Chapter Five: The Bane of the Dark
Before the Christmas holidays ended, the Ollivander family in its entirety came to thank Harry personally for his rescuing of their youngest son. Harry was rather embarrassed. The parents were especially dignified and thankful, but Mary Ollivander couldn't stop singing his praises.
"James of London" had become her favorite professor overnight and she practically worshipped him. Her attentions were enough to make Harry long for the days when all he had to deal with was Colin Creevey.
One positive aspect of her opinion was that as soon as the next term started, Harry became the favorite professor of every student in the school. They all went out of their way to be nice to him and pay attention in classes. This in turn resulted in Harry becoming an even more competent teacher. Harry continued to be unpopular with the other teachers, but that was mostly envy and pride on their parts.
The night of Tim Ollivander's rescue had changed Harry. During the first years of the war with Lord Moridane, he had been satisfied to sit at Hogwarts and passively keep it safe. He began to proactively make contributions to fighting against the Dark lord.
Gryffindor who was tiring from his efforts began to let Harry take his place at some of the necessary meetings and on some of the missions that targeted Lord Moridane's forces. Harry soon was regarded as a highly competent wizard by many people throughout Britain. Previously, he had practically been unknown by anyone outside of Hogwart's gates.
The war came to a long awaited end one November. Harry was nearly thirty years old, though he still looked as if he wasn't a day over sixteen. Harry and Godric had hatched a plan to lure Lord Moridane to Hogwarts where the Dark lord would be ambushed and hopefully killed or captured.
Through intelligence activities, they had accidentally leaked information that both Harry and Godric often both left the castle unguarded. Their plan was to pretend that Godric was out of the country and have Harry leave the castle. Lord Moridane would then attack and find Godric at the castle. Harry would double back to the castle and they'd have Moridane.
Lord Moridane did not react as anticipated. When Harry arrived at Diagon Alley, he found the Dark lord waiting for him. Apparently, Lord Moridane had decided to take advantage of the opportunity in an alternate way.
"James of London," said Lord Moridane by way of greeting, "the Apprentice of Gryffindor."
"If you say so," Harry replied, staring at Moridane. He looked nothing like Voldemort. Harry supposed that Voldemort had been consumed far more by the Dark. On the other hand, Voldemort's looks might have been the result of natural ugliness. Moridane had a full head of salt and pepper colored hair. His skin was not deathly pale; it looked as if he had actually had far too much sun.
"I am the grandchild of Salazar Slytherin," announced Moridane very loudly. Harry began to wonder if Moridane was having a conversation with him or making a speech to the onlookers who had gathered from around Diagon Alley to see the disturbance. "Gryffindor was my grandfather's enemy, but he will soon be dead. You who seek to supplant I, the holder of the Hogwart's birthright, must die."
Harry was terribly confused. Moridane had hardly even targeted Hogwarts through the duration of his uprising. Godric's spies had worked tirelessly to even convince Moridane that attacking Hogwarts was strategically desirable. It then dawned on him that Moridane was trying to publicly justify his attempt to kill Harry.
Seeing that Moridane was probably not going to say anything useful, Harry drew his wand with a jerk of his wrist and shot a stunner at Moridane, cutting him off in the middle of his next sentence.
Moridane dodged with a complicated spin and shot a sickly looking wave of purple light toward Harry who blocked it. "Protego!" The purple light crashed into Harry's shield and though it did not penetrate, shook Harry's entire body nastily in a way similar to what one feels when striking an anvil with a hammer tightly gripped in their hand.
Harry gasped and when he looked up toward Moridane, he saw the green light of a killing curse coming his way. It was all he could do to drop to the ground in the mud that made up the main thoroughfare in Diagon Alley.
Knowing that he didn't have time to get up if he wanted to fire anything toward Moridane, Harry pointed his wand down the street in the general direction of the Dark lord and shot a strong banishing charm tipped with a shield charm. It did the trick and Moridane hurtled down the street where he landed with a thud.
