Chapter Twenty-four Slughorn

The fat man scrambled, crab-like across the floor on the palms of his hands and toes and fell face down at Harry's feet all tucked in like a roly-poly bug. He moved fairly quickly for a person of such girth. "Harry! Harry! You shouldn't be here!" he cried.

"You helped him...you were there when he tried to make a Horcrux of my mother. You helped him," Harry repeated quietly, staring down at the bald spot on the crown of the man's head. Hair had been combed over it to try and cover it and it struck Harry oddly. There were very few adults he had come to respect in his life and when he had, he had almost always become disillusioned. It had even happened with Dumbledore. And here was a man he hadn't really liked from the beginning and it had gone downhill from there. However, he still could not bring himself to hate the man.

Slughorn's red-rimmed eyes looked wildly around the room as if he were thinking of an excuse and then he arched his back and looked up into Harry's face, nodding slowly, "Yes. Yes, I helped him. Kill me, Harry. I want you to kill me," he began and broke into savage sobs that made his body tremble like jelly. He dropped his head onto the back of his flattened hands, like a Muslim at prayer and his muffled voice sounded from the floor, "He's going to be here soon and he'll kill me horribly. I...I...I'd rather you do it," he sobbed.

Harry looked at the man without sympathy. He was pointing Dumbledore's wand at him but remained silent. He knew he could do it with ease and yet his heart wasn't in it.

Slughorn pushed himself up and slowly rose to his knees. "I couldn't stop it, Harry. You've got to believe me. I liked your mother. She was such a bright student while she was at Hogwarts. But she wouldn't stop...wouldn't stop talking about him and what he was doing. It was so dangerous! I told Dumbledore, I told him he should advise her to stop." The man's eyes were still rolling around wildly and he grasped his hands in an attitude of prayer and was rocking back and forth in agitation. "I couldn't stop him...the...the Dark Lord! Trust me, when he tortured her, I was in as much pain..."

"Stop!" Harry breathed. He put as much force behind the words as he could muster without shouting them. He didn't think he could bear to hear about it from this man. He also did not want to use the silencing charm out of fear the wand would take away the man's speech entirely. He was gaining a growing respect for its' powers. And yet, he bit his tongue and felt the taste of blood as he glared at Slughorn. Now, he could feel the heat of anger rising.

The man rocked back on his heels and his knuckles whitened with the increased pressure. "Yes, yes, anything you say," he whispered. The sweat was pouring down his face and even though he clamped them shut in silence, his lips continued to move involuntarily as if he were continuing to tell his version of the story.

It was clear to Harry he was he was so terrorized that he was very close to insanity. "I will protect you from him," he began, "and in exchange you will help me."

"Oh yes, yes, dear boy," he whispered again. "I'll do anything, anything! But...but protect me?" He hesitated and asked, "So you are the Horcrux?" His eyes narrowed and he stared into Harry's face as if searching for something in it.

Harry had partly turned away and then swung his wand arm back and stepped forward and leaned in over him and in so he breathed directly into his face. "NO, I AM NOT! he hissed. "That was my twin brother! You and Voldemort performed the charm to place a Horcrux in my mother. She was pregnant at the time and my twin brother became the Horcrux!"

Slughorn paled and rolled his eyes away from Harry's and squeezed them shut. He was once again trembling. "A twin?" he whined more to himself then to Harry. It was clear he was astonished by the news.

"Yes, Mr. Slughorn," Harry said between gritted teeth. "She was pregnant with twins. Now where is the snake? Where is Nagini?" Slughorn was still digesting the information and not paying attention. "Where is Nagini?!" Harry asked sharply.

"Oh...oh...uh," Slughorn was climbing to his feet. "In the garden, out on the grounds I think. I don't know. Why?"

"She is the sixth Horcrux. Isn't that right? " Harry asked. "You should know you made them. You have to help me kill her."

Slughorn looked at him in surprise and got to his feet and began to back into the room on his tiny slipper-ed feet. "Kill her? Why...why... she is His companion. He would be...infuriated. Yes, she is a Horcrux," he admitted and cringed as Harry stepped closer. "But she cannot be destroyed. They cannot be destroyed."

"You are wrong," Harry said quietly and calmly. "All of the others ARE destroyed."

He wasn't sure that was true but was hoping Snape had managed to make it true. He didn't think about it because he knew that destroying the snake would make one less thing to contend with.

