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Harry Potter and the Perversion of Purity

By ACI100

Book 4: The Deadliest of Games

Chapter 14: Marching Orders

September 18, 1994
Malfoy Manor
9:46 PM

Dark banks of clouds gathered off in the distance and formed a dense ring around the clear, star-speckled sky. The strengthening winds snatched at his robes and rustled his hair as he breathed in the oncoming smell of ozone that permeated the stronger, more prominent scent of the gardens sprawling out below his balcony.

I won't be here as often soon. Returning to southern England would be much harder once he arrived at Durmstrang.

It was a shame. He held a certain fondness for this place despite its grimmer memories. It's the first house that ever felt like a home. More than the sentimental feelings, he would miss the improvements. Dolohov was right; I thought I'd gotten better over the summer, but it was nothing compared to the last few weeks.

"Nagini said you wished to speak with me." Harry nodded and Voldemort drifted across the balcony before stopping beside him and resting his pale hands on the smooth, wooden railing. "You are becoming more confident."

I really am. He bowed his head above the railing. "I hope I didn't go too far, my lord."

Voldemort waved a hand. "I am a generous lord to those who are loyal. You had questions?"

Time to speak carefully. "You've mentioned the Carrows a couple of times and said I should investigate them."

"So I have."

"I've found it harder than expected. I don't really know where to start. I've observed them for hours in the last year, but it's always the same. I've considered Legilimency, but something tells me that would be a bad idea."

Voldemort hummed. "It would be a dangerous one."

"And I'm not sure it would actually tell me anything. You mentioned soul magic when talking about the Carrows."

Voldemort's long, pale fingers had been drumming on the railing, but now they paused. "I do not know what happened to the Carrows," the Dark Lord admitted. "It was born from soul magic and I suspect it bears a strong resemblance, but if you're here to ask for the answer, I don't have it."

Of course you don't. You wouldn't have asked me to go looking if you did. He should have known that all along.

"I don't know much about soul magic," he said carefully. "I know that the dementors suck out most of a person's soul if they have the chance, and I know that the Killing Curse completely destroys the soul. I don't really know anything else that touches it; not unless you count Homenum Revelio."

"You may soon touch your own soul via the rituals if you continue." Harry tried masking his reaction, but still he flinched. Voldemort smirked. "You forget that you are talking to the most powerful sorcerer in the world. I have pushed the boundaries of magic beyond what anyone before me dreamt of. The signs are subtle, but they're there."

Harry ignored most of that. "I thought rituals were based in blood magic? Or general sacrificial magic."

"There are rituals that touch the soul. Some of them leave deep scars or cast long shadows, but others are simpler. You can't alter the way your magic flows without touching your soul."

I never knew that. Harry wondered if Grindelwald did. I'll have to ask him next time we have a chat. "But it wasn't a ritual that could have affected the Carrows."

"No." Voldemort's fingers renewed their drumming. "The Carrows' case is unique. I would recommend getting close to them and reporting back your findings. There is no one more knowledgeable about soul magic than I."

Only so you can tell me what you want and hide anything too useful if it doesn't fit your plans. Restless anxiety fluttered inside him.

I have to get stronger; I have to be free. Sometimes it felt impossible; the distance between him and Voldemort was like a never-ending chasm. Sometimes it feels like I'll never close it in time.

Harry twirled his wand between his fingers. "It might take a while," he said slowly. "They'll be at Hogwarts all year. I'll be leaving in less than two weeks, and then I won't see them again until spring."

"It is no matter. It's a small thing that can wait. There are more important things in the meantime."

Harry bowed his head again. "Yes, my lord."

"Study the geography of Durmstrang if you haven't already. They are finalizing the first task now and all variations heavily involve the geography."

Harry's head stayed bowed. "I'll do my best."

"Good. You should return to Hogwarts."

