Chapter 2: The Beginning of the End
"My lord?"
The snake-like man turned around, gazed at the door and sighed. He walked a few paces towards a comfortable looking armchair, and plopped down on it. He straightened his black cloak, to make sure that no creases could be noticed, before clearing his throat and answered: "Enter."
The heavy mahogany door swung open, revealing his most faithful and loyal follower.
"Ah, Severus. I've been expecting you for quite some time now." His thin lips curved upwards in a smirk as he beckoned the man forward.
The man wore heavy black boots and a long green cloak, which was buttoned tightly at the top, covering his neck from view. He had a greasy face and a hooked nose, black beetle eyes and black hair. He looked solemn as he approached the snake-like man.
"So, what news did you bring for me, my loyal follower?" the snake-like man asked, conjuring an extra chair and gesturing for the man to sit opposite him.
The man walked towards the chair conjured by the snake-like man and after a long, deep sigh sat down and leaned back in the chair with his arms crossed.
"My lord," he begins. "I'm afraid that we have bad news."
"And what is that supposed to be?" the snake-like man asked, a fierce glint starting to form in his crimson eyes which were sunken in so badly that they seemed to be empty and hollow.
"The Order of the Phoenix is planning to smuggle Potter to a safe location a few weeks from now. They were already prepared; all the necessary details have already been discussed."
The snake-like man gritted his teeth, trying as hard as he could to control his anger.
"And?" he enquired.
"My lord, I, of course has taken the liberty to arrange for the necessary steps. We'll plan an ambush on the gang. According to my sources, they were planning to bring Potter to the forests of Albania. So…"
"Ah…Albania indeed," the snake-like man chuckled. "I'm sure we can do a clean job on them once and for all. After all, I planned to ambush the boy myself. Albania was no foreign land to me; I've been there before and it'll not be a problem for me. All you need to do is make the necessary arrangements," the snake-like man said, getting up from his seat and pacing the room again.
"Yes, my lord." The greasy-haired man too started to stand up. "I've got a list of the members who were going on this special mission and we can bring our men to ambush them at the said time."
"Good. Now, let's call a meeting. We need to discuss a few things with the others. Mind you, Severus, I only need those from our inner circle as for now."
"I'll call them, my lord," the greasy-haired man said, as he rolled up the sleeves of his robes and pressed a marking shaped like a snake on his left forearm.
"You may choose to stay in this meeting or leave, Severus. I think I don't need you any longer now. You just need to pass me the list you've managed to obtain containing the information relating to the Order's plan," the snake-like man said, plastering on another of his trademark smirks.
"In that case, I think I better leave, my lord. Draco still needs me for his night training, and I'm afraid Lady Malfoy is quite on edge if I got there late. She won't want her son to be held up until late into the night," he chuckled.
"Ah, yes. Draco certainly is a pampered child," the snake-like man said in a flat tone.
The greasy-haired man nodded, rummaged in his pocket for a roll of parchment and passed it to the snake-like man. The latter unrolled it, scanned it quickly and rolled it up and threw it aside on a desk beside his chair.
"So, I'll see you next week then, my lord?" the greasy-haired man straightened up and started to leave.
"Yeah, Severus."
"Good night to you, my lord."
The snake-like man nodded curtly, before turning his attention back to his previous thoughts.
The greasy-haired man bowed and turned towards the door. He opened the door, and stepped out of the room. He closed the door gently behind him and was gone in a few seconds.
After a few seconds in whom the greasy-haired man had left, the room begins to fill up once more by more hooded figures. The snake-like man stood at one corner of the room, waiting for all his loyal followers to arrive before beginning the meeting.
When the last of the hooded figures had entered the room, the snake-like man stepped into the center of the group, who had now formed a circle and cleared his throat.
"Good evening, my dear followers," he begin.
"Good evening to you, my lord," they chorused.
"Today, all of you are called for an important…"
Before he managed to finish the sentence, the door burst open suddenly, and another hooded figure appeared, carrying a limp form under his arms.