Before Harry could blink or even prepare to shoot off the next hex, Moridane had jumped to his feet so quickly that Harry supposed some sort of charm or wandlesss magic was involved. The Dark lord began shooting assorted curses toward Harry rapidly. Harry erected an especially strong shield that blocked most of them, but one of the hexes was designed to break through that particularly shield and the cutting hex that followed bloodied Harry up a little bit.
Gritting his teeth, Harry hissed, "Accio Moridane!" Without waiting a millisecond he then pointed his wand to several rocks lodged in the mud and banished them toward the incoming Dark lord. The resulting collision was sickening for both those hearing and watching the duel.
Harry was running away from the point of the collision in order to gain distance between himself and the Dark lord. When he turned around the Dark lord, covered in blood and one of his arms hanging strangely, was already preparing to shoot off another volley of curses sure to get Harry again. Harry erected his strongest shield yet and then summoned lightning.
Moridane's first several curses were nullified by Harry's shield and he was unable to cast anymore because lightning was rapidly striking the ground near him, sometimes close, other time near.
Harry regretted that lightning was too finicky to make it possible for him to aim and hit the Dark lord with it. At the very least, it kept Moridane busy. Harry was able to catch his breath and gauge his surroundings better. There was now a large crowd watching the duel.
Soon, Moridane found a way to propel miniature lightning storm toward Harry and even intensify hit. Harry knew more about the properties of electricity and promptly transfigured a bird perched on the shop next to him into a metal lightning rod that was so well grounded that with only a few hits to it, the storm was cancelled out.
Harry and Moridane found themselves staring at each other, not casting any curses. Harry could see hatred in Moridane's eyes. It was ironic; Moridane had never come face to face with Harry until this point, but he hated him.
Moridane erected an extremely strong but unknown shield charm and then held up his wand and began an incantation in Parseltongue as being a descendant of Slytherin, he was a Parselmouth. Harry too was a Parselmouth and his face blanched upon hearing the details of the longwinded incantation.
Harry attempted several stunners, but they did not penetrate the shield. Moridane continued the incantation and Harry wondered if he was insane. Didn't he realize that the incantation could hurt him as much as it could hurt everyone else?
It was necessary to find a way past the shield. Most shields only blocked against magic and Harry gambled on that. With a wave of his wand, one of the rocks that Moridane had crashed into was transfigured into a blood red snake that vaguely resembled a cobra in shape and size. Harry wasn't exactly an expert on snake breeds.
Harry hissed at the snake in Parseltongue. "Strangle the Dark lord."
The scarlet colored snake struck as fast as lighting and was soon around Moridane's neck. The incantation was cut off and Moridane was further unable to say anything to the snake to countermand Harry's directive.
Moridane dropped to his knees, desperately pulling on the snake, trying to get it to release him, but to no avail. Harry sadly watched as the last signs of life slowly disappeared from Moridane. Harry did not relish the moment but he did not think he could be justified in letting someone so bent on widespread destruction live. In becoming a Dark lord, Moridane had made his choice. Harry had only accelerated what had become inevitable from that moment.
Once Moridane was completely dead, Harry waved his wand and caused the snake to vanish. He barely heard the cheers of the gathered onlookers as he stared at the corpse. He had killed a Dark lord. Killing Voldemort no longer seemed quite as impossible. Harry wondered if it would be like this when he finally did.
It was Godric Gryffindor that drew Harry from his distracted state. "You did well, James. I'm proud of you."
Harry looked over at Godric with small smile. "I guess our plan kind of fell through."
"It turned out better than we planned," Godric said to Harry. "It took me a while to figure out that something had gone wrong. By the time I arrived here you already had things under control."
Gryffindor raised his arms toward the crowd who quieted. "This day," he orated, "the Dark was again defeated by James of London!"
A very old woman stepped forward out of the crowd toward Harry and Godric. Her white hair was a mess and her age had bent her spine until she was quite nearly a hunchback. Her eyes were white and glazed over. She was blind. "Nay, not James of London," she declared in a cackling voice. "James, the Bane of the Dark."
Godric smiled at the woman. "Very well," he acquiesced loudly. "Today, James surnamed Darkbane triumphed against Lord Moridane."
There were a great many cheers at this. "Dark-bane!" they chanted over and over.
