Harry Potter Book 7

~Chapter Six~

Return of the Prince

Harry looked eagerly around the office as soon as he entered. At once, he saw a shallow stone basin with odd markings carved around the edge, in the centre of the headmaster's desk. Fawkes was perched on a pile of books beside the stone basin, gazing at Harry peacefully.

Harry drew his wand and approached the Pensieve cautiously. His eyes moved to the wall of the circular room where Dumbledore was snoozing in his portrait.

Harry bent over the Pensieve and looked into it carefully, his hand clenched tight on his wand.

He saw nothing. The contents within the Pensieve were clear. No memory stirred in it.

Fawkes let out a sharp note and Harry cried out in shock and fear as the phoenix flashed with fire and disappeared.

He suddenly got a chilling feeling. The kind of strange, warning feeling that tells you something isn't right, that something was horribly wrong...

Harry whipped around as the unseen man who had been standing behind the door quickly closed it with a snap and stepped into the light.

He was wearing a black travelling cloak, his wand pointed directly at Harry. He had curtains of greasy hair, a hooked nose and wore a cold sneer. It was Severus Snape.

"You!" Harry roared with rage and hatred. At once, he started towards the Half-Blood Prince, his wand raised.

Snape flicked his wand and Harry was blasted backwards; he hit the floor and his head collided painfully with Dumbledore's desk.

Harry shook his reeling head and raised his wand. Snape easily flicked his wand again and Harry's wand flew out of his grasp into Snape's outstretched hand. He stepped forwards, the sneer stretching even wider.

Loathing pulsing in his very veins, Harry pushed himself to his feet and staggered towards Snape, fists raised and ready to punch and hit any part of him he could reach.

Snape blasted Harry backwards again and he fell to the floor. Harry struggled to get up, but the jinx he had been hit with was making his limbs unbearably heavy. His arms were too heavy to hold up...they dropped to his side...With a massive effort, Harry stood up, but fell back down on his knees...

"This would be much easier for both of us if you do not struggle, Potter," Snape said tauntingly.

Struggling against the sudden heaviness of his whole body, Harry fought to keep his head from dropping onto his chest. He burst out in violent language.

"Haven't I taught you anything, Potter? Always think before you act!" Snape said coldly. "Your head is too over-inflated for you to listen to advice! It is why you are so weak and pathetic."

Harry swore at Snape. Snape surveyed Harry disdainfully.

"It is a wonder you're still alive without Dumbledore protecting you from the Dark Lord."

Cursing Snape, Harry focussed all his hate for Snape into concentration. He tried to summon his wand to him and concentrated furiously...

"Ah...you're getting better now, Potter. At least you have learned to master and control your emotions..."

"What are you waiting for?" Harry shouted at him. "Go ahead and kill me! Or are you keeping me alive so you can taunt and torture me?"

Snape's eyes glittered strangely.

"I'm not going to kill you, Potter," said Snape quietly.

Harry glared at Snape's face and Snape looked back; his face was inscrutable.

"What do you mean, 'you're not going to kill me'?" Harry spat at him.

"Use your brain for once, Potter," Snape snapped back. "Do you think if I wanted to kill you, I would have already done so? You would have died ten times if I were not watching over you and saving your life on Dumbledore's orders."

"What are you talking about?" Harry rasped, struggling against Snape's jinx that was keeping him weighted to the floor.

"I wonder why Dumbledore even asked me to explain to such an arrogant boy like you the complex workings of an intelligent mind. Your mind is too clouded with prejudice to understand this."

"What are you talking about?"

"The circumstances of the Headmaster's death are not what they seem to be."

"Meaning?"

"Dumbledore asked me to kill him."

The wave of shock this sentence created crashed into Harry making him reel with stunned disbelief and rendering him speechless.

Snape had turned away from Harry and walked over to the window of the office. He was staring outside at the cloudless sky and the emerald green grass.

"He...asked me to do it," Snape said, still looking out the window with his back to Harry. To Harry's astonishment, he heard Snape's voice tremble very slightly, as if though he was almost sad...

