I had told him I wanted out. We got into a fight over it.
"It's the only way."
"I'm not going to do it," I snarled. "Do you know what will happen to the world if you die—let alone Hogwarts."
"Do you know what will happen if you don't?" he said, quietly. "You knew that this day would come. We both knew it. And the vow you made to Narcissa Malfoy……"
Now, here I stood, and I had to do it. He was looking up at me, begging me. It had to be done. The prize from Gryffindor…The words rung in my ears. And nobody knew.
I walked up to him, and held out my wand.
"Avada Kadavra."
I am a good liar. A good actor. Everybody saw the confidence that I didn't feel, heard the hatred I didn't have. And then I was dragging Draco Malfoy away. Keeping my promise. Draco would not be hurt from this, neither physically nor emotionally. The First Kill is always the worst, and he is only sixteen. Draco didn't want to do it, didn't have the strength to make it through the First. We both knew it.
And I was fighting Potter. It was bad enough that he was using my own spells against me, as his father had done. But the fact that he hadn't learned a thing I, or any of my colleagues, had taught him that year about not speaking made me even angrier. I felt like I had been wasting my time these past six years.
And I dragged Malfoy into the Room of Requirement, through the cabinets. We were out. We would be safe for the time being; the ministry wouldn't know of my "betrayal" for another hour.
The Defense Against the Dark Arts post is jinxed. Of course, Dumbledore knew this was going to happen. That's why I was given the post at long last. Had he been that eager to keep me as a teacher that he wasn't willing to take the risk? I had always believed that I could hold the post, and I would last, out of all the incompetent teachers that had taken the post.
Only one thing remained. Was the locket real? It would seem very odd that Voldemort put two together, even if his "prize" from Gryffindor didn't know it. Or maybe that was the point, putting the two together so that Dumbledore didn't know about the other one?
I cannot fathom the mind of the Dark Lord. All I can do is trust what he tells me. Trust him……what an odd thing to do. Especially when one is trusting Dumbledore at the same time.
Did Potter know of the other horcrux? Would he figure it out? I had much less faith in Potter than I did in the other two. The stupid boy had been following instructions from a stranger's potions book, tested out spells without knowing what they did. Not even Potter Senior had been that thick. Of course, he had listened to his friends, unlike his son.
Now that I was out of the picture, Potter would have to find his own way. If he was smart, he'd go back to Hogwarts, learn what he could before he continued fighting Death Eaters. And more importantly, go through Dumbledore's books and notes.
Never in a million years did I think I'd be putting all my faith in the hands of a Potter, hope that he learned Occlumency, hope that'd he grow to a ripe old age. But such is life.
My part had been done.
Notes: This is following the theory that my mother figured out. It makes perfect sense, I think. It'll probably take some thought, but you'll get it.
Maybe sometime I'll write my theory about R.A.B.