Harry Potter and the Fortress of Woe

a/n: Sorry dudes, I admit having neglected to update on aff.net, because I considered the site dead, but apparently I was wrong. Thanks for the feedback, I do appreciate it. And I am glad that I am doing a better job than in the first version. This chapter’s layout is a bit strange because the document was incomplete due to some reason and I had to copy paste it from ff.net. I will have to investigate a bit…
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“Quite a way to solve problems isn’t it?” asked Ginny, snuggling closer to Harry’s body. They were lying naked on the bed in her room, the blanket loosely draped around their heated bodies. Harry was lying on his back and had his eyes half-closed, looking more than ready to fall asleep any moment. Ginny, however, was wide awake and was lying on top of him, her soft body pressed against his hard one. “Hey, don’t you dare falling asleep, we still have things to discuss!”
“Sorry.” replied Harry softly, a smug grin forming on his face. “It is exhausting to be such a great lover and I actually have to do something, while you can lie back and enjoy it. And then I am not even allowed to rest, oh how cruel the world has become!”
“Shut it, Harry.” said Ginny, but could not help laughing at his bold words. “Are you planning to win the biggest-ego-of-the-century contest? Because I think with this attitude you would have a very good chance to be the winner. Honestly, a sex god after two times, what a ridiculous statement.”
“You know I was only joking.” returned Harry, leaning in to place a tender kiss on her lips. “But this does not change the fact that you did enjoy it!”
“Okay, okay, I get it.” replied Ginny, laughing. “You are the sex god and I am so incredibly fortunate to have you using your precious time to shag me silly, right?”
“That’s it.” said Harry, before having to laugh as well. “Okay enough of the sex-god talk, you still wanted to talk did not you?”
“Yeah.” she said, her face suddenly sober, a hint of worry creeping into her eyes. “Harry what exactly are we now? Boyfriend and girlfriend? Friends with benefits? Do you have any plans to push me away again? Because if you have, then you should better leave now before I get accustomed to the thought of having you back. It is going to hurt less that way.”
Harry’s eyes snapped open completely and locked with hers, emerald green meeting chocolate brown. After a few heartbeats, he spoke up, his eyes still boring into hers.
“After more than a month, many broken hearts, many arguments and a few shags later, we are back to where it all began. I hate to admit it, but I was miserable without you. I wanted to come back to you, to find happiness in your arms once again, but I considered it my duty to protect you at all cost, even if this meant never seeing you again. Well, I tried, but I failed. I could not resist your charms and Hermione’s and Ron’s attempts to get us back together. Maybe this makes me selfish, but I want to spend as much time as possible with you, especially because anyone of us could be dead tomorrow.”
“Don’t say that.” replied Ginny, thickly as though she was fighting back tears. “No one is going to die and don’t you even dare considering to die! If you leave me alone, I will personally find a way to revive you, just to kick your ass! I have lost you once already, at Dumbledore’s funeral and I never want to experience something even remotely similar again. Ever.”
“This is not about what you or I want, Ginny.” reminded Harry her softly. “All of us have to shoulder our own burdens during these dark times and your may be watching me die. We do not have a say in the matter. No one really controls this war anymore, not even Voldemort. There are too many pieces on the chess board and some are not even tied to one side. Its pure and simple chaos and we have no other choice than to endure and see what will come. No, that’s not entirely true, we could still walk away and leave everyone else behind to fight for him- or herself…”
“You would never choose the easy way out Harry, would you?” she asked, sad eyes fixed on his face.
“No.”
“Not even if I would beg you to do so?”
“Not even then.” replied Harry, simply, his face growing grim. “Voldemort has done way too much to me, he will pay, no, he must pay. And I will be the one to finally get rid of him. Not only because of this blasted prophecy, no, a part of me is screaming at me to find the bloody bastard and to rip him into a billion pieces. I don’t want to fight and I am afraid – heck, I am scared out of my wits at the thought of ever having to duel Riddle on my own once again, but I keep going. Do you know why?”
The moment it had left his mouth, Harry realized that he had not told Ginny about the prophecy. He cursed himself for his slip and expected her to start nagging him about the subject immediately. He made a mental note not to tell her, unwilling to give Voldemort one more reason to go after her. However his willpower remained untested, for Ginny decided not to press the subject.
