He returned as steady as the Mountain Wind

Chapter 5: "Possession"

Daniel Potter lay awake in bed. Around him he felt the shadows moving. Voldemort? Had he come back? His breathing quickened. He heard his dorm mates mumbling beside him. There! A flicker! His eyes shot towards the window. Nothing. Only the moon, full and round hanging in the sky. Daniel thought of Remus and wondered where his uncle was. Slowly after his sixth birth day, Remus and Sirius had drifted away. To this day Daniel did not know where they went. But he knew that it had something to do with his brother. The same brother that had now suddenly returned into his life. His perfect life.

His perfect lie.

It was on nights like this, when the moon was full and bright, only on such silvery nights, that Daniel Potter could see the truth. There again! A shadow crossed the moon. A weird shaped figure could be seen. Four legs and something like wings. Darker than black.

Terrified Daniel Potter kept staring, not daring to move even the tiniest muscle. Once more, a shadow flex across the moon, but now he could see it perfectly: A skeleton horse, with wings like the demons he had seen in muggle churches.

He was too scared to scream. Then another movement, from the other side.

And there he was.

Albus Dumbledore. He stood over Daniel's bed. Green eyes widened in terror.

"You know Daniel, you could have had it so easy. You could have had adoring parents, countless fans and a beautiful girl, all for free. But then you started asking questions. So many questions Daniel."

The headmaster sat down. Daniel tried to scramble away but found that he could not move.

"About Harry, about the mutt, and the wolf. You started asking for training, for help in protecting your friends. You asked if there was a possibility to help magical creatures and why everyone treated the goblins so bad. And then the thing were you defended werewolves..."

Dumbledore ran a finger along Daniel's scar.

"But well, it wasn't your fault, not really. You know, that night was supposed to have happened way earlier." Daniel did not need the old man to clarify what night was meant. "He was supposed to come after you the very first Halloween. But he slipped my net for a whole year, can you believe it? And I could only reign him in when I felt him breach your wards."

For a moment Dumbledore kept silent as if in contemplation.

"You know, I'm only telling you this because you will forget it anyways. As you have forgotten everything after every full moon. I mean I banished your elven blood and took away your light magic, thanks for that by the way, I now have quite a lot of power at my disposal, not that I need it, but it's always good to have a bit more, don't you think?"

When Daniel could not reply the old man laughed. "Oh, dear, and when I cursed your father and mother, that was also a rather great move. Your father, you know...he put up such a fight. It took me years to really tame him, but his emotions were running haywire during that fateful Halloween, so in the end my slip-up paid off, isn't that nice? Must mean that Lady Luck herself favours me..."

Bile rose in Daniel's throat.

"Your mother was similar. Her unconditional love for you, your twin, and James made it almost impossible for me to compulse her into anything. But then I realized: Together, those parts may have been the most powerful protection. Unfortunately for poor Lily, I found a way to play her love for James against the love for you and your brother. Enough to make her loose common sense for a night. Ahh...it was truly astounding. But then she sent Harry to the Dursleys...I should have known that she was being a bit too pliant and the brat now has two protectors...but it doesn't matter, Daniel, because I have you."

"You..." Daniel practically punched the words out of his throat, hissed it though his teeth. He could not do much more, so he put all his disgust and contempt in that one word.

"Yes...me. And after she sent Harry away and her mind became clear, the guilt nearly ate her up alive. So it was easy for me to slip into barriers and place to mirror curse. It's a rather tricky piece of magic, that mirror curse, because if the victim fights against it in the initial state, it simply cannot take hold. But I used some tricks on her." Dumbledore had a smug grin that looked out of place on his wrinkled face.

"Please, Professor, I can't live with myself..." Dumbledore cried in a falsetto voice. "So I told her she didn't have to. I was surprised how easy it was. But, well, I never have known what it feels like to have a child, so maybe it's nothing special at all."

Daniel chocked on all the furious comments that wanted to escape his lips, but he was still frozen. When Dumbledore looked at him again, his trademark blue eyes shone like ice chips.

"Now for you. I can't have you be out of control during full moon, you might get stupid ideas, won't you Daniel?"

Something icy, slimy, and disgusting reached into Daniel's head. It was like the claws of some horrible creature wrecking through his brain. Dumbledore's eyes glowed. Then all of the vile claws focused on his chest, right were his heart was beating.

This is it. Daniel thought This is how it ends. I will die this way.

"You won't die, Daniel." Dumbledore whispered, gentle almost like one would console a child. Which Daniel realized he was "I'm merely going to sever that last bond you have."

No.

Pain erupted in his chest, as if the ice had crushed his heart. Pain, never ending pain, wafting through him. Finally his jaw opened in a silent scream. He felt his eyes prickle. He had not cried for a long time. The spell broken, Daniel heaved himself upwards, sitting up straight. His mouth open, gasping for breath. His vision slowly filling with red.

Bloody drops fell onto his comforter. He was crying tears of blood.

His mouth was filling with something metallic. It ran down along his open mouth, falling onto the bed, joining the bloody tears. There was no difference.

With one last silent scream, a final grab along a bond that he did not know about, but had left a gaping hole, nothing. He was alone. Completely alone.

A cough tore from his throat. More blood. He felt it trickle down his nose. Everything was red.

Then black.

And the sweet release of Darkness.

It would be the easy thing to let go.

So Daniel did.

In another bedroom, far below the lofty heights of Gryffindor Tower, Hadrian Zephyrus Emrys-LeFay screamed for his life, blood running from his eyes, nose, and mouth. Harry cried for the brother he was never allowed to know, for the boy he couldn't save.

And he cried for himself.

And he swore a vow.

An Oath for Revenge.