He stood at the edge of the precipice, the bloodstained dagger of Salazar Slytherin in his right hand, gripping it tightly as he stared at the high walls of the supposedly impenetrable fortress that was Azkaban. Drops of blood trickled down the thick goblin steel, falling and splattering on the rocky terrain below his feet. The shifting sounds and the screams inside the fortress brought a kind of sick pleasure to his heart. A lot had changed in this world, a lot still left to change, but this was the beginning.

The beginning to the End.


The day after the dueling finals.

Harry Potter stared down from the Astronomy Tower into the wide rocky crest of death beneath it. The Astronomy tower was a wonderful spot for lovers, who wanted a piece of solitude. It provided a wonderful scene- the beautiful star-filled sky above and the towering mountains and entire groves of conifers as far as the eye could reach. No one tended to look below—at the unavoidable death trap beneath-should one be so unlucky to fall from the top of the tower. As far as his memories were concerned, there was only one person he knew, who had fallen off the top of the very tower he was standing on.

Albus Dumbledore.

The old man, in his annoying habit of handing out second chances to everyone and their uncle, had hired one of truly vile people that ever existed. Severus Snape. So much was the old man's belief in second chances, that he never saw Malfoy and Snape plotting against his own damned life. Harry snorted. Where did all those second chances get him?

He snorted again. An Avada Kedavra through the heart followed by a shove down the Astronomy tower.

"Something funny, Harry?"

He instantly swerved back, his wand rushing into his palm as he shot his arm right up front, with the edge of his wand thrusted at the sudden unexpected visitor. With sudden surprise, he felt his eyes dilated as his mind registered the person at whom he was thrusting the wand.

"I am quite sure you have nothing to be threatened about with my presence." Dumbledore continued with an amused expression. Harry sighed and withdrew his wand, which went running back into the holster. Dumbledore's moustache quivered as he continued, "—that said, I must commend upon your agility and vigilance. That was one of the fastest draws I have ever had the pleasure to see."

Harry looked slightly embarrassed, as he nodded. "Force of habit, professor."

"You seem troubled."

Harry looked up at the man. This man, he thought, was responsible for the fact that he had a crappy childhood. While it was true that the man had nothing but good intentions towards him, but his actions were not good. Still, a part of him recognized the person as his first teacher and- somewhere in the deepest corner of his mind, as some form of elderly parent. Perhaps it was because of those one-on-one sessions he had with the Headmaster- moments when the grand old man let out a more humane side of his personality, the side that revealed the vulnerabilities of the Headmaster, the side that showed that he, like everyone else, was flawed.

Being smarter than most... my mistakes tend to be... worse than most.

"Anything troubling you, my boy?"

"Just thinking."

"About?"

For a moment, Harry thought about telling the old man to bugger off. But he didn't. He looked up at the old man in the eye and spoke carefully. "I am wondering about the recent happenings."

"The attack on Miss Greengrass."

"Amongst others, yes."

"Care to share?"

"I was...I was thinking about my life and the wizarding world in general. These people..." he paused, "they are sheep, gullible and ready to act at the tiniest provocation. A media outlet that spreads more lies than information and a community that eats up all those lies with relish. People who were part of Voldemort's followers are free and accomplished in the society, while people like my godfather had to suffer in Azkaban for twelve years. I am heralded as a savior one week and vilified the next as an upcoming dark lord, so..." he paused, "I was just pondering over the fact, that..." he looked up at the Headmaster. "Is it worth it?"

Dumbledore looked at the young man solemnly. Just fourteen years of age, and already the boy was surviving an adult world of cutthroat depravity. It was not fair. Then again, what was?

"Tell me Harry, whom are you fighting for?"

Harry stared up at the man. "What do you mean?"

"Whom are you fighting for? What do you hope to acquire from this?"

He pondered over the old man's words. Whom was he fighting for? It was not the wizarding population- they were weak, and feeble-minded. He was not fighting for the wizarding world. He closed his eyes.

"I am fighting to avenge my parents. I am fighting because I know that if I do not, he will destroy everything and everyone I love and care for. I am fighting because, I have the power to change things and that is what makes it my responsibility." He spoke silently, more to himself than Dumbledore.

