Tom Marvolo Riddle, clad in heavy dark robes, moved amongst his followers while doing his utmost to give no sign of weakness. He could not let them know of his most recent defeat. The dilapidated old mansion of his muggle father was his new hideout to accommodate the extended families of those sworn to him. If manpower was not one of the few resources he still had free access to he would not have tolerated this.
But sadly his followers were quite wanted by the DMLE. And with the perceived certainty that the goblins would be bent into giving their financial actions away through the fear the Potter boy managed to inspire them by slaying their kin so thoroughly. This meant that the wealth those families hoarded was out of reach.
The horde of Inferi he had planned to unleash into the nearest muggle city was defeated by the same Potter boy. And although hidden in their ranks as just another inferi he was nearly killed once more when the earth bulged up beside him. He had fled immediately while commanding the horde to attack whatever was closest to them.
By the time he had orientated himself and brought himself back to the field the destructive authority had ended. The Potter boy was destroying the last inferi together with the Witenagemot knights and followers. The lack of proper wizards or witches brought mixed feelings. On one hand it meant that the Witenagemot was not actively interfering into the ministry.
On the other hand it showed that Potter had far more resources to his name than Voldemort had thought. He had expected that Dumbledore would keep the boy sheltered, like a pet weapon to bring to bear when it was needed. It was what he would have done if he found one of his followers ascending to the august ranks of Campiones and killing him or her was not an option.
'Morale is faltering.' He noted clinically as he saw his branded followers hide the displeasure and pay their respects to him. Some however were either less careful or baiting him for some reason. One of those was Narcissa Malfoy who made no secret that the mansion was beneath her. It made him wonder if they did know, but so far his mind-reading skills had revealed nothing.
He was tempted to bring them all in line through fear. What saved her from his wrath that he now had need of the boy she had spawned. And cursing the former Black woman would make treachery more palatable to the rest of the attached crowd to his followers. The old, although weakend, family still held a lot of sway under the purebloods that were his supporters. It was something the new headmaster and his reckless Campione's behaviour could not undo.
"Lucius. Fetch your child. I have a mission for the two of you." he instructed the man as he passed him by on the way to his 'throne room'. Like the rest of the mansion it was old in a bad way. Magic could fix a lot but it was clear this was not the kind of wear and tear of ages the purebloods appreciated.
Lucius and Draco entered the room with the expected bowing and appreciation of his power. The boy did a poor job of hiding that he was not happy. It was mixed with a sense of elation that Voldemort was certain that the boy thought he could be useful for his lord. It was an old plan he had made while he was building his power and got his hands on the Diadem.
There was a pair of vanishing cabinets. One he had found during his last days in Hogwarts, its counterpart he found much later. Only to discover that the one in Hogwarts was too damaged to receive anything of proper size and living. It meant that the backdoor attack he had planned was impossible and with none of his loyal followers having a child attending the school there was nothing he could do.
What it could do was send through a certain crown, which he had done. No matter how long Dumbledore has been aware of his Horcruxes he would not search for them inside his own school citadel. The only other Horcrux he had was the one in Gringotts. Which was not as safe as he had hoped now that the goblins had been humbled. But he found it unlikely that anyone would be allowed to access the Lestrange vaults as long as they languished, but lived, in Azkaban.
'And as much I wish to break them out. Without the inside knowledge I need I cannot bring the Dementors under my command again without risk being interrupted by the aurors. Furthermore those loyal to me in the force most likely have been discovered and removed, if they did not already flee to my side.' The Dark Lord thought unhappily at all the levers of power his followers had managed to get their hands on in his absence, only for it to be snatched away he could use them.
'I'll need to scout out the area where this Bones woman lives. Perhaps a simple assassination can simplify things. According to Lucius she is the reason why everything is going wrong in the ministry. Without her to act as his will I should be able to reinsert the people where I need them.' Voldemort calmly planned out while Draco and Lucius were still on their knees waiting for him to acknowledge them.
"Draco Malfoy." He drew out slowly. "Do you wish to join my ranks to purge our world of the unworthy?" Draco made the mistake of looking up. Voldemort felt magnanimous by not cursing the boy with his favorite curse for doing so. "Yes my lord." The boy rapidly looked down again as his father gave him a not so subtle jab.
"Very well. There is normally a ritual of sorts to induct new members with the mark. This will not be that case for you, instead you will be marked now and you shall earn your right to bear it through a task. Fail and the punishment shall echo through the aeons of my rule." The Dark Lord promised. "I understand my lord. I accept this honor and burden" Draco replied gravely.
"Show me your left arm." Voldemort commanded and without waiting or to speak any ceremonial words he pressed his wand into the boy's arm and branded him with his mark. He had expected the boy to squeal like a stuck pig but instead he bore it in silence. 'Maybe there is something of value in the Malfoy line.' Voldemort mused as he finished up the spell.
