DISCLAIMER! This Harry Potter story was written for fun. All rights belong to the wonderful lady (JK Rowling) who gave the world Harry Potter to read and enjoy. New Movie is coming in April! Hurrah! Yeah, for Fanfiction – a great place to stretch your imagination and enjoy someone else's creativity too! The is the sequel to The Potter Cartouche.

Parseltongue {Maledictus! Are you a maledictus?}

Chapter 12: Riddles of Summer

How does Tom Riddle end up back in Britain again in the late summer 1994?

SCENE CHANGE: Riddle's Riot

'Tom Riddle, Merlin, I despise my name,' thought the spirit of the Dark Lord for the hundredth time in the last week since he'd returned to Albania. He drifted across around the magical forest, hiding among the trees, watching the creatures. In the canopy, he found a huge snake, a great magical viper and she could see him in his spirit form. She hissed, {What are you? A lost soul, like me?}

{I am Lord Voldemort,} he hissed in reply.

{A speaker? I have not spoken to another in many, many years,} the snake said. {My name is Nagini. I have been a snake since forever, but I remember that I was once a witch.}

{Maledictus! Are you a maledictus?}

Nagini hissed and slithered away from the spirit that flickered and tried to follow her. Cursing his poor luck, Tom Riddle continued through the magical forest. Finally, a wizard – a hunter – passed among the trees. Sensing the man was magical Tom's spirit leapt down and possessed the body.

There were mental battles for three days before Tom subdued Klaus Haxhiu. But the wizard's spirit continued to resist Tom's power even when he slept. But with a body, a magical core, and a wand, Tom Riddle was Lord Voldemort again. He cast spells and located the serpent again. This time he levitated his body into her canopy, frightened her birds away and cast a mild compulsion spell upon the snake to obey and follow him to the forest floor. Nagini would help him find other wizards and help intimidate them.

{This body fights me and will not last long,} he told her. {We must find another wizard for me to possess. One with more power.}

{The canopy is easier to transverse than this ground of rocks and limbs,} she replied, though he ignored her. Lord Voldemort shared his ambitions and plans with his involuntary familiar.

SCENE CHANGE: Nagini's Night

The large snake slithered across the litter of the forest. She was more comfortable in the canopy, moving from limb to limb away from the dangers of the ground but the evil one forced her to crawl across the rocks and limbs because he could not see from the treetops.

'It was interesting to speak of things human for one day, but now his conversation only reminds me of what I'll never have again. I stay awake four months of the year, eating pigs and deer while preparing to sleep. And the birds sing for me day and night. The little feathers love me in their trees because I protect them from the little crawlers,' she remembered.

In her soul, the maledictus, smiled remembering how the vipers and other snakes fled when they scented her trail. Her kingdom in the canopy was secure and pleasant. Her den under the rocks allowed her to dream of her past and remember love.

'My life was better than any other cursed creature before this wizard came along,' she reminded herself.

From the middle of May, with spring in full control of the magical forest, she'd hang in the canopy, listen to the songbirds, drive away small serpents invading in her trees, and drop down to feed on the deer and pigs wandering under the trees. Then when the autumnal equinox occurred, she returned to her burrow under the rockpile in the forest to sleep and dream of her lost love. The memory of his smile woke her heart each autumn. He wrapped her in his arms and kept her warm through the eight months of wonderful sleep.

'And this dark lord wants me to hide in the shadows and travel back among men with him,' she thought. 'He expects me to eat corpses of wizards and witches he kills…eat them! I've not eaten in ten days while he whines and tells me to find more wizards.'

Nagini stopped and threw her tail against the wizard's legs, throwing him to the ground. He cursed the snake in English rather than parsel-tongue before she turned toward him and hissed, {Your conversation is poor. I prefer to hear the birds sing at dawn than another lie from your lips.}

{No. I forbid it! Return!} hissed the Dark Lord who coughed as Klaus fought him mentally conjured knives and spears. The interference in the mind of the possessed wizard kept Tom from following the giant snake. She was silent when she moved, and he lost her in the underbrush. Nagini scented a badger trail and followed it to the entry to the den. Slipping inside she slid past the petrified animals and left the burrow through a second hidden exit. The wizard was far behind her now, impotently demanding the snake to return.

