Harry James Potter was having one of the worst summers of all time.
First, the bullying that was supposed to stop after Dudley and him got attacked by Dementors had worsened. His cousin had made a promise to himself to beat him up as much as he could before next year where Harry would be able to use his magic.
The good news was that he learned how to throw a punch, and tank quite a few – though that was already something he was ready for, because he had enough of Dudley thinking that he'd had the upper hand.
It was his last real final summer here, because next year he'll be able to use his magic and they'll not try to do anything rash around him anymore, which was a relief.
Aside from Dudley and him fighting outside the house, his aunt and uncle were pretty much ghosts, avoiding him like a plague after the incident from last year fearing that he'd somehow summon Dementors out of his arse to torment them too.
It'd be cool though not gonna lie, but he was, unfortunately, restrained by his own human limits.
Being ignored by the Dursleys meant total freedom of his time. He passed the first week running in the morning and doing a bit of exercise and then putting his nose into his books and homework to finish it as fast as possible.
Everything was good to forget about his godfather's death and his homework signified making progress in his magic and his knowledge, at least somewhat, and he was recomforting himself into his chance of survival.
He had none. He truly had none. For the past years he'd affronted Voldemort, his survival had been a mix of dumb luck and fate's cruel way to punish him as he was forced to live another traumatizing year.
But a real 1vs1 duel with Voldemort himself ? Imagine if Dumbledore wasn't here ? What would they do then ?
The few books he stole from the Black Library, the tamer ones with simple but deadly spells, and the ones from Remus about specific spells for specific species in case he'd encountered one – especially werewolves would provide him more time yes, but against one of the greatest Dark Lords of all time ?
No chance, no chance at all, he was beyond cooked.
That's why Harry had passed the last 3 weeks here training his body as much as possible, practicing all wand movements and incantations of the spells he'd took from Remus and Sirius's family books, running around and doing some push-ups and eating.
Yes, eating. Using Dobby to do his errands had been a difficult task, not that Dobby wouldn't be thrilled to help him but because he was using him for his own gains in a sort.
So he paid the elf, despite his protest about Harry helping him being free was enough and finally accepted the 'job'.
It was simple : Bring him unprocessed and high-quality ingredients to help him cook. He'd use them to create high protein foods and had put quite on height and muscles.
He'd also asked him for any potion to accelerate said growth and Dobby bring him supplies of potions that he had to take for the next 2 months to not only help him go out of his scrawny phase but also treat any malnutrition – or in his case, a lack of nutrition.
Just as things to going well for him, the sacked Minister Fudge, in a last ditched attempt to save his campaign, enacted a Marriage Law for every Witch and Wizard between the age of 15 to 25 with a Ministry-approved process to choose their spouses. It was to repopulate the Britain Wizard World because of the declining number of magic-born children, or at least that's how they described it.
It was, for a lack of a word, a lot of bull, and just a way to get to him – plus maybe have future Wizard to manipulate in case Voldemort won. He was 90% sure that Fudge had been visited by Voldemort and was used as a tentative to bait Harry out in the open.
Their plan was simple. He'd be married to a Death Eater or a daughter of a Death Eater, and then Voldemort would just appear, take it slow, maybe torture him a bit and then kill him.
When he saw that the law passed and none could remove it, even if another Minister came, he knew it was time for him to die.
"Harry Potter... Who's Harry Potter?" A voice interrupted his thoughts as he put the image-moving journal away in embarrassment. He'd been caught with a magical object in front of a muggle.
"Oh, no one. Bit of a tosser, really." Harry answering the waitress's question vaguely as the woman started to giggle.
She put his coffee down, looking at him with a smile "I've seen you a lot around these days" She observed.
It's true. Harry was a regular at the café in which she worked – Treats Café, at Surbiton Station, as he found taking trains kept his mind off things and would often spend nights started with him just staring at a few trains, the normalcy of people that come and go to their work had been relaxing, anything that didn't remind him of Sirius was welcomed, and then he saw this waitress through the window.
