Dark Ascension Challenge by Cassiopeia Potter-Black

Plot:
Harry James Potter finds out some very shockling secrets The Light has kept hidden from him, soon after the defeat of Lord Voldemort. They have lied to him, telling him his parents are Lily and James Potter when they are not. They are, in fact, the Lestranges, Malfoy, Blacks, Riddles, etc. After learning of the Lights manipulation after overhearing a conversation about him between his former friends he devises a plan to go back in time. Sadly, Harry is killed by his former surrogate grandfather and learns he is Master of Death.
Using it to his advantage he travels back in time to correct the wrongs the Light did.

Rules:
Harry must be Dark with very little morals
He must convert some people to his cause
Harry doesn't trust the Light

Recommended:
Harry being a LeStrange.
Harry arriving during the Triwizard Tournament Champion choosing
Harry must somehow be resorted
Harry becoming Lord Voldemort's Consort if he isn't his child
Harry hates or dislikes muggles

Forbidden:
Harry being meek or malleable
Harry following Dumbledore and his loyal lackeys

Harry Potter just stared at her silently as he walked down the steps of the stairs. His wand hand twitched, whether to apparate from her family home or curse either, or both, girls in front of him—he didn't know. But they just sat there, at the kitchen table, staring back at him in shock.

"How long have you been standing there?" Ginny Weasley, his girlfriend for almost four years, finally asked.

"Long enough," Harry said with bitter laced words.

"Harry," Hermione said, "we didn't mean—"

"To be keeping secrets…again?" Harry asked. His tone mocking, and by the look on Hermione's face he met his mark.

Harry knew he might feel guilty for laying all the blame for this situation at her feet, but he considered her to be his closest friend. He trusted her, absolutely trusted her. On her word alone, he would have irrevocably changed his life, taken a life, burned down the Wizengamot—because she was Hermione Granger, the girl who always, always, had his back and knew what was right.

But, she's been keeping secrets…again.

And if his words hurt, all the better. Her pain soothed the figurative knife wounds in his back.

"We didn't mean for you to find out like this!" Ginny rushed the words out, getting up from the table.

"We were going to tell you," Hermione interjected, "Harry, I swear we were."

Tears start to gather in the eyes of both girls, but for once, it didn't sway Harry.

"Who knows?" Harry asked in a deceptively calm voice.

"Harry—" Hermione shakes her head, not wanting to say more.

"Who all knows that James Potter wasn't my father?" Harry asked, pronouncing each word slowly. He just wanted answers. He wanted to know, needed to know, how far this betrayal went. He could feel his magic stirring under his skin, feeding on his rage. How could he not know something so fundamental to who he is? How could they keep something like that a secret? More so, how could they tell him a lie?

"Everyone—"

"Ginny!" Hermione hushes.

"Dumbledore, Snape, Sirius, Remus—my whole family, once Hermione told us."

"But not me, she told everyone," Harry points out, staring down Hermione, "but she didn't tell me."

"Professor Dumbledore," Hermione paused to collect her self, "he said it was for your own safety that you didn't know about your parents—"

"My parents? So there is more than just my father?" Harry asked.

"Harry—" Hermione started.

"Hermione, if you care at all about our friendship, please, tell me the truth—the whole truth."

And with a deep breath, she did, "Your father was Regulus Black. Your mother, she was a pureblood. That's all I know. I swear that's all I know."

"I'm leaving."

"Harry!" Hermione yelled, knocking over the tea cups her and Ginny had been drinking.

"Don't! Please, don't leave!" Ginny called after him. The spilt tea ignored by all three.

"I need to know, Ginny. I need to know that I didn't just help murder or imprison whatever family I had left!" Harry said.

"That's why!" Hermione snarled. "That's why we didn't tell you! We didn't know if we could trust you to choose us, to stay on our side!"

There was a deafening suffocating silence that rang out after that revelation.

"That," Harry said, licking his lips, "was a mistake."

Then, he left.