Harry glided out across the grounds and stopped just outside the high, wrought iron gates. He sidestepped through space and time, ignoring that awful constricting breathlessness. It reminded him of the way Grindelwald had felt standing atop the pyre each time he apparated, but it was becoming easier to ignore the more often he felt it.

A loud crack preceded his arrival in the middle of Hogsmeade's main street. The sky here was clear and there was no sign of clouds or rain. Perfect.

He was descending the marble staircase down from the third floor by the time he saw another soul. "Weasley."

Ron was coming up the marble staircase and had nearly walked into him. He had been muttering something beneath his breath.

Something feels off. One of his hands was tucked away in the pocket of his robes and the other gripped the railing hard enough for his knuckles to blend against the marble.

Weasley stopped dead. "Potter."

"Where are you coming from? It must be past curfew and I don't know many Gryffindors who lurk around on the first or second floor."

Weasley shifted from foot to foot and looked more uncomfortable now than ever. "I could ask you the same thing."

He shrugged. "I have a hidden room up on the third floor I use for practice."

"Oh." Weasley's cheeks reddened.

Why is he so wary of me? They had spoken candidly following the death of Lovegood, then again last year in the hospital wing when Weasley had fallen from his broom. What's changed?

Harry met his eyes and dove in past the irises. Roots snapped and branches snagged his robes as his younger sister prattled on and on about seeing lightning through a gap in the trees.

Harry let himself drift along the strand of memory. Bollocks! Not that one. It took an effort not to blush seeing all the times the youngest Weasley had made a fool of herself while drooling over him. That could be useful though.

He redirected the pattern of thought until he saw a familiar newspaper and snatches of conversation in a small, cramped bedroom with Hermione Granger.

Weasley winced. "You all right?" asked Harry in the best concerned tone he could muster.

"Yeah," grunted Weasley. "Just a bit of a headache."

I need to get subtler. I'm powerful and good at following the thoughts, but not subtle enough. I'd have been caught there if he was an occlumens.

"I had detention with Umbridge," Weasley admitted after a long pause.

Harry raised an eyebrow. "With Umbridge? I've never heard of detentions with the headmaster or headmistress."

Weasley scowled. "She's been doing it since she got the job. Anyone who talks bad about the ministry or their lies."

Oh dear. His opinion of the woman dipped. I was so impressed at how subtle they were being. This was the furthest thing from subtle. It can't have been part of their plans.

"Does that happen often?" he asked. "I can't say I've heard of any Slytherins ending up in detention."

Weasley's scowl deepened. "Of course you haven't. All you lot are…" he trailed off.

Death Eaters? Harry almost laughed as he brushed aside the fringe covering up his famous scar. "You didn't think that one out before saying it, did you?

Weasley looked like there was nothing more he wanted than for the ground to open up and swallow him. "Not all of you, but you get what I meant."

His mind flashed back to sprawling gardens lit by setting sunlight but drowning slowly in a shadowy sea.

"Please. M-my Father will serve him again. My m-mother never wanted anything to do with it. She thought it was s-s-stupid and dangerous."

Familiar anger welled up, but he forced it back down and kept his face impassive. "You'd probably be surprised, but I take your point."

"You do know they're lying, don't you?" Harry raised an eyebrow and Weasley's cheeks went red again. "The ministry," he whispered while his eyes darted all around them. "You know that they're lying about You-Know-Who?"

I should have seen this question coming. It was a precarious ledge he now teetered on. He's so sure that he has to know something. There had been talk about Dumbledore and his Order of the Phoenix this past summer at Malfoy Manor. I wonder if his family's involved. Bollocks!

If he agreed, Weasley was the type to shout about it from the rooftops. That would undo my deal with Umbridge in a hurry, but if I disagree, Dumbledore might hear about it. The corridor felt five degrees colder all of a sudden. I'm not strong enough to go against someone like Dumbledore yet.

"I don't know," he said at last. "It seems unbelievable that he could be back, but the ministry's side makes no sense."

