Hibiscus Potter and the Nundu
Ten years ago, on a cold hallows eve, Lily Potter barricaded a door to a cozy little nursery. The evening had gone well enough, it was their first Halloween with little Hibiscus after all. The fidelius charm and multitude of other enchantments that protected the little cottage must have malfunctioned, but how? All Lilly knew was that she did not have time to focus on this. But despite her desire to stay focused she could not stop thinking of how well the evening had gone.
While Lily sat with Hibiscus at the window watching the different costumes amble by, James stood in the kitchen, cooking for the families Samhain dinner. Dumbledore had called Sirius and Remus and the rest of the order on a mission that very evening, meaning that it would just be the Potters that night. A half- hour later the Samhain feast was finally finished. The apples diced, the nuts roasted, the breads and greens placed on the table around the roast and potatoes, surrounded by different colored candles.
Green, red and a combination of gold and silver were the colors of their magical cores. They had had Hibiscus's core tested at St. Mungo's the weekend prior. Lily pulled out her wand and flicked it, the lights turning off in the whole house. The inky black was engulfing, heavy and endless. Lily lit her wand following James, the two young parents went to light their candles. Lily lit the green colored ones. James lit his red ones with a fire lit wand tip.
Eventually, they turned to the gold and silver candles and lit them while Hibiscus clapped giddily. They then proceeded to go through the rest of the dinner and traditions. After they finished with the roast and potatoes, James pulled out Hibiscus's little toy broom which she whizzed around on. The family blissfully laughed; joyfully unaware that darkness would soon engulf the family. In fact, they remained happy until the wards Lilly had set up around the property and covered with Subtlety Charms went off.
Voldemort sniffed the air of the Samhain evening and released an inhuman sigh of contentment. Well, if that's what it could be called really. He was relaxing in the humble abode of a muggle family he had slaughtered the evening before. It was quite 'coincidentally' situated next to a church located near the Potter's cottage.
The cold snakelike man looked down upon the dead muggle family on the floor. He had assigned Nagini the arduous task of disposing of the corpses. Nagini preferred young flesh to old and was now gleefully consuming the little muggle girl's body without a thought in the world.
He sunk deep into his thoughts, absentmindedly twirling his wand between his fingers. He doubted there would be any surprises that evening. The blood traitorous Potter boy would most likely be the first to go. Then he would move on to the dirty mudblood. Though his reports defined her to be a skilled young woman with an aptitude for magic, a single dirty mudblood stood not a chance against the Lord Voldemort.
Voldemort had made sure that the rest of the order affiliates including that bumbling fool Dumbledore were preoccupied. His death eaters were launching an attack on muggle London. This ensured nothing would stand in his way when he made the move to dispose of this pathetic little girl who possessed no worthy background, whose mere existence dare threaten his indomitable reign.
He reminisced over how he determined it to be her that the prophecy bespoke of. After all the choices had been her or the Longbottom boy who were the only two children born in July to order members who had thrice defied him. But it only solidified that she was the one when his spies in the ministry said her scum parents had her tested for magical core and she had a gold and silver aura. After this evening ended he decided he would take out the other child just to be certain.
Either way he knew one of the two children was the prophetic one and was determined to stop their rise to power. Lord Voldemort pulled up his sleeve and pressed his wand against his forearm. Peter Pettigrew popped into existence and tripped on the carpet when he apparated into the room. He hurriedly spread into a bow to Voldemort. "My lord," he said with his head still on the carpet, "how may I serve you?" Voldemort looked down upon him coldly. "I assume you are prepared for me to enter the fidelius Pettigrew? For if you are not, there are other things I could be spending my precious Samhain doing." Mercilessly he shot a powerful cruciatus curse at the pathetic little man, causing him to shriek in agony.
"I swear to you, my dark lord, all will go as planned, the potter's are alone, and the fidelius will allow you through because I am truly the secret keeper." Peter informed breathlessly. The dark lord did not waste his breath to respond. He simply waved his wand causing the door to open with a bang, startling Peter so badly he jumped. Voldemort stood, before he left he hissed in parseltongue at Nagini, "Keep our guest company." The snake acquiesced, slithering lithely over to Pettigrew who whimpered pathetically just before it curled around him and squeezed.
The leaves slithered around Voldemort's feet as he approached the location. It had taken him an hour to break Dumbledore's un-trackable charms. He stopped right at the shield and passed through easily. Voldemort observed the cottage once he had made it through the fidelius. Candles were burning all over inside the home meaning that Potter still abided to ancient wizarding culture and celebrated Samhain.
As surprising as it was, the Dark Lord did not ponder it as he pushed through the rest of the enchantments, traps and wards. He was disappointed in himself that he missed it; the mudblood must have set up a subtle motion detecting charm that he had slithered through. He instantly heard movement in the house and flicked his wand causing the door to the back of the house to crumble to dust. Voldemort slithered in and saw them at the stairwell which was directly across from the door frame he now stood in. "Go, and take Hibiscus with you," the blood traitor shouted, instantly causing the mudblood to run up the stairwell.
Potter lifted his wand and bellowed, "Stupefy," rotating his wand at Voldemort, all while trying not to show his immense fear. Voldemort was not surprised at how this was playing out; Potter was fighting for the lives of his daughter and wife like a foolish Gryffindor. But to no avail, Voldemort flicked his wand and his Killing Curse shattered the incoming stunner making sparks. The green spell glittered prettily and crashed into James Potter blowing him back onto the stairs.
He slid up and walked over the dead body and saw the mudblood, staring down at him, suddenly she shrieked in rage and ducked his incoming Killing Curse, and then the girl whipped her wand around her head violently as wide as though it were a lasso and shrieked the incantation to a powerful Blasting Curse. The entire stairwell blew to pieces throwing him back into the living room.
He stood, shifting wood, plaster and James Potter's body, that mudblood would die tonight, just like her husband.
