Author's note:
Sooo sorry for the wait to, you know, the ten people who are gonna read this ;). In al seriousness though, I really do wish I didn't have to keep you guys waiting, but I was in a place with no computers, internet or WiFi. So yeah, it was kinda hard to update. Anyways, I'm pretty happy with how this chapter turned out (someone beta-d it for me so I'm slightly more confident in the spelling) and I hope you enjoy it.
Also, triggering stuff directly at the start!!! Please don't read it if you don't like that kind of stuff. I'll put up mentions.
Disclaimer: if I owned Harry Potter, he'd be dark by book three. But he isn't and the HP universe still belongs to the talented JK Rowling and Warner Bros. I think.
Enjoy!
*Warning! Graphic pain and mention of death!*
The moment Elias was released from the stupify, his Occlumency began to crumble. He could feel his emotions slipping, feelings coming to the front of his mind. It was excruciating. He was determined not to scream though. Clenching his teeth, he curled up into a ball as memories were ripped through his mind and emotions ran rampant.
It was like nothing he had ever felt before. The fundaments of his mind were shaking with strain and emotions lashed into his psyche like whips. It was like someone forcefully digging into his mind, breaking memories and ripping apart thoughts, but then times a thousand.
And then something broke. He screamed. It was a horrifying scream, and only the first in a series spanning out for over three hours.
Elias writhed on the ground, ripped at his hair and ground his teeth together... nothing helped. Nothing elevated the all encompassing pain tearing through the very core of his being.
When he, however fleetingly, was able to think even a single thought, he wished for death- for rest, after this torturous hell. Those moments though, were only few, far apart. Mostly, he couldn't think. Having to rely on his primal brain to keep his body functional, his consciousness was shed to pieces and his thoughts were sporadic.
He found himself staring at the grey of the dungeons for ages, trying to ride out the anguish. He clenched and unclenched his hands, just to feel them. He felt the cold of the cell going through his bones.
*end graphic pain*
He must have lain there for hours before he stood on quivering legs, sore from spasms and the intense strain he had put his body under. Admitting that standing may not be a good idea just yet, Elias sat back down.
After a moment's hesitation, he decided to check his mindscape for damage. Retreating back into himself, he first surveyed his outer shield. It seemed fine. That was good.
Sliding through it into his actual mind, he started for a moment. It was nothing like how it was before. Nothing like how he had imagined it either. Looking around, he slowly developed a big grin on his face- one that he hadn't worn in more than a year. Whether the grin appeared because of actual joy or temporary mania remained the question, but Harry didn't dwell on that for to long.
His mindscape had become a work of art. Whereas he previously had had selected places to store memories, emotions, ideas, and so on, it was nothing like that now.
Right past his first mental shield, there was a gigantic tornado-like structure. All thoughts, emotions, feelings- everything was intertwined. It was brilliant, actually.
Had the pain been worth it? Definitely not. But Elias had to admit that this type of mindscape, one he had never seen before, was truly incredible.
Because everything was interwoven, all his memories were accessible, thanks to links he had made himself, within less than a second. Not only that, but extreme emotions would be carried by the system as a whole and would be left to dissipate on their own as supposed to being pushed away.
And for a bonus, it was next to impossible to find a memory or thought in the whole thing. Harry would wager that it was even better than his previous defenses.
All in all, Elias was thinking clearer than he ever had before and better than ever at dealing with emotions. He tentatively started laughing outside his mind.
What started out as a small, slightly forced chuckle quickly evolved into a roaring laugh. It was funny that now, locked up in one of the most secure dungeons Voldemort had, Elias felt freer than ever.
About that though... Elias laughter abruptly stopped. He'd be damned if he were to just roll over and accept Voldemort locking him in. Calmly, efficiently, Elias began thinking of a way out.
He realized he still had his wand on him. He tutted. How irresponsible of his guards. Smirking lightly, he started trying some stuff, only to abruptly drop his wand. He cursed, shaking his head. It seemed his guards, or at least Voldemort, had been smart after all.
The cell was surrounded with blood runes that made it so that any magic cast inside -but only the stuff cast by the one seen as prisoner by the wards-, would be absorbed by the other protective spells, effectively causing a one-step-forward-two-steps-back scenario. Harry cursed again. Very smart indeed.
Rubbing his face with his hands, he sat down against the wall. Obviously, magic wouldn't help him here- only his wit would.
About half an hour later, a smirk began to form on his face. He was positive his plan would work...
