Disclaimer: I am nothing but a worshipper of the great J.K. Rowling playing in her universe. Anything you recognize is not mine.
A/N: Updated 03-06-2005
WARNING: Harry and Voldemort will be a little OOC in the second half of the chapter. Keep in mind they are trying to outplay each other.
°Parseltongue°
DARK PHOENIX
Chapter 10: Slytherin Games
Harry's head snapped up. About time, he thought. Securing his Invisibility Cloak around him, he cautiously approached the mansion. As he passed through the wards, he felt only a small tingling sensation. Obviously, they were not designed to stop him. However, Harry was slightly worried Voldemort would be alerted to his presence. Hopefully he was already too far to sense the disturbance or he had bigger fish to fry. Or both.
Harry had waited for this moment for two days now. The ritual for the Loyalty Spell was not in any of the books he had bought. Obviously this was a very ancient and obscure bit of magic. So Harry had waited for Voldemort to leave the mansion so he could slip in and see what the Loyalty Spell was exactly. The Dark Lord had to have something along the lines of description.
This was actually one of the rare times in Harry's life when he was really glad he had a scar linking him to Voldemort. Even though Occlumency blocked out most of the pain, he was still aware of Voldemort's proximity. So he waited, hoping the Dark Lord would find some errand to go on. He didn't want to risk getting caught by Voldie yet. Any Death Eaters, he was confident he could handle. As long as they didn't mob him, that is.
The moment had come. Voldemort had left the manor, and from the looks of it, the whole manor was empty. Harry walked in the door and stopped to listen. Not a sound. Not even the hissing of a snake, which meant either Nagini was out hunting or Voldemort had brought her with him. (A/N: Is Nagini female?) He was in luck. Cloak or no cloak, Nagini would have smelled him. He didn't think killing his pet snake would please Voldemort much.
Finally assured he was alone, Harry set on exploring the old house. A lot of it was in ruins, with obvious magical repairs here and there. He noticed electrical switches, though all the lights had been replaced by torches. Talk about nostalgia. Or was that repugnance of everything muggle?
He had to admit, however, that with a little work this place could be grand. The large living room in particular. The ceiling reached up to the roof and the second story had a small balcony overlapping it, attached to a beautiful staircase. Deducing that Voldemort would likely have his room up there, he climbed up to the second story.
He was glad he waited until no one was around to visit. The creaking stairs would have given him away instantly. There were five rooms on the second floor all distributed on either side of a long corridor. It wasn't hard to find the Dark Lord's room as it was the only one which had signs of recent habitation.
He walked to the desk. It was in the corner between the window and the fireplace. On the opposite side of the room was the bed. The room had little furniture, but the furniture it had was luxurious.
On the desk was the answer to Voldemort's whereabouts tonight: floor plans of Azkaban and guard shifts, as well as descriptions of the magic used in the place. Obviously, the Dementors were shipped somewhere else and Ministry Wizards were guarding the place. The question was, were there enough of them to hold off Voldemort.
Snapping out of this musings Harry turned to the small shelf on which were placed a few books. It looked as if none of them held the answers he was looking for. However, one of them had no title. Curious, Harry took down the leather bound book. The first thing he noticed was that it had a lock, as a personal journal had. The second thing he noticed was a small tingling in his hand just before the lock opened. Harry opened the book on the first page.
This is my journal, charmed by my blood only to reveal its secret to me.
- Lord Voldemort
Only to himself, Harry thought, then how did I...? Of course! He used MY blood to resuscitate, so obviously, we share the same blood. Funny how magic backfires sometimes.
Emboldened, Harry leafed through the pages until he came upon what he was looking for. Among other things, the journal contained Dark Spells, theories on the Unforgivables and a description of Voldemort's rebirth. On the last written pages was the Loyalty Spell.
The Loyalty Spell is a most powerful ritual which forbids
any ill intent between two parties. It is peculiar
in the fact that it does not create an inferior/superior bond,
but one of equals. It has been used very few times throughout
history, and no one has ever been able to overcome it and harm the
other party. There are two variations of this ritual, one that only
involves the two individuals participating and another that extends
the protection to loved ones. The difference between the two is a
unicorn hair added to the phoenix blood powering the potion.
The potion uses phoenix blood because this magical creature is
known as the single most loyal being in this realm. However,
using the blood of such a creature makes this ritual Dark Arts.
"Aha," whispered Harry, "Knew there was something you didn't tell me. Though, I should have guessed this would be Dark Arts. And don't think you'll be able to slip me the potion for individuals. I'm doing this for my friends and I won't let you harm them."
The text continued with the instructions on how to brew the potion and on the specifics of the ritual. It was pretty simple actually. Then again, complicated magic isn't necessarily the most powerful.
Harry jumped as he heard a crashing noise downstairs, followed by a hissing voice.
"You incompetent fools! Azkaban was ours to take! What excuses do you have this time?" Clearly, Voldemort was back and his little Azkaban breakout had failed. Harry slipped the journal back on the shelf.
"Master," cried a pitiful voice, a voice that made a wave of hatred wash through Harry, "the... Order was alerted... somehow... we had no chance..."
"Crucio," cried the cold voice. It was immediately followed by Wormtail's agonized cries as he was punished for his failure.
Using the screams as cover for the creaking floor, Harry stepped to the balcony that overstepped the living room where the few Death Eaters present were cowering. There were six of them. Among them Harry recognized, in addition to Wormtail, Bellatrix Lestrange as well as Snape. Obviously, he was the one who had alerted the Order. How did Voldemort not see it?
