Harry’s eyes grew wide as he realized he was suspended from the ceiling, shackles around his wrists and keeping him just on his toes. In front of him was Severus, knelt on the stone floor and his head bowed. Towering over Severus was Voldemort, red eyes blazing down at Severus from his snake-like face. Harry shook his head and struggled against his chains. This wasn’t real. Voldemort wasn’t real. This wasn’t happening, it couldn’t be!

“You are mine, are you not, Severus?” Voldemort said, hissing Severus’ name.

“Yes, my lord,” Severus said.

“I want you to prove it,” Voldemort said.

“Anything you wish, my lord,” Severus said.

Harry fought his bonds, heart pounding at what was going to happen while still trying to tell himself it couldn’t be real. It had to be a nightmare created by Dumbledore so he had to wake up. It would be nothing but a bad dream if he just woke up.

“Crucio!” Voldemort snarled and Severus’ body shook violently under the onslaught.

“No! Stop it!” Harry cried, pulling violently at his chains and feeling them break his skin. “This isn’t real!” 

“Oh, isn’t it?” Voldemort drawled, cancelling the curse on Severus. “Dear Severus, show our guest that this is very real.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Harry watched with wide eyes as Severus stood and walked over to him until they were face to face.

“Dad,” Harry said. “Dad, please.”

“It would seem you are delusional, Potter,” Severus sneered.

Harry flinched at the derision and looked into Severus’ eyes. There was an emptiness there and Harry knew it was Dumbledore. The headmaster had to be using Severus’ mark and his scar, manipulating their minds. He needed to wake up, to break the connection, to stop the control and manipulation.

“Please, don’t,” Harry whispered pleadingly.

“Crucio,” Severus snapped and Harry screamed at the agony burning down to his very core. He gasped out a breath when the curse ended, slumping in his chains.

“Yes, Severus,” Voldemort hissed as he came up behind Severus. “You will do anything I ask, anything to prove your loyalty.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Do you see, Harry?”

Harry raised his head when he realized the voice had changed. He glared hatefully as he met the eyes of Dumbledore over Severus’ shoulder. He pulled at his shackles again.

“You are trapped in my world and I can easily take everything from you,” Dumbledore said. “You cannot win this fight. You are destined to fulfill the role I have given you. Refuse and I destroy everything you hold dear.”

Dumbledore raised his wand and Severus fell to his knees, trembling under the Cruciatus. Harry bit his lip to stop from screaming on behalf of his father, torn apart having to watch his torment. Harry moved his eyes back to the headmaster, glaring at the smirk on the wrinkled face.

“If you know everything, why the games? Why not just end me right now?” Harry said angrily.

The sneering grin that crossed Dumbledore’s face made Harry’s skin crawl, a shudder running up his spine.

“Don’t you know, my dear boy?” Dumbledore said, stepping up so he could talk directly into Harry’s ear. “Crushing your hope will make the end of this game…delicious. You belong to me and your end is inevitable.”

“Now who’s delusional?” Harry spat.

“Have your fun,” Dumbledore said, stepping back, “but you will fail. Your quest is fruitless and your hope worthless, just like you. Accept your place.”

Harry glowered, but then his eyes fell shut as another Cruciatus set him on fire and he screamed, tears pouring down his face.

“Dad!”

“Harry!”

“Dad!”

“Harry, wake up!”

Harry’s eyes flew open, but just long enough to find Severus over him before they slammed shut again at the pain in his scar. He couldn’t help but keep screaming, the only response he could muster up for the pain. He thought he heard voices, but couldn’t make out words and was hardly aware when he was lifted into Severus’ arms. He could tell he was being brought somewhere, but he couldn’t open his eyes or stop screaming.

It seemed like hours before he was being lowered to the floor, but still held against Severus’ chest. He could tell Severus was whispering in his ear, but he still couldn’t hear words. However, he did begin to feel a warm pulse around him, the air humming and settling into his body. Steadily, the pain in his head began to ease and he was able to stop screaming. He felt the arm around his chest, holding him firmly against his father, and he brought his hands up to clutch the man’s arm. He sagged against his father, his breathing harsh as exhaustion settled into his bones.

