Hey everyone,
This is another Darker challenge that can be considered similar to numbers 22 & 23, yet not quite as in those Harry is more apathy-based and Neutral and in this one he really does turn Dark. I'm normally not really a fan of that – wrote only 1 Dark!Harry story my entire life – but this challenge really spoke to me, so
Wish me luck,
Venquine1990
Challenge #25
Clear The Mist
Harry's POV
"I am about to attempt to break into your mind." That one sentence makes me feel uncomfortable for more reasons than I can really understand and it's not just because it's Snape that will be the one to try this that I grip my wand a little firmer than usual as another part of me actually feels scared; something I never felt around the man.
I therefore try to push this feeling to the back of my mind and focus on the here and now as Snape goes on and says: "We are going to see how well you resist. I have been told that you have already shown aptitude at resisting the Imperius Curse. You will find that similar powers are needed for this … brace yourself, now, Legilimens!"
The attack comes so suddenly, the spell rushing at me so quickly, I actually release my restraint on the fear inside me as the office around me blurs from view and I instead feel myself get stuck behind my Mind's eye or something that feels similar and as this happens, do I see all kind of memories flashing around and before it.
Yet before I can properly attempt to look at one, does the sensation end again and I feel myself falling, landing on my backside on Snape's unforgiving stone floor and – to my shock – with Snape towering over me, his entire posture showing how the man is seething with a rage that makes me wonder if he saw any of the memories.
"Potter, why was there magic attached to all those memories? They were unorganized, huddled up, a blown together mess, so why was their magic attached to them? You obviously have no experience with Occlumency, so explain this and explain this now!" The man snaps at the end, but I just look shocked and confused and say:
"I have no what you're talking about. I felt as if you pulled me into my own Mind's Eye, saw the memories start to flash by and before I could even try to focus on them, did you end the spell. I really don't know what you're talking about – sir." I add at the end, the strange fear inside me making me comply with the man's wish.
The man looks at me with thin lips and lidded eyes and he says: "If what you say is true, Potter, then that means that the magic I saw surrounding all those memories is not your own. Tell me Potter, do you know anyone who would want to mess with your mind – other than him." This makes me grimace and I say:
"The only other person I can think of, sir, is Lockhart, but I personally constantly made sure not to be around him enough to let him try anything. Also Sir, there is one other thing." The man looks intrigued and I say: "I don't know why, but part of me – feels scared. Not of you, but of you breaking into my mind."
The man raises an eyebrow and I say: "I repeat, I am not afraid of you." And this time I leave out the word Sir to emphasize my point and the man nods as he says: "If you really do not fear me, yet a part of you fears me entering your mind then that part must be connected to the magic surrounding your memories, Potter.
There is something about those memories that someone else does not want us finding out and I know only one way to find out what." This slightly reliefs me, but even more intrigues me and that intrigue helps me fight down on how the fear is now growing and trying to tell me to just forget about all this and flee the room.
"I don't know who's messing with my mind, sir, but whoever it is, they know you have the power to undo it and they're scared of that. They are trying to tell me to flee right now as we speak." The man nods and then leaves for his Potions Cupboard, coming back with a small circular container of lotion that he hands to me as he says:
"Rub this over your eyes tonight five minutes before bed. Then lie down and read something simple until you fall asleep. The cream will make it so that you can by your own will return to your Mind's Eye – as you call it – and once there you need to will 2 mirrors to appear. From there on out the cream will do the rest."
I nod at the man and take a deep breath as the part of me that feels fearful is now screaming at me, telling me to drop the cream, break the container, throw it away, cover Snape with it and all other sort of things, but because I feel done with taking the opinion of others over my own, do I instead put the cream in my robe pocket.
Later that night
The cream inside the container is – shockingly enough – odorless, which makes it easier for me to rub it over my eyes without alerting those I share a dorm with. This reliefs me as, ever since finding out that my memories have been tempered with, I feel like I can only trust myself and the cream I have with me.
I didn't even feel like I can trust either Ron or Hermione anymore – mostly because the fearful voice inside me told me to snitch on Snape with them – and so I just passed the library completely, knowing they and most of the other Fifth years would probably be there working on homework, yet that felt trivial compared to my situation.
