Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any other references in this fanfic.
A/N: So I am finally starting to write what I wanted for the story. Everything so far has been to set the tone and background. Now I am really going to start to mix it up. This is also where Neville will fully start to show his Grey side.
Chapter 10
'Aug, I think I'm going to become an alcoholic at this rate,' thought the young wizard as he took another sip from the Firewhiskey on his nightstand.
Neville had arrived back at the Leaky Cauldron way past sundown, he had spent the last 15 hours in a meeting with the rest of the Elders from Gringotts. His integration into the organization was long and tedious, he needed to fill out a mountain of paperwork despite being the only person in the clan. After 7 hours of just reading and writing, the King clan was a new addition of Gringotts, and he was finally able to use the same resources that others had. What was even better was that since he was human, many of the laws that applied to goblins, didn't affect him, another reason why the Elders found him to be a terrific addition.
Next came the tricky part, Neville had to come clean with his true appearance, seeing as it wasn't fooling anyone. Being experienced business men, they didn't ask pointless questions about how it was possible or where his power came from, no, the only things they cared about was that he was powerful, and he could benefit them. To them he was not Neville Longbottom, instead he was Arthur King fellow Elder of Gringotts, it didn't matter his age or circumstances. Of course, Neville didn't believe that to be true, he knew that they would use this information until it suited them best.
After his little reveal he was told of the what was expected of an Elder, such as holding meetings, passing judgment, and contributing to the group. Then came the part that they had all been preparing for. Trade agreements.
If you thought that auctions could get a little crazy, then they had nothing on goblins, those little green bastards weren't afraid to stab each other in the back, for a good deal, and he meant that literally.
(Flashback)
After they left the conference room, they headed to a large square training room, since many of the things that Neville wanted to demonstrate needed a large area. They had also gotten some 'volunteers' for the items in question, some goblins and some slaves, but all nervous.
Neville stood facing the assembly of wrinkled goblins, some of whom couldn't get rid of the spark of greed like the others. "All right then the first item I would like to present is this 'Potion of Healing'," he said taking out a potion from his pocket, "unlike most potions that heal this one is a little special. You goblin, step forward!"
The goblin in question nervously walked up to the wizard, throwing pleading looks to his Elder, who did nothing but look curious.
Neville looked at the scared goblin, and then in a kind voice asked, "Tell me, what is your name?"
"G-Guts, E-Elder King," it muttered.
"Look Guts you don't need to worry about anything, I've tried this potion hundreds of times. This is just a little demonstration, here open your mouth," Neville asked gently as he reached into coat again. Guts opened his mouth. "A little wider. Perfect."
Once the goblin opened its mouth to the fullest Neville quickly shoved a rag inside, then reached for the goblins right hand, and ripped it off with his impressive strength.
Guts' scream was muffled by the rag as he fell to the floor screaming, gripping his bleeding stub with his remaining hand. Neville tossed the hand behind him without a care, the Elders remained silent, while the rest of the volunteers looked shaken.
Popping the cork on the potion, he continued, "As you know, there are a variety of potions used for healing, many of which can only be used for specific conditions. This potion however is different, this heals all wounds, no matter their cause, as well as restore missing body parts. Example."
Ripping away the gag, Neville shoved the potion in the crying goblins mouth, and the rest were amazed as the missing hand grew back to it's former condition in less than five seconds. Guts was also shocked and kept touching it to make sure it was real.
"As you can see, the effect is instantaneous, no need to wait for week, and it's strawberry flavored," the Elders clapped as he finished explaining. "You can go now," Neville said to Guts, how scurried back to the others.
"Now then, the next item is this," Neville gestured at a ring with an eye on it, "this is a Ring of Warning, those who wear this can avoid most danger as it can warn them of future attacks."
This time he gestured to a woman, the only one in the group, and she stared at him with defiant eyes. He didn't bother asking her name, just blindfolded her and slipped the ring on her finger before telling her to step a couple of feet away. She did as she was told silently.
