Pacing the room angrily and waving his arms, James hollered in frustration, "So I tell him that he is my second to a duel at midnight, and where is he just before the arranged time? Off somewhere! Where can he be? The library is closed and -"
"James!" Breathless, Sirius rushed into Gryffindor Tower, "I�m sorry that I�m of late . . . But James, we can not do this! We can not duel against Slytherin!"
"Why?" James demanded, eyes flaming, "Sirius, I expected a little more house pride than that! Gryffindor must prove it once and for all that we are the best house of Hogwarts!"
"So what if we have?!" His friend demanded, "Slytherin would just challenge us again and there would never be peace! Neither Gryffindor nor Slytherin would ever benefit from this! We would only suffer, both of us, in the long run! Don�t you understand?"
"No, I don�t! If Slytherin challenges, we accept! We shall never back down and let those dirty Slytherins rise to victory above us!" His friend snapped and pulled out his wand, "Let�s go out to that Forbidden Forest and show those Slytherins the true power of Gryffindor!" With a quick glorious grin, James swept out of the room, his cloak flowing behind him.
They left Hogwarts castle running flat out, but still, they were late. Malfoy snickered at them, his wand already drawn, but Snape stood off in the shadows almost as if deep in thought. A chilling wave washed over Sirius as he saw a third already waiting for them. Adhara�s warning floated back to him . . . was this truly Lord Voldemort?
"What is the meaning of this, Malfoy?" James spat, pointing at the tall wizard almost hidden in the shadows, his black robes blending with the night, "I was always under the premonition that a magical duel was fought by two. If Snape is your second then why is there a third?"
"That does not concern you-" Malfoy began, but could not finish for Sirius had raised his wand to him, shaking furiously with anger. James approached his friend, bewildered . . . what was happening? Duels never preceded like this? What did Sirius know that he didn�t?
"James," Sirius whispered through gritted teeth, "It is none other than . . . Lord Voldemort!"
"What?!" James gasped, dropping his wand with surprise, "Sirius! He can�t be the Dark Lord! Lord Voldemort?! How do you know?" He gazed at the four others with total disbelief, but the dark wizard walked from the shadows and into the semi-darkness of the night.
"Expelliarmus!" Before he knew what was happening, Sirius had lost his wand, now clutched in the hand of Lord Voldemort who cackled evilly. "Congratulations, Gryffindor! You have correctly deduced my true identity. Indeed, I am the Dark Lord . . . Voldemort!"
Lost for words, James gaped at the Malfoy, a look of complete shock in his eyes. Lord Voldemort? Was he to duel against the greatest dark wizard who had two wands, and himself, one? How was this to be a fair duel? Even if it was, there was no chance of him emerging from this alive . . . but yet, he had to try . . . for Gryffindor.
But Voldemort wouldn�t be able to duel on a technicality . . . If Malfoy proposed the challenged, and Snape was his second, the laws of magical dueling would never permit Voldemort to strike . . . James smiled, but then the answer to his question came to him quickly. Of course, the Dark Lord would duel, for rules alone could not stop Slytherins, all who would do anything for power and the achievement of their goals. Yes, James sighed, he should have realized that the Slytherins would not be so bold as to challenging another duel so soon . . .
"Afraid to duel me?" Voldemort challenged and pocketed his own wand, "I shall duel you with your friend�s wand. I am sure that you understand that if a wizard uses another�s wand, the results shall never be as successful due to the extremely unique temperaments of each individual wand. Thus, this duel would be to your advantage."
My advantage?! James wanted to scream, but instead retrieved his wand and turned from Malfoy to Lord Voldemort. His opponent had much more experiences at dueling than both he, Sirius and the two Slytherins combined . . . and Lord Voldemort wasn�t known as the Dark Lord without appropriate reason. He could have only risen to so much power in such a short time through powerful dark magic and a cold heart. It would truly be a miracle if he and Sirius were to leave the Forbidden Forest alive.
Beside him, Sirius frowned and cast a worried glance at his friend. Yes, James had reason to be worried, even panicked. But yet, rather strangely, he felt oddly tranquil as if he knew this was to happen ahead of time and accepted this sudden change of events.
