It was the end.
Voldemort sat alone in his own prison, struggling at the mental bonds in constraining him. He was still unable to understand his loss. He had manipulated the manipulator, getting Harry thrown into Azkaban immediately after ensuring his immunity from the pitiful shields that he had neglected for 13 years.
How odd that his first true victim would be his first true captor. Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, had been unable to destroy the Horcrux lodged inside his skull for just over 50 years. While he may have lost his form in the Battle of Hogwarts to Neville Longbottom, that was far from the end. His penultimate Horcrux had been destroyed merely an hour ago by Neville Longbottom, forcing him to run to his last resort.
Thinking back, it was a simple Confringo that had made Neville the second one able to fulfill the prophecy he fully heard almost 40 years ago…
Flashback
It was the easiest job he had ever been assigned, Lucius Malfoy thought. No killing, no failure, not even any problems. It only took a bit of gold to bribe the clerk in the Department of Transportation to set up an unrestricted loo between his Manor and the Ministry. They didn't even have to fight, for their Lord knew the Order had been weakened by the loss of their sole hope, sent to Azkaban a year ago. They didn't even bother putting a guard up and with memories from Nagini, they knew exactly where the prophecy was. Nott Sr., the resident Death Eater in the Department of Mysteries, was also there to guide them through the room of doors meant to confuse any outsiders.
The biggest secrets in the Department of Mysteries were all held under a Fidelius, with the Secret-Keeper being the first head of the Department. The note that was shown to all Unspeakables upon their hiring, read "The plaques holding the names to all rooms in the Department of Mysteries are next to the doors opposite those which they pertain to." They were called Unspeakables as they could not tell anyone about their work, protected by their contract forbidding them to talk about their work to anyone not also bound by the same contract. It was truly an amazing lapse in security that there was no restriction on actions.
The two waited by the Floo in Malfoy's office for their allies to arrive. Goyle Sr., Crabbe Sr., and Fenrir Greyback had also been assigned to help protect the Unspeakable and to guard the rooms against cleaners during the mission. While they were merely an extra precaution, they were honoured to have been picked for such a mission. In reality, Crabbe and Goyle Sr. were only there because they had sworn their houses to the Malfoy house in exchange for financial reasons that were in fact caused by the Malfoy house for this very purpose. Fenrir was the only one there of his own merit, sent exclusively for the purpose of turning any assailants into werewolves if necessary.
Their constraints were simple: no noise, minimal contact, retrieval of the prophecy, and no evidence left behind. While they could use Terego, the cleaning charm, it would leave a trail of magical use that gave everything away. Instead, they opted to rub an ointment on themselves that almost completely prevented hair from falling out, but the chance that a single hair could fall would mean their certain exposure if ever caught. They were to have no reason to be caught, and have no excuse if caught as motivation
.
Within half an hour, they had all arrived. With a nod from Lucius, all of the Death Eaters donned their masks as Fenrir morphed into his predator form. While it was painful to watch, they all knew they had to stay for the werewolf form to recognize them and restrain himself from killing or turning them. They were all resigned to this fact and watched as his bones and skin were contorted, his tail appearing from his spine, and his clothes being shredded by the size change.
Once Greyback had stabilized, Lucius ran a test by trying to pull a hair off of each of them. While Greyback was susceptible to having hairs fall out or be removed, those hairs turned to ash upon touching another solid object: Lucius's hands, the floor, even other hairs of his own. Satisfied, Lucius nodded and took out the more... specific instructions.
The instructions read: "A prophecy orb is to be removed along with the shelf it rests upon from the end of row 97. Nobody is to know that you are there or even that our unspeakable was there. If any harm comes to yourselves or the prophecy, your heads will be mounted alongside your family's."
Malfoy nodded and passed the paper to Nott. After reading the instructions, he nodded with a somewhat surprised and pleased look on his face. They waited for Fenrir to calm down and test for observers the non-magical way.
It was done. The werewolf sniffed the air and nodded with near-human intelligence. All was clear outside. The party slipped out of the office and made their way to the Ninth floor of the Ministry: The floor containing the Department of Mysteries.
