Title: The Dragon's Circle
Author: Willow
Status: Work in progress
Rating: R (For imagery and violence)
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any relating character,
place, spell, or idea. They belong to J.K. Rowling. I am not making
any money off this.
I'd like to thank my new beta, Mary Kate!
Chapter One: Murphy's Law
Anything that can go wrong. . .will.
November First, 1981.
It was his first night on the job and William Anderson was
patrolling. Everybody involved in law enforcement was out in force.
They had received a tip that something big was going to happen.
During times like these he thought darkly, Something happened almost everyday.
He had heard horrible stories from the older members of his squad.
He shook his head to clear his thoughts trying not dwell on those
sort of things while he was on duty. He looked at his watch. Almost
time to check in with the rest of the squad.
He walked down the almost empty street. Shops, cafes, and little
taverns lined the road but all were already closed. A slight breeze
tussled his hair. It's all quiet here he decided. He'd better call in
and report that he had nothing to report. He unhooked his two-way
radio from his belt, and started to dial when...
*Boom*!
An explosion shook the earth. He could see smoke rising over trees
and houses. He dropped his radio and took off towards the scene of the
explosion.
The radio went off. A message was incoming but was ignored. He was already
gone.
*****
The man shifted beneath the weight of the rubble that he was pinned
under. He stifled a groan and willed his body to try to get out, but
he couldn't muster up enough strength to move. He felt his mind
slowly drift away from the agony. Pain seemed to be flowing through
him. It hurt even to breathe.
His eyelids felt heavy and he could not keep them open. He lost
consciousness, stranded beneath the ruins of his house.
*****
Running through driveways, yards, and empty lots, William arrived
first on scene. He stared in horror at what he saw. The two-story
house was almost completely gone. Little pockets of flame were
scattered about. Ashes fell from the sky like rain. He jogged through
the wreckage looking for survivors.
He stood in the doorway of the only room still standing, remarkably
enough on the second floor, and looked around. A light-blue dresser
and chest were on one side of the room and a matching book-case
complete with books on the other. A small, wooden baby cradle stood
at the far end. All were covered with soot.
A red-haired woman was sprawled on the ground face up in front of
the cradle. Debris littered the floor around her. He ran and kneeled
beside her. Her brilliant green eyes stared, unfocused. He saw no
signs of breathing. He gently touched her carotid artery in her throat, looking for her pulse. None.
She was dead.
Almost unwillingly, he got up and looked into the cradle. The baby
had black hair and his eyes were closed, as if sleeping. But William
could tell by its blue tinged face that he was also dead.
He backed up slowly. Turned around and sprinted out of the smoking
ruins, fell on his knees and vomited on the walk. He never seen death
before and he prayed to God he would never sees it again.
He felt the hairs on the nape of his neck stand on end. He shivered
and looked up. His jaw dropped.
Up in the sky over the house like a beacon was a burning-green skull
with a snake coming out of its mouth.
He dropped into a faint.
*****
People gathered in small groups- some were whispering hurriedly to
each other pointing to the image above them. Others stared at the
smoldering wreckage of what was once the Potter's home.
The bystanders' talking buzzed slightly louder when the first black
body bag was carted out on a stretcher into the morgue's awaiting
black van. Then the second, smaller body bag was brought out and was
laid in the van beside the other. A third followed soon after. The
van's doors clanged shut and the onlookers hushed almost
respectfully.
They started to drift home. That was the third time this month a
family died in flames.
*****
The alarms enchanted around the Potter's House reported if any major
magical activity took place in it. Two minutes ago they went off
informing the teachers at Hogwarts that something had happened.
Minerva McGonangall Apparated to the Potters' House. Albus Dumbledore
Apparated next to her.
"Up there. Minerva, look, The Dark Mark."
She sighed. "Let's look for survivors instead, Albus."
They rushed inside and searched. Nobody was there. They went up the
partly remaining stairs. There was Lily on the ground. McGonangall
bent over her.
"She's dead."
Dumbledore nodded slowly and checked inside the crib. "But Harry isn't. There's an asphyxiating curse on him. I can lift it." He said, while weaving his wand in a complicating pattern. The baby started to breath again.
"Minerva, here, take him. Let's look for James."
"What if they come back and see him missing?"
Dumbledore pursed his lips in thought. "I can transfigure something
to look like him." He picked up a stuffed bear. He started chanting
and waved his wand. A blue-glow engulfed the bear as it altered it
shape.
It was a perfect replica. Dumbledore set it in the cradle. "Let's go."
*****
"Crucio!"
Severus Snape writhed on the ground.
"You've failed. Turning traitor was the most unwise thing you could
have possibly done."
Voldemort circled slowly around Snape.
"But, you probably realize that now, don't you?" He looked at Snape
with disgust and waved his wand at him. Just as that Unforgivable
curse lifted another one hit.