“Harry, child, speak to me,” Severus said, sounding frantic.

Harry cracked his eyes open and realized they were down in the core. The hum he was feeling must be the pure magic of Hogwarts. He remembered the dream and flinched, clutching his father tighter.

“Talk to me, son,” Severus said, threading his fingers through Harry’s sweaty hair.

“Dumbledore…he gave me…a nightmare,” Harry gasped out, trembling.

“Yes, I was ‘summoned’,” Severus said. “It created a strong compulsion and he altered my perception so it seemed I was in a Death Eater meeting with Voldemort.”

“He…he started my nightmare like I…was seeing a meeting, but then…he was there,” Harry said. “He knows I know the truth about him, about the game.”

“As we suspected,” Severus said.

“I don’t know how much he knows,” Harry said. “He said I’d fail, that I would do what he wants or he’d take away everything. He said I had to accept my role.”

Severus’ arm tightened around him and a kiss pressed to the top of his head.

“I don’t think he knows you know or are a part of anything,” Harry said. “He had you under his control in my dream. I think he thinks you’re still under the Mind Magic, that I’m the only one that knows anything.”

“That is encouraging,” Severus said. “We still have many advantages over him.”

“What do I do?” Harry asked.

“We will figure it out as it comes,” Severus said. “For now, try to make it seem like you’ve given up and will do what he says. There is still information we need from him.”

Harry nodded, holding tight to Severus’ arm and letting his eyes close tiredly. He just let the magic of Hogwarts and the love of his father wash over him, chasing away the threat and pain, at least for a time.

For the next couple of weeks leading up to Spring Break, Harry acted as though the last few months hadn’t happened. He went to classes and meals, accompanied Ron and Hermione to the library for homework, spent his free time in Gryffindor Tower or on the Quidditch Pitch, and ignored everything Slytherin. He could feel Dumbledore watching him constantly, but, as the days went on, the prickling in his scar disappeared. He didn’t know if Dumbledore was convinced he’d given up his rebellion, but the diminishing scar activity felt like a positive sign. He was sure the headmaster was still suspicious, but hoped the man stayed with the belief that only Harry knew anything. He even let more and more of his fake memories flood his mind to make it seem like he was being affected by the Mind Magic once more, despite its weakened hold on the school.

His act was put to the test when he was summoned to Dumbledore’s office on the first day of break. He steeled himself for the first interaction with the headmaster since his nightmare and entered the office. He tried not to tense and sat in front of the desk, forcing himself to meet the blue eyes. He felt the Legilimency and let Dumbledore in, pretending he didn’t notice while showing the last two weeks and a ton of fake memories. It must have satisfied as Dumbledore left this mind and smiled in that grandfatherly way that had tricked him for almost six years.

“Glad to see you are feeling more yourself, my dear boy,” Dumbledore said.

Harry felt his eye twitch as he fought the urge to narrow his eyes at the comment. So, not completely convinced then. “Yes, sir. Must’ve just been…overwhelmed, I suppose.”

“Yes, such hard times we face,” Dumbledore said, his sympathy clearly fake. “Fortunately, we are about to take another step towards ending this darkness once and for all.”

Harry couldn’t help but lean forward, intrigued. The game was continuing which meant he could continue breaking the rules and changing the goal. Apparently, decades of having control had made Dumbledore cocky and willing to believe Harry was falling back under his control. His guard was down.

“I have found another of Voldemort’s horcruxes,” Dumbledore said and Harry’s eyes widened. “You asked to help with this task and, as such, I am asking you to accompany me this evening.”

“Where are we going? Where is it?” Harry asked. He needed to alert Riddle so he could get it before Dumbledore.

“I do not believe it wise to share the location with you in case Voldemort becomes aware we are searching for his horcruxes,” Dumbledore said, eyes very blatantly flicking to Harry’s scar.

Harry frowned, disappointed and annoyed, but nodded in pretend understanding.

“Meet me atop the Astronomy Tower tonight at ten o’clock,” Dumbledore said.

“Yes, sir. Thank you for including me,” Harry said and Dumbledore smiled.

“Of course, my boy. It is important you know of what Voldemort has done given your own…role.”

