Harry and Severus were reluctantly released after a day, in time for breakfast. They walked carefully down the corridors towards the great hall. Their bodies were still very unsteady after their inactivity for three weeks. The two were silently rejoicing being out in the real world once more.
When they entered the great hall, Severus was unpleasantly surprised to see the entire faculty, barring Trelawney, in attendance. The staff only resided simultaneously at Hogwarts during the summer holidays if there was an emergency. The hall was also ominously quiet; the morning post had just arrived. Severus sat in his normal place with Harry next to him. Dumbledore passed the newspaper he had without a word.
You-know-who strikes again!
Diagon alley devastated!
For the past five days, you-know-who has been targeting any who oppose him, but yesterday evening, he changed tactics. In a surprise attack by over forty masked death eaters, the historic wizarding shopping centre was destroyed. Many well known shops were damaged or even reduced to rubble. Flourish and Blotts and Fortescues were two of the most badly hit. Over fifty people were killed and many times that injured by the death eaters or the falling buildings.
The minister still denies that this is the work of he-who-must-not-be-named, insisting that these attacks are merely terrorists using the old death eater costume. He makes a statement for the daily prophet about the attacks:
"The ministry is working tirelessly as we speak, restoring shops and houses. We apologise for the broken families, but are almost sure we know who the culprits are. Once we are certain, we will use force to bring them to justice."
The public already know the culprits; you-know-who is back as Harry Potter has been saying for the past year. Where is the boy-who-lived? What is the chosen one doing to help us?
Harry dropped the paper. He looked straight at Dumbledore.
"What has been happening, head master?" Albus dropped his eyes and sighed.
"For the past five days there has been an attack per day. All have been on families supporting the light; the Diggorys, the Smiths, the Finnigans, and the McAllistars. Now Diagon alley. There have been more attacks on muggles. It seems Voldemort has declared a free for all on them. There have been attacks from groups and individuals. With each new blow, he has swayed more and more people to his side.
Harry's eyes were cold as he reviewed the new information.
"Right. That's it. I'm going to fight Voldemort." Severus gaped for a moment and then cast muffliato around the three before finding his voice.
"Are you mad? You don't know anything about him. He has had over 50 years to perfect his skills whereas you have had less than six. You idiot, he would kill you and all our hope would be lost!" his face was white in fear. Harry, however, replied, determined.
"I don't care. I can't sit here with all these deaths going on. If I don't do anything, they will be my fault." Severus groaned in exasperation, but before he could reply, Albus cut in.
"I believe that Harry is the only one to have a chance of destroying Voldemort forever. Let us finish breakfast, then go up to my office to discuss the whys and wherefores of this situation. Bereft of a choice, Severus gave a curt nod and Harry murmured an affirmative.
The three stood up together at the subdued table. Breakfast had been a hunger less affair. Even though Severus and Harry hadn't touched true food in weeks, the news of Voldemort's attacks had taken their appetite. They walked to Dumbledore's office.
"Refreshers" the headmaster said to the gargoyle. It slid aside and they stood on the moving, spiral staircase. Opening the door, Albus led the way into the office proper. It was all neat and tidy. Harry felt rather guilty, remembering the last time he had been in here and had single handedly destroyed most of the twirling silver instruments on the desk. Dumbledore sat down and gestured for them to do the same. When they had, he leaned back and tented his fingers.
"After many years of researching rituals of immortality, I think I have found the one Voldemort used. It ties in with the murder of your family, Harry, and why the Avada Kedavra gave you a scar instead of killing you." Harry interrupted.
"We know why I survived the killing curse; my mother made a shield using runes which reflected the spell." Albus shook his head.
"No, that's why you lived. If the rune shield had performed to its full potential, you would have had a 50:50 chance of survival, but you would have been severely injured and a squib. What Voldemort was using was an old two part spell that involves the murder of two close family members; father and son, mother and daughter or godparent and godchild. Before killing the two an incantation must be recited and between the deaths, there must be no killing of the same sex, so your mother's death would not have interrupted the ritual.
The spell rips the magic from the victims. The first is the most important; it renders the caster's soul immortal. If the caster is struck with a mortal blow, they become little more than a free soul, less than a ghost; in short, what Voldemort was when you first met him at Hogwarts, Harry. The death of the second victim, usually the son, renders the caster's body immortal. They develop the ability to absorb magic, therefore making themselves stronger at every spell cast. There is no part of the ritual which makes the mind immortal; we are not meant for immortality and every case documented that completed both parts went insane after a few centuries and killed themselves; the magic gained requires fairly regular purification rituals because since most used the magic of enemies, it was constantly fighting against them. Without the purification, it rebelled against the immortals." Both Harry's and Severus' eyes were filled with horror at the thought of an immortal, omnipotent, (more) insane dark lord.
