Hogwarts Express, 6/11/1993, 14:39
Harry was sitting in a compartment towards the back of the train with Susan and Hannah on either side of him. Sitting across from him were Draco, Hermione and Daphne who had become his usual travel companions during his trips on the Hogwarts Express.
The last month had seemed to fly by and before they had known it, they were boarding the train for London. Harry hadn't had any trouble with his exams, if he were being truthful, he thought they weren't nearly as difficult as their professors made them out to be.
"You aren't daydreaming on me are you, Potter?"Hannah asked from his right pulling him back into the conversation going on around him.
"Huh?" Harry asked looking at her in confusion.
"Draco asked if you would be going to the Peverells to see their new baby," Hannah said sounding amused.
"I am not sure but I expect Sirius will want to go see him soon," Harry shrugged.
"So will Mother, you know how she is with babies," Draco said.
"Who doesn't like babies?" Susan asked.
"A lot of people. Have you ever been on an international flight with a screaming baby two rows behind you?" Hermione asked.
"I haven't ever been on a plane," Susan admitted.
"You're not missing anything," Harry muttered.
"I know, I remember the horror stories Sirius told me about turbulence," Susan said barely stifling a giggle.
"So what are you all doing this summer?" Hermione asked.
"Not really sure, Sirius has been working a lot lately," Harry admitted.
"My family is going to Germany for a month," Daphne admitted.
"I may go over to Susan's," Hannah mused.
"We never go anywhere during the summer," Draco shrugged.
"There's always field trips," Daphne soothed.
"I've been to the zoo, the museum, and the botanical gardens every summer since I was four," Draco chuckled.
"My parents are taking us to France again," Hermione gushed.
"You should visit the magical district while you're there," Daphne suggested.
"She's right. With Gringotts still shut down, you may want to exchange some currency while you're at it," Draco added.
Harry had almost forgotten about the Gringotts issue. But according to the papers, the bank in London was still shut down and showed no signs of opening back up anytime soon.
"I will, though I expected the bank in Diagon Alley to be open by now," Hermione admitted
"I doubt that the bank in London will open anytime in the near future. The goblins are charging a surcharge for all transactions done internationally so they will milk this as long as they can," Daphne predicted.
"They must be making a fortune," Harry muttered.
"That's a goblin for you," Draco snorted.
"Well in fairness, it must cost a fortune to rebuild the bank. I suppose they're just making the citizens of Magical Britain fund rebuilding it," Hannah mused.
"I wouldn't be surprised if that's what they're doing," Harry mused.
"So, why weren't there any pranks this year?" Draco asked clearly bored with the topic at hand.
"After last year, I thought it best to lay low before McGonagall murdered me," Harry shrugged.
"There is also the fact that his hair was purple until Christmas," Hannah giggled.
"I didn't find the prank all that funny," Harry scowled.
"It's all about perspective," Hermione smirked.
"I think next time we should prank Draco," Susan said giving Daphne a meaningful look.
"If you do, I will make you suffer, Bones," Draco warned.
Harry tuned out their conversation as he looked out the window watching the blue sky on the horizon as the train sped across the countryside.
Every once in a while he glanced over at Hannah and his mind would drift back to what happened between them after the last quidditch match. They hadn't said anything about it and Harry was content to act like nothing had happened though he had thought about it a lot over the past weeks.
He had already made a note to ask Sirius for advice as he would freely admit that he was out of his depth when it came to girls. He already knew that he liked Hannah but he honestly had no idea what he should do about it and he knew that Fraco was just as ignorant about girls as he was.
"You're daydreaming again," Hannah whispered into his ear making him shiver as her hot breath tickled his ear.
"Sorry, I was just thinking," Harry muttered, his face feeling very warm all of a sudden.
"I could tell. You didn't even notice Susan leave with Justin," Hannah said softly.
"Bet they went to go practice tonsil quidditch," Draco sniggered.
