Hello lovelies, sorry for being a few hours past deadline. I got a bit distracted by other things.
A few things before that I got some questions about:
-During the ritual with Nagini, what Voldemort carved into Harry's back were merely runes to ease the process, nothing more. it will not have any long-lasting effect.
- About the title of last chapter, i picked this word because of its double Voldemort translated it, 'fellowship', is one possible translation. Alternatively, it can also mean 'company, 'brotherhood' or 'partnership', where later the word consort came from. So, to those wondering: yes, the ritual will ahve some consequences, since it was stronger than Voldemort made Harry believe.
Enjoy!
Chapter 11 - Of Magic and Souls
Carefully, Harry stepped up to the door, raising a hand to knock, then wavered. Perhaps he should just head back to his room, or start cleaning or doing something else. Surely, Voldemort wasn't so bored that he'd be fine with getting all of Harry's troubles out of the way? He glanced down at the scrawled list in his hand, feeling a bit silly for even writing it. Questions for Voldemort, even to him the idea of sitting down and demanding answers sounded ridiculous now. The peaceful moment of yesterday evening had entirely slipped away, leaving only traces of a memory he wished to relive. This morning, he'd found Barty already gone and the room cold, and Harry had snuck out quietly to the kitchen so as to not disturb the Dark Lord.
His hand dropped and Harry was already turning away to leave when the door opened. Not able to change his mind about coming here now, he stepped inside, seeing Voldemort's hand retreat behind the back of the couch again. Wandless magic still never failed to awe Harry no matter how often he saw it.
''You should make up your mind a tad faster,'' the man drawled. ''Close the door and tell me why you came here.''
Harry fumbled with the paper in his hands, feeling like an absolute fool. ''I, uhm... have been thinking about a lot of... stuff... lately.'' Great start Harry, he sarcastically told himself. You already sound like a stuttering idiot. Taking a deep breath he continued with a slightly steadier voice: ''I had some questions that I think only you could answer.''
''I do hope that you are smart enough to not come here expecting me to just tell you everything you desire to know? Cooperation or not, you are still my prisoner.'' The voice was much colder than he'd ever heard it being and Harry's stomach dropped. Had he done anything wrong? Voldemort had never uttered the word 'prisoner' before...
''N-No, I hoped that maybe, you'd be willing to explain some things to me that I don't quite understand.'' He walked up to the couch, halting right next to it so he could look at the small form that was huddled up in the blankets. While the Dark Lord's expression was blank, Harry could practically feel dissatisfaction waving off of him, which confused him quite a bit. He'd been good at reading the Dursleys' moods so he could avoid them on their worst days, but other than that he was hardly the most empathic person on the planet. ''Is everything alright?'' he asked, more concerned than he ought to be. His questions were forgotten and he stuffed the piece of paper in his back pocket as he observed the lines in Voldemort's face shift, deepening into a frown.
In a clipped tone, the man replied: ''Not quite. It is not your concern.''
''Is it not?'' Harry softly asked, daring to sit down on the leftmost corner of the couch, glancing to his right. Annoyed eyes turned their gaze upon him.
''I doubt you could relieve my burden,'' the man sneered. ''Now, out with your questions.''
Getting worked up, Harry spoke, slightly louder: ''Look, just let me at least try to help you!'' An indescribable sense of unease settled into his chest. He had the strangest feeling that it would only get better if Voldemort's mood would clear. Instinctively, he reached out, grabbing the man's hand in his before the other could pull away. Muddled thoughts of fear, impatience and worry filled his head instantaneously, so sudden that he almost dropped the hand again. Most likely, Harry would have let go, if not for the fact that Voldemort's demeanour changed as soon as they had touched, lines disappearing from his face.
''Harry, you shouldn't...'' He really did drop the hand now, both because of the warning tone and since it was the first time that his actual name had been mentioned in this house.
''Sorry, I didn't... I wanted-''
''I know,'' Voldemort sighed. After a silence that lasted far too long, he finally added softly: ''That did help.''
