Harry Potter and the Order of Ashrien

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Minerva McGonagall rarely, if ever, rushed thru the halls of Hogwarts unless it was a dire emergency, a behavior which she had managed to retain from her earliest days as a student here. But, it seemed that this morning was one of those rare times. And fortunately for her in this instance, the start of the fall term was still three weeks off, so there were no students present in the halls to interfere with her. As she rushed through the cold stone corridors, ignoring the occasional greeting from one of the portraits, with her long emerald robes flowing gracefully behind her, Minerva McGonagall headed to the Headmaster's office, a letter tightly clutched in her hand.

After nearly colliding with several of the other professors in the corridors, including an unfortunate run in with Professor Snape, she finally arrived at her destination several long minutes later. She paused at the stone gargoyle stationed at the base of the stairs for a moment to catch her breath and then uttered the Headmaster's latest password in a voice barely audible;

"Life Savers"

'The Headmaster's fondness for Muggle sweets is getting stranger and stranger with each passing day' Minerva thought as she waited impatiently for the gargoyle to move aside. After a moment, the stone gargoyle spun aside with its usual groan, allowing Minerva to hurry up the winding staircase leading to Dumbledore's office. Upon reaching the top of the staircase, she paused for a moment and collected herself. As she was about to knock on the door, she heard a voice from inside call out.

"Do come in, Minerva."

Despite her urgent need to talk to the Headmaster, Minerva could not help but marvel at Dumbledore's uncanny ability to tell who was waiting outside his door at any given time. As she walked into the office, she noticed the rather unusual amount of opened books, some of which she had never laid eyes on before, lying haphazardly on Dumbledore's normally uncluttered desk. Taking the offered chair, she sat down wearily, a rather uncharacteristic sigh escaping from her lips.

"Would you like some tea or perhaps a lemon drop? Now tell me, Minerva, what troubles you so much this morning? I don't believe I've never known you to look quite so distressed before."

"This report greatly troubles me, Albus. I just received an urgent owl from Arthur Weasley. Since the Dark Lord's resurrection, we placed additional wards around Harry's residence as you well know. All of the wards around the Dursley residence were breached last night. Somehow, the Death Eaters breached the wards you placed there, Albus. They tried to get Harry last night."

Albus looked hard at Minerva, the fear plainly evident in his eyes. He had taken great care to place the wards around that house and to know that those wards had been breached rocked him to his core. He looked at his former student and now deputy headmistress and asked, his voice shaky and slightly hoarse;

"Is Harry all-right, Minerva? Do they...do they have him?"

"Fortunately, Harry appears to be completely unharmed. According to Arthur's report, the Death Eaters never got close to him, as someone intervened on Harry's behalf. As you may well be aware of by now, there was an unusual storm over Little Whinging last night. "

Albus leaned forward in his chair, relief flooding throughout his aged body as he readjusted his half-moon spectacles, and knowing all to well that storms for that area just did not occur at this time of the year.

"What kind of breach was it, Minerva? Why has Harry not written us yet? He's always sent us a note if there's been some kind of problem."

"I don't know the answers to your questions, Albus. I'm sure that Harry has written you with all of the details of last night by now. Somehow, the blood protection wards had been placed there by you to protect Harry were lowered. Arthur believes that the storm over Little Whinging last night was part of the mechanism to help lower the wards and that the storm was not a naturally occurring one. They were lowered just long enough to allow thirteen Death Eaters to apparate to the backyard at Harry's residence last night."

Minerva paused for a moment to catch her breath before continuing

"From Mrs. Figg's accounting of the incident, only one of the Death Eaters was allowed to escape. Arabella believes it was Lucius Malfoy who was allowed to leave, because she caught a glimpse of his face from her vantage point. Whoever it was that helped Harry last night, took out twelve Death Eaters before anyone one of them could issue a curse. Arthur believes that whoever it was, wanted to send Voldemort, or his 'associate' a message of some kind and a powerful one. The wards around Harry's residence are back in place now; in fact they are stronger than they ever were, according to Arabella. So far, no member of the Order has been able to figure out how the wards were breached, but I have an idea, though."

"What do you mean; the Order can't figure it out? Who do you think breached the wards? And how can the wards be stronger after a breach of that nature? Who does Arthur think created the storm?" Albus asked, his voice gaining both in strength and volume.

As Minerva was preparing her reply, a decidedly feminine voice responded from the corner of the room:

"Because I was the one who replaced the wards, Headmaster. And I think you know who it was that breached the wards for them."

