Dark Rage
~Retelling~
***
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, trembling.
"This summer…. strange events happened….strange voices were calling to me….horrifying images were placed in my head. I saw….Voldemort's idea of fun. People were dying, men, women, children….getting dismembered, burned, tortured with curses….skinned alive," Harry was speaking in an almost inaudible whisper.
Hermione's face was tinged with green. She tried her hardest not to vomit.
"And then….Voldemort came after me….he did to me what he did to all the victims I saw. Such intense pain occurred that I had never felt before.
"The Dursleys didn't make it easier. They hurt me as well. Never had I seen Vernon so angry. I have many scars from him."
Harry's lip was quivering as he told his tale. However he did not cry. Hermione was trying to console him, comfort him in his time of agony. Harry continued after a few moments.
"The voice….it came after me too. It would sometimes try to take control of me. It accomplished this when I
fell asleep. It gave me haunting nightmares.
"I remember one of the nightmares. In my sleep I revisited the Department of Mysteries. When you were struck by Dolohov's curse, I lost control. When we were there last June, Neville found your pulse. Such intense relief hit me when I heard that. But in the nightmare, Neville didn't find your pulse. He said you were gone. I lost you. At first there was immense sorrow as I mulled over the thought of you not being there. Rage replaced the sorrow when I heard Dolohov laugh about your death. The darkest rage I had ever felt was filling me to the brim. And then I killed him, I killed Antonin Dolohov!" Harry let out a loud, hollow laugh that made the hair on the back of Hermione's neck stand up. She backed away from him.
"My body count is up to five Hermione! First my parents, then Cedric, then Sirius…." he trailed off. Hermione looked questioningly at him.
"But, Harry, that's only four. Who was the fifth?" she asked.
"I already told you, Antonin Dolohov. He was the fifth," Harry replied.
"That was just a dream-"
"It was real. I killed him. Voldemort showed me."
"Harry, he's showed you lots of things. How do you know this one was real?" she inquired.
"I know it was real because I saw his dead body with my own eyes. It was when Voldemort attacked me. He asked me what my friend's would think of me. He asked if they would live amongst a murderer. I remember what happened now," said Harry as he searched through his memories for that fateful night.
"Uncle Vernon had been possessed. He was taunting me. He said some things that made me angry. Very angry. The dark presence began to rise up inside me again. But that was when he showed me the body of Dolohov. I can still remember the smell: the horrible scent of decay. I remember how the rotting flesh was falling off his bones…"
Hermione had to stop herself from throwing up.
"And then he put me under this curse. A curse that made all my blood drain from my body, as well as the pain I felt. Like being skinned alive, except much worse. I know what it feels like to be skinned alive…."
Hermione vomited into the toilet. Harry didn't notice it, he was too far lost into his storytelling trance.
"His snake soon came after me. With each outward breath the snake would crush me more. That's how my ribs were crushed. I then felt her fangs pierce my neck. The venom traveled like fire through my veins. The last thing I can remember about it is the dark presence coming to the forefront of my mind again. After that, nothing."
Coming out of his trance, Harry noticed Hermione bent over the toilet. Immediately he began to comfort her.
"I'm sorry for telling you about that-you shouldn't have heard about it. You don't need to be burdened with such things. I'm sorry," Harry said.
Empty of stomach and feeling better, Hermione turned to face Harry.
"Harry, I asked for it, you needed to talk about it."
"There's more."
"What?" Hermione asked incredulously. More? How can he stand this.
"There's a lot more that you don't know about, and it will be better off that way. You don't need to be burdened with all my problems, especially the ones that I haven't told you. Just, forget everything I've said so far."
"No, Harry," Hermione said, "I want to talk about your burdens so I can help you through them. You always do everything alone. You don't have to do that."
"Yes I do Hermione!" Harry exclaimed as he stood up. "If I do this alone, no one else has to get hurt. It's me he wants, me! All his doings are my burdens to bear. No one else's!"
"But why does it have to be you?" Hermione countered.
Harry became very quiet. He looked her in the eyes and she saw the pain clouding over.
"I can't tell you….not yet."
"But why?" Hermione said desperately.
"Because it is a secret best kept forgotten."
Harry swept from the room, passing some windows in the hallway, not realizing that all movement had stopped outside the Granger household.
***
"I can't reach him," the Dark Lord was clearly unhappy, "He is being blocked by forces unknown. I can no longer feel our connection. He has been masked."
The Dark Lord turned to face the only other occupant of the large chamber. A man dressed all in black, with black stripes lining his face. The man was listening intently to Voldemort's every word.
