Dark Rage
~Rage vs. Earth~
***
Harry had not been this at peace for a long time. He was currently walking through the park with Hermione. The air was warm, and the world was still. The sky was a light blue, with a few scattered clouds throughout the atmosphere. He relished in the calm and comfort of his surroundings. There was no threat here; all that mattered was Hermione and himself.
"It's been a long time since I've had such peace," Harry sighed.
"You deserve it," said Hermione, leaning into Harry.
There was a comfortable silence between the two as they continued on their path.
"This doesn't seem real," Harry spoke suddenly. "This feels more like a dream."
"I can assure you it is not," said Hermione with a smile towards Harry.
"Every day should be more like this," Harry said while he closed his eyes, savoring the moment.
Hermione just nodded. She too, was savoring the pleasure of the moment. This free time they had together, where there was no threat of anything. No Voldemort, no Death Eaters, nothing.
They began to head towards home.
It was dark by the time they got onto the street that lead to Hermione's house. The full moon was shining brightly, its soft glow illuminating their view. It was a beautiful sight. Hermione felt Harry suddenly stop. She turned and looked at him questioningly. He was gazing at a spot about one hundred yards away. She strained her eyes, trying to see what he could see, but it evaded her grasp.
"Harry, what's wrong?" she asked with concern. She didn't like the look on his face. He was dead serious, and his eyes held a dangerous glint to them.
"Hermione, when I tell you to, I want you to run as fast as you can into your house."
"But Harry, what's wr-"
"Go. NOW!"
Hermione did as she was told. She took off and sprinted as fast as she could towards her house. Just as her hand touched the doorknob, she heard it. A howl. She spun around. The werewolf was running straight towards Harry. She screamed his name.
"Hermione!" she heard him call. "Get in the house!"
"No! Harry! I'm coming to help you!"
"NO! GET IN THE HOUSE RIGHT NOW! IT CAN'T TOUCH YOU THERE!"
No, she thought, I'm going to help him. She started running back towards him.
She screamed as she saw him get tackled by the werewolf. It was mauling him, slashing at him with its razor-sharp claws. She saw blood spray into the air. She was crying his name, not believing what she saw.
But then, all of the sudden, the werewolf was tossed from Harry. She watched in amazement as Harry stood up. His eyes were shimmering that strange red color again. The wind was picking up, and the temperature was beginning to fluctuate. She could feel Harry's fury.
***
Only moments before Harry had thought he was going to die. The werewolf had him pinned and was clawing him to death. But then a voice spoke up.
Come on Harry, you can do better than this!
The Dark, yet again, was speaking to him.
Get out of my mind NOW!
Whoa, whoa I'm just trying to help Harry. I can get you out of this. Just follow my instructions.
NO! GET-OUT-OF-MY-HEAD!
Fine, if you want to die I'll leave. But you do realize, if you die, who will protect your friend? The werewolf will surely get her. I can see it now, the werewolf's claws ripping into her flesh, its fangs, slowly immersing themselves into vital points of her body. The screaming, oh how delicious does that screaming sound! Now, would you want that Harry?
She will not be touched!
So how are you going to tell the werewolf that? You need to show him! Show him that you are superior-that you are the Alpha!
How?
Are you that stupid? You are the most powerful wizard I have ever entered. Use your power, destroy the werewolf!
But how?
Use your anger! Do you remember how much magical energy you channeled when you were angry? Go back to the scene at the Department of Mysteries, where you killed Antonin Dolohov. You were furious, and you placed fear in your enemy's eyes. You were then omnipotent! You were capable of all power! Just think about when I told you your friend would die. I could feel the fury swell inside you. Unleash it! Use that anger! If you don't, SHE WILL DIE!
The werewolf was then thrown back from Harry. He was full of magical energy now. Instead of waiting for the werewolf to come back and attack him, Harry ran after it and wrestled it to the ground. His strength was increased by his abilities, so the super-human strength of the werewolf was no big deal.
The werewolf tried to slash at his face, but Harry caught it with his left hand. Using his right hand, he popped the elbow joint up and relished in joy as the werewolf cried out in pain.
With one quick swipe that Harry didn't have time to block, the werewolf sliced Harry across the right side of his face with its claws. He let go of the werewolf and it bounded away.
