Yes, he does care. He cares about people as if they were toys: resources to be used for his own purposes. If a measure of emotional satisfaction is necessary at times for them to work smoothly, then he'll give it to them, but not at his expense. And he's willing to reverse his decision anytime, to sever their connection from him, and to destroy them. Ultimately, everyone else is expendable. It's just easier not to be overt and do things the hard way.

He's manipulative, yes, and recognizes that psychological manipulation is needed to get the most out of his subordinates. Harry knows this, Chapter 67: that Voldemort is something he can respect, but never trust.

Besides, when did "caring" equate "good"? Do you think psychopaths can't care, that insane people don't have delusions about the people they care about, that "evil" actions can't be taken without caring? That evil must be accompanied without thought, with big explosions and a cold MWAHAHAHAHA? Consider carefully the possible individual circumstances.

Know too that we see only what the author wants to show us.

 

Updated.

While this chapter is, again, nothing groundbreaking, some interesting things go on. The class on Celtic/Druid magics and paganism looks cool as hell. The teacher for it looks to be an interesting guy to show Harry more about his 'religion', too. I hope we see a lot more of the class than what this chapter shows. And refreshingly, no one put Harry's name into the Goblet of Fire (though with Voldemort as the kid's mentor, you'd have to be pretty much insane to do attempt it).

There's also the beginnings of the intrigue with Krum, and if the author keeps the pace with that particular subplot, then it should come off nicely. Add a sneaking Ron Weasley to that mix, and there's no telling what might happen.

Overall, another pretty good chapter.

 

The only thing that bugs me about this story is the religion nonsense. It's pretty original, but it gets kind of annoying after awhile.

Tone down on that and it would be a solid 5/5.

 

For something that's been updated so faithfully for so long in such quality, this story definitely gets my 4.9/5. 5/5 can come when it's done.

 

If I ever thought that at some point I'll find a story that is slowly turning into the Harry Potter's retelling of "The Bold and the Beautiful" I wouldn't have thought the "Prince of the Dark Kingdom" will be the one.
The story is one truly original tale with great idea behind it and very good execution... or at least it was up to the point before the story got into book 4.
Ever since then you can literally read 1 out of 4 chapters and not miss a thing. Every chapter is full with extra scenes and characters that stay underdeveloped and yet the author insist on keeping them at the background just for... actually I have no idea why but looks more and more like he/she wants to simply have them there so no cannon character is missed from the story.
The first part of the latest chapter reads more or less like:

Nothing was really happening in the following days.
There was a lot of day to day interaction between students in the school.
Harry Potter brought Ginny to some party that has taken place at Halloween.
....
And that explained in a thousand words... and when you get to the point of

The reader goes "Ginny, who?!" yes the "petite" redhead is yet another familiar character from cannon and just like the original Harry Potter books she comes out of nowhere to suddenly play "dress the doll" with our protagonist... (shakes head sadly)

I really liked the story and I'll keep following it but I do hope the author will get the plot moving soon, before the fic becomes too boring to the point of being unreadable.

 

Updated.

I've got mixed feelings about this fic now. When I first started reading it, I enjoyed the originality of the story line, the religion (the paganism was an interesting touch) and the characterization (especially Voldemort's).

Now after 80 chapters we're still only half-way through 4th year. I can't fault the writing or the plot, but the main reason I'm sticking around is for the Voldemort's war on the rest of the world.

Now after this latest update, it might not even come to that .

 

The last few chapters haven't been as enjoyable as the previous ones.

Not for me at least.

I don't believe Voldemort is gone for good though- there is a reason why he is Voldemort.

Mizuni Sama has done a great job with this fic so far, but if it continues in the same vein, it might become unreadable.

 

The recent updates have seemed... out of place, but I welcome them. I now have zero ability to predict what is going to happen. This fic will continue to be one of my favorites.

 

I still find the story enjoyable, but what's changed now is that I'm more confused than ever. I'm with Cxjenious on this.

Also, the goddess he chose intrigues me. She seems like an "all-purpose" goddess, but we'll see.

 

Updated.

Is it just me or anyone else is getting annoyed at Viktor and McGunny the last few chapters?

This conspiracy they have going is getting weirder and making less sense each chapter. Not to mention their escape of a school full with sentinels after them.

