across the floor. Frank caught a glimpse of a
small man, his back to the door, pushing the chair into place. He was wearing a
long black cloak, and there was a bald patch at the back of his head. Then he went
out of sight again.
"Where is Nagini?" said the cold voice.
"I -- I don't know, My Lord," said the first voice nervously. "She set out to explore
the house, I think..."
"You will milk her before we retire, Wormtail," said the second voice. "I will need
feeding in the night. The journey has tired me greatly."
Brow furrowed, Frank inclined his good ear still closer to the door, listening very
hard. There was a pause, and then the man called Wormtail spoke again.
"My Lord, may I ask how long we are going to stay here?"
7
"A week," said the cold voice. "Perhapse longer. The place is moderately
comfortable, and the plan cannot proceed yet. It would be foolish to act before the
Quidditch World Cup is over."
Frank inserted a gnarled finger into his ear and rotated it. Owing, no doubt, to a
buildup of earwax, he had heard the word "Quidditch," which was not a word at
all.
"The -- the Quidditch World Cup, My Lord?" said Wormtail. (Frank dug his finger
still more vigorously into his ear.) "Forgive me, but -- I do not understand -- why
should we wait until the World Cup is over?"
"Because, fool, at this very moment wizards are pouring into the country from all
over the world, and every meddler from the Ministry of Magic will be on duty, on
the watch for signs of ususual activity, checking and double-checking identities.
They will be obsessed with security, lest the Muggles notice anything. So we
wait."
Frank stopped trying to clear out his ear. He had distinctly heard the words
"Ministry of Magic," "wizards," and "Muggles." Plainly, each of these expressions
meant something secret, and Frank could think of only two sorts of people who
would speak in code: spies and criminals. Frank tightened his hold on his walking
stick once more, and listened more closely still.
"Your Lordship is still determined, then?" Wormtail said quietly.
"Certainly I am determined, Wormtail." There was a note of menace in the cold
voice now.
A slight pause followed -- and the Wormtail spoke, the words tumbling from him
in a rush, as though he was forcing himself to say this before he lost his nerve.
"It could be done without Harry Potter, My Lord."
Another pause, more protracted, and then --
"Without Harry Potter?" breathed the second voice softly. "I see..."
"My Lord, I do not say this out of concern for the boy!" said Wormtail, his voice
rising squeakily. "The boy is nothing to me, nothing at all! It is merely that if we
were to use another witch or wizard -- any wizard -- the thing could be done so
much more quickly! If you allowed me to leave you for a short while -- you know
that I can disguise myself most effectively -- I could be back here in as little as
two days with a suitable person --"
"I could use another wizard," said the cold voice softly, "that is true..."
"My Lord, it makes sense," said Wormtail, sounding thoroughly relieved now.
"Laying hands on Harry Potter would be so difficult, he is so well protected --"
8
"And so you volunteer to go and fetch me a substitute? I wonder...perhaps the task
of nursing me has become wearisome for you, Wormtail? Could this suggestion of
abandoning the plan be nothing more than an attempt to desert me?"
"My Lord! I -- I have no wish to leave you, none at all --"
"Do not lie to me!" hissed the second voice. "I can always tell, Wormtail! You are
regretting that you ever returned to me. I revolt you. I see you flinch when you
look at me, feel you shudder when you touch me..."
"No! My devotion to Your Lordship --"
"Your devotion is nothing more than cowardice. You would not be here if you had
anywhere else to go. How am I to survive without you, when I need feeding every
few hours? Who is to milk Nagini?"
"But you seem so much stronger, My Lord --"
"Liar," breathed the second voice. "I am no stronger, and a few days alone would
be enough to rob me of the little health I have regained under your clumsy care.
Silence!"
Wormtail, who had been sputtering incoherently, fell silent at once. For a few
seconds, Frank could hear nothing but the fire crackling. The the second man
spoke once more, in a whisper that was almost a hiss.
"I have my reasons for using the boy, as I have already explained to you, and I will
use no other. I have waited thirteen years. A few more months will make no
difference. As for the protection surrounding the boy, I believe my plan will be
effective. All that is needed is a little courage from you, Wormtail -- courage you
will find, unless you wish to feel the full extent of Lord Voldermort's wrath --"
"My Lord, I must speak!" said Wormtail, panic in his voice now. "All through our
journey I have gone over the plan in my head -- My Lord, Bertha Jorkin's
disappearance will not go unnoticed for long, and if we proceed, if I murder --"
"If?" whispered the second voice. "If? If you follow the plan, Wormtail, the
Ministry need never know that anyone else has died. You will do it quietly and
without fuss; I only wish that i could do it myself, but in my present
condition...Come, Wormtail, one more death and our path to Harry Potter is clear.
