Standard Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story; they all belong to JK Rowlings. This is a work of fan fiction, produced solely for enjoyment. No infringement of rights is intended.
– CHAPTER THREE –
Where is Potter?
Earlier that night, in a large, wood panelled room, an old man was filing through some parchments on his desk. It was approaching midnight and he was tiring quickly. Pulling off his wire-rimmed spectacles, and rubbing his eyes, he thought; 'I'm getting too old for this.' Rufus Scrimgeour, Minister for Magic had been reading through the reports of the latest attempt to find Snape and Malfoy.
Every time the Aurors thought they had found him, he slipped away again; he was proving to be just as elusive as Dumbledore had been. Rufus remembered all too well how Fudge, determined to arrest Dumbledore two years ago, had ordered Scrimgeour to find him at any cost. Needless to be said, Dumbledore had made a laughing stock of the Auror Office, deliberately making them chase him all over the country, for what appeared to be his own amusement. He apparated to Little Hangleton, some small village in Yorkshire, Knockturn and Diagon Alley, a small fishing village off the South Coast and most mysteriously, to a block of flats in Central London, not far from the Ministry of Magic. 'Well,' thought Scrimgeour, 'thank God that's over. Although Snape's no easier to find, and much more dangerous to capture; that curse last week,' he shuddered, remembering how one Auror had been sent to St. Mungo's, his skin apparently ripped off.
His thoughts were interrupted, when someone knocked on his door,
'Come in.' He called, covering his mouth as he yawned. Percy Weasley ran in, breathless.
'Sir, we've found Potter's house, it just appeared on our house network.'
Scrimgeour sat up suddenly, grimaced as his back cracked, and smiled, 'Ah, some good news at last.'
'Well done Weasley, now send someone over there; I don't want him to move until I get there tomorrow morning. Make sure the Auror knows not to interact with Potter, I don't want him thinking that he's being watched; it'll only anger him more.'
'Yes Sir,' Percy bowed, 'I'll send someone immediately.' Leaving the room, he sprinted to the Auror Office. A few minutes later, there was a soft pop at the end of Privet Drive, announcing the arrival of a disillusioned Auror.
Unfortunately, he was too late to hear the same sound being made just four houses down the street.
Deciding to make himself comfortable for the night, he transfigured a leaf into a heavily cushioned chair, disillusioned it, and sat down to a long night of waiting. Unknown to him, his quiet night of observation was soon going to be brusquely ended.
Two hundred miles away, Wormtail was cowering before the Dark Lord, giving him his report. '- and our informant in the Ministry just contacted me. Potter's house just appeared on their network too, no one understands why it was hidden bef-' a cold voice interrupted him.
'Wormtail, are you going to give me his location, or am I going to have to rip it out of you?' The Dark Lord demanded impatiently.
'He's in 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, in Surrey, my Lord.' Wormtail bent lower, squeezing his eyelids shut, fully expecting to be punished for taking so long to locate the Potter brat.
'Excellent, Wormtail. Now, I'm going to go and make a visit to our little friend, and when I return, I expect you to still be here.'
'Yes, my Lord.' Wormtail almost sighing in relief, he wasn't going to be tortured; yet.
'Come Nagini; let's go pay Potter a visit.' Voldemort hissed to his snake. He grinned, and thought; 'After tonight, I will be completely invincible. No one will be able to stand up to me; and, I'll finally have my seventh Horcrux. The wait will have been worth it.' Holding Nagini firmly, and grinning evilly; he apparated to Privet Drive.
Auror Tibbald was just dozing off on his disillusioned chair when he heard a very faint pop, almost unnoticeable. Without thinking, he jumped up, spinning around, wand drawn. Before he could register that Lord Voldemort had just apparated right behind him, with the biggest snake he had ever seen; Voldemort hissed, 'Avada Kedavra!' A jet of green light erupted from his wand, hitting Tibbald squarely in the chest. He was dead before he fell to the floor, his Disillusionment Charm ended.
Voldemort walked over to the fallen Auror, and smirked. 'This is going to be too easy. A one Auror guard; and Potter's probably asleep. Scrimgeour evidently doesn't care much for him.' He strode up to the front door of the Dursleys' home, pointing at the lock. 'Alohomora' there was an audible click, and Voldemort opened the door.
Climbing the stairs silently, he opened one of the doors on the first floor. Finding a boy, as fat as a pig, snoring, he closed the door silently. The next room he checked was a bathroom. On the third try, he opened the door to reveal a cutting of the Prophet lying on the floor. 'Ah, finally, the moment has come!' He burst into the room, and screamed 'Avada Kedavra!' pointing his wand at the bed. Green light exploded from his wand, and the bed shattered; it was empty.
