Chapter 2: Chapter 1.
Chapter 1
The Nightmare Man
Summary: In the depths of the Ministry, there is a cell for the world's most dangerous man… and he wants out.
Pairing/s: None.
Warnings: Time travel, OOC-characters, Light!bashing, Twisted!Harry, Evil!Harry, violence, mention of gore. Yeah, stuff like that.
Disclaimers: I don't own Harry Potter nor do I make any money writing this.
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Edited 2020
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Chapter One
It was a calm, sunny day at the beach. Muggle families milled around, having a good time. Their children ran out into the crashing waves with shrieks of laughter. Parents kept a careful watch from the beach towels. Some were sunbathing. Others were playing games. It was just such a perfect day.
No one expected danger. In general, people liked to think that they would get some sort of warning before danger came. Days perhaps, or even weeks and months. But in a pinch, minutes would do. Just something, a sign that told them to run. It was a perfectly decent thing to do.
But no warning came. People didn't even notice as the clouds moved in. Not until the sun disappeared. But they only exclaimed their disappointment to the disappearance of the sun at first. Children refused to come out of the water, because the air was still warm.
Not for long. A cold wind swept across the beach. A teenager was swimming a bit further out, when she was suddenly dragged underwater. Some rose from their towels, calling for others nearby to see where she went.
Another disappeared, and another. A child shrieked, as a creature rose from the water.
To Muggles, the creatures looked like they came straight out of a movie. Gaunt bodies, almost skeletal, greyish skins with milky eyes and striped hair. Some had teeth to the point of fangs, while others had barely any teeth at all.
Two of them were fighting over a leg, growling. Blood began to colour the ocean around them. More and more creatures rose, and everyone began to flee out of the water. Those who weren't quick enough were grabbed and pulled. Their meat was torn from their bodies, and rotten hands held them fast as the creatures chewed on them.
Panic seized the entire beach. Muggles were screaming at a sight they only thought could happen on the telly. At a sight that couldn't be real.
When the wizards and witches arrived, they saw an army of Inferi coming back into their lives once more.
-o-
Albus Dumbledore had not seen Inferi this ferocious since the open war; the times when everyday-battles were commonplace, and people hardly dared to leave their houses. A somewhat fragile truce had been in place for some years now, but the war with the Dark Lord Voldemort was hardly over. It was always there, just beneath the surface of their daily lives.
This was the surface rippling, causing waves on their tranquil days. The Inferi had moved about like in the old days. They had barely been held back by fire spells, and tried to advance further into the country. They were stronger than Albus remembered; had Voldemort truly hidden so many out at sea?
However, there was no time to question that, not when his Order members together with the Aurors tried to hoard them in and seal them away. It was a tiresome and outdrawn task, but necessary to prevent more deaths.
Albus had seen the remains of the Muggles who hadn't gotten away in time. Children torn to pieces. His heart lurched at the sight of the remains. How they had suffered, these innocent souls… he moved now to cast yet another fire spell, backed up by Shacklebolt and Mad-Eye Moody.
It took them hours to stop the Inferi, have them all sealed away or burned into nothingness, but Albus didn't rest. Instead he went to meet the Minister in order to work up some sort of plan if this was only the start.
With him was some of the Order, including Mad-Eye Moody, Minerva McGonagall, James Potter along with his childhood friends Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. The three had faired well today, Albus knew that. They hadn't fought Inferi often; in fact, they had probably only seen the creatures one or two times before Voldemort withdrew them.
Cornelius Fudge seemed preoccupied as they began to plan what to do, nervously moving things around on his desk.
"Inferi," he muttered at long last. "Animated corpses."
"It's a rather large group that came out of the sea," Albus said. "I'm worried that there might be more beneath the surface."
"Why have they moved now?" Remus asked. "Is Voldemort preparing an attack?"
They all saw James clench his jaw. His worry was shared by everyone, but they knew no one but him and his wife Lily would be as worried as them about that prospect.
Sixteen years earlier the war had been more open when a prophecy surfaced, stating the Dark Lord's doom at the hands of a child whose parents had trice defied him. It was revealed the child was none other than the one resting in Lily's womb.
