Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Scott Fellman.
Serena POV – January 14th.
I climbed the stairs in annoyance, crumpling the message in my hand—a message from Dumbledore, summoning me urgently, at this hour of the night. I hurried through the headmaster's tower, past the gargoyle corridor and up the spiral staircase, before pausing for a moment.
And the gargoyle? Was someone already inside? I shrugged and continued climbing, only to stop and see the principal's door completely destroyed. My eyes widened, and I quickly entered the principal's room.
I looked around in disbelief. On one of the walls was the infamous Gargoyle, embedded in the wall and piercing it completely. The headmaster's desk had been burned to the ground; in its place was a mountain of ashes and still-burning embers. The office pillars were reduced to dust, all the books had been ripped from their shelves and thrown everywhere, dozens of magical gadgets were destroyed, the walls had long cut marks all over them, and finally, the ceiling was the most surprising thing—surprising in the sense that there was no ceiling at all.
I could see the night sky with complete ease thanks to the lack of a roof. The cold night wind hit my face before I could even blink a few times. I looked down and saw Dumbledore, leaning against something that wasn't his chair—it was a newly conjured one. His own chair lay among the destroyed and burned wreckage.
He was massaging his temple while looking terribly tired.
"Mmm... bad timing?" I asked with a grimace as I walked in, careful not to step on any remnants of... whatever it had been before.
"Miss Snape." The headmaster sighed wearily, groaning loudly. "Should I be worried that young Bellatrix will retaliate against my office again if I repair it?" Dumbledore asked wearily. I stopped stiffly.
"Excuse me, what?" I asked, completely confused. Dumbledore looked at me emotionlessly as he held up a small letter in his hands, and I recognized it immediately. I grimaced, trying not to react, and carefully took it from him. Yes… a wedding invitation, with Bella's signature and everything.
I looked around and quickly realized, yes… the residual magic undoubtedly belonged to Bellatrix. I stifled a sigh as I heard a laugh in the back of my mind. Damn it, Bella.
"Bella is delivering our wedding invitations, but I haven't the slightest idea what happened here," I said without hesitation. Dumbledore stared at me. I looked back, and we both stared at each other for several seconds.
"Miss Snape... my office has no roof, and my gargoyle has been sent through the wall." Dumbledore said without any emotion. I grimaced. Yes, no, pretending nothing happened isn't going to work.
"First, I had absolutely no idea she'd do this. Second, if you think I can stop her from doing anything, you're sorely mistaken. And third, I'm really enjoying this, I won't lie." I finally said, letting a wide smile spread across my face. Dumbledore stared at me before sighing.
"I suppose you told her about our last conversation," Dumbledore said easily. I shrugged.
"We don't have any secrets between us," I said honestly before glancing back at the office. "Well, we don't have any major secrets between us; little surprises keep the spark alive," I added playfully.
"Is the destruction of my office supposed to be a wedding gift?" said Dumbledore dryly. I couldn't help but smile amusedly.
"It's a nice gift," I said honestly. Dumbledore sighed wearily as he massaged his temple again. "If that's all, I need to go write a thank-you letter and think of a gift to return the favor," I said, pointing toward the exit.
"Miss Snape," Dumbledore said wearily, gesturing to the seat in front of him. I glanced at the half-destroyed seat, walked over, and transfigured it into a completely intact one before sitting down. Then I crossed my arms and looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
Dumbledore sighed, leaned back in his seat, and looked up at the sky. Then he hummed softly.
"You know... It's not a bad idea to have a view of the night sky when you're thinking," said Dumbledore, stroking his beard. I snorted.
"Seeing the glass half full?" I said playfully. Dumbledore shrugged.
"I'm too old to see the half-empty side," he said simply. I snorted. "I've been thinking," Dumbledore said finally.
"I'm sure you're not senile enough for that to be a great feat, but congratulations, I suppose." I said immediately. Dumbledore looked at me with a very unimpressed face. I just shrugged. Yes, I still disliked him.
