Dumbledore liked to think himself the epitome of the light in the magical world. Yes, not just England, the entire wizarding world. He was very proud of the fact that he had cursed his ex-boyfriend Gellert to an eternal life of solitude in the middle of nowhere. He was lauded with gifts simply because a former student of his(whom he carefully manipulated) became a dark lord that feared only him. Dumbledore was trusted with powerful positions in scholastic, national, and international governing yet nothing apparently got to his head.
The public would be wrong of course, but His greater good would be misinterpreted should he share his views with anyone. Truly, if anyone were to peek into his mind successfully, they would find that he was a man with a soul more twisted and black then Voldemort, only having a very convincing charisma and a kindly old smile. Yes, it was he who had created the boy that dared call himself "flight of Death" and only he would reap the rewards and glory of killing the unbearable twit.
For you see, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore had a plan. All he would need was a few idiots backing his corner(a problem easily negated by his order), a pregnant woman under his rule-ahem-guidance, and a well placed imperious curse.
Once the curse was set in place soundlessly and wandlessly(the darker the soul, the easier unforgivables seem to be to cast) Trelawney spasmed and gasped as if in agony, her eyes rolling about in insanity, yelling out the words he had implanted into her tiny little mind. Dumbledore himself made sure that Severus was there to hear at least half of her crazy-talk by dropping hints to him about Lilly starting to question his loyalty, before Aberforth threw his potion's master out into the street.
Yes, the setup of the Potter family and the resulting sacrificial lamb(with added Horcrux) was now his to bring to the battlefield. The old man practically tap-danced as he saw the ever-loyal-oaf known as Hagrid deliver his new toy to it's current not-so-safe house. The Dursleys would insure that the Potter-spawn would be "well taken care of" and with his amortentia-dosed transfiguration mistress(mistress in every sense of the word) complacent with his choice he left the "savior" on the doorstep without so much as a "by your leave".
However now was not a good time to be patting himself on the back as he was assaulted by piercing shrieking, beeping, buzzing, and otherwise annoying sounds. The silver gadgets all about his room would usually only react one at a time, a clever little device he had invented.
The tiny silver objects, varying in size from a large marble to something as big as his fist, were linked to every magical core of students who had not even arrived at Hogwarts up into the current second year class. The bigger the device, the more magic the child had, and should they happen to meet with an "accident" the device would react accordingly. The silver objects were linked to his own magic as well, and if the student died the magic belonging to them would be pulled from them and into himself before the gadget and the child met with their final fate. After all, the epitome of the Light cannot be seen with waning magic in his later years, can he?
Albus smiled deviously, eyes practically letting out sparks as he found the largest object he had to date, the size of one of Hagrid's shoes. Then he gasped as the name on the instrument struck him like a knife to the heart, Harry Potter.
He would normally be perfectly willing to just touch his precious Magic-leech 457(patent pending, thank you very much) and feast on the magic that even now was surrounding it in a shining and practically divine light, but this simply would not do!
Albus stumbled back, wand aloft as he banished the device for study later, Harry would not die today. The headmaster grabbed his two-way mirror from his desk drawer, snapping out names so fast that anyone eavesdropping on him would think he was a parselmouth with the low hissing tone he had used. It was not but a few minutes later when three more people stepped into his office.
His paw-I mean Slav-I mean FOLLOWERS, yes that's the word, his followers of the order of the phoenix were all stone-faced as he swept his eyes over the three. Hagrid, Minerva, and Severus were in front of him, as ordered, with floo powder in one hand, wands in the other.
It was a determined quartet that stepped into the squib Figg's(heh, rhyming) home, they all shook off her hellos as they nearly shoved her out of the way to get outside and onto the street of Privet Drive. Albus led the other three up the street at a fast gait, Hagrid bringing up the rear with his black eyes in a furious glare not unlike Snape's. When they reached the pod-house of number 4 Privet Drive the three humans stepped away from the door before Hagrid knocked(punched) it so hard it fell inward, much to the muggles' shock and aggravation.
