The Heirs to the Throne

SiriusMarauderFan

Story Summary:
With the second war against Voldemort still raging, Harry, Ron and Hermione return to Hogwarts for their sixth year. But what was once thought to be a simple ten months turns into chaos as Harry's nightmares return, five transfer students arrive at Hogwarts and a new competition starts.

Prologue

Posted:
09/02/2006
Hits:
219


The Heirs to the Throne

Prologue

It was late in the night and all was quiet, not a single animal could be heard running about, or even a car driving down the road. And the only light came from street lamps and the full moon. It sat so peacefully in the blackened sky, surrounded be stars so small that they couldn't be seen for the rain that was coming down hard on the summer night.

Buildings sat like mountains for anyone who looked up to them, and a homeless kitten could be mistaken for a rat in this darkness. But there was no one in the streets to think such things. The area of Europe in which I speak of was abandoned, and it had been for many a year. The houses and shops were left empty and the doors unlocked. No one ever drove through this small place, for it was surrounded by forests and was too hard to find by tourists who wanted to see a ghost town.

But there was one place, one large building, that was not abandoned. The residents of the building in question had not been there long, in fact, just weeks ago they were looking for a place to go. Their 'master' as they called him, was a tall man, he wore black cloaks when he traveled out of him new home, which was very rare indeed. But never once had he lowered the hood of his cloak, or looked up to the sky. His pail skin was never revealed in sunlight, though he would, once in a while, make a motion with his hand to one of his companions, which would send them into sorts of fits.

On this particular night, the mysterious man was talking to his companions inside the building, two of them, in fact...

"Raindrop, we had a deal," said the Dark Lord as he glanced down at the cowering man who was kneeling at his feet.

The man looked up suddenly. His only visible features were his dark brown eyes; the rest of his face was hidden behind a plain black mask that covered his whole head, the mask had no decoration except for a small symbol where his forehead was. A raindrop.

"I-I know, Master," the man stuttered, "but she is too powerful, my Lord. She's beaten every Death Eater yet."

"He's right, Sir. I'm ashamed to say so, but she has defeated me several times," said a woman; she was wearing a similar outfit as the man with black robes and mask. The only difference was the small star on hers.

"Bella, I don't remember asking for your opinion on this matter," Voldemort hissed.

"I'm sorry, Master."

"Nonsense. Crucio!" he said, pointing his wand at her.

The woman dropped to the concrete floor beside the man, clearly in pain as she wriggled. Her screams echoed throughout the large room until, suddenly, Voldemort lifted his wand. The woman sat up, still clutching her stomach. The Dark Lord turned to the door on his left.

"Celeste!" he called.

The person that walked in a second later was dressed like the others, save the crescent moon on her mask, and she was a bit shorter. "You called?" she said.

"What happened to calling me Sir? Master? Dark Lord at least?" he hissed.

Celeste sat down in a chair beside the kneeling Death Eater and faced the snake-like man. "Voldemort, when on Earth have I ever called you any of those? Now, why did you call me in here?"

Voldemort looked less-than-pleased about the use of his name and both Death Eaters had flinched at the mention. "I want you to take Star Bright, here, and teach her why she should never speak out of turn."

Celeste gave a quick nod of understanding to the Dark Lord and pulled the woman to her feet and out of the room by her sleeve. All the while Bella was screaming.

Harry woke from his nightmare covered in sweat, his scar burning and he could hear a tapping that sounded far off in the distance.