Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction using characters, locations and situations from the world of Harry Potter which is trademarked by J. K. Rowling. Harry Potter and any other character appearing in the original story is the sole property of J. K. Rowling and her partners and I do not claim any ownership over them. This story is mainly intended for my own entertainment and I do not gain any monetary profit from it.


Bygones Reclaimed

Prologue

-o-

Alone, undisturbed and covered in complete darkness, nineteen lights shone ever so softly. The soft light pierced the thick darkness around them. They were slowly pulsing brighter and brighter, as if in anticipation.

The silence around them was deafening and any sound, no matter how small and insignificant, would echo like an explosion. Yet no sound had echoed through these halls since that faithful day when they were sealed centuries ago.

Now though, like a heartbeat, faint sounds had been resonating through the walls for some time. Like drums in the distance, the sounds got progressively louder the closer they got. Every time there was a sound the lights seemed to pulse and the closer the sounds got the brighter the lights grew.

Would something finally breach these walls? Would there once again be life wandering these abandoned halls?

-.-.-.-

A spark is all it takes…

-.-.-.-

-o-

"Master, we're almost through. I estimate within the hour," said the groveling mass of dark robes on the ground.

Red eyes moved from the pages of a book to the speaking heap on the floor. They were indifferent and calculating. The owner of the eyes smirked, a smirk that made the heap quiver in fear.

"Excellent," the red eyed man said. "We leave at once, Wormtail."

"Y-yes master," Wormtail whimpered.

-o-

Two cracks indicated the arrival of two wizards apparating in. Instantly the camp became quiet and every Death Eaters in sight quickly approached the two arrivals and bowed. The sun was about to set and the dark robes the wizards wore made it increasingly difficult to see them clearly. None of them were wearing masks so their white faces were a stark contrast in the darkness.

"My Lord, we didn't expect you until morning. My apologies for not preparing the camp," one of the Death Eaters said, his head still bowed.

"Don't worry Rodolphus, I was… eager… to see your progress for myself," responded the Dark Lord. He ignored all other Death Eaters and started to walk towards a small cave entrance located at the north side of the camp. Rodolphus fell in pace a few steps behind.

"How far do we have left?" asked the Dark Lord.

"Not far, my Lord. Another hour at the most," answered Rodolphus.

The Dark Lord nodded. "I think we can speed that up a bit, don't you?" he asked.

"Yes my Lord. I'll order them to dig faster," said Rodolphus.

"No need. I will personally oversee this last bit," the Dark Lord said. "This is a historic moment after all and we can't leave it in the hands of brutes and imbeciles, now can we?"

"Yes my Lord, very good," said Rodolphus. "I will show you the way."

They walked in silence, passing a guard at the entrance of the cave. When spotting his master the guard bowed his head in greeting, quivering slightly. The Dark Lord just sneered at the groveling man and conjured up a floating ball of light. They continued to walk through the newly dug cave which was just tall enough to walk straight. They walked for a full minute until they came up to two figures taking turns shooting blasting curses at the wall ahead while the other vanished the debris.

Every time a blasting curse hit the wall a sounding boom echoed through the tunnel, reverberating off the walls, intensifying to painful levels. Everyone in the tunnel would have their eardrums destroyed from a single bang if they hadn't all been using sound dampening spells on their ears.

The men digging were so engrossed in their work that they didn't turn around to look at the new arrivals.

"Oi! We'v bin down er'e for five bloody hours now!" the Death Eater currently shooting a blasting curse said, still not turning around. "Finally sho'ed up, eh, you bloody wa—" he continued but stopped abruptly when he turned around to see who was there.

"Mi' Lord! 'Scuse me! Didn't know it was—" he tried to apologize but again stopped abruptly, this time however it was because of the Cruico curse that made him scream in agony instead. His screams echoed down the tunnel and made the guard outside flinch in terror.

It only lasted a few seconds before the Dark Lord lifted the curse. "Get out," he ordered them. The other Death Eater who had turned around upon hearing his mate scream was watching them, completely terrified. "Now," the Dark Lord added in a dangerous tone; his red eyes growing slightly darker.

