Harry: I Really Am the Worst

Ezio needed to clear his head. The Mirror of Erised had given him far too many surprises.

Besides the masked man in black robes, Ezio had seen another figure in the mirror. He knew this person was an ancient wizard, not someone from the present day, because he recognized him.

Any student in Slytherin House would have recognized him.

Salazar Slytherin.

His statue stood in the Slytherin Common Room. No Slytherin snake had failed to get a good look at him.

The Slytherin reflected in the Mirror of Erised didn't look as old as the statue in the common room, but his clothes and remarkably similar features made his identity unmistakable.

A wizard from over a thousand years ago, one of Hogwarts' Founders...

It was something Ezio needed to think long and hard about. But so much time had passed that investigating this angle was like spotting a whale on Saturn or finding a geoduck on Mercury.

But if this had something to do with him, then Giovanni's death no longer seemed so surprising. Slytherin wasn't a Dark wizard, but there was no denying that he had studied Dark Magic—and studied it extensively. The Slytherin Common Room had once been the underground prison of Hogwarts Castle. Slytherin had kept many test subjects there, and his bad reputation came largely from his research in that area.

In that dark age, when wizards and Muggles were enemies, Slytherin had been far more powerful than an ordinary wizard and had no affection for Muggles. That had further shaped his belief in Pure-blood supremacy.

Ezio was fairly sure Giovanni had died in some laboratory Slytherin had built, or somewhere similar. Only two wizards had ever been there, and the Mirror of Erised shouldn't have gotten that wrong.

But the second wizard's identity was a complete mystery. The small part of his face that showed wasn't enough to identify him. Black hair was nothing unusual, and neither were dark gray eyes. If the man had red hair, Ezio would have known at once who to ask for information. But he didn't.

"But I'll find you, whoever you are."

Ezio stood up and shook the snow off himself. Neil, who had stayed by his side the whole time, rose with a rush of wings and answered with a clear, piercing cry.

"I've wasted enough time. Before Christmas comes, it's time to put them to work."

Ezio spread his arms and leaned forward. He fell as if in a suicide dive, without any protection—not even magic—but landed lightly in a snowbank. He brushed the snow from his clothes, opened the door, and walked into the castle.

The Christmas holiday was only a day away. After lunch, students would leave in groups of three or four. There were no classes today, so the common rooms were the best places to look for people.

After reaching the common room, Ezio found Labas and said a few words to him, then returned to his dormitory to wait for Labas to gather everyone.

"Not going to take a nap?"

When Ezio came in, he saw Harry sitting on his bed, staring into space.

"I might've eaten too much." Harry rubbed his belly. He'd stuffed himself with enough breakfast in the Great Hall to nearly burst.

"But Ezio, are you all right?" he asked, sounding worried. He had a feeling there was a lot more to Ezio and Dumbledore's conversation that morning, but he hadn't understood it.

"For now. At least until I figure out who that man is, I'll focus on studying and getting stronger."

"Oh, all right." Harry nodded. He wanted to say something, but when the words reached his lips, he didn't know how to put them. After a moment's hesitation, he began, "They're going home for the holidays this afternoon."

"I mean, those people are leaving today too. Are you going to have some... trouble after they're gone, Ezio?"

"Those scum?" Ezio raised an eyebrow. "Probably. Some of those hopeless, stupid idiots have wizarding families backing them. I doubt they'll keep saying nice things about me once they get home."

"But if it gets out of hand, won't you..."

"It doesn't matter. If I've chosen to do something, then I'm ready to bear the consequences. Nothing in this world is perfect."

"But why are you doing this? It can't be for Slytherin." Harry thought he understood Ezio pretty well. Ezio wouldn't do anything that didn't benefit him. He was practical in everything he did, and he always aimed to act cleanly and decisively, without dragging things out.

"Of course it's for me."

Ezio looked at Harry and answered calmly. "Isn't this the moment to put them to use?"

"Maybe you've noticed that I'm always trying to make myself look exceptional. I have something I absolutely must do, something that matters enormously to me, and no one is going to stand in my way. The performance can seem a little over the top, can't it?"

Harry hesitated, then nodded. "Actually, I've heard people betting on you... uh..."

"But that's exactly the result I want. First, I've shown them my value, my methods, my abilities. I've packaged myself as a product and put myself in the most prominent shop window. Then I drew people's attention—even their hatred. Good or bad, I've got all the attention I need."

"I've achieved my goal. Once they go home for Christmas, a great many wizards will know the name Ezio Auditore, especially the wizarding families."

"Then what I want will come to me. Whether they're investing in me out of goodwill or targeting me out of malice, they can't avoid the key question: what do I need? What do I care about most?"

"For an investor, the most valuable thing they can offer me—the best return on their investment—is to satisfy my needs. People don't care much about adding a little icing to the cake. What matters is coming through when someone's in need. And for those who want to target me, the best revenge is to find my weakness and strike where it hurts."

"To some people, the most satisfying thing would be to find something they can hold over me—something I care about—and use it to control me, even make me work for them."

"Who is Ezio? He's Hogwarts' most talented student, a prodigy destined to shine in the future. As soon as he arrived at Hogwarts, he made an impression on his Head of House and made Snape's name resound throughout the international wizarding community. Someone like him is bound to do even greater things in the future."

"Anyone who could control him would stand to gain more than enough to make the effort worthwhile."

"You know what I'm looking for, don't you, Harry?"

"I'm looking for the place where my father died, and for information about the Twelve Moons. But on my own, I can't find enough clues. The world is too big."

"I need more eyes looking for me, more people investigating. As long as they find a clue, or even the target itself, I can get my hands on it. Even if someone uses it to threaten me, it'll be much easier to find that person, capture him, and interrogate him for all the information than to search for clues by myself."

"So, won't that mean I've achieved my goal? Isn't it more efficient to let them solve the mystery for me than to lower myself and beg them for help?"

"Besides, what I want isn't some kind of treasure. They can't stop me from getting it just by destroying it. In fact, destroying it might even help me. Maybe that's why I was able to see something in the Mirror of Erised that I couldn't see before, because he damaged it. Right?"

"We're Slytherins. The process doesn't matter. As long as the result is right, everything is fine."

"Now I'm going to talk to them. They can take this information home with them at Christmas."

"Then they can work hard to satisfy me and offer me everything they have."

Only after Ezio had left did Harry slowly come back to himself. At last, he understood what Ezio had been doing: making the fullest possible use of his own value to achieve his goal. He finally realized just how much Ezio was willing to risk for this—to stake his life on the dangers it might bring.

Even if Harry might have been part of Ezio's plan, he couldn't bring himself to resent him.

"You want to place a bouquet of flowers on your father's grave with your own hands..."

"I... Should I go visit my mum and dad, too?" Harry suddenly felt guilty. His parents were gone, but their remains hadn't vanished. Yet from the moment he learned this until today, he had never visited their graves to lay flowers for them. He had so much more than Ezio, but he had never known how to cherish it.

"I really am the worst..."