A new chapter of Death's Power is here Lords and Ladies. I have broken this portion up into two or more chapters mainly due to how much stretching occurred in the writing process. Enjoy the read, I enjoyed writing it.
§ Parseltongue §
Thoughts
'mental communication'
I own only my original characters. Harry Potter and his world are the properties of J.K. Rowling.
Chapter Ten: Aftermath Part 1
The second memory was swirling around in the basin as the three Professors stared at it. An uncomfortable air had filled the office. Minerva was against seeing this memory after the gruesome end to the last. Severus was angry, after his conversion to being a spy for the Light he thought the worst of society were his old compatriots but Gilderoy had nothing to do with either side then or now. Albus was furious in his own right. How could he have allowed a deviant like that around children under his care? All for his designs on ending Tom, he subjected a young girl to this. Dumbledore was the first to put his finger in and be whisked into the memory followed shortly by Snape and an annoyed Minerva. They landed on the fourth floor behind the young Parkinson heiress. She was every ounce the pureblood princess she normally was, composed, immaculately dressed, and carrying what looked to be a piece of parchment. The three followed her to Lockhart's office with wary looks on their faces.
The dark-haired teen walked into the office and immediately recoiled at the hundred if not more photos of the pompous git. The man in question hadn't noticed her yet. He was writing what seemed to be a response to some sort of letter. Who would even write this lousy fool of a Professor? He finally looked up and a wide grin spread across his face. "Ah, Miss Parkinson, what can this humble Defense Professor do for you tonight?" She huffed at his greeting.
"I want to know why I failed the last test. I gave an accurate charm for immobilizing cornish pixies and you marked it incorrect." She brandished her test with its marks.
"Ah yes! Well, the stasis charm is a viable option I showed all of you students a perfect charm for it." His smile actually had a sparkle to it. "My patented pixie repulsion charm is what I was looking for on that question. Much like the transmogrification charm is how you stop a werewolf without killing it." He flashed another megawatt smile at her, looking exactly like the cover from one of his blasted books. The young pureblood almost hid her disgust perfectly, a slight twitch of the eye gave her away. Lockhart rose from his desk and walked around it.
"There is always more than one correct answer." She huffed, "mine were other correct methods for achieving the same goals." She let the statement dangle for a few minutes unanswered before she was obviously fed up with it and turned to leave. "Good night P-"
The confundus charm hit her in the back hard, pushing her into the corridor. The girl's mind was blank as he lurched towards her wearing a predatory grin. He forced her back against the stone wall as his hands ghosted over her budding breasts and small arse. "Well, I think I know how we can get your grade up. It will just require you getting something of mine up." His laugh was fit for a maniac as he began to tear at her clothes.
Dumbledore felt the rage and disgust of his fellow Professors behind him as the young miss Parkinson was taken for nearly a half an hour by the lousy son of a squib. Having seen enough barbarism enacted upon a youth, Albus forced the memory to end prematurely and the three were once more standing in the opulent office. This time, Severus was the first to burst. Half of the glasses in the room shattered from a bout of accidental magic from him.
"Pott...Harry was just in what he did. I am recommending him for the award for special services to the school as Head of Slytherin." Surprise halted the Headmaster's own rage for a moment. Had Severus Snape just nominated Harry, son of his longtime enemy, for the highest reward the school could give? Minerva was next to speak.
"I second that notion, Albus." She swore in Gaelic once more. "Why is it that Harry always ends up in the thick of these things? I'm not complaining now because he aided a woman in danger but I must say I am saddened to see him claim a life at such a tender age." He wouldn't dare mention that many of the past occurrences in Harry Potter's life were of his own design, especially with Minerva's magic permeating the office in addition to the sinister Mister Snape's own. It was time for Albus' piece finally.
"I accept and will be awarding it personally to Harry when we call the two here tomorrow." He needed to get out in front of this and he knew just the way to do it. "We must first alert your dear friend Amelia," the wizened warlock gestured to Minerva, "I expect she will bring two to five Aurors here immediately after our summons. Luckily we have memories from both involved parties to present to them. Severus, would you mind sending Poppy a patronus to come here as well with the relevant files for Miss Parkinson's injuries?" The former Death Eater sprung into action and the silver doe pranced off to the infirmary. The Transfiguration Mistress simply fell into a chair in front of the desk as Albus knelt and thrust his head into the green flames.