It was early in the morning when a guard banged on Elias' cell. Elias himself, weakened and tired, looked up with drooping eyes.
The guard grinned. It was not often that such an arrogant high-horsed gentleman was reduced to such a pitiful state. He opened the door and approached Elias with self assured steps.
'Not so high and mighty now, huh?'
Elias glared at the man fiercely but kept quiet.
The guard snickered. He came closer. Looming over Elias' crumpled form, he shook his head condescendingly.
'Really Elias, mate, you should have known better than to piss off our Lord. Not so smart...
'You know, I know just what kind of person you are. So arrogant, so aristocratic- you'd never even consider such a lowly guard as me to do anything, huh? But you're wrong. Yes... so wrong.'
The guard smirked and pulled his wand from his pocket. Showing it to Elias, he waited for a reaction.
Elias, eying the wand a little warily, eventually lifted one mocking eyebrow.
'So,' he rasped out, throat raw from the night before, 'you going to actually use that thing? Or is it just a prop? Do you even have the power to handle that thing without accidentally poking your eyes out?'
The guard growled.
*Warning! Graphic stuff again!*
'Oh you'll see I'm very good at curses, Riddle... look at this... Crucio!'
Elias back arched as his hands clenched into fists. Trying valiantly not to scream because of the pain his already weakened body was under, he ground his teeth together with immense force. He felt his muscles spasm yet again thanks to the pain in his nerves.
After half a minute, the guard stopped the curse. Stepping back, he admired the sight Elias made.
Elias himself had curled up into a little ball, shivering and spasming uncontrollably. He made no attempt to scramble away, though he did lift his head and squinted at the guard.
'Circe!' He ground out, 'That all you got, squib? Honestly you don't even compare to others I've felt.'
Body taunt with aggravation, the guard fired another curse. Elias didn't hear the curse, but felt it all the same. Though painful, it was nowhere near a crucio and definitely nothing compared to the emotional pain he had gone through just the night before. He decided to make a show of screaming and spasming though, so that the guard didn't get the wrong idea.
*End warning*
After he lifted the curse, the guard curiously observed Elias. Elias merely lay on the floor, panting. Eventually, he lifted his gaze towards the guard's face.
'So,' he started quietly in a way calmer voice than before, 'was there actually a reason for you to come in here, or was this just for your fun?'
The guard scoffed. 'Well my Lord did tell me to tell you that you should be ready in half-an-hour 'cuz you're gonna have a meeting with him.'
Elias nodded tiredly.
'Fine.'
The guard paused for a moment, but when it became evident that Elias wasn't saying anything else, he kicked the unprotesting man, feeling they need to harm rise once more, then abruptly walked out and carefully closed the door of the cell behind him. With a sigh, he walked away.
About two meters away from the door, the guard decided to quickly check if Elias was still in the cell. He turned, and immediately gasped. The cell was empty. Impossible.
Without a second thought, the guard raced upstairs to notify his Lord. From in the shadows two viridian eyes, accompanied by a toothy grin, saw him go.
Outside of his cell, Elias smirked. Though he admitted his plan was rather... different, the guard could have been smarter.
Elias had, when the guards back was turned, switched to his animagus form. It was a risky move- he hadn't done it before in this body- but he had managed. Or at least, partially. He was currently a black panther cub (his actual body was only eleven years old) with a human head and one human arm.
When the guard had closed the door, as a small panther cub he had easily slid out, slipping past both the door and the guards notice. It was possible to turn, because it was technically not casting any magic. An animagus transformation was internal magic, so Elias could transform without any negative side effects from the cell's wards.
Elias focused back on the task at hand. There was, after all, a long way to go to freedom, and his plan sure wasn't airtight.
Firstly, he went on the search for some type of sewer system in the dungeons. He was reasonably sure the mansion was once the Riddle estate mansion- a muggle mansion- and therefore equipped with a mundane sewer system. So, he tip-toed through the hallways and past the other cells on search for any kind of pipeline.
Prowling past the often occupied cells, Elias made sure not to stray out of the shadows as he searched for pipes, holes in the wall, anything really that might lead to the sewers.
He came across a pipeline next to a cell three hallways to the right of where he started. It was reasonably hidden, the little light around Elias giving it little to no lighting, but easily enough to access if one tried hard enough.
He looked both sides. There was no one here yet, though he heard voices in the distance. He reasoned the guard might have arrived with reinforcements by now. Elias grabbed his wand and slowly, carefully uttered an evanesco at the presumed sewer.
