章 123: The-Enemy-Who-Planned (II)
~~Riddle House, Little Hangleton~~ (November 1st, 1994)
"Wormtail" A small baby-like figure wrapped in a black sheet hissed furiously, but the figure was definitely not a baby, especially not when the figure was sporting red and scaly wrinkled skin. The figure also possessed some distinguished features, such as snake-like nostrils and slit-like eyes. The figure was also holding a bone-white Wand in its tiny disfigured hands and anyone who fought in the last War would have recognized the figure as widely feared You-Know-Who.
Another man entered the room with a Potion vial in his hand with a fearful look on his face. The man "Here is your Potion, My Lord" The man whispered fearfully as he kneeled before the demented form of Lord Voldemort and held out the Potion vial.
"What are you waiting for, you fool?" The demented figure snarled shrilly, making the whimpering flail around and almost drop the Potion vial. The man carefully stood up and uncorked the Potion vial before holding the Potion vial in front of the demented figure's body. The figure grabbed the Potion vial with its free hand and tipped the Potion vial over its mouth so that it could consume the Potion.
Lord Voldemort hated his current body. He hated the fact that he required the assistance of someone like Peter Pettigrew to maintain his current form. It was degrading and humiliating on so many levels, but what other choice did he have? His Homunculus body was weak and he required a special Potion consisting of Unicorn Blood and Nagini's Venom every few hours to even maintain this form, but what option did he have? He needed a rudimentary body if wanted to regain his original form.
After losing his body back in Halloween 1981, he fled to the forest in Albania and decided to hide there. He was hoping for his followers to come looking for him in the following years, but none of them came… He degraded himself by possessing animals for the following years, but then all of a sudden, an opportunity presented itself to him when a Wizard named Quirinus Quirrell arrived in the forest and Voldemort reluctantly decided to let the opportunity pass by.
Yes, he was desperate to regain a body, but partial possession wasn't ideal from his perspective, nor did he have any reason to reveal his continued existence to the rest of the world, especially when he had nothing to gain for it… First of all, Harry Potter was missing and then there was always a chance that his weak form might be discovered by the others. A year and a half later, he came across Nagini and he immediately knew that there was something special about her. So, he decided to possess her and he was surprised to find that her body was able to hold up without any degradation due to possession.
After two more years, another opportunity presented itself when none other than Peter Pettigrew came looking for him in Albania… If he was being honest, he wasn't expecting someone like Pettigrew to come looking for him. After all, Pettigrew was a coward, but he was not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. With Pettigrew's help, he was able to create a Homunculus for himself. He knew it wasn't ideal, but it was his only course of action.
He expected Nagini to die after he left her body, but once again, she surprised him by staying alive. After that, he started to plan what his next move was going to be, but then all of a sudden, Pettigrew returned with a woman named Bertha Jorkins… The woman turned out to be a treasure trove of knowledge, so he decided to use her to create another Horcrux as an honor. From her, he learned that Barty Crouch Jr. was still alive and was being held under the Imperius Curse by his own father. He immediately decided to free Barty as Barty was one of his most fanatical followers and from Pettigrew, he knew that Barty never deserted him.
From Bertha Jorkins, he also got to learn about the Triwizard Tournament and then he started to plan how to use the Tournament to kidnap Harry Potter, and then use the boy to regain his body before disposing of the bane of his existence… Freeing Barty Jr. from his father's control wasn't that hard as they simply showed up in his house and Crouch Sr. wasn't able to resist them. After that, he put Crouch Sr. under the Imperius Curse and ordered him to act as if everything was normal and nothing was amiss.
Voldemort realized that if he wanted his plan to succeed, then he would need someone inside Hogwarts, so he tasked Barty Jr. to infiltrate Hogwarts and enter Harry Potter's name inside the Goblet after Confounding the Goblet to think that there were four schools in the Tournament. Thankfully, Barty Jr. was an extremely gifted Wizard, so he succeeded. His plan worked and Harry Potter's name was selected as the fourth champion. Now, he simply had to wait and he would once again rise in power.
"Have you heard anything from Barty?" Voldemort asked as he narrowed his slitted eyes at Pettigrew. He hated the man with his very being, but credit where credits due… The cowardly man who looked much like Animagus counterpart came looking for him even though it was for his own selfish reasons, but the man still came looking for him while the others have deserted him. Last night, Barty had reported that today Dumbledore will be visiting America with the rest of the organizers to get Harry Potter, but Barty was yet to report anything after that.
"N-no, my Lord" Pettigrew stuttered out fearfully and Voldemort's nostril flared in annoyance. He would have loved to Curse Pettigrew stupid if he had another follower at hand.
Voldemort opened his mouth to say something, but he froze when he felt someone cross the Wards, but the Wards didn't trigger. Only three people knew he was here and one of them was present right in front of him, which meant that it was either Barty Jr. or it was Barty Sr. He didn't need to wait long before a figure finally arrived outside the room and knocked on the door. Since the door was slightly ajar, Voldemort immediately recognized the man at the door. For whatever reason, Barty Sr. was here, which meant something was wrong.
"Why are you here?" Voldemort asked carefully and Pettigrew whimpered again, much to his distaste.
"Harry Potter had refused to return to Britain and participate in the Tournament" Barty Sr. answered after he entered the room and kneeled in front of Voldemort. At his words, Voldemort's eyes grew wide in surprise. Technically, it was good news as the boy would lose his Magic as a consequence of not participating, but he couldn't be sure, especially when he didn't know much about the Goblet of Fire. Yes, the Goblet was supposed to bind all participants with Unbreakable Contacts, but it was Barty Jr. who entered the name, so he wasn't sure who would be bound.
"And Dumbledore accepted? I am not sure that Dumbledore would allow the boy to lose his Magic" Voldemort spoke slowly. Voldemort knew that Dumbledore knew the whole Prophecy and he was also sure that Harry Potter was the child of the Prophecy, so there was no way that Dumbledore would allow his only hope to lose his Magic. After all, according to the Prophecy, only Harry Potter could defeat him.
"He wasn't happy, but he knew that he couldn't force the issue when the boy presented a valid reason to refuse his inclusion in the Tournament" Barty Sr. answered, making Voldemort raise his non-existent eyebrows at the man. What valid reason could the boy possibly have for refusing his inclusion?
"What is this so-called valid reason the boy gave?" Voldemort asked in an irritated tone as he was getting really impatient.
"He said that Harry Potter is not his real name and even the Goblet won't be able to bind him with an Unbreakable Contract with a fake name" Barty Sr. revealed and Voldemort almost choked at those words.
He immediately started to consider the implications of this development inside his mind… 'If what the boy said is true, then there is no way that the Goblet would be able to bind him with an Unbreakable Contract, but how is this even possible? I clearly remember that Mudblood calling him Harry while begging… Was she knowingly using a fake name in case I tried something like this?' Voldemort considered inside his mind before quickly shaking his head in denial. No! He refused to believe that a Mudblood could be that sharp, but then all of a sudden, he froze.
Lily Potter wasn't just any other Mudblood, she was extremely sharp and cunning. Voldemort knew that Harry Potter didn't beat him, but it was Lily Potter who invoked something with her death and rendered him bodiless. So, he couldn't dismiss the idea that she used a fake name to knowingly fool him and everyone else in case someone tried something like this… This realization wasn't hard for him to swallow. The mudblood had fooled him twice, which was an extremely bitter pill to swallow. He felt a towering rage bubble inside of him, but thankfully, he had two targets right in front of his eyes for his ire to be pointed at.
"Crucio!!" Voldemort snarled as he pointed his Wand at Barty Crouch Sr…
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