Chapter 4:

A/N: Hey Everyone. Yes, after nearly 7 months, I have finally updated this story. I'll admit, after my last update I wasn't really sure where I wanted to take this story. That had been the end of my idea when I'd started writing and I had sort of hit some writers block. I got really busy with school after that and then got sucked into some other stories I had started. I wasn't even really intending to come back to this but because of all of you and your continued support during these long months I finally decided to work on it again. I'm actually amazed at the amount of reviews and even PMs I continue to get to this day asking when I'd come back to work on this. So thank you very much for your interest. I will admit, I am not sure how regular I'll continue to update this but I will do my best not to leave updates so long.

Anyway, without further ado, please enjoy the chapter. Let me know what you think in the reviews.

Harry squirmed uneasily in his chair before the Headmaster's desk. It wasn't that the aged wizard's expression held any malice or anything similar, in fact, his expression was more searching than anything. Their conversation after their surprise encounter had been brief, but Dumbledore had requested that they join him at Hogwarts to talk, so that's where they now were. Rias had refused her chair, standing beside his, her posture stiff. Dumbledore's hands were steepled before him. No one was talking.

Finally, the old wizard let out a tired sigh, "First, let me just say that I am happy to see that you are alright after the events that transpired on Privet Drive last night. I-"

"You know what happened?" Harry blurrted out.

"Indeed I do. As soon as I received word of what was happening, I rushed over, but alas you were already gone," the wizened headmaster looked down. "It seems I must apologize to you once again Harry. I told you just recently, despite my knowing that you and your relatives were not on the best of terms, that sending you back there each year was the only option. It was the only place in which I could be one hundred percent sure that you be safe, but even that was wrong. I am still uncertain what caused the wards to weaken and fail like they did, but I will endeavor to get to the bottom of it. I promised to protect you and yet my actions only put you in danger."

Harry wasn't sure how to feel after that. It was true that he'd been directing much of his anger and grief over Sirius' death onto him. He still felt that if Dumbledore had been a bit more open from the start, Harry would never have fallen into Voldemort's trap. Despite that, he didn't hate the headmaster. He didn't think he was being at all insincere in his words either and so he decided to endeavor to reel in his angsty behaviour. Even he knew he'd been pretty bad in that regard during the previous year already.

"It's alright sir," he answered. "I may still not agree about the time I had to stay with the Dursleys, but I know you only have ever had my own best interests at heart. Please don't worry about it. We may never know how Voldemort got through the wards, but it's over now and there is probably more important things that need your attention."

"You are very kind, Harry. However, I think the method used to breach the wards could be very important." He said in a matter of fact tone. "If we discover what happened, we will be able to determine if it can be replicated somewhere else. The ancient wards tied to this castle are the only reason that the school will remain open this next year and it could spell disaster if they were breached."

"I'm surprised I was even able to enter the castle. The inability of my kind to get inside is one of the many reasons they have never decided to try and wipe you all off the map," Rias interjected.

She wasn't exactly being subtle about the non-human thing causing Harry to sweat. He didn't know how Dumbledore would react to him not only summoning but marrying, albeit accidentally, a devil.

"That's because I allowed you entrance," Dumbledore pushed his half-moon spectacles up higher on his crooked nose. "Being Headmaster does come with it's perks. I am under the impression that I am now addressing the heiress of the Gremory clan. Is that correct?"

If Harry thought Rias was tense before, it was nothing to how she snapped to attention now.

"I am," she answered cautiously. "Though I am confused as to how you made such an observation. I know you would've been able to sense what I am, but as separated as our worlds have become, I did not think anyone would be able to identify me."

"Oh that," he smiled. "You are correct. I would not have been able to ascertain who you were, Rias Gremory, if I had not already run into a charming young woman, named Akeno, earlier today. You see, she was quite concernedly looking for you."

Rias' fists clenched as a hint of her crimson aura started flare around her body, "What did you do to her?"

Dumbledore remained unruffled, "Oh nothing happened. We just shared a few words before she departed back on her own. My colleagues were much more inclined to, how do the muggles say it? Ah yes, 'shoot first and ask questions later.' I stepped in to stop them and let me assure you she left unharmed."

