Pawns and Lords

October 22, 1989

4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey

The home of the Dursleys was extremely disappointing. Lord Voldemort had held court on thrones surrounded by trophies of past conquests, and now here he was trapped in the mind of an adolescent sitting in the mud. At least the boy was bright.

"Alright Harry, try levitating those two rocks at the same time."

Harry nodded and brought both hands in front of him. He closed his eyes and his brow furrowed in concentration. Slowly and surely the rocks began to rise from the floor.

It was still astonishing, the amount of potential the boy had. He was almost as good as he was when he practiced in the court of the orphanage.

"Bravo Harry!" Tom said, his own false enthusiasm tearing at what was left of his soul.

He felt boredom creeping on him again. It had been far too long since he had some entertainment.

"Harry would you like a challenge?"

"Of course Tom!" said Harry, buzzing with excitement.

"If you look to the right you'll see Dudley spying on you from that bush. Try and banish the rocks at him."

"What if I hurt him?" enquired Harry in a concerned tone.

Tom sighed. Merlin, the boy was weak.

"Harry, Dudley is nothing but a bully. Do you not remember what he used to do to you? He's the last person to deserve your concern. Remember you are his better."

Harry frowned, but slowly raised his hands again and banished the rocks at the bush. A yelp of pain and a fleeing boy told Harry that he had hit his target.

"Well done, Harry," said Tom. He sighed when Harry sat back down slowly, his internal monologue of regret all too annoying to him.

"Harry what's the matter?" he asked reluctantly.

"Tom, why do you hate everyone so much? Especially people without magic?" said Harry with a frown still on his face.

Holding back the urge to cruciate the boy he kept in mind his end goal.

"Harry they're called muggles for the hundredth time, and I don't hate everyone. I like you remember?"

Harry smiled at that. "Yes, Tom we're best friends, but you definitely hate muggles. I can almost feel you sneering at them when we see them."

"Harry, Harry, Harry, muggles are not our friends. Think of how your own family treated you."

Harry bit his lip, clearly upset, but didn't press the issue. "Can we work on transfiguration again, Tom?"

"Alright," said Tom. He did not understand why Harry was so kind to the filthy muggles. Didn't he understand that they were all unworthy of them? Tom had to admit that Harry was rubbing off on him a little. The Lord Voldemort that killed his parents would not have entertained the notion of being kind to others.

Tom sighed and knew that he would have to try harder if he were to influence Harry. He would remain vigilant.

October 22, 1989

Western Russia

Gellert Grindelwald walked through the gates of Dumstrang closely followed by Vinda Rosier and Gunnar Grimson, a bounty hunter who had been a part of the inner circle in the first war. Grimson was undoubtedly his most pathetic inner circle member, but he would serve his purpose well here.

Students gawked and whispered frantically at the sight of Gellert Grindelwald and his two followers. Grindelwald continued walking through the crowd, ignoring the fearful glances he received. He rolled his wand between his fingers, as he saw a small line of resistance forming at the entrance of the hall.

It was Karakoff, backed by the full force of the Dumstrang professors. Unworthy opposition to a man like him.

"Karakoff I hear that you have been appointed headmaster of this great institution," said Grindelwald as he and his companions came to a stop, the two groups at an impasse. "Stand down immediately and no one will be hurt."

"Grindelwald you have no place in these halls," said Karakoff in a trembling voice. "Leave immediately or the Aurors will be contacted."

Grindelwald shook his head and disregarded the shorter man entirely. Cowards, the whole lot of them.

Instead, he turned and addressed the masses of students gathered there.

"Students and staff of the institute of Dumstrang. As you already know, I am Gellert Grindelwald. I have returned and have come back to take my rightful place in the Wizarding World. I remain as powerful as ever."

With this Gellert swept his newly acquired wand and the mark he had branded into the wall all those years ago began to glow brightly, contrasting with the coming twilight night. The students began to shuffle their feet nervously, the tension palpable.

Grindelwald continued, "I am here at peace and have no ill intent towards you. I consider you all my brothers and sisters, comrades that will one day change this world. I am offering you all an opportunity that I ask that you consider very carefully. I am well aware that some of you here today, may harbor feelings of resentment towards me because of what I may have done to some of your families in the past. For that, I offer my sincerest apologies, for it was never my intent to kill wizards. I see the spilling of magical blood to be a wasteful tragedy. All I wish for is a future where we do not hide like rats because the muggles say so. I truly only desire a future where witches and wizards can live in harmony and in freedom. So today I return and ask that we put the past in the past. I have escaped the bonds that once held me to offer you a choice. Join my Alliance and bring honor back to the wizardkind. Join and receive rewards that you could only dream of. I can teach you magic that will make our enemies bow before us. Together we can lead a revolution to bring freedom to our people."

The courtyard rang with silence at this. Then a tall teen charged to the front of the crowd. "We must not join this madman! Remember what he has done to our families."

Vinda and Gunnar stepped forward prepared to strike him down but Grindelwald stopped them with a look.

"What is your name brother?" asked Grindelwald in a calm voice.

"I am Dobromir Krum and I avenge my grandfather tonight!"

Then with that Krum shot a curse at Grindelwald. Grindelwald waved his wand lazily and stopped the spell in midair and began laughing. It was too predictable.

"Little boy, you truly believed that you could defeat me when even Albus Dumbledore could not?" said Grindelwald mockingly. "My, my how the young have grown arrogant."

