Here's the prologue to the story. Sorry about all of the exposition. I'm not too fond of it myself but sometimes it seems to be necessary.
Disclaimer: The X-Men were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and belong to Marvel Comics. Harry Potter was created by and belongs to J.K. Rowling.
1) PROLOGUE
Dr. Stephen Strange sat at the desk of his study and contemplated a silver box. It wasn't a large box as he could hold it in one hand although it wasn't exactly a small box either. The lid was sealed and it was inscribed with runes on all sides. It was a very special box and it was part of an important problem that Strange had been working on for several months and he needed to discuss matters with his old master, the former Sorcerer Supreme the Ancient One.
Dr. Strange wasn't a doctor in the normal sense of the word. He had been once upon a time when he had been a brilliant surgeon but an accident had damaged his hands and made it impossible for him to ever perform surgery again. Instead he had traveled to the Himalayas and learned sorcery under the tutelage of the Ancient One who, as his name indicated, was several centuries old and was one of the most powerful and experienced sorcerers in the world. He was still Sorcerer Supreme when he took on Dr. Strange as a student. Strange studied with him for years and eventually became a powerful sorcerer in his own right. A few years ago the Ancient One had retired as Sorcerer Supreme and handed the job over to Strange. The two of them remained in frequent contact as the Ancient One was an excellent source of knowledge and advice.
Whenever one of them wished to consult the other the usual method was for one of them to leave his physical body and travel in astral form to where the other one was. Today, however, Dr. Strange felt that he wanted to meet with the Ancient One in person as he needed to bring the silver box with him to show to his master. Accordingly he made a portal from his sanctum to the entrance to the Ancient One's temple which was located on a mountainside deep in the Himalayas. One could reach it on foot but the path was not easy and now, in the middle of January, 1994 it was buried so deep in snow that it was impassable. That didn't matter to Strange since he could get there by portal and anyway he hadn't used the foot path in a long time.
When Dr. Strange arrived he found the Ancient One waiting for him in the entrance hall.
"My son" said the Ancient One, "I am glad to see you."
"As am I you master" said Dr. Strange.
"I sense that you are troubled."
"Yes" said Strange, "I wish to consult with you on a matter of some importance."
"Then let us go to my private study and we will talk" said the Ancient One and led him further into the temple.
"You are doing very well as Sorcerer Supreme" said the Ancient One, "I am very pleased with your work."
"Thank you master" said Strange, "it's rarely dull although sometimes I wish that Baron Mordo would disappear."
"I fear that Mordo's redemption may be beyond us" said the Ancient One, "but one must never lose hope."
Baron Mordo was Dr. Strange's arch enemy. They had first met when Strange first came to the Ancient One's temple. At the time Mordo was the Ancient One's disciple but Strange had discovered that Mordo was trying to kill his master. (See Strange Tales #115: "The Origin of Dr. Strange") Ever since then they had been enemies. Dr. Strange had lost count of how many times they had faced each other. In recent years things had become worse because Mordo hated that Strange had become Sorcerer Supreme rather than him. He rarely missed a chance to attack Strange and dealing with Mordo took up much of Strange's time.
By now they had reached the Ancient One's private study.
"Sit my son" said the Ancient One, "and tell me what has you so troubled."
"Thank you master" said Dr. Strange as the two of them sat down in chairs facing each other across a low table. Dr. Strange produced the silver box and put it on the table.
"Have a look at that" he said, "it's safe for you to handle although you might not like it." The Ancient One bent forward and picked up the box. As soon as he touched it his face took on a look of revulsion although he did not let go of the box. He brought it closer to his eyes so he could examine the runes carved on it.
"This thing is evil" he said.
"It is" said Dr. Strange but said nothing else as he knew his master would want to fully examine it on his own.
"There is a soul fragment in this box" said the Ancient One after several moments, "you have brought me a horcrux."
"Yes" said Strange, "one that I removed from the head of a boy some months ago. Don't worry, the boy is fine."
"Tell me everything" ordered the Ancient One as he put the box back on the table. Dr. Strange told him all about how he had found and removed the soul fragment trapped in the scar on Harry Potter's forehead and just who the soul fragment belonged to.