"I had advised him many times against it," Snape continued, watching a flock of owls soar past the window, his voice strange. "We had many arguments over it. But he insisted on it. He said it was necessary and I had made an Unbreakable Vow to him...I promised to do whatever he asked..."

Harry suddenly remembered what Hagrid had told him last year.

"I dunno, Harry, it sounded like Snape was feelin' a bit overworked, tha's all-anyway, Dumbledore told him flat out he'd agreed to do it an 'that was all there was to it. Pretty firm with him..."

"I had no choice," Snape mumbled, more to himself than to Harry. "After I said I would do it, he said one more thing. That I was to protect you, no matter what. That I would take his place as your guardian after...after I did my job and act in the interests of your safety as much as he would."

"But you didn't!" Harry said angrily. "You attacked me right after you killed him!"

Snape turned away from the window to look at Harry.

"Potter, let me remind you that it was you who wanted to fight me. I had to hurt you in front of the other Death Eaters that night, or it would have been suspicious if I did not harm you. Did you not notice I stopped one of the Death Eaters from torturing you with the Cruciatis Curse?"

Harry remembered back to the night where he had chased Snape and Malfoy, trying to stop them from escaping.

"Have you forgotten our orders? Potter belongs to the Dark Lord-we are to leave him! Go! Go!"

"I still don't believe you," Harry said icily.

Snape was stunned. "You are as ignorant as ever, Potter," he snapped, reverting brusquely back to his usual manner. "You require more persuasion? Very well..."

Snape raised his left arm and Harry flinched. For a moment, he thought Snape was going to hit him.

In a burst of fire, Fawkes appeared once again, soared past Harry's head and settled gently on Snape's offered arm.

Harry stared in shock as the phoenix observed him. Did Fawkes know he was perched on the arm of the murderer of his master?

"There, Potter," Snape hissed in a satisfied voice. "The phoenix trusts me as should you."

The two stared at each other in silence for a very long time. Harry privately still did not trust Snape, but did not have the courage to say so.

"I see," said Snape softly, breaking the silence between them. "You still are not convinced."

"No, I'm not," Harry replied stiffly.

Snape's nostrils flared in anger. Fawkes spread his wings and flew to his perch beside the door.

Snape walked towards Harry and pushed him roughly out of the way. Harry stumbled aside and watched as Snape raised his wand to his temple. When he drew his wand away, a strand of silvery white thought pulled away with it and Snape deposited it into the Pensieve onto the desk.

Harry moved to Snape's side and peered into the basin to see the thought swirl for a moment, then become smooth.

"Into the Pensieve, Potter," Snape said lazily.

"What?"

"Into the Pensieve, Potter."

Harry hesitated. What if it was a trick and Snape was trying to trick Harry into the Pensieve and trap him in there? He shuddered at the thought.

"I said, in." And Snape forced Harry into the basin.

Harry yelled out in surprised and was tumbling through rushing darkness. He was furious at Snape for pushing him into the Pensieve. It had been a trick after all.

But at that moment, he slowed down and landed gently on his feet. He looked around and saw Snape land onto the ground smoothly beside him.

"What are we doing here?" Harry yelled at Snape. "Why did you bring me here?"

"Shut up, Potter." Snape said dangerously and Harry fell silent. He looked around him. They were standing in a pitch-black forest of thick trees. The air was eerily silent. With a jolt, Harry realized they were standing in the Forbidden Forest.

A pair of voices floated to them through the foggy night air. Harry strained his ears to hear what was being said.

The voices were growing louder and the people to whom the voices belonged where drawing nearer.

"...Severus, you must promise-"

"I cannot, Headmaster! I won't do such a thing!"

Harry recognized one of the voices as Snape's. And the other belonged too...

The clearing that Harry and the present Snape were standing in was suddenly illuminated with such a bright light that Harry yelled and stumbled backwards, raising his hands to shield his eyes.

Snape had just entered the clearing with Dumbledore, who had his wand out and lit with light.

Harry looked around at the present Snape who was watching the scene with an odd expression, almost an expression of regret...this was Snape's memory. This must have been the night Dumbledore had asked Snape to kill him.

"What do you hope to achieve with this plan?" the Snape of the memory hissed, his face twisted with anger.

