Before I go on to this next sample chapter, I'd like to announce a poll I did on my profile. Some of you may already know of it, but I thought I'd let you know anyway. It's basically which franchise I should attempt doing a fanfic or crossover on next. Also, soon, there will be a new big update to at least a dozen of my stories...as well as a new sample chapter from a new story for The Cauldron. The crossover is a surprise...but it's one of the franchises on the poll...so look forward to it.

Now, this one is a bit of an odd crossover. It was me revisiting the Icy Harmony (Harry/Hermione/Daphne) pairing from my John Wick crossover attempt Men of Focus, along with similar themes, namely, Harry being the heir to a criminal empire, albeit without the WBWL baggage. The crossover is an unusual one, though, insomuch as I don't think ANYONE has done it before here on this website. The crossover is with the Dr Mabuse films.

Dr Mabuse, the Gambler was a novel written by Jacques Norbert, adapted by Fritz Lang (later of Metropolis fame) into a two-part silent film in 1922, with a sound sequel being done in 1933, The Testament of Dr Mabuse. Mabuse was a psychologist and criminal mastermind who could use hypnosis to make people do his bidding. He was played wonderfully by Rudolf Klein-Rogge, who would later play the mad scientist Rotwang in Metropolis. In the films, he is hinted to become a malign spirit, possessing other people to do his bidding in creating an anarchic 'society of crime'. Here, Harry is his heir, and heir to his empire. Be afraid...

GAMBLER OF MAGICAL BRITAIN

CHAPTER 1:

INHERITANCE

Darkness, contrary to popular opinion, is not absolute. It never is. Indeed, it has varying shades, different types of darkness. What's more, people talk about the rising tide of darkness, but they forget tides are cyclical, that they wax and wane with the Moon.

And sometimes, different types of darkness arise at the same time.

In mid-1995, Tom Marvolo Riddle Junior, better known as Lord Voldemort, was given a new body at long last in a dark ritual. He knew that this was but the first step to an eventual takeover of Magical Britain, and with it, the world. He believed that, once the time was right, he would steamroller over the opposition. Dumbledore would fall, and soon, so too would Harry Potter.

But another faction of darkness was arising. One no less fanatical than the Death Eaters. It was an empire of shadows that had lain dormant, being taken care of by stewards who looked to the heir to their legacy from the shadows, and began subtly preparing for him to take the throne.

They had been hampered and hobbled and hindered, but the events of the Tri-Wizard Tournament had given them sorely-needed leverage. Now, the heir to their legacy was almost ready to take up his mantle. And woe-betide any who stood in his way…

In an office, a boy in his mid-teens was looking over a number of photos, putting them into his hand and shuffling them like cards. It was a habit he picked up from his ancestor, he knew(1). He was smirking rather nastily to himself at some thought or another.

At last, his shackles had been removed. Well, for the most part. There were still some to go. But now, he was making the first true steps towards freedom.

The door opened, and a bushy-haired girl about his age walked in. "How does it feel?" she asked.

"Pretty damn good. We've been working on this ever since Second Year. You know, I should feel more disturbed at being the heir to a criminal empire that's been around for decades. Hell, I'm surprised that you aren't more disturbed."

"What can I say? My parents helped in that regard. And I've known you for long enough, Harry. Criminal or not, I believe in you. Besides, that whole House Elf thing was explained to me by Daphne back in Third Year. I just did SPEW to draw the old wether's attention away from the fact that I was shifting the House Elves' loyalty to us. Dobby helped."

"And now, we have our own spies within Hogwarts," Harry said with a smirk. "Still, I'm a bit annoyed how I didn't get to take you or Daph to the Yule Ball. It would have been infinitely more tolerable, Hermione."

Hermione returned his smirk. "Well, maybe I can make it up to you. Your birthday's coming soon. 16 years. I'm sorry we had to keep it secret. You know, us being us."

"Don't worry. This year is the year when the masks come off. These fools who think they know how to gamble with people's lives…they don't know what to do when faced with a true gambler…"

It had been a chance encounter during his Second Year, shortly after the Polyjuice Potion incident. Harry had been approached in private by one of the Slytherins, namely Daphne Greengrass. She had seen through their acts as Crabbe and Goyle, and had approached Harry to discuss some things. The first was that she was almost certain that the Heir of Slytherin wasn't actually in Slytherin, despite many of her peers viewing the deaths of the Halfbloods and Muggleborns as desirable. The second was to let him know that he had allies in her family, and had given him a Portkey to that effect. She told him it would take him to Greengrass Manor when he spoke the words: 'Dr Mabuse, the Gambler'.