Harry’s eyebrows furrowed. Dumbledore kept referring to his ‘role’. What did his ‘role’ of ‘hero’ entail exactly? “Sir?”

“Another time, my boy,” Dumbledore said. “Off with you now. I will see you tonight.”

Harry nodded with a tight smile and left the office. He released a deep breath, tension rolling through his body. He shoved his hands in his trouser pockets and walked absently through the castle, filled with anxiety and confusion. He was nervous to go anywhere with Dumbledore and debated even telling his father about the excursion. Severus would forbid him to go, but he needed to. They had to get the horcrux, though how he’d get it from Dumbledore, he wasn’t sure.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, coming to a stop as he realized he was in the Entrance Hall. A few students passed him by, silent and eyes on their feet as they walked. He watched them for a moment before bringing his eyes to the shattered hourglasses. It had been a couple months since they broke, and no points had been given or taken away since that day. Any added gems just fell out onto the floor, Ravenclaw’s and Hufflepuff’s hourglasses breaking open completely like the others the one and only time they’d received points.

He stared at them, noting the gems sitting in the bottom of each hourglass, dim in colour and lacking their once glittery nature. Dull, just like the rest of Hogwarts. Life was leaving the castle and it seemed to be happening quicker than they could stop it, no matter how hard they tried.

He stepped up to the Gryffindor hourglass and danced his fingers over the dusty glass, tracing the edge of the sharp, gaping hole. He winced and pulled away when the glass sliced into his fingertip. He watched the thin line of blood slide slowly down his finger, almost entranced as odd thoughts circled in his head.

They’d been fighting all these months to break the Mind Magic, to save Hogwarts, to end the game or, at least, change the game and stop Dumbledore from getting his ending. Riddle had said Dumbledore was bringing an end to the game himself, having created his ultimate hero and villain, but what was that end? What had Dumbledore planned for them all? Everything he’d done would have been to get the ending he wanted, but what was that ending? What did Dumbledore want from them at the end of it all?

He dropped his hand, wiping the blood absently on his trousers. Thoughts still swirling, he headed up to the second floor, finding the Map of Argyllshire and descending to the Chamber. It was the only place he felt safe anymore.

He was heading to the Mind Room when Hermione called for him.

“Harry!”

He turned to find her across the main chamber, clearly having come from the Founders’ Library. He walked towards her with a questioning look.

“We found something,” she told him, leading the way to the Library. “Remember how Sir Nicholas said the Founders were buried on the grounds, but no one knew where?”

Harry nodded, shuddering slightly as he remembered the ghost death he’d witnessed that day.

“Well, I spoke to the Founders and—”

“Did they tell you where they’re buried?” Harry interrupted, perking up.

Hermione scowled at him for the interruption and he gave her a sheepish smile. “No, they couldn’t. Part of whatever Dumbledore’s done to them. However, they did help Ron and I find something.”

They entered the Library to see Ron sitting on the sofa and hunched over the coffee table where a huge roll of parchment was spread. Stepping closer let Harry realize it was a blueprint of the castle and the grounds. Harry sat beside Ron, gazing at the blueprint in awe.

“Have you found anything yet?” Harry asked, looking between his friends.

“Not yet,” Ron said, shaking his head.

“We found this not too long ago,” Hermione said, sitting on Ron’s other side. “We’ve been trying to think of any place that could be hiding a grave or four.”

“Considering we’re in a magical castle on who knows how much land, it’s slow going,” Ron said. “However, it does help that we can do this.”

Harry watched curiously as Ron tapped a finger to a seemingly random spot on the castle only for the blueprint to zoom in, allowing them to see a more detailed sketch of the second floor. Ron tapped another spot and it zoomed in more, and Harry realized he was now looking at the tunnel slide that was the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets.

“It keeps going too,” Ron said. “We can see the entire Chamber on this thing.”

“Bloody hell,” Harry muttered and watched Ron put his entire palm in the center of the parchment. The blueprint returned to its original overview. “So, where have you looked?”