Dumbledore looked at him curiously. "I admire that, Harry. Many decades earlier, I faced a similar situation. Before I faced Grindelwald." Harry looked up at the old Headmaster. At that moment, Dumbledore looked so old, so ancient and tired.

"I was just an educator, happy to be teaching transfiguration to young minds. I never chose all of this." Dumbledore muttered slowly, "I- I was friends with Gellert Grindelwald in his childhood, and made a lot of mistakes. We were young, carefree with a few scruples. We wanted to create a world where Magic would become might, and mundanes would be dominated."

"You?" Harry asked- surprise etched on his face. While he had read about all of it from Skeeter's work in the future, but to hear it from Dumbledore's own words—it was almost surreal. Dumbledore continued. "When Gellert was raging against the world, I was teaching at Hogwarts. People were dying and he seemed unstoppable. I had to act-"

Harry knew what happened after that. Dumbledore defeated Grindelwald. He won the elder wand. In one moment, the world changed because of that one battle.

"I know you hate my policy of forgiveness," Dumbledore mused, chuckling at Harry's surprised expression. "I wasn't born yesterday, Harry. I know bitterness when I see it. I know how you hate me for taking in Severus Snape and letting him belittle you at every chance. I know you hate the fact that I did nothing to give Sirius a fair trial while I helped a death eater like Snape."

Harry narrowed his eyes. Something was wrong. There was absolutely no way, in which Albus Dumbledore would describe Snape like the way he just did.

"Severus Snape died yesterday." Dumbledore replied emotionlessly. "Passed away at saint Mungo's."

"What?" Harry could not keep the surprise from his voice. He knew that his Legilimency technique would make sure that Snape would be in a Hell of suffering, but it would not kill him. Something was definitely wrong.

"How- I mean, what happened to him?" he stuttered.

"I killed him."

There were very moments in which Harry Potter had found himself so shocked, that he froze—his mind completely stupefied at the happenings. This was one of those very moments.

He blinked.

Pause.

Another blink.

"I am sorry, WHAT?"

Dumbledore chuckled. "I killed the man, the previous day."

"Wha- why? Why would you do, that?"

"Why don't you tell me that? What could be the reasons that would force my hand to do such a deed, Harry Potter? Or should I call you by your futuristic title- Dark Lord Potter?"

His wand spinning into one hand, while the other hand ready to create a magical energy burst, he pointed his wand at Dumbledore's face- "Who are you?" he snarled.

"I swear on my life and magic that I am Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwarts." Dumbledore replied simply, not even caring about the light blue sheen that radiated all over him as the spell took effect.

"I obliviated you. There is no way you could possibly retain-"

"I know, and regardless of how much I would like to chastise you about your behavior, I must confess—it was too... shall we say, Gryffindorish of you to do that."

Harry glared at the old man in front of him. While he knew that he had power in spades, power much more than what the old man could ever imagine, he knew that Dumbledore surpassed him in skill. This was a wizard who was knowledgeable in the magical arts, modern and arcane both. Knowledge he had gathered all over his one hundred and fifty years of life.

"What is there to stop me from obliviating you all over again?" he hissed.

"You could." Dumbledore confirmed simply. "But, as unfortunate as that would be, I do not think it is for the best."

His wand pointed sharply at the man's temple, he snarled. "Explain."

The old Headmaster sighed. "Somehow I knew you would do that. I am here all alone with you on the Astronomy tower", he paused as he allowed his student to decipher his intentions. "If I had something planned against you, I wouldn't have acted so carelessly. Would I?"

The man had a point.

"Explain." Harry returned- his voice now a little softer than previously. The blasted twinkle returned in the old man's eyes as he chuckled. "Would you like to continue this conversation inside my office?" At Harry's stern look, he continued, "if it helps, I can take an oath that I bear no ill will, and am not going to attack you unless you do first."

Harry considered the offer as he stared hard at the Headmaster. "Do it."


Ten minutes later, a future dark lord was sitting in the confines of the Headmaster's office, alone with said Headmaster—the one he was so close to obliviating just moments ago.

"How did you find out?"

"Direct as usual, I see." Dumbledore quipped, much to Harry's annoyance. "A word from the more experienced wizard, my boy-when you have lived as long as I have and seen the things I have seen, you learn to act more vigilant."

"What do you mean?"

