Chapter 27 - The Mirror

                                        

                                              
The Mirror
                              
It was a full-size mirror and Harry read it at the top:
                              
Hae portas sunt
                              
Dice transique ad aliud latus
                              
It looked familiar to him. It was the inscription above the mirror when Voldemort killed Karkaroff, but it was not the same mirror. It was older and the frame was dented more. Harry did not want to know what it meant, but Seamus dragged him forward anyway. Malfoy was still behind him, but Seamus went in front of the mirror. He looked at his own reflection and knelt down on one knee. 
                              
"Lord Voldemort," Seamus said, without a trace of fear. 
                              
Malfoy winced, but Harry watched the mirror intently. The surface of the mirror swirled into a whirlpool and the reflection changed. Voldemort appeared in the frame. Harry was frozen on the spot and as soon as his eyes made contact with Voldemort's eyes, his scar burned red-hot. He fell to the ground from the pain, but looked up at Voldemort defiantly. 
                              
Without another word, Malfoy and Seamus grabbed him and pulled him right through the mirror. It felt as though insects were crawling all over his skin, as Harry's hands hit the derelict wooden floor of Voldemort's lair. He looked up and around the dimly lit, shabby room. They were in the same room that Harry had seen in his dreams. 
                              
"Welcome, Harry Potter. It is good to see you, again," Voldemort said as though greeting an old friend, and he then turned to Seamus, beaming. "You have done well, my prince in bringing him here."
                              
Voldemort did not even look at Malfoy. The only other person in the room was Bellatrix, who was as evil and twisted looking as ever. Harry stood up slowly. He was out-numbered four to one. He knew, against these odds, it was hopeless even with his mother's wand strapped to his leg.
                              
"Nothing to say, Harry Potter?" Voldemort said, then laughed causing Harry's scar to wince in pain. 
                              
This is only the beginning, Harry thought, gulping slightly. Voldemort was going to pry the Prophecy out of him, and he was going to do it as slowly and methodically as possible. 
                              
Voldemort pulled out his wand and twirled it with his long fingers, "Well, let's get started, then." 
                              
Harry watched his wand cautiously, knowing what was coming. 
                              
"Crucio!" Voldemort yelled.
                              
Harry fell to the ground, writhing in pain. He lost track of time. Voldemort held his wand on Harry for a long time. By the time he lifted it, Harry could not see or hear anything. His skin was still on fire and he was violently shaking. When his senses started came back, he became dimly aware that Voldemort and his Death Eaters were laughing.
                              
"Get up!" Seamus yelled, while kicking him squarely in the back.
                              
"Do not bother my prince! Crucio!" Voldemort yelled, and Harry started screaming again. 
                              
Please, make it stop, Harry thought. His scar was burning and splitting his head in two. Voldemort kept this spell on longer than he kept the first, and Harry blacked out from the pain before he lifted it. They woke him up with Ennervate.
                              
"Trying to escape the pain? It will not work!" Voldemort snarled. 
                              
Harry was lying on his back and looking up at Voldemort. He was shaking still and his lip was bleeding from where he had bitten it. Seamus was pacing and watching him with a bloodlust, Malfoy was staring at him wide-eyed and was unable to look away, and Bellatrix was looking back and forth between Harry and her master with admiration and pure satisfaction.