AN: The Capitalization of words that seem wrong, is to emphasise their importance.
Harry was doing good. The maze of the third task was relatively easy. He dropped Krum while he was 'Crucio'ing Fleur, sending up red sparks for the both of them. He just beat Cedric to the Cup and sniped the Acromantula Spider that was hunting the older lad. He gripped the cup, waiting for Cedric to join him… when he felt the 'hook' of a Portkey and he vanished in a blue swirl.
Peter, the weakest of the Marauders, had brewed the potion just properly enough that the ritual worked and the Dark Lord had returned. Potter was paraded before the assembled Death Eaters before the Dark Lord decided to duel the 'Boy' to Death.
Now, had the fight been fair, Potter might have had a chance. But he was suffering from being hit with the [Crucio] a few times before being released from his bindings. He could barely stand, but he refused to bow to the Lich.
Voldemort tried to bend the boy to his will before he fired off the 'Killing Curse'. Potter dropped like a stone.
HPHS
Harry was tired, he was bleeding from his arm, his whole body ached from the damn curse, and he was running on fumes.
He barely saw the green bolt that slammed into his face. Then everything went black.
Then he saw the ugliest Being he could imagine. Horns sprouted from behind its temples, its lower jaw was too long and filled with more teeth than its upper by a factor of three, and a shaggy mane ran the crown of its head down its back. Oh! Did I mention that it was like a hundred metres tall?
{Hellspawn… I send you Back to open the Gates of Hell and Lead my Forces to Earth!} the 'voice' boomed in his head. {I send you back, stripped of all bindings but mine! You will need to feed your Necroplasmic Armor! I sense a tainted Soul Fragment in your head, Your Armor will devour it! Only thing I hate more than the Divine Chorus are those who rip their Souls asunder! Find the rest of his Soul and Feast on it! As you devour each piece of his Soul, your Armour will grow stronger and Gift you a new Ability! Go my Mighty Warrior and bring me Glory!}
HPHS
Harry returned to his body.
He heard Tom bragging to his minions that he was unstoppable! That the only obstacle to his Rise and Rule had just been laid low.
Harry did not Hear the exact words, but he heard the message.
From the base of the back of his neck, a pain even more intense than the Cruciatus bloomed, and he felt an oily slime slowly coat his skin. It covered his face but did not block his breathing. As it travelled over his body, it soaked through his clothes before hardening. As it coated his feet, the pain stopped.
{Greetings, My Host. I am your Armour. You need to feed me for me to grow to my full strength. For the time being, I can heal you of any nonlethal damage and heal myself as well. Of my weapons, you now have my basic armour's self-defence and melee combat abilities. They should be imprinted on your brain.}
Harry stood, focusing on the albino 'lich' as he strutted about before the gathered wizards in their black robes and masks. He reached down and picked up the ten-inch length of holy, but felt nothing. Deciding to worry about that later he allowed the black slime to take the wand so that his hands would be clear. He rolled his shoulders and stepped forward.
"Oi Tommy-Boy!" his voice carried over the graveyard, "If you are going to kill a Bloke, make sure that he is dead… like this." A chain of bladed links, with a spiked star every tenth link, flashed from his left pec to punch through the chest of the nearest Death Eater only to then wrap around the man's neck. Then the chain violently retracted, severing the man's head and dragging into his thoracic cavity.
Tom turned to look at the boy now covered in black, raised his wand, and fired another green bolt at his head. Potter allowed it to hit and wash over him.
"Really, Tom? Like I never learned to survive that spell? What kind of 'Boy-who-lived' do you think I am?" Harry felt no fear, no remorse, no grief. He was filled with the Power of his new suit, and the need to kill those before him. He could taste the Hate burning in his veins. "Let me show you what comes from trying to kill me and failing. I thought you would have learned that back in '92 when I drove you from the Castle. You should have never returned to our shores until you had a following of more than a few walking dead." A chain burst from his right pec, piercing the throat of a minion beside Malfoy, as the chain from his left pec lashed out at the wizard beside the dead man, lacerating his wand arm.
