Beyond the Emerald Green

Special Thanks: To my dedicated beta readers, RavenNat & 007

 

 

Chapter Seven

Pursuit

The first thing that happened when Harry passed through the arch was a gust of sudden wind. It caught him by such surprise that Harry yelled and threw up his arms to shield his face. Almost immediately, he regretted doing so. His hands hit his face with the force of the wind, and in his struggle against it, he felt the familiar weight of his glasses disappear. In horror, Harry fell to his knees on the ground and searched around for them. Not only was the wind still blowing relentlessly, but Harry’s poor sight and the dawning fact that his glasses were still invisible made finding them a remote possibility.

Harry groaned, feeling around frantically. His eyesight was completely fuzzy, and it made him feel dizzy. Yet, there was nothing to see. All he saw was a white blur that refused to become clear. Harry wasn’t even sure what it was he was kneeling on as he continued to blindly feel around for his glasses.

Meanwhile, the wind was gradually lessening, and the roaring sound it caused in his ears began to subside.

"Oh, man!" Harry yelled in frustration. He balled up his fists and slammed them on the ground, only to hear a loud crack.

Harry lifted his left hand to see a blurry outline, dotted with flecks of red that was his own blood. Holding his breath, both in disbelief and in pain, he took his wand in his right hand and undid the spell that he had put upon his glasses. Sure enough, Harry could just make out the shards of glass embedded in his hand… and the thick black frame in a crumbled heap on the ground.

"Sh…" he hissed, his voice dying quickly in wherever he was. Angry at himself, and furious with everyone else, Harry stood up and cradled his injured hand. Squinting carefully around him, he tried to make out where Voldemort had gone… and where Ron was, too. Yet he still could only see a fuzzy white blur, and a silence that was so absolute, it made his head ache.

The wind and the roar that it had caused were gone, Harry figuring that he had moved away from where he had entered this realm. What was it that Voldemort had said? The space between time and matter. Is this what that was?

The only thing to do is to just walk. Perhaps I can find Ron and Voldemort on the way foreword. Harry thought to himself, still holding his left hand carefully.

Shuffling at an uncertain pace, Harry moved ahead in the white void. The only sound was his painful panting breath, caused by both his cut left hand and bruised back. His eyes persisted to try and focus, but even with his poor vision, he couldn’t find anything to look at. The only way to keep the bile down in his stomach from his dizzying eyes was to close them; there was nothing to look out for, anyway.

After what seemed like hours, the pain in Harry’s back increasing, something other than the sound of his breath hit his ears. At first, it was so faint that Harry stopped and held his breath to hear it better. Then, still moving forward, new sounds flew to Harry’s starved ears.

"…who…?"

"Stop… said…!"

"Insolent fool! You… from!"

Harry broke into a run. Those voices undoubtedly belonged to Voldemort and Ron. The voices became clearer as he ran faster, filling his ears after the long, cold silence. Each syllable shot through to his brain, and the intensity of them raised Harry’s fear. Why was Ron being foolish enough to face Voldemort alone? Surely he knew that only Harry was able to do such a thing. His blood ran hot in his veins as he recalled the many times Ron had confided in him how much he longed for his own chance at the spotlight. His own chance of glory and fame; it was something Ron had dreamed about his whole life. Silently, Harry cursed Ron’s stubbornness.

"By order of the British Ministry…"

"You truly are daft…"

The voices became louder and clearer, and while it made him sick to do so with his blurred vision, Harry ran faster. There was no way to tell, aside from the increasing volume of the shouting voices, how far he went before he could hear the words completely and clearly.

"You are making a deadly mistake, boy." Sneered Voldemort, unmistakably.

"What makes you so sure?" Came Ron’s cocky voice.

Voldemort laughed.

"I have killed countless others ten times more powerful than you. What makes you think you can stop me?"

Harry strained to move as fast as he could, his back screaming in objection. Still, he couldn’t find the fuzzy shapes that would be Voldemort and Ron, yet he could still hear them as if they were right next to him.

"Sheer prowess." Ron said huskily. Harry could tell from his inflection that Ron was scared stupid.

"I grow tired of you," Voldemort said irritably. "I have things to do. Avada-"

"NOO!" Harry screamed, Voldemort’s voice practically at his ear. Still, he could make out nothing with his eyes. They sounded as if Harry was right on top of them, but where were they?

"-Kedavra!"

