Some ideas to consider… after this story is finished how about a sequel where harry enters an alternate dimension where Ron weasley is the boy who lived… just a thought after I finish the current plots of this story… anyways back to the chapter at hand.
CHAPTER FOUR: VOLDEMORT'S RECRUITS
HARRY OF THE SITH
BY TRIDENTWATCH
Darth Challix waited under the presence of Jabba the Hutt. The creature was an ugly monstrosity, filled with dark manevolent energies surrounding him, not that Challix particularly minded. He drew on the negativity that permeated Jabba and used it to reinforce his own strength.
"What brings you here Jedi?" growled Jabba the Hutt, surrounded by his body guards. The most powerful being Mara Jade and Jango Fett.
Darth Challix bowed. "I am no Jedi, I am a Sith Lord."
This was met with shocked gasps from all around.
"A sith lord?" chortled Jabba the Hutt. "What in the name-"
"It is true, I am a sith. Would you like a demonstration?"
Jabba smirked and said, "Yes I would in fact, show him to the Arena. Let him keep his weapons and see how he fares with our creatures."
Darth Challix willingly allowed himself to be escorted to a hot sandy pit, surrounded by benches and stands where nobles from all over the galaxy, rich corrupt merchants, and bounty hunters and criminals watched, jeering at the Jedi who claimed he was a Sith.
The sith lord activated his duel red light saber, and waited. Out of the Arena, a cage opened, revealing a hideous troll like beast that charged at Darth Challix. The Sith Lord was by far not even the least scared of it. He waited until the troll, who welded two gigantic wooden clubs, came near him and then using the dark side of the force he plunged his light saber into the troll's neck with surprising speed, beheading the troll. Then he started walking slowly to the center of the arena, smirking.
"What is next, oh bold and illustrious Jabba?"
Jabba the Hutt growled and raised his pudgy hand. Another cage opened, revealing a pair of hound dogs that had been genetically altered to be the most vicious dogs Darth Challix had ever encountered. They growled and charged at him, eager for bloodlust.
Darth Challix felt the dark side surround the creatures. He shut off his saber and put it on his belt and waited. And then he raised his hand and the dogs stopped, crumpled to the floor. They were dead.
The crowd was shocked at the Sith's power.
"One more challenge then," Darth Challix said, "Bring your best creature to duel me and I shall be victorious, I promise you."
Jabba the Hutt growled in frustration, but it quickly changed into a triumphant smirk.
"Bring in the experiment," He shouted in Huttese, which Darth Challix understood perfectly.
A large iron door opened automatically and out lumbered the biggest monstrosity Darth Challix had ever seen. The creature had gray scales and four arms, as well as three legs and ten eyes protruding out of a giant head.
In each of the arms he held a light saber.
Darth Challix growled to himself in frustration. He had not expected to fight force adept users. But he knew he could defeat this monstrosity. Lord Voldemort had picked him as an apprentice, and he knew he would not fail his Sith Lord under any circumstances.
He slowed down his breathing and entered into a trance, a light meditative state where he could feel the currents of the force surround him. "Okay then," he said to Jabba in Huttese, "After this, no more games. I have a deal to make with you."
Jabba nodded, "If you can defeat this creature, I shall grant you your request, whatsoever it may be." In truth Jabba was a little scared of the talented Sith Lord, and hoped he would never have to put all his body guards to the test. Hiring body guards cost a lot of credits and Jabba was a businessman above all else, above even his own depraved cruelty and joy of bloodshed.
Darth Challix faced the hideous monster and brought out his own duel red light saber. He whirled it around in frightening speed, and then charged at the monster. The monster easily evaded his offensives and plunged a lightsaber into the first opening he saw: Darth Challix's unprotected left thigh.
Darth Challix winced in pain but he used the distraction to plunge his light saber through the neck of the beast and then used the force to propel himself further away from the monster… waiting to watch it die.
