Chapter 695: Voldemort’s Changes All the way there, Hermione remained lost in thought over what Draco had said. It was not until they reached the Great Hall that she slow |
What appeared before Draco’s eyes was a younger Horace Slughorn.
The bald head he knew now was covered with a full head of thick, glossy blond hair, and Draco truly was not used to seeing Professor Horace like this.
And at this age, Professor Horace’s beard was nowhere near as long or thick as it was now. It was not white either, but ginger, and his body had not yet become the round, walrus-like shape Draco was familiar with.
Still, the beginnings of that future stoutness could already be faintly seen...
At that moment, Professor Horace seemed completely unable to see Draco and the others at all. He simply had his small feet propped up on a large velvet cushion and was reclining halfway in a comfortable wingback chair.
He looked far more spirited at this age.
Not only that, he was leisurely holding a small glass of wine in one hand while the other carefully selected sweets from a dessert box.
Draco withdrew his gaze from him and looked at the time on the wall, using that to make a judgment. Professor Horace was most likely having afternoon tea right now...
Just as Draco was observing the surroundings, a soft cry sounded out. Hermione had arrived as well.
Nor was there any real necessity for it.
Even someone like Draco, with his background and standing, had not actually used one many times, let alone Hermione, who was only truly seeing the real thing for the first time today.
It was easy to imagine, then, how everything about the Pensieve felt fresh and fascinating to Hermione.
So the instant she appeared beside Draco, he very clearly saw that gleam in her eyes. She looked as excited as a thief who had just found a great treasure.
In fact, the way she immediately started touching things and looking around without a word was enough to show just how curious she was about the scene....
Watching her own small hand pass straight through an object, Hermione widened her eyes in adorable surprise. “My hand... went through it?!”
Seeing Hermione’s silly reaction and taking in everything, Draco let out a quiet laugh, clearly in a good mood. “What you’re seeing now is only a memory from the past. It doesn’t really exist, so of course you can’t touch it.”
“A memory... can actually do something like this? Magic really is amazing...”
Thoughtfully, she drew her hand back.
She looked up at Professor Horace, who was busy with his own things. His vivid, lifelike presence made it very difficult for Hermione to believe this was just a memory.
It reminded her of a film, except this was one you could experience in person.
Pansy, who appeared a moment later, also saw Hermione’s reaction, and rolled her eyes in annoyance at how embarrassing it was.
She was a witch herself, yet she was still sighing over how amazing magic was?
Before Pansy could open her mouth and mock Hermione, the door, which seemed to be the Slytherin Head of House’s office, was knocked on....
...
Knock, knock, knock~
This memory seemed to have perfectly recreated even the sound. That knocking felt as though it had truly happened right beside Draco and the others’ ears...
“Come in, child.”
At Professor Horace’s voice, the wizard waiting outside pushed the door open and walked in.
He was a young wizard about the same age as Draco and the others, probably only fifteen or sixteen.
And yet, although it was their first time seeing him, both Pansy and Hermione felt a prickling chill run down their spines.
Especially those eyes of his, which held not the slightest trace of a smile. They made Pansy and Hermione instinctively shrink back a little.
It felt as though... they had encountered a dangerous beast.
Feeling as if the air around her had suddenly grown cold, Hermione moved closer to Draco on her own.
And only after moving closer did she notice that Draco’s expression seemed a little strange...
“Draco, you seem to know this person?”
“Know him? It would be more accurate to say there really isn’t anyone in the wizarding world who doesn’t know his name.”
“.......”
That vague answer, one that was barely an answer at all, was enough to make Hermione and the others guess something, and their eyes widened.
And the conversation that followed between Professor Horace and that young wizard directly confirmed the shocking suspicion in their hearts.
“Sir, is Professor Merrythought retiring?”
“Tom, Tom, even if I knew, I couldn’t tell you. Still, I must say, I’d love to know where you heard that, my boy. You know more than half the professors do.”
Before entering the memory, Draco had already done a little checking into what had happened back then.
Professor Merrythought had been the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor at the time, and clearly, Tom had already set his sights on that teaching post.
But the most important thing was Tom’s true identity.
