Harry Potter and the Order Of the Phoenix [180]
“So, I visited her one day, disguised as a friend of hers. When we were out of sight of her parents, I transformed back into my normal form, and told her that I was the one who had made sure she was accepted to Hogwarts. And, in return for doing that, I wanted her to do something for me. I told her that she had to find a man named James Potter, who I knew was the heir of Gryffindor, marry him, and have a child. Since I told her she had to do this or else I would make sure she didn’t get into Hogwarts, she quickly agreed and ran home, becoming a Death Eater from then on.
“My plan was simple: get the most recent heir of Slytherin, Lily, to have a child with the most recent heir of Gryffindor: James. Their child would become the heir of the father’s house, Gryffindor. Since I am extremely knowledgeable in the field of this study, I knew that only way to completely destroy a bloodline was to destroy two generations of it at once. I would kill James, then you, and then Gryffindor would be no more. All of its magical spirit would be drained, and it would be no more than a house at Hogwarts, much like a person after his or her soul has been taken: no more than a shell. With Gryffindor gone, Slytherin could easily take over the other two, and turn Hogwarts into a school for the Dark Arts.
“But, my plan failed in so many ways. I knew that Lily would be attracted to James, yes, but I had no clue she would actually fall in love with him, and care more for him than her own life. When you were born, I reminded her of her promise, but she did not care anymore. She was no longer a child, and I underestimated her. But, I had to destroy Gryffindor anyway. I barged into their house, and immediately killed James. I moved in on you, but your mother wouldn’t have it. I told her to stand aside, and she would live, but she cared for you just as much as James. Alas, I had no choice. I killed her, than went for you… and you know the rest. If I had just bided my time, waited for you grow up and your mother to die on her own, I could have accomplished my goal without being delayed.”
“So then why did you want to still kill me afterwards?” asked Harry. “Years later, why should you inconvenience yourself anymore?”
“I did not care if you died or not from then on, Harry,” said Voldemort. “It just so happened that you were poking around in every one of my plans to become what I am today. It has just been recently that I have decided you would be more valuable to me as an ally rather than dead.”
“So that’s what you’ve been trying to do all year. It certainly took you many tries to finally get me.”
“Yes, my unofficial motto is: ‘Always have a backup plan, or three.’ Every time you foiled one of my ideas this year, I had another one ready to go. After Wormtail’s failed attack on you at the Dursley’s residence, I had him set a trap for you on the way to Azkaban, which I told him not to really concentrate on since it wasn’t even that good of an idea, I was ready with another plan waiting for you at the prison. When you beat Wormtail at Azkaban, I tried again by having him steal Lily’s skeleton and lure you out here . When that one failed as well, he tried again at the Yule Ball. Even when that one didn’t work, I did not give up hope, since all the time after Wormtail stole Lily’s carcass, I have had another plan that would definitely work.”
“And which one was that?”
“The one that you have just seen, Harry,” said Voldemort. “I made Wormtail into a Polymagus, how I did that, you shall find out if you join me, and be able to become both a regular phoenix, and a black phoenix. He has been the one following you around, trying to get you, and he was also one of the birds used in the resurrection. If my other plans failed, and it came down to this one, he was to force the two other phoenixes to channel their energy to Lily’s skull, where I have been secretly hiding for the past several months.