Tom looked around him. Grabbed the snake at feet, and sneered at the lad. "Next time, I will kill you… Boy! Away!" and he vanished, taking the snake with him. The Minions still alive fled. Some twisting into the either, others leaping into the air to ride plumes of black smoke.
In their exodus, they left someone behind.
Pettigrew.
With reflexes honed by chasing a golden ball, and running from Duddly's gang, Potter sprang on the back of the twisted man, knocking him to the ground. His wand bloomed in his armoured hand… and nothing. The intelligence of the armour had a thought, and retracted from his right hand, leaving the wand clutched in his fingers.
[Stupify]
He lifted the slumped traitor and held him long enough to bind him in one of his chains, while the other lashed out to grab the Triwizard Cup. as the cup landed in his now bare hand, he felt the hook behind his navel…
HPHS
"Oi Tommy-Boy!" Lord Voldemort turned to look. Where the brat Potter had fallen, a being in shiny black armour now stood. A white 'M' blazed across his torso, made of lightning bolts, the points of the white were 'capped' by demonic skulls, missing a lower jaw. A silver belt with a fuller skull for a buckle hugged his waist. His Face was a skintight black hide with an imprint of bird wings in white. His eyes glowed green, brighter than the bolt of an AK. "If you are going to kill a Bloke, make sure that he is dead… like this." A chain of bladed links, with a spiked star every tenth link, flashed from the skull on his left pec to punch through the chest of the nearest Death Eater only to then wrap around the man's neck. Then the chain violently retracted, severing the man's head and dragging into his thoracic cavity.
Tom turned to look squarely at the 'boy' now covered in black, raised his wand, and fired another green bolt at his head. 'Potter' allowed it to hit and wash over him.
"Really, Tom? Like I never learned to survive that spell? What kind of 'Boy-who-lived' do you think I am?" Harry mocked Him, "Let me show you what comes from trying to kill me and failing. I thought you would have learned that back in '92 when I drove you from the Castle. You should have never returned to our shores until you had a following of more than a few walking dead." A chain burst from his right pec, piercing the throat of a minion beside Malfoy, as the chain from his left pec lashed out at the wizard beside the dead man, lacerating his wand arm.
Tom looked about him. Grabbed Nagini as she coiled about his feet, and sneered at the lad. "Next time, I will kill you… Boy! Away!" and he vanished, taking the snake with him. He travelled to Malfoy Manor, as he knew that the Malfoys were all about the finer things in Life.
'Landing' in the Foyer, with Lucious arriving on his Heels the Dark Lord took in the splendour of the Manor. "Ah, Lucious. Thank you for inviting me to your Manor. I find it delightful." The blond warlock had yet to speak a word of Invite or Welcome.
"You Honour Us with your Presence, Milord." Lucious removed his mask. "Just let me inform my Wife we have company. You can wait for me in the Parlor on your left. Help yourself to the selection of beverages if the need takes you."
"Yes, thank you, my good host. Do inform me when Pettigrew arrives." Tom glided into the Parlor set aside for men to wait in. He sneered at the selection of wines and whiskies. He instead peered out the window.
Nagini followed him and crawled onto the fainting couch that was reserved for the Lord's Wives when they accompanied their husbands as opposed to heading to the parlour on the right where the Lady of the Manor would Host them.
HPHS
It turns out that the Necroplasm does not like to travel outside of his body through a portkey. Between the cup hitting his bare Hand, to him landing on the green grass before Dumbledor, the slimy black armour had retracted into his flesh.
The two of them bounced as they fell from a height of two feet off the ground. Potter took a minute to catch his breath before he struggled to his feet. Holding the tip of his wand to his throat. [Sonorus] "Bones! Susan Bones would please report to the Judge's area. I repeat, Would Susan Bones please report to the Judge's area."
[Finite]
"Harry my Boy" Albus moved closer to the boy, only for the boy's wand to be pointed at his nose.
