Chapter three

Snakes, Paintings and Mustelidae

Tom Riddle in his homunculus form enjoyed his evening – the screams of young Muggle being tortured by Pettigrew were balsam for his ears. The Dark Lord was focused on reading an old tome of Black Magic – one that would help him to create his new body. Soon, his time will come to rise again, but he needed intelligence from the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry – `Yes, today is the First Task of that stupid tournament. Just a few more minutes and the Owls of my spies will arrive with detailed summary of the task.` he thought as he devilishly laughed.

"Master, the owls from Barty and our Pride arrived!"

"Excellent… Read the one from Pride first!" Tom commanded as he remembered his treasured spy in the Castle, nobody suspected a thing from it.

Dear Master,

There is something weird about the Potter boy as you will find, when you watch my memory of the First Task.

Potter killed a dragon on his own. I don't know how, he disappeared before I could question him, but I will report every piece of information as soon as I find it.

Thank you for your trust in me.

Your Loyal Servant

Pride

PS: I've been contacted by Barty – he is a clever one, isn't he. I'm ready to take the Hidden Mark whenever you wish, My Lord.

Lord Voldemort had finished watching the memory, when he viciously laughed. "Contact Barty to mark Pride – the Mark under tongue will be perfect. Tell them to make sure Potter will win the Tournament – I need his blood for the ritual I'm inventing."

"Yes My Lord, it will be done immediately." Peter bowed, then he left room to distribute his Master's new orders.

Voldemort watched the memory of the First Task carefully, looking at every visible detail about Harry Potter. "Wormtail!"

"Yes, My Lord," the Rat asked, when he returned to the dining room.

"Have you sent the letter?"

"Not yet, My Lord." Peter answered, hoping he won't be put under Cruciatus again.

"Excellent! Add new order for Pride – contact Lucius Malfoy, show him Mark, Lucius is to persuade Fudge to take our Portkey. This way, Lucius will prove his loyalty…" Tom laughed, yes Pride was his masterpiece.

"Yes, My Lord. I will add your new orders and send the letter!" Peter humbly replied, then exited the room.

"Nicolas… Nicolas, my dear friend… please wake up!" Albus Dumbledore asked politely to get answers about the change of Harry Potter, after he entered his private chambers. He was sure the painting of his deceased friend might have some clues.

"Aaaa…" the creator of Philosopher's Stone yawned in his portrait. "Albus, what a surprise? What do you need, my friend?"

"I have questions about Harry Potter's extraordinary performance in the First Task," the Headmaster said, telling Flamel everything, which even included his memory of the task. "So, do you know anything? Any hints at least?" Albus asked. "I wouldn't believe it, if I hadn't seen this on my own eyes."

The Maker of the Stone thought for a long time, "Have you heard of Merlin?"

"Of course I had, who wouldn't? Even Muggles know about him…" Dumbledore answered, puzzled by the question.

"Yes, but why is Merlin the Greatest Wizard of all Ages and no one came close, maybe except Godric Gryffindor," the portrait said. "I'm the only person in the known history, who succeeded in creation of the Stone, but I'm not even close to them. Why Albus?"

The Great Albus Dumbledore was speechless. "I don't know… This never occurred to me…"

"Yes… It never does… But I remember – when I was a little child, my Grand Grandfather Ulrich Flamel told me a story, a tale how he met Godric Gryffindor in his young days. He was in the first graduation year of Hogwarts. The school changed through the ages, but at those days, my Grand Grandfather was taught by Godric himself."

Albus wasn't prepared for a shock like this – yes, he knew Flamels were famous and Old Wizarding Family, but being taught under one of the Creators of the Castle was unheard of. Even the Noble lines of Blacks and Malfoys had information to century after the Hogwarts Castle was built.

"Godric and Merlin, and I suspect the young Potter is on the same boat, used spells based on feelings, emotions. Instead of learning incantations and then spell movements, he just let his heart to manifest itself. As you know, my friend, the strength of Spells we use today is affected by four factor – Magical Power, Incantation, Wand Movement and the Wand itself. Only a handful of us can cast wandlessly, but the strength is reduced greatly. Merlin's and Godric's Magic was affected only by their Magic Core Power."

"I think I can understand now a little, Nicolas," Dumbledore said while touching his long beard. "I put several binding spells on his Magical Core, even when he was little child, he performed some stunning accidental Magic and I believed it wasn't accidental at all. Harry needs to be protected, even if it means to make…" the Headmaster continued, but was interrupted.

"Albus… You've never told me that… Maybe…" the last of Flamels though. "Yes, I'm certain it was that Fire that tore those locks down. Don't try to stand in his way, my friend. Godric created many powerful Spells for the Wizarding Community, but my Grandfather told me – they were just a child's play in his eyes." The painting said in low voice.

"But… He has difficult task to accomplish, I can't let him die." Dumbledore said as their conversation continued till midnight.

Lucius Malfoy looked almost cheerful – his wish to remove the Old Fool from the school was getting closer and closer. And he would have to thank the Potter for this. The Head of the Malfoy family was happy, the meeting of the Board of Governors started only few moments ago, Lucius was sitting in his comfortable wooden armchair with a snake's head engraved on the back of the chair.

"I was telling you Augusta, Dumbledore is loosing his grip," Lucius said. "We've almost saw three deaths today, the Weasley is still in terrible condition and the Healers doesn't know, how much he will recover. We almost lost a child today and we saw that mighty beast to die…" the older Malfoy tried to persuade the Head of Longbottom family.

They've debated for more than an hour, before the assistant came to the conference hall. "Lord Malfoy, forgive me my rudeness, but there is a student waiting outside that needs to speak with you, it's a matter of life or dead."

