Author: HatefulRodeo
Story: Of Unexpected Deliveries and Doorsteps
Notes: Hola Lovelies! Alright, we have our dear Dark Lord's POV then Harry's again. Also, I mentioned that there would only be two Horcruxes but I wanted to explain about them a bit more; there will be two but Riddle made his Diary Horcrux at twenty-one not sixteen and his second, which was the Locket, at forty. He still murdered his father's family and set his uncle up to go to Azkaban like he did in Canon but the events are just a bit later on in the timeline. So Voldemort began to lose his mind at about forty-five and by the time he was banished by Harry he was the Dark Lord we know and loath from Canon. However, when Severus and Lucius joined the Death Eaters Voldemort was mostly sane; still vicious and cruel but not towards his own people yet. Enjoy the chapter and thanks to all that reviewed, fav'd, and followed; a big thanks to those who did all three!
Parseltongue looks like "This"!
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I will make no money from the posting of this story.
Previously:
Severus nodded when they were done speaking and smiled when he spoke next; "Well if that's all we should get down to dinner. I'm sure McGonagall has assigned some homework for you both already." Harry and Draco nodded again and followed the older wizard out of the classroom once his dad took down his wards and spells around the room. The three of them walked together to the Great Hall in silence and that suited Harry just fine.
The young boy was enjoying the feeling of having his brother and his dad next to him for a little while. He hadn't realized how much he missed being with his dad and it had only been a day! Draco was probably feeling the same way he was about being far away from Lucius but at least they had Severus close by. It must really suck for the other kids who didn't have a parent on staff.
When they entered the hall Harry took his seat next to Theo and Draco situated himself next to Blaise and they began to eat to their hearts content. For a first day it had gone well and Harry hoped they would stay that way over the course of the school year. However, he couldn't help but wonder what the heck was down the third floor corridor...well he would keep an ear out for any information about it but he wouldn't go looking for trouble; he'd promised his dad he wouldn't after all.
~*~*~*Chapter 9*~*~*~
The Dark Lord Voldemort was pleased as could be with his plan thus far; he'd already retrieved his second Horcrux from the Room of Requirement so he was one step further in his plan to resurrect himself. Yes, he still needed to obtain his Diary and the Sorcerer's Stone but he was working on it. He would procure the Diary from Lucius after he stole the Stone. He would also have to call for Nagini through their link once he was whole again.
The Dark Lord knew he had to plan the theft of the Stone carefully since Dumbledore was watching the third floor like a damn hawk but the Dark Lord would not be deterred. He would have his victory and rise even better than before. This time around he would be sane, still malicious and ruthless but sane nonetheless. Too much had been lost to his madness already and now he would start over and rebuild his image; even if no one would know who he was anymore.
With a new name, a new look, a new strategy, and with the intelligence to learn where he went wrong the first time he would be almost unstoppable. However, he still had a few things to think on for now. One of these little riddles was Harry Potter; the boy was not what he thought he would be. The child was patient, smart, and had a certain air of confidence about him. That boy would be formidable when he got older and the Dark Lord had every intention of staying out of Harry's way for now.
His plans would have a serious detour if anyone, namely Dumbledore, got wind of what he wanted to do. No one would know it was he who stole the Stone. No one would know of his rebirth or new plans for the wizarding world; Lord Voldemort would be resigned to history and another form of Tom Riddle, Jr. would rise from obscurity to write the wrongs that were simmering under the surface of their world.
He did realize now that murdering muggle-borns and muggles wasn't the solution to their problems; where that idea even came from was beyond him but it went to his belief that he had well and truly lost his mind for a little while. He was thankful for Harry Potter for one thing and one thing only; it seemed that when he was thrown from his body and exiled to live as a wraith he was given the chance to think on things he didn't examine before that Halloween night.
He saw all the mistakes he made and it made him cringe when he thought of them. He, the Slytherin Lord, was struck low by madness and so deluded with insanity he let himself be carried away on a tide of psychosis. Now he was stable, most of the time. It was hard to keep himself on an even keel but he did try to. However, rarely he would lose his fragile grip on cohesion and become adrift in his own shattered mind.
But with Quirrell's stabilizing mind countering his madness he was able to fight the chokehold of insanity and reemerge with an even, if a bit scattered, mind. Soon the Stone would be his and then he could begin the process of living again. He vaguely wondered what he would look like; would he look like the twenty-one year old he was when he made his Diary or would he look an amalgam of his two soul pieces and his main soul melded together.
