Hi everybody. This chapter will include the ritual and for those that wondered, the story will not stay this dark / troubling the whole time. But I won't tell how I plan to do this, that would be boring.
Hope you still like reading it.
Ritual of Rebirth
Jazzy looked at the dress that she was given to wear for the ritual by Barty. It wasn't revealing as such. It laid snuggly against her upper body, showing off her great new figure, and the skirt went down to her knees. But the whole front was closed with small buttons and she wouldn't wear anything underneath the dress. Meaning, getting her naked was extremely easy. Barty would only have to unbutton the dress and she would be bare in front of him. It was an arousing thought. By now she craved for him to finalise their bond. She knew it was her magic desiring to fully claim her partner. Her magic wanted to be complete, which would happen when she slept with Barty.
Another thing she wasn't as sure about. To make the ritual the most powerful it could be, both she and Hermione had been given fertility potions by Pettigrew. They hadn't known that all their food had been dosed with it, even Barty and Endymion hadn't been aware of that. But witches that were primed to conceive when they lost their virginity would exude a much stronger magic in a sacrificial ritual than otherwise. Clearly Voldemort wanted to use any advantage he could get.
If not for a major coincidence, she would become pregnant and have a baby in nine months. While she felt ready to sleep with Barty, she didn't know if she was ready to become a mother. She wanted a family and children, yes, but she was just fourteen and would be fifteen when the baby would be born. She hadn't even finished school. Barty had assured her that she could continue her studies normally until she entered the last trimester. Then she needed to take a break from using powerful magic. Brewing potions wasn't advisable for pregnant witches, but she and Hermione could study the theory about them. In fact, Barty had allowed her to study several things while she was here. She had even discovered a passion for Ancient Runes, which he had introduced her to. It might have something to do with his reward system.
For every correctly translated page of runes, he would give her a heavenly backrub and for carving an array correctly she was rewarded with a make out session. He certainly profited as well, but it was a win-win situation. And he was great at explaining things. She wasn't allowed to meet Hermione without a chaperone, mainly to avoid that they could plot anything, but in company of Barty and Endymion they had had a second meeting. At least she wouldn't have to deal with the pregnancy on her own, as Hermione was in the same boat. She wasn't happy about that but had forgiven Endymion, as he hadn't known about that part either. Their budding relationship was certainly fierier than hers and Barty's at least concerning Hermione arguing about opinions with Endymion. They didn't have bad rows, but they could get into heated discussions while putting forth their positions.
Jazzy felt that it would become a good marriage. Hermione needed somebody that was her equal intellectually, and Endymion met that requirement. None of the boys in their year was mature enough to challenge Hermione without resorting to insults. And the two were only two years apart in age physically, mentally, they were about equal. Hermione was more mature than others their age. Not that it was much different for Jazzy. Due to having to fight on her own for anything during her childhood, she had to mature faster than other children. And she had honestly told Hermione that being forced into a marriage sadly wasn't unexpected for her. Jazzy had never told Hermione about this, but she knew that several groups would try to pressure her into a relationship with somebody they felt she should marry. After all, her whole life had been directed by the whims of others. Why would they think her marriage was any different? She feared that Dumbledore would force her into a marriage contract with Ron Weasley, simply because the Weasleys were his supporters and a stout 'light' family.
She had heard about the stories that Endymion had told Hermione and she was appaled that the ancestors of the present Weasley family had done something like that, but sadly, not too surprised. Beign self-serving and opportunistic were traits of some members of the family, especially Percy and Ron. Therefore, after having got to know Barty, even if it had only been a short time, she was sure that being married to him would be a lot better than what others would have tried to force her into. And her magic fully agreed, wanting Barty as her husband. She wouldn't have chosen a marriage this early, but after all the bad things that were normal parts of her past, this at least had a better perspective for her future. Not the Voldemort would be back part. She wasn't fully convinced that he would be a good guy when he was revived, but she had learned to roll with the hits life sent her way.
Looking out of the window, she knew that it would soon be time. Knowing that there was nothing to stop the ritual, as even if Barty liked her a lot, he wouldn't defy Voldemort in this, as he had high hopes to bring the man back fully sane and at the top of his game, she started changing into the dress. It would be less hassle than having others change her into it. And the only person she was willing to allow to undress her was Barty. Preferable alone without witnesses. One thing she vowed. If Pettigrew turned out to peep on her and Hermione, he would regret it after the ritual. Probably Barty would help. He was already quite possessive of her.
