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The power he knew not
It was in the summer of 1995 that Peter Pettigrew’s mind finally snapped.
It was not a well-known fact that the rat was also present in the department of mysteries at the time of that fatal confrontation, but he was. In his animagus form he spied on the fight and happened to be within hearing range when a certain prophecy ball shattered.
While not being a well-known fact, it was somewhat known, and eventually the dark lord found out. Needless to say, he was not well pleased with his slippery servant and proceeded to torture him to the edge of madness. The push over the edge was the mental rape that came after.
And so the dark lord learned the prophecy that had been long denied him, and set him to righting the wrong. He will find Potter's power, kill the little nuisance, and reign supreme forevermore.
And so spies were set on Potter. Every son and daughter of death eaters in Hogwarts were instructed to be friendly with Griffindors, to seek out their friendship and to learn all they could on the boy who lived. Newly graduated followers were going with their master over the school curriculum to find what might have changed over the last 50 years, and all memories of all Potters and Evens, and even Blacks and Lupins were poured over and looked at meticulously, not having the traitorous marauder sane had slowed the process.
The big break came several month later, when an owl flew in with the exciting news- Potter, now in his sixth year, was learning to be an animagus! His form was not yet known, but he was heard talking about honouring his late godfather and father by continuing their tradition. The slytherin students were instructed to stay on the job, and stick close to the Griffindors.
And so the dark lord set to his task. He read all the books, and brought teachers from the whole world. He meditated for hours, and became quite the expert in biology, zoology. It took him a good few months to get to the point where he knew his animagus form had scales, and so he narrowed his studies to all things reptilian. Upon further meditation he got a glimpse of the colour black and the sense of being well feared and dangerous, of having no natural predators free to do as he liked.
It was then that a tantalising thought crossed the dark lord’s mind, and he instructed his followers within the ministry to check the animagus records for magical creatures’ forms. The answer he received sent shivers down his spine. One in a thousand. One animagus in a thousand was of magical properties. There was a hippogriff a hundred and fifty years ago, a nundo four hundred years ago and several kelpie and redcaps along the years. But the most important revelation was that at the time of the founders, one thousand years ago there was a dragon animagus.
Voldemort set to his task with renewed vigour. He was after all the dark lord of the century, he has defeated death and surly there would be no better form for him, nor would there be any one more worthy then him for a dragon. Unfortunately, he was so impatient that his excitement got the better of him. After three weeks of not being able to meditate and making no progress, he called to him his potion master and spell crafter, Severus Snape.
He tasked the professor with finding a way to speed up the animagus process, be it a spell, a potion or a ritual. To give the man further incentive he showed him a glimpse of what would happen should he not come back in a month with a solution to the problem. It was not pleasant in the least.
Meanwhile at Hogwarts, Slytherins and Griffindors got friendly. More so than ever before. Those who were not supporters of the dark lord finally felt free to socialise out of their house, and those who were actively sought friendship with the others. And so they become friends. In study groups and joined work in classes, in friendly Quidditch games and in parties, at the yule ball, and Hogsmeade weekends. It rather got to the point where pretend friendship and real one got mixed up. And in some occasions friendship grow further. Madam Pomfre and professors McGonagall and Snape had several meetings with students regarding their future plans, most notable was the meeting with Hermione Granger, Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy. It was later named in witch weekly "the year of teenage pregnancy", in an article called "three for three, trimarrige and triplets".
Severus Snape was not called a genius potioneer for nothing. At the end of his deadline he came back to the dark lord with two doses of an experimental potion of his own brewing. It would not taste good, and it had the worst smell and texture, but it would transform the drinker into their animagus form for an hour. Enough time to get the feel of the form, to get the hang of walking in a different skin, looking with different eyes, hearing, smelling, tasting in a new body.
The dark lord, not being a trusting man, made the brewer drink his first. As the potion master started screaming he felt quite vindictive and congratulated himself for escaping the poison. A minute later he was confronted with a wobbly legged, slightly confused, black panther. Voldemort snatched the remaining vial and all but run to the largest room in the building. He ordered his servants to leave the great hall of the manor, for the next hour. This was his moment of triumph, and should not be shared with such lesser beings. As they were leaving he started making plans, he would fly to Hogwarts with his own two wings and burn all who would oppose him, this would be the end of the light, of the boy-who-lived, of Dumbledore, and the filthy muggles were next. The hall emptied, leaving him alone. His thoughts as he drunk the potion were about how this moment was history in the making. And then PAIN.
Bellatrix Lestrange was a dedicated follower of the dark lord, the most loyal. If he said jump she started jumping, never mind how high. If he said learn about animals, she became the best expert on all things live, and when he said leave the hall, she left. But she didn't go far. Half an hour later she was joined outside the doors by a still shaky Severus Snape and as the minutes passed more of their comrades trickled to join them. At the hour mark, they gathered their courage and entered the hall, silence greeted them. And a seemingly empty room.
Then a voice broke the quiet, saying "what is that?" Bellatrix looked toward the voice, and following the death eaters' gaze saw the dead, gigantic form on the floor. Turning pale she whispered “Anarhichas lupus, better known as the wolffish or devil fish".
And so it came to pass that the Dark Lord Voldemort brought about his own demise, for fish cannot breathe air.
The war ended, never to start again, without the fuel of Gryffindor-Slytherin hatred. The only one to try something was a rattish man with a silver hand, Peter Pettigrew proclaimed himself Lord Rat, and tried to rally the nation with promises of a cheese moon. He was later eaten by Crookshanks.
Harry, Hermione and Draco lived happily with their many children. Yes, they fought from time to time, but as whenever making up one became pregnant they stopped fighting after the twins were born. All in all they had nine children. Harrys animagus form was a kangaroo.
Severus Snape, although a renowned potioneer, tired of this trade. He moved to western Australia and lived as a phantom panther. A few years later he met there the world renowned zoologist Bellatrix Lestrange. He ate her.
And the power he knows not? Some believed it was his ability to make friends, and some believed the whole prophecy was cockypop, after all, Harry Potter didn’t kill the Dark Lord, right?
The End