"Thank goodness you were not a Potter by blood Harry." Dumbledore continued. "Voldemort invoked the ritual and killed James Potter. He then turned to you. As he wished to become invincible by magical means he used Avada Kedavra. The spell did not complete the ritual as there was no blood connecting you and James. If Lily had not shielded you, you would have died from the curse, and though Voldemort would not have been invincible, he would have kept his body. The wizarding world would probably have fallen to him, allowing him time to find an alternate method of gaining immortality. The shield saved the day. It reflected the curse back and therefore protected you from the effects. The scar you bear is a symbol of the spell going wrong and irrevocably linking you to Tom. This is also why you have the ability of parseltongue."
"Actually headmaster, the parseltongue is nothing to do with Voldemort. Dumbledore frowned.
"What do you mean my boy?"
"I made friends with a snake at Severus'. He said it was because I am a magical descendant of the first snake speaker."
"Interesting. Maybe that was the power that came out of him. You see, the spell was supposed to separate your magic from your body so Voldemort could absorb it. Maybe when you were hit, a part of his magic came to you instead, the part that makes him this magical descendant. Does this support your information?"
"Yes, the snake said something about Voldemort not being a proper descendant." There was a silence for a few moments. "Where does the prophecy come in?" asked Harry.
"It is a paradox. If Voldemort had gone for another father and son, maybe Frank and Neville Longbottom, he would now be invincible and we would have no chosen one. Since he went for you, he can be killed, and in fact gave his opponent new weapons."
"Can't he just re-do the ritual?"
"No, it's a one chance sort of thing."
"But there are other ways to gain immortality aren't there?" Albus nodded his head sadly.
"Is there any hope?" asked Severus, speaking for the first time.
"Yes." Albus replied, triumphantly. "Especially with Harry's new skills."
"What do you mean headmaster?" Albus turned around and took two old leather bound books, their covers printed with faded gold letters. He opened one to a section labelled. 'Immortality.' Through this he flipped until he reached a specific spell entitled, 'exchange of magic; father-son ritual.'
"Here we are. Read that." Dumbledore said, pointing to a paragraph near the bottom. It read;
'One who has completed this ritual cannot be destroyed by any spell, but if the stolen magic can be returned, the effects can be reversed. This is even more potent for those who have only half completed the magic exchange. To complete the magical exchange, it is necessary to have a magical relative perform the magic drawing ritual, (see 'Runes and Rituals') the closer the relative, the more chance of success.'
"With your new abilities, I thought this would be simple." He flipped through the other book and turned it so Harry could read it once he got to the right page. Harry saw the title of the page was 'magic drawing' and beneath it was a complicated diagram with multiple circles, some over lapping, other concentric within a large outside circle. Harry looked at the picture before staring at Albus in disbelief.
"Simple. Sure. If you want to call this simple, you'll have to call Voldemort slightly misguided and the cruciatus slightly itchy."
"Harry!" reproved Severus. "Some respect to the headmaster please." Harry wordlessly pushed the tome over so he could see it. "Hell's teeth!" he yelped. "Albus, are you finally crazy? I wouldn't be surprised if even you had trouble with this! How can Harry hope to do it? Why can't you get Vector to draw the runes?"
"It's not that easy Severus. I have a bad feeling Voldemort will need something a little stronger. Tell me, what did Voldemort say before he tried to kill Harry in the memory?"
"I don't know." Severus admitted. "He was speaking parseltongue."
"It is as I feared. He invoked the ritual in parseltongue. Therefore, to undo this, the magic drawing ritual must also be invoked in parseltongue. You see my problem." Severus sighed.
"Harry, what do you think of this?" Harry shrugged.
"It's not like I've got a choice." He turned to Albus. "What shall we do first sir?" but was interrupted by Severus slamming his hands down on the table.
"Of course you have a choice! Yes, people will die, but it is the wizarding world's fault for letting it get this far. You will not be responsible." Harry looked at him sadly.
"Severus, we could debate whether it is right for the wizarding world to put their hopes all on a young child, but that won't help the situation. Yes, I have a choice, but do you think I could live with myself if I let all those people die when I could prevent it?" he saw Severus starting to speak." Severus, that's the way I am. Nothing you say can change it."
Severus closed his mouth, but was to be heard muttering about, 'Gryffindor with no sense of self preservation' and 'idiotic Potter, too noble for his own good.' Harry was smirking as he turned back to the headmaster.
"So what's the plan professor?" Dumbledore twinkled at his still muttering potion's professor.
"The runes can be drawn ahead of time. If you notice, there are certain phrases to be said at different points during the drawing and at the end. If you neglected to say the end phrase until Voldemort was standing in the appropriate circle, you might be able to pre-prepare the ritual. If this is true, it would then be necessary to somehow lure Voldemort into a trap. You would activate the magic drawing once everything was in place, trapping him in place until the ritual was complete which would allow us to incapacitate him since he would be greatly weakened." Harry nodded decisively.
"Right. Could you teach me how to draw a rune circle please professor; I've never done more than simple combinations before."
"Of course. I am perhaps not the best to teach you, though. Let us go and arrange something with Vector." The two stood up and walked out of the room.
Severus felt as though something monumental had just happened. He looked up at Fawkes who was standing on his perch. The phoenix gave the bird equivalent of a shrug and tucked his head under his wing.