A/N:This chapter was meant to be humorous to counteract the last one however… it went a bit odd near the middle, first being funny, then oddly serious, just to end all silly. Either way, I hope everyone enjoys the latest installment of Harry's odd adventures. Also, thank you all so much for your lovely review! They also provide me with motivation and make me smile. Thank you.
And now…
Onwards…
Disclaimer: Besides Oc's, characters belong to J.K. Rowling
In Which Slime Sucks, and Parenthood is Frightening
Harry stared at his slime covered wall with a contemplative expression on his youthful features. In truth, he had expected there to be more to his room. After all, he was a Dark Lord on the rise, and as such it was his right to be able to find out brilliant things about his castle and those that dwelled within it… and if he played a few pranks here and there on his path of discovery, well… really who would complain?
Even Bill tended to agree with him.
At least, Harry assumed he did, in all honestly he stopped listening after one too many tirades of angry screeching. Now he just patted Bill on the head and moved his hand away before the irate monkey could try and bite off one of his precious fingers.
Again.
Squinting his eyes he stared intently at the slime, trying his best to inspect it and uncover the secrets it hid from his sight. There was nothing overly special about it if he was being honest with himself. It was green, kind of dirty and it… oozed. Constantly.
In all honestly it reminded him of Dudley's boogies, just in a larger quantity. And minus a whale or two.
Running a hand through his messy hair he turned his skeptic eyes to his newest follower. "Are you sure this is it? Because this is kind of a let down. I mean, yeah I bet it works wonders but… the presentation… it's just not my cup of tea." He smiled apologetically at his poor follower, willing himself to ignore the slime that he swore was moving towards him.
If it got in his hair…
"Look, I'm sure we can find some other exit… somewhere else, this one just leaves way too much to be desired!" He refused to admit he was begging. Dark Lords don't beg, they inspire fear and hopelessness onto the masses. They unleashed armies of wicked demons into the world while cackling evilly as they sat on a throne made from the bones of their enemies. Though… that sounded extremely uncomfortable, he was sure others would still take him seriously if his throne was comfy. Yes, no worries there.
But still, no begging was allowed.
Even if they were faced with a slime covered wall that was now… blowing slime bubbles his way; he swore he could even hear it giggle.
How… lovely.
Ok, he was done. Turning his attention towards Bill he hit his follower with his best puppy dog eyes, the ones that got him extra servings of pudding on Wednesday and new colouring books whenever the old ones stopped entertaining him. Nothing, absolutely nothing could fight off his sweet and pleading gaze. It was utterly impossible to do anything but submit once faced with his innocent visage.
Bill just stared blankly at him before shaking his head in what appeared to be disappointment and purposely walked towards the slime covered wall.
If he didn't know any better, he would swear that his follower was mocking him.
Harry pouted, not that he would admit it, even under the threat of no dessert. But this was just utterly unfair! Sure he wanted to explore his new home, after all he would rule the world from here one day, and it would be pretty embarrassing if as a Demon Lord he became lost in his own castle just from not knowing where anything was.
And no one made maps for old and ancient castles; just the very idea of it was ridiculous! Next thing you'll know people will even tell him you could even make it magical, maybe with it telling you where you were compared to others. He snorted at the silly idea.
But still, who on earth thought slime was a great transportation method, why not something better; like chocolate? Harry loved chocolate! He would quite honestly jump headfirst into a wall dripping with chocolate and have no regrets whatsoever. It sounded like a far better idea for moving around his castle than slime did.
He sighed, just another thing he would have to fix when he gained control of the world he supposed.
Visibly drooping in despair, since he knew there was no way out of this he looked down at his trusted follower. "So what do I do exactly?" He asked curiously as he gestured towards the wall. "Do I jump towards it, touch it?" His expression suddenly became horrified. "Oh hell, don't tell me I have to eat it!"
Bill merely face palmed and shook his head. Harry felt sorry for his little follower, he really did. The poor monkey always seemed to be under so much stress, he'd never seen him smile, not even a small twitch of his lips. His expressions always seemed to be stuck between sour and 'get away from me before I end you with my bare hands'. He'd try to convince Bill to sit down and have a chat with Margret once, maybe talking about his feelings while listening to some juicy gossip would help the poor guy finally relax and let loose a bit. Alas, his follower had been quite against it.
Harry had never known a crayon could be used in that way.
It was most definitely a learning experience.
