The Power He Knew Not
A/N & Disclaimer – First of all, the standard disclaimers apply. Not mine, everything recognizable belongs to JKR and her corporate partners with a couple of exceptions. The CB1 Café is a real place in Cambridge, and has the distinction of being the longest running internet café in the UK. It's actually a cool place; its coolness comes from not trying to be cool.
And I really have no idea who to credit for internet chain letters. They must come from somewhere. But I do know who to credit for springing this rabid plot bunny on my psyche. That would be the profile for the author Razial. That's what started this.
Note to self, be a bit more careful about reading other people's profiles.
Also, I'm not responsible for anything coincidentally happening if you read this and then do or don't do something. Hermione says that they're a load of tosh, I'm going to go with that.
Chapter One – A Chain of Events
8 May, 1998 – on the slopes of Sgurr na Ciche – overlooking Loch Nevis
"You're kidding?"
Staring at Hermione in disbelief, Harry was standing in the middle of the tent totally gobsmacked. Ever since their narrow escape from Hogwarts when they had finally destroyed the last of Tom Riddle's horcruxes, except the one in Harry's scar, they had been keeping as low a profile as possible.
Having been able to sneak into the school and out again without sparking a major conflict was due more to Voldemort's decision to send Nagini to Snape to protect the Ravenclaw Diadem than it was any planning on their part. Trying to cover two bases at once, the Dark Lord decided to check on the locket himself while he notified Snape to expect his familiar.
Nagini's unexpected entrance through the floo connection in the Headmaster's Office just as the Trio was destroying the Diadem Horcrux almost sparked a disaster, but the sentient snake's obsession with trying to kill Hermione allowed Harry to kill Voldemort's familiar with the Sword of Gryffindor, having once again pulled it from the Sorting Hat moments before.
That proved to be the undoing of the Trio as Ron's meltdown at Harry for rescuing Hermione, denying him the chance to save her life, caused the pair to floo quickly from the office with the sentient Hat in hand with Ron still ranting at the unfairness of not being able to solidify his claim, accusing Harry of scheming to come between the pair by 'needless heroics and showing off'.
Shaking himself, Harry saw the self satisfied smirk on Hermione's face and seated himself on the floor, with his head in his hands.
"Harry, this isn't a joking matter, though it is one for celebration. We can eliminate the anchor in your scar and then get rid of Tom before the night is out."
Standing up, she hurriedly came around the table and joined him on the floor. Kneeling beside him, she wrapped her arms around him and held him for a couple of moments before speaking. Concentrating on avoiding calling his scar a 'Horcrux', just in case Voldemort got around to tabooing the word as he had his nom de villainy, she simply tried to relieve his doubts.
"Harry, it's almost over. I swore to you that I'd find a way to remove the anchor from your scar and I have." Putting her hand under his chin, she raised his face until she could look him in the eyes.
"I meant everything I said that night. Once this is over …"
Whatever she was going to promise was cutoff as she leaned over and began to kiss Harry. Hermione reveled in the kiss as Harry put his arms around her and returned the kiss. Just as she brushed the tip of her tongue across his lip, the pair was interrupted by the sound of a clearing throat.
Looking up, not blushing but flushed with passion, Hermione glared at the Sorting Hat. "Edgar, your timing is woeful. We're finally within sight of the end of this nightmare, so excuse us for wanting to celebrate."
"Miss Granger, while I applaud your sentiments, I feel I must remind you that the two of you need to work quickly. Young Mister Riddle isn't going to flail around blindly much longer. Even if he doesn't know about young Harry here, if he thinks all of his other anchors are destroyed …"
"He'll create a new one. Which he can't do for another couple of weeks, even Merlin couldn't set aside the phases of the moon," Harry interrupted with a smirk at the astonished look on Hermione's face when he preempted her correction of the Sorting Hat. Turning his back to Hermione, he leaned his head against her.
"I don't doubt you; I'm just shocked that finally getting rid of him would be something so … muggle."
"Harry, that's the beauty of this. Between the rituals that Edgar showed us in Rowena's grimoire and our 'guest' over there, we've got all the answers."
