Chapter - 68 : Greetings Part - 5
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"I think that's everything," the Death Eater said in a final tone, as if sharing parting greetings. "Professor White, thank you for assuring me you are in no way a threat to the Dark Lord like we feared. Truly, it is a great relief to know Dumbledore is as incompetent as ever. Brian, may you burn in hell among all the other little-girl-defiling upstarts."
The click of the door opening was followed by the final the slam of it closing and then Harry was alone with Brian, the pair suffering in silence.
Harry forced down his panic at how his plan had been quashed before he'd even gotten to try it. Dammit, dammit, dammit.
Without being bombarded by the psychological torture of a young boy or the taunting joviality of a Death Eater he told himself that now was the time to come up with another of the plans that gave Hermione grey hairs at the age of twelve.
Think! What did he have?
No wand, no mobility, no chance to speak or call for help beyond a ball of useless-mind magic without a target.
But, he did have an ally.
An ally with a wand, he realised, as the Death Eater had allowed him to hold it, his confidence bolstered by the Imperius Curse and the paralytic potion.
Desperately he sought Brian's eyes for some kind of response, but while they were open they were dull and lifeless as the boy stared ahead listlessly, broken and without hope of any kind.
They were eyes though and with his only plan relying on mind magic...
The idea was crazy, based on something he'd never done before and had very little chance of success. Harry didn't give his doubts a second thought.
Slipping further in his Augeomency trance Harry gathered the ball of mind magic and spun it, preparing to use the whole of it in a single shot. He would not get a second chance.
Concentrating, he slowly drew it away from his centre and to the edges where his mind bordered on reality, where the outside world showed through. He drew it to the exits.
Fuelled by desperation, he flung the magic into his eyes and imagined how they locked onto Brian's, streaming magic in beams like searchlights.
When studying the Mind Arts, Harry had read the theory of Legilimency.
This was not it.
Legilimency was ideally performed with a wand, an incantation and a strong mental focus on what type of memory to retrieve. Mastery of the art allowed for more leeway and different skills, but generally throwing around mind magic was considered bad form.
Harry didn't care.
The mental link connected and with a jerk Harry was drawn back into his trance, to be promptly sucked from his mind into Brian's where he landed in a cesspool of despair that was the tortured boy's mental centre.
With all his might he dumped what remained of the quickly diminishing ball of mind magic in the boy's brain and used it to force-feed him an idea that his mind should strive for with the utmost concentration beyond all else.
It was two words, strengthened by an image of a small grey stone.
ACCIO BEZOAR!
Had the boy had a clear mind it wouldn't have worked, but he was hurt, wounded and exhausted and one thought meant as little to him as any other. Had the boy been free of compulsion it wouldn't have worked, but the Imperius still lingered, making the mind receptive to foreign ideas.
Half-possessed by a dying unpracticed Legilimens, the fourteen year old cast his very first silent spell, concentrating like never before on needing a bezoar down Harry's throat.
A grey stone impacted the window at high speed, piercing it with a crash followed by the clattering of glass shards as it broke and jammed itself down Harry's gullet with such force that his chair teetered on its hind legs.
For a moment nothing happened beyond having his throat bruised and Harry feared he'd been too late, but then his body convulsed and his stomach muscles cramped, forcing him to bend almost in two in his seat.
Sputtering and coughing – because the back of his throat was very sore – he looked around for his wand and made to stand up.
"Petrificus Totalus!" came a familiar and very unwelcome voice from behind.
The Full Body-Bind hit Harry in the back just as he was standing up. His hands and legs snapped together and he toppled to the floor, landing on top of the wand he had been reaching for.
"Seems like a good choice to wait around after all and not assume you would inevitably die without complications," the Death Eater mused.
A number of bruises and cramped muscles flared in pain as soon as Harry impacted the unforgiving wooden floor. His left arm, however, landed on a thin wooden rod, the shape and size of which felt familiar, even when his whole body weight pressed it deep into his flesh. The shaft of his wand made contact with the skin of his wrist and Harry knew that it was enough.
Finite! he screamed silently at his wand and he felt the Body-Bind being lifted.
He rolled onto his back. "Stupefy!"
The Death Eater blanched and quickly put up a shield. The Stunner splashed against it and faded away harmlessly.
Harry hadn't sat still and started banishing the entire contents of the room at the man, interspersed with any spell that came to mind.
Spinning like frisbees, three large plates sailed through the air at the Death Eater from an angle the shield didn't cover. He was forced to dodge and Harry ruthlessly exploited the mistake by firing a cutting curse at the exposed elbow.
It connected, severing cloth and drawing blood. The man cried out in pain and with his concentration broken the shield fell.
"Stupefy!" Harry growled.
Red light hit the Death Eater square in the chest and the man slumped onto the floor, unconscious.
Breathing heavily, Harry watched him topple over and land hard with great satisfaction. For good measure he followed his Stunner up with a second, followed by a Full Body-Bind before tying him up in ropes and sticking the whole package to the ceiling.
Only then did he turn around to look at Brian. The boy looked despondent and wrung out and the very shallow movements of his chest were worrying.
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If you're eager to delve deeper into the story, consider joining my Patreon for exclusive content and early access to new chapters
50+Advanced Chapters there.
(P).(A).(T).(R).(E).(O).(N)
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