Disclaimer: I would never own the Harry Potter books or characters or ideas; I love Tommy too much ;0
Hello my lovely lords and ladies! I would love to present you with this new addition to my growing collection, starting with that Voldemort POV I promised you :) I have one simple request of you: please review review review! I adore reading your comments, questions, and concerns and love responding back. Right now I'm having a lovely PMing conversation with a fellow author :)
Nagini was simply an exquisite being. Magnificent, really, Voldemort mused silently, as the great snake leaned into his touch, hissing quietly in pleasure. Her crisp vert scales glittered throughout the chamber, throwing tiny micro light detailing onto the stone walls. His secretary flinched. The Minister for Magic, barely contained a sigh, and the urge to steeple his temples grew. He'd kept almost all of the Ministry's staff on, except for the Aurors who had actively fought against his take over. Understandably some of the Ministry workers were a bit wary of his presence, he enjoyed that, being left alone and obeyed implicitly was something he expected, and at this current time their fear of him was working to his own benefit.
His hand tightened momentarily around his prized pet's scales, before returning to his normal stroking. However, some, certain wizards persisted in their belief that at his every twitch he would either crucio them out of their wits, which couldn't be hard considering how few they pertained, or kill them with some manner of maniacal laughter in the middle of the Atrium. Those certain magical folk had been dismissed, the Minister had no room in his workplace for those beings more frightened of their employer than not getting their job done. As far as he knew only one remained, Percy Weasley, Junior Unsersecretary to the Minister.
If the Minister were to be completely honest with himself he would admit that it was only in the last day that he had begun to find Weasley so unbearably infuriating. The rest of his term of Minister had been spent actively seeking to terrify the red head as much as possible, the most amusing part was that he didn't need to actively try to scare the boy. Voldemort did it without altering any of his behavior.
For example, according to the second law of thermodynamics harbors cause and effect, when Voldemort would speak in parseltongue the effects it would have on Percy were far more enjoyable than something Boyle and Guericke produced.
Now, he simply wished to murder the Weasley brat. Something, the man regretted he could no longer do.
The Ministry had fallen quite easily, an unexpected ambush had taken place on his part, and the former Minister for Magic himself had Flooed right into his lap. Voldemort would have had to be a fool not to take advantage, and he was no fool. A single overwhelming attack had been his goal, something to paralyze the ministry's defenses and render their safe guards and wards null. A single raid which was meant to do several things; swiftly take over the Ministry with as little wizard blood shed as possible, assume control of the Ministry's assets, and to very strongly control the aftereffects of the attack.
Things like publicity, the Prophet, image... the people of the wizarding world needed to know two things; that they wouldn't all be murdered in their beds the moment he took control, and that things were going to change. Not the change that so many empire's before had in civilizations past, those were plotlines that always ended in disaster.
There was the introduction, of a new people with high ambitions and hopes, there was foreshadowing signifying great things were to happen, there was the protagonist and the antagonist introduced. Usually the antagonist being the current goverment, there was the building suspense up towards the climax which signified the efforts put in place by the protagonist to achieve success. Then there was the climax itself; the high point of the story where all matters are supposed to be brought to light.
A verifiable Golden Age. But just as in a storyline after the climax is the falling action, the conclusion to the plot. A tying up of loose ends, which when applied to civilizations reigns usually spelled disaster. A strong leader dies, leaves no heir, no children who are strong enough to continue. There's squabbling, feuding, civil war for power until eventually the once great empire is split in two, three, sometimes many pieces. It happened with the Roman Empire, it happened with Persia, the Austrian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and most obviously the Byzantine Empire.
It brought to light a great flaw in human biology. Death. Death did not bode well when making something eternal. Death was flawed, death destroyed, death dismantled and levelled empires, death was the weakness which pertained to all before him, death... to Voldemort was immaterial. Nagini, Voldemort remembered, guaranteed that. Along with a few... other pieces in his collection. There was a new piece though, something altogether unexpected.
"Minister? There's someone here to see you." there was a slight trembling in Weasley's voice that both snapped the red eyed man out of his thoughts and made him want to sneer. Weren't Gryffindor's supposed to be brave?
He waved a regal hand.
"Let them in."
