The Rise of the Dark Lord Acnologia
Disclaimer/Plot/Challenge Information/Author's Note: SEE FIRST CHAPTER
Recommended Reads: I Want It All And More by Winged Seer Wolf, Bonded and Dark Lord Potter by JustBored21, On Black Wings by Darkscythe Drake, Monochrome by The BlackStaff and NightMarE, Kill me if you can by PercyPendragon3, No Regrets by MyAlternatePersona, An Ace In The Hole by aadixon, Harry Potter: Lord of Darkness by AngelSlayer135, The Necromancer by MaeglinYedi and Harry Potter: Rise of Darkness by Rezurex
Key Pairing: Harry/TBD
Other Pairings: To be determined
Normal Speech
'Thoughts'
'Mental Speech'
/Parseltongue/
Review Answers:
Guest: I guess I did, yeah; weird, I know;
NazgulBelserion: No reason, says you? Hmm, I'm not so sure about that, friend;
Winged Seer Wolf: A VERY interesting suggestion, dear brother-in-all-but-blood; at the same time, get ready for fun; oh, and I've got a feeling you might just like what happens in this chapter;
Tempest Novastorm: I LOVE it when old friends review new works after a while: hope you enjoy the rest of the story just as much
As the phoenix watched, the young boy nommed on the feather, chewing it up like a piece of gum, moaning softly all the while before, tilting his head back, Harry gulped and licked his lips.
"Mmm…you're really tasty, Fawkes; good thing you can't die, huh? So, what do you say? Can I keep eating you? I'm really hungry, you see…"
Chapter 2: Bring Out the Main Course
How could a whole house disappear and nobody notice?
Over the next four years, or the better part thereof, Albus Dumbledore kept asking himself this question over and over, only to come up empty on the answers. In all that time, he had gone back to Little Whinging no less than fifty times before, for some insane reason, some interfering busybody Muggle had decided to report him to their please-men.
Couldn't these Muggles understand who he was and what he was doing for the Greater Good?
Fortunately, the Elder Wand took care of any questions, and made sure nobody looked into him being there in the first place, but, after that last time, Dumbledore reluctantly kept his distance from Little Whinging, while he still tried to figure out the answer to his dilemma.
It was bad enough that Number Four had vanished, but what made it even worse was how no amount of revealing spells, tracking charms or even the devices monitoring the building seemed to help fill in the blanks, which Albus found impossible: after all, he had crafted them himself and he was Albus Dumbledore, the next Merlin.
What was the point of wielding the most-powerful wand in the world, being the figurehead of Good Magic and holding so many positions in the world that ninety-nine percent of the world looked to him for guidance, if he couldn't find one stupid, expendable, little pawn of a martyr?
As bad as that was, Dumbledore had also noticed how Fawkes seemed to have left him, which, again, was impossible!
He had personally bound that backstabbing little firebird after the mongrel creature had betrayed his calling to the Dumbledore Family by siding with Gellert and The Bastard – as Dumbledore called the other Dumbledore betrayer in his life, before he'd killed the little bastard – and ensured that his phoenix helped fuel the idea that Dumbledore was on par, if not greater than Merlin himself.
But, somehow, the little betrayer had slipped the net and, again, no matter what Albus had tried to do, he was unable to summon Fawkes back to his Master's side. Even worse, over the past four years, somehow, the bond that Albus had forged with his servant, if only to continue giving him power and keeping him around long enough to bring back The Golden Age of Magic – for the Greater Good, obviously – had been dwindling until, impossibly, Albus had felt the last remnants shatter nine months after Fawkes had betrayed him for whatever Dark Wizard now had him.
Even worse than that, however, was how Albus' spy, Arabella Figg, had also done a disappearing act, leaving her home as a place for those mangy moggies of hers to breed and make messes, right up to the day the Muggles RSPCA – whatever that was; Muggles really did have stupid names for things sometimes – had taken them all away and issued a reward for information on the neglectful owner of the litter.
Without her keeping tabs on his little pawn, Albus hadn't heard anything more to suggest Harry was, in any way, staying compliant or weak and ignorant, as Albus wanted him to be.
How else was he supposed to make sure the boy died, for the Greater Good, and left Dumbledore with the keys to immortality?
