Disclaimer: I do not own any character's objects or anything else that comes from J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series.
Warning: This story will contain scenes of violence, bad language, and maybe other themes that some audiences may find unsuitable. You have been advised.
When You Have Nothing Left to Lose
Chapter 3
Susan Bones strode past the cubicles that led to her office. "I want Megan Jones in my office now!" She shouted before swinging open her office door and slamming it shut. She then paced in front of her desk, waiting for her aide.
A minute later, Megan Jones entered the office, closing the door behind her.
"Yes, Susan? You wanted to see me?"
"What the bloody hell is going on with Harry Potter? He goes and takes part in a Death Eater raid with fifty other aurors, and now, all fifty of them are dead with Potter missing! Do you know how impertinent it is for him to be found? Minister Corner is already barking up my arse with demands!" Susan shouted.
"Susan, calm down. All available aurors are out looking for that man. We can only wait for one of them to turn up something." Megan tried soothing her boss and long-time friend.
Susan sighed. "Try telling that to Corner. Let me know if anything happens that I should be briefed on. I'm going to try and see if I can get the Minister to stop breathing down my neck." Susan then walked out of the office with Megan in tow, but one went to the elevator while the other was lost amongst the cubicles.
Meanwhile, in the mountainous region of the United Kingdom known as Scotland, one of the Ministry's worst fears was coming to life.
"Why am I here? I expected to jump from one pureblooded manor to the next, not be in Scotland." A man with raven hair and emerald eyes asked. He wore an entirely black outfit consisting of boots, a pair of loose pants, and a robe that draped around Harry's body excluding his head where a hood was absent.
"Too easily could the Ministry send a raiding party while you are being trained and find out that you live." Daphne replied as they began to walk up the side of the unnamed mountain they were on.
"Oh."
The pair continued walking until they reached a plateau, where Daphne quickly stopped Harry with an outreached hand. "This place is under the fidelius charm. It is called the Scotland Mountain Hideaway."
Harry then looked in front of him to see the formerly empty plateau become a manor.
The manor was quite simple, having no frivolous features about it. The entire building was made of midnight black bricks and wooden trim with similarly tinted windows. Outside the windows, small platforms had been made to occupy at most two people. The manor was three stories high, including the ground floor. While impressive in size and menacing in color, the building looked rather ordinary compared to most other manors.
"It might not seem to you to impress greatly, but this manor is more than it seems." Daphne said before walking forward and toward the front door of the building.
"Milady." A Death Eater with his mask on bowed as soon as he saw his leader enter. He had a slight Welsh accent. Then the man turned after closing the door and saw Harry.
"Potter!" The Death Eater growled, drawing his wand.
"Hold!" Daphne commanded. The subordinate seemed unsure of himself. "I notified you that I was bringing a new recruit that would be my second-in-command after training. Who do you think the man in front of me is?"
"But… Potter is Ministry." The man said softly.
Daphne growled. "Do not question me."
"Yes, milady." The Death Eater shrunk back.
"Now, I want you to bring… Harry… over to the tattoo artist to get the Death Eater tattoo I had Charles design especially for our newest member." Daphne had paused to grow used to her second-in-command's name. "Then, bring him to the tailor for his uniform. After that, take him to the forger for his mask, and finally show him his room. Tomorrow morning, I want you to start training him. Push him as you would any other new member destined to become an officer amongst our ranks, but do not spite him for his past attacks on us, for without them we would not be what we are today in our growing glory."
"Daphne, I also need a wand. The one I've been using doesn't perfectly suit me. I've managed to adapt to it over the years, but…" Harry added, slightly embarrassed.
"I understand." Daphne nodded. She had heard the rumors that Harry had lost his wand back in '97 when a snatcher had thrown away the already damaged wand and that he had since used Draco Malfoy's former wand as its replacement. Daphne turned towards the Death Eater. "Before showing him his room, take him to see Wilbur in Knockturn Alley."
"It will be done, madam. Shall I have the house-elves prepare your room for you, or will you just be dropping off Potter?" The Death Eater asked as politely as he could.
"I have other business to attend to. I will return unannounced at some point in the near future to check his progress and to ensure that my soon-to-be head lieutenant is not being mistreated." Daphne said.
"Yes, milady. I will personally make sure of it." The Death Eater bowed yet again.
"Good because if he is not taken care of, I will hold you accountable for any and all transgressions." Daphne threatened.
Underneath the man's mask, his face was the epitome of fear. Nodding her slight approval, Daphne turned and exited the manor without another word.