Jazzy looked at Hermione, who was led out of the building by Endymion. She wore the same type of white dress that Jazzy wore. Both Endymion and Barty wore sleeveless tunics that exposed their chests a bit and were held closed by a belt made of a rope. Their tunics were also white. Outside the house there was a large field, which was separated into three major parts. Two parts were raised oval stone tables and the third one had a unicorn tied to two posts with thick ropes. The unicorn seemed to be spelled, as it didn't try to escape, which it normally would do. Especially close to this many men.
In the middle of the three places stood a large cauldron, larger than any she had seen before, even in the cauldron shop, from which steam rose into the dark sky. The only light around was provided by a few torches, one to each side of the stone tables, one torch next to the unicorn and the fire underneath the cauldron in the middle of the set up. Jazzy couldn't see any trace of Voldemort, which she was somewhat happy about. It would be much more difficult to let this happen if she saw her parents' murderer. She knew she didn't have a choice, and her magic was eager to let Barty finally unite with her. That feeling was dominant in her and she let him lead her to the stone table to the left without complaint.
"Everything is ready," stated Pettigrew, who stepped out of the shadows next to the cauldron.
Endymion and Barty nodded and took their positions. For Jazzy the world around seemed to fade into the background when Barty's eyes looked into hers.
"I will be gentle. I want your first time to be special," he assured her.
She nodded and allowed him to take the lead, like so many times before when they had been in her room. But this time, she knew it wouldn't end with touches. She was overwhelmed by her feelings and her magic jubilating that this was finally happening. His kisses drove her crazy, her body craved his touch more than ever and this time, he didn't stop.
Peter watched dispassionately how Endymion and Barty took their time preparing the girls. He didn't see the need for that, but he wouldn't comment on it. In their position, he would have simply done the deed. It was unexpected to see Barty of all people so protective of a girl. But seemingly the strong connection he had discovered with Jasmine went both ways. While she was fully submissive to him, in turn he felt the need to protect her as much as he could. And to please her where he could. Barty had been a romantic when he was actually the age he now looked like; therefore, it was probably to be expected. His loyalty to the Dark Lord was never in doubt, but Barty could interpret his orders to be more to his liking as long as he achieved the desired results. Endymion was simply a young man who had fallen for a pretty girl. He also was somebody that desired more than having a bed partner. Well, he would have his hands full with this girl. Peter knew enough from watching her for nearly three years to see that she wouldn't simply take things like they were. Well, Endymion was similar. Somewhat a mix of both of his parents.
He felt the magic rising from the two tables. It was nearly time. He walked over to the drugged and imperiused unicorn. Using a hose with a needle attached to the front, he directed that into the unicorn from behind with a spell developed by veterinarians. It was easiest to gain access to the womb where the fluid in which the foal was currently growing was located. Magic would prevent that he could cut into the belly of the unicorn without causing a violent backlash. He didn't need that. This way, he could pierce into the womb and drain the needed amount of the fluid, which was about two hundred millilitres. Not too much. It wouldn't be noticed over time and the foal wouldn't be harmed. He wouldn't have cared too much, but harming unicorns had nasty repercussions magically, especially unborn ones. And this ritual counted on powerful positive or neutral magic fuelling the rebirth of the Dark Lord.
Once he had enough, he took the fluid in the bowl, into which he had held the other end of the hose, towards the cauldron. He and Barty had prepared the potion during the day, under the close watch of the Dark Lord. Nothing would go wrong. Now it was time to start the incantation. Barty and Endymion would break through the hymens of the two girls, taking their virginity, when he called it out. They knew to listen for his signal.
"To revive this wizard and rebuild his body without taint of degeneration of time, I bring fluid from the womb of a pregnant unicorn. May the pure magic nursing the unborn life build the base for a powerful body," intoned Peter and poured the fluid into the cauldron, which already had the potion and the homunculus body of the Dark Lord in it.
