Chapter 8.

I placed the block of charcoal in the middle of the triangle and stepped back to evaluate the overall result.

The huge circle around the triangles touched all the peaks, and the triangles were just small enough to not overlap. I whipped my wand out and started to carefully carve the twenty runes on the charcoal cube, around the main rune that could be read either as creation or development depending on the context.

That was my first ritual, I decided to start with a mix between a golem creation ritual and a peculiar host ritual I had more or less developed on my own. The result was meant to be a golem manufactured by my magic, who would obey my thoughts and use my strength to live. At least, it should be. Not the aberration I created the other day... I almost shivered as I remembered the thing that had nearly ripped my leg off.

Most rituals were quite easy, I knew I'd just have to follow instructions and be a bit smart to be successful. Not unlike potions, actually.

The problem was that I'd need more than to be able to follow instructions from now on.

"It was panic, I don't remember much of it but there was fire everywhere, the demons had been set free. I grabbed what I could before running away just in time before the Government people came and annihilated the entire place." explained Jagdish, handing me the half burnt parchment.

"This is all the solid data I have on the ritual itself, I never thought I'd hand it to anyone." he smiled before sitting down in the chair Selena had occupied before I sent her away.

"Everything else will be straight out of my memory, or what's left of it."

Jagdish had obliviated himself before the authorities could question him after his trip through The Portal of Horus, the Gateway to Hell, the Entrance of the Dead Soul's Land or even the Way of the Damned. It sported numerous names but always described the same passage to the infernal area underneath -or above?- the mortal realm.

He couldn't say much about it, but I was sure it was what I needed. Soul Retrieval, the act of fetching a dead soul in the Demonic Kingdom. Few believed it possible and even less believed in the existence of such a place, but the old texts, the old rituals to summon demons or offer flesh and bones to appease their thirst were enough proof for me. I'll go in there and bring her soul back.

It was the unavoidable step, I needed her soul. It was her memories, her magic, her personality. It was her.

Her body, I could manage something. Us wizards had means to contain souls and I trusted my genius to eventually find a way to create her a body. The soul could not be created or copied, the books all agreed on this point. If I wanted it, I'd have to try and look for it where it had gone.

The hastily cast memory charm had ravaged Jagdish's mind, but some ruins of a memory had came back to him in the last decades. He managed to give me a few interesting details, barely holding the pain of wracking his mind to find anything relevant. I had even helped him with a few Legilimency pushes.

Eventually, I left with a notebook containing a small amount of important things scribbled on it, like the fact that the Portal could only be opened when the Earth, the Sun, the Moon and Saturn were aligned, which would happen in my fifth year in Hogwarts and not again before sixty years later. Among the various notes I had taken from his memory, the one who intrigued me the most was a name: Zephyros Athanasios.

He was an old Egyptian wizard who had visited Jagdish two decades ago, asking him to join him for his own adventure in the Realm of the Dead. Jagdish had promptly refused and gave him nothing, the man gave up easily when the Natsuko bodyguards asked if everything was alright.

But that is still interesting. Twenty years ago, this guy was putting a party together to open the Portal. There had been no planet alignment since fifty years ago. If this Athanasios guy has any idea of what he's doing, he should be waiting for 1995 to come.

I had made a bit of research on him in the National Magical Library of London which acted as an information center since the International Magical Information Currents had been developed and established by the unspeakables. The helper had only waited a few seconds before a book flew to us, flipping its page by itself and showed me Zephyros Athanasios, Minister of Import/Export of Magical Items in Egypt. The book was a self-updating tome linked to the main IMIC of the library, so I didn't even have to wonder if I'd have to spend my remaining 23k galleons to hire Selena again.

I finished carving the last rune and slowly got out of my musing. I need to understand rituals better than anybody. I need to complete the Portal of Horus and open it.

It was the reason I was experimenting with rituals, modifying them and mixing them. Nobody did that now our days, rituals were almost all illegal and not worth the trouble, most of the time you could obtain better results with charms and transfiguration, and the heavy rituals were already well established and functioning - there was no need to modify them.

I rested the tip of my auburn wand on the black rock and poured magic inside it. I started with pure magic, untempered and straight out of my being. I felt the master rune fill up and the secondary runes charging slowly. When I got to the destruction and control runes, I pushed dark intent along with the flow of magic, tainting it. It was very much like the Black Bricks of Knockturn Alley, only this time I had no indication of whether it was working or not.

I finished filling them and broke contact between my wand and the runes, producing a fizzling sound, like electricity running away in the air.

I grabbed my notebook with my left hand and stood up. It's usually done with a tome but nobody's watching anyway. I thought humorously.

I pointed my wand to the charcoal block and started reading the Druidic incantation I had prepared. The dead language was hard to read but rolled easily on the tongue, and I had repeated it beforehand.

I finished the chant by a vertical swish of my wand and growled the final word like a spell. The ground had begun shaking halfway in the text, but now the earth was boiling, bubbling. The charcoal block sank in the mud, attracted by the forces of magic, stretching the threads of solid earth that linked it to its anchors, five quartz rocks embedded in the peripheral circle. The earth continued boiling for a while after the charcoal had definitely been swallowed by the ground, in a strangely chaotic status quo.

A minute later, the pool of solid but moving mud whirled and a murky sphere of rock and earth grew out, slowly rising to ground level. The whirling orb of earthly matter shifted suddenly and imploded, crushing itself violently into a shape, four legs and a thick fur formed themselves out of earth, sharp fangs and piercing eyes appeared, and finally, with a final shockwave that blasted pebbles, twigs and stray leaves away, the mud galvanized itself with a shiny layer of smooth stony glass.

