Chapter Seven. The Prophesy.
However, despite all the Aurors had done to maintain his ignorance of their attacks on his horcruxes Lord Voldermort soon went to ground, probably worried about the raid on Malfoy Manor and the arrest of Lucius Malfoy for possession of dark objects. Although not knowing that the diary was it's main objective or whether, if found, it had meant anything to the raiders, nor for that matter if it had even been found at all.
However, not much later, after his release by The Ministry, (in which over the years he had bought many friends), Lucius Malfoy was able to check on the diary when he returned to his mansion and he was relieved to be able to inform Lord Voldermort that it was still safe in his possession, Lucius not knowing of the substituted fake now in it's place.
Because of this information Lord Voldermort did not bother to check on the other horcruxes as he had been planning, since obviously if the Aurors had not seized the diary when they had such an easy opportunity to do so, he assumed they could not possibly know about the rest of them.
However, Lord Voldermort remained in hiding for some time and was no longer appearing or speaking in public. Despite this he did press forward with his plans for domination and continued to recruit Death Eaters in very large numbers. Nevertheless he did not hear anything about the destruction of the majority of his other horcruxes. The information about the fire in the wood not having made it past the local muggle newspaper and Lord Voldermort and his Death Eaters, fortunately, were not in the habit of scanning the muggle newspapers or broadcast media.
Also, because he remained in ignorance of the loss of the majority of his horcuxes, this meant that Bellatrix was, as far as Lord Voldermort knew, still his faithful servant and so she still held his confidence.
Some months later, at a meeting of the more senior Death Eaters, convened at the old Riddle House and which Bella bravely attended, Lord Voldermort let slip that the main reason he had 'gone underground' was that a Death Eater called Severus Snape, (whom he'd positioned at Hogwarts close to Albus Dumbledore to spy on him), had just told him of a prophecy which had recently been made. It seemed it was about a child who'd recently been born and who might have the power to destroy him. He said he wanted them all to put their maximum effort into identifying this child and he would then 'deal with the matter personally', as he put it.
Bellatrix knew from what Regulus had told her in her dream that he meant to try to murder the baby whom she'd been told was called Harry Potter and, (if they got in his way), kill his parents. She also knew this attempt to murder the child, which would result in James and Lily's murder, would ultimately backfire on Lord Voldermort. However, Bella also knew from the information Regulus had given her, that in the end this failure would only precipitate far more atrocious events later, upon his return to power. Bellatrix therefore swore that at all costs she would bring Voldermort's reign of terror to an end as soon as possible, and that at all costs she would prevent the attack on the Potters.
Bella was worried that when the meeting at the old Riddle house ended Lord Voldermort might want to visit the nearby grave of his father and check on the horcrux it had held, so she bravely and stealthily followed him after the meeting and he did indeed briefly visit the graveside.
However the grave's cover had so skilfully been put back exactly as it had previously been that no trace it having been opened could be seen from the outside, so Lord Voldermort spent only enough time there to insult the memory of his muggle father, gloat for a few minutes and then leave.
A year went past and in that time Lord Voldermort and his followers had been becoming much more violently active, Voldermort having steadily built up his forces to huge numbers. People, both magical and muggle, were being threatened, disappearing or simply being killed in large numbers and the Wizarding World was becoming terrified. Regarding the child Lord Voldermort had come to the conclusion that it was indeed Harry Potter, born at the time prophesied, who should be his target and that he had chosen to kill him as soon as he discovered where the Potter family had been hidden. He did not know however that it was Bella's warning that had caused them to go into hiding in the first place.
On the afternoon of Halloween, Peter Pettigrew, a weak willed and fearful excuse for a man and false friend of the Potters turned traitor. The Potter family having mistakenly made him Secret Keeper for the Potter's refuge and fearing for his life as a result he came to Lord Voldermort and in a private meeting told him where the family could be found.
However, thankfully, Pettigrew and several of the Potter's other friends and acquaintances were being kept under surveillance by the Aurors and when Pettigrew went to one of Lord Voldermort's suspected hideouts it was immediately decided to relocate the Potter family and to place them into the independent care of The Order of the Phoenix. This new magical Order had been formed by Albus Dumbledore, Sirius Black, (Bella's estranged cousin who had been disowned by the family), the Longbottoms and several others, as a secondary line of defence in case Voldermort had any other moles in the Auror's Department or the wider Ministry.
Bellatrix and her colleagues arrested Pettigrew shortly after he left Voldermort's hideout and having no time for gentle persuasion and with Ministry permission used Veritaserum and a degree of force to find out what he and Voldermort had said to each other.
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So, that fateful Halloween night arrived. Bellatrix had demanded (and got) from Alastor Moody the right to be the one on scene in the house to confront Voldermort/Riddle personally. Moody admired her courage, knew her very strong combat abilities and accepted her right to do so as a matter of Pureblood honour, since one of her own family had been murdered.
All was in place that evening, except the one vital element. The living horcrux, Nagini, the snake was still alive. It must be killed before tackling Voldermort, since unless that was done he was still effectively immortal. Even should Bellatrix kill Riddle's body at the empty Potter House unless the Aurors had also killed the snake first his soul would live on and almost certainly, one day, find a way to return.
However, as a result of the surveillance of Peter Pettigrew it was now known where Voldermort was currently based and it was arranged that as soon as it was confirmed that he had left the building and was heading towards Godric's Hollow a very strong 'storming force' of Aurors would attack any Death Eaters remaining there and then blast the snake with fiend fire, before Voldermort could react or return from Godric's Hollow to stop them, should he somehow detect what was happening. It was a risky strategy, but all they had.
As satisfied with the plan as she could be, Bellatrix calmly awaited the arrival of Lord Voldermort in the bedroom of the Potter's house, the stage being set and the trap baited by her having placed the two dummy wands on the sofa, in plain view from the front window. All was in readiness.