Harry recovered quickly from the shock, and then, with an expression of twisted rage, chased after the retreating werewolf. He was running extremely fast, faster than a normal human would have been able to. Seeing that the werewolf was in range, he jumped and landed on top of it, smashing it to the ground. It struggled fiercely to get up, but Harry was able to make it stay down.
He savagely began beating it, siphoning his anger out on the creature. His eyes began to grow brighter, and with each beat of his fists, flashed out in a furious explosion. Soon, his anger began to dissipate, and he stood over the creature, looking down upon it. It was not moving. As the cloud of anger hovering over his mind disappeared, his sense returned. Horrified now of what he had done, he collapsed onto his knees in front of the werewolf, hating himself for killing yet another being. Although the werewolf at this time savage hunter, there was still a human trapped in the form.
Without warning however, the werewolf lashed out again and bit down hard on Harry's shoulder, injecting its venom into Harry's bloodstream. Harry howled in agony and the werewolf was jettisoned away in a gust of wind. It died shortly after.
The venom was soon traversing its way throughout Harry's body. Thin black lines began to appear on his skin, crisscrossing around in a vast system of complex designs. They were signs of arteries being altered. Harry was trying to find some way to fight the mutating poison.
Fool! Don't fight it! That's what converts you! Embrace the venom of the werewolf, and you control it, not the other way around!
Harry did as he was told, and embraced the venom he could feel running through his veins. He could feel the venom bending to his will. It was no longer a curse, it was a blessing. There was an empowering feeling. He was becoming a werewolf without the side effects of the curse. A pure werewolf.
***
Hermione was frantic. So much had just happened so fast, she could not calm down. First, Harry had been mangled, and then all of the sudden the tables had turned. Harry soon was the hunter, and he was dominating the werewolf. Then they had disappeared out of her view as the werewolf fled and Harry chased after it. She could hear grunts and growls and whimpers, and did not know from where they came. She worried about Harry. What if the werewolf killed him?
I would know. Hermione told herself. I would know if Harry died.
There was a rustle of leaves to her right. She quickly looked to where she thought it came from, but there was nothing there. She was trembling with fear. There was a rustle behind her this time, and she spun to face it. Yet again, nothing was there. After glancing around fearfully, she turned back around, and screamed. A tall man was standing not four inches from her, looking down at her disgustingly. She could see there was brown ring on his finger.
She backed away, but before she could move any more, the earth seemed to come alive around her and rooted her to the spot. She screamed for Harry to come help her, but was soon silenced. She no longer could produce any sounds. She watched helplessly as the events unfolded before her.
***
Harry could feel Hermione's cry for help. The needing tone in her voice made him realize just how much trouble she was in. He needed to get to her-and FAST.
And fast he did get to her. Instantaneously he appeared in front of her, ready to protect his best friend.
"Ah, the great Harry Potter," said the man with the brown ring in mock admiration.
"And your name would be?"
"Terr, Lord of the Earth," said the newly introduced Terr as he bowed in tradition.
"Oh stop with the formalities," said a voice from behind Terr. The owner of the voice stepped into the light, and soon nine others stepped in after him. Cloaked in black and masked in white, the Death Eaters stood in an arc shaped pattern behind Terr. Terr seemed to be the leader and coordinator of this raid.
"Fine MacNair, I was just introducing myself to young Potter," Terr spoke to MacNair as if MacNair was inferior.
"Shut up and get the hell out of here!" Harry snarled, his anger rising again.
"Why of course Mr. Potter," Terr was staring straight at Harry, and Harry was glaring maliciously back. "But first, I have business to attend to, and that business-is you. My father wishes for me to bring you to him, and I must obey. So, come along now before things have to get messy."
Harry just laughed. "What? Me? Come along quietly? Are you insane?" The Dark's influence was heavy on him.
"Yes you, yes, and of course," said Terr, answering all of Harry's rhetorical questions in order.
Harry sighed. "Wow, you are an idiot."
"You do realize, however, that I have your little girlfriend here trapped," Terr smiled as he saw Harry's expression change rapidly.
"Don't you even think of hurting her!" Harry barked, the rage building inside him again.
"But you see, I am in control of this situation, not you. You are in no position to command me to do anything."