Yet the Common room had not made me feel any better as Fred and George had the attention of everyone not in Fifth and were showing off their newest product. Yet what made me rush past them was not my need to be alone, it was the fact that the voice within me was not encouraging me to go to them, but away from them.
This had made me even more distrustful of Ron and Hermione and that had stung terribly, making me rush past them both before they could even see me – or the tears I wanted to shed. The dorm room had luckily enough been vacant and I had stayed there until the others came back, pulling my curtains closed when I heard them approach.
That was half an hour ago and Ron's snoring still makes me want to cry as the voice inside me grew stronger when he came into the room, something that made me know that Ron was somehow either responsible or at least involved and while I felt my heart break, had I thought: "No more. This friendship is no more."
And with that had I rubbed the cream over my eyes, ready to be a new person, someone I probably would have been had it not been for my messed up memories, and then I had grabbed one of the books Sirius and Lupin had given me for Christmas, opening it and reading the texts on spells I already know and learned.
This easy reading of things I have already mastered long ago helps me let go off the pain in my heart and after a few pages do I feel my eyes lulling, my lids becoming heavy and do I put off my glasses, lying them and the book besides my pillow before tucking deeper under the cover of my blankets and falling asleep.
Instantly I feel a different part of me becoming active, as if there is a part of me that becomes awake when I sleep, but when I open other me's eyes is the entire room around me blank and white, no shapes or objects anywhere. Looking around at what Snape and I dubbed my Mind's Eye, do I suddenly feel myself mistaken.
While the entire space around me seems blank and empty is there still another presence here, one who looks younger than me, who has blonde hair and who seems as startled to be here as I am to see her here and while I realize that the voice inside me has finally fallen silent, do I ask: "Luna, are – are you the one – the one messing –?"
But the way the girl shakes her head reliefs me before she says: "No Harry Potter, I'm just here because it is my place to be here. That is the duty that befalls my kind." This confuses me and I ask: "Your kind?" The girl nods, not looking at all dreamy or out of it, but instead carrying herself with an incredible sense of duty as she says:
"Empathy-Users. Witches and Wizards that can share the emotions, memories and sometimes even minds of other magic users. I've been trying to become one with yours since I first saw Ginny in Gryffindor, but many other forces kept me from reaching even your subconscious. Nice to see that has finally changed."
This reminds me of what the voice told me about Ron and Hermione and while pain flashes through me, do I say: "You mean Ron and Hermione, don't you?" The girl nods and says: "They are your Nargles, Harry, and I'm glad you realized that yourself. But there are also other Nargles out there and they too kept me away."
This, while her explanation finally makes me understand her a little better, makes me worried as well and I say: "I had Occlumency class today. Snape saw that several of my memories have been messed with so he gave me a cream to help me shape this place. He said if I envision 2 mirrors, that the cream will do the rest."
The girl nods and says: "It will, but it won't be pleasant. You are more conscious here than Snape probably expected you would be, so you will feel as if the memories are being torn away from you. Good thing I'm here then, I can make that pain lessen while the mirrors do their job." Which makes me smile at her in relief.
I then take a deep breath and close my eyes, focusing on the few times I stood in front of a mirror and remembering two of them most vividly; the Mirror of Erised that I found in my first year here and the mirror I had in my room at the Leaky Cauldron during my three week stay there after I blew up my uncle's sister, Marge Dursley.
"Well done, Harry." I then hear Luna say and look up, seeing two reflections of myself looking back, one of them framed by an old and dusty looking frame that seems to be at least a century or two old and the other having a few cracks at the outside and having smears of grease and bad window cleaner here and there.
Looking from one to the other, do I suddenly see the two frames lighting up and Luna says: "Your magic has chosen the left one as the one to show you your memories undamaged and the one on the right as the opposite. And sorry Harry, but now the pain begins." And her words seem to actually trigger the pain of which she speaks.
Memories appear from every angle of the space surrounding us, looking like rolls of film and heading for the mirror, but before they do, do they actually pass through me, every memory that does so splitting in half when they leave me and feeling as if they are ripping a pore out of my person and taking it with them.
Using everything I have to keep standing, do I grind my teeth against the undoable feeling of being torn in half and then some, but then Luna lies one of her hands on one of my fists and I feel something surrounding me, covering at every point bar where the memories enter and leave me, yet still making me feel stronger and healthier.