The wolf was suddenly released by the forces that crafted it and landed on the ground with a loud thump, absorbing the chock with its strong legs, and peered at me. It was awaiting for an command, I felt it in my heart, cohabiting with me and sharing my magic.

Wow, it looks fucking wild, I didn't expect anything so... strong. The specie of animal you'd get was totally uncontrollable, linked to your magic and how you put the ritual in place. The wolf in front of me radiated with malevolence and power, each one of this growling breaths felt menacing and brought a cold shiver in my back. I hope I can actually control this thing.

I looked in its eyes and spoke out loud, not trusting my control enough to just think it.

"Hunt, bring me a non-human prey."

The wolf sprang on its legs, without losing even a tiny bit of rock or making a sound, and disappeared in a bush. While it was away, I could feel its presence in me, I could feel it listening to me and taking my might to live. I pondered on what I had created. The ritual was cheap, the hardest part being the potion I brewed and poured on the ground before tracing the geometric. Not even a galleon, and you get an awesome sidekick. I thought slyly.

But it had a big downside; the creation used the master's magic and focus to power itself. It wasn't necessarily a good choice in battle.

No matter, it worked! That proves that I was right in my studies. I grinned, thinking about the fact that the host ritual was said to be efficient only with possessed beings and that I broke this common belief so easily. I was probably not the first wizard to discover that, many dark lord had mixed and invented rituals of all sorts, but it was a victory for me.

It only took two weeks and twice as much tries to get right.

A few minutes later, just as I was starting to feel exhaustion just by letting the wolf run wild, it came back to me. It was difficultly dragging a dead deer with its mouth. A whole fucking deer.

I stood up and commanded it to let it go and walk to me, without speaking. It did so, and I placed my wand against its solid fur, which was actually only earth and rock, with bits of quartz here and there that gave it an eerie look. I pulled the magic from him, my own magic. I called it back and it came to me.

The lifeless wolf fell to the side as its legs collapsed in a cloud of dirt. Exhaustion is still here though, I'm not powerful enough to keep it up for too long.

I spared a last glance at the crumbled wolf statue at my feet and walked off, my mission achieved.

My loyal muggle scooter was now all rusty due to being hidden in a bush for most of the year. I had cast a few cleaning and repairing charm on the engine until it worked again and continued to use it.

I mounted it, started the engine and drove off the forest on a thin dirt path. I appreciated the wind in my hair, on my skin, cooling my flesh and soothing my mind. The summer had been chaotic until now.

Since my excursion in India, I had been studying dark magic and body enhancing rituals non-stop. The scar on my chest was the final argument in my self-conflict about body enhancing. Had I been faster, stronger or more resistant, this sword would have been no problem, that made no doubt.

Since I was at home and could just stay in my room all day, I had started taking my Occlumency lessons more seriously again, diving head first in the constant fucked up state. I went out every night after midnight, to train my dark magic skills and feast on the pain of innocent forest fauna. Zach was thankfully at Ron's place almost every day. I had green light. He had been the only one that seriously doubted my little story about being trapped in a secret room in Hogwarts.

Researches had been made, professors tried to find said room but with my vague description of a "suddenly appearing door", they assumed it was just another unknown magical phenomenon in Hogwarts and left it at that. Loren knew I lied but shared the lie with me happily, it was our private thing, along with me slaughtering beasts in the forest. My other housemates took my word without a doubt and the first years gasped at the possibility of being trapped by the castle.

Zach, however, didn't fully buy it, he knew me too well. I was more than happy to avoid him and his suspicious glares. Snape had tried Legilimency on me again and this time I had taken his attack directly for a second, letting his probe try to find a way into my mind as I acted innocent. Funnily enough, if those two cooperated to find out about me, they'd probably succeed easily. When hell freezes over...

Thinking about all of that reminded me how much Loren wanted to see me, she had owled me five times already, asking me to come to her place. I finally gave in and agreed to go on Wednesday. Wednesday? That's today. I thought negligently, grazing a truck by its right with a strong acceleration of my slightly modified vehicle. Then, suddenly, the thought made sense. It's today! Damn it, I totally forgot that. I peeked at my wristwatch and read midday. I sighed thankfully, I had all the afternoon.

I reached Godric's Hollow a few minutes later and parked the scooter unceremoniously in its bush. I climbed the stairs and headed to my room. I stopped dead in my tracks.

"Lily, what are you doing in Natasha's room?" I asked, already starting to get angry. Calm, Harry. Should have cursed a few animals while I was there...

Lily turned to me and smiled widely.

"We finally got a good idea to use this room efficiently." she showed the place with a wave of her arm. "This is going to be my lab now, and we'll change my old lab into a-" she continued happily.

I, on the other hand, was far from happy. I couldn't stop and reason myself in time, my wand was already moving and my mind had already thought the words Ocunuo intus.

The invisible curse hit her and blood covered her eyes as she screamed, grasping at her face.

NO! Fucking hell!

I raised my wand again and obliviated her immediately, already hearing James call to know the source of the scream.

"It's nothing! Lily just tripped!" I shouted back, hoping that would keep him at bay, while Lily stared stupidly in the void. I reached her in a few steps and countered the curse on her eyes. She blinked a dozen times.

"Harry? What is going on?" she voiced curiously as I quickly hid my wand.

"Nothing, you were just telling me about your lab and then you... tripped." I explained lamely.

"Oh, right, this room. See, I'm going to fix a few shelves here, and I'll-" she started again as I walked away.

