Familiar Voices

Squinting tensely through the darkness, Chris watched few figures drawing nearer, walking steadily toward them between the graves. There were three people, all in long hooded cloaks. One of them was holding something in his arms. Several paces nearer, the gap between them closing all the time Chris saw that the thing in the person's arms looked like a baby . . . or was it merely a bundle of robes?

Chris silently put a shielding charm around them. Harry and Cedric suddenly started to lower their wands.

"What're you trying to do? Stay focus." Chris muttered angrily.

They hold their wand straight, alert.

The hooded figures stopped beside a towering marble headstone, only six feet from them.

"Who're you? And what the hell do you want?" Chris burst out. She was out of patience.

The tallest one stepped forward and gave a hoarse laugh.

"Straight to business, aren't you?" He said.

A chill ran down Chris's spine. She have heard this voice. Almost a year ago. In the the woods at Quidditch World Cup. It was the same voice without any mistake.

"You..... you...." Chris choked.

"Glad to know, your brain is still working." He replied. "Now as you asked, we should get down to business. Ethan!"

The man behind him, who was holding the bundle stepped forward, then suddenly Harry screamed and fell into his knees.

"Harry!" Chris rushed towards him.

Cedric looked very nervous now.

Then Chris heard a high, cold voice say,

"Kill the spare."

"NO!" Chris shouted glaring at the hooded figures. Their faces were still hidden.

"Relax Queen. No one's killing your little boyfriends." The taller man laughed again, then he turned to the bundle of robes. "Not now my friend. Let the fear increase first. Death will be so easy and simple, isn't it?"

"As you wish." Repiled the cold high pitched voice.

"Then first, your resurrection." The taller man roared. "Stormy."

Next second the other hooded figure stepped forward holding a wand. As she threw some spell towards them. Chris concentrated and her shield blocked the spells.

As Stormy tried to cast some spells again, the tallest man stopped her with a wave.

"Hmm... I'm impressed." He laughed, then ordered, "You two help my friend. I'll take care of them."

Stormy and Ethan nodded. The tallest man waved his wand and in a second Chris, Harry and Cedric, where tied to a big tombstone with tight cords.

"Who're you? What do you want?" Chris asked angrily, while struggling to free herself. She almost forgot her bleeding injuries but as soon as she started to struggle, the pain returned. She winced.

"Looks like my poisonous thorns gave you some trouble." The man said laughing. "As soon as it gets under the skin, it drains all energy, it even soaks the last drop of hope from the body. Very useful thing."

Stormy arrived with a huge cauldron. The cauldron from Chris's vision. Chris gasped.

"You attacked Chris!" Harry shouted suddenly. "You were the one who tied her with that thorned vine."

"No Mr Potter. I just gave orders." He replied.

Stormy was now at the bottom of the cauldron with her wand. Suddenly there were crackling flames beneath it.

"Who're you?" Chris repeated but it was like deep down she knew this person.

"I thought if the founders have chose you, then they must've helped you to understand the situation. But I guess they didn't, if you can't recognize me." Saying this he pulled down his hood and looked up to Chris.

Harry and Cedric took sharp breaths. The man had a ghost like appearance, he was half bald and his skin was like wrinkled paper. The only feature, which was clear in his face, was his eyes. Dark yellow eyes. Chris knew this eyes.

"Malgino!" Chris said looking shocked.

He smiled.

"But how can you...? This is impossible..." said Chris.

The liquid in the cauldron seemed to heat very fast. The surface began not only to bubble, but to send out fiery sparks, as though it were on fire.

"Few years ago, you thought there's nothing like magic, didn't you? But see, there is." Malgino said looking very delightful. "There's nothing impossible in this world. Nothing."

The whole surface of the water was alight with sparks now. It might have been encrusted with diamonds.

"It is ready, Master." Stormy said.

Chris recognized her voice too.

"You're the one who set up Bagman." Chris said looking at her.

"I think we should start, master." Stormy said completely ignoring Chris's comment.

Malgino nodded.

"Are you ready, my lord?" Stormy asked taking the bundle from Ethan.

"Yes." The cold high pitched voice replied.

Stormy pulled open the robes on the ground, revealing what was inside them, and Harry let out a yell, Cedric closed his eyes.

It was as though Stormy had flipped over a stone and revealed something ugly, slimy, and blind — but worse, a hundred times worse. It was the shape of a crouched human child, except that Chris had never seen anything less like a child. It was hairless and scaly-looking, a dark, raw, reddish black. Its arms and legs were thin and feeble, and its face — no child alive ever had a face like that — flat and snakelike, with gleaming red eyes.

Stormy lowered the creature into the cauldron; there was a hiss, and it vanished below the surface; Chris heard its frail body hit the bottom with a soft thud.

"Ahhh..." Harry screamed again.

Chris knew his scar was hurting again.

Chris looked back to Malgino, who was watching this like someone was making a beautiful painting or sculpture.

"How are you still alive? You were born centuries ago." Chris said.

"Centuries? Yes it's a long time ago." He said looking back at Chris.

Everyone time Malgino's eyes meet Chris's eyes, a cold creepy shiver ran down Chris's spine. But still she tried to look confident.

"It's been long, I didn't hear anything about me. Tell me what do you know about me?" Malgino asked.

Chris pressed her lips together angrily, she wasn't going to obey him.

"Who's he?" Harry whispered. "How do you know him?"

"What's going on here? Who're they or what're they?" Cedric asked with trembling voice.

Till now Stormy was chanting something in a low voice, holding her wand towards the Cauldron, but suddenly she closed her eyes, and spoke to the night, loudly.

"Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew your son!"

The surface of a grave cracked. Chris watched as a fine trickle of dust rose into the air at Stormy's command and fell softly into the cauldron. The diamond surface of the water broke and hissed; it sent sparks in all directions and turned a vivid, poisonous-looking blue.

Then Stormy's hood fell from her head as she pulled out a silver dagger from her robes.

"Flesh of the servant willingly given you will revive your master." Her golden hair shined brightly and she spoke without any fear in her voice as she stretched her right hand out in front of her. She gripped the dagger very tightly in her left hand and swung it upward.

Chris couldn't take off her eyes from her, she shrieked. Stormy yelled in pain. As her flesh fell on the Cauldron and it turned to burning red; Stormy staggered backward holding her hand. Ethan tried to step forward to help her but she stopped him and walked towards Chris, Harry and Cedric.

She stopped in front of Harry, and Chris saw her eyes were red, she was biting her lips in pain but she was forcing herself to stop moaning in pain.

"Blood of the enemy forcibly taken you will resurrect your foe." She said and sliced open Harry's arm with the silver dagger.

Harry screamed and struggled as she pulled out a glass vial and held it to Harry's cut, so that a dribble of blood fell into it.

Stormy walked back, poured the blood into the Cauldron and stepped back. The liquid within turned, instantly, a blinding white.

The cauldron was simmering, sending its diamond sparks in all directions, so blindingly bright that it turned all else to velvety blackness.

And then, suddenly, the sparks emanating from the cauldron were extinguished. A surge of white steam billowed thickly from the cauldron instead.

"It went wrong." Harry muttered. "Please let it be dead."

But then they saw the dark outline of a man, tall and skeletally thin, rising slowly from inside the cauldron.

"Robe me," said the high, cold voice from behind the steam.

Ethan hurried forward with the robes and pulled it around the thin man.

The thin man stepped out of the cauldron, staring at Harry . . . and Harry stared back. Whiter than a skull, with wide, livid scarlet eyes and a nose that was flat as a snake's with slits for nostrils . . .

Chris took a wild guess about the man and realized who was he.

Lord Voldemort.