He wouldn't be against looking like he did when he made the Locket at twenty-one but he would settle for somewhere in between twenty and his true age now. Actually it would probably be better to look a bit older, more seasoned. People tended to trust an older person versus a younger one. People were less likely to look upon the newcomer as a rebel or young upstart. Yes, he would be agreeable to looking around thirty-five; a very stately and handsome thirty-five of course.
It would be pleasing to look in the mirror again and see a complete face; no missing nose and bald head to be seen. Salazar what had he done to himself? Looking back he realized he looked like a human-snake mutant and before that fateful Halloween he thought he looked impressive! Now he cringed at his prior looks and body; never again, never again would he sink that low or become that delusional.
The sound of his classroom door opening alerted him to the start of the first class of the day; the first year Slytherin and Gryffindor Defense class featuring none other than Harry Potter. The boy really was gifted in Defense and Voldemort went out of his way to encourage him; it wouldn't hurt to endear himself to the Potter-Snape even if the emerald eyed boy had no clue it was him, the feared Dark Lord, who was helping him with his Defense work.
It was a little bit amusing really. What would Harry do if he knew that his past nemesis was stuck to the back of his stuttering Defense Professor's head? The poor child would probably freak out but then he would rat him out to Severus. And he had no desire to come face to face with the Potions Master. That man was once one of his best Death Eaters; Severus Snape was deadly and efficient.
At this point in time he would not be able to stand against Snape in a duel, especially if the man was protecting his adopted son. That was another odd development; Severus Snape as a father and from what he could pick up the man was a great dad indeed. Harry was lucky to have someone to care for and look out for him like Severus did.
How much would have changed for Tom Riddle if someone attempted to see past his icy veneer? Who knows? Maybe he would have gone in a completely different direction with his life but there was no point in dwelling on things that he could not change at this point. All he could do was take his second chance with both hands and do what he should have done in the first place; work hard and not take the easy way out. HE would have to remember that Rome was not built in a day and it would take time to change the British wizarding world.
That was where he fell short before. Instead of being patient with his plans and schemes he got impatient and angry. He began to murder his opponents and strong-arming others to support him. He also started to encourage his followers, who at that time were known as the Knights of Walpurgis, to bribe people to see things their way and if they wouldn't cave under the temptation of galleons they would crumble under his or his followers', wand. Thus the Death Eaters were born.
Quirrell's mind brushing against his let him know it was time to begin the lesson. Putting thoughts of stealing the Sorcerer's Stone and his future plans out of his mind and allowed Quirrell to focus on teaching the little brats all about Defense Against the Dark Arts. Merlin this class was an utter joke; Dumbledore's doing no doubt. With the way this class was laid out the students would be hard pressed to actually live through a duel with a true, competent, Dark wizard.
The one consolation was that this was his last class of the week before Yule break; soon the school would be empty and he would attempt to steal the Stone right out from under the old Headmaster's nose. Yes, that would be quite sweet and satisfying.
He always loved getting one over on the old man and this would be a great way to thumb his nose at the old coot; once and for all he would prove himself better than that meddling fool! These thoughts pleased him immensely! Ah Dumbledore would look positively god smacked when he noticed the Stone was gone!
Quirrell shuttered slightly when his Lord's joyous thoughts rippled through their link. The Dark Lord mentally laughed when he felt Quirrell tamp down his own feelings of happiness; their link was helpful as it balanced Voldemort's unbalanced psyche but it was a pain at times. Sometimes when either of them felt very strong emotions those emotions would bleed through their connection and affect the other.
But the drawbacks of the link were outshone by the benefits; it was a real shame that Quirrell may not survive past his Master's rebirth but sacrifices had to be made and his host was aware of the risks and accepted them. There were always those who would give their lives for their Lord and this time the forfeit of life was actually going to be worth something great.
With this final thought Voldemort stopped his thoughts and let Quirrell get on with his lesson without any distractions from the parasitic Dark Lord on the back of his head.
~*~*~*POV Change~*~*~*
Harry was looking forward to Yule and getting to go home to France for a few weeks. While he got to see his dad during the week and on weekends it wasn't the same as waking up with his family and spending the day with them uninterrupted. During his break he was determined to spend as much time with his fathers as possible. Draco was of the same mind, too.
But the two siblings also wanted to explore Rue de St. Joan in Paris; it was similar to Diagon Alley but older and named after Joan of Arc, who was a true Seer during Medieval times. Severus felt it was safer for them to explore France's main magical district than England's; Harry wasn't arguing with his dad about it. He was pleased that he would be able to explore at all.
