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Malice Magic
By Demonabyss
Dumbledore reread the letter from Harry Potter, a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye. Harry Potter had accepted his letter to Hogwarts moreover he had asked that someone come get him. The Headmaster could not have hoped for a better situation so far. However, there was one slight problem. Almost all the teachers were busy making last minute preparations for the coming school year. Even Hagrid was busy with the Thestrals for the students coming in. The only one not busy was Severus Snape, the potions master, who had the foresight to take care of all those matters over the summer and not at the last minute. The man was loyal and trustworthy, but he had quite a history with Harry's father and thus would more then likely look down on the boy. But the Headmaster had no choice, so he called a house elf to him to summon Severus, knowing this wasn't going to be fun.
Snape appeared in front of Number 4 Privet Drive. On the outside the house looked exactly the same as all the others, same bland color, same car, and the same yard. Snape scowled and muttered something about uncreative muggles before heading forth. Only for Dumbledore would he put up with babysitting the Potter brat and go on one of Ginggotts insufferable mine carts in the same day. As he approached the house he stopped. Something was … off. There was an aura there, a magical one and of a kind he had never felt before. It was a kind of foreboding, a warning of sorts to all who came to close to the innocent looking home. While this house seemed exactly like the rest, inside was a great danger. It was like hiding a whomping willow in a forest of weeping willows. It wouldn't stand out until you got close and by then it would be too late. Snape shook it off and knocked on the front door.
The potions master was a little surprised when he heard, "Boy! Go get the door!" followed by the sound of the door opening a moment later. The door opened to reveal an eleven-year-old boy with dark hair with blood red tips. The boy looked up at the Professor with the most intense green eyes the man had ever seen. He silently doubted Salazar Slytherin himself had such intensely green eyes. Was this Harry Potter? No, it couldn't be. He had neither his father's hair nor his mother's eyes as was reported when he was a baby. The boy grinned in an almost disturbing sort of way and stepped to the side, allowing the Professor entry. "Who are you sir?" he asked calmly.
Just before the wizard could answer, a large rotund man came up behind Harry and gripped his shoulder hard while staring at him. "Who are you? If your selling, we ain't buying and if you're one of his kind you can get out!" the man bellowed at the Professor. A scared woman and a boy that was also, to be frank, fat, soon joined the man.
Snape scowled at him. "I am Professor Snape of Hogwarts and I am here to pick up Mr. Potter at his request," he said evenly.
The large man, whom he guessed was Vernon Dursley, turned purple with rage as he gripped the boy much harder, which did not go unnoticed by Snape. However he also noted that the boy didn't seem to care and just stood there grinning. "BOY! How did they contact you? How dare you invite these freaks here! Why I'll …" he was about to rant when Harry suddenly jabbed him, HARD, with his elbow right above the stomach but below the chest. Everyone was surprised at this as Vernon sputtered in pain and gripped the spot where Harry had struck, even Snape's eyes, widened in shock at the move. He then fell over, gasping in pain as Petunia and Dudley ran to help him. Apparently the boy was physically stronger then people gave him credit for.
"I do apologize Professor for my uncle's unruly behavior and while I'll probably be beaten a lot for that later, I couldn't help it. I've wanted to do that for years anyway," he said calmly. Snape just stared at the child. How could he speak so calmly about being beaten or about taking down a man five times larger then himself? He wasn't being arrogant or smug it was like he was stating a simple fact. "Well, shall we go?" he asked politely. Snape just nodded, now not sure how to judge the son of his most hated rival.
'Was that really necessary?' Alice asked coyly in his mind.
Harry just grinned at her, or at least the mental equivalent to a grin. 'No, but it was fun and he deserved it,' Harry responded with a chuckle. Alice just smiled and shook her head as Snape glanced at the boy when he chuckled, wondering what he was thinking.
As the two went along, Harry turned to the Professor. "Sir? How am I to pay for all this? I don't have any money and most of these items seem expensive," Harry asked calmly. Again, too calmly for Snape's tastes. The boy appeared to have a mask just like most Slytherins did, but instead of being emotionless, he used the emotion of calm and pleasantness to hide what he was truly feeling.
