The Room of Requirement was silent as two lone figures sat on a sofa. They did not speak with one another, nor did they look at each other. In fact, they kept their distance from one another. A few minutes before, there had been four people in the room, but two had since left. Now, Harry and Ginny were the only ones there. He had just finished telling her, as well as Ron and Hermione, about the informant and how they were all now targets of Voldemort’s followers.
“Why didn’t you tell us sooner, Harry?” Ginny asked. “Why did you keep this to yourself?”
Harry lifted his head to glance at her. “I didn’t want to worry any of you. I thought… I thought it would be best.” He reached over to try and take her hand, but she pulled away.
“That wasn’t your decision, Harry,” she answered. “And it wasn’t Kevin’s either. You both should let us know if something was threatening us.” She got to her feet. “I remember last year how you felt trapped and betrayed when no one would tell you anything about what was happening outside in the real world, so you know how it feels to find out that someone has been trying to get you, but you didn’t know about it. So why would you do the same thing to your friends…and to me?”
He could see tears forming in her eyes. “I did it because I know what it feels like. If you all knew then you’d act paranoid and be afraid at every shadow. That’s no way for you all to live.” Harry stood up and put his hands on her shoulders. “But maybe I underestimated how strong you all are. I guess I get a little arrogant sometimes.”
Ginny raised her head. “Harry, stop keeping us away from whatever it is you’re dealing with. I love you, and Ron and Hermione are your best friends. We decided a long time ago to face whatever is out there together. If you love me, and if you value their friendship, then you have to stop acting like your feelings are the only ones that matter. We can help you, and we can take care of ourselves. You just have to let us.”
”I know I do,” he said.
She wrapped her arms around his waist. “Listen, Easter Holiday is coming up soon. Why don’t we all leave the school and go back to the Burrow? Mom and Dad would love to see all of us, and we could use the time away.”
Harry rested his cheek on her head. “Sounds like a good idea.”
*****************************************************
The school gathered at the recently rebuilt Hogsmeade train station. The town was far from being restored to its former beauty, but repair was moving along.
The group took a compartment near the rear of the train. Ginny sat down beside Harry. “It looks like Hogsmeade may be rebuilt by next year.”
“I hope so,” Hermione answered. “I’d miss the weekend visits every now and then. They offer a nice distraction from the massive school load.”
Ron wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “If Hogsmeade isn’t enough of a distraction, I’m sure that I can provide the rest.” Hermione’s cheeks turned red.
The train got under way soon after the students finished boarding. It was a quiet trip, quite uncommon with their past experiences on the Hogwarts Express. Usually, students would be bounding up and down the corridors, but not this trip. The train was quiet except for the rumbling of the engine and the clanking of the wheels. Ginny leaned back to rest in Harry’s arms and slowly drifted off to sleep.
She wasn’t sure exactly how long she was asleep, but when she awoke, she could sense something was amiss. “Where are we?” she asked.
The others hadn’t been paying attention, but when they looked out the window, they noticed a very different view outside. They usually passed by mountains on the east side of the train, so it would make sense that those same mountains would pass by on the west side, but that was not the case. The mountains were on the south side, which meant that they were heading farther north, away from London. Hermione got to her feet. “We’re going the wrong way.”
Harry tried to open the compartment door so he could see the conductor about what was going on, but found it stuck. He tugged harder, but it would not budge. “We’re trapped.” He took out his wand. “Alohomora!” The spell had no effect. He tried it another three times, but they were useless as well.
“Could we try something stronger?” Ron asked.
“Not without almost killing us as well,” Hermione answered. “Any weaker spell would surely be blocked.” She looked out the window again. “And I don’t think it would matter. We seem to have reached wherever we’re going.”
The compartment suddenly got darker as the train suddenly changed direction and entered a crevice in the mountains. It slowed to a halt at a make shift platform cut from the tunnel rock that the train had entered. Harry peered out the window and saw dozens of black-robed wizards exiting from holes cut in the rock face to make corridors. They all wore skull masks and brandished wands at the train.
