The Inquistor of Inquistors

Chapter Two: Life and Death

"I'm going to need you to travel by Floo Powder to meet with us as soon as term ends," Lord Voldemort wrote in a letter to Dolores as her sixth year ended.

That year, she had continued to stay in close touch with her powerful ally, making sure that she heard from him or he heard from her at least once a week. And as the year slowly began to draw to a close, she got a vague, apprehensive feeling of what might be going on. In his letters, Tom always mention one particular teacher as a threat; somebody who could be the "undoing of our mighty plan", Tom explained. "You must not let Dumbledore know what you are doing," he told her soon after Christmas. "Dumbledore is working against us, and soon we will have to remove him, or we will have a much harder time making any progress."

Dumbledore, the old wizard who taught Transfiguration was said to be the next headmaster of Hogwarts. He was tall, and has hair that was slowly turning from a flaming auburn to wispy silver. Although Dolores had never exactly disliked Dumbledore, so had always disapproved of his wild, eccentric ways. She was n't very good at Transfiguration either, as she was mortally terrified of nearly every animal she had ever been asked to work with.

Before she knew it, exams were over, and everybody was packing to go home. A hodgepodge of feelings and emotions filled Dolores, and the day after term ended, she prepared to meet with her Lord. Dolores hadn't the slightest clue where she would be meeting the tall, pale man, only that it was a place registered as "The Mortir House."

She would be leaving her possessions at Hogwarts that summer, and as she explained to her parents, "I don't expect to be home for a few more weeks, because I'm going to spend some time with a good friend." Her parents of course were thrilled; because it was to there knowledge that there daughter had no friends.

* * *

Dolores stepped into the grate of the fireplace of a small stone cottage near the Forbidden Forest (just to make sure Dumbledore wasn't watching!). Although it had been empty during Dolores's first few years at Hogwarts, it was widely rumored that this was where Hagrid (the boy who was caught breeding some hideous spider in the kitchen cupboard during the attacks), was living there now.

Dolores, (who fit easily in the entire structure), clutched her small bag of the green powder in her stubby, many ringed fingers and slowly drew out a small amount. Then, closing her eyes, she threw it into the air and screamed, "The Mortir House", in the sweetest, most girly way possible.

Suddenly she felt a jerk somewhere behind her navel and began to soar into a kaleidoscope of colors and sounds, her feet leaving the rough cottage floor in soaring into infinity. And as soon as it began, she felt her feet slam into a cold, stone floor, signaling her arrival at the secret locale.

Slowly her eyes adjusted to the cold, damp room she had arrived in. She could hear a gentle trickle of water somewhere above her, and decided that she must have arrived in the basement of the building. Slowly she began walking around the room, looking for a flight of steps that might lead upstairs, but there was none. "Where am I," she muttered to herself.

"Hello," echoed a cold, harsh voice.

Dolores turned around to see who it could be, startled from the sudden outburst of sound in the seemingly empty room.

It was Voldemort, but he looked different. His normal Hogwarts robes had been replaced by a stern black robe which was buttoned all the way to his chin. He seemed taller, even more powerful than ever. His eyes were narrower and he was paler than ever. Any lusting she had contained for him before suddenly evaporated at this moment. She hated to admit it, but he seemed evil.

"He- Hello," she replied, her eyes growing luminous and wide. Unless she was very much mistaken, his own misty blue eyes were no longer the same romantic, dreamy color they had been before, but an ugly scarlet red. He seemed so much older than eighteen.

"I'm so glad you could come here," he said, taking no notice of her uneasiness. "Come with me," he continued, examining her more closely than ever. "I'd like you to meet some of my friends."

Dolores slowly followed him, unsure of what to do. There was nowhere for her to go. "I'll just have to trust him," she thought, "and then maybe I can get away as soon as I can."

"Here," Voldemort said harshly, passing her a misty blue block. "When I say three, I want you to touch this to my robes," he continued, grabbing a handful of the black robes that were skirting the ground.

"One - two - THREE!" he screamed.

Dolores then grabbed the man's robes and fell to the ground, as if some force were pushing her down. But she was sinking much lower than that. She could feel her body sinking through the floor, into the cold brick, and suddenly she felt as if she had died.

The air around became even colder, and darkness surrounded her. She was falling through space and time, feeling as if she would never return and that there was no hope. She couldn't think, but could only remain in an overwhelming ignorance of what was happening.

Slowly however, light returned, and a dim building appeared on the horizon of a magnificent sunset. The air was still cold however, and she still felt as if an unexplainable doom was awaiting her, and she would never be happy again.

Suddenly she heard the high-pitched, cold voice of Lord Voldemort again. "And death is where you shall remain." And the sun disappeared below the horizon and she saw no more.