AN: This is also on Potions and Snitches under my username moonterra where 2 chapters are written up. This is a Severitus story with bits taken inspiration from FNAF (Five Nights At Freddys) and Inheritance Cycle. This story is not a crossover.
Chapter One: Snatched Search
Harry didn't want to do this. He didn't want eternal glory and, contrary to what the entire school thought, he had not put his name into the Goblet of Fire. Why was it that every year since he had entered the magical world, his life had been in danger? Why couldn't he be like other children who had parents and didn't have some mad man after him in some shape or form or adults trying to hurt him? The fourth year sat within the tent as he waited for his name to be called, the living model of the Hungarian Horntail resting in the palm of his hand as he stared at it. Why did he have to get the most dangerous dragon in the wizarding world? He was too young for this! He didn't want to die!
"Three of our champions have finished their task and retrieved their eggs. Now it is time for the fourth champion to face his dragon and try to retrieve his egg in order. Let's welcome, Mr. Potter," came the booming voice of Albus Dumbledore. Cheers and jeers rang out as Harry reluctantly got to his feet and set the Hungarian Horntail model on the bed he'd been sitting in before walking towards the tent opening and emerging at the sound of a cannon, courtesy of Mr. Filch. Above stone walls were bleachers which were packed with students from the three schools, the Hogwarts Staff and a table there were the five judges; Igor Karkaroff of Durmstrang, Madame Maxime of Beauxbatons, Albus Dumbledore of Hogwarts, Ludo Bagman who was the who was the head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports and Barty Crouch Senior who was Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. He could see the walls were too steep to climb out of, there being a wooden barricade as well above the rocky walls and knew he wouldn't be allowed to escape until he had retrieved the egg, having been explained to the four champions before the first task began.
Nearby, he could hear the shuffling of heavy paws on the ground, echoing throughout the arena despite the cheering and booing of the fourth champion, one that many considered a cheat, even his former friends. Knowing there was no way he was going to get out of this, Harry just hoped it would end quickly. Death was highly preferable now compared to competing in a tournament that had killed people and he swore if he died, he would end up haunting whoever had decided on this life or death tournament in the spirit of international cooperation. The tail of the Hungarian Horntail smashed close to his side, sending pebbles and small rocks into the air that cut into his skin, then repeated the attack on his other side which forced him to crouch as small stones hit him from the force of the dragon. Standing and heading forward, for he couldn't go back, Harry soon saw the creature standing before him, a chain attached to a collar around its collar yet strangely, instead of feeling fear, he felt pity for the creature. Harry had been intending to come here to try flying and getting the egg but seeing the creature chained like it was made him feel sympathy for the creature and try talking to it instead. He just hoped it would work.
$Excusssme madame. I wasss wondering if you might be willing to talk?$ Harry hissed.
The dragon looked down at him, smoke curling from its nostrils, the growl it issued vibrating through the arena. Harry swallowed and cast a spell. "Protego!" he shouted as the next second, a stream of fire was launched at him from the dragon. $Pleassse! I mean no harm to you or your…"$ but the next moment Harry heard the dragon's teeth snap within the air. The dragon didn't appear capable of speaking or understanding Parsletongue, for it reacted in anger and instinct to protect its brood of eggs from the threat of this tiny human, having seen the Chinese Fireball smash some of its eggs as it was blinded by another pesky human. Harry canceled the charm and ran for it, the dragon clipped him with its tail and sent him sprawling into the rocky ground. Barely rolling away as the dragon came around a rock, it shot a burst of fire at him and Harry had to take shelter, lest he get roasted.
"Raaaawwwrrrr!"
Why doesn't parsletongue work? It's a reptile and somewhat serpentine isn't it? Harry wondered to himself yet didn't know that dragons tended to speak Draconic and it was rather the eastern dragons, Lindworm and wryms, three subspecies of the normal dragon, that tended to speak both Parsletongue due to their serpentine appearance and Draconic as well. The next instant, a paw slammed into him and sent him rolling along the ground, falling into a depression as fire was sent in his direction. He rolled over and then scurried behind a boulder, feeling the heat from the Hungarian Horntail warming up the rock and he gritted his teeth in pain as the heat began to sear his skin. "Aaagh," Harry hissed in pain before rolling to the other side and sticking his wand up. "Accio Firebolt!" he shouted, praying it would work and he would be able to go with his fallback plan. He attempted to move as he heard his firebolt zooming through the air, but another jet of flame forced him back behind the boulder, eyes darting frantically side to side. If only he knew as many spells as Hermione…she would be able to get through this…but then she didn't believe him either.
