A/N: I am thrilled by the positive reception that this story has received since it has been released. The poll has been closed, with this chapter being proof of the overwhelming 'yes' vote.
KEY:
"BLOOD FOR ME! SKULLS FOR MY PIMP THRONE!"- Khorne speaking.
"Ugh, he's having another one of his episodes again... Nurgle, shut him up." - Other Chaos Gods speaking.
'It's time for a sacrifice!' - Harry communicating with Chaos.
"Just as planned..." - Regular speech.
Chapter 2- Wands, Champions, and Chaos
Harry strode into Ollivander's, the usual spring in his step. His new rune covered robes streamed behind him, the runes on them constantly shifting, creating a layer of adaptive protection that could never be overcome.
"Ah, Mr. Potter! Your wand is ready, and will be available to you for the usual fee. However, I was intrigued by the components you have provided me. By all rights, the wood you gave me is an impossibility, while the core was... unusual, to say the least." Ollivander said. Little did he know that the Plaguebearer's intestine contained a nasty strain of Wizarding Rickets, a debilitating disease that would plague the old wand maker to his dying day.
"Oh, I just found them lying around! I modified the wood myself! Did you like it?" Harry said, brimming with childish enthusiasm. Like any child, Harry liked his skills praised. In fact, the only difference between Harry and his fellow first years was that Harry could set off the maternal/mating instincts of almost any woman who so much as looked at him, and the tiny fact that Harry was a mentally unstable super-human devoted to worshipping a quartet of immortal and immoral beings that demanded frequent human sacrifices. Said Chaos gods were the only parental figures that Harry had ever known, so Harry knew no other lifestyle than what was demanded of him.
"Anyway, here's the money!" Harry said, producing a small bag of Galleons from his pocket and plopping them down in front of the old and soon to be disease stricken wand maker.
"Very well. Here is your wand. Sixteen inches, unknown core, unknown wood, unusually long for a wand. Give it a wave, will you? I wish to see if my skill with wandmaking is as good as others claim it is."
"Allright!" Harry said, taking the offered wand and giving it a wave. Immediately, the instrument came alive in Harry's hands, blazing with bright blue fire. A deathly wail, like the scream of a banshee, filled the air, as the wand itself seemed to be screaming as a minute amount of pure Chaos power coursed through it. Then, half a second later, the wand stopped moving, and the energy within was released. A crackling bolt of teal lightning shot from the wand's end, slamming into a shelf across from Harry, the chaos energy released quickly mutating the wands within so that they each contained a small piece of the Warp. Outwardly, however, no damage seemed to have been done.
"Merlin's beard Mr. Potter! At least the wand did not explode, but that? It seems to indicate great power, as most first-years struggle to produce more than a few sparks! Now I see how you could have possibly defeated He-who-must-not-be-named. With such power, a burst of accidental magic as a baby could have easily crushed the dark lord!" Ollivander cried.
"Dark lord?" Harry asked, having never heard the term before.
"You mean you don't know? When you were a child, you defeated the dark lord, He-who-must-not-be-named! You survived the Killing Curse, the only individual ever known to have survived it in fact! You are a hero, Mr. Potter!"
"Really? I never knew!"
"I suppose you wouldn't have, what with you being spirited away to your relatives after your parents died. They must have wanted to keep you humble by withholding the information, I suppose. Anyway, I bid you farewell, young Harry. I hope that we meet again." Ollivander said.
"Goodbye Mr. Ollivander!" Harry said happily as he ran out of the door. As he did so, he crashed into a certain blonde haired boy who, along with his father, was coming to buy a wand.
"Watch where you're going, imbecile!" The boy said as he stood up, making a show of dusting off his robes.
"Hello! My name is Harry Potter! What is yours?" Harry asked, still lying down on the ground, ignoring the insult. As he said the name, the behavior of the older man, likely the blonde's father, changed. Where he was once simply annoyed, now an aura of barely contained malice and curiosity leaked from the man's every pore.
