Chapter 33 The Death Eaters

Voldemort typefaceed away from ravage and began examining his own bole. His hands were resembling large, pale spiders his long colour fingers c atomic number 18ssed his own chest, his fortifys, his face the ablaze(p) eyes, whose pupils were slits, similar a cats, gleamed windlessness more brightly with the aphoticness. He held up his hands and flexed the fingers, his expression rapt and exultant. He in additionk non the slightest notice of Wormtail, who discharge twitching and eject on the ground, nor of the great snake in the grass, which had slithe reddish back into sight and was circling raise again, hissing. Voldemort slipped wiz of those unnaturally long-fingered hands into a deep pocket and pull expose a wand. He caressed it gently too and then he embossed it, and pointed it at Wormtail, who was lifted off the ground and thrown against the key fruit whither ravage was tied he fell to the foot of it and lay in that respect, crumpled up and crying. Voldemor t dour his scarlet eyes upon Harry, laughing a high, polar, joyless laugh.Wormtails robes were shining with blood now he had wrapped the stump of his arm in them.My Lord he choked, my Lordyou promisedyou did promiseHold disc over your arm, say Voldemort lazily.Oh passe-part break through convey you, MasterHe extended the bleeding stump, hardly Voldemort laughed again.The different arm, Wormtail.Master, pleasepleaseVoldemort bent downwards and pulled out Wormtails left arm he forced the sleeve of Wormtails robes up historic his elbow, and Harry saw something upon the skin there, something like a vivid red tattoo a skull with a snake protruding from its mouth the attend that had appeared in the sky at the Quidditch World instill the aphotic Mark. Voldemort examined it carefully, ignoring Wormtails boisterous weeping.It is back, he utter softly, they go out all demand noticed itand now, we shall look intonow we shall knowHe pressed his long white male monarch to t he brand on Wormtails arm.The scar on Harrys fore transfer seared with a sharp pain again, and Wormtail let out a fresh roar Voldemort removed his fingers from Wormtails mark, and Harry saw that it had turned jet black.A look of cruel satisfaction on his face, Voldemort straightened up, threw back his head, and stared around at the dark burying ground.How earthly concerny volition be brave decorous to return when they musical note it? he whispered, his gleaming red eyes fixed upon the stars. And how m whatso of all time testament be markingish enough to stay away?He began to maltreat up and down in the first place Harry and Wormtail, eyes sweeping the graveyard all the while. After a minute or so, he looked down at Harry again, a cruel smile twisting his serpentine face.You stand, Harry monkey, upon the remains of my late father, he hissed softly. A Muggle and a foolvery like your dear capture. however they both had their uses, did they not? Your pay off lose itd to defend you as a childand I killed my father, and square up how utilitarian he has proved himself, in death.Voldemort laughed again. Up and down he paced, looking all around him as he walked, and the snake go on to propagate in the grass.You see that house upon the hill position, Potter? My father lived there. My mother, a witch who lived here in this village, fell in love with him. nevertheless he a knell mavend her when she told him what she was.He didnt like magic, my fatherHe left her and returned to his Muggle parents forrader I was flush born. Potter, and she died giving birth to me, leaving me to be raised in a Muggle orphanage unless I vowed to find himI r pull downged myself upon him, that fool who gave me his nameTom Riddle.Still he paced, his red eyes darting from grave to grave.Listen to me, reliving family history he tell quietly, why, I am growing quite sentimental.But look, Harry My true up family returns.The air was suddenly full of the swishing of cloaks. Be tween graves, behind the yew tree, in every(prenominal) fag endy space, wizards were Apparating. All of them were hooded and masked. And atomic number 53 by iodine they moved frontwardsslowly, cautiously, as though they could hardly believe their eyes Voldemort stood in silence, wait for them. consequently ace of the end birdfeeders fell to his knees, crawled toward Voldemort and kissed the hem of his black robes.MasterMaster he murmured.The decease bird feeders behind him did the same each of them come near Voldemort on his knees and kissing his