Besides most of the major magical shopping areas had the same large stores; Quality Quidditch and Zonko's to name a few. It would be great to see what Paris' market offered in comparison to London's and the raven was looking forward to what he and his sibling could find in the ancient magical market.
The only reason they'd gone to Diagon for their school supplies in the first place was because they needed to purchase wands and his fathers only trusted Ollivander to provide them. Now they didn't need wands to they were free to visit wherever they wanted to buy their magical purchases. He did need to stock up on quills, ink, and parchment before the next term started.
School was going well for him so far and he was pleased with his progress in learning magic. He and Draco were the top students in their year and both had no plan on giving up the one and two spots. Other than his academic accomplishments nothing exciting was happening and that made Harry feel relieved. He didn't desire any dangerous excitement to feel content with his life; he'd leave getting into dangerous situations to the Weasely twins and the other Gryffindors.
Speaking of Gryffindors Harry was getting quite sick of Ronald Weasely! The idiot always had a snide remark to say about Harry going dark or some such nonsense. He also tried to get the other Gryffindor boys in his year against Harry; it plan hadn;t worked well at all for Ronald, mostly thanks to Neville speaking for Harry. The twins were quite disgusted with their little brother's attitude toward Harry and went out of their way to shut Ronald up.
Harry just ignored him for the most part but it was hard sometimes; like when the idiot spouted insults about his dad but the raven wouldn't give the big moron the satisfaction of seeing him rattled. It was amusing thought when McGonagall heard Ronald say something crude about his dad and took ten points from her own House. The youngest Weasely boy was silent for quite some time after that, much to Harry's delight.
Other than the Weasely idiot most people ignored Harry once the stir of him being sorted into Slytherin passed over. Some students still whispered about him when he passed but Harry had a feeling it wasn't negative things they were saying about him. The emerald eyed wizard noticed several girls, and a few boys, staring at him and blushing whenever he looked back at them; it was quite unnerving really.
A few brave souls from higher years approached him and asked him out for a date. Harry, of course, said no; he was eleven years old for heaven's sake! Why the hell would he want to date anyone right now? He just wanted to enjoy his first year at Hogwarts and for the most part he did, during the course of the school term Harry went to class, studied, and was trained in Occlumency with his dad and papa Luc.
He and Draco were coming along in leaps and bounds in the magical art of shielding one's mind but they both still avoided Dumbledore's gaze if they could help it. Harry believed he could shield his mind until he could pull away from the old man's gaze but why take the risk and give the old Headmaster a chance to delve into his head? No, thank you!
The only bit of excitement that Harry personally witnesses, if you could call it excitement, happened when Ronald Weasely criticized Granger for being a friendless know-it-all after Charms and she slapped him in the face before running off crying. Harry didn't let her get far though; he had some advice for her if she planned on having a good time at Hogwarts.
Once the bushy haired girl stopped the emerald eyed wizard spoke to her, nicely of course, about why no one wanted to be around her. He explained that it was great to be smart but no one liked to have someone's intelligence rubbed in their face. Not to mention her constant desire to answer every question in class and hurtling her arm in the air and swinging it around like a maniac was a bit off putting as well.
Granger seemed to want to argue but he'd held up his hand and told her that he was top of their year and you didn't see him having convulsions when he wanted to answer one of the Professors' questions. Harry told her to let her brains speak for themselves; eventually others would catch onto the fact that she was indeed smart and would respect her for it.
There really wasn't the need for her to ram her knowledge down everyone's throat. At the end of their admittedly one-sided conversation Granger seemed to understand what Harry was trying to say and agreed to try and tone down her know-it-all antics. The raven assured her if she did more people would want to spend time with her, either as a study partner or as a friend.
This talk happened in their second week and since then Neville was often seen in the bright witch's company. Harry and Draco would sometimes sit with the two Gryffindors in the library to study. They were alright company and it allowed Harry to obtain information that he otherwise wouldn't have known; for example, there was a three-headed dog being hidden in a room down the third floor corridor.
The Gryffindor duo knew of the dog's existence due to the Weasely twins nosing around the forbidden corridor. That information made Harry even more grateful that he had decided against sating his curiosity about the out-of-bounds hallway. But that knowledge allowed more questions to bloom in his keen mind; why was there a giant three-headed dog being hidden down the corridor?
