Author Notes: It's an idea I had long ago but never had the nerve to write it down properly. Now, it's posted. Like it? Hate it? Everything is welcome, even flames(it's rather cold in the flat right now…)
Disclaimer:I do not own Harry Potter or any of used characters.Any attempts to sue me will be futile.
Harry Potter and the Necromancer
"Perhaps you misunderstood me...It wasn't a mere wish, it was a command, yes?" The dark looming figure that sat on the obsidian throne wasn't looking pleased. The dark eyes flashed angrily and the man was eagerly fingering his wand, displaying a not so small desire to use it. All in all, it looked rather intimidating.
The person in front of the throne would have none of it. Despite the fact that he was held in place by two Death Eaters AND despite the fact that he looked like he had a weekend in the more exotic locations of Hell, he still grinned cockyly, his shoulder-length brown hair falling over his eyes.
The room around him was poorly lit, but everyone still saw his grin as if it was the sun itself. Thought it wasn't all that nice-looking.
"Oh, Tomas, I understood you"
"CRUCIO!"
After the rather nasty screams subsided (Voldemort overdid it a bit and the Death Eaters got caught up in the flow as well) he studied his wand and in a voice full of acid quipped cheerfully:
"I did not allow you to speak, much less to use my old name, Necromancer. I will not repeat myself. You are to bring me the blasted kid, no matter the conciquences. Is that understood"
"You may have forgotten to whom you speak to, Thomas." The figure rose again from the floor where it was recovering from the pain. Shadows began to circle around the man, deepening the darkness in the room. His eyes began to burn with shadowy green and strange markings appeared on the backs of his hands, running up the sleeves of his ugly old grey robes, making him look alight with red. Voldemort smirked. And pointed his wand at the man again.
"Vita" a short word had a rather stunning effect. The shadowy black wind disappeared as if it was never there to begin with and the fire in the eyes and at the arms of the stranger pulsed with white and started to fade as the man fell down on the floor with unholy scream of pain on his lips.
"You see," Voldemort elaborated, ignoring the screams of his victim, "I may have been able to obtain the knowledge of a certain spell over the years of my ...existence.
A simple spell designated to infuse a certain amount of magical energy into an unanimated object to simulate the life in said object has a tiny bit of another effect, yes?
You may have felt that your body is not happy about even such a crude imitation. I shall command again. You are to bring me Harry Potter alive and unharmed within the next year. IS THAT CLEAR"
"...bastard..."the man on the floor was still not very much communicative, trying to shake the effects of the spell. Such a simple spell, a spell with which a housewife animates her sink to wash the dishes by itself had such an effect on him! Oh, that was not good. Not good at all. And if Voldemort spreads the knowledge...There were not many of his kind still wandering around the globe.
"I wish to hear your Word. Just a simple security measure I assure you." The Dark Lord was obviously gloating.
The Necromancer rose, his eyes starting to glow again.
"I, Nodus d'Ariophag give you my Word that I shall bring you Harry James Potter, alive and unharmed within a year's time if in exchange you do not spread the secret of this spell and the effect it has on my kind. Is that satisfying enough for you, Thomas?" the dark smoke rose from above his feet, swirling slowly around him. The Death Eaters took a cautious step back.
"Yes, quite. You may go"
Nodus turned around jerkily and began to march to the door.
"Oh, and don't call me that. CRUCIO"
As the necromancer jerked on the floor in agony, the Dark Lord laughed.
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"Harry! Good to see you! How are you? Was the summer alright"
"As alright as it could be, Ms Weasley. Thank you" a lean tall boy with unruly black hair said, returning the warm hug his friend's mother gave him.
The summer with the Dursleys was far from alright, since they put him to do all the nasty chores around the house they could find(from painting their new garden house in the burning sun to cleaning the loos to rebuilding their basement) and the ridiculously small amount of food they gave him (Dudley's diet was far from over since he appeared to gain weight anyways and Harry suspected he was not far from a serious heart illness),but he didn't complain. It had to be endured, if he wished to survive.
As his Headmaster, Professor Dumbledore explained, the ancient magic protecting him were to be renewed in this way, so he had to stay at his Uncle's house for at least few weeks every year.
Well, at least it was over now, Harry thought wearily, as he greeted the other members of the Weasley family. Charley was still in Rumanian, trying to recruit more members for the Order, but Bill was now with his family, having applied for a desk job last year to stay close in case something happened. The twins, Fred and George were there, looking smug in their dragon skin clothes and Ron and Ginny were coming this evening to the Grimmualdum Place 12,having to pick up Hermione before. Harry sighted. He should be happy right now, he thought.
He was finally with the people he could easily call family, with his friends on his side, away from the ugly miscreants that were his relatives.
But something was amiss. A hollow emptiness, that was eating on him slowly during the holidays wasn't going to go away. The hole in his heart, the understanding of his helplessness was still there, even if a little dumped by the affection of the people near him. It was inescapable.
Sirius' death hit him hard, destroying the last hope for happy future he held in his heart. Instead of this lone ray of hope a hard understanding came. It was war and he was right in the middle of it, now knowing the prophecy of his destiny. There was no escape.
Banishing these thoughts quickly, Harry plastered a happy smile onto his face and followed the chattering crowd of redheads into the depth of the house.
He was never any good at Banishments...
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"FRED!!!RETURN YOUR SISTER'S HEAD THIS INSTANT"
"I'm George, Mum."
Molly Weasley was ready to rip her hair off. Or her sons'. She didn't know yet.
Ginny's head was tucked under one of the twin's arm and her body was trying to glare in his direction unsuccessfully.
Ron, Harry and Hermione were trying hard, really, but stiffening the laugher this picture summoned was almost akin to impossible.
George threw Ginny's head to Fred, imitating the throw of a Quaffle, but during the time it was in the air it transformed back into the watermelon and Ginny's head became visible again. Fred caught the Mellon, grinning at his mother innocently, while George pocketed the strange device discreetly.
Molly Weasley sighted wearily, trying hard not to scream in frustration. One of these days she was going to accompany Longbottoms at St.Mungos; with children like she had it was a hard task not to, really.
At that moment, Ginny decided to take her revenge, jumping onto Fred and beating him over the head with a cushion. Fred was still holding the melon and thus rendered defenceless to his sisters' fury, but he still tried to avoid the cushion, tripled over his feet and fell on his back, twisting impossibly in the air to Keep the melon unharmed.
George leaned over his brother, who was still beaten over the head by a cushion, even in his new horizontal position.
"Well, dear bro, it appears to me that you were unwise enough to challenge our sister. Have I not told to you that it was a rather bad idea? And give me that Mellon, or you'll smash it, you clumsy moron"
Fred looked at him with mock hurt expression before apparating to his feet and a good two meter away from the Vengeful Cushionwielder. The melon hung in the air for a few moments before performing a spectacular SMASH on the floor.
"...Oops"
Molly felt an urge to beat her head against the nearest hard surface, while the children laughed guiltily.
A figure stood in the middle of the street, ignoring the few muggles running around it, looking like a rock in the lake, unchanged by the water surrounding him.
Now, that he thought about it, the analogy was dreadfully accurate, since the Muggle world still influenced the wizards, even if so subtly.
The man wore a long leather mantel and shades on his eyes were reflecting the building before him.
Riddle provided the money for the new outfit, thought Nodus sourly. Can't have my servants running around in rugs, my ass! For these words alone Nodus would have gladly replaced Voldemort's vocal cords with one of the Death Eaters' genitaies, if he could.
The necromancer sighted in frustration. How he got drawn into this affair, he would never know. Maybe he shouldn't have shown up in the Diagon Alley.
Oh, who cares, he berated himself angrily, now it wasn't changeable. He had a Word to adhere to.
Nodus stepped closer to the building, focusing his eyes behind the shades slightly. Yes, there was some sort of glamour around here. And pretty strong at it, since he couldn't see through. That would require more...harsh methods.