Once she was at the right distance she stopped.
"Now then Elders, who among you have the best arm," the wizard asked as he grabbed a bow and a single arrow.
"I'll do it," stepped up a goblin that had a variety of scars littering his face.
"Ah Elder Greentongue, very well. Just aim and fire when you are ready, try to be trick about it too," Neville suggested.
Greentongue scoffed and taking careful aim, shot right at the woman's head. The arrow was fast, showing great skill, but it was not enough as the woman clumsily jerked her head away from the arrows path, falling to the ground and ripping the blindfold off, before glaring at Neville with a burning heat.
Once again, the Elders were shocked, Greentongue's archery skills were well known to all, yet the blindfolded woman was able to dodge something that should have been a sure kill.
Once he took back the ring and dismissed the woman, he called for a goblin and a human. The human was given a wand and the goblin was told to stand quietly. "Now then the next item I would like to present is this, the Ring of Mind Shielding. As the name implies it shields the mind from all outside influences. You wizard do you know the Imperio curse."
"Y-Yes, I d-do my L-Lord," the old wizard in rags said nervously.
Neville handed the frightened goblin the ring, before stepping back and stabbing a knife in the ground between the two.
"You are to use the spell and command the goblin here to take this knife and slit his own throat."
"W-what?"
"If you feel you are unable to do it, know that I will kill you instead," Neville spoke emotionlessly.
Gulping the old wizard raised a thin skeletal hand and pointed the wand at the crying goblin in front of him, he closed his eyes and casted the spell with as much emotion as he could, "Imperio!"
The spell connected, and the goblin gave a frightened shriek, nervously the wizard spoke, "T-take the knife and slit your throat."
But the goblin just stood there, not moving. The wizard continued to shout out commands, but the goblin refused them.
"As you can see, it works well against such pesky curses, and I can assure you that it should work just as well to any creatures that have mind altering abilities, for example those that can project an aura of fear," Neville spoke, happy to see them catch the hidden meaning of his. With the ring, they wouldn't need to worry about a wizard controlling them or the Ministry setting their pet dementors on them.
This time the applause he got was louder.
(Flashback end)
The demonstration had gone on for some time, but once he finished, it was time to negotiated who would buy what.
It was amusing, seeing the Elders fight each other, like rabid dogs, trying to be the one to buy some of his items first. The fighting got so bad that guards needed to be brought in to separate them, and to treat one Elder for a stab wound.
Many of the items that Neville had gotten were dungeon drops and therefore didn't cost him anything, just time, however there were some items that he had bought in the Shop Menu. The prices ranged but it would usually be determined by rarity.
Common/ Ordinary: 1-10 G or 1- 250 $
Uncommon/ Special: 10-100 G or 250-2,500 $
Rare/ Artifact: 100-1,000 or 2,500-25,000 $
Vary Rare/ Rare: 1,000-10,000 or 25,000- 250,000 $
Legendary: 10,000- 100,000 or 250,000- 2,500,000 $
The healing potion he had gotten for example was only Common, and cost him 5 G to buy, but he would sell it to the goblins for 500 G per bottle. The Ring of Warning was 30 G for him but 3,000 G for them. But the item that they wanted most was the Ring of Mind Shielding. It normally cost him 75 G to get, but feeling charitable, only sold it for 5,000 G. The rest went on like this:
Elemental Gem: 2,500 G
Potion of Fire Breath: 300 G
Brooch of Shielding: 700 G
Helm of Telepathy: 4,000 G
Keoghtom's Ointment: 7,000 G
Staff of the Python: 10,000 G
Wand of the War Mage: 1,000 G
There were other items he sold but those were the one's in demand the most, especially the wands and elemental gems. It was hard for goblins to acquire good wands since it was against the Ministry law, and the wands for wizards did not work the same for goblins, so finding someone that could make them was always welcomed.
