The Untouchable

C11: Pygmalion

Harry slipped into his seventh year with ease, now settled into being Seen.

To his surprise, Harry discovered that Voldemort has nearly gone quiet. Tom Riddle has settled into his role as Chief Advisor and now only appears at social functions for the barest of time required. And yet, the man has managed to maintain popularity, bearing a name now rife through the papers and magazines and local gossip.

Voldemort's invasion of Hogwarts had truly rattled the Wizarding world, a society that had become twitchy when Voldemort once more returned to the ground after sacking the school. It horrified the public to know even their children were not safe where they slept, that Dumbledore had been toppled (quite literally – he had been dropped from the Astronomy Tower). Tom Riddle became a comfort, people calling for his election and removal of Minister Fudge, a terrified little man who continued to deteriorate with each passing day.

Harry nearly expected for the man to show up at a random interval, to arrive at the school and pester Harry or even push into his consciousness through the odd connection the pair shared. He didn't. Harry did not dream of Voldemort after That Night.

No one remarked the disappearance of Malfoy, which Harry thought odd, but life continued uninterrupted and simple (perhaps no one missed the blond). Classes were easier than before now that Harry only needed to take four and he found himself able to focus on the teachers with single-minded dedication; he actually found himself semi-enjoying the wand waving, if only because of its novelty.

Harry thought that his wild magic might reject or diminish in the light of his meditations, but it seemed to have the opposite effect. Harry has never been more focused when wishing, almost able to control the flowing stream of magic at the slightest suggestion.

The year passed by nearly peacefully, a surprising and refreshing experience for Harry. Hermione, of course, had decided to completely lose her mind and take every class possible while using a Ministry borrowed time turner (as she had since third year) and was utterly out of his hair for most of the year, except for their tradition of trading notes from time to time in the library. He wondered if the woman, for she was already at least a year and a half older than him due to the continued use of the time-turner, would keep in contact once they didn't have to live together at school.

The only entertainment Harry had for the year involved researching Voldemort's past and hunting down Voldemort's horcruxes. Harry has no plans to destroy the soul containers, but it's an interesting treasure hunt and he wonders if Voldemort knows what he's doing. He highly doubts it, though, as the monster hasn't bothered him.

It's unfortunate that Dumbledore stripped the entire school of any information on horcruxes but being the adopted Heir to a Sacred Twenty-Eight (and infamously dark) family has some perks. Harry is able to simply owl-order horrifically dark books on immortality, which amuses him to no end. The books are fascinating and he's soon led to read the trials of Herpo the Foul. Harry purchases a first edition diary written by the man (grateful that Sirius and Remus don't have access to the Potter account statements because the price makes even Harry's eyes water) and comes to the realisation that Voldemort has opened himself up to madness and instability for the sake of immortality. It seems awfully short sighted, as being immortal wouldn't mean much if one were to be completely insane for it.

But Harry recalls that Voldemort somehow managed to absorb the boy who came out of the Chamber of Secrets and reasons that this would have most likely been his first horcrux. Harry finds himself reluctantly impressed. At aged sixteen, Voldemort had conquered magic beyond the realms of what most wizarding kind could ever hope to achieve in an entire lifetime.

As the sixteen-year-old boy would have been the largest piece of soul (Harry reasons that splitting the soul is like halving it and the more horcruxes are made, the smaller the soul gets by alarmingly exponential margins), then it would be sufficient evidence that reabsorbing it returned most of Voldemort's mental and soul stability.