The necromancer closed his eyes, trying to sense the living presence inside the house. Three people. Two old ones, one child. Potter, perhaps?
He stepped forwards, carefully crossing the street, his eyes still closed, his right hand emberging itself into the depth of his mantel and extracting a long white stick from it.
The stick shone slightly in the last rays of the setting sun.
Touching the wooden fence before him he was relived to see that the house appeared before his eyes. Not so strong after all, now are we?
Nodus entered through the neat gates of the Privet Drive number four in Little Whinning. The Dursleys were in for a surprise.
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Nodus exited the same small gates two hours later, scowling distastefully. What a family...
Flashback:
Vernon Dursley was slammed unceremonically against the wall, his head banging loudly.
"Where is the boy?" the man in black asked, his eyes invisible behind his glasses. Petunia bashed him over the head with a cooking pan.
Still not letting go of Vernon's neck, the stranger turned around ever so slowly, pointing his staff at her.
She felt cold. Coldness, absolute coldness, numbness and nothingness entering her body, creeping up her spin, slowly seeping into her brain, polluting her with their touch.
Then, thirty seconds later, Petunia Dursley felt no more.
"Where is the boy?" the man repeated to the shocked Vernon, pointing his staff at Dudley, who was sitting in the corner, an absolutely shocked looked on his face, a mixture of terror and bewilderment.
The stranger smiled tightly.
End Flashback.
They dared to call him a freak! An abomination! And they hit him with a frying pan! They deserved what they got, he thought sourly, making his way towards the nearest graveyard. Fucking Muggles!
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Dumbledore sat in his office looking gravely at the man before him.
"They were massacred, Albus! All of them! The kid had his organs torn out and the man hung on the wall, crucified! And the woman was...was"
The man stopped his pacing and tried to calm down, taking shallow breathes and clenching and unclenching his fists.
"Thank you, Kingsley. Sit down, calm yourself.» Dumbledore stood up and, taking the young Auror by his arm, led him to a comfortably looking armchair near the fireplace. The old man's face was calm and collected, and only the absent twinkle in his eyes betrayed his worries, as he tried to calm the desperate man.
The Dursleys were dead. Someone surpassed the wards without alerting them. Someone was after Harry. And why such a brutal manner? Even Tom was not so bloodthirsty...Albus sighted. As if there were not enough problems. Now there was another party who wanted the young Potter. How will he break the news to the boy?
"Albus?" Tonks and moody had arrived, the young woman looking a bit pale and Mad-Eye's distorted features set in a mask of determination.
"We need to speak"
"What is it, Alastor? Nimphodoria"
"It was a Necromancer, Albus! A bloody Necromancer!" Moody roared, his eye swirling madly in it's socket.
Albus paled. He became even paler than a sheet of paper, paler than the walls in the infantry. Silence swept through the room, enveloping it's occupants with a blanket of dread and despairing the faint light all the wrinkles on the Headmaster's face became so plainly visible as if you would stare at a statue of white marmore.
"Are you sure, Alastor?" the voice of the old wizard was soft and only a little more then whisper, gaining volume as he spoke.
"Are you certain it was one of them?! DO YOU REALIZE WHAT THAT MEANS"
The Aurors, every one of them flinched at the screeching noise that was the voice of one of the most powerful wizards alive.
Albus was obviously near hysteric.
Dumbledore's gaze peered into the old Auror, almost pleading him to say it was only a clumsy joke.
"Yes, Albus. I have met one of their kind over the yea"
"You are to go to the Grimmualdum place and send all who are there to Hogwarts. Do not use the floo system. Here is the Port key." The Headmaster recovered quickly, his hysteria already forgotten as his leader-nature took over. Seeing that no-one was moving, he roared:
"NOW"
And Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, one of the few Aurors who's name put the fear of God in a great amount of Death Eaters and dark wizards run out of the office of the Headmaster as if he was an insolent to obey the commands of his leader.
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As soon as Moody left, Dumbledore turned his attention to Tonks.
"Nymphodoria, quickly, fetch Minerva and Severus. We need to make plans. Quickly, it is a matter of live and death"
Tonks also made her way out of his office, running to the dungeons first, hoping to intercept McGonagall on her way back.
Dumbledore turned to his Phoenix sharply.
"Fawkes, bring this massage to Minister Fudge." old fingers were already clutching the quill and in jerky, uneven strokes, so very different from the Headmaster's loopy handwriting shaping a letter. That done, Dumbledore waited for the Phoenix to disappear in a burst of flames and averted his gaze to the paintings.
"All of you, spread the warning to the other paintings. Everyone who sees him is to report here immediately. Kingsley, come here"
The figures in the portraits were already gone, as the shaky Kingsley Shakes bolt stepped to the Headmaster's table.
"You are going with me to the Dungeons of Hogwarts. We need to activate the Castle's Will"
Headmaster's hands run trough the desk, searching for something and emerging with a bound of keys, which were so old looking as the Egyptian Pyramids. Throwing a pinch of powder into the fireplace, the two men disappeared in a flash of green light to reappear in the deepest dungeon of the Hogwarts Castle. There, Dumbledore made his way to the old door which was masked in one of the caverns in the wall. The hall around them, Shacksbolt noted, was large, the torchlight from the walls was surely not enough to properly light it, and the fire from the old-looking stony fireplace wasn't a big help. Headmaster put one of the keys into the door and it opened immideatly, giving the way to a small chamber where four columns made of fire loomed. Each of the columns was burning with a different colour, green, red, black and yellow, for the four Founders, Shacksbolt assumed.
Dumbledore stepped in the middle and murmured something, making the columns flare and move to him. They met in the middle before Dumbledore, and with a flash of colourless light became one column of pure white. Dumbledore murmured something again and stepped away, making his way back to the door and dragging Kingsley with him. Behind their backs the column began to rotate with a nearly soundless humming and pulse slightly, gaining speed with every second.
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Snape was not a pleasant man. Not that he was a sociopath bastard, mind you.-Sure, he was that too, but you could get along with him as long as you follow few simple rules:
-ignore his snide sarcasm;
-show him respect;
-do not mention his past;
-DO NOT be a Potter or one of Potter's friends.
That simple, really. A wonder that so few figured that out until then.
Right now, however, Severus Snape was even more not pleased than usually. Dumbledore summoned him in the exact moment of him brewing a new concoction he himself developed, a tender potion that should gift you with a few hours of sleep that would refresh your body like nothing else could. The potion was also a mild pain-subdue and muscle-relaxant, which made it very appealing for the medical use.
However, now all the countless hours of brewing, adding ingredients and measuring temperature and countless cooling and shaking and so on had to be repeated again, for he missed the right moment to add the spores of the Devil Snare. Now the mix reminded anyone who would look at it of stone rather than liquid. Damn! And he was so close!
Grumbling to himself, Snape paced restlessly around the office of his chef, trying to busy his frustrated brain by figuring out why the Hell did the Headmaster summon him so urgently as to send a living messenger rather than flooing. Minerva sat passively in one of the armchairs, sipping tee and throwing worried glances at her colleague. Snape didn't care. The NERVE of this man! Now he leaves him to wait!
The foul mood the Potions Professor was in was interrupted quite suddenly as Severus threw a glance at the face of Dumbledore, who was just emerging from his fireplace. Albus was white as chalk and his hand, that was clutching a bound of the Dungeon Keys was shaking quite badly.
"You may go, Shacksbold. Ask the Houselves to make you a room, we may need you here"
The young Auror nodded curtly and exited the office.
Albus all but fell into his armchair and stared pensively at his two subordinates. Snape resisted the urge to gulp. Something horrible must have happened to upset the Headmaster so.
"Harry' family was murdered a few hours ago." The headmaster began.Snape almost sneered at the man, before catching himself. There must be more. A few deaths wouldn't be the reason.
