Playing Dress-up ~Tomarry~

Chapter 22 ✅

Harry ran down the path towards the park that was located five minutes away from 4 Private Drive. His robes flowing around him as he ran, the pendent was getting warmer and warmer by the second. Right now it was uncomfortably hot after he was sure that he was outside the protective wards that lined the house and the extra ones that lined most of the neighbourhood. He activated a set of glamours before whispering the dark mark curse which port-keyed him to the dark lord, or rather, Tom's Manor.

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When Harry managed to land he was dizzy but managed to stay on his feet. There were three other death eaters around him, one of which included Barty. None of them was wearing their masks so Harry just kept his off. The two death eaters he didn't know just gave him a weary look but didn't spare a second glance, instead choosing to go back to their hushed conversation.

Barty came up to him and clapped him on the back, "Glad to see you again Hadrian." Harry then remembered his fake name and gave a nod back. "I'm glad to see you in one piece too, Barty."

The adult that acted more like a teenager just gave a hurt look, which caused Harry to chuckle lightly. After that, they just talked for a while, and three other death eaters popped in in the space of five minutes, some of which just happened to be Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape. Harry remembered that Barty had mentioned something about the man being a death eater but he mustn't have paid very close attention.

Barty named the rest of the death eaters and explained that this was just an inner circle meeting. But the other names were, Augustus Rookwood, the man who had got Harry the timeturner, Avery, Nott, and Wormtail. The last was supposed to be dead but wasn't. Not that Harry overly cared, he seemed like a snivelling wimp.

He recognised most of the names from school, some of Nott had a grandson in his year and Avery had a son one year out of Hogwarts. Soon after they had all arrived they Mande their way into the banquet hall, which looked to have been cleared out and only a throne sat on a raised platform.

Overall the room was dark, grey and back almost not a speck of white in sight. Except for the moonlight leaking through the windows which sat behind the throne. Though the most noticeable feature was the man sitting regally on the throne. A man that Harry could recognise from miles away, it was Tom. Or rather this was the dark lord, his demeanour had completely changed. His aura was darker than it was the last time he'd felt his magic.

Harry had found his magic getting darker and darker since the start of 3rd year when he had gone looking in Salazar Slytherin's library. The books were old and steeped in dark magic, he practised spells, that's most likely why he found it so difficult to conjure a Patronus with Professor Lupin. His turned out to be Crow, Harry was pretty happy with it but it would let off a couple of warning signs if the old man knew what it really meant.

Harry and the other death eaters bowed down, kneeling in front of the one that they called their leader. Tom, or rather Voldemort stood up from his throne and walked around his loyal followers. It was so silent as if no one dared to breathe, the dark lord's magic flowed throughout the room in intoxicating waves.

Harry almost toppled over, the magic caressed his as if greeting him in a friendly way. Harry could tell the same was happening to Barty, he looked to be leaning more to one side. However, everyone else still looked on edge.

The dark lord walked back up to his slightly raised platform and stared down at his eight followers that were still bowed. "You may rise." Harry could feel his eyebrows furrow, the tone was harsh and cold he'd never heard that tone, but it gave him a chill down his spine.

The eight death eaters rose to their feet but many didn't look to meet their lords' eyes. Harry was able to kind of meet his eyes but they shot right back down again at the long heated stare that the man was given. It stayed silent for a minute before he started to talk again. By now the atmosphere was so thick you could slice it with a knife and once the darl lord had had enough waiting he spoke. "r13 years I've been gone. 13 years and no one came looking for me. I'd thought that surely one of my loyal followers would come to find me. But no one came."

The dark lord looked up, giving off a not so nice grin, "Many of my loyal followers are still in Azkaban prison. Wormtail came in search of me out of fear, not out of loyalty. He was afraid of what Sirius Black would do. Barty managed to escape because of his dearly departed daddy, who held him under the imperious curse for 12 years. He has served me well and has played an important role in my return. You will be rewarded, Barty."

Barty nodded, "Thank you, my lord." He said bowing his head before standing back in line and the dark lord turned his attention to Harry.

"Finally, we have a new member of the inner circle. Step forward, Hadrian Max." Harry stepped forward as his fake name was called, bowing his head. "Hadrian played a crucial role in my return and will be rewarded greatly for his effort. I have decided that I will make him my right-hand man. You are to respect his orders and wishes as if they were my own. Do I make myself clear?"

There was a murmur of "Yes, my lord" To which the dark lord gave a feral grin. Though Harry got a few jealous looks and raised eyebrows he simply bowed and said "Thank you, my lord."

The dark lord's smirk faded and his mask was one replaced with a strong sense of burning disgust. "Did the rest of you really think me dead? That The-boy-who-lived really ended the reign of the dark?" The dark lord walked down from his podium and the death eaters cowed their heads. "Not even you Lucius." The dark lord spat as he clutched his wand in his hand and cast the all too well known burning red spell. The blond fell onto his knees in pain as he tried not to cry out. The glazed look that was on the dark lord's face matched Harry's. He knew that he was going to enjoy his position of power.

~1237

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A/n - So I might not update next weekend, or if I do it will be a short one. I have exams the weekend after next so revision is something that I need to do, I'm off school on Tuesday so I might work on another chapter then if I have time. My teachers are adamant that we try on these exams for our predicted grades and evidence for the exam company. So they're just as important as the real GCSE ones. Anyways that's me signing off for the week.

~ SandefurdaSlytherin