A/N: Please understand I'm only doing this for fun – it has been a long time since I read the series, and so there are bound to be discrepancies galore. If you don't like these then don't read because I might deviate from the original plot altogether.

I originally did this because there were not as many 'Dark Harry' fictions that were realistic…there was one that was, but this one shows him as an idealist in a corrupt world where he does things for the greater good.

--

Albus Dumbledore was exhausted.

He was at the very pinnacle of his limits, battling through many Paladins – some young, barely coming of age, while some adult and at their peak.

The old wizard knew that his body, deteriorating rapidly with age, could only take so much punishment.

Leaping sideways to avoid a disarming spell, he fired back a sharp stunner in reply, sending his would-be opponent flying back several feet.

But as soon as he came up against a young lady he lowered his wand with a deep sigh. "Miss Granger, I ask you one last time – please turn back to the Light!"

"That name no longer has any meaning to me," the armour-clad figure hissed behind her onyx mask. "Incendio!"

A blazing jet of fire spewed forth from her wand, which Dumbledore promptly extinguished with a blast of water and replied in turn with a blasting curse.

"Protego Serpens!" A purple shield fully engulfed Hermione. As soon as the curse hit the shield, it seemed to absorb it and throw it back in the form of a beam shaped like a snake.

The elder wizard ducked as the snake-beam flew towards him, turning in surprise to see the beam explode with great force.

"One of Salazar Slytherin's favourite spells," the former Hogwarts student mused. "The Serpent shield charm."

Albus adjusted his glasses and took a deep breath. I see why. "Hermione, please, you have to understand…Harry has turned. If you stay…"

"MY NAME IS NO LONGER HERMIONE GRANGER!" she screamed with anger. "Perhaps it was once but after what YOUR Order did to my family…I am Lady Nimue."

Albus raised an eyebrow. "Are you referring to the legend of the Lady of the Lake?"

Nimue raised her wand in an aggressive stance. "Actually, one of the most powerful witches of her age – second only to Merlin. Now tell me – slow and painful or quick and painless?"

Before their duel resumed they both froze as another figure walked towards them.

"Enough, milady. He is too strong for you. Leave him to me."

"But…milord! You must prepare for your duel with Voldemort!" Nimue said in fear.

"I've prepared enough. Leave him to me," the lord stated, moving forward with his wand.

Nimue bowed respectfully as she disapparated.

"Three years, Albus," the former student stated. "Three years and you never suspected it was me."

"Harry, I give you one last chance," Dumbledore said coldly, all the warmth lost from his voice. "Renounce the Darkness and return to the Light!"

"Foolish old man, after all these years and you still spit out the same filth they taught you in Hogwarts first year!" The Dark Lord sneered. "You talk about Light and Dark magic as if they were two separate things when they are not!"

"Then how am I, Harry, supposed to view it?"

"There IS no Light and Dark magic, old fool. It is merely magic. It's only a form of energy that wizards can bend to their will." He stepped forward. "You talk as if magic was like some all-powerful master shaping us to their own will when it is shaped to OURS!"

"Then how do you explain the prophecy made at your birth?" Dumbledore demanded.

"I believe in fate and I believe in good and evil. However magic is not their origin, nor will it ever be."

"Dangerous thoughts from a mere boy pretending to be a Dark Lord," Dumbledore said. "Step down Harry – you cannot defeat me!"

"You are wrong – I am no Dark Lord, and rather it is you who cannot defeat me."

"You have become evil," the headmaster petitioned again, trying to strike any chords still left. "Therefore I must hand you over to the Ministry!"

"WRONG! Rather it is you who are evil! The Ministry was weak, corrupt and you did nothing! There IS no light and dark magic, Albus. There is only power. You want this power for the corrupt Ministry of Magic. I want it to create a glorious and beautiful Empire! All will stand united – muggleborns, werewolves, vampires, witches and wizards – there will be no prejudice."

"Then I have no choice," Albus said as he adopted a classical dueling stance.

"You will fall before me today. Then Voldemort will be next," the young wizard swore, raising his wand to attack.

--

Three years ago

Harry adjusted his glasses, taking in a deep breath before raising his fist to knock.

Then just as quickly, he lowered it, gripping his school trunk and bag tightly. What was he supposed to say?

Then just as he was about to raise his fist again the door opened abruptly.

Hermione looked at him in shock, dressed rather casually in muggle attire. "Harry?"

"Um…hi Hermione." Stop grinning like a total idiot!

"Come in," Hermione bubbled enthusiastically. "You should have told me you were coming to visit! My parents are out and I was just going to go to the library…"

Harry smiled inwardly as she keep chatting on. That was typical Hermione, going to the library. She never stopped in her quest for knowledge did she?

Looking around, the house was quite wealthy and very typical for a muggle home.

Hermione frowned as she looked at the trunk and bags he was carrying as well as Hedwig's cage. "Harry…what's wrong? Why are you carrying all your things?"