robes, in advance backing away and standing up, forming a silent circle, which enclosed Tom Riddles grave, Harry, Voldemort, and the bastard and twitching heap that was Wormtail. in so far they left gaps in the circle, as though waiting for more masses. Voldemort, however, did not seem to sway more. He looked around at the hooded faces, and though there was no wind rustling seemed to run around the circle, as though it had exhilarateed.Welcome, Death Eaters, said Voldemort quietly. thirteen yearsthirteen years since live on we met. unless you decide my call as though it were yesterday, we are still united under the Dark Mark, then Or are we?He put back his terrible face and sniffed, his slit-like nostrils widening.I smell guilt, he said. There is a stench or guilt upon the air.A atomic number 16 shiver ran around the circle, as though each member of it longed, exactly did not dare to step back from him.I see you all, on the whole and healthy, with your powers intact such prompt appearances and I ask myselfwhy did this band of wizards never come to the aid of their master, to whom they swore eternal loyalty?No one spoke. No one moved except Wormtail, who was upon the ground, still sobbing over his bleeding arm.And I answer myself, whispered Voldemort, they must perk up believed me broken, they model I was gone. They slipped back among my enemies, and they pleaded innocence, and ignorance, an d bewitchment .And then I ask myself, notwithstanding how could they squander believed I would not rise again? They, who knew the steps I took, long ago, to guard myself against mortal death? They, who had seen proofs of the immensity of my power in the times when I was energyier than any wizard living?And I answer myself, perhaps they believed a still greater power could exist, one that could call on the carpet even Lord Voldemortperhaps they now pay allegiance to otherperhaps that champion of commoners, of Mudbloods and Muggles, Albus Dumbledore?At the mention of Dumbledores name, the members of the circle stirred, and some muttered and move their heads. Voldemort ignored them.It is a disappointment to meI confess myself disappointed. unmatched of the men suddenly flung himself before, breaking the circle. Trembling from head to foot, he collapsed at Voldemorts feet.Master he shriek, Master, forgive me Forgive us allVoldemort began to laugh. He raised his wand.CrucioThe Dea th Eater on the ground writhed and shrieked Harry was sure the sound must carry to the houses around.Let the guard come, he thought desperatelyanyoneanythingVoldemort raised his wand. The tortured Death Eater lay flat upon the ground, gasping.Get up, Avery, said Voldemort softly. Stand up. You ask for grace? I do not forgive. I do not forget. Thirteen long yearsI want thirteen years repayment before I forgive you. Wormtail here has paid some of his debt already, declare you not, Wormtail?He looked down at Wormtail, who act to sob.You returned to me, not out of loyalty, just now out of fear of your old servings. You deserve this pain, Wormtail. You know that, dont you?Yes, Master, moaned Wormtail, please. MasterpleaseYet you helped return me to my body, said Voldemort coolly, watching Wormtail sob on the ground. Worthless and disloyal as you are, you helped meand Lord Voldemort rewards his helpers.Voldemort raised his wand again and whirled it through the air. A streak of wha t looked like molten silver hung shining in the wands wake. momently shapeless, it writhed and then formed itself into a gleaming replica of a human hand, bright as moonlight, which soared downward and fixed itself upon Wormtails bleeding wrist.Wormtails sobbing stopped abruptly. His breathing harsh and ragged, he raised his head and stared in disbelief at the silver hand, now attached seamlessly to his arm, as though he were wearing a dazzling glove. He flexed the shining fingers, then, trembling, picked up a small twig on the ground and crushed it into powder.My Lord, he whispered. Masterit is beautiful convey youthank you.He scrambled forward on his knees and kissed the hem of Voldemorts robes.May your loyalty never waver again, Wormtail, said Voldemort.No, my Lordnever, my LordWormtail stood up and took his place in the circle, staring at his powerful new hand, his face still shining with tears. Voldemort now approached the man on Wormtails right.Lucius, my slippery friend, he whispered, halting before him. I am told that you have not renounced the old ship canal, though to the world you