Lord Voldemort wandered the empty house that had become his refuge of escape. It was the long-forgotten home of Evan Rosier. He had been the last of his line when he fell fighting Aurors. With the home being located in a remote location no one had been interested in it and it slowly slipped from people's minds. It was by no means luxurious as Malfoy Manor, but it was still better than the forest of Albania or the decrepit Riddle Manor. After the Dark Lord verified there were no hidden traps or detection spells on the property, he conjured a large chair and settled into its soft cushions as he considered what he needed to do.
"Servants," He thought as he glanced around the disrepair of the house. "I need someone to clean and to cook," Though Voldemort could conjure most anything else, including water; food was the major exception. Any possibility of him sullying his own hands in such menial tasks didn't even cross his mind.
"I have enough food for several days," Voldemort had magically removed a large amount of food located from Malfoy Manor when he left. For now he would transfigure and warm that food, but he would need servants very shortly.
His mind wandered to his biggest problem. "Lucius, what became of you? Did you betray me or were you captured?" He hadn't heard anything from Narcissa yet, but he understood that until he knew what had become of Malfoy, he couldn't risk calling his Death Eaters again. "I must be stronger before confronting Aurors."
The seat Voldemort had conjured was more throne than chair. More grandiose than the chair he had used at Malfoy Manor, it was in fact very similar to the chair Albus Dumbledore used in the Great Hall of Hogwarts. As he settled into it, he opened the Daily Prophet he had acquired by summoning and killing a passing delivery owl. Calm fury swept through the Dark Lord as he read the headlines. His plans for his resurrection to occur unknown to the Wizarding world lay in ruins. Voldemort didn't care about the issue of Sirius Black except it would mean the Aurors now searching for him could now be used against the Dark Lord making his rise to power more difficult. The final headline concerning the Boy-Who-Lived with a picture of Harry Potter caused Voldemort to pause. He visualized the previous night, of the boy lying dead from being hit by the killing curse only to be back on his feet and fighting seconds later. As he sat there and stared at the boy's picture, he knew what he had to do before anything else. "I have to know about the Prophecy," He thought. "There must be more, something that is very important," Severus had told him that many years ago that it had been Trelawney who had made the Prophecy to Dumbledore, but she couldn't be touched since she never left Hogwarts. A thought from a conversation a long time ago emerged. One of his followers and most gifted spies had described the various things that happened in the Department of Mysteries in the Ministry.
"..and in another room, there are shelves and shelves of every true Prophecy ever made," Augustus Rookwood had said. "Blue orbs.."
Voldemort had not really been interested at the time. He believed all he had to do was kill the two infants that the prophecy might have referred to to end any threat they might pose but that had not been the case. "Unfortunately Rookwood is still in Azkaban and I'm not strong enough to free him or my other loyal servants yet."
The Dark Lord continued to contemplate his plans and how badly things had gone the previous night after a year of planning and execution. "It is but a minor setback though," He thought. "I am immortal and have all the time in the world. It might take longer than expected, but someday the world will kneel at my feet," Finally Voldemort rose from this throne and pulled out his wand as he started thinking of the wards he would deploy around the house and property.
...
When Harry and his bondmates had left Dumbledore's office, the Headmaster had asked the rest of the adults to remain. There was much to discuss.
"I still disagree with you asking 'Arry to return to zat 'ouse," Alain said.
"Alain, surely you can understand my reasons," Dumbledore replied. "Harry will definitely be safer there, besides I'm the one who made the Dursleys a part of this. If I hadn't left Harry on their doorsteps, they would not be in jeopardy."
"So you are using 'Arry to make yourself feel better?" Mr. Delacour replied in disgust. "As I said earlier, I will make my own arrangements with ze Dursleys. But if zey 'urt 'Arry or any of my daughters, zey will regret it..." The words tapered out but the stare between the two men was very much in effect.
"Your eldest is of age and should be able to deal with anything that arises," Dumbledore said. "Two weeks is hardly any time at all."
"To you and me Albus two weeks is nothing, but to a young man like 'Arry it can seem like an eternity."
"You may be right," Albus agreed with a sigh. "I do forget what it is to be young," He nodded at the Alain. "Let me know if there are issues with the Dursleys," He then turned to Remus and Sirius.
"Remus, I'm going to need you to make contact with the werewolves..." He started but Remus was shaking his head.
"I know what you're going to ask me to do Albus, but I am hoping," He glanced over at Alain Delacour, "that I will be employed next week. If I am, then I will still be able to be in contact with the werewolves, but not answering to you," Lupin looked slight abashed. "I'm sorry, but this is an opportunity that I can't let go."
"May I ask who you would be working for?"
"Me," The French Deputy Minister replied. "I am hoping zat Monsieur Lupin will take up a very challenging position for my government."
"I see," The Headmaster replied staring at Lupin. "You would let the werewolves fall in with Voldemort so you could have a job?"
"Eadmaster, zat was entirely uncalled for," Alain said. "As 'e said, 'e would still be able to make contact with zem and I will make sure if 'e does discover information zat might be useful to you, it makes it back to you. But 'is first responsibility will be to ze werewolves zemselves and ze people of France."
"I think overall I will do a lot more good this way Albus," Remus said. "I presume you would want me reintegrate myself back in the pack and try to garner information?"
"That was my overall idea yes."
....
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