Shaking her head in disbelief, she chuckled. "Who'd have thought there was an actual basis in fact for those pesky things?"
"Leave it to the magical world to make something like this real." Shaking her head, Hermione chuckled. Seeing the curious look on Harry's face, she shrugged. "If you'd seen how many of these things I've deleted from UseNet over the years…" Trailing off, she rolled her eyes. "Let me guess, you never got a chance to use Dudley's computer?"
Seeing the amused look on his face, she smirked. "As soon as we rescue my parents and things settle down, I'm getting you a computer and then I'm going to show you the joys of the Internet." Leaning over and kissing him again, she whispered in his ear, "and then I'm going to see if you're as good with a vorpal sword online as you are with Gryffindor's Sword in real life."
Standing up, Hermione pulled Harry to his feet and put her arm around his waist. Guiding him over to the table, she transfigured one of the chairs until it resembled a stylist's chair. Seating Harry, she first raised it about seven inches and then leaned it back until Harry's head was over the table, just barely resting on it. Patting him reassuringly on the shoulder, she walked over to the bookcase where the Sorting Hat was resting on Gryffindor's sword.
"Edgar, you're certain about this," she asked as she picked up the hat and placed it on her head. Unlike when she was eleven and being sorted, the hat didn't cover her entire head and her eyes this time, but rested at a jaunty angle.
"Of course I'm certain," Edgar replied, his smugness evident in his tone. "I could sense the presence of the soul anchor when I first sorted him, but not the actual anchor itself. That can only be explained by it being totally sealed off from his system. And after that little escapade in the Chamber of Secrets …"
"The basilisk venom along with the phoenix tears should do the job," was Hermione's mental reply as she hefted the Sword of Godric Gryffindor with one hand. Focusing on what she needed, her eyes widened a bit as she watched the ancient weapon transform itself from a weapon of war to a surgeon's scalpel.
Walking over to Harry with the Sorting Hat on her head and Gryffindor's sword morphed into a scalpel, Hermione saw the nervousness in Harry's eyes as she approached. Leaning over, she brushed her lips against his before standing back up.
"Harry, Edgar is convinced that the soul anchor is sealed away from the rest of your body. It initially did that to shield itself from the protections your mother's death afforded you. That's why it could never really try to possess you. The protections from Lily Potter's death were too strong as you were growing up, and before they had faded totally, the addition of a combination of basilisk venom and phoenix tears to your system made you toxic to it."
Placing her off hand on the top of Harry's head, she looked down at him and smiled reassuringly.
"Not to mention this dainty little scalpel is still Godric's broadsword," she added, feeling the artifact in her hand twitch a bit at being called 'dainty'. "I'm going to cut through the scar, letting your blood enter this last protection Tom's got squirreled away, and then I'll explain exactly what we need to do so Lucy can deliver a very special message to Tom."
Mouthing "I love you" to Harry, Hermione reached over to the table and grabbed her wand. Casting the body bind spell, she momentarily flashed back to that night when they were firsties in the Gryffindor common room and she had used the spell on Neville. Smiling sadly as she remembered the courage of their shy friend as he valiantly tried to keep the three of them from leaving, she watched as Harry's body snapped to, leaving only his eyes mobile.
Carefully, she placed the tip of the Gryffindor's scalpel against the upper edge of Harry's infamous scar. Pressing in, she watched in fascination as the razor sharp tip sliced open the edge of the scar. And then the Horcrux woke up.
Black ooze began to seep from the scar as a distorted version of Harry rose from the scar. Ranting at her, the Horcrux tried to play on all of her insecurities about her appearance, her lack of friends, and her relationship with Harry while she pressed firmly down on the scalpel until she felt the tip strike bone.
Closing her eyes, she allowed her connection with the Sorting Hat and it's affinity for Gryffindor's sword to guide her as she firmly sliced through the scar tissue and into the scar itself.
As the Harry's blood began to flood the scar, the basilisk venom began to dissolve the Horcrux itself. Balanced out by the phoenix tears in Harry's system, the pure evil of the Horcrux prevented the tears from functioning, allowing the venom of the King of Serpents to dissolve the scar containing the Horcrux.
