Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Chapter 48 – The Scar
"Griphook, what's wrong?" Harry asked more forcefully. The goblin merely shook his head.
"Not here." He said, leading them outside and towards the Goblin Academy's pavilion. Even that, though, wasn't secure enough and Harry and Ginny soon found themselves ushered into the floo that deposited them in Griphook's office at Gringotts. The two teens were feeling more worried by the minute and that didn't abate as they were led to the goblin's infirmary deep in the bowels of the bank. The three healers that had been assigned as part of Harry's entourage raced over to their comrades and began speaking in hushed tones. More gasps sounded before those healers rushed over to Harry and pushed him onto two beds that were hastily pushed together to accommodate his taller frame. Neither he nor Ginny said a word as these other healers began to run their own tests, both knowing that they wouldn't get answers until the goblins were good and ready to give them, but they held each other's hands tightly, their worry continuing to mount. It was several minutes later when the healers were discussing things quietly in a corner and Bill arrived with Ron, Hermione and even Snape, followed shortly after by the arrival of a thunderous Ragnok, that their worry turned to panic. The Director turned his gaze on to the healers who all nodded, seeming to confirm whatever was making him so angry and it was then that Ginny could stay silent no longer.
"What the bloody hell is going on?!" She demanded, and such was everyone's worry that Bill didn't even reprimand his sister for using such language with the Director. Ragnok himself took no offense and motioned for the healers to explain. One Harry had never seen before stepped forward, this one no doubt the most senior of the healers present, knowing what he did of goblin culture.
"Mr. Potter, it is with great disgust that we must inform you that your soul is not the only one residing inside of you." The goblin explained in their usual blunt manner. This made no sense to Harry, though. They had already established that he and Ginny may have a bond, but that it was not a soul bond, a fact which he voiced. "It is not Mrs. Potter's…excuse me, Miss Weasley's soul to which we are referring." This slip up was the first they had faced among the goblins, and had both of them, along with Hermione, blushing, while Ron and Bill's ears turned a brilliant shade of red, though Snape merely raised an eyebrow but otherwise remained as impassive as ever. Griphook had told them that within the Goblin Nation their bond was the equivalent of a marriage, and was, in fact, the only bond that the goblins used as a marriage rite, but none of the goblins they'd med had ever referred to their technically married state. Partially this was because of their age, and partially also because their bond was not recognized as a marriage anywhere outside the Goblin Nation, wizards having done away with such a bond being legally recognized as a marriage centuries ago when marriages became more political transaction than union between two lovers. That being said, they knew that all goblins would recognize their bond just by looking at them and so it wasn't terribly surprising that goblins who didn't usually deal with wizards would slip up, especially given the circumstances. Thankfully said circumstances also allowed the slip up to not be commented on by the two of Ginny's brothers that were present.
"Then who's?" Harry asked, utterly confused. The healer looked to Ragnok, who again nodded.
"We believe it to belong to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named." That garnered a reaction from them all, Snape included this time, though he limited himself to sharp intake of breath. "When Assistant Head Healer Ulrik ran his tests after the tournament he came across a very powerful and very dark presence emanating from your scar, something that is far more than merely the residue of a cursed scar created by dark magic thirteen years ago. The further tests we ran when you arrived revealed that it is soul magic, the darkest of soul magic, to be precise. Given that it is localised to your scar and for you to be completely unaware of its presence means that you cannot remember a time when it was not there, and leads us to one conclusion as to who's soul it is." That made sense. Harry sank back against the pillows, as he looked up into Ginny's wide eyes. A piece of Voldemort's soul resided inside him. He knew he should have a thousand questions, but he couldn't think of any of them and merely felt numb. Thankfully, Hermione was a step ahead as usual and was asking the relevant questions.
"But how did it get there? And why would You-Know-Who split his soul? Unless it wasn't on purpose. But if it wasn't, then what magic was he performing that night that would be strong enough to split a soul?" She spoke a mile a minute and for once Snape didn't yell at her to shut up.
"All very good questions, Miss Granger." Said Griphook. "And while only You-Know-Who can know for certain what he was attempting that night, we are fairly confident in our guesses."
"We do not believe that he purposefully placed a bit of his soul inside you, Mr. Potter." The Head Healer continued. "Such a feat is, of course, possible, but it requires a ritual, the signs of which we are not seeing, nor does the piece of soul appear to be particularly in control, which we would expect had it been purposefully placed. We conclude then that when you stopped the killing curse that night it must have rebounded on He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, causing both his disappearance, and for his soul to split apart. The piece that remained then sought out the only other living thing in that room: you."