Dumbledore and McGonagall swung around in their chairs to face the source of the voice, both of them rapidly drawing their wands. As they looked, a form seemed to solidify from a cloud of misty blue-white light in the corner of the professor's office. Once it had become material, the figure stepped forward, and brushed back the hood of her cloak. As Dumbledore tried to order his thoughts, the figure spoke again.

"Allow me to introduce myself Professor McGonagall, Headmaster Dumbledore, my name is Marelle."

Dumbledore finally got hold of the wits that seldom eluded him as he took stock of the speaker that was studying them intently from the corner of his office. She was rather tall and had a lithe figure. Albus estimated her to be about five feet and ten inches in height and quite comfortable with her stature. Her athletically built frame had both a look of youth and ageless wisdom. She had ivory skin without the faintest flaw or wrinkle, her hair was as dark as the blackest night and she had the bluest eyes that Dumbledore had ever seen. The robes she was wearing were fairly simple, the only ornamentation being some rather unusual embroidery around the sleeves, hood and hemlines and several unusual pins just below the left shoulder. The mere site of her, leaning rather comfortably against the bookcase in the corner of his office, instilled a few thoughts in Dumbledore which he hadn't taken from his mental or physical closet in more than a few decades.

It only took a moment before Dumbledore was ready to address her, slowly lowering his wand as he finally managed to regain control of both his wits and his breathing.

"You helped our Harry Potter last night? And how is it that you come to us in such an odd manner, young lady?"

Marelle smiled genuinely, her face taking on an animated expression as she appreciated the ironic humor of both her and Dumbledore's situation. Correctly judging the mood of both the Headmaster and Professor McGonagall, she calmed her voice and replied;

"I sensed a disturbance close to where I happened to be last night. After locating its source, my curiosity was piqued, so I went to investigate it. Your friend Arthur, I believe, was correct in assumption that the storm was not a natural one. It was created in order to breach the wards you had placed around Harry's residence and it was a very strong storm."

Marelle paused for a moment before continuing

"As to my sudden appearance here in your office this morning. Headmaster, Professor McGonagall, for your information, teleportation is a very simple art of my order. It was one art which I made sure to master completely while I was very young and in my initiate years. Now, let's get on to the business at hand here. Professor Dumbledore, you have fairly good wards around the castle here for a wizardly abode and around Harry's residence as well; however they can do very little to stop a spell of significant power, especially if cast by certain kinds of people. This is one of the reasons I am here. After all, you did put in a call for help from us, did you not?"

As a light of illumination dawned in Dumbledore's mind, he then realized just who and more importantly what, he was addressing. The import of his realization did not escape Minerva as well as she stammered, her wand finally lowered, and her voice slightly hoarse and shaky;

"You mean to tell us that you..."

"Yes, Professor, Headmaster, I am a Mage, a Prime Mage to be exact. I do not mean to offend you or your staff but, the summoning spell your group cast was so weak that only the strongest and most sensitive of us could detect it. It was an ambitious and admiral attempt at that particular spell. I am sorry that it took me some time to determine the exact source and location of the call, but as you can see, here I am."

Minerva and Albus exchanged glances, each of them feeling a mixture of awe and utter relief. Albus motioned Marelle over to a chair next to the one in which Minerva was seated.

"Would you be so kind as to take a seat? I do believe we have much to discuss this day and not much time in which to do it."

Marelle seemed to flow gracefully into the chair, her features serious but congenial and radiating of power.

"Thank you Professor. You are quite correct in your assumption, we do have a great many things to discuss, and much less time than either of you probably realize. There are a great many things which need to be done to prepare your staff and students for the upcoming trials."

Minerva was not sure she was going to like what the mage meant by trials, and fidgeted slightly as she spoke.

"Trials? What kind of trials are you talking about? And what things do you mean need to be done?"

Marelle touched a graceful fingertip to her chin and thought for a moment and replied her voice calm and composed.

"Professors, your school has somehow managed to acquire the interest of an Ashrin. More specifically, your Mr. Potter has. This in and of itself is never a good thing. You must know this up front, without proper preparation and training, your entire staff and the best of your students would be dead in a matter of moments, if confronted by even one moderately well trained Ashrin. I am the last one to boast of the skills of an Ashrin, but it is the plain and simple truth and you need to know it."

