Concurrent Existences
Chapter 34: The Deathly Hallows
The revelation revealed, the secrets are out.
There are many choices, not just one route.
Choose wisely, the end is near.
Your choice will affect all you hold dear.
All of a sudden the pain disappeared, but the voices calling out for her disappeared as well.
Luna didn't even feel herself hit the ground as she closed her eyes.
It was too late.
Volana reached the shooter just as Luna's Stupefy hit the person causing the person to fall backwards and drop the gun to the side, but the shot had been fired.
Half of Volana's body was in a state of dark smoke, but both her arms were formed enough to rip the Cloak of Invisibility off the attacker. The Cloak of Invisibility was supposed to be in the hands of Harry Potter, but since some being was in control over him, it seemed to have been lent out.
Shouts for Luna echoed in the background, but Volana could not peel her sight away from the person under the cloak. Volana shared all of Luna's old memories due to her creation with Luna as a host, and she shared Luna's confusion as to how this person in front of her degraded into this.
Volana was new with emotions, but she knew the strong emotion she was feeling right now.
Hatred.
Hatred for one Ronald Weasley that decided to take a potshot to shoot Hermione in the back. They should have destroyed him when they had a chance. Only destroying his magical core was a mistake, a mistake they now paid for in blood.
The shade finally peeled her attention off the stunned boy on the floor and flew through the air towards Luna, but she was gone.
"Luna fell through the veil!" Both Helena and Hermione were frantic, not expecting what had just happened. No one expected what just happened.
One second Hermione was trying to get Dumbledore's last words, the next Luna was already pushing Hermione out of a bullets way, got hit by it and stumbled over Dumbledore straight into the veil.
This mission was just supposed to be a rescue mission to retrieve Bellatrix, but it seemed as if everything was going in a downward spiral where they had no control over everything...
..., but Volana knew she could do something.
Ever since the destruction of Hogwarts, Volana had felt stronger. She didn't know why, but maybe it was for this moment?
"Helena! Not even ghosts can go through the veil!" Hermione shouted trying to stop the ghostly professor from possibly truly crossing over to the next world.
Volana never truly had a mission or goal of her own. She was just a random creation created from a random experiment that Hermione had done. The shade wasn't resentful of that, she was thankful that she was able to experience life, even if it was just for several days, but now?
The sentient Dementor could somehow feel a resonance within the veil, it seemed as if there was a connection between her and the veil that she couldn't understand. It was worth the risk.
"I will go in after her." Volana stated without room for protest. "I will not last fairly long without Luna and I am the most suitable in charging into the unknown." The two other witches gave nods, accepting that was the best chance they had if there was even a chance.
Hermione knew there weren't any records of anyone ever being recovered from the veil, but had they tried using a weird Dementor? or a ghost? Well, she could only hope for the best.
"Helena, I will need you to anchor me using your magic." It would be the only way to find her way back, if it was even possible. "Hermione, go forward. There's no more time to waste." Volana said with conviction, it seems as if the shade really had a point to her existence now.
Hermione hesitated for a second, but knew there was no choice. She would be of absolutely no help to the shade and the ghost and she still had Bellatrix to recover.
The brunette started walking, towards the idiot that just complicated everything.
Destroying his magical core wasn't enough.
"Why?" Hermione waved her hand, allowing Ron to be at least able to talk. The boy had no magic, but Hermione wasn't going to let up.
"You took my magic! You took my heart! You took my life! All of yours belong to me too!"
Hermione could see the mania in the boy's eyes. She didn't even know if it was his own doing or had the compulsion spells truly eroded his brain, but it was of no consequence. The offense he had committed this time was too grave to forgive.
Another wave of her hand and the boy was silenced, but still conscious. She paced a few steps to the side to pick up the weapon that had been discarded. It was a small revolver, one that could carry up to six bullets and only one shot had been fired. Ron was probably able to acquire it through Arthur, his father, that studied muggle equipment.
Hermione wouldn't kill him, but he wouldn't be forgiven.
Four shots echoed through the room. The boy was screaming in silence since he was within a Muffliato. Both knee caps and both elbows were shot. Hermione cast another spell that would make it the bleeding wounds to slowly rot, making it also impossible for the wounds to ever heal right.
The revolver still had one shot. It was tempting to just fire it through his forehead, but it wasn't her punishment to give, not anymore.
"When Luna comes back, I'll let her decide what to do with the last bullet."
