Life at Prince Manor shifts fully into war footing. Severus wakes Harry at five thirty for potions and plans, then Apparates with him to Tom Riddle’s old orphanage only to find it gone and the area crawling with Dementors, proof that Voldemort has them under his command. Back home, a house elf report about Bellatrix and Narcissa at Spinner’s End makes Severus fear Draco is about to be Marked and handed an impossible task. Dumbledore Floos in to announce that Severus will finally get the Defence job and that Horace Slughorn is returning to teach Potions, using Harry’s fame as bait all over again. In the library, Harry pulls a Peverell based family tree, realises he and Voldemort share blood through the Gaunts, and digs through Founder lore for possible Horcruxes like Helga’s cup and Ravenclaw’s diadem while Severus starts hunting for a way to rip the soul fragment out of his son. Side by side over books, soup, and stubborn determination, they plan for Horcrux extraction, worry about Zar the basilisk, and brace themselves as the first Death Eater bridge attack hits the Muggle news.
