AUTHORS NOTE! :P

Hello my minions :)

I owe you all a massive apology. I'm really sorry this took forever. I've just been dealing with stuff, and then studying and everything else and aaagghhh...

Anyway, I'm really sorry.

WE HAVE OVER 400 REVIEWS! :D :O YOU GUYS ARE FREAKING AMAZING! BUTTERBEER AND COOKIES TO EVERYONE, EVEN THE PEOPLE WHO DIDN'T REVIEW!

I can't believe how many reviews my stories are getting. I never thought they would be this big, with such amazing readers. I mean, every review I get makes me smile, and some make me laugh, and I can't believe how much of a better writer I am. And I couldn't have done it without you guys. You're simply all amazing.

Thank you.

Now, away from the chick-flick moment, and I shall answer your reviews.

Cookie Spasms: yeah, something like that will happen. Thanks, the unicorns appreciate it :)

Trying to Put Pen to Paper: You should! It's great!

Ravenclaw Wizard Angel: Yeah, I enjoy torturing you guys haha. Yeah, my Mom really likes Jensen Ackles (as do I...but I'm more of a Winchester girl than a Sam or Dean girl... I just can't choose!) Hey, is that where the angel in your name is coming from, or is it something else?

Arkell26: Your sister and cousin are amazing haha :) Did you like the episodes you watched? I'll try not to take that long :)

PatrickNotStar: Hahaha! Your reviews always make me laugh! *gasp* chocolate ice cream is always relevant!

DogsAreAwesome: Yeah, it's just a really sore throat, but the worst of it is gone now so...What? People get possessed watching Supernatural?... I have no idea where you heard that, but I've never heard that before...and I'm pretty sure I'm not possessed... :P Thanks :D

Brook hatake: Aw, really? Thanks :)

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Centurion Shish-kebab: haha thanks :)

Kisa tracer: Yeah, he'll be telling her that at the start of year 5. Thanks, I'm feeling better now :)

AnikaandAj; When I'm writing a chapter, I usually have the books beside me, and in some chapters I'd use the books, and in others I wouldn't. But I have read each Harry Potter and Maximum Ride book, like 8 times each... I love that song! Me and friend are always singing it!

Random Person: No problem. I try to respond to each review, especially if there's a question. And I do believe the song you are thinking of there is Harry Freaking Potter. I love Potter Puppet Pals! I haven't watched them in ages though! Yeah, they're my favourite too! I love the one with Snape's diary..." I asked her to dance...she asked me to die..."..." My mom was awesome!"

Bethzilla: No, I don't have a Deviant Art account, I was on my cousins one day and it really confused me. But I could message you my email address if you want? I'd love to see some fan art of this! And seeing as I actually can't draw a straight line... And you have my permission to draw whatever you want and put it wherever you want!

SkyGirl68: oh hi! thanks! :)

FlyingTiger99: Expect much, much more :)

Thanks to everyone else that reviewed, and favourited and followed and all that jazz.

Now, on with the chapter!

Enjoy!

-Rach ;)

Max's POV

Voldemort looked away from me and Harry and began examining his own body. His hands we like large, pale spiders; his long white fingers caressed his own chest, his arms, his face; the red eyes, whose pupils were like slits, like a snakes, gleamed brightly in the darkness of the graveyard. He held up his hands, and flexed his fingers. He didn't take any notice of Wormtail, who was on the ground by his feet, twitching, bleeding and moaning, nor of the great snake, which had slithered back and was circling around me and Harry again, hissing. Voldemort slipped on of his unnaturally long fingers into the pocket of his robes and pulled out a wand. He caressed it gently, then pointed it at Wormtail, who was lifted into air and thrown against the headstone where Harry was tied. He lay crumpled at the bottom, sobbing and cradling his stump of an arm. Voldemort turned his scarlet eyes on us, laughing a high, cold, mirthless laugh.

Wormtail's robes were shining with blood; he had wrapped the stump of his arm in them.

"My Lord..." he chocked, "my Lord...your promised...you did promise..."