"You will not understand, Severus," Dumbledore answered calmly. "But trust me. It will all go well. No matter how bleak it may seem."

"This is madness!"

"I am ageing, Severus," Dumbledore said wearily. "It will only be a matter of time before my life passes, anyway. I might as well use my death in a useful way..."

"But, headmaster-" Snape protested, but Dumbledore held up a hand to silence him.

"You have already make the Unbreakable Vow to me, have you not, Severus?"

"But this is not needed! Everything to happen in the future could be done much easier with you alive!"

"Perhaps, but I am not necessary to see to Harry's success. Once I am gone, he will have all he needs to be prepared for the final battle with Voldemort."

"But we are so close, headmaster...it could be done another way..."

"No it couldn't," Dumbledore said firmly. "When I have departed, you must help Harry, because you will be the only one left, do you understand, Severus?"

"Yes, headmaster," Snape muttered.

"And I beg you, please lay down your differences with Harry," Dumbledore asked Snape. "Do not let the wounds of the past interfere with your job, or everything I have done will be in vain."

Snape bit his lip.

"Very well."

"I understand that you two may dislike each other, and that it will be even harder once my wishes have been carried out, but you must overcome that with Harry, no matter how much it takes."

"Very well." Harry could hear the bitterness in Snape's voice.

There was a sudden and loud cracking sound somewhere in the trees behind them.

Harry jumped around, his hand flying to his wand before he remembered he was in a memory and could not be harmed. The memory Snape whipped around, his eyes narrowed and wand drawn. Dumbledore raised his wand higher so that the beam of the light fell on the trees where the sound had occurred. He looked suddenly alert.

There was nothing behind the trees. Snape's eyes were darting around. And they all heard the sound of what sounded like something shuffling quickly away, rustling the leaves loudly that covered the forest floor. Within a moment, the sound had faded away and Snape had lowered his wand warily.

"Severus, shall we return to the castle? It's a little chilly out here..." Dumbledore suggested.

Snape nodded curtly and followed the headmaster out of the clearing and back into the dense thicket of trees, the two of them conversing in low voices. Within seconds, the glare of the light of Dumbledore's wand was swallowed by the black darkness of the forest and their footsteps had faded away to silence.

Breathing heavily, Harry turned around and saw the present day Snape standing quietly next to a large oak and watching Harry.

Moments later, Harry and Snape landed back in Dumbledore's office, returning to the present. Snape tapped the Pensieve with his wand once and turned to Harry.

"Have you found out anything about the Horcruxes?" Snape asked.

"What?" Harry spluttered. "You-you know?-"

"Of course I know," Snape said waspishly. "One evening last year, Dumbledore returned to the school injured and very weak. He told me he had been to search for the ring and to destroy the Horcrux sealed within it, but the ring bore a curse that nearly killed him. I was the once who performed the counter-curse that saved his life. He had come to me with barely any time to spare. I managed to prevent the curse from spreading through to the rest of his body. However, I could not reverse the curse that had befouled his hand."

Harry's hand went to his pocket and he fingered Merope's locket nervously. He still could not trust Snape...not after all the things Snape had done...

"Give me the locket, Potter," Snape said quietly, holding out his hand.

Harry started in surprise and cursed himself silently.

"You were always abysmal with Occlumency," Snape sneered, as Harry handed him the golden locket regretfully. "You have a poor mind and a weak will."

Harry seethed in silence, his hands in his pockets and hatred churning in the pit of his stomach as Snape examined the locket closely, his hooked nose only a mere inch from it.

"I am impressed, Potter," Snape muttered. "This is indeed one of the Dark Lord's Horcruxes. How did you come to acquire it?"

"Do I have to tell you?" Harry shot at Snape who's face twisted into a grim smile.

"Of course..." said Snape silkily. "...of course. You may not tell me, but I will still find out one way or another..."

"Have you found any of the other Horcruxes?"

Snape looked intensely at Harry, his eyes glittering. Harry knew what he was trying to do and hastily dropped his gaze to the floor.

"Potter, Potter, I cannot confide to you the depth of my knowledge. I cannot risk the Dark Lord discovering how much I know of his Horcruxes if he breaks into your memories through Legilemency."

