The Terror of 731

Author Note:Another chapter release.

This chapter contains some depictions of cruelty, so read ahead on your own risk.

Author Note end.

Atlas was frustrated that Voldemort's notes didn't say anything about the mark a universe left behind, but his descriptions of horcruxes and possessions were quite enlightening.

If his soul wasn't marked by the universe and he were to possess Hermione by encapsulating her soul, then it might be possible to take her soul with him. The problem was that first he would need to kill someone for it to work, and then Hermione would still need to accept what he did and still trust him enough for him to possess her. Forcefully taking her with him wasn't really possible because even if he split his soul into two equal parts, his soul shard would still be weaker than Hermione's. He wasn't sure how much his soul had grown in his past life, but according to Adam, his soul was weaker than others, which probably meant that his soul core was incomplete. It probably was only by a small margin, but none the less, his soul wasn't as it should have been, and if he were to split it in half, it would surely be smaller and weaker than Hermione's whole soul.

Another problem was that even if he made Hermione into an Horcrux and she accepted the possession, he still wasn't sure if it would work. For his return, he would still heavily depend on Adam, and if Adam decided against taking Hermione with him, he would either lose half his soul or die in his attempt to save her. It was a decision he would have to think about. He would do it if he was sure it would work, but risking his own death for a chance? Did he love Hermione so much that he would say he couldn't live without her? He wasn't so sure about that. Just a few months ago, he had seen her as nothing more than a temporary friend, then as a temporary girlfriend, and while he had decided that he wanted to save her, which was almost equal to marrying her for life without the option of a divorce, he couldn't without hesitation say that he would risk his life and soul for just a chance to save her. At least for the life he imagined would await them. At the same time, he also couldn't simply let her die. It was a dilemma he didn't have an answer to. At least for the moment, he would try his best to find another solution that would have a higher chance of success or a lower risk.

The next morning they were scheduled for another training session in the room with Harry, Ron, and Neville. Hermione wanted to make sure that they at least mastered expiliarmus before trying anything more advanced. While the three were getting their asses beat by the woodpuppets, he wanted to talk with Hermione. His thoughts about sacrificing himself for her made him want to talk with her. Maybe he hoped she would give him a reason to risk it, or maybe even the opposite, but his indecisiveness about it was aggravating him. As he couldn't simply talk with her about it because he feared that he would be forced to do it then, or worse, that she would reject him doing it, he talked about his next plans with her.

"What do you think about inviting Ethan to our training sessions too? I think he would be a good addition, and even we could learn something from him."

"That's a good idea. I always have the feeling we are so much more productive when we study with them. A good study group changes so much. We should invite Leona and Amy too." she answered enthusiastically.

"Yes, maybe, but I first want to talk with Ethan alone. I think he doesn't like me that much, and it would be better if I knew why that is before I had to eventually trust him with my life. Do you think you can keep Amy occupied for a few hours so that I can talk it out with him? She never leaves him alone, and I think it's better if Ethan and I talk without any distractions."

Hermione's expression shifted slightly, and she hesitated before speaking. "About that, well, maybe I know the reason he doesn't like you," she admitted, looking a bit embarrassed.

Curiosity piqued, Atlas raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"You said it yourself, in a way. Amy never leaves him alone, and in the beginning, when Ethan met me in the library for the first time, he invited me to study with them. She seemed to dislike me. She didn't really show it in front of Ethan, but it was kind of obvious. At first, I thought it was because I was a year younger and couldn't contribute to the group, or because I was from a different house, or maybe because she didn't like me personally. She also always interrupted Ethan when he wanted to show me something. I think she saw me as a love rival or something like that because she immediately stopped these things after she knew we got together. So maybe if she wasn't just overly possessive and Ethan really liked me, then it would make sense for him to dislike you," Hermione explained, her cheeks turning a shade of pink as she mentioned Ethan potentially liking her.

Atlas was a bit flabbergasted by it. He already knew that Ethan liked her and just wanted to use it as a pretext to talk to him, but getting told by his girlfriend that another guy liked her irritated him a bit. "That... That might be the case. Do you not want me to talk to him, then? And didn't Amy show you this room? I thought she liked you, or why had she done something like that?"

"As I said, she changed after knowing we were together. Did you forget that she saw us holding hands shortly after Halloween? She already knew, and she showed me the room so that we could have some dates there. She became really supportive of our relationship, but I guess that was just because she was happy to have one less rival," Hermione clarified, showing a hint of amusement.

"Wow, I didn't see her as such a calculative girl. Do you think we can trust Ethan and Amy then?" He answered, quite surprised to learn that about Amy. He had noticed that she was always quite jealous of other girls that were close to Ethan, but he didn't know she was manipulating those around her like that. Regardless of that, his talk with Ethan should reveal who the hero is.

"I don't have a problem with them and think we can trust them when it comes to fighting against Voldemort. Leona would probably kill them if they messed around when it came to that," Hermione replied, a mischievous grin spreading across her face. Atlas couldn't help but share her grin, imagining how Leona would react if they weren't serious about it.

