Chapter 2: Taking Malfoy Manor
Voldemort found Narcissa in the drawing room pacing in front of the fireplace. She was wringing her hands and throwing anxious glances at the grandfather clock as the hour grew ever later and her husband, Lucius, had yet to return.
"Your fool husband won't be returning quite yet, Narcissa," said Voldemort coldly. Narcissa jumped at the sound of Lord Voldemort's voice and turned to face him, trembling.
"The Ministry knows I have returned to full strength. I'll be using the Manor as a new base while I make my plans. Of course, that is, if you have no objections to being my gracious host?" he added nastily.
"Not… not at all, my Lord," Narcissa stammered. She looked as though she wanted to say more, but was too frightened of the towering man before her, his hideous snake-like face mere feet from her own.
"I've taken up the West corridor suite and all its surrounding rooms. NO ONE is to enter that wing without my direct order, do you understand me?" Voldemort leaned down so that his lipless mouth was next to her ear. He slowly moved the blonde strands of hair with his unnaturally long fingers and whispered, "No one, Narcissa. I will hold you personally accountable if anyone so much as passes a toe down that corridor." She shivered in response.
"Now," he said, straightening up and getting suddenly businesslike. "Get me some house elves will you? And head upstairs or out of sight. I need to call my Death Eaters and figure out what to do about Lucius' blunders."
Narcissa seemed to have found a spark of courage at the sound of her husband's name as words tumbled out of her so quickly, Voldemort could barely make out what she said.
"Is-Lucius-alright? What-has-he-done? Where-is-he-now?" But as quickly as the words had come, she sputtered out the last few as though they were already dead in the air at the sight of those pitiless red eyes. Narcissa felt a sudden and sharp pain in her side and fell with a gasp to the floor.
"Silence, idiot woman," Voldemort hissed angrily. "I just gave you direct orders. Do not ever question me! Get. Out. Of. My. Sight."
Narcissa didn't need twice telling. She pulled herself to her feet, but with another gasp realized that the pain in her side was still there. Clutching it tightly and trying not to breath, she exited the room and flew into the kitchen as fast as her legs could carry, all the while feeling as though a white-hot knife was piercing her stomach, yet no object or blood was to be found.
Voldemort didn't even notice her leave the room as he called his Death Eaters to the mansion. Those who had not been at the Ministry soon began to fill the room and form their traditional circle around the Dark Lord. Voldemort had his back turned to them as they silently took their places. He looked deep in thought as he stared at the dwindling coals in the fire Narcissa had neglected when her husband did not return. The flickers cast dark shadows on the walls and across the faces of the hooded Death Eaters. After a few long moments, Voldemort turned to face his loyal followers and addressed them in no more than a whisper, but they raptly listened to every word.
"Lucius and his team have failed. The Prophecy has been destroyed." A low hiss emanated from the crowd. "Ah my friends, the news is far worse than that," Voldemort continued. "I was forced to enter the fray myself and now the Ministry knows for certain that I have returned." The hissing grew louder and a few of the Death Eaters swore.
"We knew this would be inevitable," Voldemort said. "As unfortunate as it is that it happened tonight, it is still possible to play this to our advantage. I have left the Ministry in complete disarray — for tonight, my dear servants, tonight, I have captured Harry Potter himself." The Death Eaters let out exclamations of shock, mingled with a few surprised cheers.
"Captured, my lord?" asked Avery rashly. "You have not yet killed him?" The others glanced sidelong at Avery, clearly unnerved that he would question the Dark Lord so boldly. In the silence, Avery seemed to realize his mistake and the eagerness in his face morphed quickly into one of trepidation. But Voldemort had expected the question and only smiled cruelly.
"Now that the boy is mine, I see no need to try and dispose of him so rapidly. Without the Prophecy, I would like to take some time to… experiment on the boy. Perhaps I was too eager in my desire to kill Harry Potter. Perhaps he has some powers that could be extracted… used to my advantage…" Voldemort trailed off and seemed lost in thought once again. He was careful to explain his plan without mentioning horcruxes or the true importance Harry Potter alive now meant to him. In his opinion, the less his Death Eaters knew, the better. The Death Eaters waited silently for Voldemort to say more, not wanting to disturb their master. With a sudden shake of his head, Voldemort returned his senses to the men that stood before him.
"The Ministry is distracted with Harry Potter's disappearance," he explained. "Dumbledore will be there with half the Order deciding what to do. The fools may even try and come here which is why I'm going to enchant it right now with the Fidelius Charm. We, friends, are going to Azkaban tonight while our enemies are blundering about Potter. I will command the Dementors to join me and we will free all the prisoners on the island. Grab them all and Disapparate them all to the graveyard. There, they will be faced with the choice to join us and our noble cause… or die."
The Death Eaters murmured their agreement and excitement at this plan. "Wormtail!" Voldemort said sharply. The man called Wormtail jumped when addressed and looked fearfully at his master, a silver hand rubbing his forearm in agitation. "Go now in disguise and watch for the arrival of the Ministry officials bringing in Lucius and the others. When they are being brought to the prison, come back and warn us. We will be waiting here.
"Now!" he said again as the man stared stupidly back at him. With a start, Wormtail pulled out his wand and Disapparated. Voldemort spent the next few moments handing out commands to his followers: forming them in teams, assigning them tasks, and preparing them for the job ahead—one he desperately needed to go more smoothly than the fiasco at the Ministry mere hours ago.
Voldemort spent the rest of the hour perfecting the Fidelius charm so that only his Death Eaters would know how to get to Malfoy Manor from now on. The Order would know he was here of course, once they realized it has become Unplottable, but that was no matter. He would be safe, and they would be unable to reach Potter with so many magical protections underway. When it came time to move, the boy would hopefully be fully under his control.
Just when his Death Eaters were beginning to get antsy for battle, a rat popped into the center of the room before suddenly transforming into a short, wheezing man. Wormtail squeaked that the Death Eaters from the Ministry were being transported to their cells. In a matter of seconds the entire drawing room was emptied and the only sound that could be heard was the crackling of the last few embers of a dying flame.