With a final scream that was ringing in Hermione's ears, there was a flash of light as the last Horcrux of Tom Riddle vanished in a puff of greasy green smoke.
Quickly removing the scalpel from the wound, Hermione placed the blade on the table where it immediately resumed its natural appearance. As she reached for her wand, she paused as the Sorting Hat spoke to her. Raising an eyebrow at the mental suggestion he made, she placed her wand back on the table, the healing charm she had readied uncast, and picked up the sword instead.
Feeling her connection to the sword, both through her heritage as a Gryffindor and the mental connection between the hat and the blade, she gently laid the flat of the blade against the open wound and willed the still bleeding scar to heal.
Watching in fascination as the blood began to disappear; she lifted the sword to see that Harry's fabled scar was now nothing more than the remnant of a childhood trauma that might adorn the forehead of anyone. Faded and unremarkable, her impromptu excising of the scar had altered the trademark lightning bolt shape and it now was simply a scar.
Nothing more, nothing less.
Cancelling the body-bind hex, Hermione waited until Harry slumped bonelessly into the chair before moving it to an upright position. As the chair reached its upright position, Harry exhaled and closed his eyes.
"Harry?"
"There's no one else I would have let do that," Harry began. Opening his eyes, he looked up to where Hermione was standing. Smiling at the fact that the Sorting Hat was sitting cocked on her head, its features watching him also, he reached out his hand and took hers.
"Let me guess, the Sword absorbed the phoenix tears just as it absorbed the snake venom?" Seeing her nod, Harry pulled her closer to him.
"We'll tell Poppy once things are settled down. Are we ready for your plan?"
Cancelling the transfiguration on the chair Harry was sitting in; Hermione turned him around and sat at the table with him. Squeezing his hand, she nodded as she reached up and placed the Sorting Hat on the table.
"It's really quite simple," she began. "The ancient Greeks and Romans developed complex written curses and hexes of power. There are restrictions on how these may be used, they tied the concepts of the curses to their religious practices, and the most potent are the ones fueled by the Furies."
In full lecture mode, Hermione recapped how an obscure hex she found in Ravenclaw's grimoire could be utilized to bring judgment and justice on Tom Riddle. Just in case there was anything to the prophecy that had started this entire affair, Hermione decided that Harry should be the one to scribe the curse.
Going over the equations for the curse one last time, Hermione watched as Harry carefully penned the required spell onto the piece of parchment they had previously cast minor compulsion and protection spells on.
As Harry rolled up the scroll and sealed it, addressing it to "Tom Riddle, better known as 'Lord You No Poo', she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.
"This should avoid a repeat of what happened last time." Seeing the questioning look in his eyes, she chuckled.
"The Dark Marks, Harry. All of the Death Eaters are tied to Tom by their Dark Marks, and that's a connection that reaches to the soul and the magical core of the individuals involved. Tom essentially turned a host of pureblood bigots into walking battery packs for himself, and that connection will keep them from bribing their way out of Azkaban after Tom snuffs it later tonight."
Eyes growing wide at the thought, Harry started chuckling until his face became grim and one word escaped his lips. "Snape?"
"I can give him a chance, but it's only if he trusts us enough," was her grudging reply. "You know the kinds of things he did to earn that tattoo of his as well as I do."
"His life was orchestrated by Albus almost as much as mine was," was Harry's quiet reply. "I'm willing to let him take his chances with the Ministry once Tom and the others are gone, but he did tell us about the anchor in my scar as we were leaving his office and he stunned Ron when he was going to hex me, so this should even us."
"Harry, the man's been a psychotic bitch over the fact he's owed your father a life-debt all these years, owing us one will turn his brain to tapioca pudding," was the only thing Hermione would say as she stood up.
Walking across the room, she opened the large wardrobe that was sitting by the door. As the heavy wooden door swung open, it revealed the trussed up and blindfolded figure of Lucius Malfoy, sans his left arm.
Captured last evening as Lucius was strolling through Diagon Alley by Kreacher, the old elf had stunned Lucius Malfoy with a spell that knocked him down, similar to what Dobby had done to him at Hogwarts years ago. He then grabbed the unconscious Death Eater and brought him to where Harry and Hermione were waiting for him. Apparently Kreacher's connection to the Ancient and Honorable House of Black was enough to overcome the general prohibitions on house elves regarding wizards to allow him to retrieve the Death Eater for his master and mistress.
