Prisoner of War

Mature

Summary: Curiosity gets the better of eighteen-year-old Ginny as she tries to prove a point to her older brothers and disappears in Knockturn Alley. After a stunning spell the young Weasley finds herself suffering from the horrors of being a Prisoner of War. While Harry refuses to believe that she may be dead, Ginny turns to an unlikely source of help at Malfoy Manor.

Warning: Although allusion is made regarding the horrifying treatment toward female prisoners of war, this story does not contain explicit descriptions of sexual mistreatment.

Prologue: Prisoner of War

Daily Prophet

Saturday 4th September, 1999

CRIMES REVEALED!

Death Eaters Disregard International Laws: The 1949 Geneva Convention Is Broken

Since the latest war against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named started in June 1995, amid the raging battles and terror attacks there have been mysterious disappearances … rumours of Death Eater camps, witches and wizards being tortured as the Death Eaters continued their actions of the first war. Until this month they have been just rumours. Today, the Daily Prophet can now exclusively reveal that these horrifying rumours are true.

On the 20th of August, Jessica Stevens, 18, was captured while fighting against Death Eaters during an attack on Muggles in Holyhead, North Wales. Held at an unknown location, she managed to escape after nine days of mental, physical and sexual torture. Found wandering in Wiltshire, she was sent to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries and spent four days recovering from her injuries. Since her release yesterday, she has agreed to talk exclusively to the Daily Prophet about her shocking treatment as a prisoner of war.

"It is the worst thing that you can ever imagine and very hard to think about, let alone describe to someone. Unfortunately I can't seem to think about anything else," said the distraught and tearful teenager. When asked why she agreed to relive the horror of the past fortnight to make her story public, she responded with, "People need to know what is really going on."

Miss Stevens comes from a prominent Wizarding family and is a talented young witch who became Head Girl at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She completed her education in June of this year and achieved 'Outstanding' in all her Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests. Upon leaving school, she joined the fight against You-Know-Who along with many other students, such as fellow Gryffindors, Shaun Johnson, Lisa Sheridan, Ginevra Weasley, and Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students, Luna Lovegood, Dwight Shacklebolt and Carlton Vance.

"My family have always been loyal to and supported Albus Dumbledore. We hate the Dark Arts therefore it seemed only natural to join in the fight. After all, who wants to live in a world where You-Know-Who's dictatorship and terror controls every part of your life?"

During our interview with Miss Stevens, she revealed to us a tale of unimaginable horror. The details presented here, while not pleasant, are grim reminders of the forces of evil that all decent Wizardkind should be prepared to fight against. They come at the personal cost of not only one young witch and her family, but also the peace of mind of each and every witch and wizard in our world.

"Pureblood witches like myself are being labelled as 'blood traitors who are unworthy of our birthright' and repeatedly tortured, both physically and mentally, at the same time as being starved and raped. At times I wished they would just kill me like they did with others, instead of me letting me live in hell."

"There is a distinction made between blood and backgrounds, with Muggle-borns being killed on sight. They call it 'purifying the blood'. I heard one Death Eater say that he wouldn't 'pollute his body by letting a Mudblood touch it.' But maybe they were the lucky ones; at least their end was quick."

"Time lost all meaning when the hours endlessly blended into each other. I was terrified for every single second I was there, praying that each time the door opened they would take someone else. I lost any bravery I had and cried so much at just the thought of what they might do to me again. My whole body ached, I was a mess and even after coming home, even though I know I'm safe, I am still struggling to close my eyes."

"But at least I had been captured while fighting, and not an abducted innocent like others. There were a number of young witches that had been taken hostage, purely because they came from families that supported Dumbledore. It's almost as if the Death Eaters have a hit list of young witches they want to track down."

Citizens of the Wizarding world should be outraged to hear of these atrocities. Similar rumours made during the first rise of You-Know-Who were quickly overturned in the Wizengamot, despite the existence of the Geneva Convention.

Fifty years ago in August 1949, the Geneva Convention was written to protect all witches and wizards in the world. In the four years since Albus Dumbledore's successful triumph over the Dark Wizard, Grindelwald, the world discovered a growing list of atrocities that had been committed between 1939 and 1945 under the Dark Wizard's rule of terror. It was agreed by the nations of the world that this should never be allowed to happen again. Thus the International Convention for the Protection of Victims of War was held in Geneva and signed by all the countries in the world.

Speaking no more than a month ago at the fiftieth anniversary, Minister of Magic, Amelia Bones, stated, "These laws were written for the protection of all witches and wizards. We may be at war but that only makes it more vital that the Geneva Conventions are honoured. Unfortunately, we are facing an aggressor who has little respect for others and even less interest in controlling the activities of those who follow him. Let it be known that anyone found not complying with the International Convention for the Protection of Victims of War will suffer the full consequences of the law."

With the testimony of Miss Stevens, it seems clear that there are violations of at least five separate articles of the Geneva Convention; four articles concerning the treatment of prisoners of war and one article about the position of a war power within an occupied territory. The articles in their entirety are reprinted on page seventeen.

The Daily Prophet would like to applaud Miss Stevens for her bravery. In this age of uncertainty, it is remarkable the courage that witches and wizards throughout the world are summoning.

When asked if she would be returning to fight against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named after she had finished recovering at her parent's home, Stevens gave a defiant yes.

"We can't continue to let this happen and we have to be strong now no matter how hard it is, otherwise what future have we got?"