Harry Potter and The Prince of Power Book 1 Birth of a Snake

by ACI100

The world is a complex place, one of many subtle things that separate us Wizards though, many of them view the world as black and white, light and dark, good and evil. Albus Dumbledore is one of those people. So when Lord Voldemort fell the world rejoiced, and Dumbledore thought Harry Potter, the Saviors of the light to be just that his saviour. He is in for one hell of a surprise.

1. The Plan Goes Wrong

Disclaimer: All the usual nonsense applies here, J.K Rowling owns Harry Potter, I don't make any money off of this story etc. Same old sad story, one day. Also, I apologize for the novel that is my ANs, but it's the first chapter, so it's to be expected.

Recommendations:

I figured I would start doing this at the beginning of my stories. Shoutout to DZ2 for the idea, since I saw him do the same. These are some of the better Harry in Slytherin stories/series that I've read. They're not all dark Harry, but they are all fairly good:

Travel Secrets Series (First, Second, Third) by E4mj.

Paradoxical Parallels by HistoryOnRepeat.

The Son of Lord Voldemort by Shopaholic1369.

They Shook Hands by Dethryl.

The Downward Spiral Series: Harry Potter and The Homecoming, Harry Potter and Salazar's Legacy, Harry Potter and The Year Of Broken Chains, Harry Potter and The Return of The Lost, Harry Potter and The Dirge of Hope, Harry Potter and The End of War by BolshevikMuppet99.

The Rarest Soul of All by DZ2.

Harry Potter and The Serpent Chronicles Book 1 The Prince of Slytherin by ACI100.

Travel Secrets is my favourite Harry in Slytherin story/series I have read, possibly my favourite series in general, though there are only the first three years out and I am unsure if the author will continue, but I love the series.

Paradoxical Parallels is a work in progress but seems very promising. In many ways, this story portrays Harry as a mirror image to Tom Riddle. The portrayal of Harry in that story is somewhat similar, (though still different) to how he will be portrayed in this story.

The Son of Lord Voldemort. I actually haven't come anywhere close to finishing this one yet, but I am enjoying it thus far. It is somewhat cliche, but it is well written, and I enjoy Harry's character and his dynamic with his group.

They Shook Hands is currently a six story series that covers Harry's first six years, though I imagine the seventh will come out eventually, the writer just likes to take his time between stories. This series portrays Harry closer to his canon Gryffindor character. While the first few years do follow canon quite closely, it divulges quite a lot after that. I have enjoyed the series so far, especially the last two stories.

The Downward Spiral series is actually up there for me, I am only on book four as I recently started reading this (hence why it is at the bottom, I'm adding this after the original chapter was written) but it is quite honestly probably my second favourite Slytherin Harry series out there right now. It is fairly new and not nearly as popular as it should be so go and treat yourself and show the author some love.

The Rarest Soul of All is quite a new story written by DZ2. It also features a dark Harry who is also going into his first year at Hogwarts. It looks quite promising and the author in question usually updates fairly often. It looks quite different to the one I am writing, but I am excited to see where DZ2 takes this one as it progresses.

Harry Potter and The Serpent Chronicles Book 1: The Prince of Slytherin is of course my own story. It was the first story I have ever written and i am currently revising little bits of it. It is, (as the name suggests) the first of a series of Harry in Slytherin stories. Harry is a grey character in the story and can be described as a prodigy. Armed with friends such as Draco Malfoy, Theodore Nott and Blaise Zabini, Harry run headlong into the new and exciting world of magic. And who is this intriguing blonde by the name of Daphne Greengrass?

I will recommend these stores at the beginning of each chapter just to keep them fresh in your mind, but I will do so without the description of each, that way it won't take up much room.

Honourable mentions:

On The Way To Greatness by Mira mirth.

I have my issues with this story, mainly in formatting and structure. Despite that is it well written, doesn't crack my top 5 by any means, but it is well written and quite popular.

