A Harry Potter fanfiction: Harry Potter and the Vessel of Shade (Harry Potter x Hollow Knight)

 Harry Potter and the Vessel of Shade

CHAPTER 1- The beast is born

The halls of Hogwarts grew restless with the news of an extraordinary boy who had survived the relentless attack of dark lord Voldemort, he would be the one to save the world once he grew up! But there was one person who disliked this news, Evander Nightshade, the star student of Slytherin. He didn't think some kid who was likely hidden away by his parents in some dirty hole beneath the floor and thus not found by Voldemort should be this acclaimed so he decided to take the manners into his own hands, he would find a way to vanish Lord Voldemort, before Harry Potter could grow up. As he went through every book about Dark Magic in the library, one caught his attention, ''SOUL magic and its many dangers'' was the title. Intrigued, the young wizard read the ancient text, discovering the story of a Higher Being known as the Pale King, and his attempt as building a living Vessel to contain a great threat, however, this failed, and the caverns of the great kingdom of Hallownest were sealed away by the Pale Seal (known as Stonehenge by the Muggles), to keep the infection this Failed Vessel was supposed to contain away. The student was amazed by both the tale of the Pale King and his idea of making a living Vessel to contain great evil and the magic of SOUL and the ways to collect, store and use it. He decided to take the same actions as the King, but he would take care, he would craft his Vessel to be perfect, a Pure Vessel. With what he felt was the fate of the Wizarding World on his hands, he set out to Diagon Alley in order to get what he needed, he looked all around and finally found a store that sold what he needed, the sign right above the entrance read ''Hallownest Relics, all you might need for a museum''. He didn't talk to the shopkeeper much, he took what he needed and then left while leaving the money on the table, he had no time to waste. The first thing he bought was a Nail, a powerful sword with the ability to collect SOUL, the second, a SOUL chamber, rescued from the SOUL sanctum in Hallownest to keep that SOUL in, and the third and a very old shell from one of the bugs that inhabited Hallownest, a head to be specific. Armed with these tools, he headed towards Hogwarts to try and animate the shell, turning it into a Vessel without feelings, thoughts, or emotions, this was mandatory because if the Vessel had any of these, the risk of it being manipulated by whatever it contained was great. As he carried his tools towards his bedroom, the Room of the Requirement appeared in front of him, he gasped, this room only manifested to those in great need, and he was in true need of somewhere to test his SOUL magic. Evander rushed inside and set the shell on the surgery table, and took the owl in its cage he had almost forgotten to buy, ''sorry'' he said as he struck the bird with the Nail, and the SOUL flew right from it to the SOUL chamber, the orb now glowed bright white, half full with a bright liquid. He chanted the old spell that would animate the shell, stood back, and watched in awe as the SOUL flew from the chamber to the shell... and nothing happened. The shell had absorbed the SOUL as it was supposed to, but a body hadn't formed under the lonely head, it simply remained there, as dead as it had always been. Puzzled, he tried again, this time killing a bigger animal, a hawk. Again, the SOUL was taken from the body and then transferred perfectly from the chamber to the shell, but It wouldn't move an inch afterwards. He tried over and over, yet the shell remained dead, tired, he went to sleep, where he had a horrible nightmare. He was hunted down by masked ghosts in an infinite circus, with accordion music blaring, finally, he came across a towering figure, who wore a dark cloak. The figure turned around, revealing it was hunched over, as it stretched to its full height, the boy almost fell backward trying to look at it, it was taller than Hagrid the giant! ''Hello, Evander. I've been expecting you, my name is Grimm, I'm the master of this Troupe, and I can help you with your quest'' it said, ''What? How do you know my name? How can you help?'' Evander asked, still in shock, ''Find the Nightmare Lantern in the Forbidden Forest, light it then return home, wait until you're asleep, then we'll meet again and the deal will be sealed'' Grimm declared, he wanted to ask something else, but before he could muster one more word, Grimm snapped his fingers and he woke up. He was confused, was it all a nightmare? no, it couldn't have been just that, he had heard about the Nightmare Lantern before, from Professor Quirrel's dark magic protection classes, it was a powerful artifact built to connect the waking world with the underworld and by extension, the Nightmare realm, where the evil Nightmare King ruled, he was the master of the Grimm Troupe, a group who bestowed any who made a deal with them with incredible power or knowledge, it was rumored it was their influence over dreams that had turned Lord Voldemort into what he was now, twisting his mind and forcing him into the ways of evil. Evander had no time to think, however, without telling anybody, he grabbed both his wand and his Nail and set off to the Forbidden Forest, he was determined to end the reign of terror caused by Voldemort at all costs, and as he marched through the forest, the