‘Run that prophecy by me again, Bella.’
Bellatrix does not really believe in such a thing as a prophecy and has told his lordship as much. Prophecies are very much open to interpretation and from what she knows of the Muggle Bible, there have been stories in the past where rulers, out of fear, have interpreted such prophecies with disastrous consequences. Was the Dark Lord really planning on massacring all babies born at the end of July on the basis of a prophecy, like that King Herod fellow? Not that she had any qualms about killing or torturing people, but she drew the line at babies. There was something so pure and innocent about a baby, that she could not bring herself to hurt even a single one. Not that she liked kids or anything. The moment those brats started talking back to her, all bets were off, but until then babies were off limits in her book.
But as a good follower and admirer of the Dark Lord, she used her full sense of the dramatic to recite once more the prophecy that was rumoured to foretell the death of Lord Voldemort.
“The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies....”
‘Maybe you should consider the source of the prophecy, My Lord,’ Bellatrix offered, after she finished her award winning performance of reciting the prophecy for the umpteenth time. ‘By all accounts that so called divination teacher has a bit of a drinking problem. Why would you mark someone else’s child as your equal in the first place? And, if you are marking him as your equal, why would you then want to kill him? It is just a load of Mumbo Jumbo, if you ask me,’ Bella said.
‘Well, as a matter of fact, I did not ask you, Bella. I just asked you just to recite the prophecy, which you did admirably, but please leave the drawing of conclusions to me. Were there many wizarding children born at the end of July?’
‘St Mungo’s records show only a handful of boys, but there may be more if they were born at home. Only two of them were sons of wizarding families that oppose your rise, My Lord.’
‘So which one do you think is the subject of the prophecy, Bella?’
How on earth would she know, but after being told off royally minutes before, she was not going to admit to that.
‘The Potter child, would be my guess, My Lord. Dumbledore and their friends seem to have gone to some length to protect them, since the prophecy became public knowledge.’
She had no love for the Potters and thwarting the efforts to protect them, by her traitor cousin, would be a bonus.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
It had been child’s play to discover who the Potters’ secret keeper was and even easier to enter the house and catch the Potters’ off guard. Bella was unaffected by the death of James and Lily at the hands of her Master, but when he raised his wand to kill the child, she stepped forward and put her hand on his arm, forcing him to lower his wand.
‘Maybe it would be best to take the boy with us,’ she said, as the Dark Lord glared at her, annoyed at being interrupted.
‘What if the child indeed does have a secret power,' she continued, 'would it not be better to learn what that power is first?’
The Dark Lord had no counter argument for this and slowly turned on his heels, leaving Bella to deal with the small boy, who by now had started to cry.
‘There, there,’ she cooed, as she lifted the baby from his cot.
As she looked into the child’s moist green eyes, she felt her heart fill with love for this small creature.
Little did she know, that she had just discovered the power that the Dark Lord knows not.
By stopping the Dark Lord, with that one move of her hand, she had overturned the prophecy, as, unbeknownst to any of them, the Dark Lord had not marked Harry as his equal and there was no longer a need for part of him to die, so the other part could live.
Harry was just a little green-eyed baby, no more a threat to the Dark Lord than any of the other little boys born at the end of July. He looked up in wonder at the black-haired woman who held him in her arms. Her long black curls tickled his face and he started to laugh his little innocent baby laugh. Bella felt her heart melt, as she rocked him gently, and whispered softly, ‘Don’t worry, Harry, I will keep you safe.’