Matter Of The Soul

Harry POV:

The day seemed to drag on forever. Thanks to this new sense of mine, I was constantly aware of the malignant piece of soul hungering to devour me. I never knew that waiting could be so torturous. After what felt like an eternity, everyone had gone to bed and the stranger should be showing up any minute now.

*Knock, knock* 

My head snapped to the door as soft knocking sounded. I got up from where I was sat at my desk and opened the door for the stranger. I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't this. A man was standing in the doorframe, looking as normal as can be. Brown hair, brown eyes, average height, average shoulder width, average face. The kind of person you would see walking down the street and forget immediately, if you ever noticed them to begin with.

"Harry. It's good to meet you finally. Can I come in?" The man said.

I nodded wordlessly, closing the door behind him as he stepped into my room. I countinued to stare as he looked around.

"I like what you've done with the place Harry. It wasn't surprising to hear that the first thing you did was get your own room after learning the compulsion charm." He commented idly.

I nodded in agreement. Although it was a little surprising he hadn't been here before.

"I thought you would have seen it before?" I asked, looking at the man taking in his surroundings.

He looked at me oddly then.

"I don't come myself all that often Harry. I had to oversee your initial treatment, but after your bones were fixed it was my elf that delivered things to you. I only came around a few times since then to check your progress personally and see if I overlooked anything. Even with the blood wards and your mother's protection blocking the other wards, it's best not to take the risks involved." He said.

I nodded slowly. It makes sense I suppose. I've been taught about the wards surrounding the house and what they do as well, along with the blood ward created from my and my mother's blood to hold part of the protection she made. It was a difficult conversation. Dumbledore is incredibly cold and callous to drain my mother's corpse of blood right after her death for his own ambitions. He ripped part of the protection out of me and added them to the blood ward. Horrible stuff.

We've discussed Dumbledore quite a bit. Neither of us knows his real motivations, but we generally agree they run along the lines of wanting to solidify his position and boost his influence by defeating Voldemort. If I am too weak to do it myself and go to him for all the answers, I can see it happening. It's still a disgusting plan. To create a situation in which I would look up to him as a saviour while being the cause of my suffering to begin with.

*Clap* The stranger's clap brought me out of my thoughts.

"Well then Harry, let's get this show on the road. We don't have all night after all." He said with a smile.

"Yes." Was all I said.

I didn't know what to call him or how to act around him now that he's in front of me. He must have noticed however and smiled a friendly smile, chuckling a bit.

"There's no need to be awkward or nervous Harry. Just act normally." He said.

Most of the tension left my frame at his words as I allowed myself to relax, nodding.

"Sure thing Mr...?" I asked leadingly.

"Just call me Mr Stranger for now Harry. This isn't my real face after all." He said offhandedly.

I looked at him, momentarily startled before understanding.

"Right, I should have thought of that." I said, mostly to myself.

He chuckled. "Indeed, you should have. There are many ways to disguise yourself in the magical world. Glamour charms of different levels and varieties, different potions, self-transfiguration and more. One of the best ways is actually to use muggle means like make up, wigs etc. They don't show up on magical scans so they're very reliable. In this case however, I'm using the polyjuice potion with hair taken from an average looking muggle." He said.

I nodded slowly, filing that information away for later. It could be useful down the line. Now isn't the time however, and I was determined to get tonight's business done. I want this soul piece gone. Putting on a determined expression, I spoke.

"We can talk later Mr Stranger. I want the soul piece gone." I said.

He smiled. "I like that fire Harry. Alright then, let's get started." He said, grabbing the chair from my desk and putting it down beside the bed.

"Lie back on the bed and go into your mindscape. I will follow you in. When we get to your soul-space, I will need you to pacify your mother's protection so it doesn't attack me. Using your soul to send feelings of peace and acceptance to it should do the trick. I will take care of Voldemort's soul piece from there." He said, explaining it all.

It sounds simple enough so I nodded, following his instructions. I lay back and entered my mindscape. A moment later, I felt a finger on my forehead in the real world and another presence made itself known at the edges of my forest. Quickly allowing it through the defenses, Mr Stranger materialised next to me as he was in the real world.

