The Last Horcrux

The Catacombs

It was the night of the solstice, the shortest night of the year. In the catacombs, deep under the streets of Paris, Narcissa pulled her wool cloak tighter around herself. She shivered as she hurried behind Lucius. His wand illuminated the walls of the dark passageway, which were lined with bones; stacks and stacks, hundreds of thousands of bones, the skulls arranged neatly in rows.

Lucius paused where the bones formed a symbol. A circle, inside a triangle, bisected by a vertical line. He dug in his pocket and pulled out a scrap of parchment. He read it and handed it to Narcissa. She saw the words scrawled in a rough hand.

"He returns," Lucius whispered. A wooden doorway appeared in the wall of bones. It swung open, but it disappeared the moment he entered. Drawing a deep breath, Narcissa recited the password. The magical door appeared once again, granting her entry to a long chamber.

In this room, too, the walls were lined with bones - femurs, tibias, radii, stacked one on top of the other, interspersed with rows and rows of skulls, hollow eyed and leering, arranged in an artistic pattern by an ancient, morbid hand. Rodolphus was already there, sitting at the head of a long table. Beside him was Bellatrix, returned to human form, her dark eyes glittering under heavy lids, her hair a ragged mass around her head. On Rodolphus' right sat a man she did not know. Seated beside him was Pettigrew, watery eyed and sharp faced as she remembered him.

"Cissssy." Bellatrix rose. She approached Narcissa, and pecked her lightly on the cheek. Narcissa heard the hiss of the snake in her words. "I have missssed you."

"Bella," Narcissa said, taken aback. "It's.... Good to see you....."

Narcissa recognized many of the faces seated around the table. Capricia Zabini was gorgeous as always, bedecked with jewels and seated beside a man Narcissa assumed to be her latest in a long line of husbands. Thorfinn Rowell looked squat and menacing. She saw Travers, Dolohov and Avery. Gunther Goyle was seated beside his son Gregory, who had been friends with Draco at school. Beside Gregory sat a group of young men with Durmstrang badges on their robes. Seeing them, Narcissa was pierced with a yearning for Draco so intense she thought she might faint.

"Attention please." Rodolphus rapped on the table. "I have gathered you together, loyalists to the true cause, the one great cause. Over three years ago now we suffered a great defeat. But the story is not over and we will rise again, my friends, we will rise again."

"Rise again," the assembled repeated solemnly and raised their fists into the air. Narcissa raised her fist and chanted along with the others.

Rodolphus looked around, his small white teeth gleaming in the low light. "Here in this tomb, under this great glittering Muggle city, surrounded by the bones of thousands, we will make history. Those of you who have assembled here will not forget this night, for it marks the beginning of our great resurgence." He looked around the room with satisfaction. No wonder he bought a circus, thought Narcissa. He's a born showman.

"Many of you know each other, though there are a few newcomers to our circle. Most especially, I would like to introduce a very special guest tonight. It is my honor to introduce Cadmus Grindelwald, son of the late, great Gellert Gridelwald, a man who, throughout his life, sought to uphold the supremacy of the Wizarding race, for the greater good."

The man beside Rodolphus stood. He was powerful looking, in the prime of middle age. His features were heavy, his blond hair cropped short, his eyes a pale, almost unnatural blue. He wore an emblem suspended from a chain around his neck, the same one that had been etched into the stone wall that marked the entrance to this place. A circle inside a triangle, bisected by a single line. When he spoke, his English was heavily accented.