The second Death Eater helped the first one and they quickly scurried down the tunnel, almost tripping several times on the uneven ground. The Dark Lord turned towards where they had been digging. "Now that we've rid ourselves of the local sheep we can finally finish this," he said. "Go fetch Wormtail and some of the other Death Eaters. Please try to find some with at least a tiny bit of intelligence. I'll take care of this."

"Yes Master," said Rodolphus who had watched the exchange without a flinch. He bowed, turned around and followed the other Death Eaters out of the tunnel.

The Dark Lord thought for a second. "Hmm, let's see now. Yes that'll do," he said softly to himself. He backed up from the wall a bit and started a complex wand movement. It produced a beam of orange light that seemed to incinerate the stone it came in contact with. He held the beam continually while it slowly burnt its way through the rock. Bright sparks flew in every direction that would make any normal man go blind from their intensity.

It was a draining spell but it only took him five minutes to dig through the last of the rock. A last crack from the Dark Lords wand and the sound of falling rubble indicated that they had breached the other side. By this time Rodolphus had returned with Wormtail and the other Death Eaters. The dust hung thick in the air but the Dark Lord didn't seem to care. He strode purposely through the dust while the other Death Eaters followed cautiously, some of them casting bubblehead charms.

They didn't have to walk very far, only a few meters, before the tunnel opened up and space became abundant. They had entered some kind of large area. The light orb that the Dark Lord had conjured wasn't enough to illuminate the entire room and all the walls were still covered in darkness. They could all clearly see the pulsing soft lights further in the room though.

No one spoke while they took in their surroundings but when spotting the lights the Dark Lord gave away a small, "Hmm."

He waved his wand at the light-orb and the light intensified. It rose high up in the room to let its light reach as far as possible. The effect was instantaneous. They could now see clearly the room they were in. It was huge. Huge and empty.

The only thing present in the room were four large stone pillars, reaching all the way to the ceiling, standing in a square shape in the center of the room. Between the pillars sat nineteen square pedestals, also made out of stone. They were set in a straight line with about a foot of space between them. On the pedestals was the source of the pulsing light. It seemed to be glowing spheres of some kind.

"Is this it, my Lord?" asked Rodolphus quietly.

"This is not what I expected," said the Dark Lord, ignoring the question.

He swirled his wand and cast a series of spells in the room. Nothing happened.

"There is definitely power here," said the Dark Lord. He made his way across the smooth floor, leaving footprints in the thick layer of dust covering the floor. He came up to the stone pedestals in the center. The Death Eaters followed closely behind with baited breaths.

At closer inspection the glowing spheres turned out to not be spheres at all. On top of the pedestals there were thin golden chains holding something stuck under them. The thing being held down was the source of the light. Slowly and in the same rhythm the objects glowed and pulsed. The closer they came the brighter the glow seemed to get. The Death Eaters all watched them, mesmerized by the pulsing light.

"What is this, my Lord?" asked Rodolphus.

Although he hated it, the Dark Lord was forced to admit to himself that he didn't know. Never in all of his readings had he come across something like this. Judging from his previous scan these objects were the source of the power he had felt. And this light… it was almost like they were calling out to him. Drawing his attention, like a mosquito to a flame.

He took a step closer to one of the pedestals. This particular one seemed to call him more than the others. It also had way more chains holding whatever object there than the other pedestals. He was just about to reach out to touch it when a terrifying howl pulled him back to reality.

One of the other Death Eaters had been faster than him and had gone up and touched one of the other pedestals. The Death Eater was now screaming full force with his hand on one of the golden chains, smoke starting to rise from around him. The other Death Eaters watched— transfixed by the agony of their comrade—too shocked to do anything.

"Don't touch them! Fools!" yelled the Dark Lord. But it was too late. The screaming man had fallen to the ground, his hand turned to ash. Snapping out of his stupor, one of the other Death Eaters ran up to check on him.

"H-he's d-dead," he said in a stuttering voice.

"Fools!" the Dark Lord yelled again. "Get him out of my sight."

Not wanting to call down their masters rage on them, two of the Death Eaters instantly started to drag the dead one towards the cave opening. "The rest of you, get back," he added. They did as they were told and went back to the tunnel, some of them relieved that they wouldn't be in the immediate vicinity of these objects which had claimed the life of one of their own.