"Potter, you say?" The man said, scanning Harry's forehead, eyes alighting on the star of Chaos etched into the boy's forehead. His eyes narrowed, the man doubtlessly sensing some form of power in the rune. "I was of the impression that Harry Potter had a scar in the shape of a bolt of lightning on his forehead, something which you lack."
"Of course! I used to have a scar like that, but my Uncle cured it for me Now I have this instead!" Harry gestured to the eight pointed star.
"It is a strange rune. Would you happen to know its meaning?" The man asked.
"Oh I do, but I'm not gonna tell you!" Harry sang. The man's annoyance grew.
"Then it seems that I am wasting my time here. Come, Draco. Let us leave this filth in the mud where he belongs."
"Yes, father." The boy, Draco, said. Just then, the voice of Slaanesh whispered in Harry's head.
"Oh yes, that one is... interesting. I suggest that you give him the necklace bearing my mark, as he would be a useful tool to me." The Prince of Pleasure said. Harry leaped up off the ground, and in the span of a second, he overtook the pair that was walking up the steps to Ollivander's.
"Draco, was it? One of the items in my possession seems to resonate with your magical presence. Here, take it!" Harry lied, before pulling the pendant bearing a detailed amethyst and gold mark of Slaanesh on it. Looping it around the boy's neck before Draco had a chance to protest, Harry then stepped back, looking critically at his work. Already, Draco's warp signature, previously barely noticeable, was now growing and shifting, creating a dark, pink aura, indicative of Slaanesh's influence. The once inert amethyst making up the element began to faintly glow, indicating that the amulet had granted the Prince of Pleasure's blessing to the young boy. Now cloaked in an unnerving glamour and capable of releasing a powerful, warp infused scream, the young blonde suddenly began to experience every sensation anew, the simplest feeling causing waves of pleasure to course through his body.
The sudden surge of power did not go unnoticed by the boy's father. Lucius Malfoy's eyes narrowed as he saw magical energy began to ripple faintly around his son, much like it did around the supposed Harry Potter.
"Oh, and before I forget, come with me, Draco. The blessing you received has altered your magical core, to the point that ordinary wands won't work for you. Fortunately for you, I happen to have just the right components to make the perfect custom wand, I just need to fetch them. Follow me if you want to see them." Harry said, his voice losing some, but not all, of its childish tone, shifting more into a Tzeentchy domain.
Harry led the Malfoys deep into Knockturn Alley, arriving at the store where Harry had found the Chaos relics. His trunk still lay there, concealed by a spell taught to him by Slaanesh. Dispelling the illusion with a flick of his hand, Harry reached in, pulling out a few strands of Daemonette hair, followed by a small chunk of warp-cursed wood.
"Use these. They should make a suitable wand for your son." Harry said, holding out the two reagents. Looking curiously at the two items, the father, Lucius Malfoy, as Harry had learned, asked a question.
"What is this?"
"The hair is from a... certain creature I made a deal with, while the wood is from a tree that I mutated with my magic." Harry said in his serious, Tzeentchy voice.
"And they will help my son how?"
"With his magical core modified by the amulet, Draco's ambient magical power far outstrips the mundane wands that Ollivander sells. These ingredients are more in tune with the magic of his amulet, and thus with the magic that now fills Draco."
"Very well. I suppose I should thank you for the assistance. Come, Draco. Let us get your wand made." With that, Lucius turned and exited the empty store, his son following. As he left, the whispers of three of the Chaos Gods filled his head.
"It seems that Slaanesh has gone ahead and chosen a secondary champion for his personal use in this world. It behooves the rest of us to do the same. I will guide you to one I have found suitable." Tzeentch's voice hissed through his head.
"I, for once, agree with you. I have already found one that may suit me, although only time will tell if the whelp is worthy of my power! I, Khorne, shall guide you to the one that shall bathe the world in blood!" Khorne declared.
"I suppose that I should pick a champion as well... It's so hard to pick just one to give my gifts to, though..." Nurgle mused.
