chapter 11

Harry couldn't help but stare at the damage in front of him. The entire street was ruptured as if the gas main had been… Right, that's likely what had happened. Though, there were other things that didn't match up with it.

There were places where it was obvious the ground had been melted down and then cooled again. Parts of the rubble was oriented like a barrier that had been raised then torn down. Other parts of it were melted and corroded as if by acid.

It was a mess all around.

"Well, talk about a cluster fuck," Harry muttered sourly under his breath before taking his attention away from the mess towards Moody. "Clearly this was obviously more than just a gas line blowing."

"Aye," Moody agreed as he nodded to the carnage. "Mess all around."

"I… believe I will be with you gentlemen in a moment. I will likely be asked to fix the majority of this mess," Dumbledore noted as he saw a visibly relieved wizard moving over to them.

Harry barely nodded in acknowledgement before stepped over to side of the street and grimaced as he caught sight of a burned and fragmented corpse. "That's the honest truth. How many dead?"

"We're still counting," Moody admitted with a grunt. "Something went through all the shops and drove out all the muggles before, well… So far, no survivors."

Harry's mouth ran dry for a moment before he took a deep breath and then let it out. He had seen worse. He didn't like it, but he had seen worse.

"Right. So, you want me here for clean up or analysis?" Harry was already starting to look through the scene with a practiced eye. There were signs and residue of dark magic all around them.

"Whatever we can get," Moody admitted before gesturing towards a boutique with its entrance caved in. "Though the real treat is in there. Need to see if you've ever seen anything like it before."

Harry frowned slightly. "Wait, what?"

"Just look," Moody stated with a shudder of revulsion. "We found bits and pieces of them, but in there are the only ones that are at least somewhat whole."

"… Right. Did the Department of Magical Creatures not show up yet?" Harry asked with a grumble as he moved towards the boutique.

"They did," Moody answered, "and after they finished puking they said they had no idea what they are."

"… Joy." Harry stated with a sigh as he walked into the boutique. Immediately he saw the first of the creatures and then saw the other.

They were… well, he couldn't quite come up with a proper description for how utterly wrong they looked. A part of him could understand why the previous group had lost the contents of their stomachs. They had vaguely human characteristics but it was as if someone had taken them and twisted them into…

Frowning, Harry then began to cast a few charms over the things. Then he began to curse as he felt the blood drain from his face. He didn't recognize the spells themselves but he could tell who cast them. And he could figure out from them just what they were.

He turned and then walked back out, his features a mix of horror and anger as he returned to where Moody was waiting on him. "Well?"

"Get the bloody Department of Mysteries down here." Harry stated as he looked around the scene with new eyes.

"You don't know what they are." Moody stated with a sigh of irritation. "Bloody joy. This is going to be…"

"I know what they were. Moody," Harry corrected with an angry snap. "I know who made them into those things. They were human. Until Voldemort somehow turned them into those bloody, buggering monstrosities!"

"What?" Moody stared at him, his eyes narrowed into slits. "You're saying those things…"

"What is the problem, gentlemen?" Dumbledore chose that moment to return from his survey of the street. "I already surveyed most of the damage. I believe that simply blaming most of it on a… what's the word? Ah yes, 'gas main' explosion, will suffice."

"Except for the melted pools of stone and aggregate," Harry muttered quietly. "Those… well, that's going to have to be fixed. Stuff of conspiracy theories that is. Not to mention some of those acid melted bits. Going to need to do something about those too."

"Right," Moody stated with a frown as he realized that didn't really fit with the rest of the scene. "Point. So, this is a tits up, buggered up to the bollocks situation then."

"Yes." Harry agreed with a nod.

