Previously on Defiance…
Dumbledore considered it. "I think there might be someone who could, help us. Though, it is an ambition doomed from the start. I might just go so far as to suggest that convincing Voldemort himself to reveal it might just be an easier task."
Harry was far from convinced. "Who is this person?"
Dumbledore sighed. "Someone whom I thought I would never see ever again. He is a captive, held behind the wards of the most formidable prison on earth." He turned to look at Harry in the eye.
"Gellert Grindelwald."
Where am I? What is this place?
"This is your mind," boomed a very familiar voice. Harry spun back, only to see his own face, only that his bright green eyes had been replaced by stormy gray ones. There were other differences too. This man- his doppelganger, had long, unruly hair, falling back over his shoulders, and his gray eyes had a primal, animalistic look in them. They were around the same height, though Harry thought that he was on the slightly shorter side, and also, the other man was heavily built, wearing the dress of a real, ancient Warmage.
"Ignotus? Ignotus Peverell?"
"Yes." The man spat. "And you are the annoying insect that is my reborn soul."
"How am I, here?" Harry asked, looking around the place in worry. Even if it was his own mind, he did not know how he had come here, and Ignotus being present was a cause of worry in itself.
"You are here, because I brought you here." Ignotus sneered. "You have taken undue advantage of my knowledge so far. From now on, unless you give me something in return, I will seal away any knowledge that you know courtesy of me."
Harry raised his eyebrows. A lot of his skills were from Ignotus. If those were to vanish at such moment-
"Fine," Harry spat, "what do you want this time?"
"A release, from this prison. But that is not an option, is it?" He sneered. "I would want to make myself the dominant soul and throw you into this void to watch someone in control of your body and your power for eternity, but unfortunately, that isn't an option either."
Harry looked annoyed. But then, something happened. He felt a shiver of bloodlust shoot through him.
"Did you feel that? The energy, the bloodlust running through your veins? I want that. I want to experience that. You give it to me. I grant you the knowledge."
"And how am I supposed to do that?" Harry challenged, feeling slightly dizzy and exhilarated at the same time.
"Silly boy. You can go on a rampage. Kill these vermin, these death eaters or whatever they are known as. Kill them, and let me experience the thrill of the kill. You do that for me. I give you the knowledge." Ignotus spat.
"I am not a murderer."
"No," Ignotus laughed out loud, "No-no-no-no, no-no-noh! You are much worse. You are a butcher. It is in your blood, boy. Live it, use that nagging feeling inside you, the feeling that wants you to destroy the whole world and burn it down, the feeling that makes you want to obliterate those that have hurt your close ones. This bastard's horcruxes has almost taken away your mate from you. This bastard has taken away your parents from you. It is time that you take from him what he loves."
Harry stayed silent.
"It's time for you to decide, boy. Stay on the moral high ground and watch as your little world gets torn apart. Nothing happens to me. At least, I get to say you that I told you so. Or, take up your mantle of the destroyer and destroy your enemies with extreme prejudice."
His blood sang to him, his magic, his power swirling inside his veins bubbled in rage and excitation, wanting to come outside and be used, to cause destruction…
"Wreak havoc…"
Harry suppressed the feelings rising within him as his Occlumency shields rose up. "I am not a monster."
"Hahahahaha! That is a joke if I ever heard one. You know you are a monster. No wait. Monsters get killed. You are not a monster. You are destruction. You are carnage itself. Accept what you are and you will have a power you have never known. Together, we can achieve anything that we want. All my knowledge can be yours. This world, we can burn it and then chop it into little pieces at whim. We can enslave the world and rule on it. Anything is possible, all you need is to accept what you are, and what you can be."
"No. I am not going to do that. There are people, good people, who do not deserve to be killed." Harry returned defiantly.
Ignotus laughed out loud. His mocking tone irritated him.
"Your naivety amuses me. Goodness is an illusion. Remember how these people vilified you again and again."
"Stop it."