"Sorry, I don't have much time, I must go to my girlfriend's place." I explained. She eyed me curiously for a second and went back to throwing Nat's old stuff away.

I slammed my door behind me, resting my back on it. I was seething. I was pissed at Lily for treating my sister's affairs and room like that, but even more at my lack of control.

Is this what you call self-control? Is this how you'll master Occlumency? By snapping and cursing your mother when she touches your sister's teddy bear?

I slapped myself mentally and walked to my bed, sitting to pet Hedwig. She wasn't happy with me since I gave her a letter to Zephyros Athanasios in Egypt. The travel had been long and without a doubt hot, even with the numerous breaks in owl refreshment stations she had probably made. The letter had been a simple letter, in which I presented myself as a door manufacturer named Horus. Anyone with two brain cells and knowledge of the Portal of Horus would take the hint. I had no idea of how to put all of this in motion yet but making contact was indisputably the first step.

After a few necessary minutes of petting Hedwig, I took a refreshing shower and headed outside again, braving the blazing summer sun. I called the Knight Bus with a wave of my wand and departed for Loren's place, who lived in Diagon Alley. The place wasn't especially busy, the heat kept the people inside their comfy always chill charmed houses. I walked toward Gringotts, Loren had told me her house was in a street just beside the magnificent bank. I saw the ice-cream seller hurrying to satisfy the clientele around his terrace, apparently the only crowded area of the whole alley.

I knocked on the wooden door at 15, Gringotts Street and forced a faint smile on my lips. I was happy to see her but I couldn't stop thinking about the loss of time it was. Feels like breaking my promise to do my best...

The pleasant witch I came for opened her door and smiled widely, grabbing me into a tight hug.

"I thought you'd never come!" she let out in a happy yelp as my ribs menaced to give in. "Although we're dating, you took your time to visit me..." she added in an unreadable tone.

"Yeah, I got my hands quite full at home, you know this whole basilisk story is more complicated than you think." I'm not lying, yet.

"Really? Tell me everything! I love stories!" she squeaked excitedly, taking a step back to look at me in the eyes. I noticed only now that she wasn't especially cute. I had become her boyfriend mainly because of the Forest incident, but even before that moment I had chosen her as my future girlfriend because of the affection I had grown for her. I never really gave much thought to how she looked. And for the first time I noticed how plain and featureless she was compared to Selena or Sherry. Or even Louise, for that matter.

Her hair was made in a lovely fashion, falling on her shoulders and framing her face nicely. Her grey eyes and thin eyebrows were pretty, as were her lips, but the overall was clearly just an average looking witch.

I pushed the thought aside, I really didn't care about her looks.

"I can't really say anything, magic vows and all..." I shrugged apologetically. "Want me to take you to Florean's for an ice-cream?"

"You can't seal my curiosity with an ice-cream, Harry." she scolded hauntingly, then she dropped an octave and adopted a sly tone, "But on the other hand, 'twould be a crime to refuse an free snack at Florean's by this weather."

The afternoon passed easily, I treated Loren a big strawberry and kumquat parfait and she filled my mind with tons of useless facts, stories and jokes she had heard or read at various places. After what we moved to her house, dodged her parents and spent a good hour kissing on her bed and muttering sweet words to each other. It felt weird to be so comfortable with a girl and whisper things in her ear when inside, I couldn't help but scold myself for losing my time. I should be raising traps in my mind, or sharpening my silent casting skills, or even studying rituals some more...

I finally freed my tongue out of her lips and convinced her I couldn't stay anymore around six o'clock. I had other plans for the evening, getting solid information on the Portal of Horus was the first real step I had taken in my quest, it was what I needed to motivate me. I knew I'd need to be more than I was to pull it off. I needed more strength, more magic, more power.

I entered Knockturn Alley once again, leaving the merry place and thoughts behind me.

I watched incredulously as letters formed themselves on the piece of paper I was about to throw in the trash. Is it even possible to enchant a communication parchment to work over hundreds of kilometers?

Zephyros Athanasios, pleased to meet you.

I feverously grabbed the nearest quill and dipped it in the ink tank before scribbling back an answer.

Mr. Horus here, I heard you were trying to open a door. I may be interested in assisting you. I didn't bother making coded sentences too much, the parchment itself should be secure enough.

Where did you hear that? Of course, he'd start by fishing for info on me. I was new at this game but had a small idea of how to play it.

A common friend. I'm simply offering you a partnership, Mr. Athanasios, I do not ask for anything. When the time will come, I intend to go in with you. I wrote without giving it too much thoughts, I was still in an awful state since the last Occlumency lesson. It had been a painful one, breaking the memory spike to order them myself in ice orbs. It was meant to render my mind harder to obliviate and more stable. For the moment, it only placed me in a terrible mood and gave me fucked up nightmares.

The answer took some time to come. What do you offer?The dreaded question. I decided to bluff a bit.I know the ritual. I only need the funds.

It was not entirely false since I had some precisions about the ritual, but still far from reality.

When can I meet you? So he really doesn't have the ritual? Damn. I continued with my bold move. I will meet you in time, for now I'll only give you indications on what to plan. I can throw him a couple bones before I manage to actually recreate the ritual. I knew I had to make sure to not give too much, he could be close to completing it himself and if I gave him just what he needed, he'd have no use for me.

I glanced at my "Horus" notebook, full of data I gleaned from Jagdish's wreck of a memory.

"The ritual needs to be fueled with unicorn blood."He probably already know that, but I can still tell him so he sees I know what I'm talking about...

