His own heartbeat stopped for a moment, and he couldn't think. Voldemort, with an expressionless face, immediately halted the piercing curse on Harry. Then he witnessed the faint glimmer of life in Harry's chest rapidly diminish and fade away, visibly extinguishing.
The great Lord Voldemort felt a chilling sensation throughout his body, as if his blood had frozen. The intense dark magic centered around him, pressing upon the entire castle. The lamps in the dungeons shattered, and flocks of birds in the forest outside the castle took flight in a frenzy. His heart was pounding, and he had never felt such panic before. Almost instinctively, he reversed his previous action, restoring the just stopped Cruciatus Curse. Then he watched as the bright light in Harry's chest trembled and regained its radiance. The magic of the life-indicating spell returned to its previous state—Harry was alive and awake.
Having Saven that strand of light, the Dark Lord breathed a sigh of relief. His temporarily paralyzed brain finally started functioning again. He realized that it was the piercing curse that had kept Harry from dying. A complete version of the curse prevented the victim from dying, losing their sanity, or even fainting, instead subjecting them to excruciating pain while remaining fully conscious. The Death Eaters lacked such skill. It must have been achieved by using the enchanted curse he had once bestowed upon Harry. To think that his own curse was used to inflict such harm on Harry!
Beneath Harry, there was a large puddle of long-dried blood and numerous wounds on his body. It seemed that the Death Eaters had gone too far, torturing Harry to the brink of death, only to remember the Dark Lord's command not to kill him. Therefore, they resorted to using the piece of Harry's soul they had extracted to sustain his life. It was unclear how long this process with the soul-sustaining curse had lasted, but Harry had evidently exhausted every ounce of strength in his body during his agonizing struggle. His breathing and heartbeat had stopped. However, the soul-sustaining curse, being an advanced form of soul magic, extracted strength from the soul to prevent the victim's soul from separating from their body.
So Harry was still alive, his consciousness still awake, keenly experiencing every minute of torture.
Indescribable anger and fear burned within Voldemort's heart, like a beast consumed by raging flames, roaring furiously. His entire soul yearned for one thing, almost rendering him unable to maintain rational thought. There was only one thought in his mind, an immensely strong thought that occupied every corner of his consciousness, entwining all his fears and hopes—he needed to save Harry. He had to make Harry survive.
Voldemort cradled Harry's severely injured and lifeless body horizontally, turned around, and strode out of the dim and horrifying dungeon. The black robes fluttered in the wind as he walked.
Death had already taken away his Nagini. No way would he let them take Harry as well!
Gently placing Harry on the opulent and soft bed in his own bedroom, Harry's body was nearly drained of blood. The wounds gaped open, expressing a lifeless silence. This body was in a state of death, sustained only by the power extracted from the soul by the soul-sustaining curse, preventing the soul from departing temporarily. Once this curse stopped, Harry would leave him.
He knew Harry was alive at this moment, even maintaining consciousness under the effect of the soul-sustaining curse.
"Harry," he whispered softly, knowing that Harry could hear him.
The boy remained motionless, without any sign or breath. His pale face with closed eyelashes and his once vibrant emerald eyes remained shut, as if unwilling to respond to his call anymore.
Without my permission, how can you die? Lord Voldemort will never allow such a thing to happen!
You belong to me, you are mine! Don't even think about escaping into the shadows of death, escaping from me, escaping from the control of Lord Voldemort!
What he wanted to accomplish, no one could stop. Neither the Grim Reaper nor Harry himself.
He searched his entire knowledge of magic, squeezing out all his efforts, carefully channeling spells into Harry's body. He then discovered the complexity of Harry's situation—his Patronus, Libido, and Magic Core, the three pillars of life, were all broken.
How could this be?
As a Dark Wizard, Harry indeed did not have a Patronus, but how could he be lacking a Libido as well? Two-thirds of his system were shattered, and he had been relying solely on his remaining Magic Core to sustain himself?
Furthermore, there were new injuries on his Magic Core, inflicted by the Death Eaters. Such injuries may not be fatal to ordinary people, and for Muggles and Squibs, they would hardly make a difference. But for Harry... the rupture of his only pillar of life caused his entire life system to collapse, unable to be sustained.
