Birth of a Nightmare Man
Summary: Prequel to The Nightmare Man. How did Harry Potter become a feared lord of ancient times? Here we'll see the start of it.
Pairing/s: None.
Warnings: Violence, gore, evil!Harry and Twisted!Harry. Seriously, for quite a bit he's not friendly at all with humans. Be warned.
Disclaimers: I don't own Harry Potter nor do I make any money writing this or any other fanfiction.
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Someone pointed out a typo for me in the last chapter, thanks! I hadn't noticed but it's fixed now!
Read and enjoy this Halloween special! For me it's in the middle of the day of October 31st but since I will be busy for the rest of the day I'm posting it earlier than I normally do.
Violence is described here.
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Chapter Ten
Harry remained docile and quiet for a long time after Percy's death. In fact, almost a year since the Order had gone into hiding had passed before Harry finally found the ones he really, really wanted to kill after Percy.
"You could pick someone else," Rabastan tried to reason with him once, in March and roughly four months after Percy's death. "You know, you don't have to wait to kill someone specific."
"I want to say hello to Ron and Hermione. I doubt she taught anyone the rules of tag, so I'll have to go to her."
"Potter, they're hiding better than ever now."
"I don't care, I'm finding them," Harry replied, and that was it.
On October 31st, anniversary of his parents' death, Harry stepped up to a house in a small Muggle town. A small group of children ran past him, buckets filled with candy in their hands, all of them dressed out. One girl stopped and said:
"Mister, are you dressed up too?"
"Why yes, I'm a wizard!" Harry told her. He was wearing simple, black robes and had forgone a cloak despite the chilly weather.
"You look weird."
"Thank you, I was aiming for that."
She giggled and he waved her away. Could've grabbed her to get inside the house easily, but what the hell, she was kind of cute in her ladybug costume.
He walked up on the porch and knocked on the door, the excited knocking of kids on Halloween and hoped it would ease the occupants of the house into thinking it was just some more kids demanding candy. He heard steps and Voldemort's wand slapped into his left hand. It was Ron who opened.
There was a second of silence, shock radiating from Ron and Harry enjoying putting that shock there. Then he got down to business.
"Trick or treat," he said and sent Ron into the house with a magic-enforced kick. He walked inside and closed the door behind him.
Ron was already coughing up blood, the kick must have broken some of his ribs, and he couldn't get a word out.
"Oh, my, I'm sorry, Ronnie-kins, I didn't mean to kick so hard!" Harry said in a stage-whisper. "Hey, are the kids at home? I've been dying to meet them."
Ron shook his head but Harry had already read the truth in his eyes.
"Shall I just go and look for them?" Harry wondered. "Maybe they're asleep? Or are they permitted to stay up late for Halloween?"
Ron pulled out his wand but Harry was there and stomped on his hand. A gasp came out, then a garbled:
"Hermione, get the kids out!"
Harry aimed another kick, this time at Ron's face and laughed as Ron's nose broke, blood gushing out. He heard steps on the second floor.
"Oh no, we can't have them leave," he told Ron who rolled over, holding his ribs, blood smearing onto the floor. "I haven't even had a chance to meet them!"
He flew up the stairs and met Hermione in the hall, both of them empty-handed, Harry having put away Voldemort's wand once he realized he didn't need it for the moment. She screamed at him but he slammed his hand into her chest and pushed out raw magic. It burnt away her clothes and she was thrown down. Once both parents were subdued, Harry listened. He only heard the snuffling breaths of two sleeping children.
Hermione was moving but Harry moved to hold her against the floor.
"Someone mentioned pulling out nails as a torture method," Harry said and cast a silencing charm around them. "Wouldn't want to wake the kids while I try that method. Here we go…"
The first nail and Hermione was howling. He held it up. It was painted a demure pink and he shrugged, throwing the nail to the side and continued with the entire hand. She was gasping at the end, moaning and whimpering as blood pulsed out from her ruined fingertips.
"That was rather satisfying actually," Harry said. "How did I do?"