"The master rune has to be carved on a magically charged and heavily conductive material, the crew had used a Sapphire of the Tomb (Regular sapphire that stayed in a magical tomb for centuries)."

Now that was interesting, most of blood and demon summoning rituals used a living material for central anchor. The fact that this one needed a powerful mineral like a Sapphire of the Tomb was hard, if not impossible to guess.

I scribbled the instruction on the enchanted paper.The main rune must be carved on a Sapphire of the Tomb or something equally powerful. I knew very few things were, those rocks were worth hundreds thousands galleons a piece.

Will discuss with my partners and contact you shortly.

This event had taken place in the library, a few days after the start of the term, and I decided after that to study the rituals as much as I could. I have two years to figure it out.

The Notice-Me-Not charm was now my best friend, I refreshed it after every class to avoid classmates and most importantly Loren, who, without being clingy, wanted to spend time with me. My meetings with Hellard and intensives studies of rituals only barely left any time to practice silent casting and dark magic, I was overbooked.

My reminiscence had brought me in front of the secret passage without me noticing, I slipped discretely behind the statue, and downed my aging potion along with a pepper-up while striding through the cave. I knew the path better than the back of my hand. After traveling to Knockturn Alley at least four times per week, it was to expect.

I was looking for books. Books about ancient rituals, again and always.

My general scheme was taking a two steps shape: find her soul and put it in a new body.

I knew the soul thing had to be dealt within two years, I had to find a way to create a perfect body before it happened. I couldn't trust the soul to stay whole and not deteriorate if I kept it for a few years on the mortal realm, my tome on soul magic specified on many instances that once you touch a soul, changes occur. I wouldn't risk it.

Unfortunately, the infamous dark alley wasn't cooperating. No matter how many shady bookshops I went through, I couldn't find a way to craft a perfect body. There were always downsides.

It was driving me mad, my mind was too busy, I couldn't take a breath without having rituals in my head, always rituals. But somehow, I was keeping the appearances up, getting average grades and attending to most of the lessons.

I cringed as my brain complained once again, sending me painful aches. I ignored its emergency calls and mounted my old broom. The flight was as fast and precise as ever, I walked out of the cellar and flooed out mechanically. My body was doing everything on its own while my mind rested. Or at least tries to rest.

I strode through several layers of Knockturn Alley without sparing a glance behind me, I knew where I was going. Layer seven.

I honestly had no idea of how many layers there was, and I suspected some layers were actually the same layers, but at different places. The architecture of the Alley was incomprehensible.

I had visited layer seven only three times and wasn't sure how much of it I had seen yet. My eyes rested on a shop's window for a few seconds and I stopped.

Those two guys were already behind me in layer six. The realization brought a cold shiver in my spine as I observed the two shapes behind me in the reflection of the window. Aurors.

I walked for a few feet and spotted an open clothing shop. My thoughts were now one hundred percent focused on my next move.

The street is full of people, I can't start a fight in there, but they can't either. I pretended to look at a dark orange cloak and peered at them. They were staying outside, hooded, talking to each other.

I've been too reckless, I came here too often. I started to panic. Or maybe I didn't hide my research of Necromancer books enough? How many booksellers did I question on the topic? Too much.

What do I have on me if they arrest me? I patted my pockets and tried to remember. Then it hit me. I have the god damn book.

My necromancer tome that listed a number of body creation rituals. It was enough to get a warrant to look into my stuff, even for a pureblood family. They won't hesitate a second, not with Necromancy...

A took a series of deep breath and forced my rampaging mind to calm down as my body was shivering in distress. I was sweating profusely, dampening my robes and feeling dread dripping down my spine. I was thoroughly panicked.

I grabbed my wand tightly, my decision made. It's fucking insane, I'll end up tossed in Azkaban...

I walked out of the clothing shop with large strides and jabbed my wand at the pair of disguised Aurors, not taking in account the numerous passerby around them. I barely had time to register their surprised look as my vision was filled with a deep blue light erupting from the tip of my wand. I followed the five yards wide cutting curse with two fast perforation curses and dove to the side to dodge any incoming comeback. The cutting curse actually hit its target, along with two passerby. It cleaved the first Auror in two, a tiny wizard's skull open and a witch at chest level. Blood sprayed everywhere.

The second Auror, behind a battle-level shield charm, watched with horror as his partner fell to the ground in two cleanly separated parts, spilling organs and blood on the pavement along with the innocent victims, who added their own organs and fluids to the sick puddle forming at his feet.

My two perforation curses hit his shield just as the bodies touched the floor, definitely shattering it, but my first curse had already taken quite a toll on my stamina. I was panting heavily when I raised my wand again.

The remaining Auror roared madly and sent a bunch of stunners mixed with cutters to me. Most of the people were running away now, but some stayed just far enough to avoid stray curse and observe the show.

"You fucking monster! You'll pay for that!" bellowed the man in front of me after I dodged the attack, his face seemingly trying to find a balance between a sick white and an angry red. He grabbed a chain around his neck, pulling a medallion from under his leather armor. He's calling in for reinforcements.

I acted quickly.

"Voraxignium!" I yelled, not being efficient enough with the silent casting on this one. Three white fire balls shot out of my wand in rapid succession and raced toward him with an insane speed, more like beams of fire than actual spheres. He quickly put another battle-level shield in place and watched in dismay my first projectile tear through his shield and disappear in a flash of ivory fire.

Having no time to cast anything before the two others reached him, the Auror grabbed his cloak and spun inside it to protect his body. Auror cloaks are fireproof charmed. I grinned with morbid fascination as the two balls hit with splashes of white, one on the head and one on the torso. The fire immediately consumed his cloak, robes and leather garments. That isn't standard fire, though.

