The Seven Cores

December 22, 1975, Acromantulas Almost Kill Me

December 22, 1975

Dear ... (Well, you know what, maybe I shouldn't use 'Dear ______,' any more.)

I was all packed. I swung my backpack with everything I would need on my back. After a glance over my shoulder that included a grave face from Remus, I fixed a determined look on my face, and headed into he forest.

I hiked for a few hours. At last I got to the clearing that I usually visited. I set up camp. In one corner was my sleeping bag. Another corner stored my backpack. And right next to my sleeping bag was my wand. My wand is eight and a half inches, cedar, and unicorn tail. I made my wand when I was ten.

The sun was setting. Trees shielded most of the sky, but a few slivers of scarlet light filtered through. Slowly but surely, the red light became violet, then indigo, and after that navy. Soon, the sky was dark and only a little light from the loud-veiled full moon shown through. Shadows crept along the forest floor, changing shapes as the night passed on. A fully transformed were-wolf howled in the distance. (My parents allow those unfortunate enough to be were-wolves safety in our forest.) When an owl flew overhead, its shadow looked like a monster stalking up to eat me.

I crept into my sleeping bag and attempted to fall asleep. I really did! However, no sleep came. Sometimes I was just drifting off to sleep when the full moon was revealed and shined right in my face. Other times, I heard animals scuttling around. But most of the time, I was just not tired enough to fall asleep. A frigid winter wind blew through, chilling me to the bones. Looming, leafless trees shivered, as if they wee just as frozen as I was. The breeze whistled through, sometimes whispering, other times screeching.

Throughout the entire time I spent in the forest, I grasped my wand. I knew that I couldn't use magic, but clutching my wand helped me settle down.

The wind was whistling, the bushes were rustling, the snow (Oh, did I forget to mention that it started to snow?) was falling thickly down, and amidst all of the commotion, I heard a piercing scream. When I looked around though, I saw ... Did I really see nothing. Nothing had screeched. Nothing No one. Or that's what I thought, until I realized that I was the one who had screamed.

As I was figuring all of this out, three large, dark figure emerged. The clouds parted, just enough for a ray of moonlight to fall onto them. The creatures were Acromantulas. (If you didn't already know, Acromantulas are giant spiders that live in the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts. Apparently, there are Acromantulas here too.)

Their menacing figures crept forward, until they were about two feet away from me. Suddenly, one spider lashed out. Desperately, I clutched my wand and began shouting random spells in the spiders' general direction. Everything was a blur, until all three spiders had me backed up against a rock. The Acromantulas were preparing to kill and eat me.

I would have died if a strange man hadn't stepped out from behind a tree. He lazily flicked his wand and muttered a spell that I couldn't catch. The spiders began disintegrating. Soon all that was left was a single leg.

"Ever heard of the Seven Cores?" he asked.

I hesitantly answered, "No."

"Well then," the strange man replied, "the Seven Cores are cores to wands that make really powerful wands. Not as powerful as the Elder wand, but still pretty powerful. The tale has been passed down though every generation f the Ravenclaw family. Quite a few Ravenclaws have gone looking for them. However, the cores are also a lot harder to find than the typical cores."

"Very interesting," I commented, "but what does all this have to do with me?"

"Good question. That leg," he said, pointing to the Acromantula's leg, "is one of the Seven Cores. What I am here you ask you is; Do you want to find all Seven Cores? I could give you this Acromantula leg to help you get started on your collection."

"There has to be some catch," I protested.

The strange man paused. I could tell he was thinking. But it looked like he already knew what he wanted me to do in return.

At last, he spoke. "What I want you to do may be very confusing. First, you would travel forward in time 16 years using a spell that I have created. At the same time,  you would become younger and younger, until you were eleven. You would then receive a letter with further instructions from me."

I thought it over. What the strange man had said was churning in circles in side of my brain. Yet again, I found another loop-hole. "What will people think when I simply disappear in one time and appear in another?"

And yet again, he had an answer. "You can erase their memories."

I was confused. How had he known about my powers with the mind and one's memory? I knew that I shouldn't trust him, but he was very convincing.

"Will you?" the strange man pursued.

I instantly shot back, "No. Who are you anyways?"

He said, "I am your great uncle Tom Marvolo Riddle. You can trust me."

"Still, my answer is no," I firmly replied.

"Hmm, a little too clever for me," he muttered, "I will have to try something else." Louder than before, Tom threatened, "And, if you don't agree, I will kill everyone you care about, until you are begging for death yourself."

Suddenly, I subconsciously rearranged the letters in his name. What they spelled was a name that many people are too scared to say out loud. With my voice shaking, I realized, "You are Lord Voldemort."

The newly named Lord Voldemort smiled evilly. "Took you pretty long to figure that out. So, would you   rather be a selfish git and watch everyone you ever cared about die? Or, will you do what I'm asking?"

I knew that I shouldn't trust Lord Voldemort, but I also knew that he kept all promises that included killing people. With fake confidence, I answered, "Yes. I will."

Tom smiled another one of his twisted smiles. "When I say this spell, you will go forward in time 16 years, become younger until you are eleven, and you will be in the exact same spot that you are in right now. Once you are forward in time, I want you to erase yourself from everyone's past, and make it seem like you belong in 1991. Last, you will get an owl from me with your instructions. Are you ready?"

"Y-y-yes," I stammered.

He murmured a spell that I could barely hear, and soon everything was spinning. The scene faded in and out. My head felt light. Then, I fainted, falling slowly at first, but soon the ground was rushing up at me.

All that I could see was blackness.

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A/N: So first of all, Tom Riddle actually is her great uncle. Second of all, do you like the cliff hanger? I was tempted to turn this into a bunch of chapters that all ended with cliff hangers, but I also wanted a longish chapter. Also, what do you think of the picture of Lisa? She normally would have black glasses. Last of all, please COMMENT, VOTE, FAN! (Okay, now I sound like one of those extremely popular Wattpaders.) 

Dedicated to @emcalifo for having an awesome story and inspiring me to update!