The Nightmare Man

Chapter Eight

"How did he kill them?" James said. "What kind of magic does he use?"

"I have no idea what spell he used to kill the Aurors, but it was wandless and non-verbal. He doesn't use a wand. What was he said? Aah, yes. He found it restricting."

"He doesn't have a wand?"

"I said he doesn't use a wand, Albus, I never said he didn't have one. What he did to me..." Fudge stopped and looked down at himself, stroke a few scars that remained even now. "He offered a first-hand demonstration on what he could do. Unfortunately I was the only one around alive to demonstrate on."

"He did all that to demonstrate?" James said. "He's more than horrible..."

"And he needs to be captured once more," Fudge said. "We did it once, we can do it again. Now, I know he most likely let himself get captured last time because he was interested in what would happen but we have evolved. He's still in the mindset of the Dark Ages. We can seal him once more."

"Cornelius, what exactly are you suggesting?" Albus said.

"I'm going to capture the Nightmare Lord," Fudge said. "By any means necessary."

-o-

Harrison wasn't sure why he hadn't gotten out of bed yet. It was nearing noon. He had been hungry when he woke up and considered getting up when Elise had shown up with a breakfast tray. He had decided to stay in bed a little longer. A little longer ended up as several hours.

But it wasn't like he had somewhere he had to go. His contact with Voldemort had been established by a two-way mirror he had acquired from Knockturn Alley. Or rather, he had sent Christian to get them. It had been the first trip outside for the former guard, and he had managed just fine. Most of the time he was with Elise and learnt about the household. Harrison was very pleased with his progress, and Christian had provided quite a lot of details about the Ministry, knowledge that Harrison did not have and knowledge the man had been willing to share. Of course, Christian no longer had it in him to actively work against Harrison but like the rest of the Nightmare Lord's servants, he had his own mind.

"You're being lazy, master."

"Since when do you enter my rooms without knocking, Lucian?"

"I did knock. You didn't answer."

"So of course you went inside as you feared for my well-being."

"Yes. Your ego can be quite damaging at times."

Harrison rolled his eyes and sat up. Lucian crossed over to the bed and sat down. The dark tattoos stood out against his skin, whirling around, a few of them winding around his throat like a collar. Harrison settled against the headboard and beckoned him closer.

"Why?" Lucian asked.

"Because I want you to."

Lucian crept closer.

"You haven't done much these last few days, master."

"I'm relaxing."

"You haven't even caused any mayhem."

"It's because I need to change my ways," Harrison said and grabbed Lucian's face. "I am no longer free to terrorize Muggles. If I truly want to separate our world from theirs, I can't go around destroying their towns."

"You can blame it on something else," Lucian said. "Accidents happen. Like when you made that church collapse to cover up the fact you had tortured them to death before that."

"Yes, that's true. But that needs planning, and as I said, I'm relaxing. Perhaps I will consult with Voldemort. After all, I'm no longer alone in the game."