Chapter Thirty Eight: Conversations and Revenge.
As Raiden walked into his dormitory after a particularly stressful day in classes, he noticed his diary vibrating on his bedside table. Sighing, he threw his bag onto the floor by his bed, lay down on the duvet and pulled the curtains round, giving him privacy.
When he was secure, he opened the diary. As he'd thought, Voldemort wanted an update on his general state of health after his encounter in Potions.
I'm fine master, nothing's gone horribly wrong. Could you please stop worrying?
No. And I reserve the right to give you a thorough health check over Christmas. May I at least be assured that you and your group of Avengers are planning a suitable revenge on Ronald Weasley for this utterly reprehensible affair?
Yes we are. We need to discuss it properly though. It will be appropriately nasty; you have my assurances of that.
Good. I thought I ought to tell you that our plans for slowly changing our public image are underway. I had Lucius write up a press release today, we'll send it when the time is right.
Good. Dumbledore isn't suspicious of me at all.
Keep it that way. Has he said anything to you regarding my new apprentice?
Did you take another without informing me master? I'm hurt.
Brat. Of course I didn't. As far as Dumbledore knows though, you and my apprentice are two separate people, which you very well know. Stop being dense.
I'm not, just trying to lighten the situation. Classes were crappy today and I have a test tomorrow.
Ah. I'll let you get some sleep then. I expect to see you over Christmas.
OK. Goodnight master.
Goodnight Raiden.
The diary went blank and Raiden yawned, putting it away in the drawer of his bedside table. Just as he was preparing for bed, Snape knocked on the door of the boys' dormitory.
"Mr Potter, the Headmaster wishes to see you now" he stated.
Raiden frowned and replied, "Does it have to be now Professor? I'm just about to go to bed."
"Yes I know Mr Potter but it shouldn't take long. He just wants to discuss a couple of things with you and then you can sleep."
Raiden sighed, changed back into his uniform and followed Snape through the dungeons and up to the main hall. The rest of the trip was in silence, the only sounds were their footsteps and the light swishing of their robes.
"Ah Harry you're here. Good, that's very good. Now, do you know why you're here?" Dumbledore asked genially. Raiden scowled and covered a yawn with his hand.
"No Headmaster I don't, however I'm rather tired so could I have an explanation please? I have a test tomorrow that I want to be awake for."
"Yes of course. Now, the first bit of news is this, I have found one of Voldemort's horcruxes. It's the gold locket, I was wondering if you'd like to come with me to retrieve it on Saturday."
Raiden blinked. Voldemort had left a fake locket in place of the real one and it looked as though Dumbledore had fallen for the ruse hook, line and sinker. He stifled a laugh, making it seem like another yawn and nodded.
"Yes Professor I'd like it a lot. Thank you. What else?"
Dumbledore frowned. "The next bit of news is rather disturbing Harry. It has come to my attention that Voldemort has taken an apprentice. He's around eighteen or twenty and is very proficient in wandless magic. I want to train you in wandless magic so should you ever meet him in battle you will be able to have a chance to beat him."
Raiden now had to really struggle to hold in his laughter. He almost choked trying to do so and Dumbledore leaned forward. "Are you alright Harry? I didn't mean to distress you."
Raiden looked up. "I agree to the lessons sir but my wandless magic may not be very good. After all, we're learning silent spellcasting in Defence at the moment and I'm hopeless in that area at present."
This was a blatant lie of course; Raiden was only giving the appearance of struggling with silent spellcasting. His friends, Snape and Voldemort all knew the truth, that being that his ability to do silent spells was better than his spoken spells. His wandless casting was even better than that too.
He left the office and as soon as he was in the dungeons again, Snape having escorted him back, he started chuckling. That chuckling soon turned to helpless laughter and he slid to the floor, holding his stomach as he tried to stop.
"What on earth is the matter Mr Potter?" Snape enquired. It was not like Raiden to suddenly burst out laughing. Raiden shook his head.
"I'll explain in your office sir. Too public out here" he finally gasped out, having got control of his emotions again. Once they were inside the office and the usual privacy wards were up Raiden slumped into his chair.
"Dumbledore wants to train me in wandless magic to counteract this evil apprentice of the Dark Lord and he wants me to go with him to pick up the horcrux that he's found."
Snape thought that through before his eyes widened. "He doesn't know that the locket he's found is a fake and he has no idea that you and the Dark Lord's apprentice are one and the same!"
Raiden nodded and Snape's lips curled up in an amused fashion. "How are you going to handle the lessons when I have it on good authority that you're even better at wandless casting than you are at casting with your wand? Also, that your difficulty with silent spellcasting is an act."
Raiden smirked. "You know I've been getting a bit edgy lately. Madam Pomfrey says it's my body getting ready for my magical maturity this coming summer. All I have to do is put a little too much power into my spells and Dumbledore will think that I have control issues."
"Yes and then at graduation next year when all of the plans that you and the Dark Lord have devised come into action, and you reveal your true colors, you can give a display of wandless magic at the same time and shock Dumbledore senseless."
Raiden gave an evil grin. "Yes. He'll be shocked and very very unhappy with me I'd say."