She tried to spit on him but he avoided it.
"Ha! Percy did that on me, so now I've learnt not to lean in too close," he said happily.
"You bastard!"
"Thank you. I'll go and see if your kids are alright."
He flew off her, moving more with magic than with his legs, not caring that Hermione was struggling to go after him.
-o-
Hermione had no idea how Harry found them. After Percy's death, they had moved around five different times and notes to the rest of the family were sent from different towns and villages to keep their location hidden.
She didn't recognize him at first, when they met at the top of the stairs. Yeah, sure, he looked the same but he wasn't the same. He was cold where he once was kind, sadistic where his gentle nature usually ruled. He was a monster, and perhaps the Light had helped make him into one.
The pain in her hand was excruciating but the thought of Harry alone with her son and daughter was enough to get her energy back, wand in her undamaged hand. She ran into the room and stopped at the threshold as Harry looked up. He was a dark shadow between the beds, a wild animal ready to strike. The children slept on peacefully.
"Please, not my children!" she begged.
He tilted his head as his bright eyes watched her every move. When he looked at the wand Hermione tried to not appear threatening.
"Why not?"
His question threw her off balance. The nerve of him…! Saying such things… she looked at him carefully. Would he kill a child? He'd killed Order members, he'd strung up Percy like some sort of ornament… but there was no evidence that he had personally killed a child.
"They haven't done anything to you, Harry," she tried with. "They're innocent."
"Innocent?" Harry looked down at them. "Yes, I suppose they are…"
He caressed the tuffs of hair of her youngest, and for a moment they simply watched the two children breathe. Hermione noted absently his touch could almost be seen as gentle and kind. Then she reminded herself that those hands killed Neville and Luna. Those hands took Ginny's mind. He was a killer, and he was too close to her children.
"They're innocent," she repeated, going through spells she could use that wouldn't hurt her son and daughter while blasting Harry away from them. She could hear Ron groaning downstairs and wondered how badly injured he was.
"You said that already," he replied.
He's focusing too much on them, on me. Need to distract him with words.
"You have something against me and Ron, Harry, not them. They haven't done anything to hurt you, like…" I have to say it, have to make him think I feel it's our fault. "Like we did. All those things we did, Harry, to you… you didn't deserve it. But that was us, not them. They're free from our sins."
Harry looked at her and she refrained from smiling, thinking she had him. It never occurred to Hermione to think that Harry was just playing along to make her feel better.
"Yes, they're free from your sins," he said. "It doesn't mean I won't kill them."
Magic blinded her and she screamed, she howled and aimed her wand blindly, shot off several spells and curses at Harry but he dodged them and when the magic was gone, it had taken her children with it.
They looked peaceful, looked like they slept but their chests didn't move and whatever Harry did, it only took him a moment to kill them. Hermione lost it. She ran at Harry but he passed her by as if he had become a shadow. She moved, intent on killing, maiming, she would tear her former best friend apart for what he had done.
I'll kill him I'll kill him I'll kill him no I'll torture him because he deserves that he deserves that the Light is supreme and Harry Potter is a monster we needed to kill years ago.
Down the stairs and into the hall where Ron and Harry was now fighting only Ron was losing, Ron was covered in blood and had Harry's hands around his neck, Ron's face was turning purple and his eyes had rolled up. Harry was laughing, in a way Voldemort probably would have liked and Hermione didn't notice her own attack until Harry's entire side tore open. He fell back, blood spilling from his lips and his ribs visible through muscles, fat and organs. Voldemort's wand moved into his hand and then:
"Sectumsempra!"
Severus Snape's spell did its job and Hermione fell back, slashed open from shoulder to hip, screaming at the pain of losing her children, pain at being torn open, pain at ever having allowed Harry Potter to live after he defeated Voldemort.
He should have died with Voldemort… we should have killed him when Voldemort failed to do so…
Hermione tried to breathe and found her throat clogged with blood. She coughed it up and rolled over to her side, more blood pouring out. She was getting light-headed, pain everywhere and nowhere.
