A/N: Wow guys! I got 68 reviews for one chapter. I'm truly touched by that. Lots of questions to answer from the last chapter, so I'll do that real quick, then we'll get into some more fun with demons!
Blank_eyes: I really like your viewpoint on Voldemort. Now watch closely, as I completely ignore it. As good as it sounds , and as logical as it is, it doesn't work with my plotline. And about the multitasking thing, I don't see any of that in the real books. He is very focused on one thing at a time. It's a lot like a very large chess match. He only makes one move at a time. I also have to change one of your quotes from your last comment. What good is power if it's paraded in front of everyone? Voldemort relies on not showing his true power to anyone, so the speculation of how powerful he really is causes more fear, and gives him more power in the community.
SilverDagger: As much fun as that sounds, no. I like the idea, but it's not running with my plotline. Maybe I'll write another story with that idea in it though. I do like it.
Crazy_Poet: My Shadow masters have a HUGE weakness, and I'm surprised you haven't recognized it yet. Their biggest weakness is on offense. The Cloak of Shadows that they wear takes a lot of magic to sustain itself, and they can't turn it off. They sacrificed offense for a super-strong defense. This is why they don't battle. Hell, they barely have enough raw power to transfigure things. If they over tax themselves magically, their defense cloak will begin to weaken, and they will be vulnerable. So, attacking from the shadows and assassinating a single target is perfect for them.
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Chapter 18: Revenge is a Dish Best Served Cold
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"Harry, I have a job for you." Hermione said. The two demons were down in their sanctuary, the Chamber of Secrets. Hermione was working on a device she'd found in an Outdoors supply shop. She wouldn't tell Harry what she was doing, but promised it would be fun, and completely infuriating.
"Oh, really?" Harry said. "And what job might that be?"
"I need a hair from the head of Bellatrix LeStrange." Hermione said simply.
Harry's eyes flashed, and his teeth were bared in a snarl at the very thought of Bellatrix LeStrange. Before he could start to feel too much anger at her, he realized that whatever Hermione was working on would be made with LeStrange as the main target. The snarl turned into a very sinister smile, as his eyes flickered with dangerous humor. "I can do that. I'll be right back!" He said, and then melted into the shadows.
**
It was dark in the room. Harry waited, melded with the shadows, for his senses to report the contents of the room. First, Bellatrix LeStrange was in the room, sleeping on the rather luxurious bed. Harry's senses came back with the initial report. Bellatrix was paranoid. She had cast a proximity ward on the room itself, so she would be alerted if anyone entered the room, from anywhere. Her proximity charm reflected her paranoia as well. The structure of the ward was so intricate that Harry could not nullify it without setting it off. Even with his ability to see the magic, he could not find the proper keystone to make the spell fall apart without setting it off.
The next problem was somewhat simpler, but just as dangerous. The Kinesis charm in the room was tied into the proximity ward. If the ward was tripped, not only would Bellatrix be woken, but also the several bladed objects in the room would attack the spot where the wards were broken. Harry could easily sidestep this problem by pushing a hand through the wall, and then retracting it before the blades reached him. Unfortunately, that would awaken LeStrange, and ruin his whole plan. Harry had originally thought of entering her bathroom, and taking a few hairs from her hairbrush, but Hermione had nixed that idea. For her device, she needed a living follicle, and the ones on the hairbrush were dead.
There were also several other spells on various objects around the room, but these looked to be more protective against other Death Eaters than a Shadow Master. (A/N: I'm going on the assumption that the convicted Death Eaters are staying at Voldemort's stronghold, wherever it is.) It looked as if these other spells were tied into the proximity ward as well, no doubt to inform LeStrange who was stealing what, and when.
