The one with the power to vanquish the dark Lord approaches...
And the dark Lord shall mark him as his equal but he shall have power that the dark Lord knows not...
For neither can live while the other survives...
-----
"Interesting..." Dumbledore mumbles, talking the Prophecy from Harry and observing it.
"What.. What does it mean..?" Harry asks.
"It means.." Dumbledore sits down at his desk, setting the Prophecy down. "That you have great power.. Greater than Voldemort.. You can defeat him, but only in a duel - where he will mark you as his equal."
Harry swallows nervously. The thought of dueling with Voldemort sent shivers down his spine.
"Prophecy aside, there was something I wanted to talk to you about, also dealing with Voldemort."
Harry looked up. "What's that, sir?"
Dumbledore stood up, beginning to pace once again, as he had been doing before.
"For the longest time, I had always assumed that it was your mother's love that protected you from death from the killing curse that was cast upon you - but then I thought just a little deeper."
He paused.
"As you might know, magical oaths are binding. Breaking an oath would strip you of your magic, and possibly even kill you. Severus loved your mother - and he begged Voldemort to spare her, of which Voldemort obliged. During that time that he agreed to spare Lily, he creating an oath between Severus and himself. So, once he killed Lily, and broke his oath, he was killed as a result. So the next time he cast a spell - to kill you - it snapped back towards himself, but instead of killing him, it merely placed a Horcrux inside of you."
"H-Horcrux... Sir...?"
"A Horcrux is a part of somebody's soul, bonded onto an object. Tom Riddle's Diary was one, and you... Are another."
Harry's eyes widened. "I'm... A.. A Horcrux..?"
Dumbledore nods, slowly sitting down and offering him the tin of Lemon Drops, which Harry refused.
"The only way to destroy the Horcrux within you, is if you duel Voldemort, and you allow him to win the first time."
"The first time?"
Dumbledore nods. "The moment he 'kills' you, he will destroy the Horcrux within you. However, he has 5 others out there, who knows where, attatched to who knows what. He may attach his soul onto any object. Therefore, anything that might possibly have meaning to him."
Harry nods silently, standing up slowly and picking up the Prophecy, slowly walking backwards towards the door.
"I um.. I-I should go.."
"Ah, yes. Of course."
Harry slowly closed the door before running down the staircase, past the gargoyle.
He ended up on the lawn of Hogwarts, panting heavily, the Prophecy clutched tightly in his grasp.
Dumbledore always gave him a sense of unease... And why did he always offer him those weird lemon candies?
Harry sighed. He looked down to the scar on his arm that he received from the first task.
Come to think of it.. Ever since he got that dragon blood in his injury, nothing seemed to be able to pierce his skin...
Harry's eyes narrowed in thought, and he picked up the nearest jagged rock, holding his arm out, wrist up.
Taking a deep breath, he brought the rock down, moving it to slice his skin, but.. Nothing. No cut... Barely even an indentation.
Harry swallowed silently, his heart beating.
"I wonder..." he mumbles.
Pointing his wand at himself, he took a deep breath.
Stupify...
Harry felt as the spell bounced off his skin and shot into the unknown. He opened his eyes shakily in shock.
So.. His skin was now tougher and spell-resistant... He wondered if it was resistant to curses and jinxes too.. Or even the unforgivable curses..
Harry stood up, picking up the Prophecy, turning towards Hogwarts.
He realized it was nearly dinnertime, so he headed to the Great Hall, leaves crunching under his feet as he walked.
As he entered the Great Hall, he noticed something different.
He could hear.
Well, kind of. It was all muffled and distant, but it gave Harry belief that his hearing would return fully.
Hopefully.
Harry swallowed nervously and went over to Draco and Hermione, sitting down, the Prophecy in his pocket.
Whether it did to anyone else or not, Harry didn't know, but to him, it stuck out like a sore thumb.
He began to eat silently, picking at his food.