"I thought you said you were in disguise, why do you look the same?" I asked.

He nodded with a smile.

"I am Harry. Disguising my mental presence isn't difficult after all. All I needed to do was use my imagination and overlay this image on my own. You can do it as well if you try." He said.

Of course, it wasn't as simple as he just said. What Draco had done was directly morphing his mental presence into the polyjuice disguise, a step up from a simple overlay. It was a little uncomfortable to mould his mental projection like this, but more reliable and less easily seen through.

I nodded slowly in understanding at his words. I guess it made sense. Some doubt was still there however because not even this new sense of mine was picking up anything amiss. Wouldn't it pick up a simple overlay? Scary. Still though, I guess if he doesn't want to tell me I can't force him. He's done a lot for me since we met so I won't pry.

Next, I focused on the pathways in the deep layers of my mind, following the one leading to my soul. This is a lot easier now that i've done it a few times. Mr Stranger's mental presence followed me the whole way, walking a step behind and to the side with no discernable trouble. He really is very skilled. Even with my defenses letting him through, it should still be difficult navigating this deep into another person's mind... right? That's what he's taught me at least.

I looked at him and felt a little relieved. The skill he was showing really put my mind at ease about this. After all, no matter how much help he's given me so far, letting another person into where your soul resides is a massive risk. I don't really have much of a choice right now as I can't remove Voldemort's soul piece myself, but I still wasn't happy about letting him in. I still feel that way, but my worries eased at this small display of skill.

Soon enough, we reached my soul-space and I pushed all worries aside, focusing up for the mission ahead and feeling nervous now that the time had come. Mr Stranger's voice sounded behind me.

"Don't be nervous Harry. Just make sure to keep your mother's protection calm and I will take care of the rest." He reassured gently.

I nodded calmly and took a metaphorical deep breath, using my now advanced occlumency to calm myself and focus on the mission.

"I'll stay here for a minute and then 'knock' as it were. When I do, your mother's protection will feel it and move to respond. Keep it calm and focused on the soul piece as I enter or it will split it's attention to me as well. If this happens, we will have a much tougher time of it. The consequences I spoke of in the journal won't happen with me here personally, but it'll still be troublesome. Do your best." He instructed solemnly.

I took a final deep breath and nodded at him solmenly before entering my soul-space. Immediately, I used my soul to connect with the protection left by my mother and conveyed calm to it. A beat later, my soul space vibrated in regularly timed pulses from the outside. I could feel Mr Stranger's mental presence knocking on the divide at the entrance like you would a door.

Knowing that this is my part to play, I kept my focus on my mother's protection. Like he predicted, it wanted to split it's focus and investigate, but I used my soul to convey peace and calm, signifying there was no threat.

Another beat passed and now Mr Stranger's mental presence was standing next to my soul. The protection still wanted to attack him so I kept conveying feelings of safety and peace to it. A moment later, the protection stopped 'protesting' as it were and kept the soul piece at bay.

"Well done Harry. Just keep doing that and I will take care of the rest." He said.

"Let's just get this done." I said back.

He nodded slightly and disappeared, reappearing next to the protection. Then, something changed. Mr Stranger's presence began to swell. Not in size but in depth. His presence seemed to get heavier and heavier as he stood there. This kept going and I had to put more focus on keeping the protection calm. Apparently he noticed however, and put his hand out to touch the protection.

Not even the new sense I got from my soul could follow their exchange. A flurry of emotions, intents and mental images exchanged between the stranger and the protection before the protection seemingly accepted him, no longer paying him any attention. I was a little stunned at just how fast the exchange between them went, but I got the gist of it. He was conveying his purpose here to the protection and it seems to have accepted it.

The stranger's presence that kept deepening finally stopped at this point. His presence was dense, heavy, solid as a rock and mysteriously profound in I way I couldn't explain. I don't think I could expel him from my soul-space if I tried now. He stepped forward, past the protection and towards the soul piece to begin whatever it is he's going to do. What happened next will stay in my memories forever.

The moment he stepped past the protection's isolation, the soul piece tried to retreat as it felt the new threat. The stranger however had other ideas. An energy I've never felt before burst out of him and crushed the soul piece from all directions, locking it in place with increasing force.