"They were killed in a grotesque and disgusting manner, including the extraction of organs and crucifying. Alastor Moody informed me that such a fashion of execution is common for Necromancers"
Now Snape understood what it was that glistered uglyly out of the old wizard's eyes. It was Fear, Fear with a capital letter. The same thing his face was displaying.
"As you may know,» the headmaster continued, obviously to reassure himself rather then explain something,» Necromancers are creatures with dead bodies sustained by their own magic and able to command Death to a certain proportion. They are immortal and "
"WE KNOW THAT,ALBUS!!!!" in the voice of the deputy Headmistress the Fear was mixed with her majesty Hysteria. "What do we do now?!!! Why is is....IT after the boy?!!! Where is it now"
"Calm yourself, Minevra. How would I know? I got the news only a few minutes before yourself. Severus, I wish that you go to tom and report to him what you heard here. Perhaps he lets something slip that would give us some insight on the situation.
Minerva, send out the letters to the children. Tell them to come here as soon as they can, all of them. The last date is the end of the week. They are not secure at their homes. I already send a massage to the Ministry, so tomorrow it will become common knowledge. We should however, prepare ourselves. I believe, the Unspeakebles will not catch him all that soon, so we must bid our time and fortify ourselves in case of emergency. Now go, we must haste."
The teachers nodded and made their ways to their destinations: Minerva to her office to write letters, and Severus into the Hole of the Serpent.
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Nodus started to become slightly frustrated. The boy was rather hard to find.
Ha! Easy job, my ass! Go, fetch the boy, deliver him to Riddle, fulfil the Word, go home. But noooo, the first location didn't help any, only giving him the location called The Burrow and a mark on his head from a frying pan. After finding the Burrow(which took quite a lot of time, mind you) he discovered that the house was empty for at least a day! And now, despite a huge amount of personal things to use as locators he wasn't able to find them! Any of them!
Riddle sure as Hell was rocking up the uncool points.
Nodus stood in the living room of the Burrow, looking frustratedly at the family clock. All the hands showed 'Unknown' or 'Travelling'. Blast it all! Nodus resisted the urge to set the whole fucking house on fire. No need to be even less discreet. He picked up one of the photos on the flower table. Nine people. Two adults, lots of kids. And one of them didn't have red hair. Hmm.
The Necromancer pulled the photo out of the frame and ripped the piece with the black-haired boy on it. At least he now knew how his goal looked like.
Stuffing the piece of the photo with a lost-looking boy into his mantel and throwing another look at the nervously shifting rest of the family, he frowned. The Necromancer picked up a book from the table. A Dairy. Of a girl, apparently. Must have forgotten it, Nodus mussed. He already studied the dairy, as he did with all more or less personal things in this house, but didn't give it a second thought then. Oh well, time to read it.
The Necromancer sat onto the sofa and, laying his legs onto the caffe-table, opened the slim book. Finding the last date, he quickly scanned the page.
22 August 199?
Dear NOT DEMONICALY POSESSED AND PERFECTLY NORMAL! Dairy,
Today we're gonna see Harry again! He'll be arriving at the Headquarters, and so are we! I hope he's alright, with all that happened last year...Anyways, I must stop now, we're supposed to pack, I'll write a little more that evening, thought.
Gin.
Nodus raised an eyebrow. Not demonically possessed? Strange girl. He looked at the photo again. Ah, there she is (Ginny on the photo looked rather scared at the moment.
Cute. Nodus chuckled to himself.
The Headquarters.
The Necromancer flipped through the dairy again, without much hope, thought. Then he tried to use some common sense. The headquarters must be the ones of this funny Order of something...And it must have resurfaced as Riddle gained his powers back.
Nodus scrolled the pages with the right data. Still, no new info, apart from a few more times about the Headquarters. Stop!
'Sirius is dreadfully bored there, I think. And all the creepy paintings! No wonder he left as soon he was of age'
Sirius. Sirius Sirius Sirius....Something familiar. Feck? No, not Feck; Keck? No, Black. Sirius Black. That's it!
Sirius Black left there as soon as he was of age. How very interesting. And where was Black living as he was young?
Damn it. How could he find out? The immobility department was now out of limits, since he broke in there already to find the location of the Burrow and the people there were alert now. Hmm.
Ow, Fuck it all! Why not. All he needed for the ritual were a few cats, and them he could find easily enough. Or even better, he'll use the house!
Nodus stood up. With a wave of his hand he send the table crushing against the nearest wall and began to draw a star on the floor with fire coming out of his finger. So, now the symbols. Earth, Wind, Water, Fire, Live, Death. All seven rays of the star now contained a symbol. Not so bad. It should do the job. Now power infuse.
A soft snake of perfect darkness crawled from his hand into the Hexagram, and the star began to pulsate with green power. The house began to resist. The cloak began to chime, the charmed mops and rugs, furniture, everything begun to move, trying to scurry away from the main room. Nodus didn't care.
"Ykkaron, Sharra, Arshi, swarm ?d s??dr?!" a final pulse of power and the house began to die. Slowly, everything stopped, losing the energy, now completely devoided of any sort of life. Only photos were still alive, looking in dismay at what was happening around them. The star also began to fade, leaving only a slightly reddish trace on the floor. Red as blood. The Necromancer didn't care. Now, he knew the way. Grimmualdum Place number 12.Ha!That Sirius guy shouldn't have visited this house.
Nodus winked at Virginia's photo.
"Thank you, my lady. You've helped me out quite a bit.(the Ginny on the photo bit her hand in frustration"
That said, Nodus turned around and left the house he just killed.
The hands of the clock fell lifelessly behind him. And so had the house, crushing together in an ugly wooden heap, being held together by enhancements and charms. Nodus didn't turn around. Why should he care, anyways?
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Harry was rather bewildered at the moment. And he wasn't happy about this fact at all. Once again, nobody thought it necessary to tell him what exactly was going on! Typically. Thought, it was very strange and wrong to see Moody in such a foul mood. If Harry didn't know better, he would say the old Auror was scared shitless.
Harry chuckled at the thought. Using the words Mad-Eye and scared in one sentence was ridiculous. The old bugger would rip anyone's head off, smiling happily.
These thoughts, however, were not helping the situation. The whole Weasley family was now at Hogwarts, himself and Hermione included. Dumbledore even got Charlie out of Rumanian and into the castle for whatever reasons he had for such a deed. The Headmaster looked rather pale at the moment, sitting in his armchair near the fireplace and sipping tee gingerly. Harry was sited near him and was waiting for an explanation.
Only an hour was over since Moody swept into his godfather's house and ushered them to pack before transporting them all to Hogwarts. And it was two weeks before the term started. Since their sudden departure, Harry had no opportunity to talk to his friends about the whole thing, for he was summoned to Dumbledore's office right away. Now he was sitting here and waiting for the old man to speak up. For the last fifteen minutes.
"Harry," his professor spoke, interrupting the boy's angered musings," it was reported to me that your family was assassinated. They all are dead."
Harry stared at his Headmaster with shocked eyes. If there was a more blunt way to put it, Harry didn't knew of it's existence small part of his confused brain noted.
Not waiting for his student to speak up, the Headmaster continued, still not turning around.
"They were killed in a way that leads me to believe the attacker was a Necromancer."
"A..a what?" his voice wasn't very manly, the same part of Harry's brain noted dumbly. The rest was screaming silently in despair. Not that Harry was very found of his Aunt and Uncle and cousin, but that was still not the reason to wish them dead or any such thing. They may have been assholes, but no asshole deserved to die just for being one.
"A Necromancer. Apparently, he was seeking you and killed your relatives in the process. Now, Harry, I must ask you: Do you know anything about Necromancers"
Albus Dumbledore finally turned around to display a pale wrinkled face with eyes full of worried.
"No." Harry's voice was still rather quite. Again people were dead because of him. And not only because of his foolishness, but because of his mere existence. Maybe Aunt Petunia is...was right about their kind being dangerous...And they were not even dear to him, he hated them and now they were dead and what would happen with his friends if it goes on like this and...
