"Godric's Heart! Project Shadow!" A Harry Potter Fanfiction
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its associated characters: all rights belong to JK Rowling. I do not own any crossover references used in the story: all rights belong to their original creators. I do own any OC spells explained at the end of a chapter.
Key Pairing: Darkish Harry/Luna
Normal Speech
'Thoughts'
'Mental Speech'
/Parseltongue/
Chapter 1: Make No Bones About It
'How did anything ever get done?'
That was the thought that ran through a tired Amelia Susan Bones' mind as she sagged in her armchair, rubbing at her forehead in annoyance at the fact that the task at hand wasn't even finished yet. Of course, this was only after she'd successfully finished off yet another pile of paperwork, none of which had anything to do with law and order. Instead, it was another band of unimportant business that seemed to have been shoved into a broom closet, so the person in charge didn't have to deal with it.
The person in charge being one Bartemius Crouch Senior.
The time of the papers going back at least three years and more.
It had never stopped…
GHPS
Whether it was complaints about Ministry workers – most notably Britain's Most-Hated Pink Plague Carrier, if not complaints made to the Ministry concerning a certain Dungeon Bat of Hogwarts – as well as budget complaints, reports of sightings of war criminals who'd escaped Azkaban and, more often than not, disciplinary acts that went unfulfilled, most-likely because the offender was a fine, upstanding member of the community.
Honestly, if Amelia had kept a tally since coming to power three years ago – having been sworn in as the new Director of the DMLE in the same year Fudge became Minister and her niece, Susan, went off to Hogwarts – she would have probably found the names Lucius Malfoy and Dolores Umbridge as joint-first for the most reports, complaints and pleas for aid from outside parties.
Seriously, what did Crouch do before he'd had a breakdown after the death of his wife and the loss of his son?
What with everything that had gone on since then, including training what few new recruits seemed to pass screening by others – conveniently, those others included Umbridge and Malfoy, hence why many applicants were refused if they were Muggle-born or Half-Blood – raising her otherwise-orphaned niece, dealing with the crap-storm that came out of Hogwarts because of mysterious events over the past several years and, most-importantly, not to mention most-recently, having to clean up Crouch and Bagnold's shit surrounding Sirius Black being sent to Azkaban – without a trial, she didn't hesitate to add – Amelia was exhausted.
And, honestly, if she was asked by Susan and her small group of friends, Amelia was even considering accepting an invite to chaperone her niece and company at the Quidditch World Cup.
Anything to get some time off.
GHPS
As Amelia filed the next stack of sorted papers, making sure every single one had her seal on it, just in case any nosey parkers – read: the pink toad or her blond ferret supporter – tried to make something of it, Amelia reached for her wand, intending to declare the end of her latest shift, so she could get home and get some sleep.
She'd probably sleep all the way through to Susan's seventh year thanks to all the shit Crouch had left her to clean up, but any sleep was…
"Amelia!"
If there was one voice – albeit one she hadn't heard in the Ministry building, much less her office since before she'd assumed the post – that had the power to wake her up again, it was Alastor Mad-Eye Moody, who suddenly burst into her office, his expression thunderous, while his magical eye was spinning furiously.
"What? Alastor? What are you doing here?"
"Apparently, making sure real work is done around here," growled Moody, earning a snort of amusement from Amelia as he slammed a file down onto her desk. "I know you've been looking into cleaning up Barty's waste after his…breakdown!"
"Still don't believe it was real?" asked Amelia, earning a snort and a scowl from Moody.
"Kindly remember who it was that sent Black to Azkaban without evidence, not to mention what brass ring he was reaching for before his wife and son conveniently died, one whom was left without a body to be buried and the other, which, coincidentally, turned to ashes when he was found dead in Azkaban," growled Alastor.
Before he could give his overdramatic catchphrase, however, Amelia cut him off with a raised hand as she asked, "All right, Mad-Eye; what's your point? In case you haven't noticed, I've only just finished sorting through the trash left by Crouch, who, it seems, couldn't even be bothered to do his job half-right unless he was being praised for it, or it involved that lovely pureblood dogma of our nation. Now, it's late, I'm beyond-exhausted and, unless this is brutally important, I'm sure it can wait until tomorrow."
