Embracing Shadows

Chapter Seven

Severus looked at the young adult in front of him, he looked far too young to be the boss of a major organisation and with his treatment since Christmas he wouldn't be surprised if the boy could never lead his company again if he managed to get out alive. It was very rare that anyone survived one torture session with the Death Eaters, and the ones that were kept alive where lucky to still be sane after a month and yet the boy who was supposedly a muggle was still alive and was not quiet sane after his treatment but he wasn't insane. He could still insult and retaliate to the Death Eaters. He wasn't the only one who was amazed that Seto Kaiba was still alive after four months of Death Eater torture. Whatever he was he was special, he'd taken out three Death Eaters and injuring several others and the Dark Lord still let him live. Even after he'd worked on healing the boy to the best of his ability on the Dark Lords order, he wasn't in the best shape. One arm was badly broken, he was suffering extensive nerve damage and his whole body shook constantly from months of the cruciatus curse, he was very pale from the lack of natural light and to thin. It wouldn't surprise him if the boy ended up in St Mungo's like the Longbottoms if he managed to get out of this mess alive.

KC

Seto had once again been taken upstairs for a wonderful torture session with Voldemort and the Death Eaters. As soon as he was upstairs he could sense something different, a familiar feeling that he hadn't felt since he was last in Japan around Yugi and Bakura at school, the distinct aurora that the Millennium Items gave off which he'd always been able to sense but previously denied. Two of them where in this room, it was almost a relief to feel the presence of the accused items. Under normal circumstances he would've cursed their existence but this time he welcomed it and only because it was something familiar, something he was used to, and as much as he hated his involvement with the Millennium Items he'd prefer that any day over his current treatment, as long as Mokuba hadn't been involved. The Millennium Items where familiar territory, he knew how to deal with them. He knew what to expect when it came to the Items and the Shadow Magic surrounding them, unlike the Death Eaters, he knew what to expect from a torture session but beyond that he had no clue what he should expect.

He let the the Death Eaters go through their normal variety of spells causing agonising pain to his whole body, but he couldn't let them know that he knew about the existence of two items in the room. His eye's glancing around looking for the glint of gold, trying to narrow down within the room where the items where and what they did. It's wasn't the familiar presence of the Puzzle of Ring, or that accursed eye which had once stolen Mokuba's soul. Two items he'd never come across before and yet he still knew which items they where without even looking at them.

Voldemort looked pleased with himself, more so then normal; the accusation of the items seemed to be the cause behind his elevated mood. His session was interrupted by a beast like looking mad who had a more deadly aurora then his account at the London branch. Werewolf his mind screamed at him and yet he the logical part of him couldn't tell him why he'd assume the man was a werewolf.

"We've caught Harry Potter" he announced in a gruff voice, throwing the thing he'd been dragging at the feet of Voldemort.

He wasn't sure what that meant for him, he knew that Potter was the main target of Voldemort's attacks, the snake man's mortal enemy who'd been the only person to best him so far, Luna's good friend. He caught a glimpse of the girl he saw at the graveyard on the night, she was being manhandled and was struggling to get to the teen on the floor. The semi conscious teenager had a heavily swollen face he assumed to be the same boy he'd seen at the graveyard. Though with how hazy his memory was at the moment he couldn't be 100% sure that was where and when he'd seen them or even if he had seen them before.

The pale skinned man with no nose walked over with excitement to the boy with a swollen face. Everyone's attention slipped from him to the two teenagers. He used the chance to freely look around the room spotting the Millennium Scales on the fireplace mantle. The Millennium Ankh was around the sadistic woman's neck, the one who had caused him the most pain. He'd managed to use the Millennium Rod on several occasions without touching the Rod and when he didn't believe in magic. Now he didn't know what was real and what wasn't, and the Ankh had never been his in the past unlike the Rod had. He pondered if he would be able to use its power and let the denied knowledge from when he was High Priest and then Pharaoh come forward which was hard with the damage that had been done to him with that blasted crucio curse. With much concentration the knowledge he needed to use the key came forward. He opened his eyes and found himself in Lestranges soul room. It was surprisingly relaxing being in the soul room even though it wasn't his own. In her soul room he didn't have the nerve damage or the broken bones and ribs or any cuts and bruises covering his body. His memory was also a lot clearer. An evil smirk came over his face as he began altering her personality. He rearranged her soul room, straightening everything out, completely destroyed her previous personality, when she woke she'd be a completely different person, someone that she hated normally. He'd considered killing her or sending her to the shadow realm but with her sadistic personality she'd enjoy that too much. Instead he left her with enough knowledge to know what she was like previously so she detested the person she'd become, but no control over the way she was acting, for this woman it was a fate worse than death. When he came to he had the Ankh in his hand and Bella was standing with a vacant look in her eyes, she wouldn't wake up for another few days if he'd done everything correctly.