"You are a lucky one, Potter. I don't know what our esteemed leader sees in you, but there are those who deserve your position more than you, to say the least. People who have been committed to this organization for many years while you just came in and were handed your seat of power… but our leader has given me my orders. While I may not like it, you will be treated fairly, but know that you have much to prove to gain my respect." The Death Eater said.
"I understand and will do my best to… but you should know that I have more experience being in danger than any Death Eater you can come up with. I may not know the Dark Arts, but I am a man who had to become a fighter just to survive. Since my first year of Hogwarts, I have been in almost constant danger; so do not act like I am some inexperienced schoolboy who can't even hold a wand properly. I deserve more than you are giving me credit for." Harry growled back, staring into the eyes of the silver mask with a deadly coldness.
"Very well." The man strained before turning around. "Follow me." Without turning around to see if Harry was following, the Death Eater began walking deeper into the dimly lit building.
As with most pureblood manors, the interior walls were covered in a panel of wood. Unlike the outside of the building, the walls were a marble white, but still had no further details. Not a painting could be seen as the two navigated the apparently enlarged manor.
Finally, a staircase broke up the bleak features of the interior. Surprisingly, however, the staircase led up five floors with a landing on each to allow a person to access each of the five, but that was not the most impressive revelation that came to Harry upon seeing the staircase. As well as leading up, the staircase led to another many floors below the one the two were currently on. Harry could not count how many due to a lack of light at a certain point. While torches lined the walls around the staircase, only when a person approached did one light on fire, illuminating another part of the staircase.
Harry took all of this in as he descended down the first set of stairs. After reaching the second below-ground floor, the still unnamed Death Eater led Harry off the staircase. After another few minutes of walking did the man stop outside a door marked "Tattoo Artist."
Without knocking, the man opened the door with Harry closing it behind them.
The room was much like the rest of the building with black walls but was much brighter to allow the artist to perform his trade easier. Opposite of the doorway, a plain wooden bench to sit upon lined the one wall. On the wall to the right of the doorway, another bench rested but was much wider and shorter, indicating that it was where a person would lay for his or her tattoo. Beside the bench was a person-sized mirror, allowing one to examine his or her tattoo. To the left of the doorway, there was a counter with many designs laying upon the top in an unorganized fashion. Behind the counter was a man who looked to be in his early fifties. He had gray hair that receded on both sides of the center at the front of his head.
"Charles, Potter is here for his tattoo." The Death Eater said.
"Ah, yes. Daphne told me that he would be getting his sometime today." Charles said, looking up from his latest design. To Harry, it seemed to be a bunch of jagged lines. Charles then swung around his counter, picking up a covered design along the way. "Come here, Mr. Potter. I'm sorry for the lack of comfortable seating arrangements, but our organizations funding is needed in other areas."
"No worries." Harry said softly as Charles had Harry sit down on the bench opposite of the counter.
"Roll up your left sleeve to the elbow at least please." Charles said as he uncovered the design.
A second later, the material of the robe was scrunched up around Harry's left shoulder, so Charles began laying the design of the tattoo on Harry's left forearm. The artist then removed his wand and mumbled a quick spell. Before doing anything else, though, Charles said something that made Harry curious.
"Black." The man had stated before drawing the lines of the tattoo with his wand.
"Why'd you say black?" Harry asked. He had no idea what the design was and could not clearly see what was being outlined, so Harry decided to not confuse himself any further.
"It's the color I'm using. Now, please no more talking. I need to concentrate." Charles replied, pausing in his work but not looking up. The room then was silent once more.
After a few minutes, Charles interrupted the quiet.
"Filler. Black."
Harry guessed that all of the lines of the tattoo were done, but the design being engrained in his arm required parts to be filled to make it better.
After a few seconds, Charles switched to yellow but said for it to be smaller. After a shorter amount of time than the last, Charles switched to red and continued his work, which only remained for ten seconds.
"Ah. I think you might be done. Just give me a moment to clean it off and make sure." Charles said proudly before casting the scouring charm on Harry's new tattoo. Stepping back to admire his work, Charles smiled. "You are done. Go look at your first tattoo. I hope it will be the first of many."
Harry rose from his seated position and walked over to the mirror, his left sleeve still pushed up around his shoulder. Looking at it, he saw the resemblance to the original Dark Mark, but the tattoo was much different from the one Harry had first seen on Karkaroff's arm back in fourth year. Like the original, the snake was in a twisted formation with a skull at the top. Harry's, though, had a wolf's head instead of a human skull, and the snake was a basilisk, not a python. While it was still the same size as the python, Harry could tell it was a basilisk by the yellow eyes and even more clearly because of when Harry had been about to be bitten by the creature as it approached him. The basilisk's mouth was open and facing toward all who looked upon the tattoo. The entire design was black excluding where Harry's skin showed through, the yellow eyes of the basilisk, and the red ones of the wolf.
