The Eagle and The Snake: A Tragic Love Story

30. Appraisal

Eventually the day of reckoning arrived, and Luna and Carly stood nervously in the woods by the Lovegood home, waiting for the arrival of Lord Voldemort.
Having only seen him a couple of times, both girls were extremely nervous about seeing him again.
Not to mention the fact that Carly had Voldemort's locket, in a trunk under her bed. And if he knew about it, he would almost certainly kill them both.
Since they knew that Voldemort was a skilled Legilmens, they knew they had to keep all thoughts of the locket, as far away as possible.

When Voldemort arrived, both girls bowed to their master, as they knew they had to do.
"Good evening girls" said Voldemort.
"Good evening, my lord" chorused the girls in unison.
"I trust you have good news for me" replied Voldemort.
Carly nodded her head, "Yes, my lord. Harry and I are closer than ever. He trusts me just as much, if not more than the friends he's had for years".
"That is good to hear. I will need you to keep that closeness up during the rest of your school year" informed Voldemort.
"I will, my lord".

"Good. Now, I have a question for you. Does your brother spend a lot of time with Dumbledore?" Asked Voldemort.
"Not as much as normal. For some reason, the headmaster has been distancing himself from Harry this year. In fact, it has made Harry kind of mad, that Dumbledore is ignoring him" answered Carly.
"It seems the old man isn't as stupid as I thought. He realised that there was a connection between me and Harry, so he has began distancing himself from him, to make my goals more challenging. No matter, I have other ways of getting the information I need from Dumbledore, through you and Snape" replied Voldemort.

"Harry worries greatly about the strange connection you two have" revealed Carly.
"I was unaware of just how closely our minds were connected, until this Christmas" admitted Voldemort.
"You're referring to the attack on Arthur Weasley" said Luna.
"Yes, I am. As astute as ever, Miss Lovegood. Yes, while possessing my snake Nagani, I felt another presence there with me. And it was Potter" replied Voldemort.
"Harry has no control over it. He doesn't chose when and where his mind goes, when he falls asleep. He didn't intend on spying on you" reassured Carly.
"No matter, I'm sure I will be able to use this to my advantage in due course" sighed Voldemort.

"Why did you attack Arthur Weasley, my lord?" Asked Luna curiously.
"I did not posses my snake, and head to the Ministry of Magic, merely to attack a low ranking Ministry employee. I was looking for something in the Ministry, something the Order of the Phoenix has been keeping me from. While I was there, I realised someone was watching me, and that is why I attacked Mr Weasley. I do not attack people, when I have no cause to, only when I am in extreme situations" explained Voldemort.

"I did think it strange that you were attacking Arthur Weasley, since he's a pure-blood" admitted Carly.
"I have no quarrel with pure-bloods, nor the Weasleys. I would have attacked whichever member of the Order happened to be on guard at the Ministry that night" informed Voldemort.
Carly bit her lip and looked at the floor, glad that Nymphadora hadn't been on guard that night, as she could have lost someone who was like a sister to her.

"What else can you tell me about Mr Potter's activities at school?" Continued Voldemort.
"Well, he hates Dolores Umbridge, our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, just like the rest of us" answered Luna.
Voldemort smiled, "Yes, I've heard several things about her. I've been told that she isn't letting her students use magic in her classes".
"That is true" replied Luna.
"The Ministry are making things much easier for me by doing this. Dumbledore won't be able to recruit students into his precious Order in the future, if none of them can perform a simple defensive charm".

"I'm afraid that's where my brother comes in" announced Carly.
"I don't follow" frowned Voldemort.
"We can't say too much, since we signed an enchanted contract. But what we can tell you, is that Harry has set up his own mini Order of the Phoenix, where he teaches spells and enchantments to his classmates" revealed Carly.
"I take it that you are a part of this group as well?"
"Of course. We have done everything possible to remain close to Harry, including joining his secret society. We would have joined anyway though, because we need to know defensive spells, if we are going to fight for you in the future".

"You don't need to worry about that. I make sure that all my death eaters are properly trained, before I send them out into battle. During the first wizarding war, I made training for all of my death eaters compulsory, as they were not all as talented as Snape, and Bellatrix" admitted Voldemort.
"Well, we still want to know how to be good at spells, which is why we work very hard in Harry's lessons" replied Carly.
"I find it obsurd that Harry, who is a child, is teaching classes, and telling his little friends what to do" chuckled Voldemort.
"He is actually a very good teacher. We've learned loads under his guidance".

"How many people are in this group?" Questioned Voldemort.
"About 20, my lord" Luna answered.
"I see. And what age are these students?" Quizzed Voldemort.
"All ages, sir. Some are in our year, and some are in their 7th year"
"And they are from all houses?"
"All houses except Slytherin. Carly is the only one in her house, who is in this group".
"That's because my brother doesn't trust Slytherins" sighed Carly.
"Yet, he trusts you?" Asked Voldemort.
"Yes, he does" confirmed Carly.

"And how exactly did you manage to accomplish this?" Questioned Voldemort.
"It wasn't easy. There has been a lot of sacrifice on our part. And for a time, we were the only ones he relied on" informed Carly.
Voldemort frowned, "What kind of sacrifice?".
Carly sighed and removed her glove, exposing the scars on the back of her hand.
"Umbridge gives out the worst detentions. She makes you write lines using a blood quill, which causes excruciating pain, as you are essentially carving into your own skin with a dagger. And since Harry is always in detention with her, we had to continuously get detentions as well, so that we had a shared connection with him" explained Carly.

Voldemort stepped closer to Carly and observed her hand.
"Fascinating, the lengths that the Ministry will go to, to silence our voices" mumbled Voldemort.
"Fascinating isn't the word I'd use" admitted Luna, as she looked sadly at her own bandaged hand.
"It is clear to me that you are both dedicated to the cause, and you have already sacrificed so much for our side. I am very grateful for this sacrifice, and it does not go unnoticed. However, I don't want my future soliders to get too badly damaged, so I will instruct Snape to issue you both with some pain relief potions, to make your detentions a little more bearable. I am proud of how you have been coping this year. You are very intelligent and strong girls, and I am sure that you will both be very powerful allies to me, in the future" announced Voldemort.

"Does that mean you are going to make us official death eaters now?" Asked Luna, hopefully.
"Not today, no. You are both still very young. And it is too early for me to make you members of my inner circle" answered Voldemort.
"What more can we do to prove our loyalty to you?" Questioned Luna.
"Just keep doing what you are doing. I'm sure that in time, you will get what you deserve" replied Voldemort, before turning his back on them and apparating away.

"Well, that was anticlimactic" mumbled Carly.
"I was sure he was going to make us death eaters today. And it was going to make all of our suffering worth it" sniffed Luna, as she looked down at her hand once more.
Carly embraced Luna, and held her tight.
"Don't worry. I'm sure that by the end of the school year, we will have proved ourselves to him. He will make us death eaters, you'll see" reassured Carly.
"I hope you're right" muttered Luna.