With that in mind, Harry strode out of the shop, his trunk floating along behind him. He decided to follow Tzeentch's guidance first, and was soon led into the throng milling about in the main street of Diagon Alley. Following the guidance, Harry soon spotted his target, a bushy haired girl being led by an old looking witch in emerald green robes. Leaping into the air, the display startling many of the wizards around him, Harry landed in front of the pair. Turning towards them, Harry put on a childish smile and spoke.
"Hello! My name is Harry Potter! Pleasure to meet you!" He said with childish glee, ignoring the gasps that the name drew.
"Harry Potter? I know that-" The bushy haired girl never had a chance to finish, as Harry cut her off, voice shifting into a more serious tone.
"Yes, I defeated the Dark Lord, but that doesn't matter right now. However, one of the magical artifacts in my possession seems to have reacted favorably with your magical presence! Would you like to see it?" Harry asked, his voice turning childish at the end.
"What? Why I-" The tall, green clothed witch tried to speak, but the girl cut her off.
"What is it?" She asked.
"This!" Harry said, grabbing the necklace and looping it around the girl's neck before she had a chance to respond. The sapphire and gold mark of Tzeentch glowed as it touched the girl's skin.
"Mr. Potter! Just what do you think you are doing with an unknown artifact like that?" The witch finally got a chance to ask. Harry ignored her, instead focusing on the young girl's warp presence, her aura now glowing a bright turquoise. The girl in question gasped as blue flames played across her arm as she waved it, the warpfire cool and pleasant on her skin, the Mark of Tzeentch granting her not only increased magical strength, but also immense psychic power and magic resilience.
"Oh, and with regards to your wand, take these." Harry said, voice growing serious once again. He handed her a chunk of corrupted wood, as well as his remaining Flamer ichor, the burning liquid having dried into a scintillating powder, one that seemed to be constantly shifting colors, like a faded, pale image of the Warp. "These reagents should allow for a wand of suitable power to be constructed for you at Ollivander's, as the more mundane wands there will not react favorably with your significantly empowered magic field." Harry said, before leaping away, once again startling the crowd, moving to follow Khorne's guidance. Sprinting to the next child, one that already bore a spiritual mark of Khorne, Harry soon saw his target, a young, slightly chubby boy being accompanied by another old witch, one clad in furs and wearing a strange, vulture topped hat and carrying a bright red handbag.
"Hello!" Harry greeted as he landed in front of the pair, startling them out of their wits.
"Who are you?" The boy choked out.
"I'm Harry Potter, but that's not important. What's important is that one of the artifacts in my possession has recognized you! It begs for a bearer of suitable strength, and it deems you suitable!" Harry said, removing the bright ruby Mark of Khorne from his pocket. The mark seemed to gravitate towards the boy, who shrank back from the strange amulet.
"What is that?" He asked.
"Why, it's your amulet, of course!" Harry said, putting the necklace around the boy's neck. The boy's aura shifted from being nonexistent into an angry, boiling red. The boy's features contorted in rage for a second, before it shifted back into a more mundane expression.
"Oh, and here are the components for your new wand, as your newfound power will make you much too strong for the mundane sticks that are commonly available." Harry said, handing a vial of dried out Bloodletter blood, which still continued to boil even in powdered form, as well as a hunk of Warp wood.
"Wha-"
"See you at Hogwarts!" Harry said, leaping away to find Nurgle's champion. The boy, a Justin Finch-Fletchley, was quickly blessed with Nurgle's mark, as well as a length of Plaguebearer intestine and the last of Harry's Warp wood.
With his task complete, Harry left Diagon Alley, heading back to Privet Drive, now with his trunk in tow.
It was on September 1st, 1991, that Harry left his house, all belongings packed away in his trunk, following Tzeentch's guidance to King's Cross station. Using a glamour to avoid notice, Harry soon slipped through the magical barrier between the mundane station and platform nine and three quarters. Boarding the scarlet steam engine, Harry's divine beauty drew long looks from almost every female who saw him. Unfortunately for him, rather than create a harem of willing nubiles, his youthful beauty ignited the motherly instinct of almost every older girl who looked at him, causing Harry to run down the length of the train to keep his sanity, a small mob of older girls chasing him, claiming to want to "Love him and hug him and squeeze him into tiny, itty-bitty pieces".