“No, why?” she asked instated, her voice so small that Harry almost did not hear it.
“Because of you.” He whispered, his eyes softening. “I want you to live in a world where you can be happy, I want you to live in a world which deserves you and not in the twisted dictatorship Voldemort is going to erect. And most of all I want to be with you as soon as everything is over, but I can’t promise that I will. If I have to die, then I will make sure that Voldemort dies with me, so that you, Ron, Hermione, your mum and dad, the rest of your family and all the innocents out there can live in peace. That’s why I am not going to run away, I won’t let Voldemort win and I have been hunted for so long already, I don’t want to spend the rest of my life in the same way.”
“I understand Harry.” answered Ginny, quietly. “You are right, but I can’t help wishing that we could simply run away.”
“This only makes you human, Ginny.” said Harry looking into her brown eyes, which were slightly shining with tears. “It’s perfectly normal, I have done the same countless times, don’t beat yourself up about it.”
Silence stretched between them and for a long while the only sound in the room was their soft breathing.
“I am sorry.” said Harry suddenly, one hand toying with one of her fiery locks, while looking into her chocolate eyes.
“What for?” asked Ginny, her brows knitting together in confusion.
“For being a noble prat in the last month.” he replied, a small smile tugging at his lips. “For making both of us miserable and for being too blind to even see my mistakes.”
“It’s okay, Harry.” answered Ginny, kissing him tenderly kiss on the lips. “I know you only did it to protect me and as long as you stay my noble prat, everything will be fine.”
Harry felt a silly smile stretch over his face and he lowered his lips to hers feeling it more than appropriate to celebrate the moment.
After a few minutes they broke apart, both of them gasping for breath.
“You should better go, you know?” asked Ginny, even though her body was burning for him and she wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of the evening and the night with him. “Hermione is not going to wait forever to come to be bed and I don’t fancy her walking into us.”
“You are right.” said Harry, disappointment evident in his voice. “It’s probably better that way.”
He rolled out of dressed quickly. He left the room after kissing her goodnight, whistling as he trudged up the stairs leading to his room.
- - - - -
The rest of the summer holidays passed in a blur. Busier than he had ever been during this time of the year Harry found himself constantly wondering if someone had bewitched the clocks to work at double speed. He had thrown himself into his work, using every free minute to shuffle through the books Remus had given him, soaking up all information which could even be remotely helpful while fight the Dark Arts in general and bloody Voldemort in particular. It was not unusual to find Harry curled up in one of the old and battered, but comfortable armchairs in the Weasley’s living room after dinner absorbed in his copy of the Auror’s Handbook. Ron scoffed at his hermioneish behaviour, but was at least interested what could cause Harry to abandon the laziness he usually sported during the summer holidays. Hermione of course was more than a bit pleased about him studying during the holidays, and she nearly flipped as he showed her what exactly he was working on. Harry could not remember seeing ever so obvious greed in his best female friend’s face and she had immediately started to beg him to allow her to have a look at the volumes. Ron and Ginny, who had been nearby, had joined in and after a few minutes of pestering, Harry had granted all of them access to the restricted material.
Harry had mixed feelings on this development. He hated dragging his friends and the girl he loved even deeper in the wretched war going on and he could not help feeling that granting them access to books dealing about how to fight properly was not exactly keeping them away from the violence on the streets. Still, it felt right. He was not encouraging them to join the fighting, right? All he wanted was them to be ready if they were attacked by any of Voldemort’s goons and it really could not hurt to give them the means to defend themselves, just in case they would have to fight someday… oh who was he kidding? Of course they would have to fight, like he had to and Harry was powerless to prevent it. War was not a fire which slowly crept over the country, emanating from a single spot; no it was a shower of meteors, striking without a pattern behind them, making it impossible to predict where the next one would hit the ground. No matter where or who someone was, as long as one remained within Great Britain the war would find him or her, the only question was when. Harry would have preferred to keep his close ones out of this murderous madness, but he was powerless to change the very nature of war itself. He would just have to live with the fact that neither him nor his friends would come out of this mess without their innocence in shatters.
