Chương 1570: 32
Chapter 32: Dark Lord RebornNotes:
Good morning everyone, here's the latest chapter. It's a bit longer than usual, but I'm sure that you won't compain about that. Have fun reading
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Not long after the Death Eaters and Voldemort left Azkaban (a trip back was implemented in the ritual), Nathaniel and Augustus Rookwood began preparing the resurrection ritual. With the bones soaking in blood and the blood of the enemy being ready, as well as all the base ingredients for the potion, they now only needed the flesh of a willing servant. After some calculations, the Dark Lord agreed with them that a man's flesh would be more compatible, so Bella was not a possibility. The two brilliant Death Eaters had already started making bets about who would do the sacrifice. Rookwood thought that Lucius would do it for a wand and his lord's recognition, Nathaniel guessed that Alecto Carrow would make her brother do it to make up for his stupidity in regards to the alarm at Azkaban.
In the end it actually was Barty Jr., knowing he had a strong magical core and after all the things his father had done to him (being kept in the basement under the Imperius for a decade wasn't fun) he was looking for recognition.
And so, the ritual for the Dark Lord's rebirth started.
"Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew your son!"
While Nathaniel was stirring the cauldron, Augustus grabbed the smaller cauldron with the bones (still in unicorn and human blood) and carefully emptied that into the potion. He had to do that by hand, any magic could create issues and flaws.
"Flesh of the servant, willingly sacrificed, you will revive your master. "
Without really thinking about it, Barty Crouch Jr. cut off his left pinkie. To him, the return of Lord Voldemort was much more important than anything else, so he didn't even hesitate when he tossed the finger into the cauldron and let Nott heal it.
Then Augustus turned to Dumbledore, who was tied up and silenced, being forced to watch the return of Lord Voldemort, he ripped away a piece of the sleeve and cut open the arm of the "Leader of the Light" so he could use his blood. Three drops of blood went into the potion.
"Blood of the enemy, forcibly taken, you will resurrect your foe."
While the previously-so-great Albus Dumbledore was screaming out of anger, having overpowered the silencing charm with sheer willpower. Barty, with his finger now healed, silenced him again and levitated him back to his cell so they could all enjoy the Dark Lord's return to power.
And that is exactly what happened. Just a minute after the last drop of blood hit the potions it all started glowing brightly before the spirit of Voldemort got pulled into the cauldron, leaving Gabriel Delacour's body dead behind, just to step out of the cauldron as a young man. None of the Death Eaters present had been present when he had been that young, but many had heard from their fathers that the Dark Lord had been a charming and charismatic young man. And now he was that again.
Tom Riddle asked for a mirror, and Augustus handed him one. He didn't care that right now he was still unrobed, with his body he knew he'd make basically all of them jealous. And that in every sense, because despite hating his muggle relatives, they had been well-built. In every single aspect.
He looked into a mirror and recognised a face he hadn't seen in many years. He looked as if he'd be in his mid-twenties again.
Then he asked for his wand.
This was a mission that the rat had to accomplish, because he had hidden the Dark Lord's wand after the events at Godric's Hollow, and just before the rebirth ritual Peter and Goyle went to retrieve it.
And so the rat stumbled into the room, staring at the reborn Dark Lord and falling onto his knees, holding out the yew wand. With a diabolic grin Lord Voldemort took the wand, felt the familiar feeling of it and gave it a proper flick. It worked just as perfect as before.
Since Tom was a master of transfiguration he summoned the prepared robes and turned them into a formal wizarding robe, because he was a "Lord" after all. Just for fun's sake he made his eyes glow red for a second, before they turned back into his dark brown eyes. Oh, it was so much fun having a proper body, and especially a young and strong one.
After a while of torturing his servants and getting their full obedience again, he began planning and shouting orders. Lucius for example knew how to reach Greyback, and some of the others had connections too, be it to wandmakers, potioneers and other valuable assets to build up their strength again.
