A/N: Hey, I'm back with a new chapter! Sorry, that it took a week longer but my health was a bit iffy so I didn't get to correcting it. But here it is!
Chapter 8: The Jump Scare Called Death
"Reduced to a mere acquaintance, am I now?" a deep slightly raspy voice asked once they both fully returned to consciousness.
Marvolo's reaction was instantaneous. He jumped up, took a battle stance and sent several nasty hexes towards the older looking man in a black suit and a cane in hand, who was sitting at their table as if there was nothing wrong with it. The hexes hit him square in the chest, but nothing happened. Said man even dared to smile at him.
Narrowing his eyes in suspicion and getting a bit angry, Marvolo sent another volley of darker and more dangerous curses towards him, but again nothing happened. The spells merely faded out of existence upon hitting their target.
That made Marvolo cautious. How could that man block all his spells, some of which couldn't be blocked by the same shield as the others due to their nature? Not to mention that some of them would leave an average person heavily injured and in desperate need of a healer.
Then there was his pose and that knowing smirk the man sported. It was as if he knew that Marvolo wouldn't be able to do anything to him. He didn't even attempt to protect himself or draw his own wand. How curious. Who was that man?
"I swear you spent too much time with Lucifer seeing how much you enjoy scaring the living daylight out of everyone. Sitting in that night-club of his and plotting how to give people heart attacks by appearing out of nowhere," Harry amusedly told the man. "Tom, you should be thankful that he stopped time, or you would have a massive problem now."
Marvolo looked at him confused, not knowing what Harry meant with stopped time. However, when he looked around the room, he realised that none of the other patrons was moving anymore. There was even a cat hanging in the air, mid-jump.
Also, all the noises had stopped, and the silence was oppressing. It was surprising just how much background noise was in the world, and you only realise that when it suddenly stops. It was as if he was standing in the three-dimensional version of a photo or a memory on pause.
He looked at the man in shock before looking over to Harry, who obviously knew who that was. Not for one moment did he let his guard down though. If this man was able to influence time on such a scale, what could he do to him?
Harry sighed deeply. He could only hope that Marvolo wouldn't flip his lid. Harry knew very well how much Marvolo feared Death so, meeting him in person might not be the best idea, especially this early in their working relationship.
"Tom, may I introduce you to an old friend of mine, the entity known as Death," he tentatively introduced them. "Death...I think you already know Tom."
It was evident that Marvolo didn't like being so close to the entity as he took several steps back while rising his wand and pointing it at the other man again. However, he didn't send any spell, knowing that if Harry was right and this was really Death, that he wouldn't stand a chance.
Why was the entity here? Did he want to take him with him? And what did Harry mean by an old friend?
With determination, Marvolo slammed his Occlumency shields in place to subdue his rising fear.
Harry sighed again, stood up and stepped between the two other men while stroking Tera's head as the snake had come out when registering that they weren't alone anymore. She was hissing menacingly at Death for scaring Marvolo but didn't make an attempt at attacking him, knowing that it would be futile.
"Please calm down Tom," he said in a soothing tone. "Death isn't here because of you. As I said, he is an old friend of mine and the reason why I'm here, to begin with. And well, he has a penchant for scaring the living shit out of people. I personally blame Lucifer."
Death only smiled slightly at the accusing glare Harry sent him while Marvolo seemed to be confused. What was Harry talking about? Lucifer? The fallen angel? No, he decided that wasn't important right now.
"It is far too amusing to not to do it. Anyway, Harry is correct," Death conceded with a nod. "I'm not here because of you, at least not in the way you assume. First and foremost, I'm here because Harry forgot something but also to have a talk with both of you."
With that Death pulled a sizeable rectangular box from the inner pocket of his jacket and placed it on the table before shoving it over to Harry.
Harry, who instantly recognised the box, as he had placed it in the chamber mere hours ago, looked at Death in suspicion.
Marvolo, who also recognised the box, tensed even further. Oh, he knew that Harry knew where and what his Horcruxes were, but that wasn't what he was worried about. No, it was Death he didn't like being near them. He had created them to defy the entity after all.
"I didn't forget it, I put it somewhere safe," Harry huffed. "Tom, there is an excellent way of dealing with him when he's too annoying."
The smirk that Harry sported was nothing if not downright evil and had Death seen it, he would have worried what his master had concocted now. As it was, Harry stood with his back to Death, and so the entity didn't see it.
What he saw however was the result of his Master's mischief because instead of his black suit and his cane, he suddenly wore a light pink frilly dress with a white apron over it, covered in flowers. His cane had morphed into a shepherd's crook, also covered in flowers. Topping this off on his now long blond hair sat a floral wreath.