How had all this happened?
Dumbledore didn't know and, even worse, he had absolutely no idea how he was meant to begin regaining control.
Well…that wasn't entirely true.
He still had Minerva's letters and, now that Harry was approaching eleven, Albus would know exactly where his little martyr had run off to.
Then, the Servant would once more obey The Master and everything would be back to how it should be.
Acnologia
What Dumbledore didn't know, however, was how, at the exact moment that Minerva McGonagall checked over the responses from the latest batch of students, and prepared to go along with Dumbledore's plans for the third floor, she left her office just long enough for a flash of flame to appear in the room, before the source of the flames grabbed an envelope and leave with it in a second flash of fire.
By the time Minerva returned, she had no idea that she was about to find herself the target of her boss' ire.
Unfortunately for Dumbledore, McGonagall was a pussycat in Animagus form only…
Acnologia
In a seemingly-ordinary bedroom, in a house that those nearby might as well have never even noticed, a pair of emerald-green eyes snapped open before eleven-year-old Harry James Potter sat up, stretching tall and clicking his joints before he sighed softly.
"Another day, another delicacy."
As if on cue, a flash of fire appeared on Harry's bed, making the young boy smile as he watched the flames die down, revealing a blood-red-feathered bird, whom, unlike so many years earlier, now looked as healthy as a horse and just as powerful to behold.
Also, apart from the vibrant, beyond-healthy crimson plumage of its feathers, the bird, a phoenix, also had several raven-black feathers running along his wings, as well as extending from his rear end, his red-and-black tail feathers seemingly intertwining to create a braid-like shape that looked like flames dancing from the rear end of the phoenix.
The bird's eyes had also changed; instead of warm, golden hue, the phoenix now had a pair of fierce, hard, piercing yellow eyes that looked more like the eyes of a winged demon, which the phoenix had become.
As the phoenix dropped its burden, a yellowish-coloured envelope, onto the bed, Harry smiled softly before he drawled, "Ah, Fawkes; you're just in time for breakfast."
Spreading his wings, Fawkes bowed before Harry, who smiled fondly before tracing a finger over the phoenix's back.
As he did so, what could only be described as a thin sliver of red, black and gold sparks seemed to ignite along the trail that Harry drew. As he reached Fawkes' tail feathers, Harry plucked one of them, without so much as a flinch from the phoenix before, lifting it to his lips, he slurped up the feather like a piece of spaghetti. As he did so, however, the trail that Harry had drawn along Fawkes' body seemed to follow the feather as Harry slurped it up with the feather, his eyes closed in apparent bliss and warmth before, with the last slurp, he chewed up what was in his mouth, moaning warmly and with contentment before, as he often did, Harry tilted his head back and gulped loudly, tracing the feather and the sparks' paths down his gullet before, licking his lips, he rubbed his belly happily.
"Mmm…I never tire of fresh phoenix magic first thing in the morning…now, how about a drink?"
Again, Fawkes didn't even hesitate; with a flutter of his wings, the phoenix flew up to Harry's face, perching himself very carefully on the tip of his master's nose, much like the gingerbread man and the fox in the river.
Harry, meanwhile, opened his mouth wide while Fawkes lowered his head over Harry's gaping jaws. Blinking several times, the phoenix shed his tears straight into Harry's mouth, where they ran over the apparently-thirsty boy's tongue and straight down his gullet, soon joining Fawkes' feather and the magic with it in Harry's now-sated and full tummy.
Closing his mouth with a final gulp, as though for dramatic effect, Harry petted Fawkes, earning a trill of pleased emotion from the phoenix before Harry sighed through his nostrils as he mused, "All right, my friend; a promise is a promise. Go on, change."
Launching himself from Harry's face, Fawkes seemed to glow with red-and-black fire before, seconds later, where there had been a bird, there was now a roguishly-handsome young man, with fiery-red hair that had the same black highlights as Fawkes' avian body. Like the phoenix, the man also had two yellow eyes that seemed to have several emerald-green flecks, if you looked close enough, while he was dressed in a red-and-black-coloured ensemble, which seemed to radiate the warmth and life in the strange man that Fawkes had become.