Harry wondered why Snape didn't consider their current conversation as a risky memory if Voldemort broke into his mind.

"I will have to take this locket, Potter."

"What?" Harry said, suspicion flaring in him. "Why?"

"Because," Snape replied coolly, "I am the only one who knows how to destroy a Horcrux, besides Dumbledore. Entrust it to me and I can ensure that it will be destroyed. You could never destroy a dark object this powerful."

"I'm not giving it to you!"

A dark shadow settled on Snape's so that he looked suddenly menacing. Harry hastily took a step backwards, unable to fight the fear that had flared within him at the sight of Snape's expression, very aware that he was wandless.

"Very well, Potter. Very well..." Snape said in a sort of strained whisper. "I was hoping it would not have to come to this..."

Harry braced himself for the spell he expected Snape to cast at him, but instead, Snape turned once again to the Pensieve. He watched as Snape raised his wand to his temple and withdrew another fine strand of thought and dropped it into the basin where it swirled around, neither a liquid or gas until it was smooth.

His jaws rigid, Snape prodded the contents with his wand and said through gritted teeth, "Into the Pensieve again, Potter."

Harry stared at him.

"Now!"

And Harry bent his head obediently into the basin. He was falling through rushing darkness again and landed on his feet. Seconds later, Snape appeared next to him, looking murderous.

"Why are we here?" Harry questioned, but Snape did not answer him.

Harry looked around. They were standing inside a grimy kitchen of a dark house. The sky outside the dirty windows was a deep blue streaked with bright orange light; it was dusk.

A small wooden table was set in the middle of the kitchen and a metal chandelier of candles hung creakily from the ceiling on a metal chain. The candlelight cast dancing, dark shadows on the grey wall and stone floor. The air in the room was cold. Harry shivered slightly.

There was a sound in the corner of the room and Harry started. A man emerged from the corner, unseen in the shadows by Harry. He had greasy hair a hooked nose. He moved to the table and sat down in a chair that was missing a leg with a heavy sigh.

There was the sound of footsteps outside and the old, slightly rotting kitchen door slowly opened. A woman with a sullen expression, heavy eyebrows and a pallid face entered the room, carrying a large plate of roast chicken followed by a boy who made Harry's jaw drop in disbelief when he saw him.

The boy was a sulky-looking young teenager who was obviously the son of the man sitting at the table. He had the same greasy hair and an identical hooked nose.

With a mixture of comprehension and shock, Harry glanced at Snape who was watching the scene, his eyes glittering with sadness. This was Snape's family.

The pale lady who was without a doubt Snape's mother, set the dish before the man. He took one disdainful look at it before glancing up at his wife in disgust.

"That's all?" he said angrily, his black eyes flashing dangerously.

His wife nodded shamefully. The man banged his fist on the table and she flinched.

"That's all?" he shouted. "You're a witch, dammit, Eileen! You can do magic! Can't you conjure a bloody feast for us to eat?"

Snape's mother, Eileen cowered as the father raged at her as Snape, the teenager, watched quietly.

"I-I don't know how to conjure a feast!" Eileen cried defensively. "I never went to school as you know, Tobias! I never learnt how to do magic properly!"

"Buy a damn spell book that teaches you how to do it!" Tobias yelled.

"We haven't got enough money to buy spell books!" Eileen shrieked. "All our money has gone into paying for Severus's school fees so he can go to Hogwarts! We can't afford it!"

Tobias roared in frustration, rising to his feet, knocking his chair backwards to the floor. In one movement, he swept his left arm across the table and knocked the plate of chicken flying. The plate hit the wall and smashed into pieces that rained onto the floor with bits of meat.

Eileen took a step backwards from her husband, looking extremely frightened.

"I have a witch for a wife and yet I'm still living in poverty with not enough to eat!" he bellowed. "Don't send the boy to school, then! We'll have enough money to buy books that'll teach how to conjure lobsters and roast pigs every day! Books to teach how to magic a five-storey mansion!"

"Our son's education is much more important than our needs!" Eileen insisted. "He deserves the best we can give to him!"