As night fell, the maledictus returned to her canopy, close to her singing friends, her tongue always scenting for a pig or deer for a meal. She would sleep again in autumn and her love would return to her once again in her hibernation dreams. Lord Voldemort would not have a fearsome familiar when he returned to Britain.

CHANGE SCENE: Malfoy's Manipulation

Lucius Malfoy despaired of finding a house-elf or other servant to care for the hunting lodge in Albania. When he fled Britain ahead of angry Death Eaters, a resurrected Dark Lord, or vengeful Aurors led by Amelia Bones tearing down his wards, he'd not paused to summon an elf to accompany him. In Ireland that first night, he grew furious when he realized his bonds with the Malfoy house-elves was so weak, they could not hear him from across the Irish Sea. And his fear of his fellow Death Eaters, Dark Lord and Amelia Bones was so great, he did not apparate back to Wales or even the Isles of Man. At his different destinations, he was able to access his Gringotts accounts at local branches (and paid the additional cost of transferring galleons from Britain).

His temper grew short when he finally understood that house-elves, like Dementors, were found only in Britain. He was surprised to learn that the British magical community five hundred years earlier had taken advantage of the Wars of the Roses, and with permission of the various different kings fighting for control of the throne, experimented with breeding new magical creatures. The Dementors and House-elves were the only 'monsters' from those years still in existence and were only found in the British islands.

Malfoy didn't realise this because the history classes in his school years was lacking, and when he'd visited the Malfoy Hunting Lodge (hiding hole) in Albania as a child and young man, he'd always brought along one or two house-elves. Now he learned that local wizards depended on less-powerful wizards and squibs to act as their servants.

'No wonder our ancestors bred house-elves; the little bastards can take a beating and get back up to keep cleaning,' Malfoy sneered after he killed the second squib cook who didn't prepare the bacon to his liking at breakfast. 'I'll have to apparate into Tripoli to find more servants this afternoon.'

Before his day could go further, there was a knock on his wards, a demanding knock that sent a shiver up Lucius's spine. The wizard drew his wand and strode from the dining room (leaving the body of the squib on the floor). Outside his door, he quickly reached the edge of the wards to find a bedraggled local wizard standing there.

"Begone vagrant! I have no use for you!" Lucius commanded.

But the wizard sneered, threw up his hand, and replied, "Lucius! Only because this shell is not familiar to you will I allow you to walk upright for the rest of the day!"

The tone of voice made Lucius hesitate and the intruder announced, "I am Lord Voldemort! Kneel before your lord and beg my forgiveness."

That night, Malfoy and Lord Voldemort dined on fresh roast goat and turnips prepared by a local witch under the imperious curse. Her farm provided food, clothing, and several wands. Her children had hidden in the forest, but the Dark Lord ordered Malfoy to ignore them.

"We'll send her home in a day or two…without harming or raping her. We might have to retreat here someday and need reliable wizards around us."

"Yes, my lord," replied Lucius.

"Now, tomorrow morning, we'll apparate to either Tripoli or to Vienna and find a strong enough wizard to host my presence for our return to Britain.

"The current host?"

"He is too stubborn and independent to bend permanently to my will."

"What do you require in the wizard you need, my lord?"

"Enough strength to last for six months…there is a ritual that we can perform to give me a new, strong body. Then we will resume our campaign of terror until all of Britain lies prostrate at my feet." The dark lord paused and then added, "It's best if he has the mindset of a dark lord or at least worshipping the power of dark lords."

"Vienna…," Lucius replied, dismissing the wizards in Tripoli as suitable candidates. (Again, Malfoy's lack of education influenced his decision). "We should go to Vienna, my lord. Many supporters of Grindelwald fled to the small villages in the alps after the wars."

The next day, in Vienna, Lord Voldemort and Lucius Malfoy wandered through the markets in the magical district – one of the oldest in Europe – and listened to conversations, read a few minds, and then sat at an outdoor café to enjoy hot chocolate while considering the different candidates for possession.