The chaotic swirling energy slowly died down as Rias calmed herself. Opening her eyes once again, Harry heard her huff as she crossed her arms. This only served to push her impressive chest up even higher, causing Harry to turn away quickly, lest he got distracted.

"If you would humour an old man, I am curious on how you met Miss Gremory here. Would you be willing to share the story?"

Harry glanced over at the redheaded devil to see her opinion. Her face didn't give anything away, but she didn't show any obvious indications not to share.

Shrugging, Harry launched into the story, "I guess it all started with this paper from the Department of Mysteries. I didn't mean to take it, but it somehow ended up in my pocket. I'd soon realized it was written in Japanese and I had begun trying to translate it. It didn't take long for me to figure out it was talking about some kind of summoning but I had no idea how it worked. Next… I kind of accidentally activated the summoning, calling Rias to me."

"I see," Dumbledore's one silver eyebrow was raised as he looked at his student curiously, "Devils are known for taking a payment when summoned or signing a contract of sorts. No offense intended to Miss Gremory, but why did she agree to help you? Did you agree to anything in exchange."

Harry shook his head, "No."

"Oh?" The old wizard towards Rias this time, but it was Harry that spoke up again.

"During the accidental summoning ritual, I may have also forcibly married us without meaning to."

Silence descended across the room only to be broken a moment later by the sound of a hearty chuckle. It took Harry a moment to realize that it was actually Dumbledore that was laughing. He was too surprised to react at first, but soon enough he could feel his own indignation set in.

"This isn't funny!"

"The headmaster wiped his eyes, "Please forgive me." He took a second to steady his breathing. "I know this is serious, but I was just caught off guard. I promised myself that I would no longer underestimate you, but it seems I've already failed. You never do things by half, do you my boy?"

Harry knew he was right but it didn't stop him from grumbling under his breath.

"I do have an idea now of how Voldemort was able to find you," he added, peaking Harry's curiosity. "The wards in question should have protected you without fail until your seventeenth birthday as long as you had your closest family that resided there, and as long as you could call it home. By entering into a marriage as you did, even accidentally, the Gremorys will now be considered your closest family, which weakened the wards and allowed Voldemort to pierce them."

"Oh…" Harry wasn't quite sure how to feel about that. He hadn't even really been able to wrap his head around the fact that he was married let alone realize he now had more family than the Dursleys. It was something he'd always wanted, but he still wasn't sure of this. His new family were all devils, something that surprisingly didn't bug him much after meeting Rias, but the way she spoke of her race's hatred towards wizards did have him feeling weary.

"Why don't we speak about what your plans are going forward. You won't be able to return to your relatives care, something I am have feeling you will not be overly upset about. Now, I am sure the Weasley's would be happy to take you in for the time being, but I would like to hear your thoughts on the matter."

Harry was surprised at how open Dumbledore was being with everything going on, and he hoped it meant that the older wizard had taken his words, a month earlier in this office, seriously.

Despite his love for the Burrow and the family that resided there, Harry hesitated as he glanced over at Rias.

"We will need to make an appearance in the underworld sooner rather than later, but it would not be a bad idea for us to enjoy the hospitality of someone you know Harry, while we… finish finding all of the items we are looking for."

Dumbledore looked at them curiously once again, but hadn't pressed them for any information yet. "Splendid. I'll let Molly know to expect you both."

Standing from his large chair, the Headmaster strode over to the fireplace. Throwing some of the familiar glittering powder within, the normal flames turned green. Sticking his head in, Harry heard him call out "The Burrow!"

He couldn't pick up on the conversation that followed, but a few moments later, Dumbledore retreated from the fireplace with a smile. "It's all set and Molly said she would be happy to have you both. Though before you go there was a few more things I hoped we could discuss. I'll admit to being curious on how you happened to come into possession of that rather particular sword once again."

He pointed to an empty case on the wall. "I am quite sure I saw it resting up there earlier today."

Looking down, Harry had completely forgotten he was still holding the ancient sword. In his surprise he fumbled his grip and to his horror the sword of Gryffindor tumbled towards the ground. He cringed expecting to hear the loud clatter of metal on stone but was surprised when the blade sank into the floor as if it offered no resistance at all. The floor even rippled slightly as if it were made of water. As the ruby encrusted weapon disappeared from view, Harry looked around wildly in shock. He and the others only barely managed to catch sight of it rematerializing in the case.

