Bursts of light where the castle stood, but inside the room was

Dark except for a solitary oil lamp.

He was rolling his wand between his figners, watching it, his

Thoughts on the room in the castle, the secret room only he had

Ever found, the room, like the chamber, that you had to be clever

And cunning and inquisitive to discover...He was confident that the

boy would not find the diadem...although Dumbledore's puppet had

Come much farther than he ever expected...too far...

"My Lord," said a voice, desperate and cracked. He turned: there

Was Lucius Malfoy sitting in the darkest corner, ragged and still

bearing the marks of the punishment he had received after the boy's

last escape. One of his eyes remained closed and puffy. "My

Lord...please...my son..."

"If your son is dead, Lucius, it is not my fault. He did not come

And join me, like the rest of the Slytherins. Perhaps he has

decided to befriend Harry Potter?"

"No--never," whispered Malfoy.

"You must hope not."

"Aren't--aren't you afraid, my Lord that Potter might die at

another hand but yours?" asked Malfoy, his voice shaking. "Wouldn't

It be...forgive me...more prudent to call off this battle, enter

the castle, and seek him y-yourself?"

"Do not pretend Lucius. You wish the battle to cease so that you

Can discover what has happened to your son. And i do not need to

Seek Potter. Before the night is out, Potter will have come to find

me."

Voldemort dropped his gaze once more to the wand in his fingers. It

Troubled him...and those things that troubled Lord Voldemort needed

To be rearranged...

"Go and fetch Snape."

"Snape, m-my Lord?"

"Snape. Now. I need him. There is a --service--I require from him.

Go."

Frightened, stumbling a little through the gloom, Lucius left the

Room. Vodlemort continued to stand there, twirling the wand between

His fingers, staring at it.

"It is the only way, Nagini," he whispered, and he looked around,

And there was the great thick snake, now suspended in midair,

Twisting gracefully within the enchanted, protected space he had

Made for her, a starry, transparent sphere somewhere between a

Glittering cage and a tank.

With a gasp, Harry pulled back and opened his yees at the same

Moment his ears were assaulted with the screeches and cries, the

Smashes and bangs of battle.

"He's in the Shrieking Shack. The snake's with him, it's got some

sort of magical protection around it. He's just sent Lucius Malfoy

to find Snape."

"voldemort's sitting in the shrieking Shack?" said Hermione,

outraged. "He's not--he's not even FIGHTING?"

"He doesn't think he needs to fight," said Harry. "He thinks I'm

going to go to him."

"But why?"

"He knows I'm after Horcruxes--he's keeping Nagini close beside him-

-obviously I'm going to have to go to him to get near the thing--"

"Right," said Ron, squaring his shoulders. "So you can't go, that's

what he wants, what he's expecting. You stay here and look after

Hermione, and I'll go and get it--"

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 603