The Nightmare Man

Chapter Eleven

James Potter was a man of impulsive and shifting temper, and anyone who knew him could testify to that. He didn't sit still and let things happen when he was still around to stop it.

So when his wife was kidnapped without a trace, sitting still was the very last thing on his mind. He was pacing, Sirius had taken his wand away so he didn't destroy anything and people from the Order were trying to find a single clue in the house.

"I never even woke up!" James screamed. "She was there, and then she wasn't! I'm an Auror! I should've been able to figure something out! I should have noticed something!"

"There's nothing yet," Tonks told them, her hair shifting colours every few seconds. "Whoever did this is scarily good at erasing their magical signal."

"She didn't wander out on her own!"

"James, it's not Tonks' fault. Stop it," Sirius said, pushing him back from the Auror. "Alright, take it easy? Tonks, try to find something outside the wards. Maybe they got sloppy there."

"I'm on it!"

James sat down, but hopped up a moment later and began pacing once more, tearing at his hair this time. Sirius couldn't do anything but stand back and watch him.

At least until a shrill alarm sounded through the house. Everyone winced and then raced around to see the cause of the alarm. But James seemed to know where it was and pulled out a parchment.

"Lily set this up," he said, "for her sister's house... it says... a magical person has attacked it."

"This can not be just a coincidence," Albus said. "I will take a few people with me to the house."

-o-

Petunia Dursley's house was burning by the time they arrived. Muggles were gathered outside but Albus waved his wand around and made them leave. The others had already started dousing the house with water spells.

"Any magical signals?" Albus called out.

"There is one, faintly!" Shacklebolt replied. "Albus... the magical signature is that of the Nightmare Lord."

"No..."

The fire had been put out, and they moved into the half-burnt house at great haste.

Whatever part of the hallway that had been spared from the fire was splattered with blood. The white floor was the same way. The kitchen was completely blackened but the living room appeared almost untouched.

Unless you counted the broken picture frames and the body of Dudley Dursley. The teenager appeared to have been killed swiftly and lay face down on the floor.

"No damage," Shacklebolt said after examining the body. "Most likely Avada Kedavra."

"What about his parents?" Albus said. "Any signs of them?"

"The amount of blood in the hall suggests at least one more body," Remus said, coming inside the living room. "They can both be dead. But why would the Nightmare Lord go after them?"

"Perhaps he took Lily..." Albus said. "And he killed her family."

"But why?" Remus said. "Why select her? By all rights, he should've taken the minister, someone he truly views as an enemy. She should just be one enemy, not the enemy."

"She attacked him on her own during that last raid," Shacklebolt said. "He knows she cares for Severus. That might be the sole reason why he would take her. To torture her with the knowledge he took Severus from our side and turned him into a mindless slave."