Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 67: The Last Family Member
When Petunia recovered her senses, she felt very disoriented. Her eyes hurt when the light from the sun hit her face.
The confusion was quickly replaced by panic when she realized that she could not move.
"What?... where…" She looked down at herself and saw that her body was vertically tied up to some sort of wooden structure.
Memories from last night came back to her, and the horror began to settle.
And then… she saw them.
The sounds coming from her mouth sounded almost inhuman. The agony she felt when seeing the corpses of her husband and son could not be described with words.
"You are finally awake. Just in time," Harry said in a jovial tone. He was holding a cup of tea in his hands as he stared at his aunt.
Petunia's eyes moved between Harry and the family she actually loved.
"Oh… right." Harry noticed where she was looking. "I have been meaning to clean that up." He responded while pointing at the corpses.
"This isn't real… this isn't real…" Petunia began to mutter the same words over and over, and it was getting louder.
"You lost your mind already?... I didn't even get to explain to you the reason for leaving you alive. Don't you wanna hear it?" Harry asked her.
But Petunia was no longer paying attention to him and was just staring at the corpses while repeating the same words over and over.
Harry sighed, feeling aggravated by the woman's attitude. "How rude…" He waved his wand at her, placing a silencing charm so he wouldn't have to hear her anymore.
"Now, where was I?" Harry placed down his teacup. "Ah yes, the reason I allowed you to live a bit longer… you see, I recently discovered about a powerful magical remnant from the day the Dark Lord attacked Harry Potter when he was a baby."
Harry shook his head. It was difficult not to speak of himself in the third person when talking about the past, since it wasn't him.
"I'm not clear on what exactly happened that night, but something was left behind. Dumbledore then used this 'thing' to create a very potent blood ward and tied it up to me and my closest living relative… that would be you."
Petunia barely reacted to his words, but Harry didn't allow this to deter him and continued.
"Unfortunately, most of that magic has already been wasted away on that ward. However, I do intend to make use of whatever is left." Harry pulled out a knife and made a cut on his finger, allowing several drops of his blood to hit the ground.
It was then revealed that he had drawn a large runic circle beneath Petunia and used a large amount of her blood to do it.
As soon as both their bloods became entangled in the circle, it became active and started to shine with a crimson light.
"Alright, looks like the preparations are complete." Harry smiled with satisfaction at seeing that his hard work was paying off.
"By the way, this is going to hurt… a lot," he told the woman. "Oh, and I am also about to consume your soul, but I'm sure you don't mind the details." Harry brushed it off with a hand gesture before moving to another position, right outside the circle.
"𐎽𐎮𐎸𐎫." Harry began to chant in a strange ancient language.
"𐎽𐏂𐎤𐎠𐎫." The circle became brighter, and Petunia opened her mouth widely.
Her expression was able to depict the intense agony she was experiencing. However, Harry's charm prevented her from uttering a single sound.
Harry Potter continued undeterred with his chant, and the magic was growing in intensity around them.
Petunia's mouth opened so wide that it gave the impression her jaw had been dislodged. From inside her mouth, a spark of blue light appeared.
Harry's eyes were glistening, and the smirk on his face became more pronounced. "Yes! It's working." He hadn't been completely confident in being able to perform this ritual with his lack of materials and tools.
This spark of light was the physical manifestation of the human soul and, just by itself, it would already be very beneficial to him.
But Petunia's also contained that powerful magic left behind by Lily Potter.
Harry repeated the same chant once more.
Petunia's eyes went completely blank as her soul left her body and hovered in the air.
Under normal circumstances, the soul would immediately disperse, making it impossible to capture. But preventing that from happening was the exact purpose of the magical circle Harry had created beneath them.
Harry made use of his magic to pull the soul towards him before it could escape.
Not being able to withstand his power, the spark of light flew directly into Harry's mouth, where it disappeared completely, as if it had been swallowed by a black hole.
He noticed the effects almost immediately. It felt like an exhilarating burst of energy exploding inside him, making him feel more alive than ever.
Harry took his time to enjoy the sensation before opening his eyes and looking at his now dead aunt.
There was now a red ring around his vibrant green pupils, and his skin appeared to have gotten a bit paler.
Harry couldn't care less about those minor changes. He was happy to have gained more power, even though he knew this was far from enough. The amount of sacrifices he was going to require in order to surpass his old self was not going to be small.
"You don't look too well, Petunia." Harry laughed, still coming down from his rush, making him feel very jovial.
"But worry not! Your sacrifice will not be overlooked." Harry spoke to the corpse as if she could still hear him. "I will reward you and those other two with a proper burial. It seems like the least I can do for your contribution to the cause."
Harry glanced at the decomposing bodies of Vernon and Dudley and all the gore surrounding them. "Then again… it would not hurt to get a house elf."
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