Title: Just 1 Little Change...
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter characters, they are owned by JK Rowling.
A/N: Sorry about the wait, 3 week camp. This is the good chapter!! Yea! I am so happy, please review the last 2 chapters also though. I hope this chapter is good, I am going to try really hard to make it good!
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Harry Potter walked out of Ollivanders and stepped once again onto Diagon Alleys streets, but this time he didn't look around him in awe, instead he walked after Quirrell almost unseeing, his mind elsewhere. He was still trying to make sense out of his trip to Ollivanders, words echoing through his head, so confusing and intangible.
"Curious... Very curious...
"...Its brother gave you that scar Harry...
"No one has ever shot pure light out of their wand...
"You will be powerful Harry... Very powerful...
Then there was the hypnotizing eyes of Ollivander. The evil that Harry felt in the room. Could Ollivander be evil? No, although he was strange and rather mysterious Harry could not believe he was evil. Yet there was evil there, Harry was sure of it.
The memory of the laugh came suddenly, unwanted, uninvited. Harry shivered. That laugh, it was awful. Each note seemed to shove a knife in his brain, every pitch hurt him deeply. The laugh was pure evil, Harry was sure of that. And Harry had heard that laugh before, when he was very young in his parents house, and later over and over again in his nightmares.
There was no doubt in Harry's mind that it was Voldemort who was laughing, and that he was there, in Ollivanders, yet how could he have been? Harry was certain he couldn't have been hiding and he was almost positive that he was not using a spell to make himself invisible. Ollivander would have seen through it with his misty all-seeing eyes, Harry was sure of that. Then how could he be there, if not invisible or hiding?
Harry strained his memory to the utmost, trying to remember where the horrible laugh had come from. Then Harry remembered something else, when he had held his wand, he had heard it loud and clear, as well as sensed horrible danger and the source seemed to be coming from... Quirrell?! That couldn't be, Harry was sure of that. Quirrell was a stuttering, shy teacher in Hogwarts, surely he couldn't be Voldemort?! That was impossible! And yet when Harry had held his wand he was sure that Quirrell was evil, the source of the danger and he had unthinkingly shot a powerful jet of light straight at his head. In that moment Harry had been sure Quirrell was evil. Suddenly Harry thought of something, his wand. When he had held it before, in the shop he had felt danger. Maybe if he held it again, here in the streets he could sense it again and see if it came from Quirrell.
As Harry thought he had walked slower and slower, oblivious to his surroundings. Now Harry ran to catch up to Quirrell and Mrs. Bradshaw.
"Professor Quirrell?" Harry said timidly, knowing his question would sound very foolish to the Professor. "Can I, er, hold my wand myself please?"
Quirrell looked at Harry, looking a little suspicious, but Harry put on a very innocent face and Quirrell handed Harry the wand saying,
"Ok you ca-can h...hold it, b-but don't u-use it. I-its against w-wizarding law for a k-kid to use a w-wand outs-side of s-school."
Harry's face fell, but he still took the wand, knowing that if he didn't take it now he would look mighty suspicious. Harry touched the wand, half suspecting to feel danger again, but he felt nothing. Whether this was because there was none to be felt or because the wand was wrapped up Harry wasn't sure.
Now that Harry had sorted out his thoughts a bit he started looking around him again. He was surprised to see that they were not on the main street anymore and that they were now walking through a rather dark neighborhood with rather run-down houses. Harry hurried up to Professor Quirrell again.
"Professor, where are we going now? We have gotten everything on the list haven't we?"
Quirrell looked at Harry with a small odd smile on his face.
"Yes H-Harry. W-we have g-gotten everything o-on the l-list. We a-are going t-to a sort of c-ceremony. I-it will t-tell you h-how p-powerful you a-are and w-what classes y-you will t-take."
Harry nodded his head and started thinking again. A ceremony? They hadn't told him about this in the letter! Was it a test? Did he have to fight something? Harry's stomach felt queasy for the thousandth time that day. He had to pass a test to see what classes he was in! Would he need his wand? Harry wasn't sure but he decided to unwrap his wand just in case. Quietly he took off the brown paper around his wand and opened the box. He picked up his wand, sensing no danger anywhere. Well that was good at least. Quietly he put the paper in the box and stuffed them into a pocket. In his other pocket he put his wand.
