CHAPTER 12: TRASHED, LOST AND STRUNGOUT
"AAARRRRGGGGHHHH" screamed Harry as he hit the ground on all fours. The floor seemed soft and was made of thick grass. Harry had felt as though he had been flung forward and his head was still pounding with pain as he vomited onto the ground. He fell sideways and rolled around clutching his head with both his hands. The pain was excruciating and once again Harry had the particular feeling that he was not alone. He slowly tried to get up into a kneeling position. The place in front of him was filled with numerous thick and tall trees. He was certainly in a forest but how did he get here?
"Now it's my turn Potter!" said a high cold voice.
"NOOOOOOO!!!" screamed Harry into the dimly lit forest and his voice echoed from distant corners.
"YES! On the contrary Potter it is time for you to start believing in yourself and do what you are meant to do." Said the cold voice.
Harry shook his head and moved forwards crawling on all fours. He could see a pond not far from where he was and started moving towards it. He needed water and when he reached the pond and put his hands into the clear water, he saw his rippling reflection in the water and saw that a pair of red gleaming eyes was staring back at him. Although he could still barely see the green behind those red he saw that his face was smiling sinisterly and there was also a mingled look of shock. The ghostly pale face of Voldemort was etched on his face like a mask and faded after every two or three seconds and Harry saw his own face again. It kept happening all the time Harry stared into the reflection and then he saw his mouth move and he heard the high cold voice hiss at him, "Remember what I told you the first time we met Potter?"
Harry threw himself backwards onto the ground and started grasping his head with both hands and yelling, "GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"
"You remember what I told you Potter……I said that there is no good or evil……"
"SHUT UP!"
"There is only Power and those too weak to seek it….."
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME?"
"I told you to embrace the Power of Lord Voldemort before………"
"NOOOOO!"
"…..but you had to be noble and graceful…bah…pathetic fool…."
"AAAARRRGGGHHHH!"
"There is nothing to be gained in nobility………."
"DON'T TALK!"
"….Greatness can only be gained through power and there are many ways to achieve power…."
"STOP DOING THIS TO ME!"
"There is nothing to be gained in fighting it Harry!......"
"I'LL NEVER…!!"
All the time Harry lay there screaming to himself, Voldemort spoke in a calm voice that issued from Harry's own mouth in between his own sentences. The pain was exceeding.
"Tell me Potter, what is the difference in a dark and a noble wizard…….."
"YOU WON'T…!"
"When all of us are facing life and death……..then does it matter if one of is good while the other is evil…."
"YOU WILL NEVER CONTROL-----MEEEEE AAARRRGGHHHH!!!"
"Oh I do not intend to gain control over you Potter………"
Harry's senses were now on overdrive. He could not think properly his mind was going in and out of focus. At times he could see nothing at all and only hear the high cold voice of his conqueror.
"I WILL KILL YOU!"
"……I intend to make you join my cause…I'm sure you will see reason soon enough…" said the high cold voice calmly and Harry tried to move his limbs because it felt as though he had lost all sense in them. He slowly moved his hand into the inside of his robes and pulled out his wand. His hand was trembling but he twirled the wand around in his fingers and when it was pointed towards himself, he thought in his mind, Stupe-.
"NOOOOO!!!" it was the voice of Voldemort this time that screamed into the night, "OH NO YOU DON'T! YOU CANNOT CONQUER ME POTTER!"
"I HAVE BEFORE AND I WILL DO IT AGAIN!" came Harry's reply.
But Voldemort's cold laugh issued from Harry's mouth and he laughed on and on until Harry managed to gain control and it stopped.
"You are still being as ignorant and as defiant as your parents……."
"DON'T YOU TALK ABOUT THEM!"
"They never understood, did they? They could never understand that there was nothing to be gained in sacrifice, nothing to be gained in being truthful, nothing to be gained……"
"SHUT UP!"
"But you know better Potter. You have tasted power and you know the fear it commands, the authority it commands, the respect it …….."
"NO RESPECT CAN BE GAINED LIKE THAT!"
"I beg to differ Potter for you see my faithful death eaters were ever loyal to me…."
"THEY NEVER RESPECTED YOU! THEY WERE SCARED OF YOU!"
"YES! YES! Fear is the first step to greatness, fear gives birth to anger, anger gives birth to hate, and with hate you gain power, and with power you gain GLORY!"