Now with his proper body Tom called for Barty, Augustus and Nathaniel (the three most skilled and knowledgeable wizards among the Death Eaters, together probably rivalling him in knowledge) to assist him in setting up wards. Sure, he could do it alone, but together they were quicker.
"My Lord?"
"Yes, Augustus?"
"While I don't know the spell, how about setting up a Fidelius ward? Just in case someone researches your past more thoroughly than the Prophet has done so far."
"That is a good idea, Augustus. With all those people trying to find out who I once was it might be a wise move. I'll do it, I'm the strongest, but then I can't be secret keeper myself. Nathaniel?"
"I'm willing to serve you as a secret keeper, my Lord."
As the Dark Lord tapped into his magical core for the Fidelius, he started laughing. Dumbledore's blood surely must have improved his core size because the charm wasn't taxing at all. Now they only needed to tell the secret to all his Death Eaters.
And a few days of preparations later the Dark Lord was ready to move. He had a plan.
The first of his strike teams was headed into a muggle town to attack a pair of dentists. Preparing for that was actually quite exhausting because most of the purebloods had not the faintest idea of how the muggle world was working, but in the end they managed to make a plan.
Those dentists were the parents of Harry Potter's best friend (some said girlfriend, they were not sure), and rumour has it that Potter was spending some time there during the holidays. Especially after the trials revealed that Potter's muggle family abused the boy and McGonagall freed him it was not an unlikely conclusion that he spent time there. Some of their spies gave supporting evidence to that, so they'd rather attack those muggles than Potter's blood relatives.
This troop was led by Nott and Lucius Malfoy, both hoping to prove themselves. The Dark Lord knew that they would probably fail (both because Potter surely set up protections and because Lucius and Nott were incompetent), but it would scare them enough and might give them a lead on Potter's hideout.
The next troop was Greyback with half a dozen other wolves as well as Barty and the Carrows. Thanks to a very surprising spy implementing an Imperius curse they would have their victims ready. Tom himself wasn't a fan of werewolf bloodbaths, but it was efficient until he would dispose of Greyback.
And then he had small groups sent to the Manors of two powerful families that were against him. He himself would join one of those to make a public appearance.
Emma Granger was standing in the kitchen and preparing dinner for her and Dan, while her husband was reading through a book on magical history of the nineteenth century he borrowed from Harry. It was one of Bathilda Bagshot's early books and was even signed by her, for Henry Potter. The smell of Emma's cooking began filling the house and made them both pretty hungry, especially after having an exhausting day at work.
Just when Dan wanted to put the book aside and started to get up, they both heard the familiar noise of an apparition, combined with something colliding with their wards. By now the Grangers had quite powerful wards, beginning with some by Minerva and Harry, but improved by Remus, Severus and Sirius along the way. Emma, still standing in the kitchen, saw the Death Eaters in front of their house, which she shouted loud enough for Dan to hear.
Lucius Malfoy spotted the woman on the other side of the window and yelled at Nott that he should break the wards. This wasn't easy, but Lord Nott decided to give Lucius an opportunity.
"They're damn strong, it will take some time. But I can weaken those in front of the window, go for a blasting curse or something like that and kill the bloody muggle."
Emma Granger saw the Death Eater with platinum blonde hair and a mask on, a man that surely must be Lucius Malfoy. Then her husband told her that he had a floo connection, so she should hurry up.
Unfortunately Lucius' curse did indeed penetrate the wards quite effectively and caused an explosion that threw Emma through the room.
"Emma!"
Dan leaped forward and grabbed his wife, who was hurt badly. Yes, she was alive, but she had several open wounds on her back, probably a lot of bruising and some broken ribs too. So he had to get her to safety, which meant diving into the floo and landing in Potter Manor. Just moments later Sirius appeared, having heard them enter and he brought both Grangers into the small infirmary the Manor had (where he had spent quite some time too back in the day. Dangerous pranks really were the best ones). After applying some of the basic healing charms he questioned Dan about what happened, leading to a lot of cursing. But before he could inform Harry and Amy he had to help Emma. Thankfully the Potters had healing elves that would be skilled enough to deal with the situation.
