Summary: Voldemort receives a magical artifact that enables him to control his arms better, which in result can help him win the war.

Rating: PG for small amount of violence

Chapter One: Step One

Boom.

Boom.

BOOM.

Voldemort stopped pacing and stared at the door of the enchanted, un-plotable manor. "Enter", he hissed. Slowly the door swung open and revealed Lucius Malfoy leading a few others of his fellow death eaters into the dimly lit room. "Did you retrieve it?" demanded the Dark Lord. Lucius bent to kiss the hem of his robes but Voldemort kicked him before he had the chance. "Answer me fool! Did you retrieve it?!!"

Staggering, Lucius stood up and bowed, "Yes, My Lord". He gestured behind him to the others who waited to be called. "Bring it forward", he said through clenched teeth. The death eaters behind Lucius carried forward two halves of a broken chessboard. The pieces were dull and worn. The squares that spread across the board were black and gray. They set the halves down carefully on a long table in the center of the room. Voldemort touched each piece gently before sliding them together. The moment the two halves met they lit up with a brilliant blue light that radiated from point of break. When the light subsided an evil grin was on Voldemort's face. The board now held a new polished looked as if the board had never been touched and pieces had never been broken. He slowly ran his hands across the cool stone of the enchanted board. "Ah...yes" he hissed," Ar Tel'raa Nai Atiminous".

"The Board of Ateronis"

He drew his wand and tapped the board four times. With the last tap it lit up, glowing again in that brilliant blue color. His grin widened as he opened up a black box. Inside lay thirty-two metal chess pieces. One half of them were silver and the other gold. Carefully he set up the pieces on the board and tapped the board again, saying

"Lle amin I'dagor

Malia amin uumina

Lle amin I'nai

Tel'raa Na Atiminous

En I'sinome

I'autien quell autien

Feuka amin hira"

The pieces then arranged themselves across the board in no particular order. Voldemort smiled and waved his hand at the death eater that had brought in the board. They took this as their permission to leave and bowed low as they backed out of the room. Not taking his eyes from the board he said, "Why don't you take a seat?" He flicked his wand at Lucius and pointed him to a stiff green chair.

"Do you know what this is...Malfoy?"

"The Board of Ateronis, my lord"

"Yes, but do you know what it does?"

"No my lord"

"It is now the greatest weapon on our side...it enables me to control all of my

forces and play them across the board of war. I will be able to see everything that goes on in this war right here on this board and play the game to win. To win the game is to win the war. And the first step is to place the charm on the troops"

"Absolutely brilliant my lord"

"Of course it is! And you doubted me when I sent you on this errand".

"I know my lord...I am sorry".

"Sorry isn't good enough..."

Lucius stared at Voldemort, as his already pale skin got whiter in fear. The dark lord was merciless, even to his own followers. Lucius knew that severe punishment was what awaited him and he shook in his robes from the memory of his last punishment. He had been under the imperious curse last time and he was forced to slash his wrists and feed the ghastly snake, Nagini, with his own blood. He then slit his throat for the snake. He had lost so much blood that he had been bed ridden for months after the incident. Lucius never forgot his punishments.

Voldemort approached the shaking man and roughly snatched his forearm. He inspected the dark mark that was imprinted there and then pressed one long finger against the red colored mark. Instantly it turned black and a sneer played on his face. He pulled out his wand and placed the charm that binds the person to the board on Lucius. "Step one is now in motion", he said. He turned to inspect the board once more before turning his wand on Lucius.

"Crucio!"

Voldemort removed the curse and bent near the twitching man.

"Malfoy...You shall not doubt me again".

"Never master", whispered Lucius, still trembling.

"Good"

Sneering, he narrowed his red eyes as his death eaters started to arrive. Popping filled the air as some apparated and green flames filled the fireplace as other's traveled by floo powder and others walked in carrying brooms. The sneering was replaced once more by his evil grin. "Step one".

Then Harry Potter woke up with a startled cry as Ron Weasly pounced on his bed.

Authors Note: So how did you like that one? It was just a little too short for my taste but when it was finished there was nothing I could do to make it longer that wouldn't confuse the reader. Please review and tell me what you think. I think it's pretty self-explanatory but if not I'll try to fix it.

This is going to be my first series thing-y so it might not be as good as I might like it to be. So I apologize if I go out of coordination or story line. I'm sure I'll miss some vital detail that will screw everyone up...but that's okay! That's what reviews are for right?

Oh yeah if anyone's interested here is the little spell/incantation thing that Voldemort says to 'activate' the board, in English. It's done in a mix of a little Celtic and...don't laugh...elvish (yes the Tolkien kind)...

Show me the war

Of which I face

Show me the way

Of which I'll win

Board of Ateronis

Of the power

Of three times three

Let me see

Disclaimer: This story contains characters, and other random things created and/ or owned by J.K. Rowling, Bloomsbury Publishing, Scholastic, Inc., etc. Since no money is being made, no infringement is intended. Section 102(b) of the U.S. Copyright Act states that copyright protection does not extend to ideas, procedures, concepts, principals or discoveries, but the actual words used to express those things.

Pretty much everything in this is hers except for the setting, plot, and board which is mine.