Tobias turned on his teenage son, his face furious, but Eileen stepped in front of him, putting her arms around her son to protect him.

"It's all your fault I have to live such a miserable life, boy!" Tobias screamed. He pointed his finger at the teenager, who was watching his father shout at him with a silent expression, from behind his mother's arms. "All your fault!" his father howled. "You worthless boy!"

Tears began sliding down Snape's face. Tobias didn't notice because he was still storming while Eileen tried to protest.

"You made him cry!" Eileen yelled hoarsely over her husband's voice as Snape continued to cry quietly in his mother's arms.

"Cry?" Tobias snarled. "Why are you crying you useless boy? You're a pathetic little baby!"

"Don't talk to him like that!" Eileen screeched. "Don't you realise how much you're hurting him?"

"You're filth! Do you realize how much I regret having a son like you? If I knew that your mother would give birth to a dog like you, I would have never married her in the first place!"

It was enough. Snape burst out crying in a sudden rush of tears.

"You heartless-" Eileen screamed, close to tears herself.

But at that moment, they were interrupted by three loud, knocks. Tobias and Eileen stopped shouting at once, but Snape continued to sob while his mother cradled him.

Tobias turned right around and stomped out of the kitchen, banging the kitchen door against the wall.

Eileen hesitated for a moment, then followed him out of the kitchen, taking Snape with her by the hand. The adult Snape swept wordlessly after them and Harry hastened to go as well.

They entered a gloomy hallway. There were no candles and it was much colder here than the kitchen.

Tobias reached out for the handle of the large front door, but there was a click before he even touched it.

The door swung soundlessly open and Harry felt a sudden, unnatural gust of freezing wind. He shivered violently and stared in horror at the man who stood on the threshold.

He was tall, black-cloaked and hooded.

"What do you want?" Tobias hissed at the visitor.

The man raised pale hands that looked like spiders with unnaturally long fingers and lowered his hood.

Harry could not suppress a gasp and he heard Eileen let out a terrified scream.

The stranger had scarlet pupils and slit-like eyes, a flat nose and a skeletal face; it was Lord Voldemort.

Voldemort stepped into the house and another man, hooded and black-robed as well and whom Harry assumed to be a Death Eater followed his master in.

Tobias stared at Voldemort, revulsion on his face.

"Who are you?"

"I am Lord Voldemort."

Eileen turned to run back into the kitchen, dragging Snape with her. Voldemort's lips curled into a cruel smile.

In an instant, he drew his wand and raised it. The kitchen door slammed shut trapping the three Snape's. Eileen desperately pulled at the handle but the door wouldn't open.

"You're a wizard too?" Tobias said in a sneer. "Get out of my house; you're not welcome."

Voldemort's eyes narrowed.

"No muggle, witch or wizard talks to Lord Voldemort like that."

"Is that so-" Tobias began, his voice rising. But before he could finish what he was saying...

"Avada Kedavra!"

A flash of green light and Tobias dropped to the floor, motionless and lifeless.

Eileen screamed again and pushed herself against the wall furthest from the intruders, holding Snape tightly, who was looking at Voldemort fearfully.

Voldemort stepped over the dead body of Tobias and paced towards Eileen who was cowering in sheer fright against the wall, his Death Eater walking steadily beside him.

"Step aside, woman," the Death Eater ordered Eileen harshly.

"Now, Sampson," Voldemort said in mock reproach. "Do you have no manners? Be polite to women."

"P-Please don't kill us," Eileen pleaded.

The Death Eater, Sampson, burst out in cold laughter.

"Ah...how the fear is the same with each and every of my victims..." Voldemort said in a voice of cruel amusement. "However, I will spare your life, my dear lady. Leave and make haste."

Eileen could not hide her surprise and confusion.

"Come, Severus. We're leaving," she whispered to her son and began pulling Snape by the hand towards the door.

"I didn't say that I would spare your son's life too," Voldemort said calmly.

"Oh no...please...no..." Eileen moaned. "Take me instead...don't hurt my son."

Voldemort laughed. "Leave now without your son, or stay and die."

He waited for a moment. Eileen's lips trembled but she remained where she was.