Though on an unfortunate note it did end with Margret filing a restraining order against Bill, which made things a tad awkward whenever the two visited him. It was clear the duo would never be bosom buddies, that's for sure.
Before he could question Bill more on just how he was supposed to leave his room through use of what he now suspected was semi sentient slime, his follower rushed at him with a loud screech. Harry barely had time to yelp in surprise before the two of them were pulled into his wall with a loud pop as the slime seemed to quite happily swallow them whole.
He panicked for the first few moments, quickly assuming the slime had somehow become aware of his quest to take over the world and decided to devour him before he could even begin to make his dream a reality. He closed his eyes as soon as the slime closed in on them, not the least bit ashamed to admit he wasn't particularly looking forward to seeing himself be consumed. At that thought he started to twist about in the slime's surprisingly strong hold he tried his best to fight his way out. He didn't want to be eaten! He still had so much to do! And tomorrow was pudding day! You just couldn't eat a bloke before then!
That was just terrible manners!
After a few more minutes of fruitless struggle he paused as he realized he was still alive and had not been consumed. In fact he felt fine, there was no terrible slime monster chewing him to bits for trespassing in its domain, which he probably would have realized sooner if he hadn't panicked.
How… embarrassing.
He made a note to have Bill never mention this. Ever.
Opening his eyes he felt them widen in awe as he took a look around them. Thousands upon thousands of doors surrounded him from all sides. Some of them were rather intricate, with strange designs carved into the wood; depicting creatures he swore could not truly exist except in the minds of others. Others were plainer yet still seemed impressing in their own right, while their doors held no imagery they exuded an aura of strength and defiance, pride and anger. It made him curious on what could behind these strange doors. A small few were broken beyond repair, the doors seemingly unable to open as there was no handle, with the carved wood splintered and burnt at some parts, as if it had suffered from a great attack. Everywhere he looked there was an odd green tinge to his surroundings, which he assumed came from the slime. Turning around he blinked in surprise as he saw his room just behind him, the image wavered slightly however, as if he was looking at everything from under water.
Shaking his head he started to inspect the doors. Each door, no matter how battered or strong they appeared, had odd words surrounding them. They hung in the air, just a breath away from whatever door they were tied to. The strange words glowed bright red and were in constant motion. For some of the doors, these words were surrounded by shapes as well, usually a circle or triangle, which after closer inspection Harry noted that the shapes were made of out more words bound tightly together. They seemed to buzz with power and made him curious on what would happen should he touch the strange letters. His pirate and guard had taken to teaching him how to read and write, but he had never seen these words before, and the shapes of the letters didn't match those of the alphabet he was currently learning. He shrugged; maybe he'll learn about them later.
Looking around for Bill he smiled when he noticed the monkey standing just a few doors away from him. Walking over he couldn't help but gape in awe at the door they were standing beside. This door appeared ancient, it wasn't battered or broken down as some of the others were, no, but the feeling it exuded made Harry think of a time that has long since past. Brilliant and powerful looking creatures were carved into the door, depicting scenes of battle and fire. A dragon caught mid roar, a bird flying as it cried out a song of fire. And beneath them lay a battle between what he could only assume was man and monster, creatures he had never seen before battled the humans, some had large horns, others had animal like tails and ears, a few even had wings. Without even thinking he reached out with a hand to touch the engraving, his eyes and senses trapped in a battle he had never seen and never will. Bill began to protest as he noticed what Harry was doing but he barely paid his follower any mind. He gasped in surprise when his hand touched the door, making the strange word sequence above it go unbearably bright. It released a red light before striking straight through his chest, making him gasp as he felt a strange energy suddenly flood through his body. Unbeknownst to him his eyes began to glow an eerie green as his hair lifted to an unfelt wind. Images passed through his mind at an alarming rate, much to fast for him to take much note of them, but the emotions he felt from the strange images lingered.
Horror.
Pain.
Fear.
Sorrow.
Joy.
Hope.
Love.
On and on they rushed through him, seeming to be asking something of him while also attempting to break him apart.
In the farthest corner of his mind, he could hear someone sobbing.
Glaring at the door he gritted his teeth as they strange energy began to thrum painfully through him, he could hear Bill screeching at him, but he wasn't going to stop, not now. After all, he was confused, he knew he didn't know much about the world, as Fleur had gleefully pointed out with his lack of knowledge on crups, but that did not mean he planned to stay that way! He wanted to learn more about this world he lived in. He wanted to meet the strange creatures talked about in myths and legends; he wanted to make true friends, to have followers that would proudly come with him on his journey. And in truth… he didn't want to be alone anymore. Not after finding out how warm his heart would feel when he was hugged, not after being able to laugh freely with his guard and be able to freely dream of whatever he desired.
