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Chapter Text

Prologue

"Master, no! Don't! He didn't mean to hurt me. He just got scared when he saw you, and that's when I fell down."

Voldemort lowered his wand and looked after the galloping man, watching him disappear into the protective darkness of the Forbidden Forest. Only a cloud of dust remained slowly dispersing in the gentle evening breeze. Then he knelt down to his friend, lovingly stroked her head, and cast a healing spell.

"Master, it was kind of strange. I was hunting when a werehyena ambushed and injured me. Out of nowhere, he suddenly came charging, chased off my attacker, and talked me into climbing on his back to take me home." Then she finally remembered what had seemed so strange about the whole encounter and exclaimed in amazement, "He was talking Parsel to me the whole time!"

Slowly Voldemort rose from his kneeling position and looked thoughtfully toward the Forbidden Forest, finally, his mouth twisted into a smile, "Congratulations, Nagini! You have found Harry Potter!"

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Chapter Text

Chapter 1 - Transformation

Harry was free! Finally! After days, weeks, months? Torture, torment, hunger. His sense of time had been lost in the meantime. But his enemies had underestimated him. They thought that after all the cruelties he was too weak to escape. But as the so-called "savior of the wizarding world," he still had an ace up his sleeve, despite his capture after the final battle.


At that time at the Dursleys in the closet under the stairs he used his "free time" in the absence of his wand and his few old books to try out wandless spells. The experiments eventually took effect and over the years he was able to perform all spells with or without a wand with the same quality. Fortunately for him today, wizards who practiced magic wandless had always been frowned upon and despised as black magicians.

Since Harry's self-esteem was not very high even as a child and his uncle's kindest term was "FREAK", he did not want to look worse in front of his teachers and friends and concealed his skill. To this day, not even his best and now dead friends knew about his talent.


Of course, Voldemort's dungeons were equipped with powerful spells and bans, as were the doors and chains. But with each new round of torture, his determination to escape grew stronger, his will to find a way out stronger. Harry had also used his "non-torture free time" here to finally break the spells that held him here. The few guards were a piece of cake because no one expected him to break out. 

He could take out the inattentive guards with simple "stupors", they had no chance to raise the alarm. And now he was free and he would never be captured again. That's what he swore to himself.

Harry ran and ran. As fast as possible, as far away as possible. His breath was coming in jerks. Painful side stitches plagued his stomach and back. But he did not stop running. The earth splashed to the side under his hooves. Hooves? Since when did he have hooves? 

Abruptly he stopped. His entire body shook with effort and shock. He looked at himself as far as he could. He was... a horse. A black horse. How had he managed to do that? Or did Voldemort and his Death Eaters have something to do with it? But no, as far as he could remember, no spell or charm had hit him during or after his escape.

He had also not touched any magical objects or traps. From the torture cellar, he had run up the stairs on two legs. The endless corridors of Malfoy Manor he crossed also as a human, over the enclosing wall he had climbed with the help of his two arms. For the time after that, he could only remember his indomitable will to escape. Everything else had faded out.

He ran and ran and got faster and faster. His fear of being taken back to the torture cellar accelerated his running steps until he was just flying along. And then suddenly he was a horse.

His animagus form was a horse! Harry Potter was a black horse! He could turn into a horse. He was an animagus.

Still inconceivable, he stared at his new figure which was reflected in the lake water. Shortly after his overwhelming discovery, he had found the small forest lake in a secluded grove and was able to quench his thirst and rest a bit.

Now he stood here exhausted and looked at himself in the dark water. His horse form was... simply pitiful, the traces of torture were also visible in his animal form - an emaciated, starved body, everywhere partly scabbed or open wounds.

The words "miserable nag, case for the knacker" inevitably came to his mind at the sight of him. But the wounds would heal. Otherwise, his coat was completely black: black legs, black body, black short mane, black tail. Not even a teeny white blaze was visible. Well, not everything was black.

His eyes were not dark brown like normal horses but sparkled a velvety dark green. Depending on the incidence of light, his natural light green eye color also sometimes appeared.

Harry chewed thoughtfully on a few blades of grass and buttercups. He had no idea how he had managed to change his shape. And no matter what he tried he couldn't change back into his human form.

This was annoying on the one hand, but the longer he thought about it, the more clearly he saw a solution to all his problems. Harry was an unregistered animagus. No one would recognize him in his animal form. No one knew his animagus form! No one would suspect Harry Potter as a rattle-thin black stallion.

His lightning scar was hidden under the thick mane and even so hardly visible. His camouflage was perfect. No wizard could track him like this. He was free. Really free! No more fighting. No more having to fight other people's battles. No more moral obligations.

The war was lost, the fight was over. He no longer had to take anyone into consideration. Finally, after 18 years, he was his own master and it should stay that way.


But where could an animagus in his black stallion form live unmolested and safe? Only one place came to his mind.

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Chapter Text

Chapter 2 - Realization

"Repeat that again!" hissed Voldemort angrily as he stabbed Lucius Malfoy with his blood-red eyes. Both men were standing in a dark dungeon cell where, judging by the fresh marks on the walls, torture had recently taken place.

"My lord, Potter escaped from here this morning even though all the spells and bans were used on him as you commanded. I cast them myself according to your instructions. They had their full effect and could have been released only by you. I cannot explain how he was able to escape," Malfoy said in a cautious voice.

"Oh, you can't explain it, Lucius! Did I leave any instructions about punishments or torture for Potter? Did I instruct that he be thrown into the furthest, coldest, dampest dungeon cell?" The Dark Lord's voice grew louder and more cutting. "No, I had instructed that Potter be kept safe until I could take care of him myself, when my power is secured after the final victory. So, tell me, Lucius, why was he in that hole and why was he tortured against my orders? For I smell his fear and his blood is on the walls."

Voldemort was furious. How dare his subordinates lay a hand on his personal prisoner! Only he could do that, only he had this special, unique connection with Potter, through which they both sometimes shared thoughts, dreams, and emotions, sometimes blurred, sometimes clear, when they were in extraordinary emotional situations caused by extreme anger, happiness, or fear. But since this morning everything was different. Such a desperate cry for help as he had never heard before had raced through his thoughts, telling of unspeakable suffering and near death, sending the same excruciating pain through his own body and forcing him, against his logic, to rush to the place of despair to help and protect.

A short time after his arrival at Malfoy Manor, an impenetrable veil of mist, distantly reminiscent of the shape of a horse, settled over the still-open mind connection to Potter. Voldemort could no longer see anything, only occasionally receiving sensations, as now: despite severe pain, the former savior of the wizarding world was still alive.

Lucius had been pale with fear before, but now he turned white as a sheet. He had taken his master's order to secure Harry Potter lightly in the general frenzy of victory and had given only the most necessary instruction to the other Death Eaters not to let Potter escape. After taking Potter to the dungeon, chaining him up, and casting the spells and bans, he paid no further attention to the matter and left other Death Eaters to supervise the famous prisoner.

The fact that they were torturing Potter in their joy of victory in revenge for their numerous defeats in the past had completely escaped him. The way the place looked and smelled there was no safekeeping of the golden boy. If anything, he was now more dead than alive. He had failed. Lucius now recognized this with all clarity. His lord wanted the hero in one piece, whole and healthy so that he could torture and subdue him himself.

And Lucius had deprived his lord of this joy by his carelessness. Now he could only limit the damage because he could not avoid a punishment, he knew his lord too well for that. The lord's aura pulsed strongly and aggressively, this one so angry that Lucius winced in pain and cold. "I immediately sent all the Death Eaters who were in the manor to search for the one who escaped. Potter is injured, his magic weakened by the spells, he can't have gotten far!"

Voldemort looked disappointedly at his subordinate and said in a lecturing tone, "As is so often the case, Lucius, you cannot see beyond your positional conceit, and you miss the point. Harry Potter's magic is supposed to be weakened? How do you think he was able to break the spells and bans I designed specifically for his safekeeping? Not even you with your wand would have been able to do that. And he was able to do it without a wand, even though his body and mind were emaciated after weeks of torture. In all those years, you should have learned at least one thing about Harry Potter: The more deadly and hopeless a situation was for him, the better he was at getting out of it. And it was the torture by your incompetent jailers that gave him the strength to escape. So don't make the mistake of underestimating him again. I want him found by the end of the day and brought back without any new injuries. Don't disappoint me even more, Lucius! Your punishment will otherwise be not only severe but terrible."

Lucius quickly turned away to carry out the order. He would search for Potter himself. He did not trust these bunglers of Death Eaters, who had already abused Potter's imprisonment for their torture games, to successfully hunt for the escaped man. Besides, he had to keep them from hurting Potter again in their stupidity. If any of these incompetent Death Eaters harmed another hair on his head, his manor was sure as hell going to be Death Eater-free tonight.

"And Lucius, I would like to see you and any Death Eaters who have been in contact with Harry Potter during his stay here tonight" his lord ordered in conclusion. Malfoy gulped at these words before leaving. He looked forward to the end of the day very fearfully.

Lord Voldemort, now absolute ruler of Wizarding Britain and dressed as always in all black, sat in his study in front of the fireplace and stared sullenly into the flames.

