The Dark Side (A Harry Potter Fanfiction)

Chapter 22: The Dark Lord Ascending

          We were sitting in one of the many drawing rooms in Malfoy Manor, once again waiting for Snape. Well, Snape and another wizard. I sat beside my father, and the room was so silent, I could hear him breathing. I could also hear the occasional moaning of our 'guest'. A middle-aged witch was hovering over the end of the table, rotating slightly. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Draco glancing up at it often.
          "Yaxley, Snape," spoke my father. Two men had walked in the drawing-room, looking confused as to where they sat. We were missing a few people off on missions. "You are very nearly late. Severus, here," he motioned to the seat on his right. "Yaxley, beside Dolohov," they took a seat and waited for Voldemort to continue. "So?"
          "My Lord, the Order of the Phoenix intends to move Harry Potter from his current place of safety on Saturday, next nightfall," spoke Snape.
          "Saturday...at nightfall," my father repeated. "Good. Very good. And this information comes—"
          "From the source we discussed," replied Snape.
          "My Lord," Yaxley interrupted my father's thoughts, and a piercing glare caught him. "My Lord, I have heard differently," he continued with the icy stare. "Dawlish, the Auror, let slip that Potter will not be moved until the thirtieth, the night before the boy turns seventeen."
          "My source told me that there are plans to lay a false trail; this must be it. No doubt a Confundus Charm has been placed upon Dawlish, it would not be the first time he is known to be susceptible."
          "I assure you, My Lord, Dawlish seemed quite certain."
          "If he has been Confunded, naturally he is certain," said Snape. I could see my father was sick of their bickering. "I assure you, Yaxley, the Auror Office will play no further part in the protection of Harry Potter. The Order believes we have infiltrated the Ministry."
         "The Order's got one thing right then, eh?" a short man beside Yaxley spoke. He made a sound mixed between a wheeze and a giggle. No one laughed. Voldemort looked to the person above the table.
          "My Lord," Yaxley continued, ignoring the stout man. "Dawlish believes an entire party of Aurors will be used to transfer the boy—" my father held up his hand. He was silent.
          "Where are they going to hide the boy next?" he looked to Snape.
          "At the home of one of the Order. The place, according to the source, has been given every protection that the Order and Ministry together could provide. I think that there is a little chance of taking him once he is there, My Lord, unless, of course, the Ministry has fallen before next Saturday, which might give us the opportunity to discover and undo enough of the enchantments to break through the rest."
          "Well, Yaxley?" Voldemort looked down the table at him. "Will the Ministry have fallen by next Saturday?" Yaxley looked nervous.
          "My Lord, I have good news on that score. I have—with difficulty and great effort—succeeded in placing an Imperious Curse upon Pius Thicknesse," most looked impressed. Memories of performing and escaping the Imperious Curse flooded back to me.
          "It is a start," said my father. "But Thicknesse is only one man. Scrimgeour must be surrounded by our people before I act. One failed attempt on the Minister's life will set me back a long way."
          "Yes, My Lord, that is true, but you know, as head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Thicknesse has regular contact with not only the Minister himself but also with the Heads of all the other Ministry Departments. It will, I think, be easy now that we have such a high ranking official under our control, to subjugate the others, and then they can all work together to bring Scrimgeour down."
          "As long as our friend Thicknesse is not discovered before he has converted the rest," said Voldemort. "At any rate, it remains unlikely that the Ministry will be mine before next Saturday. If we cannot touch the boy at his destination, then it must be done while he travels."
          "We are at an advantage there, my Lord," said Yaxley. "We now have several people planted within the Department of Magical Transportation. If Potter Apparates or uses the Floo Network, we shall know immediately."
          "He will not do either," said Snape irritably. "The Order is eschewing any form of transport that is controlled or regulated by the Ministry; they mistrust everything to do with the place."
          "All the better. He will have to move in the open. Easier to take, by far," Voldemort looked back up at the revolving body. "I shall attend to the boy in person. There have been too many mistakes where Harry Potter is concerned. Some of them have been my own. That Potter lives is due more to my errors, than to his triumphs," the table was silent. "I have been careless, and so have been thwarted by luck and chance, those wreckers of all but the best-laid plans. But I know better now. I understand those things that I did not understand before. I must be the one to kill Harry Potter, and I shall be," a sudden cry erupted from the quiet room, making some jump. It was the floating body. "Wormtail," he hissed, still staring at the body.
          "Yes M-My Lord?" he scrambled out of the chair and quickly left to the next room.
          "As I was saying," he turned his gaze to us now. "I understand better now. I shall need, for instance, to borrow a wand from one of you before I go kill Potter," I looked down. My wand was exactly the same as his, right down to the core, would he ask for mine? I bit my lip in worry as he stood up. "No volunteers? Let's see... Lucius, I see no reason for you to have a wand anymore," Draco's father looked surprised and worried. I let out a sigh of relief.
