Author Note.
Right then request time. I need four tasks for the upcoming Triwizard Tournament. They need to be based on the four classic elements which are fire, earth, water and air. I have a few of my own ideas but I thought you guys and gals might like a chance to contribute to this story as after all I'm writing it for my reviewers so you should have some input.
Please send me an idea even if its just one task if you do want to try for all four of them then be my guest as that increases your chances of having me pick one of yours.
Also I need details don't just say obstacle course or four way duel that's not enough the tasks have to be both dangerous and interesting.
tylermech66
I don't see how he could conquer either Wales or England the Muggle world is simply too powerful to be conquered by Wizards.
Well it might be possible if Damien found away to use magic to disable Muggle technology which return the world to a more primitive state while Damien starts building an army of magical creatures which he could use to conquer his island home.
But that would be the long term plan. In the short term The Wizarding World he could conquer or at the least the U.K but he doesn't have to the sword just entitles him to its fully optional.
What isn't optional is overthrowing the Ministry and remaking Wizarding Britain but he doesn't have to conquer it to do that just starting a rebellion would be enough as long as the rebellion succeeds.
In any case Damien has plans for making himself a king and getting himself a kingdom before he start thinking about conquest.
Z2010Deadmeat
The Elder Wand is for all its power simply a wand with a well deserved reputation for getting people killed. But the Stone, well that allows people to summon the spirits of the dead which is a much bigger deal than merely having a super charged wand. The amount of power needed to bring back entire groups of people from their after life must be incredible. Plus Damien used another powerful artefact to destroy it so the reaction would be energetic if the two powers don't respond well to each other.
As a Welsh man I do indeed love dragons but the dragons in Harry Potter's world wouldn't make suitable steeds. Perhaps Damien will slay one as future kings with a magic sword often do that sort of thing in order to prove their worth.
A W
Damien isn't a Master Of Death so much as he is a Hallow, the power of the Hallow went into him (and Luna got some to) but its raw power rather than power meant to do a certain thing. He became a part proxy for death like the Reapers are but he's still alive so he's not an actual Reaper he just has some of their powers. It sounds more complex than it is.
As for destroying the Hallows well Harry destroys one of them after becoming the Master of Death which Damien wasn't when he destroyed the Stone so it made sense to me that something would happen. Plus it made an explosion and this fic needed an explosion as its a little light on action.
notdotworthy
Glad you liked it.
I got the idea while thinking about Harry's time in limbo. It seemed odd to me that Dumbledore was there rather than Harry's parents who you'd think would want to be there for him.
So after some thinking I came up with three possible explanations.
One was that Dumbledore hadn't crossed over and was waiting in Limbo which explains why he didn't appear with the other dead people in the Forbidden Forest he wasn't in the afterlife to be summoned back.
The second explanation is that it wasn't Dumbledore at all it was a Reaper like in Supernatural who can get into people's head if needs be like what happened to Bobby Singer.
Third would be that it was all in fact something Harry imagined and that he didn't die at all because at that point he was the Master Of Death and therefore immortal at least until he broke the Elder Wand.
I went with option two for this story as Damien has no one in Limbo to met and he's not the Master of Death.
Lord Edric
Sorry I don't know who that is.
Douchiesnacks
Thanks.
The First Gothic. Book One. A Wizard In Training. Part 30.
Hogwarts School. The Seventh Floor. The Room Of Requirement.
The room seemed more eerie than it had when I had last been in this room perhaps it was because the level of light was lower or maybe it was the fact that my inner circle and I happened to all be wearing thick, heavy black robes while we sat around the Round Table.
Aside from the robes the room had also provided us with rather comfy chairs to sit in and of course mine was the largest and most ornate of the lot which was appropriate given that I was the leader of this group.
In fact I was much more than the mere leader of a group of social outcasts these days. I was a tool of fate, the product of a god's desire to reward his rescuer, the next Dark Lord and in some ways the rightful ruler of this island nation.
The last of those descriptions was the also the newest and the one I was having the most trouble accepting. Pulling the sword out of the stone had been completely unexpected. I'd never imagined that someone like me would possess the qualities needed to use the fabled sword in the stone (Caledfwlch as it was called) but I also had no idea what those qualities could be so perhaps it wasn't as unlikely as it seemed or maybe the sword had a will of its own (like wands and some staffs seemed to) and had for its own reasons chosen me to wield it.