Snape smirked. "Yes. A word of advice though. Until you can beat our Lord in a duel on your own with both of you starting fresh, then do not attempt to duel Dumbledore. Even our Lord finds it hard to win against him; all their duels have ended in a draw so far."
Raiden nodded before yawning again. "Sorry sir, may I be excused, I do need to sleep." Snape nodded and released the spells round the office, letting Raiden go. He then sat back in his chair and contemplated the next year to come. Graduation at the end would be far more entertaining than usual he thought.
The next morning, as Raiden and the rest of his friends came out of their Transfiguration exam they bumped into Ron. The red head looked very nervous as the Avengers surrounded him in a loose circle so he had to face Raiden.
"What do you want Potter" he blustered. Raiden sneered at him.
"Nothing Weasley. Except to warn you that it's not wise to mess with a snake. Have a nice day."
He then turned and walked down the corridor, headed for Ancient Runes. Daphne caught up with him and he smiled, putting an arm round her shoulders. He'd given serious thought to making her his and had decided to do it, he just needed three things to make Daphne his fiancé. One was a ring. Two was permission from her parents. The third was that Daphne had to say yes. The first was easy; the second and third might be more tricky.
They only had morning classes that day so after lunch the Avengers congregated outside to discuss revenge on Ron for the Potions incident. Blaise was lounging against a tree with Hermione sitting next to him, while Draco was sitting across from them and lying on the grass. Raiden and Daphne were sitting against another tree with Daphne lying back against Raiden and his arms were encircling her waist.
"So, are we agreed on the spider idea?" Blaise asked. Draco nodded.
"Yes I think so. How are we going to get into the Gryffs common room though, none of us know the password."
Raiden snickered at that, earning a glare from Draco. "Relax, everything's sorted out. Slytherin built most of the secret passages you know, and one of them happens to lead from our common room right up to the Gryffs common room. It starts from behind the portrait of Slytherin up above the fireplace and ends in a portrait of Gryffindor above their fireplace. I don't think anyone knows about it though, as it can only be activated by a parselmouth. I found it by accident."
The Avengers all looked gleeful. "How are we going to get him to stay in bed though?" Daphne wondered.
"That's where this comes in" Hermione chuckled, holding up a bottle of super strong magical glue. "It's guaranteed to stick anything together and can't be unstuck for a thousand years, or so the warranty said. Get this onto his bedsheets and he'll be stuck in his bed and won't be able to move."
Draco suddenly smirked. "Yes and if we stick the bedsheets to the actual bed frame itself then the sheets won't be able to be moved either. They'll have to cut him out of his bed and his pyjamas too."
They all looked at each other before bursting into laughter at the idea. "So, Raiden, you go up and arrange that sometime soon, remember that he has to actually be able to get into the bed first. Maybe disillusion yourself and do it while he's sleeping. Then we set the illusions and leave."
"Who says it has to be a total illusion though" Daphne remarked, holding up a black spider in a jar. "It's not poisonous but its bite will hurt and given Weasel's fear of spiders it would just add to the terror."
The boys laughed at this but Hermione frowned. "The illusions will be bad enough Daphne; do we really have to put a real spider in there as well?"
"Hmm, it would add to things but we're after a good scare here, we don't want to send him insane" Raiden remarked, examining the spider with interest. "I vote we leave the real spider out of it, the illusions will work just fine and the spider can be kept for a later date, maybe drop it down his shirt in Charms."
There was more laughter at that and the planning session continued, with the final plan to be executed that evening. Even with Raiden's cryptic threat earlier that day, there was no known way for the Slytherins to enter Gryffindor Tower without the password so however many suspicions there were, nothing would ever be proved.
Later that night, Raiden was up in the Gryffindor boys' dormitory, hiding under both a disillusionment charm and his invisibility cloak. He could have hidden himself using his wandless ability but decided not to. The illusions were all going to be done via wandless magic anyway, to prevent any wand signatures being left around the room. Wandless magic could not be traced to any one person as it faded into the ambient magic of the castle and therefore left no trace.
Raiden smirked as he advanced on his sleeping prey. The rest of the Avengers were in the Slytherin boys' dormitory watching via a recording spell. Raiden didn't know that Snape had joined them too, and if he had he would have been shocked.
"Now for some proper payback" he murmured to himself. He quickly stuck Ron's pyjamas to the bedsheets. Ron didn't even notice, he was so deeply asleep. Then Raiden went on to glue the bedsheets to the frame of the bed itself. With Ron essentially trapped in not only his bed but also his pyjamas, the young Dark Lord then set up the illusions. They would hold for a few minutes and then fade into nothingness.
Grinning maliciously he murmured "Aguamenti" which was the water spell. Ron woke up spluttering and then noticed the spiders.
"ARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH" he screamed. In all the confusion, no one noticed when Raiden slipped out the Gryffindor portrait hole when someone went to find Professor McGonagall. He hurried back to Slytherin and slid into his dorm, to find his friends and Professor Snape chuckling at Ron's attempts to banish the spiders, followed by his dorm mates and then the prefects and finally Professor McGonagall herself.
