Chapter One
11 Years Later…
Dark clouds gathered in the sky, grinning with lightning and laughing thunderously. The moon bathed the ground. Along with a crouched figure who sat and looked up at the majestic castle upon the hill.
Hogwarts.
He hid in a tree that stood a great height and gave him the perfect view of the Black Lake. The Black Lake where currently the new first year group boarding the boats about to be ferried towards the castle port. He narrowed his violet eyes at his target. He climbed down the tree and swiftly ran towards the lake's edge. By the time he made it there, the boats were already halfway across. He placed a rag over his face and crouched as he waited for the signal.
A light flickered in his eye and without hesitation he dove into the lake.
Under the pitch black water he took out a wristwatch and clicked one of the pins. A small wave erupted from it and the watch disappeared into dust. Suddenly he felt himself being carried, he willed whatever was carrying in the direction of the light that was still flickering.
Draco Malfoy scowled as he flickered his wand's light on and off. He did not know why but his father had given him the explicitly told to wait until he reached the middle of the lake and then do it.
Of course he asked why but he just received a cryptic answer back.
"You're just helping a lost soul finds its way,"
His dad had never been so cryptic before so he took this as a sign as one of those times to keep his mouth shut and do it. Though he was curious as to who exactly was this lost soul.
"Take a boat and make sure it is only you, Crabbe and Goyle aboard it. Make sure that you are the boat closest to the right side of the lake. And be discreet about the shining the light,"
A small wave rocked his boat, and he instantly pocketed his wand and shifted on his seat to make space. Crabbe and Goyle were also waiting in anticipation as they were also aware of the plan.
A paper whipped into his lap and Draco jumped at its appearance. He took it and read the words.
Is the coast clear? Say so.
He knew instantly who sent this. The 'lost soul', he scoped around and all that was seen were mesmerized children looking at the castle. He turned back to look at the paper.
"The coast is clear,"
Not three seconds after he said that a huge wave crashed against the whole pod of boats. Childish screams were heard and some fell out of theirs. When the waters were calm, the resident squid in the lake helped students into their boats. Draco and his friends were busy laughing at the wet students to notice that their boat had a new occupant.
Draco wiped his eyes and calmed his laughs as he finally settled back into his seat. Only then did he notice the new occupant. He and his friends gaped at the new presence. The boy had wild black hair, porcelain skin and shockingly bright violet eyes. The boy looked at all of them and then nodded as if confirming something. He reached out a hand to Draco.
"Hello, my name is Druklaus but you may call me Klaus,"
The silver haired boy fixed his demeanour and grasped his hand in a handshake.
"My name is Draco Malfoy, these are my mates Crabbe and Goyle," Draco said pointing at the boys respectively.
He nodded to the other two.
"So you are the lost soul that my father was talking about," Draco said. He chuckled.
"Lost is a bit much, but yes I am said lost soul. So it was your father who gave you the instructions, interesting," he said mindlessly. He sat back against the boat and looked up at the castle.
"Beautiful," he remarked.
Klaus' mind was running a mile a minute as he thought about the events that were about to transpire. He ignored the looks that Draco shot at him in favour of closing his eyes and letting the cool drizzle wet his face.
"You don't know me," he said to the three boys as they landed against the stone port.
Everyone climbed out of their boats. Klaus made it a point to keep his head down and remain unseen. He was walking towards the great open door where the giant and the other children were assembling.
Hermione Granger climbed out of the boat after the other girls. Her breath as still coming back to her after seeing the castle in all its glory. Her mind was racing around wildly at all the knowledge in her head about the castle.
Her thoughts were racing because of having to keep her mouth shut during the boat on account of her boat mates wanting to rather talk about makeup or which of the boys looked cute.
She had thought that girls in the magical world were different to those in the non-magical one. But oh was she wrong.
Her thoughts rambled on about how this might be a repeat of her childhood of being friendless. Her thinking took her concentration away from the task of climbing the wet steps. Her foot moved to take a step that was not there and a tiny shriek left her mouth as she felt her centre of gravity tip. She closed her eyes and waited for the wet water to swallow her.
To her surprise the only wetness she felt was the drizzle of the rain on her face. Hermione slowly opened her eyes and saw violet ones looking back at her. She again was left breathless as she was returned to the ground. She wanted to say thank you but in no time the person was gone. She looked around for him but could not find him amongst the students.
Klaus followed McGonagall up the steps along with the other students. He had to admit that Hogwarts was by far the grandest place he'd been in, though it came second to a house in France that he'd once been inside.
The Head of the Lion House stopped them at the top of the steps and told them to wait for her to announce their arrival. Once she left there was silence. Until Draco found interest in a black haired boy. He ignored the spectacle in favour of looking around the castle. While looking his eyes were drawn to a portrait.
