Out With the Old Professors, In With the New

Ch. 8: Uncle Voldemort Wants You!

Harry headed back to the common room after Quidditch practice had ended. As he approached the portrait of the Fat Lady, he could not help but wear a guilty grin. He had been unable to resist the lure of the loose board in the dressing room, and this time had gotten a peek at Ginny in the shower. "Mmm, soapy!" he thought. His reverie was interrupted by the diminutive figure of Dobby rushing up the stairs toward him.

"Harry Potter! Dobby is needing to talk to you right away!" he said urgently, with a wide-eyed expression of fear.

"What's wrong Dobby?" Harry asked quickly, catching the frantic elf by the shoulders.

"Oh, Harry Potter, your other Wheezy is in very big trouble!" exclaimed Dobby.

"My other Wheezy?" asked Harry. "You mean Hermione? Why, what's happened?"

"Well, the House Elves has just found out that she is asking Professor Dumbledore to, oh, oh, Harry Potter, how can Dobby say it?" said Dobby miserably.

"It's OK Dobby, go on," said Harry gently, trying to calm the agitated elf.

"Well sir, she is asking Dumbledore to give all the elves a day off!" he said with a shudder. "Every week! She wants the elves to all have Sundays off, sir!"

"Well, I know that you enjoyed your vacation, didn't you?" asked Harry.

"Shh! Shh!" he said anxiously. "Not so loud, Harry Potter, please! Yes, Dobby did enjoy his vacation, but, well, Dobby is not like all the other House Elves. I loves to serve and help my wizard friends, of course, and Dobby likes to work hard, but I learned from Harry Potter to be good to Dobby, too. But the other elves is insulted that someone does not want them to work all the time every day. They think your friend doesn't think their work is good enough for her."

Harry frowned. "Oh, that's not true, Dobby. Hermione really appreciates all the hard work you elves do, much more than most wizards, but she thinks you're not treated very well. Tell your friends she just wants you all to be treated fairly, that's all."

Dobby looked frightened. "Harry Potter, Dobby cannot tell the other House Elves anything. When they heard what Professor Hermione said, they was more angry than Dobby has ever seen them. They started yelling 'She is a bad, bad wizard!' and 'We must stop her!' Well, Dobby got angry too, and told them she was very nice and they should just stop saying bad things and get back to work. That usually does the trick, but this time it did not. They says, 'You close your mouth, Free Elf, we is not talking to you!'" he said with a tear in his eye.

"Oh Dobby, I'm so sorry!" said Harry sympathetically.

"Thank you, Harry Potter," said Dobby, blowing his nose on one of the many knit hats he wore and placing it in his pocket. "But that is not all. They began to chant, 'Down with the Free Elf! Down with the Free Elf!' and they grabbed me. Dobby was worried, Harry Potter. I asked them, 'What is you going to do to Dobby?' and they says all sorts of mean things."

"Gosh Dobby, that sounds frightening!" exclaimed Harry.

"It was a little," said Dobby. "But after serving the bad dark Malfoys, I thought there was really nothing they could do that would scare Dobby that much. But then this one elf named Perky says, 'Listen to Perky! We will send this Free Elf away, and he will not insult us with his freedom anymore. We will also stop the Bad Professor from keeping us from our work and making us rest. For too long we have been treated too kindly, and been given only a reasonable amount of work. Follow Perky, and we will put an end to these insults!' The House Elves all started cheering and clapping, and they lifted Dobby up into the air and asked Perky what to do with me. 'Cast him out!' he yelled, and the elves started rushing me towards the door. I shouted, 'Professor Dumbledore said I could stay here and work,' and Perky yelled, 'Dobby will not work down here anymore!' As the elves pushed me out the door, Dobby heard Perky say, 'Gather round, and hear my plan to stop the Bad Professor!'"

"Stop the 'Bad Professor'?" asked Harry incredulously. "But what could they do to stop Hermione?"

"Oh, Harry Potter, you do not know the magic House Elves have," said Dobby. "Our power is very special. We can ignore any other magic if it interferes with our work or threatens our masters or their secrets. That is one reason why House Elves resist freedom; much of our magic is based on the bond we share with our masters."

"Have you lost any of your magic, Dobby?" Harry asked with concern.

