Ailsa felt her feet slam into the ground and groaned in pain as her injured leg gave way. The Triwizard Cup rolled out of her hand.
'Bloody Acromantula.'
Carefully she got up, wincing when she accidently put too much weight on her leg and looked around. Judging by all the gravestones she had landed in the correct spot, however before she could take a closer look a figure appeared out of the dark and cast a spell at her.
Too late she grabbed at her wand and she flew backwards, slamming into the statue of an angel. The figure petrified her before binding and dragging her after her assailant.
A minute later they arrived at a clearing where a large –larger than she had ever seen before – cauldron stood with a snake lying around it.
The figure bound her before finally revealing himself.
"Wormtail! Let me go, you filthy traitor!"
He ignored her and whatever was in the bundle of robes on the ground that seemed to be struggling to free itself.
A fire lit up at the base of the cauldron and Ailsa could hear water bubbling and see steam starting to form as the water heated up very fast.
A cold voice sounded from the bundle of robes.
"Hurry!"
It was only a couple seconds later before Wormtail hurried over.
"It is ready, master."
Wormtail pulled open the robes and Ailsa could only barely stop herself from vomiting.
The… thing had the shape of a crouched child but that's where any resemblance ended. It had no hair and was scaly looking with a dark, raw red-black colour. Its limbs were thin and feeble and its face was flat and snake-like with gleaming red eyes.
As helpless as it seemed, Ailsa could feel the evil dripping from it.
With a seeming reluctance Wormtail grabbed the thing and carried it over to the cauldron. With a slight hiss it entered the water and a small thud indicated it had hit the bottom.
A shaky voice brought Ailsa out of her hypnotized gaze at the cauldron; Wormtail had started speaking.
He raised his wand and spoke in what seemed like a chant. "Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew your son." A small trickle of dust rose into the air and fell into the cauldron at Wormtail's command.
"Flesh of the servant, willingly given, you will revive your master." Wormtail pulled a shining silver dagger from his robes. Ailsa watched in shock as he stretched his right hand above the cauldron, gripping the dagger with his left and cut off his hand. He screamed.
Now the traitor moved towards her. "Blood of the enemy, forcibly taken, you will resurrect your foe." He made a cut on her forearm before dropping the dagger and producing a glass phial from his robes. The Death Eater held it to her cut so that some blood dripped into it.
Staggering back to the cauldron he poured the blood in the cauldron, missing the tiny smile on Ailsa's lips.
His job done for now, he fell the ground cradling the bleeding stump of his arm, gasping and sobbing.
The steam increased to an impenetrable cloud filling up the area, making it impossible to see anything before dissipating, revealing a figure standing in the middle of the cauldron.
"Hand me my wand, Wormtail." The monster commanded.
She called him a monster, for there was no resemblance to a man remaining. The pale skin of his face was stretched tight over his skull and his cat-like eyes were large. His nose resembled that of a snake with slits for nostrils.
Voldemort stepped out of the cauldron, conjuring robes that wrapped themselves around his thin body.
"Get up!" He hissed at Wormtail who had fallen down again. The snake hissed as well and moved closer to Wormtail in a threatening move. "No Nagini, it isn't dinnertime – not yet."
Slowly Wormtail managed to get up, still shaking.
"Hold out your arm."
The traitor started crying. "Thank you master, thank you."
"You imbecile." Voldemort spat at him. "Your other arm."
Impatiently, Voldemort flicked his wand and Pettigrew's sleeve was cut off, revealing his Dark Mark. The Dark Lord pressed his wand against it as his servant started screaming in pain. After a few moments Voldemort pulled away and stood at the edge of the clearing.
"How many will be brave enough to return?" Ailsa heard him ask himself, eyes to the sky. "And how many will be foolish enough to flee?"
He began to pace before her and Wormtail. A cruel smile twisted his face as he turned his attention to Ailsa.
"You stand on the remains of my late father. A Muggle, a fool. Much like your dear mother. But they both had their uses, did they not? Your mother died to defend you and my father provided for me long after he had died."
He laughed as the snake circled them and pointed towards the building not all that far from where they were standing.