Thereby removing part of the pipe, Elias jumped into the opening. As he was more than half panther, crawling through the pipes was no hard feat. He did not benefit from the enhanced sight he could have had- his head being still human- but that didn't really matter except for some bumps and bruises to add to his growing collection.
Slowly but surely he made his way to the edge of the wards. It was not very difficult actually, to get away via the pipes. Sure, the air was not too fresh and the pipelines cramped, but Elias was surprised that no one else had thought of this escape route before.
Everything seemed to be going just fine, and Elias felt that he was close to the edge of the wards when he allowed himself to relax minutely. That was, until he turned the corner.
Right in front of him lay a huge, pointy-fanged snake. Nagini, his mind supplied helpfully. He swallowed. Slowly, he tried backing away as quietly as he could. It was futile though, as Nagini had both seen and heard him approach from meters away.
'Hello panther-child,' she hissed in parseltongue.
Elias blinked. He was sure his glamour was still on. He should look the part of an adult. Glancing at his body, he suddenly understood. His panther body was after all still a cub. Deciding he didn't want to anger the big snake by ignoring her, he quickly replied.
'Hello, great sssnake.'
'What are you doing here in my territory?'
Elias blanched, then grimaced.
'I'm very sorry, oh great one. I didn't know these were your grounds. I just saw a pipe, out in the forest, and started exploring.'
Nagini let out what Elias presumed was the snake equivalent of a huff.
'Well then, panther-childe, I ssshall essscort you back out. My massster doessn't like ssstrange creaturesss on his groundsss.'
Elias nearly laughed out loud. It seemed almost to good to be true.
'Of course, snake of this territory. I'm so sorry to be a bother.'
Nagini just shook her head -in a very human-like fashion- and slithered back the way she came from. Elias quickly followed.
Going through the dark, damp tunnels, they were out in the open -a forest- within three quarters of an hour. Elias sighed.
'Thank you, majessstic one, for leading the way. I do find I enjoy open air more than closssed tunnelsss when it comesss down to it.'
'Of courssse,' Nagini said, 'you are a panther-child after all. Your kind feelsss locked up in sssmall ssspacesss.'
Elias nodded.
'That isss true. But I thank you, anywaysss.'
Nagini huffed once more and turned around, back to hunting for rats in her sewer system. Elias was glad she didn't think him worthy of any more attention.
When he was sure she was gone, Elias slowly tried turning back into a human. It was a slow process that was agonizingly difficult, as Elias had never done it in this body, but he managed eventually. He nearly laughed with relief, but again reminded himself that there was still more to his escape and instead just went on with his plan.
Quickly drawing up a wandless tempus, he gulped. It was quarter to nine in the morning already. His classes began at five past nine. And worst of all, his first class was potions with Snape. He was going to be late, and in so much trouble.
Rushing now, Elias made his way past trees and bushes to the edge of the Apparation wards. He reached those in five minutes and immediately Apparated to the edge of the wards of Hogwarts- near Hogsmeade.
Elias rushed into the tunnel connecting the dungeons to Hogsmeade. As he was able to discard his Elias guise within five minutes, he was only mildly slower than he normally was going in though this passage.
Once he was safely inside, Harry quickly speed-walked to the Slytherin common room and did a tergeo to clean off all the grime he had accumulated over the last twenty-four hours. He switched into his school robes as fast as he could, and grabbed his books.
Half-throwing then in his bag, he rushed back out of his dorm and out of the Slytherin common room to his Potions class.
Taking a moment to smoothen his appearance, he quickly did a tidying spell. Then, he took a deep breath. He knocked on the potions classroom doors.
It was quiet for about ten seconds before the tell-tale drawl of Snape answered.
'Come in.'
Harry sighed and, with his back straightened, walked in.
'A panther-human child, you sssay?'
'Yesss, that'sss What I sssaid, Massster.'
'How ssstrange...'
Voldemort rubbed his cleanly-shaven chin. Combing a hand though his dark brown hair he pondered upon what the creature was, that Nagini has seen. He had certainly never seen anything like that in any of his travels.
'And it spoke Parceltongue... how intriguing.'
Pondering over the mystery from another minute of two, Voldemort eventually returned to the paperwork on his desk. Who knew that being a Dark Lord brought so much work with it...
And that's it! A rather long chapter I'm afraid... I hope that doesn't bother you too much. I just couldn't really find a better place to stop, you know? Anyways, I hope you might consider voting and possibly commenting. And that's that.
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