Dumbledore frowned as his attention left Moody and Harry and focused on the remains in the boutique. With a few charms of his own, his face quickly turned ashen, then green as he took a step back. "Good lord…"

"Pretty much my reaction," Harry agreed with a nod of his head and a shudder. "They're…"

"To do this to someone… this is an abomination." Dumbledore stated softly with a shake of his head. "No matter how twisted, no matter how much hate… for someone to become this…"

"That's what happens when you become inhuman." Harry stated with a shake of his head before looking around. "Now, what I want to know… is who did all this."

"Aye," Moody agreed with a nod of his head. "We didn't find anyone, nor any other bodies on the scene when we arrived."

"Pardon?" Dumbledore asked, frowning slightly.

"Someone killed these two," Harry stated as he gestured to the creatures. "If I'm not mistaken, it was before that explosion happened outside. This one shows some signs of burns, but its back is facing towards the street, and most of the cuts look post-mortem."

"Aye," Moody agreed with a nod. "Plus, this other one was killed in this place, first I think. Someone transfigured some items into weapons and banished them into the thing."

Harry didn't bother correct Moody that the thing had once been human. After the point it was in… killing it had been a mercy. Slowly he moved back to the changing rooms, moving carefully from one to the next with a practiced caution.

When he finished, he took a slow deep breath, before exhaling. Two sets of robes, empty and hung up carefully to be donned again along with several sets of female clothing. "Well, fuck."

"What'd you find, Potter?" Moody asked as he stepped over and then frowned. "… Two witches then?"

"At least," Harry agreed with a frown. "We need to get as many traces going as we can. We better reconstruct things. We have to figure out what happened to them."

"Gentlemen?" Dumbledore spoke up as he looked at the two. "What have you discovered?"

"Two witches were here." Harry answered as he looked around. "I'm guessing there were anti portkey and anti-apparition wards up. They fought their way out."

"And were responsible for the street outside?" Moody suggested.

"Maybe," Harry agreed with a nod. "We need to identify what traces we have going on here. Don't suppose…?"

"Don't look at me. I can walk through the scene as well as you," Moody stated with a frown, "but I can't identify what was cast or come close to by whom."

Then he gestured towards where Dumbledore was weaving his wand about. "But, that's why I brought him."

"Ah," Harry noted with a nod as he watched Dumbledore work.

With a forceful mutter leaving his breath, Dumbledore finished his casting and suddenly the air lit up with symbols and colors that shone all around them. Harry could tell barely anything about the glut of information they conveyed. Sighing, he glanced at Moody.

"Don't suppose you can understand any of that?"

Negligently, Moody shook his head. "No, lad, over my head. You?"

"Too much raw spell crafting information. I've always been a better doer than theorist," Harry explained as he watched Albus go to work.

"Initial spells were ineffective from first caster," Dumbledore muttered a bit under his breath. "Second caster used transfiguration…"

Harry sighed and grimaced. "He made them magically resistant. Of course he did. Let's walk the rest of the scene. This is likely going to take him a bit."

"Aye," Moody agreed with a nod of his head. "Since you mentioned the melted bit… There's one more of them. Bloody well should've realized it definitely didn't fit."

"Oh?" Harry felt a slight chill of worry running down his spine as he followed Moody a bit further down the street. Then frowned. "Oh."

It was a slagged mess running down into a pile from the pavement onto the street. "This isn't like the other bit."

"That's bloody obvious." Moody stated sourly.

"No, I mean someone dumped this here," Harry responded as he pointed to how there was a distinct difference between the pavement and the mess. "See? You can see where it was flowing around it. Looks like someone melted a mess of stuff down there and then dumped it here."

The pair of them shared a look before looking back at the mess with suddenly sharper eyes. Harry sighed before he slowly lifted his wand and gestured towards the pile. "Well, it could explain why we couldn't find our two witches. If it was dropped on them…"

"Another nasty bit of work this." Moody stated with a frown.

"Actually, this is something I've used myself before," Harry responded as he then focused on the pile. "The number of people who can think fast enough to get out of it aren't many."

