2 years ago

Dumbledore looked at the Order of the Phoenix gravely. "I have called this emergency meeting," the older wizard began, "Because a matter of great importance has come up."

Remus yawned tiredly, dark rings around his eyes. Whatever it was, it wasn't important enough for them to…

"Harry Potter has escaped Azkaban."

There were many shocked gasps throughout the Order. Remus nearly spat out the firewhiskey he was drinking.

"How is this possible?" Kingsley demanded. "And why haven't the Aurors been informed of this?"

"Minister Fudge told me several hours ago," Dumbledore sighed. "He wanted, as I'm sure you're all aware, to see how guilty Harry Potter really was and to show me that I was wrong for believing in him."

"Fudge is desperate," Moody growled out in a raspy voice. "He wants to win over more supporters. Wants to show the world how inept Dumbledore really is, and how much greater a man he is."

"Albus, you're not to blame," Molly said sadly before her voice became angry. "That…boy is! What kind of a slimy, two-faced…"

"Molly," Arthur said tiredly. "This isn't the time."

Remus jumped up in anger. "I don't see how you could still blame him!" he spat. "There was much evidence, but you know Harry! There is, and still is no way he could have killed Cedric Diggory and his Godfather Sirius!"

"Of course," Snape said with dripping sarcasm. "He just happened to be in the exact same place and same time at both of their deaths, and has two killing curses registered on his wand."

"But think!" the werewolf pleaded. "Would our Harry ever do such a thing? What if Voldemort…" several people winced, "Set it up? Ever since Harry went to Azkaban, he's been going on a rampage! What if he planned for it?"

"We cannot burden ourselves with conspiracies," Dumbledore said with a sigh. "There are more of us now, but we must focus on the fact that young Harry, somehow escaped. We do not know what he will do now. Will he target his friends, for example?"

Lupin fell back into his chair miserably, taking a swig out of the flask of alcohol he carried. Ever since his friend's death and Harry going to prison, he had become even more depressed, falling into drinking to help him.

The wolf inside had become much more wild and unpredictable because of the alcohol – but Remus didn't know any other way to help his grief.

--

Harry cleaned himself with the stolen wand.

An Auror had nearly caught him as he transformed back from his bird form.

He took little pleasure in watching the Auror fall to his death into the ocean from the top of Azkaban, screaming, but if he leaked out that he was an Animagus it would make escaping much harder.

He steeled himself. His death was necessary. Keep telling yourself that, and you might believe it.

Harry conjured a rope, tying the wand to it. Transforming into his form, he pulled the wand around his body before taking off, delighted finally at his freedom.

--

Present

"Come on, you fools," Bellatrix snarled quietly as the group of Death Eaters huddled together under disillusionment charms. "Spread out and stick to the Dark Lord's plan!"

The Death Eaters did, fearful of what the mad lady would do if they didn't follow her orders.

More and more purebloods had flocked to their cause after the initial attack. When the leader of the light's faith in the Boy-Who-Lived was misplaced, many came to the Dark Lord, knowing he would establish a new order.

And Bellatrix, his most loyal Death Eater was given command of an entire squad of Death Eaters to use at her disposal – Voldemort trusted her enough to make independent attacks without his supervision, a trust that the witch promised would not be misplaced.

But now they were in one of Lord Voldemort's more intricate plans – a plan to capture Azkaban prison.

Suddenly there were several yells and a massive explosion, flinging rubble and bodies all over the place.

Bellatrix snapped up, wand in hand. That wasn't part of the initial plan! And how did the petty Aurors manage to catch them by surprise? "Move!"

--

The warrior gave a grim smile as he looked from his vantage point on the structure of Azkaban prison.

He took out a sleek pair of grey binoculars from his heavy trench coat, activating it with a button on the side.

The world turned ghostly green. He scanned the entrance, before pressing another switch, activating the thermal vision.

A cold smirk graced his lips as he saw several heat signatures creeping across in different groups.

Voldemort's playing it smart this time. Surprising, but not completely unexpected.

Leaping into the air, he shifted into the form of a raven, flying down and landing on the ground, his shape obscured by the shadows as he changed back.

From his coat he withdrew a silvery, fist-sized orb, clicking a switch as red lines began to blink rapidly.

A moment later the grenade went flying into the air, giving off a fireball-like explosion.

At that moment the soldier was up, pulling out twin submachine guns, magically enhanced bullets firing out sharply from their barrels.

One Death Eater gave a scream of pain as his body was riddled with bullets. Another was already running around, burning, before a bullet silenced him once and for all.

He did not stop until the squad of Death Eaters was all corpses lying at his feet.

At that time the killer had spent both his clips – he shrugged, putting them back into his coat and pulling out a long rifle with runes carved into its pale surface.

He didn't have long to wait before another group arrived, lead by none other than Bellatrix Lestrange.

As soon as they appeared from under their disillusionment charms, the female witch's eyes had widened at the dark figure and fired a killing curse.