Being an Auror has it's perks, being the one who defeated the Dark Lord Voldemort before ever setting foot in the Auror program surely had it's perks. The biggest being that he had someone trained to negotiate on his behalf with the Goblin Nation, allowing for the whole dragon mishap with Gringotts to be forgiven. Which is good, because Harry found himself in need of the Goblin's services.

"Do you have a blood test of sorts, one that will show lineage?" Harry asked the first goblin upon entering Gringotts.

"We do," the goblin confirms, "For a price."

Harry nods his head in agreement, "I would like one done, please."

"It'll hurt," the goblin said.

At Harry's shrug, the goblin inquires about something else, "Why trust us? Your ministry has it's own spell to tell parentage, why come here and pay the heavy fine for it?"

"I've found the most trustworthy are those you've paid." Harry tells him.

The goblin leaves the conversation at that, and instead leads Harry to a small dimly lit room.

Within the room, there are two other goblins, a table with crystals and a large piece of parchment.

"The price depends on how far back in your family lines you wish to go," the goblin that lead him here stated.

"I wish to know who my grandparents were, on both sides of my family," Harry said.

"Very well. Hand?" the goblin closes to the table demanded.

Harry held out his hand. The goblin grabbed it, moving it over the parchment, before making a deep cut in his palm. The goblin then let the blood drip down onto the parchment.

Everyone watched, with held breath, as the blood sank into the paper. Words and lines started to appear.

The first words, Harry Potter, look to be written in his own hand, emerge on to the page.
From there, two lines form—each leading to two separate names.
Lily Evans Potter, and Regulus Arcturus Black, each written in a different handwriting. Harry assumes it's the person's own writing. It occurs to him, that this isn't the first time he's seen there handwriting, having seen a letter written by each of them.
From Regulus' name the two lines lead to Walburga Black and Orion Black—unsurprising, Harry already knew who Regulus' parents were, from Regulus being Sirius' brother.
The shock came from the names attached to the lines from Lily's name.
One lead to Reyna Ivy LeStrange and the second to Tom Marvolo Riddle.

According to this parchment, Lord Voldemort, the dark lord Harry had vanquished and the man who killed his mother, was his maternal grandfather. Shit.

"If you wish to know more, it will cost more," the goblin, who hadn't said anything, said. "More blood, more gold."

"Sir," Harry agreed, holding is hand out over the parchment again.

The goblin made another cut. More blood drips onto the parchment.

From Walburga Black two lines stretched out, one to Adrienne Rosier, and another to Pollux Black. From Orion Black two lines stretched out, one to Arcturus Black, and another to Ivy MacMillian. All tracing back to Regulus Black, to him.
From Reyna LeStrange two lines stretched out, one to Danielle Fawley and one to Roscoe LeStrange. From Tom Riddle two lines stretched out, one to Merope Gaunt, and one to Eugene Crouch. All tracing back to Lily Evans.

"More," Harry requested, putting is hand out again. "I want to know more, please."

The goblin cuts, the blood drops, and more lines leading to new names appear.

Adrienne Rosier lead to Lilith Avery and Damien Rosier. Pollux Black lead to Susannah Bulstrode and Cygnus Black. All tracing back to Walburga Black and Regulus Black.
Arcturus Black lead to Sirius Black and Rochelle Rowle. Ivy MacMillian lead to Georgina Prewett and Ashfield MacMillian. All tracing back to Orion Black and Regulus Black.
Danielle Fawley lead to Adeline Abbott and Dorian Fawley. Roscoe LeStrange lead to Genevieve Ollivanders and Rodolphus LeStrange. All tracing back to Reyna LeStrange and Lily Evans. Merope Gaunt lead to Marvolo Gaunt and Constance Burke. Eugene Crouch lead to Lucy Malfoy and Cassius Crouch.

Harry didn't even ask the next time, he just stuck his hand out again.

"Sir, this is the last time. After this, you will have to rest and take a Blood Restorative potion," one of the goblins said.

"Sure. Just one more, please."

The blood drops and the names form.