Gellert flicked his wand and the curse vanished. Another twitch of his wand and suddenly heavy black chains erupted from the ground binding Krum as they began to swarm over his body. Krum screamed as he desperately tried to stop the chains but to no avail. Grindelwald waved his wand once more and the screaming stopped as Krum silently writhed in agony as the chains continued to encircle him. The cries of his prey irritated him to no end.

"Listen, my friends, to what I am about to say. Dobromir's grandfather was a rat. He saw my power and felt threatened, the insecure man he was. So, he reported me and got me expelled from Dumstrang. Imagine my shock at being expelled, at the hands of one of my closest friends. He broke my trust and not long after paid for his treachery. I have no place for rats in my brotherhood."

He flicked his wand, and Krum's body was completely crushed by the chains. As the chains slowly withdrew back into the earth, only the dust and the furs of the Dumstrang uniform remained.

"So, brothers and sisters, who will join my brotherhood?" asked Grindelwald, well aware that all eyes were on him.

Everyone in the courtyard including the instructors bent their knees and swore fealty to Lord Grindelwald.

"Rejoice my friends for you are now part of an unbreakable brotherhood. You are now part of the Alliance."

International Conference of Wizards (ICW)

Albus Dumbledore, Supreme Mugwump watched as the many representatives whispered nervously before the start of the meeting.

"Order! The emergency session of the ICW is now commencing!" announced Dumbledore to the council. "You were all brought here for one reason. Gellert Grindelwald has escaped Nurmengard."

The council dissolved into fearful yelling and commotion. He felt his frustration rising as he called for order, but the council did not settle down until he let off several loud bangs with his wand.

"The representative of MACUSA would like to speak."

Dumbledore acknowledged him with a weary nod and the representative began to speak.

"Fellow witches and wizards, Gellert Grindelwald is a very dangerous man. We must work together to solve this crisis! Cowering in fear will get us nowhere. I propose that every nation sets apart 50 law enforcement members to launch a manhunt for Gellert Grindelwald. He must be brought to justice!"

"That is pure stupidity!"

"As if Grindelwald could be stopped by a common auror!"

"Shut up! Just shut up man!"

And once more the chamber dissolved into commotion and unrest.

Albus Dumbledore sighed. He knew that in the end, nothing was going to come of this squabbling. Once again, it fell on him. This was going to be a long day.

October 23, 1989

Rosier Rectory

Grindelwald walked with Vinda to the gates of her ancestral home. He had left Grimson back in Russia to help settle affairs concerning Dumstrang. A fool he was, he was more than a competent intimidator and would do just fine in culling the people. It had taken surprisingly little effort in preventing news from escaping that he had taken over Dumstrang already. A few more upstarts did believe themselves more powerful than Grindelwald and had challenged him. Their corpses were now in the courtyard on display, a reminder of what happens to challengers. Grindelwald shook his head at the thought of such young talent going to waste like that. All in all, it had been an easy coup.

The wards accepted the two, and they entered the Rosier home.

"Vinda? Is that you?" said a voice as the door cracked open.

"Druella!" exclaimed Vinda as she saw her sister. The two embraced and began exchanging pleasantries.

"Druella, I heard you are now married to Cygnus! How are you doing?"

Grindelwald cleared his throat and got their attention. He had no time for mindless gossip.

"Mrs. Black, I am Gellert Grindelwald and require your assistance. I will not waste your valuable time and get straight to the point. You are related to Dorea Black and I need your blood."

Druella looked taken aback at this request.

"Why on earth would I trust you with my blood. You could ruin me completely!" exclaimed Druella in an offended manner.

Vinda hissed at this disrespect, but Gellert merely smiled.

"My dear, your blood will help me find a very important person. Do not worry, I am willing to swear an oath that will show I mean no ill intent and promise to destroy your blood once I have completed my mission. You will be handsomely rewarded as well of course."

Druella looked to her sister who nodded at her. Druella looked into the mismatched eyes of Gellert Grindelwald and hesitantly agreed.

After a series of insignificant events, Grindelwald obtained a vial of Druella Black's blood and set up a scrying ritual. The scrying ritual used the Black blood to find all wizards with Black blood. Harry Potter who was related to Dorea Black would be found quickly, he predicted, as most of the Blacks were either dead or in Azkaban.

The pot began bubbling rapidly as Grindelwald placed a piece of enchanted parchment in it, whispering ancient words of power as he did so. After a tense moment, the scrying ritual spat the parchment back out with lines written on it.

"4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey," read Gellert aloud. He glanced over the rest of the paper was blurred, undoubtedly the powerful wards of Azkaban preventing its discovery. That would have to be focused on later.

He nodded to Vinda and the two disapparated from the spot immediately.

The two arrived in sync in the driveway of the Dursleys. The residual magic Grindelwald felt as he crossed the threshold was underwhelming. Clearly whatever powered the wards was not strong.

A sudden whooping and laughing attracted distracted him from his musings and he hurried around the house to the source of the sound to find a gang of muggles beating down a smaller boy. A boy who had the striking features of the Potter clan.

Biting back the anger he felt at the sight he waved his hand and sent the muggles flying headfirst into the branches of a nearby oak. They were rendered unconscious immediately.

Gellert reached down and helped the boy up, and made eye contact with him. Emerald met white and blue.

"Hello, Harry Potter, I have been searching for you."

A/N: Tried writing in a new style hopefully it wasn't too confusing!