He shrieked inhumanly and fell to the ground as the hungry alabaster fire devoured his flesh, letting his wand drop down in a foolish attempt to ease the pain with his now burning hands; I was shivering with delectation as his pain fed me pleasure.

After I had finished relishing the wicked satisfaction it gave me, he was nothing more than a corpse on fire with darkened bones poking through the charred flesh, slowly being reduced to ashes. I looked around me, most of the passerby had left long ago but a few ones were still watching from a safe distance.

I breathed heavily. I need to get out of there. I was already moving, running toward the nearest Black Bricks. I went through all the layers and flooed to Hogsmeade from Diagon Alley, sick and panicked, bumping into everyone and watching around frantically like an escaped convict.

I still had time to come back before Honeydukes closed.

Must have been a rookie to think I wouldn't send a powerful dark fire after him, hell, he even heard the incantation! I thought furiously, convincing myself that the inhuman pain he had experienced before collapsing was his, and only his own fault. Yeah, seriously, he should have recognized it and shielded or dodged...I walked into the almost empty candy shop and discretely sneaked into the cellar.

I made a silent agreement with myself to not even think about the two unrelated victims that got chopped in halves just because I was hasty to get rid of the Aurors. Collateral damage, case closed. I thought with a cold shiver.

I was in Hogwarts a moment later, back into my thirteen years old body. I strode to my dormitory, bumping in a few housemates without mercy. I fucked up, I fucked up worse than ever. I rummaged vehemently through my trunk and found what I was looking for, a calming potion, I downed the full phial, two times the recommended dosage for an adult wizard, and slumped on my bed. My heart rate started to decrease slowly, my blood injected cheeks drained gradually, leaving me a little less startled. A few minutes later, I was definitely calmed. My body was numb and my mind quiet. I took advantage of my somewhat wiser mind and analyzed the situation.

I don't know why they were following me. Maybe they have nothing on me, or maybe they have a lot on me. If they did have something on me, I'm done for it. I'll find a squad of Aurors bursting in the common room in an hour at most.

Should I take the opening and run? To go where? If they find me here they'll find me anywhere. I can't run very far, anyway.

I decided to let thing happen on their own for once. I stood up and walked to the common room. If I'm going to Azkaban tomorrow, might as well spend the evening pleasantly.

I found Loren next to the fireplace and sat down next to her in the large armchair, kissing her in the neck playfully as she giggled.

Peter Pettigrew: On a Rampage Again?

The infamous Peter Pettigrew who broke out of Azkaban a month ago is the first and utmost suspect in the killing that occurred yesterday in Knockturn Alley.

The story begins with Peter Pettigrew, friend of James and Lily Potter. Those of us who remember the last war know too well this heartbreaking story of the traitorous rat Peter, who sold Zachary Potter to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, spitting on the friendship of House Potter.

For those who don't, here's a quick summary: Pettigrew gave information to the Dark Lord that led to the famous skirmish over Godric's Hollow the 31 July 1981 between Death Eaters and the Order of the Phoenix. No one knows to this day how exactly did You-Know-Who expect one year old Zachary Potter to be too powerful, but he went in person to murder the child.

You know the end of the story well enough, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Janessa Kingsley and Rose Evans gave their life in an heroic attempt to protect Zachary Potter, bringing the escort of Death Eaters down with them and the Dark Lord was vanquished by the new born. James and Lily Potter came back only to find a house ravaged by the darkest magic and their friends laying dead around their son, sleeping in his crib.

Peter Pettigrew made a run for it and was arrested by James Potter himself a few days later, but not without killing a dozen muggles with a strong excavation charm in an attempt to escape. He was sentenced to a life in Azkaban, in the lower section, where no warden walks.

However, a month ago, he escaped from Azkaban in a fashion still unknown and under investigation, and disappeared. As you already read daily in your favorite newspaper, no traces of him as been found yet, even with James Potter himself leading the search forces.

But yesterday, a horrifying event occurred in the depths of the murky Knockturn Alley.

Two Aurors, Daragh Conleth and Marcus K. Finlay had received information concerning a "dark cloaked person" ransacking bookshops in Knockturn Alley, apparently looking for Necromancy, the darkest of the Dark Arts. They informed their captain, Kingsley Shacklebolt and were ordered to stand by until more investigation could be done.

From what is gathered at the moment, it would seem that they took on themselves the initiative and followed the man in the seventh layer of Knockturn Alley. We don't know yet how they knew it was him or if they even did, but the result is four cold bodies in the morgue of the Ministry. The seasoned Auror Marcus K. Finlay, known as "Maracas Finger" and the recruit Daragh Conleth were killed in action, and with them fell Theodore Serghei and an unknown witch, both killed without drawing their wand, apparently on the path of the first curse.

The mysterious man would have opened fire on the Aurors without any warning and killed everybody in the area with strong dark magic. The first suspect is of course Peter Pettigrew, probably trying to bring You-Know-Who back to life and killing whoever gets in his way. The full Auror forces are now mobilized to find him, as he is now the public enemy number one in Magical Britain.

The witnesses interrogated described a thin wizard, not especially tall or small, cloaked and hooded, and a brown wand. "He sounded like a young man" shared a witness unwilling of giving their name, confirming the theory of a disguised Pettigrew on Polyjuice.

The Aurors are not sure of Pettigrew's involvement in the case yet but here at the Daily Prophet, it makes no doubts.

Of course, Knockturn Alley is mostly let to live without Aurors, so Pettigrew could still be running wild, but Potter and his task force are currently raiding the place to find him.