While Voldemort left Lucius to speak with the most likely candidate – possession was much more successful when voluntary and welcome – the wizard was left alone to contemplate his sins and prospects.

'Can I get away from him?' Lucius wondered. 'And where would I go? If I can distract him from the diary, I can remain at his side while he conquers Britain.'

Before the afternoon ended, Lord Voldemort returned to the café in possession of a strong, middle-aged wizard of German extraction with ties to Grindelwald. They would venture into Magical Britain and perform the ritual to restore Lord Voldemort to his full strength.

CHANGE SCENE: Return to Britain

Four days later, Lucius was filthy, tired, and hungry. The French Aurors had doubled their wards in the last ten years and raised several additional nets to capture anyone using apparition to cross the channel into and out of Britain since the panic fleeing from Britain after the basilisk revelation before the Wizengamot. As a consequence, Malfoy and Voldemort had been forced to travel by muggle means. The train's passage under the ground – under the ocean in the 'Chunnel' – left Malfoy disgruntled to discover the simple Muggles were capable of some amazing feats without the use of magic. Lord Voldemort seemed to enjoy his minion's discomfort.

They stayed on the train all way into London before they apparated to outside the wards of Malfoy Manor. There Lucius called a house elf and discovered that his wife and son had taken refuge in another house that was closed to all outsiders. And the Ministry had placed a strong set of charms in the house that would notify them if any human crossed the wards.

"There are other houses, Lucius," Lord Voldemort reminded his minion and dismissing the concern. Then the Dark Lord decided to summon his other followers as he added, "Your elves can serve us there. Let me have your arm."

Pressing the tip of the wand in his hand against the tattoo on Lucius's arm, the Dark Lord frowned while Lucius flinched with pain. When none of the other Death Eaters arrived, he demanded to know, "Where are my followers?"

Expressing true confusion himself, Lucius remained silent thereafter while, Lord Voldemort pressed the tip of his wand against the tattoo again. Diving into the magic of the tattoo, Lord Voldemort could only feel the connection with Lucius and one other Death Eater in Britain.

Azkaban is too far from here for me to feel the Lestrange family or Nott. But where are all the others? Where is Severus?

Snape is probably travelling for potion conferences," Lucius explained. "And the others may have fled Britain."

Fled? When? I thought you bought off the Wizengamot years ago?"

Lucius could not explain – or would not – until the Dark Lord pressed his magic up against Lucius who was crushed on the ground and finding it hard to breath.

"They ran away…when…it was revealed you are not a pureblood," Lucius managed to wheeze before the Dark Lord relented and demanded details. His fury grew when he learned that Harry Potter had killed the basilisk and shown a memory where a teenaged Tom Riddle revealed the nom de guerre he'd chosen to use.

"My diary! Malfoy, what did you do with the great treasure I gave you for safe keeping?" The Dark Lord demanded to know. There followed a mild bit of torture of Lucius Malfoy – Lord Voldemort was aware that he had only a single minion presently and could not kill him like he wanted. That would come later.

"Call an elf. Send it to check every Death Eater home and see if any are hiding behind their wards."

"Yes, my lord."

After a miserable afternoon in a field outside the wards of his home, Lucius was seated beside a table with food and drink provided by one elf while another reported on yet another deserted house, surrounded by ministry wards. The elf reported that the werewolf Greyback tried to climb the tree where it landed to remain out of the monster's clutches, while shouting about 'mudblood charlatans'.

Lucius remained silent though he was surprised that the word 'charlatan' was in the werewolf's vocabulary.

"I do not have another house available, my lord," Malfoy replied when the Dark Lord once again pressed the tip of his wand against the tattoo on the wizard's arm.

"Your properties are all being watched in any case," Voldemort replied. "I am determining the location of the only other Death Eater left in Britain. I shall rescue him."

CHANGE SCENE: Senior's Curse and Junior's Freedom

With Barty Crouch, Sr under the imperious curse by the Dark Lord, Barty Jr quickly recovered with potions procured by his devoted house-elf, Winky. Once without thinking, Lucius kicked the little elf across the dining room. Before Lucius could curse the elf again, Barty Jr threw a Cruciatus, a bone breaker curse, and a stream of curses that blistered Lucius's ears while making the Dark Lord laugh aloud.

