Chapter - 55 : The Depths of Courage part - 2

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"I'm absolutely shaking in my boots."

"My Lord," Pettigrew choked pathetically. "My Lord…you promised."

Voldemort looked away from Harry and down at his servant in disgust. "Hold out your arm," he said lazily.

"Oh thank you, Master…thank you."

Pettigrew held out his bleeding arm, but Voldemort sneered at him. "The other arm, Wormtail."

"But…Master."

Voldemort grabbed Pettigrew's left arm and pulled back the sleeve, the Dark Mark was ink blank on his pallid skin, and pressed an unnaturally long finger to the mark, a fresh wave of pain stung Harry's scar and Pettigrew screamed out in agony.

"How many will be brave enough to return when they feel it?" Voldemort whispered, red eyes gleaming. "And how many will be foolish enough to stay away?"

The snake-like creature, for there was no way he could any longer be considered even remotely human, paced lazily in front of the desecrated grave and gave Harry a cold smirk as he waited for his followers' arrival. "You stand, Harry Potter, upon the remains of my late father." he hissed softly. "A Muggle and a fool, very like your dear mother. But they both had their uses, did they not? Your mother died to defend you as a child and I killed my father, and see how useful he has proved himself, in death."

Harry listened in barely concealed disbelief as Voldemort, like all villains, foolishly revealed things he probably should have kept secret. Like the fact that his mother had been a pureblooded witch who had seduced a rich muggle man who had left her, pregnant with their child, when he found out that she was a witch. Or that his mother had died giving birth to him, leaving him to be raised in a muggle orphanage with only the name Tom Riddle, the name he had inherited from his father, as a clue to the identity of his parents.

But then the Death Eaters arrived, dozens upon dozens of them between graves, behind the yew tree, in every shadowy space. Harry watched in morbid fascination as Voldemort weaved his words into a carefully admonishing, guilt-inducing speech until, finally, one of his servants threw themselves to the ground, begging for forgiveness only to be Crucioed for his efforts.

"Get up, Avery," Voldemort said. "Stand up. You ask for forgiveness? I do not forgive. I do not forget. Thirteen long years… I want thirteen years' repayment before I forgive you. Wormtail here has paid some of his debt already, have you not, Wormtail?"

Harry scowled as, after enduring a bit of ridicule, Pettigrew received a shining silver hand as a reward for his "loyalty", he'd hoped to bathe the wound in lemon juice before killing the rat, but now that was out.

"May your loyalty never waver again, Wormtail," Voldemort told the man as he repeatedly kissed his robes.

"Never, My Lord."

Voldemort slowly addressed each person in the circle, admonishing them for their lack of faith in him, Harry felt his gut clench when he spoke to Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father, the man's presence would cause quite a bit of problems for both him and his blonde friend in the future.

"Master, we crave to know, we beg you to tell us how you have achieved this-this miracle… how you managed to return to us," the Malfoy patriarch requested hesitantly.

"Ah, what a story it is, Lucius." said Voldemort. "And it begins, and ends, with my young friend here."

Voldemort launched into a long winded spiel about his fall that Halloween night thirteen years ago, how he wandered the country as nothing more than an insubstantial spirit until Quirrell stumbled upon him in Albania, he recounted Quirrell's failure and how he was, again forced back to Albania until Pettigrew found him and helped him gain the disgusting body that he had inhabited. Harry was disgruntled to hear that it was a Death Eater hidden in Hogwarts that had entered him into the tournament with the intentions of making the cup a portkey and doing everything in his power to make sure Harry was the one to get to it.

"And here he is," Voldemort finally concluded, "the boy you all believed had been my downfall." he slowly moved forward and turned to face Harry. "Crucio!"

Harry had been under the Cruciatus once before in his first year, it had been horrible, he, who had endured the worst kind of pains, had barely been able to string together a coherent thought when under Quirrell's Cruciatus. This was infinitely worse. The pain was so horrible Harry was sure he would die, and he would gladly embrace death, but thankfully it stopped after only a handful of minutes.

Harry spat out a mouthful of blood as he glared venomously at Voldemort, he'd bit his tongue in order to keep from screaming, he would never give the madman the pleasure of hearing his screams. "It seems thirteen years as an insubstantial spirit has weakened your punch," he sneered.

"Do you see how foolish it was to suppose that this boy could ever have been stronger than me." Voldemort said, ignoring the spiteful jibe. "But I want there to be no mistake in anybody's mind, Harry Potter escaped me by a lucky chance. And I am now going to prove my power by killing him, here and now, in front of you all, when there is no Dumbledore to help him, and no mother to die for him. I will give him his chance. He will be allowed to fight, and you will be left in no doubt which of us is the stronger. Just a little longer, Nagini," he whispered, an enormous snake glided away through the grass to where the Death Eaters stood watching. "Now untie him, Wormtail, and give him back his wand."

Pettigrew scurried over to Riddle Sr.'s grave, easily sliced through the ropes binding Harry to the tombstone, and shoved his wand into his hand.

Harry leaned heavily against the grave, his bad leg was unable to support him. "Ferula," he muttered and immediately bandages leapt from the tip of his wand and wrapped themselves tightly around his leg, binding it to a splint. He gingerly put his weight on the leg and gave a sigh of relief when it held.

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Loving the story so far? There's a whole world of magic and mystery waiting for you with over 85+ chapters still to come! By supporting my Patreon.

You not only get early access to new chapters but also exclusive content, behind-the-scenes insights, and special perks just for fans like you.

Join us on this enchanted journey and help shape the future of the tale. Your support makes all the difference—discover more and become part of the adventure today!

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(P).(A).(T).(R).(E).(O).(N)

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