Marelle paused for a moment to let her words sink in a bit. Seeing that she had their complete attention again, Marelle continued

"In order to give everyone a chance at surviving this upcoming war and it is coming, whether you like it or not, and much sooner than you think, it will be absolutely necessary to teach both the best of your staff and students some of the ancient arts. The true magics professor, the ancient magics which rely neither on foci like your wands, nor your potions or wizarding enchantments. The students and staff here, who are capable of it, must learn to control and cast the truest form of magic, what you would call wand less magic. They must be taught a small part of the Mage arts if they are to have any chance to survive this."

Both Albus and Minerva exchanged worried glances, their fears having been confirmed by the Mage seated with them.

"The Mage Arts? And just how do you propose we do this? We will only be able to get a small amount of help from the Ministry; most of their time is being spent tracking down the Death Eaters." Minerva replied, her voice barely under control.

"Please relax, Professor, Headmaster. I believe in complete honesty when explaining about the Ashrin and I feel that more of an explanation is order for both of you to fully understand the seriousness of the situation. Before coming here, I took the time to study your Ministry of Magic and its internal and external workings and while they can handle the Death Eaters, they simply do not have the skill or power level that is necessary to handle an Ashrin, even an initiate one. Headmaster, you must realize that the level of power we are talking about here is far beyond anything you could have ever experienced." Marelle responded her voice calm and composed.

Marelle looked at Albus and Minerva carefully. She could see the disbelief plainly written in their eyes and actually expected it and counted on it. Marelle knew by looking at them that a demonstration of some kind was going to be required for them to believe her and her abilities and she waited for them to ask her for it.

"To finish up then, I can see that you have some grave concerns about the Death Eaters. And that is to be expected, but in this instance, they are not the real problem, just a minor inconvenience. To be quite honest, compared to the Ashrin, even an initiate or novice Ashrin, the Death Eaters are no more harmful than a five year old child having a temper tantrum. The power levels involved are just that much different. And it's quite obvious to me that you are in desperate need of a DADA teacher for this rapidly approaching school term, am I correct? Plus, you need someone to help keep an eye on Harry Potter as well. But, I see you have some doubts as to my abilities. I am not offended by this actually, I was expecting it. I would have taken offense if you didn't have doubts, I would have if I was in your position."

Albus looked to Minerva, then back to Marelle, the familiar twinkle back in his eyes and replied;

"It seems that you are rather wise for your years. In this time, it's hard not to have doubts about someone claiming to be what you claim to be. To us, the term Mage is something that is more closely associated with legends in books that have been passed down to us through the ages. As to the demonstration you've mentioned, I really don't know what would be 'appropriate', actually. I have never met a mage before today."

Dumbledore paused for a moment to take a sip of his tea before continuing,

"However Marelle, you are correct in assuming that we are in dire need of a DADA teacher. I have had little success in finding one capable of handling the job for more than a year. And I've had an even more difficult time trying to locate a competent teacher with the steady increase in Voldemort's activities as of late. And now, coupled with this new threat, we will need to keep a very close eye on Mr. Potter. Harry is at the top of Voldemort's hit list, having faced and defeated him four times, and he is constantly tormenting Harry through his dreams."

"Hmm, I have already helped your Mr. Potter last night out of that little problem. In addition to the protection wards being strengthened around his aunt and uncle's home, he was presented with a specially crafted necklace, which was designed specifically for him. I also took the liberty of placing a few of my own wards around his house and neighborhood. The necklace we gave him will give Harry some peace from the nightmares he suffers with while he sleeps and it will also provide him with another layer of protection from harm. Even his aunt and uncle cannot harm him while he wears the necklace. All-right then Headmaster, what I propose to you is this. I will be more than happy to teach the DADA position here, with a couple of small concessions on your part which I will discuss in a bit. If one of you will choose something that I can demonstrate my abilities with, no matter how outrageous it may be to you, we can then move forward."

Both Albus and Minerva looked at each other, trying to come up with something that would satisfy their doubts as to her abilities.

"What, as a demonstration, would you term as outrageous, Headmaster Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall? The gift of eternal youth returned to both of you, perhaps? Bringing someone back from the dead? Or something a bit more grandiose, perhaps. It is your choice, but you must choose wisely and soon, for time is running out." Marelle replied, sinking deeper into the cushioned chair.

Once again, Albus and Minerva exchanged glances. While Minerva looked at Marelle, unwilling to believe her claim at being able to bring someone back from the dead, Albus spoke, having reclaimed his voice first.