"Don't be crass, Draco," Daphne admonished, sounding eerily like Narcissa.
"And Justin is much too shy for that," Hermione added.
"I really don't want to know what they get up to," Harry shrugged before sliding over to the window seat that Susan had been sitting in.
"I'm with you there," Draco agreed.
"What have you two got against romance?" Hermione asked sounding amused.
"Nothing," Harry said, very aware of Hannah's watching him out of the corner of her eye.
"I just don't care about other people's relationships," Draco shrugged.
"Same," Harry agreed as Hannah slid across the bench so that she was sitting close to him.
"You'll both change your tunes soon enough," Hermione said giving Harry a knowing look that he pointedly avoided.
"Whatever. Is anyone up for a game of chess?" Draco asked rolling his eyes at Hermione.
"If you're ready to be beaten, I will indulge you," Daphne quipped as Draco dug his chess set out of his trunk.
"Dream on, Daphne," Draco rebutted as he began setting up the board on top of his trunk.
Harry watched as Daphne and Draco began a rather heated game of chess while Hermione dug an arithmancy book out of her schoolbag and tuned the rest of the occupants of the compartment out.
"Do you want to come over next week and go flying?" Hannah asked pulling Harry's attention away from the chess game.
"I-I'll have to ask Sirius but I think he'll let me," Harry answered as he turned to meet her gaze.
"I hope he'll let you because I can't ever get Susan to go flying with me," Hannah said giving him a soft smile.
"Tell me about it," Harry chuckled.
The rest of the trip passed in this vein with Draco challenging the other occupants of the compartment to a game of chess. Harry and the others made small talk but never touched on anything very serious, not wanting to think about everything going on in the wider wizarding world.
It didn't seem to take very long before the train began to pull into the packed station. Idly he noticed that the auror presence was even heavier than it was over Easter.
As Harry gathered his things and fell into line with the other students he couldn't help but feel excited to be going home again, especially now that he had the prospect of seeing Hannah next week to look forward to.
Harry was quite pleased about her inviting him over but he was also feeling a bit nervous about going to her house. He figured this would be something else he could talk with Sirius about this evening and hoped his godfather could give him some advice on dating and the like.
Harry pushed those thoughts from his mind as he jostled his way across the platform, intent on finding his godfather and going home,or at the very least, getting off of this packed platform.
Carfax Abbey, Near London, 6/13/1993, 22:23
Tonks entered the derelict manor entrance hall. The flickering light from the candles in the chandelier overhead gave the room an eerieness that put her in mind of a haunted house. That wasn't even factoring in the thick cobwebs hanging from the ceiling or the peeling wallpaper and the strong smell of decay hanging in the air.
Tonks had barely taken a few steps into the room before two figures stepped out of the shadows, both of whom she easily recognized. She wasn't surprised to see Daciana as that was who she had come here to meet with, after all.
The surprising part was that Daciana's companion was someone Tonks had known quite well, Merula Snyde. Tonks stared at the girl as her hand slowly drifted towards the wand up her left sleeve.
"Now now, there is no need for drawing your wand, Nymphadora," Daciana chastised as the two women came to stand before her.
"Snyde is a wanted fugitive with a kill-on-sight order," Tonks said though she did cease going for her wand.
"She is under the coven's protection and attacking her could cause problems with our negotiations," Daciana said calmly.
Tonks' mind raced at that statement. Snyde was under the protection of a group of vampires, which made no sense unless...
"You've turned her?" Tonks muttered as she stared closer at Merula, her eyes widening in shock at what she saw.
Merula looked just as Tonks always remembered at a glance but looking closer Tonks could tell her skin was much paler looking almost porcelain. Her face was thinner so that her delicate cheekbones were more pronounced and her violet eyes seem to almost glow in the low light. Merula stared back at her a smirk playing on her ruby lips until Daciana spoke pulling Tonks" attention back to her.
