Mark_Ward
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Chapter 112: Mindscape
🕑 Added 2021-01-10 03:54:49 +0000 UTC"Alright take a seat," Professor Dumbledore said as he sat Barty Jr. in one corner of his office. There were chains wrapping all along his body constricting his movement and stopping him from trying anything funny, though that didn't stop him from cursing at us.
He really had a tongue on him as any proper lady would faint if she heard what was coming out of his mouth and he would rot away your ears if you listened to him too long.
After the battle concluded and Barty was in chains and manacles, they were able to get out in the nick of time as the office collapsed behind them. After suffering all that punishment it couldn't stay standing any longer and it fell in on its weight, leaving a large gaping hole as the stone and rubble poured down outside on to the lawn, and the collapsed room was now open to the weather.
With all that raucous they caused they were bound to draw attention as people started to pour in. Professor McGonagall was first to come upon them as they dragged Barty Jr. out by the cuff of his shirt.
At that point the man was a raving lunatic as he tried everything to see himself killed and to be honest he still was. And Harry won't deny he was started to get on his nerve and would love nothing more than to shut him up, permanently.
Anyways that was the sight that many people came upon, a well known crimal in hand and an office room all but destroyed right behind him.
It was obvious to any idiot what went down, and Harry was sure by now the rumor mill which was the student body was already spreading the tale to each and every soul in the castle.
Professor McGonagall was also quickly able to draw her own conclusion as she stared long and hard at the clothing the man was wearing, namely Moody's.
She had the crowd gathering quickly dispersed which was a difficult task since students were a magnet to trouble though she wasn't having any of that none sense and sent back everyone to their dorms.
Now she was on her way to calling the Auror who would be arriving any time soon in the castle.
"I think it is time we withdraw Moody from that suitcase, don't you?" Dumbledore asked with a smile as he pointed to the suitcase Harry had clutched in his hands close to his chest.
"Oh, yes, yes," Harry said as he nodded his head as he set the suitcase down on the floor. He nearly forget about the poor man after all that happened today. Just being locked up in this suitcase for any few moments longer than was necessary must be unbearable to him.
Leaning down Harry saw that the traveling bag had some wards placed on it preventing anyone from inside for leaving, however for those who wanted to open it from the outside there were no defenses against it.
Unclasped the fastener open, Harry swung the suitcase open and peered inside.
Sitting in a closet-like room was the real Alastor Moody, he looked up as the light begin to pour in, taking in his saviors.
"Professor Moody..." Harry called out though he wasn't sure that was an accurate title for him, the man hadn't taught him or any of the students a single class all year long. It has been Barty Jr. the death eater who has been doing that all year long.
"Is that.. you Harry Potter?" the man asked as he squinted his eyes.
"Yes," Harry answered, "do you mind if I lift you up telekinetically?" he then asked. He saw that the man wasn't in any state to climb out of there even if he conjured him up a piece of rope to do so.
"Yes, go ahead," the man said as he got up from his sitting position.
With a might of pure will, Harry lifted out the bedraggled man from out the confined space. Setting him down on the office floor of the Headmaster, he looked around the place as if it was his first time out of that suitcase in a long time which it truly must have been.
Spotting the Headmaster standing besides him, he nodded his head to the old man, "Dumbledore, I would say it is good to see you, but I am not in the best of states to greet people."
He was right, the man looked like he had been through the wringer as there was a forming bold spot on his head where Barty must have collected the hair he needed for the potion. He also looked underfeed as he must have been not getting enough food. Harry noticed as well that his left eye sockets was an empty scared hole thanks to his magic one being taken by Barty and to add insult to the wound he was hobbling on one leg as his wooden prosthesis was gone just to demean him since Barty Jr. didn't need one at all.
And Harry noticed all the wounds littered on his body, they weren't the old faded scars he was sporting when Harry meet him in the World Cup. No, they were fresh with some even bleeding out some fresh blood.
They were obviously the sign of one thing and one thing only, torture wounds!
Sighing, Harry should have known this would happen. If Barty Jr. got his hands on the most outstanding Auror of the decade who ended the lives of so many of his allies and got even more of them arrested, of course, he would want to exact his revenge.
Just then Professor McGonagall walked in along side Snape, already speaking ahead, "I made sure to see all the students back to their dorm and in their beds. And I eased the Headmasters...."
Stopping as she saw the state of the room, she took in a deep breath when she saw Moody, "By Morgan," she said as she nearly fell over, "What happened to you, Alastor?"
Snape on the other hand was silent as he stared at the death eater with a unreadable expression.
"I am fine," Moody said as he waved off Professor McGonagall's concern, "where is he?" he asked as he glanced about, then his remaining eyes landed on the chained death eater. "You," he growled as his eyes blazed over. There was no hiding his righteous fury as he glared at the Death Eater his hands balling into fists.
Barty Jr. smiled a harsh cruel grin as he looked Moody right in the eye, "What are you going to exact your revenge, or are you just going to stand there after all I have done to you?! I can't tell you how much I enjoyed cutting you up even though you didn't provide me anything at all."
