Authors' Notes:
Hello.
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The silence was suffocating.
Augustus Rookwood followed Lord Voldemort through the twisting halls and maze-like corridors. Through it all, not a sound was heard. No ghost, no painting, no child, no light buzz of life that used to permeate the halls.
The lack of noise pressed upon the two, driving vivid scenes of dark happenings into their minds like a nail.
The Death Eater considered asking to retreat every few minutes of this but stopped himself before he could each time. Lord Voldemort was unsettled and the paranoia stemming from that could be turned on Rookwood just as easily as it had been on so many others. The unfortunate night at Malfoy Manor was quick to enter his head at the thought and he realized that his life was truly on a knife's edge. And the horror lying around him had little to do with that.
Finally, they stopped at a random corridor on the seventh floor. In the center of the hallway, was a door that was propped open by another body lying on its face. Rookwood couldn't recall ever seeing a door there before. His memory of the castle was perfect, there was no way he would have forgotten a room in an otherwise empty hall.
As they approached it, the Dark Lord slowed his gait cautiously. On the wall across from the door, there was a white, almost ethereal substance splashed on it, below the empty portrait that once held a foolish man with dreams of teaching trolls to dance. It looked like a blood splatter.
Voldemort leaned slightly forward to look at it for a moment before straightening and speaking aloud. "Ectoplasm…strange."
Then, putting the thought aside, he turned his attention to the body acting as a doorstop.
Rookwood watched from behind as he stopped in front of the corpse, looking down at it.
Quiet.
Nagini slithered around herself in her ball next to her master.
The Death Eater waited for his leader to do something, but the Dark Lord proceeded to not.
Circling the powerful wizard, Rookwood dared to view the face of Lord Voldemort and was taken aback by what he saw.
Fury warred with elation and confusion on his features. The Dark Lord was at a loss. That much was plain to see.
Deciding that something needed to be done, Rookwood turned the body over with a whispered spell.
He saw the face of the dead man and, disfigured though they might have been, instantly recognized the lightning bolt scar on his forehead.
"The Boy Who Lived," Voldemort said softly. "Dead. At my feet. Nagini, time to feast."
He finished his words with a manic grin.
"I am now truly unstoppable!"
Rookwood stumbled past him, into the room beyond, hiding his disgust as he looked for something to vomit into. The remains of "The Boy Who Lived" were not pretty.
He entered the room and for the second time in less than a minute, the Ex-Unspeakable was stunned.
The chamber was immense. The ceiling was as high as a quidditch stadium was tall and there was so much space that Malfoy Manor could fit nicely into it. Every surface was stark white, as white as white could conceivably be. Twenty feet away from the entrance, a small stone chest covered in what Rookwood recognized as Mesopotamian and Nordic runes lay open on its side, a scattering of dust trailing out from inside.
He deactivated his bubblehead charm when he saw a lack of corpses and was hit by the ghastly scent of cursed smoke. He gagged.
Voldemort stepped inside the room, taking in all that Rookwood had seen.
"Fiendfyre was used here," Voldemort stated, a cold fury behind his eyes. "The item I am searching for may be gone."
"My lord," Rookwood said, kneeling by the box. "Whatever enchantment is on this ancient chest, it survived fiendfyre!"
He dipped two fingers into the dust and rubbed them together.
"These are ashes," he realized in horror. "Someone's ASHES were in this thing! Why?"
The sound of running feet echoed down the hall and Voldemort turned, exiting the room.
Rookwood gathered the ashes into the chest with a spell and closed the lid. He cast a charm, levitating the box and ordering it to follow him.
When he exited the chamber, Potter's body was gone and Nagini looked satisfied. The door closed behind him and vanished.
Rookwood started, that was new. He saw that Voldemort paid it no mind though. Maybe it was normal then.
They stared down the hall as the source of the noise came steadily closer.
Eventually, one of the Death Eaters that joined them rounded the corner and saw them, slowing to a jog as he panted heavily, tired from the exertion.