"Why a wolf and basilisk?" Harry asked, turning to Charles.
"Daphne said that she wanted you to have something fearsome and reflected part of your past but still showed your allegiance to our organization. The basilisk is the king of snakes so I used it, and the wolf is your godfather's animagus form. I remember some of the first Death Eaters saying that he looked like a wolf while not a human." Charles explained. "Everyone knows that the basilisk's eyes are yellow, and I thought that red would make the wolf's eyes look more impressive."
Harry chuckled. "Sirius's animagus form was a dog not a wolf. Though, he did come close, I must admit."
Charles's eyes went wide in shock. "Oh, I'm so sorry. If you give me a few more minutes, I can change it. Just tell me a better depiction of him." He said in a rush.
"Charles, it's fine. I think he would have been rather happy to be called a mighty wolf for once instead of a mutt. Besides, the way it is looks rather nice. I wouldn't want to ruin a piece of art like it." Harry admired his left forearm.
Charles sighed deeply in relief. "All right… as long as you are sure?"
"I think it's absolutely brilliant. I wouldn't change a thing." Harry replied with a smile.
Charles beamed at the praise of a customer loving some of his creativity. "Very well. Feel free to visit me again if you want another."
"I'll definitely think it over."
"As much as this is all good and cheery, we still have other places to visit in the manor for today. Thank you, Charles, for getting it done so quickly. You are the best." The Death Eater showed some compassion towards the artist before guiding Harry out the door.
After going up a floor and again navigating the corridors, the two arrived at a door marked "Tailor." After entering a woman quickly and silently brought Harry up to a circular platform where she began taking his measurements. She then took her measurements into the back where she matched them with a design Daphne had requested for Harry. It consisted of a tight-fitting set of a long-sleeve shirt and pants made of a soft but durable black cloth. The material also made up Harry's cape that reached his shoes. The shoes covered a third of Harry's leg below the knee and were made of dragonhide. They, like the rest of the outfit, were jet black. They way the outfit was worn; the pants were tucked into the shoes.
Harry was pleased with the outfit after trying it on, so he decided to continue to wear it out the door. Tomorrow, though, Harry planned to wear his original outfit so as not to ruin this one.
The pair were then off again, but this time they traveled to the bottom of the building.
Unlike the rest of the manor, the walls and floor were made of solid gray rock. Harry guessed that the halls and rooms had been carved out of this stone. They passed a few doors made of metal until Harry's companion found the one he wanted.
It was marked: "Mask-Maker."
The Death Eater twisted the handle and pushed the metal with much force for it to slowly open, revealing a metalworker's smithy.
In one area, a fire roared out of a brick encasement with a pipe leading into a cabinet beside it filled with several melted materials in different containers. In another area, a pool was constantly flowing as a waterfall had been made from the side of the rock with the pool slowly emptying out into the floor. Another held an anvil with hammers of great size hanging on the wall beside it. An area had also been designated for mask designs so as to not have to remember for long periods of time what was being worked on. The last part of the massive stone room held a bed, a chair, and a cabinet showing off many decorative masks.
"Ah. Another one gets a mask, eh?" A man in his thirties with brown hair asked with a thick Scottish accent. He was heavy-set but seemed to be pure muscle.
"Yeah. Potter."
"Oh, Daphne told me you would be comin' by. I took the liberty to already make one. It gets tiresome having to make one to order and the wait is pretty long. I'll just need to see how it fits your face." The man then went over to a previously unnoticed rack of metal masks and retrieved one.
The mask was a dark gray due to it only being metal but still impressed Harry. It had many teeth on the top and bottom of the mouth that looked to be canines with small holes in between them, allowing a person to breath. Above the holes for the eyes, lines had been carved to make the face look angry. The cheeks were flat along with most of the face, excluding the nose, which was more pronounced amongst the face but did not jut out. The only other thing about the mask that separated it from any other Harry had seen was that some of the top was missing. This would allow the wearer's hair to show. Overall, Harry liked the look of it.
"I see you like my handiwork. Just wait until the silver is applied. Now, just give me a moment…" The man placed the mask onto Harry's face, and surprisingly it stuck with ease. Despite this, though, the mask did not fit Harry's face by a slight margin, but that margin caused him much discomfort.
"Just give me a second." The mask-maker took his work and applied a charm to the inside before refitting the mask on Harry's face. This time it fit Harry perfectly as it molded itself to his face. "Perfect." The man smiled before taking the mask. "Just give me a few moments to add some silver onto the front." He then began walking towards the cabinet beside the forge.
