Harry Potter & The Black Sacrifice
Post 19: Untitled
Chapter 17
Untitled
Pettigrew paused, as Snape seemed to realize that this information would take a moment to process. Harry stared alternately at Pettigrew's face, and the floor, his hand automatically rubbing his scar. Despite the staring he had received all of his life due to that scar, he had never before been more aware of its presence.
Remus and Kingsley maintained a respectful silence while Harry dealt with what he had just heard. Though all of this was new information to Kingsley, he still had a basic idea of what Horcruxes were, and knew that he had just witnessed a potentially history changing revelation.
After about 30 seconds, Snape/Pettigrew continued.
"No doubt your first instinct will be to disbelieve what I have just said, Potter. But Dumbledore didn't set you on this path to have everyone else do the work for you, so this is just as well. When you carefully consider the nature of your scar, and the reactions it has always had to the Dark Lord's actions, you will eventually come to the realization on your own.
"I will say only this regarding your scar – do not destroy it yet! The link between the two of you is clearly through your scar, and if the link is severed, you will not be able to find him. Your scar must remain intact until the others are destroyed, and you are sure of his whereabouts.
"If I can offer any more assistance to you I will attempt to do so, but this is likely the last time you will hear from me. At least until the Dark Lord has been defeated…………"
Pettigrew started choking, and his eyes rolled back to normal again. Once he stopped choking, he observed the room with extremely bloodshot eyes. "Mr. Shacklebolt…?"
Kingsley had his face in his hands, but he looked up at Pettigrew. "Yes, Peter?"
"Do you.." Peter began, but then his head fell forward and he fell asleep standing up.
- - -
Kingsley called for Pettigrew to be taken away, and 3 minutes later he was alone with Remus and Harry. All three of them seemed to be waiting for someone else to speak.
Harry broke the silence by muttering to himself, "Neither can live while the other survives…"
"What was that, Harry?" asked Remus. There was a slight tremor in his voice.
"Nothing," said Harry dismissively. "I already know what I think, but I'd like your opinions first."
Kingsley and Remus looked at each other. They had been dreading this.
Remus avoided the question slightly by asking, "The book he mentioned… doesn't Hermione already have it?"
Harry nodded. "Yes, and it's already shown similar behavior to Riddle's diary. It makes enough sense for me to think he's not lying about that."
Kingsley coughed nervously. "You're both going to have to fill me on all of this later. What I want to know is this, Harry: Who else knows you're alive?"
Harry counted in his head. "Hermione Granger, Ron & Ginny Weasley, Dobby, the Malfoys' former house elf, and you two. Plus a few Muggles I work with who have absolutely no idea who I am. Oh, and Snape, I guess."
"The Malfoys' former house elf!" exclaimed Remus. "You never told me that!"
Harry shrugged. "It didn't seem important. We can trust Dobby."
Kingsley seemed as concerned as Remus was, but he let it go. "Anyone else?"
Harry thought about it. "Oh! And the Bloody Baron, the Slytherin ghost at Hogwarts! That's it."
Kingsley raised an eyebrow. "Why the Baron?" Harry explained about needing some books from the library and needing his potions book back. He left out the part about the unicorns and the Baron's puzzling words.
Kingsley pondered this for a moment. "Okay. I was worried it was more than that. 6 people, one house elf, and one ghost. That's almost already too many people Harry; I strongly advise against any more 'accidents' like me." He grinned, and Harry grinned back.
Kingsley began pacing. "So let's get some things straight. You-Know-Who made Horcruxes. It sounds like he made several of them?"
"Six," Harry said.
"Six! And how many have been destroyed? Snape mentioned a ring.. and a locket…?"
"Three of them have been destroyed," said Remus, joining the conversation. "Harry unknowingly destroyed one 5 years ago. Dumbledore destroyed the ring last year. And I destroyed the cup a few weeks ago."
"And the locket?"
"That's why we're here to see Fletcher," said Remus, amused. "I guess we don't need to be alone with him now. We believe he may have it."
"He should be on his way," said Kingsley. "Then, at last, we have a genealogy book and… a world famous scar."
Remus and Kingsley both looked back at Harry. "Harry," Remus began.
"It's the truth," muttered Harry, as he began to rub his scar again. "I don't want it to be, but it just fits too perfectly to deny it. A piece of Voldemort's soul has been staring out at the world from my forehead since I was a year old."
Remus shook his head. "No, it doesn't make sense Harry! He's tried to kill you three times now, four if you count the version of him in the diary! Why would he try to kill you if there was a piece of himself in your skin?"