There was a few more moments before Harry sighed. "Well. I found them…"

-o-o-o-

Sitting quietly in his den, Cygnus Black leaned back and stared into a crackling fire as he held a tumbler of whiskey in his hand. Things had become… He wasn't sure how to truly put it. His whole world was not what it had been mere days ago.

"The lads are back together," Charlus stated with the kind of casual amusement that always left him more than a little frustrated with his uncle.

"Of course they are," Lucius Potter noted with a groan as he settled himself in his chair next to Charlus. "Did you at least remember to bring your wife into things?"

"Never!" Charlus declared, sounding fully aghast as he looked back at Lucius. "Do you know how those brutes look at my wife?"

"Yes," Lucius agreed with a nod of his head. "The same way you do."

"Exactly! How would you feel if someone was looking at your wife that way?" Charlus asked pointedly.

"As my wife isn't the only thing keeping them and you from causing more trouble than they fix…" Lucius stated leadingly.

"We are all grown men now," Charlus refuted him with a slight scowl.

"You were, as I recall, grown men then as well," Orion Black joined the conversation as he gave Charlus a look. "It failed to make a difference then so why should it now?"

"We were wild unmarried men at the time and we have all since settled down and become far more reasonable," Charlus stated with a slight huff of irritation. "We can manage to keep from causing trouble without our wives, thank you very much."

"After everything else…" Orion frowned and looked at the Potters. "The Storm Chaser seems to have things well enough in hand on his own, why would you need to do more?"

"Because you know it's not going to be that simple," Charlus stated, all traces of humor fading from his face. "If someone already came as far as he has, they're not just going to turn around and give up. Having a group of wizards hunting down these knights in the meantime will help diminish his resources."

Orion scowled slightly but sighed in resignation. "Fine. Just don't expect us to join in on that little crusade of yours."

"Quite," Cygnus agreed with a nod of his head before sighing. "It is enough trouble that you have drawn us into this little conspiracy."

"Even if it benefits your family in the long run?" Lucius pointed out with an arched brow.

"The benefits are still dubious, even if you have had points," Orion told them bluntly. "But, while it is nice that you're keeping us in the loop about your mayhem, I do look forward to laughing in your face when you end up with things blowing up in your face."

"It won't be anything we can't handle," Charlus declared with a cool, narrowed eyes. "Besides, you were the one that brought me into all of this, Cygnus. I would expect you to have a better recall than that."

Cygnus shifted uncomfortably. "As I recall, I simply asked you about him being a Potter. You were the one that turned around and made all of this about changing our entire family philosophy and more!"

"As charming as this is, perhaps we can stay on topic? The latest part of the plan was a success," Lucius said as he gave them both a look, cutting off anything further they could say.

"So, he succeeded then?" Orion asked from his seat, keeping his gaze instead on Charlus and Lucius Potter.

"Aye. Though my cousin had to be reminded that he was not going to take part," Lucius stated with a glare towards Charlus.

"I still think I could've helped." Charlus instead with a grumble.

"And now Slytherin's basilisk is dead," Cygnus noted with a somber sigh. "Another piece of the founders gone. All to stop this bloody madman."

"Yes," Lucius agreed with a grimace. "And he killed it with a surprising efficiency."

"Did he at least try to reason with it?" Orion asked as he looked at the Potters.

"… Reason with it?" Lucius demanded as he sat up and glared at Orion. "You as well as I can remember what happened when that chamber was last opened and what happened when that beast was last loosed."

"Yes, yes. The m-uggleborn witch died," Orion stated with a sigh and a wave of his hand. "I suppose it was unavoidable. Though, think of what it could've told us about those times."

"… True," Lucius admitted with a faint nod of his head. "Though, in this instance, I think we can understandably have written it off. After all, considering whom it was that last opened that chamber, and was responsible for the witch's death…"

"Fine," Orion stated with a grimace. "Another thing to hold against that monster."