Slughorn shrugged and stared at his pudgy fingers as if he had left a smudge of sugar there somewhere and intended to lick it off. "Destroyed? How is that possible?"

Harry was growing impatient. The man couldn't seem to pull himself together. "If we kill her will it destroy the Horcrux inside of her?" Harry asked.

Slughorn nodded and then shook his head and then nodded again. He couldn't seem to make up his mind. "I don't know. I don't KNOW!" he cried and spun in a circle like a rotund ballet dancer.

All that was missing was a pink tutu, Harry thought and then frowned. The man's panic was causing him to lose focus. "You should know," he said angrily. "You made them!"

Slughorn faced him, staring blankly and whined, "Yes, yes, but I never...I don't know how to destroy them. I never knew that, my dear boy!"

Harry strolled forward forcing the man to step back. "What does a man get for doing such a thing, Mr. Slughorn? What payment did you receive for creating such abominations?" He looked down at the circle scribbled on the floor. He stood in the middle of it and the man had backed away a little further. "What does Voldemort plan to do? I know he set a trap for me here."

"He wants to steal your soul, Harry," Slughorn said, thickly. "He's...he's insane. But he can possess you, can take possession and..." he shook his head and his pudgy jowls swayed back and forth. "It's just too horrible..." he began and spittle pooled at the corner of his mouth. "It can't be done, but I am ordered to do it. I'm to help take your soul, like the Dementors and transfer it to him. He expects too much..." Slughorn appeared to be talking to himself and studying the circle he had drawn on the floor. The man looked equally mad and, suddenly almost jubilant, as Harry stepped into the middle of the circle. His own feet were on the edge and he hurriedly moved back as if he stood on a precipice.

"I'm really sorry, Harry," Slughorn said forlornly and wiped chalk dust from his fingers. "But you see, I didn't want to die." The crazed eyes met Harry's and together they dropped and looked at the scribbling on the floor which now looked very much like a skull with a snake curling out of its mouth.

Harry quickly backed away from Slughorn and found he almost immediately hit an invisible wall. He had been trapped!

"Remus?" Tonks spoke up. Sh had stayed in the background and now stepped forward with Ginny Weasley at her side.

He wanted to keep her safe, wanted her to stay behind, and he squeezed his eyes closed as he turned back.

"She's clumsy, Lupin and she will give us away if you take her with us," Snape said in the dark. The old snarling voice was back.

Lupin stepped over to her, held her by the arms and kissed her lightly on the lips. "Take Fred and George, Fleur and Bill and go to Hogsmeade." He stopped and looked over at Ginny. "Ginny go along with them. Fred and George show her the way through the secret tunnel up to Hogwarts. You'll find yourself coming up behind a hump-backed witch statue." Lupin smiled at the twins and said, turning back to her, "They know the way. Cover the Room of Requirement and make sure no one comes out." The twins, Bill, Fleur and Ginny were at her side in a moment. "We depend on you," he said and tried to convey confidence. "I depend on you," he emphasized and stared at the few dark figures remaining around them. He suddenly thought of something. "And find Hagrid. Send someone to find out where he's gotten to."

He turned quickly and hurried through the dark with his four companions behind him. He tried not to think about her as they headed up towards the castle.

Voldemort had seemingly forgotten the time. He was now slithering around the room wearing the Sorting Hat on his scaly head. He was speaking to the room at large and sounding very jolly, although the words were not human anymore.

"You have another chance, hat!" he chortled. "You have a chance to sort me one more time and then your time will be over. Never more will you preside over the sorting of the students in this school. They will all be mine!"

What had developed as a tail attached to his elongated trunk now slithered around the stone floor with a rustling sound.

…...

"What have you done?" Harry asked as Slughorn backed away.

…..

The castle was not as empty as it had been when Harry entered and met up with Draco. This time as Ron, Hermione, Snape and Remus entered they were met by a band of Death Eaters led by Bellatrix Lestrange. The alarm had been sounded and the halls were infiltrated by witches and wizards as well as any number of creatures loyal to Voldemort.

Snape and Lupin moved out ahead of Ron and Hermione who walked backwards part of the time covering their backs as a means of defense. Any hope of getting to Harry in the library was almost impossible as they fought their way forward almost one halting step at a time.

