Disclaimer: I do not own anything as J.K Rowling owns Harry Potter, despite wishes that it is the opposite.
Author's Note: Hello guys! This is the start of the Warlock Series. I have a certain plan on how this would turn out. Speaking out, this is a prequel for a book that I plan to write regarding a crossover of Harry Potter and the Avengers. Though I would pair Harry with a male partner in the future. If you're uncomfortable with the sequel of this book being slash/yaoi, I'll leave it to your discretion if you would continue to read this book. I would only warn this once, though, and when I wrote the sequel. But I hope you would support the series, regardless. Well, if not, it's fine I guess. I hope others would enjoy it in your stead. Nevertheless, enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 1 – The Master of Death
Harry is restless. Now more than ever since the day that they defeated Voldemort.
Not that Hermione agrees, as she claims that he, alone, deserves the honor despite his rebuttals that it was a team effort.
He let the argument pass; who can out win an argument against a very persistent Hermione Granger anyways? This, and also because she was his very best friend. Though Ron is quite close, he never really did understand his avoidance regarding his deeds, history, and fame.
Thankfully, Hermione was able to pound the ginger head to understand it better, so Ron was a much better friend now. A less jealous one, but a friend, nevertheless. Still, the past events have put quite a strain on their friendship thus Harry trusts Hermione more than he did with Ron.
But even with his trust, Harry might never be able to spout this secret now to Hermione.
It was the very midnight of his 18th birthday when Harry woke up with pain encompassing his whole body. It was like his veins were on fire.
In addition to this, despite his shock, he saw all three deathly hallows. The three items were always returned to his very being in spite of all actions he tried to do in order to discard them. Well, the other two besides the cloak, ever since that day.
The Invisibility Cloak, the Resurrection Stone, and the Elder Wand levitated from their hiding place and stopped just above his body. The three items moved at once; the Resurrection Stone seemed to burrow itself into his chest as the Elder Wand dove under him and fused itself unto his spine. Lastly, the Invisibility Cloak enveloped his whole body as it sunk itself into his frame.
Pain.
Pain that was much more gruesome than the cruciatus curse was covering his whole body.
The hollow flame that seemed to burn his person intensified into a much higher temperature as it razed and agonized his body. Despair and panic were roaming in Harry's brain as he was experiencing this hell. The next thing he knew was darkness. The raven fainted in pain. However, his figure shimmered into a dull grey light an hour after his unexpected torture.
As he woke up in the morning, Harry found himself buck naked. The pain and fire in his veins that was very much present last night were absent. As he looked at himself carefully in the mirror, he was shocked. Actually, shock is an understatement itself right now, if one saw what he saw.
"Bloody hell!?" His voice echoed over the expanse of his bathroom and bedroom as he tried to recognize himself in the mirror in front of him.
There, on the reflection was a nearly six-foot, raven-haired teen. His past messy mop was gone, replaced with a much more luxuriant, tamable, wavy hair in its place. The length of his hair was almost reaching his shoulders with the tips still inevitably curled.
His emerald, green eyes were still present, much to his relief, though they were much more resplendent and in a bit more brilliant shade of green than before. It also seems that he doesn't need glasses anymore as his vision was as clear as it could be.
Another major change to take note of was his facial features.
His brows were now much more elegant, while his cheek bokes a little higher. His nose bridge is now a bit narrower while his lips became a little bit thinner and also rosier. His hair, eyes, and lips were striking against his now, much paler skin, if he wasn't that pale enough before.
Overall, he seemed to become less of a James Potter but rather a perfect mixture of a Potter and a Black.
Recalling the ancestral tree in 12 Grimmauld Place, he seems to be a bit more similar to his grandmother, Euphemia Black, and his grandfather, Fleamont Potter. He was now very dissimilar to his father who was very much the same, albeit a little different, from his grandfather. On the other hand, the only presence of Evans' blood in him was his iconic green eyes.