"Can we get out of here?" Harry muttered to Godric, eyeing the crowd nervously. "This is kind of awkward."
"I think not," Godric retorted. "The best part about defeating a Dark lord is the celebrations that follow. People will stop paying attention to you soon enough."
"Very well," Harry said, giving in. "But could we get them to cut the Darkbane nonsense?"
"Why?" Godric asked. "You've been in need of a surname since you got here. Now your students can call you 'Professor Darkbane' instead of those other substitutions."
"I refuse to be called 'Professor Darkbane,'" Harry growled.
Godric was paying no attention and had walked over to the Dark lord's body that no one had touched. Harry followed and watched as Godric quickly went through Moridane's possessions. "I'm looking for Slytherin's ring," Godric explained. "If you remember, that's the reason we jumped into this conflict in the first place."
Slytherin's ring was never found. Apparently, Moridane had been wise and provided for its safekeeping. Harry was annoyed, but Godric was terribly disappointed. He had been counting on the ring's acquisition so that he could go to the grave in peace knowing that Harry would be able to look after Hogwarts.
Godric did not let the disappointment mar the celebration of Moridane's death. He and Harry celebrated with everyone else and had enjoyed themselves immensely. They soon returned to the castle where another party was held for the students who had heard of the victory. Harry was even more popular than ever and had earned even the grudging respect of the fellow teachers.
The Christmas holiday soon arrived and with it came the Ollivander family to personally pick their son. They requested a meeting with Harry who graciously invited them into his office. Mary Ollivander, who had graduated the previous summer, was there and beaming at Harry as had become her habit. It was her father who spoke to Harry though. "We wanted to thank you again for rescuing our son as well as congratulate you for defeating Moridane."
"I was only happy to help," Harry replied, a faint tinge of red appearing on the tips of his ears.
"You're a modest person," Mr. Ollivander commented with a smile. "We have a gift for you. We would have presented it to you earlier, but it was not ready until just now." He handed Harry a long, thin, and elegantly carved wooden case.
Harry curiously opened it and found a wand. The first thing Harry noticed about it was that it was quite long compared to every other wand he had ever seen. He estimated that it was nearly fifteen inches long. Instead of bare wood, it was glazed with an extremely dark paint. It wasn't quite black, but Harry was unable to figure out what other color it was. As he tipped the box back and forth he got the impression that it was blue, or scarlet, or green, maybe purple, or if the light hit it just right, simply too shiny to look at.
"Try holding it!" Mary directed eagerly.
Harry took the wand into his hand, held it, and was reminded distinctly of the day when he first held a wand in Mr. Ollivander's shop back in the future. Both warmth and a chill shot through his body and Harry suddenly felt as if he could do anything.
"It will take you a certain amount of time to become accustomed to this wand," explained Mr. Ollivander. "This isn't an average wand. We custom made it for you using outdated skills that have largely been forgotten. Before certain technical advances in wand making, wandmakers had to use magical ingredients that were more raw, or pure. In most cases, the difference between an old fashioned wand and a modern wand is irrelevant. However, we thought you might benefit from the old fashioned more."
"I see," Harry said carefully, not quite following everything Mr. Ollivander said.
"Furthermore," Mr. Ollivander said, "we tried to imitate your personality in the core as best we could. The core is a phoenix feather, soaked in a highly volatile solution of phoenix tears and basilisk venom. The majority of your wand is holly, but we had to use ash to contain the basilisk venom."
The information about the basilisk venom surprised Harry and worried him a bit. Why were they comparing basilisk venom to his personality? They didn't seem to be holding it against him, so Harry just smiled and thanked the Ollivander family profusely for their gift. They soon left Harry to himself and his new wand.
Harry tried a few spells out using the new wand and was pleased with the results. The wand definitely suited him better than the wand he'd been permanently loaned. It shot out spells with more power and precision. The extended length of the wand made things a little awkward with regard to moving it, but Harry supposed he'd get used to it.
The length also interfered with his sleeve holster. It was too long to fit in it. After some consideration, Harry came to the conclusion that he was going to have to buy a more expensive holster with one of those charms that made the inside bigger than the outside.
