A/N: Hope everyone is enjoying the fic so far let me know what you think =) Things are gonna start getting interesting! ;-)
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A long time ago, in his fifth year at Hogwarts, Harry stumbled across the Room of Requirement. Within it he'd begun Dumbledore's Army, and then in seventh year he'd used it as a base to train for his inevitable battle with Voldemort. From time to time he would return, when he deemed it necessary.
This was one of those times.
Harry, Ron, and Seamus stood shoulder-to-shoulder in the spacious room, with the two surviving dark wizards from Harry's most recent battle strapped to a pair of hard, wicker chairs, their hands bound tightly behind them with rope rather than a spell, and a gag stuffed in each of their mouths rather the use of a silencing curse.
Ron and Seamus had shown some resistance to this tactic at first, but quickly relented. Harry was determined to get the information he needed by any means necessary.
There were plenty of dark curses created over the years for torturing purposes, but they had no way of knowing whether these wizards were ridden with latent curses like the last batch of them had been. Likewise, they didn't know what a silencing curse or binding curse may do considering earlier developments, and as such, Harry chose to do this the muggle way.
"Have either of you heard the legend of Prometheus?"
Neither man flinched, although Seamus shuddered a bit at Harry's side.
"I'll take your silence as a no," Harry continued, twirling his wand around his fingers. "He was a titan, who were considered stronger even than the gods, but imprisoned by Zeus in the deepest hells of Hades."
Ron played his part well, standing stoic and emotionless at Harry's side, despite having no idea whatsoever what his raven-haired best friend was up to. Seamus, on Harry's other side, however, struggled to hide a grimace; he knew the story.
"Allow me to cut out all the boring parts -- Prometheus gave mankind the gift of fire," The two wizards remained expressionless, even as Harry let a flame grow and flicker from the tip of his wand before extinguishing it. "as punishment for this transgression, Zeus condemned the once mighty titan to an eternity of agony; a gigantic eagle named Ethon fed on his liver constantly every minute of every day."
For their part the captured wizards took none of the bait, even as Ron and Seamus grimaced in front of them. "Under normal circumstances, the titan would have died on the first day. However, Zeus made sure the titan, and his liver, were healed completely just as Prometheus was taking his last few breaths, allowing his torment to continue as long as Zeus saw fit."
Still, the captured wizards showed no signs of distress or fear. Not that that bought them any respect or sympathy from Harry. If anything, it only frustrated him more.
Walking slowly and deliberately, Harry laid his wand down on the table the room had provided him and picked up a long strand of athletic tape, slowly and purposefully wrapping it around the knuckles of his right hand. "Thanks to the wonders of modern magic, Prometheus' torment can now be your own." Harry gave the men his most sinister smile as he let his words sink in. "But I am not as cruel as Zeus, gentlemen. Tell me what I want to know, and your torment will come to a swift end."
If the dark wizards had been any more still, they could have been mistaken for mannequins.
Taking a deep breath, Harry turned to Ron as he finished wrapping his right fist, whispering so as the two wizards could not hear him, "Stop me if I start to get out of control."
Ron grimaced, knowing now what he'd feared before; Harry was dangerously close to going over the edge. Seamus glanced over at him with a mildly frightened expression, and Ron new his fear all to well. They'd all seen what Harry was capable of in a controlled rage when he'd defeated Voldemort.
But out of control? Ron shuddered at the thought, and prayed to Merlin that his friend would never reach that state.
***
Kingsley Shacklebolt was in one of the more frenzied states of his life. He had to stop Potter, and fast. If he tortured those wizards, and details were leaked to the public, the wizarding world might never recover. Amongst the aurors and his closest friends it was well known that Harry had developed a dangerous temper over the years, but to the public, his reputation was squeaky-clean. Politics were in turmoil right now, with multiple men and women jockeying for the position of Minister, and corruption was rearing its ugly head.
The world he'd spent his entire life protecting did not need to lose its most cherished hero in this time of crisis.
As it stood now, Kingsley stood impatiently outside Madame Puddiefoot's in Hogsmeade, the fourth apparition stop they'd made so far. Harry had obviously planned this out well in advance, and knowing he'd be followed, had preformed a series of rapid apparitions in succession before arriving at his destination. While easily traceable, the spells required to track the routes were time-consuming, and Harry had apparated from one point to the next without pause, probably reaching his final location in less than a minute. For the aurors, they were forced to spend close to five minutes for the spells to track each successive jump, giving Harry a long head start.
Kingsley just hoped they'd catch him before it was too late.
***
"I hope you're ready to talk," Harry threatened, pulling the gag out of one of the wizards' mouth.
"You will learn nothing they don't already want you to know."
"We'll see about that."
Without bothering to elaborate, Harry turned away from the wizard whom he'd ungagged, brought his fist back, and slammed a right hook across the jaw of the other bound wizard. His outcry was muffled by the gag, but his pain was obvious. Without pausing to allow him a respite, Harry brought his fist back again and delivered a crushing blow to the wizard's midsection, doubling him over in his restraints.
The beaten man's counterpart only laughed. "The famous Harry Potter; oh how you will fall."
Ignoring the taunt, Harry continued his assault; elbows, kicks, right hook after right hook, were all rained down upon the same wizard as his fellow pleb shrugged each attack off without any sense of disgust for his partner's distress. Infuriated, Harry pulled the gag out of the beaten wizard's mouth.
"What about you? Got anything to say?"
The blonde-haired wizard's only response was to spit blood at Harry's feet. His counterpart only laughed.
"Harry, they're not gonna-"
"Everyone talks!" Harry spat, backhanding the bleeding wizard across his face. "Everyone has a breaking point!"