"Don't ever touch my elf again, Malfoy. Just because you hate your elves, don't think you can treat mine the same way!" Barty threatened, the tip of his wand bright green with a death curse waiting.

Once she was healed, Winky was dispatched to purchase a potion to repair the broken bones in Lucius Malfoy's leg, and then his nerves. While they waited, the Dark Lord spoke to his two followers, "I have determined a course of action. Crouch Sr tells us that Dumbledore and his minions at Hogwarts plan to hire Alastor Moody as the Senior DADA instructor beginning 1 September. We shall take him prisoner and use Polyjuice to insert one of you as the DADA instructor in the castle. When the time is right, you will kidnap Harry Potter and bring him to me for the ritual."

"Polyjuice is difficult to brew," Barty Jr said. "There are some shortcuts available to help."

"And Knockturn Alley has two shops where you can buy a reliable bottle that provides 24 doses of the nasty brew," Malfoy announced.

"Why Lucius, you sound as if the process changing into and out of another person's form isn't pleasant," Voldemort said.

Barty Jr said, "My lord, transformation into and out of the potion is as painful as the Cruciatus curse."

"Hmmm…Tell me Lucius, the day that Harry Potter shared his memory of killing Slytherin's basilisk underneath Hogwarts, where did that black book come from? Do you have any idea what it meant to me?"

"My Lord…I didn't," stammered Lucius, hopeful of not dying in the next five minutes.

"But now you do. And since I cannot punish your wife or chop the limbs off your son in front of you today, I have devised another fitting punishment."

"You will use Polyjuice and pretend to be Alastor Moody. You will masquerade at Hogwarts, play the loyal Dumbledore minion, and teach the mudbloods how to cast shields and throw cutting spells until such time as I am ready to perform the ritual. It could be six days, six weeks or even six months…and you know what the Aurors will do to you if they catch you."

"Yes, my lord," Lucius replied, resigned to his fate.

"Now, as soon as your leg is whole and you stop shaking like a ninety-year-old muggle, we'll go capture Moody."

"How do you propose to do that, my lord?" asked Barty Jr.

"We'll use Lucius as bait and when Moody runs out of his house, I will cast my strongest imperious curse on him. While he fights my spell, Barty Jr. will break his good leg and cast stupefy ten times."

The following morning, after Winky's procured potions had healed Lucius Malfoy, the three wizards saw Crouch Sr, who was still under the imperious curse, leave through the floo for his job at the ministry, and then they apparated to the neighbourhood where Moody's house stood. With several spells cast, the Dark Lord grew confused and shared, "No one has been here in over a month. The wards are fairly weak and the Aurors don't have monitoring charms here."

Barty Jr offered, "My Lord, allow me to call my elf. She can get inside and find out what's happened.

"Do it," Lord Voldemort said watching Malfoy grimace that a house-elf proved valuable.

Winky proved that she could slip through the weakened wards. After twenty minutes, she popped back with information and a large jar of Moody's hair. She'd never tell Lucius Malfoy, but she did whisper to tell Barty Jr where she'd found the hairs – in the retired Auror's dirty shorts, t-shirts, and shower drain.

Testing the hair with a dose of Polyjuice did transform Lucius Malfoy into the scarred Auror who was missing a leg, an eye, and several fingers on each hand.

"Bullocks!" screamed Malfoy.

Barty Jr laughed and announced, "Moody ain't got none! Some spell took his off!"

At Voldemort's request, Winky went back to Moody's home and found his spare peg leg and a fake eye that looked like the magical eye but didn't have any magic. Lucius struggled to walk with the leg and wore the eye to get used to the feel of it in his head.

"Barty, when your father returns home, ask him about Alastor Moody – what happened to him."

SCENE CHANGE Alastor Moody's Trial in August

In a magical courtroom in Paris, Alastor Moody stood before three judges while witnesses were questioned in the case against Moody. Weeks earlier, he broke into a preschool and attempted to kidnap a young boy. The current witness testifying was the witch who ran the school; she scowled continuously in the direction of the defendant while she muttered curses under her breath. Propped up on a stool with his arms tied to his sides, Moody could not move about because the French Aurors had stuck him to the stool with a powerful charm.