In the painting, a man in dark purple robes was grinning sharply as he waved a red spell with his wand and carried lightning in the other hand. The man's cloak had a hood that covered his face. The portrait, it seemed, was not a moving one. The more he looked, the more the portrait pulled him in. The bewitchment ended when McGonagall returned with news that it was time.
The doors opened and the group walked in two lines of gender into the opulent hall. The students gathered started to whisper to each while looking at them. They were the centre of attention. A prickling feeling reached his neck and he narrowed his eyes. He only felt this when someone looked at him with intent. He lifted his head a bit and searched the hall for the onlooker. He found them at the Hufflepuff table. Violet clashed with hazel as a girl with spiky pink hair stared at him. He glared at her and her eyes widened in… recognition?
What did she recognise?
They all stopped in between the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor tables. In front of them sat a three legged stool with a ratty hat atop it. McGonagall pulled out a scroll.
"I shall call each of your names from this scroll, once called please come to the stool and have the hat placed on your head," she instructed.
The names were called out in alphabetical order. He lowered his head and closed his eyes as he awaited his name.
J.
His body started to tense as he awaited his name.
K.
His heart started to pump to the point where he thought everyone could hear it. He changed his breathing to calm himself down. It helped but nervousness still dispersed around his body.
M.
At first he thought he did not hear correctly. He almost lifted his head to see what was going on but abstained from it. He watched as Malfoy strode proudly towards the Slytherin table. How could the information mislead like this. He knew he shouldn't have come, but his mother's words left him without any other choice.
Trust Cissy.
The name of the person who sent him a letter informing him of his attendance of Hogwarts. He subtly lifted his hood upon his head and took a few steps back. He might have to make a run for it.
"Calm yourself, there is nothing to be worried about. In exchange for your attendance to Hogwarts we shall take one thing that you hold precious to yourself."
The whispered voice soothed and when it got to the part about something precious his hand instantly reached up to the necklace on his neck.
Suddenly a roar made him lift up his head. His jaw dropped. A golden lion stood guard growling around the student with the hat on his head. He remembered the name. Harry Potter. He listened to what the nearby students were saying.
"Apparently the appearance of the animal of the house signifies that the house chose you, the last person to be chosen were Dumbledore and Voldemort," someone said.
He relaxed his hand as the children around slowly dwindled until only two were left.
"Blaise Zabini,"
Once that name was called he knew it was the end for him. One carrying a name as hated as the Lestrange one would be no match for everyone in this Hall. But still tensed his arm, the cold steel blade slowly slithering to the edge of his palm.
McGonagall took a small pause as she looked at the scroll and the two boys that stood in front of her. One name, two boys. Something was amiss here.
The only to know who was amiss was to find out whose name was on the scroll.
"Blaise Zabini," she said
The olive skinned boy walked towards the stool and placed the hat on his head. But she wasn't concentrating on that. What had her attention was the dark haired child with his head down. It seemed most of the hall had caught on that something had her attention and found the child who held it. The child's hood covered the sides of his face, while the long hair covered the front. The child stood very rigidly.
"SLYTHERIN,"
Not even so much as a flinch from McGonagall as she stared at the boy. Blaise sat down to the applause of his house and once again the hall was quiet.
The silence carried for a long moment.
"Miss McGonagall there is still one student remaining," Dumbledore said.
"I'm aware, the child's name is not on the scroll,"
Wild whispers broke out instantly. She was about to walk towards the student when the hat shouted.
"SILENCE,"
Silence once more took hold of the room.
"Child, I alone know your name. I'm giving you the chance to keep what's precious to you or to join your fellow wizards at Hogwarts. The choice is yours,"
The child shifted for a moment before taking a long breath and standing in a stance that spoke of defiance.
"I accept," the child said strongly.
"Very well, Druklaus Lestrange will you please raise your head and step forward," the hat said.
The silence was more deafening this time. Dumbledore dropped his glasses in surprise.
Klaus grabbed the hood and lifted it off as he lifted his head, violet eyes staring at the hat as he walked towards it. All in silence.
Until the world roared.
The pure amount of anger and outrage made him pause. He dared not to look around, the cold of the blade reminded him of its presence once more and he slowly hid his hand as he grabbed the hilt. He hid the blade in his long robes. He tensed amidst the noise and awaited the first strike.
"Cease your childish antics and remain silent!" said the hat in such a commanding voice that all the students were cowed into sitting down. All sat down except for one.
Neville Longbottom glared with brown eyes full of hate at Klaus. Klaus felt the prickling feeling once again and met the eyes of Neville. He was surprised at the amount of hate within them. He narrowed his eyes at the boy and did the only thing he knew to do.
He cracked a grin.
The boy's anger seemed to multiply and Klaus didn't know why but he started to chuckle. The boy started to shake in anger until a blue mist surrounded him and suddenly all the anger was gone and the boy sat down dazedly.