Into the chamber came a young blonde haired man; Draco Malfoy. A bare flicker of interest sparked. He'd sent the youngest Malfoy to Hogwart's with his first assignment after the Ministry takeover; observe Harry Potter. Voldemort had wanted to know the boy's every move, his whereabouts, his classes, his extracurriculars, his friends; everything.
"I didn't summon you, Draco,"
The Malfoy boy didn't meet his eyes, instead focusing on the polished floor beneath their feet. The chambers of the Minister for Magic had been adjusted with Voldemort's arrival, and now the room looked much more like the Dark Lord's office in his manor.
"I'm sorry my Lord, but you said that if anything... urgent were to develop with Potter I should come immediately..." the fifteen year old trailed off.
Voldemort barely refrained from rolling his crimson eyes, making an impatient gesture.
"I had a conversation with Potter today on the train coming back from school..." here Draco paused and the Dark Lord barely restrained himself from snorting in disdain, imagining the type of conversation that Potter and Malfoy jr. would be having. To his knowledge they were sworn rivals in all school matters. A childish rivalry, something he wouldn't indulge in.
"He's fallen out with his Mudblood and Bloodtraitor friends; Granger and Weasley. From what I can tell it was private, not any other Gryffindor witnessed it. Then at the leaving feast Dumbledore called Potter up to his office, I couldn't hear what they were saying, but when Potter came back he looked enraged. Went to the Room of Requirement and started blowing things up, I could have heard the crashes down in the dungeons. When he was finished, Weasley attacked him as Potter made his way out of the Come and Go Room. My lord," Draco's voice turned hesitant.
Voldemort's blood red eyes gleamed, and Draco hurried to continue.
"Potter took Weasley out with barely a flinch, slammed him against the wall and silenced him before Weasley could get more than a few words out. He kept calling Potter a traitor, cursing, struggling to attack him again. That's when I noticed something... peculiar about Weasley... about his face in particular..."
Voldemort, losing patience implied, "And what, Draco, about his face attracted you to it?" voice silky smooth, rather enjoying the flush that filled the blond's cheeks.
"It had been cursed, I don't know what with but it looked like he'd been hit with a Swelling Solution to the face and then jinxed with acne on top of it. It spelled SNEAK in huge letters right across his face. And when Potter shoved him up against the wall... it just wasn't on Weasley's face, I saw SNEAK on his arms and neck as well. From the way Weasley has been walking, I believe it to be on his feet as well."
"And why Draco, should I be interested in petty childish pranks between school children?" he was lying, the Malfoy spawn obviously couldn't tell from the way he paled, and tried frantically to explain.
"Because Potter cursed him, shoved him up against the wall, held him there, and cursed him. Potter must have cursed him, because I've never heard someone scream that loudly before... but my lord, Potter didn't just do that, he did it without a wand."
The Dark Lord's fingers paused, then quietly resumed stroking Nagini's head. The Malfoy child standing awkwardly before him, steaming in a mix of fear, apprehension, and two contrary needs; one to stay and one to leave. Draco was like most dark wizards; attracted to the magic it produced by being around another more powerful dark wizard, but at the same time fearful and repelled by the more powerful for his own Slytherin self preservation.
Wandless magic... he didn't bother verbally dismissing Draco, just waved an errant hand to send the boy away, where, he didn't care, probably back to Malfoy Manor. So Potter was practising non verbal wandless magic, and had cursed his friends with it. It sounded eerily similar to the Ministry of Magic incident just a few nights ago concerning Bella.
Perhaps... perhaps he had judged Potter too quickly. More research was needed, especially over the summer, the boy's behaviors without magic would be quite telling. Perhaps...
"Perhaps my subjects should leave when I dismiss them." Definitely not a request.
This time the Slytherin paled, stammering out, "S-sorrry, my lord but when I confront-when I had my conversation with Potter on the train he gave me this to explain what he did to Granger and Weasley." Draco extended a single piece of folded parchment. Then bowed regally, his etiquette still intact, and made his exit.
Curiously, the dark haired man peered down at the parchment paper, opening it proved that the contents was a letter, what looked like an order to a Diagon Alley store... and... oh, oh dear. For the first time since gaining Ministry power Riddle let a smile slowly crawl over his face, it was a dark smile, filled with promises someone like Voldemort had the stones to keep.