"THERE IS NO GLORY IN WHAT YOU DO!"
"If you looked at it my way then you would agree with me that there is glory in my work…."
But Harry was now weakening. The blood was pounding in his whole body and he could feel his heart beating at a rapid pace.
"MY PARENTS DIED TO SAVE ME!" yelled Harry.
"Oh and what did that achieve…..a tiny little blood protection?...."
"HOW CAN YOU…."
"I'll tell you how…….. your mother's protection was when I had her blood in my veins too and I experienced great pain when I penetrated your mind but now I am a non-existent being with no feelings or body…….."
"IT CAN'T BE!"
"…..you are my protection now Harry Potter….you are my body now…."
"NEVER!"
"This is getting childish Potter…..I've given you countless reasons but you still are as arrogant as your father….."
"DON'T-TALK-ABOUT-MY-PARENTS!" said Harry and he punched his own face in between each word. But all that achieved was another numbing pain in his jaw and blood from his lower lip. Voldemort's voice cackled again and it resonated all around the forest and it felt as though there was a Voldemort standing behind every tree.
"You cannot touch me Potter….you cannot feel me……I am you!" said Voldemort Loudly.
"YOU WILL NEVER BE ME!"
"Oh really, it was you who once said that we were both alike……"
"YOU AND I WERE NEVER ALIKE!"
"Yes I quite agree…I was the great sorcerer while you were this lazy boy who had no ambition in life….."
"NOOO!!"
"You know that Dumbledore used you…..he has always used you….Snape was right…he raised you up like a cattle for slaughter…"
"HOW DO YOU KNOW?!"
"I know everything Potter. The Dark Lord knows all that you know. Now that I'm you, I know everything you know…."
"YOU CANNOT USE ME IF I'M WEAK AND WOUNDED!"
"Even you Potter wouldn't be foolish enough to try something like that……..and yet you are…." Sighed Voldemort's voice.
Harry had gotten to his feet with great difficulty and was walking towards a tree and he tried to slam his head into it. Immediately he stopped, his face a mere inch away from the tree trunk. Harry concentrated all his might into pushing his head forward but Voldemort was holding him back.
"Why do you fight it Potter…….Embrace it like never before…" said the high voice calmly.
"I WILL NEVER SINK TO YOUR LEVEL!" bellowed Harry.
"Think of the opportunity Potter…think of the power…I do not wish to destroy you Potter…"
"LIES! ALL LIES!"
"I do not Lie Potter….and you know that ….you can feel that….you know what I say is the truth….."
"YOU-…." Began Harry, but he knew that Voldemort was right. He, Harry could feel that he was not lying. He did not wish him dead. As Harry's thoughts drifted to consider this the pain slowly started to subside and go away.
"YESsss! YESssss! Potter …..listen to your inner voice…….think of the power ……think of what you can achieve……together you and I can become even more powerful than what I was alone….." said Voldemort slowly.
Harry slowly fell to his knees and his head felt lighter. The pain in his scar was diminishing.
"…I can show you magic that can allow you to save the ones you love…Yes, Potter I know such magic that you could only dream of…..it can all be yours ….I can even give you the chance to be with your parents again and reunite your true family….."
The pain was now almost completely gone and Harry's limp body fell sideways from the kneeling position and he was sprawled across the ground while his lips moved slowly and calmly, "…you know it is true Potter……I cannot hide anything from you now…..I shall grant you all the power you need and together we shall achieve greatness that not even the likes of Dumbledore and Grindelwald could have attained in their youth."
At these words all feeling of pain and suffering was taken away from Harry. He now felt as though he was drifting of to some calm and serene sleep.
"You are wise Potter…..you were always wise……..and Dumbledore was right….its not our characteristics that set us apart….it is our choices and you have made the right choice."
Suddenly Harry placed both his arms on his side and stood up with such agility that it felt as though a new energy had been revived inside him. He straightened himself and cracked his knuckles and neck. He could feel power resonating from within him. He felt the flow of magic strengthen inside him. He felt a bond and a connection that allowed him to focus more clearly. His scar had stopped throbbing completely and he flexed his fingers and spread his arms wide and called out into the night in a high cold voice that echoed for eternity.
"NOW……………WE ARE ONE!"
The maniacal laughter that followed these words carried through the forest frightening all forms of living existence and the forest itself appeared to cower before the immense power in its midst.