Quirrell stopped in front of a run-down home. He looked back at Mrs. Bradshaw and Harry and said quietly,
"T-this is it H-Harry. Y-you will be t-tested n-now."
Then he turned to Mrs. Bradshaw.
"I-I'm sorry b-but I'm afraid y-you c-cant come w-with us. T-this test must be p-private. Y-you may w-wait outside o-on the chair here, w-we will be out p-presently."
Mrs. Bradshaw nodded and smiled encouragingly at Harry. Harry smiled back and followed Quirrell into the run-down house.
It was dark inside and smelled very musty. Harry, who's eyes were still adjusting to the light, looked around blindly, just making out the shapes of some broken chairs and a table. There was no sign of anyone else in the room besides Quirrell.
Harry looked at Quirrell, very confused. What kind of test was this? There was nobody here other than him and Quirrell. Why were they in a run-down building like this?!
All the sudden Harry felt very nervous and wary. Quirrell had what appeared to be a triumphant smile on his face. He was standing blocking the doorway and he didn't seem quite so weak and innocent anymore.
Shakily Harry said, "I-I don't understand. What kind of test is this? What's going on?!"
Quirrell's smile got wider and he said evenly,
"Don't worry Harry Potter. We wont hurt you. We just want to discuss something with you and we couldn't have that Muggle around."
Harry muffled a gasp and looked at Quirrell as evenly as he could, perhaps this was a test, he must think rationally.
"Who's we?" Harry said evenly, looking at Quirrell with determination in his eyes.
"Ah, I was hoping you would ask that, master, would you like to see him?"
A cold, heartless voice answered Quirrell,
"yes, I believe I am strong enough to look at the boy, show him to me."
Harry shivered, the voice seemed to come from everywhere, echoing off the empty walls, yet it was but a whisper. As if it were a snake, evil, sinister.
Quirrell reached up and started unwrapping his turban slowly, as if he didn't want to show what was behind it.
Harry braced himself for whatever was coming, one hand moving towards the wand in his pocket.
'Not that it would help much' Harry thought grimly, I haven't the least idea how to use the thing, much less know any useful spells.
Quirrell finally finished unwrapping the piece of cloth on his head and slowly turned around. Nothing could have prepared Harry for what he saw next.
There on the back of Quirrell's head was the most horrible, disgusting creature imaginable. It was barely recognizable as a human. The things skin was a pale grayish color and it was cracked, blistered and Burned. His mouth was small and pale red with a horrible cruel smile on it. His nose was small and disfigured, as if it had been broken and the skin had been burned off then stretched back on. Then Harry looked at the things eyes. They were red, watery and pure evil. As soon as Harry's eyes met the others he screamed in pain and horror. His scar had suddenly exploded with pain so intense that Harry fell to the ground.
The pain was flooding Harry, raking his body with waves of pain. He saw red, then green... the flash, death and more pain. Harry's brain was melting with agonizing pain, he had no idea where or who he was all he felt was the intense pain.
Then one thought flitted through his mind, more instinctive than anything else. Harry reached into his pocket and grabbed his wand.
Immediately Harry felt more in control, although the pain was just as intense it seemed like his magic surfaced and Harry was able to think straight.
Slowly Harry stood up and faced Voldemort, waves of pain still coursing through his entire body. Suddenly all the pain stopped, all Harry could feel was the burn of his scar which felt like a minor scratch compared to the pain he had just experienced.
Harry was sure now that that horrible thing on Quirrell's head was Voldemort. Harry knew that he should feel terrified of Voldemort, especially when he had just gone through all that pain, but the instinctive block of emotion Harry had built up when he was just a small kid had come back as it did whenever Harry was in danger and Harry felt absolutely no fear, only a sort of calmness and coolness. He stood absolutely straight, ignoring the pain raking his head and faced Voldemort boldly, his face absolutely devoid of any emotion, only his eyes showed anything and that was calm hatred. The only thing that told you that Harry felt the least bit afraid was how hard he was clutching his wand, as if it was a lifeline.
Then Voldemort started to talk, his voice weak, barely above a whisper, yet somehow it filled all of Harry's thoughts, seeming to echo through his mind.
"That was painful was it not Harry? That is called the Cruciatus curse. That is what happens to people who don't follow my directions Harry, but of course you will always follow my directions, wont you Harry?"
Harry felt very light-headed and he heard Voldemort's voice from far away, as if he was in a dream. He felt perfectly safe and listened quietly to what Voldemort was saying. '
He is a very nice man' Harry thought. 'I wonder why I used to hate him.'
