A cold high laugh. “Ah, Mr. White, the most delinquent of my servants. I have not yet decided if you will survive your punishment. I have less need of you than I once did, Mr. White. In two days’ time the Death Eaters shall walk openly. My powers have increased, and I have just this day disposed of Dumbledore.” More gasps of shock arose from the Death Eaters, Voldemort paid them no heed. “Tomorrow I shall slay Bones, Crouch, Moody, and Scrimgeour, if they have not fled. The rest of you shall go into the Ministry and the Wizengamot, and cast Imperius Curses as I direct you. We are finished waiting. By tomorrow’s nightfall I shall have declared myself Lord Ruler of Britain!”
Intakes of breath rose from the gathered masks, but one figure was laughing.
“You find me amusing, Mr. Grim?”
“Apologies, Master,” said the robed figure who had laughed, his wand perfectly level upon where Harry stood. “I was glad to hear you had dispatched Dumbledore. I fled from Britain in cowardly fear of him, having lost faith in your return.”
Voldemort’s chuckle resounded within the graveyard. “Your candor earns you my mercy, Mr. Grim. I was surprised to see you here tonight; you are more competent than I suspected. But before we turn our attention to happier matters, there is a certain affair to which we must attend. Tell me, Mr. Grim, if the Boy-Who-Lived swore an oath to you, might you trust him?”
“Master… I don’t understand…” said Mr. Grim. One or two of the other Death Eaters turned their masks toward Voldemort before quickly fixing the skull gaze on Harry.
“Answer me,” Voldemort hissed. “This is not a trick, Mr. Grim, and you will answer truthfully or bear the consequences. You knew the boy’s forebears, did you not? Knew them for straightforward folk? If the boy freely chose to swear to you an oath, even knowing you for a Death Eater, might you trust in his words? Answer me!” Voldemort’s voice rose to a shriek.
“I… yes, Master, I suppose I might…”
“Good,” Voldemort said coldly. “The potential for trust must exist, to be sacrificed. And for the bonder of the Unbreakable Vow… which of you shall sacrifice their magic? It shall be quite the long Vow… much longer than usual… much magic shall be required for that…” Voldemort smiled his awful smile. “Mr. White shall do.”
“No, please! Master, I beg you! I served you better than any—as best I could—”
“Crucio,” said Voldemort, and Mr. White screamed through his mask’s distortion for what seemed like a full minute. “Be grateful if I leave you your life! Now approach the boy, Mr. Grim, Mr. White. From behind him, idiot! You must not block the others’ wands! And the rest of you, you must fire if Harry Potter tries to run, even if it means striking at your fellow Death Eaters.”
Mr. White took time to approach, the black robes seeming to shake, even as Mr. Grim moved smoothly into position.
“What is to be the Vow, Master?” came the voice of Mr. Grim.
“Ah, yes,” Voldemort said. The Dark Lord went on pacing behind the semicircle of Death Eaters. “Today—though I hardly expect even you to believe me—today we are doing Merlin’s work, my Death Eaters. Yes! Before us stands a great danger, who in his blundering folly has been prophesied to wreak destruction such as even I can scarcely imagine. The BoyWho-Lived! The boy who frightens Dementors! The cattle who believe they own this world should have been more worried when they saw that. Useless, all of them!”
“Forgive me—” said one black robe in a halting voice. “Master—surely, if that is so—Master, why don’t we just kill him right away?”
Voldemort laughed, a strange bitter laugh. When he spoke on his high voice was precise. “Here is the oath’s intent, Mr. Grim, Mr. White, Harry Potter. Listen well and comprehend the Vow that must be sworn, for its intent is also binding, and you three must share an understanding of its meaning. You will swear, Harry Potter, not to destroy the world, to take no risks when it comes to not destroying the world. This Vow may not force you into any positive action, on account of that, this Vow does not force your hand to any stupidity. Do you understand that, Mr. Grim, Mr. White? We are dealing with a prophecy of destruction. A prophecy!
They can fulfill themselves in twisted ways. We must be cautious that this Vow itself does not bring that prophecy about. We dare not let this Vow force Harry Potter to stand idly after some disaster is already set in motion by his hand, because he must take some lesser risk if he tries to stop it. Nor must the Vow force him to choose a risk of truly vast destruction, over a certainty of lesser destruction. But all Harry Potter’s foolishness,” Voldemort’s voice climbed, “all his recklessness, all his grandiose schemes and good intentions—he shall not risk them leading to disaster! He shall not gamble with the Earth’s fate! No researches that might lead to catastrophe! No unbinding of seals, no opening of gates!” Voldemort’s voice lowered again. “Unless this very Vow itself is somehow leading into the destruction of the world, in which case, Harry Potter, you must ignore it in that particular regard. You will not trust yourself alone in making such a determination, you must confide honestly and fully in your trusted friend, and see if that one agrees. Such is this Vow’s meaning and intent. It forces only such acts as Harry Potter might choose himself, having learned that he is a prophesied instrument of destruction. For the capacity for choice must also exist, to be sacrificed. Do you understand, Mr. White?”
“I—I think so—oh, Master, please, do not let the Vow be so long—”
“Silence, fool, you do a more useful thing this day than you have ever done. Mr. Grim?”
“I think, Master, that it must be repeated to me.”
Voldemort smiled that too-wide smile, and said it all again using different words.
“And now,” Voldemort said coldly, “Harry Potter, you will keep your wand low, and permit Mr. Grim to touch his wand to yours; and you will speak such words as I direct you. If Harry Potter speaks any other word, then cut him down, the rest of you.”
“Yes, Master,” came the thirty-four-fold chorus.
Harry was chilled, and shivering, and not only because he was naked in the night. He didn’t understand why Voldemort was not just killing him. There seemed to be only a single line leading into the future, and it was Voldemort’s chosen line, and Harry did not know what came after this.
“Mr. White,” said Voldemort. “Touch your wand to Harry Potter’s hand, and repeat these words. Magic that flows in me, bind this Vow.”
Mr. White spoke those words. Even through the distortion effect of his mask, it sounded as though his heart were breaking.
Behind Voldemort the obelisks chanted, a language that Harry did not know; three times they repeated their words, then fell silent.
“Mr. Grim,” said Voldemort. “Think of the reasons why you might trust this boy, if he had given this oath freely. Think of that potential for trust, and sacrifice it as you say…”
“By my trust that I hold for you,” said Mr. Grim, “be you held.”
And then it was Harry Potter’s turn to repeat Lord Voldemort’s words, and Harry did so.
“I vow…” Harry said. His voice shook, but he spoke. “That I shall not… by any act of mine… destroy the world… I shall take no chances… in not destroying the world… if my hand is forced… I may take the course… of lesser destruction over greater destruction… unless it seems to me that this Vow itself… leads to the world’s end… and the friend… in whom I have confided honestly… agrees that this is so. By my own free will…” Harry could feel it, as the rite was invoked, the shining cords of power wrapping around his wand and Mr. Grim’s wand, wrapping around his hand where Mr. White’s wand touched it, wrapping around his self on some disturbingly abstract level. Harry could feel himself invoking his power of free choice, and he knew that his next words would sacrifice it, that this was absolutely the last chance to turn back.