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Chapter Thirty Five: Destination Hogwarts Part One:

Hermione was slumped against the wall, her face covered in muck and her robes rather tattered. The Inquisitorial Squad had knocked her around just moments ago before deciding to move on to torture the other muggleborns. Many of the muggleborns down in the deepest, most foul part of Hogwarts had mentally given up. Their spirits were truly and utterly broken from the nearly three and a half months of being told of their utter worthlessness and being bullied by the pureblood supremacists that made up the Inquisitorial Squad. Hermione could count the times she heard many younger students scream in terror but she could not reassure them that things were going to get better, because she was rapidly being broken down mentally herself. Not only did Hermione not know when Harry was coming back, but she didn’t know if he was ever coming back. From what Hermione managed to gather from few Daily Prophets she managed to swipe, the blasted newspaper was painting Lucius Malfoy gaining a glorious victory and running off the evil, vile, cowardly Harry Potter out of the magical world. The papers remarked that the world is safe thanks to Malfoy’s heroic efforts and Harry Potter proved not to be the hero that he falsely portrayed himself to be. Rather, he was nothing but a spineless coward assassin who fought in the shadows and ran in terror when a face to face fight presented itself.

The thought of such ludicrous statements being made gave Hermione the urge to kick someone or rather someone.

“Well, it looks like you filth remain living for another day, as the Dark Lord has not given us the order to exterminate you all,” said a member of the Inquisitorial Squad harshly. “Soon, however, we will put you out of our misery and you will not be able to foul up our magic with your dirty blood any longer.”

“And don’t expect Harry Potter to bail you out this time, he’s gone chicken and fled the might of the Dark Lord,” replied Warren MacNair. “The Boy-Who-Lived should be renamed the Coward-Who-Retreated.”

The Inquisitorial Squad laughed wickedly as Hermione scowled at them, with most of the muggleborns looking on with either fearful looks or looks of indifference.

“Admit it Granger, your friend has decided to run off,” continued MacNair with a leer.

“Harry isn’t afraid of Voldemort, ” said Hermione in a definite and MacNair swung his fist towards Hermione’s face, busting her right in the mouth. Hermione slid to the ground, with a split lip.

“How dare you utter the Dark Lord’s name, you Mudblood bitch!” bellowed MacNair looking down at Hermione with contempt. “Rest assure, we will suggest to the Dark Lord that you die first once he wipes you all out.”

“You are lucky that we have to make sure everyone is out of the hall for the Ministry approved assessment of the wards around the school later today,” screeched Pansy Parkinson as the other members of the Inquisitorial Squad exchanged significant looks. “Otherwise, we’d polish you off right now.”

“Come now, Professor Umbridge ordered us to have these hallways well cleared as the assessment starts at three o’ clock,” barked MacNair and with that, the members of the Inquisitorial Squad took their leave.

“Their right, You-Know Who’s going to kill us all and Potter is afraid to face him once again,” said a third year girl.

“Harry is not afraid of anyone and HIS NAME IS VOLDEMORT!” yelled Hermione losing her temper. “Hasn’t Harry taught any of you anything? It isn’t over, Voldemort won’t win unless you let him win and by foolishly being afraid of a silly name, you are letting Voldemort roll right over. Granted, you should take him seriously, but cowering at the sound of his name will not help anyone. That is how he nearly took over the first time, if Harry’s mother had not performed that spell, Hogwarts may be some institute for junior Death Eaters by not and they could very well be over running the world and….”

Hermione stopped short, something hitting her like a blunt object.

“Voldemort’s coming here today,” muttered Hermione darkly. “He’s coming here today.”

The muggleborns screamed in terror and started to get up to their feet.

“The assessment is just a cover up, Voldemort is planning to exterminate us all today and…” said Hermione as she reached into her pocket and pulled out her two way mirror. The time to call Harry was right now. Hermione looked at the mirror with a determined look on her face. “Harry Potter. Harry. Are you there Harry?”

The mirror remained blank as Hermione looked at the mirror with a terrified look on her face.

“Harry, please answer if you can hear me, we need your help now more than ever,” replied Hermione in a shaky voice.

“I highly doubt Potter is cowering in your mirror, Granger,” muttered a fourth year student but Hermione ignored him.

“Harry, please, Voldemort is coming, Lord Voldemort!” cried Hermione, becoming more frantic by the second.