Ducking into an unoccupied compartment before disguising the entrance with an illusion, Harry sat down, enjoying the simple silence.
However, Harry's presence on the train was also noticed by many other individuals. As Harry passed their compartments, many first-year students swore that their wands glowed with blue fire as the young boy passed by, and a certain quartet of students suddenly felt the urge to proceed to a certain compartment.
As the train moved through the countryside, Harry sat in the center of his compartment, playing with his knife, tossing the blade from hand to hand, entertaining himself by watching the shining blade fly through the air. Then, a knock on the door drew his attention. Opening the door, Harry saw the boy chosen by Khorne, a fearful look on his face.
"What did you do to me?" He grabbed Harry, shaking the smaller boy as he asked the question.
"I didn't do anything. I simply gave you the artifact. Do you like it?" Harry asked.
"Take it back! I... I almost..." The boy began to sob.
"You almost did what?" Harry asked, confusion on his face.
"I almost killed my grandma! If I hadn't regained control when I did, I would have killed her in a rage! Take the amulet back!" The boy cried.
"Why is that bad?" Harry asked, genuinely confused. Why would the boy not want to sacrifice someone to Khorne?
"What do you mean, 'Why is that bad?' I almost killed her! What in Merlin's name wrong with you?" The boy shouted.
"But a Sacrifice is good, right?"
"YOU WANT ME TO SACRIFICE THE ONLY FAMILY I HAVE?" The boy screamed, his rage building. Soon, the pendant around his neck began to glow red, along with his eyes, as Neville Longbottom flew into a berserker rage.
"BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!" Neville screamed, charging into the compartment, fists raised. He never got the chance to attack, as a powerful blow from Harry's Khorne augmented body knocked the boy out cold.
As Neville collapsed to the ground, another knock came. This time, the bushy haired girl marked by Tzeentch entered, surrounded by a halo of blue fire.
"This... this is amazing! I must thank you, Harry, without your artifact, I would still be barely scraping by with first year spells. Now, with this power, I can cast even fifth year spells with ease!" Hermione Granger said gleefully as, with a wave of her hand, blue fire spewed forth, while a pair of blue wings made of pure energy formed on her back.
"Excellent!" Harry cackled, cloaking himself with his own Warp power. Hermione entered, and had a seat across from Harry, playing with her magic, blue fire crackling around the compartment, bathing it in the ethereal fire of the warp. Slowly, Neville came to, seeing Hermione in her winged glory on one side of him, while Harry, cloaked in blue fire, on his other. His eyes were drawn to the blue pendant around Hermione's neck.
"That... That pendant! It's dangerous! Take it off!" Neville shouted, leaping at the girl. However, he was arrested in midair, Hermione freezing him in place with a wave of her hand.
A knock on the door, and Justin Finch-Fletchley strode in, bringing with him a terrible stench and a swarm of flies. He broke into a coughing fit shortly after, spraying a foul black fluid all over the window.
"Please, *Cough*, take this gift back! I don't *Cough* want to live like this!" The boy cried, coughing up more black fluid as he did so.
"Why not?" Harry asked, once again curious. Were Papa Nurgle's gifts not the best?
"What do you mean, 'Why not!' Look at me!" Justin creamed, spraying green bile everywhere. Hermione looked disgusted at the sight.
"But it's a gift! Why would I want to take it back? Hermione over there seems to be enjoying hers, so why don't you like yours?" Harry asked.
"Her gift is magical superpowers! Mine, apparently, is being disgusting!" Justin screamed, gesturing at the girl in question, the glob of green vomit sent in her direction splashing against a spherical barrier.
"But it's precisely because of that sickness that it is a gift! After all, when it passes, you'll become stronger, right?" Harry asked.
"I don't care! I don't want to live like this!" Justin shouted, just as another knock came.