Hermione placed the revolver on top of Ron's chest and casted a Petrificus Totalus just to make sure that he wouldn't crawl away like the worm he is or try to shoot himself to end the pain.
She took one last glance back towards the Archway, seeing only Helena left in deep concentration and began her trek to the Brain Room to get down to the bottom of all this.
The Brain Room was only a minute or two away. It was slightly reassuring that she was alone now, no one else would have to suffer or die if it ever came to that. Hermione knew that they were all dancing to the tune of the Head Auror. Everything that happened in the Death Chamber was planned. The Head Auror said he wanted a private discussion and that there was a surprise and it was obvious that the surprise was for the private discussion to happen.
How far back did his plans even reach? He said she had been able to push his plans forward by decades or even centuries? What plans?
Nothing makes sense anymore.
The large doors to the Brain Room finally came up and without reservation, Hermione entered.
She would get all the answers. If not, well, she had a self-destruct spell just in case.
The Brain Room was surprisingly empty. All the desks, all the glass tanks and even all the brains were gone. It was sparse and there was only one other person in the room waiting for her. The person still held the visage of her best friend, something she would somehow have to fix.
"Finally, a private discussion. Don't worry, the Ministry is still in chaos and the Aurors, Hit Wizards and most other officials are out running after shadows. Oh, here." Potter took a stone from his pocket, almost the same stone as Dumbledore had thrown back in the Death Chamber. Instead of becoming a figure of another person, it turned into a huge, flat mirror-like structure. Hermione's eyes widened when an image appeared on it.
"Bella!" The large mirror-like structure seemed to let them see another area in real-time, almost like scrying with a glass ball or looking through a television.
"Hermione!" Bellatrix could be seen through the large mirror, but the dark witch was tied down to a chair that seem to have magical symbols inscribed in it. The Head Auror waved a hand and no sound could be heard coming from Bellatrix's side. It looked like she was cursing up a storm though.
Hermione paled, not because Bellatrix's magic was probably sealed by all the runes, not even by the dead-eyed looking person guarding her, but because of what was behind her.
"You put her near the Time Void?!" Hermione raged, facing the Head Auror again, but nothing could even take the small grin off his face. Using Harry's visage was just sick.
Behind Bellatrix was the Time Vortex. It happened during the Battle of the Department of Mysteries against the Death Eaters. The Time Vortex was created when all the Time-Turners were hit during the battle with magic, causing them to fall upon themselves. Instead of everything being destroyed, the entire room was trapped in an endless loop of falling and re-falling in an endless cycle and Bellatrix was only a few meters away from it.
"Now, now. She's safe until I make Tom push her into the Vortex. Miss Black is an important anomaly as well and I decided she could be part of this conversation. It is the least I could do after everything both of you have done for me. And, just for reference, an anomaly is a being which is outside of my plans that may stall or advance them. You have been an anomaly ever since you received the Time Limbo, a helpful one though."
Tom Riddle? It looks like the Head Auror had another controlled pawn. She also slightly understood his meaning of being an anomaly. He probably called the pieces on his board that weren't fully under his control anomalies.
Hermione went through dozens of plans, but none of them came out with Bellatrix and her unharmed. One tiny push and Bellatrix could be dead or even worse, unborn. The best course of action would be to goad the Head Auror into complacency while asking him all the questions she had to make sense of everything and to hope Bellatrix could somehow break free.
Only thing to do is to get all the answers.
The very first question was the simplest one.
"Who are you?" It was the question that had been plaguing her for a while now. A question that could give her a chance to plan her next move.
"I am Death." The Head Auror said simply and could see the disbelief in her eyes.
"I can see you don't believe me. Do you remember that book you encountered? Shortly before your Time Limbo happened? During the Time Limbo and even after the Time Limbo? I'm sure you did not think anything of it at the time, but it was what made all this possible." Potter waved his hand causing an illusion of the book that she had seen a few times in the past.
"The book? 'Death and his Dementors'? Made all this possible?" Hermione remembered the book well. It was the book that had fell on top of Ron's head when she had Stupefied him into the bookcase. It was the book she had slightly read during the Time Limbo and also the book she had read again during their secret visit to see the Dumbledore's portrait in the Headmistress' office.
"Yes. Did you not think it strange for your Time-Turner to malfunction by being hit with a Petrificus Totalus? The first time you touched the book was when it was able to enchant your Time-Turner into freezing time when hit by a Stunning-type spell. The book also put it into your head to try and experiment. Did you not ever wonder why you suddenly had the will to experiment?" He grinned as Hermione started to think of connections.
