Chapter 24 The Cage of Light
The storage shed they were in was large, nearly empty and quite gloomy. The few high windows were all either very dirty or boarded up. Small strips of the dirty floor and walls were illuminated by intense beams of sunlight that just made the numerous shadowed regions seem darker by comparison. Harry and his two dozen companions scattered around the edges of the room hiding in the shadows. Disillusionment spells and invisibility cloaks completed their concealment. Mrs. Malfoy watched where Harry and the boys hid. Then she moved to the middle of the room and waited.
After a short time a small door that was set between two large garage-type doors opened and a beam of light from the setting sun streamed into the cavernous room outlining the silhouette of the young man in the opening.
“Mom?” he asked tentatively.
“Draco, mommy’s here,” Mrs. Malfoy said nervously.
“What are you doing here, mother?” Draco asked sharply.
“I had to see you baby,” she said in a trembling voice.
“I’m not a baby anymore,” Draco said coldly.
“You’ll always be my boy, Draco,” she replied.
Draco stepped into the storage building and as he did Harry noticed a slight shimmer of light in the doorway as if a figure beneath an Invisibility cloak had quickly stepped out.
“Colloportus,” Draco intoned as he casually pointed his wand over his shoulder and closed the door. “You should not have come, mother. This is not a good time,” Draco said bluntly. “The Dark Lord is a bit disappointed by today’s events. He’s making new plans and I must be ready to hear what he says. I sit in the inner circle. You should be tending to our family businesses.”
“The mines and factories are in good hands,” Mrs. Malfoy stated. “I brought you a letter.” She held out a sealed envelope. “I’ve been in contact with Pansy. She misses you as much I do.”
Draco took a few steps towards his mother and stopped. His eyes were fixed on the envelope in her hand.
“I don’t have time for school yard romance,” he said with a sigh. Then his firm tone of voice returned, “I am the Sergeant of the Accolades, the leader of the Young Death Eaters. My duties to the Dark Lord must come first.”
“Pansy cares about you, Draco” his mother said. “You should read her letter and send a reply. I will see that it is delivered.” She took a step towards Draco holding out the letter.
Draco approached his mother with hesitancy and took the letter from her.
“I’ll make a light for you,” his mother said pulling out her wand. “Imperio,” she said.
The hard look faded from Draco’s face to be replaced by a blank stare.
“I’m doing this for your own good Draco,” his mother said tenderly. “You are not a murderer and you don’t really want to learn to kill. Tell me that you don’t really want to hurt anybody, Draco.”
“I don’t really want to hurt anybody mother,” Draco said obediently.
“I brought some boys with me. They want to become accolades of the Dark Lord.” She said as she waved towards the hiding place of Neville, Ernie and Terry. “Harry Potter thinks these boys are his friends. They will help perform a great service for the Dark Lord.”
Terry Boot, who was bright enough to be in Ravenclaw, understood Mrs. Malfoy’s hint and removed the Disillusionment spells he had placed on Neville, Ernie and himself. The three of them approached Draco and Mrs. Malfoy. Draco looked at Harry’s friends with a blank expression.
“Tell us all the secret of where the Dark Lord can be found so these boys can go to him,” she ordered Draco in an enthusiastic tone.
“The Headquarters of the Masters of Death is in the loading tower of the abandoned Muggle coal mine that is east of Manchester,” Draco said tonelessly.
“We must find your father and that Lovegood girl. Tell me where they can be found.” Mrs. Malfoy said to her son.
“Father is caring for Nagini,” Draco said with a hint of bitter embarrassment in his voice in spite of the Imperius curse. “He will be close to the Dark Lord at the top of the tower. The prisoner is in the dungeon beneath the tower.”
“Close your eyes Draco,” his mother said gently as she conjured a comfortable recliner chair behind him. “Sit down, lean back and take a little nap. Momma will take care of things.”
As the red sun settled below the horizon and twilight came to the dingy old coal mine, Dumbledore gathered the party together to organize the assault on Lord Voldemort’s tower.