"You are telling us that you can bring back the dead? That has only been rumored to be able to be done thru the darkest of the black arts. "

Marelle turned her gaze towards Albus, raising one delicate eyebrow at him as she leaned forward in her chair and replied

"It depends on the person and the exact circumstances of that person's death for most of our order of the higher ranks, those ranks being Grandmaster and above. Myself, and perhaps one or two others are not quite so 'limited' by these circumstances. And returning someone to life that is truly deserving of it is never considered a part of the black arts. For us, it is the ultimate gift of the Light."

Marelle leaned forward, taking one of Albus' hands in her own. Clasping it tightly, she asked, her expression serious

Albus could feel the ambient magical power that radiated from Marelle's hand and he could feel it strengthening him, strengthening his resolve. He watched her expression change from one of calm, to one of serious intent. He was about to speak, when she said;

"Now who is it you wish returned to this plane of existence?"

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Lucius Malfoy paced the richly carpeted floor impatiently in his study at Malfoy Manor, anxiously waiting for his inevitable summons to the Dark Lord's side and perhaps even his own death. He had locked himself in his study since early that morning after the disastrous events at the Dursley residence the previous evening, going what had transpired over and over. Lucius was so preoccupied with his thoughts; he ignored both his wife's and son's calls for advice. Death was more often than not the price a Death Eater paid for failing to complete a task that had been assigned to them by the Dark Lord and he had failed last night's task completely. Not only had the attack against Potter failed, but there was also the loss of twelve Death Eaters to a single person which he was accountable for as well. While the Death Eaters who had been killed last night were not part of the Inner Circle as Lucius was, they were still chosen by the Dark Lord to be his loyal followers. That loss alone had shaken Lucius far more than he would openly admit to and he kept replaying last night's disastrous events over and over in his mind. There were no loud incantations spoken, no exaggerated wand movements, nothing that could be associated with any wizard or witch that he was familiar with. All it had taken was just a couple of simple hand gestures and a few softly spoken words and twelve death eaters were just dead. Killed in ways that would make even the Dark Lord himself cringe, especially after Lucius saw what happened to the very last one of the Death Eaters.

But what truly unnerved him the most about last night's failure was the way the 'witch' calmly walked up to him after dealing with his associates, absently tossing a small black marble in one hand as if she didn't have a care in the world. She had pinned him against the back yard fence, by simply looking at him and took his hand, enclosing within it, the small marble she had been tossing. As the marble touched his skin, he could feel the pain and suffering of the soul trapped inside of the marble. He recalled with perfect clarity what she had said to him, her voice soft and yet utterly terrifying at the same time;

"Oh, yes Lucius. I know who you are, quite well in fact, even though you hide your features behind a coward's mask. Your aura reeks of darkness and deception, pain and misery, hatred and contempt. And yes, Lucius; your friend in case you are wondering, is in deed alive in there, trapped forever in a world of eternal pain, and remarkably enough, he won't go insane, but he will remain imprisoned within that marble you now hold for eternity. Ah, but look at the time, I think you had best be going home now. I believe that you will have some time however until your master calls for you. I don't think that it will be until sometime tomorrow afternoon. I strongly suggest that you take this opportunity to think about what you've witnessed this night."

The 'witch' had then leaned in closer to him, capturing his gaze with her ice cold, cerulean colored eyes. As she leaned in closer, he could feel just a bit of the power that radiated from her and it far surpassed anything he had ever come in contact with before, even with Voldemort at his peak. He recalled her final message with utter clarity and knew that if he failed to deliver it exactly as she had told him to, she would know and he would be dead before Voldemort could do anything about it.

By the time Lucius finally looked up at the clock on the mantle above the roaring fireplace, it was two-thirty in the afternoon. He looked over absently at the tray that had sat untouched on his desk, the food having long since gone cold, ever since he had entered his study early that morning. His personal musings on last night's events were interrupted when he felt the Dark Mark on his arm burn, meaning that he was being summoned to appear. As he donned his Death Eater robes and mask, he took great pains not to forget the small, black marble which seemed to stare at him from its place on his desk, wondering for a moment if this was going to be the last time he saw the insides of his private study. Taking a deep breath, Lucius Malfoy gathered his wits and apparated.

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"Thank you, Wormtail. Now we shall wait and see." Voldemort said releasing Wormtail's left arm.

Wormtail, aka Peter Pettigrew, crawled away on hands and knees from Voldemort's throne, his body shaking uncontrollably after being hit with the Crucio curse and having Voldemort summon his Death Eaters thru the Dark Mark on his left arm. He had been instrumental in returning Voldemort to his physical form, having participated in the blood ritual by sacrificing his own hand, at the end of Harry's fourth year at Hogwarts during the TriWizard Tournament which had served to bind him even tighter to Voldemort.