The potion turned a light blue from its previous orange colour. Then he took the dragon heart. Contrary to other potions, they needed to use the heart in once piece. It was the main reason why they had needed to find this large cauldron. Otherwise, the heart wouldn't have fit into it.
"To restore the magic of this wizard to its full power, without the taint of losing its connection to his previous body, I bring the heart of a mighty dragon. May the powerful ancient magic of this creature build the core for a magically powerful core," intoned Peter and lowering the heart over the cauldron with a levitation charm, before submerging it into the potion, which heated up immediately and violently, making Peter break out in sweat. The potion also changed to a dark violet colour.
Now it was time for the other two to do their part.
"To connect the powerful body, core and mind, we bring the sacrifice of three virginities, of two witches and one wizard. May the sacrifice of this which can never be recovered bring back this wizard to full power," intoned Peter and he heard a small yelp of pain from both girls, but then the sounds they made were more along the lines of pleasure and enjoyment. Barty and Endymion also clearly enjoyed what they were doing. Understandable. Lucky bastards. Well, the girls were too young for his taste anyway. He preferred women his own age.
But now the magic flowed from the two tablets towards the cauldron. It would flow for several minutes more and only reach its climax when Barty and Endymion climaxed as well. He knew that the more time they took for their enjoyment, the more magic would be directed towards the ritual. He stood silently and watched how the potion lightened to a light violet, then to pink, then rose and got lighter and lighter. That was exceptionally good. The less colour the potion had when the climax was reached, the more powerful the results would be.
Peter finally heard Hermione scream out Endymion's name and felt him climaxing, shooting his seed into the girl's womb. And now, about a minute after it, there was the echo they had been hoping for. Yes, the two had managed to conceive a child. Perfect. That was another boost to the ritual. He had also expected that Endymion wouldn't last as long as Barty could. He was a virgin as well, and they didn't have the necessary experience to make the experience last. He noticed a faint golden glow around that table, signifying the marriage bond that had been created by the ritual and climax. Barty meanwhile was still going. From the moans he heard from Jasmine, he was doing good work with her.
It took about ten minutes more, during which small climaxes from Jasmine powered the magic of the ritual even more. Then Barty finally allowed himself to climax and shortly afterwards, there was the second echo of conception. Good. The fertility potions he had fed to the two girls on his master's orders had done what they were meant to do. He stepped back from the cauldron, in which the potion had gone white by now. It wouldn't be long now. There, the first sparks rose from the surface and their numbers grew. He noticed another golden glow from the second table but concentrated on the cauldron.
Finally, there was a pillar of light emerging from the cauldron and Peter had to cover his eyes to not be blinded by the light. When it faded, he could see a person standing where the cauldron had been. That one had dissolved under the onslaught of the magic, also adding its substance to the body. The man he could see standing there, inspected his body, which, while a bit pale from what he could see, looked perfectly healthy.
"It worked perfectly," he heard his master's voice say, "I haven't felt this powerful in my body since I was a young man."
Peter sank to his knees, knowing that this was still the Dark Lord. But having played a large part in his resurrection, he would be rewarded greatly. That he was sure of.
"I need my robes," commented Voldemort absently and Peter swished his wand to make them hover next to his master. He knew he wouldn't want to be touched directly after the ritual. It was something Barty had warned all those involved about. The new body was sensitive and would stay that way for about two days.
"Thank you, Peter. You did good work," said Voldemort.
"Thank you, my lord," replied Peter, actually surprised how pleasant the man sounded.
He waited until he was asked to rise.
"Well, it seems that Barty was right with his assessment. And from what I heard, he had a lot of fun doing his part," stated Voldemort, if Peter was right, there was amusement in his voice.
"Well, he got to sleep with a beautiful witch," commented Peter.
"That he did. Hm, we should leave the two couples alone. They poured a lot of magic into the ritual. They will be in a trance for at least three more hours. When they are ready and their magic fully connected with their new spouses, they will come out of it. I will just set up some warming wards around their tables. It wouldn't do if two of my most loyal followers would catch a cold from helping me get a body back," pondered Voldemort and waved his wand in a complicated pattern, which let some light green fields of magic appear around the two stone tables.
Peter was amazed how easily he could perform such a complicated piece of magic. The ward alone normally needed serious preparation to be cast, but to do two at the same time with no preparation only showed the power and skill of the Dark Lord.
