Chapter 10

The Dark Lord's Apprentice

A group of sixth years found Harry and Theo. They were still in their wet robes and wincing as their arms still stung. "What happened?" one asked.

"We were attacked by Gryffindors," Theo said softly. "Harry tried to fight back; he had a fireball but one of the seventh years use the Water-Making spell on both of us."

"That's horrible!" a sixth year girl said, "but where are the rest of the first years?"

"We woke up late," Harry said, "they're all eating breakfast I think." The sixth years looked disappointed at that, some shaking their heads.

"Were they not listening?" one complained. "Potter, Nott, go get dressed, we'll wait for you guys."

"But won't you be late?" Harry asked.

"Doesn't matter, you Firsties need to learn that you need to travel in a pack to stay safe," the girl said, "No less than three if needed. But all of you should stay together."

Harry and Theo nodded and ran off to change. The sixth years were still waiting for them when they were done, and together the small group made their way to the Great Hall. The other girl sixth year escorted them personally to their friends and offered a small smile, "Here we are, safe and sound. However you lot, we need to have a talk after classes are done," she said, glaring at the others. Harry and Theo said thank you and sat down as the others looked confused.

"What was that about?" Blaise asked.

Harry and Theo glanced at each other and sighed. Harry explained what happened and could feel that the mood around them sunk until they were all looking around the hall with an uneasy anticipation. Daphne was the first to break it, "I'm sorry," she said. "We just didn't think that it was true."

"And if it was, that they would do something so soon," Pansy added. "I mean the whole school bullying Slytherin? It sounds unheard of!"

Harry just nodded and looked at the staff table sadly, "I'll ask my mentor," he said. "Anyway, we should be fine if we just move in groups right? Then we'll do that. The sixth year said that we should never be in groups less than three, so whenever we need to go somewhere, like the bathroom or a professor's office, we should always bring two people with us."

"Seems easy enough," Draco said, he glanced at Crabbe and Goyle and smirked, "Just by the size of these two should be enough to scare anyone."

"Don't be mean Draco," Pansy said lightly. Draco rolled his eyes and Harry shook his head. He and Theo ate quietly, and half an hour later Professor Snape stood from the staff table to hand out the Slytherins' schedules. When he reached the first years, Snape distributed the schedules silently and they all immediately began sharing and comparing. They all had the same classes, which Harry guessed would only be logical, and sighed when he noticed that most of the classes he was very excited about were with Gryffindor. Most importantly, Harry frowned when he saw that he wouldn't have Professor Quirrell until Wednesday, two days from now.

Two days could pass quickly, and it was much better than a whole month in Harry's opinion, so he decided to put that issue to the side and focus on his classes. After all, he would not want to disappoint Voldemort and doing poorly in his classes, especially already at the beginning of the year, would heavily disappoint Lord Voldemort.

Their first lesson in Hogwarts was Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall, whom Harry learned from Blaise was the Gryffindor's Head of House. "And we have the class with the Gryffindors," Blaise groaned. "At least she doesn't show favoritism from what I heard."

Harry and Theo stiffened slightly at the mentions of Gryffindor. Theo looked at the table fearfully while Harry glared at his plate. He flinched when he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Blaise smiling at him, "It'll be okay," he whispered. Harry nodded and took a deep breath.

When they were all done, the Slytherins moved as a unit. Harry and Theo, being the smallest, stayed in the center of the gang, all of them talking excitedly about what they're going to learn in the class. Harry in particular was excited to finally use his wand. Using magic with his hands became second nature to the boy, and he wanted to see how it would feet using a wand to use magic.

They found the classroom easily and arrived before any of the Gryffindors. Harry, Blaise, and Theo took the three front desks on the right side and Harry looked around. Professor McGonagall was not around at all. Instead, sitting on the teacher's desk, was a tabby cat with strange markings around its eyes. Harry stared at the cat. It did not move, instead, it just sat on the desk watching the entrance, as though waiting for all of the students to come in. The Gryffindors filtered in in ones and twos. The bushy-haired girl named Hermione Granger was first, and she too sat at the front on the opposite side of the classroom. Harry checked his watch to see that class should have started a minute ago, but still, there was no sign of Professor McGonagall. Then, running loudly and panting, Ron Weasley and a round-faced boy whose name Harry didn't remember ran in. "Whew," Ron said loudly, "Could you imagine the look on Professor McGonagall's face if we were late?."