"Yes they do, and you are far too close to yours!" Ron yelled, finally stepping in. "I'm ending this; they aren't talking. We'll take them to Azkaban tonight. Seamus, fix this poor bloke up; Harry; Get. Over. Here. Now."
Submitting to defeat even in his fury, Harry bowed his head to the ground and walked to the corner of the room with Ron, while Seamus tended to the injured wizard. Once backed into the corner, Ron whispered to him in a tone few wizards would ever have the courage to use in front of the great Harry Potter.
"You are out of line," Ron spoke, sternly, shoving Harry in the chest for emphasis. "I'm taking you off this case for the night. Get out of here before Kingsley shows up. He'll only be a few more minutes now."
Having enough humility to understand when he'd been in the wrong, Harry nodded. "I'm sorry."
"I know."
Across the room, Seamus realized the dark wizard's injuries were more severe than he and Ron had originally realized. As he treated him, the other wizard whispered softly while eyeing Harry and Ron's conversation in the corner. "Potter will be the end of you all, you know that, do you not?"
"Shut up," Seamus muttered, not even considering the man's words. "Damn it, Harry really messed you up didn't he?" Seamus continued, speaking hypothetically to the beaten man, the wizard's wounds would make certain that he be placed in Mungo's for the night. As for now, all he could do was cast a simple recovery spell on the man to cull the bleeding and keep him breathing.
"Sano."
The effects of the spell came into focus quicker than Seamus could curse. It happened much quicker than it had the first time; blood spilled from the man's nostrils, ears, mouth, and eyes while he convulsed wildly for a few seconds before ceasing movement altogether.
Harry and Ron ran over to Seamus' side immediately, aghast. "What happened!?"
"I don't know!" Seamus cried, kicking a chair over in frustration. "He had lost a lot of blood so I cast sano on him and bam! he was gone."
"Why the hell did you use magic on him!?" Harry demanded, furious. "When you know full well what happened to the last five of them!?"
"Oh bugger off Potter, you put too much of a beating on him!" Seamus snapped back, taking a step in Harry's direction. The tension was palpable. "If you could control your god damned temper this shit wouldn't-"
"Enough!" Ron shouted, shoving the two wizards away from each other, while the remaining dark wizard looked on in interest. "This is exactly what they want! They aren't afraid of being martyrs! They are allowing themselves to be killed to rile distrust and distress between us! I am NOT going to let that happen!"
Just as Ron finished his spiel, Shacklebolt, Kris Giggs, and a few other lower-level aurors busted through the door to the Room of Requirement. Ron was thankful it was August and school was not yet in session. Turning to face the Master Auror, it was Ron who stepped forward and spoke, rather than Harry.
"The prisoner died after interrogation sir," Ron reported, his voice calm, as he saw Kingsley and the other aurors gazing at the dead body in disbelief. "Head Auror Potter used a special set of tactics in attempt to force information out of the wizards, which failed. I have since removed him from duty, I am in charge here. After the interrogation I ordered Auror Finnigan to tend to the injured prisoner. His attempts at alleviating the man's pain lead to his death; I would presume that an autopsy will reveal another latent curse laid within this man that activated on a trigger, this time being that of a restorative spell. It would follow these men were anticipating exactly this type of interrogation, and the need for recovery after."
Kingsley put his hands on his hips, looking first at Harry, who looked down at the floor, and then back at Ron, shaking his head. "It would appear we have been out thought again," he pursed his lips, knowing his next words would be some of the toughest he spoke in his wizarding career. "Potter, you are removed from duty, and will report to my office immediately. Auror Giggs, you will assume his position; Weasley, you will be his second in command."
Harry closed his eyes and lowered his head, accepting his fate. All the while, it had not been easy to hear. Giggs dutifully thanked Shacklebolt for his promotion, as did Ron, although the red-haired wizard was stunned. He was now the third most senior auror in the chain of command; that meant he now held the highest level of office within the Ministry of any Weasley in his family's history. Despite the situation, he shivered with pride.
"As for now, all of you will come to Headquarters for debriefing, we'll throw the remaining prisoner in a cell; unless, that is, he finally has something to say?"
Ron snorted, and Seamus shook his head, while the dark wizard gave Kingsley a sinister smile, shocking them all by speaking. "The first thing you need to know, is that we have people, everywhere."
***
Hermione awoke groggily, slowly, and with great regret. Her body ached, her mouth frothed, and her head throbbed. It was entirely too bright in her room, and the sound of an opening door didn't help her migraine at all.
"Miss Granger," the doctor spoke, as he folded his white robes under him and sat by her bedside. "how are you feeling this afternoon?"
She groaned. "Not well…what happened?"
"You had a panic attack," he said promptly, while flipping through her chart. "a very bad one, in fact. If your friend Mr. Longbottom had not brought you in with such haste things may have been much worse."
"Oh," she managed, sitting up straight in her bed, arms shivering. "where is he now?"
"Don't worry about that," the doctor responded, smiling, and Hermione realized he was decidedly attractive. Tall, with dark hair, his million-galleon smile had no doubt won him many women in his past. Not that Hermione had any interest, she didn't have time for such distractions, especially not now. "for now your recovery is the most important thing."
Something right then struck her as being off about the man, but she dismissed it as her symptoms facilitating paranoia. "When can I return to my lab?"
"You will be able to return to your work soon enough," he said, and now his tone did invoke paranoia from her. Something about this man was definitely wrong. "we just need to discuss a few things first."
Taking a breath and an involuntary gulp, Hermione pulled her sheets closer to her body. "What kinds of things?"
He smiled, seemingly sensing her discomfort. "Well for beginners, I don't believe I have formally introduced myself," His smile no longer appeared so attractive. "my name is Domitian; Domitian Caesar."