Special Protection

Prologue--A Bump in the Road

"At last my plans are finally in place. I will go to Godric's Hollow tonight, and take care of...the problem."

"Yes, my Lord. Of course, you will. Your plan is the best, my Lord."

"Stop groveling, Wormtail. You have served a wonderful purpose- even though you did go about it clumsily. You have succeeded in convincing the foolish Potters to let others believe that the Black fellow is their secret-keeper. The plan will succeed, and nothing will stop me from achieving my goal."

Voldemort swept past Wormtail, who cowered down looking more rat-like than usual, and walked towards a window that looked out at the gardens of Malfoy Manor. He surveyed the countryside, and the lake, but paused as he looked eastwards.

"Now, why is there a swarm of owls flying this way? They had better be carrying letters of congratulations, and not heedless warnings from foolish Death Eaters. Wormtail, go tell Malfoy to retrieve the letters, then come and tell me what they contain."

"Yes Master, of course, My Lord," whimpered Peter as he slouched his way out of the library.

Walking towards a desk, Voldemort pulled out his wand, and quietly muttered "Accio Map." A map of the southern part of England flew towards him, and gently came to a stop in midair, right in front of him. He surveyed the map, and then muttered, "Plot the Potter's residence," and the magical map spun around for a moment. When it came to a stop, Voldemort now saw a small mark, where before there had been nothing. "Wonderful, isn't it Lucius?"

Lucius Malfoy had walked into the room a moment before, but he thought that the Dark Lord had not seen him. He jumped slightly at Voldemort's words, but recovered quickly and said, "Yes, my Lord, it is amazing that we have finally been able to discover their whereabouts. But...well...there is something...that...well..."

"Get on with it Malfoy! I tire quickly with stutterers."

"Yes, Master. Well, there has been word of another prophecy." Lucius got these words out fairly quickly, and then cowered back a little, in fear of his master's reaction.

"So? What is your point Lucius? We are taking care of the most important problem, so there is no need to worry about any more problems occurring. If this has anything to do with even a minor pause in my plan, don't bother telling me about it." Voldemort said this in a very bland tone, but Lucius knew that at any moment it would get worse. And now, after his master's command, he would have to tell him this news that was almost as bad.

"Well, my Lord, this has to do with a problem that will occur after you take care of the Potter boy," muttered Lucius, as he bowed his head.

"Fine then. Tell me"

Somewhat surprised that Voldemort hadn't yelled and cursed, literally, yet, Lucius began to tell Voldemort. "My Lord, there is a Seer that is under the control of Nott and Avery that made a prophecy about two hours ago. He said that there is a Muggle-born, who was born about a year ago, who will have powers that could destroy you. This Mudblood will only receive the powers if something happens. Sadly, the prophecy did not reveal what these conditions are. Another unfortunate part of this is that the Mudblood, if they receive the powers, will be able to defeat you. Also they will be able to teach others how to use this power, if they have no chance to come against you, or if you kill them." Finishing very out of breath, Lucius stood there, waiting for the blow to come.

Voldemort just stood there studying the map. Lucius, amazed, cleared his throat, wondering why Voldemort hadn't said anything.

"Is there a problem Lucius?"

"No, Master. But...what are we going to do about this?"

Voldemort slowly looked up and turned to Lucius and said, "Well Lucius, I am going to concentrate on finishing off one problem before I move on to figuring out how to fix the next. There is nothing we can do about this new development until we find out more information, and I will not give up this chance to kill the Potter boy. So I would like you to go make sure my transportation to Godric's Hollow is complete. We will discuss this Mudblood tomorrow."

Lucius stood there for a moment, before sweeping out of the room. Voldemort turned around to study the map again.

"At last, my time of glory is nearly at hand."