By the end of the meeting Neville had made a rather large fortune, not all of it was in galleons however. Many of the Elders chose to pay their share through land and property they had gotten from wizards that couldn't pay back their dept. Others chose to pay with favors, certain services, or even slaves. He accepted all, even the slaves, seeing as they would be useful to him.
After some haggling Neville walked away with 4 mansions, 35 slaves, 20 properties, and a small mountain range in the north of Ireland.
Yet despite all the success he had gathered, sleep escaped him. Ever since his meeting with Death, he had felt a growing sense of helplessness. 'If the entire point of life is to learn, just so that we can add to something bigger then ourselves, then what is the point of it all.' Neville was frustrated with himself, after being told the truth of the world, his very reality had been shattered.
Everything he had done was pointless now, he knew what no one knew, and it haunted him. Every person he saw was a reminder that he was alone. He had never felt so alone before, not even in the Void.
He knew that he needed to fix that, when he was looking at others, he no longer saw them as people, only experience and background characters. He felt himself start to care less about them, as time went on.
"They say that one is born dying. Ha! How right you are," he muttered as he threw the bottle at a wall, smashing it completely. The wizard rubbed his tired eyes, "What is the point of saving them, they will just end up dying and going to the same place. Good. Bad. Nothing changes, they are all still just pieces of a whole."
"What is the point of loving, of hating, of fearing one another, when it is the same thing as hating yourself. In the end everything is connected. The trees, the animals, the people, everything is one. Everything is Death and Everything is Life, and all are a part of Gaia."
Neville knew that with his way of thinking, it would cause him more harm than good.
He heard the noise of trashcan lids being lifted from outside his window. Walking to the glass window, he peered out from his second story room. It was dark, but he was still able to see the form of a man searching through the trash.
Looking at his man, trying so desperately to survive, he couldn't help but feel pity, 'Why do you try so hard? What makes you want to live so hard that you are willing to drag yourself so low? Do you not understand your own insignificance?'
As he was contemplating this, another person approached the first one from behind. The new person hit the first one on the head with what looked like a brick, knocking him out, then proceeded to also search inside the trash cans. Finding some left-over food, he ran away. Neville saw as he was greeted by a woman dressed in worn down robes, and the man then proceeded to share his prize with the woman.
"Is that the meaning? Despite him being in a similar situation to the other man, he chose to look out first for himself and those he holds close to him. It is logical I suppose, one must look out for number one," he spoke to himself.
That moment of selfishness showed him something that he had forgotten. It didn't matter if you were all connected, what matter was your own wants and beliefs, no one else's. So what if every single person that Neville would meet would die and go and become one being, what mattered to him were not the billions of other souls, just the few dozen that he had connected with. "You're all going to die eventually, I might as well enjoy everything first?"
His mind was made up, he wouldn't worry about nameless no bodies across the world, just the few that he held close to his heart.
Despite, this new self-discovery, Neville didn't feel like going to sleep, not that he needed it, instead he was filled with new found energy. "I might as well start making a business plan. Those two people just gave me a great idea."
+ 1 WIZ
The young wizard took out a notepad and began to write down all of the different things he would need if he was to make his plan come true.
(Scene change)
As he walked down the cobblestoned road, Neville made sure to look as undescriptive as possible. He had changed his appearance to that of a blonde thirty-year-old man, he wore normal wizarding robes, and carried a bag.
Walking into Flourish and Blotts, he walked right to the counter where he could see a young twenty-something year old man flipping through a catalog.
Once Neville was standing besides the counter, the man looked at him in surprise, not having noticed his silent approach. He hastily put the catalog away and put on his best professional smile. "Hello sir, how my I help you today?"
Neville smiled and spoke in a happy tone, "Good day, young man. Recently my niece has received her Hogwarts acceptance letter, and I have come to buy her the required reading material for her schooling."
"Ah, congratulations. Yes, I do believe that we still have the first-year book bundles in the back," the book keeper commented as he took a quick glance at the store-room.
