Chill of Death

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Warcraft, it just sprang into my mind. For the personality that Harry now has… well, he'll be different than normal canon…

Death in a hand basket

The first thing he became aware of was the fact that he was kneeling, his mind being foggy and clouded, though he knew that there was someone opposite of him. His body felt strange and unwieldy, like he had just awoken from a dream that had turned into a nightmare. As his eyes searched the ground, not seeing anything, he wondered whether this was death, and that he was now amongst the dead.

"Rise, Harry Potter." A voice resounded within his head, a terrible voice, which held a chill within it and a lingering promise of death. A shiver went through his frame as he looked up, towards the location where he had heard the voice coming from, seeing a throne, seemingly made out of ice stand there, a man seated upon it, white hair sticking out from under the crown, two points of ice-colored light shining from the eye sockets, the mouth underneath it being set in a grin which seemed to be a ruthless one.

"You were revived with the intent to serve in my Scourge. I expect you to serve me well, my Champion." Without further explanation, a hand rose and Harry's hands moved to get it, his head bowing forwards to deliver a kiss on the gauntlet, a sign of servitude that he had never done before, but felt that it was appropriate. He looked down after that, noticing the flimsy garments in which he was clothed, feeling ashamed that he had appeared before his lord wearing these rags. A minute or two passed, his form not moving, until he felt the voice of the Lich King intrude upon his thoughts once more. "You will need a new name, my champion. As of now, the name Harry Potter is not acceptable to you, you need a more powerful name, a name which will inspire fear into your enemies…"

He kneeled there, the air around him feeling heavy as he felt the gaze of his Master upon him, knowing that it either was a good or a bad thing. A feeling of power welled up within him, the feeling of the chills going through his body lessening as he felt it bubbling to the surface, outwardly his eyes starting to glow a killing curse green, the shine of them being a side-effect, as his body thinned more and more, all bodily features slowing down till he was barely living, his blood flowing very slowly, his heart beating only a few times a minute, the state of death upon him not bothering him one bit all of a sudden.

"For your first lesson in manipulating your new… energy, I will personally instruct you." The offer from his Master was incredible, he could feel excitement burn within his chest, as he lifted his head, watching how his master rose from the throne and then planted his sword into the ground, beckoning him to rise, which he did, without a problem. The Lich King stood before him, placing his hands onto the ground and then fed his necromantic energy into the ground, a ghoul rising from the frozen throne, looking around without any real sense of being there.

"Attack the boy." The command came without warning, Harry's cool blood running cold as he watched as the ghoul turned towards him and growled, before advancing upon him, the claws that adorned its hands being dangerous and looking to be tainted, though he supposed that if this were a test, he would just have to survive at any costs. "Die here and you have proven unworthy." The voice of his Master came to his mind as he watched the ghoul advance upon him, his hands being held up in a form of self-defense, instructions seeping into his mind. With a snarl, the ghoul jumped through the air, Harry's hand grasping one of its hands and then bringing it closer to him, vaulting the ghoul over his shoulder, the body hitting the ground with a crunch, the ghoul's jaw snapping around his leg. There was a modicum of pain registering in his mind but he did not bother with it, it all seemed to be so vague, so harmless to his existence…

He looked at the ghoul, grabbing its neck and then pulling it off his leg, lifting it into the air and then smashing it against the ground, the movement of his hands seeming to be stronger then their emaciated looks provided, his hands moving in a way, the energy within his body drawing the energy out of the ghoul, a growl coming from the ghoul as it felt its life energy draining out, a claw jabbing at Harry's cheek, a scratch coming over the skin, Harry's eyes glowing slightly as the energy drained from the ghoul, the ghoul managing to escape his grip, crawling over the ground weakly, the animating energy apparently almost drained from it. Harry rose once more, blood dripping down his cheek, a very light red in coloration, his mood shifting to outraged fury as he gripped the ghoul, then ripped off its arm, causing it to shake a bit, only because of the force he had used, using the newly gained strength to pulsate energy through his body, the dark energy forming within his hands as he willed it to shoot out and hit the ghoul, just like that banishing charm that he had learned.

