They were different lengths, one was a full name, the other a title. One was clearly English and the other was...something else...maybe French? The letters...they shared a lot of letters. Actually, now that he looked closely, every letter in 'Lord Voldemort' corresponded to a letter in 'Tom Marvolo Riddle'. And there were three left over...'m'...'a'...'i'...
"Who am I?"
And then he gasped.
"I...am...Lord Voldemort?"
"We are. You and I...we're remnants of the dark lord."
Harry was pale and still, and so Tom – rather, Voldemort – continued his tale. "You see, Harry, I am a powerful wizard. My power...was legendary, true genius amidst the greatness of magic. But even the most powerful are not immune to the illness that plagues all men; death. I have never been under the illusion that I am invincible, so I created a failsafe.
Five of them, in fact. They are called horcruxes. Now Harry, a horcrux is an object which holds part of a person's soul, a magical hiding place, of sorts. In the case of that person's death, the horcruxes act as anchors, and keep the master soul from passing on to whatever lay beyond the veil of death.
So you see, while Lord Voldemort's body was destroyed, he lived on...his soul grounded by the five horcruxes he had already created...and moreover, that night, when Lord Voldemort perished by his own killing curse, his soul split once more. One piece, the master soul, would have fled once our body was destroyed, and the other...I am a piece of Lord Voldemort's soul, and you, Harry Potter, are his horcrux. Lord Voldemort lives on...through us."
Harry blinked, his face still – but the stillness of his face did not stop the tears from falling. "You...you killed my parents?"
"I did. And many, many others."
"Why...why would you do that?"
"I told you, Harry, there was a prophecy-"
Harry grit his teeth painfully as fury errupted inside of him. The sound of shattering glass was distant to him, as he sat there shaking and sobbing. "SO WHAT? A prophecy? Why does that have to mean anything?"
"...it does not. I know that now. Whatever the prophecy said, I now believe it to be null and void...it was a mistake to chase after vague omens of the future uttered by an old woman with too much drink in her. It was a mistake, and I have paid for that mistake. But that does not mean I am sorry for what I did. I made a mistake, yes, Harry, but I will not insult you by pretending that I feel remorse for what I took from you that night. I had taken many mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters before that...the lives of Lily and James Potter meant no more to me than any of the others."
"Then...all of this...I was alone, and hated, and feared, and locked in a cupboard – because of you? And you don't feel the least bit sorry for it?"
"No, I don't."
Harry looked at him, horrified, the anger slowly draining away, leaving only shock and defeat behind. "You...don't care? You don't care at all?"
The boy...man...monster in the mirror sighed. "For what it is worth, given the choice, knowing what I now know, I would spare your parents. No magical child should be treated as you have been."
Harry scowled through his tears. "Just muggle ones, then?" he bit out scathingly.
Tom was unfazed. "They are not my problem."
"And why am I your problem?"
"We are one and the same now, Harry. My life is tied to yours. I have plans for you, and so your fate is very much my concern," he replied frankly, as though it were a simple matter.
"And what if I don't want any part in your plans?"
"Then...I will have to rethink them."
"I don't understand why you've told me this – why didn't you just lie? Wouldn't it be easier for both of us?"
"This is my gift to you, Harry. It is what I give to you freely of my own accord, at my own expense. You see Harry, I once thought you to be weak, an impressionable child to be molded as I see fit. I saw you as an obstacle in my path, a gateway to my freedom. But I understand, now, that your worth extends beyond a body and a name for me to take as mine. There is a purity in you, in your magic, that I have not seen before. It is an aggressive, corrosive sort of light that I had not thought existed.
:You have impressed me, Harry Potter, and...you have earned Lord Voldemort's respect. That is why I am telling you the truth.:
Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath, and then another, and then another...
He slid the mirror under his pillow.
"Goodbye, Tom."
.....
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