The boy's thoughts were spinning madly, forming a black vortex of hopelessness inside his skull, a vortex that sucked everything inside it, leaving him numb and cold, devoided of all life.
Albus didn't seem to notice.
"Necromancers are immortal creatures of immense power. Usually, they don't interfere with the affairs of Muggles and wizards, but this time, it seems that something drew this one out. They look human, but are not. The legends say they are mages of old who transformed themselves into undead to gain control over more power"
Harry didn't listen. He just sat there, starring dumbly at his Headmaster trying to figure out what the Hell just happened and if this was one of his more creative nightmares.
God, how he hoped it was one...
Nodus was not a happy camper. He sat in a subway train that headed to London and perhaps that was why he wasn't happy.
There were no Graveyards near the Burrow. Damn! The only grave he found was seven miles away and there was a rotten turtle inside it! Fucking Muggles and Wizards! They are all alike, damn them all! Why couldn't they put a graveyard or two more conveniently for a Necromancer's needs? Selfish arseholes. Now he had to travel muggle-style, in some stinking train with some motherfuckers trying to draw something on the nearest window and throwing lecherous glances on a girl that sat near him. Obviously, the punks were afraid to come near a guy in black long leather mantle and with shades on who looked extremely angry. Hell, even the girl was shifting nervously!
Good. They are afraid. That's the only way it should be. At least, when people are afraid of you, they don't bother you. He needed some stress release RIGHT NOW!!!
The train came to a halt near the London-City. Nodus exited, a satisfied grin on his face. Inside the train, the punks were nothing more then a thin red pool of goo covering the floor. The girl just sat there, screaming madly in fear and panic, completely unharmed. Her Discman she was listening to was no longer there.
Nodus rather liked Linken Park. It sounded nice.
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"Harry, what.....happened..." Hermione quickly covered her mouth with her hand, her words fading at the face of her best friend. Harry James Potter was pale as a ghost, his eyes vacant of any emotions, even the green sparkles that were always there were gone, replaced by nothingness that just thought green would suit it.
"My relatives were killed by a Necromancer." was all he said in a voice that betrayed nothing of his inner struggles. Then he sat down in one of the armchairs and starred into the fire. Hermione threw Ron a pleading look and was surprised to see him as white as Harry, looking at her with panicked eyes.
"Ron, what?.." Hermione knew better then to speak to Harry right now. The boy had a tendency for dealing with any problems he had alone, asking for help only in critical conditions. Now she had another friend to calm.
"Hermione, a Necromancer!!! Didn't you hear him? A fucking bloody Necromancer!!!!!!" Ron began pacing wildly, his hands flailing around him.
"What? What's the problem?" Now Hermione was surprised. How can a dark wizard who raises dead put such a fright in a Gryffindor?
Ron sat down abruptly, looking into the fire just like Harry did a few moments ago. Now he also was watching his friend with surprise. Good, he's coming out of it, Hermione noticed.
"We are screwed! Screwed like never before, Herms!!! Do you understand that?!" Ron averted his gaze from the fireplace to his friend.
"Calm down, Ron! Why should we be screwed? What's so bad about a Necromancer? You almost sound like Trawleny!" Hermione threw her hands up in disgust.
Harry was calm enough to elaborate.
"Dumbledore told me they are dead Mages that can control Death a little. It's not THAT bad, is it"
"Harry, mate, you've got no FUCKING IDEA WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Ron almost jumped in excitement, roaring the last words into the warm air of the Common Room.
He drew a few quick breathes, seeing his friends flinch at his scream and more calmly said:
"They are dead mages, all right! But they are not like normal wizards. They gain power to do their stinking magic's from killing and torturing. Since they are immortal, they gain power this way over time, storing it somehow, so nowadays they are practically invincible. That's only the half of it, thought. Since they are so old, they lose their humanity over time, becoming soulless monsters who don't care about lives of others. They've got no morals or regrets and would do anything to get what they want. The only good thing is that they don't like people and don't seek power, so that way they keep away from us. They'll take what they want and go away so usually there isn't much problems with them. The Unspeakebles caught a few of them and keep them in the Department of Mysteries to study them, keeping them in coma or something. But they are dangerous, Harry, they are bloody completely insane! And if they want something, they get it! One way or another. If one of them is seriously after you, we're in deep trouble"
"How come I didn't hear anything about them, then?" Hermione asked, a little baffled about the little tirade. Harry could only blink.
"Because we don't like to speak of them much. And there are no books about them, since they like keeping low profile and kill anyone who knows too much about them"
Ron dropped his head into his hands, muttering "Completely screwed" again.
Hermione looked at Harry, who looked back at her, some of the emotions returning to his face. That sounded scary.
"So we've got a guy who doesn't know what mercy is on our backs, huh? Can it be that he works for Voldemort?" It was surprising that Ron didn't flinch at the name.
"No, these creatures work for no one. You just can't make them. Their only purpose is their own wishes. The only thing they honour is their word, the so-called Necromancer's Word. If they don't follow it the lose power or something. I don't know that much about them, really. The last one who got caught by the Unspeakebles was rising a horde of undead to massacre a city just for the heck of it. It was in 1650 or something. Since then they didn't show up with anything large, thought.
Harry, if one of them is after you, it's gonna be hard to keep him out, even of Hogwarts"
A stunned silence followed.
Harry really wished it was one of his Nightmares right now.
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Nodus stomped on his feet in frustration. Empty! Again! The dusty halls of Grimmualdum Place number twelve were as empty as the mouth of Hell! He threw a look at the now burned up painting on the wall. The wench shouldn't have opened her mouth. Damn it all! HOW!!?? How could they know he was after them? How could they escape?
Grumbling, Nodus went over to the fireplace and threw a bit of powder into it.
"Tom Riddle." A visage of his employer appeared in the green fire after a few minutes.
"Voldemort," grinding his teeth, Nodus spoke(another rule, do not call him by his true name. Damned wannanbe bastard.),"the boy knows I'm after him. How can that be"
"If you wouldn't have left a trail of blood after you, it wouldn't have happened. Even I already got news of your ...progress." the last word was spoken with enough distaste to make a giant puke.
"Damn it. Now where do I find the brat"
"He's at Hogwarts, I suspect. After Dumbledore got wind of you, he summoned everyone he could to the Castle and alerted the rest. Your own fault, isn't it"
"Do not laugh at me, Ri...Voldemort. I have already managed to discover the Headquarters of this Order, a deed you didn't even come close to accomplish"
"Oh, really now? Hmm. I'll send a few of my subordinates there. Stand back please"
Two Death Eaters jumped out of the fireplace, looking with a slightly fearful expression on the Necromancer. Nodus ignored them, keeping his gaze at the fire.
"Do you have any info on this Hogwarts? It's supposed to be undefeateble"
"Why, yes, I wondered when you would ask" Riddle's face contorted into an ugly grin. The snake-look didn't suit him.
"The Castle is indeed never been taken by foe before. Even failed to infiltrate it a few centuries ago"
"Hmm, interesting. Even challenging. I believe it is not so complicated" Nodus mussed, a plan forming in his head.
"Who was that colleague of mine?" "Oh his name was Masadur something."
Nodus lips curled up in distaste. He knew Masadur. Powerful but stupid as they come. And pretty young too. No wonder he got caught. Serves him right, the miscretain.
"Then the capture'll have to wait a little. Something against me staying in here"
"No, not at all. Make yourself comfortable. Can I do anything else for you"
"Yes, actually. If you manage to get me one of the Hogwarts students, I'll be very thankful." the Smalltalk was getting on his nerves. Fucking MORTALS!
"Oh, not a problem at all. You shall get him tomorrow by dawn. Whatever do you have in mind"
"I'll just take his body as a transport into the Castle. Not so difficult at all"
Riddle looked surprised.
"You can do that"
Nodus resisted the urge to smack himself. He forgot just how ignorant the wizards were.
