Disclaimer; No animals were harmed in the making of this chapter. We tried but that lemur was just too damn sneaky. Don't worry, I've got a three ringed bandicoot lined up for next time and a good rifle scope.
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Sunday morning was dark and stormy, a kind of stormy rarely seen in the highlands of Scotland. It was a savagely intense storm that made travel impractical by most means. The clouds hung low and thick, while the wind and rain whipped viciously at everything in its way. Lightning split the air constantly as a lone figure approached the entrance to Hogwarts Castle. Raistlin Majere disliked wasting his power needlessly, but a proper entrance must be made. If he walked in with a smile on a perfect day, they would talk down to him. Make it impossible for anyone else to travel and then throw on the mysterious stranger act as you walk in the door and you'll automatically gain some respect.
Before leaving Hogwarts in the early morning hours, Raistlin set an animated dummy to take Harry's place. It looked, acted, and even smelled like Harry, but was little more than a doll. Taking a touch of advice from Harry, Raistlin shifted his appearance to the way it was when Harry first met him in his mind. Originally he wished to keep Harry's youth and vigor, but society gave more respect to the aged by default. A man who lived long enough to look old, you are either doing something right, or not a man to mess with, or both.
Raistlin walked through the main doors of Hogwarts just after seven, heading for the Great Hall. His staff made a surprisingly loud clack as it came to the floor. It was a replica of his old staff that Raistlin was busy enchanting, there was still work to be done on it but it served the main purposes admirably. As he entered the Great Hall, Raistlin exerted a bit more of his influence over the storm to cause a bright and loud bolt of lightning to strike just as he threw the doors open and pulled a great rush of air into the room at the same time. It gave a great effect, some of the younger years actually screamed in fright as he walked into the middle of the hall assisted by his glowing staff.
Just as Dumbledore was about to come to his feet and demand an explanation, the animated doll that was taking Harry's place quickly came and bowed at Raistlin's feet. "Master, I did not expect you to be here so early! I told my teacher to be ready for your arrival at nine," it said fearfully.
"Oh come on, I've never been that subservient. Everyone knows that I am a headstrong and impetuous youth who bows to no one." Harry complained mentally.
"We can discuss your lack of proper respect later, this is more important. Because everyone knows that you bow to no one, it makes them wonder why I am so special. If I can strike fear in the fearless Boy Who Lived, what must I be capable of? And by arriving early, I have thrown your Headmaster off balance, now I control the meeting." Raistlin calmly instructed his apprentice in the subtle arts of manipulation. For the benefit of everyone else in the room he continued out loud, "Return to your study, I will address your failures later. I did not travel all this way in horrid weather to listen to excuses, dismissed."
The simulacrum gave a nod and as it snapped its fingers, Raistlin released the magic causing it to vanish in a poof of smoke. Raistlin returned his attention to the Head table and lowered his hood to expose his ancient looking golden skin, white hair, and hourglass eyes. "You are Albus Dumbledore. You wanted to speak with me, I am here."
Dumbledore studied him carefully, trying to use his mage sight to see through any illusions. He could sense the immense amount of magic flowing around the stranger, it was disturbing actually, but there was no deception. "Of course my good man, I wasn't expecting you until later but we can get started early. My office is just upstairs, allow me to lead the way. Regrettably Harry never mentioned your name…"
"Who I am is not important, you may call me Master." Raistlin brought his staff down against the floor with a sharp crack. The storm flared one last time, a lightning bolt crashing through the roof and hitting just next to Snape, and then dissipated in a matter of seconds. The students marveled at the suddenly clear sky, but the professors understood the implicit warning. As Dumbledore lead the way out of the Great Hall, Raistlin flipped his hood back up to cover his face.
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"It's a pleasure to finally meet you," Dumbledore began politely. "Would you care for some tea, or perhaps a lemon drop?"
"No thank you, let us get straight to business please. The boy tells me you wish to discuss his training." Raistlin leaned back in his armchair, letting Dumbledore regain control of the situation for a few minutes.
"Yes, now he has described to me the general areas of study in battle magic and charms, but some of my staff have expressed concerns with other areas that he may be learning. Can you describe your curriculum for me?"
"Concerns? Unless my apprentice has been killing staff members I don't see what there is to be concerned about, but I shall humor you. I have done my best to give him a solid grounding in all the basic disciplines and have assigned him a number of independent study projects to advance his understanding. His evocation and illusion skills are quite exemplary, but his transmutation skills are barely passable. His prejudices and misconceptions slowed his progress in divination and necromancy initially, but he will be up to par soon."
