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PATH to DARKNESS by Tyde
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Chapter Seventeen – Making His Mark
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Author's note: This is the chapter I promised before going on holidays. Hopefully I will write a lot when I'm on holidays, might even finish this off by the end of next week. Of course I'll post new chapters as soon as I possibly can! :o)
I've created a list you can join if you want to know when I update this story. You can join by going here http://tyd.diaryland.com/notifylist.html
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The front page of the Daily Prophet that day had a large glittering picture of Voldemort's Dark Mark. Underneath was an article that basically said
'What in flipping heck is this?'
Several witnesses saw it shoot up into the sky last night around a wooded area near Colchester in south eastern England in the county of Essex. 'My best guess is that it's some sort of fireworks set off by a drunken wizard'. Rogue Slytherin students from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy have also been under suspicion due to the symbol containing the image of a snake. The Memory Modifying team at the Ministry are having a hard time shushing this up with Muggles. The Ministry is sending in two people from the Department of Mysteries to do something today. We're not entirely sure what and we don't know when they will be coming back. In their own words 'Keep your big nose out of it you snooping witch!' We do know however that the woods are quite thick and therefore it will be difficult to search the large area to turn up anything that may bring us closer to determining the cause of this unusual symbol.
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Albus looked at the front of the Daily Prophet with a thoughtful looked upon his face. There was something incredibly familiar about that symbol in the sky, something perhaps he'd read many years ago? He shook his head and tried to think clearly. His Pensieve held no answers, for once it it's very useful life, and he wracked his brain. Skull with snake, skull with snake. What can it mean? Unlike the rest of the community who seemed to think it was some sort of alternative to Muggle fireworks (which they welcomed, many a time had a flying witch or wizard lose half their broom to a spark filled firework exploding near then) that didn't burn anything but just hung in the sky for an hour or two, the Headmaster had a bad feeling about it. This was not a fun-filled symbol on any account. There was something sinister about that mark and by Jove he'd figure it out. A house elf brought him in another cup of Peppermint tea which he sipped thoughtfully. He rubbed his eyes with his free hand and sighed. He couldn't keep up these late nights. It was killing him.
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Sitting up in bed suddenly like he'd been bitten by something Albus called out 'Of course! It's Egyptian'. He scrambled out of bed and headed for the library and into the back where Irma kept the teacher-only volumes locked up. Grabbing Ancient Egyptian History of Signs and Symbols from the shelf he flicked through it until he found what he was looking for. A sketch in gold ink of a similar symbol raised in the sky by a dark wizard that terrorised the people of ancient Egypt a thousand or so years ago lay on the page, shimmering slightly. The symbol was called Morsdemordre which meant 'death bite'. He would raise it in the air whenever he had conquered the life of another. Contrary to popular Muggle belief that she had committed suicide it had been this man that killed Cleopatra with the bite of an asp. He was a Parselmouth and controlled the snake to mesmerise her into believing she should die and while the venom from the asp swam in her blood, the Pharaoh's brother administered the final stroke with his wand (Ollivanders – 10 and half inches, thick Nile reed with a core of asp's blood). He had then shot his symbol into the sky and for years the people lived in fear of coming home to a golden shining skull hanging above their dwellings. Dumbledore shut the book with a soft thud. Somebody was out there killing people, marking their territory and he feared this was only the beginning.
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Jyliana picked the Daily Prophet up from where Bekla had dropped it on the table and munched on some toast as she unravelled it. 'Maybe they'll have the answer to that symbol in the sky from yesterday' she mused. She didn't notice Severus practically bounce into the kitchen that morning and take a seat with a look of immense satisfaction on his face. She did however wrap her brunch coat around her a little tighter as the temperature suddenly dropped a little.
'Oh dear'
'What is it Mother?'
'That mark in the sky the other night, they found out what it means?'
'Oh yeah' he said casually. 'What?'
'The bite of death' she shivered involuntarily. 'It was marking the site of a murder. A Muggle girl, Hortense Hamilton. Now why does that sound familiar?' She munched a little more on her toast and then it hit her. She knocked her juice all over the table. Hurriedly flicking her wand to clean it up she swallowed her toast quickly 'Good Merlin. She was your friend wasn't she? At Muggle school I mean' she peered at her son whose face was now a mask devoid of all emotions so she couldn't read it.
'Yes mother' he said quietly albeit bitterly. Do my parents even know me anymore?
'This is frightful. It was obviously a magical death. OH!' she'd skimmed further down the page. 'The Killing Curse! Why that's an Unforgiveable. There hasn't been a case of that being used in...' her voice trailed off as Severus loped out of the room, the kitchen door swinging behind him, bored already.