Mrs. Malfoy had conjured a straight backed chair for herself and now sat next to the slumbering Draco. She would wait until they brought Lucius to her and then she would take her family and flee. She had a large bag of galleons with her and an unnamed destination in mind.
“We must cross from this storage shed to the loading tower without being detected,” Dumbledore said. “There is without a doubt a magical barrier between here and there that hides the true nature of their headquarters building. We will be able to pass through that barrier and enter their headquarters, but I do not want to loose the element of surprise.”
“Arthur and Molly, remain here with Mrs. Malfoy and Draco,” Dumbledore ordered.
There was a crack of apparition followed by a swish of an Invisibility cloak being removed.
“Ah, Kingsley you’re back. Excellent,” said Dumbledore.
“We will divide into three parties,” Dumbledore continued. “Allastor, Minerva, Daedalus and Poppy, I want you to remain near the ground floor to protect our avenue of escape. Ernie, pick two house elves and assist Mr. Moody. Kingsley, take Ron, Bill, Fleur and Terry plus two elves down into the dungeon to rescue Miss Lovegood. Harry, Neville, Remus, Sturgis, Hestia and two elves will go upstairs with me to capture Mr. Malfoy. Kingsley have you planned our approach?”
“We can’t just walk across the open yard and through the barrier without a great risk of being seen from the tower, although I do recommend the direct route for our retreat,” Shacklebolt advised them. “The main Muggle railway line passes very close to the siding where the coal wagons were loaded. This storage shed is next to a forest that abuts the railway line. I propose that we move through the woods, hop onto a Muggle goods train and hop off at the old coal loading tower. The distance between the main railway line and the magical barrier around the tower can’t be more than a few feet.”
So using Invisibility cloaks and Disillusionment charms to cover their movement, the group left the storage shed and headed through the woods to the railway. Harry wished he had brought his Invisibility cloak. They were better than Disillusionment charms but he hadn’t even had time to change out of his Quidditch robes. A train approached a few minutes later and slowed down to a crawl in front of them. The doors of several goods wagons opened so they could hop in easily. (It’s so easy to manipulate Muggle things with magic.) When the train passed the old coal loading tower they hopped off of the train and directly through the magical barrier that surrounded the Death Eaters headquarters.
When Harry and his friends hit the ground, they stood before a black stone tower with battlements and turrets like a mediaeval castle. It looked just like a giant rook from a wizard’s chess set. The old coal tower was just an illusion, a picture from the past that hid the recent changes at the abandoned industrial site.
Some Silencing charms and a few quick hexes dealt with the young Death Eaters, Crabbe and Goyle, who were guarding the main entrance of the tower. The party moved into the entry hall of the tower and split into groups. Harry followed close on Dumbledore’s heels up the stairs to the upper floors where Lucius Malfoy and Lord Voldemort would be found. They successfully sneaked past a room where some Death Eaters were enjoying their dinner. Their food smelled a lot better than death. Harry suddenly thought they should change their name to Beef Eaters and he had to suppress a giggle. They had to move on before his stomach growled and gave them away. There was an awful chill in the air. He was glad that Dumbledore had the ancient staff that destroyed Dementors.
They climbed another flight of stairs that lead them into a large, nearly circular room that occupied most of a floor of the tower. The room was obviously used for meetings. The room was decorated with symbols of Dark Magic including a pentagon and star on the floor. Harry heard a voice from a small side chamber.
“Reduced to menial tasks,” the voice complained.
Lucius Malfoy came out of the side chamber. Surprised, he was quickly silenced, disarmed, stunned, petrified and bound with magical ropes by Dumbledore, Harry, Remus, Sturgis and Hestia acting almost simultaneously. Sturgis and Hestia levitated Malfoy and started towards the stairs leading down. They were met by several Dementors gliding up the staircase, followed by Death Eaters. The world was instantly engulfed in chaos as spells began flying in every direction.
Harry battled with Rudolphus Lestrange for a few minutes. If Hermione had been there he could have defeated Lestrange very quickly, but without her Harry had to pause in his attacks to defend himself. Remus Lupin took over and Harry turned to see Dumbledore locked in combat with several Dementors. Lord Voldemort was aiming his wand at Dumbledore’s back.