From down the hallway, Voldemort heard what sounded like a wounded rhinoceros. 'Right, that's it; I've had enough of him! I cannot stand this freakishness anymore. POTTER!' Voldemort heard the squeaking of springs, as if a huge weight had just been lifted off one of the beds. A loud bang, quickly followed by heavy stomping rang through the house. 'This can't be right, where's Potter! I must have the right room – there are the cuttings from the Prophet. He can't have left, there was an Auror outside, they must think he's here too. So do the Muggles. WHERE IS HE?' These jumbled thoughts ran through Voldemort's head, but before he could move, the door was slammed back on its hinges; and the biggest man he had ever seen, his face puce from anger, stormed into the room.
Seeing Voldemort he stopped dead, 'and who the bloody hell are you!' he yelled, 'Another one of those freaks I suppose? You want to take him to that demented school early? Fine then, good riddance. But I want you both out of my house NOW!' He was about to leave, when he noticed the broken bed, and that Harry was nowhere to be seen. Positively pulsing with rage, he yelled, 'and where the hell is he? What did he do to my furniture? I swear if I find him I'll wring his worthless neck!' He advanced on Voldemort yelling, 'Well what are you still doing here? Get out of my house! And who gave you the right to come in, in the middle of the night anyway? GET OU-' but he never finished his sentence.
Voldemort, finally coming out of his shock at getting screamed at by a Muggle, a Muggle no less; whipped out his wand and hissed 'Silencio', quickly followed by 'Crucio!' The fat man collapsed on the floor, silently screaming in agony. A tall, bony woman ran in, and seeing her husband being tortured; screamed.
Voldemort, finally realising that Harry Potter had escaped him again, yelled in frustration, and releasing the man from the curse for a second, immobilised and silenced the screaming woman. He quickly returned his attention to the man, who was now being sick on the floor, silently whimpering in pain.
'No one speaks to the Dark Lord in that manner, especially not a Muggle' he hissed, before torturing Vernon Dursley again. After venting his anger on Vernon, Voldemort moved on to Petunia, and finally Dudley, who had been cowering in his cupboard ever since he heard his mother's scream of fear.
After torturing them all into insanity, he proceeded to cut parts of them off, intent on letting them die a slow and very painful death.
Leaving Nagini to drink her fill of their blood, he walked outside and pondered over where Potter could be hiding. 'He's probably at that Muggle loving fool's, Weasley. I'll send Wormtail to scout out their house in the morning.' Calling Nagini, he cast the Dark Mark over the house, and holding her firmly, apparated back to Riddle Manor.
As we walked up to the back door, he remembered that Wormtail was still there, and grinned, 'There are a few more hours until dawn; Wormtail can pay for his mistake until then.'
At seven o'clock the next morning, Rufus Scrimgeour got up, showered and dressed. By nine, he had finished breakfast and flooed to the Ministry. Walking into the Auror Office, he picked three of his most trusted law enforcers, and apparated to Privet Drive.
The sight of the dead Auror sent goosebumps up and down his neck. Limping as fast as he could, he entered 4 Privet Drive, followed closely by two Aurors – the other had apparated the body of Tibbald to St. Mungo's Hospital, and gone to get Medi-witches and reinforcements. Seeing the Dark Mark, he was expecting the worst, and he was not disappointed.
The sight that met them sickened the tough ex-Auror; the other two would be haunted by nightmares of what they saw for the rest of their lives. Gagging, they all ran outside to throw up.
Pop, pop, pop, pop, pop. Three Aurors and two Medi-witches appeared. Scrimgeour told them to go inside and clear the bodies up for examination and burial.
An hour later, an old Auror came back out, his face pale. 'Was Potter one of the casualties?' asked Scrimgeour urgently.
'No Sir, his body and all his belongings are gone. It looks like he may have escaped in time Sir.' Replied the pale-faced Auror.
'Good. Any idea who might have done this?' questioned Scrimgeour.
'Well Sir, the style of the murders strongly resembles some of the Muggle deaths from the First War, in particular the ones associated with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. I think He came here to murder Harry Potter personally Sir, there is also evidence that a large snake was with Him Sir. It appears that He may have brought Nagini with him, Sir.'
'Nagini eh, now why would he bring that snake along?' Scrimgeour mused.
'Alright Dawlish, I want you to finish clearing this mess up, and obliviate the neighbours. I don't want any of them to call their "please-men". I expect a report on my office desk by tonight.'
'Yes Sir.' Scrimgeour limped a small distance away, before turning on the spot, and vanishing with a pop.
As Scrimgeour was apparating back to the Ministry, 150 miles away, Wormtail was finally returning to the Burrow.