Lucius saw the green flames of a floo connection through the window and started cursing before explaining to Nott that they were long gone. That meant that potential backup would be heading here soon, so they would have to make as much damage as possible. Lucius, still craving for attention, then went for Fiendfyre he nearly lost control of within seconds, but once the flames and smoke disappeared (Nott's intervention) they saw that the whole house was reduced to ashes. And while they hadn't killed anyone (the blasting curse hadn't been enough to kill the muggle), they still summoned the Dark Mark as a symbol of their master's return.
At the same time Death Eaters were attacking the Bones Manor (Amy was luckily still at the ministry and the aurors that responded to the alarm drove them off) and Longbottom Manor. The Dark Lord himself had joined the latter group, expecting the minister's protection to be rather strong. Instead he'd lead his servants against Augusta Longbottom, a very annoying political opponent.
They apparated just outside of the wards and started going against the protections. Other than at the Grangers' they didn't use any technique, but with the Dark Lord's help they just took it down with pure force. Just after about thirty seconds the wards couldn't hold any longer and crumbled. One ancient celtic ward shattering curse more and the Longbottom's protection was completely gone.
Augusta Longbottom felt it when the wards got attacked. The floo was down, so she had to rely on a patronus message to the ministry before heading out herself. Right now it was just her and the elves, no one else. She thought she had the time to grab her old protective robe, but while putting that on she felt it. The wards were down, and that meant she was lost. Apparition was just as impossible as flooing and all her emergency portkeyes brought her into the Manor. And whoever brought down the wards, they were powerful. Even Dumbledore alone would have needed at least three times that long.
The Manor itself was protected even stronger than the lands, but that was just a matter of minutes then. She had to get up on one of the balconies for now and keep them away until the aurors arrived. And the Patronus did need quite some time to reach the Ministry. She should have just bought a new set of communication mirrors after the last one got destroyed when Frank and Alice got attacked.
Now dressed in a heavy, but protective robe made out of dragon scale and her wand in her hand, she stepped out on the big balcony above the front entrance. Though Augusta hid the fear, she was afraid. There were five Death Eaters, one of them the bitch Bella Lestrange. The man in the middle of the four others seemed quite young in comparison, but even scarier. Who was he?
Bella was the first one to send a curse, a pretty nasty one too, but the Manor's wards deflected that easily while Augusta Longbottom stood there and looked down on them. Then the elderly woman began moving her wand at a surprising speed.
Despite being feared in the Wizengamot, Augusta Longbottom wasn't known as a strong dueller. But that she was too, she just never made that public knowledge. Sure, Dumbledore would easily finish her, but just a few years back she duelled Minerva in practice and nearly won after ten minutes of duelling. Minnie's transfiguration tricks though were pretty mean, and so she lost. That meant she could at least hold off the Death Eaters for a while, especially with the ward advantage.
While Augusta sent spells down towards them at a shocking speed, Tom Riddle stepped back and took his time to dismantle the wards.
Just two minutes later Augusta had incapacitated two Death Eaters, just Bella and a masked man that probably was Walden Macnair, she thought she recognised the voice. The "junior Death Eater" whom she totally underestimated was still staying behind, and she interpreted that as hesitation. That was a mistake.
Just minutes after aurors had defended Minister Bones' Manor, a patronus message coming from Augusta Longbottom reached the DMLE. They dispatched half a dozen aurors to Longbottom Manor via an emergency portkey the Department created.
The first thing the aurors noticed was the two incapacitated Death Eaters, which they hit with an Incarcerous spell and levitated them away from the battlefield before anyone noticed their arrival.
Augusta Longbottom though had seen them and so she decided to rush downstairs and face her opponents to distract them. For a minute or two she could hold off Lestrange and Macnair, maybe even get that young hesitant man to help her. He certainly didn't seem like he'd want to fight.