"We've all made our oaths" stated Neville who like me had his sword facing one point of the pentagram "now what?"
I stood up and started to pace the room as I often did when needing to think about what I wanted to say.
"Now we have to decided what to do about Voldemort".
To their credit none of the Outcasts flinched upon hearing the name.
"I thought Harry was our concern?" asked the newest of the Outcasts.
Hermione had only made her oath because I had promised in return to protect Harry from Voldemort so it was understandable that she felt the need to remind me of that especially since she had sworn to serve me onto death.
My oath on the other hand been careful phrased so that power of the Round Table would only compel me to protect Potter as long Riddle was the danger. This meant that if I got rid of Riddle I'd of fulfilled my oath and that would free from me any responsibility I had to safeguard the Boy-Who-Lived. It also meant I would be able to kill him myself if I ever felt I had to. Not that I had any desire to as he was a harmless kid the kind that is nice but dim and a bit of a hero too, and the world did need its heroes.
I moved around the room and put my hand on Hermione's shoulder giving a gentle squeeze in order to reassure her.
"Of course Harry is our concern, and that is why Voldemort must be dealt with".
"But the prophecy" reminded Granger "you told me only Harry can defeat Voldemort".
"No," I corrected "what I said was that only Harry can kill Voldemort but we don't need to kill the Dark Lord in order to defeat him. Simply exiling him to another world would remove the danger to Harry".
I moved around the table once more as I spoke to the whole group.
"Right now Voldemort is vulnerable. He has a few Death Eaters left but until he is restored in body he's not going to be able to start rebuilding his army".
"Can he get himself a new body?" asked Neville who was understandable concerned about such a thing.
"I only know of one way" I told the group "and that involves a ritual that isn't complex but the requirements for the ritual can be tricky to acquire".
"What are they?" inquired Ginny.
"Bones of his father, flesh freely given by a servant and the blood of an enemy" I answered "The last one is harder to get that you think not many people are actually enemies of Voldemort".
"That doesn't make any sense" argued Hermione "only the most fanatical Death Eaters would give him their flesh but Voldemort has lots of enemies".
Actually she was wrong about that.
"Define the word enemy" I requested of Hermione.
"An enemy is someone who actively opposes you and what you stand for" supplied the book worm.
"In ritual magic symbolism is very important remember that" I instructed while still walking around the room "another word for enemy is adversary many people might disagree with Voldemort's ideals and his goals but really not that many people could be considered his adversary because few people actually make an effort to oppose him".
Hermione understood where I was going with this.
"Harry is Voldemort enemy because Harry stopped Voldemort from getting getting the Philosophers Stone he made himself Voldemort's adversary".
My smile showed my approval towards her as did my words.
"Exactly" I agreed "Harry is Voldemort's enemy. Dumbledore's blood would work too as the Headmaster actively opposes Voldemort".
He didn't do it very in my view well but he had duelled Voldemort and worked against him in the past even going as far to create the Order.
It was possible that the blood of someone in the Order might work as well but the symbolism mattered Voldemort knew this. That was why he went to all that effort to get Potter to that Graveyard in the original time and why the Dark Lord has also lured Potter into the Forbidden Forest at the end of the last school year.
"There might be other ways for him to get a new body" informed Luna who had been silent up until now "but I can't see them I just know he will have a body soon. Very soon".
The Riddle House. Little Hangleton. The Muggle World.
On the floor of the drawing room Bellatrix Lestrange knelt before a makeshift shrine. The Dark Witch whispered words in an alien tongue, words that matched the strange symbols carved into wooden boards around the pentagram.
From a short distance away the diminished form that was Lord Voldemort sat watching as his most loyal of Death Eaters summoned a demon-god from another universe.
The creature once known as Tom Riddle didn't believe in gods, even though he fully intended to become himself one someday, so it came as a complete surprise to the Dark Lord when the summoning ritual worked.
In an incredible display of power reality itself warped as a being appeared
in the centre of the pentagram.