It was the closest that Harry was going to get that resembled gratitude, so he decided to not let the silence drag out again and instead asked: ''What is going on exactly?''
''Influence from the ritual of yesterday. It turned out stronger than anticipated, I have been... feeling you constantly today. The day before too, but to a far lesser extent. This outcome is highly undesirable since you are not well-versed in Occlumency yet and thus cannot shield your emotions from me. It would seem that an emphatic link developed due to our sharing of magic and blood. It is... frustrating me.''
''Look, I understand that you don't trust me after I tried to attack you and all,'' Harry started, instantly earning a suspicious look. ''But it would really help us both if you would disclose all you know about these links between us: why I can look into your head, why I have visions of you at all, why we have brother wands, why this whole... connection, was even established. I understand there was a prophecy regarding us that was set in motion but it doesn't explain most of it really.'' He noticed that he certainly had Voldemort's attention now.
''Brother wands?'' Ah, so he hadn't known about that then. Right, how could he have, when Harry had not told many other people about it? Maybe he'd somehow expected Voldemort to instinctively know about it when seeing the wands close together.
''That is what Ollivander told me,'' he disclosed reluctantly. ''The cores both have a phoenix feather of the same bird.'' He didn't think the Dark Lord would appreciate knowing that it was from Dumbledore's bird, so left that detail out.
''I see... so, what would you knowing the answer to your question bring me apart from a possible information leak?'' The tone was positively frosty now, not what Harry had really hoped for.
''Oh, I don't know, maybe because if we would both know what is going on with us, we could work on a solution together? Because perhaps I am the only one of us who actually had these whole connection visions and it seems to be stronger on my end? I also don't really enjoy this, I'll have you know! The sooner we learn to get this link under control, the better. I certainly know that I can work much more easily on it if I have a clue as to what it comes from!''
''This is complex magic far beyond your level.''
''And these are complex feelings that are apparently beyond your level so if we both get over that I think we should do splendidly!'' Harry snapped, instantly regretting it when a suffocating cloud of magic surrounded him from all sides and squeezed hard. ''Are you really going to use violence again?'' he wheezed out as well as he could with his chest being constricted. ''I somehow had hoped we'd be over this point!''
Voldemort moved now, much faster than expected, until his face was close to Harry's, eyes blazing. ''And I had hoped that you would stop showing me disrespect! I-'' he broke off and retreated minimally, the restricting magic easing up, which Harry used to suck in as much oxygen as possible. He tried to jerk away as the man's hand reached up, but couldn't, still held into place.
''You're wearing it,'' Voldemort spoke, touching the fang that dangled from its leather cord around Harry's neck.
''Wasn't I meant to?''
''In time, yes... I hadn't expected...'' a current of emotions overcame Harry again and he closed his eyes to try and block it out, not knowing what to do with these feelings of relief and happiness. ''Very well, as long as you keep in your comments, I shall indulge in your curiosity. Now that you are wearing this, there is less danger in it too.''
''Danger in what?''
''Making you privy to some of my... more confidential information. I told you about Dumbledore being a master Legilimens. I designed this to block any attempts to invade your mind. Unless he forces you to look directly into his eyes up close, your secrets should be safe. I certainly hope that, with the knowledge of his powers that you now have, you can prevent the old man from doing so. Mind you, that trinket is not yet entirely finished, I shall still work on it when I have access to my complete powers.''
''So your gift to me was to protect your own secrets?'' Harry bitterly said.
Voldemort only raised an eyebrow at that. ''It protects all of your thoughts, not only those linked to me. Furthermore, this means that I can give you the answers you so desperately want. If you do not wish for that...''
''No!'' Harry quickly threw in, finally able to completely break free of the magical hold. ''Please, I need to understand!''
''Before that, let me ask you something. Do you plan on informing anyone of my return when I let you go?''
