Lord Voldemort's Power

50 miles east of Hogwarts school, sitting on the banks of Loch Ness is the ruins of Urquhart castle. Located 13 miles south-west of Inverness and 1.2 miles east of the village of Drumnadrochit. Built in the 13th century, the castle had seen many battles in its time. It had been taken by Edward I of England in 1296. It was recaptured by the Scots but lost once again to the English. In 1306, the castle came back under the control of the King of Scots, Robert the Bruce. The king died in 1329 and there was an immense power struggle as the English tried to reclaim control over Scotland. Yet in 1332, it was the only castle in the Scottish Highlands to hold out against the English forces. The castle stood strong until 1692 when the leaving Jacobite forces blew the castle up. Since 1913, the castle has been under state control and is now a tourist attraction boasting hundreds of thousands of visitors a year, making it one of the most visited castles in Scotland.

Voldemort would never admit it to anyone, but he was an avid reader of muggle literature in his youth. Specifically reading about muggle wars. He now hated every single one of those filthy muggles, but back when he didn't know he was magical, one of the only pleasures he had in the children's home was reading. It was upon perusing one of these books just a few weeks before he had been visited by Dumbledore that he got very interested in Urquhart castle. The history of the battles of the castle ignited something within him and during his rise to power the first time around, he decided to make his lair there. The picturesque view over Loch Ness and the hilly terrain also appealed to him.

It used to make him roll his eyes when the muggle tourists would prattle on about the Loch Ness monster. Voldemort knew exactly what it was as soon as he saw the grainy photographs. It was the last sea basilisk left in existence. Voldemort only believed the beast to be a fable but upon further investigation, he discovered that it was created and hatched by Salazar Slytherin himself. Stories tell of how all the sea basilisks were hunted by goblins for food and potion ingredients. The goblins had hunted them so well that it only took fifty years for the goblins to declare the creatures extinct. Voldemort could only guess how the one residing in Loch Ness had gone unnoticed all these years. He suspected that Salazar Slytherin himself had put powerful wards on the creature to protect it, but so far, Voldemort had not detected any such wards and the sea basilisk had told him personally that he had remained undiscovered all these years until Voldemort himself had found him.

For the proximity to Hogwarts, the view and the friendship of the basilisk, this was where Voldemort decided to make his domain. He knew he couldn't take control over the ruins as he would draw unwanted attention to himself. He instead spent weeks carving out and building a vast network of underground tunnels, chambers and quarters. He made a grand cave where the sea basilisk could come to live with a direct tunnel leading out to Loch Ness. He found immense pleasure in having a new familiar who had told him that Salazar had named him Serka. It still made him chuckle when he thought of the first meeting between Serka and Nagini. He never knew until that point that Parseltongue could sound so sassy, and that Nagini could be so jealous. He had calmed Nagini down eventually, but only after she had disappeared for three weeks and not responded to his calls. Voldemort had guessed that somehow throughout the years, the muggles had caught brief glimpses of the sea basilisk and it had faded into legend. He knew the truth though, and so did a few of his death eaters. Voldemort had asked Serka why he had allowed himself to be spotted many times. Serka replied that if muggles were to come hunting for the Loch Ness monster, then that made for easy prey and if he allowed himself to be spotted every few years, then the tourists would keep coming and he could feast.

It was in the central cavern now that Voldemort sat upon a high wing backed throne. It was made from the bones of muggles and from of all the death eaters that had ever wronged him. It had gotten so big that the excess bones were used to create a fifty seat round table. It was at this table that he was holding court with thirteen of his closest followers whom he had dubbed his generals. It should have been fifteen but when Voldemort had summoned Severus, he hadn't come and since every werewolf that Severus had accompanied to the burrow was now dead including Fenrir, Voldemort could not question his followers on Severus' whereabouts. He was furious that his right-hand man would not come to this important meeting and celebration of victory, but he would deal with him later. If Severus didn't come to him when summoned, then there must be extremely mitigating circumstances. Voldemort trusted him implicitly and he could not say that about many of his followers. With Fenrir dead, the werewolves were currently in talks of who should take his place at the round table.

After the general reports about all his ordered attacks upon wizarding and muggle populations alike, Voldemort was happy to hear that at least seven thousand five hundred muggles had fallen to his forces along with at least five hundred witches and wizards. The death eaters had only lost one hundred of their number. The werewolves had lost forty and much to Voldemort's surprise, the vampires had lost six of their number. The dementors were still feasting on the muggles but his last report from their leader, Antigar, indicated that they had claimed roughly one thousand muggle souls and that figure would increase before the night was out. He wasn't too annoyed with the losses of his followers as he had spares and more people would rally to his side when they saw that the light side was no match for his power. As for the werewolves and vampires, he really couldn't give a damn. Filthy disgusting half breeds the lot of them, but he could not deny their usefulness.

Lord Voldemort was very happy with how today had gone. He would be calm and lenient with all his followers tonight unless he was extremely pissed off by one of them.

"Anything to report Bella?" Voldemort asked softly.