The four magicals entered the house with their power flowing in waves around them, Minerva's eyes slitted and glaring with all her might at the wretches she had told Dumbledore not to send Harry to. Dumbledore shouted over Vernon's angry exclamations about his door, "where is Harry Potter?" this bellow of a question was met with three reactions from the disfiguredly ugly family.
Vernon Dursley started to shake as if barely containing himself from strangling Albus, face purple and teeth grinding at even a mention of Harry's name. Petunia was ghostly pale, looking at the four with wide blue eyes, she was shaking in fear, taking a hand and placing it on Dudley's shoulder as if he could protect her. Dudley's reaction, to Albus, was the most worrying however, the fat boy was grinning sinisterly at the four adult magical beings as if he was responsible for his cousin's possible death.
Albus naturally went to the one he felt would give him information the quickest, the woman whom feared them. "Petunia!", He said with a smile, eyes twinkling, "tell me my dear girl, where is your nephew?"
Petunia winced at her name being called, "I-I don't kn-know...", her whispered stammering answered the ancient goat-fucker(Aberforth and he were lonely once...), unfortunate for her these were the exact words she should not have said.
"WHAT?", Three out of four of the wizards yelled in anger or shock while Severus only glared at the giraffe necked woman. Albus wasted no time now in putting all three of the muggles in a full-body bind, forcing their eyes open when he did so, he had snape and Minerva help levitate them all back into the Dursley living room while Hagrid put the front door back in it's frame and sat against it to block them from any intruders.
Dumbledore forced the wretchedly normal family onto the couch before looking to Severus. The two wizards nodded to each other and started from opposing ends of the family, Severus took Petunia's memories from her while Vernon was oh so easily mind-raped by Albus.
The old headmaster was dancing in his head as he saw Vernon doing as expected, beating and starving Harry, demeaning him almost every way. This was perfect, Harry was left truly emotionally stunted and would depend on the first kindly old man to come along, starved for affection as he was. Then he got to the fourth year of Harry's stay with the Dursleys and his happy mental dance turned sour.
From the look of shock and disgust on Snape's face Albus could tell he was seeing the same memories as he did through the Dursley matriarch's eyes.
"It appears Mr. Potter has not been in this home for some time due to a bout of accidental magic, but where is he if the wards are still live around the home?" Albus thought aloud before he saw Dudley. The same evil smirk was still on his face, even with the body bind on Albus could tell he would be wearing that look still with the spell taken off. His piggy little eyes were shining with unhidden joy at his freaky cousin's disappearance. He knew exactly where Harry was.
Images flashed into Severus' and Dumbledore's minds as they each took their turns in finding out the truth behind their savior's disappearance.
It was three years ago when Harry had disappeared, the two wizard's saw through Dudley's eyes how it had happened, the beating that Vernon gave the four year old enough to make Severus flinch. Harry had closed his eyes tight and curled in on himself before vanishing into dust without even the pop of apparation. When this happened Vernon let out a loud yell of anger and surprise while his wife turned green, sickened by magic in her house. Naturally, Dudley ignored such things as he had gotten his cookie from the freak anyway and his Ragnarok Online was almost done patching by now!
Severus watched through the child's eyes as he went to the computer in his room, ignoring the yelling from downstairs as he booted up the game, bouncing in his seat as the log-in screen appeared asking for his username and password. The potion's master would have rolled his eyes if he could at seeing someone stupid enough to use their own name as the password and username to get onto a game.
When the loading screen came on after Dudley created his character, Severus gasped. On the screen was a boy with shimmering raven black hair, done up in many tiny braids that were secured with tiny bells on the end of each one. His skin was a dark tan and his bright green eyes alight with emerald fire. These details would normally not phase him, but from the boy's position on the screen, a lightning bolt scar stood out on his forehead, pale but glowing red on his skin, Harry Potter.
Severus stumbled back as he flew from the boy's mind, tripping back into a chair where he held his forehead in slight pain and his eyes wide with surprise. The two non-mind reading teachers both looked over to him with blatant curiosity, Hagrid firing off questions as if any of them could be understood from the man's panicked accent.