Harry had been thinking so much about that himself that he was startled by being asked so directly. He'd expected Voldemort to be all sneaky about it or something, perhaps even to do something to physically prevent him from saying anything. ''No,'' he answered in all honesty. Perhaps Voldemort had asked so directly exactly because he had the ability to know when being lied to. ''That is, not if you were truthful about your intentions. After being here, getting to know you at least a bit, I think you deserve a chance to do the right thing. For Magic, for all of us. As long as you really do not start killing everyone again who disagrees with you, I'll protect your secret. And also...'' he took a deep breath, ''I'll give you my blood of my own free will, so you may live again and advance your plans.''
The air turned static as a rush of gratitude hit Harry. ''Good,'' Voldemort whispered, his entire posture relaxing. ''Although I may have to add to that, while I indeed do not wish for mindless slaughter, I cannot make any promises to not murder anyone. If they pose a threat to me, if they try to rally people against me... Especially Dumbledore needs to die for any of my ideas to gain a hold inside of the Ministry and Hogwarts.''
''I know that I cannot prevent you from doing that,'' Harry answered. ''I... accept that. You should know however, that if you target anyone who is important to me, I will fight you with everything I have.'' He felt guilty towards Dumbledore, but truly could not trust the man enough anymore to consider the Headmaster to also be under his protection. As for anyone else... this was not his war, he reminded himself strongly. He'd never chosen to protect anyone other than those who had shown him kindness. The reason why he had gone after the philosopher stone was because he thought Snape had been behind it and Snape had despised him. He'd only rushed to the Chamber of Secrets once it posed a threat to his best friend's little sister, and he had become involved with the whole Dementor mess in his third year since he'd first wanted to extract vengeance on Sirius and afterwards wanted to protect his godfather. When looking at it from that point of view, Harry found that he was really quite a selfish person.
''It is alright,'' Voldemort spoke, giving Harry's hand a single pat before retreating to his original spot. ''This war and its consequences are mine to bear, not yours. If you will face me in battle in the end, I shall consider you a worthy opponent. I do sincerely hope that it is not necessary. You should live the life I denied to you before, Harry Potter.''
''Evan,'' he corrected, feeling unnerved being called by his real name like that. ''I feel... more comfortable with that. I know I have to return to being Harry again eventually but for the next weeks I wish to forget about being Harry Potter and everything that is associated with that name.''
Voldemort gave a small, acknowledging nod. ''I'd be the last to judge you for choosing to hide from the person you were born as,'' he spoke. His shoulders hunched slightly as he stared pensively into the fire. ''I am afraid however, that you will need to face at least part of who you are if you seek out answers.'' Harry dipped his head to show he understood. ''Very well. I have told you before that I am immortal, which you undoubtedly have realised by the fact that I am still here after being hit by my rebounded Killing Curse. To make a complicated process short: I cannot fully die since I made sure that parts of my soul are still tied to this earth. I shall not go deeper into the how and what apart from this: to do so, I need to kill a person each time I strengthen my connection to the earth. I tried to use deaths that were planned already to not waste any further lives apart from times where I was younger and more desperate. Yours was a prime example: you had been prophesised to vanquish me, so I set out to erase you from this world, yet did not wish to let your life go to a complete waste.''
Horror filled Harry as he realised where this conversation was going. He stopped breathing, suddenly feeling suffocated. No, no, it couldn't be! Voldemort continued in a monotone voice.
''I performed the ritual necessary to set the enchantments in motion to increase my immortality... When I died instead, it seems that the ritual affected me, for I did not leave whole. A part of me was left behind, seeking the first magical living being in its vicinity to attach itself to. That was you. Since then, you have carried a piece of my soul in you.''
The reality of the situation crashed down on him. Harry didn't even know what to feel. ''Oh God...I have...'' he rasped. ''Your soul?''
''Indeed. That is where your ability to speak Parsel comes from, together with the ability to connect yourself to my mind.''
''Wait, Nagini... those objects...''
''You're rather quick on the uptake for once. Indeed, each of those also contain my soul, protecting it to ensure I live eternally. So you see, with this knowledge, no matter what the rest of the prophecy says, it would be incredibly foolish of me to kill you. First of all I am not even sure if it would succeed: those vessels get rather sturdy and normally a Killing curse is not enough to destroy them.''
