~ Chapter 8 ~
The days passed by fast. Harry's birthday came and he was surprised at the presents he got. He got a Firebolt figurine that emitted sparks that spelled out "Happy Birthday" from Andrea. Hermione got him a box of assorted candies, which he happily shared with everyone. Ron actually got Harry a new Irish shamrock hat that didn't look too bad on him. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley gave Harry a chocolate caramel crème cake that tasted quite delicious. "Snuffles" gave Harry a new book on brooms, but Andrea was pretty suspicious on who this "snuffles" was. To make the day end on a good note, they all went down to the beach and had a nice swim under the sun.
"This has been the most wonderful day," Harry said as he dried himself off. Everyone nodded to this. Harry smiled at them and looked the other way for a second. There he saw a black girl sitting in a beach chair. She was writing in a little blue book. It didn't occur to him that anything about her was special, but for that moment he could feel a kind of vibe off of her. This vibe quickly faded and he turned back to his friends.
"Well, let's get inside," Harry said, motioning them to their abode. They all got up and made their way to the summer home. Once inside, they sat on their couch, still pretty wet. Ron had the biggest smile on his face. Harry just happened to notice it and chuckled at him. " Why are you smiling so wide?" Ron turned to him with the smile still on his face.
"Two reasons," Ron said, "One – I have never been to a beach before. I have never felt the water push against my body like it did out there. It was really fun. Two – I am so cold since we came inside the house that I can't move my face at all." Everyone laughed at him and moved closer to each other for warmth. Andrea layed her head on Ron's shoulder and smiled. Ron looked down at her and smiled back.
What a love connection they have, Harry thought. He wished he and Hermione could be like that. It was his 16th birthday, and he did feel happy, but he felt as though that was something that he was missing. He was turning 16, and he didn't have a girlfriend. He may have been the most popular boy in the wizarding world, but no one would ask him out. He guessed that most people thought he was with Hermione, but he felt as he wasn't. Ron was even about to get a girlfriend, and he would be left alone. He finally made up his mind that this would be the year he would get a girlfriend.
Harry got up and yawned. He went to the refrigerator to get a snack. He then remembered that they had not stocked it with anything. He opened the door to the refrigerator and his jaw dropped. It was filled with candies and cakes galore. All kinds of sweets. He reached his hand inside and got a Pumpkin Pasty, then closed the door. He then heard Ron pipe up.
"Hey, Harry?" he asked, "Can you get me a lemonade out of the refrigerator?" Harry sighed and put his hand on the handle and opening the door.
"I'm sorry, Ron," Harry said, looking inside the refrigerator. "There aren't any…" Harry stopped talking right in his tracks. Suddenly, the same refrigerator that had been filled with candies was now filled with drinks. Harry couldn't believe it. Just a second ago there were sweets in there, and now there wasn't a one. Harry pulled out the lemonade for Ron and closed the refrigerator. He walked back to the couch with the lemonade in one hand and his Pumpkin Pasty in the other. As he got to the couch and gave Ron his drink, he couldn't help but ask, "Um…Ron, How does the refrigerator work?" Ron gave a chuckle and took a sip of his drink.
"I guess my parents never told you," Ron said with another chuckle, "All you have to do is say what you want from the fridge, and open it. It will be in there. That's all I know." And he returned to sipping his drink. Say anything and it will be in there, Harry thought. This wouldn't be that bad at all.
*****
The cool night breeze flowed through Jaden's hair as she finished another poem. She couldn't wait to send it to her friend back in the USA. One real problem was it would probably costs a few more dollars, or should she say 'pounds', to send it to them by airmail. There was the whole Pacific Ocean between them now. She hadn't gotten an owl, yet some of her friends from school pleaded her to get one. That was one of her real goals this year. Her other one was to finish out the school year in one piece.
