The Rise & Fall of Harry Potter
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This will be my first novel length piece of fiction after my previous One-Shot, "Flight of Death".
Complete Summary: No man is born evil. Evil is not inherent, but inculcated. The greatest evil can emerge from the most innocent and purest of soul. Welcome to the life story of a man who failed to quell the growing darkness in himself; the life story of Harry James Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived, the defeater of Lord Voldemort, and… the greatest Dark Wizard ever since the era of Salazar Slytherin. AU fic.
This fic will be Dark!Harry, as you will probably see. It will of course feature a Powerful!Harry, which I will try not to overpower though. The fic will also probably be a gen-fic, as in No-Romance. In the event that I place Harry with a girl, rest assured, Romance Haters, that she will die before Harry's rise to power.
Harry's character will be modeled after Anakin Skywalker of George Lucas' Star Wars series. He will not exactly be the same. Harry will be a young man twisted by a childhood of suffering, and corrupted by the lure of power.
Lastly, this first chapter (prologue) is written in First-Person perspective, but worry not, the others will be in Third-Person. The prologue will seem confusing at first, but kindly bear till the next chapter.
Disclaimer: The Harry Potter universe and all of its characters solely belong to JK Rowling. I myself own nothing, except anything that you do not recognize.
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Prologue
The light drizzle was slowly turning into a heavy downpour. I got out of the Taxer. No, was it Taxi? Whatever. Who cares what those filthy Muggles call it. Hastily stuffing a few crisp pound notes into the side pockets of my silver windbreaker, I strolled down the side lanes of Acacia Street as swiftly as I could, trying to ignore the ever-growing, steady fall of raindrops, prickling me like ice-cold needles, and the hustle and bustle on the roads of which we call 'Every Day London'.
Ah yes! There it is- The Leaky Cauldron. On the surface, it looked like a tiny, dark and smoky pub, with only a weird looking wooden signboard of a leaking cauldron topped by its name, to attract customers. I scoff at it. Even if Muggles could actually see the entrance, they would probably not go near the dingy place with a ten-foot pole. But I knew better. Then again, so do a hundred thousand other people living in Great Britain. I quickly rushed into the warm embrace of my destination, or rather, the pathway to my destination.
Looking from the outside, Muggles would be shocked out of their wits if they could see how clean and spacious the bar was. But what can I say? The keyword was 'Muggles'. The atmosphere inside was of a generally dark one. The amount of sunlight that could permeate the darkly-tinted front window panes was so miserable that the entire establishment had to be lighted up with candles on every single table. Not that I am complaining. A bar would just not be a bar if it was brightly lit and had a cheery atmosphere. I almost had to gag at the thought. The design of the Leaky Cauldron was a bore though. Wooden tables, wooden seats, wooden ceiling beams and even a wooden bar counter itself! A simple Incendio, and this place would go up in a bonfire. My wand hand is starting to itch… If not for the owner, I might have satisfied this 'itch'.
There was only a few occupants sitting around, speaking in hush voices in the otherwise empty place.
"Mr Clairborne, here to get your school supplies?"
I would recognize the distinct calm but soothing voice from a mile.
"Not really, my dear Hendrik. I'm here to get some resources for a holiday project", I responded, turning around to face him.
Hendrik Langer was a tall, sturdy and stony looking man. He had neatly trimmed, combed blond hair and piercing brown eyes that only served to make him look sterner than he really was. The fact that he only smiled with his eyes and never with his mouth did not help his social life much, which was a pity. He had the kindest heart in anyone I had met, and if you knew him well, was the most helpful and friendly person. Hendrik retained the same warm character from his father, Tom, though he thankfully did not inherit his sire's physical attributes.
"Leaving all your assignments till the last minute again. Will you ever learn? Wait, if you did you would not be a boy. The day I hear the name 'Clairborne' associated with hard work would be the same day Hogwarts wins the 'Best Name for a Magical School' prize."
I let out a soft chuckle. Hendrik never fails to raise my spirits, no matter how downtrodden it was.
"Well then, you better be on your way. Flourish & Blotts closes early these days. Rainy season, you know?"
"I guess its farewell for now. I might stop by for a drink afterwards". I deftly strode to the backdoor and pulled it open.
Cursing the rain, I stepped up to the brick wall which formed a dead-end and tapped my wand selectively on a few bricks.
Said brick wall split in the middle to admit me into a totally different world. A world where flying broomsticks, preserved brains, moving photographs and Lemon Drops is nothing out of the ordinary.
I wasted no time in walking towards the bookshop, ignoring the shouts of some over-enthusiastic salesmen trying to relieve idiotic wizards of their gold. Flourish & Blotts now stands proudly before me. The window case displayed new editions of 'Quidditch Weekly', 'Potions Weekly' and whatever other Weekly-s. But I knew what I needed to find, and pushed open the glass doors.
More than one hour later in the musty smelling bookshop and I still could not find what I desired. Perhaps I could only blame myself. Why on earth I chose to do a History of Magic project on Him, I will never know. I must have been mental.
Tossing aside copies of 'Voldemort: Rise and Fall' and 'The Reign of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named', I moved on towards a dusty shelf.
If you think people's fear of Voldemort was too extreme, their fear of Him was even worse. The mere mention of "Him" would be enough to send most wizards into an apoplectic shock. Few dared to write books on him or his reign, thus explaining my crisis now.
I was about to leave when a thick black, dirty looking leather-bound book caught my eye. Is it possible? Wait a minute. Bingo! It really is it.
I carefully took down the book. Staring at me in gold letters was the title: The Rise & Fall of Harry Potter- Life Story and Reign of Persecutus.
I gingerly opened the book and started to read…
Do not be put off by this chapter. Its just the prologue. The rest of the fic will be Harry-centric and mainly in Harry's POV. We will probably not hear about the narrator or Hendrik Langer again, though the Clairborne family might make a minor appearance.
The next chapter should come in a few days time. As a challenge for myself, I shall use suitable and appropriate titles of other Harry Potter fanfiction as my chapter titles :D
Review please, and tell me how you find the start of this fic. I unashamedly admit my love for reviews, so please tell me what you think.
In the next chapter, we will explore the suffering that young Harry has been subjected to, and how he was pushed to escaping. We will also see him being taken in by a Dark family. A cookie for whoever manages to guess which family it will be. All I will say is a canon character is from said family. And no, it isn't one of those major ones in the canon.
Lucullus