"Come on," he muttered. Soaring above the crowded, arena, made of wood Harry noticed which wasn't a smart idea in the boy's mind, the Firebolt that Sirius had bought him as a present while on the run came over the heads of the crowd. Harry focused only on the task at hand and trying to do everything he could to avoid the dragon's weapons; these being its teeth, claws, tail and fire. He waited tensely for his broom to appear.
He jumped into his firebolt as it came towards him, only to get a third blast of fire sent his way, Harry zooming away as fast as he could to escape that fire that seared his back once more. Having already suffered a few cuts and bruises from being knocked about by the dragon, he didn't want this to go on any longer than possible and circled around to try to dive beneath the dragon, the dragon's head following the boy's movements. Most thought dragons were stupid and unintelligent, but they were in fact, intelligent and capable of speech. They just did not communicate to those were not Dragon Lords or if they bonded with someone which was extremely rare, mostly due to wizards being ignorant and not deserving of such a bond. Many dragons and humans, as well, had also forgotten that dragons and humans had once bound their hearts and souls together in ancient times. Harry knew nothing of this though, the dragon surging up to meet him and tugging at its chain until it snapped before lunging at Harry with open maw spewing fire.
"AHHHHH!"
"Ohhhhh," said some of the Slytherins before they began cheering on the dragon for burning Harry. His robes smoked against his skin.
"Oh dear…well that's the name of the game folks," shouted Ludo Bagman as he commentated on the action while writing down points. "Looks like Mr. Potter's going to have to go to the infirmary when he gets the chance, assuming he survives this."
That's not very encouraging Mr. Bagman, thought Harry though he knew full well his chances in this tournament were slim to zero. Pain laced up his back and when he looked back, he could see fire on the end of his broom. Harry was forced to perform a loop and then pull up, flying out of the arena and the dragon chased after him. He flew as fast as he could while in agony, soaring away from the arena with the dragon following. The arena fell behind him as he headed towards the school within the distance, the arena itself being upon a cliff. Behind him he could hear wingbeats as the dragon flew after him, and he looked behind him, hoping someone would help him escape the dragon as he wasn't sure how much longer he could keep this up. The wind whipped his clothing back, whistling in his ears, swerving around the turrets though soon fog clouded the boy's vision. Even with his superb seeker reflexes and small build, really a malnourished build thanks to years of starvation though none had picked up on that, couldn't stop him from potentially crashing into something.
A tower appeared in front of him and both dragon and boy had to fly on the other side to try to avoid crashing into the turret, Harry thinking he was safe only for the Horntail to reach out and try biting him, Harry twisting and then diving down as the dragon swerved and dove down after Harry, twisting and folding its wings to gain speed. "RAAAWWWRRRR!"
WHAM! Harry fell from his broom and slammed onto one the roof of one of the towers. His broom flew from him, Harry dropping as the exploding hex was sent his way. He lost his grip and fell, his broom being destroyed in the blast and causing the dragon to scream in pain as a hole was torn in a wing, causing it to fall into the ravine below. "Ahhhhhhhhhhh!" At the arena, all the audience heard was the roar of the dragon and then Harry's scream, never imaging that they would find the dragon wounded and then the disappearance of the British wizarding savior.
"Looks like the dragon got him," sneered Draco to guffaws from some of the other Slytherin students around him.
As Harry fell, he scrabbled desperately for his wand, though what he hoped to accomplish, he was uncertain of. "Crucio!" came a voice and Harry screamed louder, his body feeling like it was being stabbed over and over with white hot knives. His body twisted and withered in the air as he fell, his glasses falling from his face as he fell into the ravine below. The spell was held on him for a few minutes before being lifted, not that he could tell where it was coming from. Tears leaked out of his eyes, spilling down his cheeks as his body twitched and spasmed. A Muggle, who didn't know any better, might think the boy was suffering from the effects of epilepsy and try to treat him, accordingly, not realizing it was a spell the boy was under instead, but of course there were no Muggles anywhere near Hogwarts.
"Confringo!" The spell hit the fallen dragon, causing another scream of pain, this one more terrible then the last for it blew off one of the dragon's legs in a bloody mess of gore and bone that hit the falling boy, cutting open his cheek and causing a shockwave to emit through the area. Heat rose off as flames consumed the dragon, its screams intensifying and serving to block out the next two spells. "Crucio! Expelliarmus!" Once again, Harry's body jerked and spasmed within the air, curling in on himself as he slammed into the ravine bridge. Harry felt his leg shatter on impact, twisting at an unnatural angle, the hurried cushioning charm not doing much to prevent the leg being broken.
"Ohhhhh," Harry moaned as he clutched at his leg, his blurred vision swimming from both pain and hitting the ground.
