Chapter 2
It was a very dark night. The only light was the dim shine of the moonlight from behind the clouds. There was a relatively large circle of hooded men formed in the graveyard just feet away from the Riddle residence. In the middle stood the leader of these men and the reason why they were all gathered in this place at the very moment.
"As you all know." He started. Darting his slit pupils across the part of the circle that was visible to him, "As you all have witnessed... that filth, Harry Potter, has escaped me." He finished.
There was an eerie rustle of wind among the circle in the still night. No one spoke.
Voldemort bagan to pace the circle with his wand in hand. "Unfortunately it was because of my own miscalculation." He stopped pacing. "Yes. I admit. I did miscalculate." He said while tilting his head upward to the sky, observing the stars. "As I've done on only one other occasion." He brought his head back down and looked around the circle. "I believe I've cleared that occasion with everyone." There was a slight murmur among the hooded bunch.
"I've been giving it thought, and I wondered why I had not thought of this before. Why this didn't come to me sooner." He paused for a terribly long time. Occasionally a Death Eater would shift his or her weight. There was no sound but that of the crickets in the grass by the nearby tombstones.
Finally Voldemort began to speak again in his raspy tone. "Apparently the boy owns the brother to this very wand." He held his wand up to make sure that everyone got a good look at it. There were gasps of disbelief and nodding of understanding.
"This is why," He went on, " there was such a magnificent display of power between the two wands when I forced the little Filth to duel." There was more nodding from the hooded bunch. "The consequence of this is pretty simple...Once two wands of a kind are put to battle, it will cause one of the other to regurgitate past spells that was performed." He paused for a while. "This is why you saw those figures." There was another rustled of wind around the circle. The leaves on the tree behind them however, were completely still.
"They weren't ghost. Surely not." He said with a smirk about his thin lips. He resembled a vampire surveying fresh prey. "More like shadows of the people I slaughtered," he explained, "starting with the most recent...and moving backwards."
Voldemort paced around the circle again, looking into the covered face of each Death Eater from time to time. He stopped at a specific man. One not much taller than himself.
"Macnair." He said, into the hooded mans' face. Macnair straightened up immediately at the sound of his name. He bowed his head in respect.
Voldemort stood with his wand in both hands. His shoulders were back and his back was straight. A great man of dignity he was. "Wormtail has been relating to me your information about the Ministry of Magic." He hissed.
"Yes Mas---"
"I haven't finished as yet." Voldemort said lazily. "What I would really like to know is if you have the information that I'm looking for."
Macnair did not speak.
Voldemort smirked in appreciation. "What I would like to know Macnair is...Do you know for sure if the Minister of Magic believes I've returned?" His nostrils fleared as he finished his question.
"My Lord," started Macnair, his voice was muffled under his hood, "I am certainly sure he doesn't. I've heard him call Dumbledore a liar on many occasions Sir, and a lot of people at the Ministry agree."
"Is that all?" Voldermorts' eyes glared at him hard. Macnair nodded. "Very well." He said dismissively, with solemn delight in his voice.
He began to pace the circle again, both hands still lightly holding his wand with the tips of his long fingers. "Does any one else know what's going on at the Ministry? Anything valuable that you think would be useful to Lord Voldemort?"
He stopped pacing as a hooded man, four people away, stepped out of the circle behind him. He was tall, and his long, blonde-white hair laid on his back in a neatly tied ponytail. "Ah, Lucius." He snared with his back still turned.
"I believe I may have information that will be of value to you Master." Lucius said in his drawling voice as he watched Voldemort turn and walk back into his direction.
"Let's hear it then." His cold voice sank like daggers into each Death Eaters ears.
Lucius bowed his head before he began. "It seems as though the Ministry has taken a hold onto most of the things that are published in the Daily Prophet Sir. Anything concerning your return would be considered as false." He raised his head and his eyes meet with two blazing eyes of scarlet. He immediately cast his own grey eyes downward.
"Very Good Lucius." Voldemort whispered as he began to pace the circle again. Occasionally stopping at empty spots and nodding to himself. His pacing ended as he stood in the middle once more.
He looked around again before he started. "I'm sure of it, that once Dumbledore heard of my return he would have tried to get to as many of our once before allies." He paused for effect. "He can't take the Dementors because they are our allies naturally."
He surveyed the men in front of him. They were the biggest two of the bunch. "Crabbe, Goyle, I want you two to go with Macnair to where the giants dwell." They nodded clumsily. He cast his vision to Macnair, who was two bodies away. "I trust you know where it is, considering your position in the Ministry of Magic."
"Yes my Lord." Macnair responded with a nod.
"Take to the chief these." Voldemort waved his wand in front of him and three items appeared. One was a crystal dome the size of an overgrown watermelon. In it was the entire solar system. Comets, asteroids, moons and stars were all visible. The sun burned brightly in the center as the other planets circled it in their know-how fashion. The second was a miniature replica of a waterfall, and the last was a large platinum bone. A spell was cast over it to make it a tracking devise.
Voldemort pointed to the last gift as the three Death Eaters walked the take them. "Make certain of it that it gets this one." He finished as he watched Macnair take the bone and walk backwards into his spot.
The clouds were passing and the moonlight was now starting to shine brighter. A breeze blew lightly and some of their cloaks bellowed as it passed. Voldermort turned around to face a short, hooded wizard, whose right hand glimmered silver under his cloak.
"Wormtail, I want you back at the house preparing me more potion." He hissed as he fixed his eyes onto the short man, who nodded in respect.
"I believe we all know what's to come." He smirked.
At this, the meeting came to a close.
