Harry lay in the room alone, staring at the ceiling with a vacant gaze. There was no energy in his body; he didn't want to speak, move, or even blink. Staring at the wall with his mind shut felt the best when he knew there was a group of people, his classmates, even some of his friends, who wanted to give him to Voldemort so that they would be left alone. In a position like this, stopping his thoughts was the best relief he could muster.
He sighed. It had taken some heated and harsh words from him to his mum and friends to leave him alone. It had taken an unflattering tone for them to give him some space. By right about now, he usually would be feeling terrible about it, but right now, his mind couldn't be bothered to go in that direction.
Harry closed his eyes, hoping that sleep would take over him. Alas, the moment he closed his eyes, the empty suite got too loud— the ticking of clocks, dripping of water from the tap, the gentle ring of the chime from the other room— it felt like Sonorus had been cast on everything. He squeezed his eyes as he smushed a pillow over his ears, and that actually worked as the sounds quietened. . . until he heard a knock on the door.
He ignored it. Knocking meant that they didn't have access to get inside the room— and thus, they didn't have access to him. But then the knocking changed. The simple raps on the door turned faster and louder until whoever it was playing a rhythmic beat on the door.
Even he couldn't ignore that. Harry, half-furious, half-bewildered, got up from the bed and made his way to the suite door. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he pushed the door open forcefully, but contrary to his expectation of the door hitting the rude person, the door swung wide open on its hinges.
"You weren't opening the door."
. . . . .
Quinn smiled as he responded to the nonplussed Harry and watched as the anger flushed away at his sight. He had used Recon to find Harry in Hogwarts, and to his luck, the Boy-Who-Lived was alone in Lily Potter's Professor's Suite. Thanks to Recon, he had the password to the portrait guarding the room, and he planned to take Hermione's form to fool the portrait in case it decided to go alert Dumbledore about his entry.
But, even before he could arrive in front of the portrait, he sensed an additional ward laid parallel to the door. It wasn't part of the original layout and was placed externally afterward.
"Hello, Harry," Quinn flashed a smile. "I know it's difficult right now, given what's happening, but I hope you're doing well."
"You. . . what are you doing here?" asked Harry, still reeling from the shock of seeing him.
"I came here to visit you, of course. . . won't you invite me in?" asked Quinn.
"How did you even get inside Hogwarts?" suspicion and caution surfaced on Harry's features.
"I will answer all your questions, but let's sit down before we talk. I've been busy ever since the morning and haven't had the chance to properly sit down and rest," Quinn said as casually as possible. "May I?" he asked. He needed the permission.
Harry eyed Quinn, looking at him with a searching look, but after a moment, Harry stepped aside.
Quinn smiled and crossed the threshold without hesitation. The additional ward was to alert the caster about an unauthorized entry into the room. Anyone who wasn't keyed into the ward couldn't enter without triggering it. However, there was an easy way to remedy it, and it was to get invited in or obtain permission to enter. And because Intent was a great part of magic, Harry stepping aside was all the permission he needed.
He stepped inside, and the portrait door closed behind him. He had jinxed into being confused so that he could converse with Harry without worrying about giving himself away to the caster, which he presumed was Dumbledore.
Quinn followed Harry into the living room with a homely aesthetic and sat down on opposite chairs. He unbuttoned the button of his suit as he sat down. Transforming his Noir gear from combat mode to a suit was so to make Harry feel comfortable.
"Now answer me, how did you get inside Hogwarts?" asked Harry.
"Not offering me anything to drink. . . No?" Harry scowled the more Quinn spoke, so he stopped. "Doesn't matter. As to answer your questions, I have my ways. If you're worried about Death Eaters using it, don't be; they don't even know it exists," Aberforth Dumbledore was already out of Hogsmeade and under DMLE care. "Let's talk about you, Harry. I came here to see how you are doing. I heard what Voldemort demanded— how are you taking it? I hope you're not letting it affect your health."
"How do you think I'm talking it?!" said Harry scathingly.
"Not well from what I can see," said Quinn, unbothered. That was the reaction he was expecting from someone in Harry's situation.
"Why are you here?"
"I'm the Invisible Vigilante, Harry. I must be present when the Death Eaters are trying to do something. I was outside Hogsmeade as soon as I got to know about what had happened and have been trying to get inside and elevate this mess ever since." Quinn peered out of the window in the room. "It's terrible out there. Hogsmeade is crawling with Death Eaters; DMLE cannot get in; Innocent people are scared for their lives. I haven't checked what the rest of the country is doing, but I guess it's in chaos. I don't even want to think about how the country is reacting to the news— the economy will suffer for a while after this." He put on a smile, "Ivy had to call me and ask where I kept the Horcrux so you guys could destroy it in case, you know, I died."