Along the way, they very nearly ran into two cleaning house-elves and converted one security wizard, fast asleep at his post. The recruit shuddered through the transformation, then stood straight as he was taken over by Greyback's bite. The party continued, arriving at the department in under twenty minutes.
Nott's reason for looking pleased soon grew evident as he returned from his office with not only the prophecy in question, but multiple others concerning the Potter boy and their Lord.
Malfoy was extremely pleased. Not only was the heist an overwhelming success, but they had also acquired multiple other prophecies and gotten a new recruit to boot. Malfoy would be getting most of the credit, being the team leader, and he was also happy that his family could survive another generation without outside help.
As they Flooed back to their base of operations, Malfoy Manor, they were all feeling the high of a completed mission and were all busy imagining the repercussions this would have in their plans for the future.
End Flashback
"IT WAS ALL PERFECT!" Voldemort raged inside his mental prison. Though he raged his hardest, he still couldn't even get out of the Potter boy's head. The mental arms race of Legilimency and Occlumency had led to the boy going to some extreme lengths, even making the inside of his mental fortress a prison. Even in his sleep, the boy was constraining the most powerful Dark Lord of all time and succeeding.
He thought back to his conquests and all of his victims. He smiled, remembering all of their painful deaths. He grimaced, remembering his own along with the others. Using the rage and pleasure it brought him, he used his last ace up his sleeves. "Tenebris angelus!" he shouted, drawing upon his wandless magic reserves to finally break through the barrier. A blank black rectangle appeared before him. A line of text appeared before him, with letters as big as his hand imprinting themselves on the screen.
But nobody came
His rage finally woke Harry, realizing the activity of the Horcrux was far beyond its usual levels, normally just distracting him from the dementors circling his cell, the final remnant of what used to be Azkaban. Sighing, he entered his mindscape to see the Horcrux raging at his standard response box.
Smiling, Harry removed the box and appeared in its place. It took the Horcrux only a few seconds to realize that it was no longer alone. Swiftly, Harry constrained the Horcrux and set up a mental study. "Welcome back, Tom," Harry said. "Having trouble?" He asked innocently.
"Let me go now, Potter, and I might spare you a sliver of control over this mind when I take it over. I am Lord Voldemort and I cannot be defeated by anyone, no matter how powerful they are. Spare yourself the misery."
"Bold words for a man on his last legs," Harry said. "A shame that you aren't your full self. The only part you didn't retain post-destruction was the diary, right? Besides, if you'll keep calling me Potter, I'll need to create a true name for you. I like Tom, Shard, or Ghost. Which will it be?"
Voldemort hissed. "I was never any of those."
"You were Tom once, and you were but a Ghost after your failed attempt on my life. But you are a Shard of your former self now. That'll have to do. Who was it?"
The memories rushed back to the front of his mind. The Confringo, the years of maintaining his losses to the rebellion headed by Neville Longbottom. The final duel, where neither wand responded to the owner's commands and the boy, realizing this first, moved in to brawl the muggle way. The slow death by asphyxiation, the look of triumph in his eyes during his opponent's last breath.
Shard screamed in pain. His mind was being skimmed by the Potter boy.
"So it was Neville. Fate does seem to work in mysterious ways sometimes."
Shard, coming back to his senses, seethed. "You dared break into my mind? When I take over this body, I will vanquish your soul more efficiently than the dementor's kiss ever could. There will be nothing left to mourn. You will suffer beyond all … "
Harry cut him off with a pulse of magic. "I have a deal to offer you. You will give me all of your memories, knowledge, and training, and I will give you a painless end. Deal?"
Shard was shocked. "Never."
Harry was unsurprised. "Very well then. I'll just have to do it myself. You know I can, and you will suffer for the duration. What will it be, Shard?"
" R."
"Imagine the pain if I fully break in, to take even muscle memory from your soul."
Shard hesitated.
"And as long as you resist, your pain will worsen. It will continue for months or years before I finish and eject you from my mind."
