Harry Potter and the Dark Heir
By Lady Paradox
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and affiliates do not belong to me nor do I claim credit for them or claim any financial gain from this fan fiction.
Chapter One
Confused, Harry was silent as the two Aurors dragged him from the Department of Mysteries to the elevator, pushing to button for the descent to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
Harry's mind was running furiously, why had he been detained? Did the Aurors think that there were still Death Eaters around? Why hadn't they recognized his as Harry Potter? It was at times like this that Harry wished his fame would pull him out of trouble.
He had figured that at this point, Professor Dumbledore would have explained to the Ministry their presence, but perhaps the Headmaster had secreted the students away. His mind satisfied with that answer, Harry once again berated himself for his actions, hoping Professor Dumbledore had a good excuse for him.
Satisfied with that conclusion, Harry started to examine his captors. One of the men was a brunette that looked slightly familiar, like someone he has passed in the atrium before. The other, a slightly taller and bulkier man gave off the presence of someone who was not very sure of himself, constantly glancing at Harry and the other man for approval in his actions.
Upon arriving at the second floor, Harry was pulled from the elevator, and led to the Auror Offices. Having past a couple of desks once inside, he was ushered into a small room. After removing and refastening the device around his wrists in the front of his body, the taller Auror patted him down and removed his wand. Pocketing it, they left him alone in the room.
Still a bit baffled by the events, Harry glanced around and tried to analyze the situation. None too soon, Harry was startled by the sound of the door abruptly opening. Looking up quickly, he saw a straight faced man who had a scar over one eye. The man quickly strode forward, easily towering over Harry from across the table. Harry watched as the man's eyes quickly scanned him over and the man's face broke into a scowl. Feeling intimidated, Harry hoped that Professor Dumbledore would appear soon.
"State your name." the gruff voice broke Harry out of his thoughts.
"I want to speak to Professor Dumbledore," said Harry finally, thinking carefully over his words.
The man scoffed. "What makes you think he'll talk to you?" said the man suspiciously. "You're just another filthy prisoner," spat the man.
"Just tell him I'm here." Said Harry firmly, looking away from the man's eyes.
"Who do you think you are? You're just another no good teenager who thinks that joining the war will make you powerful. I got news for you kid, Dumbledore's got no time for shit like you. He'll never see you."
"Of course he would!" yelled Harry, slowly starting to doubt the arrival of the Headmaster. After all, hadn't the professor been ignoring him all year?
"What makes you so sure?" the man asked conversationally as his eyes scrutinized Harry.
"I'm his student," stated Harry self consciously, before he raised his head and looked the man straight in the eye, "and I'm Harry Potter."
At the name, Harry saw the man's eyes widen then narrow in suspicion.
"Alright, Harry Potter," the man said, "what was your business with the Department of Mysteries? If you are a student as you claim, you should be in class right about now."
Harry quickly weighed his options. Apparently the ministry did not know about the break in yet. Yet, if he didn't tell his side of the story, he and his friends would get in trouble for breaking into the ministry. Also, if the break in was proved, Voldemort's reappearance might be proved as well. It would end all the doubts in the minds of the public. Seeing that the good outweighed the bad, he quickly recounted his story to the man.
"Death Eaters!" the man said angrily, deftly reaching across the table and grabbing Harry by his shirt, pulling him halfway out of his chair. "What do you know about the Death Eaters?"
Harry looked at the man, startled and slightly afraid. This man might use violence against him! Unaccustomed to people in the magical world reacting in such a manner, Harry's mind rapidly came up with the only reason he would be treated that way. Immediately, Harry started pushing back, trying to get out of the man's grip and away from him. Surprised, the man let go and Harry jumped out of the chair, pushing himself away from the man and into the corner.
Slightly amused at his futile actions, the man asked "And just what do you think you're doing?"
"Get away from me you Death Eater!" Harry snapped, waving his cuffed hands uselessly.
"Ironic that you're calling ME the Death Eater," the man chuckled darkly.
Harry's eyes narrowed, but before he could ask the man what he meant, a deafening blast sounded through the building, followed by a rumble that shook Harry from his feet. Tipping over, Harry's head collided with the wall and he fell onto the ground.
A bit dazed from the hit, Harry faintly heard the magical PA system turn on.
"This is a code… I repeat this is a code 3."
In the background, he heard the man, his interrogator, curse, before yelling out a name. Within seconds, the taller Auror who helped arrest Harry burst into the room.
"Take the prisoner to Bay 4. And DON'T put him with the other known Death Eaters." Prisoner? Death Eater? Harry's mind asked, not quite comprehending the situation.
Before he could make a sound in protest, Harry was hauled to his feet by the other man and dragged out of the room. After being led out the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, he was pushed down a long hallway. The hallway was sparsely lit and sectioned off into dark alcoves.
"What's going on?" he asked as he got orientated in the fast pace the Auror set.
"Quiet!" the Auror said harshly, hastening his steps.
But Harry needed to know what was going on, so he dug in his heels and refused to walk.