I am not asking you to do it alone. By that time, my faithful serant will have
rejoined us --"
"I am a faithful servant," said Wormtail, the merest trace of sullenness in his voice.
"Wormtail, I need somebody with brains, somebody whose loyalty has never
wavered, and you, unfortunately, fulfill neither requirement."
"I found you," said Wormtail, and there was definitely a sulky edge to his voice
now. "I was the one who found you. I brought you Bertha Jorkins."
9
"That is true," said the second man, sounding amused. "A stroke of brilliance I
would not have thought possible from you, Wormtail -- though, if truth be told,
you were not aware how useful she would be when you caught her, were you?"
"I -- I thought she might be useful, My Lord --"
"Liar," said the second voice again, the cruel amusement more pronounced than
ever. "However, I do not deny that her information was invaluable. Without it, I
could never have formed our plan, and for that, you will have your reward,
Wormtail. I will allow you to perform an essential task for me, one that many of
my followers would give their right hands to perform..."
"R-really, My Lord? What -- ?" Wormtail sounded terrified again.
"Ah, Wormtail, you don't want me to spoil the surprise? Your part will come at the
very end...but I promise you, you will have the honor of being just as useful as
Bertha Jorkins."
"You...you..." Wormtail's voice suddenly sounded hoarse, as though his mouth had
gone very dry. "You...are going...to kill me too?"
"Wormtail, Wormtail," said the cold voice silkily, "why would I kill you? I killed
Bertha because I had to. She was fit for nothing after my questioning, quite
useless. In any case, awkward questions would have been asked if she had gone
back to the Ministry with the news that she had met you on her holidays. Wizards
who are supposed to be dead would do well not to run into Ministry of Magic
witches at wayside inns..."
Wormtail muttered something so quietly that Frank could not hear it, but it made
the second man laugh -- an entirely mirthless laugh, cold as his speech.
"We could have modified her memory? But Memory Charms can be broken by a
powerful wizard, as I proved when I questioned her. It would be an insult to her
memory not to use the information I extracted from her, Wormtail."
Out in the corridor, Frank suddenly became aware that the hand gripping his
walking stick was slippery with sweat. The man with the cold voice had killed a
woman. He was talking about it without any kind of remorse -- with amusement.
He was dangerous -- a madman. And he was planning more murders -- this boy,
Harry Potter, whoever he was -- was in danger --
Frank knew what he must do. Now, if ever, was the time to go to the police. He
would creep out of the house and head straight for the telephone box in the
village...but the cold voice was speaking again, and Frank remained where he was,
frozen to the spot, listening with all his might.
"One more murder...my faithful servant at Hogwarts...Harry Potter is as good as
mine, Wormtail. It is decided. There will be no more argument. But quiet...I think
I hear Nagini..."
10
And the second man's voice changed. He started making noises such as Frank had
never heard before; he was hissing and spitting without drawing breath. Frank
thought he must be having some sort of fit or seizure.
And then Frank heard movement behind him in the dark passageway. He turned to
look, and found himself paralyzed with fright.
Something was slithering toward him along the dark corridor floor, and as it drew
nearer to the sliver of firelight, he realized with a thrill of terror that it was a
gigantic snake, at least twelve feet long. Horrified, transfixed, Frank stared as its
undulating body cut a wide, curving track through the thick dust on the floor,
coming closer and closer -- What was he to do? The only means of escape was
into the room where the two men sat plotting murder, yet if he stayed where he
was the snake would surely kill him --
But before he had made his decision, the snake was level with him, and then,
incredibly, miraculously, it was passing; it was following the spitting, hissing
noises made by the cold voice beyond the door, and in seconds, the tip of its
diamond-patterned tail had vanished through the gap.
There was sweat on Frank's forehead now, and the hand on the walking stick was
trembling. Inside the room, the cold voice was continuing to hiss, and Frank was
visited by a strange idea, an impossible idea...This man could talk to snakes.
Frank didn't understand what was going on. He wanted more than any