Author's Note:

Welcome to the rewrite of Phoenix From the Ashes. I just wanted to start out by saying that I've taken a lot of the constructive criticism I received and will try to implement them in this refresh. This is the only time I will rewrite this story. I'm not in the habit of starting over more than once. Whatever happens will happen. My only goal is to write a story that I enjoy writing, that will hopefully be enjoyed by others.

This is influenced by several HP fanfics I have read over the past five years. There will be several tropes and cliches throughout this story. Get over it. Not every fanfic is a peerless work of original ideas. This most certainly won't be one, though I will attempt to not make it stale and forgettable. That being said, know that the story is still being written in my head. I've worked out a general idea of the plot, but it may change if I find a direction I like better.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Harry Potter other than my OCs. A big thanks to Jo Rowling for giving me a sandbox to play in. This applied to the whole story, so I will not be repeating this in every chapter.

"Harry Potter" – Speech

'Harry Potter' – Thoughts

"§Harry Potter§" – Parseltongue

"Harry Potter" – Flashback Speech

'Harry Potter' – Flashback Thoughts

Harry James Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, laid dying in a pool of his blood. Just a few feet away from him, laid the mangled corpse of his fated arch-nemesis, the Dark Lord Voldemort. After years of war, he found himself tired of it all. Everyone he had ever cared about had died, and he was honestly looking forward to seeing them in the afterlife.

His life's story was filled with hardship and suffering. He was born the son of James and Lily Potter on July 31st, 1980 in St. Mungo's Hospital. His birth came at a time of great strife and turmoil.

The Blood War of the 1970's had killed many people in the British magical community. An up and coming Dark Lord and his followers had made it their mission to eradicate those who they deemed to be of "impure blood".

Harry's birth fell under the bounds of a prophecy that determined him to be a candidate to end the Dark Lord's crusade once and for all. The seer who delivered it, an alcoholic named Sybil Trelawney, had been interviewing for the position of Divination Professor at Hogwarts School of the Witchcraft and Wizardry. The same school his parents had attended for 7 years.

She had gone into a trance and shared the prophecy with Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwarts. He had latched onto the words and attempted his utmost to determine who the "child of prophecy" was. Incidentally, the Dark Lord Voldemort ultimately did that for him.

A spy had been listening in on the interview and managed to hear the first half of the prophecy. The spy had subsequently informed Voldemort, and the hunt had begun.

His parents, worried for his safety, had gone into hiding. They had used a Fidelius Charm, a charm that utilized a Secret Keeper to keep the knowledge of their location safe from their enemies. Sadly, they had trusted the wrong person. Peter Pettigrew, one of his father's best friends, betrayed them and gave up the secret to Voldemort.

The hunt for the child of prophecy had ended when Voldemort attacked Potter Cottage in Godric's Hollow on Halloween 1981. His mother and father sacrificed themselves to protect him, and for some reason unknown to everyone, he managed to survive the Killing Curse and "destroy" Voldemort. This feat earned him the title of "The Boy-Who-Lived".

'Wasn't that just a load of grade-A bullshit.' Harry thought as he snorted in disdain.

He winced at the amount of pain the action brought. A couple of ribs had punctured his lung, which was probably why it was getting so hard to breath. Damn what he wouldn't give for a quicker death at this point.

That was the official story that everyone had been disseminated to the public. The one all of his peers had been brought up reading stories about. However, they never realized the truly insidious manipulations of the man they all looked up to. Albus Dumbledore had been so desperate to end the war that he had concocted a false prophecy.

Harry had met with Fate herself a while back and had been blown away by the revelations she had shared. The magic of prophecy was something that was treated as sacrosanct by all magicals and for good reason. Every word uttered by a seer was imbued with the magic and power of Fate herself.

When Dumbledore created a false prophecy and forced a seer to utter it, he committed a grave sin. In his hubris, he had meddled in magic he couldn't possibly understand, and the Potters had paid the price for his actions. To even out the scales, Fate had personally intervened and imbued her power into the false prophecy changing it into a true prophecy.

With the way it had been phrased, Harry was gifted with greater potential magical strength and talent than the Dark Lord Voldemort. This action led to a series of events that had doomed not only his life but the entire world and everyone in it.

After the death of his parents, Dumbledore had placed him with his closest family, the Dursleys. Petunia Dursley was his mother's sister, a vicious banshee with a vindictive streak a mile wide. He justified the placement by mentioning that his mother's loving sacrifice had imbued a powerful protection on him.

The love between Harry and his new family would strengthen the blood wards he had erected around the Dursley's house, thereby ensuring his safety. Despite Dumbledore's frequent claims of him being raised in a loving environment, Harry had been brought up in a physically and emotionally abusive household.

'Love is the greatest magic of all, my ass. Dumblefuck did everything he could to keep me weak and submissive. Those assholes had been in on it the entire time. I wish I could have killed them myself.'

This was something that Harry had come to realize as he grew older. Due to Fate's intervention, Dumbledore had wanted to keep him as weak as possible, to be the perfect sacrifice to end Voldemort's life.

His torturous upbringing had turned him into an introverted, socially inept boy who did everything he could to gain the affection of others. He became a weak and submissive puppet to those who knew how to pull his strings. It was something the old goat capitalized on when Harry was reintroduced to the world of magic at the age of 11.

'Who would have thought that abusing a child and preventing him from forming any meaningful connections with his peers would monumentally fuck up his development? Surely such a child would become a perfectly well-adjusted adult who could properly contribute to society and not a psychopathic murderer.'

He briefly wondered when exactly he had become such a jaded cynic. After more than a decade of war, he felt that life wasn't worth living anymore. He had walked over a mountain of corpses to get to this point. The insanity and terrifying strength of his opponent had spurred him to delve into the Darkest of magics in an attempt to fight back.

Looking back on his Hogwarts years, the most frequent question he found himself asking was 'how the hell did I survive?'.

Dumbledore's behind the scenes machinations was often the answer to that question. The man had made his school life a literal living hell with the various types of torture he faced on an annual basis. These frustrating and demoralizing experiences were meant to persuade him to embrace death at Voldemort's hand to save his loved ones in an act of martyrdom.

A tired smirk came onto Harry's face.

'Most of the bastards didn't deserve it anyway, but here I am. Talked into dying at the hand of old Tommy boy to protect the remaining people on Earth.'

The irony of his current situation was not lost on him.

His first year had been the best, even though he had faced off against his parent's murderer and burned a man to death with his bare hands at the end of the year. The wonders of magic and all the possibilities had enchanted him. He dreamed of all the things he could do that would improve his lot in life and allow him to find the happiness happiness he desperately sought.

The fact that he had killed a man at 11 was never addressed. No therapy or counseling for him, no sir! He was the Boy-Who-Lived after all. A legendary hero who fought dragons and saved princesses. What was a little homicide in comparison?

His second year had been much worse, as his ability to speak to snakes was taken as confirmation of him being a rising Dark Lord. To clear his name, he had fought a basilisk, one of the deadliest magical creatures in existence, to rescue his best friend's sister. He had been bitten and laid dying, much like he was now, only to be saved by the headmaster's phoenix, Fawkes.

'I killed a fucking basilisk with a sword to clear my name, and it still wasn't enough for those ingrates. I should have just died. At least then, none of the shit that happened afterward would have been my problem.'

His third year had been an interesting one. Sirius Black, an insane mass murderer who sought his death, turned out to be his godfather and innocent of his crimes. The one person who could have taken him in and given him a decent childhood had been illegally sent to prison for 12 goddamn years.

After attempting and failing to catch the real betrayer, Peter Pettigrew, Harry thought he could free Sirius through his witness testimony. He had dreamed of leaving the Dursleys once and for all, only to have reality kick him in the teeth due to Dumbledore and the Minister's actions. Snape, the petulant, greasy dungeon bat had poisoned the well and convinced the Minister that Sirius was guilty despite knowing that Pettigrew was alive. Dumbledore had backed up his lackey, and all his hopes were dashed to the ground.

That was not at all mentioning the soul-sucking demons that were sent to "protect" him, only to try and kill him every chance they got. Despite all of it, he found someone who truly cared about him, and that had given him hope for a better future.

Then came the worst year he had ever experienced. The year of the Tri-Wizard Tournament. The ancient and deadly tournament had been revived at Dumbledore's behest to "improve international relations". In actuality, it was another one of Dumbledore's schemes to allow the resurrection of Voldemort to continue the fulfillment of the prophecy.

He had been entered into the tournament against his will and struggled in the aftermath. His friends and his entire House had all but abandoned him. The teachers had done nothing to prevent him from being harassed and hurt.

Nearly everyone in the school save for a couple of people had turned against him. The ostracization had hurt him deeply. All the people he had thought would be on his side were nowhere to be found. Coincidentally, this led to one of the best things that ever happened to him. Seeking a private haven away from the rest of the school, he had gone back into Salazar Slytherin's fabled Chamber of Secrets.

Tucked away atop the basilisk's nest was a study with a joined bedroom. In the study, overlooking the desk was a portrait of a handsome sleeping man with a snake lazily draped around his neck. He had been intimidated by the portrait and unsure of how to approach it.

After half an hour of hemming and hawing, he finally worked up the nerve to wake the man up.

Harry felt tears pool in his eyes.

'Salazar. I'm so sorry I couldn't keep my promise.'

He closed his eyes as he reminisced on their first conversation. It felt like ancient history at this point.

"§Well, you seem much saner than the last boy. What's your name, child?§"

Harry gulped as the man's piercing green eyes bore into his.

"§My name is Harry, sir. Harry Potter. Are you Salazar Slytherin?§"

He had not expected the sarcastic response that followed.

"§No, I'm Godric Gryffindor. My portrait just happens to be placed in the secretive, private chamber of Salazar Slytherin. What an idiotic question. How can you be my descendant?§"

That had brought Harry out his daze quickly. He would never tolerate being called the descendant of a Dark Wizard the likes of Salazar Slytherin. Not after how much trouble that association earned him in his second year.

"§I'm not your descendant. Your descendant is Tom Riddle, though he goes by the name Lord Voldemort nowadays.§"

Salazar gained a pensive look on his face upon hearing Harry's answer.

"§Tom Riddle. It has been a long time since I last heard that name. I see his silly little anagram has gained the notoriety he so desperately craved all those years ago. However, I am quite certain you are my descendant, Harry Potter. Otherwise, you would not have been able to enter my chamber.§"

"§How exactly does being able to enter your chamber make me your descendant?§"

"§There are several ways to get into the chamber, but all of them require a Parseltongue password. Parseltongue is a magical language that is unique to the Slytherin family. Anyone who isn't a descendant will never be able to speak it.§"

Harry shook his head while responding.

"§I was attacked by Tom Riddle as a baby and somehow managed to survive the Killing Curse. Headmaster Dumbledore says that connected us in a way that allowed me to inherit Voldemort's ability to speak Parseltongue.§"

Salazar looked incensed by Harry's words.

"§Then your Headmaster Dumbledore is a fool who doesn't know what he's talking about. Take it from the man who made it possible for his family to speak the noble language of the serpents. You are my descendant, and after hearing your story, I believe I know exactly how you survived the Killing Curse.§"

Salazar started to explain about the Slytherin family history and shed some light on Harry's unique situation. It turned out that he was a child from the main line of the Slytherin family through his mother. The reason he had survived the Killing Curse that fateful night was because of the Slytherin family magic's intervention.

One of Salazar's daughters married into the Gaunt family. She was a selfish and spoiled girl who coveted the family fortune, so Salazar took precautions to protect his main line from her scheming.

He conducted a ritual that protected every male member of the main line from any person in the branch line. Any member of the branch line who attempted to harm a male of the main line would suffer the backlash of the family magic.

Voldemort, being a descendant from the branch line from the Gaunt family, fell prey to the family magic when he tried harming Harry, the true Heir Slytherin. Ironically, the sheep had been right all along when they accused him of being the Heir during his second year.

From then on, Salazar became Harry's best friend and mentor. The first thing they had done was to start working on fixing Harry's fundamentals. All the problems that Harry had faced every academic year had taken a toll on his education.

