Weapon

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and associated characters belong to J.K. Rowling. I am using them without permission but am not making any money from this endeavour. Characters you don’t recognise belong to me, as does the plot. No using without permission. (Hypocritical, I know.)

Early update to make up for the lots of not updating. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, you are the greatest!

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Weapon (Possession Chapter LXXXVI)
Chapter XXXV – Worries
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Harry leaned against the door as he shifted his mental state around, his true self retreating to allow the illusion which entertained Fawkes free reign. The shift didn\'t hurt and it wasn\'t that unpleasant except in the manner that it was not what he wanted. He was becoming used to it, and it was fairly comfortable but it was not what he wanted.

Outside of the shielding he could now feel Dumbledore and the others clearly and he could sense that they had felt him already as well. He wasn\'t sure what he was doing today though as the Hogwarts Headmaster hadn\'t elaborated much past the Coming of Age Ceremony.

Probably celebrations today with training tomorrow since yesterday, while it had been his birthday, he hadn\'t been in any fit state to truly celebrate. He had to write some thank you letters as well for the gifts he\'d received. He was looking forward to training because he was looking forward to seeing what abilities they thought he should have and he was looking forward to seeing what they would use to counter his beloved. No matter how good the Dark Lord\'s spy network things were different from the outside looking in as opposed to the inside looking out.

It was amusing that they would be in that position but in the end would arrive at the same place. Harry shook his head as he began walking through the stacks of wands. He could think about that later. For now, he had to get back to Hogwarts and he really wanted to see Ginny... or at least write to her. He hadn\'t been able to see her on his birthday and wouldn\'t any life mate want to see his other half every day?

\"\'Morning,\" he said brightly as he emerged into Ollivander\'s shop, and showed himself around the counter to come to stand just on the edge of the space available to customers.

\"Good morning, Harry,\" Dumbledore greeted him with a smile and twinkling eyes. \"How are you feeling?\"

\"Well thank you,\" Harry said. \"But I can\'t remember much of what happened yesterday. Is that normal?\"

Remus laughed. \"Very normal,\" he said soothingly, \"Not that there is much too remember,\" he added easily. \"Although I remember that time with... Heh... never mind Harry. It\'s good to have you back.\"

\"Did everything go smoothly?\" Sirius asked, his voice showing his concern. \"Do you feel any different?\"

\"A little,\" Harry said carefully. \"I feel more aware of things,\" he explained as his true self whispered, -I feel more aware of how weak this form is.- \"I feel like I\'ve grown but everything still fits.\"

Ollivander chuckled at that. \"I hear that reaction a lot from may wizards and witches. Does your wand still fit?\"

\"Hm?\"

\"Does your wand still fit?\"

\"I think so.\"

\"Try it.\"

Harry looked at Dumbledore but the ancient wizard just nodded, indicating that he should bring his wand out for the wand maker to see if it still fit, although how a wand didn\'t fit was a little strange unless it never fitted in the first place.

-It\'s in your left pocket,- the Shadow\'s whispered to him, allowing themselves to flicker visibly.

Ancient blue eyes widened slightly but Dumbledore was careful to limit his reaction to that at the sign of Harry\'s servants. Sirius\' reaction remained bland while both Ollivander and Remus remained unaffected. -We think it\'s time we appeared in your presence so that everyone knows what your power is and everyone can expect us. We have always been here but its time to show exactly how pervasive we are.- They explained briefly to Harry before they fell silent again as their Master drew out his wand.

When the thirteen inches of yew didn\'t react for an instant Ollivander pursed his lips before Harry seemed to burst into flames, the power of the wand reacting with his and making him feel warm with the assurance that it would be there for him, always working to help him focus his abilities.

\"I guess everything still does fit,\" the Wand maker said cheerfully as Harry controlled the discharge of magic, limiting his aura again as most learnt to unconsciously do in first year. Although that little display just confirmed what he had suspected a while ago and the silver eyed man could tell, just by looking at Dumbledore\'s face that the ancient wizard hadn\'t figured it out. He still did not understand the differences between broken and bent.

\"Well then,\" Dumbledore smiled, \"I thank you Ollivander for the use of your room but we should be off since I\'m sure you would much rather be dealing with paying customers.\" He lead the way to the door and pulled it open with the tingle of bells. \"I will speak to you later.\"

The Wand maker nodded and simply guided them out, paying close attention to the way young Harry moved and felt. Everything did still fit as the boy had indicated but... something had changed since last night and it appeared to be more than should have changed with the Coming of Age Ceremony or even in the presence of his mate. He seemed more... self contained... more sure of his abilities, almost as if he had been amplified. Ollivander shook his head as he watched them disappear into the crowds of Diagon Alley. With Mr Potter it seemed nothing was what it should be. He would have to tread carefully.

-No, you will have to maintain neutrality, nothing more.- A shadow said as it slide into the corner again.

\"You\'re not accompanying your Master?\" He asked as he puttered back towards the counter. He had better check on his other guest.

-I\'m not,- the shadow said as it followed smoothly, -but you know that one is not the sum of the whole.-

He smiled. \"You are talkative today,\" he commented, knocking politely on the door to the shielded room.