Feeling rather weak without his wand, Sirius stepped back from his friend�s side as soon as he raised his wand to show his opponent that he was ready. Why would Voldemort chose to use his wand and not one of the Slytherins�? Would it be easier that way to finish him off after his friend had fallen? Perhaps Adhara would never again be visited by the phoenix . . .
"Avada Kedavra!" In a flash of green light, James screamed with pain and crumpled to the ground, leaving Sirius gasping with shock and the air ringing with Voldemort�s victorious laughter. Was James . . . dead? Tears pooled in his eyes as Sirius trembled, he knew that life had left James before his body hit the ground.
Sirius tore his eyes away from James�s corpse and stared furiously at the Dark Lord, his mind wishing frantically for a wand . . . But even if he had one, Sirius suddenly realized, the end was to come . . . Panic seized him, and his instinct to flee dominated his thoughts, but Sirius knew that there was no escape. Voldemort raised his wand and pointed it at the remaining Gryffindor. Sirius closed his eyes and waited for his end to come.
"Crucio!" Sirius forced his eyes open, why didn�t he feel any pain from the infamous torture curse? He gazed at Voldemort to see that the wand clutched in the other�s hand was not pointed at him, but at Malfoy. Sirius�s mind raced, not seeing any logic in this . . . What was Voldemort doing? Inflicting an Unforgivable curse on his own supporter? Why? What for?
"Expelliarmus! Stupefy!" Snape pointed his wand and was hurdling every spell he could think of at the Dark Lord who was kept his wand level at his Death Eater, still murmuring the Crutaseous curse. Sirius watched in horror as Malfoy shrieked with pain, withering on the grass. Voldemort seemed unstoppable, Snape continued to scream anything he could think of, curses, spells, charms, jinxes and even a fire-starting charm.
Although it was mere seconds, to all in the clearing before the Forbidden Forest, it seemed like ages. The Dark Lord finally removed the curse when Malfoy lay on the grass, not moving. Sirius was sure that his fellow student had died, but the other seemed to think that his friend was still alive . . .
Before the shock of the night�s events had time to take effect, Voldemort tossed an astonished Sirius his wand back. What? Sirius gaped at the wand in his hand, what was Voldemort playing at? He could kill Sirius easily, with or without the other having a wand . . . was that why he was giving it back? No, Sirius shook his head, that did not make sense . . .
His wand was still warm from the other�s touch, and Sirius marveled at it . . . so powerful, but yet, powerless? None of this night�s events made any logical sense . . . why did Voldemort turn against Malfoy? Why hadn�t the Dark Lord murdered him instantly? There were so many pieces to this complicated puzzle, and Sirius was not sure if he would ever be able to piece them all together.
"Voldemort . . ." Snape hissed, looking up from his Malfoy who appeared to be lifeless, "I shall murder you for what you have done tonight!" Fool, Sirius thought, but still, he admired Snape�s courage. Making up his mind quickly, Sirius also pointed his wand at Voldemort, it was better to die in battle . . . bravely . . . But no longer for Gryffindor . . . He and Snape were on the same side now for it did not matter that one was a Gryffindor and the other, a Slytherin. This was a battle for the defeat of the Dark Side.
"Petrificus Totalus!" Sirius screamed as Snape by his side tried to use the disarming charm. However, although both charms hit Lord Voldemort, they bounced off harmlessly. What . . . ? They exchanged a brief look . . . why didn�t any of their charms effect the Dark Lord? Was he not to be effected by magic? But none could have that power . . . or could they?
"Denaturatus Dormis!" Snape pointed the curse of temporary, death-like sleep at Voldemort as Sirius tried various enchantments, sending them one after the other. However, nothing worked. All the sparks sent forth by their wands bounced harmlessly off Lord Voldemort and flew around him, lighting up the night sky.
The Dark Lord was raising his wand, and both Sirius and Snape knew that they did not have much time before they were both to die under Voldemort�s wand . . . Sirius frowned, if Lord Voldemort was not affected by magic . . . was there any other way to fight against him? Sirius�s mind raced, and finally the answer hit him. Sirius gasped and didn�t realize why he didn�t see it all before hand . . . Lord Voldemort was not murdering them for a reason . . . but what?