Marvolo looked in disbelief from Harry to Death and back. Had Harry really just pranked Death? From the resigned look on the entities face, it seemed to be a common occurrence.
"Really?" Death asked in disbelief. "The Heidi look doesn't suit me at all."
"I think you look good in it," Harry retorted with a cheeky grin.
Slowly Marvolo lowered his wand but he still closely observed the man, fearing that this was just a façade and he would attack him as soon as he let his guard down.
He followed Harry's and Death's bickering about how the look didn't suit the entity, wondering what strange alternate universe he landed in.
Death, who had a penchant for scaring people by appearing out of nowhere. Harry, who pranked the entity when he became too annoying and now Death wanting to have a chat with him. It was surreal, to say the least.
"So, what did you want to talk about?" he carefully asked Death, interrupting their bickering with it.
Even after all those years since he had to live through the Second World War in an orphanage, his fear of death hasn't entirely left him. Though, it was less the fear of death itself as more what came afterwards. Then there is also the factor that he didn't want to die before he achieved what he wanted to, bringing the British Wizarding World back to the glory it deserves.
However, seeing Death now in this...attire made him far less intimidating and more human. It was curious, whenever he thought about Death – not truly believing that such an entity existed – but would he have been asked how he imagined Death, he would have listed many things. However, not one of those things would have fitted to the man sitting opposite him.
The question brought Death back to the reason for which he was here in the first place.
"As Harry already showed you, your method to reaching immortality is flawed," Death began. "Besides that, I absolutely despise it when one mutilates their soul."
Here Marvolo tensed, wondering whether Death was about to punish him for what he did. To him, it looked like creating a Horcrux was the ultimate sin in the eyes of Death.
"A soul is not meant to be split, and normally anyone foolish enough to do such a thing would have to face my ire. But...," Death continued, holding up his hand when it seemed like Marvolo would either bolt or attack him. "I would make an exception for you."
Marvolo was tense and ready to leave the pub in a moment's notice should Death decide that it was time for him to die but still listened to the entity. Besides, the chance to outrun Death was probably next to nil.
That was when Death's last statement fully registered with him. Death wanted to make an exception for him? Why? What was so special about him that Death would forego any punishment and let him continue?
As much as he loathed to admit, in the end he was also just a human like everyone else. Yes, he was more powerful and more ambitious than your ordinary witch or wizard but he doubted that that would matter at all to someone like Death.
So, a small part of him swelled with pride that Death deemed him worthy enough to make an exception for him but the more significant part worried that there had to be a catch to this.
As a Slytherin, he was very well aware that nothing came for free, so it wasn't so hard to assume that Death had ulterior motives too. Considering that in the tale about the three brothers, Death also didn't give them the three powerful items from the good of his heart, it only cemented his suspicion.
"For what price?" he demanded to know.
Death smirked. "If you give up on using Horcruxes as your way to immortality and even reverse the damage you already did to your soul, I might find myself inclined to grant you immortality through other means."
"What other means and why? I mean I doubt that you're doing this without an ulterior motive."
Marvolo knew that it probably wasn't the best idea to question Death, but he needed answers, and he certainly wouldn't agree to anything without knowing everything.
"I think that is something Harry is better suited to answer," Death replied with a smirk before he suddenly vanished without another word.
All around them noises started up again, and the usual bustle in the pub continued. The cat that had been suspended mid-air landed nimbly on its paws before bolting through an open door. Somewhere else they heard someone slapping someone else. It was as if Death never had been here.
Not wanting to have it lying around so openly, Marvolo quickly grabbed the box that contained Ravenclaw's Diadem and placed it in his pocket after shrinking it.
To say that he was utterly confused by this encounter would be a colossal understatement. Why would Death want to help him? What was his angle and what other means did he mean? He had more questions than answers, and he doubted that anyone would be able to answer them. Well, anyone except the teenager turned man sitting at the table and stroking a snake that was looking expectantly at him.
Wait, since when had Harry a snake?
He slowly sat back down when he realised just what kind of snake it was that Harry was wearing like a scarf, a basilisk. Considering that there weren't that many basilisks alive, it was a good bet that it was the one from the Chamber, Amaterasu.
"Amaterasu?" he whispered.
"Finally, you recognise me," the snake huffed. "Took you long enough."
"She was anxious about you when you didn't return after what happened with Myrtle," Harry explained. "When I told her that I'm going to meet you, she insisted on coming with me."
"The hatchling said the meddling man kept you from visiting me," Tera said worriedly while slithering over to Marvolo. "I should have bitten him long ago."
Marvolo stroked along her back, eliciting a content hiss from the snake.
"And I would have lost you because of it," the man soothed the agitated snake. "No, as much as it pains me, it is better for how it is."