The soldier lazily tilted his head to one side as the curse whizzed past his head, raising his rifle and firing several shots in quick succession.

Five Death Eaters went down, their heads a bloody mass of pulp and brain tissue.

"Spread out," Bellatrix barked, firing more spells at the killer, who was now moving also, rifle jerking slightly in his hand as it blazed furiously.

Bellatrix whirled her wand around furiously, sweat forming on her skin as she rapidly tried every single offensive spell she knew of, only for them to be dodged or deflected off a sleek black shield that appeared on his arm when it was needed.

She stepped back as realisation dawned on her face. There was no way she would be able to win this fight. "Retreat!"

It was then that she realised her entire squad of Death Eaters were now pieces of bloody, chunky meat strewn around on the ground.

"You're finished," the man stated in a cold, harsh voice.

Bellatrix's eyes narrowed as she began to raise her wand. "Ava…"

Without blinking or moving, a throwing knife was deftly flicked from a gloved hand, finding its mark straight through her hand as she cried, dropping her wand in pain.

As the warrior walked up to her, he loosely gripped her chin, pulling it up so that she could stare into his faceless mask. "I could kill you know. You know that, don't you?"

Her eyes were fearless and defiant. What could this buffoon do in comparison of the Dark Lord? "Then do it! Kill me, if you're so strong!"

The soldier hit her with the butt of his rifle, catching her as she fell.

He picked up her fallen wand, grabbing a stone off the ground. "Portus."

As the two disappeared, Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix apparated in, after managing to get the defenses down.

"What…" Kingsley gasped at the scene. In all his years, he had never seen something like this.

Arthur went over to one of the bodies, looking at it as he tried not to vomit. "They're all mutilated badly, Albus. Whoever did this did so with extremely dark magic."
The old man frowned as he cast several detection charms. "That does not appear to be the case, Arthur. I myself do not know any spells, dark-natured or otherwise, that could cause such horrific effects."

Moody frowned. "Whatever caused this, the additional defenses around Azkaban weren't in place the last time I came here. Someone didn't want to be disturbed, while they came to fight the Death Eaters."

"How can you be sure it's one person?" Tonks asked. "There's no way that any single person could cause this much…"

Moody jabbed at several bodies. "It's obvious, isn't it? The way these bodies were all blown back from a single place, as well as trajectory and the repetitive nature of whatever spells our little friend used. The wounds also don't seem to be from magic, Albus. No magic creates wounds like these or mutilates this brutally. Only physical or muggle means."

--

Bellatrix opened her eyes to find herself strapped to a chair.

As she looked down, she saw that she was strapped to this strange metallic contraption with many runic inscriptions carved into its surface, and a rune circle surrounding her feet.

A dull hum sounded as several computer screens glowed, highlighting the masked killer's face before he laughed madly, taking it off.

The dark witch paled. "Potter!"

Harry grinned. "In the flesh."

He had changed considerably – his long, dark hair reached down to his shoulders. His face was hardened, crueler as if he had seen much hardship, and a long jagged scar ran down the side of his face. His green eyes, once brilliant and sparkling, now faded to an intense coldness and slight madness.

Even tied now to this strange contraption, Bellatrix's sarcasm was still present, albeit weakly. "So little baby Potter has grown up! Thinks he can fight Death Eaters now, thinks…"

Harry pressed a button on his monitor, a metal piece slamming against her mouth and silencing her. "Save it, Bellatrix. You can't hurt me like that, your voice just irritates me."

He smiled insanely, gesturing widely to his machines, hooked up to the chair. "Brilliant, isn't it? Designed and built it myself, with some help of course. Now, let's see if the pain directors are working…"

A blue glow surrounded Bellatrix as the mouthpiece muffled her horrific scream. She thrashed about wildly in the chair but was restricted by the metal straps – tears even began to form in her eyes.

"A combination of muggle technology and magic. Ironic, isn't it that the computer is using your very own magical core to direct the pain at your nerve endings. It's good that you're a powerful witch also – magnifies the pain twenty times. Worse than a torturing curse, wouldn't you say?" Harry adjusted a knob and switched off the pain directors. "Now let's get started…"

As soon as the mouthpiece was deactivated, Bellatrix growled. "I'll tell you nothing, Potter! I would never betray my master!"

"No sarcasm, I see. Too bad… I thought you would be stronger than that, after all." Harry smiled coldly. "I'll break you first, then question you. It'll be easier than punishing you for not answering anyway."

Bellatrix gave off another ghastly scream, this time without the mouthpiece as it echoed through the dark room. Her face twisted through pain as her thin body writhed from the agony.

Harry held it for a full ten minutes, smiling cruelly as tears rolled down her cheeks. "I can even direct all the pain to specific points – how about your genitals next? A very sensitive spot for most people, I'd say." He walked up, leaning into her quivering face. "Thank you, Bella, for showing me the fine art of torture. I can definitely see how you get your kicks from this."

