p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"strongspan style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"I swear I don't /spanusually write this bad . . .br /span/strong/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""Something strange is arise," Voldemort announced at the next Death Eater meeting. Said meeting was about five minutes after Severus drank all the healing potions on his person and realized he was still bleeding internally. And externally. But duty calls, and a little thing like losing what must be five quarts of blood can't get in the way./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""Yeah," Nagini agreed. She, Severus, Bellatrix, Lucius and Draco were the only unmasked Death Eaters. All the others - and there were hundreds, mind - sat stiffly, eyes facing forward, emotionless and unmoving. "What's with the new recruit? She's dead now, by the way - couldn't block Bellatrix' knife."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""Unsurprising," Voldemort said, looking at his overgrown, dirty fingernails, brow furrowed. "I don't know why I enlisted her in the first place," he murmured to himself. "Or even /spanspan style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;"considered /spanspan style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;"her."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""That makes all of us, then," Nagini said brightly. Voldemort scowled. Maybe he wasn't as quiet as he thought. Nevermind that he wasn't even talking Pureblood-talk, or being cocky . . ./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""What do you plan to do about it, my Lord?" Severus asked weakly, still holding both hands to his bleeding abdomen. He lifted one to scratch his nose, leaving a bloodstain across his face./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""I don't know," Voldemort said slowly. An audible gasp echoed throughout the table; Voldemort never admitted he didn't know something before. And he was never, ever so blunt. "I don't even know what 'it' is."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""You'll find a way, my Lord," Bellatrix assured him, eyes full of love. At least /spanspan style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;"something/spanspan style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;" was as it should be./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""Where's Fenrir?" Nagini asked suddenly. All eyes, even those of the masked Death Eaters, turned to her./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""Who cares?" Bellatrix said./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""He's not a Death Eater," Draco said helpfully./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""He's a /spanspan style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;"werewolf,/spanspan style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;"" Lucius said. All eyes turned to him instead. "We know," Nagini assured him./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;"But before any more random inquiries could be made, something happened. A cloud of white smoke began to swirl up from the center of the table, getting higher and higher with a soft /spanspan style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;"wooosh/spanspan style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;"ing noise. And after five minutes of wooooshing, before any of the Death Eaters thought to raise their wands, Dumbledore himself stepped out of the smoke./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""Greetings, Tom," he said, eyes twinkling./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""What - are you - doing here?" Voldemort snarled, words coming in sharp bursts as he tried to control his anger. First random girls popping up everywhere, then Dumbledore was able to make it through his defenses without much trouble./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""Well," Dumbledore began, sashaying across the table in his high-heel, knee-high boots. All the Death Eaters save Bellatrix, Nagini and Alecto leaned forward to peer up the elderly headmaster's moon-and-star spangled robes. One heel stomped down on Wormtail's left hand, causing the pathetic rat man to scream and start crying. "We've encountered a bit of a . . . problem, shall we say, at Hogwarts."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""And you want /spanspan style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;"my/spanspan style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;" help?" Voldemort said sardonically. "You've got what, bad O.W.L. scores? What would you have us do, tutor your little brats?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""Or," Nagini said, fluttering her eyelashes, "You came to Tom in hopes of a little . . . rejuvenation?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""Yes, I would like that, too," Dumbledore said pleasantly. Nagini grinned and mouthed "I don't recommend doing it around Bellatrix."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""Severus, are you quite alright?" Dumbledore continued. "Was the pudding at lunch spoilt, perhaps?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""I'm fine, Headmaster." Severus sent Dumbledore a look of half-feigned loathing, still clutching his stomach. Bellatrix reached under the table and poked him, then hastily drew back, wiping the blood on Lucius robes while the blonde Death Eater continued to peer up Dumbledore's robes./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""And dearest Draco?" Dumbledore inquired. Draco only managed a pained smile. "Mind you get that Herbology essay in by Thursday, or Professor Sprout will not be pleased."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""If you only came here to get updates on your staff and students which could not wait until tomorrow," Voldemort began, teeth gritted. Still no one had raised their wand towards the undefended old man./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""Oh, of course," Dumbledore said. "Yes, I have a very serious problem, Tom."