All eyes turned towards the new arrival, and the snake-like man glared at the figure in disapproval.
The man was small and had watery eyes. His face looked like a rat and one of his hands glowed brightly as though it had been made from silver.
"My lord…" the figure started to say, trying to catch his breath as he stumbled into the room and closing the door not too gently behind him.
"Worm tail," the snake-like man begins in a disapproving tone. "What is the meaning of this? What is that you've got under your arms?"
Wormtail looked at the snake-like man, and his eyes then darted around the room, surveying the other present occupants in the room.
"My lord, I found her in the Forbidden Forest and…"
"Who is she?" the snake-like man snapped. "Do you know that it is rude to interrupt when we're in the midst of conducting a meeting?"
"I know…" Wormtail trailed off, as the snake-like man advanced towards him.
"What is so important that it can't wait until our meeting is over?" the snake-like man produced a wand from his pocket, and twirled it in his fingers.
"My lord, please," Wormtail started, "I can explain. I assure you that this is very important indeed, and it will have a severe effect if this matter is not attended too now."
"Oh?" the snake-like man asked questioningly, eyeing the small man in front of him. Wormtail had tried to make he taller, it seemed. The snake-like man smirked when he noticed a pair of twelve-inch high leather boots lying at the door. Wormtail had probably kicked them off before dashing into the room. He wondered how that stupid good-for-nothing rat-like man can Stan the height and put up with it for a whole long day. He will muse about all this later, he gathered.
"So, what is so important that it have to be dealt with immediately, Wormtail? Do enlighten us. However, be warned that if I found that you are crapping some useless things which only delayed us and did not help at all, you're going to suffer the consequences." The red glint in the snake-like man's eyes and his tone of voice was enough to make every single occupant in the room tremble.
"Y…yes, my lord," Wormtail said, his voice losing some confidence. The others in the room just gave him sympathetic looks.
"Now, my lord…" Wormtail started after clearing his throat several times.
"Have I told you to begin yet?" the snake-like man snapped.
"My apologies, my lord," Wormtail said quickly, before taking a few steps forwards and bowing in front of the snake-like man.
"There's no need for that, you stupid fool!" the snake-like man kicked out at Wormtail. Wormtail immediately fell to the ground, clutching his sides. He made a few wheezing sounds as he quickly picked himself off the ground, trying as hard as he could to control the pain that was beginning to spread through his whole body.
"Sorry, my lord. Pardon me." He managed to choke out before coughing violently and clutching his sides.
"Apology accepted. And now, you may begin," the snake-like man said, twirling his wand in his hands.
Wormtail immediately launched into a detailed explanation of his story. As everyone in the room listened, their eyes widened and at the end of the story, everyone's eyes, including the snake-like man's own, were widened in surprise and were as round as galleons.
"A prophecy? She was holding a prophecy? That mudblood?" a loud cackling could be heard as the first female follower in the room broke the silence. "I don't believe it. That mudblood!" She spat.
"Yeah, I don't believe it either," another male voice said quietly.
"Potter's mudblood? Creating a prophecy?" another of the snake-like man's followers cackled.
"Yes, I assure you that this is the case. I had been keeping a close watch on the girl since the old fool Dumbledore's death," Wormtail started to back his story up. He was getting nervous again, the snake-like man noticed. Perspiration was beginning to form on his forehead. No doubt he feared that his life would be at stake if he failed to convince all of them that he was telling the truth.
"I watched her through a hole in the wall. You know, I'm an animagus, and she did not notice me at all. Old Dumbledore had also been helping her a lot. Snipe was barely in the office; he had to go to important meetings, as instructed by you, my lord. Besides, Potter and Weasley boy had gone somewhere which I have no idea of. So, I watched the mudblood. And she really made a prophecy. It turned out that she noticed flaws in her plans lately, and she planned to destroy the prophecy. I managed to stop her before she did."
