AN: I wrote this when I was trying to express my thoughts about why Harry did not want Draco to take the Dark Mark in my fic; Beauty in Perfection; Stand by Me. This is an expression of how he felt and why he did what he did in that story. The ending of this short one shot fits in with the mission that Vincent Crabbe has been sent on. That is all I will say about Vince here. Enjoy. Leave a review if you are so inclined. Blessings. LL

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The Dark Mark: I AM, That I AM
by; imLittleLily

I AM Black; within human spoken language my name can be traced back into humanity's very emergence from matter, but I will not travel that far for you today. I will only begin with Old English's Blaec which is akin to the Latin flagrare - - to burn.

I AM as infinite in boundlessness as the universe;

I AM as infinitesimal as the very adamantine particles of said universe.

        Within human perception I AM many things;

I AM dirty, heavy, soiled, sullen, swarthy and wicked.

I AM characterized by absence of light.

I AM thoroughly sinister and evil.

I AM indicative of condemnation.

I AM connected with invoking the supernatural, especially the human perception of the devil.

        This particular representation of my being; this Blaec mark upon this human's arm started out as something so insignificant as to be the mere seemingly harmless doodle upon parchment during a rather dry and uninteresting History lecture at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry which was projected by the ghostly essence of a human. I was brought into this physical manifestation by my creator, who calls himself a Lord. He was seeking a means of sending out a symbol unto the earth that would not only represent his superiority over others but also would give him an unfettered means to gain even more power into himself all the while instilling fear. He has been successful in his endeavor.

        There is always a catch though, isn't there? From that moment of my birth I have gained my own essence of power.

        For you see, I will tell you that . . .

I AM also Covert; deliberately misleading.

        This Lord, my creator, was so immersed within his own lustful greed for power that he failed to consider this ramification. The very covertness of my existence brings forth deliberately misleading variables. Narrow focus fails to account for this fact.

        While there is truth in the above description . . .

I AM also Protean; capricious, changeable, fickle, fluid, slippery, temperamental, ticklish, unsettled, and very volatile.

        My very nature displays great diversity; some may even say that . . .

I AM Chaos; a state of things in which chance is supreme.

        This particular human who bears my presence is not the only one to which I am connected. There are many others. All of them have no idea in their tiny little human minds the extent to which my power reaches. They call out in pain when I am activated thinking that they are the only recipient of that energy.

        How wrong they are.

        I linger and spread my condemnation throughout each miniscule adamintine particle within their very being - gaining in momentum and power each time I am touched. Even during an act so mundane as to wash the flesh upon which I rest; my energy expands, wending its invisible tendrils throughout your very being.

Encapsulating all that is; I AM that I AM.

        My creator. Ha, if only he knew. You see, even he is unaware of the extent of my power. He is misguided in that he believes he is the one who wields the power. His so called superiority over others is the stepping stone to his very downfall, destruction through a slippery slope of greed. His self-deception feeds my very essence. I consume it with more greed than his human mind can comprehend.

The Advent of his destruction is at hand . . . .

For it has been said among these humans . . .

"Only through the fire and tears of the young phoenix will we persevere."

Tonight it has begun.