Mad
(Post Mortem)
This drabble contains spoilers.
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“You have this… loyalty,” Harry says, and the Dark Lord looks at him with an amused expression.
“Loyalty,” the man repeats. “Now that’s something no one else has ever accused me of having.”
“Loyalty to an idea,” Harry continues. “Loyalty to an insane idea.”
“I see,” the Dark Lord murmurs, and leans closer to the chained boy. “And what do you think of me, Harry Potter? Am I insane as well?” The Death Eaters behind him shift nervously, and he knows what they think. Has always known.
“No,” the boy says, his eyes narrowed. “That’s why I don’t understand you. You’re not crazy. But this… thing you’re doing. The whole idea of it. That’s crazy. That’s insane. That’s mad.”
“Says the necromancer. From other people’s point of view, raising the dead is madness. To you, it is simply a fact – a part of you.”
“Something I was born with. Something that has always been a part of me. What you are, though. Your…”
“Immortality, dear. You can say it.”
“It’s not right,” Harry says, and resist the temptation to lean closer to the power sorcerer, whose magic – as sick and twisted as it is – is also alluring beyond reason. Harry swallows nervously, and continues: “It’s like an extra limb that you insist on having. You shouldn’t… want that.”
“Oh, Harry,” the Dark Lord sighs, and his mouth stretches into a grin that reminds Harry of fear and ice. “Don’t be like other people. People who are good at pretending to know what you want better than you do. I’m more than you can comprehend. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you understand me. I am beyond you.”
“Self-praise is no recommendation.”
“You know this is no simple self-praise.”
Harry knows that. Of course he knows, is painfully aware of it. He bites his lip, unsure of what to say next. The Dark Lord does not seem to mind his silence, though, and after a few minutes, Harry is in his cell alone once more.
The Dark Lord isn’t mad – not in the ways other people think he is.
And that’s precisely, Harry thinks, why he will lose.
marlowfication 