"He is back," said Weasley. "I figure you should know, of all people. Merlin only knows what he'll want to do with you."

You wouldn't believe Merlin if he told you. "I'm not ruling anything out," he said. "I'm just waiting to see how things shape up."

Weasley grimaced. "Don't wait too long. You'll regret it if you do."

Harry dragged a charming smile up onto his lips. "We'll see. I'm heading back down to my dorms, but it's been nice catching up. I hope things are going better for you this year."

A shadow passed across Weasley's face. "Yeah," he said grimly. "Yeah, they are."

"Don't piss off Umbridge too much. She's got the ministry's backing and can make your life hell if you give her a reason."

Weasley muttered something about not pissing her off if she stopped being a bitch and then moved past him up the marble stairs.

Harry let his thoughts wander as he drifted down into the dungeons. The way Weasley talked about it made it sound like others too were rebelling. I didn't even realize how against Umbridge some of the school is.

Almost all his friends were awake and still sitting near the fire when he stepped into the common room. Cassius offered him a wave from his place in the corner and both Diana and Cassie flashed him smiles. The only one missing was Astoria, who was probably already in bed.

"Hey, Pansy," he asked when seated. She didn't look up right away, so consumed she was by whatever she was reading. Guilt dug its flaming fingers into him, but he shrugged them off. "Pansy!"

Her head snapped up and she blinked three times. "What?"

"Have you heard anything about Umbridge and the Gryffindors? I just ran into Weasley on my way down here and he made it sound like a lot of them aren't playing nice."

Her cheeks flushed pink. "No," she muttered and let her eyes fall towards the floor. "Sorry, I haven't really been keeping up with that sort of thing this year."

Merlin. What have I done to her? He offered her a kind smile and met her eyes, pumping the purest happiness he could through the connection. "No problem, Pansy. Don't worry about it." She smiled back and he felt the ease of relief settle into him. "I'm off to bed," he said. "It's been a long weekend."

His friends' farewells followed him down the sloping stone tunnel and into his dormitory.

He paused halfway to his bed. Someone tried breaking the wards. They had failed, but progress had been made. There were enchantments woven with his own. Enchantments that will make it easier to take mine down if they exist too long.

He probed them more carefully and nearly gawked. Bloody hell. He only knew of these because of Crouch. Whoever had tried piercing the wards might have failed, but they had left behind a nasty bit of work. This will corrode my wards over time if I don't get rid of it.

He went through his bank of memories, but came up empty. For fuck's sake. He removed the silver tie pin from his robes and disillusioned himself. I guess I'm not done for the night; not until someone can teach me how to take this down.

And not until I decide on revenge. There was no doubt who it was. Greengrass. I'll bet she was trying to steal the vial of Veritaserum. I'll have to move it.

He wouldn't retaliate with that over something like this — that would be a last resort — but he could not allow her to take it back.

Just when I thought I had her beat…

September 21, 1994
The Chamber of Secrets
12:00 AM

Harry drew in a deep breath of dry, musty air. This isn't going to be fun.

A fine powder was arrayed in a long, sweeping pattern that glittered in the torchlight. He mentally went over things one more time. Dove's blood, powdered seastone, powdered thunderbird tail, and now the fun part.

He slid the tip of his wand gently across his wrist. The skin parted. The cut throbbed in time with his heartbeat and sent burning pain shivering up his arm. A fine, crimson flow trickled from the cut and splattered against the floor.

He grit his teeth and sprinkled blood on every inch of the pattern, then tossed his wand out of the way. That should be far enough. Anything magical could interfere with rituals like this. Good thing I took that vial of poison Greengrass tried dosing me with into Slytherin's study. That's well out of the way now.

He channelled a trickle of magic through himself and let it loose.

Last time, the pain had built, but this time it flared up all at once.

It was unlike any other pain he had ever felt. It felt like something was being torn apart inside him; like something was being stretched and stretched until small rips appeared.

