Chapter 4

August 1984

The tall, black-haired woman who was hurrying briskly along the corridor wondered what the Dark Lord might want from her. It was unusual that he ordered only one Death Eater to him. Normally the whole Inner Circle was called. Had she unknowingly attract his anger? Well, she certainly would discover it very soon. Bellatrix Lestrange knocked at the door and stepped in. She bowed in front of her master and waited. Lord Voldemort stared piercingly at her with his red eyes and while stroking absent-mindedly his snake who had made herself comfortable in his lap, he asked,

"You have a daughter, haven't you?"

Surprised she answered,

"Yes, my Lord."

"Excellent. Listen Bella, I will give you a very important task. You will however maintain strict silence about it. If you tell anyone, you will be punished. I have chosen you to teach my son and heir reading, writing and of course magic."

Bella blinked, totally taken by surprise. A son and heir? She nodded weakly.

"I'm honoured my Lord. May I hear his name and age?" she asked as soon she could be sure that her tongue would obey her again.

"His name is Harry Riddle. You will however address him with my Lord. He is four years old."

"Four? But my Lord, he is too young to learn magic. He won't be able to perform the spells."

She had hardly finished however; there she knew that it would have been better to keep her opinion to herself.

Her master raised his wand and said coldly,

"Crucio."

After he had lifted the curse, he rose from his armchair.

"Never question my decisions again. Come."

As he had said this, he left the room. Bella stood up shakily and followed him. In her head a lot of questions spun round. She knew that it wouldn't be very intelligent to ask them but nevertheless she was desperately interested to know some things. Why the Dark Lord insisted so much upon secrecy? And who was the mother of this child? She was so lost in her thoughts that she almost hadn't noticed that her master had stopped in front of a door. The Dark Lord raised his wand and began to mutter quietly.

Shortly afterwards the door glowed in a red light and opened. In that moment they entered, the little child who was sitting on the floor and playing with a house-elf in the middle of the room lifted his head and stared at them, round-eyed and surprised.

Bella regarded him curiously. He had raven hair and the brightest emerald eyes, she had ever seen. Never before had she seen similar eyes. On his forehead he had a strange scar, shaped like a lightning. The boy stood up, stepped forward and stopped then.

Harry gazed at the woman and wondered who she might be. The man with the red eyes he had already seen once. He had come sometimes to his room and stared at him but he had never spoken to him. Harry was a bit afraid of him. He didn't like his red eyes which looked so scary. Nell had told him that he was the Dark Lord. She feared him as well.

Now he spoke,

"Harry, this woman will be your teacher. She will teach you everything you have to know for the time being."

Looking at Bella, he added,

"Don't disappoint me."

One moment later he had left the chamber. Harry who was still surprised that the man had said something to him felt slightly uncomfortable. He wasn't used to be in other company than in Nell's and he didn't like it that this strange woman was starring at him so oddly. When she finally averted her gaze, he felt relieved. Instead she looked now at Nell and ordered coolly,

"Elf, bring parchment and quills."

Nell nodded and disappeared while Harry found himself being again stared at by Bella's steel grey eyes.

"So, my Lord, please sit down. First I will teach you how to read and write," she said with a friendly sounding voice. Harry went to the table and asked himself whether it would make fun to learn something and whether Nell could perhaps learn it also.

Alison Lennox sauntered slowly over the grounds of Hogwarts. Her face she had turned to the warming sun.

Watching two butterflies which were dancing through the air, she felt happy. How beautiful this day was! Alison stretched out her hands and began to spin round in circles. Laughing she whirled around. A cloud moved in front of the sun, the glaring brightness faded and Alison stopped abruptly in her tracks. Her laugh died away, the sparkling shine in her eyes disappeared. What right had she to be happy while her family wasn't alive anymore?

How much she missed her parents and her brother, she couldn't express. It hurt her still to remember them but knowing that she fought against Voldemort comforted her.