Tera huffed again. "One day, he will die! He hurt you and now he is stalking the young hatchling," she muttered darkly.
Marvolo raised an eyebrow before he looked at Harry inquisitively.
"Ever since the interrogation last weekend, Dumbledore keeps an even closer eye on me than he already did," Harry explained in English. "He worked out that my last name is an anagram of yours – I hope you don't mind that,"he added with a cheeky grin which resulted in an amused shaking of the head from the Dark Lord. "Anyway, he now thinks that I'm either related to you or otherwise placed by you to spy on the students or even recruit them.
"Of course, he has no proof of anything, but when has that ever stopped him. So, he now stalks me whenever I'm not in the common room, given that he doesn't have other things to take care of. It's annoying as hell but I can work around it," Harry huffed.
"You should be careful, nonetheless. The old fool is resourceful and has a lot of political clouts," Marvolo cautioned. "Especially since you're still underage and now an orphan he might try something through that."
"I thought about that too. Me taking up the Peverell Lordship should protect me from most things he might try through the political route. But I would be more content wouldn't he get to know about that anytime soon," Harry conceded with a deep sigh.
"That would be for the better considering how...interested he is in that family. Maybe you should also warn your friends to be careful. Not that he tries to get to you through them. Dumbledore uses any means necessary to reach his goals."
"Severus rarely leaves my side and the twins...," Harry replied with a smirk that bordered on evil. "Let's just say that forcing them to do anything is a bad mistake to make and should anyone dare to attack them...they are awesome allies but terrifying enemies."
Marvolo made a mental note to send some of the lower ranks to investigate the shop the young man's friends had in Diagon Alley. It seemed that there was more to the two than was apparent. Abraxas already looked into the financial side of it and was surprised that they were so successful. However, he hadn't been able to find anything other than the usual business.
Apparently, the twins managed to bring their shop up from non-existent to a severe threat to the already established ones within a few months. Of course, one of the factors that helped them was that they opened their shop shortly before the summer holidays began. All the students flooding Diagon Alley certainly helped to boost their publicity.
From what Abraxas told me they had a wide range of products. Next to the pranking products, they also sold fireworks and beauty products for the young woman. Other than that, there was nothing out of the usual.
"It seems that I'll have to have a closer look at them then," he mused.
"I cannot promise you that they'll help you," Harry said with a shrug. "The twins can decide on their own, and I won't tell them what to do. As long as you leave them alone should they tell you no, I don't care."
Marvolo blinked a few times. Did Harry really just accuse him of forcing people to do his bidding? Though, from what he saw of Harry's version of him, he could understand that thought.
"I would never force anyone to help me," he replied indignantly.
Somehow it didn't sit well with him that Harry thought so low of him.
"Tom, I know nearly nothing of how my Voldemort were or what he wanted before he became a raving madman not to mention what you want," Harry told him with a pointed look. "I'm practically flying blind here."
"Wait, you want to tell me, that you pledged yourself to me and want to give me the world on a silver platter without even knowing what I aim for? What my goals are?" Marvolo asked in disbelief, ignoring the use of the name Tom for now.
Harry shrugged. "It isn't as if my version of you told me anything and Dumbledore isn't the best source for information either. Besides, I somehow doubt that your ruling could be any worse than if the light wins. All I say to that is total annihilation."
Marvolo looked at Harry in shock and disbelief. The teenager had absolutely no idea what he wanted but would help him nonetheless? It was mind-boggling how much trust Harry must have in him to do things better than what he knew the result would be if Dumbledore's followers won. Though if he were right with the total annihilation statement, anything would be better than that.
Shockingly it made him want to live up to that expectations, to show Harry that his trust wasn't misplaced.
Maybe that was also Death's reason for why he wanted to grant him another way to achieve immortality. That he, Tom Marvolo Riddle, could help Harry to prevent the world for dying yet again. Sure, death was Death's business, but Marvolo somehow doubted that the entity liked the amount of work that came with a dying world followed by having no job at all.
"That won't do," he finally said wit determination. "I'll send you an overview of what I want to achieve, how and why. I won't accept that you make your decisions lacking the knowledge of what you decide on.
"If you have the time, I would be grateful to get your opinion on things as I'm sure you're more versed in what topics need to be addressed to avoid making the same mistakes that have been made in your time."
Harry openly gaped at the Dark Lord. He not only wanted to inform him about everything but wanted his input on things? Sure, he had hoped that Marvolo would at least listen to him when it came to certain things, but he had expected far more opposition.
His surprise must have been visible as Marvolo began to chuckle.
"Did you really think that I wouldn't listen to those people whom I know have more knowledge in that certain area or a different valuable insight? Don't mistake me for that...that insane madman," he growled.