She summoned her cloak…
"Even if it means ignoring that I may have finally tracked down James' son?"
The cloak hit the floor with a thud.
Amelia stood stock-still, her shoulders tense and her expression cold and apathetic as she hissed, "Don't even joke about that, Mad-Eye…"
"Do you forget who you're talking to, lass?"
She didn't.
Alastor Moody might be a paranoid, self-defensive Ministry malcontent, who is both the most-revered and feared of the ex-Aurors – after he'd been convinced to seek retirement…actually, that was on Crouch's say-so too.
But what he wasn't was a joker, much less one who would resort to using such a tragedy as that, which surrounded the soul he'd mentioned, just to get his message across, if not get his own way.
Picking up her cloak, Amelia hung it back on the hook on her office wall before, slowly, she slid her way to her desk, sitting down shakily as she looked from Alastor to the file he'd slammed down onto her desk, "All right, Mad-Eye…tell me what you've found and maybe I'll ignore the fact that you not only invoked the name of a friend to get your point across, but that you also came to me and not Sirius with this."
"We both know he would be more likely to storm into Crouch's office and demand answers with his wand rather than his words," argued Moody, earning a faint nod from Amelia, before the ex-Auror added, "Also, before you ask, I didn't go to Albus about this because it involves something that shouldn't exist…in fact, the one who made sure this thing became ephemera was Albus himself…back after the fall of Grindelwald!"
Now Amelia was fully awake.
Looking again to the file, she flicked it open, before her eyes widened as she saw what was printed on the first page.
"Godric's Heart!" exclaimed the Director of the DMLE, her eyes wider than wide, while her heart felt colder than a Siberian winter as she trembled in fear, disbelief, anger and no small amount of pleading that, for once, Alastor was wrong and that he was actually joking with her.
"Project Shadow?"
"Yes," said Alastor, stamping his staff on the ground, which caused a shield to rise up around the office, before he also summoned a chair, sitting down in it while he kept his eyes on the more-than-terrified Amelia.
"The ICW's Last Resort experiment in the hopes of vanquishing Gellert Grindelwald decades ago; as you know, Amelia, this was an experiment of ritualistic proportions, which all the Magical Allied Forces agreed to contribute to, with both the Supreme Mugwump, Albus' predecessor, and the heads of state, including President Picquery and Minister Podmore acting as envoys and assurances of fair play and all safety rules and agreed international protocols were followed."
"I…I remember," agreed Amelia, trembling as she turned the pages, revealing information on potions, as well as runic designs that had been used, along with pictures that made her stomach churn as though she'd swallowed a live Basilisk. "They hoped to create the ultimate warrior wizard, one who would be the frontline against Grindelwald and his ally, Adolf Hitler. Didn't they also get the inspirations from a Muggle who'd created something similar in their stories?"
"Stan Lee's Captain America, yes," chuckled Alastor, shaking his head as he added, "Not that I endorse the dogma of our nation, Amelia, but I can't help but wonder what they were smoking when they decided to draw inspiration from a Muggle comic book in order to save the world."
Amelia's lips twitched with amusement, but it soon faded as she found more pictures showing deformed bodies, all of which made her guts thrash and burn with more pain than before as she asked, "Did…didn't they shut down the…the project when…when it was revealed that…that some of the teams responsible for…for the experiments performed them on…on…"
"Children," said Alastor, nodding firmly as he explained, "And even then, they were using Muggle-borns, Half-Bloods whose magical side couldn't object and, worse, even Squibs; some were even found to have cast the Imperius Curse on Muggle children, who believed they were going to be what the Muggles call a superhero…and as if all that wasn't terrible enough, there were also reports that some were taken in exchange for financial gain on the part of their families."
Amelia quickly conjured a bucket, vomiting heavily into it as she looked at the next page, which showed more wrecked bodies, but also showed a young male figure, who looked like he'd been mauled by a pack of Nundus before being thrown to Greyback and his pack.
