Xerosis

Ice Inside Your Soul

You and your friends certainly like to come and go a lot,' Hogwarts commented early Saturday morning before anyone was up.

Harry had been up for a couple of hours, working on reports for Riddle, but he set that aside to focus on the castle. "So you've finally decided to speak to me, hm?"

'I have been observing you,' Hogwarts offered. 'You are an unusual young man, with an inexplicable past and too many non-human gifts. You allow Albus to believe you to be his willing pawn, yet play the part of his opponent's queen. The Hat tells me you have lived this life before, while Fawkes says you are a favourite of Death.'

"So, basically, you've been researching me?" Harry wondered, more amused than anything else. "And what's your conclusion? Other than, you know, telling me about myself?"

'You intend to eradicate the muggles,' Hogwarts offered.

"I would very much like to eradicate them," Harry corrected, "but then there'd be no one around for Death, and I have no intention of feeling his wrath for failing to end the apocalypse. No, we're going to move the entire magical population to the moon – that's what my friends and I have been working on while we're away from school – and leaving the mundanes to sort themselves out without us posing an apparent threat to them."

Hogwarts let out a derisive laugh. 'You think the magical population will agree to this move? Steeped in tradition as they are?'

"We'll have a fight on our hands," Harry agreed. "But between eradication and survival, I believe they will choose survival, even if it doesmean moving to the moon."

'And what of the magical buildings with sentience? Will you leave us here to rot among the muggles?'

Harry closed his eyes. "I don't know," he admitted. "If there was a way to bring you with us–"

'You utilise portkeys,' Hogwarts interrupted. 'For all my sentience, I am still an inanimate object.'

Harry frowned in thought. Turn Hogwarts into a portkey? "The power that requires would be enormous," he offered.

'You and Tom Riddle are two of the strongest wizards in existence,' Hogwarts returned drily. 'You managed to add to my wards twice within a twelve hour period, and Tom once added a curse to me without my permission. This is but a tiny feat to two such as yourselves. If you can talk Albus into helping, it would be even more simple.'

"Talk Dumbledore into helping?" Harry murmured thoughtfully. "You believe he would agree?"

'Albus wishes only for everyone to live together in peace. Your murderous intentions towards the muggles is the only difference the two of you share. You both have faced the loss of a loved one at the hands of a muggle. You have both faced tragedy and worked hand-in-hand with the darkness. You both own a Hallow, and seek the rest of the triad.' Hogwarts sighed. 'This solution you have found, this "moving to the moon", is one I think he will embrace.'

Harry sighed and shook his head. "Perhaps. You understand, bringing Dumbledore into this is not a decision I can make lightly, nor on my own."

'I don't expect you to decide this very moment to include Albus in your plans, I only wish to warn you that, if you don't, he will work against you to the fullest of his ability. You and Tom are strong in your own right, but there is a reason Tom never cared to cross wands with Albus.'

Harry crooked an ironic smile. "I know." Outside his curtains, he could hear Michael and Kevin waking, so he offered, "I'll speak to Tom today or tomorrow. And, Hogwarts, thank you."