Dumbledore shot upright in his chair, eyes wide. "Necromancy? You're teaching him the Dark Arts?"
A low chuckle was his response. "I see you share his misconceptions and prejudices. Necromancy is an essential discipline for anyone who wishes to become a warrior. It is the study of life and death after all."
"Necromancy is the vilest of magics and not something to be dabbling in, especially not for an impressionable young man." The Headmaster nearly yelled.
"No, it is neither good nor evil. Tell me Dumbledore when you use magic to heal someone, does it not exhaust you? Can you not feel your life force being sucked away with your magic to heal your friend? Is that not the very definition of Necromancy, exchanging life for death? In order to heal, you must harm at least a little. This is a fundamental truth of magic, that nothing is free."
Dumbledore relaxed slightly, "I am sorry. I assumed that you were talking of raising inferi or corrupting the soul. Perhaps I was overzealous in my reaction to what I thought were the Dark Arts."
"The discipline certainly includes those things, but opposite destroying a soul you can learn how to heal one. Regardless of what you think, Harry must learn all the disciplines of magic if he is to advance to his fullest potential. If he neglects something because someone somewhere thinks it is evil, he will not understand the magic behind it that is necessary for greater things. There are too few people that have the potential to become Archmages, all knowledge must be preserved."
"I do not approve of Harry learning the Dark Arts! He must remain a champion of the light, he has a destiny to face."
"Yes, that annoying Voldemort fellow. You have no idea how tempting it is to make him the practice dummy when Harry learns to control wraiths and spirits. He is barely competent in his magical studies and a complete failure as a leader. I fail to see how you think you can prevent him from learning anything you do not approve of however." Raistlin smirked to himself at the image of Voldemort being Harry's servant for eternity.
"I don't think you understand who I am," Dumbledore brought his aura of power to the fore. "You have already admitted to breaking several laws in teaching Harry the Dark Arts, and now you question how I plan to prevent you from teaching him more? I am the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, Grand Sorcerer for the International Confederation of Wizards, Supreme Mugwump! If I wish not only will you be spending a great deal of time in Azkaban, but Harry will never have another lesson from you. You will confine your instruction to proper topics in the future."
Raistlin looked at his aura for a moment and scoffed before unleashing the full brunt of his own magical power, causing the very stones of Hogwarts to tremble. "And I know that you have no clue who I am. I am the Master of Past and Present! You have somehow reached one hundred fifty years old, but I was challenging the gods themselves long before the first Dumbledore wondered why the sky was blue. I will teach my apprentice how I wish and you will keep your opinions of what is proper to yourself."
Both statements were delivered perfectly calmly as the two old men looked into each other's eyes, sizing up each other. Dumbledore lashed out with a tendril of legilimancy toward Raistlin's mind, but it was quickly batted aside. With a rush of power, Raistlin placed his hands on either side of Dumbledore's head and threw himself at his mind. Albus Dumbledore is widely believed to be the most powerful wizard alive, and his knowledge of the mind arts second to none, but Raistlin hammered like a siege engine at the Headmaster's defenses. All he needed was one opening for a split second to do what he needed. The reason Raistlin was such a perfect manipulator was this one spell, crafted at the peak of his power. If he could defeat his opponent's will, their mind was his to do as he pleased. Most often he edited their memories and changed their attitudes so they believed they owed him a great debt or service. They would spend the rest of their lives working to repay the phantom debt, happy that their old friend trusted them enough to give them such an important task. He could divine any secret and convince them of any lie. He literally raped their minds.
After fifteen minutes of battle, Albus slipped ever so slightly and Raistlin flooded into his mind. All the knowledge and experience gained in over one hundred and fifty years flashed past him. Raistlin skipped back to his early childhood, memories of his parents and the trusted friends of the family. Bit by bit he inserted himself as a trusted advisor to the family, someone who helped when no one else could. When times were hard, Raistlin loaned the family money and never asked for it to be repaid. He was there alongside Flamel and Dumbledore when they discovered the uses of dragon blood, but refused credit for his "miniscule contribution." It was only through his interference at the battle against Grindewald that Albus was able to defeat the evil wizard, yet he fled before the Aurors arrived, missing for over fifty years. Finally he edited the memories of the meeting they had just had and the topic of discussion.
Moments later Raistlin Majere, trusted friend of the Dumbledore line and unquestionably loyal, helped Albus regain his senses. "Are you alright Albus? You hit your head pretty hard. Should I call for your nurse?"
