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Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 234: The Dark Ritual
While James was preparing for the incoming battle, someone else was also getting ready.
Off the east coast in the Netherlands, deep inside a dark cave, two men were standing before a massive cauldron.
One was a very old man, and this one was carefully inspecting every detail of the process while the other paced around the chamber with impatience.
"I swear… if you have cooked our Lord, I will kill you in a most painful way." Anthony Dolohov glared at the crazy old man in front of him and wondered why the Dark Lord had put so much trust in this old mudblood.
This one scoffed in response. "Cook him?! Don't be ridiculous. I am Morgan Graves! And no one knows more about these kinds of rituals than myself. Can't you see that it's working already?!"
Dolohov frowned and shifted his eyes to the cauldron. "I can't see anything."
They had used so many resources and time on this endeavor, and so far, they had nothing to show for it.
"But you said that he would be out in two days at most, and we are already past that time." The man clenched his wand.
"This is not an exact science. It all depends on the individual and many other factors." The old man pointed at the skeleton of the giant dragon that was left behind the cauldron, along with the remnants of over a hundred different ingredients that he had used to prepare the solution.
"The quality of the ingredients also has a great influence on the necessary time."
"Are you saying that the ingredients weren't good enough?" Dolohov scoffed.
"On the contrary! They were too high quality, and this will improve the results, but it also means that it will take longer for Lord Voldemort's body to completely absorb everything and transform."
"Transform, huh?... Is he going to turn green like that old witch?"
"I can't tell for sure what kind of physical changes he will suffer, but there will certainly be some," the old man said. "Power always comes with a price…"
Dolohov was about to respond when he heard several sets of steps. He turned his eyes and spotted some familiar figures under the dim light of the torches.
No magic was allowed to be used near the cauldron, so they had to resort to normal fire to keep the cave illuminated.
"Malfoy… how is everything out there?" Dolohov asked the one walking at the front.
A smile appeared on the face of Abraxas Malfoy. "Most excellent. We were able to form a glorious army. I'm sure the Dark Lord will be very pleased when he emerges from…" He glanced at the cauldron. "How long will that take?"
"Yes, you told us that it would only take a couple of days." A middle-aged man with long black hair was now glaring at Dolohov.
"Don't push it, Yaxley. I only repeated what the crazy old man said." Dolohov pointed at Graves.
"I would very much like to see how sane you remain after four decades in Azkaban," the old man huffed.
"Is there a problem? Why isn't he out already?" Malfoy inquired.
"It's still within the normal range of time," old Graves responded. "I'm sure that the Dark Lord will emerge at any—"
Just then, they all heard the cauldron stir.
"It moved!" Yaxley exclaimed.
"Is the ritual done? Is our Lord coming out?" Malfoy wondered.
The cauldron shook again; this time it was much more violent, and some of the liquid inside spilled out, landing on top of Morgan Graves, who had been standing too close.
"Ahhh!" The old wizard screamed as the liquid seemed to start burning into his robes.
It all happened too quickly, and they could do nothing but watch as his flesh started to melt while making a loud sizzling sound.
While this was happening, the cauldron continued to shake, as if something was hitting it from the inside, and more liquid fell on the ground.
"Fall back! Don't let that thing touch you, or you are done for!" Dolohov shouted as he watched the old man dying in such a horrific manner.
They had no choice but to walk away a good distance until they felt somewhat safe from the dangerous substance.
"The Dark Lord has been submerged in that thing for two days?! How can that be?" Malfoy said it first, but they were all thinking it.
"I don't think it was like that at first…" Dolohov had witnessed the entire process to make sure that the old man didn't attempt any tricks on them.
He recalled seeing the liquid at the beginning of the process, and the old man was able to stir it with a wooden spoon with no issues.
It also had a much lighter tone compared to now. Something had changed it over the past two days.
"Is the Dark Lord even alive at this point?…" Yaxley asked.
"Something is definitely alive in there…" Dolohov could now tell that the shaking was being caused by something inside.
"Are we safe here?" Yaxley glanced back. The light coming from the cave's entrance could already be seen, and they had put a good distance between them and the cauldron, but this one was being hit with increasing violence.
Then, all of a sudden, they heard the sound of a much stronger impact that even made the entire cave tremble, adding to the concern of having the entire structure fall onto their heads.
Without hesitation, Yaxley took off running.
"Coward!" Dolohov clenched his teeth. He could not bring himself to leave...but not until he made sure that the Dark Lord made it out of the cauldron.
"Careful!" Malfoy shouted when he saw the whole thing exploding into pieces.
Both he and Dolohov reacted rapidly, raising their magical shields to cover themselves from the debris that was now flying their way.
Yaxley was not so lucky, as he had turned his back to run, and one large piece of the cauldron ended up hitting him on the head, killing the man instantly.
The cave fell into silence after that last explosion.
Dolohov and Abraxas stood there, trying to peer into the darkness that now invaded the cave, as the torches had all been extinguished.
"M-My Lord?…" Malfoy called with trepidation. "My Lord… are you there?"
Dolohov narrowed his eyes and spotted something moving in the darkness.
A few seconds later, they heard the sound of steps. A large figure was walking toward them, crushing the loose stones under its naked feet.
"My Lord… you are finally out." Dolohov couldn't quite see the details of his body, but did notice how much larger he looked. "How are you feeling?"
A sinister laughter echoed through the cave. "Never felt better."
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