Chapter 5: The Prophecy
The memory had ended.
Voldemort, it seemed, was still contemplating what had transpired that Halloween night. He was tapping his chin repeatedly, all the while talking to himself.
{Whatever she did, it interferes with the ritual for the Horcrux creation... Did her ultimate sacrifice, willingly giving up her life-force created the protection shield? What magic did she use? Ancient ones? Spells that she found during her work as an Unspeakable? She only had a short amount of time. Did she anticipate it and prepare it beforehand? How? Did the botched ritual force a part of my soul into him, the vessel? But why didn't he die from it? And I end up losing control over him... and how do this protection works? How does it extend well after her death? Too bad the only one who had all the answers is dead...}
Harry couldn't understand half of what Voldemort was saying, but he got the gist of it. His mother had done something and then sacrificed her life so that he could live. Even Voldemort was still trying to understand what his mother did. And it seemed that his mother had saved him again, this time from Voldemort's control.
Harry took a deep breath to calm himself. There were too many questions, but he'll start with the more important ones.
"Why were you after me?"
{Ah, right to the crux of the matter. I expected no less from you} Voldemort smiled grimly.
{I'll start from the beginning, shall I? You see, before you were born, there was a prophecy made about the one who had the power to defeat the Dark Lord:
'The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ...
Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies...'
That was the prophecy made by the descendant of the Great Seer Trelawney. Now, in retrospect, I wonder about the sheer coincidence... a Prophecy made right when I was about to win the War, made in Dumbledore's presence no less! Right useful isn't it, the power of hindsight?
But at that time, like it or not, I couldn't not take action. How couldn't I, if there exists the possibility of someone who have the power to defeat me in the future? So I searched around... and what do you know, two children were born at the end of July, both children of those who had escaped from me not once, but three times...}
"Two children?"
{Yes. There was another child that fits the Prophecy. Intriguing don't you think, two child, like a back-up plan if somehow one fails in the task? And they were both children of the Order members...}
"The Order?" Harry interrupted.
{The Order of the Phoenix. A group of people who opposed me. Lead by one Albus-too-many-names-Dumbledore, the so-called Leader of Light} Voldemort said in contempt.
'Dumbledore?' Thought Harry. 'Maybe he could help...'
{Oh, don't get your hopes up, Potter. He will send you to the Veil of Death if it means ending the threat of the Dark Lord once and for all. Do you think he'll help you, knowing that you harbour my soul inside of you? And that our souls are irreversibly joined? Do you think he'd take agreeably the threat, however small, of another Dark Lord rising? And what do you know; perhaps he would even think that killing you might even fulfil the Prophecy?}
Harry had forgotten that Voldemort could somehow understand what he's thinking. He felt his hope got crushed again.
{Now, where was I? Ah yes. Two children, from two families, that fit the Prophecy. And so, which one do I eliminate first? Both families had known the danger, and had gone into hiding and were well-protected. Surprisingly, the solution comes right at my feet, from a rat named Wormtail.}
"Wormtail?" He remembered the pudgy man.
{Yes... Peter Pettigrew, one your father's so-called closest friend. He betrayed your family's hidden location, in hopes to raise his favour in my eyes. Now however, I simply wonder if he was another spy, sent by Dumbledore to trap me with the Prophecy...}
Harry tried to digest everything that he'd seen, everything that Voldemort had told him. Voldemort had gone after him, and thus after his family because of a Prophecy. A prophecy that foretold that a child had the power to defeat the Dark Lord. And in a way, he had defeated the Dark Lord, but at what cost? And what does it mean, a trap for the Dark Lord?
Voldemort right away interrupted Harry's thought, {Well, how do we know whether the Prophecy was a true Prophecy or not? It could be a fake, a plan devised by Dumbledore, so that I'd go after the child. A trap could be in place...}
Voldemort laughed, {Now I am thinking that yes, perhaps even Severus could be a traitor... Oh, what would I give for a piece of Dumbledore's!}
Harry grimaced. All these were too much for him. He really didn't know anything about the War, about plans, schemes, Prophecies, traitors... magic... he felt like he was caught in a story, where he was in the last to know anything.
"So, what now? I'm stuck with you. And it seemed the one who holds the answer is that Dumbledore..."
{Yes, the one who might as well as kill you before giving you the answer. We need more information. We need to be more protected. Other people might resort to killing you. I do not have the power to save you again. I have used my all to save your life, Potter.} He was back to calling Harry, Potter.
"To save your own life, more like..." Harry muttered.
Harry wondered how it would be like living with another soul, a Dark Lord's soul no less, inside of him. He wondered if people might kill him if they knew about that fact. Harry reached a decision. He had enough of people trying to kill him; The Dark Lord, Uncle Vernon, after this who knows who else? He needed to learn to protect himself. From both outside and inside force...
"Could you teach me magic?" Harry finally asked.
A/N:
A short but one of the hardest chapters to write. Now, a lot of the theories were mere speculations from Voldemort. True or not, we shall see. And after this, we'll listen as Voldemort teach Harry about magic.