The Rise of a Shadow Mage
Chapter One
I don't own Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings or the wheel of time.
A/N: I have updated this chapter and the next after doing some more research.
The Wheel of Time turns and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called the Fifth Age by some, an Age yet to come, an Age long past, a wind rose in the a wind rose in the city called London. The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it was a beginning. (1) The wind swept through the bustling metropolis and out into the suburbs. It swept through suburb of Little Whinging, Surrey. It howled as it passed by the sleeping Privet Drive disturbing no as no one was awake except one.
A six year old Harry Potter shivered in his cupboard. It had been his for as long as he could remember. The place was dark and often quite damp. He had questioned why he was living in a cupboard before and it had resulted in one of his worst beatings ever, although not as bad as yesterday. He had been lying on his meager mattress ever since his oh so loving Uncle had thrown him in here yesterday. At least he thought it was yesterday. His body was wracked with pain and he was nearly delirious. He had just been curious and wanted to know why Dudley had received presents when he had not. He had long ago learned not to ask questions of his family but in a moment of carelessness he had blurted it out.
His Uncle's face had turned a pasty puce color. Harry had paled and then with a resounding blow to the head the beating began. This was not like any of the previous beatings. Before his Uncle had been careful not to bruise his face or hands lest the neighbors talk. Not like this time. His Uncle began with his head and worked his way down Harry's body. By the time he had finished Harry was unconscious with numerous bruises and possible more than a few broken bones. Harry's glasses that the school had forced the Dursley's to buy had shattered and his face was covered in countless small lacerations. When Vernon had finished he had thrown Harry into his cupboard and locked the door.
Now more than 24 hours later Harry was fading in and out of consciousness. In his delirium all he could think of was that he wished he was safe. This though was the only thing that had kept him going so far. This continued until the clock struck midnight. As the grandfather clock in the hall chimed out twelve chimes Harry's eyes began to glow a deep black. As the eyes stopped glowing he began to fade into the floor and with nary a sound he disappeared from Privet Drive forever.
Harry appeared on the floor of a grand entrance hall. Meer seconds later a female house elf named Tipsy in a set of ornate robes appeared. She was crouched in a defensive position and was prepared to defend the castle from whoever had breached the wards. As she noticed Harry moaning feebly on the floor her eyes widened in surprise the human child positively reeked of unrestrained power. Among that power she could sense the gifts of the Le Fay line. The heir had finally returned. Moving quickly she summoned the best healer among the castles elves.
Two quick pops and Harry was lying on a bed in the small infirmary wing being tended to by three healer elves. The elves worked furiously to keep their patient alive and it was nearly an hour later before they pronounce him in stable condition. They tucked him into the bed in the master suite and waited for him to wake up. It took nearly three days before Harry began to stir. In a flash Tipsy was back at his side.
Harry tried to sit up but winced as pain lanced through his left arm. He was surprised at this he should have been hurt a lot worse than just his left arm. And come to think of it there shouldn't be any light in his cupboard. He opened his eyes and to say he was astonished would be an understatement. He was in the most lavish bedroom he had ever seen. The small creature by his bedside though threw him for a loop and he barely managed to choke back a scream due to his years of abuse at the hands of the Dursleys. The creature gave a smile and introduced itself as Tipsy. He managed to croak out a question. "What are you?" His voice was scratchy and his throat felt parched.
With a soft smile Tipsy responded in a gentle tone. "I am a house-elf Young Master. I take it from your question you have never heard of magic before." Receiving a nod she continued and began a brief overview of the magical world. To say that Harry was surprised would be a massive understatement. He finally knew why those strange things happened to him. He wasn't a freak he just had a gift. This revelation changed his outlook on life completely. Whereas before he felt worthless due to the actions of his relatives now he had new hope. He had a place where he could belong and a place where he felt safe for the first time.
