Chapter 739
Three Soul Weapons?
Chapter 739 Three Horcruxes?
Slughorn slumped in a pool of blood, completely unaware of the terrible secret he had just revealed.
When Voldemort stopped using magic to control him, he did not regain his senses. Instead, he suddenly grinned and gave a dazed smile.
"Tom, you little devil, you know more than half the teachers, you're definitely going to become Minister for Magic..."
“Oh, Lestrange, I’ve lived this long and never seen such a strange potion-making operation… Thesis, five feet! This is the assignment you earned for yourself!”
“Very good…very good…Lily, this potion is flawless, Gryffindor gets five points…”
He mumbled incoherently, a flushed, satisfied smile spreading across his thin face, as if he were back in the classroom filled with the scent of magic potions, with only a group of innocent and adorable students in front of him.
“Let’s go, Wade.”
Dumbledore's voice suddenly rang in Wade's ears: "We should leave."
He grabbed Vader's arm, and the two seemed to rise slowly, everything around them dissipating—Voldemort's face, Slughorn's silly grin—were instantly swallowed by the mist.
When he came to his senses, Wade was standing in the office again, while Dumbledore walked to the window, his face seemingly covered with frost.
"professor……"
Wade paused for a moment, staring at the principal's silhouette reflected in the dark glass, and suddenly felt that disturbing him at this time would be somewhat inhumane.
What they just witnessed was, for Vader, Voldemort's process of obtaining important information; but for Dumbledore, it was his old friend suffering unimaginable torment.
Wade hesitated, wondering if he should end the conversation and give Dumbledore some time to calm down. He decided to continue the discussion after they had both calmed down for a while.
But before he could speak, Dumbledore had already turned around and calmly said:
"After breaching Slughorn's defenses, Voldemort didn't rush to create new Horcruxes, and I think you understand why..."
Wade nodded: "He was too weak at the time, and it was very important for the soul in the Horcrux to split again. He would never entrust this to anyone else, not even his most trusted Barty Crouch Jr.
Wade's gaze fell on the Pensieve, and he said, "So he probably plans to wait until after he's resurrected to do this... Also, we need to verify again whether Mr. Slughorn has deceived him..."
“That’s it,” Dumbledore said. “But now, he’s a beast driven to the brink, but he’s also managed to disappear from most people’s sight. So he’ll definitely check his Horcruxes first to see which one is suitable to split again.”
“Then he’ll discover… his Horcruxes have been taken, or even destroyed,” Vader whispered. “He’ll go mad, furious, terrified, and search every hidden Horcrux location, only to find that his hope for immortality is reduced to two…”
“No, three,” Dumbledore said suddenly.
Wade paused, looked at Dumbledore, and asked in his eyes.
The headmaster stated definitively, "The Gaunt house was burned to the ground, as was the cave. The ring and locket show clear signs of destruction, but the crown hidden within Hogwarts is not."
Vader understood: "Voldemort only knew that the crown had fallen into Ryan's hands and that he had hidden it, but he didn't know that the thing had long been destroyed!" Thinking of the warrior of Iphamoni, Vader felt a subtle pity.
After Voldemort's body was burned, it was likely moved to Ifamonny, America, for a period of time, where he bewitched Ryan and made him work for him.
Unfortunately, Ryan's ability to conceal himself wasn't particularly strong, and he was discovered by Vader when he infiltrated the Room of Requirement. Vader, finding that Ryan was looking for the Ravenclaw tiara, conjured a fake one for him and then informed Dumbledore of the situation.
From then on, the kid was essentially under their control.
Of course, Ryan himself never realized this. He even became arrogant and conceited after wearing the "Ravenclaw crown," believing he possessed supreme wisdom. He even thought Voldemort could use him.
With this mindset, he naturally wouldn't return the life-changing cheat code to Voldemort. Instead, he tried every means to appease him, hiding the crown somewhere "only he himself knew."
In reality, Ryan's mind was like an open book to Barty Jr. and Voldemort, unable to hide any secrets.
But Voldemort probably felt that the boy still had some use to him, so he didn't let Barty Jr. take out the tiara in advance, giving Ryan the illusion that the situation was under his control.
On the other hand, every call Ryan made with Voldemort, every message he sent to Voldemort, was actually under Dumbledore's control—the headmaster of Hogwarts may seem indifferent to worldly desires, but in reality, his control over the school was terrifyingly strong.
Then, when Barty Jr. was about to attack Wade, he was exposed. Ryan "helped" Barty Jr. escape and was then coerced into turning into a bird to help Barty Jr. monitor the movements of the warriors in the Forbidden Forest.
If Dumbledore hadn't been fully aware of all his actions, that kid might have really been a raven for the rest of his life.
Unlike Wade and Harry, Ryan was already seventeen when he participated in the competition, making him an adult. Even though his collusion with a dark wizard like Voldemort ultimately backfired and he appeared to be a victim, he still faced legal punishment.
In this respect, because American wizards and Muggles have always been in a very hostile relationship, and because of the brutal Salem witch trials and the frequent meddling of the Purgers, their laws are enforced more strictly than those of the British Ministry of Magic.
"Ryan Smith is currently imprisoned in the Magical Congress of the United States of America, where he faces up to twelve years in prison—and that's only because he's just come of age."
Dumbledore said, "Voldemort hasn't lost all hope yet, so he probably won't choose to force his way into the prison and interrogate Ryan about the whereabouts of the Horcruxes. That leaves him with few options."
Vader tapped the armrest of his chair lightly and said, "Breaking into Azkaban or Gringotts is no different from breaking into a magical prison in America... But Azkaban has his loyal subordinates, and Dementors may also become his allies."
"But the simplest... and perhaps the best way to help him directly obtain the Hufflepuff Cup, is to go to Lucius Malfoy..."
A bolt of lightning suddenly flashed past the window, illuminating the portraits of past principals on the wall—
None of them pretended to be asleep; they all kept their eyes open and listened intently to the conversation, even the most talkative Phineas remained silent.
Wade looked up and asked bluntly, "Professor... are you planning to return the diary to Malfoy?"
(End of this chapter)