Theodora Nott and Corbin Avery, Rebecca Parkinson and Apollyon Rosier, could be traced through Adrienne Rosier, Walburga Black. From Walburga Black, to Pollux Black, to Susannah Bulstrode, to Octavia Travers and Laurence Bulstrode, through Cygnus Black the lines lead to Ruth Flint and Phineas Black
Ruth Flint and Phineas Black could also be traced through Sirius Black—creating a diamond shape in the family tree.
Clarissa Shacklebolt and Roman Rowle lines could be traced through Arcturus Black.
Francisa Weasley and Sebastian Prewett, Eleonora Longbottom and Hunter MacMillian could be traced through Ivy Macmillian and Orion Black. So far, all lead to Regulus Black.
From Lily Evans Potter, and Reyna LeStrange, and Danielle Fawley it could be traced to Holly Greengrass and Alden Abbott, and Cecile Travers and Damari Fawley. Through Roscoe LeStrange, there's Miriam Shafiq and Winston Ollivanders, and Priscilla Yaxley and Robert LeStrange. From Tom Riddle, and Merope Gaunt the line lead to Millicent Gaunt and Silas Burke, and Catherine Slughorn and Merlyn Gaunt. Through Eugene Crouch the lines lead to Florence Selwyn and Lucius Malfoy, and Freya Carrow and Issac Crouch.

Even the Goblins stared in wonder at the paper.

"Interesting," one of the goblins said.

"What is?" Harry asked.

"All twenty-eight sacred names are present," a different goblin explained.

"The fancy pureblood ones?"

"Yes," a goblin confirmed.

"And I helped kill them all off," Harry said.

"Yes."

"But, I sent some of them to prison."

"Yes, you did."

"Why?" Harry asked. "Why didn't he know?"

When no one answered, Harry took a moment to think—almost all the pureblood families were on Voldemort's side.

"Did he know?" Harry asked, "Did he know, when he killed my mom, did he know who he was killing?"

Again, silence reigned.

"We don't know," one of the goblins finally offered.

"I had a family. There were still members alive, before I—"

"Got involved in something you didn't understand?" a goblin said.

"What is that suppose to mean?" Harry asked.

"What was the Dark Lord after?"

"He was after… He wanted…" Harry stumbled, "He wanted dark arts and pureblood rule."

All the goblins were now staring at Harry.

"Yes, in a society that has the strongest restrictions on dark arts in Europe," a goblin said.

"and the pureblood rule?" Harry challenged.

"They're all dead now," a different goblin pointed out.

"And it's my fault," Harry mumbles to himself. "I have to changed this. I have to fix this."

Three months later, on the night of Halloween. Everything was in place for the ritual; the stones were in their places, pieces of a broken time turner laid within the circle, and Harry stood ready to begin.

"My boy, you are making a mistake," said a voice Harry hadn't heard in the last 6 years—since the owner of the voice was murdered in the Astronomy tower at Hogwarts.

"Dumbledore," Harry greeted in shock.

"Yes," Albus Dumbledore said with his eyes twinkling, "I'm proud of you, Harry. You did what I couldn't. You saved wizarding kind."

"By destroying it all," Harry said. "You survived. How?"

"Time walks us all towards death, I simply needed to walk slower," Dumbledore said. "I'm afraid the world wasn't done with me, yet."

"We seemed to have gotten on fine without you."

"Yes, and you did splendid, my boy. Words can't express how proud I am of you figuring out the horcurxes, and the hollows."

"I had help."

"Yes, speaking of which, if you will hand over the hollows—I can get on with helping the wizarding embrace the new age."

"A new age without the sacred twenty-eight, how much of that did you have a hand in?"

"You know," Dumbledore stated with knowing eyes.

"I know my parentage, and I know everyone who isn't dead is locked up. I know that the people I considered my family have been keeping huge secrets from me. After all this, I still end up without a family."

"I'm sorry you feel that way."

"No, you don't. You want the Hollows? I want the truth from you—for the first time in my life, tell me the truth, the whole truth."
Dumbledore just laughs, "You don't want to know the truth Harry. You couldn't handle it."

"Try me. You tell me, and I'll give you the hollows."

"If you insist, where would you like me to start."