Despite his shy demeanor he was bursting with questions. He had refrained from asking so far but with Tipsy's soft encouragement the questions began to spill out. He wanted to know where they were, how he got there and most importantly if he could stay. Tipsy knew that the last question was the most important to the young boy and told him that he was the new master of the castle and this was his home. He would never be forced back to his abusive relatives. He managed to slip through the wards and arrive in the Keep itself through shadow magic. He was currently lying in the master bedroom of the Royal Palace of Avalon. The last Queen Le Fay had disappeared back in 1959 and while the family elves had not been aware that she was pregnant, they could still feel that an heir was out there so they continued to maintain the Palace as well as the entire chain unplottable islands that had been in the family for almost 1500 years. The Palace and the wards had gradually been added to since their creation and they were the best in Britain. They were several times stronger than the wards at Hogwarts due to there being very few allowed access. Hogwarts was a school and needed to be accessible to the students and staff, but Avalon was inaccessible without the direct permission of the head of the Le Fay family. The Wards were a complex masterpiece. The main wards were a variation on the Fidelius. Instead of a single secret keeper there were seven house-elves that carried a part of the secret but couldn't divulge it. Only the Lord of Avalon could give someone the secret and as a part of the magic of the charm when someone heard the secret they were also bound by secrecy oaths and loyalty oaths about both the islands and anything that happened on the islands without direct permission of the Lord La Fay. There were also wards that affected the weather over the island. The last was the security system. It was a massive semi-sentient warding array that was in place to detect malicious intent towards anyone and was directly tied into the security wards. The security wards were in place to neutralize anyone that got to the island with the intent to cause harm.
The Isles of Avalon were gifted to the sorceress and founder of the La Fay family, Morgan La Fay by her half-brother Arthur Pendragon for services rendered to the British Crown. The islands were 30 Km south of the south-western tip of Great Britain, due south of St. Just. The main Island was about two kilometers long and one kilometer wide and was surrounded by sheer cliffs that rose about 150 meters above the ocean below. It contained the main Palace, a sprawling palace at the south end of the island rose an additional 25 meters above the island. It was the most recent and lavish of the Palaces at the site and was a towering behemoth made of White Yule Marble. (2) It was a visual masterpiece that surpassed even the Sun Palace at Versailles. It was built in 1903 and was the fourth palace on the site.
The palace was probably the single greatest repository of magical knowledge and magical artifacts in the entire world. The library had no equal and even contained some of the original scrolls from the Library of Alexandria. There was a team of house elves whose sole job was the acquisition of books and artifacts for the library. They were granted a nearly unlimited budget to obtain these treasures and they were not shy about using less than legal means of acquiring objects of interest. Their efforts allowed the Le Fay family to boast that their library was without peer in the world. Another group of elves keep the library in pristine condition, preserved for eternity. The library was separated into two sections, the first section contained the books that were available to any member of the family and meetings were often held among the books as the library was breathtaking to behold. It spanned three floors and had large bay windows that overlooked the southern half of the archipelago.
The second section was only accessible by direct invitation of the Head of the Family. These were held in a vault deep beneath the Keep and the only entrance was via a portal stone in a room off the master bedroom. This vault held all of the original copies of the books in the main library as well as any book deemed too dangerous for the rest of the family. It also contained most of the artifacts collected over the centuries. Numerous swords from Kings and great warriors, staffs and wands from witches and wizards of great renown, and trinkets both light and dark beyond count. And at the center stood the greatest of the treasures, the Sword Excalibur, gifted to the family upon Arthur's death as well two of the twelve Talismans of the Dragon Lord Shendu, the Dwarven treasures Orcrist, Durin's Axe and the Arkenstone. On a pedestal were two rings, they were two of the three elven rings of power. The Ring Narya once worn by Gandalf the White and the ring Nenya worn by the High Elf Galadrail. The last item was one of the legendary lost seeing stones, the Palantir of the lost city of Minas Tirith. (3)
The other islands are home to a wide variety of plants and animals. The elves work many large farms that produce potions ingredients and foodstuff that fetch a high price and keep the La Fay fortune growing. Many plants that are usually found only in the tropics can be grown here due to the unique wards. The wards in addition to protecting the islands create a tropical environment year round. It also prevents it from raining during the day. It is truly a paradise. Each island has numerous runic portal stones that allow for easy access to anywhere you need to go on the islands. The Keep also has an external transportation stone that connects to the numerous La Fay properties around the world. As Tipsy finished her description of the Keep she noticed that Harry was beginning to fall asleep. Tucking him in she vanished from the room after he drifted off. So began the new life of Harry James Potter, Shadow Mage and Lord of the Le Fay family Crown Prince of Avalon.
A/N: I will update when able.
Standard beginning of the Wheel of Time books by Robert Jordan.
Marble found in Colorado, used to make the Lincoln Memorial as well as other monuments in Washington D.C.
Treasures from Lord of the Rings minus the ring of Zeus.
Those of you who read the chapter before the update will notice the lack of the Ring of Zeus. It really didn't fit in with where I wanted the story to go and will more than likely be used in a different story.