Once he was human, Fawkes turned before he dropped to one knee, bowing his head before Harry as he said, "Thank you, Master; I've missed my human form. Did my breakfast please you?"
"Does the sun set in the evening?" drawled Harry, cracking the seal on the envelope that Fawkes had brought him, before he added, "Also, let this serve as a reminder of what will happen if you ever try and deny me my fun and my food again, Fawkes. I gave you your human form and I can take it away, just as easily: never forget that!"
"I won't, Master; I promise," replied Fawkes, knowing that Harry was not the kind of Master whom would give a third chance, especially not after Fawkes had tried to deny him once already, resulting in a very stern punishment that, obviously, now resulted in the second chance.
Acnologia
It had been nearly a year ago when Harry had discovered, through the constant advancement of his dark powers, that he wasn't the only one whom possessed Magic, much less the kind he would enjoy feasting upon as he so often did Fawkes and the unusual power surrounding his home.
When Harry discovered that the Dursleys had magic – not quite as abundant as Harry or, certainly not, Fawkes' magic, but enough – he had taken his punishments of them one step further than he already had done. Torturing them as he often did, making sport of the weak-willed, weaker-minded and definitely expendable Muggle scum had been fun, but, now Harry had a real torture method at his disposal, he was going to have fun.
And so, calling Fawkes to his side, Harry experimented with his power, by taking magic out of Fawkes and transferring it to the Dursleys.
However, Fawkes had challenged him, saying his magic was not worthy to be anything but his master's dinner and that he refused to allow his master to poison his favourite food with Muggle filth, which, even Harry later admitted – to himself – was a good point, but still.
Fawkes was his servant, his friend – only when Harry let him be, of course – and, most-importantly, his prey.
Harry was the Master, the Alpha and the Apex Predator.
As punishment for denying Harry the fun of experimenting and, as he'd explained to the phoenix, improving a frankly meagre snack by turning it into a feast fit for the King I am, the young sorcerer had used his power to rob Fawkes of his human form, binding him to phoenix form until Harry said he had earned his Master's forgiveness.
That time had been a few weeks ago, when Fawkes had willingly given Harry the idea of celebrating the Summer Solstice by draining Fawkes of his magic and using as much as his Master needed to fatten up the Muggles for a feast fit for the Gods. At the same time, Fawkes also shared a ritual with Harry that would increase his powers, should it be performed on the Solstice, and make the magic that Harry fed on more-potent and powerful than it already was.
Suffice to say, Harry went to bed with a real stomach-ache, but one he gladly savoured and complained about.
In the meantime, weakened as he was by his Master's hunger, Fawkes had stayed phoenix until Master decided he was really forgiven, or until he did something just as useful for his Master.
Like, say, bringing him a certain letter before the old fool that Fawkes used to call Master could get his claws into Harry.
Acnologia
As Harry looked down at Fawkes, seeing his servant and friend – and probably his only friend, at that – so willingly submissive and loyal once again, the young wizard sighed before, as he pulled out the letter inside the envelope, he asked, "Fawkes?"
"Yes Master?"
"I think I'm getting soft."
Fawkes' head snapped up, while Harry's eyes roamed over the letter, even as Fawkes gasped, "What? No, Master; you know you don't eat Magic like other humans eat food. You never put on weight, not even when you had that banquet back on the Solstice. How can you possibly think that, Master? Your body is a temple and you are the God who resides in that temple; a God that all will sacrifice themselves to, just to feed your hunger. You know that, Master."
"I do," agreed Harry, before he waved his hand over the letter; seconds later, what had been an acceptance letter from Minerva McGonagall seemed to transform into a well-worded letter of gratitude and agreed acceptance from Harry, before the young wizard flicked his wrist. As if on command, the letter shifted and transformed into a flying paper aeroplane, which, with another flick of his wrist, Harry sent out of the window, before he closed it again as he looked down at Fawkes.
"However, I wasn't talking about my weight, my friend; I was talking about my feelings towards you."
"I don't understand, my Lord?" asked Fawkes, again looking up at Harry in yellow-eyed curiosity, before he explained, "I know your feelings towards me; I am your breakfast, your lunch, your dinner, your supper and even your elevenses and afternoon, not to mention midnight snacks. I am here to be your servant, your sustenance and your sole confidant as long as you want me to be, Sire. Why would you suggest anything else?"