Speaking of iconic, the much-renowned lightning scar on the right of his forehead seemed to become thinner and much paler than its past flesh pink tone. Its color now was in the sheen of pale silver. Looking at it carefully, if one was not staring or trying to find the scar, it is hardly noticeable at all.
Also, the scars all over his body seemed to disappear overnight. He checked all over his body and he did indeed confirm that they were gone. Results of the suffering he got through the Dursleys, and the war was gone. Though he thought it was both funny and ironic that he considers both experiences at the same level of agony. Harry shook his head to steer himself from the thoughts of the past.
His body was now much more sinew, though his muscles were not bulky, but rather slim as if it was compact with power. Moving his arms and legs, Harry felt much more strength than he did before in his past body. Though there is still room for improvement, he was nonetheless thankful that his physique did not transform into those of a bodybuilder, but rather into a still slim body with condensed muscles and elegant shapes and lines.
Digesting all of the changes in his body, Harry finally saw the final mark of last night's change.
The Deathly Hallows symbol.
It is mainly composed of a triangle that has a circle inside it, a horizontal line in the middle dividing both shapes into half. The tattoo was present right above his sternum, though it was a bit on the small side while its color was charcoal grey.
After half an hour of staring at the mirror, Harry was finally able to calm down, albeit a little. He sat down on his bed as he thought of different reasons for his change. Despite having a hunch of the truth, he still disregarded it until he discusses it with Hermione, his ever all-knowing and studious friend.
'Hermione!' The raven thought in panic as he wondered if his best friend would even recognize him. This is a rather new development, which should be kept a secret. Though he was wondering if he should let the brunette in the loop.
As he was currently pondering regarding his options, he felt the wards of the Grimmauld Place shimmer against his magic, letting him know that a person was coming inside his house through the floo.
Knowing that he only allowed one person with the permission to come inside his house without any authorization, Harry took a deep breath, to ready himself about the possible outcomes of the confrontation, as he heard a shout from his best friend.
"Harry James Potter!" Hermione exclaimed from downstairs, probably from the kitchen settling down the food she must have brought.
"Coming!" He shouted as he dressed himself up into a simple plain red t-shirt and black pants. He cursed as he let out a spell to enlarge the shirt and lengthen the pants because all his clothes were a bit smaller to him at present.
He walked down directly from his bedroom on the second floor of Grimmauld Place and onto the stairways.
After a few minutes of internal warfare of his mind, Harry let out a shaky breath as he smiled nervously at his friend as he entered the kitchen.
"Hey 'Mione." He said in a cautious tone.
As the brunette stopped settling down her birthday breakfast for her best friend and looked backward to reply, her voice was stuck in her throat. No voice was able to escape from it as both shock and astonishment displayed on her face. A lot different from the serious and thinking face that his best friend usually exhibits.
"Harry?" She asked, her voice rather both shaky and edgy.
"Good morning." Harry replied simply, another tense smile present on his lips.
"Good morning?" She asked, her voice rising the longer she speaks.
"That's it? You look like a whole new person though I could still see some part of your past features. Still, that's not the point, the point is that you only say good morning?!" Hermione paused to breathe which she seemed to have forgotten to do in her tirade as she continued her questioning.
"What the hell happened Harry James Potter? You better explain it right now before I jinx you real hard." She ended in a grave tone, with her left hand on her hips and her right hand gripping her wand, pointing it directly at him.
Harry's vigilance melted away, his tense shoulders relaxed, and took a breath as he heard the concern and anxiety from his friends' tone.
She knows it was him.
Despite the mess that he is in right now, it was a relief that his best friend did recognize him though his current look was way wholly different from his original appearance.
"Good to know that you still know who your best friend is." Harry started, avoiding all her questions entirely. The tactic was so smoothly used. Obviously, the raven head was very proficient in evading Hermione's usual tirade of questions.
"Of course, you idiot! Even if you did look like an old man right now, I'll still know who you are. Your eyes, scar and the habit of scrunching your nose when you're too nervous to talk were all dead giveaways." She explained as she slapped herself, though not hard, in the face.