Harry staggered, got up and laughed again even as more blood came from his mouth. Ron rolled over, dragged himself over to Hermione and started applying pressure to the wound. Hermione tried to raise her wand against Harry but her vision was failing now. She tried to tell Ron to kill Harry but when she looked again, Harry was gone.
Later, the Order arrived but only to their injured bodies and two dead children upstairs. They didn't need to ask or investigate to know who had been there. Ron reported the wound Hermione dealt to Harry, and Albus immediately sent people to St Mungo's even if Harry wouldn't go there in fear of getting caught by the Ministry or the Order.
Madame Pomfrey ran several spells over the dead children while Hermione, chest wound somewhat healed and her hand treated, sobbed into Ron's shoulder. His wounds had been healed too, and he stared into the wall with one hand tightly grasping his wand.
"Whatever Potter did, it was quick and painless," Poppy said at last. "I can't see a spell. I think he manipulated his own magic to take out theirs."
"Is that possible?" Ron asked.
Albus looked from him to Poppy. She stood up and replied:
"It takes a lot of willpower, Mr Weasley. A lot of willpower and quite a bit of skill. I don't know what Potter has been doing over the last year, but it doesn't bode well."
-o-
Rabastan heard the door open, and the sound of a falling body. He got up from the kitchen table, out in the hall and found Harry lying there, bleeding heavily.
"Merlin's beard, Potter!"
"Hi," he wheezed out as Rabastan hauled him up. "Oh, ouch… very ouch… I can't… breathe very well…"
Rabastan got him to the bathroom and tore open the robes, cleaning the wound whilst trying on the few healing spells he knew.
"Potter, are you directing your magic to your wound?"
"Maybe… I don't know…"
"Well, it's healing rather rapidly so you must be doing that. Don't stop."
It still took over an hour before he could get Harry into some new clothes and into bed. At that point the Dementors was crowding them until Harry made them back off.
"You didn't take them with you, wherever it is you went. Idiot. You're supposed to keep them with you!"
"I went to visit Ron and Hermione," Harry said.
"They managed to do this much damage?"
"Well, I was distracted… and Hermione was pissed off."
"Because you were there?"
"No, I killed her kids," he replied.
"You… went there and killed their kids? I thought you were supposed to kill your friends."
"It was a spur of a moment-thing, you know. I didn't plan it until I saw how desperate she was to keep them alive."
"So you just strolled in and killed them."
"No, I had to kick Ron to get in, and then I pulled Hermione's nails. Rabastan, I feel nothing. I killed two children and they hadn't done anything but being born to people I hate. What does that mean?"
Rabastan sighed as he sat down on the bed. Harry kept looking at him. He didn't look like he was in emotional pain over what he did, but he seemed to realize his lack of regret was something to be talked about.
"Think back, Potter. What would be the most painful for your former friends; their deaths… or their children's?"
"Oh… so… by killing the kids, I made them suffer the most?" Harry said. "Yeah… I mean, nails can be re-grown and broken noses can be healed. Those children can only be put in the earth."
"It was a very Dark Lord-move, Potter."
He left it at that, and left Harry alone with the Dementors.
-o-
Harry sat up after a while. He didn't really feel tired. He was just… nothing. Not tired, not energetic. Joyful over what he did? Not even that. He'd done it, and he'd enjoyed it at that moment. Now… it was just a memory.
A Dementor came closer and held out a bag.
"Sweets?" he said as he took the bag. "You've been listening too much on me harking on Halloween…"
It was indeed filled with candy.
"Perfect way to end the day?" he wondered and popped a chocolate into his mouth.
He decided not, and pulled out parchments from underneath his pillow. He didn't cross out Ron and Hermione, but he added a note that they would be really, really angry at him. It would make them reckless, and it would make the game of tag fun.
Tapping the quill against the parchment, he took another piece of chocolate and said to the Dementors:
"Who should I pick next?"
Tbc…
Hope you enjoyed!
Chapter eleven: Harry hunts, and he finds, and he runs…
Until later,
Tiro