There was still nothing on the mirror. Hermione slowly lowered her arm, her lip trembling. Harry wasn’t going to answer her call for help.

Back in the Potter residence basement in New York, Hailey and Ginny looked around frantically.

“He’s around here somewhere,” muttered Ginny, keeping her voice down, as she had her wand out and looked around cautiously.

A loud clattering noise appeared and Hailey grinned as she saw the form of her brother in the shadows.

“Looks like you goofed Harry,” replied Hailey with a wicked grin as she raised her wand. “Stupefy!”

The stunning spell shot towards Harry but it appeared to have passed through the form of the Boy-Who-Lived before it vanished in mid air.

“Blasted holographic projection spell!” yelled Hailey and a spell flew from out of nowhere which she dodged as Ginny swerved around from the other side, looking for the source of the attack. She looked up and saw Harry standing on top of a stack of boxes.

Ginny shot a leg locking curse towards Harry but Harry dodged out of the way and send a hex of his own which Ginny quickly blocked with a shield spell. This counter gave Harry a chance to duck around and throw a full body bind curse. Ginny cursed under her breath as her arms and legs snapped together and she fell backwards onto the padded mats that were lined against the basement.

Hailey looked frantic, she now was alone against her brother and she raised her wand, before saying the first spell that came to mind.

“Expelliarmus!” yelled Hailey and much to her surprise, Harry’s wand zoomed out of his hand but Hailey’s glee was rather short lived as a shuriken flicked from Harry’s sleeve, impacting on the ground. A loud bang echoed throughout the basement and it was filled with purple smoke. When the smoke cleared, Hailey found herself wrapped in ropes and her wand on the floor out of her reach.

Harry nodded his head before cancelling the spells on Hailey and Ginny. The two girls scrambled to their feet.

“I think that’s an excellent place to end today,” said Harry. “Today, I have showed you that even if someone has the advantage in numbers, they are not guaranteed victory over their foes.”

“You caused us to concentrate our attacks in separate directions, thus minimizing our effectiveness and allowing you to dispose of us separately,” replied Ginny, nodding her head.

“And when I disarmed you, you let me do it,” replied Hailey slowly. “You made me think I had you at a disadvantage and you used that distraction to plan another attack on me, one that was completely successful I might add.”

“Precisely,” said Harry calmly. “Now, I wouldn’t worry about you two not being able to defeat me in these little practice sessions, as I have many, many, many more years of training than you have and I have picked up much in that time. Still, you are improving and I say you should be able to defend yourself in a fair fight. Of course, there are many that aren’t interested in the prospect of a fair fight.”

Harry walked over to the table where his two way mirror was sitting protected so it did not get smashed in the course of battle. As he walked over, Harry spotted that the mirror was glowing slightly so he stepped over quickly and put the mirror in his hand.

“Harry please…” started Hermione on the other end of the mirror before she saw that Harry had answered. “Harry, I’ve been trying to contact you for almost twenty minutes. Thank Merlin you finally answered.”

“What is it Hermione?” asked Harry wearily, he knew that Hermione was worked up about something and he sensed that it was bad news.

“The Ministry says they are planning an assessment of the wards around Hogwarts but I think it’s a cover for something else, something more sinister,” said Hermione quickly, without taking a breath.

“Voldemort!” yelled Harry quickly.

“Harry, how did you ever…?” began Hermione but Harry raised his hand to silence his friend.

“I’ll explain later,” muttered Harry. “What time is this alleged assessment due to start?”

“Well the Inquisitorial Squad mentioned that they needed to clear the hallways by three o’ clock,” answered Hermione promptly.

Harry tapped his wand to his watch to reveal the time in Britain. It was twenty after two, so no doubt Voldemort would be planning to move in.

“I’ll be there in ten minutes, Hermione, tell no one and leave your mirror on so I can track your location,” said Harry as he placed his mirror in his pocket before turning to Hailey and Ginny. “Voldemort is going to Hogwarts, the theory that he wants something from that school I had is right. I’m going there right now to try and stop him.”

“Alone?” asked Ginny. “Aren’t you going to call in backup from the resistance group?”

“No time, this was rather sudden, I need to get to Hogwarts now, Voldemort may already have arrived outside of Hogsmeade,” muttered Harry as he headed up the stairs with Hailey and Ginny following closely behind him, struggling to keep up as Harry quickened his pace across the kitchen and made a sudden turn before heading up the stairs towards his bedroom where his Portus-Amulet was located.

