Chapter two
Ranking
When Severus and Harry arrived in the entrance hall of Malfoy Manor Harry looked around in obvious admiration. The place was huge, about half the size of Hogwarts. Draco eagerly showed him around, Harry himself seemed to overlook his injuries but unknown to him Draco was keeping a close eye on the battered teenager.
The manor held three parlors, a ball room, 10 bedrooms 4 of those being mini apartments all to themselves, a cavernous kitchen able to produce enough food to feed an army, an elegant dinning hall, plus a smaller dinning room for less people. The manor also contained a gym and dueling room, a fully stocked library, a small potions lab, dungeons, and five studies. At the end of their tour Draco escorted Harry to his father's study where he knew a few people were waiting anxiously to see Harry.
When Harry saw who was waiting for them, he immediately bowed. He only bent down half way showing respect to an equal not a superior. The other man clothed in sweeping black robes also bowed half way. "Harry Potter, I must say I didn't quite believe my own ears when two of my best, informed me of a new recruit. I must admit I was not expecting you. Care to tell me why?" Lord Voldemort said in a hissing silibant tone that sounded slightly friendly but no one missed the command in the last part.
"I am sick of being Dumbledore's pawn I have no illusions that your side will be any easier or pain free. In fact I expect the pain, what I have to gain from this is simple really, honesty. I have seen how you rule I have seen the curses and the pain yet I will choose the Cruciatus over being lied to and manipulated. If you choose to turn me away I will not join Dumbledore I will bring my own side to this war." Harry explained to the currently most feared dark wizard of the age.
"What makes you think I would just let you leave if I decide to not let you join?" Voldemort said to the teen with an edge of anger to his voice.
"I don't I am willing to fight my way out, I just personally don't believe it will come to that. I have nothing to lose and you have everything to gain." Harry answered confidently.
"Tell me what can you a simple teenager offer to me?" Voldemort asked in a deceptively soft voice.
"You of all people know what you just said was wrong. I am no simple teenager I know the link we shared goes both ways you have seen it. I offer you my power and my allegiance, on one condition." Harry answered him.
"Condition and what could you want me to leave your precious friends alone?" Voldemort said sarcastically.
Harry let out a hollow sounding laugh at that but answered anyway. "Friends I have no friends, if you're referring to the spies Dumbledore planted on me then by all means have your fun. No, I am not asking for the safety of others it's time they learned to defend themselves. I ask that you rank me according to my skills in dueling and magic with no other factors. I have been given so many empty titles and unworthy positions that I want to be ranked according to me not another's opinion of me." Harry answered.
"Then you must prove your strength." Voldemort informed him. "I have a simple process of ranking my death eaters, basically a dueling tournament. You start with the lesser death eaters then move up through the ranks. As soon as someone stops you that is your ranking in my army."
"When do we begin, and how long does it last?" Harry asked.
"We begin tonight and it lasts for as long as it takes," Voldemort answered. "I suggest you pull yourself together as much as possible. You have one hour then I will have either Severus or Lucius escort you to the meeting." Voldemort told him then swept from the room.
As soon as the Dark Lord had left the room Severus followed by Narcissa entered the room. Severus spoke first, "we don't have enough time to heal you entirely but we can do the best we can." With that he started handing Harry a few potions. "The blue one is a pain numbing potion that will only last a few hours but it should get you thorough most of the duels. The green one is an energizer potion again it will only last a few hours. The red one is a base for a powerful glamour once I add the spell to it we will at least be able to mask your bruises. Unlike the other two this potion will last until the counter is taken." The potions master explained quickly.
Harry downed the potions quickly, with Severus saying the spell that finished the glamour. That took care of his physical appearance but a few well placed spells had him garbed in dark forest green dueling robes. They were made from dragon hide and were cut in a way they fit his frame snuggly but allowed him to move. He also conjured up a silver scimitar style sword plus a few daggers. Voldemort never said the duels would be purely magical it wouldn't hurt to be prepared.
He even had a few minutes to ask some questions. "So exactly how many duels will I be in?" Harry asked the elder Death Eaters.