The building in front of them was what one might call a fixer upper if one were optimistic. To the two dark-haired individuals in front of the edifice now it was an utter shit hole, then again anything would beat Azkaban at this point. They could tell the place had once been a glorious testament to the skills carpenters and stonemasons possessed. Time had disfigured this great building, not man or magic. Its four-story height was covered in stone and wood, weathered gargoyles adorned the castellations of the roof to form a menacing exterior when paired with the overgrown foliage. Sirius felt a chill run up his spine as a southern wind caressed the pair. Bella tried to contain herself but to no avail.
"Morgana's tits! This looks like the old manor he would call us to." She shivered at the memory of Riddle Manor. "Bastard said it was his muggle father's home, but that it could wonderfully fulfill the needs of the pure and true rulers of the world." She cursed. "He killed and tortured more than fifteen Lords with blood purer than his there." An arctic wind blew this time from the North. It wasn't like the last breeze, though, this was wind straight from the depths of hell itself.
"This Manor has a less violent history, Bellatrix." It was him again. The reaper stood behind the pair, flanked by the Asian man from before and the most imposing woman Bella had ever seen. She was five foot seven inches tall with light brown hair flowing straight down to her feet behind her. She wore a sleeveless dress of deep purple, the neck came down in a deep vee to reveal ample cleavage. Her feet were bare yet immaculate. Her blue eyes bore into Bella's amethyst and her sharp facial features were turned up in a smile. The woman seemed even more dangerous than the man Joe had sent through her cell wall less than an hour ago. A voice thundered in Bella's head.
'My breasts are easily more magnificent than this manor young witch, and don't you forget that!'
Bellatrix was floored. No. There is no fucking way that this woman is the mistress of the dark herself.
'I beg to differ youngling, I could intimately describe every act I was ever even rumored to have committed. Or I could describe Merlin's cock in excruciating detail if you'd prefer?' At this, the darkest witch of her age fainted, much like a victorian lady. Sirius rushed to his cousin as Joe shook his head laughing at the exchange.
"You know she's going to really fear you if you do that too much Morgana." The age old sorceress let loose a deep feminine laugh. The reaper turned back to Sirius and moved to touch Bella, instantly returning her to a conscious state.
"Wha...huh?" A bark of laughter escaped the Lord of the Black family. He'd finally lost it. First, he finds out Bella was controlled by their family magic worked on a betrothal contract, met the reaper who chose to free them both from their imprisonment, and now it appeared that they were being introduced to Morgana Le Fey. He helped his cousin up and just stared at the knockout that was the lover and enemy of the greatest wizard of all time. Joe was not one to waste any time, or apparently expense on them.
"Shall we enter the Manor? Or would you prefer to stand here in what I assume is cold weather until the explanations are completed?" At the pair's nods, the group walked into the decrepit building. As they passed the main french doors the Blacks could feel enchantments enveloping them. The gaunt, vampirish looking Sirius felt his spine tingle as they were suddenly in a massive room, easily ten times the space he'd assumed it would be from the outside. The skeletal man gestured at the surrounding space. "This will be where you two first recover, and then train under two of my favorites here." One hand each fell on the shoulders of the pair of impossible people with the reaper. "I believe you two have met my little samurai, Mugen." The slightest of nods was aimed at the pair by the man in question. "The new addition is the most feared witch of Magical Britain's history, the Lady Morgana Le Fey." The dark haired beauty smiled at the pair with a warmth neither expected. "For now, you know all that is necessary. I have souls to reap." Joe turned his head to the right for a moment, "apparently, my latest soul is one claimed by Harry himself." With a maniacal grin, he was gone.
Sirius was conflicted, to say the least. Had Harry killed someone? That is the only meaning the Black Lord could draw from Joe's message. Why would he have done this? In the time he had known James he had only ever killed Death Eaters. Could one have attacked his godson? He became frantic in his worrying until he felt a sharp pain in his neck.
Harry had barely made it to the room of requirement. The adrenaline rush had faded and he was shaking like a leaf on the wind. He had just taken a life for the second time in this timeline. Sure, he had taken nearly thirty that nine months while he Ron, Hermione, and Susan were off hunting the horcruxes, but this was different. His twelve-year-old body was influencing his mind more than it should. Before only his magic had taken lives. This time, a sword would be taking just as many lives as his magic. He asked for a room with a bath in addition to his usual training room and the castle provided. The Boy-Who-Lived ran a scalding hot bath before disrobing and sinking into it. A sigh of contentment left him as the water soothed his tense muscles.
"You know, one day you could sell tickets to an event like this." The all too familiar voice of his favorite reaper caused the raven-haired teen to flinch and dive underwater. "Then again, I could probably sell tickets now and half the girls in this castle would buy them." Her laughter was melodious when he brought his head back above the water.
"Why would you sneak up on me like that?!" His anger and embarrassment seemed to only increase Anne's enjoyment of their current situation.