Removing his left arm at the elbow to sever the Dark Mark, the teens instructed Kreacher to take the arm and place it in the sea cave where the locket had been hidden as they sealed off the stump of Lucius' arm and secured the Death Eater's wand.
Having kept him unconscious for the past fifteen hours, the teens were now ready to execute their plan. Operation Chain Letter was about to commence.
Casting a spell on the unconscious Lucius to make him weigh less and be easier and less noticeable to transport, Harry picked him up and hoisted him over his shoulder. Walking outside the tent, they stepped through the wards they had placed on their campsite and began walking towards a hiking trail.
Reaching the trail, they looked around to see if anyone was present, seeing no one, Hermione motioned for Harry to deposit Lucius on the ground.
Quickly casting an enervate on him, as the Death Eater groggily came to his senses, she quickly cast the Imperious curse on him.
While being mindful of the irony that the excuse that Malfoy Senior and so many other Death Eaters had used to escape justice after the First War was about to bring about their destruction, Hermione concentrated on the instructions she was giving Lucius. Impressing them several times on his conscious mind, she was satisfied that he would obey her instructions.
Exhaling, Hermione reached into her jacket pocket and removed the wand that they had Kreacher had said that he was carrying last night when he was captured. Eying the willow and pwka hair wand dubiously, she handed it back to Lucius and smiled.
"Take this scroll to your master. It details Harry's desire to surrender to him if he guarantees the safety of a number of people." Seeing Lucius look down at the scroll, she smiled. "The Dark Lord will reward you as you so richly deserve by delivering the means for him to destroy Harry."
Lucius smiled vacantly, tucked the scroll into his pocket, and turned in place. Disappearing from view, the pair looked at each other and smirked.
"Back to the tent. While I don't think he can backtrack us, I impressed upon his mind that we were in Cornwall, I'd still feel better if we were under cover when Lucy gives Tom our little chain letter."
Turning and heading back the way they came, Harry looked at Hermione out of the corner of his eye.
"Snape?"
"Is he in his office?"
Taking out the Marauder's Map, and swearing he was up to no good, Harry quickly determined that 'Headmaster' Snape was in his office with Professor McGonagall. Seeing that the two of them were alone, Harry nodded to Hermione.
Stopping, Hermione cast her patronus spell. As the silver otter came into existence, she gave the excitable mustelid a message and sent her off to deliver it.
As the pair reentered the tent, Harry smirked. "Well, we have about four hours until we need to be in Cambridge, whatever should we do with ourselves?"
Walking over to the table with a definite strut, Hermione picked up the Sorting Hat and carried him over to the wardrobe that Lucius had occupied until recently. Gently placing the ancient artifact on a shelf, she smiled apologetically.
"Edgar, I hope you don't mind, but Harry and I have something we need to … discuss and it'd be much better if we had our discussion alone."
"Just remember the silencing spells," was the hat's reply as the door closed. "My ears are still ringing from your 'discussion' the other night."
Headmaster's Office – Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Minerva McGonagall and Severus Snape were seated in the wingback chairs around the fireplace in the office getting ready to discuss exactly how many more things they could find to distract the Carrows with when an otter patronus appeared in the office. Flying over from the Headmaster's formal desk to where they were sitting, both were shocked when Hermione Granger's voice began speaking.
"Headmaster Snape, I'm not really happy about giving you a warning. Personally I'm not convinced you're not going to betray us, but if you want to be alive to see the sunrise, be on Mill Road in Cambridge tonight at ten sharp. Dress muggle and come alone. Harry's doing in your boss tonight, so if you want to survive it, you need to do exactly as you're told."
Pausing for a second, the otter turned her attention to Professor McGonagall; the otter curtsied in mid air and did a backflip.
"Professor McGonagall, Harry and I will be getting in touch with you in the next few days; we've got a few things to return to you before we head out."
And with that, the otter faded from view.