But the monster did not die. It instead chuckled and charged at him. Darth Challix knew he was in trouble and he called upon his Sith Lord, Voldemort for help.
He only heard a dark chuckle in his mind, a ruthless chuckle. "If you can't defeat this pathetic creature, you have no place as my apprentice you fool."
It was as he expected. His sith lord would not give him aid.
He remembered how he sucked on Anakin's soul and that gave him an idea. He dropped the light saber and waited until the monster was within reach. Then he held out both hands and used the force lightning he had only seen Palpatine command. He didn't know where he got the knowledge but he trusted the Force and the force was guiding him. He let his conscious mind drift into a deep meditation as he focused all his energy on generating a lightning strike that would be sure to fell this dangerous opponent.
The lightning crackled within Darth Challix's fingers and then the red and blue lightning sped forward as if it had a will of it's own. Darth Challix wasn't in control. The darkness was predominant and he couldn't think clearly because the darkness of the force was crushing his mind body and spirt. He let the lightning flow out of him even though he felt pain as he did, as his face deformed, as he suffered the creature suffered when the lightning bolt hit the creature.
The creature tried to use his lightsabers to protect himself from the lightning but the sabers fizzled out, something unheard of. Darth Challix decided it must have been defective and broken light sabers. He watched in fascination as the lightning tore through the creature's body, through his intestines and lungs and a stench of burning flesh hit his nostrils.
Then the lightning stopped and Darth Challix stood proud, victorious, not letting his exhaustion show. His leg was bleeding, and he wondered if he would faint from blood loss. He couldn't afford to show any weakness so with the last of his energies he focused on healing his leg. He was only successful in stopping the blood flow of the wound and knew he would never be able to use his left leg again because of the hideous creature's attack.
Darth Challix started walking toward Jabba. The bodyguards made no move to defend him. He could see the terror in their eyes, as well as the hint of fear in Jabba's eyes. Then he spoke, clearly and sharply. "Thirty jedi are on their way to capture me. You will aid me, correct?"
Jabba chuckled, "You are powerful, very powerful but thirty jedi is too great a number. They will make mince meat out of you."
"That's why I need your help. If we can slaughter the jedi here, and destroy their ships they will not be able to communicate their failure to the council. You will be left alone after that, and I will reward you handsomely."
"Reward?" Jabba's greedy slug eyes perked up. "What sort of reward."
"I will bring you what you most seek: power."
"And how can I trust you, the words of a Sith are always deceptive lies, half truths at the most," said Jabba, shrugging his shoulders. Jango Fett stood silent, but then stepped forward. "I will aid you in your quest, Sith Lord, but I want a reward as well."
Darth Challix turned to him and it was then when Lord Voldemort spoke through his mind. "Yes bring him to me as well. I have been in contact with him and I require his services."
"Do you know who I serve?" asked Darth Challix.
"Yes," nodded Jango Fett. "I want to serve Lord Voldemort the same way you do, because it is the quickest way for power."
"Then you will aid me regardless of Jabba's decision?"
"Yes."
"Very well then, come with me, we will meet the Jedi scum and obliterate them from the face of the galaxy."
"Wait!" cried jabba the hut. "You are taking my best bounty hunter with you. You can't do that!" he protested.
Darth Challix shot him a cold look. "You will aid me in killing the Jedi, or I will kill you right where you stand."
"And I shall help," said Jango in a cold voice. "What say you?"
"Jade!" Jabba screamed, "Kill them."
Mara Jade, a beautiful but cunning woman, very powerful in both the force and in martial arts stepped forward. "Jango, please reconsider, this is a dangerous move you are making."
"My heart is set. I love you Mara, will you join me?"
Mara's eyes softened, and she blushed red. "I thought we would keep our relationship a secret," she said, annoyed.
"There is no time for that. Either stand with me or stand against me."