"Follow me, Peter. I want to see this new body with proper lighting and then explore how my magic flows now. Other plans will wait for a few days, until I am past the phase where my body is too sensitive," declared Voldemort.
"Of course, my lord," acknowledged Peter.
The two went back inside the house and left the two newly married couples outside under the warming wards.
Dumbledore was extremely worried. His instruments that observed Jasmine Potter had exploded into a shower of energy sparks. To have this happen on the day of the winter solstice was terrifying. Winter solstice was a date that was immensely suited for rituals. Having all his observation instruments self-destruct in this matter indicated that Jasmine was involved in a highly magical procedure, one that overloaded his instruments and made them explode and dissolve. This posed another problem. With the instruments gone, not only would the wards around Privet Drive fall, meaning he couldn't send the girl back there, if he would manage to find her that was, but he had lost any chance to monitor her in the future.
These instruments had been developed by an ancient culture, but the way to create them had been lost about a thousand years ago. He had tried many times to replicate it, as these instruments were extremely useful, but he had failed countless times. Having lost them stung. He could only hope that Voldemort hadn't succeeded in getting a body back, if he was behind the kidnapping of the two girls. And it stood to reason that he was involved. Too many signs pointed towards him being up to something. Starting with the murder of that muggle Frank Bryce in Little Hangleton, the hometown of Voldemort's father, over the unrest at the Quidditch World Cup finals and the disappearance of Bertha Jorkins.
Then his floo flared up. He looked towards the flames and found Rufus Scrimgeour's head in the flames.
"Good evening, Rufus," he greeted.
"Evening, Albus. May I come through? I have grave news," asked Rufus, which Albus quickly confirmed by nodding. The head disappeared and a moment later the large head of the auror office stepped out of the fireplace in his office.
"What happened, Rufus?" asked Albus, knowing the auror too well to waste time with pleasantries.
"The Department of Mysteries has sent an urgent message to my office, claiming that an unbelievably powerful explosion of magic, indicating a powerful ritual of some kind, took place tonight. That in itself wouldn't be too problematic, as the readings at least confirm that it wasn't a dark ritual. It was leaning towards the light side of the spectrum, but still classifies in the neutral area," answered Rufus.
"I see. My instruments that I used to keep an eye on the condition of Miss Potter have also exploded and turned into sparks tonight. That might be connected," revealed Albus, knowing that this might make him look better and it was a way to get involved in the investigation that the DOM would undoubtedly start, and which might lead him to the missing girls. He needed some success to present, as his position and reputation had suffered a lot from them being kidnapped right under his nose last Halloween. Nearly two months had passed, and they still didn't have a trace of the girls.
"I will certainly pass that part on. But the reason why I said the news were grave is another. Barty Crouch suffered a heart attack and died inside his office," stated Rufus.
"That is bad. With him basically having organised all the important parts of the tournament, and Ludo being the way he is, this could lead to the tournament becoming chaotic, something we absolutely don't need right now," understood Albus.
"It's even worse than just that. The tournament can be taken over by Percy Weasley. The young man basically worshipped Barty and made it his mission to be overly prepared for anything. Barty made him his right hand after recognising his talent for what I would consider meaningless bureaucracy. No, the reason why I contacted you is that the heart attack wasn't natural. It was induced by a poison that was on a magical trigger," revealed Rufus, "If I hadn't seen this kind of thing during the last war, nobody would have even checked for the possibility until it was too late to determine anymore."
"That is extremely complicated magic. Do you know what triggered the poison that caused the heart attack?" asked Albus.
"Some major change in his family magic," answered Rufus.
Albus pondered the options that could cause something like that.
"It will be difficult to find out what kind of change. I mean, his son is long dead, he died years ago in Azkaban, his wife shortly after, so deaths inside his family can't be the cause. But it would have to be something of that level of importance to automatically influence his family magic," Albus voiced his thoughts.
"That's what stumps me as well. As far as I know, he is the last of his line. Except there is an unknown child he hid," added Rufus.
Albus sat up. It was just a suspicion, but what if… He stood from his chair and went to the shelf where he kept his most valuable books hidden. He used a spell to reveal a hidden switch that made the normal shelf swing forward and reveal a secret passage.