For several long minutes, which feel like hours, does this continue and when the last memory has split in two and left me, do I collapse onto my knees and pant, sweat covering me from my head down to my chest and back and tears leaking from my eyes as the pain in my midriff began to feel like an endless torture.
"You were amazing, Harry. And look, allowing the memories to split made you change looks a bit as well." Luna then says, happiness and pride lacing her tone as she speaks to me, her tone sounding like that of an older sister comforting her younger brother and though our ages are different, do I still smile at her gratefully for this.
After a few more minutes of catching my breath and regaining my strength do I stand up and look again into the two mirrors, Luna's words of me having changes being proven right as my looks in the Mirror of Erised now differ from those in the other; though I still have my dad's messy black hair and my mum's emerald green eyes.
But that is also where the similarities with my old looks die as my skin has become tanned so much it looks as if I've been kissed by the sun itself, my hair has lengthened down to just past my knees, the messy part only reaching my shoulders and my whole body has filled out as if I've been away on Quidditch camp for a week or something.
"How? How are spells that mess with my mind able to alter my looks this much?" I ask in shock and Luna answers: "By being combined with other spells and potions. It really doesn't do that so many creatures have the strongest loyalty to one man only." And while her words are cryptic, do I understand them nonetheless.
"Dumbledore. He ordered the House-Elves to feed me drugged and poisoned meals, didn't he?" Luna nods and says: "He and almost everyone else who is supposedly loyal to you. There are only three people who have not ever presented you with something that isn't cursed, charmed, drugged or poisoned. Well, four, really."
At this I again look at my Mirror of Erised image and say: "You, Sirius, Lupin and Hagrid, right?" Luna nods and says: "The twins did also with the Map, but like with Hagrid, did everything they ever give you first pass Molly and or Ron and did it become cursed or drugged, which is why that voice inside you doesn't like them."
This makes me look at her strangely and she smiles as she says: "Being here allows me to see what happened to you in the last 24 hours. Also, you should really open that package Sirius gave you. He's pretty smart when it comes to things like this as well and he will help you look like you do now in a heartbeat, I'm sure of it."
This both makes me blush as I had really not planned to open that package until things were at their absolute worst – and preferably not even then – but also makes me smile because of the trust Luna shows to have in my godfather and then I turn back to the mirrors and asks: "So – now what do I do with these?"
The girl shrugs and says: "You can do two things, really. Either you view the memories that were moved inside it or you use this plain, my help and the structure of these mirrors to make some kind of mental defense for yourself. Mind you, I can even enter Snape and Dumbledore's minds, so no defenses work against me."
This makes me laugh, part of me curious as to what the girl found in the minds of the Greasy Dungeon bat and the Old Goat, but then I take a deep breath and say: "I'm supposed to have Occlumency classes every Monday. Might as well show Snape that I am grateful for the help he offered me by bettering my defenses, no?"
The girl nods and she again takes my hand as she says: "What's most important right now is that you focus on the true memories. Use the power of truth to make something you feel comfortable in. A Place you feel warm, loved and strong. If you can do that, you can then build something around the other mirror to keep it contained."
I nod and want to get to work when she interrupts me and says: "Oh, and make sure that whatever you make, it's something others won't 1-2-3 expect of you. The more obvious that you like the interior, the easier they can use it against you and undo everything you did when making these two mirrors. Remember that."
I nod again, amazed at how much knowledge this girl has and then smile as I know exactly the place that I can use to make my mental defenses strong and while I focus back on the Mirror of Erised in front of me, do I ask: "You know what, Luna?" The girl looks at me and I say: "You really do belong in Ravenclaw House."
Making the girl smile as I get to work. The whiteness of the room around me slowly changes, becoming rock hard, sturdy and uneven at several points and to the intrigued amazement of Luna does the area around us turn smaller and more earthen before, as I look around with pride, I see that we are in the cave near the Shrieking Shack.
I then focus on the Mirror of Erised again and feel my body tensing in effort as I allow for the frame to merge together with the back of the cave before turning to Luna and asking: "Is it possible for me to hide the memories behind the mirrors? Or maybe even switch them around seeing the significance of the Mirror of Erised?"
The girl shakes her head and says: "We can't switch the two images around. The Mirror of Erised is what shows most people the deepest truths, so you using a magical item for a mirror makes its significance only stronger. You can however try and make something behind the mirrors in order to confuse your enemies."