Although an idiotic move, the death of one of his followers had told him much of these objects. Clearly the chains didn't just lock whatever object they were holding into place; they also worked as a trap to anyone touching them. He realized from the event that there were some kind of compulsion on the objects to make individuals near them want to touch them. While he chided himself heavily for almost falling for it, it also made him excited. Something so powerful that it could catch him—the greatest wizard in the world, unaware, surely was very powerful. He reinforced his Occlumency shields and started to examine the objects once more.

After examining the objects one by one in detail he had made his decision. He would break these chains and claim this power for himself. Arrogance and self-assurance led him back to the pedestal in the middle, the one with all the chains on it. This must be the most powerful of the objects. He would start here.

His followers stayed where they had been ordered and watched as their master worked on the golden chains. Minute after minute passed with no noticeable result and some of them started to get drowsy. Then, after almost two full hours of nonstop spellcasting a loud metallic snap told the Death Eaters that their master had finally found a way to break the chains. Another ten minutes and all of the chains were broken.

The Dark Lord looked down on the object lying on the pedestal, frowning slightly. It was a simple necklace, made from some dark metal and what appeared to be a blue sapphire. Casting some more spells to make sure it wasn't cursed the Dark Lord then reached out and grabbed it.

Instantly the Dark Lord gave a sharp yell and fell to his knees. His followers were just about to run up to him and check what had happened when they were stopped by his hand rising up in the air. They waited with baited breaths while their master just sat there on his knees, his back towards them, holding the necklace.

One minute passed. Still nothing.

Two minutes passed and some of the Death Eaters started to look at each other nervously, silently debating if they should do something or not.

Three minutes passed and the Death Eaters were now silently whispering to each other, trying to decide who should go up and check on their master.

Finally the Dark Lord stood up. "I see," was the only thing he said.

"My Lord?" Rodolphus asked.

The Dark Lord slowly raised his hands and put the necklace over his head. He then turned around to watch his followers. They wore different expressions on their faces. Mostly fear, but also confusion, and in Rodolphus case, intrigue.

"Stop standing there like sheep. Rodolphus, you're coming with me. I have orders for you. The rest of you will start to dismantle the rest of these chains and gather the objects they are guarding. This is how you do it," he showed them the spell he had used to break the chains. "Wormtail, you are in charge here. Make sure no one touches the objects. Use levitation charms and put them in these boxes."

He conjured up two boxes, one black and one white. He then walked up to the pedestals and pointed at each of them, telling the Death Eaters in which box to put them.

"Again, do NOT touch them. I will be most displeased in anyone who does so," he finally said.

"Y-yes master. I will make sure it goes as you say," said Wormtail in a shaky voice, stammering slightly. The Death Eaters looked confused but started to comply anyway.

"For your sake, I hope you do, Wormtail. Rodolphus," the Dark Lord said and started to walk briskly out of the cave, not stopping to check if Rodolphus was following him.

-o-

The Death Eaters worked long into the night. Even though their master had managed to snap the chains quite fast once he figured out what spell to use the same couldn't be said for his followers. Their technique was sloppy and their power unfocused. It took them the better part of the night to break most of the chains.

Now, in the early morning, there was only one necklace not freed from its bonds. This one had been protected by nearly as many chains as the one their master took. The Death Eater assigned to it had been working on it nonstop throughout the night. The others were standing and waiting impatiently for him to break the last few chains so they could go and get some rest.

Not wanting to keep his companions from sleep he told them that they could go and rest and that he would be done in about half an hour. Being as tired as they were they readily agreed and left the Death Eater alone. They took the black box with them and left the white one. The last necklace was to go in that one.

His prediction came true and thirty minutes later the last chain broke with a snap. By this point the Death Eater was exhausted. All he wanted to do was close his eyes and sleep for a day. But he still had one thing left to do before he could do that. He pointed his wand at the necklace and cast a levitation charm. Lack of experience and a heavy dose of fatigue made the charm fail halfway to the box though and the necklace fell to the ground with a clank. The light coming from it intensified and the Death Eater watched it, enthralled by it's intensity.

He shook his head and shrugged off the drowsiness. This was no time to slack off. He tried to cast the spell again but found that he just couldn't focus enough to make it work properly. He contemplated just calling another Death Eater to levitate it but decided not to a second later.

