Challenge Prompt: Word Prompt - Patronus

Setting: Azkaban, Autumn of 1995, Harry Potter's 5th year

"My lord, are you certain this is wise?" Lucius's voice was subservient, but firm. "I am certain that the dementors will serve your cause even if they do not see you, and if even one auror escapes…"

"Silence." It was a cold night. The wind, cold as it was already, was made even worse by the spray of the water. The dementors could be felt, despite the distance between the shore the death eaters now stood upon and the island that housed the infamous prison. Even so, the command from their lord sent shivers down their spines.

"There will be none that escape. All will serve, or they will die. Be grateful I have need of your wand tonight, Lucius; it is for that reason alone you are spared my wrath."

Lucius paled, and quickly dropped to a knee. "My lord, thank you."

Voldemort didn't bother to acknowledge his servant, he simply turned back to the island. 'Tonight, my most faithful will be back where they belong, and the rabble that fled will remember my power.'

Despite wanting to be present for the battle, Voldemort was content to let his death eaters take the lead. The initial confrontation was laughably short. The incompetent fool Fudge had not seen fit to update security protocols for the prison, so there were only 15 aurors on hand to patrol the entire island. 15 aurors, most of whom were complacent or terrified. He had watched the slaughter, disillusioned and safely floating above the island.

8 were dead before the rest realized anything was wrong. 2 more died in the flight back to their office. In the end, 5 aurors against his death eaters would not take terribly long. They had tried to flee, as if they thought he or his death eaters would have neglected to put up proper wards before attacking. Still, they didn't look as terrified as he thought they should. The wards around their main office were holding for now, true, but it was only a matter of time until they fell. The man in charge was actually smirking; the two women flanking him were calm and composed, while two other men looked ready to jump off the island at the first opportunity.

The shadows rising up around the office told Voldemort what their plan was. The lead auror stepped forward, and his voice was surprisingly firm as he cried out, "Expecto Patronum!" A bright silver hyena came forth, followed quickly by a dog and… was that a dolphin? Strange. And only three… the two other men had produced nothing but silver mist, which they quickly released in favor of turning their wands back on the death eaters. 'The fools don't even make sure they can protect themselves before coming here." Voldemort sneered to himself.

The lead auror looked satisfied. He turned to one dementor that appeared to have come to a stop in front of the others, before gesturing to the death eaters. "There, you want souls? You can feed on theirs, don't stop until you've gotten them all!"

"I admit I am mildly impressed." Voldemort floated down, letting his disillusionment fade as he did. "Not a very smart move to make against me, but then, the only smart move would be to join me. Still, you didn't hesitate to order your pet dementors to attack and kill your enemies, well done!" Voldemort grinned at the rapidly paling faces of the aurors. The dog had already disappeared, its owner struggling to stay on her feet. The hyena continued prowling, though it had dimmed a bit. The dolphin continued to swim around its owner, though it started swimming much tighter circles, and only around the female auror that had conjured it.

"You… you're dead!" The lead auror's voice was no longer firm, and Voldemort was pleased to see the smirk had faded.

"I was never dead, nor will I ever be dead. I am the greatest wizard in the world, and not even death can stand against me!" Voldemort's snarl carried through the prison yard, and even the wind seemed to go still at his voice.

"Well, you can live all you want, without a soul you won't be able to do anything!" The lead auror seemed to be recovering some of his confidence, and the hyena grew bright again. The dementors moved forward.

"Too bad for you, we'll never know." Voldemort was tempted to taunt the auror, point out that his soul was as protected as his life, but he knew better than to even hint at the possibility. He turned to face the dementors. "Tell me, is feasting on me and mine what you really want? There are not that many of us, and once we're gone you'll be back to being their slaves, only eating when they permit you. Follow me, and you'll get all the meals you want; millions of them, all across the globe."

The dementors hesitated. A few turned back to the aurors, only to be driven toward the death eaters by the still bright hyena. "Alice, what are you doing? Get your patronus out there, help me herd them!" The blond stepped forward, then stopped and held her place. Her dolphin kept swimming around her, still shining as brightly as the hyena.

"Ah, yes, forgive me;" Voldemort's voice was smug, taunting, "The magicks of the aurors can force your hand. Well, I can take care of that for you, but just to make sure you aren't tempted into foolishness…. Expecto Patronum." Visions of the wizarding world bowing at his feet, generation after generation, stretching into eternity, swam through his mind, as the bright shape burst forth from his wand.

A large silver cat landed before the dark lord. From behind, it looked strikingly similar to a leopard, a sleek body with dark spots. Its bulging neck would have been greatly out of place on a simple leopard, however; bulbous and riddled with spikes, it flared outward as the patronus growled at the dementors. The breath of the cat hung heavy in the air, a silver mist that seemed to draw in the light around it, leaving the world dimmer even as it continued to shine.

The hyena patronus disappeared. The lead auror's arm fell to his side. "A…. patronus? But… you're dark! Dark wizards can't make a patronus! They can't, if they try…"

"What?" Voldemort was insulted now. "If we try, maggots will eat us up? That's a legend, and one spread by fools too scared of power to seek it for themselves. There may have been a pair of wizards named Illyius and Raczidian once, but I promise you, if Raczidian died, it is not because he was unworthy of casting the patronus." Voldemort gestured to his. "As you can see, a patronus is nothing more than magic and emotion, made manifest in the world by the wizard's will. Besides, I think a nundu rather suits me. Now then," Voldemort looked back to the dementors, "Only one of the aurors is still protected… and I suspect that if you leave her alone, she'll repay you in kind." He looked to the blonde, and she gave an almost imperceptible nod, before moving away from her fellow aurors.