"...You will always follow my directions, wont you Harry?"
'Of course I will!' Harry thought.
He was about to tell Voldemort so when he remembered something that seemed to have happened a long time ago. Voldemort had caused him pain, horrible pain! And for a split moment Harry had his own mind back. 'He killed my parents and many other people! I had to live with the Dursleys because of him!' Harry grasped franticly at these thoughts and tried hard not to answer Voldemort. Finally in a quaky voice Harry said quietly
"no, I will never follow you."
Voldemort laughed and looked at Harry with his horrible red eyes.
"Ah Harry, I see you are already able to fight the imperious curse. You are strong, that is good. You shall be a very good right-hand man."
Although Harry was still under the curse he felt less and less under its control, but every minute he fought it was pure torture, unfortunately he seemed to not have quite enough strength to totally defeat the curse.
Harry slowly gathered all his strength he felt he had and concentrated all his mind on defeating the curse. The only disadvantage Harry had was that he had no idea how to even do the simplest of spells, so he had absolutely no idea how to defeat the curse he had on him. So Harry did the only thing he could think of doing, he struggled against it. Slowly Harry could feel the curse weaken, and slowly he formed thoughts outside of the curse. Finally he broke it. Standing straight Harry answered Voldemort stonily
"Why would you EVER think I would join you? You killed my parents as well as countless other people. Why would I ever even imagine joining you in your evil?
Voldemort looked calmly at Harry.
"Because you are strong Harry. You are powerful, maybe even more than me at your age. Don't you want to control the world? Have people do your every bidding? Obey your every word? Think of the opportunities. You could kill, save, or torture anyone you wished. You could have your hearts desire. And you would be saved from the horrible agony that everyone has to go through when they disobey me. Think of the Muggle's who abused you. Think of what you could do to them. Think of Dudley, keeping you from having even 1 friend in your life. Think of them Harry. I, like you hate Muggle's, together we could destroy all of Muggle society. Think of it Harry."
All throughout Voldemort's speech Harry had been fighting a battle within himself. One part of Harry liked all Voldemort was saying. Harry had always wanted to be in control, to have everyone obey him. He had a big temper and thirst to rule. But the other part of Harry said no. To join Voldemort would hurt everyone, Voldemort probably wouldn't even do all the things he promised to do. He would probably end up killing Harry anyway. This man was evil.
Suddenly Voldemort spoke again, as if reading Harry's thoughts.
"Ah, but am I evil Harry? Am I on the bad side? You have not been here very long Harry, the only wizard you really know is Dumbledore. Yes he told you I was evil, but do you believe him? Has he given you any proof I am evil? Are you going to listen to him, who hasn't really told you anything worth while, or me? Harry think of what I am promising you. Think of the opportunities. Is there even such thing as good and evil Harry? I do not believe so. There is only power Harry. Power is all there is. After all, think about a war. You pull for your side, no matter what, it is the good side. What about a soldier on the other side. What does he think? Does he think he is on the bad side? No, of course not. He, like you, believes he is on the good side. Harry, there is no good or bad side. There is only the more powerful side. And that side wins. That side is victorious, therefore it must be good. Harry, with you on my side, we will win. We will be victorious. We will rule the world together."
Now Harry's head was going in circles. Voldemort seemed evil, he looked evil. He had caused Harry pain. He couldn't be good. Yet he was offering Harry a spot on his team. Offering Harry power and maybe friendship. These things were all Harry had desired at his school. A friend and power. But Dumbledore had told Harry what had happened during Voldemort's reign. People were dying everywhere. Torture was a normal thing. Harry's parents had dyed because of Voldemort, Harry himself had defeated Voldemort. How could he join such an evil person? But Harry didn't know Dumbledore really. He had just briefly talked to him. How could he be sure he was telling the truth? How could he be sure he was good.
"...There is no such thing as good Harry, only power..."
