20. Love and hatred
Impostor straightened up and slowly took off his hood. Harry felt that his heart stopped beating and the ground gave way under his feet. He thought he must have gone mad. It couldn't be truth...
It was Sirius Black.
'YOU!!!' yelled Vega in a murderous voice 'And yet you! I've been suspecting you since the day of the gargoyles' attack on Harry!'
'Really?' asked Sirius with a polite interest 'Where did I make a mistake?'
'A letter' snarled Vega 'Your last letter to Harry. I found it in his pocket. I was very surprised when it turned out that there was plenty of calcite on it. It made me think. I asked Ron and Hermione and I found out that Harry started to sneeze right after he had opened the letter. And all became clear. Powdered death has been sent to him by his dear godfather.'
Harry had a feeling that the voices were coming to him from a great distance or from behind a thick, heavy curtain. It was a bad dream. Bad dream. He wanted to wake up...
'Well done, my little sister' laughed Black 'That's how it was indeed. I believe that you guessed at once who was the real author of all those strange events in Hogwart?'
Vega smiled gloomily.
'Yeah, now it wasn't difficult' she said ' It was you who have been trying to find the weak points of the DADS anytime you visited Hogwart under the mask of your friendship with Harry. You stole the access codes during the Christmas we spent at Remus. Then you disconnected Malfoy's line on the matrix. My mistake,' she smiled gloomily 'I shouldn't leave it unguarded in the room even among the people I trusted most of all. Well, it's done.' she shrugged her shoulders 'And we have been suspecting Magnus for all the time... Bravo, Sirius!' she said with irony 'Nearly perfect game.'
Black laughed.
'That's truth, Magnus appeared just in time.' he sneered 'I knew that Severus didn't like him. I knew, why... ' he looked significantly at Snape 'Who would suspect me? And meanwhile Magnus had completely different task to realise. I guess you already know what was it...?' he asked lengthily, staring sneeringly at Vega 'Devilson was to bring the behemots. And he arranged it perfectly well. Believing that he was responsible for the problems with the DADS, you didn't pay attention to his activity in the Teleportation Department. And that was his mission.'
'I guess that Devilson managed to convince the behemots, already in Tibet, not to trust Hagrid and not to tell him about your visits?' asked Vega coldly.
'Of course,' nodded Sirius with a real enthusiasm 'They trusted only Magnus. He tamed them and they loved him. They believed that Hagrid wanted to hurt them. They were deceiving him. And then, in Hogwart...' cruel, sadistic twinkles shone in his eyes 'Bang!' he stamped his leg as if he was trampling something 'And it was over...'
Harry turned pale. Does it mean...
'What happened to Hagrid ?!' he screamed desperately, straining in Snape's grip 'What are you talking about?!'
'He is dead' said Sirius indifferently in a slightly bored tone.
Harry stiffened. It was too much for him. He didn't feel anything. He has been cheated. He has been betrayed. And it was by the man who he trusted so immensely. And now he heard that his other friend was dead. He was alone. Completely alone. He wanted to die.
Vega was staring at Sirius with hatred and contempt. Was it possible that this man was her brother?
'Do you know what I was thinking about?' asked Sirius suddenly approaching Vega 'If you suspected me, why you let me stay in Hogwart for last three weeks. And only one explanation enters my head.' he proceeded not even waiting for the answer 'You just wanted to keep an eye on me. You were waiting I would make a mistake. But you miscalculated,' he laughed maliciously 'I was very close to Potter but I couldn't do anything. Till the day when the Dark Lord attacked Azkaban,' he turned round and bowed with esteem to Voldemort, who was watching all the scene with a devilish satisfaction 'But then it was too late for you...'
Vega was silent.
'You flew to Azkaban' said Sirius 'Now only Dumbledore could stop me but he had other problems soon...' he smiled with satisfaction 'According to my plan the behemots attacked. Dumbledore had to supervise evacuation of the students. It was a perfect moment to act. Poor Albus, he didn't even notice when I pulled out the matrix from his pocket. I inactivated the DADS. Then I drew Harry apart from the other students. Severus saw it and from the expression of his face I guessed that he didn't know about me. We must have thought that I just didn't trust him and wanted to hide Potter from him. He caught us up in the corridor and he attacked.' he looked darkly at Snape and touched his blood-stained hair; Severus smiled with a nasty satisfaction. 'Than, as it had been appointed, the Death Eaters appeared. They took Potter and I escaped. Then you guessed the truth, didn't you, Severus?' he asked sneeringly.'
