A/N: Welcome to the first installment of my new fic. For those of you with weak stomachs, I must caution you to tread slowly. While this first chapter is tame, things to follow will be graphic for violence towards humans and animals. While, I myself do not advocate these things, they are central to this story.
As you already know, Harry Potter is owned by JKR and Warner Bros.
Darkness. He could feel it... closing in on his thoughts like mold spreading across a piece of fruit. He knew something was wrong. Somehow, he knew that he should do something about it. But for the moment, he didn't care. If his friends knew what lurked behind the smile he showed them all, they would be fearful, and possibly, disgusted. Sadly, he found that he didn't care what anyone thought anymore. In fact, there was only one thing that made him feel alive-- revenge.
Harry woke and slipped soundlessly from his bed. It was too early, but for now, he needed the privacy that the dawn's early light presented. There was no other time during the day that allowed him this peace. And it was this peace he needed to train his mind and body so that he could hope to accomplish his goal. No, hope was the wrong word for it. He HAD to be ready. He would succeed. Failure was not an option.
Soon, it would be time to practice on living things, but for now, inanimate objects worked well. He just did not have the ability to risk failing with living things. But in time, he would get it. Not to mention that he needed to figure out where he could practice on living things. It just wouldn't do for the wrong person to stumble across his project. He must maintain his illusion of "the good boy" at all cost. His goal depended on it.
Then it came to him, the one place in Hogwarts that really only he could tread-- the Chamber of Secrets. Now that the Basilisk was gone, there was no danger waiting for him down there. But then, he wasn't the same boy he'd been second year.
He quietly slipped out of Gryffindor tower and made his way to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. He took a deep breath and spoke the parseltongue it took to open the Chamber. He managed to slide swiftly down to the Chamber. Spying nothing but the long decayed Basilisk, he knew it was perfect. Now all he needed was practice-- that and his first live subject.
"Harry!" Ron yelled.
Harry looked up from his breakfast. "Do you think you could be any louder, Ron? I think you might have dislodged some earwax."
Ron laughed and sat down beside Harry. "So, how do you thin it's going to be this year, Harry?"
Harry rolled his eyes. "Oh, the usual, somebody trying to kill me, Snape doing his level best to make my life a living hell, and perhaps for a change of pace, I might even take Advanced Care of Magical Creatures."
"Harry, have you gone blarmy?"
Harry grabbed Ron by the arm. "Um, it's called a joke."
Ron coughed. "I knew that."
"Sure you did."
"Ron knew what?" Hermione asked as she sat down at the table.
"Apparently, Ron has forgotten what a joke sounds like." Harry said, grinning.
Hermione laughed.
"Isn't it enough that I catch it from my brothers, but do I have to get it here too?" Ron asked.
"Dammit, Ron. Stop whining and pass me the pumpkin juice!" Harry snapped.
Ron gingerly handed over the pitcher of juice.
Harry paused after seeing the expression on Hermione's face. It wouldn't do for them to sense that anything was wrong.
"I'm sorry, Ron." Harry said as he patted his friend on the shoulder. "I didn't mean to snap."
Ron nodded. "It's okay, mate."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "For a minute Harry, I actually thought you felt something."
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"You always take everything so well. It's almost inhuman. And then when you said something with some feeling behind it, I was thinking that it was amazing that you let yourself out of the cage. Of course, then you had to apologize again and go back to being perfect."
Harry sighed. "I'm not perfect, you know that. And trust me, you don't want to know what I keep in the cage. It isn't worth knowing."
Hermione looked at Harry puzzled, but even she knew when it was best to just drop the conversation.
Later that night, he sat in bed, pondering. He knew he needed up the act a bit more. Even in Potions class, Professor Snape seemed to pay a bit too much attention to him. But then, maybe he was just being paranoid. There just wasn't anything he could place his finger on.
He knew he should be asleep. It was long after dinner, long after he should have been in bed. But his mind would not stop working. He knew the perfect first live creature to experiment on. He didn't really think Filtch would miss his cat, not really.
He got up from bed, crept across the room and out of the tower. He quickly put on his Invisibility Cloak, and made his way to the second floor. Eyes open and alert, he looked for the nosy cat, but he didn't meet her on his path.
Once he reached Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, he quickly stepped in and removed his cloak. Luckily, Myrtle was not haunting the bathroom this night. He crept over to the faucet, said the magic parseltongue words and gained entrance to the Chamber.
Once there, he sat down on a piece of chiseled rock. To begin with, he would need cages to keep his playthings, much like the cage that Hermione inadvertently described as holding his mind together. Quickly, he transfigured several rocks into cages of various sizes. One was just perfect for his first live subject. He was careful to make sure to put a silencing spell that would remain on the cage, so that no one would hear cries coming from the Chamber.
He knew he needed to do some rather nasty research, he just didn't know where to find what he sought...certainly not in Hogwart's library. There would be no books about how to capture and hold Dark Wizards. He would just have to do something inventive. Perhaps bind his life force to the cage so that the cage would not dissolve without the loss of his life. Rather ingenious, that, but still, he had no idea how to manage that sort of complex spell. One thing was sure; a trip to Knockturn Alley was in order. And certainly, that trip would be under some sort of disguise. Perhaps the Weasley twins could help him with that...