"Nagini," he greeted his snake, stroking her head as she sidled up to him.

"Master, I felt your angry magic all the way to the farthest corner of the house. Why are you so upset?"

The lord growled, "Malfoy and my bungling Death Eaters have let Harry Potter escape. Again."

"That is annoying, master. But they will catch him again quickly. Now that you have finally defeated all the enemies he has nowhere to hide. His friends are all dead or imprisoned, the resistance broken. No one will help him. He is all alone now."

"Nagini, this is Harry Potter we're talking about! The only wizard who has always managed to escape from our battles alive for years. No matter how many times I tried to kill him or capture him, he escaped."

Voldemort continued to stroke the snake's body with his hand, deep in thought. In his mind's eye arose the image of a defiant young man with black windswept hair and flashing green eyes, whose fiery gaze said that he would never surrender voluntarily. All the white wizards had accepted or been forced into his absolute rule, even the last renegade rebels. Only Harry Potter had to break ranks again. His capture had been more of an accident than an intention on the part of his Death Eaters.

Voldemort had a sneaking suspicion that Harry was tired of fighting and had simply given up. Or was it all a trick and he had faked his capture to divert attention from something? No, the victory of the dark side was complete, the white side had finally surrendered. But only with Harry Potter in his hand was his victory complete. He was his true trophy of victory, always had been, he now realized. And this morning, this one had managed to escape him again. His gut told Voldemort that he would not see his trophy again so soon this time, though his power and dominion were now limitless.

"What did you actually have in mind for him, master? Torture and death certainly not. Otherwise, it would have already happened." Nagini stared at her master with affection. His magic had calmed and was now gently caressing her serpentine body. How she loved and enjoyed that.

"You are my only true confidant and you know me so well, Nagini," the lord replied with a smile. "No, I had no intention of killing him anymore. What good is world domination if you have no one to appreciate that fact? And the magical world is much more interesting and exciting with Harry Potter in it."

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Chapter 3 - Memory

Harry stood dreamily in the shadows at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Today was another magical balmy summer night like the ones he often experienced as a student together with his friends when they had sneaked out. The sky was starry, the waxing moon almost full. From his vantage point, he had a wonderful view of Hogwarts and its surroundings. All the windows of the castle were brightly lit and reflected in the Great Lake. 

There was certainly a celebration there. Selected elite students, or rather future elite Death Eaters, have been staying at Hogwarts for the whole month of July for a few years now in order to complete special training. Really clever of Voldemort, so he never ran out of powerful subordinates. On the first of August, however, these students would also travel home and the Hogwarts Express would run once more, then there would be peace in the castle for a month. Harry thought back a little wistfully to his own school days. Hogwarts had been his home.

Would he have managed his N.E.W.T.’s* if he hadn't dropped out of sixth grade and attended school until he finished seventh grade? Why was he thinking about his old life again today after such a long time? All that was in the past now. With time, everything changed, nothing stayed the same. That was the way of things. Here, too, much had changed in recent years.

Next to the lake, a huge mansion had been built, which dwarfed even Malfoy Manor with its elegance and splendor. The entire land south of Hogwarts now belonged to the new manor and was surrounded with powerful protective spells against intruders. Only the main path and entrance hall could be entered by guests and supplicants and exited through them.

Hagrid's cabin no longer existed. There was now a stud farm there. The owner bred horses in his spare time. The large paddocks and pastures extended to the first foothills of the Forbidden Forest. Purebred horses grazed peacefully all over the lush grounds. He often watched them from the shelter of the Forbidden Forest, having always liked horses. Now he knew why, mindful of his animagus form.


If he was to believe the centaurs' campfire conversations, the Dark Lord himself had taken up residence here. What irony of fate - on the one hand, Voldemort really liked horses and Harry could turn into one, and on the other hand, Harry had crossed almost all of Great Britain and Scotland on his escape to put as much space as possible between himself and his overpowering enemy, and he settled here, of all places, in the immediate vicinity of him. His karma really hated him.

But he could not go anywhere else as a horse because even after ten years it was not possible for him to change back. Fortunately, no Death Eaters dared to enter the forest, at least he had never seen or sensed any here, and forest guards no longer existed, so the probability of being discovered was quite low. So if he never left the forest, nothing could happen to him, he was safe from detection, he clung to this uncertain logic hopefully since his arrival here on four hooves. Harry did not want to escape again. The Forbidden Forest had become his new home.

Harry sighed inwardly, tonight was that one night again. Only once a year did he allow memories of his past. Everything was still too painful when he thought of who and what he had lost. Everyone and everything he loved and knew was gone, erased, taken by the vilest and most evil person the magical world had ever produced.

Lord Voldemort had risen to become the darkest ruler of all time. His word and his will were law. There was no more resistance. Everyone had accepted and acknowledged his victory and sworn or had to swear a magical oath of allegiance. No one could resist anymore or they lost their power and became a squib.

Very few magical people had managed to escape from the country and would never return because resistance was punished by death without exception. Escape was equated with resistance. So if a fugitive ever set foot on British soil again, they signed their death warrant, which was executed immediately upon capture.

Harry was probably the only wizard in Britain who had escaped his lordship and his followers and was still alive in the country. His death was therefore a foregone conclusion. If he was ever discovered surrender was not an option because capture meant immediate execution and he would never die without a fight.

The Forbidden Forest had become his refuge and home; only very reluctantly did he remember the long and arduous journey here over ten years ago. After his successful escape from Malfoy Manor, there was only one place of refuge for him - the Forbidden Forest. Again Harry sank into memories.

Harry looked around in all directions, pricked up his ears. No, no danger. For the time being, he was safe in the little wood. Again he looked at the dark waters of the forest lake, watching his blurred, abused form, and thought.


What else had Hermione taught them? Oh, Hermione! Dear, great, wonderful Hermione. She must have had psychic powers because she had insisted that Ron and Harry take an intensive course in the geography of wizarding and Muggle Britain with her in their fifth year at school.

Harry could still hear her voice: "If you fight, if you are captured, if you escape, you must know where you are and where the next safe place is. Otherwise, your escape is doomed from the start and the Death Eaters will be able to capture you again effortlessly because you're running around stupidly."

For half a year she had been teasing them both with places, rivers, mountains, transportation, paths, Death Eater strongholds, safe hiding places, etc. A favorite example of an escape scenario for Hermione had always been Malfoy Manor as Voldemort Death Eater headquarters - how right she was about that. In her escape example at the time, Muggle London had always been the destination to go into hiding among millions of people.

But now Harry was a horse. Black stray horses in London's Hyde Park would somehow stand out, he thought in a brief burst of gallows humor. Even among the herds of wild British ponies, his size would immediately attract attention like a giant among dwarves, and unfortunately, in his present form, he could not leave the country to mingle with the wild horses in France or Germany.

The only place he could think of where magical animals would be absolutely safe from muggles, and, more importantly, from hostile evil wizards, was the Forbidden Forest. Neither the one nor the other dared to go there. And more importantly, Hogwarts was hundreds of miles away from the current Death Eater headquarters - that is, on the other side of Great Britain in Scotland.

No one would suspect him there because only animals could survive in the enchanted forest. No wizard would voluntarily set foot in there unless he had the desire to end up as an animal meal. Harry had never shown suicidal tendencies before, giving up was simply not part of his nature, so no one would get the idea to look for him there because they did not consider him suicidal.

Harry wanted to live unmolested and be free, that had always been his greatest wish - and if he could only do that as a horse, then so be it. And the Forbidden Forest would be the perfect hiding place for him in his animal form!

What else had they learned from Hermione back then? Harry recalled their lessons. London was about 900 kilometers from Hogwarts. Malfoy Manor in Wiltshire near Stonehenge was west of London at almost the same latitude, so was similarly far from the school castle site. Would that be feasible? 900 kilometers across Britain just on his own? As battered as he was at the moment that would take weeks or even months.

To his knowledge, the River Avon ran in a northerly direction for a very long time. So if he followed the river upstream for quite a while at night and then kept following the North Star, hiding during the day, he could make it. But how did he find Hogwarts and the Forbidden Forest without magic power and in animal form? The castle and surrounding lands were enchanted, not to be found on any map, becoming visible to wizards and magical creatures only when they touched the magical border barriers. It could take years or his whole life to find Hogwarts without aids.

Not to mention the dangers of being captured by Muggles or Death Eaters beforehand. Neither of these was good a prospect! Reaching the school could only be done through wizardry by means of apparatus, with magical animals, or with enchanted means such as psyllium powder, portkeys, brooms, vehicles... the Hogwarts Express! That's right! Every first of September it leaves London and reaches Hogwarts in the evening. But in between, he passed Edinburgh Castle, which existed in the Muggle world as well as in the wizarding world!

So if Harry were to be near the castle in Edinburgh on time that day, he would be able to see the train and find its enchanted rails, which would otherwise be untraceable, and follow the track to Hogwarts. Back when he traveled to Hogwarts with Ron in his father's enchanted Ford Anglia, the rails also only appeared because they were wizards and had followed and caught up with the Hogwarts Express in an enchanted vehicle.