"But the killing curse doesn't have the power to split a soul." Hermione argued, and Harry was more than content to allow her to spearhead the debate on his behalf. "I read all about it when Harry and I first became friends and nowhere does it say that the Avada Kedavra curse has that power. So how could a piece of soul just split off like that?"
"The only way would be if the soul was damaged." Snape spoke up. "Both dark magic, and magic used for dark purposes, come at a price. Such evil damages one's soul, and continued use of it would cause irreparable damage."
"But a damaged soul, even one as damaged as You-Know-Who's must have been, is still not broken." Said Hermione, the last four years of training with Snape giving her the confidence to argue with him. At least it did outside of class and in the company of only the select few present. "Souls are remarkably resilient and even a badly damaged one would still be extremely difficult to break apart."
"Hermione's right." Bill said before Snape could snap back at her; allowing her to argue with him didn't mean he was nice about it. "Only a soul already split apart could break apart by accident so easily." He looked to Ragnok who again nodded, clearly knowing what he was thinking, and causing Bill to go deathly pale. "A soul is so resilient because it is the very essence of all living beings. It is not required to physically stay alive, your heart will keep beating without your soul, but you will be an empty shell. Our soul is what allows us to feel, to love, to hate, to reason, it is our likes and dislikes, our pleasures and sorrows, it is the force behind everything we do, the force that drives all living beings to actually live a life. Without it we just…are." He explained, mainly for the benefit of the four teens. "Usually a split soul would see bits of you disappear. The more pieces your soul is split into, the more of you disappears until you just exist. Unless you choose to purposefully split your soul. If it is your choice, you can retain your essence, but to purposefully split your soul requires that you damage it enough to be able to split it in the first place, which is where acts of evil come in."
"Murder, torture and rape being the most common." Snape muttered. Bill nodded in agreement.
"How do you know so much about soul magic?" Ron asked his older brother.
"Egypt." He replied simply, before elaborating for it was clear that that was not enough of an explanation for everyone. "Ancient Egyptians were obsessed with the afterlife. That much is well known, and I could lecture for days on their beliefs and practices, but the part that is relevant here is that when a person dies and they face Anubis, the god of the dead, he weighs their heart against the feather of the goddess Ma'at, who represents order, truth and what is right. The weighing is a judgement of their soul, and if the scales balance, if they were as good and true as what the feather represents, then they will be welcomed into paradise. On the other hand, if there is darkness in their soul and their heart is heavier than the feather, then their soul would be deemed unworthy and would be permanently destroyed by the goddess Ammit, the Devourer of Souls. That means no afterlife and no rebirth, which were both deeply rooted beliefs in ancient Egyptian culture."
"They weighed a heart against a feather?" Ron asked in near disbelief.
"Not literally, Ronald." Hermione snapped.
"It's an oversimplification, but yes they did." Said Bill. "Given their beliefs, an unbalanced scale is the worst thing that could happen, so as you can imagine some people did anything they could to avoid it, to avoid having their soul judged, and they found that the only way to avoid it is to ensure that when their body dies their soul remains on earth."
"Which is where splitting your soul comes in." Ginny surmised. Bill nodded.
"Ironically, in their quest to avoid having their soul judged they did the very things that would have made their soul unworthy in the first place. They committed acts of evil enough to damage their soul so as to split it and placed the piece in containers they called horcruxes. So long as their horcrux remained intact, their soul remained earthbound, regardless of what happened to their body."
"Do you think Voldemort made a horcrux?" Harry asked. "And that's why his soul was damaged enough to splinter accidentally the night he killed my parents?" Bill looked decidedly sick as he answered.
"As Hermione said, souls are very resilient. Splitting it in two wouldn't be enough to cause it to then split accidentally. Make it easier to split again, yes. But not accidentally." Harry paled, realizing what Bill was saying.
"So he made more than one horcrux."
"Seven." Snape spoke up, also looking a little green around the edges. "The Dark Lord was obsessed with all things magical and there is no number more magical than seven. If the Dark Lord did indeed create horcruxes then it is likely he made seven."
"So how do we find out?" Ginny asked. "And how to we get rid of the piece of soul in Harry?"