Thanks to a Snake by Irish216

This is more of a guilty pleasure for me. Mechanically speaking, it's not the best story. There are quite a few stupid little errors. For example is where one word is clearly meant to be another, so I do not believe he proofread it. They are not overly frequent, and they are small errors, so they're easy to get around. The other critique I have is that some of the characters act very out of character, Snape in particular, but it is still enjoyable.

Authors Note 1

Ok, so for those of you who were around when I posted a vote, this story narrowly won. That isn't the only reason I'm doing it, I actually did some irreversible things in Serpent Chronicles that I seriously regret and I just kind of have to live with now. For those of you who want me to write a Tom Riddle story/series, fear not, it will come, probably later this year, but we will have to wait and see.

Authors Note 2

If anyone is going to complain I am doing another Slytherin Harry series, I assure you it will be quite different from Serpent Chronicles. The first chapter should show you as much. For anyone who is still going to blindly hate, don't read it.

Authors Note 3

Well, you guys wanted a darker Harry? Here you go. This is in many ways is my correction to Serpent Chronicles. Although I love that series I made some irreversible additions to the plot and completely went off my original path. That may not be a bad thing, and I still enjoy where the story is going, but this Harry will be similar to my original visions for that series, just quite a bit darker.

Authors Note 4

This is an AU story, so if I change things, I did not get canon wrong, I just chose to change it: example, Bellatrix never goes to Azkaban.

Authors Note 5

Ok, I will say this now, so if you hate on me for it later, you're going to look like an idiot. I will be taking one of the OC's from Travel Secrets and using her in this story. Unlike Travel Secrets, I will be making both her and her family very important to the story, and developing their backstory. For those of you who have read, or are planning to read Travel Secrets, that character is Grace Weitts. Full credit on the character goes to the author E4mj, the backstory and use I lay out for her and her family are my own creation. She won't come up for a while, but I just wanted to put that out there now.

Authors Note 6

Thank you to my betas, James Marx, and Haphne24 for their work on this story, I appreciate it very much guys.

Authors Note 7

Last one, I promise. (Until the end that is) But this had to be said. I am giving you fair warning, there is a very vivid/brutal scene of child abuse in this chapter, so just be warned, this story is M for a reason, oppose to the T rating on Serpent Chronicles.

"Speach"

'Internal dialogue'

Bold = Parseltongue

Chapter 1: The Plan Goes Wrong.

October 31st, 1981

Albus Dumbledore stood in the flaming wreck that was once an elegant, rather beautiful cottage in the center of Godric's Hollow. Dumbledore's heart was racing. He spun his wand in his hand casting a revealing charm as he did. He was the only living being on the first level. He did not expect an ambush, but in times like these, one could never be too careful. Dumbledore didn't even think Tom Riddle would fake his own death to lure him into a trap, he thought him far too prideful, but he could never be sure.

Slowly Albus Dumbledore made his way deeper into the wreck, vanishing the flames with a lazy sweep of his wand. Then he saw the first body and his heart clenched. James Potter had always been a personal favourite of his. The boy had been talented beyond his years. One of the best transfiguration students of the century. Possibly third behind only Minerva and of course Tom himself. It was not only his skill that endeared James Potter to the old sorcerer though. He was witty, charismatic, and was a pleasure to be around. Sure, he had been a handful as a teenager. Arrogant, over the top, and bordering on a menace. But James had never had any bad intentions, he had just been a foolish teenager, and he had matured out of that phase into one of the Orders most valued members, and a man Dumbledore had been quite sure would make an excellent father.

That was not to be however, clearly Tom Riddle had seen to that.

Dumbledore sighed heavily as he inspected the body, it was only through years of practice that Albus showed no emotion. His body was completely unmarked. His face still one of defiance, his brown eyes blank and lifeless. It had been quick; Tom had struck with the Avada Kedavra and been done with it. Upon further investigation, he noticed that the man didn't even have his wand with him.

'They must have been surprised then.' He thought sadly.

He sighed again, he could do nothing for James Potter. For all of Albus Dumbledore's legendary accomplishments, abundance of power, and prodigious skill, not even he could reverse death. It was, even in a world of magic, an inevitability, and one that once realized, could not be reversed.