"Imperio! Stand up."
He stood up, no control over his own action.
Voldemort raged. "I don't understand. You would have gone
far. . .had wealth, glory, and power. What any Slytherin would want.
But you threw it all away! And for what?" He paused.
Snape, still standing, was swaying from side to side trying to
balance while his feet were firmly locked in place. Voldemort
twitched his wand and broke the spell. Snape came crashing down.
He pushed himself to hands and knees, gathered his strength, and
looked up.
"Did you think you could out-smart me?"
Snape sneered.
Voldemort sneered right back. "You heard of a raid that was going to happen on the Thirty-first,
right? A raid on somebody who you hate but owed a debt to. So you
thought you would warn him. Dept repaid. Do you know what? You
failed."
"The Potters," He continued. "All three are dead. I did it myself.
The husband died first- house blown to bits around him. Bravely, he
stood against me hoping to gain his wife and son some time to escape.
It didn't work."
He smiled. "The house is gone. Only one room, the nursery, stood
intact. Thanks to a charm the wife cast." His voice dropped down to a whisper. "It took me several seconds to deal with both the woman and her child." He paused.
"Relatively easy to do if you ask me. Hardly even worth the effort.
But now to more pressing questions. . .Crucio! Did you reliaze
somebody was leaking vital information to Dumbledore and his group?"
He asked. "I believe you know more about that then you're letting on."
Snape cried out in pain. Voldemort put more effort into the curse.
"How did you send messages to Dumbledore and what did you tell him?"
Snape's fingers were clenched in a bloody fist.
He let the spell go for about seven minutes before asking
derisively, "Don't you think this has gone on long enough? How much
longer do you think you can last? Not much more by the look of you.
All you have to do is answer the questions and this pain will stop."
He continued. "Did you betray us?"
Snape hissed in pain but said nothing.
With a wave of his wand, Voldemort stopped the spell. Snape was left
gasping for breath. "This is getting us nowhere. Imperio! Did you
tell Dumbledore?"
*****
McGonangall and Dumbledore strode in a pattern across the ruins of
the house. Their wands were issuing a crosswork of silver-like
threads that covered everything.
Over a smaller pile of rubbish, the thread turned bright red.
"There's somebody alive under here." McGonangall called
out. "Wingardium Leviosa!" She moved the fragments of the house into
another pile. She gasped. Looking at the battered figure she realized
who it was.
"James."
*****
Author: Willow
Status: Work in progress
Rating: R (For imagery and violence)
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any relating character,
place, spell, or idea. They belong to J.K. Rowling. I am not making
any money off this.
I'd like to thank my new beta, Mary Kate!
Chapter One: Murphy's Law
Anything that can go wrong. . .will.
November First, 1981.
It was his first night on the job and William Anderson was
patrolling. Everybody involved in law enforcement was out in force.
They had received a tip that something big was going to happen.
During times like these he thought darkly, Something happened almost everyday.
He had heard horrible stories from the older members of his squad.
He shook his head to clear his thoughts trying not dwell on those
sort of things while he was on duty. He looked at his watch. Almost
time to check in with the rest of the squad.
He walked down the almost empty street. Shops, cafes, and little
taverns lined the road but all were already closed. A slight breeze
tussled his hair. It's all quiet here he decided. He'd better call in
and report that he had nothing to report. He unhooked his two-way
radio from his belt, and started to dial when...
*Boom*!
An explosion shook the earth. He could see smoke rising over trees
and houses. He dropped his radio and took off towards the scene of the
explosion.
The radio went off. A message was incoming but was ignored. He was already
gone.
*****
The man shifted beneath the weight of the rubble that he was pinned
under. He stifled a groan and willed his body to try to get out, but
he couldn't muster up enough strength to move. He felt his mind
slowly drift away from the agony. Pain seemed to be flowing through
him. It hurt even to breathe.
His eyelids felt heavy and he could not keep them open. He lost
consciousness, stranded beneath the ruins of his house.
*****
Running through driveways, yards, and empty lots, William arrived
first on scene. He stared in horror at what he saw. The two-story
house was almost completely gone. Little pockets of flame were
scattered about. Ashes fell from the sky like rain. He jogged through
the wreckage looking for survivors.
He stood in the doorway of the only room still standing, remarkably
enough on the second floor, and looked around. A light-blue dresser
and chest were on one side of the room and a matching book-case
complete with books on the other. A small, wooden baby cradle stood
at the far end. All were covered with soot.
A red-haired woman was sprawled on the ground face up in front of
the cradle. Debris littered the floor around her. He ran and kneeled
beside her. Her brilliant green eyes stared, unfocused. He saw no
signs of breathing. He gently touched her carotid artery in her throat, looking for her pulse. None.
She was dead.
