Lady Tonks, Lord Potter

By the nexr full moon

Carefully hidden in a very secluded location, a very inappropriate location for the Dark King of Britain, Voldemort sat upon an improvised throne deep within an abandoned church and looked at a map. The last four months had been intolerable. The weakness had escalated; sometimes he felt barely able to lift a wand and, if he was honest with himself, his Cruciatus curse left much to be desired these days. His plan for magical Britain had been a success; almost every facet of the infrastructure of everyday life had been disrupted if not utterly, and hopefully, irrevocably altered. The Floo network no longer worked, an important symbol to him, but the one thing that remained out of his control was Gringotts.

As he internally swore everlasting torment on every single living goblin in the British isles, and in the countries providing unofficial aid to Britain, his thoughts were slightly comforted by the arrival of Nagini. The giant snake slowly made her way up to him, curling around his leg, then lifting her massive head so that it was in his lap. With an almost skeletal hand he stroked her scales.

"Ah, my dearest one, soon our time will come. They are all hidden in their little holes, hoping against hope that the ragged band of misfits they are calling the Council will move against me. But I will be ready, we will be ready. Those who know the true king of Britain are coming to me and then, my Nagini, we will act and the entire world will know who rules them."

-ooo-

A small scrap of parchment, to be particular a shopping list containing potions ingredients, lifted from the cobblestones that comprise the main pathway of Diagon Alley, lifted briefly up into the air, hovering slightly. Then, from nowhere, a strong gust of wind pushed the parchment further airborne, sending it careening through the street, past the cracked and broken windowpanes, past the burned-out businesses. It flipped and turned alone in the street, for a moment stuck against a pole that once held a sign, now standing empty against the sky. The parchment fluttered momentarily and, as friction gave way it once again soared into the sky turning over and over, riding the small current until finally the swell died, sending it on further down the street in a dying flight, the only thing that moved in the once busy place of business. It came to rest against the still-intact and unmarked door of Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes for a moment, remaining motionless, but then another gust of wind once again bore it aloft, high into the air, spiraling higher and higher as if by spell until it came to a firm, flat rest against a window of Gringotts. The window of a specific goblin of Gringotts, at that very moment in a meeting with Ragnok, the Director of the only institution still functioning in Diagon Alley.

Ragnok sat at the small table with Effie, the account manager of House Potter and the current liaison with the wizarding High Council. To say that he was not happy would be the greatest of understatements, akin to saying that goblins didn't care about finances. He noticed the parchment against the window for a moment but then turned his attention back to the female goblin.

"Ælfgifu, what is the latest report from the council?"

Effie sat at the table and clasped her hands together. Her tone was that of a goblin relating a rather disappointing return on an investment. "The council is gathering allies. Currently the wizarding governments of France, Italy, Belgium and Spain have sent 'diplomatic' missions, but only France seems willing to commit to more than words and empty parchment. The Chevalier Esotérique have sent about thirty to forty of their ranks, with more to follow."

"I see." The director stroked the coarse hairs of his forked beard. "And what of Lord Potter? How is his condition?"

Effie sighed, her response a much more sympathetic tone, belying her feelings about Lord Potter. "It is as before. He experiences occasional changes. Right now he is as he was before, seemingly a normal, sixteen-year-old wizard, but without warning or pattern he may appear as a fully-grown eighteen-year-old wizard. He is quite upset about the situation, as is Lady Black."