-Because it is time we entered the game.-

Ollivander glanced towards the shadow but it simply merged with the darkness and it was only because he didn\'t see as a human that he could tell the difference between it and the shadows cast by the stacks of wands. If they were truly going to enter this game then... things would be very interesting.

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Voldemort sat quietly. The shielded room of the Wandmaker was comforting in its own way, peaceful and quiet, as if was somehow removed from the rest of the world. With the night just past he had a lot of things to consider.

A tenshi.

Harry was a tenshi.

A pure blooded tenshi with pure white wings but more power than he knew what to do with. It had been little wonder that returning to human form had made him feel weak. It was a weak form comparatively.

But even so, what did being a tenshi truly mean beyond the ability to potentially harness almost a limitless supply of power?

The first answer was obvious.

It meant that more than him, more than Dumbledore, more than anyone else living or dead, historical or not, Harry was the most powerful wizard in existence. The sheer raw power he could harness without even needing to call upon his servants ensured that.

The serpent smiled at that. It meant that in controlling this being, he controlled pure power. It meant that his eventual victory was assured.

But on a more personal level it did mean that Harry would have to choose to submit to him... There was no way he could force his mate into submission... And while the boy might be happy to now... his servants were dominating, would they be happy with submission always? He wasn\'t sure about that answer.

-We are happy if our Master is happy,- a shadow said. -As we told him once, we are bound to serve him but it is easier for us to get what we want from him if he is happy and compliant and so we will do what it takes to ensure his happiness. If that means submitting to you Serpent Lord then that is what he will do, however do not expect us to submit to you.-

\"I don\'t,\" Voldemort replied a loud. \"But by your own admission, if it made Harry happy to screw some idiot female, you would have already seen to my demise.\"

-Not necessarily. We have our own goal, Serpent Lord. Your ascension to power forms a part of that.-

\"Only because I have claimed him. Things could have been different.\"

-They could have been very different but they are not.-

\"I have no desire to lose my mate.\"

-You won\'t.-

\"I won\'t because I already have, or I won\'t because you won\'t let it happen?\" the Dark Lord questioned but the Shadow remained silent. Harry had responded to him but had not responded to his claims of ownership.

Xatarass hissed at him. $Does it matter? The whelp is mine and through him, yours. He cannot escape, bonded or not he cannot escape.$

\"He is one of the few I cannot force Xatarass and one of the only ones I do not wish to force but you are correct, acknowledged or not, he is mine and I will make certain that his body remembers that, should he forget.\"

$Be careful, it is not truly submission that you want.$

Voldemort smiled. Xatarass was right. He wanted submission in that he never wanted Harry to look elsewhere because Harry was his. He wanted submission in that he wanted his little basilisk to stay with him but he would accept an equal partnership. At full power Harry was beautiful beyond words and his touch was something to be yearned for.

He wanted what he wanted because he wanted it all.

The Dark Lord rose, reaching down to pick up his outer robe from where it had been discarded hours ago. It was rather crumpled but a quick charm fixed that. He flicked it around his shoulders but was surprised to see something flutter from it.

A feather. A single white feather.

\"Oh...\" He couldn\'t help but smile at the memory. He hadn\'t known Harry could be that vindictive... but his mate had a true sense of pleasure and turned even punishment into enjoyment... No, he didn\'t really want Harry to submit at all.

He picked it up, twisting it between his fingers and admiring the way the light caught the natural sheen on the feather. It seemed almost to glow with is own light but the Dark Lord knew it was simply the reflection and refraction of light through the normal oils that were present in healthy feathers. He ruffled it with one finger and watched as it realigned itself, preening itself back into its perfect shape.

\"Heh...\" He\'d wondered how a halfling was meant to keep their feathers preened. Birds had no problem but they had beaks... It appeared though that tenshi got around the preening problem by simply having self preening feathers. That would make the maintenance of their form simpler and it bespoke power. For the feather to maintain itself, away from its originator... it had power in and of itself but then... it had come from a magical being. A magical being who was Harry... perhaps it would make a...

A knock on the door brought him from his reverie and he looked up.

-The wand maker,- the shadow\'s informed him as he tensed before they retreated almost into nothing.

Ah... he should perhaps have been expecting this since Ollivander would no doubt wish to set this room to rights quickly and his prolonged presence within the store was not something that was required or probably particularly desired.

\"Come,\" he called, slipping the feather into a pocket. He could consider it more later.

The door swung open easily and Ollivander looked around briefly before looking over at his guest. There was nothing to see. He had been a seducer once and had learnt how to clean up from such escapades very effectively.