"Because it was fun and it has been awhile since I last witnessed a warrior so...unprotected." She threw a blade from the rack at him. He reacted on instinct, catching the implement by its hilt and raising it to parry the thrust coming his way as he leaped from the water. The clash of steel meeting steel filled the room as they moved around. Harry was having a difficult time maneuvering while his body was slick from the bath and fell backward as he attempted to bat away Anne's latest strike. Pain lanced up his back from the impact and desperation took hold. Time to see if the reapers can die or not. Readjusting his limiter seal to nineteen percent, the Boy-Who-Lived stretched out his open left hand and shouted out.
"Fulminus!" Magic flowed from his core to his fingertips and lightning flashed between the two warriors in the blink of an eye. The witch bolt, wizard bolt in Harry's case, struck Anne's right shoulder and elicited the loudest shriek of pain he had ever heard. The reaper fell to the ground, dropping her blade in the process. The loss of magic nearly caused the naked wizard to pass out. Ok, conjuring lightning is not the wisest move until I am without the limiters. Even then, I have to limit the number of times I try it out. Feeling like a ton of bricks, the Peverell heir picked himself up off the ground and moved to the fallen reaper. A tap on the shoulder with his right foot caused the seemingly young woman to jolt back into a state of conscious thought. She rolled over and bent at the waist to rise...until her face came into abrupt contact with a certain portion of the concerned wizard's anatomy. "ANNE!" Was all the boy could say as his groin felt the impact of a surprisingly hard skull. He dropped to his knees in pain, coming eye to eye with his opponent.
The reaper's eyes were wide with shock at the boy's attack and subsequent position as she intimately met his manhood. Her face lit up like a petrol fire with a red tint. "What the hell child?! I am nearly two hundred years old and you still think to put that in my face?" Harry let out a pained grunt as he doubled over into a fetal position.
"Was checking to see...if you were...still alive. The witch bolt...is a curse I haven't...used before." His breathing was more ragged than it ever got during any of his training.
"Of course, I'm alive. Reapers can only be sent on by Master's scythe itself." The woman rose to her full height before offering Harry a hand. "What the hell was that curse, though? It was very painful to endure." The Boy-Who-Lived merely rubbed his head as he accepted the help up.
"Like I said, it's called the witch bolt. Converts my magic into a bolt of lightning I can direct towards an enemy." He swallowed hard, taking an impromptu inventory on his available magic. "It also drains a lot of magic. Even with my limiting seal at nineteen percent." The blonde stared at him incredulously.
"You conjured lightning? Do you have a death wish Mister Potter?!"
"It came from a place of desperation once I slipped." He was rubbing his still smarting back. "I saw Tom use it through our link last time around when he killed Amelia Bones. It looked effective."
"Of course, it's an effective curse boy!" The lithe woman was rapidly becoming red all over from apparent rage. "Conjuring lightning is something very few wizards and witches can even do! You should only manipulate the elements. It is much less taxing on the magical core than simply conjuring everything you need."
"Huh. That is an excellent idea, Anne. Thanks!" He looked down and was reminded of his nakedness. "Shit! Accio boxers." A light sound of cloth rustling preceded his garment landing in his outstretched hand. Now that the Boy-Who-Lived had his tackle covered, he raised his sword in a defensive stance. He curled and uncurled his pointer finger at the woman, hoping to taunt her into a frenzy. The still reddened Anne dove towards him, brandishing her rune blade wildly.
"I'm going to cut that hand off you little cunt!" The speed the blade was moving at perplexed Harry. Sure, he'd seen Joe move like lightning but even in the Ether he'd never been able to move like him. Here Anne appeared to be wielding a whip instead of a straight blade. Well, time to go for broke then. Magic welled in his right arm's muscles as he tried to match his opponent's pace. His idea seemed to be working as he parried and dodged Anne's seemingly fluid sword. An off wave of his left hand summoned a gladius from the weapon rack behind the reaper. The blade struck the back of her right shoulder as it passed to his left hand. Now, armed with two swords, Harry began to press the attack in earnest. An almighty swing of his gladius knocked her balance off, exposing the torso for a good thrust. The follow-up thrust would have been perfect had the woman not used her off hand to push her light frame up over the blade. He couldn't help himself.
"What the-ARGH!" The exclamation was altered by three unblocked strikes from the airborne blonde. The first cut him from his right side to the lower opposite abdominal, the second crawled up his left arm from bicep to his neck, and the final blow split him from the back right shoulder to his arse cheek. The wounds blazed with a searing hot pain, dropping Harry to his stomach before he was left with three new scars to join his marks from the Dursleys and his first encounter with Anne. Light, tinkling laughter assaulted his ears behind him. A rage bubbled up inside him once more.
