Hi everyone! I had this story idea for such a long time, but I never had the time to actually develop it. Yes, Harry is OOC, but it's the only way this would work. This story plays on the theory that the locket isn't the only horcruxes that can mess with your mind. I might make a couple of one shots about this AU. Now, on with the story!
Harry sat on the cold floor. Meditation was the only thing that kept him from going insane these past few days. Of course, it wasn't always like this. He remembered when things were easy, simple. That was before the pegs fell. Harry believed that each person was born with pegs, needles, things, stuck in your mind and soul. Of course, these aren't real things, you couldn't touch them, nor could they hurt you. They had more of metaphorical purpose. You see, everyone went through something, depression, anxiety, trauma. The more you were exposed to, the greater chance you had that a peg would fall. The pegs represented your sanity, and almost all of Harry's have fallen. They shouldn't be falling, damn it, because he was strong, resilient. You have to be, if you were in his position.
Harry is the leader of a group called the League of Darkness, a secret society that few know of, and even fewer know who is a part of it. He is known as Nightmare, and he, along with Ivy and Mist, have lead the Society for centuries. Both Ivy and Mist were exceptionally powerful, but not as powerful as Harry. He has been travelling time for a long while, learning old ancient magic which in this day and age, has been forgotten. It didn't take long for him to learn of the prophecy, and then latter, the horcruxes. It took him several months, but he was able to rid the world of them, except one, himself. He hoped beyond anything that there was a way to get rid of it, so he waited, waited for when Voldemort would return, because surely Dumbledore would tell him everything then.
That day came and to his surprise, Dumbledore did the opposite, he lied, Manipulated and ignored him, that day was the day the first peg fell. I guess that day wasn't a total fail. That day he left Grimmauld place 12, and went back in time to when he was six, and went to the burrow. He talked to Ginny, Ron and the twins and took them; he took Hermione, Luna and Neville too. Then Harry trained them, trained them as soldiers of the war, always returning them before sunset so no one would notice there absent. Of course, there have been incidents, nothing a quick Obliviate couldn't fix. When they were eleven he initiated them into the League of Darkness. He then transferred his old soul into his eleven year old self. This act significantly drained his power, but that was to be expected. This also helped in his act of being simply eleven. So he went through his life again, letting everything bad that happened to him happen again. In those years a few of his pegs fell. The first time he found out about the Horcrux inside himself he felt disgusted with himself, ashamed even. Now, as his pegs fell, he started to feel strangely satisfied. The Horcrux made him feel powerful, strong.
His friends knew about it, and soon, they began to grow worried. He started acting weird, being violent and cruel with everyone and losing his temper very easily. It didn't matter what they thought, as long as the Order of the Phoenix never suspected anything. He always hid behind a mask when in the Orders presence, being cheerful, carefree and naive. He didn't care what they, what anyone thought, well, except for one person, Ginny.
Ginny soon became his soul reason for breathing, for simply staying alive. She was now the only reason he still hasn't completely lost his mind. He loved her and she loved him. Sometimes that was all that kept him going. All of a sudden the door slowly creaked open, and Ivy walked in. Ivy was tall for her age, at only sixteen she was almost 6ft. She had long black hair that was always messy and brown eyes. Harry slowly got up, but didn't turn around. He waited for her to Speak.
"Nightmare," she said, and then paused, as if thinking what to say."You have been acting quite strange these past few days and I'm getting quite concerned." It's been longer than just a few days, he thinks to himself.
"I, I think you should tell someone what's wrong, maybe..." she pauses again, as if prolonging the inevitable explosion. " Maybe the Order would-"Before she continue he quickly turned around, cutting her off in mid sentence. "No," he said, the order behind it was clear. "The Order will not be told, and that is final." Ivy looks into his eyes, nervousness gone and replaced with determination. "I don't know why you have a personal vendetta against them, but they could help in this war!" She said, starting to pace around the room. He felt his anger building.
"No, we have agreed to keep neutral in every war we have come across, no exceptions." Harry argued. It was true, they could have saved millions but they have always stayed neutral, their safety came first. "I don't understand," Harry continued, "Why that has to change now."
"But people are dying and-"She starts, almost begging, but once again, he cuts her off. "No, now this discussion is over!" he ordered.
"I thought, you of all people, would want You-Know-Who dead!" she yelled. He froze, thoughts rushing through his mind like water. Was that what she thought? Was she using me just to kill Voldemort? Was this all this was? I should have known, I thought I was smarter than this. I guess I was wrong. Like Dumbledore, they were using me, all of them, Ivy, Mist, The League, and Ginny. That one thought made his blood run cold. Did their relationship mean nothing to her? Was I just a tool to her, one that would help win the war? After it was over, would she abandon me like a lost puppy? Yes, the answer was yes. No one loves me, no one even likes me, and I was foolish to think otherwise.
He started laughing, hysterically so. In the corner of his eyes he saw Ivy inch towards the door, opening her watches lock. Those watches where an emergency system, one that would alert everyone. "Fool!" he yelled, still getting over his fit of laughter. Using his wandless magic, he crushed the watch, but not before she was able to press the button. He narrowed his eyes and with a quick flick of the hand, she fell to the floor, dead. "Foolish girl," he growled. He smiled at her body, "incendio" he whispered, and her body turned to ash. At that moment the last peg fell, and Harry was gone, only Nightmare remained, a one thousand year old soul that was attached to evil. An evil that was controlling him. He knew he didn't have long now. The alarm would alert everyone of the emergency, and they would realize he finally lost it. He left the room, down the hall. He could hear the commotion going on upstairs. He quickly and quietly went to the apperation room, the only room in the entire facility that you can apperate in and out of and left for the Dursleys. He had some unfinished business to do.
He stormed down Privet drive, arriving at number 4. He quickly set up a silencing charm around the house before blowing open the door. He heard a girlish, piercing shriek and turned around. Petunia was sitting on the couch next to Vernon, who looked pissed. Harry felt himself smirk. "What is the meaning of-"he was cut off, being blow backwards and slammed into the wall. I heard him moan silently in pain, glass of a mirror littered the floor. I looked down to see that my eyes were now a deep red. My smile grew wider. I raised my hand and Aunt Petunia went flying into my grasp, shrieking and crying. Uncle Vernon looked at Harry with a mixture of anger of fear. "What do you want from us?" He demanded. Harry had flashbacks of when he was small, when the Dursleys would beat him lock him up and starve him, he turned to Vernon Dursley, and in the sweetest voice he could muster, said "I want to see you dead by my hands, but first, I will kill your wife in the most gruesome way possible and make you watch."
That night the police department got a call of a fire happening at Number 4 privet drive. There were two bodies found at the site that were later identified as Petunia and Vernon Dursley. The police nor do the firemen know for sure what started the fire. The neighbors confirmed there was no fighting in the house at the time nor was there any screaming. One of the policemen thought he saw a boy watching them investigate the area but when he went to look, no one was there. He brushed it off as to much coffee and went on his way. Harry, no, Nightmare laughed.
~End of chapter 1~
Hey everyone. Thanks for reading! I would like a beta for this story since I'm an atrocious speller. So if anybody is interested, please PM me!