Chapter 13 Malfoy
Hermione flew down the corridor frantically searching for Harry. She met them coming through a tapestry. "Harry! You've got to hurry!" She didn't shout, but she was so panicked that he stepped up his pace. Neville was behind them and watching the corridor for teachers and Filch.
"What is it?" he whispered.
"It's Snape, he's torturing Malfoy!" Hermione touched her wand against the bare wall and spoke three words unintelligible to Harry's ears. The wall opened, as if an eye had winked, leaving a set of stairs winding their way sharply upwards into the dark.
Harry followed her up the shallow steps. As usual, he was amazed at the complexity of the castle. On several landings there were open doorways and he noticed, in the darkened interiors room, objects that could have only been in Dumbledore's private quarters. The light from the moon struck several objects that were replicas or similar to the objects in his office. Not wanting Neville to rush headlong into his back, Harry kept up the pace and followed Hermione to a landing that hung out over the void of dark space beneath them. He realized they had to be in one of the towers and very high up.
He stopped, almost out of breath and pulled Hermione away from the door and pushed her towards Neville. "I will take care of this. You two need to make sure no one knows we are here. And don't come in, no matter what."
"Harry..." Hermione was obviously not going to listen and had already started towards the door once again.
He stopped her. "Hermione, it's time to trust me. There are some things you need to leave to me. Go with Neville." They stood nose-to-nose. Harry couldn't tell what she was thinking but he knew what he was feeling and thinking. There was a point that he had to leave his friends behind. and get them to safety and he felt this was the time He nudged her arm gently. "I'll send Ron out in a minute."
Harry opened the door and stepped in. The apartments were surprisingly tranquil and gave no hint of their luxurious furnishings from the other side of the door. He let his eyes adjust to the dim lighting.
It was a large room with an immensely high ceiling, a four-poster canopied bed stood in the center of the room, draped in burgundy velvet curtains. The room was equally divided into a study with ceiling high book shelves, into an area for bathing and there was also a small dining area. There were no walls or hidden recesses. A fire burned brightly in the large walk-in fireplace and served as the only light in the room.
Tied magically to the posts at the end of the bed was his nemesis, Lucius Malfoy. His head was rolling on his bare chest and Harry saw his muscles pulled taut, his arms clenched into fists and pulled to the posts; he suffered his pain in silence. Snape stood before him with his wand held casually in one hand and Harry saw Ron standing to one side. The expression on his face was one of disbelief and he was so pale his red hair stood out starkly. Harry had never seen him look both sick and terrified.
As Harry walked slowly towards the spectacle before him, the white-haired head came up. Malfoy's face was wet with sweat and his hair lay damply against his cheeks. He looked at Harry and managed an ugly snarling smile. The weeks and months in Azkaban had taken their toll on Malfoy's face. He was gaunt and paler than usual. His features were also marred by a peculiar scar running from his right eye to his chin. The once handsome face was now ravaged.
Harry didn't flinch at the sight. Instead, he turned to Ron and said, "Leave the room, Ron. Leave this to me and Snape." His friend looked at him blankly at first and then began to say something as his head swung between Snape, Malfoy and himself. "Go ahead," Harry urged quietly. "Hermione is waiting outside and they need your help. I'll be out soon."
"But...but Harry," his friend managed weakly. He was looking at Snape and moving slowly around him and towards Harry even as he protested.
"It's all right," Harry said again, gently. He didn't turn when Ron walked past and out the door.
Snape waited a moment and when Harry didn't speak he once again turned to Malfoy. "Tell us why you entered Hogwarts, Lucius." His voice was as smooth as skates on ice; and as cold.
Malfoy smiled and said sarcastically, "Make it worth my while, Severus." He sobered and glared at them. "You above all should know what the stakes are. I see you have joined with this boy. The Dark Lord will not think kindly towards you." He squirmed in his restraints and continued, " I am prepared to die today but I will not tell you anything and you know this even as you waste your breath asking me stupid questions."
"Have you used the veritaserum?" Harry asked, stepping closer.
Snape shook his head and withdrew a vial from his robe while still holding his wand on the man. Harry took it from his hand stepped forward and reached behind Malfoy's head, grasping the hair and yanking his head back and down so hard Malfoy went to his knees. He looked into the man's face and smiled. "I'm tired of being the 'boy' to you Malfoy. The tables are turned and we need some answers." He waited until he heard Snape say the incantation and Malfoy's nose was pinched off so that in a minute he opened his mouth involuntarily. That was the moment Harry emptied the contents of the vial into his mouth.
"Will it work on him?" Harry asked out of the side of his mouth.