"Indeed, she has become a member of the coven," Daciana answered her eyes darting between Tonks and Merula warily.
"Alright, so what is it you want? Your letter was vague," Tonks demanded pushing her thoughts about Merula to the back of her mind.
"Same old Nymphadora, all the subtly of a bull in a china shop, I see," Merula sneered.
"Shut it, Snyde, I came to speak to her, not you," Tonks scowled.
"Oh, you two are a delight. But to answer your question, the coven has agreed to Albus' terms but there are some extenuating circumstances we need to discuss," Daciana said looking amused at the two girls' snipping at each other.
"What circumstances would that be?" Tonks asked wondering how much of a headache this was going to cause her.
"We have severed ties with Lord Voldemort but one of our former members is still working with him," Daciana explained.
"And I can only guess that this vampire is the one responsible for creating the vamps that attacked Gringotts?" Tonks said already had an idea where this was headed.
"No, we all contributed to creating the first vampire warriors that formed her army, though she has added considerably to that number since then," Daciana admitted.
"So she's gone rogue and you want to distance yourself from her so she doesn't ruin your chances of a steady supply of magical blood," Tonks said giving both vampires a calculating look.
"Essentially," Daciana agreed.
"I'll inform the headmaster," Tonks shrugged.
"Excellent. Should we come to an agreement, Merula will be the one you shall meet with from now on," Daciana beamed.
"Sure, but if she gets arrested for meeting me in public that won't be my fault," Tonks warned.
"Don't worry about that, dear. I know how to outsmart your ministry, I've been doing it for centuries," Daciana assured her.
"Suit yourself. I will head over to Hogwarts and inform Albus you want to meet with him," Tonks promised.
"Good, it was a pleasure to see you again, Nymphadora," Daciana smiled.
"You too," Tonks said though she felt no joy in seeing the vampire or her former classmate again.
Feeling that this meeting had reached its end, Tonks gave them both a nod before turning on her heel and making her way out of the manor. As she walked down the drive to the main road, she couldn't help but think about what she had learned tonight and wondered what Albus would say when he learned that Merula Snyde was part of the vampire coven now.
Tonks came to a stop, noticing a figure in grey robes on the other side of the street, she gave him a mock salute before turning on the spot and apparating to Hogwarts to fill Albus in on these new developments.
Peverell Manor , Leeds, 7/18/1993, 12:36
Harry was quite enjoying his downtime after a very busy school year and recently returning from yet another collection trip to Africa.
Hardwin had begun to settle now and was starting to sleep longer through the night, much to everyone's relief. Harry and Bella were quite used to how demanding newborns could be but the first night was a bit of a rude awakening for the twins when Hardwin made it very clear that he was hungry at two in the morning, and then again at four.
Harry couldn't help but smile when he thought about Hardwin, or the twins for that matter.
Currently, Harry was going through the Library that Bellatrix had been building since they remodelled the manor last year. Quite a few of the tomes had come from their Halloween trip to Rowle Manor though there were a bunch that Bella had found, bought, or otherwise 'acquired' during their excursions as Reaper and Chimera.
"I finally got him down for a nap," Bella exclaimed as she strolled into the library, pulling his attention away from the row of potion's tomes he had been arranging.
"I'll make sure the twins do not wake him when they come back from their lessons," Harry promised as he got up from where he had been kneeling in front of the bookshelves.
"If anyone wakes him up I swear I will send them to stay with Cissa for the rest of the summer," Bella muttered grumpily.
"They are usually pretty worn out after their lessons," Harry soothed before placing a kiss on her lips.
"I swear that Hardwin could hear a pin drop," Bella said as she rested her head against his chest.
"He's starting to calm a bit, the twins were fussy at his age," Harry chuckled as he led her over to the sofa.
"True but I was quite a bit younger when they were born," Bella sighed as they both got comfortable.
"We both were," Harry pointed out.
"So how are things coming along up here?" Bella asked after getting comfortable.