And… he didn't want anyone else to be left alone either.
Not in the world he aimed to create.
With that thought in mind he grabbed hold of the door's handle with both hands and pushed it open, unknowingly breaking the runic sequence above him.
The room he entered was dark making him assume it was in one of the lower levels of the castle since there wasn't even a window to light his view of anything around him. Stepping through the doorway made him feel sluggish, as if something solid was trying to bar him entry. Fighting against the pull he finally made his way into the room with a faint pop, alarming the room's sole occupant.
"What is this?" A soft and haunting voice seemed to question. Harry struggled to make out the man speaking but it was impossible to even see his hand without any light to illuminate the room he had found his way into.
The man started to laugh darkly before Harry could even begin to formulate an answer to his question.
It was odd, even though the man was laughing, he didn't sound happy. "So my time has finally come father? Have you decided to take back your forsaken son?"
Harry gaped at the man as his heart froze in his chest.
He…
He had a son?!
Why did no one ever tell him?!
And his son was so old now; he'd completely missed him growing up!
He was a terrible father.
Stepping forward he held his hand out, trying to reach for his boy. He stumbled slightly but didn't stop the smile that bloomed across his lips when his hand landed on his son's shoulder. His heart was beating erratically in excitement. All his life he had wanted a family, a true one. Sure he had followers but now… now he had a son as well. He swore he lips would surely break from the large smile he was sporting. To think… all this time his family had been here, in their future home… he'll have to have a firm discussion with the stork that delivered his son here later on, after all he would liked to have known about him before this moment.
Then again, the Dursley's wasn't the best place to raise a child, so maybe it was a small mercy that the stork brought his son here instead of where his relatives lived. Hell be damned he would have been greatly annoyed if his son had become another Dudley. With the hand already holding on to his son's shoulder, he slowly moved it upwards until he was gently holding the boy's smooth but much too cold cheek; frowning in concern at how cold the boy's skin was, it felt like ice. He didn't understand what his son had been going on about earlier, but Harry knew the poor boy needed more blankets; he was far too cold as it was, and he would get sick if he didn't cover up more.
"What on earth?" His son whispered, seemingly in shock. Harry smiled; it must be surprising to meet his father after all this time, he must be nervous of accidently embarrassing himself in front of his dear dad. After all, having a father who's a Demon Lord and set to rule over the world can be a hard thing to live up to. He bet his kid was all flustered and confused right now, undoubtedly looking cute. After all, cuteness runs in their family, his pirate had even said so.
His heart felt oddly warm again at the thought. To think, he had a family now. One he could share things with and in return they the same. One he could lavish with hugs, talk about any silly thing that came to mind or vent with when it came to his followers. Finally, a family of his own, the very idea made his body feel light, as if he was floating.
"Who are you?" The poor boy breathed out, confusion and worry leaking through his voice.
Oh dear.
Seems his son suffered from memory loss.
He smiled and wrapped his arms around his son, trying to comfort the panicking child; well not really a child but still. "I'm your father of course." He patted the boy's back, trying to make him relax as he felt how tense he became whenever Harry touched him even the slightest bit. It was upsetting to say the least. The Dursley's had never given him a kind touch, but since coming to his castle he learned just how wonderful they were, and planned to share them with his son as well. They were family after all, and Harry would never deny his own flesh and blood a hug, he would just have to make him used to such signs of affection. Hugging his son harder he vowed to one day make his son like hugs too.
And pudding.
He would worship pudding by the time Harry was done with him.
Slowly he felt his son return his embrace. The arms holding him were shaking, and now more than ever he wished he could see his child, especially when he felt his shirt become wet from the silent tears the boy shed.
"How is this even possible?"
Harry simply smiled wryly.
"Blame the slime."
Omake
It was peaceful here.
There were no obligations; no one to bow to, no orders to follow. He no longer was tied down by familial obligations.
He was… in a sense… free.
And yet… he could not relax.
Something kept calling for him, a soft and gentle voice, which at any other time it would have lulled him to a sleep filled with peaceful dreams. Yet now it called for him, asked for his sole attention.
And who was he to deny such a request?