The 'god' looked like a normal man, and a Muggle one at that, he was even dressed in everyday casual clothing that wouldn't look to out of place in the nearby village aside from the leather jacket that was certainly not made from any leather Muggles used.
Even in his weakened state Voldemort could sense the power of what Bellatrix had summoned. Appearances could be deceiving but the dark power of this creature could not be denied nor hidden no matter what form he, or perhaps it, had taken
Oddly for Riddle he found himself ignored as it was conjurer who drew the summoned beings attention.
Bellatrix slowly stood up and addressed what he she had brought into this world via ritual magic.
"Lord Ansgar-Yama" she said with all the respect due to the god "ruler of the Hell-Dimension of Arx I wish to make a bargain".
Ansgar-Yama laughed and with a blur of speed he bypassed the protective wards around the pentagram and then grabbed the Witch by the neck lifting her into the air but rather than choke the life of the Death Eater he seemed to examine her as if she was an interesting specimen for study rather a person.
"Your not much use to me" commented the Hellgod "you have power but your infertile and insane. Both of which I could fix easily enough assuming that is what you want, but what is in it for me and what are you offering in return?".
Bellatrix was dropped to bare floor and when next she spoke it was with fear lacing her voice.
"I wish for nothing more than my lord's restoration. In return I offer my soul".
"Such as it is" muttered the Hellgod before saying more loudly "so you offer yourself to me in exchange for restoring the Wizard known as Tom Riddle to his former self".
Bellatrix was one of the most dangerous Witches alive but in comparison to this Yama she was next to nothing and she knew it. That a Pureblood of her power and linage would even acknowledge this never mind act on it would give anyone watching this scene an idea of just how powerful this god was.
"I humbly offer myself," she said while getting on to all fours like a dog
"I will serve you forever, in anyway you see fit".
For the first time since he arrived Yama bothered to notice the thing known as Voldemort. The Dark Lord felt like he too was being examined much like how a entomologist might examine some new breed of insect.
"Very well Bellatrix Lestrange here is the offer" said Ansgar-Yama formally "In exchange for your mind, body and soul I will restore Tom Riddle to what he was before a mere baby killed him".
The deal was made by the signing of a name in blood and the power of such a deal rewrote reality, not changing the past only the present altering it such a way that Lord Voldemort was restored to the state of being he was just before he was killed by Harry Potter which had the side effect of also returning the bit of soul inside Harry Potter to Voldemort.
This didn't make much difference to Tom Riddle himself as his soul was already damaged beyond repair, but it reversed the creation of his accidental Horcrux leaving the Dark Lord with a soul now in three parts.
Once the magic of the contract had done its work and Voldemort was restored to a full body a portal was opened. Ansgar-Yama took his new slave back to the Hell-Dimension that he ruled.
"I will serve you well Lord Ansgar-Yama" promised Bellatrix as she walked into the swirling opening that was the portal.
"Just call me Lord Gothic" insisted the demonic deity as he stepped into the rip in the fabric of space and time "Ansgar-Yama is part of my formal title, and things between us aren't going to be that formal".
With that Voldemort was left alone to wonder if he should reconsider his stance on gods. Perhaps seeking out a patron of his own wouldn't be such a bad idea.
Hogwarts School. The Seventh Floor. The Room Of Requirement.
Luna's prediction naturally concerned me. My current plan depended upon Riddle being weak when I attacked but if he was somehow restored to body having been convinced to abandon his current plan, perhaps due to losing Theodore Nott his only spy here at the school, then I would have to strike soon or risk facing a Voldemort able to fight back.
"Neville how's it going with the Dwarves have they replied to your letter?" I inquired.
Since the Longbottom family had dealt with the Dwarf smiths in times past it had made sense to me to have him contact the Dwarves for me. The tricky was doing it without his parents or his formidable Grandmother finding out.
"Tizzy got back to me with their latest letter" Nev informed "Turns out they do know how to enchant mithril but the Elves, the real Elves I mean, took most of the mithril with them when they buggered off".
Well they hadn't so much buggered off as they had sailed a fleet of ships out to see opened a sort of whirlwind portal and gone to settle another world but I could imagine that 'buggering off' would how the Dwarves would phrase it.