Salazar had taken an old school approach to Harry's education. It involved lecturing on magical theory and then having his enchanted security golem beat the lessons into him until he understood them. Harry had taken to the lessons like a fish to water. Within a month, he had conditioned himself both physically and magically to his limit. That was when Salazar introduced the most critical subject he would learn. Rituals.

Under Salazar's supervision, Harry underwent several rituals to improve his body and magic. He secured ingredients by Apparating from the Chamber to Diagon Alley. The Anti-Apparition and Anti-Portkey wards that covered Hogwarts did not affect the Chamber, which was treated as a separate entity from the castle through Salazar's unique warding scheme.

Surviving each life-threatening task by the skin of his teeth, he had become thoroughly disillusioned by the British magical world. One day, they loved him, the next day, he was a Dark Lord in training. Their bipolar attitude towards him had alienated most of them from him permanently. After venting his frustrations to Salazar one day, he had received a piece of wisdom he treasured for the rest of his life. Friends and allies are advantageous to have, but the only thing a wizard can rely on is himself and his magic.

Voldemort was an evil bastard, but nobody could deny the man's intelligence and power. Even without his Death Eaters, he was a force to reckon with. He stood out as a magical titan among wizards, at a level where few could ever hope to match him.

Harry had felt hopeless about his chances of victory until Salazar had reminded him, even the Dark Lord Voldemort started as Hogwarts student Tom Riddle. With enough time and practice, Harry could work his way up to become his equal, a position that was occupied solely by Albus Dumbledore. With that helpful pep talk, Harry had gone into the final task fired up to prove himself.

Near the end of the final task, he was portkeyed to a graveyard and ambushed. Peter Pettigrew had forced him to give his blood for a ritual to resurrect Voldemort. He came back holding the corpse of his fellow Hogwarts competitor, Cedric Diggory, crying about the return of the Dark Lord Voldemort.

'Looking back, that probably wasn't the best way to signify the return of the British Magical society's boogeyman.'

Hindsight was 20/20 in this case. His dramatic reveal of Voldemort's return had caused then Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge to stick his head in the sand, and fervently deny any claims that things were not alright.

Over the summer, a pair of Dementors were sent after him. After defending himself and his idiot cousin from having their souls sucked out, he was summoned and tried in front of a kangaroo court at the Ministry. As usual, he had been overwhelmed and under-prepared. Inevitably, Dumbledore had swooped in at the last moment to save the day. The worrying part was that the man refused to even look at him, citing security concerns.

Fudge had not been happy that Harry had escaped from being sentenced. The man invested a lot of time and money into a smear campaign that tarred and feathered both Harry and Dumbledore as fear mongers. In essence, by the time Harry returned to Hogwarts for his fifth year, he was being treated by almost everyone as "The Boy Who Cried Voldemort". Yet again, he was ostracized by the vast majority of Hogwarts, which was content to listen to the Ministry narrative.

The man had gone so far as to appoint Dolores Umbridge, his fixer, to the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. She had gone out of her way to make Harry's life a living hell through both physical and mental torture.

Everything from forcing him to write with a blood quill during their many detentions, to banning him from Quidditch for life. Whatever she could do to hamper his influence and power base was done.

The woman also refused to allow students to learn the spells to pass the class. Citing bogus Ministry guidelines, they were only allowed to learn the theory behind the spells and not use them. It was all but certain that the fifth years would fail their DADA O.W.L. exams.

That year pushed him to his limits. Put under immense strain, his willpower was tested and forged to withstand absolute agony. The crucible had been fruitful, as one of the main reasons for his survival against the demons was his ability to ignore and override pain. In a way, Dolores Umbridge had taught him a crucial skill necessary for the war against Voldemort.

The entire student population, save for the Slytherins, had shared a mutual dislike for the woman. This led to the formation of the Defense Association, colloquially known as Dumbledore's Army. A group of students led by Harry who practiced DADA spells and important combat spells to learn to defend themselves for the upcoming war.

It was a huge success, and a few of the people Harry taught ended up joining his resistance group to fight back against the Death Eaters in the future. Everything was going well, and even with the torture Umbridge was putting him through, he felt satisfaction. That all came crashing down at the end of the year.

He received a vision from Voldemort after a disastrous Occlumency lesson with Severus Snape. His godfather had been captured and was being tortured in the Department of Mysteries. Gathering his closest friends, they rode Thestrals to London and broke into the Department of Mysteries.

After being ambushed and fighting back, they were able to stall long enough for the Order to arrive. They were confident of surviving the attack when tragedy struck. His godfather had come rushing to his rescue and had taken a spell that threw him into the Veil of Death.

In a fit of anger, Harry had chased his godfather's murderer, Bellatrix Lestrange, to the Ministry lobby. There, he met Lord Voldemort himself. Just as he was about to be killed, Dumbledore showed up to protect him. Their subsequent duel showed a mastery of magic that Harry had never seen before.

As he was being pushed back, Voldemort decided to attack Harry. The attack was purely mental, as Voldemort used the soul fragment contained within Harry as a bridge to assault his mind. He endeavored to destroy Harry's soul in an attempt to possess his body and kill Dumbledore, knowing he would never retaliate against a student.

Being the stubborn young boy he was, Harry had fought him at every step. With great effort, he was able to expel Voldemort from his head. However, this action had consequences that would change Harry's life as he knew it.

After successfully fighting Voldemort off, memories that Harry didn't recall poured into his mind. He realized after a couple of minutes of disorienting flashes that they were Voldemort's memories. The revelations didn't stop there.

Unknowingly, by repelling Voldemort's attempted possession, he had absorbed the soul fragment within him. This had resulted in him gaining all of Voldemort's knowledge up until the day he attempted to murder him.

Upon freeing himself of the soul fragment, Harry had discovered something that had chilled his heart. He had been Obliviated repeatedly from a young age. The man behind the spelling? Albus Dumbledore. Yet he alone was not responsible for all of them. Ron, Hermione, Molly, and Snape all had a hand in erasing his memories.

Every single time his magic had fought back against the Dursley's abuse, Dumbledore had shown up with Pomphrey, healed everyone, erased their memories, and left. What little bouts of accidental magic he could remember doing, were the few events that Dumbledore allowed him to remember, to prepare him for his reentry into the world of magic.

He had caught Molly informing Ginny of the plan to potion him into marrying her so she would become the Lady Potter. She had caught him in a Body-Bind and Obliviated him to keep him ignorant of his station as the Heir Potter.

Ron had made several slip-ups being the jealous moron he was and had to Obliviate Harry numerous times whenever information about his family came up.

When he had found out about potions that could cure his scrawny frame and gone to Pomphrey about them, she had directed him to Snape. Snape had promptly wiped his mind of all the knowledge and then put strong compulsions on him to not proactively approach anyone for medical help.

Hermione had been the one that had hurt the most. She had been tasked by Dumbledore to make sure that Harry passed his subjects with average grades and ensure that he does not excel in any subject save for DADA. She was the counterbalance to Ron, who had no academic drive whatsoever.

Harry had shown a gift for Transfiguration, Charms, Runes, and Potions; all the fields his parents were known to be extremely talented in. He was so gifted in the subjects that he could have been called a prodigy. This had not sat well with Hermione, who felt she had studied harder than him to succeed.

She had gladly wiped his memories of academic success with a smile on her face, probably laughing at his stupidity for trusting her. It explained why the subjects had come so naturally to him when he was studying with Salazar. They had been through thick and thin together, so her betrayal had forever broken his trusting nature.

Dumbledore had seen and wiped everything that Harry had learned in the Chamber from Salazar. He used compulsions to make sure he wouldn't seek Salazar's tutelage when that was what he needed to prepare for the war.

All the knowledge of spells he had learned and rituals that he had undergone came flooding back to him. He remembered the full fight between him and Voldemort in the graveyard. Dumbledore had selectively erased the parts of the battle that showed Harry pushing Voldemort back with particularly lethal Dark curses. Although it was probably due to him being freshly revived that Harry had been able to drive him to a stalemate.

With all that knowledge forcefully being recalled all at once, Harry had fainted and woken up in the Hogwarts infirmary. He had been summoned to Dumbledore's office where he was told the prophecy in its entirety.

In summary, it was either Harry or Voldemort who had to die and they would inevitably be pushed into a confrontation. Dumbledore also revealed that he knew the abuse Harry had gone through as he mentioned dooming Harry to "ten dark years" at the Dursleys.

Harry had made his displeasure known by angrily pulsing his magic, destroying most of the delicate silver gizmos on Dumbledore's desk. After throwing his tantrum, he was packed back onto the Hogwarts Express being sent back to his prison cell in Durzkaban.

He was depressed the entire summer as he was worked to the bone and fed table scraps. Sirius' death had weighed heavily on him and had him crying himself to a fitful sleep every night. Vernon and Petunia had shown no appreciation for him saving Dudley, going so far as to blame him for everything going wrong in their lives.

It was decided that he had to "earn his keep", so Vernon had marketed him as a delinquent who needed to be disciplined through hard work to the entire neighborhood. His clients had paid him pitiful amounts of money for doing their laborious yard work, and all his hard-earned cash was taken by Vernon after he returned home.

With the Ministry finally getting their heads out of their asses, Fudge had been unceremoniously ousted from his position as Minister and Madam Amelia Bones had been a good prospect to take over. She had been attacked and killed over the summer, supposedly by Voldemort himself. The Ministry started panicking and elected the closest equivalent to Bones, Head Auror Rufus Scrimgeour.

The man turned out to be a shrewd politician, using Percy Weasley to connect with the Weasley family and access Harry through them. Harry had refused to play the man's game and had gotten a harsh reminder that despite the current situation, the Ministry held a lot of power and they could make his life difficult.

Dumbledore had "rescued" him by taking him to The Burrow after his birthday. It was a good thing that he had stocked up on antidotes before leaving the previous year. While there, he discovered that not only had they upped his doses of Amortentia, but Ginny had been instructed to make more passes at him.

When he had gone school supply shopping with the traitors, he had spotted Draco Malfoy slipping into Borgin and Burkes. Harry had postulated that he had become a marked Death Eater over the summer and made his suspicions known.

He had been summarily dismissed by everyone, saying that Malfoy couldn't possibly be up to anything harmful. Harry was doubtful of their claims and the revelations of their betrayal made him loath to argue anymore.

During the first week back, he had been certain that Malfoy was up to something, so he kept a close eye on the Marauder's Map. He was tailing Malfoy one day when he had lost him and discovered a passageway on the map he had never seen before.

Following the map, he found himself back in the Chamber, coming out of one of the numerous pipes that encircled the main structure. He rushed to the study and found Salazar resting in his portrait. He had called out to him, waking him up.

To say that Salazar was unhappy would have been an understatement. He was extremely resentful about Harry not visiting him for an entire year. Harry had explained all that had happened, and Salazar had been outraged at the way his descendant had been treated.

Together, they had come up with an accelerated study plan that would go into NEWT level topics. They had chosen to use Harry's "obsession" with Draco Malfoy's secret activities as a cover for him not being there.

It had been a good plan, as neither Ron nor Hermione were aware of what he was doing when he was "tailing Malfoy". Salazar had become a harsher instructor, demanding the best out of him as he drilled the fundamentals of advanced magic into his brain.

They didn't stick to only magic, having the occasional lessons in economics, politics, and warfare. Harry had extensively studied the last war to gain any information that could be used to his advantage in the upcoming one. Slytherin was a shrewd debater who could skillfully persuade his opponents to come around to his point of view. It was a trait that Voldemort had in spades as he built up his support base among the Purebloods.

He had given them a cause to unite against Muggleborns and Halfbloods. Combined with his magical power and infamous heritage, it wasn't hard to see why many Pureblood families were willing to pledge themselves to him despite their talk of honor and dignity. Dumbledore seemed unwilling to confront the enemy, opting for passivity and reactionary tactics, despite that giving the enemy a significant advantage. Hence, Harry had to find and unite the fighters that would be able to bring the war to the Death Eaters.

Even though he was a mere Hogwarts student, he was an influential figure that could affect the outcome of the war. With that damned prophecy in play, he would have no choice but to fight even if he didn't want to.