He soon found himself in Diagon Alley among all the holiday shoppers. As he had done for previous holidays since arriving in the past, he vaguely wondered how his friends handled Christmas without him. "Merry Christmas wherever you all are and whatever you're doing," he said to his friends, even though they were centuries away and couldn't hear him. "I'd buy you all gifts if I could."
It took him a few minutes to realize that he could buy them all gifts even if they didn't receive them for nearly a thousand years. Shopping for his friends cheered him up considerably and inaugurated the start of a personal holiday tradition that would last for nearly a century.
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Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were reluctant to admit it, but Professor Snape had thus far done a respectable job of teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts. His manner was rather abrupt and he was definitely an unpleasant person, but he did teach what they needed to learn and saw to it that they learned it.
The homework from that class combined with homework from their other classes kept them incredibly busy. A couple of weeks went by and it was announced on all the school bulletin boards that a Dueling Club would be started. This caused a great deal of excitement among the student body as a whole and among some members of the former Dumbledore's Army organization.
Discussion ensued on the subject at dinner the night of the first meeting. Ron was quick to take credit when anyone mentioned it to him. He liked telling people that they had discussed everything with Dumbledore and arranged for this.
Hermione and Ginny were more reserved and limited themselves to saying that they were looking forward to it and hoped to learn a lot. Between the three of them, their comments ended up causing several people to decide to attend and there was a sizeable crowd waiting in the Great Hall for the start of the club meeting well before the appointed time.
Ron let out a groan when Snape strode into the Great Hall. "We're not here for an extra Defense class," he muttered.
"Maybe he'll teach us stuff that we wouldn't normally cover in class," Hermione said optimistically.
"At least he can't grade us," Ginny said realistically.
Their fears were soon put to rest when Professors Dumbledore and Flitwick followed Professor Snape in to the Great Hall. Seeing that everyone who intended to come was already there, Dumbledore promptly called the meeting to order.
"As you all know, Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters have been causing problems across the country. What you learn here may help you to get out of some bad situations. Let me stress that you shouldn't assume that you have the skills to stand up to a Death Eater or even try to chase and apprehend one. Leave that to the Aurors. You should be using what you learn here to defend yourself and if possible, escape."
He then laid down some basic rules for the club, especially mentioning that students should only cast spells that they were instructed to do. Failure to obey these rules would result in expulsion from the club and detention. "The club will meet weekly at the same time and place," Dumbledore continued. "I, Professor Snape, or Professor Flitwick will be here to instruct you."
The meeting proper then began and Dumbledore ended up teaching the disarming spell, Expelliarmus. Ron and Hermione were severely annoyed with this turn of events as they were already very familiar with this spell and took it upon themselves to go about instructing other students who were having trouble.
Ginny found herself left behind and practicing with a first year girl who was scared stiff of Ginny because she had heard the rumor that Ginny had gone to the Ministry the previous summer and faced off with Death Eaters. Ginny put an honest effort into practicing the spell and ended up enjoying her brief time with the young first year.
As the weeks went by and at repeated Dueling Club meetings, Ginny began to notice that Ron and Hermione ended up always wandering off or exclusively pairing with each other. She began to realize that Ron and Hermione didn't think much of her talents or age.
This made her quite angry and drove her to excel. She found herself looking up extra spells and practicing them when she was in the library searching books for Lord Darkbane. As she did so, her ability started to increase with regard to Defense. Snape even privately noted to himself that the Weasley girl was nearly as talented at Defense as the Potter brat.
When alone and annoyed at Ron and Hermione who were increasingly becoming distant, Ginny also found herself angrily telling herself that Harry would never act like Ron and Hermione were. This led to Ginny having a little bit of a chip on her shoulder.
She was sparing for a fight when she found Hermione researching Lord Darkbane in the library one evening. "I can help you," she declared in an angry whisper. "Why don't you stop hogging it all for yourself?"
Hermione looked up from her book at Ginny with a surprised look on her face. "Hogging it all?" she queried.
"I'm in this too!" Ginny declared in a somewhat raised voice. "If we work together, we have a better chance of finding information about Lord Darkbane."
Hermione glanced around the library and hissed at Ginny. "Keep it down! We don't need everyone hearing about what we're doing."
