Paid In Blood - Revised

Chapter 25

The moment the portkey dropped them on the other side, Harry, Dobby, and Scylla found themselves in a graveyard, surrounded by tombstones. Harry drew his wand, and Dobby pulled out a dagger while Scylla uncoiled herself from around the elf's waist.

"Scylla, go," Harry ordered, and the basilisk slithered through the paths between the tombstones in hunt of Nagini. Harry and Dobby quietly crept through the graveyard, eventually coming to translucent barrier that flashed blue where Scylla bumped up against it.

"I can't pass through the barrier," Scylla hissed, slithering back to them. Dobby grabbed his master's arm and Scylla and tried to pop to the other side, but he was unfortunately unable to do so.

"What the hell?" Harry growled, pointing his wand at the barrier. "The more time we waste..."

He didn't bother finishing his thought, he just started channelling his magic into the barrier and softly chanting in an ancient tongue. He could feel the magic of the barrier, which was a low powered spell weaved between several more traditional wards, including anti-apparition and alarm types. Interestingly, there was also a set of wards he was completely unfamiliar with. He found that odd, but he was too focused on getting to Daphne to give it much thought.

With a tremendous surge of power, he interwove his own magic between the ward lines and caused the physical barrier to crumble in less than a minute. In the interest of saving time, he left the rest intact.

"Now!" he growled, and the three of them passed through the ward line. They sped down the path, weapons drawn and prepared for attack, eventually coming to the edge of a small, grassy clearing set among the tombstones.

Harry's eyes bulged at what he saw.

Standing in formation were five people dressed in full Death Eater regalia, the flames from a nearby fire reflecting off their white masks.

Directly in front of them with his wand in his hand and look of surprise on his face was the Dark Lord Voldemort himself. He looked exactly as Harry had remembered him from all those years ago. He was tall and thin, his skin ghostly pale and totally hairless. His red eyes gleamed at Harry from either side of his snakelike nose, while a ghost of a smirk teased at his lipless mouth.

Harry's eyes were drawn to the girl standing in front of Voldemort. Daphne had clearly been roughed up. She was covered in dirt and bleeding from a busted lip, and her posture was listless. A closer look would reveal that her eyes were slightly glazed over, indicating she had been cursed.

Daphne's necklace was glowing, bathing the immediate area in a soft, green light. Lying motionless in the grass a short distance from her was the headless body of Kael, its exterior showing signs of significant damage. The unmoving, black-cloaked man lying beside it showed that Kael had at least taken out one of the Death Eaters first.

"Daph!" Harry called to her, but Daphne didn't move.

"Harry Potter," Voldemort spoke at last. "I have been expecting this moment for quite some time."

"Voldemort..." Harry spat, his gaze snapping to the Dark Lord. "I'm going to kill you for hurting Daphne."

Voldemort and his Death Eaters laughed.

"Oh, I'm quite terrified, Harry," Voldemort taunted, caressing Daphne's cheek with the backs of his spindly fingers.

"She did put up quite a fight, mind you. Enough to gain my interest. Outnumbered though she was, your girlfriend was still able to avoid my servants' curses and summon that snake of hers. It even killed one of my Death Eaters before we could destroy it. It was all for naught, however. It seems she doesn't have the same resistance to the Imperius Curse that you are rumoured to have."