"You won our first duel because I underestimated you. That will not happen again." The boy wizard rolled to his side and flung his right blade at her. Anne was taken by surprise and moved to catch the sword with her off hand, blade first. She was unsurprised at his low movement to fly under her guard for a quick strike and brought up a knee to meet his face. A sickening crunch echoed through the room as the Peverell heir's momentum ensured that his nose was broken. The gladius fell from his hand and he tried to stem the flow of blood from his damaged face. She tutted with exuberance. "Our duel is over Harry. I have some news from Master as well if you would hear it." The boy struggled a bit fruitlessly before remembering that there was a charm to fix his current predicament. It was about a minute after this realization that he had the focus to channel his magic.
"Episkey." There was a hard popping noise followed closely by, "fuck that hurts." Harry finally stood and, seeing that his workout was through for the moment, used the dregs of his magic to summon his pants and shirt. As he began to redress himself he nodded for Anne to give him the news from Joe. With a sigh, the young looking woman began.
"I am to join you in here to test your combat skills against someone with...faster than excellent reflexes when you come for training." The blonde looked thoroughly underwhelmed to be a glorified babysitter for the boy. "When I am satisfied with your level of skill Mister Potter, another of my kind will be joining us to teach you the more...unorthodox methods of using a sword in combat. Now, you must get some rest and replenish the magic you wasted on conjuring an element to harm me. Go on, rest that child's body." Her sword had vanished and she was practically marching him out of the room. He halted in front of the door and cast a tempus charm, finding that it was nearly midnight. He quickly turned and asked the room for a time turner so he could get more than five hours of sleep. Life is about to get hectic.
The owl from Blankenship lay dead on the floor of the Malfoy Manor office. The blond man standing high over the bird had his cane clutched in one hand and a piece of parchment crumpling in the other. There was only one other time in Lucius' tenure as Lord Malfoy that he had received news so infuriating that he'd killed a fellow pureblood's post owl. The first had been news of the Dark Lord's fall, and now the betrothal contract between his heir and Lord Parkinson's daughter had been rendered null and void. The worst of this news was that the breach of contract had been from the clause he had demanded be in the blasted document. It had only been an addition to the contract because the prat had married his cousin Maribelle and the girl was fit to become a woman of similar beauty and that set his loins on fire.
The contrary Lord had stood against the tide of both the wizarding society purists and the fools who wished to throw their culture's past away to make friends with the mudbloods and their muggle filth. Luckily Maribelle had managed to slowly turn the man's views more and more towards the correct path. Near the very end of Voldemort's war for the betterment of the world, Parkinson had begun to support him and the purists in the Wizengamot. It had taken months after the Dark Lord's fall to hammer Parkinson into acquiescence to the clause. Only the revelation that his Master had taken ancient steps to achieve immortality and would eventually return to crush the blood traitor's and filth convinced him that the only option that protected his family would be allying himself with the purists who would support Voldemort. Now he would have to try to amend the contract before Dumbledore or, Merlin forbid, Amelia Bones got to him. Hastily Lucius yelled out, "Dobby!" A sharp pop brought the whelp of an elf around.
"Yes, Master. You's be needing Dobby?" The sad elf's ears were bandaged and smelled like he'd tried to cook them. This caused the blond man's nose to curl in disgust.
"Yes, you whelp. Go and find Lord Parkinson then report his location back to me. I can't waste time flooing and apparating to all of his haunts." Dobby's eyes grew wide as he looked up in fear at his master's sharp visage. "Well, get on with it, you filthy creature." He kicked the poor creature and with another loud crack he was gone. Flicking his wand from its sheath the enraged wizard burned the remains of the post owl until only ashes remained. Another loud crack sounded the arrival of his now hysterically afraid house elf. Aiming a kick at the sickly thing, he demanded answers. The elf quaked on the floor from this most recent abuse. In a trembling voice, he squeaked out.
"M-Master, the Parkinson Lord is a-at Hogwarts in the Headmaster's office." The elf flinched from his horizontal position, expecting another kick from his master. When it didn't come, he continued. "In the office also were the Bonesy woman and Albus Dumbly door. They was talking about young master's future wife and someone named Hartlock. They seeming angry." Lucius was irate at this bit of news. Surely that fool Parkinson hadn't decided the breaking of the contract meant he could run to the old goat or the Ministry to incriminate him and the other superior wizards in his little club. Pulling his wand up from hanging loosely at his side the Malfoy Lord yelled out.
