They call him Faust, the Necromancer.
Not because he could literally raise the dead. But because he had an unusual trick of 'resurrecting' dead accounts and identities to use in his scams on those who targeted ordinary citizens.
Word had it if you'd been scammed or you had a problem, he was the one you sought out. He didn't kill, he generally only paid back the money you lost in the first place, and he didn't do any private investigating. He was the person you went when the law wasn't enough.
And his greatest trick was stealing the identities of those already dead, so it never came back to him. And when the criminals went to look for the culprit, they'd learn the hard way that they had been hit by the Necromancer.
Because he only went after criminals or those already outside the law, Scotland Yard tended to ignore his presence. Considering he generally handed them the worst offenders on a silver platter, they figured that ignoring his own crimes was enough.
The thing no one knew about Faust...was that he wasn't even eleven yet.
"Another day, another couple hundred thousand. So boring..."
A child with midnight black hair, grass green eyes, and aristocratic features lay on the couch watching his cartoons.
This was the true form of the mysterious Necromancer Faust.
Hearing his phone ring, his features melted away into those of a teenager, about sixteen or seventeen, with black hair, dark gray eyes, and a rather...interesting...outfit.
Nearby on the back of a wooden chair was a strange bird that resembled an owl.
Faust looked at the phone, and answered deadpan "What do you want Inspector Davies? Another fraud case?"
Just because he was technically a criminal didn't mean he had no contacts within the Scotland Yard. A few cops were rather sympathetic, having made a figurative 'deal with the devil' in order to close particularly sensitive cases.
Ones where the culprit was too connected, rich, or had hidden the clues and witnesses too deep to be found through legal channels.
Officially, he was labeled a 'consultant'. Unofficially, he was the secret weapon of the cops.
Crime would always exist...but that didn't mean they couldn't make it harder for the worst dirtbags to get away with their crimes. And Faust had a strict set of rules of what he would tolerate.
"Wait, what? A weird series of kidnappings that happen around September?"
"There is a strange phenomenon going on involving children. They're no older than twelve, but they always seem to be 'selected' when they're around the age of eleven. Birds come to their house, and they're visited by someone from some sort of 'school', or so they claim. If they're picked, they disappear for months at a time and come back only for brief periods. This continues for seven years, and when they come back they attempt to regain the time they've lost in this 'school' by graduating after the fact. From what we've been able to tell, the number of unemployed or under-educated adults is heavily attributed to these kidnappings. And any attempt to contact them at this so-called 'school' have failed. Apparently it's heavily off the grid."
"I don't see what this has to do with me."
"You've got a knack for infiltrating, and according to sources I've found, they'll accept transfers if they're younger than sixteen. Any older and it's too late for some sort of test."
"Again I don't see what this has to do with me."
"My niece was chosen as one of these 'applicants'. You remember Tracy, right?"
Tracy Davies was a fiery, if annoying brat who always seemed to bug him whenever he deposited clues for her uncle to use against crooks. She hated the fact that her Uncle had to sometimes rely on him to get the worst crooks arrested and actually put in jail where they belonged.
There was also something about her having a crush on some fictional 'savior' called Harry Potter, but he never really cared for those stupid books she kept trying to loan him.
He was the one who kept poking holes in her story books, which didn't even have the decency to label themselves fiction.
"Fine, but you so owe me one. You know that right? Standard fees apply, and you don't investigate if I rob anyone blind for pissing me off."
"Deal. There is supposed to be an entrance on Charing Cross road, and the 'train' for this so-called school leaves at King's Cross. Apparently there's some sort of trick to getting on the platform...something about a pillar. My sister wasn't too cooperative on that because I don't approve of this 'school'," he said.
Faust hung up...and then sighed.
"So that stupid school full of idiots has struck again."
Hogwarts. A 'school' for those who could wield 'magic'. Faust had had run-ins with the so-called "graduates" before. Some of them had balked when they realized his real age, and cited him for "underage magic use" and "breaking the 'Statute'" or some such rot.