"I… what…"

"Well that was interesting." Dumbledore commented. "Did you do anything specific to send it back over there?"

Harry shook his head, "No. I just dropped it. It just came to me like that earlier too. I had thought about it would have been nice to have to fight against that giant stone snake, and it just appeared in my hands."

"Hmmm…" he strokes his impressive beard. "You might be more connected to sword than I thought. Unfortunately you are the only one who has managed to pull it from the Sorting Hat in recent history, so we have nothing to compare it to. That being said, this brings me to my next question. I was quite surprised to see you at the Gaunt Shack. Would you mind illuminating me on this matter?"

Before Harry could answer Rias spoke up for the first time in several minutes. She'd been quietly observing the exchange so far with interest. "How about yourself? At first I was under the impression that you had somehow tracked us there, but now I am certain that was not the case. What were you doing at an abandoned place like that?"

Dumbledore sighed, his shoulders slumping forward slightly. He almost seemed to age several years before Harry's eyes. "It's not something I wished to burden you with Harry, but from our agreement earlier this summer, if you wish to know, I won't keep the knowledge from you."

Harry hesitated for only a moment. The headmaster's reaction to the subject made him weary, but he was done being uninformed. "I want to know."

"Very well," sitting up straighter he began, "My trip to the Gaunt's old property actually had nothing to do with you. My own research lead me to believe that it contained one of Voldemort's horcruxes."

"Horcruxes?" Harry parroted in confusion.

"A horcrux is an magical object in which one conceals a portion of their own soul. Through the act of murder they spilt their soul, and with a ritual, imbue one of those new pieces into an object. The protections it grants this object make it nearly indestructible and as long as a horcrux is still intact, it tethers the creator's soul to the mortal realm."

"And that's how he survived being hit by his own rebounding killing curse," Harry said with understanding as he pieces everything together. "That's… that's-"

"Disgusting," Rias growled from beside Harry. Her lips were curled down with distaste.

"It is extremely dark magic and the knowledge I just told you is heavily restricted. I removed any mentions of it from the Hogwarts library when I became headmaster. As I'm sure you know, the restricted is not the most secure of locations," he gave Harry a knowing look.

"Than how am I supposed to beat him? You told me that I was prophesied as the one who could defeat Voldemort. How can I do that if he's made one of these Horcruxes? He's basically immortal. He can just keep coming back!"

"I only said that Horcruxes are almost indestructible. They can be destroyed, and once a horcrux is destroyed, its creator is mortal once again."

"And how am supposed to find this thing?" Harry felt his own frustration rising. He wasn't sure how many more things to worry about he could pile on his plate. The tasks before him already felt overwhelming.

"As I said before, I was at the Gaunt Shack looking for one." He steepled his fingers. "I have to ask. Did either of you encounter a ring whilst inside the building? I was led to believe that was the object he used."

Harry and Rias exchanged a look. "We did."

Dumbledore leaned forward slightly over his desk, "and?"

"It had a powerful mind magic imbued upon it. I'll admit," Rias' cheeks actually got a dusting of pink at this point, "I almost let it get the better of me. Harry saved me and destroyed it with that sword."

Dumbledore sat back in his chair, a small smile gracing his features. "It seems you've done it again, Harry."

"Done what again? So I destroyed it right? Does that mean Voldemort's mortal again?" Harry felt some excitement building up in his chest. Could it be that easy? Had things ever gone that easy before?

The headmaster's smile dimmed, "Alas, it is not that simple. Voldemort, or as we both know him to named, Tom Riddle, has never been satisfied with the usual evils. He's always been one to push things farther. He is the first, I believe, to create more than one Horcrux."

"How many?" Rias asked. Her face was impassive but Harry could see her fists clenched tight. He was feeling pretty dismayed at the thought of having to find more of these things but was surprised at the large feeling of animosity that was coming off of the red haired devil.

"Unfortunately I do not know for sure, but I believe it to be seven." Opening a drawer on the far side of his desk, Dumbledore pulled something out that Harry couldn't see. "I believe you may be familiar with this."