"Hold out your arm," Voldemort said lazily.

"Oh, thank you, Master...thank you..."

He extended the bleeding stump, but Voldemort laughed again.

"The other arm, Wormtail."

"Master, please...please..."

Voldemort bent down and grabbed Wormtail's left arm; he forced Wormtail's sleeve up past his elbow, and I saw something on the skin there, something like a vivid tattoo- a skull with a snake coming from it's mouth- the Dark Mark. Voldemort examined it closely, ignoring Wormtail's uncontrollable weeping.

"It is back," he said softly, "they will have noticed it by now...and now, we shall see...now we shall know..."

He pressed his long white forefinger to the tattoo on Wormtail's arm.

Beside me, Harry hissed in pain, and Wormtail let out a loud howl; Voldemort removed his fingers from Wormtail's mark and I saw that it had turned jet black.

A cruel look of satisfaction crossed Voldemort's face as he straightened up, threw back his head, and stared around the dark graveyard.

"How many will be brave enough to return when they feel it?" he whispered, his gleaming eyes staring up at the stars. "And how many will be foolish enough to stay away?"

He began to pace up and down before me, Harry and Wormtail, his gaze sweeping the graveyard. After a minute or so, he looked down at me and Harry again, a cruel smile twisting his snakelike face. He changed his gaze to look at Harry.

"You stand, Harry Potter, on the bones of my father," he hissed softly. "A Muggle and a fool...very much like your mother," he said, then turned to stare at me, "and your's, Maximum Ride. But they all had their uses, did they not? Both your mothers died trying to protect you as children...and I killed my father, and see how useful he has proved himself in death..."

Voldemort laughed again. Up and down he paced, looking all around him as he walked, and the snake continued to circle in the grass.

"You see that house upon the hillside? My father lived there. My mother, a witch who lived in the village, fell in love with him. But he abandoned her when she told him what she was...He didn't like magic, my father...

"He left her and returned to his Muggle parents before I was born. My mother died giving birth to me, leaving me to be raised in a Muggle orphanage...but I vowed to find him...I revenged myself upon him, that fool who gave me his name...Tom Riddle..."

Still he paced, his red eyes darting from grave to grave.

"Listen to me, reliving family history..." he said quietly, "why, I fear myself becoming quite sentimental...But look, Harry, Max! My true family arrives..."

The air was suddenly full of swishing cloaks. Between the graves, behind the trees, in every shadowy space, wizards we Apparating. All of them were hooded and masked. One by one, they started moving forward slowly...cautiously, as though he could hardly believe what they were seeing. Then one of the Death Eaters fell to his knees, crawled towards Voldemort and kissed the hem of his robes.

Yuch.

"Master...master..." he murmured.

The Death Eaters behind him did the same; each of them approaching Voldemort on his knees and kissing his robes (like seriously? Ever heard of hygiene? The dudes been walking around for nearly thirty minutes!) before standing up and forming a silent circle, which enclosed Tom Riddle's grave, me, Harry and Voldemort and the twitching heap that was Wormtail. Yet they left gaps in the circle, as though they were waiting for more people. Voldemort, however, didn't seem to be expecting any more.

"Welcome, Death Eaters," Voldemort said quietly. "Thirteen years...thirteen years since we last met. Yet you answer my calls as though it was yesterday, we are still united under the Dark Mark, then! Or are we?"

He put back his terrible face and sniffed, his slit-like nostrils widening.

"I smell guilt," he said. "There is a stench of guilt in the air."

A shiver ran through the circle, as if each member of it longed, but did not dare to take a step back from him.

"I see all of you, whole and healthy, with your magic intact- such prompt appearances! And I can't help but ask myself- why did none of these wizards ever come to the aid of their master, to whom they swore their eternal loyalty?"

No one spoke. No one moved except for Wormtail, who was still sobbing over his arm.

"And then I ask myself, how could they never expect my return? How could they never believe that I would once again rise to power? They, who knew the steps I took, so long ago, to protect myself against mortal death?

