Voldemort had stumbled on his old follower earlier than expected, and these events had also led him to gain more followers than he might have had before.
Although they were vampires and lesser beings in his eyes, they were still physically stronger and faster compared to normal humans. So, he used their blood and created a new potion to help with his physical form.
Right now, he was in a forest with his followers. The two vampires were forming a ritual circle as he sat in a carriage with curtains covering it.
He had not shown his weakened form to the vampires, always using veils and other methods to hide himself, giving an air of mystery and using mind arts to make the vampires believe he was still very powerful.
"Leave," he whispered after the vampires had completed the ritual circle and tied a Muggle at its center, gagged and crying. The vampires heard the whisper as if it was spoken directly in their ears. They bowed and left.
They were in a forest where there had been reports of a Dementor being formed—or perhaps wandering in from somewhere else.
"Form an opening in the defenses I instructed you to build," Voldemort said to Wormtail, who bowed and left. Voldemort had made runic defenses with Pettigrew's help to keep the suspected Dementor away until the preparations were complete.
He and Pettigrew stayed in the protected carriage, waiting as the tied-up man seemed to have passed out. Suddenly the air grew colder as Pettigrew shivered and hid behind Voldemort.
A Dementor emerged from the woods and stilled for a moment, seeming to sense its surroundings. Voldemort scoffed, for he had designed the defenses of the carriage to hide from the senses of Dementors.
After a moment, the Dementor moved toward the tied-up man and hovered in front of him. It then leaned down as the man started shivering even when unconscious.
The Dementor did not begin its meal. Instead, it restrained itself, waiting for its prey to wake because of the cold. The man opened his eyes and froze as he felt despair and saw a being—a thing—that looked at him with no eyes.
He saw horror in a cloak of darkness as all his happiness was drained away. He felt cold. He felt hopeless. He just wanted to give up. There was no meaning to life if things like this existed.
Voldemort watched from the side for the right moment. As soon as the Dementor was about to draw out the man's soul, he gave a signal to Pettigrew, who gulped and hesitated.
Voldemort grew annoyed and hissed, "Do as I told you. The Dementor's Kiss will be a blessing compared to what you will suffer if I lose this chance." Pettigrew shivered at those words, then grit his teeth as he lifted Voldemort and placed him in the designated spot within the ritual circle.
The Dementor did not seem to notice. As soon as the soul was visible, the ritual was activated, and the circle absorbed the moonlight around it and lit up.
The Dementor was restrained by an invisible force as the soul of the man scattered into the ether. Voldemort clicked his tongue, but there was still some energy taken by him as the Dementor was forced to convert the soul's essence into darkness.
The Dementor shrieked and thrashed at having its meal stolen and being bound. The grass began to frost over, moisture freezing as cold air spread, manifesting its anger and hatred.
The ritual Voldemort was using had originally been designed to free trapped souls from Dementors so they could move on to the afterlife. But it had been tainted by a dark wizard to siphon some part of that soul energy for himself.
Voldemort had taken it a step further purely for his own satisfaction. He wanted to kill a Dementor. So he modified the ritual further, and now he watched as the Dementor's skin began to melt and turn to ash.
After some time, only its cloak remained—cold and black—as Voldemort ordered Peter to collect it.
Aaric was in his club with his friends as they discussed some spells and helped each other.
He was still running the club and simply called it The Wandcross Society, and now it was a place for students to perform magic and help each other out in any way possible.
Today Lupin had appeared at Aaric's request to teach the Patronus Charm to the students.
He explained how it worked, and he and Aaric helped the students perform it.
Harry and Luna were the fastest to learn the spell, as the room had gotten lighter when they performed the spell and other students smiled, remembering their fond memories.
Harry's Patronus was a little different, as it had silver specks in it.
"This is great, it's like I can channel that energy now," Harry whispered to Aaric, who was helping him with the spell.
Aaric nodded. "How about integrating it with all your spells? You will be able to fight dark wizards and creatures easier." Harry thought about Aaric's suggestion.
"I think it will happen naturally, as it did with my flame and the Patronus. I just need to tap into this energy as I am using any spell," Harry thought out loud as Aaric shrugged.
"Did you find out what the black crystal was?" Harry asked Aaric, who shook his head.
"Elder Huo is working on it. He told me he had a breakthrough in a letter today. I think we will find out soon," Aaric explained and left to help Luna.
A/n: Give me your power stones … bitch.