Snape nodded with an unpleasant grimace on his face. Sirius approached Vega, malicious twinkles were glittering in his eyes.
'You wonder if Severus left Hogwart at once, don't you? 'he asked lengthily 'The answer is: NO. He had one more task to execute.'
Vega turned pale. The words of Minerva McGonagall were sounding in her ears. The killer of Dumbledore... She recognised him...
Sirius turned to Snape.
'Show her a bottle, Severus' he said solemnly 'This is the night of truth...'
Slowly, as if reluctantly, Severus reached to the pocket of his cloak and pulled out a small, glass bottle half-filled with a blood-red liquid.
'Did you know,' Black turned to Vega 'that the Potion Master for almost a year has been preparing in secret a powerful poison which we wanted to use to kill Albus Dumbledore?'
Vega was staring at the bottle hypnotised. She took her gaze off it with effort and looked at Snape. Her grey eyes were cold and gloomy.
'You didn't know!' Sirius was really glad of it 'It's great. You know that I love to make surprises! Listen, what happened then. Severus found Dumbledore and... You know the effect, don't you?' he laughed madly.
Vega was silent, looking now at Sirius then at Snape. She didn't know which of them she hated more. If she had her wand she would kill them both.
Harry was roused from a strange torpor, similar to some eerie, dark dream. He couldn't remember what they were talking about. He had only one though in his head: Sirius was a traitor.
'Why?' he whispered in a hoarse voice only half-aware that he was talking.
Black turned round passionately and looked at him with such hatred that Harry had never received from anybody. Even Snape couldn't hate so much. Harry shuddered.
'Poor little Harry,' said Sirius softly, coming near the boy 'The image of his father. Only the eyes...you have your mother's eyes...'
Harry started to tremble. There was something terrible in the wizard's voice.
'My sweet Lily,' whispered Black, staring vacantly at a blue torch 'Fiancée of my best friend. I can still feel her touch, her smell....'
Harry was looking at him astounded.
'We loved each other...' continued Sirius 'It was madness! During the day Lily was preparing for the wedding with James and at night she met with me in small, dirty hotels at the suburbs of London. I begged her to leave him, but she didn't want to. Such a situation suited her well. James belonged to a famous, rich family but I... what could I give her except my love?'
Harry had an impression that the whole world was crashing on his head. He closed his eyes. His mother, who was always for him a personification of right, nobleness and sacrifice, now turned out to be a woman mercenary and cynical, unfaithful to James already before they got married.
Sirius roused himself from musings and looked at Harry again.
'I became a Death Eater. It helped me to forget that Lily was a wife of the other man. Lord Voldemort welcomed me with the open arms. I was brother of Vega Starlight and he wanted to win her over to our side. I was quite useful. I was the one who convinced the idea of using Lupin as a decoy.'
Vega's eyes flashed, her face twisted in the expression of wild fury. Before Sirius could understand what was going on, a strong kick knocked him down to the ground.
'You bastard !!!' yelled Vega 'You fucken son of the bitch !!! I will kill you like a dog!'
Frantic with rage, she was kicking Sirius all over his body. The Death Eaters were watching with a murmur of gloomy satisfaction. The enjoyed such spectacles. Finally Lestrange rose his wand and pointing at Vega he called:
'Crucio!'
'Expelliarmus!' said somebody imperatively and the wand flew out from the Lestrange's hand.
Voldemort rose from his throne and he slowly walked down the marble steps, looking coldly at the wizards.
'I must say that you begin to lose your nerves.' he said calmly staring in the eyes of Lestarnge who turned pale and took a step backwards 'Impostor, Harry must be dying to know what happened at one November night fifteen years ago. Don't make him wait any longer.'
His voice turned into a sinister hiss. Harry shuddered. How many terrible truths was he going to hear? Sirius lifted himself up with effort, spitting with blood.
'Lily married James and you was born' he said dryly 'I couldn't bear it. But soon Lily also had enough of her husband. I decided to kill him. I knew that Lord wanted to put the Potters to death and it was just in the time when the Fidelius Charm was to be performed. I told Master that I could give him James away. But I had to do it in such a way that nobody would suspect me. What profit would I have from the death of Lily's husband if I had to rot in Azkaban to the end of my life.' he laughed darkly 'I knew Peter was a Death Eater and spy, so I decided to use him to get rid of James. Good chap, Wormtail,' he looked at Pettrigiew who crouched with fear 'he didn't know we were on the same side... My plan was simple. In the last moment I made him a Secret-Keeper because I knew he would tell everything to the Lord. And I was right.'
