To Prove A Point
Chapter One : A Letter
His godfather was dead, he was trapped with the Dursleys and now an owl really wanted his attention. Harry eased off the bed and made his way over to the window. The owl flew in immediately and made itself at home on Hedwig's perch. Harry did not recognise the bird, it was a plain brown owl with no markings. A normal post owl it seemed. Harry relieved the bird of the letter and watched as it left, soaring off into the distance. Harry looked down at his hand; the letter was completely ordinary, the envelope was the crispy starch card and his name, Mr H. J. Potter, was printed across it. Apprehensively Harry opened the letter. He wasn't expecting any mail from anyone, and he knew the owl didn't belong to anyone he knew. Harry was confused then, as the only people he knew where he lived were members of the Order, but why would they be writing to him? If it was with plans to move him Harry would have expected a message from either Hermione or Ron, or Dumbledore himself. Sitting down at his wobbly desk, Harry unfolded the parchment and scanned the letter. To say he was surprised at the sender's identity was not giving Harry's reaction justice. Bewildered, Harry read on. His confusion only grew.
Mr Potter,
Have you ever thought about the reasons why you fight against me? I have seen your childhood, those many years spent with your Muggle relatives, and I have seen how they treat you. In today's society such actions are called abuse. Mild abuse, nothing compared to the horrors that have a hold on some children, but abuse nonetheless. Personally I do not believe that to be their worst crime against you. You are a resilient boy Mr Potter, their treatment of you may not be caring but it has certainly helped shape who you are today. No, their biggest failure was denying you your heritage, you were as knowledgeable about the Wizarding World as a Muggleborn. And, pray tell, who did they send to tell you about our World? To tell you that you were one of the most famous wizards alive? They send a half-giant who barely holds a place in our world as it is. Now, I realise you are probably mentally defending your friend, I would not be surprised as that is part of who you are; Harry James Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, defender of the weak – excuse me if I do not carry on. You have been shaped through your experiences. With you 'family' you have learnt to be humble and meek, to know your place and you know strive to help those who you perceive to be in a similar situation; your friends have taught you the value of friendship, how you need to be able to rely on others to help you succeed and they have secured your intolerance of, intolerance really. You can neither be anti-Muggle because of your mother and friend, and you cannot be anti-Pureblood because of your father and your friendship with the Weasley family. Nicely in the middle, with no animosity towards any particular group of people.
For me that was never the way. I will admit that my childhood – which I know you have seen as during our shared possession I saw you feel your way through some of my memories – was not the one I deserved. Unlike you however, I fought against it and protected myself. I learned to be the one with the power, instead of the other way around. You, Harry Potter, did not.
When I reached Hogwarts I was worried that my power would be taken away from me. In the orphanage I was the only one with a special gift, but at Hogwarts everyone was magical. I soon noticed a difference between myself and most of the other students; I was willing to do anything to not lose my position of power. I would never allow myself to be at the beck and call of others – unless it was the facilitate something else of course. You will notice I said most students. If I were to find anyone else like myself it would be in Slytherin house. No, they were not all as ruthless as I was, no one was but many of them came close.
I think the main difference between myself and them was the fact their power was handed to them whereas I had to work for mine. The other children at the orphanage did not just suddenly begin being pliant, I had to work them. Many Slytherin children came from strong and affluent families, none of them were Muggleborn, they all knew their place in the world and knew that other's should too.
My dominance in the Slytherin house was solidified by the end of my fifth year, and I was soon on my way to being a rising star in the Ministry. A certain piece of magic caught my eye though, at the end of my fifth year which took that plan off the table. I was going to be the Minister of Magic, but why stop there? With this piece of magic I could rule Britain without resistance and would have the time to conquer the world. Grand plans were in my mind and as you already know, I didn't let anything stop me.
Little Harry Potter. Just a baby, but still you managed to stop me. Well, they say you stopped me but really it was your mother. A Muggleborn and a Half-blood. You may be wondering why I hate Muggleborns when my father was one, and I myself am a Half-blood. I have no choice over my blood, but I have done everything in my power to erase that filthy side of me. I do not embrace both my 'cultures' I use one to destroy the other. When Muggleborns come into our world they should make the choice: magical or Muggle. The mixing of our cultures should never been attempt, not only for the safety of the Wizarding world, but also so we do not allow them to destroy the world even more than they have been. Even technology the Muggle world creates – their parrell to our magic – takes advantage of this planet and is choking it.
