PRONGSLET AND THE RETURN OF THE MARAUDERS (ON HOLD)

Chapter Thirty

[Chapter Thirty]

"No...no more, please," Milo begged as he was subjected to more horror stories of the Inferi, even after Tom Riddle Sr had left him. There had to be hundreds of bodies that belonged to the pool of Inferi that dwelt in the cave, but Milo couldn't bring himself to listen to any more of the horror stories of their murders. People that had been "missing" since the First Wizarding War, others weren't even magical folks, but muggles that had been murdered, just so Voldemort could increase his numbers. Some of them had quicker deaths than others, while plenty had experienced torture before finding themselves imprisoned by the Dark Arts.

Suddenly, he found a hand touching the side of his face, causing him to scream out, but fortunately, it wasn't a member of the Inferi, but Elspeth, bringing him to make eye contact with her.

"Relax, Milo, that's enough for now," she spoke to him in a soft tone, " you did very well.  But it's something you had to witness in order to understand just what we're going to be dealing with."

His forehead was beaded with sweat, despite the cool atmosphere that surrounded him and he couldn't see anything in his peripherals, as it appeared that he and Elspeth were only surrounded by darkness. But his brows quickly furrowed in confusion at the last bit of her wording, leaving him to shake his head slightly.

"Dealing with?" he repeated. "But you said earlier that Regulus helped them come to the Underworld, that they wouldn't have to go back."

"You're right, Milo," Elspeth replied, " these souls will not have to return, but there is no telling if Voldemort will make the same attempt to build another army of the dead once he discovers that these bodies are missing from that cave."

Milo couldn't think that Voldemort would be so foolish to attempt the same plot again, however, considering that he had made it a career to go after Harry, there was no telling what the dark wizard would venture to do. Noting the hundreds of people that had been in front of him, willing to share their stories, it would mean that Voldemort would have to kill hundreds more to replace those numbers.

And Milo had seen that Voldemort didn't care about any sort of blood status when it came to building his army of the dead. He had gone after muggles that knew nothing of magic, only so he could place their bodies in the cave. It was an insight to what Voldemort's possible plan was in the near future if he wasn't acting on it already. But it also meant that Voldemort had to find another location because he more than likely wouldn't risk going to the same cave twice.

"This is terrible," Milo muttered with another shake of his head, " wh-..."

"This is the art of war, Milo," Elspeth said with a frown, " it's terrible. People go to such great lengths in order to establish victory. I wanted you to see what you were up against because Voldemort is not just a wizard that goes after infants and children. You were able to see the desperation that he went through in order to ensure his victory. And he still managed to lose, now that he has a second chance, you can gather that he may become even more desperate in his attempts."