The old man waved him off, "My head is killing me, absolutely pounding. I'll go see her for a headache potion later."
"Are you sure you'll be alright?"
"I'll be fine sir. Before you go I want to thank you again for the advice. I may not like it but I have to agree that it is for the best." Dumbledore shook Raistlin's hand and escorted him to the door. "And please don't be too harsh with Harry. I know he needs a bit of discipline now and then, but he has a good heart."
"Anytime Albus, the boy knows where to find me if you need to send me a message." Raistlin walked out the door and headed for the third floor.
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Harry was nearly tackled to the ground from behind when his friends caught him heading to lunch. Hermione and Blaise both expressed concerns about how bad his "punishments" were, but Ron pointed out that perhaps they shouldn't be squeezing so hard if they thought he was hurt. It was quite humorous when they suddenly let go and jumped back offering apologies. Unfortunately, the girls weren't distracted that easily, and returned to demanding answers he didn't particularly want to answer. Chief among them was where his study was that he disappeared to all morning.
Harry avoided them by calling on Ron's support that food was more important and hurrying off to the Great Hall. Blaise decided to join them at the Gryffindor table and surprisingly met very little resistance. After publicly stomping Malfoy's pink bits, and the slowly growing friendship with the other parts of the Trio, anyone who didn't want her around because she was a Slytherin knew enough to keep their mouth shut about it. She did receive a few glares though.
After lunch Hermione dragged Ron off to the library for a "transfiguration assignment," she actually wanted to find out more about master/apprentice rules but knew that Harry would continue to stonewall her like he had been since he reappeared at the start of term. Harry offered to escort Blaise back to her common room. Blaise raised an eyebrow when Harry said he knew a shortcut but insisted they take the normal way instead. Along the way, the dark haired beauty told him how things were going in Slytherin and what he needed to look out for. The spectacle this morning was too recent for her to know how it would affect people, but his supposed death was likely to cause him trouble. The common feeling among the Slytherin crowd was that it was rigged intentionally to garner more attention.
At the entrance to her common room, Blaise bent over slightly and gave Harry a kiss on his cheek. She looked at him with faintly smoldering eyes, just before whisking herself into the snake pit. "At least you know there is one Slytherin who's happy you aren't dead."
Harry was surprised to say the least. Mentally he was cursing the mess he got himself into this time, but outwardly he just touched his cheek dumbly as if he weren't sure it had happened. Raistlin decided to make his presence known at this point and interrupted his musings with a scathing tone, "Did you pay even the slightest amount of attention when I taught you how to charm a person's senses and befuddle their mind? I warned you, but no… You knew better didn't you?"
"Of course I paid attention, but I don't recall you ever telling me that charming a woman would make her crazy?" Harry replied scathingly.
"What about when I told you about my encounter with that female gully dwarf? I specifically remember telling you that impressionable female minds might fall in love with you." Raistlin reminded him.
"But you said Gully Dwarves were a stupid race, incapable of higher thinking! In case you missed something Blaise Zabini is a human."
"A hormonal teenage girl human, they are hardly known for their staggering mental prowess. You'll receive no help from me with this mess. You ignored me because you thought my rules didn't apply to you, now you see the folly of your ways. Until you break the spell, she's only going to decide she loves you more and more."
Harry sputtered, "But if I release her, she'll know I cast a spell in the first place. Fiddling with people's minds is fairly illegal; I can't afford to just let her go. Besides, I still need my spy Slytherin."
Suddenly there was a new voice in the conversation, "My, my, my, how interesting is this? Potty's talking to himself, toying with the minds of his fellow students, and is using Zabini to spy on me. I wonder how you plan to get out of this one Potter." Draco sneered at him as he stepped out from behind a suit of armor. "You'll be expelled for sure this time, casting an unforgivable on another student can't be swept under the rug by that muggle loving fool. Soon you'll be in Azkaban and my Lord will be able to kill you whenever he wishes."
Harry panicked for a moment, but then smiled like a lion cornering his prey. "Are you threatening my life Malfoy? Is that what I'm hearing?"
Draco smirked, "A Slytherin doesn't threaten Potter, we promise."
"I'm glad to hear that, it makes my choices a lot simpler. Do you have a last request?" Harry twirled his wand and cast a silencing spell around their section of the hallway and a notice-me-not charm.