As Harry felt hot, angry, and horrified tears flow down his cheeks, he heard Ron’s yell and Voldemort’s triumphant cackle. They sounded as if they surrounded him, and yet Harry saw nothing. No vague or fuzzy outlines of people were anywhere… just the whiteness that had long made Harry feel sick. Then, the roaring voices and yells seemed to blur together, and simply stopped.

"Ron?" Harry called out hoarsely. The deafening silence suddenly returned. "Ron!"

The ground suddenly disappeared from under his feet, and for a gut-retching instant, Harry stood still on absolutely nothing.

"Oh…" he began to say, just before he fell.

Harry couldn’t remember ever hitting solid ground. One instant, he had been surrounded by an unending white void, the next he was a crumpled heap on a grassy mound. Carefully, Harry opened one eye and gasped. The pain that had before tortured just his back had now spread all over his body. However he had landed from his fall, landing on his back didn’t help matters. Harry angrily and painfully balled his fists.

"Why is it that I’m so prone to injury, ‘eh?!" he shouted out, hearing his anguished voice die almost instantly in the still air. It proved to be a bad idea, for his sharp intake of breath stabbed his lungs, badly enough that tears threatened to break from Harry’s eyes once more.

Ron’s dead, Voldemort is running loose taking over the world, and I’m just laying here like a beaten mosquito. Some hero I turned out to be. Harry thought bitterly, closing his useless eyes. He was so caught up with himself, he didn’t bother to get any idea as to where he was. As far as he could tell, he was helplessly collapsed on some hill where the humidity was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

Just as Harry lost all hope, a faint rumbling sound began to float to his ears. Despite the pain, Harry held his breath to hear better. It was getting closer… something light and nimble landed on his chest… Harry opened his eyes, only to face-

"Oh, dear… what do we have here now?" A cat.

Harry blinked.

"A talking cat." He mumbled stupidly.

"Well, what else would I be? Stuffed?" the cat said indignantly.

"Er…" Harry was beginning to conclude that his injuries finally had spread to his mind.

"Moggit! I say, Moggit! What the blazes…? Oh dear, not another." Came another disturbingly feline voice.

"Yes, I’m afraid so, Encarta." Said the cat that was on top of Harry, apparently named Moggit.

Harry felt dizzy as the second cat, Encarta, leapt with liquid grace next to Moggit. She peered at him closely, her whiskers tickling his nose.

"What do you propose we do? The other ones got away… this one obviously is severely injured." Encarta sniffed, loosing interest to lick her paws. Harry groaned.

"Yes, so he appears." Moggit said slowly, still on all fours. "Well, we can’t let him go… otherwise we’d be in even more of a fix. Might as well heal him up before we do anything else."

"Fine by me. Let’s hurry… I don’t want to miss dinner." Encarta jumped off of Harry and out of sight. Moggit took one last glance at Harry, who stared dubiously back, and leapt off himself.

Well, that was certainly interesting. Harry thought dazedly. Talking cats. Who knew?

"Tell me again why I have this job?" Harry heard Moggit say idly, himself beginning to feel sleepy.

"Because I took it, furball." Encarta purred from far away.

"That is not the reason!"

"Well, it certainly wasn’t for the money…"

"… for?"

"…sleeps."

When Harry opened his eyes after what seemed like days, he felt considerably better. He was stretched out upon something soft, surrounded by warm and fuzzy things. Slowly, he opened his eyes, softly groaning as he realized he still couldn’t see worth of anything. His glasses were long since destroyed.

"It’s about time you woke up, although I must say you’re quite comfortable to curl up on."

"AH!" Harry yelped, hearing the warm fuzzy thing next to his face speak.

"Feeling better?" Came another voice from his other side.

"AH!" Harry yelped again, struggling to sit up.

"I’d say so."

Slowly, Harry began to remember the impossible memory of two talking cats named Moggit and Encarta. He had blamed it on delusion stemmed from his injuries, but he felt fine now. Could he have suffered permanent mental damage?

A white, fuzzy blur settled over Harry’s eyes. He feebly tried to move his hands and arms to wave it off, but he was too weak.

"If I didn’t know any better, I’d say this man’s eyes are inappropriately focused." Moggit, Harry remembered, said.

"Astigmatism, I believe, and a severe case of it too." Encarta lazily peered over his face.

"My glasses broke." Harry pointed out dumbly.

"Then you need new ones." Moggit said, moving out of view.

