A Hop Skip And A Jump Away

plotting

The trio of dark haired wizards arrived with a series of sharp cracks only for the smallest to start a slow tumble toward the ground that was halted mid-fall by his companions. They quickly made their way into the non-descript building in front of them, half carrying Harry. None of them were surprised about the size or opulence of the interior though it did earn a funny face from Harry as he half-leaned against Voldemort when they entered the front hallway.

"Did you notice that he thought the wand he summoned this time was the same one he took from the Headmaster at Hogwarts?" Snape asked out of the blue as they tiredly stood in the entry way examining their latest abode having sent Harry toward the bedrooms to rest.

"Yes, he must still be exhausted or he's suffering from confusion left over from helping to contain the vase," Voldemort agreed worriedly. "Of course it didn't help that Dumbledore had this new one looking just like the Elder wand. Possibly he transfigured the outside to look identical so as to prevent anyone from realizing he had been disarmed so easily. It wasn't like it was obvious to most of the people present that Harry had summoned his wand and it was fairly dark at the time. Unless he somehow managed to steal it while we rested, which I wouldn't put past him."

"Where did he put the first wand any way?" Snape asked out of distracted curiosity.

"I believe he originally wrapped it up in the cloak. Recent events are one of the reasons I keep telling him no about the stone, completely aside from the fact I haven't had a chance to retrieve it in the first place," Voldemort said thoughtfully. "We should probably check to make sure it wasn't stolen... I suppose that this could be some sort of strange time paradox or that Death had two wands floating around but I find that unlikely. Either way both wands belong to Harry now."

"Yes, the switch in allegiance was fairly clear," Snape said with a grimace.

"Oh the wood is Elder alright, it just has a core of Veela Hair and was transfigured to look like the other wand," Harry told them, poking his head around the edge of the bedroom doorway, grinning like a loon at them. "I checked it after I checked the other wand. I thought it was weird that there were two of them and I was pretty sure that Dumbledore wouldn't want to compromise his image by people knowing that he needed to go out of the country to get a new wand. Ollivander wont use some things to make his wands, he commented on it during the wand weighing ceremony before the first task. Its a close enough match that I honestly thought I was taking back Death's wand again rather than one he had just bought."

"Bed brat! Or I will force a sleeping potion down your ungrateful throat," Snape ordered in exasperation.

Harry waved cheekily before tiredly returning to his room and the deliciously comfy bed within. It wasn't long before he was quickly drawn into a strange psychedelic nightmare that had Dumbledore dressed in hot pink and lime colored shroud-like robes and cackling. What really disturbed the teen was the fact that the old man was caressing an image of the Elder wand and calling it my sweetling while there were replica wands proudly displayed taking up every inch of wall space. At least the man hadn't been calling it my precious while hunched over it dressed in a rag-like loin cloth, mimicking the scene in the Hobbit. The two older wizards waited until the special health monitoring ward they had asked be cast and secretly keyed to Harry on their new residence told them he was mostly asleep before continuing their conversation in the sitting room.

"Severus, I have some... concerns," Voldemort said, delicately picking up his just served cup of tea provided by the house elf that came with their new residence.

"Which concerns, my lord?" Snape asked cautiously as he mentally reviewed the major issues that had come to light since the third task.

"Concerns, in part, over your actions towards Potter," Voldemort said carefully, completely blindsiding Snape, who blinked at him in owlish surprise. "I want to make it very clear that while I have entrusted him to your care the very fact that he carries a piece of my soul means he will never leave mine. You gave up your chance to walk away, probably in a misguided attempt to protect him."