A/N Sorry it's a bit late but I got stuck, I need some reviews! Lol but seriously, if could take the time out and tell me what you think I really couldn't tell you what that would mean to me. :D
THE LEADER OF THE HOUSE
CHAPTER 4:
LIKE A HOUSE OF CARDS
Voldemort was in a pensive mood. Wouldn't I have felt something? He thought, never mind, there is strength in numbers. Now that that matter was put to bed, he needed to lift his spirits.
"Yaxley" said Voldemort to the empty room
"Yes, my Lord" answered Yaxley, appearing at his master's feet.
"I want you to find me something to play with" said Voldermort,
"Yes, my Lord. Do you have a preference today, my Lord?" asked Yaxley, rising to face the Dark Lord.
"No," he said, an evil smile forming on his face in anticipation; turning to the fire, "surprise me." And with that Yaxley departed, another cloaked figure entering as he left.
"Aah, I trust you have found the source of the anomaly, Bella" said Voldemort, maintaining his gaze into the fire.
"Yes, my Lord" said Bellatrix, bowing "We have narrowed down the source to Hogwarts." She finished, having casually put some distance between herself and the Dark Lord.
"Hogwarts?" said Voldemort, turning to face Bellatrix, his eyes as alive as the fire behind him, which was now illuminating his serpentine figure. Bellatrix had already begun to make an escape from the study, her master's reaction to bad news predictable.
Curse that old fool! Thought Voldemort, as his temper caused death to all those in his path, I must have that school! He thought.
He eventually calmed himself down, after satisfying his bloodlust.
"Malfoy" he summoned, looking around at the damage he caused. Good riddance, he thought, only the weak die.
"Yes, my Lord" said Malfoy, appearing at his master's feet
"I trust your son is going to follow in his father's footsteps?" asked Voldermort, making his way back to the study.
"Y-yes, of course, my Lord" replied Malfoy, looking at the damage around him, realizing the Dark Lord recently received bad news.
"Good" Voldemort said, reaching the study and using his wand to reignite the fire. "I have a task for you, Lucius" finished Voldemort, sitting down in the only armchair in the room, staring at the fire.
"Whatever it is master I shall do it" said Malfoy, knowing fully well what his master was asking of him, though that didn't make it any easier to do.
"I need to speak to Draco. I need you to set it up, Lucius. See that it is done quickly" Voldemort said, "I trust you will not fail me"
"Yes my Lord" said Malfoy, and with that he was gone, just as he appeared, in the blink of an eye.
"I want this castle" said Voldemort, his once handsome, human features seemingly taking on a more serpentine edge.
"I'm afraid this castle cannot belong to any one person, Tom" said Dumbledore, his tone as playful as if he was discussing the quidditch
"Stop that rubbish old man! I don't want to hear your diplomatic answers" spat Voldemort, his true sentiment for his former teacher written on his face, "I just want the castle; I want your job"
"Surely you can have anything you want, Tom" said Dumbledore, a smile to match his tone
"Don't play with me old man! You know it's not that simple!" replied Voldemort, his tone exuding anger
"That's true, Tom, it isn't that simple, and yes I was responsible for making it so" said Dumbledore, his flippant tone clearly irking Voldemort, "but, as I made it so difficult, allow me to make it simple for you, its only fair" said Dumbledore, his eyes hardening. "Do you want me to give you the castle or do you want to take the castle?"
"I-I want the castle, by any way" said Voldemort, slightly put off by Dumbledore, though determined not to let it show again, "If you wish to give me the castle then that will be easier for all involved, though if you wish me to take it, I will" finished Voldemort, his gaze matching Dumbledore's intensity for a moment, before the older of the two relented, a sad face on his wrinkled features
"It's a shame that you think that, Tom" said Dumbledore, "there are things in this life we are destined to want but never have, or what would be the point of imagination?" mused Dumbledore, staring at his wand
"Hahahahaha" laughed Voldemort, "that is a defeatist attitude, old man; I will achieve everything I set out for. That is the point of imagination"
"How naïve, yet refreshing at the same time" smiled Dumbledore, "You truly are a remarkable boy"
"IM A MAN YOU OLD FOOL!" shouted Voldemort, losing his rather loose grip on his cool, "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT IVE DONE? WHAT I WILL DO?"
"I am sure I have an idea of those things, Tom"
"YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO CALL ME BY TAT FITHLY MUGGLE NAME!" interrupted Voldemort, springing out of his chair in a flash, knocking his chair onto the floor. "I trust you know what i'm called now" said Voldemort, after a calming deep breath, "it's a matter of respect" he finished.
"Fear is not respect, Tom" said Dumbledore, his face full of pity.
"Now whose being naïve?" sneered Voldemort "Does it not get the same result?
"In away yes, but that, in a nutshell is why this castle will never be truly yours. You could remove me by force, put yourself or a proxy in my place and this castle will still not be yours" said Dumbledore, his tone almost pleading Voldemort to understand where he was coming from.