With translation charms in place, Moody heard the woman testify that all the children were traumatized by the big English monster pushing his way into the school and demanding to see Henri Beauchamp.

"Is the child Henri Beauchamp a student in your school?" asked the head judge seated in the middle of the bench of three wizards.

"Oui. He is a marvellous child with great potential."

"And did the defendant see the child?"

"No, Henri hid inside the classroom. The monster grabbed Oliver Novanna, a classmate of Henri's. He lifted the child and examined him with some grotesque magical eye. Then he allowed Oliver to fall to the ground and muttered, 'Another squib.' When he raised his wand to cast a spell, I threw myself between the monster and Oliver. He ordered me to move aside because he would not allow another squib in his line to survive."

"What occurred next?" asked the second judge on the panel.

"The Aurors arrived and began throwing spells at the monster but nothing they cast took him down. I was desperate so I grabbed a bucket of sand from the play area and threw it into his face."

"And?" the second judge asked, motioning for the witch to continue.

"He was distracted by the sand, I leapt at him, and knocked him to the ground. Then I stomped on his wooden leg and broke it. Then I bit his hand until he dropped the wand. The Aurors pulled me off before I could blind his good eye, but I did try."

"Are your students safe and sound, madam?" asked the third judge.

"Non. I shall have mind healers with my students for a year or more because of this traumatic experience," the woman replied. "I want him beaten three times a day for a year to repay the pain and fear of my little children!"

The judges turned to Moody and the head judge asked, "Do you dispute any of this woman's testimony?"

"I do not. As is my right, as the great-grandfather of Henri Beauchamp, I demand the right to examine him for magic, to determine if he is a squib."

The judge frowned and asked, "How is the child, Henri Beauchamp, your descendant?"

"His father, Arthur, is son to my daughter, Caroline Beauchamp."

"And are Arthur's father and grandfather still living?"

"I do not know," admitted Moody.

"Monsieur Moody, in Britain you are decorated Auror, non?"

"Yes."

"And so, you know the laws that protect homes, children and family lines?"

"Yes," he admitted. "In Britain…"

"But this is France, not Britannia or Angleterre. Here, the Beauchamp line is a highly regarded line of wizards and witches. You are not young Henri's 'pater' and your stated intention to do the child harm means that Monsieur Henri Beauchamp, the head of that family and the current director of our Département de droit (department of law), demands that we deal harshly with you."

"But none of those children had magic! Not one of them did!" Moody insisted.

"Fool!" the teacher yelled. "We were departing for a field trip to the Zoo of Paris! Les enfants wear a necklace to suppress accidental magic for the day! Do you think we do not protect the Statute of Secrecy!"

"Order! Order in my court," the head judge demanded. He pointed at the teacher and said, "Madam Renoir, be seated and remain calm."

Once the courtroom was quiet, the judge said, "The court calls Madam Caroline Beauchamp to the stand."

A dignified witch on the arm of the wizard earlier identified as Monsieur Henri Beauchamp, stepped into the courtroom and stood before the judges but refused to look at Alastor Moody."

"Madam Beauchamp, do you recognize the defendant? Do you know him?"

"I am sorry to say that I do recognize the man."

"Sorry? How sorry, Madam?"

"The fates made that man the husband of my long-dead mother, but I do not claim him as my father."

"And why is that?"

"When I was eight years old, he took my older sister away because she did not have magic – enough magic – to attend the school in Britain for witches. He walked into the house at lunch, threw her over his shoulder as though she were a bag of garbage, and used the floo to carry her away. My sister screamed in fear while Maman cried and fainted. But at supper, he came home as if nothing had changed. Arabella vanished and my mother never found her again. Once I was grown, I looked for my sister, but it is hard to negotiate among the mundane and too many years had passed."

The judge asked, "Do the British throw away their children without magic? Are these children not members of the family?"

