The Necromancer

Chapter 37

They remained quiet while they both sipped their wine. Harry understood Marvolo needed a few moments to come to terms with this news, though he sincerely doubted Marvolo would accept it without any sort of pushback. Marvolo was at heart an academic with an limitless sense of curiosity and the intelligence to master anything he set his mind to, so Harry expected some arguing soon to follow.

Marvolo set down his glass and leaned back in his chair, giving Harry a narrow-eyed stare. "What exactly would happen if I walked the deathlands as I am now?"

And there it was. Harry pursed his lips to hide his smile because he didn't want to give Marvolo the wrong idea. "The demons would overpower you and you'd end up devoured, eventually turning into one of them."

"Ah." Marvolo briefly stared down at his empty plate to process that news. "And what if I returned the broken soul pieces to my main soul, would I be able to walk the deathlands then?"

"Yes," Harry said and released a long, knowing sigh. "But you can't return all your soul pieces."

Marvolo blinked. "I am quite certain that I can, Harry. I know where they all are, and while the ritual to do so is quite painful, I'm willing to go through with it for the sake of becoming a true Necromancer. Afterwards, I can always create a few new horcruxes, as needed."

Closing his eyes, Harry shook his head, hating what he was about to do. Crush Marvolo's dreams, pretty much. "You can't return all your broken soul pieces because one of them refuses to return to you."

"I don't understand," Marvolo said slowly, carefully, while giving Harry a searching look.

Eyes still closed, Harry waved in the direction of the perch on which V sat. "That one is particularly stubborn and he's made it more than clear that he wishes to remain his own person."

When no sound followed, Harry finally opened his eyes again and saw that Marvolo's face was pale with shock as he stared at V in utter disbelief.

"Are you saying that your blasted bird is one of my horcruxes?" Marvolo managed to say, voice barely louder than a whisper.

"Yep," Harry said with a resigned nod.

"Surprise, surprise," V cawed while he hopped along the perch, black eyes narrowed as he stared at Marvolo. "No go back, no go back."

"You will do as I say!" Marvolo snarled, face tight and lips drawn back.

"Won't, won't," V cackled, beak clapping in defiance. "Never go back, never go back."

"You are part of me, whether you like it or not, you ridiculous ball of feathers." Marvolo snapped his furious gaze towards Harry. "How did you even end up with him?"

"You did this," Harry said as calmly as he could. He didn't want to fight Marvolo over V's right to his own existence, but he would if it came down to it. "The night you tried to kill me, a piece broke off your soul and attached itself to my scar. The first time I walked the deathlands, the Figures there turned V into a raven, probably so the horcrux wouldn't end up possessing me like the locket did with Regulus. V has been his own person now for more than 150 years."

"Well." That was all Marvolo said for a good, long while as he looked between V and his defiant stare and Harry and his nervous expression. "You care for him," Marvolo finally concluded.