"Only the sith speak in absolutes," said Darth Challix with obvious admiration. "Lord Voldemort chose you rightly."
"Indeed," Jango said, inclining his head. "I have felt his presence in my mind for months and he is the most compelling character I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. I am ready to serve him."
Jango scowled, "So you are taking my best warriors on this foolish errand. What is in it for me?" He said angrily.
"Reward," Jango said. "Don't ask what it is, but you shall have it. I never forget my debts."
Darth Challix nodded, "Should you gift us with your assistance, I assure you that you will be rewarded in time. More than you can imagine. My Lord Voldemort is a generous master, and will always pay the debts of his followers."
Jabba glared at them all and then he finally relented. "There better be one hell of a good reward for me. After the skills you have demonstrated it appears I have little choice but to go along with this Jedi slaughter. Where will the be landing?"
"In your hanger bay. In fact, they have just landed and are already here."
"What?"
"Sound the alarms," Jango Fett said to a nearby attendant. "Gather all available guards and warriors to me."
Mara Jade pulled out her own light saber, which was a hideous green violet shade. Darth Challix chuckled at the colours as he pulled out his own red dual blade light saber. "Let the battle begin then."
He sensed the Jedi presence and bade his two companions to follow him. "Come Jango, Mara," and they obeyed instantly. All three had one thing in common: Lord Voldemort. Even Mara had felt whispers in her mind from the dangerous and most powerful Sith Lord in existence, who was hiding in some remote planet in the outer rims.
"Very well then, let the war begin," Jabba said, "You have my full support. I hate the Jedi anyways!"
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Back on Earth… In Italy we join the illustrious Dark Lord Grindelwauld…
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Albioni was a bit depressed he didn't yet have his wand. And while wondering the streets of Italy he came across many wanted posters with his name on it. But he quickly cast glamours on his face, very subtle glamours. He changed his blonde hair into black messy hair reminiscent of the picture of Harry Potter he had seen and he changed his eye color from bright blue to a dull brown. He also picked up an alias: John Walker.
He wondered down the muggle streets and entered a coffee shop called Starbucks where he ordered a cup of hot coffee. Of course he had no muggle money but he just used legilimency to get the attender to give him the cup of coffee for free. Legilimency was dead useful especially if the wizard had no wand. It was a type of wandless magic that relied on mental skills and concentration, of which Grindelwauld – as well as Dumbledore – was a master at. He took his hot cup of coffee and went to a corner by the windows. A newspaper was on the table. He leaned back in the armchair and grabbed the newspaper while waiting for his coffee to cool down a bit. On the front page was the headline, "Dangerous Mass Murderer escaped Prison!" He didn't bother to read the rest of the article, but he glanced down at his picture and wondered how they had noticed his escape so recently. He searched his mind and then an idea clicked: the fire in the forest. It must be a ward that set off a fire in the forest every time a prisoner escaped.
He sighed and went back to his coffee, sipping it softly. He still needed a wand. Without a wand he was dead useless and he didn't know any magical towns close by. So he sighed and wondered what to do. Although he knew a bit of wandless magic, and no doubt his legilimency helped influence certain people, like how he got free coffee, but it would not work in the long run.
It was time to contact some old friends of his, and the only friends he had that would still be alive were the vampires, who had fought alongside him in the previous war. With a sigh of regret – he hated losing, especially to someone with so little skill as Albus Dumbledore – he finished his coffee and started wondering the streets of Italy.
He reached a nice lake, that overlooked a little grove forest of trees. It was a pleasant scene. He sat down on the park bench. Closed his eyes and started to meditate. Under the clothes he had nicked from a muggle shop keeper, he had his bag of mushrooms with him. He knew of course that they were a drug, a psychedelic, but he needed some relaxation and he knew that under his glamour and disguise nobody would find him here, resting around some remote lake in some remote Italian town. So he just rested and waited as he chewed on the mushrooms. He didn't swallow them but spit them out after ten minutes and wished he had some more coffee to wipe out the slimy taste in his mouth.