Once she was sure there was nothing else she could throw up, Amelia vanished the expelled waste, before she freshened her breath and, sniffing softly, she sat upright, looking to Alastor with a pale, sweaty face and eyes that sparkled with tears of agony as she asked, "But…but like you said, Alastor…it…it was shut down…Albus; he…he made sure all traces were gone…but…but now…this…this file…"
"Found by a friend who owes me a favour, but has also been sworn to silence and, trust me, won't be saying anything to anyone about anything after this," explained Alastor, clenching his hands around his staff, while he also looked down at the file. "Apparently, Barty's had this last copy in his possession and, from what I've seen, it would appear that he's not only restarted Project Shadow, but…"
"What does this have to do with Harry Potter?" asked Amelia, earning a shivering breath from Alastor as he reached into his coat.
"Prepare yourself…"
Here, he tossed one final photo onto the table…
And Amelia nearly vomited blood as she saw the image in the photo.
A small boy, who had to be no older than seven or eight years old, strung up like a pig in a butcher's, his hands and feet bound by magical wires, which were attached to IVs containing who knows how many potions. His skin was also covered in glowing runes while, as Amelia stared in horror at the image, she saw the boy look up, revealing two cold, dark, emerald-green eyes, as well as a very faint, angry-looking scar on his head.
A scar shaped like a bolt of lightning.
"H-H-H-Harry?"
"He's alive," said Alastor, earning a choked sob from Amelia, while the usually-stern, no-nonsense ex-Auror broke his mask as he closed his good eye, allowing a rare tear to fall as he explained, "That…that image was taken when…according to my contact, the…the project was…was to be terminated six years ago…right around the time Bartimaeus had his breakdown, actually. The location was put under a powerful Fidelius Charm and the security detail there circled, with top-level, Unspeakable-worthy Mind Wipes and random Portkeys issued, so nobody could find their way back until a call was issued…sadly for the Hitler-lookalike, I found one of them and knew them to be a friend…and I was trained by the best in the power of the mind, so lifting it was child's play. Sadly, as I said, my contact begged me to return them to blissful ignorance, but only after they gave me this file, with all the information, including the location of the laboratory where…where this abomination is still being monitored today!"
Amelia wasn't sad, scared or hurt anymore.
Now, she was angry!
Hell…she was pissed!
"Where…is…Harry…Potter, Alastor?" hissed the head witch, her hands clenched so tightly that drops of her own blood fell onto the picture of the small boy before her.
"That's what makes it even worse, Amelia," said Alastor, tapping Amelia's bleeding hands with his staff, healing her wounds, before he made her look up into his disfigured features as he answered her.
"The laboratory is located in what used to be the basement level…of the Potters' old home in Godric's Hollow!"
GHPS
"I'M GOING TO FUCKING EVISCERATE THAT WIFE-KILLING, INCOMPETENT PIECE OF DRAGON SHIT! I'M GOING TO LEAVE HIM TO BE MUNCHED UP AND CRAPPED OUT BY A NUNDU WITH DIARRHOEA! AND THEN I'LL LEAVE THAT SHIT TO BE MULCHED BY DEVIL'S BLOODY SNARE WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON HIM!"
"Still think it was a good idea to bring him along with us?" asked Alastor, but rather than get an answer, Amelia turned to the only other companion whom she had insisted was joining them on the rescue mission – all the while hoping she wasn't too late to actually rescue them.
"Sirius," said Amelia, taking the trembling hands of Sirius Black, the recently-vindicated Lord of his Household, who'd been sent to Azkaban for a crime he didn't commit – all on the say-so of Crouch, she didn't hesitate to add – while she tried to calm his temper as she explained, "Believe me, for what he's done…what some people have let him get away with, I understand your fury and your bloodlust, but, right now, we need to be careful. We're dealing with some very dangerous waters here and I can't have you go off on another blindly-obsessed vengeance quest…or do you need reminding what happened last time?"
