Birds were singing, the sun was shining, and Harry Potter felt very comfortable. The soft, warm sheets made him want to curl into a ball and fall back asleep. Unfortunately for him, his brain started buzzing. He would be meeting with Dumbledore today. This time however, Sirius would be going with him. Since he was a Black, Sirius knew about many types of dark magic. While he wasn't a scholar on the subject, he knew more than most on horcuxes. Sirius would be essential to Dumbledore and Harry if they were to defeat Voldemort.
Harry stumbled out of the headmaster's fireplace and Sirius was right behind him. Harry coughed and brushed the dust off of his robes, slightly irritated at magical travel in general.
"It doesn't get easier, you know." Dumbledore said softly, his eyes twinkling. Harry scowled and Sirius chuckled, patting him on the back.
"Don't worry pup, you'll manage to not fall flat on your arse one day." Sirius joked. Harry directed his scowling at him and swatted his arm.
"Hilarious." Harry muttered, rubbing the sore spots on his body from the magical transportation.
"Now," Dumbledore started, "let us get down to business." With a wave of his wand, Dumbledore made two comfortable looking chairs appear in front of the headmaster's desk.
"First of all, Voldemort has indeed returned, that cannot be argued." Dumbledore said. The other two nodded. Now it was Harry's turn to speak.
"Yes. Not only is Voldemort back but he used my blood. That means unfortunately, I am no longer protected by my mother's final sacrifice. The silver lining is Voldemort also destroyed the horcrux that was lodged in my head. With the discovery of this horcrux, we know he had to have created more if his soul was unstable enough to latch on to me." Harry concluded. Dumbledore nodded.
"While I have certainly never heard of splitting your soul multiple times, I suppose in theory it would be possible. However, the more you split your soul, the more divided your physical and mental state will be. Your magic will decrease with each separation and you will slowly lose your sanity. Voldemort probably diminished these side effects with different dark magic. Possibly the soul leech hex? That's a pretty heavy spell but I wouldn't put it past him." Sirius said grimly.
"The problem is now what are the horcruxes?" Harry asked.
"Ah. I may have an answer." Dumbledore informed, "You see, back about two or three years, a diary came into possession of a student. This was a horcrux of Voldemort. It persuaded the student to do terrible things. Thankfully, her brothers noticed and we immediately took possession of the diary. It is still here, inside my desk. As I was not totally sure of what it was, I did not want to tamper with it, especially considering it belonged to Voldemort." Dumbledore opened the drawer of the desk and placed the diary in between them. All three cast anxious looks towards the book..
"So, this is another horcrux?" Harry asked. Dumbledore nodded.
"I am absolutely positive."
"Do you know how to destroy it, Sirius?" Harry asked, hoping the answer was yes. Harry wasn't reassured when Sirius nodded his head but looked grim.
"We can but it's very difficult to pull off."
"Difficult how?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, if my memory is correct, the only way to destroy a horcrux is basilisk venom, which is extremely hard to find, or fiendfyre which is exceptionally difficult to control. Basically either we can find the venom or maybe just hand them over to you, professor." Sirius said, glancing at Dumbledore. He chuckled.
"While I am a man of many talents, I do not claim to know much on fiendfyre." Dumbledore said. Harry groaned.
"Another problem we face is, where are the rest of the horcruxes?" Harry asked miserably. They could literally be almost anything, anywhere.
"Knowing Voldemort, he has probably put them in something personal or important." Dumbledore said, "We already know he has put one into the diary. However, I am not too sure what else it could be." Dumbledore thought out loud.
"Why don't we start with the horcrux we have? Maybe that will put us on a lead?" Sirius said uncertainly. It was a longshot however since the other two could not come up with a better solution, Dumbledore removed the diary from his desk.
"I think it would be best if I write in it." Harry said, "He would not trust you, Professor, and he doesn't really know anything about you, Sirius. He's targeted me before and I'm sure he'd be interested in trying to have a go at me."
"Are you sure, Harry? When Ginny Weasley wrote in that book, it almost took her over. I do not like the implied risks-"
"I'm sure, Professor." Harry nodded confidently.
Opening the book, Harry drew a quill and dabbled it into the ink. 'Here goes nothing' Harry thought nervously.
Hello.
Harry was shocked when the word disappeared into the page like water being soaked up like a sponge.
Hello. Who is this?
Harry James Potter. To whom am I writing to?
Tom Marvolo Riddle, at your service.
"Tom Marvolo Riddle? Was that Voldemort's original name?" Harry asked. Dumbledore nodded.
"Indeed it is, Harry. After this, we will discuss Voldemort and his history." Dumbledore promised. Harry nodded and continued writing.
How are you inside a book, Tom?
Long ago, I used magic to hold a part of me inside my diary. I am a memory of myself.
Have you done this with other things?
Yes.
"I believe that is enough for now, Harry." Dumbledore said over Harry's shoulder. "We will continue this later." Harry nodded, gripping the book tightly. He felt compelled to keep writing. Really, what would a few sentences do to him? It wasn't that big of a deal...
"Harry, let go of the book." Sirius urged softly. Harry shook his head and handed the diary to the headmaster who delicately held the book as if it were a bomb about to go off at any second.
"Feel free to stay the night here, gentlemen." Dumbledore said. "I imagine you two are going to be here often."
"Thank you, Headmaster." Sirius said, "Let's go, Harry."
Harry felt a little dizzy and disoriented but nodded slowly. He blinked rapidly, the world becoming more defined. That journal was trouble. For the first time in a long time, Harry felt fear.
