It was a dark, stormy night. Thunderstorms lit up the black starless sky every moment. The downpour has not started yet, but heavy gray clouds were already gathering above the forest, announcing strong rain. The wind was slowly rising, tugging at the branches of the trees and breaking the leaves, which rose into the air in wild dance. Trees bent more and more under the influence of destructive force. Some of them did not withstand the load and broke like a matches. Around there was no trace of life. All the animals living in the forest have already found safe shelters where they waited for the gale to pass. Also the nearby town in the valley was deserted and only the lights in the windows showed the presence of people. Nobody would dare go out in this weather.

At the edge of the forest, suddenly out of nowhere, appeared a pair of people in long dark coats with hoods tightly pulled on their eyes. For a moment they tried to stand with their backs to the wind to make conversation easier. They had to scream to muffle the whistling wind and loud thunders, coinciding with the lightning and resounding just above them. They were in the middle of the storm.

"Let's go into the forest, there will be a little calmer" shouted one of the newcomers.

The second figure nodded and they both disappeared into a tree bush. At the same time the rain started to jam with all its power.

The forest was a bit quieter. Dense trees partly shielded the strangers from the wind and the downpour. When they stopped to talk again, they both dropped their hoods, letting the single drops of rain soaked their hair. In this way they could communicate more freely.

"Where to now? " the woman asked, shaking her head lightly to release the bunch of thick black curls that had collapsed and flattened under the heavy hood.

"We have to go that way" said the tall black-haired man, pointing his hand in an indeterminate direction.

"Are you sure?" his companion asked with a hint of distrust.

"Of course. Unlike you, Bellatrix, I was exactly listening to what the Black Lord told us."

"Count your words, Snape" the woman snapped. "I know exactly what he told us, I'm just making sure. After all, he told us to work together, but honestly, I think that I could handle it by myself."

"I doubt it. You would have lost yourself after the third tree" mumbled Snape.

"How dare you! I know exactly where I am! If you want, I can lead us."

"Sure, why not? I am curious where we will get" the man gave her a mocking smile.

"Ladies first."

Bellatrix turned on her heel and, with an angry expression, moved in the direction Snape had pointed out earlier.

After a few minutes of senseless spin in the woods, Lestrange had to admit that her orientation had failed her. Still, she was not going to show weakness to her companion. She walked faster and proudly raised her head to give her a look of total self-confidence and control of the situation. Snape, however, was not to be fooled.

"You get lost" he stated calmly after a few more minutes of wandering. "Maybe it would be better if it was me to..."

"No" Bellatrix entered his word, almost shouting. "I know what I'm doing, Snape. We're close already so shut up and let me lead you."

"As you wish, though, it seems to me that our Lord will not be pleased if we delay for too long. Personally, I would not like to explain it to him"

This argument was affecting the woman with sobriety. The vision of the rage of the Dark Lord ordered her to silence her pride and admit her mistake. However, Bellatrix never mastered this art. She stopped so abruptly that Snape nearly bumped into her. Slowly she turned toward him, watching him from beneath her narrowed eyelids. She looked like a tiger ready to jump. The man wondered if she would start growling. Instead, she spoke to him in venomous tone, almost hissing through her clenched teeth.

"If you want to lead so much, then be my guest. Nevertheless, know that I know perfectly well where we are and if you bring us to the goal, it is only because we are very close now and it is easy to get there. Remember that it is the Dark Lord who has the most confidence in me, and I certainly would not fail him in fulfilling such an important mission."

"If you have finished your argument, then let me direct you right now" snapped Snape, and this time he was definitely moving in the direction of his choice.

A moment later they were in place. They were on a large, glade uncovered by trees. In the middle was a huge aged oak tree with wide-spreading branches.

The rain was no longer falling, it was pouring from the sky like a waterfall. The single lightning bolted the darkness and blinded the newcomers who rushed to get under the protective umbrella of thick oak leaves as soon as possible.

"Now we have to find the sign" said Bellatrix, and she began to carefully examine every single piece of the great trunk.

Snape joined her and after a few minutes of unsuccessful search, he finally exclaimed triumphantly

"I found it."

Bella immediately joined him and looked closely at symbol. It looked like an ancient rune and was cut in the bark. The woman gently touched it with her fingertips and felt the warmth of the magical sign. She shifted her gaze to her companion who nodded slightly and put his wand at the rune. Bellatrix followed in his footsteps and after a while they both recited the words of the spell passed to them by the Dark Lord. As soon as they finished, the symbol brightened up with the pale light that was growing stronger with every moment. At some point, the wizards had to shield their eyes from its brilliance. At that time, they felt a strong impact of power, which swept across the clearing, reflecting the droplets of rain and crushing the long grass blades to the ground. It took only a moment, then everything calmed down. There was no sound of trees, no rain, no storm. Bellatrix and Snape looked at each other uncertainly. They did not know what they might expect, but they were both determined to complete their mission. They turned around without a word and looked around the clearing. The wave of power created a barrier over them, which prevented any outsider from getting inside. They saw a stream of rain drooping over an invisible dome. Trees bent to the side, twisted by the wind, but the two magicians could not even feel the slightest blast of it.

"How do we get out of here? " asked Bellatrix.

"We will worry about it later" said Snape, looking around with his wand ready in his hand as if he was looking for an invisible enemy.

Suddenly, the land in the glade seemed unnatural, creating a multitude of ridges, similar to the mounds of moles, which grew and slowly formed into strange, unmistakable shapes. Snape cast a spell at one of the creatures. The earth splashed in all directions and the strange being has disappeared. The wizard looked at his companion.

"Complete the ritual" he said, "I'll take care of them."

Bellatrix turned on her heel and returned to the tree, leaving Snape with a bunch of attackers on all sides. The wizard cast spells to the right and left to destroy the impending creatures. There were more and more of them coming from the earth, with every moment growing and taking on more concrete shapes. Snape defeated three more creatures when one of them attacked him from behind and knocked him down. The man turned to face his opponent and saw a wide open mouth filled with stones that resembled the teeth. The creature threw himself in his direction again, snapping its mouth. Snape managed to cover his face with his hand and the monster painfully bit into his forearm. The wizard tried not to cry out and reached for his wand. The bright light of the spell blazed over him and he felt the weight of crushing earth. He immediately scrambled away from the remains of the monster and in time managed to knock down the next one, who was already preparing to attack. The creatures were getting closer and closer to the tree at which Bellatrix was reciting successive spells. Snape defended her from the attack of three beings when he was once again knocked down by one of them. His wand rolled a few meters away. The creature raised the sticky claws and bent its back to bring a deadly blow. At that moment, something crashed loudly and a strong gusty wind began to blow out of nowhere. The creatures began to fall apart under its strong blows until they finally disappeared. At that moment, Snape noticed the heavily falling rain. He looked around confused and noticed that the dome had disappeared. Before he could understand what was happening, he felt a strong jerk and someone brutally set him on his feet. Bellatrix sent him her typical mocking look.

"Are you going to lie there all night?" she asked in a provocative tone. The wizard still could not recover after the events of the night.

"What happened?" he muttered.

Bella shrugged.

"Task completed. We are going home"

After these words she moved in the direction from which they came. Snape smiled to himself. Now she will boast, how she bravely fulfilled the Dark Lord's mission, he thought and followed her.