The black, roiling, tar-like soul piece was now a shiny black ball like polished obsidian. The stranger then used some more of the strange energy and formed hundreds and then thousands of hair-like strings that pierced deeply into the soul-piece.

*Schreeech!* 

A horrible wail of pain resounded throughout the soul-space, making me cringe back at the wrongness of it. I kept watching however, determined to see this through. The strings of energy then produced some kind of suction next. There was no sound, but the black, tar-like soul was being siphoned next to the stranger.

When the strings containing the tar-like blackness arrived next to him, he used more of the energy to create two small but immensely powerful whirlpools that crushed together. I could feel the force of them through my new sense and it was a little horrifying. I had no idea what he was doing, but he fed the siphoned soul to the whirplools. 

More screeching came next, higher in pitch now. Clearly the soul piece was in terrible pain. I didn't care. I barely took notice really. I was focusing on the stranger's actions. The blackness that went in the whirlpools was crushed and ground down. The blackness was separated and crushed further into nothing while a dull looking grey matter was brought out from the whirlpool's meeting point and kept to the side.

More and more grey stuff was deposited next to him into an amorphous blob as the strings piercing the soul piece siphoned more and more into the whirlpools. The soul piece couldn't even struggle, crushed as it was from all sides. Gradually, it got smaller and smaller as more was sucked away and refined, leaving only a dull and lifeless gray blob next to the stranger.

Eventually, the soul piece was gone as the last of the blackness was refined into nothing. All that was left was a blob of gray and lifeless stuff floating next to the stranger. When he was finished, the stranger recalled all the strange energy back inside his presence until I could no longer feel it. Only his 'weight' remained, deep and heavy.

He clapped his hands together and turned to me with a smile.

"And done! No more soul piece." He said.

I looked at him a little silly.

"What was that?!" I exclaimed.

He tilted his head. "What was what? I took care of the soul piece just like I said I would." He asked ignorantly.

"Not that!" I yelled.

"That-that energy!" I finally got out, still stunned by it all.

The whole process took less than a minute from start to finish, so I was still processing.

Mr Stanger smiled cheerfully. "Oh, that! Tell me Harry, did you think magic is all that exists in this world?" He asked.

I sensed a lecture coming. He always leads with a question like this after all. I still had to answer however.

"Well... yes." I said, a little dumbly.

He shook his head. "Wrong!" He exclaimed, still cheerful, and launched into a lecture.

"Magic is wondrous isn't it? But it's not all that exists out there. Don't you know already? Muggles use electricity after all." He said.

As soon as he said that, I felt like banging my head on a wall. It seems obvious now that he says it. He continued.

"There are many different kinds of energy in the world Harry. Electricital energy along with things like heat, light, different kinds of radiation, magnetic energy etc. All of that comes under electromagnetic energy." He started.

"Then there are other kinds of energy that are more esoteric. For example, all humans have 3 different kinds of energy in them. Those are mental energy, life energy and soul energy. Magicals like us have magical energy as well." He said.

I nodded in understanding.

"That's not all there is either. There's many, many different kinds of energy out there. Things like death energy, space energy, time energy and many, many more. What I used on the soul piece was soul energy. Like the name, this is the energy of the soul and can do many things." He said.

So that's what is was! That energy from before felt completely new to me, yet there was a familiarity to it that I couldn't pinpoint. So it was soul energy.

"How come I've never heard of this before? You've never talked about it either." I asked.

He shook his head. "There was no need to. I don't know if humans can harness these different energies and even if they can, it's not worth the effort. Now that you've reached this point in your occlumency, you may be able to use soul energy a little, but i'm not going to teach you that." He said.

Startled. "Why not?" I asked, a little hurt.

"Being completely honest Harry, it's because my use of soul energy ties into one of my biggest trump cards and secrets. It's my most protected information that I won't share without extremely close ties and even then, there would need to be many, many protections in place to ensure it doesn't spread. I can give you a few tips here and there, but I won't be giving you a discourse on the use of soul energy." He said firmly.

At first I was a little hurt by that, but then I calmed and thought it through. He has been helping me and teaching me many things for a long time now. I can live with not knowing all his secrets.