"Great! But I want all the books, for all seven years. My precious Coco has always been the little bookworm, and what kind of Uncle would I be if I didn't see that she had the best education possible. I'm positive that she will make a wonderful Ravenclaw," Neville spoke, as he began to take out a bag of galleons that he had prepared beforehand.
The young man, looked slightly stunned at the request, but quickly got over it at the thought of making a huge sale. "I get, I was a Ravenclaw. You couldn't keep me away from the library without a full-body binding curse. So, you would like all of the books for Hogwarts, do you want the electives included as well?"
"Yes, please. She is still making her mind of what kind of witch she wants to be, one second, she wants to be a unicorn healer, the next a potion mistress. She already tried her hand at potion making, thankfully the family cat was able to regrow its hair back. Also include any books involving ley lines and magic communication, for my own study," Neville ordered.
"Right away sir, it shouldn't take more than a moment," the young man rushed to backroom and started to collect huge amounts of books, before stacking them on the counter.
He then began to tally up the cost of the entire thing. "Let's see including the books on ley lines and magical communication, the total should be … 898 galleons, 3 sickles, and 5 knuts."
"Perfect! Here is the amount, please make sure to count it all. Ah, no need to gift rap then, I'll do that myself later," Neville told the clerk, as he handed him the right amount, and started to put the books into an inventory window that was hidden at the bottom of the bag he had brought. The man took the money and dumped it into the cash register, watching as the coins began to arrange themselves and two receipts popped out of the side. He took one and gave the other to Neville who had finished putting the rest of the books away.
"Thank you for your service, if you need anything else be sure to stop by. Good luck to your niece."
"I'll be sure to do that," Neville said with a warm smile that vanished as soon as he exited the building.
As he looked at the rest of the shops, he began to make his way through each of them. He bought all the equipment and materials needed to begin his experimentation. He made sure to pick some extra potion ingredients on the way.
Finally, he headed to the bank again.
Walking thought he doors, uninterrupted this time, he discretely nodded to the Head goblin, who signaled another goblin.
Neville was quickly escorted through a couple of white marble hallways until he entered a small office room, inside was a goblin behind a desk, tiding up some documents.
"Ah, Elder King a pleasure to meet you, I am Hookeye, the goblin tasked with showing you your various properties," the small goblin spoke as he walked around the table to greet the taller wizard. "Your slaves and other items will be sent to what ever location you choose at a later time. Now then, we must get going, portkeyes have already been set up to take us to your first destination.
(Scene change)
With a pop, Neville and Hookeye appeared at a remote mountain range. The portkey had taken them to a large forest clearing that was connected to the sea , behind them separated was a curved mountain range, that helped to separate them from others.
"So this land has been the property of Goblins for centuries," Neville asked as he inspected the earth and surrounding mountains.
"Oh yes, the ownership of these lands could be traced back to goblin hands, all the way to Roman times. All goblin owned lands have also already been registered in the muggle government, and we have a strict non-aggression agreement, so long as they don't trespass with the intention to invade," Hookeye said.
The wizard knew it had to be something like this, after all if the government ever tried to sell these lands, he knew that the goblin communities would early reply with force. "So, I won't need to register them myself?"
"That is correct, all properties owned by Gringotts are claimed as separate lands, almost like reservations," the goblin continued as he pulled out a map. "This map, marks the boundary line that separate your land to the rest of Ireland. Should anyone trespass without your permission, you are within your rights to execute them."
Taking a look at the map, Neville could finally see just how big a piece of land he now owned, "It's big." The map was grey with a red shaded area showing his lands, the lands stretched 100 miles in every direction and into the sea. "So, anything I should worry about."
"Unfortunately, this land does have some mild pests," Hookeye said seeing no point in hiding the facts. "The third mountain to the left, has several caves that are inhabited by a large colony of Acromantula. 40 miles west of here there is a wide trench that is home to many boggarts. The waters are infesting with grindylows, trolls roam most of the woods, and there is a minor gnome infestation," he finished, just as a gnome ran passed them.