Their talk ended when Neville left the combat chamber and was clearly frustrated, cursing under his breath. The others followed, discussing the close fight they had until Harry lost his glasses and became practically useless.

At the end of the training session, they went to the library to read up on a few of the spells that weren't as useful but were part of the first-year curriculum. Atlas hoped that he would meet Ethan there, but for once, he wasn't in the library. Instead, he found Leona sitting alone at a table.

"Hey Leona, where's Ethan?" he asked as he approached her.

Leona looked up from her book and greeted him with a smile. "Oh, he's having a bad day and needed some time alone. Amy managed to convince him to let her stay with him though, so they're together."

Curiosity piqued, Atlas prodded for more information. "What's been going on with him? He's been acting a bit strange lately."

Leona hesitated for a moment before deciding to share. "Well, everyone knows that he's been pretending to not know about Amy's feelings for him, but something changed a few days ago. He's been acting more serious and easily irritated. I guess something's been bothering him."

This information made Atlas even more eager to talk to Ethan. If Ethan was the hero and acted strangely, then there had to be a reason for it. He also still wasn't sure if the hero worked with Voldemort together or not. And if he had been acting strangely these days, then it could be related to the fact that Voldemort was angry that he was getting blackmailed by him. It could naturally have many different reasons, but if he was the hero, it was likely to have something to do with it.

So, to prevent any further delay on the matter Atlas asked Leona to check if Ethan could spare some time the next day after dinner to chat. Leona was curious about the topic, but as soon as Atlas mentioned it was about Hermione, her interest waned.

"Everyone's all about couples these days, and it's getting boring," Leona grumbled.

Atlas couldn't help but tease her a bit. "Oh, come on, Leona. Do you have someone in mind? Need a wingman?"

Leona playfully poked him in the arm, denying any need for assistance. Atlas thought about teasing her further, but he could tell that Leona was quite innocent when it came to relationships. He wasn't sure if it was because of her ambition to become an auror or just part of her personality, but he knew she had no shortage of admirers, as she was not only really kind but also really beautiful.

In the evening, Atlas took the first copies of Voldemort's Tomes about the Dark Arts and delved into them. The first book was about the unforgivable curses. It was a bit surprising how much he was able to write about just three spells, but the experiments Voldemort did were quite extensive, detailed, and, most of all, disgusting. Voldemort wrote down his studies on how long people usually lasted before the minds of wizards broke when tortured with the cruciatus curse, or how long the imperius curse lasted, and how fast the victim built up resistance. He also vivisected people to test how these spells affected the body in a physical sense and what people were actually capable of under the imperius curse. Surprisingly, torture made most people break out of the imperius curse. So when he wanted people to slowly dissect themselves, they broke out of the spell midway.

The research on the killing curse, in comparison, was almost harmless, as he simply killed different species with the spell or penetrated different shield spells. The conclusion was quite simple. Anything hit, be it an ant or a dragon, died from the spell unless a physical obstacle was in the way. The only exception to this rule is a shield of love strengthened by human sacrifice. Surprisingly, the scales of some adult dragons were so thick that the spell didn't work if hit on them and simply dissipated, but when he hit these dragons on the thinner scales on the stomach, they also died instantly. At the end, he wrote that if one wanted to fight against it, one either needed to dodge the spell or counterattack with another spell.

The next book was so disgusting that Atlas had to stop reading it. It was the book about inferi. While the concept of using dead bodies as weapons was terrific enough, the experiments Voldemort did were so gruesome that Atlas' stomach revolted a bit. He had researched if inferi could be used to transmit diseases, and for this case, he used muggles and infected them willingly with deadly diseases like the pest until they rotted away before turning them. He also researched how much of a human body was needed to create an inferi so he cut muggles apart step by step to test the limits. Apparently, an Egyptian spell had motivated him to also test the effects of dehydration on the spell, so he let muggles die of thirst and dried their corpses with a spell that only affected non-living beings. He also did the reverse, and tested victims who had drowned. The results of these experiments showed that drowned inferi were much more resistant to fire, blunt force, and stabs but also moved a little slower. Atlas stopped reading after reading about experiment 731 where he tested the spell on pregnant women. At that point, the victims for this research had already crossed the ten thousand mark, and he was sure that Voldemort did these experiments after leaving Hogwarts for ten years and traveling the world. He probably went to places where muggles fought wars, as such a large number of deaths would have been noticed otherwise.

Atlas didn't want to know how many Voldemort had killed in his pursuit of immortality when he had already killed so many to create the perfect inferi. But the number would probably be even higher unless he was satisfied with having a few horcuxes.

The next day, after a night filled with unsettling nightmares, like being drowned or being vivisected alive, Atlas finally had the chance to talk to Ethan.

"You wanted to talk with me?" Ethan asked, sounding a bit grumpy, and Atlas couldn't help but agree with Leona's assessment.

"Yes, but not here. Follow me, please," Atlas replied, leading the way to the room of requirements.

Curious about how Atlas knew about the room, Ethan asked, "How do you know about the room?"

"Amy told Hermione, and Hermione told me," Atlas answered as he opened the door, revealing a cozy living room with two additional doors.

