Can't Catch Me Now / Severus Snape

15. Horace

"Voldemort... transferred some of his powers to Harry the night he gave him that scar." Albus agreed. "The night he killed-"

"Voldemort transferred some of his powers to my son? How? Why? What does that mean?" Lilith demanded. "What are you not telling me?"

"Horace Slunghorn, you remember him?"

"I do." Lilith agreed confused.

"He is hiding something from me. His mind his memory..." Albus showed her a fractured and manipulated memory.

"What's wrong with that?" Lilith resisted the urge to say well damn I would follow voldemort if he looked like that because she hated that man, she wanted him dead, she wanted to be the one to do it. But he was handsome. She got to see him in his youth, when he was just beginning to rise into his evil ways. She got to see that monster before he turned evil  completely, at least 

She was horrified to think what might've happened if she was at hogwarts at the same time as him.

"It's manipulated. The answer you seek for lies with Horace true memory."

"He's not going to give it up easily." She realized.

"No." Albus agreed.

"Then I don't ask nicely." Lilith decided with a cock of her head. "I can be persuasive."

"I just got you back." Severus declared.

"ANd in order to stay back, I need to protect our family.

So, without further notice, she tracked down horace slughorn.

He was confused when he saw her. He hadn't seen her in many years and remembered her cheating off of severus back in the day. Those two were always inseparable. But he had no clue why she was showing up at his home now.

"Thomas Marvolo Riddle. Tell me about him."

"I..."

"Tell me about the monster you helped create Horace." Lilith instructed. There was no pleasantries no hello how are you? How have you been? Yes, the children are grown now and my son is in school doing excellently at Hogwarts and almost getting killed by basilisks in the chamber of secrets. There were no pleasantries she needed answers.

" I don't know what you want me to say." he rasped.

" I think you do and that's the problem. You know what I want." Lilith demanded threatening steps toward him. "Horace I need your mind." Lilith demanded gripping his head and prying maliciously into his head.

"I was in the library the other night ...in the Restricted Section... and I read something rather odd about a bit of rare magic. It's called, as I understand it ...a Horcrux." Tom remarked.

" I beg your pardon?"

"Horcrux." Tom answered. "I came across the term while reading... and I didn't fully understand it."

"I'm not sure what you were reading, Tom, but this is very dark stuff, very dark indeed."

"Which is why I came to you." Tom agreed.

"A Horcrux is an object in which a person has concealed part of their soul." he answered. 

"But I don't understand how that works, sir." Tom countered.

"One splits one's soul and hides part of it in an object. By doing so, you're protected, should you be attacked and your body destroyed." Horace answered.

"Protected?"

"That part of your soul that is hidden lives on. In other words, you cannot die."

"And how does one split his soul, sir?"

"I think you already know the answer to that, Tom." Horace countered. Tom seemed to smile.

"Murder." he agreed.

"Yes. Killing rips the soul apart. It is a violation against nature."

"Can you only split the soul once? For instance, seven...?"

"Seven?" Horace declared. "Merlin's beard, Tom. Isn't it bad enough to consider killing one person? To rip the soul into seven pieces... This is all hypothetical, isn't it, Tom? All academic?" Tom smirked.

"Of course, sir. It'll be our little secret."

Lilith let him go and he fumbled back.

"You bloody idiot." Lilith hissed. "Now my boy is in danger because of you."

"He did... oh Lilith-"

"He transferred part of his evil soul to the last living thing he could find. My boy."