"What are you talking about? You're too much of a goody-goody to do anything Potter. You even groveled at the feet of whoever that imposter was at breakfast."
Harry's hands began moving and he chanted his spell. The shadows in the corridor deepened and soon Harry and Draco were the only things visible on an infinite plane of darkness.
"What are you doing Potter?" Draco demanded with just a touch of the fear he could already feel threatening to overwhelm him.
Harry ignored him and finished the spell. The darkness took a form, soon a horde of green monkeys with vicious claws descended on Draco Malfoy to tear him apart. Malfoy began screaming and begging for mercy before the frog like simians ever reached him. The pack of Clabberts savaged Malfoy for several seconds before he fell over dead. Immediately the spell ended and the light returned. Harry's phantasmal killer left Draco dead without a scratch on him; from all appearances he was literally scared to death. Harry quickly cast a shrinking spell on him and tucked the doll sized body into his pocket. He quietly and stealthily went to the second floor and entered Myrtle's bathroom. Luck was with him that day because Myrtle either was not awake or just not present. Harry opened the Chamber of Secrets and disposed of Draco's body before sealing it again.
It was Wednesday before anyone started looking for Malfoy, but it quickly grew once it got started. The professors searched his dorm room and all the usual "couples areas" after he didn't turn up for classes three days in a row, and then fire-called his family to see if he was with them. Once Narcissa Malfoy learned that her son was missing, the search exploded. She got the Aurors and several private groups involved. Early Thursday morning, Narcissa Malfoy was sitting in her drawing room distraught for her missing son, when her eyes fell upon the family tapestry. There embroidered in silver thread was the evidence she feared most, "Draco Abraxas Malfoy, 1980-1996." By nightfall Thursday it was confirmed, Draco Malfoy was dead and his body missing.
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Lessons with Flitwick were pretty interesting. He put Harry through the paces for physical fitness and silent spell casting. He insisted that dueling, and true fighting, was as much a physical battle and a mental battle as it was a magical battle. Flitwick gave him an oppressive exercise regime to be done every morning and cast a spell that locked his jaw and sealed his lips. Flitwick agreed with McGonagall that Harry learned best through necessity so he would not be able to speak or eat without a straw until he was able to consistently able to cast nonverbally. Harry was also given a list of spells to be ready to demonstrate in two weeks time, and a pass to the restricted section so he could look them up.
Friday morning Harry went to the hospital wing to get his nutrient potions for yet another silent day when he saw that the beds had two new additions. Remus Lupin was bandaged up in one of them and Nymphadora Tonks was unconscious and badly injured in the other. Harry ran over to Remus' side. With a flick of his wand, Harry canceled the spells holding his mouth shut.
"Oh my God, Professor what happened?" Harry asked, trying to see what all was wrong with him.
"I'm going to be alright cub. I just got a little roughed up is all," Remus calmed him. "Albus finally decided that it was time to go on the offensive against the Death Eaters. Tonks and I caught up with three of them last night who were having fun torturing muggles. We killed two and the other one is in custody, but Tonks got hurt pretty bad."
"What were you thinking attacking when you were outnumbered?" Harry fussed at him.
"It was the right thing to do. Once we saw them torturing those muggles we couldn't just walk away. We had to help them. You forget though, I'm a werewolf. We're stronger and faster than most wizards, plus we are a lot tougher than the rest of you. It will take more than a few slashing curses to kill me."
Madam Pomphrey came over at that point and glared at him for disturbing her patient. "Mr. Potter, while I'm glad you picked up silent casting so quickly, but you needn't exercise your jaw in my clinic. There are injured people who need their rest."
Harry was confused for a moment then caught on. "Alright, I finally got it! No more nasty potions for me."
"Care to demonstrate your new prowess cub?" Moony asked.
Harry waved his wand a few times, concentrating hard, but nothing happened. Madam Pomphrey locked his jaw again and handed him three potions. The potions were doing more for him than his usual diet so she was happy to have an excuse to keep them going a while longer. "Looks like you still have some work to do, better luck next time."
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A/N; If you want to know what Raistlin did to Dumbledore, find a copy of "The Book of Vile Darkness" and look at the 9th level spell "Mindrape". That was my inspiration here. Anyone who wonders why Raistlin "advised" Dumbles to take the war offensive is finally asking the right questions. I also referenced a scene from "Dragons of Autumn Twilight" in this chapter. Raistlin made Harry's mistake when he was younf too. It may be a bad idea to charm/dominate members of the opposite sex. They might decide you're sexy.