"So that is how Lord Voldemort survived his encounter with Harry Potter in 1981" said the Ancient One, "I sensed that he still lived but was not sure how as there are certain ways one can avoid death. Until now I was not sure of which method he used."
"Of all the methods he could have used" said Strange, "this is one of the worst, if not the very worst."
"Why do you bring this abomination to me? Why have you not destroyed it?"
"Because it's not the only one. This one was made by accident. Professor Dumbledore told me about another one that Harry himself had destroyed some time earlier." Strange went on explain about the diary that had caused the opening the Chamber of Secrets and how it had been created specifically because Voldemort had wanted it to be used.
"So you see" finished Strange, "there has to be at least one more horcrux, one that Voldemort will have hidden, perhaps more than one. The questions are 1) how many are there? and 2) where are they? Unfortunately I have not been able to devote as much time to this problem as I would have liked due to all of my other work, and the last attack by the Dread Dormammu didn't help either."
"To answer the first problem" said the Ancient One, "it will be necessary to cast a spell of soul connection which will show us all the connections between this piece of the soul and the others."
"I'm not aware of that spell" said Strange.
"I am not surprised" said the Ancient One, "it is very little known and almost never used as it is mainly used to find the various pieces of a shattered soul and, as you know, it is very rare for a soul to be split into pieces. You were right to come to me as this spell is best cast by two people together as one caster could be overwhelmed." The Ancient One stood up from his chair and went over to a bookshelf and selected a old, large, thick volume which he brought back and put down on the table between them. He opened it up and flipped through the pages until he found the right spell after which he turned the book around so Dr. Strange could read the spell for himself. Strange looked it over carefully.
"I see" he said looking up at his master, "let's do this. The sooner we have some idea of how many horcruxes Voldemort made the better off we'll be."
"I agree" said the Ancient One who had sat down again by now and he raised his right hand, "we will alternate the chant. You may begin."
"Very well" said Dr. Strange as he raised his hand and began the spell, "by the power of the Vishanti."
"And the strength of Agamotto" said the Ancient One."
"With the help of the spirit of Life."
"And the aid of Death the inevitable."
"Show us the parts of this soul."
"Let all the connections be shown both active and inactive."
"So say we both!" they finished together as power poured out of both of their hands and hit the silver box. The box seemed to absorb the power for a moment before spitting it back out in six black streamers of power that all shot up and off in different directions before seeming to fade away before leaving the room. One of the streamers fell down toward the ground and ended. It looked as if it had been cut off from the rest of it. The other five appeared to be undamaged. The two sorcerers looked at the results of their spell for a long moment as they both sought to catch their breaths from the effort of casting that spell.
"A seven part soul" Dr. Strange finally said in disgust.
"Six parts now" said the Ancient One pointing to the streamer that had fallen down, "you told me that one part had already been destroyed? That streamer connected this part of the soul to that part. With that piece destroyed the connection is cut. This is the inactive soul connection the spell mentioned."
"Then should we cut the other connections?" asked Dr. Strange.
"That is not possible" said the Ancient One, "the streamers will remain connecting the soul parts as long as the soul parts exist. Only when a soul part is destroyed will a streamer be cut. But now we know for certain how many horcruxes there are."
"Yes" said Dr. Strange, "five horcruxes, including this box, and Voldemort's main soul which can't be destroyed until all of the other horcruxes are destroyed." The Ancient One nodded.
"That is right" he said.
"Can we follow these streamers" asked Strange, "back to the other parts of the soul?"
"It is possible" said the Ancient One, "but it will not be easy. You will have to enter the streamer in your astral form to follow it and that can be dangerous as the soul you join may try to take you over if it discovers you and is stronger than you are. You must prepare well before undertaking this task. And do not forget that one of these streamers will lead directly to Voldemort himself. You will not know which one until you follow that streamer."
"Or unless I'm lucky and it's the only one left after the other parts are destroyed" said Strange, "I will do as you say master and take time to prepare myself for this task."
"Good" said the Ancient One, "leave the box here for now. It will be safer here and no one will touch it. When you are ready return here and I will watch over you while you are engaged in your quest."
"Thank you master" said Dr. Strange.
(To Be Continued)
There's the prologue. Now please click the next button and go on the next chapter!