The Rise of the Shadow Mage

Chapter Four

Diagon Alley

A/N: How a shadow mage gains their ability is from another author. I can't remember the exact story. Harry is going to have skewed morals. He is going to be dark and will have qualms about killing someone who goes against him. He also trusts no one except the elves and that is because of the loyalty oaths in their contracts. This is a byproduct of his time at the Dursleys. Despite this he or perhaps because of it he is fiercely protective of those who can't defend themselves. He also hates bullies.

Today was Harry's 11th birthday and he was ready to go to Diagon alley. He had received his Hogwarts letter a week ago and today he was going to get his school supplies. He had gotten up early today and couldn't get back to sleep, he was too excited. For all of his maturity and confidence he was still a child at heart.

A few hours passed and it was finally time to leave. He was accompanied by his grandfather who despite being a wanted criminal was adamant about coming with him. It was unlikely that he would be recognized even by Dumbledore. He had recovered greatly and no longer looked like the pale gaunt man that he was when he last saw Dumbledore.

They flooed to the Leaky Cauldron and moved through the Alley headed for Gringotts. They walked inside the bank and approached the nearest teller. In Gobbledegook Harry requested a meeting with a member of the inheritance department. The Goblin gave him a toothy sneer and directed him to one of the numerous hallways. Harry gave the Goblin a curt nod and they headed down the hallway to the inheritance department. Arriving at their destination they knocked on the door and receiving a come in they entered the office. Seated behind an ornate desk was an elderly goblin. Harry sat down and jumped straight to the point.

"I wish to claim my familial inheritance."

The Goblin sneered at Harry. "You are far too young to claim your inheritance leave."

At this Harry released his tight control on his magic. To the goblin it seemed that a great pressure had descended on him making it hard to breathe. He looked into Harry's eyes and he saw a sight that would terrify him until the day he died. The sclera of Harry's eyes was pitch-black and the green irises seemed to radiate a cold fire. Harry's cloak seemed to move to an unearthly wind and the shadows in the room seemed to reach out to touch the young man.

The goblin had never seen or felt anything like it before but he knew the old tales. In the last Goblin rebellion prior to the founding of Gringotts in the 1800's many humans were captured and held in their dungeons. One of the humans was a young girl of about five. She was held in the darkness of the dungeon for almost two years. In the darkness the child awakened a power greater than the might of the entire Goblin army. She was a Shadow Mage. In her grief at losing her family and her anger at being held captive she lashed out at the Goblins. Her power was so great that none could stand in her path; she slaughtered whole legions and single-handedly caused the end of the war and the surrender of the Goblins. In the end she perished at the hands of wizards who were fearful of her power but the damage was done, fifty percent of the Goblin population in England had been eradicated. While she had faded from the memories of the wizards, the Goblins never forgot the power she could wield. Shortly after her death the remaining Goblin leaders passed a decree that if ever another shadow mage was to arise that the Goblins would swear allegiance so as to avoid the destruction that was sure to come.

Scared for his life the Goblin hurriedly informed Harry that he could of course accommodate his request but he needed to bring in a senior Goblin to assist. As he hurried from the room he failed to see the vicious smirk that adorned Harry's face. The Goblin ran straight to the Director's office. He stopped outside the office and informed the guard that he had an emergency situation to report. He was let in and he explained the situation to the director. His description of Harry caused the director to send out an emergency floo-call to all Gringotts directors and he sent the Head of Inheiritances to bring the shadow mage to his office.

Two hours later Harry and his grandfather left Gringotts very happy. While Grindelwald knew that the Goblins feared a shadow mage he didn't think they would go to this extent in order to appease Harry. When they met the director he surprised them by swearing the allegiance of Gringotts England to him, then the rest of the rest of the directors arrived and swore their allegiance. This was a great boon to Harry as it gave him complete control over the money supply of the majority of the Wizarding world. He also received an immediate inheritance ritual at his request and took control of the Potter, Black, Lestrange, and Grindelwald vaults. He was extremely wealthy from these families and added to the Le Fay fortune he was among the top twenty richest families and was the richest individual in Britain. They had even found the first of Voldemort's Horcruxes in the Lestrange Vault. He had recognized the description of Hufflepuff's cup that was on the ledger having received information from the elves a few months ago.

This was the last stop. They had everything except his wand. He pushed open the door and heard a soft bell sound to announce their presence. A man moved out into the open and smiled. "I wondered when I would be seeing you Mr. Potter. It seems only yesterday that your parents were in here buying their first wand."

Harry gave an irritated scowl and motioned for Ollivander to get on with it. Ollivander walked over to a shelf and pulled out a wand before handing it to Harry. It gave off no reaction and Ollivander snatched it from his hand while muttering. After about 30 different wands Harry was extremely irritated especially since Ollivander seemed to be enjoying himself immensely. Finally after another dozen wands Ollivander was ecstatic; he motioned for Harry to follow him. "Follow me Mr. Potter you are the first to require one of the masterpieces in over 75 years." He led Harry to a back room full of about two dozen wand boxes on pedestals. "This Mr. Potter is the room of the masterpiece wands. These wands are all the greatest creations of the different Ollivanders. Each one is utterly unique and it is very rare to find a wizard that even contains requisite power to wield one." He moved over to one of the wands and handed it to Harry. After seven different wands Ollivander handed Harry what appeared to be a crystal rod with beautiful silver inlay that looked like vines wrapped around it. The moment his hand closed around it Harry knew that this was his wand. The room while dark before was immersed in shadows for a second before the shadows were drawn into the wand. The wand that before was white crystal now seemed to have a black tinge.