"Crucio!" Dobby cried out and writhed around on the hardwood floor of the Manor. After nearly a minute the spell was released on the elf as Lucius walked past the pitiful thing. He needed to head to the school to keep his claim on the girl and the Parkinson wealth. With barely a glance at the mirror and minimal primping, the leader of the remaining Death Eaters grabbed a handful of floo powder and tossed it in the grate. A curt shout of "Hogwarts, Office of Severus Snape" saw the green flames flicker expectantly a moment before he stepped in and through them to the place where things appeared to be on the move once more.
His arrival in his old friend's office was received a little cooler than Lucius would prefer. Maybe he'd be more welcoming if I had paid his way out of Azkaban instead of allowing the old fool to champion him. The greasy haired man had just arrived in the office as well, and he appeared to be quite perturbed. Snape managed to school his features into a blank mask before speaking. "I assume you are here in regards to the Parkinson contract, Lucius?" The blond man showed no surprise at Severus' words, obviously, the incident would have involved her Head of House being present.
"I need information before I head off Parkinson to secure his alliance once more." At this, the Half-Blood Prince nodded. "Who took her virginity?"
"Lockhart." Anger welled in Lucius. Of course, it was the fool Dumbledore hired.
"Was it consensual?" His voice did not betray anger yet.
"No, confundus charm, then rape." Severus was being rather to the point today. It must be draining to deal with a Slytherin parent without the Dark Mark.
"Lockhart will be bound for Azkaban straight away or to the ministry until a trial can be held?"
"Neither," Snape replied, his voice was oddly cool in regards to this matter. Lucius' rage couldn't be contained anymore.
"Explain everything, or I will have the Board of Governors send an evaluator to find you wanting as a Professor!" Snape glared at him. The bastard had the gall to glare at the most prominent Death Eater outside of that hell hole.
"Lockhart was killed not even ten seconds after unsheathing himself from the girl." This stopped Lucius' rampaging emotions immediately. "The Potter brat happened across the event and, using a sword taken from a suit of armor, cut the braggart's head off and burned all but it to ash." No. There was no way the boy could do something like this. Reports from Draco and Snape had said he was bolder and prone to elaborate displays but no child could take the life of another wizard like this. Maybe we can swing this the right direction. Get the petulant child sent to Azkaban for killing a famous member of society. Like anyone would miss that Half-Blood upstart.
"Has action been levied against the child for killing a member of Magical Britain?"
"No, Amelia Bones and three Aurors confirmed the validity of the memory of the event from both the boy's and Miss Parkinson's memories and found him to be within his rights to stop a clearly ill meaning aggressor from further harming a pureblood." He smiled. "I recommended him for the same award master got for framing the Half-Giant." This shocked the platinum blond.
"Don't tell me you've developed a soft spot for the whelp. He killed our Master and caused many of us to be marginalized!" Rage now graced Severus' face.
"Never! The boy did us a service in killing another Half-Blood and tainting his own soul so the purity we believe wounded the Dark Lord will be a non-issue when he returns." He breathed deeply. "The boy killed him in a rage Lucius. He has the worst traits he could have gotten from James Potter and they will lead to his death. You should hurry, Parkinson asked to speak to both the boy and his daughter privately before I left the Headmaster's office. He will no doubt give them the Staff Room for it." This set Malfoy back on track as he swept from the dungeon office.
It took nearly five minutes to find the bloody room and as he neared the door it opened, producing a somber Lord Parkinson with his tramp daughter and the whelp.
"Again I must thank you, Mister Potter." The man intoned. "Your actions will not be forgotten by my family." The brat immediately saw Lucius and his stoic expression took on a hue of rage. Curiously, he then smiled at the Lord of House Malfoy.
"Lord Malfoy! I see you've spared no expense in arriving here to check on the future of your House Alliance, but I don't see a mask or ten buddies. Will this negotiation be more civil?" The elder Malfoy felt the rage course through him and the grip on his cane tightened considerably. Parkinson stepped in immediately, seeing the build up of anger starting to reach its boiling point within the dark leaning wizard.
"Mister Potter, please try not to antagonize Lord Malfoy." The auburn haired man smiled viciously. "He was a victim of the imperious curse and you know it is most effective against those without much willpower."
Another chapter has ended friends, and now its time to ask another question. Are there any girls/women you would love to see in the harem? I have seen many fictions with Hermione, Luna, Tonks, Fleur, Gabrielle, Daphne, and Ginny. What I haven't seen a lot of are fics with Pansy (long fics there are some good short ones) Bellatrix, Narcissa, Millicent, Susan, Hannah, or even Lavender. So don't be surprised to see some of these underutilized ladies in my story/stories as well as the more usual fair maidens.