"Follow me, Rufus. I have a crazy idea, but perhaps that can explain what happened. This passage leads to a secret chamber that only the headmaster of Hogwarts knows about and can access. Down there the legendary book of names is located. The book that notes all the witches and wizards born inside the British Isles," explained Albus.
"That book is real? I always thought it was a fancy myth. Like the Chamber of Secrets," admitted Rufus.
"The latter is sadly far too real, which Miss Potter found at the end of her second year here. I will tell you the full story later, as it is clear from your reaction that Cornelius didn't share the information I gave him after the mess was solved. And the book is connected to the golden quill of Ravenclaw which automatically writes the Hogwarts letters each summer. It is a true masterpiece of magic," stated Albus.
Rufus nodded and the two men went down the passage until they reached the chamber, in which there was the legendary book on a large stone table. The book was huge. Larger than any other book Rufus had ever seen. It was easily two metres wide and one long. It exuded magic that he could feel from where he stood. It was bound in old, brown leather and had the Hogwarts crest at the front.
"Now, this treasure documents all of our magical lines in Great Britain and Ireland. It isn't like a family tree that it gives up the parentage of a person, but it will sort all witches and wizards that live within the area it covers into families. This way, it is also determined if we send a contact person to a new first year or just the letter. That isn't perfect in all cases, therefore Minerva cross checks the letters before we send them out. It happens rarely that a situation is misjudged," explained Albus, not mentioning that Jasmine Potter had been such a misjudgement, as they had expected her aunt and uncle to at least tell her that she was a witch.
Albus opened the book carefully and turned pages while looking for names. As the book was filled with tiny writing, this might take a while. Rufus could see that Albus was going over the names starting with the letter C. That made sense. If something major happened connected to the Crouch family magic, this book might have the answer. Then Albus exclaimed he had found the family.
"Here it is. The Crouch family. Let me see. The book lists all the names of living magical members and their names as well as their blood status," commented Albus.
"Their blood status?" asked Rufus confused.
"Yes. You have to remember that all four founders were involved in creating this exceptional book. Slytherin was probably the one to add that part. My suspicion is that he connected the Sorting Hat to this part of information to prevent that muggleborns were sorted into Slytherin. Now let's see. Bartemius Crouch, age 62 is still present, but the name changed colours from blue to black, and from what I know, it will fade within a day. That always happens when a family member dies. No, this is impossible," exclaimed Albus shocked.
"What is it, Albus?" asked Rufus urgently.
"Bartholomew Crouch, age seventeen," answered Albus gravely, only to have Rufus interrupt.
"He had a second son that young?" asked Rufus.
"Or grandson. That seems more probable. I remember that Constance Crouch had trouble conceiving at all and Barty junior was a miracle for them. But that wasn't what shocked me. While it would mean that Barty junior became a father when he was just fifteen, that has happened before and that a house hides such a child born to the heir out of wedlock also isn't too uncommon. No, the shocking thing is the next name that was only added a few hours ago, which the colour of the ink determines. This entry in violet, which will change to blue over the next day," Albus pointed at the next name and let Rufus read for himself.
"Jasmine Crouch nee Potter, age fourteen," he read out, his voice also breaking a little from shock, "I need a drink."
"You and me both. That means, the change in family magic was probably the marriage of his grandson with Jasmine Potter, which added a new member to the family," analysed Albus.
"But how? The girl is too young to legally be allowed to marry!" protested Rufus.
"I know. The youngest anybody either male or female could wed under the laws of our country and have magic acknowledge it as binding is sixteen," agreed Albus, "But still, the book doesn't lie."
"Any chance to find out if the same happened to the second girl that's missing?" asked Rufus.
"Possibly," pondered Albus and turned the pages to the letter G and then went down the register. It took much longer, and this wouldn't work if they weren't trying this immediately after the marriage was closed and acknowledged by magic. He would then have to figure out into which family the girl had married to find her name again.
"I think this is it. The name has already faded a good bit, as it will be much clearer in its new position, but I think it is something with an L at the beginning. Though it might be an E as well," he decided.
"Then we have to check the entries for E and L to know for sure. This is such a mess," sighed Rufus.