"With what you did."

Dumbledore started pacing, as he talked, "I convinced Merope Gaunt to lie about who her baby's father was. Quiet the scandal, it would have been if the world was to find out about Eugene's affair with an underaged witch. Bartemius Crouch Senior was Tom's half brother."

"And?" Harry asked.

"I also helped Reyna get rid of the evidence of her affair. Her father was powerful enough to get her a primacy marriage contract—letting her boys inherit their last name from her rather than her husband Harvey Montague. But he wasn't powerful enough to protect her from the consequences of being caught having an affair. Lily Evans is the younger sister of Rodolphus and Rabastian LeStrange."

"I doubt that's all you've done."

Dumbledore laughs with the pleasure of confession, "No, my boy. It was on my orders that Snape informed Tom about the prophecy."

"Was it faked?"

"No. But I think it went deeper than we believed. Killing Tom required a powerful wizard."

"You aren't powerful?"

"Not naturally powerful, but we digress. I believed there is power that runs in the Salazar lines. Tom was the only one that could have killed Lily, as you and Lily were the only one who could have killed Tom."

This time, it was Harry to laugh, "Who cares about power? My family members killed each other. My grandfather killed my mother and played a starring role in my father's death. My aunt on my mother's side killed my uncle on my father's side, who happens to be her cousin. What does power matter when everyone's dead?"

"Power, you will find, Harry, has a way of avenging those you have lost."

"Is that why you did this? Revenge for your sister?"

"The world refused to help her, to save her—all because we weren't purebloods."

"And now that world is dead and gone," Harry said, finally realizing what Dumbledore has spent his life doing. "How did you get them to fight in a war? How did the war even start?"

"Fear is a powerful thing, my boy. Fear of change, fear of anything different, yet, also there is a fear of history repeating itself. Grindelwald used the dark arts to conquer a great part of Europe. Britain wished never to see that again, so the wizengamot passed laws regarding ancient and dark magics. The same ancient and dark magics that ran through the pureblood family trees. Magics that we have long forgotten about, and therefore we regarded as dangerous."

"And Voldemort—Tom, capitalized on that."

"Yes, he didn't just build an army, Harry," Dumbledore said, looking Harry right in the eye, "He built and empire."

"And you tore it down."

He laughs coldly, "No, my boy. You did."

"You've been awfully informative."

"I have no reason to lie to you, Harry."

"Right, I'm going to finish this ritual," Harry said, looking up to gauge where the moon was, "and when it's over, I'll hand you the elder wand and the rest of the Hollows."

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that," Dumbledore said.

"You don't have a choice anymore. I'm going to change it. I'm going to fix what we have done."

"There will be consequences," Dumbledore warns.

"I know. But I'm betting there will be consequences for the lost magic, also."

"Harry—"

"I have to change this," Harry said.

"I wont let you. I've won and you won't change that," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling madly in the moonlight. "Avada Kedavra."

There wasn't any pain.

When Voldemort killed me in the forest, I must have been too focused on my impending death to acknowledged the lack of pain.

It wasn't cold either.

But there was blackness, authors got that right, at least.

Total consuming blackness.

"My master," a voice whispers, "You have returned to me."

"Master?"

"Of Death. I am Death, you are my master."

"So, what now?" I asks, my mind still on the resent revelations. I'm a pure-blood, but not a Potter. Tom Riddle—who wasn't the son of Tom Riddle Senior—was my grandfather. Sirius is my uncle… so is Rudolphus LeStrange ...and Bellatrix. Shit.

"Now you have choices to make."

"Fantastic." Let's get this over with. "What are my options."

"You have a lot of anger in you, Master. You could return to the Realms—"

"Realms?"

"A sort of parallel universe… The one you came from, since you have died, is gone—un-returnable. But there are others, many many others, that you can go to—as the Master of Death, you have access to these universes."

"What's different about them."

"One minor detail, and your actions."

I waited for Death to explain, when he… she… it? didn't, I prompted, "explain."

