A Second Soul

Chapter 17~in which~ Dumbledore Performs a Science Experiment

It was strange for Harry, being seated in the headmaster's office. Both the night he had travelled here and the night his scar had bled, he'd been too exhausted and frightened to really soak it in. It looked almost the same as it had in his old life, though perhaps a few less knickknacks littered the shelves.
He was trying to keep his mind off Severus as he waited for Dumbledore who was rooting around in the room attached to his office. Harry believed these were his living quarters, but of course had never verified this for himself.

"Ahah! There it is!" The headmaster exclaimed just as a loud crashing noise, like that of a precarious mountain of junk being toppled, resounded off the walls. This did not seem to affect the eccentric headmaster as he exited the room carrying some kind of large, metal contraption with a triumphant look on his face.

"What is that professor?" Evan asked, confusion clear in his voice.

"This, Harry, is a magical device used to identify cursed objects. I do believe you said you retrieved the dagger used against young Severus?"

Harry didn't have time to question how, yet again, the headmaster knew more than he should; Harry was sure he hadn't yet mentioned that he was in possession of the dagger. Shaking off these thoughts, he pulled the dark object from his pocket, careful not to unwrap the piece of robe as he did. Once placed on the table, the headmaster used his wand to unfold the fabric, revealing the sickening purple glow of the dagger.
Now that his full attention was not on Severus, Harry finally had time to acknowledge the searing pain in his forehead. Though it was no longer seeping blood, the more he focused on the mysterious dagger, the more his scar burned.

"Professor, this couldn't be...", Harry trailed off, unable to complete the thought.

"Yes Harry," the headmaster began sadly, " I do believe this is a horcrux." He paused a moment to allow his words to sink in then continued, "but, it is not just a horcrux. There is more darkness here than just Voldemort himself."

Harry stared on in horror, he had known these past months of peace couldn't last forever, but could one ever truly be prepared in the face of evil? As he processed the elder wizard's words, Dumbledore levitated the dagger into his strange contraption and began to run his tests.
~*~
Everything was darkness.
Severus had no way of knowing how much time had passed either since he'd been attacked or since the unbearable pain had petered out to a dull throb. He couldn't explain it but he'd been suffering a sharp, immense, seemingly unending pain then, suddenly, it disappeared. There was still a deep echo of the pain but it was nothing compared to what he'd been suffering. And then, suddenly, he felt safe, warm. Severus Snape had never felt either of these things in his short but difficult life.

Just as sudden as it had come, the warmth disappeared but the sense of safety and peace lingered, a promise that no further pain would come.

~*~
The "whatchya-ma-jiggy" as Harry had dubbed the strange contraption on Dumbledore's desk had spun around and around so fast he could only see the copper hue reflecting off the metal and a glint of purple that was coming from the dagger. After about half an hour of this with Dumbledore "hmming" and "huhing" in the background, the machine finally ground to a sudden halt.

The results of the tests on the dagger were worse than either wizard had expected. Not only was the blade imbued with a piece of Voldemort's soul as they had feared, but the dagger had been forged with extremely dark magic for an extremely dark purpose. If Lucius had been successful in completing the dark mark, Severus would have been permanently under Voldemort's control. The dagger was used to infect the young man with Voldemort's essence and, with the mark completed, the magic would have been sealed inside of him. He would have fought, as anyone would, but eventually he would have given in. It wasn't a matter of if he would have broken, but how long he would have been able to hold the dark lord off.

As it was, the curse had not yet been sealed and Dumbledore believed they would be able to carefully extract the darkness that had begun flowing through him, though, as with all cursed marks, the scar would always mar the pale and no longer smooth wrist of one Severus Snape.

~*~

The two wizards now found themselves back in the infirmary whispering with Madam Pomfrey about how to remove the dark magic as safely as possible. They had talked about various spells, potions, and magical objects that might in someway be used to remove and contain the dark energy flowing through Severus' body. Harry had just had the thought that maybe a bezoar could be used in some way when, suddenly, they all heard the pained moans coming from the other side of the infirmary. All three jumped into action immediately, Madame Pomfrey reaching Severus first and immediately assessing his condition.

"The stabilizing charm only slowed the spread of dark magic, we have to remove it now or we may not be able to get him back at all."

Blood pounded in Harry's ears, they had only managed a few theories, none of which had they had time to research, and only one of which they were prepared to perform in this very moment. 

"Mr. James, take the key from my apron and unlock the cabinet in the corner. Do not touch anything other than the green jar on the top shelf. Bring it to me." Madame Pomfrey said and, realizing Evan was still frozen in place, she urged him on with a "Now!"

Harry sprung into action, retrieving the key and unlocking the cabinet. He reached for the jar which was small enough to fit in the palm of his hand. The jar appeared to be carved out of jade and the lid had a handle that might have been made of copper. Harry remembered vaguely that jade was meant to purify and copper was meant to be healing but he wondered if this little jar could truly withstand the energy it was meant to contain. Still, he ran back towards Severus' cot with the jar held safely in his hands.