Pale King's words echoed in the back of his mind ''No cost too great''. The ambiance in the forest was strange, the danger was nowhere to be seen, and a path stretched out into the distance, lined by strange crimson torches, it abruptly stopped at the entrance to a crimson temple, which had only one thing on its inside, a giant blood red lantern. He pointed his wand at the lantern, and fire came out, it instantly lit the coal in the lantern's base aflame, burning on an unnatural dark scarlet color. He stood back, but nothing seemed to happen once more, but he wouldn't forget what Grimm had said, ''Find the Nightmare Lantern in the Forbidden Forest, light it then return home, wait until you're asleep, then we'll meet again and the deal will be sealed'' were his exact words. He turned around and marched back, again, undisturbed. That night, he had the same nightmare again, but the ghosts weren't pursuing him, instead, they held scarlet torches that led his way into the main room, where Grimm stood once more. ''Excellent, truly excellent, thank you, now that I have access to this world, we can begin. Ah, before I forget, excuse my Grimmkins for the inconvenience on your first visit, they attack newcomers, now that you're a friend of mine, they won't cause you harm'' he said, ''You have done as I said, now, tell me, what is it that your heart desires? whatever it is I can give'' Grimm continued, he grinned, his mouth filled with razor-sharp teeth, ''What I desire the most, is knowledge, I want to create a Vessel to contain Lord Voldemort'' Evander replied, ''Very well, once you wake up, you'll find everything that you may need on your laboratory. We'll also provide you with a bigger, stronger shell, the one you have is weak. We're also going to give you a better Nail, the one you have is in deplorable condition, a Pure Nail will suffice, and it'll gather SOUL like a Muggle gathers wheat.'' Grimm snapped once more, and Evander woke up in a cold sweat, he had to see if it had been real. He rushed towards the Room of the Requirement, and as he entered, he almost screamed, the corpse of a giant bug hung from the ceiling, lifeless, its horns doubled the length of its actual head and almost touched the ceiling, it was about 35 feet tall, a scaffold surrounded the corpse, put there to help him work on it. By the side of its left leg, three full SOUL chambers rested, alongside one filled with a black liquid. A white Nail rested on top of two hooks in the farthest wall, the Pure Nail shimmered, waiting for the Vessel to wield it. On top of a table rested a thick book titled ''Shells and Void: How to Reanimate the Dead and Create New Life'' He got to work in that very instant, ready to shape the living weapon that would save the magic realm. Evander climbed the scaffold and opened a small hole in the corpse's head as the first step described by the book, then combined the contents of the chambers to create a Shade, an artificial consciousness that would inhabit the corpse, teaching the newly formed being how to walk, how to wield his weapon, how to talk, but most importantly, how to absorb something into it's inside. It was ready after countless nights of work, and with triumphant tears of joy, he opened the door of the Room of Requirement to let his Vessel out, ''Find Voldemort, absorb him, and return, we'll do something with him later'' Evander ordered, however, the Vessel just stood there, hunched over, looking at nothing, strongly grasping the hilt of his Pure Nail. ''What are you doing? Go find Voldemort!'' Evander screamed, the Vessel let out a deafening roar, its eyes glowing bright red, ''DESTROY ALBUS DUMBLEDORE'' it said, putting its Nail on its sheath and running on all fours towards the main hall, where Dumbledore calmly gave the news of the morning to the other students. Both students and staff scrambled to cover swiftly, as the Vessel changed through the hallways, it destroyed the great door that separated the main room of Hogwarts from the halls, students screamed and ran, and the Vessel unsheathed his mighty blade, pouncing at Dumbledore, took by surprise, he barely managed to escape the blade with only a minor cut in his arm, with reflexes as quick as lighting, Dumbledore casted a spell, and a soothing melody filled the air, the Vessel was drowsy, but it was still pretty much awake, it tried to swing it's blade once more, but then, Evander suddenly appeared ''Please, no! Stop! Please!'' he shouted, tears running down his cheeks, the Vessel looked at him, the crimson glow in its eyes faded, and it fell asleep, a loud thud accompanied its fall. Evander ran towards the Vessel, he kneeled near its head and talked softly to it ''Why did you do this? Why?'' he asked, and the only response was the Vessel's slow breathing, Evander hugged the Vessel's horn, he was devastated, the thing he spent the most time on, the greatest magic experiment of his time, had failed, he had been lied to, and now, his life was on the line, ''Please tell me, what brought you to do this? Why Dumbledore?'' he tried to ask once more, but there was no response this time. The next few days were a blur of events, first, he has expelled from Hogwarts, then, he lost contact with his parents and was taken to an audience with the Ministry of Magic, where he was sentenced to life in Azkaban, alongside his Pure Vessel, he was locked up behind a normal cell that would become his grave, he cried every night, wondering what his