Chapter VIII

Dumbledore's Tale

Harry had woken back up in the early hours of the morning, before the rest of the school had even began to move. He found himself dressed and racing to the Headmaster's office. Upon arriving, Lungdren had just exited, undoubtedly preparing for his day as well. He caught sight of Harry immediately, who walked quickly up to him.

"Harry, what are you doing down here so early?" Lungdren asked.

"I need to talk to Professor Dumbledore," Harry replied quickly.

"What's the matter Harry?" Lungdren asked, looking worried at Harry's behavior. "Maybe I should go make sure that he's awoken before you head up there."

Harry could hear a sense of desperation at Lungdren's request. Harry had entered and made his way to the stair before the gargoyle had blocked it off. "I'm sorry Professor, but this needs to be private." He walked up the stairs, twice looking back at the worried expression of Lungdren.

When he reached the top of the stairs, he could hear a faint murmuring from the office. It became more defined once he was up close to the door.

"He must know now, Albus," the voice of Snape echoed.

"I agree," Dumbledore replied. "But I fear that we might be telling him too early."

"His nightmares are getting worse," Snape said. "I visited the portrait in his room. The Dark Lord is becoming more pronounced in his nightmares. He's becoming stronger and more aware of the situation."

"Then we have no choice, go and find Harry," Dumbledore replied.

It was at that moment that Harry opened the door to reveal that he was listening. Both Dumbledore and Snape looked surprised to see Harry walk in.

"No need to find me," Harry said, with an edge to his voice. "What's going on?"

Dumbledore gave a nod to Snape, who walked out of the frame, leaving he and Harry alone. "Please sit down Harry."

"I would rather stand," Harry said defiantely. "So, me being here was more personal than it was professional by the sound of everything."

"In a way it was both," Dumbledore said.

"I don't understand."

"From what I can gather, Severus told you about the kind of magic that Tom Riddle might have attempted before his death, am I right?" Dumbledore asked, Harry merely nodded. "I've had Severus surveying you over the last few nights to see if our theory held any sort of weight, and unfortunately, it appears that things are getting worse for you."

Harry nodded again and sat down in the nearest chair, opposite of Dumbledore's portrait. "I don't get it, why is he appearing now? I went so long without a single appearance of him in my dreams, even my nightmares."

"Unfortunately Harry, as much as I would love to have the answer for you as I normally do, I truly do not have the answer for this," Dumbledore replied, looking disappointed. "I spent nearly the entire latter half of my life examining the movements and spells that Tom had been attempting to use, whether on other or himself. Regrettably, this was a form of magic that neither I or Severus took seriously, as it was a spell that had never been proven, and only existed as a myth. It doesn't even exist in any of the books in the library's restricted section, which Tom frequented when not seen."

"Professor Snape said that if he did complete the spell and proved it's existence, that it would be painful, why? What is the process of performing this spell?"

Dumbledore looked at Harry intently while sitting back down in his chair. "If rumor should hold true, the process for the spell would have been to separate the mind from his body before his death."

"It sounds like a Horcrux, except it's with the mind and not the soul," Harry said.

"Close," Dumbledore interjected. "Unlike taking a memory out of your mind for the Penseive, this is a spell that needs to be uttered at some point before death, and it is the wizards death that will complete the spell. Once the spell is complete, the mind will take a ghost form and will latch onto to closest mind to it."

"Me," Harry whispered.

"Exactly," Dumbledore said grimly. "When you defeated Tom, you surveyed his body, meaning that you were closest when he had died, meaning that his mind transferred into yours. It's unclear how long the process would take to go into full affect on the being it inhabits, but as you might be proving, it may take years to finalize, or it might have taken this long because Tom himself was unsure on how to control the spell until now."

"Is there a known way to defeat the spell?" Harry asked.

"Severus seems to think that Occlumency will shield you, but whether or not it will completely stop the effects of it, we don't know," Dumbledore responded.

Harry gave a sigh of fear. "Does this mean that I'll slowly become him?"

"Again Harry, I do not know. We are unsure whether it completely overtakes the mind or if it becomes a dual personality, where both minds collide in a fight to control the victims actions. I can only advise you as Severus has and that is to shield your mind as much as possible to prolong Tom's actions."

"I've already let him in tonight," Harry admitted.

"But you are still here Harry," Dumbledore assured him. "You are still here to fight, keep fighting. It may be your only defense."

"I can try Professor, but it sounds like even if I do, I'm still on borrowed time," Harry said.

"You may not be Harry, which is why I urge you to fight," Dumbledore said. "For all we know, that may be the only solution. As always, I know I ask too much of you Harry, but I have to. Long past the days are we where we must act like there is no evil out there. You and I both know the untruthfulness of that assumption. Your fight may again mean our survival."