He'd been struck by her beauty at first. Her chocolate skin and curly black hair had been enticing enough for him to come and take a coffee while he observed her work. She didn't seem to spot him the first time.
The second time had been a few days later, and she had smiled at him when she spotted him.
The third time he had the courage to finally say hi before she brings him the same usual coffee her ordered the first two times.
After that, he'd visit each night there, except for yesterday, and he had yet to find the courage to ask her out.
'Great, some Gryffindor you are' He berated himself before he replied.
"The coffee is here is really good" He replied, not really able to tell her that he was here for her.
She smiled, an eyebrow arching in amusement as she said "Is that so ?" As he hummed in agreement, taking a sip of his coffee to demonstrate it, she continued "One would say that you found something interesting to look at"
"Maybe" He said sassily as she sat down across from him with the same smile she sported earlier and he reciprocated it "Maybe I've seen something really pretty to look at whilst I drank my delicious coffee"
"Hmm" She hummed as she leaned on ever so slightly "Should this someone be worried ? Are you a stalker ?"
"No" He denied honestly as he leaned on himself "But I'd like to –" His eyes had snapped to behind the waitress as they widened.
It was Dumbledore. He was looking at him with the usual twinkle in his eyes and he knew his time was up.
Today was July 31st, his birthday, and as usual, they came to pick him up the same day from the Dursleys and Harry had warned them he'd be here instead, with his trunk prepared.
He cursed himself for his luck as she seemed to sense that he had to go, looking behind her to see a weird old man with a blue dress staring back at them.
She wondered if Harry was working in a circus, given that he had a trunk maybe full of small objects for his tricks, and he was too embarrassed to be seen as this in front of her for their first time really talking.
She thought it was cool to be honest.
"Well," She rose from her seat as she slipped a simple note inside Harry's palm and smiled "Whoever this Harry Potter is, tell him to see me soon," And then she grinned as she leaned on his ear "And I'll judge it myself if he's a stalker or a tosser or if he's a good guy"
Before he could reply, she had already turned away, nodding at Dumbledore with the same plastered professional smile before walking back to the small bar as her friends giggled whilst looking at him. He felt embarrassed, more so because Dumbledore had witnessed it all then a few girls ogling him but still.
|~-X-~| TMWK |~-X-~|
As Dumbledore sat down with his Wizard robe, he greeted him before giving him his cup of coffee "Professor" He greeted.
Dumbledore smiled "Harry" he said gently as he took a sip of Harry's coffee. It was a rare sight for him to see his headmaster eat or drink anything except for a few candies he'd seen him feast on while he was in his office "How are you?"
The question left a sour taste in his mouth. How was he – "Good" He lied easily. Dumbledore could see through him like a book, but he wasn't ready to admit that he was having problems.
"Well, I've come to pick you up with a few good news, some bad news and a request" he said as he smiled at him with his usual grandfatherly smile. Harry's expression softened as he let a small smile slip on his face "Shall I start with the good news or b ad news ?"
"Bad news" He replied as he straightened up. Better take the band-aid off fast.
"The bad news is that the war with Voldemort had officially started" Informed a frowning Dumbledore as he slipped him a few snippets of journals recounting all the attacks Voldemort had done to the Muggle and Wizarding World as he sighed "Tom is trying to forces you out in the open, whether it be by attacking Muggles and, by extent, unveiling The Secret or by corrupting the Ministry with his Death Eaters"
"I know" Harry said as he sighed, rubbing his eyes as he took out his glasses in exasperation before his eyes snapped to the old man "And we're underprepared"
"We are" Agreed Dumbledore as he looked at him seriously "I've been… lax, in my preparation for the future war that awaits us, starting with your training and education" He revealed as he looked at him
"They are killing people Professor" He looked at his Headmaster with resignation "I don't want to do the same but…"
"Killing them will not make them better than they are, Harry" Admonished Dumbledore as Harry looked at him back defiantly.
