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 LoseChapter 8:
"Sir. May I speak with you?" Teddy asked after knocking on the door to Harry's quarters.
"One second!" Harry yelled from behind the door, quickly adorning a cloak and his mask then opening his door. "Of course you may, Teddy. Come in."
"Hello, sir. I'm sorry if I am intruding… I just…" Teddy drifted off as he walked inside and sat on the black leather couch that was one piece of furniture in the sitting room that first greeted anyone who entered Harry's rooms.
"Can't sleep again?" Harry sighed, sitting in a chair across from the couch.
"I'm afraid so, sir."
"Let me tell you something: most nights I can't either." Harry chuckled. "I know what it's like not to have friends. Most of my school career and afterwards most that were my 'friends' truly only liked me for what I had, not truly, and those who did… well… I lost them. That's why I chose this. The Death Eaters opened my eyes to this world as it was. They took me in, and now I have a family again."
"What happened to them?" Teddy asked, curious about anything that would clue him into who the Shadow Wolf was or used to be.
"Let's just say they left me in some way or another, either from my life or life in general." Harry's attention then turned to Teddy, his godson.
"Always know, for the times you get down… turn your sorrow and pain into anger, and turn that pain into fuel to carry on, to keep on going." Harry paused. "There are those, though, that are there for you Teddy, if you really look. People like me."
"Sir, with all due respect, who are you? I know you haven't told any of the other student Death Eaters, but may I know?" Teddy asked carefully.
"You have the Mark, correct?" Harry asked.
Teddy pulled up his left sleeve to show off a tattoo that mimicked Harry's, although it looked less impressive in comparison. Daphne had decided that each student that proved worthy and Harry's personal battalion were to be adorned with the special version of the mark. Those with the previous mark had Charles reform their tattoos.
"Never reveal my identity to anyone unless I say you may, understood Teddy?" Harry asserted his statement.
"Of course, sir. I'd never endanger you or our organization." Teddy nodded.
"Very well." Harry sighed before removing his cloak from on top of his pants and shirt then pulling off his mask.
"Dad?" Teddy gasped. "You're the Shadow Wolf? I thought that…"
"It was a lie that was created to protect myself and the rest of the Death Eaters, so certain people were not used against us. I've been with the Death Eaters since my disappearance."
"Dad!" Teddy leapt up to hug his godfather tightly. "I missed you."
"I missed you too, Teddy." Harry hugged the teen back, happy to have someone close from his old life on his side.
"Why hasn't mum and the others disappeared? Do they know?" Ted asked, breaking the hug.
The Shadow Wolf reemerged slightly. "No. Your mother left with your younger siblings and swore that I would never see her again and that she would do her best to not let me see any of your siblings again as well. That was before I disappeared. The morning of the day I did, actually. She doesn't know who I am. Not anymore at least. I'm not sure she ever did."
"Oh. I think I get it now."
"Yes. You see, I am too tired of my friends and the people closest to me turning on me and that is exactly what the Ministry does to people. It will use whomever they need until they prove useless and then they are the enemy, unless they just go away silently and then they are just another sheep the Ministry herds. I am done with them now. They have always tried subduing me and disprove what I say; I am done caring. Now, all I have left to say to them is one thing." Harry did not finish his paragraph as he thought of the moment.
"What is that, Dad?" Teddy asked, worried. He had been looking into his father's green eyes and there seemed to be a darker colour to them than when he had last seen them before school started.
"The last thing I will say to them will be as I kill the last of them, the Minister: have a nice day." Harry chuckled to himself at the irony of his words.
"You mean?"
"Yes, Teddy. Every one of them I intend on killing, every last one of them. The guilty will be purged from life, their crimes will be atoned for, and the Ministry will burn, and the last one to will be the Minister of Magic right after he sees his precious, corrupt government be dismantled and burned from existence."
"And you are going to be the one to do this?"
"I will be the one with his wand raised high, leading the assault, yes. I will be the one to, whether I am alone or not is a decision to be made by the people."
"That's suicide, dad!"
"No. Not if I am clever enough. Besides… obviously I am not alone. I have my own personal battalion as well as the rest of the entire Death Eater army behind me. I have become more than a deadly warrior, Teddy; I have become a symbol, the symbol of resistance. Already the people are turning too. Slowly, like a plague, we are drawing upon the Ministry until the only ones who support it are within its own walls. This, my son, is what this war is. This is the people descending on their government to change it when their government and its politics fail them and let the corrupt rule their lives. No longer will I or any other person of this organization allow that. No longer will corruption rule.