The child Professor Horace called Tom was, naturally, the Dark Lord while he was still a student...
Voldemort!!
...
Compared with the shadow that had emerged from the diary in the Chamber of Secrets back then, this was the first time Draco had ever seen Voldemort’s face so clearly from such close range after entering a memory.
The young Tom was far more handsome than the Voldemort of the present. He did not look nearly as vicious or mad either. At the very least, his nose was still sitting properly on his face....
As for the girls, even if they already had someone they liked, Pansy and Hermione still had to admit that the young Voldemort truly was very charming. Just the fact that he could behave so naturally in front of a professor was already something most students could not manage.
As Voldemort sat down, Draco listened to the conversation between the two while also noticing Voldemort’s right hand, which rested casually on the arm of the chair.
There was a ring on one of the fingers of Voldemort’s right hand.
It looked crudely made, somewhat ugly, and even bore what seemed to be the crest of some ruined family. It was the sort of thing no one would bother looking at twice.
But in reality, that ring unexpectedly caught Draco’s attention.
To be precise, what Draco was focused on was not the ring itself, but the black stone set into it.
Because on that black stone, Draco saw the symbol he had previously seen at Luna’s house.
A line.
A circle.
A triangle.
And when they were combined, they became...the Deathly Hallows!!
...
Tom Riddle.
After staring blankly for a moment, Pansy and Hermione finally realized the true identity of the wizard before them.
And after the initial shock came excitement and anticipation at being so close to the truth, because it also confirmed one thing. Draco’s earlier suspicion seemed to have been correct.
Professor Horace really was deeply connected to Voldemort. In fact, it was highly possible that Voldemort’s knowledge of Horcruxes had come from this very Horace, who was now smiling with obvious pride over having such a student.
It seemed they were on the right track.
As for whether Professor Horace had been forced into it or had simply let it slip by accident, there was no way to know....
Compared with the conversation taking place between the two in front of him, Draco was far more interested in the black gem ring engraved with the Deathly Hallows symbol.
That symbol carved into the black stone was not unfamiliar to Draco, because it was exactly what he had discussed in his bargain with Lovegood.
From him, Draco had learned everything, including the full details of the Deathly Hallows.
Naturally, that included the meaning of the symbol and its origins.
As for the Deathly Hallows, aside from appearing in a fairy tale passed down through the wizarding world, that symbol had also once been used as the mark of another Dark Lord as he moved through the magical world.
It was said that this Dark Lord had once possessed the Deathly Hallows.
Only...
“...Why would one of them be in Voldemort’s hands? Did he already know about the Deathly Hallows at this point?”
Draco’s muttering drew Hermione’s attention.
In truth, that was also because Hermione had not yet noticed anything especially important in what Professor Horace and Voldemort were saying, which left her free to pay attention to something else.
She glanced at Draco from the corner of her eye. “The Deathly Hallows? Why bring that up? If I remember correctly, that’s supposed to be from a fairy tale, isn’t it?”
“It’s difficult to explain, but that is not purely something fictional.”
“Not fictional... you mean the Deathly Hallows really exist?!”
Although Hermione was a little surprised to hear Draco say that, she did not think that was the important point right now. She only frowned slightly, without showing much shock on her face.
But a second later, she turned to him in confusion.
Given what she knew about Draco, he was not the sort to bring up irrelevant things for no reason.
“Wait, why did you suddenly mention that? Did you notice something?”
“Think about it carefully. If you were Tom Riddle, what kind of thing would you choose as the vessel for a Horcrux?”
Although she did not quite understand why Draco was asking that, Hermione still answered seriously. “If it were me... I’d probably choose something special, something with great significance, to hold such a precious piece of a soul?”
Hermione spoke a little uncertainly.
In response, Draco neither agreed nor disagreed. He simply continued, “Obviously, our Dark Lord thought the same way. Just as he chose that diary, which proved he was Slytherin’s heir, as one of his Horcruxes.”
Hermione nodded.
For Voldemort, that diary might have had no practical value at all, but its existence did carry an extremely special meaning.
And as he said that, Draco’s gaze on the ring became even sharper.