"Death Eaters," Harry said in as remorseful a tone as he could muster. Although it made him sick to lie, it was fairly reasonable. "They came and attacked my house. I barely escaped."

"Oh my…Harry that's horrible! And after Sirius's will reading! You can stay here as long as you need to, I'm sure my parents don't mind."
Harry had smiled sadly at the mention of Sirius's will reading. What he had been given was invaluable and a great aid to him. Perhaps Sirius wouldn't have agreed with him using them…but he would have surely agreed eventually. "Thanks a lot, Hermione. I owe you for that."

"It's no problem at all, Harry, after what happened." Hermione stifled a few tears.

"But all it took was Voldemort to show up in the Ministry of Magic to get Fudge to realise the truth." Harry said in annoyance. "How could he be so…incompetent?"

"I know that Harry – but let's talk later, I'll show you to your room."

--

After introductions were made between Hermione's parents and Harry, they heartily agreed to him staying and said that he could stay as long as he wanted.

Harry rested for a few days before asking Hermione if she'd like to do some study together.

"Harry that'd be great! I've always said that you need to get some more study done, and before school starts is a good way for it!" Hermione beamed as she led him upstairs to her room.

Harry saw that the room was brilliantly clean – another trait Hermione possessed, it seemed, and all her wizarding and non-wizarding books were neatly stacked to opposing sides of the room.

And strangely enough, there was a clearly locked door in the corner.

What would Hermione have to hide? Harry wondered. All her wizarding books are out in the open, so…

"Harry?"

"Hermione, what's in that closet?" Harry asked.

"Oh…well…you know, just girls clothes and stuff. You're probably not interested in what girls wear."

Harry did not need Veritaserum to know that Hermione was lying. "Alright then. Let's get started shall we?"

As they lay their schoolbooks on the bed, discussing this and that, Harry knew there was more to that closet than meets the eye.

And he was going to find out.

"Hey Hermione do you mind if you could get me a drink?" Harry asked an hour after they begun. "I'm kinda thirsty."

As she left to get some water, Harry moved quickly.

His wand that was in his holster slipped out quickly into his hand as he softly muttered "Sparks."

He walked up to the closet door, pointing his wand at the keyhole. "Alohomora."

There was a soft click as the door opened (Hermione wasn't allowed to use magic outside of school so there would have been no way to make her room safer).

What Harry saw inside completely shocked him.

It was a small, messy room that didn't look like Hermione could have ever used it. Papers were strewn everywhere, as were ancient books and volumes.

"Harry!" Hermione nearly dropped the two glasses of water in horror. "How did…"

The male wizard lifted his wand in answer.

At that point Hermione did drop her glasses.

As they shattered on the floor, Harry simply pointed at them and performed the repair charm.

"But Harry…you of all people should know that it's…"

"Illegal?" Harry finished. "Says the girl who's researching the dark arts."

Hermione looked like she could slap him. "That's different! I'm only doing it to gain a better understanding of our enemies…"

"And that understanding would go further if you were allowed to use your wand," Harry said. "Too bad you don't know the charm for removing the Ministry trackers. It's ridiculously easy to perform."

Hermione opened her mouth as if to say something before closing it again.

Harry had seen her magical aura as soon as they met and he could see the ripples of the energy through her overall aura that belonged to the supposedly evil 'dark arts'.

He ran to his bedroom and came back with several books in hand.

"What…" Hermione looked at the covers:

Advanced Dark Arts dueling

A Guide to the offensive spells of the dark arts

Strength and magic rituals

A guide to spells long forgotten

"I took a lot of books from the vaults that Sirius gave me," Harry explained, "And I've been studying and practicing this summer."

"Oh, Harry…don't you understand? Dark arts corrupt the soul, they…change you!"

"If I'm going to have my soul corrupted at least I did it for good!" Harry snapped angrily. "Hermione, I've been thinking a lot. Just because you're a Light wizard doesn't mean you're always good and if you're a Dark wizard it doesn't mean you're evil. I don't get the fuss! It's simply magic! A form of energy!"

Hermione looked thoughtful. "You're right…most of the books I've read speak as if magic was some deity to be obeyed and followed. Even if they didn't, they never put it in terms of as a form of energy!"

"I could use the levitating spell to hurl a knife at someone and kill them," Harry pressed on. "And yet even using a DEFENSIVE dark arts spell could guarantee you a place in Azkaban!"

"But Harry…I'm still not sure. If Professor Dumbledore found out…"

"You know who he is, right?" Harry said coldly. "Some old coot who thinks he's always right! Well guess what? He was wrong about withholding the prophecy, wrong about Sirius, wrong about sending me to the Dursleys! I'd rather be in a wizarding home and vulnerable than going back again!"

"Wait, Harry, what prophecy?"

Harry explained it to her as he saw no point in hiding it anymore.

"Oh Harry…" Hermione was now very sad. "That's why Voldemort keeps targeting you. Because you have the power to defeat him!"

