Prologue: An Objective Observation

Lord Voldemort stood silhouetted by the window, gazing out at the dark forest below, and the thick clouds above. The torches around the room did not chase away the darkness that the Dark Lord manifested. Vagnof approached slowly and respectfully, with his hands clasped behind his back.

"My Lord," Vagnof said. "I believe you wish to speak with me."

Lord Voldemort turned his head, revealing two gleaming red eyes framed by a reptilian face. A smile played on his lipless mouth.

"Vagnof, I trust you are settling in?"

"London is a quite the change of scenery compared to my home in Ranchi, My Lord."

"It is a new beginning for the both of us," Lord Voldemort said reverently. "I am thankful for your astute presence. Salazar knows I have need of every wizard I can get. How is your progress with the wards?"

"Slow, My Lord," Vagnof said cautiously. "These wards are ancient and have not weakened over time. Breaking through them will require a great amount of collective power."

"That does not worry me. When will you be ready?"

"I should have an appropriate chant within a month."

"You have two weeks."

Vagnof nodded and bowed. He ventured, "If I may, Mr Lord, for what reason are we forcefully breaking into this school of wizardry?"

Lord Voldemort's eyes narrowed into slits. He turned back to the window with his hands curled into loose fists.

"I have some unfinished business there to attend to. My two most dangerous enemies inhabit that school."

"Ah yes, I have been told of Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter. Your Death Eaters speak their names with much disdain. However, I am perplexed by this 'Harry Potter', he seems to be nothing more than a boy."

"That boy," Lord Voldemort hissed. "Is prophesied to be my downfall."

"A prophecy?"

"It was told before the boy was even born, and he has been a foil to my rise of power ever since."

"He must have an incredible amount of power."

Lord Voldemort scoffed, "His father was a Pureblood, but his mother was a Mudblood. His magical power is half as potent as it could have been." Vagnof remained in thoughtful silence, causing Lord Voldemort to turn to him in accusation. "Speak your mind, Vagnof."

"My apologies, My Lord, but I fail to see how a mere boy with so little magical power can truly be of much threat to you - the most powerful wizard I have ever met."

"You have much to learn, Vagnof. He cannot be allowed to live for he is the one prophesied to destroy me."

"But what you speak of is merely a prophecy."

"Merely a prophecy? Prophecies are extremely dangerous if left unheeded. It foretells a future event which I cannot allow to occur."

"In my country, we do not believe in fate," Vagnof explained. "We believe in the basic free will of each and every living thing. Thus, prophecies often go unheeded. Consequently, many of them do not come to fruition. You see, merely the suggestion of a prophecy is oftentimes enough for it to come true by the very hand of those who heard it."

"What are you saying, Vagnof? That I should just simply disregard the prophecy completely and allow the boy to live?"

"Yes," Vagnof said. "The more significance you place on it, the more likely it is to come true."

Lord Voldemort lapsed into thoughtful silence. He turned back to the window and remained for so long that Vagnof wondered if he had been wordlessly dismissed.

"You have provided me with a very unique insight, Vagnof," Lord Voldemort said finally. "You are to continue your work on the wards around Hogwarts. Your intuition has given me new plans for Hogwarts."

In the darkness, Vagnof could see a grin return to the Dark Lord's face, and shivered. He bowed again and turned away from the Dark Lord. He wondered privately to himself what Lord Voldemort could possibly have planned, if he no longer desired to kill Harry Potter.

That's the prologue! I'll have the first chapter up really soon.

Thought I should mention: Thoughts of suicide will come up at some point in this fic. I didn't want to mention it in the summary because I didn't want people to think that it's a main concern of this fic - it's not. There will definitely not be scene where a character commits suicide, and there will not be vicarious mentions of a character who commits suicide. I know that this is a sensitive subject, so I just thought I should write a little note.

Also, the plot (and Vagnof) are of my creation, everything else belongs to J K Rowling.