"He used to live there, living without any worries, until my pathetic mother fell in love with him and used a love potion. When she told him what she was however he ran away in disgust." Voldemort snarled. "He didn't like magic, so he ran back to his worthless parents, leaving behind his child, leaving behind me. My mother couldn't take it, couldn't handle what I reminded her of."
In a flash of rage Voldemort flung a spell at the gravestone of his father before continuing.
"My façade of a family abandoned me, but now my true family approaches. Watch, Ailsa Potter, watch."
Hooded and masked figures Apparated in and cautiously approached, standing in a circle around their leader before they all fell to their knees, collectively begging for forgiveness.
But before their lord and master could respond Ailsa spoke up.
"Watch, Voldemort? You tell me to watch? Let me make a proposal…"
Suddenly Voldemort, the mightiest Dark Lord in recent history, fell to the ground screaming.
'He screams like a little bitch.' Ailsa noted with amusement.
The Death Eaters only had a small moment to look upon their lord who was writhing in pain before the air was filled with spell fire.
One spell from outside the circle hit her rope and cut her loose. Quickly she ducked around the statue to take cover and grabbed her other wand that was strapped to her leg.
A quick movement in the corner of her eye alerted her and she dodged the snake's attack.
In retaliation she cast a blasting charm at the serpent's head. The top half of its body exploded in small bits and the rest got blasted backwards. Smoke erupted from the spot where Nagini was killed and with some imagination, Ailsa could see Voldemort's face in it, screaming.
She grinned. 'Cool.'
Carefully she looked around the statue at the battle.
The Aurors and Unspeakables outnumbered the Death Eaters by far and most Death Eaters had been taken down with only a few remaining. They had no way to escape as both portkeys and Apparition were blocked by Ailsa's reinforcements; the only one capable of taking those wards down was writhing in agony as his own body worked against him.
Finally the last of Voldemort's 'family' fell and Ailsa stepped out into the open. She hadn't liked staying hidden like that, but had been pressured into not joining the fight by too many voices she held dear.
She made her way over to her fallen foe.
"My father laid down his life for us. My mother sacrificed herself for me, fuelling the blood magic that had been prepared. You called my mother a fool and yet she's the one that brought about your downfall. You remember when I burned away Quirrel's body, don't you Tom? He was merely a host for your spirit. Now imagine what would happen when you would be stupid enough to use my blood, everything that's anti-you, to create a body of your own."
Voldemort looked on in horror as he realized his mistake but victory still marked his face.
"You think this will stop me? I have gone further down the path of immortality than anyone! I shall simply return again!"
Ailsa smirked. "Oh, really? What servant are you going to use because," She notably looked at the bodies of Death Eaters lying around. "You have no free ones left." A couple of masked wizards or witches, she could never tell with that department, approached the two of them. "Besides, we have a really nice Veil for stuff like that."
Now there truly was terror on Voldemort's face.
With a grin Ailsa watched as no less than thirty stunners and body binds hit the abomination in front of her. The two closest Unspeakables grabbed him and portkeyed away to the Chamber of the Veil, the rest of their group quickly followed.
Finally, she could live her years at Hogwarts without any worries about Dark Lords trying to kill her. At least, she hoped so. It would be just her luck if another one were to pop up and target her.
Another person approached her, however this one she knew very well.
"Shall we get back? We really shouldn't let anyone worry any more than necessary."
After a final gaze around Ailsa nodded and held out her arm, awaiting the sensation of squeezing her body through a tunnel.
The moment they appeared back at Hogwarts a familiar figure jumped in her arms.
Ailsa felt the tension melt away as a well-known smell made its way to her nostrils and gripped the tearing redhead in her arms tighter.
"It's alright Susan, everything went as planned."
A mob of people approached and Ailsa recognized the silver-bearded man in front all too well.
"Amelia," she asked, "can you deal with Mr. I-Know-What's-Best-For-All?"
The Head of the DMLE chuckled and nodded. "Here, take my portkey home. You should both get some relaxation in. You'll have to come back tomorrow though probably."
"Understandable. Thank you." Making sure both she and Susan, who was still clinging on to her, were both touching the portkey she gave the redhead a kiss on the cheek.
"Let's go, love."