Now, the evening before his final return to Hogwarts, Harry was glad for having spent so much time training over the summer. The Death Eaters marched every night, spreading destruction and despair over the country and being powerless to stop it riled him up to no end. He was itching for a fight and more than eager to put his new abilities to good use. It took every ounce of his willpower to stay put and to keep out of the fight until he was really ready. There was no point in confronting Voldemort while his Horcruxes were still intact and Harry was not naïve enough to think that he, the Ministry or the Order could stop the attacks on Muggles and Muggleborns all over Britain. No, as long as Voldemort lived, they would simply have to endure and to try minimizing the damage and currently they were failing miserably. Every death further fuelled the publics panic and desperation, causing the pressure on the Ministry and on the Chose One to grow every day. Harry knew that he should not let himself feeling guilty about not being ready, but he could not help feeling responsible for every new death, despite Ron’s, Hermione’s and Ginny’s combined efforts, who were almost constantly reminding him that it was not his fault.
However, there was a silver lining. For the first time in his life, Harry considered it possible to actually beat Voldemort in a duel. He had made incredible process over the summer, thanks to the books Remus had provided. Harry had concentrated on learning the Focus Arcanum, Occlumency, Blind Seeing and the Blinking Charm and he was more than a bit proud that he had been successful.
Two entirely different methods of Occlumency were described in Your Mind – Your Best Weapon. Both had the same goal, to protect your valuable thoughts, but utilized different ways to achieve it. The traditional Occlumency tried to block all attempts to see in the user’s mind, by creating a subconscious mental shield. This natural defence could only work if the user’s consciousness was completely devoid of any interfering emotions and thoughts. You had to wipe your mind blank, only for a few seconds to repel an attack, but still it required a lot of self control. Despite the various techniques to do so described in the book, Harry had found it still impossible to get rid of his emotions, simply because he wanted to. He used to imagine standing face to face with a sneering Snape and as soon as he felt himself getting really angry, would try to clear his mind. He had not succeeded once. Frustrated he had started to study the other described method, a much more recent variant of Occlumency, barely ten years old.
It had been developed to help all people struggling with the conservative way, like Harry was. Instead of blocking all access, it allowed the attacker limited access to the user’s mind, but he or she could decided which information one wanted to share with the intruder. Of course the memory of eating porridge in the morning was completely useless for any foe and therefore it was almost as effective as the traditional Occlumency. The trick was to concentrate as hard as you could on a particular, mundane memory as soon as one felt another person’s presence in one’s mind. The tricky part was to actually realize that your mind was getting attacked, but after a few days of practicing, Harry was quite sure that he could manage it. However, he had no way of being sure for he had no one capable of Legilimency to test his defence. Maybe Hermione could help him out here and he made a mental note to ask her as soon as possible.
He had also learned Blind Seeing, which enabled him to feel other person’s minds. At the moment it still required a lot of concentration, but with enough practice he would be able to do it subconsciously and therefore be incredibly hard to ambush or to surprise. Plus, he would be able to see through most disguises, as long as he knew the person who was trying not to get recognized, for every mind had a unique feel. It was nearly indescribable feeling to actually be able to grasp something as intangible as the very core of another person. It felt a bit like getting watched, combined with a garbled mass of emotions, which felt way too distant to be one’s own and something totally different, which probably was a person’s soul. Harry had already memorized the unique feeling of Ron’s, Hermione’s and Ginny’s mind and he planned to do so for all of his close allies, having no desire to accidentally curse them in a battle.
Harry had also started to train using the Focus Arkanum and had been surprised to find out that he seemed to have a knack for the technique. The first step was to find your magical centre, the place where all of your magical energy was stored. It was possible to sink into a trance deep enough to visit your centre in your mind and it was essential to know this place to draw power from it in the first place. The volume dealing with the Focus had provided Harry with the proper way to find his magical energies. It had been pretty easy actually. All he had to do was to cast a spell and pay attention to where the magic actually came from, before it flowed into his wand. Then he had to close his eyes and retrace the steps in his mind, arriving back at the source. It had taken him some tries but after half an hour he had finally found it and had been more than a bit surprised to fall into a boiling see of raw power. He had been so surprised that he had jerked out of his meditation immediately. For a split second his body had been burning with energy, but it had faded too quickly for him to try any spells, like water through a sieve.
