He should wander the forest more often.
There was something about the endless wooden spires shrouded by mist in the dead of night that called to him.
Luna skipped ahead; her blonde hair bleached white in the light filtering through the moonlit canopy.
Fae and careless under the starlit sky.
The eyes followed them as they wandered, through the trees.
Looking looking looking.
Searching for omens of death.
Pretty horses.
Carnivorous horses.
Harry and Luna both carried picnic baskets that drip drip dripped like leaky ruby faucets.
The smell attracted them quickly.
The herd of Thestrals was as horrific as it was beautiful. Thin and strong, their skeletal, bat-like wings fared wide when they landed and reared. Foals with taut skin and eye-less sockets wobbled on uncertain legs.
Luna laughed and danced between them, running her hands over their leathery hides.
They loved her, the creatures of the night.
She smiled at Harry with her mismatched eyes and set the basket down. The horses prodded at it impatiently.
"There will be more than enough to go around, don't you worry," his Alice reassured them in her high, clear voice.
Harry giggled.
Luna pulled a pale human hand out of the basket.
"Mary gets to be useful again! She would be ever so excited, I'm sure."
Harry was just happy to see her smile. He was glad that she still had things she liked, even though she was empty. Even if it was carnivorous death omens. Especially because it was carnivorous death omens.
It gave him hope, for Him.
She was beautiful, his Alice.
The Thestrals enjoyed their midnight snack.
…
Harry and Hermione walked through empty halls of stone.
"How was Luna able to pull me into her illusion so easily?"
A door appeared to their left and Harry opened it to reveal the top of the astronomy tower.
"Luna is… unique. I also do not fully understand who or what she is. I have determined that I am Tom's Horcrux, that he accidentally and unknowingly left a piece of himself behind with me."
They stepped out into the warm rays of the rising sun sliding over the lake.
It was nice, the warmth.
Harry hopped up and stood in the railing, looking out over the other roofs and finally the ground hundreds of feet below.
He turned back to his Curator.
"Luna implied that when human souls turned into Horcruxes they become empty, resulting in our shared insanity and psychopathy. In the ritual book I found in the room of Hidden things, it referred to the castor as the Empty Vessel. At the time, I did not realize what it meant. Now though…"
Harry let himself fall backwards off of the railing. He reveled in the wind rushing through his hair before he sighed and returned to stand next to Hermione.
They continued down the corridor.
"Now, I assume that something fundamentally changes within a soul when it is forced to become a vessel for another. I do not know the full truth of the phenomenon, but it has something to do with the eyes."
Hermione nodded again as they entered the Hogwarts library.
The majority of the shelves were empty, although there were hundreds of books tucked around the place.
"Tom has clearly split his soul multiple times. The fragment inside me, that in some ways is me, has been guiding me to the others and seems to subconsciously motivate me to consume them."
Harry looked around curiously.
"You've done well, with your Looking Glass. I had hoped that it could be utilized in such a way, even if mine and Luna's always end up twisted and wrong."
Hermione smiled despite her concern.
"Thank you, Harry. I'm glad that you're starting to put the pieces together, even if the puzzle is incomplete."
Harry nodded while he stood to look out the stained-glass window. She followed and stood at his side as they looked out through the shifting panes.
"It is also clear to me that the souls Luna and I have consumed influence our abilities. I have always had Voldemort's dark power, his hatred and cruelty giving strength to my teeth. His crimson eyes have always been open in my soul, perhaps driving me further into my murderous insanity than I would have been otherwise."
Hermione looked sad. He supposed it was, in a way. Mostly for others.
"Luna consumed her mother's soul and has acquired a twisted version of her light and stars. She calls them her Nargles."
Hermione shook her head and chuckled.
Harry ran one finger over the colored glass and continued musing.
"Tom is also different from Pandora in that he made many horcruxes, of which I was the last. I don't know how that affected the process of becoming an Empty Vessel. Luna has consumed her mother's entire soul, whereas I have only consumed part of Tom. Voldemort's soul, steeped in dark malice and power as it is, seems more… potent than Pandora's in some ways, but less in others."
His reflection looked strange, in the many fragmented window panels.
"To answer your original question, Luna seems to have quite the talent for losing herself and others in her dreams. Additionally, she has both her own soul and the complete soul of Pandora within her. It has left her… insightful. Close to myself, but not quite the same. I am not complete, yet, and I have many more fragments than she does."
The stained glass changed its image, now showing a single crimson eye.
They continued to walk, through a corridor that wasn't there before.
"Each piece of his soul that I consume empowers me. They add more eyes than they should, instead of adding just another fragment, they add another infinite gaze of madness to my multitudes. From my research, most witches and wizards only split their soul once. Even the Empty Vessel ritual implied that it was to be done on the original soul, not another Horcrux…"
They stopped at the gates of Hogwarts.
"Luna's vessel is full now. Except… she is still herself. The side effects of a hollow soul did not fade, when it was filled. If anything, they expanded. And now, I can continue to help her grow by joining with her and the rest of the Circle as I consume the rest of Tom, however many of him there are. Vessels… vessels are not meant to consume this many fragments. What Tom has done… it doesn't seem to have been done before. But I will always be what I am, for better or worse."
Hermione nodded, the sadness never fading from her expression.
He knew she preferred him like this.
But he couldn't stay. The longer that he remained within her mind, borrowing her sanity, the more of her he would twist into being like him.
"You're doing very well, my Curator. Continue to fine tune your control, and you will one day rival Luna and myself in power, within the Looking Glass."
