25 – A Paler Shade of White

It was a lot for Harry Potter to wrap his mind around— the Dark Tourist Curse, Snape's relationship with Voldemort, Willow Gorge and the blue unicorns, Snape's boggart, Lily being saved by Voldemort, Grindelwald's Lost City, Snape's relationship with Lily… And what else was yet to come?

Hours ago, he had defeated Voldemort. Now, he was standing in his archenemy's home, getting glimpses into the dark wizard's life that he never dreamt possible. Harry tried going into any and all rooms in the house, but he could only see those where Snape had been; the moment he neared rooms outside of Snape's memory, they became a winding, white blur of nothingness, the way he imagined skiing down a long mountain might look.

How he wished Snape had gone through the entire home, unveiling to him all of Voldemort's lair. There were so many nights when he'd laid awake in his Hogwarts bed, wondering what Voldemort was doing. Where did he live? How did he spend his time on a regular day? What kinds of things did he have?

He was now on the cusp of learning so much, and yet he supposed there were some things about Voldemort that would always remain a mystery. He began to wonder if Muggles had the same questions about their own dictators, like Adolf Hitler.

Master. He is questioning you too much.

The voice came from below, and when Harry heard it, he thought he saw Voldemort flinch, but he wasn't certain. He looked to Snape, and there was no recognition in his eyes. Had he not heard the voice?

Snape's attention was completely on Lily, and he was questioning Voldemort if it was okay to leave her as they headed to the second floor.

The voice came again as Voldemort showed Snape how to turn doppelganger root into fine powder.

You are showing him things he doesn't need to know. Are you certain he is trustworthy?

This time Voldemort whispered, "Yes," but again, Snape didn't acknowledge the voice or Voldemort's answer.

When it happened the third time, Voldemort was planning the reconnaissance of the doppelganger root left behind in Willow Gorge. "My lord, are you sure she'll be okay here alone?" asked Snape.

He will betray you one day, Master. He cannot be trusted, said the voice.

Voldemort didn't answer Snape immediately. He seemed to be considering what the mysterious voice had just said, giving it careful attention. "Yes, we must retrieve the doppelganger root before you return to Hogwarts."

Snape didn't question Voldemort further. They walked out the door, brooms in hand, and quickly became dots in the sky, flying towards Willow Gorge to recover the doppelganger root.

At first, Harry wasn't sure what would happen when Snape left, since he was no longer directly in his memory. When he looked around the house, everything had frozen. His mother was still lying in bed, but she wasn't moving. He walked into the room with the paintings spying real scenes from Slughorn's classroom and they, too, were frozen since Snape was off to Willow Gorge. And the voice had disappeared entirely as well.

"Hmm," said Harry to no one. In the home's entrance, he found a door he was positive he hadn't opened yet. He looked at his mother, who was still a sleeping statue, frozen in time, and then he looked back at the door and smiled. "Don't mind if I do."

He walked to the door and pressed his hand on the knob. It was probably just a cupboard, not unlike the one he lived in at the Dursleys' home, and yet he believed something else was behind it. The door was heavy. Harry had to give it a good push, and he found spiraling stone stairs when it opened. He raced to the bottom quickly, like a kid exploring a pirate ship for gold.

But Harry didn't find gold at the bottom. He recoiled in terror and fell over backwards, for he'd just come face-to-face with a frozen Nagini—Voldemort was raising the snake in his basement.

After reassuring himself that he was still in Snape's memory—and a frozen memory at that—he took a closer look at Nagini. It was standing straight in the air, and it only reached about his height. It was just a baby, not nearly the size of the snake Neville had slayed, but it still gave Harry the creeps. The black slits in its eyes reminded him of the outline of a half-moon, and the irises the orangey-brown of disintegrating leaves on a forest floor. The only welcoming site of Nagini was that it explained the voices he'd been hearing—the snake was speaking in Parseltongue which explained why Snape couldn't hear it.

Nagini suddenly started moving.

"What?" asked Harry. He took a few steps back. Nagini's forked tongue began flicking, suddenly brought back to life.