What Voldemort had said had made sense. In wars was it not true that you automatically thought the side you were on was good? So even if Dumbledore was telling the truth was Dumbledore on the good side, or was he confused? And Dumbledore had not offered him anything if he joined his side. He had not told him he would control the world. That he would be powerful. But maybe that meant he was good. Voldemort had offered him complete control of everyone. Was that not a dictatorship? Harry didn't want to be a dictator, did he? He also offered to kill all Muggle's. Now that wasn't fair! Not all Muggle's were bad. Mrs. Bradshaw wasn't. And many other people Harry had met were very nice. If he joined Voldemort he would kill all those kind, innocent people. Harry could never do that. That was...evil. Finally Harry had made up his mind, for better or for worse. He would not join Voldemort. He would stay on the side he believed was good. The side that would certainly loose without some help. The side that defended more than it offended. It may be the weaker side, but Harry would help it. That is, if he ever survived this "test". Harry was pretty sure Voldemort wouldn't just let him out of here after he told him his decision. Harry held his wand tight again and looked boldly at Voldemort.
"I already told you, I will NOT join you. Ever."
Voldemort looked at him, then said almost casually
"Ok, then you are no use to me, kill him Quirrell."
Harry, realizing he was going to shoot a spell at him quickly ran at for the door which was on the right of Quirrell.
"Catch him!" Voldemort screamed.
Harry had hardly run 3 steps when he felt hands grabbing his wrists and heard a voice say
"/Avada Keda-/"
Thoughts flooded Harry's head, Those words seemed to hit him like a stone. Although he had no idea what they meant, he knew with uncanny certainty he had to do something.
Instinctively Harry reached up and grabbed Quirrell's wand arm, holding tight and pushing it down.
To Harry's surprise Quirrell screamed horribly, let go of Harry's
Robe and grabbed at his own arm.
Harry, not stopping to think tore across the room towards the door. He could hear Voldemort screaming as if far away, only half his brain listening, the rest concentrating on running full out.
"Fool! Why did you let him go?!"
"Quick cast a locking spell on the door!!"
Harry ran across the dirty floor, sprinting as fast as he could.
Almost there... A yard away... a foot...
Harry clenched the door handles and pulled as hard as he could. They didn't budge. He was trapped...
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A/N: Sorry about the cliffy, I couldn't resist! More action next chapter. I will try to get the next one up soon, but I have school starting Tuesday. There really isn't a lot to say except anyone who reads this, will you PLEASE review?! I only got 3 reviews last chapter and 2 the one before that. I am getting really discouraged and am thinking about not writing this anymore. Please review, even if it's a bad review, I don't care!!
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter characters, they are owned by JK Rowling.
A/N: Sorry about the wait, 3 week camp. This is the good chapter!! Yea! I am so happy, please review the last 2 chapters also though. I hope this chapter is good, I am going to try really hard to make it good!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Harry Potter walked out of Ollivanders and stepped once again onto Diagon Alleys streets, but this time he didn't look around him in awe, instead he walked after Quirrell almost unseeing, his mind elsewhere. He was still trying to make sense out of his trip to Ollivanders, words echoing through his head, so confusing and intangible.
"Curious... Very curious...
"...Its brother gave you that scar Harry...
"No one has ever shot pure light out of their wand...
"You will be powerful Harry... Very powerful...
Then there was the hypnotizing eyes of Ollivander. The evil that Harry felt in the room. Could Ollivander be evil? No, although he was strange and rather mysterious Harry could not believe he was evil. Yet there was evil there, Harry was sure of it.
The memory of the laugh came suddenly, unwanted, uninvited. Harry shivered. That laugh, it was awful. Each note seemed to shove a knife in his brain, every pitch hurt him deeply. The laugh was pure evil, Harry was sure of that. And Harry had heard that laugh before, when he was very young in his parents house, and later over and over again in his nightmares.
There was no doubt in Harry's mind that it was Voldemort who was laughing, and that he was there, in Ollivanders, yet how could he have been? Harry was certain he couldn't have been hiding and he was almost positive that he was not using a spell to make himself invisible. Ollivander would have seen through it with his misty all-seeing eyes, Harry was sure of that. Then how could he be there, if not invisible or hiding?
Harry strained his memory to the utmost, trying to remember where the horrible laugh had come from. Then Harry remembered something else, when he had held his wand, he had heard it loud and clear, as well as sensed horrible danger and the source seemed to be coming from... Quirrell?! That couldn't be, Harry was sure of that. Quirrell was a stuttering, shy teacher in Hogwarts, surely he couldn't be Voldemort?! That was impossible! And yet when Harry had held his wand he was sure that Quirrell was evil, the source of the danger and he had unthinkingly shot a powerful jet of light straight at his head. In that moment Harry had been sure Quirrell was evil. Suddenly Harry thought of something, his wand. When he had held it before, in the shop he had felt danger. Maybe if he held it again, here in the streets he could sense it again and see if it came from Quirrell.
