The Necromancer

Chapter 12

The wards told Voldemort Barty was visiting, for which he was secretly more than glad. Voldemort hated to admit it, but he had spent half the night tossing and turning, unable to get the image of Harry Potter and his unfamiliar magic out of his head. Not for the first time Voldemort thought that things probably would have been a lot easier if Potter hadn’t grown up in a mystery world where he learned magic that was unknown to anyone in the wizarding world but Potter himself.

Not for the first time that day, Voldemort cursed the blasted prophecy that still loomed over his head.

Voldemort arrived at his office the same time Barty did, and the first thing Barty did was give him a huge grin.

“I’ve got some interesting memories for you to see, my Lord.” Barty had his wand out in a flash and pulled three strands of silvery memories out of his head and dumped them in the waiting pensieve.

Voldemort didn’t say anything as he lowered his head and soon found himself standing in Hogwarts’ entrance hall. There he watched as Barty approached an obviously cautious Potter to make contact under the mum of security concerns. The encounter was brief before Severus showed up to take Potter to Diagon Alley.

Hmm. Perhaps it was time to summon Severus and see what he had to say about their long lost adversary. Now, Voldemort was no fool and he understood that Severus had struck some sort of deal with Dumbledore to work at Hogwarts while keeping out of Azkaban. After Voldemort’s disappearance, Igor Karkaroff had given up all the names of the remaining Death Eaters, Severus Snape amongst them. For that reason alone the Ministry would have thrown Severus into Azkaban, but Dumbledore had shielded Voldemort’s spy. And Voldemort understood all too well that such favours from the old man came at a price.

As of yet, Dumbledore had no solid proof Voldemort had returned. All he knew for certain was that Quirrell had done away with the Philosopher’s Stone. The old man probably had his suspicions, but he had no evidence to convince anyone else and therefor Voldemort could proceed with his plans as he wished. But Severus blabbing to Dumbledore that Voldemort had returned might ruin that opportunity. No, Voldemort knew he had to proceed with caution while it came to his wayward spy, but he reasoned that he might secure Severus’ real loyalty with an Unbreakable Vow.

The next memory was far more interesting.

Barty intercepted Potter the moment he returned to Hogwarts and lured him to his office. Potter came along easily, his attitude pleasant enough, but his eyes were ever sharp even if he said very little at all.

The bird was also a point of interest. It sat securely on Potter’s shoulder, as a pet bird might be trained to do, but its eyes were equally as sharp as Potter’s while it looked around Barty’s office.

Voldemort didn’t much like birds, or any pets that wasn’t a snake. Nagini was currently sunbathing in the conservatory after Voldemort had retrieved her from his safehouse. She was intelligent and independent and the perfect companion, as far as Voldemort was concerned. He couldn’t imagine ever keeping a pet bird around that wasn’t an owl relegated to the outside owlery.

And then the memory took an unexpected turn.

Potter confessed that he practised dark magic, had been using it his entire life. Couldn’t even understand why it was so frowned upon in the wizarding world.

Voldemort’s heartbeat increased while his mind spun with possibilities. After all, the easiest way to do away with the threat of Potter and the prophecy was to recruit the man to their side. And by the looks of it, recruiting him under the banner of decriminalizing all banned magic might be easier than previously expected.