Then he relaxed and started to meditate. He used control of his breath, letting it run slow and deep and within fifteen minutes he was in a deep meditative trance, helped by the mushrooms he injested. He knew it would take at least an hour for the mushrooms to work. He only had a little bit left in his satchel and boy he loved those mushrooms. They were certainly the best gift to find after fifty years of imprisonment from one country to the next.
He had used his animagus form to escape the confines of Italy's prison. They would ward it from animagi after they had learnt his means of escape so he hoped they would not capture him again. This was his last chance of freedom, and if he got caught by Italy's well trained aurors without a wand he was doomed. But here he was a free man, enjoying the scenery of the lake and the fresh breeze that blew from the nearby trees. He relaxed deeply into his meditation and just sank into the emptiness and tranquility it brought to him.
The mushrooms started to take hold of him but he wasn't scared of it. He had formidable mental shields to prevent himself from experiencing or doing something delusionally stupid. So he enjoyed the mushrooms relatively calmly and spent most of the day sitting idly on the park bench, surrounded by nature.
Nobody bothered him. He enjoyed the visions the mushrooms brought, but he knew it would not help him in any way. The mushrooms were not magical. They were simply a drug, a past time to enjoy life. And Grindelwauld after suffering from so much misery needed a bit of recreation. After the mushroom trip ended, he opened his eyes to meet complete darkness. It was late at night and he felt well rested.
It was the perfect time to steal jewlerry from unsuspecting houses. He planned to live a luxurious life style and recouver completely from his prisonment before he went to meet with the vampires.
The vampires could not tolerate weakness of any sort and they were surprisingly perceptive, more so because of their ancient lives that had granted them much wisdom. But with vampires on his side, Grindelwauld reasoned his rise to power would be unstoppable. He knew his previous wand was broken, so he needed money to hire a wand crafter to make him a new one, a wand that would be just as good as his old one. Wizards changed wands many times in their lives. After fifty years Grindelwauld knew he would need a better wand that would be more suited to his current personality.
But he had enjoyed the day. It refreshed him enormously enough and he got up, his limbs stiff and fingers cold. He started walking to the nearby shopping center. He walked right up to the door. It was in the middle of the night and only one security guard patrolled the muggle shopping center. Grindelwauld grinned.
He went to the door and put his hand on the lock and focused his energy to whisper wandlessly his favorite spell, "Alahorama." The door opened with a click and Grindelwauld sneaked inside. It was sort of dark in there, but there were a few lamps overhead giving a bit of light to see his target. He went to the jewlerry store, the first one he could find and again he opened the door with his spell. That wouldn't trigger the alarms. He turned on the light switch, hoping the gaurds wouldn't notice him.
He wouldn't be here long, just five minutes at the most. He pulled out his sack of mushrooms and with a regrettable sigh he dumped them on the floor of the shop. Drugs were fine once in a while, but he would not get addicted to them under any circumstances. He looked around the shop and his eyes rested on a glass encased box containing some of the most beautiful necklaces, pendants and rings he had ever seen. Perfect, he thought.
He looked at the lock and key that held the glass door shut, and with another spell of unlocking he easily pilfered the jewellery from the shop. Then as he was about to leave he caught sight of a vault that was also under lock and key. Perfect, he thought. His bag which he had conjured was sort of bottomless, meaning it had no limit in how many objects he placed into it, but of course since he had conjured it wandlessly he knew there would be some limitations. Nevertheless, after pilfering the jewlerry in the store from one case to the next, he approached the vault.
He unlocked it and was greeted with the sight of thousands and thousands of stacks of bills. Grinning, he shoved them all in his bottomless bag and decided to make his escape. He had enough wealth to live like a prince.
It was always good to appear rich in front of the vampires. They held the poor in deep contempt and to convince the vampires to join his side he would need a lot of money, as well as a wand.
