August 25, 1993.
London.
After drinking the Polyjuice Potion, Voldemort followed the address in Lockhart's diary to the location of the fan meeting.
It was a café inside an office building, which had been booked in advance.
"Mr. Lockhart, your fans have been waiting for you."
When Voldemort reached the café entrance, a Muggle girl spoke to him.
"I'm not late, miss."
Voldemort put on Lockhart's mannerisms as he spoke, but he didn't do a very good job of it.
Fortunately, the girl didn't seem to know much about Lockhart. She merely smiled and led Voldemort into the café.
"It's on the second floor, sir. I won't be coming up with you."
She said this and stopped at the foot of the stairs.
Voldemort nodded, wrapped his body in his wizard's robe, gripped his wand in his right hand beneath it, and went upstairs.
The place had been arranged to be very dark. The moment he entered, he couldn't see a thing.
Voldemort stayed where he was for a moment, waiting to adjust to the darkness before going farther. Otherwise, it would be too dangerous.
"You've come, Lockhart."
An old woman's voice sounded from deep in the darkness.
Voldemort raised an eyebrow. It was the very voice he'd heard in Lockhart's memories.
"Why here?" Voldemort asked, imitating Lockhart's nervousness. "Wasn't I supposed to be attending a fan meeting?"
"Yes, a fan meeting, Lockhart. Listen to this."
As the woman spoke in a low voice, Voldemort's eyes adjusted to the darkness, and he made out her silhouette.
She was swinging something, and it was making a rhythmic "ding, ding, ding" sound.
At this point, Voldemort wasn't sure how to play his part.
But he didn't need to keep acting, because he'd already decided to make his move.
However, before he could