'What an irony!' hissed Vega looking piercingly at Sirius 'Pettrigiew, a traitor, also wanted to throw the blame on somebody else and he had chosen you, the other traitor ! So you WERE guilty.'
Black laughed mournfully.
'Nasty little disappointment, isn't it, sissy?' he drawled 'You always believed in me so much...'
Vega cast him a dark gaze. Voldemort smiled cynically.
'Yes, Impostor acquitted himself perfectly well.' he said coldly looking at Harry with a cruel satisfaction 'I apparated in the Potters' hose. I killed James and I began to look for you. A silent whimper came from the room. You were alone, helpless, left to my mercy. You mother hid in the cellar. Sirius warned her not to go out whatever would happen.'
Harry was staring at him, shocked. It couldn't be truth. Mother would never leave him...
Sirius must have read in his mind.
'Painful truth, Harry' he said with no compassion; contrary, his voice was full of hatred and venom 'To be with me, Lily was prepared to sacrifice not only James, but also his child. At least I believed she was...' he sighed 'Unfortunately, in the last moment she changed her mind and decided to save you' his face twisted in a painful grimace 'And Lord had to kill her...' he whispered dully.
Harry was shivering. He even didn't feel despair. Somewhere on the bottom of his consciousness Dumbledore's words sounded. The boy lifted his head and looked at the Dark Lord. His green eyes were full of bitter, gloomy irony. It wasn't the look of a teenager but of an adult man who had experienced a lot in his life.
'And it was everything to kill ME' he said softly, staring without blinking in Voldemort's red eyes. 'You were afraid of me so much?'
The wizard looked at him with amazement.
'I was afraid?' he repeated with disbelief 'What are you talking about ! Why should I be afraid of a child?'
Harry's eyes flashed.
'Because that child,' he drawled 'was, like you were, a heir of Salazar Slytherin. And in the future could become dangerous.'
A surprised silence fell. The Death Eaters were staring at Harry as if suddenly somebody else appeared in front of them. Sirius gasped. Vega looked up and met concentrated Snape's eyes. Voldemort, however, was watching Harry with such an expression on his face as if he suspected that the boy went mad.
'What are you talking about, Potter?' he asked coldly.
'You know it well' Harry laughed sneeringly 'My great-grandfather's name was Riddle and he was from the house of Septimus Slytherin.'
Voldemort was looking at him without a word, strange twinkles glittering in his eyes.
'So you now about Septimius?' he drawled 'I wonder where do you get all these revelation from? Harry Potter from the line of Salazar Slytherin...' he laughed softly and somehow weirdly.
'Professor Dumbledore read the last letter of Septimus' said Harry triumphantly 'And finally he knew the truth.'
Amazement shone in Voldemort's eyes and suddenly he started to chuckle, first silently, then louder and louder and more shrilly. Finally he burst out uncontrollable laugher.
'The truth!' he called sneeringly 'Old, poor Albus! Was he really so naive?' he was laughing like crazy 'He found the letter of marquis D'Elixe but he missed a tiny fact that the brother of Marvolo Riddle had been adopted?!' he fixed his scoffing eyes at Harry 'He was a common, lousy Muggle! And you don't have a single drop of Slytherin's sacred blood !'
Harry was dumbfounded.
'But...' he stammered, trying desperately to collect his thoughts 'But...you wanted to kill ME...just me...'
'Don't flatter yourself!' Voldemort laughed cynically 'It wasn't about you but about the name you bear. Potter! I swore once that I would not rest until a single descendant of Perseus Potter would be alive. His son and grandson had to die.'
Vega looked quickly at Snape who was staring at the Dark Lord completely surprised. Harry was opening and closing his mouth noiselessly, unable to emit a sound. Finally he managed to whisper hoarsely.
'Why?'
Voldemort's face twisted in rage.
'You ask me, why I hated Perseus Potter?' he hissed 'That overwise, arrogant, cocky coxcomb, who considered himself to be better then the rest of the world and who had me in deep contempt only because I had grown up in the orphanage? Think about it, Harry. Think about it well...'
Harry was silent. Voldemort smiled sourly.
'Now, of course, I have another reason to kill you' he said dryly 'I will not allow to live somebody about whom they say that he had defeated Lord Voldemort.'