And Harry, despite his horse form, was still somehow a wizard and a magical animal. Yes, that could work, that was a good plan. He would set out for Scotland on foot, wrongly, on four hooves. It would be a long and very arduous journey. Fortunately, it was not winter.

Harry raised his head and looked up at the treetops, their deciduous leaves hiding the brilliant midday sky. By the looks of nature, it should be early summer. But could he still rely on his estimation? His imprisonment had thrown him completely off track and totally confused his sense of time. Time! Time magic? Spell! He needed not only luck and strength for his journey but also protection.

Thoughtfully, he observed a dragonfly circling above the water level. Animagi could not cast spells in their animal form and were thus relatively defenseless against magicians. Why couldn't they do magic in their animal form?... The simplest explanation for him would be: they couldn't hold a wand and couldn't cast the spells properly because of their animal language!

But Harry could do wandless and nonverbal magic in human form. Then he should actually be able to do it as an animal, too. Harry looked again at the sun which was at its zenith. There were still several hours until evening, he had already eaten and drunk enough for the day at dawn and was now waiting for the all-hiding darkness. So once again he had plenty of time to practice spells and, as usual, nothing else to do. How everything repeated itself nevertheless always.

The learning of stable, unsaid spells in imposed spare time seemed to be probably the only constant in his so far disastrous life. So it was back to practicing as a pastime! He was supposed to start with a simple, easy spell that he was particularly good at. But which spell? Of course, "Tempus" - his first successful spell in the loneliness of the closet under the stairs without a wand, he would start with this one.

This spell had been his "life saver" back then because since he had mastered it perfectly, his uncle could no longer punish him for being unpunctual in doing the numerous chores. Yes, he would start doing that. If he couldn't master the easy Time Spell in his animagus form, he certainly wouldn't be able to do the other spells. Harry focused on his inner magic, trying to keep it flowing through his horse body all afternoon so he could access it.


Slowly, the twilight faded into darkness. The yield of his afternoon's occupation was a brief flash of confused dots and dashes. Exhausted, Harry ate the lush grass that grew luxuriantly on the lakeshore, snacked on a few wild berries, and quenched his thirst in the forest lake. He felt invigorated, but still, at the end of his strength, his whole body was one big aching wound.

The Death Eaters had done a great job. He could hardly keep on his feet. How was he supposed to make the almost 900 kilometers from Wiltshire to Scotland, injured and weakened, and still take care of his camouflage? Hopelessness briefly overcame him, but he quickly pushed it aside. He simply had to make it.

This was his only chance to survive. With difficulty, Harry began his hike one step at a time. He followed the Avon on the west bank. To avoid falling into the hands of Muggles or Death Eaters, he moved only at night. During the day he hid in forests, lay flat in cornfields, waited in caves or hollows, and practiced magic.

After three days of intensive training, Harry had mastered the Time Spell even in his animagus form, two more days and he had adapted the spell so that now with "Tempus dies" the current time and day lit up in front of his inner eye because suddenly appearing luminous digits in front of a horse's head would somehow attract attention. He could announce right then and there with fireworks, "It's Harry Potter!"

Therefore, Harry had modified the original spell so that no one was aware of him and found magical clues, if he was observed, for everyone to see should only be a harmless, half-starved horse, which had most likely run away from his owner. After a month, his wounds had healed, here and there was still a scab, but this also fell off soon, he had also put on weight, looked altogether no longer like a miserable jade.

After six weeks, he could make his hoofprints disappear or turn back, influence the weather in his favor to such an extent that he could disappear unseen in the general confusion during sudden heavy rain or storms, mastered projection, and illusion magic, whereby people continued to see a beautiful landscape or wishful images but did not perceive the black stallion that just walked past them.

Over the next few months, Harry had mastered, perfected, and modified these and various other protective spells in such a way that they could not be detected or traced back to him even by exceptionally strong wizards if any were in his vicinity. Over the next few years, he became a master at modifying familiar spells, able to adapt spells to his needs at lightning speed or invent entirely new ones. Harry never wanted to be helpless and defenseless again. Now, attacking Death Eaters would experience their blue miracle and not even see the spells coming that knocked them out.

In summer he reached the Midlands, crossing the North York Moors. The plateau, with its wide expanses of heath and bracken, offered little protection from the harsh climate that prevailed here, but Harry gritted his teeth and continued on his way. As he left the Cumbria Mountains behind and approached Edinburgh he breathed his first cautious sigh of relief.

So far, he had made good progress and had never been in danger; no one saw a night-black horse in the darkness. Fortunately, his animagus form was a black horse, not a gray one. Harry knew that the Hogwarts Express passed very close to Edinburgh Castle, so he searched the area around the castle for several days to get about the same view of the castle as he had from the moving train, and waited at that spot when his time spell indicated the first of September.

Finally, late in the afternoon, he heard the familiar sounds of the steam locomotive and suddenly the rails became visible. Then the train with the scarlet locomotive steamed past him further north and the rails began to disappear again. Harry quickly stepped onto the track bed and the rail line remained visible.

From now on, his journey was much more relaxed because he now had the right path always in front of his eyes, the railroad line led through the Central Lowlands of Scotland directly to the village of Hogsmeade. Of course, the tracks disappeared every time he hid in the immediate vicinity during the day, but as soon as he got close to them, the rails were there again.


His long journey had had a second positive aspect besides learning spells in animagus form: he had learned a lot about animagi. With horses, which corresponded to his animal form, he could converse, with all other animals no direct conversation was possible, only a kind of telepathy, which conveyed very simple feelings such as hunger, thirst, danger, joy, etc... Of course, snakes were again the famous exception, with them Harry could converse just as well as with his "horse relatives" and apparently only he could do that as the only "non-snake".

His ominous Parsel knowledge also helped him in animal form. He could well have done without this ability since it reminded him of everything bad in his life.


Harry reached the Forbidden Forest at the beginning of autumn. He had actually made it! Now he was safe. No one would suspect and search for him here.

Slowly, Harry returned to the present once again. Was it that time already? 'Tempus this' he pronounced his modified time spell in his mind and in his mind's eye, the display "0:04, 07/31" promptly appeared, only to fade away again shortly afterward. Sighing in surrender, he looked up at the starry sky. "Happy birthday, Harry!" he congratulated himself.

He had spent his 18th birthday alone in horse form somewhere in the East Midlands of Derbyshire. But it was nevertheless the most beautiful birthday, which he had experienced up to then, because it was the first without the Dursleys, which had spoiled its honor day otherwise each time, no more futile waiting for gifts, which came nevertheless never came.

He had never received any from his relatives and his friends always strictly adhered to Dumbledore's news blackout during the summer vacations and only presented him with his birthday presents later when they met again on the Hogwarts Express. Only Hedwig, his owl was sorely missed that day. She had been killed by a Death Eater just in time when she warned him of an ambush with a warning cry, thus saving the lives of all the members of his resistance group, but that was only a short respite against Voldemort and his hosts of minions they had no chance. Now there had been no friends and no Hedwig for years. But that was a long time ago. Enough of the old memories!

He had been 28 years old for four minutes, and like every year after his spectacular escape, he stood here at the edge of the forest, safely hidden in the shadows of the woods, looking at the castle shone by the moonlight and the stars, and hung on his memories. And every year he grew more sentimental. He had to stop. The past never came back. But ten lonely years gradually left their mark.

Suddenly his whole body froze internally, externally there was nothing noticeable to him, he had trained for that for years. Someone was watching him, he could feel it clearly. Cautiously, he let his magic put out its feelers to find out who was watching him and where the secret eavesdropper was hiding.

There, by the fallen tree diagonally to the left behind him. Harry slowly turned his head and looked his counterpart directly in the eyes. Green met yellow and for a short time only they seemed to exist. Then everything was back to normal. Breathe a sigh of relief. No wizard, just a giant snake resting, just another denizen of the forest just like him. Harry calmed down again. No danger! Once again he looked back at Hogwarts with a little melancholy, then turned and ran into the depths of the forest.

______
* N.E.W.T. (Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Test
Upon successful completion of final exams at the end of seventh grade, Hogwarts students earn N.E.W.T.’s in their upper division subjects which are required for certain vocational courses.

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Chapter 4 - Crawler

Reluctantly Nagini stretched her almost five-meter-long snake body, which lay curled up in front of the warm fireplace in the master bedroom. She had slept far too little, having returned home only at sunrise. At the moment she was in a particularly bad mood because she was tired and hungry. A combination that could have been fatal for anyone who met her that morning. And the only one to blame was this horse. The encounter last night had thrown her completely off course. And yet everything started quite normally last night.

Full of anticipation and already in hunting fever, Nagini headed for the Forbidden Forest. It was so boring and dull to always capture tame rats and rabbits in the manor. They almost jumped onto her plate voluntarily. How much more exciting was the hunt for juicy weir rats* in the Forbidden Forest. 