Albus just nodded and over the next two hours they checked all the entries on the families starting with the letters E and L.
"I have her, I think," Rufus finally said, even if he wasn't sure.
"What do you mean, Rufus?" asked Albus, who had taken a break from reading fifteen minutes ago and let Rufus continue.
"I have a Hermione Lestrange nee Rosenberg here," answered Rufus, "The name is written in violet, the same way Miss Potter's was written in the Crouch register."
"Rosenberg?" asked Albus confused, "I remember that Gilbert Rosenberg supported Voldemort in the last war. But the girl that was kidnapped is muggleborn."
"Well, this girl here is a halfblood," stated Rufus, "I mainly think it could be her because the name Hermione isn't common, the age fits, and it has the violet colour."
"Who would the groom be?" asked Albus.
"That's more difficult to say. There are a few wizards that would work. Endymion Lestrange is seventeen, Marcius Lestrange is nineteen and Fandar Lestrange is twenty years old," Rufus read out, "It can't be Rodolphus or Rabastan, as they are stuck at Azkaban for one and are already married for another. Or, in Rabastan's case, widowed. The father of Marcius and Fandar is out for the same reason."
"I can check if Endymion left the wards of Hogwarts," commented Albus, "that should tell us if he left at any time."
"Have you solved the issue with the wards not tracking everything down?" asked Rufus.
"Not fully. We are still working on it. We have a lead what the cause of that anomaly might be, but we haven't tested it," admitted Albus, "I'm waiting for somebody to give me that last confirmation, but he was out of the country for a while."
"I see. Still, I would think that the other two would be more probable to be involved, as they wouldn't have the obstacle of needing to get out of school to get this done. Perhaps the easiest way to start would be checking if Endymion Lestrange is still inside the castle," suggested Rufus.
"True, that would be easily done," agreed Albus and called a house elf.
He tasked the elf to look if Endymion Lestrange was in his dorm. At this time of the day, all students should be inside their dorms. The elf came back telling them that the student was not there. Albus and Rufus looked at each other gravely. That indicated that he was involved. They made their way back to Albus' office, from where Albus called Filius Flitwick, the head of Ravenclaw after checking the wards ledger and seeing that Endymion had left earlier in the day. The small head of Ravenclaw appeared five minutes after the call through the floo.
"Albus, what is the urgent issue?" asked Filius.
"We might have a trace to the two missing Gryffindor girls," stated Rufus.
He explained why they had consulted the book of names and what they had coincidentally found out and what they had deduced from their findings.
"Well, Mr Lestrange asked for permission to participate in a family ritual for the winter solstice. He was informed by Mr Carrow, his foster father, that the Lestrange heir would undergo this ritual on the winter solstice of the year he had turned seventeen, which Mr Lestrange did this May. I gave him permission for it, as there is nothing problematic about it. Many families have these rites of passage, so to speak. I know that Severus has given the same permission to several of his sixth and seventh year Slytherins as well. They will return tomorrow or the day after that. In other years they stayed at home over the Christmas break, but this year, with the Yule Ball of the tournament, they will return to participate, as it is an important social event that would look bad if they missed it. Mr Lestrange plans to return on the twenty-third," explained Filius.
Rufus and Albus had to admit, with this being involved, they didn't have enough evidence to accuse the young man of anything. Especially as the matching first name could be an incredible coincidence. They couldn't tell for sure that Hermione Granger had truly married into the Lestrange family. And again, there was the matter of her not being sixteen yet.
Filius then asked about more details of what they had found out.
"I may not know how to find the girls, but I have an inkling how it can be that Miss Potter, or now it would be Mrs Crouch, can be married. Rufus, you said the DOM noticed a strong explosion of ritualistic magic, right?" asked Filius to confirm the facts.
"Yes. A neutral signature leaning towards light," he repeated.
"Sacrifice of a virgin, or more precisely said, sacrifice of viginity," commented Filius, "I would guess a rebirth or conception ritual in that case. If it was more sinister, the magical signature that was recorded would be leaning towards the dark spectrum. And the girl or girls were willing. Again, it comes down to intent. There is a class of rituals that include sacrifices of powerful substances. And a virgin's sacrifice, involving a powerful witch losing her virginity, while the wizard doesn't do it by raping her, would lead to marriage between the two. It is known to the goblins that this can happen. It has happened more often centuries ago. As I mentioned, it might have been a ritual intending to make the girls conceive. A fertility ritual was often used when a family had trouble to continue their bloodline for one reason or another.