"Their morals... their code… it's a bad joke. Dropped at the first sign of trouble. Dropped at the first sign of trouble. Don't say that you trust them to choose you over their family, for they won't. They are only as good as the world allows them to be. When the chips are down, these… civilized people, they will eat each other." Ignotus walked up to him and held his shoulders firmly.
"Stop it." Harry returned, feeling all weak from within.
"You have seen how the Ministry treated you unfairly. That is the truth, boy. People don't want to have their illusions destroyed. You give your blood, sweat and tears for them, and in return, they will judge you based on their moods and needs." Ignotus's voice had a compulsion that he found becoming exceeding hard to resist. His mind was bombarded with the times when people misjudged him, betrayed him…He saw his father get killed…watched his mother scream as the green light of the curse-
"STOP!" Harry panted. "YOU ARE WRONG. YOU ARE A MONSTER. I AM NOT LIKE YOU."
He suddenly stopped. He was sleeping on his bed in the Room of Requirement. He was back to the real world. He conjured a towel and rubbed off the sweat lingering on his face. And then Ignotus spoke inside his mind again.
Hahahahaha! You are me! Harry Potter! When Oblivion comes, and when the world finds its end at the blade of war, you and I… we will be the one wielding the blade. See I am not a monster; I am just ahead of the curve. My offer stands, boy. Give me my bloodlust, and I will give you the knowledge you need. I can help you get your mate back, just the way she was before the incident. Give or take.
Silence.
"Time is not going to wait forever, Harry Potter. Tick-tock! Tick-tock!"
Dumbledore's office…
Albus Dumbledore banged his palms in an infuriated manner on his table. Sirius flinched at his expression as Harry turned back from the book shelf.
"This won't work. I told you, we are doomed from the start."
"Something wrong?" Harry offered.
"Yes." Dumbledore sighed. "I am just coming from Nurmengard. I had a meeting with my once-best friend. Gellert Grindelwald?"
"Gellert Grindelwald and Albus Dumbledore were chubbies? This is gold." Sirius almost sniggered. Controlling his expressions, he continued, "What went wrong?"
"As we suspected," Albus replied, sagging into his chair, "Gellert not knows where the Necromancer's Guild might be, but also, he was a Master and an accomplished one at that." He paused, "there is just a little problem, one which I have confirmed."
"Which is-"
"You can enter the Necromancer's Guild with a Necromancy Master, unless of course, you have been invited from the Guild itself. And that means-"
"Gellert Grindelwald has to be broken out." Harry deadpanned.
Dumbledore looked at Harry in utter shock. "ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?" He looked at Sirius who stood silent. "Gellert Grindelwald was a dark lord, one that was capable of waging a war against the ICW war-wizard contingent." He paused, "Harry, horcruxes or not, one does NOT break a dark lord out of prison for any reason."
"Professor, you yourself told us the previous night, that Gellert himself built Nurmengard as his own protective fortress. In short, the man has to know every nook and cranny of the fortress, better than the security at any rate. YET," Harry paused, "he has not even made one single move to break out of it since…. what… fifty years?"
Dumbledore had to admit, Harry had a point. He did not reply, not willing to even acknowledge that his friend, the dark lord Gellert Grindelwald had felt remorse of all things and had accepted his fate at Nurmengard.
"Harry, you have a point, but if I know one thing about Gellert, it is that he can be incredibly patient about things. His secrets have secret; his plans have plans. If the man was any sharper, he would have perhaps defeated the Guilds and won over them, becoming the highest power in the world. It was only a matter of luck, that something odd had happened that disturbed his machinations and everything went down because of the defeat of one single person."
"That being?"
Dumbledore sighed. "Titania. Lady Titania Gaunt. The dark lord Grindelwald's lieutenant. She was single-handedly responsible for keeping the soldiers of the 11th Company away from France. I was in the 13th Company, representing the Transfiguration Guild, fighting against Gellert's army on the other side. Titania single-handedly kept the most powerful contingent at bay, leaving Gellert free to manage the war on my front."
