Encounters in the Mind

When Harry opened his eyes, he was in what looked like the Room of Requirement, but not the place

where everything is hidden; no, it was what Harry had taken to calling his Room of Hot Chocolate, the little room with the couch and the fire and the enormous mug of hot chocolate that was, unfortunately, eternally empty. But he was not alone; seated on the couch was a tall, imposing figure, white-skinned and robed in black.

Wait, was that...?

Harry gasped. "Tom..."

The man didn't turn around. "Come, Harry, sit."

Harry froze. "Tom, I'm so, so, sorry. I knew I shouldn't have said that, it's just – he didn't give me time to correct myself and I couldn't apologize and I -"

"Harry, sit."

Timidly, Harry walked around to the couch, and cautiously sat down beside the terrifying figure of Lord Voldemort. Like his counterpart, his face was a deathly white, his skin radiating a coldness that nearly made Harry shiver. What had once been the handsome face of the Hogwarts prefect, Tom Riddle, was replaced by the visage of a serpentine monster who barely appeared to be human at all.

"I would think this is not how you imagined me, all these years," said Lord Voldemort, or rather, Tom, because this was his Tom, he could tell.

Harry shook his head. "You look like a a dead turtle." He slapped a hand over his mouth.

Tom smirked. "Watch your mouth Harry, or we shall test whether I can use the cruciatus curse in here." He twirled his wand in his hand.

Harry gaped at him. Yes, this was definitely his Tom. Then he frowned and looked around. "Are we in the Room of Requirement?"

"No. We are, in fact, in a cozy little corner of your mind. To be precise, we are visiting your memory of the Room of Requirement."

Harry nodded. That made more sense.

"Is it...always like this, in here, for you?"

"You mean the luxury of dwelling in your memories? When you are awake I experience the world just as you do, but when you sleep...when I have strength enough I can construct for myself semblances of what I experience through you...when not, it is merely...black."

"That sounds horrible."

"Such is the fate of all our fellow horcruxes, I'm afraid. I suppose I should be pleased that I am not one of the unfortunate soul slivers who dwell in objects of paper or gold."

"Do you think...the others are aware of what they are, too?"

"It is surely possible, that they are conscious. Truth be told, I'd never cared to find out."

"It must be awful...being a conscious piece of someone's soul, but never being able to move, or talk, or see, or hear."

"It would be a...cruel fate."

"How could you do that to your own soul? Just leave them, stuck forever to lifeless objects and blindness and silence..."

"Thus is the price of immortality, Harry."

Harry frowned, troubled. "How can you say that? This is your soul."

"My soul to do with as I please," Tom said sharply.

"I'm sorry. It's none of my business."

"That it is not."

"But...I don't get it. Your soul pieces, they're a part of you, right? They're you, in a way."

"That is correct."

"But...then...how...you're so...different from him. How can you be so different?"

Tom looked at him closely, red eyes flickering in the firelight. "It would appear that the years have not been kind to my master soul. It was foolish of you to...speak so rashly, but I would not have expected myself to react so...strongly to the words of an angry child."

Harry nodded slowly. "I could feel something, Tom, something very wrong. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I should have done better, I should have -"

Tom held up his hand. "What's done is done, Harry. And perhaps it is for the best."

Harry froze. "...what?"

"You have good instincts, Harry."

"...I do?"

"The Lord Voldemort you encountered would have been of little use to us, at this point. It would appear that I...miscalculated."

"Miscalculated what?"

"I had hoped we could converse with my master soul and piece together a plan, a plan that would begin with restoring his body."

Harry blanched. "This plan...it didn't involve possessing me, did it?"

"With the massive amount of corrosive light magic running through your veins, I believe that would be unfeasible, in the long run."

Harry breathed a sigh of relief. "He didn't really seem up to talking, though."

"And therein lies my miscalculation."

"It does?"

"I had thought a partnership was in order, that he, the master soul, and we, the horcrux with a life of its own, would work together to achieve greatness beyond what I had accomplished in my last life."

"And...you don't think that will work anymore?"

"The Lord Voldemort you encountered was, as you said, desperate. He would not have allied himself with us. He would have locked us in a box and thrown away the key."

Harry went white. "Y-you really think so?"

"I know myself well. He would have prioritized your physical safety above all else, neglecting you in your descent into madness, and in the end we would both waste away to a mindless shell."

Harry nodded shakily. "But...why would he do something like that?"

"You angered him, Harry. You did not conform to his wishes or submit to his control."

"Well, yes, but..."

"I am a cruel, impatient man, Harry. I value power, and control, and I am quick to anger and unforgiving."

"I know," Harry blurted out.

Thankfully, Tom just chuckled. "What have I told you about the truth, Harry?"

Harry grimaced.

....

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