Harry trembled all over and curled in on himself. Of course, it all made such perfect, logical sense. The scar, the pain, their cursed bond. Unable to help himself, he grabbed his head, digging his nails into his own forehead, wishing he could tear the scar right out, to get rid of the piece of soul that he could only imagined clinging to his.''So that is why you won't kill me?'' Harry bit out, feeling sick. The Dark Lord perhaps felt his emotions through the blood-bond, for he was quick to continue:
''That is only my explanation for why I shan't kill you in even the most extreme situations now I have found this out. I had planned to leave you mostly alone in the first place. The only exception to that being if you would put yourself directly in my way. Now, I would not murder you even then, although, if you do stand up against me, I shall certainly remove you from any position in which you could pose a threat.'' It didn't sound like an idle warning. Harry certainly hoped he'd never have to face Voldemort anymore, he suspected that the man had enough power in his little finger to teleport Harry straight to Azkaban if he so desired.
''How would you have done that with your resurrection?'' Harry wondered aloud, trying to calm his erratic breathing and focus on the facts. ''Didn't you mention some elaborate plan that you now didn't have to put in motion anymore?''
''Ah, that. Well yes, I would still have needed your blood. The original ritual I had planned required the blood of an enemy and following the prophecy you were the ultimate candidate. Not that you'd have been awake for any of it in the best scenario. I planned to set up a certain Portkey, stun you at arrival, take your blood and send you away again. Depending on how well it would go and how much you'd resist, it could still have led to your death, truth be told.''
''Very reassuring.''
''I wasn't about to let you ruin my chance to live once more.''
Harry sighed. What could he say to this, to everything? It was understandable from Voldemort's point of view, but he couldn't exactly say it would have been fair to himself either to die for this stupid prophecy. It wasn't as if he had actively killed the man before, nor had the whole thing with the philosopher's stone been intentional. He unfurled himself again, slowly, the first wave of shock having passed. It helped that Voldemort had remained where he was this time, not interrupting Harry's turmoil. Voldemort's soul, he thought inside of me. Thinking about it somehow made coping with it easier.
''What I only do not quite get now,'' he started, ''Is the whole thing with the blood. So first you had the reason to use it since I was marked your worst enemy or something, fair enough. You also told me that you aren't certain if the prophecy still stands though. Besides, didn't you also mention wanting it to take in or cancel out that sacrificial protection?''
''My reasons changed, the outcome did not. You turning out to be one of the vessels of my soul gave me an even better motive to use your blood especially. I shall now also not make use of the original ritual anymore. It is not necessary since you agreed to give me your blood.''
''Will it not tie us even further together then?'' Harry asked warily. ''We already have a connection then through me having your.. your soul, now a further one with the blood-bonding... what results would you carrying my blood in your new body have? You seem awfully calm about it.'' Harry, on the other hand, was anything but, still on the verge of breaking down and trying to somehow keep himself together. Feeling pity for himself wasn't going to do him any good either.
''I try to keep as close ties to all of my vessels as possible in order to protect them. I hope that this will balance out our connection so that you and I both have equal control over it, not just you accidentally slipping into my head while asleep.''
''So now I'm... what, a pawn to keep safely tucked away?''
''Evan,'' Voldemort said in a warning tone that strangely enough calmed him somewhat. ''At the very start you were my worst threat, then evolved into just another victim that I found better to leave alone. Later, you became a slight nuisance as you followed Dumbledore's laid-out plans and then even a larger nuisance when you tried to sneak in here to kill me. In short, apart from your existence having been predicted to threaten mine, I never thought much of your personally. Perhaps if I had found out on my own that you held my soul, I might have considered you a pawn, true. During the past weeks, I have discovered a great many things about you, one of which is that you are not easily controlled, nor do I feel much for doing so. You are someone who deserves to enjoy life, so I wish to give you that opportunity. As the keeper of my soul, I cannot grant you complete freedom, so I hope that by binding you to me and strengthening the link, I can keep an eye on you enough to not need to involve myself much further in your life. I shall attempt to keep you safe from afar from any who would harm you.''
