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Chapter 7: His true nature
Chapter 7: His true nature



The weeks rolled on in the same routine at Hogwarts, and Harry found himself slowly sinking into depression. He spent most of his time locked in his room, only going out when he had to.

His days were spent thinking about his past, while his nights were plagued by dreams of it, often interrupted by dreams of a long stone corridor and a strange door that Harry felt came from Voldemort, but could not understand their purpose, or whether or not Voldemort sent these dreams to him willingly.

As Christmas came closer, his despair had reached new depths, until one night. His dreams began the same; he was reliving his life on Lantus, until the entire setting shifted.

His body felt different, longer and more flexible, and he was moving on the floor, passing trough rooms made from cold stone. The place was dark, but he could see, although, a bit differently than his normal night vision. It took him a few moments to realize that this was happening for real, and he was getting it from Voldemort. Hoping to gain some useful info from this, Harry did nothing to stop the vision, but continued to watch.

He finally reached a corridor that seemed empty, but there, just at the end, a man was sitting on the floor, his outline barely visible. He took a closer look, and noticed he was sitting in front of a door, a very familiar door.

He felt a strong impulse to bite the man, and while the snake trough whose eyes he saw suppressed it; Harry felt something stir in his mind at that. He shrugged it off, and continued to watch. He moved forward, and suddenly, the man stood up, he noticed a wand being drawn, feeling there was no other choice, he reared high and struck quickly, once, twice, three times, feeling each times the flesh tear, the bones splinter, and the warm, sweet blood gush in his mouth, overwhelming him with the taste.

Harry found himself wanting more, he longed for it. Completely losing control, he pushed his will into the snake, willing it to bite again. However, the foreign presence had the opposite effect, and Harry found himself ejected from the vision as he shot up in his bed, breathing heavily. He felt his fangs elongated to full length. He walked into his bathroom, and was shocked when he saw his completely red eyes.

'Blood fury.' He thought as he tried to calm his body, and clear his mind from the dream. He did notice however, who it was the snake had bit.

Quickly making a decision, he changed his clothes, and rushed out, looking for the nearest adult, whom turned out to be Professor Snape, who was probably patrolling the corridors.

"Professor, I need your help. I need to speak with the Headmaster, it is urgent." Harry spoke quickly.

Seeing the serious look on Harry's face, Snape nodded and said. "Follow me, Potter." They quickly reached the gargoyle that guarded the Headmaster's office, and Snape spoke sharply "Fizzing Whizzbee." The gargoyle quickly sprung aside, and they rushed up the stairs. Harry could hear over a dozen voices in the office, but they fell silent the moment Snape knocked. The door opened, and they walked into the half dark office.

"Oh, Severus, to what do I owe..." Dumbledore stopped when he noticed Harry.

"Potter here says that he needs to speak with you. Well, go on, we're listening." Snape turned to him with a glare.

"You need to send someone to check up on Mr. Weasley at once. He has been heavily injured." Whatever the two men were expecting to hear, that was not it.

"How do you know this?" Dumbledore asked silently.

"I saw it happen. I informed you of the connection between me and Voldemort. It was trough this. It was some sort of snake, a rather large one. If you want to save him, act now." Harry spoke sharply.

"Everard, and you too Dilys." Dumbledore turned to two old portraits that hung near the ceiling. Their inhabitants nodded, and quickly left their frames.

Dumbledore moved to his phoenix, and awoke it with a short stroke on it's head. "We will need a warning." He whispered. The bird nodded, and vanished in a flash of fire.

"How did you see this, Harry?" Dumbledore asked, not looking at him.

"I was the snake. This was more than a vision, headmaster, it was like I was really there, I could feel everything." Harry now had a small glint in his eyes that was fortunately missed by the two men.

Just then, the man called Everard returned, panting lightly. "I yelled until someone came running, told them I heard something move downstairs. I wasn't sure they believed me, but they sent someone to check anyway, they carried him up a minute later, he didn't look good, and he was covered in blood."

"Good. I think Dilys would have seen him arrive then..." The old man turned to the portrait of the witch, and she arrived mere moments afterwards.

"Yes, he's at St. Mungo's, they carried him passed my portrait, and he was a mess."

"What do you suggest we do about this Headmaster?" Snape asked silently.

