Assignment #3 – Divination: Necromancy

Lesson: Necromancy is the practice of magic involving communication with the deceased – either by summoning their spirit as an apparition or raising them bodily – for the purpose of divination, imparting the means to foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge, to bring someone back from the dead, or to use the deceased as a weapon. Necromancy is viewed as black magic, and should not be practiced.

Task: Write about someone turning to dark magic to attempt to raise a loved one from the dead.

Word Count: 300 - 3,500

A Deal with the Devil – 998 words

Harry was in a near state of panic. Currently he was standing in a large room surrounded by pillars and a depression in the middle. Right in the middle of the room stood a huge mirror with intricate ornaments around it. Right in front of it stood Quirrel, but not it wasn't solely Quirrel, he was possessed by Voldemort. Voldemort, who currently was looking at him demanding that he gave him the stone he previously got out of the mirror.

However, that was not what Harry was thinking about. No, his thoughts went into an entirely different direction altogether.

'What am I doing here?' Harry asked himself. 'Why did I even come here? This was an idiotic idea. How could I ever think that I would be able to take on Voldemort? He killed my parents and he surely will kill me.'

"Harry Potter, you don't have to be my enemy," Voldemort told him with a raspy voice, his red eyes focused solely on him. "If you give me that stone that is in your pocket I will greatly reward you. I even could bring your parents back if you wish so."

That brought Harry out of his whirling thoughts. What? Voldemort could bring back his parents? Harry's first reaction was to shout a resounding NO into Voldemort's face, that he wouldn't make a deal with him even with that offer on the table.

However, he couldn't. As much as he wanted to decline the offer, he just couldn't because suddenly his entire life flashed before his inner eye. The mistreatment by his relatives, the days he went without anything to eat...the beatings. Then he imagined how his life would be with his parents in it, the love, the appreciation for his achievements. It was everything he ever wanted to have...a family who loved him.

"You can bring back my parents?" He asked, his voice slightly broken because of the emotions whirling through him. "How?"

A smirk formed on Voldemort's lipless mouth, he knew he had the boy.

"Necromancy," he answered. "I know that those insipid fools declared it dark and forbidden because they fear what they don't understand. In the right hands however, it is a powerful tool."

Harry took a long look at Voldemort. Everything in him was screaming that he should decline, that he should get out of there as far as possible, getting to safety.

But then there was a not small part in him that wanted to use this situation, get something out of it. It was quite Slytherin even if he would never admit it.

Then there was also the fact that the pain in his scar vanished over their conversation and now was only a slight tingling.

But the biggest question was, could he trust the man who killed his parents.

"Why? You killed them why would you want to bring them back now?" He voiced one of the endless questions he had.

"I never was one for senselessly spilling blood. The only reason for why I killed your parents was because they refused to step aside without a fight. Did you know that I asked your mother to step aside three times?" Voldemort inquired.

That shocked Harry. He thought that Voldemort had been after his parents but now...it seemed that he had always been after him.

"You were after me," he said in shock. "But why? And why helping me now?"

Voldemort sighed, this was taking far longer than he anticipated and he was running out of time.

"Harry, we don't have much time. Yes, I came for you that evening but my goals changed. If you agree I'll tell you everything you want to know later but for now we simply don't have the time."

Harry knew what Voldemort was talking about, Dumbledore. Should the headmaster ever find out what was going on here he would be furious. But still Harry didn't want to just accept the deal, he needed some kind of security, an oath that he wouldn't be hurt or that Voldemort would keep his promise.

"How do I know that you don't just want to lure me somewhere, where you can kill me? Or that you'd keep your promise?" He asked.

Voldemort was mildly surprised by this, this was positively Slytherin.

"Are you sure you're not a Slytherin?" He asked with a chuckle.

"The hat actually wanted to sort me there," Harry answered.

He didn't know why he told Voldemort that because he certainly didn't want to but this entire conversation surprised him. Voldemort's behavior surprised him, shocked him even and it gave him some feeling of being safe. Sure, Voldemort was made out to be the big bad guy in all of this but if he really wanted to kill him why hadn't he done so yet? It certainly wasn't because he couldn't or because Harry could stop him so yes, he began to believe that Voldemort didn't want to kill him.

Voldemort chuckled again.

"You cannot know, but I promise you that I'll keep my promise and won't betray or kill you," he replied when his smirk grew darker. "So what is it? Want to embrace your darker side, try out Necromancy and get your parents back or are you Dumbledore's good little puppy?"

That did it for Harry. Sure, he only had Voldemort's promise but he didn't care...he was no one's puppy! Did he have to embrace the darker aspects of magic to get what he wanted, a family? So mote it be.

"Okay, so how does this work?" He said with a smirk of his own taking out the stone he still had in his pocket.

Voldemort's now grinned victorious. Oh he would corrupt the boy in front of him and Dumbledore would rue the day he first met him and declared him evil. And if he had to use some Necromancy to get the boy's parents back...it was a small price to pay to finally get a body again.