That was when he heard it, a thud from upstairs. His eyes widened. Could he have caught Lord Voldemort in the act? Gripping The Elder Wand tightly, Dumbledore quickly cast a disillusionment charm on himself and made his way up the stairs.

His heart was racing, he had been anticipating a confrontation with Tom for years. He had known it would come. He knew he was the only one with a hope of stopping Riddle. He figured he had the advantage in skill, tactics, and overall magical knowledge. But he knew Tom had him far bested in raw magical power, though the Wand of Destiny would compensate for at least part of that gap. And as far as dark, offensive spells went, Lord Voldemort's arsenal could not be matched by anyone on the planet.

The confrontation between the dark and light lords had never come though. Dumbledore's theory had only been proven to be half right.

"The one with the power to vanquish The Dark Lord approaches.

Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies.

The Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power The Dark Lord knows not.

Either must die at the hand of the other, for neither can live while the other survives.

The one with the power to vanquish The Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies."

Those words had hit home for Dumbledore. He was no fan of divination, but he knew the subject was not completely useless. After all, Gellert had been a seer, and Dumbledore knew enough to recognize a prophecy when he heard one. Though in this case there could be no doubt that the words of Sybil Trelawney were, indeed, a true prophecy.

He had spent months breaking down the prophecy and had come to his conclusion. Either Harry Potter or Neville Longbottom could be the child of prophecy. This meant he had been partially right. There truly was only one person who could best Tom Riddle, but it was not him.

If Tom's actions tonight were any indication, he believed it to be Harry Potter, and if Dumbledore was too late, then he would have already marked the boy, setting the prophecy into motion. For a split second Dumbledore debated just letting Tom do it, that would at least either confirm or deny if Harry was destined to be his equal. He shook his head at that thought. As much as he believed in "the greater good", his morality won out.

Based on the prophecy he couldn't beat Riddle, but he had to try none the less.

But he didn't have to. When he entered the room it was very apparent he was too late.

There on the ground was another body. The slim form of Lily Evans lay dead on the floor. Her red hair flattened over her face, her eyes rolled back, her face, much like that of her husband, was set in a now eternal look of defiance. Again, Albus felt his stomach give a painful jolt.

Lily Evans, now Lily Potter, had been one of the kindest souls that Albus Dumbledore had ever met. She was kind, compassionate, considerate, and understanding. She, like her husband, was also very talented.

Lily had been the best charms student since Tom Riddle. There was no debate, even Filius, though probably the more gifted duelist, had not matched Lily's marks in the subject. She had also been a genius in regards to potions, as Horace had constantly reminded the staff. She was no slouch in Defense Against the Dark Arts either, she had been third in the subject during her time at Hogwarts, behind only James and Severus. She was, probably along with Minerva and of course Tom, one of the three most gifted students to go through Hogwarts thus far in the last century.

With the thought of Severus, his stomach lurched again. The man would be destroyed. Lily was the only person he truly loved, and, Dumbledore suspected, the only person who he truly cared for at all. He than felt bile rise in his throat. Severus had only asked Tom one favour ever, and it wasn't even complicated; spare Lily Evans. It wouldn't have been difficult, he could have just stunned her, but he had killed her anyway. This, more than anything else to Albus, spoke volumes about the character of Tom Riddle.

But then something spectacular caught Albus's attention.

A sound from across the room had caught his attention and his jaw fell open.

Standing up in his crib, his tiny fists on the side, his large green eyes looking up at Dumbledore with interest prominent within them, was Harry Potter. Albus felt his body go limp and quickly inspected the room.

What he saw nearly made the old man collapse. Lying there crumpled in a heap was a tall, slim, body wrapped in black. As Dumbledore watched, the body began to decompose before his eyes, turning to ash. But then it happened. A whisper of something rose from the corpse.

"Tom." Dumbledore whispered. It was a spirit, not a ghost per se, more of a wraith, its magic was pooling throughout the room. Tom Riddle had been stopped, but not defeated.

The spirit hissed at Dumbledore before flying straight at Harry.

"NO!" Dumbledore screamed.

