Chapter 32
Chapter 31
“Why are we here of all places?” Harry whispered as they entered Borgin and Burke’s. “This shop always gives me the heeby-jeebies.”
“Because Mr. Evans,” strongly emphasizing his new identity. “This is the most secure place to meet. Do you think The Leaky Cauldron or Hogshead are safe enough? The Headmaster might have other problems to deal with, but his informants are still lurking about.
“And Old Moldyshort’s doesn’t have spies in this place?” Harry questioned as he made a face at a shrunken head.
“Quite the contrary. This is probably the safest we’ll be from the Dark Lord’s spies.” Snape stated. “I’ve gotten to know over the years that this was the place the Dark Lord got his first job straight out of Hogwarts. It is also where he built up his knowledge of Dark Arts. It’s respect for the Dark Arts this place holds that he leaves the shop alone,”
“That and he knows that if he comes back here he’ll have to give me my 200 galleons.” A grizzly middle-aged man muttered while coming from the backroom. “Snape,”
“Borgin. I see you grew a beard.”
“And you’re still as blunt as ever. Who’s your friend?” Borgin eyed Harry with suspicion.
“My partner, Mr. Evans. Hadrian this is Mr. Borgin.” Snape introduced. Hands were shook as Severus looked around the dimly lit shop. “Is Caractacus off spelunking again?”
“Ah, you know him and his obsession. He swore to me he finally found Merlin’s cave. He swore that to me the last few hundred times as well! Bah! The fool!” Borgin grumbled.
“Yer appointment is in the backroom. Ya know the way, Snape. And remember, I need plausible deniability,” Borgin stated.
“I know, I know,” Snape waved the man off as he and Harry walked past and to the backroom.
“So….” Harry started.
“So…”
“Anything you want to tell me?” Harry then asked.
“Borgin tends to rent out his backrooms for… meetings. He provides the service for a fee but it is a secure setting.” Snape elaborated as they stopped in front of a room with a dark wooden door. “I’m sure even you can sense the wards around this are.”
“How come this place hasn’t been raided yet?” Harry asked in a whisper.
“Because even the Aurors use this place.” Snape deadpanned. “How do you think Borgin gets away with selling what he’s selling?”
“Good point,” Harry muttered. He never really thought of it as after the war a lot of places were raided and closed down with Kingsley as Minister leading the charge. At that point in time Harry had been in Auror training and had other things on his mind, like not dying due to his overzealous drill sergeant.
“Professor,” Draco greeted from where he was seated in the room. Snape drew back his cloak while Harry entered, He watched the Potion Master close and lock the door, activate the wards, and then add wards of his own in addition before he turned back to his godson.
“Now Draco, I would like to ask if the two disillusioned people could reveal themself or do I have to start casting cutting hexes?
Harry snapped at attention and looked around the dimly lit room. “Don’t bother. If you couldn’t sense my wand’s magical essence then you wouldn’t be able to sense this. Dissolution is a good camouflage however the spell has a bit of a flaw. The longer you are under it the more the space around you starts to ripple.” Snape said as he looked in the direction of a particular corner behind Draco.
The charm was canceled to reveal Lucius and Narcissa, also cloaked, standing in the corner of the room.
Harry was kicking himself for not sensing it. He had been an Auror, damn it. Snape merely raised a brow and then uttered. “Don’t blame yourself for it. In a past study, it was revealed that time travel tends to dull one’s magical sense the further they go back. Considering how far you’ve traveled I am not surprised.”
“Excuse me, time travel?” Lucius asked, overhearing the conversation.
“That is a whole other cauldron,” Snape stated and narrowed his eyes. “Now, why are you here?”
“Because Severus you may be the only person that can keep our son safe,” Narcissa stated while stepping forward. “You know we wouldn’t ask this of you on a whim.”
“And why should I trust you? Was what Draco wrote in the letter a lie?”
“No!” Draco shot up, slamming his hands on the table. “Uncle Sev. It’s all true. Those kids are in danger! It’s just…”
“Something just as serious came up last night.” Lucius now stated. “I rarely beg for help but this time I must. Even if it means our deaths at the hands of the Dark Lord I will see my only heir safe.”
“You two are serious.” Severus realized. “Actually serious. You would turn traitor for this?”
“Severus you don’t know what the Dark Lord demanded,” Lucius muttered as he sat down next to Draco.
“Then explain it to me,” Severus uttered in what seemed like a calm voice though Harry could see the man’s fist clench, just what had unnerved the Malfoys so much that they’d admit to wanting to change sides.
“The Dark Lord has requested the Ode of Eternal Servitude from Draco,” Lucius stated. “He gave us a week to do the Cleansing ritual.”
“Fuck,” Snape cursed aloud which caught Harry off guard as he’d never heard the Potion master curse before. Severus sat down heavily in the chair on the opposite side of the table and tapped his fingers while deep in thought.