No one had noticed him standing yet, and the Millennium Item gave him a renewed sense of strength. He looked at the scales on the mantel behind where the snake lover had been sleeping earlier. Even though he had a renewed sense of strength he was still shaky and weak as he walked over to the mantle and grabbed the scales. A thud was heard as the most loyal of female Death Eaters fell to the ground, her sister screamed bringing everyone's attention from Potter back to the rest of the room.

"Don't tell me the muggle managed to kill her too" one of the Death Eaters commented. "She always seemed immortal with what she managed to escape from alive. Especially when her husband was killed."

That had the attention of the two teenagers; they had a look of shock on their face at the comment of the Death Eater, both wondering how a non-magical person could last in a magical environment such as this one. The girl looked at him with recognition, she obviously recognised him from the graveyard or maybe the news.

"Fools, the Millennium Key is gone" Voldemort hissed, turning his attention from Harry to where Kaiba was standing with the scales and the ankh in hand and a smirk clear on his face even with the involuntary twitch of his muscles.

Voldemort started laughing. "Foolish muggle, you have no idea what those items are and even if you did you can't use them because you have no magic."

Everyone had underestimated him for the last time, especially Lord Voldemort, the man that had separated him from his brother and he was going to make sure he paid for his crimes.

"If you notice Bella's state you will realise that I know exactly what these items are and how to use them. I didn't even need to be touching the Millennium Ankh when I activated it. I just did a little redecorating of her soul room" he boasted like it had been the most simple thing in the world. Actually it had been rather simple; it felt second nature when he'd been redecorating her soul room. "What I'm curious to know is how you got these two items from Shadi, I didn't think he was one to let these possessions out of his sight unless it was to the rightful owner, and considering the Ankh responded to me and not the one who was holding it leads me to believe that you did something to Shadi with your so called magic." Or at least that's what he assumed from what Ishizu and Yugi had mentioned about the Item Guardian.

Voldemort was furious, how did the muggle know about the spirit Shadi, what was he that he couldn't detect any magic from him. He did know he was different because he'd managed to push him out of his mind, but hadn't realised that he wasn't a muggle.

Closing his eyes he held the scales forward to weight Voldemorts soul, redecorating the soul room of the man in front of him wouldn't work, this man longed for life, his biggest fear being death itself.

"I've activated a shadow game" he smirked with much confidence, he'd never admit it to anyone but he'd always desired to be on the activating end of a shadow game after being on the receiving end several times. "If you lie at all the scales will tilt and your soul will be eaten by Ammit and if you paid attention to your Egyptology you would know that Ammit is the devour of the dead." Death was the only option for the evil man in front of him. His magic was so dark that if he sent him to the shadow realm he'd probably find a way to free himself.

"I'm Lord Voldemort, I don't need to play your game." The self proclaimed dark lord commented with confidence. The purple haze of the Shadow realm swirled around them till it was only the two of them.

"It makes it so much easier for me if you back out; after all you immediately lose if you back out of a Shadow Game once it's already started." He paced around the man who'd kept him captive for who knows how long. "It's so nice to be the person initiating a Shadow Game for once; normally I'm the one on the receiving end. It's not a pleasant experience to lose a Shadow Game; the first one I lost put me in a coma for three months. Your punishment is going to be a lot more harsh then any of the punishments I had to endure." He knew that everyone could see and hear what was going on in this little pocket of reality since that's what he wanted. "You can get three questions wrong before you're devoured. We'll start with a question that your people seem to be so fond of. What's your blood status?"

"I'm Lord Voldemort and I'm a pure blood you puny little worm." Voldemort hissed at the teenager who currently had the upper hand.

The scales tipped causing his smirk to grow; he could sense the uncertainty form the Death Eaters watching. "Ah you're lying Mr Voledemort, if that's even your real name. Actually what is the name given to you at birth?"

