That's better. It's hard to talk seriously when your internal organs feel like their swimming. Fred, George. If you use that idea in one of your products I want compensation. One free package of the product for every hundred you sell. Deal?
Anyways, everyone comfy? I'll begin then.
This alternate telling of what could have been the fate of the Wizarding world starts the same way as the one you are familiar with. I was born at the end of July, 1980. I apparently had loving parents who doted on me hand and foot. I wasn't the only person born at that time, and that is where our story splits.
Part of the prophecy that Voldemort heard said that the one to defeat him would be born as the seventh month dies. Another part said that he himself would choose the one that would do it. As I looked over the birth records from the time I found four children who would fit the description. I'm quite sure that Tom Riddle had the same information. In our world he chose to lead the raid on two of the families that would raise his vanquisher, and had his Death Eaters attack the other two. His choice of attacking the Potters first is what gave me this scar. His death also called off the attacks on the other three.
In the other world, Voldemort chose another family for his first attack. He sent his favourite servant, nicknamed the Devil's Potions Master, to attack the Potters in his place. The Devil's Potions Master had fallen in love with Lily Potter, and wanted her for his own. When he attacked, he had his associates drag Lily out of the house, killed my father, and then killed the babe in the crib. After setting the Dark Mark over my house, he faded into the night with his captive.
In another town, only an Apparation away, Voldemort himself broke through the wards of a different house. Want ing to demonstrate his power before his Death Eaters, and leave a message for the public at large at the same time, he used the crucio spell on the husband and wife, driving them into insanity. He then turned to the black-haired boy in the crib and did the same. He left his Dark Mark over the house and continued his rounds to the third house of the night, while his mind sought and found his favourite servant finishing up at the fourth house.
Behind him in the darkened house, a second young couple crawled from their hiding place. They had been visiting the owners of the house for the evening, and hid when the wards fell. They had been holding the owners' son while their own slept in the crib, and when they hid they took the babe in their arms with them. They rushed into the night, both to escape the horror within and to protect the child from a return trip of the Death Eaters.
The next day the Daily Prophet duly reported the deaths of the four children, along with the horrifying methods used on each one.
Voldemort, flush with success over the Prophecy of his destruction, stepped up his campaign of terror, and by Christmas he had begun personally visiting pureblood families in the middle of the night to 'convince' them to join his cause. Those who refused to join were killed outright, and their children taken to be raised as Death Eaters.
When he came to the Burrow he got more than he bargained for.
With Molly and Arthur Weasley firmly denying him the opportunity to present his case - no one can deny that your father is an excellent duellist, and your mother, while untrained, can give the emotional strength to her attacks that would make Dumbledore quiver - Voldemort made the mistake of aiming for the children.
All of the Dark Lord's arsenal of spells were based on spells classed as offensive or defensive. He was totally unprepared for Bill on a broomstick using his parents' tether spell to drag Death Eaters to the top of the trees surrounding the Burrow. Charlie began using enlargement charms on his stuffed dragons, smothering attackers. Even the two-year-old twins used accidental magic that had strange effects. Imagine garden gnomes on Pepper Up. Hinkypunks with red hair acting as decoys.
The totally non-coordinated defensive strategy of the Weasley family disorientated the entire attacking force. The Death Eaters left only one casualty behind them when they left, the Burrow itself. There wasn't even a scratch on any redheaded defender, not even on Ginny.
Homeless, the Weasleys moved into the hills and formed a nomadic refugee camp of people trying to escape the Death Eaters. Other families joined them, including a blond couple with their dark haired son Ennel.
Meanwhile, Tom Riddle took over the Wizarding world in Britain. Feeling invincible he took on Albus Dumbledore and won, leaving the leader of the Order of the Phoenix magically drained and broken. He then challenged the Minister of Magic, defeated him, and took the reins of power for himself. He then took control of Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Magic and turned it into a training grounds for Death Eaters. You graduated by taking the Dark Mark, or you failed to graduate and became target practice in the Practice of Unforgivables classes.
