Yay! Quick(er) update! :D

Wow, this weekend+week has been SO hectic! My summer job started and I'm also training for a half marathon, in addition to studying for next term at uni. Somehow, I still managed to make room for writing though, so it's all good!

I made some slight changes to the format. Instad of using 'speech', I'm using "speech" now. Rubellite Game was the one who pointed that out, so thanks! I was planning on changing it, since it made distinguishing between thoughts and speech pretty hard. Hope you all find it easier too!

Not much action in this chapter, but a lot of Harry's questions are answered and hopefully you will get an insight into how the universe of this fic is made up. I'm deviating quicte a lot from the canon, one example being that Harry is no horcrux since Voldemort never tried to kill him.

So, hope you all enjoy the chapter! :3


That evening, Harry lay in bed, his head too full of jumbled and confused thoughts to be able to sleep. That day had been absolutely ridiculous from start to finish, beginning with his being transported to Malfoy manor to when Lucius had decided to inform Voldemort of how his relatives had treated Harry when he had been living with them. Though he certainly could see things from their perspective, Harry couldn't help but feel that they were overreacting.

He had always known that his childhood had been different from most other kids', but he preferred to never mention it, to preserve at least a semblance of illusion that his relatives had just justified their treatment of him by saying he was an orphan. Only their good will kept him from being homeless and for that, Harry was grateful. Despite now knowing that they only kept him in their house because Dumbledore had paid them to do so, Harry was still thankful for them for providing him with a place to live. Though they were certainly harsh at times, especially Uncle Vernon, he had mostly been able to avoid trouble by obediently doing whatever it was they wanted him to do.

Sighing, Harry turned over on his side and looked out the window. The moon was shining and lighting the garden outside, making the bushes appear slightly otherworldly in the silvery light. He absentmindedly wondered how Voldemort would react to the news of his treatment at the Dursley's. Judging from Lucius and Snape's reaction, not to mention Draco's, Harry couldn't help but feel that the man would be indignant. However, from the stories he had heard, the wizard was cold and ruthless, hardly someone who would care if a child was treated less than optimally by it's caretakers.

This brought him back to the question he had been mulling over all day. 'Just why the hell would Voldemort want to marry me?!' Harry thought, brows furrowed in confusion. It just didn't make any sense to him. The man had tried to kill him, hadn't he? Deciding that this matter needed to be discussed with Lucius as quickly as possible the next day, Harry once again turned so that he was facing the door. Closing his eyes, he tried to will himself to sleep, but as anyone who has tried doing that will know, he just wound up feeling even more annoyed at the fact that sleep was simply not going to happen.

With a growl, Harry threw the covers off and grabbed a cloak that was hanging next to the bed. Putting it on and grabbing a pair of slippers, the boy opened the door and slipped out into the corridor. If he couldn't sleep, then he might be able to find a library to read, he thought as he passed by the row of portraits of deceased Malfoys on the wall, most of whom where in a state of deep, though dignified, sleep.

Draco had been kind enough to give him a brief tour of the manor after Lucius had dismissed the two boys from his office and Harry tried to remember where the main library the blond had shown him was. Stopping at a door positioned near the staircase, Harry grabbed the handle and carefully opened the door so as to avoid it creaking. Row upon row of bookshelves met his eyes and he silently congratulated himself for finding the room on first try.

There was a seating area to his left and the fireplace was still lit, causing the room to be lit with a warm glow. Walking over to the nearest bookshelf, Harry grabbed the first book that caught his eyes, The Inward Working of the Ministry of Magic: The Secrets Behind Its Walls, and walked over to one of the armchairs nearest the fire. Though he had no interest in the inner working of the ministry, Harry figured the book might be boring enough for him to fall asleep.

He had barely read two pages when a soft cough snapped him out of his reading and his head swivelled around to face the direction the sound had come from. Snape was standing in the doorway, a book in his hand. The man had assumedly been reading it in his room and had come back to return it to its original place.

"Mind if I join you?" the Potions Master asked and Harry was surprised at the rather friendly tone. The boy, not trusting his voice, just nodded dumbly and the other sat down in the armchair next to Harry's.

"I assume you're not truly enjoying your reading?" Snape said with a pointed look towards the book in Harry's lap.

"I couldn't sleep and I figured I'd try to read something that'd make me sleepy…" the boy said with a sheepish smile.

Snape chuckled slightly. "Fair enough. I've certainly done so myself many times before. You will find that Lucius has a vast amount of sleep inducing tomes in his collection." The last sentence was said in a rather icy tone, as if the man disdained his friend's taste in reading material.