Always more exciting than the alternative: Alone at home! Today, their master had already left early in the afternoon for his monthly main Death Eaters' Meeting and only returned late with his entourage. So the manor had been empty except for the house elves and a very bored snake. There were not even mindless Death Eaters to annoy, for attendance at the general meeting was compulsory; even her favorite Death Eater snob had left work so early that he could still dress up in a manner befitting his station, rather than serve as her entertainment.

There would be repercussions. Lately, these meetings were all about politics and government business, which is why she stayed home more and more often. Oh, those were the days when disobedient Death Eaters and enemies were plentiful. Often she was allowed to help her master with the punishments and hit poison fangs into twitching flesh. 

But since there had been peace for about ten years, and the new government policy called for a more moderate management style, there was only small game for her. Well, if everyone flew out, then she would just go out and stalk them. No sooner said than done. 

Weir rats could only be successfully hunted in the few hours before midnight, later the animals retreated to their safe hiding places to rest. Hmm, where should she lie in wait? The mushroom grounds near the rock caves? Too far away, she couldn't make it in time. 

The old kyrith tree** on the small hill near the Great Lake at the edge of the forest? The fruits should all be rotting on the forest floor by the end of July and would irresistibly attract weir rats. Yes, that's where she would try her hunting luck. The stupid rats would roll with fervor in the fallen overripe kyrith fruits, perfuming themselves with their special peel smell and at the same time exposing the tasty kernels. In doing so, they paid no attention at all to their surroundings and were thus easy prey. Carefully, almost silently, Nagini slid to a half-mature tree trunk to hide in the small hollow below and wait for her dinner. 

As time passed, she lazily observed the area. Stars twinkled through the canopy of the trees, and the moon was reflected in the Great Lake. It was a dreamlike night, but unfortunately, there were no weir rats in it. Where was her prey? It was soon midnight! Then she saw it! The animal stood there motionless, seemingly absorbed in the sight of Hogwarts. 

Gradually, she recognized the silhouette of a horse, which appeared nebulously in the shadows of the forest's edge. What was a horse doing at night in this dangerous forest for non-magical animals? It had to be from the stud farm. But her master hadn't even mentioned that he was missing one of his thoroughbred horses. Of course, it could have broken out tonight, after her master had left the common residence. But that was actually out of the question, strong protective bans kept the thoroughbreds on the Riddle lands. 

If it wasn't from Riddle Stud, who else did it belong to and how did it get here? Or was it one of those free-roaming wild ponies that had lost its herd? No, ponies were those dwarfish little horses and the stately animal in front of her was anything but, but definitely not small. Did it even have a master? It seemed so free and untamed to her. 

Suddenly Nagini felt a gossamer, somehow searching touch, the very familiar magic stroking her entire body as light as a feather. Was her master already back from his meeting and also here? Impossible, he avoided the forest like the plague. She was still reveling in the unexpected caress that she almost didn't notice how the horse's head slowly turned in her direction and bright green eyes stared directly into her yellow ones. Time seemed to stand still. 

Nagini was spellbound by those hypnotic eyes, which now turned away again and looked once more almost wistfully toward the castle before the animal turned and ran close past her deeper into the Forbidden Forest. A horse without snake phobia and apparently with magic powers? Nagini was dumbfounded. This could not be a normal horse! 

But what was it? In any case male, she had over clearly his ... so his ... it was one hundred percent a stallion, a black stallion. And definitely not an Animagus! She would have smelled it, because a tiny residue of the human scent always remained, even if Animagi remained in their animal form for weeks or even months. 

A unicorn? No horn, wrong coat color! A demon horse? No glowing ice-blue or orange-red eyes, no sulfur smoke! A centaur? She definitely wouldn't have missed a male torso! What other horse-shaped creatures were there? The black stallion possessed magic. A magic horse! Was it bound to a wizard like her? Unlikely, only its master was powerful enough to perform a black magic animal binding ritual, and he was already bound to her, double bindings were not possible! A magic horse? A mysterious magic horse! 

For hours she remained frozen in the same place, brooding, even forgetting her hunger and the hunt for weir rats, reviewing the whole encounter over and over again. Inconclusive and rather frustrated, she finally made her way home at dawn.

Back in the here and now, her stomach grumbled audibly. She had forgotten her actual reason for the trip because of the nighttime encounter. So it was back to home cooking for breakfast, she thought grumpily. And with these depressing prospects, she immediately needed cheering up and knew exactly who would involuntarily help her. 

With renewed vigor, she left the bedroom. Nagini crept vigilantly down the hall, always hiding in the shadows. She was on the hunt for a very special prey. Already she heard the familiar footsteps and ducked deeper into the wall shadows. Joyful anticipation made her heart beat faster. When the person was within reach, she leaped up and hissed at the horrified man with her mouth wide open, her fangs extended decoratively, right into his face. 

Malfoy Junior cried out in panic and stumbled back several feet. Nagini could quite clearly smell the sweet scent of fear on her tongue. Yes, revenge could be so satisfying, why did he have to leave earlier than necessary yesterday too, it was her own fault if she overdid it a bit today. As Draco began to sway menacingly, she expertly wrapped her abdomen around his body, lifted him up, and placed the motionless man almost lovingly against the wall. 

He had hit his head very badly once during their previous clashes and had to cure his concussion afterward. Her favorite "playmate" had been absent for over a week, and no one could cheer her up as well with his jumpy reaction to her pranks as the blondling. 

Since then, she always "secured" him during their already almost ritual morning fun, so that he wouldn't hurt himself again and be out for so long again. Eyes widened in shock and mouth agape with gasps, Draco stared directly into the eyes of his panic trigger. Very pleased, if snakes could smile, she would have grinned gleefully, Nagini continued on her way to her master. As if in passing, she still closed the blond's mouth with the tip of her tail and teasingly tapped his cheek in farewell. 

As usual, young Malfoy would remain standing there for quite a while to recover from the fright. He had a panic fear of snakes and Nagini took shameless advantage of it almost every morning. Tomorrow, of course, he would take another route to the study, sleepy and anxiously peering around every corner, as if that would do him any good. 

Nagini knew Riddle Manor inside out, she had explored every little nook and cranny. Her master had paid special attention to a "snake-conforming" construction. All rooms, including all exits, were equipped with enchanted snake flaps just for her. A short touch of the flap and she got everywhere. There the blond Schnösel could escape her in no case, no matter where he hid. 

Malfoy Junior and she had a very ambivalent relationship. The snake loved their little clashes early in the morning. The blond certainly saw it completely differently. He was absolutely not a morning person, and so he usually crept through the halls not quite awake before work started, making him a perfect victim. Nagini could then catch him off guard and scare him every time. 

After that, she usually left him alone for the rest of the day, unless he lapsed into that Malfoy-typical blasé attitude. She absolutely couldn't stand that and took countermeasures. Five running meters of snake then spiraled around the blondling, tightening tighter and tighter around him, while Nagini messed up his styled hairstyle with her head, tongued him in the face, and then slowly curled off his frozen body. 

This "educational measure" lasted for weeks. Ha, even snakes could teach imaginary magicians to behave. Otherwise, they tolerated each other silently, which meant she didn't take his sensitivities into consideration, after all, she was at home here and he made huge detours, kept the greatest possible distance from her, always walked extremely carefully through the manor, expecting her ambush everywhere. 

Yes, she had raised him well, Nagini thought with satisfaction. Before she disappeared around the next corner, she looked back once more. Malfoy was still leaning motionless against the wall, breathing frantically, completely upset. Still hungry, but now in a much better mood, almost cheerful, Nagini continued on her way and entered her master's study through her personal queue entrance, sitting at his desk as he did every morning, going through his correspondence first. 

A cup of steaming coffee stood ready on a tray, next to it lay the current daily newspapers. Nagini crawled to the desk, curled around the back of the leather chair, and rested her head on her master's shoulder, good-humoredly murmuring in his ear, "Good morning, master. Your secretary is running a little late, as usual."
  

"Good morning to you, too," Voldemort replied as he glanced briefly at her and then continued to finish correcting a letter. "What have you done to him again, my dear?" 


"Nothing!" said Nagini, all innocence personified. "Maybe I hissed at him a little and tickled his face a little," she then admitted, however. 

Slowly, Voldemort put aside the finished corrected letter and looked very seriously at his serpent, "Nagini, how many times have I told you not to scare my secretary before work starts, but only after work is done? Now good Draco is out of commission for half the day again." Conspiratorially, he leaned closer to her, "Has he been opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water again?"


Nagini hissed in amusement, "Yes, and his wide-open eyes to boot - delightful. The Blondling was particularly jumpy again today."


Voldemort winked at her as he grinned, reaching for the coffee cup and turning to the newspapers. "Shall I whip you up some more rats for breakfast, my dear?" 


Nagini's stomach growled loudly in response, and a short time later three nice, fat rats scurried through the study. But before she pounced on her prey, she enjoyed her master's magic, which sent pleasant shivers down her body. Still caught in pleasant after-effects, she caught her breakfast and ate it comfortably. 

It was always like this when her master did magic and she was around. As a magically bound animal, she was sensitive to her master's magic, able to feel it with distinct senses that only she possessed because of her close bond. She had felt the same wonderful feelings last night in the Forbidden Forest, she remembered now. 