The earth surrounding Hermione's legs began to spiral up towards her neck. It turned to stone and was constricting her. Four, sharp little points of rock jutted out towards her neck.
"Stop this right now!" commanded Harry. His eyes began to glow for the umpteenth time.
"Oh no, I don't think so. I am enjoying this a lot. Let's see what happens when the earth pierces her neck," Terr was maniacal with joy. The ground began to shake as the Earth Elemental began to issue commands to the earth.
The rock slowly began to close in towards her neck. Soon, it was touching her vulnerable skin, and then, it began to draw blood. Hermione bit her lip to keep from crying out.
At seeing the pain she was suffering, Harry lost it. He let out a guttural howl of rage, and became supercharged once again with magic. His eyes were blazing brighter than the sun during the day. Enormous gusts of wind came alive and circled around Harry, making a mini cyclone. The moon's light was shut out as dark masses of clouds covered the sky. Electricity crackled around Harry as his ire was set loose. A magical shockwave knocked the ten Death Eaters and one Elemental off the ground.
And, as he unleashed himself, time stopped. Perhaps it was because of the speed at which Harry was traveling, or maybe Harry had in fact, stopped time. Harry neither knew nor cared because he wanted to kill the man who had hurt his best friend. With no conscious thought whatsoever, Harry's fist soon pierced through Terr's chest and lodged itself into the ground. With this, time came back into play, and all the Death Eater's watched as their leader was easily destroyed by this monster that was Harry.
Harry glared at the Death Eaters, and it was at this time that they realized it was futile. They were all going to die.
"Harry! Don't do it! Don't kill them! That will only put you at their level!" Hermione tried to talk sense into Harry. But it was too late, Harry was too far lost in his rage.
Once again, time stopped, and Harry made quick work of the remaining Death Eaters. Some he ripped apart with his bare hands. Some he just tossed into the air with his increased strength. But always, they died. Their mangled remains littered the ground, staining it with blood.
His rage was gone again. He was sickened with himself. Looking upon his blood-covered clothes, he became nauseous. He vomited the contents of his stomach.
He heard Hermione shouting for him to look out, and he looked at her questioningly. He then heard someone chuckling. He spun around and found himself looking at Terr, who was now standing up, brushing some dirt off his cloak. The hole in his chest was being patched up by earth that was twisting up from the ground.
"You can move quite fast. I must admit, you certainly surprised me," Terr smiled. He reached down towards the ground, and picked up a rock. Showing it to Harry, he closed his fingers over it, and then opened them. The pebble hovered about an inch over his hand, and then became elongated. It began to take the shape of a blade, and then silver blotches appeared as the material transformed into steel. The edges sharpened themselves, and soon, Terr held a well crafted sword in his hand.
Two things happened in quick succession. First, Terr lashed out, without warning, towards Harry, his blade slashing through the air in a curved arc. Harry felt a burning on his right palm and brought it out towards the incoming blade. There was a CLANG! of metal on metal, and Terr stopped in surprise at the magnificent sword that had appeared in Harry's grasp. Harry looked at the blade gleaming brightly in his hand, and marveled at its magnificence. The Sword of Godric Gryffindor had saved him again.
Terr, having recovered from the initial shock, spun his conjured sword around in a quick, graceful arc that demanded expertise. Harry instinctively blocked the attack again. He felt as if he had been wielding this blade all his life. And that was when he remembered the dream he had had. As the lessons came back to him, he fiercely took the offensive slashing his blade around in deadly accurate strikes that Terr had difficulty blocking. He then, following pure instinct, leaped into the air and brought his blade down like missile. Terr, reacting just in time, was able to push off the majority of the attack by angling his blade to push Harry's out of the way. However, the tip of Harry's sword ripped the black cloak's fabric covering Terr's left shoulder. Terr looked down at the newly made slice in his cloak, ashamed at letting Harry get so close to hurting him. He began to get angry that this inexperienced boy was beating him in a swordfight, and he had the studied the ways of the sword all his life.
The ground began to shake as Terr's anger built. "Foolish boy, you cannot beat me in a duel with swords. I have been wielding a sword since I was but a little child." Little crevices began appearing in the ground as Terr's natural Earth Elemental ability caused disruptions in the ground.