"Yes, of course. He'll be dead afterwards, thought"
"Oh, that shouldn't bother you"
"It doesn't"
"Oh...Than until tomorrow, I presume"
"Yes, until tomorrow. Sleep sweetly, Voldi!" Nodus quipped cheerfully, cutting of the contact before Riddle's angry visage began to shout curses. His Death Eaters were in for a quick Crucio. Hehehehe.
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A Death Eater stepped through the fireplace, holding firmly onto a body of a young man with white hair and aristocratic features the next day. Another one came through, carrying a trunk full of school utensil. Nodus took the body and carried it over to the altar. Nice thing these wizards, can make objects out of thin air!
He strapped the boy to the table, stripped him of his clothes and ordered the others to leave. The Death Eaters complied too gladly. Hmm, still have it in me, Nodus thought.
The boy was quickly awakened by a few slaps on the face. That should help in the ritual.
"Now, my boy," the necromancer said, smiling at the fear-contorted face of the boy, "what is your name"
"D-draco Malfoy...Where am I? What..." the rest of the question was cut of by coughs as a thin silver stilett emberged itself into the boy's chest. The Pentagram underneath the table began to glow.
Nodus flexed his new fist. Nice enough. The boy should have worked out more, thought. Draco Malfoy...has a ring around it. Ha! Nodus stood up quickly, buttoning his shirt to hide the ugly black scar on the chest. Ah, much better. Now only to get to Hogwarts.
The Death Eaters that came into the room could only stare at the boy who was rampaging through his trunk, with his eyes glowing green.
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Harry Potter sat sullenly on his four-poster bed, looking into space. He didn't cry. He couldn't just bring himself to mourn his now dead relatives. And that scared him.
Funny thing, death, he thought absently. You do not mourn over the dead, you mourn over the things you'll never have again, the times you'll never live through, the situations that'll never come to pass now that involved the now-dead ones.
Perhaps that was the reason. That he had never had anything good come from his Aunt and Uncle to mourn over.
It was just stupid. What would the humanity be based on then, the egoism?
The boy threw his head back onto the pillow, closing his eyes for a moment. As if he hadn't had enough to deal with, he thought sourly. Now he had some nutcase after him, who was immortal and omnipotent, and didn't have the sort of mind as anyone else had. Great. Splendid even. Harry would have been happier if it was Voldemort who was actively after him now.
Why were the ones that were close to him doomed to die? Why couldn't he be just some geek, happy to find a way to skip a few classes to watch TV or snog a cute girt in a cupboard, anyway?
He almost envied Dudley. Well, no, with Dudley being a lifeless piece of meat right now, but someone like Dudley who didn't know the Harry Potter, the boy who was doomed to kill everyone he loved...
Harry stood up jerkily, trying to banish all those thoughts, but failing miserably. Even the book of modern duelling techniques he got from Hermione for his sixteenth failed to break his mood.
Hermione...She was probably at the library now, trying to find out anything about Necromancers, unable to stand that Ron knew something she didn't.
The boy chuckled at the picture of Hermione buried under books trying to tear her hair out in frustration.
Ron was sound asleep on his bed, snorring softly. It never failed to amaze Harry, that Ron could sleep or eat in almost any situation.
Harry put the book down and pulled off his glasses. Maybe he also could sleep? Probably not. But he could try. The boy lay down, commanding his glowing wand to darken and closing his eyes. Tomorrow will be the day the rest of the student body will be arriving at Hogwarts, having already received the letters. Maybe having people around him would lighten him up, Harry thought dazedly, before falling asleep, unaware of the danger that he really was in.
Nodus stepped out of the carriage, regarding the castle in disgust. The blasted thing was almost alight with warding spells and protection shields. The one who built it sure had a kick for security. He strolled over to the doors, ignoring the shivering Thestrals, who were backing away from him and entered the Halls of Hogwarts cautiously. Nothing happened. Good. The castle didn't notice his true being.
"Draco!" a girl run over to him, beginning to chat about something. Nodus scowled. The boy didn't have a sense of taste. The girl was butt-ugly. Oh well.
The Necromancer waved a hand before Pansy's eyes. Said eyes glazed over immediately and she shut up (for what Nodus was very thankful), standing stock-still before him.
"Where is Harry James Potter?" Nodus asked softly, so that the others wouldn't hear him (not bloody likely, with them all blabbering around like crazy), hoping to end this mission as soon as possible.
"In the Gryffindor common room, master"
Fuck. He forgot that zombies were not that talkative.
"And where, pray tell, is the said common room?" he inquired.
"The left tower, behind the portrait of the Fat Lady, master." That was more then he had expected.
"Lead me there."
Nobody noticed as two Slytherings made their way to the stairway and disappeared silently behind the next corner.
Nodus was pleased. He was close, he could feel it. The boy wouldn't escape him now. He resisted the urge to burst into maniacal laugher. It just would sound stupid, coming from the mouth of a sixteen-year old.
The Lady on the portrait was indeed fat. Very. Since she was unpleasant enough not to cooperate, she had to burn thought. Oh well, that's life. His Zombie left to guard the entrance, Nodus climbed into the room, nice and cushy, with a lot of red and golden, ornate furniture and soft carpets. He should try and make his house look like that, he mussed.
The boy was somewhere upstairs. Good.
Luckily (for the students), the common room was almost empty and the only girl who was there ignored him, having her nose in one of some old books laying around her. Just out of curiosity, Nodus looked at the title.
"Necromancers and how to ward them off" Hmm. A coincidence?
The girl looked up and her cute features (gah! Cute? What did come over him, again?) became a frown.
"MALFOY!!! What the hell are you doing here?!" It appeared that the Draco-boy wasn't very welcome at the school. Well, just his luck.
"Excuse me, miss, where could I find one Harry Potter"
The girl just looked at him, her eyes wide as if she just witnessed the four riders of the Apocalypse. What did he do?
After almost a minute of silence Nodus lost his patience.
"Helloooo? Anyone in there?" the girl regained her composure immideatly after that.
"OUT!!!" Perhaps her regaining her senses wasn't such a good thing after all, Nodus thought surprised.
"Out before I curse you into next Saturday!!!" the girl indeed pulled her wand out, seeming rather inclined to use it.
"What did I do, beautiful? Was it my hair you didn't like?" Again the same stupid stare. What's wrong with her? Nodus shook his head.
"Are you going to tell me where Harry Potter is or not, now? I don't have all day, you know"
The girl blinked. Than she sat down. And said something that made Nodus almost roar with laugher.
"Malfoy, did you sniff, smoke something or just hit your head"
"Why, what made you think so?" Nodus was more than amused. Maybe he'll keep the girl as a pet for some time. She was just too funny.
"Well, you don't call me a mud blood, don't shout insults and you appear to actually be trying to be funny. And polite. Sorry, if I'm a little baffled." the sarcasm in the girl's voice was obvious but Nodus still couldn't catch on. Maybe the boy he possessed was some sort of a part or something.
"Sorry, but what's a 'mud blood'?" he tried again carefully.
"ARE YOU MAKING FUN OF ME!!!!!??" now the girl seemed seriously pissed off. Pointing her wand at him she shouted something about dentists.
The result was the searing pain in his face as he appeared to chew on his tongue repeatedly. Well, that was not nice.
"Thash wash nosh nishe!Wha sha hell didhs'ya dhso shat?!!" Nodus choked out, trying to stop his teeth from chewing. Damn, that was painful!
"That'll show you, you git!" the girl huffed, her hands on her hips. Even angry, she still looked cute. Damn. Can't kill someone so good-looking.
Having regained the control over his teeth, Nodus spat out some blood(which was black) and looked angrily at the girl. The girl, however, was ignoring him and looking at the blood?
"Black blood...You...you...necromancer..." Damn! She was observant!
"Ok, lady, not wanting to ruin the moment but I really need to know where the Potter kid is. So, are you going"
What she was going to do stayed unknown. What she did, however, was impressive. Who would have known she knew so many curses? And the 'desinterario' one was very nasty.
