Meanwhile, in an unknown forest.
Harry was bound to the dead tree, Vine wrapped tightly around his body, squeezing his ribs until they ached.
His wand had been tossed into the distant grass, and the Portkey on the sole of his shoe had been stripped away. A Death Eater stood nearby holding it, occasionally glancing at him as though he were a trophy.
Will had already been taken away.
Harry did not know where they had taken him, but he knew Will must be suffering.
Will had exhausted himself. Creating that enormous earth wall in the maze had drained almost all his magic, and then Voldemort's followers had dragged him away—Harry dared not think any further. He knew Will was a half-blood, and the Death Eaters hated half-blood wizards most of all.
Voldemort stood beside the great cauldron, his bamboo-jointed fingers stroking its rim, a feverish gleam in his scarlet eyes.
The liquid in the cauldron began to boil.
It turned from clear to black, from black to gray, then from gray to an eerie grayish white, like molten metal.
Voldemort paced around the cauldron, seemingly impatient, until a Death Eater came stumbling over with a black Box in his arms. A smile spread across Voldemort's sinister face, making Harry break out in a cold sweat.
“My Master, I offer this to you.” The Death Eater knelt and presented the Box to Voldemort as though offering a precious treasure.
"Hahahaha, hahahaha—" Voldemort laughed wildly. "Well done, well done, well, well, well!"
Harry felt himself trembling all over. For a moment, he had almost thought Voldemort was calling for Will. Thinking of his friend, he could not stop the ache in his heart.
But Voldemort had already descended into a frenzy.
"Bone of the father," Voldemort said softly, with a fervor