The boy had been born. They named him Harry James Potter, and Voldemort sought to kill him. An attack when Harry was barely over a year old had destroyed their home, but nearly killed Voldemort in return. That caused him to withdraw, and lie in wait in the shadows. No major attacks had happened since that night. Small raids, yes, but nothing so large that Muggles were alerted.
Had he decided to begin moving once more? Albus tapped the desk to get Fudge's attention.
"Cornelius, we must seek a solution, whether a war or not brews at the horizon. What worries you so?"
"No, it's just… Inferi, moving corpses…"
For a moment he looked lost in thought, but then it changed. They all saw it, the horrified expression that crossed his face. Then it was gone but Albus was already on his feet.
"What is it, Cornelius?"
"Minister," James said. "Please. If you know anything at all about the Inferi that can help us… please, we know so little about them that anything would help at this point."
"I don't have the knowledge myself, but there is someone who might have it," Fudge said. "No, there is someone who definitely can tell us about Inferi."
He looked at them all.
"When I first took office, I was informed about this someone by the previous Minister," Fudge told them. "Currently, only a handful of people in the Ministry are aware of this person's existence."
"Who?" Albus asked.
The Order members glanced uneasily amongst each other. Fudge was not suited for battles, and had never been in a battle. He also wasn't always reliable. So coming with a secret at this point didn't sit well with them. Albus didn't like it either.
"This way," Fudge said instead of just telling them right there what he knew.
He led them out of the office, and to the elevators nearby. They all stepped inside, the space within easily shifting until they all fitted. Fudge brought them down to the lowest level, and began walking down a corridor.
"I've barely been down here," James said. "Where are we going?"
"Down," Fudge said. "Further down."
"We can't get further down!" James protested.
Fudge took out his wand as he glanced over his shoulder at them.
"To the rest of the Ministry, this is indeed the lowest one can go," he said. "To me and a few others, it's not."
He stopped, and tapped the wall. Albus saw a sign, not sure what it meant, before the wall rippled. A set of black elevator doors was revealed, and opened. Fudge stepped inside first, and motioned them inside. Like the other elevator it shifted so they could all fit.
Fudge pressed the tip of his wand to a panel next to the doors. There were no buttons.
"The pit, if you please," he said instead.
The doors closed, and the elevator dropped. It wasn't a gentle descent. They could all feel how the elevator fell through the ground, going deeper and deeper. Fudge adjusted his collar, and shifted. Beads of sweat had gathered at his hairline.
"The pit?" Albus said, holding onto the wall of the elevator.
"A joke from 1804 apparently," Fudge replied, and shifted again. "Not sure if I share the same humour they did back then, but it's called the pit now."
He shifted once more, dabbing at his forehead.
"What's wrong, Cornelius?"
"I've only been down here once," Fudge said. "When I first took office. It's not the most welcoming place, to be honest."
They reached the end and the doors opened. A black-cloaked man awaited them.
"An Unspeakable?" James asked.
"Not quite," Fudge replied and then turned to the man. "We're here for the… you know for what."
"Of course."
The man led the way and the Order members took a look around. It was a bleak, miserable place with nothing but small, glowing lights to guide the way.
Then they came to a long, wide hall with several doors. Many of them were open in one way or another, but one was completely shut. Another black-cloaked man waited there, next to a table with two chairs. It was the only place apparently that was dry; everywhere else it was damp and chilly.
"Minister," the man at the table said.
"Gentlemen. Now, I know you have never opened the door but you know the rule."
"Yes," both men said. "Do not underestimate what's inside."
"Exactly," Fudge said. "Last time one of the guards did was in 1866. She walked too close and got her throat slashed open for the trouble. Then of course, there was the incident when I first came here…"
Fudge cleared his throat.
"What happened then?" James asked one of the guards.
"They didn't work here at the time," Fudge told him. "But let's just say it didn't end well for one person."
The two men didn't seem to know this part, and nodded more earnestly in regards to the rule.
"The rule applies to you as well," Fudge told the Order members. "Keep your distance. Magic-stealing chains are enough to keep him seated, but it doesn't seem to completely seal his magic off. Also, the man has had time to come up with other ways of torturing people."