Voldemort sneered. "Tom Marvalo Riddle" he replied with hatred in his voice. The scales didn't move.

"You're not so loyal lap dogs have been filling me in on the pure blood families. Riddle isn't a name that they ever bring up." He decided to let the man's blood stats be for now, he had more important information he needed to find out and could always return to asking Mr Riddle about his blood status if he answer the following questions truthfully. "How did you come into possession of these two Millennium items?"

Voldemort was only too happy to tell them about how he'd come across the man years earlier during his search for immortality.

"I came across the Millennium Ring, its power was amazing. I only had it for a short time but the dark power it possessed was intoxicating. Shadi deemed me unworthy to be the master of the Millennium Ring and being the weak boy just out of school I was powerless to stop him."

He then went on about how he he'd planned to steal the ring back, the magic he used to track down Shadi and how he'd sent the spirit to another realm but hadn't managed to kill him.

"I was very disappointed to find that the Ring was no longer in his possession and obtained the Key and the Scales, and they are powerful objects but nowhere near as powerful and dark as the ring is."

"How many Millennium Items are there?" Seto asked him.

"Seven" the other man hissed with displeasure at giving up the information.

"Name the seven items"

"Scales, Key, Ring, Necklace, Rod, Pyramid, Eye"

The scales tilted for the second time. He hadn't thought he'd get that answer wrong. "Too bad, you got one of the items wrong"

"Why did you take me your prisoner and keep me alive?" he asked the question he'd been wondering for months.

"I was intrigued by your fighting spirit, I wanted to break you" Voldemort proclaimed.

The scales for the final time, Seto frowned he still didn't have the answer to the question he'd wanted to know for months. "I don't see why you had to lie about my capture, or maybe you're true reason would make you look weak to your slaves and you didn't want them to turn on you. Whatever the reason, they're all going to know you're worthless when you're soul get's devoured."

Voldemort turned towards the dark presence that had entered the realm, fear in his eyes as his soul was shortly going to be devoured and there wasn't anything he could do about. The price always had to be paid at the end of a shadow game. Showing his weakness Tom Riddle screamed as his soul was devoured. When the purple haze cleared he was surprised to find he could still sense Voldemorts presence, that wasn't the last of him, he could sense two fragments of the man's soul still in the room or maybe it was three. The shadows extended, covering the room, more Death Eaters then he'd ever seen where present in the room, the shadows had caused a desire for anyone nearby to enter the vicinity. Fear was present amongst the cult as they realised there master was dead and they where next. Even though they outnumbered the prisoner, he held so much confidence and power not one of them thought to defy him, especially after he'd just killed his fourth Death Eater, the strongest of all of them.

"Oh don't worry; I'm not going to kill you like I did your master, though some of you may end up like Lestrange if I fell you need your personality altered" the teenager told them with a deadly tone. It not only caused fear and respect from his employees but also serial killers. "I'm going to judge all your souls one by one and if you're unworthy you'll find out what will happen."

With the shadows fully in place no-one could move from their current spot excluding himself. It would make it difficult to judge everyone if he couldn't move. The fear from the Death Eaters powering the shadows, causing despair and hopelessness to everyone exposed. He walked around holding the scales to their hearts to judge them for a final touch he crushed the souls of anyone unworthy into multiple pieces one by one, no-one else amongst them was anywhere as near crazy as Bellatrix. The first one that was deemed worthy was Narcissa Malfoy, the woman who sometimes came down and feed them, this hadn't surprised him. She'd after all never participated in the torture and had been kind to himself and Luna on a few occasions. She didn't even look relived as she was judged worthy; she just sat with an impassive look on her face. The teenage Death Eater sighed in relief as his mother was spared. He judged the Dragon boy next, he too was unsurprisingly spared. Only once her son was judged pure enough did Narcissa show relief. A man with black hair which he believed was named Severus was also spared, as where the two teenagers who'd just been bought in and another three men and a woman.

The worthy all examined one another, removing masks.

"With the order?" Snape was the first one to ask. "I was never a Death Eater, my murder of Dumbledore was planned after we discovered he was terminally ill."

"No, where both auror's" the woman answered and indicated to herself and the man standing next to her who just happened to be her husband.