Hogwarts had also taken on an almost ominous dark quality of its own as if the new tenant had repainted the walls with despair and gloom. It was difficult to distinguish the once beautiful school and its shining hallways from the now dank dark atmosphere of the school as it presently stood. They were all astonished by its morbid countenance.

…...

"Perhaps I should let him have you after all, Slughorn," Harry said in anger as he fully realized his predicament. He wasn't sure he could break the spell that bound him inside the Dark Mark but he was sure he could kill Slughorn from within it. "Move and I will have you," he hissed as Slughorn edged around the circle towards the door.

"We are going to MAKE Voldemort think you can perform the magic that he wants; we will let him know I am here and you are ready to proceed," Harry said finally, holding Dumbledore's wand lightly in his hand but pointing it directly at the man, nonetheless.

A memory flooded him. The memory was about Sirius writhing in agony as Voldemort tortured him with the Cruciatus Curse. Only, Sirius had not been tortured, had not even been around Voldemort at all. Voldemort had entered his mind, possessed him and had placed the pictures there and he had believed them. Harry had been tricked into going to the Ministry, and going to the Department of Mysteries.

Now, Harry was going to turn the tables, he was going to pay Voldemort back for killing Sirius by using his own tricks. It meant using occlumency. He'd only taken a few lessons from Snape but it was the only way. He needed to enter Voldemort's mind he knew that much. Whatever else he needed to do was still unclear.

"What...what do you intend to do, Harry?" Slughorn gasped as if reading his mind. He stood clutching his hand to his chest as if it would help him bring more air into his lungs. He was so frightened that he was sweating and heaving in his attempts to breathe. "He's... he's well protected, "he gasped. "There are Death Eaters in the castle. Pettigrew is around somewhere and even that dreadful snake, Nagini, is nearby. You are out-numbered. You cannot hope to slay him Harry, he is too powerful."

"You are a coward and worse," Harry managed to say. "You are an accomplice to murder; Dumbledore's, Sirius', even my parents deaths. You have many deaths on your conscience, Slughorn. Will you add mine to it or will you help me?"

"I did not want to help him. You must believe me," Slughorn trilled. "He was such a handsome, brilliant student and I...I wanted to see him do well. He came to me, often, asking for little things, most often just asking questions, and in return he saw to my needs." Slughorn wrung his chubby hands. "I was seduced as much as anyone by his charm and his way of disarming people and blinded by the early signs that he was experimenting in the dark arts...that he was...so...so evil."

He continued, "I am not a brilliant wizard, or hardly even a talented one, Harry. Perhaps talented only in being able to see the skills and talents of others. I have made a career of that very thing. And...and I knew... believed he would come to be a very powerful wizard. But I swear I did not know the depths of darkness that was in his heart. By the time I became aware, I was in debt to him..." Slughorn wheezed out a sob. "Yes, in debt... very much in his debt."

Harry was growing impatient. He did not want to hear the man's confession and yet, this man knew more about Voldemort then anyone else. "So how do I kill him?" he asked simply. "All but Nagini has been destroyed, and Voldemort is at his weakest and it's my only chance. Break this incantation and turn me loose. He will not let you live whether I live or die and you know it. If you turn me loose, you stand a chance of surviving and maybe wiping your slate clean."

Slughorn's eyes were again on the floor and he raised his head. "Your mother knew. She understood the sacrifice needed to save others. You must do the same. You must let him try to kill you."

Harry studied the man's eyes to search for a hint of truth or lie and wished more than anything at that moment that he had Veritaserum. He laughed a little and replied, "I think one has been done already."

"No...no... you don't understand. He cannot kill you."

"Yes, I know," Harry answered. "I have been told that as well. It's a little hard to believe given that if it's a lie then my life is forfeit and Voldemort goes on, and if it's the truth then he will just be exiled again and his body destroyed with the chance he will again be resurrected. Believe me Slughorn, I don't think any of us want to go through that again."

The pudgy man's eyes jerked back and forth in their sockets as if looking to find the answer somewhere in the room. "I don't know, Harry. I really don't know how to kill him." He looked up in desperation. "Don't you think I would have tried to assassinate him before this if I knew how?"