There was a pause.
Voldemort broke.
"If I help you, would you be content with transferring me to a snake? I will not die at the hands of… you"
Harry smiled. "Of course. As Nagini is dead, do you have a preference?"
"No. Just one far away from Azkaban."
Harry stood. "Always a pleasure, Shard. Lower your barriers and let's get this over with."
Three Hours Later…
Harry retracted his hand from Shard's "head." "It is done," Harry announced. "Please enjoy the rest of your stay in my mind. I will now look through your memories to confirm my knowledge of the procedure."
Shard smiled sardonically. "A pleasure doing business with you, Potter."
Harry Lifted back to the real world.
The dementors had gone, abandoning the prison after their Lord's death. Harry smiled in relief. He dispelled his Patronus and went to work finding the way to rid himself of Shard. He entered his mindscape again.
"I am ready. The snake I have chosen for you is an old acquaintance of mine, currently living in South America."
Shard grimaced. "Get it over with."
The air around Shard started to glow as Harry chanted in Latin. Shard felt himself leave Harry and be shot across the Atlantic Ocean.
He was finally free, but that didn't matter. He had a mission to complete. Several hours later, he had regained all of the Deathly Hallows. Suddenly, they started changing, each becoming a part of him. The true invisibility cloak melded to his skin, replacing it, healing all wounds from his many battles over the years. The Ressurection Stone became a replacement for his missing right eye, lost in the battle with the True Snake. Unfortunately, it was the only wound unaffected by the healing tears of Fawkes. The Elder wand holstered itself in the flesh of his right arm. Finally, his scar was changed from a lightning bolt to one resembling the Deathly Hallows.
He marvelled at the changes. He had become stable of mind and soul again, the Resurrection Stone "resurrecting" his soul from the eventual leeching by Dementor and his mind from the very depths of his own, banished there years ago by Lockhart, under orders from Dumbledore.
It was a wonderful feeling, having his mind back again. He had only been functioning on a fraction of his true capacities, and his mindscape was suffering from it. The mental shock from the freeing of his mind was enormous. The very structure of his mind threatened to collapse. His conscience waited, hoping that it would not have to work on repairs before even working.
Finally, it stopped shaking. He mentally moved to the memory room and went through all of the memories taken, hidden, and removed from this part of the mind. Unsurprisingly, it was much bigger than his current stash of memories.
Several hours later, Harry had finished. While he was disgusted with himself, he was also aware of the compulsions and bindings that had been placed on him since his parents had died, refreshed and added upon by his eternal torturers, Lockheart and Dumbledore, every week since his fight with the True Snake.
He'd need to remove them at some point, but he was willing to wait a while longer. He apparently was being moved in his physical form. He returned to the forefront of his own mind.
There was a woman there, dressed in green and black. Harry' first thought was that Narcissa Malfoy had somehow survived the raids following the final Battle with Voldemort. Upon closer inspection, however, he saw the differences. This woman was much taller, had an aura that felt like Death itself.
The only giveaway was the skintight outfit. Narcissa would never deem to wear something so tight and potentially revealing, always having preferred the classic wizard robes. No, this woman was definitely not Narcissa Malfoy.
The woman stood up. "Finally, you're awake. I was getting bored of just waiting here. I am Death."
"Harry Potter," He replied absentmindedly. "Wait, Death? Why are you here? I'm not dead yet, am I?"
Death Chuckled. "No, Master. You are merely injured. If you wish, I will bring you to safety immediately. That, after all, is my biggest priority. If you were to die, I could not reach ascendancy."
Harry looked shocked. He ran through his new memories for reasons why he had Death calling him her master. Only one memory made even a bit of sense to him.
"So the story wasn't a lie. By claiming the Deathly Hallows…"
"One shall become the Master of Death." Death completed.
Harry winced. "Can I call you something other than Death? It just sounds… wrong."
Death smiled. "Certainly, Master. I have been known by many names throughout time. I would prefer Grim, Letum, Thanatos, or Hela. However, as my Master, you can change my appearance or name whenever you want. However, I shall be most powerful in the form and name you first choose for me. It is all a matter of preference."
