The Dark-Huntress: Part 1:
Broken Wings.
Summery: AU Harry Potter/Dark-Hunter crossover. A rewrite of Harry Potter's time at Hogwarts, starting in his first year. When The-Boy-Who-Lived starts his first year at Hogwarts, an ancient order, almost as old as the Wizarding World, yet for the most part, unknown to it, sends one of it's youngest members to Hogwarts with him, when an evil not seen in 10 years, threatens to return.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. The Harry Potter characters and places are copyright to JK Rowling. The Dark-Hunters and associated characters, places and creatures are copyright to Sherrilyn Kenyon.
AN: Well, here's the prologue for my first Harry Potter fanfic. Please, tell me what you people think. Good? Bad? Feedback is greatly appreciated, so please review :D
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Prologue.
Hogwarts, 1942.
Hermione Jane Granger exited the classroom, feeling excited. She'd just taken her Transfiguration N.E.W.T exam, under the ever watchful eye of one of the nicest and supportive teachers at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry; Professor Albus Dumbledore, Head of Gryffindor House.
She was a little worried about her N.E.W.T.s, but Dumbledore had assured her she'd done fine, in all of her exams.
As she walked, she heard the voice of the Headmaster, Professor Dippet speak over the Intercom System.
"All students are to report to their dormitories immediately."
Slightly worried, she started down the corridors towards Gryffindor Tower.
As she rounded a corner, she bumped into Minerva McGonagall, her best friend in the school and fellow Gryffindor student.
"Hi Minerva." Hermione said as she smiled happily at her friend, but the smile faded from her face as she noticed the troubled and horrified look on Minerva's face.
"Minerva?" she asked.
"Hermione…" the girl croaked, her voice barely holding.
"Minerva, what's wrong, what happened?"
"Hermione…it's awful…one of the students…Myrtle…she's dead…" Minerva couldn't hold back the tears any longer, and drew her friend into a tight hug. Hermione, for her own part, returned the hug, feeling tears well up in her own eyes at the news of Myrtle's death. The two of them had been friends for several years now, although Myrtle had been younger, in her third or fourth year.
She, Minerva and Myrtle had been close friends for a long time, and the fact that someone or something had killed Myrtle made Hermione's blood boil with the thirst for vengeance.
She finally pulled back and looked her teary eyed friend in the face, the tears own falling down her cheeks.
"Does anyone know…how? When? Who?"
Minerva shook her head. "They don't know who did it, one of the teachers found her in the Second floor girls' bathroom…" she sniffed. Hermione regarded her friend closely before making up her mind.
"C'mon, I'll take you to the common room, then I'll go fetch you something to drink." She said, trying to calm her friend.
Minerva nodded then turned and headed towards Gryffindor Tower.
Twenty minutes later, Hermione had managed to calm Minerva enough, and got her a drink of warm pumpkin juice. She'd considered staying, but her inquisitive nature got the better of her, as it had so often in the past.
Walking through the upper halls of the castle, she heard voices talking hurriedly just round the corner of the corridor she was in, one sounded stressed and anxious, the other grim and determined.
As she got closer, the words came through more clearly.
"They'll have your wand for this Hagrid, you'll be expelled." came the voice of Tom Riddle, a sixth year she knew quite well, and, over the past few months, they'd struck up a relationship, of sorts, though many of her fellow Gryffindors, Minerva included, thought she was mad for associating with a Slytherin.
"Hagrid? Did he…?" she muttered to herself, her anger rising anew. Rubeus Hagrid, a fellow Gryffindor, seemed quite gentle to his fellow students, at least to Hermione. The half-human giant seemed rather passive most of the time, his only real major flaw, in her eyes, was his tendency to keep unusual, and sometimes dangerous pets.
The rules regarding pets stated that students were only allowed to have either a cat, toad/frog or owl. Certainly not anything that could pose a threat to students. Hagrid's unusual habits had got him into trouble a number of times during his three years at Hogwarts.
"It wasn't him I tell ya, Aragon never hurt anybody!" Hagrid's voice rang out in defense. Hermione groaned. If one of Hagrid's pets was responsible, then he would certainly be expelled.
"Monsters don't make good pets Hagrid. The girl's parents will be here in the morning to take her body home; the least I can do for them is see that the thing that killed their daughter is destroyed."
"I'm tellin' ya, it wasn't him!" Hagrid replied, he sounded really panicked now.
"Move aside." She heard Tom say in a dangerous tone. Then she heard a brief scuffle, Tom casting a spell and Hagrid cry out his pet's name. She was about to rush around the corner and help Tom, when she saw something small scuttle along the floor and up the wall, then disappear into a vent.