"No one knows that Harry had a vision about this, and we'll keep it that way. Harry, go back to your room and stay there. Tomorrow you'll be going to Headquarters for your holidays, and I daresay the Weasley's will be joining you. Severus, after the holidays I'd like you to train Harry in Occlumency, it could prove useful. Occlumency, Harry is the art of preventing magical intrusion in your mind. Professor Snape is quite proficient at this, and we could say you're helping him with a special project, considering your talent in Potions." Dumbledore told them, and they both nodded quietly.

The next day, the Weasley children were shocked when they received a letter from their mother telling them their father was seriously injured last night, but that he will live.

Once they arrived at Headquarters, they found out just how the Order managed to reach Arthur Weasley so fast.

While the Weasley's never stopped thanking him, Harry remained oddly quiet and pensive throughout the break, thinking about the vision, and the feelings it awoke in him. It was new to him, something he never felt before. And the more he thought about it, the more he wanted to feel it again, to lose himself in that same blissful ecstasy.

In the end, he knew what he had to do. With fierce determination, he pulled out his Firebolt, and after climbing to the roof, he took off into the night, with only one thing in mind. He didn't need to search long. In a small alley he noticed two punks beating up a young man half their size. Landing on the nearest roof, he dropped his broom, and jumped into the alley. His landing alerted the pair, and they turned to see a dark haired man with burning emerald eyes that sent shivers trough them.

"Who the hell are you?" The braver of the two spoke up.

"Just a guy out for dinner." Harry showed them a fanged grin.

"Well, you got it wrong man. There's no dinner here. Now piss off before you end up like this guy." The other stepped forward.

"I disagree. You see, my dinner is you!" With the last word, Harry dashed with inhuman speed towards them, jumped towards the first, and used his full impulse to kick off his left leg, shattering it in the process, to body slam into the second, sending him into the nearby wall. Not giving him a chance to recover, Harry let his most primal instincts guide him as he buried his fangs deep into the man's neck, piercing the flesh until he hit the artery. Then he felt it again. The warm, ecstatic feeling caused by warm blood gushing into his mouth, getting pumped in him by his victim's own heart. It took him a few minutes to break apart, completely oblivious to anything around him, ignoring the painful howls of the other man, who was trying to drag himself out of the alley as fast as he could, a fact not helped by the fact his hip bone was shattered outwards and crawling caused him immense agony, nor the scarred whimpering of the beaten man, who lay huddled next to a dustbin and stared at Harry, unable to look away.

At last, Harry raised his head, and let the dead man drop to the ground. His gaze then fell to the second punk, who had stopped crawling, and was now staring at his blood stained face with an expression of pure terror.

"I think I have some room left for seconds." Harry pulled him up and held him in an iron grip, then once again gave in to his instincts, and felt himself drown into intense pleasure that nothing could compare to.

At last, he felt himself fully sated; his hunger receded, along with his newfound bloodlust. He grabbed the whimpering man and looking into his eyes with his, now completely red eyes, spoke coldly.

"Leave and speak of this to no one. If you do, I will find you." With that said, he tossed him aside, and once the terrified man ran off, he used his wand to vanish the bodies, and then climbed back to his broom.

Only when he returned to his room twenty minutes later, did the full gravity of the situation hit him. He had killed, not because he was ordered to, hell, not even because he needed to, but because he wanted to. He wanted to kill them, to drain every last drop of their blood. But still, he couldn't deny that it had felt so good to do it. When he saw their fear filled faces, and felt their blood on his lips, he felt reborn. But in the same time, he felt disgusted with himself. He knew this could happen, he was warned more then once, but he didn't put much stock in it. And now it seemed he was paying the price. In his mind he saw that last warning given to him by the very man he respected more than anything.

"Daroth my boy, I have one last piece of advice to give you before you leave. In your world, you will be faced with a challenge no Lantrisi has ever faced. Only myself, as the only one left of the time we were called vampires know the hardships you will face. You see, even though we have made massive efforts to reign in this part of our nature, we cannot escape what we are. We are predators; killing is ingrained into our very core. That is the reason for every violent part of our culture. The wars, the Blood Ball tournaments, the public duels, all this is done to sate the bloodlust of our kind and keep it dormant. Once you leave, my boy, you will no longer have these luxuries. You will be surrounded by prey from all sides, and in time, your instincts will emerge. When this happens, you must control them. Fight the impulse to kill, control the urge, or it will control you.