"They do still know how to make the armour" assured my best friend "but there isn't enough of the stuff left to make a crown never mind five suits of mithril armour".
Hermione ,who didn't know that mithril was in fact simply platinum which had undergone the same process Goblins used on regular silver to turn into Goblin silver, asked me to explain what Neville was talking about.
I quickly explained that was not only mithril real but that is was also enchanted platinum.
"Goblins can turn silver and gold into suits of armour and weapons. Silver is better for that than gold due to being more common but they can do the same to gold even though its not as tough as silver".
"But platinum is even rarer than gold and very hard to mine" she stated catching on "Muggles can mine it but they have machines that help with that, but the Dwarves don't so they would only ever find small amounts".
I gave the teenage Witch some more information on the subject.
"Dwarves for all their famed mining skills simply don't have the resources or the population to set up that many mines were as humans do or at least Muggles do. Dwarves only start new mines when they want to start a new colony. They do mine metals but since the Goblins have control over minting coins and therefore near total control over bronze, silver and gold the Dwarves haven't gotten much business. Muggles were their biggest customers since they weren't feared like Goblins were so they did well until the other magical races forced them into hiding".
"Dwarves did most of the building for Wizards as well" added Hermione "but Wizard don't seem to build anything ".
"They don't need to" I explained "there's next to no population growth due to the Purebloods strangle hold over the Magical World forcing most Muggleborns out. Add to that the fact that Purebloods aren't breeding and you get a society completely lacking in any need for new construction".
I'd have a hard time proving that as things like birth records were sealed in the Ministry but there was some evidence to support what I had said that could be gathered via observation.
"When everyone inherits property there's point in building new homes" I added "Muggleborns live in the Muggle world even if they work in the Wizarding one and therefore rent a place or get mortgages. Purebloods either stay with their parents get flats in Diagon Alley or get married young and live in a house their family has owned for a few hundred years. Even if they did want new property they'd buy or steal it from the Muggles and then alter it to their needs".
It hadn't been that hard to find a few adult Muggleborns in the Wizarding World and find out what they got up to. A few had low paying Ministry jobs but most of them worked crappy dead-end jobs.
I'd found one Muggleborn woman working at the kitchen in Three Broomsticks and she'd been a Hufflepuff Prefect while at school. Rather than marry some Pureblood inbred idiot in order to get a more comfortable life she'd tried to get by on her good school marks, and her willingness to work hard but that had done her no good in the end.
The whole thing made me feel very depressed so I changed subjects.
"Back to business" I declared once more taking my seat as all the pacing was starting to hurt my feet "I will supply the Dwarven smiths with the needed materials and pay them for their labour, and as long as they keep quiet about what they are making they can keep any left over platinum. If the armour they make does its job then they can expect more work".
Neville jotted that all down so that he could write it up in a more formal letter later.
Granger asked "What's so important about mithril armour?".
"Its the only armour that can protect you from the Killing Curse," answered Ginny "or at least that's what people say".
"We'll test it of course" I assured my future concubine "there's no way we're going into battle without knowing how much damage we can take".
"But we need to protect the chosen one" reminded Luna "Harry Potter is in great danger. If we can't defeat Voldemort then he must".
My oath compelled to me to protect the Boy-Who-Lived but while it didn't require me to watch over him twenty-four seven I just had to try and keep him alive. Still it would be best to take some action if only to keep my girlfriend happy.
"Of course my love" I promised while putting my right hand on Luna's left.
I then addressed the rest of the Outcasts.
"Stick close to Potter as best you can," I ordered in my most commanding tone of voice "I'll write to Fudge and ask him about the tasks".
It was about time I started using Fudge as an information source. I could phrase the letter to make it seem as if I was just a curious boy who couldn't wait to find out what was going to happen. I'd also ask him if there were ways I could in the future support the Ministry that should hint enough as to the possibility of bribe money to get his interest.
"I thought Luna could foresee things?" questioned the Muggleborn teen to the left of me in sceptical tone of voice.
If I were a psychopathic Dark Lord rather than simply a megalomaniac Dark Lord with a possible mild case of schizophrenia Granger would be on the floor screaming by now.