The Dark Lord lifted the curse on Wormtail and advanced on the Potions Master.
"Severus, I do understand your unwillingness to fight tonight, but why were you not informed of the Order's presence at Azkaban?"
"My lord," Snape said, "I believed the Order to be entirely focused on finding the Potter boy. I thought they had mobilized everyone on that task, including the contact at Azkaban. I must have been wrong."
"I see. And have they found him?"
"No, my lord, they believe you have him." At this the Dark Lord laughed. Harry tried to hold back, but a chuckle escaped his lips. Oh, the irony! The Order did not even suspect he had left of his own will and though Voldemort didn't have him, per se, Harry was in Voldemort's mansion.
"Though I do have something to do with his disappearance," continued Voldemort, once his laughter had subsided, "I have no idea where he is. For all I know, he could be in this very room." At this Harry shut up, and put up his shields as strong as he could. The Dark Lord was just guessing, wasn't he?
That seemed the case as Voldemort proceeded to punish Snape for inaccurate information. It went on in the same vein for a while, every Death Eater being punished for their failures that night. Finally, Voldemort dismissed them and they walked out the front door, apparently to apparate outside the wards.
As Voldemort walked up the creaking stairs, Harry realized he was in a very awkward position. Any movement he made was going to be noisy because of the old floor, and sometime during the torture Nagini had showed up, so it was only a matter of time before he was sniffed out.
Indeed, a few moments later, Nagini passed beside him, paused, and came back. Trusting her smell more than her sight, she reared, preparing to bite. Knowing there was no way he could escape right now, Harry decided to stop stalling and confront Voldemort.
°One more inch, Nagini, and I swear I'll cut you to pieces and feed you to the rats.°
It was hard to say which was more surprised: Nagini or Voldemort. The latter came hurtling out of his room in a very unlordish manner. Not seeing anyone he called.
"Who's there?" Harry took off his cloak and upon seeing the even more surprised face of the Great Dark Lord, started laughing. I must be insane, Harry thought, laughing in my enemies face so boldly. Which only served to make him laugh more, After a moment, Voldemort gathered his wits.
"I can't say which surprises me more. The fact you're here, that you're a parseltongue, or the threat you made to my snake."
"What can I say, Tom. You have too much influence on me," replied Harry, still in fits of hilarity, or insanity. The difference between both too subtle for him to grasp. Though he realized he had to calm down quickly if he was to outplay the Slytherin.
"Too much influence, how so?" asked Voldemort, still unbalanced.
"Well, we do share a powerful mind link, as you said. Besides, you really know how to hit the sore spots."
"I am still surprised you are here. I knew our tête-à-tête would spur you to some action, though I did not believe you would actually seek me out. I could kill you right now."
"No, you couldn't. The prophecy is on my side, Tom. It says I will kill you, not the other way around." Now this was a gamble. If Voldemort had any inkling that Harry was lying it could be over. But if it worked, it would give him a huge advantage.
"And how would you know of the prophecy? It was destroyed in the Ministry, was it not?"
"Yes. But Dumbledore was the one who heard it, and he told me. It gives me the advantage and that's all I will tell you."
"But if it gives you the advantage, why would you want to go through the Loyalty Spell? I assume that is what you are here for."
"Because I am tired of other people running my life. And the reason they are running my life is because of that goddamn prophecy. I want to make my own destiny, even if that means I need your help."
""They" meaning Dumbledore."
"More specifically, yes. But, as you said, the whole Wizarding world is giving me the Boy-Who-Lived shit. And I want to escape that."
"I see. Well, come in my room, we'll be more comfortable to talk."
Many thoughts were crowding the Dark Lord's mind. Especially the new information about the prophecy. If the boy was to be believed, he had no chance of surviving except for the ritual. Then again, Potter could be lying, but could he chance it? No, for now, it was better to play along.
"I looked up the Loyalty Spell," said Harry as soon as they were seated, "And I want the version with the unicorn hair."
"That might be a problem. I already had quite a few difficulties getting the phoenix blood. I believe getting unicorn hair would be impossible." Inside, the Dark Lord fumed. This kid was way too resourceful!
Harry on the other side was pondering this. Unicorn hair wasn't that rare. So Voldemort had been planning on using hostages to control him. Bastard. But Harry did have his own Slytherin side. Playing all or nothing, he leaned forward in his chair.
"If you had your little bunch of followers back, do you think you could get some?"
"What do you mean?"
"I know your little Azkaban adventure failed, Tom. If I managed to free your Death Eaters, would you agree to the second ritual?"
Voldemort was taken aback. This kid either really had his wits about him or was completely insane. He was playing this game like a master. Whatever the reason was, his offer, it was too good to pass up. He either failed and was imprisoned himself, or he succeeded and Voldemort had his servants back. One way or another, Voldemort came out winning.
"Alright, Potter. If you succeed in freeing my servants, you will get your ritual. Only if you succeed."
"Great! So let's get to work! Do you have any floor plans or other stuff that could help..."
"What? You want to start this right now?"
"Of course! They are still recovering from the earlier attack. They would never expect a second one so soon. Besides, a little action would do me good."
Voldemort, wondering what the hell had happened to the Gryffindor, retrieved his plans from his desk and both of them started planning as best they could knowing their mortal enemy was in wand range.
TBC