"And what are you planning to do?" He was fed up with Dumbledore's passiveness. The headmaster seemed to flinch at his harsh words. He didn't back down "Professor, If we don't –"
"We will take action Harry" He said patiently as if explaining it a child, his grandfatherly smile returning "We'll put them in jail and –"
He laughed, a humourless one, as he stared at his sort of mentor incredulously "And then what ? They'd escape again?" As his professor adverted his eyes for a second, he drove on "They broke out of Azkaban already Professor, they'll do it again"
"And then what ?" Dumbledore said as he turned to him again. He was serious "We do what ? Use violence ? Answer violence with violence. Is that your solution Harry ?"
"Yes" He affirmed as his professor stiffened. He seemed to look at him like – "Stop looking at me like that Professor, I'm not Tom just because I agree with killing" he snapped as Dumbledore looked like a deer caught in daylight.
"Harry –" Started his professor but he was cut of by his angry pupil.
"No please hear me out Professor" He started and it seemed to shut him up "If we don't act, if we don't retaliate with the same force as them, then we're dooming hundreds, if not thousands, if not millions of people to a madman !" He was glad that his professor had cast a Mufliato and Notice-Me-Not spells because he was screaming at the top of his lung at this point. "Our inaction is killing innocents people because you are too much of a coward to retaliate"
There, he said it. Dumbledore may have been the most powerful Wizard in the world, he was also the most passive. Despite all his power and strength, and having the means to make this world better, he'd choose to scheme and watch from the sidelines.
He still toned it down. He had already been disrespectful enough as it is. Dumbledore was still his Headmaster and also a grandfather figure to him
"Professor, it's not about being better than them, nor is it about power or even about using violence" He was desperately trying to explain this to the old man "We're at war, Professor, and kill –"
"Killing is a necessary evil during war" Finished Dumbledore, defeated, as he agreed with his sort of disciple. He was a bit taken aback for being called a coward but he couldn't disagree with the foolproof argument. He sighed "I can't bring myself to do it, killing I mean, but maybe what we need, the power he knows not, is your ability to choose the necessary evil when we need it, Harry"
It was truly surprising to see his Headmaster, the world's greatest Wizard, admit his fault to him – to the poor old 6th year Hogwarts Student Harry Potter.
"Professor it's not –" He started but was cut off by the man.
"It is, Harry, it really is" The man sighed as he took out his glasses and massaged his temples frustratedly "I've done the same mistake during my opposition to Grindelwald and, like you said, hundreds if not thousands of people died because I couldn't bring myself to kill him, or anyone else really, earlier."
And then he added apologetically "I'm sorry for comparing you to Tom" He said sincerely as Harry stared at him "Your bond with him, it unnerves me more than I'd like to admit, but," He added before Harry could reply "You're nothing like him, thankfully, and I'm deeply sorry for making you uncomfortable for my senile thoughts"
Harry sighed, ruffling his unruly hair with a bit of shame and frustration "And I'm very sorry for calling you a 'coward'. I shouldn't have. It's not my place"
"It is" Countered Dumbledore as he sighed "If someone should be allowed to call me that is you, Harry, with how much I've failed to protect you"
They stayed in silence, each of them recalling old and traumatizing memories of their own as they stared at nothing in peculiar before Harry tried to change the subject "So, what's the good news?"
Dumbledore looked at him with a small smile, pleased for the change, before he slipped him a letter. He looked at it strangely.
It was from Amelia Bones. She was Susan's aunt, one of the only people who defended him during his trial last year, and also the future Minister of Magic if what he read was to believe.
"Amelia Bones, she's –" Started Dumbledore
"Yeah, I know her, she's Susan's aunt" Replied Harry as he read through the letter with increased interest.
Dear ,
In lights of You-Know-Who's return, and your brave actions to try and stop him, along with, as Susan told me, creating and leading a group of students to help them learn to fight in case of a battle, I, Amelia Bones, newly appointed Minister of Magic, grants you full emancipation and immediate removal of The Trace granting you the ability to perform spells outside of Hogwarts.
I also granted you an approved Apparition Permit, trusting in your headmaster who's tasked to give you this letter to teach you how to do it in a safe environment.