"What's going on?" he asked again, more firmly.
Seeing that Harry wouldn't budge, the Auror said exasperatedly, "Everyone knows a code 3 means a Death Eater attack in the atrium."
At this point, the man was all but pulling Harry along. When they reached the end of the hallway, the Auror started to turn right, but before Harry could react, a flash of green light rushed towards the man, striking him square in the back.
Acting quickly, Harry pushed himself away from the Auror and dove into the nearest alcove. His heart racing he tried to soften his breaths and listened carefully for movement. Now that all was quiet, Harry could hear the voices of the people who had murdered the Auror.
After a few tense moments, he heard the voices fade away down the direction the Auror had been leading him to. When he was certain that no one was around, Harry cautiously moved out of the alcove and stood next to the man. Mentally telling himself that he was ensuring his survival, Harry quickly searched the man and came up with his wand. With a little careful maneuvering and a quiet Deletrius, Harry cancelled the magic on the cuffs and was free.
Harry looked at the path before him. He could go back, go the way that the Death Eaters took, or go the way the Death Eaters came from. With a decisive nod, he decided to go the way the Death Eaters came from. The path the Death Eaters took was most likely the holding cells and the way back was out of the question, not after that imposter interrogator.
Moving carefully and quietly, Harry snuck down the hallway the Death Eaters had come from. Following the hallway for a few minutes and turning a corner, Harry was surprised to see the open door of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office. Tiptoeing over, Harry glanced in and saw the cramped office was empty, with papers strewn everywhere and generally in disarray. Most likely, the members of the office had gone to join the fight or had followed the evacuation plan, Harry told himself as he looked for Mr. Weasley.
Entering the office, Harry caught sight of something that seemed out of place. In the corner of the office, there was a tall and very large black cabinet with double doors that were completely ajar. Stepping closer, Harry thought that the cabinet looked vaguely familiar.
Suddenly, the sound of someone shuffling startled Harry out of his examination. Panicked, he looked for a place to hide before hurriedly stepping into the cabinet and closing the doors. From the crack between the doors, Harry peered out, before he saw a couple figures heading down the hallway. They were headed straight for him!
As the figures entered the office, Harry started stepping away from the doors. With each step he took, his heart pounded. The fear of being captured drove his every step. Much too soon, his back met the back of the cabinet. Leaning heavily on it and trying to calm his breaths, Harry was surprised when the surface he was leaning on suddenly opened behind him, causing him to fall onto his back.
Startled but still afraid, Harry quickly shot up, surveying his surrounds. Impossible. He was in Borgin and Burkes! Quickly standing up, knowing that those figures were bound to follow, Harry hid himself behind a chest stained with many dark spots. Immediately after, three figures stepped out of the cabinet.
It was two masked Death Eaters supporting a gaunt and frail Lucius Malfoy.
"Those ministry dogs," spat one of the masked men, "they act superior but they use as much torture as us."
"Shut up Rowle, we're not safe yet."
Harry watched as the men transfigured their robes into everyday ones, and calmly stepped out of the shop and into the street, before quickly moving away and further down Knockturn Alley.
Slowly, Harry rose from his spot behind the chest. He knew he had to get out of the shop before the owner got back, so instead of dwelling on the information he just heard, he quickly left the building. Following the vaguely familiar path back to Diagon Alley, Harry was startled by the sight that greeted him. Instead of the bright and populated Diagon Alley that he remembered, this alley was dank and gloomy. The few people who traveled along it moved quickly and made sure not to meet anyone's eyes. Many of the shops that Harry had exclaimed over in his first trip to Diagon Alley were no longer there. Instead, these building had their windows boarded up and old Closed signs were tacked to the doors. In fact, the only building that looked unchanged was Gringotts.
Perplexed by this change, Harry continued down the street towards the Leaky Cauldron. On the way, his eyes caught sight of an old pile of newspapers left to rot on the sidewalk. Shuffling over to them, Harry picked up the one on top. Quickly scanning over the front page story, Harry was completely unarmed.
Voldemort's Reign of Terror Continues
By Anson Cooper
Early this morning, a publicly well known figure, Bartemius Crouch was found murdered in his home. Mr. Crouch was found dead in his house by his house elf. Crouch is best known for heading efforts to curb the power of the Dark Lord in the 1970s before he fell out of power. At the time of his death, Bartemius Crouch was the head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation where he was crucial in the effort to create a mutual protection pact with France and Spain. With his death, this reporter dares to ask if the ministry can keep anyone safe. The Dark Lord's reign has been running unchecked for more than twenty years and they are no closer to stopping him now as they were then. The Minister of Magic promises that the end is near but as each new day dawns, the death toll keeps rising. Lately, the appearances of You-Know-Who's right hand man has become more frequent which has become highly distressing for the general public, for his appearance has always been an omen for death. For a continuation of the article and a summary of weekly deaths related to Death Eater activity, please turn to page A5.
Horrified, Harry's eyes were drawn to a picture accompanying the article. It was of a Dark Mark hovering over a burning building. Where am I?