They had seen each other a few times over that year, before eventually, he used the Portkey in the wake of the Aunt Marge incident, needing somewhere to go. And it was there, from Cyrus Greengrass, that he learned his true destiny. It was surprising and shocking, but it was true.

From his maternal grandmother, he was descended from Doctor Jacques Mabuse(2), a French-born German psychologist and hypnotherapist. Mabuse's career as a psychologist was nothing truly special. But he became infamous for other reasons.

Dr Mabuse, you see, was a criminal mastermind.

Mabuse was expelled from Beauxbatons at a young age due to using Legilimency on a part-Veela student, his wand snapped, and his magic bound. Mabuse, however, found that he could still use magic for one ability only: Legilimency. He was a master of using Legilimency to take control of people's minds and plant suggestions that made the Imperius look tame by comparison. After moving to Germany, Mabuse studied psychology to give himself a Muggle cover. Then, under the cover of his psychologist career, he began creating a criminal network that began reaching out across Europe, much of it being centred on a post-World War I Germany, and Berlin.

Mabuse used a variety of disguises and techniques to get his way. In one scheme, he engineered the theft of secret trade documents to exploit the ensuing panic on the stock market for massive profits. However, he also enjoyed controlling people into playing badly or cheating at cards to his own advantage. In terms of scope and scale, he was very much on the level of the infamous crime boss Jonathan Wild, who worked as a 'thief-taker', arresting thieves and confiscating stolen goods to sell them back to their owners, while actually employing the thieves himself…and sending them to the gallows if they were too problematic(3).

Mabuse's downfall came at the hands of a tenacious state prosecutor Norbert von Wenk, who had managed to overcome Mabuse's attempts at assassination. Mabuse, driven mad when trapped in a secret counterfeiting room, was condemned to an insane asylum, whereupon he began obsessively writing plans for various crimes. In the early 1930s, these crimes were carried out, with Mabuse apparently involved, even after his death. The official story was that the owner of the asylum, Professor Baum, had gone mad and believed himself to be Dr Mabuse. But the rumour was that Mabuse's spirit possessed Baum.

Whatever happened, Mabuse's organisation survived, leaving Germany as the Nazis took control, though it retained roots there. It settled in England, along with its heir, who eventually became the mother of Petunia and Lily Evans. It was Lily who was eventually chosen to lead the new organisation, and she used it to great effect during the war against Voldemort…much to the chagrin of Dumbledore, who, while he didn't know who Mabuse's heir was until later, had considerably qualms about allowing the organisation to run amok.

The Greengrasses, ever the pragmatic Slytherins of Magical Britain, opted to ally themselves with Mabuse's organisation. In exchange, the then leader named them stewards and custodians of the organisation, which became known as the Thousand Eyes(4). It was in this capacity that the Greengrasses kept the Thousand Eyes alive, while trying to ensure that Harry would be ready for his role as the new head of the organisation.

Surprisingly, Hermione turned out to have a link to said organisation. Hermione's parents claimed to be dentists, but in fact, the Grangers were amongst Britain's most feared assassins. While they were qualified in dental medicine, in truth, they called themselves dentists as something of a bad joke: they liked to remove bad teeth, as well as fill holes. The latter being either dental cavities, or graves(5).

Hermione allow Daphne to become friends with Harry, albeit covertly, due to a certain Ron Weasley. When the three met, it was secretly. It was Daphne who first told Harry about Sirius being his godfather. The two helped Harry survive the Tri-Wizard Tournament, though for appearances' sake, they had to take other dates to the Yule Ball.

Harry considered himself lucky to have met them, let alone have them as his girlfriends and soon-to-be lovers. Both beautiful. Both intelligent. Both understanding of his position as heir apparent to the Thousand Eyes, and thus a criminal empire that spanned much of Europe.

And now, here they were. Harry was on the cusp of assuming his birthright, as the heir to Dr Mabuse. And with the Thousand Eyes, they would deal with Voldemort, as well as bringing change to Magical Britain, whether the wizards liked it or not.

Of course, Rome wasn't built in a day. And there were obstacles that had to be dealt with…

Daphne was reading a copy of The Daily Prophet as she walked into the office. A sneer was touching her lips, one that her Head of House would have been very proud of. "Look at this drivel," she said, slapping down the paper, allowing Harry to read it.

He snorted derisively. "The Boy Who Lies? Looks like Rita wasn't the only reporter to fabricate stories. Not that I don't lie, but…these idiots are sheep refusing to believe that wolves are circling their flock. Hermione, does Crookshanks need something to line his litter box?"

"No. What about under Hedwig's perch?"

Daphne sniffed, her blonde hair framing her aristocratically beautiful features. "I daresay excrement would improve the quality of that paper. Incidentally, we've finally found the most likely candidate for Voldemort's means of achieving immortality. Your hunch was somewhat correct, Hermione. Voldemort's probably used a Horcrux, and if he has, he's made more than one."

