THE SHARDS OF MEMORIES

After the demise of Dumbledore at the hands of the Half-Blood Prince, Harry nevertheless returns to Hogwarts to finish his seventh and final year. There, he will discover the secrets of the Shards of Memories, the mystical objects that will enable him to enter the Realm of Memories, where he can finally unmask the man who calls himself R.A.B., and find the missing Horcruxes that will allow him to destroy the Dark Lord once and for all. On the way he will also finally unravel the mysteries and terrors of Dumbledore's past, and seek the guidance of the man who was once Dumbledore's childhood archenemy – the man who had become the former Dark Lord – and learn of the shocking and horrific truth of the unknown Horcrux.

CHAPTER ONE: THE DARK LORD'S LAIR

The Dark Lord was getting impatient. His newest servant had failed to kill Dumbledore, though nevertheless the task had been accomplished in the end. Voldemort paced around the room of his own undetectable fortress, waiting for one of his faithful Death Eaters. At last, a hooded man in black robes appeared in front Voldemort, bowing.

"You wished to see me, my Lord?" asked the hooded man.

"Snape,I must discuss with you the issue of my newest servant, Lucius Malfoy's son." Voldemort replied, "He did not carry out the task as I had instructed him to." Voldemort replied.

"But I saw to it myself that it was indeed carried out in the end. Your intentions were, of course, to kill Albus Dumbledore." Snape answered.

"Yes, the task was indeed done. But the child had hesitated too long, showing weakness in front of Dumbledore, which stopped him from being able to carry out the murder."

"But what difference does that make, my Lord?" Snape asked.

"Use you brains!" Voldemort hissed. "The boy showing weakness is a sure sign that he is slowly rejecting the Dark Side. He still has good in him; a trait that I do not find welcoming in my Death Eaters. Many times he had failed to construct a portal into Hogwarts, and during those times he has regretted ever helping our cause!"

"But surely-" Snape began, but the Dark Lord cut him off.

"I have to make sure that he does not slip up again! Or else I will have to murder him."

"Murder him? But surely there can be another way!" Snape exclaimed.

"Ah yes… I forgot; you are very protective of the boy?" Voldemort sneered, "Now why would you care more about him then of our organization, I wonder…"

Snape looked directly into the Dark Lord's slit-like eyes, concentrating on blocking the details of his concern from Voldemort's powers of Legilimency. "I… don't…." Snape muttered, not taking his eyes off of the Dark Lord's and still concentrating on Occlumency. He had been able to lie to the Dark Lord without detection many times before.

"Very well then…" Voldemort said. "You must now infuse Draco with the darkness, to fully submerge him into the power of evil. Teach him the Darkashian Arts, for I can see much evil potential in him if he can control it. And keep watch on him. You are now dismissed to do your task." He waved one of his pale, spider-like hands and Snape swept away from the room.

Snape descended the many staircases of the lair and entered the room of Draco Malfoy. Draco was already awake. When he saw Snape enter his room he immediately snarled, "Now what? How much longer do I have to stay in this place, I want to go back to my Manor!"

"Hold your tongue, lest the Dark Lord silence it forever!" Snape barked. "You have an important task, and now we shall fully infuse you with the powers of darkness!"

"I already have the Dark Mark, I'm already a Death Eater, what more do I need?"

"You further need the power of the Darkashian Arts."

"What the hell are Darkashian Arts?" Malfoy sneered.

"Manners, Malfoy, and be careful while in the lair of the Dark Lord!" Snape barked again.

"You don't have to be so protective, I can take care of myself now, I'm almost of age!"

"Which makes it time that you learn of the Arts." Snape said.

"And can I please know what these Arts are?" Malfoy asked rudely.

"The Darkashian Arts are an obscure branch of ancient Dark magic that are extremely powerful. They were once specialized by the Dark Lord, and he feels that you should now learn them too."

"So they'll make me stronger? Fine then, teach me them."

"All you need is the power of darkness to become infused with you. All the rest you will then have an innate sense of…"

Snape drew a circle around Malfoy with his wand. Malfoy felt icy coldness run up his spine as a shadowy aura surrounded him.

"Let go of all good intentions… let the anger that I know you possess be controlled by you and shape the anger into total darkness… embrace yourself with the evil darkness and beg it to empower you. Thus you shall have true power!" Snape said soothingly, as Malfoy's eyes rolled up and felt darkness seep through his skin. He wanted to have ultimate power, and that want helped him to mold his anger into power, his heart turned cold with darkness.

"Darshika Valaeizakha Horath Ethicomah!" said Snape, slashing his wand back and forth while the aura around Draco grew darker and darker. Finally, the aura faded, and Draco completed his infusion of darkness. He blew away the pale-blonde hair in his face and felt the thrilling sensation of true power seep through his veins. He looked into the mirror in the room and saw his own reflection. His eyes now had a distinct blackness in them.

"Excellent," breathed Snape, surveying the now powerful boy standing before him. "The darkness in you can never be removed now, but you wouldn't want it removed anyways, am I correct?"

"Yeah, I never knew such power existed," said Draco, "So what do I do now?"

"You will have new spells at your disposal now… and then you will be able to kill Harry Potter!" Snape said. "But before that time comes you have another mission…"