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""Don't call me Tom."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""Very well, Mr. Riddle. As I was saying -"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""I would prefer to be addressed as 'Master' or 'my Lord,'" Voldemort said, fingers clenched so tightly that his palms were beginning to bleed. "Please."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""/spanspan style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;"As I was saying/spanspan style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;"," Dumbledore pressed on lightly, with a warning twinkle in his eyes. "We at Hogwarts seem to be acquiring a great number of beautiful teenage girls."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""What's wrong with that?" Fenrir demanded, speaking up as all supposedly inferior werewolves do during tense Death Eater meetings./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""They, er, well you see," Dumbledore faltered. "The rulebook here says that they're bad. Very, very bad. And we must destroy them."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""Rulebook?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""Yes, the rulebook - you have not heard of it, Yaxley?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""No," all the Death Eaters replied. In perfect unison, of course./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""Here." Dumbledore took off his hat, exposing a rather elaborate crown braid encircling his head. "Oh yes . . . Mr. Creevey and I had a bit of . . . fun, shall we say," Dumbledore said with a wink when Bellatrix pointed this out./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""Oooooooooh, can I braid your beard?" All eyes turned to Draco, who was bouncing on the edge of his seat with excitement. Bellatrix sent a wayward Crucio at him, but it missed and hit Wormtail instead. Everyone chuckled in amusement as the stupid rat-man shrieked in pain and agony./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""Certainly," Dumbledore said. "But perhaps another time. My back is very bad right now, as Severus was unwilling to make me an Arthritis Potion, and I don't feel like bending down. Now, to business..." So saying, Dumbledore proceeded to pull out of his hat a rabbit, a bag labelled 'pixie dust,' three boxes of condoms labelled 'XXXXL,' a skunk, Girl Scout cookies, instant oatmeal, something which looked terribly like a lock of Severus' hair (fishtail braided), a single knitted fingerless glove, thigh-high red-and-white striped socks, a spiked dog collar, a pacifier, and an extremely large bottle of scented, flavored lube, personalized strawberry. "I swear it was in here . . ." he muttered, turning the hat upside-down. A baby-sized boot with a curly toe tumbled out. Sighing, Dumbledore replaced the hat on his head, ignoring the mess of objects strewn about him. Then Dumbledore proceeded to untie the laces of his boots and look through those as well. There wasn't much of remote interest in those - his wand, a spare pair of surprisingly unbroken glasses, a small vial labelled 'earwax,' a bottle of anti-pregnancy pills, extra beard ties, yarn, and a toothbrush. And, finally, a heavy, leather-bound volume with fancy writing stamped on the cover reading 'RULEBOOK.' How all this fit in Dumbledore's boots was a mystery, apparently even to Dumbledore, for he upon seeing the mess he conjured up a very large tote bag to stuff everything back inside./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""This is the rulebook," Dumbledore said, waving it about. He opened to a random page and read, "/spanspan style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;"All Mary Sues are to be destroyed./spanspan style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;" There, it says it. Now we'd best set about doing so."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""Hold on," Nagini said. She attempted to climb onto the table to take the rulebook, but discovered that she lacked the strength to spring from a seated position in her chair to the table. She tripped and landed with her face smashed against Severus' shoulder. "Er . . . could I see the book?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""Most certainly," Dumbledore said graciously, offering her a hand up. She took it, but tripped once more after the added weight of the rulebook threw her off balance. Sighing, she sat crisscross on the table and opened to a random page./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""Er . . . /spanspan style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;"no ook-ness is/spanspan style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;" . . . what's that word, Severus?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;"Severus leaned forward to take a look - Nagini had only learned to read the summer before - but the moment his bloodstained hands touched the book, Dumbledore kicked him sharply in the face. Severus went reeling backwards, his chair tipped over and he hit his head on the floor./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""I do hope he's all right," Dumbledore said with great concern and compassion, holding a hand over his heart. "It wouldn't do to lose my only trustworthy spy . . . I mean, follower - I mean - oh, nevermind. You won't have time to worry about it anyway, not with this new threat on the horizon. Nagini, I really must take that book back - lots of work to do. Well, now that you know what to do, best get to it. Chop chop!"