"What's a Horcrux?" Harry asked.

"A particular kind of phylactery, a soul receptacle," Hermione said. "I've been asking Sirius to send us books to review, and I found something that I asked Daphne to follow up in the Greengrass library. It's a means of splitting one's soul via murder, and placing part of your soul into an object."

Daphne nodded. "In Russia, they have the legend of Koschei the Deathless, who hid his soul within a needle, which was hidden in other objects and animals, to prevent himself from dying. The real Koschei was said to have actually created a Horcrux. I did some more research. Remember the Diary the Weasley girl was possessed by. That may have been a Horcrux. But as Voldemort was reportedly obsessed with obtaining immortality, he probably made several, which is insane, but…well, he was never considered a paragon of sanity."

"And in other breaking news, the ocean is wet, Daph," Harry muttered.

"Which means we'll have to track down multiple Horcruxes," Hermione mused. "Do we have any idea on what, though? Let alone where?"

"There's at least a few places I think we could check," Daphne said. "While the Goblins refuse to aid Dumbledore or the Ministry thanks to Bagman, they are on better terms with us, and it's possible that either Voldemort or one of his trusted followers has a Horcrux in their vault. After all, if Malfoy had one, who's to say one of the others has another Horcrux? I would put money on it being one of the Lestranges, given how fanatical Bellatrix was towards him. Hogwarts may be another hiding place, so I suggest we check the Room of Requirement next time we're there, just in case. And that snake you spotted, the familiar…well, a living Horcrux has never been done, but Voldemort would be insane enough to try it."

"We'll need to have some way of finding out how many there are, and where they are," Harry mused. "A ritual, perhaps?"

"There's nothing in the texts, not for want of trying, but we could try the Cursebreakers at Gringotts," Hermione said. "We'll just have to be careful if Bill Weasley gets involved. I don't know how beholden he is to Dumbledore, but if he's like the rest of his family, save for the Twins…"

"Yeah. They just don't know how badly they screwed up," Harry said. "Now…how's the interrogation of my oh-so-loving relatives going?"

"Fairly well. I'm surprised at how vicious Lupin can be, even for a werewolf," Daphne said.

"He may have been beholden to Dumbledore, but guilt over not trying to look after me is a powerful motivator," Harry said. "Anyway, he was good friends with my mother, more than Sirius was. Between being beholden to the so-called Leader of the Light, and working for someone who won't hold his condition over him, even if we're involved in illegal things…well, I'm proud of bringing him into the fold."

"And the fact that you plan to deliver him Fenrir Greyback as revenge for turning him has nothing to do with it?" Daphne asked with a wry eyebrow.

"As the head of an organisation like this, I need to provide my people with incentives," Harry said. "Carrots work better than sticks, even if the sticks are sometimes needed. Well, I feel like calling on my so-called relatives."

With that, he stood, and walked out the office, Hermione and Daphne following him. He had to admit, he had a vindictive streak, and he was enjoying doing what he did to the Dursleys. For years, they had used him as a servant, a punching bag, a scapegoat. Well, you know what they said. Payback's a bitch…and she was in heat…

CHAPTER 1 ANNOTATIONS:

So, Harry's the heir to Doctor Mabuse. Be afraid.

I very loosely recapped the first two Dr Mabuse films: Dr Mabuse, the Gambler, and The Testament of Dr Mabuse. Those are the only 'canon' films as far as this story is concerned. Incidentally, Mabuse's organisation fleeing Nazi Germany was meant to parallel Fritz Lang's own exodus.

Also, eagle-eyed readers will notice a few sequences copied and pasted from my abortive John Wick crossover Men of Focus, though a couple were from later chapters not published.

1. The very first shot of Dr Mabuse, the Gambler (after the opening credits and the first intertitle) is of Mabuse doing this very thing, picking out photos of his disguises and shuffling them like cards, before picking a disguise seemingly at random.

2. I don't think Mabuse is ever given a first name in the films, so I gave him the name 'Jacques', after his creator, Jacques Norbert. Because Mabuse sounds like the French 'm'abuse' (or 'I abuse myself', a reference to Mabuse's self-destructive tendency to meddle too much in his own schemes at times), I decided that Mabuse was of French origin, but had emigrated to Germany.

3. Jonathan Wild was a real criminal, said to be one of Arthur Conan Doyle's inspirations for Moriarty.

4. While The Thousand Eyes of Doctor Mabuse is not canon to this work, I referenced the title of that movie in naming Mabuse's organisation.

5. It was a joke I made up for my Resident Evil crossover Henry Ashford and the Goblet of Fire.