I would like to remind you that these gifts are not for you to be abused, and to thread carefully as the Trace is here to protect our world from the Muggles to avoid another great War between the two. This war had been, unfortunately, even bloodier than the one with You-Know-Who, and hopefully bloodier than the next one with the same enemy.
Moreover, as you probably, saw, a Marriage Law had been enacted, as per the last order of the ex-Minister Fudge. Despite all my efforts, I couldn't stop it fully but, like you'll see tomorrow in the news, I was able to tweak it enough to give all of you time to choose yourselves.
Instead of having your spouse's being automatically chosen within the week, all Witch and Wizards between the age of 15 to 25 will have 1 month, from August 1st at 8 o'clock in the morning to September 1st at midnight, to choose their partners by doing an incantation that will be given as instructions to everyone.
I will urge you, as the one who's mainly targeted by this law, to find a suitable spouse, be it a lover or a friend that you are 100% sure of their loyalty, and protect yourself from You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters.
To finish, as you are emancipated, and the only heir to the Potter line, you are requested to come and take your seat in the Wizenmagot. If you choose to have someone take your place as your representant in case you are not interested in the position, please send me a letter back to tell me who will it be.
Quick note : I would like to speak with you privately before your departure for Hogwarts, for security reasons and talking about how we'd ensure your friends and family safety and ensure that you'll be prepared to face whatever your future is brewing for you.
Attached to this letter is a note with the address to the Bones Manor that only you can read, and will burst in flame after reading it so please use this with as much secrecy as possible.
I, Amelia Bones, Minister of Magic, will look forward to meet you in person as soon as possible.
Best regards,
Amelia Bones.
"Good new I assume" Said Dumbledore with a twinkle as Harry nodded.
Having the support of the Minister herself was odd when all his life he'd been at odds with figures of authority. He hoped that this time he'd be able to collaborate with Susan's aunt to at least make sure Voldemort's threat disappears with him.
It would be his last gift to this world. Getting rid of Voldemort by sacrificing himself 'A hero's sacrificing' He mused with a smile as he looked at his Headmaster.
"Really good news" He said with a wide grin as he looked at his amused Headmaster who rose from his seat and beckoned him outside.
As they exited the café, Dumbledore extended his hand as he took it "Now as dear Amelia said in this letter, I'll teach you how to Apparate" He said simply and before he could reply back, he felt a sensation invade his abdomen.
He felt his stomach lurch as he was sucked into a void for a while before reappearing somewhere else.
|~-X-~| TMWK |~-X-~|
He lurched forward, bile pilling up his throat as he fought the desire to throw up and gasped for air.
He looked at his amused Headmaster as he said "Nothing's better than practice itself" as he walked toward an odd house, Harry followed him grumpily as he said "Also you couldn't apparate here without knowing the place prior and, like I told you, I need you to take care of something for me"
"What is it Professor ?" He asked immediately, his earlier feelings put to the side to help him as the old man had always been here to help him without even asking. Help him back was important for him, especially when it was probably related to Voldemort anyway.
"There is someone, a Professor, that I'd want you to help me convince to come back and teach" He started simply as he walked toward the oddly burnt and damage house "It's an old friend of mine, and I need something from him" He finished cryptically as he winked at his student.
'Another of his stupid riddle' He thought annoyed as he tried not to lash out at his professor like he did earlier. "Something like what, professor ?"
"An information, something that is crucial if we want to end Tom" he said, staying still cryptical.
He breathed a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose as he entered after Dumbledore inside the house.
He took out his wand, just in case, and they advanced inside the scorched tapestries and broken objects, his eyes staying on a few debris present here and there.
'Whatever happened here, the owner of this house fought till his last breath' He mused as he waved his wand around and used a Revelio Charm.
"Homenum Revelio" He whispered as he slashed his wand in a circular movement.
A blue wave of magic expelled from his wand, exploring the house as they advanced in the living room.
His eyes widened when he felt a presence.
"Professor I think –" He was stopped by his professor's hand, his eyes focused on the strangely decaying aspect for a second, wondering what kind of curse could create such an effect on his mentor, before he focused back on the task on hand.