If that would have been true, then it would have worked out just fine, but while the aurors were putting up anti-transportation wards (Lady Longbottom was able to handle herself for another minute, so they didn't need to worry) Augusta exited through the main entrance of the Manor and charged at Bellatrix Lestrange with all she got. Two of the aurors now joined the fight and took out Macnair without him even having a chance to react. Then they started moving around the young man.
"Aurors! You better drop your wand and surrender, young man."
Augusta too tried talking to the man who was just standing around and muttering things.
"Yes, come on, you don't want to do this. Please just drop your wand and no one needs to get hurt."
Tom Riddle just laughed. He had carefully powered down the ancient wards of Longbottom Manor so that his next spell would be an even more impressive display of power.
"Bella! Stop attacking the Lady and come here."
She took a step closer to her Lord and a protective shield appeared. All the aurors and Lady Longbottom were just staring at them, confused. Who could command the crazy Lestrange but the Dark Lord?
"Your spells won't break my shields, or at least not for now. I want you all to see the power that I have."
His eyes started shining red and he lifted his hand so everyone could see his wand. A wand every witch and wizard knew. You-know-who's wand.
"See the power that is mine. For I am returned. I AM LORD VOLDEMORT! Flamarae Demonias! "
And with a loud cracking noise a creature made out of demonic fire leaped at Augusta Longbottom. The spell he used had once caused the great fire in London 1666 as well as some other devastating incidents. It was one of the darkest spells but required an abnormal amount of power. One that Tom Riddle now possessed.
The demon of fire was an intelligent creature, yet completely obeyed his summoner's orders, so it slowly walked towards Augusta Longbottom. It had big fiery wings, horns and was about four metres tall.
In her panic Augusta tried the last thing she could think of, no matter how dark it was.
" Avada Kedavra! "
But as the creature wasn't really alive per se, the green spell just passed through it and vanished into the night.
"A nice try, Lady Longbottom. But not good enough. Kill her!"
Augusta saw her death approaching and decided to not run away. It would be pointless either way. She wasn't that young and fit anymore, and as far as she saw, the creature could outrun her easily.
So she thought about Neville, the once so timid little boy that would be Lord now. His father had been declared unfit and just her being the Regent kept him from ascending to the title. But now he had to take up the mantle of Head of House, and he was ready. He had Daphne by his side, a lovely and brilliant woman, and he had his brother in all but blood, Harry. He was a strong wizard and would be a great Lord Longbottom. But she wished that she could see him one more ti…
And the claw of the demonic creature hit her, the burning hand just passing through her body and slicing her in half. The Lady Longbottom, Regent of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Longbottom was no more.
Then the Dark Lord turned around, facing Bella, who was still keeping the aurors busy.
"Bella, stop playing around. They shall see the power of Lord Voldemort and tell their bosses that I'm back. But first…"
He turned back to his fiery creature and sent it towards the building. Normally the wards would be able to keep it out, but that's why he had weakened them. He needed a display of power.
The creature leaped forward and crashed into the Manor, breaking both wards and walls. Tom Riddle knew the monster was weakening, so he decided to use the rest of its power to blow a massive hole into one of the oldest and most heavily protected buildings in all Wizarding Britain. It was all about symbolism.
"GO! Tell your bosses what you witnessed today. The return of Lord Voldemort. Bella, grab Macnair, Crabbe and your stupid husband and use your portkey back."
He flicked his wand once more, throwing the aurors back and giving Bella the chance to grab their fellow Death Eaters before disappearing into black smoke. Sure, it had been nothing more than a standard apparition after his wave of power against the aurors dismantled their anti-transportation wards, but he liked to use a smoke charm to make it appear more like the forgotten art of shadow travel or something like that.
Amelia Bones was terrified by what she heard. By now Sirius had told her what happened at the Grangers', she had read the report on the attack on her home and now that. Augusta Longbottom was dead, and Voldemort himself - looking young too - had killed her. Sirius was still with her, and once all the briefings were done, he decided to mirror-call Harry.
"Sorry pup, but there's been some Death Eater activity."