The words were so... sincere that they touched Harry deeply. Hardly anyone had cared enough -for selfish reasons or not- to actually protect him. A peculiar urge overcame him, one he struggled with for a minute or two in silence before deciding that Voldemort could fuck off and try to deal with Harry's stupid feelings for once if Harry had to play nanny for the man's soul. Carefully, so as not to make any sudden movements, he awkwardly positioned his upper body so it lay on the couch, while his feet dangled off the end. Harry couldn't very well explain why himself, but he needed closeness, reassurance that he wasn't alone, that his emotions were considered. Voldemort did not look angry or displeased so that was a good sign, Harry supposed. His head rested against Voldemort's side now, or rather the man's blanket, and he closed his eyes, concentrating on the magic that strengthened the closer he got to the Dark Lord.
''And what if I want to be involved in your life?'' he asked after a moment. He wished he could see Voldemort's reaction at that, only feeling a shift in movement and a trickle of surprise through the bond.
''I beg your pardon?''
''You say that I can live a quiet life away from you, away from war like this. What if I don't want to stay away? I have seen and felt your magic, celebrated it with you. I know of your task, I share deeper bonds with you than most humans probably ever will. If your plans really will change our world for the better, I might want to stick around and help.'' He turned to a slightly more comfortable position and looked up to the other. A rare smile graced the Dark Lord's features, looking quite disturbing on the serpentine face if Harry was entirely honest. Perhaps only because he was seeing it upside-down, that was never a flattering angle for anyone. ''Could you tell me of your plans?'' Harry asked, curious. ''I've only heard bits and pieces of it from Barty and you until now.''
''My plan in its entirety might take a while to explain.''
''The general gist of it then?''
''Very well, then I will fill you in on details in the coming days if you so wish. I'd better start with my task... how much did you see in my mind?''
''Not a lot,'' Harry admitted. ''Your memory of magic coming to you and you thinking of a task, that's all. Other than that I only know what you told me, about how Muggles are a threat somehow and that magic is unbalanced right now in Britain.''
''Western- and Southern-Europe,'' Voldemort corrected. Harry choked on air.
''You are supposed to fix it in that large of an area?''
''That I am, which is why I said that it might take a good while and I am glad that I found a way to become immortal. One lifetime might not have been enough. So, my task can basically be broken down into two objectives: save us from Muggles, and restore balance in magic. Originally, I had wished to do both at the same time, trying to rally magicians against Muggles in order to find a common goal and unite our forces. That did... not work as well as I had hoped and only caused division in the end, leading to being able to only protect part of the magical population who were willing to use Dark Magic, at the same time causing a further stigma on it for the rest of the population. I know Barty always tells you I had no fault in how the war went down... I disagree and, as the Dark Lord, certainly take responsibility for making fundamental errors in my way of thinking. I had hoped that people would see the threat of Muggles for what it is. Instead, many witches and wizards feel so superior that they find the idea of Muggles being dangerous laughable. It is anything but.''
''You honestly think that they could destroy magic?''
''I do and Magic appears to think so too. At least, if magicians keep going on as we have in the past century, easing up on restrictions and becoming less careful. I do not think Muggles are a basic threat in the sense of that they would actively hunt us or discover our community on their own. However, with how many Muggles are let in on the secret due to having relationships with our kind, or becoming parents of a Muggleborn child and not having any regulations put into place, we walk on thin ice. Then there is the other fact of that Muggles keep developing more weapons of mass destruction that could also hit our communities if let loose in another major Muggle war. I have experienced the devastating effects of the second world war first-hand in London...''