As Albus Dumbledore had asked her last year if she didn't want to join the Order of the Phoenix she hadn't needed much time to think it over. It had been naturally for her. Even if it was dangerous, in her opinion it was her duty to fight against the Dark Side. The first time had been terrible. Pinning away with grief she had seen the only sense of her life in working for the Order. Only gradually her thoughts had turned towards other things. And then there had been Severus; the man who had saved her life.

At the beginning she hadn't liked him very much. But one night she had seen him returning from a Death Eater meeting, still trembling from a Cruciatus- Curse. He had refused to go to the hospital wing and so she had brought him to his chambers. Only in that moment she had become aware of the fact that he was risking his life every time he was leaving Hogwarts and Voldemort was calling him. Any time his secret could be discovered and he could be exposed as a spy.

Slowly they had become friends. It hadn't been easy since his behaviour towards her had been rather unfriendly and sometimes even angry. She hadn't understood it. Disappointed and confused she had often been tempted to wish him at the devil and to speak to him never again.

She didn't know why but she had never done it. Perhaps she had sensed how lonely and unhappy he was. Then the day had come where she had been injured slightly in a smaller fight and as she had felt Severus' gaze on her and had looked at him, she had realized from one minute to the next that he loved her and that she loved him too. She had often felt guilty to be as happy as she was now at the moment. 'But wouldn't my parents and my brother have wanted me to be happy?' she thought and stared at the sun which was still covered by clouds. Alison sighed. Now she understood that he hadn't wanted to become close to another person. He hadn't wanted to make himself vulnerable. She didn't know as well whether she would be able to bear it again to lose a person she loved. But who knew how the future would look like?

She knew that he would never ask her to marry him. He wouldn't want to endanger her. In that case however I could ask him, Alison thought and suddenly began to smile high-spirited.

Albus Dumbledore sat behind his desk and looked through one of the arch-shaped windows up into the overcast sky. Strong wind had sprung up and was forming the clouds constantly into new shapes which were quickly drifting past. Tiredly he heaved a deep sigh. He felt defeated and hopeless. The present situation was more than alarming. Three months ago Voldemort had conquered the Ministry of Magic so that not only the Minister of Magic had fled to Hogwarts but also many wizard families had either taken refuge in Hogwarts or had gone into hiding.

The Order of the Phoenix had been so much sought-after that Albus had had no choice but to reach the decisions which had to be made with his most closed confidantes and to inform the rest of the members later. But this was the only way to lead the Order efficiently. Despite all the people who fought against Voldemort they hadn't succeeded so far to deal the Dark Side a crushing blow and now Tom Riddle concentrated upon conquering Europe and to subject it.

The news of attacks on the mainland was increasing. According to his information there as well more and more resistance groups were forming. It would be wise to unite with them, Albus thought. It wouldn't be of any great use to have many far scattered resistance groups after all. It would be much better to join forces. He would think about this more thoroughly. Lost in thoughts the old wizard took his wand in his hand and touched with it the surface of his Pensieve. He whirled the silver- white substance around and paused then. A beautiful woman emerged from the Pensieve. It was Lily Potter. He sighed deeply as his grief threatened to overwhelm him. Lily, he thought and tears burned in his eyes. Since the time she and James had graduated and began to work in the Order, they had been very close to him.

Both remarkable powerful wizards had they above all helped him to develop strategies, had they come to him with new ideas and had shared with him the burden of leading the Order. In time he had begun to love them as if they would be his own children. Lily had been always optimistic. Constantly she had encouraged them. Even as the terrible news had increased day after day she hadn't lost hope. Albus remembered how happy the young couple had been as Harry had been born. How Lily had been radiant with joy as she had handed the baby to him for the first time, how proud James had been of his son.

Suddenly he thought back to Harry's first birthday, where the child had got the largest cake every guest had ever seen. The whole Order had been invited. Albus smiled. How furious Lily had been, when she had discovered that Sirius had given Harry a mini broom and that he and James had immediately tried to teach the baby flying. He sadly sighed. How happy these memories were, so were they most painful as well. Looking at Lily, he said quietly,

"I hope you're right that Tom will be defeated one day. If not I don't want to know what will happen to the world. But you're right, we must never lose hope."