As Harry thought he had walked slower and slower, oblivious to his surroundings. Now Harry ran to catch up to Quirrell and Mrs. Bradshaw.
"Professor Quirrell?" Harry said timidly, knowing his question would sound very foolish to the Professor. "Can I, er, hold my wand myself please?"
Quirrell looked at Harry, looking a little suspicious, but Harry put on a very innocent face and Quirrell handed Harry the wand saying,
"Ok you ca-can h...hold it, b-but don't u-use it. I-its against w-wizarding law for a k-kid to use a w-wand outs-side of s-school."
Harry's face fell, but he still took the wand, knowing that if he didn't take it now he would look mighty suspicious. Harry touched the wand, half suspecting to feel danger again, but he felt nothing. Whether this was because there was none to be felt or because the wand was wrapped up Harry wasn't sure.
Now that Harry had sorted out his thoughts a bit he started looking around him again. He was surprised to see that they were not on the main street anymore and that they were now walking through a rather dark neighborhood with rather run-down houses. Harry hurried up to Professor Quirrell again.
"Professor, where are we going now? We have gotten everything on the list haven't we?"
Quirrell looked at Harry with a small odd smile on his face.
"Yes H-Harry. W-we have g-gotten everything o-on the l-list. We a-are going t-to a sort of c-ceremony. I-it will t-tell you h-how p-powerful you a-are and w-what classes y-you will t-take."
Harry nodded his head and started thinking again. A ceremony? They hadn't told him about this in the letter! Was it a test? Did he have to fight something? Harry's stomach felt queasy for the thousandth time that day. He had to pass a test to see what classes he was in! Would he need his wand? Harry wasn't sure but he decided to unwrap his wand just in case. Quietly he took off the brown paper around his wand and opened the box. He picked up his wand, sensing no danger anywhere. Well that was good at least. Quietly he put the paper in the box and stuffed them into a pocket. In his other pocket he put his wand.
Quirrell stopped in front of a run-down home. He looked back at Mrs. Bradshaw and Harry and said quietly,
"T-this is it H-Harry. Y-you will be t-tested n-now."
Then he turned to Mrs. Bradshaw.
"I-I'm sorry b-but I'm afraid y-you c-cant come w-with us. T-this test must be p-private. Y-you may w-wait outside o-on the chair here, w-we will be out p-presently."
Mrs. Bradshaw nodded and smiled encouragingly at Harry. Harry smiled back and followed Quirrell into the run-down house.
It was dark inside and smelled very musty. Harry, who's eyes were still adjusting to the light, looked around blindly, just making out the shapes of some broken chairs and a table. There was no sign of anyone else in the room besides Quirrell.
Harry looked at Quirrell, very confused. What kind of test was this? There was nobody here other than him and Quirrell. Why were they in a run-down building like this?!
All the sudden Harry felt very nervous and wary. Quirrell had what appeared to be a triumphant smile on his face. He was standing blocking the doorway and he didn't seem quite so weak and innocent anymore.
Shakily Harry said, "I-I don't understand. What kind of test is this? What's going on?!"
Quirrell's smile got wider and he said evenly,
"Don't worry Harry Potter. We wont hurt you. We just want to discuss something with you and we couldn't have that Muggle around."
Harry muffled a gasp and looked at Quirrell as evenly as he could, perhaps this was a test, he must think rationally.
"Who's we?" Harry said evenly, looking at Quirrell with determination in his eyes.
"Ah, I was hoping you would ask that, master, would you like to see him?"
A cold, heartless voice answered Quirrell,
"yes, I believe I am strong enough to look at the boy, show him to me."
Harry shivered, the voice seemed to come from everywhere, echoing off the empty walls, yet it was but a whisper. As if it were a snake, evil, sinister.
Quirrell reached up and started unwrapping his turban slowly, as if he didn't want to show what was behind it.
Harry braced himself for whatever was coming, one hand moving towards the wand in his pocket.
'Not that it would help much' Harry thought grimly, I haven't the least idea how to use the thing, much less know any useful spells.
Quirrell finally finished unwrapping the piece of cloth on his head and slowly turned around. Nothing could have prepared Harry for what he saw next.