Some of them had tried to drag him back to that 'place'. The one in his nightmares.
Stolas had eaten his memories from before he was Faust, so he didn't know why he hated it there. All he knew was that going back was unacceptable.
"I take it we're going back to those pathetic inbred hicks?"
"Don't be like that Stolas. We made a lot of gold off those idiots, remember?"
"The hassle of listening to their nonsense almost made all that effort worthless," snapped the owl.
"...Do you want me to leave you with Count D again, or are you going to complain about this? It's only for two years, after all."
"Three. You've forgotten that they almost forced you to attend for seven, remember?"
The last time Faust had dealings with the 'magicals', they almost forced him to attend 'Hogwarts' for seven years because his cover was just around the same age as a 'first year'.
Fortunately, he was able to slip out in his real form long enough to escape.
Stolas huffed, before turning his back on Faust.
"I'll buy you two chocolate and peanut butter parfaits," said Faust.
"...Make it three, with a dark chocolate one after,"said Stolas.
"Deal."
Good thing there was an ice cream shop where they were heading.
"If it isn't the necromancer and his pet demon. What do you want now?"
"I got hired to infiltrate Hogwarts. I thought you might be interested in getting in on the action enough to pay me to cause trouble in a way I can't get kicked out for," said Faust casually.
Riphook (father of Griphook the second, two stalls down) looks at him in disbelief.
It was bad enough he found a way to cheat the goblin's inheritance system to inherit the bulk of the 'dead' accounts. And it wasn't just the vaults that belonged to him by blood. Oh no, he did his research and went after the vaults that had more interesting things than just gold.
That wasn't to say he didn't take the gold-only vaults. By accumulating the smaller, less guarded vaults by the Ministry he had acquired more gold than he would have had originally by his family name alone.
They still didn't know how he did it.
So yes, the "necromancer" Faust had their respect for pulling off one of the biggest seizures of all time, right under the Ministry's nose.
And the irony was that in doing so he gained more political, monetary and magical capital among the pure bloods than the Ministry combined had.
"What did you have in mind?"
"I plan to make Albus Dumbledore's life very, very difficult. As difficult as possible, without getting thrown out for it. And when all is said and done, he'll find out the hard way that he let the big fish slip out of his fingers trying to 'reform' a criminal and Dark wizard," said Faust.
Everyone regarded Necromancy as 'evil' and 'Dark'. Which was pretty funny considering Faust had no ability to actually raise the dead. And Necromancers were more than just those who could raise the dead from the ground to do their bidding.
They could use soul magic.
Still, as a result of the goblins recognizing his instinctive ability to use that branch of magic, the Ministry had labeled him 'Dark' without actually bothering to see if he really was.
Faust was more of a Gray Wizard than a Dark wizard.
"Bah. Go see the branch manager. Perhaps he'll have some suggestions," said Riphook.
Faust had made his stance on goblins clear.
Don't try to steal from me and I won't make your lives as miserable as legally possible. Help me rob other people, and you'll find me easier to deal with.
Faust generally only cared about making money in a way that didn't get him arrested. He didn't kill, he didn't see the point of blackmailing people, and he didn't bother with fear.
Instead he was all about one-time payments, preferably in large amounts, that were above board and not about to get him arrested.
Coincidentally the goblins called him in when someone was using their influence with the pure bloods to avoid settling up, and for a cut of the action he would go in and get the gold they were due.
Lucius Malfoy quickly found that he lost more sympathizers than he gained after the second time he was 'challenged' to a game of high stakes poker with no limits. He had the chance to win back the money he owed the goblins, and he lost. Badly.
And Faust made sure all the other pure bloods knew about it by bribing the Daily Prophet about his attempts to avoid paying his debts to another pure bloods and losing more than he would have gained.
"So, you've decided to go to that ridiculous school."
"More like I was paid to go in order to see how bad the situation is from a 'friend' of mine. His niece is a half-blood, according to his sister."
"And you intend to do...what exactly?"