The thud of the object hitting the desk reverberated through the room. Harry didn't think he could be anymore shocked. Dumbledore had been right, he did recognize the object. It was something he'd both thought and hoped never to see again after handing it over over three years earlier.

"Tom Riddle's diary," he whispered.

"That correct."

"It… it was a Horcrux," Harry felt himself pale. "It wasn't just a memory, but an actual piece of Voldemort's soul."

"A mere memory could never have done some of the things it did. Though if you think about it another way, it makes the length of time that young Miss Weasley was able to resist its effects quite impressive."

Harry's thoughts were in disarray. Knowing what the diary actually was made the events of his second year all the more sinister. Looking down at the ruined leather bound book in his hands, he suddenly couldn't get away from it fast enough as he threw it back onto the desk.

"I can't believe all of this," Harry muttered. "He really is crazy enough to go through with this kind of thing." He looked back up at his headmaster. "Doesn't splitting your soul have some kind of negative impact? It can't be healthy can it? I know a Dementor consuming one's soul is supposed to be worse than death."

Dumbledore gave a bitter smile, "You are quite right Harry. I'm sure you've seen the inhuman form he chooses to take for himself these days. I believe that is a result of a combination of his horcrux creation and any number of other rituals he has subjected himself too."

"That's it? He just lost his good looks for near immortality?"

"Not quite. You wouldn't know because of your age, but as someone who's watched Tom from the age of eleven, it is clear his horcruxes have taken a toll on his sanity. When he first began gathering followers, many flocked to him for his charisma alone. He was a master manipulator and could trick even the best of people. My predecessor, Headmaster Dippet was simply besotted with Tom, and even made him Head Boy, against my overwhelming objections. I think you'd agree, from how you've seen he treats his followers, most of that charisma has been lost."

Harry slumped back in his seat. This had all been a lot to take in. "What about finding the others? Two out of what you suspect to be seven of these things are gone… so what about the rest? What's the plan?"

Dumbledore shifted in his seat as he looked at Harry, "I am in the progress of tracing the locations of several very specific objects that I believe Tom may have gotten his hands on at some point over the years. If I can prove that he did come in contact with them than I'll be all but certain that he used them as his horcruxes."

"But how will we find where they are now?" He asked before turning towards Rias. "Would you be able to track them like earlier with the…" He trailed off as Rias' eyes narrowed in warning.

Glancing back at Dumbledore he was met with an inquisitive expression upon the old wizards face and Harry was unsure on how to play off the information he had just revealed.

After a moment of awkward silence, Dumbledore finally broke it, "I'm still not sure what you were doing at the Gaunt Shack yourself? I don't want to pry but it's quite curious as you claim not to know the object you were destroying and I find it concerning it was seemingly so easily located."

Harry exchanged another look with Rias whose expression was still not giving anything away. She'd been strangely guarded since they'd arrived at Hogwarts, but Harry just assumed it was because she didn't know Dumbledore.

"How about some tea before we continue our conversation?" He offered.

They both nodded and Rias even finally took the seat she'd been offered on their arrival. Pulling his wand, the headmaster gave it a wave conjuring up a platter with a steaming teapot and three cups. Despite this, it was not the impressive use of conjuration that had captured Harry's attention. It was actually the wand in his hand that his eyes had locked onto.

Harry had seen the headmaster use that wand for years and yet he'd never gave it a second glance, now though, it was if it were the only thing in the room that he could focus on. He barely even noticed Rias' sudden grip on his shoulder.

"Harry…" he heard her voice in his ear.

"I know," he muttered. Without realizing what he was doing, Harry stretched one of his hands out in front of him. The others in the room watched him in confusion. Suddenly, to all of their shock, the wand in question was wrenched from Dumbledore's hand and flew directly into his own as if summoned.

Harry lost all perception of what was going on around him. The wand in his hand seemed to be almost pulsing with energy and soon began to burn his hands. Forcing his clenched fist open, the wand dropped down before stopping and floating back up in front of his face on its own. At the same time, he could feel as his invisibility cloak, that had been wadded in one of his pockets, yanked free and start hovering around him as well. The stone he'd taken from what he now knew to be one of Voldemort's horcruxes, did the same.