After careful consideration, Harry began testing the ties from the proximity ward to the other spells. Following one of the tendrils, he decided that he couldn't dismantle the spell from the ward side, but he might be able to cut it off from the object side. Focusing on one of the books on the shelves, which Harry assumed to be a Dark Arts text, he reached out with his magic, and with a deft motion, sliced through the connection. The ward did not trigger. All right, this was good news. When he's severed the connection, one of the keystones fell, and the proximity ward became slightly simpler. He focused on another one, and severed that linkage as well. Once done, he focused on a third object, and severed that connection as well. This was a mistake. The ward triggered, and Bellatrix jumped out of bed, wand ready.
Harry cursed his stupidity. He hadn't realized that the keystone of the ward could be located in a separate object. Had he known, he would have used a different method of disabling that one. Now he had to think on his feet, which he was good at, but quick thinking clashed with the Shadow Master instincts of planned assassination. His human mind worked over time, and his Shadow Master instincts modified the plan slightly. He moved to a shadow by the door, and pushed his hand though the wall. The blades sprung to life, and hurled themselves at the breach in the ward. Harry pulled his hand back quickly, and the blades embedded themselves in the wall. Harry changed his voice modulation slightly, and pretended to shriek in pain.
"Looks like my little trap has caught me a rat." Bellatrix said. "Oh, Peter, did you honestly think I'd let you get away with spying on me?" Harry, didn't know whether to laugh out loud, or vomit. LeStrange, although evil to the core, was a strikingly beautiful woman. It was quite humorous, in a very disgusting way, to imagine Wormtail as a peeping Tom. Harry had to valiantly resist laughing out loud as another image invaded his mind. A Snake-faced Pettigrew, with red eyes, playing peek-a-boo. (A/N: Get it? A Peeping Tom!) Harry gathered the shadows using his powers, so that the evil woman could not see anything in them. If his plan worked out, she would come to investigate.
"What's the matter Peter, cat got your tongue?" Bellatrix laughed. "Serves you right, you Sniveling rat!" She reached her arm into the shadow, and felt around for the offending person. Pay dirt! Harry grabbed her arm, and pulled hard, and Bellatrix was pulled to the wall, her arm sinking to the shoulder in the wall's shadow. Harry solidified the shadow, so she could not pull it out. It was a temporary thing, only held while he was present. Bellatrix shrieked in outrage. Harry reached out of the shadows, and grabbed a lock of her long black hair. With a malicious delight, Harry yanked on it, causing her to shriek again, this time in pain. His objective completed, Harry traveled the shadows back to the Chamber of Secrets where Hermione waited for him.
**
Hermione was waiting when Harry returned with the hair, and was somewhat amused that he'd gotten much more than she'd needed. "What did you do, Harry, scalp her?" She said with a smile.
"It wasn't exactly a surgical procedure." Harry scowled, then smiled. "However, I may have been a bit brutal. What can I say? I'm a demon."
"Oh well, it works better this way anyway." Hermione said. In his joy of hurting her, he'd ripped part of her scalp off. Not a lot, just enough to expose the nerve endings. It would benefit Hermione's device in the long run, however.
Hermione walked back over to the workbench, where she had a small plastic box open. Inside the box were several small circuit boards, a speaker, a microphone, and at least five rune crystals. Each crystal was connected to the circuit board using small silver wires, and each facet of each crystal had a rune of some type carved into it. Even though he didn't know what the device did, he was in awe of the example of Technomancy before him. Hermione took three strands of hair and, with several precise movements, braided them together, with the follicles at the same end. She took the braided strand, and attached it to the gate rune on one of the crystals. Then, she wrapped the strand around a length of copper wire protruding from the top of the box. Finally, she slid a rubber sleeve over the wire, and snapped the cover over the electronic components.
"Finished?" Harry asked. Hermione nodded. "Good, cause you'll never believe what I heard while I was getting that hair…"
Hermione and Harry went to sleep that night, still chuckling over Pettigrew's antics.
**
The next morning, Bellatrix LeStrange woke up with a sore spot on her head. She cursed her stupidity again, and then got up to take a shower. (A/N: Just because she's evil doesn't mean she doesn't enjoy a nice, hot shower.)