One day, he was studying in the Chamber when Salazar had come rushing back into his portrait.

"§Harry, your friends were just summoned to the Headmaster's office. There's a passageway behind the main tower, second one from the right that leads to a room where you can spy on the meeting. Tap your wand once on the wall. It's enchanted to be a one-way mirror and silenced, so they can't see or hear you.§"

Harry had listened to him and followed the path to a small alcove left of the Headmaster's desk. He tapped his wand as instructed, and the wall in front of him turned crystal clear, allowing him to see inside.

He saw Dumbledore call in Ron and Hermione, and they came in and delivered a status report. It mainly detailed his suspicions about Malfoy and how he was using his free time to tail him. Dumbledore's response had surprised him with even more details that he hadn't thought to check.

"Excellent work you two. However, we must be diligent and not lower our guards. There is too much riding on the plan for us to fail. Ronald, how has Harry's potion regimen been coming along?"

Ron had responded with a sneer that would have made Snape proud. "It's going great, Professor. He has no idea we've been slipping him the potions since the tournament and we've been careful with the dosages. He won't notice anything out of the ordinary.

Along with the Loyalty Potions, Wit Dulling, and Amortentia, Mum's been thinking of adding an Impotence Draught. With the current dosages, the Amortentia won't take hold until the beginning of his seventh year.

Even if by some miracle he gets with a girl, he won't be able to get it up. She says we could counter this with a Lust Potion keyed only towards Ginny. He would only be able to get it up with her, making him think she's the only one for him."

He had frozen as he listened to the intricate details of their little conspiracy against him. They had been potioning him for nearly two years while he had eaten in Hogwarts and the Burrow. He felt sick as he heard Dumbledore's response.

"Wonderful. Tell Molly she has my permission to start the dosage of Impotence Draught as soon as possible. The boy destroyed most of the blood monitors I had last year, save two before he left. Hence, I haven't been able to ascertain the status of the spells on his person.

I will call him into my office periodically to show him some critical information he will need for the Hunt. When he's here, I can check and refresh the charms I've placed on him and his belongings as necessary. Thank you both for your efforts. Remember the end goal."

Ron had a malicious smile on his face when he asked "You promise that we'll be getting half of the Potter family fortune? As far as I know, only Lord Potter would be able to access the main family vault. We haven't come this far only to be stiffed at the last second by the goblins."

'Of course, Ron is in it for money. Greedy bastard.' Harry wasn't surprised at Ron's motivations.

Up until that point, he hadn't even known that there was a "Potter family fortune". He had been to Gringotts only a single time when he first came to get school supplies for Hogwarts. He had entrusted his vault key to Mrs. Weasley so she could buy his school supplies for him.

It made sense why they didn't want him going to Gringotts. If he realized the true wealth his family had left behind, he might have become aware of his station. This was something that the traitors did not want to happen at any cost.

Dumbledore had calmly replied to his concerns by calmly reassuring him. "Do not worry Ronald. You and your family will be well provided for. I have, in my possession, the Potter Head of House ring and a signed will that leaves half to the Weasleys and the other half to the Order.

I wrote it up and disguised it as standard paperwork for Harry to sign, so his signature and the magic within is authentic. The goblins will not be able to interfere with the Last Will and Testament of the Lord Potter. It would be seen as a violation of the treaty."

Not wanting to be left out, Hermione had piped up and asked about her reward.

"Professor Dumbledore, I hope you remembered that I get the entire Potter and Black libraries along with their grimoires. It was what we agreed upon when I started, and I too want some assurances."

This had thrown Harry for a loop. When did he have a library? Moreover, how was she demanding the Black library? Last he checked it belonged to the Black family, not him. His questions were answered by Dumbledore soon after.

"Of course, Ms. Granger. I have put in the necessary bequests in Harry's will, however, unless Harry takes up the Black Lordship that Sirius left him in his will, it won't hold up legally for any property of the Blacks.

As of right now, the Order has unfettered access to the library at Grimmauld Place. Surely, we can find a way for Harry to take the lordship, and then when the plan is complete, both libraries will belong to you. Keep up the great work in your academics and I guarantee that you will become Head Girl next year."

Satisfied with his response, Ron and Hermione had left the office, presumably to go find him.

Harry's head had been spinning at all the things they had hidden from him. He was entitled to the lordship of the Potter family. He had no idea what the title entailed, but it had to be significant from the way they had been talking about it. Sirius had designated him as the next Lord Black in his will, the reading of which Harry had not received an invitation.

He had stumbled back to the Chamber, desperately hoping to talk to Salazar about what he had heard. The conversation they had shared had been peppered with colorful swears as Salazar marveled at the depths of the conspiracy against his sole descendant.

Their political lessons had not yet touched upon Lordships, so he had given Harry a brief overview. It was at that point that Harry effectively stopped feeling anything for his friends. Earlier, he would have felt anger or sadness at the lengths they went to, but now all he felt was cold indifference. Salazar had noticed and immediately complimented Harry on his breakthrough in his Occlumency practice.

Harry had been confused until Salazar had explained that he had retreated behind his barriers moments ago when he was recalling Ron and Hermione's actions over the years. Their talk took a detour as they revisited the principles of Occlumency and Legilimency.

It turned out that Harry had great potential in both, seeing as Mind Arts was a specialty of the Slytherin family. Having a soul parasite inside him was not conducive to learning the Mind Arts, but once he was free of it, he took to them like a fish to water. They dedicated some practice time in his schedule and Harry got back into his routines with a vengeance.

It turned out to be extremely helpful in the long run, as it improved Harry's ability to recall information. The downside was the foundation of Occlumency was all about sorting through one's memories. It helped with processing information and new memories as they would all be categorized and stored separately with barriers guarding them.

With Voldemort's nearly fifty-five years' worth of memories forcefully occupying space in his mind, all the memories were piled in a big heap. This made Harry's task of sorting through his memories difficult as he had to first sort out which memories were his own and partition it separately from Voldemort's.

If he wasn't careful and mixed up their memories, his sense of self would be irreparably damaged. It didn't help that he was sorting through the memories of a psychopath who inflicted an immeasurable amount of pain and death to allies and enemies alike.

It had taken him almost two months just to split the pile, but he had steadily progressed from there on, sorting out all his memories in three weeks of daily practice. Then came the tricky part. Voldemort's memories were traumatizing, to say the least, but Harry knew that being able to access his skills and knowledge could help in the war.

So, he dedicated his Occlumency practice for the rest of his sixth year going through the memories while stripping them of their emotional context. It was a technique that Salazar had taught him to prevent the inevitable trauma caused by viewing thousands of gruesome murders and crimes against humanity.

It was through this sorting that Harry had stumbled upon the information of Horcruxes. Voldemort had been obsessed with making seven of them, because of the innate magical properties and stability of the number seven in Arithmancy.

The process involved tearing out pieces of his soul and storing them inside magical objects. The concept had been stolen by Herpo the Foul from the ancient Egyptian pharaohs and their practice of creating phylacteries.

The difference is that while the pharaohs chose to put their entire soul into the object, Herpo took it one step further by designing a ritual that only cleaved part of the soul. This would help keep the physical body stable, while also grounding the user to the physical plane.

Even if their body was destroyed, a Horcrux could potentially be used to preserve their soul in the form of a wraith. It explained exactly how Voldemort had survived that night and his form when Harry had confronted him during his first year.

He had a chilling realization that he had inadvertently been made into a pseudo-Horcrux, as Voldemort's final memory indicated that he wanted to use Harry's murder to create his last Horcrux. The ritual itself demanded that the caster murder in cold blood by utilizing the Killing Curse and then use the residual soul magic of the curse to split off a piece of their soul and guide it into a vessel.

It was theoretically impossible for a human being to become a Horcrux, as another soul couldn't take up residence in a body with a complete soul. No matter how small the piece, it would fight with the host soul and either take over or be exorcised. There was no possible way for the fragment to have remained in his head for so long unless there was some other influence involved.

It had taken him the better part of two years to figure out why that had been the case. Dumbledore had tied the blood wards around 4 Privet Drive to himself and himself alone. The part of the mother's blood dwelling turned out to be complete bullshit, as he discovered that Petunia and Lily were not blood-related. The necessary power for the blood wards came from him and the rest of his magic was tied up fixing the abuse those animals inflicted upon his body.

With most of his magic preoccupied, there was only enough left to contain the soul fragment, but not actively fight it. As Harry's magic grew, Dumbledore sealed it annually to prevent it from maturing enough to expel the soul parasite.

The only reason he had been able to absorb the fragment was because of Voldemort's attempted possession. Having been inundated with his magic and buried in his mind for so long, the fragment had become quite compatible with him. It was why his soul hadn't fought back when it merged with him.

To counter their potions regimen, Salazar instructed Harry on the brewing of a Flushing Potion. It was a rarely used healing potion that stripped out all potions in a person's bloodstream. The side effect was the agonizing vomiting and the strain it put on the stomach and throat.

Harry had gone to the Room of Requirement, drank it, and spent the next 24 hours puking his guts out. Although it was painful to go through, the potion worked as intended and he had never felt more clear-headed in his life.

He had Salazar teach him spells to check for potions in his food and drinks as well as how to brew their respective antidotes. Every day, he non-verbally and wandlessly cast the spells on the meals he consumed and without fail, they came back positive.

Harry had taken to drinking the antidotes before he drank or ate anything, which allayed any doubts the traitors might have had. He decided to unleash his inner Slytherin and keep up appearances while countering their efforts to control him covertly.

In addition to all his studies, Harry made sure to Apparate to Gringotts and get updated on Sirius' will and what he had bequeathed him. Sirius had emancipated him as his magical guardian, which allowed him to officially claim his place as Lord Black. To take up the Black lordship, the goblins informed Harry he would have to undergo a blood adoption ritual. This would effectively make Sirius his father by blood and magic, allowing him to claim the lordship due to direct line inheritance.

Otherwise, the Malfoys could make the case that Draco was more closely related and therefore had primacy. With Lucius "donating" enough money, the Wizengamot might have chosen to grant them the title and seat. He would be damned if he allowed the Black family fortune along with the priceless books and artifacts to go into Voldemort's war chest.

He imbibed the potion that contained Sirius' blood and was formally adopted into the Black family. His hair became softer and gained some luster. His facial structure became more angular with his cheekbones elevating to give an aristocratic countenance. The biggest change occurred in his bones, giving him a bit more than four inches of height.

By the end of the hour, he was reborn as Lord Harrison James Potter-Black. He had found out his real name was Harrison and not Harry. One more thing nobody had bothered to tell him.

This was a huge problem as he didn't want others to know about his ascension to lordship. After the potion's effects were complete, he signed some paperwork and was presented with the Black family ring by the Black Account Manager, Fistslam.

It was a stylized B on the seal and three ravens with rubies for eyes all on a silver band. When he had slipped the ring on, a cold breeze had flown through his very being. It was for a fleeting moment that Harry felt like something was looking through his soul and seeing all his secrets. After a moment, it resized to fit his finger, and warmth emanated from it as a raven flew out of the ring and landed on his shoulder. It bowed its head and flew into him.

He started recalling knowledge he didn't know he had. All the Black family properties, family rituals, certain spells from the grimoire, and other relevant information. It was slightly disorienting, but Harry managed to keep his wits about him. After he claimed the lordship, he was recognized as an adult in the eyes of the Ministry, and Magic itself.

At this time, he felt something odd within him. It made him feel weak and tired. He had fallen to his knees and Fistslam had gotten worried. He was taken to the medical ward where a goblin Healer had come in and conducted some tests. They found that a large part of his magic had been blocked from a very young age.

The first was a temporary block that was placed by one of his parents. Alongside the first one, starting from age 11, his magic had been suppressed annually. The magical signature behind the blocks was traced back to Albus Dumbledore.

The goblins immediately took him to a ritual room where they were able to remove the temporary block his parents had put on him. He automatically felt better, and they made appointments to get rid of the other blocks over time so his magic wouldn't overwhelm him.

