Harry Potter and the Trail of Stars

THE WRATH OF LORD VOLDEMORT

"Wormtail!" roared Voldemort. "Wormtail! Show me your arm."

Wormtail walked nervously by his master's side, and muttered, "Y-yes my Lord," and lifted up the sleeves of his right arm, revealing the silver hand.

"Not that arm idiot, your left arm!" snarled Voldemort, growing impatient. Wormtail gave a small, trembling bow, and lifted his left arm. Voldemort pressed two skeletal thin fingers into the Dark Mark, and it burned jet black. Satisfied, he took his hand back. Wormtail gave a terrified shriek as the mark burned him. "Wormtail," said Voldemort, with a slight calm, "Do you know something of what just happened?"

"I-I don't understand my Lord, wha-what do you mean?" asked Wormtail, with little bravery in him he could manage.

"I meant what happened just a few hours ago!" snapped Voldemort, glaring at Wormtail with his red eyes.

Feeling uncomfortable from his master's gaze, Wormtail looked away. "N-Nothing significant happened a few hours ago, if that's what you mean, my Lord. Wha-what happened a few hours ago?" asked Wormtail, trembling under his master's gaze.

"I see...you have not seen or heard it. That confirms my fear. It has happened...The Nine has truly awakened," muttered Voldemort. Then, with a louder voice, "They should be here any moment now..." and no sooner had he said it, his Death Eaters have arrived.

"Master..." they all murmured, kneeling in front of him, and then standing back into their places.

"Wormtail...go get Narcissa...I have use of her..." said Voldemort to Wormtail, who made no motion to move. "Well? What are you waiting for! Do not delay my time!" hissed the cold voice. The shivering figure slowly backed away, and disappeared from view.

"Lucius...I heard you managed to talk your way out of staying at Azkaban and helped the others out...very quick thinking, I must say..." started Voldemort.

"My Lord, I thank you for the compliment. I have some news to report first," said Lucius proudly.

"Yes? Make it quick. I had other plans for this meeting tonight.

"Yes my Lord. I received news of a certain prophecy concerning the boy and you. There is, apparently, another copy of the prophecy that you sought. I was informed of course, by my colleagues at the Ministry. It is located somewhere on the second floor, but we need not get it. I have read part of it using my invisibility cloak. The second half of the prophecy states that the boy would vanquish the Dark Lord at young age, but after some years, the Dark Lord will rise again. The boy will have powers that the Dark Lord doesn't know of, and in the end, one will kill the other," said Lucius. He checked his master's face to see his reaction to what he had found out.

"This is interesting I must say. What powers? What powers could the boy have? I must look into this...No...There is no need. I cannot be killed. The powers of the Anathesti will not allow death to overcome me. Why do you not think why I have not died when my own killing curse had rebounded upon me? The prophecy has flaws. I think I know who spoke of this prophecy. Sibyll Trelawney, heir of the Great Cassandra Clairvoiyante Trelawney. I have heard much about her. The fraud, isn't it? Well, she may have had the real prophecy, but desperate for her great great grandmother's fame, she decided to impress Albus a bit more. That last bit, anyone could have made up. The boy hates me, as I, him. We have no reason to let each other live as our selves are alive. We will fight in the end, and one of us will win. I will be that one," replied Voldemort. "Anything else worth hearing Lucius?" he asked.

"Also, Cyran and Kelly will be at Hogwarts this year. But, that is not important. No-Well...yes my Lord, but I-I don't think this should be said in public. We don't know if there may be spies in the midst, and half our Death Eaters are here," said Lucius, unsure, and his eyes darting quickly back at the other Death Eaters along the circle.

"Very well. I trust your judgment, but this had better be worth my time," said Voldemort at last, after staring into Lucius' gray eyes, searching for his thoughts. The Death Eaters turned to leave, and walked into the next room.

"Silentimus," muttered Lucius, waving his wand, and it formed a silver shield over the two, which quickly turned invisible, knowing how nosy his fellow Death Eaters could be. Voldemort saw the silver shield for a split second, surprised, very well knowing that the Speech Bubble Spell casts purple shields. However, Lucius was so absorbed into thinking about what he was about to say, he didn't notice the strangeness of the coloring. Voldemort certainly thought that only one charm spell came with silver aura, the Patronus Charm. He did not show his curiosity, and gestured for him to talk. Lucius spoke.

