In Essence Divided

[ Fate Rewritten ]

Summary: You are protected, in short, by your ability to love!

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"There is a way for me to defeat Voldemort without killing him," repeated Harry, incredulous. "What is it?"

"In order for me to explain it, Harry, we must return to the prophecy." Dumbledore stood up and took the Pensieve from its cabinet, putting it on his desk. He then raised his wand and extracted some silvery tendrils of memories from his temple. He dropped them in the Pensieve, where they started to swirl.

"What about the prophecy, sir?"

"Voldemort told you what he knew of it, but his spy did not hear it in full. This is the entire prophecy, as I heard it nearly eighteen years ago." He waved his wand again, and a figure rose from the Pensieve. It was Sybil Trewlawney, and she spoke in a hoarse voice:

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have a power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..."

"That part about Voldemort marking me as his equal. Does that refer to my scar, sir?"

"Precisely, Harry. Voldemort saw you as a threat and, in his attempt to kill you, he gave you not just a scar but a fragment of his soul. He set you on the path that would lead you back to him in the graveyard, where he finally became aware of your connection. No doubt he thought he could use it to his advantage, by keeping you alive as something akin to an additional Horcrux. But what he failed to take into account was the power that you have, and that he, at that time, did not!"

"What power are you talking about?" asked Harry. He could not think of a single thing he could do better than Voldemort.

"The ability to love." Harry could not keep a sceptical look from his face. "Very few people would look at Voldemort and see anything but a monster. But you've always had a great capacity for compassion, especially compassion for the weak. And Voldemort, for all his power as a wizard, is incredibly weak when it comes to human relationships. He never had a friend, much less a partner, and probably never wanted one... until he met you. Voldemort used to care for no one but himself, and to fear nothing more than his own death. Do you not see how extraordinary it is for him to see his death, even a temporary one, as preferable to your own? To consider the loss of his body and the greatest humiliation of his life a "small price" to pay for your existence? Harry, you made Voldemort feel love for the very first time. I cannot overstate how incredible an achievement that is."

"Is it? Even if Voldemort... loves me, that doesn't make him a good person."

"No, but it makes him a considerably better one. You were an infant during the first war with Voldemort, so you cannot see the difference between how he was then and how he is now. He used to kill cruelly and indiscriminately instead of in the pursuit of power. He allied himself with mindless rampaging monsters like the Dementors, while his servants are now all beings he can control. You could no more have bargained or reasoned with the old Voldemort than with an erupting volcano. Reforming Voldemort now is an entirely different, much less hopeless, matter."

"You want me to reform Voldemort? I can't do that!" Voldemort would never give up his quest for power. Harry couldn't imagine him retiring and living the quiet life in a seaside cottage. (And, if he was entirely honest with himself, Harry didn't even want him to. He admired Voldemort's ambition and drive.) Could he be made to give up his ideology of pureblood supremacy? Maybe, if Harry could demonstrate to him Muggleborns were just as good as purebloods. His hatred for Muggles? Harry had made some progress in this aspect by showing Voldemort the Muggle world was no longer the bleak hell he'd grown up in. What about house-elves, werewolves, giants...? Could Harry truly convince Voldemort to treat all these people fairly? It seemed an impossible task, and yet a small seed of hope had been planted in Harry's heart. If he succeeded, if he succeeded then...