There on the back of Quirrell's head was the most horrible, disgusting creature imaginable. It was barely recognizable as a human. The things skin was a pale grayish color and it was cracked, blistered and Burned. His mouth was small and pale red with a horrible cruel smile on it. His nose was small and disfigured, as if it had been broken and the skin had been burned off then stretched back on. Then Harry looked at the things eyes. They were red, watery and pure evil. As soon as Harry's eyes met the others he screamed in pain and horror. His scar had suddenly exploded with pain so intense that Harry fell to the ground.
The pain was flooding Harry, raking his body with waves of pain. He saw red, then green... the flash, death and more pain. Harry's brain was melting with agonizing pain, he had no idea where or who he was all he felt was the intense pain.
Then one thought flitted through his mind, more instinctive than anything else. Harry reached into his pocket and grabbed his wand.
Immediately Harry felt more in control, although the pain was just as intense it seemed like his magic surfaced and Harry was able to think straight.
Slowly Harry stood up and faced Voldemort, waves of pain still coursing through his entire body. Suddenly all the pain stopped, all Harry could feel was the burn of his scar which felt like a minor scratch compared to the pain he had just experienced.
Harry was sure now that that horrible thing on Quirrell's head was Voldemort. Harry knew that he should feel terrified of Voldemort, especially when he had just gone through all that pain, but the instinctive block of emotion Harry had built up when he was just a small kid had come back as it did whenever Harry was in danger and Harry felt absolutely no fear, only a sort of calmness and coolness. He stood absolutely straight, ignoring the pain raking his head and faced Voldemort boldly, his face absolutely devoid of any emotion, only his eyes showed anything and that was calm hatred. The only thing that told you that Harry felt the least bit afraid was how hard he was clutching his wand, as if it was a lifeline.
Then Voldemort started to talk, his voice weak, barely above a whisper, yet somehow it filled all of Harry's thoughts, seeming to echo through his mind.
"That was painful was it not Harry? That is called the Cruciatus curse. That is what happens to people who don't follow my directions Harry, but of course you will always follow my directions, wont you Harry?"
Harry felt very light-headed and he heard Voldemort's voice from far away, as if he was in a dream. He felt perfectly safe and listened quietly to what Voldemort was saying. '
He is a very nice man' Harry thought. 'I wonder why I used to hate him.'
"...You will always follow my directions, wont you Harry?"
'Of course I will!' Harry thought.
He was about to tell Voldemort so when he remembered something that seemed to have happened a long time ago. Voldemort had caused him pain, horrible pain! And for a split moment Harry had his own mind back. 'He killed my parents and many other people! I had to live with the Dursleys because of him!' Harry grasped franticly at these thoughts and tried hard not to answer Voldemort. Finally in a quaky voice Harry said quietly
"no, I will never follow you."
Voldemort laughed and looked at Harry with his horrible red eyes.
"Ah Harry, I see you are already able to fight the imperious curse. You are strong, that is good. You shall be a very good right-hand man."
Although Harry was still under the curse he felt less and less under its control, but every minute he fought it was pure torture, unfortunately he seemed to not have quite enough strength to totally defeat the curse.
Harry slowly gathered all his strength he felt he had and concentrated all his mind on defeating the curse. The only disadvantage Harry had was that he had no idea how to even do the simplest of spells, so he had absolutely no idea how to defeat the curse he had on him. So Harry did the only thing he could think of doing, he struggled against it. Slowly Harry could feel the curse weaken, and slowly he formed thoughts outside of the curse. Finally he broke it. Standing straight Harry answered Voldemort stonily
"Why would you EVER think I would join you? You killed my parents as well as countless other people. Why would I ever even imagine joining you in your evil?
Voldemort looked calmly at Harry.
"Because you are strong Harry. You are powerful, maybe even more than me at your age. Don't you want to control the world? Have people do your every bidding? Obey your every word? Think of the opportunities. You could kill, save, or torture anyone you wished. You could have your hearts desire. And you would be saved from the horrible agony that everyone has to go through when they disobey me. Think of the Muggle's who abused you. Think of what you could do to them. Think of Dudley, keeping you from having even 1 friend in your life. Think of them Harry. I, like you hate Muggle's, together we could destroy all of Muggle society. Think of it Harry."