"Master, as I had just apparated back to the Malfoy Manor for my invisibility cloak, I noticed that there was a sudden loud bang, and the sky, well...turned a sort of nasty velvet color." He paused, waiting for his master to speak. Voldemort did not. "Yes...well...the moon...became abnormal...and the clouds did something extraordinary. I turned away from the window, but then a great big streak of silver went through me. I felt cold and frozen, and it didn't feel right. I checked the mirror, and I believe I was glowing silver. Even my mirror agreed that it was not a common thing to happen, and she told me to believe her, for she's seen quite a lot in her younger days."

He checked Voldemort for reassurance that he was not going mad. Voldemort made a sudden movement at the mention of the light. However, he quietly listened, dismissing his talks about the female mirror, waiting for Lucius to say more. "Do not think me crazy Master, but, the sky...spoke," said Lucius, almost whispering, and waiting for his master to send him to St. Mungo's. Voldemort did not. His red eyes glowed with expectance. Lucius took this as a good sign, so he breathed, and finished on, talking more confidently. "Well, I wrote it somewhere," said Lucius, checking his pockets, "Ah.....Here it is, and he began to read from the hastily scribbled note, "Uh.....This is what the sky started talking about. It has begun. Hear this mentor. I grant the two, or something like that. Beware the second, and something about the first and third. Turn to the east. Forever serve the light; I think I might have missed a few words there. Talk mentor and begin. And.....It's done. The helio-something shall be for the light to command. And wait. There was another message. This one I heard in my head, like it was calling to me. Like it was meant for me. I couldn't make what the deep voice was saying. It said that it has begun (don't know what), and you shall awaken one by one," finished Lucius, looking up at Voldemort. An unexpected silence followed.

"My Lord?" asked Lucius, not enjoying this silence. Voldemort was in deep thought. Lucius watched as his master's face had turned from cold to gleeful. It was a first, for Voldemort was rarely showing any other facial expressions than the one he usually wears; the one that looks like he's positively ready to kill someone. Voldemort turned toward Lucius, his red eyes flashing.

"Lucius. Do you know of the Magids?" asked Voldemort.

"Hmm...yes my Lord. I believe they are extremely powerful wizards, and the last one was sometime in the B.C.," replied Lucius, curious of this question, waiting for his master to explain.

"Yes. What you have experienced was a Magus Forewarning. This indeed lightens my mood. For hours, I have thought that there would be three Magids well out of my control. Now I know, there is one in my control. They will not win so easily. HAHA. Now Lucius, after about a month, a Magus will be Awakened, and then follows the other two Magids. You do not need to know the unimportant details. I will tell you that there are three Magids Awakened each time the Nine stars of the Heliomiste constellation rearrange into some sort of a triangle figure. The Heliomiste is an ancient animal. I think it may be a cross between some type of bird and serpent. I do not know the details. The first one to be Awakened is the most powerful of the three. The second one to be Awakened is the third powerful one. The third one to be Awakened is the second powerful one. You will be a great asset to the Dark Order Lucius. I am pleased by you." Lucius, startled by the shocking news, stood there, shocked. Voldemort went on. "To know your level of Awakening power, I ask you, what is your birth date?"

Lucius snapped out of his thoughts, of 'ME.....A Magus.....OH the POWER.....Perhaps my Lord would consider me an equal.....'

"I was born on the thirtieth of May," said Lucius, still trying to overcome his glee.

"Of course. You are the Second power. I had hoped you would be the first power, but I confess I had my hopes too high up. Nevertheless, I will work with you Lucius, until you have reached your full potential. Together, we can weld a stronger power. When you are ready, I will take you to the Anathest and Anathesilist. Right now, I hope that the first Magus has not the slightest clue. But...nonetheless...I must say that it good that you are not the third power, the weakest Magus. The second power is still strong. You will receive your powers last, the only bad part of being the Dark Magus. You will have some new powers now, though not much. The second Magus usually will start to receive his true new powers starting from the exact time of his birth date. I will personally train you, and you will be my ally, instead of a servant ally. You will be my equal. However, in front of other people, you will be my servant. You will walk alongside me Lucius, my slippery friend. I warn you...once you have reached your full potential...you will not turn from me...you will not go against me...and you will not betray me. You will respect me as I will come to respect you. Is this clear Lucius?" asked Voldemort.