Along with taking up the Black Lordship, he insisted on also taking an inheritance test. Fistslam gave him one and was shocked by the result. Other than Potter and Black, Harry was also the Heir to the Slytherin and Peverell families.

The Peverell family was self-explanatory, as the last daughter of the family married into the Potter family, but the Slytherin family was unexpected. He had been guided to Branch Manager Ragnok, who heard about his inheritances and explained the background of both families.

The Slytherin Lord's ring was not at Gringotts and the goblins felt it would be at Hogwarts. Harry had a good idea where it was, and told them. The goblins had been surprised that he had fought and slain a 1000-year-old basilisk and survived being bit when he was just 12.

Harry negotiated with the goblins to buy the basilisk corpse and make him armor from its hide and some components for himself. After a long and hard negotiation, they came to an accord and Harry left feeling satisfied with the deal.

For a small fee of 300 Galleons, Harry was able to get his glasses enchanted with a Goblin blood glamour that would mask his new appearance. When he had given them for enchanting, the goblins had found multiple charms on them that negatively affected Harry.

A Befuddling Charm that caused brief bouts of confusion and disorientation in visual acuity. A Repair-Resistance Charm that prevented the frame from being repaired fully. The list kept going on and on. It explained so many things that he had experienced during his time at Hogwarts.

He would often suffer brief bouts of dyslexia during a test or while completing an assignment. Potions ingredients would be blurry and the consistency of his preparation would be off because he couldn't see his mistakes.

It also didn't help that Ron and Hermione, the people who were spying on him were the only ones he could talk to about his problems. They no doubt reported back to Dumbledore on the success of the charms while telling him that everything was normal.

His lack of friends had left him vulnerable. That was probably the reason why no one else approached him. His "friends" had made sure to keep him isolated among their how far-reaching the conspiracy against him was, he would not be surprised if they had done so on Dumbledore's explicit orders.

Needless to say, Harry had been pissed. This feeling was shared by the goblins, who saw this as an attack against one of their richest clients. Harry explained the conspiracy against him and secured their help in subverting it.

They knew that the ruse of ignorance was necessary to survive the insidious plan others had for him. They were a warrior race that preferred open combat due to reasons of honor, but that didn't mean those same principles were upheld for non-goblins.

They were able to allow Harry the ability to turn the charms on and off at his leisure. When he visited Dumbledore, the old man would check and see them still working. Outside of his office, Harry could deactivate the charms with no one the wiser. Also, he had the glasses enchanted to be Anti-Summoning and Obliviation-proof. He would never be caught off guard and have his memories erased ever again.

He Apparated back to the chamber and learned how to create a portkey from Salazar before sending one to Fistslam the next day. Within a couple of hours, a whole team of Goblin Beast Hunters portkeyed into the chamber. They were greeted by the sight of a humongous dead basilisk decorating the center of the chamber. Taking a few moments to marvel at the size of the beast, they got to work.

After 4 hours of effort, the entire corpse had been rendered down to all of its different parts. The previously shed skin was also collected and properly cut. Not a single scrap was wasted, which left Harry was extremely appreciative of their efficiency.

He commissioned several sets of leather armor in different sizes, as he knew he would have to outfit a small resistance group, mainly the members of the Order along with Neville and Luna, possibly his only actual friends at Hogwarts. Along with the armor, he kept a tenth of the poison, along with the tooth that had been stabbed into his shoulder out of sentimental value.

After they were finished, he had asked Salazar about the Slytherin Lord Ring. Salazar's portrait had swiveled outwards on a hidden hinge, presenting a small space behind. Inside, were a few tomes along with Salazar's wand and the most important, a silver ring that had a basilisk motif with emeralds for eyes.

Slipping the ring on, he felt the same feeling as he did when he had been tested by the Black Lord ring. Within seconds, the ring had resized to fit his finger, and he had officially become the Lord Slytherin. Salazar mentioned that his wealth had all been stored at his cottage. Harry decided to leave it alone unless necessary, seeing as he had plenty of gold to spare.

True to the plan, Dumbledore called him up to give him special information about Voldemort. He pretended like he was preparing Harry for the war by constantly emphasizing how crucial it was for Harry to learn and understand Voldemort's past.

He even went as far as to give him a "mission" to coax some information out of Horace Slughorn, the new Potions Professor they had convinced to come out of retirement over the summer. Said information was "critical in the fight against Voldemort".

With the context of the memories he had experienced, Harry knew exactly what Dumbledore was after. He didn't know how many Horcruxes Voldemort had made. He had correctly guessed that Harry counted as one, along with some other special items the memories hinted at. Harry knew them all, as he had viewed them through Voldemort's memories.

Later that week, he had been called once more into Dumbledore's office for their lessons on Voldemort. It had been an entirely pointless exercise where they viewed memory after memory in a Pensieve. Harry had been bored out of his mind and wanted to learn some magic, but Dumbledore had told him that the focus of their lessons would be learning about Voldemort's past. Harry had been on his guard every moment he spent in the presence of Dumbledore and never slipped up even once.

He had been tasked with acquiring a specific memory from Slughorn. He had accomplished this task rather easily as he worked his charm by excelling in Potions using modified recipes he had found in an old potions textbook. With a sip of Felix Felicis, aka liquid luck, he had completed his task and retrieved the memory from Slughorn.

It had been a big revelation for Dumbledore as he finally got the information he had been after. Along with Harry's visions, they deduced that Voldemort's familiar Nagini was a Horcrux as well. Harry, on the other hand, was bored and disappointed by the pointlessness of it all.

He already knew the locations of the Horcruxes Voldemort himself hid. He had taken the initiative to destroy Ravenclaw's Diadem after learning it had been hidden in the Room of Requirements. A quick splash of basilisk venom and the soul fragment had been destroyed without a fuss.

Throughout the course of their meetings, Harry noticed the blackening of Dumbledore's hand and how the man seemed to get progressively weaker as the days passed. With the memories of the various protections in his head, he had ascertained that Dumbledore had gone after the Gaunt ring and fallen prey to the Withering Curse that was placed on it. With how much power Voldemort had put into the curse, Dumbledore's days were numbered.

It was probably why he had started entrusting Harry with more responsibilities and getting him prepped to go on a scavenger hunt for the Horcruxes. He stressed that he couldn't do it alone, indicating he take his traitorous friends with him. No doubt to ensure that his master plan was carried out to the letter, even after his passing.

In a bid to secure Slytherin's locket, Dumbledore had taken him along to the cliffside cave next to Wool's Orphanage, Voldemort's residence for the first 17 years of his life. They had passed through the protections to get to the stone basin that protected the Horcrux.

Inside was a truly vicious potion called Dementor's Draught. It was an insidious poison that mimicked the effects of the Dementors. When drunk, it would cause the drinker to suffer agonizing pain while showing them their worst nightmares.

Dumbledore convinced him to go along with his plan and force the potion down his throat. Harry tried to act hesitant while cheering on the inside. He had gained a bit of a sadistic streak after assimilating Voldemort's memories. It also helped that the old man had ruined his life and was willing to suffer the pain.

Going ahead with the plan, he dutifully forced Dumbledore to imbibe the poison and retrieved the locket from the basin. He immediately knew something was wrong when he didn't feel the same evil magic he felt when he was touching the diadem.

To relieve the man of his suffering, he filled a cup with water from the lake, which triggered the Inferi underneath to start attacking them. A quick spell that created a tornado of fire around their position swiftly dispatched all of them.

Getting out of the cave, they Disapparated to Hogsmeade, where they saw the Dark Mark floating in the sky above the Astronomy Tower. Borrowing brooms from Rosmerta, they flew to the Astronomy tower and what happened next had profound consequences for the Light side.

Harry did not expect the Body-Bind Curse and Stickfast Hex that hit him in the back. Dumbledore apologized and draped Harry's invisibility cloak over him. Harry watched as Draco Malfoy burst in and disarmed Dumbledore.

In what Harry could only construe as an act of senile dementia, Dumbledore tried to convince the ferret, who openly admitted being a Death Eater, to join the Light so he could "be saved". Hearing the soft voice of Dumbledore trying to push his "everyone can be redeemed" Hippogriff shit made Harry almost break the Body Bind just so he could gag.

The Dark Mark wasn't some fancy tattoo that Voldemort handed out. It was a brand that was gained through a ritual that involved the rape, torture, and murder of an innocent. You could not be coerced into taking the Dark Mark as the final part of the ritual involved a pledge of loyalty, where the individual had to be willing.

In the early days, the Death Eaters would kidnap Muggleborns to conduct the initiation, but Draco had probably used a Muggle. The fact that he had that mark and blatantly rubbed it in Dumbledore's face proved that the ferret was no longer an innocent in the fight, and had chosen his side.

Malfoy started the traditional evil villain monologue where he explained how he had snuck the Death Eaters into the castle by fixing the Vanishing Cabinet in the Room of Requirement. He had also tried multiple times to assassinate Dumbledore but seemingly couldn't get to him.

As he was bragging about getting one over the "great Albus Dumbledore", he was soon joined by multiple senior Death Eaters who encouraged Draco to finish the job. It turned out that Malfoy was still as pathetic as ever, as he was unable to kill an unarmed, defenseless old man.

Harry had felt a small amount of pity towards how incompetent Draco was. For all his masterful planning and execution, he just didn't have the guts to "pull the trigger", as the Muggles would say. As he was struggling, the greasy dungeon bat himself had come to the front of the group. Dumbledore had turned towards him and pleaded, to which Snape replied with a Killing Curse to the face.

Dumbledore's body flew back and fell over the railing of the tower. Harry heard the low whistling as his body feels through the air and landed with a muted thump down below. After a few seconds, the spells on Harry were weakened enough for him to dispel, so he sprung into action.

The Death Eaters were retreating and causing chaos to cover their escape, attacking anyone unfortunate enough to be in their way. Harry had run after them using his cloak to maneuver into the best position to attack them. They had hit a straight corridor that led to the exit near the greenhouses when Harry struck.

He conjured metal javelins and sent them hurtling towards the retreating Death Eaters. Rowle and Gibbon hadn't been paying attention and paid the price with their lives as the spikes pierced through their bodies. Carrow had been critically wounded along with Malfoy taking a spike to the leg, as he fell in pain. He raised his wand to shield, but Harry had been quicker and disarmed him.

Snape had turned around and sent multiple Dark Curses towards Harry's general direction. Harry had swerved out of the way and retaliated with even more lethal Dark Curses, one of which was Sectumsempra, a Dark Cutting Curse he found in the potions book.

Severus had recognized the curse and deflected it, announcing his title as the Half-Blood Prince, the creator of the curse. With a quick Exploding Charm, he had used the debris and smoke as cover to rush Draco out of the wards and Disapparated.

Harry had been disappointed that he had managed to kill neither Snape nor Malfoy. At least that way he could have avenged the murderer of Dumbledore. He had disliked the man a lot, as Albus Dumbledore had knowingly dropped him into an abusive home and manipulated his life, but the people would want him avenged.

Had he not met Salazar, Harry had no doubt he would've regarded the man's words as gospel and willingly chosen to sacrifice his life for the "Greater Good", to end Voldemort once and for all. Now, he did not doubt that everyone would turn to him to lead them in the fight. The Ministry was still as corrupt and incompetent as ever, so the people would logically choose him as their figurehead with Dumbledore gone.

He found Dumbledore's corpse and cleaned it up a bit, to give him some dignity. Even if he hated the man's guts, it would be bad optics to be seen desecrating his corpse. To everyone in Hogwarts, with how frequently they met, they all assumed that Harry was his apprentice.

That couldn't have been further from the truth, but he wasn't about to correct their mistake. Even when dead, Dumbledore held influence as he had spent nearly half of his life networking and worming his way into the hearts of the British Wizarding public. Harry could potentially use some of that influence to his advantage in preparation for the upcoming conflict with Voldemort.

He removed the locket Horcrux that they had retrieved only to find out that it was a fake, switched out by someone with the initials R.A.B. Harry got flashes but didn't know what to make of them. They showed a handsome young man and a house-elf at the cave they had gone to.