The door opened, revealing Draco Malfoy standing in the doorway with a beautiful girl in each arm.
"Leave me for a bit, my dears, I have some business to attend to here. Rest assured, my pretties, that I will return to you." Malfoy said, caressing the girls' cheeks.
"We'll hold you to that, Drakey~!" The girls sang in low, sultry voices, as Draco Malfoy stepped inside, surveying the contents of the cabin. His eyes passed over the disgustingly sick Justin and the raging Neville, before scanning over the supernaturally beautiful Harry, and finally coming to rest on Hermione, her body still crackling with immense amounts of magical power.
"I have to thank you, Mr. Potter. This charm you gave me is certainly... powerful, and the ingredients you gave me have made for a truly unique wand." Malfoy said, sitting down next to the boy in question.
"I am glad you are happy with my gifts. Some of us, however, don't see it that way though." Harry said, confusion and sadness clear in his voice.
"I assume that the rest of you have also received a gift from Harry in the form of an amulet and wand components?" Hermione asked.
"Please, Harry, I'll do anything! Just take these back! I don't want to wake up, only to find that I've slaughtered my family in a rage!" Neville begged.
"But don't you like your new strength and skill at arms?" Harry asked, confused.
"I can do without it if it means that my family is safe!" Neville begged.
"But I can't take it away regardless, so you should try to enjoy yourself, right?" Harry asked.
"But... I don't want to live like this!" Justin repeated, gesturing to his body, which was currently sweating a strange green fluid, much to Malfoy and Hermione's disgust, the Tzeentch blessed girl moving away from the infected boy, coming to sit at Harry's left, while Malfoy sat at his right. Across from him sat Neville and Justin, the two dissatisfied with their gifts.
"Don't worry! I'm sure you'll grow to love your gifts soon enough!" Harry said, childish enthusiasm returning to his voice.
"But-" Neville began to speak, but was cut off.
"Now, I believe introductions are in order. I'm Harry Potter, but I am sure you all know that already!" Harry said.
"I'm Hermione Granger." Hermione said, spelling her name in the air in blue fire.
"Draco, heir to the most Noble and Ancient house of Malfoy." Draco said, his voice proud and arrogant.
"Neville Longbottom." Neville said.
"Justin Finch-Fletchley." Justin said, before turning and coughing, splattering the window with more black fluid.
"Excellent! Now-" Harry was cut off by another knock. A red headed boy poked his head in.
"Do you mind if I sit here? Everywhere else... is... full..." His voice trailed off as he caught sight of the five occupants of the cart.
"Nevermind then, I'll just go somewhere else..." The boy muttered, withdrawing his head, but not before Justin let loose a powerful sneeze, coating the redhead's face in black snot. The boy screamed as he stumbled through the hallway, ignoring Justin's apology.
"Why did you apologize? You just gave him a great gift!" Harry asked Justin.
"What? I sneezed all over his face!"
"And now he'll get sick as well, and get more resilient from the experience!" Harry said.
"That's a decidedly... odd... world view." Hermione said.
"How so? I spent an entire year gifted like that, and look how I turned out!" Harry said cheerfully.
"That sickness must have gotten to your brain..." Neville muttered, still stuck in depression.
"I know! I had worms in my brain for a week!" Harry said, causing the boy to turn decidedly green.
"So, what are we doing here?" Malfoy asked.
"Just getting to know each other for now. I will explain everything later, after we get sorted into houses." Harry said.
"That is acceptable." Hermione said. "But what will we do before then?"
"If it's not too much trouble, I would like to invite my two friends, Claire and Gena, inside, if we are just going to spend our time doing nothing." Draco said, before beckoning to his two girlfriends, allowing them inside. They sat down on either side of the blonde haired wizard, before busying themselves with various ministrations to Malfoy's form, causing him to tingle in anticipation as their fingers traced up and down his arms and ran through his hair.
"I believe that we should get changed into our robes for when we arrive." Hermione said, before taking said robes out, cloaking herself in darkness, and changing right in front of them, albeit outside of their view.