Hermione let down her hand as she looked directly at her best friend in the eyes, concern and worry evident in her eyes and tone as she asked her question again.
"Harry, what happened?"
The man in question was touched at the words of his friend with his heart being warmed. Despite all of his bravados, he still has insecurities growing up. It was a very happy thing for someone to know you, especially your best friend, even if your physical appearance changes.
Hearing her repeated question, Harry finally obliged and answered. "Actually, I don't know what happened myself. I only know that it was around midnight when I felt my body burning." He further described how the pain felt before continuing further.
"The three hallows also seemed to fuse itself into my body which intensified the scorching sensation and I fainted right after." He also emphasized the respective locations of his body where the hallows' seemed to fuse themselves.
"The next thing I know, I awoke with my eyesight clear, and my whole body being different. Also, I think you should see this." Harry then lowered the collar of his shirt to show the Deathly Hallow tattoo present on his sternum.
Hermione let out a gasp as she saw the mark. After a few seconds of silence and Harry's readjustment of his collar, the brunette was finally able to use her voice.
"The Deathly Hallows…" Hermione whispered out.
"Yeah, though I have the hint on what is to be the reason for my change, I still want your opinion." Harry breathed out as he earnestly looked at her, his eyes containing not only earnest but also contains nervousness. "What do you think?"
"Well, it seems quite obvious now that you showed me the mark, but the question is… how did it affect your body? And for all we know, your physical appearance may not be the only change that occurred last night." Hermione finished in one breath.
After seeing the look in his best friend's eyes, Harry slumped down into the kitchen island stool right near the countertop. He fisted his now shoulder-length hair as he took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
Hermione crouched down near Harry as she comforted her friend with smoothing rubs on the back.
"Don't worry Harry. Whatever being the Master of Death entails, I'll be by your side all the way through it. I'm sure we'll figure everything out in time."
"Really?" Harry peeked through his closed eyelids as he looked at Hermione.
"Really." The brunette replied with a firm nod.
Harry asked again, for reassurance.
"Really really?"
Hermione never wavered as she determinedly nodded again.
"Really really."
"Really really really?"
"Now you're just being a prat!"
Both burst into laughter after hearing Hermione's remark. After a few seconds of laughter, Hermione grasped Harry's hand as she solemnly made a promise.
"But jokes aside Harry. I'll always be here for you, even if you're the Master of Death or a prat. We'll figure it all out, ok?" Hermione asked as she stared directly into Harry's eyes.
Seeing the seriousness of his friend, Harry inevitably let out a nod.
"I believe you."
Hermione let out a warm smile as she finally let out Harry from his brooding. She stood back straight as she continued fixing out the birthday breakfast meal she prepared for Harry.
While observing the brunette's busy figure, Harry let out a sincere remark.
"Thank you 'Mione for always being here for me."
Hermione let out a snort as she replied. "Of course, if not me, your best friend, would not help you out. Who in the hell will?"
Harry let out a noncommittal nod, silently agreeing. After a few seconds, he continued speaking out.
"You know that I love you right?"
Not expecting the question, Hermione stayed silent as she looked into Harry's eyes. All she saw was trust, love, and happiness.
"Of course, I do!" She let out a serious nod and a loving smile as she looked at her friend.
Then she continued. "I love you too Harry, but can you now stop distracting me? We have a birthday to celebrate here. According to my information, it is a certain raven head with green eyes who has the birthday today. Do you know who he is?"
"Oh… I've heard that he's quite the menace." Harry merrily went along Hermione's bubble.
"Right about that!" Hermione replied with a nod that was saying it really is true.
"Hey!" Harry exclaimed, certainly offended.
As both continued their taunts and jokes, laughter spread out in the solemn Grimmauld Place. Harry continued watching his friend go about and tell her days in her job in the ministry. Seeing this, he thought at that exact moment that everything would be alright in time. It would be. Right?