Nodus blocked the curse-flow, throwing his hand in the air above him, summoning the darkness from around the room to swirl around him slowly, grotesque faces in it forming and disappearing again and his eyes burning green.
The girl did stop. And cried like mad.
"HARRY, THE NECROMANCER IS HERE"
Oh, of course. The cavalry had arrived. Bugger.
The hurried steps were heard and a few boys and girls appeared, wands drawn and looking rather scared but determined. Now Nodus found himself surrounded by kids who shouted curses on him. Well, damn.
Stopping with the dramatics, Nodus sent a surge of energy throw everyone in the room back by a few steps and began to look around, looking for his goal. Aha! There he is!
"Duplicatum creare!" an old voice. Nodus turned around to find himself in front of a very old man, with white beard and everything, creating something out of thin red cloud of smoke in front of him. Behind his a woman and a gnome stood, both pointing the wands at him. The next moment he felt an urge to drop onto his feet and howl.
The damned witch was trying to turn his body into a dog! Resisting, Nodus heard glass break near his feet. A strong smell reached him as the ground became what appeared to be a swamp. Fucking wizards. Well, it was his own fault, anyways.
Sending a pure bolt of power into the woman's head and stabalazing himself by levitating he threw a look at the old man. He already finished his spell and now an exact copy of Draco Malfoy was closing in on him, the same green fire in it's eyes. A homunculus!
Nodus looked at the old wizard with respect in his eyes. To create such a thing in such a short notice! Well, he'll be damned!
Won't help him, thought. Incinerating the homunculus with a wave of his hand, Nodus grinned confidently. And then he felt...something. And this something wasn't nice. The castle sensed him finally. His power began to flow into the unsatiable hole that was the castle's mind and he felt as if a few tones of grain were placed onto his back. The red haze behind his eyes was almost unpenetratable. He had to retreat. However powerful he was, it was not enough to confront the Castle itself.
He looked around franticly, searching for the boy.
-
Hermione Grangener was thrown into the armchair she sat in as the Draco-Necromancer sent a ring of reddish blackness out to throw the other Griffindorfs back. She tried to throw a few jinxes but they were largely ignored, as the Necromancer faced the arriving teachers. And then the fireworks started. The girl watched in fascination as the Necromancer sent something fly into McGonagall, making her break her concentration to dodge, flew into the air to avoid Snape's swamp (and right in time, since a few tentacles were already swishing under his feet) and annihilated the ghost Dumbledore and Flitwick created. He grinned uglyly, without doubt preparing for the final move.
And then, a loud gong sounded, and the walls itself started to radiate something like golden mots. The mots pierced Necromancer's back and burrowed themselves into him, seeming not to damage the flesh. Necromancer wavered. He fell to his knees, breaking his levitation spell and falling into the swamp where Snape's and Sprout's monster began to tear at him with it's tentacles and started to look around franticly. And Hermione understood. Quickly, without understanding conciousiongly what she was doing, she cast a glamour on Harry and and threw herself onto the Necromancer. The Draco-lookalike tried to shake her off, but his Portkey was obviously already active and the last thing Hermione felt was a tug under her navel and then blackness enveloped her.
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Nodus and his catch appeared at Grimualdum place with a faint pop, collapsing onto the dark carpet, as Nodus panted slightly.
Damn, that was close, he thought. A few more moments and the fortress would have drained all his energy. Than he could be handed to the unspeakeble bastards on a silver tablet. Nodus threw a fleeting look at his pray. And groaned. There, before him, the young witch who made him chew his tongue lay. Nodus stood up shakily. Well, that went well, he thought sarcastically, looking his bloodied body over. The swamp had some sort of creature in it, obviously. Letting his energy sweep over him to heal his wounds, he pointed his arm at the girl, waking her up.
Looking into her terrified eyes, he snarled:
"What did you do"
Without waiting for a response, he stalked over to the fireplace and threw some powder in it, making Riddle's ugly face appear before him.
"VOLDEMORT"
"Yes, Nodus? Were you successful?" the Dark Lord inquired, raising his eyebrow at the bloodied Necromancer in a child's body.
"NO!!!I BLOODY HELL WASN'T!!!" Nodus snarled, his eyes starting to glow.
"Why didn't you tell me the Fortress was active?!!! And couldn't you give me a body of someone who was friendly with your brat"
"Why, no need to be so impolite! I have done all I could to help you. It's your fault, you screwed up." Riddle was obviously taking revenge for the yesterday comment.
"Whatever." Nodus grumbled. "At least I've got a friend of his. I'll talk to you later"
"What? Who is it you managed to capture?" Riddle's face (ugly as it was) became a curious frown.
"Some girl who called him by name. Here she is"
Nodus dragged the witch in front of the fireplace. The girl's face became even more scared, eyes wide and her jaw slack, all her body trying to get away from the fireplace.
"Ah, the mudblood friend of his..." Voldemort almost hissed, his fingers gripping his wand tightly.
"Whatever"
"Could you please send her to me? I'd like to have some fun with her..." Nodus made a face at the picture of Riddle having 'fun.
He looked down at the girl. Her eyes were almost pleading. Almost. There still was something like iron there, something that wasn't broken by fear. Nodus sighted. If there has been only pleading, he wouldn't have hesitated to throw the girl through the fireplace. But.
"No,Voldy. I promised you the boy, not anyone else. She could be useful to me. Sorry"
Riddle's face became a mask of fury, before he caught on about the 'useful' remark.
"Well, in that case I leave her to you. And don't call me Voldie." he hissed, before his head disappeared.
Nodus looked at the girl again, only to find himself starring at the point of her wand.
"Desintegrare!" Ouch. Who would have thought that his skin could disappear so painfully. Bugger.
The girl, now no longer held, as he clutched his face, scrambled away, with all intention to get to the door. Well, can't have it.
The Necromancer gripped her by her neck again, taking the wand from her hand.
"Well, aren't we brave today! Attacking a Necromancer no less! And such nasty spells"
The girl answered with a rather colourful description of his parents, his birth, his afterlife destination and her readiness to send him there. Youngsters these days. And he didn't even know half the words she used!
"Why don't we calm down, shall we? Tea?" he asked her shocked face, letting her go and inviting her politely to sit down.
The girl obeyed, throwing glares at him that would made Voldie proud.
"So," Nodus quipped," My name is Nodus d'Ariophag and I'd like to know how exactly you switched places with Potter and where he is now. Answer and I'll let you go. Even alive." He hoped his request was polite enough.
The girl apparently didn't think so.
"Fck off, bastard, I won't tell you a thing, you monstrous caricature of a , uglier then a Dementor,you..." and so on...Why did he have such a mean luck with women?
"There is no need to be so touchy, you know"
Nodus clapped his hands and one of the Death Eaters appeared, wearing an apron with "Kill the evil cook" on it and a tray of tea-set. Judging by his tense movements he didn't like the apron.
"How many spoons of sugar do you want"
"Seventeen. But don't mix it, I don't like it too sweet." was all he could get. Great. She is even more bitchy than Morgana Le Fay was.
Resisting the urge to feed her all the requested sugar through anal exit, he put only two into her cup and two into his, and after mixing it, took a long sip. His body ached. Damned monster.
"Ok, I don't have the whole day for this." Nodus pulled his steak out, waving it on the girl. A black mist settled onto her.
"Every time you refuse to answer my questions or lie to me, you will feel pain. And the Cruciatus curse is much gentler then I am"
Nodus smiled.
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Harry passed relentlessly around the common room. To say he was pissed would be like saying Snape had a minor cheerfulness dissagustment. Bursts of accidental magic proved the point. There wasn't any undamaged furniture in the room.
Or lamps, for that matter.
Ron sat there, starring at his friend in shock. In this state, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named would be afraid of The-Boy-Who-Lived.
"Hey, mate, it isn't that bad"
"IT IS!" there goes another candilaber.