"What happened, Sirius?"
"First of all, and please don't freak out, they're both alive, but your parents got attacked, Hermione. Death Eaters burned down the house and they escaped via floo to us."
Mione was too shocked to speak right now and if she wouldn't have lived through one war already (and if she'd really be a young child) then she would have started to cry, but she managed to control her fears.
"Did anything happen to them, Sirius?"
"Yes, your mother took a blasting curse into the back, but the wards caught most of it. From the descriptions I'd say Nott was the curse breaker and Malfoy threw the curse. A few cracked ribs, some bruises and cuts, but nothing that magical healing couldn't handle. She's fine and resting right now. Your dad is fine, he was in the living room when it happened, but Emma was standing in the kitchen…"
"And let me guess, they saw her and attacked through the window. After realising they were gone they burned it down. Is it completely destroyed?"
"Yes, I'm so sorry."
"At least they're fine, that's all that matters."
But then Harry spoke up again, by now his arm around Mione and holding her.
"That can't be everything though, you look way too grim for just a failed attack. Who died?"
Then someone knocked on the door and didn't even wait for Minerva to say "enter" before rushing in. It was Neville, and just seconds later Daphne too. Both seemed out of breath.
"Is she dead? She must be. Who killed her?"
Everyone was silent.
Then Sirius' voice, coming out of the Mirror, answered that question.
"Yes, she is. I'm so sorry, Neville. The aurors tried their best, but it was four Death Eaters and he himself."
"He's back? So they must have done the ritual. Oh damn, so much for taking a break."
Then Hermione realised how harsh that exclamation must have been on Neville and hugged him. Everyone in the room, and Sirius via mirror, expressed their condolences, and Daphne was crying while trying to support her boyfriend. Nev himself was actually managing it pretty well, at least for now. He had one goal, and that was the downfall of Voldemort and his servants, once and for all.
Sirius began filling them in on what happened, based on the auror reports from the scene. Once Nev heard that Bella Lestrange had been there too, he nearly lost it, but calmed down to hear the end of the story.
"And then they all tried talking to the young man that didn't participate in the fight while fighting Bella. He just stood there and muttered things. But then he spoke up, and commanded Bella to his side. It was Voldemort himself."
"Wait, young man? Not old, white face, bald and without a proper nose. "
"Without a proper nose? I don't even wanna ask. Yes, Harry, a young man. Mid-twenties, dark hair, brown eyes with a tendency to glow red. Apparently rather charming and with a noble attitude."
"Oh god, it seems like the resurrection worked pretty well for him. Any info on magical power, now that he used Dumbles' blood?"
"Yes, he used a flame demon spell to kill Augusta and put a gigantic hole into the Manor. I've only heard of that spell, and never that strong. And we know how powerful the wards were."
"He put a hole…? Son of a bitch, that's why he didn't fight, he weakened the wards and used that to show off. Blast a hole in one of the strongest buildings in Britain with one spell, kill a political opponent and let the witnesses go. That's how you make yourself feared."
Neville nodded. He understood the tactics Voldemort had used, and it was clever. Horrible and cruel, but intelligent. But then he realised something.
"But Harry, don't you think that just two attacks have the opposite effect? He'd need more at once to show off properly."
"Three attacks, my home too, but I was still in my office."
Harry looked up, surprised.
"Amy? Anyone got hurt there?"
"No, and the aurors were there even faster than at Longbottom Manor. We didn't catch any Death Eaters though, but it seems like our response time is better than in the last war. As much as it hurts to lose Augusta, it's just one casualty. Back then we lost entire families in that timespan."
"But that can't be everything. Your place was most likely empty, and Augusta is living alone. My parents would have been two muggles, what isn't much for Voldemort. That can't be everything for the day of his return. I think we might not have such a quiet night."
"I agree, the aurors are already on standby. But for now that's all we can do, go get some rest, especially you, Neville."
And with that the mirror call was over.
"Harry?"
"Yes, Nev, can I do anything for you?"