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent: 36pt;"And with that, Dumbledore vanished in another puff of white smoke./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent: 36pt;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent: 36pt;"strongspan style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW/span/strong/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""Something strange is arise," Voldemort announced at the next Death Eater meeting. Said meeting was about five minutes after Severus drank all the healing potions on his person and realized he was still bleeding internally. And externally. But duty calls, and a little thing like losing what must be five quarts of blood can't get in the way./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""Yeah," Nagini agreed. She, Severus, Bellatrix, Lucius and Draco were the only unmasked Death Eaters. All the others - and there were hundreds, mind - sat stiffly, eyes facing forward, emotionless and unmoving. "What's with the new recruit? She's dead now, by the way - couldn't block Bellatrix' knife."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""Unsurprising," Voldemort said, looking at his overgrown, dirty fingernails, brow furrowed. "I don't know why I enlisted her in the first place," he murmured to himself. "Or even /spanspan style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;"considered /spanspan style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;"her."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""That makes all of us, then," Nagini said brightly. Voldemort scowled. Maybe he wasn't as quiet as he thought. Nevermind that he wasn't even talking Pureblood-talk, or being cocky . . ./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""What do you plan to do about it, my Lord?" Severus asked weakly, still holding both hands to his bleeding abdomen. He lifted one to scratch his nose, leaving a bloodstain across his face./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""I don't know," Voldemort said slowly. An audible gasp echoed throughout the table; Voldemort never admitted he didn't know something before. And he was never, ever so blunt. "I don't even know what 'it' is."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""You'll find a way, my Lord," Bellatrix assured him, eyes full of love. At least /spanspan style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;"something/spanspan style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;" was as it should be./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""Where's Fenrir?" Nagini asked suddenly. All eyes, even those of the masked Death Eaters, turned to her./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""Who cares?" Bellatrix said./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""He's not a Death Eater," Draco said helpfully./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""He's a /spanspan style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;"werewolf,/spanspan style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;"" Lucius said. All eyes turned to him instead. "We know," Nagini assured him./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;"But before any more random inquiries could be made, something happened. A cloud of white smoke began to swirl up from the center of the table, getting higher and higher with a soft /spanspan style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;"wooosh/spanspan style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;"ing noise. And after five minutes of wooooshing, before any of the Death Eaters thought to raise their wands, Dumbledore himself stepped out of the smoke./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""Greetings, Tom," he said, eyes twinkling./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""What - are you - doing here?" Voldemort snarled, words coming in sharp bursts as he tried to control his anger. First random girls popping up everywhere, then Dumbledore was able to make it through his defenses without much trouble./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""Well," Dumbledore began, sashaying across the table in his high-heel, knee-high boots. All the Death Eaters save Bellatrix, Nagini and Alecto leaned forward to peer up the elderly headmaster's moon-and-star spangled robes. One heel stomped down on Wormtail's left hand, causing the pathetic rat man to scream and start crying. "We've encountered a bit of a . . . problem, shall we say, at Hogwarts."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""And you want /spanspan style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;"my/spanspan style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;" help?" Voldemort said sardonically. "You've got what, bad O.W.L. scores? What would you have us do, tutor your little brats?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""Or," Nagini said, fluttering her eyelashes, "You came to Tom in hopes of a little . . . rejuvenation?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""Yes, I would like that, too," Dumbledore said pleasantly. Nagini grinned and mouthed "I don't recommend doing it around Bellatrix."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""Severus, are you quite alright?" Dumbledore continued. "Was the pudding at lunch spoilt, perhaps?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""I'm fine, Headmaster." Severus sent Dumbledore a look of half-feigned loathing, still clutching his stomach. Bellatrix reached under the table and poked him, then hastily drew back, wiping the blood on Lucius robes while the blonde Death Eater continued to peer up Dumbledore's robes./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""And dearest Draco?" Dumbledore inquired. Draco only managed a pained smile. "Mind you get that Herbology essay in by Thursday, or Professor Sprout will not be pleased."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""If you only came here to get updates on your staff and students which could not wait until tomorrow," Voldemort began, teeth gritted. Still no one had raised their wand towards the undefended old man./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""Oh, of course," Dumbledore said. "Yes, I have a very serious problem, Tom."