Chapter One Hundred-Thirteen
"I've found it!"
Severus and Dumbledore heard Lily's triumphal proclamation and so followed her voice to where she was standing. In her delicate hands was an ancient diadem, the very one of which they had seen a replica on the statue of Ravenclaw.
Dumbledore's eyes widened as he approached Lily and held out his aged hands for the item. "May I?" he asked.
"Of course," Lily replied, smiling at her victory and awed to be holding something simultaneously so old and housing a piece of Voldemort's soul.
Dumbledore took the diadem and examined it. Severus warily watched him, stepping next to Lily.
"It doesn't seem to do harm by just touching it," Severus observed.
"There is the same odd sensation when holding it as the other Horcruxes... I can feel the pulsing life inside. Let's get it back to my office and put it with the others." Finding Lily's gaze, Dumbledore added, "Good work, Lily."
"Thanks," Lily replied. Her smile faded as she realized they still had three Horcruxes needing destroying. "But how will we dispose of it if dementors are too risky?"
"This room gives the requester anything he or she wants, correct?" Severus inquired, an idea coming to him.
"That is the way it appears to work," Dumbledore agreed.
"If we step out of the room and back into the corridor, we ought to be able to wish for the room to produce the Sword of Gryffindor for us," Severus pointed out. "You used it before, sir, when you destroyed the ring, and you wanted me to give it to Harry Potter to aid him in the destruction of the other Horcruxes."
"Well, it is certainly worthy of a try," Dumbledore said with a nod. "Very well." He stowed the diadem in his robe.
The trio exited the room and found themselves back in the darkened hallway a moment later. Severus decided to have a go at trying to gain access to the room for what he desired. Walking by the area three times where the door had appeared the first time, he thought long and hard, wishing for the sword.
When nothing happened, he grew frustrated.
It worked for Dumbledore. What am I doing wrong?
"Maybe I ought to try?" Lily suggested.
"I am willing as well," Dumbledore added.
Severus knew his pride was getting the best of him, but he didn't want to let them try. This had been his idea, after all, and he was a clever enough man!
Groaning, Severus shook his head. "Let me try a little longer," he ground out in annoyance.
Need and valor, Severus suddenly thought. The sword can't just appear for use unless it's taken properly.
So he amended his original desire, asking the room to produce the sword in an attitude of need and valor.
The door reappeared, and Severus stopped in his pacing, breathing a sigh of relief.
"Brilliant," Lily breathed.
The sword was no where obvious. Before them sat a forest.
Lily was the first to step into the room, which no longer seemed like a room when filled with numerous trees. "Amazing," she whispered in awe. "Is there anything this room can't do?"
"I'm sure it has its limitations," Severus stated factually, "but this is rather impressive." He took her hand as he heard movement of creatures among the trees.
"Most interesting," Dumbledore said with a smile. "It would seem the room has devised an obstacle we must first pass before getting the sword."
In silent agreement, Severus and Lily led the way into the thickness of trees. They walked along for some time, feeling like they were outside in the Forbidden Forest. How Hogwarts could house a forest was beyond them. Keeping their eyes peeled for any sign of the sword, their heads turned from side to side as they made their way. So far, nothing had tried attacking them, and nothing had surprised them, despite the rustling of leaves, telltale signs of animals moving about the vegetation.
The makeshift path they were forging turned left, and Lily released a startled shriek as something fell on her. In her surprise, she had released Severus's hand and stepped back. Severus's eyes immediately settled on his wife, finding the source of her shock. A large snake had fallen out of the tree nearest them and was now coiling itself around her neck.
"Don't move, Lily," Severus said levelly. "I'll be rid of the thing for you in a second." Withdrawing his wand, he aimed it at the snake and cast a spell that should have made it disappear. When that failed to work, he tried transfiguring it, but still nothing. He couldn't risk burning it, as he didn't want to harm Lily.
Meanwhile, the snake was growing more and more agitated and tightening its coils around Lily. She whimpered, looking desperately at her husband and then at Dumbledore.
"Lily!" Severus exclaimed in panic. Glaring at Dumbledore, he yelled, "Do something for her! My spells aren't working!"
"I think this is the moment," Dumbledore said much too calmly.
"Damn it, Dumbledore! Now isn't the time to stand around and give me cryptic messages! I need help!"
At Severus's last words, the Sorting Hat fell from the same tree from whence the snake had come.