"The Compulsion spell. It was never truly removed when Dumbledore died. His death only dampened the effect. Which allowed your book to reactivate and change the compulsion of being attracted to Ron to making experimentation a hobby." Hermione trailed off, suddenly realizing that almost everything in the past was controlled.
"Yes, smart girl. Although, the very long duration you spent within the Time Limbo was unprecedented and I was not able to account for your going back to the past either. Miss Black was not supposed to exist anymore, nor were you supposed to catch and experiment on a Dementor. Both of those actually slightly interfered with my plans. Anomalies are hard to predict at times."
"Why? What was all this for? Why did you want me to learn and experiment?!" Hermione's temper started to spike. Saying that all her own plans, her own actions were not her own enraged her more than she imagined. It was as if this person was controlling her strings even before she knew he existed.
"That's a better question. Behold!"
A blinding light erupted and all was white.
Hermione opened her eyes to find herself still within the same room, but everything had gone transparent. It was as if they were inside and outside a Pensieve at the same time.
An image of a green landscape came into view. There were so many trees, so many animals, birds and everything else a forest could have. The whole area was just teeming with life.
This was nearly five thousand years ago, closer to six thousand actually. This is the Veil.
Hermione tried scanning around, but could not see the Archway or the Veil.
Ever wonder why Dementors existed in this world?
Hermione didn't. Almost all creatures were supposed to have a purpose in the world, part of the food chain and such, but Dementors didn't really belong anywhere.
They don't belong anywhere because I was the one that brought them into this world. You see, I was unable to pass into this world as a whole and had to separate myself in order to slowly encroach upon this world. Each Dementor bears a sliver of my soul and my power. I actually did this over ten thousand years ago, but it took almost five thousand years for them to start coalescing...
And, what you see right now are the Dementors coalescing after five thousand years.
One Dementor slowly floated in towards the center of the forest that had a little area that was bare of trees and slightly elevated. Hermione could then see the thin fluttering of the Veil on the elevated area.
Hermione could see the vision move faster.
Two Dementors then three, then ten.
Twenty. Fifty.
Soon Hermione could see thousands of Dementors in the area. Trees were dying, animals fled or died, it was as if nothing could live or grow while all the Dementors continued circling the area. The mass of Dementors started overlapping one another, it seemed as if they were trying to consume one another until eventually there was only one blot of darkness left.
Yes, this is when I came into being within this world. This was approximately 3500 B.C.
Even if it was only a vision of the past, Hermione could feel the power radiating from the newly born or reborn entity. A power that could destroy everything with a whim.
Yes. I could have destroyed everything with a whim as I have done with the past thousands of worlds that I have been to, but why do you think I chose to slowly coalesce rather than use brute force? Simple. I wanted to exist in a world, not destroy it, not yet anyway.
Hermione could see the all powerful entity try to interact with other beings, but it was impossible. Everything it touched died. Everywhere it went, everything swiftly fled or died.
True. I am Death and could cause it just by existing. It gets boring when everything just dies and that's when I decided I wanted to truly exist in this world. Not as a god or a specter, but as one of its inhabitants...
It was simple. Splitting myself into Dementors would only cause them to fuse again into myself centuries later. Dementors are non-beings that were not truly part of this world, and I needed something to be a part of this world.
Something?
Relics. Artifacts. Items that were solid. Items that other beings could use. You know of them well. The artifacts that I created were, as you call them, the Deathly Hallows. There were not only three Deathly Hallows, there were several hundred.
Each Deathly Hallow I created allowed me to further attach myself to the world, but with each Deathly Hallow created, I slowly lost a bit of my soul and power along the way. Dementors were also produced after each Deathly Hallow as a type of byproduct. The Dementors produced this way would not be able to coalesce since they are bound to the Deathly Hallow they were created from, if the Deathly Hallow was destroyed, so were the Dementors that were created from them.
Eventually, my consciousness faded. Several hundred Deathly Hallows were created, several hundred semi-mindless Dementors existed and I lost myself, but it was the start of my plan.
Plan?
You didn't think I did all that for nothing? What do sentient beings do when they receive artifacts of power? What do you think they did when they received my Deathly Hallows?
War.
Yes, Hermione. War. My Deathly Hallows were pitted against one another for thousands of years. They were used as Holy Weapons, Satanic Symbols and whatever else you can imagine. Each time a Deathly Hallow was destroyed, my consciousness would slowly flutter. Slowly, but surely I was becoming whole again, but this time I would be anchored to this world.
