Secret No More

"Harry!" a voice he dreaded to hear called out as he was making his way out of the Great Hall, prompting the boy to turn. He spotted Hermione making her way towards him with a regretful look on her face.

He holds his stance, half ready to leave and half waiting for whatever she had to say...

"I-I'm sorry-, about what I said. You were right, I don't know what it's like, but I know now that you weren't wrong to do what you did..."

"And?" he inquires expectantly.

"And... I-I want to be friends again. I made a mistake and I want to fix it."

A scornful smile crooks his lips and she can't help but nervously shuffle in place. "You made your decision, Sheep or Shepherd, you chose wrong." he states before striding away, leaving the wide-eyed girl standing there alone.

It was only Neville arriving at her side that prevented her from losing her balance, the fact she'd just lost her first, and closest friend hadn't truly set in her mind yet, but physically she felt ill, like a bottomless pit had just opened up in her stomach, along with something threatening to bubble up past her throat...

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Late at night, while returning from his practice with Quirrel, Harry made his way through the castle to reach the dungeons. As his temporary teacher had noted, his mood had been rather dour lately, which was obviously caused by the actions of a certain someone.

Strangely, the DADA Professor encouraged him to stew on them, cultivating the resentment, jealousy, and hate into something usable, more malleable. Harry wasn't an idiot though, allowing himself to linger on such 'trivial' things was the fool's way forward.

So, instead, he just funnelled all the emotions into the blood gem Kali had left in his mind. That's what it was designed for, and he feels fresher, cleaner without all the emotional baggage, even if it would make darker magics easier and come more freely.

He wasn't willing to let the magics control him, it was his to bind and use, not the otherwise around. Kali had shown him what could happen if you wallow in such things, while demons were 'evil', an insane Dark Mage was 'evil and stupid', with a liberal sprinkling of recklessness, which Harry already had an abundance of to deal with.

"Stop." a bored voice drawls as a Lumos light almost blinds Harry, the shining wand suddenly illuminating his face and forcing his eyes to adapt. "Hmph, Potter." Snape sneers, not lowering his Foci.

"Professor. Do you need something?"

The greasy-haired potion master simply nods as if it were obvious, "You are out after curfew... While I would give you a detention, I feel that you warrant another punishment."

Before Harry's able to reply the man jabs his wand slightly and whispers, "Legilimens."

Harry steps backwards and something smashes into his Occlumency shields, at first trying to destroy it completely like a sledgehammer to a wall, but after the first few failed attempts it's more like a needle trying to jab through flesh.

"Bastard." he growls, trying to endure the assault. Despite his improvements in the art, he couldn't be considered a master, indeed, more of his efforts had been focused on bettering himself, enhancing his mind, increasing his self-control and willpower. He certainly hadn't thought he'd be under a full-on Legilimency assault all of a sudden.

"Fine..." he grunts, "You really want to see my mind!? Here!"

With that, Harry allows the intrusion in and immediately directs it to the massive graveyard in his mind. He musters the mental blood gem which glows a maleficent crimson, wisps of energy springing forth and eventually combining into a familiar blood-red silhouette... One of the Lich.

Snape's mental embodiment found himself standing before it, the earth was wet with blood giving a swampy texture and dying his shoes and robe. He tries to raise his wand, but the figure makes a simple gesture at him, causing the magical foci to literally rot away in his hand.

"A-Abomination!? What are you, creature!? SPEAK!" Snape shouts, trying to draw forth more power but failing when his opponent bursts into red mist and reappears before him, lifting him off of the floor with a hand gripping his throat.

He chokes, unable to breathe as the blood-made skull forces him to look into its empty eye sockets. "Mentis Oculus." it rasps in a tone that could only be described as 'gory', slick with the blood that flowed from its fanged crimson maw.

"ARRRRGGGHHH!! G-GET OUT! GET OUT OF MY HEEAD!"

"You're special."

"Severus."

"Why can't you understand!?"

"What is there to understand! J-Just stay away from me!"

"Lily!"

"MUDBLOOD!"

"PLEASE STOP! M-MONSTER!"

"YOU KILLED HIM!"

"Born to those who have thrice defied him!"

"It's her son! Hide them! H-Hide them all!"

"Anything!"

"No one, can know."

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Harry's eyes flash as he takes another step back, Snape falling to his knees with a stream of blood flowing from his nostrils. "Prophecy...? You knew my mother, did you?" he asks casually as if he hadn't just been mentally violated.

"It was you who is responsible. Dumbledore is just an accomplice," he grips Snape's jaw and forces him to raise his head. "You are my true enemy."

The man doesn't say anything, he was simply unable to after the mental backlash he'd received. He was honestly lucky he was not in a coma right now, presumably his masterful Occlumency shields protected him from the worst of the damage, but it apparently hadn't been enough to withstand the depths of his resentment.

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord... I didn't need a Seer to tell me that, it was already a certainty..." but then, if Snape hadn't revealed the prophecy to Voldemort who was apparently still alive, he'd have been brought up 'right and proper' under his parents.

He would have never suffered under his 'family'. He would have never fallen into dark magic and demon summoning. He would have never met Kali.

Regardless, he wouldn't thank the man... Indeed, 'thanking' was the last thing he'd do.

"I've been meaning to test this spell, but a worthy target had never been available. Thank you for the opportunity, Professor." he says as a black mist begins to surround his hand, "Sors omnis vita mors est. Teachd a-steach airson na tha thu air a dhèanamh. Ciontach airson sàsachd. Na fiachan a chaidh a phàigheadh air ais, tha an neach-fulang agad a 'cumail an iuchair!!" he shouts, slamming his palm into Snape's chest, sending the man sprawling to the floor writhing as black tendrils burrow into his heart.

"We're not done." Harry growls as Snape finally passes out. He fires some quick Reducto curses into the man's knees, shattering them, then peeling his eye open to leave a parting gift. He won't remember anything about this apart from the faint scent of garlic.

Brushing some sweat from his forehead after his work is done, he glances over at the nearby portraits. While most seemed to be sleeping, he wasn't going to risk discovery. A wave of his hand later and every painting in the hallway burst into flames, the screams of their respective personality echoing through the school.