Chapter 28. And there was thunder
They acted quietly and quickly. One slipped out of the alley and silently raced towards the museum, blending into the black shadows. The second materialized right next to the parliament. The third shadow stopped near the cathedral. The tourists barely had time to catch a glimpse of them. In a split second, the pavement exploded in several places. The museum wall collapsed, crushing several people, and the shadows immediately slipped inside. The tourists panicked and called for help, women screaming, children crying. Several people responded to their cries. These individuals didn't resemble police officers. They were dressed all in black, their faces hidden behind death masks. Each held a wand in their hand. Somewhere around the corner, a siren wailed, there was a deafening boom, and then it fell silent, emitting a mournful groan. A disoriented tourist burst out from around the corner and screamed something incomprehensible in horror. And then he appeared.
A tall figure in a black cloak, with a face unlike anything they had ever seen before. Oh! This face most resembled the face of a snake - the same flatness, the same predatory eyes. His eyes! Their scarlet glow didn't bode well, just like the vertical pupils that resided in them. Looking into them, these unfortunate people could only stand in horror, unable to move. This gaze literally paralyzed them, and they stared, and stared, and stared into the eyes of this cruel python, who intended to take on the appearance of a human. And he responded to them. Without looking at them, he closed his eyes and inhaled deeply through his nostrils, listening to the silence that ensued after his arrival, and whispered in a snake-like voice that froze their blood in their veins:
"I am Lord Voldemort, the most powerful wizard in the world. I have conquered death and defeated all who opposed me. I am the true master of the magical arts, and anyone who stands against me will fall before my might. You can oppose me, you can resist me, but it will not bring an end to my rule. For I am immortal, and my power is unparalleled."
With these words, he directed his wand towards the sky, and a mighty beam of energy shot out of it. It looked like the brightest lightning, crossing the heavens and visible throughout the vicinity. This lightning surpassed in power all the lightning in the world. It was so strong that clouds high above began to stir. They moved apart on either side of this lightning, as if carried by the wind, and cleared the sky. But Voldemort didn't stop there and continued to unleash his spell into the sky.
"Do what must be done," Voldemort commanded his accomplices.
"Avada Kedavra!" came the roar of male voices.
Now only death remained the witness to the unknown ritual conducted by Voldemort and his accomplices. Many people in the surrounding area that day witnessed a ring of clouds forming over London, and then it seemed as though a hole appeared in the middle of the sky. Pure darkness broke through, and something scarlet moved within it. No one could say what it was, and even the most experienced aurors later puzzled over the meaning of the entire ritual. The only thing that journalists at the Daily Prophet accurately described later was that the ritual did not last long.
On that morning, Harry could not get out of bed for a long time - his scar was painfully throbbing. Inside him, it felt as if there was nothing left, just a complete void, with only the laughter of the Dark Lord echoing in his head. Whatever it was, he had accomplished his goal this time, but this was only a test. But a test of what?
Later, Harry woke up in the hospital wing. Dumbledore looked at him benevolently, Snape evaluated him with a stern gaze, McGonagall looked worried, and his friends buzzed around his feet. Fudge, it seemed, understood something about what had happened but chose to remain silent.
"I think it's time," Snape nodded, as if agreeing with Dumbledore's recent statement that Harry had accidentally missed. In turn, Dumbledore continued to gaze into Harry's eyes, as if expecting to see someone else's gaze in them. He then quietly excused Harry from classes for the rest of the day and instructed him to visit Snape's office for extracurricular activities every evening.
"What do you think it's related to?" Ron asked later.
"I had a dream, and in it, Voldemort attacked tourists in London. Right in the middle of the day!" Harry replied.
"They write about it in today's Prophet!" Hermione showed him the front page of the fresh newspaper. "Look!"
The photograph from the scene of the event didn't particularly inspire Harry.
"He cast a powerful spell into the sky, I don't know what kind. It was as if he was tearing the sky apart, and there I saw darkness," he explained.
"A powerful spell, you say?" Jeanne clarified.
Harry simply nodded in response.
"Do you have any guesses as to what it could have been?" Hermione shook her head, while Jeanne deeply contemplated.
"It's utter nonsense," Hermione whispered. "I've never heard of anything like it. We aren't even supposed to know about books where such things are written."
"Has anyone ever done something like this before?" Harry asked.
Ron shrugged in confusion. "I haven't heard of it either. Only the Dark Order would know about something like that."
"You know what I think?" Dudley interjected. "If someone had invaded my life like he did to him, I'd be looking for a way to become stronger."
"Is the Dark Lord lacking power?" Ron grumbled. "I wish I had his problems."
"He's the epitome of humility," Jeanne remarked, rereading the newspaper article. "A pampered little boy like him should just sit at home and tremble with fear."
"And what do you think?" Ron asked. "If he doesn't stop, there won't be any Muggles left soon."
"Actually, it's not so catastrophic. He's searching for new sources of power and is willing to pay any amount of souls for it," Jeanne replied.
"Not so catastrophic?" Hermione flared up and looked at her challengingly. "What do you know about this?"
"I think he will soon start searching for the Holy Grail," Jeanne answered after a moment of thought. "That means only one thing: war is coming and we all need to be prepared."
Harry had never noticed before how beautiful the sky was.