As the winds started to get colder, she wrapped herself in her arms and got up. She put her blue poem book down and folded up her beach chair. Once that was done, she picked up her book and went on her way into the beach house. The house now looked a lot brighter than it had been before. Her aunt Sierra was in the most likely place to find her, in the kitchen. Jaden walked in with a smile on her face and landed her behind on the couch. Sierra looked up with a smile on her face.
"Had a good day?" Sierra asked.
"Don't you mean had a good week…or two? Ya know we've been here for about two weeks running?" Jaden replied.
"Has it been that long? My, time has been going by faster and faster."
"Yea, but I'm loving every minute of it." Jaden closed her eyes, as if she was going to take a nap, then snapped them open. She propped up and turned to her aunt, who was wiping off her hands with a towel. "Ya know what? I actually saw some kids out today."
"Really?" Sierra said, looking to her with interest.
"Yea, and they looked my age. I think I heard one of them yell 'Happy Birthday' to one of them. I'm not sure."
"Which house are they in?"
"Oh, not far from us. I think it's about 226. And ya know what?"
"What?"
"I don't think I have seen Meg on the beach at all. You know the girl from the plane." Sierra thought for a moment, then gave a wink to Jaden.
"Oh yes, I remember. That nice girl that took my seat." Jaden couldn't help but giggle. How could her aunt refer to her friend as "that nice girl that took her seat"?
"Yea, her," Jaden replied and layed back onto the couch. "I wonder what house she's in. She said that she would be living in this complex, too." Jaden sighed and had yawn. Sierra came over and sat on the top edge of the couch.
"She'll be out there, you just aren't looking that hard," Sierra said. Jaden smiled at her aunt and once again closed her eyes. Sierra left for the kitchen. Jaden knew that Sierra would want to finish dinner by the time she woke up. Jaden could only sit where she was and let dreams fill her head until she could smell the aroma of food on the table.
*****
The dark chamber had been filled with hooded figures since the stroke of midnight. They had all been tired when they had gotten the call of an important meeting, yet they perked right up and headed out of their doors into the black hole the Dark Lord called his chambers. The only thing they heard about it was it was a meeting that was important to his rise. No details, no hints or riddles of information. This puzzlement that was with them also came over Wormtail.
Wormtail had been sitting in the dark chamber for days doing the daily work he did for his Lord. He too had not been notified of the meeting's purpose. What was strange was it had actually been days since he had actually seen the Dark Lord himself. He never did say where he was going when he usually left, but he usually came back soon enough.
Suddenly, the door to the chamber flew open. All of the eyes in the room turned to it. After about a moment, a pair of gleaming red eyes emitted from the darkness. All of the hooded figures' heads bowed. And out of the darkness came the Dark Lord himself. He walked passed the bowed heads and headed straight for his altar. He nodded to Wormtail, who bowed lower than any of the others.
"My Lord, you have returned," Wormtail said in his scrawny and seemingly aged voice. Lord Voldemort did not return an answer, he just sat down at his altar. He motioned for his followers to raise their heads. They did so with a sense of fear.
"My followers," Voldemort said, "I have returned with a plan to stop our constant problem and end it with more than just lives being slaughtered at uncertain times. This plan is foolproof and will take Harry Potter down from the inside. It involves our newest member, Ms. Jaden Maxwell, and a member that will take her and the world of Harry Potter down. Come Agent X."
Out of the dark doorway, down came a person in a hooded cloak. This person came walking fast and made her way to the altar. Voldemort turned to the person and nodded his head. Agent X bowed their head back at him.
"Agent X has gotten half of Phase I completed. That is to infiltrate the life of our Ms. Jaden Maxwell. We will hope to finish this as Ms. Maxwell enters Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. If anything shall go wrong, I shall expect Agent X to finish the plan and finish off Ms. Maxwell. If Agent X shall not finish or complicates the plan, she shall be hunted down and killed by one of you. And that will be an order. I will explain the next part of the plan as it comes along." He turned to Agent X with a stern look on his face. "You must not fail or you will not live. Is that clear?"