"Actually yes, I need you as a witness. Now that the Regent Longbottom is dead, I'm the next Lord. That's how I knew, my ring started glowing once she died."
"But I thought that…"
"My dad? No, he's medically declared unfit. After the attack family magic decided that he was in no state to be Lord. I would get the title on my seventeenth birthday or after my Regent's death. So.. could you please be my witness?"
Harry nodded. That he could do.
"I, Neville Francis Longbottom, Heir to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Longbottom hereby proclaim myself the Lord of my House following ancient tradition and my predecessor's will."
Then Harry got up, his rings softly glowing now too.
"I, Harry James Potter hereby witness Neville Francis Longbottom taking his Lordship and back his claim. Welcome, Lord Longbottom."
"Thank you, Lord Potter."
And the first person to say anything after that was Daphne.
"So, your middle name is Francis, love?"
And despite all the horrors and the sadness, no one, not even Severus Snape, could hold back the laughter.
But they didn't laugh for long though, because the other three heads of house and Aurora Sinistra, deputy head of Slytherin, now knocked on Minnie's door.
"Come in, please. What can I do for you."
Aurora was the first one to speak up.
"Oh, you have solved all my issues by now, my missing snake is here. I take it that's justified?"
"Yes, Daphne's here because Lord Longbottom's grandmother got killed by Voldemort this evening and she looks after him. And you three?"
Minerva just stating that fact shocked all four of them, but Filius was the first one to recover and address the issue.
"We all have missing students. Well, Slytherin now doesn't anymore, but I'm missing Chang, Edgecombe and Corner."
"Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown."
"Sophie Roper and Ernie Macmillan."
They all exchanged worried looks, because Mione had said it just a few minutes ago. Voldemort would want something bigger to happen.
"Mione, you got your map?"
"Sure, here it is. I solemnly swear I'm up to no good."
Harry and Mione both looked at the map and tried to find out where the missing students were, but the castle was big. Then Remus came forward.
"Whose is that? Peter lost his and I burned mine after hearing that Siri betrayed your parents. Siri's got confiscated in late seventh year, so probably James'?"
"Nope, that one I have. That Sirius' map. The Weasley twins stole it from Filch's office."
"Oh, the poor teachers. Anyway, Mr. Moony would like to know from Mr. Padfoot where Parvati Patil is ."
Within moments a small dot on the outer parts of the Hogwarts grounds flared up, and upon further inspection they realised that all the missing students were heading towards the edge of the wards.
"Oh god, once they crossed the wards Voldemort could reach them!"
Professor Sprout, usually very calm, was panicking like never before in her life.
"But why would they do that?"
"Come on, Septima, the most logical explanation is a Voldemort sympathiser, most likely upper years, probably a Slytherin kid of a Death Eater who used the Imperius. Or they're already recruiting students, but for that the time was most likely too short. If Malfoy or Parkinson would be two years older they'd be my top suspects, simply because of the family background. Those that got forced into that way of thinking and didn't escape it themselves."
Septima Vector nodded, the headmistress was probably right.
But then all changed at once, when Remus Lupin jumped up.
"Oh no. I can smell him now. He's not far away from the wards and he's not alone. I've got to go after him."
"After whom, Remus?"
Filius asked, dreading the answer he was already expecting.
"Greyback. He's going after them."
The group of students wasn't even wondering why they were heading towards the edge of the wards after curfew, they were just doing it. Even though the caster hadn't been strong, his spell was still strong enough to break their wills and make them follow his orders.
What they didn't know was that right now they were only steps away from the edge of the wards. And once they would cross them, they'd run into Fenrir Greyback and his wolves. Sure, it wasn't a full moon, but Greyback was always a monster, and a scratch or bite from him would always have its consequences.
Fenrir Greyback was lurking, behind him some members of his pack and the wizards the Dark Lord sent to accompany him. Their goal was to create a bloodbath. And he planned to be as ruthless and cruel as always.
Notes:
So, I hope you liked it, let me know in the comments what you think. Until next week :)
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