"No kidding, genius." Encarta yawned.

Harry felt Moggit move past him and return shortly after. Something was slid onto Harry’s face and his vision instantly corrected itself. He could see clearly!

"That’s better, isn’t it Harry?" Moggit asked proudly. Harry looked at him incredulously. Moggit was a pure white, short haired cat- just like any other, besides the fact he could talk.

"How’d you know…?" Harry began to ask.

"Your wallet." Encarta said simply. She was the opposite of Moggit, completely black as night.

"My wallet? Why…? How…?" Harry felt around his robes to find that his wallet was in fact missing.

"To see who you are, of course. And to check for allergies and your blood type." Moggit said.

Harry blinked, trying hard to keep himself from getting dizzy again. This was unreal; even when he found out he was a wizard he didn’t think magic was unbelievable… but this…

"Now, Mr. Potter," Encarta stood up and stretched. "If you could inform us on the other two men that came trespassing through here without warrant, it would be a great help."

"Where am I?" Harry asked, too caught up in everything to answer.

"The Crossworlds." Moggit answered. "The interdemensional pathway. It has many names, but only one purpose."

"What’s that?" Harry pressed.

"To get from one dimension to another, but not without permission. Those two blokes that came trampling through didn’t even stop! They’ll face some serious charges once caught." Encarta added.

"Those are the men I’m going after… one of them is extraordinarily dangerous. The other is a colleague of mine, my best friend. If they’re not stopped, my friend will be killed and the other will take over the world!" Harry explained.

"Well, he won’t have much luck then. To take over a dimension you must have a vial." Encarta began to groom herself casually.

"A what?" Harry looked at the small black cat.

"A vial of atom dust. They’re only the most elementary particles that make up a dimension, you know." Moggit said matter-of-factually.

Harry ran his hands through his hair and sat up warily and moaned.

"Without a vial of atom dust, you cannot bend the dimension’s rules to your will. Atom dust is highly dangerous and rare to obtain. Besides, even finding the door to the correct dimension is close to impossible without one of us as guides." Encarta cleaned her whiskers.

"Would Voldemort have a vial of atom dust?" Harry asked more to himself.

"Not likely, unless he’s come this way before, and we haven’t seen a human from Dimension 99Alpha for two millennia. Plus, we haven’t gotten any word from 99Alpha’s correspondent regarding any travelers. Trespassing in the Crossworlds is a felony and will be prosecuted. Now that you’re well, you will have to be processed." Moggit suddenly got up.

"Processed? How do you mean?" Harry asked nervously.

The cats didn’t answer. Harry finally looked around him to see exactly where he was as Moggit and Encarta left him. He was in an office, not unlike one would find at a police station. Desks and papers littered the small space; he himself was sitting upon a cot in a corner. As he swung his legs around to stand up, Harry had a hard time imagining a cat using a desk for paperwork.

"Who exactly are you guys, anyway?" Harry called out to them. The cats had gone into another office adjoining the one he was in. Moggit suddenly appeared, now sporting a crystal studded collar.

"We are the guardians of the Crossworlds, chosen spirits of the original infinitesimal elemental particles. I am Moggit Senior, and the annoying black ball of fur behind me is Encarta Senior." Moggit suddenly leapt onto Harry’s shoulder, took one outstretched claw, ripped through Harry’s robe & shirtsleeve, and placed his paw on Harry’s upper left arm. Harry cried out as Moggit’s paw seemed to burn right through his skin.

"Ow!" Harry cried angrily. "What are you doing?"

"The mark will only go away until you’ve been cleared. Until we get notification from 99Alpha’s main office you’ll have to remain in custody." Moggit said, removing his paw.

Encarta walked out with a pen tucked over her ear, also wearing a crystal studded collar.

"Do you prefer your middle name initialed or spelled out completely? It doesn’t matter to me." She said, sitting down and with one paw took up the pen to begin writing on a form spread out on a desk.

"Okay, this has been most enlightening but I really must get going." Harry shrugged Moggit off of him and stood up.

"I’m sorry, but you can’t go anywhere until you’ve been cleared." Moggit stepped out in front of him. Harry sighed and tried to step around him, but for some reason he couldn’t move around the cat.

"I can’t stay here… if I don’t catch those men, my entire dimension is doomed." Harry gritted his teeth, becoming more annoyed by his feline captors.