Or what was the dog guarding? But at the end of the day Harry figured it really wasn't his issue or problem to solve. Dumbledore was the Headmaster and it was his job to keep things and students safe within his school so why should Harry run off and play investigator/savior? Nope, he'd leave that to the adults! What could a first year do that the Professors couldn't? Not a damn thing and Harry wasn't risking his arse for anyone, or anything, but his loved ones.
With the mystery partially solved about what was down the third floor corridor Harry put it out of his mind somewhat and focused on his studies even more. Their exams had taken place the week before since most Professors knew the students were useless the last week of term before Yule. Their grades would be distributed tomorrow at breakfast before they took the Hogwarts Express to go home for holiday.
Harry expected straight O's but he'd settle for a menagerie of E's and O's; Merlin forbid he got anything less than an E! His fathers would not be pleased in the least and the raven didn't want to hear a lecture about the importance of studying and achieving good marks, etc, etc... He already knew he needed good marks to secure a good future and he truly wanted to be great when he was older so if he needed to study a bit more than a normal kid then so be it.
However, just because he studied a lot did not mean he lived a boring, fun deprived, existence. He spent a lot of time with Theo, Draco and Blaise, playing Chess or Exploding Snap, sometimes they'd walk around the grounds or watch the Slytherin Quidditch team practice if the weather was nice. He and Draco were planning on trying out for the team next year; Harry as Seeker and Draco as Chaser.
His blonde brother wasn't thrilled about playing Chaser but conceded that Harry was the more talented Seeker out of the two of them. Plus, Draco was a talented Chaser so the raven knew his sibling just needed to get over his pouting phase at being a Chaser. It did the Malfoy heir good to have to compromise and not get everything he wanted.
Salazar knew that Lucius spoiled them both but Draco's head sometimes inflated too much, causing him to be arrogant and a bit mean spirited. The blonde was getting better at acknowledging his faults and weaknesses but he was still a Malfoy and Malfoys never showed weakness; so essentially Draco had to find a decent balance for himself. He needed to identify his weaknesses and fix them before anyone could notice them and exploit them for their own gain.
Fortunately, Draco had Harry to point it out to him if he was being a righteous prat about things. Sure his brother bristled and resented it when Harry had to point out his deficiencies but he got over it. Besides it's not like Draco pulled any punches when he critiques the Harry so it was fair game for the both of them to say what each needed to work on.
A hissing noise brought Harry out of his musings and he looked down to see Ebony slithering up the chair he was sitting in. He smiled as his scaly friend settled around his shoulders, her head resting near his collar bone; "Master, are you alright? You look dazed." Harry stroked his familiar's smooth head and replied; "I'm fine, Ebony, just thinking about this school year so far. How have you liked Hogwarts?" The snake looked thoughtful, if a snake could look thoughtful, for a moment; "I have enjoyed it. There is much to see in this place and many rats to eat."
"Not to mention that three-headed dog on the third floor. It's quite ferocious when it is disturbed; it almost ate two read heads a while ago." Harry snorted in amusement; no doubt Ebony was speaking about the Weasely twins brush with the Cerberus. He wondered what else his familiar had picked up during his slithering around. "Ebony, what else have you heard or seen over the term?"
"I have heard and seen a bit Master. I heard your fathers talking outside his quarters one night; I believe they were mating but I am not sure..." Harry grimaced and said nothing while he tried to get the image of his parents having sex out of his head; YUCK! He was scarred for life and it was all thanks to his familiar. What Ebony hissed next caught his attention and Harry listened closely to his serpent.
"The Headmaster was speaking to the giant about the break-in that occurred at Gringotts at the beginning of term. He mentioned something about a stone...I'm not quite sure what they meant by that but it sounded important. The Headmaster said it was safe and well protected on the third floor."
Harry's brows scrunched and he looked into the Common Room's flickering fireplace, deep in thought; "Eb, why didn't you tell me about this when you heard Hagrid and Dumbledore speaking? I would have liked to know." Ebony hissed out what sounded like a huff before answering; "I meant to speak to you about it but then a found a nest of baby rats and the conversation left my mind. I apologize, Master, next time I'll remember to tell you as soon as it happens."
"I only remembered it now because I went by the third floor and heard that three-headed mutt barking and snarling. I think it wants to get out of there." Harry nodded and stroked his familiar's head, letting her know he wasn't angry with her and all was forgiven. She couldn't know how interested Harry would be in what she'd heard Dumbledore and Hagrid speaking about.
And what was this about keeping a stone safe and what did it have to do with the break-in at Gringotts? It sounded like the Headmaster was keeping something very valuable and very dangerous hidden inside the school. What could it be and who could possibly want it so bad that this stone had to be taken to Hogwarts?