"Whatever old man," sneered Voldemort, "I take it from you're pathetic attempt to dissuade me from my plans, you are not giving me the castle. That's a coward's move" he finished, moving to the door. "I used to idolise you Dumbledore," Voldemort said, hand on door handle "but now I see you for what you truly are" and with that, he left
"And I you, Voldemort" sighed Dumbledore.
I was naïve back then; thought Voldemort Fear is not respect. It is much more effective than respect. Voldemort was roused from his thoughts by the appearance of Yaxley at the door, a burly young man being levitated ahead of him
"Aah, Yaxley, what have you brought for me today?" asked Voldemort, rising from his seat.
"Quidditch player, goes by the name of Wood" said Yaxley, unceremoniously dropping the quidditch player on the cold, marble floor
"What's your name boy," asked Voldemort, using his wand to lift the young man's head
"Oliver Wood" he said, with a determination his body could not back his voice up with, due to fear
"Oliver Wood" repeated Voldemort, turning his back on his captive, "Yaxley, hand him a wand. I want to duel this Oliver Wood." Yaxley tossed a wand at Oliver who promptly grabbed it and turn on the spot, only to remain where he was
"Thinking of apparating are we? Well, if you were thinking of flight then you certainly can't fight now can you? Avada Kedavra!" Oliver slumped to the ground, his once vibrant eyes now empty.
Ginny Weasley was not in a good mood, again, but for very different reasons. Dean, her so called boyfriend, whom she had defended to the hilt, had been caught in a broom closet with some random chick. Not only was that supposed to be their closet, but she had to suffer the indignity of a whole class of 3rd year Gryffindors tell her about it. At lunch. After she destroyed Dean, she would have to teach those children discretion, she reasoned. And then to top off the sundae of shite that had been that day, the cherry was running into Harry 'I-dreamed-of-you-and-cant-stop-thinking-about-you' Potter. She struggled through dinner, allowing her friends believe it was because she was heartbroken, which she wasn't. Pissed, yes, heartbroken, very doubtful. She was distracted because of Harry Potter. Any time she was distracted it was because of him. The dreams had not stopped, if anything they had gotten, worse (or better, depending on your point of view, reasoned a voice in her head), but he was doing his best to help her rid herself of her nightly distractions, by acting like a complete prick. Walking around like he was the shit and everyone else were flies (bzzzz, said the voice in Ginny's head), moving from one girl to the next, or at least rumours flying left right and centre, and in Ginny's experience, rumours were normally always based on truth. The worst part was the fact that he wasn't like this before. The sudden transformation was as suspicious as it was infectious; it took all of Ginny's willpower to stay away from Harry, his eyes seemingly radiating something as cold as steel yet as inviting as a summer's day all at the same time. She could manage her 'Harry issues' if she could just get some respite from him, but wherever she went he was there, from appeasing her feral side with her dreams at night, to confirming her suspicions by planning a trap from him during the day, he was there. And here she was, sitting with her co-conspirators, Hermione and Ron, dong her best to be involved and yet keep her mind off Harry. Easy.
"So we've gone through 3 plans so far that haven't been adequate," said Hermione, more to herself than to the others, "I only see one way left" she said, turning to Ginny "We need to seduce him." Ginny's face dropped suddenly, only to regain her composure just as quickly.
"Sure Hermione, how are you planning we go about this?" she asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm, "Are we going to slip him a love potion? Or are we just gonna walk up to him and snog the life out of him?" Hermione blushed,
"The plan is more subtle than that Ginny," said Hermione, ignoring Ron's silent but furious protests, "All we need to do is lure Harry to our trap area, no actual intimacy needs to occur in order to do that"
"You could've led with that Hermione" said Ron, sighing in relief, leaning back in his chair, rocking it on two legs
"And what do you mean by we?" asked Ginny, still not totally on board with the plan.
"Well, one of us needs to be the bait, with the other stationed at the trap site with Ron, ready to initiate phase 2" Hermione said, choosing her words carefully. Ginny knew that Hermione was basically saying that she, Ginny, was the bait, but that didn't make the pill any easier to swallow; so, fighting against the betrayal she had no right to be feeling, she maintained the mask that hid her inner turmoil.
"OK, I'll be the bait" said Ginny, to the obvious relief of Hermione, and, more subtly, Ron; something Ginny would have normally noticed, but she wasn't herself anymore, especially when anything to do with Harry came up.
"Good" said Hermione, visibly happier than she was at the beginning of the planning conversation, leading Ron to think that this was her plan to begin with "now, we need to do this as soon as possible, who knows how much potential damage he could be doing, whether he knows it or not"
"How about tonight? Just before dinner?" suggested Ron
"Perfect" said Hermione, "can you get Harry to the unused classroom on the 7th floor, Ginny?"
"Sure" said Ginny, her voice rather more emotionless than she wanted, but she couldn't do anything about it now, so she got up and left, surprisingly happy that she was about to finally get some answers about why he had affected her so.