"And I answer myself, perhaps they believed a still greater power could still exist, one that had the power to vanquish even Lord Voldemort...perhaps they now pay allegiance to another...perhaps the champion of commoners, of Muggles and Mudbloods, Albus Dumbledore?"

At the mention of Dumbledore's name, some of the Death Eaters muttered and shook their heads. Voldemort ignored them.

"It is a disappointment to me... I confess myself disappointed..."

One of the men suddenly flung themselves forward, breaking the circle. Shaking from head to foot, he collapsed at Voldemort's feet, his hands clasped together as if in prayer.

"Master!" he shrieked. "Master, please! Forgive me! Forgive us all!"

Voldemort began to laugh. I flinched at the sound. I will never get the sound of him laughing out of my mind.

Voldemort raised his wand, and said quietly, "Crucio!"

The Death Eater on the ground writhed and screamed. I was sure that sound must have carried to the houses in the village...Let the police come...let someone come... Although, if no one came when I was being tortured, it was highly unlikely anyone would come now...

Voldemort flicked his wand. The Death Eater lay flat on his back, gasping.

"Get up Avery," Voldemort said softly. "Stand up. You ask for forgiveness? I do not forgive. I do not forget. Thirteen long years...I want thirteen years repayment before I forgive any of you. Wormtail has already paid some of his debt, already, have you not, Wormtail?"

He looked down at Wormtail, who continued to sob.

"You return to me not out of loyalty, but out of fear. You deserve this pain, Wormtail. You know that, don't you?"

"Yes Master," Wormtail moaned. "please, Master...please..."

"Yet you did help return me to my body," Voldemort said, watching as Wormtail continued to sob on the ground. "As worthless and as traitorous as you are, you did help me...and Lord Voldemort rewards those who help him."

Voldemort raised his wand once more and whirled it through the air. A streak of what looked like molten silver hung shining in the air. For a moment, it remained shapeless, but then it formed into an exact replica of a human hand, bright as moonlight, which soared downwards and fixed itself upon Wormtail's bleeding wrist.

Wormtail stopped sobbing immediately. His breathing harsh and ragged, he raised his head and stared in disbelief at the silver hand, now attached seamlessly to his arm. He flexed the shining fingers, then, trembling, picked up a small twig on the ground and crushed it into a fine powder.

"My Lord," he whispered. "Master...it is beautiful...thank you...thank you..."

He scrambled forward on his knees and kissed the hem of Voldemort's robes.

"May your loyalty never waver again, Wormtail," Voldemort hissed.

"No, my Lord, never..."

Voldemort turned from Wormtail, who was admiring his new powerful hand, his face still shining with tears. Voldemort now approached the man on Wormtail's right.

"Lucius, my slipperly friend," he whispered, stopping in front of him. "I have been told that you have not given up the old ways, but yet you present a respectable face to the world. You are still ready to take the lead in a spot of Muggle-torture, I believe? Yet, you never tried to find me... Your exploits at the Quidditch World Cup were amusing, I must say...But would your energies not have been better directed toward finding and aiding your old master?"

"My Lord, I was always on alert," came Lucius Malfoy's voice from beneath the hood. "Had there been any sign, any whisper of your whereabouts, I would have been at your side in an instant, nothing could have stopped me-"

"And yet you ran away from my Mark, when a faithful Death Eater sent it into the sky last summer?" Voldemort said lazily, and Mr. Malfoy closed his mouth immediately. "Yes, I know all about that, Lucius... You have disappointed me... I expect far more faithful service from you in the future."

"Of course, My Lord...of course... You are merciful, thank you."

Voldemort nodded his head, and moved on, staring at a space between the Death Eaters that was big enough for two people.

"The Lestranges should be here," Voldemort said quietly, almost to himself. "But they are both in Azkaban. They were faithful. They went to Azkaban rather than renounce me. When Azkaban is broken into, the Lestranges will be honoured beyond their wildest dreams. The dementors will join us...they are our natural allies...we shall recall the giants...I will have all my devoted servants returned to me, and an army of creatures everyone will fear."