Dobby answered, "Some, Harry Potter. I can still use all my magic in my work, or to defend Hogwarts or anyone here. However, Dobby cannot use my magic against the other elves, since they are part of Hogwarts too. Anyway, there are too many of them, and some, like Perky, are much more powerful than Dobby."

"Well, surely Dumbledore or the other professors will be able to stop them if they try to do anything to Hermione, won't they?" asked Harry anxiously.

"Dobby doesn't know, that's why I came to tell Harry Potter right away," said Dobby urgently. "It depends on how much of a threat they think your Wheezy is to them. And since she wants to stop them from working one day a week, that could be all they need to unleash their powers."

"All right Dobby, here's what we're going to do," said Harry, coming up with a plan on the fly, which was his specialty, of course. "You go find Professor Dumbledore and tell him what you've just told me. I'm going to Hermione's quarters. Ron went straight there after Quidditch practice to help her with some stuff she couldn't do by herself, he said, so I can warn them both together. We'll stay with her until we hear from you or Dumbledore."

"Of course, Harry Potter. But, there is one more thing..." Dobby began nervously.

"What is it, Dobby?" Harry asked.

"Well, Dobby cannot go back to the kitchens now, I am not welcome and it is not safe. Do you think it would be OK for Dobby to stay in the Gryffindor Common Room? Then I could still work in there, too."

Harry smiled sadly, patted Dobby on the shoulder, and said, "I think that'd be fine, Dobby. I'll make sure none of the other students mind when we get back tonight. I'm really sorry for all the trouble we've caused you."

His eyes shining, Dobby said, "Oh no, Harry Potter, Dobby owes everything to you. Whatever trouble your friends, or you, causes for Dobby is nothing, and I will always be grateful to you and help you. You are a great friend to Dobby, and to all the other House Elves, too."

With that, Dobby disappeared in a puff of smoke. Harry watched him go, and turned and ran back down the stairs toward the History classroom.

Meanwhile, three cloaked and hooded figures entered a dingy pub in Shrewsbury. The Cheeky Basilisk was a wizarding bar known as a place where a person's affairs were his own, and his secrets were respected. As such, much business of a shady nature was conducted over Butterbeers, Firewhiskey, or more exotic concoctions. One of the cloaked wizards pushed his way through the throng and approached the crowded bar. He made a whispered inquiry of the innkeeper, and the three were ushered into a private room in the back. As the last wizard entered, he turned and placed an Imperturbable Charm on the door.

The three figures removed their hoods and cloaks, and stood, heads bowed, behind three hard-backed seats on the near side of the plain wooden table that occupied the center of the room. Already seated there on the other side were Peter Pettigrew, also known as Wormtail, and Lucius Malfoy. Before each chair on the table in front of them were sets of various promotional materials, including a booklet titled "So You Want to be a Death Eater?" and a pamphlet titled "The Dark Lord Wants You!" At the head of the table in the place of honor, in an ornate velvet-cushioned chair framed by a stone fireplace, sat Lord Voldemort himself.

"Welcome, to the newest members of our, ahem, little family," said Malfoy silkily. The three new recruits looked up as Malfoy continued. "Lockstep, Toady, and Grovel, you have acquitted yourself well in your training, and have successfully completed the first task I gave you to test your devotion to our cause. I take great pleasure in presenting you, our newest Death Eaters, to our Master, the Dark Lord."

The three initiates turned and looked for the first time at the skeletal visage of their leader. Voldemort appraised his new followers with a skeptical eye. He let the tension build for a few moments, and then said, "Well, well, it pleases me to welcome our first new recruits since before my ill-fated encounter with that dratted Harry Potter. Momentarily, you will pledge yourselves to me, and I will place the Dark Mark upon you to brand you forever as my servants. But first, Lucius, tell me what heinous and fearsome deeds these three had to perform to win your trust?"

Malfoy looked discomfited for a moment, and then said, "Well, my Lord, we've had to lie low since your defeat, I mean, your strategic retreat at the Ministry last summer. We couldn't very well go out and torture Muggles or kill a family of Blood Traitors or anything like that." Malfoy paused as if he did not know how to continue.