The cat then jumped and as it did so, transformed into Professor McGonagall! Harry stared amazed at that. He wanted to learn how to do it! Professor McGonagall stared at Ron and the other boy for a moment, frowning slightly. "That was blood brilliant," Ron said.

"Thank you for that assessment, Mr. Weasley, perhaps it would be more useful to transfigure Mr. Longbottom and yourself into a pocket watch? That way one of you might be on time," Professor McGonagall sassed.

"We got lost, ma'am," Longbottom said.

"Then perhaps a map? I trust you do not need one to find your seats," Professor McGonagall said, and the classroom chuckled, the Slytherins laughing slightly louder than the Gryffindors.

Harry immediately had his hand up as Professor McGonagall returned to her desk. She saw this and waited a moment, "Yes Mr. Potter, I would like to begin my lesson today," she said.

"I just wanted to know how you turned yourself into a cat, ma'am," Harry said politely, "I didn't mean to interrupt."

"Yes, well the act of transfiguring yourself into another form, in this case, myself into a tabby cat, is a higher-level form of Transfiguration that is not touched until your third year, where even then you will not practice it as it is a very difficult branch of Transfiguration that needs months' preparation," Professor McGonagall explained briefly and Harry nodded, figuring that it all translated to 'I will look it up and learn it on my own.'

Professor McGonagall looked at the first years and addressed them, "Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts. Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned." She then changed her desk into a pig and back again. They were all impressed and couldn't wait to get started, but soon realized they weren't going to be changing the furniture into animals for a long time. After taking a series of complicated notes, they were each given a match and started trying to turn it into a needle.

Harry felt a rush as his magic surfaced inside himself and directly towards his wand. It was much easier to draw on the familiar sensation, but it did feel a little impersonal. Still, by the end of the lesson, he was able to make his match look silvery and pointy. He was the second student to do so, much to his annoyance, as Hermione Granger too was able to make her match silver and pointy as well. He relieved himself by mentally saying that his was shinier.

After Transfiguration, the Slytherins had Herbology with the Hufflepuffs three times a week in the greenhouses behind the castle. It was taught by a dumpy witch named Professor Sprout who smiled and was always in a jolly mood. Harry liked her a little immediately, however, he was certain that she would not be his favorite teacher. The most boring class was easily History of Magic, which they had in the afternoon, which was taught by the only ghost professor in Hogwarts, Professor Binns. Terrance Higgs joked to Harry and the others on Monday night that one day, Professor Binns died while taking a nap and just woke up and floated away from his body to teach.

Professor Flitwick taught Charms, and he was a tiny wizard who had to stand on a pile of books to see over his desk. When he reached Harry's name on roll call, he gave an excited squeak and toppled out of sight.

Wednesday came with sunshine, and the Slytherins had double Defense Against the Dark Arts that morning with the Gryffindors followed by a break. Harry was excited for the class, both because he was going to see his Voldemort again, and because he was very excited about the subject in general, it sounded fun!

However, it turned out that Quirrell by himself was a bit of a joke. His classroom smelled strongly of garlic, which everyone said was to ward off a vampire he'd met in Romania and was afraid would be coming back to get him one of these days. His turban, he told them, had been given to him by an African prince as a thank-you for getting rid of a troublesome zombie, but they weren't sure they believed his story.

Harry was amazed that he was able to keep his excitement throughout the class, busying himself by taking notes and barely looking up at Professor Quirrell. When class was over, Harry stood up and looked at his friends, "I have a couple of questions for Professor Quirrell," he said.

"Okay," Draco nodded. "Crabbe and Goyle will wait with you—"

"Can they wait outside," Harry said, looking at the two boys in question. They nodded silently and left with the others. Harry saw them step to the side just outside and smiled as the door closed to give the two privacy.

"Mr. P-Potter," Professor Quirrell stuttered. "D-Do you have a question? I- thought the l-l-lecture was simple enough."

"I have many questions, Professor," Harry smiled, "but not exactly with you." He stepped towards the professor, his smile widening. "You know I never thought you would look so old and cowardly personally. I thought my master and husband would be strong-looking!"