And her master had not been there at all, she continued to think. He never entered the forest, kept a clear distance, and had also forbidden his subordinates to enter under threat of death. Strange! Very strange! As if there was something there that her master would scare away when he approached. 

Where did this thought come from all of a sudden? As far as she knew, there was nothing in the Forbidden Forest that would interest her master, only insignificant magical creatures like unicorns, giant spiders, centaurs, werewolves ... and recently a magic horse that possessed absolutely the same magic as her master. She had felt and tasted it with all her senses. There was no mistake! How was that possible?

"Nagini, are you all right?" Voldemort looked anxiously at his snake, frozen in mid-motion. 

Resolutely, the latter was just finishing her confusing reflections. She desperately needed a break from her thoughts. "I'm going to sunbathe," Nagini announced incoherently, sliding out through the French doors. 

Frowning, the Dark Lord returned to his newspaper.

The sun terrace was one of her favorite places. It encompassed the entire window front of the study and was bordered on the garden side by an extra-wide wall and a large flight of steps. At least one French door was open or ajar most of the year during the day because it was the shortest and most convenient way for everyone to get to the gardens, paddocks, and stables. 

Lazy and finally full after the extensive three-part breakfast, Nagini rested stretched out long on the terrace wall and sunbathed. The sun's rays had wonderfully warmed the stones beneath her and now danced over her serpentine body, making her emerald diamond pattern sparkle and glitter like gems. Slowly she dozed off, hardly aware of her master stepping out onto the terrace, running past her down the steps, and beginning his daily round.

Around noon, she was awakened by hurried footsteps that faltered, then made a wide arc around her sleeping place, and then continued on to the paddocks. Ah, the good Draco had recovered from their morning touch and surely wanted to remind his lord of the upcoming meeting with these foreigners. 

Not yet fully awake, she watched as the blond secretary walked up to her master and addressed him. Voldemort nodded occasionally, continuing to lean comfortably against the paddock fence and watch his yearlings frolic. Their master had always been a great lover of horses and had fulfilled his great dream here by breeding and keeping thoroughbred horses. 

Nagini had never understood what her master found so attractive about horses, to her they were just long-legged hay-eating fickle beasts with short coats and seemingly innate snake phobia. But now everything was different, now she knew a magic horse that no one knew about and was completely fascinated by him.

She would keep this secret for a while and not tell her master for the time being. The stallion seemed to love his freedom and she knew Voldemort well enough to know that he loved and "collected" beautiful and noble things. And he would have such a magnificent animal captured immediately. It hurt Nagini just to think of seeing this wonderful horse caged. 

Hmm ... on the other hand, it would always be close to her and safe. The Dark Lord protected his property, the stallion would be fine here and the lands of Riddle Manor were huge, the golden cage accordingly. But it would still be a cage! No, she could not do that to her magic horse. She would keep its existence a secret and reveal it only in an emergency. Point!

However, it couldn't hurt to keep an eye on the animal. What did it really look like? she asked herself curiously. Last night she had seen the horse's shape only dimly. Suddenly a terrible thought flashed through Nagini's mind. Was her magic horse still there? Maybe it was just passing through and had long since disappeared? Nagini needed absolute certainty. Immediately! 

She would look for herself. She had perfected spying and scouting at Voldemort's side in the war, and she had an army of relatives who would help her as always. Because of her magical alliance with the most powerful wizard in the world, all snakes revered Nagini like a queen; her word was law among the serpentine crawlers. 

Full of drive, she left the terrace in the direction of the Forbidden Forest, her figure shrinking more and more, until only a thin inconspicuous snake of barely two meters in length with a dark green, almost black diamond-shaped pattern moved along in the grass.

Nagini in miniature had lost absolutely nothing of her dangerousness, instead of muscle power and poison she could now rely on speed and highly concentrated poison, with her the rule of thumb of the animal kingdom also applied: the smaller, the more poisonous. She could overpower someone in a flash, just a small scratch with her poisonous teeth and the person was already dead before he could blink again.

Where should she start her search? The Forbidden Forest stretched for hundreds of square kilometers, some areas inside were so dark and evil, not even she dared to go there, certainly not a horse. She would simply start at the beginning! Her magic horse had looked from the edge of the forest to the Great Lake and Hogwarts. Maybe the water snakes knew something. 

Quickly she scurried away. Arriving at the lakeshore, she learned only that a black horse had been appearing at the edge of the forest once around the middle of the year for about a decade and then disappearing again for a year. Well, in any case, she now knew where she would find her stallion in a year, she thought wryly. The old-fashioned way, then, she would simply trust her instincts and follow the direction of the path along which the magic horse had disappeared into the depths of the forest after their encounter.

Nagini looked around discontentedly. She had already followed countless hints of helpful vipers and sneaks. It became slowly evening and also here on this clearing - nothing! The snake already wanted to crawl further, when she perceived vibrations and ducked again deeper into the grass at the edge of the clearing. Just a herd of unicorns, she thought disappointedly, as the shy animals scattered across the forest glade. And then there he was, the black stallion suddenly standing in the midst of the grazing unicorns, seeming to converse with them as he intently observed his surroundings.

Finally, she had found her magic horse! Nagini was thrilled by his beauty. In the fading daylight, his coat shone raven black, his shimmering mane reached to his knees, blew gently in the evening breeze, and his eyes were indeed velvet green. Beautiful.

Then she felt it again, the barely perceptible searching groping of familiar magic. As if fixated, she stared at her magic horse, no longer perceiving anything else. And suddenly cried out in agony, because the razor-sharp teeth of a were-hyena* bored deep into her neck, kept following, practically began to slit her open. 

The predator knew exactly the only weak point of a snake to make it defenseless. Nagini could not turn her head, thus could not use her venom. Her vision began to blur. Then she heard the deafening drumming of hooves, was tossed back and forth, and shortly thereafter fell powerless to the ground as the hyena's teeth released her. She heard fighting sounds that ended in a horrible howling and screeching. Very vaguely, she saw her attacker limping away defeated on three paws.

She could hardly move. Concerned, the black horse stepped next to her and said regretfully, "I can't help you, the wound is too big. You need a healer. The centaurs ..." 


Strained and in shock, she tried to form the right words, "Th-thank you ... savvve ... m-my ... master ... help ... heal." In her weakened state, Nagini didn't even notice that she was talking to someone who was neither a snake nor Voldemort.

Astonished, the stallion asked, "Your master, you have a master? Who?"


"...Vol-Voldemort," she answered in pain.

Her rescuer swallowed convulsively, "Nagini? You're Nagini!"


The snake looked at him in amazement and nodded. The black stallion seemed undecided about what he should do now. No, he seemed rather afraid of what he had to do. Finally, shaking his head, he resigned himself and knelt down with his forelegs, and lowered his head to the ground, "You must try to get on my back so I can carry you home."

After several laborious attempts, Nagini had managed to hoist herself over the horse's back and wrap the end of her tail around the horse's neck so she wouldn't slide off. The stallion gingerly stood up again and carefully walked with his load through the forest in the direction of Voldemort's estate. 

The warmth of the horse's body and the remnants of the magic used did her good and the rocking carrying motion slowly lulled her, she could get used to that right away, but then she bristled in irritation, "How do you know me and know where I live?" 


"The inhabitants of the forest talk and I listen," was the cryptic and unfortunately final answer of her companion, although her thirst for knowledge was not quenched.

"Why are you so short and skinny, anyway?" her mount asked after a while. Nagini raised her head and squinted at the horse's head. How much could she tell? Inexplicably, she trusted "her magic horse", felt comfortable in his presence, it was just like usual only in the presence of her master. 

Therefore, after a short hesitation, she began to say: "I am the soul animal of Lord Voldemort. Many years ago I saved his life. We got to talking, understood each other right away, and out of gratitude he made me the proposal to bind myself magically to him. I had been lonely for so long before that just like him. Through the bond, I became a magical animal and can, among other things, change my body size at will. This is extremely convenient at times."


"Yes, for spying on enemies and then luring them into a deadly ambush," the stallion said contemptuously. She saw old pain flare in his eyes.

After that, both of them were silent, affected, and hung onto their thoughts. At the edge of the forest, her lifesaver hesitated, as if having difficulty stepping out of the forest into the light. He turned his head toward her, looking at her large bleeding wounds. Then the black stallion overcame his timidity and entered the lands of Riddle Manor, following the main path to the imposing entrance portal.

Lord Voldemort, dressed in casual leisure clothes, who had just come from one of the outbuildings and was walking towards the entrance stairs, turned around when he heard the clatter of hooves and stared with his blood-red eyes at the black stallion that was also approaching the stairs. Nagini noticed that her rescuer suddenly stopped and then turned back with such a jerk that she fell from the momentum and was almost hit by the hooves of the galloping stallion. 

In pain, she looked around and caught sight of Voldemort angrily drawing his wand and pointing it in the direction of the fleeing horse. Nagini didn't want anything bad to happen to "her magic horse." Startled, she hissed, "Master, no! Don't! He didn't mean to hurt me. He just got scared when he saw you, and that's when I fell down."  