"I know" he said calmly. His tone made him relax, for if an enemy was there, Dumbledore would've warned him to be careful.
As they inspected the living room, he looked at the strangely neat and unbroken armchair, Dumbledore pointing his wand to it and –
"Okay Okay ! You got me !" A voice came out of the sofa as it transformed into a strange old man who looked back at them with fright.
Harry's jaw dropped. Where a split second before there had been an armchair, there now crouched an enormously fat, bald, old man who was massaging his lower belly and squinting up at Dumbledore with an aggrieved and watery eye.
Professor Horace Eugene Flaccus Slughorn was Hogwarts Professor of Potions before Severus Snape. He attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as a member of Slytherin before returning in 1931 as Potions Master. He also served as Head of Slytherin House, before retiring in 1981 due to a fear that Albus Dumbledore had yet to discover. Right now, he was sporting an embroidered clothing with gold-coloured buttons and plenty of velvet.
"Horace" Said Dumbledore with ease as he shook the perturbated old man hand who shook his back with an abashed expression "Long time no see my friend"
"Long time no see indeed Albus" The burly man agreed as his eyes settled on Harry for a second, recognizing his face in a split second as he turned his hand to him, his face turned jovial as he took Harry's hand to shake his too with an overexcited expression "Ahh, Mister Potter, the son of Lily Potter, yes"
Lily Potter ? For the first time since he'd come to Hogwarts, he was the first to mention his mother to recognize him "You knew my mother Professor ?"
"Knew ?" He asked incredulously. He looked at an amused Dumbledore before he looked back at him, checking as if he asked a stupid question "She was my best student !" He said proudly as he showed the dozens of pictures of different students he took with "She was the Brightest Witch of her Generation!"
'Just like Hermione' He thought with a smile as he caressed the image of his smiling mother and he looked at Slughorn and asked "Do you mind if I took this professor ?" pointing to the photo as the Professor seemed to hesitate "Its just that I don't have many photos of them, my parents, it would mean the world to me"
Slughorn's eyes softened instantly as he smiled at the young man in front of him before he nodded "Of course my boy, it's yours now" As he said so, he turned to his old friend "What brings you here, Albus ?"
"No need to be hasty" Deflected Dumbledore as he smiled at his friend, looking around before he asked "Do you mind ?"
When Horace gestured, Dumbledore waved his wand as everything came to places.
Debris on the floor reattached themselves to the now clean tapestries, as the holes disappeared. The lights above worked again as they found their place, and all the broken desks and tables, and every broken object started to work back again.
He looked, fascinated as with a simple spell, Dumbledore repaired a whole house back before looking at his friend like nothing happened.
They talked for a while, and Harry had zoned out of it as he looked at the smiling face of his mother, imagining the moment of her graduation and asked her professor to take a picture to commemorate it – or maybe it was the reverse. As kind as Slughorn looked, Harry felt that he was the type of person who'd take any opportunity to increase his status.
Slytherin is known for being the house of the cunning and ambitious after all. He wasn't going to judge them and say they're all bad like most did, but their main traits made them the type of people you'd like to avoid in a friendly BBQ weekend.
"- Absolutely not !" Said Slughorn firmly as his Headmaster, unflinching, argued back saying they needed a new Potions Professor.
A hope, that somehow, Snape was unavailable or dead, and they needed a new professor for the time being, was crushed when he heard that he'd be the DADA Teacher instead.
'Great, even better I guess' He thought surly as his preferred class would be polluted by that greasy bastard's presence.
Maybe he'd have to continue the D.A after all, he'd have to talk Hermione about it when he'd arrive home.
As he saw Slughorn exit the house to avoid talking to the man, he followed them until Dumbledore said "I'll double your salary !"
He saw the look in Horace's face as he turned around, greed, and they started to talk about the different accommodations he'll have there.
As Dumbledore agreed to most of his now new Professor of Potions, they retreated in the house as they talked about details.
He recalled what Dumbledore said to him.