"Very well..." Voldemort said softly. "I gave you the chance to walk freely away with your life and you refused the offer...Avada Kedavra!"

Eileen's eyes widened in shock as Voldemort raised his wand again. Instinctively, she pushed her son out of the way.

Snape was thrust sideways and stumbled into the wall. He watched in horror as the jet of green light burst out of Voldemort's wand and hit his mother squarely in the stomach.

"No!" the teenager shouted as Eileen was blasted backwards into the wall and crumpled to the floor as lifeless as her husband.

Voldemort lowered his wand and turned slowly to Snape who pressed himself to the wall. He plunged his own hand into his pocket and drew his wand.

Voldemort flicked his wand lazily and Snape's wand was jerked out of his hand, flew through the air and Voldemort caught it.

"Are you sure you want to do this, my lord?" Sampson asked his master carefully.

"Are you questioning my will, Sampson?"

"No, my lord! Of course not! It's just-"

"I am certain of this, Sampson," Voldemort cut across him.

They both approached Snape who shrank to the floor.

"Stand up, Severus," ordered Voldemort.

Snape hastened to obey, his entire body trembling with fear.

"Yes..." Voldemort breathed. "...you will grow up to be a magnificent and glorious Death Eater. You will be cunning and manipulative. You will be one of my most faithful and loyal servants...yes, you will almost be feared by everyone as much as they fear me...and hated..."

"You could raise any other child to be your loyal servant," Sampson said cautiously. "Why this boy, Severus?"

"Because, Sampson," Voldemort hissed. "I can sense the potential in this boy. He will grow to become a master of the Dark Arts...someone I can entirely trust with my secrets without being betrayed..."

"I don't want to serve you," Snape shouted suddenly at Voldemort who's eyes widened in shock for the briefest moment. "You killed my mother! I hate you! I will never forgive you!"

Voldemort's eyes narrowed again and Snape glared back in mingled defiance and fear.

Sampson tensed to see how his master would react.

"You see?" Voldemort said softly. "He has the perfect attitude to be a Death Eater...hatred...he is excellent."

Voldemort began laughing loudly. Harry felt his skin crawl as the cold laughter, empty of all emotion echoed around the cavernous, dark hall. Sampson looked uneasy and Snape's face was glazed with tears, his expression wild with hatred.

And the scene dissolved in a whirl of colour. In a moment, Harry found himself back in Dumbledore's office with the adult Snape.

Snape was staring at Harry with a glare colder than malice or hatred, as if daring Harry to laugh at what he had just seen. But Harry felt rather like the time when he had broken into Snape's schooling memories of being tormented by his father. if not, he felt worse.

"In normal circumstances, I would never have showed you this memory, Potter," Snape whispered in a deadly voice. "But Dumbledore has explicitly said to me to show you this memory if you still doubt where my faith lies..."

Harry looked back at Snape, numb with shock at what he had just seen.

"You will not require any further memories to convince you of which side I am on, Potter."

"Yes sir," Harry stammered.

"You will never mention this memory to anyone or ever speak of it again. You are to act like you never saw what I revealed to you."

"Yes sir."

"I have proved through this memory that I am not serving the Dark Lord."

"Yes sir."

Snape paused and surveyed Harry. "You are to give me the locket, Potter."

Harry hesitated, then finally handed the golden locket over. He placed it in Snape's outstretched palm.

"What are you going to do with it, sir?"

"I am going to destroy it. I am going to locate where the other Horcruxes are hidden. And Potter, you are to return to Hogwarts to complete your seventh and final year of education."

"What?" Harry shouted.

"This was Dumbledore's will," Snape said quietly and dangerously.

Harry closed his mouth and nodded, ignoring the lump in his throat.

"You may leave, Potter."

Harry turned towards the door.

"And Potter..."

Harry looked back at Snape who was watching him, his face unfathomable.

"You are to never mention that you met me with anyone. Not even your friends Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger, am I clear?"

"...yes sir."

"You are to act as if though you never met me and as if you are unwise to any information you have learned today."

"Yes sir."

"Now get out of my sight, Potter."

"Yes sir."