A loud voice boomed throughout the train. “Leave your wands in your compartments, and exit the train! Any resistance will be met with deadly force!”
Harry pulled out his wand. “We can’t leave these behind. We’ll be defenseless.”
Ginny put a hand on his. “If we take them, we’ll be killed.” He looked at her with shock. Her eyes pleaded with him. “Harry, we’ll get out of this, but not if we provoke them.”
The door swung open and a Death Eater stepped into the compartment. “Let’s go. Leave your wands.”
The students dropped their wands onto the seats and walked out. Other students were filing out of separate compartments, led by other Death Eaters. The students were visibly afraid, especially the younger students. Harry wished that he could do something to stop this, but he knew that that kind of rash behavior would only get him, and possibly a lot of other people, killed.
They all stood together on the platform. Harry glanced around and saw Griff and Dragair emerge from the tunnels. “Separate males from females, and then place the younger students back on the train,” Griff told the Death Eaters.
Soon, Death Eaters began grabbing female students and pulling them off to one side. Ginny and Hermione were dragged away. Harry tried to follow them, but was pulled back by a large Death Eater. Ron grabbed Harry’s arm. “Wait, mate. Look.”
Harry turned his head in the direction Ron was looking. He saw Kevin being pulled off the train by Raven and a cadre of Death Eaters. The four housedogs were also with him, but each one was muzzled and held on a leash. Kevin appeared calm, but Harry was confused. “I didn’t even know he was on the train,” he said to Ron.
“Me neither,” Ron answered. “But if he’s here we might have a chance.”
The younger students were put back on the train, while Death Eaters led the older ones through the rock tunnels. The boys and the girls were kept separated from one another; Harry kept looking around for a glimpse of Ginny. They were led to a large opening in the tunnel, which could have resembled a meeting hall. The girls were forced to stand on the far left side of the room, while the boys stood on the right side. A raised platform stood at the front of the room.
Griff, Dragair, and Raven walked to that platform and were soon joined by Sylvain. The Death Eaters positioned themselves around the groups of students. No one spoke out of fear.
After only a minute, a cold wind swept over the room. From a crevice beside the platform, Voldemort walked into the room. His blood-red eyes looked out onto the frightened mass of students before him. “Welcome students,” he said, with a sinister grin. “I welcome you to my temporary home. I hope that my followers treated you with care and respect.” He looked out into the crowd. “But I can see that you all are frightened, and I cannot have that.” He waved his hand at the Death Eaters. “You may all leave.” The Death Eaters looked uncertain, but soon filed out of the room.
“Now that we are all alone,” Voldemort said. “I have brought you all here to offer you a chance of a lifetime. For you young wizards, I offer you an apprenticeship. You can all be taught by the most powerful wizards in the world, and can become powerful yourselves.” He turned to the girls. “And for you beautiful witches, I offer you the chance to give birth to the next generation of Death Eaters.”
Each girl gasped in shock, and Harry’s face suddenly became red with anger. He almost couldn’t believe what he had just heard. Voldemort, the most powerful Dark Wizard in centuries, was offering the female students of Hogwarts the chance to become concubines for the Death Eaters. It was disgusting to Harry.
Voldemort started pacing along the platform. “Now don’t think that this offer is just for you experienced and older students. I, of course, will make the same offer to the younger students that are still on the train, but I feel that you deserve the first chance to accept.” He stopped pacing. “But I can see that some of you may have some doubts. Very well, then I will show you what will happen if you refuse me. Bring him in.”
From the back of the room, three Death Eaters walked in leading a shackled Kevin to the platform. The dogs were also brought in, but they were left near the entrance. One of the Death Eaters broke off from the other two and walked into the crowd of boys. He took Harry by his arm and led him up to the platform.