Almost unwillingly, he got up and looked into the cradle. The baby
had black hair and his eyes were closed, as if sleeping. But William
could tell by its blue tinged face that he was also dead.
He backed up slowly. Turned around and sprinted out of the smoking
ruins, fell on his knees and vomited on the walk. He never seen death
before and he prayed to God he would never sees it again.
He felt the hairs on the nape of his neck stand on end. He shivered
and looked up. His jaw dropped.
Up in the sky over the house like a beacon was a burning-green skull
with a snake coming out of its mouth.
He dropped into a faint.
*****
People gathered in small groups- some were whispering hurriedly to
each other pointing to the image above them. Others stared at the
smoldering wreckage of what was once the Potter's home.
The bystanders' talking buzzed slightly louder when the first black
body bag was carted out on a stretcher into the morgue's awaiting
black van. Then the second, smaller body bag was brought out and was
laid in the van beside the other. A third followed soon after. The
van's doors clanged shut and the onlookers hushed almost
respectfully.
They started to drift home. That was the third time this month a
family died in flames.
*****
The alarms enchanted around the Potter's House reported if any major
magical activity took place in it. Two minutes ago they went off
informing the teachers at Hogwarts that something had happened.
Minerva McGonangall Apparated to the Potters' House. Albus Dumbledore
Apparated next to her.
"Up there. Minerva, look, The Dark Mark."
She sighed. "Let's look for survivors instead, Albus."
They rushed inside and searched. Nobody was there. They went up the
partly remaining stairs. There was Lily on the ground. McGonangall
bent over her.
"She's dead."
Dumbledore nodded slowly and checked inside the crib. "But Harry isn't. There's an asphyxiating curse on him. I can lift it." He said, while weaving his wand in a complicating pattern. The baby started to breath again.
"Minerva, here, take him. Let's look for James."
"What if they come back and see him missing?"
Dumbledore pursed his lips in thought. "I can transfigure something
to look like him." He picked up a stuffed bear. He started chanting
and waved his wand. A blue-glow engulfed the bear as it altered it
shape.
It was a perfect replica. Dumbledore set it in the cradle. "Let's go."
*****
"Crucio!"
Severus Snape writhed on the ground.
"You've failed. Turning traitor was the most unwise thing you could
have possibly done."
Voldemort circled slowly around Snape.
"But, you probably realize that now, don't you?" He looked at Snape
with disgust and waved his wand at him. Just as that Unforgivable
curse lifted another one hit.
"Imperio! Stand up."
He stood up, no control over his own action.
Voldemort raged. "I don't understand. You would have gone
far. . .had wealth, glory, and power. What any Slytherin would want.
But you threw it all away! And for what?" He paused.
Snape, still standing, was swaying from side to side trying to
balance while his feet were firmly locked in place. Voldemort
twitched his wand and broke the spell. Snape came crashing down.
He pushed himself to hands and knees, gathered his strength, and
looked up.
"Did you think you could out-smart me?"
Snape sneered.
Voldemort sneered right back. "You heard of a raid that was going to happen on the Thirty-first,
right? A raid on somebody who you hate but owed a debt to. So you
thought you would warn him. Dept repaid. Do you know what? You
failed."
"The Potters," He continued. "All three are dead. I did it myself.
The husband died first- house blown to bits around him. Bravely, he
stood against me hoping to gain his wife and son some time to escape.
It didn't work."
He smiled. "The house is gone. Only one room, the nursery, stood
intact. Thanks to a charm the wife cast." His voice dropped down to a whisper. "It took me several seconds to deal with both the woman and her child." He paused.
"Relatively easy to do if you ask me. Hardly even worth the effort.
But now to more pressing questions. . .Crucio! Did you reliaze
somebody was leaking vital information to Dumbledore and his group?"
He asked. "I believe you know more about that then you're letting on."
Snape cried out in pain. Voldemort put more effort into the curse.
"How did you send messages to Dumbledore and what did you tell him?"
Snape's fingers were clenched in a bloody fist.
He let the spell go for about seven minutes before asking
derisively, "Don't you think this has gone on long enough? How much
longer do you think you can last? Not much more by the look of you.
All you have to do is answer the questions and this pain will stop."
He continued. "Did you betray us?"
Snape hissed in pain but said nothing.
With a wave of his wand, Voldemort stopped the spell. Snape was left
gasping for breath. "This is getting us nowhere. Imperio! Did you
tell Dumbledore?"
*****
McGonangall and Dumbledore strode in a pattern across the ruins of
the house. Their wands were issuing a crosswork of silver-like
threads that covered everything.
Over a smaller pile of rubbish, the thread turned bright red.
"There's somebody alive under here." McGonangall called
out. "Wingardium Leviosa!" She moved the fragments of the house into
another pile. She gasped. Looking at the battered figure she realized
who it was.
"James."
*****