Again, the light caught his eye and he became entranced by it. It was so beautiful and serene, what harm could it do? Nothing so beautiful could hurt anyone. He would only be holding it for a second—and oh how he wanted to hold it, cradle it, be comforted by it.

Disregarding his master's previous orders he reached out to pick up the necklace.

-.-.-.-

What's this? It almost taste like… yes… chaos. The mist will disperse and a thousand voices will cry out in agony.

-.-.-.-

The instant his skin came in contact with the necklace agony struck him. Somehow through the pain his hand clenched tightly around the necklace. His screams echoed through the hall and through the tunnel. It alerted the guards on the outside and Wormtail and another Death Eater came rushing in to see what was going on.

"What's going on?" shouted Wormtail as they entered.

The trashing Death Eater didn't answer though and just kept on screaming. They tried to hold him down but the trashing was too violent. They tried for a minute to subdue him with no success.

"Get back! I'll stun him," said Wormtail to the other Death Eater who took a few steps back.

Wormtail had never been known for his amazing spellwork. He would often mispronounce an incantation or fail at producing the correct wand movements. In this case though the spell worked flawlessly, or at least would have if his aim hadn't been so terrible. The red beam of the stunner missed the trashing Death Eater by almost two feet.

Wormtail swore and was just about to cast a second one when the Death Eater stopped moving. One second he was trashing wildly and the next he was laying deathly still. His eyes had started to bleed slightly and the blood was running slowly on the side of his face. Shocked by the sudden stillness and silence around them they waited a moment before speaking, seeing if the man would move again.

When the man didn't move a moment later the other Death Eater asked, "D'you think e's dead?"

Before Wormtail had time to answer though the man on the ground groaned and slowly sat up.

"Oi, Higgs, you aight?" asked the Death Eater, warily holding his wand at his side. Wormtail was watching closely, not sure what to make of it.

Higgs, the Death Eater sitting on the ground, looked around in confusion. After nearly ten seconds of silence he spoke. "I'm… fine," was all he said.

"You gave us a righ scare there, mate," said the Death Eater, still a bit uneasy due to the blood.

Wormtail took a step forward and pointed at Higgs. "W-what's that? The Master told us not to touch any of the objects," he said in his usual scrawny voice.

"What the... Higgs, y'know betta than tha. Master's gonna be righ mad when he finds out. Drop it quickly," said the standing Death Eater.

Higgs lifted his hand and looked at the necklace that he was till grasping tightly. Realization and understanding seemed to set in on him. Wormtail, clearly mistaking his expression as fear of his master, points his wand and cast a levitation charm on the necklace, obviously intending to put it in the box.

Higgs, however, feeling the pressure of the charm on the necklace tightens his grip on it, stopping the spell short. Wormtail and the other Death Eater look bewildered at him.

"What the 'ell, Higgs? Drop it! The master is gonna punish us if he fin's out," said the other Death Eater frantically.

Higgs didn't seem to take note of the protest though and instead focused all his attention on the wand in Wormtails hands. He then slowly stood up and made his way towards the white box. The Death Eater and Wormtail just looked confused at his behavior. Stopping at the box, now standing directly between Wormtail and the other Death Eater, he extended his hand as if to drop the necklace into the box. Instead of dropping it though he just held it there.

Wormtail now having enough of this, the master had left him in charge after all, extended his hand to take the necklace from Higgs. Just as he was about to reach for it though Higgs spun around lightning fast and threw a punch at Wormtails face. It connected with a crunch and Wormtail went down.

The other Death Eater had frozen in shock and didn't have the time to react when Higgs spun around once more and delivered a solid kick to his stomach. The force of it pushes him back and he crashes into one of the stone pillars behind him. His head snaps back at the impact and collide with the pillar as well, making him fall down in an unconscious heap.

For a moment Higgs just stands there-watching the two fallen Death Eaters for any reaction. Nothing. They were out stone cold. Only hesitating slightly, Higgs seemed to come to a snap decision. He pulled the necklace over his head and pulled a knife from his pocket. He strode over to Wormtails body and without flinching or even blinking he knelt down and thrust the knife all the way through Wormtails throat. Blood instantly started to flow and mix with the dust on the floor. The body convulsed slightly but a few seconds later death crept from the shadows, like a slithering snake sneaking up on its pray, and stole the last rasping breath that Wormtail would ever take.