In the bathroom, Bellatrix found the consequences of her stupidity last night. In a small spot by her temple, she was missing a chunk of hair, and the skin from her scalp. A quick healing charm, and it was just a bald spot, but at least it didn't hurt anymore. She swore that when she found the one who did it, they would be killed, painfully.
While in the shower, Bellatrix received a big shock.
"You filthy Mudblood!" Shrieked the voice of her Aunt, who always insisted on being called Mrs. Black. (A/N: Does anyone know what her first name is?) The voice was unmistakable. But she was supposed to be dead! Bellatrix spun around quickly, nearly slipping on the wet floor. There was nobody in the room.
"I think I'm losing it." She said to herself.
**
Harry was in hysterics. Hermione had finished her device, and tested it out. The muggle walkie-talkie that she'd found, plus a little Technomancy, created an artificial schizophrenia in Bellatix LeStrange. Hermione explained to him that any female voice speaking into the microphone, would be changed to Sirius Black's mother' voice, and any male voice would be turned into Sirius' voice. Harry couldn't resist the fun that could be had with it. He was listening to the monitor with an earpiece all day, and interjecting snide comments when he felt appropriate. By the time Voldemort called the meeting that evening to tell everyone about the fate of Wormtail, Bellatrix was in a right state.
**
Voldemort was not having a good day. His plan to scare the Wizarding world out of its collective mind had failed. Peter Pettigrew was dead, and the Dementors were missing. At first Voldemort could not believe it. The Dementors had allied themselves with him, and then killed his servant? Impossible. Voldemort went to his Library and looked at his dark creature reference materials. There, he found his downfall. Dementors were lesser demons. That meant they naturally subservient to greater demons such as Shadow Masters.
With a scream of rage, Voldemort threw the reference across the room. He stalked out of his library and found an underling. He pressed the Dark Mark on said underling's arm harder than he normally would, causing the underling to scream in pain, and pass out. He then stalked to his throne room, and awaited his servants.
**
Bellatrix was the first one there when she felt the mark burn. It always pleased the Dark Lord for his servants to be prompt.
"Ooh, someone's got the hots for old Snake-face!" Said the voice of Sirius Black, her cousin. She'd been hearing him all day, and was ready to burst. However, she didn't reply to her blood traitor of a cousin, for fear of her Lord taking her response the wrong way.
Many other Death Eaters were apparating into the room, kissing the Dark Lord's robes, and whispering greetings to their Lord. This set the voice off again. "Look at them, Bella. Groveling like dogs before a half blood! Pathetic, isn't it?" This slander proved to be too much for Bellatrix LeStrange.
"SHUT UP YOU FILTHY MUTT!" She screamed, interrupting Voldemort's opening speech. "I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU SAY, I DON'T CARE ABOUT ANY OF IT! JUST SHUT YOUR FACE!"
The voice in her head was silent, and she breathed a sigh of relief. That relief was short-lived, however, as she noticed the look of rage on her Lord's face. Her expression quickly changed from relief to horror. "My Lord…" Perhaps he would let her explain.
Voldemort leveled his wand at her. The next two words stopped all discussion. "Avada Kedavra!" Voldemort cried. Bellatrix fell dead. Dead silence rang through the throne room. The Death Eaters were afraid to speak. Voldemort was so violently angry that he missed the quiet snickers coming from the shadows behind his throne.
It was a long night of punishment for Voldemort, who enjoyed punishing his Death Eaters, especially when he got on a roll. But he did manage to relay the news of Wormtail's failure, and plans were made to attack another target.
Harry and Hermione left the meeting after watching LeStrange's death, and missed the planning of the attack. They would come to regret that decision.
**
A/N: That was fun, wasn't it? Not a whole lot to say in this note, except that in the next chapter, There will be an attack, and Voldemort will make a huge discovery.