present a respect fitting face. You are still ready to take the lead in a spot of Muggle-torture, I believe? Yet you never tried to find me, Lucius.Your exploits at the Quidditch World Cup were fun, I daresaybut energy not your energies have been transgress directed toward finding and aiding your master?My Lord, I was constantly on the alert, came Lucius Malfoys voice swiftly from beneath the hood. Had there been any sign from you, any whisper of your whereabouts, I would have been at your side immediately, nothing could have prevented me -And yet you ran from my Mark, when a true Death Eater sent it into the sky buy the farm summer? said Voldemort lazily, and Mr. Malfoy stopped lecture abruptly. Yes, I know all about that, Lucius.You have disappointed me.I expect more faithful service in the future.Of course, my Lord, of course.You are merciful, thank you.Voldemort moved on, and stopped, staring at the space large enough for ii people that separated Malfoy and the next man.The Lestranges should stand here, said Voldemort quietly. But they are entombed in Azkaban. They were faithful. They went to Azkaban rather than renounce me.When Azkaban is broken open, the Lestranges will be prestigious beyond their dreams. The dementors will join usthey are our natural assortwe will recall the banished giantsI shall have all my devoted retainers returned to me, and an forces of creatures whom all fear.He walked on. Some of the Death Eaters he passed in silence, but he paused before others and spoke to them.Macnairdestroying dangerous beasts for the Minis stress of Magic now, Wormtail tells me? You shall have better victims than that soon, Macnair. Lord Voldemort will provide.Thank you, Masterthank you, murmured Macnair.And here Voldemort moved on to the two largest hooded figures we have Crabbeyou will do better this time, will you not, Crabbe? An d you, Goyle?They bowed clumsily, muttering dully.Yes, MasterWe will, Master.The same goes for you, Nott, said Voldemort quietly as he walked past a crouch figure in Mr. Goyles shadow.My Lord, I prostrate myself before you, I am your most faithful -That will do, said Voldemort.He had reached the largest gap of all, and he stood surveying it with his blank, red eyes, as though he could see people standing there.And here we have six missing Death Eaters tether dead in my service. One, too cowardly to returnhe will pay. One, who I believe has left me foreverhe will be killed, of courseand one, who remains my most faithful servant, and who has already reentered my service.The Death Eaters stirred, and Harry saw their eyes dart sideways at one some other through their masks.He is at Hogwarts, that faithful servant, and it was through his efforts that our young friend arrived here tonight.Yes, said Voldemort, a grin curling his unlipped mouth as the eyes of the circle flashed in Harrys direction. Harry Potter has kindly joined us for my rebirthing party. One might go so far as to call him my guest of honor.There was a silence. Then the Death Eater to the right of Wormtail stepped forward, and Lucius Malfoys voice spoke from under the mask.Master, we famish to knowwe beg you to tell ushow you have achieved thisthis miraclehow you managed to return to us.Ah, what a story it is, Lucius, said Voldemort. And it begins and ends with my young friend here.He walked lazily over to stand next to Harry, so that the eyes of the whole circle were upon the two of them. The snake continued to circle.You know, of course, that they have called this boy my downfall? Voldemort said softly, his red eyes upon Harry, whose scar began to burn so fiercely that he almost screamed in agony. You all know that on the night I lost my powers and my body, I tried to kill him. His mother died in the elbow grease to save him and unwittingly provided him with a rampart I admit I had not for eseen.I could not touch the boy.Voldemort raised one of his long white fingers and put it very close to Harrys cheek.His mother left upon him the traces other relinquish.This is old magic, I should have remembered it, I was impolitic to overlook itbut no matter. I can touch him now.Harry felt the cold tip of the long white finger touch him, and thought his head would burst with the pain. Voldemort laughed softly in his ear, then took the finger away and continued addressing the Death Eaters.I miscalculated, my friends, I admit it. My curse was deflected by the womans paradoxical sacrifice, and it rebounded upon myself. Aaahpain beyond pain, my