Finding Snape to be a vastly different person now than from what he was used to, Harry decided to test his luck getting some information from the man. From what he knew, Snape had been heavily involved in the war, mostly fighting on the side that seemed to be winning and never giving away his loyalties. The fact that he was now in Lucius' house, given the task of 'preparing' Harry for his marriage to Voldemort, probably also meant that the man had finally decided to stay true to the Dark side.

"Professor, why does Voldemort want to marry me? I mean, he killed my parents and tried to kill me as well! Is this some sort of elaborate trap to kill me and make it look like an accident?" Harry well knew he was making no sense, but he hadn't really sorted his own thoughts out, much less formed any sort of coherent argument about the topic.

Snape didn't say anything at first, choosing rather to stare at Harry through dark, searching eyes. If was almost as if the man was looking for something, some sort of sign that meant Harry was ready to know whatever it is they were hiding from him. Seeming to reach a conclusion, the other leant back in his chair and, with both elbows on the armrests, formed a steeple with his fingers so that his chin rested on them.

"How much do you know of that night when your parents died, Mr Potter?"

The question seemed so out of the blue that Harry blinked twice in surprise before actually realizing what the Potions Master had said.

"Well, I know that Voldemort found my parents' house, despite the Fidelius charm that Dumbledore had placed on it. My parents fought him, but he was the more powerful of them and he killed them. Hagrid told me that my mum died protecting me and that, somehow, the killing curse rebounded when he shot it at me and it hit him instead, which ended the war." Instantly, Harry knew that this story was something made up to make him feel better. The reason he knew was because Snape's eyes had become immeasurably sad when he had mentioned his mum dying, but also because the man shook his head slowly in dissent.

"No, that is the version Dumbledore wanted the world to believe." Harry was unsurprised at this. The last twenty-four hours had shown him that the headmaster he had known was a fake, an image created by the old man to get on Harry's good side. The anger bubbled in his stomach, but he suppressed it so that Snape could finish his story.

"What really happened was that the Dark Lord sought out James and Lily to propose a marriage treaty, binding their son to him once said son became of age. However, the Potters were already firmly on Dumbledore's side and refused to listen to him. Voldemort passing through the shields around the house had alarmed Dumbledore and he brought with him members of the Order of the Phoenix to fight the Dark Lord. Even when faced with six highly competent wizards, Lord Voldemort kept them off. James Potter attacked him as the Dark Lord turned to defend himself from a curse sent towards him by the headmaster and his hex wounded Voldemort, causing him to shoot back in anger. Potter died on the spot. Lily, always being fiercely protective of those she loved, charged at the Dark Lord in fury and he shot her, though it was not his original objective for either of your parents to get hurt. As he was injured, Lord Voldemort fled the house and Dumbledore chose to place you with that stupid sister of your mother, Petunia."

Harry was stunned to say the least, but then he remembered something that didn't make sense to him. "Then what about my scar? Dumbledore told me I got that from when the killing curse didn't work."

"To be honest, I have no idea where you got that scar. However, Voldemort never fired a killing curse at you, that much is for certain. It wouldn't make any sense for him to so either, as his intention is to keep you very much alive." Snape said with a huff, as if he didn't quite see why his lord would want such a thing. "My guess is that Dumbledore figured it would fit nicely with his story to have a visible sign that Voldemort had marked you as his target for the whole of the Wizarding world to see."

"But I still don't understand why Voldemort would be after a marriage contract binding us together. I mean, I'm almost twelve while he is old enough to be my grandfather!" This was a thought that had disturbed Harry greatly. Though never having seen Voldemort, except as a disfigured face on the back of Quirrell's skull, he pictured an old, bald man. The thought made him slightly nauseous.

Snorting at Harry's facial expression, Snape calmly said, "Don't worry your stupid little brain, Potter. Wizards age far differently than muggles and, besides, the Dark Lord is not the most powerful wizard of our time for nothing. He has ways to keep himself from aging, it is truly a magnificent power he wields." Snape's eyes seemed to gaze at something far away as he was remembering something in his past. His facial expression clearly showed how much respect the Potions Master had for the wizard.

What the older wizard had told him, made Harry lean back in his chair to think. His thoughts were jumbled up and he needed some time to sort them out, to get an idea of what he had to focus on and what to ask of Lucius and Snape when next time he saw the two of them together. Harry was certain that Lucius, being the second in command of Voldemort's forces, would know more than Snape did. However, it wouldn't hurt to get as much information as he could out of the Potions Master now that he was sitting right next to him.