He walked on. Some of the Death Eaters he ignored, but he'd pause in front of others and spoke to them.

"Macnair...killing dangerous creatures for the Ministry of Magic now, so Wormtail told me? You shall have better victims in future, Macnair. Lord Voldemort will provide..."

"Thank you, Master...thank you," muttered Macnair.

"And here"- Voldemort moved to stand in front of the two largest masked figures- "we have Crabbe and Goyle. You will do better this time, will you not Crabbe? And you Goyle?"

Of course, I thought. The two fattest Death Eaters are the fathers of the two fattest students in Hogwarts. Makes sense.

They both bowed clumsily, muttering quietly.

"Yes, Master..."

"We will, Master..."

"The same goes for you, Nott," Voldemort said as he walked past a stooped figure in Mr. Goyle's shadow.

"My Lord, I promise you, I am your most faithful-"

"That's enough," Voldemort said.

He reached the largest gap, and stood surveying it with his blank, red eyes as though he could see the people that should be standing there.

"And here we have six missing Death Eaters...three dead in my service. One, too cowardly to return...he will pay. One, who I think has left me forever...he will be killed, of course...and one, who still remains my most faithful servant, and who has already returned to me."

The Death Eaters shifted, looking at each other through the slits in their masks.

"He is at Hogwarts, that faithful servant, and it is through his efforts that we are joined by our young friends tonight..."

My eyes widened. Moody. Moody was a freaking Death Eater. Mad-Eye Moody, the best Auror there was, was a Death Eater. What the hell?

I started shouting against my gag, trying to tell Harry who the `faithful servant' was, but nothing understandable was coming from my mouth. Voldemort saw me struggling and grinned. It made my blood run cold.

"Yes, Harry Potter and Maximum Ride have kindly joined us for my rebirthing party. One might go as far as to call them our guests of honour."

There was silence. Then the Death Eater to the right of Voldemort stood forward, and Lucius Malfoy's voice came from behind the mask.

"My Lord, we must know...we beg you to tell us how you achieved this miracle...how you have managed to return to us..."

"Ah, and what a story it is, Lucius," Voldemort said. "It began's- and ends- with one of our young friends here."

He walked lazily over to me and Harry, and crouched down in front of us. He stared at Harry, his eyes fixed on the lightning bolt shaped scar on Harry's forehead. All eyes were on the three of us.

"You all know, of course, that they call this boy my downfall?" Voldemort said softly, now staring into Harry's eyes. Harry's face was scrunched up in pain, and if the gag wasn't there, I knew he'd be screaming in agony. I continued to struggle against the ropes. "You know that on that night, I lost everything- my powers, my body- I tried to kill him. His mother died trying to save her only son- and unknowingly providing him with the utmost protection that I admit, I failed to foresee...I could not touch the boy..."

Voldemort raised one of his long, pale fingers and held it close to Harry's cheek.

"His mother left upon him the traces of her sacrifice...This is old magic, I should have remembered, I was foolish not to think of it...but no matter. I can touch him now."

Voldemort pressed his long white finger to Harry's cheek, and Harry closed his eyes and screamed into the gag. Voldemort laughed softly, and took his finger away.

"I miscalculated, my friends," he said, still addressing his Death Eaters, even though he was looking between me and Harry. "My curse was deflected by a silly woman's sacrifice, and it rebounded onto myself. Aahh...the pain was beyond pain, my friends; nothing could have prepared me for it. I was ripped from my body...no less than a spirit, less than the most common ghost...but yet, I was still alive. What I had become, even I have no name for it... I, who had gone further than anyone else to secure my immortality. You all know my goal- to defeat death. And now, I was tested and it seems that one or more of my experiments worked, for I had not been killed, though that curse should have done it. Nevertheless, I was weak and powerless as a new born infant, and without any means to help myself... I had no body, and every spell I could have used that might have helped me required a wand...

"I remember forcing myself, sleeplessly, endlessly, second by second, to simply exist... I managed to settle myself in a far off place, in a forest and all I wanted...Surely one of my Death Eaters would eventually come and find me and assist me...but I waited in vain."