"Back off Headmaster." the boy hissed, "I have Waited a year for the Chief Warlock to do Something about Black. The only thing he did was make the situation that much worse!" Harry saw the blond curls of Rita Skeeter over the Headmaster's shoulder. He grinned, "We told you and the Minister that Black was innocent. You knew that he was my Godfather and that as my Godfather he could never hurt me. But you still allowed that Niffler of a Minister to first set those soul-sucking parasites on the school, then your pet Death Eater to lead said Niffler to believe that we were Confounded by Black, just so you could set the precident to allow the Ministry to send Lords and their Heirs to that Island to the North without a trial!"
A busty strawberry blond elbowed her way into the clearing around Harry, followed by a chubby honey-blond witch of the same age. "You called, Harry?"
"Ah, Sue. I was hoping that you could call your Aunt to…" Harry trailed off as a Faded Redhead with a square jaw emerged from the crowd. The torches glinted off her monocle. After the last adventure back in his third year, Potter made a point of learning who could help him get Sirius his trial. The Director of the DMLE was at the top of the List.
"Madam Bones." He Flipped the stunned Pettigrew onto his back, the silver arm flopped into view. "I give you the real traitor to my Parents' Murder. This 'Rat'..." Harry kicked the downed wizard, "Led the Dark Lord to our doorstep before he framed my sworn Godfather. He spent twelve years as the 'Pet Rat'(he kicked the man again) of a good, law-abiding family before running off to find his Master. I just came from a graveyard where this 'worm'(another kick) brewed a potion that gave a body to a thing calling itself… Voldemort."
McGonagall, having approached from behind Dumbledor, gasped. "Peter Pettigrew!"
"Impossible!" snorted Fudge. "Black killed Pettigrew!"
A flicker of movement and a green glow caused Harry to twist and cast [Expelliarmus]. The spell bolt hit the wizard just a layer back in the crowd, knocking him sprawling as his wand flew at Harry, who caught it in his offhand. The crowd parted to reveal 'Moody' in the grass.
Director flicked a hand at the downed wizard, as two Aurors melted out of the crowd.
The Black man sniffed the air before kneeling to sniff the downed wizard. He reached into the open robes of the wizard and pulled out an open flask. "Polyjuice!"
The female Auror, with short pink hair, fired a stunner into the scared face from point blank range.
Quickly, both stunned wizards were cuffed and portkeyed away.
"Director." Harry swayed, "Pettigrew is a rat animagus. Please take precautions." He stumbled back a step. "Nurse!" he yelled before before he crumpled where he stood.
HPHS
A week later, Harry was in London, riding in Vernon's new BMW. The fat man had just picked up Boys from the train station.
Two weeks after that, Harry was sitting on the last functional swing in the family section of the local park. The sun had set, but the heat was still beating had searched every muggle paper looking for signs that the Dark Lord was moving, anything that could be linked to Death Eater activities mimicking the war from fifteen, twenty years ago.
Nothing.
Duddly and his gang rolled up. A couple were smoking. One, Polkis, was drinking a beer. Then they spotted Harry.
"Hey, Big Dee." Polkis sneered, "How about you show us what you learned at that fancy school of yours? Let's beat down ole Potter, there for old times' sake."
Harry sighed. "Guys. look around ya. The Sun has set. That means Dinner is either cooking or about to be served. What will the 'Rents think if you are late? How long will it take to beat me down? Do you have the time it will take? I know 'Big Dee' doesn't. Aunt Tuny will go spare if any blood were to land on him, and I am a bleeder."
The smokers sneered, flicked their butts into the gutter, and melted into the dusk. "Later D!"
Polkis spat in Potter's direction, before finishing his beer, and throwing the can into the trash bin, more as proof of skill than a desire to not litter. A fist-bump with Dudley and he strolled off towards his house.
Dudley just glared at his cousin. "What are you up to?"
"You know that crazy terrorist that killed my Parents?" Harry strode past his now beefy cousin, "Well, he's back."