"He won't harm her, he needs you! And he won't be able to get into Hogwarts anymore, so he needs her as a hostage"
Harry sat down, taking deep shallow breathes.
"But maybe he already killed her, Ron. Maybe he doesn't care about hostages! Maybe he raped her or did Lord knows what to her! You said it yourself that he hasn't got any moral restrains!" Harry gripped his head with his hands, rocking slowly in his chair.
Ginny sat down near him, patting his back reassuringly.
Neville was off in the kitchen, trying to persuade the house elves into making some tea for them and she had to take over calming Harry, since Ron was too afraid of his friend's temper.
"C'mon, it won't be that bad. Dumbledore said the Order is doing everything they can to penetrate the wards"
Harry didn't respond. All the thoughts he had this morning were resurfacing, like an ugly monster. All who cared for him were doomed.
But he will avenge them.
He had to.
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Nodus stretched on the sofa, overlooking his now healed body again. Much beter. He was wearing a bath mantel at the time, having his bloodied clothes taken by one of the Death Eaters to wash and he had taken a bath, so right now he was feeling very good.
The girl in front of him, Hermione something was her name, wasn't feeling that good,obviously.Her lips were bitten from her first attempt of lying to him and dark rings lay under her eyes. She was obviously hungry and thirsty, but still refused to take anything he offered her.
Nodus sipped his coffee. An intriguing catch he had here. And without all these nasty words she was a very nice conversationalist.
"Well, Ms.Grangener, I belive I have no more use of you for today. I had one of the Death Eaters prepare a room for you. Tomorrow we shall continue our little question-answer game. You may go. Oh, and by the way, I suggest you do eat something for tomorrow breakfast. It is rather rude to stare how I eat. And do me a favour, do not try to escape. I have personally warded the house against such an action, and the try could turn out quite painful, if not lethal. You may go"
The girl stood up and ,made her way after the Death Eater without another word. Hmm. Such a brave spirit...Maybe he could turn her into a vampire or something to break it...Quite a challenge. Nodus sighted and once again sipped his coffee. The day might have been more productive, but the current result would have to do.
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Harry Potter was under his invisibility cloak, trespassing the halls of Hogwarts, on his way to the Headmaster's office. His broom was in his hand and his bag with potions he nicked from Snape a few minutes ago in the other. Who would have thought the greasy git would have made something so useful.
Ron must be already waiting there. Harry pushed his supplies behind one of the statues and checked the map again. Yes, Ron was near the gargoyle, Dumbledore was on the other side of the school, on his way to McGonagall(Ginny and Dean provided the distraction by telling the Headmaster the Transfiguration Professor wanted to talk to him) and Filch was near Dungeons, investigating the break-in with Snape. Perfect. Harry turned around the corner, supplies in his hand, and after nodding to a grim-looking Ron, made his way through the Gargoyle Entrance. Too bad for Dumbledore he already knew the password. There, near the fireplace, Ron produced a pouch with Floo-powder from his robes and the two friends made their way to the Leaky Cauldron. From there, they were going to fly to the Headquarters.
Screw the rules and the Necromancer. It was Hermione, their best friend who was in danger.
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Hermione stared out of the window at the black mass that was the Necromancer's warding. At least she managed to drink from the sink in her bathroom. Still, she was rather hungry (but with no intentions of accepting the Necromancer's advice) and the after-effects of the blasted arsehole's curse were painful and disturbing. At least she didn't give him the satisfaction of screaming in front of him. Which explained the now bitten to blood lips. She hated the man. She loathed him even. Her wand was now in his possession and without it, she had no chance of breaking through the barrier. Damn.
Hermione stood up from the window and peeked out of the door. She had to try and escape. The Death Eaters were on guard near the stairs, but that was easy enough. A sleeping spell without a wand was difficult but not impossible for a six-year. Hermione decided to wait a few hours. No matter what Ron was saying, she suspected a knife in the throat wouldn't be that appealing even for a Necromancer.
Two hours later, Hermione stood up from the bed. Now she understood Ron and Harry. The waiting could truly drive crazy. And she hadn't had any books to read. The young witch slipped out of her room, still in her muggle clothes, but without her robes and made her way, as silently as she could, towards the staircase. There, throwing a glance around the corner, she saw the Death Eaters, speaking quietly about something. One of them still wore the stupid aproon. Obviously, the Necromancer had a strange sense of humour.
A wave of hand and a whisper of the incantation later the men were sound asleep in a heap of limb and Hermione could proceed. She pulled one of the Death Eaters wand out and broke the second in two, a grim look of satisfaction on her face, and then peeked around the corner of the living room to see the Necromancer sit on the couch and skip through a book of sorts. He was letting go of the smoke he drew through the cigarette and looked satisfied with himself. Perhaps she could put him to sleep as well...
Hermione pointed her wand at the man who was now looking like Draco Malfoy.
There was a knock at the door.
Necromancer raised an eyebrow and drew himself up, surprised. Hermione heard the muttering of "impossible, the wards..." but didn't hear the rest, as the Draco-lookalike stood up and made his way to the door, taking his stick with him. Hermione skipped to the couch, found her wand on the table and, after breaking the captured one in two, made her way to the entrance hall.
That's when some unholy screams of pain were heard. The Necromancer stumbled in front of the door, his stick forgotten on the floor, his hands on his face. Before him, no one other but Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley stood, Ron throwing some vials at him and Harry firing curses like there was no tomorrow. What could Hermione do? But of course join in, taking the stick in the process.
Nodus was not happy. His face was burning and his eyes felt as if they were eaten out by acid and the curses that were flying at him made it even worse. Oh, and now he had another monster under his feet who was ripping at the Necromancer cheerfully. Fucking Wizards!!! And he had not recovered all his energy from the encounter with the castle. Just his luck.
The Necromancer roared, shooting tendrils of absolute nothingness in all directions, unable to see and not calm enough to concentrate on the energy of the living. Damn it! He killed the monster under him, but his assaulter managed to slip out by now. HOW!!!??? How did they managed to come through the barrier?
Nodus roared again, expressing his dissatisfaction with the world in general and, regenerating his eyes with a quick spell, looked outdoors, searching for those who attacked him, concentrating on anything alive in the radius of about ten meters. A bug. Great. They were gone by now. He'll get them! He'll get his revenge!
Nodus stalked into the house, trying to figure out, why they assaulted him, whoever 'they' were. The girl! Nodus gripped around, trying to find his stick. It was also gone. FUCK!
The body of Draco Malfoy stalked to the stairs, only finding two broken wands and two sleeping Death Eaters. The room Hermione was in was also empty. Curse it all!!!!! How did she manage to.
No matter. He WILL get them back for that. And the stick was a perfect bone of a Gangrell.
Nodus kicked his servants awake and ordered more tea, sitting down onto the sofa, trying to stop the blood that came from his wounds. FUCKING MONSTERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Harry and Ron flew high in the sky, already preparing to land near the Cauldron, Hermione clinging tightly to Harry's chest. Neither he nor Ron could keep foolish grins from their faces. They managed to pull it off. Hermione was now back with them. And they really didn't care if they were expelled right now.
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Dumbledore sat in his armchair tiredly, listening to Snape ranting about all of his potions being stolen, Sprout hot on his heals about one of her Ignum Orchidees missing. McGonagall just sat there, hands on her face since she already found out her two students being missing and the rest of the staff(apart from Sybil, who still must be sitting in her tower, clueless of what was going on) just listening to the angered Slytherin and Hufflpuff.
So Harry decided to do it on his own. What will they do without the boy?Sybill had better be coming up with another prophecy, he thought in dark sarcasm.
However, the meeting was rudely interrupted by three teenagers bursting through the fireplace, all looking tired and scared, Ron clutching the potions bag(witch was half-empty now) tightly.
The teachers could only stare. That is, before McGonnagal, tears streaming down her usually so controlled face, enveloped the three into a hug, pleading them not to do anything like that again.