"Will it hold up against any spells?" Harry asked curiously. Recently on raids, the DMLE had been faced with Death Eater masks with strong wards that stopped most weaker spells.
"Of course." The man grinned, turning around for a moment before removing a container filled with molten silver. The mask-maker then wandlessly floated some of the precious metal onto the mask, distributing it in a fine but distinct layer equally along the entire mask. "I focused on that in school. I've always wanted to be a metalworker." The man explained as he saw Harry's curious gaze. After he finished speaking, the man floated the mask in front of him while he walked toward the pool of water. The man then gently submerged the mask in the water facedown. As soon as the water and molten metal touched, a cloud of steam erupted along the surface of the mask, cooling the silver and imprinting it on the mask. After twenty seconds of this, the man floated the mask out of the water and into his hands.
"Ah, perfect. Won't even have to reapply some more silver"
Harry then saw the mask as its maker turned it towards Harry. All of the details of the mask were enhanced by its new color, intensifying the awe and the fear felt when it was seen. The silver also made the mask seem to glow.
"I give you your mask, sir." The Scottish Death Eater announced as he handed Harry his new mask.
Harry slowly placed the mask onto his face, the mask automatically sticking.
"Impressive to say the least. I am glad I could come up with somethin' for ya." The mask-maker praised.
Harry looked at the other Death Eater and raised his eyebrow before realizing that the man would not see it. "Well?"
"You at least look the part." The Death Eater gave in. Harry nodded. "Now, I'm going to need you to hide your mask. While we've made the Ministry beware venturing into Knockturn Alley, they do still send aurors, and if any get away with information of you-"
"I know. Daphne will have your head." Harry said, venom dripping off his every word.
"She does not like to be defied." The Death Eater replied, remembering others' past punishments.
"Oh, man, up! I would imagine Daphne would seriously reconsider your position amongst the Death Eaters' ranks if she saw your cowardice." Harry growled.
"Yes, sir." The Death Eater said automatically in obedience with his tone. It reminded him much of how Daphne would act on occasion. A second later, though, he realized what he said, but it was too late.
"About time you showed me respect. I expect for you to continue in the same fashion." Harry commented before removing his mask and reducing its size with a spell to hide it away in his pocket. Harry then unhooked the chain holding the cape in place causing it to start to drop to the floor, but the mask-maker floated it before it managed to touch the ground.
"Sir." The metalworker said as Harry took his cape and did the same with it as he had done with his mask.
"Thank you…" Harry trailed off, imploring for the man's name.
"Creighton, sir." The man identified himself.
"Then thank you, Creighton, for you retrieving my cape and for the mask. I am sure it will serve me well." Harry said before turning to the yet to be named Death Eater.
"Trynt." The man answered roughly.
"You'll have to remove your mask as well, Trynt. We wouldn't want to raise suspicion, now, would we?" Harry mocked.
"Very well. I will remove it before we reach the floo." Trynt strained to be polite. "Thank you, Creighton, for putting up with Potter." The man then turned and led Harry out of the smithy and back onto the staircase, where they traveled up to the top floor.
The top floor was different from the other floors for, while there were a few rooms, most of the space was a long hallway leading to a few rooms. On the sides of the corridor, though, many fireplaces burned, allowing many to enter or exit the building at one time.
"Wilbur's Wandcrafters is the place." Trynt said as he began taking some floo powder, but instead quickly unsheathed his wand from his holster in his sleeve and began swinging it towards Harry.
Harry, though, had anticipated his movements. He still had his auror sense, being able to tell when something was not right. Harry had already had a hand by his wand on his belt, and it took Harry less time than Trynt to point his wand at his opponent due to the shorter distance and his quicker reflexes. As soon as Harry's wand aligned with Trynt's chest, the former auror shouted, "Expelliarmus!" causing Trynt to be launched backward.
"I told you that I deserved more than you gave me credit for." Harry growled. "Now get up and take me to this wand crafter. You still have obligations to fulfill with this one being the second last of today."
"Yes, sir." Trynt bowed after rising from his splayed out position on the floor.
AN: There we go. Chapter 3 was Harry starting to be outfitted for being Daphne's second-in-command and eventual equal. Next chapter will depict how the Death Eaters will train Harry. As always, please review so as to help me out. While I now have a strong idea of what to do with this story plot-wise, any comments are valued, questions will be answered to the best as I can without divulging any spoilers, and all complaints will be addressed and explained if you are not a guest. I prefer not to answer reviews in ANs. Occidere Prima Vel Occidi.