"Petrificus Totalus," spoke a voice and Harry found his limbs snapping together, his eyes darting to and fro. "Crucio." The spell was held longer this time, Harry's body unable to move but he wanted to scream, tears falling as choked sobs echoed within his throat, unable to escape his sealed mouth. After fifteen minutes the spell ended, and a voice spoke.
"Well, well Mister Potter…"
"Pr'ferssor Moody?"
Professor Moody's face swam in front of him and raised his wand before pointing it at the boy. "Pleasant dreams Potter," said the professor before uttering his last spell. "Stupefy!" A jet of red light hit the boy full in his face and the maniacal grin appearing on his professor's face was the last thing he saw before darkness overtook him. The stranger then levitated the other Professor Moody which had been hidden beneath an invisibility cloak and threw the cloak over Potter's body. Unbeknownst to Harry, the man he thought was Professor Moody was changing, skin bubbling and hair changing color from grey to straw blond with pale freckled skin. The fake leg and eye came off of him as he changed into his natural appearance, that being of convicted Death Eater Bartimaeus Junior. Roughly shoving the eye into the real Alastor Moody as well as the fake leg, he pointed he wrapped the Auror's hand around his wand and picked up the boy in his arms before sweeping the cloak around them both. Then on stealthy feet, he hurried away from the castle after casting a wordless notice-me-not spell on them both with none the wiser. The only thing that needed to be corrected was the murder of his father but that would come in time.
It had been seventeen years since anyone had seen or heard from their supposed savior, the boy who had defeated a monster and ended a wizarding war, the likes which compared naught to World War Two and Grindelwald's own war with the wizarding world across Europe. Compared to Grindelwald, Voldemort didn't even come close. The war with Voldemort continued with vigor and losses on both sides, though the light side suffered more for the Order of the Phoenix and the light were reluctant to kill or maim those supporting or harboring suspected Death Eaters. Their only hope lay in a boy…a boy who might not even be alive…a boy none had seen since just after the first task of the Triwizard Tournament, seventeen years earlier. It was a foolish notion, laying one's hopes on a boy who had disappeared and not been seen nor heard from in all this time, but there were some who still believed that the boy that had defeated the Dark Lord before could do so again and many who believed the boy had died or been taken by the Dark Lord himself and was now a prisoner. Why else would the Boy-Who-Lived not heed their pleas and return to defeat the madman once and for all?
In desperation, the Order had spared what members they could to search near and far for the Boy-Who-Lived, quite a few students who had graduated having also joined the Order of the Phoenix but there were those who were in Slytherin that joined the Death Eaters as well. There were some neutral families of Slytherin that tried to flee but they were hunted down by the Death Eaters and either tortured into madness or killed. Within the confines of the Headmaster's Office, a meeting was in place between the Headmaster and his potions professor, the man having managed to teach the Defense Against the Dark Arts position in, what would have been, Potter's sixth year. "Severus, we must find the boy. He's the only one that can defeat the Voldemort," said the wizened old man as he stood at the window looking out over the darkening grounds of Hogwarts.
"How do you know he's still alive Albus? Nobody has been able to find him, not even the mutt and wolf," said Severus. The Potions Master stood by the door, listening to the Headmaster who continued fighting against the Dark Lord in what seemed a futile battle.
"I don't," said the Headmaster, "but if he isn't alive then Britain will fall, and he will spread across Europe and may eventually head to other continents."
"The Dark Lord doesn't have the charisma or power of Grindelwald," said Severus. "Even with him sending Death Eaters across Europe to bring those creatures and wizards that are distrusting of the light, some of them have come back dead or severely injured in response to the Dark Lord's offer of safety and being able to hunt like he has offered the werewolves and vampires."
Severus frowned at the Headmaster's answer. "What do I have to do with this? Not answering the Dark Lord's call is futile."
"And yet you have been ignoring it for five years," said Albus. "You must be the one to find the boy and bring him back to face his destiny Severus."
"How am I supposed to do that?" questioned Severus.
"Well, you are an animagus," spoke Albus, that infernal twinkle back in his eyes as he looked at Severus.
"Oh no. If you think I'm going to assume that form and go traipsing through all creation searching for a boy whose probably dead, then you're out of your mind. Why can't Minerva do it?"
"Harry knows what Minerva's animagus form looks like and she would be more inclined to leave him wherever he is. You're the best one to go and bring him back. You have permission to use whatever spell or potion needed to bring him back if he doesn't come back willingly, baring the Cruciatris or Killing curses, but he must come back Severus or the darkness we felt for the last seventeen years will only get worse. You know the Muggleborns must register now with the Ministry of Magic and are used now as slaves. They can't even safely attend school within the United Kingdom anymore because Voldemort has control of the Ministry."
