Days passed. Yang chose not to interact with the man as he came and handed out food. He kept being given glasses of baby food. He really didn't understand why but he didn't complain. He suspected the man wanted to get a reaction from him, he wouldn't give it. He spent the remainder of the time either sleeping, straight on the hardwood floor of the cage, or searching for a way out. So far, he had nothing. The chain made it very clear every time he got close to a boundary by increasing the pain. He didn't even need to have a barred cage, the chain prevented him from even reaching the bars at the side closest to the door. The man left his food closer and closer to that invisible border every day, but to prevent him from seeing Yang in pain, he never went for it until after the man had left.
He had a lot of time to think about what the man had said. The docility of all the creatures around him told him that the chains probably worked on magical creatures. But would they really work on sentient creatures like himself? Though if he was kept in a cage for long enough, he might go crazy like the prisoners he had seen in Azkaban. Humans didn't do well in captivity, with no stimulation. Would it be the shock from the chain or the forced passivity that would get to him first? It was impossible to know, but Yang didn't look forward to finding out. Right now, the chain varied from giving intense pains to just a slight tingle. It had no set intervals, which was probably intentional. He would never know how long the torture would go on this time, or how long the break was.
His captor said that he was pretending to negotiate for his release. Which meant that he probably didn't intend to let him go. He had already tried to escape with wandless magic, but it was no use. He suspected the chain drained him of energy, he wasn't able to perform a single spell, even something simple like levitating a pebble. He had never been the best at wandless magic, but he should have been able to do that much. He knew the whole building wasn't blocked from doing magic, as his captor had used it in here extensively. Could the chain block his magic somehow? He didn't think anything would be able to do that.
After several days of no reaction from Yang, the pain suddenly stopped. A few minutes later, a window suddenly opened in the middle of the room, from a black space he had noticed earlier. What sort of magic was this? Then he saw several familiar faces. The Knocker was shown from somewhere dark, and another picture showed the Ministry offices he was familiar with. Was this supposed to be proof of life? He wouldn't help with that. Let them think he was dead, that would be better. They shouldn't negotiate with this monster! He continued to lay flat on the ground.
"He doesn't look alive to me," a voice said. He thought it was Potter but couldn't look up to see.
Yang felt the largest shock yet go through his body, clearly meant to get him to make a noise or at least spasm. But with the constant pain he had been in for the last days, he had become almost numb. He wasn't sure his muscles could get more tensed up, or if he could move if he tried to. His fingers moved slightly, but the rest of him remained still, though several bouts of painful shocks were meant to make him react. He supposed this was one difference between a beast and a being. He knew the pain was temporary, so he was able to ignore it.
"He's being stubborn. As you can see, his chest is moving, he is breathing. He is alive."
"From that angle, I'm not even sure he is my missing Auror. Why does he lay down like that?" Yang had to hide a smile. He knew Potter recognised him. He was stalling and at the same time acknowledging that he got Yang's signal about not negotiating.
"Why don't you ask him? He's not listening to me, but maybe he will respond to a direct order from his boss?"
"Yang, if that's you, get up. Or make a noise, so I at least know you're alive. Your family is worried about you." Good. Potter knew as well as he did that Yang didn't have any family. They had all died 5 years ago.
"We're done here." he heard the man say. "Your Auror clearly has a death wish. Good luck trying to stop me from doing whatever I want. Or do you wish to give me more Aurors to play with?" Then the light went out and the voices were gone.
Yang didn't know what to think about that exchange. On the one hand, he wanted to say that they shouldn't negotiate with or give this criminal anything. But did he have a death wish? He hadn't cared if he lived or died for quite some time. Ever since Yang had lost the only three people in his life that had ever meant anything to him, he had volunteered for the most dangerous assignments. And yet, he had always pulled through, though it had been a close call a few times. And now he was in possibly his worst position yet, and no sign of it improving. He doubted this man would have released him no matter what Potter offered. Nor would Potter offer anything the man would have needed, such as clemency.
Potter knew better than most how Yang felt. He had been the one to prevent Yang from self-destructing when his entire family drowned while on vacation in Kent. It had only taken a moment, while Yang had gone to get drinks. He had tried everything, even magic, while the Muggle lifeguards had tried CPR. But no magic could bring back the dead.
He heard the door open in the background, but he didn't get up. He suspected he was about to pay for the stunt he had just done. But would it have been any different if he had tried to communicate with Potter? The man had already said that he wasn't going to let Yang go.