"Well, c'mon Malfoy, we haven't got all day," said Voldemort impatiently. "It's Nagini's birthday tomorrow, and I want to be back home before the end of the evening. I always let her have one of her presents right at midnight, and we sing Happy Birthday. Hey, I can teach you how to sing it in Parseltounge if you want." Voldemort then began a series of eerie hissing and spitting noises to the familiar tune of "Happy Birthday to You."

When he finished, Wormtail and Malfoy began applauding, and Malfoy raised his eyebrows meaningfully to prompt the three new Death Eaters to join in.

When the applause had died away, Voldemort said, "Yes, thank you all. Now, where were we? Oh yes, you were just going to tell me the task you set for our new members to prove themselves."

"Well, as I was saying, My Lord, what with the Aurors and Dumbledore's spies running around everywhere, we had to be somewhat discrete," answered Malfoy. "I therefore set them a hazardous and frightening task that would not risk costing us the services of our newest initiates."

He paused again, and Voldemort prompted, "And this task was?"

Malfoy sighed, and explained, "I had them redo the shingles on the roof of my mansion, my Lord."

"What!" exclaimed Voldemort. "You had my new Death Eaters fix your roof! How was this to prove their hardihood and resolve!"

As Malfoy cringed, Wormtail said, "Please, my Lord, I may be of some assistance here. I happened to stop by the Malfoy estate during the time in question. It was rainy when they were redoing Lucius' roof, and it seemed very slick. I sure wouldn't have wanted to get up there. In fact, I saw one of them slip and almost fall off the edge, Toady, wasn't it?" he said, looking at one of the new recruits, who nodded in the affirmative.

The Death Eaters all watched in suspense as Voldemort was silent for a few moments. Finally, he said, "Well, I suppose we don't want our newest Death Eaters to be casualties before they are even marked. Your roof is very steep, is it not, Malfoy?"

"Yes, my Lord, very steep," agreed Malfoy. "And it's pretty windy up there, too."

The Dark Lord sighed and continued. "Well, that sounds like a pretty good test of their nerves anyway. And trust my slippery friend Lucius to come up with a test that would benefit him personally," he said, shaking his long index finger at Malfoy. "I am satisfied. You have proven your mettle. And now, we will officially induct you into the ranks of the Death Eaters. First, you will pledge your loyalty to me by singing the Death Eater Secret Anthem. Wormtail, Lucius, you begin, and then you three will follow after."

As Voldemort looked on with a smile, Wormtail and Malfoy began singing to the tune of "Row, Row, Row your Boat":

Vol, Vol, Vol-de-mort,

With Our Hearts and Minds,

We Pledge, We Pledge, We Pledge, We Pledge,

Our Alle-giance for All Time!

As Wormtail and Malfoy completed the first line, Voldemort encouraged the new recruits, "OK, now you join in!" The Death Eaters sang the entire round three times, and then Voldemort said, "Excellent! Ah, music! More powerful than any magic we do with our wands! Well, you are nearly finished with your induction to the real inner circle of power in the wizarding world. Now you will receive the Dark Mark to signify that you are pledged to my service forever! Wormtail, if you please."

As the three new recruits looked on nervously, Wormtail walked solemnly over to the stone fireplace. In the hottest part of the fire, a red-hot iron glowed. Toady and Lockstep glanced at each other fearfully. Wormtail grabbed the handle of the iron and stirred the coals.

"There, now we should be able to see better," he said, as the fire burned brighter.

He then placed the iron back in the fire, and retrieved two items from the mantelpiece. Turning, he handed them to Lord Voldemort: an inkpad and a large rubber stamp.

"OK, step right up, who wants to be first?" asked Voldemort cheerfully.

The new recruits lined up before Voldemort and exposed their right forearms. With a flourish, he applied the rubber stamp to the inkpad, then stamped the Dark Mark on Grovel's arm. He repeated the process with Toady and then Lockstep, and said, "There! You have now completed your initiation as Death Eaters. Welcome, my newest servants! Now, before we continue our meeting, I will deign to answer any questions you might have; if they please me. If not, you will likely suffer my wrath."

After a moment or two, Lockstep timidly raised his hand.

"Yes, Locksley is it?" asked Voldemort.

Not daring to contradict his master, Lockstep nervously replied, "Um, yes, my Lord. I was just, well, I was wondering about our Dark Marks. I thought we'd be branded with a hot iron, or at least tattooed or something."