Lucius cleared his throat. "Yes my Lord. But I still don't understand why only I saw it."

"Don't 'my-lord' me when it is just us. I do not look to you as a servant or slave anymore! I will look to you as an equal, if you show that you deserve it! Only my strongest ally shall call me by my name, Lord Voldemort. And as for you question, I heard and saw the Magus Forewarning event too. All my other Death Eaters are clueless, as I have tried with Wormtail before. The Muggle-loving fool, Dumbledore, and the members of his Order has heard and saw it because they were members of an order to fight for the Starlight, the exact source the Starlight Magids receive their true powers. The rest of the Wizarding and Muggleworld has not seen or heard anything. If they did, well...you can imagine the mayhem at the Ministry, trying to cover this up from the Muggles. I heard it because I am a Sorcerer who has called upon some powerful magic, which makes me an exception. The Muggle-loving fool also. The other two Magids also heard and saw it."

"Yes my--Lord V-V-Voldemort. I think I shall put the shield down. It was not meant to last long. Finite Silentimus."

"Remember, what went inside the Speech Bubble, no one shall know for now. Your son...Draco, isn't it? I do need a spy at Hogwarts. You will tell Draco to spy on Potter and tell us of anything new," Voldemort muttered out of the corner of his mouth, and waved his wand. It sent off a Messenger, Basilisk, slithering towards the Death Eaters. (It was the same messenger that Albus Dumbledore sent to Hagrid when Krum was found stupefied; only his was a Phoenix Messenger.) They came back into the room, waiting for Voldemort to speak. However, he gave no signs that anything significant was said. He was also extremely upset that the Magus had Awakened, with two on the side of Light. The most powerful one included. He knew he could not locate the Magids because Dumbledore was probably the mentor, and has put powerful unplottable magic. His only hope now was that the first Magus was not below the age of twenty, for he very well knows the result of that. But on the other hand, Lucius would become extremely powerful also. There was nothing more to fear. The Anathesti will help. With the thought of this, Voldemort became gleeful once more. All he had to do was kill the other two Magids before they are Awakened.

"M-my Lord, here is Narcissa, as you asked," said Wormtail trembling, and leading a trembling Narcissa shaking from head to foot, who has never spoken to the Dark Lord directly before.

"You are related to Black?" asked Voldemort. Narcissa nodded, with fear in her eyes.

"You shall see the elf on a daily basis, and you will inform me all that the elf can say." Once again, Narcissamerely nodded.

"You will give direct instructions for the elf. You are his master now! The Black family has gone. Do a satisfying job and I will be sure to reward you!" All Narcissa knew to do, was nod, and she walked over to the circle, stumbling over a chair.

"Now that that's been taken care of. We will go on to the first part of this morning's business. I admit I usually don't call meetings this early in the morning, but usually in the dead of the night. This is a special occasion. Wormtail, bring in the prisoner!"

Wormtail walked off to the underground dungeon, and appeared, dragging a figure, whose face was concealed. The Death Eaters all looked at each other, and wondered the reasoning for this.

"We will go outside. The yard has been placed with an Illusion charm, and also a Speech Charm." The group made their way into the backyard of the MalfoyManor, with Voldemort leading them. The backyard was enchanted with the look of orange flames around the shield circle, the best scenery for torture and dark gatherings. They gathered in a circle, with Voldemort and the prisoner standing in the middle. Voldemort watched the prisoner with a look of fury on his dark face.

"Stand up," Voldemort ordered the prisoner. She didn't, but turned her head away, with hatred blazing in her eyes.

"You dare defy me?" hissed Voldemort, raising his wand at the prisoner. And as if there were invisible hands lifting the woman, the figure stood up, and walked a few paces, facing him. As she turned her face, the fire lit up her face. The fifth Death Eater stirred, unnoticed.

"Ah...yes...my fellow worshippers. You're all probably wondering the reason why I called you all here today aside from our plans," said Voldemort, daring any one of them to ask. A silence followed.