“Then, I guess we’re going to have to come with you,” replied Hailey calmly and those words caused Harry to stop suddenly just seconds after he swung his door open.

“No,” replied Harry calmly. “I can handle this myself and besides, I don’t want either of you two endangering yourselves.”

“Harry, I thought you told us that we could handle ourselves in a fair fight,” said Hailey coolly.

“Yes I did but fighting Death Eaters is the furthest thing from a fair fight and you’ll end up getting hurt. Do you think I can live with myself if either of you got hurt?” asked Harry in a serious voice. “Do you think I want that on my conscience?”

“You don’t,” replied Hailey calmly. “However, we don’t either.”

“Yes, if you got yourself seriously hurt or killed by going into a battle alone against Voldemort and all of his Death Eaters, and I let you go, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself,” said Ginny seriously. “Last time you fought against Voldemort, along with contending with all of his Death Eaters, you came back battered. It could have been worse and if you go into it alone there is a chance that you might not fare as well this time.”

Harry sighed, he had taught Hailey and Ginny well. Too well, as they had succeeded into guilt tripping him into allowing them to grudgingly come alone.

“I know I’m going to regret this but I guess you two can come with me but under one condition,” said Harry calmly and Ginny and Hailey looked up, at Harry seriously. “If I tell you to leave, to save yourselves and get help, no matter what happens to me, if I tell you to save yourselves, you will leave.”

“But Harry…” started Hailey and Ginny looked very much like she wanted to make similar objects but Harry raised his hand in the air to silence both of them.

“Do you want to come or not?” asked Harry crisply as he raised placed his Portus-Amulet on his neck, before placing his bag over his shoulder.

Ginny and Hailey nodded in agreement.

“So, you are then agreeing with what I have requested of both of you,” replied Harry.

A brief pause of maybe five to ten seconds but Ginny nodded her head, with a bit of an apprehensive look on her face and Hailey grudgingly followed suit.

“Hold on tight,” muttered Harry and Hailey and Ginny obeyed before Harry activated his Portus-Amulet and they felt themselves pulled from Harry’s bedroom.

Harry, Ginny, and Hailey landed with a thud, causing filthy water to splash upwards.

“Where exactly are we?” asked Hailey.

“The sewers underneath Hogsmeade,” replied Harry. “We couldn’t teleport straight in as I didn’t want to trigger any detection wards.”

Harry looked forward, pulling out his mirror and tracking Hermione’s location through it. The mirror told Harry to move southwest and Harry pointed in that direction, with Hailey and Ginny following closely behind, their wands cautiously held out in front of them. It would have been easier with the Marauder’s Map but that particular tool was in Harry’s trunk in the chamber deep underneath the Slytherin library.

Back underneath Hogwarts, Hermione’s eyes darted around; looking for any sign of Harry but her heart sank as she heard footsteps coming down the stairs leading to the place where the muggleborns were forced to live. The wicked looking face of Warren MacNair walked in, lead by his cronies who walked around, to properly face the muggleborns.

“Well, the hallways our cleared and we needed to make sure you filth was still here,” remarked MacNair as the rest of the Inquisitorial Squad laughed. “Enjoy your last few minutes alive as Hogwarts will be assessed and plunged of all flaws within but not by the Ministry but by the Dark Lord!”

Several people shrieked in terror as Hermione clenched her fist over her wand.

“I mean who could stop the Dark Lord now!’ exclaimed MacNair boldly and at those words, the wall behind the Inquisitorial Squad blew open, revealing a large doorway size hole. Fragments of rock scattered everywhere and when the dusty cleared, Harry, Ginny, and Hailey stood right in front of the hole, with their wands raised.

MacNair backed up; looking as if he had seen a ghost and the other Inquisitorial Squad members wore similar expressions of shock and terror.

“I’m back,” declared Harry calmly and this caused the Inquisitorial Squad to quickly bolt towards the nearest entrance, recklessly tripping over each other but Harry quickly raised his wand, causing a huge wall of fire to materialize over the doorway, blocking their own entrance.