* "Perhapss... Nagini, our dear Harry needs a second chance in life. After all, as children we often make rash decisions in our youth." Nagini barely lifted her head to grace him with an answer, she was the only one who could do that. Ignore him without repercussions.
Harry had merits, he had all the right qualities of a true Slytherin. Now merely a wolf in sheeps clothing, Harry was a verifiable image in the wizarding world. A Savior, a light in the darkness, their champion. Voldemort wondered what would happen to the light wizards morale if their savior's light were to go... dark. Yes, the boy had potential, after doing such a thing wandlessly and wordlessly, and having near complete control. The boy deserved a reward. But he was getting ahead of himself, needed to keep with his original plan.
If Potter was to come to their side several provisions would have to be made, Potter would have to be approached by a recruiter, carefully molded, preferably by himself, shaped to something useful when the time came. And then shattered, like a piece of pottery.
It would be him, Voldemort mused, who picked up those broken pieces and glued them back together into a likeness that would be greater than the original. Something to be truly feared.
The Hogwart's Express was hot. Red in colour the train practically radiated heat, the sticky hotness came off the machine in waves that blared at the students boarding. It felt like they'd been doused with boiling water, and put in a muggle dryer, and then set out on black pavement to cook. June had never been so hot.
Thankfully, there were Cooling Charms on the inside.
Harry got a compartment with Luna and Neville, Neville carrying his mimbulus mimbletonia plant. Luna wearing her signature radish earrings which were bouncing around like crazy when she flounced in, thick pale hair swinging around her waist.
"Did you see Ronald, Harry? He had the funniest messages all across his body, he was trying to hide them of course, I don't believe he'd want many to believe that he was..." a contemplative look crossed her face, "what do the muggles call them again Harry, Pettering Tony's, Peetering Tommies... oh yes! Peeping Tom's! I really don't imagine that to be something many are proud of. It's because of the Nargles," she sighed.
"They run havoc throughout a persons mind, like those Bat Boogie's that Ginny likes to cast at boys." Luna looked pleased with the comparison.
Neville was staring at her, alarm written plainly over the poor boy's face, glancing in between Harry and Luna like a tennis match where he was the ball boy.
Harry roared with laughter, a true smile twisting across his face for the first time in a long while. It felt good to laugh, it felt even better to hear Luna call Weasley a peeping Tom, but beggars can't be choosers.
He flashed back to the previous day, after the leaving feast Ron had practically attacked him in an open corridor. Harry guessed the boy had finally felt the curse's effects, and after seeing Ron's face he was completely assured of it. And utterly unable to keep the vindictive smirk from his lips at the other's appearance.
Ronald was covered in a mixture of boils, pimples, and large amounts of cystic acne. The main pustules covering his face spelled out a single word across his face, on display for anyone unfortunate enough to look at him. SNEAK. A synonym for traitor. Not of course that traitor wasn't written in a multitude of other places, just as painfully, all across the red head's body.
Back stabber, betrayer, Judas, whistle-blower, turncoat, snitch, spy, two timer, defactor, deserter, fink, stool pigeon, and traitor. TRAITOR was written in bold cystic acne across every limb of his body, making it impossible to ignore. Right now it curled around Weasley's neck like a collar showing his true colors. And around wrists and ankles like chains. He'd been turned into a living message of betrayal.
The best part was that others wouldn't necessarily see it. Only those who already knew Weasley's true colors would be able to see the jinx that Harry had "modified". People like Dumbledore, others would have no reaction other than what was normal to Weasley's presence. Other's Harry would inform of the red head's betrayal. Neville, Luna, Ginny, maybe a few others. He didn't yet know if Ginny knew of the love potions. He would assume not, her name hadn't been mentioned in the letter and the company supplying the potions had made it sound as if they'd had to verify who the red hair for the love potion was from. Ginny was just a girl hiding a crush on him. Innocent. Not a person who deserved what had almost been done to the both of them.
For her it would have been a delusion, Harry Potter finally returning her affections. Harry knew he shouldn't be bitter towards the girl, it wasn't her fault, he knew that even if Ginny didn't feel the attraction for him she would have been doused with Love Potion as well.