The spirit had broke off, most of it had flown straight out the window. But a smaller part of it was trying to enter the boy. Unless Albus could do something quickly, Tom Riddle may have just created a horcrux.

"Legilimens." He was in the mind of a toddler, and it was not a peaceful place. To his horror he watched the murder of Lily Evans take place, and for a moment he became distracted.

"Stand aside, foolish girl." Tom Riddle hissed, now unrecognizable from his Hogwarts days. He was as white as milk with eyes of pure scarlet, no pupils seemed to exist in his eyes. And his nose, well, it was non existent.

"Please! Not Harry! Kill me instead, leave Harry!" Lily pleaded.

"I said STAND ASIDE!" Dumbledore stood there in shock. Lily had given her son the strongest protection the world could ever offer him without even knowing it, so this is how it had happened.

"Please have mercy. Kill me please, just please leave my son."

"This is your final warning." Voldemort said, his wand taking aim.

"Not Harry! Please, not Harry."

"Avada Kedavra!" The burst of green light was blinding, as Dumbledore was seeing the memory from Harry's point of view.

Dumbledore felt his heart break for the boy. A fifteen month old child forced to watch his mother die in front of his very eyes. The only consolation Dumbledore took in this was that Harry would not remember the event.

As Voldemort advanced on Harry himself, Dumbledore remembered why he had entered Harry's mind in the first place and almost panicked. He had not entered to watch the events of the night, he had entered to stop a soul fragment from embedding itself within the boy. Dumbledore worked quickly. He quickly located the irregularity in Harry's magic. It was close, too close. Dumbledore poured every bit of power he could at the area of magic. Their magic's fought, battled for a long time before finally, Dumbledore won.

He knew though, there would be consequences for the boy. No, he would not be a horcrux, but there was a huge amount of Tom's residual magic left in the boy. On one hand, if this granted him the power that Dumbledore thought it would, then that was one thing that could work in Harry's favor.

He believed, as far as raw power was concerned, Tom Riddle was the most powerful wizard alive. So, if this allowed Harry to utilize the same magic, as well as his own, Dumbledore figured Harry had the potential to become even more powerful.

There were other risks though. This was unprecedented. A person's magic was, in many ways, what defined them. Would this have other effects on Harry? Would it change the boy in front of him? Only time would tell.

…..

August 5th 1985

That fateful night, Albus Dumbledore had hatched his plan for the greater good. Harry Potter had been left on the doorstep of his relatives. This was a calculated risk on the part of Dumbledore. Lily had not spoken well of them, and it was rare Lily spoke anything but well of anyone. But Dumbledore did not think they would ever abuse a child and he did not want Harry growing up in the limelight.

There were also the political ramifications. If Dumbledore wanted to insert Harry into wizarding society, it would have to go through the Wizengamot, and he did not trust the process, not one bit. He was sure Harry would end up with a rich, pureblood family, and though they were not all Death Eater families, there were a great number of them. That was a risk he was not willing to take. If Harry turned out to be half as powerful as Tom, that is the last environment Dumbledore wanted the boy raised in.

This was the only victory the light would truly have in the next few years though as far as Dumbledore was concerned.

The next few years, in his estimation were disastrous. The news had quickly been spread that Lord Voldemort had been vanquished by Harry Potter. Dumbledore had not revealed the fact that he knew Voldemort to be anything but gone. That would not be good for morale, and it would give the dark side a reason to stay dark.

The problem was, almost all the Death Eaters got away with it while Sirius Black had been sentenced to life in Azkaban. Dumbledore had his suspicions regarding his incarceration. He had never been told who the Potter's secret keeper was. He had been told the secret by James himself. He knew that common belief pointed to Sirius Black, but he wasn't sure.

It would be such a Marauder move to pull the curtains over everyone's eyes. But he did not have the time to prove it. He suspected it would be a nightmare to prove, and if he wanted the best for wizarding society, he had to prioritize. Priority number one was seeing the Death Eaters locked up.