Ollivander and Grindelwald were gob smacked. Neither had ever heard of anything like this. Ollivander regained his voice and with an extremely happy voice announced, "Simply amazing Mr. Potter. The wand you hold in your hand was crafted over 400 years ago. The maker was among the best in my family and the only one to ever create a dual-cored wand. Unfortunately he took the secret to the grave. The wand is made of diamond with a Mithril inlay and the fang of a Nundu soaked in freely given Unicorn blood as the core. It is the most balanced wand I have ever seen and I expect that it and you will be legendary. I will be keeping an eye on you Mr. Potter you are most interesting. Also there is no charge for the wand there never is for the masterpieces. Good day young man." With that Harry and Grindelwald left the store and returned to Avalon.

Harry immediately retreated to his private training area and began to get used to his new wand. He could feel his magic sing when he cast spells and even his shadow abilities were augmented.

Harry glided along despite being in a Muggle suit he still had a strong commanding presence. The crowds of Muggles parted before him as he moved through King's Cross station. He approached the barrier and crossed over when he was sure he was unnoticed. He approached the train which was still mostly deserted. It was 10:30 and there were only a few people on the platform. More than likely they were Muggle-born as the majority of wizarding families usually didn't arrive until the last minute. Entering the train he moved towards the back. Along the way he encountered Blaise, Daphne and Pansy. He motioned for them to follow him. They continued to move to the back and when they reached the last car they encountered a young girl who was more than likely a first year and by the way she was engrossed in an Introduction to the magical world book she was more than likely a Muggle-born. She looked up and Harry was captivated by her chocolate brown eyes. At that moment Harry felt something he had repressed for many years, the stirrings of love. He knew that it would be near impossible to find someone like her again. His passive legillemency could barely pick up her thoughts they were so fast. She was intelligent, and was the only person he had met that was anywhere near his intelligence. She would be perfect as his queen and he would have her but he knew he would never force her. He would never use his compulsion on her. As she looked at him and a slight blush appeared on her face. He gave a roguish grin and moved forward. He lifted her hand and gave it a light kiss. "Good evening my lady might I ask your name?"

She blushed even more at this and lowered her eyes. "I'm Hermione Granger." At that Harry heard a slight snort and a muttered mudblood from Blaise. Harry's head snapped around and locked gazes with Blaise. He gulped and Harry used his powers to wipe any thoughts of blood supremacy and bigotry from his mind. The he flicked his gaze to Daphne and Pansy and did the same. He turned back to Hermione and asked her to join him. She looked confused which was understandable as this appeared to be the last car. He waved his wand in response to her unspoken question and a door appeared.

"Welcome to the Head of Family compartments." He opened the door and motioned her through. She moved through and her jaw dropped at the sight before her. The compartment was clearly far larger on the inside than on the outside. There were about twenty large comfy chairs and a few couches scattered about with a number of small fireplaces and tables. On one side was a long bar with a house elf behind it. The elf gave a large smile and bounded over eagerly to take their orders. Hermione gave a small shriek at the sight of the house-elf.

Harry put a reassuring arm around her shoulders and she leaned into him much to his pleasure. "This is a house-elf Hermione."

She looked outraged. "I've read about them there slaves. How can you condone this?"

Harry gave a small chuckle. "They are slaves but they choose the slavery voluntarily. In return for wizards protection they bound themselves and their descendants to wizarding families. They take the same joy from working that we do in our sports and hobbies. While the danger to them has passed they remain because they want to."

She spluttered at this before uttering a confused "really."

He smiled gently at her. "Really now let us order."

The four of them ordered and sat down. Harry told Hermione a little about himself and before long the five of them were getting along famously. They didn't even notice the train leave the station and would have continued if the house-elf hadn't popped in and told them that lunch was ready. They moved to the second car and enjoyed a lavish lunch. After lunch they returned to the first compartment and continued their discussion. About two hours into the trip the handle to their compartment rattled and they could hear someone on the other side complaining. The elf went to open the door and they could hear an arrogant voice demanding entry. The elf asked who it was and closed the door before appearing at Harry's side.

"Master there is a boy named Draco Malfoy at the door demanding entry."

Harry sneered, "Let him in."

The elf went and opened the door and an irritated looking blond pushed the elf out of the way as he entered. His eye widened slightly at the opulence of the compartment before turning to the five of them with a haughty expression on his face. "I heard that Harry Potter is on the train and as this is the last car one of you must be him."

Harry looked back his expressionless. "And who are you?"

With an upturned nose he replied, "I am Draco Malfoy and who are you."

"Daphne Greengrass."

"Blaise Zabini."

"Pansy Parkinson."

"Hermione Granger."

"I don't recognize the name Granger."

"My parents are Muggles."

"A filthy Mudblood."

At this Hermione looked like she was about to cry. Harry stood up with a furious expression on his face. "If I ever hear you utter that word again I will not hesitate to break every bone in your body. Leave! Now!"

At this Draco's face twisted with anger. "Do you know who my father is? He will….Urk."

Harry could no longer contain his rage and had called forth shadows to lift the young Malfoy up by his throat. "I don't care! I am Duke Harry James Potter, Lord Le Fay, Crown Prince of Avalon. Your father is an insignificant bug compared to me." And with that he threw Draco from the compartment and the Elf relocked the door.

Hermione had broken down and began sobbing. Harry reached out and pulled her into an embrace. He wrapped his arms around her and spoke reassuring words in her ears. After a time she stopped crying and looked up at him. "Hermione I will not allow him or anyone to bother one of my friends. I will protect you."

This set her crying again and in between her tears she managed to choke out that she never had friends before. Harry smiled at her and pulled her closer. They spent the rest of the ride in each other's arms.