Still the boy clearly was affected. His brow was dotted with sweat as he swayed. Voldemort did not give a damn and started his instructions. "On the seventh floor of the castle there is a hidden storage room." He explained in detail how the boy could access it and what he would find inside. He ordered Malfoy senior to instruct his spawn on how to repair a vanishing cabinet. He could see the stung pride in his eyes, but the pride of the Malfoy's held no meaning to him.
Afterall. They could not even properly house him without the DMLE storming their house. And Malfoy had boasted more than once that the ministry was just waiting to fall into Voldemort's lap. Something it had most definitely nod done.
Narcissa saw her child bearing the mark of the Dark Lord with pride and held back a groan of dismay. 'Foolish child! Did you truly come from my womb!' she ranted in her mind as the other death eaters obliged the Dark Lord's desires by feeding her child's ego. When Draco turned to her she kept her expression studiously neutral. If her child had some brain left he would correctly interpret that as her disapproval.
As he turned away Narcissa started to suspect he was a lost cause. As much as it pained her, she needed to start looking for an exit. The pureblood ship was a sinking cause as things currently stood and as much she disliked the muggleborn and their incessant desire to change the world they were ascendant.
This dislike however was no reason to allow her family to be burned on the fires of madness the Dark Lord represented. A Campione was a threat that her father sternly warned her to stay clear off. And he had given the same advice to all the children in the Black Family. Even Sirius's positive relationship was something he advised against as Campione tended to draw in danger like a niffler spotting gold.
She personally disagreed with that. With Campione came great danger also meant great rewards with the right female guidance. Narcissa once again regretted she had no daughter, a wily girl raised by her hand would have disposed of the muggleborn girl and had the Potter boy wrapped up in her hand. 'Although not too tightly, the boy seems to be taking advice from Dumbledore as well.'
'The foolish girls of the other pureblood families probably thought showing some skin was enough. Did they forget the muggles have no morals at all? The boy has probably seen it all already.' she ranted in her mind to distract herself from the other thoughts she had. Namely taking her son by the ear and turning it around fully in the hopes he finally remembered his mother's advice.
Her chance to talk with Draco in private came sooner than she expected. His father clearly had enough of his son showing off without truly having earned the mark, or sensed others felt so. "Draco, did you forget what I instructed you earlier this year?" she asked calmly.
"I did not, mother. I will stay out of Potter's way." Draco replied calmly, albeit with a trace of nervousness in his voice. "Is that so?" Narcissa asked deceptively calmly and Draco gulped in fear. "How do you plan to stay out of his way when you directly align yourself with his enemy?"
"It is a great honor, one I could not refuse." Draco stated, sounding uncertain of himself. "It is one you should have refused! You could have claimed that Potter would spot the mark, you could have said that the task is beyond you!" She whirled away and took a few steps to create some distance between the two before she did something horribly muggle, like paddling him, despite how tempting it currently was.
"There is nothing I can do to save you from your latest bout of foolishness my child." Narcissa said in a cold tone. Still facing away from her son who winced slightly. He briefly considered mentioning the Dark Lord but he suspected that would gain him no favor with his mother.
"I am well aware now that you bound yourself to the Dark Lord's service, you are obliged to fulfill whatever he wants you to do." she sniffed disdainfully "So I advise you this. Remember that retreat is an option for a proper Slytherin. If your task is obstructed or found out by the Campione. Retreat and hope he ignores you."
"I will not fail mother." Draco protested and was offended that his mother had so little faith in him. "In your own words you said that this 'Cressida Layla' was a woman of cunning. Potter has shown himself to be far from stupid as you claimed him to be and he is capable of listening to the advice of the likes of Dumbledore. We might call him foolish for his love of muggles, but he is definitely not one on other aspects such as magic and politics."
"There is nothing to worry about mother." Draco assured his mother. "I am a Malfoy and I shall not fail." With his piece said her son walked away like a proud peacock. Narcissa sighed and hoped her child would remember to run when things went wrong. She loved her child but she doubted his competence in outwitting Dumbledore, Layla and Potter.
'I first need to get out of here without the Dark Lord noticing. Then I need to establish where this dilapidated muggle mansion is located so I can apparate towards it.' Narcissa started to plan as she watched her child leave. 'I'll need to expend some favors to get the necessary distractions so that no-one will notice me slipping out.'
'I could ask them to do that…' the former Black plotted out. 'And once that is done I can contact Bones for a deal. My husband is a lost cause but I should be able to get something favorable for myself and Draco. Afterall, he is just a foolish child forced into this by his father and the Dark Lord. As long as he does not use one of the unforgivable things it can be worked out.'
For a moment she regretted that she was forced to sour the trust the Potter Campione had in her. If she knew where she was, a simple message would have the boy running and solve the threat the Dark Lord posed to her and hers. 'On the other hand, he might act rashly and cut me down as well. The Bones woman can be trusted to deal reasonably with.'
