..."I can touch you now."
Harry screwed his eyes closed tightly as he felt pain like he had never before... knives were surely digging into his entire body, it was so intense. Blades slashing through his flesh, blood dripping down his robes, watering the ground at the base of the grave -
And the pain was gone. Voldemort had stepped away from the grave stone, and Harry, his eyes still closed, could hear his high, cruel laughter ringing through the cemetery.
"See, my faithful followers. See how pathetic the Boy Who Lived truly is... now that I have taken away the asset he most relies upon."
Harry's protesting eyes flew open at this - what had Voldemort taken from him? What had he missed while in excruciating pain?
The answer soon became obvious. As he blinked away tears of pain still lingering in his eyes, he saw what Voldemort had done.
Or rather, didn't.
Everything had become a blur, like a child's painting that had been trampled on while still drying. He squinted in an attempt to see better, but the engulfing darkness of the night wasn't helping. Still, he could make out the tall figure of the Dark Lord, and a wide blur of black across the horizon that was probably the Death Eaters surrounding him.
"See, my friends, how helpless he is now. I would duel him, but I think there might be a more... entertaining way to rid this world of him... welcome, all, to the debut of a new era of Death Eaters! I will utilise a skill I have gained through these long, lonely years of wondering," Voldemort said, and Harry shivered from the undertone of an evil smile he could hear in his voice.
"COPS AND ROBBERS, MY DEAR FRIENDS. AND YOU," he screeched, pointing at Harry. "YOU ARE THE ONLY ROBBER!" Voldemort took a calming breath and went on to say "Now, my fellow law enforcers, we shall give this thief a 60 second head start, I think, to make it fair."
Welcome! Y'all must be Gryffindors for daring to read this. If not, hopefully you leave with your sanity intact. My dear friend HogwartsApprentice sent me a draft of this a week or two ago, channeling my motto, "procrastination is the best inspiration" (when I fail my exams this week, I'm blaming it on her).
Nevertheless, we hope you enjoyed this, with the knowledge that we unfortunately don't own these characters!
Love, Hermione'sDaughter xx