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The letter sat in front of him, a letter from an old friend, and he reread it once again.
Supporters that call themselves Death Eaters, masked so as not to reveal their identities. All over Britain and possibly extending into Europe. It's only a matter of time before they spread over the whole of the earth. Lord Voldemort, a formidable opponent. Spent time in Egypt and Bundesrepublic Deutschland, dark magicks harnessed. Caution to be used, Unforgiveables are his favourite.
Albus threw a bunch of self-summoning Floo powder into the fire. The flames rose up in shades of pink as he called out a stream of names.
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The Hogwarts headmaster looked around his office carefully. Mundungus Fletcher, Minerva McGonagall, Arabella Figg, Rubeus Hagrid, Alastor Moody, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, James Potter, Lily Evans, Molly & Arthur Weasley and a few others were dotted the room. Dumbledore's face was grave. He'd just received an owl from the Ministry of Magic informing him that a former student of Hogwarts, one Tom Riddle, had been involved in the raising of Morsdemordre (which some were now referring to as the Dark Mark) and the death of the Muggle. We suspect, the letter continued, that he is planning an uprising and possibly more murders and not just Muggles. Dumbledore had snorted at that sentence. Of course he was planning more, the Ministry was always a month or two behind everyone else. Dumbledore had done his own investigations with the help of his friend. If he remembered Tom Riddle correctly he was a determined man and nothing would stand in his way, except of course Dumbledore himself. A chance encounter a few years ago had left the former student quaking in his boots in Flourish and Blotts.
'I'm sure you are all wondering why it is I called you here today'
'It's the Dark Mark isn't it?' Mrs Figg asked. 'There's a threat out there Albus. What can we do?'
He looked at the woman carefully 'Yes Arabella, it's the dark mark of which I speak. Lord Voldemort has instigated an uprising of fear among our world and that of the Muggles also'
'Lord Voldemort?' Hagrid looked confused. 'Who's tha?'
'Tom Riddle' Dumbledore said and he noticed the groundskeeper's face turn purple with anger.
'Tom Riddle? Tha liddle pipsqueak? I'd crush him with ma fist if ya let me at 'im!' Across the room Minerva looked terrified and backed away from Hagrid until she was backed into a wall. She began to shake and so too did her voice as she spoke up 'Albus...how can Riddle hope to do this? He's just one wizard. The Ministry have their best Auror's on the job, surely we are all safe from this violence?'
'I fear not. He has supporters that mask themselves to protect their identities and they do his bidding. It is my belief that the raising of the dark mark two weeks ago was done by one of his supporters and not himself. The Daily Prophet has hushed up most of the recent goings on. Several Ministry workers have been tortured by the Cruciatus curse for nothing but mere fun, countless Muggles have died and still the paper keeps quiet. They want to avoid national panic but people aren't stupid, they will realise. It's hard to determine how many Lord Voldemort has on his side. If there is one thing I definitely remember about Tom he was a smart, determined boy that would most certainly do his homework on something like this. He wouldn't start something of this magnitude without the resources' Molly Weasley shook her head at this in disbelief.
'And you want us to join ranks to wipe out Voldemort and his supporters?'
'Precisely Mundungus. Some of you will remember the time of Miliana Joxer and the terror it brought through the community at the time, but Voldemort I fear will be much worse' Fawkes straightened up on his perch as if to remind Dumbledore that he was there. Albus smiled at the flame red bird and turned back to the gathered witches and wizards. 'I hereby invite you all to join me fighting Voldemort and his supporters under the banner of Fawkes.' They all nodded their agreement without a second thought.
'It is grave times ahead and I thank you all, together as the Order of the Phoenix we will conquer' The look of determination on his face would have convinced any Sorting Hat within three miles that this man could very well have been a Slytherin in his youth.
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Author's note: Wonder why McGonagall was so terrified when Hagrid talked about crushing Riddle with his fist? Read Beloved (story id: 995144) – my HP/songfic. Might explain it a bit more. And who do you reckon sent Dumbledore the letter? :o)
Geez CrinkleCutRuffles – are you horny or something? Hehe, j/k. Slight obsession with slash me thinks! No, it's not going to turn into a Voldie and Snapepoos mush fest. I can see the potential but I'm not too good with writing relationship type stuff. I feel more comfortable writing hatred and stuff like that.
Charmed Vampyre – thanks for the wishes of good luck. I appreciate it! Oh and there will be more sexy, dark, naked Snape coming up. I'm not sure how much naked Snape I can put in with a PG-13 rating (ratings are different in Australia and I don't fully understand the American ones) though.