Harry woke up to a crack of lightning. Rain poured down on the glass window next to him and the sounds of the empty castle adjusting was eerie. Harry shivered and wiped the sweat from his brow. He felt his heart slow from his quick awakening. He was grateful that he'd awoken. He'd had another nightmare.
For the past two nights, Sirius, Dumbledore, and Harry planned and schemed, creating plans for the best way to destroy Voldemort before war broke out. Writing in that diary hadn't gone anywhere unfortunately however it seemed the three were determined to keep trying. Harry felt more than determination, however. Every time he wrote in the diary, he felt a tug at his gut to keep writing, more and more. The book demanded he pour his soul out. He should sell out every dark secret and thought in his mind until he was nothing more than a walking corpse, without a thought. Harry definitely was glad it was secured in Dumbledore's office or he was afraid that he would be caught in the tide of magic the diary wielded.
Harry shook his head, trying to clear the frightening thoughts from his head. Dumbledore had kept a wary eye on him whenever he opened the diary. He knew horcruxes could manipulate people but he'd never realized how tempting the pull was until he had started conversing with Riddle. Thankfully, the diary would be soon destroyed as Harry was finally getting some decent information about the location of the horcruxes. The tugging he felt to write was constant and he knew that soon, it would become unbearable. He hadn't told Sirius or Dumbledore about this strange and fast acting addiction. Although, he did think that Dumbledore suspected something and Sirius didn't like him writing in that in general.
Of course, Tom was definitely not helping it move along. It took at least half an hour to even get a spec of information from him without him suspecting Harry. It was a lot like walking on a old rickety rope bridge. One wrong step, and it was over. Harry hated these cat and mouse games however he knew it was necessary in order to destroy the horcruxes and defeat Voldemort.
Sitting in his bed, Harry started rubbing his scar. Even though the horcrux was gone, Harry's scar still prickled every once in awhile and it definitely stung a little when he wrote in the diary. He theorized that because his blood was running through Voldemort, they now shared an even deeper connection than before. Not only did Harry have a piece of Voldemort's soul in his head, but now it appeared his shared blood with him. He knew blood was extremely important in magic.
The two would be tied together until one of them would be capable of fully dying and died for good. Unfortunately, at the moment, Voldemort wasn't capable of dying yet and Harry was. This gave Voldemort an advantage that Harry seriously hoped he didn't know about. Hell, it probably evened the playing field since Voldemort didn't realize he was alive. Soon though, Harry would tip the scales back into his favor with the destruction of the horcruxes.
Harry glanced outside at the pouring rain and sighed. He needed more sleep if he was going to talk to Riddle again. The book was like a sponge, sucking up all of his magic.
Harry wrote furiously in the book, his eyes glazed over. It had been a few hours since Harry had begun writing and Sirius and Dumbledore looked ready to pull him out again. Each time he wrote for a longer time but Harry kept insisting they were getting closer. This time around, Harry began muttering once in awhile about how he was close. Although it sounded good in theory, Dumbledore and Sirius were afraid Harry might become lost to them if he delved too deep. They were playing with fire and Harry was dousing himself in gasoline.
"Harry?" Sirius asked, touching his shoulder. Dumbledore's eyes weren't twinkling anymore. His brow furrowed and and clasped Harry's other shoulder.
"My boy, I think it's time you stop writing for today. We can always come back tomorrow or even tonight if I deem you well enough." Dumbledore said sternly. Harry scowled.
"No..." He muttered, still scribbling furiously, "I'm so close."
"Harry-" Albus started.
"NO! You will not stop me, old man!" Harry screeched turning to him with a red tint to his normally green eyes. Suddenly, he scowled and turned back to the book, writing with a look of anger on his face.
Sirius grasped the book with both hands and tugged fiercely. Harry's hand appeared to be glued to the diary because the book was not leaving the boy's hands. "Harry! It's time to stop!" Sirius shouted, concern present on his face and eyes. He continued trying to steal away the journal but his attempts were fruitless. Harry was intent on writing in the book until the last page and with the words constantly disappearing, that seemed an impossible goal. Harry's eyes were now more red than before. His voice was raspy.
"Yes... So close. I can feel it." He muttered over and over.
"What are you close to, Harry?" Dumbledore asked, his fears building. Something was terribly wrong with the boy. Dumbledore's heart dropped when Harry faced him with eyes as red as fire and a sneer.
"Not Harry anymore, Headmaster. He's not at home anymore." Harry tilted his head and grinned. Sirius gasped and Dumbledore winced.
"Tom, you will leave Harry's body this instant." Dumbledore said cooly with a commanding edge to his voice, Harry didn't waver.
"Or what old man? You'll destroy me? As if! I can guarantee that little Harry won't come back again." Voldemort taunted.
"Come on Harry! You've got to fight him!" Sirius shouted, breaking out of his stupor. Harry glanced at him with a sneer.
"I do hate repeating myself, Sirius Black. Harry is gone. He isn't coming back." Voldemort repeated.
"Then we have nothing left to loose to duel you." Albus swiftly interrupted.
"You wish to duel, old man? Then come on!" Voldemort shouted, gripping Harry's wand in his hand. Dumbledore's wand was pointed towards the boy in a flash, a dangerous twinkle ignited in his eyes while Harry's looked as if his were going to catch fire. "Avada Kedavera!"
Sorry for the slow updates! I've got some shit to sort through and as always, writer's block is a bitch. See you all in the next chapter. For now though, enjoy! ~Patchwork Dr.