\"They are gone now.\"

Voldemort nodded, \"Thank you. I shall leave as well then.\"

\"That would be best.\"

\"I thank you though for the opportunity to stay with my mate when he needed me.\"

\"Ah,\" Ollivander said with a smile. \"But I gather the experience wasn\'t quite what you thought it would be.\"

\"It wasn\'t disappointing,\" the Dark Lord said with a mysterious smile. \"But you were correct in your warning. It is most forth right with its desires and I think the game is about to get a lot more interesting, even for one such as you who watches.\"

Ollivander smiled slightly as the Dark Lord unknowingly named his occupation. \"I will continue to watch,\" he said. \"I have no intention of breaking neutrality, no matter who asks. The games of you wizards are of no concern to me.\"

\"Oh, I did not mean to imply that you would. Your neutrality is not expected but is respected, at least by me and I would not be so foolish as to seek to force you to join my cause. Even so, the games we wizards play can not be of such little concern if you watch.\"

The wand maker froze, looking sharply at the Dark Lord. He didn\'t know what he was talking about but his guesses were very close to the truth. But then Riddle had always been prepared to acknowledge that he wasn\'t the only one with a plan, that he wasn\'t the only one trying to achieve something but with the acknowledgement did not always come acceptance but the wand maker\'s neutrality was not something that was open to questioning.

He was neutral because he was the watcher, and while the games of wizards were interesting, no matter what they might think, they could not affect the tenshi, not really. They might be able to affect one or two individual tenshi but if wizards truly threatened them, then they would band together and that would be the end of that. A wizard, no matter how powerful or who they followed could not hope to win against the might of a tenshi. It was only the fact that the tenshi did not care about the corporal world that mean the wizards could dominate. Wizards and tenshi had different roles within magic and one should not be so arrogant as to think they could replace the other. That went both ways. Which was why he watched. Sometimes there were those wizards who thought they could control a tenshi, who did affect the fabric of magic and watched for them so that they could be controlled.

\"I am neutral,\" he said carefully. \"I have always been neutral and I will always be neutral. I only act to preserve that neutrality or to protect the interests of those I do watch for but so far I have never needed to act. No matter what develops now, I doubt I will have need to act.\"

\"I hope so,\" Voldemort replied. \"I do hope so because there are some things the serpent does not wish to see altered.\"

\"Xatarass?\"

\"The Line of Ximir respects your neutrality,\" the serpent said, \"we hope that you will continue to respect our choices.\"

Ollivander nodded. \"Where those choices do not conflict with my objectives, you may do what you like.\"

Both man and serpent nodded at that, their air one of acceptance. This was something they both had to be clear on but it was better now.

Voldemort moved to the door. \"I thank you for your time and your hospitality this night. I thank you also for the warning about Xir,\" he said formally as he turned to leave.

\"I thank you for your conversation and the explanation,\" the wand maker said in an equally grave tone, \"but you still owe me that core.\"

The Dark Lord laughed softly before pulled up short... The core for the wand. He reached into his robes pocket, pulling out the white feather. \"Use this,\" he said as he laid the feather down gently. \"I think it will be appropriate.\"

Ollivander\'s eyes opened wide as he saw the feather... \"That is... where did you get this?\" he asked. He could feel the power in it. He could almost see it even without trying. That was something the Dark Lord should not have had. But was it really..? The Dark Lord seemed to think it was so for now he would have to act appropriately. He could test it to be sure later.

\"It is very special, I know,\" Voldemort said. \"I almost forgot I had it,\" he added, smiling slightly at the wand maker, \"but it should be more than adequate for that wand. I think you\'ll find it most adaptable.\"

Silver eyes blinked and the Dark Lord saw the wand maker take a deep breath, forcing himself to calm. \"Yes,\" he murmured as he accepted the feather. \"It will more than compensate for the woods fragility.\"

Voldemort pulled up his hood, hiding his features as they emerged into the wand maker\'s shop. There was a small family of wizards there so they couldn\'t talk longer. \"I\'ll come by to collect it in a while,\" he said conversationally, as if he was nothing more than another customer who had commissioned something special.

\"I will owl you when it\'s ready,\" Ollivander fell into the role play, despite his curiosity about the origins of the feather. There were tests he could run but they would only confirm the type of power the feather had and what level it was. Even if what he suspected was true, they couldn\'t tell him who had given the Dark Lord such a dangerous gift. He couldn\'t tell who was interfering in the balance by dealing with one of the few wizards who could affect them and he didn\'t like that because then there were too many things he did not know about his own kind save that a black wing might be watching and a white wing was truly involved. \"Please come again,\" he added as the Dark Lord seemed to flow through the door, moving so smoothly that the bell didn\'t even jingle.

The wizarding family watched silently, sensing the power but somehow not intimidated by its display. At the same time though they were not curious about its owner and as Ollivander turned to deal with them, they completely forgot the one who had accompanied him from the rear of the store. There were, after all, many prosperous wizards within Diagon Alley, many who didn\'t wish to be known. Even with the second rise of the Dark Lord, some things hadn\'t changed.

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Serious request. I would like a beta reader for this. There are advantages to it. You get the chapters earlier, and the joy of discussing them with me. If you are interested and have the time, please EMAIL me. Consider carefully though since I don\'t want someone who is only going to stay for a chapter or two so seriously consider if you can do it. Thanks! I will reciprocate Betaing if required however this isn\'t preferred since I know what my own time commitments are like but I will do it if I have to.

Whoa! I\'ve had more offers to Beta than reviews! So thank you everyone. Last time I asked I didn\'t get that many.... :( so I am over the moon. If you desperately, desperately want to do it, you can still email.