A shiver ran through the group of hooded men. Voldemort stared at every one of them in the eye, letting the silence escalate horribly before continuing.

"I only had one power left to me. I had the ability to possess other bodies, even animals. But I dared not go near any place where humans were plentiful, for I knew that the Aurors were still searching for me.

"I sometimes inhabited animals- snakes, of course being my preference- but as snakes are not able to perform magic, I was nothing more than a spirit inside them. My possession of them simply shortened their lives...they all died within a few days...

"Then four years ago, the means for my return seemed assured. A young, foolish, gullible wizard, wandered across my path in the forest I made my home. He seemed the very chance I had been dreaming of...for he was a teacher at Dumbledore's school... he was easy to bend to my will. He brought me back to this country and after a while, I took possession of his body, to supervise him more closely as he carried out my orders. But my plan failed. I did not manage to steal the Philosophers Stone. I was not to be assured immortal life. I was thwarted...thwarted again by Harry Potter, but this time he had help from Miss Maximum Ride."

I glared at Voldemort when he mentioned me, but he was addressing his Death Eaters so he didn't notice.

There was silence again; the only thing moving was Nagini, and the only sound was me and Harry's breathing. The Death Eaters were motionless, their eyes fixed on Voldemort.

"The servant died when I left his body, and I was as weak as I've ever been," he continued. "I returned to my hiding place far away and I will not pretend to you now that I did not fear that I would never get my power back... Yes, that was probably my darkest hour... I could not start hoping that I would be send another wizard for me to possess... and I had given up hope that any of my Death Eaters cared about what happened to me..."

One of two of the wizards in the circle shifted uncomfortably, but Voldemort took no notice.

"And then, not even a year ago, when I had almost abandoned hope, it happened at last...a servant returned to me. Wormtail here, who had faked his own death to escape justice and framed his best friend for murder, was driven out of hiding by those he had thought were his friends, and forced to return to his master. He found me in the country where it was rumoured I was hiding...he was helped, of course, by the rats he met on his way. Wormtail has a slight fascination with rats, don't you Wormtail? His filthy little friends told him that there was a place, deep in the Albanian forest, that most animals avoided, because of a dark shadow that possessed them...

"Although, his journey back to me wasn't smooth, was it, Wormtail? For, hungry, one night, Wormtail foolishly stopped at an inn, on the edge of the forest where he had hoped to find me, for some food...and who should he bump into there, but one Bertha Jorkins, a witch from the Ministry.

"Now you may see how fate awards Lord Voldemort. That night could have been the end of Wormtail and the end of any hopes I had of regeneration. But Wormtail- displaying a presence of mind I would never have expected from him- managed to convince Bertha Jorkins to accompany him on a night time stroll. He overpowered her, and brought her to me. She could have been our downfall, but instead she proved to be a gift beyond my wildest dreams... for with a little persuasion, she gave me very important information.

"She told me that Hogwarts would be hosting the Triwizard Tournament this year. She told me that she knew of a faithful Death Eater that would be more than willing to help me, if I could contact him. She told me many things...but the means I used to break the Memory Charm upon her were powerful, and when I had extracted all of the useful information. her mind and body were damaged beyond repair. She had served her purpose. I could not possess her. I disposed of her."

Voldemort smiled his terrible smile, his red eyes blank and pitiless.

I felt like I was going to get sick.

"Wormtail's body, of course, was unsuitable for possession, as everyone assumed he was dead, and that would attract too much attention. However, he was the able bodied servant I needed, and, poor wizard though he was, Wormtail was able to follow the instructions I gave him, which would return me to a weak body of my own, a body I would be able to inhabit while waiting for the ingredients for a true rebirth... a spell or two of my own invention...a little help from my poor Nagini," Voldemort's red eyes fell upon the continually circling snake, "a potion concocted from unicorn blood and the snake venom Nagini provided... I was soon returned to an almost human form, and strong enough to travel.