In the silence that fell after those words, someone started to laugh, coldly and shrilly. Harry rose his dim eyes and he shivered. It was Vega but he has never before seen her such as in that moment. Her grey eyes were dark, sullen and ruthless. Her face twisted in a diabolic grimace.
'And who believes in fairy-tales here!' she hissed staring sneeringly at Voldemort.
The Dark Lord turned around and looked at her surprised.
'I must admit that I do not understand...' he drawled.
Vega squinted her eyes.
'Did you really believe, for all those years, that a one-year old baby was able to reflect the Killing Curse?'
She laughed widely and at the sound of that laugher Harry felt an icy shudder. He heard it before...When he was near the Dementors and a cry of his murdering mother was ringing in his ears.
Voldemort stirred. He slowly approached Vega, not taking his burning eyes off her pale face.
'But that's how it really was' he said softly 'The curse reflected from the shield that the sacrifice of his mother had left on him.'
Vega smiled with irony.
'If we are telling old stories, listen to the one more' she whispered sinisterly 'That night when Lily and James were killed...I felt that something was going to happen...something terrible. I apparated near their house. I put on the Invisibility Cloak and entered inside. Near the door I found dead James. The house was silent and only from the living-room a silent rustle was coming. I looked inside and I saw you. You were bending over a crib. I didn't know what to do... Then, on the stairs leading to the cellar, steps creaked and Lily loomed from darkness, pale and trembling. She dashed into the room. Using the confusion I slipped after her and I stood behind the crib. Lili stormed between you and Harry, crying that she would not allow kill him. But what could she do? She was dead in several seconds. You rose your wand and pointed in at the baby. I pulled out mine but I had no idea what to do. My mind was a blank. And then I heard an incantation of the Killing Curse.'
'Go on...' whispered Voldemort staring hypnotised at Vega.
'I could do only one thing' continued the witch 'I shielded the crib and I shouted the only counter-course that entered my head. It was me who reflected your Avada Keadvra.' grey eyes glinted with a gloomy triumph 'Harry has been hit only by a tiny chip.'
It acted like a thunderbolt. The Death Eaters stood petrified. What they have just heard was so incredible that they didn't know whether they were dreaming or not. Little eyes of Wormtail widened with horror, he moved back and leant against a marble pillar. Sirius was staring at Vega as if he suddenly saw Dementor in front of him. Only Snape kept cool and only on the bottom of his black eyes triumphant twinkled were glinting.
Harry closed his eyelid. His heart was beating madly and the Auror's words were ringing in his head. 'I reflected Avada...' So everybody was wrong ! He wasn't the one who had defeated the Dark Lord. He would be killed if Vega Starlight hadn't saved him, achieving what seemed impossible: reflecting the Killing Curse.
Voldemort stood motionless, his red eyes, fixed on the witch, were burning. But there were neither rage nor hatred in them. Rather amazement, wonder and some dark satisfaction.
'So it was you...' he whispered 'Now I understand...Now I finally understand...It was always hard to believe that a small child could have survived my attack even protected by the sacrifice of his mother. But why you kept it secret for all those years? ' he asked almost gently 'You would be a hero...'
'And I would give people a new weapon' Vega laughed cynically 'Of course, not everyone would be able to master the counter-course, but the ones who would succeed, would became invincible. And you know how it would finish?' she asked coldly, looking at the eyes of the Dark Lord 'After several years no one would remember the name of Voldemort. The world would be lost in blood shed by the new, usurpatory masters....' she smiled ironically 'In a way I did you a favour.'
Voldemort shook his head.
'I don't think there is anyone else who could reflect Avada Kedavra.'
Vega shrugged her shoulders.
'I succeeded so why wouldn't the others do the same?'
The Dark Lord looked at her with a mysterious smile.
'Because you are someone exceptional, my dear' he said lengthily 'I heard many interesting things about you. I've been suspecting for months that you can reflect the Killing Curse. I used young Malfoy to make sure. But you were smarter...' he laughed silently not taking his eyes off Vega's face. 'I've been observing you for years. I never doubted you would achieve spectacular deeds.' he approached the Auror and put a hand on her arm 'You didn't disappoint me...'
Vega shuddered and looked, bewildered, at Voldemort.
'You never doubted?' she repeated dully 'You've been observing me? Why...'
'I wonder what Annie would say...' whispered Voldemort thoughtfully 'She was always afraid of what was hidden in you.'
'What are you talking about?!' Vega cried widely staring at the Dark Lord with a growing dread.