As he cowered against the wall, the shaking of his body finally beginning to settle down somewhat, Wormtail watched nervously as the other Death Eaters began apparating in Voldemort's latest hiding place, a crumbling manor house somewhere in northern Scotland. He noted the quick appearance of Lucius and Severus, but also noticed that their numbers were far fewer than their last meeting the previous evening. Voldemort noticed this as well, and his anger was clearly evident in his voice as he bellowed

"WHERE ARE THE REST OF MY FOLLOWERS?"

Wormtail continued to cower against the wall, knowing better than to answer Voldemort while he was in this mood, unless he was called upon specifically by Voldemort. He could see the form of Lucius Malfoy start to quake a bit where he stood and in that instant, Wormtail knew that the attack on the Potter boy had failed last night and had failed in a big way. A cold chill ran down Wormtail's spine as a lone figure entered the room from the shadows.

Wormtail watched as the figure made its way slowly into the room, the robes and cloak the figure was wearing fluttering around its body as if they were being blown about by an invisible breeze. The temperature in the room seemed to drop a few degrees as the hooded figure made his way over to where Voldemort sat interrogating one of the newly initiated members of the Death Eaters.

"WORMTAIL! What do you know about last night's foray?" Voldemort roared

Wormtail chose his next words carefully, not wanting to incur his master's wrath again that night and knowing that he could not take another round of the Crucio curse this evening. He pulled himself to a standing position, walked over to Voldemort's throne and knelt down, his head bowed in subservience and said;

"I do not know, My Lord. I was not part of the plan and I was not amongst the chosen to go to Potter's last night."

Voldemort looked down at Wormtail, knowing that he had been told the truth. Voldemort looked over to where his 'associate' stood watching the proceedings and was acknowledged with only a slight nod. This new 'associate' had shown up seemingly out of nowhere one day only a couple of months ago and had promised Voldemort the chance to obtain powers far beyond anything he had previously thought possible. When Voldemort had asked his new 'associate' his name, he was told to simply call him 'Master', nothing more, nothing less. Voldemort was more than a bit put out at that statement, but a simple gesture demonstrating the power the 'Master' wielded soon convinced him otherwise. He then realized with a great amount of undisguised pleasure, that this 'Master' could easily defeat Dumbledore, his pathetic Order of the Phoenix and Potter as well. Voldemort quickly decided to play along with the 'Master', figuring he could shortly figure out a way to get rid of this creature after Voldemort had gotten what he wanted from him.

"Perhaps my most loyal follower amongst those now gathered here, my dear Lucius. What news do you have to report to me? I know that you failed somehow in your mission and lost some of my newest followers, twelve of them in fact. I trust you can explain yourself and what happened last night, Lucius. You don't want to keep me waiting." Voldemort said, being careful to keep his voice neutral, despite his anger.

Severus watched the proceedings between Lucius and Voldemort quietly from his place within the circle with great interest. So far this evening, Severus had been spared being hit with the Crucio curse, and was immensely grateful for the respite from it. Severus was also grateful that he had not been sent to Potter's last night and took a bit of pleasure watching his old schoolmate Lucius squirm in his spot. He was extremely uncomfortable being here in the Inner Circle, being a spy for Dumbledore, and especially in the presence of Voldemort's new 'associate', but he had to keep up the appearances of being a loyal Death Eater. Severus had some suspicions as to the exact nature of Voldemort's new 'associate' and wished to keep his observations to himself until he had more evidence that he could present to Dumbledore. And what ever information he could glean out of these little 'gatherings' could only help to further the war against Voldemort. Relieved not to be the 'focus' of Voldemort's attention this meeting, Severus leaned back against the wall and watched Lucius' report the events of last night with great interest.

Lucius stepped forward nervously, knowing that he would most likely not make it out of this meeting alive. Gathering his thoughts, Lucius took a deep breath as he knelt down on one knee before Voldemort and the 'Master', bowing his head in subservience. Lucius had not failed his master in a very, very long time and was unable to keep his voice from shaking as he replied;

"My Lord Voldemort, we apparated to Potter's residence without resistance as we were told and entered the back yard. The wards were not an issue as you had advised us. The entire street was quiet and dark as we had figured it would be with the power being out. The storm provided us with a good distraction and it hid our arrival there."

"And what of Potter, Lucius? What was he doing at the time of your arrival?"

