~ First chapter of Volume Two. This volume will be written mostly in the point of view of the three Shadow Copies that were sent out and their assignments in the omniverse. Specifically the Harry Potter universe, Invincible universe, and the Omniversal Void inbetween. If you're entertained, please leave behind your Power Stones and/or any comments and questions you may have. I'll try to answer any without spoiling anything major I have planned.
~ Void Emperor.
~
~ Shadow Copy - Two ~
~ HP Universe, Austrian Alps, Austria ~
~ December 21st 1983 ~
The snow was piled on high across the mountain ranges like a blanket of white across the horizon. The sight of it was a comforting reminder of home, of the North and its heavy winters. A welcome sight to my entrance to this universe, which is to be my home for the foreseeable future.
Much like my entrance into the Asoiaf universe, I felt the "Gods" of this world upon my entry, which I sense are just three conceptual beings; Magic, Fate, and Death; all of which didn't seem to mind my intrusion into their world. Luckily for me. Or maybe they are just curious how I'll change this timeline with my inclusion into the world. I wonder if they are connected to and have witnessed every conceivable version of this universes timeline and are happy to watch something new occurring in on of millions of the alternate realities.
Or maybe it is just my continued good luck within this new after life of mine. Not that I'm complaining, as long as it holds up in the future. But at the same time it's like waiting for the other shoe to drop, and my luck starts to turn.
Anyway.
Austria was not supposed to be my first destination, according to my main bodies plan's for the wizarding world, I was supposed to head straight to the Inferni infested cave. The one where one of Lord Voldemorts Horcruxes was hidden, Slytherins locket, and hopefully Regulus Arcturus Blacks dying body. Yet; while looking over the many alternate universe's, searching for one that would be perfect fit for my plans; I found something or rather someone else who would fit perfectly into the bossmans plans this coming year.
But more on that later. For now I have a previous Dark Lord to either recruit or devour, or maybe both.
Gellert Grindelwald.
Grindelwald is a pure-blood Dark wizard who was considered to be amongst the most powerful and notorious wizards of all time, his only known superiors being Albus Dumbledore and Lord Voldemort. A former student at Durmstrang Institute, Grindelwald was expelled for twisted, dark experiments and near-fatal attacks on his fellow students.
After leaving Durmstrang, by getting expelled, he traveled to Magical Britain, where he fostered a romantic relationship with a young Albus Dumbledore, making plans to find the Deathly Hallows and lead a Wizarding revolution to end the International Statute of Secrecy, and create a new wizard-led order that would dominate Muggles. At the age of seventeen, their partnership fell apart after the two were involved in a three-way duel with Dumbledore's younger brother Aberforth that resulted in the death of Dumbledore's Obscurial sister Ariana. Grindelwald then left Britain and later stole the Elder Wand from Mykew Gregorovitch, the Wand-maker, proceeding alone with the revolution he and Dumbledore had planned, for the "Greater Good".
Grindelwald is a complex figure, highly idealistic and talented, dedicated to achieving his ends at any cost. A revolutionary operating outside the law, he and his followers, the Acolytes, committed numerous crimes, including several murders, including murdering a Muggle toddler. With violent acts in both the United States and Europe, Grindelwald ultimately established a power base at Nurmengard Castle in Austria.
In 1945, at the height of Grindelwald's power, Dumbledore finally confronted and defeated him in a legendary duel. A duel that wouldn't have been possible without the help of Newt Scamander and his sticky-finder Nephler. Grindelwald was subsequently imprisoned in his own fortress for decades, and was finally slain there by Lord Voldemort in 1998 when he refused to give up the location of the Elder Wand, which was in his former lovers possession.
Or at least that is what would've been his fate, even in this alternate universe if I'd not been about to interfere in this timeline in a hopefully minor way.
Other than his possible recruitment into my service and his vast knowledge of dark magic, I'm also interested in his abilities as a Seer. Which he was known for since he was a teenager. I'm hoping that the addition of his Seer abilities will boost my natural gifts of Greensight and my Dragon-dreams. That is why I came to Austria first. If his Seer ability boosts my own as I believe it would, well, the future plans of the bossman well be smooth sailing from here on out.