Voldemort halted for a while, before continuing on a bitter tone. ''They fared war on ground that was not theirs alone and destroyed our spaces with that too. Despite the Ministry in Great Britain officially being informed about magicians, they left everything regarding us for the Ministry of Magic to fix, even if that didn't work well. One summer I almost could not return to Hogwarts since there was a planned evacuation of children out of London on September first, leading me to having to run away and survive on my own in war-torn London only to have the chance to return to my true home. Even when I managed to end up at King's cross in a timely manner, I saw the devastating results of bombs. It had destroyed even the wall with its magical barrier, causing the Hogwarts Express to have to stop on the tracks outside of the station, risking further exposure. We need to take measures to protect ourselves from the effects of these types of weapons. What I realised in the magical war I caused though, is that to do so, the public opinion on dark magic needs to shift back so much that its use in non-harmful ways becomes accepted again. Right now there is such a taboo on it that, as soon as it comes out that a spell is dark, they are quickly made illegal, no matter whether they are harmful or not. Ironically, some dark spells that are very beneficial were simply rebranded as 'light' so people could keep using them without having to worry.''
''Why do you specifically need dark magic to deal with Muggles if not for wiping them out?'' Harry asked, slightly suspicious.
''Dimensional shifting,'' came the entirely unexpected answer.
''Erhm...''
''All dark magic that was explained to you at Hogwarts most likely came in the form of offensive hexes and curses, against which you defended using light magic, correct?''
''Pretty much.''
''This is only half of the base nature of magic. Everything is balanced, and not just in the way that light defensive magic works against dark offensive. Dark magic also has an array of defensive branches, nearly all tied to warding or blood rituals. The sacrificial magic your mother used could actually be classified as dark if you look at the base concept of it, only the Ministry considered it light magic since it is used for 'good', further warping the beliefs in the minds of the public about what Light and Dark magic is.''
''So how would you explain those types of magic then?''
''With its original meaning. The Light of light magic actually stems from the Latin root lev, not lux. Meaning that it comes from light in the sense of weight: magic that is easy on the caster and costs little. Dark magic was a translation from the Latin gravis, which means grave or heavy, turning into 'dark' over time to fit the counterpart of light magic more easily. As language changed and these words became more engraved in common speech for magic that had always been practiced before, people forgot the original meanings and associated it rather with light and darkness, ultimately attaching the labels of good and bad to it. This complete ignores the fact that the only real difference between light and heavy magic is that one requires merely the caster's energy and magic, whereas the other needs an additional offering, be it emotions, a significant amount of time, a literal sacrifice or a debt. It also often makes dark magic more powerful since more effort went into the spells, and the offering of sacrifices can have interesting side-effects.''
''I never knew any of that.''
''You would have known at least a bit, had Dumbledore not thrown out all books on dark magic and changed the curriculum in its entirety. Then again, I found out most of this myself too, since, as I said, much of this was not commonly known or taught anymore.''
''So you are the Lord of heavy magic? That somehow does not roll off the tongue as easily,'' Harry joked, earning a chuckle from Voldemort.
''It doesn't, does it?''
''It somehow sounds more odd to me that these two types of magic need to be in balance, With Light and Dark I could picture in my head how that would work. Not so much with easy and grave magic, truth be told.''
''It is how it is. Too much magic that requires sacrifices puts the balance off, and so does magic that is only easy on the caster. Imagine magic as food: eating only junk food isn't healthy, and neither is eating nothing but vegetables.'' The analogy was so absurd that Harry laughed out loud.
''I would never in my life have imagined you to use an example like that,'' he snickered. ''I totally understand what you mean now, but the fact that you compare light magic to junk food of all things...''
''Yes, well, as long as you get the concept. Now for the dimensional shifting that I mentioned earlier: one branch of defensive dark magic works with adding or breaking down layers of reality. You have seen this in the disturbance ward out on the field, which is really only the first step towards what I am talking about. The closest you have experienced until now will probably have been Diagon Alley and Platform 93/4. Both are spaces that exist through an already existing Muggle dimension. It is not merely hidden in between cleverly built architecture with a door only magicians can see: they are literally built through them and the portal, as well as several fireplaces, serve as anchors to this dimension. They are, sadly, not complete. That is to say, these dimensions only adapt the space into certain directions. If you were to fly straight up from Diagon Alley, you'd still enter the skies of Muggle London. Much the same, aerial bombs could still devastate the place. What I wish for, is to conceal all magical communities with full dimensional shifting, building a complete bubble with only a single entrance point towards the Muggle world, only allowing further linkage to happen between fireplaces of other fully immersed magical spaces. This would greatly increase both our own protection and the contact between magicians, not able to have much interaction with the Muggle world anymore.''