"Would you have?" Harry asked once again impatient circling the area where he was entrapped. "And not have all of your needs met?" he asked his voice dripping with sarcasm. He then stepped forward once again and met Slughorn almost nose-to-nose although unable to step over the barrier to actually touch the man. "Break the charm and set me free," he demanded.

Slughorn backed away shaking his head and looking as frightened as he did when Harry stepped into the room. "I can't," he said, pleadingly.

"KREACHER?" Slughorn called a moment later as they stood staring at one another. The house elf popped into the room immediately, backed away and hissed and snarled when he saw Harry.

"You have brought this horrible boy here and set a trap for him," Kreacher growled staring at the mark on the floor. "Good...good. The dark master will deal with you now," he said to Harry and grinned a most terrible and perverted grin. "Together the master and Kreacher will rid the world of the half-blood, muggle-born scum."

"Are you saying you have two masters, Kreacher?" Harry asked grimly. "How is it possible for you to serve two masters since you are aware you serve me and can serve no other?"

Slughorn glanced over at the elf who was cringing and glaring furiously at Harry but remaining silent.

Harry continued, "I have not set you free Kreacher, nor do I intend to. However, if your intent is to call Him here then do it, but understand you cannot betray me to him. You must obey me in whatever I ask of you." Harry stood watching the elf and could hear Hermione's voice in his head. Harry had no qualms about treating the elf as a servant, particularly in this situation.

Slughorn looked suddenly less anxious as he studied the two of them. "I can do one thing for you, Harry," he finally said. "I still have a little of the Felix Felicis potion," he said and produced a vial from his breast pocket of the amber colored liquid that brought good luck when drunk. He looked at it longingly and it was very clear to Harry the man wanted to use it for himself. There were but a few drops left.

"No, thank you," Harry growled. "I don't think I want to depend on that to save my life." He knew the man had been using it fairly frequently. And perhaps, Harry thought, that's why he's still alive. Still words from his mother's diary floated through his mind as he watched him stuff it back in his pocket looking very relieved. It wasn't always wise, she had said, to depend on magic for everything. He thought he might just heed that advice now.

Harry turned towards Kreacher and gave an order, "Stay put Kreacher." He also immediately shouted, "EXPELLIARMUS!" as he saw Slughorn withdraw his wand and start to use it. He remembered how very adept the man was at transfiguration. He had not known the man had changed into a puffy chair the night he and Dumbledore had searched him out and realized immediately what he intended to do. "I think not," he said. "I think we shall face Voldemort together, Professor."

The man's face grew gray with dread and he slumped into a chair outside the circle. Harry waved Dumbledore's wand and transfigured a pouffy chair for himself. One very much like the one Dumbledore had made for himself when Harry had been on trial before the Wizengamot; in fact, they were identical. Harry sat down tiredly and prepared himself. He was going to do a little mind-traveling, he decided.

…...

Voldemort had been a very powerful wizard at one time. However, with the loss of so much of his soul, his body was changing into that of the creature he most resembled, and because of it he was also taking on its' animal nature and mentality. Surprisingly, he was not cognizant of the fact or if he was, it did not disturb him.

His thoughts were no longer on the protection of the castle, the execution of the prisoners at Azkaban, catching Harry Potter or any of the other thousands of things that were coming to a critical juncture. Instead, he was tired of the jocular time he'd been having and decided it was time to roam the halls of the building in search of rats to feed on because he was hungry; and hungry as only an animal can be. And so it was the first and foremost thing on his mind and very little besides that occupied his thoughts.

Of course, the last and final piece of his soul, the seventh Horcrux still resided in his now quite disfigured body. It still held the remnants of the powerful wizard and could be activated to rouse the human parts as it had done once before when Voldemort had lost his body the first time. The exception was that Voldemort's brain remained intact on the first occasion and had not been compromised. Each animal he possessed in his journey to stay alive and regain his body had not changed him in any way. Nor had any of the wizards, like Professor Quirrell. He had remained intellectually in charge and as emotionally empty as he had always been.

That was not the case now. His human counterpart now lying dormant within the changeling and was the weaker of the two. It would not take much for it to be roused and the moment Harry entered his mind with his rather crude and unskilled probing, Voldemort-the wizard- came awake. His now animalistic emotions were in full force. unbridled and ferocious. He headed for the library with one thing on his mind and one thing only. He would devour the bringer of this pain he suffered. He would strike first and ask questions later. He was a... very... angry... snake.