“I’ve never heard of this ode. Is it that bad?” Harry asked with some confusion.
Lucius looked Harry up and down after his question with some disdain. “Clearly not a Pureblood,” the blonde mumbled. “Who even are you?” He asked as Harry hadn’t taken his cloak off yet so his face was still obscured.
“That can wait for later,” Severus stated. “First I want to know what led up to…. This.”
Lucius pursed his lips at the question, seemingly debating answering it. Narcissa was the one who spoke up and even Draco listened attentively as by the looks of it he seemed in the dark as well.
“A few days ago the Dark Lord collapsed in the guest bathroom,” Narcissa stated. “Travers’ wife was a former Mediwitch so she was called to examine him. It was deemed that he suffered a rather strong magical backlash. While fainting Pettigrew told us that he uttered your name,” At this Harry and Snape looked at each other both wondering why the man would do that until it hit Harry. ‘There was no way, right?’ He thought.
“The Dark Lord was… very ornery… after gaining consciousness again. He held meetings every night, clearly, something was frustrating him and he was taking it out on his followers. Lucius got the brunt of it since the incident happened in our house.” Narcissa explained and then turned to Draco. “That was why your father was on bed rest when you returned Draco,”
“What happened next was inconceivable. The Dark Lord actually ordered that all of his followers' children be brought before him before the end of the summer for marking.” Lucius seemed frustrated as he rubbed his temple.
“Did Old Moldypants look weaker to you?” Harry asked which earned him a glare from Lucius.
“Look, I’m asking in all seriousness.” Harry continued. “I might have an idea what happened and I think it dawned on Severus as well. But I need to know. Did he seem any weaker to you?”
“His Crucios did seem lighter but the sheer number we were subjected to…” Lucius admitted after nearly a full minute of silence. The man’s frown deepened.
“I also noticed something odd,” Narcissa admitted. “The Dark lord usually dismisses us first from meetings before he leaves but… after the incident, he tends to leave first.”
“I have a theory,” Harry said as he tapped the table pensively with a finger. “I’ve been wondering something actually. It has to do with that diary,” Harry tilted his cloaked head and looked towards Lucius who sputtered.
“How do you know about that?” Lucius spat.
Harry finally tossed back his cloak. “Potter?!” Draco asked bewildered. “What the bloody hell are you doing here?”
“Mostly curiosity,” Harry shrugged. “Also Severus has a habit of taking me with him,”
“If I leave you alone you end up getting into situations that even I cannot fathom,” Snape declared.
“Oye, I’m not so much of a disaster magnet!” Harry retorted.
“Why do you look older?” Draco then asked. “You’re not 15 are you?”
“And bingo was his name-o,” Harry said with a smirk.
“To be fair it’s a long story. But for now, let’s focus on He-Who-Is-A-Pain-in-My-Arse…. And not in a good way,” He added with a wink to Snape.
“You ever wonder why a Horcrux can do magic?” Harry asked the room. “In my second year, Voldy-dear managed to become nearly corporeal by draining Ginny’s life force. Though he never drained her magic since Madam Pomfrey concluded that her core was unharmed afterwards. Yet, here this thing was, using my wand to write an anagram in the air with magic. It never really occurred to me to link it to the Dark mark in any way until I had trouble removing Snape’s,”
“YOU CAN REMOVE THE DARK MARK?!” Lucius nearly leaped across the table in shock when Harry revealed that.
“You might not know it but the Dark Mark siphons your magic,” Harry stated, ignoring Lucius’s outburst and Draco and Narcissa’s wide eyes at his previous statement. “Him getting a magical backlash would probably have come from me removing Snape’s mark. Suddenly one of his magical batteries was gone and now he’s looking for more magic to siphon. Hence why he wants to mark the younger generation earlier.”
“But… But he’s the Dark Lord. he has magic in excess!” Lucius uttered.
“Does he?” Harry questioned. “I come back to my previous question. Why can a Horcrux do magic? A Horcrux uses its creator’s magic to siphon lifeforce to generate a body. That magic is not meant for spellcasting but for the Horcrux to grow. What if… Voldy not only split his soul each time but also his magical core. Maybe it was a side effect he hadn’t counted on and then he created the Dark Mark to use all his little followers as Energizer bunnies.”
“That…” Narcissa frowned.
“It’s plausible,” Snape thought aloud. “All my research indicates that a Horcrux should produce a body similar in age to the wizard who made it at the time. If the body is to be an exact copy then it would also have to develop a magical core. A magical core, an identical core to the initial caster, isn’t just… developed.”
“I know right,” Harry said eagerly. “You think that if Moldy Voldy’s magical power wasn’t divided in the Horcrux ritual his bodies would have never developed a core to do magic on their own and thus would have been nothing more than resembling Muggles?”
“I have a question….” Draco interrupted tentatively as he looked between his godfather and the unusual older Harry with a frown. “What is an Energizer bunny?”