family thought of him, how much his parents missed him, how much he would miss simple things, like the sky or the grass, how much he would miss freedom, he wouldn't be able to spend time with his friends anymore, wouldn't be allowed to practice spells anymore, he would die a lonely man. His Vessel, the destiny of that poor creature was horrible, but deserved: it was held down by a hundred chains, each heavier than the last, and its arms were tightly pressed against its body by ten thicker ones wrapped around its chest. Two shackles kept their feet in place, and at their ends, giant lead balls the size of a Griffin kept it from walking, its ankles ached because of how tightly they fit. Its weapon was taken away from its hands and put behind a vault in the Gringotts Bank to keep it safely away from the grasp of the Vessel. A group of guards was placed right outside its cell, so any escape would be impossible. Every day, they would insult the Vessel, calling him a dirty cockroach, a stinky trash-dwelling beetle. Days turned into weeks, weeks into months, and months into years, and one fateful day, the news arrived: Lord Voldemort had been defeated, by none other than Harry Potter, the boy who survived. The guards outside of the Vessel's cage couldn't stop talking about it, and this made the Vessel furious, How could the person it was built to replace, the person that it was built to best in every way, have taken their place in history? How could they have stripped it of purpose? Enraged, the Vessel tugged its chains, rage building inside of it, its shell pulsated with the energy of the SOUL that powered it, the floor cracked, and tiles flew off and shattered when they fell, it pulled once more, and the chains emitted a metallic thud as they clashed against each other, suddenly, enormous tendrils made of VOID sprouted from the Vessel's back. In tandem, its powerful and muscular arms and the mighty tendrils pulled and tugged, and the chains snapped. It destroyed the steel shackles that kept it from moving with a swift movement of its hands and burst through the wall, it jumped at sea and swam at a speed not achieved yet by any water vehicle built by Muggles, towards Gringotts. Once it arrived at Diagon Alley, it decided to keep a low profile until its weapon was found, so it stole a cloak from a store named ''Giant's Fashion'' and slowly made its way towards the bank now disguised, admiring the stores and everything sold in them. While standing outside Gringotts, looking the entrance, a little girl approached him, and said ''Sir, could you pretty please lift me up? I want to see that rainbow other there better'' the Vessel simply said, in a cold voice ''I DON'T WANT TO HELP YOU, I AM BUSY'' and walked into the bank, leaving the poor girl crying. As he marched past the goblins and into the caves that housed the vaults, it stopped to look at various paintings and ask about payments to pretend to be a customer in order to not raise suspicion, it earned the laughs of a bunch of goblins as it opened the entrance door to the caves and leaped in ''Look at that, he thinks he can steal from Gringotts, he'll starve before he leaves'' said one of them, ''Yes, or he'll be mauled by our Wyverns'' replied a second one. The Vessel hastily made it to the first vault, and tore it open, to find a mountain of gold coins, it growled in anger and moved to the next. It took 148 vaults, but it finally found its weapon, the Pure Nail, it pulsated with energy, waiting to be used again. It was at that moment that a true army of Wyverns arrived, ready to take the Vessel down, it roared and sprinted at the Wyverns, the first one tried to spew fire, but its attack was cut short by the Pure Nail striking it, cleanly cutting the Wyvern's neck, the next one tried to catch the Vessel off guard, attacking from the back, but it wasn't effective, the Vessel's VOID tendrils quickly tore a hole in its soft belly, the rest of the Wyverns, previously sitting atop a giant pile of rocks now launched at the Vessel, ready to stop both its murder of their friends and the theft at their home, the Vessel was relentless in its attacks, with a combination of both knightly slices and stocades, and beastlike swings of its clawed hands and ramming using its sharp horns, the Wyvern army was reduced to a single individual, crawling helplessly, as its wings had been mangled and its legs were broken, rendering both its ways of escape useless, the Vessel's pedipalps opened and closed, ready to devour it alive. Meanwhile, a goblin entered the vault caves to check how the giant that entered by himself was doing and mock him even more, finding a true scene of carnage: the guardian wyverns were viciously torn apart, some were cleanly cut in half, others were mangled, and in the center of the massacre, sat the Vessel, covered in blood, eating a wyvern as the reptile tried to free itself from the claws of the insectoid monster. The goblin screamed in pure horror and scrambled clumsily and tried to seal the entry before it was too late, however, the Vessel was quicker, as it dashed towards the door, and past the goblin, the goblins quickly tried to attack in tandem, drawing their pocket knives, but the Vessel swung its blade around, cutting them in half, it leaped through the ceiling and screamed, for every mage on Diagon Alley to hear ''HARRY POTTER WILL NOT SURVIVE THIS TIME'' as it turned into Shade and flew out into the horizon, making a beeline to Hogwarts.