"There was no hope any more in stealing the Philosophers Stone, for I knew that Dumbledore would have had it destroyed. But I was willing to face mortal life once more, before chasing immortality. I set my sights lower... I would settle for my own body back again, and my old strength.

"I knew that it would be very Dark Magic to do the potion that revived me tonight, and I also knew that I would need three powerful ingredients. Well one of them was already on hand, was it not, Wormtail? Flesh given by a servant... My father's bone, naturally, meant that we would have to come here, where he was buried. But the blood of a foe...Wormtail would have had me use any wizard out there that knew of me... any wizard that hated me, as so many out there do. But no, I knew the people I would have to use if I was rise again, more powerful that when I had fallen. I wanted Harry Potter and Maximum Ride's blood. I wanted the blood of the one who stripped me of my powers thirteen years ago... I wanted the blood of a being who was strong and could fly.

"Who how to get Harry Potter and Maximum Ride? For they, plus the other winged children, have been better protected than even they know, protected in ways devised by Dumbledore long ago. Dumbledore invoked an ancient magic for Potter, to ensure the boys protection as long as he was in his relations care. Not even I can touch him there... And there is magic surrounding the blood-traitors home, protecting the winged children. Then of course, there was the Quidditch World Cup... I thought their protection might be slightly weaker there, away from their homes and families, and from Dumbledore. But I had not been strong enough then to plan a kidnap in the midst of Ministry wizards. But then, the two of them would return to Hogwarts, where they are under the constant protection of Dumbledore from morning till night. How could I take them?

"By using Bertha Jorkins's information, and my one faithful Death Eater placed in Hogwarts to ensure that both their names were out into the Goblet of Fire. But of course, only one name could come out, so when that was Harry's name, we started planning on how to get Max. So my Death Eater made sure that Harry won the tournament, made sure that he touched the cup first in the maze, and that Max was already here before the task started. That way, the both of them could be here, out of the way of Dumbledore's protection and into my waiting arms. And here they are."

He turned around, and started walking over to the figure I think was Lucius Malfoy. Voldemort whispered in Malfoy's ear, and he nodded. The two of them walked closer to us and drew out their wands, Voldemort pointing his at Harry, and Malfoy at me.

"Crucio!" Voldemort said first. Harry started screaming into his gag, his body twitching against the headstone.

"Harry!" I yelled into the gag.

The I heard Lucius Malfoy's voice saying, "Crucio!"

For the second time that night, my body erupted into flames, and I thought my head was going to burst in two. I just wanted it to end... to pass out...to make the pain go away...

And then, just like that, it was gone. I was hanging limply against the ropes, panting and sweating, looking into those bright red eyes glowing in almost happiness. The night was full of the sound of the Death Eater's laughter. I turned my head slightly and saw that Harry was staring straight back at Voldemort.

"You see, I think, how foolish it was to think that these children could ever be stronger or more powerful than me," Voldemort said. "Harry Potter escaped me by mere chance. And as of yet I have seen no remarkable skills from Maximum Ride." At this, I raised my eyebrows and stared at him. No remarkable skills? Excuse me?

"I am now going to prove my power by killing them both here and now, in front of all of you, where there is no Dumbledore to save you. Just a little longer, Nagini," he whispered as the snake glided through the grass to where the Death Eaters stood watching.

"Now, Wormtail, untie them both, and give back their wands."

And, at long last- the new chapter.

I am sooooooooo unbelievably sorry for how long this took. As I said earlier, I've been dealing with some personal issues (nothing major though, I promise) and I'm studying for my tests that start in less than a month.

If, for any reason, a chapter is going to take a long time, I will try my best to put up a separate chapter telling you all when the next chapter should be expected.

Anyway...

Sorry for how much Voldemort talks in this chapter...he does love the sound of his own voice, doesn't he?

HAVE ANY OF YOU SEEN IRON MAN 3?!

ASKGHSGERMAHKER= dead.

It was one of the best movies I've seen in a long time!

Oh, and does anyone else love Batman? I'm completely obsessed!

Now, you all know the drill- if you want cookies and butterbeer, you need to...

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LoVe YoU!

-Rach ;)