"I thought your parents died in a car wreck." the brute frowned. "That's what Dad says."
"Yeah." Harry sighed. "The Asshole liked to slaughter others of my kind." Harry breathed in deep of the chilled area of the tunnel that led from the park to the cross streets of Privet Drive and Wisteria Walk. "The Asshole came to our house to kill me, but after killing my Father, he died trying to kill my Mother. But as she got him, he also got her. My idiot of a Headmaster, who has enough clout, left me with your parents thinking that they could protect me from his worshipers as I protected them."
Dudley grunted, then shivered. "Are you doing anything Freaky?"
Harry frowned, first at Dudley, then at a patch of frost spreading across the top of the tunnel. "No, this is not me." Harry shivered in the still, cold air. "In fact the only thing that creates this type of effect is…" Harry turned white, before yelling, "Run!" He started running, "Shift it, Lard-ass! Run like your very Soul is at risk! Because it is!"
Dudley passed him thirty paces later, his longer legs eating up the distance, as he now carried himself better. Five paces ahead of Harry, Dudley hit a solid wall of … something.
{Host. I sense two Soul-suckers. Permission to Eat them?}
"Yes!" Harry spun his wand out,
[Expecto Patronum]
'Prongs' leapt from his wand just before the Necroplasm coated his skin. "Protect Dudley!" The Stag of light crouched over the now downed muggle. Harry was jerked about to face the direction they had just come from. The two chains centred over his pecs, exploded out and ensnared the black wraith-like being. The Dementor screamed in pain and fear just before the chains ripped it to shreds, the 'body' absorbed the black ooze that coated his body as the shroud was draped over his shoulders in a parody of a cloak. Again. Harry was jerked about before taking five running steps and diving over Dudley and Prongs only to roll forward onto his feet between the Dementor and Dudley. The black wraith turned and tried to flee, but again the chains were faster, and the Deamon* was ripped apart and absorbed. The shroud was draped over the shoulder to flutter in a wind that did not blow.
And just like that Potter was alone with his cousin and his Patronus. The Stag faced him, and lowered its antlers in Challenge. Harry frowned at the ghost of his father… before the Necroplasma retreated into his flesh, taking its new cloak with it. The Stag stepped closer and sniffed him… before exploding into moats of light, only to reform as a winged snake… a cross between a cobra and an eagle. The snake nodded to Harry before bursting in moats of white light and fading.
"What in the bloody hell was That!" Dudley struggled to his feet, his eyes filled with fear and awe.
"Which?" Harry asked as he started towards the house once again.
"The Cold-never-be-happy-again-thing first." The hefty lad followed his cousin.
"Dementors." Harry looked about but only saw the crazy cat-lady, Miss Figg, that Patuna used to drop him off at when they needed to leave him behind for the day. "They are the watchdogs of the main prison of Magical Britain."
"And the Stag?" Dudley eased closer to Harry. "And why did it change?"
"My Patronus." Harry flicked his wand about, before hiding it up his sleeve as Miss Figg came closer. "That is what my father looked like when engaged in his animagus ability. From what I remember from my reading in my third year, the Patronus is a reflection of your Soul. The Stag is read Proud, Free, and Protection." He watched as Miss Figg tottered closer, the knit bag holding a selection of cat food cans for her pets, swinging from her wrist. "The change of form means that my Soul has shifted. I have not read up on all the shapes and their meaning, what I remember, the snake is patient, stealthy, and ruthless. The bird is free/flight, aggressive, and watching." He tried to hide his wand from the old woman.
"None of that boy." the old biddy tottered up to the lads. "There might be more of those things about." she spit to the side to ward off evil. "What was Albus thinking, not having a guard that could actually do something, watching over you!" she hissed.
"You know Dumbledor?" Harry gasped.
"Who do you think put me here?" the woman said as her eyes scanned the night sky. "He bought me the house and fronted me the money for my cat-kneazle breeding farm. He did not completely trust your aunt to not ship you off to an orphanage."