"There are two things to be done in this early morning. One is a torturing session," he began, casting a look at the prisoner. "The other is discussing tonight's plans. Only a few of you know about it. We shall operate openly now. There is no more need for secrecy. The Wizarding world has found out. Thwarted...once again by Harry Potter and the Muggle-loving fool. But first...let's start lightly...with round one after I am done talking to her," said the cold voice.

"Nataleenya...here I even thought of you as one of my most precious followers...But two days ago...you proved me wrong Natalie. Has spying for Dumbledore become the new thing for Death Eaters?" he questioned...glaring at his Death Eaters now. Each one of them bowed low.

"Master..." they all murmured, not quite sure of what to do.

"Master...we serve only you..." said a brave Death Eater.

"Master...we do not feel loyalty to the Muggle-loving dupe..." cried another even braver Death Eater.

"Perhaps...For your convenience this is not the time for that...you may begin round one. I shall start, and I will be the one to kill her.

He raised his wand, and with a cold merciless voice, "Crucio." The fifth Death Eater flinched. The woman fell to the ground withering and shrieking. Then it stopped. The Death Eaters knew this game. The rounds were for entertainment. Only the ones who were skilled with torturing curses were allowed to participate. Others would merely watch with pleasure.

Lucius stepped forward. "AsphyxiasisDelusionus!" The women wrapped her hands around her neck and tried to breathe. Her face red and purple, and Luciusfinally lowered his wand.

Voldemort looked pleased. "Well done Lucius. Another invention of yours, I suppose? I daresay it may be quite useful."

"Thank you my Lord," replied Lucius, making a mental note to invent more. Of course, his heir would be the test dummy.

The next Death Eater walked up. It was Nott, specializing in Muggletortures. "Calcinissi Delusionus!" The woman's shrieks filled the night. Her very bones and eyes felt it was on fire.

"Enough!" said Voldemort. The woman's screams died off. "I will start off the second round. Meurtrininia!" cried Voldemort. The fifth Death Eater gasped, but nobody noticed, because the other Death Eaters had also gasped. They watched as the woman's skin was marked with slashes, and blood slowly gushing out. The woman, this time however, did not scream. She had made up her mind. If she was to be tortured and killed tonight by those dark wizards, she was not going to give them the satisfaction of giving in to her pain. No...she would die without fear...if it was going to be her last day alive, then so be it. She would make such an end! It would be her last time ever to defy Voldemort. She would stand up to them as James and Lily Potter have. The thought of this gave her strength, as she slowly stood up, facing his red eyes. His eyes were nothing compared to the fury and honor look in her eyes. The two stared at each other, neither one of them moving. They all stared at her, shocked. Surely no one would be standing after the first round, and no one ever has. She stood there, standing, as if she were mightier than Lord Voldemort, the most powerful Dark Lord alive. That was absurd!

Lucius stepped up, cleared unhappy that someone like her was staring Voldemort down. How dare anyone defy his master! He would show her...

"Mördelortsi Verletczar!" he roared, in his loudest voice, as a flash of silver light rushed towards the woman. There were several cracks, and Natalie felt the intense pain, and realized that her right arm was broken, along with her wrist, hand, and five fingers. She couldn't move so much as a hair to risk moving her left arm and hand. Without a word or sound, she kept on glaring at Voldemort. Everyone present could see the whiteness of her faces and restrained scream.

"Another new invention of yours Lucius? My mymy..." said Voldemort, his glare still on the foolish woman that stood in front of him. 'Why won't she give in to the pain?' he asked himself.

Nott stepped forward, and muttered an incantation, which none heard but the fifth Death Eater, who stumbled, but quickly stood his ground. It was the same category curse the Quirrell had used on Harry's bucking broom in the first year. This curse made the ground area below her shake. This wouldn't have directly caused pain, but every one of them knew the reasoning behind it. She remained still so that her arm didn't move. But now, the small area of ground beneath her quaked, and she fell off balance, landing on her right arm. She felt the longing scream trying to break free, and it almost did. But then she stopped, thinking of the vow she had made earlier. She didn't move. It was too painful. But she did not cry out.

"It will stop here. I will do the final round. Ava-" he started, and then stopped. "No...It is too easy a death. I will let you get a taste of being burnt up before you die. Let this be the curse I will kill you with, for the next spy who has betrayed me," He thought for a moment, thinking up a painful death.

