Chapter 7- Corruption

Ginny stood impatiently on the outside of the Dark Lord's rooms, her ears pressed against the door, listening. She had frustrated herself for nearly an hour without luck, trying to use wandless magic to open the door, which in turn, had been locked with the Dark Lord's own magic, or as the five year old girl had christened him, Mr. Dark Lord.

She had longed for a wand, and had asked and begged her father for her own since what she said was forever, but that was one of the things he was firm about. No wand until Hogwarts. Daddy did talk about Hogwarts a lot. He thought about it a lot too. It was huge, as far as she could read. Huge with more people than she had ever met in her life, and maybe she had been imagining it, but she thought she saw a talking hat in Daddy's thoughts once.

Thinking was Ginny's favorite thing in the entire world. A person's mind was like a gigantic room filled with memories, thoughts, pictures, plans, and so much else. It could hold unlimited space, and only powerful wizards could enter.

Her frustration increased. What was the Dark Lord telling Daddy and the others that she couldn't know? How could it be that important? She pressed her wide brown eyes up against the crack in the doors. All she could make out was the Dark Lord's gleaming white face. Her caught her eye and she saw a cold smirk creep onto his face as the Death Eaters, obviously circled around him, bowed. The Dark Lord liked to test her, and she knew this was a test. He expected her to find a way in. She slumped to the ground, her little black dress falling to the floor as her black-bowed pigtails bounced. Ginny shut her eyes and thought. There had to be a way. The door was blocked with innumerable spells too advanced for her. There was no way she could break through the Dark Lord's protection. But if Ginny couldn't come through the door, then she would simply have to find another entrance. That was it! She stood up as fast as her legs would allow.

What was a spell she could use to find another entrance? Ginny allowed herself to sink into her thoughts. She mentally flipped through the wandless spells that could be useful. Where was it? Human Revealing, Object Revealing, Incantation Revealing- There it was: Passage Revealing.

Ginny let concentration flow through her. She directed her hands toward the walls, feeling something surge through her that was surely her magic bubbling. She thought hard and whispered in a low voice, "Demeaculum Revealio," she pronounced perfectly. The spell allowed the child to see any hidden doors or passages in the room or surrounding area.

It jumped out at her at once. A small wooden trapdoor almost directly below where she had been standing. Ginny uncovered it, using a simple Wingardium Leviosa, and lowered herself down. It was dark and musty down here, but Ginny didn't mind it. The Dark Lord's quarters were often dark, but he had told her to embrace the dark gloom and to remember that in the dark she would never have to worry because there was nothing that would hurt her.

Ginny felt her way around the tunnel. It was large enough for her to stand in, but she knew Daddy would have to bend over or crawl. She covered her mouth to stifle a giggle at the thought of Daddy crawling through this dirty place. A spider fell onto her shoulder, and she picked it up as she walked, letting it dart around in her hand.

"Come on Mr. Spider, no playing around, we have a mission to accomplish," she told the small bug sternly, repeating the words the Dark Lord would often use with her. It was fun to have someone to boss around for once.

Ginny closed her hand around the spider, not applying enough pressure to hurt it, but just to secure it, as she reached the end of the passage. She pulled on a handle directly above her head and pulled, before climbing, catlike, hoisting herself onto the floor. She could see the council of Death Eaters focused on the Dark Lord, but they couldn't see her behind a large marble counter, presumably placed there by the Dark Lord for her own benefit.

She could hear the grown-ups talking and held her breath to listen. Crouched behind the counter, she liked the idea of being able to hear them without them knowing of her presence. This way she could hear the things that the adults always said she 'wouldn't understand.'

Ginny also watched her father as she listened. He was positioned on the Dark Lord's direct left, and Bella was on his direct right. The rest of the Death Eaters faced him on their knees, many of them wearing masks. Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, though, were discernable by their platinum blond hair shining in the gloomy light.