"Hagrid! Stop yelling like a stupid oaf and let me speak!" Severus growled at the half-giant, making him stop, a glare on the half man's face. Severus took a deep breath and let it out before beginning, "I know where the Potter brat is. His oh so loving uncle beat him into using accidental magic so strong it would not be possible to map out exactly what happened, but I know where to find him."
Severus stunned the three muggles, ignoring McGonnagal's protests, before leading them up the stairs and into Dudley's room. He sneered at the state of the disgusting room and the muggle appliances before using his gained knowledge to log in to Dudley's computer.
"Severus, what are you-", the question died in her throat as the dungeon bat found the game and booted it up, there, on the log in page, was the same picture of Harry from before.
"The boy's magic reacted to his wish for sanctuary while the fat muggle child was first loading this game. My guess is the boy is actually inside the very game he's been playing for two years."
Ecklar smiled behind his face mask as he stood watching his nephew interact with the shy little girl. Tanee had not spoken a word and the tree only seemed to speak by rustling it's large leaves, meaning Etrigan provided most of the conversation. The assassin had to admit that when Etrigan sat the girl in his lap and the tree wrapped about them protectively, it made an adorable sight.
This bout of relaxation however, had to be cut short so that he could continue his nephew's test. He coughed lightly to garner their attention before he produced one of his final three bloody branches (and damn were they expensive to get a hold of). Etrigan nodded to the branch and then looked to Tanee who was now scrambling up to sit atop her tree again.
Ecklar jumped back, finding refuge on a large boulder to observe the two before snapping the fourth bloody branch and starting the test up again. The familiar smoke was ignored this time in favor of readying weapons for a fight, Tanee holding her tree tight in case healing Etrigan became necessary again. The being coming from the smoke made Ecklar sigh in relief, this one would be an easy challenge for his nephew.
This new monster was bipedal yet feline in appearance. He was as wide as he was tall, puffy goldenrod fur striped in brown made Eddga instantly recognizable to the other three. The old tiger was sporting a black topknot upon his head and his eyes seemed to be pinched shut in a calm concentration. In his mouth was an old pipe that the beast was happily puffing away on, the smell of tobacco wafting of the tiger every so often.
Ecklar looked down at his nephew and nearly broke down laughing as he saw the boy twitch, as if to resist immediately tackling the wise beast. Rakkid, being a bit of a spoiled girl before her journey, had amassed a large collection of dolls which she had given to Etrigan to play with when he was younger, and his favorite would always be Eddga. A sudden loud squeal was heard echoing through the caverns as Etrigan jumped forward with no weapon in hand, and buried his face in the belly of soft fur. He hugged Eddga just like his doll at home, and this time Ecklar really did laugh at the happy boy and the very, very confused Eddga and Tanee.
The old tiger wondered about two things in his mind as he looked around him. One, where he was since this was obviously not the forest he had taken his daily walk in, and two, why was this strange boy squealing like a being possessed and hugging him? He looked around once more after wondering if he should attack the human when his eyes fell on Tanee, who was laughing quietly atop her tree, the plant's leaves shaking as if to express it's own amusement. Okay, make that three things he was wondering that he hoped to soon find the answers for.
"Tanee", Eddga's deep voice was slow and smooth as he took another puff from his pipe, "where are we and who is this clingy child?"
More laughter bubbled out of Ecklar at this statement as the little girl was picked up from the tree by the tiger, Etrigan still snuggling Eddga and calling him "Eddy". After a whispered explanation of the day's previous events Eddga simply nodded once before a large paw patted the girl on the head and looked down at Etrigan.
"Kid, my name is not Eddy, please stop calling me that.", Etrigan pouted at that which, despite previous thoughts of attacking him, he found adorable. Then he looked up at an amused Ecklar and stated, "I will spar with the little one if he promises not to kill me or hug me without my say-so again."
Ecklar nodded before Tanee's tree pulled a pouting Etrigan off of the tiger and the fight began. No weapons, no magic, only fists and fur flying as the two faced off like a friendly practice.