The three objects orbited around him like planets around the sun, the others in the room still too shocked to move. That's when Harry started to hear them. The whispers. It was like hundreds, no thousands, maybe even millions of voices overlapping all at once, and yet he couldn't distinguish even one from the other. It was truly overwhelming and if Harry could force himself to move again, he would have clamped his hands over his ears, though for some reason he doubted it would have done anything.

A few moments later, as the sounds started to fade to a more manageable level, Harry noticed the energy that had been coursing through the three items was now being expelled directly at his body. As it hit him, it took everything Harry had not to cry out. He wasn't sure what exactly was happening but he found the experience oddly similar to the time he'd taken polyjuice potion, if not much more intense. He could feel his bones shifting, his muscles writhing, and his skin bubbling. Combined with the fading whispers in his head, the whole process was a sensory overload.

Even when those changes started to die down and the aches in his body slowly dissipated, the objects surrounding Harry froze midair. Before he knew it, the cloak was moving again, it wrapped itself around Harry's shoulders and came up over his head like a hood. His cloak had always been more of an invisibility blanket than an actual cloak, but now it was definitely living up to it's name.

Before he could think on this anymore, the stone in front of him began to change as it launched itself towards his chest. It impacted with a quiet thump and attached itself to his newly transformed cloak. It took Harry a moment to realize the stone had become brooch of sorts, holding the material together at the front.

Last but not least, the wand returned to his hand, but that wasn't all. It twisted upon itself and extended out longer. As it settled back down, Harry thought it might have turned into a staff, but looking upwards revealed he wicked curved blade. Is that a scythe?

"Harry?" The voice calling his name sounded extremely hesitant. Whipping his head around he met the gaze of the one who said it. "Is that you my boy?"

The question threw Harry for a loop. Who else would he be? Studying his headmaster more closely, something seemed different to him. He still looked the same as ever, but now Harry couldn't help but notice some kind of energy that clung to the old wizard. It wasn't visual in any way, more just a sense he was suddenly getting. Without realizing it, he stretched his senses out further into that energy and was reward with a renewed intensity to the strange whispers inside his head.

Somehow, as this was happening, Harry was assaulted with an overwhelming sense of sadness and regret. Flashes of things he'd never seen sped past his eyes. First, it was visions of a young girl. She was surrounded by a group boys a few years older than her. They were pushing her and taunting her. Suddenly, as her stress level rose, the girl cried out, a wave of dark energy exploding around her, throwing her tormentors backwards.

The scene shifted again, and an older man was being hauled away by what Harry recognized to be several Aurors. The unmoving forms of the teen boys from before were laying on the ground behind them.

Another shift showed a weary middle aged woman trying to calm the same girl who was working herself up into a familiar state of distress. Nothing was working and another explosion of dark energy came forth, throwing the woman across the room where she impacted the wall and slumped to the ground bonelessly.

The new scene that appeared showed two boys in their late teens. They were standing beside the young girl from before. They all watched as a coffin was levitated into an open grave. An old woman came over and spoke to the pair before leading the young girl away. The two boys stayed at the grave before the older said something Harry couldn't hear. The younger turned, his face flushed, and struck out with his fists. The blow impacted the older's nose as he stumbled back onto the ground.

A new vision popped up, showing the older teen again. He was pouring over a on old tome. Another new boy his own age stood beside him doing the same. Stopping his reading, the one spoke, quickly gaining the others attention. They soon got into an intense discussion but Harry could see the passion the two shared. Even with only a quick glance, he could tell that the one boy's nose was now crooked.

The next scene showed the two boys from the earlier funeral. Only now did Harry realize that they looked to be brothers. The younger girl and the older brother's friend were also present. A heated argument was waging between the three boys and the young girl was once again becoming distressed. The younger brother seemed to notice first and moved to go help her when the the older brother's friend moved to intercept him. Before he could blink, wands were being drawn and the first spells were fired. Curses flew through the air as fast as the eye could see. Some were dispelled before they could take effect, others were parried out of the way off magical shields, some even missed their mark completely blowing small craters into the grass around them.