A blast of greenish black energy flew from his hand, the fingertips bathed within the glow for a moment as the ghoul screeched as the life energy was drained from it, the wounds on Harry's cheek healing within milliseconds. He looked at the lifeless remnants of the ghoul, turning towards the Lich King once more, a crooked smile on his face. "I eliminated it, Master."

"Very well…" here the Lich King paused, his vision going towards something behind him. "You will instruct this one to become a true Death Knight, my Champion… you have seen the way that he grasped upon the necromantic energy, so you shall teach him all that you know, then return him to me for his final test…" Harry turned around, hoping to see someone standing there, seeing nothing standing there, turning back to the Lich King only to see that there was someone standing before him.

Black plate armor seemed to cover the person standing before him, the Lich King staring into the figure's eyes, giving Harry some chance to study the armor which the person wore. It was spiky on some aspects, the armguards being made of the same black metal but interwoven with some red strands of fabric, a huge sword strapped to the person's back with glowing runes on it, blue, red and green, forming a pattern which did not make much sense to him, as he hadn't studied runes, but instinctively knew that they must mean something with death…

"Yes, My King." The voice that spoke was dark and dangerous, a tinge of death laced through it, Harry getting a feeling of excitement through his bones, his eyes watching the muscles underneath the plate armor move as the person turned towards him, revealing its face towards him.

Dark hair framed it as the look from behind did not give much away about it, a pair of bloodshot red eyes looking at him with a curious look, a dark intelligence seen within them as the rest of the face came into view, gaunt cheekbones showing through the skin being stretched taunt over them, the mouth being visible, along with some pearly white teeth, which looked sharper than normal teeth, the rest of the armor showing that it was a female who was decked out in this armor, though no sizeable changes for the bust were taken into account or something, it being a straight plate which covered the front as well. "I am Lady Arabelle Shadowpyre, but you are to call me Teacher or Lady Shadowpyre. You are to be my apprentice in the deathly arts, so you can serve the Lich King to your fullest extent."

"Go with my blessing, Lady Shadowpyre, teach this man all you know, for his name shall be etched in Scourge Legend…" Lady Shadowpyre gave a military salute, then turned towards Harry, a grin growing on her face as she placed a plated hand on his shoulder. "I don't exactly see what the Master sees in you, but you will become a fine Death Knight under my tutelage. My King, permission to use the Death Portal to the Academy?" the Lich King merely inclined his head, his voice apparently sounding within Lady Shadowpyre's head as she bowed deeply, bones shooting from the ground to form an arch, a greenish light shining throughout the arch, Lady Shadowpyre stepping through first, then the Lich King's voice resounded within his head: "I expect many great things from you, my Champion… should you survive…" Harry bowed deeply, before following Lady Shadowpyre through the Portal, his body suddenly feeling warmer as he left the presence of his king, his body feeling somehow lightened as the unholy energy flowed throughout his limbs, the green glow in his eyes intensifying, though he did not know it.

When he exited the Portal, he could feel the air having changed, a smell of decay and filth entering his nose, his senses being dulled whilst strengthened at the same time, the rot and decay making him feel more and more at ease, the feeling of energy flowing through his limbs being more and more noticeable, as he stood there at attention, Lady Shadowpyre having stopped in front of a weapon rack and then grabbed a big bladed weapon from it and threw it at him, Harry clumsily catching it.

"The Lich King has high hopes for you, boy. Normally, I do not train men, but since it is the Lich King's will, I shall not disobey." Harry nodded, the weapon being a longsword or something like it, a long blade with some serrated edges, the blade seemingly stained with blood, the handle fitting snugly within his grip as he looked at the one who would train him, as she grabbed her runed blade and then held it in front of her, grasping the blade with her plated hands, the runed blade glowing slightly greenish in the light. "This is a Runeblade, a blade which is our privileged weapon, gifted to us by the Lich King. You eventually will receive one too… should you survive." As she put the blade back at her back, she licked her lips slightly and then walked into out of the worn door which hid the rest of the complex from his view. His eyes followed her without a problem as the hallway they entered was covered with torches seemingly held by human hands and eventually, after about 5 minutes of walking and passing room after room, came before a door which was seemingly unadorned, though when she moved her hand over it, a green rune appeared on the middle of the door, the door swinging open slowly. "This will be your quarters, which is all yours. I will visit you again when you will be getting instruction, since for now, I have to attend to the other students, who I will introduce to you soon. Since you cannot sleep, I suggest you lie on the bed and relax as much as possible."