"That's easy enough." Bill said, looking to the Director for permission before pulling out his wand and approaching Harry. "Horcruxes were common enough in ancient Egypt that I've come across them several times. A spell exists to force the piece of soul out of its container, though it will fight back and its power isn't anything to scoff at." Bill turned back to Ragnok. "With your permission, Director, I would like Professor Snape to assist me. It's always better to work with a partner when going up against a horcrux." Ragnok nodded and Snape stepped forward, becoming one of a select few wizards to have their wand out inside Gringotts without losing their hand. Or their head, given that the Director himself was present. "Ginny I need your help as well. When I extract the horcrux from Harry I need you to pull him away. Best to use a summoning charm from a distance, actually. I've never done this with a live horcrux before – things aren't exactly living anymore in three-thousand-year-old tombs – and I don't want whatever fight the piece of soul puts up to hurt Harry."
"Will it hurt Harry?" Ginny asked worriedly. "Extracting the soul I mean?"
"I don't think so."
"You don't think?!"
"Gin, it's all right." Harry said. "Whatever pain is involved will be better than having a piece of Voldemort inside me." Ginny couldn't argue with that and so Bill turned to Snape telling him what spells worked best against soul fragments, before they turned to Harry. Bill pointed his wand and began saying something under his breath, causing the tip of his wand to glow. For a minute that was the only thing that happened until eventually Harry's scar began to glow as well. Suddenly he screamed, his head feeling like it was splitting open, not unlike that night in first year when he'd come across a Voldemort possessed Quirrell drinking unicorn blood. A black mist began to seep from his scar and when it was no longer touching him Ginny cast her spell and Harry flew back, crashing into her. With the black mist gone, his head was instantly clear and Harry turned to see a face emerging from the mist, also not unlike the night he'd faced Voldemort after following Quirrell down the trapdoor. This time, however, it was not an eleven-year-old against one of the darkest wizards of all time, but two highly trained wizards, one of whom had had this fight before, albeit with three-thousand-year-old souls. The two made quite quick work of it and after only a few moments the mist screeched as if it was in pain before exploding in a shower of sparks. Both Bill and Snape looked tired, though the potion's master did a better job of hiding it, and they accepted pepper up potions from the goblin healers; Snape even nodding approvingly as he examined the brew and found it to be perfect.
"How do you feel, Harry?" It was a question that Bill had never had to ask before, all the horcruxes he had dealt with having been contained in inanimate objects, and he couldn't deny a professional curiosity.
"Brilliant." He didn't hesitate to say. "It's like a weight has been lifted. My head's clearer than it's ever been, and the constant prickling in my scar is gone."
"Your scar has faded too." Hermione noted. Harry's hand flew to his scar, as if that would allow him to determine if she was indeed right, though why he doubted Hermione was unknown. A mirror was produced, though, and Harry could clearly see that she was right. The angry redness that had given his scar the appearance of being only days old instead of years was gone. For the first time in his life his scar looked like a fully healed wound that had just happened to leave a faint mark behind. He doubted that anyone would even be able to see it anymore unless they really looked for it; if his face wasn't already so well-known he probably could have even blended in in a crowd.
"So what now? How do we find the others?" He asked enthusiastically, feeling buoyed by the loss of the dark lord he hadn't known had been his companion all these years. Ginny couldn't help but smile, having never seen Harry so happy before. Bill too was smiling, though he was much more practical to Harry's gung ho.
"Well, a simple spell exists to determine if there's a piece of soul anywhere that is not in a living being." He said. "Horcruxes can be very volatile, so walking into a tomb it's necessary to be able to determine if they're there. People have died because they came across an angry horcrux by accident. I'll show you what it looks like, it's kind of like a compass. Your wand lights up when there's a soul around-"
"Then how's that useful when you're in a room full of people with souls?" Ron interrupted, earning a glare from his elder brother.
"If you'd let me finish…your wand lights up when there's a soul around, but when mixed with a life force it's-" He stopped again and this time not because he was interrupted. He'd cast the spell as he was talking, this particular spell being one he used almost daily while working in Egypt so he could cast it in his sleep, and he'd stopped then his wand emitted a bright purple light.
"It's what?" Ginny asked, not liking the worry on Bill's face.
"The spell was created by curse breakers long ago to find horcruxes. Yes, it technically reacts to all souls but they needed a way to differentiate between a horcrux and regular living people, so it can tell when a soul is mixed with a life force, in which case the light is very dim."
"But that's not dim."
"No, it's not. Which means that there's a horcrux inside Gringotts."
A/N - So sorry for the delay! I've had serious writer's block, and honestly it's not completely gone, but I managed to finish this chapter to my satisfaction finally. Hopefully I'll have the next one up in a few weeks!
Review please!