Professor Quirrell stared at Harry, stuttering fearfully before he just froze for a moment. His eyes rolled and his head lulled. Harry frowned and stared at his Defense teacher. Without warning, Quirrell looked back up, his eyes staring at Harry clearly with a cold glare. A smirk that looked unnatural on Quirrell's face soon appeared and he said, "Harry, is that any way to talk to your Lord?"

"No but I just missed you so much," Harry smiled. He looked at Quirrell's body and frowned, "Um, Tom, I want to hug you but…"

"Do not," Voldemort ordered. "Having to live in this body is to suffer, I do not want this to taint your innocence."

"Then when you get your own body," Harry said. "Which reminds me, did you get the stone?"

Voldemort frowned. "No. Quirrell is too insufferable and incompetent. When we got to the vault, it was already emptied. The Philosopher's Stone is now here."

"Then let's go get it—"

"No Harry, we must be patient and careful," Voldemort said. "The Stone is currently 'safe' in a place where no one will stumble upon it. Especially since it is 'off limits to those who do not wish to die a most painful death.'"

Harry thought for a moment, "You mean it's where Dumbledore said was forbidden? The third-floor corridor?" he asked.

"Precisely, my little snake," Voldemort said, and Harry smiled, humming affectionately at the pet name. "The stone is in the third-floor corridor, protected by several safety measures that each professor provided to keep it safe. As of now I only know about Quirrell's obstacle, a troll."

"There's a troll in here!" Harry gasped.

"Yes, and one that we will kill when we go for the stone, but not before we know exactly what each professor provided," Voldemort said. "Understand?" Harry nodded.

"Good," Voldemort said. He looked at Harry with a rare prideful smile. "I knew that you would be sorted into Slytherin, Harry," he said. "But to be sorted instantly? It made me so proud. You are just like me."

Harry smiled at that. "Thank you," he said, "I, I really missed you."

"I missed you too Harry, you are much better company than Quirrell," Voldemort chuckled. "The man only blabbers and begs for forgiveness. Even worse, his magic is weak. Too weak."

"Are you okay?" Harry immediately asked. "Do you need my magic? You'll know I'll give it, my Voldemort!" Harry produced an orb of light with swirling colors. Voldemort gave him a smile and shook his head.

"No Harry, I am afraid of what would happen if your magic mixes with Quirrell's. Most likely it will taint and prove useless, or worse it'll overpower the man's and his body will fail before we can even get our task here done," Voldemort explained. "I will find other methods to keep alive, do not worry."

"If you're sure," Harry said, sounding a little dejected. His orb went away, and he gnawed at his bottom lip, "Then if you don't mind, I have questions."

"Since when did I mind your questioning, Harry? Ask away," Voldemort said.

And like a floodgate opening up, Harry took a breath and his gaze at Voldemort turned into a light glare. "I'm mad at you! You made me look like a fool in front of goblins! Why didn't you tell me that I have a lordship? Or Godparents? Who are Sirius Black and Remus Lupin? Why haven't I met either one yet? Do they know about us? About the muggles? What are Yule and Samhain? Is there an entire culture around purebloods? And what is all about the Sacred Twenty-Eight? Snape also warned me about calling you the Dark Lord saying that only your followers call you that—why didn't you warn me that? What would have happened if Dumbledore or someone heard me saying that? Also do you have a Lordship? And—"

"Harry, calm down," Voldemort snapped. "You are asking too many questions. Focus on one for tonight."

Harry's cheeks turned red, and he nodded. His heart was beating fast, and he thought before looking up at Voldemort, "Why didn't you tell me everything?" he asked carefully.

Voldemort smirked. "Why have I not told you everything, about Lordships and your godparents? Or perhaps even about the whole dying culture of the Dark Arts, the Traditionalists' holidays, and the dangers the Light Wizards present towards that culture? Or maybe even the tension between the Light and Dark that is led by a harsh hatred that is caused by fear of the strange and unknown?"

"Yes, exactly," Harry nodded.

"Well Harry, I want you to imagine that you are seven again, no even eight or now at eleven will work," Voldemort said. "If I told you everything from the moment we met, including the stuff you know now and information I still need to give you, that would be a sensory overload for you. Instead of giving you answers, you would have been lost, which was why I've chosen to give you that information little by little, my little snake. I still intend to tell you everything, I promised you that I would never hold information back or lie to you, but if I told you everything, from Lordships and its culture to the Dark Arts and everything that led up to this moment, it would be difficult for you to understand at that moment, honestly. And even now, things will be confusing for you. I did not tell you about Lordships, because I was planning to tell you when you are fourteen, for as I am sure the goblins and your new friends told you, Lordships do not even start to come into effect until you are fifteen years old. As for our culture, I wanted you to meet other wizards first, see their reactions and thoughts on that matter.

