Ethereal
Diagon Alley
Daniel Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger were in the centre of a mostly empty street. It never got busy these days, ever since the battle in the ministry where Daniel had been fooled into thinking his family were being held hostage. He acted rashly, too rashly and instead of simply checking he had caused a huge battle, but in the process revealed the existence of Voldemort. Something which had instantly changed the world. Though he had been staying at the Weasley's most of the summer and was out today because everyone was at a huge order meeting to discuss something big, something that happened only recently.
"So where do you wanna go?" Ron asked aloud, they were supposed to be shopping for school supplies but that had bored them far too quickly. The temptations of the joke shop had sucked most of their money away and everyone was jumping from shop to shop to be quick. There was to be no socialising in this place.
"Quidditch supplies?" Daniel suggested, he was on the team and wanted to at least slaver over whatever was in the shop.
"Really? Again?" Hermione sighed sounding a mixture of angry and dejected, these two were the best friends she had and yet she felt so distant from their interests.
"Oh come on lighten up!" Daniel encouraged with a goofy grin. It fit him well, his rounded face seemed to accommodate it perfectly, the same with his slim body and straggly red hair which was cut short, just above his big brown eyes. Above them; a lighting shaped scar.
"Fine I suppose we could..." Hermione never finished that sentence because in the same second she began a deafening scream filed the air and the joke shop behind them was immersed in sudden sparks.
"What the hell!" Daniel screamed before he was pulled to the ground, he was behind a suddenly abandoned cart and a furious pink haired witch was keeping him down.
"Tonks?" Ron questioned sounding surprised.
"Oh come on? You think you could come here without protection?" she scowled not knowing what was going on and praying it was a joke by one of the twins. She would kill the pair of them but it would give her some relief.
"Avada.." a cruel cursing voice told her otherwise and she looked to see a dozen people in black surrounding the joke shop.
"Do not kill them you fool!" another voice screamed, it was deeper more refined and yet furious at the same time.
"Ok we need to..." Tonks was thrown to the floor by a stunner before the plan had even formed in her mind.
"Stupefy," Hermione acted too fast for the death eater, he was the second victim and was on the floor too.
"Nice shot," Daniel complimented watching him fall, though he noticed no one was coming to his aid. No other death eater seemed bothered and he could see them in the joke shop, though they were shrouded by dust clouds and debris.
"What are they doing?" he wondered to himself with a pointed look, there was something going on here.
"No Daniel get down, we need to go," Hermione hissed knowing her friends tendency for getting himself into situations like this.
"No look!" Daniel retorted and she did, she peered through the cart's wheels to see death eaters marching, eight of them left but they were walking in two parallel lines. With people in between them, though they were not just people, they were young. Ranging from eight to sixteen they were lined, looking vacant and blank.
"What?" Ron muttered to himself, he knew that Death Eaters didn't put time into organised kidnappings. Not on this scale anyway and how were they controlling them?
"Well done, I commend you all for this is a fine addition, join hands with them," the same deepened voice commanded and slowly a figure emerged from the crowd of death eaters. One draped in long robes and wearing a golden mask,
"We should do something," Daniel muttered to himself,
"No we..." Hermione tired to convince him but the Gryffindor had already ignored all possible reason and was on his feet. Walking towards the masked man,
"Who are you?" Daniel demanded in big tones, the figure turned towards him.
"Daniel Potter, the Boy Who Lived? What an honour! Tell me why do you grace us with your presence today?" a voiced laced with sarcasm demanded as Ron and Hermione moved to his side, intending to back him up.
"To stop you," was the blunt answer. From behind the mask Harry laughed, this had been the moment he had been looking forward to. He had not known his brother was in the alley, it was an added treat.
"Oh really and how do you plan to do that?" was the follow up question and Harry waited for an answer. Daniel drew his wand.
"What too scared to draw your wand?" Daniel baited in what some would see as arrogance but Harry saw as a tactic.
"I have no wand or natural magic," he informed him. The death eaters behind him looked slightly caught off guard. It was to be expected, he had been in contact with the dark lord already, he was an ally in some ways and unwilling informant in the other. Though he had offered the services of his men in exchange for assistance in extracting information from a captive.
"What?" Daniel questioned, was this man a muggle? How could a muggle be with death eaters or indeed leading them?
"You see Daniel I am a very powerful creature and I have only four ways to attack you," Harry answered raising a purple glowing hand.
"Stupefy!" Daniel struck first but the spell was off course and did not hit.
"The first would be making you panic and run," Harry explained hitting the red headed boy to the right of his brother with a purple volt of lightning.
"Ron," Daniel began but all he got in response was a terrified scream of sheer terror, and the Weasley ran away.