"You can’t catch them. There are over 7,900,657,329,001 dimensions, sub-dimensions, and quadrants. The way to each of them is accessible here in the Crossworlds, and only we know where each entrance is. Every twenty-five minutes, the entrances move, preventing unauthorized persons from easy access. Now do you think you can catch them?" Encarta snapped.

"I’m an auror. It’s my job, and my duty as a citizen of my dimension. You can’t underestimate Voldemort. Now, step aside." Harry drew out his wand.

Moggit and Encarta exchanged looks and began to laugh. Harry snorted angrily.

"What’s so funny?"

"Your magic cannot work here. The Crossworlds is a neutral zone… any power from any dimension is immediately canceled out, rendering anything other than natural laws useless. So, even if your men are dangerous, they are not as dangerous as they’d normally be." Moggit explained with a disturbingly human-like smile.

They were telling the truth, for Harry was feeling strangely empty… as if a part of his soul was missing. The normal buzz of power he seemed to feel from his wand was not there. He sighed, hesitating as he lowered his wand and stepped back. The cats looked satisfied.

"Don’t worry about it, we’ve got these men." Moggit said, just as his and Encarta’s collars began to glow with a radiant light.

"It’s Evyn, in District 789Sub B." Encarta said suddenly, her fur upright and bristling.

"He sounds like there’s something wrong." Moggit said uncertainly, both cats loosing attention to Harry.

At once, Harry watched the two cats leap onto desks and start pawing through paperwork at an astonishing speed. It was like watching some very odd dream to Harry, for these cats obviously possessed special powers- and yet they hold an office with paperwork scattered messily about everywhere.

"I… I don’t understand, Moggit." Encarta was taken aback. "I’ve lost contact."

"So have I," Moggit sighed. "But he sounded seriously disturbed by something."

"Get much trouble around here?" Harry asked crankily.

Moggit narrowed his eyes and Encarta pretended to look busy with some paper.

"No." Moggit said shortly.

"None at all, actually."

"Never."

"We’ve always been so careful. I… I’m not even sure how to handle it." Encarta’s ears drooped.

Harry tried his best to keep a slow smile from betraying his nonchalant expression.

"Think perhaps the man I’m after is dangerous after all?" he asked casually.

"Evyn said there were two." Moggit pointed out, avoiding the answer.

"Yes, but one is the enemy and the other is not. One is my best friend and the other is my mortal enemy. It is my enemy that throws not only my dimension into danger, but the countless others as well… and even the Crossworlds. He won’t stop until I stop him." Harry approached them, wand readied again even though it was useless.

"Then what do you propose we do?" Moggit answered haughtily.

"You are going to show me where 99Alpha is. Where my dimension is, Voldemort will be too. And Ron." Harry pointed a finger at them.

"Evyn is not responding to hails." Encarta announced.

Harry looked at her a moment and cocked his head.

"Perhaps because Evyn is no longer around to be hailed."

Finding the right dimension was a lot easier said than done. Now that Harry could see clearly, the Crossworlds proved to be nothing but a vast clay colored plain. Every now and then, Harry and the two Senior cats would pass a shimmering piece of air. Moggit explained that they were the doors to each different dimension. By an unexplained talent, Moggit and Encarta could tell where each individual door was located at the present moment. The collars helped channel their special gift, and enabled them many other abilities like mind-to-mind communication between guardians (the cats of the Crossworlds).

As the time wore on, Harry began to grow tired. There seemed to be no visible sun that could tell the time of day, nor did there seem to be any change in the scenery. The constant flatness of the Crossworlds seemed to stretch on forever.

"I haven’t done this much walking since the dawn of time." Encarta complained with a feline yowl.

Harry had a sick feeling that she wasn’t exaggerating.

"We’re coming up on the agent for this sector. Perhaps she’ll know something." Moggit said, not sounding the least bit out of breath.

"Good, I need to stop and clean the dirt from my whiskers." Encarta sighed. Harry rolled his eyes.

"Sakura!" Moggit called out.

"Yes, Senior?" A Siamese cat suddenly appeared out of nowhere, making Harry leap nearly a foot off the ground. The cat, Sakura, looked at him with a puzzled expression. "Another one?"

"Have you seen the others?" Encarta asked quickly.

Sakura closed her eyes as she began to clean her paws, obviously deep in thought.

"Yes, I have. One of them is severely injured." She said after a moment.

"Ron!" Harry cried out, worried more than ever. "Which way did they go?"