"My son, I have a great favor to ask of you." The Shadow Wolf knelt down on a knee and his cub followed suit. "Will you join me in my fight?"
"Of course, father."
Harry smiled and stood; Teddy remained kneeling. "Then rise, my Shadow Cub. We have much work to do over these next coming weeks and months."
Two days later, the Shadow Wolf was patrolling the halls of Hogwarts again fully adorned in his mask and cloak. As he passed an intersection, however, near the greenhouses, he saw a flash of movement and decided to follow out of curiosity. Upon this action, he noticed two Gryffindors hurrying into a greenhouse despite the fact that no class for Gryffindor was being held in any of the greenhouses. Now puzzled, Harry snuck in behind the two and wound up following them out of the greenhouses after passing through several of them. From there, Harry waited inside the last one they were in until he could barely spot them so he could keep eyes on them but not be seen in the open area outside the castle. The two Gryffindors finally stopped outside one of the canvas-covered towers on the quidditch pitch. Harry circled around from the other side and found a disheartening sight.
"How was everyone's journey here?" James asked inside the tower where several chairs surrounded a circular table with Harry's first blood son at the head of the table.
A resulting round of "good,' sounded from the other people at the table.
"Was anyone followed?"
"No."
"Good." James paused. "Then we can begin with our meeting on how we can bring the Ministry back to secure Hogwarts and keep us safe from these Death Eater scum. Now, I suppose that we need to first get word out to them then coordinate an attack with them so that we may sabotage and possibly kill as many Death Eaters as we can."
Harry sighed but felt his anger rising again.
"Hold it right there! You're under arrest! Drop your wands and hold your hands up where we can see them!" The Shadow Wolf yelled as Death Eaters came into the tower from all sides.
Some of the students stood and drew their wands, aiming them at the Death Eaters, but most of them froze and dropped their wands. James led the defensive side.
"Aim your wands at me if you are going to aim them at anyone." The Shadow Wolf said calmly but forcefully.
"If you insist." James smiled before everyone who had raised their wands pointed them at him.
"Good."
The Shadow Wolf fired at the students while all of the armed students fired at him and his Death Eaters fired at the students who were not armed so that none could change their decision. As each of the spells from the students came at Harry, he quickly created a shield and blocked all of them before helping finish off the students.
He shook his head. "Why are all who follow the Ministry so stupid?"
The troops then began tying up each student and dragging them back to the castle.
"What are we going to do with them, sir?" One of his troops asked as they entered through the Entrance Hall.
"Follow me."
The group hurried back into their base of operations at the castle and, to the bewilderment of those following Harry into the area, to the tattoo shop.
"Sir?" The tattoo artist asked.
"Give each a lower version of the mark, but I want them to still be bound to the cause. They won't receive information and cannot give up anything either."
"Oh my Merlin, general." A Death Eater said in shock.
"Genius. Pure genius." Another commented in amazement.
"Yes, commander. What do you want me to do with them afterwards?"
"Call for someone to take them back to the Great Hall and wake them up." The Shadow Wolf instructed before leaving the room, his troops dispersing behind him.
An hour later, they students' bodies were dumped back into the Great Hall where a crowd formed around them as they entered. After untying the students and awakening them, the Death Eaters silently left, leaving behind a large crowd murmuring on what had transpired. Soon, though, the students felt an odd sensation on their left forearms and rolled up their sleeves to find a pitiful worm crawling out of a broken human skull.
"Oh my…" A student fainted.
As soon as word reached the staff and then the Headmistress, Hermione contacted the Death Eaters.
"How dare you mark children who did not want the mark?!" She screamed at the Shadow Wolf who stood in front of her desk.
"Are you done screaming?" He asked, bored.
"You claimed to come here in peace, and what do you do? You mark children!"
The man sighed, exasperated by her reaction. "Obviously a slight talk would not do anything for a group that was determined to kill everyone opposing the Ministry in this school. Don't worry, after the war, the marks will disappear. Now, is there anything else you wanted to talk about, Headmistress Weasley?"
The woman fumed, and Harry shrugged it off. "I guess not. Have a great day, ma'am."
"I hate that man!" Hermione yelled after the door to her office was closed.
"I knew you eventually would." Harry muttered quietly to himself before turning into a puff of smoke and traveling to several safe houses and distracter points before entering the building that would house this meeting of the leaders of the Death Eaters.