A spider, easily 1 foot across with its legs stretched out. It didn't look like it could harm a student, but then, for all she knew, it was poisonous.
"What the hell was he thinking?" she muttered. She then decided discretion was the better part of valor, and quickly retreated to Gryffindor Tower.
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"Where the hell have you been?!" Minerva snapped as Hermione came into the common room.
"I had to go…er…check on something…" Hermione lied.
"You weren't with him again, weren't you Hermione? He's no good!" Minerva snapped.
"Tom's a decent guy Minnie, give him a break."
"He's Slytherin! Slytherins should never be trusted!" Minerva protested.
"Never mind that now. I think I know who…killed Myrtle."
"WHO?" Minerva spat.
"One of Hagrid's pets." Hermione said quietly. Fortunately, they were the only two left in the common room, given how late it was.
Minerva scowled.
"That damn idiot!" she snarled, "He never knew when to obey the rules about pets! How'd you find out anyway?"
Hermione hesitated. "I overheard him and Tom arguing, about his latest pet, Hagrid said his pet wasn't responsible, there was a struggle, his pet, it looked like a giant spider, about one foot across, escaped into a vent and-"
"ESCAPED?!" Minerva practically screamed.
Hermione quickly hushed her,
"Keep your voice down Minnie, do you want to wake up the entire school?"
"I'll kill him. I'll kill him." Minerva started to chant.
"Hold on! I don't think Hagrid, or his pet, had anything to do with it." Hermione said. Minerva glared at her.
"What the hell do you mean? You admitted you overheard him and Tom fighting, you saw his 'pet', and you said it's a GIANT SPIDER, how's that not dangerous? He probably got it from the Forbidden Forest, Dippet's gonna kill him."
"Well, Hagrid wouldn't let something like that loose intentionally, he wouldn't have lasted this long if he would."
"Well, he obviously slipped up this time, didn't he?" Minerva spat.
Hermione sighed, her friend was right.
"Look, Minnie, it's late, how about we talk about this tomorrow? I'm exhausted, we both are." Hermione then looked at her watch, it was about 10pm.
Minerva sighed too. "I guess you're right. We'll talk about this in the morning."
With that, she made her way up to the girls' dorm rooms, Hermione sighed, and took a seat on one of the couches, took out a book, and started reading, but she couldn't concentrate, finally, she gave up and climbed the stairs.
The seventh year dorm she shared with Minerva and several other witches was quiet, too quiet. Hermione, suddenly overcome with exhaustion and grief for the loss of her friend, she quickly managed to change into her nightgown, before crawling into bed, where she sank into a restless, dreamless sleep.
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The next day, the whole school was in a somber mood, that is, all except for Slytherin. A fact that annoyed the Gryffindors to no end, Hermione and her friends especially.
Earlier that morning, at breakfast in the Great Hall, Professor Dippet had announces that classes for the day would be canceled, being a Friday, part of Hermione wasn't best pleased with that, since today was two of her favorite classes: Potions and Charms, but the rational side of her didn't care about classes, or studying, or grades right at that minute.
So now, she sat in the library, trying to read. But she was struggling to concentrate. A group of Ministry officials, including the Minister for Magic, had arrived just after breakfast. They, along with Professors Dippet and Dumbledore, accompanied a terrified looking Hagrid out of the room, presumably to Dippet's office.
What ever the outcome, Hermione doubted that it would be pleasant for the half-giant. Hermione actually felt sorry for him. But he had to learn, and Tom had been right; Monsters really didn't make good pets. Sure, that spider, or whatever it was might have seemed harmless, but since it most likely came from the Forbidden Forest, meant that it wasn't fully grown whenever he'd found it. No-one was entirely sure what lurked in the forest. But Hermione knew that it was stupid to even venture in there, so she bothered lurking.
As she turned a page, she sighed. She had been staring at the same page for over an hour. She looked at her watch, it was almost ten. If she didn't get out of here soon, she'd be kicked out by the librarian. Leaving the book behind, she grabbed her schoolbag and headed out of the library.
It was oddly quiet in the castle, all the torches were lit, but a chill ran over Hermione like when a Dementor came near her. It just seemed all the happiness was sucked out of her in that moment. She walked slowly down the hall, feeling her heart race. It almost felt like someone was stepping on her grave.
As she neared the stairway to Gryffindor Tower, she was suddenly grabbed from behind and shoved into an empty classroom. She felt on her behind, her brown hair disheveled. She looked up at her attacker with her brown eyes and sighed in relief,
"Tom, you scared me. Jeez, you really know how to scare a girl, don't you?"