Dumbledore looked on with twinkling, calculating eyes as he watched Severus' hands fly across the keyboard. The occasional click of a mouse the only sound in the room as the potion's master maneuvered through the game. Minerva was downstairs again watching the muggle-filth and Hagrid still sat against the front door. "Severus, what is this you are doing now?", he asked. Albus had heard of computers and the marvels of the internet from professor Burbage before, but the potions master seemed to be all over the place with the amount of windows he had open on the screen.
Severus pushed his hair back from his face before his fingers resumed scurrying across the keys, "I am using the internet to create an account on this game for our use headmaster.", He stated distractedly as he finished registering the account and then started a web-search. Severus turned to the manipulative old person, "there, I finished registering the account, now for an added edge. Headmaster, can you have Hagrid move this computer someplace more private in the muggle world? I can set up a hacking program to give us an advantage while searching for Potter". Albus nodded and called for the giant, very soon, Harry James Potter would be back where he belonged, in the line of fire.
Etrigan smiled as he once again rubbed his cheek on the soft bed of fur under him. After a good hour of sparring Eddga yielded to the boy and allowed him a prize of his choosing as was honorable. Etrigan chose for the old tiger to be his friend/ living plushy, and, honor bound, Eddga grudgingly agreed. Ecklar was trying his hardest to stifle his laughter as the old tiger grumbled affectionately while Etrigan cooed at him and petted his fur.
"Ummm, Etrigan, I think it's time to continue.", Ecklar stated as calmly as he could while his nephew pouted and slowly got up, Tanee taking over the petting and trying to undo Eddga's topknot to braid it. Ecklar made sure his little shade-dancer had his weapons ready before snapping the twig and tossing it a distance away from the old pile of broken branches Ifrit had come from. The tell-tale smoke was quick forming and the two friendly monsters stood on guard ready to hold the new adversary should it be too strong for Etrigan.
What emerged was an even more horrifying sight then Ifrit, not only because of it's power but it's very appearance. It's skin was white and it stood well above twelve feet tall head to foot, made taller by the fact the beast was levitating. The head and neck were one solid and long curved shape, he had no facial features other then his eyes, bright red and indifferent. It's arms were muscular on the upper half and even more so on the forearm. Around the beast's fists were a series of flame-like markings that glowed with a strange power, the same power flowing out of its wide back like an aura of menace. Etrigan stepped back quickly as Eddga whispered the monster's name, "Gloom Under Night, by Odin's might!"
Ecklar now jumped into the oncoming fray, no way would his nephew face THIS thing on his own, even with the two friendly boss monsters on his side. While Gloom readied his first attack, Etrigan took up his flute and began to play a song to boost Tanee and Eddga's attacks. Tanee rapidly fired projectiles from her tree and Eddga charged, distracting the mighty non-elemental monster while Ecklar went in for a sneak attack.
"That's it! Albus, Minerva, we're in!", Severus announced, quickly gathering the two older educator's behind him as he showed the tiny game character on the computer with the name "SevereSerpent" below it. The potion's master had been online for hours hacking the game and thus his character was over the maximum level cap. He had all of the skills for the classes hotkeyed into the little bars on the corner and the gear it was wearing were things that only the Game Masters should have. Naturally such a thing would draw attention, if not for the fact he was running quite a few programs in the background to cover his tracks.
"According to the message boards on the website, Potter's character is a sort of urban legend.", Severus explained. "In this game all characters are type-casted to a specific job of their choice and once they choose they cannot unlock the skills of the other classes. Potter, or 'the Shade-dancer' as he is known to the muggles playing, possesses the skills of two if not three classes in one character. Luckily enough the muggles have covered up this anomaly by speaking of him as a glitch in the game or at worst, a new boss monster that the game masters are testing to release."
The two other teachers digested the information Severus had gathered quickly, it was not much to go on, but if this "Shade Dancer" was truly Harry Potter, he must be found. Albus told Severus to start searching for the boy in game that was the source of the original message and question him on the rumor while Minerva went back to her room across the hallway from theirs at the Hotel. Severus started to explore the current town he was in and acted the part of a rumor-hunter diligently while Albus sat back and read through his spy's thoughts.