Someone had stolen the locket, which meant that should old Voldy check, he'd realize that it was missing and attempt to recollect the others. This meant that Harry had a limited amount of time to hunt down the real locket Horcrux and the remaining two.

He pretended to be heartbroken and left the gathering crowd near Dumbledore's body. Retreating to the chamber, he grabbed a black hooded cloak and Apparated to Diagon Alley. With Dumbledore's death, the following instability would cause mass panic. He decided to get in early while people hadn't heard of his murder to get the equipment he would need for a long term scavenger hunt in the woods.

A fully loaded Wizarding tent equipped with the latest security enchantments. He also bought a trunk to keep his spare potions, library, and money. It was locked with a Blood Seal that ensured only he and those with his express permission could open the trunk.

He carried the trunk on a necklace charmed to be invisible and only removable by him. He started learning more wards that could help secure his base of operations. Anti-Apparition, Signature-based Portkey, Repelling, Confundus, and any that dealt with intent were the ones he studied extensively.

He Apparated back to the Chamber and started reading up on Healing spells, glamour charms, and anything that could potentially save his life and allow some anonymity. The Death Eaters would be playing for keeps, and their spell selection would reflect that, so Harry also started drilling in counter-curses, to cover a large range of Dark spells.

He had gone and retrieved Dumbledore's wand from the Astronomy Tower, only to have it shoot golden sparks from the tip as he picked it up. He felt a connection to the wand. One much deeper than he felt to his holly and phoenix feather wand. His magic sang to him in a way he hadn't experienced before as he held the wand.

While in euphoria he found himself entranced by the knowledge being poured into his mind. Ancient and powerful spells that he hadn't even seen in Salazar's library. Most of them were Dark spells, but the later ones were mainly Charms, Transfiguration, and Alchemy based spells.

The Elder Wand.

He didn't know how the name came to him, but it had just materialized in his thoughts. He wasn't sure what it meant, but decided to go to the one person he knew would be the most knowledgeable, Ollivander. Despite being a bit... eccentric, when it came to wandlore, Garrick Ollivander knew what he was talking about.

Consulting with Ollivander had been ominous, and enlightening at the same time.

"Mr. Potter. The legends say that the Elder Wand, one of the Deathly Hallows, is the most powerful in the world. Most wandmakers, however, believe its a load of tosh. A wand is simply a focus, Mr. Potter. It cannot grant its master invincibility, but I've always had a theory regarding how it achieved such legendary status.

I believe that this wand purposely corrupts the wielder, and steals their knowledge. It would explain how those who used it could perform feats of magic thought long lost to time. It has gone through many masters, accumulating spells and knowledge along the way, compelling others to seek it out.

Many thought it was the wand that gave its master power, but my theory seems correct going with what you claimed to experience. As a Potter, you are a descendant of the third Peverell brother, Ignotus. The last descendant of the Peverell family. Hence, the family wand has acknowledged you as its true master by blood and magic.

I am sure that even if you are disarmed, it will never betray you and change loyalties. The bond I see forming between you and the Elder Wand is a powerful one, Mr. Potter. If I'm correct, should you die, the wand will die with you, making it no better than a fancy wooden stick.

Regarding the other Hallows, your father James would often prank others with an invisibility cloak he claimed to be a Potter family heirloom. Didn't you ever wonder how a simple invisibility cloak could last generations?"

While there, he had decided to get a custom wand made for him, as being disarmed in a battle was a possibility. Having a spare wand that fit him perfectly would give him a trump card he could use to surprise and overwhelm his opponents.

Ollivander had been ecstatic to create a custom wand, as he hadn't made one in years. Harry presented him with the basilisk tooth, a couple of heartstrings, and 3 vials of venom. Getting over his initial surprise at the rarity of the ingredients, he took Harry to the back to check for other possible core ingredients.

It turned out that Harry was compatible with the heartstring of the Hungarian Horntail he had fought during the first task of the Triwizard Tournament. He also provided some of his blood to stabilize the ingredients, as Ollivander stated that they were powerful and finicky.

With his materials chosen and Ollivander excited to experiment, he left the store with the promise of receiving the wand after Dumbledore's funeral. Apparating back to the Chamber, he continued his preparation to fight the Death Eaters while he waited for the day of the funeral to arrive.

He had written a small but "heartfelt" eulogy that spoke of his admiration of Dumbledore and how he looked up to the man like he would a grandfather. He managed to swallow his contempt for the man and deliver it properly when the day arrived. He had choked a couple of times as he cursed himself for writing such emotional crap that he couldn't even say it without choking on the smell of bullshit.

The audience, however, had lapped it all up. Here was the saintly Boy-Who-Lived, the Golden Gryffindor, getting emotional over his mentor/surrogate grandfather's death. He had used a spell provided by the Elder Wand to transfigure a random stick into a replica of the Elder Wand and placed it inside Dumbledore's grave. It would look and feel authentic, but it would just be a stick.

There was no way Voldemort would miss an opportunity to become the master of the Elder Wand. He wished he could be there to see Voldemort's face when he realized it wouldn't work for him. Hopefully, he would kill a couple of followers trying to become the new master. As far as Harry was concerned, the only good Death Eater was a dead one.

Nobody was able to see through the facade of sadness that Harry had on, save for one person. Luna Lovegood. The lovable scamp had approached Harry and mentioned that the Blibbering Humdingers told her he felt the exact opposite of what he said. Merlin, how he loved her quirkiness. She had always had the uncanny gift of knowing things she shouldn't, and boy it had thrown Harry for a loop on multiple occasions.

Ollivander had arrived and handed over Harry's new wand after the funeral.

"This is your new partner, Mr. Potter. 13 and 1/7 inches. A completely liquid core made of basilisk and dragon heartstrings melted down in basilisk venom stabilized using your blood, encased in thousand-year-old basilisk ivory. Unyielding and powerful, excellent for Transfiguration, Charms, and the Dark Arts. I daresay this is one of the most potent wands I have ever crafted.

I took the liberty to etch some secret Ollivander family runic Glyphs inside the casing that aids and amplifies the flow of magic. It is the only wand not wielded by a member of my family that will have these Glyphs, and I would appreciate it if you kept them a secret."

Harry gave him an Oath of Secrecy to not speak about the runic Glyphs in his wand and went to board the Hogwarts Express for the last time.

The following summer had been better than every previous one. He had warned the Dursleys about Voldemort, and like the cowards they were, they ran as far away as possible. He was left alone in the house for a week before the Order decided to move him to Grimmauld Place.

When he was looking for his room, he coincidentally found out who R.A.B. was. Regulus Arcturus Black. Sirius' younger brother. In his capacity as Lord Black, he had demanded Kreacher to tell him the location of the locket, only to find out that Mundungus Fletcher had stolen it after Sirius' demise at the Department of Mysteries.

While there, he spent most of his time in the library studying the various tomes or practicing his spells and wardbreaking in the dueling room. While in the library, he met the portrait of Arcturus Black III, his maternal granduncle. He was informed by Arcturus about the Potter family's history, particularly the exploits of his grandfather Charlus Potter.

Arcturus told him about the Peverell vault and how it contained the family grimoire, said to hold some of the most potent enhancement rituals written by Morgana Le Fay herself. He spent almost two and a half months talking and planning with Arcturus about the war and the Horcrux Hunt. He turned out to be a wellspring of information about small-unit tactics and useful battle magics and spell chains.

As he was leaving Grimmauld Place to attend a wedding at The Burrow, Arcturus gave him some last-minute advice. Those words became the ideal he would live by for the next five years of his life.

"When you fight in this war, keep in mind the famous words of the Muggle American General George Patton. 'May God have mercy for my enemies because I won't.' Your enemies are animals who have no qualms against torturing and murdering the innocent, Harrison. Treat them accordingly, and show no quarter." Nodding stoically, Harry had left Grimmauld Place, unknowingly for the last time.

He had gone to the Burrow and met with the traitors, who were all trying their best to play their respective roles. Ginny made several passes at him, Hermione nagged and hugged him more often, and Ron was quiet and understanding for once. If he hadn't witnessed their treachery firsthand, he would have thought they were the best friends in the world.

While he was there, he had met with Fleur Delacour, the Beauxbatons Triwizard Champion. The quarter Veela had moved to England and taken up a job at Gringotts to become a Cursebreaker. She had met Bill Weasely on the job and they started dating. A few months later, they were getting married.

He had noticed how odd she had been acting and had taken drastic measures. Walking into her room, he had cast Silencing Charm on the door and a Body-Bind on her. He forced a Flushing Potion down her throat, and the effects were immediate. Rushing to the bathroom, she had puked up the various potions she was dosed with for the next couple of hours and came back a different person.

While she was indisposed, Rufus Scrimgeour had come calling to distribute the items listed in Dumbledore's will. Harry received the Snitch he had caught in his first game at Hogwarts. He knew the Gaunt Ring was within it and took less than 10 minutes to get it open. The password had been rather pedestrian. He had felt a little insulted at how easily the riddle was solved.

He had recognized the stone set into the ring as the final Deathly Hallow, the Resurrection Stone. To test whether the legend had any validity, he turned the stone over three times in his hand and waited. He had been greeted by an illusion where he saw his parents and Sirius encouraging him to walk to his death. He almost blew a gasket and leveled The Burrow, but managed to restrain his anger behind his Occlumency barriers.

The wedding was starting in a few hours and Fleur managed to recover from the effects of the Flushing Potion. She sent out a letter to stop her parents from coming. They planned to run away while the wedding was starting and she would go back to France.

That hadn't worked out well, as Kingsley had sent a Patronus informing them that the Ministry had fallen while Fleur was packing her things. This left Fleur unable to leave the country as it had been locked down and all forms of international travel had been restricted. They escaped to Gringotts when the Death Eaters attacked the wedding tent, and Harry went to retrieve the Peverell grimoire.

He went through 3 trials and passed each one with significant effort. After this, he met Morgana Le Fay herself. She informed him of her connection to the Peverell family and officially declared him as the new Lord Peverell, thereby also making him Prince Le Fay.

Ragnok had been overjoyed at the return of the Le Fay family and extended the helping hand of the Goblin Nation against Voldemort. Harry took him up on his offer and got to train under a Goblin Weapon Master, Forger, and Cursebreaker. The reasoning being that he would need to fight, be able to maintain or fix his weapons, and also break into secure locations.

Instead of using the goblins to get her out of the country, Fleur decided to stay and fight. She had multiple reasons for choosing to help Harry. He had saved her sister's life during the Triwizard Tournament. He had also protected her purity by freeing her from the influence of multiple potions. That was something that Veela held sacred, and Fleur chose to honor her debts by fighting alongside him.

After months of training and gradually breaking all the blocks Harry had on his magic, he had never felt better. Morgana had trained him in Ancient Runes, and he had gotten the goblin's help in acquiring the ingredients for the various enhancement rituals he completed. The goblins had also managed to locate and destroy one of the Horcruxes, Hufflepuff's Cup, during an audit of known Death Eater vaults.

In the meantime, the goblins had been informed of the Horcruxes and had set out to find any news on Mundungus Fletcher and the locket. After a month of searching, they found out about Dung's arrest by the Aurors. So Fleur and Harry's first mission was to infiltrate the Ministry and secure the locket. Despite a few hiccups, they managed to complete the mission and return in one piece.

After a successful mission at the Ministry to retrieve the Slytherin's locket, Harry and Fleur left Gringotts to go hunt for the remaining Horcruxes. During the day, they would review Harry's notes and practice to keep their skills sharp. During the nights, Harry would train with Morgana in controlling his newfound power and learning about Ancient Runes that he could use to enchant objects that can help him in a fight.

While camping out in the woods, they made sure to keep up to date on what was happening at the Ministry and the British magical public at large. It had come as no surprise that the Daily Prophet had keeled over and become the mouthpiece of Voldemort's new regime. Who said anything about magical journalists being having any more integrity than Muggle ones?

On one issue, Harry found a picture of himself most of the front page with the large words "Undesirable No. 1" printed in big, bold letters above. A note at the bottom claimed a 10,000G bounty for his head. Honestly, he felt a little insulted. With his Lordships, 10,000G was a drop in the ocean. Surely Voldemort himself thought he was worth more than that?