-.-.-.-

And so it begins. Angels fell from the sky and innocents wept in the streets.

-.-.-.-

He held the knife steady for half a minute after Wormtails body had stopped twitching, then with a quick jerk and a squelching sound he pulled it out. He held up the blade and watched as the blood slowly dripped from the edge down on Wormtails face, disgust evident in his expression. After wiping the knife clean on Wormtails robes he got up and walked over to the other Death Eater, intending to repeat the process, only to find that he didn't have to. Judging by the blood slowly spreading around the Death Eaters head the impact must have been enough to crack his skull.

Not sparing another glance at the dead bodies he pocketed his knife and walked over to the white box containing the necklaces. He looked through it and counted. With a nod he closed the lid and picked it up. It was time to leave.

-o-

He passed a lone guard at the entrance of the tunnel that had stayed behind when Wormtail and the other Death Eater went in to investigate. The Death Eater asked frantically what had happened and where the other two were. Higgs just ignored him and kept on walking. The Death Eater watched him leave in confusion before he turned around and walked into the tunnel to check where his mates went.

Needless to say, less than five minutes later Higgs was running through the thick forest covering the west side of the camp, a group of Death Eaters hot on his heels. He dodged trees and branches in his pursuit to escape the flying spells at his back. It was still early morning so visibility was very low. As a result he couldn't see the smaller branches very clearly and received numerous cuts throughout his body.

The darkness did also work in his favor though. The chasing Death Eaters had a hard time tracking him, much less getting a clear shot. One moment they were almost upon him and the next they were far out of sight, only to show up three seconds later closer than ever. It did allow him a few seconds of relief when that happened though.

It was during one of those moments that the ground suddenly disappeared in front of him and he had to throw himself into the nearest tree to stop him from running over the edge. At closer inspection he realized he had come up to the side of a waterfall. He allowed himself a second to think. Jump or try to circle back? He had just decided that circling back was probably his best bet when he heard branches snap behind him. His head whirled around to see the Death Eaters coming at his from all angles, spells blazing. Before he had time to react one of the spells hit him in the back, making him drop the box he was carrying. Another spell hit him in the side and the force of it made him stumble and fly over the edge.

-.-.-.-

Empires fall and empires rise. I've seen it happen plenty of times. Leaders squabble over what's wrong and what's right. They dictate what to believe and who to worship. They kill indiscriminately in the righteous name of their belief or just because they want to.

In the middle of it innocents perish.

I remember one woman very vividly. She was cradling her infant baby to her chest while hiding under her bed. Her house was about to be set on fire yet she didn't try to escape. The smell of blood and burning flesh came wafting in from the streets outside where men and woman cried out their last breaths.

At the time I didn't know why she was hiding in a burning house rather than trying to escape and save her child. In hindsight I realize she would prefer the flames to take both her and her child instead of facing what was outside.

In the end though they found her. A scavenging soldier had entered her house before they set it on fire, searching for any valuable items. She had done everything in her power to stay quiet and unnoticed but the child, probably sensing its mothers distress, had cried out.

The woman got to see her child thrown against a wall and stomped to death by soldiers right before they beat her and raped her several times. She was brought back to their camp to be used for the soldiers entertainment. Her suffering didn't end until the day after when a drunken soldier got too violent and beat her to death.

-.-.-.-

For a short moment Higgs was flying. Everything around him seemed to slow down to a crawl and even the deafening roar of the waterfall faded into a faint whisper. The sharp rocks below him were creeping ever closer and closer. His entire body twisted in slow motion until he was falling head first into the raging stream below.

One more second passed and the only thing he could hear was a single heartbeat. It was like a race gun had gone off. Everything sped up at an alarming rate and his inevitable doom came rushing at him.

With a deafening splash he hit the water.

Pain.

Cold.

More pain.

Pain was good. Pain meant that he was not dead. He could work with that.

Somehow, against all odds, he had managed to miss all of the sharp rocks and plummet straight into the raging water stream. He was now being sucked away by the strong current, fighting unconsciousness.

The stream kept on pushing him down under the surface and it got increasingly harder to orient himself. The current twisted him around, left, right, up, down. In the end he didn't know what was up and down. The water stung his eyes, making it impossible to see anything clearly on those moments he weren't under the surface.

