HP:[" the Illithid Inquisition"]

"You dare!" Again the creature spoke and Harry heard without hearing, Harry guessed the thing was speaking with its mind. Before the creature could continue Harry's new inner voice made another suggestion and to Harry it seemed a good one. So he put his foot on the creature's chest and pressed it back to the ground.

Again this worked surprisingly well despite how much larger the creature was than Harry. Then the new voice spoke words into Harry's mind like it was dictating a speech. The thing's ideas had worked well so far, so Harry let them roll on off his tongue.

"I dare?" Harry demanded to know. "You dare to put your filthy lowly hands on me! You dare to try and turn me aside? You who are unworthy of licking the dust from my shoes dares even to speak to me in that tone of voice and then you have the audacity to speak back to me when I put you in your place?! You are lucky I don't tear the brain from your skull because you clearly aren't using it."

Glare down at him. The voice advised and Harry put on his best Severus Snape impression, sneering at the monster beneath his feat just as his potion teacher had done whenever a student dared to turn in project that wasn't absolutely perfect the first time they tried it. Good. Now grind your boot into his chest. Harry did that too.

As he did the air seemed to grow heavier around Harry and the look of anger slowly bled from the monster's eyes. Harry pressed down harder on it and it began to squirm and now refused to meet his eyes. He arched an eyebrow as if to ask how dare it still resist him and the thing seemed to break.

"No!" It cried. "This cannot be! How can something like you exist in such a form."

"I am what I am." Harry replied. "Submit to the truth or die here. Alone, miserable and forgotten."

As Harry spoke a new presence touched his mind. This one was far greater than the monster had been. But it didn't try to force its way into his mind. Which was good for Harry as he was certain that whatever this new force was it could crush him in an instant. For a brief moment he panicked and tried to push back against it but the new voice spoke to him.

No let it in. If we try to fight it, disaster will follow. Focus on me and I will shield you from its passing.

Harry continued to trust this inner voice and turned his attention to the part of his mind that his strange sense of anger had come from.

Harry noticed at about the same time that his awareness of his own mind had never been so extensive as it was now. He now noticed that within his own consciousness there was a section that was closed off to him in some manner, partitioned from the rest of his mind. Actually now that he had a look about his own head he noticed that there were two such sections.

The other one looked older and more ragged. As if it had been under attack for sometime and was gradually being worn down. That part of his mind radiated a sense of darkness and vileness. It was foreign and didn't belong.

This new part of his mind seemed more like himself, as if it were something he had made, or had been born from himself. It did seem new, it had not been part of his mind when last he was conscious. He also wasn't certain if this was a part of his mind that had sealed itself off or a new part of his mind that hadn't yet fully set itself in place.

As Harry considered all of this the greater presence caressed his soul. The touch was oddly intimate and deeply personal.

Harry got a sense of the mind behind this touch. It was truly and vastly greater than his own. Not just more intelligent than him but more intelligent than any human could possibly be. It was completely devoid of happiness or joy, in fact Harry got the sense that this mind couldn't even understand what such things were. But it was satisfied with what Harry was.

An odd sense of approval, pride, possessiveness and patronly satisfaction rolled over Harry in a way that was almost but not actually at all like a father's love for his son. Since Harry had never known his father or ever really had a father figure in his life he could not tell the fine difference between the two and so welcomed and enjoyed the touch of this greater mind.

As the presence passed from him it seemed to leave a mark on Harry. It wasn't something he could feel but he could sense it in a way. Whatever had touched him felt that he did indeed stand above the monster beneath his feet. That creature had gone limp as the presence had filled the room and now it cringed and cowered away from Harry.

"Exalted one, forgive me." The creature now begged. "Had I known I would never have presumed."

Harry stepped off of the monster and allowed it to rise, but the thing cringed back from him and refused to raise its head above Harry's. Harry also found that he could feel the thing's mind in a way. It was just as alien to him as that greater presence had been but he could get a sense of what this thing was thinking and feeling.

It truly believed that it was a lesser being than Harry was. It hated that fact, it was complete loath to admit that something so unlike itself could be greater than it was in any way, yet it also couldn't bring itself to even consider lashing out against Harry. It was now completely submissive to him. The voice from his mind suggested more words for him to speak and as he had no other real option Harry did so.

"I understand that this form is hardly fitting for a being such as myself," Harry scoffed. "But that does not permit such disregard for my person or my authority. I will excuse it once, but you will do as I tell you without question."