If one were talking about an object of great significance, what could possibly be more meaningful than the Resurrection Stone among the Deathly Hallows?
It was entirely possible that Voldemort had already turned it into a Horcrux at this point in time....
...
Just as Draco was thinking, the memory space before them was suddenly swallowed by a mass of white mist.
The abrupt change caught Hermione completely off guard. She let out a startled cry and reflexively hid behind Draco.
Pansy, standing to one side, froze for a moment, then glared at Hermione before doing exactly the same thing...
“What happened all of a sudden... did something go wrong with the memory?”
“We’re moving to the next memory.”
“The next memory?”
Before Draco could explain further, a new scene had already appeared in front of them.
Draco noticed that compared to the last memory, this one seemed to be set even earlier.
Although it was once again a face-to-face scene between Horace and Voldemort, this time the black gem ring was nowhere to be seen on Voldemort’s finger.
Did that small detail suggest something?
Just as Draco was thinking that over, this memory reached what seemed to be a crucial exchange...
“By Merlin, look at the time. Hurry along, Tom. You don’t want to get caught wandering around outside at this hour of night, do you? You are a Prefect...”
“Sir, I wanted to ask you something.”
“Then be quick, my boy, be quick...”
“Sir, I wanted to ask whether you know... about Horcruxes.”
“........”
Horace, who had been lounging in his chair so comfortably that he looked as though he might fall asleep at any moment, now widened his eyes as though he had just heard something terrifying.
Even Hermione and the others at the side could feel how shaken Horace was.
“Is this for a Defence Against the Dark Arts assignment?”
The dry voice that came from Horace’s mouth carried an unmistakable note of hope.
Unfortunately, the Voldemort in front of him clearly had no intention of letting him off that easily...
“No, sir. I came across it in a book, but I didn’t really understand it.”
That was a lie.
Hermione, with her lips slightly pursed, looked strangely adorable.
And Horace did not seem to believe that explanation either. “Mm... yes... it’s hard to find a book at Hogwarts that explains Horcruxes in detail. But Tom, that is a very evil thing, a very evil thing.”
As if deliberately emphasizing it, Horace repeated those words, very evil, several times.
“But you obviously know about it, sir? I mean, a wizard like you... what I mean is, if you can’t tell me, then clearly... I only know that if anyone can tell me, it would have to be you. So I thought I’d ask.”
It was perfectly done.
That hesitation, the casual tone, the subtle flattery, the way he said just enough without overdoing it. It was easy to see that with every word Voldemort spoke, Horace was starting to waver.
And it was equally obvious that at this point, Voldemort truly wanted to know everything about Horcruxes.
...
Silence fell.
It was not just Draco and the others who had stopped speaking.
Faced with Voldemort’s question, Professor Horace did not give an immediate answer either.
The hand resting on the dessert box idly played with the red satin ribbon tied around it.
He looked absentminded.
His expression was hesitant.
His gaze was conflicted.
The easy, relaxed look that had been on Horace’s face only moments ago had long since disappeared....
Clearly, even though the wizard asking the question was his favorite student, Horace still found it difficult to answer when faced with something so forbidden.
No one knew how much time passed.
Tossing a piece of pastry into his mouth, Horace kept his eyes off Tom and said, “Mm.... It probably would not do any harm to give you a simple explanation, just so you understand what this magic is.”
He paused again.
That long pause seemed to be him trying to decide how best to explain it.
Just as Draco stared suspiciously at the dessert box, Horace slowly began to speak...
“A Horcrux... is an object that contains part of a person’s soul.”
“But I don’t really understand how that works, sir.” Whether it was just an illusion or not, Voldemort’s voice sounded faint and almost unreal, tinged with barely concealed excitement.
“It means you split your soul... and hide part of it inside an object outside your body. That way, even if your body is attacked or destroyed, you will not die, because part of your soul remains in the world, intact and unharmed.”
“You won’t die...”
“Yes, but existing in that form...” Draco noticed that Horace suddenly shuddered halfway through the sentence. “Very few people would want to live that way, Tom. Very few. I assure you, death is far preferable to living in that manner.”