The two men, guards Albus guessed, hung onto what Fudge said. They didn't know what they were guarding? Not even that it was a person, a man? Fudge motioned for them to open the door, and they hurried to comply.
It wasn't easy; the door groaned and creaked as they began to pull it open.
"Who exactly are we here to see?" Albus asked.
"He has no known name, only a title," Fudge replied. "People called him the Nightmare Lord. Judging by his crimes in the past, it seems to be a fitting title."
Albus had never heard of such a lord. He hadn't heard even of someone with a similar name. Who was it? He saw only darkness in the room, and the guards stepped back before pulling out their wands. They conjured lights and sent them in.
The room was empty except for a stone chair in the middle. On the chair sat a man wrapped in blackened chains. His long hair covered his face, head hanging low. The fingers were slack against the armrests. There was no movement.
"Is he dead?" Sirius asked.
"I can hear breathing," Minerva said.
The man on the chair snapped his head up, making them flinch. His eyes were bright green and he stared at them with no expression at all.
"Back again, Cornelius?" he said, voice raspy, unused for quite some time. "New robes. What, you couldn't salvage the last ones you wore?"
"Silence!"
"Then again, blood and guts are difficult to get out," the man continued. "You've braver today, Cornelius. Last time you reeked of fear, shaking like a little lamb."
"Be quiet!" Fudge said. "You are nothing but a beast, destined to be locked up forever."
The man smiled, eyes lighting up.
"A beast, you say," he said. "Boring."
"What does he mean?" Sirius whispered.
"Beast. Monster. Killer. All so boring, I've heard those things over and over again. You're all the same, lacking imagination, lacking words. So boring."
Then he laughed. It wasn't a particularly pleasant sound.
"Enough!" Fudge said. "What do you know about the Inferi?"
The grin melted off the man's face, and he tilted his head. For a moment, Albus thought he was afraid. But then the smile came back, gentler, and the man said:
"An army of the dead of course."
"We know this!" Fudge began.
"Corpses marching towards a peaceful village, ready to eat the innocent. Oh, I'd like to see that now."
"What do you know of Inferi?!"
"No need the shout, little Cornelius," the man said. "I know things about Inferi. I know… most there is to know, because I made them possible."
They looked between one another. Fudge was dabbing at his forehead.
"I wasn't called the Nightmare Lord purely because I killed people," the man said. "I was the nightmare that haunted people. I was fear itself."
"Yet you sit in an underground prison, chained to a chair and forgotten by everyone," Sirius spat out. "What a pathetic nightmare you turned out to be."
"I was bored," the man replied. "Bored of the killing. There's only so many ways you can kill someone before it gets repetitive. So I thought it might be fun to see what people would do if I allowed them to catch me. Which was a mistake. But I am still a man of human flesh and blood. People make mistakes. Mine got me locked up in here."
"Why did you create such hideous things as Inferi?" Albus asked.
"Well, don't you just sound like you're the supreme leader of something. So annoying. Why I made them? If I must tell…"
"I command you!" Fudge ordered.
The man merely smiled at the order, and rolled his head a few times.
"Alright," he said before Fudge could do more than catch the guards' attention. "As per your… command, I'll tell you why. I felt like it."
"What?" Albus said.
"I felt like creating them, so I did. It was so much fun watching people get chased by their relatives' corpses. It had me laughing for hours. But Inferi aren't the most magnificent thing I made. No, the truly magnificent thing is far more powerful."
"Is?" Mad-Eye Moody said. "Don't you mean was?"
"Oh, no, it's still is," the man said. "After all, you can't kill a Dementor even if you tried."
Dementors? He had created Dementors?
"Are my darlings doing well?" the man asked Cornelius. "They always behaved with me, but I wonder if they do the same with you."
"What the hell is he talking about?" Sirius demanded to know.
"Minister, he can't seriously mean…" Remus began.
"He does," Fudge replied. "The Nightmare Lord is the creator of Dementors. The method remains unknown, and he has never revealed how many of them were made before his capture. Not only Dementors, but he created the method of how to make a corpse into an Inferius, as well as strange spells. He has unleashed more horror to this land than any other dark lord."