"Toward District 789Sub A. I stayed out of their way, for I wasn’t sure that they were clear for access or not." Sakura answered.

Encarta made an exasperated sound and Moggit rolled his eyes. Harry fidgeted more than ever, anxious to get moving.

"When you aren’t sure whether or not a being has access you don’t-"

"Cut it, Encarta, we don’t have the time for lectures right now." Moggit stopped Encarta before she could lecture Sakura further. The Siamese cat looked entirely sheepish.

"I’m sorry, Seniors." She apologized quickly.

"Which way?!" Harry snapped, fighting his urge to shake all the cats senseless in his tension.

"K-keep going due east. Agent Zechs heads that District." Sakura stuttered, mewing in surprise. Without a second’s though, Harry turned and headed in the direction she pointed. He was so intent on getting to Ron and stopping Voldemort he wasn’t aware that Moggit and Encarta were following closely at his heels, loudly protesting his pace.

There was no way to tell where one district ended and another began, the Crossworlds was so monotonous. Harry could only keep his pace so long in the weakened state he was in, and he slowly began to loose his breath. Yet, he ignored his pain and strode on, still ignoring the two cats he was nearly stepping on.

"Stop right there!" Came a deep and commanding voice from out of nowhere. Harry immediately stopped dead, causing Moggit and Encarta to walk right into the back of his legs.

"Really now…!"

"Could have warned us…!"

Harry looked around for the owner of the voice, but couldn’t find it. Voldemort and Ron were still nowhere to be seen.

"Oh, Seniors! I wasn’t aware… I didn’t mean…"

Right from behind Harry was the voice’s owner. Another cat, a very large tabby with huge eyes was striding up from behind him. Harry turned to face him, eager to ask what he knew.

"Are you Zechs?" He asked the cat, already used to the fact that he was talking to a feline. But then again, he could talk to snakes…

"Indeed I am, sir. Do you have clearance?" Zechs asked.

"He’s with us, Zechs. We’re after two other humans that came this way, did you see them?" Moggit cut in.

"Oh, yes sir. One of them is highly dangerous and the other is badly injured. They broke out into a brawl right here, in fact. The injured one had been chasing the other, and they engaged right as I began to stop the latter. I had to separate them, of course, and enforce the law. Apparently from 99Alpha they were, for the dangerous one pulled out a wand, I believe. Of course, it wouldn’t work, but for this man’s age he is quite physically fit! The two men got locked into a fistfight, with the dangerous one coming out as victor. He ran off before I could blink and the other limped to his feet and gave chase again. I had only time to warn Evyn." Zechs explained.

"We lost contact with Evyn." Encarta said, sitting down.

"Which way did they go?" Harry asked quickly.

"Southeast, past the rift." Zechs answered without hesitation. With a slight nod, Harry ran off again.

"Oh, I wish he’d slow down." Encarta moaned, getting up and running after him.

"Thank you, Zechs. Carry on!" Moggit called back to him as he followed off at a trot.

"Good luck, sir! And do be careful! The dangerous one appeared to have a vial!" Zechs cried.

By now, Harry had an ache in his side and cramps all over, but he didn’t let his pain slow him down now that he was so close. Panting, he looked down at the clay-colored ground and saw dark splotches scattered out in a path as he ran by. One particular small puddle made him almost stop.

"Oh, no…" Harry groaned, urging himself to go faster.

"Blood." Moggit whispered darkly, running beside him.

There was no way to tell how long they had been running, but Harry only stopped when he could go no further. Out ahead of him was a large gap in the clay-colored ground.

"Sh-!" Harry hissed, stopping and doubling over.

Moggit and Encarta stopped beside him, both of them now panting.

"About time you stopped, I’m exhausted!" Encarta growled.

"How… do we… get across?" Harry asked, out of breath.

"How?" Moggit looked up at him, puzzled. "What do you mean, how? The same way you always cross a rift!"

"What? You jump? You’ve got to be kidding me!" Harry looked back at the gaping rift again. He wasn’t even sure magic could help if he could use it.

"Jump! Heavens no!" Moggit cried, laughing.

"You walk across, you dimwit! You’d fall right in if you tried to jump." Encarta rolled her eyes.

"Well excuse me for not knowing that you simply walk across a rift. Not too many rifts back home to walk across, you know." Harry rubbed his temples. His attention to his head made Harry realize that his scar was hurting more now that Voldemort was closer. Shaking his head to clear it, although it made him feel dizzier than ever, Harry stepped forward to do as was told to cross the rift. However, as he put out a foot to take his first step on the rift… his common sense kicked in again.