"Sir." Gregory nodded. The rest of the inner circle was completely silent. Each other member was either too scared or too resentful of Harry to acknowledge him in a like fashion.
Quickly Harry strode to his seat. The Lady Daphne had not entered the chamber as of yet until a minute later.
Dramatic and charismatic as ever, Harry's beloved entered the room with her cloak billowing about her, shrouding her while still revealing her metallic armor. She symbolized fear and might wrapped in mystery.
"Milady." Everyone bowed.
"Hello, everyone. I am pleased to see that all of you are here on time." She took her time to reach her seat, but upon sitting down, an air of business descended into the room.
This being the second meeting since the Shadow Wolf occupied Hogwarts, Harry had no new information for the council besides their further demoralizing of the Ministry and those supporting it as well as the rise of a group that supported the current government but was quickly put down. As that was the case, the meeting droned on as usual. Harry observed and put his opinion into the topics that were discussed although he did not constantly let himself be known.
"That is the end of my report, milady, and so I believe it is your turn to draw this meeting to a close." Gregory spoke.
"Actually, everyone, I have held back an announcement until this point in the meeting that I would wish to share with all of you." Daphne then stood and everyone looked on in curiosity and confusion.
"I hereby appoint Harry James Potter, the Shadow Wolf, as the official and unofficial leader of the Death Eaters. I will still be around as his second in command if he will let me, but I believe he has shown us all that he deserves this promotion. I trust that all of you will respect my last decision as the leader of our organization."
Chaos had begun to break out as the members of the inner circle discussed this turn in events, but Harry was silent, looking at Daphne, trying to figure out if she had any other motives besides the one she stated. After a second, however, he stood from his seat and pounded his fist down on the table.
The resounding bang attracted everyone's attention and cut through everyone's words, replacing it with silence.
"Thank you for your attention. I am so glad to see the inner circle behave so well." This made the entire previously bantering council to look down in shame at their behavior.
"Now, I deeply thank you, Lady Daphne. Although I accept your promotion and thereby become the Lord, you are still the Lady to me and hopefully all others, so I will allow you to be the second-in-command if no other has a problem with that."
The entire council bowed their heads and addressed her, confirming that all were more than fine with her still above them. "Milady."
"No thank you is necessary, Shadow Wolf, you have earned this. Now, shall we commence the ritual?" Daphne turned to the others.
"I believe we may, Lady Daphne." Gregory stood up and withdrew his wand.
The others of the circle withdrew theirs as well but automatically saluted with them. Gregory, on the other hand, began moving his wand back and forth from Daphne to Harry, casting a spell under his breath. His lips barely moved. After a few wand movements, a green swirl of magic started to be transferred into Harry. After a minute of this, Gregory held his wand at Harry.
"Do you promise to always uphold the integrity of not just this council but our entire organization? Do you promise to make your decisions to never hurt but always help our cause as a whole? Do you promise to lead us, the Death Eaters, to the best of your abilities? Do you promise to be the best lord you can be?" Gregory asked, each sentence adding more emphasis.
"Yes, I do." Harry nodded solemnly.
"Daphne, our previous Lady, do you allow this man to replace you and become our lord?"
"Yes, I do, Gregory."
"Very well." The elderly man moved his wand back to Daphne, taking another swirl of green, before transferring to Harry. As soon as it touched Harry's skin, the entire bit of magic was quickly absorbed into his body. "Daphne, you must do the rest."
The one who brought Harry into the organization turned to him, bent a knee, and saluted the man with her wand before pointing it at him. "I instate you as the leader of the Death Eaters, Lord Harry Potter, Lord Shadow Wolf. May you lead us well." She then sent out the last bit of the power she was given when she was made the organization's leader before standing and saluting her lord once more.
Harry turned and looked over the Inner Circle to see that all were saluting him. Daphne's old seat shifted to replicate Harry's old one although it looked much bigger, significant, and mighty compared to his old one, which reformed to look much like Daphne's old chair.
"You may take your seat, milord." Gregory bowed, followed by everyone else.
Harry slowly walked to his new position and sat down. A burst of green magic swirled around him and his throne before a loud bang was heard and the magic disappeared.
"Everyone may sit." Harry said, a new power sounding in his voice.
After the council did as he wished, Daphne turned to the man. "Is there any new matters or changes you would like to bring up, now that you are in command, my lord?"