"Thank you."
"That's not a compliment."
"I take it as one," the man said. "But it's a bit sad that everyone seems to have forgotten me now. But then again… time heals all wounds. Or at least puts a scab over the raw, bloody wound I tore into these lands. You never answered my question, Cornelius."
His tone had changed, and Fudge took a step back. The man's bright eyes bore into his.
"Are my darlings doing well?" the man repeated, almost hissing.
"They're fine," Fudge told him. "Like you said, they can't be killed. Now, about the Inferi. How do we defeat them?"
"What do you mean, how? They're already dead. You can't kill a corpse twice, that's just ridiculous. If you could kill a corpse, that would rather defeat the purpose of a near-immortal army, wouldn't it?"
"What should we do then?" James asked.
"Where did these Inferi come from?" the man wondered.
"From the sea," Fudge said before Albus could stop him.
"Oh. The sea. Never thought of that."
"What do you mean?" Albus said.
"Nothing at all." The man smiled. "Since you can't kill a corpse, you have to burn it. Sealing Inferi won't kill them, or even hold them indefinitely. They'll get out, so you have to burn them to ashes."
"That's the only way…" Albus murmured.
"You'll have to work for it though," he said. "Inferi still move while on fire. Perhaps you'll need to chop them up, watch their limbs writhe on the ground. Endure the smell of burnt flesh."
"Quiet," Fudge said.
"Make me, Cornelius. Make me shut up."
He grinned after that. Fudge took out his wand once more and seemed to activate some sort of spell. Lightning hit the man. He trashed against the chains, silent. Lightning sizzled up against his arms, and they could smell burning. Fudge cancelled the spell after a few minutes, and the man slumped down, wheezing for breath.
"You should keep your mouth in check," Fudge said. "You're never getting out of here."
The man looked up at Fudge, bloodshot eyes probably due to the spell. He smiled thinly and spat out some blood at Fudge's feet, making Fudge jump. The man snapped his teeth, baring them like an animal and Fudge backed away.
"Still afraid of me," the man said. "Then again, you have seen me kill someone while still chained to this stupid chair."
"You're not getting out," Fudge said. "Never getting out."
Albus looked at the man. This so-called Nightmare Lord. He looked pitiful where he sat chained, and yet… and yet…
"How did an ordinary person turn into a monster?" Albus asked. "What made you turn into this?"
"Bad upbringing," the man replied. "Or maybe not. Was I born with evil in my soul? Always the wolf in sheep clothing? Or was it taught to me? Perhaps I just simply chose it. Chose to be the beast."
"You were always evil," Fudge said. "In all the reports… you've lived for a long time. Before Hogwarts came to be, you roamed the lands and spread your wickedness."
"My wickedness? What is this, a fairy tale? Don't paint the past in pretty words, boy. And since you've gotten your information now, I'd like to be left alone."
"Left alone, in the dark?" Fudge said.
"Unlike you, I happen to enjoy it."
"Give him some water. We aren't monsters like him."
"I'd be surprised if you were," the man said.
One of the guards cast a spell to fill a cup with water. Normally, he explained, they cast the spell through the door after being assured it would work and bring him water and sustenance.
The man leaned his head back to drink the water from the floating cup, even went as far as licking the cup after the water was gone, and then he groaned before relaxing into the chair and letting his head hang. Fudge motioned them to back off, so the door could once more be closed, when the man raised his head and said:
"Cornelius, little child. Beware."
"Of what?"
"Of me, my dear. You can't keep me locked up forever and once I'm out, I might just make the nightmares start anew."
"You have been in this prison for a long time; you will be in here for the rest of time, until you finally decide to perish."
"May I ask one question?" Albus wondered.
"Oh, don't look at me," the man said. "Ask little Cornelius. He's the one in charge."
A cackle followed.
"You may," Fudge told Dumbledore.
"Do you know of a man named Voldemort, and if you do, how did he come across the knowledge of creating Inferi?"
"Voldemort? What a curious name. Why should I know? I've been locked up here for ages! I don't know if it's day or night, and I haven't kept up with the years. Hard to hear about people in here."