Then again, he wasn't surprised seeing as the new Minister for Magic, Lucius Malfoy, was always known to be a cheapskate of the highest order. When he wasn't spending hours preening, he was complicit in the genocide of British Muggleborns.

It took a couple of months, but with the help of the goblins, Fleur and Harry were able to break into the camps and free the Muggleborns who were imprisoned there. A few of them joined up to fight against the Death Eaters, but many others chose to flee England.

It was disappointing to see, but Harry hadn't stopped them. For those that stayed, Harry approached the only other British magical resistance group in existence, the Order of the Phoenix, for an alliance.

Along with the original Order members, some of whom were Aurors, they were able to quickly develop the combat skills of their friends to become capable fighters. Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody had been one of the most effective instructors Harry had ever had the pleasure of learning from. The man had ingrained a sense of constant situational awareness and paranoia into him that had saved his life on numerous occasions.

The war against the Death Eaters had been a ruthless one. It took a little while for the Order to finally get over the no killing limitation that Dumbledore had brainwashed them into adopting. It was only after the horrible demise of Dedalus Diggle that they collectively decided that enough was enough.

While the Death Eaters had been initially surprised by the Order's new rules of engagement and willingness to kill, it didn't last very long. They had been killing others for a long time, so with their enemies finally starting to fight back, it only made them fight harder. The momentum was on their side, and morale was high. The Order seemed to be in a desperate position.

Despite their best efforts, within two years, the Order had been whittled down to only 3 members. Remus had chosen to take Fenrir Greyback with him in a final act of desperation and revenge, and that had affected Harry badly. With Remus gone, he had lost the final connection he had to his parents.

Hogwarts, the school that had been his home away from the Dursleys, had turned into a battleground on more than one occasion. The Death Eaters had tried to keep the school running and used the children as leverage to keep the professors and the noble families in line. They replaced DADA with a Dark Arts class where Slytherin students would demonstrate their learning on their classmates. Propaganda against those of impure blood was forced down the student's throats daily.

The Hogwarts wards were ancient magic, but Harry was able to infiltrate the castle through the lesser-known passageways that the Marauder's Map showed him. It helped that the castle's magic did not recognize the new headmaster, Severus Snape. The ensuing battle to wrest back control of Hogwarts left 2 professors and 3 students killed, along with several others injured. Ultimately, the Death Eaters were rebuffed and kicked out, but the price had been too high.

After the battle, word had gotten out to the general public, and parents had arrived in droves to withdraw their children from the school and escape the country. Some of the older Muggleborn and more independent Pureblood students decided to join up with Harry's group and fight against Voldemort.

Two days later, the castle had been stormed by Death Eater forces led by Voldemort himself. They took back control of the castle, but Harry and his allies made sure to leave nothing for them when they returned. The library had been transferred to a secret location, the professors had all packed up and left, the Headmaster's office had been cleaned out, and even the Room of Requirement hadn't been spared. Unfortunately, Harry hadn't been able to find the Potter Lord ring that Dumbledore had hidden, so he had given up on it.

To say that Voldemort had been angry at the loss was an understatement. He and his men went on the warpath, slaughtering everyone who was even suspected of working for the resistance. With all the children gone, he could no longer coerce the Lords to work with him. Several had already escaped England, so his plans to use their resources had been ruined.

Nevertheless, he had forged on and steadily worked to unite the entire Ministry and the public with him. Instead of relying on the Lords to contribute their wealth, he targeted the source, Gringotts.

Goblins were inherently greedy creatures, and betrayal tended to quite common among those of the Nation. Save for blood relationships and those where personal and clan honor was concerned, most goblins were quite pragmatic when it came to their loyalties.

Voldemort spent a long time searching for the right goblin and found Griphook, a lowly Vault Runner who had been passed over for promotion multiple times. With a little bit of persuasion mixed with the typical charisma and promises of power, Voldemort was able to convince Griphook to rebel and overthrow the Goblin King and the High Council.

It had taken nearly a year of preparation, but when they struck, nobody had been ready for the fallout. Ragnok had perished, managing to protect the first 10 Vaults by collapsing the passageway and closing the entrance with clan specific blood wards. The High Council members were killed outright and the Nation had descended into chaos at having the entirety of their leadership killed.

With the help of Voldemort's forces, Griphook was able to secure his position as the new Goblin King. Of course, in return, the Death Eaters were able to access the nearly 592 inactive vaults and raid them for their gold and family heirlooms and artifacts.

Once he had finished benefiting from the alliance, Voldemort betrayed Griphook and unleashed a plague upon the Nation. Gringotts was forced to close it's doors permanently as they isolated themselves and struggled to survive.

The Resistance never heard from the goblins ever again. It had hurt them badly because of how critical the goblin's infrastructure was for the war effort. However, they couldn't spend time worrying about it, because Voldemort gave them many other things to worry about. His conquest of Britain continued, fueled by the nearly unlimited amount of gold he had secured through his alliance with Gringotts.

The entire world had gone to hell in a hand-basket after that. Within four years of his resurrection, Voldemort had established total rule over Magical Britain.

That had been his goal for the longest time, and succeeding should have stopped the endless suffering and death. Things were usually never that simple.

'Of course, taking over the entire British Magical community wasn't enough. The Dark Wanker couldn't leave well enough alone.'

In a bid to expand his empire, he attacked the most prominent Muggle target in all of Britain, the Palace of Westminster. The meeting place of the British Parliament. The lunatic had waltzed in, exposed the magical world, and declared himself the new King of England.

Naturally, the members of Parliament had not taken his words seriously and called security. He then proceeded to magically slaughter every person in the chamber in front of rolling news cameras broadcasting the massacre nationwide.

After his publicity stunt, the entire Muggle world lost their collective minds. Many were fearful of the existence of entire communities of people that manipulated reality at their whim. Governments all around the world had trouble calming down their citizens as they desperately tried to communicate with their magical counterparts.

The Order had been located by MI6, who sent agents to deliver a summons from the Queen. Harry had gone and informed her of the war they had been fighting against Voldemort for the last four years.

The Queen had offered him the support of the British government and all of its resources to stop Voldemort for good. His group of guerrilla fighters had coordinated with the SAS to train in asymmetrical warfare and tactics. They had gone from a ragtag militia to an effective magical fighting force.

Sadly, the Muggles were limited to providing logistical and operational support. They had seen the devastation of Voldemort's attack on Parliament and had attempted to come up with methods to fight back against magicals. Ultimately, nothing was able to come out of their research for one main reason. They were fighting against people who wielded a force that made the impossible possible.

This was one of the main lessons that Morgana had drilled into Harry's mind. Modern wizards were raised learning the rules of magic. This was an inherently flawed system, as any person who truly understood the fundamental nature of magic knew that all it took was imagination and the power to exert your will upon the world. When it came to true magic, there were no rules.

All the Muggleborn who had thought that the bigoted Purebloods would not be able to survive bullets or bombs were given a rude awakening. Runes that absorbed kinetic energy made bullets completely useless and the Death Eater's manors and other strongholds easily withstood the various bombs the Muggle government threw at them. The structures were typically on or near Ley lines that soaked the building in magical energy, strengthening the composition of the materials and making them damn near impervious to non-magical forces.

Another reason behind their nigh invulnerability was the power of the wards that had been active for centuries. Many tended to forget that while the bigotry against blood status was a harmful ideology, Purebloods did have something to be proud of.

Their status and knowledge stemmed from the blood, sweat, and tears of their ancestors. Centuries of discoveries and restless exploration into the seemingly endless possibilities of magic gave them a leg up from those who came into their community for the first time.

Pureblood wizards had paid close attention to the progression of Muggle society and had worked tirelessly to counter them. The "Bullet-Stopping" Enchantment had been invented by Purebloods during the American Revolution and was improved from then on. It was the reason why no Pureblood wizards were harmed by Muggle weapons in any of the wars that occurred afterward.

Runic shields against explosives, biological agents, radiation, and many other Muggle weapons of war were developed by and shared amongst the Pureblood families to help keep each other alive. It was much akin to an elite club that gave their members access to special benefits that weren't shared with the general public.

Hence, when an entire SAS squadron had attempted to storm Malfoy Manor, they found themselves horrifyingly outmatched. Not a single soldier survived the encounter, making it the worst failure in SAS history. Since then, the Muggles realized that only magicals stood somewhat of a chance against the enemy, so they focused on training them as best they could.

With the help of the SAS and MI6, the Resistance managed to successfully push the Death Eaters back. After 3 years of fighting, they were on the verge of winning when Voldemort did the unthinkable. The madman had summoned demons in a last-ditch attempt to fight back. This had marked the beginning of the end for the rest of the world, even though they hadn't known it at the time.

Fleur had been killed when they went after Voldemort's last Horcrux, Nagini. He had somehow found out about their search and destroy mission and kept Nagini by his side at all times. When his forces started losing, he secreted her away into what could only be described as a fortress. They had infiltrated with a squad of 7 magicals and met significant resistance inside the building.

Harry had been reluctant to go inside. He had thought that bombarding it from the outside would have been a better option. Sadly, they needed visual confirmation of Nagini's death. If they simply destroyed the fortress from the outside, the chance of Nagini escaping in the chaos increased, and they couldn't let that happen. Destroying the Horcrux was more important than anything, as it would finally make Voldemort completely mortal once again.

After half an hour of cutting through Death Eaters and dismantling numerous wards and traps, they had managed to capture and kill the snake, only to be met with an ambush as they retreated. Voldemort had felt when they destroyed his final Horcrux and had arrived with an overwhelming number of Death Eaters.

Their team had been killed off one by one until he and Fleur were the only ones left. In an act of loving sacrifice, Fleur had banished him out of the fortress and brought the entire place down by casting Fiendfyre. HIs heard ached whenever he thought of her.

They had grown close after years of fighting together. She had started as an older sister figure, and somewhere along the way, she had become so much more than that. Harry had wanted to marry her when the war was over. He had gone so far as to secure a stunning diamond ring he had found in an abandoned jewelry store for when the time came.

Being her partner and lover had been one of the greatest experiences of his life. He remembered when they first started dating, how he became a love-struck fool whenever she was next to him. He had loved everything about her. Her smile, her laugh, the way she would hold him when things got tough. She had become irreplaceable. When she died, a part of him died with her.

Tonks, one of the only surviving members of the Order had filled in the gap she had left in his heart. Their love had been a whirlwind romance. Mere months after losing Fleur, Harry had started recovering for the first time. He was becoming happy and started regaining hope, only to lose it all once again.

Tonks had been one of the best spies that MI6 had ever trained. Her natural talent as a Metamorphmagus had allowed her to get into Death Eater meetings undetected and glean critical information. The resistance had gotten wind that Voldemort had been planning something big, so Tonks was sent in to get intelligence about it.

The mission had been going well and Tonks had managed to learn what it was they were planning. She was about to leave when all the Death Eaters were asked to drink a potion. She had drunk multiple antidotes before attending the meeting, so she had complied to not draw suspicion. The potion turned out to not be a poison. It did, however, affect her Metamorphmagus powers.

She had shifted back to normal in a room full of Death Eaters and instantly knew that she was going to die. In a final act of bravery and duty, she bought herself enough time to send a Patronus with all the relevant information on Voldemort's plan back to resistance headquarters.

Members of the resistance had found her body in the center of the main square in Diagon Alley the next morning. The higher-ups had received her final Patronus and knew that she wouldn't make it. They didn't tell Harry immediately, so he wouldn't recklessly go running off on a rescue mission.

Seeing her dead body showing signs of brutal torture and sexual assault had broken something within Harry. This was the second woman he had loved whose life had been extinguished by the Death Eaters. After her death, he had fully embraced the darkness within him.

The memories of the torturous years he suffered under the yoke of the Dursleys, the betrayal of his friends and Dumbledore, and the death of Fleur came flooding back to him. That night, he had gone to train with Morgana and begged her to teach him everything she knew.