Before he could go over there and give the criminal a piece of his mind, Dumbledore held his hand out. "We still need him," he simply uttered, "He has yet to tell us where his master is, why he came here, what's his plan, and all that he knew."
"I know," the old man nodded his head, "I know how this works!" he said as he unclenched his fist and took a deep breath to calm himself.
"Moody, you coward," Barty shouted at the top of his lungs. "Are you so afraid that you can't get your revenge, are you not man enough. Were all those stories told about you false!"
"Shut up," Harry said as he waved his hand at the man and a piece of tape was conjured and went right on his mouth. All he could do was mumble inaudible through the tape, cursing out all his hateful words.
"Thank you, Harry," Professor McGonagall said as she looked at the death eater in disgust.
"I know you do not want to revisit this as soon as possible, but I will have to ask you what happened. How did he get a hold of you, were you able to over hear any of his plans while he had you captive?"
Sighing the old Auror took a seat on one of the guest seats, Harry came over to him and offered him his magical eye which they collected off of Barty Jr.
"Thank you," the man said as he put it on.
"Sorry about your wooden prosthesis, Professor, but it was destroyed in the fight."
"It is alright, I needed a new one anyway," the wizard replied as he tried out his fake eye. "Now," he said as he turned to look at them, "it is really simple what happened that little punk got the jump on me," he declared as he stared at Barty who still shook in his confines.
"I am getting too old for this, that is why I retired this year! I trained one of my last and finest pupils so it was high time I left the scene. Very few of us could leave with our lives intact, I never thought I would make it to 129, but here I am. Aaah, there were so many better people that should have made it here instead of me..."
Harry knew what the man was doing, he was going off on a tangent. No matter how tough he was spending months with an evil fanatic wasn't something you can get away with unscathed. The old Auror must be in shock and still suffering from the trauma he had been through.
Dumbledore seem to sense it too so he just asked his final last question, "Do you know what he or should I say Voldermot had planned."
At the mere mention of his master's name, Barty seem to go wild as he fought harder against his chains, but it was useless as the enchanted chains only constricted tighter against him.
"No," Moody answered, "I would give him that, he was very careful. Even though he had me in his grasp, he made sure to never reveal anything about his master's plan. Some would gloat, you know, but if there was anything I had to realize about him is that he is dedicated and single minded in his task to his master. He didn't dare to take any risks at all."
"Alright thank you, Moody," Dumbledore said. "Now I think you need to be checked out by Madam Poppy Pomfrey. I think she might send you to St Mungo's Hospital with how severe your wounds are."
"No I am fine, Dumbledore," the wizard shook his head, "I need to see this through to the end. Then him and I are going to have a long chat," he waved his head at the death eater.
"You are in no state to fight, Moody! Minerva," he called out, "could you see Moody to Madam Pomfrey."
"Yes," she said as she grabbed Alastor by the elbow, he tried to resist but he barely had any fight in him and Professor McGonagall was easily able to drag him out.
"Severus can you stand guard outside?" the old man asked. Snape nodded his head and also headed out of the office with his cloak billowing behind him.
That only left the three of them in the room, Dumbledore turned to face Barty Jr. who finally quieted down.
"Are you going to give me what I want, or are you going to make this difficult?" Dumbledore asked as all levity which used to be always there no matter the circumstances was gone. Only the cold void was left in its place.
Barty Jr. just stayed silent even after Dumbledore painfully removed the tape with his wand. And Harry would have imagined all the fight was gone out of him if he didn't glare at them with pure malicious and hate in his eyes.
"Suit yourself," the old man said, "if I must then I will rip the answers out of your mind!"
Pulling back his robe sleeve, the old man reached out and placed his hand on Barty Jr's head ready to read his mind with Legilimency.
"Would you like help, Professor?" Hary asked as he came right besides the old man.
"Do you know the mind arts?" Dumbledore asked.
There was no point in hiding it, Harry felt the old man's mind press against his mental defense so the old man knew that he must have started practicing Occlumency. And where there is Occlumency there is also Legilimency.
"Yes, Sirius has started teaching me over the summer."
"Well then let's join forces and find out about the answers we seek!"
Nodding his head, Harry placed his hand on top of Barty jr's head, and right before they plunged into his mind the death eater spoke up, "Go ahead at your own peril, fools!"
Appearing in a wide-open space, standing on top of a grey murky body of water, Harry spotted a dark foreboding castle in the distance.
"So this is his mindscape," Harry uttered as his voice seem to echo in this place. Each living person has a mindscape, it is where all your memories, emotions, experiences, and so much more is stored.
For most people, they just have this, a mindscape where everything is unguarded, that is why for Legilimency it is easy to peruse their mind with no difficulty.
Then there is the Mindpalace, those that practice Occlumency builds it to protect their minds and keep their secrets guarded. It makes it all the more harder to get access to their memories. Since you would have to unlock what secrets they hold.
