Harry Potter and the War of Souls

Chapter 14

The Ravenclaw Horcrux

Harry announced he was going to bed early on Halloween night, which was roundly ignored by most of his fellow students who were planning on staying awake late to celebrate. Shortly before midnight, he drew his invisibility cloak around him and crept carefully through the common room. He waited until the portrait door opened, allowing in a pair of third-years, then stepped into the hallway. Curfew had been delayed until midnight for the holiday, but as it was getting close to that time, the crowds in the hallway had thinned out. He made his way down to the dungeon then stopped, suddenly realizing he had forgotten to ask Dobby to open the door for him. Figuring it was worth a try anyway, he turned the handle of Snape's door and found it swung open for him.

The room was eerily dark and he pulled out his wand to create some light, but he heard Snape's voice mutter, "Don't. The firelight will be enough." And true, as Harry's eyes adjusted, he gradually began to see the outlines of the furnishings. Snape was in an overstuffed chair with his cloak wrapped tightly around him. Even in the dim light, Harry could see he was injured. There was a wide gash on his cheek that looked rather fresh.

"What happened to you?" Harry asked.

"I disagreed with the Dark Lord."

"About what?"

"About you, if you must know. I'm lucky this was the worst I got."

"What about me?"

Snape slowly turned to him, something which seemed to cause him a fair amount of pain. "He wants you to join Him, to become one of His own."

Harry sat on a stool on the other side of the fireplace from Snape. "I know. He's asked me already and every time I've said no."

"He expects you to refuse Him. He even wants you to do so. Because each time you refuse Him, you are angrier and thus, more vulnerable to becoming as He is."

"I would never do that," Harry insisted. "I hate Him."

"Love and hate aren't so far apart, Harry," Snape said. "In its most passionate form, they are nothing but two sides of the same emotional coin. With the tiniest turn of events, the ones we love become those we hate. You hate the Dark Lord because you love your parents and thus you are vulnerable. You love so much that it would take little for the Dark Lord to turn you, to teach you hate."

Harry ran a hand through his hair, almost to give himself something to do more than anything. "How did you disagree?"

"I told him you weren't worthy to carry His cloak, much less to rule beside Him. He accused me of jealousy."

"I can get some medicines for you. Madame Pomfrey is so used to giving them out to me, I wouldn't even have to explain why I really needed them."

Snape coughed, which Harry interpreted as his best attempt at a genuine laugh, but he said, "I happen to know a thing or two about potions. I have my supplies in here and I can take care of myself."

Harry nodded. "Is there anything else I can get for you? Do you have food?" He didn't know why he was asking this. Maybe it was just because Snape looked so pathetic in his chair, so needy. Or maybe because in a small way, he was beginning to understand that Snape could simultaneously detest him and yet still help him. And maybe he, Harry, could do the same with Snape.

"In what way did the Dark Lord ask you to join Him?" Snape asked.

"Different ways. And I think He's trying to get into my mind, too. At least, I've been dreaming again."

Snape shook his head. "You mean the dreams where you view the world as if you are Him?"

"Yes, mostly like that."

"He is not trying to get into your mind, Potter. I can assure you He does not wish for you to be connected to Him at this time. But I also don't believe He is aware you are seeing into His mind. I think we can use that."

"How?"

"I can't answer that now. I'll have to think on it. But if we can gain any advantage in the quest to destroy Him, we must use it."

"Professor," Harry began slowly, "do you know how Voldemort can be killed?"

"I know what Dumbledore believed," Snape said, "which is why I asked you to come. Go to my desk please. You will find a box."

Harry walked to the desk and saw a long, thin box on the table. He opened it and saw a wand inside. He turned back to Snape, but before he could ask, Snape answered his question.

"This originally belonged to Rowena Ravenclaw. It was passed down through her heirs where it ended up with Niles Lovegood. Yes, his granddaughter is in the Ravenclaw House now. Niles Lovegood was mysteriously killed many years ago and the only item his family could afterwards identify as missing was this wand."

"Tom Riddle got it," Harry murmured.

"To create a horcrux - yes, Potter, you were not the only person to whom Dumbledore confided his plans. I do not know what came of the wand from that time, but after the night of Godric's Hollow, that wand eventually made its way to Mr. Ollivander's shop. It has been an item the Dark Lord has sought most urgently since His return. Indeed, Ollivander died last year trying to protect it."

Harry picked up the wand and turned it over in his hands. It was heavier than his and made of a wood he had not seen on any other wand. "You're sure this is a horcrux?" he asked.

"It is certain. Now if we are very lucky, its absence will go unnoticed by the Dark Lord until it is too late for Him. Because if He does realize what has happened, there is no hope for me, and His rage will cause your scar to burn with a pain from which you may never recover."

Harry nodded. He didn't want to think of that. "How do we destroy it?"

"Dumbledore never told you?" Snape sat forward at this.

"No. I figured you would know."

"If that's possible, Mr. Potter, I know less about horcruxes than do you. There is precious little information about them and those who do know are very reluctant to talk about it. This is for good reason. Why would any decent wizard let on that he knows what a horcrux is, much less how one is destroyed?"

"Hermione has a theory. She was thinking about when I destroyed Riddle's diary and how nothing happened to me, which she thought was odd because Dumbledore had been hurt so bad when he destroyed the ring. She thinks the bit of Voldemort's soul in the ring fought back against Dumbledore, trying to preserve itself, but that the soul bit in the diary didn't harm me because of the bit of Voldemort inside me."

"So she thinks the horcrux can recognize its master?" Snape asked his question with a somewhat respectful tone in his voice.

"It's just a theory, though."

"A theory that bears testing. Look on my shelves until you find a book called Ancient Spells. Turn to page 421."

Harry obeyed and brought the book closer to the fire so he could read in the dim light. "Eradico Totalus? This is just a vanishing spell, Professor."

"Hardly. This doesn't just make something disappear, it erases its essence. There is no undoing of the spell, which is why Evanesco is the more popular choice. With that spell, the object may disappear from the presence of the wizard, but it still exists somewhere."

"Will this work?"

"It was Dumbledore's first choice to destroy the ring. That attempt failed, but Dumbledore believed it was because, as he said, 'The ring does not want to go.' If, however, Miss Granger's theory is correct, then this wand will not resist your attempt to destroy it."

Harry pulled out his wand. "How do I do it?"

"Repeat the words three times together then tap the object with your wand."

"That sounds easy. How will we know if it works?"

"We will know because you will not be blasted into a thousand pieces. Or perhaps you are as quick as Dumbledore was in protecting himself with a shield charm when he tried this on the ring."

"But if it works, I'll be okay, right?"

"I assume if it works, no harm will come to you."

Harry hoped Snape had been joking about being blasted into a thousand pieces, but he doubted it. With the words to the strongest shield charm he knew in the back of his mind, he uttered, "Eradico Totalus. Eradico Totalus. Eradico Totalus," then tapped the Ravenclaw wand with his own.

There was no time for a shield charm as Harry was blown back to crash into the dungeon wall. He felt a burning heat in the room, almost as if a fire had erupted between himself and Snape. He fell to the ground and crashed into a jar of something that immediately crawled for cover, then felt the air in the room being sucked toward the center. As quickly as it began, it was over.

With great effort, Snape arose from his chair and peered into the box. There was a slight smile on his face as he looked at Harry and said, "I was wrong, Mr. Potter. It is clear that even when the spell works and a horcrux is destroyed, some harm will still come to you."