"No...no you're definitely not," Harry said with a breathless laugh. No, this Dark lord was so different from the one he knew it was like day and night. "It's just...all my life – well at least during the part that I spent in the magical world – I was made to believe that you're the ultimate evil. That your followers were so frightened of you that they didn't dare to speak up. Hell, I saw you torturing one because he asked a question. Dumbledore later even told me that you were born evil, not that I believed that nonsense.
"Then there is also, that I was never told anything but people expected me to act. Like in my second year. I knew that a piece of you let the basilisk out and petrified people. Other than that, I knew nothing. Not why, not how, nothing! But people still expected me to stop it and I did. It was the same every single year. All I was ever told is that you're the bad guy and have to be stopped.
"Sitting here now, having a peaceful conversation with you...it'll just take some time getting used to this, that's all."
Now Marvolo was even more surprised. Despite being thoroughly conditioned to hate him, Harry wanted to help him? What had happened to the boy that he thought that helping the enemy was the lesser evil? Other than trying to save the world that is, though he didn't believe for one moment that Harry necessarily needed him to achieve that.
It also seemed that Harry was never allowed to make well-founded decisions and knowledge was kept from him. He had to wonder how the young man survived everything that was thrown at him with only a fraction of the information.
Marvolo decided that this would have to change. Harry would get all the necessary information from him. He wouldn't allow him to endanger himself ever again only because he didn't know things. Somehow that didn't sit well with Marvolo at all.
That was when Harry shifted, and a chain with a black stone dangling from it slid out from under the other's shirt. Marvolo narrowed his eyes, he recognised the stone, but it took him a few minutes to place where he had seen it before since it had been inserted in a gaudy ring at that time, his Horcrux.
"Where did you get that stone?" he demanded to know, his tone far more hostile than it had been only minutes before.
Harry blinked at the man, at first not knowing why his mood suddenly shifted so drastically when Marvolo lifted the stone to his eye-level with his wand. Everyone else would probably panic when the Dark Lord pointed his wand straight at their face, but Harry only went a bit cross-eyed because of the close proximity to the stone he was now looking at, realisation dawning upon him.
"Wait, you say...it can't be, can it?" he muttered
It was something that he already wondered about ever since he saw Dumbledore's wand for the first time. Did the Deathly Hallows exist here too? If so, what did it mean for him? Was he even Death's Master anymore? But then why would the entity still help him?
All those questions and a hundred more flittered through his mind, and he came to the only conclusion he could at this moment. He had to know! Since there was only one way to prove it, he vanished into thin air.
Marvolo's eyes widened minutely before he followed Harry, having an inkling where the teenager had gone.
Plainly enough he saw upon his arrival how Harry vanished into the shack he appeared in front of. With a brisk pace, he followed him inside only to find the other sitting next to the hiding place of his Horcrux with the small box it was stored in in his hand.
Harry carefully opened the box, ripping any charm or curse on it to shreds as if it was nothing before he stared at the ring for a long moment.
"My precious!" Harry said with a raspy voice only to laugh when he saw Marvolo's face.
"Tolkien? Seriously?" the Dark Lord deadpanned.
"Sorry, couldn't resist," Harry replied with a broad grin when the conversation with Death they had earlier came to his mind, and he fully realised what the entity meant when speaking of another way for Marvolo to reach immortality.
The result of this was that he began to laugh uproariously, confusing the hell out of the Dark Lord, who stood in the doorway and watched Harry closely.
It was only because Harry so far had shown no sign of wanting to take advantage of his knowledge, that Marvolo stayed calm despite the danger the teenager could be for him. Salazar, the boy even hid one of his Horcruxes at a better place to keep it out of the wrong hands so yes he would give him the benefit of a doubt. That didn't mean that he had to like it, though.
"Oh, the hilarity," Harry exclaimed after having cooled down a bit.
"And what may you tell me is so hilarious?" Marvolo deadpanned.
"You remember what Death said about agreeing to you taking another route to gain immortality?" Harry questioned to which the Dark Lord merely nodded. "Well, as I see it, he wants you to become his Master."
With that, Harry closed the small box and threw it to Marvolo.
"The man who is afraid of Death becomes his Master," he added with another peal of laughter.
Marvolo looked from the teenager at the ring in newfound interest. He had thought that it was just some hideous family heirloom, but now it seemed that there was much more to it. Now that he thought about it, the symbol that was engraved into the stone stirred something in his mind. A circle within a triangle and a line going through both. However, the only thing that he remembered was that it was Grindelwald's sign, but he wondered how it ended up on a stone that was a family heirloom for countless generations. He would have to research it.
"So..." he began. "You want to tell me that this is the resurrection stone?"