The Dark Lord knew from experience that one thing his snake cared a great deal about was lapsing into the more respectful "your" address, which didn't happen very often. A bit puzzled since Nagini usually only reacted so emotionally and protectively with him, Voldemort lowered his wand as he looked after the disappearing stallion. He then knelt down to his snake, lovingly stroked its head, and cast a complex healing spell. 

As this began to take effect, she began to report, "Master, it was kind of strange. I was hunting when a werehyena ambushed and injured me. Out of nowhere, he suddenly came charging, chased off my attacker, and talked me into climbing on his back to take me home." Nagini was broodingly silent, then finally remembered what had struck her as so strange about the whole encounter and exclaimed in amazement, "He was talking Parsel to me the whole time!"


Slowly her master rose from his kneeling position and looked thoughtfully towards the Forbidden Forest, finally his mouth twisted into a smile, "Congratulations, Nagini! You have found Harry Potter!"


The snake was tongue-tied for the moment, much like Malfoy Junior this morning, it snapped its mouth open and shut.

"It all makes sense now," Voldemort whispered, almost in awe. Abruptly, he turned and hurried into the house. 

Nagini looked perplexed from the one running away to the remaining dust cloud of the other. Harry Potter had finally reappeared and her master, who had so far left no stone unturned to get hold of him, just let him escape and did nothing to stop him. She didn't understand the world anymore. But she knew someone who knew the answers. Nimbly she followed him.

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* Excerpt from "Lexicon of Magical Animals and Creatures", page 1.246 and 2.391, M.&Boyle Publisher 1894

Weir rats (Rattus pugnator) are wiry, cat-sized predators that resemble rats in appearance and are very defensible. The name is derived from the words "weir" and "rat." These animals are not therianthropes (human-animal shifters; examples: werewolf, werepanther, werehyena), as often erroneously assumed. 
Food: small animals, clutches of eggs, mushrooms, fruits, berries

Occurrence: Large populations exist in the Forbidden Forest and in the elven bogs of Lanara.

Werehyenas (Virhyaenidae) are therianthropes (human-animal shifters), similar in appearance to a normal laughing or spotted hyena Food in animal form: snakes and other small animals, carrion. 

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** Excerpt from " Encyclopedia of Magical Plant Life", page 837, M.&Boyle Publisher 1843, revised 2nd new edition 1896 

Kyrith trees (Cyrithea) are giant trees similar to chestnuts with nine-fingered leaves. Their non-spiny fruits with thick soft skin and nutritious double core attract small rodents with their beguiling fragrance, which ensure the continuation and spread of the tree species by excreting the indigestible inner cores.

More pictures and information

Chapter Text

Chapter 5 - Wistfulness

Voldemort lowered the newspaper in amazement and looked at his snake. Since when had Nagini been interested in horses without a trace of dislike? Unintentionally, he had caught some snippets of his soul animal's thoughts. Could he infect her with his infatuation for horses after all? Never! She despised animals that were afraid of her. And why had his confidante frozen in mid-motion in front of the fireplace in the study, after the last rat tail had disappeared, waving in her mouth, and not stirred for some time?

"Nagini, are you all right?" His snake seemed to slowly regain consciousness, then curtly informed him that she was now going to sunbathe and hurried out the patio door. She was really acting strange today, he thought, frowning, and looked thoughtfully at his newspaper.

After he had skimmed the "Witch World", the "Magic Courier" and the "Magical News", he turned, as always, to the newspaper with the highest circulation - the "Daily Prophet". Of course, all the daily papers had devoted themselves to the topic he had set for today, each in a slightly different form and, of course, the biggest paper with the most lurid hook. 

From "WHERE IS HARRY POTTER?", "IS HARRY POTTER STILL ALIVE?", "HARRY POTTER - 28 YEARS OLD TODAY! WITH WHOM DOES HE PARTICIPATE ON HIS BIRTHDAY?", "TEN YEARS AWAY - WHO HID HARRY POTTER?" to "HARRY POTTER - MOST WANTED MAGICIAN OF THE MAGIC WORLD," the newspaper pages overflowed with big headlines as well as a wealth of true and speculative background information. 

Voldemort did not often interfere in the editorial policies and reporting of the print media. Reporters and editors worked better without obvious censorship, and he let them believe that press freedom existed under his rule. The editors-in-chief of all newspapers, magazines, and publishers were devoted high-ranking Death Eaters who acted in his interests.

The Dark Lord was slowly at the end of his patience and wisdom because for over ten years Harry Potter had disappeared off the face of the earth. He had scoured the entire country, including foreign countries, several times, using various search and tracking spells, residence, pursuit, and name curses. Aurors and bounty hunters were in constant use. But nothing! Absolutely nothing! Not even the tiniest trace! 

That's why he tried a new approach this time. The editor-in-chief of the Daily Prophet, Barnabas Cuffe, had given him the idea. In all the newspapers there would be several articles about Harry Potter, both positive and negative - so that they would appeal to all wizards and witches - and under each report, there would be a notice to immediately report contacts and encounters with the wanted person or his whereabouts to the Ministry of Magic, Department of Magical Law Enforcement, which would immediately send the incoming reports to the Dark Lord himself. 

No one could escape this call, for everyone, without exception, who read these newspapers and publications was subject to the coercive curses woven into the articles to betray Harry Potter. Even old friends, possible supporters, or his current protectors were powerless against these curses and, if they knew anything, would have to run to the Ministry like everyone else. The compulsion would lose its effect only upon Harry Potter's official capture, or Voldemort would release individual wizards from it in the meantime for tactical reasons if he still wanted to keep his capture a secret. 

So much for the theory! For this large-scale campaign, the Dark Lord had chosen July 31, Harry Potter's birthday. Such effect journalism was otherwise abhorrent to him, but the end justified the means, as was well known. The newspapers were a broad mass medium, would reach almost the entire wizarding population, and again sensitize them, forcing them to keep their eyes open for Harry Potter and report any clues.

Voldemort folded up the Daily Prophet he had read and tossed it on the pile with the other papers. Taking a deep breath, he leaned back in his desk chair. Now all he could do was wait and hope that this new action would bring results. If only he had appeared at Malfoy Manor sooner, Harry Potter would now be in his hands, and the eternal brooding over his whereabouts would have come to an end. 

He definitely needed a break from his musings. Finishing the last sips of coffee, he stood up and stretched. Time for his daily walk around. As he stepped out onto the terrace, he had to smile. Nagini was sunning herself, stretched out long on the wall, and at the level of her stomach, three bullets bulged her body. 

He happily continued his way to the stud farm. His giant snake lady was a fast "food digester"; in a few hours, she would have digested the rats and would be hungrily prowling the estate again, looking for new prey. Maybe today he would tease her a bit and run her dinner in the attic. She always got so excited when she had to search for her food for a long time.

Relaxed, the ruler of Wizarding Britain, Tom Marvolo Riddle, aka Lord Voldemort, leaned against the paddock fence and watched a couple of yearlings romp around. Some of them looked very promising, especially the black one. Cockily, he just shook his head and climbed, although he was clearly not the biggest and strongest.

Voldemort smirked. So much willfulness and temper. Just like... Harry Potter. 'Again,' he sighed mentally. The masses of newspaper information about the wanted man still buzzed through his head and just wouldn't let him go. Many wizards believed Harry Potter was dead, perished in the war, and post-war turmoil.

But Tom knew better. The man who had disappeared since then was alive. Their "link" still worked, though differently. There were no clearer images or dreams in either direction. Everything was shrouded in thick fog; only feelings came through now and then. Harry was apparently doing well. If in the first weeks after his escape at that time feelings of fear and pain were still to be felt, later there were only positive feelings, which sometimes seeped through the fog barrier.

The former savior of the wizarding world seemed content to be where he was now and to feel extremely safe from being tracked down by his Death Eaters. What place was safe from Lord Voldemort and his followers? Why couldn't he find him? And if that wasn't frustrating enough, a phantom had been haunting his mind ever since. 

Whenever he tried with all his might to clear the fog around Harry's thoughts, and he was almost through, a black, shadowy creature that somehow resembled a horse would appear and sweep him back into his own thought world. This "shadow horse" apparently guarded Harry's thoughts very successfully. What kind of magic was this that could create such a strong thought barrier? Why had he never heard of it before? Why couldn't he find anything about this spell? Voldemort had searched all the libraries for references to this spell and to animal Shadow Guardians. Nowhere could he find any information about it.

That was the second thing in connection with the Gryffindor, which he simply could not solve. At Merlin's, his thoughts were just spinning in circles. What was going on today? Strange things had been happening all day. First, shortly after midnight, when he had already fallen asleep, he was torn from his slumber. Such a strong jolt went through his mental connection with Harry Potter that he almost fell out of bed when he jolted up. 

He had not felt such extreme emotions coming through the veil in years. As if his absent nemesis had had a violent emotional clash with another magical being. No, more like when Harry's magic reacted joyfully to a kindred magical soul after initial doubt. In any case, the shadow horse in Tom's head didn't seem overly concerned or excited, just guarding the fog in his head as usual after the emotional outburst, shielding him from Harry Potter's thoughts. 