Lord Voldemort told himself to stay calm. He always prided himself on his composure, and especially in this critical moment, he couldn't afford to panic and overlook important details. Harry's Magic Core was only injured, not completely destroyed, which meant there was still a chance to save him, to hold onto him, to keep him from leaving. But how to save him?
The Magic Core, derived from blood relations. In that decisive moment, Lord Voldemort took action, disappearing from the bedside in a flash. He personally went to the Auror Office in the Ministry of Magic and captured James Potter, taking no more than three minutes.
"You bastard! Sirius and Remus were both on you!" James hadn't even processed what was happening before he was tightly bound by the restraints of a dark magic spell. Despite being an accomplished Auror, he was completely powerless against Lord Voldemort himself.
Then, the surroundings transformed within a swirling, melting light and solidified again into a lavishly decorated bedroom.
"What—" James couldn't quite grasp the situation. Unable to retaliate due to the Binding Curse, he was about to cuss, but then he saw the pale and frail boy lying in the bed, wrapped in blankets—it was Harry. His words came to an abrupt halt.
Seeing this child all of a sudden, James felt a tremor in his heart, but he didn't know what to say or even how to think.
The last time he had seen Harry was over a year ago when he and Sirius had captured him and sent him to Hogwarts to study. Dumbledore said the child was the hope, and James and Lily had also hoped to see their child renounce the darkness. They gave him a chance! But later, Harry managed to steal the Dark Prince's mask and wand from the heavily guarded Headmaster's office and fled on his own. This boy still ran back to Lord Voldemort, continuing to serve him and his dark forces.
He made his choice.
James wasn't sure if he should continue to favor this child, this second-in-command of the dark forces, the infamous Dark Prince in the wizarding world. How many people had died at the hands of the Dark Prince in this past year?
This was his child, and the closer the blood ties, the harder it was to be impartial. He didn't even know if he should be impartial.
Lord Voldemort, standing beside them, didn't offer any explanations to James. Instead, he waved the wand that merged white and crimson, and a golden light flashed at James' chest, then transformed into a thin thread that extended through the air, finding the same position on Harry's chest. It formed a delicate and trembling connection of golden light, like a conduit.
"What are you doing?" James questioned. He didn't expect the Dark Lord to answer, but to his surprise, Lord Voldemort did.
"Saving him."
"What happened to him... Did you hurt him?" James wasn't sure if he supported this course of action. "Are you going to wake up the Dark Prince and continue to aid you in killing and causing havoc..." Rather than a question directed at Lord Voldemort, it seemed like James was questioning himself.
"Shut up. No one is seeking your opinion," Voldemort replied before returning his focus to Harry's treatment. James remained bound by magic, unable to move at all. He realized he couldn't resist and had to comply, a fact that strangely brought him some relief.
In the past year, they had lost Sirius, their once dear friend and family. Now, only Lily and James were left to rely on each other. He had lost too much, and deep down, he truly didn't want to lose Harry again.
With the life force from blood relatives, there was hope for rebuilding Harry's Magic Core. As long as his life system didn't collapse, the other injuries on Harry could be tackled one by one. Yes, there were other injuries on Harry's body, countless injuries that Voldemort couldn't even begin to count. New wounds, old wounds, the missing Libido from the beginning, and the incessant excruciating pain.
Anger burned within James. Why didn't he know about all these things? He couldn't forgive this fact. He had always wanted to keep everything firmly under his control. Harry, as the most valuable tool on the path to immortality, should have been tightly controlled too! Why did he allow this variable to develop freely and cause unnecessary complications? He reflected on his own mistakes, regretted his carelessness, but first, he needed to make up for his failures. He loathed failure!
Suddenly, Voldemort remembered the scene when Harry collapsed after sacrificing his Patronus. At that time, Harry also appeared lifeless, and Voldemort even thought Harry had died. Perhaps it was because of this—he was already missing Libido, and suddenly losing his Patronus caused his body to temporarily falter and enter a state of false death. Years later, Voldemort finally understood this.
The absence of Libido posed significant challenges to Voldemort's healing efforts since many restorative magics worked from the perspective of life pillars. Harry had numerous old wounds, seemingly caused by past Dark Magic accidents. This also caused a lot of trouble in his treatment, forcing Voldemort to tread carefully and be cautious in his approach.