"If they performed a conception or fertility ritual on a powerful date, which the winter solstice is, it could be ensured that the couple that performed the ritual would conceive. As conception of children outside of wedlock is still seen as shameful, and was seen even worse back then, a part of those rituals was always that the magic of the couple was united in marriage through the act of coupling during the ritual."
The two other men looked at each other. That would explain part of it.
"Could such a ritual be used to achieve something else, Filius? For example, returning a disembodied spirit of a wizard to a body?" asked Albus, having a horrible suspicion.
"I haven't ever read anything of that kind, but I wouldn't exclude the possibility, Albus," answered Filius after a while, "On its own it would probably fail, but if one included other powerful components it might be possible."
"If I remember my studies in rituals that we needed to pass for the auror academy right, it will need incredibly powerful components of purity or sheer power to get the reading the DOM got," added Rufus.
"Yes, something like unicorn blood, but that would turn the ritual dark," pondered Albus.
Neither of the men had any idea what could work for this.
"Could we question Mr Lestrange when he returns to school?" asked Albus.
"We don't have enough proof to accuse him of anything. Anything we have is circumstantial at best. If we knew the whereabouts of Bartholomew Crouch, we could question him, as that part is truly clear. But in case of Lestrange, well, it could very well be one of the other two that are connected to the young lady. The book doesn't tell us who is married to her, if she truly is Miss Granger," pointed Rufus out, "It would be up to him to tell us anything."
Albus and Filius nodded, understanding that part. And none of them had ever heard of Bartholomew Crouch. He hadn't been sent to Hogwarts for his education. And none of the teachers would have wondered, as Barty Crouch could have decided to simply send him elsewhere to keep the secret of the illegitimate heir of his family a secret. The man had sent his son to Azkaban after all. Hiding his illegitimate grandson would be easy to believe.
Peter listened to the conversation inside the headmaster's office. It had been a stroke of genius to leave a listening charm there when he had still been hiding as the Weasleys' pet rat. This way, he was always informed in case Dumbledore was onto him and could escape. He had placed the spell there the year Percy started at Hogwarts, but Dumbledore had never even suspected anything being amiss. He had worried about the wards noticing animagi, but clearly they didn't have that property. Or Dumbledore didn't know about it.
This development was problematic though. They hadn't known that the book of names would give Dumbledore this much information. It was truly a pity that Crouch had been in his office when he died. The trigger had been set with the ritual in mind, as an unsuspicious way to get rid of him when they didn't have any use for him anymore. Peter had placed the trigger spell himself, as otherwise Barty wouldn't be able to inherit his father's fortune. Magic would rule that as murder. With Peter placing the spell, and on their lord's orders Peter hadn't informed Barty about it, meaning he wasn't in the know, Barty was in the green and now head of the Crouch family. Sure, Barty had known that in the long run they planned to get rid of his father, but not that this specific plot was set up. They would need to do damage control to mislead Dumbledore.
He wouldn't find their hiding place, but he could make things more difficult in the future for Barty, which they wanted to avoid. He would have to discuss this with the others. Barty and Endymion had by now come out of their trance, but they were still exhausted and rested with their new wives. Well, the Dark Lord would probably quickly come up with a plan that would outsmart Dumbledore and keep his resurrection a secret. It was too early for the wizarding world to become aware of him being back.
Voldemort listened to Peter's report.
"This is a problem, Peter. But good work in bugging Dumbledore's office. This way, we aren't caught unaware of this development," commented Voldemort, thinking how to turn this into an advantage. Then he grinned. "Peter, we will play a great trick against Dumbledore. We will make him believe that all the ones involved in the ritual were forced into participation while being placed under the imperius curse."
"That would work, but will Dumbledore believe it?" asked Peter.