Snape�s eyes grew large with fright as Voldemort walked briskly through the shower of spells towards him. With a quick flick of the wand, the Dark Lord held Snape�s wand in his hand and was laughing horribly. Before Sirius could do anything, Snape howled with pain as Voldemort set a small green flame on the other�s arm.
"Expelliarmus!" Sirius screamed desperately as Snape tried to put out the hungry green flame that fortunately, seemed to be contained in that one area. Voldemort laughed as he held Snape�s wand up in the air and instantly, a large glowing green skull rose into the air. Sirius gasped as he watched it circle the Forbidden Forest, casting errie light onto all of Hogwarts� grounds.
"Let�s see you explain that!" Voldemort cackled, and with his voice roaring in their ears, the Dark Lord quickly disappeared. Sirius had no idea what the Dark Lord meant, but he tossed his curiosity away and ran to Snape�s side. Although Snape was clutching his arm painfully, Sirius could see that the green flame had extinguished itself.
"Gryffindor . . ." Snape whispered, tears brimmed in his eyes, "Voldemort has made me a Death Eater!" Sirius stared at Snape in surprise, but his question was quickly answered when Snape withdrew his right hand from his opposite arm, exposing a large, dark patch. "Look, it is the Death Mark . . ."
"Thanks for helping me," Sirius extended his hand in friendship. Snape studied it warily, but finally took it, saying, "I�m Severus Snape."
"Sirius Black," He sighed, and turned to James side, "James?" Sirius bit his lip, shaking his friend although, inside, he was sure that Voldemort had succeed in killing one of the two Gryffindors. His eyes filled with tears, and Sirius wiped them angrily away for they could not help James now. Nothing could save his friend.
"It�s no use," Snape sighed, turning away from Malfoy, "I can�t rouse Lucius . . . what did the Dark Lord do to him? How could Voldemort do this to his own follower? How could he?"
Sirius stared at the other, surprise still in his eyes, "But if the Dark Lord could not show mercy even for his own follower, then why would Voldemort spare us?"
"Spare us?!" Snape heaved himself up from the ground and spat angrily, "He has just sentenced us to a fate worse than death! A life sentence in the infamous wizard�s prison, Azkaban!"
"Azkaban?!" Sirius echoed, "Snape, what do you mean?!" How could dueling with Voldemort land them in Azkaban? Hadn�t they done a good deed? "What did we do wrong?!"
"We did nothing!" The other sneered, and gave Sirius a strange look, "Don�t you understand? He has made me a Death Eater! If the Ministry of Magic gets their hands on a supporter of the Dark Side, they immediately go to Azkaban!"
Snape stared at the other, and suddenly grabbed Sirius�s wand. "You, on the other hand, shall suffer more than I! Your wand has performed two Unforgivable Curses! Although it was Voldemort who administered these curses . . . who will get blamed? You! It�s your wand! The Death Mark rotating above us signifies that Voldemort or one of his followers has recently been here! Do you understand? Our friends died under the wand of Voldemort, but we can not prove it! The Ministry of Magic shall accuse you of killing them both! We must go now, before it�s too late!"
Sirius stared at Snape with disbelieve pooling in his eyes, but the other tossed up his hands in exasperation, "Why are Gryffindors so thick?!" He tossed Sirius�s wand to the ground, "This wand shall spell your downfall!"
"I can�t leave James here . . ." Sirius moved towards his friend�s body once more, but Snape grabbed his arm, motioning for quiet. Voices in the distance came closer, and they exchanged a quick look of caution. Snape turned to the Gryffindor and hissed "There�s nothing either of us can do for our friends, we have to go! Now!"
Quickly, Sirius dropped onto all fours as a large dog, ignoring the look of surprise on Snape�s face. He nodded a farewell to his newfound friend, and ran into the surrounding forest. Behind him, Snape transfigured into a large raven and flew over Sirius as he looked above. With a last glance towards Hogwarts castle, Sirius took off into the dark, mysterious depths of the Forbidden Forest.
Miti touched the crystal with her paw as Adhara held it in front of her cat, dangling it in the limited light of the night. Beside her, an open Potions textbook on her bed remained untouched as Adhara waited impatiently for Sirius�s return. She marveled at the gold Gryffindor lion and the silver Slytherin snake, "Gryffindor and Slytherin . . . Sirius and Adhara . . ." She trailed off, giving Miti a thoughtful look.
