatrix cut him off.
"Poor, little Potter boy! Didn't he know what you were in the past, Mark? Shall I tell him or do you want the honor?"
"Shut up, you evil witch! I was too young when it happened, I didn't know what I was doing! Your Dark Lord made me so many promises and I surrendered my will to him."
"My Dark Lord? My dear Mark, you never change. You'll always be a traitor. You betrayed your master several years ago and you've betrayed young Potter today."
Harry was petrified. While Mark and Bellatrix were arguing, he was trying to think of a good way to get out of there.
"Why don't we apparate somewhere else?" Hermione whispered into his ear.
"Do I have to remind you that I'm still terrible at it? Do you want me to end up on the other side of the planet?" said Ron, alarmed.
"Would you prefer to fight?" replied Hermione, deeply annoyed.
Harry thought that it was neither time nor the place to start bickering. In any event, there wasn't much time left to decide. Bellatrix was already approaching, her wand pointed at them.
"Now, let's do something fun!" she said menacingly.
"Do you really think we're going to give up without a fight?" shouted Harry, glaring at her with hatred, while Mark watched the scene at a certain distance.
Suddenly, they heard odd noises coming from a few side alleys. It was like the sound of thousands of whips being violently lashed against the stone ground. The noises came closer and closer, until Harry was able to see several figures moving in the dark. They were small beings, only a meter tall, and they slowly walking toward them, holding in their hands long flaming whips, burning like fire.
The three friends feared the worst. When the strange beings were finally close enough, Hermione shouted in disbelief.
"Goblins!"
"Precisely! I'm quite curious to see how you'll to fight against them. You can shout as much as you want, my dear! I can assure you that nobody will come here to rescue you!" Bellatrix ended the sentence with a disgusting laugh.
The goblins had completely surrounded them. There were about fifty and they were staring at them with menacing sneers on their faces. They were horribly ugly, with long pointed ears and sharp teeth, dressed in ragged clothing. In the front, one of them was particularly ugly. A black bandage was covering his right eye and his face was crossed by deep scars.
Harry started to panic, and couldn't think clearly anymore.
"What do we do now?" Ron was terrified; his hands kept trembling as he held his wand. Even though Hermione was afraid as well, she was doing her best to not displaying her true feelings.
Harry felt guilty for dragging his best friends into this horrible situation. It's all my fault! I have to find a way to get out! he thought, determined. Then he turned to the others and whispered in their ears.
"I'll take care of those in the middle. Be ready, on the count of three."
"What are you doing, Potter? Saying your last prayers?" Bellatrix was making fun of him.
"One..."
"If, unfortunately, you are killed tonight, I'm sure that my Lord will reward me the same. At least I'll have saved him the trouble of having to kill himself!"
"Two..."
Ron and Hermione raised their wands and pointed them towards the goblins.
"Three!"
At Harry's signal, the three young wizards started to cast spells in every direction.
"Stupefy!"
"Petrificus Totalus!"
"Locomotor Mortis!"
Jets of red and blue lights darted through the air and a few goblins fell on the ground, but the rest of them started to attack. With incredibly high jumps, they rushed forwards, shouting aloud to encourage the others.
"Noooo! Help!"
Harry turned abruptly; the goblin with the black bandage had just twisted his fiery whip around Ron's chest, wrapping him completely.
"Ron!"
Hermione tried to help and pointed her wand toward him.
"Flagellum Relash... Aaaaah!"
She didn't have time to complete the spell, as another fiery whip twisted around her right arm, making her shout in intense pain.
"Hermione! Noooo!"
Harry stared at his two friends horrified. I have to do something! I have to help them! he thought in panic. He pointed his wand at the goblins who were holding Ron and Hermione, but at that moment, another of them gave him a sharp lash on the hand and his wand fell far away from him. The pain he felt was unbearable; he looked at his hand and saw the unmistakable signs of a bad burn.
Harry raised his gaze to the goblin and watched as it mocked him rudely.
"Now you'll see!" Harry shouted in anger. He closed the eyes and gathered himself in deep concentration. He stretched out his arms and said the magical words.
"Aere Emanatum!"
A small vortex of air, as big as the palm of his hand, appeared in front of him; Harry concentrated again, to make it
grow.
"Augeo!"
The vortex of air grew higher and higher until it became a meter tall, but Harry couldn't manage to do any more
than this. He wasn't able to concentrate properly, since he was too worried about his friends.
As the vortex whirled around, it dashed a few goblins into the air. Unfortunately, more of them were coming. There were now almost one hundred crowding the square. At a distance, Bellatrix and Mark watched the scene in silence.