"When accessing these universes, your soul, as you are now, will—basically—swap with the soul currently housed in your body. You will remember everything you know and learn each time you swap souls. They story will always be the same, as will the characters in the story—but you and your actions will differ."

"Interesting…"

"You could get revenge, Master. I assure you. It is every bit as satisfying as it sounds."

"Yes… Revenge…" Hermione. Ginny. Ron. Molly. Dumbledore. Snape. Fudge. The Order. The Light. Everyone who had lied to me, wronged me. "Revenge sounds delightful."

"I very much support this, Master."

"Being the Master of Death, what does that entitle me to?"

"Power. Every life you take—it feeds you. It feeds the darkness inside of you."

"What about bringing people back to life?"

"Depends."

"On?"

"Are we speaking of those already dead when you arrive in a new universe?"

"Sure."

"One may be recalled."

"Why only one?"

"Those are the rules." Death said.

"I thought you were the closest thing to a real God… Pathetic, really. That someone can put rules on you."

"Do not be mistaken, Master." The title is growing on me… "I am a powerful being."

"Then why only one?"

"It requires a heavy amount of power to bring back more than one at a time. At the present moment, neither of us possess the amount needed to bring back more than one."

"So, you could bring back more than one? If you spread them out?"

"Yes, but then we have a new problem."

"Which is?"

"The soul being brought back to life—needs an escort to the land of the living. You would have to die in order to be available to be the escort. That then brings on it's own problems."

"Which are?"

"You may not return to the same universe once you have passed on from there."

"But I have before… When Voldemort killed me—I returned to the same universe. It was because of the Horcrux or something."

"Hmm… It was actually due to several factors."

"Would those factors work again?"

There was a long pause before Death spoke again. "I am not usually this forthcoming on information. Master, I will tell you how to recall two, and only two, souls. In exchange, you will grant me one leeway on a simple matter in the new universe."

"How simple?"

"Inconsequential."

"Deal. How do I bring two back."

"Through your mother's sacrifice. For this to work, you have to enter the universe before it is tampered with by the revival of your Grandfather, and your mother needs to be the second soul you recall."

"Are their any other restrictions on what time I enter the new universe?"

"No. Although, I recommend sometime after you become the Boy Wonder—you need your mother's sacrifice to bring her back, and before you are reintroduced into wizarding society. It would be a real shame if you had to go about explaining why you no longer looking like Dad Wonder—assuming you are going to break the blood adoption potion running through your veins…"

"Excuse me? Blood adoption potion?"

"How else did you think you ended up looking so much like a man who isn't your father?"

"Honestly, didn't even think about it. How do I get rid of it?"

"A blood cleansing potion. You'll find it among Knockturn Alley. It's outlawed by the Ministry. Technically speaking, so is the adoption potion, but I gather your mother was desperate."

Not ready to deal with that particular dragon—changing the subject, "What about those who die after I go to the universe?"

"You are the master of Death, their fate is in your hands. But the death of a soul will feed both you and I. I warn you heavily about starvation—bad things, uncontrollable things, will happen if you don't feed."

"Alrighty then, once I go to the new universe, will I be able to talk to you?"

"Yes. I will come every time you take a life."

"So, to talk to you, I have to kill someone?"

"Yes."

"Stellar. Is there anything between us that doesn't have to do with somebody getting killed?"

"You do know I am death, correct? And that you are my master?"

"So, no?"

"Any other questions? Or are you ready to go."

"Ready as I'll ever be."

"Who is it you will be taking with you?"

"My father. The real one, Regulus Black."

"And what time would you like to go back to?"

"Right before I got my Hogwarts letter. I want to change everything, and the beginning sounds like a good place to start my revenge."

"Very well. Go forth, young Master, show them what we do to our enemies."

The familiar, down to the bone, ache of starvation was the first thing I noticed once I awoke. The second was the coldness of the cupboard. I was back at Number 4 Privet Drive. The third was that my usually curly black mess of hair was braided down pass my shoulders. The forth thing was that I had a death grip on a black stuffed animal dog. The fifth thing, that really should have been the first, was that I, Harry James Potter, am a girl.

What the hell did Death do?