”So, Potter, you’ve come back, the Ministry of Magic will be rather pleased that you have returned, as will the Dark Lord, and…” started MacNair but Hailey, Ginny, and Harry promptly shot ropes out of their wands, wrapping them around the Inquisitorial Squad, causing them to fall to the ground, completely bound and their wands out of reach. Harry waved his wand, putting all of the Inquisitorial Squad members under a silencing charm.

“I am not about to be humbled by a group of tenth rate Death Eaters who are barely qualified to pick up Voldemort’s dry cleaning,” said Harry crisply as the Inquisitorial Squad squirmed against their bonds before turning to the muggleborn students. “Don’t any of you worry, Voldemort will not get down here, I will make sure of that. Just stay put and don’t move. The world will know the Dark Lord is back and they will also know that the Minister of Magic is one of his highest ranking Death Eaters after today.”

Harry quickened his pace, once again wishing that he had the Marauder’s Ramp. If he remembered correctly, this particular stairway led upwards towards the Great Hall.

“Be careful,” muttered Harry. “Hopefully, I can catch Voldemort entering the school but there is a pretty good chance that he is already entered the school or has found another way out.”

Harry cautiously swung open the doorway leading to the Great Hall, before cautiously stepping inside. He looked from side to side, craning his head upwards before waving Hailey and Ginny inside.

“It’s quiet,” whispered Ginny.

“Too quiet,” muttered Hailey.

“Don’t jinx it,” hissed Harry as he looked forward and heard a whooshing sound as the trio stepped towards the center of the room.

“Great, Foot Ninjas,” said Ginny sarcastically as a group of about seven ninjas began to circle them. “That’s about all we need right now.”

“Prepare to defend yourselves,” said Harry but the ninjas raised their hands up before they pressed the center of their uniform. The ninjas vanished into thin air with that action. “Damn it, not just Foot Ninjas, Foot Tech Ninjas!”

“Well, that’s just great, they disappeared,” remarked Hailey. “How can we fight something that is invisible?”

“We might not be able to see them but they are there, right Harry?” asked Ginny.

Harry nodded absentmindedly while wondering exactly how that infernal cloaking device was working in the highly magical environment that was Hogwarts. Before Harry could think much more on this, he felt an invisible punch connect with his face, causing him to spiral to the ground. Ginny went spiraling down to the ground beside him and she screamed, clutching her side, apparently kicked into the ribs. Hailey was hoisted up the ground and promptly flung across the room. Harry put his hands to block another blow but he was dragged over by his legs and flipped into the air. Over by a suit of armor, an axe was pulled from it and it quickly swung towards Harry invisibly. Harry expertly blocked it with his weapon. The clang of metal echoed throughout the Great Hall many times before Harry managed to kick the axe free from the grip of the invisible assassin.

A chair lifted up from the air and swung towards Ginny, who managed to avoid the swing but another swing caused her not to be too lucky as she spiraled to the ground. Hailey felt something grab her by the throat. She choked underneath the pressure and Harry leapt up and kicked something solid, knocking the Foot Tech Ninja away from his sister. Ginny was down on the ground and rolled out of the way before her face could be stomped by her invisible assailant. Hailey, Ginny, and Harry got to their feet, before standing in a circle with their backs pressed to each other, swinging at invisible air. This method attack did not have any attack as a back hand shock from thin air struck Hailey, causing blood to splatter to her nose. Two invisible hands grabbed Ginny’s hair and flung her right over one of the tables in the Great Hall. Harry bent down, reaching into his bag, valiantly hoping that he had a pair of heat vision goggles inside but he was stalled by a blow striking him full force in the chest. Hailey dropped down right next to Harry and rolled underneath the table where Ginny was thrown over minutes ago. Harry pulled himself to his feet, putting his back to the table and kicked off at invisible air but Harry’s ankles were grabbed and they hoisted Harry up. The ninjas held up Harry for a few seconds before letting him drop. Harry felt his side kicked before Hailey and Ginny pulled him off underneath the table.

“Outnumbered by seven to three,” said Ginny. “There has got to be someway we can skew the odds.”

“It isn’t the odds that’s the problem, it’s the circumstances of fighting against seven deadly assassins we can’t see,” muttered Harry.

“Well, maybe if they couldn’t see us as well, the fight would be a little fairer!” snapped Hailey.

“That’s it,” replied Harry as he reached forward and thankfully managed to pull his bag underneath the table. He reached into the bag, pulling out a smaller drawstring bag that contained glistening black power. Harry scooped a handful of the powder out before tossing it into the air and in a blink of an eye; the Great Hall became pitch black.