Anchored?
At separate points in time my consciousness was built up enough to nudge people's actions. At other points in time it was even enough to possess people, not fully, but enough to direct their actions into my favor, direct them into killing one another and to further destroy more Deathly Hallows. You see, I am more attuned to other Death Hallows, like the Elder Wand.
Merlin, this is all madness.
Ah yes, Merlin. Who do you think killed Morgan le Fay? She was one of the strongest witches in existence and also the worst of the anomalies that destroyed and stalled many of my plans. She was the greatest witch of her time, but she was not trusted by her fellow man, which worked in my favor.
Who do you think they trusted? Yes. Merlin. Merlin who was in use of a Deathly Hallow which was fully attuned to me. The Deathly Hallow and Merlin were both fully compatible with each other that I was able to control him, if not for Morgan le Fay, history would have been completely different. Even, the Excalibur wielded by Arthur was a Deathly Hallow. It was amusing for Merlin, Arthur and their armies to go against Morgan le Fay, the only witch that could have truly expelled me at the time.
It took Merlin, Arthur, their Kingdom and all their armies to bring down Morgan le Fay, but it was worth it, even if my consciousness was destroyed at that time by a final magical curse casted by Morgan le Fay.
Monster.
Another time when I had consciousness, I had another army to control, but most of the legions I had under my command were all obliterated by Joan of Arc. The Maid of Orleans was creating peace and had to be destroyed, after all, I needed war. She was using a Deathly Hallow as well, but as I said, I cannot remotely command them, I can only command the few Hallows which I am truly attuned to. I would say she was the most destructive of all the anomalies because she was fully attuned to the Deathly Hallow that I was not attuned to. She was actually able to freely wield Obliteration magic, stronger than the one you have casted before. It took several legions of soldiers, but I was finally able to have her burn, but not before my consciousness faded yet again.
Now, you see where everything began. There are a lot more instances, most of the anomalies were women actually, but I believe you have other questions for me.
Another blinding light came and engulfed everything.
"Welcome back, Hermione and Bellatrix. I hope the past was... enlightening. I did say I would show you all the answers." Potter nodded at both the witches. One was in deep contemplation and the other was trying to shoot lasers out of her eyes.
"So, everything that happened to me... All the people that you manipulated that were close to me... It was all because you wanted me to destroy the left over Deathly Hallows?" Hermione opened her eyes, now very wary at the being in front of her. She still had no plan of attack, how the hell would you beat something close to a Deity? A Deity that was bored enough to try and bring itself into the real world.
"Yes. I cannot actively destroy a Deathly Hallow, myself. I need to find enemies that would destroy them for me. It does go against my existence to try and destroy myself, beings of my existence do have some rules. But, yes, each Deathly Hallow you have destroyed slowly anchors me further to this world. There were only a few Deathly Hallows left and you have almost destroyed them all for me." He grinned, the girl probably didn't even know which ones he was indicating.
"I destroyed the fragments of the Elder Wand to destroy Hogwarts and the fragments of the Resurrection Stone to create Volana, but I haven't destroyed anything else." Hermione wondered if she should just let him fully anchor himself to the world and then blow him up? Maybe he'd died like the rest of them?
"Yes, you have. Hogwarts' destruction. Along with Hogwarts, you destroyed the Sorting Hat. You also destroyed the Sword of Gryffindor which was actually within Hogwarts at the time. And, now all that's left are..." The Head Auror suddenly closed his eyes for a bit, but a second later opened them. "... is the Cloak of Invisibility. Which I know you have within your robes now. It seems as if the fragments of the Resurrection Stone are fully gone. Condolences to your sentient Dementor. Now, there are probably only one or two Dementors even left in this world." Dementors are tied to the Deathly Hallow that spawned them. Some Deathly Hallows may produce one Dementor and some may produce hundreds.
"Volana?"
"Yes, her. No matter how small, she's still a piece of my soul. And, that piece has just returned. I can feel another part of my soul empowering my connection to this realm" He knew how the sentient Dementor would act. Even if she had gained more power from the destruction of the other Deathly Hallows, the Veil was something else entirely.
"And, Dumbledore? Were you already using him when he killed Nymphadora Tonks?" Hermione's questions were almost up and she was preparing herself for a battle. She could do nothing for Volana or anyone else right now. There would be a time for mourning and grieving after all this was put to rest. Hermione took a sidelong glance towards Bellatrix and the dark witch was still trying to glare the Head Auror to death.
