Chapter 9: As night comes
Waiting was killing him. Hours had gone by and the screams had died out as the night crept over the forest. There was only silence as Harry waited to see what would happen next. He had no idea what Voldemort was doing and lacked the nerve to go seek answers by himself.
He was, however, still a Gryffindor. As time went on, his courage started to creep back from where ever it had fled. Soon after the ever-present anger that had sparked and grown inside him. They gave him the power to win against his fears as he started to slink towards the manor.
It seemed like he was too slow for Voldemorts tastes. The collar around his neck started to pulse and heat up pleasantly. It seemed to tug him towards the manor. Harry was sure these were his summons to meet the Dark Lord and that if he didn't heed them, there would be painful consequences for him. As he had already started his journey towards the unknown. Or not so unknown, there was sure to be dark wizards, unpleasant discussions, and one or more murder attempts.
He wondered if the clock was nearing the midnight yet. It would somehow make the situation more proper.
The tugging was getting stronger and so he rose up in the air speed up. Having made the decision to meet his nemesis once again, he wanted it to be over as fast as possible. Soon he could see Voldemort and few other death eaters waiting for him, staring into the night from the safety of the manor. He growled as he saw Snape standing next to Voldemort. His hand was exposed to the dark wizard and Voldemort's yew wand was digging into the dark mark.
He realized that the collar must act as a dark mark. Maybe the skull and snake was even carved into the cold metal. Or not so cold at the moment. He had heard from somewhere, that when Voldemort send his summons, the dark mark would burn. Maybe the pleasant warmth radiating from the collar was meant to burn his flesh too. It probably would have if he had been still a human.
Voldemort was staring him directly, but the death eaters hadn't seen him yet.
"-still missing. Unspeakables are still running around in a panic trying to find it. Or so the rumors tell. No one has of course seen them run… Our efforts in Department of Magical Agreements and Settlements have been successful and we have managed to change some of the old records already and gain access to-", The death eater was silenced as Voldemort withdrew his wand from Snapes flesh and stepped forward.
"So, this is the dragon you had so much trouble with acquiring and controlling… It seems rather small, but it should be enough to terrorize the sheep". Voldemorts cruel voice ran out. As Harry was unable to throw insults in his current situation, he had to fall back onto hissing again.
"Mhh…. Yes, I suppose it will have to do. What a shame that Rabastan couldn't join us. The ritual shouldn't have had such a strong effect. I wonder…" The red eyes stared at him for a long time. Some of the death eaters shifted nervously. No one was able to be at ease when in the presence of Dark Lord, not even those who loyal to him.
"Severus! You know the basics of the legilimency, what do you see in its mind?" Voldemort demanded. Snape flinched slightly and turned to look into Harrys eyes. He wasn't happy about these orders, as using the mind arts to creatures and animals were very dangerous, their minds were alien and even looking upon them could cause his own mind to fracture and break. It was probably the reason the Dark Lord hadn't done this by himself.
For Snape's surprise the mind was similar to that of men, there were ferocity and wildness that was strange to him and hard to understand. Intrigued he delved deeper; there were unnamable emotions that were new to him and murky memories. The accessible memories were few and distorted, there were wisps of far older memories, but they were fading away and disappearing even as he tried to grasp them.
All that remained from them was a sense of familiarity. An echo of a mind he knew, of the memories he had seen before. He stared into the green eyes of the dragon and the shock drove him out of the mind and back to his own body.
Harry was swearing in his mind. He felt the intrusion and was as unable to stop it as he had been in his occlumency lessons. He could feel Snape rummaging around his brain, causing a splitting headache. It was odd, though; the memories didn't come as fast and clear as they had before. Maybe he had actually learned something and was able to erect some kind of barrier around his mind. Still it was a blessing when Snape stopped. Seeing the man amongst his fellow death eaters and following the orders of Voldemort so easily, he was quite sure the man was a traitor. He couldn't understand how Dumbledore was able to trust him.
"Well? What did you find?" Voldemort demanded as soon he saw Snape's reaction.
"I… I'm not sure. The structure of the mind was similar to that of humans in some ways. However, many things were hidden. There is an intelligence that most researchers have said dragons should lack. How great it is, I don't know." Snape reported while trying to get a control of his expression and recover from the shock.
"What did it think?" Voldemort seemed intrigued.
"I apologize; I was unable to get a clear view of the memories or thought patterns". It was Harry's turn to be shocked, as he had never imagined hearing the feared dungeon bat to apologize to anyone.