The three of them moved with a bit of caution. "I thought the wards prevented wizards or witches from getting close."
"They do." Miss Figg sneered, "But I am a squib. I could get close enough to watch over you, where a witch would have trouble walking down the block. A twisted muggle repulsion ward. Squibs bond differently with their familiars than witches." She smiled as a clowder of felines swarmed the old woman and stropped her ankles. A few rubbed against Harry's legs as well.
Harry frowned at the cats that joined their walk to number four Privet Drive. The calico queen, one of Miss
Figg's oldest pets, striding two steps to the left and ahead one pace, had caught his attention with a smushed face. "Do you remember an orange tom that had twisted hind legs and a smushed face?" Harry turned to the old woman.
"Ah yes." she smiled. "One of Lady Bramble's first litters. Poor thing. I had hoped that his legs would straighten out as he grew."
"Nope." Harry grinned at her. "He bonded with a good friend of mine. He is twice the size of Lady Bramble, and does everything but speak."
"Smashing." The squib stopped three doors short of number four. "This is where I leave you. I must report this to Albus." She took two steps before turning back. "Do not surrender your wand until you hear from Albus." She hurried off the Clowder forming up around her.
"Do things like this happen often around you?" Dudnly inquired.
"Yeah." Harry sighed. "But they usually wait for Halloween to start."
As they entered the House, Dudley called out to his parents that he was home and that he found Harry en route. "Hey Dad, as cooking will heat the house further, how about we order Pizza?"
Vernon thought that was a good idea so he rang up their favorite shop and ordered three of their biggest pies.
Harry meanwhile had scrambled up to his room and fetched two chocolate frogs. Returning to the sitting room he passed one to Dudley. "Trust me, chocolate helps. Be careful, the frog will try to escape when you open the package." Like the old pro that he was, Harry demo-straighted opening the five-sided box and snagging the moulded confection out of the air.
Dudley frowned as he mimicked his cousin. The moulded chocolate was squishy in his hand before he bit its head off. His eyes widened as the rich flavour spread over his tongue. The rest of the cocoa-amphibian quickly followed.
Harry dug out the card from his box… "Phineas Black, Headmaster." Harry smirked, "This guy is harder to get than Nicholas Flamel."
Dudley looked into his box and tipped out a penta-card. He frowned at it. "Godric Gryffindor." He looked at Harry. "Is He any good?"
"He is the Founder of my House." Harry breathed, softly. "The top ten rares, in an ever shifting order, are the four Founders, Merlyn, Morgana, Nicholas Flamel, Black, Olivander the First, and Hedwig." He closed his eyes to breathe deeply. " The Founders for the founding of Hogwarts. Merlin and Morgana for their Legacy of Arthurian Fame. Flamel for his skill in Alchemy and the Stone. He is also over six hundred years old or was." he drew his wand. "The Olivanders are the leading wand crafters in Europe if not further. Hedwig was a skilled war witch." He tucked his wand away. "Now Black was a limited run and most of his cards were destroyed when they were drawn. He was the Darkest and most reviled Headmaster of Hogwarts this century." Harry snorted. "I am related to the bastard through my father's mother."
An Owl flew through an open window at just that second. It released a letter, swooped around the room, and out the window. The letter hovered where the owl released it before it scrunched into a face.
"Mister Potter, the ministry has recorded that you have not only cast a spell outside of School but in the presence of a muggle. As this is the second event of you using magic outside of pre-approved venues, it has been ruled that you are expelled from Hogwarts, your wand to be snapped, and you to face a tribunal on the tenth of August.
Aurors are en route to snap your wand and place you under arrest. And to gather anything and everything having to do with Magic.
Hope you have a pleasant day
Yours sincerely,
Mafalda Hopkirk"
The Letter then self-shredded, and the pieces fell to the floor.
"Justice!" rejoiced Vernon.
AN: Deamon; like a Demon crossed with a Demi-god. Most are evil or have evil tendices. Most are not to be triffled with, but if you obey the rules… you can work with them.