"I…you…no!" growled Sirius, tears of rage and pain rolling down his face. "I…I know why you needed me to come with you, Ames; but…but still, I can't promise that I will not find out how that sick freak was able to use my honorary brother's old home as his…his damn Frankenstein's Castle! I mean, it doesn't even belong to him or the Ministry; it should…it does belong to…to my pup…"
"We'll get answers, Black," argued Alastor, moving towards the seemingly-empty house where they'd intended to find their quarry. "But, for now, stop being so damn barking mad! Remember, your godson is going to need you…and that's even if…"
"Finish that statement, Mad-Eye, and you'll be Mad-Eye-Two before this day is done!" growled Sirius, clenching a hand to his heart as he hissed through clenched teeth. "I can feel my boy's life force; I've always been able to feel it, ever since Lily and James named me his godfather, not that some people chose to accept that as proof positive that I could never, and will never, harm a hair on the head of my little boy…no; old Crouch saw my Black surname and, like a certain someone else, he also saw a chance to cuck me because I supported James instead of his precious son!"
"What do you mean?" asked Amelia, earning a sneer from Sirius that made him look dangerous.
"Crouch has always hated James and me because, like a certain snivelling wretch, his perfect son was obsessed with the idea of wedding and bedding Lily, not to mention Ally too; keep the bloodline pure, my ass! It was only ever spoiling his little bastard and what Psycho Junior wanted, he got…well, such was the way up to the moment Crouch was forced to look his own kid in the eye and realise the monster he'd made."
"I won't deny I nearly actually laughed at him when I stopped that pampered ponce from silencing Karkaroff," chuckled Alastor, earning a pat on the back from Sirius, before Moody scoffed, "Of course, because I'd cursed his precious little poppet, he had me brought up on assault charges and conspiring to ruin his chance of being Minister. Next thing you know, I'm out on my ass…well, right up to the day Andi and Eddie asked me to be the personal mentor to Little Dora."
"Yes, and don't think I won't be thanking you for training her, either, Mad-Eye," drawled Sirius, rubbing his arm with a pained look. "Time was, she'd just snarl at you not to use her name; now she has your teachings to help send the message…of course, guess who she's told me is the only one who she'll let use her name?"
"Harry?" asked Amelia.
"As far as she's concerned, he's still her lost, but always loveable little brother," laughed Sirius, stopping at the gate to the house he hadn't visited in years. "And on that note, Amie, can you tell me how we're even able to see this place? After all, as Moody said, it's supposed to be under a powerful Fidelius Charm…and, trust me, the irony's not lost on me."
"The charm broke when Alastor found his contact," said Amelia, earning a snort from Sirius.
"You mean there is a way to break it without having a backstabbing little rat betraying you?"
"Or you yourself were the Secret Keeper," said Alastor, earning a startled look from Amelia and Sirius. "My friend was forced to go through the Mind Wipe when the project was shut down. Apparently, he had voiced his opposition to keeping…the boy…in the state he was in; he even hinted at them sending him to the Long-Term-Care Ward at St Mungo's, but Crouch actually threatened to blow this place up if anyone argued against what he called his Merlin-given authority."
"All I'll say," insisted Sirius, clenching his hands over the top of the gate. "Is that I'd better not find out Albus had anything to do with this: after all, last time I saw the old bastard, I showed him what I thought of his necessary suggestion to have Harry raised by Petunia-damn-Dursley!"
"I'd love to know how Barty even knew that!" insisted Amelia, earning a long, drawn-out, deep breath from Sirius as he straightened up.
"Point taken…"
"So…shall we go in?" asked Alastor, earning a scoff from Sirius.
"Sure; how do we get down there, anyway? I remember Lily's protections, and how they also helped Remus during his bad times; if Crouch's sick mind made them worse, or stronger, then…"
'Perhaps you should just ask, Sirius Black.'
Suddenly, Sirius' eyes widened, as did Amelia's and Alastor's when, before Sirius had a chance to finish summing up his thoughts, the earth in the otherwise-dead, pale-coloured front garden suddenly rumbled ominously. As they watched, a gap formed in the ground, which seemed to burrow its way down into the earth, accompanied by a faint, dimly-glowing reddish-coloured light that seemed to light the way into the tunnel.
"We go on red?" asked Sirius, earning a scoff from Amelia, who was grateful that Alastor had put up a powerful Notice-Me-Not Charm upon their arrival; without the Fidelius Charm, any Muggles in the legendary village would probably have noticed the earth open up, and three magic users go down into the under-earth before said earth closed up again.
Following the tunnel, Sirius in the lead, Amelia and Alastor were curious about the voice, while Sirius was focused on just one thing.