Unfortunately, it wasn't to be. Lucius Malfoy was a master manipulator. He used that talent, as well as countless galleons slid into the right pockets to keep many families free. The Lestranges were a prime example. No one had been convicted for the torture of Frank and Alice Longbottom. The Order Of The Phoenix had cause to believe that it was Bellatrix Lestrange, her husband Rudolphus, as well as perhaps more accomplices had been involved. But the problem was, if Dumbledore revealed the information to the public, he would have to reveal how he had come in possession of it, and that would not bode well for people who he held as being very important to his cause. So it was with a heavy heart for the Longbottoms that Albus had held his tongue.

Families like the Rosiers, Selwyns, Carrows, McNairs, Crabbes, Goyles, and of course the Malfoys and Lestranges escaped prosecution. He had managed to keep Severus out of Azkaban, something that was in his opinion, a job well done.

He had thought there may be hope when Igor Karkaroff came forward with names. Rookwood as a spy in particular was promising. But he escaped scot free as well.

Dumbledore was frustrated. The dark had lost its leader, though it was still as strong as ever. He could only hope that Harry Potter would grow up to be his knight in shining armour; vanquish Tom once and for all, and blaze a new path through the darkness.

…..

At almost 5 years old Harry Potter had not had an easy life, and even at that age, he knew he was not being treated right. His cousin, Dudley was treated like a prince. Harry would sometimes play a little game with himself. He would try to come up with a time where Dudley had been told no by his mother and father. This game though would always end the same way, with Harry admitting it was an impossible game to win, and being even more frustrated than he was when he started.

Harry Potter was an odd boy, even at four years old. He was very small, a lack of food will do that to a person, he wore ragged, beat up, oversized clothes, and he had the most peculiar of scars.

Despite that, Harry Potter was a special boy. He was very advanced for his age. He had said his first sentence at little over a year old. He had been able to read and write at the age of three. Obviously, nothing too complicated, but he could do it nonetheless. Now, at the age of four, Harry could read full books meant for children of ages around 8 or 9. Harry loved to read, it was the only thing he truly knew that he loved. It was, after all, the only thing he had been given a chance to love.

Harry got what Dudley didn't want. That, more often than not, meant that Harry had all the books he could possibly read. He enjoyed reading very much, he had even written some very small tales of his own. Harry loved to read and write because it allowed him a chance to escape. To escape to a place where he wasn't called a freak, a place where he could eat as much as he liked, a place where he was genuinely liked, and given the attention he so desperately wanted.

Though he knew it wasn't to be. Despite him being better than Dudley in every way, it appeared to Harry as if Dudley was the special one.

Oh yes, Harry knew he was better, and it was, aside from his reading and writing, the only thing he took pride in. He had walked before Dudley. He had been running around the living room while Dudley struggled to crawl. He spoke a full sentence before Dudley had learned to say his name. He had learned to read and write before Dudley knew one letter of the alphabet. But still, Dudley was the special one. And it infuriated young Harry to no end. And then there was the bullying.

Bullying was a word Harry had read in a story book. If his young brain was comprehending the word correctly, than that word seemed to fit his dynamic with Dudley. Harry was rather small. Dudley, was rather the opposite. Having only having his fifth birthday a month and a half earlier, Dudley Dursley was already as tall as most seven year olds, and twice as thick. This was quite the advantage for Dudley when it came to his favourite game; Harry hunting.

That all changed today though.

As was usual, Dudley chased Harry full speed through the backyard. Harry dodged rocks and fists, and feet, and more rocks like he was born to run. That's when it had happened.

Harry found himself with his back to the fence with nowhere to go. His cousin was advancing on him, a wicked look on his already pudgy face. He brought his arm back, ready to throw the quite large and pointy rock at the smaller boy. Harry thought, 'Why couldn't something go wrong? Why couldn't Dudley be the one hurting for once?'

As if the world had responded to his thoughts, the rock burst into flames, still in his cousin's hands. Dudley screamed bloody murder as his frail hands quickly burned. He threw the flaming boulder at Harry, but it miraculously missed him.

