The Four Swords of Hogwarts

Chapter 17: What Was Taken

Harry tried to ignore the fact that he could hear his heart pounding in his ears as he led the way through the tunnel, his companions silent and tense behind him. Knowing how closely Dumbledore was watching them made their excursions, especially together, extremely risky. However, it was necessary. It was about time all four of them met together and worked together.

He lifted the trapdoor like last time and made sure the pub was empty before climbing out. He held it open as Snape and Malfoy followed.

Taking the secret passage he had cleared seemed to be the only way to get all three of them out of the castle. He would have taken the Honeydukes passage, but it had been sealed with magic, presumably by the headmaster. The Three Broomsticks passage, however, had always been caved in since his parents' time and he knew Dumbledore didn't watch it because of that fact; at least, he hoped.

They all swept out of the pub and down the road to the Bronze Dragon, slipping inside. Finding Riddle to be the only patron just like the other times, they walked over to his corner. Harry and Malfoy slid into the chairs already there while Snape dragged one over from another table. Once settled, they all looked up and met each other's eyes.

The moment their gazes connected, all four of them were awash with intense power, its pressure pushing on their chests and a warmth filling their bodies. The pressure was becoming suffocating when it and the warmth finally subsided, leaving them gasping and with a stinging tingle on their right upper forearms. They all pulled back their sleeves to discover a thin gold line and silver line had appeared on either side of the black line they all already had. They glanced at each other. Something about the four heroes coming together for the first time had caused the new lines to appear.

Harry shoved his sleeve down. The tattoo wasn't important. "We have very little time, so let's get into this. We know which tests goes with which sword, but we don't know which sword we each have to go after, and, if we're wrong, someone will die."

"It will be based on what Dumbledore has done to each of us and taken from each of us," Riddle said.

"Yeah, that's what you said, but he did the same thing to all of us, took the same things from all of us," Harry argued.

"That is true, but we each have one thing that he focused on for each of us," Riddle said, making the others frown in confusion. "He needed there to be one thing that we yearned for so much we would do anything."

None of the others responded, unsure they understood.

"When I became his first target of Mind Magic, I became obsessed with the Dark Arts, in particular, the value of life as it related," Riddle explained. "I no longer cared about the life of others, only my own. I felt I'd had a meaningless life and I grew desperate to change that. So, I made horcruxes, to both extend my life and to tie it to objects I deemed important. I didn't want to leave behind nothing, so I prevented death from being an option. I refused to accept my life for what it was, so I became immortal to create a life I could accept. Only, I broke the Mind Magic and came to realize this life I had created at his hand was even more shameful than the life I came from."

"So, your sword is the Sword of Slytherin," Harry said. "Your test will be to accept life."

Riddle inclined his head. "In whatever manner that ends up being."

"What about the others?" Malfoy asked, skeptical.

Riddle looked at him. "You have some...issues in regards to your father and your upbringing."

Malfoy frowned. "Don't we all?"

"Yes, but you have grown up being taught to think and believe one way, and that everything related to how he has taught you these things is right and acceptable," Riddle said.