The Dark Lord had killed many wizards and witches without a backward glance. He was no stranger to indiscriminate killing. Yet when this young witch had entered his chamber he could not simply dispose of her. She hadn�t taken her wand out of her black robes. She stood defiant and unwisely unprotected. She was looking directly into his inhuman eyes, her eyebrow arched without a twinge of discomfort.
She intrigued him. He waited for her to speak.
�Let�s cut right to the chase.� She started, her voice level and even. Her thoughts flew at her, as if out of a cage that had been locked in her mind up until now. She hadn�t known when she had entered the trick wall that it would bring her face to face with Lord Voldemort. Nor did she understand why he hadn�t just killed her already. She stifled these thoughts and spoke the very next that came to mind. �You�ve been trying to kill my friend for about eighteen years now and I don�t want him to die. So I�m going to ask you, only once, to knock it off.�
The dark lord sat in his throne-like chair, amazed at the upstart before him. �And who exactly are you?� He said, almost lazily.
�I think the question is who are you? Who gave you the right to take life away?�
�Who are you to ask such questions?� He thundered.
�The jury.� She said with deadly cool.
He was amazed that she would be so calm. He had sent bigger, wiser wizard�s knees knocking in fear. How come this one was so fearless?
�I�ve always been this way.� She answered, as if she�d heard his thoughts. �I�d rather not be the judge or the executioner, but if you�d prefer��
�What is my crime?� He asked intrigued.
�Which one? You have thousands of wizard�s and witch�s blood on your hands.� She said, pointing her wand carefully at him and suggesting that he look at his hands.
He recoiled ever so slightly at the sight of gore and grimy blood covering them. �What magic is this?� He asked, more impressed than anything else.
�This is the power given to me by the Stag King. I can show you what you�ve done, like a mirror. I can make you feel the pain you�ve inflicted, like the conscience you obviously don�t have.�
�What do you want?�
�I want to know why. I want to understand how anyone could be so heinously evil. I want to know why you wanted me dead.� Her teeth clenched as she finished, setting hard lines all about her face.
�Does there have to be a reason?� He answered dodgingly.
�Perhaps it�s been so long you can�t remember what started it all.� She said with an icy dagger in her voice. �But surely you can remember back nine years. You sent your death eaters to kill a little girl. But she foiled your plan with fey magic. She�s standing before you just now.� She said raising her head high.
�Guenivere LeFey.� He intoned darkly. �Ah yes, I do remember.