But as she looked up at her boyfriend, his sharp and intelligent green eyes didn't show affection and love that they had shown to her many times in the past. Now, they showed malice and hatred. Something evil. She swore she could see red in those green eyes that she loved so much.
"Tom? Why are you looking at me like that?" Tom had his arms crossed over his chest as he looked down at her, with his black hair hanging just above his shoulders. He smirked slightly as said,
"Looking at you in what way, Hermione, dear?" The smirk he was giving her started to freak her out. Something was wrong here, really wrong.
Standing up, Hermione brushed off the dirt on her skirt before saying, "Like you want to kill me. Tom, this isn't like you." Tom's eyes glinted maliciously before he chuckled evilly, "Maybe this is the real me, maybe it's not."
Oh yeah, something was wrong with her boyfriend. She let her hand go inside her robe to get her wand, but Tom raised his hand, causing her wand to fly out of her robe pocket into his hand. He tsked,
"Hermione, Hermione, Hermione, where are you ever going to learn? You should never trust Slytherins. Isn't that what Minnie told you only yesterday?" Hermione's blood went cold at those words, how did he know that?
Tom sighed, "You should have listened to her, Mione, but you were too arrogant and you trusted me to realize that." Hermione felt her heart hammering, she was scared beyond scared. She backed up into the wall behind her, thinking fast on how she could escape.
Twirling her wand in his hand, Tom casually went up to her, pressing his body slightly against hers. He leaned down to her ear and said to her, "You know, I did love you, Hermione. But all good things have to come to a end eventually." He kissed her cheek slightly before grasping her throat in his left hand with her wand still in his right.
If only she could get her wand, then she could take him down easily.
Thinking fast, she brought her left knee up between his legs.
Tom let go of her and doubled over, stumbling backwards, dropping her wand in the process.
Moving quickly, she ducked out of the room and made for the portrait of the Fat Lady, but a red bolt of light struck the wall just next to her head, and she whirled round, her eyes wide with fear, but she was also furious at being betrayed too.
"That really hurt, Hermione." Tom growled, as he limped into the corridor, clutching his own wand.
"It was you, not Hagrid. You killed Myrtle." She spat, her eyes narrowing. "She was my friend."
"Figures." Tom snorted, "Trust the Mudbloods to stick together."
Hermione's eyes narrowed as she glared at him. Raising her wand, she snarled, "Legilimens."
Instantly, her mind was filled with images from Tom's mind, she saw everything through his eyes;
Tom realizing that he was the true heir of Salazar Slytherin. Tom, as a young boy, being left in an orphanage. Tom in his sixth year, tracking down and killing his father and step family. Tom, in his 5 year, discovering some sort of passageway, or Shute, hidden under a sink in the second floor girls bathroom.
"The room Myrtle was killed in." Hermione whispered.
Then something else flashed through her mind, though she felt Tom trying to resist her, but she pushed further, she could sense he was hiding something.
Pushing a little harder, she saw a large wall, with two large coiled snakes carved into it, their eyes glinting like emeralds, she heard Tom speak a language she didn't recognize at first, but then realized it was Parseltongue, then she watched as the wall slid open like two large doors.
Then she saw, inside a large cave, a 20 foot statue that resembled the head of Salazar Slytherin.
Then, with a white flash, the link was broken and she was forced out of his mind. For a moment, neither of them moved as they glared at one-another.
"You'll pay for this Tom Marvolo Riddle. I swear it."
"Oh really? How exactly do you plan to pull that off?" he growled, red was definitely showing in his eyes now.
"Simple. You don't know the password to Gryffindor Tower, and once I make it through the portrait hole, you won't be able to touch me. And by tomorrow morning, everyone will know the truth. You'll be expelled, and Hagrid will be reinstated."
"Good plan, Hermione, but you're forgetting one thing." Tom shot back.
"What?" she snarled.
"Imperio!" Tom snapped. Hermione tried to jump out of the way, but she instantly felt her body seize up, she lost all motor-function, her arms and legs became heavy and the world around her became hazy and clouded, and everything became garbled.
Tom smiled coldly in triumph as the Imperious took hold of her.
"Snap your wand." he ordered.
Her eyes glazed over, hypnotized, Hermione slowly lifted her wand, holding it at both ends, bringing up her right knee, she brought her wand down on her thigh with enough force to snap it clean in half.
"Drop it." he ordered. She did so.
"This way." he growled.
