[HP] Similar but different

Simple question, but Harry was stumped.He does have a whole bunch of things he wants to know - the Horcruxes, the Penitence and the Death Eater's escape - but it's not until he actually faces Voldemort that he realizes why he thinks meeting the Dark Lord will solve those problems?Or, he still believed that Voldemort would not dare to do anything to him, so he had nothing to fear?

Voldemort walked slowly into the room.His scarlet gaze lingered for a moment on the square black hole in the fireplace, then returned to Harry. "The Room of Requirement, huh?" he said casually. "It only gives you what you really want... so you really want to see me?"

Harry took a deep breath. "You mentioned it every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday," he said, trying to keep his tone steady, "but in the past three months, not even once."

Voldemort seemed surprised and amused. "Really? Did you mention this to me first? Does it mean that you have finally learned to restrain your desires?" The corners of his lips pressed down slightly, and he walked to the edge of the armchair and sat down. "But it's okay, since you want to know..." He pointed his chin with a long finger, his eyes fell near Harry's wrist, "because there's no need, Harry."

This ignited Harry instantly. "No need?" he asked sharply. "Can you elaborate? Are you so generous that you decide to give up your soul shard, or are you unable to take it back because you have no intention of repenting?"

Voldemort's already expressionless face grew even more impassive. "As expected, you know." He said softly, and clapped his hands in vain. "Need I praise you?"

"No," said Harry, his tone hot, "because I don't think I know enough. If you don't mind, I'd love to hear a story about making a Horcrux so that you can't find it even if you drop your own soul." !"

The words probably hit the nail on the head, and Harry saw very clearly that the Dark Lord's lips were pursed and the veins on the back of his hands bulged.His hand gripped his wand in the sleeve of his robes, ready for any possible attack from the Dark Lord.

But Voldemort seems to have finally repressed himself. "You better not test Voldemort's patience," he hissed.

"I don't think it's likely to be a problem," Harry commented bitterly. "At worst, it's just death, isn't it?"

"Oh?" whispered Voldemort, narrowing his eyes at the same time. "Death at worst?"

"Let's just talk about it: I am your Horcrux; to destroy you, you must kill me first. And if it is for this goal, I am willing to die!" Harry pushed back in one breath.

For a while, no one spoke.There was a dead silence in the room, the air almost frozen into a physical tension.

Harry pursed his lips, reluctantly realizing that he was still too impulsive.He was Voldemort's Horcrux, yes; but Voldemort's Horcrux was obviously not his only one.If the other Horcruxes were safe, Voldemort would still be alive, and his sacrifice would be meaningless.Voldemort will surely find out about this, and he should be ridiculed for being overwhelmed again...

But what the Dark Lord said when he spoke again was not what Harry had guessed. "It's the second time," Voldemort said softly, "it seems that you really don't care about death, do you?" His words suddenly turned, "Your mother will die to save you from me; if she Knowing that you put your life and death aside like this, I must be very happy..."

"—How dare you mention my mother!" Harry roared, his anger soaring in an instant, he was almost mad.He strode forward, his wand forward, touching Voldemort's black robe, and even his chest. "how dare you!"

Voldemort, however, was unmoved.In fact, he didn't move at all, he just glanced down at his holly wand and lifted his eyelids again. "Isn't what I said the truth?" He said without any ups and downs.

Harry hated nothing more than the ease with which the Dark Lord had shown himself. "Yes," he said through gritted teeth, "in order to save some souls from being harmed, no matter what I do, she will definitely be proud of me!"

"I can see it," said Voldemort, nodding slightly, "you two are the same kind of people... equally stupid, stupid." He snorted slightly, and said again: "If you walked for most of the day just to tell This, then I know." He raised his hand and made a gesture of seeing off the guests, "You can go back now."

Harry had multiple scenarios for his meeting with Voldemort, none of which ended so flatly.He felt there was going to be a tough fight, and he was prepared for it—probably not the worst, but it wasn't much better either.But now, Voldemort told him by talking about the weather, he could go back?

Voldemort seemed to have really lost interest in the conversation. "I kindly advise you not to make threats that both you and I know are impossible." He gently pushed Harry's wand away and stood up.As a result, the distance between them suddenly shortened to less than one step. "Forgive me," he said dryly. "The Dark Lord never has a savior."

Harry watched helplessly as the Dark Lord walked around him, towards the door.His gaze closely followed the other person until the tall and thin figure was about to sink into the darkness outside, and suddenly said loudly: "Why can't you try?"

"Try what?" Voldemort paused, without turning his head, his tone remained flat.

"Try taking back the fragments of your soul," Harry said quickly—he was afraid he would be unable to speak again after a single hesitation, "to make yourself whole again."

Voldemort seemed to freeze.After a long time, he replied in a tone of more shock than sarcasm: "If I heard correctly, you are asking me to try...repent?"

Harry closed his eyes, he knew it was going to be like this.But no matter how impossible it seemed, he had to try. "Yes." He quickly admitted, "I don't believe you didn't realize that there are many after-effects of making yourself immortal through a horcrux, and a complete soul has more powerful power. You can do a lot, and you can still do it." Do more. Even if a part of your soul is missing..." He paused hard, knowing that Voldemort would surely think that it was him who destroyed the diary with the basilisk fangs, "but it's still A goal worth fighting for."

