18TH AUGUST 1994 - 2:00 AM

The woods behind the Riddle House were dark and dense, their silence usually undisturbed by nothing but the occassional hoot of an owl or the soft pat of a fox's foot. However, tonight steady footfalls can be heard along with a splash followed by a low skidding noise.  A tall dark haired woman dragged along a smaller figure hastily across the woods, rather carelessly towards a large amber glow illuminating an average sized clearing.

The dark haired woman held her captive against a tree and muttered something in a foreign language; thin cordlike threads snaked around the captive's body and tied into tight knots. She was about to examine her handiwork when she heard a loud scream from the formidible manor house which stood beside the woods. She hastily walked towards the sound to see what had caused the commotion.

As she made it to the second floor landing she noticed the outline of a body on the entrance to the room in the far end of the corridor. She tutted softly as she walked around it into the room. 

"Was this really necessary my Lord?" the woman asked. "Wasn't there a more elegant way to deal with such things." Gana responded.

"Ah Gana! So pleased to see you can finally join us." a man with a high nasally voice stated. He regarded the old man's body with mild disgust. "A minor misunderstanding...but then again the old man never knew what was good for him. Only so much elegance and grace can be expected when Wormtail is acting on my behalf. Anyway, how goes your plan?"

"I have found what I need, my Lord. And now we have the key to finding one of the greatest magical assets we could have in this battle." Gana replied. 

"You are sure about this?" the man asked with slight scepticism. 

"Absolutely, my Lord. After I find the one I seek we will have one of the most powerful wizard or witch of this day and age only surpassed by masters like ourselves. They will guide us to victory by giving us the best possible insight on how to overwhelm the wizarding world. I will exact my revenge and you will slay your nemesis!" Gana exclaimed. 

Any who saw the tall woman now would believe she had become truly delirious; her eyes burned with a sense of eagerness that was unfit for the heinous acts running through her mind. Later that night yet another scream invaded upon the wood's silence. Only this one was filled with far more pain and terror than the last... 

Hundreds of miles away, Meera awoke with a start. She squinted around her room to see the cause of her sudden awakening, but heard nothing except her father's laughter from his room. Meera rolled her eyes and yawned before collapsing onto her bed and trying to figure out exactly what she'd been dreaming about...she remembered trees...and voices...and most prominently...pain.

Pain so terrible that she had been startled out of her slumber. It wasn't terribly unusual for Meera to wake up with cramps of some kind, however this was different. She couldn't understand why, but thinking about what could cause this kind of pain made her skin crawl. She shuddered and turned towards her night lamp, pulling her blanket around her more tightly for comfort, before slowly drifting back to sleep.