Don't give in to it, for in the rage, you will find only bitterness and pain." When Harry first heard this, he didn't really believe this was possible, not with the intense mental training he had, but now, the memories of the hunt still fresh on his mind, he was starting to worry about what he was becoming.

He spent most of the holidays in relative isolation, thinking about what he had done, and how he could overcome it.

"What I need is a holo-chamber. Somewhere I could indulge my needs without actually hurting anyone. Hmm, perhaps the Room of Requirement could accommodate?" Harry thought as he packed for his return trip to Hogwarts. The holidays were not the best for him, with his visit to Mr. Weasley, the vision still fresh in his mind, or the reaction he got from Remus Lupin when they met, with the werewolf having a panic attack and fleeing from the room, and then refusing to even stay in the same room with someone who could cause such fright to the wolf inside him. He feigned ignorance at this, but he noticed that a few people were a bit more cautious around him.

The next few moths passed in the same dull routine, with the only deviation being scores of girls asking Harry out for Valentine's and him refusing each and everyone of them.

His classes and the DA managed to distract him from his newfound needs for a while, until one night, the lust became unbearable, and Harry, fearing he might go after a student if he continued to ignore it, rushed quickly to the seventh floor, where he made a silent request to the Room, hoping it would provide. A simple metal door appeared, and Harry walked into a dark alley that was illuminated by a single lamppost, leaving most of the alley in darkness.

Just then, his ears caught the sound of high heels coming closer to him. He turned towards the noise, and noticed a young woman in her early twenties walking towards him. Spreading his lips in a predatory grin, he concealed himself in the darkness, and continued to watch her, savouring her scent mixed with exotic perfume that was carried on a light breeze.

As she came closer, his fangs emerged in anticipation, and his whole body tensed. The moment she passed him, he snapped, quickly as a snake, and held her tightly, one hand on her mouth, while the other held her tightly pressed against him.

He could hear her muffled surprise, and then her sobs and whimpers which he guessed were a plea to let her go.

"Shhh, don't be afraid, it will all be over soon." He spoke gently, almost lovingly to her, as he slowly tilted her head and gently sunk his fangs into her neck, feeling her flinch, and slowly sink into darkness as the blood to her brain was drastically reduced.

Finally full, Harry dropped her, completely overwhelmed with the feeling of his latest kill. The moment he left the room, he felt himself suddenly drained of the blood he drank, as what the room provided stayed in the room, but his ecstasy did not lessen. As he walked down back to his room, his face had such a fierceome grin that even the bravest men would wet themselves.

With a solution to his newly emerged problem found, he turned to his life with increased fervour.

He had begun Occlumency training with Snape, and was actually surprised how simple it was to learn a skill Snape deemed incredibly complex. Harry thought that the difficult thing about this skill was to organise your mind and reign in your emotions, something very few humans were capable of. He, however, was way passed this stage, and he simply learned how to recognise and repel attacks, something he managed in only three sessions.

Life moved on normally, until one DA meeting where everything went wrong. As was his habit, he had set proximity wards to detect anyone coming towards their meeting room. While a single person passing the outermost ward was not a cause for concern, a large group was, especially after dinner, in a part of the castle that was rarely traversed at that hour, no less. Quickly blowing a whistle, Harry shouted out.

"Everybody, we need to get out of here, fast. We've been discovered. Now damn you, run!" Harry shouted, and quickly everyone ran out, with Harry staying behind to make sure everyone was out. In the end, all that was left was him, Ron and Hermione, and he felt his inner ward being breached.

"Let's go, you two, they might not catch us if we hurry." Harry stayed a bit behind, and this action cost him as he felt something trip him. Only centuries of training stopped him from falling on his face, but he did notice that several people were now surrounding him, all Slytherins, he noted. He also felt the nauseating scent that told him Umbridge was with them, and she had a huge grin plastered on her face.

"Oh, it seems we caught the ringleader. Well done Draco, fifty points to Slytherin. See if you can round up more, they couldn't have gone far."

She approached Harry just as he gave Draco a look that promised a very painful death, a promise Harry planned to deliver at the earliest convenient opportunity. The moment he could arrange a convincing alibi, the little inbred bastard was history.

It took a lot to piss of a Lantrisi, they normally had a tight reign on their emotions, and Order members were taught extreme mental control so that they would be able to withstand torture and injuries in battle.