Back in the Weasleys' nomadic camp, young Ennel quickly learned the defensive spells to protect himself during Death Eater raids. Shield spells, fireballs, invisibility spells, apparation. These all came easily to the boy because he had the motivation to learn. He just had to look around himself at the devastation caused by the Dark Lord's followers. When he was nine, a new figure appeared in the camp. A old man, bent and twisted. Ennel soon learned that the old man knew secrets. Advanced spells he hadn't heard before. Maps of Slytherin's Pureblood School of Power, but the old man called it Hogwarts when distracted.
The two of them came up with plans, battle strategies, goals to reach. They sought the downfall of the Dark Lord, and poured their souls into the mission. Finally, as Ennel reached the age of eleven, they put their plans into motion.
Now bear with me. I feel that in all possible chains of events there are certain things that will happen, no matter what. It may be as simple as being offered the friendship of Malfoy, or as complex as fighting for mastery of powerful items. The event will happen either way, the changes come in who is involved and why and sometimes when.
Ennel entered the School formerly known as Hogwarts as a student. Following the policies of the Death Eaters, he donned his grey robes and white mask, not to reveal his face again until he distinguished himself in the service of Voldemort. He went to class while masked, ate meals while masked, and even played games while masked. The only ones to see his face were his dorm mates and those who punished him for not learning quickly enough.
Sometime during his first year, Ennel heard rumours, followed clues, and eventually discovered a plan that the old man in the camp didn't know about. A magical artefact was being stored in the castle for an upcoming spell that Voldemort himself was performing at Slytherins. With the help of two of his dorm mates, Ennel managed to break through the Dark defences around the object and secured the item. Unfortunately, that was when Voldemort himself appeared to collect the item. In order to prevent the Dark Lord from using the item to increase his power, Ennel hid the item the only place he could think of... he lifted his mask and swallowed the unknown magic whole.
Seeing this, the Dark Lord attacked. Knowing that he couldn't use Avada Kedavra because it would destroy the artefact, Voldemort leapt forward to choke Ennel to death. For reasons unknown to anyone, Ennel's magic mixed with the artefact and disintegrated the dark forces attacking him. Ennel returned to his dorm, believing that Tom Riddle's control of the Wizarding world was broken.
It was mid-summer before he found out how wrong he was. The disembodied spirit of his enemy only remained free floating for mere hours before it claimed control of one of the high-ranking unmasked Death Eaters. Ennel returned to Slytherins for his second year, determined to finish the quest he had gotten distracted from the previous term.
Using spells cast in unusual ways Ennel searched the castle for the clues to the Dark objects the old man had told him about. Items known as Horcruxes that contained splinters of his enemy's soul, waiting patiently to be reunited when the original was destroyed, thus ensuring a long and evil rein over Britain.
Using skills that he believed came from swallowing the artefact in his first year, Ennel managed to track down the secret seat of Riddle's power, the Chamber of Secrets, hidden deep beneath the castle. Again, just as he felt he was finished with his mission, recovering the first of the Horcruxes, he fell into battle with the Dark. The basilisk was there, just as in our world, secreted there before Voldemort's choice split the worlds. After a fast and furious battle, Ennel managed to destroy the creature, and used it to destroy the Horcrux.
Managing to return unnoticed to his dorm, Ennel was able to relax for a few moments, secure in the thoughts that the first step in the destruction of Voldemort was completed.
When Ennel left the Weasley camp for the start of his third year at Slytherins he was warned of heightened Death Eater activity. He turned to his guide and left a message for his mentor to meet him at the end of the school year in a secure hideout they had created away from the camp. He wouldn't endanger the camp by returning again.
Boarding the school train Ennel settled back for the trip to Slytherins, keeping quiet in his own corner as usual, with his face hidden behind his mask. He found this made for easier spying on the group of students that crowded his carriage car. Halfway to the school, the train stopped in the middle of nowhere. After a short period of waiting, the carriage car opened and a shrouded being, close to eight feet tall, entered and started pawing the hoods off of the students. Ennel slid his own hood down before the creature could reach him, refusing to let the dark thing touch him. The creature finished its examinations and moved off to the next car.