"Non. Children in Britain are not socialized with others until they are ten or eleven so that if they are squibs, they can be removed without problems. When my…this wizard took away Arabella, my mother's heart died. And I spent the next three years in terror that it would be my turn next. When I went to school, I wrote to Maman every week for assure that my younger sister Beth who was two years younger."

"Maman died a little each day grieving for our sister who'd been thrown out like an unwanted kitten. Maman remained alive only until we received our test results when Beth was fifteen and I was seventeen. Then we left his house. He was gone to fight in the war with Grindelwald, but Maman cursed this wizard with her dying breath for taking her daughter away," testified Caroline Beauchamp.

"Where is your sister today?"

Glancing toward Moody, tied and silenced, Madam Beauchamp replied, "I'd rather not say, your honour. I fear he would seek her out and attempt to kidnap and judge a child in her family as he tried to do with mine."

"Alastor Moody, do you have anything to say?" asked the head judge after ordering the silencing spell be removed.

Staring at his daughter for a moment with his one good eye, he replied, "No."

The three judges conferred and then announced, "Monsieur Alastor Moody, you entered France illegally, entered the homes of Monsieur Henri Beauchamp, and his son Monsieur Arthur Beauchamp, with the intention of causing harm to a child or children, magical or otherwise. This will not stand, and the British will learn to stay away from France! This court sentences you to death. Cut off his head."

There was no reaction from the courtroom except the schoolteacher's muttered "Bon!"

When she stood to leave the courtroom, Caroline Beauchamp stepped close enough to the wizard to whisper, "As Maman lay dying, she told me that she fed you sterility potions after Arabella…after you carried Arabella away. Maman swore she would never give you another child and that is why you never got the son you so desperately desired. Now, go and die, you evil man. I know that Maman is waiting for you with a butcher's knife in her hand!"

Like British wizarding courts, the sentence was carried out immediately and Alastor Moody's head was separated from his body that same afternoon.

CHANGE SCENE: Sympathetic Magic

At the same time as Moody's trail in Paris, the Dark Lord Voldemort sat in the Crouch home with his two remaining followers – Barty Crouch, Jr. and Lucius Malfoy. At the moment, Lucius was testing the Polyjuice potion with the hair of Alastor Moody.

In the last three days, Malfoy proved to be a fair actor, and he was motivated to make amends with the Dark Lord for losing the diary. While attempting to balance with a crutch, Malfoy asked, "Where is Moody? Did your father find out?"

"Father told me that Alastor Moody went to France to visit a daughter, but something happened and the Aurors there locked him up," Barty Jr explained.

"Bones will rescue him and pay whatever fine they charge," Lucius replied. "Dumbledore needs him to teach DADA this year and he will be here before 1 September."

"Once we take Moody captive and can harvest more of his hair, you will have time to adjust to using his magical eye and pegleg," Barty assured the dilettante Malfoy. He smirked inwardly and promised himself to tell Lucius the source of the hairs used in the Polyjuice potion today.

Suddenly, Lucius/Moody began struggling against invisible bonds, flinging a few items about the room. When, the Dark Lord scowled and prepared to curse Lucius/Alastor the man collapsed to the floor as his head fell off his torso and drenched the Dark Lord in warm blood.

"What magic is this?" demanded Voldemort while vanishing the blood from his face, hair, and clothes. The two living wizards cast spells to check the wards, and Barty sent Winky to check around the house for hidden Aurors. There was no one around the house.

Voldemort examined the body and head carefully before stating, "It appears that Alastor lost his head to a sharp blade today. Someone cut off Moody's head and the change passed over to Lucius."

Excited, Barty Jr also examined the corpse and head before explaining, "Most powerful case of sympathetic magic I've ever heard of My Lord. I should write a paper on this manifestation."

Ignoring Ravenclaw Barty Jr. before he banished the body and blood, the Dark Lord asked, "Who is next on the headmaster's list to use for his DADA professor next year?"

"I'll ask Father when he returns home," Barty Jr. said as he levitated the head of Alastor/Moody. "Wonder if I should send this to anyone? Amelia Bones perhaps or Albus Dumbledore?"

Conjuring a hat box for the head, Lord Voldemort said, "Dumbledore…with a box of chocolates from Honey Dukes."