A.N.: Things are picking up…soon Hogwarts…then the world MWAHAHAHA lol Jk…or maybe not lol
Chapter 4: Desperate Souls
King George was a desperate man, his kingdom was in dire need, his only son had been struck down trying to help and now he had very little options left. He had hoped that his son, James, after having proven himself in battle against one of King Midas' knights that he could slay the dragon plaguing said King's lands. In doing so they could procure Midas' daughter's hand for his son James and in doing so ensure their own land's happiness. Midas' right hand turned all it touched into gold; they would never have to worry about money or famine again.
It had looked like they might have succeeded to, James had felled the knight, Midas had agreed to King George's terms, and had left to prepare his daughter. Then that man, that lowly man who James had bested had struck while his son's back was turned from the ground killing him. His son, his champion, his dragon slayer, was dead. King George had cried his tears, but he still had a kingdom to look after. "I have sent for help, it should be here soon," King George said to his uneasy advisors. "Oh its here," came the unmistakable high mocking voice from behind them.
"Leave us," King George said as soon as he saw him. "So this is how you treat my gifts, you really must be more careful," Rumplestiltskin said mockingly. "He was not a gift, he was my son," King George bit back pain still lingering in his voice. "A son I gave you," Rumplestiltskin replied. "In a deal we made," King George replied defensively, "you did me no favors." "Yes, yes I did, shame you and the Queen couldn't conceive a child on your own. My price for that was a pittance, but now that she's gone I assume that conceiving another heir is out of the question," Rumplestiltskin quipped, "let alone a dragon slayer."
"Then let's do another deal, bring him back, I need my son to do this, I'll give you anything," King George said not really hiding his desperation. "Anything?" Rumplestiltskin said turning to face him with flourish. "What do you want?" King George asked tensely. "There is a magic wand I desire, it belongs to a certain fairy godmother that is patron to your family…I want to know her whereabouts," Rumplestiltskin's voice was dangerous absent his usual flourish.
King George tensed, "Done," he said quietly. "That's not all dearie," Rumplestiltskin said. King George nodded, "What else?" "The head of this dragon belongs to Midas…the body you will give to me," Rumplestiltskin said gleefully. "Done, now tell me how to bring my son back!" King George demanded. "Bring him back? No, that's out of the question he's dead," Rumplestiltskin said laughingly, "Magic can do much but not that!"
"But you just said…" King George began angrily. "Nothing about resurrection dearie," Rumplestiltskin interrupted. "Then the kingdom…it is lost," King George said defeat coloring his words, "I am alone." "Oh dear, oh dearie dearie dear, did I not tell you that I can have your son slay the dragon?" Rumplestiltskin said, "And am I not a man of my word?" "I thought you said he was gone forever," King George yelled. "Oh that he is, but his brother," Rumplestiltskin began. "What?" King George interrupted. "His twin brother, did I not mention there was another?" Rumplestiltskin giggled.
-x-
Rumplestiltskin was feeling very pleased with himself, he had gotten the twin to King George and he had finally tracked down that elusive fairy godmother. Soon, Harry would have his wand and his plans for the twin would come to a head. The Fairy Godmother was talking to some downtrodden desperate soul now, probably promising a magic solution to all her problems and Rumplestiltskin was all too happy to destroy her.
The wand fell, he picked it up, smug with now having the power to even kill Fairies…Belle's kisses were certainly more than he had expected. "What have you done!" The filthy looking girl demanded. "Now, now dearie I got what I wanted no need to be frightened," Rumplestiltskin said ironically. "No need? You just killed my fairy godmother! She was trying to help me," The girl covered in soot said breathless at first then steely with anger.
"Do you know what this is?" Rumplestiltskin asked sing songingly. "Pure magic," The cinder covered girl said with a desperate smile. "Pure evil, trust me I did you a favor," Rumplestiltskin replied. "All magic," Rumplestiltskin said waving one hand and then the other, "comes with a price. Go back to your life, and thank your lucky stars that you have something to go back to!" "My life…is wretched," The dirty girl said despondently.
"Then change it," Rumplestiltskin sneered holding up the wand, "you can't handle this." He turned intending to go back to give his apprentice his new wand and forget about this desperate girl who was too stupid to see the choices she had laid out for her. "Wait please wait," she said as came running in front of him, "I can handle it. Please I will do anything to get out of here anything." "Anything?" Rumplestiltskin said feeling the pull of a deal stirring up inside of him.
"Do you know how to use that wand? Mr…?" She asked frantic. Rumplestiltskin grinned, bowing elaborately he said, "Rumplestiltskin," with unnecessary flourish. The pull of a deal with a desperate soul was too much to ignore so he let himself revel in the rush of it. "And yes of course I do." He continued his mouth pulled into a tight sneer feeling anger at this woman. She was so desperate for a quick solution to her problems that she ignored the fact that she could change them herself if she was so inclined.
