Chapter 7. Ember in the Dark
Harry frequented the library to research materials, where countless books on dark magic were available. The books did not like dark and damp places, so the library was the best place for sunshine.
It was also a rare opportunity for Harry to see the sunlight. He wanted to say that he liked the sunlight, but he knew he had already fallen into darkness.
He would also take books back to his own study and conduct more research and experiments in his laboratory. He did not have the leisure to explore the other beauties of Slytherin Castle and the surrounding area. He was very busy and wished to spend every second working to complete his father's tasks.
Harry thought, if he worked harder and harder and achieved his father's goals earlier, the war might end sooner. Then no more deaths.
His hard work made rapid progress so he could be praised by his father, and he equally wanted that.
Dark Arts was always very dangerous.
Ten-year-old Harry's wand trembled in his hand as he muttered incantations under his breath, seemingly controlling the surrounding magical energy in the palm of his hand. But suddenly, a sharp pain struck him, and he was sent flying backward by the force of the impact.
Exhausted and covered in blood, young Harry leaned against the wall of the laboratory. His black robes were soaked with blood, but thankfully the dark fabric concealed the bright red stains, giving him some comfort.
"I'm okay...I'm okay," Harry forced himself to stay upright, struggling to stand. His quivering voice concealed the hidden pain, "It just hurts a little, I'll be fine soon."
Biting his lip to suppress his agony, Harry's eyes revealed a hint of determination. He knew the importance of this experiment and that he couldn't disappoint his father. So, he reached for his wand once again, ready to start the experiment anew.
On this day, Harry went to the castle dungeon again, his father asked him to bring up a prisoner who had been caught.
Dressed in robes and a mask, the young boy walked through the dark corridors of the dungeon, the cells on both sides were dimly lit, and how many innocent victims were locked up in each stone house. When Harry turned a corner and approached the target cell, he heard the cry of a child nearby.
The boy froze, attracted by the sound, and began to approach the cell. He saw that it was a little child, who looked like a Muggle, and seemed to be injured, crying and calling for their mother. How could the Death Eaters catch such a young child? He once again thought of his own terrible experiences as a child. Back then, he also cried in pain and prayed for someone to come and save him, but no one did.
Harry knew that if anyone here could save this child, it could only be him.
But this kind of thing is absolutely prohibited. His father would never tolerate such a thing happening, and Harry has always been trying to be a good boy. And his father said he should get used to it, he should learn to get used to such things, right? His father said... he was being flobby, he should correct his bad habits...
Harry forced himself to look away, forced his body to move his legs, and walked towards the prisoner his father had asked him to find. He had to complete the task his father had given him.
He brought the prisoner to his father, who used legilimency on the person for a while and obtained important information, and then killed the victim with a beam of green light.
Harry forced himself to watch numbly.
Until that night, he kept telling himself that he had to be numb, he had to get used to it, he had to get used to it, get used to it... get used to… get…
Why should he get used to such things!
No, he must rescue that child. It's easy for him, why not do it? His father didn't even order him to kill that child, right? It's just a Muggle child, not an important prisoner. If he rescued the child, his father wouldn't even know!
His father saved him when he was desperate, how could he not save other children?
He ran all the way to the dungeon while blaming himself for not thinking through it earlier. He should have done this earlier, as this does not violate any given orders. Even he saved the child, he still did nothing wrong, he is still a good boy, right?
Harry arrived at the cell where the child had been held. The child was already unconscious due to their injuries. Harry squatted down next to them, feeling sorry: "I'm sorry I'm late. You're safe now." While using magic to heal the child's wounds with a soft light.
Then he decisively opened the portal and sent the child out of the castle's barrier, taking the child back to their home. Fortunately, this child still had a home, unlike himself back then when he only had himself. Harry hid in the shadows, watching the child run towards the anxious embrace of their parents, and couldn't help but smile. If he had any hesitation before, Harry would now be grateful for what he did.
Later, his father asked Harry why he opened the portal. Harry's heart raced nervously, and he tried hard to use Occlumency to close his mind, saying that he was looking for some magical materials. Then he changed the subject and asked his father about the principles of several different effects of this material. Luckily, cats stayed in the bag.