For Barty Jr. it would seem that his Mindpalace is that of a dark castle.
"Good, I see that you have made it," Dumbledore smiled at him. "Ready to invade the castle?" he asked.
Coming up to the front gates of the castle which were lined with skulls and other gothic materials, Dumbledore pointed his wand at it and it slowly begin to open.
Now the real trial starts whatever Barty Jr. set up as defenses they would have to defeat them to get what they want.
On the courtyard of the castle they ran into the first piece of memory, it was like a ghost image as they saw a much younger Barty Jr. eight or nine bowed down and facing a older man who it was his father, Barty Sr.
"You are a Crouch," the older man uttered harshly. "I expect perfect results from you."
"Yes, father," the little boy answered with tears at the corner of his eyes.
"Wipe them away boy," the wizard shouted as he noticed the too.
Continuing on, they saw more memories; one of a lady comforting a much younger Barty Jr. as she sang him a lullaby. Then there was an image of a new Hogwarts student Barty Jr. meeting his soon to be allies like Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange.
They past by more and more images, until they meet their face defense two giant dark knight in black armor who waylaid them along the way but Dumbledore.
And from there the smooth sailing was over, Barty Jr's mind threw at them all its defenses prepared beforehand and each and every single one of them was defeated with ease by Dumbledore.
"The secret is imagination," the old man said as they left behind the smoking ruin of a Skeleton Dragon.
"This is just a typical defense, you are supposed to confuse and bewilder your opponents."
It was then that they came upon a memory of Barty Jr. bowing down before someone, somehow they couldn't make out the image of the person but Harry knew that voice from anywhere.
"Barty, my most loyal servant. It is good to see you."
"We must be getting nearer," Dumbledore said, "let's go!"
Suddenly shadows bellowed up from the ground and then right before them a large cloaked figure appeared. "WHO DARES INVADE THE MIND OF MY SERVANT!!!"
"Voldermort," Dumbledore uttered.
"AAHH, Dumbledore, you old goat, so it is you, huh?" the cloaked figure asked. "I should have known," he chuckled.
"You are not the real him, you are just an image of one of your servants! BEGONE FROM HERE!!!" Dumbledore commanded in a booming voice which sent the giant image reeling back.
"I SAID BEGONE!!! YOU FOUL FIEND!" Dumbledore repeated as the image started to shrink and distort.
"You shall never get the memories of my servant...." the image of Voldemort shouted as he disappeared.
Suddenly there were quaking noises as the castle itself shook, Harry had to steady himself as he leaned up against the wall. Then the real tremors came on as cracks formed on the ceiling of the castle and pillars.
"That monster," Dumbledore swore under his breath," he just destroyed his servant's mind!"
"And that means?" Harry asked.
"If we don't get out of here then will be trapped here forever and this place is just about to collapse in on itself."
"Great!" Harry said as he threw his hands up in the air.
"Come on," the old man shouted, "we need to find out where Voldermort is hiding!"
running along, Harry was surprised to see how spry the old man was as he was able to keep up with Harry's youthful vigor. That image of Volderot seem to be the last defense as they came upon nothing else in their way.
There were loads of more memories along the way, but they were looking for one specific one.
There was one memory that drew Harry's attention, where he heard VOldermort speaking to Barty Jr. "Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew your son. Flesh of the servant, willingly given, you will revive your master. Blood of the enemy, forcibly taken, you will resurrect your foe.
These are the three things needed to revive me to my full power! I already have my old man's bones..."
"I would gladly give you my flesh, my lord," Barty uttered.
"I know, I know, Barty that is why I can count on you! However, we need the blood of my enemy and there is none who stood against me as firmly than Harry Potter," he spat out.
"Harry Potter?" the man asked in confusion, "Isn't it Dumbledore, my lord."
"No, it that boy... I need you to bring him to me so that we can resurrect me! Can you do it, Barty, my loyal servant."
"Harry, my boy," the old man called out, "come on!"
Turning his gaze away from the image, Harry did not know what to make of that. No matter what they needed to stop that at all cost. The old snake was already a handful as a ghost or whatever he was at the moment.
To see him back to full strength....
Yea, that can not be allowed to happen.
"Here," Dumbledore said, as they came to a stop at a memory where Barty apparated outside of an old decrepit mansion covered in vines.
Walking up to the mansion, when he got up to the front door, it opened by itself allowing him inside.
Entering the living room where an eerie green flame flickered in the fireplace a rat like man stood to the corner shivering in place and a giant snake slithered beside a chair where a prone figure laid.
Bowing to his knees in front of the small figure, "Master, I have come at long last before you."
"Do you know where that place is?" Harry asked as he gazed around the collapsing place.
"Yes, yes I do!" the old man answered.
"Come on," he said, "let's get out of here and end Voldermort once and for all!"
Comments
Thanks for the chapter on a good story
Just to let you know telepathy is where you read people's mind telekinesis is where you move people or objects with your mind