For Harry... it would have been rape. Plain and simple. Nothing to think about, he'd have been forced to do something he didn't want to. He would have been unable to give consent under a drugs effects, never mind the fact he was underage. He knew Ginny would never do anything he didn't want her to do, but the problem was that under the Love Potion he wouldn't have been able to do anything to prevent any breach of boundaries.
Vindictive pleasure at Ronald's situation was the least of his feelings toward the boy. Ronald had confronted him, after the feast, brandishing his wand, shouting and howling incoherently, throwing off half curses and spells that didn't go anywhere near his target. But instead paintings, sending the occupants inside scattering, burning just the edges, showing that Weasley wasn't in full control of his spell work.
With vile words pouring from the vile persons mouth Harry had acted on instinct. Wanting to protect both himself and all the other people and portraits on the floor. He'd slammed Ron into the wall, his body making a lovely cracking noise on impact. He hoped it was his spine. More likely it was a rib or two.
In a matter of seconds Weasley had been silenced and restrained, to prevent any further harm to anything or anyone.
"Sso... I'm the traitor am I?" his voice was bordering on Parseltongue, the rage twisting the edges of his vision at Ronalds gall. The boy should be grateful he hadn't done anything permanent to him, like manual spinal removal permanent. But no. Instead, this is what he got, a wailing, whining, whimpering, wad of flesh unable to control his own spell work, what was he, a first year?
"I'm the one who betrayed you, set you up for five years, made friends with you, made you believe that I'd do anything for you, that I had your back, that I could trust you, trust you with my life if it came to that. Was I the one who drugged you? Doused you with potions? Tried to commit rape against two people?" at this last sentance Ronald started squirming again in protest.
"But that's what it was, Ronald! Rape!," his voice was a heated whisper, "your sister is fourteen, FOURTEEN years old! And don't tell me you wouldn't have doused her with love potion too. I would have been drugged out of my wits. Do you know what the muggles call that, Ronald? When your too high to give consent? RAPE!" he sneered at the boy in disgust, letting loose the silencing charm he'd infected the perimeter with.
"Quite frankly Ronald, I never want to see your... lovely face ever again. I don't want to hear your voice or see a single hide, hair, or freckle of you ever again." here Harry paused, a sneering smile twisting his face, "not that I'm sure the freckles will survive the... other conditions on your face... and all across your body I'd assume." The smile increased when Ronald's face went purple with rage, a verifiable yes as far as Harry was concerned.
Harry was hardly able to lean in close, not wanting to physically be close to the boy.
"Did you like Hermione's punishment? I know that it wasn't as... graphically physical as yours but what can I say, at least she understands what she did, knows it was wrong, knows how disgusting her actions were. I wonder if she regrets them? Regrets doing this? I think she does... but she's not like you, when I caught the two of you did you ever notice how silent she became. Quiet as a mouse. She was relieved to be caught, wanted it. Couldn't bear to deal with what you were doing anymore." he whispered in Ronald's ear.
"Face it, Ronald, she couldn't stand to look at your ugly mug for one more day."
The red head's reaction was priceless, he tried to spit at Harry. Tried, implying that he also failed. The mixture of the silencing and retraining charm not only choked him but caused the gob of saliva to go all across Ronald's own face. Making an... amusing picture to say the least.
Harry laughed, not the same carefree amused sound he'd make a few hours later on the Express with Luna. No, this was cold and hard as carbon laugh that echoed around the corridor,
"Do you want me to leave you with something visible, something others who aren't aware of your betrayal can see. Something... physical maybe?" even when he didn't bother brandishing his wand, Ronald, reacted, trying to thrash within his bonds.
Harry let instinct guide him, intent of what he wanted to do, not knowing the exact spell for it. Ronald started screaming, high intense pained screams that spoke of a mixture of rage and despair. That was when Harry knew he'd started to give up, leave the fruitless vendetta he had against him. Hopefully this wouldn't happen again, the emerald eyed boy mused, he as almost disappointed it wouldn't.
When he was finished, the result was something worse than that acne had ever been.
"Do you like it Ron?" he asked, "It's permanent, well almost all of it is. Not the stuff on your face, we can't have mummy displaced at her son's disfiguration now can we. No every mark, every bump and scratch and pimple on your body will stay there. For as long as I deem fit, as the caster of the curse only I can remove it. So you might as well consider it permanent."