It took Tom ages to fall asleep again, then he was plagued by confused dreams about shadows, misty creatures, and magic horses so that he woke up completely unrested. As if that wasn't enough today, his snake was also behaving strangely. Something unexpected was going to happen today. He just knew it.

"What is it, Draco?" Voldemort didn't need to turn around to know who was the only one who dared to disturb him in his walks. Sighing silently, he turned his head and looked punitively at his secretary. Draco Malfoy had completed a four-year apprenticeship at the Ministry of Magic after finishing school, graduated with the highest grades, and then worked successfully in the Ministry headquarters in a senior position. 

The Dark Lord had loosely followed his career. When Lord Voldemort took over the reins of government himself after the war, he wanted to be informed about every little detail, important or not, as always, because of his control addiction. But after a few years, he grew tired of all the unimportant things. His own time was too precious to dwell on trivialities. "Delegate" was the magic word. 

Then Lucius' son came back to his mind. Only average as a wizard, he was brilliant as a personal secretary. For six years, Malfoy Junior had organized his public life. He had an outstanding memory, never forgot anything. Voldemort was extremely satisfied with his secretary and therefore let him get away with a lot, like the disturbance just now.

"Excuse me, my lord. You asked me to inform you immediately when the European ambassadors arrive. They arrived eight minutes ago and are waiting in the reception hall," Draco answered his master's question.

Voldemort smiled sardonically; he had known. Two days before the deadline, they came crawling back. All his plans worked out, and Europe lay practically gift-wrapped at his feet. Another milestone on the road to world domination had been reached. He wondered what Harry would have said about that, or better, what he would have tried to do to prevent it. 

Where did these thoughts come from again? He was constantly thinking about his only true opponent. He had admitted to himself a long time ago that he was obsessed with Harry Potter. At any rate, he couldn't explain his behavior and his longing any other way. Back to the upcoming meeting!

"I will receive the emissaries in the throne room in an hour. Prepare everything! At all doors and windows, Death Eaters in masks and cloaks, windows blacked out, only candlelight and fireplace light." With the right intimidation tactics, achieving his goals was a piece of cake. Maybe Nagini felt like accompanying him this time. His snake would be very "decorative" to the ominous atmosphere and could also finally walk on old paths again and "tease" the foreigners. 

Lately, she seemed very bored and often sulky. In contrast, today she had been downright snippy, irritated by something, and distracted. He looked toward the terrace. Where was his snake? Strange, she usually sunbathed late into the afternoon. Again, he was overcome by a feeling of foreboding.

"And Draco, I desire your father's presence at the negotiations; he will act as doorkeeper and compliment the guests in and out," the Dark Lord ordered gloatingly. "My lord, I will inform him and arrange everything as you have ordered," his secretary bade him goodbye officiously.

Oh yes, Voldemort could be very vindictive when someone disobeyed his explicit orders or botched delicate tasks, especially when Harry Potter was involved. Lucius Malfoy, one of his most loyal Death Eaters, was still in disgrace and had been limping ever since. Now he needed his walking stick not just for adornment, but for actual use. He was a cautionary example for all Death Eaters never to disobey their lord's instructions and to carry them out to the letter; self-interpretation could prove fatal. 

Malfoy Senior was the only one who had survived the punishments of that time, because he had not been involved in the torture of Harry Potter, had not known about it, and had served his master absolutely faithfully until then. But stupidity was also punished. After the Death Eater search parties returned to the manor by evening without the escaped man, a murderous Dark Lord awaited them, whose cruelty and sadism knew no bounds that night.

He took bloody revenge on the disobedient Death Eaters and Lucius Malfoy. Voldemort had not forgiven the latter to this day because he was partly to blame for the disappearance of Harry Potter for years. It had taken the elder Malfoy months to recover from his master's punishment.

When his son Draco joined Voldemort's service as secretary, Lucius was green with jealousy. Tom always fondly remembered the Malfoy chief's sour face when he introduced his new secretary at a specially scheduled Death Eater meeting. The son had thus risen to become the Dark Lord's secret keeper, a hitherto unoccupied position that his father had aspired to all his life and would now never attain due to this one stupid mistake. 

In the ceremony that followed, Draco Malfoy was given an unbreakable ban of secrecy; betrayal of secret and personal information of Lord Voldemort was impossible, even the use of Veritaserum, the strongest known Veritaserum, would be ineffective on Draco. His left forearm was now adorned with a silver mark, where instead of a black snake, a silvery one coiled around the skull. Draco was thus the first Death Eater to hold the rank of "Silver Serpent" and was above all other Death Eaters in the chain of command, including his father.

The sun was beginning to set. For Tom, it was the most beautiful time of the day; everything around him, the Forbidden Forest, Riddle Manor, the paddocks and pastures, was bathed in reddish-yellow light, enchanted by the evening sun. Leisurely, to enjoy the picturesque sight as long as possible, he strolled as so often from the stud past the paddocks to the main entrance of his house. 

The entire facade was clad in white Carrara marble, but the portal with the imposing staircase and all the window and door surrounds were made of rare crystal marble, which sparkled green in normal daylight, but now glittered blood-red in the evening light. Red like his eyes and green like the eyes of... Stop! No! He had already thought enough about that green-eyed wizard today. And besides, he certainly hadn't chosen the crystal marble because of any eye colors. No, definitely not, Voldemort convinced himself. 

Once again, he looked at his home with pride. After his victory ten years ago, a strange gnawing restlessness, a peculiar increasing restlessness, had befallen him; he no longer felt really at home anywhere. As if he were missing something essential, although he had achieved all his goals. Only when he officially reopened Hogwarts and spent a few days in the castle did he feel a sense of home like nowhere else. 

Tom decided to take up residence here and had Riddle Manor built to his specifications. Since he lived here, his restlessness had almost subsided; he felt as if he had finally come home. Near the Forbidden Forest, where his manor stood on the edge of the Great Lake, he was overcome with a peace and tranquility he had never felt before.

The walk today around the lake had been a pleasure, as always, and had lifted his spirits even higher after the ambassador meeting. It was a pity that Nagini was not there. She would have enjoyed this meeting. Just a small demonstration of his true power had been enough for the foreign ambassadors to break out in a cold sweat and beg their governments to voluntarily accede to his demands. He wondered if his snake girlfriend was already back from her hunting trip to keep him company at dinner.

Having almost reached the stairs, he suddenly heard the patter of hooves and turned around in amazement. A slender, fine-boned, black stallion was running along the main path, also toward the entrance portal. Completely fascinated, he stared at the beautiful animal. Knee-length silky mane, raven-black coat, and velvet green eyes widened in horror when they noticed him. Suddenly, there was a strange alien magic in the air, influencing him, gently caressing... exciting him? Was he under attack? Was there danger? 

No, he didn't think so, it felt more like... Abruptly, the black horse came to a halt just ahead of him, turned shyly, and galloped back down the driveway toward the Forbidden Forest. At the abrupt turn, something fell off the horse's back and rolled through the sand splattered by the hooves right to his feet. When he looked down, a heavily bleeding Nagini lay before him, looking around for help. Furious, Voldemort drew his wand; the stallion had injured his snake with his turning maneuver.

"Master, no! Don't! He didn't mean to hurt me. He just got scared when he saw you, and that's when I fell down."

Voldemort lowered his wand and looked after the galloping horse, watching him disappear into the protective darkness of the Forbidden Forest. Only a cloud of dust remained, slowly dispersing in the gentle evening breeze. Then he knelt down to his friend, lovingly stroked her head, and cast a healing spell.

"Master, it was kind of strange. I was hunting when a werehyena ambushed and injured me. Out of nowhere, he suddenly came charging, chased off my attacker, and talked me into climbing on his back to take me home." Then she finally remembered what had seemed so strange about the whole encounter and exclaimed in amazement, "He was talking Parsel to me the whole time!"

Slowly, Voldemort rose from his kneeling position and looked thoughtfully toward the Forbidden Forest, finally, his mouth twisted into a smile, "Congratulations, Nagini! You have found Harry Potter!"


The Dark Lord continued to stand motionless, once again relishing the memory of that strange magic that had just touched him at his core and ignited a spark, but shortly thereafter vanished along with the black stallion. "It all makes sense now," Voldemort whispered almost reverently. Abruptly, he turned and hurried into the house. 

Nagini looked perplexed from the one running away to the remaining dust cloud of the other. Harry Potter had finally reappeared, and her master, who had so far left no stone unturned to get hold of him, just let him escape and did nothing to stop him. She didn't understand the world anymore. But she knew someone who knew the answers. Nimbly, she followed her master in the direction of the entrance portal.

"Mate magic!" the Dark Lord pondered, gazing into the blazing flames of the fireplace. True companions? Could it really be? After Harry Potter and with him this strange but so unique magic, disappeared into the Forbidden Forest, he finally understood why he had been unable to find answers all these years. How could he have missed this point of view? Simple. He would never have thought of soul connection because the thought alone was so far-fetched, so impossible, that there was for him a companion destined by fate to complement him completely; everything else had been conceivable, but this possibility he had not even considered. 