"This is ridiculous! I can’t even see the bottom! There’s nothing to hold you up to walk across!" he cried.

"Haven’t you ever heard of an illusion before?" Moggit asked, coming up beside him. Without a backward glance, the white cat simply walked on as if there wasn’t a rift at all. He laughed and looked back at Harry, who was staring with a gaping mouth. "And you call yourself a wizard. This surprises you?"

"Talking cats? Imaginary rifts? Multiple worlds? Oh no, not at all." Harry crossed his arms, blushing.

"If this was your dimension, I would react the same way." Encarta said, passing Harry to join Moggit. "But this isn’t your dimension and I say you’re a bit dim."

"Dim?" Harry cried indignantly, strutting out to stand over the two cats. "If I were to hand you a, let’s say, Muggle computer… you wouldn’t know heads or tails of it!"

"PC or Macintosh? We’re experienced with both." Moggit said, smiling his cat smile.

"I prefer the PC, actually." Encarta grinned. She looked down at Harry’s feet. "And look, genius can walk."

Harry gulped and looked down. Sure enough, he appeared to be standing in midair over the rift. He fought down a surprised squeak, put on his most dignified expression, and marched on. Both cats began to laugh and followed in a mocking fashion.

Quickly, Harry paced himself across, Ron and Voldemort coming back to mind. He wondered if they had figured out the same thing, to walk across the rift. They must have, for they weren’t on the other side from which they came. Harry’s scar began to throb, and he knew he was close.

Before he realized it, they were across the rift and back on solid ground. Harry broke into a run again, much to the loud discontentment of the two cats. The trail of blood was thicker on this side. Then, up on the horizon, a small from could be seen sprawled out on the ground.

"Evyn!" Encarta gasped, running faster and easily outrunning Harry. Moggit strode beside him, his cat face tight with concern. "Evyn!"

She was standing over a cat that looked like it had just outgrown being a kitten. He was slightly smaller than Encarta, his fur a misty gray, only it was matted with his own blood.

"Mother?" the cat asked in a painful whisper.

"Where are they? Where are the ones that did this to you?" Moggit demanded gently, coming up beside Encarta. Harry looked around, seeing the trail of blood continue past.

"He took the vial…" Evyn coughed. "I tried…"

"Where? Took it where, son?" Moggit pressed.

"99Alpha." He shuddered. Encarta stroked his head with her paw.

Harry broke back into a run and began to follow the trail of blood again. This time, the cats did not follow. For fifteen minutes, there was nothing on the horizon, until at last… he began to hear the shouts.

"Just give up!"

"You wish… I’ll fight you until I drop dead!"

"Be my guest, you won’t last much longer, anyway!"

Pushing himself to his maximum limit, Harry bolted toward the voices. Shapes appeared on the horizon, like two large black birds circling their prey. With grim determination, Harry charged. The sight he came upon was heart stopping.

Voldemort was locked in a brutal fight with Ron. It didn’t look good, for Ron was bleeding freely from open wounds on his arms and sides of his head. They didn’t see Harry approach, which allowed him the advantage.

"Ahhh!" Harry jumped at them, throwing them both off by surprise. He managed to punch Voldemort squarely in the head, knocking him back. Ron stumbled and fell backwards, awestruck.

"Harry?!"

"Get out of here, Ron! Go get the cats!" Harry shouted at him, preparing himself to attack Voldemort again. Yet, to his disgust, Voldemort began to laugh as he stood up.

"Potter," he laughed in amusement. "So you finally decided to join us."

Harry leered at him, glancing to see that Ron was getting up. Voldemort noticed, and suddenly flicked his wrist. Immediately, Ron was knocked to the ground and pulled by some force over to Voldemort, where he grabbed him by the collar. Harry’s eyes went wide with shock.

"You can’t seem to die, Potter, so here’s the deal… leave me alone and your friend here lives. Otherwise, he dies and so do you… if I can manage it. It’s your choice."

That was when Harry saw the glistening object Voldemort was holding against Ron’s neck. It was small, made of glass, seemingly filled with nothing… but that’s when he realized.

"So you’ve noticed my little passport. Yes, complements of that annoying feline I managed to dispose of. I plan to do a little something with it."

Voldemort was holding a vial of Atom Dust.