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""Don't call me Tom."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""Very well, Mr. Riddle. As I was saying -"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""I would prefer to be addressed as 'Master' or 'my Lord,'" Voldemort said, fingers clenched so tightly that his palms were beginning to bleed. "Please."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""/spanspan style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;"As I was saying/spanspan style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;"," Dumbledore pressed on lightly, with a warning twinkle in his eyes. "We at Hogwarts seem to be acquiring a great number of beautiful teenage girls."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""What's wrong with that?" Fenrir demanded, speaking up as all supposedly inferior werewolves do during tense Death Eater meetings./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""They, er, well you see," Dumbledore faltered. "The rulebook here says that they're bad. Very, very bad. And we must destroy them."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""Rulebook?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""Yes, the rulebook - you have not heard of it, Yaxley?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""No," all the Death Eaters replied. In perfect unison, of course./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""Here." Dumbledore took off his hat, exposing a rather elaborate crown braid encircling his head. "Oh yes . . . Mr. Creevey and I had a bit of . . . fun, shall we say," Dumbledore said with a wink when Bellatrix pointed this out./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""Oooooooooh, can I braid your beard?" All eyes turned to Draco, who was bouncing on the edge of his seat with excitement. Bellatrix sent a wayward Crucio at him, but it missed and hit Wormtail instead. Everyone chuckled in amusement as the stupid rat-man shrieked in pain and agony./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""Certainly," Dumbledore said. "But perhaps another time. My back is very bad right now, as Severus was unwilling to make me an Arthritis Potion, and I don't feel like bending down. Now, to business..." So saying, Dumbledore proceeded to pull out of his hat a rabbit, a bag labelled 'pixie dust,' three boxes of condoms labelled 'XXXXL,' a skunk, Girl Scout cookies, instant oatmeal, something which looked terribly like a lock of Severus' hair (fishtail braided), a single knitted fingerless glove, thigh-high red-and-white striped socks, a spiked dog collar, a pacifier, and an extremely large bottle of scented, flavored lube, personalized strawberry. "I swear it was in here . . ." he muttered, turning the hat upside-down. A baby-sized boot with a curly toe tumbled out. Sighing, Dumbledore replaced the hat on his head, ignoring the mess of objects strewn about him. Then Dumbledore proceeded to untie the laces of his boots and look through those as well. There wasn't much of remote interest in those - his wand, a spare pair of surprisingly unbroken glasses, a small vial labelled 'earwax,' a bottle of anti-pregnancy pills, extra beard ties, yarn, and a toothbrush. And, finally, a heavy, leather-bound volume with fancy writing stamped on the cover reading 'RULEBOOK.' How all this fit in Dumbledore's boots was a mystery, apparently even to Dumbledore, for he upon seeing the mess he conjured up a very large tote bag to stuff everything back inside./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""This is the rulebook," Dumbledore said, waving it about. He opened to a random page and read, "/spanspan style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;"All Mary Sues are to be destroyed./spanspan style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;" There, it says it. Now we'd best set about doing so."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""Hold on," Nagini said. She attempted to climb onto the table to take the rulebook, but discovered that she lacked the strength to spring from a seated position in her chair to the table. She tripped and landed with her face smashed against Severus' shoulder. "Er . . . could I see the book?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""Most certainly," Dumbledore said graciously, offering her a hand up. She took it, but tripped once more after the added weight of the rulebook threw her off balance. Sighing, she sat crisscross on the table and opened to a random page./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""Er . . . /spanspan style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;"no ook-ness is/spanspan style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;" . . . what's that word, Severus?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;"Severus leaned forward to take a look - Nagini had only learned to read the summer before - but the moment his bloodstained hands touched the book, Dumbledore kicked him sharply in the face. Severus went reeling backwards, his chair tipped over and he hit his head on the floor./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;""I do hope he's all right," Dumbledore said with great concern and compassion, holding a hand over his heart. "It wouldn't do to lose my only trustworthy spy . . . I mean, follower - I mean - oh, nevermind. You won't have time to worry about it anyway, not with this new threat on the horizon. Nagini, I really must take that book back - lots of work to do. Well, now that you know what to do, best get to it. Chop chop!"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent: 36pt;"And with that, Dumbledore vanished in another puff of white smoke./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent: 36pt;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent: 36pt;"strongspan style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW/span/strong/p
