The Gathering of Shadows

"Yes, master." his servant answered as he scampered towards Voldemort. He then knelt and held out a wand towards his master. "Your wand, my lord" Voldemort reached out and grabbed the wand. As his finger touched it his twisted face took on an expression of triumph.

"Your arm." Voldemort demanded.

"Thank you master!" Wormtail exclaimed as he happily held out his stump of an arm.

"Your other arm." Voldemort clarified. Wormtail gasped in surprise, but obediently held out his other wand. Even from far away Harry could see that Wormtail's Dark Mark was now as black as night and perfectly visible. Voldemort pressed his wand into his servant's arm as the other man winced in pain but said nothing. Moments later men in full Death Eater's robes began apparating into the cemetery. Each of them wore masks that covered their faces so Harry was unable to see who had come. One thing was clear however: his odds of escaping had dropped dramatically.

The Death Eaters stood in a circle surrounding Voldemort as he looked around inspecting them. Harry could not tell if he was happy with what he found or not, but the Death Eaters seemed to be nervous. As the Dark Lord began speaking they all dropped to a knee, as if before royalty.

"After all these years, my friends, we have been reunited." Voldemort began. "And yet I must wonder, where were all of you when I needed you the most? For years I was trapped somewhere between life and death, and none of you searched for me."

"I did, my lord." Wormtail bravely, or perhaps foolishly said.

"Out of fear, not loyalty. I suppose you do deserve some reward for your efforts however. Hold out your arm." Voldemort ordered and Wormtail gratefully complied. Using a spell that Harry did not recognize, Voldemort conjured a magical silver hand to appear where Wormtail's had been. Wormtail held up the hand and stared at it in awe. Voldemort meanwhile was looking at his wand with a confused expression on his face, as if something had happened he did not expect. A moment later the look was gone and he was once again standing before his followers.

"Where were you Avery? Or you, Goyle? Crabbe? Nott? And what of you, Malfoy?" Voldemort asked. Harry sat and listened, though he was not at all surprised to see it confirmed that Lucius Malfoy was a Death Eater.

"My lord…" Malfoy began to plead pathetically, "I was constantly on the alert. Had there been any sign, any whisper-"

"Quiet, Lucius." Voldemort said forcefully, and Malfoy knew better than to continue. "There will be time to make up for past failures later. Now we must be suitable hosts and attend to our guest." With that he pointed at Harry who was still tied up and bleeding from his arm. Harry could hear the Death Eaters laughing from behind their masks at his predicament. Voldemort began walking towards him as he spoke, and was soon standing right in front of him. "The world was foolish enough to think that this mere child had destroyed the most powerful wizard of all time. It was not he that defeated me that night, but a mistake on my part. Old magic was at work that night, powerful magic. I did recognize it then, but I do now. And I have overcome it. Believe me Harry, I can touch you now." With that Voldemort pressed his finger into Harry's forehead where his famous scar lay. The pain Harry felt in that moment eclipsed anything else he had ever experienced.

"Now Harry, we shall see if the Boy-Who-Lived can truly stand against Lord Voldemort." the Dark Lord said with a sneer. "Wormtail, untie him. And give him his wand." Wormtail rushed to obey his master, and soon Harry was free with his wand in his hand. Harry nervously looked around and knew full well that he was surrounded by potential threats as well as face to face with one of the world's most powerful wizards. Voldemort looked like he was preparing to continue his speech, but Harry thought his best option was to get on the offensive and stay on it as long as he could.

Harry began casting and moving as quickly and as powerfully as he could. Even Professor Flitwick would have been proud of him if he had been there. The chain of spells he used was one he had come up with months earlier and practiced constantly. It included piercing hexes, tripping jinxes, cutting curses, Crouch's acid spell, bone breaking curses, a tickling charm, a cutting curse, a charm that caused boils to break out on its victims face, and ended with a massive Bombarda. But even though Harry was casting at his best nothing seemed to get past Voldemort's defenses. Everything he threw at the Dark Lord was either blocked by conjured or summoned items or simply avoided. When the dust cleared from his last spell, which had been powerful enough to leave a small crater in the ground, Lord Voldemort was still standing there laughing at him.

"I'm impressed, Harry." Voldemort said. "Perhaps you should rethink the offer I made to you years ago. Join me and I will help you reach your full potential."

"Never!" Harry responded angrily. He then transfigured two headstones into massive bears which he sent to attack Voldemort, but before they could reach him the Dark Lord had destroyed them with two lazy swipes of his wand.

"You still have much to learn. A pity you won't get the chance." Voldemort taunted.

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