"Where is he?!" Adhara started to pace her room, stopping only to stare hopefully out onto the balcony, "Shouldn�t a duel be over now? Didn�t he promise that he�d come back as soon as he could? Miti, you don�t suppose . . . no . . ." Petting her cat softly, Adhara went onto the balcony, the chilling night air was back, but she did not notice. "Miti, you don�t think something happened to Sirius, do you?" The cat meowed softly and fidgeted in her arms.
"Sirius . . ." She whispered into the wind, and looked over the grounds of Hogwarts school. From her perch so high above the ground, she could almost see the neighboring magical village of Hogsmead. But that didn�t answer her questions. Where was Sirius? Lucius left rather happy . . . did he succeed in killing both Gryffindors? She shuttered, but then recalled Severus�s words . . . Lord Voldemort was to be out there tonight . . . Oh why had Sirius insisted upon going?! If only-
Miti screeched with fright and almost fell out of Adhara�s arms, but she caught her on time. Her cat quickly squirmed away from her mistress and ran back inside, leaving Adhara staring after her cat, amazement and mild amusement on her face. "Miti, what has gotten into you?"
Adhara turned once more to look for Sirius, but instead of meeting the dark night sky, her eyes met Hogwarts grounds, lit up with brilliant green light. What was that? Puzzled, she quickly ran her eyes around the sky to find the source . . . and then she found it. Her heart flew up to her throat as a great glowing skull rose from the Forbidden Forest, releasing its halo of brilliant light into the night.
Evil radiated across the night and she shuttered slightly. The glowing skull with the twisted serpent rotating above the surface of the Forbidden Forest tugged at something in her memory . . . but what? Could it be . . . Adhara shook her head furiously, trying to fight the wave of nausea that suddenly hit her, but she couldn�t dislodge the painful memory.
Hovering above the Forbidden Forest was the Death Mark, always left as a symbol of warning and terror after a horrific deed was accomplished by . . . Lord Voldemort! Adhara felt her heart beat increase, painfully pounding. If the Dark Lord had succeeded a dark task in the Forest . . . Lucius�s plan must have worked! The two Gryffindors . . . Sirius?!
No it couldn�t possibly be . . . nothing could have happened to Sirius! She clenched the railing surrounding the balcony with white knuckles, gritting her teeth. Miti had wandered from within and was sitting by Adhara, also staring with shocked disbelief at the glowing green symbol of fear suspended in the air. Could something have happened to Sirius? Although Adhara tried desperately to deny that anything could have possibly happened to him, a sickening feeling in her stomach told her otherwise. But how . . . ? What . . . ?
Miti meowed at her feet and her cat started to leave the balcony. As much as Adhara wanted to stay to await Sirius, she knew that if she stayed up in Slytherin Tower, she would not be able to help him. Adhara quickly ran into her room, picked up her wand and threw her cloak over her shoulders, running after Miti out the door.
Racing down to the Slytherin Common room, Adhara was a little surprised to see Professor Slytherin, wand clutched in hand entering the large room the same moment she did. What was he doing down here? She bit her lip, she realized that he had probably seen the sign too . . . No one would have thought that the Dark Lord would dare wander so close to Hogwarts, but now, evidently they had been wrong.
"Adhara?!" Professor Slytherin faced her, rather surprised, "What are you doing up?" She gestured towards the Death Mark plainly visible in the window, and he nodded. "I�m just going out of the tower to see if I can find out what that is about, want to come?" Adhara nodded and followed the other out of Slytherin Tower, glad that she was given this opportunity to find out what had just happened.
"Professor?" Adhara called, running to catch up to Professor Slytherin�s long strides towards the Entrance Hall, "What happened? I was just out for a breath of night air and I saw this colossal green skull emerge from the Forbidden Forest! At first I thought it was the symbol of Lord Voldemort, but I really doubt that is the Death Mark, for Voldemort would not come that close to Hogwarts castle . . . would he?"
"From what you have just told me, Adhara," Professor Slytherin slowed his pace to allow conversation, and gave Adhara a rather pained look, "You and I both know the same amount of definite information, as well has pose the same questions. Could it be the Dark Lord at work? But what would he have been doing? Hogwarts students wouldn�t be outside the castle this late at night, now would they?" Adhara stared guiltily at her cat in her arms, muttering a reply which the other did not quite catch, nor did he care, for he had other more important matters on his mind.