''That does raise the issue with Muggleborns,'' Harry frowned. ''And more than that, less contact would mean less mingling of magicians with Muggles, wouldn't that cause inbreeding? The magical population isn't that big.''
''Magic counters any negative effects inbreeding could have,'' Voldemort clarified. ''For Muggles, gene defects are caused by breeding with someone who has those same dominant defect genes, causing those lines to die off and make the species stronger. It is effective since there are so many Muggles... With magicians, Magic had to make each one of us strong enough to survive anything. That does not only make regular illnesses ineffective against us, but also causes spontaneous gene mutations if any life-threatening gene defects are found upon conception. It still does not fix everything, of course. Your ill sight does not affect your brain or body enough to not survive, so it remains. It is the same for having overall weaker stamina or other minor afflictions. You could still be susceptible to developing mental illnesses later in life too due to a number of circumstances. Brain-damaging results from inbreeding however? Those are cured before you are even born.
Also, if you do not trust on that, wizards and witches did a great deal of studies on the topic exactly because it is such a pressing matter with so few different families. Inbreeding can, even in Muggles, only cause serious afflictions when it is between a direct vertical line such as parents and child, or a direct horizontal one between brothers and sisters. Despite common belief among Muggles, cousins having children together does not have any proven ill effects, which is why that is also still legal even in many Muggle societies. It is mostly banned in others due to morality issues and discouraged with false threats of inbreeding possibly happening.''
''You sure did a lot of research on that topic yourself,'' Harry noted, raising his eyebrows.
''As a Dark Lord, I was also expected at times to give blessings to my followers and advise parents on good matches for their children. I thoroughly informed myself on the topic beforehand so I would not do any damage. That doesn't mean that I ever was a strong supporter of breeding within only a few lines. It tends to leave people close-minded since they are only ever involved with a few families who all have the same ideas.''
''I still think you may have missed something,'' Harry threw in. ''There's definitely something wrong with two of my year mates. Crabbe and Goyle, both from pureblood families. They always follow Malfoy around and are too dumb to strike up a proper conversation. In my second year I imitated one of them and found out that apparently Goyle cannot even read. I have no idea how he manages to write his tests,'' Harry scoffed. What he hadn't anticipated was the wave of sorrow radiating off the Dark Lord, who had suddenly gone very silent. ''Erhm... should I have shut up?''
''Those two are on me,'' Voldemort sighed. ''I had hoped... I suppose it really was too late.'' Harry leaned more towards the man, holding his breath. It wasn't every day that he found gossip against his bullies. ''First of all, neither of them are purebloods. They are half-bloods, brothers. In the case of these two boys, their parents were a Muggle woman and an extreme light wizard named Edwin Midgen. When they got caught up on the war, Midgen and his wife argued about the rights of Muggles and Muggleborns and he demanded that she stay locked up in her own house to be safe. I admit, she might not have been if she'd gone outside, the hatred against Muggles ran high in those days. She disagreed though, and in a fit of anger, Midgen killed her himself for disobeying his word. In a suicide attempt, he found out where the next battle between my followers and the Order of the Phoenix was, taking both of his newborns with him.
He died using his own children as a shield, who received quite a few nasty curses before anyone realised that there were babies out on the field. I tried to mend the damage personally, yet did not know exactly which spells had all harmed them. One of my rules during the war was that I would not leave orphans behind. Before attacking enemies which I knew to have children, I tried to find a family who would be willing to adopt. As in this case, I could not do so beforehand, so two of my followers stepped up and offered to each take a child. I died soon after, unaware of what became of them.''