Klaus looked to the hat and saw the blue mist leaking from its mouth dissipate.
"Come Druklaus,"
He revealed his blade from the robes and amidst the gasps and shrieks returned to up his arm. He walked to the hat, picked it up and placed it on his head. His vision went black.
"You seem to have caused quite the ruckus Druklaus, may I call you Klaus?"
This time the voice seemed to surround him.
"Yes you may," he replied.
"The world has recovered much from the war but the name Lestrange still brings both fear and hatred from the hearts of those who survived the war," the hat explained.
"I knew that already, but why did that boy of all of them want to kill me,"
"What do you mean?" the hat asked.
"I sensed everyone's hatred as soon my name was revealed, but from him I sensed killing intent. He actually wanted to kill me," he explained.
"Yes young Longbottom has lost quite a lot to Bellatrix Lestrange,"
"Damn," he said.
"Damn indeed, but all bridges burned have ashes that can be used to cleanse the wounds of the burned,"
"But I am not the one who burned him,"
"But the one who did carries the same name. Once there is blood on the name-"the hat started
"All who carry the name bury the body-"he interrupted
"And shall face the living,"
"So be it,"
As Klaus sat atop the stool the rest of Hogwarts stared at him. He grabbed the hat and was about to pull it off when he heard gasps. He paused in his movements as he wondered what was going on.
Then he heard the hissing.
He slowly pulled off the hat and his jaw dropped. A great snake was curled around him, he recognized it.
A basilisk.
It looked at him with golden eyes and hissed one more time.
Look for me
The voice echoed in his head and then the snake dispersed into dust and flowed into his robes, turning them green. He stroked the robes and a small smile grew into a grin.
I got in mum.
The clouds groaned over the restless waves of the North Sea. A tall spire that seemed to reach for the clouds stood on its lonesome dead in the centre.
Azkaban Prison.
Azkaban, a fortress on a lone island with black shores, which was built sometime in the 15th century and has been a place that has been used in scary stories to tell around the fire. The place itself wasn't actually terrifying. What was the cause of terror were its guards.
The Dementors.
Dementors are dark creatures that create an ambiance of coldness, darkness, misery and despair. Because of their power to drain happiness and hope from humans, they have been set the duty of being guards at Azkaban, where they prevent the prisoners from having the will or ability to escape.
What most don't seem to understand from the stories of Dementors is how effective they are at their duty. It has become commonplace for prisoners to be found dead. Suicide or losing the will to live were two of the most prevalent causes. To survive their affects one has to be of both strong mind and soul. But that is a double edged blade in itself. Because Dementor's consume one thing and one thing only.
Souls.
The taking of a soul by the creature was called a Dementor's Kiss. The creatures can use human happiness as sustenance to stay strong but what really gets them going were souls. The stronger the will of the soul the more it tantalized them.
Azkaban was set up in a way that lowly criminals were on the lower levels, with little to no Dementor activity and as the levels increased so did the creature's presence. At the highest level were the worst of the worst in crime.
Drug lords, murderers and rapists to name a few. But there was one prisoner that the Dementors both couldn't resist and couldn't consume.
That prisoner was Bellatrix Lestrange.
Since her capture after the Blood War Bellatrix has managed to keep her sanity intact by meditating day and night nonstop, only ever stopping to eat before going back into her meditative state.
This constant meditation kept her will strong and soul stronger but it was taxing on her mental strength. See the bricks used to build Azkaban were inscribed with advanced runes that used the prisoner's own magic to power the cells. This can be combatted by keeping magical fluctuation to the bare minimum.
Bellatrix's meditation accomplishes this but the mental strain it takes to keep the magic from spilling out of her core unnecessarily was tiring. To do so without fail required something to hold onto. Something that gives a person that conviction to live.
The sound of a door opening echoed throughout the hallway. A bright light flooded the hall causing the Dementor's to screech and scurry away.
Footsteps echoed down the hall, groans from prisoners could be hear as the feet walked on unimpeded. They stopped in front of her door. For a long moment the person just stood there. Her meditation squashed under her curiosity. The person let out a small cough and threw something into the slot under the door that was used for food.
"Renew your conviction," was all the figure said before he was gone.
Bellatrix looked curiously at the object before picking it up. It was a rolled up newspaper. Her brows furrowed as she unrolled the paper. As she unrolled the paper a small bag fell out of it. She opened the top to see small yellow sweets.
Odd.
She ignored it in favour of opening the paper. Once she saw what was on the cover of the paper her eyes widened and for the first time in eleven years, Bellatrix smiled.
On that day the Azkaban aurors had a tough time controlling the Dementors as they all seemed drawn to the very top of the tower. Inside that section in a lone room, Bellatrix Lestrange sat in meditation with a smile in her face and a sweet in her mouth.
Her sister had kept her promise. Her baby was at Hogwarts.