"I've been looking for any excuse, any excuse that would tell me it's a bad idea to give you the Elder Wand and the Resurrection Stone, that Voldemort's defeat would be pointless if you become the next threat." Dumbledore said, looking up at the sky.
"Well, thank you for holding me in such high esteem," I said curtly. Dumbledore ignored me.
"And do you know what I found? Nothing," Dumbledore finally said. I looked at him in surprise… that… wasn't the answer I'd expected. "You know, it was difficult. I'm over 100 years old, Miss Snape, and despite what people think, I have flaws, many of them, which you're more than aware of. I let my prejudices and bias cloud my opinion of you."
"I had to... look again, at all my memories, this time with a more pristine lens, with nothing to taint them... and I found nothing," said Dumbledore wearily. "I saw a bitter, sullen girl, yes, but a child nonetheless, a girl who clung to her best friend like a lifeline, who clung to any notion of friendship or recognition, no matter from whom it came."
"A girl who had to defend herself against bullies who attacked her simply because she looked different and was placed in a different house, and she did it the only way the world taught her, by attacking them, even if that meant attacking her best friend when she did something she perceived as a betrayal."
"The girl was selfish, sullen, moody, bitter, and proud, but even so, I beg forgiveness for her only friend, for a mistake she made in the heat of the moment, a girl who felt abandoned because of a mistake."
"Oh... the girl wasn't innocent at all, and she definitely wasn't, and isn't, a saint, but she was far from being an irredeemable monster. Especially since she was capable of love. She loved her best friend, she loves her friends, and now, she loves her fiancée, to the point of giving her everything, and receiving the same kind of love in return—the kind that makes someone come and destroy a school headmaster's office." Dumbledore snorted. "So no."
"I could find nothing to condemn you with, regardless of your origins, regardless of whether you're some kind of experiment of Voldemort's, regardless of anything." Dumbledore finally said, looking up at the ceiling. I froze in place and stared at Dumbledore in disbelief.
"Me... what?" I said stupidly. This... wasn't even close to what I'd actually expected when I received Dumbledore's message. I stared at him in disbelief. "This... doesn't change anything. You're having some kind of revelation, but that doesn't change anything. It doesn't change that you turned a blind eye to all the bullying I constantly endured. It doesn't change that you forced me to keep quiet about the attempted murder by Lupin and Black. It doesn't change that you pressured me into giving the potion to someone I hate, that you attacked me, that you called me a monster, that you finally saw things for what they are. It doesn't change anything," I snapped. Dumbledore just nodded.
"I know," Dumbledore said easily. "And I didn't say you had to change anything," he said finally. "But... I'll bet, at least against all evils, I suppose." Dumbledore sighed. "As I said, you are selfish, sullen, moody, bitter, and proud, and much more, but you are not like Tom Riddle, like Voldemort, a monster incapable of love, incapable of even understanding the meaning of it, so... I'll bet... I'll bet on your capacity to love." Dumbledore said, finally, and I got goosebumps all over.
"My... capacity to love?" I asked incredulously. Dumbledore laughed almost bitterly.
"Ah... how blind I've been." Dumbledore sighed before looking at me. "Yes... your capacity for love. You loved Miss Evans so intensely from the start, and although that love didn't bear fruit, now you love young Bellatrix so much that you'll give her everything. You love your friends, Lucius and Narcissa, and you have others as well. You've been seen several times with a young blonde with multicolored hair in the Alley during the holidays, practically being dragged along by her, as far as I could gather." Dumbledore sneered. I glared at him. Had he really been stalking me and trying to gather information about me? He just laughed before sighing. "So, yes."
"Your capacity to love... I cannot fight a war against Voldemort by myself, not when I don't know where his Horcruxes are, not when he has ancient magic at his disposal, not when he is gathering an army to fight for him, and especially... not when I am dying." Dumbledore sighed.
"So what, you expect me to wage war against Voldemort in the name of love?" I asked incredulously. Dumbledore laughed amusedly.
"No, but I hope you'll do the right thing for the people you care about. No one is safe if Voldemort gains more power," Dumbledore said matter-of-factly. "So if... I'll give you the wand, the stone, anything if you can undo my curse, if you can find the Horcruxes, and if you can find a way to stop Voldemort, or at least oppose him and not look the other way," Dumbledore said matter-of-factly.