"Thank you, Toby, tell him I will arrive soon."

"So you wanted to talk with me?" Lucius asked, bit perplexed by the person standing next to him.

"Yes, my name is Pride and Our Lord." Pride said, sticking tongue out of mouth, showing clearly the Mark. "awaits your return to the ranks. But firstly you need to kidnap Fudge with this Portkey." Pride handed the still surprised Malfoy a Portkey. "The word for activation is `Death`"

"Thank you Pride, I will get Fudge as soon as possible." Lucius said, surprised by Pride, but he knew his comrade was genuine as this Mark could only be casted by their Lord.

"My Lord will tell you your new mission, when you arrive with the Minister." Pride cruelly laughed, walking away from the old Malfoy.

Ron was genuinely pissed off – he hoped the Potter would have made fool of himself, even a severe injury would have been a nice finish of the First Task, but no. `Potter is too perfect` he thought for himself, walking through the Great Hall from his dinner.

"Ahhh… Why Potter has to be so flawless!" Ron shouted, aggravated by Harry's actions. "And he shags my girl!" he added in frustration. Even someone as slow as Ron understood that Harry and Hermione no longer stayed in their beds.

"Well, well… Great speech Weasel…" Draco said, giving Ron his patented smirk. "Finally seeing the truth about Potty…"

"Malfoy, why… you little…" Ron shouted, trying to punch young Slytherin, but his hands were already tied by Crabbe. "I hate you and Potter… No, I hate Potter even more…" he hissed.

Draco quickly casted a Privacy ward as he really didn't want to be interrupted and spied on. "Weasley – I see you finally understand the truth about Potty – he's Halfblood, so he wants to sleep with Mudblood. You on the other hand are Pureblood, even through you come from Blood Traitor's Family, but your blood is still pure. Let me ask you question, would you marry that Granger?"

Ron calmed for a moment, "Of course not! I want Pureblood! Granger's smart, but she's a Mudblood and she's ugly. I only want her to do my homework, have free sex and to hurt Potter!" His eyes darkened, after he let out his latest hateful outburst.

"It's great to see you Ron to finally talk like a proper Pureblood! I wish my Father could see you now, he would have been proud of you!" Malfoy laughed, cancelled the ward and then walked off, leaving young Weasley lying on the floor.

"Wormtail!" Tom Riddle shouted, cuddling in his large woollen armchair.

"Yes, My Lord?" Peter asked, worried he might have done something, which would result in punishment.

"I've finished calculations for my Revival Potion and I need you to owl Cronk's Wizarding Supplies in Bulgaria to get Basilisk's Venom Gland, Chimera's Eye, Unicorn's Hoof and Red Dragon's Lungs. After watching Potter's performance I've realized I will need create even stronger body than the original ritual provides." Voldemort deviously laughed.

"Yes, My Lord," Pettigrew humbly answered.

`With this new body I will become immortal, I have many Horcruxes left, only the Diary has been destroyed, but the body will grant me more than I've lost. The Venom Gland and Dragon's Lungs will increase it's durability, while Eye and Hoof will rise both dexterity and Magic storage capacity. Last, I will sacrifice my wand in the Ritual to stabilize my body and to improve the potential of the body. Thank Merlin I have Phoenix Feather in my wand, it will increase my chances the body will be full human again, not a monster. And I admit, casting wandlessly without penalty in the strength of the spell will be great.` Tom thought for himself as he plotted his new plans how to rule the World.

This was a turning point in Ron's life as he sat behind the desk in Hogwarts Owlery. He had to choose whether he will stay loyal to his House, or betray his Family to get what he always wanted – Money & Glory. Malfoy made his point clear, even Ron could understand that. With a sigh, he started writing a letter.

Dear Lord Malfoy,

I wish to formally apologise for my deeds against Your Lordship and the Old and Noble Family of Malfoys. My words cannot express my shame – I was wrong and want to clear my name from the name of the Blood-traitor's Family.

My name is Ronald Weasley and I want to clean the stigma from my name and I will support your actions against non-Pureblood in Magical Britain. I wish to offer you any information about the boy known as Harry Potter – his weakness and his strengths, I can support them all – I will write one down to show you my dedication – Remus Lupin knows where Sirius Black is hiding.

I hope you will someday recognise me as a loyal Pureblood.

Ronald Weasley

Ron has checked his letter several times before sending it via owl to the Malfoy's Manor. He knew the world of Power was similar to a game of chess, he choose to betray his friends, Ron had a great teacher – his rat did the same thing all those years ago.

Ron went to bed and quickly fell to his usual deep slumber. When he woke the next day, he found a hawk staring into his eyes.

"Thank you," he said as he took the parcel from the beast. He quickly tore through the paper to reveal a note and a sack full of Galleons.

Thank you for your sincerity, young Ronald.

Don't be afraid, you truly are a Pureblood, be proud.

You can find 500 Galleons in the bag, you will be properly rewarded for your future cooperation. I will send you another note with things I need to know.

Stay well, L.

To say Ron was happy would be an understatement, he started laughing when he realized he earned the same amount as his father did in a year. Life was going to be great as he walked to the Great Hall with Malfoy patented smirk on his lips.

Author's Note: Thank you for your support and I'm sorry it took so long (well I've written in profile I will try to update at least once a wee, but most of this chapter has been written down on Monday, than I've got sick and my brain stopped working :-D, so I had to get back to the groove.) I have ideas for the next 4-6 chapters, but don't worry, I will finish this story. It may take a while sometimes, but I will do it...

Mustelidae - it's the Family, under which is classified both Weasel and Ferret