"ASHA HARI KARITH ASHA NA," he cried taking his gaze off the woman, and instead, onto the sky. The sky immediately darkened when a rush of black (yes black) clouds glided over, covering up the whole of Britain. The sun was powerless to penetrate for now. The Death Eaters gazed up at the sky in wonder, and for the first time, they truly realized the power of the Dark Lord.

"ANAAK HARITH SAH CORANAH," he cried, gazing at the furious sky. The clouds swirled, like it did during the awakening, only this time, it was fierce with fury. It had started raining, and quickly turning into a fierce thunderstorm (with a horrible roar, but without lightning!) with heavy rain and hail. It was a hot summer morning too! Later, this event would be broadcasted on every television show (of course, after the cables have been put back. They surely would have been damaged during the artificial storm).

"LYN FLAMATH DERHDAX XER," Voldemort yelled at the sky, which now started the lightning. The Death Eaters were all soaked, except for Voldemort himself, because the weather he had caused himself can not touch him.

Voldemort now spoke the last part of the incantation. "LYN FLAMATH DERHDAX XINE," he spoke, cold and calm, his wand pointed at the woman. A sudden massive bolt of lightning had came out of the sky, and shot towards the woman, who was now looking up at the extremely large lightning bolt headed her way, and realized that death was only moments away...

"NO!" came a scream from amidst the ring of Death Eaters. It was the fifth Death Eater in line. The masked figure came charging towards the woman with incredible speed, and quickly pushed her out of the way of the lightning bolt. With a flash, the lightning bold had struck the fifth Death Eater, whose mask had melted. The figure stood on the ground withering in pain and shock from the electricity. As the mask fell off, the physical form of the figure had been outlined with red flames.

"ARGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" screamed the figure, in unimaginable pain, even worse than Crucio, because this was not in the mind. This was physical hurt. As the figure slumped to the ground, his face was lit up by the flames surrounding him.

Severus Snape, Hogwart's Potions Master and grand spy of Albus Dumbledore.

The woman was nowhere to be seen.

The Death Eaters, alarmed by this unexpected turn of events, only turned when their master had given a dry cough (Ahem), much like Dolores Umbridge'scough. Shocked, they couldn't decide what to look at. The burning corpse? Or their Terrible master. Or in between?

Deciding that they would not want their fellow Death Eater's fate, the lot turned to look at their master, who by now, had a calm look about him. Was that a good sign? Or a bad sign?

"Dear, dear. It seems that old Severus has a soft spot...No matter about the girl. She had not heard anything tonight of magnificence. She will be the one to bring back the news of Severus'sdeath, though how she escaped, I can not imagine. You are only able to apparate in here when I allow it! Severusmust have been a Magid. His new powers. Apparating the woman to a safer place. You were right indeed Lucius. I had believed him under the influence of Veritaserum, but of course, he was England's most talented Potion's Master ever. He could have given himself a little extra something. Foolish of me to not notice. I relied on him to brew my potions. But now I think...I will need to find a replacement Potion's Master. I wonder if he has any siblings? I will do that another time. For tonight's plans...You have contacted the rest of them Avery?"

"Yes master. The attack on Azkaban tonight will commence tonight when we feel the burn," replied Avery, with every ounce of stability.

"Excellent. Nott! You have gone through backup plans and escape routes?" asked Voldemort.

"Yes master. Everything is as planned. All the possible excuses will be made. The dungeon here will be most valuable for our new possible prisoners tonight if we shall run into some Aurors. We have a separate chamber for the Dementors. They will be most pleased with their new surrounding and fresh emotions," replied Nott.

"Lucius! Have you come up with the plans for the Ministry yet?"

"Yes my Lord. The distractions will put them off from attending to Azkaban. I will lead the distraction along with Bellatrix, and then we will slip away quietly and join with you," replied Lucius.

"Good. I will trust your distractions. I will not ask the details of it because it is best that few people know as possible. The rest of you, should you hear of anything peculiar that the Ministry must attend to, ignore it. I trust you are all smart enough to make up your own excuses. You may go. Narcissa, Lucius, a word with you two," said Voldemort.

The yard dimmed from sight.

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Harry Potter had woken up.

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