"Honestly... I didn't think you'd accept. I was just going to wait until you died." I said honestly. Dumbledore snorted.
"I expect to live at least another 20 years," Dumbledore said with a cheeky grin. I shook my head. I really hadn't expected things to turn out this way. I never thought Dumbledore was capable of changing his opinion of me. Apparently… I underestimated him too much.
That doesn't mean he was going to be kind to the man; he was still responsible for many things, but ceasing to be completely antagonistic was a more radical change than he had expected.
"Let's say I accept... how do we do this?" I asked slowly. Dumbledore just hummed.
"I'd say that starting with locating their Horcruxes would be a good start; in return, you can keep... the stone." Dumbledore said with a grimace, and I hummed along, leaning back in my seat. I really… hadn't expected Dumbledore to go down this road, or even if he had, I almost expected him to be antagonistic every step of the way. I was prepared for that.
But I wasn't prepared for Dumbledore's mindset to take a complete 180-degree turn. That… had caught me off guard. So I remained silent for a few minutes. I really… didn't have much to think about. A truce with Dumbledore was better than having him constantly breathing down my neck.
And I had practically decided to get rid of Voldemort. If Dumbledore was right and he tried to disrupt my wedding, then I would matter to him one way or another. Or even before that. I wouldn't let him ruin the ceremony for anything in the world. So… there was only one answer, wasn't there?
"Very well… I'll need your diadem and ring; it would be easier to try and find both with you." I said without hesitation, and Dumbledore simply nodded. He waved his hand, and a small table appeared between us, rising from the ashes of his old desk. Then two small chests emerged from a hiding place in the floor before being placed on the tables.
The boxes opened and revealed the Ravenclaw diadem and the Gaunt ring; I looked at them closely before letting my vision widen over them.
Clairvoyance. Initially, it's the same ability I gained with Archer's template; it improves both static and kinetic visual acuity, allowing me to track high-speed targets up to 4 kilometers away.
It really wasn't much of an improvement when I could actually push my eyes to a much higher level, whether by consuming my own metals or now with the Six Eyes; it helped partially, but it wasn't really a big deal.
But Riveria possessed her own version of clairvoyance thanks to Merlin's template, which allowed her to see everything happening in the present. Of course, the ability was limited by the moment. Merlin, to begin with, wasn't completely omniscient; she could only see the physical plane and everything that happened within it. She couldn't truly perceive things like pure concepts or abstract laws; that was her limit.
Riveria couldn't see the entire present at once; she could observe many things, but simultaneity didn't exist. She couldn't observe the entire present at once, but she could focus, track, and see individual objects or people in the present in a very limited way. The range didn't really matter; she could see someone on the other side of the world if she concentrated hard enough, but she could be blocked with a little effort. Even so, it was a truly ridiculous ability.
Together with her Six Eyes, she could see people on the other side of the world and track them with astonishing accuracy.
And I had replicated her clairvoyance. However, the ability mutated in a different direction after being adapted by my Reality Marble and all the abilities I possessed. They combined with the version I already had, with the Six Eyes, and with my metals.
Like Riveria, I could see the present, but I couldn't track anyone, and I couldn't see beyond my normal sight. What I could do was now see the Spiritual Realm and the Cognitive Realm as easily as the physical realm.
Consuming so many god-metals had already brought me too close to the spiritual realm, and my Adolla Burst had brought me closer to the cognitive realm, to the realm of Adolla. Riveria's clairvoyance simply pushed the boundary that still separated us, and my eyes were now able to see all three realms with ease.
Which was a far worse headache than using my Six Eyes to their full potential. So yes, my ability was now much closer to localized omniscience if I concentrated hard enough and pushed myself to the limit. However, I could only extend it to its maximum a few meters in front of me.
Six Eyes was already capable of occupying and damaging a large part of my brain when used to its fullest; seeing three realms with that same level of detail, and trying to extend beyond that, would fry my brain instantly.