If you see Pettigrew, or a dark cloaked figure that fits the description, floo the Aurors and do not engage him at any cost.

A few witnesses stayed and watched the whole scene, interview by Rita Skeeter:

I closed the newspaper, having already gleaned all the valuable information. I didn't need to read the witnesses report, I remembered too well what happened.

"Oh god, every year there's something new..." muttered Louise while closing her own copy of the Daily Prophet. "Hope your dad will catch him soon enough." she leaned forward, looking intently at me. "Is he really after Zachary?" she whispered, like it wasn't the most popular rumor of the year.

"They seem to say that he's trying to resurrect his master. I don't think he'd have time to complete both Necromancy and his vendetta against Zach." I massaged my skull through my hair, the headache was only worsening, and the night had been tormenting.

"Couldn't he do both?" asked Smith, pointing his pumpkin juice glass to me interrogatingly. The fuck do I know? Why do all of them count on me to give explanations, for Merlin's sake!

"Necromancy would take all the time and resources he would need to break in Hogwarts to kill my brother." I forced myself to answer like good Harry would do. Good Harry. Heh. Isn't this guy dead?

"You mean inside the castle? Fat chance of seeing that happening, with Dumbledore on the look-out." added Howell, biting casually in a sausage.

"The place is huge, there's no way Dumbledore can see everything that happen, do I need to remind you guys about the friggin' giant basilisk of last year? I'm honestly not confident about this story - I hope they catch him soon." confided Nolwenn, obviously uneasy about the idea of a killer in the castle. Who wouldn't be? I chuckled darkly. And to know they're all discussing it with said murderer.

Because I am. A murderer. No more nice little Harry learning magic and making little friends. I'm a killer. I slaughtered four innocent people. The thought was sickening, revolting. I forcedly swallowed my dark thoughts and focused on the conversation. I knew it came with the package. I need to go on, I reached the point of no return. Now there is only one path ahead of me, and I had planned to walk it either way.

The following weeks were the most plain weeks ever since Natasha died. I only went in the forest a couple times to practice, and spent all of my days hanging around with Loren and studying rituals during lessons. I hardly kept my grades acceptable but that was the least of my worries. A week after the incident in Knockturn Alley, the Daily Prophet published an article giving the details of the recent discovering in the investigation. They had followed my tracks until Hogsmeade and had no further trail to follow. It wasn't likely to actually track down a wizard anyway, since they usually apparated away without a trace. However, I became more and more paranoiac over the weeks, fearing that they would eventually follow my tracks in Honeydukes and in Hogwarts.

Loren felt my anxiousness and was worried, I snapped a couple of time at her when she asked what kind of magic I had casted in the forest - probably noticing only now how powerful those spells were - or why I didn't disappear as much as I used to. It had became our way to roll, our way to be together. I'd just disappear and reappear a few hours later, and she wouldn't ask anything.

Realizing I was losing her with my shitty mood and constant stress, I did the only thing I could think of to make her forget without obliviating her. I led her in a quiet corner of my almost empty dormitory and explored her still growing body under her robes. It worked flawlessly, she was soon eager to be explored further and more in love than ever.

I managed to not become insane and too keep researching Necromancy in secret until winter came, along with a satisfying break that would send everyone back home and open the doors of freedom to me. I was aching to try some rituals out.

I stepped back to appraise the groggy deer and enervated it with a flick of my wand. Its eyes jerked open and he spotted me after half a second of sending furious glances around it. I raised my wand to it in a menacing fashion.

It got scared and turned around leaping rapidly over a fallen tree and scampered away, its legs unusually strong and springy. It didn't immediately adapt to the change and hit a tree with its head, positively knocking itself out.

I let out a hearty laugh at the fallen animal, but the laugh rapidly became a victory cry. It worked. And I knew it would work even better with the "human" version.

All I need is a Guinea pig. Or rather, a Guinea wizard. Wizard pig? Whatever you call that, I need something human and magical to test at least one ritual. From here I'll know how to adapt them if it goes wrong.

And I already knew which wizard - or rather witch I would use. It was logical, really, looping the loop. I walked back to the castle, strolling at the outskirts of Hogwarts territory, behind the wooden hut of the huge gatekeeper and grinning dumbly. So far the break was going very well. I had celebrated the coming of winter by rampaging in the forest a bit and slew a few things, definitely diving in a sea of bliss and constant enjoyment. Dark magic is really incredible.

My Occlumency lessons were reaching their end, that on its own motivated me to double my efforts. My fortress looked amazingly strong by now, a huge castle of ice, hundreds of feet high and covering the whole planet, drifting endlessly in the metaphorical universe. The doors were thick and I had recently mounted spikes on it, representing my will of hurting anyone who would crash in there instead of going the subtle way. After all, all of it was nothing but a representation of my mind, by my mind. It was only how my mind pictured itself. Hellard assured me that it would work, and so, I had laid traps everywhere; most of them were just razor-sharp spikes.

Almost all of my memories were ordered in ice spheres, placed along a stretching hallway, following the torches and the black fur carpet. Over the top? Maybe. Cool? Definitely. I had answered when Hellard had mocked my design choices.

I reached the great hall and took a seat. It was 11am and most of the remaining students stayed in the great hall to study or discuss while nibbling snacks. I looked over the Gryffindor table and spotted my favorite Guinea pig.

Hello, Lavender. I know it didn't work out very well last time, that's why I want to make up for it. Give me another chance. I snickered evilly, feeling like a bad comic villain planning to kidnap the princess.