''Wow... shit, that's heavy. If I'd known, I wouldn't have made fun of them so often,'' Harry said, filled with guilt. He briefly considered asking what happened to children when no-one wished to adopt them, then decided that he really didn't want to know. ''It doesn't help much that they're not exactly nice though, following Draco Malfoy's every command to beat up whoever dares to step up to him...''
''Is that so? I shall have to have yet another word with Lucius then when I decide to show myself to a few of my former Death Eaters,'' Voldemort spoke coldly.
''What are you going to do with those anyways? Won't they want you to restart the war?''
''Some of them would... most of those who'd like nothing more are in Azkaban right now, a small semblance of relief to cover my shame of them being there in my name. As for the rest, I have a few key people in mind that I will contact as they have strategic positions within the Ministry already, Lucius being one of those. It is my intention to have them slowly introduce old ideas into the system again, work people on top who agree with those and gradually change the view of dark magic first and foremost. That will most likely be even more of a challenge, balancing out Dark and Light magic that is. Most frequent casters of dark magic do not have access to it due to being locked up...''
''How do you even balance it?'' Harry asked. ''Try to get an even number somehow of dark and light magicians?'' Voldemort smiled wryly.
''Unfortunately that would only work for a Light Lord, simply reducing the amount of dark magic casters. For me it is a tad more complicated. The thing is, most magic is light. As such, most magic that is used even by Dark magicians is still light. If I wish to clean up a house, it is much better with a series of light, easy spells than with a heavy ritual that would sweep the house at once but leave me drained and require sacrifices. That is another part where language does not describe reality. While true that most light magicians only practise light magic, those who are labelled Dark are only those who do not shun the Dark Arts, yet frequently cast light magic too. This makes my followers all balanced magicians. It also means that in the end, reducing the number of light wizards is not going to help much and certainly not result in a form of balance I could live with, needing to wipe out everyone but all current 'Dark' wizards and witches for that. The few dark spells that are used by light wizards and witches due to them not knowing they are dark in nature, do not amass to enough.
No, I will need to normalise Dark Magic to the point of where is it legal and desired by all again so it will be regularly used in general and not only by a specific group. And when my plans for that are bearing fruit, we can shift our focus to disconnecting us from the Muggle world. Which brings us back to Muggleborns...'' Harry had already entirely forgotten his own inquiry about them to his own embarrassment. Trust Voldemort to remind him of it. ''I do not have a fixed plan for them. Or rather, I have many plans, depending on how development goes. The best course of outcome in my personal opinion would be to take them from their parents as young as possible to make separation more... unproblematic.''
''You want to steal children away from their parents?'' Harry exclaimed, sitting upright instantly, ignoring the slight pang in his chest that came with the loss of contact.
''We both know how Muggles can be,'' Voldemort hissed. ''I am not willing to let the minds of magical children be poisoned into thinking they are abnormal, nor will I allow for them to have such a massive disadvantage in their education.''
''And what about the Muggles who would make great parents? What about older Muggleborns who love their families?'' Harry continued, thinking of Hermione and how nice Mr. and Mrs. Granger had been in Diagon Alley.
''Unfortunate for them. I will not let the majority of children suffer by the hands of Muggles only because some of them would have taken care of their spawn. The Muggles will have their memory wiped, the children will find other, better parents.'' The harsh syllables were spit our fast, Harry could tell this was dangerous territory to argue over. Somehow he doubted that he'd agree more with the other, 'less ideal' plans for Muggleborns either.
''Understood,'' he muttered.
''Go downstairs and prepare some food, I wish to take my potions in peace.'' Harry stood up at the clear dismissal, Voldemort having fallen back in his displeased, brooding state.
The day passed without any further deep conversation between them, and Barty didn't show himself, presumably being out. Only late evening, Harry was called up again for the ritual of that day. It was surprisingly short, feeling more like a check-up than anything, with Voldemort planting images in his mind to check the limits of their mental link. It still left him feeling drained afterwards, so much that he instantly fell asleep the moment his head hit his pillow.
Ahh, talks are happening. Harry and Voldemort in one room is always a joy to write.
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