Marked

The Master

Chapter 32: The Master

"So. What the fuck is a horcrux?"

"Well . . . "

She had hesitated. "A person is made up of body and soul, right?"

He nodded brusquely, eager for understanding. "Right."

"With a horcrux, you add in another element. You bind a piece of your soul to an object. So that even without a body - "

"Ah. You . . . live on."

The normal cracking sound that accompanied apparation was considerably louder when Granger transported them directly into Snape's office; it was a deafening explosion, as though she had physically fractured the castle's wards.

Perhaps she had. She certainly looked angry enough to have done so, and with the Elder Wand in her hand, she definitely had the fucking equipment.

The metallic ringing in the aftermath of the shattered wards slowly eased and Snape looked up from his desk, squinting at the spot where they stood.

"My Lord?" he asked tentatively, frowning.

"As long as the horcrux remains intact, so does a piece of the maker," she explained. "And Voldemort split his soul into seven pieces."

The number hit him like a slap to the face. "Seven?"

"Seven. And we've chipped away at his soul four times."

"Four times. You destroyed four fucking horcruxes."

"Yes."

"You've done enough to end him four times over, and there are still three pieces of him left?"

She'd practically growled in response.

"Yes."

Theo looked over at Granger, whose lips were physically trembling with fury. It seemed that her discussion with Theo, in which she'd finally revealed the details behind the Dark Lord's horcruxes and the steps necessary for his defeat, had rekindled an uncommon rage that being in close proximity to the subject of her anger did little to assuage. She gave Theo half a steadying glance before tearing the cloak off their shoulders, revealing them both in the room.

"So we need to wipe out the other containers of his soul before he is reduced to the one residing in his body."

"Right."

"So Potter has to destroy the remaining horcruxes before he can beat him."

"Correct." She paused. "Though, I wonder if that's really true."

"Where is he?" she hissed through her teeth, her stance oddly powerful even as she stood dwarfed by Theo's height.

"Ah," Snape said, slowly lowering his quill and letting his hooded gaze fall impassively on her where she stood. "Miss Granger." His brow furrowed slightly with surprise, noticing Theo as he stood beside her. "Nott."

Theo allowed a momentary smirk at the man's apparent confusion. "Please try to contain your enthusiasm, Severus," he sniffed loftily. "You're embarrassing me."

"Where is he?" Granger spat again, striding forward and slamming her hands down on Snape's excessively large desk.

"Out," Snape replied stiffly, rising to his feet. "How did you get in this office?"

"She can do pretty much anything she wants to," Theo said airily, gesturing to the cloak draped over her arm, the wand in her hand, and the stone that now hung around her neck, resting against her clavicle beside the golden M pendant. "Master of Death and all that."