At this I nod and then remember what I told her about Ravenclaw before I silently think: "Time to let out my inner Snake." And with a smirk that would have probably made Draco Malfoy very proud, if not quite jealous, do I focus on the back of the two mirrors and the rocky wall which I have merged them together with.
Feeling the rocks and the stone that is the mountain in which the cave resides, do I feel sweat dripping down my brow and gathering at my fisted hands as I carve several tunnels out behind the two mirrors, creating a maze that is not unlike the hedge maze I had to pass through during the Third Task of the Tournament last year.
The cleaving takes a lot of effort and I try using some of the magic of the mirror of Erised, the power of the enchanted object fueling the power with which I cleave through the rocks and while I make sure that the two paths cross and switch sides a few times, do I then stop focusing on the Lying mirror's path and focus on the other.
Deciding that I have used practically half of what the mountain has to offer me, do I close my eyes even tighter to gain better focus of what I want and at the end of the Mirror of Erised Tunnel, do I cleave out a large square room with small metal pipes covering the floor and with mirrors covering every inch of the walls.
Envisioning myself to be there, do I feel my spiritual body move and Luna whistles as she says: "Our training room for the DA. Clever thought, Harry, but – isn't that a little obvious?" But I smile at the girl and say: "Check my doorway." The girl looks inside the small circular doorway that I cleaved into the mountain and whistles again.
"A stone maze. Very clever. I take it there are several paths linking the Mirror of Erised with the other one?" I nod and then focus on the mirror again, focusing on what lies within and mentally calling it my way, Luna stepping back as the many rolls of film fly out of the doorway and into the room where I instantly change focus.
Spreading my arms and moving them around as I focus, do I allow for one memory after the other to merge together with the mirrors of the room, making an extra layer of mirrors to put some of my darker memories in as extra protection and when I have four layers of mirrors all around me, do I focus one last time.
One last roll of memory film floats in front of me, my eyes catching onto what was on the memory when I was organizing the room and while Luna looks at the film in intrigue, do I focus behind me where the Room of Requirements usually has a fireplace. The grate itself appears and I move my arm to point above it.
The film shoots for the wall above the grate and as I squeeze my eyes together to make my inner magical powers do the work, does the film change into a moving picture of me rushing for my Godfather as he lies on the water bank of the Black Lake, the bottom parts of Dementor Cloaks floating at the top of the frame.
Luna's eye twitches as she sees this and I say: "I actually wanted to put a memory of me hugging the man there, but even if someone gets here, the picture will make them think they found my darker memories, which will probably make them backtrack." The girl nods and says: "You're better at this than I thought."
At this I shake my head and say: "I don't get it either. This all feels so natural and simple, but before this winter holiday I didn't even know what Occlumency is." But then, remembering what happened between me and the strange voice inside me, do I look at all the memories surrounding me as I softly ask: "Or – did I?"
The girl looks around worried and then says: "It's best if you leave that for another time, Harry. Now that you know this room is here, it should come easier for you to enter it. Do understand that, because you're still a beginner, you will always return to the whiteness first and that you need to think of the cave for it to appear."
At this I nod and say: "I best work on that other mirror. Need to make it so that people think they found my happy spot, no?" The girl nods and I focus us to where I ended the tunnel coming from the Lying mirror, entering a place that is purely dark and that is almost the opposite of the white plain I entered when this all began.
Looking around the cave ending, do I move a little, trying to think of what could really make people believe they found the right place, but then smile, close my eyes and envision the tunnel expending, the rock-floor evening out and the walls to heighten, the ceiling to become enchanted and for tables to grow out of the floor.
Luna gasps and squeals as she apparently sees my work and when I am certain I have everything finished, do I open my eyes and see that the entire Great Hall is now around me, the tables, the stage with the Head Table, the door to the Antechamber, the glass containers for the point system, the gargoyles and the enchanted ceiling.
I then focus on the door to the Antechamber, as I made sure that is where the tunnel comes from and the door opens as the many rolls of film coming from the Lying Mirror rush forward, but just when I want to move them up and into the enchanted ceiling, do my eyes widen as the magic of the memories overcomes my own.
Jumping to the side to avoid them coming at me, do I retake my position and attempt to stand my ground, but the magic of the memories apparently senses my presence and attempts to merge with me again – only for the entire array of film rolls to freeze inches away from my presence, shocking me and making me look around.