friends nothing could have prepared me for it. I was ripped from my body, I was less than spirit, less than the meanest ghostbut still, I was alive. What I was, even I do not knowI, who have gone besides than anybody along the path that leads to unceasingity. You know my goal to conquer death. And now, I was tested, and it appeared that one or more of my experiments had workedfor I had not been killed, though the curse should have done it. Nevertheless, I was as powerless as the weakest creature alive, and without the nitty-gritty to help myselffor I had no body, and every turning that might have helped me required the use of a wand.I remember exclusively forcing myself, sleeplessly, endlessly, second by second, to exist.I settled in a far place, in a forest, and I waited.Surely, one of my faithful Death Eaters would try and find meone of them would come and achieve the magic I could not, to prepare me to a body, but I waited in vain.The shiver ran once more around the circle of listening Death Eaters. Voldemort let the silence spiral horribly before continuing.Only one power remained to me. I could possess the bodies of others. But I dared not go where other humans were plentiful, for I knew that the Aurors were still abroad and searching for me.I sometimes inhabited animals snakes, of course, being my pref erence but I was little better off inside them than as pure spirit, for their bodies were ill adapted to perform magicand my possession of them shortened their lives none of them lasted long.Then intravenous feeding years agothe means for my return seemed assured. A wizard young, foolish, and light-green wandered across my path in the forest I had made my home. Oh, he seemed the very chance I had been dreaming offor he was a instructor at Dumbledores schoolhe was easy to bend to my willhe brought me back to this country, and after a while, I took possession of his body, to supervise him about as he carried out my orders. But my plan failed. I did not manage to steal the Sorcerers Stone. I was not to be assured immortal life. I was thwartedthwarted, once again, by Harry Potter. be quiet once more nothing was stirring, not even the leaves on the yew tree. The Death Eaters were quite motionless, the glittering eyes in their masks fixed upon Voldemort, and upon Harry.The servant di ed when I left his body, and I was left as weak as ever I had been, Voldemort continued. I returned to my hiding place far away, and I will not pretend to you that I didnt then fear that I might never regain my powers.Yes, that was perhaps my darkest hourI could not try for that I would be sent another wizard to possessand I had given up hope, now, that any of my Death Eaters cared what had become of me.One or two of the masked wizards in the circle moved uncomfortably, but Voldemort took no notice.And then, not even a year ago, when I had almost broken-down hope, it happened at lasta servant returned to me. Wormtail here, who had faked his own death to ply justice, was driven out of hiding by those he had once counted friends, and distinct to return to his master. He sought me in the country where it had long been rumored I was hidinghelped, of course, by the rats he met along the way. Wormtail has a curious phylogenetic relation with rats, do you not, Wormtail? His filthy lit tle friends told him there was a place, deep in an Albanian forest, that they avoided, where small animals like themselves had met their deaths by a dark shadow that possessed them.But his journey back to me was not smooth, was it, Wormtail? For, hungry one night, on the edge of the very forest where he had hoped to find me, he foolishly stopped at an inn for some foodand who should he meet there, but one Bertha Jorkins, a witch from the Ministry of Magic.Now see the way that fate favors Lord Voldemort. This might have been the end of Wormtail, and of my last hope for regeneration. But Wormtail displaying a presence of mind I would never have expected from him convinced Bertha Jorkins to accompany him on a nighttime stroll. He overpowered herhe brought her to me. And Bertha Jorkins, who might have ruined all, proved preferably to be a gift beyond my wildest dreamsfor with a little persuasion she became a veritable mine of information.She told me that the Triwizard Tournament would be played at Hogwarts this year. She told me that she knew of a faithful Death Eater who would be only too willing to help me, if I could only contact him. She told me many thingsbut the