Draco suddenly recalled that conversation in the Chamber of Secrets. Back then, Voldemort had once said:
I have been stripped of my body, less than a ghost, less than the lowliest wandering spirit... but I am still alive!!
And that was what a Horcrux was!!
...
Although Hermione had once learned about Horcruxes from Draco, after hearing Professor Horace explain them, she still found herself drawn in by the conversation.
But unlike the greed and desire on Voldemort’s face, Hermione’s interest was nothing more than pure curiosity about the unknown...
By this point, Voldemort’s face seemed unable to hide his hunger and desire any longer.
Strangely, Horace, slumped deep in his chair, seemed not to have noticed any of it.
The way he looked now was almost as if... he were being controlled by someone.
“So how do I split my soul, sir?”
“...You must understand that the soul is meant to remain whole and complete. To split it is an act against nature, something unnatural.”
“But how do I split it?” As though he had not heard Horace’s warning at all, Voldemort repeated the same question.
“Through an evil act... through murder. Killing tears the soul apart, and the wizard who wants to make a Horcrux takes advantage of that damage and seals away the torn fragment.”
“Seal it away? How is that done?”
“There is a spell. Don’t ask me, I don’t know! Do I look like a wizard who has tried it? Do I look like some evil murderer?!”
By now, Pansy and Hermione had also realized that something was wrong with Professor Horace.
Or rather, Horace’s emotions seemed to be spiraling out of control.
Realizing that, Hermione and the others turned to look at Draco, whose expression had become serious. “Professor Horace, he....”
“Don’t forget, this is Horace’s memory. What we are seeing now may only be what someone wanted him to see.”
“.......”
“But yes, something is definitely off.”
Although Draco’s explanation sounded a little roundabout, Hermione and the others still understood one thing.
Voldemort had most likely done something to Professor Horace...
Just as Hermione was secretly speculating and trying to make something out from Voldemort’s now somewhat blurred figure, the topic went even deeper.
“Yes, sir. But what I don’t understand, and I am only asking out of curiosity, is whether one Horcrux is really useful enough. Can the soul only be split once? Wouldn’t splitting it into several pieces be better? Wouldn’t that make you more powerful? For example, seven. Isn’t seven the most powerfully magical number?”
“By Merlin, Tom! Seven! Isn’t it evil enough to kill one person? Splitting the soul is evil enough already, and splitting it into seven pieces...”
At that, Draco abruptly lifted his head.
After hearing this much, Pansy and the others no longer had any interest in listening to the rest of the conversation.
Because by this point, Draco and the others had already obtained the information they truly wanted.
They had achieved the real goal of this trip.
The number of Horcruxes.
Seven.
If there were no surprises, then aside from Voldemort himself, who had already been resurrected, it was highly likely that somewhere in the wizarding world, there were still six Horcruxes belonging to Voldemort.
Even counting the diary that had already been destroyed, as well as the Horcrux that had injured Dumbledore, there were still four Horcruxes waiting for them to find and destroy...
...
The rest of the memory no longer seemed important.
White mist suddenly began billowing up from beneath their feet, quickly spreading through the room until Draco and the others could barely make out anything in front of them.
Strangely, even though Voldemort’s figure had already become blurred, his voice still reached their ears with perfect clarity.
Even more puzzling, the memory still showed no sign of ending even after the white mist had completely engulfed the entire room.
It was worth mentioning that just before everything vanished from sight, Draco caught a fleeting glimpse of wild joy on Voldemort’s face.....
“Is... is it over?” Hermione, who had absolutely no experience using a Pensieve, finally let out a long breath of relief.
Even though it had only been a short memory, she had still felt a kind of suffocating pressure from Voldemort.
From beginning to end, Voldemort had worn a smile and spoken with perfect composure, yet he still gave her a strange and deeply unsettling feeling.
Just when Hermione thought she was finally free of that discomfort, Draco’s next words made her eyes widen in surprise. She had just assumed everything was over.
Draco raised a brow. “No, this should also be part of Horace’s memory.”
“You mean that white mist was also part of Professor Horace’s memory? But we didn’t see anything.”