He then smiled and interrupted my musings.

"Besides, there's no reason you can't figure things out on your own. You will never reach my level, but you can try nonetheless. I imagine many mages at this stage do so. Just make sure to be careful." He said.

I nodded at that, still not entirely happy but accepting all the same.

"Harry." He said gently.

"I've already given you a lot. You know that lecture I gave you on the mind, body and soul and their relations to magical strength?" He asked and I nodded, remembering the written lecture.

"Well, that is a big secret as well. It's high level knowledge that I doubt many in history have figured out. Make sure you're very careful who you share it with if you ever do. Best not to have that kind of knowledge spread." He said.

I was surprised by that. I knew it was high level knowledge, but I didn't expect it to be that high. I'll be careful if I ever share it. Maybe an unbreakable vow?

"How do you know it then?" I asked.

He smiled. "Mastery of the soul opens many doors." He said mysteriously.

I waited for him to elaborate, but he said nothing. I filed that away in my mind before speaking again, bringing our conversation back a bit.

"What about other kinds of energy? Can you use them?" I asked.

He smiled. "Good question. The answer is maybe. I've never tried however. I might be able to direct my own life energy if I tried. You and I both use our mental energy, but the rules of the world don't allow it to do anything outside our own mind." He said, before continuing.

"The reason I don't put much emphasis on other energies is because of magic! As far as my knowledge goes, magic can interact with every energy Harry! Magic is a neutral kind of of energy, but it is also Change, so it can enact change on everything. This is a very deep topic, too deep to get into now and I honestly haven't explored it much yet myself. But basically, magic can direct all other energies as the user wills." He said.

"The caveat though is that a wizard using magic to direct life energy would never have the same results as someone who could use life energy directly. That's fine though! There's soul magic, plant magic which is really just a part of life magic, space magic, time magic and much more. Through magic, we can use it all! " He exclaimed, looking enraptured.

I have to admit that I was reverent as well. This will be something to think on much, much later in life. I felt the need to burst his bubble though, so with a smile, I took my metaphorical pin and pushed.

"What about anti-magic?" I asked, hoping to get a reaction.

He looked startled. "You just had to go and ruin my fun didn't you?" He said, deflating a little.

I laughed at him. "Of course. You were getting worked up." I said.

He huffed. "Well fine." He said.

"So?" I asked.

"So what?" He asked.

"Don't play dumb." I said, egging him on.

He sighed before looking thoughtful as he finally answered.

"I haven't really given it much thought before. I suppose it would be the antithesis of magic. As far as I know, all things have mutual generation and opposition, so it could theoretically exist somewhere. You could overwhelm it with sheer output, or sidestep it and deal with the user some other way like physical attacks." He said.

I was a little startled at the thought he put into it. He knew I was just messing with him so I didn't expect him to take it seriously.

He shook his head. "Never mind all that. I know you were just messing with me." He said.

I nodded. "I was, yes. Didn't expect you to take it seriously." I said.

He looked at me seriously for a moment.

"Anything is possible Harry. Anything. I wouldn't be surprised if anti-magic existed somewhere out there." He said with force.

This is something he repeats often. Anything is possible with magic. I suppose anti-magic could exist as well.

"Enough about all that now. The soul piece is gone and it's time to reap the rewards!" He exclaimed, clapping his hands together and smiling.

"Rewards?" I said, confused.

He beamed. "Yes, rewards! You didn't think I went through the trouble of refining it for no reason did you? I could have just destroyed it." He rhetorted.

His words left me startled. That's right! He did refine it. While we were talking, my mother's protection had gone over to the gray blob and was poking at it. I found the sight a little amusing, but the protection didn't attack it anymore.

"So why didn't you?" I questioned.

"That is the right question! Care to take a guess?" He asked.

I thought for a moment. "Can I use it somehow? Maybe strengthen my own soul with it?" I asked.

I was disgusted at that thought. Even with the refinement into the gray blob, I didn't fancy that thought.

He shook his head. "I don't recommend that. Unless you are especially naturally talented in the soul like I am, it would cause problems. After all, even with my refinement, it's still not your soul." He said.

I was happy at that. I didn't fancy using it in that manner either. I thought for a minute more before giving up.