Narcissa walked to the rooms set aside from the minor families that had members sworn to the Dark Lord and had fled when it became clear Madam Bones was not afraid to go for the major families. A few words here and there should be the first rolling stones to get herself out of the paranoid hold and sight of the Dark Lord.
"Thank you all for coming." Dumbledore told the people attending the meeting. "Has anyone managed to find any leads?" There was a hint of impatience in his voice. Signalling that he had found nothing to his own disappointment. The men shook their heads and Dumbledore let out a long sigh.
"We need to take another tack. We are looking for a needle in a haystack the size of the planet. This passive approach is not going to work." Moody said gruffly. The old auror looked around and saw a few nods.
"Yes. You are right Alastor. The sudden swarm of inferii shows that Tom is trying to gather them as well." Dumbledore agreed. "But there is nothing of note in the direction the horde was heading. I along with the witenagemot scoured the entire area. We simply don't understand why he started that attack."
"The Potter lad cut down that mess before it could get started." Moody said with a grin. "He did. But we can't assume we get that lucky again the next time Riddle brings out another hidden reserve…. There are no other inferi armies on your 'to work out later' list?" Lupin asked with a pointed look.
The Headmaster had the grace to give a conceding nod he made a blunder. "As far I am aware he does not. None of the other locations had any mobile threats." "That is good, but that doesn't change we are blind while Voldie knows where he stored his own soul pieces." Sirius Black asked with crossed arms. He wasn't all that happy to have this secretive meeting after the long days that followed 'figuring out' where the horde of inferi came from.
Sadly he was one of the few people trusted with the unpalatable knowledge of black magic to be useful. He had been drafted in all but name. He didn't grumble too much however, keeping Amelia Bones in their corner was worth the time in his opinion.
Dumbledore glanced at Severus who gave a small nod. "Then I am afraid we'll be forced to use bait." He turned his attention to the rest of the group. "There was a prophecy about Tom Riddle and Harry Potter. It was rendered obsolete the moment Harry ascended." He explained to the group. Remus and Sirius immediately put the clues together but to his relief they kept their peace for now.
"But that is something he does not know is it?" Shacklebolt observed keenly as he glanced between Dumbledore and Snape. "Correct. I had to check personally to be sure. And since his only known follower who was with the unspeakables is still locked in Azkaban I deem it unlikely he knows. It is not something the lore often touches upon."
"But is he aware that there is a prophecy?" Moody demanded gruffly. "To my regret he is. He knows only the first part of it. Which was enough to set him on a crusade to seek out the Potter family and instruct his followers to go after the Longbottoms." Dumbledore answered tiredly.
"So the plan is to lure him out of hiding with the full prophecy?" Black asked with a thoughtful look. "You plan to use Severus's connections to get this information over to him." Lupin added, looking equally thoughtful. "Correct. I suspect the young Malfoy is currently in contact with the Dark Lord. His desire to please the madman and his own father will push him to make use of the contact method instructed to him."
"Can't we just cut out the boy and do it ourselves?" Moody asked with an ugly expression. The rest of the men decided to interpret it that he was already thinking up painful methods to obtain what they needed. "I have considered it. However we must not forget that he is incredibly skilled in magic. We cannot be sure what methods he used for verification or duress." Dumbledore replied, carefully dancing around the fact that he had to treat one of his charges as the enemy.
"And then we jump the bastard when he shows up." Black said decisively as he pounded his fist into his hand. "In the ideal case we would." Dumbledore agreed. "However I am afraid there will be a middleman to ambush first." he grimaced slightly. "I suspect we will need at least two vials of veritaserum on hand."
Snape nodded that it would be ready. "I shall engage Riddle in single combat. I ask of you all to keep his followers out of the battle… should I fall. Unless he is gravely injured I wish all of you to run." Dumbledore requested humbly. "Why don't we bring in Potter?" Shacklebolt asked with crossed arms. "And shove all the problems of our generation into the next, as that generation holds a Campione?" Dumbledore asked kindly.
"Furthermore I am confident that I can.. Ah what do the youth call it these days… 'I can take him' I believe it is." Dumbledore joked weakly to hide how hard it was for him to harden his heart for the deed. "Just don't be upset if we sneak a spell into his back if he's busy." Black said with a grin that was far from kind. "Oh do take the opportunity if it presents itself. I have no intention of fighting fair. But neither do they." Dumbledore allowed, knowing that they would do so regardless.
"Well it sounds like we have the bare bones of a plan. We just now need to wait then?" Moody asked as his natural eye raked over those present. "Then remain vigilant. Call me when you get something." he spun on the spot and popped out. "I should return before Madam Bones finds out." Shacklebolt agreed as he followed the veteran's lead.
"Yea, we'd better go as well before Harry wonders where we went off to." Black said to Lupin and the pair of men left with their own pops. "Let us hope it all goes as we planned it to." Dumbledore whispered to the near empty room. Snape merely gave a nod of agreement before popping off. Dumbledore followed suit soon after.