"It is simple really. My consciousness actually manifested with Gellert Grindelwald when he came in contact with the Elder Wand. While I was able to take up most his consciousness, his attraction to Dumbledore was the only thing that actually kept most of his personality intact. Eventually, I was able remotely allow the Elder Wand to accidentally misfire and kill Albus Dumbledore's sister during a quarrel which led to their falling out and to my further empowerment and influence over his body." He answered, paying no mind to the nasty glares from the side.
"But, Dumbledore defeated Grindelwald. You possessed him too?" Hermione could see it all coming together. It was like everything had been planned for centuries.
"Yes, somewhat, he did touch and use the Elder Wand. Dumbledore was smart enough to use the Elder Wand sparsely, so I could only nudge him. However, I was able to nudge him enough to make him put the Compulsion Charm enchantment on the Sorting Hat Deathly Hallow. I was able to make Dumbledore paranoid enough to try and control everyone and everything within his surroundings. He was even paranoid enough to create a Horcrux on his pet Phoenix. Technically, all the Deathly Hallows are Horcruxes in a way, having a Horcrux just makes my influence over them even easier." It was simple to whisper within Dumbledore's mind that everything was for 'the Greater Good'.
Hermione was about to interrupt, but he continued.
"Like I said, I could sparsely control Dumbledore, but I found another target to use. Tom Riddle. His control was easy after being subjected to the Sorting Hat. I was able to allow the humans to create multiple sides to allow multiple wars. Most wars from other races, witch hunts, goblin rebellions and other instances were mostly my doing. Each Deathly Hallow has an innate power to corrupt the user with my own influence."
"And Tonks?" The witch recalled how she saw the memories in which Dumbledore had killed Tonks in cold blood.
"I may be anchored to this world, but I do not have my own body. I still need compatible hosts. Harry Potter is a fine host, but the only reason I was able to control him to this extent was because of the damage to his body and the induced recovery coma by the infirmary. Now... dear Edward Tonks on the other hand is a different story. I haven't been this compatible with a host since Merlin." The boy would be properly raised and then he would be able to slowly encroach upon the boys personality. It would be a trifling thing to create one or two artifacts that could be given to the boy as a gift.
"What is with Dumbledore and Voldemort's state?"
"Easy. After Dumbledore supposedly died, I just introduced him to a resurrected Voldemort and both of them began to kill each other, repeatedly. The cycle of death and resurrection happened several times until Dumbledore's mind was destroyed and weak enough after multiple resurrections. Voldemort's mind has been destroyed for quite a while now. I wasn't even the one who made him look like a snake, he chose that on his own." Both men were just too useful to leave dead and resurrecting them wasn't that hard either with some of their Horcruxes still active. He chose to make them look younger though, eye candy for future anomalies maybe? Since most anomalies were female for some reason.
"My last question. Why did you have Voldemort undermine Bellatrix?" Hermione could see how Voldemort was focused on Bellatrix's progression or stalling her true potential.
"Isn't that fairly obvious, my dear? Miss Black had the capability to rival Morgan le Fay. You've seen her magic, even if after she had been under so many negative spells. Their magic prowess, innate power and genius were second to none. Not even you would be in their league. Your discoveries during your Time Limbo may have given you the edge over near everyone due to using lost ancient knowledge and gaining years of experience, but that's it. The moment the Sorting Hat was placed on Miss Black, I knew I had to control her." The time his Sorting Hat Deathly Hallow had come in contact with Bellatrix was when he last felt the pure emotion of fear. The taste of the girl's magic and soul were eerily similar to Morgan le Fay and he just had to nip the bud, or put it in his own garden for growth to be controlled. "You should have seen my meeting a while ago with Miss Black. If she wasn't so attuned to dark magics, I may have had a bit of a problem." Had the melee attack been a different element, it could have had a very bad outcome. What wizard or witch used melee attacks these days?!
"And what now?" The witch finally ran out of questions.
"That is the question, isn't it? I have repaid all I owe you for your help by answering all your questions, but I have done the same with numerous anomalies throughout the centuries. Why? Simple. The less Deathly Hallows in existence, the less power of manipulation I have over others. There are no more Deathly Hallows left to corrupt others with my will, I have reabsorbed them all aside from the cloak you have. I would like both of you to join me. Oh, and I just like gloating, really, it does make an existence less boring."
"Join? In what?" Hermione questioned, her mind was still reeling at all the information she had just gotten. She did ignore the part about gloating. She contemplated on attacking while he was explaining, but couldn't see any possible avenue of attack.