With that, she allowed him to enter and he laid himself on the bed, his ragged clothing being still on his frame, though the chill that permeated this academy of learning did not seem to affect him.

His eyes closed slowly, as he tried to relax himself, thoughts going through his mind. Apparently, he had been revived by the Lich King, the person he called Master, who had selected for him to become one of his knights, his champion… whatever that entailed, it better be worth it, though instinctively he knew that it would, it being a load better then the magics he had been taught.

"You will learn a great deal, acolyte. I am the Lich King, servitude will be rewarded well…" the voice of the Lich King echoed within his head, a feeling of being honored with the Lich King's words entering his body, a strange sensation as it was, a feeling of being exalted above most other things entering his consciousness, the Lich King's presence in his mind somehow making him feel stronger than before. "What does it mean to be one of your Death Knights, honored Master?"

The question rang within his head for a few seconds, giving him the impression that he was just wrong about contacting the Lich King, though he wondered how the other people did it, a reply coming then, as he had almost given up the hope of being contacted back by the Lich King: "There was a great war once, between humans and Orcs in this world… I cannot speak for the world where you are from, but I will tell you this… I was human once, wanting to save my country from the scourge of undeath… then turned into one of the Lich King's Death Knights…" a pause came, Harry assimilating the knowledge that the Lich King had been human once, and wondered why he was being the one that was told. "You are going to be my Champion once you are trained, and have survived… A Champion of the Lich King does not need to hide anything from his King, nor should the King hide something from his trusted Champion."

A rush of something went through him as he heard the words, his brain beginning to realize that there was a certain measure of trust from the Lich King in his abilities, perhaps due to the strange reaction of his magic or because there was a problem with the workings of his mind. The voice came back, and he wondered how many people the Lich King could talk to directly, if it was just something he did to pass time or something like that. "Pass time with it? A good question, young Acolyte… It is true that I can hold a great deal of conversations at the same time, but to pass the time, I control the Scourge with mental commands to make them conquer more land for our usage…"

The question was answered before he had asked it, a wondrous feeling going through him as he looked at the ceiling of the room, runic engravings upon it, the architecture looking almost ancient in its accord, the stones being in a shape which seemed to fit in just as well as one would have used cement in the construction. A restful state came over him as he felt like someone caressed his cheek gently with a hand, then slowly slid it down his face and then pulled it off, trailing it over his chest instead, the fabric of his shirt being lifted slightly as the hand went down his thin abdomen.

His eyes flashed open and he looked at the one who was stroking his abdomen, a face of something… small, staring back at him. "What are you and why are you doing that?" the face which stared back at him held some amount of cuteness, as the short-cropped hair that framed it seemed to be darkly colored, though he could not say for certain as she was looking at him, it probably being a female. "Just seeing who the Mistress brought back from the King. You're a man, right? Are you here to be a Necromancer or just used for target practice?"

The small being seemed to be quite interested in his abdomen as she kneaded the skin softly, a small tool being pulled from a belt and rolled it over the skin, a bleeding gash coming on his skin and it clotted almost immediately as he dictated some of his will towards it, her head having gone to look at the wound and then went back to him, a smile coming to her face as she seemed to like the reaction that he had shown. "You're a new recruit?"

"Yes, my name is Harry Potter, pleased to meet you." He extended his hand towards her, which her small hand took, a smile coming on her face as she shook his hand vigorously. "Trishia Sprocketsprout! Pleased to meet you Harry, I hope we'll both serve the Lich King for a long time!" the energy she seemed to give off was infectious as she bounced slightly, the armor which she wore clanking slightly as she got a gleam in her eyes.

"I think we'll be great friends! Want to do a contest of skill once you're settled in and such? I have such wondrous things to tell you! Even though I once was a member of the Alliance, those weaklings don't deserve my genius!" she punched her fist into the air as she grinned. "I'm an Engineer for the Scourge at the moment, well, I'm doing it as a side-job, because I'm not a fully trained Death Knight yet! But once I am, I will improve my armor with technology!"

