Challenge by Amerision:

Timeframe: PostOOTP
Genre: Action/Adventure/Suspense

Summary:

When Voldemort comes to bypass the wards, Harry finds out the Power the Dark Lord knows not. It is simply the ability to survive the killing curse. Suffering his own killing curse again, Voldemort is cast off as a spirit like before. But what characteristics are passed to Harry this time around? And what else is there to do now that he's gone?
Looking back at the corpse, he burns it and puts on the robes...
Erasing any evidence of a battle, he puts a charm on his face and picks up the Yew wand, putting his own in his pocket...

---

Taking his place, Harry must live a double life as the boy-who-lived at 15/16, and the greatest Dark Lord in history. Spending his time at Grimmauld place over the summer with the Order, he must escape to participate in the very raids the Order goes to fight...

How long can he keep up the charade?

And why does Bellatrix keep on looking at him strangely after the Death Eater meetings...?

Rules:

1.) Harry must start genuinely like being Lord Voldemort
2.) No Redemption, nor any friendship with Snape, Draco Malfoy, etc. Kills Snape as soon as possible.
3.) Harry must stay acting as Harry Potter, boy-who-lived and be with the Order for a good part of the story.
4.) Harry starts growing bored of his life as Harry Potter and his friends (he doesn't hate them, just finds them boring. He can hate them later on..) , and starts looking forward to returning to his Dark Lord duties more and more.
5.) No dumb fluffy friendships
6.) Do something with Nagini. Switching masters to Harry is a good idea.
7.) At least a minor struggle to keep the act, juggle time with Order and keep up with the raids. Harry comes back hurt sometimes from raids, people question him (He isn't quite up to LV's skills yet, but he eventually gets there).
8.) Show Harry's dilemma on how to keep to Lord Voldemort's character, and keep up with the former Dark Lord's skills. He must be studying...hard, or go through a slow knowledge drain from Lord Voldemort.
9.) If there are any ships: Tonks or Bella or Unusual Character. Must be fitting. No Fleur. No Slash. No H/Hr, H/C, or H/G.
10.) Must duel Dumbledore at some point, most likely later on.

Mind Tricks

By

Prince Kael'thalas

Chapter 3

I'm a traitor, but I don't consider myself a traitor.

Aldrich Ames

The venom was injected in his bloodstream.

He was going to die…

Peter Pettigrew, also known as Wormtail, walked down the stony hallway that led towards the potions chamber. He was back from his 10-month spying spiel on the minister, and like his master instructed of him, he had come back.

He knew he was going to be tortured.

That was a given in almost any situation, so that is why Wormtail headed towards the potions chamber instead of Lord Voldemort's private rooms.

He walked down the empty hallway of the Riddle House, his footsteps making thumping noises over the grey stone tablets that made up the floor of the hallway. It was rather long, and was also the main hallway of the whole house. It connected to the other rooms, like the torture chambers, torture arenas, torture prisons, and so on… Voldemort was extremely fond of torture.

His thoughts travelled to the fateful night on Halloween as they usually did, with him bowing before the might of Voldemort, kissing his feet, and simpering before him like a loyal servant. Then Voldemort had asked him if he had gleaned any new information.

At first Wormtail hesitated, doubting he should betray his best friends to Voldemort.

The dark lord picked up on it, as he usually did, and a quick burst of Crucio later all his secrets were bare before him. Nobody could resist the allure of Voldemort, and nobody could resist his horror.

Wormtail had seen things that sickened him, especially in his time as a death eater. But nothing sickened him more than the sight of Voldemort, looking pale and weak, yet stronger and more skilled than the entire ministry force put together.

He had told him everything. James and Lily Potter had cast the Fidelus charm over their house, and made him secret keeper.

Voldemort was always a quick decision maker. He never pondered over anything too long, and preferred action rather than planning. But he did have patience when it was needed of him. At that fateful night of Halloween, Voldemort had no patience.