Voldemort turned around abruptly, his pale face full of disbelief. "I can hear that you are trying to cut in from a direction that can move me," he hissed, speaking so fast that it was almost impossible to catch, "but do you really think this is possible? Let's be the same as you, only mentioning power tactfully; But that's not enough to make you say such naive words, right? Make the Dark Lord repent? No one dares to say that!" He snorted coldly, "Besides that, you shouldn't have said that, understand?"

"...why shouldn't I say that?" Harry asked back, determined to put "dare" aside first, "I just hope..." Before he finished speaking, he understood-Voldemort killed his parents , Voldemort thought he should choose revenge; to be precise, Voldemort thought he could only choose revenge.

"You just hope?" Voldemort took up the conversation, with a mocking tone, "Then I advise you to give up this unrealistic hope as soon as possible - because it is an unattainable fantasy. In fact, I have to say, I would rather Appreciate your previous statement."

... the previous speech?Does that mean he'd be happy to die in order to destroy Voldemort?

Harry frowned deeply.He didn't understand why Voldemort would rather face a crueler future than reflect on his own mistakes.Surely Voldemort was able to refrain from those dangerous actions-bullying, torturing, even murdering others-huh?

"But I don't," he said firmly, "Even if there is only a slight possibility of peace, I will not give up! No matter whether it is war or who dies, it is not what I want to see!"

Voldemort's eyes widened slightly, seemingly overwhelmed by Harry's bold declaration.After a while, he finally asked half-sarcastically, "Who are you talking about? Doesn't it include the Death Eaters and the Dark Lord?"

"Isn't your Legilimency very powerful?" Harry countered, "Can't you see if I'm telling the truth or a lie?"

The two looked straight at each other.Harry could feel that familiar probing, but this time he looked back into those red eyes with determination.

"I see..." Voldemort said softly, taking a step closer to Harry, "You are indeed more naive than I imagined." Without waiting for Harry to refute, he said without a pause: "Even if you said It's true, but have you ever thought that this is just your own wishful thinking? Don't say I—" He suddenly drew a long voice, "Are you sure you can convince Dumbledore, the Order of the Phoenix, or even others? Are you sure they Knowing that you think so, don't you think you're crazy?"

Harry's mouth was half open, speechless.He had expected Voldemort to retort from a more egoistic point of view, but instead the Dark Lord listed difficult issues that he did have to consider. "...how do you know what they think?" he asked rhetorically, trying not to appear guilty.

"Better than you anyway." Voldemort snorted loudly. "But that's not the point."

Harry could hear the sinister lurking in it. "What's the point?"

"The point is—" Voldemort dragged his voice again, and took another step closer to Harry, "I know what you mean, and I also know why you think that way. Even, I can claim without any basis that I don't hurt others, Satisfying your illusion of peace..." His red eyes fixed on Harry for a moment, "But you can't, Harry."

...Only he can't do it?Does that mean Voldemort wanted to kill him no matter what?

The words Harry wanted to refute the "illusion of peace" suddenly stuck in his throat. "...What do you mean?" He was confused and doubtful.

Voldemort stared at him, a slow sneer forming on his lips. "See that crystal ball?"

Harry's eyes turned immediately over the fireplace.In the almost completely transparent sphere, white smoke is looming. "What's that?" he asked, unable to hide his curiosity, "Why is my name on the wooden shelf?"

"Pick it up," said Voldemort, his sneer growing more pronounced, "and then you'll know."

Harry couldn't help but have a bad feeling.He put away his wand and approached the fireplace slowly.The sphere looked clear and cold, but when he touched it with his fingers, he found that it was warm, as if it had been soaking in warm water.He held it in the palm of his hand, and the smoke inside swirled out, rising quickly until it became a woman with large glasses and many necklaces and beads on her chest.

Then the woman opened her mouth and spoke in the loud, hoarse voice Harry had heard before—

"He who possesses the power to conquer the Dark Lord has approached...born to a family who defeated the Dark Lord three times...born at the end of the seventh month...the Dark Lord marks him as his rival, but he has the Dark Lord Unknowable energies...one must die at the hand of the other, for neither can live, only one survives...the one who has the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born at the end of the seventh month..."

The coda is gone, and so is the smoke.But Harry still stared at the void where the woman was just now, and was so shocked that he could hardly speak: "... Professor Trelawney's prophecy?"

"That's right," Voldemort affirmed, staring closely at Harry.

"...Is this the weapon?" A flood of information came flooding in, and Harry was surprised that he could still find his way.Words are weapons, no wonder the Department of Mysteries hasn't lost anything...

"That's right," Voldemort reaffirmed, "Think about it carefully, and then tell me your new decision... It's too late to regret it, after all, you didn't know the most important thing before." His tone was almost mocking.

But Harry couldn't pay attention to this at all, because his head was almost stuffed—

Why the portrait said he was different; why Voldemort tried to kill him when he was a baby; why Voldemort wanted the prophecy ball as a weapon when he was resurrected; and why Voldemort bothered to tutor him...

It is so, it is so!

The author has something to say:

There is one more chapter to finish, huh~