"We still need to get a lot more books to fill up all of the shelves," Harry admitted.
"I wonder what Aunt Cassie did with all of the books she pillaged from my library," Bellatrix mused.
"Probably hoarded them away in one of her vaults," Harry said after thinking about it for a moment.
"If Gringotts ever reopens we might be able to find out when her will is read," Bellatrix said.
"I wouldn't get my hopes up. The goblins are liable to keep the bank closed until Voldemort is killed," Harry chuckled.
"Then we had best get a move on," Bella said matter-of-factly.
"I've been thinking that myself. We've let him carry on for far too long," Harry agreed.
"How do you plan on doing that?" Bella asked with interest.
"First things first, we need to deal with Dolohov," Harry mused.
"Bella wants to do that part," Bellatrix exclaimed.
"If you want but we have to find a way to get to him first," Harry pointed out.
"He has to travel by international portkey so he still has to go through the Bulgarian ministry to travel abroad," Bellatrix said looking thoughtful.
"He can't enter Britain through magical means due to his legal status," Harty added.
"So he must travel to Germany or France and then enter the country by muggle means," Harry said catching onto where she was going with this.
"So we could get to him when he's travelling in and out of Britain," Bella smirked.
"Now we just have to figure out when he's going to be returning to Durmstrang," Harry grinned.
"We'll have a word with Snape and see if he can help us out with that," Bella said her eyes lighting up at the prospect of another mission.
"I take it you're feeling a bit restless?" Harry asked looking down to meet his wife's violet eyes.
"I've been out of action for far too long," Bella shrugged.
"We both have," Harry said.
"You and Sirius got to play with death eaters," Bella pouted.
"That was a bit closer than I would have liked, I'm just glad Citrine was there," Harry admitted.
"So am I. If they had hurt my baby, I would have killed them the slow way," Bella muttered.
"I don't think they could have touched Carina anyway," Harry said looking thoughtful.
"What do you mean?" Bella asked.
"The children were with Cissa," Harry pointed out.
"True. Cissa isn't as powerful as Andi or Bella but she still isn't someone you want to cross," Bellatrix mused.
"I know. I saw what she did to Melanie Selwyn," Harry agreed.
"Do you want to spar before the children come home?" Bella asked giving him a hopeful look.
"Alright but take it easy on me," Harry said before standing up and offering her his hand.
"Is Bella going to have to whip her lazy husband into shape?" Bellatrix smirked.
"Whip all you like, you're the one who will be getting spanked later," Harry quipped as the two of them made their way onto the grounds.
When they had first moved in here, Harry had debated setting up a training room in the basement but had decided against it in the end. Realistically speaking, it was a terrible idea, no matter how well he warded the room, it was just an accident waiting to happen. He and Bellatrix were both uncommonly powerful and if they were to get carried away it was possible they could accidentally bring the manor down on top of them. In any event, it made more sense to practice outside where they had room to duel properly.
As they stepped out onto the lawns and took their positions, Harry could tell that his wife was eager to get back into the fight and he could already predict that he was going to have his hands full today.
Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, London, 7/30/1993, 17:05
Sirius was feeling very apprehensive about this meeting tonight. After the death eaters had been broken out of the ministry prison, a slew of violent crimes had followed and it didn't take a genius to make the connection.
There had been over a dozen attacks involving people placed under the imperius curse committing all manner of vile acts on their loved ones, which reeked of Markus Mulciber's M.O. That was on top of a series of tapes and murders on the East End and every one of the crime scenes had evidence of magical involvement left behind, the biggest being the bloody dark mark floating hundreds of feet in the sky!
Truthfully Sirius was getting frustrated, they didn't have any leads to go on for finding the fugitives and he was starting to miss hunting vampires. At least when he was doing that he felt productive.
Sirius plopped down at his usual place at the dining room table, pleased to see Frank was here tonight.
"Been a while since I saw you," Frank muttered as he looked over at Sirius.