But I didn't plan to do anything evil to her, on the contrary, she would probably thank me. If she survives, that is.

I realized very well my empathy level was at an all-time low, but I frankly didn't care. I'm already a murderer and soon I'll be a Necromancer. I'm the worst kind of person on this planet anyway. With this reasoning, dark magic constantly tingling my senses and occasional shots of homemade pepper up to ease my exhaustion and headache, I successfully erased all traces of worry in my being and was drifting unconcerned on a cloud of bliss and blur, seeing only my objective in the distance.

Not quite sane but yet not insane. I liked to call myself unsane. Beyond sanity, that's for sure. No sane person would do half the shit I do. And if they did, they wouldn't be sane any longer.

I had casted really dangerous magic in the forest, the Demonic Torrent for one. A jet of sentient water whose only purpose seemed to be drowning or tearing apart its caster. I had wrestled with the demonic liquid, disregarding the gravity of the situation, a smile on my lips. I knew it was crazy, but I couldn't care. I would need it. I wasn't sure why, but I knew I'd need it. Those guys with Jagdish didn't die of playing with their willies too much... If I really intend to go in there, I must become better. A lot better.

I followed lavender when she stood up and walked out, probably to visit the toilets or something equally unimportant. There were a lot of paintings on the walls, there was no way I could take her here. Not without a little trick.

I waved my wand above my head in a motion that probably looked stupid and felt the cold chill of the disillusionment charm douse me from head to toe. I wasn't totally invisible, but enough to deceive the paintings.

I slid behind her inside the toilets, wiggling my arms around like if I was a ghost in a silly story with the only goal of amusing myself. She was about to open a booth when I spoke aloud.

"Oooooh I am the ghost of the first floor toilets!" I was having lots of fun.

I whipped my wand out in a theatrical sway and pointed it to her just as she stopped, efficiently sending a silent Stupefy at her back. She collapsed, this time in my arms, and I laid her on the floor carefully. Now was the most dangerous part. I rolled up my sleeves and started an intricate wand movement. It was crucial to not fuck this one up.

The wand motion took me half a minute to complete, and Lavender started to shrink. While not as dangerous as human transfiguration, changing the size of a human's body was still very risky. She shrank more and more, until she was no larger than my fist. A minuscule Lavender now rested on the floor at my feet. I picked her up and put her in my pocket unceremoniously, still disillusioned.

Looks like my shopping is over, I got all I wanted. I grinned, satisfied with myself, and exited the toilet with Lavender in my robes. That sounds like I'm doing something dirty with her, "Lavender in my robes".

I walked all the way back to the Forest, and reached my favorite ritual training spot. Twenty minutes from the first trees on foot, a nice snowy grass on the floor, a pleasant opening in the trees above my head, and most of the creatures in the area knew better than to fuck with me at this point.

I took Lavender out of my pocket, placed her in the middle of the large circle and un-shrunk her with a flick of my wand. It was way easier to remove the transformation than to apply it. I hastily started preparing the field for the ritual, tracing a couple more triangles for more positive magic income in her body and placing all the imbued rocks on the peripheral circle. I had imbued those rocks in a magical water spring near the center of the forest, in the mountain. I didn't like going this far, I was pretty sure there were Werewolves, Giants and maybe even a Vampire Manor in there. Not to mention all the weird creatures I had encountered on my way to the magical spring. The forest felt wrong in that part, it was dangerous.

"Now for the main part of this ritual, darling." I started out loud, as if she could hear me. "I'm currently carving the runes on a rhinoceros skin, because you see, this is derived from an ancient African shaman ritual, where the lucky target would get a rhinoceros skin." I continued learnedly, walking toward her still body while I skillfully carved the runes on the grey hide. I jabbed my wand toward a twig, transfiguring it into a crude knife.

I grabbed it and cut her skin on the arm. The cut was clean, fresh blood dripped slowly from it. I touched the blood with my index and draw the rune of acceptation on her forehead with it. That'll do the trick.

I walked back a few steps and placed the now complete main item on the floor, linking it to the geometrics with a few Elven Strings. They were called like that, but they were just highly conductive twines that grew on a tree called the Elven Willow.

"If this works as I think it will, it proves my theory on body enhancing rituals." I concluded happily to the still not listening Lavender. Despite a good number of books on the matter, it was still very vague to me. There was no specific instruction for rituals, it was mostly things to know and to put together.

"Shall we begin?" I grinned widely and rose my wand high in the air. I guess we shall.

I brought my wand down in a violent slashing motion, sending a burst of raw magic onto the square of grey skin. It flared lightly for a moment, the carved runes glowing a colour that wasn't one, and it began.

I stepped back to avoid disturbing the ritual and watched in awe. It was working. The circle around Lavender suddenly illuminated itself, producing a huge grey light cylinder. I squinted, the light was too bright to look at directly, and after a few minutes, it went off. Lavender must have been lifted in the air because she dropped to the ground in a flat thump.

I ran to her and crouched, dousing her with the standard diagnostic charms. She was weak, very weak. I had hoped a Gryffindor would be naturally powerful enough to survive it and was right. She had made it, but barely. She'll need to eat a lot after that.

I still had the transfigured knife from earlier. I brought my eyes closer and slowly opened a new gash on her arm.

The skin was more resistant, it was obvious. It was still soft and thin like a thirteen years old girl skin, but I had to force to finally get the blade to penetrate her flesh and draw a line of crimson fluid. I stood up, prouder than necessary. It was at least five times tougher that before, and I knew what rune to modify to increase that number.