"And I have learned from the greatest," said Harry as he recalled the teachings of Godric's master.
With strength and speed that defied physics, they both charged at each other, making an outward eruption of air as their blades clashed.
***
Hermione was watching the intense battle with wide, fearful eyes. Harry was moving so fast, so…inhumanly fast. This was not the Harry she knew. This was the Harry that scared her.
But even though Harry was winning, she could not help but think, what if Harry dies?
Filled with frantic worry, she watched as the fight unfolded before her eyes. Then another thought hit her right in the face, if I can get out I can help him!
So she began her struggle with her earthen prison. The solid rock had her bound, and she could not reach the wand that was in her pocket. Her head's movement was also restricted, as the deadly spikes of stone were still shallowly piercing her skin. Concentrating, she closed her eyes and tried to think of a way to get out of this. She searched through her mind, trying to find some plan that she had subconsciously formulated.
While traveling through the internal maze of her mind, she came upon a hidden passageway. Curious, she began to walk down it. It was then that she came upon a huge reservoir of energy. Slowly, gently, she reached out towards it….
It was expelled outward from her, shattering the rock enclosed around her, pushing it away from her body. She fell to the ground in a heap, having not had the time to properly brace herself. She did not realize that someone else stumbled as well.
***
Harry had been busily trying to counter Terr's expert assault when he suddenly felt drained. Something had caused some of his energy to leak away. He stumbled, and was thankful for his luck as Terr's weapon sliced not a centimeter above him. Recovering from that strange incident, Harry jumped back onto his feet and parried Terr's next hit.
He could tell Terr was getting frustrated. The earth was beginning to rumble, and tall pillars of stone began to jut out of the ground.
Harry was also getting irritated. His body was getting weary from battle, and Terr just could not be stopped. The winds roared as Harry's irritation escalated.
***
Where is the Order? Isn't there supposed to be some sort of guard around my house?
Hermione looked carefully around her, trying to find some evidence of a guard supposed to be watching her home. She saw none.
She was stealthily approaching the battlegrounds, where Harry was fighting his never ending feud with Terr. She was hoping that she might somehow be able to sneak up on them and try to neutralize Terr. As she approached, she noticed the temperature was hotter, much hotter than it had been before, and that there was a strong wind coming from all directions. The ground was shaking, and she yelped in surprise as the earth opened up beside her. She quickly covered her mouth, hoping that the two had not noticed she was there.
They seemed not to have heard her, so she cautiously moved towards her target. With her wand in her hand, she quickly ran through all the spells she knew, and decided upon the Stunning Spell. It was the only spell she knew of that would render the target unconscious. The only problem was that she was not sure if worked on Elementals. Elementals were extremely rare and extremely dangerous. Most magic did not affect them if they had delved far enough into their powers. And Terr seemed to be a most powerful Elemental. How Harry had survived so far, she did not know.
Moving in between two of the newly placed pillars, she began to take aim. It was going to be difficult; the two of them moved so fast it was hard for her to see them.
Before she could fire off her spell, she let out a gasp of horror as Terr commanded a large boulder he conjured to fling Harry into the nearest house.
***
Harry had to admit, he had not expected that. His sword had flown out of his grasp, and he had no idea where it was. Harry moved to get up, but recoiled in pain from the aftermaths of the brutal assailment. He turned on his side, only to find a dead muggle woman staring blankly back at him. He quickly backed away, forgetting all about his pain. Turning to his left, he saw the kitchen. Inside, a man was slumped in his chair, dead. His eyes gleamed in the dark and forever etched themselves onto the walls of his mind. Seeing their eyes, Harry remembered those dreams he had during the summer, the dreams about all of his friend's deaths, and how he had seen all of their lifeless eyes. He closed his eyes so that he did not have to see the woman or the man; it brought back too many horrifying memories.
There were footsteps to his left. Terr was walking towards him, kicking rubble out of his way.
He killed these people! Harry screamed to himself. They were innocent! I'll kill him!
The rage built up inside him again, and he forgot his fatigue and pain. Launching himself at Terr like a bullet, Harry was able to knock him down. Closing his hands around Terr's throat, Harry began to constrict Terr like a boa to its prey. Terr's face began to turn blue from lack of oxygen, and in a desperate move, Terr knocked Harry in the side of the temple with the hilt of his weapon. Harry let go of Terr to cover the new wound on his head with his hands. The metal had most likely cracked his skull, and blood was pouring freely, dripping down through his fingers. Terr laughed at what he had done.