Nothing was ruining Harry's mood. It had been weeks since he'd had a single bad thought. In times of quiet reflection, Harry thought this was weird, but chalked it down as another effect of his, for lack of a better term, rebirth. He was lying on a sofa in the common room, when his reflection time was interrupted. He was used to these interruptions; they were usually always fun, but this one wasn't in keeping with the majority.
"Dumbledore asked me to give this to you" said a small boy with mousy brown hair in the year below Harry, whose energetic demeanour was evident in the way he handed Harry a scroll of parchment, positively bouncing on the balls if his feet, seemingly ecstatic at the mere fact he was at Hogwarts. Harry sat up, taking the note in his hand and nodding thanks towards the messenger, who smiled, then turned and left, his almost annoying amount of energy sending him in the direction of his friends.
Harry,
I hope you have a good first few weeks. We need to talk. Meet me in my office now.
Professor Dumbledore
If only he was this succinct in person, thought Harry, getting up, only to find his path blocked. He looked up to find a pair of chocolate brown eyes looking at him, almost through him, but not in a piercing way, but in an endearingly curious way.
"Hello again" said Harry, finally managing to stand up, "and how can I help you today?" he asked
"I need to talk to you" said Ginny, her eyes never leaving Harry's, not that he could've looked away if he'd wanted to. "Now" she added. Damn thought Harry, I need to see Dumbledore. Harry took a deep breath to clear his head, which actually did the opposite of what it was supposed to do, as his nose was filled with a very distracting mix of flowery scents.
"Um," Harry started, "sure, why not" Harry reasoned. I can get rid of her before I get to Dumbledore's, Harry thought, and she smells way too good to deny her. Harry motioned for her to lead the way out of the common room and was dismayed to see her turn left, in the opposite direction of Dumbledore's office. I'm sure Dumbledore wouldn't mind if I was a little late Harry thought, it's not like its urgent or anything. Harry walked easily with Ginny, initially waiting for her to say something, but sensing her reluctance, he began
"So, what do wanna talk about?" he asked, slipping his hands into the pockets of his robes
"Right, look, Harry, I need to tell you something" said Ginny, her words sounding familiar to Harry. They're all the same, he thought, smiling inwardly.
"Look" Harry said, grabbing her arm and spinning her around to face him "you don't have to say anything" he finished, inching closer to Ginny, who was rooted to the spot.
"M-maybe we should go somewhere private?" suggested Ginny, barely a whisper, her eyes closed
"Sure" whispered Harry into her ear, causing the little hairs at the back of her neck to stand on end and sending a shiver down her spine. He took her hand and led her into the empty classroom nearby. As soon as he got into the room her felt Ginny break free from his hand and before he knew what was going on the door was locked behind him, leaving him in the empty room. Harry knew something was wrong with this situation and mentally berated himself for getting trapped like this. He pointed his wand at the door, with the intention of blowing it away, only to realise that he didn't know how to do it, and couldn't do it even if he wanted to. In fact, he couldn't do anything he wanted to do, as he was currently falling to the ground, his body completely rigid. He braced (as much as one who can't move could) for the impact, only to find his landing was softer than expected. He heard feet moving, but as he was face down on the floor, he couldn't identify who it was. Harry's mind was racing. Who the hell is doing this? What the hell are they going to do to me? Harry struggled against the charm, expecting his increased magical power to get him out of this sticky situation, only to find nothing doing. If I get out of this, i'm going to kill Dumbledore, Harry resolved. If? If? I WILL get out of this. A hood was then placed over Harry's head, more gently than he imagined a Death Eater would do, though that did nothing to reduce the anger boiling inside him. He remained face down, in a hood, for about a minute, his captors casting charms on him so that he couldn't hear what they were saying properly. Whoever was doing this had thought out every possible loophole that he could have used to garner their identities. Eventually, the hood was removed and he was made to lean against the wall, facing the inside of the room. There, he saw 3 of his fellow Gryffindors, Hermione, Ron and his seducer Ginny, wands pointed at him, but with nervous expressions on their face. Hermione waved her wand and Harry was able to hear clearly again.
"Harry," Hermione began "please don't be mad, but we had to make sure for your own safety and ours that you weren't under the influence of any dark magic". Harry had a million things to say to the 3 of them but those questions were relegated to the back of his mind when the door opened to reveal Albus Dumbledore, a jovial smile on his face as he surveyed the scene that he had seemingly stumbled upon.
"Is this a closed party or is there room for one more?" He asked, standing at the door way, his casual tone completely opposed to the palpable shock in the room.
"Well, I do hope you forgive my intrusion" Dumbledore said, the occupants of the room startled into silence. "I wanted to talk to Harry, but it seems that we will now have to add a few more seats" he said, "You don't mind, do you, Harry?" looking at Harry for a response, to which he of course he got none. "Very well," he said, continuing as if Harry had given his consent, "If you will all follow me to my office, we have much to discuss"
"And it would be better if you released Harry, Ms Granger, he would attract a lot of attention if he had to be carried" he added, his eyes twinkling with glee.