Finally reaching her limit, the girl let out what looked to be an ear splitting scream, waves of dark energy visibly roiling off of her tortured form. It knocked some of the fighters back and even affected the magic currently in the air. Some of the spells seemed to change colour and effect mid-flight while some suddenly veered off course, and even some disappeared completely. There was a great flash of light when some of the newly mutated curses collided together. When the scene cleared, Harry saw the three fighters struggling back to their feet. Off to the side, the girl was dead. The youngest brother let out a strangled yell as he ran to her body. The older boys friend, looking worried apparated away. The older brother stood stock still, his face deathly pale as he looked at the results of all of their actions. It was only as the scene faded away that Harry realized the older brother wore a pair of spectacles over familiar looking blue eyes.

The next things Harry saw took a shift in tone. He did get a glimpse of a huge fight between the young Dumbledore and his former friend, something that looked even more impressive than his battle with Voldemort at the Ministry, but after that things lightened. The darkness of his youth never disappeared but his love of teaching and never ending hope towards the fundamental goodness of humanity always shone through. The visions flashes by faster and faster, mostly taking place at Hogwarts, showing the young man he'd first seen slowly transform into the old and wise mentor he was familiar with.

With a blink of his eyes, it was over. Harry was staring back at Dumbledore in the here and now. He was pretty sure he'd just seen visions spanning the entirety of his headmaster's long life and yet Harry was certain he hadn't been standing there for more than a moment. He wasn't sure how he had done all that either.

"Harry?" Someone else called his name capturing his attention. Turning he met Rias' gaze. He was shocked to find that even she looked a little unnerved, though not nearly as much as Dumbledore had appeared to be.

Without conscious thought, he tried to reach out to read her as well. As soon as he did, several things were made apparent to him. He could sense a preexisting connection of some sort between the two of them. He wasn't sure what it meant but he did have a feeling it was somehow related to the whole marriage thing he'd accidently trapped them in.

The next thing he noticed was that though he could get a vague sense of her emotions and… character, for lack of a better word, it was nowhere near as clear to him as Dumbledore's had been. Something felt different about what he sensed off her… alien somehow. Though that did make sense he figured, seeing as how she wasn't actually human. The things he did sense though, matched up mostly with what he already observed from her, a few other traits were a surprise. She was a kind and caring person, that much was obvious. On the other side Harry was feeling the things that were more traditional to the idea of a devil too. A sense of lust, pride, and even an undercurrent of selfishness were all present. What was surprising is that traits all seemed to be focused on pride around her family and watching out for those she cared about. The selfishness also seemed to be less of a negative and more around wanting control of her own life, something Harry could relate to in a major fashion.

Blinking out of his momentary faze, Harry realized he still hadn't answered either of them. "Yes-" He stopped talking immediately. The voice that came out did not sound like his own. It sounded as if several voices were all overlaid over each other. It sounded ancient and powerful even to his own ears, something he would admit was a bit creepy even if he had been the one to talk.

Focusing on what he was doing Harry tried again, "Yes…" Luckily this time his response did sound normal. "What was that?"

Dumbledore was still looking dumbfounded while Rias' gaze had turned more analytical.

"Why are you two looking at me like that?" Rias' brow arched at his question as she turned to Dumbledore.

"Do you have a mirror?" He was startled him out of his gaping.

"Oh… right… of course… let me just-" he made as if reaching for his wand before realizing he no longer had it. "Just one moment."

Shuffling over to one of the many cabinets in his office, Dumbledore opened one of the drawings, rummaging around inside before pulling out an old and worn box. Setting it down carefully, he removed the lid and pulled out an unfamiliar looking wand. If the dust that covered it was any indication, it hadn't been used in a long time. From across the room, Harry could feel the hum of magic wash across the room as Dumbledore picked it up.

"It's good to see you old friend," Harry wasn't sure how he had been able to hear the old wizard, as his words had been barely above a whisper, but he had anyway.

Before he could ponder this any further, Dumbledore strode back over towards them. A twirl of his wand caused a silvery like liquid to pour forth from the tip. For a moment, Harry had a flashback to the strange silver hand Voldemort had conjured for Peter Pettigrew but it passed after a few seconds. The strange liquid stayed suspended in the air while he worked and after a few moments, another flick of his wand had it rearranging into a large flat plane. One last wand movement had it hardening into what looked like regular metal, though it still remained floating.