After this experience, Harry had been incredibly motivated, itching to find a way to put the enormous mass of unused power insider of him to good use. Theoretically it was not that difficult, all you had to do was to concentrate on tapping into your magical centre and on extracting a bit of power to pour it into the spell you were currently casting. The extra energy would get combined with the amount of power the wand was channelling itself and the spell would be more powerful than usual. However it was very difficult to concentrate on fetching your extra power, while you had to wave your wand in the correct pattern, utter the right incantation and to aim at your desired target, all in the time of a heartbeat. It had taken Harry almost two full days to manage an overpowered stunner for the first time and the result had been pretty disappointing. He had only managed to channel a bit extra power into the spell and the only visible effect had been a slightly bigger red beam.
Still, he had been pleased with himself and over the passed month had gone better and better. He had been nowhere near channelling too much power into a spell, which had happened to lots of mages using the Focus Arkanum in the past, but Harry was not arrogant enough to consider this a result of his skill. No, he strongly suspected that he just was not good enough yet to blow himself up and was partly relieved and partly disappointed about it. But the Burrow was really not the place to practice dangerous spells, after all Harry had no desire to turn the house he considered his second home into a smocking ruin. Therefore he had decided to wait until his return to Hogwarts where he could practice in the safety of the Room of Requirements, which would simply adapt to withstand any magical explosion Harry would cause, either on purpose or accidentally.
That was also the reason, why he had only practiced the Blinking Charm out of Fifty Wicked Combat Spell, the other spells either were too dangerous or required someone to duel with him, like the advanced Shield Charms, for example. Harry did not fancy starting a duel under Molly Weasley’s nose, who still was trying to shield the kids as much as possible from the war, and therefore decided to start practicing these spells at Hogwarts. However, learning the Blinking Charm had been far easier than he had thought, it was actually very similar to Apparating, but it did required some quick wand movements, while Apparation was possible without any tools. Technically it was not really a teleportation, the caster simply was transformed into extremely fast moving energy and therefore only appeared to be jumping from one place to the next.
This also was the reason, why you could bypass Anti-Apparation wards with the charm and it explained why it was limited to short distances. The transformation was very straining to the body and energy itself was very volatile. Staying gaseous for a too long time would mean getting shattered into a billion slivers of energy all over the world and as soon as the transformation would wear of, you were dead. To avoid these unfortunate deaths, the charm had been limited to safe, short distances only, but it was still possible to deal severe damage to your body by teleporting too frequently without giving your organism the time to recover.
Speaking of Apparation, Harry and Ron had taken their Apparation exam together over the summer, Harry’s first and Ron’s second. Despite having been in the same situation once before, Ron had been a ball of nerves and Harry had tried in vain to calm him down. He himself had been confident about the test, having Apparated with Dumbledore back to Hogwarts at the end of the last year, but still butterflies had been flying in his stomach when he had been standing in the plain room in the Ministry of Magic, where a very bored old wizard had tested him. In the end both Ron and he had passed, to the first’s great relief. Mrs. Weasley had of course considered it appropriate to celebrate this happy occasion with a feast, which had, naturally, further lifted Ron’s spirits.
Despite the wedding and the rather improvised celebration after the Apparation exams, another event had caused Mrs. Weasley the show her mastery of cooking. Harry’s birthday had been celebrated, belated, because of the wedding and no one had been more surprised than Harry himself. He had completely forgotten about it, wrapped up in his sorrow about Dumbledore, busy deciding what to do next and finally absorbed in his then messed up relationship with Ginny and in his training. He had been dumbstruck when he arrived at breakfast late one day, to find himself face to face with a birthday cake bearing his name and with a crowed of cheering guests. He had already been truly touched then, but he had completely overwhelmed as he saw his presents.
Ginny, Ron and Hermione had bought him a wand holster, which could be strapped to the wrist, allowing the user to draw his wand within a split second, while the rest of the Weasley, plus Tonks and Remus Lupin had banded together to buy him a full set of dragon armour, consisting of a vest, a trouser, a jacket, gloves and boots. Charley claimed that it had been made of Hungarian Horntail Leather and was able to absorb most spells, except for the Unforgivables of course. Harry had been speechless for a moment, knowing fully well how expensive the armour must have been and then had argued that he could never accept such an valuable gift. Well, of course he had not been successful and Ginny had finally silenced his attempts by snogging him right there in the kitchen, causing almost all her brothers to avert their eyes in disgust.