One thing that revealed itself when the earth parted again, revealing a brick wall that, much like the entrance to Diagon Alley, sprang open and dissected itself, forming an opening that, when he peered into what lay beyond, left Sirius speechless, while Amelia and Alastor were caught somewhere between horrified and in awe, as well as relieved – the latter of which they also shared with Sirius.
There, kneeling in the centre of the room, was not a boy, but, instead, there was a young man, whom was dressed in a skin-hugging one-piece outfit in deepest-red-and-black colours; his wild dark hair – a crowning glory of his bloodline, as Sirius knew – also had oddly-coloured reddish highlights while, to the alarm of the Black Lord, the man was dripping blood.
Blood that was also pooled around him, but, as the trio peered closer, they all gasped when they saw why.
All around the brick chamber, there were what had to be seven witches and wizards, all of whom had wide, terrified looks on their faces and a wide array of wounds on their bodies, from slashed chests and gouged eyes to dismembered limbs and, in one case, what looked like a serious, full-body burn that left them impossible to identify, the crusty remains of which were also decaying right in front of their eyes.
"Great Salazar's Ghost!" exclaimed Alastor, a part of him loath to admit that this was something even he hadn't been able to see, which meant the only one who knew what was happening, or why these victims looked like they did, was the young man in the room.
'Do not mourn these weaklings, Alastor Moody…'
Or not, as Alastor thought, before his eye widened, as did the eyes of Sirius and Amelia, when they saw the man wasn't alone.
There, seemingly towering over him and enveloping him in their presence, was a large, black-furred fox-like creature, with glowing, emerald-green eyes that had nine rings of red mixed with the green colour, giving them a powerful, dangerous air, which also showed itself in the fox-creature's fangs, which Sirius then noticed were also dripping with blood, as well as flecks of flesh, suggesting the beast had ripped some of the wizards apart with their bare teeth.
What was most alarming of all, however, was the sight of nine furry, black tails that grew out of the fox's backside, all of which were rubbing themselves soothingly against the young man in the fox's embrace.
As the fox nuzzled the man, Sirius swallowed hard when the eyes of said beast locked onto him before a warning growl ripped out of the fox.
'As for you, Sirius Black, you have some serious explaining to do! And, trust me, if I do not like the answers, I will devour you alive and seal you in a state of permanent digestion inside of me, never able to die until my little kit-ling truly forgives you!'
Sirius took a step back.
Amelia fingered her wand.
Alastor, however, licked his lips slowly before, in as soft a voice as even he could muster, he laughed weakly.
"A powerfully-protective friend you've got there, Potter…"
"Don't call me that!"
Sirius suddenly flinched, and violently at that, as a cold, ruthless whisper of a voice hissed at him and Alastor, as well as Amelia.
At the same time, the blood-soaked youth lifted his head, revealing two emerald-green eyes that seemed to be flecked with a similar reddish hue as his vulpine companion, while he slowly rose up from the ground, his eyes cold, dry and full of nothing that might be called teenage warmth as he looked to Sirius, then Amelia and, finally, to Alastor, as he spoke again.
"My name…is Shadow…and before you apologise for not being able to track me down and save me sooner, Director Amelia Susan Bones, let me advise you: save your breath!"
As Amelia flinched at the cold tone in the young man's voice, Harry, or Shadow, as he seemed to decide he was calling himself, looked to Sirius.
"As for you…I will never forgive you, so don't bother asking: you want to help me? Fine…but I am not your boy, your pup and I am definitely not your Prongslet or a Marauder; accept that, or stay out of my way. The only friend I have…the only family…is Raimei."
"Raimei?" asked Sirius, while Alastor nodded once.
"Thunder…appropriate, I suppose; so…Shadow…does that mean you're coming with us?"
"Well I'm hardly going to want to stay here," said Shadow, his voice edged by a light note of mockery as he added, "But first…Raimei?"
Nodding once, the fox rose up before she snapped her tails at Sirius, Amelia and Alastor.
GHPS
Seconds later, all three gasped when they found themselves standing in the street.
"What? How did…"
BOOM!
