Chapter 2
Severus sat there in his empty classroom, quietly and methodically cutting up potion ingredients. Was he frustrated to hell and back that he was stuck here at the castle? Yes, especially with the fragile state that Albus was in. Was that going to stop him from prepping? No; he had learned the lesson of not being prepared long ago, in a particularly painful fashion. Still, he mostly only worked for his sake and at Dumbledore's behest, otherwise he would currently be elsewhere, likely at Spinner's End again.
He shuddered, thinking about the last time he was there, with the 'unexpected' visit from Narcissa and Bellatrix. That had been one fucked up day, making the unbreakable vow to kill Albus in Draco's stead. He still wasn't quite sure why he went through with it; maybe it was Bellatrix's presence, maybe it was the fact that he couldn't bear to see Draco dragged so low, maybe it was Narcissa's motherly worry, but regardless it was done now. Besides, Albus was dying anyways, and the best they could do at this point was slow the process, hence why he was hanging about the castle, needing to be close in case the curse spread.
Sighing, Severus continued cutting, thinking on what might happen later that day. Albus had informed him earlier when he was leaving that he was to "stay put" and "your assistance is not required", his code for saying to stay on guard, Severus may be needed. As usual, when pressed further, the stubborn old man wouldn't divulge any details other than to say they were headed to Gringotts, essentially telling him where to find them if something did go awry.
Finally finished with his batch of ingredients, he thought on what else was occurring today as he scooped them into a jar. For Albus had gone to pick up the Potter boy, and he wondered if it was mere coincidence he had been put on emergency duty; something always seemed to happen when Potter was around. Like in first year, when Potter had a near death encounter during the quidditch match and at the end of the year. Or in second year, when Potter nearly died due to the basilisk. And then third year, Potter had once again faced near death, this time thrice over, what with the dementors, a deranged madman, and a werewolf on the loose. It just never ended with him.
Still, even so, Severus had vowed after Lily's death that he would make it up to her by protecting the brat, but he made it so damned difficult. Growling outwardly to the empty room, Severus cleaned his workstation and trudged back to his quarters to prepare for the rest of what he expected to be a long and painful day.
"Why are we driving? Wouldn't it be faster to apparate? Where are we even going? What on earth even could've caused that to your hand?"
Albus drove the car through the streets in silence, ignoring Harry's stream of questions, until he deemed they weren't being followed, pulled out his wand, tapped it to the steering wheel to automate it and then cast a series of complex warding charms, on top of the ones already in place, to make absolutely sure they weren't overheard.
"Firstly," he said, turning to look at Harry, but still putting on the appearance of driving. "You wanted to know why we are driving instead of apparating. The reason for this is twofold; one, it gives us time to talk before we reach our destination of Gringotts, and secondly, other than waiting till we were at Hogwarts again, this was the safest way I could devise to talk with you and you alone."
"How is this safe sir, um, I mean, Albus?" Harry queried.
"Well to start with, there are my own enchantments on it, as well as that of only trusted Ministry officials; the cherry on top though, is the goblin wards etched around the siding, both inner and outer, preventing most forms of magic from even noticing the car," Albus stated quite cheerfully.
Harry let out a low whistle, seemingly impressed. "How did you manage to get the goblins to do that?"
"Generous favours, good relations, and godly amounts of gold," Albus laughed, though that was only partially true, then quickly turned very serious, being prescient of how much time they had left. "But enough of that, you wanted to know what happened to my hand. It's not a pretty story, nor does it show me in the best light, but I will tell it to you, nonetheless. Too start with, you must know that I, along with Voldemort, whom I will start calling by his actual name of Tom, have a fascination with magical artifacts. We have both sought power through the possession of these artifacts, both obtained some of what we looked for, both used them to our own gain." Albus held up his hand to cut off the questions he knew Harry had bubbling at the tip of his tongue. "However, Tom wanted to obtain these items, not just for their magical properties, but to taint them with foul magic of his own, twisting them to his own ends. Through the use of dark magic and murder, he managed to split his soul, placing the shards into specific magical objects, creating an item known as a Horcrux. Now, Tom, through this process, rendered himself not just immortal, but partially inhuman."
Albus watched as Harry's eyes widened at that revelation, and his mouth hung agape, but unfortunately, Albus wasn't done yet.
"I had suspected of at least one's existence for a long time, but it became clear in your first year that Tom was not truly gone. Then, you yourself discovered a horcrux in your second year in the form of Riddle's diary, and I recognized it for the dark magic was, even though destroyed. I had hoped that would be the end of it, but knowing Tom better than that, I started searching for more. Using a trail of memories left behind that led me to more of them over the last couple of years. This summer, since school finished, I have been hunting down as many of these artifacts that I have been able to, which leads me into the part about my hand. Whilst searching for Tom's horcruxes, I discovered that one of these artifacts that he used, a ring, was one that I had been seeking for. So tempted was I, so enamoured with what it could give me, that without thinking, I slipped it onto my finger. Next thing I knew, excruciating pain, like that of the Cruciatus Curse, radiated up my arm and through my body. Only with great effort was I able to wrench it off my finger, whereupon I grabbed Godric Gryffindor's sword and swung at it, causing the ring to shatter. And with that blow, another Horcrux was laid low, but alas, I was already cursed."