From then on, when father is not in Castle, or when he had a good excuse to open a portal, Harry would always seizes the chance to sneak into the dungeon. The dungeon was filled with people captured by Death Eaters from various places, including many Muggles who were not that important and were forgotten in the dungeon, waiting to die. Harry would modify their memories and secretly release them, sending them back home. Anyway, they were not important, and no one remembered them. If they were let go, no one would know.
Harry infiltrated a house where a family was having a picnic in the backyard. The Killing Curse from the Dark Prince was swift, and the man had already perished under the green light before he could react. Harry hoped that his death was painless.
His father's mission also involved burning down the house, as he suspected there were some things that needed to be destroyed hidden inside.
The Fiendfyre spread rapidly, instantly engulfing the entire house.
As Harry was about to leave, he heard the homeowner screaming, "Grace! Grace is still inside, you monster—" She yelled and attempted to rush into the flames to save her little daughter.
The Fiendfyre possessed the dreadful power to consume everything, and entering would mean certain death for the witch. Harry promptly used magic to immobilize her in place, then rushed into the burning house himself. His father's orders did not include harming the little girl in this family, and Harry couldn't harm the innocent.
The uncontrolled Fiendfyre posed great danger, even for Harry himself, but he managed to locate the three-year-old girl and carried her out unharmed, placing her into her mother's arms.
The mother held and comforted her crying daughter, momentarily bewildered. She looked at Harry, unsure whether to express gratitude or attack.
Meanwhile, Harry, like many times before, simply vanished from the scene, leaving no trace, just as he had completed countless missions.
Second-grade Hermione clutched her wand, which she had just snatched from a Death Eater's guard, her palms sweating.
The corridors of this castle seemed endless at times, reminding her of Hogwarts but much darker and more foreboding. If she knew that this castle was the culmination of the work of many famous dark wizards throughout history, she might have been curious enough to stop and observe, but now... she just wanted to survive and escape.
Unlike Hogwarts, the castle walls were not adorned with many paintings, but there were many sculptures and reliefs, most of which depicted snakes hissing in a cold darkness as if conversing with each other. There were also other dark creatures, runes, star maps, and magical arrays. She thought she had glimpsed the Tree of Life from Kabbalah, but at that moment, she was being chased by a large group of stone snakes, so she couldn't see clearly.
She took every step cautiously, using her wand to carefully explore the traces of magic left behind, afraid of triggering any mechanisms. The mechanisms here were not like those at Hogwarts; if you accidentally triggered one, it could be deadly. Her bleeding leg wound was a lesson.
The darkness around her became even colder, and the ancient goblet lamps on the walls looked dim and lifeless. She felt the warmth slowly leaving her body. Then her heart was suddenly grabbed as if by a vice, and everything went black, and her head was spinning. "Ugh..." Hermione covered her chest and crouched down. Her robes suddenly became soaked in blood, and several sharp steel needles emerged from her chest for no reason. The curse of dark magic... she vaguely realized. She didn't even know when she was hit. Was she going to die...?
Then the pain suddenly stopped, and her consciousness returned. A boy in a robe appeared in front of her, about the same age as her, maybe eleven or twelve. He made a hissing sound first, and then asked her, "Are you okay?"
Although he had just saved her, it was unlikely that anyone who appeared in this castle could be a good person. "Who are you?" Hermione tried to make her voice sound steady despite her trembling.
"Did you escape from the dungeon?" The boy did not answer directly but went on, "There is no way out of this castle. You can't escape."
Is this boy a Death Eater accomplice? Hermione tightened her grip on her wand, unsure whether to attack.
"If you want to survive, follow me." The boy's voice was calm.
"Why should I trust you?"
"Because you have no other choice." He turned and walked away.
Hermione hesitated for only two seconds before taking a few quick steps to catch up with him. The two of them moved smoothly through the corridors, and all the mechanisms seemed to recognize the boy, all of them failing to function, even the hissing of the stone snakes quieted down.