"Your parents left you their vaults before they died. We will stop by Gringotts Wizards bank and then pick up your supplies at Diagon Alley," Snape explained calmly.
"Just how did my parents truly die? The Dursleys said it was a car crash, so I know that wasn't it," Harry asked while looking up at the man.
Snape sighed, as he really didn't want to explain that to the boy right now. "I'll explain that later. For now, we need to get your supplies," he said changing the subject as they entered the Leaky Cauldron. The bartender looked up as they passed through and surprised Snape by NOT recognizing Harry, mostly cause he didn't look anything like his parents and his scar was covered by his bangs. This suited Snape just fine and probably Harry as well.
The two entered Diagon Alley. If Harry was surprised or impressed, he didn't show it. He had seen much grander things in Wonderland. They went to the bank at the end of the alley. At Gringotts, Snape walked Harry up to an unusual looking creature Harry, which vaguely reminded him of the Fire Imps back in Wonderland, nasty little buggers they were. "Mr. Potter would like to make a withdrawal from his vault," Snape said quietly.
The creature turned and appraised him. "And does Mr. Potter have his key?"
Snape presented it to the teller who took it and handed it off to another creature. Harry gave the Professor a questioning glance. "Goblins, Harry," Shape whispered in his ear at the unspoken question. "Smart as anything and just as mean. Nowhere but Hogwarts is safer than Gringotts." Harry scoffed at that though the Professor didn't notice, he had seen things in Wonderland that would make these so called goblins look like fluffy little rabbits, though the rabbits he knew weren't that nice either he thought with a slight snicker. Alice silently agreed with him on that note. Snape stood and leaned closer to the teller. "I also need to pick up 'you-know-what' and vault 'you know-where'," he murmured, sliding a charmed letter from Dumbledore across the counter. The goblin read it and nodded, and passed the letter to the goblin holding the key to Harry's vault.
"Go with Griphook," the teller said.
Harry followed Snape into a long corridor. Snape helped Harry get into a little car on tracks. "I'll get Dumbledore for this," thought Snape as he felt his stomach turn as the cart sped through the dark tunnels. Harry didn't mind at all. It reminded Alice of the caves in the Village of Damned.
Suddenly the cart screeched to a stop. Snape grimly climbed out and turned to help Harry. The goblin stepped up to the vault and unlocked it. Harry stared in disbelief. There were piles and piles of coins from floor to ceiling – and this was just to last him 6 years and then there were other vaults. Harry was completely flabbergasted. Snape got out a velvet bag and filled it to bursting. "There," he said, handing Harry the heavy bag, "that should last you through the year and some. Don't worry about learning the coins right now. Either Professor Dumbledore or I will explain that later. Right now I will help you pay or the shopkeeper will, but right now we had better get going," he said as he regretfully climbed into the cart. Harry gazed at the vault intent on searching it and the others for anything useful, as he was sure his parents had left him something else besides money. Alice made a comment about curiosity and cats with a slight chuckle.
Their first stop was Flourish & Blotts to purchase the more mundane things: parchment, ink, quite a number of textbooks, and a standard pewter cauldron. Next they visited the Apothecary for his potion ingredients. Harry knew he couldn't go wrong, what with having the Potions Master pick out his ingredients. "You won't need many of these for awhile, but it will save you the trouble later of getting hold of them. You will still need to acquire certain items when instructions call for fresh only. I will let my classes know ahead of time if they will need to purchase them or if I will be providing them." Snape, satisfied with the ingredients he had selected for Harry, set about purchasing a few for his private stores. They then went to Madam Malkin's Robes for all Occasions to pick up Harry some suitable robes. "Now, Harry, for your wand." Harry grinned with pure delight. He'd been looking forward to this since he read his letter.
'I wonder, how does one choose a wand? Would there be one suited to me?' Alice asked curiously.
Harry chuckled again Snape just glanced, wondering what the boy was amused by. 'I doubt there's any wand that could handle you,' he thought back to which she just chuckled. Snape just watched him closely, still unnerved by this boy's attitude. From what he knew, the Dursleys hated anything magic and yet this boy had barely reacted to anything he had seen so far, as if it was all old news to him. There was also the aura he felt before at the house. It was still there, but now that he was close to the boy it almost felt like two auras. One was the boy's he could tell that much. It was well hidden now and it wasn't what the Professor was concerned with. It was the second aura that bothered him. He just couldn't place what the hell it was. All he could tell was that it was a mix of light and dark, if that was even possible. He'd mention this to Dumbledore later.