"Yes, my Lord," Agent X said. Voldemort made a feeble smile on his face and let a nod slide to the person.
"As for the rest of you," Voldemort started again, "I will have you doing small tasks to help out the plan. These will be needed and your succession will let you move up in your status as a Death Eater. I will first call up Mr. Goyle." As the night went on, more of the plan was made and many of the people were given tasks. When the meeting was over most of the people left to get ready to complete their tasks. The darkness lowered and Voldemort sat alone with Wormtail at his side.
"My Lord, what is the plan for Phase II?" Wormtail asked with a slight quiver in his voice. Voldemort turned to him, no expression on his face.
"The time will come, Wormtail, for all of you to know," Voldemort said. Wormtail wondered what he meant by it. He had never been able to figure out his Lord's riddles, yet he believed that he must have been right. Wormtail shook off the thought and spoke again.
"Was it wise to put all of the plan into the person called Agent X?" Wormtail asked, more of a form in his voice. Voldemort stared down at him, seeming to feel as he was being defied. Wormtail took an involuntary step back from him, knowing what his master would do. Voldemort then turned back to the darkness.
"I have a feeling to trust this person. I have a feeling that it is wise to put it on this person," Voldemort replied. He sat there for a moment, just pondering. "Wormtail, I need to be alone. Leave me to think." Wormtail bowed his head and headed toward the door. He had not seen his master act so secretive unless he knew he was sure that if he revealed it, it might backfire. Wormtail quickly headed for the door and exited the chamber, leaving his master alone in the darkness.
*****
Three more weeks passed and everything had been going well. A Mr. Jerimiah Doorman was sitting at his desk in the office of the Sunset Gardens Beach Houses Resort. He happily placed files into the computer and created calendar events everyday. On this day of Tuesday, August 21, he hadn't been doing anything that interesting. A man came in and came up to the desk. He had been wearing a dark blue cloak, a dark blue hat, and some really dark sunglasses. He came up to the desk and looked straight at Mr. Doorman.
"Excuse me," he said, "I'd like to ask you a question." Mr. Doorman looked up and put his glasses atop his nose.
"Yes, I think I can help you," Mr. Doorman said. "We do have some wonderful beach houses that…"
"No, that's not the kind of information I would like," the man said.
"Then what kind are you looking for?" Mr. Doorman asked.
"I'm looking for information on a young woman named Jaden Maxwell. Can you tell me which house she is in?"
"I'm sorry, but we can't give out secure…"
"I'm not looking for any 'I'm sorry's. I'm looking for which house Ms. Jaden Maxwell is in." Mr. Doorman started to become stern in his voice.
"I am going to have to ask you to leave Mr…Mr. Goy-ley." Mr. Doorman tried to interpret the name tag on the inside of the man's cloak, but couldn't clearly do it. "I will have security come and take you away if you do not leave right now." Mr. Goyle then let out a large exhale and lifted his wand out of his inside pocket.
"Imperio!" Mr. Goyle said. Mr. Doorman was suddenly hit with a notion to not hit the security button. "Alright. Now tell me what house Ms. Maxwell is in." Mr. Doorman typed some things into the computer and told Mr. Goyle that it was house #224. "Excellent. Now tell me if I can move someone into house number…226." Mr. Doorman again typed more things into the computer.
"No, I am sorry but someone already has that house," Mr. Doorman said in a robotic tone.
"Tell me who has that house."
"It has been reserved for a Mr. Weasley ever since a month ago."
"What is the first name of this Mr. Weasley?"
"A Mr. Ronald Weasley, age 16, party of 4." Mr. Goyle thought for a moment and made a smile on his face.
"That is all I need you for," Mr. Goyle said, bringing his wand out from inside his cloak yet again. "Avada Kedavra!" A green flash of light came from his wand hitting Mr. Doorman, making him slump straight back in his chair and show no signs of life. Mr. Goyle went around the desk, turned off the computer from the bottom switch, got up and away from the desk and left out of the office.
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