[HP: I became Snape]-Chapter 179: Forgery

Severus Snape’s heart thudded sharply in his chest. He pressed immediately, “A Horcrux? Are you certain?”

Narcissa shook her head in the mirror, then nodded forcefully, a trace of fear flickering in her eyes.

“I can’t be entirely sure,” she said, her blonde hair swaying with the motion, “but the Dark Lord’s demeanor was gravely serious. He personally entrusted it to Lucius and demanded absolute secrecy, forbidding anyone from knowing—not even me.”

“The unusual gravity of it makes me think it’s highly likely,” she continued, her voice low and rapid. “It’s an exquisitely crafted locket, about… the size of an egg? Attached to a rather heavy gold chain. There’s a prominent ‘S’ etched on it, inlaid with tiny emeralds…”

At her words, Snape’s mind instantly conjured the image of Slytherin’s locket, the one meant to be hidden in the cave. He was almost certain that what Narcissa described was that very Horcrux.

It seemed the inertia of history had led Voldemort, after Dumbledore thwarted his original hiding plan, to choose what he believed was a safer, equally symbolic location: the ancient pure-blood family’s vault in Gringotts.

“Very well,” Snape said slowly. “Then, Narcissa, can you find a way to retrieve the locket from the vault and pass it to me?”

“What?” Narcissa gasped in the mirror, shaking her head vigorously. “Of course not, Severus! Don’t you understand the situation? The Dark Lord has Gringotts under his control. The goblins there are his eyes and ears.”

“The slightest misstep, and they’d report directly to the Dark Lord himself. The Malfoy family vault is undoubtedly under tight surveillance.”

“Let alone taking something out—even if Lucius and I requested to open our own vault to merely look inside without a thoroughly justified reason,” Narcissa gave a bitter laugh, “it would immediately raise the goblins’ suspicions. The news would reach the Dark Lord’s ears the next second. We can’t afford that risk.”

Snape fell silent for a moment. Narcissa’s concerns were not unfounded. In times like these, asking her to storm Gringotts was tantamount to suicide. He couldn’t seriously expect her to retrieve the locket and then, what, hijack a blind dragon to break out? She wasn’t likely to escape unscathed.

“Then who is the specific goblin guarding the Malfoy vault?” he asked, shifting tack. “What’s their name? Any distinguishing traits? I’ll find a way to infiltrate, but it’ll require a goblin’s cooperation. Otherwise, reaching the vault’s core is impossible.”

“Calm down, Severus,” Narcissa said, her face registering shock. “If you’re planning to rob Gringotts, you’ve lost your mind. It’s simply not possible. The goblins, the dragons, the magical protections—you can’t succeed!”

“Then what’s the alternative?” Snape’s lips curled slightly. “Shall you go instead? As the lady of the house, you must be more familiar with the place than I am. Perhaps you could find a plausible reason to get close without arousing suspicion?”

Narcissa was visibly taken aback. She froze, her expression in the mirror shifting from surprise to a flicker of displeasure.

She was quiet for a few seconds, as if weighing something monumental. Finally, her gaze hardened, locking onto Snape through the mirror with a questioning tone. “How many Horcruxes have you already destroyed?”

Snape’s eyes sharpened, his brow furrowing almost imperceptibly. “Does that have any bearing on our current plan?”

“Of course it does!” Narcissa’s voice spiked, tinged with a barely concealed resentment. “You lot are floating up there! You have Dumbledore’s ship, your whereabouts unpredictable, a way out! But what about us, the Malfoys?”

“We’re all out in the open, on the ground, surrounded by Death Eaters, right under the Dark Lord’s nose!”

“If you fail, or…” Her voice trembled slightly, “if you don’t destroy enough to truly weaken him, have you considered the risks we’re taking?”

“I need to know how close you are to success! I need to know if the enormous risk we’re taking is nearing the end or if it’s just a futile struggle!”

Silence fell on both ends.

Narcissa’s chest heaved, her face pale.

Snape studied the taut expression of the woman in the mirror. He understood her fears: if their intelligence led to Voldemort’s downfall, they could retire in glory, their status intact. But if the plan failed, or if they only destroyed one or two Horcruxes without striking at Voldemort’s core, the Malfoys, having provided the intelligence, would face utter ruin.

Considering that since obtaining the diary and sending Regulus to the ship, the Malfoys had effectively defected and tied themselves to his side, Snape decided to share the truth to secure her full cooperation.

“Four,” he said, lowering his voice to a near whisper. “We’ve found and destroyed four Horcruxes.”

Narcissa gasped, her eyes widening in disbelief, her hand clutching the mirror trembling visibly.

“I…” She opened her mouth, struggling to speak. “My God… so many… Splitting a soul is evil enough, and with the possible locket… that’s five… That’s already…”

“Yes,” Snape said, his voice devoid of much emotion. “But I believe we’re close. We’re nearing the end, and victory is in sight.”

Narcissa, still reeling, processed the staggering revelation. Her gaze darted restlessly, and it took a full half-minute before she looked back at the mirror, her voice tinged with lingering hesitation. “Severus, do you think… how many pieces does the Dark Lord intend to split himself into?”

“Six vessels,” Snape answered without hesitation, “plus the piece of his soul he carries himself, making seven in total.”

“So,” he paused, holding Narcissa’s gaze, “if we can secure the locket you mentioned, only one target remains. Victory is within reach.”

“Seven… seven…” Narcissa murmured absently, repeating the number with a kind of dazed reverence.

Just when Snape thought she needed more time to absorb the information, her eyes snapped into focus.

“Severus,” she said, taking a deep breath, her expression resolute. “You don’t need to go to Gringotts.”

“What?” Snape almost thought he’d misheard. “You’ve decided to go yourself?”