However, I couldn't see the past or the future. Even if the spiritual realm was beyond space and time, and they all converged into a single component, I couldn't passively observe them with my eyes. I needed the help of divine metals to access them. Even so, thanks to my eyes, I could navigate through someone's spiritual network much more easily.
I took a deep breath and focused my gaze on Voldemort's Horcruxes. Both soul fragments became so visible with incredible ease. I could see Voldemort's spiritual network, Tom Riddle's, with extreme ease. Most importantly, I could see the Connections above them.
Each fragment of Voldemort's soul was irrevocably bound together with immense force, as if the pieces of his soul were being pulled apart and trying to rejoin. Which... made sense.
The ritual to create a Horcrux simply fragmented the soul, but it did not sever the connections between them; they were not separate fragments, they remained united with the same intensity as a complete soul, and that was the reason why the soul remained on the earthly plane as long as a fragment existed, anchored to this world.
"I'm really curious how and what you're doing. I really don't know what you're looking at." Dumbledore sighed as he looked at me intensely. I hummed.
"There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy," I said easily.
"Hamlet?" Dumbledore asked, raising a bushy eyebrow. I hummed.
"I won't go into details, because I don't really owe you anything, but to sum it up, I'm... seeing, we can call it your soul, although not really, it's not the same thing... I'm seeing something I like to call the Spiritual Network. This network is made up of many things, especially something I call Connections."
"Connections are the spiritual relationship between different entities. They can be living beings, places, objects, or even experiences. Anything can form a connection between two entities. Everything is connected by a vast web of interactions that constitutes someone's soul." I said easily and looked at Dumbledore. "You have many too, with Hogwarts, with the professors, with the students, with Fawkes, with your brother, even with Ariana and Grindelwald, even with Voldemort. Connections aren't... something that can be easily severed, and they aren't necessarily good." I could hear the sigh that escaped Dumbledore's lips. "Even Voldemort can't break them."
"Their soul fragments are connected, their connections are strong—they have to be to keep him alive if his body dies. And those connections, if you can see them correctly, are… easy to follow." I said simply, finally grasping one of the connections where both Horcruxes joined.
I touched on it gently in my mind before seeing his old orphanage, dismissed the connection immediately, and latched onto the next. Voldemort's connections were… different from most. Connections to things that influenced a person were always tinged with different emotions, whether good or bad.
Voldemort's sense of belonging was the only one that predominated. And I don't mean that he felt like he was part of something, no, but rather that Voldemort felt that everything belonged to him, that he owned everything he found, everything around him, that everything he wanted would be his in that very instant, even if that other entity didn't know it.
It was disgusting to watch. Voldemort was a psychopath from the start; he was cold, controlling, calculating, could feign intelligence as easily as breathing, could be organized and plan for years, and he was truly dangerous. He would have remained so even if he hadn't created Horcruxes.
The more he fragmented his soul, the more his mind deteriorated; he gained more traits of a sociopath, becoming more impulsive, more explosive, driven by emotions he had never felt before, and much more prone to aggression.
The Voldemort of today was an erratic mix of both behaviors, and from what he remembered of the old Severus, he would worsen as a sociopath, which, in reality, was much more beneficial to Dumbledore than anything else since it made him more predictable.
And the Voldemort of today was following the same path thanks to the ancient magic of the final repository. The amount of negative emotions that enveloped that repository was making him just as unstable as the version Severus knew, but this world's Voldemort was more dangerous. With access to ancient magic, he was a much greater danger, no matter how crazy he became.
In reality, if Voldemort hadn't created his Horcruxes, if he had remained the calculating and controlling self he was as a child, from his time at Hogwarts, he would have been far more dangerous to society in general; he would have been able to take control of the Ministry before anyone even realized it.
I kept discarding the connections until I finally found, one by one, the three I needed. I had the connections that led to the three missing Horcruxes. With a slight nudge, I followed the connection and saw its location, and without hesitation, I created three portals and moved my hand.
Three objects fell onto the headmaster's desk. Slytherin's locket, Hufflepuff's cup, and Tom Riddle's diary—the three Horcruxes joined the diadem and the ring.