"Here you go."

Unsure of what was going on, Harry glanced back at Rias who only indicated that he should step forward. Doing as he was told, he approached what he now realized to be the mirror Rias had asked for. He'd almost managed to forget that he was holding a giant scythe until he saw it. Surprisingly, that wasn't the thing that took the majority of his attention though. Harry was familiar with muggle depictions of the Grimm Reaper and somehow he seemed to look exactly like that. A long black cloak covered his whole body, and even in the brightly lit office, his face was hidden in perpetual shadow.

Somewhat panicked by this turn of events, all Harry wanted was to see his own face… his own reflection. As if sensing his thoughts, the his whole cloak rippled, the shadow over his face fading while the hood pulled itself back, leaving behind the familiar looking pale features, messy hair, bright green eyes, and inflamed lightning bolt scar of Harry Potter.

"Well that's new." Harry commented.

Then before anything else could be said, Harry's scar exploded with pain. It worse than anything he'd ever felt before. Worse than when he sensed Voldemort's proximity or when he felt his rage. It was worse than when Quirrel had tried to touch him and been burned alive. Worse than after Voldemort had regained his body and succeeded in safely touching him. It was even worse than when Voldemort had held him under the cruciatus curse.

Falling to his knees, he grabbed his forehead, unable to stop himself for crying out. The new energy inside of him, the energy that he'd absorbed into his body from the three objects, was writhing. He wasn't sure what was happening, but it seemed to be moving and almost focusing on his scar. The pressure in his head continued to build and build. Squinting past the pain Harry realized he could still see himself in the mirror that Dumbledore had conjured and despite the fact that his scar seemed to have opened back up, what was most disturbing was the black ichor that was starting to seep out of the old wound.

Before he could think on it anymore, his head have one last big throb before a black and grey mist came pouring forth as more black ichor splattered everywhere. The mist formed a somewhat humanoid form for a split second before fading away with a loud inhuman screech.

Only then did Harry realize that Rias was crouched at his side, worryingly, steadying him. He allowed her to help him stand, his mind racing. The scream of that shade had sounded familiar. It took him a minute, but a feeling of horror grew in his stomach as he realized where he'd heard it before. It had been a similar sound to when he'd destroyed Tom Riddle's diary.

He glanced at Dumbledore's face to see an expression of both joy and extreme relief on his features. That answered one question for him already, but it didn't do much to lessen anger stirring inside his chest.

"I was a horcrux." It was a simple statement of fact. Harry already knew it was true, but it was clear to all what unspoken questions were being directed at Dumbledore.

His look of joy flickered almost immediately to a look of deep guilt. "Yes… yes you were." His expression alone was quite telling, but with the new senses he'd seemed to have developped, Harry could feel the self loathing rolling off the man. This also served to cool his anger slightly, but not by much. "I- it seems I was wrong again Harry. I don't expect you to forgive me for this, but I truely am sorry."

Harry nodded stiffly trying his best to keep a reign on his emotions. His questions continued to come out in an almost unnatural calm, "Were you planning on me to die?"

Dumbledore paused for a second, "Both yes and no. I know the piece of Tom's soul inside of you had to be destroyed before he could be defeated. As I just told you, the only way to destroy a horcrux is to destroy its container. That being said, nothing has ever been written about a horcrux with a living vessel. I had a theory that if Tom were to hit you with the killing curse again that because of the lingering blood protection from your mother, and based on the fact that Tom himself took some of your blood into himself in order to rebuild his new body, it would destroy that small portion of his soul residing in your scar and leave you unharmed."

"That sounds like a lot of guesswork to me." A little bit of heat entered his voice this time.

"It was," the Headmaster's shoulders slumped. "I had no idea if it would work at all. For all I knew, I was committing you to death by my actions. It's haunted me for years. What was the right choice? Should I do nothing, and by my inaction let the war rage on with Tom remaining anchored to life, or should I potentially sacrifice one child for the safety of all? It seems that those won't the only two options. I can only apologize to you Harry. I should never have stopped looking for other alternatives."