And the atrocities committed by those Death Eaters, Harry even bled until there was almost nothing left. Blood is sacred, it contains magic. Faced with significant blood loss, blood-replenishing potions were not enough; real blood was necessary. Lord Voldemort raised an eyebrow, his gaze then fell upon James Potter, who had been silently bound nearby, as if examining a potion ingredient.
Under Voldemort's gaze, James couldn't help but speak again, "What happened to Harry? Is it bad?"
The light at the tip of Voldemort's wand flashed again, indicating that another diagnostic spell had been completed. James, as Harry's biological father, had the same blood type and could be used.
"I need your blood," he said. Before the words even fully left his mouth, he used another spell to extract blood from the proud wizard. Another thin line, blood-red in color, formed and intertwined with the golden thread. Harry's life hung by these two delicate threads.
This time, James did not protest, nor did he speak further. He simply stared at the lifeless child on the bed.
Harry's body regained a bit of vitality, but he immediately began to struggle in agony, even letting out a desperate scream. The Cruciatus Curse ensured that he would not die; it was the ultimate guarantee of his life. However, it also ensured that he remained awake, fully conscious of the torment resembling hellfire. This contradictory and agonizing state suffocated the other two present. It wasn't until Harry exhausted himself from the struggle, weakened, and returned to a state of calmness.
Voldemort cautiously attempted to remove the Cruciatus Curse, but Harry's body was already riddled with injuries. He had been tormented by the curse for too long, not to mention the fatal wounds he had suffered prior. When the Cruciatus Curse ceased, along with the struggle and pain, the visible light of life in Harry also extinguished. It was like the time in the dungeon.
This time, Voldemort was prepared. He immediately reinstated the Cruciatus Curse, at least... at least this way Harry would still be alive. As long as he was alive, there was a chance of salvation, a glimmer of hope. Voldemort couldn't let Harry die, as no magic could bring back the dead. It was an abyss that even he couldn't transcend.
Sometimes Voldemort could see the plea in those emerald eyes, from the struggling body, just like many others he had tortured with the Cruciatus Curse before.
At first, James, who was beside them, cursed and couldn't understand why Voldemort was still torturing Harry. It was only after the Dark Lord explained impatiently that James understood the significance of the Cruciatus Curse in this situation. He stared at Harry, who had struggled until exhaustion and then returned to calmness, his back drenched in cold sweat. What was Harry going through... even for the most despicable person, they shouldn't experience such things! Moreover, this was Harry, just a child... his child.
He willingly offered his own life force and blood, hoping to save this child and free him from the depths of pain. Merlin, save Harry!
As if in response to this plea, Voldemort finally managed to revive Harry's body more securely. When he carefully stopped the Cruciatus Curse, he held his breath and stared fixedly at the light in Harry's chest. This time, it didn't dim! After repeatedly confirming, he dared to breathe again. He practically pried apart the fingers of death one by one and snatched his Harry back.
The Harry who had been struggling and writhing just a moment ago immediately fell into a state of unconsciousness when the curse ceased. Voldemort smoothed Harry's sweat-soaked hair from his forehead. It was good that he lost consciousness; Harry needed a proper rest... Besides, the Cruciatus Curse had its aftereffects. This torturous curse, even after it ended, would leave lingering pain in the victim for a longer period. The aftereffects would fade with time, but the initial period was always the most difficult. Hopefully, Harry could endure the most painful part while unconscious.
Harry's condition gradually stabilized, and James Potter could finally relax and let go of his contribution. It must be said that both Voldemort and James breathed a sigh of relief. Surprisingly, Voldemort didn't harm James further; perhaps it was because of Harry's sake. He only erased his memory, leaving the proud wizard bewildered under the effects of the Memory Charm, and sent him into the bustling crowds of London.
However, Voldemort still had more healing to do. Harry's body was still weak, and he couldn't afford to be careless. It took Voldemort three months to bring Harry back to consciousness. During these three months, the Death Eaters received no summons, no orders. Even the Order of the Phoenix became aware of Voldemort's disappearance and held numerous internal meetings to speculate about his whereabouts. Little did they know that he was simply guarding Harry's side, never straying.
A/N: Leave me some comments please~ let me know if you like or dislike it