"The village of Drumnadrochit has been completely wiped out and I have 20 of your followers currently working to change them into inferi. Loch Ness shall gain a thousand more inhabitants before dawn" said Bellatrix from Voldemort's immediate left.

"Excellent. Amycus and Alecto, what do you have to tell me?" Voldemort asked as he looked to the seats stationed furthest from him on his right.

Alecto raised her head to speak but Amycus gave her a knowing look that only a brother could, and she closed her mouth and bowed her head.

"My Lord" began Amycus "We have returned from our journey with the most prosperous news. More vampires are willing to support our cause. They are going to start travelling from Romania shortly" said Amycus barely getting the words out through fear. Even if you harboured good news, the Dark Lord was still very unpredictable.

"That is good news Amycus. Well done" said Voldemort as he gave an uncharacteristic smile.

"We also have the support of the hags, trolls, fire demons, hell hounds and the manticores" said Alecto seeing that the Dark Lord would not curse her immediately for speaking.

"You have greatly pleased me. I only wish I could reward you more but alas you both already have a spot in my close circle. You may leave now Amycus and Alecto. Eat well, sleep well and have some fun. I will give you a reprieve on your duties until next week" said Voldemort as he waved his right hand to dismiss them.

"Thank you My Lord" Amycus and Alecto said simultaneously as they rose from the table and strode out of two grand oak double doors which led to the banqueting hall.

Voldemort turned and looked at the face of the man who was sitting to Bellatrix's right, his wife standing dutifully behind him. Voldemort still found Narcissa to be a puzzling woman. He had offered her a place at the table, but she had refused to take the mark. For the continuing support of Bellatrix and the funds from the Malfoy's vaults, Voldemort had let Narcissa's impertinence slide. She had shown that she was loyal to the cause and for now, that was good enough.

"Lucius, you better be here with good news" Voldemort said menacingly. Lucius had pissed him off one too many times now and that little brat of his not being able to kill Dumbledore even after Voldemort had honoured him with the dark mark had made relations between them rather strained. Voldemort was unsure of how many more chances he was willing to give the Malfoy's. Each time he thought about wiping their miserable existence from the Earth, he was reminded that he was in desperate need of funding and Lucius could provide it more than any other of his followers. Lucius seemed to have a way of sliming his way out of sticky situations anyway. Voldemort supposed it was all the years of traversing the politics of the Ministry and being up Fudge's backside that had strengthened this talent.

"Erm, My Lord" Lucius stammered "As you have instructed, Narcissa and I have been in long discussions with the giants"

"Well?" snapped Voldemort.

"We are gaining no headway. They are too stupid to understand what we are trying to offer. I fear it may be a lost cause My Lord. I am sorry for failing you" said Lucius as he bowed his head.

"You have failed me several times now Lucius, so I expected nothing more really. I may be inclined to let you live if Draco comes back with good news. Till then, get out of my sight and do not let me see you or hear from you unless I require your presence" Voldemort scowled.

"Yes, My Lord, thank you My Lord" Lucius cried as he rose to his feet and almost ran through the same doors that Amycus and Alecto left through with Narcissa dutifully at his heels.

Voldemort looked to his left again. Sitting to the left of where Lucius sat was Bellatrix's husband, Rodolphus.

"What news do you have for me?" Voldemort asked calmy.

"My Lord. I have tried talking with the acromantulas. Their leader is now the daughter of Aragog. Her name is Petragog. She has told me that while that half-breed oaf Hagrid still lives, the loyalty of the cluster will be to him. I barely got out of there unscathed. After the fire in the forbidden forest, I'm not sure of how many of their number still survive" answered Rodolphus warily.

"You have failed me yet again Rodolphus. Tell me, do you desire to be the person that I use to create a new seat at this grand table?" spat Voldemort as he raised his wand.

"No, My Lord. I only wish to serve you. Give me another mission and I promise you that this time, I will not fail" stammered Rodolphus as he looked at Bellatrix pleadingly. Bellatrix met his eyes with hatred and then looked towards Voldemort. Rodolphus knew that their marriage was one of convenience and that there was no one more devoted to the whims of the Dark Lord than Bellatrix. He suspected that Bellatrix harboured romantic feelings for the Dark Lord. The thought of it repulsed him. He silently bowed his head and awaited whichever fate the Dark Lord would deem fit. If it was to be death, then Rodolphus hoped it would be swift. He had lost his brother tonight and if he died too, then that would be the end of house Lestrange, but at least the end would be a proud one in service to the Dark Lord.

Voldemort rose to his feet and cast an extremely powerful cruciatus curse on Rodolphus. He was writhing around on the floor until there was blood leaking out of his nostrils, mouth and eyes. Once Voldemort gave him a reprieve, he commanded Rodolphus to leave. Having barely any strength to do so, Rodolphus crawled over to the trap door in the floor that led down to the werewolves' quarters. Voldemort was disgusted to see that Rodolphus had left a puddle of blood and piss, and the air smelled of shit. Waving his wand, he vanished the liquid away from the dark stone floor and made the smell disappear. He took his seat once again and with a single look, dared any of his followers to disappoint him once more tonight.