"Well it didn't take much for the Dark Lord to succeed in that endeavor," muttered Severus. "Alright…I'll look for him, but I don't see any hope in finding the boy. If he's even still alive, he's done a good job at hiding," said Severus.
"Thank you, Severus. It's best if you go now before any notices your absence. I'll cover your classes or hire Slughorn back as Potions Master."
"Merlin help us all," said Severus as he shifted into a black cat and glared reproachfully at the Headmaster.
"Now Severus," chided Albus. "Fawkes," said Dumbledore and the phoenix flew from his perch towards the headmaster. "Take Severus to Hogsmeade," said Dumbledore and the bird bobbed his head before snatching up the feline and vanishing in a flash of fire. "Good luck my boy. I hope you are safe and return with our last hope to defeat this evil once and for all," said Dumbledore.
It had been three months since Severus had left the safety of Hogwarts castle and he was forced to stay within his feline form, lest he risk being seen and captured by both Death Eaters who would either kill him or bring him back to the Dark Lord or those of the light who still believed Severus to be a Death Eater even if he hadn't been answering his master's call for five years. He never spoke of it to Albus, knowing the old man wouldn't approve but he had been using deadly force in order to protect himself when caught alone. Even after all these deaths, Albus still believed it was better to give second chances and be forgiving to those who were on the wrong side. Severus was beginning to lose hope when he found himself surrounded. Looking up with yellow eyes, he could see some ruffians surrounding him, scruff clothes telling Severus they were probably Muggles and living on the streets most likely. Could Potter's spawn also be living on the streets? Probably hiding somewhere like the coward, he is, Severus sneered mentally. Potter never took much stock by the rules either and tried skiving off the consequences for his actions the entire time he was at Hogwarts. While in his musings, he yowled in surprise as one of the teens kicked out with their foot and sent Severus flying. He landed roughly on the ground and felt the air leave his lungs.
"What do we have here? A cat wandering out here all alone," sneered one boy as his friends laughed at the injured cat. Severus tried getting to his paws but one of the boys stomped on his leg, the force causing his leg to break with a crack. A scream of pain issued from him and he discovered that his ribs were most likely broken given it hurt to move and sent him tumbling back to the ground when he tried to stand. "Let's teach the kitty a lesson." Severus's ears flattened against his head as his hackles rose, attempting to stand on three legs and managing it through sheer force of will.
"Hissssssss."
The children advanced on the cat and Severus couldn't do anything to defend himself without risking exposure and having to obliviate Muggle children which was dangerous, even for a trained Auror. Severus didn't know how long the attack lasted on his body, his mind eventually losing consciousness. He didn't hear running feet or the arms that scooped him up, the shouts of the children who had hurt him. The magic washing over him caused him to open his copper eyes and he glimpsed a hooded face peering down at him. "Shhh kitty. You'll be safe here," spoke the voice, a voice the feline thought he had heard once before but couldn't place. It didn't matter for he soon lost consciousness.
The figure glanced down at the feline as he hurried towards a beige tent that had been one of the first to be set up, people moving about the fields as they set up tents in preparation for the evening's show. Entering it, he nodded to a woman with dark brown hair and bluish-gray eyes. "Sylvaine, I found this cat badly injured outside and being attacked by some teens. Paradox scared them off, but it looks like the cat had a number done on it."
"Well, a cat isn't really in my expertise Slither. You might want to try Hive."
"Hive's grounded," said Slither, "and she doesn't have healing like you do Sylvaine."
The woman sighed. "Very well Slither. Lay the cat down on a bed in the corner and I'll do what I can. Is this…"
"No," said Slither, cutting the woman off. "I need to speak to Wisp and Dreamless."
The woman's face paled. "Slither…you know it's dangerous to disturb Dreamless."
"I know," said Slither. "But you and Enigma are always saying I need to find something besides my snakes or Hive and her animals."
"Very well Slither. Go…I think Wisp wants a meeting with us all anyway before the show starts."
"Thanks, Syl," said Slither and departed the tent, leaving the woman to turn her gaze to the cat that had been set on the bed in the corner. She headed over and prodded the onyx wolf awake with her foot.
"Balthazar…go help Jinx and Wildfire set up the food stand. Do not eat everything like last time."
The wolf's red-violet eyes stared at his mother before shifting and hurrying out of the tent after Slither's footsteps, some of the carnies waving to the boy who ran off. Sylvaine then stared down at the cat as she approached. "Alright cat…let's see what we can do for you."