A/N: Hey folks. It's been 11 years since the last update (wow). I got busy with college and then real life/job. It's honestly touching that people continue to read my story and a random comment on reddit made me realize that this story deserved a proper send off. So I'll continue to update this in the near future.

x-x-x-x-x

Harry awoke to a state of total darkness. He could feel a bruise forming on his head but his attempts to raise his hand to feel it were met with restraints that bound him. The cold stone floor meant he was likely in a dungeon somewhere. But Shaun wouldn't dare keep Grindelwald's apprentice tied up inside the brotherhood would he?

Harry redoubled his efforts to break free. Any attempts to use his air element were immediately suppressed likely from similar elemental suppression wards. His mind magics were still working but there was nothing in the room he could control with his telekinesis that could free him from his shackles. Attempting to move the heavy shackles binding him caused him to lose his balance, and hence his concentration.

It was a few hours later that a door opened to the dungeon and light poured in from the hallway. Harry ducked his head at the brightness while his eyes adjusted to the light. When he looked back up, he saw Grindelwald himself standing in the doorway.

"I'm sorry it has to be this way Harry." there was a hint of sadness in his voice and Harry could see the parallels to Dumbledore that people made.

It was perhaps the hint of caring in Grindelwald's voice that angered him far more than anything else. "Fuck you." Harry spat before trying to regain his sense of control. He needed to find a way out.

"I'm sure you're wondering why you're still alive?"

Harry had been wondering that but reluctant to ask in case they changed their mind about that.

"You should be smart enough to know I'll never join you after what you just pulled." Harry reasoned.

"I had hoped that you would grow to be a counter presence in the brotherhood to the Werewolves' power. Sadly, the greater good is more important than you, even if I have to lower myself to agree to..." Grindelwald shook his head in disgust.

"So why am I still alive then? If you're now cowered by the werewolves?" Harry inquired.

"As bait of course!" A smile spread on his face again. "Dumbledore is a nuisance that no one in the Brotherhood can properly deal with. So the plan is to keep him occupied for long enough for us to take control of the ministry. And what better bait than one of two orphaned Potters?"

"So I was always going to be a sacrifice in your plans?" Harry asked.

"No. You were always going to be part of the bait. But you would have been a fake prisoner before. And well, now a real one." there was a hint of regret in his voice.

"And finally, once Dumbledore takes the bait, you'll be fed a special poison brewed by our very own Christine which has no known cure. So long as Dumbledore can detect your weakening life signature, he'll keep trying. A few transformed werewolves lose in the compound, strong enough wards and a dying Potter will take even Dumbledore a long time to get past." Grindelwald explained. "Oh and you permanently lose all of your senses the moment the potion touches your tongue in case you were wondering." He added as an afterthought.

Harry shuddered. He didn't doubt Christine's ability to brew such a vile concoction. "So you occupy him for a bit, what then? At some point he'll come after you and take you down." Harry's instincts told him to gather as much information as he could.

"You need not worry about things beyond your expiry date." Grindelwald looked around before meeting his eyes. "I'm afraid this is the last time we meet Harry."

And suddenly Harry felt the strongest legilimency attack he had ever experienced. Luckily, he had been anticipating more of an interrogation so he had been preparing for such a thing since the beginning of the meeting. It wouldn't do to get caught off guard now and his thoughts on escape laid bare.

"Excellent occlumency as always." Grindelwald complimented before turning and leaving.

x-x-x-x-x

It had been three days since Harry had been imprisoned. Once a day a werewolf would come in, clean the waste bucket with a spell, give him some meager food and water, throw in an extra Crucio and laugh while leaving. The first time, Harry had tried using telekinesis to subdue the guard, he had promptly received a kick to the temple. The room was too bare bones, there wasn't anything sharp enough for him to use for an assault. Not to mention, he had no method of removing his shackles.

His head still aching from the now constant pain, he knew his next attempt had to be better prepared. It might just be his last attempt. He dare not ingest anything Christine had brewed knowing that his inability to fix it in the state he was in would be his death.

He spent hours with his eyes closed trying to use telekinesis to break the chains that bound him. To try to break the connection to the stone wall. But they were too sturdy. His efforts unsuccessful.