"Yep," Harry replied with a broad grin. "Though getting the other two might be a tad problematic. If I'm not entirely mistaken James Potter currently has the invisibility cloak. While not impossible, it won't be easy to get it. Maybe I can help you there since I'm in the same year at Hogwarts.
"The real problem, however, will be the elder wand..."
"Do you not know who has it?"
"Oh, I know very well who has it...," Harry said gravely. "Albus Dumbledore. Won it from Grindelwald during their infamous duel."
That brought Marvolo short. Dumbledore had the Elder Wand? This truly complicated things.
"Well, damned," he swore in a rare show of how overwhelming this day was.
Harry looked at him in the surprise of the man's swearing. The amount of information he gave him today truly must get to him to forget decorum in such a fashion.
"I suggest that we leave it for today. Take your time and think about everything," Harry solemnly explained while standing up and dusting himself off. "There is no need to rush anything, so one problem at a time. Not that I won't think about a way to get the invisibility cloak."
"I have to agree," Marvolo returned with a slow nod, he needed time to think and plan his next steps. "Amaterasu, please stay with him, keep him safe."
The snake, who had curled up on the floor next to Harry, uncurled and nodded.
"The meddling man will stay away from the hatchling, or I'll bite him," she said with conviction.
"Please don't," Harry pleaded. "If you hurt anyone it would not only get me into trouble but you too. I don't want you to get hurt because of a bigoted idiot."
Tera huffed but, in the end, agreed with a nod.
"Not that I'll like it."
Harry smiled at the snake. "Thank you. I really don't want you to get hurt."
With that, he stepped next to Tera and held a hand out for her to slither up and curl around his shoulders again. Once she was comfortable, Harry walked over to Marvolo.
"I have to admit that the meeting didn't go as planned in any way, but I'm glad for the result," he said with a smile. "Think about what you learned. Should you have questions or need more information, send me an owl."
Marvolo looked at the teenager for a long moment with an unreadable expression before his lips curled into a small smile. Harry had to remind himself that he was very happy with Severus and that he would never betray him as long as they were together.
"I will and thank you again for opening my eyes to the foolishness of my doings," replied with a curt bow of his head. "In the meantime, stay safe."
Harry nodded in return. "I'm off then before someone – namely Dumbles – realises that I'm not at Hogwarts. I look forward to working with you."
With that, Harry apparated back to Hogsmeade, where he slung his invisibility cloak around him and began his track up to Hogwarts, not knowing that with this meeting, everything would change. Not only for the world but also for him.
Marvolo stayed for a few minutes longer, staring at the space Harry had stood. The boy told and showed him so much, had obviously been through so much. He seriously wondered what made Harry want to help him.
Anyway, those were thoughts for a later time, but now he had other things to do. Apparating away, he landed in the entrance hall of Slytherin Manor. He had learned about the estate when he took up the mantle of Lord Slytherin when he came of age. It was secured with so many wards that no one, who wasn't of Slytherin blood or explicitly invited, could find it.
Up until now, only his most trusted knew that he was Lord Slytherin even if many in the Wizengamot suspected something. He kept it under wraps mostly because of Dumbledore and his very active anti-Slytherin campaign. Up until now, he firmly believed that it would do him more damage than it would gain him if he stepped out of the shadows.
However, today's meeting made him question the course of action, as well as many other things.
He walked through the empty hallways and to his study, where he sank into the chair behind the desk. With a deep sigh, he closed his eyes and let his head fall into his hands, his elbows resting on the armrests of the chair.
How much of an idiot had he been to create Horcruxes? In the book he had read, they sounded so appealing. You store a piece of your soul in an object and Death cannot get to you. However, none of them mentioned anything about the drawbacks or what might happen if your body is obliterated.
No, nothing ever mentioned those things.
With another sigh, he rubbed his face and looked around his study. It was kept in soft beige and dark green, with the furniture made of deep redwood.
He would have to reintegrate his soul-pieces post-haste. The problem was that he had no idea how to achieve that. Maybe one of the books he had in his personal library contained the information he needed.
So, without any further ado, he stood up and left the room towards the library that was right next to it. About half an hour later, he returned with a small stack of books and went to work, trying to find a way to reverse the damage to his soul.
When Harry entered their joined room, Severus instantly dropped the book he was reading and was all over him, checking him for injuries.
"Sev...," Harry amusedly called. "Severus, I'm alright, I'm not injured. Everything went well."
Severus let go of Harry and looked him straight into the eyes for a long moment before he pulled him into a frantic kiss. It was what made Harry realise just how worried Severus had been.
"Good, so how did it go?" Severus finally asked.