"I'm with the order" another man admitted. "That's just like Dumbledore; he kept to many people in the dark."

"I'm with neither. I work for the Tomb Keepers clan who watches over the Millennium Items." The man of Arabic appearance replied.

"The Tomb Keeper clan controlled by the Ishtar siblings?" the new wielder of the Millennium Ankh and Scales asked, not recognizing him as any of the rare hunters of Mariks or the other Tomb Keepers he'd met.

Severus looked at the exhausted teenage boy with shock it surprised him that the child knew about the existence of the Tomb Keepers of the Ishtar clan, not even many people in the magical world knew about them. Usually only the curse breakers and select few people in the ministry. He only knew about them because of Dumbledore and the fact he'd hired one of the clan seers. He wondered if he meant the Divination teacher Ishizu Ishtar and her younger brother who was in Slytherine.

Now that he was no longer controlling the Millennium Items he looked like he was going to collapse. His body was once again twitching from nerve damage, barley able to stand.

"I'm one of the branch family members of the Ishtar clan" the man confirmed.

"We need to move quickly before the other Death Eaters arrive" Snape started planning. "I have a port key that will take us to the school; with he who shouldn't be named gone we need the get the Death Eaters out of the school immediately."

Narcissa looked at her unconscious husband without remorse and bent down grabbing the key for the dungeons and a few other belongings he had on him, such as the bank vault key.

"I'm going to let the Order know what happened. Keep Potter safe" the other man told him.

The auror's agreed. Could that boy who judged his soul really made them trust him with Potters life even though he'd killed Albus? The female auror was coming with him to the school which would be a big help when it came to removing the Death Eaters.

KC

The Japanese teenager was in no condition to move himself, he was barely standing and at some point had fallen unconscious. Snape ended up carrying him down to the dungeons. Harry followed with his wand pointing at the potions master, ready to hex him if he made a wrong move.

"Hello Harry" a familiar voice said as the entered the dungeon.

"Luna" Harry ran to the pureblood girl, Hermonie not far behind and they both hugged her.

They made sure everyone was gathered around the port key, holding onto people that were not well enough to keep hold of the port key. The two teenagers who'd been in hiding for most of the year where both surprised when they found themselves in the hospital wing of the school, they'd been expecting a trap and to end up amongst more Death Eaters and had only come because of Luna and the muggle boy.

KC

Poppy was exhausted attending to all the students that had detention with the Carrows or had been on the wrong end of a curse with the Slytherine patrol, or the Slytherine members who'd messed with members of Dumbledores Army. One thing she knew was she'd been run off her feet and the hospital wing was full and she had no help for most of the years. Horace was also run off his feet making potions, though his where nowhere up to the standard that Severus's potions ever where, luckily the vital potions Severus was still making for her. She was still angry at him, for becoming a Death Eater, furious that he'd killed the headmaster and got away with it. She was convinced that he wasn't a Death Eater and was only a spy for the Order. How wrong was she when it turned out he was spying on them for He-who-shouldn't-be-named. Poppy was so engrossed in her work that she jumped out of her skin when a port key arrived to the hospital wing with a group of people.

"Poppy, I need you to treat this boy and Ollivander immediately. He commanded as he put the unconscious boy onto the bed. He then moved to Ollivander and used a levitation charm to get him on another bed. "I'd also like you to check on Miss Lovegoods, Mr Malfoy, Mr Potter and Miss Granger's health."

"What's going on?" Poppy asked with shock, seeing that Harry Potter was in fact in the hospital wing.

"This boy" he indicated to Poppy. "A muggle who's been held in captivity since Christmas managed to defeat the Dark Lord with the one of the dark artefacts he's holding. It's not a permanent death, he's made horcrux's to sustain his life, but it's once less that needs to be found to destroy him. During his time in captivity he managed to kill for Death Eaters including the Dark Lord, and this evening he rendered the whole inner circle unconscious after he destroyed the Dark Lord. If you excuse me I need to find Minerva and any other teacher willing to fight. We have Death Eaters to remove from the school before word gets to them that Voldemort's currently dead."

"I'm coming with you Professor" Harry told the older man not letting the witch attend to his wounds, the same went for Hermione. Draco hesitated for a second before giving his mother a hug and following after the group. Narcissa Malfoy stayed in the hospital wing, assisting Poppy with her new patients.