Yeah, things were back to normal between Ginny and him, probably better than they had ever been and despite the teasing both of them now had to endure, despite the fact that a war was raging on and despite the fact that Harry was still waiting on a brainwave telling him where to find the next Horcrux, he was happy. He actually felt as though nothing could go wrong, as long as Ginny stayed at his side and he was almost constantly wondering when he had become that naïve.
Things between Ron and Hermione were going well, so far they had not killed each other and no severe argument had shaken the Burrow’s walls. Of course they still bickered on a daily basis, but Harry doubted that this would ever change. Both Ron and Hermione had been avoiding any public displays of affection, probably unwilling to become the subject of Fred and George’s teasing, like Harry and Ginny had become, and Harry was devoutly thankful about this. The thought of catching his two best friends making out send shivers down his spine and he had added this to the list of things he really did not want to experience.
Much faster than Harry had ever considered possible, he found himself standing once again on King’s Cross, platform 9 ¾, face to face with the scarlet Hogwarts Express. The platform was much less crowded than it had been all the years before and despite the closeness of the train’s departure things were not nearly as hectic as they had been before. Apparently the war had caused many families to keep their children close instead of sending them to Hogwarts, which probably felt much less safe with Dumbledore dead and buried, and Harry could hardly blame them – Hogwarts just was not the same without the slightly eccentric headmaster. Even though it was hardly necessary, Harry could see at least ten Aurors guarding the platform, obviously there to ensure the few students safety.
Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny had arrived together with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Tonks and Mad-Eye Moody as an escort. They had of course taken longer then expected to arrive at the station, partly because Ron and Harry had once again opted to do their packing at the very morning of their departure and partly because Mad-Eye had insisted on using the Muggle underground, because it was less conspicuous, which had of course caused Mr. Weasley to get ecstatic about all the Muggle technology and therefore created further delay. Finally they had been at the station barely five minutes before the train was scheduled to depart. After a hurried goodbye – they had to gently pry themselves from Molly Weasley’s bone breaking embraces – they boarded the train. Ron and Hermione walked to the prefect carriage, the latter far more eager then the first after having been made Headgirl, and left Harry and Ginny to find a compartment on their own, a task much easier then usual, due to the lack of students. The two of them joined Neville and Luna in an otherwise empty one, enthusiastically greeting their old friends.
“Hey, Harry, Ginny.” hailed Neville, before raising an eyebrow at their joined hands. “Still an item, right?”
“You could say that.” replied Harry, smiling, sharing a glance with Ginny. “Despite everything we are still together.”
Before Neville had the chance to ask what exactly Harry had meant, Ginny had already asked Luna about a trip to Indonesia she had done with her dad and the blonde girl had launched in an explanation about whatever strange magical creature they had hoped to encounter. After she as finished Ginny told Neville and Luna about Bill’s wedding, of course leaving out the rather juicy events between Harry and her, and soon Ron and Hermione had joined them.
Without Malfoy, the trip had been rather uneventful and the six of them soon there standing at Hogwarts’ entrance gates, after having been greeted rather unenthusiastically by Hagrid, who still seemed to mourning Dumbledore’s death. Just as they were about to enter the Great Hall, Professor McGonagall’s sharp voice caused them to halt.
“Potter, I need you in my office, please follow me.”
Mentally kicking himself for forgetting about his appointment with the new headmistress, Harry told the others to save him a seat and followed his former Transfiguration teacher, wondering what she could possible want from him.
- - - - -
Harry slipped into the seat next to Ron twenty minutes later, his head still buzzing slightly from his conversation with the new Headmistress.
“What did I miss?” he asked his friends.
“The sorting.” replied Ginny. “Flitwick is deputy headmaster and therefore lead the ceremony, we are only waiting for McGonagall, what did she want by the way?”
“She gave me something, Dumbledore wanted me to have.” answered Harry quietly, one of his hands, slipping into his robe pocket, touching the tiny wooden chest he had been given. “I will tell you later.”
Harry briefly scanned the teacher table and was surprised to find two new faces. Well, one he already knew, sitting next to Hagrid was Kingsley Shacklebolt, his right arm wrapped in crisp, white bandages and a cane resting on the floor next to him. The other unknown person was a beautiful witch in her thirties with long blonde locks and piercing silver eyes. Harry could see more than a few male students drooling over the new teacher and he quietly chuckled to himself as he caught Ron ogling her as well.