"Ah, that is a good question," said Voldemort, and Lockstep relaxed visibly. "Take a look at your arms."

The new Death Eaters all peered at their stamped Dark Marks, and to their surprise the ink appeared to be soaking into their skin. In a few moments, the Marks were no longer visible.

"I could, of course, have chosen to brand my minions to mark their servitude to me, but I prefer to be more subtle," said Voldemort. "One of my special interests and talents is the magical manipulation of inks and pigments. For instance, I once devised a diary that would absorb whatever was written in it, and communicate with the writer using my persona. I believe I left it with Malfoy. Do you still have it, Lucius?"

"Uh, yes, I do, but it was damaged," replied Malfoy, not meeting his master's eyes.

"Pity," said Voldemort. "It was one of my more clever creations. I also produced a cookbook where you write down what dishes you want to make, how many guests you will be serving, and so forth, and it tells you what ingredients you'll need and how much of each, cooking times and temperatures, all that stuff. It was most useful."

"Anyway, enough chitchat," said Voldemort, taking a roll of parchment from his cloak and unrolling it on the table before him. "Now, on to business. First item on the agenda is the negotiations with the giants. How are they going, Malfoy?"

Malfoy referred to some notes before him, and responded, "Very well, my Lord. After some initial difficulties, I assigned Crabbe and Goyle as our representatives since they are extremely unlikely to confuse the giants with complex concepts or lofty rhetoric. They seem to be getting along swimmingly. In fact, Goyle reports that the Gurg has taken a liking to Crabbe, and carries him about everywhere with him like a doll. Crabbe does not seem very pleased with this arrangement, but as it keeps the Gurg on our side, I told Goyle to tell him to go along with it for now."

"Excellent Malfoy, you seem to have the situation well in hand," complimented Lord Voldemort, as Malfoy bowed his head in acknowledgement. "Now, Wormtail, how goes our operation at Hogwarts?"

Wormtail looked up at Voldemort, and said, "Your plan is being implemented just as you instructed, my Lord. Phase One has been completed, as you know, and our spy has successfully gained entrance to Hogwarts. Phase Two is operational; the spy has infiltrated Gryffindor Tower and will be living there and monitoring Potter. Phase Three is ready to begin; the spy will slip Potter a note which leads him to the Forbidden Forest where he will find manufactured evidence we planted that suggests that one of the Hogwarts professors is secretly a Death Eater..."

Wormtail continued on for nearly a half an hour, outlining the myriad phases of Voldemort's plan and how they were to be implemented. Finally, he concluded. "Phase Twenty-Eight, while Dumbledore is distracted by a shipment of sweets from Honeydukes, our spy will lure Potter to the Astronomy Tower, where he will be tricked into grabbing a Portkey which will transport him to the assigned meeting point for his torture and ultimate destruction at your hand."

Voldemort grinned wickedly, and said, "Very good, Wormtail, the wheels are turning, and Potter will be mine around the end of ..."

At that point, Voldemort and the other Death Eaters were distracted by Grovel, who had raised his hand.

"Uh, yes, what is it?" asked Voldemort.

"Well, sir," replied Grovel, bowing as he addressed his master. "That's a very intricate plan, but if our spy is in Gryffindor Tower already, why don't you just order him to stab Potter when no one is looking, or push him out a window or something?"

Voldemort looked with disdain at Grovel before responding. "Listen, Grover or whatever your name is, I make the plans around here. I realize you three are new at this, but your idea has no subtlety. Potter must be handled delicately, or we risk the exposure of our spy at Hogwarts. Your foolish suggestion has angered me, and your presence no longer amuses me. You all have your instructions from Malfoy, do you not?" he snapped.

The three new Death Eaters nodded mutely. In fact, they were scheduled to resurface the tennis courts at the Malfoy estate the next morning.

"Very well," said Voldemort dangerously. "Leave us!"

The new Death Eaters rose hastily, and bowing to Voldemort, backed out of the room. As soon as the door had closed, Voldemort turned to the others and asked, "Huh, what do you think? Just push him out a window?"