Harry did the same immediately afterward, while Malfoy was already dressed, as was Neville. Justin left the room, returning several minutes later wearing vomit stained black robes.
The rest of the ride was spent in silence, as Malfoy and Hermione toyed with their respective gifts, Harry using the time to carve a Star of Chaos into the compartment's floor with his sacrificial knife, while Neville and Justin watched the other occupants of the car with fear.
By the time the train arrived, it was already night. The seven occupants of the train compartment stepped out, following the directions of a giant, bearded man, the first years getting into a set of boats which would take them across the lake. Harry shared his boat with the other aspiring Chaos champions, each member of the small group drawing strange looks. Then, the boats set off across the lake, gliding smoothly across the water. Looking down, Harry saw a giant eye staring back at him. After a cursory glance, the giant squid shied away, no doubt cowed by Harry's intimidating psychic aura.
Once the boats made it across, their occupants disembarked, before making their way to the school entrance. There, they were met by the same green robed witch that Harry had encountered in Diagon Alley in the company of Hermione. Looking over the crowd, her eyes lingered on Harry, as well as Hermione, who was still cloaked in blue energy, as well as Justin, who was currently covered in weeping sores.
"Welcome to Hogwarts! I am Professor McGonagall, the deputy headmistress." She called out, causing the conversations between the first years to peter out as they focused on the teacher.
"The start of the schoolyear feast will begin shortly. Before the feast may begin, however, you must all be sorted into your houses. I suggest that you all prepare yourselves for the Sorting ceremony. There are four houses that you may be sorted into. They are: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin." She said the last house name with a measure of distaste. "The sorting ceremony shall begin momentarily. I suggest you all prepare yourselves." Then, without further ado, the professor opened the door with a wave of her wand, allowing the students to enter the main hall. The attention of the entire hall was on the various first year students, specifically several unique individuals. The first to be noticed was Hermione, still surrounded in her crackling blue aura, while her energy wings still graced her back, as Hermione had taken a liking to those appendages, and had decided to keep them. Wonder turned to disgust as Justin shambled in, still covered in weeping sores and buboes, coughing all the while. Then, finally, all attention shifted to Harry Potter. The young boy moved with supernatural grace, his long, straight, ebony black hair fluttering behind him, as if caught in some kind of breeze, while his brilliant green eyes shined like emeralds. Several girls swooned and fainted as he glanced at them, a charming smile on his innocent looking face. The ghosts of the castle, however, shied away in fear of the boy. Something just felt terribly WRONG about him, after all.
The first years formed a line, as Professor McGonagall stood next to a stool, a ragged looking hat sitting on it.
Then, the hat began to sing, saying something about unity and how the houses must stay together in order to succeed. Once the hat stopped singing, Professor McGonagall spoke once again.
"Now, as I call your names, you will come forth to be sorted into your houses." The professor said, before looking down at the list in her hands.
"Hannah Abbot." The girl in question walked up as her name was called, the sorting hat being placed on her head.
"HUFFLEPUFF!" The hat cried, the girl moving to sit down at the table in question. A 'Susan Bones' joined her shortly afterward. Then, after three more students were processed, Hermione's name came up.
The hat didn't even touch her head, screaming "RAVENCLAW!" as soon as it came within several inches of her, the house in question letting loose a thunderous cheer as the girl in question sat down at the table. Next up was Neville Longbottom. The hat sat on his head for a few seconds, before putting him into Gryffindor.
When it came to Justin, the hat put him into Hufflepuff before it touched his head as well, although it sounded more concerned for its own safety than for accurate results.
Eventually, it came down to only Harry and Malfoy remaining. The hat sorted Malfoy into Slytherin without hesitation, leaving Harry as the last student who remained unsorted.
"Harry Potter." The name was called, and the entire hall's attention was, once again, focused on the beautiful young boy who practically radiated innocence as he walked up to the hat, a childish smile on his face.
Then, as soon as the hat touched his head, it began to scream.