Harry's change in expression told Quinn that he hadn't been told about this fact. "S-She asked you that?"
"She had to, didn't have much choice, did she. Can't have the maniac running around forever."
Hearing that from Quinn made Harry go silent. The irritation and anger that had been present before have taken a back seat. That was why Quinn had brought it up; he needed Harry to be in a particular state for the conversation to follow.
"One good thing happened, though," Quinn continued. "Half of the hostages were released into DMLE custody just before I sneaked into Hogwarts."
". . . What?" Harry seemed deeply surprised by the shocking news. "Why would Voldemort let hostages go? He's planning something. He must've done something to the hostages," he got up. "We should warn DMLE about it—"
"Voldemort released the hostages because of me," said Quinn. Harry, who had already taken steps towards the door, came to a halt. He turned toward him and still seemed to process what was just spoken. Quinn continued, "He and I struck a deal, and releasing the hostages was him upholding his part of the deal."
"You did what?" Harry's voice began to rise. "You struck a deal with HIM?! How can you, of all the people, think that dealing with him is acceptable?! He's going to go back on whatever. . . he has promised. . . ." Harry trailed off as he stared at Quinn. "What. . What did you promise him?"
Quinn looked back at Harry silently. The silence seemed to give Harry the answer.
"Me?" he uttered. "You promised me?" There was no anger in his voice; instead, there was a strange sense of something that Quinn couldn't pinpoint. There was a shock, confusion, fear, hate. . . but everything was shadowed by a convoluted sense of resignation.
"If I get him to you, he will let the Hogsmeade residents go," said Quinn. "I'm counting on him to leave after that to spread the news across the country to anyone who would listen. I can imagine what would happen after that, but at least today will end. We can. . ." Quinn stopped when he saw that Harry was no longer listening.
He got up from his chair, and his suit changed into Noir gear's combat mode. "The deal had been struck; Voldemort has already delivered half of what he has promised. So if I go back on his deal now, he will kill the rest of the hostages," he said. "I don't want this to be more difficult than it already is."
Quinn sensed the sense of resignation get stronger in Harry as he said, "I can't say goodbyes, or even see them, can I. . ."
"Do you want to say goodbyes?" That would just make things difficult.
Harry smiled bitterly, and the hate flared up a little, peeking through the resignation. "How do you think Ivy will react when she finds out that her precious boyfriend," there was venom in his voice, "sent her brother. . . her twin to death."
Quinn didn't show the emotion that Harry was expecting. But he also didn't show the opposite reaction to firing back at Harry. "I'm the biggest mistake she's made in her life. I don't understand why she hasn't left me already. I'm too much of a trouble to be in a relationship. After this, I'm going to lose her trust, and well, that's going to be the end of everything. . . . Does that answer your question?"
He turned away from Harry for a moment because his Occlumency didn't seem to be working, no matter how much he tried to clamp down it. "Come one, take your wand with you; we are leaving right now," he said.
"You're making me walk to my death; the least you could do is to knock me out and not make me suffer in the last moments of my life."
Quinn nodded, "Yeah. . . Yeah, you're right," he nodded again. Quinn turned to Harry, raised his arm, and knocked Harry out cold as he wished for. He looked down at Harry and sighed. Harry's attitude wasn't going to be optimal for what was about to come. If plans were going according to plan, he needed Harry to be a little more. . . resistant.
"Well, not if I have something to say about it," he muttered and levitated the unconscious boy off the ground. "Not if I have something to say about it." And he had a lot to say about it.
Sneaking out of Hogwarts was as easy as getting in. He got to the seventh floor without being seen, courtesy of Recon. The Room of Requirement was set up to keep a path open for him because he had to return to Hogwarts.
As he walked through the tunnel, he had his eyes on Recon. His steps faltered and eventually slowed down to a crawl when he saw the group of Ivy, Hermione, and Ron move towards the room. He steeled himself and increased his walking pace. By the time he reached Hog's Head, his feet felt like lead, and as much as he tried, he couldn't keep his eyes off Recon.
In real-time, he watched as the three entered the suite. Ivy and Ron settled in the living room, but Hermione made her way deep into the suite. . . and what followed was what he expected. He stepped into the old inn as he watched the three dots run around.
He closed his eyes, and with them, Recon. 'Don't do this now,' he told himself. 'You have to do this to end all of this. For freedom. . .' He resolved himself and walked to the front door
And that's why it hurt when he felt the mirror in his pocket buzz.
It hurt worse when he knew he couldn't pick up.
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-*-*-*-*-*-
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Quinn West - MC - The fall down the hole doesn't seem to end.
Harry Potter - Boy-Who-Lived - Darkness before darkness.
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