"Since Dumbledore seems to have been holding several things secret or outright lied, I can't be certain that he has told me the truth about just what the Dark side is trying to accomplish. Is it true that you want to exclude muggleborn from the magical world? And that half-bloods will be considered inferior to purebloods?" Harry felt like he had asked a specifically hard question and he almost hoped to see Snape squirming in his chair, trying to phrase the Dark side's objectives in as positive light as he could. However, he was disappointed, as Snape seemed almost happy to answer him.

"To clear up any misconceptions you might have, the Dark side is not actually that 'dark'. The terms 'light' and 'dark' to describe our respective movements was Dumbledore's idea and it has stuck since. And no, we don't want to completely exclude muggleborn, but it is necessary to thoroughly research their background, families, ideas and conceptions before admitting them into Hogwarts. It will be like a sort of interview to see if they are suited to a life in a magical environment." When Harry opened his mouth to interject, Snape cut him off. "Have you never wondered why so many of the muggleborn educated at Hogwarts go back into the muggle world? Because that is where they feel comfortable, where they feel 'home' is. What we are after is for them to truly want to be a part of our society. That way, they are truly an advantage to us and can perform their jobs without regretting their choice to leave their muggle relations behind."

The idea made sense to Harry, but he didn't want to admit that to the professor. "But what about half-bloods, then? Draco always seems to sneer at them when we're at Hogwarts and is always preaching how purebloods are the only way to be accepted."

Snape sighed and closed his eyes for just a second before he opened them again, his gaze on the slowly dying fire. "Draco is a Malfoy. When in public, he has to conform to the cold, dispassionate image his family has created for themselves over the centuries. He is merely acting like the public expects him to act. I trust you have seen how he is when he is interacting either with yourself or his father, right?"

Harry nodded. It was true; Draco had been almost friendly when he had been showing him around the manor. He had made jokes, excitedly pointed out favourite objects of his in a room they passed by or when they were walking in the garden, and he had treated Harry like an equal and a friend. At first, his behaviour had puzzled Harry, but he quickly came to appreciate it. The mask Draco put on when in public was nothing like the personality he exhibited when surrounded by the safe walls of his home.

"I… guess you have a point, sir." Harry grudgingly admitted and he scowled at Snape's self-satisfied expression. "So, if you could sum up what the main objectives of the Dark is?"

Snape nodded. "It is quite simple, really. What the Dark wants is for the old traditions to be respected and followed. As it is now, modern ideas and ways of thinking is quickly causing us to destroy our own race and ways of life. One example is the idea that one should marry out of love."

"But there is nothing wrong with that! Why should you have to live your life with someone you can't stand?!' Harry exclaimed. The idea was simply ludicrous to him and he felt oddly defensive, as his own life was probably going to be much like the one he had just described.

"That is muggle thinking. Marrying based on love alone is perfectly fine and probably preferable in the muggle world, but for wizards it is a different matter. You have to marry someone who has a magical core of the same strength as yourself, meaning, they must be just as powerful as you. Nothing more, nothing less. There must also be a courting period so that the two magical cores can 'get used to each other' or develop some sense of interconnection. With a truly compatible couple, they can use each other's wands as if they were their own and their magic will always try to protect their partner."

"Then what happens if the two magical cores are of different strength?" Harry asked, suddenly feeling even more confused. Voldemort was the strongest wizard of the magical world. His own magical core would be but a speck compared to the Dark Lord's, surely.

"Unfortunately, there have been several instances where the weaker of the two has been killed by the stronger core. What happens is that the stronger core will suck magic from the other. Normally, if the two were of equal strength, this wouldn't be a problem as they would extract equal amounts of magic from the other, but if one is weaker, they will have no way of defending themselves or extracting the magic needed to support their own magic flow. The weaker witch or wizard will then first lose all their magic, slowly over time, and will then die as a result."

Now Harry was feeling slightly faint, which Snape probably noticed as the man leant forward and put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Don't worry, do you really think the Dark Lord would choose to marry someone with a magical core inferior to his own? He would have no advantage of killing you, trust me."

"But he is the most powerful wizard in our world, isn't he? Hermione told me that only Dumbledore can equal him in strength!" Harry interjected and his voice was almost pleading. "Surely, I'm nothing compared to that!"

Snape just sighed and rolled his eyes. "Well then, if you choose to not listen to those who know more than you and rather follow your own misguided ideas about how things work, then be my guest." With that, the man rose from his chair, gave Harry a curt nod and quickly excited the room, leaving Harry feeling even more miserable and confused than he had been to begin with.


Harry doesn't have it very easy, does he? Though he is being a little stubborn *wags finger at him*

There will be few more (or maybe only one more?) chapter of 'operation: educating Harry in the ways of the Dark' before Voldie finally makes his appearance! I'm SO excited! :D I have some general ideas, but if you have any wishes/ideas, throw them at me!

Until next time!