Then the stream took a left turn and for a moment he got his bearing back. Pushing himself above the surface, he quickly looked around furiously for anything to grab on to. There! Just around the next bend—a tree branch—laying partially in the water.

Pushing himself even further, he started to furiously swim to one side so he could align himself with the branch. Preparing himself to be sucked down as the stream turned, he let it push him down. Feeling something soft but solid under his feet he used his legs to push away with all of his might, stretching out his arms as far as he could.

He felt his hand touch something solid and furiously grabbed for it. His hand closed around the murky branch, gripping tightly. His body turned around with a jolt, making him almost lose his grip.

He pulled and pulled, using powers he didn't know he had. Almost slipping and losing his grip several times, Higgs finally managed to pull himself up on land.

Bleeding, beaten, and freezing cold, he willed himself not to fall into the blissful arms of sweet unconsciousness. Even after surviving the fall, even after managing not to drown, there was still one major threat. The Death Eaters.

They would no doubt try to locate his body, if for no other reason than the necklace around his neck. Sure enough, twisting around and looking up at the edge where he had fallen from, he could see several beams of light shining down at the sharp rocks below. They were obviously not foolish enough to try to jump after him but he had no doubt that they would find a way down sooner or later.

Deciding not to take any chances he forced himself to get up and move into the forest. It was slow and it was painful but it was better than the alternative. Twenty minutes later he decided that he was far enough into the woods to avoid any immediate detection—mostly because he had tripped over a branch and couldn't get up again.

Finally he let blissful darkness consume him.

-o-

When Higgs next woke up he was in the same spot as when he had passed out. Judging by the sun's low position he had been out for several hours. Slowly feeling around and testing himself for injuries he winced when his hand came in contact with the blood caked wound to his side. It was no longer bleeding freely though, that was good. He wouldn't be able to fend off any infection for very long but that was fine. He would have enough time to do what he needed.

He worked his way into a sitting position against a tree. The sudden jolt of pain from his back reminded him of the wound on his back and so he had to adjust his position, leaning slightly on his uninjured side.

He felt around his robe for his knife but couldn't find it. He had probably lost it during his little trip through the river. He did find his wand though. He pulled it out and examined it. It seemed to be in working order. He remembered how Wormtail had used his to cast a levitation charm back in the cave. Frowning slightly he waved it around the same way he remembered Wormtail doing it. Nothing happened.

Over the next thirty minutes he kept on waving the wand in seemingly random patterns with no results. He was just about to throw the wand away in frustration when something finally happened. An orange beam left the wand and connected with a tree not far away, leaving a fist sized hole at the point of impact.

"Finally, useless things these sticks…" he muttered to himself.

He repeated the same wand movement and the same thing happened. Orange beam and fist sized hole. He repeated the process over and over until there were holes in every tree nearby. The first time he had cast the spell it had been sloppy and inexperienced but every time he repeated it there was more power and the spell was more focused, resulting in a bigger hole. In the end he barely had to twitch the wand to cast it.

Nodding in satisfaction he got up on shaky legs and walked over to a space where the trees were a little more spread out, giving him a wide berth.

"Okay, basics down, rest should be the same," he once again mumbled to himself.

Extending his wand straight forward and closing his eyes. He held the wand still for a minute while the point started to glow in a faint white color. Once the glow was so bright that it would sting if you looked right at it he started to move the wand. He moved it as far up as he could, then he traced a big oval all the way down to the ground. Once the wand came back to the point where it had started he opened his eyes.

The oval that he had outline in midair started to glow in the same way as his wand. With a jab he pushed the wand straight through the middle of the oval. Instantly the bright white glow started to fade away, leaving a serene picture in place.

It was a picture of a lake and a forest. The last rays of the sun could be seen glistering on the water surface and the leaves on the trees swayed gently in the breeze. Birds soared slowly through the darkening blue sky. It was a very nice picture. The thing that made the picture stand out though was the big medieval castle in the background and the sun that was just about to hide itself behind one of the tall towers.

Higgs didn't seem to care about the scenery though. As soon as the picture had appeared he walked straight through it, prompting the picture to slowly fade away in a blur. When the picture was completely gone so was Higgs.


A/N: Welcome to my story. I'm not really long on notes so i'll just wish you a happy reading and I hope you enjoyed this prologue.