"ABOMINATION! GET ME OFF OF HIM! SLYTHERIN! GODRIC'S GREY TONSILS, GET ME OFF OF HIM! SLYTHERIN DAMMIT, SLYTHERIN!" The hat continued to scream as it was taken off the boy's head, Harry walking over to his house's table. Nobody was clapping for him, everyone being too focused on the hat's cries, the object in question bawling inconsolably on its stool.
"It was awful... The blood, all that blood..." The hat muttered under its breath. Then, as Harry was almost at his table, a single pair of hands started to clap as Malfoy celebrated. Slowly, a ripple of cautious clapping spread across the room, drowning out the hat's raving. Harry took a seat next to Malfoy, and waited for the feast to begin. The applause died down as Dumbledore, the headmaster, stood.
"Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Now, before the feast can begin, I have a few words to say: Nitwit, Blubber, Oddment, Tweak!"
With those words, a great pile of food appeared on a multitude of plates that covered the four house tables, allowing the feast to begin. Harry daintily loaded his plate with a multitude of foods, mostly meats. Then, he pulled out his sacrificial knife, the blade screaming as it sliced through chicken, any meat it touched slowly beginning to twist from warp energy. Harry then ate the neatly sliced, mutated meat. Those sitting nearby could have sworn they heard it scream as Harry ate it.
Looking around for the faces of his fellow Chaos champions, Harry spied Neville first. The boy was seemingly growing more and more frustrated as the roasted pig he was trying to carve refused to cooperate. Finally, the boy snapped, his eyes glowing red as he flew into a rage, ripping the roasted meat apart with his bare hands before shoving it, bones and all, into his mouth. Then, the rage subsided, and the boy looked on sheepishly as the rest of the table stared at the boy who had devoured an entire roast pig in the span of a few seconds.
Hermione, meanwhile, was the envy of her table. Several students crowded her as she ate, likely questioning her as to the origin of her prodigious magical strength. Harry caught the flash of sapphire as Hermione showed off her Mark of Tzeentch. However, the exact opposite was happening at the Hufflepuff table, with Justin being seated at one end of the table, while the rest of the Hufflepuffs were densely packed on the other end.
Finally, Harry's eyes came to rest on Malfoy, who was feeding one of his two female companions, both of which had been sorted into Slytherin as well. The girl in question was lying down across the bench, head in Malfoy's lap, a coy smile on her face. Both girls had fawned on the boy incessantly during the ride, proof of Draco's Slaaneshi blessing. All it took was a few depraved rituals, and Draco Malfoy would become a perfect champion for his god!
Harry continued to eat, answering the occasional question from one of his new house-mates, although his somewhat disturbing childlike demeanor, along with the screaming knife that he quickly sliced his meat into ribbons with, soon drove all but the most determined questioners off.
Albus Dumbledore looked at a certain green eyed, black haired boy with barely disguised concern. He had paid more attention than most to the Sorting Hat's distress, and quite frankly, was disturbed. The hat must have sensed the fragment of Voldemort's soul in him, causing him to be sorted incorrectly. It was the only possible explanation! How could any child, especially one as innocent as Harry apparently was, ever qualify as something so terrible that the Sorting Hat had begged to be takin off his head?
Regardless, Harry's sorting into Slytherin, whether by fate or by mistake, had put a serious damper on all of Dumbledore's plans for the boy. Having all but explicitly stated that the boy belonged in Gryffindor, Dumbledore had made extensive arrangements for once that had occurred, but Slytherin was all Severus' domain. While Minerva would be more than happy to co-operate with him when it came to the Boy-who-lived, Snape, while loyal, would have been extremely averse to any indication that Potter was receiving special treatment.
Tapping his glasses, he examined the pale skinned, black haired boy once again. His spectacles allowed for him to 'see' a person's magical potential as a disturbance in the air around them, and he was curious about Harry's. What he saw shocked him to his very core. An ordinary wizard would have a very faint, barely visible aura around him, but Harry's was clearly visible, and extended in one massive, multicolored, seething bubble to encompass most of the room! Occasionally, Dumbledore noted, small bubbles of magic would actually break away entirely from Potter's magic reserve, before joining up with the ambient magic field generated by the school's warding system.