"And I wonder, with all that we know about what he is willing to do, what else will we lose?" Cygnus stated quietly as he looked off into the distance. "How much else will he taint beyond repair, beyond redemption?"

"Too much, I imagine," Charlus stated quietly as he nodded his head back to his nephew. "Far too much."

"Indeed," Orion agreed with a nod and a frown before a sickened thought reached his features. "Do we know what it is that this monster has made into his horcruxes?"

"… No, I never really considered asking." Charlus admitted with a frown. "He knows at least four of them have been created, and knew the location of two of them. Beyond that..."

"Based on what he has said of him, of this Voldemort… based on what we have learned of him ourselves…" Cygnus asked with a slowly growing resignation. "How much do you wish to wager that he has defiled priceless artifacts to house his broken soul, just to make them even harder for people to bring themselves to destroy them?"

"... Merlin and Morgana," Orion stated with a pale face. "And if the Storm Chaser knows what they are…"

"Then there is a reason he did not tell us what they were." Lucius stated grimly.

Any further discussion was halted when there was a knock at the door and, after a moment, Narcissa Black stuck her head in, looking worried and nervous. "I apologize for the interruption, Father, but… have you seen Bellatrix or Andromeda?"

-o-o-o-

Charlus had barely exited his floo before it was burning again with a burning insistence.

Sighing with a slight weariness, he none-the-less walked himself back to it and allowed the call to come through. "Yes?"

"We have a problem," Martellus Longbottom's face stated with a sharp severity.

Instantly Charlus could feel his stomach dropping like a lead weight into his feet. "What's wrong?"

"Someone attacked a muggle shopping district in London," Martellus informed him with a frown on his face. "Looks like a warzone according to some of our contacts. Street's in pieces, bits of it are melted down in various ways and there are things all over the place."

"What do you mean things?" Charlus demanded with a frown.

"I mean just that, things, as in things we don't have names for and don't know what they are," Martellus snapped back. "They were found dead amidst the destruction. I don't have anything more to really go on yet, but they've called both Dumbledore and the Storm Chaser to the scene for their opinions."

"This is not good," Charlus muttered for a moment before shaking his head. "What else do we know about this?"

"Frustratingly little," Martellus admitted with a sigh and a shake of his head. "Just what we can infer and swirling rumors. We had heard that the Lord of the Knights of Walpurgis had isolated himself for a time but we knew little of why."

"And of course it would happen just when we think we're starting to get the upper hand in this whole debacle." Charlus muttered under his breath.

"The upper hand? Without the rest of us?" Martellus sounded positively affronted at the thought. "How could you?"

"I didn't," Charlus corrected. "He did. Wouldn't even let me help. Dashed bastard just took a goblin silver blade and used it to kill off Slytherin's basilisk of all things."

He paused a moment before brightening considerably. "I did get to deface a statue of Slytherin in the bastard's Chamber of Secrets, though."

"Slytherin's basilisk? The Chamber of Secrets?" Martellus repeated, staring mouth hanging agape. "What the devil have you been doing?"

"Finding out how the Storm Chaser likes to destroy my childhood dreams," Charlus stated with a long overly dramatic sigh. "I think the man's really a bit of a sadist."

"That, or you likely brought it up upon yourself," Martellus agreed before shaking his head. "So, he found the Chamber of Secrets?"

"He claims to have stolen the ability to be a parselmouth from Riddle," Charlus stated with a shake of his head and a sigh. "And considering we've found that Riddle is the last of the Gaunts…"

"Bloody hell, I thought we stopped having to deal with those idiots when Morfin finally went and kicked off," Martellus stated with a sour grimace. "They always were a particularly foul brand of sadists."

"This Dark Lord is Merope's with a muggle," Charlus stated simply and shook his head in disgust. "But apparently being a half blood is little barrier towards spouting off the madness of bloody purity."