Voldemort stared at Harry pensively. Everyone else stood silently around them. Harry was silent too, he slid his gaze from Voldemort to Snape and back. Had Snape recognized him? Was he loyal to the Dark lord or Dumbledore?
Eventually, Voldemort drew his wand and pointed it towards Harry. For the second time in the night, legilimency spell was used. The force of Voldemort's will slammed into Harry's, completely different from that of potion master's. It was far more powerful and dug in deeper. Harry could feel his forehead pulse where his scar should be.
He could see more flashes about his life, but they were still fleeting. However, there were glimpses of his life as a human. Walking in London, the park near Privet drive, A Diagon Alley, watching moving portraits, a newspaper… Luckily nothing that would reveal his identity straight away. Still, a dragon wouldn't have those kinds of memories.
"Not a dragon then… I wonder how he turned himself into a dragon. If I could improve the process and reverse it when needed…" Voldemort's voice echoed hollowly in Harry's head.
"What, how, I can hear his thoughts?" The river of memories paused and Voldemort's mind focused on the present thoughts floating around.
"Well, well, well… It's surprising that you are still capable of communicating. Tell me, how did you transform?"
"I don't know. I was human and then I was a dragon. I ran away from… I can't transform back." Harry trailed off. He didn't want to tell too much to his enemy, but at the same time he hadn't been able to speak with anyone for a long time. It was so his luck, that this would happen to him.
"I see," Harry could feel the glee dripping from Voldemort. "If I were to help you to return into your original form. What would it be worth for you? How about your allegiance?"
"What! No! I will not kill for you!" Harry accidently shouted inside his mind. Controlling his temper was hard when actually speaking, controlling it inside his own mind was impossible. Voldemort's offer did prove one thing; the wizard had no idea who he was. He would never have made Harry offer to join him. Well, he had in the first year, but Harry was quite certain that had been a onetime deal. The dark wizard had taken his refusal way too seriously if the times he had tried to kill Harry were counted.
"Mhh. Do you think you can afford not to? You are in my power now little worm. Also, no one can help you but I. The longer you go as you are now the more you will forget, the instincts will take a stronger hold and soon you will be a dragon. I could just lock you up and wait until your transformation is complete and then train you. You would be more valuable with a human mind, but it's not necessary. "
Harry stared Voldemort puzzled. Why did the man mean? Transforming completely? He didn't think he had lost any memories. He frowned and tried to think back into his younger days. He could remember all that had happened in Hogwarts. Well, not all; no one could remember what Binns had lectured in his history lessons.
He went further, trying to remember the time before he got his Hogwarts letter. There were some memories, but they were rather spotty. Was he supposed to remember better what happened in his childhood? He didn't often actively try to remember that time of his life, as it was rather depressing.
Was Voldemort speaking the truth? Did he see something that Harry didn't? He had felt the instincts of dragon growing in him and guiding him, but it was hard to say if he himself had really changed. Was it even possible for him to recognize if he was different than before? And furthermore, if Voldemort wasn't lying, could he really afford to deny him.
In the end, he decided on what he thought was the least awful option. He focused on his option, tried to block all other thoughts from his mind. Forget all of his morals for just a moment. Abandon most of his hatred of the dark side.
"I will follow you". For now at least, until he had to actually do something. And the word follow did have many meanings. He could follow Voldemort around like a puppy and like a puppy wreck everything and not listen to any orders. "If you will find a way to turn me back". Death eaters ranged from puzzled to alarmed when Voldemort started suddenly to smile. Maybe he didn't show enjoyment unless he was torturing someone.
"Describe how you got into the situation you are now in," Voldemort ordered him. Harry hesitated a bit, telling too much could reveal his identity. Lying, on the other hand, would make it harder to find a way to reverse the transformation. In the end, he decided to tell what had happened, but he kept the time periods vague. It was quite easy, as he really had no idea how long ago it had all started. There really hadn't been any calendars in the Dursley's cellar, the cave or in the camp.
When he had finished Voldemort just told him to "scamper away" and ended the spell. He tried to stay around to listen if he could gather any useful information, but he was hit with a powerful stinging hex. It didn't really bother him because his scales projected him from the most of it, but the message was very clear.
He rose up and returned back to the forest to ponder the situation he was in now.
This was a hard one to write, but anyway here it is finally. It is short, but as it has been a while I thought it was best just to post it. Thank you for all the comments (some of you had way better ideas than me) and follows.