Nurmengard Castle is a stone fortress at the edge of a mountain. It had a tower with a cone-shaped top, possibly being a watch-tower. There was a building connected to the tower, that was slim with windows. Nurmengard also had a courtyard, which was gated. Whenever there was an outsider, one or more of Grindelwald's acolytes would interrogate them, while wanded.
On either side of the courtyard were prisons with black-coloured bars, very probably enchanted by Grindelwald to hold less powerful enemies, while the other ones were held captive further inside, in the castle's interior. On top of these prisons were houses. On the mountainside, at the back of Nurmengard Castle, were a series of steps that led to a hill.
Nurmengard functioned as a wizarding prison. Originally built by Gellert Grindelwald to hold his opponents, it also served as the base of operations for Grindelwald and his Acolytes. Ultimately, it was used to imprison Grindelwald himself after his defeat by Dumbledore in 1945, until his death in 1998.
Grindelwald was imprisoned in the top-most cell in the highest tower inside Nurmengard, his cell had a small window, too narrow for a man to leave or enter, a hard bed, and a thin blanket.
Which is where I find myself after turning into my astral form after touring the castle and bypassing all of the guards. Luckily my astral form doesn't set off any of the wards surrounding the castle at all. They seem to be too weak to sense me, or more accurately my power level is far beyond the capabilities of the ward's. Which is a major benefit for my stay in the wizarding world. I could literally clean out all the Goblin banks around the world and none would be the wiser.
Grindelwald was seated on his bed facing out of the narrow window, staring out absent-mindedly when I entered. He didn't realize I was there even after I returned to my human form within the shadowed corner of his cell. It was only after I took a step forward out of the corner that he realized I was there.
With a small flinch, he turned to me and his brows furrowed when he got sight of me. For a few moments we just stared at each other, him in confusion and me with a blank unreadable face.
"A child?" He inquired after a moment. His face growing bewildered as he half asks. "How..?"
Which I respond camly with Obi-Wans iconic greeting. "Hello there, Gellert." The blatant casualty of the greeting of what looks to be a ten year old child confusing him futher. But you have to give to him, he regained his baring quickly enough. Probably using Occlumency, which he was a master of to school his features.
"What are you?" He asks after getting passed the shock of my appearance in his cell. I decided to play the child for the moment.
"What do mean, Dark Lord Grindelwald? I'm just a ten year old boy who got lost on his way home." I say making an innocent scared face. The only reaction I get is a raised brow before he once again clamps down on his Occlumency and schools' his features.
"Highly unlikely." He retorts, continuing after a breath. "Nevermind the improbability of a child somehow finding his through the Alps and stumbling into the castle itself. The fact that the wards have not been set off and this cell isn't swarming with guards is more than impossible. Then there is your appearance."
"My appearance?" I ask, already knowing the answer, yet asking any way. With a scoff he answers.
"There is an otherworldly beauty about you, a certain... ethereal quality. The closest comparison... well there's no comparison to anything, but a Velas natural beauty would be the closes of anything in the wizarding world. So I ask again. What are you?"
Chuckling at his assessment of my looks for a moment, I answer while teasing him and getting another shocked look from him.
"Oh my, I wonder what Albus would think about your flirting with a child, even one as charming as myself. Do you think he would be heartbroken?" A flicker of anguish and shock crosses his face before he clamps down on his Occlumency shields again.
Dropping the teasing, I continue before I get carried away and finally answer him. "Jokes aside, I'm a visitor to your lovely universe. As for what I am... well that's far more complicated. You may say that I am a fledgling vampire god, traveling throughout my favorite multiverses. Do you know of the multiverse theory?"
After finally getting his answers, Grindelwalds mind seems to have short circuit, completely dropping his Occlumency and sports a bewildered and shocked expression.
As he tries to wrap his head around the bomb I've dropped on him, I decided to make myself more comfortable. Using my reality-warping abilities, I create an obsidian throne using the shadows in the cell and take a seat casually while waiting for his brain to reboot.
This has been far more enjoyable than I thought it would be. Who knew trolling a hundred years old Dark wizard would be so entertaining.