Impostor straightened up and slowly took off his hood. Harry felt that his heart stopped beating and the ground gave way under his feet. He thought he must have gone mad. It couldn't be truth...
It was Sirius Black.
'YOU!!!' yelled Vega in a murderous voice 'And yet you! I've been suspecting you since the day of the gargoyles' attack on Harry!'
'Really?' asked Sirius with a polite interest 'Where did I make a mistake?'
'A letter' snarled Vega 'Your last letter to Harry. I found it in his pocket. I was very surprised when it turned out that there was plenty of calcite on it. It made me think. I asked Ron and Hermione and I found out that Harry started to sneeze right after he had opened the letter. And all became clear. Powdered death has been sent to him by his dear godfather.'
Harry had a feeling that the voices were coming to him from a great distance or from behind a thick, heavy curtain. It was a bad dream. Bad dream. He wanted to wake up...
'Well done, my little sister' laughed Black 'That's how it was indeed. I believe that you guessed at once who was the real author of all those strange events in Hogwart?'
Vega smiled gloomily.
'Yeah, now it wasn't difficult' she said ' It was you who have been trying to find the weak points of the DADS anytime you visited Hogwart under the mask of your friendship with Harry. You stole the access codes during the Christmas we spent at Remus. Then you disconnected Malfoy's line on the matrix. My mistake,' she smiled gloomily 'I shouldn't leave it unguarded in the room even among the people I trusted most of all. Well, it's done.' she shrugged her shoulders 'And we have been suspecting Magnus for all the time... Bravo, Sirius!' she said with irony 'Nearly perfect game.'
Black laughed.
'That's truth, Magnus appeared just in time.' he sneered 'I knew that Severus didn't like him. I knew, why... ' he looked significantly at Snape 'Who would suspect me? And meanwhile Magnus had completely different task to realise. I guess you already know what was it...?' he asked lengthily, staring sneeringly at Vega 'Devilson was to bring the behemots. And he arranged it perfectly well. Believing that he was responsible for the problems with the DADS, you didn't pay attention to his activity in the Teleportation Department. And that was his mission.'
'I guess that Devilson managed to convince the behemots, already in Tibet, not to trust Hagrid and not to tell him about your visits?' asked Vega coldly.
'Of course,' nodded Sirius with a real enthusiasm 'They trusted only Magnus. He tamed them and they loved him. They believed that Hagrid wanted to hurt them. They were deceiving him. And then, in Hogwart...' cruel, sadistic twinkles shone in his eyes 'Bang!' he stamped his leg as if he was trampling something 'And it was over...'
Harry turned pale. Does it mean...
'What happened to Hagrid ?!' he screamed desperately, straining in Snape's grip 'What are you talking about?!'
'He is dead' said Sirius indifferently in a slightly bored tone.
Harry stiffened. It was too much for him. He didn't feel anything. He has been cheated. He has been betrayed. And it was by the man who he trusted so immensely. And now he heard that his other friend was dead. He was alone. Completely alone. He wanted to die.
Vega was staring at Sirius with hatred and contempt. Was it possible that this man was her brother?
'Do you know what I was thinking about?' asked Sirius suddenly approaching Vega 'If you suspected me, why you let me stay in Hogwart for last three weeks. And only one explanation enters my head.' he proceeded not even waiting for the answer 'You just wanted to keep an eye on me. You were waiting I would make a mistake. But you miscalculated,' he laughed maliciously 'I was very close to Potter but I couldn't do anything. Till the day when the Dark Lord attacked Azkaban,' he turned round and bowed with esteem to Voldemort, who was watching all the scene with a devilish satisfaction 'But then it was too late for you...'
Vega was silent.
'You flew to Azkaban' said Sirius 'Now only Dumbledore could stop me but he had other problems soon...' he smiled with satisfaction 'According to my plan the behemots attacked. Dumbledore had to supervise evacuation of the students. It was a perfect moment to act. Poor Albus, he didn't even notice when I pulled out the matrix from his pocket. I inactivated the DADS. Then I drew Harry apart from the other students. Severus saw it and from the expression of his face I guessed that he didn't know about me. We must have thought that I just didn't trust him and wanted to hide Potter from him. He caught us up in the corridor and he attacked.' he looked darkly at Snape and touched his blood-stained hair; Severus smiled with a nasty satisfaction. 'Than, as it had been appointed, the Death Eaters appeared. They took Potter and I escaped. Then you guessed the truth, didn't you, Severus?' he asked sneeringly.'