Harry shuddered. Horcruxes; soul vessels that prevented the death of the maker, rendering them immortal unless they were destroyed. Magical artifacts that had been corrupted by the darkest of actions. At this point, Harry's mind was racing with questions which could no longer be contained, so he started babbling them off. "Why are you telling me all this now? Does it effect the prophecy in any way, if he can't die? How many more of these things are there? Why did you have the sword of Gryffindor with you? Since you're cursed, and from the sounds of it, severely, does that mean you're dying?" 'Because if so, good riddance,' the Voice whispered, but Harry just shook it off by staring intently at Albus, waiting for answers to be forthcoming.
Albus sighed, diverting his eyes, making Harry scowl; how dare he turn away now. Then as suddenly as it had come, the anger abated, and Albus turned back, his eyes glistening with unshed tears. Without him having to say anything, Harry knew the answer to at least one of his questions now.
"Yes Harry, I am dying," Albus confirmed, as a lone trickle fell from one eye into his long beard. "I am dying, and now I need your help to destroy the Horcruxes. I am unsure how this effects the prophecy, but regardless of that they need to be tracked down and I can no longer do it by myself. There are at least four left from the information I have been able to gather, though I currently only have the vaguest awareness of three's locations. The fourth one, a cup that once belonged to Helga Hufflepuff herself, I have determined is in the Lestrange Vault at Gringotts. Today, you will use the sword to destroy it once we have access, since it is one of few objects imbued with the correct properties to do as such. There is also Fiendfyre, though I am reluctant to use that even under the most dire of circumstances, so, the sword will have to suffice."
Harry just sat there, stunned into silence, trying to process everything. Dumbledore dying, Voldemort immortal, and he himself now tasked with destroying the remaining Horcruxes. That tightness he still felt in his chest constricted further, and he became lightheaded. Thoughts swirled through his brain almost faster than he could process them. 'I can't do this, it's just too much. I already have the prophecy to worry about, now this. I haven't even told anyone about it, not even a hint. I don't even know if I should; then don't. And Dumbledore expects me to be the one to destroy these Horcruxes. Why can't he? Is it just because he's dying or is there something more to it? How can I even do this? I just want it all to go away; I can make it all go away.' Harry's vision began to falter, blackness creeping in at the edges and that final thought rang through his head like a bell.
He hadn't even realized that he wasn't breathing, till Albus pat him on the back, a look of pure concern on his face, saying, "Breathe, just breathe Harry," and he was able to gasp in a lungful of air. Then, Harry took a couple of deep breaths, as though he had long forgotten what air tasted of, and the thought and blackness receded.
"Are you okay? What's wrong with you Harry?" Albus questioned, a hand still resting on his shoulder.
Harry didn't want to say he thought he was having a panic attack, so he just shrugged Albus off his shoulder and turned to look out the window. "It's nothing," Harry answered, trying to play it off as much as possible.
"This is not nothing Harry," Albus stated sternly. "This is the second time you have stopped breathing in my presence and I am starting to suspect something is wrong with you. Now please tell me."
Harry sighed. There seemed to be no escaping it, even though he just wished he could block it all out. "I just, well, sometimes I get overwhelmed and then I can't think straight, and I stop breathing," he babbled out quickly, trying to get it over with as quickly as possible.
A temporary silence followed, in which Harry faced Albus again, noticing slight puzzlement on his face, but then he shook his head, and it was replaced with a small smile.
"Panic and fear are nothing to be afraid of Harry, they are natural things that people feel. What is not natural is for us to keep it so bottled up that we let it overwhelm us," Albus said, summoning a potion from somewhere in the back of the car, and handing it to Harry. "This should help at least for the moment."
Harry was all to familiar with this potion; it was a calming draught. Reluctantly, he popped the lid and drank it, and as it slid down his throat, he noticed the tightness ease just a touch and his thoughts were finally going at a pace he felt he could at least make sense of everything that was going on now.
"So, essentially," Harry summarized aloud, making sure he had it all right in his head. "I have to find and destroy the Horcruxes first in order to be able to fulfill the prophecy, and we're on our way to the Lestrange Vault in Gringotts now to destroy one using the sword of Godric Gryffindor, since it along with Fiendfyre are the only things that can. After that, there are three more of them, in mostly unknown locations, that need to be tracked down and destroyed before I can then face a mortal Voldemort and kill him at last, right? Anything else I'm missing, or should know about?" Harry wanted to laugh bitterly, but something told him it wasn't a good idea right now.
"Not at the moment. Everything else can be told after school starts and we are safe at Hogwarts," Albus answered. "Besides, we haven't the time for that."
Harry suddenly noticed with a jolt that they were on the street leading to the Leaky Cauldron, and sure enough, they were soon upon it, and the lone goblin standing outside.