Malfoy responded. "My Lord, I do not believe that would be wise. Potter has demonstrated a certain, shall we say, resiliency, and a considerable talent at self-preservation. He has escaped from more hazardous situations than most wizards could hope to survive time and time again. I believe, as you do, that only you personally can bring about Potter's demise. It would be best, after all, to go with your original, and might I add brilliant, plan."

Malfoy had reasons of his own for this suggestion, of course. In the years between Voldemort's fall and his return, Malfoy had led and coordinated all the Dark activity in the wizarding world, and it had been most profitable. He was content to act as Voldemort's right-hand man if necessary, of course, but if Voldemort were out of the way, he could resume his place at the top of the Dark Wizard hierarchy. Due to some well-placed bribes to members of the Department of Mysteries, only he, of all the wizards in the world save Dumbledore and Potter, knew the full content of Trewlaney's prophecy regarding Potter and Voldemort. He was actually quite pleased when Potter destroyed it before the Dark Lord could hear it. For if Voldemort succeeded in destroying Potter, Malfoy would remain his second-in-command, and he could live with that. But if Potter vanquished the Dark Lord, Malfoy would be back in charge of the wizarding underworld, by far his preferred outcome. In any case, he was playing his hand to insure his and his family's fortunes regardless of the outcome. He was, after all, a Slytherin.

Voldemort considered Malfoy's comments for a moment, then said, "Yes, Lucius, I believe you are correct after all. I do not care to deny myself the pleasure of finally bringing about the end that annoying boy, and I do so enjoy watching an intricate and fiendish plan unfold. Yes, we will be patient, and so the denouement will be that much more satisfying." Turning to Wormtail with a threatening glance, Voldemort concluded, "Providing, of course, that Wormtail continues to successfully fulfill his role in this stratagem."

Wormtail started, and quickly replied, "Of course, my Lord, I am doing my best to guarantee that your plan unfolds just as you wish."

"I do not ask for your best, Wormtail, I ask for nothing less than complete success," said Voldemort, as Wormtail bowed. "However, the time for action at Hogwarts has come earlier than even I had anticipated. I wish our spy to proceed with the original plan according to the existing schedule, but you are to also implement Emergency Plan B immediately."

Malfoy looked from Voldemort to Wormtail curiously. "Emergency Plan B?" he wondered.

Judging from his frightened expression, Wormtail knew all too well what Emergency Plan B involved. His face pale, he exclaimed, "My Lord, are you sure that's wise?"

As Voldemort bristled, Wormtail quickly continued, "I mean no disrespect, my Lord, and do not wish to question your commands, but please consider this. Executing Plan B at this moment could jeopardize your main plan to kidnap Potter."

Voldemort sneered, and snapped, "If you truly do not wish to question my commands, then do not! I wonder if you are not more concerned with the increased risk to you than whether my plans succeed or not, Wormtail."

"Oh no, my Lord!" Wormtail exclaimed. "I admit that I am concerned that Plan B will result in the unmasking or capture of your spy, but I will do everything in my power to carry out your wishes."

"You will, or you will suffer my wrath!" replied Voldemort angrily. In a calmer voice, he continued. "Know this, Wormtail. This mission is of the utmost importance to me. If you succeed, you will have earned my gratitude yet again, and proven your loyalty and worth. You are satisfied with the precautions I have taken to prevent anyone from capturing our spy, are you not?"

Wormtail sighed. "Yes, sir, I am just worried that something might go wrong, my Lord."

"As am I, Wormtail, as am I," Voldemort answered. "Be assured that I will hold you personally responsible for the success of this mission; or its failure," he finished dangerously, as Wormtail bowed silently in response.

"Ah, look at the time!" said Voldemort, examining an ornate watch made of a shiny jet-black metal. "We better get back to prepare for Nagini's party. Lucius, you will accompany us for some cake and ice cream, won't you? Well, Nagini doesn't eat that, of course, she'll be having a plump juicy sheep for her birthday treat."

Malfoy shuddered momentarily, fixed a grin on his face, and said, "Of course, my Lord, nothing could please me more." As Voldemort turned to pick up his cloak, Malfoy looked at Wormtail and quickly made an expression of deep disgust, and Wormtail winced and nodded. By the time Voldemort had turned back, the two Death Eaters had resumed their normal neutral expressions. Voldemort smiled, and said, "Well, let's go celebrate, my friends." With that, the three disapparated from the room.

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