"Sounds fairly powerful. This Titania." Harry mused.
"Exceptionally powerful. By my estimates, she was of Gellert's own level in terms of power, and all modesty aside, I was slightly more powerful than Gellert himself was."
"Right." Sirius commented.
"What happened then?" Harry questioned.
Dumbledore looked up with a smile. "Both of your grandfathers were part of the 11th company, fighting against Titania. The Company had endured several losses and Titania was about to obliterate them all. If that had happened, Gellert would have been completely free to exert all of his forces on me and my company. None of us would have survived."
"What happened?" Harry stressed.
"I do not know. Something happened and in a single battle, Titania was defeated and killed. According to both of your grandfathers, they had some kind of help, but refused to share what kind of help it had been, and here I quote, 'help rained down from the sky and Titania stood no chance.' Even to this day, I have no idea what either of them meant by that."
Sirius and Harry exchanged glances instantly.
"What happened then?" Sirius asked.
"Titania was the last of his lieutenants. With her dead, both the battalions surrounded the rest of his army, leaving me free to battle Gellert alone. I am not ashamed to say that without that intervention, I would simply be another name in history, and not standing in front of you."
"That's… some tale." Harry replied. "Nevertheless, I cannot help but ask. Why didn't you kill Gellert?"
Dumbledore looked at him as his eyes burned with something like rage. "Because death would be very easy for someone like him. Instead, I took away everything from him- his power, his wand hand, and held him captive inside the very fortress he raised to hold his prisoners."
"And now you had to go and ask for help." Sirius pointed out.
Dumbledore gave him an irritated look, which was very uncharacteristic of him, as he snapped. "Yes, I did, Sirius, thank you for pointing out the obvious."
"So Gellert Grindelwald is a squib at the moment?" Harry stressed.
"No." Albus sighed. "The spell discharged his magical core, rendering him unable to cast magic for some hours, when I cut off his wand hand. The powerful wards at Nurmengard do the rest. While he is inside, he is a pseudo-squib, so it is not as if he has agreed to stay inside because of something like remorse." He snapped.
"All right." Harry conceded.
"Gellert made one thing very clear. If I wished for his help, I would have to break him out of prison. Then again, the quest is impossible without breaking him out of prison anyway, not that we are going to do it." Albus stressed.
"What about the other Masters? Surely there must be many more Masters from the Guild? Maybe High Master-" Harry began.
"I have explored that situation. Samuel was very clear about it that it is the law for the other guilds to stay secret. Even if some Necromancy master is available, we will not know it because his mastery is shrouded in secrecy."
"And the one publicly known, is inside Nurmengard." Sirius seethed.
"Yes."
"Professor, even if there was the slightest chance of breaking him out of prison," Harry interjected, "what is the guarantee that he will keep his word?"
"Gellert gave me his oath. He was very clear on it. If we broke him out, he would help us by taking us to the necromantic Guild." Albus replied sourly. "It is a choice between a rock and a hard place."
"Then we break him out." Harry returned. "I'm sorry, Professor but I am not finding any other alternatives."
Albus opened his mouth and then closed it. "—and how is that going to be possible? Nurmengard has very high security facility, and is unbreakable."
"Like Azkaban?" Sirius asked snidely.
"Better than Azkaban." Albus defended. "Nurmengard holds the most dangerous prisoners of all Magical Europe. The ICW itself takes care of the security. The security there makes Azkaban look like a children park."
Nobody replied.
"Besides, even if someone managed to get past the security, he will attract the wrath of the ICW." He looked at Harry, "I am not sure if I know anyone who will be up to the job."
Harry and Sirius looked at each other.
"Did I ever tell you how much I love telling you, I told you so?"
Yes, the bloody Ignotus Peverell had brought him back into his mindscape once again. Understandably, Harry Potter was annoyed.
Very. Very. Annoyed.
"I suppose… you have some fantastic idea by which you would be able to complete the entire action and yet get away without a trace…"
The smirk on Ignotus's face only deepened.