He turned and led her through the castle, it took him sometime to navigate the corridors, since the corridors were now being patrolled by Peeves the Poltergeist and the caretaker.
By the time they got though the castle and to a side-door, it was nearly midnight. As they stepped into the main grounds, he marched her in the direction of the Forbidden Forest, past the lake, where the giant squid swam lazily in the water, completely oblivious to what was happening.
The moon was high, it was a cold night, Tom was starting to get cold within a few minutes of leaving the castle, but he didn't care.
Standing in the middle of a small clearing just inside the Forrest, he turned to face Hermione.
Lifting his wand, he silently cast 'Locomotor Mortis' on her legs. Then he lifted the Imperious.
Hermione blinked as her faculties came back to her. The first thing she noticed was that is was dark. And cold. She looked round in a confused daze.
"What the hell are we doing out here?" she asked herself, then it hit her. "Wait a minute! He used the Imperious curse on me!"
Hermione blinked before glaring at him. "How dare you! You bastard!" she snarled. She swung her arm back to punch him, only to find she couldn't move her legs, and before she could stop herself, she overbalanced, and landed hard on her back.
"Sorry Hermione. But I couldn't let you go tell everybody what you've learned, I've got big plans for the future of Hogwarts and our world in general. The time will come when the 'impurities' in our society are cleansed." Tom replied, looking pointedly at her when he said 'impurities'.
"Minerva will know you've done something, she'll tell Dumbledore and Dippet. You'll be expelled, thrown in Azkaban, you'll probably get the Dementor's Kiss for this!"
Tom chuckled. "Dumbledore's just our Transfiguration Teacher, Dippet's Slytherin, he's on my side."
Waving his wand, he summoned a dagger in his free hand, and smiled with false charm down at Hermione, who looked back up at him with wide, terrified eyes.
"Sorry, Hermione, nothing personal, you just know way too much, you also don't know when to keep your nose out of things that don't concern you, or you understand."
Then, he knelt next to her, leaned over and whispered.
"Goodbye, Hermione Jane Granger." He then straightened himself up and plunged the dagger down into her chest.
Hermione gasped in pain, then let out a choked scream, the dagger had pieced her heart, her whole body screamed with pain, she barely noticed Tom pull the dagger out and walk away. Hermione closed her eyes and sucked in her breath, trying to hang on, but with the Locomotor Mortis still binding her legs, she couldn't move.
"Please….someone….Minerva…..Dumbledore….help….me….." she cried weakly, her voice just above a whisper. As she felt her life start to slip away, she mentally cursed Tom for what he'd done, she vowed to him that she would one day get vengeance. Her mind, her soul screamed for it, she just prayed someone, or something, would hear her.
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Mount Olympus, Greece, that same moment.
Artemis sighed wearily as she sat on her golden throne, a faint breeze blew through her Temple, on that breeze, she distinctly heard a soul crying out for vengeance, for justice.
"Another recruit. Do you want to handle this one Acheron? Or should I?"
Acheron Parthenopaeus was standing off to the side, leaning against a stone column, wearing black leather jeans, and a black T-Shirt, along with rather fashionable black boots.
"No, I'll take this one." He said, looking out of a window at the sky, as he too heard the cry, it was so full of pain, grief, and anger, this person had been betrayed, and wounded not only physically, but emotionally too.
He closed his eyes, trying to get a fix on the source of the cry.
"England, Scottish Highlands." he thought. When he finally pinpointed the location, his eyes snapped open.
"Hogwarts…" he whispered. He visited the school only once, nearly 100 years previous, after saving a 5th year student from Daimons in the nearby local village of Hogsmeade, Acheron had tried to wipe the boy's memory of the event, and send him on his way, but had found that this boy, like a few other people on Earth, was immune to that particular ability Acheron possessed.
The boy had sworn to keep what he'd seen secret, and Acheron had decided the boy could be trusted with the truth, at least, the truth of what Acheron was.
Closing his swirling silver eyes, he willed himself into the Forbidden Forest next to the school. He could sense the dark magic in this place, the lurking creatures. He opened his eyes to get his bearings. It was midnight, which was a good thing. If it had been daylight here, he would have been roasted almost instantly.
The one who had called was close by, less than 100 meters North, he turned in that direction and set off walking at a brisk pace.
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Professor Albus Dumbledore was sat in his office, working late. The confrontation with Hagrid had indeed not been pleasant. Even though the boy had protested his innocence, his prior record of breaking the rules in regards to pets weighed against him, and the evidence, though Dumbledore believed circumstantial, had been enough to convince the Minister for Magic of his guilt, and she had ordered his wand destroyed, and Hagrid expelled.