'Looks like I won't have to worry about feeding Swiftflame anymore,' thought the young wizard. "It is fine, this just means I can hunt more often."
"Yes, with your skills, they should be nothing to worry about," Hookeye agreed, remembering the wizard take down the chimaera with ease. "Well then of to the next place."
(Scene change)
It was night already, when they made it to the final place, a mansion that had once been owned by a pureblooded wizard who was known to be an avid gambler. He had lost it in a poker game against a group of goblins almost two centuries ago.
Out of all the mansions that Neville had seen, this was the biggest, the gardens alone could fit multiple football fields. The mansion was Victorian in design, with smooth marble floors, high ceiling, and large staircases. It was what one would expect a fairytale mansion would be like.
"This mansion has three floors, 59 rooms, 20 bathrooms, an indoor pool, a dining room, a ballroom, a library, a green house, and an underground dungeon. The servants' quarters are next to the kitchens on the first floor. " Hookeye said, as he read off a list.
'Why did every mansion we visited have an underground dungeon? Also, what am I going to do with all of these rooms?'
The insides of the mansion had a layer of dust from the lack of in keeping, and much of the furniture was covered in dust. All of the portraits and various knickknacks had all been sold away a long time ago, so much of the rooms were barren. Neville thanked his lucky stars that, he had cleaning and dust removal as a skill, other wise it was going to take days to clean everything.
"Perfect. Anything else?"
"Yes, the slaves should arrive later this week, and the item you asked for has been brought to your study on the third floor," Hookeye said as he massaged his feet, showing that he was tired from the days walk.
"Thank you for your efforts Hookeye," Neville complemented the goblin.
"No, it was a pleasure, to help an esteemed Elder like yourself. Will that be all Elder King?"
"Pass on a message, I wish to meet with the goblin in charge of lineage tomorrow if possible."
"It shall be done," the goblin gave a short bow and took out a portkey, which it used to leave the next second.
Neville took his time to inspect the place which would be his new base, it was a little big, but at least that meant it was secluded. Once he reached his new study, he glanced at the item he had paid to get delivered to him, the ice prison that held the body of Jack Harison.
With a wave of his hand the wizard broke the ice and the corpse of Jack hit the floor. "I've been meaning to use this spell. "Originally, I was going to bring you back with my spellbook, but then death game me this new ability," Neville commented as he remembered his original plan for Jack. After he had killed the wizard, he had planned to cast the Level 3 spell [Revivify], which allowed him to revive one person as long as the body was not too damage and they hadn't been dead for more than a minute. At the that time he had bigger things to worry about so he had also cast the Level 3 spell [Gentle Repose] which extended the window of time to revive something to 10 days. That however was no longer necessary with the new skill he had gotten from Death.
Revive (Lvl 1):
(Active): You are able to call back the souls of the deceased and return them to their bodies. Requirements: The body must not have any fatal wounds, it can not be dead for more than 1 hour, you must know the name of the person being revived.
Cost: 5000 MP, 10 soul gems
He walked up to the body and twisted the neck until it was aligned again, then he started to heal some of the wounds with [Healing Hands].
There wasn't much furniture in the room, only a large desk and two chairs, the rest of the room was empty, all the books had been taken from the shelves. Once he was finished inspecting he healed the body back to at least working order, the placed it in one of the two chairs.
He summoned two spectral chains and tied the legs against the chair, after all it would be stupid if he went through all the trouble of reviving him, just for him to apparate away.
Opening his inventory, he took out ten soul gems, and was slightly startled when they began to glow and then combined into one bigger gem. It was a black sphere, but the insides were filled with some type of swirling galaxy, that gave off a strange pulse. "So this is what a soul looks like, huh? I always thought it would look more like a heart or be more human like, but I guess the truth isn't that simple."