Harry's head was spinning. There was too much to handle, to do right now. "I like Hela. Please take me somewhere safe. I'll get better soon."
Hela chuckled. "A you wish, Master." Hela snapped her fingers.
Three days later…
Hela stood, waiting for her Master to awaken from her magically-induced healing sleep. It was curious that he had chosen to come now. In her universe, she had just been imprisoned after her father, Odin, had decided that she was too much of a threat to be allowed to even be confined to Asgard. The thought of everyone panicking as she had disappeared brought a smile to her lips.
"If only they knew," Hela said.
"If they knew what?" Harry asked. While he had just awakened, he had spent most of the time reorganizing his mind, controlling his magic, and creating an alternate version of himself. "About me?"
Hela laughed. "Close guess, Master. I was actually thinking of their reaction when they realized I had disappeared. In my current universe, I am imprisoned after having been too efficient of a warrior."
Harry grinned. "And you escaped? I should have expected you to be able to Apparate…" His voice trailed off. "Did you say alternate universe? Hermione was talking about that a while ago. She said that it was likely but the power required to travel between them was way more than even what Dumbledore was able to do. Are you… Am I really…"
Hela was surprised at her patience. "Yes, Harry. You are really my Master. I don't know what you mean by Apparate, but I can travel through shadows. It is a unique trait in my universe, but you should be able to do so as my Master. I would never have been able to escape while my father was alive, but the call of my Master is more powerful than even his strongest protections and guards."
Harry was confused, but relieved that he was actually able to control Death. He had easily a thousand questions, but he now had better control than when he had been an arrogant Gryffindor. "Do I exist in your universe? I know it's unlikely, but it could be possible…" He trailed off.
Hela closed her eyes. While her universe was easily a thousand years behind her Master's, she could clearly see his future life.
It was… troublesome to say the best. Checking against the current universe, she paled. It was a miracle that he had survived this long, even as her Master. Universe after universe, it was almost exactly the same tale.
They had all died. Killed by, almost invariably, by Voldemort, by the Dursleys, by the Weasleys, by Dumbledore, and even Hermione Granger. For his lordships, for his money, for the Dark Lord, even for not responding to Dumbledore quickly enough in one particularly horrible dimension.
"You should be dead. Not even one of the Harrys in the other dimensions survived past that age of 25. How, or better yet, why," Hela cried, torn between sorrow for the infinite other deaths of her Master. "Are you still alive!"
Harry groaned. "This is going to take a while."
Thirteen hours later…
Hela frowned. Her Master had just shown her the wonders of magic, but there was something wrong. It seemed… weakened, restrained. Unsure, Hela asked her master of it.
"Harry?"
"Yes, Hela?"
"Your magic is… off. It seems weakened, like there is something blocking it or something leeching it away. Is that normal?"
Harry was shocked. He had never before noticed anything, but something had seemed off for a while now. However, he had absorbed a way to check.
"I can find out, but I'll need parchment and an obsidian dagger… " The items immediately appeared in front of him, along with two chairs. "Where are we? I probably should have asked this earlier, but… "
"I don't know. I took you to a place that you knew was safe. If it helps, the building started changing when you arrived and we are now a good… 4000 feet in the air."
Harry was unnerved. He hadn't even noticed that he wasn't firmly on the ground. "I'll just… do this then." He sliced his palm, letting seven drops of blood fall onto the paper. Immediately, the words started forming on the parchment, words the exact same green as his eyes.
