Harry Potter and the Protectors of Hogwarts

xx. of captivity

Harry tried to shake himself into consciousness as quick as he could. He'd been drifting in and out since he'd been hit by the unknown spell. Harry had felt the effects of the spell straight away as it knocked him out. He had been unable to fight it off. His mind was completed clouded. Painstakingly he opened his eyes. The cell he was in wasn't very well lit. He heard sniffling off to his right and tried to turn his head. He heard the chinking of chains and quickly realised he had limited mobility.

His whole body was aching. His arms were chained above his head; he was tied up such a way his toes only just scraped the ground.

"Harry?" he heard.

"Ron," he croaked.

"Oh, Merlin, Harry," he heard an almost hysterical voice.

Harry's eyes adjusted in the dark room.

They looked like they were in the dungeons. Somewhere quite deep. The cold damp walls were reminiscent of the school's dungeons, except these dungeons weren't as well kept. It was a huge space and Harry noticed he was kept in a cell by himself. As was Neville, in the next cell over, tied up in the same manner as Harry.

"Who else is here?" he asked.

"They got a lot of us," Ron was saying. "Hermione, Luna, Lavender, some fourth years and-"

"Is Luna badly hurt? Where is she?"

"She's okay, just a few scrapes. She still knocked out; they hit her with three stunners when they took her."

"How long have I been out?"

"We don't know. A few hours, maybe more. We were knocked out as well."

"How badly is everyone hurt?"

"I don't know."

"They took all our wands," Neville spoke up, his voice hoarse.

"Does anyone know what happened?"

"We were doing okay defending ourselves until the giants came," Ron said grimly. "They literally started knocking houses over, pulling up trees by the roots. I was with Luna defending some thirds years when we got hit from behind. They grabbed me and Luna and portkeyed us somewhere really fast. They were ready with stunners before we could even get our bearings."

Now that he was awake, Harry found his breathing even more difficult. His ribs were on fire, his head throbbed and he felt every ache in his body. All their preparations, everything they'd accomplished in the Chamber of Secrets test, all their practicing and they had never taken into account the giants attacking, even though they had read several articles in the Daily Prophet were Voldemort had used them. Even Harry didn't think Voldemort would utilise such force against Hogwarts.

"Did you recognise anyone?" Harry asked.

"No, they were all wearing masks," Hermione said in a small voice.

Harry tried to think clearly, but it was difficult when all he wanted to do was close his eyes again.

"The coins," Harry said, "can we use our coins? Will they work?"

"They emptied our pockets, Harry," Lavender spoke in sob. "They took everything from us."

"It's okay," Harry tried to assure her. "Dumbledore, Moody, the Ministry, they'll all be looking for us. You know your parents will be frantic, they'll be doing everything they can to get us out of here."