The beating Harry had received that night had been legendary. It had been the first time he had been beaten, and it was a day he would never forget, and not just because of a near eidetic memory. For days he had been unable to move. Little did he know his ribs, nose, leg, and arm had been broken. Despite all of that Harry was happy for the first time ever. This was proof that they were wrong. He was the special one, not Dudley. He could make things catch on fire just by wanting them to.

His theory about being special was only proven to be more correct that year when school started. While Dudley hated school with a burning passion and struggled through the first half of the alphabet, Harry excelled in every aspect of the word.

The teachers at the school had never seen a five year old so gifted, it was unbelievable. He was skipped ahead two grades, and even then he wasn't struggling. By the end of the year, he was top of his class once more.

That next summer, Harry began to experiment more with his gift as he had named it. This started one day when Vernon, Petunia, and Dudley were out at the park.

Harry was running around the house when he accidentally knocked over a rather expensive vase of flowers. This one in particular he knew was a favourite of his aunt's. He froze in place, surely the beating for this would be legendary. And that's when he remembered last summer and thought to himself 'what if?' He focused on what he remembered of the feeling, a warmth quickly spread throughout his body, almost pulsing seemingly right under his skin. He then focused on the vase. He imagined a perfectly whole vase, filled with undamaged, blooming flowers. All of a sudden, the vase began to put itself back together, and the flowers rebloomed, looking far better than they had even before the vase had been shattered.

He smiled to himself as he heard the front door open, 'What else could I do?' He thought to himself.

That summer, Harry found out he could do quite a lot. He could make things change colour, he could make Dudley hurt when he was mean to him, and his favourite thing yet, he could control animals. He could get animals to do things for him without even training them. Snakes though, they were Harry's favourite. He could actually understand snakes. He didn't understand how, even at the age of five going on six, Harry knew this should be impossible. He went to the library and spent hours trying to find what it was that made him special but he couldn't find anything.

He had nearly asked his aunt and uncle, but a few things held him back. One, they had never been nice to him, so he had no reason to trust them. Two, they had outright banned questions, and Harry did not like being punished. Three, they didn't know about his gift, and in the past, anything that made him better than Dudley simply infuriated the Dursley's, so he had no reason to believe this would be any different.

That summer though, he did find something out that did annoy him. His gift was very hard to use. Well, not hard, just costly. It made him very tired, and very, very hungry. Considering the fact that Harry didn't get a quarter of the amount of food a child of his age should be getting, and it made his gift a pain to use.

That's another reason why he talked to snakes, that didn't take energy, and after all, in this lonely world, they really were his only friends.

…..

In the next couple years Harry Potter would mature greatly. He was, in short, a child genius. He had learned how to be very charming when he had to be; at the age of seven, he had become a master manipulator. And at the age of eight, his plan had gone off, seemingly without a hitch.

Dudley had formed a gang. Their favourite activity, unfortunately, seemed to be whatever Dudley wanted to do. More often than not, that was hunting down Harry.

So, Harry had searched for a solution and came upon two things: his gift, as he called it, and his charm. He would either charm, or scare Dudley's gang onto his side. One way or another they would crack.

And crack they did. Only one member of Dudley's gang succumbed to the charm. That didn't really surprise Harry, if they hung around with Dudley, it was clearly not something they understood. Intimidation though, that worked very well. Malcolm had been the easiest. Harry had cornered him on his way home and chased him into the woods. From there Harry had found what he was looking for, a snake. He had set the snake loose on Malcolm. It was not venomous, but its bite still wasn't pleasant. Mix that with the boys phobia for snakes, and the fact he was only nine years old and he cracked quickly. Promising to stop, to do anything for Harry to let him go, he did.

Piers Polkiss had taken the longest. Harry had used snakes, had made the boy hurt and everything. It would work for a while but he would always move on and go back to Dudley. Harry admired the boy's nerve, and partially enjoyed the challenge. Unfortunately for Piers though, it only made him want to break the boy even more.