She reached out and hugged him, within her own mind.
And then he was gone, back to the dark and the eyes within his own soul.
Hermione may have preferred him sane, but he did not. Being sanewas boring.
…
Harry sat with the Slytherin members of his circle on Halloween.
Harry liked Halloween.
Bad things always happened on Halloween.
Normally to other people. Sometimes to him. Regardless, it was fun.
Nothing fun had happened so far.
"...rip… tear…"
Well, that was fun. Harry didn't know why Basilisk decided to take an evening stroll through the castle, but it was sure to be interesting.
He would have to have a chat with it about discretion, though.
Could snakes stroll? Did strolling imply legs?
Could a snake with legs stroll?
Harry shrugged and returned to his dinner. He wondered if the Basilisk would actually kill anyone. Dumbledore would have a fit.
Harry loved Halloween.
…
Harry stared at the bloody writing on the wall.
Drip drip.
YOU DARE VIOLATE THE LAST REFUGE OF SALAZAR!
ENEMIES OF THE HEIR BEWARE.
Hmmmm. Apparently, Tom didn't like that Harry had been using the Chamber for his rituals.
Also, Tom was back. Joy.
More eyes to add to Harry's collection.
He just needed to find him first.
Harry pondered the situation while the teachers took down the petrified cat.
Harry liked cats. He was going to eat Tom's soul for that.
He was going to eat it anyway, but now he could be self-righteous about it.
Harry giggled.
He would have to go poke around in the Chamber and see what lovely surprises Tom had left him.
If he hadn't set any traps on his way out, Harry would be disappointed.
Harry would have set traps, after all.
…
Harry strode into the Chamber of Secrets, his Circle and Luna behind him.
Tom had set some marvelous traps indeed. Volatile runic circles and cursed stone and disintegration wards that hungered to consume his body and soul.
Unfortunately for Tom, they were also prominently featured in the books that Harry had read in the room of Hidden Things, at the prodding of his own eyes.
Harry smiled as the Basilisk coiled around him, even as his Circle fidgeted anxiously.
Luna climbed up onto the great beast's head so that she could scratch its chin.
"Did you have an enjoyable evening, my dear?"
The enormous snake hissed, shaking the stone.
"Yessssss. Playing with the cat was funnnnn… Thank you, master."
Hmmmm. The Basilisk didn't know the difference between him and Tom. It wasn't the sharpest bulb, even after a thousand years.
He wasn't sure he wanted to correct it either. Luna would be sad if he had to slaughter it because it chose Tom.
He would just slaughter Tom instead.
But. Who who who was the wayward soul inhabiting this time?
He turned back to his Circle.
"Voldemort has once again reared his unholy head. Any ideas on how to track him down this time, since we don't have a pretty immortality rock as bait?"
He could feel them considering, through their chains.
Draco spoke up tentatively.
"We could lay traps, in the Chamber, like he did, but better? Hold him here if he returns."
Harry nodded. It was a good start.
Daphne grinned at him.
"We should ask Moaning Myrtle to keep watch for us. I think that she's in love with our Lord."
Myrtle was indeed very affectionate.
"What do you think, my Lord? Willing to risk a bit of ectoplasmic splash damage for the cause?"
Daphne's confidence had made her cheeky. Not that he was complaining. Obedience was boring, as long as she was competent.
Hermione's mind was racing in a different direction.
"Did any of you notice anyone missing from the feast tonight?"
Harry giggled. He wouldn't have thought of that.
So smart, his Curator.
Luna looked up from her work grooming the Basilisk's scales, peering down at them with her wide, mismatched eyes.
"Ginny Weasley wasn't at the feast. I looked for her, but she wasn't there. She's my friend."
Harry's smile widened.
Could it really be that easy?
…
Ginny Weasley woke up chained to a chair.
She was in a room she had never seen before, with a high vaulted ceiling and pillars of gray stone.
In front of her, cross-legged on the floor, was Luna.
"No no no no Luna, please, you promised," Ginny stammered. "You promised you wouldn't play your games with me."
Luna looked up at her with mismatched eyes, one green and one silver. When did that happen? Was Luna already playing her games?
The blonde smiled and Ginny shivered.
"I'll keep my promises, Ginny. As long as you keep yours. You didn't… talk talk talk… to anyone, about me, did you?"
Ginny paled.
Did Tom count?
Maybe he did, since she was here.
"I… I wrote about it, in my diary… the diary… it writes back, sometimes…"
Luna's smile brightened.
"Is your diary's name Tom?"
What?
"I… what… Luna, how… yes. Yes, I mean he is, and I… Luna, what's going on?"
Luna jumped up and patted her on the head.
"You did well, Ginevra, don't worry. Tom just possessed you for a wee bit and made you attack a cat, but everything will be okay now! Harry's going to go eat your diary and everything will be perfect."
Ginny tried to keep up, but it was just too much. She latched onto the last bit, even as she struggled.
"Harry… Harry Potter? How do you know Harry Potter?"
Luna leaned down and whispered in her ear.
"Where do you think I got this lovely green eye?"
Ginny quivered as her broken friend's breath tickled her skin, even though the silver chains binding her fell away.
…
A soul reached out to his fragmented shard, opening a connection to the outside world through the Horcrux once more.
"Tom, are you in there?"
"Ginny? What's wrong?"
"Sorry Tom, Ginny's not home right now."
Infinite crimson eyes and mad, giggling laughter echoed through the dark and Tom knew that things had taken a turn for the worse.
…