"Then I don't know." I said.

"I suppose that's not your fault. Matters of the soul are one of my specialties that i've studied deeply. The answer is acutally very simple. Memories." He said.

I was startled as an idea came to mind and he smiled implicatively at me, recognising my realisation.

"Your soul contains all your memories Harry. A master of the soul like myself can of course section them and manipulate them as I like. Voldemort however, was not a master of the soul. When this piece of his soul broke away, it contained a copy of everything that made Voldemort, Voldemort." He said.

"My refinement destroyed everything outside his memories. Things like his will, personality, beliefs, peronal biases and opinions, his emotions etc. Everything else that made him Voldemort was destroyed. It was actually a very delicate process to do what I did. Now, that gray blob is merely a shell of what it once was. Stripped of everything that made him Voldemort, we're left with a gold mine." He said happily.

I was gobsmacked. I couldn't even begin to fathom the difficulty of doing what he did. It was just another awe inspiring thing the stranger has done for me.

He clapped his hands. "Now that we have his memories here, we can know everything he knew until he went to your house that night. No one knows where he got his knowledge from. He simply appeared and was already very powerful. Not to mention all the magics he must know. Voldemort may not be as impactful as Grindelwald, but he's just as powerful and history records him as the darkest wizard in many centuries. He must know a lot and I can't wait to find out!" He said happily.

I couldn't agree more. Know your enemy and all that. I may never use it, but having that knowledge would help me counter anything I come across in the future. After all, anyone who successfully fights evil wizards must have knowledge of the vile magics they use.

The stranger happily went over to the gray blob and did... something. His soul energy spread over and into the gray blob, whirling around and pulsing here and there. I watched as two objects appeared on his hands. In his left, a book appeared and in his right, an orb appeared. Slowly, the book and orb grew brighter and brighter.

It took a while but eventually, he stepped back with the book and orb in hand and turned to me. The soul energy he used then crushed the gray blob into nothingness, destroying the last of the soul piece behind him as he walked over, then retracting back into his form.

"Here you are. A copy of Voldemort's entire life until he went to your house." He said, handing me the brightly glowing book.

I recognised it as a memory book, like the ones I use for my memories. I see, that orb must be how he has his memories stored in his mind.

I smiled. "Thank you." I said, grateful.

"No need to thank me Harry. I got my reward after all." He said, holding up his orb.

"No. Really. Thank you for taking care of the soul piece. And for everything else you've done for me as well." I said to him.

He smiled warmly. "You're welcome Harry. I think it's about time I leave now. Our business is concluded." He said.

I nodded and then we left. I threw Voldemort's memory book to fly into my mental library on the way and soon we were back in the real world. Immediately, I felt a sticky substance on my head and grimaced, looking at the black goo on my hand when I pulled it away. A quickly cleaning charm took care of that though and I sat up on the bed, Mr Stranger looking at me.

"Good use of wandless magic. A bit unrefined but you're doing well, keep practising." He commented.

I smiled and nodded.

"I will." I said.

He smiled. "Well then, I better go before the potion wears off." He said.

I was startled that I forgot that. 

"Right. The potion. How long did all that take?"

"No more than ten minutes." He answered.

"It felt like longer." I muttered.

And it really did feel like a long time. Ten minutes? Really? I shook my head and we both got up as I saw him out.

"I'm glad we got that taken care of Harry. The alternatives don't bear thinking about. Goodbye then." He said at the door.

I shivered slightly at the thought of that.

"Agreed. Bye, and thank you again." I said.

He smiled and went downstairs to leave. Rushing to the window, I saw him leave the house and turn around, waving at me, before he disappeared from the street altogether.

Lying back in bed, I recounted everything that happened tonight. It still felt a little surreal with the soul piece gone. My mother's protection now surrounds my soul like a great wall, keeping everything out. I feel lighter too. The disgusting taint of the soul piece is gone now, letting me relax significantly. Soon I was drifting off, a deep and dreamless sleep.

(A/N: I reworked this quite a bit, but it never got to a point I was completely happy with. It just feels that something is a little off. Still, it reads well and contains what I wanted for the chapter. Hope you enjoyed.)