"Why is this boy such a big deal to you?" He asked. Clearly he was unafraid of the powerful wizard in front of him.
"Let's say, Shaman, that he is just a pain. A very major one at that. I want him eliminated," Voldemort started walking towards the center of the room, "He is the only one to have ever survived an encounter with me more than three times, besides my old Headmaster. Gifted, yes, he is very gifted indeed. I have seen his magical prowess at times when I have invaded his mind. So much ability, and such anger. You should see what he can do if he gets angry enough. I've lost a very talented Death Eater to him, my old friend Antonin Dolohov."
"Dolohov? I thought he died a long time ago," said the Shaman.
"No, he was sent to Azkaban. The old Auror reports had him reported as dead before they found him again and sent him to Azkaban. They didn't rewrite the files for a while."
"If the boy is so gifted, then why kill him? The way you speak of his darker side makes me think that he could be a powerful ally, could he not?"
"Don't think I haven't thought of that," Voldemort said warningly, "I've tried to persuade him many times. Always he chooses the side of righteousness. I can't turn him."
The Shaman smiled. "There are….methods….available to convert him. If you choose me to, I can force out his darker self. I can erase his mind of any pure thoughts as well. He will be left with nothing but his darkest experiences, which will in time break him. After that, he will be a loyal friend and obedient servant."
"There is only one problem. There is another….party trying to control him. I discovered the night I wounded him that he is host to the Dark. The Dark does not give up easily. I know for myself."
"As do I, Lord Voldemort. The Dark can be subdued. I was a host once, but I freed myself. I can do the same to the boy. Or better yet, I can do it to the Dark as well. The Dark does not rule me, I control it!"
***
Harry was sitting out on the shore of the Granger's pond. Yes, the Grangers had a pond, and a rather large one at that. Harry was continuously staring at his reflection in the water.
He kept thinking about his conversation with Hermione. His mood had shifted so erratically. He had scared her again. She was now weighed down with the information Harry had given her. Dangit Potter, you did it again!
Harry did not realize that the water was beginning to push away from him. Ripples were being sent out toward the center of the pond. The angrier he became, the more violently the water behaved.
Damn it! Why does my life have to be so fucked!
The water began swirling in the middle of the pond, like a whirlpool. It began to grow larger and more violent as Harry thought more raging thoughts.
I wish Sirius were here now….he'd know what to do….
Harry saw a flash of headlights. Hermione's parents had just arrived home. He looked out onto the surface of the water. It was extremely choppy….
But there's no wind….
Putting his questions to rest, Harry trudged back to the house forlornly.
***
Dinner was a quiet affair. Harry was extremely somber as he ate a little of his meal. He off-handedly answered the few questions he was given. Realizing that he didn't feel like talking, they everyone left him alone.
Harry soon excused himself and trekked slowly through the large house to his room. He fell onto his bed and tried to go to sleep, even though he wasn't tired at all, well physically at least, he was extremely tired mentally.
Harry didn't know that just a floor below the Granger's were talking about him.
***
"I'm really worried about him," said Mrs. Granger in a motherly tone.
"As am I," agreed Mr. Granger as he took a drink from his glass, "just this morning I came out here and he was sitting down drinking coffee! At five a.m.! He told me that he didn't sleep well anymore and that he was used to it. Remember what he said at dinner last night? `I wasn't really allowed to eat…much, but it's okay, I'm used to it.' He must have had a really hard life."
"You don't know the half of it," said Hermione quietly as she moved her food around her plate.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Well, today, while you were gone, Harry and I talked," Hermione closed her eyes as she remembered what happened.
"What did you talk about?"
"It's not my place to tell," said Hermione. She didn't hear her mother's comment however, because she could sense something emitting from somewhere. A magical emission, and she could feel exactly who and where the source of it was.
"Hermione, is something wrong-"
Hermione jumped up from her chair and dashed upstairs. Quickly opening Harry's door she frantically hurried over to him, only to find that he was deep into one of his nightmares.
Her parents entered soon after and found her trying to wake Harry. Hermione explained that Harry usually had nightmares that had some bad consequences and asked for help in trying to wake him.
Unfortunately, that's when the visions started.
***
Okay, I promise you that the next chapter will have lots of action. I had to write this chapter to have Harry explain some things to Hermione. But be warned, starting next chapter everything will get much darker, and you will see a side of Harry that no one ever wants to mess with….
The Dark Sorceror
Oh, and sorry for the language, but unfortunately, it was the strongest word I could think of to use at the time.
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