Yet, he was also, in a sense, stuck. He existed in a void of nothingness after all, and had no clue how to answer the voice calling for him. Sighing softly to himself he tried to will his body to cooperate with his demands, if he could move, it would be a step in the right direction. It was difficult to move at first, his limbs felt as if they had been replaced with lead, even moving the smallest of his fingers was an unimaginable chore. A lesser man would have given up when faced with such an obstacle, but than again; he was raised to be the best.
Slowly he began to drift into awareness. The voice was calling out to him in joy, seemingly excited at his response. The words it whispered to him were unclear, but he knew what it desired regardless.
He smirked to himself. Seems his time of rest was over, and now there was much he had to do. He felt light with this knowledge however. He was no longer a slave to a madman, and never again would that be the case. He was his own person; regardless of whether or not he decided to assist unknown entity's in what could very well be the end of the universe and life itself as he knew it.
Ah well, his brother did wear off on him, and a Black never stepped down from a challenge, especially not from one that would no doubt eventually prove to be entertaining.
A gentle laugh sounded from all around him, and while he was still unable to hear what exactly the voice was saying, he was able to understand it's sentiment.
'Thank you.'
With a sharp tug he yelped in surprise as suddenly his world burst into colour. Gasping he started to choke as water made it's way into his lungs, somewhere in the back of his mind he noted that should he die here again, it would be terribly ironic. He struggled to swim up but his limbs felt too heavy for him to properly move, as his body simply floated aimlessly under the dark waters. His chest was beginning to burn as the lack of oxygen made itself known. Before he could figure out how to get out of this mess he felt his insides freeze as a hand floated across his vision. Suddenly he felt multiple hands grab hold of his body, each of them little more than bone. Had he been a lesser man, he would have fainted at the horrific picture it undoubtedly made.
Instead he whimpered, internally of course.
To his surprise the ghastly hands did not try to rip him apart or drag him deeper into the murky water as they had done the first time he had the displeasure of meeting them, instead they lifted him up.
When he broke the surface he gasped in large lungfuls of blessedly fresh air, just to cough and gag some as the water he had previously inhaled tried to make its way out. The hands holding onto him slowly bought him to the small island hidden in the cave. Crawling onto the solid lump of ground he collapsed on the floor, still stunned that any of this was really happening. Groaning he struggled to lift himself up on shaky limbs and looked over at his... rescuers.
Dull eyes stared back at him, and for some it was only empty sockets for where those eyes were once held. They were all grey, which wasn't much of a surprise. Their skin was pulled tightly over their bones and any hair left on them was thin and limp. Their heads were all tilted ever so slightly to the side as they stared curiously at him. He swore their tails were wagging, if undead inferi had tails of course.
It was almost cute, if one liked the thought of hundreds of dead corpses reanimating while looking at you as if you're the best thing since slice bread that is.
He sighed, this settled it, he was going mad. He had been brought back from the dead by who knows what just to go insane.
His mother would be so proud.
Snorting he brought his hand up and ran it through his surprisingly long hair, trying to get rid of the extra water while desperately not thinking of just how long it was going to take him to brush out all of the knots he could feel in his once beautiful looking locks. He wasn't vain really, but he did take pride in his appearance, a pride that would now suffer thanks to being dead for who knows how many years. He froze in his thoughts however as his eyes glanced at his pale skin. His clothes were little more than rags and showed more skin that he felt comfortable with, but that was not what shocked him.
Looking down at his bare arm he laughed loudly, the sound harsh and ragged but a laugh nonetheless.
He was free, truly and utterly free.
And… he knew just what to do with that freedom.
Closing his dull grey eyes he smiled as he could hear the call, thought it was faint now, he could feel how pleased it was.
'Soon.' He whispered towards the one who had brought him back.
'Soon.'
A/N: Sorry for the short chapter, trying to get things in swing again as more characters become introduced and a plot will hopefully appear somewhere along the way. As for Harry's 'son'… obviously he is much older than Harry and is probably going through shock at the moment, poor guy. More will be revealed with him soon and later on, more will also be learned about Azkaban, and the truth about the prison they're all in. Sorry for the long wait, sometimes chapters come out quickly, other times, it takes ages, no matter what though my stories will not be abandoned, even if it takes them an age or two to be completed. Also for those of you curious, I will soon be posting some of my stories on archive of our own, along with a few shorter fics who don't match the guidelines on this site. I'll still be posting here as well however, it's simply in case you see these stories floating around on the other site.
Hope everyone enjoyed this little scene and thank you for all of your lovely reviews!
Till next time…
