Chapter 596: Memories that have never been forgotten ( 2 in 1)

Snape looked straight at Harry blankly, with an unfathomable expression.

"I don't know what you're getting at." He said coldly. "You know!" Harry exclaimed, unable to resist moving forward. Snape swung his sleeve as he tured around, almost hitting Harry, but Snape didn't even bother to look at him, and started to walk away, Harry quickly took a few steps and stopped him again.

Ron and Hermione hurriedly stepped in between them, and Harry and Snape glared at each other as they separated by the two.

"But - Professor Snape, we are not going to give up." That's when Hermione spoke up, as she pointed in the great hall direction, "And it's better to move somewhere else to avoid other people from seeing us."

Snape, Harry, and Ron looked in the direction of her finger, and a group of students was rushing gleefully out of the entrance of a great hall, chattering, pushing and shoving, as they gossiped enthusiastically.

The test was over.

Seamus Finnegan, who was walking ahead, saw Harry and waved excitedly, "Hey! Harry, are you all right?"

The few people in the entrance hall withdrew their eyes in silence, "Professor?" Hermione asked gleefully.

"Follow me." Snape said under his breath, he walked ahead and the three of them followed in quick stride, they headed down the stairs in the entrance hall towards the basement of the castle and soon arrived at Snape's office.

"Bang!"

Snape slammed the door heavily and the room became dimly lit. Hermione was just about to speak - "Shut up, you silly girl!" Snape exclaimed, and then he turned to Harry abruptly, so fast that Harry almost thought he would break his neck, "Do you know that the Occlumency is protecting your mind from the outside influence?"

"I know," Harry said calmly, "I also know that both Headmaster Dumbledore and Professor Hap are working towards the downfall of Voldemort, just like my parents did back then. Only I'm not the same baby that needed protection fifteen years ago, I'm a warrior now."

"And me too." Hermione said.

"We're all warriors." Ron said hurriedly.

"Warriors," Snape repeated in a low voice, "Warriors?" His face suddenly twitched violently, and he shouted furiously, "And what am I? A coward-"

"You're an undercover warrior." Harry said, "That would require even greater fortitude and prudence, as well as equal parts of wisdom and courage combined with it. That's why we approached you, trusting that you would be able to judge the situation at hand."

There was a moment of silence -

Snape opened his mouth and said slowly, in a hoarse voice, "What do you want to do?"

It was done! Harry held down the pounding in his heart as he quickly and clearly voiced out his inner calculations, "I've given it some serious thought, I know Professor Hap taught me Occlumency to prevent my mind from being spied on by Voldemort, or from being misguided, but it's actually been me who has spied on Voldemort's mind and thoughts on several occasions - "

"That was when he didn't know about the connection between you, but now he does!" Snape cut him off gruffly.

"True," Harry agreed, "but have you ever wondered how that connection happened?" Snape's eyes suddenly widened, "I have thought about it, sir. Each time it happened I was particularly tired, my mind was unguarded, as well as Voldemort's mood swings increased, and I judged that these conditions would have had to be met at the same time to temporarily link our minds together."

Snape slowly exhaled the breath from his lungs.

"Interesting speculation," he said dryly, " And what has this inspired you to do now?"

"I can influence him in turn!" Harry said fiercely, "While he was dueling with Headmaster Dumbledore! Think about it, he must be fighting as hard as he can right now, that's why he can't maintain his Occlumency perfectly, if I can affect him even a little, it might change the outcome of the duel."

"Influence the Dark Lord? Potter, do you know what you're talking about? You are dealing with a man who may be the most dangerous and at the same time the most powerful Dark Wizard that has ever lived-"

"The most powerful?" Harry snorted, "If you go by the criteria of being proficient in the dark arts, he does have a chance of earning that title. But we're talking about an entirely different area here, it's a contest of wills."

Snape looked at him with a stony expression.

"Since you insist, Potter."

