The pair arrived at a manor that had once belonged to Severus Snape's father. Harry's queasy feeling worsened when Malfoy mentioned this information to Harry.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" hissed Harry as they hid behind a bush in the backyard of Snape Manor. "We could have asked Snape if he had anyone—"
"Really, Potter, would you walk up to him and ask?" queried Malfoy. Harry fell silent at this, frowning.
"Point taken but—" said Harry and Malfoy interrupted him.
"That's all there is to it. I don't really blame you. After seven years of torment in his class—"
"You were part of that, you know," said Harry harshly. Malfoy ignored him and carried on.
"—One would wonder if you would ever ask him for favours." Harry rolled his eyes and studied the back door.
"Well, looks like its clear," said Harry, waving his wand. "But magical-wise, no. Finite, Magiura-lete, Bnuemious," he said, disabling the wards. Harry nodded to Malfoy, who led the way into the house, Harry checking periodically for wards. Once the pair arrived on the third landing of the manor an alarm went off.
"What!" yelled Harry. "But—"
"Let's get the books!" Malfoy cut in, running into a room full of books. Harry followed, checking for traps. Once Malfoy found the three books on Necromancy, Harry turned around but ran into someone.
"Arugh!" yelped Harry, backing away from the person, his wand trained.
"Well, well, well, Mr. Malfoy and Potter raiding my father's house. How interesting and foolish," said Professor Snape coolly. "Kindly explain why you're here in the library with three books?" Harry hesitated and glared at him.
"If you wanted to help me with this 'quest', you'd have handed these books over!" said Harry.
"Potter, do I look like a person who would get rid of any knowledge of a magical branch?" asked Snape, glaring back at Harry.
"You're too greasy of a git to even care about knowledge," said Harry snidely. "Let alone anything else but Potions and Dark Arts. Necromancy sure is one of them, but your nose is far too large for that branch anyway. Now, excuse me," he said, trying to walk past Snape.
"Potter! Stop right this instant," growled Snape, glaring hatefully.
"Sir," said Malfoy after watching the two angry wizards leering at each other. "Potter's been black mailing me…" Harry's face snapped at Malfoy with an incredulous look.
"What?" asked Snape softly, looking at Malfoy. Harry shivered at the tone. He was scary when he was screaming, but when Snape used that tone, it was downright frightening.
"He has," said Malfoy, looking at Harry.
"Malfoy…" gritted Harry.
"Did he blackmail you into helping him with this useless cause?" asked Snape. Malfoy nodded in answer and tried to speak.
"SILENCIO!" yelled Harry, his gaze of anger intensified.
"POTTER!" snapped Snape, his wand aimed at Malfoy. "Finite."
Malfoy found that he still could not speak and his eyes widened in horror, mouthing words. 'I can't speak!'
"Potter, release him!" threatened Snape, his wand trained on Harry. Harry rolled his eyes and used the summoning charm, causing the tomes to soar from Malfoy's grasp.
"I'm sick of this. At least I know where the last two houses are," said Harry coolly. Before Snape could bind him, Harry disapparated back in his room. After dropping the books on his bed, he rubbed his temples.
How he hated Malfoy when he interfered. 'Well, if you were a Slytherin, you'd find every way possible to escape the black mail,' said a voice inside his head. Harry shook his head, taking out the parchment that listed the places he had to go to next. Harry knew he was at a disadvantage, due to the fact that Malfoy wasn't with him anymore. Growling irritably, Harry set the books on fire, using a Fire-Containment spell to avoid burning up his bed. Harry then disapparated to the last house listed, to throw Snape and Malfoy off as he was sure they would be in the second last house listed.
Smirking to himself, he sneaked inside the house, checking for booby traps, wards and other things. In the kitchen he found a booby-trap that would have killed a person on sight; the ceiling was full of spikes. Before the ceiling could drop on him, he used a powerful stopping charm, causing the ceiling to stop mere inches from his hair. He shivered slightly at how close he had been to death. It wasn't like any other close shaves he had with macabre closures; he had literally seen how close the spikes were. Shaking his head, he crept inside another room. There were booby-traps in other parts of the house as well, though nowhere near as close as the spikes had been.
After he found the bookshelves containing Necromancy in the sitting room, he looked around cautiously and crept back out of the house, re-enabling the wards as he went. Once in the safe confines of his room, he deposited the books. He knew that the Slytherin duo would be waiting for him at the last house. Harry blinked and felt that he the words last house just wouldn't sink in.
