The Dreamer's Curse

The Triwizard Tournament

[Chapter 17]

Samuel and the two Pages stepped over the dead Muggle caretaker as they followed the man named Wormtail into the shadowy room. Their silhouettes projected against the wall, dancing as though in a trance.

The three Dreamers stood facing a man with a flat snakelike face, and a body like that of an aborted fetus in its third trimester.

Joe gave a light shudder.

The figure’s gleaming red eyes grazed over them. When he opened his mouth to speak, a high-pitched, cold voice made the Dreamers’ hairs stand up. “Welcome, Dreamers. I see you’ve come to negotiate.”

Mr Page hastily stepped forward. “We’ve come to make the deal. There is no need to negotiate.”

“You dare defy me! Though you are from such a different land, I had thought you had more sense in you. Clearly, I was mistaken.”

“You need us. We hold the key to the power you seek, and as long as we get the girl, we shall teach you our trade —”

“Fool!” the cold voice hissed. “You think you can cheat me out of the power I seek?”

“No, no, we would never—”

“Liar!” the voice said. “It is time you Dreamers learned how we operate. It seems, Kingsleigh, as if you have forgotten…How foolish of you…But I am a forgiving Master…Nagini, come.”

The man-child began hissing and sputtering strangely, as if he were himself a snake. The great bulge in the room, formerly ignored, began twisting and turning and slithering across the wooden floor. It approached the frozen Mr Page with caution and raised its head.

Mr Page stared wide-eyed at the predator as it opened its mouth and swung its fangs forward. It lunged to attack, and the snake did not miss. Mr Page crumpled to the ground, his body trembling as Nagini dug her fangs into his flesh.

Joe watched his father’s death in horror, digging his nails into his palms.

“I am the Dark Lord,” the figure said after too long a silence. “And I will be feared.”

…

Having Sirius Black out in the open was beyond strange. Stranger still was having the whole Wizarding World come out to say that they “knew he was innocent all along.”

“What rubbish,” Sirius laughed. “Of course, they’re all afraid I’ll hex them in their sleep.”

We were lounging round at the beach, but to my dismay, I wasn’t tanning. Instead, I was getting all red and blotchy.

“Are you quite sure you shan’t be going to the World Quidditch Cup, Jane?”

“Quite sure…” I gave Alice a knowing look.

She gave a slight nod and pulled out a paperback.

“Yes, I do think she should keep away from all that, Sirius, don’t pester her.”

Sirius frowned. “Are you sure she’s a healthy teenager, Alice? She seems like she’s come down with Dragon Pox or something.”

“I’m just not tanning well,” I shrugged. There was no need for Sirius to know anything about the danger we Dreamers were in. At least, not after he’d just recently been cleared of all charges.

Sirius smirked at this and sprawled out in the sun. “I, for one, tan fantastically. Merlin, I’ve missed the sun.”

“Reckon you don’t get much of that in Azkaban then,” I said.