Helter Skelter

"He won't do anything cruel without reason? So there was a reason for it?"

"If he is even the one responsible." Kali idly remarks.

"Also, supposed death?" Harry inquires.

"I am certain that Voldemort yet lives. One who has delved into such dark magic could not resist the many powerful potential rituals. He would not see a problem sacrificing innocents to gain strength."

"Sounds like someone I know." Kali says, drawing an annoyed huff from Harry.

"I haven't sacrificed any innocents." he states.

Kali quirks a brow, "Oh? What about that young boy's parents that you used to summon me?"

He shrugs, "Maybe they should have disciplined their son if they didn't want to die."

"Now you're just making excuses." she titters.

He shakes his head, "Who was Voldemort anyway? Why is Dumbledore so interested in him?" he asks the skull.

"Voldemort, or Tom Riddle as I later learned, was a student of Albus'. He didn't understand that leaving an abused, magically powerful boy in an orphanage was a bad idea, nor did he attempt to quell the abuse the boy received from his Slytherin housemates. Albus worked to bring about the downfall of Voldemort, whether because of his guilt or some notion of justice. But like Voldemort, it will be his own schemes that will bring his comeuppance."

"What do you mean? How did Voldemort 'die'?"

"Chasing prophecies, I suspect. During the end of his reign, he took to hunting down infants born during certain months. His worries were proven true when he misstepped and attacked the wrong family."

"What family? Who did he attack?" Harry asks, finding himself unconsciously leaning forward for an answer he was sure he would find uninteresting... Or so he thought.

"The Potter family." the skull answers.

...

"The Potter family?" Kali confusedly asks while Harry was stuck in a stupor.

"A most ancient and noble house with a bloodline stretching far into the past, with accomplishments still relevant to this date. They found themselves on the wrong side of the war, fighting for Muggles and Muggle-borns against Voldemort's ideology of blood purity. They placed their trust in Albus, a grave mistake for one to make."

"Say it straight, who killed Voldemort?" Harry presses after recovering some deal of composure.

"The Boy-Who-Lived, Harry Potter."

Harry's breath hitches at this, he turns around and takes a step, only to stop as he had no real destination in mind... His thoughts were going around in circles, wondering how this piece of information had evaded him... He didn't remember anything about a 'Dark Lord', nor about supposedly killing him!

"W-was this why Dumbledore was keeping me imprisoned? It-, it only makes sense, right?"

Kali wraps him up in a hug with his face buried between her breasts, her hand soothingly caressing his scalp, "He would have sensed your magical strength, perhaps he was attempting to prevent another Dark Lord from emerging?" she wonders aloud, inwardly sneering at how badly such a decision, if she was right, had turned out.

"But why my relative? Surely he'd be smarter than to leave me in the same situation as Voldemort?"

"Again, he probably had reasons... Doesn't make them right, or your revenge wrong. This doesn't change anything, master."

...

"You're right, huh," he suddenly feels a chuckle bubble up from his throat, "Haha... I just realised... We turned Dumbledore's lover into our undead butler!"

Kali giggles, "It is funny when you think about it, isn't it? You hadn't even started yet you've already dealt him a crippling blow. Well done."

A couple minutes later, Harry extracts himself from Kali's bosom and turns back to the skull... But pauses once more as he couldn't think of a question to ask it, he thought momentarily about asking for information about his parents but, he'd long since abandoned any familial feelings he might've felt for them.

He was interested in asking the skull about magic, considering how powerful and prominent Grindelwald had apparently been... But, since he was entering magical society soon, it would be best to learn more about it before anything else. "Tell me the essentials someone entering magical society should know."

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Harry had more than a month to get everything ready for his attendance at Hogwarts. Primarily, he focussed on practical things that'd keep him alive and uncaptured. He learned from Grindelwald that any attendee of Hogwarts without a magical guardian would automatically become the responsibility of the headmaster, Albus Dumbledore.

This, obviously included Harry, meaning the man would likely try to take control of him once he entered magical society... In response to this Harry asked the skull if he could have Kali serve as his guardian, but this was quickly dismissed as only magical humans could serve this purpose.

Which meant he either had to find another method or bow to the whims and potential schemes of Dumbledore... Regardless, Kali had already made it clear that the old man wouldn't touch him, and that if they couldn't find a solution they'd forgo Hogwarts entirely... Perhaps once making a trip to see if their library had anything worth stealing.

They decided to make a trip into 'Diagon Alley', but not before making sure they had enough cash to convert into 'Galleons', the currency used by magical society in Britain. He did probably have a family vault to access, but his magical guardian would be informed should he use it, so bypassing that and securing their own funds was primary.

Harry growls as he struggles to close the suitcase filled to the brim with cash. Most of them were five, ten, and twenty pound notes due to them being stolen from various places, so the suitcase only equalled around tens of thousands of pound... Which should be more than enough to purchase what he needed.

"Need help there master?" Kali asks as she strides over from the entrance to his room.

"N-no, I g-got this!" he grunts as he shuts it with almost enough force to break its lock.

*Slam!*

"Ready?" she asks, brushing some of his hair over his faded lightning-bolt-shaped scar. His hair was long enough that revealing it would be difficult, and with how faded it was, he was sure it'd be fine to leave it uncovered.

Surely using magic or headwear would attract more attention than leaving it as is.

"I am, let's go... Nanthisk! Take care of the treehouse!" he exclaims, placing a bat-Kali on his shoulder before teleporting to Britain.