"I could say the same for you," Sirius pointed out.
"Yeah, I never want to see another tent as long as I live," Frank said sounding very serious.
Amy said you were back on active duty, so I assume you passed your qualifiers?" Sirius asked.
"With distinction," Frank said matter-of-factly.
"Right, those tests are made for teenagers," Sirius said, giving the other man a sceptical look.
"You're only as old as you feel, mate," Frank smirked.
"Don't let him fool you. Frank was moaning about all the muscles he pulled in his knees and back for a week after running the obstacle course," Alice cut in.
"There were some advantages to being at the academy, namely I got away from the wife's ballbusting," Frank muttered with a put-upon sigh.
"I'll remember that tonight when you want to play a game of hide the wa-"
"I was only joking," Frank exclaimed sharply, cutting Alice off midsentence.
"Good to see you, Alice," Sirius beamed shooting Frank a look of amusement.
"You as well. How are Harry and Bella getting on with the new little one?" Alice asked, looking very interested.
"They're getting on well enough but every time I go by their house, the baby is crying," Sirius chuckled.
"I remember those days, Neville was quite fussy as a newborn," Alice said, a wistful smile playing on her lips.
"Thankfully Edgar wasn't so bad, he didn't start making a nuisance of himself until he learned to crawl," Sirius admitted.
"So was Neville, little tyke about gave me grey hairs when he tried to crawl down the stairs," Frank chuckled.
"We never did get to see him learn to walk, he was just learning to stand up in his crib when we were..." Alice trailed off, a look of sadness taking over her features.
"Don't think about that, Luv," Frank whispered taking her hand in his own.
Sirius was saved from this uncomfortable moment as Dumbledore entered the kitchen looking troubled.
"Good evening and welcome to you all," Dumbledore began.
"I regret to inform you that Severus is unable to join us, he is currently meeting with Lord Voldemort about a task he has been given," Albus continued.
"And what task is that?" Mad-Eye demanded irritably.
"I will not know the details until he returns," Dumbledore admitted.
"Great so now we have no useful intel on what the other side is up to," Mad-Eye scowled.
"I believe we have a very good idea already, Tom has been making moves towards weakening the ministry all summer," Albus corrected.
"Do we at least know who his spy in the ministry is?" Sirius asked getting looks of interest from many others at the question.
"Not with any certainty, though I have a suspicion that it is a senior auror or hit-wizard," Dumbledore confided.
"That's what we've suspected for months," Moody scoffed.
"True but Voldemort has become quite guarded with the identity of his spies after the death of Corban Yaxley and the ousting of Albert Runcorn. His network of spies in the ministry is nowhere near as vast as it was in the last war and he has taken steps to ensure his spy's safety," Dumbledore explained.
"So how do we figure out who it is? I hate being on a leaky ship," Frank demanded.
"Misinformation, make the spy reveal him or herself," Dumbledore suggested.
"We've been trying," Moody grunted irritably.
"Well just keep at it and please, be subtle, Alastor," Dumbledore implored.
"Mad-Eye subtle," Frank. Whispered causing Alice and Sirius to snort into their hands.
"We have had some minor success over the past few months, Nymphadora was able to help broker an agreement between order and the bulk of the Romanian vampires," Dumbledore proclaimed smoothly changing topics.
"It's just Tonks and that arrangement won't solve the vampire problem, Albus," Tonks cut in.
"What do you mean, dear?" Molly asked worriedly.
"Bethany Talbot has severed ties with the coven and is working directly with you-know-who, she is the vampire in charge of the group who sacked Gringotts," Tonks elaborated.
"Have you met with Daciana since our last meeting?" Dumbledore questioned.
"No, she only sends Merula Snyde to meet with me now," Tonks scowled.
"Then why in the blazes haven't you arrested her?!" Mad-Eye demanded.
"She is part of the coven now," Tonks shrugged.