It was too late though. Draco Malfoy had overheard the conversation from behind a bookshelf near the table that Hermione was sitting at.
Ginny had the decency to look embarrassed, but was still angry. "Let me help. Tell me what you want me to do."
"I can go through the right books faster," Hermione hedged. "Really, you don't have to worry about it. I've spent a lot of time here and I know which books are most likely to mention him."
"So tell me which books to check," Ginny demanded. "I'll go through them and get back to you."
Hermione finally gave in and Ginny left the library with a large stack of books to look through.
It was not long before Lord Voldemort learned that Ginny Weasley and Hermione Granger were doing research on Lord Darkbane and that said research had nothing to do with their school work. In most cases, Voldemort would have likely dismissed the information as being irrelevant and unconnected to his plans. However, Lord Voldemort knew of Lord Darkbane.
The Order held another meeting not long after this where Voldemort's reaction to this information was to be reported on by Professor Snape. Professor Dumbledore would not have normally gone to great lengths to ensure that Ron, Hermione, and Ginny attended Order meetings during the school term, but as they were involved with the Lord Darkbane subject he made the necessary arrangements.
The meeting convened near sunset on a Saturday night at the house of Mad-Eye Moody. As it was still under protective wards, Dumbledore thought it the best option. Professor Dumbledore and the three teens were the last to arrive.
Dumbledore took his place at the front while the teens quickly slipped to the back. Professor Dumbledore called the meeting to order and each Order member quickly reported that their research had produced no information on the whereabouts of Harry Potter in the past.
Each member reporting was instructed to keep researching or perhaps think of different places to look for records of Harry. Some were specifically assigned to check places that Dumbledore had thought of since the last meeting. Dumbledore deliberately waited to have Ron, Hermione, and Ginny report last.
Their turn soon came and all three stood, but Hermione spoke. "We have discovered through certain sources that there is a former Headmaster of Hogwarts by the name of Lord Darkbane. According to our sources, Darkbane was well versed in the magic behind time travel. We have been trying to find more information on him to see if he ever came in contact with Harry. We are still in the process of looking." The teens then sat down.
"That leads us to our next topic," Dumbledore informed the Order. "Lord Voldemort has learned that we are researching Lord Darkbane. Professor Snape will report on that."
Snape stood up and sneered at the three teens, but especially Ginny. "Draco Malfoy overheard Weasley and Granger speaking in the library and passed the information on to the Dark lord."
Ginny knew very well that it was completely her fault and was blushing. She could have tried to place the blame elsewhere, but she realized that it was strictly her fault that they had been overheard. It was a rather humbling experience as the sound of annoyed muttering filled the room. She tried not to look in her mother's direction.
Dumbledore cleared his throat loudly and by so doing, urged Snape to move on to the actual information. Snape obliged. "The Dark Lord is familiar with Lord Darkbane and from his own sources has learned more than Granger and the Weasley siblings have discovered."
"What kind of sources are we talking about?" one witch called out, voicing the question that Hermione was too shy to ask herself. Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were practically on the edge of their chairs waiting to hear this new information.
Snape was annoyed at being interrupted, but was spared answering the question by Professor Dumbledore who jumped in. "Voldemort has access to materials that have been safeguarded by Dark lords and wizards. There is also of course the oral tradition that members of the Dark community have."
"Is that sort of information accurate?" Arthur Weasley asked.
"I wouldn't accept everything Lord Voldemort's sources indicate as pure fact," Professor Dumbledore admitted. "The Dark has a way of twisting things to its point of view as you well know. The Dark is often ignorant as well. It's explanations for events are often incorrect because of a lack of all the relevant facts. Thus, I would say that Voldemort's information at the very least has basis in fact.
Everyone seemed to accept this and Snape was finally able to move on. "The Dark lord believes that Lord Darkbane was an extremely powerful wizard. Though he didn't admit it outright, I believe that he admires Lord Darkbane. I would go so far as to say that the Dark lord believes that Lord Darkbane was also a Dark lord."
Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were surprised at this. Their eyes widened and they shared worried glances.