Harry's face contorted with a mixture of pain and rage. He took his hands away from his face, and stood. He called out to the sword, and it came at his bidding. Flying through the air and landing in Harry's outstretched hand, the sword brought a feeling of unity and hope.
Terr observed Harry closely. Never had he encountered someone so tough and persistent. And never had he encountered somebody so terrifyingly powerful yet so inexperienced with combat magic. Harry Potter was a worthy opponent.
***
There was a feeling of trepidation in Hermione. After all the violent clashing, Harry and Terr now stood across from each other, both examining their opponent, trying to find that weakness that would bring the other down.
Something was not right. She could feel it. Where was everyone? They had been making so much noise, why weren't the muggles coming outside? And how come her parent's didn't notice anything going on? Harry and Terr were battling only about fifty yards from her house.
Pushing those matters out of her mind, she once again concentrated on taking Terr down. She took aim, again, with her wand.
Harry and Terr lunged at each other again, and caught themselves in a sword lock. Each kept trying to push their weapon towards their opponent. Beads of sweat began to form on their foreheads.
Realizing that this was her chance, Hermione fired her most powerful Stunner.
***
Harry felt the Stunner approach. He glanced in the direction it was coming, and waited for it to impact.
Terr noticed Harry's eyes dart to his right. Glancing at it himself, he erected an earthen shield just in time to block the powerful Stunner. Bits of stone, rock, and dirt flew in all directions from the force of the impact.
Using this as his chance, Harry plunged the Sword of Gryffindor into Terr. Terr let out a shriek, and swiped his sword around at Harry. Harry tried to dodge it, but his sword arm did not get out in time. It fell to the ground as Terr's Elemental sword cut right through it like a knife to hot butter.
Harry fell to his knees and let out a large cry. His right arm was now but a stump, the blade had taken off everything from an inch below his shoulder. It was bleeding madly, and Harry was quickly turning white from a traumatizing amount of blood loss.
Terr, with a hole in his chest from Harry's sword, also fell to the ground. The magic in Gryffindor's Blade countered his Elemental magic, so that Terr could not use the earth to patch his wounds. He died, asking his brothers and father for forgiveness.
Harry's vision was swirling. He dry vomited, and collapsed to his back.
***
"HARRY!" The cry from Hermione echoed throughout the now silent neighborhood. She was sprinting towards him, replaying everything that had just happened. She reached him, and had to look away. There's so much blood! She was wailing now.
She frantically grabbed on to him and pulled him to her. The tears were flowing freely from her eyes. She could hear his faint breathing, coming in and out in erratic gasps. She hugged him fiercely, trying to pour her strength, her life, into him.
She checked the remnant of his arm, and became nauseous. She was relieved; however, as the severed blood vessels had retracted and begun to coagulate. Still, she had to get him medical attention fast.
Just as she was about to gather him into her arms to carry him, his eyes shot open. He was sweating profusely.
"Harry! We need to get you to a hospital!" Hermione was desperately clinging to him.
Harry gasped as the pain of a severed limb hit him full force. "No Hermione, no hospitals," Harry panted as he spoke slurred words, finding it hard to take in enough oxygen.
"You're missing an arm!" she exclaimed unbelievingly, not quite sure he was right in the head. Then she noticed the gash on his temple. "Harry, you're delirious. I think you've suffered a concussion as well. Come on, we need to get you help!"
He mumbled incoherently as a response, and Hermione took that as meaning `Yes'. She hoisted him up, and wrapped her arm around him to keep him stabilized. He could barely stand, but she had to get him moving. His reluctance to move made him all the more difficult to walk with. Forcefully, Hermione was able to convince Harry to walk, but he couldn't travel in a straight line. The dizziness resulting from the trauma was disrupting his equilibrium.
Stumbling numerous times, and on a few occasions falling flat on the ground, Hermione had finally transported Harry to the front door of her house. Securing Harry's weight with her right arm, she turned the knob on the door with her left hand. The door swung open soundlessly. Disoriented, Harry tripped over the entrance step, causing them both to plummet to the ground in a tangled heap.