Harry remembered how the encounter had left him, breathless, flooded with energy, and he didn't realize until he was half way down the first flight of stairs that he hadn't used his wand the entire time. Reaching into his pocket, and gripping the holly and phoenix feather wand, he felt a pang of loss coming from the instrument. Like the other knew what he had done and was disappointed not to be part of the action.
In the train Harry listened to Neville, talking to him absently, but enthusiastically, Neville was a nice person, kind, heartfelt, and loyal to a fault. Luna had fallen silent beside them, enraptured in the Quibbler as always. Things had died down, were quiet and almost relaxed, he couldn't foresee a future where Ronald attacked him again and Hermione had been indefinitely taken care of. Hermione's punishment had differed from Ronald's, it hadn't been as physical, Harry hadn't bothered with SNEAK knowing that Granger would have been easily able to counteract that with a simple glamour.
No instead he'd put a mark on her, a mark on her magic more accurately, so that instead of a physical impairment she had a magical sign. Something that would tell those who felt her magic that she had committed a great betrayal. It was something psychological that would haunt her for the rest of her life, something Harry almost considered crueler than Ronald's. He doubted either of them would bother him again, good. He didn't want to see either face in his life time.
When it happened he shouldn't have been surprised, it was almost expected really, Draco's visit. The boy never wasted an opportunity, and how could he ever find a better one, Harry was isolated, no teachers, a fight with his friends, a separating of ways. He'd been on his way back to his compartment when Draco had struck. Oddly, Draco wasn't accompanied as usual by his normal entourage of goons; Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum.
They'd had the usual exchange in words, some taunts back and forth, a few insults, normal stuff. Until Draco had said something unexpected.
"What did you do to Weasley yesterday Potter?" voice still taunting, almost like Draco thought he'd get Harry in trouble with Snape.
"I saw you with him," Malfoy smirked, walking nearer to him, trying to intimidate the Gryffindor, "saw you slam him up against the wall, and I saw you make him scream, for Salzar's sake Potter it went down the halls like a dirge. Almost thought you'd transformed him into a Banshee, and you did all of it. Every last breath of it... without a wand." here Malfoy smirked again triumphantly, as if he'd caught him in a great sin, expecting Harry to get down on his knees and beg the other not to tell anyone.
Instead Harry had done something entirely unexpected, he'd been sick of Malfoy's taunting remarks, his threats. Just yesterday the blonde had made a similar move.
Harry had just stepped into the entrance hall when Malfoy, Tweedle Dee, and Tweedle Dum and come out of a door on the right, that Harry knew from second year let down to the Slytherin common rooms. The Malfoy heir hadn't wasted any time,
"You're dead, Potter." he said it like it was something that had already happened, a done deal.
"Funny," Harry remarked, "you'd think I'd have stopped walking around... and breathing of course, that is essential to life."
Malfoy stopped dead, fists clenching in rage, "You're going to pay, Potter. The Dark Lord will see to it." a smirking sneer curled around his pale lips, "you know he's taken over the Ministry, the whole wizarding world is under his control. You don't stand a chance against him," Malfoy shook his head, that same smirk stretching wider, "if you knew what he had planned for you..."
"Well... now that you've suitably terrified me about the consequences of making Voldy angry I suppose you'll continue terrorizing the first years now. Gotta do it quick before they become second years and too much for the three of your to take one on one." flashing them a quick smile he started walking away.
Turning his back on them had been a calculated move, not a mistake. Malfoy went for his wand, Harry was faster, the holly had practically apparated into his palm.
"POTTER!" it was Snape.
Harry felt a rush of hatred, not the same hotness around Ron but that cold rage that had accompanied Sirius's death, that had come with Bella. No matter what happened he would never forgive the other man. To him Snape was as good as dead, he'd ignored his warning about Sirius, and Harry had an instinctive feeling he'd done something much worse to him as well. The way Dumbledore trusted him, that wouldn't speak of kind words and a gentle intent on Snape's part.
"What are you doing, Potter? What sort of ruckus are you causing?" Snape said, voice cold as ever in his presence.
Harry smiled blithely, something that clearly startled the other man.
"Well, you see sir, I'm trying to decide what to curse Malfoy with, would you like me to share my process out loud, sir? Usually I don't do it audibly but I can make an exception for your learning curve... sir."