Because of his young age, Azkaban was out of the question, so Dumbledore had suggested that Hagrid be provided small accommodations. The Minister had reluctantly agreed, and Hagrid had been put under Dumbledore's watchful eye.
Now though, he sat up as his magical aura alerted him to the presence of something new entering the Forbidden Forest, something extremely powerful, far more powerful than any Wizard or Witch to attend the school since the days of it's founders.
Slowly, Dumbledore rose to his feet and turned to look out the window in the direction of the Forbidden Forest, in the direction of the disturbance.
"So…you've come back."
And with that he quickly hurried out the door of his office, and down the halls.
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As soon as Acheron reached the clearing, his eyes narrowed. He could clearly see the young woman, wearing robes that bore the mark of Godric Gryffindor, she looked to be about 17 or 18, still a student. He ground his teeth in anger as he saw the wound in her chest, her eyes were closed.
As he drew near her, he paused as he faintly heard her breathing, she was still alive, but only just. The wound on in her chest was fresh, very fresh.
Slowly, he knelt down next to her, her eyes fluttered open ever so slightly, and he caught a brief glimpse of her chestnut brown eyes.
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Hermione was in agony, her whole body ached, her life had almost completely slipped away from her, but suddenly, she faintly sensed the presence of something. Struggling, she barely managed to open her eyes, though her vision was very blurred, she clearly saw someone leaning over her. At first, she thought it was Tom come back to finish her off, but then she saw the eyes.
They were a bright shimmering silver, unlike any she'd seen before, but before she could grasp anything about this stranger, her eyes fell closed, and her lungs weakly deflated as she breathed her last, and she knew no more.
Acheron felt a surge of rage go through him as he watched the girl take her last breath, thinking fast, he pressed his hand to her wound again, sealing it, then he made a quick gesture with his other hand to stop her soul escaping. Then he sensed someone approaching, he looked up.
Dumbledore was running towards them, his face white with dread. The man looked exhausted, he took one look at the leader of the Dark-Hunters kneeling over…
"Miss Granger." he said in an agonized voice. His eyes then moved to Acheron as the Dark-Hunter worked his right arm under Hermione's shoulder blades and head, while putting his left forearm, which bore a dragon tattoo, under the crook of her knees.
"What happened?" Dumbledore demanded.
"I don't know, I heard her cry for help, and I came as soon as I could."
"Is she…?" the old Wizard asked, his voice trembling.
"Yes…she's dead."
"I assume you'll be taking her then." Albus said, it wasn't a question. Acheron nodded.
"She asked for vengeance, I'll take her with me, heal her injuries and do what I can." It was then that Acheron noticed her legs weren't bending when he lifted them slightly.
"Looks like whoever did this used a binding spell on her legs." Before he'd even finished saying it, Dumbledore waved his wand and canceled the spell.
"This is the second one in as many days." Albus said sadly.
"What?" Acheron asked. Dumbledore's sad eyes locked with his silver ones.
"A third year girl was killed yesterday evening."
Acheron gritted his teeth. That meant the other girl had been about 13. Far too young.
"I better take her Albus." Acheron said, finally standing.
Dumbledore nodded. "Take care of her, she was a fine young woman, with a bright future ahead of her."
"I will, who knows Albus, you may see her again one day." And with that, Acheron Parthenopaeus vanished, taking the body of Hermione Jane Granger with him to Katoteros.
oOoOoOoOoOo
Kings Cross Station, 49 years later.
Hermione Jane Granger stepped onto the platform and smiled at the families making hurried dashes to the wall between Platforms 9 and 10, before phasing right through it. She cautiously pushed her way through the people, before she got close to the wall, before ducking down her head and running through. When she was on the other side, she looked at the families already next to the Hogwarts Express, the parents saying goodbye to their children as they boarded.
She smiled. It felt good to be back here, even though it had been 49 years, she still didn't understand why Acheron had kept her away for so long, she planned to talk to him later about that. Right now though, as she approached one of the carriages, she silently thanked him for what he'd given her, something that, according to all the laws of magic and nature, wasn't possible. Her life. Tom had taken it, and she was going to make him pay, one day. Acheron had given it back, and for that, she owed him big time.
Acheron had also given her many other things, but the thing she was most thankful for right now, was the ability to physically change her age, so, that when people looked at her now, they wouldn't seen the 17 year old Seventh Year student she had once been, but an 11 year old First Year student.
She mentally checked the glamour charm in place over her eyes, before she took a breath, and pushed her trolly, which held her trunk, onto the train.
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