Kevin remained shackled, but he did not seem concerned. Voldemort paced in front of them both. “Here we have two examples of the fool’s way to live in this world.” He waved a hand by Kevin. “This one rejected the life I gave him. Power was at his fingertips, but he threw it all away for what, a teaching post at a school led by a Muggle loving fool.” Kevin spat at Voldemort’s feet. The Dark Wizard seemed not to notice as he moved on to Harry. “And this boy, he is the future of the downward spiral that our people are already in. Follow his path and you will know only pain and suffering.”
“Why do this Voldemort?” Kevin suddenly asked. “Why offer these kids, most of them who are not pure-blood, a place in your organization? Have you gone soft in your old age?” Kevin cocked his head to the side.
Griff walked over and punched his brother in the stomach. Kevin doubled over.
Voldemort leaned in close so his voice did not carry through the whole room, but Harry could still hear. “I may be old, but I have learned much from my past mistakes. These filthy mudbloods and Muggle lovers are nothing more to me then stand-ins for my own loyal Death Eaters. If I can sacrifice them instead my trust-worthy followers, then I will. As for the girls, well…” He turned his head to look at them. “Being a Death Eater is a lonely profession.”
Kevin struggled to get up again, but was held down by Griff, and now, Raven. Harry could hardly believe what he was hearing. Voldemort was trying to recruit students so he wouldn’t have to use his own Death Eaters in the war, and what made it worse, was that he wanted the girls as concubines; it made Harry sick that Voldemort had sunk this low. He couldn’t bear to think of Ginny in a bed with some disgusting dark wizard.
“And maybe one of them will be worthy enough to bear my offspring,” Voldemort said.
This shook Harry out of his thoughts. He remembered something that had been in the back of his mind for a long time. It struck him. He’s doing the same thing he did when Kevin was born. He’s going to transfer his power to someone who’s carrying his child. It was the same thing that had been done twenty-six years ago, and it was starting up again.
“Voldemort,” he said, surprised that he had the guts to say anything in this situation.
The Dark Lord straightened up and looked over at him. “What do you want, boy?”
Harry almost swallowed his tongue. “I know what your planning and…” He fell short of breath. “And I won’t let you do it.” Even as the words left his mouth, he didn’t believe a word of it, but he knew he had to say something. He was not going to stand by and let this happen. He felt that he wouldn’t be standing much longer.
Voldemort’s lips suddenly curled up into a smile. “Potter, you are only alive because you have an uncanny ability to be very lucky. However, at this point, your luck may have run out. You have no wand, your friends are powerless, and Dumbledore has no idea that you are in my possession. Tell me, what is there to stop me from killing you at this point?” He took out his wand. “Perhaps I now have the chance I have waited for patiently for sixteen years.”
Harry stopped breathing. He couldn’t think of anything that could stop Voldemort at this point. If no one knew where he was, if Kevin was shackled then no one could stand up to the Dark Lord. Even if his friends tried to rush the platform, Voldemort could kill half of them before they got halfway there. He was defenseless.
“Can you think of nothing, Potter?” Voldemort asked. “Then, once and for all…die.”
He raised his wand…
…and then Harry heard something swish through the air. An arrow flew past his face and went through Voldemort’s raised hand. The Dark Lord dropped his wand and tried to restrain a cry of pain. Harry looked back in the direction the arrow had come from.
At the back of the room, he saw a red-haired woman aiming a crossbow at the platform. Standing beside her was a man with chestnut hair holding a large battle-axe in both of his hands. Another man with sandy brown hair brandished a broad sword in his right hand. Finally, a dark-haired woman joined the group with a quarterstaff that had curved blades at each end.
Harry had no idea where these new people had come from, but he was grateful nonetheless. Voldemort stared at his hand, which still had the arrow in it. He could barely talk. “What…who…”
Kevin looked up, and smiled. “You left the dogs alone. Big mistake.” Voldemort looked at him, not understanding. “Don’t get it?” Kevin said.
“They’re Animagi.”