They stepped through the doors of Olivander's to see stacks upon stacks of boxes from floor to ceiling. An old man popped up from behind the counter. "Ah, Mr. Potter. I was wondering when I would see you. Let me take your measurements and which is your wand arm, my boy?" he asked pleasantly.
Instantly both him and Alice were on guard. Anyone who knew your name before you spoke was usually someone to be weary of. He silently held out his right arm, as that was the one he was used to wielding the Jabberwocky Eye staff in Wonderland. He especially liked that toy though the Jabberwocky himself was a little put off by that. The old man measured as Harry, Snape, and Alice through Harry's eyes watched him. Harry tried one wand after another, though it usually ending in either an explosion or something being blown over. Olivander then thought of something as he looked at the boy's intense green eyes. "I wonder," he mumbled before going into the back part of his shop and brought back a very old wooden chest. He opened it to reveal a stunning wand. "Black oak, 12 inches, set in gold, contains dementor skin, brimstone, and what is to believed to be Jabberwocky blood, though that has never been confirmed," he said as he handed the wand to the boy. He gave it a wave and gold, black, and red sparks came out of the tip. "That'll be eight galleons please," he said calmly.
The two walked out, Harry pleased at his choice of wand. 'Just so you know, that is Jabberwocky blood in there. He won't be pleased at that,' Alice commented calmly.
Harry just shrugged as he walked with Snape. 'So what? He's usually in a fowl mood anyway,' Harry replied mentally. As they were walking, Harry stopped as he felt something, something familiar. 'Do you feel that?' he asked Alice as he broke away from Snape when he wasn't looking and headed into Knockturn Alley. He soon came to a shop called "Jackson's Creatures" and entered. Inside the shop there were any number of creatures, some illegal and all of them dangerous. The thing he and Alice were sensing was in that far back of the shop. Harry made his way to the back without being noticed until he came to a large metal box, chained down with just one small barred window on it.
Through the small window, Harry saw a pair of feral eyes. They had no pupils and looked like silver slits. Without thinking, Harry called out a spell, not even bothering with his wand. "Zeruk!" he called out. Immediately his body shifted into a much more muscular and larger form. His teeth became razor sharp, he hair like spiky dreadlocks, and his hands morphed into long powerful claws. In no time at all he ripped the chains and box apart, barely feeling anything from the charms put on it. He reverted to his normal form as the spell wore off as he gazed at the creature that had been in the box.
It was a phoenix, at least in shape. It was larger then a normal phoenix and colored black. It had various markings on it. Its wing edges were silver with orange and red swirls on it wings. On its back and face were dark blue markings and under its eyes were more red ones. It also had a silver crest on its head and it had three long tail feathers of similar coloring that seemed to naturally twist into a triple helix. It was a magnificent, if not extremely dangerous creature.
The phoenix and Harry locked eyes for a moment. The phoenix seemed to gaze deep into the boy's twisted soul and silently judged whether or not. In return, Harry could see into its … no his eyes and soul as well. This was no ordinary phoenix. Not only was it extremely rare, but also after years of heavy chains and dark cages, it had literally gone mad. It wouldn't let anyone, or anything for that matter, near it without loosing a limb or two to its razor sharp beak or knife like talons. The two stared at each other with Alice watching from the sidelines. A small grin crept up on Harry's face as he held out his arm to the bird of prey. The phoenix nodded its head in approval and jumped onto his arm. "Come on Orion, Professor Snape must be worried about now," Harry, said calmly as he petted the bird. He then exited the shop without a word from the shopkeeper who was just glad to be rid of that monster. Of course it also worried him as to whom the hell that boy was if he could tame such a thing. Oh well, it was the kid's problem now.
I've decided on house and friends (Some of them at least), which I will reveal in the next chapter. Thank you all for reviewing. I may ask again for your suggestions.