She was the greatest Dark Lady to ever live. Her knowledge of the Dark Arts was considered unparalleled in history. Gazing upon his lover's desecrated corpse had stripped him of any hesitation and sense of morality when it came to the war. He would learn everything she could teach him and bring death and destruction to his enemies on a scale they never thought possible. He would make them suffer for all the pain they had caused.

Morgana had agreed and formally started their training in a Black Art, magic so Dark and ancient that most of the knowledge had been lost to time or purposely erased from history. Morgana had chosen the Peverell family specialty of Necromancy to be their main course of study. He found himself going deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole, but he also realized he never truly lost himself.

Despite the Dark magic he practiced, not once did his soul gain the typical stain that came with casting the spells. Morgana noticed it too and had taken it as a sign that Harry was meant to walk down this path. It was the only plausible explanation as to how the Dark Arts never affected him.

The higher-ups in Resistance Command had put together Tonks' final report into a briefing and invited nearly every active fighter in the resistance. Voldemort was going to summon demons to help bolster his army. The Death Eaters were losing too many fighters, and this was seen as the last resort.

Like most Dark Lords before him, Voldemort did not heed the numerous warnings regarding demonic summoning. More often than not, the wizards were unable to control their summons. This led to a whole host of problems that had potentially reality-destroying consequences. It was the precise reason why Demonology and any knowledge of Arcane Summoning were destroyed and outlawed from practice.

Harry had a glowing smile on his face as he reminisced on the day he fought demons for the first time. The crimson stains on his pearly whites made for an odd sight in the dimly lit square. Faced with those monstrosities, a person would have to be insane to think of them fondly. Yet that was exactly how Harry felt as he looked back on his career as a demon slayer.

They had given him a thrill that normal human targets simply didn't. He had likened it to big game hunting. The knowledge that your quarry could end your life violently if you made a mistake, got the adrenaline pumping as nothing else could.

That and a healthy hero complex, along with a blatant disregard for personal safety, had made him the best demon slayer in the world. Whenever there was a major problem, his squad was often tasked with getting the job done. Despite his relatively young age, many saw him as a beacon of hope for humanity during dark times. He always felt that his childhood had helped forge him into the warrior and leader he eventually became.

It also helped that he had been trained by some of the most skilled and knowledgeable wizards in the world. After the fateful summoning, the ICW collaborated with the Muggle governments that were still functioning to form the International Demon Slayer Coalition (IDSC). It was a joint effort between magicals and Muggles to combat the demonic threat and protect the human race from extinction.

The demons had ravaged most of the world within a year and the death toll had progressed into the billions. What made their mission harder was the fact that there seemed to be no end to them. Since the first day Voldemort had foolishly summoned them, they somehow kept the portal open in perpetuity.

The more humans they killed, the longer the portal stayed open, which meant more demons could come through. At that point, it was no longer considered a portal, but a tear in reality. The energy from their dimension had started affecting the area around the gateway.

The world experienced the closest thing to an apocalypse as they could imagine. Entire cities of people were culled indiscriminately. Demonic blood poisoned the water and food supplies, leading to several millions of people dying due to accidental consumption.

They fought back as best as they could, with the IDSC forcibly drafting magical criminals into the Slayer squadrons under threat of death. Harry's squad, nicknamed the Archangels, had two such men in it.

First, there was Julius Laurent, French dueling extraordinaire turned mass murderer. The second was Gellert Grindelwald, the most powerful Dark Lord in recent history, who had supposedly reformed while imprisoned in Nurmengard.

Both men were extremely skilled and vicious when fighting. They proved to be great additions to his team, as other than himself, the others lacked any advanced magical training. His squad consisted of himself, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, Susan Bones, Daphne Greengrass, and the two convicts.

With their instruction, the entire squad had benefited and each member had become powerful in their own right. Neville had utilized his knowledge of Herbology to become a master of poisons. Susan had been taken in by Julius as an Apprentice, leading her to become one of the deadliest witches in the IDSC. Daphne's innate skill with Potions had allowed her to gain renown as a gifted combat medic. Luna had mastered her Mage Sight and studied Runes and Warding to become an exceptional Cursebreaker. However, if anyone were to ask who among them was the strongest, they would all immediately point to Harry.

His extensive studies in the Dark Arts along with all the rituals he underwent with Morgana's guidance, had made him one of the most powerful wizards in the world. The numerous blocks on his magic had forced his body to rapidly adapt to harsh conditions and improved his capacity to channel magic. That along with Fate's intervention had led to him becoming significantly stronger than most wizards could ever hope to be.

Along with his intensive training and skilled application of Necromancy in battle, he had earned the title of "The Black Lich". His enemies had given him this title after a harrowing rescue mission where he single-handedly fought off nearly 200 demons and 50 Death Eaters by progressively killing them and raising their corpses to fight for him. Sadly, this also meant that many people, including his allies outside his squad, became very intimidated by him.

The first time the IDSC had learned about it, they had loudly decried his actions. To them, the art of Necromancy was right up there with Demonology. They were designated Black Arts that were not to be used, no matter the circumstances. Harry had tired of the political haranguing and had subsequently revealed his status as Prince Le Fay. That had gotten the IDSC to shut up, and led to them falling over themselves to accommodate him.

Over the years of operating together, the whole squad became family to one another. They had all lost whatever family they had originally had, so they found a new sense of belonging. This familial relationship was one of the reasons they had become so successful among the ranks of slayer squadrons. Every member unconditionally trusted their teammates, so their teamwork was able to reach a level few other squads could hope to emulate.

Gellert became the grandfather that gave wise advice and shared his vast knowledge of magic to those who asked for it. Julius took the role of the cool uncle that taught them all he knew about dueling and destructive spell chains. The rest of them treated each other like brothers and sisters, except if he was honest, his relationship with the girls went beyond that of siblings.

He had all but given up on love after Tonks' death. He knew deep down that he couldn't handle ever seeing another woman he loved end up like her and Fleur. Luna, Susan, and Daphne had taken a lot of time to steadily chip away at the emotional walls he had erected around his heart. They managed to break through one night during the IDSC's 4th Anniversary Ball.

Upon Gellert's insistence that he not ignore the girls simply because he was afraid of what might happen, he had gone and asked them to dance. They had given him brilliant smiles that seemed to light up the room.

As they danced the night away, he felt a sensation of lightness within him. His happiness along with the joy in the atmosphere made him forget all about the demons and Voldemort. He wanted to do nothing but be with the girls.

They had gone to a suite together and the night had been a long one for Harry. The morning after had been awkward, to say the least. He wanted to tell them it was a mistake, but the satisfaction and comfort he had felt made him rethink his decision. It was just how things ended up, and they could do nothing but move on.

In the field, they had to be professional and not let their emotions affect their decision making. They had talked about it, and the girls all told him they had no problem sharing. It was something to do with the attractive nature of the magic of powerful wizards. It reached out to and connected with any compatible witch and allowed them to bond as a group. Feelings of jealousy were all but negated by the magical bond.

He had thought that all the talk about bonds was fictional romantic bullshit, but apparently, he had been wrong. When compatible witches and wizards were physically intimate, their magic quite literally bonded on a subconscious level. The more they engaged in intimacy, the more they connected as a group. While not as exaggerated as in the novels, magical bonding could not be denied by either party once accepted.

He didn't care about all the minutiae though. He finally felt content and loved for the third time in his life. It had been such a great feeling that he hadn't even been prepared for what happened next.

During a routine reconnaissance mission, everything had gone so wrong. Voldemort had initiated a ritual to summon a Daemon Lord. It was the most foolish and insane thing Harry had ever seen him attempt, and he had told him so to his face.

Voldemort refused to see reason, and it had devolved into an apocalyptic scenario where if the abomination was able to cross over to their reality, the human race was doomed to extinction.

For a long time, Harry had occasionally met with a lady in black who was connected to him through the Elder Wand. She had helped him by giving him knowledge of spells that allowed him to turn the tide of battle whenever he was in a pinch.

Gellert had also mentioned meeting her when he wielded the wand, so Harry had guessed she was the spirit of the wand that had gained sentience over the centuries. Weirder things had happened before, and Ollivander had mentioned once about wands holding limited sentience.

After soaking the wand in a decent amount of his blood, he was able to purposely enter the white realm he usually found himself in by chance.

Opening his eyes, Harry saw the same white room he had always been dragged to. He looked around for the lady in black but didn't find her. Hesitantly, he decided to call out.

"Hello?"

"Welcome to the world in between, Harry Potter."

Harry let out a startled yelp as he threw himself forward and attempted to draw his wand. She had snuck up behind him without even a whisper. Almost like she had been there the entire time. A sibilant giggle echoed around the room as he found that the wands he kept on his person were not there.

"Relax, Harry Potter. No harm shall befall you in this realm. You are here to ask me for a favor, no?"

Harry didn't know what to expect. Usually, he would only hear the lady whisper in his ear and transfer the knowledge he needed. This was the first time they were having an actual conversation.

"I thought you were the spirit of the wand, but now I know you're more than that. Am I correct, Death?"

She smiled at him.

"You are correct, Harry Potter. I go by many names, but ultimately, I am simply known as Death. Now tell me, what is it that you seek?"

Harry thought for a second. What was it he truly wanted? Was it a way to stop the ritual? Or Voldemort? He wasn't sure at the moment. He knew that interrupting the ritual was what took priority at the moment. However, Voldemort was the ultimate problem in this war. Once he fell, it would leave the horde without a purpose or any semblance of leadership. Then, it would be a simple matter of hunting them down and restoring and repopulating the Earth.

It made sense, but at the same time, his current problem was the ritual. Even if he had a chance to kill Voldemort, he needed to first stop the ritual. Hopefully, there would be a way to kill two birds with one stone. Clearing his throat, he started speaking.

"I am here to ask if you know a way of stopping the ritual and killing Voldemort."

The lady looked at him with a sly smile on her face.

"Oh? The knowledge you seek is quite powerful. Are you sure you are capable of handling it?"

Harry's face was set in grim determination.

"Whatever it takes. I need to stop this summoning and kill Voldemort. It's the only way we'll ever end the war."

"You are set on this course I see. I must inform you that what you are asking for will entail a powerful sacrifice from you. Magic on the level of fighting a Daemon Lord is beyond anything normal mortals can handle.

Fortunately for us, you are special. Your status as the wielder of my Hallows makes you uniquely qualified to deal with the consequences. Tell me. Are you willing to pay the requisite price, Harry Potter?"

Her dark voice made Harry shiver. The magic he would learn would most likely cost him his life, but he would have it no other way. If his sacrifice saved the rest of humanity, he would not hesitate.

"Yes. Be it my life, soul, or magic. I am willing to pay any price to save the billions of lives that depend on me."

Her smile became much more gentle as her onyx orbs gazed deeply into him. He felt as though she could see through his soul, which he didn't doubt was possible for her.

"You are sincere in your desire, Harry Potter. I will give you the knowledge you need. The rest will all depend on your luck and your willpower. If you fail, you will die a horrible death, and not even I could save you from the torment you will face.

Should you succeed, not only will you prevent the Daemon Lord from crossing over, but you could also potentially defeat Tom Riddle once and for all. It is a risky gamble. Are you willing to take the chance?"

Taking a deep breath, Harry's eyes glowed with power.

"Yes. No matter how small the chances, it is my duty to do whatever I can."

"So be it."

She walked over to Harry and placed her hands on his temples.

"This will hurt, Harry Potter. Bear the pain as the knowledge is transferred to you."

Harry readied himself. The knowledge transfers had never hurt him before, but if she told him this would specifically hurt, he was in for a world of pain. Before he could even react, he felt a burning sensation consume him. It felt as if his entire body was being roasted over a pit of Fiendfyre. The worst part was he couldn't move and he couldn't even open his mouth to scream.

Death was holding him in place as her eyes glowed eerily as she spoke some words he didn't understand. Just as soon as the pain started, it was soon finished. The moment she removed her hands, he collapsed onto the floor. His muscles spasming in pure agony as he rode out the pain of the transfer. He felt the world go black and he knew no more.