He was wondering what exactly she was, as she seemed to be a short human, but also didn't really resemble him or anyone else he had seen. Though he wondered that, it could stand to reason that another world would have different races, maybe this was what was called an Orc, since the Lich King seemed to have mentioned them. "Are you an Orc?"

She stopped for a moment, her eyes looking him into the eyes deeply and then tilted her head sideward's, her curiosity turning into something what was called worry. "How knocked up the head were you when the Necromancers revived your body? I'm a Gnome, from Gnomeregan, you know? Near Ironforge?" the words said nothing to him, as he barely knew anything of this world outside what the Lich King had told him. He continued staring at her and she gave him a look, grabbing another tool out of her belt and then holding it against his head. "No fractures to your skull… Oh well, you must still be a little confused."

"Actually, I don't know a lot about this world. I just came here when my magic reacted and then I bled to death or something, I cannot remember clearly." She looked upon him with that same curiosity in her eyes, the look of worry disappearing like a snowball in a fireball spell. "Oh, you're from another world! Golly, that is so-!" she halted for a moment as she got a dazed look in her eyes and took a few deep breaths, shaking her head slightly. "Enthusiasm is not encouraged by the Lich King."

"Is enthusiasm discouraged?" he dared to direct a question to the Lich King, waiting for a reply as he watched her, getting a distinct feeling of amusement from somewhere outside, watching as Trisha seemed to jump a little, her eyes going wide as a smile came to her face, turning her back towards him, apparently regarding something over there, then turning back to him. "The Lich King just spoke to me! He spoke to me!" Harry nodded, knowing whatever the Lich King had said, it had shocked the gnome up a little. "He told me that it is okay to be enthusiastic about death and those that are comrades, members of the Scourge. Harry, it feels so great to have his Majesty speak to me, that I could decimate a thousand members of the Alliance!" he managed a smile on his face, his body feeling the unholy energy flow through it increase suddenly, as the energy seemed to well up. "Harry? I'm going to go back to my room now, it is rest-time now, but I will see you soon, at breakfast. It was so great to have met you. Welcome to the Academy of Death."

He laid his head on the pillow once more as he heard the door open and close, knowing that she had left his presence. His body seemed to be glowing with unholy energy, a dark lust growing within his stomach, which overwhelmed him for a moment, a surge of ravenous hunger going through his body, his hands clenching slightly aws the desire to rip open someone's neck increased, to drink the life-giving blood from their throat, to consume their flesh.

His eyes opened widely as someone opened the door, the form of Lady Shadowpyre standing there tall and imposing in the opening. "You will come with me now. It is breakfast time and you eat with the rest of the trainees." He got up from the bed, a sting in his side being apparent, a look at the stinging place confirmed that there had been something left behind by the previous owner of the bed, a spike of metal which had jabbed into his flesh, though he had felt no pain. "Oh, so you didn't really feel the spike until you got up? Good, you passed one of the first tests." Harry blinked a few times, his eyelids feeling like the eyes underneath them had turned into a sandy texture, it being quite annoying.

"Was there something with the spike?" he asked, Lady Shadowpyre shrugging softly, walking over to his bed and then yanking the spike out with a simple pull, her hands being unable to get hurt because she wore her plate gauntlets. "It is a test to see if you will bleed to death." Was the simple statement from her as he stood next to the bed, following her with a simple gait, being three steps after her, as she led him through the hallways towards where they would have breakfast.

The breakfast hall was pretty spacious, the hall being about half the size of the great hall, but still managing to look quite dreary, a cut off head hanging on a pike against the wall, a rune carved in the wall which glowed periodically, sending out waves of misery, along with something which seemed to invigorate him. One table was the only thing in the hall, two long benches on the sides whereupon about 20 or 30 females of all shapes and sizes sat to eat, though manners didn't really seem to be imposed upon.