"No. I will need some time deliberate any changes I may have in policy, so until then at the next meeting, I wish all of you safe passage and security. I draw this meeting to a close." Everyone stood as Harry did and bowed towards him before leaving, all besides Daphne, who stayed behind.
"Why did you…?" He whispered.
"We all know you are what this organization needs, Harry. Your boldness is carrying us to victory. I could not let the politics and your position stand in your way. You are now free to attack as you wish." The woman gave a rare smile. "Besides, I am still here right beside you."
"Very true, and that is very good because I would like to have some things set in motion that the council would probably be hesitant to follow without some other events." Harry grinned.
"What do you mean?"
"I have three main targets to take care of next so that we can win this war. We are already pushing the Ministry back, but now it is time to start the endgame. For the first of the three, though, I do not need any assistance besides something the Council will easily allow. For the other two, however, you will need to secretly start arranging for some events to transpire between the council."
"Harry, what are you planning?" Daphne asked, weary.
"Like I said, the endgame. First, Hogsmeade, then Diagon Alley, and finally, the Ministry of Magic building itself."
"I like where this is going."
"I hoped you would." The new Lord smiled.
Hogwarts students mixed with a few Death Eater escorts entered Hogsmeade for the first allowed weekend since the occupation of Hogwarts. Aurors hidden in the darkness of alleyways and behind the curtains of shop window watched on, waiting for their chance.
The group traveled to the point where they would divide so that everyone could enjoy the town's offerings but were stopped from doing so as the aurors revealed themselves, surrounding the group.
"Death Eaters, you are all under arrest!" The most senior auror shouted.
"I don't think so." The Shadow Wolf quietly growled into the man's ear from behind auror.
Death Eaters behind each of the aurors quickly disposed of their enemies before the group in the center, whose students were only those that were also Death Eaters, dispersed to start securing the town. The Shadow Wolf and the other troops quickly followed suit and began securing the streets, alleys, and borders of Hogwarts. More of his battalion was entering the town from the floos and secret passages in the shops to dispose of the remaining aurors and then to help enforce the new occupation of Hogsmeade.
The operation was completed within an hour. What the Ministry thought was going to be a blow against the Death Eaters of Hogwarts as well as a demoralizer of their enemy's war effort became another serious blow against the Ministry. Once again, the government lost a crucial vantage point. Now, Hogwarts was completely secured against outside threats.
Soon after the invasion of Hogsmeade, Death Eaters, acting as law enforcement entered the town to ensure its occupation under their organization while Harry and his personal battalion returned to Hogwarts accompanied by the Death Eater students.
"Sir, I did not expect that to go so easily. How come they aren't trying to retake Hogsmeade?" Joshua asked.
"I arranged for multiple guerilla attacks to distract them until our reinforcements could arrive. The Ministry may be dumb, but they are not so much so to risk the lives of the townspeople when we are so entrenched in a location. Why do you think Hogwarts has not be assaulted yet?" Harry chuckled but remembered something and halted. "There is still a chance though that in the upcoming months they will grow desperate, however. The further we weaken and push them back, the more we push them into a corner. They will either crumble or try a last ditch chance to turn the tide of this war because as of right now, everyone, including the Ministry, unless they are completely delusion, know that we are going to win this war."
"This is going to be a shorter war than I thought, milord." Josh commented.
"That doesn't mean it's going to get any easier. If anything, it will get harder, and after the war will still be no picnic." Harry warned.
"I know, commander, but it is definitely good to see an end. I know many of our troops have worried that war will plague the country for several years."
"Well, they should not be worried then, huh?" Remus chuckled. "Wolf is leading us into the endgame."
"Very astute of you, pup." Harry nodded. "This was one of the last three places we need to take. The next two, though, are going to be much harder I can assure you."
"This is ludicrous. How were we ever steered in this direction?" The cloaked councilman asked his fellow member of the council.
"I do not know, my friend, but with the Shadow Wolf's devotion and rashness, I can only hope that some of us are going to survive him."
"Maybe we don't have to."
"What are you saying?"
"You know what I am saying. I am saying that we should enact a coup. We need to rid the Death Eaters of the Shadow Wolf and his closest fellows."
"Yes, but how?"
"I think it's time we exclude him from every department and see how his war movement runs without any more support."
"You know we will need the entire council for that, correct?"
"Not the entire council," The first councilman laughed, "Gregory is just archives."