Before Sirius could finish, his eyes widened when the place that had been the birth home, and apparently prison, of his godson exploded in a powerful fiery blast, which shot up into the air before, to the alarm of the three magic users, it vanished.
Leaving no trace that Godric's Hollow, specifically the once-home of the Potters, was ever there.
Even more-curiously, none of the Muggles appeared to have noticed, much less heard the blast.
"Okay…"
Suddenly, all three spun around to see Harry/Shadow leaning against the fence surrounding the cemetery.
Curiously, there was a woman now standing next to him: an Asian woman with raven-black hair and eyes that were the same colour as…
"Merlin's beard!" gasped Alastor, taking in the woman's leathery-style clothes, which made her look like a real warrior, or a fighter in an army. "I…I thought you were…I thought I was imagining it, but…my dear…you…you are, aren't you?"
"Are what?" asked Sirius.
"A Kitsune," replied the woman, nodding once to Moody as she added, "Well said, Mr Moody…this is just my human form, which I will wear as my Lord's sworn protector, friend, ally and, when he needs it or demands it of me, source of comfort and consolation."
"But you can still call her Raimei," said Shadow, drawing himself to his full height as he added, "And yes, Sirius Black, Raimei Potter; she is me and I am her, and she is mine…and no, Director Bones, she will not stop calling me Lord or Master…"
"That's her Kitsune spirit," explained Alastor, looking to Raimei as he asked, "You shared your fire with him."
"Not like I had a choice," said Raimei, gently tapping Shadow on the side as she explained, "But then again, neither did my Master, when your world made him into what he was forced to become."
"Project Shadow," growled Shadow, his green eyes crackling with magic, which seemed to emphasise the redness in his flecks.
"The Ultimate Magician, as he called me…which, to be frank, sounds a hell of a lot better than The Boy-Who-Lived!"
Yikes, talk about starting this party with a BANG!
Harry…or Shadow, as he will now be known – cheesy, yes, but such is the fun of Fanfiction – has been freed…or has he freed himself?
Also, where, exactly, did Raimei come from and, now he's free, what will Shadow do about the world that basically flogged him off into the slavery or Mr Sick-and-Twisted?
Keep Reading to Find Out
Next Chapter: Sirius, you've got some 'splaining to do! Also, Amelia receives an emergency summons to a certain summer event, but…wait…where's Shadow gone? Oh crap…the alert mentioned something about a force not seen in 13 years…and now Shadow, once…oh no: you don't think he's gone after them, do you?
Please Read and Review
PORTRAYALS:
Amelia Bones – Jemma Redgrave
Raimei – Ming-Na Wen (aka Melinda May/The Cavalry in Agents of SHIELD)
GHPS
PROMPT INFO:
When Amelia Bones came to power as Director of the DMLE, she took on the baggage of the inept bigot with the infamous moustache...more commonly known as Barty Crouch Senior. Among the many skeletons in the hypocritical Ministry official's closet was an experiment to create the Ultimate Magician: Project Shadow has been discovered...and that's not all Amelia has unearthed
(Grey/Dark/Evil Super/OP Harry: many years earlier, out of self-delusional pride and snubbery aimed at Sirius Black and James Potter, Crouch Senior discovered Harry's so-called home and made a financial deal with the Dursleys to take the so-called Boy-Who-Lived and use him as a guinea pig to create the Ultimate Magician: what skills and/or powers Harry has thanks to Project Shadow is up to you, but his key power is a force of magical energy he calls "Curse Control:" what this power does is up to you: when Amelia finds Project Shadow/Harry, she MUST move heaven and earth to claim him as her ward, if only until Sirius is free: Harry, however, is cold, withdrawn and cares only for himself, though he can have a soft side reserved for the lucky few - why he shows this side of himself is up to you: crossovers welcome: Dumbledore can either be benevolent and out to help Harry or KNEW what was happening to Harry and out to control his powers: bonus points if Harry goes "Curse Control" on the Dursleys as a form of sarcastic gratitude and/or vengeance for what they did to him and what they allowed to happen: bonus points if a Dark/Evil Harry decides to either side with Voldemort or go out of his way to prove why and how he IS the superior lifeform and Ultimate Magician)
Just in case anyone's curious about the source of this idea…