“Clearly, our former Head of Slytherin never imagined that the Tom he trusted would treat him this way.”
Although the Voldemort of this time was not yet the Dark Lord he would become in the future, Draco’s words made one thing clear. Even back then, Voldemort had already been the sort to stop at nothing.
Even when the other person was his own Head of House...
After hearing Draco say that, Hermione suddenly understood why Professor Horace had willingly stepped down as Head of House, and why, after leaving Hogwarts, he had hidden his name and disappeared from the wizarding world.
It was not only because he feared Voldemort would silence him.
It was also because he had been betrayed by a student he had once cared for....
...
Seven Horcruxes.
That madman Voldemort had actually split his soul into seven pieces.
Even after an entire night had passed, Pansy and the others still could not calm themselves after learning that shocking, horrifying piece of information.
Even Pansy, who usually seemed carefree and thoughtless, spent the night tossing and turning in bed, unable to sleep.
As for Hermione, who was prone to thinking too much, it was even worse. Now, no matter what she looked at, she would instinctively wonder whether it might be one of the Horcruxes.
In any case.
After finally enduring the night, Hermione could no longer suppress her curiosity. The moment the sun rose, she ran alone to the Slytherin common room and quietly waited for Draco to appear.
The instant she saw him, she asked the question she had been turning over in her mind for hours.
“Hermione? You’re here this early?”
“Draco, I need to ask you something important. Do you have any suspects?”
Although the question sounded abrupt and out of nowhere, Draco immediately understood what Hermione was really asking.
“I do, I suppose.”
“I do, I suppose? What is that supposed to mean?”
Draco stopped walking and glanced at Hermione, who had come looking for him first thing in the morning. “You still remember what happened last night, don’t you?”
“Of course I do. My memory isn’t so bad that I’d forget everything after one night.”
Thinking Draco was making fun of her, Hermione shot back at him while also lightly thumping his waist a few times with her small fist.
Even though they were talking about something serious, Hermione seemed to have grown used to making these almost coquettish little gestures toward Draco.
And Draco, who knew exactly how to handle Hermione, immediately wrapped her small hand in his own.
In that instant, Hermione’s restless mood quickly settled under that intimate gesture from Draco....
Looking at Hermione, who now seemed a little embarrassed and annoyed, Draco smiled. “You still remember what I told you before about the Deathly Hallows, right?”
“You mean...”
“That’s right. The Dark Lord had a ring set with one of the Deathly Hallows. If I wasn’t mistaken, it should have been the Resurrection Stone.”
“The Resurrection... Stone?!”
So the Deathly Hallows were real?
In the end, Hermione did not say the words out loud, because Draco would never joke with her about something like this.
At that point, Draco still seemed uncertain about one thing. “But even so, I still can’t be sure whether the Horcrux Dumbledore destroyed was that black gem ring.”
“You mean... the worst-case scenario is that there may still be four Horcruxes we haven’t found.”
“Exactly. As long as even one Horcrux remains intact, the Dark Lord still has a chance to come back from the dead, and there are still four such things out there.”
“.......”
That was completely unfair.
After all, finding two Horcruxes already counted as incredibly good luck.
Without any clues, trying to find the remaining four Horcruxes somewhere in the wizarding world was no simple task at all.
Unless Voldemort had been out of his mind when he made them, and had chosen objects that would be absurdly easy to guess...
...
All the way there, Hermione remained lost in thought over what Draco had said. It was not until they reached the Great Hall that she slowly came back to herself and realized where she was.
A quick glance around told her that, perhaps because everyone had gone too wild at last night’s Christmas party, or perhaps because the Christmas holiday was almost here, there were barely any wizards up early enough to come to breakfast. If anything, Draco and Hermione, appearing here at this hour, were the truly unusual ones among that tiny handful....
“Well? Thought of anything?”
“No.... There are just too few clues. If we knew what Horcrux Dumbledore destroyed, then maybe we really could figure out the logic behind the Dark Lord’s choice of Horcruxes.”
Hearing that, Draco did not look disappointed in the slightest. Instead, the hand holding his knife and fork paused noticeably, and the corners of his mouth lifted without the least attempt to hide it.