Snape nodded with an unpleasant grimace on his face. Sirius approached Vega, malicious twinkles were glittering in his eyes.
'You wonder if Severus left Hogwart at once, don't you? 'he asked lengthily 'The answer is: NO. He had one more task to execute.'
Vega turned pale. The words of Minerva McGonagall were sounding in her ears. The killer of Dumbledore... She recognised him...
Sirius turned to Snape.
'Show her a bottle, Severus' he said solemnly 'This is the night of truth...'
Slowly, as if reluctantly, Severus reached to the pocket of his cloak and pulled out a small, glass bottle half-filled with a blood-red liquid.
'Did you know,' Black turned to Vega 'that the Potion Master for almost a year has been preparing in secret a powerful poison which we wanted to use to kill Albus Dumbledore?'
Vega was staring at the bottle hypnotised. She took her gaze off it with effort and looked at Snape. Her grey eyes were cold and gloomy.
'You didn't know!' Sirius was really glad of it 'It's great. You know that I love to make surprises! Listen, what happened then. Severus found Dumbledore and... You know the effect, don't you?' he laughed madly.
Vega was silent, looking now at Sirius then at Snape. She didn't know which of them she hated more. If she had her wand she would kill them both.
Harry was roused from a strange torpor, similar to some eerie, dark dream. He couldn't remember what they were talking about. He had only one though in his head: Sirius was a traitor.
'Why?' he whispered in a hoarse voice only half-aware that he was talking.
Black turned round passionately and looked at him with such hatred that Harry had never received from anybody. Even Snape couldn't hate so much. Harry shuddered.
'Poor little Harry,' said Sirius softly, coming near the boy 'The image of his father. Only the eyes...you have your mother's eyes...'
Harry started to tremble. There was something terrible in the wizard's voice.
'My sweet Lily,' whispered Black, staring vacantly at a blue torch 'Fiancée of my best friend. I can still feel her touch, her smell....'
Harry was looking at him astounded.
'We loved each other...' continued Sirius 'It was madness! During the day Lily was preparing for the wedding with James and at night she met with me in small, dirty hotels at the suburbs of London. I begged her to leave him, but she didn't want to. Such a situation suited her well. James belonged to a famous, rich family but I... what could I give her except my love?'
Harry had an impression that the whole world was crashing on his head. He closed his eyes. His mother, who was always for him a personification of right, nobleness and sacrifice, now turned out to be a woman mercenary and cynical, unfaithful to James already before they got married.
Sirius roused himself from musings and looked at Harry again.
'I became a Death Eater. It helped me to forget that Lily was a wife of the other man. Lord Voldemort welcomed me with the open arms. I was brother of Vega Starlight and he wanted to win her over to our side. I was quite useful. I was the one who convinced the idea of using Lupin as a decoy.'
Vega's eyes flashed, her face twisted in the expression of wild fury. Before Sirius could understand what was going on, a strong kick knocked him down to the ground.
'You bastard !!!' yelled Vega 'You fucken son of the bitch !!! I will kill you like a dog!'
Frantic with rage, she was kicking Sirius all over his body. The Death Eaters were watching with a murmur of gloomy satisfaction. The enjoyed such spectacles. Finally Lestrange rose his wand and pointing at Vega he called:
'Crucio!'
'Expelliarmus!' said somebody imperatively and the wand flew out from the Lestrange's hand.
Voldemort rose from his throne and he slowly walked down the marble steps, looking coldly at the wizards.
'I must say that you begin to lose your nerves.' he said calmly staring in the eyes of Lestarnge who turned pale and took a step backwards 'Impostor, Harry must be dying to know what happened at one November night fifteen years ago. Don't make him wait any longer.'
His voice turned into a sinister hiss. Harry shuddered. How many terrible truths was he going to hear? Sirius lifted himself up with effort, spitting with blood.
'Lily married James and you was born' he said dryly 'I couldn't bear it. But soon Lily also had enough of her husband. I decided to kill him. I knew that Lord wanted to put the Potters to death and it was just in the time when the Fidelius Charm was to be performed. I told Master that I could give him James away. But I had to do it in such a way that nobody would suspect me. What profit would I have from the death of Lily's husband if I had to rot in Azkaban to the end of my life.' he laughed darkly 'I knew Peter was a Death Eater and spy, so I decided to use him to get rid of James. Good chap, Wormtail,' he looked at Pettrigiew who crouched with fear 'he didn't know we were on the same side... My plan was simple. In the last moment I made him a Secret-Keeper because I knew he would tell everything to the Lord. And I was right.'