Previous blood tests: 0
Name:
Hadrian Jasmine Potter-Black
Born:
July 31st, 1980, Godric's Hollow, England
Parents:
James Hadrian Potter (Birth father)
Lily Arianna Potter nee Evans (Birth mother)
Sirius Orion Black (Blood Adopted Father, July 31st, 1980)
Hela Død (Magically Adopted Mother, October 31, 2045)
Titles:
Lord and Founder of the Most Ancient and Noble Family Ravenclaw (Acquired October 31, 204)
Lord of the Ancient and Noble Family Potter (birth)
Lord of the Ancient and Noble Family Black (blood adoption)
Goblin Friend (Earned August 10, 1994)
Master of Death (Earned October 31, 2045)
Lord of the Ancient and Noble Family Peverell (Acquired October 31, 2045)
Vaults:
Potter Trust Vault - 8,340 Galleons, 14 Sickles, 9 Knuts
Potter Family Vaults - 12,435,739 Galleons, 9 Sickles, 25 Knuts; 134 magical artifacts
Black Family Vaults - 69,546,039 Galleons, 15 Sickles, 1 Knut; 457 magical artifacts and 1476 books
Ravenclaw Family Vault - 1,000,000,000,000 Galleons, 1 Sickle, 1 Knut; 11643 magical artifacts
Ravenclaw Family Library Vault - 1 Knut; 45,378,392 books and counting
Peverell Family Vaults - 81,746,301 Galleons, 13 sickles, 28 Knuts; 1006 magical artifacts and 1920 books
Død Vault - 3 magical artifacts and 4 books
Magical abilities and blocks:
Core magic – Grey-Dark (95% blocked, Albus Dumbledore, November 1st, 1981)(Adapted
October 31, 2045; previously 45% blocked)
Parseltongue (Partial Block, Albus Dumbledore, November 1st, 1981)
Parselmagic (Blocked, Albus Dumbledore, November 1st, 1981)
Wandless magic (Blocked, Albus Dumbledore, November 1st, 1981)
Wordless magic (Blocked, Albus Dumbledore, November 1st, 1981)
Magic Sense (Blocked, Albus Dumbledore, November 1st, 1981)
Eidetic memory (Blocked, Albus Dumbledore, November 1st, 1981)
Natural Legilimens (Blocked, Albus Dumbledore, November 1st, 1981)
Hereditary blood magic (Blocked, Albus Dumbledore, November 1st, 1981)
Technomage (Undiscovered)
Edictic tongue (Undiscovered)
Animagus (Undiscovered)
Touch of Death (Undiscovered)
Properties:
House Number 14, Godric's Hollow, England
Potter Manor, Oxfordshire, England
12 Grimmauld Place, London, England
Black Manor, Wiltshire, England
Raven's Perch, Isle of Skye, Scotland
Villa du Soleil, St Tropez, France
Peverell Manor, Edinburgh, Scotland
Magical bonds:
Soulbond - Luna Hollow Lovegood (Blocked, Albus Dumbledore, November 1st, 1981)
Magical compulsions/enchantments:
Blood Glamour (James Potter)(Albus Dumbledore, November 1st, 1981)
Loyalty Keyed to Albus Dumbledore (Albus Dumbledore, November 1st, 1981)
Obedience Keyed to Albus Dumbledore (Albus Dumbledore, November 1st, 1981)
Loyalty Keyed to Gryffindor House (Albus Dumbledore, July 31st, 1991)
Loyalty Keyed to the Order of the Phoenix (Albus Dumbledore, July 31st, 1991)
Loyalty Keyed to Ronald Weasley (Albus Dumbledore, July 31st, 1991)
Loyalty Keyed to Ginevra Weasley (Albus Dumbledore, July 31st, 1991)
Loyalty Keyed to Molly Weasley (Albus Dumbledore, July 31st, 1991)
Distrust Keyed to Slytherin House (Albus Dumbledore, July 31st, 1991)
Distrust Keyed to Severus Snape (Albus Dumbledore, July 31st, 1991)
Shame Compulsion Keyed to Home Life (Albus Dumbledore, July 31st, 1991)
Recklessness Charm (Albus Dumbledore, September 1st, 1991)
Anti-authority Charm (Albus Dumbledore, September 1st, 1991)
Selflessness Charm (Albus Dumbledore, September 1st, 1991)
Loyalty Keyed to Hermione Granger (Albus Dumbledore, October 31st, 1991)
Other controlling factors:
Love Potion Keyed to Ginevra Weasley (Amortentia)(Albus Dumbledore, Molly Weasley,
September 1st, 1993)
Hela was sitting patiently, waiting for her master to finish reading his results and possibly reveal them to her. Instead, she felt the air thicken with an energy that she had come to recognize as his magic. This time, however, it felt angrier. The magic was swirling, waiting for a target to strike at. Slowly, Hela pulled out a shield.