“Well, we’ve tried each common room, the Great Hall, the Astronomy Tower, and the Clock Tower,” Hermione said. “We don’t know if they were buried together or separately, so we’ve tried thinking of places that mean something to each of them as well as all of them.”

“Would their graves even show up on here?” Harry asked. “I highly doubt they included their future gravesites into their building plans.”

“They update to include anything added to the castle or grounds,” Hermione said.

“See Hagrid’s hut?” Ron pointed to an area between the castle and the Forbidden Forest. “It wasn’t a part of the grounds when Hogwarts was built.”

Harry nodded, understanding. His eyes darted all over the blueprint, trying to think of where the Founders would have chosen to be buried. He rubbed his forehead without thought as his scar prickled.

“What did Dumbledore want?” Ron asked.

“He’s found a horcrux and he’s bringing me to get it tonight,” Harry said. Ron looked at him with wide eyes while Hermione gasped.

“Are you sure you should go with him?” Hermione said.

“Of course not, but I haven’t got a choice,” Harry said. “I have to pretend I’m doing what he wants, that I’m under the Mind Magic again. Plus, we need the horcruxes for Riddle.”

“How are you going to get it from him if he’s with you?” Ron asked.

Harry sighed and slumped back on the sofa. “I have no idea.”

“It seems a bit much, don’t you think?” Ron said.

Harry frowned at him. “What?”

“This whole horcrux business,” Ron said. “I mean, why encourage Riddle to make the things, then take them and hide them, just to send you off to find them and then destroy them? It’s just a bit more complicated than everything else.”

“Ron does have a point,” Hermione said. “The purpose isn’t completely clear, not like the rest of his ‘game’.”

Harry hummed. “I was just thinking about that before I came down here actually.”

“Come up with anything?” Ron asked.

Harry shook his head.

“The ‘end’ of the ‘game’ is the end of the war,” Hermione said. “So, maybe it has to do with how he wants to end the war.”

“Hero defeats the villain,” Ron said.

“Riddle can’t die while he has horcruxes,” Hermione said.

Harry stared at nothing in particular as his mind jumped to make connections.

…the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal…

…and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives…

His scar prickled again and he froze with his hand halfway to his forehead as he made a horrifying realization.

“Neither can live while the other survives,” he muttered, fighting to understand the connections he was making.

“Harry?” Hermione said, obviously curious about what he was thinking.

Harry leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands. “He marked me, made me think it was Voldemort and it connected us. He told me it was the reason I’m a Parselmouth, the reason I could see through Voldemort, the reason I react to him. He told me Voldemort transferred some of his magic to me on Halloween. Voldemort can’t die until the horcruxes are destroyed. The prophecy said only I can beat him, but that we can’t both live.”

“What are you saying, mate?” Ron said, sounding concerned.

“He was going to tell me I’m a horcrux. He was going to have us kill each other,” Harry said. “That’s how the game ends. We die.”

“What about Snape and Malfoy?” Ron asked after a long silence.

“I don’t know,” Harry said, his throat tight. “I bet he’d planned for us all to die somehow. None of us are meant to live.” He dropped his head into his hands.

“It won’t happen,” Hermione said though her voice sounded slightly weak. “We know what’s going on and we’re going to fix it before he can do any of that.”

“Will we?” Harry raised his head to look at her. “We still need two swords and we have no idea where they are. Riddle also needs two more horcruxes, one of which is about to end up in Dumbledore’s hands and one we have no idea where it is. Dumbledore knows I know at least some of what he’s done. We are not ahead anymore.”

Hermione reached across Ron to grasp Harry’s forearm firmly. “We can do this, Harry.”

“She’s right, mate,” Ron said. “We’ve gotten this far. He won’t beat us.”

Harry met their eyes and smiled at their conviction. It was hard to feel hopeless when they had such faith in their success. He put a hand over Hermione’s on his arm and squeezed in gratitude.

“We just have to take a breath and think,” Hermione said, pulling her hand back. “I don’t think any of us have been thinking clearly for weeks, honestly.”

“She’s right,” Ron said again. “We’ve got all the clues we need. We just have to see them.”

Harry nodded. “Well, I’ve got six hours before I have to meet Dumbledore. Let’s go over everything we know about the last seventy years.”