"What did Dumbledore want to talk to you about?" Draco asks Harry after gaining his attention.
"The Prophecy.. And.. Stuff.." Harry mumbles quietly, looking up to see Dumbledore watching him, his eyes twinkling mysteriously, setting Harry on edge.
"And stuff?" Draco asks, and Harry nods, looking down quickly to his plate again.
A few moments of silence passed, and Harry sighs softly, looking up to Draco.
"Hey Draco..?"
"Yeah Harry?"
"Can I.. Talk to you later..?"
Draco nods with a little smile. "Of course."
Suddenly, all the candles go out, and students fall silent, small whispers heard along the Great Hall.
The windows suddenly shattered, followed by shrill laughter, and Severus stood up slowly, his eyes wide.
"Bellatrix..." He whispered quietly.
"Oh look!" Bellatrix giggled, stepping through the window frame and onto the shattered glass. "It's little bitty baby Potter and his wannabe daddy!"
Harry had turned around, fear in his eyes, remembering how Bellatrix had tortured him cruelly, and enjoyed it.
Harry immediately bounded out of his seat and towards Severus, but was stopped mid-jump by some unknown force, and came crashing down onto the Ravenclaw Table, scattering dishes and food everywhere as he fell to the floor with a thud, petrified.
"Excellent shot, Wormtail." Bellatrix chuckled evilly, earning a bow from the small fat man beside her.
Bellatrix began to walk towards Harry, but Draco stood up and got in front of her, his arms outstretched.
"Don't touch him." He scowles, and she cackles hideously. "You think just because your lousy father was a Death Eater means that I'll spare you?"
She whips out her wand and points it at Draco, but before she can fire a curse, her wand flies out of her hand and into Severus's.
"That is quite enough, Bellatrix." The dark man says quietly, and she turns to him, scowling darkly.
"Wormtail." Bellatrix says. "Get the Potter boy. I will deal with the traitor."
Wormtai nods, scuttling around to Harry, ignored by everyone as they watched the scene between Severus and Bellatrix.
"I am no traitor, Lestrange." Severus says calmly, earning a high-pitched laugh, much like one of those stereotypical witches laughs you see on those old cartoons.
"You've betrayed the Dark Lord, Severus!"
"Again, I was no traitor. I was a spy. There is quite a difference."
Bellatrix rolled her eyes.
"Give me my wand, and we can do a proper duel, Severus. Which of us is stronger?"
"I do not wish to duel with you, Bellatrix. I do not wish to see who is 'stronger'. I will stop you from taking my son from me a second time."
"HA! YOUR son? You are most definitely not related to the Potter boy!"
Severus's eyes narrowed. "Perhaps not biologically. But I view him as my son, and so does he. And it shall stay that way."
A mumur ran through the students of Hogwarts at this.
Severus flicked his wand, and Wormtail was forced to drop Harry. Severus made Harry float over to him, and he unfroze him.
Expelliarmus
Wormtail's wand was then snatched from his hand and flew into Severus's, and he snapped both of the Death Eater's wands.
"You..." Bellatrix scowled darkly, taking a step forward, but before she could go any further, she suddenly caught aflame, and began screaming in pain as the students nearest her fled to safety from the spitting flames.
Severus looked around in a hurry to see who'd cast the spell, and his eyes laid on Harry, who was glaring maliciously at Bellatrix's burning body, mouthing "Incendio" silently to himself, no wand in sight.
So he could perform magic, both without speaking and without the use of his wand?!
Severus watched Harry, feeling himself fill with pride upon this realization.
He turned when he heard the sound of Wormtail scampering off, squeaking in either fear or pain.. Maybe both.
Eventually Bellatrix ended up fleeing through the window, leaving the Great Hall in silence.
Dumbledore fixed the window and relit all the candles.
Severus looked down at Harry, noticing that the young boy's eyes were glazed and hazy, and he looked rather pale.
A moment later, Harry passed out, falling to the floor with a thud, causing the Great Hall to riot.