When they reached the school the instructors explained that the Dementors were looking for an escapee from the Potions Master's ingredient stores and would continue roaming the grounds until she was found. They also commended the three students who faced the Dementors unafraid, and offered them special rewards for doing so. While two students stood, Ennel stayed seated, preferring not to attract his 'superiors' attention that closely.
Again, through the close attention to the rumours floating around and basic research similar to what I used to base this story on, Ennel managed to discover that the escapee was one Lily Potter, whose family was slaughtered the same night as his own. Through several unlikely events he managed to spot her prowling the grounds of the school, and eventually traced her to her hiding spot and had a brief and disturbing conversation with her.
It seems she was searching for the man who gave her family false information about Voldemort's plans, and intended to kill him if and when she found him. She also knew his true name, but not the one he used for day-to-day purposes. The last thing he heard from her before he let her leave was that her son also survived that fateful night, as he was never at home after Dumbledore gave them the warning. The Devil's Potions Master had 'killed' a muggle doll that had been enchanted to seem alive.
The following school year it was announced that The Devil's Potions Master would be holding a contest at the castle throughout the year. Every student's name would be entered into a magic vase, and the vase would select the ten most likely students to compete in the contest. Each of the contest's rounds would be scored on attitude, ability and accuracy, with the lowest scorer being used as either a target or bait in the next round.
Like me, Ennel found himself fighting for his life instead of saving the world.
In the first challenge he found himself facing an ill-tempered dragon to retrieve a golden egg. Rather than go through the lengthy process of showing the Potions Master his fighting skill, he instead used a spell he hadn't been officially taught yet. He simply used mobilicorpus to start feeding the dragon a few of the upperclassmen spectators. He then walked up to the egg and retrieved it. He received top scores for both attitude and ability, and one only slightly lower for accuracy. His flippant reply equalling 'Why kill the thing when you never know when you'll need it again?' boosted his accuracy back to top score.
His next challenge was to retrieve the hidden weapon from the depths of the lake. Again using skills he should not have had, Ennel walked fully clothed across the lake's surface, scanning the lakebed below him. Those on shore saw him cast a quick spell, and he sank to the bottom. He grabbed the item before him and then recast the levitation spell on his clothes, which sent him rocketing to the surface. This time his scores were all quite a bit lower until he explained his reasoning. He received top scores for correctly deducing Lily Potter as a weapon to be used against the Potions Master as proof of his failure to follow Voldemort's orders a decade earlier.
Again similar to my own tournament, Ennel's third round was a maze. Upon successfully completing the task he would receive a volume of Dark rites in the magical field he preferred. As Ennel had always been a Herbologist at heart, his natural affinity for plants made the maze the simplest for him. At least it would have been simple if he hadn't had to fend off the other survivors without giving himself away.
As he grabbed the magic vase at the centre of the maze, Ennel looked up at the mask of another person trying to grab the victory. Green eyes blazed back at him as Ennel lifted his foot and kicked the stand the vase was on, so the vase itself tipped into his hands. Green-Eyes lunged forward and grabbed the vase as he did. There was a flash and both boys felt themselves being portkeyed away.
Wherever they arrived, they sank to their knees as their stomachs settled. Almost immediately they were under attack, and they split up to double team the attacker. A short duel later and both boys were subdued by none other than the Devil's Potions Master. After a quick bragging session telling them that this is how he eliminates competition for his job, the evil man used Avada Kedavra on the unknown boy and turned to Ennel.
Removing Ennel's mask, he gloated over catching the one who had been sabotaging Voldemort's plans. Ennel used the man's distraction to use a summoning spell to drown the pair of them in water, and then grabbed the body of the unknown boy, followed by the portkey vase.
He stumbled out of the maze shouting that the Devil's Potion Master was a traitor to Voldemort who was killing the Dark Lord's servants.