Lucius was the one that answered him, "it depends on how good you are. There are ten ranks in the army, you will begin dueling at the lowest rank. From the first three ranks you will duel three people from each rank, if you win those duels you will move up to only dueling the top person in each level. If you manage to get through the first nine levels you will have to duel each of the inner circle there are ten inner circle members left. In the highly unlikely event you beat all of us you duel Voldemort, no one has ever gotten that far."
"What are the rules? Is there any in the first place would be the better question?" Harry asked.
"Yes there are rules but only very general, first no killing curses but all other magic is allowed, second any weapon may be used, third the duels end with ether disarming or total incapacitation, and last you cant have help in a duel (unless it is something you conjure) so you don't have to worry about spells being thrown at your back." This was said by Severus.
Not two seconds after Severus had finished explaining the rules both of the older Death Eaters hissed in pain and grasped their arms. "Come on its time to go." Lucius told them. Both men donned their masks, as they were already wearing their robes. Severus apparated alone, leaving Lucius to take Harry.
The three of them were the first to arrive because they knew about the summons before hand, but it wasn't long before the cold grave yard in front of Riddle manor filled with people. Lord Voldemort then addressed the rest of the Deatheaters. "My faithful servants, I have called you here tonight because we have a new member that wishes to be Ranked." With that he gestured behind him to where Harry was standing.
Five minutes later Harry was facing his first opponent surrounded by the other death eaters, a magical barrier had been placed separating the duelists from the crowd. The death eater that Harry was currently facing was shorter then he was and was shacking at he shot the first curse at Harry.
Harry found the first duel to be ridiculously easy he had his opponent down with just three hexes. The next death eater came into the circle immediately after the first one had left. This one proved to be only slightly more of a challenge lasting about 30 seconds longer then the first. After three more duels that all lasted under five minutes Harry was getting bored.
Voldemort and his inner circle watched impassively on the outside but inside was a bit conflicted. Harry was obviously stronger then they had planned on, true his opponent were pathetic but Harry was only 16 it should have been at least a little more difficult.
They all knew Harry was holding back, he only used enough power in each duel to get the job done no more. As the number of his beaten opponents grew his power just kept increasing at the same steady pace. Voldemort could almost literally sense power, and he knew he had found a new inner circle member. The only answer left was where within the inner circle he would rank.
Harry however had just one his ninth duel and was now in the fourth ranking dueling the top one. This one proved to have a surprise, being the first to draw a weapon other then a wand. He however made one mistake with his choice of weapons, it was a throwing dagger and said dagger was not charmed to resist spells. Harry cast a well placed banishing charm and sent the knife back to its owner. The death eater not being prepared was hit in the left shoulder. While he was busy pulling his own weapon from his soft flesh Harry easily disarmed him.
The fifth power level was topped in ten minutes by a combination of a Reductor hex to break the magically conjured shield followed closely by Expelliarmus. It worked and the death eater was thrown back words to be replaced by the sixth power level death eater.
He tried to fool Harry by using false movements and other trickeries. Fortunately for Harry the other was a weak Occlumens and Harry had been practicing Legilimency. With the forewarning Occlumency provided Harry was able to dodge and strike in a moment or regrouping. This one he did not dispatch with magic just a well placed punch to the temple and the man dropped like a sack of potatoes. The slight rising of the chest proved the man was still alive but only just.
The unconscious death eater was levitated away while the person for the seventh level came before him. This duel took a little longer about 15 minutes. This death eater was disarmed not by Expelliarmus but something much simpler. The idiot had forgotten to make his wand impervious to summoning. Harry felt the difference in the wand, following his instincts he tried to summon it and what do you know it worked.
The officially very embarrassed death eater was one of the only opponents of Harry's to walk away without bodily harm, but the blow to the ego would be bad enough. Harry had now been fighting for a little over an hour straight his abused body was beginning to twinge again. Harry took haert knowing he just had two duels with normal death eaters, and then he would have to fight the inner circle. He definitely was not looking forward to that but he was nothing if not determined.