"What?" The lead auror spun around. "Alice! Get back in front! You have… to…" his voice trailed off as the closest four dementors swarmed forward. In a matter of moments, the four defenseless aurors were given the kiss; Alice stood back, not moving as her comrades were lost beneath the dementors' cloaks. Voldemort was intrigued to see that she didn't flinch as her comrades had their souls ripped from their bodies. In her eyes, he saw something looked remarkably like satisfaction. He could work with this. As the dementors began to float around Alice, he saw her dolphin finally starting to dim. Understandable, given her predicament.

"Enough!" He called out. "Your kind will have plenty of meals on the mainland, leave that one alone. This island is no longer your prison, any more than it is for my servants. Go, I will contact you later." He waited just long enough to ensure the dementors would obey his commands, before he turned to his death eaters. "Search the island, find my servants. Do not open their cells, it's always possible the aurors have additional wards in place." Not likely, but he wanted to make sure his followers saw him first, as they regained their freedom. "Leave the auror to me. I wish to have words with her." As his death eaters bowed and moved deeper into the prison, Voldemort moved up to Alice. "You think you deserve to stand in my presence, auror?"

She swallowed, but her gaze remained impressively firm. "After today, I doubt I'd be an auror for much longer. If I'm to die, I'd rather die on my feet."

Voldemort smirked. "And if I told you that you didn't have to die? I'm always looking for competent servants. So long as they know their place."

Alice went very still for a moment. "My parents were both muggles. Even if I wanted it, I have no place in your army."

Brave. Or stupid. He needed to know which. "And you tell the Dark Lord this? Perhaps you're right, I don't need fools in my army." He raised his wand and pointed it at her. Her wand remained at her side… but still her patronus held.

"Not a fool, just not stupid enough to try lying to you. Don't get me wrong, I have no love for my parents… tried to beat the evil out of me when I was young. Made sure they died in an 'accident' soon as I had enough control to make it believable. 'Course, didn't matter, the wizarding world doesn't tolerate mudbloods, regardless of whether they're proud or ashamed of their parents."

Honest, and acceptably bloodthirsty. Loyalty might be a problem, but there were ways around that. And he did have to start rebuilding his army… given his own parentage, it's not like he believed in the pureblood supremacy he espoused.

"Well then", he said, lowering his wand, "it's a good thing for us all that you're a pureblood, isn't it? So many wizards died in the last war, it's understandable that one or two might have gotten lost in the muggles' system… especially if you were related to one of my servants? Dumbledore and his band of muggle lovers… well, who knows what lengths they might have gone to, to cast doubt on the pure of blood."

Alice's eyes had gone wide. "Who knows indeed…? My lord."

Voldemort smiled. "I think you'll get to stay an auror a little while longer… someone has to tell them what happened here, after all, and I need to know what's going on in the Ministry. Lucius Malfoy will be in touch to give you your orders for the Ministry, but my first order to you, is to kneel."

Alice dropped to one knee and bowed her head. "As my lord commands." He noted, with some surprise, that her Dolphin drifted away from her, and was now bowing to his Nundu as well. Manifestations of emotions indeed. Perhaps he wouldn't have loyalty issues with her.

"Enough. We are short on time. I'll lift the ward on the floo; you'll need to be injured when you return, to make it look convincing." Voldemort said.

"My lord, if I may? Our… the ministry's healers can detect the crucio with ease. That would explain why I couldn't fight back, why I might have been left for dead." Her voice was firm as ever, though her patronus finally faded away.

"Indeed. Very well then… Crucio." He kept it on her only a few seconds. Her limbs flailed wildly as she fell to the ground, and she was still twitching even after the spell ended, but she didn't scream. "That should suffice to satisfy their scans. Return to the Ministry as soon as you can; best if you can do it while you're having trouble moving. I'll re-cast the wards after you leave. You didn't see me here; you saw masked death eaters. Blame Black, if you can. The longer we keep them chasing their tails, the better."

She struggled to her knees. "B…. By yur…" She cleared her throat. "By your command, m'lord." Her voice quavered, and she was clearly having trouble moving her limbs, but she managed to crawl her way to the floo. It took a few minutes for her to activate it, but she was eventually able to throw herself through to the Ministry.

Smiling, Voldemort re-cast the anti-floo wards moved back towards the prison proper. All that remained was to free his loyal servants, and they could be rid of this foul island.

Soon the world would be reminded of his strength, and there was apparently a new generation of wizards and witches eager to flock to a leader strong enough to claim them. With the likes of Fudge and Dumbledore around, it was no surprise they were looking for a real wizard to lead them. Once he made his presence known, and the public saw what he was capable of, they would beg him for the opportunity to serve.

With visions of his perfect future swimming before his eyes, his nundu glowed ever brighter, and side-by-side they strode into the depths of the prison.

Author's note: The legend referenced in this story is a legend that comes from the Harry Potter universe; the full legend was described in the "Wonderbook: Book of Spells" for the PS3. J.K. Rowling was heavily involved in its creation, so the legend may be taken as being a legitimate part of the universe, if not necessarily part of the canon of the seven original books. It is not stated, however, that the legend is true, and in this particular story I have assumed that it is legend only. The full legend can be read on the wiki, at wiki/Illyius

In short: Illyius's village was attacked by the dark wizard Raczidian, who was using dementors to terrorize the villagers. Initially forbidden to defend his village, in the end when all other patronuses had failed, Illyius stepped forward and cast his own. His patronus was small, a mere mouse, but shone so brightly that it was able to hold back the horde of dementors on its own. Furious, Raczidian stepped forward to counter Illyius's patronus with his own, but when he cast the spell, all that came forth was a horde of maggots that eagerly devoured their summoner. This legend is the source of the common belief in the Harry Potter world that only the worthy can cast the Patronus charm, that dark wizards and witches are unable to summon it.