As he was examining this field, he noticed four other interesting auras in the room. The most visible of them was the Ravenclaw girl, Hermione Granger, the girl surrounded by a crackling blue aura that was visible even to the naked eye, and extended even further out invisible to it! An angry, boiling red aura surrounded a boy that Harry recognized as Neville Longbottom, the boy who, Dumbledore noted, had torn apart and swallowed an entire roast pig in what seemed like some sort of magically induced rage.
A Justin Finch-Fletchley carried a sickly green aura, the energy radiating off the boy in waves, like some sort of ethereal stench, not surprising considering the Muggle Born student's strange magical malady, which had baffled everyone that Professor McGonagall had described it to. The final aura, Dumbledore noted with some distaste, belonged to a Slytherin named Draco Malfoy, the boy in question shamelessly exploiting a pair of girls that he had no doubt intimidated into becoming his mistresses through use of his pure-blood heritage. His aura was a decadent pink, seemingly pulsing as he stroked the hair of the girl leaning against him.
Then, his eyes wandered back to Harry, and Dumbledore noticed something odd about his aura's coloration. Ordinary auras were barely visible, seeming to faintly tint the nearby air in a single color, like purple or blue. In the case of the four unique students, their auras were clearly visible and easily distinguished in terms of color. However, Harry's aura was unique in that it incorporated the colors of all the other four unique auras in the room, blending angry red, pulsating pink, sickly green, and electric blue into one constantly swirling malestorm that made Dumbledore's mind hurt just by looking directly at its source!
Tapping his spectacles once again, Dumbledore quietly sighed in relief now that his eyes no longer were staring at an impossible vortex. He spent the rest of the feast deep in thought, his mind pondering the enigma that was Harry Potter.
Dessert was delicious, and Harry was free to indulge with the blessing of Slaanesh. After all, the god's blessing made his figure remain at the epitome of beauty for his time, regardless of how much or how little he ate. As such, his plate was quickly loaded with pastries, cakes, and confections of all shapes and sizes, all of which vanished with disturbing speed. Next to him, Malfoy seemed to be taking an almost orgasmic pleasure from the new sensations afforded to him by the Mark of Slaanesh.
Finally, dessert drew to a close, much to Harry's disappointment. It was then that Dumbledore spoke again, giving a set of reminders, namely stating that A. The Forbidden Forest was, in fact, Forbidden, B. Magic was forbidden in the corridors between classes, which drew a short laugh from Tzeentch, and C. That the third floor corridor on the right hand side was out of bounds for anyone who did not 'wish to die a most painful death'.
"Had he said that last statement any differently, even Khorne the Thick Skulled would have realized that he's trying to bait someone, specifically you, as you are the only student of any interest in this disappointing lot. That man is a shame to plotters and schemers everywhere! I'll be glad to show him just how a true lord of treachery and deceit operates!" Tzeentch declared, passion entering the usually dispassionate god's voice. As Harry already knew, Tzeentch took his job as the lord of sorcery, deceit, change, etc. VERY seriously.
Then, Dumbledore had decided to lead the school in a performance of the School Song, which Harry enjoyed, although his Daemonic chanting of the song's lyrics was rather unnerving, to say the least.
Finally, when the song was finished, the students followed their house Prefects down to their respective dormitories, where they would get a good night's rest and prepare for an exciting first day of school.
Harry clutched his knife in anticipation.
A/N: As this chapter's existence indeed proves, this story will be continued. With regards to some of my older stories, Special Task in particular, I am finding it difficult to get the motivation to work on them. Whenever I look back on my earlier work, I can't help but cringe slightly at the rather Mary Sue-ish action present in said story. While I have the storyline all planned out, I just can't find the motivation I need to finish the story, which, by all rights, should have been done ages ago.
My newer stories, at least to me, do not have this blandness, being much more engaging reads, at least for me, so I just find it easier to work on them, hence the focus on updating them before my older stories.