Through the help of an invocation ritual, Harry met Mother Magic herself and received the knowledge of a divine spell. Holy or divine magic was not something that mortals could hope to access without a costly sacrifice. It was only through sheer luck that Harry's soul was able to stay whole after casting it.

The problem was, that he wasn't strong enough to power the spell alone. Seeing this, all of his squadmates along with the reinforcements that had come to their aid willingly gave up every last bit of their power to fuel the spell. He had successfully pushed the Daemon Lord back to its dimension, but all the other Slayers had died in the process. After an emotional conversation with a dying Gellert, who had somehow managed to hang on a little longer than the rest, he had fallen unconscious.

He didn't know how long he had been out for, but when he woke up, he was no longer on the battlefield. Once again, he found himself in a white room for the third time in one day. Maybe Magic wanted to talk to him. Maybe it was Death and she would tell him that he was officially dead. He honestly didn't mind at that point.

All of his loved ones were dead and there was nothing left for him. He didn't think he had shattered his soul from the ritual, but who knew when it came to such powerful magic. He looked around and waited for his host to arrive. He noticed that he was clothed in his battle robes, so most likely this was Death's realm, but the wear and tear were there, unlike the times she had summoned him into her realm.

"Excellent observation, Harry Potter. You are indeed not in Death's realm."

Turning to face the person who spoke, he saw a different being.

"To whom do I have the pleasure of speaking to?"

Harry was so emotionally drained that he couldn't give a damn.

"I see you are tired. Do not fret. Your time in this realm had completely repaired your body and soul. You are once again capable of fighting against your adversary."

Harry looked at her with a stoic expression on his face.

"You haven't answered my question."

A lady in blue stood in front of him with a complicated expression adorning her beautiful face.

"You have led a hard life, Harry Potter. You were dragged into a fight you did not start and have suffered the consequences of an old fool's actions. Albus Dumbledore sought to tamper with magic he did not understand, and so, it was my duty to punish him for his transgressions."

Harry had a look of pure loathing on his face as he stared at the woman in front of him.

"You're Fate, aren't you?"

Fate smiled sadly.

"I understand your anger towards me, Harry Potter. Your life has been affected by me more than most. What started as a balancing of the scales turned into a devastating war that has killed off most of humanity. It was never my intention for things to spiral like this. You were originally meant to have killed Tom Riddle permanently when he attacked you.

The Slytherin family magic should have eradicated his very being. His soul was not supposed to have survived through you. Unfortunately, when you were made powerful enough to face him, you also unintentionally became the only container that could hold his splintered soul fragment.

In being able to hold his soul, his other anchors were able to survive that night. One little shift towards balance has ruined your reality.

However, your battle has not finished. Tom Riddle has realized his folly and is now attempting to escape your dimension. He wants to rule the world and he cannot do that as the Daemon Lord has poisoned the magic of your reality."

Harry's eyes widened in surprise.

"Wait a second. I pushed back the Daemon Lord. Voldemort can no longer summon it again, so what taint are you talking about?"

Fate gently lifted her hand and a mirror materialized in front of Harry, showing the situation on the ground.

"Daemon Lords are among the top of the demonic hierarchy and their very presence tends to affect reality negatively. You successfully pushed it back through the dimensional tear, but it was able to latch on to the ground for enough time to infect the magic of your world.

As we speak, the taint has started to spread through the Ley lines and it will affect every remaining magical in the world. They will suffer sickness and all of them will perish as their bodies are stripped of magic.

This is the end of magic as you know it. Tom Riddle has realized what he has done and is now attempting a ritual to create a new dimensional tear so he can cross over to a different reality. He must not be allowed to succeed. So I will be dropping you near the entrance to Diagon Alley and you shall have to confront and stop him."

Harry bristled at her tone. She seemed to be commanding him to fight Voldemort when her actions are what led to the entire world going to shit.

"How can you stand there and tell me to go stop him. You've taken everything from me. I don't even have anything to live for at this point. What more do I have to do to appease you?"

Fate looked at him in disappointment.

"I apologize for the role I have played in your life, Harry Potter. I can only hope that you do this so that humanity can survive. Even without magic, the Muggles, as you call them, can still survive and rebuild. Please do not let them all die unnecessarily."

He was mad. Scratch that. He was beyond mad at this point. He wanted nothing to do with Voldemort or Fate or whatever the fuck else was happening. At the same time, he could not ignore Fate's plea. All those people that were still alive were counting on him. They were innocents in this battle. They didn't deserve to die due to his selfishness.

"Okay. I just have to stop him, right? After this, you will not stop me from going to the Great Beyond?"

Fate's eyes glistened with unshed tears. Perhaps she could feel his hopelessness and his desire to finally meet his loved ones.

"Of course, Harry. Once you stop Tom Riddle, I will not prevent you from doing anything else. Whether you want to die or live will be up to you alone."

After hearing her answer, he nodded and gave his answer.

"Let's do this then. It's time I finish what he started."

Fate gave a bright smile as she walked over to him. Stroking his cheek, she said

"Go with my blessing, Harry James Potter. You are destined for far greater things than simply killing a Dark Lord. Hopefully, you will receive the love you crave in your next great adventure and build the life you so richly deserve."

Before he could ask what she meant by that, a bright light blinded him. In a flash, he found himself standing in front of the Leaky Cauldron. With resolute steps, he walked inside, preparing for the final confrontation.

Like every other selfish megalomaniac before him, Voldemort saw the devastation his failed summoning and the demons had caused to the world and decided that the best course of action was to run away.

Having been warned that Voldemort was attempting a ritual to cross over to another reality, Harry had not held anything back as he raced towards the ritual site. Voldemort had nearly finished when Harry had arrived with his wand blazing.

They had faced off for the final time, neither willing to back down. They pulled out all the stops and were willing to sacrifice everything to triumph. It was a true no holds barred fight and one that they both struggled in.

Both of them proved to be skilled fighters and the fight had been a long and intense one. If he had to make a comparison, it would be like the duel between Dumbledore and Grindelwald. Both men trying to kill the other, both magical titans representing their ideologies.

Harry had won by the skin of his teeth. After a well-timed distraction, he was able to skewer Voldemort and keep him in place long enough for him to nail him center mass with the Killing Curse. There was no coming back from that, even for him.

Still riding the adrenaline high from the battle, Harry had taken the time to inspect the ritual Voldemort had conducted. The most noticeable thing that told him how Dark the ritual was, were the bodies on the periphery of the runic circle.

13 women had been sacrificed to satisfy the horrendous requirements of the ritual. Crimson rivulets of blood flowed through channels on the ground to every part of the circle. Even though he was quite skilled in Runes and Rituals, Harry had no idea how this one functioned.

From what little he could tell it created a tear in space that would allow Voldemort to escape to another reality. However, there was a part of the circle that was undecipherable. The runes were ancient, possibly Babylonian in origin.

Their magic historically had a lot to do with the soul, but Harry was unsure of how this particular ritual involved the caster's soul. Furthermore, he was unsure of the caster's sacrifice. Surely such a Dark ritual would require something from the caster as well?

He walked close to get a better look when he felt wetness across his chest. Looking down, he saw droplets of blood, dripping from the edge of his battle robes. Before he knew what was happening, all his strength left him as he fell backward as a feeling of lightheadedness overtook him.

He coughed violently as the coppery taste of blood flooded his mouth. Slowly turning his head to the side, he spat out the blood as he struggled to take his next breath. He could feel the blood slowly draining out of his body from the multiple Cutting and Piercing Curses he had taken. His breath hitched a little as he waited for the end. It was near, he could feel it.

'It doesn't matter anyway. I stopped him, but it's too late for this world. Maybe he had the right idea, jumping to another one. If only…'

A bright red glow from underneath him caught him off guard.

'Huh? What the bloody hell is going on?!'

The glow grew brighter and brighter as the runic circle started to rotate around him.

'The ritual is activating?! I stopped it! How in Merlin's name is it continuing?!'

'You've got to be fucking kidding me' was his last thought as a blood-red light took over his vision. After that, all that was left was darkness.

As the ritual circle powered down and the tear stitched itself shut, a glowing light appeared in front of Harry's body. The light grew and formed into Fate. She saw Harry's body and sighed. She hadn't wanted things to get this far out of control, but it was all over now.

She felt a ripple as a cloaked figure stepped out of the void.

"Dear sister. What are you doing here?" she heard the newcomer ask.

"Death. I am simply confirming the demise of Tom Riddle. The mortal was a slippery one."

Death pulled down the hood and gave a feral smile.

"Don't you worry about dear old Tom. His soul has reached my domain and I am going to enjoy punishing him for his numerous transgressions. Maybe some hellfire would make for a nice warm-up."

Fate nodded with a distracted look on her face. She walked over to Harry's body and waved her hand over it, vanishing his robes and shirt. She was greeted by the sight of numerous deep cuts and holes still leaking blood, along with large bruises dotting his body. What came as a surprise to her, was what she didn't see.

"Death, come here."

Death frowned as she walked over to Fate.

"What?"

Fate pointed at Harry's chest.

"Your mark. The Hallows are gone. Did they return to you?"

Death furrowed her brows and concentrated. Her eyes widened as she replied.

"No. I can't feel them in my realm or anywhere else. I can't feel them at all!"

That was a cause for concern. The Deathly Hallows were imbued with the essence of Death herself. They were quite literally a part of her very being. They couldn't just vanish into thin air. Fate wasn't worried though, they were powerful, but not much more than regular ancient artifacts.

"It's okay. His destiny always was to go elsewhere. The old fool's actions did nothing but delay the inevitable."

Death was worried as she retorted.

"No, Fate. It's not okay. Those Hallows did not just have my essence in them."

Fate narrowed her eyes at her proclamation.

"What do you mean?"

Death spoke with a cautious tone.

"For the Elder Wand, my essence alone wasn't enough to power it. The potency of my death energy overpowered the magical qualities of the ingredients, so I approached our dear sister to donate some of her essence to balance out mine."

Fate's eyes widened ever so slightly.

"Are you telling me you imbued the very essence of Magic into the wand?"

Death chuckled nervously.

"When the Peverell brothers created the Hallows, they used an invocation ritual to summon me to the mortal plane to bless their artifacts. I knew that the only way they could have successfully invoked my presence would be if you needed it to happen. So I did whatever was necessary to allow the Hallows to wield my power."

Fate knew this would have some serious repercussions. Items that were crafted with the essence of Magic were powerful beyond belief and were more than capable of going against the laws of the universe. She started inspecting the runic circle to see if it could give them a clue to the Hallow's location.

"This circle requires 13 unwilling sacrifices to open the gateway and the caster must also sacrifice his blood and body for his soul to cross over. Harry was coughing up a lot of blood and he died within the circle. Do you think he met the conditions to activate the ritual at the last minute?"

Death pondered for beat before carefully answering.

"If it did, then we're in trouble. From what I can tell you, this is the only reality where I approached Magic for her essence. Every other reality did not require it. If it's truly the case that Harry's soul was transported with the Hallows to another universe… the way they might affect the ritual's outcome is unpredictable.

Not to mention, Harry didn't give up his body, only his blood. Otherwise, there wouldn't be a body in the circle. The ritual would have used it to fuel the transfer and fix the dimensional tear."

Fate shook her head.

"So the soul transfer ritual was botched, but the Hallows might affect it in ways we don't know? All we can hope for is for Harry to activate them. That would be the only way we could meet him in whatever reality he ends up in."

"Sister? What is to become of this reality?"

Fate raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"It will take time, but the humans will eventually rebuild their societies and thrive one again. Why?"

"Due to the Daemon Lord, won't it be impossible for magic to exist again?"

Death seemed perturbed by the thought of there being no more magical creatures or wizards.

"Make no mistake, Death. Our sister is not so easily defeated. She will recover, no matter how long it might take. It could be decades, centuries, or even millennia, but she will recover. When she does, humans will once more start to receive her blessing."

Death nodded resolutely and looked at Harry's body one last time.

'Thank you for your sacrifice Harry. Even if it was your destiny to go to another reality, this one will forever be in your debt. Good luck. I hope your new life is a better one, and you activate the Hallows soon.'

She disappeared into thin air and silence reigned once again on the street.