Snape nodded. "It will have the desired effect, I think. Even Lucius cannot fight the full effects of the potion."
Harry had seen how fast the potion acted when Dumbledore had given it to the false Mad-Eye Moody and he waited, standing in front of Malfoy, until he saw the eyes glaze over slightly. "Answer the question. Why did you come to Hogwarts?"
"I am here on her orders."
"Who? Madam Prince?" Harry asked.
Malfoy snorted, "Prince?"
Severus spoke, "Elvira Snape."
Malfoy's head rolled forward in a nod. "Yes. I am here at her request." The veins stood out on his pale face and it was clear he was fighting the potion.
"What did you come for?" Harry asked. He was pointing his own wand and his arm was shaking from restraining himself.
Malfoy rolled his head back and forth and hissed as if trying to keep the information from them.
"Crucio!" Harry shouted. The effect was instantaneous, but short-lived. He had not yet acquired the deep desire to make it excruciating as Bellatrix Lestrange had pointed out to him at the Ministry of Magic. Lucius arched back in the restraints and blood ran from the corner of his mouth. He had obviously bitten his tongue to keep from screaming.
Snape stepped forward. He was giving Harry a peculiar look as if to say, 'what's got into you?'. He turned, pulling his sleeves up on his robe and spoke, "Perhaps it would be better if I handle the questioning. Force is not necessary with veritaserum. Even Lucius Malfoy must succumb to its effects."
Harry frowned, but nodded. His chest was heaving with the force of his emotions. He felt so much hate at that moment that he felt he could easily tear the man apart with his bare hands. He desperately wanted Malfoy dead and he wanted to do it himself in the most agonizing way possible.
Lucius had dropped to his knees and Snape touched his head with the tip of his wand. The man looked up with a sneering glare etched on his features.
"You were caught near the Potions classroom. What were you looking for?" Snape asked.
"An old potion's book," came the answer.
Harry swallowed hard and tried not to let his feelings of surprise show on his face.
"A potion's book?" Snape mumbled and stole a glance at him.
"It is a student's book," Malfoy said and continued, "It belonged to her and then to you. She said it was in a cupboard under other books."
"What does she want it for?" Harry gasped.
Malfoy shook his mane of white hair and kept silent. It was clear he either didn't know or was not saying.
"What else do you want?" Snape asked.
"My son," Malfoy replied.
Snape cocked his head and Harry wondered if the potion had been strong enough. He didn't believe for a moment that Malfoy cared about Draco. It appeared to him Snape wasn't believing it as well.
"Why do you want Draco?" Snape asked finally.
"Our Master needs him."
"Go on," Snape prodded.
Harry felt the sweat dripping down his temple and between his shoulder blades. He felt the demon of anger consuming him. This is going too slow, he shrieked in his own head. He gritted his teeth and raised his wand.
Snape turned to him for a second time frowning curiously. His attention was again drawn to Lucius when he began to speak. "The Master says he is a vessel that holds a very important thing. I am proud to let my son serve Him."
"Yes." Snape strolled to his side and looked down at him. "I imagine you are. Do you understand Lucius that our Master is almost immortal. He will rule the wizarding world. Even you, who thinks he is a favorite, will suffer- have suffered- with his kind of rule. He will never be satisfied Lucius. He will have a growing hunger to have it all; to command and rule it all. There are very few true bloods left. Do you think life will be worthwhile when all the rest of us are gone?"
Lucius rolled his head back and stared up at Snape. He smiled drunkenly, the veritaserum still holding strong in his blood and said, "I'd almost forgotten you were half-blood Severus. What a shame. However, I think he will gladly put an end to you, traitor!"
"He killed your wife Lucius and she was pure blood." Snape leaned over solicitously and Harry watched with a growing fury. "He will easily kill you when the time comes. What do you imagine the world will be like? It will be a wasteland. Do you wish to rule over a wasteland?"
"Why are you treating him like this," Harry hissed. "He's a murdering, filthy Death eater!" He felt his control slipping. "It's time to kill him. He can't tell us anything of importance. I'll do it! Step away!"
Snape put out a hand to ward him away and again he was frowning. "He may yet prove useful. Are you in such a hurry to kill, Potter? I am surprised." Snape reached over and pulled the man up. "He is a valuable asset we will not dispose of quickly." He turned to the man before him and asked, "Where is the master now? Where is my mother?"
"At Azkaban," Malfoy grimaced and struggled to remain steady on his feet. The potion was beginning to wear off and he snarled at him, "He's untouchable."
"What does he plan to do?" Snape asked studying Malfoy's eyes. They were clearing and both he and Harry knew the man had too much control to answer without it.