Neville began to charge his magic into the orb, until the crystal became completely white and it gave off a white aura.
Then he wrote 'Jack Harrison' on the surface of the sphere with his finger and sent it towards the body of the person in question, where it became transparent on contact and went inside the body.
It didn't take much time, and with a gasp of air Jack shot wide awake.
"W-Wha- how, where am I?" He said with blurry eyes. Then noticed that he was tied up in a chair and he was facing a desk with a person sitting on the opposite side. "You! Where am I? I thought you killed me?"
"Hello Jack, I have to say, you are lively for someone that just died," Neville commented, as he observed the struggling wizard, "I wouldn't bother, those chains are especially designed to hold people far stronger than you."
Jack ceased his useless struggles, as he felt his magic cut off from him. "What do you want? And what do you mean that I was dead?"
"Ah sorry, where are my manners. I forgot to offer you a beverage, would you like some coffee, tea, perhaps a glass of wine?" Neville asked as he took out a cup of tea out of his inventory and offered it to the haggard man. "Well then, a toast to me. You are looking at the new Elder of Gringotts. I couldn't have done it without your sacrifice Jack."
Jack said nothing, he had never been told why he was supposed to fight the man in front of him, only that he had to, and now he knew the reason. He was confused since he had never heard of a human being welcomed among goblins, let alone the Elders. As a slave he had come to know a little more about goblin culture and a goblin Elder was a huge deal.
"Now then I will explain a couple of things Jack," Neville continued, "After our match, I completed the remaining task, and was pronounced an Elder, you may address me as Arthur King, if you wish. Anyways after your death I froze your body, and I brought you back to my mansion, where I proceeded to revive you. Congratulation, you are among the few that have managed to escape death?"
"You lie, magic can't bring someone back to life, it goes against the laws of magic," the blonde wizard shouted.
"You will find Jack, that I am no normal wizard. There are things that I can do, that some could only dream of, bring someone back to life is child's play," Neville said calmly, before activating the Eyes of Worth. The surroundings gained a pink tint and a new box of information appeared in front of Jack.
Jack Harrison:
Desires: Revenge against Amycus Carrow and the rest of the Death Eaters for the deaths of his wife Sara and daughter May.
Investment: 87 % chance of him becoming a good henchman.
Jack remained quiet, he didn't know what the strange man in front of him wanted, but he must have had a reason for brining him back to life.
"What do you want?"
"Very well, straight to the point," Neville said as he finished the rest of his tea, "You see Jack, I am currently in the need of talented people. I need many things done and a capable person would help take much of the weight off my shoulders."
"Why are you asking me? I doubt I've done anything impressive enough to warrant your attention?"
"You're right, the skills you displayed during our match were good, but nothing special. No, what impressed me was your willingness to use the killing curse so readily. That showed me that you are willing to do anything to get the job done, that you aren't afraid to dirty your hands. What I need is that willingness to accomplish every task I give you," Neville spoke the true reason for why he revived Jack.
"Why would I join you, last time I checked, you were the one to kill me. I'm not exactly eager to trust someone that has already murdered me once," spoke Jack.
"True, I myself would be hesitant to join someone like that but tell me this Jack. Isn't there something you wish to do, maybe take a trip to Spain, ride a hippogriff… or perhaps kill Amycus Carrow."
Immediately Jack's eyes were fully focused on Neville, who just leaned forward with his fingers crossed under his chin, a devilish grin plastered to his face, knowing that he had got him.
"What do you know of Amycus Carrow," Jack asked cautiously.
"It must be frustrating to know that the killer of your wife Sara and daughter May, is still out there, walking free. That he will never be brought to justice for their deaths."
The former slave clutched his fist in anger, the thought of that monster walking around free, boiled his insides, "… What are you saying."
"I'm saying that I can help you Jack," the younger man said.
"You're saying you can help me get revenge on the Carrows," the blonde said, the sense of hope was steadily rising back up again in his chest.