"Better than I thought," Harry answered while unpacking what he bought, placing his new trunk at the end of his bed. "However, before I tell you more, there is something else...he kind of assigned me a bodyguard."
Severus was pretty confused until Harry cancelled the spells he had placed on Tera as not to freak out anyone. Suddenly Harry wore a deep green snake around his shoulder, whose scales shifted towards a forest green and even black depending on how you looked at it. He wondered how he hadn't felt her when he kissed Harry.
He curiously stepped towards Harry to get a closer look. From what he could see, the snake was too long to be a green snake or of any other breed he knew.
Tera in return curiously watched Severus but didn't make any move that could be seen as threatening. Outwards it actually looked as if she wasn't interested in him at all with how she lazily lounged on Harry's shoulder.
"Severus, this is Amaterasu – though I just call her Tera. She is...," he hesitantly told his friend. "Well, she is a basilisk. Actually, she is Salazar Slytherin's familiar, and lived in the infamous Chamber of Secrets for the last thousand years."
Harry carefully observed Severus' reaction to this revelation. Not that he thought that Severus would freak out, but he also didn't want him to dislike her. Not if she was to stay with them.
The other teenager blinked a few times before he began to laugh. Whatever Harry expected his reaction to be, this wasn't it.
"Let me see if I got this right," Severus began after a few moments. "You ran around Diagon Alley, wearing the deadliest snake in existence like a scarf. Then you bring said snake with you to your meeting with the Dark Lord, who then assigns her as your guardian?"
Harry didn't know what to say to this.
"Uhm, yes?" he finally brought out.
"Only you, Harry, only you," Severus said while shaking his head with a fond smile. "Do you think she would mind if I milk some of her venom?"
It was upon that that Tera lifted her head and directly looked at him.
"I like him," she hissed. "But what would he need my venom for?"
"What did she say?" Severus asked curiously.
Harry chuckled. "She said, she likes you but wonders what you'd need her venom for," he translated. "Tera, this is Severus. We share a room and well...he and I..."
"Oh, he's your nestmate?" Tera excitedly hissed, flicking out her tongue to scent him. "Yes, he makes a good mate. He radiates power and can take care of you. But tell him that should he hurt you, he will suffer."
At first, Harry blushed when she talked about Severus as if they were married or something like that, but that morphed into shock when she threatened him.
"Please don't. I know that what Severus and I have probably will not last, but it's okay," he softly hissed in return. "I had to see him dying once, I couldn't bear having to witness it a second time."
Tera looked Harry straight in the eyes. She had clearly heard the pain and sadness in Harry's voice. After a long moment, she nudged his cheek with her head.
"He is a worthy mate to fight for," she admonished him. "So, don't you dare to let him go without a fight."
How had he ended up in this situation? Did he really just receive advice on his relationship with Severus from a snake of all things?
"Salazar was the same in his younger years," Tera's hissy chuckle bringing Harry out of his thoughts. "To others, he always displayed strength, power and determination, but when we were alone, he was always so insecure. Wondered whether he was doing the right thing, what the others would think... I was only a hatchling that time but he always listened to what I had to say...not that he always followed my advice."
Harry stared at Tera in surprise. You never stopped learning things as it seems.
"Anyway," he tried to change the topic, not wanting to talk about his insecurities any further. "Severus loves potions, and he is really good at it too. So, he would love to have some of your venom to experiment with."
Tera's hissy chuckles echoed through the room upon that blatant attempt on changing topics.
"We'll see about that," she replied. "I'll watch him brew."
Severus watched the exchange with open curiosity.
"She says she wants to watch you brewing before deciding whether to allow you to gather some of her venom," Harry explained Severus with a rueful shrug.
Severus raised an eyebrow. "She knows how to brew?"
"Probably more than you," Harry said with a laugh. "Tera was Salazar Slytherin's familiar, and from what she told me, he regularly took her with him when he gathered ingredients.
That brought Severus an idea.
"Maybe she'd want to come with me the next time I go gathering it the Black Forrest?" he suggested.
Tera let out a delightful hiss.
"I'd love to," she hissed so quickly that Harry had a hard time to understand her. "It is such a long time since I could freely roam in the forest."
Severus didn't need a translation to understand what Tera said as her excitement was visible.
"What would you say about going tomorrow?" he asked her, receiving a frantic nod.
It was a good thing that he was running low on a few ingredients.
It was the next morning. Marvolo was sitting in his study, bent over a book. To the side stood a half-empty cup with strong coffee, the only thing that was keeping the Dark Lord awake. He had been reading book after book in the hope of finding a way to reverse his stupidity.
Marvolo was so engrossed with his reading that he didn't hear the knock before someone entered. It was only the knowledge that only his most faithful would be able to enter this part of the mansion, that kept him from cursing the man when his "My Lord!" startled him.
