Chapter 369: Trapped
Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all its characters belong to J.K. Rowling. I own nothing but the original characters I create.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 369: Trapped
"Lestrange?! But then, you are..." Daphne was, of course, well-informed about Voldemort's closest servants. The Lestranges were the only ones who disappeared alongside the Dark Lord.
"You know about me? It's been so long since I left England." His eyes scanned Daphne up and down.
She wasn't wearing her school robes, so he could only guess.
"You have the air of a true pureblood lady. That's unfortunate. If the circumstances were different, I would offer you the chance to join me. But my instructions were very clear on what to do with any witnesses."
Harry noticed some faint magical signatures around them. They were much harder to detect than normal magical folk, but they couldn't escape his senses.
His eyes then moved to the vampire ahead. Rabastan Lestrange was one of his primary targets, and now… Fate had put him right in front of him.
Harry had no intention of letting this opportunity go to waste.
But he had to consider how to approach this.
'I have no time to set up any type of anti-apparition wards, so if he tries to teleport away, I won't be able to stop him.'
Yes, he could attempt to kill him before Rabastan could do anything and then try to summon his soul, like he had done before with the werewolf and Umbridge.
Had Lestrange been a normal wizard, Harry would have seriously considered this option.
But Rabastan Lestrange had been turned into a dark creature... a vampire. One of their many names was the 'Soulless ones'.
It was a common belief that vampires lost their souls on the day they transformed, but studies on the matter had been lacking, and nothing had ever been proven.
He couldn't take that risk. What if he killed him only to find out there was no soul to call upon?
Harry was thinking of a way to keep him alive, and something came to mind.
He now had access to a tool that could potentially lock Lestrange in a place with no escape.
The only problem was that he hadn't tested it yet. He was mostly relying on his instincts, and those were telling him that it was going to work.
Rabastan lifted the dead Karkaroff with one hand while making a signal with the other.
"As much as I would love to stay and play with you two, I need to deliver the corpse of this traitor to my Master. It may still be useful after all."
In his free hand, he held a small object that he pulled from one of his pockets.
"Enjoy the meal," he said, as six shadows jumped from the trees, landing in the clearing, very close to where Harry and Daphne were standing.
"Harry? These men are also vam—" Daphne's question was cut short when she saw him vanish before anyone could stop him.
Harry knew he couldn't afford to waste a single second if he wanted to prevent Rabastan's escape.
He first used apparition to move in front of him.
A pitch-black circle emerged out of nowhere, right behind the vampire.
At the same time, Harry was already moving his staff forward and pointing it at Lestrange.
The vampire could not react to the sudden attack. This was the last thing he could have predicted after encountering the two youngsters.
He only had enough time to lift the corpse he had been holding and put it between him and Harry, hoping it would serve as protection for whatever was coming.
"Depulso!" Harry had put so much power into that pushing charm that not only Lestrange and Karkaroff, but most of the terrain around them was sent inside the black hole.
Rabastan had completely failed to sense anything behind him. He just felt a powerful force pushing him backward, and then he was falling onto the ground.
"Urgg....bloody hell!. You are going to pay for th-" But he quickly realized that this… was no longer the Dark Forest clearing where he had previously been standing.
He looked around, but other than the corpse at his side, he could only see darkness in all directions.
"What is this?" He became alarmed.
Vampires had night vision. Even on the darkest of nights, they could see everything as clearly as if it were the middle of the day.
But his yellow eyes were unable to pierce through the darkness of this place for some reason. It was as if there was truly nothing there.
Rabastan felt a sense of uneasiness and… fear.
His Master had been the only one who had ever made him feel truly afraid… until now.
This place scared him to no end, and he couldn't even understand why exactly, but he knew that he wanted to get out of here.
"The portkey..." He glanced down and looked at it, wondering why it hadn't pulled him away already.
The small stone sphere had cracks all over its surface, and dark smoke was coming out of the cracks.
"This can't be happening... It's broken?" He had never heard of a portkey breaking in such a manner.
But he still had another way. His hands moved to his neck and pulled onto his gold necklace.
This was his emergency portkey. He never left the house without it. This would take him to a secret safe house that belonged to his family. Not even his Master knew about its location.
"Corvus Oculum." Those were the words to activate it.
For a moment, he felt the magic inside the necklace activate and felt a wave of relief wash over him.
But it didn't last long. He then heard a loud cracking noise. The beautiful gold necklace split right in half, and from the crack… dark smoke started to come out.
"No… not this…"
There was a big downside to wizards becoming vampires. Their magic worked in a very different manner, making it impossible to cast spells the way they used to. Using a wand became impossible from then on.
Of course, they gained many powerful gifts that made up for this, but… none of those were of any consolation to Rabastan at this very moment, as he just lost his only means of escape.
"Noooo!"
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