Dumbledore thought that hell already had broken lose. He was sorely mistaken. He could have never thought that teachers could be so loud.
"QUITE!!!!!!!" seeing that his office became silent again, Dumbledore added "thank you.
With a quick wave of his wand he conjured three more armchairs before his desk and three cups of steaming cacao as well as blankets. After Minerva and Filius ushered the children into the chairs and everyone apart from the heads of the Houses left, and AFTER Harry, Ron and Hermione warmed themselves and lost the peculiar scarred look from their faces, the Headmaster started the interrogation.
"So, Harry, I assume you were at Grimmualdum Place, since Ms.Grangener regained us." he said kindly, his eyes twinkling.
"Yes, Professor."
"And it appears to me that it was you who borrowed these potions and plants from Professors Snape and Sprout"
"Yes, Pro.
"Oh, yeah, by the way!" Ron stood up and hugged Severus Snape and then Sprout tightly, to utter shock from them and from the rest of the people in the office.
"Oh, man, you've got no idea how much your potions and plants helped us out! If not for them, we'd be Zombies by now"
"Twenty points from Gryffindor" Snape said almost automaticly, still trying to recover from the bear-crushing hug and from the shock of a student delivering said hug.
"Oh, who the hell cares!" Ron chirped lightly, falling into his seat, to the amusement from his housemates.
"And could you tell me, what exactly happened there?" Dumbledore tried to continue.
"Well, we doused his barrier with the Enlightment Solution and knocked at the door." Harry elaborated, drawing an incredulous glance from Snape.
"You just knocked at the door? Well, even I didn't think of you as this stupid! Knocking at the door of a Necromancer"
"Well, it worked, didn't it?....sir." Harry added hastyly,burrying his agitation.
"Well, and as soon as he opened it, Ron threw the Flesh-Eating Potion on him and I fired a few curses. Then he threw another potion and the Orchidee and I fired a few more curses and then Hermione showed up, grabbed his stick, cast a desinterare on him and we run. By the way, how did'ya know we were there?" Harry turned to Hermione, as if asking her to continue with his story.
"Well, I just sort of thought that I'll try to break out. Put a sleeping spell onto the Death Eaters, broke their wands, found my own one and than you showed up." Hermione finished lamely.
"By the way, professor, could you dispel that?" she drew her head height, showing a black shimmering bracer on her neck. With a few waves of Dumbledore's wand it fell off, disintegrating into faint black mist.
"What was that, Headmaster?" Flitwick asked, eager to know anything new.
"That was a Truth spell, I belive, but of some other sort, am I right?" Dumbledore averted his attention from the flocks of black on his carpet. Hermione blushed.
"Y-yes, it was supposed to cause pain if I lie or don't answer." she said as quitly as she could, obviously not wanting to remember the particular incident. Now Snape finally understood, why her lips were bitten bloody.
"One last question before you three go to the infantry. What is the stick you mentioned and what about the Death Eaters"
"Well, the Necromancer, Nodus is his name, I belive, serves under Voldemort(usual flinch from everyone in the room, apart from Dumbledore, Harry and surprisingly, Flitwick didn't surprise the girl), since he contacted Him straight away he got back from Hogwarts.
Apparantly,Voldemort(again this flinch. Irritating.) didn't tell about the Castle being active or something like that. And he used this stick to cast the necklace." The young witch handed the perfectly white stick, about a meter and a half long, perfectly white, with nice-looking carved ornament and a piece of obsidian on the top of it, to the Headmaster, who examined it closely.
"It is made out of a bone of some mystical animal, but I can't say witch one right now. Obviously, since he is dead, he needs a much stronger focus to cast anything that actually requires said focus. I do not have the right knowledge of necromancery to state this for sure. Is there something else you wish, Ms.Grangener"
"I'd like a little to eat, sir"
"Not a problem at all. Mr.Weasley, please help Ms.Grangener to the infantry. I shall inform the Houseelves of your wish. Mr.Potter, stay, please"
Throwing his friends a rather scared look, Harry said his goodbyes to them and stared intensively at the Headmaster. Behind him Snape and McGonagall exchanged brief glances with the headmaster. "Well, Potter," Snape began. At the sound of his least favourite teacher Harry almost cringed.» cold you perhaps explain us this nightly escapade? Did your fan-club need another adventure to talk about? The Boy Who Lived and The Necromancer?" Snape sneered, his lips curling sarcastically.
"I do belive, that my 'escapade' was rather obvious: we went to save the friend. I am surprised you fail to comprehend it." Harry replied in a surprisingly cold and sarcastic voice. Said voice was developed by him in the summer out of utter boredom exactly for a situation like this. nape looked taken aback, but recovered quickly.
"Potter, bit your tongue! How dare you mock one of your teachers! Not only did you endanger yourself, against witch I don't have anything to say, but you also endanger your so-called friends, one by taking him with you and one in her situation as a hostage! Did it ever crawl into your thick head that perhaps if you failed, the Necromancer would have had his revenge on Ms.Grangener"
"And perhaps you," Harry spoke louder, his temper rising,» did not understand the situation! How do you know that she wouldn't have been dead by tomorrow,huh?I've lost enough people in my life to allow the risk! But perhaps you do not understand such an aspeckt, since you hadn't had people that care about you?!!!" in the sudden silence one could hear Snape and Harry breathing heavily.
"Enough.Severus,I belive,you made your point quite clear. Harry, I also belive you should apologize to your Professor." Headmaster's voice was full of authority.
After hearing Harry's faint and grumpy "sorry about it" and Snapes as faint and grumpy "apology accepted», Dumbledore continued.
"Well,Harry,I belive,you understand how dangerous this adventure was.You,however,still managed to defeat a Necromancer in his own nest and rescue a friend and a student of this school. I belive that I should award you points for this, but it would be childish, and the Term hasn't started yet.Instead,how about you won't get detentions for ...borrowing Professor Snape's and Professor Sprout's belongings"
Harry only nodded eagerly, knowing full well what detentions by Snape were like.
"But Headmaster! He used almost all my stock of battle Potions!" the pout on Snape's face was almost childish.
"And I won't have time to brew them anew! And Potter could use some remedial Potions, since his skills in this department are sadly lacking. I belive it would be wise to put him with Grangener and Weasley to brew these potions under my superwision.It will take only two or three evening's time!" Snape's face expressed real distress about his now-empty potions bag.
"Yes,headmaster,I belive it would be wise." Harry looked at McGonagall as if he was stabbed in the back by her. She only smiled at him evilly.
"And in this case you could award him house points"
Damn!Now I have to brew potions only so that McGonagall can keep the Housecup!That's unfair! was all Harry could think on this matter.Then,he had an Idea.
"I accept this punishment, if Professor Snape will let us in his Advanced Potions class at the start of term, no matter what our OWL results in his subject are." now it was Harry's turn to grin evilly at Snape,who looked gob smacked.
"Well,Potter,I never believed to see the day you would ask to continue in my class. Why such sudden desire to continue with potions"
Snape recovered quickly. It never cased to amaze Harry how he could make even harmless sentences seem insulting.
"Severus, I belive this solution satisfies us all, don't you think so?" McGonagall raised an eyebrow for effect.
Damn.Snape thought. What have I gotten myself into? Two more years of Potter and Weasley!!!!!!!!Oh well, at least his potions bag would be restocked. IF these imbeciles could brew these concotions properly.
"Very well,Potter,I shall accept you in my Advanced Potions class. But" he interrupted suddenly, seeing the happy look on the boy's face, "if your grades will be as lousy as they were in the last five years, I'll throw you out of the classroom without hesitation. The same goes for Weasley.So you ARE going to have to work harder then ever. Is that understood"
Ah,how nice to see a Potter blanch.
"Y-yes, Professor"
"Very well. Our potion brewing session shall start by tomorrow, if Grangener recovers until then. Headmaster, Minerva. I bid you good evening"
With that said,Snape turned around and walked out of the office. He had his new potion to work on.
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