"Arcturus," he greeted the man while putting the book he was working on aside to give the man his full attention. "Take a seat. Tea? Coffee?"
"A tea would be nice," Arcturus replied with a curt nod. "May I ask, what had you so engrossed?"
Marvolo looked at the man and contemplated how much to tell him. On the one hand, he still didn't want anyone to know about what he did. But on the other, Arcturus was of the Black family, and he knew that they had an extensive library containing some of the darkest magic.
After having read every book he owned on the matter at hand, he had to admit that while he owned several containing the ritual of creating a Horcrux, he had none on how to reverse the process. He was stuck, and he knew it. Maybe the Blacks had a book on it? In the end, his need to get an answer overrode his need to keep this matter safe.
"I'm trying to find a way to reverse the results of my...stupidity in my youth," he finally admitted, handing over the parchment that contained the results of his research, which was admittedly not much.
Arcturus carefully read what Marvolo had written, his eyes going wider with disbelief the further he got. In the end, he stared at Marvolo in shock for a long moment.
"You...you made a Horcrux?" he finally questioned.
"Three actually," Marvolo brought out through clenched teeth.
"You...you BLOODY IDIOT!" Arcturus shouted before he took a deep breath to calm himself. Never had he lost his composure in such a fashion before but thinking that the man he called his lord and friend did something like that enraged him. "My apology, this outbreak was uncalled for. I have only one question: why?"
"Do you remember the second World War? The air raids, the bombs?"
Arcturus merely nodded solemnly. It had been a hard time for the wizarding world too. The bombs might not have been able to touch the highly warded areas like Diagon Alley, but many lesser warded areas had been completely destroyed. Then there was also the war with Grindelwald. It hadn't been a tough time solely for the Muggle.
"In my fifth year," Marvolo continued. "Dumbledore suddenly insisted that I return to the orphanage during the winter holidays because my friends would surely miss me. Not that I did that, and as it turned out, it was the right decision. Later I learned that during the holidays, the orphanage had been hit by a German bomb and completely destroyed. No one survived."
Arcturus drew a sharp breath.
"So, you want to tell me that had you listened to that old fool, that you would have died too?" he asked, his shock evident in his voice.
Arcturus didn't want to envision what might have happened had they lost Marvolo before the man could rise to the beacon of hope for the darker families. Sure, he met Marvolo for the first time long after he graduated but he became a dear friend nonetheless.
All the people Marvolo had influenced ever since. The biggest influence was opening their eyes to the dangers of inbreeding. It had been a mighty shock but it had been necessary. How long since the last Metamorphagus was born to the Black family? They lost so much but thanks to Marvolo, that would hopefully change soon.
The best example was Bellatrix who married Rodolphus Lestrange last year, who wasn't in any way closely related to her. Originally it was planned for her to marry some cousin but Marvolo prevented that.
Another example was Narcissa who, hopefully, would marry Lucius Malfoy the coming year.
To think that all of those changes would not have come to pass, it was a damning thought.
"Probably yes," Marvolo conceded. "After I learned of it, I began to research ways of how to prevent my...untimely end."
"That was when you came across Horcruxes," Arcturus assumed.
"Not exactly, no," he replied with a shake of his head. "It was one afternoon. I wasn't even researching this topic. It was in the sixth year, and I was looking through the restricted section for a reference book for the potions project we were tasked with that year when I came across the book that contained the ritual.
"I don't even know what it was doing there even if it was in the restricted section, but such a book shouldn't even be at a school."
"I have to agree. No book that contains such a ritual should be at a school," Arcturus fumed.
He had assumed that Marvolo stumbled over the book in some dingy book store in Diagon Alley or during one of his stays with another Slytherin as they all were known for having quite extensive libraries.
"Anyway, I found it in the restricted section, and it intrigued me. I meticulously studied the ritual for weeks, but as promising as it sounded, I had reservations about splitting my soul. However, then the mess with Ms Warren happened. Thinking that I shouldn't let her death go to waste, I performed the ritual to create my first Horcrux."
Arcturus held up his hand to indicate that he wanted to say something. Once Marvolo nodded in acknowledgement, he spoke up.
"So, to see whether I understood you correctly. You didn't think it a good idea to split your soul, but when Ms Warren died you performed the ritual anyway?" he asked for clarification. "What made you change your mind?"
Marvolo stroked his chin, thinking about the question. What had changed his mind? That he was presented with a perfect opportunity? No, even if it had been, his doubts about Horcruxes had still been strong, and he had wanted to conduct more research on them before coming to a decision. But then why did he perform the ritual? He had to admit that he had no answer to that question.