A loud crashing sound promptly echoed throughout the Great Hall and soon after, sparks flew upwards, causing light to become visible through the darkness for the briefest of seconds. More sounds echoed throughout the Great Hall and several bodies thumped to the floor in the darkness. A slashing sound in the darkness was followed by a shrieking sound and by a sizzling sound that caused more sparks to fly high into the air. A couple more loud crunching sounds blasted in the black air which slowly faded back into light as Hailey, Ginny, and Harry stood over the motionless forms of seven Foot Tech Ninjas or more precisely what was left of them.

“Wow,” muttered Hailey, as the sickening smell of burnt flesh filled the air, before following Ginny and Harry in stepping over the electrocuted remains of the Foot Tech Ninjas. “Exactly what did you do to make it go all dark, Harry.”

“Instant Darkness Powder,” answered Ginny as Harry nodded in agreement. “I overheard Fred and George thinking about importing it in from Peru, rather useful in making a quick escape in the darkness or at least in this case, evening the odds in a fight against Foot Tech Ninjas.”

“Fortunate that you had some, Harry,” remarked Hailey.

“A good ninja…” started Harry.

“Is always prepared for any possible situation!” finished Hailey, as she knew this statement by heart, as Harry had repeated it to both her and Ginny a multitude of times. “Did you know these goons were going to end up getting electrocuted when we knocked them out?”

“No, but I’m not surprised,” said Harry cautiously levitating the burnt out cloaking element from the Foot Tech armor. “This cloaking device looks to have been wired with a heavy quantity of electricity to work under the heavily magical environment that is Hogwarts. It did the job well enough but at the same time, once they got short circuited in the battle, they led to the Foot Tech Ninjas being zapped with a lethal electrical shock.”

Harry dropped the cloaking device down to the ground before picking up his bag, placing it over his shoulder, and motioning Hailey and Ginny to follow him. He now had concrete proof that Voldemort and the Shredder were working together, all of his evidence previously had been merely circumstantial.

Still, Harry couldn’t ponder on this for long, as stopping Voldemort from acquiring whatever he was trying to acquire was of the foremost priority.

Up in the library, the imposing form of Lord Voldemort stepped into the deserted library of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Thanks to Wormtail’s knowledge of the school’s passageways, Voldemort managed to sneak a group of his Death Eaters through a passageway close to the Hogwarts library. Voldemort hadn’t been in the school for nearly forty years, so his knowledge of the layout was rather spotty. The group of Death Eaters that snuck in with the Dark Lord was guarding the corridors close to the library, while another group of Death Eaters who had snuck in under the cover of being Ministry of Magic Aurors along with a group of Saki’s ninjas, was setting up roadblocks at strategic points throughout the school. The chances that anyone would detect Voldemort’s plan was slim to none, but Voldemort felt only fools played the odds and he wasn’t taking any chances, especially after he didn’t kill Harry Potter when he had him tied up and at a disadvantage almost a year ago.

Walking forward, Voldemort stepped down the row he was looking for. Waving his wand, a large glass cylinder on the book shelf glowed light blue. His thin mouth contorted into a travesty of a smile. The scrolls that Voldemort wanted were in that cylinder but it was going to take some time to pull them from the shelf.

Voldemort began muttering a dark arts ritual under his breath, taking the necessary steps to remove the protections around the glass cylinder containing the scrolls. It would take some time but the wait was more than worth it as far as Voldemort was concerned. When the cylinder was free, access to unheard power would be all Lord Voldemort’s for the taking.

Harry crept in the shadows, on his toes and preparing to defend himself at a moments notice. In the next corridor, the coast appeared to be clear, so Harry motioned Hailey and Ginny to follow him. The two girls crept cautiously in the shadows, following Harry around. Harry stopped suddenly as there appeared to be some type of foreign and strange magic surrounding the area in that particular corridor. To test his theory, Harry reached into his bag and flung a dagger in between the two suits of armor on either side. Sure enough, sinister bolts of yellow light blasted from the suits, melting the dagger once it flew between them.

“We can’t get through,” said Ginny in a desperate voice.

“Actually we can, we just have to disable these two homicidal suits of armor,” replied Harry coolly as he waved his wand around his head in a circular motion, casting the holographic projection charm. A holographic duplicate of Harry materialized in mid air and Harry willed the hologram to step in between the two suits of armor.