"Hyah!", Ecklar yelled as he finished a particularly brutal combo with his katars, each strike sent directly into the beast's fleshy side. He kicked off of the open wound to send himself into the air before firing as many poisoned throwing knives as he could. Etrigan was now dancing about the battlefield in the caves, both boosting the other fighter's power and dodging attacks as efficiently as he could. Tanee was holding her ground well as she separated herself to heal Eddga and Ecklar while her guardian forced Gloom away from her with it's many projectiles.
The monster was starting to scare all of the fighters with the way it reacted to the attacks, It did not roar or even flinch in pain, it merely attacked and defended despite it's injuries while moving closer to Etrigan with every second that passed. Ecklar tossed the last of the knives he had on him, burying the toxic blade into the shoulder of Gloom due to it's changing movement. The beast seemed to be tiring yet not slowing down from the poisons as it should, Eddga growled and sent a harsh punch to the beast's chest and was met with a firm wall of muscle that knocked it away without Gloom even looking at the tiger.
Etrigan had put away his flute and now had his whip in hand, it was spinning a deadly web about him as it lashed. When Gloom made his final approach to the boy he was met with walls of arrows, all varying in elemental affinity and all with peculiar cards attached to the fletchings. Ecklar dragged Eddga back and called Tanee to him as Etrigan yelled, "Symphony of Fate!"
The arrows that had embedded into the now halted Gloom were beginning to smoke, the shafts turning a dull orange color. Etrigan snapped his whip and charged, the heavy chord resonating with magic as it struck each of the cards he had placed on the arrows. His powerful skill enacted, Etrigan kicked off of Gloom's odd head and was promptly thrown upwards by the explosion of all of the magic of his tarot being activated at once. The dancer boy was thrown by the power of his own magic against a wall, knocking him unconscious.
Severus let loose a yawn as he leaned back in his chair in a huff. He was not pleased by the way these impertinent brats acted whenever he so much as asked a question. All he was met with was either insults about his mother or silence as thy ignored him, clearly he would have to find the Shade Dancer on his own. Albus had sent him out earlier to find another computer for himself and he had just finished setting up a new account and the hacking tools necessary for them to play, now the old bastard was sitting on the bed, eyes twinkling as he tried to play. The headmaster was a class called the Champion, a type of heavy hitting fighter class made for hunting the toughest of monsters then striking them down with a single hit.
Right now Severus' own character was sitting beside the headmaster's, the combination of a champion and a scholar drawing many potential new allies to them by advertising as a boss-hunting party. It was under this ruse that Albus found their first lead, a rumor about three players never leaving an island town, sometimes even managing to do the impossible and go into a house with no way inside possible for the game. Albus and Severus were quick to close up shop and warp to the town in question.
When they arrived they split up, conversing what they had found in what location of the map to be sure they had gotten everything. The potions master searched through the homes he could get inside of and then the perimeter of the town while Albus conversed with the players as he had the people skills to actually get information from the little bastards.
When they met at the stage area near the mountainside of Comodo they compared notes while their characters sat for the show, Severus sitting between the headmaster and a gypsy NPC named Rakkid.
A sudden overwhelming force had downed them, Eddga, Tanee, and Ecklar were all forced to the ground. Sinking into the hard dirt while Gloom held them that way without even raising a finger, Etrigan seeming to be unaffected by the overwhelming force. Ecklar yelled in protest and anger as the foul creature stepped forward and placed his oddly shaped palm on his nephew's forehead. Gloom's aura surged from his back in flickering waves, flashing a multitude of colors as if trying to communicate what he was about to do. Then, like a campfire that went untended, the aura slowly sank back to it's original flame-like appearance and released the heavy weight of the fighters.