All throughout Voldemort's speech Harry had been fighting a battle within himself. One part of Harry liked all Voldemort was saying. Harry had always wanted to be in control, to have everyone obey him. He had a big temper and thirst to rule. But the other part of Harry said no. To join Voldemort would hurt everyone, Voldemort probably wouldn't even do all the things he promised to do. He would probably end up killing Harry anyway. This man was evil.
Suddenly Voldemort spoke again, as if reading Harry's thoughts.
"Ah, but am I evil Harry? Am I on the bad side? You have not been here very long Harry, the only wizard you really know is Dumbledore. Yes he told you I was evil, but do you believe him? Has he given you any proof I am evil? Are you going to listen to him, who hasn't really told you anything worth while, or me? Harry think of what I am promising you. Think of the opportunities. Is there even such thing as good and evil Harry? I do not believe so. There is only power Harry. Power is all there is. After all, think about a war. You pull for your side, no matter what, it is the good side. What about a soldier on the other side. What does he think? Does he think he is on the bad side? No, of course not. He, like you, believes he is on the good side. Harry, there is no good or bad side. There is only the more powerful side. And that side wins. That side is victorious, therefore it must be good. Harry, with you on my side, we will win. We will be victorious. We will rule the world together."
Now Harry's head was going in circles. Voldemort seemed evil, he looked evil. He had caused Harry pain. He couldn't be good. Yet he was offering Harry a spot on his team. Offering Harry power and maybe friendship. These things were all Harry had desired at his school. A friend and power. But Dumbledore had told Harry what had happened during Voldemort's reign. People were dying everywhere. Torture was a normal thing. Harry's parents had dyed because of Voldemort, Harry himself had defeated Voldemort. How could he join such an evil person? But Harry didn't know Dumbledore really. He had just briefly talked to him. How could he be sure he was telling the truth? How could he be sure he was good.
"...There is no such thing as good Harry, only power..."
What Voldemort had said had made sense. In wars was it not true that you automatically thought the side you were on was good? So even if Dumbledore was telling the truth was Dumbledore on the good side, or was he confused? And Dumbledore had not offered him anything if he joined his side. He had not told him he would control the world. That he would be powerful. But maybe that meant he was good. Voldemort had offered him complete control of everyone. Was that not a dictatorship? Harry didn't want to be a dictator, did he? He also offered to kill all Muggle's. Now that wasn't fair! Not all Muggle's were bad. Mrs. Bradshaw wasn't. And many other people Harry had met were very nice. If he joined Voldemort he would kill all those kind, innocent people. Harry could never do that. That was...evil. Finally Harry had made up his mind, for better or for worse. He would not join Voldemort. He would stay on the side he believed was good. The side that would certainly loose without some help. The side that defended more than it offended. It may be the weaker side, but Harry would help it. That is, if he ever survived this "test". Harry was pretty sure Voldemort wouldn't just let him out of here after he told him his decision. Harry held his wand tight again and looked boldly at Voldemort.
"I already told you, I will NOT join you. Ever."
Voldemort looked at him, then said almost casually
"Ok, then you are no use to me, kill him Quirrell."
Harry, realizing he was going to shoot a spell at him quickly ran at for the door which was on the right of Quirrell.
"Catch him!" Voldemort screamed.
Harry had hardly run 3 steps when he felt hands grabbing his wrists and heard a voice say
"/Avada Keda-/"
Thoughts flooded Harry's head, Those words seemed to hit him like a stone. Although he had no idea what they meant, he knew with uncanny certainty he had to do something.
Instinctively Harry reached up and grabbed Quirrell's wand arm, holding tight and pushing it down.
To Harry's surprise Quirrell screamed horribly, let go of Harry's
Robe and grabbed at his own arm.
Harry, not stopping to think tore across the room towards the door. He could hear Voldemort screaming as if far away, only half his brain listening, the rest concentrating on running full out.
"Fool! Why did you let him go?!"
"Quick cast a locking spell on the door!!"
Harry ran across the dirty floor, sprinting as fast as he could.
Almost there... A yard away... a foot...
Harry clenched the door handles and pulled as hard as he could. They didn't budge. He was trapped...
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A/N: Sorry about the cliffy, I couldn't resist! More action next chapter. I will try to get the next one up soon, but I have school starting Tuesday. There really isn't a lot to say except anyone who reads this, will you PLEASE review?! I only got 3 reviews last chapter and 2 the one before that. I am getting really discouraged and am thinking about not writing this anymore. Please review, even if it's a bad review, I don't care!!