"Harry?"
He turned around, his good eye blazing. It was a green fire, one she had come to match to the green light from many of the recent fallen in her current dimension. Unlike the others, however, this fire was burning from his eye, rising to the side in a pattern like flame blowing in the wind.
Harry was not happy. He had just found out that his whole life had been a lie, that he had been controlled, manipulated, his body itself suppressed by magic. When Hela called his name, he was too far gone to think. He was ready to destroy anything that stood in his way.
His vision had tinged green. He took a deep breath. Slowly, the magical fire retracted into his eye, still ready to burst out at a moment's notice.
"Yes, Hela?"
Hela stood still for a moment. She was not sure whether or not he would attempt to kill her or answer her. "Were those results… bad by any chance?"
Harry laughed. The so-called "Black madness" was starting to get to him.
"Define wrong, Hela. Is a blood glamour wrong? Is a 95% block on my core wrong?is having my very life and decisions controlled wrong? Is having my soulbond blocked wrong!"
He threw the paper at her. His arm felt sluggish. He was definitely going to… pass… out…
Hela caught him. It wasn't hard. 40 years in Azkaban really took a lot out of someone, and it showed. He weighed just barely more than he had in the month before he started going to Hogwarts. Besides, she had some practice, having had to catch her Master the past few days.
It was odd, however, being able to touch a human without their immediate death.
The room, sensing the lord of the House's needs, opened a door to the library. Stepping through, Hela's jaw dropped open.
The Ravenclaw Library was massive, bigger than any other ever created. She had certainly been in bi libraries before, though not of this size. On one wall, there were easily over a thousand books with quills scribbling away in them. She would later come to learn that they were monitoring the current magical books being written by every author. In the muggle version of the library, there were over ten thousand times as many quills, working away until the real-life writer
stopped writing.
As Hela watched in the magical library, a book titled Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them:
Edition 84 detached itself from the wall, flying over to a section titled "Magical Creatures". Soon, however, another sight drew her gaze. A book was floating through the library, entitled The Goblin's Guide to Magical Rituals: English Translation. Landing on a nearby table, the book opened to a page entitled "Final Cleansing". Hla took a seat, making sure her Master was comfortable in a nearby one. She cracked open the book and read about the ritual.
Final Cleansing
This ritual is only to be used to remove a number of magical blocks or charms greater than that of other rituals. While this ritual can remove any and all enchantments, it can sometimes cause irreversible trauma to the patient. This ritual is otherwise generally to be used as a last resort if the patient is about to die from a loss of magic or from an otherwise incurable poison. The Final Cleansing will remove curse magic and scars as well, though whether or not it can remove a Horcrux is still in question. To perform this ritual, the patient is to be enclosed in clay (not including the head) and have them bring their magic to the surface. If they are unable, bring their magic to the surface using more potent potion ingredients such as thestral hair. The magic should imprint the clay with all of the blocks/compulsions/charms in place on the patient. To remove them, merely wipe over the clay where the problem has been imprinted. This process should take up to an hour depending upon the number of blocks/compulsions/charms that are being removed from the patient. There should be other items imprinted on the clay that should NOT be tampered with at risk of harming the patient.
Hela kept reading. The ritual seemed risky, but it would help her Master and she could ensure that he would stay alive if need be. Finishing reading the more specific instructions, she woke her Master.
"Master, I have found a way to help."
Harry groaned. He really needed to stop passing out. If he was to control death, he would need to always be aware of his surroundings.
"What is it, Hela?"
"Master, this ritual should be able to rid you of all blocks, compulsions, and enchantments. Give me the word, and I will rid you of your bonds."
Harry was relieved. He would finally be free.
"Do it."