"Ladies, we got another student!" Lady Shadowpyre said, her voice being normal volume, though every person in the room focused their eyes on her, the noise in the room being almost non-existent, as they ate what appeared to be raw meat, though he supposed that it was good training, to eat almost anything. "Look, it's a man!" one of the females seated on the table said, a woman who looked like pretty much of her hands had rotted away, a ghastly hand being visible as she waved, though the smile on her pale face showed that she had a good set of teeth, pretty sharp too, so it was pretty much assured that while she showed some decay, the dentistry seemed to be fine… For a moment, a memory of Hermione telling about her parents being dentists came to the fore, until he pushed it away.

"Hey, it's Harry! Come on sit over here Harry, I saved a spot for you!" Trisha's voice came over the chatter most of the females made, Harry spotting her seating next to something which had green skin and was decked out in a mix of chainmail with plate armor, something which gave it an even better ferocious look, though it appeared to be more of a choice by the female then protocol. "It's so great to finally have a man here, though you're still going to be put through the grinder for the next week or something, till you finally catch up."

Trisha picked up with an excited chatter, leaving Harry to sit next to her looking nervous, a look at the person seated next to him, a woman who seemed to be having purplish skin, long hair and eyes which seemed to shine with an inner light, though her face was set into a disdainful look. "You will do nothing to hamper my progress, or I will execute you myself."

The threat was void to him, as he looked at her with an impassive face, wondering how this woman would be able to do that if he did not even know what race she was. "It would be more effective if you actually had a weapon at my throat. I know a person who would kill before saying something cheesy like that."

She got offended by that it seemed, standing up and then walking out of the room, some heads looking up as she walked out of the door, most of the women shrugging it off as peculiar behavior. They were all here with a mission: to become Death Knights.

"Ooh, you've managed to upset her! Leena, this is the man I visited last night. He's from some other place in the Nether, so I'm not sure if he knows about your kind…" Trisha spoke to the green-skinned person next to her, the woman giving him an appraising look, before grabbing the plate of the woman who had just left, shoving it to Harry. "Eat what she left, it's all we're going to get for the morning. I'm Leena Bloodscar, though you can call me Leena." Harry extended his hand, Leena looking at it like it was some foreign object. "Why are you extending your hand like that? Want me to eat it or something?"

"It's customary that people shake it when meeting, Leena. It's often accompanied with the other introducing themselves… Don't really mind Leena, she's just an uncultured Orc who likes swinging her axe better than doing any presentations and such. She's an Orc by the way, in case you were wondering. Since you're new to this world, it'd be best to just stick closer to me so I can give you a brief overview of who is who and who to look out for and such." The Orc extended her hand. "Leena Bloodscar." "Harry Potter, pleased to meet you." He placed a small kiss on her knuckles then went to his food, which appeared to be meat, though it looked a little bit different.

"Ooh, aren't you the little charmer… How old are you, Harry?" he looked at her, the meat he had brought to his mouth with his hands being laid back on the plate. "14." The gnome seemed to be surprised, but quickly returned to her naturally curious state.

"Let the boy eat, he needs the meat for the training today." Leena commented as she dug back into whatever the meat was, the bone sticking out slightly, the tusks on her face sticky with some meat.

"There are so many things I want to ask you, like what kind of magic they use on your world, did your people ever meet the Burning Legion?" Harry ignored her for a few moments as he dug into the meat, the taste being completely different from what he was used to, the flavor of the meat being almost like chicking, but not quite, the taste being sweeter, almost like it were meat from another source. "What kind of meat is this?"

"Human probably. We've been having it for almost 5 days now and I'm starting to get sick of it." He choked as he heard that, his throat suddenly feeling raw for having eaten human meat, though his mind supplied a question: Why should I adhere to the rules of my society if I am in another world? Maybe for Death Knights, eating human meat is some sort of staple diet?

"Alright, off to the training hall with you all. Harry, you're with me!" Lady Shadowpyre entered the hall ten minutes later, having gotten fed up with preparing a suitable sword for Harry and just did a rush-job, the fact that he was apparently favored by the Lich King not sitting well with her at all. She wanted to be the one who would serve him, not train brats to become a glorious Death Knight in the Service of his Holiness! She wanted fame, wealth, power! Not to train the next wave of undead Death Knights…

"Yes, Lady Shadowpyre!" he gave a brisk salute, in the way that she had done to the Lich King and noted to his relief that she seemed to appreciate the gesture, the way which she swirled around and brutally pushed one of the other acolytes to the side, the armor within which the acolyte was decked out cracking slightly with the force, though the acolyte did not make a sound, sliding to the ground immediately, probably unconscious or not willing to twitch.