Harry finally turned his eyes towards the only other movable piece in the dungeon. The waste bucket. Flinging urine or feces at his assailants, while tempting, wouldn't help him escape if it did't incapacitate them. Thankfully the bucket was empty at the moment, but it still smelled bad. Likely his captors didn't know or care to use more advanced cleaning charms on it. Scrunching up his nose, Harry positioned himself so he could grab a piece of it and used the weight of his body to break off a piece of wood from the bucket. He levitated the piece of wood with telekinesis and had it move through the air at blazing speeds.

He had a weapon now but knew that the piece of wood couldn't break his steel bindings irrespective of how fast it flew. But it was a weapon nonetheless. Harry spent the next few hours sharpening point of the stake of wood before he heard footsteps outside. Harry quickly banished the piece of wood to a dark corner of the room.

Blinding light followed the opening of the cell door. His guard was accompanied by a new figure this time. "Tsk. Such a sad state of affairs." Christine commented while looking at his condition though there was no sadness in her tone.

"I'm told Master Gellert has already informed you about your role in matters." She continued matter of factly. She procured a potion from her pocket. "Now this here is just an experiment to get a good preliminary reading about your internals. We want to make sure to get the timing just right. Wouldn't want you dying too early now would we?" She asked with a smile.

The guard guffawed at her remark. Harry knew that there was no way he could ever let that potion enter his bloodstream. He didn't trust that it would only give "readings" of his internals. And that only meant that this was his last chance to act.

While Christine was still inspecting the dosage of the potion, the wooden stake that Harry had been preparing flew out from a dark corner of the room and sliced clean through the werewolve's neck. Blood spurted out from the wound as the werewolf fell to the floor clutching his neck, dead almost as soon as he hit the ground.

Christine dropped the vial in shock and looked ready to yell and flee before the wooden stake returned and this time hovered in front of her eyes. She moved her head to the side and the stake followed, always in front of her face.

"Scream for help or any sudden movements and you die." Harry commanded.

"But...h-h-how?! The elemental-" Christine sputtered.

"Shut up! Free me if you want to live." Harry knew that each second counted from this moment.

"I can't! I don't have the key nor can I cast a spell to free you." She whimpered. "But perhaps I can go get someone who can." She suggested half turning her body.

The stake whipped around and covered her exit. "I'd rather you did not. You have until I count to 10 to figure out a way or you die." Harry threatened.

"Ten"

Christine became frantic. "I can disable the elemental wards. Maybe that will be enough?"

"Do it. Nine."

She fumbled for a remote from her pocket and clicked a button and Harry could see runes flash in the ceiling before dimming and fading.

She pulled out a fire portkey but before Harry could do anything further, clicked the activation button on the portkey.

"There must be further anti-portkey wards in here as well. Eight." Harry also levitated the portkey away from her and into his palm. Now that he had his wind element again, he started using slices of wind to try and break the chains binding him. They made dents in the metal but were unable to properly cut through them.

"Seven."

"Six."

"Five."

Christine was in full on panic mode now that her only hope of escape had also failed. She took out potion after potion from her pocket, likely a magically expanded storage.

"Four."

"Three."

Finally, she took out an ugly green potion and held it up to the light reading the inscription on it.

"Two."

"This one! This acidic potion might be able to melt through the chains. While they are likely protected from spells, most wizards fail to adequately protect against potions." She made a motion towards the chains asking to come close and pour it on them.

Harry nodded. "Slow and deliberate movements only."

She began pouring the potion on his chains and a hissing sound emerged as the potion began to eat through the chain metal. His hands would still be bound because Harry didn't want that potion anywhere near his body but at least he would be free to leave the room, and hopefully portkey out.

Slices of wind in addition to the acidic potion finally resulted in the chain breaking and Harry breaking free. Hands still bound Harry made his way to the doorway.

Christine was looking in fear at the wooden stake still hovering in front of her. "I fulfilled your request. Please. Let me go" She asked.

Harry contemplated letting her go for a second before his own pain came crashing back down. His mother's death and the years she spent hating him all because Grindelwald poisioned her.

"Were you the one who brewed the poison that Grindelwald fed my mother?"

She didn't have to answer because he knew the answer from the look in her eyes alone.

"N-" her scream was cut by the stake impaling itself in her throat.

Harry hobbled over past the doorway hoping against hope that there were no further wards or guards in the hallway. His luck finally working for him, he found the hallway empty and clicked the portkey button.

He vanished in a puff of smoke.

x-x-x-x-x

It's been a while so feel free to call out any continuity mistakes. Thanks for reading!