And break him he did. Harry had cornered Piers and his younger brother during an outing with Dudley's gang. Harry had scared off his cousin easily enough. Dudley had stopped bothering Harry months ago. Now a days he was too scared to challenge him, he was apparently too scared to even go to his parents. Harry had simply willed him to hurt and he had. This had been enough to send him off wailing. Piers had then become very nervous.

"G-g-go away, Potter. L-l-leave me alone."

"Why would I do that?" Harry asked, a smile far to predatory for an eight year old boy gracing his lips.

"Because it's-it's-it's not right. It's not right what you do to us."

Harry just laughed at this before he was cut off by Pier's little brother.

His younger brother had tried to intervene but it had been a terrible idea. Harry had simply caused the six year old boy a fraction of the pain he was capable of causing and he had fallen, balling. From there, Harry had frozen him in place, if all else failed he could potentially be quite the bargaining chip.

"Piers, my life isn't right, what you helped do to me for years isn't right. There's only one way for you to get better, Piers, and that's to be taught a lesson. And since no one else seems to want to do it, I will."

The next few hours were not pleasant for Piers. He felt pain unlike anything he had ever felt before. Though it was nothing in comparison to the Cruciatus curse, it was far beyond the tolerance of a nine year old boy. He saw things too, terrible things, things that would haunt his dreams for years. This was another talent of Harry's, he could make people see things. Things that were not real, things that would haunt their dreams. And he always knew what to pick, sometimes he just knew what scared people the most. He would just look at them dead in the eye and focus on their greatest fear, and the image would appear to him, from there, it was as simple as using his gift to project the image in their mind.

And finally he had stopped him from breathing, he had held it as long as possible, just as the boy was about to collapse he released his grip on the boy, the invisible chains loosening as he slumped to the ground.

"You should have known, Piers, people who fight against me don't win. You should have never tried. You're either with me or against me. Now, have you finally learned your lesson?"

"No!" PIers wailed in defiance.

Harry just sighed. "Then I am afraid you leave me with no choice.

The boy's brother gasped as Harry focused on him, cutting off his flow of oxygen as easily as he had done to his brother.

Piers whaled but did not have the strength to stand.

"Give up Piers, I do not enjoy hurting children, don't give me a reason to do it anymore than I have to."

He then focused on pain. The small boy gasped for a moment as oxygen was allowed back into his lungs before he screamed in pure agony.

"Do you give up, Piers? Will you leave Dudley for me?"

The sobbing boy could do nothing but look up and nod.

"Good." Said Harry "Meet me and the others at the park tomorrow at 2:00."

As he was walking away, he turned back around.

"And Piers, don't be late, you won't like what will happen if you're late."

That next day the plan began. The former members of Dudley's gang had all flocked to Harry. They were broken, nothing more than followers. For the next number of months they tormented their former friend under Harry's careful instructions.

One day, Harry decided to end the game. He cornered Dudley on the deserted playground one day after school and did the thing Dudley was so fond of doing. He commanded his followers to beat up Dudley. Admittedly, Dudley put up a good fight, but there were too many of them, and Malcolm wasn't small either. The sweet taste of revenge was one Harry enjoyed, and though he didn't have many tasty comparisons, he was sure it was the best thing he had ever tasted.

That day though, Harry made a terrible mistake. He allowed himself to become drunk in his power, he had drowned in the oh so sweet sensation of revenge. This turned out to quite literally be a fatal mistake however.

By the time Harry realized that he had gone too far it was too late. Dudley had been left on the playground. Harry felt no remorse for his cousin, he did not think he was heartless, it had truly hurt him to hurt the little boy months earlier, but Dudley? Harry could never feel pity for any member of the Dursley family, in his mind they deserved the absolute worst life could throw at him.

Dudley was found hours later and the Dursley's had rushed their precious heap of a son to the hospital, despite the fact they knew, in their heart of hearts that it was already too late. Dudley Dursley lost the battle that night and passed away at the age of nine.

When Harry heard the front door slam open from the depths of his cupboard he knew he was in trouble.

He tried to put down his book and prepare to run but he was too slow.

The cupboard flew open and Harry was grabbed around the neck and slammed against the wall, suspended in mid air with one hand, while Vernon punched him hard in the face three times before throwing a few punches to the boy's ribs, which promptly shattered on impact..