"Yes, well, if this was the work of that half-blood bastard, we can't let it go unanswered," Martellus stated sharply. "This was dangerously close to blowing the statute. Not to mention how many of the muggles were butchered at the scene.

"An entire street of shops, and not one survivor that we could find." He paused before sighing. "At least it means we don't have to worry about an oblivator bollocksing up on everything."

"How many dead?" Charlus asked with a quiet levity to his voice, letting his previous humor melt away.

"We don't know yet. A lot of the bodies were severely dismembered," Martellus stated quietly. "At least a dozen, maybe even a score or more."

"Bloody hell," Charlus stated with a hiss as he almost fell back. "Has he gone daft on top of being mad?"

"I told you we don't know!" Martellus growled back at him with a glare. "The only thing we really know is that there was an attack, that unidentified creature remains were found and that a lot of muggles were dead."

There was a pause and a sigh as Charlus nodded his head. "I understand. Get the lads together. It is past time we sent a message."

"Happily," Martellus stated with a nod. "We'll be assembled by the time you show up."

"Good," Charlus stated grimly with a nod of his head. "Just one question."

"Yes?" Martellus asked after a moment's pause.

"Who the hell are we going to send the message to?" Charlus demanded.

"… That will be a problem, yes."

-o-o-o-

The Blacks had arrived in the ministry to chaos. Everywhere they looked, someone from the ministry was literally running around, dashing across the atrium as the wizard at the check in desk looked especially haggard. "Name and purpose of visit?"

"… What in Merlin's name is going on?" Orion demanded as Cygnus frowned slightly next to him.

The wizard looked up and blanched slightly at the sight of the Black Patriarch before reluctantly answering. "There was an attack. Muggle part of London. An entire street and its buildings were destroyed, a bunch of muggles killed. We're trying to get it all explained away but… they found… things there."

The way the man said "things" made both Blacks arch a brow, especially at the shudder that shivered visibly through the wizard.

"Be that as it may..." Cygnus stated with a frown. "Two of my daughters are missing. We need to speak to someone about it."

"That would be…" The wizard started to say before checking something. "No, they're busy. How about… They're busy too. Hmm… I think that… No, not them either."

"… Are you implying that there is no one available to assist us?" Orion asked, a slight edge to his words as he looked at the wizard behind the desk with a dangerous glare.

"I am trying to find someone, it's just… well, everyone got pulled into this damned mess in the middle of the muggles." the wizard apologized quickly. "Everyone who's anyone is involved. It was just that bad."

Cygnus rubbed his forehead in irritation. "So, what, the Dark Lord decided to attack a muggle street in broad daylight?"

"It was worse than that, from what I heard." The wizard shivered again. "They found what they say used to be muggles. Only they're all twisted and wrong. That the Dark Lord made them into things that weren't even recognizable as human. And that he destroyed an entire district, just to show how powerful he is."

Orion snorted a bit. "I am quite aware of just how powerful he is. We were both there to see him fight the Storm Chaser in Hogsmeade"

"Oh." The man blinked a moment. "But, then… I heard that all the stories about the duel were just stuff people made up. I mean, someone other than Dumbledore, strong enough to take on the Dark Lord?"

"The only reason we're even having this conversation is because Albus Dumbledore saved the Dark Bastard's life," Cygnus growled as he loomed over the man. "Now, I want someone who can help me find my daughters. NOW!"

"Cygnus Black?" a witch in Auror's robes asked with a careful voice.

Cygnus whirled around, a hand gripping on his wand as he glared at the woman. "Unless you're here to help me find my daughters, I suggest you choose your next words carefully."

The Auror paused a moment, swallowing heavily before schooling her features to neutral. "I just came from your home, where I was told you had come to the Ministry. I'm here to… talk to you about your daughters."

"What do you mean, talk to me about my daughters?" Cygnus demanded as he almost growled out the words. Everything had him on edge. The talk of the trouble, everyone being too busy to do anything, the way an auror was looking for him to talk to him about his daughter.