They both took a seat on the sofa, and Atlas decided to dive into the more personal matters first to clear the air. "There are several things we need to talk about; some are more serious, and some are of a more personal nature. If it's fine with you, I want to start with the personal stuff to get it out of the way."

Ethan nodded, signaling his agreement, and Atlas continued, "In the beginning, you treated me like everyone else, but in the recent months, I noticed that you looked like you were angry at me. I suspect it's because of my relationship with Hermione. So I want to know if it's true and if we can talk it out in a way that we can mend these problems? And before you ask, I won't leave her."

As Ethan's fists clenched at the accusation, Atlas prepared for a more challenging conversation. However, to his surprise, Ethan relaxed just before answering. "There is no problem, at least not anymore. I mean, I like her, but it's fine if we just remain friends."

Atlas was taken aback by the response, not sure what to expect, but relieved that it seemed to be going smoothly. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, and I'm sorry for my behavior; I wasn't really myself at the time," Ethan admitted, his expression softening.

"That went surprisingly well, if I'm honest. I suspected you might have a real issue with it, but I'm glad it's not the case," Atlas confessed.

Ethan chuckled lightly. "Sure, but please don't mention it anymore. Just yesterday, I got together with Amy, and she would probably skin me, and perhaps Hermione too, if she heard about it. You know how she is. What was the other topic you wanted to talk about?"

"Ah, congratulations on being together with Amy! She's a good girl," Atlas congratulated him before moving on. "Before we delve into the other topic, I want to test a few things. Given your experience with Professor Quirrell's and Professor Ward's classes, I assume you're familiar with sparring. I'd like to spar with you; maybe you can assist me with a new tactic, and we can learn from each other. The other thing is in a way related to it."

"Well, I guess that's fine. Do you want a handicap? Should I limit myself to first-year spells?" Ethan asked with a soft smile, showing his willingness to accommodate Atlas.

"I think that's not necessary," replied Atlas as he guided Ethan to the room designed for sparring, distinct from his regular training room.

After a brief formal greeting, the spar commenced as Atlas began with a nonverbal Confringo charm. Ethan's surprise quickly transformed into a smile as he effortlessly deflected the spell. "Nonverbal spells in your first year. I'm surprised," he remarked.

Atlas remained silent, launching a nonverbal Bombarda at Ethan's feet and using Depulso to shoot the debris at him. However, even those attacks were easily deflected by Ethan.

Using nonverbal casting with spells he wasn't fully adept at, Atlas felt the familiar boon and instantly realized Ethan was indeed the hero. But that didn't deter Atlas from pressing on; he unleashed two Stupors at Ethan. To his astonishment, Ethan not only deflected the spells but even reflected them, forcing Atlas to dodge his own attacks.

Recognizing that spells without a physical component wouldn't work, Atlas attempted to create a dust cloud with another Bombarda to prepare an Orbis spell, hoping to trap Ethan underground. However, before he could execute the plan, a single white bolt shot out of the dust with incredible speed and struck Atlas in the chest. Stunned, Atlas fell to the ground, rendered unable to move.

Disheartened by the outcome, he realized he hadn't managed to land a single hit on Ethan, who had defeated him without taking a step. "Sorry about that; you were so proficient in nonverbal casting that I thought you would be able to block that," Ethan said apologetically, lifting the curse and helping Atlas up. "Do you want another round? I'll hold back a bit more."

With a declining breath, Atlas refused Ethan's offer. "No, thank you. I tested what I wanted to test. You are incredible; I thought I was good, but you are insane. But that's what I hoped for."

Intrigued, Ethan inquired, "So what was the other topic you wanted to talk about? And what does it have to do with the spar?"

Atlas nodded, appreciating the curiosity as their talk went according to his plan. "You know that I'm friends with Harry Potter, right?"

"Yes, I studied together with you and Hermione so often that it would be a wonder if I didn't know." Ethan replied.

"Good. I just wanted to make sure because being around Harry can involve you in certain things you'd be happy not to know about. That's the reason I haven't asked you sooner and also needed to test you before," Atlas explained, while internally praising his acting. "We have found out that Voldemort is still alive, and he is trying to gather followers. We fear that he either has or will soon have enough power to make his comeback, and we are trying to prepare for that or, in the best case, prevent it. Hermione and I decided that it is necessary to train ourselves, and especially Harry, to have a chance. And we are trying to gather allies we can trust. So, what do you think? Will you assist us, maybe even train with us to fight against Voldemort?"

Author Note:

The inspiration for Voldemort's "research" are concealed in the title. If you're curious and decide to Google Unit 731, please be aware that doing so might lead you to a Wikipedia article with potentially sensitive content, that might be even crueler than what I wrote here. I took a little liberty with Voldemort there as there are no descriptions of what Voldemort really did in these times and I always thought that the most evil character should have done more wrong than wearing black and killing a handful of people. I mean, there were probably more people that fulfilled these requirements and this explanation would also show how Voldemort actually worked to become a master of the dark arts. I mean, the school would have very limited information about the really nasty stuff, so I thought it was logically he did some experiments when he left.