So to say Draco Malfoy managed to piss him off was a truly commendable effort. One the blond wizard would one day sorely regret.

"Now, Mr. Potter, you're coming with me to see the headmaster." Umbridge said triumphantly, while Harry was thinking how fun it would be to tear off her leg and beat her to death with it. He was certain her blood would give him serious indigestion, not to mention he had no desire to get his lips anywhere near the woman.

They finally reached the gargoyle that was guarding the entrance to the headmaster's office and said "Fizzing Whizzbee" to the gargoyle, and they rushed to the office, and Harry was surprised that it was full of people.

Dumbledore sat in his usual calm pose, while McGonagall stood stiff next to his desk. He noticed the two guards by the door, and he recognised them as Aurors, and he was certain he had seen the large black man in Headquarters during the holiday. He didn't know the other one, however. The other two people in the room were an extremely happy Cornelius Fudge, and his aide, Percy Weasley.

"We caught him on the run; he was headed back to his room. We'll search it after we're done here." Umbridge told the Minister.

'Thank god I moved my trunk on top of the third shelf. I'll have to thank Hermione for that.' Harry thought calmly.

He caught the headmaster's eyes, and he flexed his hand towards his knifes, then pointed at the minister with his sight.

Dumbledore shook his head lightly, just before the man spoke.

"So Potter, do you know why you're here?" The portly man asked with a grin.

"No sir." Harry replied in his usual calm tone.

"So, you're not aware you have broken any school rules? Or Ministry decrees?"

"Not that I'm aware of." Harry continued calmly.

"So, you are not aware that an illegal student organisation was discovered within the school?" Fudge was getting angry from his calm tone.

"Not to my knowledge no." Harry sounded remarkably convincing.

"I think, Minister, we would have more luck if I fetch our informant." Umbridge said happily.

"Yes, please do Dolores." Fudge told her.

There were a few tension filled minutes before Umbridge returned with what could be described as the ugliest hag that has ever walked this earth.

"Unfortunately, Minister, the group apparently had some sort of contract, and as Ms. Edgecombe told me about a secret room on the seventh floor also known as the Room of Requirement, I would find something useful. She admitted that there was supposed to be some sort of meeting, but at that point, this curse activated, with what I also believe to be a strong silencing charm." Umbridge said impatiently.

"Don't we have a counter-curse for this?" Fudge said impatiently.

"I have been unable to reverse either, so far." Umbridge admitted.

'And you won't, you stupid bitch. That spell weave is far beyond your level. Too bad it's not permanent.' Harry grinned.

"It doesn't matter Minister, I can continue from here. As I informed you last October, Potter had met several students in the Three Broomsticks, as witnessed by plenty of patrons that day. Several people present that day informed me of this meeting.

I was informed that the purpose of this meeting was to persuade these students to join an illegal society, whose purpose would be to study spells the Ministry had decided were inappropriate for school age..."

"I think you'll find you're wrong here Dolores." Dumbledore interrupted her. Privately, Harry had a good feeling what he would say, and he was not disappointed.

"Let's hear your cock-and-bull story then, Dumbledore." Fudge seemed ready to burst.

"Cornelius, no one here would deny that Harry was there that day, nor that he was trying to recruit members for a Defence against the Dark Arts group. I am simply saying that Dolores is wrong to say that this action was illegal, since the Ministry Decree banning such groups didn't come into effect until two days after this, so that would mean, Harry was not breaking any rules at the time." Both Fudge and Umbridge had a sour look on their face when they heard that, but Umbridge quickly recovered.

"That's fine Dumbledore, but if the first meeting was legal, all those that followed were not."

"I agree, if such meetings did indeed take place. Do you have any evidence of this Dolores?" Dumbledore asked amused.

"Evidence? Why do you think Ms. Edgecombe is here, Dumbledore?" Umbridge smiled.

"Oh, I was under the impression she was merely reporting a meeting tonight." Dumbledore continued serenely.

"Ms. Edgecombe, tell us how long have these meetings been going on. Just nod your head; I'm sure it won't make it any worse." Umbridge turned to the girl, who was trying her best to hide her face with her robes.

Harry was going to do something, but noticing Shacklebolt cast something at the girl, decided to stay put for the moment.

"Have they been happening for the last six months?" Umbridge asked.

Marietta stood still for a moment, then surprisingly, shook her head.