"I hold three important positions in the magical world, my boy. Chief Warlock, supreme Mugwump and here as Headmaster. Do you think that you are the first person that could have taken me by surprise and tried to obliviate me?"

Harry stayed quiet.

"What do you know about phoenixes, Harry?"

"They can carry heavy loads, their tears have healing powers and they make highly faithful pets," Harry droned out almost mechanically. Dumbledore chuckled at the boy's antics- the way Harry Potter had just repeated his own words back on his face was downright amusing.

"Yes, all of that and more. It is not only their tears, which have healing powers. Their song has powers too."

Phoenix song?

Dumbledore nodded as he spoke out. "Five days ago, I had been to saint Mungo's to visit Severus, and by chance, I met my old friend healer Bernard. As is our daily schedule, we discussed about some frivolities but at the end of the discussion, Bernard advised me that I had forgotten a lot about our old days together. Just a usual observation." He paused. "I came back to Hogwarts and asked my friend and companion to help me, and as you know, Fawkes is quite the shameless exhibitionist when it comes to singing."

The phoenix instantly trilled in agreement.

"And there I was, hoping to reacquaint my mind with old memories, and spend some moments in nostalgia, when I discover something odd. Something very, very odd."

Dumbledore cast a steeled look at Harry. "I am having a discussion with you just after your altercation with Sirius Black, one about which, I had no memory at all."

Harry's fingers twisted, getting ready to attack the Headmaster at the earliest signal of hostility. Dumbledore however, seemed just as casual as ever. "A memory in which my own wand refused to obey my command, and instead, obeyed yours. You, who claimed yourself as the dark lord from the future..."

Harry just sat silent.

"Then I began studying the events that occurred all this year. Your ascension to your lordships, your clear understanding of the ancient laws and customs of our world, your sudden surge of power, knowledge, and if you do not mind me saying, a certain level of arrogance." He stared amusedly at Harry's expressionless face as he went on. "The best thing was-everything just fit perfectly."

"I am sure you are wondering why I did not treat you like a threat..."

"The thought did cross my mind." Harry countered softly.

"Initially, I did. Then, I remembered our discussion over the duel with Igor. I remembered your words and here I quote- Second chances do not matter. The dead do not matter. Only the living and the future matters." He paused. "Whoever could say these words with that level of intensity, could be many things, but not evil. Then I contemplated about your futuristic title of being a dark lord, and it kind of, begun to make sense. After all, as I myself confessed, there was a moment when I myself did think of the wizarding population as mere sheep."

He looked up at the boy in front of him. "I guess that brings us to the main crux of the issue. I have already given my oaths that I will not deter you. So, could you kindly tell me what is going on?" The last words were filled with a strange sternness Harry had never heard from Dumbledore's voice before.

"It is a long story." Harry finally replied.

"I am all ears."


After an hour of explanation of what had happened in the future, a very thoughtful Albus Dumbledore sat in front of him, completely immersed in deep contemplation. For the first time, Harry sat up on his seat with a serene look on his face, happy in a way that someone elder had known about his past and not judged him for that.

"It is quite disturbing, Harry, if what you said is right. I mean, I know and have always wondered that Tom would return and that he has taken steps to return back from the dead, but it was all conjecture and guesswork."

"You did not know that I was a horcrux?"

"I did not. I had suspicions, yes- suspicions that you and Tom are connected in some way, but I could never figure it out. Your scar- I thought it was just some residue from the killing curse, something dark but yet completely harmless. But a horcrux-I never fathomed that bit."

Harry pondered over his reply. Perhaps Dumbledore came to know about the truth of his connection from his fourth year, when the dreams began. It was possible.

"I will assume that my initial suspicion that you were somehow connected to the serial killings is correct?"

Harry nodded. "Are you going to castigate me for it?"

"Any other time, I would have, but no, I will not. It will make me a hypocrite of the highest order."

"Why did you... kill Snape?" Harry asked. Somehow, the fact that Albus Dumbledore had taken a life seemed a little hard to digest.

"Is it so...indigestible that I had taken a life?"

Harry nodded.