"What?" Severus asked. Then he noticed it - the gleam of something silver and red. "The sword!" Severus shouted in realization.
Knowing what he must do, he reached for the sword and withdrew it from the hat. Not sure how he would use it on the snake with it being on Lily, Severus gave his full attention to the creature. While the snake's mid-body was coiled around Lily's neck, its head was held out away from the rest of its body. He was grotesquely reminded of Nagini and his own death.
"Sev," Lily croaked, her face turning blue. "Hurry."
With a growl, Severus lowered the sword onto the snake, just below the head, and severed the beast's ugly head from its body. The coils went limp, and Lily pushed them off with some effort, stepping back, still recovering from her near bout of death.
"Are you okay?" Severus asked, throwing the sword down and going to her.
"I am now," she said, catching her breath. "Thank you, Sev."
"Well done," Dumbledore commended, picking up the sword. "That was not what I would have expected to happen in this room, but it's unlikely the room would have given us something we couldn't handle. Now, let's return to my office and destroy some Horcruxes."
Severus glared at Dumbledore's back as he retreated. "He didn't even ask if you were all right," Severus murmured to Lily.
"Never mind that," Lily replied, not sounding too happy herself.
They eventually were back in the headmaster's office. Dumbledore placed the diadem next to the cup and the locket and examined the three seemingly harmless objects.
With anticipation, Severus watched, eager to see the Horcruxes destroyed. Despite his anger at Dumbledore for not intervening earlier in the Room of Requirement, they had a task at hand, and if they were successful, only Voldemort himself would remain after today. He would be rendered mortal in a couple of minutes without knowing it. This, Severus figured, could almost make up for the fact that Dumbledore had done nothing to help Lily.
Dumbledore brought the blade of the sword down on the diadem first, but only a resounding clang issued forth. Frowning, he tried again. Nothing but the noise.
He tried the cup and the locket. Still nothing.
Several times over he tried, but the sword only hit the Horcruxes, metal on metal banging and clanging.
No longer so celebratory, Dumbledore's shoulders sagged slightly. Turning accusing eyes on Severus, he said, "I thought you said the sword was effective in destroying the ring Horcrux."
"It was," Severus protested. Filling with bitter rage, thinking their journey into the forest in the Room of Requirement and Lily's near-death had been for nothing, Severus yanked the sword from Dumbledore's hand and hit the Horcruxes repeatedly.
He was no more successful than Dumbledore. As he continued to rail against the Horcruxes, his anger became irrational. His goal was no longer to destroy parts of Voldemort's soul, but simply to show how upset he was at failure. He hadn't come this far only to be wrong.
"Severus!" Lily exclaimed many times, trying to gain his attention. Finally, she took out her wand and Accioed the sword to her. Startled to find his hands empty, Severus stopped his movements and turned toward Lily, the dejection of failure now evident in his body.
"I don't understand," he said hoarsely. "It should have worked."
Sighing, Dumbledore implored, "Think, Severus. Is there anything you might be forgetting? When did the sword appear the first time?"
Severus thought back to Harry Potter's second year, which seemed more than one lifetime ago. The boy had come from the Chamber of Secrets with the sword. He had used it to kill the basilisk.
His eyes widening, Severus felt realization strike him. "The sword must have been infused with basilisk venom when Harry Potter used it to kill the great serpent. Of course, seeing as none of us can speak Parseltongue, we cannot enter the Chamber of Secrets. This sword is useless without the venom."
Severus had explained the Chamber of Secrets incident to Dumbledore months ago when he had given him important information on what he knew about the Horcruxes. The diary had been involved with the Chamber, after all, but he had neglected to make the connection between the sword and its use in destroying the basilisk.
"Basilisk venom is a rare substance," Dumbledore murmured.
"Highly regulated and nearly impossible to find... and very expensive," Severus added, reason returning to him as he found himself calming down. "Very few potions use it."
"But today hasn't been a complete waste," Lily pointed out. "Not only did we procure the last Horcrux; we now know of another way to destroy them."
The two men gazed at her profoundly.
Author's Note: I know I promised by Tuesday, but I've been sick, so Wednesday morning isn't bad, right?
I know it's short, but this was a quick update. I have a good friend in town until Sunday, so no updates for at least another week.
Some were curious as to how Severus didn't know about the Room of Requirement. While it's possible he could have heard about it when Umbridge discovered the DA there, it's also possible he didn't hear all the details. I don't want to make things too easy for him! He can't know everything!
