"What is it this time?" Ginny called as she stepped off the moving spiral staircase. "You know I have better things to do than…"
Ginny's voice died in her throat the moment she caught sight of the green-haired girl standing beside Professor Snape, who looked unusually serious, even by his own exacting standards. The lines of annoyance upon her face smoothed themselves away, her expression settling into one of carefully measured indifference.
"You may leave us."
If Snape felt even the slightest flicker of anger or irritation at being dismissed from his own office, no trace of it appeared on his face. He offered only a curt bow before striding past Ginny and stepping onto the moving stone steps, which rotated in the opposite direction to carry him downwards.
"You're the first one," the girl who resembled Daphne said, observing her closely. "Aren't you?"
Ginny's eyes flicked around the room. The portraits were empty. With Snape's departure, there was no one left to eavesdrop on or witness their conversation.
"Yes," Ginny responded shortly.
If Daphne (?) knew that much, then there was no point in feigning ignorance.
As one of Lord Voldemort's Horcruxes, Ginny was above suspicion; if she lied here, she would at best forfeit that privilege and cast doubt upon her intentions… and at worst, Daphne would believe her at her word and duel her to the death, to protect the secret of Lord Voldemort's immortality from an unrelated party.
No matter what she did, she had to avoid a fight, for to engage would mean certain death.
Ginny was the first Horcrux. She was an inexperienced Lord Voldemort of sixteen… plus another five years spent masquerading as Ginevra Weasley. Daphne was the last Horcrux, possessing seventy-one years of mastery in the Dark Arts. In a fair duel, Ginny did not stand the faintest chance against her older self.
"You are the Heir of Slytherin who opened the Chamber of Secrets and nearly killed this vessel five years ago, aren't you?" the green-haired girl went on. "Your skill with magic was hardly that of a first-year. Why did you not see your plans through?"
"I reconsidered," Ginny said tersely. "My plans were juvenile and short-sighted. Had Hogwarts closed, I would have lost its teachers and its books, and I had no desire to study elsewhere. You cannot judge me for following in the original's footsteps."
The final Horcrux looked pensive. Horcruxes were not meant to place themselves above what might serve the original. The ancient laws that governed their creation ensured they could never turn against their original self… yet, as in all things, there was some leeway.
"Something has gone wrong with the spell," she said at last. "We fragments are not supposed to return to life unless the original—"
"…grows diminished," Ginny completed.
For a fleeting instant, the final Horcrux's expression flickered with unease.
"The other Greengrass twin," she said. "This vessel remembers seeing her sister wearing the Gaunt family's ring. Before summoning you here, I also checked the Room of Requirement and discovered that Ravenclaw's diadem was no longer in its hiding place. Was that your doing? What exactly are you playing at here?"
After a moment's hesitation, Ginny nodded.
"Oleandra did obtain the ring from me… technically," she said. "You are also correct in assuming I took the diadem. I retrieved it from its hiding place and incited it to possess a teacher."
Although Ginny had not understood why Oleandra had seemed so adamant to steal it from her at first, she had later learned from Dumbledore's portrait that the ring was actually something called the Resurrection Stone. Yet to admit to her other self that she had been beaten in a duel was dangerous, so she held her tongue.
The green-haired girl's eyes narrowed.
"The original, you, me, this vessel's sister, and this teacher of yours… that makes five potential Lord Voldemorts simultaneously walking this earth," she said, a hint of suspicion in her voice. "You are taking far too many decisions independently of the original— unnecessarily risky ones that severely increase the odds of our secret coming to light, too. This is not normal… and, for that matter, why have you hidden your existence from him all this time?"
This was it. Everything hinged on what she would say now.
"At first, I hid so that I might increase my powers in secret, then I continued to hide as Dumbledore grew suspicious of me," Ginny said coldly. "When Lord Voldemort revived, I continued hiding so that I might gather information from within Hogwarts in secret…"
The final Horcrux did not seem convinced. To fool one's enemies, one must first fool one's allies… yet the first Horcrux's cover appeared far deeper than necessary.
"The Potter boy can see into Lord Voldemort's mind as easily as looking through a window. I know this because he confided in me, as his best friend's sister," Ginny insisted. "By some miracle, he has never once tried looking into my soul, but I could not risk him learning my secret from the original."
"Then why not simply kill Harry Potter? You had every opportunity to do so," the final Horcrux stated matter-of-factly. "The first prophecy…"
"Don't you see?" Ginny said, exasperated. "Dumbledore had his eye on me! I couldn't lay a finger on the boy! Would you rather the old man have dissected me and discovered the secret of the Horcruxes? The old fool went to his grave, not suspecting a thing!"
But what about after Dumbledore's death?
The final Horcrux searched Daphne's memories. The vessel had witnessed Ginny at Bill and Fleur's summer wedding in the Pensieve containing Cedric Diggory's memories, yet she had seen no trace of Harry Potter through his eyes. Perhaps he had already fled by that time, but she knew Potter's character very well… he wouldn't have missed such an event, would he?
Something was off about the first Horcrux, but maybe she was simply imagining things…
"The ring cannot be left in Oleandra Greengrass's hands," the final Horcrux said decisively. "It was this vessel's opinion that her sister was dangerously unpredictable, and I would agree with her judgment. Furthermore, she is clearly scheming, judging by the fact that she was clearly aiming to assassinate Dumbledore herself to obtain the Elder Wand…"
Her eyes glinted.
"It just so happens that Lord Voldemort is in need of a powerful wand to counter the reverse spell phenomenon that Harry Potter annoyingly takes advantage of to escape death at his hands, time and time again," she said coolly. "The girl has not returned to our dormitory, or I would have killed her in her sleep… so, when she appears next, you will help me kill her and retrieve the Elder Wand."
"Very well," Ginny said dully. "Oleandra is bound to reappear sooner or later."