"Travers, come here," the Dark Lord addressed a masked Death Eater. Ginny knew Antonio Travers, but wouldn't have recognized him if the Dark Lord hadn't pointed him out, as his face was covered in a black mask. He was not older than Daddy by much, and she knew from listening in on conversations that he had been a Ravenclaw in his Hogwarts days (one of the Houses at Hogwarts, that represented cleverness. The best House, which most Death Eaters were in, was Slytherin, which represented cunning). Ravenclaw was mediocre, but not exactly something to flaunt about in the Death Eater society.

He stumbled foreword to kneel in front of the Dark Lord, who pulled out his wand, lazily pointing it toward Mr. Travers, "My Lord?" he asked cautiously.

"Travers, Travers, Travers," the Dark Lord's dangerous voice hissed. It sent shivers down Ginny's back, yet she longed to hear it again, and with a swish of those white spidery hands, Travers' mask was gone, revealing a sweaty pale face, "Travers, can you tell me how exactly you leaked the details of today's raid? It was an embarrassment on my name, Travers."

He took a shaky breath, "My Lord, I did not leak the information of the raid's whereabouts or details. I would do nothing to embarrass your name."

The Dark Lord hissed again in his cool, calm voice, "Liar." The Death Eater crown seemed to hold a collective breath.

Travers raised his hands high into the air, and put his head down shamefully, "It was not my fault my Lord! It was an accident. An Order member Imperiused me, I'm sure of it! I have no recollection of ever telling anyone about the Diagon Alley raid!" he insisted rapidly.

The Dark Lord's wand moved swiftly through the air, and he brought it upon Travers exposed neck as if it were a knife. His silky voice was no more than a murmur, but Ginny could understand it perfectly, "Which Order member?" he asked.

"Marlene McKinnon, my Lord," he answered, voice still shaking like mad, vibrating the wand pressed against his throat.

"Since when does the Order use Unforgivables?" someone shouted from the back of the crowd. Bella fired an unknown curse at whoever had yelled, which was met by a grunt of pain and a self-satisfied smirk from the caster.

The Dark Lord inclined his bald head a fraction of an inch in her direction before turning back to his cowering servant, "Travers, I hope you will learn quickly to always be on your guard," his wand was still placed against Travers' neck.

Ginny watched from her perch, her brown eyes wide and her orange head tilted slightly to the side, mildly interested, waiting silently for them to continue.

"My Lord?" he asked once more. At that, the Dark Lord spoke the most harmful words yet:

It was barely audible, yet everyone heard it perfectly, "Crucio," he hissed.

The next reaction was immediate. Travers squirmed in absolute and irreversible pain. His eyes rolled to the back of his head and his limbs flailed in every direction. Ginny looked intrigued at the man being tortured. This was what they wouldn't let her watch. She snuck around her hiding place so that she was directly behind the Dark Lord's chair. Her eyes grew wider as she watched with rapt fascination. She felt a sensation that she didn't recognize, a satisfying bubbling in the pit of her stomach. This was true power, and she wanted it.

"I am proud of you, little one," the cool voice hissed, "You have passed your assessment with honor."

Ginny wasn't wasting any time with praise, even though she was the only one to ever receive any from him, "Teach me how to do that," she ordered. She was once again in the dimly lit room, the Dark Lord's tall white figure towering before her. His scarlet catlike eyes gleamed at her words.

A horrible smile curled on his face. He knew exactly what she wanted to learn, but he asked for good measure, "Teach you to do what?" his smirk was widening.

"I want to know how you hurt that man yesterday," she addressed, frustrated. Her pale face stood out, in the semidarkness but not yet as much as his, "Teach me."

Lord Voldemort was pleased. This was a milestone. His kitten wanted to learn to torture, which was True Darkness, but he would not simply offer it on a silver platter, "You must earn it, my child. You have to show me that you are ready, then I will teach you."

Ginny looked at him again, "Then we shall get started." She stated simply.

A/N: HAS GINNY BEEN CORRUPTED? Maybe temporarily. Our clever little girl has a lot to learn still.

Sorry for the long wait on updates, I lost a lot of my inspiration and have been BUSY!