"-if I understand you correctly, you want me to break into your mind in the roughest way possible and rip the barrier that was so hard to build up with the Occlumency to shreds-"

He pulled his wand from his robe pocket, and pointed it at Harry, as he whispered, "The process would be so painful it would feel like stirring your brain to mush with a burning stick." On the sidelines, Ron couldn't help but swallow, "I'm sure it won't be long before you would be begging me to leave you alone."

" If it's just that level of pain," Harry said stiffly, touching the scar on his forehead, "I think I've experienced it many times before."

" Well, this is something we have to wait and see." Snape said, " Then, Legilimency!"

Before Harry could respond, the office in front of him disappeared and many scenes quickly flashed by.

On his eleventh birthday, he was drawing a birthday cake on the beach alone; Quirrell with his back turned to him removing his hood to reveal Voldemort on the back of his head; he was thrusting the Gryffindor sword into the head of the Basilisk; a hundred Dementors swarming towards him on the covered bridge; he, Ron and Hermione was tied to a tombstone listening to Voldemort give his return speech; he was in the underground training room of Black's old mansion, reciting the killing curse; Ginny stepped closer towards him with wide eyes ...

No, Harry resisted in his mind, a sudden force sprang up in his head and he pushed outwards as hard as he could along with it, "Bang!" He snapped back to see Snape bumping into the table and Harry gasping for air, as the veins in his temples bulged out.

Snape rubbed his back, as a dangerous glint flashed in his eyes, and Ron and Hermione, who didn't dare to breathe at the side, were afraid that he would snap out of anger, and secretly clutched their wands in their pockets. But Snape simply coldly said, "Very good, a solid foundation and a good counterattack. That means you're going to have to suffer a little more-"

"Legilimency!"

This time the intensity was much higher than last time, and Harry clearly felt the pain of having his brain being torn apart, and the counterattack came as it should - "What is this? Potter?" Snape growled at him, pointing at a shimmering magical barrier in front of him in midair.

"Sorry." Harry whispered, he didn't mean to do it either, it was a completely subconscious reaction.

"Sorry?" Snape repeated in a curt tone, then said with menace, "Throw your wand away, Potter."

Harry was silent for two seconds and went to the corner to hand his wand to Ron.

"Don't worry, Harry, if he tries to do anything nasty to you-" Ron whispered to him as he used Harry to shield himself from Snape's view.

"Stay out of it." Harry said.

"What-" Ron looked very startled.

"Don't interfere. We have to succeed." Harry said, returning to his spot and addressing Snape provocatively, "You're being too careful after all, are you worried I'll get hurt? Don't worry, I've had endured a lot rougher blows than that."

Snape's chest rose and fell violently, clearly pissed off to the core. He gave Harry a vicious glare as if he would recite a nasty hex the next second, Harry grinned at him, and Snape, without further ado, recited the spell for the third time, "Legilimency"

Ouch! It hurt so bad! Harry covered his forehead and locked eyes with Snape, trying hard to keep the tears from flowing out of his eyes as he tried his best to muster the mental energy that the Occlumency had provided him with to set up a line of defence, but he had lost his wand now and could only fight off Snape's onslaught with perseverance. Soon his defences were melting away like soap bubbles in the sun, and Harry fought as hard as he could to resist, but he could only watch as his brain gradually lost its power to resist and opened up to Snape ...

Harry was forced to remember more distant memories - his life as an invisible person in the Dursleys. The dark, cobweb-covered cupboard, the big old clothes he wore all year round, the transparent eyeglass glued with duct tape, being frightened by Aunt Marge's dog and climbing into a tree, being stuffed into a rubbish bin by Dudley and his friends ... No, even further back than all that, he saw a green light, he saw Voldemort, he saw his mother ... Lily Potter, who was begging Voldemort to spare her child ...

"No-!"

Something shouted, like a wounded beast howling wildly. Then Harry found himself in a new and strange world, and before he could react, a flood of memories came flooding back:

It was Snape - he was younger than he was now - kneeling amidst the ruins, grief-stricken, holding a woman, and next to him in a coat, there was a baby sleeping with a lightning-shaped gash on its forehead.