With the money he could get a wand, and with what was left over he could get a new wardrobe of the best wizarding robes available, the ones that stuck up purebloods would wear. Grinning in joy at his acquired wealth he turned off the light switch and made his way out only to meet with a fat security guard dressed in a police uniform.
"Halt!" cried the rookie police man who had been assigned guard duty. "You are under arrest."
Grindelwauld swallowed. Without a wand he was defenseless. But he had mental powers, and he used legilimency to peer through the police man's mind and he focused all his energy on a nonverbal spell made all the more harder because he had no wand.
But his mental connection with the victim was a good substitute.
"Stupefy." He said. There was no red light.
In fact the only red light came from the man's eyes before he slumped to the floor, unconscious. Grindelwauld walked toward him and examined the gun the man was holding. This would prove useful he thought. He pulled out the hostler and the gun and attached it to his belt.
Then he walked out of the muggle shopping center and nobody stopped him.
He walked and walked, until he decided to call a cab which stood parked nearby in a side road.
He pulled out a wad of bills, not having much experience with muggle money. He approached the cab driver and said, "Hello, I need a ride."
The cab driver looked at him with a scowl, "Sorry, I'm done for today."
Grindelwauld handed him five bills. The cab driver's eyes widened. "Are you serious!" he exclaimed. "Five thousand…"
"So can I get a ride?"
"Yes of course, for sure," the cab driver said, grinning excitedly. "Right, where do you want to go?"
"Far away from here," Grindelwauld said. "To the next city."
"Oh, okay, that's going to cost a lot but since you've already paid in advance I can do it. No problem."
They started the drive. Grindelwauld surreptiously read the cab driver's mind through the mirrors of the car and discovered the cab driver was an honest man, but a bit stupid as well. Grindelwauld marveled at his good luck.
"So what's your name," said the cab driver as they drove through the dark streets. "Are you from around here?"
"No I'm a tourist, Albioni, pleased to meet you," said the dark lord. "And you are?"
"Tom Higgins, I moved from Britain, because bad things are happening there and all, but I am glad to be in Italy even though that mass murder broke out."
"Oh? Who is this?"
"Some guy, I forget his first name… something Grindelwauld."
Albioni sighed in relief at his good luck. He really need a better alias. But Albioini was the name his pureblood father had given him and he would not abandon it. Not under any circumstances.
They drove for hours on end, through highways and cramped streets. Tom kept asking where he wanted to go and Albioni kept replying further, to the next city. After giving Tom a fortune in muggle money, the cab driver was happy to oblige and seemed to pick up that Albioni didn't want to talk so much, so he stayed silent.
They stopped for a coffee at a gas station. Albioni told Tom to bring him some sandwiches and food as he was hungry. Tom happily obliged. "After the money you're paying me the least I can do is see that your belly is full," he said with a laugh. Albioni happily agreed.
They kept driving until they reached a well populated city that Albioini did not know the name of, nor did he care. "That's good," Albioni said, "You can drop me off here." Tom dropped him off at a busy street adjacent to a highway, filled to the brim with shops of all varieties.
Albioini thanked the driver and clutching his bag of wealth he quickly found a five star hotel. He paid in advance for a week's worth of room and board, which the manager happily accepted.
Albioni spent the next week in total seclusion, going out only for an hour a day to bring groceries like fruits and vegetables. He sank into a deep meditative trance, hopefully to gain guidance on his next move. He liked his meditation retreats and after the prison stay the five star hotel was a luxury. They provided a humungoes room for Albioni – because he paid the manager well, since the dark lord was ignorant in muggle money, he had paid three times the usual fee so the manager assumed the man was a rich merchant or something and Albioni dressed to look the part. He bought himself a nice muggle wardrobe of suits and cloaks of stylish designs and paid heftily. He soon figured out the muggle currency but he was not too worried. He had stolen thousands from the jewlerry shop. After getting his wardrobe, he next set upon buying books, all sorts of books on varities of subjects. At first he only bought muggle books and newspapers to catch up on recent events but he longed to return to the wizarding world.