The destination was a study, decorated in silver and green colors that looked very luxurious, which sharply contrasted with the simple robe the boy was wearing.
"Now the dark lord is still in the castle. He will know when the portal is opened. He will be going out next week, and I can send you away then. Stay here for the next few days. This room is safe," the boy said as he was about to leave.
"Wait, why are you helping me?" Hermione asked.
"Because..." The boy seemed to think about how to phrase his words. "No one asked me to kill you, so I might as well help you."
"Um...okay. My name is Hermione Granger. Nice to meet you. What's your name?"
"Harry."
"Harry what?"She wanted to ask for his full name.
"Just Harry," he didn't answer her question.
Harry said he was in the next room and she could knock if she needed anything. He also called for the house elf named Talis and instructed him to prepare an extra meal for the new guest. As the house elf bowed and said "Yes, Prince," Hermione finally astonishingly realized who this boy was.
Dark Prince, the right-hand man of the you-know-who, known for the Shadow Killer and being shrouded in secrecy, even the Death Eaters didn't know much about him. She had read some related reports in the Daily Prophet. She was surprised and couldn't connect the rumors in the newspaper with this seemingly thin and weak boy her age. But she knew she definitely wouldn't go knock on his door, it was better to stay away.
However, this decision didn't last long. As soon as Harry left, Hermione's attention immediately fell on the bookshelf. She looked closely at the names on the spines of the books - The Art of Blood Sacrifice, Dark Magick in Theory and Practice, The Book of the Dead, Ancient Sacrifice Theory, The Red Dragon...just the names made her feel uncomfortable, as if she were in a miniature version of the restricted section of the Hogwarts library. But she couldn't resist her curiosity, after all, she was Hermione Granger, how could she be in a room with books and not open them? So she nervously knocked on Harry's door and politely asked if she could borrow one of his books.
Harry: "Help yourself."
Hermione: "Oh, thank you."
In the following days, the two of them slowly became familiar with each other. Most of the time, their conversations revolved around various magical theories in books. Hermione was surprised to find that despite Harry's young age, he had a deep understanding of magical theory. Also, Harry's temper was actually quite good; he appeared aloof and unapproachable, but he would patiently answer questions. So Hermione took the opportunity to ask him all sorts of questions.
Moreover, when Harry thanked his house-elf Talis, Hermione's opinion of him increased.
Later, they also talked about other things, such as Hogwarts. Hermione happily shared her experiences at Hogwarts, saying that even though the wizarding world was not very friendly to Muggle-borns like them during the war, she was still glad to be in this world and learn about magic.
"..." Harry remained silent. Actually, most of the time he just listened quietly to Hermione.
They also talked about Professor Evans at Hogwarts. "What kind of person is she?" Harry asked curiously.
"She's amazing! She knows a lot, and she's also very nice. Everyone likes her!" Lily Evans, the Transfiguration professor, was Hermione's favorite professor at school. She couldn't praise her enough.
"Really..." Harry seemed a little low for a moment. Hermione wasn't sure, because the next moment he seemed to be back to his usual self.
Sometimes Hermione would also ask Harry about his own life, but he refused to talk about it. He was even more reluctant to talk about you-know-who. Hermione had no choice but to stop asking.
A few days later, Harry opened the Portal.
"Don't tell Dumbledore and the others about me," Harry reminded her.
Hermione nodded earnestly, promising not to. She still had a book to finish reading, and Harry generously let her take it with her.
Hermione: "How can I return the book to you?"
Harry: "No need to return it. I hope we won't meet again."
Hermione held the book in her hands, feeling a bit hurt. "Why?" she asked.
Harry had already turned around and was walking away. "The next we meet, we'll be enemies." he said.
Then a burst of light enveloped the world, and the space transportation magic brought Hermione to Hogwarts.
The only people Harry encountered in his life, besides his father, were the targets he had to kill. To Harry, seeing her again meant that she had become targets and he was going to kill. If that was the case, Harry knew that he would really do it.
Dark Prince worked hard to fulfill his duties and tried his best to save people beyond his responsibilities. Every day was like this.
Until the day he was caught by Albus Dumbledore.