Narcissa didn’t answer immediately. A complex expression—part fear, part relief, part cunning—flashed across her face.

Then, instead of looking at Snape, she lowered her gaze and swiftly pulled a small, palm-sized box wrapped in dark green satin from an inner pocket of her robes.

With trembling fingers, she unwrapped it, gently lifted the lid, and held it close to the mirror—

The box was lined with deep red velvet, and resting on it was a heavy, small gold locket.

“Before Lucius placed the real one the Dark Lord gave him into the vault,” Narcissa said, a faint, triumphant smile on her pale face, her voice trembling with pride, “I secretly swapped it with a forgery.”

“It mimics the magical aura and appearance closely, but it wouldn’t withstand close scrutiny,” she said, closing the lid and clutching it tightly. “But Lucius was distracted, overwhelmed by the Dark Lord’s pressure. He didn’t examine it closely and placed it in the vault.”

“The one lying deep in Gringotts is a fake. The real one has been with me all along.”

Snape stood frozen, staring at Narcissa and the box in her hand through the mirror. After the initial shock, a wave of admiration and immense relief washed over him.

“Narcissa,” he said sincerely, “you’ve done brilliantly! You’ve spared us—and yourself—unimaginable trouble. Now, only one remains!”

Hufflepuff’s Cup would be their final target.

Then, recalling the locket’s nature, he quickly warned, “But you must never wear it around your neck. Never, under any circumstances.”

“I’m not foolish, Severus,” Narcissa replied, regaining her usual poise and calm, lifting her chin slightly. “The moment I saw it, it sent chills through me. I only want to throw it as far away as possible.”

“Fair enough,” Snape said, the corner of his mouth twitching. “No one in their right mind would want to wear it. Now, let’s choose a discreet meeting place. You can hand it over to me…”

They quickly settled on a secluded spot far from wizarding or Muggle villages, tucked beneath a desolate hill in Wales, and agreed to meet at dusk the next day.

The following day, at the agreed location.

Twilight hung heavy, the cold wind howling, branches twisting and leaves rustling.

Snape arrived earlier than planned, concealed in the shadows of the trees, ensuring no one had followed.

Only after Narcissa’s tense figure waited anxiously for some time did he silently emerge.

No unnecessary pleasantries were exchanged. Narcissa produced the small box from beneath her thick cloak, handing it to Snape as if passing a scorching ember.

Snape opened the box, confirmed its contents, and placed it on a relatively flat rock.

He narrowed his eyes at the gleaming emerald-encrusted “S,” imagining it as a small snake coiled on the cold stone.

The thing inside the locket stirred, rustling like a caged cockroach.

Drawing the goblin-forged silver dagger, Snape pressed the locket firmly against the rock.

“Open!”

With his hissing roar, the locket’s gold lid snapped open with a click.

Behind two small glass windows, a pair of living eyes blinked, dark and vivid, like Tom Riddle’s before they turned red with slitted pupils.

Before Tom’s beguiling voice could emerge, a flash of steel—Snape drove the dagger straight into the locket.

“Ah…”

“Ah…”

Narcissa’s gasp and Riddle’s scream rang out simultaneously.

When silence returned, Snape bent to pick up the shattered Horcrux.

The glass in both windows was pierced, Riddle’s eyes gone, faint wisps of smoke rising from the locket’s colorful silk lining. The thing that lived within the Horcrux was no more.

Snape magically cleared the traces left on the rock and tucked the broken locket into his pocket.

He turned to Narcissa, who stood clutching her chest, her face ashen.

“It’s done,” he said.

Narcissa steadied her breathing and, after a moment, said, “You could’ve mentioned you speak Parseltongue!”

“Is that relevant?” Snape shrugged.

“Of course!” Narcissa retorted with a hint of indignation. “Most pure-blood families would care about that!” Then, perhaps to lighten the mood or share more intelligence, she softened her tone. “By the way, the Ministry of Magic looks completely transformed these days.”

“The Fountain of Magical Brethren has been replaced with a massive black stone statue—a witch and wizard seated on an ornate throne, with Muggles and Muggle-borns crushed beneath their feet. The inscription at the base now reads, ‘Magic is Might’…”

“Might?” Snape sneered. “Don’t forget, Narcissa, your family’s status was already high. Now you’ve got an unstable, self-proclaimed immortal madman lording over you, keeping you in constant fear, turning your own vault into his storage closet.”

Narcissa’s expression shifted slightly. She quickly sidestepped the topic, saying, “Speaking of immortality, Severus, Lucius mentioned that at a recent Death Eater gathering, the Dark Lord boasted smugly that he’d reached the pinnacle of his quest for immortality, claiming he’d conquered death.”

“Though they don’t entirely take it as fact,” she paused, “well, Lucius and the others see it as the Dark Lord’s grandiose talk, spurred by his victories. No one truly believes he’s fully conquered death.”

“But,” Narcissa’s gaze grew serious, “given how many Horcruxes he’s made, this information might help you gauge his state of mind. Perhaps he was referring to his progress with the Horcruxes?”

Snape understood immediately. Voldemort’s boastful declaration stemmed from his success in turning the Invisibility Cloak, a Deathly Hallow, into a new Horcrux, completing the “seven” he considered the most magical number, believing he’d achieved the zenith of immortality. Yet that “zenith” had just been destroyed by Snape’s hand.

“Understood,” Snape said with a nod. “Thank you for the intelligence, Narcissa. It’s indeed valuable.”

Their purpose fulfilled, lingering was unwise. Without further words, they parted ways.

Back in his quarters, Snape shed his cloak, his mind already turning to the search for Hufflepuff’s Cup when an urgent, hesitant knock came at the door.

He straightened his robes and opened it.

Standing outside were James Potter and Sirius Black.