Wormtail would have betrayed Voldemort, just like he had to Lily and James, so he could see his best friend escape the Dark Lord's wrath. But he hadn't. Because he had no chance, no will power, no backbone.

He gritted his teeth, and ran a hand over his chubby face, flicking away the sweat. He rubbed his eyes with his fingers, trying to shake the images out of his mind. He did not want to remember them anymore. He did not want to be a death eater anymore.

He just wanted to be Peter Pettigrew. The little fat boy who smiled at the popular kids, and wished he was as talented and happy.

He hated that.

He was sickened with himself, twenty years of being a death eater, and it hadn't got him anywhere. All the rewards that Voldemort promised were pure bullshit. He had half a mind to just leave Voldemort, but whom would he run to?

Dumbledore could give him a chance and make him a spy, just like Voldemort was doing with the ministry.

I hate being a spy.

He had been a spy long enough, and just the thought of spying made him gag.

At times like these he hated being a wizard.

Wormtail turned a corner, and tensed. The potions chamber was right across his master's private rooms, and if he was caught stealing pain numbing potions from the stores…

He walked faster, wishing his footsteps didn't make so much noise.

Blood seeped out from Nagini's brutally cut open body, and Harry felt glad to just watch it flow out. It was like a trickle, slowly creeping outwards and making a greenish puddle on the floor.

He smiled.

This is death.

Finally, two or three seconds later, the venom took hold of his nervous system, shutting down all feeling in his body and providing him with some good 'ole crucio style pain.

The icy pain that started felt like being dunked in a river of freezing water, his skin stinging and the slightest touch, his muscles frozen and his fingers stiff. He gasped, as he felt his breath leaving his lungs, never to return.

He couldn't breathe.

He gasped and gagged as he suffocated, violently thrashing around. He couldn't control his body, and just wished the pain to go away.

As he felt death loom over him, he croaked out four words that offered him some comfort: "I am Harry Potter!"

Darkness clouded his eyes, and he fell into a deep sleep, most likely never to wake up. The fire dimmed down, until it was simply reduced to crackles on the twigs now and then.

He paused, hearing the screams from the door. For a moment he considered opening the door to his master's chambers, but instead continued on. If the dark lord was distracted, who was he to interrupt? Besides, this offered Peter all the more time to steal some potions.

He paused once more, hearing a slight gurgle of sound, "…Harry Potter."

This thought startled him. The name Potter haunted his dreams and mutilated his thoughts. He betrayed the kid's parents, yet he still saved the little rat's life.

A spy is naturally curious. His curiosity got the better of him, or at least that's what he told himself.

He opened the door and took a sharp breath.

He opened the door to see Harry Potter, lying half dead next to a surely dead snake, and fang bites on his noticeably purple neck.

Harry's eyes fluttered open, letting in the bright light. He squinted, and blinked slowly. The image before him clarified, and he saw Peter looming over him, a lantern in one hand and his wand in another.

"Oh good, you are awake then." Peter said, as if remarking on something casual like the whether. He sounded much more confident and sure of himself.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Get up and dressed, and consider the life debt repaid." Peter threw some robes at Harry, and left the room.

Harry gaped at him in confusion and no small amount of hatred. He looked around, for the first time noticing where he was. The room was large, like some kind of hall or dormitary. Actually, it looked like sleeping quarters, judging by the amount of beds sqaushed together. Instantly he knew where he was, thanks to some mumbo jumbo that happened when Voldemort did his avada kedavra.

He wondered why he was here, and what exactly a life debt intained. Frowning, he started to put on the robes. A thought stuck in his head that he couldn't ignore: Why wasn't Wormtail curious about where his master was? Why hadn't he threatened him or asked him questions...?

Then he noticed the empty bottle of Veriteserum lying on the bedside table.

A/N: Crap, can't seem to get out the chapters right. I wasn't very happy with this one, so instead of rambling on something I knew was shoddy quality, I decided to quit while I was ahead. I know I can do better than this!

I'll try harder next time. Sorry for the lack of quality or length in this chapter.