He knew he had to be patient though. The whole magical world was looking for him and while he stayed in the muggle world he was safe from Italy's dangerous highly trained aurors.
It frustrated Grindelwauld to no end that he had no wand.
But he would fix that soon, he promised. He went down to the hotel swimming pool and had a nice swimming, training his body to be supple and fit for the upcoming duels he would no doubt had to face.
He hadn't contacted the vampires yet. All his old contacts were gone and he had no way to reach the wizarding world yet.
But he still had power, and he had patience. He was a long lived fellow, coming from a line of people who lived well into their two hundreds without narry a physical pain and as energetic as ever.
Grindelwauld was about the same age as Albus, but he was certainly far more energetic and vitalitc. It had to do with his genes, which Albus sadly lacked.
His thoughts churned around Albus many times but with his daily meditations he found a bit of peace, and he reigned in his anger at the man. At the time of their duel they were youngsters, little more than thirty years old.
Grindelwauld, after living a month in luxury at the hotel soon decided it would be best to forgive the old man and move on. Revenge was sweet but it was a sword that cut both ways.
And Grindelwauld was ambitious. He would only fight Albus if the old man would get in the way. He would not actively seek the old man out.
He longed for news of the wizarding world, but after many days of searching and searching in the city he had yet to find even a trace of the magical world. With a resigned sigh he knew he would have to go to the very center of magic in the world… Britian, where magic had first originated in its own culture, starting with Hogwarts, the most ancient magical building in the world.
His month long luxury at the five star hotel was over. He had enjoyed the sauna, the fluffy towels and the baths, and the privacy of his large room as well as the delicious food offered by the hotel. He had plenty of privacy to practice his wandless spells but he still needed a wand.
So he did something desperate. He fashioned a wand himself.
There were no magical creatures to use as a core but he himself, being a wizard was a magical creature.
So he created a blood wand. He used the leg of a coffee table, a wooden leg, and with a pen knife he carved it hollow. Then he slashed his wrist and let the blood flow into the wooden leg of the coffee table, before he covered his wound with bandages he had bought just for the occasion. Then he covered his home made wand with the cork of a wine bottle and tried his first spell at the couch.
"Wingardium Leviosa…"
It worked.
Almost. The couch rose and then faltered and then fell to the floor. Albioni grimaced in disgust. What did he expect with such a crude wand. But at least he had a defence in case aurors from Britain's ministry were on his tail. He could use the wand to defend himself.
Then the shock hit him. He had made a blood wand.
It was illegal… banned for over two hundred years.
Grindelwauld simply laughed and laughed and looked at the wand in a better light. He almost loved it, because he loved defying tradition. Yes the wand would take some getting use to. It was almost twice as long as a regular wand and looked like a walking stick for a toddler more than a wand. But it would do.
He postponded his trip to Britian to train with his new wand. He left the city, pawned off all the jewelry he had stolen for more cash and went to the suburbs of Italy to practice in a remote location. He bought an ancient house on the lake side miles away from civilization and for months and months he practiced with his new wand.
It worked.
Grindelwauld smirked.
It worked perfectly and for that he was tremendously happy. He laughed and laughed and stopped laughing when three Italy aurors knocked on his door. Then the laugh melted away into a frown, and then into a scowl, and then into a glowering hatred. He opened the door and without warning he started dueling the three Italy aurors. They had probably tracked him down due to all the magical spells he had been casting. Damn… he would need to flee Italy.
As he dueled the aurors with tremendous ease, he realized he couldn't go back to Britian yet. He still needed the help of vampires and the only way he would get that is if he went to Transylvania, the home of all vampires who served under their master, Count Dracula… who was also Grindelwauld'
