Chapter 244: Horcruxes Gathered!
"This is the locket. Master told me to keep it safe and not tell anyone…"
Kreacher cried, holding up a locket. "But since you are now a member of the Black family, even though Kreacher doesn't wish you were a member of the Black family, Kreacher still thinks you should know…"
This was an incredibly loyal house-elf.
After everyone else in the family had died, it had still lived in this abandoned ancestral home for more than ten years. Perhaps it was meant to live a lonely life until it, too, grew old, becoming the last glimmer of the Black family's glory to be extinguished.
But now that a formal member of the family had reappeared, no matter how unwilling it was, it was willing to offer its loyalty.
Sirius silently took the locket, and his tears fell onto it, shattering into several pieces.
He never cried. He didn't cry when the Potters died; he only went after Pettigrew in a fit of rage. He found him, and after Pettigrew self-detonated, destroying an entire street, he got his revenge, but he still didn't cry.
At that time, he was laughing, laughing hysterically.
He didn't know why he was crying now.
Crying so painfully.
Perhaps... this was the curse of ancient pure-blood family members.
Lockhart observed Sirius's state carefully from the corner, sighing to himself. It was clear that even the seemingly normal Sirius had already shown the drawbacks of pure-blood inbreeding.
He was in a state of extreme suppressed rage, elation, and pain after his emotional defenses had completely shattered.
Lockhart couldn't sense any magical fluctuations.
Yes, even when a wizard isn't casting a spell, in such an extreme emotional state, they would appear incredibly conspicuous to someone with a keen sense of magic.
Emotions were sometimes impossible to hide; the rhythm of magic would reveal them to everyone.
Just like the weather that enveloped Hogwarts Castle.
But at this moment, even in such pain, Sirius had no magical rhythm whatsoever.
He was as quiet as a Muggle!
This was a different kind of mental deficiency—if Crabbe and Goyle were a mismatch between mind and body, Sirius was undoubtedly a mismatch between soul and body.
Specifically, under extreme emotions, his magical ability would drop to a terrifying level.
Yet the problem lay precisely in this: because of this mismatch, Sirius was more likely to go into extreme emotional states.
The good side was that Sirius could be said to have completely escaped the erosion of Dark Magic, which was probably why he hadn't gone mad after being tortured by Dementors for more than ten years in Azkaban.
It was likely not due to the mental defense he thought he had by transforming into a black dog.
On the bad side, he was on a path to self-destruction.
Emotions don't just disappear after being vented into a trash can; they are only masked by the pleasure of the outburst (even yelling counts).
When these emotions accumulate to a certain degree within the soul, they will inevitably have a real eruption on some level.
Lockhart didn't know if this was what was meant by the 'ill omen of the Blacks.'
He quietly pulled Lupin aside and spoke in a low voice, "When you have a chance, tell Sirius to spend more time living in his Animagus form."
Lupin frowned. "Why? They only learned to be Animagi to accompany me during the full moon. I've always felt it was a bad idea, because Professor Trelawney once saw us and said that the black dog Sirius turns into is definitely not a good thing—that it represents an ill omen."
Lockhart's eyebrow twitched slightly. He felt that Professor Trelawney was simply a miracle worker.
He looked at Lupin meaningfully. "Tell me, in all the seven years you were at Hogwarts and all the years you fought side by side with Sirius, have you ever seen Sirius cry?"
Lupin froze, as if he had just realized something. He quickly thought back.
"It seems... I really haven't!"
But was this a correct deduction?
The Sirius in Lupin's memory was always so full of spirit, so noble, so liked by many girls and sought after by many, like James, who were happy to be his friend. At that time, Sirius didn't need to cry.
"Just trust me," Lockhart said with a smile. "Think about it again. When Sirius is in his black dog form, isn't he less prone to a fiery temper?"
Hiss.
Lupin inhaled sharply. "It actually seems so!"
Lockhart said no more. He had said what he needed to. Whether Lupin chose to follow his advice was no longer his business.
Soon, everyone's attention was drawn to the locket that Kreacher had offered.
"Yes!"
Dumbledore rubbed it for a moment, and a glimmer flashed in his eyes. "It's his Horcrux, no doubt!"
Unknowingly, he had already found four Horcruxes.
Helga Hufflepuff's Cup!
Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem!
Salazar Slytherin's Locket!
And…
Marvolo Gaunt's Ring!
Yes, he hadn't been idle. He had worked so hard to find Tom's Horcruxes, which wasn't a particularly difficult task.