Before I finished, I clung to one last connection, Voldemort's location at this moment, before closing my eyes to sever the connection between the realms, and I wiped my bleeding nose with the back of my hand.
"And there are all the Horcruxes he's created, so far." I said with a sneer as I looked at Voldemort's trinkets.
"You really did it." Dumbledore sighed in wonder as he gazed at the five pieces on the table. "Slytherin's locket, Hufflepuff's cup, Ravenclaw's diadem—which wounds its fate." Dumbledore sighed ruefully. I hummed; it was a shame all the objects were so tainted with Voldemort's soul that even I couldn't replicate them in my Reality Marble. I reached inside my shirt and pulled out a small basilisk fang.
"Basilisk venom, the only thing strong enough to destroy a Horcrux." I said, extending my fang in Dumbledore's direction. He just looked at it before gesturing for me to do the same; I shrugged.
I didn't even hesitate to firmly grasp the fang and drive it into the diadem. I could hear the spectral shriek as Voldemort's soul emerged and began to scream in agony. I moved the fang and struck the other Horcruxes, each one shrieking in torment as the basilisk's blood seared the fragment of soul within.
They tried to defend themselves with a final attack, but I simply moved my hand to bind them and freeze them in place, preventing them from doing anything. They could only scream in pain as they faded away. Finally, the screams stopped, and the dark magic that permeated the objects began to dissipate slowly.
They couldn't return to normal, but there was a noticeable difference in every object now that they were free of Voldemort's soul.
"It's done," murmured Dumbledore, sighing with relief. I hummed, my hand going straight to the destroyed ring. Each item looked as if it had been partially melted, slightly disfigured. I grasped the Resurrection Stone, now freed from the ring, and looked at Dumbledore, raising an eyebrow.
Dumbledore stared at the stone with immense intensity before looking away.
"It's yours," Dumbledore said easily, and I hummed. To my surprise, Cia burst out of my clothes and flew away. Cia looked at the stone in my fingers before her eyes glowed. She snatched the stone from me with her small hands, opened her mouth, and swallowed the Resurrection Stone in one gulp.
My eyes widened as I watched Cia with a satisfied smile. That… I hadn't planned on giving her the stone; I didn't even know if she could eat it. It served as a catalyst. I could feel the stone beginning to be assimilated by Cia.
It was slow; I couldn't analyze it with my Reality Marble. Like Aria, the item had a slight touch of divinity, or whatever the Deathly Hallows are, but it was enough that I couldn't fully replicate it. Even so, it continued to be absorbed by Cia as I slowly analyzed it; it would take several days to fully absorb it.
"You... fed it to her." Dumbledore said incredulously, shaking his head. I scoffed.
"Of course I will, I said I would." I lied curtly. Dumbledore shook his head. I was about to open my mouth when we heard hurried footsteps on the stairs.
"Albus—by Merlin! What happened here?!" McGonagall exclaimed as she arrived and surveyed the wrecked office. She wasn't alone; I could see Flitwick beside her and another professor behind him. Dumbledore and I both froze, caught red-handed.
"Thanks for the chat, Headmaster! I hope to see you at my wedding, and I'm sorry for whatever happened in your office. I hope you find out what happened! See you!" I said as I grabbed Cia and stood up, then I quickly slipped between the teachers and hurried down the stairs.
"Miss Snape?!" Dumbledore exclaimed, almost indignant. I ignored him and continued down the stairs. I paused momentarily in the gargoyle corridor, moved my hand, and the fragments of Voldemort's soul appeared once more, agonizing and screaming, though enchantments muffled their voices. I smiled sadistically as I watched them.
"Well, well, well, let's see if they'll be of any use or a complete waste." I murmured, my eyes twinkling. "Worst case, I'll reunite them with their main fragment and give it to Bella as a wedding gift. I'm sure she'll appreciate the soul of a dark lord as a familiar." I wrapped the fragments in an orb before placing the necessary enchantments to keep them sealed, then slipped it into one of my pockets before starting to walk away, completely satisfied.
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