All of this was said so quickly, that the snake-like man took some time to digest all the information laid out for him by Wormtail.
Finally, he looked up and said: "And what exactly was the prophecy about, Wormtail?"
"Reversing the fate of Harry Potter," Wormtail replied, puffing out his chest proudly as he could sense that his master somehow trusted him.
"How so?" the snake-like man asked, curiosity evidently portrayed all over his face.
"She changed the predicament to "All should live while the enemy is vanquished."
"That is preposterous, my lord! How dare that mudblood…"
"Bela…"
"I will teach her a lesson!"
"Bela! Enough! I'll deal with the problem myself," the snake-like man said, straightening up.
"Wormtail, you've done a good job and will be rewarded," he said.
"Thank you, master. Thank you," Wormtail said, bowing and kissing the hem of the snake-like man's robes.
"Now, let me see the girl and the prophecy," the snake-like man said, taking a step closer to where the limp form that Wormtail had just brought in still lay, unconscious.
"All of you may leave now. We may have our meeting later. Severus will inform all of you about our plan later. I've the matter at hand to attend to. Good night, my followers and have a good day."
All of the hooded figures looked slightly disappointed as they turned and left. Finally, all was quiet and the snake-like man crouched down in front of the figure. Wormtail paced the room agitatedly.
"My lord?"
"Yes?" the snake-like man said absent-mindedly as he looked the girl over. She was just an ordinary girl, he noticed. Not a pretty one too.
"Maybe you should have a look at the prophecy first?" Wormtail said, holding out a package.
"Oh, yes. Open it for me, will you?" the snake-like man said, turning away from the girl. He will study her later, he decided.
Wormtail was busy unwrapping the small package. He pulled out a small crystal ball from the package, and held it out towards the snake-like man.
"Hold it there, yes, I need to make sure it's not cursed before touching it," the snake-like man said.
Wormtail trembled slightly as he heard this. He shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot as the snake-like man stood up and made his way towards Wormtail.
"Hold it out just a bit more. Ah, yes. Stay still!"
The snake-like man took out his wand, prodded the crystal with it at several points and smirked satisfactorily after a few seconds.
"Ah, it is safe," he muttered.
"Here you go, my lord," Wormtail said, holding out the crystal towards the snake-like man.
"Wait…"
But the words were not out of the snake-like man's mouth before the disaster occurred. Thinking that he had done his job well and will be out of the room soon, Wormtail had released his grip on the crystal after his master had pronounced it to be safe and after his last sentence. The snake-like man who has not noticed it at first widened his eyes in horror, as the ball started to fall out of Wormtail's hands, and he did not managed to caught it in time.
"You fool!" he cursed under his breath, reaching for the ball quickly, but it was too late. He tried to raise his wand, but the ball hit the stone floor, and shattered into pieces.
A panicked look crossed Wormtail's face. He screamed and tried to back away.
"Come back here you fool!" the snake-like man shouted. But Wormtail was already exiting the room, as puffs of smoke started to emerge from the broken pieces.
The snake-like man turned back to the crystal, and his eyes widened in surprise.
"What…" Wormtail's hands were still on the doorknob.
"Wormtail!" the snake-like man bellowed.
Bang!
A purple light emerged from the crystal. Then, a green one, and at last a blinding flash of white light and all was still.
The three occupants in the room was rapidly engulfed in the white light, which was spreading like a huge mist around the room, and with a puff, all three of them disappeared and tumbled far, far, and further into oblivion and nothingness.
The wizzarding world was doomed. History was changed forever. No one knows what to become of the world they most treasured now. No one, save the shattered prophecy, who had created new history, and was now lost forever on the night it shattered, destroying previous history along with it.
It is the beginning of the end.
HG/LV/HG/LV/HG/LV/HG/LV
^^ Hey! It's done! So let me know how all of you liked it.
^^ Stay on for the next chapter, it'll be more interesting, I promised!
~~ Hermione Hean Fui ~~
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