Then the scene changed. On a desolate, cold hilltop in the darkness, a conversation was taking place that no one will probably ever know about -

"That - that prophecy ... that prophecy ... Trelawney . ." said Snape, as his face paled.

"Ah, yes, how much did you convey to Voldemort?"

The top of the hill disappeared, this time in the Headmaster's office.

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"I thought ... you would ... keep her ... safe ... "

"She and James had trusted someone wrongly ... her son is still alive, with eyes exactly like his mother's. If you love Lily Evans, don't let her die in vain. Help me protect Lily's son."

"... Don't tell anyone, Dumbledore! Only you and I can know! You must swear to me!"

Again in the same office, but obviously not the same day, closer to the present time, as Professor Hap was mentioned in the conversation. Dumbledore raised his right hand and said to an unsmiling Snape, "Felix is still young, he won't understand - or rather he doesn't want to understand - that there is a price to pay for everything you do ... Don't worry, it won't kill me. "

"But what about that boy? When are you going to tell him that he is a Horcrux whose only purpose for existing is to perish?"

"Not yet," Dumbledore said sternly, "I have made some preparations, but not nearly enough. It must not be told to him at this moment."

The office disappeared and a new scene formed slowly, so slowly that Harry had time to think about the memory of what he had just seen, that he is a Horcrux ... destined to die ... Then he found himself basking in a soft glow of sunlight, it seemed to be some tranquil and lovely afternoon, the sunlight was tinted with a rosy red. Harry was standing at the edge of an almost deserted playground, and behind a bush, not far from him, there was a little boy.

Harry almost thought it was his forgotten memory of his childhood because at first glance the boy looked a lot like him - a small, lean, scrawny figure who was compelled to wear a big, out-of-date old dress, with black, long, and dishevelled hair.

But the next moment Harry didn't think so, as the boy peeked out at the two little girls playing with each other, and one of them - Harry looked at the oddly familiar green almond eyes with fascination - was clutching a wilted flower in her hand, and the little girl spread her palm as the flower came back to life and bloomed in her hand.

"That's enough!"

A voice exploded in Harry's ears and Harry was pushed away by a great force and fell to the ground. He opened his eyes to find Snape with his back bowed and his body shaking a few times before he eventually fell to his knees, the same look Harry had seen in the memory, except now he looked more older with a new fitting dress.

Snape and Harry were both gasping dramatically, staring deeply at each other as if they were getting to know each other for the first time.

Harry's mind was a jumbled mess, with all sorts of information tangled together, the shock of the horrible truth he had seized from Snape's memories was far more violent than the previous times when he was under Legilimency; the fact that Snape was the one responsible for his misfortune, Snape's feelings for Lily, Snape's Patronus, and the conversation between Snape and Headmaster Dumbledore... ... the fact of him being a Horcrux and destined to die.

He is a Horcrux himself. Harry stared at Snape, and it all made sense, his scar, his Parseltongue, his unusual connection to Voldemort. Dumbledore knew it, and Professor Hap ... probably knew it too, but they didn't say anything.

That was why they treated him so preferentially. People have always been more forgiving towards the dead, Harry thought to himself.

"Harry, Harry! What's wrong with you?"

Harry looked up at Ron and Hermione with vacant eyes. Ron was looking at Snape with hostility as he shouted, "What did he do to you? Harry, what did he do?"

Harry took several hard, deep breaths, trying hard to push down the various mixed emotions; this is not a time to think about that, he had to make a decision soon ... but it wasn't really effective.

"Oh - come on, there must be something that could come in handy -" Hermione kept rummaging around in her little beaded pouch, pulling out various vials and jars, but Harry stopped her.

"I - cough - I'm fine." He grunted, his throat clogging up.

Harry stared at the two of their faces and slowly stood up, he looked at Snape, who was sitting limply on the floor and said in a muffled voice

"Then - Let's continue."

