A Turn of Events

Chapter One

Harry was silently panicking. Had he the use of his body, he would likely be shaking uncontrollably. As it was, his conveniently comatose body was lying amid the panicked shouting and cursing, not five meters away.

The only other inhabitant of his current location was also panicking. It was beginning to make him feel nervous. Whoever it was, the true owner of this body seemed to have lost all ounce of their magical power. Along with their wand.

If Harry really wanted, he could choose to see through the other’s eyes. However, he was tired and slightly fearful. He could vividly hear the screams and the chaos, and decided to stay hidden in the depths of this person’s jumbled mind.

Circumstances certainly weren’t turning out as Harry had hoped. The outcome of the ‘Final Battle’, as it had been suitably named, had become a confused mess. And if losing his body at the wand of Voldemort wasn’t enough, Harry most definitely was not happy when the owner of this body turned and fled into what could only be the nearby forest, if the snapping of twigs was anything to go by.

Eventually he dared to peer through the eyes of the anonymous body, and found that he was indeed being taken at full speed through a somewhat gloomy forest.

He soon decided that he was in the body of an enemy, most likely a death eater. What other rational reason would a wizard have for abruptly fleeing the battlefield? Besides the obvious fact that they had currently turned squib. The Order had clearly been winning, after all. Only minutes earlier Harry had been backed up by Aurors, friends, even Snape, before the inevitable exchange of killing curses that he and Voldemort had had.

In any case, Harry was unsure of what had become of Voldemort in the last few moments. It couldn’t be good. Harry sincerely hoped that the bastard was in a worst condition than himself, if not dead.


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Harry woke with a jolt, realizing that he must have dozed off at some point. The body was panting heavily, leaning against a tree. It was almost dark when they began to move again, this time at a slow pace. It was when Harry was about fall asleep once more that the owner of the body stepped onto something particularly slimy that seeped into his shoes.

‘Ew,’ Harry thought when the man cursed.

The person came to a sudden halt.

Harry realized immediately that he had been heard. But whether that was a good thing or a bad thing, he couldn’t decide.

‘Reveal yourself,’ he heard suddenly. ‘I know you are there.’

Harry could feel himself take an intake of breath, although he wasn’t sure quite how, as the body hadn’t moved the slightest bit.

Unsure of himself, he settled on, ‘Er, hello?’

The body seemed to jerk slightly in surprise, despite its being sure of his presence.

“Who are you?’ the cold voice demanded, beginning once more to make way through the trees.

Harry suddenly felt an icy feeling creep through him. He was beginning to have a sudden suspicion of whose body he was in, wondering why he hadn’t thought of it before.

He must have waited too long because the voice demanded, ‘well?’

‘Potter,’ he answered timidly, and immediately regretted it as cold anger washed over him from the other.

‘Potter,’ Voldemort stated, disgusted.

Harry was vaguely aware of that the conversation was taking place primarily in Voldemort’s head.

‘Just wait until I am rid of you, Potter,’ Voldemort was saying viciously. ‘You will soon regret that you were even born.’

Harry couldn’t help himself. He was exhausted and overwhelmed by what had happened, casting the killing curse and ending up in Voldemort’s body. He snickered, somewhat hysterically, and said, ‘That’s the oldest line in the book. At least think of something creative.’

He could feel Voldemort pause.

‘Besides, what can you do to me while you’ve got no power?’

‘Rest assured, Potter. I am quite certain that my power will return, perhaps even stronger.’

Harry could feel himself gulp. Voldemort smirked.

‘You fear me. Your bravery is convincing, but truly on the inside you are a frightened puppy, quite like the rest of those fools.’

Harry scowled. ‘I’m not,’ he replied sullenly, annoyed at his inability to come up with a half decent answer.

Voldemort didn’t reply. He was still trudging through the forest. Harry wondered where he was going, and asked.

‘That is none of your business, Potter. But if you must know, I need to find a place to recover quickly.’

‘Recover?’

‘Indeed. As you pointed out, I can hardly torture you when I am as weak as a muggle, now can I?’

‘But how long is it going to take? Do you actually know where you are going?’

‘Of course I know where I am going,’ Voldemort sounded irritated. ‘I picked this location to destroy you, did I not? I know this forest like the back of my hand. However, I do not know how long it will take. It may take hours, or months. Magic has different ways of returning.’

‘Right,’ Harry said, unconvinced.

After a while of sulking and wishing heartily that he knew what had become of his friends, Harry said petulantly, ‘Why couldn’t you just die?’

Voldemort inwardly laughed coldly. ‘That, Potter, is the question I have been asking myself for the last sixteen years concerning you.’

Harry sighed. He was tired of this conversation, and soon dozed off once more.


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This time when Harry awoke, it was morning. Voldemort was still awake and alert, and Harry doubted that he had even slept. Not that Harry cared.

They, or rather Voldemort, sat against a tree in a small clearing. They were still in the same bloody forest.

‘What are you going to do now?’ Harry asked at length, wary of the silence. He could feel Voldemort thinking, his thoughts rushing and flickering. It was beginning to give Harry a headache.

‘Be quiet,’ Voldemort snapped, and returned to his thoughts.

‘No,’ Harry said irritably. ‘I want to know how long I’m going to be stuck with you.’

‘I said be quiet.’ Voldemort ordered coldly. ‘I am trying to decide what course to take from here. If you remain silent, you insolent whelp, you may gain something from this.’

Harry scowled but stayed quiet for a few moments. Soon the frustration became too much, and he stupidly blurted, ‘I’m bored.’

He suddenly felt Voldemort go entirely cold, making fear sweep through him like a wave. Harry shuddered.