The death eater from the eighth level was almost refreshingly difficult from Harry. This was the only duel that Harry had done more then use shielding charms. This also happened to be the first time Voldemort and his followers had seen the young man move. The movements were raw and untrained, but no one missed the grace or the power behind the movements.
That duel for all the physical movement didn't take long a little over fifteen minutes top. Finally Harry had arrived at the last duel before battling the inner circle. A Death eater strode forward that was tall, and had a large curling red scar peaking out from under his mask.
This one held a wicked looking knife, it was serrated and the tip curled up. It was clearly desined to do more damage coming out then going in. unlike the first death eater it was impervious to magical summoning. So Harry drew his scimitar for the first time, holding it in such a way that projected the fact he knew what he was doing with it.
That duel lasted the longest so far about twenty minutes, and by the end both opponents were bleeding from numerous shallow wounds. Neither of them could score a significant hit, they were just waiting until the other made a mistake.
Finally Harry made a feint with his weapon and sent a curse at the same time. His opponent dodged the blade but jumped into the curse leavening him wandless and weaponless.
Harry had made his way through the ranks of death eaters in two hours in all of his duels he had sustained only minor flesh wounds. The only problem was the fact the potions he had taken earlier were slowly beginning to fade. He felt aches in places that had not been wounded in fights, and tiredness was beginning to creep up on him. He knew he would have to get through the inner circle quickly or he would lose because of his past experiences.
He was given just enough time to catch his breath before the first of the inner circle death eaters came to face him. The watery eyes and squeaky voice warned him that he was facing Peter Pettigrew or more commonly Wormtail, the wizard that betrayed his parents.
Pettigrew started the duel with a simple stupefy that Harry easily blocked and answered with a toss of one of his daggers that were charmed to return to him after being thrown. Wormtail dodged the blade and jumped into an impedimenta hex. With his reactions totally stopped he could do nothing as Harry caused the small rat like man huge amounts of pain. Harry didn't even bother using a weapon he just punched and kicked with all his strength. Soon the pathetic man was unconscious and Harry marveled at how he had ever gotten into the inner circle.
The next one Harry faced was Macnair who was easily placed as he carried the same axe that he had the day he came with the minister to execute Buckbeak the hippogriff. The axe proved to be a formidable weapon, large and foreboding. Though Harry was lucky and axe had one weakness in battle they had to take larger swings which made them have a longer recovery period between strikes. Harry was able to score against the taller wizard during those intermissions. He hit the other man with curses and daggers causing both pain and embarrassment. Only once did Harry actually get hit with the axe, he hadn't rolled in time so the massive blade sunk into his side. He continued on with his roll and got himself off the blade but the new wound not immediately fatal would slow him down maybe giving Macnair time to score another hit. He stopped playing with his opponent and the next spell to hit Macnair made him fly back words dropping both his wand and the axe.
Harry quickly used the Ferula charm to wrap his side to help quell the bleeding until he could be healed. He was not aware that all of his actions were being monitored by three people standing behind him. All three of his observers were impressed both by the boy's obvious talent and his stamina. A lesser person would have been down screaming when the axe bit into the soft flesh of his side, Harry's only reaction was a barely perceived flinch and to come back fighting harder. Two of the people (Severus and Lucius) knew the reason was because of the abuse he received at his relatives, the third (Voldemort) was beginning to suspect the boy in front of him had not led the coddled life he had thought.
The next thing Harry knew a curse came flying out of nowhere and he was facing another robed and cloaked death eater, by the baulk Harry thought probably elder Crabbe or Goyle. This was a purely magical duel that Harry won after a little under half an hour. His opponent was powerful but not very cunning so he fell easily for one of Harry's traps. Sending a curse to make him jump then disarming him mid-jump.
The energizer potion was now long gone from his system and the pain potion would not last much longer. Harry could tell he would be on his own merits by the end of the next duel. He only hoped his strength would hold up.