"True." The other one laughed. "He doesn't do anyone much good."
In the coming weeks, more and more council members joined this group until finally the entire inner circle and its divisions except for Gregory, George, Daphne, and Harry were united against the Shadow Wolf.
A knock sounded against the dark mahogany door of George's office.
"Come in."
"George, I wanted to talk to you about something."
"What is it, Peter?" The man's body language remained nonchalant despite his perplexity at the appearance of another department's head in his office without previous announcement.
"How long have you been a part of this organization?" The leader of the department of finance asked, examining the personal objects George kept on the shelves of his office.
"Almost ten years. Is my loyalty in question?" George withdrew his wand and held it underneath his desk, aimed and ready.
"Of course, not, George… I merely was curious as to how devoted you are to the true cause of the Death Eaters."
"What would that be?" Asked the younger man carefully, keeping his wand poised.
"To take down the Ministry and install a righteous government of course." Peter answered as if George should have known. "In order to achieve this goal, however, I think we both would agree that our organization would have to live long enough to achieve this goal."
"What is your point, Peter? I know you well enough to know you are building up to something so out with it."
"Very well." The elderly man paused. "Do you think that the Shadow Wolf is being too brash and endangering this organization?"
"No, I do not, Peter. Before him, we were struggling. With him in the picture, we are now taking risks but necessary risks. Yes, he is bringing us into new territory, but this new territory is due to our progress. At least now, we are making progress. We are now able to win. What we were doing before was just waiting. Besides, Peter, it is too late now. All of us made the decision to go to war, and now we are at war. The only way it can end is with a winner. If the Ministry wins, we can be damn sure they will hunt us down once more and much harder than they did before."
"I'm sorry to hear that, George, because the rest of the Inner Circle besides Gregory agrees with me, and since you are-" Peter was cut off by George's curse incapacitating the older member of the Inner Circle.
Quickly standing up from his desk, George ran to the windows of his office to examine outside and found his staff missing and replaced with Death Eater guards.
"You bloody traitor!" George hissed underneath his breath, kicking Peter before then drawing out his wand and killing his newfound enemy. The middle aged man then grabbed his personal objects and ran to his floo before disappearing from the building and reappearing inside Hogwarts.
"Sir!" The wolf battalion warriors stationed as guards saluted.
"Where is Shadow Wolf?" He demanded; urgency permeated his voice.
"Right this way, sir." One of them offered before escorting the department head through the complex straight to Harry's quarters.
The guard knocked. "Sir. George of P.R. is here to see you."
"Go ahead and let him in!" Harry yelled behind the door.
"You may enter, sir." The guard then turned and left to go return to his post.
George, opening the door, found Harry sitting, ready for George.
"What is it, councilman?" The leader of the Death Eaters asked worriedly, seeing George's body language and facial expression. The man looked weary as well as concerned.
"Sir…"
"George, do you need a drink?" Harry stood up and poured his advisor some scotch and handed it to him quickly.
"Thank you, sir." George did not take his time with the drink and downed it in just three gulps.
"Damn. Ok, what is going on?"
"Peter and the rest of the departments have turned against you, Daphne, Gregory, and now me. He came to me a few minutes ago and tried to recruit me. I told him no, and he was going to dispose of me, so I killed him. The rest of my building was filled with guards; all my troops were gone. I don't know what became of them." George rushed out.
"Shit." Harry poured a shot for himself and downed it easily. "Okay. Fuck." He breathed deeply a second, trying to sooth his animal long enough to create a plan of action. Harry closed his eyes for a few seconds and growled as he opened them.
"They want to attack and split? Fine by me. I'll let them split and kill every single traitor. Obviously their guards are their new army and with you on our side, they will have much more difficulty gathering an army. Reinforce every place that we control. I want every recruitment post reinforced with more troops, and all of our bases with a small number of our troops evacuated and tested for their loyalties. The bases controlled mostly by us I want any enemy department members checked. As soon as all of that is carried out, we are moving. I don't want them knowing in the meantime, but I want this executed immediately. I want the heads of each of these fuckers on my table. I will ensure it. You are going to stay here, hidden from the rest of the world, understood?"
"Yes, sir. Of course, but I have one question."
"Call me Harry, George; we have moved past formalities. Now what is it?" The Shadow Wolf asked.
"Does this change the outcome of the war?"
"Yes. We won't have potential traitors lurking in our midst." Harry smirked, thinking of his latest enemies' fates.