However while I might be a power hungry mad man at times I knew that while ruling through fear could be rather effective it wasn't the best way to rule as fearful minions can become nothing more then yes men afraid to voice their opinions and there was no point having minions who also acted as advisers if they weren't going to express their views.
Besides Hermione was attracted to me and she also sought my approval, even if she didn't act like it a lot of the time, so showing her my disapproval, via a look, was effective enough and a lot less noisy.
"You planned to wear silk knickers for this meeting but your period started so you had to wear black cotton ones" mentioned Luna "your also planning to spy on Damien using the Marauders Map so you can find how he sneaks out of the school since you still think no one can apperate out of the school despite the fact that you've seen Damien do it".
Hermione went from embarrassment to shock and then back to embarrassment again in the space of a few seconds.
"Luna sees the future but the more distant an event is the less certain it is". I explained.
I also suspected that there were ways to prevent a Seer form seeing certain events as Luna rarely saw anything involving Dumbledore and since nearly everything taking place in the Wizarding world involved Dumbledore in some way that meant Luna could be surprised.
"The tasks might change because arranging them is difficult" I added "for example shipping magical creatures into the country is dangerous if it goes wrong then a new task is needed quickly or they might have a back up plan already in place".
Luna had many things for the First Task but she'd also seen broom races and the champions duelling as well an odd vision which included a scavenger hunt in the Forbidden Forest to find certain items all of which could only be found by solving puzzles written in ancient runes.
If there were different tasks it could be bad so I would have to put some effort into ensuring that the tasks didn't change as the tasks I knew would be child's play to guide Potter through.
Luna's visions would become more certain the longer we waited but that would give me less time to come with a plan to aid Potter, which was it was important for me to get the details from the Minister.
"There's suppose to be four tasks" mentioned Hermione "each one based on one of the four classical elements: fire, earth, water and air".
This years tournament was the first in hundreds of years and organising it must have been a diplomatic nightmare so it came as no surprise that fire and air might be combined in the form of dragon, but that didn't mean it would happen again.
"We can't plan for the tasks if we don't know what they are" pointed out Ginny with hormone driven concern "and we need our armour before we deal with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named but there must be something we can do to protect Harry in the meantime".
Lord save me from teenage girl's and their crushes.
"There is" I assured Ginny "you and Hermione can help Potter train, use this room it should be safe enough. Teach him some combat spells as he might need to fight you can research with him too that will help with your training. Aside from that keep him practising what he already knows until we know more about the tasks".
The possibility that I might be helping to make a future enemy more dangerous didn't escape me but I had my oath to fulfil and that oath had gotten Granger to agree to serve me in anyway I saw fit so it was worth it. Plus there was the fact that the prophecy about me said nothing about Potter being an issue it was Dumbledore that stood in my way not Harry. Besides if the Boy-Who-Lived did get in my way I could exile him somewhere safe without violating my vow to protect him.
Next I addressed Neville.
"Nev, once I have the materials we need you can send them to the Dwarves and then you can start work on more potions I'll go back to Skyrim if I have to but we do need more potions not just for the task but in case anyone gets hurt when we're dealing with Voldemort".
Longbottom was getting rather good at basic medical and enhancement potions so he would have no trouble carrying out my orders.
"Luna I need you to enchant some robes for Potter, nothing too fancy but something that can enhance reflexes, maybe add fire resistance and some boots for speed".
Sometime soon I'd have to get her to enchant clothes that the Outcast could wear over the armour. Protection was good but robes that enhanced our fighting skills would be nice to have as well.
"And what will you be doing, Damien?" asked Nev "aside from brown noising the Minister that is".
I really wished he hadn't phrased it that way.
"Quite a bit actually" I told the group "I need to find out what my new sword can do and I also need to find out who would respect the status it gives me if I ever went public with it".
The Wizards wouldn't follow me they were too set in their ways and extremely arrogant but there were many magical races out there and some of them might follow me if I could offer them a better future.
"Its getting late" I commented as I saw Luna try to hide a yawn "you all know what you have to do. We can meet again same time next week".
With that we all left. Luna and I heading for the Bird's Nest while the rest headed for the Lion's Den, but I wasn't going to bed just yet I still had to pop out and see if I could find some more platinum something that wouldn't be easy given rare it was.