"What do you mean, my dear? There were meetings these last six months, right?" Umbridge was getting angry.

Again, Marietta shook her head.

"It appears that there had been no meetings, Dolores." Dumbledore smiled.

"Dolores, the meeting tonight, the one we DO know happened..." Fudge said in a tired voice.

"Yes, Minister. After Ms. Edgecombe tipped me off, I proceeded to the seventh floor with several trustworthy students, so as to catch them in the act. However, they appeared to be forewarned about my arrival, as by the time we got there, most of them were gone. But that doesn't matter, as we have all their names on this list, Ms. Parkinson retrieved it from the room." She handed Fudge the same parchment Harry had that day in Hogsmeade.

"Excellent, Dolores, excellent, and, by thunder!" Fudge exclaimed.

"See what they named themselves. Dumbledore's Army." Fudge whispered.

Deciding that things had gone on far enough, Harry, who was standing by the door, moved with inhuman grace and using two fingers, struck first the unknown Auror, then immediately hitting Shacklebolt. Both Aurors dropped on the floor unconscious. Not giving them a chance to react, he immediately stunned Percy and disarmed Umbridge and Fudge.

"There, Headmaster. Phase one is complete. We have the Minister." Harry looked at Dumbledore, urging him to play along.

"Yes, well done Harry, we can proceed with phase two. Would you like to do it, or shall I?" Dumbledore grinned.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to do it." Harry grinned as well.

"What are you going to do?" Fudge asked shakily.

Harry pulled out one of his knives and said calmly. "Why, assassinate you of course." He approached the quivering mass of jelly that was the minister, and mere steps away, pulled his wand on them and stunned them.

"Well, that was fun. Wouldn't you say Headmaster?" Harry turned to the old man, and smirked at the gobsmacked look McGonagall had.

"Yes it was, Harry. Now, please explain to me what you did to Ms. Edgecombe and our two Aurors here." Dumbledore smiled.

"Oh, just a little spell matrix on this parchment. Putting your name acts as a binding magical contract. Don't worry, the silencing charm will wear off in two days, and the rest will last about a week. About the Aurors, I hit them in a very exact spot, and they'll be out for at least two hours. Now we just have to figure out what to do with them. I guess I can't knife any of them?" Harry asked, sounding hopeful.

"Sorry no. I suggest we obliviate them and plant a fake memory that will make them believe that they revealed my 'evil' plot to overthrow the Ministry but I managed to get away." Dumbledore suggested.

"I know just the spell. Do you want me to do him too?" He pointed at Shacklebolt.

"No need. Carry on Harry." Dumbledore noticed McGonagall about to protest, so he spoke "Have faith, Minerva. Harry is more than capable of handling this."

Harry seemed to be fumbling with his bracelet for a few moments, then pulled out a long greyish metal wand, which he pointed at Fudge and said "Obliviate Destructo." The spell hit Fudge, and Harry spent the next minute muttering under his breath. He then repeated the process with the rest.

Seeing Dumbledore eye his metal wand questioningly, he replied "I needed more power for something like this." Dumbledore nodded, but McGonagall didn't seem satisfied.

"Albus, you and I are going to have a long talk after tonight." She sighed.

"I suppose we will. Harry, will enervate work on the Aurors?" Dumbledore asked.

"It will. Until we meet again, professor." Harry gave him a small bow.

"You should to something about the room too, make it more believable." Dumbledore said as he gripped his phoenix's tail, and disappeared in a flash of fire.

"Would you care to lend a hand, professor?" Harry said as he hid his metal wand and pulled his standard one. She nodded stiffly, and the pair of them spent a few moments wrecking the office, before waking up everyone.

"Where is he?" Fudge roared as he stood up.

"The stairs." The unknown Auror shouted and rushed down, followed by Shacklebolt, Umbridge and Percy.

"Well, Minerva, this seems to be the end of your friend Dumbledore." Fudge spoke nastily.

"You think so, do you?" She replied, but he didn't seem to hear as he looked around the office.

"You better get those two to bed." Fudge pointed at Harry and Marietta and rushed down the stairs.

"Come you two. Potter, before you go, could you..." She pointed at Marietta.

"I really shouldn't, but why not." He cast a few spells, and Marietta returned to normal.

"I can get back on my own, Professor. Good night." He said and him too, rushed down the stairs.