"Why Master Ragnok, what else? I am an agent of chaos, a gray lord of magic who has bound the demon Stolas as my familiar until our contract comes up for review by the powers that be. I intend to cause mischief and headaches in a way that won't get me kicked out. At least until I pass whatever tests these idiots throw in front of me. Besides, I'm bored and that old geezer has annoyed me enough times already."
"I shall begin your application. Fifth year sound acceptable?"
"Very. I'll likely need to study up, so if your record keepers wouldn't mind...?"
"I shall have a pass issued until the first of September. You may not borrow, copy, or speak of where it is located."
"So standard nondisclosure clause, with the agreement that my shields be tested before I leave and a blood oath before I'm allowed to read anything?" said Faust, entirely unconcerned.
"It's so nice dealing with those who know how the system works," said the goblin king with a tooth filled grin.
It was pretty much standard to learn "Occulmency" (legilmency wasn't required, but highly recommended, and Faust was passable at it) and sign a blood oath before knowledge was shared between the older races.
Pure bloods would balk at the idea of having to "go that far" just to gain immense knowledge, but for Faust it was nothing of import. He considered it normal. To be fair, they were the idiots who thought that the 'crucio' spell was the worst torture curse imaginable.
Faust knew of ten Dark spells not technically legal that could do far worse than simply overstimulate the nerve endings of the brain.
"Sign here, here, and here. Thumbprint here. And of course, a test to insure you are who you claim to be," said Riphook.
The goblins had great respect for Faust. Mostly because he was rather ruthless when it came time to collect what he was due...as the Malfoy family found out the hard way.
Once that was done, they tested his mental barriers and found them as solid as ever. They then tested his legilmency, and found it acceptable, though not very discreet.
After yet another round of papers, Faust finally got the pass while the goblins sent off his application for transfer into fifth year. The only issue was that he didn't have a surname, but he decided to have a bit of fun with the old coot.
Officially, his name was "Abraham Faust Stoker".
Abraham Stoker was the full name of Bram Stoker, the man who wrote the infamous fictional tale of "Dracula" that was still butchered today.
Faust had read the actual story, and found modern interpretations of it sorely lacking. The only one he actually liked was a Japanese comic called "Hellsing" and that was pushing it.
They left out big chunks and most just thought that the romanticized version was good enough. It was almost as bad as the interpretations of J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. They left out big chunks that would have made the story complete, even if it was boring to some.
He wondered if anyone would actually catch the joke, considering he had nearly chosen the name "Henry Irving", who was the actor that Stoker worked with while writing Dracula...and coincidentally was the main source of the "red devil" image that existed in popular culture.
During one of his more infamous scenes involving the play of "Faust" (which coincidentally was where he got his name, though his familiar Stolas would argue differently) he appeared on the stage in all scarlet, a scene that had no real impact on the play save to demonstrate the power of the devil Mephistopheles. Needless to say the image of a red devil caught on and stuck around, despite what the critics had to say on the matter.
Pass in hand, Faust dove into the rather large library with abandon...even if he knew he'd have to repeat the entire thing over again for the next two years.
He was given a free pass (because normally there were months of screening, discreet bribes and headaches to deal with) just to enter this labyrinth of knowledge.
No way was he going to waste it.
"I assume you'll be here for days, if not weeks?"
"Tell me when I have a day before the deadline, and you can charge your sweets to my tab. I'll settle up before we leave to this...school."
"Agreed. I might drag that fool D with me," said Stolas.
"Tell him I'll send some actual customers with sense his way, if I find any," said Faust dismissively.
Stolas huffed, before flying off past the goblins.
He had research to do.
What could have been days, months, even years passed. He paid no mind to the outside world, and instead paid a hefty sum to eat inside the library.
To Faust, nothing was important enough to keep his notice outside of the books and knowledge within.
Secrets that had been left buried for centuries, dark knowledge that had been forgotten because of the times, memories of days long past.
All of it was laid bare before his eyes and his gift.
No language barred his search. No code was left undecipherable. No spells or curse kept him from his never-ending thirst for knowledge.