"Do you know why I believe in second chances, Harry? Because if I did not, the world as we know it, would not exist. During the war with Grindelwald, I personally killed thousands myself. One spell and hundreds were obliterated into corpses as I marched. When I won over the allegiance of the elder wand, for the first time, I understood what it was-what people had done in the quest to acquire the Death stick. I swore an oath to myself that the elder wand would never kill again, and since I was its Master, the oath held me bound. I am sure you know very well, that even during the first war with Voldemort, I always defended, never attacked."

Harry shook his head. It always puzzled him why the great Albus Dumbledore always reacted passively, never actively. The Order of the Phoenix was a passive reactive organization, ready to defend but not to attack. It all made sense now.

"But why?"

"Simply said, I was waiting for someone else to take up my mantle." On Harry's blank look, he chuckled. "I am an old man, Harry. I have stood my ground for far too long. However, we digress. The previous day when I went to visit Severus Snape, I was initially suspecting some kind of foul play with you involved in it. At first, I suspected that you might have done something in vengeance to the treatment he gave you. Imagine my surprise, when I found out about his true nature with my own eyes."

"You performed Legilimency on him."

"Ask no questions and I won't tell you any lies." Dumbledore replied smoothly. Harry chuckled.

"I am extremely sorry for what my past self-allowed him to do to you. I really am. However, imagine my surprise, when I felt my first stirrings of anger, and hatred rise up like bile within my throat. It was a simple spell and I cast it so seamlessly, something I have never done in fifty years." He looked up at Harry. "My oath broke the moment you took control of the wand, though it took me quite some time to realize that."

Harry nodded.

"What exactly are you going to do about all of this? Voldemort's return and this unknown opponent from your future?"

"Most of the horcruxes are gone, with only the Cup and the snake left. I was cutting off his followers one by one, hoping that by the end of the year, his most powerful supporters would be gone forever."

"You missed one thing, my boy."

"And what is that?"

Dumbledore crossed his fingers and sat up straight. "I am going to deny that I ever mentioned this to you. Being Chief Warlock, I am notified whenever something of interest happens in Wizarding Britain, and right now, one such event has recently happened- one which has been kept in secrecy because of the tournament."

"What... is that, professor?"

"Three days ago, Bellatrix Lestrange broke out of Azkaban."

Fuck.


The island of Azkaban had been a part of the Ministry of Magic since the early fourteenth century after the death of the dark Lord Emeric the evil. Emeric had committed experiments of esoteric magic on dark creatures for decades in that fortress- and when finally the arch wizards of the ICW got hold of him, they somehow bound the creatures, who were named as Dementors, within the fortress that was Azkaban. Two years later, the island of Azkaban was leased out to the British Ministry of Magic to use as a prison. The dementors were hired as the prison guards. Although a majority of the Light faction opposed the move, it went on to become the law. The dementors fed on human emotions, and hence the Ministry of Magic authorized the dementors to hold the prisoners within the walls of Azkaban. However, they could only feed off the emotions, not the souls. In return, the dementors would never come out of Azkaban without proper Ministry supervision.

Harry Potter stood in on the edge of one of the tiny hillocks overlooking the island that was Azkaban. The coast was clear. From his previous experience at the place, he was well acquainted with the geography of the entire island. A mile beyond the coast stood a mammoth stone tower said to be carved out of one single rock. Layers upon layers of high-powered wards stood between the main tower and the outer compound. The anti-apparation and anti-portkey wards begun right from the outer compound (where the janitors and the Warden lived) and extended all the way to an extra fifty yard length on all sides. Under normal conditions, Azkaban was nigh unbreakable, though Sirius had taken advantage of his animagus form and slipped off into the sea. Any other prisoner did not have that advantage. How Bellatrix of all people might have managed, it was something Harry had no answer to, yet.

He silenced himself and morphed into his lion form; the darkness of the night helping the dark fur to help camouflage himself better. Besides, animals had a lesser developed emotional senses, making them much less vulnerable to Dementor influence. He crossed the main wards and raced all the way into the main stony edifice.

Two prison guards were on active duty, and were strolling from one section of the entrance to another. Knowing very well that the wards at the entrance would instantly detect if some wizard (or animagus) would pass through them, Harry slowly morphed back into human form. Picking out a single piece of rock from the ground, he applied an engorgio charm on it wandlessly, enlarging it to the size of a food plate.