Master, I implore you not to trust this wizard.

The snake slithered into the room's darkness just as footsteps came down the stairs. Voldemort and Snape had returned, both carrying loads of the doppelganger root. They walked past Harry, and the iridescent blue lit up the room a little, opening another treasure trove into Voldemort's mind. On the right wall, there was a giant globe the size of a small boulder, suspended mid-air, spinning slowly on its axis. Each of the seven continents was glowing in different colors. On the wall behind the globe, the seven colors were painted in large blocks. A portrait of Voldemort sat above the blocks, and there was a picture of Bellatrix Lestrange in blue, matching her with Africa. There was a picture of Snape in green, matching him to Europe. The other blocks did not portray any wizards and only showed question marks.

"What a wonderful world," said Voldemort.

Snape eyed the moving picture of himself—this Snape was twirling a wand as he walked across a map of Europe. "My Lord?" His eyes widened, practically twinkled when he saw how much he was a part of Voldemort's plans for a world governed by Magic and not Muggles.

"I've always had big plans for you, Severus. But after today…" Voldemort pointed his wand to the picture and it flashed, momentarily showing James Potter, then fading to a blank green with a question mark. "Getting doppelganger root was a colossal failure. I need to be able to trust those I appoint as leaders."

"My Lord, I can do it. Give me another chance to—"

"First. Put the doppelganger root over there."

Snape obeyed Voldemort and unloaded his doppelganger in the corner, stacking it atop the few loaves remaining in the stash. "Give me another chance. I underestimated the blue unicorn. I underestimated Willow Gorge."

"Yes." Voldemort stacked his doppelganger on the others. "You'll have to prove it."

"Tell me how."

"First, I need to make sure you get one of these posters into Dumbeldore's office. I need to keep an eye on him."

Snape looked at him in disbelief. "But he already knows you're coming to judge Slughorn's Christmas Challenge. Why would he hang this in his office?"

"Come up with something. Tell him you have something really special for the competition, and you want to personally remind him of the date. I'm confident you'll take care of it."

"Okay. So if I can do that, you'll put me back on the wall?" Snape nodded to the green block.

He doesn't deserve this, said Nagini.

"I appreciate the enthusiasm," said Voldemort. Harry wasn't sure if Voldemort was answering Snape or Nagini. "But I'm afraid it won't be that easy. There's one more thing you'll have to do."

"Anything." Snape seemed to have forgotten everything around him; he was completely entranced by the possibilities of the spinning globe where he was ruler of Europe in Voldemort's empire.

"After you get the poster into the Headmaster's Office, you'll perform the Dark Tourist Curse on Dumbledore." Voldemort handed him one of the blue wafers. "You'll tell him to make me professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"Are you sure it will work?"

"You've doubted me today. Now the curse as well?"

"No. I mean, what if Dumbledore knows how to protect himself from it? I showed you the book Lily took from Hogwarts, the one that he read. He knows about the curse. He must know how to stop it."

"That's why you must be sure he doesn't suspect a thing." Voldemort's skin seemed to turn paler. "You have an obvious advantage."

"I'm not sure I understand."

"Lily."

"Lily?"

"User her to distract him. Use what happened today, her injuries, to your advantage."

"I—I don't understand."

Voldemort began heading to the stairs, then turned. "I didn't heal Lily entirely. She will be fine, but she sustains injuries that require healing. Ask Dumbledore to help, and when he does, as he certainly will, use the opportunity when he's distracted." Voldemort snapped his fingers as if breaking a blue wafer, unleashing the Dark Tourist. He turned and headed up the stairs.

When Voldemort was out of sight, Snape sighed and pulled his hands through his hair.

In a dark corner of the Lost City's brown tower, Nagini spoke in Parseltongue again. Master, he has already chosen her over you. It's all over his face.

Snape had turned a paler shade of white. "But what if the Dark Tourist prevents Dumbledore from healing her?" he whispered to no one. He pulled his hands through his hair again, his dark eyes tunneling to nowhere.