The Servant

'It all began when Severus was forced to make an Unbreakable Vow to protect Draco Malfoy and assist him in a mission to kill me. It was a choice between making the Vow or betraying his position, something I had ordered him not to do until we could glean more information about the Horcruxes. Severus was most distressed when he came to tell me what had occurred.'

'We searched for spells that might help me survive the various attempts that would be made on my life. At that time, we found none suitable, although there had been a few that were close. One such spell, Harry, was the Doppelgangus. The only problem was that it required the object - me - to be incapacitated by Dark magic,' said the headmaster.

'Dark...? Like the Killing Curse?' asked Harry, trembling.

'No, Harry. The Killing Curse itself is not a Dark spell. Consider - it was once used many moons ago, as a means of merciful death to those cursed to die in agony. No, it is not Dark. Merely misused. Dark magic, Harry, is what Voldemort uses to ward his Horcruxes. Truly Dark spells which I hope you will never need to comprehend,' replied the headmaster sombrely.

'So this spell, Professor. How can it ...?' he trailed off, feeling too inadequate to express himself eloquently.

'Ah yes. The Doppelgangus. Essentially, it is a Healing spell. It splits a cursed person into two,' the old wizard replied calmly.

'Split? Like a Muggle clone? Or like a Horcrux?' squeaked Harry.

'Neither. A Muggle clone has a separate soul from the original person - two bodies, two souls. A Horcrux splits a soul into half, lodging part of it in an object - one body, half a soul. The Doppelgangus temporarily houses one soul in two different bodies at the same time,' he replied.

Dumbledore noticed that Harry looked lost, and sighed.

'Maybe I should explain about the ring first. As you know, I received a curse from Slytherin's ring - an ancient and Dark curse designed to drain my life. Somewhat painfully too. Severus, fortunately, brewed me a potion that slowed the curse down, thus temporarily stoppering death. However, this potion could only prolong my life, it could not heal me.'

'I was very close to death. My wand arm was the first to be drained of life. It was only a matter of time before the rest of my body followed suit. We realised that I fulfilled the prerequisite criteria for the Doppelgangus spell - I was dying from a deadly and powerful Dark curse. The Doppelgangus could heal me by creating a new body that was free from the curse. After some time, the originally cursed body would die. It is something like switching bodies. Remember - one soul, two bodies. For a limited time only,' the great wizard explained.

'The Doppelgangus requires an intricate blend of complex potions and difficult charms. Severus took care of the potions, and I concentrated on building enough power to perform the complicated charms. I won't go into the details of the spell. Suffice to say, not many wizards would be able to perform it, but we did.'

'When the spell was cast, a new body appeared in front of me. It was very disconcerting to stare at the exact replica of yourself, voice included. I was in both bodies at once. Each body was independent of the other, yet aware of the other, even across great distances. You can appreciate the possibilities that presented to me. I had the perfect alibi for anything. But of course, I knew I had limited time in the cursed body, for it was destined to die.'

'That was why I was willing to drink an unknown potion to retrieve the Slytherin locket. That was why I pleaded with Severus to kill me, and secure his place in Voldemort's fold. It was the only way we could get information about the Horcrux's location,' continued the old wizard.

'It's... it's a good thing you had that spell handy,' said Harry faintly.