"Possibly destroy other races, I'm not sure. It has been a long time since most my consciousness was in one place and with full lucidity. Weakening all races has become my best past time over the centuries after all." He did need to find a goal. Anything that wouldn't be boring probably, that was the reason he had chosen to exist within this realm after all.
"No." Hermione wouldn't accept any proposal from this being. She knew that Bellatrix wouldn't accept any stipulation no matter how great the reward is if it was under someone else. It didn't even matter if it meant getting out of this alive.
Living under this being would be their undoing.
"Well, then. You will have to die. Anomalies have to die or be controlled. There's no thinking of the possibilities that you may create when left alone." Being an anomaly and knowing everything, it was almost like Morgan le Fay all over again.
Death could see Hermione readying herself for combat, he also could see the undercurrent of magic power just beneath her skin and the soft glow through her robes. A surprised grin formed on his face as he realized what the girl had been trying to do to her own body. He wasn't even sure she knew exactly what she had already achieved.
"While I seek to anchor myself and be closer to humans albeit using hosts, it is ironic that you have been doing the opposite. Are you attempting to be a god? You have actually tied your own magic to your own life force! I'm impressed, you have actually achieved pseudo-immortality." He laughed. Maybe he had underestimate the girl's drive. Perhaps, she was on the level of Morgan le Fay and Bellatrix Black after all. "Are you sure you would not like to join me? I know that you have ways to persuade Miss Black to see things your way."
"I am only furthering the potential of my magic and as a defense against any people or beings trying to kill Bella and I. And, no. We will not join you." Maybe Hermione had gone a bit over the edge with her experiments, but power was the only thing that would protect them now. Power she would use to save them both from a being that isn't supposed to exist in the world.
"Pity." A small nod from the Head Auror and the most horrifying thing happened.
Tom Riddle pushed Bellatrix into the Time Vortex.
No!
All at once, Hermione could feel her world collapsing. Bellatrix's frozen expression of surprise stuck on Hermione's mind as the vortex engulfed her and the chair she had been confined in.
Along with Bellatrix were her hopes of the future and her hopes of a peaceful life. Her hopes of one day seeing the unborn child that Bellatrix held within her. Her hopes of having a family...
... all dashed away in an instant.
Everything was lost.
Nothing mattered anymore, except vengeance.
Nothing else registered in Hermione's mind except rage. Nothing else filled Hermione's vision, but the smirking visage of Harry Potter right in front of her.
He would die.
Hermione could feel the magic surge through her veins. She could feel the imbued magical threads extend even further encroaching on all possible areas.
Death marveled at the person in front of him if he could even call her human anymore. The girl had actually infused her own magical core with cores meant for wands and artifacts within her own body and succeeded. The magical thread spread out like white glowing veins throughout the girl's body, but the most eerie thing were her eyes. The magical thread had crept up her neck, up to the sides of her face and encroached into her eyes causing them to glow with power. He could see more of the threads spreading, reaching out to her arms and legs. It was amazing that a human had even survived the process, nearly her whole body was infused with power! The bright white glow almost enveloping her body in pulses of magical power...
... It was almost like himself before tethering himself to this world, just covered in black pulses of death magics.
Underestimated indeed.
Death laughed.
"I might be more human than you at the moment, Hermione Granger."
AN: Well, I hope I was able to explain everything fairly well. Sorry if it's a bit wordy. I also posted this a bit early because I won't have access to a computer this weekend, so I decided to play safe and post it now since I just finished it anyway.
The Deathly Hallows basically include most mythical weapons you can think of. Many of the old Deathly Hallows were reforged into other weapons, but still remain a Deathly Hallow. (The form, power and element of the weapon can change, but it is still a Deathly Hallow.)
Death created several hundred Deathly Hallows from himself, this does not mean that all of the Deathly Hallows are powered by dark magics. Each time he created a Deathly Hallow, some Dementors were born as a byproduct. Imagine an invisible God that could kill everyone, but no one would know he even existed, this is the reason why he wanted to truly exist within the mortal plane.
Each time a Deathly Hallow is destroyed, it empowers all the others and sometimes allows Death's consciousness to resurface within a Deathly Hallow that is most closely attuned with him.
Soooo yes, the Master of Death, Death itself has been manipulating everything for thousands of years.
Around 8500 BC - Dementors slowly entered the world
Around 3500 BC - Death born, Deathly Hallows mass creation
If anything is confusing, don't hesitate to shoot me a question.