Looking at each other, Minerva held up her hand to forestall Severus' outburst.
"Severus, I don't know what they've got planned, but if I were you, I'd take that young witch at her word."
Shutting his mouth, he looked over to the portrait of Headmaster Phineas Nigellus. Seeing the look on the face of his predecessor, Severus simply asked, "Does anyone know the closest apparition point in Cambridge?"
7 p.m. - Formal dining room, Malfoy Manor
Being led roughly into the room, Lucius Malfoy stumbled a bit from the lack of a left arm to balance with as he fell to his knees in front of the large throne that Lord Voldemort was using. Waiting patiently, Lucius' mind kept looping through the instructions he had been giving under the Imperious.
"Lucius, my slippery friend," Voldemort began. "I see that your silver tongue has finally failed you."
Keeping his eyes lowered, Lucius first removed his wand from his pocket, keeping the tip between his thumb and forefinger as he laid it gently on the floor in front of him. He then reached into his jacket and removed the scroll.
"My Lord, I successfully negotiated Potter's surrender," he began. Hearing all of the noises in the room stop, with the exception of the hysterical laughter of Bellatrix, Lucius braced himself for the spell that was surely to come.
"Are those his terms," Voldemort asked, a dangerous quality to his voice.
"Yes, Milord. All he asks is your word that his surrender will mean safe passage out of England for some of his friends. Once he's in your control, we can execute them in front of him before you kill him" Lucius replied quietly, repeating the words that Hermione had drilled into his brain without realizing it.
Holding the scroll out, Lucius kept his eyes averted and waited. Leaning forward, Voldemort held his hand over the scroll. Not fearing any enchantment that Potter or his mudblood companion could cast, he took the scroll.
Reading the salutation, his eyes became redder and the aura of his magic began to flare. Breaking the seal, he unrolled the scroll.
As he did so, the subtle compulsions that were part of the curse caused him to read aloud:
"A girl died in 1933 by a homicidal murderer. He buried her in the ground when she was still alive. The murdered chanted, "Toma sota balcu" as he buried her. Now that you have read the chant, you will meet this little girl. In the middle of the night she will be on your ceiling. She will suffocate you like she was suffocated. If you post this online, she will not bother you. Your kindness will be rewarded."
Causing the scroll to ignite and burn to ashes with a thought, Voldemort pointed his wand at the waiting Malfoy and began to cast the cruciatus curse on him.
Seventeen minutes later, writhing on the floor in his own body fluids and wastes, Lucius Malfoy's mind finally snapped. Waiting another minute to make certain, Lord Voldemort lifted the curse and simply said, "Bring me Potter. Now."
Thirty seconds later, the room was empty except for the Dark Lord and a drooling thing that used to be Lucius Malfoy.
10 pm, Mill Road, Cambridge
Looking warily around, Severus Snape walked slowly across Mill Road. Wondering if this was some sort of trick, he sensed rather than heard someone behind him. Slowing down, he was about to turn when a disembodied voice whispered in his ear.
"We don't have much time. Harry's insisting we save your life tonight, so you're going to walk over to that café over there and wait for me to join you," Hermione Granger's voice whispered.
As he started to speak, she continued. "Personally, I'd rather you snuff it with the rest of your friends in an hour or so, but we're doing this Harry's way, so just stand over there like a good little Death Eater and you'll live to see the sunrise."
Walking carefully over to the door of the café that was at number 32, Severus barely had time to wonder what on earth an 'Internet Café' was before Hermione Granger appeared beside him. Taking his arm, she leaned over and whispered, "Harry's here with a wand. You can't see him, but one false move on your part and he'll stun you and I'll leave you to your fate."
Taking him over to a table with a computer, Hermione pointed at the chair and went in search of assistance. Coming back after a few moments and the expenditure of several pounds, she began to expertly log into the system and then motioned for Snape to replace her at the device that looked faintly like a keyboard for a typewriter.
"I'm going to walk you through creating a login and a profile," she began. Seeing that he was about to ask a question, she shook her head. "You don't need to know what you're doing; just doing it will save your life." Pausing for a moment, she smirked and added, "Consider it a potions class, I'll feed you the directions, you simply do what I say."