Snape stopped dead, shocked, the biggest emotional response Harry had ever received from the man other than rage.
"Twenty points from Gryffindor, Potter for attacking another student, and another twenty for disrespecting a teacher, Potter." his voice was like ice chips.
"Now... get on with you the train is waiting. And I do hope that over the course of the summer, Mr. Potter you'll realize that it isn't wise to alienate those around you when a shift in power has taken place... it could be quite disruptive for your health" and with that the other disappeared, obviously expecting Harry to obey without a thought to the contrary.
Now back on the train, Draco meant to push again, without the presence of Snape.
"Do you know what the Dark Lord has planned for you, Potter? Because if I were you I'd be running for the hills of Romania by now," his sneering voice made Harry give pause.
Draco was a problem, he had persisted in being a problem for over five years. Problems were made to be solved, and this was a problem that he wouldn't permit to continue. He caught Draco off guard, coming out of nowhere. Draco's final words being the trigger.
"I saw what you did to Weasley, Potter. Are you two no longer BFF's?"
Pining Draco to the walls inside the blonde's compartment was absurdly easy, the blonde was slim and light, and made a nice noise when he hit the wall.
"Why Draco, are you making an offer? Do you want to be my... best friend forever?"
The other was scared, that showed plainly back in his silver eyes, but still a sneer crawled up his lips at Harry's remark.
"Please Potter, I wouldn't touch you with a ten foot wand under a preservation spell. I'm just curious about what you did to Weasley that made him scream." smirks, "Never heard anyone scream so loud."
It was enough, this was stopping today, Draco had had two choices in the past, friend or enemy, now it wasn't going to be either. Now Draco was going to step off.
"Do you want to find out, Draco?" Harry asked, his emerald eyes, darkening, his voice turning silky smooth, almost hissing, "Do you want me to give you the same treatment, make you scream at the top of your lungs, and beg me to stop until you have no air left in your lungs to breath? Does that sound nice to you?" he trailed his wand down the pale face, stroking the holly through his hair, deliberately tangling the instrument, so he could yank out a few hairs. Enjoying Draco's wince.
"How about I do to you what I did to Bella. She's your aunt right? Aunty Bella, I bet she tells you to call her that in her baby voice. Does that frighten you? The madness in her eyes, I could see it so clearly, the insanity, it practically came off her in a stench. Do you think she'll harm you? Or... your mother? With the Dark Lord's come to power your father will have so many duties to attend to. They're sisters, Draco, bosom sisters who grew up with one another. If dear Auntie Bella killed her cousin... just imagine what she'd do to your mother." and with that parting thought, Harry turned to leave, still not letting Draco down.
"Oh, sorry Draco, I almost forgot." he reached into his pocket, putting his wand away in the process, and pulled out a letter. Tossing it at Draco's feet, "You were curious about Weasley, this should answer a few questions. Oh, and be sure to see him, after you read it. I can assure you, it's permanent."
And with that parting message Harry left him, waving a regal hand to collapse Draco from his position against the wall. The pureblood crumpled down against the ground, coughing and desperately gasping for air.
Harry Potter walked out with his head held high. There was change coming, different from anything he'd already done. The emerald eyed teen could feel it in the air, sweeping around the magical world to make it's presence known. Whatever happened in the next few weeks, he was sure of two things that were closely intertwined; he wasn't going back to the Dursley's this summer. The other matter was something that brought a dark smirk to his face.
Something that just... made his day.
AN- Hello one and all. Now... you absolutely have to tell me one thing... did you like it? Did you like it, did you like it, did you like it? And of course do you have questions? If so just click into that text box at the bottom of your screen, I know it's there even if it's not on my word document I"m thinking fourth dimensionally because in the future, when I post this it will be on your screen. So, do a girl a favor and review :)
Much love and much thanks to all of you who have been giving me wonderful ideas (you know who your are :) virtual hugs to all of you out there.
Up next: Dursley confrontation dun dun DUNNN, I can hear Beethoven now. And Harry... is approached, and starts to encounter the changes made to life by Voldemort's rise to power. Because right now he wasn't feeling any of the changes being at Hogwart's, but let me assure you: BIG CHANGES AHEAD. Like titanic big, so stick around.
Your friend in time,
*Kasamira