Harry was already feeling exhausted by the effort and turned to his friends, panting heavily. Ron was still wrapped by the flaming whip, while Hermione was desperately fighting to free her arm from its painful grip.
There's no time to lose! I must do it! I must do it! Harry decided to try one more time; he concentrated again with all his strength.
"Augeo!"
Within a few seconds, the vortex of air became taller than the buildings surrounding the square. The goblins watched it
in astonishment. The vortex started to swallow everything its path and, one by one, the little monsters were thrown far
away.
The goblins who were holding Ron and Hermione were blown away violently, making the two fall heavily to the stone ground. Ron's clothes were torn in several places and his body showed clear signs of painful burns. Hermione's right arm was completely covered in blood.
Even though Harry already had a sharp pain in the chest and was feeling dizzy, he did his best to hold out until he got rid of the last goblin. Then, his strength left him abruptly and as soon as the vortex disappeared, he fell on the ground, exhausted.
Hermione watched the whole scene, terrified. She gathered all her courage, stood up, and ran toward Harry. His face was extremely pale and twisted in a grimace of pain. His forehead was sweaty and he was gripping his hand to his chest.
"Harry! How are you feeling? Please, talk to me!" Hermione shook him by the shoulders vigorously, but he looked as if he wasn't able to respond. He was still keeping his eyes tightly shut.
"Harry, listen to me! You should try to breath, please make an effort!"
His spell had drained away from every last bit of energy. Harry had virtually no will power left and remained flat on the ground.
"Please, don't give up, Harry!" Hermione shouted desperately, still shaking him frantically.
"I see that our young wizard has been a victim of his own powers. This'll make my task much easier!" Bellatrix was slowly coming in, anticipating the praise she was going to get from the Dark Lord.
Unexpectedly, Mark came forward and placed himself between Harry and the evil witch, extending his arms in protection.
"If you want to kill Harry, then you'll have to kill me first! I've made too many mistakes in my life. I won't make this one!"
"What are you talking about? You want to be a hero now? Let me refresh your memory, then! Do you remember when you came to the Dark Lord for the first time? You wanted to become a very powerful wizard and he received you among his most faithful servants. Even when you left, fifteen years ago, all of us knew that one day you'd come back. You can't erase the past, Mark. You are, and always will be a Death Eater!"
"No, you can't understand! I was just a spoiled boy then! I wanted to change the world, but now it's different! I haven't got anything to lose now, and I'd rather give my own life to save Harry's than to follow Lord Voldemort again!"
Finishing his sentence, Mark turned to Harry and stared at the boy with tears in his eyes.
"Please forgive me, if you can. Bringing you here has been my last mistake, but I'm going to fix it."
Harry opened his eyes with great difficulty and looked at Mark for a short instant, still feeling too weak and defenseless to react.
"Stop it now! Let me finish my job!" shouted Bellatrix, starting to lose her temper.
Mark took his wand out and started to approach her with slow steps. Without taking his gaze away from her, he spoke again addressing himself to Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
"Get away from here! I'll take care of her!"
Hermione tried to regain control over herself and looked around.
"Accio Wand!" When she saw Harry's wand on the ground, she summoned it to her and hid it in her pocket. Then she put Harry's arm around her neck and helped him stand up. A short ways away, Ron had finally managed to stand up and was already limping toward the other two.
Harry was still feeling extremely weak, but made an effort; as soon as he was up, he put the other arm around Ron's neck and with them moved a few steps toward a side alley.
In the mean time, Mark and Bellatrix were confronting one another.
"A traitor like you deserves to die in a most painful way! Sagittas Iactus!"
At Bellatrix's order, a burst of arrows darted out from her wand toward Mark, who was ready to defend against the attack.
"Impedimenta!" A ray of blue light sprang out from his wand toward the arrows, which stopped in midair and fell on the ground, harmless. Then Mark went on the attack.
"Locomotor Mortis!" A ray of violet light sprang toward Bellatrix.
"Protego!" she shouted, deflecting the attack.
"We've just been playing! Now it's time to get serious! Avada Kedavra!"
With catlike reflexes, Mark flattened himself on the ground as the unforgivable spell hit the wall behind him, shattering it into pieces. Mark stood up immediately and continued fighting.
"Stupef..."
"Expelliarmus!"
Mark didn't have the time to complete his spell, as Bellatrix had managed to disarm him. He saw his wand fly
several meters away.
"You don't look too smart now, without your wand! Are you starting to fear me?" sneered the witch, satisfied, as Mark was seriously starting to worry for his own life.
"Harry, we must go now!" He was still watching the magical duel, but Hermione's call brought him back to reality. They had to leave the area immediately if they wanted to remain alive.
6
-->