Walking him through the steps, she finally had him on the Internet and accessing UseNet. Finding an appropriate forum where he could accomplish what was needed, she guided him until she found a message that was hypothesizing about the existence of magic considering the number of extremely strange and deadly events of the past year. Taking a piece of parchment from her beaded bag, she flattened it out and simply said, "Type this on the screen and then press the 'enter' key."
After a few fitful starts and stops, Severus Snape finally managed to type the message that the Dark Lord had read aloud several hours ago onto the screen. Looking scornfully at the witch beside him, he waited with his finger poised over the key labeled 'enter'.
"You can't be serious?"
"Nope, but I'm Hermione and this is going to work," she replied with a smirk. "Press the damn button and I'll log you off the system. Once you get back to Hogwarts, go to the restricted section and look for texts on the ancient Greeks and some of their spells that they tied to their religious practices. Find a reference to 'Fury Scrolls' in Marchbanks' thesis for Arithmancy on the third shelf from the bottom."
Seeing the shocked look on his face, she rolled her eyes and took her hand and pushed his finger down on the 'enter' key.
As the text appeared as a comment on the current thread, Hermione chuckled.
"Congratulations, you're probably the first Death Eater to post something on the Internet." Seeing the responses to his posting that began to appear, she shrugged. "And you'll probably be the first that gets TOSed, but hey you'll be alive tomorrow."
Standing up, she motioned for the door. Seeing that he was still sitting there looking at the screen and wondering about the responses to his effort, she leaned over and logged him out.
"It's time to go. Your boss will probably have one of the Carrows do a bed check on you tonight, so you need to behave and be available if anyone should call."
Turning and walking away from him, she only paused when she heard him say her name.
Looking over her shoulder, she could see the question in his eyes. Pausing for a moment, her features softened as she looked at the person responsible for so much pain.
"Albus used you as he used Harry. Harry thinks that merits giving you a chance."
"And you?"
"Personally, I'd rather sit back and watch the fun, but Harry expects better of me, so I'm trying."
And with that, she left.
Midnight - Formal dining room, Malfoy Manor
Sitting on his throne like chair, Lord Voldemort waited patiently for his loyal Death Eaters to return. Deciding that having them spend several hours searching for Potter and his mudblood was sufficient; he motioned to Draco to come near to his throne.
Having summoned the boy using one of the remaining Malfoy house elves earlier, Voldemort enjoyed the sight of the young wizard cleaning up the messes that his father had created on the floor. After ordering the young Death Eater to take his father up to his room and deposit him on the bed, he instructed the young man to return and await further instructions.
As Malfoy approached, Voldemort held out his hand imperiously. Grabbing the boy's left arm, he forcefully jabbed his wand into the Dark Mark on his arm and summoned all of his Death Eaters except for those on duty at Hogwarts and the Ministry.
As he heard the subtle pops of apparition and the sound of the floo activating, another noise closer to him caused him to look up.
Looking as if she was attached to the ceiling, a young girl dressed in a blue and white pinafore stared at him with a vacant stare. Before Lord Voldemort could raise his hand or cast a spell, she simply fell from the ceiling and wrapped herself around his head.
Struggling to get a grip on the body, it seemed that anything he could reach had an elastic quality to it. As she wrapped tighter around his head, he could feel the slick fabric from her clothes cover his mouth and slit-like nostrils.
Unable to breathe, Voldemort began to attempt to draw magical energy from his followers through their Dark Marks. But nothing was coming through. It was as if all of his followers were being attacked as he was.
As his attempts became more frantic, he slipped from the chair onto the floor. Having a brief vision of himself lying on the same floor that Lucius had just recently occupied, he heard the sound of a body hitting the floor nearby.
Struggling, but growing weaker, memories of his victims began to flash through his mind, as if everyone he had ever killed were coming for a look as he lay dying on the floor.
As his world collapsed down to a single thought, as his battered but thoroughly evil soul released its hold on this existence, a single sentence flowed though his consciousness.
A young girl's voice whispered, deep in the recesses of his mind.
"Toma sota balcu"
A/N 2 - Don't look up. There's nothing on your ceiling.