"Petific.." Hermione began
"The second is a mental attack," Harry continued his hands forming a purple ball which he threw at the girl who was knocked onto her back, injured or knocked out; he did not care. Though it was not enough to kill, she could prove useful.
"Expell.."
"The third is a storm," Harry smiled ripping his hands away from each other and to stop his brother running away a purple mist descended upon the alley. One which passing through would leave a person subjected to fierce winds and force, a lesser version of what he disarmed the order with.
"Then there is mind control," this was the finale and he saw the bushy haired girl begin to rise, his purple beam hit her and she drew her wand on Daniel.
"Stupe... No!" Hermione screamed breaking free. Harry stared, his eyes from behind the mask did not blink. This was impossible. She could not of broken free!
"Stupefy!" the stunner he missed and it was the quick timing of a death eater he was not hit. How had the girl done it
"Take the children!" Harry screamed and once all the death eaters were gone he looked at the strange bushy haired girl who was able to easily resist him.
"Not so powerful now are you?" she gloated this time and it seemed she deserved it but the question was still how, was it possible she was one of the few the Ethereal Ones had been looking for. Harry conjured a purple ball of mental energy, intending to knock her out in one swift movement
"Stupefy," it wasn't her, it was a hundred other voices and the auror counter attack had arrived, he would be unable to take them all on. Then he was gone, vanished into the air. It was as if he had never even existed. However what none of them knew is the vanishing kidnapper had just been given an idea.
Two days later
All of them had failed, all the children he had sent were failures. None of them were useful or indeed alive as of now. It was a problem, one Harry had an idea on how to correct. Which was why he was here, in Malfoy Manor where Lord Voldemort had taken up residence,
"Lord Voldemort," Harry greeted calmly, the man looked up
"Ethereal, you asked to meet me," the cold, snakelike man stated coolly, he did not like to address an equal which was what he perceived the masked man in front of him to be.
"I require your assistance once more,"
"You already have the use of my men," Voldemort commented quickly,
"This particular event does not yet need the use of force, I instead refer to another branch of attack, one this time in which our needs have merged. You intend to use Draco Malfoy as Albus Dumbledore's assassin correct?" Harry questioned. He knew the answer, Narcissa Malfoy, the ears of Lucius was one of the sleepers he could control through his sphere.
"How do you know that?" Voldemort demanded, sounding angry.
"It matters not, though your use of him could indeed help me. We both know his plan with the vanishing cupboard, one that I must say is ingenious. Though instead of a small force how about a much larger one?" Harry continued skating past the topic the Dark Lord wished to discus.
"I need children, you want Dumbledore dead and if I could disable the wards from the inside and a force was already inside,"
"Then we could attack the school, are suggesting we take it,"
"I am not just suggesting that, I am suggesting that you completely invade it. Then you will have the children of the magical community, you would have strong leverage and in exchange I will take possession of every muggle born student in the school," Harry baited knowing the man well enough to know he would not ignore such an offer.
"And how do you propose we do this? Draco is not skilled enough to bring down the wards on his own," Voldemort asked, telling Harry that he was already onboard with the idea.
"I will send a covert operative into the school, posing as student and he will undo the wards." Harry explained simply.
"And why would you need me to infiltrate the school?" Voldemort inquired.
"Because your followers happen to have children in the school, my operative could pose as a cousin. For example Draco Malfoy, it would be simple to say have an operative enter the school under the guise of. I don't know, Harry Malfoy?" Harry suggested, he was intending to be the operative. He would require special help to use magic, but he was with the creators of it. It would not be hard.
"An intriguing scheme, I accept," Voldemort confirmed and Harry bowed.
"I will send the operative to you, will you be able to facilitate his entry?" Harry asked knowing the answer.
"Of course,
"Good I shall meet you soon." With that Harry vanished but as he did a smile spread across his face, he had no intention of letting the school fall in that way. No indeed he had no intention of allowing Voldemort access to any of the students, he intended to take them all.
Three days later
A ring, a small black ring was all he would need. That was it and as Harry looked at himself in the mirror he almost didn't see himself. He looked a lot like James Potter but with charms to pale his skin, lighten his hair it didn't show that much.
He slipped the ring onto his finger and pulled out a wand, not a real one just a bit of polished wood but it needed to pose as a wand.
"Lumos," Harry attempted but he had to put his own power into the ring for it respond. So when the light did show up it was a tinge of purple, though it was not something he could change. It was this or nothing and the idea of taking an entire school was exciting to both him and the Ethereal Ones.
"My name is Harry Malfoy," he told himself again and again, this was his new identity and it needed to stick.