Last year, Lockhart had already thrown the answers right in his face (Chapter 54).
He had clearly told him that five of Tom's six Horcruxes were made from those artifacts, so the search naturally had a clear direction.
So one day, following the trail of where Tom might hide things, he first found Lucius Malfoy, then tracked the path to Ginny Weasley, and finally, all clues led to Gilderoy Lockhart.
Old Dumbledore didn't say anything; he just observed.
He continued his search and soon came to the Gaunt family's ancestral home, where he finally found Marvolo Gaunt's ring.
Dumbledore discovered something that excited him immensely—the Gaunt ring actually had the symbol of the Deathly Hallows on it!
In other words, this artifact that Tom had turned into a Horcrux was actually the Resurrection Stone, one of the three Deathly Hallows!
He was tempted!
Even though he knew the Resurrection Stone couldn't truly bring his sister back, he was still tempted!
However, before he could make a decision, the trouble created by Lockhart and Grindelwald was now right in front of him.
He seemed to realize that this might be fate's reminder, telling him that he could not yet abandon the heavy responsibility on his shoulders or be selfish. He had to complete certain tasks before he could face his deceased sister, Ariana, with a peaceful heart.
Dumbledore was waiting.
Waiting for Gilderoy Lockhart to approach him again, to tell him that he had Tom's diary, and to tell him whether the Horcrux he hadn't mentioned before was indeed Harry Potter, as he suspected!
But that would probably be difficult now.
He could sense the change in Lockhart's attitude toward the matter.
He didn't know why Lockhart always seemed to know secrets, but he could sense the initial casualness with which Lockhart had treated these secrets—like when he rattled off all of Tom's Horcruxes to him in the Carrow family's ancestral home, like he was reciting a menu.
He could also sense that after realizing the consequences of revealing things so casually, the young man had swung to the other extreme, becoming incredibly secretive.
Lockhart had actually spoken to him about this concern, saying, "I'm afraid we can't guess what he will make into a Horcrux next."
Yes, this was a very logical point.
Dumbledore suspected that destroying one or two Horcruxes might not be felt by Tom, but when all of them were destroyed, Tom would definitely sense that the magic of the Horcruxes had failed.
If they were to blindly destroy these Horcruxes now, it would force Tom to create new ones, and the number and choice of artifacts would become impossible to predict.
Therefore, his best course of action was to destroy all the Horcruxes at once in a situation where Tom could not escape his pursuit, and then stay on his trail without giving him a single moment to create a new Horcrux.
And finally, kill Tom once and for all.
So now, the primary problem before him was no longer Lockhart, but how to deal with the Horcrux inside Harry Potter's body.
This was an extremely complex matter.
The existence of this Horcrux was complex, and the role it would play was also very complex.
Dumbledore could see Harry's Parseltongue, his talent for certain Dark Arts…
He knew, he just didn't say.
He had to find a way.
Too many things required his attention. Tom's resurgence, and his aligning himself with some restless groups among the Muggles, was taking up a large amount of his energy.
He had not a moment's rest.
Dumbledore was silent for a long time. He finally put the locket away, took a deep look at Gilderoy Lockhart in the corner, and left with Grindelwald and Professor McGonagall.
He was at least certain of one thing: when he decided to destroy all of Tom's Horcruxes, Lockhart wouldn't use the means to keep Tom alive to restrain his existence, as Grindelwald suggested; he would hand them over without hesitation.
He was confident that he was better at reading people than Grindelwald.
After all, he had personally written the list for the first batch of acolytes, even though they all eventually stood against him with Gellert.
Walking out of the Black ancestral home, Dumbledore stopped Professor McGonagall, who was about to leave, which piqued Grindelwald's curiosity. "Where are we going next?"
Dumbledore smiled faintly. "To pick up Harry Potter. Minerva and I delivered Harry to his blood relatives all those years ago. Now, we'll bring him back and hand him over to his godfather."
Yes, Gilderoy was right. He should no longer be fixated on the prophecy and put all the pressure on Harry, a child.
He, Dumbledore, wasn't dead yet!
It was time to let Harry leave his tormenting relatives' house.
To let this child have a more relaxed childhood and a future with more possibilities.
And Voldemort… would be for him to handle personally!
Of course, Gilderoy Lockhart, who had incited him to abandon his obsession with the prophecy, had to take responsibility as well.
Why should a one-hundred-year-old man have to work himself to death while this young man in his twenties could so blissfully enjoy a wonderful magical life?
Lockhart, get to work!