Harry was then met by a death eater he had only seen once before, Avery. This duel was a bit more challenging then the last two. Avery was very crafty himself so he fell for none of Harry's tricks and Harry very nearly fell to him. It went so far that Harry ended up sprawled on the ground apparently unconscious but Voldemort knew better. He watched with amusement as Avery went over to check if Harry was alive. Harry lay their waiting and waiting, finally the thing he had been waiting for happened. Avery tried to kick him in his wounded side, Harry sprung up from where he had been laying seemingly unconscious. He reached up grabbed the offending limb and before Avery could get his balance Harry flipped him. Avery landed hard the wind rushing out in a great whoosh. Not willing to make the same mistake Harry stayed a safe distance away and disarmed him from afar.
The next death eater to come forward, Nott fought hard and fast driving Harry back towards the watching death eaters. He was caught off guard when Harry started conjuring numerous snakes like he had observed Draco doing to him in second year. The only difference being Harry could control the snakes. While Nott was busy Evanescoing the conjured snakes. Harry sent a quiet Expelliarmus that Nott couldn't hear. The un-expecting death eater flew back harder then he would have if he had braced for the attack.
The next opponent came forward immediately not giving him time to recover from Nott's attack. This one was the elder Goyle and like his son was obviously a physical fighter. Harry knew he had to end this fast before Goyle got too close. He fought back against Goyle as hard as Nott had done to him. Finally the not too bright death eater got his foot caught on something hidden in the shadows, as he fell Harry disarmed him.
Six inner circle members down and only four left before he had to face Voldemort himself. Harry knew he had lost enough blood both at he Dursleys and during the duels that he was dangerously close to losing control over both his magic and pain. He knew if he found the duels before difficult he would barely survive the next ones. He still had a few tricks up his sleeve and some talents he had yet to use. He was wary about using all his power he knew it had grown since he was last allowed to use it so he was not sure how well he could control himself, he wanted to win he did not want to kill.
The next death eater he faced was Rudolphus Lestrange, he was easily identifiable by the fact he was the only one left Harry couldn't identify immediately. They fought with pure magic, move silently and swiftly. A deadly dance that lasted a good half hour neither one of them gaining or losing. Finally Rudolphus scored on Harry, it was a minor pain curse a cousin to Cruciatus. Rudolphus did not expect Harry to be coherent enough to retaliate while still under the curse. Harry ended that duel still shacking slightly from the after affects of Rudolphus's curse.
Next up was Rudolphus's wife Bellatrix she took advantage of his momentary inattention and hit him with the Cruciatus curse immediately. Her screeching laugh grated on his ears as the curse combined with everything else he had been through in the recent events. It caused all the pain, anger, frustration, and fear to come together inside him changing him molding his magic. He was able to sense when and where she would strike. She was obviously surprised when her Cruciatus had less affect then her husbands curse.
Harry rose up while still under the curse not feeling any pain and started throwing curses and hexes towards Bellatrix. Bellatrix seeing the Cruciatus was futile cut it off and started fighting back.
Harry's new Battle Rage consumed him to the point he saw and felt nothing other then his opponent. He matched her movements with swift graceful ones of his own. He gave as good as he took, some of her curses hit he just shrugged off their effects ignoring the warm blood seeping from the wounds. This death dance with Bellatrix lasted a good hour until she finally could not hold on anymore. Her fatal flaw was she fought too hard and fast in the beginning, if she did not dispatch her opponent in the first 15 minutes she started to run low on magic. Her opponents just had to survive long enough for her energy stores to give out.
Harry's new opponent was Lucius Malfoy, who was a very crafty and unscrupulous. He had studied each of Harry's duels and learned enough to have a chance against him. In fact Lucius knew it was better to get Harry early if he let him work up to stride nothing could stop him. So he through all his power and skill into the first five minutes of their duel. He did not however take into account what exactly happened to Harry when he dueled Bellatrix.
Harry was now very good, only thing holding him back in the slightest was lack of experience in dueling. Lucius fought on harder and dirtier, playing onto Harry's weaknesses, i.e. his previous wounds. Harry ended up taking several curses from the older wizard, simple slashing hexes and burn curses being most prevalent. Then there was the one that was supposed to slow him down enough he could still fight but not as well. Harry surprised the elder Malfoy by still fighting even with the slowing effects of the spell. Lucius managed to land a few more curses before the slowing curse failed. Harry immediately pounced and disarmed the man.