Sure enough, the two suits of armor charged up. Since the hologram was knock solid, the jets of light passed through the hologram and blew the two suits of armor directly to bits. Harry stepped forward, as the strange magic he sensed faded into the air, absorbed with all the other magic around Hogwarts.

“I don’t think we need to worry about anything else up this corridor,” said Harry calmly as they walked the rest of the distance down the corridor.

The trio passed down two more sets of corridors without any incident but at the end of the third corridor, they ran into a small stumbling block.

“It appears as if the properties of this door have been magically altered in a way that you cannot under any circumstances open it from the outside,” whispered Harry. “I also sense a presence not far from other side of the door.”

“Death Eaters,” muttered Hailey darkly.

“Probably,” affirmed Harry as he looked off to the side. “I’m pretty sure I can go around and open the door from the other side. You two stay put and be prepared to make a break for it if this door opens from the inside. I don’t know how many Death Eaters or even what else could very well lurk behind this door.”

“Why can’t we come with you?” asked Ginny curiously.

“Because the passageways I am going to navigate are a bit difficult to navigate unless you know exactly where you are going,” replied Harry calmly as he walked towards a tapestry. “You two stay here. It should only take me maybe three or four minutes, maybe slightly more. Remember, if that door opens and it isn’t me, flee.”

Harry removed his Portus-Amulet and handed it to Hailey before he pulled back the tapestry before disappearing behind the tapestry. Harry’s footsteps slowly faded into nothingness as Hailey and Ginny looked at the door apprehensively. Footsteps echoed after a couple of minutes. Ginny and Hailey raised their wands before stepping back. The door creaked open and a figure dressed in black robes wearing a mask.

“INTRUDERS IN THE HALLWAY!” screamed the figure as before firing a curse at Hailey and Ginny but they scattered. “Darthmorth, Avery, Yaxley, MacNair, help me subdue these two girls.”

Hailey raised her wand to activate the Portus-Amulet but a spell blasted her wand out of her hand, causing it to skid down the hallway. She turned around to see Ginny put up a shield charm to block an organ rupture curse from one of the Death Eaters. Before Hailey knew it, a large hand grabbed a handful of hair and twisting her head slightly, she saw a large sharp axe held a few inches away from the back of her head, threatening to decapitate her at the slightest movement.

Ginny looked up in horror as two large Death Eaters grabbed an arm a piece. She tried to raise her wand to hex them but a third Death Eater grabbed her wand. He already had Hailey’s in his hand.

“I’m don’t think you will be needing that much longer, my dear,” declared the sleazy voice of Evan Darthmorth as the two Death Eaters holding Ginny’s arms cackled mindlessly. Ginny tried to kick Darthmorth but the two Death Eaters pulled her back and Darthmorth taunted her from a safe distance. “Bring these two fugitives to the Minister of Magic, he will be very pleased with our efforts today but I must say it is a shame that Harry Potter decided to send you two bints and did not muster up the courage to face us himself.”

Ginny felt a small ray of hope. The Death Eaters did not know Harry was there, so if Harry could still catch them by surprise. The Death Eaters dragged Hailey and Ginny through the doorway where Lucius Malfoy, also masked, was waiting for them.

“We have them, Minister,” announced one of the Death Eaters that was holding Ginny in a rough voice.

“So, Miss Ginevra Weasley and Miss Hailey Potter, and Mr…wait, I’m sorry, it looks as if Mr. Potter is still hiding in exile as he is not present,” drawled Lucius Malfoy in a silky voice. “It looks as if I, Lucius Malfoy, the head of the noble and ancient Malfoy family have done what many before me have tried. I have run Harry Potter off and prevented him from meddling in the affairs of proper wizards no longer.”

The Death Eaters cackled wickedly as Ginny attempted to squirm free and terror began to fill her as Harry had not managed to make it through the passageways to this area yet. MacNair had put his axe away but he now had his forearm tucked underneath the chin of Hailey in a matter that he could break her neck if she tried to squirm free.

“The Dark Lord will be much displeased that Harry Potter had not come out of his little hidey-hole and allow the Dark Lord the pleasure of killing him,” continued Malfoy. “However, you two will be a nice consolation prize and I will present the both of you to the Dark Lord as a gift so he can do with you as he pleases.”