"I'LL KILL YOU YOU FILTHY FUCKING FREAK! I'LL KILL YOU FOR WHAT YOU DID TO DUDDERS! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!"

He dragged Harry to the top of the staircase and slammed his face into the railing over and over again until he was sure he could not take anymore, and then dangled him over the side.

"DO YOU WANT THIS? DO YOU WANT ME TO DROP YOU YOU LITTLE FREAK? DO YOU WANT THE EASY WAY OUT? HUH? WOULD YOU LIKE THAT?"

Harry tried to answer through his mouthful of blood but couldn't. Even if he could have, his uncle cut him off before he could speak.

"WELL THAT'S A BLOODY SHAME ISN'T IT!" His voice had shook for the duration of the beating, it shook with blinding rage, with crippling grief, it shook with a unquenchable thirst for vengeance. "WELL TOO BLOODY BAD! THERE'S NO EASY WAY OUT FOR FREAKS! FREAKS GET WHAT THEY DESERVE!"

He pulled Harry back over the railing and let him drop head first onto the floor, he took a few deep breaths before a malicious grin crossed his insane looking face as he thought of a device that could aid him in making his nephews last few hours of life truly miserable.

Vernon Dursley made to run down the stairs, content on finding a screwdriver, drill, hammer and nails. He never made it though.

Harry lay on the floor, wanting nothing more than for it to all be over. He wanted any release possible but he did not want to die. He did not want to die for one simple reason, Vernon Dursley did not deserve to get away with it. He deserved karma, he deserved to hurt, he deserved what Dudley had got.

As soon as that thought crossed Harry's mind he felt something rise inside of him. It was his gift, that much was obvious to him, but it was not the same as it had been previously. It was white hot instead of simply being warm, as if his very anger and pain were fuelling it.

Harry Potter did not see it from his spot on the floor but his wife, who had watched on with horrified, puffy eyes saw it in live action.

Vernon Dursley on the first step had fallen, but not simply fallen. It was as if he had been thrown head first down the stairs. His feet had left the ground as he had been thrown headfirst down the stairs head butting the floor hard, breaking his neck and killing him instantly.

Petunia had been in denial and called the ambulance. This though, this proved to backfire royally as Harry had been the first to receive their attention after the men had been horrified at the sight of the small, broken child on the floor.

He had been transported to the hospital and rushed through emergency while Vernon Dursley had been declared dead.

Harry stayed in the hospital for two weeks while his frail body recovered. He liked the hospital, simply for the fact that it allowed him to spend all of his time reading, and that for the first time in his life he had been receiving three meals a day, he felt better then ever and wished he could just stay there.

It was not to be however, he had been informed by police officers mere days after being hospitalized that his aunt was deemed an unsuitable guardian and that Harry would be living in an orphanage.

Harry did not care, he was happy, he had gotten revenge on all of the people who had hurt him, including his aunt, even though he did not yet know it.

As far as he was concerned, anywhere was better than where he had come from. And Harry Potter desperately hoped that for the first time in his life he could find peace.

Unfortunately, not for the first time in his short, miserable life, Harry Potter's pleas had gone unanswered.

Authors Endnote

So, I'm always nervous with the first chapter of anything, so please tell me how I did. You may think this Harry is far too intelligent for his age, but please go with it. I said he's a child genius, I meant it, and he will continue to be so. Just a quick disclaimer, Harry will be VERY powerful in this series. But so will both Riddle and Dumbledore, so I think it will balance itself out in the long run.

Please review. The first chapter is always important, so I'd really like to know what you thought of it. I know dark/grey Harry stories have been done, I know Harry in Slytherin stories have been done; I've done one of my own if you'd like to check it out. But I haven't seen one start off like this, so I will try to keep this one unique.

Also if you're new to me as an author, a follow and a favourite both as an author, and to the story would be beyond appreciated.

With all of the self promo out of the way, I hope you are all enjoying your day, and I hope it continues to be enjoyable. ACI100 signing off, see you all next time.