Chapter 28 - A Short Prologue to Year Four
(A/N - Here's a bit of a "teaser" for the upcoming year's events. It will be a much shorter chapter.)
"ALOHOMORA"
The old lock on the ivy-obscured door clicked open, and a darkly shrouded male figure, apparently carrying a wrapped bundle, nudged the door with his foot. The rusty, seldom-used hinges protested loudly at the intrusion, but fortunately there was no one in the area to hear. There was also no one to notice the very large snake that followed the man inside.
"COLLOPORTUS"
The lock clicked again, sealing the door as if it had never been disturbed. The man, still carrying his bundle as if it were a child in his arms, went where he had previously been directed - to an upstairs sitting room in the formerly impressive manor house. He found that the room contained a fireplace with an old, tattered rug and a large, ornate chair in front of it. The chair hadn't been used in years going by the thick layer of dust visible on the cushions. He considered the chair for a moment, pointed what looked like a tree branch at it, and then said,
"SCOURGIFY"
The chair was suddenly as clean as if it were newly made. Satisfied, the man gently lowered his bundle into the chair with a barely noticeable shudder. With both hands free now, he also lowered the hood on his cloak and turned towards the empty fireplace. There was no wood or coal there after all these years, but the man seemed to not even notice as he again pointed the stick at the grate.
"INCENDIO"
The fireplace suddenly filled with magical flames, flickering eerily through the grimy windows. Anyone passing outside would have noticed the light, if they bothered to look. But, the residents of that neighborhood had spent years actively ignoring any strange goings on in that particular house, and this night was no exception.
A cold, high-pitched voice was heard in that room for the first time in fifty years, although its owner's form had changed significantly during that time. "Very good, Wormtail…At least you are still capable enough of a wizard to perform basic housekeeping spells…"
"Y…yes, master…I do my best…" the timid voice of the man who had brought the bundle to this room answered.
"…Wormtail, how many times have I told you to not interrupt me, especially when you are just being obsequious? You assumed I was complimenting you just now?" and there was an evil-sounding cackle, coming obviously from the cloth-wrapped bundle. "I was about to chastise you for not casting a silencing charm on the hinges first, you imbecile! If anyone had been nearby, they would have heard the door open, and I daresay you would have had to do more than some housekeeping spells, eh, Wormtail?" he sneered.
"Y…yes, master, if you so commanded me…I would obey", he said with obvious fear.
"I'm sure you will, Wormtail. I'm sure you will. Now, do you know what is important about this specific house in this Muggle village?" the first voice said amusedly.
"Th…this is where…Tom Riddle Sr. lived, isn't it, Master? With his parents…?"
"WORMTAIL - I WARN YOU - NEVER MENTION THAT MUGGLE'S NAME IN MY PRESENCE AGAIN!" the voice was quite agitated as the bundle squirmed against the back of the chair.
"My Lord…I beg your forgiveness…I did not mean to offend."
"But, you do…by your very presence, you do offend me, Wormtail. Ah, no matter, I can be patient, even with you. Yes, this is the house of that pathetic Muggle and his parents. This is the very house where I killed the three of them, on a night fifty years ago, as they sat down to dinner. From what I gathered later, no one even noticed they were dead until the next morning", he chuckled grimly. "And, it is the place where I choose to wait until my faithful followers can overcome the interference that has affected all of our plans."
"I…interference, my Lord? Who could interfere with any plans you have developed? You…you are such a wise wizard, master, and…"
"Silence, Wormtail! I grow tired of your subservience! Although, in this case you are partially correct, out of sheer dumb luck, I suppose. If this were entirely my plan to both design AND implement, I am sure we would not be having these distractions. However, due to the apparent ineptness of others of my followers, things have become more complicated. Instead of being able to focus my resources on the better of the two plans, I have to continue working on two sets of plans to guarantee I will achieve my desired results."
"T…two plans, my Lord?" he sputtered.
"Yes, Wormtail. Listen and learn for once, if you are capable of doing so. I am about to share something with you that is of great importance to me. I would prefer to have a more useful servant to work with, but you will have to do. Over four years ago, when I was sharing the mind and body of that useless idiot Quirrell, I received a very strange communication through mysterious means. The message was purported to be from some of my followers in the future who had been working with a future version of myself to develop a means to solve the problem of a certain…thorn in my side once and for all - the problem of Harry Potter!" he said, menacingly. "If this plan had been implemented correctly, I am quite certain by now that young Mr. Potter would already be standing at my side, and you…would probably still be a rat, cowering in that Muggle-loving Weasley's pathetic hovel. However, apparently someone has interfered with these plans because certain events have not happened as they should have. As a result, I have resurrected another set of plans to dispose of Mr. Potter permanently in case we are unable to discover and eliminate the cause of the interference."
"What plans are those, my Lord?"
"First, you must feed me. I feel quite weak from traveling. Bring me the bottle."
****
It was Frank's bad leg that woke him; it was paining him worse than ever in his old age. He got up and limped downstairs into the kitchen with the idea of refilling his hot-water bottle to ease the stiffness in his knee. Standing at the sink, filling the kettle, he looked up at the Riddle House and saw lights glimmering in its upper windows.
(A/N - To read what happens next, just read the rest of the first chapter of Goblet of Fire, following that sentence, starting at the bottom of Page 5 in the US Scholastic Edition.)