"Sorry, old friend," Lucius seethed. "You'll just have to wait and find out."
"Don't worry old friend," Snape said sarcastically. "He has a weakness. He is not invincible. Not yet. We both know you can't go back to him empty-handed, we will not let you leave with Draco or the book, and he will not rescue you. You might as well relax and enjoy your stay."
"It will be a short one, I assure you," Malfoy said with his usual arrogant voice.
"Mr. Potter could I have a word?" Snape asked, still looking at Lucius.
They walked to the landing and Harry stood looking down into the circle of blackness at his feet.
"In a bit of a hurry to create blood and mayhem aren't we, Mr. Potter?" Snape said.
"You can't tell me you weren't torturing him before I came in. Hermione came after me to tell me," Harry said coldly. He was still angry but felt the fire that had consumed him in the face of Lucius Malfoy now burning out.
"I guess I am a little surprised that's all. However, he will do us no good if he is dead or cannot speak intelligently. What do you propose to do with him?"
"Keep him for awhile. I want to know why your mother wanted that book and why Voldemort wants Malfoy. We both know Draco is enchanted or possessed. I don't think he's a Horcrux. Voldemort made them over sixteen years ago. If anything, your mother would be one. Voldemort has to commit a particularly heinous murder in order to make one. I think he killed your father in order to do it." Harry turned to Snape in the dim light and saw the eyes narrow. "If you had told me the truth from the beginning it would have saved us time. He rescued your mother because he was drawing his Horcruxes to him for safe keeping. She wasn't insane; she lives with a dual soul inside her."
Snape leaned against the railing of the landing and stared at him. Harry could see the realization dawn in his face.
"She was from Ravenclaw house," Harry continued quietly. "Dumbledore said Voldemort wanted some object from each House, as a symbolic gesture of some kind. He chose the Hufflepuff cup, which was kept by a woman. He stole it when he was very young and murdered her. He had Slytherin's family ring, which Dumbledore destroyed and I destroyed his diary. Those were personal items he'd run across as he went through his family and murdered them. He murdered his uncle and grandfather, his own father and his family when he was as old as I am now."
Snape was staring at him. "Who told you this?"
"Dumbledore showed me the memories in the Pensieve. He's been searching for the Horcruxes since I was born ."
"You said there were seven," Snape said.
Harry nodded. "Dumbledore thought his snake, Nagini, was one. Then, there was a locket. The night of his death we went to fetch it. I've got it here." Harry had carried the locket with him since leaving the shores of that dreadful island in the middle of the cave. He had never removed the note left behind. He handed it to Snape and swallowed hard. He was revealing everything and yet, did not trust Snape completely. He thought about it. It's either the end of me and he will betray me or he will help me, he decided. "He will have one residing inside himself, there will be the cup, the snake and your mother. That will be all of them."
"You are sure of this?" Snape asked opening the parchment he had extracted from the locket. His eyebrow went up as he read the note.
Harry shrugged. "As sure as I can be. Dumbledore may have known more but he died. I went to his portrait before I came up here. He can't tell me anymore but suggested I come to you." Harry said no more and allowed the silence to express his skepticism.
Snape stepped to the edge of the railing and peered down. He was also silent, thinking about what he had just heard. He turned to Harry. "He hurt his hand destroying the ring."
Harry nodded. "I think so. I asked him about it several times but he said it was a story that need to be told in full. He would never elaborate."
"I see."
"Dumbledore said once all of them were destroyed, Voldemort would be mortal and even weakened. It would be a chance to kill him." Harry accepted the locket back when Snape handed it to him. "I'm thinking maybe we can get your mother to fetch the potion's book herself as a means to draw her back here. But I need to know what is in it that she wants. I've read it over and over and I didn't see anything."
Snape cracked a small smile. "There is much there that is not visible, Potter. I am surprised your friend Miss Granger did not discover all of its secrets when you were busy showing off for Professor Slughorn."
Harry cocked his eyebrow and looked at him in surprise. Snape was suddenly acting like his professor again.
"All right. Very well," Snape murmured and also shrugged, gesturing open-palmed as if to say he was giving up the pretense of arrogance he always showed to Harry. "I don't know what is there. I haven't looked in the book for years. If you have it then I need to see it. You switched books on me when you used the spell on Draco."
Harry ignored the comment. "Do you have a sense of what she wants it for?" he asked because he was reluctant to turn the book over.
"Some spell, obviously." Snape smirked and then grew grave. "Did Dumbledore agree with your assessment that the Dark Lord is reuniting his souls?"
Harry shook his head. "No. He's probably right too. He thought he was gathering the Horcruxes together to protect them."