"Of course, I can," Neville scoffed before looking at the man in front of him, "but tell me Jack, is that all you want. With my power I could bring back that little family of yours with a snap of my fingers. Having experienced it yourself, you should know that I'm not lying."
Jack looked heartbroken, thoughts of seeing his family alive once more were only ever present in his dreams, before being cruelly reminded of the truth when he would wake up. "… Sara. May. …Yes, you can bring them back, can't you?"
"That's right Jack, all I need is your cooperation, and you can be reunited with your darling wife and daughter," he said, enjoying playing his little devils act.
A Skill has been created through certain actions
[Pact] has been created
Pact (Lvl 1)
(Active): The devil has nothing on you. You are now able to make binding contracts with another being. Should either party break the deal in any way, then they will be subjective to divine punishment.
Cost: 50 MP
'Perfect,' thought the disguised wizard.
"What do you want from me," Jack said submissively. They both knew that Neville had all the cards right now.
"In exchange for your revenge on Amycus Carrow, and the revival of Sara Harrison and May Harrison, do you agree to do everything that you are told, to hold my best interests at heart, to keep all that you see and hear a secret," Neville said as he extended his hand for a handshake.
The ex-Auror looked cautiously at the hands, "For how long?"
"Until I no longer need you, or until ten years have passed. But now this Jack, I do not take betrayal well, and I can assure you that there are worse things than death out there," he said seriously.
Gulping back the fear, Jack made up his mind, 'Sara, May, I'm doing this for you.' "I accept."
Grinning like the cat that had caught the mouse, Neville used 50 MP to activate the [Pact] skill. His extended hand burst into blue flames, they gave off no heat but the shadows created by the flame made him seem more demonic than anything else. "Then take my hand Jack, and we have a deal."
"No regrets," was all he said before grapping the fire covered hand. The flame spread to his own hand, and he had to hold back a scream as a symbol was branded into his skin.
Taking back his hand he saw the image of a pentagram, before it disappeared, and he was left with smooth skin once more.
"Excellent. Now then Jack, I'm sure you must be tired. Pick any room on this floor to rest, I'm afraid I have not had much time to decorate, but we will talk more about it in the morning. If you wish to take your revenge, you must be back in peak condition."
Jack said nothing as he stood up and left the room, and only kept looking at his hand.
"Well it looks like things are finally picking up. Everyone has a price, and luckily there is a whole market of desperate people right for the picking," Neville said as he took out a list from his inventory, "Now then who should I go after next, the half-bloods, the muggle-borns, the werewolves, or the non-magicals. With so many unhappy with their lives, it's a wonder why there aren't more Dark Lords gathering them for their own forces. Hmmm I wonder, does this make me a Dark Lord?"
Neville thought about it, technically he was building up his own forces for his own cause, sure that was to close the portals, but where was the line drawn. He had no issues about killing, but he wasn't really into the whole suppressing of others. "Dark Lord Neville. Saying it out loud now, makes it sound stupid. Beside I'm more grey than anything else. Oh well, things for latter. I need to focus on securing the locations of the rest of the portals, plus I need to start reading those books I bought, shouldn't put them off longer than I have."
A/N: So there you go. I hope you can understand the points I've been trying to make. It doesn't matter how strong Neville gets right now, he can't do everything himself. He needs a capable team behind him that can take care of the little things.
No matter how powerful he gets, some of these portals will be extremely hard to close, not to mention that the sheer distance will be a challenge, with all of them spread around the world. He will make his own organization designed to close the portals, and they will occasionally clash with other groups.
This fanfic isn't just about leveling up and punching something until it dies, it also has to do with trying to heal the planet and the actions that Neville has made and dealing with the results.
So some of you are wondering if Neville will meet with his grandma soon. The answer to that is yes, he will eventually go back to her before his Hogwarts acceptance letter arrives, but by then he will have most of his pieces on the chess board.