As soon as the door closed behind her, Dawn heard someone yell, "Crucio!"

She fell to a kneeling position, a growling scream building up in her throat. Hundreds of thousands of white hot, invisible needles were piercing every inch of her body while invisible knives sliced through her bones. The scream let loose; Dawn fell to the ground and barely had enough breath left to utter the spell that transformed her into the snow leopard.

Dawn bared gleaming white fangs and pounced on the figure standing in front of her. As he hit the ground, his wand flew out of his hand. Dawn pinned his wrists to the ground with her gigantic forepaws and lowered her muzzle an inch away from the masked face, growling deeply.

"That's enough, Dawn," said the voice of her master. Dawn looked around and spotted Voldemort across the room. His arms were crossed, and he was smiling. Dawn involuntarily shuddered.

"I must say," continued Voldemort as Dawn transformed back into her regular self, "that was a most interesting response. Most would lie there screaming."

"I guess it's my reflexes," Dawn said shyly.

"Your reflexes would be useful if you were to spy for me," Voldemort said. "I've been perusing an idea for a while, debating whether or not to do it. From what Lucius has told me about your training, and the demonstration just now, I've decided to follow through with it."

"Sir?" asked Dawn, her mouth dry. What was he going to ask her to do?

"I want you to attend Hogwarts and spy for me there," said Voldemort. Dawn's heart skipped a beat.

"Hogwarts?" Dawn repeated. "Spy at Hogwarts… I will."

"Wonderful," hissed Voldemort. "Term there starts in less than a month. In a week, Lucius will take you to Diagon Alley to purchase your school supplies. You will also buy these items with which you will send weekly messages to me."

Voldemort handed Dawn a list. She stuffed it in her pocket and continued listening to her master for another half hour.

"Get close to Potter," instructed Voldemort. "Find out his strong points, and most importantly, his weak points.

"Also get close to Dumbledore. Try to find out his plans to stop me. If Dumbledore is suspicious of you, which is more than likely to happen, you may spy on him by using the Invisibility Cloak I will equip you with. But before you use the cloak, you must get a special map of the school Potter has. Wormtail tells me that it shows persons whether invisible or not. Sneak into his dormitory one night and steal the map. Then you can use the cloak without fear of getting caught."

Trying to remember all of this information, Dawn made her way back to her room, collapsing on her bed.

Despite the weight of information storing itself in her mind, Dawn felt lighter than air. She was going to Hogwarts, where she'd be among people her own age of her own kind for the first time in her life. Dawn wanted to jump around in circles, scream, giggle, anything.

Luckily, Dawn contained herself, because just then, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," chimed Dawn. The door opened, revealing Crescent. She was holding a thick envelope that was brimming with paper. Crescent bowed, then hurried over to Dawn's bedside, depositing the envelope on the nightstand.

"Congratulations on passing the Test, Miss!" squeaked Crescent, her eyes glowing.

"It that what that was?" said Dawn. "Well, good, because for a moment there, I thought they'd gone completely insane… What's that, Crescent?"

"It's Miss's folder," said Crescent. "Master would like Miss to study what's inside because it'll help Miss on her future assignment."

"Thanks, Crescent," said Dawn, picking up the envelope. "I'll get right to it."

"You're welcome, Miss," answered Crescent. Bowing, she turned and left Dawn to studying her folder.

Dawn's folder contained all sorts of information that would help her at Hogwarts; where Dumbledore's office was, a map of the house-elf passageways, who to be cautious around, etc.

There was also the list of things for Dawn to buy at Diagon Alley so she could send her reports to Voldemort: an owl, extra parchment, ink that coded and decoded whatever you wrote, and special envelopes that wouldn't let anyone but the person receiving the letter open them.

Dawn sighed, brushed her hair behind her ears, and began trying to memorize the house-elf passageways, just in case she lost the map.

Before she knew it, the old clock in her room was chiming one…two…three…four…five…six times. Dawn shoved all the papers back into her folder, dropped it onto her nightstand, and stretched. A few seconds later, someone knocked softly on the door, then Crescent came in. She was carrying a tray laden with a coup of soup, crackers, bread rolls, silverware, and pumpkin juice.

"Thanks, Crescent," said Dawn as the elf set the tray carefully on her nightstand. "I was starving."

"Miss is welcome," squeaked Crescent, bowing. "Now, if Miss doesn't mind, Crescent must get back to her other duties."

"Bye, Crescent," called Dawn as she left, shutting the oaken door behind her. Sighing, Dawn sat back down on her bed, placed the tray in her lap, and began to eat.