His breath would not come, his thoughts would not move. The only one that swam up through the sea of pain was the worry that something might have gone wrong.

It was over faster than it had started.

Harry gasped and held out his hand. A vial smacked against his palm. That was fast. He had worked on wandless summoning these past few months, but always it was a painful struggle. Not now; not that I've increased the flow of magic through my body.

He yearned to summon his wand and test it, but fatigue had its teeth buried deep into his soul and he feared there would be no rising from the hard stone floor tonight.

Harry's eyes fluttered as he stared down at the Blood Replenisher in his hand. Might as well get this over with and sleep.

September 22, 1994
A Secret Passageway on the Third Floor
9:55 PM

Harry smiled; it was hard not to, seeing Astoria whoop and beam the way she was. "Good."

"I'm actually getting good!" It was like she couldn't believe it.

It still took her a while to perfect each new spell and learn how much magic she needed to hold back, but her casting really was coming along.

"We should probably stop here," he said. "Curfew's in five minutes and I don't want you getting caught out."

"Why just me? You'll be out too."

Harry smirked. "You don't really need to worry about professors in the corridors when you can become invisible."

Her eyes widened. "You have a cloak?"

He made himself keep smirking. "No." His smile grew more genuine when he parroted an old quote once said before a gilded mirror. "I do not need a cloak to become invisible."

She stuck her tongue out. "Of course you don't." Her face fell. "Only one more night of practice before you leave for Durmstrang."

He let out a breath and ran a hand through his hair. It was kind of a shame. I wonder how far she could come if we worked together all year. It was hard feeling bad when the prospect of Durmstrang was so tantalizingly close.

"I can help you a bit in letters. I know it's not the same, but I doubt I'll be able to come back much. I can't apparate here all the way from Durmstrang."

She hung her head. "I know."

"There was something I wanted to ask for while I'm gone." Her head snapped back up and he could see the excitement in her eyes. Perfect. "I've thought about you offering to find out what's going on with the Carrows."

She was vibrating in her chair now. "And?"

He buried deep the flash of guilt. It's not a bad thing that she wants to do me a favour. "I want you to befriend them."

"Oh." Pink crept up into her cheeks. "That sounds harder than finding things out."

Not when whatever you find out will be linked to soul magic. "Just find out everything you can. Anything abnormal about them, anything that's changed since the end of their first year. Any patterns at all. I'll be able to do a lot more once I have that information, and you're the best suited of all my friends for the job."

Her eyes widened. "Really?"

"Yes." He meant it; though for darker reasons than he would admit. I had no plans of liking you and you forced my hand; that says all I need to know. "You're the most naturally likeable and the one who they'll least suspect of having an agenda."

She was blushing fiercely now. "Me? The most likeable? Really?"

He grinned. "Definitely. Just look at your competition." She giggled. "Go," he told her. "I want to play around a bit with the room before heading down to the dorms, but I don't want you caught out after curfew."

It was not until an hour later he slunk back into the common room. All his friends were asleep but for Draco, who was bent low over a book in one of the large, comfortable armchairs nearest the fire. The only other students in the room were fifth and seventh years slaving away over piles of homework in lonely, shadowed corners.

He took a seat beside Draco and cast a ward around them. "I have something to ask you."

Draco looked up with a frown. "What?"

"A couple things, actually. The first is just a question." Draco waited. "You said this summer you wouldn't share my secrets with anyone. Does that include the Dark Lord?"

A nervous pallor crept up Draco's skin. "I—"

"I understand if the answer's no, but I need an answer. And don't lie; I'll know if you do."

"Yes." That surprised him, but he saw no lie when searching Draco's eyes and skimming the surface of his mind.

That means he's more loyal to me than Voldemort. Not really surprising after what he said in the garden, but I still had to check.

"Then I have a couple things I want from you while I'm gone."

Author's Endnote:

This isn't as big a cliffhanger as it might seem. I can just explain it in fewer words during Draco POV chapters without really losing anything.

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