Harry considered his plans for the last time. While using the transportation technique of the Hallows could help him pass through the wards effectively, it would however, capture his magical signature and he did not want to leave a single string indicating his presence.

Time to do it the old way.

He raced towards one of the entry guards and just as he was about to reach him, he hurled the enlarged rock towards the man, hitting him straight in the abdomen—enough to hurl him back through the ward line. Then, a lot of things happened at that one moment.

Harry ran alongside the falling guard, using his animagus abilities to enhance his speed. Both he and the guard crossed the ward line at the same exact moment, and the wards triggered, registering someone crossing the ward line. The moment he was inside, he instantly vanished the rock away into nothingness. Since it was wandless, nothing registered on the wards.

Good job.

"What was that?" he heard the other man speaking to the fallen guard.

"I don't know." The fallen man grunted, picking himself up. "Something large came and hit me on my chest, and I fell."

"Yeah, I know. The wards triggered because of that. Did you see what it was?"

"No. It was too dark."

"Well, better get ready. The next patrol team will come in any moment."


Harry darted across the corridors, his silenced footsteps, added with the powers of the cloak making it nigh impossible for even the passing dementors to sense him. He crossed the low-security wing, dropped down into the lower levels into the dungeons, through the lower stairs, and finally into the main corridor. This was the high security wing. This was where the inner circle was held captive.

He walked in front of the prison chambers, sneering at the sleeping inmates. Now was the time to show how wrong the Ministry was when they had thought that Azkaban was impenetrable. While the anti-portkey and anti-apparation wards were too strong, there was one simple flaw to get around the wards.

The wards prevented anyone from travelling in or out. They did not register when someone would apparate from one point to another inside the warded property.

He put his hand into his robe and took out the dagger he had gathered from the Black townhouse. The dagger of Slytherin-used by Salazar Slytherin himself during the blood rituals he did on himself. Rituals Harry was planning to undertake sometime soon in the near future.

However, that was for later and not necessary in the moment. Right now, after all these years, the dagger of Slytherin would taste blood, once again. Imbued with basilisk venom, it was the most deadly weapon against wizards at the moment, the only other being Gryffindor's sword which rested safely within the confines of the Sorting Hat. He held the dagger in his right hand tightly and vanished.

He appeared inside Rudolphus Lestrange's prison chamber and kicked him right between his legs. Ignoring the flurry of curses and profanities that Rudolphus yelled, he drove the dagger right through the neck, ending the death eater's miserable existence in a flash. The yelling seemed to have awoken the others as movement and shouts pervaded the corridor. Harry flashed in front of Avery and drove the dagger through his forehead, killing the man instantly, followed by Rabastan and then Scabior. The sounds alerted the Aurors who appeared to be running into the compound as fast they could. The air suddenly became dense-it only made one thing certain. The dementors were coming. Harry quickly finished killing the rest of the captives before casting a powerful blasting curse wandlessly on the wall on the left.

Nothing like a good misdirection.

Activating the powers of the cloak, he transformed himself into smoke and phased through one of the walls on the other side, gliding down towards the miniature tower on his left. He could feel the rush of the dementors gliding all across, but the power of the cloak hid him from them. He transformed into the eagle form and glided out of the way into the sea, towards the nearest hillock just outside the fortress.

He transformed as he stared at the mighty walls of the fortress he had just escaped from without a scratch. He stood at the edge of the precipice, the bloodstained dagger of Salazar Slytherin in his right hand, gripping it tightly as he stared at the high walls of the supposedly impenetrable fortress that was Azkaban. Drops of blood trickled down the thick goblin steel, falling and splattering on the rocky terrain below his feet. The shifting sounds and the screams inside the fortress brought a kind of sick pleasure to his heart. A lot had changed in this world, a lot still left to change, but this was the beginning.

The beginning to the End.


### And the next chapter is here. I wanted to do a chapter in flashback. This was one, in case you did not notice. The starting paragraph is the present, and then the entire flashback continues until it reaches the present. As always, please review.

### On another note, because of some technical issues on the website, the notifications for the uploaded chapters are not being sent out. (I did not receive them and the same was reported by many others). hence I would like to mention that THE LAST OF THE PEVERELLS : ORIGINS and THE BIGGEST HEIST IN WIZARDING HISTORY have both got updates. Do check them out. Thank you.