"It's because of the diary that it does make sense Remus!" argued Harry. "Dumbledore said last year that Voldemort knew he could casually throw the diary in to harm's way because he knew he had 5 other Horcruxes still in existence. If he killed me, he'd be fine because he'd know that he still had 4 others out there."
Remus didn't have a response to this, so Harry continued. "He made six to begin with, but if he thought he was running out he could always make more. As long as he knew he had a few left to fall back on, he could afford to lose one of the others…."
Something that Snape had said suddenly forced its way back to the front of Harry's thinking, but before he could let Remus and Kingsley know what he had just thought of, there was a knock on the door. Harry quickly put his cloak on.
"Mr. Shacklebolt?" said a squeaky voice from outside the door. "I've brought Mr. Fletcher to see you, as you asked."
"Thank you, Warwick," said Kingsley to the tiny auror at the door. "Please leave us."
Mundungus Fletcher trudged into the room and took his place exactly where Peter Pettigrew had been. He looked at both Remus and Kingsley with bored interest. "Shacklebolt. Lupin. What do yeh want?"
"I'll get right to the point," said Remus. "A locket. A silver locket. Missing from the Black house. Do you have it, or know who does?"
At first Mundungus said nothing, as if he was considering his answer very carefully. Finally he said, "No."
Kingsley smirked. "It's been my experience that people who are innocent of what they are being accused of answer much quicker. Trust me Dung, you don't want to make us ask you again."
Mundungus looked over at Remus. "If you came all the way here to ask about it, it must be pretty valuable. If I did have it…"
Kingsley stormed over and grabbed Mundungus by the front of his shirt, fury in his eyes. "We're not here to bargain with you Dung. So you tell us where it is, or I let Lupin bunk with you in your cell during the next full moon!"
Remus grinned. "It sure would be a nice change from being chained up in my own attic, I'll say that much."
Mundungus' eyes rapidly switched from Remus to Kingsley, trying to figure out if either one of them were bluffing. When neither one backed down, he went slack like he was about to faint, and Kingsley almost had to catch him.
"I..I gave it away…" he finally said.
"To who?" Kingsley growled.
"I couldn't open it!" Mundungus said, with an edge of panic in his voice. "The catch on the side wouldn't budge. So I gave it to Borgin, and told him that if he could open it, he could have it!"
Remus and Kingsley both hissed in breath. "Borgin.. as in Borgin and Burkes," said Kingsley. Mundungus nodded.
Without warning, Remus reached out and plucked about 5 of Mundungus hairs from his head. "OW! What's that for!?"
"For the polyjuice potion he's going to have to use," answered Kingsley. "We'll just have to convince Mr. Borgin that you reaaaally want that locket back. So much that you escaped from Azkaban to get it! I'll just have to bribe a friend of mine at the Prophet to run a little headline of my own invention."
Kingsley walked over to the door and rapped on it three times. "Warwick! We're done in here!" The tiny auror strolled in and led an unusually silent Mundungus back to his cell.
Harry shrugged off his cloak. He had barely been paying attention to what had just happened.
"Snape needs to succeed," he said abruptly. "Snape needs to convince Voldemort that all the Horcruxes are safe."
"Well, obviously," said Kingsley. "What's your point?"
"Because if he catches Snape in even a single lie, he'll catch him in every lie he's been telling soon afterwards. He'll know that only two are left… which means he'll definitely start making more, and we're back at square one."
"If you're suggesting we try and help Snape, Harry, I can only say good luck to you," said Remus. "Nymphadora has been tracking him for months with no sign of him anywhere."
Kingsley nodded. "We'll just have to hope that he can pull it off on his own."
Harry nodded in agreement, but inside he was trying to think of how to find Snape…
Or how to let Snape find him.
- - -
Severus Snape slowly crept up the stairs, to where Voldemort and Narcissa were discussing Muggle torture devices in the house's library while waiting for him. Snape reached the landing, walked over to where Voldemort was sitting, and bowed before him, knowing full well that he was probably about to die.
"My Lord," he said quietly, "I have done as you asked. All of your heirlooms are safe and accounted for."
Voldemort smiled. "Glad to hear it, Severus. We can discuss this at a later time then." He nodded towards Narcissa.
Snape looked up in surprise. "You don't wish to see the memories for yourself, my Lord?"
"I trust you Snape," said Voldemort absently. "If you say they're safe, then they're safe; quite honestly I didn't expect anyone to find them anyway. I can see the memories some other time." Voldemort grabbed Snape's chin and forced him to look into his eyes. "Right now, I'm spending time with the mother of my child. Leave us."
Snape got up and walked as fast as he could down the stairs, relief flowing through every part of his body.
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