“Wrong target Voldy!” Harry shouted, pointing his wand at the Dark Lord.
As Voldemort spun around, Harry shouted, “Expelliarmus!”
Voldemort simultaneously cast the Killing Curse at Harry. In a repeat of what had happened almost three years ago in a dark cemetery near Little Hangleton, the red streak of light from Harry’s wand met with a green blast from Voldemort’s. A beam of golden light connected the two shaking wands and then splintered into a thousand more beams that crisscrossed all around Harry and Voldemort until they were surrounded by a golden cage of light.
As a fierce battle raged around them Harry dueled with Voldemort as he had done before. Pulsing beads of light formed within the beam that connected the wands. Harry immediately tried to push the throbbing beads towards Voldemort’s wand with all of the concentration he could muster but the Dark Lord was ready. They strained against each other, stalemated. Both of them were trapped, struggling desperately. It was just a question of who would tire first.
Beyond the cage there were the screams of Dementors as they were banished to another realm, curses and hexes, jinxes and charms. As Harry’s friends fought with the Death Eaters for their very lives. It was all a blur that Harry ignored as he concentrated on one task. Disarm Voldemort.
Harry strained and strained with all of his might, there was no movement of the beads.
“I am stronger than you! You are weakening!” Voldemort taunted him.
And sure enough the beads of light were moving slowly towards Harry’s wand. Harry struggled in desperation to stop them. The beads stopped their movement and the stalemate began again. It went on and on slowly but inexorably the beads were inching their way towards Harry’s wand.
The noises of the battle slowly died down. Harry glanced around. The beads moved towards him alarmingly but beyond the cage of light Harry saw Remus Lupin and Hestia Jones battered but victorious and now watching him. He saw Professor McGonagall, Neville, Old George and Dumbledore. Harry was heartened and cheered, the beads stopped and began to move away from his wand and back towards Voldemort.
“Evil will defeat good,” the Dark Lord said. “The good must fight and fight and fight, but evil need win only once. Mercy makes you weak.”
The beads once again began to slowly approach Harry’s vibrating wand and Harry knew he was approaching exhaustion. Behind Voldemort, beyond the cage of light, Harry caught sight of a girl with long red hair. Ginny Weasley? What was she doing here?
“No Hermione!” Dumbledore shouted. “You can’t apparate through the barrier of the cage!”
Harry turned his head to the right. Hermione stared at him with terror in her eyes. She reached her arm through a tiny opening in the cage and stretched towards him.
“NO!” he shouted.
The beads of light were pulsing just inches from the tip of his bucking wand.
He heard a zap and a yelp as Hermione touched a strand of light and was knocked back.
The beads of light moved closer!
He focused his concentration and tried with all of his heart to move the beads back towards Voldemort. The lights stopped moving towards his wand but he could not move them away. He was getting tired. He was going to loose. If the beads hit his wand would Voldemort’s Death Curse kill him?
There was another zap! And a thud as something white hit the floor near his feet.
It was a white dove.
Voldemort laughed at him.
The horrible beads of light were glowing green and were less than an inch from his wand. His arm was trembling with fatigue. His wand was bucking like a wild horse and was getting hot.
There was a flash of light at his feet and the stunned white dove changed into a battered Hermione.
He was millimeters from disaster. He had to hold on or Voldemort would kill Hermione too!
She struggled to her feet and pulled out her wand. Harry felt her hand on his back. She touched herself with her wand and then she touched it to him. Strength returned to his exhausted body and the beads of light were shoved back towards the Dark Lord halfway down the golden thread of light between their two wands.
Harry strained with renewed hope and the beads of light moved a few more inches towards Voldemort and stopped. The pushing match resumed.
Once again Hermione touched herself with her wand and transferred strength into Harry’s body. And once again the pulsing beads of light were pushed back towards the evil wizard. Now Voldemort was the one struggling to control a hot bucking wand.