Catching that detail, Hermione leaned toward him in surprise, her voice brightening at once. “Why are you smiling? Don’t tell me...”
“It’s exactly what you think. After you all left my room last night, I had Dobby go back to the family and ask whether there was any information on the matter.”
In truth, the possibility Hermione had thought of was naturally something Draco had considered as soon as he finished using the Pensieve the night before, and he had not waited around. He had acted on it immediately.
The result, in the end, had not fallen outside Draco’s original expectations...
“So... what was it?”
“What’s interesting is that Dumbledore did not seem to have any intention of hiding it, almost as though he wanted everyone to know. The Horcrux that contained the Dark Lord’s soul was the very one we saw in the memory yesterday. Marvolo Gaunt’s ring!”
Hermione’s eyes widened as she murmured, “...the Resurrection Stone.”
“That’s right. But that was very obviously a trap the Dark Lord had specially prepared for Dumbledore. It seems to have failed and only left him with an injured right hand, but even so, it was still both mad and bold. He actually used a precious Horcrux to lure Dumbledore in.”
“Lure him? But that was Dumbledore...”
“As long as someone is human, they have weaknesses. I think the Dark Lord must have known that, in Dumbledore’s heart, there was someone he desperately wanted to bring back to life.”
As the saying went, the person who understood you best was bound to be your enemy.
If that Horcrux had not been the Resurrection Stone, then perhaps Dumbledore, who otherwise would not have hesitated when destroying it, would not have fallen into the trap Voldemort had set specifically for him.
It was madness.
It was hard to imagine that, while still a student, the Dark Lord had already thought that far ahead and carried it through.
Because of that, not only Hermione but even Draco came to understand more deeply just how brilliant and dangerous Voldemort truly was...
...
Although Hermione did not know who Marvolo was, that did nothing to lessen the shock and wariness rising in her heart when she heard all this.
Noticing that Hermione’s face had gone a little pale, Draco reached out and gently patted her on the head. “Don’t worry. I already said just now, he planned that while he was still a student.”
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t you think it’s strange? The Dark Lord when he was young and the Dark Lord now feel rather different, don’t they?”
Compared with the personal charisma Voldemort had as a student, the kind that made Slytherin students follow him from the bottom of their hearts, and compared with the clever, calculating figure they had just pieced together, the Voldemort of today was like a madman with something wrong in his head.
He had absolutely no tolerance for his own followers now, and he used all kinds of extreme, abnormal methods without the slightest restraint.
His cruelty even extended to his own people.
It could be said that these were not traits a qualified ruler should possess at all....
Seeing the curious, slightly irritated look in Hermione’s eyes, Draco removed his hand from her head before she could flare up. “I’m certain this is the side effect and consequence of splitting the soul.”
“Madness...”
“Yes, extreme madness. Especially after splitting his soul into seven pieces, no one can predict what sort of problems that would cause. Perhaps even the Dark Lord himself never realized it.”
“.......”
After a moment of silence, Hermione tried to change the subject and brought up something else instead.
“Mm... after I went back, I looked carefully into the Dark Lord’s past, especially the period when he was still at Hogwarts.”
As expected of serious Hermione, Draco had not thought that after everything ended, Hermione would have taken action on her own as well.
After a pause, Hermione softly said what she had spent the entire night thinking through. “Based on what you just said, things are clear now. One of the Deathly Hallows was turned into a Horcrux and then destroyed by Dumbledore, so we can set that aside for the moment.”
“Mm.”
“Then I made a small guess. If that diary was something important that could reveal the Heir of Slytherin, then perhaps the Dark Lord had a special preference for treasures like that.”
At this point, a captivating light shone in Hermione’s bright eyes.
Draco, who also thought the reasoning made sense, nodded. “I think I know what you’re getting at.”
“Exactly. And the most interesting part is that, while the Dark Lord was still a student, two treasures just happened to go missing during that same period.”
As though they had reached the same conclusion at once, Draco and Hermione looked at each other and spoke the answers in their hearts at the same time.
“Slytherin’s locket.”
“Hufflepuff’s cup.”