"You've actually done well in choosing your new friends as you have done. I planned that you would be in Slytherin for those families are the ones most likely to still be celebrating the Old Traditions. That is not to say they are the only ones, but still they are the most likely. Ask them, Harry, and they will give you better resources than I can in this current moment. The thought that The-Boy-Who-Lived is interested in their culture and wanting to be a part of it will help you become accepted into Slytherin House and allow you to reveal yourself more easily as my little snake," Voldemort explained.

Harry just nodded and looked up at Voldemort, "Um about that… I'm sorry I didn't think—my friends already know that I can speak Parseltongue. I was in the Great Hall and Salazar was hungry—oh Salazar is my pet snake I got him in Diagon Alley—and I was asking him what he wanted to eat and uhh they heard me."

Voldemort just hummed and nodded, "How did they react?" He asked.

"Surprised but I think they're accepting it," Harry said. "Though I only talked to Salazar in front of them that one time. I told them," Harry paused for a moment to remember, "I told them that talking to snakes is commonplace to me, but I need to ask my mentor for permission to talk more about it."

Voldemort nodded once more. "And what will your mentor say?" he chuckled. "You may tell those who you trust the most the following. You have a special connection to the Dark Lord, his magic and yours are forever interconnected. Why exactly is simple: You are mine, and mine alone. However do not reveal that you are Lord Voldemort's apprentice, not yet. We would rather keep that information for ourselves for now. The walls have ears, after all."

"Do you think any of them would tell Dumbledore?" Harry asked, afraid.

"Dumbledore? Certainly not. But their parents? That is a different story," Voldemort said. "Many of their parents are my old followers, Harry. Followers who, in their Lord's time of need, have chosen to pretend they were coerced into doing my bidding instead of joining openly. We have too much to deal with to even consider thinking about how my old followers will react! So for now, little snake, keep referring to me as your mentor and the Dark Lord but do not connect the two. Not until we have a proper plan to steal the Stone, at least."

"Okay," Harry nodded. He thought for a moment after checking his watch and looked up at Voldemort, "Can I ask one more question?"

Voldemort checked the time as well and nodded, "We do not have time for me to properly explain what I promised when I left, but of course."

"Can you tell me one more thing about Adrian?" Harry asked innocently.

Voldemort chuckled. "I should have known you would wonder about that. Let's see, have I ever told you about how Adrian and I met?"

"No were you in the same year?" Harry asked excitedly.

"We were, indeed, Harry," Voldemort chuckled. "We were both sorted into Slytherin. Tom Riddle and Adrian Balk. The Balk Family was a small, old family deeply rooted into the Dark Arts. He was my first friend, my actual first friend, and it was he who introduced me to the Old Traditions, something that I've eagerly embraced. The others were wary of me, thinking that I was a mudblood, a muggleborn, but Adrian could see that I was so much more. Funny enough, he actually caught me speaking to snakes one day. Promised that he would keep it a secret, a promise that he kept faithfully, and afterwards we immediately began researching into my family." Voldemort smiled nostalgically. "My innocent snake, I miss him too much. But I know I shouldn't be too sad, after all, now I have you Harry, and you remind me so much of my Adrian."

"I'm happy about that," Harry smiled. "I…" he stopped, his chest felt warm, and his heart was beating really face. He felt emotions he didn't really understand, and his cheeks turned red. There were words he wanted to say but couldn't find them, let alone understand them. So, instead, he said, "I'm really happy that you saved me, Master."

"I'm happy that I've saved you too, Harry," Voldemort said. "You should go now; we will talk later. But for now, I'm afraid I'll have to give this cowardly man his body back and I must rest."

"Okay," Harry nodded, and he gave Voldemort one final smile before leaving. Crabbe and Goyle were still standing by the door and flanked Harry. They started their way to the dungeons, but Harry stopped and told them that he needed to go to the owlery to send a letter. The two followed and, much to Harry's surprise, they were able to have a nice conversation. He called down Hedwig and quickly wrote a note to his mentor, for appearances sake, and told her to go and hunt a very juicy rat. She flew off, and the three Slytherins returned to the dungeons.