Harry thought it may be due to Voldemort; his dad and papa Luc assured him that the Dark Lord wasn't dead so maybe he was the one the Headmaster wanted to keep the stone from? It made sense; it would take an incredibly intelligent and powerful wizard to break into Gringotts and Voldemort may be mad but he was smart and powerful as well. The Dark Lord being behind the attempted robbery at Gringotts did seem likely but of course no one would be able to prove it.
However, Harry didn't like that they would use a school to hide something from a madman! Before he thought they were just hiding something so the students wouldn't stumble on it but now that he knew they were trying to hide something from the most ruthless Dark Lord in a century Harry was angry. There were young children here, Harry among them!
Why would the old coot want to hide something from an insane murdering monster in a place full of untrained wizards and witches? It seemed ludicrous and reckless to the raven haired boy. Should he tell his dad what he knew about the three-headed dog and the stone Dumbledore was hiding at Hogwarts?
That thought brought an undignified snort out of Harry's nose; tell his dad! HIs dad probably already knew what was being hidden here at the school. And it really wasn't Harry's business anyway. The emerald eyed wizard had no desire to go face a three-headed dog and Merlin knew what else was protecting this stone just to satisfy his curiosity. He quite enjoyed his limbs where they were; thank you very much!
But his curiosity was, nonetheless, peaked just a bit by this new development. When they came back from holiday he'd ask Ebony to check out the third floor corridor and see if she could find out anything else about what was guarding the stone. Right now he should be focusing on Yule and all the fun he would be having over the next few weeks. He believed he's earned a bit of downtime after all the studying he'd done over the school term.
With a sigh he stood with Ebony still wrapped around his shoulders and went upstairs to his dorm room to pack his things. Harry wanted to be totally ready to leave tomorrow. Draco was already packing his things, neatly of course, and without a doubt he'd get on Harry for throwing his things carelessly inside his trunk.
However, Draco's obsession with order worked in the raven's favor this time. Once the blonde saw how messy Harry's trunk was he would wave Harry off and repack all of Harry's things nicely. Yup, sometimes using a little manipulation wasn't a bad thing besides he believed Draco liked packing Harry's stuff and harping on his emerald eyed brother for his messiness.
But that was just speculation and he knew Draco would never confirm it for him. Entering the first years' dorm he laid Ebony onto the bed and opened his trunk before opening his wardrobe and tossing in his shirts and pants. A hiss and a growl from behind him let him know that Draco saw what Harry was doing. With a small smile the raven turned and gave his sibling a questioning stare.
He was promptly showed out of the way and the blonde was pulling out his haphazardly packed clothes out of his trunk and laying them on the bed. Harry smiled and sat on his bed and began speaking to his year mates while Draco packed his things for him. Yup, it was shaping up to be a good Yule!
Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Things will begin rolling from here on out so stay tuned. Below these notes is a little bit about Joan of Arc; she is quite fascinating!
All Mistakes Are My Own!
Joan of Arc
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
/wiki/Wikipedia:Protection_policyJoan of Arc (French: Jeanne d'Arc,[4] IPA: [ʒan daʁk]; ca. 1412[5] – 30 May 1431), nicknamed "The Maid of Orléans" (French: La Pucelle d'Orléans), is a folk heroine of France and a Roman Catholic saint. She was born a peasant girl in what is now eastern France. Claiming divine guidance, she led the French army to several important victories during the Hundred Years' War, which paved the way for the coronation of Charles VII of France. She was captured by the Burgundians, transferred to the English in exchange for money, put on trial by the pro-English Bishop of Beauvais Pierre Cauchon for charges of "insubordination and heterodoxy",[6] and was burned at the stake for heresy when she was 19 years old.[7]
Twenty-five years after her execution, an inquisitorial court authorized by Pope Callixtus III examined the trial, pronounced her innocent, and declared her a martyr.[7] Joan of Arc was beatified in 1909 and canonized in 1920. She is – along with St. Denis, St. Martin of Tours, St. Louis IX, and St. Theresa of Lisieux – one of the patron saints of France. Joan said she had received visions from God instructing her to support Charles VII and recover France from English domination late in the Hundred Years' War. The uncrowned King Charles VII sent her to the siege of Orléans as part of a relief mission. She gained prominence when she overcame the dismissive attitude of veteran commanders and lifted the siege in only nine days. Several additional swift victories led to Charles VII's coronation at Reims.