He looked terrified.
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The walk back to the main cluster of Death Eaters was tense. Sounds were quiet except for the occasional cough from Craffe, who moved with them, but on the other side of the barrier. They ended up leaving the corpse behind so it wouldn't slow them down.
The first time the trapped man coughed, Bellatrix snapped at him, ordering his silence. She didn't care if he had a tickle in his throat.
She needed to think, and not have her focus be broken by a useless peon of her Lord's work.
Something is killing the people inside. That student either tried to escape or was thrown through the window. I must warn my Dark Lord!
The mass of black robes figures came into view and the scouting party rejoined their allies.
"Where is the Dark Lord?" Bellatrix demanded. "Quickly, I must see him, I have urgent news!"
Greyback drew forward, slinking low to the ground. "He's already inside the barrier. Turns out that it isn't even tough enough to stop someone walking in."
He chuckled darkly.
Bellatrix sneered. "It wasn't meant to, Greyback. Go into the castle and warn the Dark Lord that there is something in there with him. Something that is killing the students."
Greyback growled lowly. "And why's it got to be me?"
"You're a werewolf," she exclaimed. "You can take whatever it throws at you! You resist magic quite well too…and I shall allow you all the meat you could want."
She hid her disgust as the beast began to drool.
"I'm on it, my Lady," he promised.
"Crabbe! Goyle!" She shouted, grabbing the attention of the senior Death Eaters. "Join Greyback and do whatever it takes to bring this shield down!"
Might as well keep the "can't get out" bit to myself. If only he hadn't ordered me to stay out here, I would be by his side in a heartbeat!
"Ahem," someone cleared their throat.
She turned to find Lucius Malfoy patiently waiting behind her.
He opened his to speak but another loud cough from Craffe stopped him.
The Death Eaters turned to glare at him. He wasn't looking well. From what they could tell through the crimson barrier, he had gone somewhat pale and might have been crying.
Lucius continued. "Shall I accompany them?"
Bellatrix slapped him across the face, cutting his cheek with her nails.
"How dare you! You do not deserve the honor of being anywhere near the Dark Lord after your last failure!"
Privately, she thought. The moment he gets ahold of his brat, his loyalty will shift and he will betray my Lord! I can't give him the opportunity to stab my Lord in the back!
She turned and fumed as Greyback and the two Death Eaters entered the barrier.
As they passed Craffe, he coughed onto Greyback's face.
"RAAAGGHHH!" Roared the werewolf, turning and knocking him to the ground.
"And they call me an unmannered beast!" He said shaking his head. "What are you doing? Crying?"
It did appear as though Craffe was tearing up, droplets appearing in the corner of his eyes.
He wiped his eyes with his sleeve and pulled it away. Bellatrix gasped alongside every other Death Eater peering at the man.
His sleeve was covered in blood, the same blood that was now smeared across his face.
Then, he hacked and chunks of red material flew from his mouth.
Greyback yelped, leaping back several feet, just barely avoiding the spray of viscera.
Craffe began to shake violently and moan. A haunting sound, that of a man who knew he was dying.
Fenrir coughed.
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Authors's Notes:
Forsooth: AND WE ARE BACK WITH ANOTHER INSTALLMENT OF GRENDELROT!
Conquest: I have a headache, shut up.
Forsooth: Well, maybe you shouldn't have tried head-butting that goat.
Conquest: he was looking at me weird.
Forsooth: that was a girl goat.
Conquest: SHE was looking at me weird. My head is rated E for everything.
Forsooth: Like the wall?
Conquest: that was only one time.
Forsooth: in this house. With the other houses, that's six times total.
Conquest: …
Forsooth: that's not including the brick walls at the school.
Conquest: shut up, not like you haven't done the same.
Forsooth: at least I can break through!
Conquest: that's because of how many times you do it.
Forsooth: …
Sirius: what is wrong with you two?
Forsoothandconquest: SHUT UP
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Misters ForsoothandConquest present you Author's Notes.
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