Harry looked at Dumbledore's bowed head before him feeling conflicted. He couldn't imagine the stress that kind of responsibility would have on someone. He also knew that if he'd been told about the horcrux in his head, he would allowed them to kill him in an instant if meant taking down that mad man. It's not that Harry wanted to die, but if it meant potentially saving his friends, there was no question of his choice. Despite all that he was still angry at Dumbledore. He was going to take away his choice in the matter, even if it would have been the same. Though as much as he wanted to vent his frustrations on the ancient wizard, he took a deep breath. Now was not the time.

"I need some time to think on all this." Dumbledore looked up at him looking somewhat surprised. Rias who before had been starting to relax around the old wizard, seemed completely pissed now, if the glare she was directing at him was any indication, though she still hadn't said anything.

"Now what is all this?" Harry motioned down at his new robes and the giant scythe.

Dumbledore looked to be pondering on how to answer but Rias cut in, "Well it seemed like you managed to collect all the Hallows. It's just like we talked about before, though I wasn't expected him," she motioned towards Dumbledore with a scowl, "to have the wand."

"So it all worked? The Master of Death thing? Am I like immortal now or something?" He asked with small grin which faltered when Rias didn't deny it. He had trouble trying and failing to wrap his mind over an idea so vast.

"Like I said when I first discovered your cloak, no one knows the full extent of what the Master of Death title entails, but I am fairly certain that old age is not something you will have to worry about. I can already sense that you are not exactly human anymore."

That news hit Harry like a hammerblow. He hadn't until that moment that he realized how important ones species was to their sense of identity. What was he, if not human? With the panic starting to bubble up in his chest again, Harry took a few deep breaths to try and smother it down. He had agreed to this plan of action. Neither he nor Rias had known what exactly would come of it, but they had gone forward with it anyway. It wasn't much of a loss anyway, the new power he could feel flowing through him would go a long way to helping them put down Voldemort once and for all. He would deal with his own uncertainty over the situation later when he had time.

"Well… wow… that's a lot to take in," he looked back at the still floating mirror, eyeing the pitch black cloak he found himself robed in. The material still felt like the same silky texture that his invisibility cloak always did. He really had looked like the stereotypical version of the Grimm Reaper earlier with the hood up. "I hope I'm not stuck with this getup all the time now... it'd be nice to wear some normal cloth-"

Before he could even finish his sentence, the material around him rippled and shifted. In the blink of an eye he was wearing the same outfit as earlier with his cloak nowhere in sight.

"Ok then…" Harry looked over at the massive scythe he was still holding. "I don't suppose you do something like that too? I'm not sure I can fight with a scythe."

As if taking that as a command, the large weapon shifted too, shrinking down in size. It finally stopped it transformation, leaving Harry with an elegant one handed sword.

"Despite my actions earlier today, I don't really know how to use a sword. How about something a bit more familiar?" Another shift brought the strange weapon back to form he'd first encountered it as, a wand.

Harry wasn't sure what it said about his current mental state that he was talking to both his clothes and his wand out loud as if they were people, but it probably wasn't good. It was just a sense, but they seemed much more alive than inanimate objects ought to, something which was quite ironic, seeing as how they were supposedly instruments of death in the first place.

Glancing back around the room, he saw that most of Rias' anger had seemed to have abated and now she was just watching him with amusement clear on her face. Dumbledore was once again looking extremely.

"So you found the stone than my boy?" He asked, his eyes darting down to where it had been visible as a brooch a few minutes earlier. There was a strange look in his eye. An old longing and strange pain surrounding the question. Before he could ask, Dumbledore let out another sigh closing his eyes for moment, suddenly looking extremely tired. "I think it's best that you have them then. I could never trust myself… even at your young age Harry, you are a much better man than I."

Harry didn't know how to respond to that statement, just looking at his headmaster with wide eyes.

"I think we've all gone through a lot of different revelations today… why don't I escort you both to the Weasley's now. I'm sure you'll want some time to decompress after… everything."

Harry and Rias shared a look. Things had been crazy ever since Harry had accidentally summoned her to his bedroom on Privet Drive. Some relaxation would be nice, but for some reason, Harry didn't think they'd be afforded that luxury for long.