          "My Lord?"
          "Your wand, Lucius. I require your wand."
          "I..." he looked to Narcissa, who looked at the opposite wall blankly. The whole Malfoy family had become a mess since we had to stay with them. Lucius reached into his robe pocket and handed my father his wand.
          "What is it?"
          "Elm, My Lord," he whispered.
          "And the core?"
          "Dragon—dragon heartstring."
          "Good," he compared his wand to Lucius'. Then Lucius moved his arm, and it seemed he wanted my father's wand in return. "Give you my wand Lucius? My wand?" some people sniggered. "I have given you your liberty, Lucius, is that not enough for you? But I have noticed that you and your family seem less happy of late... What is it about my presence in your home that displeases you, Lucius?"
          "Nothing! Nothing my Lord!"
          "Such lies Lucius..." a hissing could be heard, and a lot of people looked to see what it was. Through the slightly open door, an immense snake slithered in and plenty of people went pale. It slithered towards his seat, and father went to meet it. It slithered onto his shoulders, but he didn't seem to be bothered. Since I could speak Parseltongue, Nagini had always been similar to a friend. He stroked it mindlessly, his gaze not leaving Lucius. "Why do the Malfoys look so unhappy with their lot? Is it my return, my rise to power, not the very thing they professed to desire for so many years?"
          "Of course my Lord," said Lucius. "We did desire it—we do," then Bellatrix spoke.
          "My Lord, it is an honour to have you here, in our family's house. There can be no higher pleasure."
          "No higher pleasure," Voldemort repeated. "That means a great deal, Bellatrix, from you," she seemed thrilled with the response.
          "My Lord, know I speak nothing but the truth!"
          "No higher pleasure... Even compared with the happy event, I hear, has taken place in your family this week?" her face was screwed up in confusion.
          "I don't know what you mean, my Lord."
          "I'm talking about your niece, Bellatrix. And yours, Lucius and Narcissa. She has just married the werewolf, Remus Lupin. You must be so proud," all happiness left her face when the table erupted in laughter.
          "She is no niece of ours, My Lord!" she cried over the laughter. "We, Narcissa and I, have never set eyes on our sister since she married the Mudblood. This brat has nothing to do with either of us nor any beast she marries."
          "What do you say, Draco?" Draco didn't look at him. "Will you babysit the Cubs?" the entire room erupted in laughter and jeers. I went red in the face, gritting my teeth. "Enough," he stroked Nagini, who was hissing, disliking the noise. "Enough," the room went silent again.
          Many of our oldest family trees become a little diseased over time. You must prune yours, must you not, to keep it healthy? Cut away those parts that threaten the health of the rest."
          "Yes My Lord. At the first chance!"
          "You shall have it, and in your family, so in the world... We shall cut away the canker that infects us until only those of the true blood remain..." he raised Lucius' wand, pointing it at the body, and gave it a small flick. Still turning, the person came to life, wriggling out of invisible bonds. "Do you recognize our guest, Severus?" Snape looked at the figure. He said nothing.
          "Severus! Help me!" she cried, and in that instant, I recognized her too.
          "Ah, yes," Snape's tone was dull as if he was far away.
          "And you, Draco?" he shook his head without looking. "But you would not have taken her classes," an evil grin contorted his abnormally pale face. "For those of you who do not know, we are joined here tonight by Charity Burbage, who, until recently, taught at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Yes... Professor Burbage taught the children of witches and wizards all about Muggles... How they are not so different from us..." someone spat on the floor in disgust.
          "Severus... Please...please..." she begged, but Snape didn't so much as acknowledge her pleas.
          "Silence," with a flick of his wand, she fell silent. "Not content with corruption and polluting the minds of wizarding children, last week Professor Burbage wrote an impassioned defence of Mudbloods in the Daily Prophet. Wizards, she says, must 'accept these thieves of their knowledge and magic'. The dwindling of the pure-bloods is, says Professor Burbage, a most 'desirable' circumstance... She would all have us mate with Muggles...or no doubt, werewolves..." the room was silent. Everyone noticed the anger in his voice, and no one dared interrupt him. "Avada Kedavra."
          I restrained myself from turning my head, but my eyes closed and my fists clenched instinctively. Through my eyelids, I could see the green light and I heard her dead body hit the table with a thud. I looked to see Draco staring wide-eyed at her body sprawled out on the table.
          "Dinner, Nagini," the great snake slithered past all of the Death Eaters and I looked away as Nagini struck the woman with immense force. "You are dismissed," his tone was low and threatening as he watched the snake tear out the dead woman' jugular. I hurried from the room, eager to escape.