Just as he was about to ask Hermione what Kingsley was doing here, the doors leading to the Great Hall opened and the Headmistress entered. The room grew quiet almost instantly and Harry suddenly realized that less than half of the usual population had remained. The Slytherin table was almost completely empty and Harry had the bad feeling the most of those missing had chosen Voldemort’s side.
“You should fortify yourself, because I have prepared a long speech.” said the new headmistress as soon as she had taken her seat on the teacher’s table.” Enjoy your meal.” With these words, the empty golden plates filled with all kind of food, causing most students, including Ron, to tuck in heartily. Harry himself was wondering too much about what McGonagall had to say, to notice what exactly he was eating and he could tell by the pensive looks on both Hermione’s and Ginny’s faces that they were in the same situation.
About an hour later the plates were cleared and McGonagall rose to begin her speech.
“First of all welcome to a new year at Hogwarts, even though it is going to be a dark one. We still mourn the loss of Albus Dumbledore, the greatest headmaster Hogwarts ever had and the war between He-Who-Mustn’t-Be-Named and the rest of the Wizarding World has already started. To ensure every students safety there is a squad of ten Aurors stationed at Hogsmeade, ready to interfere should it be necessary.”
“Nevertheless I must ask everyone to remain alert and careful and to report any unusual occurrences immediately. Furthermore Hogsmeade weekends have been cancelled, due to security reasons. Unfortunately we were also forced to cancel the intern Quidditch Cup, because both the Ministry and the board of governors considered it too big a risk to…”
The rest of her statement was lost in a cry of outrage by most of the pupils. Ron was swearing like a sailor next to him and Ginny pulled a face as though she had just swallowed a whole bottle of stink sap. Harry himself was not too happy about this change, but considered it necessary and was glad for having extra time to practice duelling without having to worry about Quidditch training. He suddenly realized that no captain badge had been included in his Hogwarts letter, which made a lot of sense now. Apparently the decision to abandon interhouse Quidditch had not been a recent one.
“Silence please!” commanded McGonagall and the hall fell silent once again. “I am well aware that the decision is not a popular one, but that does not mean that I am even remotely considering reversing it! Nevertheless, I am pleased to welcome two new teachers, Professor Shacklebolt, who will be teaching Defence against the Dark Arts and Professor Diana, who will take over the position as a Transfiguration Professor as well as being head of Gryffindor. Also I welcome Professor Slughorn back, who kindly agreed to return to teach Potions.”
Kingsley, did not even bother to look up from the book he was reading, as his name was mentioned, but the blonde called Diana, gave the students a small wave, a relaxed smile on her face. Slughorn, extroverted as usual, made a big show of bowing in obedience as McGonagall mentioned him in her speech, a gesture rendered completely ridiculous by his enormous belly.
“There had been a change to the curriculum this year, affecting only the sixth and seventh years.” continued the headmistress. “A new subject called Practical Fighting Techniques has been created and, while being voluntarily in nature, it is every student’s duty to at least visit the first lesson. It was not mentioned in your letters, because the teacher only agreed today to actually hold it.”
The small pause after this statement was enough to cause the Great Hall to buzz with rumours as the students started to discuss the new subject. However, the studnets fell silent barely half a minute later, as McGonagall cleared her throat before continuing.
“To raise everybody’s mood and to make at least partly up for the loss of Quidditch, we have decided to hold a Christmas Ball on Christmas Eve and...”
For the second time this evening the headmistress sentence was lost in the student’s reactions, the male part groaning in unison, while the girls squealed in delight. Yeah, it was going to be a really unusual and interesting year.
- - - - -
The room was small, circular and completely bare except for the large cauldron standing in its middle. Only the fire flickering beneath it and the bluish glow of the potion shimmering inside the copper cauldron illuminated it. Severus Snape was standing hunched over the precious potion, lazily stirring counter clockwise with a huge sliver spoon. A bag of ingredients was resting at his feet and he added a bit of powdered diamond to the syrupy liquid watching it turning to deep purple. This looked good. Hardly a month left and it was finished. Satisfied, Snape allowed himself a small smile, imaging the rewards his master would grant him after he had taken over the world.