Snape's report continued. "Tradition holds that Lord Darkbane possessed some very powerful magical objects that he often used against his enemies. Lord Darkbane's wand is the first of these. The wand was valuable enough that some Dark wizards attempted to kill Lord Darkbane for the sole purpose of becoming the wand's master. None of them succeeded."
"Is it known where the wand came from?" Kingsley Shacklebolt asked.
"No," Snape said. "The next three magical objects are grouped together. It is said that Darkbane possessed three powerful magical rings. I believe that this information was especially important to the Dark lord, but he did not share any background on them with the Death Eaters."
Mundungus Fletcher interrupted with a jibe. "If he didn't say hardly anything about the rings, how do you know that they are important to him?"
Snape glared. "We will get to that later. The third object is perhaps the important, though the least is known about it. Dark tradition holds that Lord Darkbane possessed an hourglass that he often kept on his person. The obvious speculation would be that it was a Time Turner, but Voldemort doesn't believe that was the case. The hourglass was said to have been an incredibly powerful magical object that rendered Lord Darkbane invincible."
This caused some quiet whispers between the members of the Order. It was Tonks who bravely spoke up. "Isn't that a little over the top?"
"It's hard to say," Snape replied, annoyance thick in his voice. "Supposedly, Darkbane was never defeated during combat or in duels. The Dark lord also believes that the hourglass made Lord Darkbane immortal in some way."
That caused some discussion among the members of the Order. Snape and Dumbledore were soon fending off objections to the idea on the basis that it was ridiculous and that it was based on facts gleaned from the Dark lord.
"If he was immortal, why isn't he still alive?" Ron quietly said, poking a hole in the rumor.
Hermione frowned and replied back. "Lord Darkbane was Headmaster for nearly a hundred years. That's a really long time for an era when most people were lucky to see their fiftieth birthday."
"I bet that the hourglass has nothing to do with anything," Ginny said, sharing her opinion. "Those Dark wizards probably got walloped by him and they tried to come up with a cheap explanation to spare their pride. Dumbledore is really old and has never been defeated by a Dark wizard. That doesn't mean that I think his watch has anything to do with it."
Snape was soon able to resume and tell the members of the Order why this was all relevant to the cause. "The Dark lord believes that we are researching Lord Darkbane in an effort to get our hands on these magical objects in order to fight him. As a consequence of this, the Dark lord wishes to obtain these magical objects before we can. He believes that because we are researching it with Professor Dumbledore's approval that it is possible."
He then turned to Mundungus Fletcher. "As for the rings, Voldemort obviously believes they're important because he gave us the most description about them and instructions on where he'd like us to look."
This proved to be the end of Snape's report and Professor Dumbledore stood up to speak. "It is my opinion that Lord Darkbane did possess a wand." He cracked a smile as everyone laughed. He then continued. "It is entirely possible that the wand may have been especially powerful. The rings may have existed. If they did, there were probably just average rings with a charm or two on them. As for the hourglass, I think we would have heard of it from other sources if it was of any special significance. We already know that Lord Darkbane was talented with regard to time travel. I would venture to say the hourglass was a Time Turner."
The members of the Order were quick to agree with Dumbledore. Even Ron, Hermione, and Ginny agreed.
Dumbledore then announced how the Order would handle things with regard to the Lords Darkbane and Voldemort. "It is unlikely that Voldemort will be able to find anything more about Lord Darkbane. It is doubtful that he will get his hands on any of those magical artifacts as well. As he searches, his time will be consumed and we will have more time to search for Harry. I think that our youngest members should continue to research Lord Darkbane primarily for the sake of finding out whether or not he and Harry crossed paths. If there is any information discovered about these magical objects I'm sure they'll pass that on too."
Ron was especially pleased at being trusted with something seemingly so important. Hermione's eagerness to research had doubled, though she was now more interested in establishing specific facts about Lord Darkbane as he seemed even more fascinating to her.
Dumbledore wasn't quite finished with the instructions though. He looked at the three teens over the rims of his spectacles. "Said Order members should take care that their findings do not fall into the hands of Voldemort or his minions. We don't need to make things easier for him."
Ginny blushed again and vowed to herself that no Death Eater would learn anything from her.