'What an irony!' hissed Vega looking piercingly at Sirius 'Pettrigiew, a traitor, also wanted to throw the blame on somebody else and he had chosen you, the other traitor ! So you WERE guilty.'
Black laughed mournfully.
'Nasty little disappointment, isn't it, sissy?' he drawled 'You always believed in me so much...'
Vega cast him a dark gaze. Voldemort smiled cynically.
'Yes, Impostor acquitted himself perfectly well.' he said coldly looking at Harry with a cruel satisfaction 'I apparated in the Potters' hose. I killed James and I began to look for you. A silent whimper came from the room. You were alone, helpless, left to my mercy. You mother hid in the cellar. Sirius warned her not to go out whatever would happen.'
Harry was staring at him, shocked. It couldn't be truth. Mother would never leave him...
Sirius must have read in his mind.
'Painful truth, Harry' he said with no compassion; contrary, his voice was full of hatred and venom 'To be with me, Lily was prepared to sacrifice not only James, but also his child. At least I believed she was...' he sighed 'Unfortunately, in the last moment she changed her mind and decided to save you' his face twisted in a painful grimace 'And Lord had to kill her...' he whispered dully.
Harry was shivering. He even didn't feel despair. Somewhere on the bottom of his consciousness Dumbledore's words sounded. The boy lifted his head and looked at the Dark Lord. His green eyes were full of bitter, gloomy irony. It wasn't the look of a teenager but of an adult man who had experienced a lot in his life.
'And it was everything to kill ME' he said softly, staring without blinking in Voldemort's red eyes. 'You were afraid of me so much?'
The wizard looked at him with amazement.
'I was afraid?' he repeated with disbelief 'What are you talking about ! Why should I be afraid of a child?'
Harry's eyes flashed.
'Because that child,' he drawled 'was, like you were, a heir of Salazar Slytherin. And in the future could become dangerous.'
A surprised silence fell. The Death Eaters were staring at Harry as if suddenly somebody else appeared in front of them. Sirius gasped. Vega looked up and met concentrated Snape's eyes. Voldemort, however, was watching Harry with such an expression on his face as if he suspected that the boy went mad.
'What are you talking about, Potter?' he asked coldly.
'You know it well' Harry laughed sneeringly 'My great-grandfather's name was Riddle and he was from the house of Septimus Slytherin.'
Voldemort was looking at him without a word, strange twinkles glittering in his eyes.
'So you now about Septimius?' he drawled 'I wonder where do you get all these revelation from? Harry Potter from the line of Salazar Slytherin...' he laughed softly and somehow weirdly.
'Professor Dumbledore read the last letter of Septimus' said Harry triumphantly 'And finally he knew the truth.'
Amazement shone in Voldemort's eyes and suddenly he started to chuckle, first silently, then louder and louder and more shrilly. Finally he burst out uncontrollable laugher.
'The truth!' he called sneeringly 'Old, poor Albus! Was he really so naive?' he was laughing like crazy 'He found the letter of marquis D'Elixe but he missed a tiny fact that the brother of Marvolo Riddle had been adopted?!' he fixed his scoffing eyes at Harry 'He was a common, lousy Muggle! And you don't have a single drop of Slytherin's sacred blood !'
Harry was dumbfounded.
'But...' he stammered, trying desperately to collect his thoughts 'But...you wanted to kill ME...just me...'
'Don't flatter yourself!' Voldemort laughed cynically 'It wasn't about you but about the name you bear. Potter! I swore once that I would not rest until a single descendant of Perseus Potter would be alive. His son and grandson had to die.'
Vega looked quickly at Snape who was staring at the Dark Lord completely surprised. Harry was opening and closing his mouth noiselessly, unable to emit a sound. Finally he managed to whisper hoarsely.
'Why?'
Voldemort's face twisted in rage.
'You ask me, why I hated Perseus Potter?' he hissed 'That overwise, arrogant, cocky coxcomb, who considered himself to be better then the rest of the world and who had me in deep contempt only because I had grown up in the orphanage? Think about it, Harry. Think about it well...'
Harry was silent. Voldemort smiled sourly.
'Now, of course, I have another reason to kill you' he said dryly 'I will not allow to live somebody about whom they say that he had defeated Lord Voldemort.'