"I apologize for my brother-in-law's demeanor, Madam Auror," Orion stated smoothly as he pointedly gripped onto Cygnus' shoulder. "He simply is a bit… agitated, as his daughters were supposed to be back some time ago."

"I'm sure," the woman agreed quietly with a vague nod of her head. "I need to ask you to come with me, sir."

"… Why?" Cygnus asked, a slow cold trickle of dread moving down his back.

She shifted uncomfortably as she looked around. "I'm afraid I can't tell you, not here, sir."

Orion's eyes narrowed and his grip on Cygnus grew tighter. "And your suggestion, Madam Auror?"

She swallowed slowly, seeing the almost murderous look directed at her from Cygnus and nodded her head. "Please, follow me."

"But they haven't…!" the desk wizard started to protest, only to be silenced with a glare of pure, molten fury directed at him by Cygnus. "Um… I suppose since you have an Auror escort, exceptions can be made."

"Quite," the auror agreed and lead them into the Ministry.

-o-o-o-

The Ministry was both more subdued, and contrarily, more active than Harry remembered. There were far, far fewer people running around that he could see. At the same time, those that were seen, were busying themselves with an uncommon vigor.

"Why am I here again?" Harry asked pointedly as he looked at Alastor. "You have him to answer anything about what was being cast."

"You're the one that found out about the witches," Alastor stated grimly as he shook his head. "We'll need you around to explain things.

"And of course the Minister will want to meet him," Dumbledore noted with a faint smile of amusement.

Harry immediately froze in place and refused to go further. "No."

That brought them up short as Dumbledore seemed surprised by the action. "Pardon?"

"Not meeting ministers," Harry stated firmly and shook his head. "I meet ministers and they inevitably do something to piss me off. That leads to me causing incidents. With any politician, really, muggle or magical. It's never a good idea for me to get involved in politics, ever."

"Well, that is at least somewhat refreshing," Dumbledore noted with a faintly amused smile beneath his beard. "Though that does limit a good deal of potential influence you might wield."

"I don't want influence," Harry told them bluntly. "I don't want to deal with the stupidity of people looking to me for answers when I barely have them for myself half the time."

"Puts you ahead of most of the dunderheads I have to deal with," Moody stated with a grunt of approval. "Most of them only think about how much influence the job can give them."

"Give a person who has always craved power a taste of it and you'll find them always craving more," Harry noted, "At least, that's been my personal experience."

"Right, then I'll just need you to write out what you found and what you can tell us about the wizard who did all this," Moody stated to both of them as he changed the subject. "Albus should be familiar enough with them by now."

"Sadly, it won't be as much fun as the Lovegood incident," Dumbledore noted with a sigh and a faint smile of remembrance. "How they managed to turn their wheat into candy I'm still not certain of."

"Probably used a half twist and an elephant foot trawl," Harry stated absently as he remembered a passing conversation he'd had with Luna. "What that translates to, I have no idea."

Dumbledore opened his mouth, then shut it again as he looked thoughtful. "Yes, I suppose that would allow the bypass of the restrictions and mm…"

Moody just started at him.

"I've never had a dull conversation with a Lovegood," Harry stated simply. "I almost never know what they're actually saying but I don't have dull conversations with them."

Dumbledore actually laughed at that. "A truth I'm afraid I had quite forgotten. They do tend to have a most… unique view of the world."

"Nutters, the lot of them," Moody muttered sourly with a grunt.

"True," Harry admitted with a slight nod of acknowledgement. "But can we say any different? Do we have some insurmountable claim to the bastion of sanity? Because I can tell you, I do not."

"What is sanity but simply the most commonly accepted view by the general populace?" Dumbledore mused for a moment before shrugging slightly. "I have found that when one has a certain degree of success, one differs themselves from that norm."

"I'm sure," Harry stated neutrally. "Now, I believe we need to take care of somethings?"