Luna has both hands aimed at the set rolls and has an angry frown on her face before she moves her arms up and, just as I intended, do the rolls disappear into the ceiling, the sky there darkening the more rolls enter its power field and when the last one disappears, does a thunderstorm appear, a large bolt of lightning flashing across the sky.
"That is one powerful warlock." Luna then says and I look at her, but the girl smiles and says: "But no matter the magical strength, no one out beats an Empathy-User, especially not one centered in the mind of another and with the intention to protect the other. Oh, and I send a small stinging hex at whoever that caster was."
This makes me snort with laughter, especially with how easily the girl says it, without even a hint of guilt in her tone and then I refocus on the ceiling, working my hardest to end the thunderstorm and making the clouds disappear, causing for a beautiful clear blue sky with small clouds scattered here and there to appear.
Luna smiles as she sees this and after I light the torches held by the Gargoyles and cause for the floating candles to appear, making their flames flicker as if they are powered by something strange, do I take a deep breath, feeling mentally and magically exhausted and Luna says: "Enough for tonight, Harry. You're almost overdoing it."
I nod at her and say: "Maybe so, Luna, but at least now my mind is safe. All I need to do now –." But the girl interrupts me and says: "All you need to do now is rest. Tomorrow you can do some breathing exercises and if you work with those, you can enter your mindscape and review all the memories that have been messed with."
I nod, but what I don't tell the girl is that, because that concerns so many of my memories and because the ones having messed with them are the ones constantly preaching that they're on my side, that I decided no longer to be on theirs. If they drug and poison me just because they don't like who I am, then that's their problem.
"This boy is done playing puppet. I may not know what memories or parts of me they messed with, but I do know this. The way that Voldemort and Malfoy use Dark Magic will be Child's Play once I'm done with those that think they can mess with me. I'm nobody's puppet and those puppeteers will soon come to know that."
And with those thoughts do I feel Mind me merging back with the real me, my body still lying in my own bed, the night sky outside still very dark and starry and the snoring of one Ronald Weasley making me feel more annoyed and in need of peace than ever before. And with the ideas of how I can get that peace growing, do I sleep again.
Okay, this one took FOREVER!
I can't believe I allowed for a challenge to be this long, but then again I'm not exactly good with how to turn Good!Harry into Dark!Harry, that didn't really come up until the end and even then I made it be very, very vague. Sorry, but if this were to become a story, it would be a really long one as the change would take me forever.
Anyway, challenge rules:
Okay guys, get ready for another popular theme turned into a challenge, but I hope that you might like the sound of it;
DZ2's 'Clear the Mist' Challenge
Plot:Dumbledore wanted a slave; the Weasleys want a meek yes-man who lusts after someone of his Mother's looks; Harry wants to break free: only ONE of them's going to get it.
Rules:Dark or Evil Harry
Harry's mind must break free of their control during one of the following points: Moody/Crouch Imperio lessons 4th year; Harry's name coming out of the cup 4th year; Any of the three Tasks 4th year; Tom's return 4th year; Dementors 5th year; Snape's Occlumency lessons 5th year; Umbridge's torture 5th year;
Sirius CANNOT die and MUST be set free at some point in the story
Despite turning Dark, Harry DOES NOT join Tom
The ONLY one of Harry's friends that cannot turn on him/be against him is Luna (anyone else is up to you)
The ONLY one of the adults that cannot turn on/be against Harry is Sirius (anyone else is up to you)
At some point in the first couple of chapters, there must be flashbacks showing how Dumbles and the Light have tried to get Harry on their side
All pairings are welcome EXCEPT Harry/Ginny
Guidelines:In his memories, Harry sees he's used the Big Three (Crucio, Imperio and even the AK)
Dark Lord Harry/Harry makes the former Dark Lord serve him
Certain Death Eaters defect and join Harry
Harry uses the Light's 'spies' against them (this can include Ron)
Somehow, Harry leaves Gryffindor House
Harry goes after Darker powers than Voldemort (e.g. Necromancy, Vampires etc.)
Crossovers
Forbidden:Light or Grey Harry
Harry/Ginny
Luna Bashing
Sirius Bashing
Sirius still on the run
Harry allied with Dumbledore or Tom
Other than that, it's up to you...