Harry was able to take a few deep stuttering breaths before the final inner circle member confronted him, Severus Snape potions master of Hogwarts. Harry could tell Snape preferred to mix magical and muggle fighting styles. Just like Harry they used both shielding charms and physical movements to get away from curses. In fact their dueling styles were so well matched no one could have predicted the out come. Not even Voldemort tried to guess it was just to close. It would come to see what was better, raw power which Harry held in spades or experience which Snape had.
The two fought on and on this was one of the longest duels they had ever witnessed, by the time first blood was drawn dew was settling on the grass. Severus had gotten through Harry's defenses with the curse he had invented that caused a wide wound to open on Harry's right shoulder. Harry retaliated by fighting back all the harder, finally grazing Severus's left flank with one of his daggers. Severus got him back for that one by throwing a potion at Harry that when it hit the wound burned and stung it was an attempt to distract the younger wizard. It would have worked too had it been any other person, and Harry pretended it had. He lowered his head and grasped his shoulder in a trained response to pain. With an unearthly gleam in his eye Snape attempted to disarm the seemingly inattentive boy. His glee was soon turned to chagrin when Harry quickly dodged the stunner and sent one back, which managed to just graze Snape's right ankle as the older man tried to dodge. The contact was small but it was enough Snape was disarmed.
Only one duel left and Harry's exhaustion was too the point he was starting to feel its effect through his Battle Rage. He knew he would be lucky to survive his next duel let alone actually win it, but he had come this far he was determined to see it through to the end. He mentally picked himself up again and prepared to meet his final opponent, Tom Marvolo Riddle a.k.a. Lord Voldemort the Dark Lord himself. Again Harry knew he couldn't possibly win Voldemort was superior to him in magical experience and knowledge, who was stronger in actual power had yet to be seen.
Voldemort was just kind enough to let the boy get his breath back and cast ferula on his shoulder. Then the duel started, but this was the only one that Harry had bowed to his opponent before beginning. The first five minutes were spent without throwing a single spell of any kind. The two duelists were just circling each other looking for weaknesses and spotting potential problems.
At an unspoken command both men cast their first spell simultaneously, and not a few people were surprised. Everyone knew Voldemort preferred to duel his stronger opponents wandlessly allowing for a greater range of power and spells to be used. The surprise came when they realized Harry was not using a wand either, although his reason was simpler his wand and Voldemort's would not work right against each other. He just wanted to be prepared so he used wandless.
Harry used Voldemort's momentary surprise to through a couple of hexes. The first two bounced off the dark lord's quickly conjured shield, but Harry was ready for that. The next curse he through was Reductor and you had to have a specific counter charm or it shattered the shield you try and block it with. It worked and Voldemort actually had to dodge the next hex from Harry. Once that was safely jumped he fought back twice as hard and twice as fast as any or Harry's previous opponents. He was slashed and burned and a multitude of other things, the last curse to hit him was Crucio.
The same thing happened now that happened with Bellatrix his body converted the pain into useful energy. He was able to stand shakily and cry out his next curse hoarsely through the Cruciatus. It wasn't until he had Voldemort safely driven back that he realized something, because they weren't using wands it would be impossible to win by disarment he would have to incapacitate Voldemort. The good part about that was it worked both ways Voldemort would have to get him down to beat him.
With this new realization Harry changed tactics he drew his sword and tried to get close enough to use it. Voldemort was prepared for this eventuality because from a hidden sheath at his hip he drew a sword. It was a relatively thin straight blade of silver with a carved obsidian hilt.
The two men began to sword fight and everyone watching got quite a performance. Harry was excellent his movements flowed like liquid, while Voldemort attacked with precision and accuracy. Harry was more fit to be defensive swordsmen, but his sword was an offensive weapon.
Harry would dance in and slash low while twirling away and bringing up his scimitar to meet the returned attack. Then Voldemort would lunge and thrust making Harry move away and block. Harry would have called it fun if they weren't doing it for such a serious reason. When Harry noticed Voldemort automatically guarding low after his first few attacks he switched and attacked higher. He was a millimeter away from drawing blood when Voldemort managed to block him.
