'An Idle Mind Is The Devil's Playground'
By: Night Flame Miko
Contributed to by: Chocolate coated Blue
An: Next One Up! And things start progressing from here :D Hope you all enjoy it, and here it is.
Thank you to all those who reviewed, they are truly appreciated, me and Chocolate coated Blue love hearing from you :D
Disclaimer: We don't own these characters.
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Harry was cackling madly up in his bedroom.
Whilst this would, normally, worry anyone seeing/listening in on it (i.e. Moody standing guard outside), it had been happening way too often for it to cause any alarm anymore. You see Harry was not about to let waste such a useful, untraceable hex book. And as such, right at this moment, Vernon would be at work with hair that was steadily turning pinker (as in neon pink) and a sign on his back that would change sayings at regular intervals (i.e. 'Don't judge me by my size, do it by my hairstyle' etc. ).
The beauty of all this? Vernon himself wouldn't know. The sign wouldn't appear in a mirror and his hair would look normal to him and no-one else. By the time he got home they would disappear, although that wouldn't stop him from yelling at Harry for all the weird looks he got at work (for once he actually was responsible).
Flumping onto his bed Harry sighed happily, the giant grin still on his face, hugging the book to himself. There had been a brief moment where Moody turned up in his room demanding where/when he got the book. Harry had used his acting skills to perfection, pretending to look sheepish and saying he snuck to Diagon Alley whilst Fletcher was on guard to buy the book so he wouldn't be so bored, anymore. After that Moody would just sit outside and chuckle to himself every time another hex came into play, ever so slightly impressed by just how untraceable they were. They would be incredibly useful if they weren't so useless. I mean, turning hair pink over a set period of time? What use was that against Dark Wizards? ('May the power of Pink compel you!') Moody was starting to get worried about his own thoughts, Harry was long past this point and simply enjoying it.
Looking around his room Harry felt that faint worry he had been trying to banish come back. Hedwig had gone missing a day before and Harry had no idea when she would be back. The one he would normally suspect (evil Dark Lord), had signed a magical oath saying he wouldn't harm/kill his owl at any point. So now Harry had absolutely no idea where she could be and no way of finding out. The only thing he had been able to try was a point-me spell but even then all it told him was her general direction, not where or how she was. It was because of all this that when Harry stared forlornly out of the window and his eyes landed on an approaching white spot he stood straight and practically fell out of the window; he was leaning so far out to see if it was Hedwig.
True to God she swooped in a moment later, looking mighty proud of herself as she landed on her perch. Breathing a sigh of relief Harry turned from the window and ran across to her, petting her just to make sure she was really real,
"You silly bird, you had me worried sick Hedwig! Where have you been? You just disappeared for a day and I had no idea where you were."
She at least had the decency to look sheepish before shuffling slightly and sticking out a leg, a letter with familiar writing on it attached. Harry stared at it surprised.
"You went to wait for Old-Voldy to reply? Why?...Oh yeah…That other Hell-Owl must look mighty suspicious coming in here constantly…" Harry looked his owl over once more, eyes narrowed slightly "Just how smart are you really?"
Hedwig merely cocked her head, eyes wide and innocent. Huffing, not believing it for a second, Harry took the letter, muttered a thanks to Hedwig and gave her a treat before lying on his bed and opening the letter.
Potter,
I don't know whether to be affronted or amazed. How can you forget you are talking to a Dark Lord? And about an owl!?
Anyway, that is beside the point. You better appreciate the book, I don't give things to just anyone (again, not a compliment, you need all the help you can get). And anyway, I doubt you could pull off the whole *cackles evilly* thing, as it is an Evil Dark Wizard Thing. And takes a lot of practice to do effectively.
Also, why would I go on about how weak you are? I thought we had already established that in our numerous other meetings, though I will admit you are either stronger than expected or extremely un/lucky.
What is the difference between despising someone and hating them, I was under the impression they were the same thing (yes, I am making a subtle jab at your intelligence, or lack there of).
Now, on to more important matters. What do you mean by Snape and his 'mind-rape' training as you so…artfully put it? (I suppose legilimency is all about the point of view). I had no notion that you were being taught any of the mind arts, even if it sounds like they were relatively unsuccessful. Don't try to avoid answering this either, remember that all I have to do is summon Snape to find out the answers to any questions I may or may not have.
Finally, no I did not give anything to make my Owl smarter, though I could ask you the same about yours. Did you order the bloody-bird here? She suddenly turned up and started following me around everywhere until I finally replied, and whilst there were no subtle (or not so subtle) threats, there were many glares and bird-crap in the most unwanted of places. If you had anything to do with is I have to warn you that your lifespan is becoming increasingly short.
If not, well then be glad I signed that magical oath because your bed was 1 more crap away from imminent death.
From,
Voldemort
p.s. What is with you calling it a not-apology?