"Are you okay?" he asked the acolyte, looking at the body to see that it was the one who apparently was a bit more dead then the rest of the people, the skin on her face being one of the things that was the best preserved of her body. "Don't worry about a bag of bones like me, Harry Potter. I'm Meralda Hamingworth, pleased to meet you under such bad circumstances. Now, shoo off with Lady Shadowpyre and leave me to get my gear. I'll see you in the training hall later, ok?" the cheerful tone at which it had been said had made him confused, since with the title of Death Knight, he had expected them all to be nihilistic deathly people who would do anything to kill, to see someone acting so normal and cheerful had unsettled him a great deal.

"Harry, follow me to the armory. We are going to select you a few pieces of armor and a sword for training. When you prove yourself to me, you will become a true Death Knight, but not until I have trained you in all three aspects of the Death… Unholy, the manipulation of the Dead, Blood, to make your enemies scream in pain as their life-essence becomes yours… Frost, to chill their bones to shake their faith in the light…" a pause came, as she looked up, her eyes focusing on the ceiling, as a voice boomed through Harry's head, sending him to his knees. "How dare you be cheery! You are one of MY Death Knights, though whatever prompted me to revive you and grant you an apprenticeship here, I do not know, but I will not stand a defiant attitude!"

His head bowed to the ground as the power reviving him waned, his body feeling frail and unresponsive, the energy that had been within it having been drained from him on one fell swoop. Lady Shadowpyre merely stared at him before handing him a long sword. "This will be your sword… If you are able to move, select some armor pieces and strap them on your body. I expect you in the training hall soon enough."

"Why?" he asked the Lich King, not getting a response, but a feeling of anger seemed to go through him, and he knew that the Lich King had punished him for something, though what it was, he did not know. Maybe it would all become clear once he became a Death Knight, to serve the man who had so graciously revived him…

"You will bow to MY will, Boy! I will not have defiance in my ranks!" the voice of the Lich King was sent through the mental link he held with Harry's head, his glowing blue eyes making for an eerie sight. Whatever judgment he had passed upon the one wich he had invested such power in, it had been false. Nobody should be risen to a Champion of the Lich King without training, it simply would not do. The power he had drained from Harry floated above him, an amorphous mass which broiled slightly, absorbing it slightly over the course of a few minutes, the taint of the energy being something that was amusing, as he was not really used to the way which harry's magic worked, it being more utilitarian in origin then their own magic…

"HEAR ME, MY CHILDREN! WE WILL STRIKE AGAINST THE PITIFUL MORTALS OVER THE YEAR! WE HAVE BOLSTERED OUR RANKS, NOW WE WILL STRIKE! APOCALYPSE, TERROR, CHAOS!" with a short jerk of his hand, the connection to all the sentient undead was gone, as were it to his mortal followers, the effects it had on them being that of exultation.

Harry himself heard the voice, it being darker then it had been before, where it had been so kind and generous, like the Lich King really seemed to trust him with an amount of power, where he had shared something precious with him, to only rip it away so cruelly, leaving him here in this room full of weapons and armor, to dress as one of the Knights of Death…

This is the end of the 2nd chapter, I hope you people liked it, along with the character development I did. I won't reveal too much, but I am foreshadowing something in this chapter. Also, tell me how you like Trishia and Leena. I made them to be 'nice' Death Knights, nice in such an aspect that they still strive to be as social as they were in life, making the best of undeath… there is no such thing as a mindless Death Knight, just ones who sink too deeply in their misery and do their best to make others share their suffering… and also keep a healthy worship for the Lich King of course…

Well, I hope that this is enough to this chapter, and to keep the reviews floating in…

Having 20 reviews total for this story would be really peachy…

Demon God of Chaos

PS: I think I am losing my skill at writing…