--

Harry in reality despised torture – there was no point wasting his own time and energy to do these things. A bullet to the head usually was enough, after all.

But Bellatrix was a fountain of information. Everything he needed to know about Voldemort's strategies, future plans and tactics came here from one of his most trusted Death Eaters.

And it was from her that he got another hint – a particularly important one.

--

The Ministry of Magic, Harry mused as he looked at it from atop a nearby building, carrying a bulky case. Of course. Take that bumbling idiot Fudge hostage, torture him or use him as a pawn. All involve attack and capture. Too bad Lucius wasn't here… an image of his bloodied corpse hanging from the chandelier of Malfoy Manor popped into his head. It would make things much more amusing. Ah well.

Scouting the usual Death Eater rally points, he found that there was a lot more activity lately and figured something big would be happening soon.

According to his new source, the Ministry had been the Dark Lord's target for quite a while, but would only attempt it if he were desperate.

Well seeing as he completely decimated the Death Eater forces in the attempted capture of Azkaban, these would be pretty desperate times.

A slight flutter of movement stirred from the other side. Harry frowned as he activated his optical sight.

The world became red as it highlighted several magical signatures heading towards the Ministry.

Harry flicked a switch and readouts begun being displayed, showing wind movement, direction and speed.

"Perfect. I've got a good shot from here."

Being an excellent sniper, Harry knew the golden rule – never shoot more than once. However, this was the wizarding world and he was trying to kill as much as possible before moving in, not just taking out a single high profile target so he would break it – just this once, of course.

Opening his case, Harry assembled the high-powered sniper rifle swiftly, fastening the bolt in with a click and chambering the round as he lay prone, jamming the rifle into his shoulder and looking down the sight.

The attack begun shortly as a group of Death Eaters apparated not too far from the entrance, marching in militaristically as people screamed, trying to get away.

Cowards. Harry steadied his breathing, aligning the sights and pulling the trigger.

The world exploded in his face as the rifle kicked back in his arms, letting out a deafening roar as the lead Death Eater's head disappeared in a burst of blood.

He snarled as he adjusted the rifle, firing it several more times to see more confusion and chaos as more Death Eaters fell.

Another group appeared, trying to attack where the previous group had tried to and failed – absolute idiots, really. With the Ministry's wards taking out their disillusionment charms, they were basically sitting ducks for his rifle.

Harry emptied two more magazines before he disassembled his rifle, depositing it and the case into his heavy coat before falling off the edge of the building, turning into a raven.

And now, let the fun begin.

--

Why do I have the worst of luck? Remus groaned as he dodged another killing curse, sending back a stunner in reply. I just go out, to get a hangover potion, and get caught up…MOVE! He leapt out of the way, barely from an overpowered blasting hex.

His senses begun to fog up as his headache kicked in. Oh joy…

In slow motion, the Death Eater he was dueling was in the middle of an incantation, his wand tip starting to glow…

Before he was blasted away, a huge part of his side bursting into chunks of blood.

Suddenly Remus was grabbed roughly be the scruff of his collar and pulled to the side.

"Don't try to fight and stay out of the way," the masked figure growled as he put him down, turning around again and pulling out twin automatic shotguns.

Remus watched with morbid fascination as he walked down the Alley calmly, weapons blazing in his hands.

Another Death Eater gave off a war cry as he transfigured a large club but as he got close he was merely smacked in the face with the butt of one shotgun and shot with the other.

Soon a whole mass of bodies surrounded the killer like a ring.

He looked around, satisfied with his work before depositing the two guns into his coat.

"Stop!" A lead Auror yelled as they appeared on the scene.

A unit of Aurors ran out from the Ministry, following the lead Auror. As if it wasn't enough, almost on cue Dumbledore and some of the Order apparated in as well.

"I demand to know who you are," Dumbledore commanded in an authoritative voice.

"You're in no position to demand anything," the man snarled. "Stay out of the way, Dumbledore. That goes for ALL OF YOU!" he whirled around, addressing everyone in ear range. "I'm going to kill all of the Death Eaters and kill the Dark Lord myself, so stay out of my way!"

"You can't speak to the leader of the light like that!" Tonks yelled angrily, ignoring the warning look that several fellow Order members were sending her. "And we've got you surrounded! If we want we would arrest you now!"

"You could try," he said bluntly. "Now before I go…"

He raised a hand, sending out a burst of energy before disapparating.

The grim visage of a massive black death-skull loomed over them, glowing bright red at the edges.

Fudge ran out, accompanied by his guards and gasped at the sight. "Dear Merlin, what have we gotten ourselves into?"

--

Harry reappeared at his personal retreat, walking up to the shed.

He put his eye up to it – the scanner glowed briefly being going green and opening the door.

As he walked in, he pulled all the weapons he had taken out of his coat, placing them in their respective racks in the oversized shed with literally hundreds of different weapons and devices.

Harry smiled grimly at the sight of all the weapons he had accumulated as he placed his ammunition back in their strongboxes.

Kill them all.