"Very well done Mr Potter. The illusions were excellent and I think the addition of the glue made it even better. I would award points but that would be too suspicious. Very amusing though. How I wish I'd known about that passageway when I was here."
"It wouldn't have done you any good Professor, only a Parselmouth can open it" Raiden commented as he slid into bed. Snape looked disappointed and Raiden swore that he heard the man utter "Oh damn it!" as he walked out. Raiden then spent an enjoyable fifteen minutes watching the chaos that reigned in Gryffindor tower. It would be interesting to see what they did with Ron. The glue was charmed to be resistant to any form of magical removal. In other words, once it was stuck on something, it didn't come off for a thousand years.
The next day Raiden opened his diary. Dipping his quill in the ink, he wrote, Mission successfully accomplished. Revenge suitably enacted.
A few minutes later there was a reply. Dare I ask what it was?
You can. Basically, we used super strong magical glue to stick Ron's bedsheets to the bed frame and then stuck his pyjamas to the bedsheets. I toyed with the idea of sticking his pyjamas to him as well but decided not to. After all, he does need to attend classes so we can terrorise him a bit more. Then I set up illusions of extremely large spiders, charmed to run up and down him and be resistant to any dispelling charms. They were set to fade after a few minutes. There was complete chaos in Gryffindor tower last night.
That's very very good Raiden. I fully approve. Do you plan to do anything more to him?
Not really. Maybe drop a live spider down his shirt in Charms in a few weeks. Give things time to cool down so the two events aren't linked.
That's best. Do you have any other news for me?
Hmm. Oh yes I do. Dumbledore summoned me to his office a day or so ago, after our last conversation. He has heard of your apprentice and wants to give me lessons in wandless magic. He has also taken the fake Horcrux bait and is taking me along to get it. Is there anything I should do to help him?
No. The locket is at the bottom of a basin filled with a weakening potion. Dumbledore will have to drink the potion to get the locket. The lake across which you need to sail is also filled with Inferi which will attack should you take the locket from the basin. The only thing that will stop them is fire so have your flame spell at the ready. I do not want to hear that you died doing this, am I clear?
Yes master.
Good. Dumbledore should be weakened by the potion but it will not kill him. I have given Severus instructions to brew the antidote for him, I do not want Dumbledore dead yet. In another few months you will attain your full power and then, my dear apprentice, you will be a force to be reckoned with.
You think so?
I do. I believe that when you come into your full power, you will be more powerful than both Dumbledore and me.
But that prophecy said that I would be your equal in power.
Yes but prophecies can be wrong. Not all prophecies are fulfilled Raiden, and in a different world we might have been trying to kill each other. Plus you have something I don't.
What?
You have the ability to use the Dark Arts yet remain largely unaffected by their use. Where I sank into them, reveling in their destructive capabilities, you have not. You use them to great effect when needed but you haven't sunk into them the way I have. You have an anchor to the lighter part of your soul, that being the lovely Miss Greengrass.
Yes. If anything happened to her I don't know what I'd do.
I do. You'd lose all reason and all regard for life and become a Dark Lord far worse than me.
Why did you tell me this?
Because I want Dumbledore to be strong when we reveal your true colors. That way, when you beat him in a full out duel, you will have proven yourself the stronger wizard.
You seem to be certain there will be a duel.
I am. Dumbledore will not accede to our policies for the Wizarding World quietly. He's been in power too long and likes it. He won't go down without a fight, even though he will be shocked and hurt at your "betrayal", he will still be a cunning and dangerous opponent.
Professor Snape said that I shouldn't challenge Dumbledore until I could beat you in a full out duel with both of us starting fresh.
He's right. Mind you, I will be stepping up that part of your training intensely in the holidays and before and after your maturity. After your maturity you will need to learn to control your power levels again, which is essentially what the seventh year of Hogwarts is about. Most students by then have gone through it and are learning not only new spells but also how to control their full power levels. Also, it is the time when they discover which branch or branches of magic their magic works best with.
Don't we discover that in the lower years of schooling?
You get an idea yes, by which classes are easier for you than others. However, some people don't decide which area they like best until their seventh year. Some do decide before that, Severus is a prime example of this but most don't. You don't need to worry about this though, just take what comes and don't worry about it.
OK. Um, what do you want me to do with Dumbledore's lessons?
Have fun confusing him. Don't let on about your true abilities though.
I already knew that.
I know. I just thought I'd remind you. It is difficult holding back your true abilities, I know you've been doing it for years but it will be difficult all the same. Just don't slip up now.
Yes master. I'll see you at Christmas.
Yes. Have a good day.
You too. Go murder some helpless politician or something.
Brat.
Git.
Why do I put up with you?
Because you love me?
I don't do love! I'm a Dark Lord!
I know. But you do anyway.
Only you and Nagini.
Hah, you admitted it.
You will be tortured if you let one word of this slip out.
Ooh now I'm scared.
Yeah right. Goodbye.
Bye master.
Raiden shut the diary and chuckled, it was so much fun winding his master up sometimes. Throwing the diary on his bed, he went up to the owlery. He had a letter to write to Daphne's parents.