'An information that he needs from Slughorn involving Voldemort ?' He thought as he looked closely at the professor as if trying to seize something he'd missed.
'He looks like your average English old man' He thought as he looked for any presence of something amiss.
No. It wasn't something physical. It was probably something that Voldemort said to him or he said to the young version of the Dark Lord and regretted ever since because it strengthened his reign.
He needed the answer. He needed to know how and why Voldemort was so powerful.
He needed that edge, and Harry was tired to wait and hope that Dumbledore will tell him something useful for once.
'Violence is a necessary evil during war, just like killing' He repeated as if trying to believe it himself and straightened as he walked toward Slughorn with determination.
"Professor," He said easily as the man turned to him with curiosity "I was wondering, since my mother was one of the brightest people you'd ever teach, was there someone even better than her ?" As he said so, Dumbledore seemed to flinch in panic and Slughorn paled "Did you teach V-You-Know-Who ?" He asked innocently as he corrected himself. He wasn't afraid of calling him Tom or Voldemort but calling him by his name right now would just frighten the man further.
He learned that from Dudley. Give enough pressure to make your target talk or do what you want, but do not go too far to a point he'd retaliate by instinct. That's why they fought a few weeks ago when he'd started to beat him up and calling it 'sparring'.
'It's all about balance' He thought easily as he drove on his interrogation when Slughorn nodded with a quick 'Yes'.
"I was just curious," He said as he sat on one of the few armchair's sides and gazed at him intensely "What was he like ?" He asked as he saw the uncertain expression on his face "What was You-Know-Who like when he was younger ?"
"H-H-He-He was," He took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves as he answered the question whilst not looking to Harry directly anymore "He was a very bright and charismatic young man" He started as Harry's gaze made him continue "He was very curious and academically oriented"
It was going nowhere. He was just making vague statements of things that were easy to assume from what he'd gathered before and how powerful Voldemort was.
He'd kept the man blubbering nonsense for a while, letting him relax and simmer, and just as he was about to kick them out, he asked another more direct question.
"Professor," He continued as the man refused to look at him "Please look at me" Slughorn's eyes finally snapped back to his "I need you Professor?"
"For what my boy ?" He asked as the man seemed to gaze at something beyond his eyes. He realized a few seconds later that he was probably reminiscing at a core memory with his mother. He was more attached to her than he'd initially thought as he seemed like he gloated about her academic success more than her person.
He felt a bit bad using his mother to force the old man to talk but he had no other choice. They were running in blind against one of the greatest Dark Lord of all times unprepared and Dumbledore seemed not so eager to tell him anything remotely useful.
He needed this, as it seems like it was a very painful but crucial information to have.
"Professor," He started slowly as he took one of the old man's shoulders in his hand and stared straight at him "Please, I beg you, be brave" He started as he looked at the scared Potions Master "Be brave like my mother"
When he seemed to think about it, his gaze staring at the ground in contemplation and resignation, he knew that he was on the right path.
"Whatever you said or did doesn't matter at this point" He reassured the old man who looked at him with widening eyes "It was probably out of ignorance. You could've never known that he'd become one of the greatest Dark Lord that ever lived" He continued as he looked at the hope slowly creeping up the old man's expression "It's not your fault, but if we don't know what we're facing, if you don't act quickly"
He gazed at the old man's stare whilst trying to convey the seriousness of the situation "Nothing will matter at this point if we don't stop Voldemort"
"Do not say his –" Started Horace but was cut off by Harry.
"I'm not afraid of him" He said firmly as his eyes widened "None of us should be frightened, because fear of the name increases the fear of the thing itself"
He turned to a smiling Dumbledore. Dumbledore had said to him when discussing the fate of the Sorcerer's Stone with Harry in the Hospital Wing. He was encouraging Harry to use Voldemort's name.