"It is a success, darling. You almost passed away there but I have no doubt I'll do better." I grinned and rose my head to the sky. Black clouds were gathering, it was going to snow. Let's get back in the castle. Tomorrow I'll be another man. An enhanced man. I chortled lightly and mended Lavender's wounds before shrinking her again.

I'm not so bad after all, that may save her life one day.

I puked a fourth time, this time only spitting bile and saliva, and panted heavily. I caught my breath after five minutes and cleaned my mouth with a simple though and a wand motion.

After the skin and flesh toughening and the vision widening rituals, I had felt sick and got disoriented badly. The skin toughening was the easiest one, it didn't felt different at all, I had to cut myself to confirm the success of the tenfold skin toughening. The wider vision on the other hand was impossible to miss, I felt like I was an animal more than a human, able of seeing almost at 200°, and had to focus to master my new skill. After a few tries I positively understood how to trigger the change in my pupils.

But the strengthening ritual was on another level. My whole body tried to reject the alteration. I downed one of the ten phials I had brought in case this happened, reducing the amount of remaining phials to four.

I swallowed the thick liquid and quickly downed another calming potion just after. I had known the body would reject it, it was common and nothing to be alarmed of. Eventually it would stop rejecting and start to live with it, it was done and couldn't be reversed anyway.

The fact that it's fueled by human blood and animal sacrifice probably has something to do with it too... I knew dark magic was different by now, I knew why and how it was wrong and how the body reacted to it.

I probably know it better than any of our DADA professors...

I inhaled deeply and slumped on the ground, back against the tree I had been holding on. At least I know it worked. I though darkly, before standing up unsteadily to test it anyway.

I punched the tree with all the might I could muster in my terrible state, feeling my magic adding up to my strength. My fist connected with the tree at high speed and cracked the large trunk, sending splinters left and right. It had happened so fast all I could see was my fist resting in the center of a wide impact that covered half of the trunk.

If that Japanese assassin tried his little stunt with the sword now he'd be in for a nasty surprise. A pity he's already dead.

The strengthening ritual allowed one to fuel his muscles with magic, boosting his strength and consequently speed insanely. It was one of the really dangerous ones, as it messed with the whole structure of one's body, and a obligatory one to even dream about wearing a Mage Knight plate armor. It was the one I had been the most reluctant to undergo. But hell, I'm a god damn Potter! To hell with danger and whatnot, I can take it.

I had knew I could, the Potters weren't labeled powerful at birth for nothing.

Enough rituals for today... Enough for the week actually. Just that last reaction time one, perhaps... I thought as I drifted in the realm of dreams and nightmare, laying in the snow covered grass of the Forbidden Forest.

I slept for five hours in the cold, my body drained out of energy. Cold invaded my being and tainted my dreams, my nightmares, until my eyes jerked open, a frost sweat in my back. I looked at my fingers, they were blue. I reached my face only to find it frozen in a pained expression.

I gotta move, make blood circulate. I stood up, an horrible pain biting my frozen flesh at each movement and started running. I ran through the forest, going faster and faster. My enhanced body propelled itself faster than I could react and at some point, I was too fast, I jumped too far, and fell to the ground, breaking numerous wooden things underneath the snow along with my wrist before finally crashing against a large tree.

I can't focus magic on my body constantly, I got to strengthen my bones too. I mentally added this to my list of rituals to carry out and dragged myself on a flat rock.

I sat and started to mend my wrist, but something wasn't right. My magic was weird.

It felt darker, more violent. More chaotic.

I gathered it in my hands to get a better feeling and confirmed my suspicions. It had changed. No, it has evolved.

It was more aggressive, more keen to answer me but also more willing to take control over me. Was that even possible? I didn't know, at this point I was raving to myself about things I could feel but not comprehend. Or is feeling it enough to understand it? Is there anything to understand? This is my magic, it evolves with me. And I evolved.

My faithful wand, however, didn't evolve. It was still the good ol' nine inches of cherry stuffed with dragon heartstring. It had always been some kind of bitch, but this time, it really didn't want to cooperate.

I jabbed it toward a tree, forcing a Secaferox through it. It worked, barely. Not really. The cutting curse came out but only cut five inch or so where it should have cleaved the tree in its entirety, leaving me bitter and disappointed.

The wand chooses the wearer, right? I guess I really am a new man today. And that would mean a new wand. I sighed, quite sad of having to do that, and worked on my broken wrist again.

I spent the remaining holidays resting, mainly, and enhanced my being some more. Reaction time decreasing ritual, Steel bones ritual, Blood replenishment ritual and a Regeneration ritual. Those were mostly very dark, requiring at least a half a gallon of "forcedly taken blood" to draw the geometrics and a few sacrifices to give "life power" to the gods - or demon - I was making requests to.

My housemates were oblivious of me slipping blood replenishing potion in their drinks and sneaking on them at night to steal some of their precious liquid. It's forcedly taken if you steal it, right?

It was seriously fucked up but I couldn't deny the cheapness. With a few legal items obtained by standard owl delivery services, a few liters of blood and a good knowledge of the dark arts, you could go really far. All the best things in this world are cheap said one day a wise man...

But they were as perilous as they were dark. I knew they were very dangerous, but not to what extent. Something about "either death or a reduced lifespan".

My mind was too blurred to stop on such details anyway. I knew where I was going and I knew I would survive.

I'm Harry fucking Potter.

A simple motto, really, but an effective one.

AN: So, here we go, Harry's starting to do weird crap left and right. I'm trying to make him a tad little bit crazy, I'd like to know if it feels like this or not really.

I'd like also to thank you all for reading and commenting.