Hedwig returned to Harry during dinner, dropping a letter in front of Harry, stole a bit of food from Blaise's plate, and then flew off with the other owls. Harry opened the letter and smiled at the cursive writing.

Little Snake we just talked about this. You know what to tell them.

"My mentor told me I can tell you guys," he said to his friends, so after dinner they gathered around the fireplace and Harry smiled at them. "The reason why I can speak Parseltongue is really simple," he said. Salazar was on his lap once more, hissing contently as Harry petted him. "The Dark Lord and I, we have a connection, a special and deep connection. Our magic is forever interconnected."

"Oh, so the gift of Parseltongue is because of this connection?" Draco asked.

"I assume so, yes," Harry said. "At least that is what my mentor and I believe. There was also something else he wanted me to look into."

"What is it, Harry?" Daphne said.

Harry smiled and said rather loudly, so those around them could hear, "I want to learn more about our culture and the Old Traditions. Can you guys help me?" The effect was immediate. The older years all stared at Harry strangely, before giving a small nod of approval. Pansy Parkinson looked absolutely ecstatic as she jumped up. "Yes! I know exactly what you should read!" she said. "There's this book called Dark Etiquette and Rituals that my parents taught me—"

"Really Parkinson? That book?" Terrance Higgs said, snorting. He approached the group and looked at Harry. "Is this true Potter? You want to learn about our way of life?"

Harry nodded, "My mentor told me that it is ours as well, but that you guys would teach me better because we're living together," he said, figuring it would be a good explanation.

"I see," Terrance nodded. He smiled at Harry and motioned for him to stand and walk to him. Higgs slung an arm around Harry and said, "Come with me, that book that Parkinson said is good, but there are others much easier to read and start with. There's actually a small collection here in this common room. Let's see about starting you right." Harry grinned and walked with Terrance towards a bookshelf. "By the way, nice snake, Potter."

"Thanks, his name is Salazar," Harry said, petting the snake. Higgs laughed and shook his head, "I think I'm wrong, you'll fit in just fine here Potter."

"You thought I wouldn't?" Harry asked innocently.

"Honestly no, but now that you're showing this new side of you, I think we can expect interesting things from you Potter," Higgs grinned. He looked at the bookshelf for a moment before making a noise, "Here we are. These three would be a good start," he said, pulling out three books. He handed them one at a time. "This one," he said, handing a book titled History of the Dark Arts "is a good basic history of our people. The next one," he gave a book called Holidays and Rituals: The Path of the Dark Wizard, "is a comprehensive breakdown of the holidays we celebrate, and the path we all take, and are currently taking, into becoming a Dark Wizard. I personally got two more steps before I'm a complete Dark Wizard, one private and then the Last Ritual," Higgs grinned proudly. "The last one is great for a budding wizard like you, Potter." The last book was titled Hexes and Jinxes for the Budding Dark Arts.

Harry make sure to hold them all carefully and smiled, "Thank you, Higgs," he said. "My mentor will love to hear about this!"

"No worries Potter hope they're helpful," Higgs shrugged. He patted Harry's shoulder and returned to his friends, and immediately started talking about Harry, pointing proudly at the young boy. Harry just smiled and returned to the fireplace, sitting between Crabbe and Goyle. Salazar wrapped himself around Harry's shoulder and the boy picked up the first book and began to read.

A/N: Who likes lore? I like lore! Next chapter is lore. Also I did it again, I'm four chapters ahead so we going to do the same deal with two chapters next week. Good?

JCEBishop: Ohh nice, okay. And thank you so much! With this one especially I'm taking care of putting emphasis on world building because, I'm basically making a culture so I have to approach it as "Okay what happened? What are the major events that caused what is happening today? How are people celebrating? What are sayings that people use?" Like at least for the last one, I have "By the Dark" which is basically like 'oh my lord' or 'thank god/goodness' As for revenge on the Gryffindors... it'll come. Especially if later on Harry befriends a couple of jokesters.

Tviper13: Theo needs a hug and about Ron...

Retired10: Severus needs to smarten up, but as Voldemort said he doesn't want his followers to know about his and Harry's entire relationship now.