"Then help me," The cinder girl said tense with hope. "Well if I do," Rumplestiltskin began as he moved closer to the girl, "and you can indeed shoulder the consequences, then you'll owe me a favor." "Name it," The cinder girl said quickly, "what do you want?" He circled her feeling very much the predator he was as he did so leaning in close to her face he replied, "Something precious." "I have nothing," she replied breathless.
"Oh, but you will…with this wish will come riches more than you know!" Rumplestiltskin said as he moved away from her hand waving in an exaggerated manner. "I care nothing for riches, I'll give you anything you want! Just get me out of here!" Cinder girl replied. Rumplestiltskin's eyebrows rose a bit, this girl was like all the rest who were desperate for a quick solution to their problem, he smiled at how foolish she was being. "Now we're talking," Rumplestiltskin said lowly.
"How does it work?" she asked anxious. "Fear not! My needs are small," Rumplestiltskin said pinching the air, "all you have to do is sign on the dotted line." He snapped his fingers and a contract appeared in a cloud of purple smoke between his fingers along with a quill. "Do we have a deal?" Rumplestiltskin said grinning in anticipation. "Yes," Cinder girl said as she snatched the quill from his fingers, "Yes, thank you."
He squatted so she could use his back to write on and nearly laughed as she signed it without taking the time to read the fine print. Rumplestiltskin hummed in disgust with he turned to check her handiwork and kept the smile on his face as he flicked the wand at her gracefully. She was enveloped in a cloud of purple smoke from his magic and as it cleared he stood back to admire his handiwork. The dress was elaborate, a pretty blue, her hair was done up nicely, she was adorned in jewels and most importantly she was clean.
Rumplestiltskin giggled at her ecstatic face. "Glass?" She asked when she caught sight of a pair of finely made glass heels next to her. "Every story needs a memorable detail! Now lets see how they fit shall we?" Rumplestiltskin said as she smiled widely while slipping into them. "Now you have a good time dearie! But be sure to watch the clock!" He said giggling as he left her to ride her new conjured carriage to a ball.
He glanced at the contract in his hands, eyes skimming it picking up the reference to her giving him her first-born child quite a few times on it. Rumplestiltskin snorted in disgust, if she had bothered to read it before she had signed, she would know what lied ahead of her and he wasn't about to ruin the surprise now. People like that Cinder girl disgusted him, people who had the means to change their life but didn't do so merely waiting for someone to come save them. There are no such heroes, all things like that came at a price and never was it something trivial.
Rumplestiltskin giggled as he walked the path that would lead him to the Dark Castle, "All Magic comes at a price dearie, you should always negotiate that price ahead of time." His apprentice had done that; he had been a small boy with no means to change his situation for the better, unlike that worthless woman. Harry had seen that he had very few options out of his wretched life and had made a 'deal with the devil' fully conscious that there would be a steep price for such a thing. Rumplestiltskin couldn't quite figure out how a five year old could see such things but a girl nearly a woman could not.
-x-
Harry wasn't sure if he should be happy or suspicious that his plans seemed to be lining up perfectly as planned. Nothing really goes as planned after all, there was always that possibility that something could go wrong…something you hadn't foreseen. He shuffled his deck, mindful of his question, concentrating on the cards searching for the feeling of them before he began to lay them out before him. The tarot cards had once belonged to a gypsy, but Regina had ripped the poor girls heart out.
Of course that had been his Master's plan the entire time, he had wanted to create the monster that was Regina because she needed to be his ace in the whole. The tarot cards themselves had come from a land that was seeped in seeking ways to see the future…they were a very powerful deck but they certainly didn't look special. Harry laid each card out with care; mindful of his question the entire time, and when he was finished he was more confused than ever.
His plans were going flawlessly, Belle was seeking his council, his Master was growing in power fed by her love, he was careful to hide his existence and none of the pawns knew the Master. Yet, he hadn't thought about his home world, hadn't thought anyone would ever seek him out once he had gone and now that left the potential to ruin everything. For plans to work you needed to be there to exact them, strings needed to be plucked, webs weaved, and it was all a delicate game.
Harry hadn't counted on being called back to a magical school of all things, hadn't anticipated that he wouldn't be available to operate his web. However, his Master bid that he go and since selling himself to his will Harry had no choice but to comply…as his Master willed it so it should be done. Harry was under no illusions, he was a willing slave for he had sold himself for a better chance at life and that meant it was a price that had to be paid continually.