"Answer him truthfully!"
"I am."
"That smile says something else."
The man was indeed smiling, and he smiled wider at seeing Fudge's irritation.
"Is that so?" he said. "But how can I meet people? These chains aren't for show you know; I can't even get up and I've had an itch on my leg for the last twenty years…"
"So you don't feel like being useful?" Fudge asked.
"I never feel like being useful," the man said. "Not to people like you."
"Then don't expect company anytime soon."
"You don't make very good conversation anyway. Bye-bye for now."
"Close the door already!"
The lights vanished from the room, casting the man in shadows and darkness.
"Oh, taking the lights so soon? What a cruel child you are, treating an old man like this."
"Close it!"
The guards hurried to close the door again, and locked it while Fudge wiped his brow repeatedly.
"He's very good at riling people up," he explained to the Order members and Dumbledore. "I didn't know that last time, but I wasn't down here for long enough for him to start apparently."
"How come the majority of the Ministry doesn't know he's here?" Albus asked.
"Things are forgotten over time. It became tradition to only let the Minister and a few people he chose, to know about this place and the prisoner." They left the cloaked guards behind them and Fudge continued, "The guards don't know the extent of his crimes. Until today, those two hadn't even seen him, or truly been aware what he was."
"Since they never opened the door," Albus said, recalling what the guard told them about the spells for food and water.
"Precisely. I do hope they won't quit. Some people did apparently, when they saw him for the first time. Hiring new people for the work is such a time-consuming task."
No one had a response to that.
-o-
Back in the dark, the Nightmare Lord chuckled. Toes tapped the cold floor. He tapped his fingers against the stone.
"So, James Potter is alive here? That is rather strange. Maybe I had a bigger impact than I thought… but why should anything have changed? There must have always been someone who made my darling children, and figured out how to animate corpses… oh, I hate this sort of thinking. Too complicated."
He fell silent and waited. One might ask what someone like him waited for in that dark room. The next meal? The next visit? Normally that would be about it, but this time he was waiting for something more than that. He was waiting for a specific sound.
Fudge might believe he knew nothing of time while in that room, but the Nightmare Lord could keep track of time when he really wanted to. This time, he wanted to, and thus knew hours had passed since the Minister's visit. He didn't mind waiting a few hours, letting Fudge unwind from the visit. Let little Cornelius believe he was safe and sound, no Nightmare Lord to fret about.
To be honest, the lord hadn't paid much attention to those who guarded him. He only saw them when the Ministers had come to see him, the freaky man who wouldn't die. Some didn't seem to have read the reports about him. Others, like Fudge, seemed to have some idea.
The guards rarely knew anything about him. He hadn't thought to look into their minds, or the few times he had they were well-protected. Given time, he could've broken into their heads, but time was never really on his side when he saw the guards.
However, today… today was a good day. Probably because there had been so many people around, and Fudge talking to him, but one of the guards hadn't protected himself properly. His mind had been not wide open of course, but there had been enough of a crack for the Nightmare Lord to slip inside. After that, it wasn't hard to plant what he wanted; he had spent many hours controlling dozens of people just for fun.
The creak of the door was what he had waited for, the groaning noises as it was forced open. The lord watched as it opened, and light spilled in. The guard who had greeted Fudge and his company earlier stood before the Nightmare Lord now, his eyes blank. The second guard lay on the ground behind him, blood sprayed on the floor and wall. It looked like he had been killed during a game of chess.
"Good work," the Nightmare Lord said, delighted. "Now, I am so ready to get out of these chains."
They had held well. Centuries even. Simple design, but powerful. As long as no one took them off. Which the guard began to do.
"Inferi moving around… the sea, I never really thought about the sea," the Nightmare Lord mused as the chains were removed piece by piece. "Oh, and Voldemort. That name, brings back so many memories. I have heard of it, of course, but never have I taught him anything. Maybe he found one of my books. I know I misplaced at least one at some point, and didn't I have one when I was captured? I should pay him a visit. Could be fun."
The guard tugged at the chains, pulled and found a weak spot. He held his wand against it, and with a snap the chains broke apart.
The Nightmare Lord was free.
To be continued…
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