'Last of the Necromancy books…' thought Harry, his words slightly muddled in his mind. He had come such a long way to destroy all of these books and now he was down to last ten books, as according to Hermione, this house would have ten more books. Harry sat down on his bed, his elbows on his knees as he rubbed his eyes. 'I can't comprehend this,' thought Harry, taking a deep breath. He had to get the books now; then he could finally be finished with this tiresome task. Apparating all over the world had depleted Ron, Hermione and himself. Getting to his feet again, and with a glance, he lit the books on fire with the usual containment spell. It wouldn't do if Snape got the books before he came back. Harry then apparated to the furthest point from the manor. Fifty paces away, Harry spotted Malfoy and Snape standing around.
Harry smirked at this and studied his surroundings. The only way to get inside the house was to keep to the line of trees and around to the front of the manor. He did that, and on his way he caught glimpses of their whisperings.
"—ink that Potter could be here?" asked Malfoy, looking around warily.
"I'm sure he will be here, after all, it was next on the list as—" Harry couldn't hear anymore as he continued to creep around the shadows. It was usually a bad idea to stick around and listen to people's conversations. Harry waved his wand at the front door and found it free of warding. Curious, he cast the spell again with more force. There was absolutely no warding at all. Deciding to take the chance, Harry used the unlocking charm on the door and entered. No alarms sounded and Harry looked around in the foyer, checking for security spells. So far there were none, so Harry went up the stairs to look for the library. Most manors that Harry had gone to usually had their libraries on second or third floors. Luck was in his favour as Harry found the library. Searching quickly with his Lumos spell, he spotted the Necromancy tomes. To his dismay, there were only eight books on the subject in the room. He tried to search for the missing two books and felt frustrated.
'Nox,' said Harry angrily, he resisted the urge to punch the table and sighed. This wouldn't do at all, Harry knew. He took the eight books and used the special waving spell, causing the books to disappear.
He glancied around to make sure that nothing was off, then, satisfied, he went back downstairs, clinging to the walls. Breathing slowly, he crept under the window near where Malfoy and Snape were standing.
"I really hate to think that Potter could be inside the house now. Can't we go in?" asked Malfoy.
"I believe that he isn't. Otherwise the wards would have been going off. From the assumptions that I have made in the past, Cassandra Trelawney was rather… picky about her security measures," drawled Snape. Harry froze where he was; this house belonged to the Trelawneys? He shook his head as he focused on their conversation.
"What if the wards died along with her?" asked Malfoy, his voice frowning.
"No, they wouldn't have. In fact, the warding seemed to have increased," explained Snape, sounding closer to the window. "This is why we are not guarding the Library." Harry moved away from the window, not sure what to make of what Snape had said.
'If he's telling the truth and is correct, how the hell did I get inside?' thought Harry, walking inside a room that looked like it was made for tea time. A voice startled him.
"Harry Potter, how pleased I am to see you," said a feminine voice.
"Wha—" began Harry. He looked around and found an ethereal form of a body appearing before him.
"I am not a ghost, but a memory of sorts. The reason that you are allowed in is because I have Seen that you would come here one day. Necromancy is magic that takes One's energy to make good of something. Sadly, Necromancy is used for evil ends, therefore you seek to destroy it. I cannot allow this to happen, so I withheld two tomes from you, Harry Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived, The-Man-Who-Fulfilled-The-Prophecy." She paused, staring sadly at Harry.
"I apologize as you may feel hysterical, but, to destroy knowledge to settle your reminiscences of nightmares… that will nevermore happen. Memories make who you are, what you are and why you are now. I have seen the people in far future using my tomes —for good. The times are turning bright for the next three centuries. Don't be perplexed, child of Prophecy, for they are to meet good deeds. I must leave, soon, Harry Potter. You will regain your happiness. Soon." The figure in mist formation faded into wet droplets as it showered the floor.
Harry couldn't move from where he was, he couldn't get rest of the books. Gasping for breath, he sat on the floor, his knees drawn close and his arms wrapped around his legs. It was Cassandra Trelawney's fault that he couldn't get the last two tomes on Necromancy. He didn't care if they would be one day used to good ends. Letting out a soft sob, he buried his face.
Kudos to LuciusAndSnapeRock for beta'ing this chapter!