Unofficial Portkey Archive

Disclaimer: All belongs to J.K. Rowling and her imagination. I only own the plot. :)

Peter Pettigrew, better known by his fitting nickname, Wormtail, stumbled shakily into the derelict and crumbling mansion. The mansion was set deep into the Forest of Tenebrae, which in Latin means, Forest of Darkness. The term well suited the dank and ugly forest.

The Forest of Tenebrae did not exist to any Muggles, for the forest was unplottable and hidden deep in the very northern tip of Scotland. A very dark wizarding family used to reside in the old mansion until the entire line was killed of by the Light side in the Last War. Voldemort found the forest and mansion to be very acceptable to gather his Dark Army and form anymore plans. In other words, it was his hiding place.

Wormtail stumbled through the dark corridors of the mansion as slowly as possible, a group of five Death Eaters following him, seeming no more happy then him to be there. As loyal as the Death Eaters were to Lord Voldemort, they feared him above all others and many wished to never look upon or be in the presence of the Dark Lord. Voldemort knew of this, which was even worse.

A meeting had been called by Lord Voldemort with the purpose of him trying to get all the information he could on the progress of the revealing of the Heirs. Summoned with Wormtail were his companions on this mission, Malfoy, Nott, Crabbe, Goyle, and Avery. Voldemort found none of them to be very capable except for Lucius Malfoy but Wormtail knew the full details of his plans and the others had physical strength on their sides.

Finally, Wormtail came to the large, black, iron doors that led to Voldemort's study. Wormtail shivered as he pushed the heavy doors open, remembering his awful experience the last time he had entered these doors.

Voldemort was standing by the fireplace which was emitting large, green flames. His pale skin looked sickly from the light of the flames but his blood red eyes glared at all of them maliciously. All six bowed very low to him until he spoke in drawling voice, "Stand."

The voice blasted like ice through their bodies and all of them shivered unconsciously. An eerie chuckle admitted from his lips before he gestured a spider-like hand to the large, black table with seven, high-backed chairs surrounding it.

"Sit, my Death Eaters. We have much to discuss."

Voldemort sat himself in the largest chair at the head of the table and the others quickly took their places around him. He stared at all of them in a way that showed he was looking into them, trying to read their minds and figure out their loyalties. He finally spoke after a long silence.

"Well, if my informs were correct, it seems that two of the Heirs have finally been revealed."

Lucius Malfoy nodded and said swiftly, "Yes, My Lord. The Heirs of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff have now shown themselves, though I do not understand how a filthy Mudblood could be an Heir." He sneered at these words.

"You underestimate the Prophecy, Lucius," Voldemort said in an oddly calm voice, "Whether the foolish girl is a Mudblood or not, she is still very powerful and intelligent. Ravenclaw had her reasons for choosing her."

Lucius fell silent though a brooding darkness remained on his face.

"I assume, Wormtail, that the subjects were disposed of in a way that did not appear to have Dark Magic on it?" Voldemort questioned.

Wormtail jumped at being addressed. "Ah....um...yes, My Lord! We...we....made sure that it appeared to be the Light side that...umm.....disposed of the subjects. It was done very quickly and we left small clues around to point to Dumbledore."

Voldemort made an angry noise deep in his throat at the mention of Dumbledore and stared sharply at Wormtail. "What kind of clues?"

Wormtail squeaked and said quickly, "Um...just....just a few things that would make it appear to be the work of Aurors. We transfigured some scraps of fabric to look like the color of their robes, as if some had been torn off. We even...umm...wrote out a short letter with instructions on the order of who to kill with the initials AD on it. Someone will surely find it and the Heirs will assume it was Dumbledore who ordered the killings."

"Ah.....perfect. Just the way I wanted it to go," Voldemort said, a note of happiness in his voice, "Everything is going off wonderfully."

He paused and looked quickly at Lucius, giving him a pointed look. "You know who has to be taken care of next. The next Heir must be revealed soon. You know what you must do, Lucius."

"Yes, My Lord, I am well prepared for the task," Lucius said quietly, a hint of glee in his cold, gray eyes.

"Very well. Make sure it goes off well, no mistakes. I have much hope for the next Heir, he is the one, I believe, whose loyalties will sway the most. I must have one Heir on my side or all is lost for us. Trust is such a key factor in their chances of winning, I must destroy that chance!" Voldemort gave an evil smirk and stood from the table. The others made to stand but he waved them back down impatiently. "Sit down, you fools, I have another mission for you to complete after the last two Heirs are taken care of."