He let the man's brain brew, his hand still on his shoulder encouragingly before a bit of determination showed on his face
"You're right, my boy" He said firmly, emboldened by Dumbledore and Harry's surprise yet proud smiles as he reciprocated theirs before he sobered up and looked a tiny bit vulnerable, taking his wand out and pointing it to his head "Please do not go back to your words when you see what happened Harry my boy"
"Promise" He said honestly. He'd been manipulated before. He knew how sweet words and faces could best the strongest of them. He'd thought that his uncle and aunt would one day love him if he obeyed them after all. He had to go to the Weasleys house to finally understand that they'd never love him back even if he gave them all the golds he had in his Vault.
As the man took out the memory, a silver ethereal line of magic coming out of his head and now connected to his wand, he was about to speak before Dumbledore, out of nowhere, made appear a strange stone bowl who floated above the air.
There was also a strange liquid inside that was something between water and something magical that he had yet to identify.
"Ah, always prepared I see" Horace eyed the grinning Dumbledore before he put his wand with the memory still stuck to it above the bowl. He hesitated and turned to look at his encouraging eyes before he sighed and trembly let the memory fall in the bowl.
As he sat on the armchair, he waved at them to go on as Dumbledore urged him to put his head inside it.
Taking a deep breath, he obeyed to his teacher's instructions and felt his world shift.
He looked, abashed as Dumbledore explained that they were in the memory and that none could see them here. They were just powerless spectators.
"It was a foolish thing to do, Harry" He chided his mentor as he looked, fascinated as he looked at the young groups of Slytherin boys laughing and talking with Horace on the other side of the table "Slughorn could've escaped and –"
"Or we could've waited too much and it would be too late" He interrupted the professor that seemed transfixed by the scene in front of him.
Neither talked as they listened to Slughorn and Voldemort talking about the Horcruxes.
As they got out of the memory, Harry's brain was in turmoil.
Horcrux. A living soul inside an object that allowed him to stay immortal as long as it wasn't destroyed.
As he watched, lethargic, Dumbledore pace around and muttering, he watched as he took out a strange ring – Marvolo's Ring, and the journal he destroyed inside the Chamber of Secrets.
He explained that he'd been afflicted by the ring but he dismissed it, saying that he'd recover but Harry doubted that he was telling the whole story as he refused to let Slughorn look at his affliction.
He understood it now why he was so vague. Why he'd been so secretive about everything in front of him, why he'd ignored him last year.
"So, we destroyed 2 of them" he suddenly said as both old man's eyes snapped back at him. Dumbledore's expression was blank and carefully crafted, the face of a man hiding thousands of secrets whilst Slughorn's was careful and scared "And you say he could've created 7 of them in total ?"
When Horace nodded and said "But we're not sure if he really did 7 bec –"
"He did it" He said firmly as he looked at the flinching professor "I saw and fight him more than most did. Whatever you think he did, he did it and more. This monster is afraid of death and would do anything to avoid it"
As Horace seemed to muse about what he said, something settled into his mind.
Everything clicked. The link between him and Voldemort made more sense now.
An Horcrux was a part of a soul inside an object, but no one said that this object should strictly be non-living. Or at least Slughorn didn't mention that fact.
There was no denial.
He remembered the prophecy perfectly.
'The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies...' He recited in his head as the realization of what it meant truly dawned on him.
'Neither can live while the other one survives' He repeated a few times with increasing despair as he remembered that Dumbledore said that Voldemort had only heard the first part of the prophecy.
Maybe Voldemort didn't know he made that Horcrux whilst trying to kill him, as it needed to kill an innocent – here Lily, and an object – here Harry. Maybe by killing Lily, with her using a strange blood related spell or ritual, she prevented him from killing her son in the exchange of making him an Horcrux.
Or maybe she didn't plan for that to happen and wanted it to kill Voldemort instead, which happened, and the ritual had triggered something else entirely and made him an Horcrux.
It didn't matter in the end, the only thing that mattered was that –
"I'm an Horcrux aren't I" he said firmly as he stared at the shocked expression of Dumbledore and Slughorn. When he saw the guilt in Dumbledore's eyes he knew he had stuck true.
|~-X-~| TMWK |~-X-~|
And – Cliffhanger !
What do you think about this ? How do you think Harry would react ?
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