"Exactly! How can I defeat him when all the best I know is how to stun him or disarm him?" he questioned. "I barely escaped with my life last time. And Dumbledore won't even help me! Last year I didn't learn anything with my Occlumency lessons with Snape! Surely he knows I hate him! Yet I taught myself with the books and my shields are already fairly strong!"

Hermione had resigned, being beaten in a fairly intellectual argument. "I see…"

"It's obvious that I can't count on the Ministry or the Order's help to fight Voldemort," Harry sighed. "I have to do it myself."

"Well you know I'll always be with you," Hermione supported. "And so will Ginny, Ron, Luna, all the others!"

"They won't agree with me using the 'Dark Arts'," Harry put a sarcastic emphasis on the 'Dark Arts'. "I'll keep it secret for now. But will you help me learn?"

"Of course Harry! You know I will!"

Harry smiled inwardly again at this. He had counted on Hermione's hunger for knowledge and the gamble had succeeded. "What do you know of the Dark Arts? What have you found?"

They both walked into the small room as Hermione sighed deeply. "Only what I've learnt from books in Diagon Alley. It corrupts your soul, taints your heart…"

"If you fully devote yourself to it. We won't, we know the real truth. There are spells that are truly dark in nature but we won't be using them right? Those are the ones that really do corrupt your soul!"
Hermione was quickly scribbling it down on paper. "You're right! Some spells like the Cruciatus curse can't be used in any good way…while others, like even the Killing curse can be used to quickly end the suffering of sick and ill people so they aren't in as much pain!"

"I don't think we should go onto the subject of Unforgivables," Harry said darkly. "I mean, you really have to hate the person to use it on them…" he knew this all too well when his Cruciatus curse failed against Bellatrix Lestrange.

--

And so their 'training', as they labeled it, continued.

Harry had explained that he had done several small rituals to increase the power of his magic, though none of them were on a grand scale. He could cast some spells non-verbally but more of them he could cast by whispering softly.

They both also went jogging every morning – although Hermione originally disagreed, not being a person who would exercise, Harry explained that one advantage they had over older wizards (such as Dumbledore) was their youth and stamina.

Initially Hermione was puffing to keep up with Harry but eventually as the holidays went she could relatively keep up – Harry was naturally fitter being a Quidditch player.

However inside the house they constantly practiced dueling – secretly, Harry and Hermione together had using the knowledge the books gave them expanded the closet room greatly to become a fair sized dueling room. Although it was still rather narrow, Harry reasoned that this could be an advantage. "We can't just jump out of the way completely," he explained when he didn't agree to expand it further. "We have to move our bodies in smaller steps to dodge. This might be better when we're facing multiple opponents!"

Of course they rarely attempted any of the more vicious spells against each other, against dummies mainly.

Harry at the moment was reading The Art of War at Hermione's strong recommendation – and he wasn't regretting it. It was simply perfect for what he was going to do – wage war against both the forces of Light and Dark.

"We can't do this alone," Harry stated as they both sat under a tree, reading through books for potential new information and spells. "We're talking about us against BOTH Voldemort and his Death Eaters, as well as Dumbledore, the Order and the Ministry!"

"I've got it!" Hermione exclaimed as she stood up. "I know a way to benefit from both sides!"

Harry's ears perked up. "What?"

"Well for Voldemort – change the prophecy! Like… "One cannot live without the other"! Then it'll make it seem like he NEEDS you. Talk about how Dumbledore has betrayed you then get him or his Death Eaters to teach you!"

"I'm not sure Hermione…I really don't want to torture innocents…"

"What are a few people for the greater good?" Hermione pressed on. "We're doing this for the whole wizarding world!"

"…You're right! If this works out then we get on Voldemort's good side making it easier to kill him at the right time, while at the same time learning how he and his Death Eaters fight!"

"That's right! Then ask Dumbledore for him or someone else, preferably not Snape to tutor you because of the prophecy! You benefit from the magic of the Dark AND Light!"

Harry smiled and hugged her tightly. "That's brilliant, Hermione!"

Suddenly their lips met.

As soon as it happened they both pulled away in shock, speaking incomprehensibly.

"I'm so sorry Harry…I…it…"

"Hermione please it…"

They looked at each other then kissed again.

--

A/N: This isn't Harry Potter the insane dark lord, this is Harry Potter – savior and conqueror. He doesn't know what he will soon do but even if all that magic being energy and no Light and Dark stuff isn't true he'll use both magics. That's not to say that the Dark arts won't have an effect on him though. He's only agreeing to 'torturing innocents' because he really has no idea what he's saying, what he'll do.

I didn't say Harry's 'lord' name because I didn't have one. Please suggest one to me in reviews, not in PM cos I never respond.

I've tried to keep it as slow as possible but understand I am a lazy writer so it might seem a little rushed. Obviously, I mean who spends that much time on a Fanfiction? You're not making money off it anyway.

(Oh that Death Eater stuff attacking the Dudleys? You know that's an outright lie but we'll find out later)