A Dark Lord in the Making

Lord Slytherin

"And yet you keep lying to me... Harry Potter," Gaunt began barely more than a whisper, only to mock Harry's last name. "This won't do."

"I- You- What?" Harry stammered confusedly. Harry gaped at him as if he had lost his mind. Gaunt looked at him with satisfaction, his dark eyes gleaming with possessiveness.

"Your last name- Potter ..." said Gaunt, wrinkling his nose as if he smelled something foul.

"You are my Heir," declared Gaunt. "You belong to me. I can feel it, every cell, every fiber... your blood, and your soul, belongs to me. Your magic calls to me, the same way as I hear my own magic sing. And you will not deny me."

Harry blinked and gave Gaunt an incredulous look. He retraced his steps, which he had plotted so precisely. He didn't understand. Everything had gone according to plan; he'd manipulated the locals, just as he'd seen Riddle do with the Hogwarts professors of the 1940s. He had then terrified his tormentors himself, and he did so, again, in the image of Riddle- after all, who could possibly be more dangerous and terrible than a Dark Lord? The only thing he hadn't anticipated was that Dudley was going to talk. After all, his cousin had known for two years that Harry was a wizard and, to his knowledge, had never spoken a word about him in front of his friends. It was a miscalculation on Harry's part, a side effect he hadn't dared dream of.

Dudley's fear had brought Harry more good than harm. Secretly Harry had been proud to be called the Heir of Slytherin, after all, it was a name of grandeur and times long gone, but a name that frightened even Muggles. After all, Dudley's friends hadn't known what kind of powers Harry really possessed, but they had learned about the existence of curses through their knowledge from movies and angsty teenage books. The fact that they thought they saw Harry speaking to a snake was enough to make the connection. Harry himself, in the presence of his aunt and uncle, had seen the film The Awakening and had seen for himself how the film dealt with old curses that resulted in stillbirths, freak accidents that ended in tragic deaths, and the madness of the evil antagonist with their lust for power. Dudley's friends had apparently watched the same movie and saw in Harry the evil villain.

Somehow the title "Heir of Slytherin" had started to wander through Little Whinging, until it was heard all over Surrey. Harry never thought anyone would find out what lies he had told his cousin for personal gain. Of course, if he could do it all over again, he would do the same, if only for two weeks of absolute rest. The last two weeks had been heavenly and Harry would do anything to maintain the current status quo.

Gaunt looked at him again critically. "This won't do." He repeated again, with a disgusted expression on his face.

"I didn't ask you for your opinion either," Harry snapped at the man, looking at his current clothes. He looked tidier than ever before and was mortified by Gaunt's constant scrutiny.

"I'm not yours and never will be," he snapped at the tall man. "It was a mistake looking for me, but let me rectify that," Harry said, turning his back on Gaunt.

Gaunt, however, grabbed Harry painfully by the shoulder. "Aren't you proud to be mine? To be exalted of those filthy Muggles you should call family? They're lies, Harry. There is no other way, no worthy wizard would leave a child with magical blood with Muggles."

"I don't know you," Harry snarled at Gaunt. "I don't have any parents anymore, they were killed by the real Heir of Slytherin," Harry continued, regardless of who he was talking to. "Because of Voldemort I have no family anymore - because of him I have to live with my Muggle family."

Harry gave Gaunt a venomous look. "We don't know each other and yet you claim that I belong to you as your prized possession. And you know what? That won't do, at all ."