Soul partnerships were so rare that such connections were almost unknown and forgotten. Again, he looked at the pages of the old, yellowed book in his hands, which he had found dusty and covered by other books on the back shelves of his library, and read the text again.

"Soul partnerships are the rarest, most precious, and perfect life partnerships that exist between witches and wizards, gender being beside the point. Soul mates are the ideal partners for each other; they will not be happier and more satisfied in their lives with anyone else, and achieve everything they desire together." 

"Only after reaching the age of 18, both partners can recognize each other through a special companion magic, often only the older partner perceives the bond first, as he usually has more power, experience, and knowledge ahead, and has to convince the younger companion to recognize their soul partnership. Sometimes, shadow animals protect the soul and mind of the younger partner from harm until the bonding takes place. The bonding ritual proceeds mainly in four steps: Finding, Acknowledging, Courting, Bonding." 

"The first three points can be done together or first by only one partner. The binding, the sealing of the soul partnership recognized by both companions as an expression of their boundless love, is completed with the binding ceremony, after which the partners are inseparable forever and ever."

"The duration of the entire bonding ritual can vary greatly, lasting from days to months to years, during which time the partners adapt their powers to each other, take on each other's most important abilities, become better and better at reading their mate's thoughts and dreams, mark and complement each other to perfection, and thus increase their mutual attraction for each other until at last true love unites them both."

"But, soul mates do not have to decide for each other, they can also reject each other or choose another partner, possibly have already found a normal life partner. They would then not find perfect fulfillment in life, but only lead an average, rather joyless life. Reasons for rejection may be terrible experiences, threats, pain, distrust, or late finding."


Voldemort lowered the book to his lap as he rested his head on the back of the couch, exhausted and frustrated, and looked up thoughtfully. His premonition, which hadn't left him all day today, had been confirmed. Something had happened, but he had not expected this development in his wildest dreams or worst nightmares. Harry Potter was back!

Harry Potter was his soul mate! Harry Potter could no longer hide from him since he now knew his Animagus secret! And - the ultimate crowning glory - Harry Potter hated him and would never accept him as his soul mate! Damn!

He recalled the text of the book: bad experiences, betrayal of trust, fear, well, if you wanted to kill your fated companion for years, to be abused and tortured by his followers, if you were the reason for ten years of escape and fear of death, yes, Harry Potter might have some reasons to reject him after all. Damn, damn, damn!

Again, he looked thoughtfully at the pages of the book, recalling all the facts about his mate, and one positive aspect emerged: Harry Potter knew nothing about their soul partnership, didn't even suspect anything about it, so he couldn't officially reject it. Exactly! He had to approach the matter completely differently and beat Harry Potter at his own game. Harry Potter was at his best when his life, his freedom, or the protection of his friends were threatened. 

If the danger to his life, freedom, or friends was not immediate, Harry Potter would not resist as strongly as usual and would be caught helplessly in the gentle web of soul-binding that Voldemort intended to cast, invisible to him, never expecting an attack from that direction. There was no escape for Harry, Tom would never give up or lose his soul mate again, a rejection was impossible, would not be accepted.

The Dark Lord's mouth twisted into a devilish grin as he thought of Harry's temperament. The whole binding ritual was a top priority for him from now on, and he was going to have some real fun casting the net and then reeling it in with his life companion wriggling in it.

But could it really be true that his nemesis, his enemy for years, was his trophy of victory, his soul mate? Voldemort sighed deeply and ran his hands through his hair. A tiny part of him still doubted, didn't want to believe it, even though it was the only logical conclusion. But there was a way to prove it, he just remembered, and it had all started ten years ago - with a cry for help born of the deepest anguish.

Even then, his soul had responded to the call for help, wanting to help his companion suffering from unspeakable pain, as he now realized. Since the escape back then, the shadow horse protected Harry's mind and soul from harm and, unfortunately, also from his companion, as he sadly realized. That was why Tom felt so comfortable near the Forbidden Forest because his soul mate lived in it as a horse animagus. 

He always thought that he had changed his appearance years ago because of his new status as ruler of Wizarding Britain, since politicians in human form, who were also devilishly good-looking, could spread less fear and better lead or seduce the magical people. But now he was no longer sure.

And the fact that just outside, he welcomed the strange magic, which had now turned out to be companion magic, without resistance, allowed only one conclusion: He had long ago unconsciously recognized Harry Potter as his companion and sought his proximity. So proving the whole thing should be a piece of cake. With renewed vigor, Voldemort stood upright in the center of the library and let his magic flow, as well as the new mate magic, ignited within him.

Where had her master gone so quickly? Now, Nagini had already searched half the Manor. He always changed before dinner, so she had looked in the master suite first. No sign! Nor was he in the dining room or the study. Where... the library! Nagini quickly meandered back down the hallway, slipped into the room through the serpentine door, and stared in amazement at the apparition before her eyes. She could not believe her eyes. This could not be. 

But there was a huge black horse standing in the middle of the library. She shook her head back and forth in disbelief, but the horse, no, the black stallion did not disappear. The intruder in front of her was definitely an animagus; she could quite clearly smell the human scent on the animal's body, a familiar smell, the familiar smell of her... The large horse's head turned slowly in her direction, and suddenly the animal's dark eyes glowed blood red. She winced in surprise. That was impossible!

"Don't look so amazed, Nagini. Soul mates take on the special abilities of their partner." 


Another black stallion speaking Parseltongue, Nagini thought irritably, before realizing the fact that her master was recently a horse animagus. "This is uncanny, master," Nagini hissed, after recovering from the initial shock and marveling at her master's appearance. Nagini bristled, 'Wait - soul mate?' 

Voldemort turned back and grinned. "Not scary, Nagini. Very practical. For one thing, it proves that Harry is indeed my soul mate, and for another, tomorrow I can chase after our runaway undetected and catch him. And before that, I'll take the time to lead him around by the nose a bit, since I don't have to worry about the end result of our encounter - he'll be mine! Forever and ever!"  

Voldemort walked towards the door and winked happily at her. "However, I need to fortify and rest first; a hunt can be so tiring."  

Nagini was still in a daze from the new incredible developments, yet one thing she knew for sure: "Good luck on the hunt, Master. But Harry Potter has managed to avoid capture for over ten years; he won't be caught so easily this time either!"  

Voldemort called back over his shoulder, laughing, "Well, I hope so, the more exciting and thrilling the hunt will be. And this prey is particularly unruly." Opening the door, he asked, still resolved, "Will you keep me company at dinner, Nagini? Tomorrow night there may be three of us," and left the library for the dining room. Not much was missing, and her master would have whistled a little song.

The snake lady shook her head; she would probably have to get used to a constantly good-humored master now that he had found and acknowledged his missing half. Couldn't the two have found each other sooner? She would have been spared years with a bad-tempered master, she quipped to herself, and also headed for the dining room.

After an extensive late dinner, the master and familiar soon retired for the night's rest. Voldemort wanted to leave early to search for his fled life partner. But somehow sleep would not come to him; still, too many thoughts about the events of the day swirled wildly through his head. Wistfully, Tom thought of all the lost, lonely years. He should have realized that Harry was his soul mate. 

All the signs were there. They had always had this close connection, from the beginning, he had marked his mate with his mark when they first met. The scar on his forehead was famous ever since. Their later encounters were always special, had their own unique dynamic, and sparks flew each time.

Nagini stirred in front of the fireplace, "Master, why didn't you follow him right away? Aren't you afraid that Harry will disappear and leave the Forbidden Forest tonight, never to be seen again?"

Voldemort turned on his side, straightened up a bit, and propped his head up with his arm to look at his snake, and replied, "Unless I'm mistaken, and I'm rarely mistaken about such things, Harry Potter has been a horse since his escape back then. Animagi can stay in their animal form for a few weeks or months at most, but then the compulsion to change is overwhelming, and they become human again. Did you detect any human scent on your rescuer today?"

Nagini shook her head thoughtfully, "No! That's why it didn't occur to me at all that my magic horse was an Animagus. I usually recognize every Animagus!" The snake was indignant. 

Tom grinned, "Magic horse? Yes, that fits. You don't have to blame yourself, Nagini. When an Animagus spends several years in his animal form, as unlikely as that is, he loses even the last human scent that would cling to him. Something is blocking Harry's reversion. Without help, he would remain a horse indefinitely. But now he has me."  

Smiling, the Dark Lord turned on his back again. "Harry is very clever and careful; he will not leave the Forbidden Forest, only there does he feel safe in his horse form. Besides, he feels the subliminal desire as in the past years, even if he does not know the reason, to stay near Riddle Manor - mate magic be thanked. As we both know now, his soul mate lives there. No, I don't have to worry about him leaving the Forbidden Forest, but rather how far his fear of me has driven him into the depths of the forest today. Unfortunately, this will make tracking him down tomorrow more difficult. But I can guarantee you, tomorrow night he will be safe in my hands." Yawning, he rubbed his face and closed his eyes wearily, "Good night, Nagini."

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