Voldemort started pacing, obviously going over the plan in his head once more. The Death Eaters waited, wondering what their next task might be. "You all well remember last year, I am sure," he spoke softly, "the Prophecy I tried to steal about Harry Potter and myself. I was unsuccessful and still do not know the entire prophecy, which angers me." His eyes blazed even more for second before he continued. "In the Department of Mysteries, in that same room with all the Prophecies, lies the many foretold by Merlin. His lie in the very back of the room, in a dark corner where few venture anymore. I have never actually heard the Prophecy about the Four Heirs and it is crucial that I hear it. For though the Prophecy is written in many books, the piece of information I need is never told within them. The means by which the Four are suppose to vanquish the evil is told and to stop myself from my own destruction, I need to know what this power is."

Voldemort stopped pacing and turned to the Death Eaters, who were all watching him intently. "Four names are listed underneath the Prophecy for those four were believed to be the Heirs. One of the names is wrong though, this person is not an Heir and as the Heirs will be almost completely untouchable at the present time, I need you to find this one person and you are to bring him to me. Only a person whose name is on a Prophecy can touch it and bring it down from the shelf. First, you must kidnap this person and then bring him to me. My instructions on finding the Prophecy and bringing it to me intact will follow afterward. Can you all do this without blundering it up?" he snarled at them.

"Yes, My Lord," Nott muttered immediately, "we will bring you this person."

"B..but...My Lord....how....is it even possible? How can y...you expect......" Wormtail started to stutter.

"Crucio!" Voldemort said lazily.

Wormtail fell to the ground, his screams echoing loudly in the room. Voldemort lifted the curse finally and said in amusement, "My dear Wormtail, will you ever learn that you must not question me? Never. Do. That. Again." His words filled with absolute anger.

"My Lord," Lucius said suddenly, standing up and bowing in respect, "who, may I ask, is this person we must take captive?"

Voldemort turned to him, twirling his wand in his hand. "Ah yes, forgot that bit didn't I? It's quite easy though, the one Harry Potter will miss most."

"But My Lord," Avery said quickly, "aren't we suppose to kill that person?"

Voldemort ignored the continued whimpering sobs of Wormtail and responded, "Well then, use your brain for once and kill the person he cares for second best. Harry Potter is already a powerful wizard, though not as much as the Light tries to make of him. He will not need to be provoked much to show his true powers and the kidnapping of his friend will add nicely to his anger." Voldemort gave a snide smile.

"Now, go off and finish your first mission and then bring the Muggle-lover to me." He flicked his wand at Wormtail. "Get up, you idiot, you have work to do!" Wormtail was made to soar over to the door and landed in a heap in front of the entrance. He scrambled to his feet and rushed from the room, Voldemort laughing maniacally after him.

The other Death Eaters filed out after Wormtail, each bowing low. Lucius paused slightly before the Dark Lord and whispered in an evil voice, "I will make sure mine will pay."

"And then your loyalties will truly be proven, my dear Lucius," Voldemort said with a pointed look.

Lucius bowed low and then swept from the room. Voldemort turned back to the fire once the Death Eaters had left, that sinister smile sweeping across his evil face once more. "Oh Harry Potter, I am going to make you suffer! You shall never defeat me!"

............................

Author's Note: Wow! You guys have given me over 100 reviews! I am so ever thankful and flattered that you all are enjoying this story so much. I'm very happy with it myself and it means a lot to me that it is being take to so well! Thank you so much! :)

I'm so sorry about the short chapter but devoting an entire chapter to Voldemort wasn't something I was happy about but it was necessary to show more of the plot. I truly despise Voldemort and I really don't like writing his character more than I have to, thus the short chapter. I promise to make it up to you guys though!

So many of you want to know the final two Heirs but I basically gave it away in this chapter but which heir are they exactly? hmmmm.....lol. Ah, btw, I'm thinking of changing the story title to Harry Potter and the Heirs of Hogwarts instead of just The Heirs of Hogwarts. Not too sure yet though. If you could give me you opinion of what to do I would really appreciate it because I value all of your reviews and opinions greatly! Just tell me which sounds better and I'll consider it. Thanks!

Well, I'll end it there. I'll try and get the next chapter up tomorrow, the third Heir is finally revealed!
Much Love
PhoenixFirebolt