"Right now, they only know that a neutral ritual of great power, with some leaning towards being light magic, was performed. The imperius, contrary to the cruciatus and killing curses, registers as neutral magic. Thus, they wouldn't be able to disprove that Endymion and Barty were placed under it to cooperate. We can even make both of them appear as heroes who rescued the poor girls that you kidnapped from Hogwarts. After all, Dumbledore knows about your animagus form now and would conclude that you used that to sneak inside and knew how to trick the wards to not detect you," grinned Voldemort, "They would manage to establish themselves in profitable positions. I can implant false memories into their minds easily and block their true ones behind impenetrable occlumency shields that will even fool Dumbledore, as his one major weakness is that he wants to see the good traits of a person.
"Neither Barty nor Endymion are extremists in their beliefs. They believe in my true vision but don't approve the methods that my followers used at the end of the war. Looking back, I should have controlled certain members of our group more closely. It only gave our movement a negative appearance. And that while it was the Ministry that escalated things into violence. It was far too easy for the corrupt morons to paint us as terrorists. If Dumbledore uses legilimency on either of them, he will be faced with their truthfully protective feelings towards their new wives. Neither of the two wants any harm to come to their families.
"It was easy to see that Endymion had harboured a crush on Hermione before he was invited to participate in the ritual. He is good at occlumency, Amycus did train him well, but compared to my abilities he is an amateur. He just never acted and tried to find out if their magic would be compatible because he believed her to be a mudblood and he couldn't pursue a witch without magical heritage. No matter if he liked what he saw of her. When he found out that she is a halfblood, those reservations could be done away with and he could allow his attraction for her to be explored.
"I can understand where he comes from. A dumb witch will never satisfy an intelligent and driven wizard like Endymion. And sadly, Hogwarts under Dumbledore's lead has done our wizarding youth a severe disservice."
"I fully agree with you, my lord. I noticed that the classes I watched with either Weasley boy that I played the pet of were far below the level I had experienced when I was a student there. And most girls are more interested in fashion and beauty products than furthering their magical abilities. Even the ones in Ravenclaw and Slytherin disappointed in that regard. I mean, I have the example of Bellatrix and Alecto what witches can achieve with the right training. And while Narcissa disappointed in Transfiguration, she excelled in Charms and Ancient Runes when she went through Hogwarts. Most of the top students outside of rare exceptions like Hermione Rosenberg, now Lestrange, are male," confirmed Peter.
"I will change that once I have rebuilt my power base. But Barty and Endymion will be more useful undermining the heart of the enemy. We will make it appear that they woke up after the ritual was done and against our expectations it also broke through the imperius they were put under. While it would be better to leave Dumbledore in the dark, that won't happen anymore, not with him already having too many parts of the puzzle. Despite his faults, he is smart and will figure out that I'm back. It won't take too long. The good part is that neither Barty nor Endymion have seen me regain my body, as they fell into their trances after reaching their climax. They can claim that they remember being forced into a ritual in which they and the two girls were used as virginal sacrifices.
"It can't be determined when a witch or wizard lost their virginity, only that it happened. Concerning the two girls, well, I can modify their memories enough to not let them give Dumbledore all the facts. They can reveal parts of them. Like having been kidnapped without seeing their attacker, which is true; they can tell about you informing them that they would assist with a ritual, also true, and not being able to do anything to prevent that ritual. Also true," listed Voldemort.
"What about Jasmine's drastic change of appearance?" asked Peter.
"Can also be explained away with her being given potions to reach her optimal physical condition, which made the ritual more powerful which was the declared goal of us. She can also report that it was done while she was unconscious and that she woke up like this. All true. Any healer worth their oath will manage to determine that with a simple diagnostic charm. I will let them forget that they heard that the ritual would give me a body back, only that the sacrifice of their virginity would give it the necessary power. I know that Fudge will refuse to believe that I could be back. After all, he is utterly unsuited to lead the Ministry with me as the opponent. And people will explain the choice of participants away with us determining the optimal partners for the girls when we tested who would manage to dominate their magic naturally. They don't need to know that we wouldn't have the means to check that many wizards. It could be possible and that suffices," stated Voldemort, "Probably they will explain Endymion's choice away with a Hogsmeade weekend being used."
Peter nodded and he wrote down his master's instructions how they would utterly confuse the ones investigating the situation until it was too late, and they had finished their preparations.
And that is the ritual wrapped up.