November 19th, 1996
Riddle Manor, Little Hangleton
Voldemort gave a vicious laugh. All was falling in place. For the past year now, he had been manipulating Nathan Potter, working to destroy the thorn in his side the group calling themselves 'Chimera' had posed. Now, it was time to strike. With them gone, their damnable influence on the mercenaries and hit-wizards for hire would be gone. With that threat removed, he would finally be able to bring his army's full might to bear without risking a major loss.
It was unfortunate that Hogwarts would be destroyed as well, as he would have liked to establish it as the seat of his empire. However, it was not worth allowing the six-pointed barb to push itself into his flesh any further. They would die tonight.
-o-
Chamber of Secrets, Hogwarts
Daphne Greengrass was generally a very well-balanced girl, mentally. However, two years ago to the day, she had lost her closest friend, who was also her betrothed. He was not gone, not yet; no. He merely did not speak to her, did not look her way, did not acknowledge her existence in any manner. And it was almost worse than when he finally disappeared, because she did not have a constant reminder of her mistakes made that day, five days before the First Task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament. His disappearance was a bittersweet moment, for she now had no chance to reconcile with him, but also was not constantly, every day, reminded of that moment, the 19th of November, 1994, when she made what was perhaps the worst mistake of her life.
In the two years since, she forced herself to forget that day, to concentrate on the struggle against Voldemort, the very reason Chimera existed. But sometimes she would be reminded, and on days such as that, she was but a shell of her normal self.
Therefore, it was no surprise that when the spheres began to tick, she was clueless as to what was going on around her.
-o-
Colorado Springs, Cheyenne Mountain Complex
"Let me get this straight," General Hammond said. "There was some kind of... field... that disrupted electronics around it, supposedly to destroy Goa'uld hand devices should they attack a facility on the planet, located somewhat near the stargate compared to most planets so far explored. You then met a person claiming to be the last survivor of an entire civilization, a teenager, who happens to be the 'green-eyed demon' of Jaffa urban legend? Forgive me if I am somewhat skeptical of all this."
"Sir, it may be hard to believe, but we do have proof, for at least some of it. Our old equipment was melted from inside, and all but one radio was left untampered with by the members of SG-1 or SG-10," Captain Carter said. "I'm certain that, if the devices are checked by a tech expert, they will conclude that they were destroyed by some kind of interference. On top of that, there's the 'souvenir' O'Neill brought back. Those orbs were given to us by Harry for use in our infirmary, they're a highly advanced medical bed. The technology undeniably exists, sir. You have to admit that."
"That brings up another point of concern," Hammond said. "Why would a person just give us advanced technology, without asking for anything in exchange?"
"He said it was in the interests of future relations," Jack proclaimed. "And why not give us advanced medical technology? It's not like it's a weapon, and the ability to reproduce it is well beyond us."
"Indeed, it is as Colonel O'Neill states. A form of medical technology is a show of willingness to trade technology without risking it being misused, or used against the original owner. It will undoubtedly have many safeguards to prevent it from being abused."
Hammond took several moments to consider these arguments. Finally, he said, "Very well. I will authorize an attempt to contact this 'Harry' again. But, I want a guarantee that it will not result in any more pieces of delicate equipment being destroyed. You are to only go through when he responds that the field is down, am I clear on this?"
"Yes, sir," Carter said
-o-
"I hereby call this meeting to order," Nathan droned in a monotone voice. Ever since the day when Voldemort took complete control over his mind, he no longer behaved in any fashion. He was merely a puppet to Voldemort's will. Fortunately, that would soon end, Hermione reflected. As soon as this meeting was over, she would stun him and drag him to Gringotts, and she would get her Nathan back.
"Only one item is on the agenda today," Nathan said. The wards of the room slammed into place at full strength when the puppet flicked his wand at the wardstone, and a mysterious ticking noise filled the Chamber of Secrets.
Fred and George were the first to react. "Stupefy!" they cried in unison, rendering Nathan Potter unconscious. Fred then grabbed Daphne while George carried Nathan. "The bombs! He set them off! They're going to blow!" they cried out to Hermione. She froze. The bombs...? Oh, shite!
Immediately, she turned to the ward stone. If those bombs detonated while the wards were up, the chaos magic unleashed would be multiplied by the strength of each ward encountered. The only way to shut them down was to remove the central crystal from its slot. If she did this...
She darted forward to the pedestal. She heard George cry out to her as she moved, but she ignored him. As her hand wrapped around the small blue prism controlling the wards, the ticking reached its highest point, and she felt her wrist be pulled towards the door. She managed to pry the crystal free, and she flew through the air. The ticking stopped, and her world went forever dark.
-o-
November 21st, 1996
Gringotts, Diagon Alley
Daphne Greengrass dragged Nathan Potter up the stairs of Gringotts Bank in Diagon Alley. It had not been easy to get out of Hogwarts to do this, but it had to be done. She could not allow Voldemort to kill anyone else through Nathan.
As it was, Hermione had been caught by the detonation of the bombs. There had been no signs of a body, except a fine coat of gore on the walls of the Chamber. George had succumbed to his injuries just hours before, despite the care of Madam Pomfrey and several expert healers from Saint Mungo's Hospital.
Her closest female friend was dead. Not disappeared, like Harry, the best friend she had ever had. Hermione, second to Harry alone, was dead, and would never come back. Daphne Greengrass vowed to do everything in her power to bring Voldemort down, starting by removing Voldemort from Nathan's mind. Then she could grieve for those she had lost in peace.
"Where's Hermione?" Bill asked when she entered his office.
"Killed," Daphne managed to choke out. "Two days ago."
Bill closed his eyes in sympathy. "Is there anything I can do?"
"Yes," she snapped. "You can destroy the piece of Voldemort in Nathan and end this madness!"
"Alright," Bill said. "Did you bring any of the other horcruxes with you?"
"No, why?"
"They'll have to use this piece then," Bill murmured. "Alright. I'll take Nathan down to the ritual chamber. Within a day, the soul fragment will be gone," he vowed.
-o-
Bill had kept his word. After the ritual to remove the fragment, a spell was cast that would determine the location of each and every extant horcrux containing a piece of the same soul. To the goblins' horror, one was found in their bank. It did not survive the hour. Several pieces were located at Hogwarts, and a team was sent to retrieve them for purification. The last two pieces registered were in great proximity, and in the region Voldemort was known to be active in. It would be... prudent... to avoid those fragments, as one of them was likely Voldemort himself.
With the destruction of all but one of the seven horcruxes created by the Dark Lord Tom Riddle, the goblins declared their business concluded. Daphne Greengrass left the bank that day feeling as though justice had been served.
-o-
Riddle Manor, Little Hangleton
Lord Voldemort snarled in anger. Something had gone wrong, and the plan had failed. The bombs had detonated, he knew that much. Hogwarts, however, still stood, and its inhabitants were unharmed. How had this happened? Why?
To make matters worse, he could no longer feel his telepathic link to the Potter brat's mind. Now he had no way of knowing his enemies' plans, and could not sabotage their efforts from within. 'They may become a true threat,' he thought angrily. 'Damn them! Damn them all to hell!'
Not a new chapter, just updating the formatting. Sorry for any confusion.