You may laugh at the idea of me being an 'environmentalist' as I believe they are so named, but when you plan to live forever Harry, you want your home to be pleasant.
I digress. Back to that fateful Halloween incident. I suppose you do not forgive me for the deaths of your parents? I will not belittle their deaths by apologising or calling it a mistake. 'A regretted action is a wasted one.' I do regret trying to kill you though. The full truth, I regret the fall out that occurred due to my haste to be rid of you. I deemed their deaths necessary, you would obviously disagree. You value their lives even though you've never met them. That one idea may be one of the biggest reasons you fight against me. Hide it with thoughts of justice and morality, but deep down perhaps it is all for revenge.
I would have though you might have stood a chance of being a Slytherin. Despite your parents both being Gryffindors I would have thought your 'relatives' would have instilled in you a high level of self preservation. Instead, we find ourselves with the exact opposite. Perhaps you are so eager to defend your friends and lay your life down for them is because they are the first ones you have ever had and you would do anything to keep that little ounce of acceptance that comes with them. Another remnant of your relatives' training?
I loathe to admit it, but you are rather resourceful and you do seem good with leadership. Leadership is a Slytherin quality; Gryffindors are the fighters. Gryffindor was well known for his jewel encrusted sword, was he not? My ancestor Slytherin was well known for his, also jewel encrusted, quills. Amazing things, he had the first dicta-quills ever invented, which makes sense when he was the one to created them. Blood quills, self inking, shrinkable . . . he really did have a collection. Now I have his collection; who has your birth right? Dumbledore; it decorates his office, does it not? While it stays there you will never know the special qualities it possesses. A shame.
Now, I suppose the overwhelming thought that has been running through your mind is why I would be writing a letter to you of all people. The truth? I tire of the cat and mouse games we play Mr Potter, I have not come to where I am today merely through fear and pain. I wish to show you the side that has swayed many intellects and so called 'light wizards' to my side and in doing so I wish to prove a point. You will find out what it is I wish to prove soon. You may also be wondering why I am being so honest with you. Dark Magic does have it's advantages over the Light Magic and one of them is working on you now. By now the magic will have taken hold of you, there is nothing left for you to fight, and it is weaving a web in your mind. Any attempt to break this web will result in the fracturing of your mind. This web will hold all that I tell you safe in your mind, and you will be unable to speak of it or show anyone else unless I grant you permission. It is not how I wished to begin this, but it is a necessary precaution.
Onto the second task of this letter – the first being to introduce myself and share some thoughts with you – the actual getting you to see part.
Would you like to know something interesting Harry? Your wards keep out things with ill intent and because I wish you ill intent towards you . . . .
Drop the letter Harry.
You can't, can you? Mild sticking charm which, due to that pesky law about under age magic, you won't be able to be rid of it until it wears off. Which it will in five to six hours.
Remember Harry, no ill intent is expressed. You may now be wondering why I would stick you to the letter. If I do not wish you harm I can send you a Portkey, say in the form of a letter? It will activate in a moment. I will see you soon Mr Potter, shall I have the elves prepare some tea?
As Harry read the signature his face contorted with shock and horror and he hardly had a chance to blink before he felt the familiar tug at his naval; then he was gone. His room stood empty, no trace of any person or letter - bar the envelope still resting on the desk. It then too disappeared, suddenly catching alight, the ashes whipped up and sprawling out of the window, caught in a breeze that appeared as suddenly as the flames.
Silence.
Regards,
Lord Voldemort
A/N: This is an edited version of the original chapter and longer than before. I will not be working on this story until October as I'm currently involved in a drabble challenge, but after that I hope to update once a month; a long time I know, but I'll also be working on another story at the same time.
Reviews would be appreciated, especially if you have an 'point' you want the Dark Lord to prove to Harry!
Thanks for reading,
Sarah
[I'm just going to mention this now and get it out of the way; every time I add a story to my alerts list I leave a review. It's polite and it doesn't take long. One review is better than a completely silent reader. I don't care if you don't do it for any of my stories, but do it for others. Maybe we can get to a stage where authors have stories with more reviews than alert adds - reviews do mean more. If you go forth and do this, thanks. If not, well, I hope you suffer the wrath of alert adds and no reviews. :p]