Then, surprisingly, the Dark Lord became calm.

‘Potter,’ he said expressionlessly. ‘Truly, what do you expect me to do about your boredom?’

‘I don’t know,’ Harry snapped, his fear replaced with anger. ‘But I don’t want to just sit here in the middle of a stupid forest and wait for you to come to a conclusion!’

‘Then what do you suggest?’ came the calm but icy reply. ‘I cannot go back; the place is swarmed with aurors. In the direction we are facing, there lies a small village. That would mean walking fifteen miles. I cannot apparate as I do not have enough power.’

‘But you’re Lord Voldemort, for God’s sake! Surely you can do something.’

Voldemort gave an impatient sigh and returned to his thinking.

They sat there for so long that Harry felt himself beginning to nod off. Abruptly, Voldemort stood, jolting Harry awake.

‘The village appears to be the only alternative,’ the man said before Harry could question him.

Harry gaped. ‘It took you an entire hour just to come up with that?!’ he exclaimed.

‘Thirty-four minutes,’ Voldemort corrected. ‘I had other things to think about. Perhaps you ought to try thinking ahead sometimes, Potter. We certainly would not have been in these circumstances had you not blotched up a spell so royally.’

There was a moment of silence. Then Harry began to ramble and curse, and soon found that Voldemort had learnt to block him out. Either that or he was being ignored.

In the end he sighed in defeat. ‘I’m hungry,’ he informed Voldemort as they made the long journey to the village.

‘Do you see any food, Potter?’

Harry didn’t answer.

‘I wonder what happened to Nagini,’ he mused, and felt Voldemort scowl.

‘She was murdered by one of your Weasley comrades. I hope you are happy, Potter. Nagini was my friend long before your disgusting existence.’

‘Oh,’ Harry said, feeling some remorse for the snake. He used to have some snake friends in the Durselys back garden. ‘I’m sorry.’

There was a pause before Voldemort answered. ‘Whatever are you sorry for, Potter?’ he asked incredulously. ‘I would have done the same to any one of your friends.’

Harry scowled. ‘I know, I just…’

‘Save your compassion for someone who wants it, Potter,’ Voldemort said in vague disgust.

Harry sighed. It was going to be a long walk.


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It was late evening when they reached the village. By this time Harry was hungry, thirsty and irritated, even though Voldemort had been doing the trekking.

‘At last,’ the Dark Lord thought, wearily.

‘Took long enough,’ Harry grumbled.

‘You ought to learn patience, Potter,’ Voldemort informed him as they moved through a small cluster of thatched houses to come to a large stone clearing in the middle. There didn’t seem to be many people about.

‘Where are we going to stay?’ Harry asked, ignoring him.

Voldemort didn’t answer. Instead he approached a slightly larger building at the end, which turned out to be an inn.

‘Have you stayed here before?’ Harry asked.

‘Years ago, yes. It is well hidden.’

‘I thought you said it’s on the edge of the forest? We’re still surrounded by trees.’

‘We are just on the outskirts. There is a lake nearby. Now be quiet.’

He entered the inn, appearing to sense no danger. It was busy and noisy inside, and currently seemed to hold the entire village population.

Voldemort did not seem bothered by this. No one took any notice of him or his strange clothes as he made his way to the bars. Harry soon noticed that all the inhabitants were muggles.

‘You’d stay with muggles?’ Harry asked Voldemort.

‘In this circumstance, yes.’

‘Most of them aren’t so bad, you know,’ Harry tried.

He didn’t receive an answer. Voldemort was conversing in hurried words with the barman, who gave a gruff nod and led them upstairs.

When the man had left, Voldemort said, ‘Have I ever implied that all muggles are bad? Although, I am surprised that you think the opposite, given the nature of your intolerable muggle family.’

Harry frowned. ‘How do you know about them?’

‘Well, my dear Harry. Being inside my head gives me the slight advantage of going through your memories. I must say, I was very interested in the ones concerning you and young Mister Malfoy-’

‘Shut up!’ Harry interrupted, knowing he would be blushing if he had his body. ‘That is absolutely none of your business!’

Voldemort only smirked.

After a moment, Harry muttered, ‘It didn’t work out anyway.’

‘Apparently. So, just how far did you go with Lucius’ son? I only saw the episode in the Trophy Room.’

Harry scowled, embarrassed. ‘I told you, its none of your business. Wait, can I do the same to you?’

‘Excuse me?’

‘Go through your memories, I mean,’ Harry said hurriedly.

Voldemort paused. ‘I assume so. However, you will probably dislike what you see.’

‘Undoubtedly,’ Harry agreed.

A woman knocked and entered with a steaming tray of food and a large mug of…. well, something that Harry didn’t find too appealing.

But the food… ‘Yum,’ he thought when she left.

Voldemort sat at the lone table and began to eat, ignoring Harry’s exclaims of delight.

After a while, he said, ‘So what is it like, being inside my mind, Potter?’

‘I don’t know, but this food is brilliant.’

‘Naturally after hours of walking, I expect any quality of food will taste brilliant,’ Voldemort said dryly.

Harry ignored him. ‘It could be worse, though,’ he said. ‘I could be stuck with Malfoy, I guess. Senior, I mean. Or even Snape.’ Harry shuddered at the thought.

‘And that would be worse than me?’ Voldemort said with some amusement.

‘Well,’ Harry said absently, concentrating on the tastes that shot through him every time Voldemort took a bite. ‘I suppose not. You’re right, it’s just as bad.’

‘I’m sure you’ll come to see that the feeling is entirely mutual.’


To be continued? Please Review!