And I fail to see Harry, protected by goddess, falling prey to the imperius curse. Really, the last ritual he made alone would require a will strong enough to break free of it.

 

Agreed.

The only positives I see in the chapter are that Voldemort, despite becoming "complete", hasn't really changed as a character.

Spoiler

And that the long awaited war is going to start

 

Use your imagination. His fear of messy and probably fatal repucussions from Voldemort could easily explain him not being able to muster the will/want to destroy a chance of escape. Plus I think this could be the beginning of a new and interesting arc.

I'm guessing Dumbledore is about to get involoved. Will Harry turn on Voldemort? I personally think it more like Voldemort will turn on Harry believing this to be a betrayal and end up forcing Harry's hand. Then again he will probably interrogate the teacher Brennan (or whatever his name is) and find that he was kidnapped which could force a war situation.

Basically I don't know what you guy's are complaining about, the chapter in and of itself wasn't that good but it does set up some interesting future plots. And I don't see what is confusing about viktor and McGunny, it makes perfect sense. I will give you that the escape is a bit of a stretch but i'm guessing the author wasn't ready for a battle scene. It's not that important in the scheme of things.

 

But thats the point isn't it? Why would he want to escape? He like Voldemort enough to risk a ritual that could fuck them both up.

And this Harry has never run from any danger, nor the consequences of his actions. Remember going back to hogwarts while madeye was blowing shit up?Neither would he have any wish to leave England and leave his friends, and especially Sirius and Remus behind.

 

The spells in this chapter weren't even spelled correctly. And Imperius - Canon!Harry resisted one from Voldemort, and now some old guy controls him easily even after all ritual magic he had done at this point?

The notion of "completing" Voldemort, or "healing his soul" doesn't sit with me well either. He was fine as a complete sociopath, no need to make him more human.

 

Its not a matter of whether he likes voldemort. He knows that what he did nearly killed him. That was unintentional but you would have to be brain dead to think voldemort would care about that. He expressed genuine fear for his life. If this was me in this situation I would be absolutely cacking myself.
And this isn't the same as running into a building to protect people precious to you. Its not bravery to own up to this, it would be plain stupidity.
Anyway the point that I am trying to make was that when viktor asked him to decidde whether or whether not to leave. He was seriously considering it. I don't think he would have chosen to on his own but the fact remains that a significant part of him wanted out. Whether it was fear or nostalgia or whatever. So my guess is that casting the imperius on somebody and asking them to do something that part of them want's to do makes it very difficult to break. You may even subconsciously aid it which is what I think he was doing when he protected jophery. And though I don't think it was a factor, I doubt that teacher Brennan is supposed to be weak.

 

New chapter is out.

I don't know why Harry hasn't confronted the Germans, whether it's the minister, Viktor, Dumbledore about the fact that he was kidnapped. I know he was waffling on whether he should leave, but the choice was taken out of his hands when the teacher imperioed him. Even if he isn't sure what he wants, he could at least use it for leverage or something.

I'm sure the next part of the story will be an excruciatingly long segment on Harry's internal turmoil over whether he wants to go back to Britain or stay in Germany and help fight Voldemort only broken up by small segments about the war.

 

Yeah, I've been really disappointed with these last couple chapters. I was expecting Harry to at the very least be pissed off about being kidnapped.

 

Exactly, he is docile, sitting quietly around, not even plotting or doing something. He has been reduced to a useless showpiece, a trained pet to be paraded around on a leash. I'm just disappointed in this Harry. Even his canon counterpart had much more guts and backbone.

 

Are we reading the same story? I see a Harry much wiser to the political machinations of those surrounding him - what good would useless rage be when he is essentially locked in a fortress with absolutely nowhere to go and dozens of hostile students watching his every move?

I see a Harry who is pissed of, but knows wholeheartedly there is jack-shit he can do about it, besides attend his classes and watch his own back.

 

He gets angry about the occasional pointless thing, but he hasn't even thought about the circumstances leading to his kidnapping. No anger, no feelings of betrayal, not a single bit of reflection. Hell his teacher, someone he trusted, cast the Imperius curse on him. It would be a lot more realistic for him to be pissed. I don't want him to angst and bitch about it for a couple chapters, but this is ridiculous. There has got to be something, anything at all, otherwise Harry just looks impotent and he comes off a lot more shallow as a character.