"I...I have no idea," he conceded. "It just seemed a good idea to not let the opportunity go to waste. You suspect something, don't you?"
He knew his followers well, and his inner circle even better. Arcturus must have an excellent reason to ask this question.
"From the way I see it, someone deliberately placed the book where you would find it and would read it after what happened to the orphanage. Later then, when it became evident that you weren't inclined to use the ritual, said person placed a compulsion on you that overrode your cautiousness and made you perform the ritual," Arcturus explained.
"Sounds plausible. But what about the other two times and do you think there is a way to find out?"
Marvolo needed to know. If someone indeed manipulated him in such a fashion, he needed to know. Before he would make the person pay. Though from how things looked, he had an extreme suspicion about who was behind it, Dumbledore. Who else hated him so much that he would do it? Not to mention that the person would have to be powerful himself to place a compulsion on him.
"To your first question, I can only speculate. Maybe you thought that since the first Horcrux had no apparent negative impact on you, that it was safe to make another one. Or something you experienced pushed you to make yet another one.
"Your second question is easily answered, though. The Black family developed quite a few ways to find out whether someone has been tampered with or not," Arcturus answered.
"We Blacks are a paranoid lot, and we don't like it when someone tries to manipulate us," he elaborated with a laugh upon Marvolo's curious expression.
"So, what do you suggest?" he asked.
"I would first try a few revealing spells to see whether they deliver any results," Arcturus explained. "Only when they turn out negative, I suggest more invasive and drastic measures."
"Very well," Marvolo said with an inaudible sigh, resigning himself to the ordeal.
He truly needed to know. What if there was still something on him, that could influence him at any given moment? It was a thought that he didn't like at all, but it was very well possible. He didn't put it beneath the old meddling coot to do something like that.
It was several hours later that found Marvolo and Arcturus sitting at the coffee table in the library because Marvolo couldn't bring himself to move any further than that from the adjourning ritual chamber. Everything hurt, especially his head; hence, why he currently had tilted it back, and his eyes closed in the hope of lessening the pain.
"My apologies for putting you through so much pain but it was necessary, my Lord," Arcturus spoke up while holding out a glass of water to Marvolo, who carefully took it and sipped the content.
"Don't worry. As you said it was necessary," he finally replied, closing his eyes again.
The results had been disconcerting, to say the least. Compulsions that triggered when specific requirements were met, though they couldn't tell what those were. Additionally, there also had been subtle and hard to detect spells to alter his perception of several things or enhance other aspects.
"So, you began to reverse the damage done to you and your soul. Good," suddenly a third voice spoke up.
Marvolo lifted his head to look at the new person before letting it sink back against the back of the chair when he saw who joined them.
Arcturus, on the other hand, drew his wand and pointed it at the man, not knowing who that was or how he managed to get here without him noticing.
"Death," Marvolo greeted the entity with a wry smirk. "What can I do for you?"
It seems that Harry was right, the man had a penchant for scaring the living daylight out of people. Though at the moment, he wasn't up for the entity's antics.
However, what truly surprised him was that while he still had a healthy dose of respect for the entity, he didn't fear Death anymore as if he was always out for him.
He knew that some of the spells that Arcturus could luckily remove, were geared towards changing his perception and would enhance his fears, but he hadn't thought that it was this much. It was disconcerting, to say the least, but he was also glad that now that the spells were removed, he was less frightened of Death. That would make working with the entity far easier.
"Arcturus put your wand away," Marvolo commanded his follower before he turned to the entity. "I could get rid of the spells on me, but I fear that I haven't been able to get far on my research on how to reverse the Horcruxes."
Arcturus reluctantly followed the order but still looked at Death in distrust, wondering whether the man was indeed who Marvolo claimed he was.
"That is why I arranged for you to have unlimited access to my library vault at Gringotts given that you treat the books carefully and don't damage them," was Death's amused reply. "I would be astonished should you find any information outside of it."
Marvolo wondered why the entity hadn't told him yesterday about it, but the answer came to him as soon as the question flittered through his mind, the spells. It seems that Death knew about them and didn't want to risk triggering any of them. The entity knew what it...he was doing, Marvolo had to give him that even if it wasn't always clear what Death wanted.
"Thank you," he finally replied. "I'll handle everything with uttermost care. However, getting rid of the spells took a lot out of me, and I'll retreat now."
"Very well, my Lord," Arcturus said while standing up and curtly bowed to him. "I'll retreat too and conduct some research on how to prevent Dumbledore from doing something like this again."
With a nod towards Death, they both left the room, leaving the man behind. Once they both were out through the door, a smile crept onto the entity's face. Oh, yes, things were coming along nicely.
A/N: 'til next chapter!