The cards said that his journey into his home world had the potential for glory, but also great pain. It would affect his plans, but he would be able to face such things allowing him to continue on his path. There was potential…there was disaster, and it was sitting on a razor edge willing to go both ways. Harry knew he would have to be careful, he would need to plan his moves cautiously, he needed to work harder on Belle and find a way to continue his plans while obeying his Master's will to attend school.
Sighing Harry knew he could hold off no longer he needed to learn what he could of his world's magic users and scout out the place before he did anything. He took his new necklace out from where it was tucked under his shirt and twirled it three times picturing the cupboard under the stairs very clearly. He coughed when he landed, there was dust coating everything, but in all, everything was just as he had left it.
When he tired the door however Harry realized it had been boarded shut and was irritated about that, his former Masters were such fools. Harry willed it to open, the door creaked horribly as his magic pushed it open and Harry stepped out gracefully dusting himself off as he did. There was a whimper and Harry turned to see Petunia in the hall by the stairs, staring at him as if she had seen a ghost. Harry felt a great welling up of hatred; he had thought himself past his time locked under the stairs but seeing her put his teeth on edge.
Almost without thinking about it he advanced on her, forcefully jabbing his hand into her chest to grab her heart and Harry ripped it from her vehemently. She went white as a sheet, seeing her heart in his hands beating, and then she screamed. It was a horrible sound, "Shut up," Harry said squeezing her heart in his hand. She fell silent as she fell to the ground, Harry reveled in the power he had over her and giggled.
His Master had taught him this spell a while ago, taking a heart from anything living gave the taker complete control over the one whose heart was taken. It made the heart an enchanted heart, able to beat outside the body, it glowed red with power and felt like soft stone. This was the first time he had done it, he watched Petunia struggle faintly on the ground, and remembered his Master's words of caution. This spell was addictive, it gave you absolute power over another, it was easy to get carried away collecting hearts and let the magic control you instead of the other way around.
"Get up," Harry said turning from her knowing she would have no choice but to follow. Petunia followed him into the kitchen, looking weak and barely able to stand. "Sit," Harry commanded, the heart in his hand beat a heavy rhythm. She sat, remaining silent just as he had bid, and he was glad for it. "Now, so that you fully understand your situation I'll explain this to you only once, so listen carefully. You are now mine, my servant, my every wish is your desire, if you try to run, try to disobey, to deceive me or do anything to displease me…" Harry smiled at her viciously, "all I have to do is squeeze."
He squeezed the heart lightly, watching as she slumped onto the table bonelessly feeling her life slip away slowly and then he stopped. "Now you are going to tell me everything you know about magic, you will do so calmly, you will not scream or beg. Understood?" Harry said. "Yes," She croaked out, "I understand." Petunia knew a surprising amount of information, how to find these magic users, how they communicated, where to get his supplies, how many years they expected him to attend this 'Hogwarts' and a little about the school itself.
Harry slipped his new heart into the bag at his side, mindful of the spools of gold he had brought along, "Nicely done Petunia I will inform you should I have need of you…for now act as normal and tell no one about what has occurred today." Harry left her there crying her eyes out and feeling a bit better about those years he had spent doing the same under the stairs in the house. Finding his way to London was easy, magic was a wonderful thing, and then getting into 'Diagon Alley' was child's play.
He wasn't very impressed with it to be honest; it looked like every other market he had been to back home and had very few things that truly interested him. However, Harry knew his Master would want quite a few things from this place and made his way to the bank with exchanging his gold for some currency. That turned out to be easy enough though the goblins drove a hard bargain but he was the apprentice of the Dealmaker so it was no trouble getting what he wanted.
Harry noticed he wasn't attracting very much attention, the alley was flooded with children, and he was just one of many. His clothes were similar enough to everyone else that it allowed him to blend in. He had on tight black pants, a flowing white tunic shirt, an equally tight green vest, and a long black overcoat that looked almost similar to these people's robes. He blended, even with his slightly chaotic wild black hair and glowing green eyes…no one paid him any mind.
He wandered the alley, checking his supply list, buying things as he needed, getting things he thought his Master might want, and slowly making his way through the alley. He got a trunk that had all sorts of enchantments, got another one as a spare his Master could study, along with another shoulder bag that had an expanded charm on it similar to the one he had made himself to hold his book. He went slowly being very thorough in his investigation, knowing he would have some time before he would need to go back to his Master's side.
When he made it to the bookshop Harry decided he would need to get two copies of every book that was available for sale and by the time he was finished Harry wanted to go home. There would be time to come back to the Alley with more money, more time to explore and get things his Master would want. With that in mind he left the store turning the owl so that by the time his foot should have hit the ground in the alley he was stepping into the Dark Castle instead.