"Right, this way," Moody agreed with a grunt and a nod while Dumbledore looked entirely bemused.

-o-o-o-

The cool touch of darkness wrapped about Voldemort as he sat back in his almost throne like chair, alone in an unearthly silence.

Again, he had been denied.

He had, of course, lain waste to the muggle street. His creatures had brought forth slaughter and terror. The results almost exactly what he'd hoped they would be.

Except for the single wrinkle that it had not only been muggles where he'd chosen to test his newest weapon. Two Hogwarts student and one who had barely graduated. Somehow they'd managed to kill off all of his weapons on their own.

Three children.

It was beyond infuriating. Beyond frustrating. And then they'd somehow had the nerve to defy him even further.

And the mudblood had actually managed to hurt him.

He took a deep, long breath.

Once word got out of what he had done to the muggles, the Wizarding World would still be scared and worried. And he had managed to deal with the brats. The elder sister had even shown up a bit of promise with her spell selection, even if she was woefully inadequate in its application.

When the information about how he had ended the two blood traitors and their little mudblood pet got out, the fear would grow again.

They would fear him again.

But, in the meantime, he would pursue other options. The nightmare twisted had not been as effective of a weapon as he thought they would be. If those children had been able to defeat them, then what would the actually dangerous wizards would do.

So that left him once more needing to rely upon wizards and witches of his own.

As his original plans had been thrown out the window, perhaps now it was time for him to pull something from much further along his original time line. Those who were going to oppose him were easily identifiable enough. Time to start… pruning those problems.

-o-o-o-

In the lift Harry leaned back against the cool metal of the wall and closed his eyes as he took a slow, deep breath. Today… had not been the best of days. Despite what he had shown Dumbledore, despite what he had done to the Diadem.

And coming to the ministry to fill out paperwork and avoid ministers had been the cherry on top. He'd gotten too used to his reputation keeping the various governmental officials from sticking their nose too deeply into his business. He'd forgotten just how… ignorant they could be.

Perceived weakness, something that they thought they could exploit. When that happened, they would swarm in unless they found themselves facing off against a bigger fish than they could handle. Even then, if the weakness was thought to be big enough…

He sighed and shook his head, reopening his eyes and staring forward. So much had already been changed from what he knew. Thanks to him Voldemort would no longer be as predictable as he'd been before. He was already pushing the boundaries of things further than he ever had, as far as he knew.

The idea of actually following through with the idea of teaching was becoming less and less appealing. With Voldemort being even less predictable and more dangerous, he was going to need to be hunted down. It was only the fact that he no idea how to go about it that was keeping him in the position.

Voldemort had too many holes to run to. And he didn't know how to find which one to look down. Hell, most of his knowledge from this particular era was practically non-existent, a taboo dead zone as far as the wizarding world has been concerned.

Too soon to make it into the history books, too far back for it to be the kind of thing that people remembered readily.

And now here he was, trying to juggle it all while apparently mounting a resistance against an enemy that had been forced to war before they were ready.

He had changed everything irrevocably. What would Tom do next? Would he run and hide? Would he strike back?

Would he create something even worse than whatever it was that he had done to those pour souls had had broken and twisted into his monstrosities?

He closed his eyes and took a slow, deep breath. He had changed things irrevocably. Now he just had to do his best to make sure that those changes didn't make things even worse.

--------------

(Unknown Pov)

Drip

drip

the Rain as it falls on the once beautiful city

Above the broken abandoned city,we see a dark slit in the middle, oozing with pure blackness,it started sucking up white energy from the ground.but the difference was there where screaming.agony in pain in it all forcibly being drawn in,just as the last soul gone a pair of yellow and red eyes appeared on the void anyone.Who see will think of a primal beast,of rage hunger and ambition then suddenly it closes,up like nothing happened it,goes quiet only the drop of rain on the cold quiet ground.