"Because I lied to you, my friend," said Harry, not only amused at how eagerly and devotedly Fawkes explained his role and seemed to accept it, but a little awed, if not appreciative of Fawkes' willingness to be whatever Harry wanted him to be, even if it wasn't dinnertime yet.
"How, Master?"
"The night I came to bed," said Harry, patting his stomach as he laughed, "And my belly felt like a whole nest of fully-grown dragons were trying to burst out from inside of me, just like that movie I saw, I decided to forgive you and even let you decide to take whatever form you wanted to use to serve me. But, even though you were weak, drained to the point of death and yet, still so willing to be here for me, I told you that you had to wait before I would let you return to human form."
"Were you testing me, my Lord?"
"No," said Harry, leaning forwards before he cupped Fawkes' cheek, looking down at his submissive friend and companion with warmth and light shining in his green eyes. "I wasn't testing you, Fawkes, nor am I doing it now. You've been a good pet, a loyal servant and, easily, my favourite food, both for your magic and the feathers you feed me. You've also been a good companion, singing me to sleep when I need it, healing me if I get hurt and even hurting the Dursleys because I wanted you to torture them for me."
"Those humans are scum, Master!" hissed Fawkes, earning a nod from Harry.
"I know, my friend…and that's why I'm telling you this; I mean, I don't actually know why I lied, but I did. And so, better late than never, I want you to tell me: what would you like to look like? If you'd rather stay human, I'll allow it, for as long as you wish; if you'd rather have another form, tell me now and I'll give it to you."
"Any form?"
"Any form," replied Harry, earning an awestruck look from Fawkes before he sniffed once as he looked again into his Master's eyes.
"Then, Master, I would like to be human, but, at the same time, I would like to continue being of use to you, which is why, if you mean this, my Lord, I request permission to be transformed into your owl for Hogwarts!"
Harry's eyes lit up as he heard that, while Fawkes bowed his head as he added, "I…I will only take human form when you let me, Master, but if I am going to be useful to you, even when you're at the school, I can think of no better, or more-appropriate form to wear than that of an owl. I don't even mind if you make me a female owl, but keep my human form as a male, Master."
"Tempting, but nah," laughed Harry, before he drew himself up to his full height as he asked, "You're sure, though? This is what you want?"
"I want only to be of use to you, Master," said Fawkes.
Nodding once, Harry waved his hand, before he watched as Fawkes' body shifted and contorted, twisting about itself before, slowly, but surely, the human that Fawkes was vanished, only to be replaced by a smaller bird than his phoenix form.
A bird with sleek, black feathers, save for a reddish-brown mask around its eyes and along the edges of its wings; the bird's tail feathers were also black, with red flecks, while a pair of deadly-looking talons now grew out from under Fawkes' body. The breast of the bird was a warm shade of red with black flecks that ran right up to the curved, yellowish-coloured beak that definitely looked like it could do some damage, if it wanted to.
Of course, the fact that this change even happened surprised Fawkes, who let out a loud, shrill cry that was not the hoot of an owl.
But rather, the skreee-like sound of the fastest thing in the skies, something Harry himself noted as he smiled fondly.
"There you go then, Fawkes: not an owl, but, instead, you are now my peregrine falcon familiar…oh, and in this form, I think I'll call you Mercury, after the God of Speed…sounds perfect for an Apex Predator like me, don't you think, my friend?"
Chapter 2 and, while a certain senile old coot is proving how he's long-past ready for a long stay in the funny farm, it looks like Harry has become something much more than a lamb to the slaughter, wouldn't you agree?
Even so, what is his plan for Hogwarts, especially since, by the looks of things, he's much more-powerful than these weaklings who are probably only good for being the prey for an Apex Predator like him?
Keep Reading to Find Out
Next Chapter: Harry Potter is off to Hogwarts and it's safe to say his new and improved looks, as well as a few other differences, will turn more than a few heads;
Please Read and Review
AN: Portrayal
Fawkes – human form and voice when in other forms: Colton Haynes