The resulting noise alerted the inhibitors of the home, who soon appeared in front of the doorway. Noticing who they were, Mr. and Mrs. Granger helped to untangle the teens and lift them from the ground. The process was disrupted however as Mrs. Granger let out a shriek of horror. She had tried to help Harry up, only to find he was an appendage short and unconscious. Mr. Granger looked upon him as well, and his mouth opened in shock.
Hermione was quick to explain. "We were attacked. We had been on our way home from the park, when we were assaulted. I need to speak to Professor Dumbledore immediately." She looked around the room, trying to find a means of communication, but there was none. She turned towards her parents.
"Didn't they leave some way for us to communicate with them in case of emergency?" Hermione questioned. This whole night had been very disturbing.
"There was supposed to be a guard on watch, and we were supposed to call on them if help was needed," her father explained. He was having a tough time following the situation. He turned towards Harry. "He's in very bad shape, he's lost a decent amount of blood, and the resulting damage is putting him in shock."
"He also has a concussion," Hermione added to the diagnosis. "The wound on his temple is deep. So far the symptoms have been disorientation and slurred, incoherent speech."
"He needs immediate medical help," Mrs. Granger said. "We can take him to the hospital. Hermione, I'm sure there's some way we can contact your headmaster."
"There isn't! I don't have an owl and Hedwig isn't here! And we're not connected to the floo either!" Hermione was beginning to hyperventilate. After all the events that had just taken place, there was no way to get wizarding help.
"Hermione, calm down, we don't need you unconscious right now. Just take deep, full breathes-that's it. Slow your breathing down."
Hermione began to calm down. The effects of her short hyperventilation had already caused her slight tingling and dizziness. She kneeled next to Harry, and grasped his hand, the only one he had.
"Jane, dear, could you please help me carry him to the car?" Mr. Granger inquired as he examined Harry's shirt. He noticed the tears and blood splatters, which led him to tear the shirt open. "My God, what did this?" Large gashes littered his torso from the claws of the werewolf. They were all extremely deep, cutting up large amounts of flesh. The blood vessels had been scored thus causing them to be bleeding pretty badly.
"We'll need to keep pressure on these," Mr. Granger stated as he made Harry's shirt into a makeshift bandage for a particularly nasty slash.
Mr. Granger then heaved and lifted Harry into his arms. Wow, the kid weighed a lot more than he realized. Mrs. Granger opened the door to the garage and then helped her husband place Harry gently in the back seat. Hermione climbed quickly in and sat next to Harry, grasping his hand once again.
"Please stay with me Harry," she whispered to him as her dad pulled out of the garage.
They made it out of the driveway and were driving for about fifteen seconds when her dad stopped suddenly, sending Hermione crashing into the seat in front of her. She looked up and out through the windshield to see what had caused the sudden stop. There was a man standing in the road with a long black cloak. Hermione got a really bad feeling.
"What the hell moron! Get out of the middle of the road!" Mr. Granger shouted furiously at the mysterious man.
The man looked up and glared at Mr. Granger. His face was dark; there were black stripes horizontally across his cheeks and vertical black stripes across his forehead and chin. Shadows covered his eyes, making them impossible to see. He brought his finger up and waved it side to side in a motion that said `bad-bad-bad'.
A sharp intake of breath brought Hermione's attention back to Harry. There was fear in his now open eyes.
The world around them went dark, and it was impossible for anyone to see. She dared not move, fearing that the man would attack her in this darkness. A pair of glowing yellow eyes hovered in front of her, and she let out a scream. All at once, the light came back, and the eyes were gone. And so was Harry.
***
The only noise that echoed in the saturnine structure was a scraping sound, like someone getting dragged across the ground. Two figures were slowly traveling down the hallway, a tall man in front, and Harry Potter on his back in the back. The tall man stopped at a large door. He placed his hand on the handle, it shone for a moment, and then the door swung open. The man then pulled Harry through and tossed him at the feet of someone sitting in a throne-like chair.
"Here, I have brought you a precious gift."
Lord Voldemort stood up from his throne and looked down upon Harry with interest.
"My, my, what happened to his arm," Voldemort asked as he nudged the stump of Harry's severed right arm with his foot. Harry let out a groan. "Well, at least your son was able to do something to him."