"Continue, continue what?" Snape said slowly, his sanity seemed to be frozen by the cold floor, completely unable to comprehend a simple sentence.

"Yes, you heard me right Professor Snape, we are going to continue." Harry said almost coldly, wondering to himself why he was still able to keep his sanity, probably because he wanted to see that person so badly.

That was when his scar suddenly hurt without any warning, and he was dragged into another person's point of view - Voldemort's.

Harry viewed his other 'self' with envy.

He was wielding a beautiful and deadly wand with an unbridled swagger, what a freedom! A powerful spell was unleashed without a care in the world, the snakewood wand emitting a delightful hum, and feeling exactly as its owner was feeling at the moment, Voldemort was in a great mood, having finally overpowered Dumbledore for the first time and gaining an absolute advantage.

"Your power has decayed too much, Dumbledore! It seems like you still have your trump card? But your body can no longer support you Dumbledore!"

Voldemort hissed like a snake, shifting his position and condensing a terrifying black flame from his snakewood wand that immediately turned the trees, rocks, and soil in the valley into rotting ashes once it touched them.

Dumbledore was breathing heavily, his eyes half-closed, and fine beads of sweat dripping from his wrinkled face.

His physical state was as precise as he had predicted, sliding down to a low point that it carried a deadly allure to Voldemort, enough to trigger his ravenous nature, but Dumbledore had misjudged one thing -

Voldemort had finally gained complete control of the wand that his ancestor, Salazar Slytherin, had left behind, and was using it to its full potential.

In contrast, the Elder Wand in his own hand contributed very little in terms of power.

As Voldemort had said, he did have some trump cards, but the process of unleashing them would require a little time. He swung the Elder Wand calmly - even with a hint of grace - to ward off the powerful spells that continued to wail from all directions.

But both Voldemort and Harry who was hiding behind him could notice that the old man seemed to have really aged and become sluggish; the exhaustion on his face was not feigned and his reflexes were not as sharp as his opponent's, as he appeared to be struggling against the continuous onslaught.

Why hadn't he summoned Fawkes? Harry thought without emotion, as he (and Voldemort) stared at Dumbledore, watching him plunge into a decline; was this the man in front of him who had contributed to everything that had happened so far, changing his (their) fate permanently?

He had went into a great length just to give him the deserved death.

At this moment, Harry's and Voldemort's emotions seemed to overlap as he wielded his snakewood wand, cleaving a piece of earth and decimating a raised rock wall with a massive magical force that nearly divided the sunken valley in two, sending broken wood and mud reeling high into the air. More rays of sunset light poured in through the gaping hole in the valley and Voldemort (Harry) squinted slightly as he gazed at the old man who stumbled and seemed to be falling over.

He looked so powerless as if the most average killing curse could kill him.

The snake-like face broke into a fierce grin, he looked like he would explode with excitement, how wonderful it felt to realize his long-time dream - his long-time mortal enemy would fall before his very own eyes, he slowly raised his wand -

"Harry! Harry!" At Hogwarts Castle, Ron and Hermione called out the name, and just then, Harry suddenly fidgeted, his eyes shining with intense hatred.

"Leave him alone!" Snape said as he rose from the ground.

"But-" Hermione looked at Snape and then at Harry helplessly, before moving out of the way. When Snape finally looked at Harry's state, he drew a sharp breath as Harry's green eyes clouded over with a bloodshot hue, and his pupils gradually mutated into a pair of snake eyes.

"Harry! Wake up!" Ron yelled into his ear without a care in the world.

Harry ignored it as he raised his right hand - even though there was no wand in that hand - he made the motion of firing a spell. "Harry!" Ron and Hermione shook him in desperation, not knowing exactly what was happening, but they knew that the state he is currently in is extremely dangerous.

Harry's jaw opened and closed as his lips quirked.

Hundreds of kilometres away, someone who connected with his mind was doing the same thing -

"a-VAH-dah ke-DAH-vra!"

"ex-PEK-toh pa-TRO-num!"

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