"It makes sense he would do that to protect what is left. It will be impossible to penetrate Azkaban," Snape said as if speaking to himself.
"That's why I think we have to bring them to us," Harry answered. He looked directly into the face of the man he had loathed for so many years. "I've given you the information I have and I'm asking for your help. But I think it only fair you answer some questions for me."
"What would they be, Mr. Potter?" Snape didn't appear willing to give ground.
"Did you know your mother was alive?" Harry asked.
"No. Not until the night Dumbledore was killed."
"Did you kill your father or was I right and Voldemort murdered him?"
"You have guessed correctly." Snape said with a voice void of emotion. "I thought my mother killed him. It would not surprise me if the Dark Lord was the murderer."
"Is there any chance she would come to you if you found a way to send her a message?"
Snape looked at him with his coal black eyes and took a deep breath. "If she is a Horcrux, then her mind is not her own. It belongs to him. She will do what he wills. I doubt there is any sentimentality left in her."
Harry nodded sympathetically. He understood. "So we have to rely on her wanting the potions book. You're probably aware I left a trail to Hogwarts so he would know I was here."
Snape nodded.
Harry said. "There are a lot of people in the way and I don't want them hurt. He will bring the snake with him, I know that and hopefully your mother."
"And how would you know that?" The eyebrow was once again raised.
" I sense what he wants," Harry answered. " I can read his mind and I think it's time I checked in to see what he is up to and see if he is on his way."
Snape reared back from the railing. "That would be reckless, Potter. I admire your courage for having faced him once and survived. However, you take a monumental chance when you are unprepared."
"Do you have another suggestion? If you do I'm all out of answers and we need to act."
"Do you intend to be a hero?" Snape asked forcing the words between clenched teeth. "If you do, it will be a dead one. You have no idea what it will be like to enter his mind."
"If we're going to be partners Snape you've got to learn to play better with others." Harry said bitterly and pushed himself away and started down the stairs. "I'm going for the book. Tidy up here and we'll meet down in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. I think that will be appropriate."
Harry turned and started down the stairs and without stopping said, "When I enter his mind you're going to be right along beside me since you have a special talent for Legilimency."
He felt the silence at his back as he proceeded down the stairs.
He slipped down the corridor without being seen until he stood in the hallway where the Room of Requirement would appear. I need the book, I need the book. He paced back and forth before the empty wall until the door appeared. Glancing both ways, he opened the door, lit his wand and made his way through the stacks of objects.
He was leaving the room and was headed for the classroom. It was late at night and the school was silent. Even Peeves was floating over the top of a cabinet apparently asleep. Harry walked on cat-like feet and moved through the castle. He knew that there were sentries posted by the D.A.. He had not come across anyone yet until he saw a tapestry move and Ron stepped out.
"Harry?"
"Ron."
"Have you seen Hermione and Neville? Did they go back up to Dumbledore's rooms?"
Harry could his friend's face in the pale moonlight shining through the mullion windows. Ron looked frightened. All he could think of when he saw him was; You're having a bad night my friend. "No, I haven't seen them."
Ron nodded and bit at his lip as usual. "They were in the common rooms for awhile. We talked a little and then Hermione and Neville went off. They were talking about something when I showed up. I heard something about the war starting. Do you know what that's about Harry? Is Voldemort attacking?"
They stood staring at one another and then Harry felt his heart sink. "Ron, go find Dean and some of the others- Luna- and have them search the castle. See if you can find them. If they are missing then go tell McGonagall and tell her to wake everyone up and get the younger students to safety. We may be under attack."
Ron nodded vigorously and walked alongside until they reached the end of the hall.
"Ron, take them down below, through the trapdoor on the third floor. Remember?" Harry was now almost running.
"How could I forget!"
"Where's Draco?"
"He's asleep in your old bed."
"Bring him to the Defense Against the Dark Arts Room as soon as possible," Harry saw Peeves swooping down the hall towards them. Their loud voices had woke him.
They parted and Harry ran for the classroom followed by a shrieking Peeves.
"It's a POTTY, a POTTY come back to Hogwarts and sneaking through the halls," Peeves chortled and took a dive around in front of Harry.
Harry stopped and said quietly, "If you don't stop Peeves, it very well could mean the end of me and the end of Hogwarts and everything that ever counted. Do you want to be known as the one who gave it all away to Voldemort?"
The Poltergeist flipped over slowly in midair, snuffed loudly with fake tears and zoomed off down the hall without another word.
Whatever we are going to do, we need to do it quickly. He felt the rush of adrenaline and his heart pounding wildly at the thought that Hermione and Neville might be in danger. Please, please, please let them be safe.