"And how? May I ask?" Harry asked with exasperation.
"You, cannot do it. However, I can." Ignotus replied.
"Yes, I understand that you are the greatest Warmage and without your knowledge-" Harry droned.
"You. Cannot. Do. It. Only. I. Can." Ignotus repeated, punctuating every word as if speaking to a child.
"You exist only inside my head." Harry challenged.
"Only because you do not share your body." Ignotus returned.
What? "No! no-no-no-no-noh!" Harry negated wildly, "-not happening. You will burn the world if I let you out."
"I am your only chance!" Ignotus pointed it out slyly.
"There will be no point in trying to find Voldemort's horcruxes if that means releasing a bigger monster into the world. Sorry, not happening."
Ignotus scowled. "Boy, will it help if I swear an oath that I will only kill those that come in my way? I will get this Grindelwald out, and do my best to not kill the guards. However, I cannot commit the same for the other prisoners if they come in my sight. Can't control my instincts."
Harry considered it. "What about giving me my body back?"
The scowl deepened. "You hold the dominant control. I do not see myself keeping your body if you force yourself."
"I want an oath that as soon as Grindelwald is broken out and we are out of Nurmengard, you will hand me my body back. Also, you will do nothing to anyone close to me."
"Very well."
"And also, you will not restrict the knowledge I received from you. You are getting your bloodlust first-hand."
Ignotus snarled. "Very well."
Later at Black manor…
"NO! THAT IS NOT A BLOODY OPTION! I AM NOT ALLOWING YOU TO GO AND DIE IN THAT PRISON!"
Harry stayed calm as he allowed Sirius to rage over him. He knew that his godfather would not listen to him unless he had his frustration and anger out of his system.
"I UNDERSTAND THAT YOU ARE BLOODY POWERFUL BUT THAT IS NURMENGARD. IF REQUIRED, I WILL DO IT, BUT NOT YOU! THAT IS FINAL!"
"Sirius…"
"I SAID NO AND THAT IS-"
"SIRIUS!" Harry snapped. Sirius stopped at his godson's sudden change in tone. "Please, lower the tone. I am right in front of you, you know."
That shut him up.
"Moreover, it won't technically be me that is going to break him out."
"But you just said-"
Harry glared at him. Sirius stopped his tirade midway.
"Do you remember what Nagnok mentioned about the soul from the wand?"
Sirius nodded.
"Well, during my training, there was this ritual that apparently activated all my dormant powers and magics. Somewhat unexpectedly, it also gave the soul shard the free will to communicate with me."
Sirius looked gob-smacked.
"Apparently, the older soul belongs to Ignotus Peverell, the last of the Peverells. The last Warmage of the Peverell name, anyway. We agreed that he is going to take control of my body and help us with extricating Grindelwald out of prison."
"Okay."
Harry stared at him. "Just okay?"
"Yes." Sirius responded. "Because this is the biggest harebrained idea I have ever heard. I just have one question." He paused. "HAVE YOU LOST YOUR BLOODY MIND?"
"If you yell at me once more, Sirius, I swear I am going to throw curses at you." Harry snapped. "We have discussed things. He swore an oath on his existence that he will go with the plan. He takes over, he breaks into the prison, extracts Grindelwald out, and then he gives me my body back."
"Right." Sirius deadpanned. "Just one problem. What about recognition? The security will recognize you."
"Glamour."
"Harry this is ICW security."
"Muggle. Glamour. The wards and the charms detect magical glamour, not mundane."
"And how exactly do you know that?"
Harry took out a little box out of his robes. "This, is something I had been working alongside one of my masters at the Guild." He held out the box. It was barely larger than a matchbox. "This tiny little contraption is something you call a ward analyzer. It does not break wards. It does not tamper with them. It simply reads them. It's similar to the map you created at school except that all it does is read and recognize wards and locations." He smirked. "I put it in Dumbledore's robes when he left for Nurmengard."
Sirius's face shifted into a hesitant grin.