In her seven years at Hogwarts, Adhara had never seen a more dazed or scared group gathered in the Entrance Hall as she did that night. Madam Promfrey quickly filled in Professor Slytherin of the events outside, which were little more than they knew.
"I want to go out there and see . . ." The head of Slytherin house headed towards the door, but Madam Pince, the sourly librarian witch, stopped him and explained, "Dumbledore and Gryffindor have already gone, and they said that they would be back as soon as possible." However, Professor Slytherin gave the little witch a snarly look and she backed away, letting him leave. Adhara slipped out after him, when Madam Pince had engaged Madam Promfrey in conversation about the events outside.
Still cradling Miti in her arms, Adhara ran alongside Professor Slytherin who acknowledged her presence outside Hogwarts castle with a rare smile. The grass strewn ground was covered with the same sickly light, illuminating a small clearing in the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest. Professor Slytherin called out to the wizard already present in the clearing who rushed forward to meet them.
"Professor Dumbledore, what has happened?" Adhara asked as her Transfiguration teacher ran up to meet them, but instead of answering her question, he turned to Professor Slytherin, "Get her out of here, now. I don�t want her to see it -" Adhara gasped, was it Sirius? Could it possibly be . . . ?
"What is it, Dumbledore?" Professor Slytherin looked a little affronted, but mostly worried, "Has something happened? But to whom? No one was out here . . ." Except Sirius, Lucius, Severus and that other Gryffindor, Adhara stared down at Miti, feeling rather guilty.
"The Dark Lord has not been here," Dumbledore whispered, looking back at the clearing, "At least we could not find any evidence of his presence. However, we have found the use of the Unforgivable Curses, and we are sure that the user has not gotten far away."
"The Unforgivable Curses?" Adhara echoed, "Who . . . ?"
"I don�t know if I should be telling you this," The other cast her a wary look, "But I think that you have a right to know since you belong to the same house, and were close to one of the . . . effected." Severus? It couldn�t be Lucius for Severus had said that he was a Death Eater . . . Adhara blinked away a few tears, and Dumbledore continued, "Of Gryffindor House, Head Boy, James Potter . . . with the killing curse, and from the House of Slytherin, Lucius Malfoy."
Adhara gaped at Dumbledore with surprise and disbelief, "How could . . . how could?" Professor Slytherin stared at the other wizard shocked, "Dumbledore, how does he fair?"
"The Crutaseous curse, he seems to be alive, his vital signs are in order. However, he can not be awakened . . ." Dumbledore shook his head sadly, "I don�t understand how this could have happened . . . but we did find a clue. There was a third wand in the clearing, the user has gone, of course. Professor Gryffindor has just gone into the Forest to seek out the user . . ."
"Could I please see Lucius?" Adhara whispered timidly, but both professors shook their heads pitifully. She bit her lip and tears filled her eyes. How could this happen? Wasn�t Lucius a supporter of Voldemort? Did he inflict the curse upon himself? Where was Severus? Sirius?
"Adhara," Professor Slytherin placed a supporting hand on her shoulder, "Head back up to bed, and I promise I�ll -" But Adhara never found out what he was about to promise her, for Professor Gryffindor chose that moment to emerge from the Forbidden Forest.
"I think I�ve found him!" He hollered across the field, something hovering in the air in front of him, "This is the evil scoundrel! I got him with a stunning charm, and I can�t wait until the Ministry of Magic gets its hands on this fiend!"
"Who is it?" Professor Dumbledore asked, and Professor Gryffindor examined the thing hovering before him. Adhara waited impatiently, she wanted to know what it was, or who it was, so that she could avenge her friend�s near death . . .
"It�s a wizard," Professor Gryffindor called back, "He�s an Animagi, a large black dog . . ."
The bottom fell out of Adhara�s stomach as her knees weakened and Professor Gryffindor�s words came echoing back in her mind, haunting her. Adhara shivered as tears spilt out of her eyes, a sickening feeling of betrayal swept over her, a cold dark wave. It�s a wizard. He�s an Animagi, a large black dog . . . Sirius?!