"Wait, Merula Snyde is a bloody vampire?!" Bill exclaimed looking alarmed.
"She is," Tonks confirmed.
"Well she was always a blood-sucking bint in school," Hestia sniggered.
"I believe that Miss Snyde was betrayed by Lord Voldemort during the sacking of the ministry prison," Dumbledore said looking very troubled.
"What do you mean?" Tonks asked.
"According to the grey cloaks, the ritual to drop the wards cost Miss Snyde her magic," Kingsley cut in.
"Serves her right," Sirius said.
"This could work to our advantage, Miss Snyde could be very useful to us if you can ingratiate yourself with her," Dumbledore pointed out.
"Fat chance, Snyde and I have never gotten on," Tonks scoffed.
"I believe that you will be able to sway her," Dumbledore said, looking unbothered by her last statement.
"I can try," Tonks said looking dubious.
"That is all that I ask," Dumbledore beamed.
"Who cares about the vampires, we have a dozen fugitives on the loose. Has Snape got any line on their whereabouts?" Moody asked.
"They are residing with Tom at his ancestral home but it is under fedelius," Albus answered.
"We've seen for ourselves that those wards can be broken," Sirius pointed out.
"That is not an option, we only have one member in the order who can enter his headquarters and I would never ask Severus to sacrifice his magic," Dumbledore said firmly.
"Let me ask him then," Sirius said only half-jokingly.
"I don't think we have to use Snape, any death eater with a mark would do," Bill said earning him an approving nod from Mad-Eye.
"I have looked into this particular ritual, the person sacrificing their magic must initiate the ritual of their own free will," Dumbledore sighed.
"So imperiusing a death eater to carry out the ritual is not an option," Sirius said looking a bit put out.
"No, I think not," Dumbledore agreed.
"So we'll just have to wait for the death eaters to come out of their hidey-hole," Arthur said matter-of-factly.
"Well they've been doing plenty of that, there have been attacks all over Southern England in the past fortnight," Kingsley said.
"I believe those are just practice runs for some of the recently escaped death eaters," Dumbledore admitted.
"Ole Voldy has a thing for Halloween, we can almost bet he'll have something in the works for that day," Sirius predicted.
"Normally I would agree with your assessment but the Reaper has made a habit of attacking Voldemort's forces on that night as well so it is very likely that he will keep his troops behind his wards and pick another time to attack," Dumbledore mused.
"If that is the case, then Snape had better give us some warning. That fellow really dropped the quaffle about that last attack," Elphias exclaimed.
"Severus was forced to take an oath of silence from disclosing anything to do with that attack, I'm afraid," Dumbledore said.
"I'm not surprised, I wish we'd have thought to do that the last time around," Moody muttered.
Sirius couldn't agree more, between Rupert Cromwell and Wormtail, quite a few order members lost their lives due to spies taking valuable information back to Voldemort.
"I believe that will be it for this evening, please keep your eyes and ears open and stay safe," Dumbledore said softly before he rose to his feet.
Sirius filed out of the kitchen with the Longbottoms a few minutes later wondering if Harry had any ideas on what to do about this new string of attacks. Sirius could almost bet after the attack at Montrose Stadium, that Harry was cooking something up.
As Sirius stepped into the floo and called out his address, he couldn't help but wonder what Harry would do next and could only hope that Harry and Bella would let him in on whatever they planned to do next.
Riddle Manor, Little Hangleton, 8/8/1993, 21:17
Voldemort stared at his assembled death eaters, pleased to see his oldest servants among their number once again. The past few months had been quite fruitful and the only thing that had caused him disquiet was the loss of Antonin's handpicked team at Montrose Stadium.
True he couldn't honestly say he even knew their names but from what he'd seen, they showed enormous potential. Unfortunately, the two that were captured had been executed after their trials on charges of terrorism, meaning there was no hope of rescuing them.