Ecklar stood quickly and readied his deadliest poison but before he could get Gloom's attention Tanee's tree shuffled it's way between them, as if knowing exactly what had happened and choosing the side of the beast that had come from the latest branch. Gloom lowered his palm from Etrigan's forehead, taking the time to gently push the hair out of the boy's face then turning to Tanee and the others.
"I believe it will be easier to communicate now that I have sampled this one's knoledge", a strange voice boomed through the cave, Gloom's aura rising and falling with each word that the two monsters and the human heard. Ecklar's jaw was on the floor, as was Eddga's, Gloom Under Night was silent because he couldn't talk! The tree's leaves were rustling again, laughing at the looks on their faces before Gloom continued.
"Thank you for bringing me here, I have been sealed in Rachel's dungeons for the longest time.", The specter stated in his soft yet unemotional voice as he let his stubby legs finally touch the earth, Tanee moving past him to wake Etrigan. Gloom looked to the dazed boy slowly getting up before speaking, "This one's strange cards acting together provided enough magic for myself to break the seal the priests of Rachel placed upon me, and for that you have won my favor. USE IT WELL HUMAN", and with no other words spared to the wide-eyed humans and tiger, disappeared in a flash of blue light. There was silence around the cave aside from the rustling leaves of Tanee's tree, three shocked faces now stood side by side while Tanee calmly sat back on her perch.
"I-I think w-we're... done f-for today...", Ecklar struggled in his stupor, never in his life had he-nor anyone- EVER seen the world's strongest of beasts act like this, out of all of the monsters only The Bloody Knight and Ifrit were violent. Looking over to Tanee and Eddga he saw the tree heft up Etrigan with a squeak then place him on the old tiger's back, that was when he knew. Etrigan was by far the child favored by Odin, and possibly Loki, because no one else could ever be this fortunate, or have such a strange experience as this.
"So, uh, let's just...go...", the others nodded, Ecklar and Etrigan handing over the cloaks they had worn into the cave, the tree staying just outside the cave's entrance until night came. Eddga looked like a portly old man in the dark fabric, the image helped along by the old pipe he was puffing and the gnarled stick he found for completing the image. Tanee rode on Ecklar's back, giggling softly at being outside of her shrine for the first time in years and her new human friends. On the way out of the cave Ecklar tossed away the final bloody branch, he had had enough experiences with them today where he would never try them again. He would not risk his nephew's safety again, and his current mental state would not be able to handle another "Friend" that Etrigan might make.
It was a while that Albus and Severus waited for their information gathering to complete, simply sitting and watching the dancing NPC's while they talked on their findings outside the game. Through the chattering of the players and a few posters on the message board they had found that the Shade Dancer indeed frequented the town of Comodo and rarely left the safety of his nonexistent home. So now the two sat and waited, neither noticing the NPC Rakkid disappearing from her seat next to them, but with the waiting came impatience.
Albus left Severus to keep a sharp watch out for Potter while Albus made his character stand and start wandering the island. Once he reached the eastern edge of the island he found one of the caves that Severus had told him of. Upon passing by the strange tree that bent at the slightest breeze yet never broke, Albus wandered inside the cave. What he saw made him take pause however, "Severus, you say these dungeons are packed with monsters of the game's design, yes?" Severus nodded as Albus used his character to pick up the lone item in the cave, a stick.
"Then why does this dungeon appear empty?",Severus looked to the doddering old man's screen and found the cave was indeed barren of it's usual monsters. Severus moved his character quickly into the dungeon and the two stayed together as they searched through the narrow passages of the mountain's interior. It took them ten minutes to find themselves back at the entrance, and not a creature was in sight, that was when Dumbledore remembered the odd stick he had found in the entryway.
"Perhaps it acts as a sort of reset button for the dungeon?", he asked the potions master and before Severus could correct his notion, Albus activated the bloody branch some fool had left for him to find. A growl resounded through the dark cave as a large gust of freezing cold winds surrounded them.
Ho Shit Son! Who the hell did Albus summon! If you guess right i'll write you a gift fic/oneshot, I want to thank all of my reviewers so far,this chapter is unbeta'd but I wanted to see how well i'd do writing this on my own. Please review! I love you all!