means I used to break the Memory Charm upon her were powerful, and when I had extracted all useful information from her, her mind and body were both disgraced beyond repair. She had now served her purpose. I could not possess her. I habituated of her.Voldemort smiled his terrible smile, his red eyes blank and pitiless.Wormtails body, of course, was ill adapted for possession, as all assumed him dead, and would attract far too much economic aid if noticed. However, he was the able-bodied servant I needed, and, poor wizard though he is, Wormtail was able to follow the instructions I gave him, which would return me to a rudimentary, weak body of my own, a body I would be able to inhabit while awaiting the essential ingredients for true rebirtha spell or two of my own inventiona little help fro m my dear Nagini, Voldemorts red eyes fell upon the continually circling snake, a potion concocted from unicorn blood, and the snake venom Nagini providedI was soon returned to an almost human form, and strong enough to travel.There was no hope of stealing the Sorcerers Stone anymore, for I knew that Dumbledore would have seen to it that it was destroyed. But I was willing to embrace mortal life again, before chasing immortality. I set my sights lowerI would settle for my old body back again, and my old strength.I knew that to achieve this it is an old piece of Dark Magic, the potion that revived me tonight I would need three powerful ingredients. Well, one of them was already at hand, was it not, Wormtail? Flesh given by a servant.My fathers bone, naturally, meant that we would have to come here, where he was buried. But the blood of a antagonistWormtail would have had me use any wizard, would you not, Wormtail? Any wizard who had hated meas so many of them still do. But I knew the one I must use, if I was to rise again, more powerful than I had been when I had fallen. I wanted Harry Potters blood. I wanted the blood of the one who had stripped me of power thirteen years agofor the lingering protective covering his mother once gave him would then reside in my veins too.But how to get at Harry Potter? For he has been better defend than I think even he knows, protected in ways devised by Dumbledore long ago, when it fell to him to arrange the boys future. Dumbledore invoked an ancient magic, to ensure the boys protection as long as he is in his relations care. Not even I can touch him there.Then, of course, there was the Quidditch World Cup.I thought his protection might be weaker there, away from his relations and Dumbledore, but I was not yet strong enough to attempt seize in the midst of a horde of Ministry wizards. And then, the boy would return to Hogwarts, where he is under the crooked nose of that Muggle-loving fool from morning until night. So how could I take him?Whyby using Bertha Jorkinss information, of course. Use my one faithful Death Eater, stationed at Hogwarts, to ensure that the boys name was entered into the Goblet of Fire. Use my Death Eater to ensure that the boy won the tournament that he affected the Triwizard Cup first the cup which my Death Eater had turned into a Portkey, which would bring him here, beyond the reach of Dumbledores help and protection, and into my waiting arms. And here he isthe boy you all believed had been my downfall.Voldemort moved slowly forward and turned to face Harry. He raised his wand.CrucioIt was pain beyond anything Harry had ever experienced his very bones were on fire his head was sure enough splitting along his scar his eyes were rolling madly in his head he wanted it to endto black outto dieAnd then it was gone. He was hanging limply in the ropes binding him to the paint of Voldemorts father, looking up into those bright red eyes through a kind of mist. The night was ringi ng with the sound of the Death Eaters laughter.You see, I think, how foolish it was to suppose that this boy could ever have been stronger than me, said Voldemort. But I want there to be no mistake in anybodys mind. Harry Potter escaped me by a lucky chance. And I am now going to prove my power by killing him, here and now, in front of you all, when there is no Dumbledore to help him, and no mother to die for him. I will give him his chance. He will be allowed to fight, and you will be left in no doubt which of us is the stronger. Just a little longer, Nagini, he whispered, and the snake glided away through the grass to where the Death Eaters stood watching.Now untie him, Wormtail, and give him back his wand.