"He was with his muggle relatives, eating dinner as we expected. We called Potter out as you specified my lord. I stepped back to wait and observe and signaled the others to take their positions. The back door then opened, but Potter didn't come out. At first I thought it was one of his muggle relatives, but I was wrong in my assumption. Only one person came out of the residence and this person was wearing a hooded robe similar to ours, my lord."

"A hooded robe, Death Eater?" came a voice from underneath the 'Master's' hood. Since his arrival, this was the first time that Lucius had heard the 'Master' speak at all to anyone. The voice emanating out from underneath the hood was chilling and cut him to the core. "Describe the robes this person was wearing, Death Eater."

Lucius nodded in ascension and continued;

"The robes this person wore were black with some kind of silver trimming around the edges, although I am not sure if it was decorative trim or some kind of runic inscription. I was too far away to tell for certain. From what I could see, it appeared to be a woman's figure underneath the robes, but I could not tell that for certain from that distance. There were no other markings of any kind on the robes either, except for some pins I believe just below the left shoulder which I took to be plain jewelry of some kind."

Lucius paused from his report for a moment to compose himself before continuing

"I called the figure a witch and they just laughed at that, at me. After hearing the person speak, I was able to deduce it was a female. She seemed to be somewhat insulted that I called her a witch, but refused to tell us who she was. She did say that she only needed one of us alive to report back to you, my Lord. "

As Lucius was giving his report, Wormtail could not help but notice the change in posture of his Lord's 'associate'. 'At least I'm not being grilled tonight. It's nice to see someone else in trouble for a change, especially Lucius. That bastard deserves a little punishment for a change. Something about this person Lucius is describing really worries my master's associate, however. I wonder what it could be'. Wormtail kept his thoughts to himself as he listened to Lucius continue, also acutely aware of Severus' interest in Lucius' current predicament.

"And? I am growing impatient, Malfoy. What happened to the Death Eaters I sent with you? There were TWELVE of them and adequately trained, several of them were trained by you personally."

Lucius nodded his head once and continued his report again, fighting his nerves even more as he continued his report.

"This 'witch' then stated that her apprentice, who was with Potter inside the home, was more than a match for all of us, and that we had no idea whom we have just pissed off. She also went on to say once again she only needed one of us alive to deliver a message."

"AND?" thundered the voice from under the 'Master's hood, making the Death Eaters who were here jump at the unearthly sound. "WHAT WAS THE MESSAGE?"

"My Lord, before any one of us could utter a curse; the twelve Death Eaters that I brought with me were gone. They were killed in ways that I've never seen before, even in your most revered Dark Arts books. And what happened to the last one, my lord, I...I've never seen that spell before. And when it was all over My Lord, all of this happened in less than ten seconds no less, this person came over to me, pinning me against the back wall of the yard."

"Continue, Lucius." Voldemort said his impatience and anger growing by the second.

"At that point the figure lowered their hood and I was certain it was a female. She had raven black hair and crystalline blue colored eyes and appeared to be about five foot nine or so. I still could not identify the pins or the pattern of the embroidery on the robes she was wearing, even up close. I've never seen anything like them before, so I will describe it to you. It was a black circle, with silver edging. In the middle of the circle was a five pointed star surrounded by some kind of runes, with a rune in the center of the star. She then took my hand in one of hers and placed something within it. As she did so she said the following phrase to me."

Lucius turned and knelt in front of the 'Master', his head bowed low. Holding out his hand, Lucius carefully unclenched his fist, revealing the small black marble contained within it. With his head still bowed, he did not see the 'Master' start to shake with rage. He only knew the full extent of the 'Master's' anger when unseen hands grasped him by the throat and pulled him to his feet, Lucius' face within inches of the hooded figure's face.

"WHAT DID THIS FEMALE SAY?"

Lucius swallowed nervously once and replied in as calm a voice as he could manage and replied;

"She said and I quote, 'It is not wise to anger a Mage."

As he relayed the last bit of the message, Lucius was abruptly flung hard into the stone wall sliding down it into a heap on the floor. He looked up, Death Eater mask and robes askew, his body numb, bruised all over and shaking from the abrupt impact against the wall, to see the 'Master' just turn around and walk out of the room, his cloak and robes billowing out behind him and the marble sitting on the floor where the 'Master' had just stood.

"My Lord?"

"Silence, Lucius. You should consider yourself very lucky to live this night, Lucius. Now, all of you get out of my sight."

Without another word, the Death Eaters disapparated, including Lucius, Wormtail and Severus, leaving Voldemort alone to stare at a small, black marble sitting on the cold, stone floor.

Continued in Part Three