For a third time Hermione gave Harry the gift of strength from her own body. She collapsed in total exhaustion. Harry shoved the beating blobs of light into Voldemort’s wand. Sparks and smoke and shades of spells previously cast spewed from Voldemort’s wand then the wand was torn from his hand. Harry raised his wand arm and the two linked wands rose into the air and hovered above the two combatants, the cage of light remained in place. Harry advanced on Voldemort.
“Fool! You are also disarmed also!” Voldemort cackled. “Now you shall learn that curses can be cast without a wand!” Voldemort raised his hands and shot green lightening at Harry.
Harry pulled out his other wand and used the shield charm to deflect Voldemort’s green lightening.
“You are fighting the greatest wizard of all time with a bamboo wand!” Voldemort shouted in indignant rage. “AAARGH!”
Green lightening shot towards Harry again and again Harry deflected it with his bamboo wand.
The enraged Voldemort shot several more blasts of green lightening at Harry without pausing. Just as Harry thought the Bamboo wand was out of preloaded Shield spells Voldemort had to quit to rest.
The exhausted Hermione began to stir. Voldemort’s eyes fell on her.
“She will die unless you let down the cage of light,” the Dark Lord hissed. “Allow me to go and I will leave you in peace.”
“For how long?” Harry asked with skeptical bitterness. “How many days of peace do we get before you try to murder us?”
“I’ll kill you both and then escape,” Voldemort threatened. “You have accomplished nothing!” He pointed a long bony finger at Hermione, “Crucio.”
Hermione screamed as Harry had never heard before. He had only imagined her suffering at the hands of Dolore Umbridge. To actually see her being tortured filled him with a terrible rage. She writhed and twisted on the floor and let go of her wand.
“Accio!,” Harry shouted as Hermione’s wand jumped into his hand.
The Dark Lord immediately released Hermione and turned back to Harry but he was too late.
“Incarcerous!” Harry shouted conjuring magical ropes to bind Voldemort.
“Release me and you can live! Join me and you can rule!” Voldemort offered in desperation.
“Somehow I don’t trust you,” Harry said as he dropped Hermione’s wand and grabbed Voldemort’s head with both hands.
PAIN exploded in every part of Harry’s body. The agony was horrific but Harry was expecting it. It was like the time he had grabbed Professor Quirrell. He knew that Voldemort was feeling it too and he didn’t care about his own pain. He wanted Voldemort to hurt, he wanted Voldemort to die. It was the only way to guarantee that he wouldn’t come back and try to murder Hermione and his friends. He held on and endured. He knew he was dying. The world began to turn black.
The pain eased a bit and Harry heard Hermione scream again. She was up on her knees. She was touching him! Clinging to his waist with both arms and screaming!
“NO!” Harry shouted, but he couldn’t shake her off.
Voldemort screamed like a hundred Dementors being sucked into hell. The Dark Lord crumbled into dust.
Everything went black.
Harry sucked in a breath and opened his eyes. He was lying on the floor, Hermione was on the floor next to him. He heard footsteps and concerned voices. Hands lifted him up, Neville and Remus.
“Hermione,” Harry croaked.
She didn’t move.
Harry wrenched free of his friends and fell to his knees next to her, embracing her and pulling her to him with both arms.
“Hermione… Hermione… no… no… NO!”
Harry sobbed and clung to her.
He felt hands pulling him. Pulling him away from Hermione. He struggled against them but he was too weak. He lost his grip on her.
“She needs to breath Harry!” Remus shouted.
“I must get her to the hospital at once!” Madam Pomfrey said frantically.
“Side by side apparition Poppy, we’ll hold her between us,” Professor McGonagall said.
The two women picked up Hermione and vanished with her.
Harry’s heart skipped a beat as she was wrenched from him. The disapparation separated her from him. Harry felt her leaving. She had to be alive!
The room spun around Harry as he was lifted to his feet by Lupin and Dumbledore.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw a group of people entering the room. Ron and Luna were OK.
“Do you feel like an apparition to Hogwarts Harry?” Dumbledore asked.