In the silence that fell after those words, someone started to laugh, coldly and shrilly. Harry rose his dim eyes and he shivered. It was Vega but he has never before seen her such as in that moment. Her grey eyes were dark, sullen and ruthless. Her face twisted in a diabolic grimace.
'And who believes in fairy-tales here!' she hissed staring sneeringly at Voldemort.
The Dark Lord turned around and looked at her surprised.
'I must admit that I do not understand...' he drawled.
Vega squinted her eyes.
'Did you really believe, for all those years, that a one-year old baby was able to reflect the Killing Curse?'
She laughed widely and at the sound of that laugher Harry felt an icy shudder. He heard it before...When he was near the Dementors and a cry of his murdering mother was ringing in his ears.
Voldemort stirred. He slowly approached Vega, not taking his burning eyes off her pale face.
'But that's how it really was' he said softly 'The curse reflected from the shield that the sacrifice of his mother had left on him.'
Vega smiled with irony.
'If we are telling old stories, listen to the one more' she whispered sinisterly 'That night when Lily and James were killed...I felt that something was going to happen...something terrible. I apparated near their house. I put on the Invisibility Cloak and entered inside. Near the door I found dead James. The house was silent and only from the living-room a silent rustle was coming. I looked inside and I saw you. You were bending over a crib. I didn't know what to do... Then, on the stairs leading to the cellar, steps creaked and Lily loomed from darkness, pale and trembling. She dashed into the room. Using the confusion I slipped after her and I stood behind the crib. Lili stormed between you and Harry, crying that she would not allow kill him. But what could she do? She was dead in several seconds. You rose your wand and pointed in at the baby. I pulled out mine but I had no idea what to do. My mind was a blank. And then I heard an incantation of the Killing Curse.'
'Go on...' whispered Voldemort staring hypnotised at Vega.
'I could do only one thing' continued the witch 'I shielded the crib and I shouted the only counter-course that entered my head. It was me who reflected your Avada Keadvra.' grey eyes glinted with a gloomy triumph 'Harry has been hit only by a tiny chip.'
It acted like a thunderbolt. The Death Eaters stood petrified. What they have just heard was so incredible that they didn't know whether they were dreaming or not. Little eyes of Wormtail widened with horror, he moved back and leant against a marble pillar. Sirius was staring at Vega as if he suddenly saw Dementor in front of him. Only Snape kept cool and only on the bottom of his black eyes triumphant twinkled were glinting.
Harry closed his eyelid. His heart was beating madly and the Auror's words were ringing in his head. 'I reflected Avada...' So everybody was wrong ! He wasn't the one who had defeated the Dark Lord. He would be killed if Vega Starlight hadn't saved him, achieving what seemed impossible: reflecting the Killing Curse.
Voldemort stood motionless, his red eyes, fixed on the witch, were burning. But there were neither rage nor hatred in them. Rather amazement, wonder and some dark satisfaction.
'So it was you...' he whispered 'Now I understand...Now I finally understand...It was always hard to believe that a small child could have survived my attack even protected by the sacrifice of his mother. But why you kept it secret for all those years? ' he asked almost gently 'You would be a hero...'
'And I would give people a new weapon' Vega laughed cynically 'Of course, not everyone would be able to master the counter-course, but the ones who would succeed, would became invincible. And you know how it would finish?' she asked coldly, looking at the eyes of the Dark Lord 'After several years no one would remember the name of Voldemort. The world would be lost in blood shed by the new, usurpatory masters....' she smiled ironically 'In a way I did you a favour.'
Voldemort shook his head.
'I don't think there is anyone else who could reflect Avada Kedavra.'
Vega shrugged her shoulders.
'I succeeded so why wouldn't the others do the same?'
The Dark Lord looked at her with a mysterious smile.
'Because you are someone exceptional, my dear' he said lengthily 'I heard many interesting things about you. I've been suspecting for months that you can reflect the Killing Curse. I used young Malfoy to make sure. But you were smarter...' he laughed silently not taking his eyes off Vega's face. 'I've been observing you for years. I never doubted you would achieve spectacular deeds.' he approached the Auror and put a hand on her arm 'You didn't disappoint me...'
Vega shuddered and looked, bewildered, at Voldemort.
'You never doubted?' she repeated dully 'You've been observing me? Why...'
'I wonder what Annie would say...' whispered Voldemort thoughtfully 'She was always afraid of what was hidden in you.'
'What are you talking about?!' Vega cried widely staring at the Dark Lord with a growing dread.