When Stolas returned, he had to hit Faust more than a few times with his beak. Once he did, the sorcerer blinked rapidly, adjusting itself to daylight again.
"You see, this is the problem with giving the gift of soul magic to a bookworm,"complained the demon.
"You have to admit, I put it to better use than idiots who force the souls to attack people for ridiculous notions of power or gold."
"True. D said hello, by the way."
"So what day is it?"
"Two days before the train is scheduled to leave. You might want to do a bit of shopping, or so I was told...and you'll need a wand," said Stolas with no little amount of disgust.
Faust, who had been drinking his tea while his body adjusted back to normal day-night schedule, choked.
"No. No, no, no. I am not getting a wand. Those things are useless except as precision tools!"
He could care less about the glares he was getting from the 'normal' wizards and witches. He hated wands. The stupid things were so heavily regulated by the idiots in the Ministry that it wasn't worth getting one. Even Stolas had agreed on that point, besides, the ones they sold in this alley were all pre-made, and Faust never bought anything but custom when it came to his gear.
Especially with something as important as his staff.
"Can't I just shrink my staff and call it a wand?"
"The goblins were firm that the old geezer wouldn't allow it. They were barely able to get me into that drafty old castle," said Stolas in annoyance.
Officially, he had to live in the aviary with the rest of the birds, but it would be a pleasant and painless day in Hell before he'd sleep with those animals.
He was a familiar dammit, and Hogwarts rules clearly stated that familiars were allowed to stay with their human Masters in their room!
"Well we're not getting it here. I'd sooner jump in a vat of lemon juice with cuts rubbed with salt than get an Ollivander's wand," said Faust, getting up.
"The usual place then?" asked Stolas, preparing to grow larger so that he could fly off.
Faust reached into his bag, checked the accounts, and nodded.
Despite the squawks of outrage and indignation (as well as several complaints to the Ministry of breaking the Statute, not that the humans noticed anyway considering how high up he was) Faust took off in the middle of Diagon, setting the usual complaints from the Ministry on fire without paying them any mind.
"Welcome... Well if it isn't Lord Faust," said the owner, smiling in a rather terrifying way. "Come here to make special requests again?"
"Hardly. One of my human contacts made the request I infiltrate this...Hogwarts...and I have no interest in pandering to the childish whims of a senile old man who's past his prime. I require a wand."
"Kukukuku... As decisive as always, my Lord Faust. Perhaps we can come to an...arrangement...while the wand is being crafted."
"I'll look at your wares for anything of interest, and pay handsomely for rumors that catch my attention," said Faust without hesitation.
"Very well. Come into the back and we shall begin."
This was a shop that catered to those who dabbled in...well, most of the subjects were banned for a very good reason, or because the "Ministries" deemed them illegal.
Usually because the 'good' guys didn't like the subject, or some young idiot went overboard and perverted the actual magics.
If the Ministry knew of it's location and how to access it, they wouldn't hesitate to raid the place because the owners didn't care for blood purity and openly hired those with creature inheritance, like werewolves and vampires. That and there were many items lost to history that would be quite the coup for any Auror to sieze it.
Things like Merlin's personal diary, one of his lesser known grimoires... hell, even Excalibur was there, though it was broken into pieces.
Only someone destined to become king could reforge the sword.
Faust had no interest in that forgotten relic though.
"Same rules apply as before."
Stolas stayed perfectly still and only allowed the combined magic that belonged to his bond with Faust to be released. Faust had to allow his magic permeate the air until it touched the right conduits that responded.
Once that was done, they would be taken aside and crafted into a wand by the true masters, not the hands of a rather impressive amateur like Ollivander.
Faust had to go through the same procedure shortly after he bonded with Stolas to get his trademark staff.
He walked out of there with some new books (they got new inventory every week) and a new wand.
The goblins had already bought the 'required' texts and the other items, for a small fee. No way was he shopping in those mainstream stores.
They never had anything good and they catered to the masses. Even Knockturn wasn't an option.
Like Diagon, they catered to the masses of Dark families and those not allowed in the main alley, like outed werewolves.