Voldemort then reached down and grasped the sides of Harry's head harshly. Forcing Harry to look at him, Voldemort snarled. "You are going to become my most ruthless slave. You will be totally obedient, or I will kill you without remorse."
Voldemort then sat back down in his chair and intertwined his fingers. "Go now, Shaman, convert him and use whatever methods necessary to break his will. I expect to have a monster soon."
The Shaman bowed, and then waved his staff, causing both Harry and himself to disappear.
***
Harry landed hard on the solid rock ground. His breathing came in short, light breaths.
"I wish I was allowed to kill you," said the Shaman. "You killed my son, and now I should be able to kill you." He turned and faced the other direction, away from Harry, and clasped his hands behind his back. "But alas, I cannot. But what I can do," he said as he turned around to face Harry lying pitifully on the ground, "is cause you as much pain as I like. And let me tell you now, I very, very much want to hurt you."
Harry just shut his eyes as the thought of what was to become of him washed over him. There were a few light footsteps, and then BAM! he had been struck in the head with the tip of the Shaman's boot, effectively breaking his nose. He whimpered as the blood poured freely from his now smashed nose.
"I want to know how he died. Surely you should not have been able to kill him. He was a very powerful Elemental, whilst you are but a worthless child." Harry groaned, and the Shaman became agitated. With a kick to the chest he shouted at Harry, "Tell me now!"
Harry suddenly felt himself laughing. It was a dark, cruel laugh that he had no control over. Suddenly a force began using his voice to speak. "Your son was weak! He fell under the power of this boy! You have no idea how powerful this child is! With him, the Dark will end the world!"
"Shut up!" the Shaman snarled. "You know nothing. This child is pathetic; my son must have been killed by his own mistake!" The Shaman, with the strike of a viper, smashed the staff into Harry. A dark glow emitted from it, which then caused a screaming fit to erupt from Harry.
"You will now learn of every aspect of pain! I am tired of this! You will be converted now!"
The dark glow began to cover Harry, and the more it covered, the more the light in Harry was driven away.
***
Hermione was completely in tears. Her parents were holding her tightly, whispering soothing words into her ears. But she paid those words no attention, the only thing occupying her mind at the moment was the fact that Harry was gone.
Her parents led her back to the car, and then drove her home. Her parents had to help her to her room, as Hermione had gone into a catatonic state.
She never slept for the rest of the night, but only stayed in her room, wishing for Harry to be all right.
***
Screams could be heard throughout the entire stronghold of Lord Voldemort. Some of the Death Eaters were uneasy. Who was making that noise? they asked. They didn't remember having any prisoners at the moment, as the Shaman's sons had killed them all. They didn't know about the capture of Harry Potter either.
When a young, inexperienced Death Eater tried to bring this up with Voldemort, he was killed in a flash of green light. "Don't question," Voldemort said as his eyes twinkled with mass joy.
It was in this moment that Voldemort had a premonition of the future.
He was standing on a high platform, with Harry Potter at his side. The entire world was bowing down to him. As he raised his hands in salute, they all cheered for him.
Harry neither smiled nor waved. He had a look of fierce intimidation. He was gazing throughout the hordes of people below him, seemingly trying to sniff out any traitors.
"They're all clear, Master," he said. Voldemort smiled.
A swift step of the foot interrupted his premonition. Agitated by this unwanted disturbance, Voldemort cast the Cruciatus at the source of the disruption. Staggering to his knees, Lucius Malfoy quickly apologized. "What do you want?" Voldemort barked.
"My Lord, your followers have been wondering what has been making the horrendous screams. We know not of any prisoners held captive or of any muggles brought in for sport-"
"It is the beginning of the new era, Lucius. The screams and roars of which you speak are the sounds of the newest and most formidable member of my army being converted. Once the conversion has been completed, you will see why he is so valuable. I'd be careful though if I were you, Lucius. I do not know how volatile his powers are. He might just kill you in his irritation."
Lucius gulped and backed out of the room afraid. "Yes my Lord."
***
"Are you hearing the voices yet Potter?" the Shaman sneered. What had once been Harry was now no more than a ghostly figure. His skin was pale and torn from the endless hours of conversion sessions.
