Animae Liberandae
Okay! So here I am with my FIRST fanfiction! And I hope it doesn't show too much, but I do have to do a few things before continuing.
HARRY POTTER does not belong to me, the series and characters belong to the very imaginative J.K. Rowling, who has my thanks for such a rich and imaginative universe, with which I can play with.
Prologue: Liberating the Soul
Harry Potter was angry. Angry and hurting, for even a month after the fact, the death of his Godfather still weighed heavily on his mind, a scar that will never fully heal. And his friends seemingly ignoring him for the month he was at the Dursley's, even though he tried to send them mail, though he now knew it was Dumbledore who had told them not to contact him, seemingly believing isolation good for him. Ha! And, although Harry realized it, his bottled up pain and anger was taken out undeservingly on his friends, yet some part of him couldn't help think they deserved it at the same time, if only just a little.
And so, that is how Harry found himself in the Black family library, doing something out of the ordinary and searching for a book to read so as to take his mind off his anger and pain, so that he might be able to control it later, so as to apologize to his friends, which he knew he needed to do. And it was during this search that he came across a book with a title that seemed to call out to him…
Animae Liberandae…
Curiosity getting the best of him, and realizing that this might be just the distraction he needed; he pulled the book from the shelf, and furrowed his brow, puzzling out the name. Taking the book with him towards some of the seats by the fireplace in the library, he plopped down on one of the armchairs, and spent a few minutes more thinking on the title.
"Liberating the Soul?" He finally said aloud, his eyebrows rising. "Interesting name for a book…" And with that he opened it, and began reading. He learned quite quickly that it was book on the ancient school of soul magic. Whereas most magic was about affecting external forces and controlling them, the school of magic most widely taught, and which the book referred to as the arcane school of magic, soul magic focused on the unseen forces within a person, namely, the soul.
The book went on to explain that the soul is a complex thing, full of contradictions and paradoxes, but at the same time simple, itself a paradox. The soul affects our physical, magical, and mental selves, shaped how the soul wants, though the soul itself knows not what itself wants at times, and then accepts outside interference to choose for it, thus losing individuality and integrity, and changing into something complex, and farther away from the simplicity of its true self.
Harry was having a hard time keeping up with the book, but at the same time was fascinated. He had never realized that such a side of magic existed, and was so eagerly reading, that he lost track of time, night falling, and those in the house falling to slumber. Eventually, he came across a potion known as the Potion of Liberation.
"The Potion of Liberation is the first step in truly mastering ones soul, and thus, the first step to learning soul magic. The Liberation potion, when ingested, immediately begins changing the subject's soul, taking any outside influences, and purging them, leaving the soul in its natural, pure, state, and the body, magic, and mind of the subject will change rapidly to reflect the souls new purity. Be warned, however, that this change is permanent, and only those who are truly dedicated, and will accept what happens to them, should pursue soul magic." Harry read aloud, no warring with himself on the pros and cons of pursuing this very old school of magic, possibly maybe the power the 'dark lord knows not.' And with that thought, Harry's mind was made up.
Glancing at the window, he was surprised to see the darkness of night, but quickly thought how lucky he was. After all, now no one could bother him while he brewed the potion...
Making his way to the kitchen, he pulled all of the listed ingredients out, and prepared them. The potion would take about two hours to brew, but he had time. And so, for the next two hours, he brewed the potion, following directions to the dot, so as to make sure he didn't screw up, as he had a feeling that could end very badly. In the end, the potion looked exactly as it was described, a calm, almost frozen looking violet color, entirely still. Pouring the contents of the small cauldron in a single vial, enough for one person, he cleaned it and replaced the cauldron back where he found it, before making his way back to the library.
Placing the book on the table in front of the fire, Harry sat down and stared at the vial in his hands, uncertainty taking him for a moment. After a moment of deliberation, he stood up, physically and magically locked the door, and in case the change was painful, silenced the room, as well as casting a few other precautionary spells, and he let a small smile flit across his face as he realized how much Hermione had influenced him over the past five years.
With a deep breath, and a sigh, he brought the vial to his lips, and expecting it to taste awful, plugged his nose before tipping the vial back. To his surprise, however, the potion didn't taste awful, but quite the opposite, possessing a nice, soothing flavor, and he swallowed the thick liquid. He held his breath for a moment, and set the vial down, but nothing happened. Frowning, he was approaching the table on the book when he felt an odd, warm, tingly feeling where he thought his heart was. However, he didn't get time to ponder this, as pain ripped up and down his spine a moment later.
Falling forward, Harry crashed to the floor, the pain coursing through his body unbearable, worse than even the cruciatus curse at the end of his forth year. He screamed, and screamed, and screamed, his voice ragged and unrecognizable, and he had a faint thought of thankfulness for the silencing charm. He curled up into a ball as it continued, and soon after, he passed out into blissful unconsciousness.
Unknown to Harry, however, was that not all the screams belonged to him, as the Horcrux that resided within Harry's scar was purged along with the rest of the changes to his soul, destroyed in its entirety, screaming with its final moments.
Okay, so here it is, my first piece of published fanfiction.
If you haven't read in the summary, this story will contain a FEMALE Harry Potter, who will eventually end up in a relation ship with a FEMALE Hermione Granger, which means that this will be a FemSlash story, so for those of you who do not enjoy or are bothered by such things, I apologize, and ask that you leave without flaming me, if you would be so kind.
For those of you who do not mind or enjoy such things, I ask you to stick with me! I need all the advice I can get to improve my writing capabilities, and to keep the imaginative juices flowing! This chapter may seemed rush, and maybe it is, but I didn't want to spend an obscene amount of time on the prologue.
And, I do want peoples input on one thing in specific. Should I keep Harry's name, or should I have him change it to something more feminine? Also, if I do change it, I will not make it Harriet or any other form of that name UNLESS, people really want it, so that way everybody can keep calling Harry Harry, haha. Also, suggestions on names would be appreciate, though I already have a name planned if people are open to the idea.
Also, I'd like to hear people's thoughts on the name of this fic. It was originally Hell Hath No Fury... but I changed it to Animae Liberandae, but I digress. If anyone has a preference, or would like to suggest a different title name, I'm open to such things.
And, now that this obnoxiously long Author's Note is coming to a close, I ask that you please review and leave your thoughts! I'd really appreciate construcive criticism as well!
Oh, and before I forget, I need a beta reader, as I sadly miss the smallest things, and I sometimes tend to switch from past and present tense.