Voldemort sat contemplating in silence for a while. His followers would dare not speak. He had already amassed an army of extreme proportions, but he still had a niggling doubt. Potter and the light side could still find a way to defeat his forces. There was only one way that any of his forces could conquer the world unimpeded, and that was to kill Potter and put a large dent in the resistance. Granted, the allied forces had lost the despicable doddering dunderhead, Dumbledore and Voldemort would use that to his advantage. That's why he had ordered these attacks so soon after Dumbledore's death. He was betting that his enemies were in an upheaval after losing their figurehead and if his resounding success tonight was anything to go by, he was correct in his assumption. He shook his head out of his stupor and addressed the table once more.

"What of the attack on Hogwarts? I did not expect anything major to come of it. It was merely to show them my power. However, when I find out who set fire to the forbidden forest, I will murder them slowly" said Voldemort as he used Legillimens on each of them. Satisfied that none of them knew, he sat back in his chair and fondled his wand waiting for the report.

"My Lord, why has the destruction of the forbidden forest angered you so" asked Bellatrix barely above a whisper.

Voldemort looked at her seethingly. He contemplated whether he should divulge the truth. Could Bellatrix and his generals be trusted with such a secret?

"There is something of great importance to me located in the forest. I fear that it may now be destroyed. That is all" said Voldemort with finality.

He had implicitly told his followers to attack Hogwarts and Hogsmeade alone and not to even enter the forbidden forest. Now with the forest destroyed, creatures from the forest that would have otherwise remained indifferent to the war would now join the forces of the light.

His suspicions were confirmed as he was told by Macnair that the centaurs, unicorns and hippogriffs had entered the fray. The battle had been a fast one and they had encountered more resistance than they anticipated. Even the house elves of Hogwarts were seen assisting during the battle. Voldemort was not happy that so many of his followers had fallen to school teachers, students and residents of Hogsmeade. He was elated to hear that Potter had been hurt though. They had however left at the allotted time to allow the dementors to attack. It seemed from the report, that many survivors of the attack were converging on Hogwarts. That would make things complicated if Voldemort decided to make a stand there to kill the boy, but he had confidence that his sheer mass of forces would prevail. He was enraged when he was told that Dumbledore's phoenix had returned to Hogwarts. The last thing that he needed was the light side to have the power of a phoenix. Voldemort was less than pleased to discover that not a single one of his followers had stayed to find out what the result of the dementor attack would be. He groaned inwardly as he realised that he would have to meet with Antigar to find out what had happened. Controlling his anger, he turned one more to look at Bellatrix.

"Well then Bella. It appears that things are falling into place. I believe it is time for some much-needed food and rest don't you think? Let's go and join the party" ordered Voldemort as he rose to his feet.

"Yes, My Lord" purred Bellatrix.

The remaining death eaters jumped to their feet and Voldemort gestured them to leave for the banqueting hall. Offering his arm to Bellatrix, she looped her arm through his as they started to make their way towards the hall leisurely. Just as they were about to reach the doors, Draco came bursting through a door to the left which led to the maze of tunnels and finally to the entrance of the lair. Voldemort turned to face him still holding on to Bellatrix.

"Do you bring me news Draco" enquired Voldemort with genuine interest.

"Yes, My Lord, and I believe you shall be most happy with what I have to show you" said Draco failing to supress a wide grin.

Draco tossed a brown cloth bag onto the table that Voldemort hadn't even realised he had been holding.

"Look inside there master and know that I am loyal to you" proclaimed Draco and he fell to one knee in front of Voldemort and bowed his head.

Bellatrix did the usual spells upon the bag, checking for any foul play and when she was satisfied, she handed the bag to Voldemort, who opened the bag and spilled the contents onto the table. It was a severed head of a house elf made of stone. Voldemort turned to Draco and raised his brow.

"You didn't? You have only been gone two days" said Voldemort in surprise.

"Oh yes, I did My Lord. I am proud to report that I have managed to negotiate with the most difficult of creatures. I am pleased to tell you, My Lord, that you have the support of the gorgons" said Draco as he looked into the Dark Lord's eyes to find something reminiscent of joy.

Voldemort said nothing. He walked over to Draco and helped him onto his feet and embraced him. He kept one arm around Draco's shoulders and offered his other to Bellatrix again. She took it and then they also headed for the banqueting hall. This would be the best celebration that Voldemort and the death eaters had had so far. Voldemort was grinning from ear to ear. There was no way that he could lose now. Next on his agenda was to kill Harry Potter and his supporters and then take over the world, not necessarily in that order.

At the back of the hall, the sea basilisk had watched the proceedings with interest behind a shield that only Voldemort could see through. To anyone else who looked, they would simply see the wall of the chamber. At the departure of his new friend, he swam through the tunnel that would lead him out into Loch Ness again, hoping that soon, he might be of some assistance to the Dark Lord.