Lightning flashed across the dark sky, and in the distance, thunder sounded. Through the burned-out ruins of Malfoy Manor, Harry looked up to the sky and winced. Rain was bound to follow that, though that was not what bothered Harry. It was that the sky had darkened significantly earlier than he had anticipated. He did not want to be caught looting the Malfoy family safe by any Death Eaters at night.
The chance of meeting Death Eaters had been only a minor concern when he arrived at the Malfoy property, but discovering the presence of recently-erected dark wards had signaled to Harry that the property had not been neglected since the death of Romulus Malfoy. Fortunately, one could not ward the Malfoy property against the Malfoy family ring that Harry now possessed. However, that did not make Harry immune from other traps or obstacles-not that he had yet to discover any, but he had been wary.
Rain began to sprinkle down on Harry, and he sighed. Briefly, he considered casting a charm over the area to shield him, but decided against it after looking down into the Malfoy vault and wondering if any of the dark artifacts could be triggered. There were still enough dark artifacts to fill two more of the special cases Bellatrix had sent along with instructions for handling unknown dark artifacts and complaints about Harry not bringing her along.
Harry hopped down into the vault and ran his eyes over the remaining dark artifacts. She wouldn't be very happy about this rain, he told himself. Besides, she seemed happier arranging the new furniture across the apartment . Still, he scolded himself, he needed to utilize her or she'd become frustrated. Then, he'd risk losing her help.
Spotting a tome that was oozing blood, Harry reached out with a dragonhide-gauntleted hand and picked it up. He then threw it over the edge of the vault opening. He heard it land with a thud near one of the special cases. A gold trinket resembling something that might be found in Professor Dumbledore's office was gently set on the edge. Below some books and wooden boxes, Harry found a what appeared to be a pensieve bowl, though the substance floating in it certainly did not resemble anything Harry had ever seen. Gingerly, Harry set it on opening's edge, climbed out of the vault, and wasted no time packing the artifacts into another case before shrinking it and placing it in his pocket with the other cases he already had packed. That left one more to go. It looked like the remaining artifacts would fit in it.
Realizing that the artifacts he had just packed had been liberally rained upon, Harry opted to take the remaining case into the vault with him and pack it. Now that the vault was mostly empty, it was a viable option.
Just as he was halfway through with packing the final case, Harry heard the tell-tale pop of apparition. Silently cursing, he tried his best to calculate the location from where the popping noise had come. Guessing based on direction, Harry reckoned it was probably what had been the front hall of the manor-one of the places a normal visitor to the manor might have apparated before it had been destroyed.
Thankfully, the sky had only barely darkened, thus Harry had not had time to make himself any light. Nimbly, he finished packing the last case, shrunk it, and placed it in his pocket all while he strained his ears, listening for any movement.
"Ashworth!" a voice exclaimed.
Harry shifted his gaze just in time to see Rodolphus Lestrange hurl a cutting hex at him from above. Fortunately, the movement of his head and consequently his torso saved Harry from serious injury, though the hex did graze his size. A warm trickle told Harry that he was bleeding.
Harry deftly cast a stunner that was followed up with a number of minor jinxes. Rodolphus dodged these easily, but that had been what Harry had expected. Just when Rodolphus seemed most distracted, Harry nailed him with a severe dizziness charm. While the up-and-coming Death Eater reeled, Harry scrambled out of the Malfoy floor vault.
Though obviously still dizzy, Rodolphus managed to get off a number of stunners that Harry easily dodged before peppering Rodolphus with more minor spells. He then finished the barrage up with an "Expelliarmus!" This left Harry holding Rodolphus's wand.
"Fancy meeting you here," Harry said, holding his wand steady on Lestrange.
"Where is she?" Rodolphus demanded, changing the topic.
"Where is who?" Harry replied, knowing full well the answer.
"Where did you take Bellatrix?"
....
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