That meant that he had been forced to sacrifice five death eaters in order to liberate twelve prisoners which was hardly a success in his mind. Those five were easily replaced with the graduates from Durmstrang and Hogwarts but they were a loss, nonetheless.
The incident at Montrose Stadium reinforced what he'd known for a while now, he would have to take care of the Peverells personally.
That would have to wait however as tonight's meeting was to discuss a more pressing target, the ministry. It was well past time that he dealt with the ministry or at the very least, neutralized it.
Voldemort looked around the table as his death eaters stared nervously back at him before he finally spoke.
"We have had marginal success over the summer, but now I believe is the time where we start putting our bigger plans into action," Voldemort said in a tone that sounded almost thoughtful.
"Reginald, how goes your efforts with Pius?" Voldemort questioned, glancing down the table at Lord Parkinson.
"There have been setbacks, my lord," Reginald admitted sounding very anxious.
"What setbacks?" Voldemort demanded testily, having to force himself to remain calm.
"Thickenese has an around-the-clock auror protection detail, I haven't been able to get him alone as of yet," Lord Parkinson explained as he wiped a bead of sweat from his temple.
"I see. As much as it pains me to admit it, it is best to air on the side of caution. One more setback could throw our cause back months," Voldemort mused.
"Of course, my lord," Parkinson agreed sounding relieved.
"Lady Bethany, Is it true that the coven has cut ties with us?" Voldemort questioned.
"They have. Daciana intimated that she and the others plan to return to Romania by the new year," Bethany lies smoothly.
"And why have they had this... change of heart?" Voldemort asked silkily.
"The incident at Halloween caused a rift amongst the coven. Over the past months, they have exiled those who were in favour of aiding your cause," Bethany elaborated.
"I see," Voldemort said as he pondered his options.
On the one hand, this was a great insult and he was sorely tempted to make an example of the vampires who had turned on him. On the other hand, they hadn't been of much use to him since the previous summer, they were not warriors and had only been useful for creating new vampires. The vampires he had in his service now were warriors and were created for the sole purpose of going into battle.
As much as it irked him, he knew it was in his best interest to let them be for the time being and focus on his bigger plans. That didn't mean he would let this slight go unanswered but he had more pressing matters to worry about at present.
"Very well. How are your troops coming along?" Voldemort questioned.
"Very well, I am reviving some of the old battle tactics that should catch your enemies by surprise," Bethany answered looking quite pleased.
"I hope to see them in action very soon," Voldemort said feeling a bit curious about what she meant.
"They are ready whenever you give the word," Bethany assured him.
"They may be needed very soon," Voldemort mused.
"They are eager for battle, tgey will not disappoint," Bethany said a cold smile playing on her lips
"I amsure they will not," Voldemort said feeling just as eager as Bethany seemed to send her warriors into battle.
"Antonin, how are you faring at the Bulgarian ministry?" Voldemort questioned, changing focus to another matter that had been on his mind of late.
"Not well, the new minister has made it no secret that he does not trust me. He is currently trying to have me removed from the school," Antonin confessed.
"Is it likely that he will succeed?" Voldemort asked feeling a migraine starting to develop.
"Not for the time being, I have quite a few allies in the Bulgarian parliament," Antonin assured him.
"We will have to accelerate our plans to deal with Minister Oblansk," Voldemort said after a few moment's thought.
"He is expected to visit the ministry in November, my lord," Reginald spoke up.
"I believe dealing with him will be a task for Markus," Voldemort mused as he glanced down the table at Mulciber.
"Now onto the final matter of the evening, we have some new members to induct into our ranks," Voldemort said as the door to the dining room creaked open and a ine of teens entered the room looking very nervous.
Voldemort always enjoyed branding new followers with his mark, there was something deeply satisfying about their screams as he burnt his mark onto their flesh. It also had the added benefit of unnerving his current followers which always amused him.
As Voldemort began the process of marking his servants, he couldn't help but feel that things were finally starting to go the way they were supposed to.