Grinning at the letter, Harry could practically feel the righteous indignation in the p.s. at the end of the letter. Going to his desk Harry was surprised by how excited he was to reply to the letter. If he wasn't careful he might actually start to like the Dark Lord and his interesting way of insulting people. It was weird though, almost like the insults were added because they were expected. Compared to the first letter which didn't lack any mention of how pathetic he was, this seemed less scathing. Hehe, maybe he was rubbing off on the Dark Lord.
Sitting down Harry wondered what to write, absently rubbing his scar when he felt the amusement running through it. It took Harry a total of 30 seconds to realise what he was feeling. Gasping silently he concentrated and his eyes widened when he realised he could feel Voldemorts emotions, not all of them, but more than just the extreme ones. What could it mean? Why was he feeling more than usual? Was it because of the Legilimency attack? Or something else? Deciding it may be safer to just ask (that was one of his more unusual thoughts), he began writing the letter.
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Voldemort laughed, feeling genuine amusement for once.
He had set up spies to keep an eye on the Dursley household from afar, telling his Death Eaters to watch the family. Why, you ask? Simple, he wanted to see what Potter would do with the hex book, whether he would actually use it or not. He was pleasantly surprised when the boy wasted no time, hexing his family with timed spells for a whole day at intermittent intervals.
Even his death eaters found some of the things the kid did amusing, and that was saying something considering they hadn't been conversing with the boy for the past 2 weeks.
Finishing the report on Potter he had been looking at he began reading other reports, getting in a good two hours of work before the familiar white owl flew in. It said something that he couldn't even find it in himself to glare at the bird, simply accepting it as one of natures mysteries that no matter how often he changed the wards the bloody thing would always get in. He could muster a sneer though, as he remembered the mess the thing had made when he took too long to reply to her master.
Reaching for the letter he took it off and began opening it, wondering when he became so lax that he didn't even test for possibly dangerous magic on the parchment. Shrugging it off for now he opened the letter and began to read.
To Vold-meister,
Ok, first things first. What the *bleep* is going on? I was just about to write this letter when I felt you being amused! And whilst I understand that this may or may not be an unusual occurrence, what is unusual is that I can feel it! I normally only feel when you get murderously angry or any other extreme emotion. Do you think your mind-rape opened the link more or something? But that doesn't make sense, if that was true then after you possessed me in the DOM then we should've been able to sense each others emotions to the littlest degree. Ugh. I hate mysteries.
Ok. I'm pretty calm now. Sorry. That took me by surprise. I suppose I will just answer the other points of your last letter. Um. Oh yeah. Snape.
Well basically, before the DOM disaster I was getting visions from you, which you well know. So basically it was Snape's job to teach me occlumency, he would do that by saying 'clear your mind' and then mind-raping me when I least expected it. I know I'm not the smartest of people (no comment!) at times but even I can tell that you are supposed to get a bit more explanation than that! Anyway it all went down in flames when I went into his pensieve filled with the memories he didn't want me to see as a sort of revenge. He refused to teach me after that. So basically he mind-raped me once a week for the better part of a year. That is one of the reasons I hate legilimency so much.
Now on to other things. No. I didn't order Hedwig (my owl) to go to you. I'm surprised you couldn't feel how worried I was about her. She just up and disappeared the other day and I couldn't find her. Though I have to admit I found it funny as hell what she did to get you to write faster *smirks*.
And what do you mean about the not-apology? You stated yourself that it was the closest thing I would ever get to an apology, but wasn't one, so I just gave it a name. *grins*
Anyway, I got plans to make for my uncle (thank you so much for the book!), so until later.
From,
Your Mental Torturer
Aka Harry Potter
p.s. what do you mean I can't laugh evilly? I'll have you know that my evil laugh has made grown men pass out or run in fear (admittedly its because they know someone is going to get pranked big time, but it still works doesn't it?).
Eyebrow raised Voldemorts lip twitched as he read the end. Somehow, he could actually see that happening. If the glee he could feel coming from Potter when ever he was about to pull a prank or hex his 'family' were any indicators, the kid could be ruthless. In a non lethal, relatively non-painful way.
The interesting thing was their link. For him it felt no different, he had always been able to sense Potter's every emotion, but it was interesting learning that it wasn't the same for the boy. Though why the link was more open was an interesting mystery, and unlike Potter, Voldemort enjoyed mysteries.
Looking over the letter once more he sneered when he read what happened with Snape once again. So, the Potions Master didn't think it was important for Voldemort to know that he was 'teaching' Potter occlumency? Admittedly it sounded like Snape had purposely screwed up, if not intentionally destroying whatever few natural occlumency shields the boy had. He would have to summon him and find out his true intentions later.
For now he had bonds to research.
Going to his library he prepared himself for a long night of reading, though if he found out about his and Potter's bond it would be worth it.
Pulling out the first book on bonds he found, he opened it and just before he lost himself to his reading he scoffed in his mind.
Not-apology indeed.
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An: There we go people. One more for you guys. Finally things are starting to move forward. Hope you are enjoying it, and remember, reviews are always appreciated. :D
