Mr. Gaunt.
Harry growled in fury at the final veiled threat in the letter before crumpling it into a tight ball into his fist and chuckling darkly.
He knew that Voldemort was referring to the chamber of secrets and made a mental note to himself to investigate it further, though he vowed he would not be opening the tunnel in which he knew the basilisk was housed.
He shook his head and felt the letter burn to ashes in his hand through the wave of fury that overcame him as he once again focused on the threat sent his way. "No chance Tom" he ground out. "I'm coming for you, you bastard" he vowed.
The days following the visit from the Minister and her entourage had seen Harry Potter in a contemplative mood but it was the missive that he had received from Voldemort that had left him in his thoughtful state.
At first he had begun plotting to begin taking out the known members of the mans following, thinking up ways to nip the issue in the bud, but those thoughts were based on the anger he was feeling and not the cool head he needed to maintain to prevail on his overall goal.
Voldmeort's position was not quite as solidified as he had thought it would be at this point which had him reconsidering his approach that he had initially intended to take. Yes, the man certainly had quite the following as things stood, but Harry knew he had not quite cemented the allegiances he needed to be the force that he would become in time, the man had not even identified himself as the Dark Lord to his most loyal servants, as far as the teen could deduce.
After he had managed to cool himself down from his initial rage he reached a conclusion, one that left him frustrated. He would simply have to wait a while for things to really begin. At the moment Tom and his followers were working from the shadows, forming alliances and carrying out the occasional attack. They were a problem for wizarding Britain indeed but the reputation that the man at the forefront had had not quite spread throughout his ranks. At best for the Dark Lord, he himself was seen as one singular problem and his followers, a nuisance at best, particularly with the lack of success they had had recently.
Although this was very true, it was clear to the Harry that Ministry was now taking the threat more seriously, especially with inclusion of the Dementors in the most recent efforts of Voldemort.
But for now there was very little he could do in regards to the issue without making things worse. He knew that if he was to begin taking out the followers of the Dark Lord that it would more than likely become counter productive. If prominent pureblood members of society began turning up dead or missing then it would just be another reason for them all to band together and it would give credence to Voldemort's propaganda campaign that he was currently using for recruitment, as witnessed first hand by the teen.
Yes, Harry Potter was very frustrated but he knew that patience was what was needed in the interim. He would much rather take the proactive approach but there was too much risk to this as things stood. He would prevent all he could for the time being and wait until he could take a much less passive role in bringing Tom down and he knew it would only be a matter of time.
It wasn't as though his mission was idle however. He now knew that both Charlus and Arcturus would begin the battle in the political arena, something that had not happened here previously and something that Harry was sure would be beneficial to his cause.
He himself had not really considered the political aspect of things, though Croaker had hinted at it on several occasions. Harry knew that he would have no chance of making a political impact he as he would be nothing more than a sixteen year old boy of no consequence but earning the alliance of Arcturus and Charlus had certainly changed things and made the prospect of biding his time just that more bearable.
After managing to deal with his thoughts and decide on a plan he had become much more relaxed once more, much to the relief of his friends who had all noted his pensieve and stressed demeanour.
It was the Monday morning, a little over a week after the attack in Hogsmeade where things became interesting once more. The students were sat eating their breakfast when Dumbledore rose from his seat and gestured for silence.
"Good morning students, I know that it is not customary for me to address you during breakfast when you are preparing for your day but I felt that it was prudent in this instance" he began.
Many of the assembled people wore frowns of confusion but waited patiently for the man to continue.
"After the unfortunate events of our last visit to Hogsmeade the staff and myself have been working on something that we hope will fill the void of such trips and the suspension of the Quidditch championship and I believe we are now ready to announce our intentions".
A small amount of chattering could be heard at this revelation and the Headmaster waited for the noise to die down before addressing the room once more.
"We have decided that we will be staging a dueling competition amongst you, for those who wish to take part, thus the curriculum of certain classes will be changed to reflect this" he explained. "The tournament will be for students fourth year and up I'm afraid, but the subsequent ball will be open to all years, which will take place at the conclusion of the dueling".
A large amount of excited whispering and groaning from the younger years was the reaction he received as many of the pupils began declaring their intention to enter. "Your Professors will give you more information during your classes and in the spirit of the event, most of the staff have agreed to take part in some exhibition duels amongst themselves to demonstrate how their specialty subjects can be used in a in such circumstances. The dates will be revealed soon along with the rest of details" he finished, offering a small bow as he once again took his seat.
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