Does it hurt Potter? Are you feeling enough pain? The voices he indeed was hearing were making a mockery of him.
"I said, Potter, are you hearing the voices yet?" the Shaman's irritation was evident. No matter how joyous this was to him, the slightest disobedience from Harry made him twitch with anger.
Harry stayed defiant, not answering the Shaman's question. He would not crack because of the Shaman. The Dark reassured him that it would free him, and it was in the Dark that Harry placed his trust. He had nothing to lose because of the Dark now. As long as he got to see his friends again, he would give up part of himself to be used by the ethereal force.
"ANSWER ME POTTER!" The Shaman shouted in his face. He struck Harry across the head with his staff. Harry would have been knocked unconscious had it not been for the Dark, who was continuously trying to keep him alive.
Do not give in to him. I possessed him once, but he was weak. He thinks that he overpowered me and exorcised me, but in fact I left him to die and rot in the wild. Amazing how he was able to keep himself alive. He could hardly handle the simple magic I was using through his body.
"Well if you're not going to answer me," sighed the Shaman, "then I guess it's time for a little more psychological torment."
Harry gulped. The psychological torment was the worst, as he had figured out at the beginning of summer. Physical pain was happy frolicking compared to the psychological agony the Shaman could inflict.
He could not brace himself before he suddenly was flying through the air. He landed hard on the solid earth. His eyes became clouded and he saw no more of the physical plane.
***
"Potter!"
The Shaman was standing there; not two feet in front of him.
"If it weren't for the Dark Lord I would kill you."
The Dark was trying to rise up inside.
"He said you had terrifying memories."
The Dark whispered to him.
Don't give in. I'll handle him.
"I want to see first-hand."
Harry shivered. This was the worst thing they could do to him. Voldemort did it all the time. Slowly breaking Harry's mind.
Harry could feel it as the Shaman broke into his head. Instantly, a connection was established and Harry could hear the Shaman's thoughts.
`My, my, what disturbing things there are in here.'
I'm going to trap his mind. When I do, I will infuse my power with his lifeless body. I will become the Shaman, and Voldemort will not know that he is actually dead.
`What a pretty little thing this girl is. Quite ripe for the taking, I would say. Ahh, she is a Mudblood. I could still have a bit of fun with her though-`
Anger began to pulse throughout him. Do it now, Harry said to the Dark.
"Goodbye, Shaman."
And with that, the Shaman's mind was severed from his body, killing him. The Dark then intertwined itself with the Shaman's lifeless body, breathing life back into it. However, it was in the Dark's control now.
***
Rarely was Albus Dumbledore ever angry. This, however, was just one of those times. Where was the guard? He had asked himself this question a million times, and had yet to find an answer. With a loud BANG! the doors to the Great Hall opened before him. Inside, scattered around the tables, was the Order of the Phoenix.
"Now, who," Dumbledore's voice boomed throughout the cavernous hall, "was on duty last night?"
There was silence. Everyone looked to afraid to speak up. Finally, Remus Lupin voiced what he feared was going to make Dumbledore even angrier than he was now.
"There was no one on guard last night, sir." Remus closed his eyes and braced himself for the impact.
"No one on guard," Dumbledore repeated quietly. "And WHY is that?"
"Apparently, Hestia Jones didn't show up last night. We haven't heard from her since we gave out patrolling schedules about a week ago."
This deeply troubled Dumbledore. Harry had been taken captive and an Order member was also missing. He briefly wondered if the two events were related.
Quickly Dumbledore turned his back on everyone in the room and strode out of the hall.
"Where are you going?" Snape's voice echoed off the walls.
"To find Harry."
***
Albus Dumbledore was not a man to be trifled with. When provoked, he was a very dangerous Wizard. And right now, he had been provoked to the breaking point.
With his old Dragon hide combat armor strapped on, he motioned to his phoenix. Fawkes flew from his perch and came to rest on Dumbledore's outstretched arm. "Fawkes, I believe battle draws near for us."
The phoenix let out a trill that calmed and at the same time, empowered Dumbledore. Phoenix magic combined with his own to create the Magus known to be the most powerful wizard alive. Voldemort feared him with reason.
And in a flash of flame, Dumbledore and his loyal phoenix were gone.
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