Finally everything caught up to Harry at once, all his pain and fatigue came flooding back. He was slowing down making more mistakes it would not be long before the Dark Lord noticed the shift.
Harry was correct of course but the exact method of stopping him was not what he was expecting and left an opportunity for Harry to make one last attempt.
Voldemort had rushed forward seized Harry's left arm the one with the injured shoulder. Using the arm as leverage Voldemort swung Harry around so that Harry's back was against Voldemort's chest, and Voldemort held him with one arm securely around the middle right were Avery's axe landed earlier. Voldemort raised his sword up to Harry's neck in a winners pose, and he would have been right except for one detail that he hadn't felt.
Harry had a dagger in his hand when Voldemort had grabbed Harry. The hand holding the dagger got pinned behind his back, when Voldemort lessened his hold on Harry for a moment in raising the sword. Harry brought the arm up Voldemort only being a few inches taller now had a dagger poised over his haert.
As soon as Harry felt the cool metal of Voldemort's sword on his neck he pushed the point of his dagger into Voldemort's robes and pierced the flesh. With both opponents in mortal positions the duel between Harry and the Dark Lord ended in a tie. As soon as Voldemort said as much to the rest of the death eaters Harry sunk to the ground in exhaustion.
Severus and Lucius saw the motion and alerted Voldemort that Harry needed treatment. To the surprise of everyone Voldemort lifted the boy himself and apparated with his two faithful servants in tow. He had brought the boy back to Malfoy manor where the Dark Lord knew everything was set up to help the boy.
Not two seconds after he had laid the boy gently on the bed three others entered the room to in sweeping black death eater robes and one in midnight blue working robes. Voldemort stopped Narcissa Malfoy from healing Harry for now, he wanted answers and he wanted them now.
"Lucius, Severus I can tell there is something about this boy that has not been told. What has happened to him?" Voldemort asked his followers.
"My Lord, we have recently discovered that Potter here leads a similar lift to yourself, but possibly worse." Severus explained.
"So it is how I feared the boy has been abused." Voldemort said with a hint of an unfamiliar emotion in his eyes. "How badly was he hurt? Did you get a chance to heal him at all?" Voldemort asked then.
"We do not know the extent of the damage, he did not tell us before we were summoned. I had time to dose him with a temporary pain potion and energizer; I also put glamour on him he had a large bruise on his face." Severus explained.
"How long would the temporary potions have lasted?" Voldemort asked again, wondering just how long the boy had been fighting with one.
"The energy one probably lasted until his duel with Pettigrew, the pain one might have lasted until Avery but that one is not very precise in length. So he was fighting with all his accumulated wounds for the last six duels which was roughly 3 or 4 hours." Severus answered.
"Can you remove the glamour I want to see just how badly he was injured?" Voldemort basically commanded his servant.
"Yes Master," Severus replied and immediately went over two the boy and helped him swallow the counter to the glamour. Harry was conscious but fading in and out he could only hear snatches of the conversation.
He was coherent enough to deduce the collective gasp from those present had something to do with him, and that was his last thought before sinking into oblivion.
What the others saw that made them gasp was a multitude of wounds both new and old. When Lucius mentioned that he couldn't tell which injuries he received from battle and which from his uncle Voldemort helped out. He crossed over to the now unconscious boy and ran his hand over the abused body muttering a few words in a weird sounding chant, "Sracsg nileudy awaekat, sdnuowelt tabeht laeh."
In front of their eyes all the wounds from the Ranking closed and disappeared, leaving behind far more then any of the adults wanted to see. Especially when all those scars old and new were on the body of a child.
The four of them just observed the boy in shock taking in the horrendous appearance. Suddenly Draco burst into the room an when h caught sight of the boy how lived he asked the question on everybody's mind, "what happened?"
A/N yea another chapter down hope you like it. If you do please tell me in a review.
Have fun figuring out where I got the spell to remove his Ranking wounds.