Harry Potter and the Secret Treasures

Tsk, tsk. That tone didn’t sound like something Slughorn would say to Riddle at all.

In other words, aside from hiding an important portion of the memory, Slughorn had also tampered with and fabricated the second half of this memory.

A few seconds later, the three of them returned to Dumbledore’s office again.

Harry looked somewhat dazed. He glanced at Evan, then turned to Dumbledore, who had already seated himself behind his desk, still trying to make sense of what had just happened.

Dumbledore had just said that this was his most important memory, yet Harry couldn’t see why. Of course, the sudden appearance of the mist and the fact that no one in the memory seemed to notice it was strange, but other than that, nothing seemed to have happened except Riddle asking a question and not getting an answer.

“As you might have noticed,” said Dumbledore directly without beating around the bush, “that memory has been tampered with. Professor Slughorn has meddled with his own recollections and gave me a falsified memory.”

“A falsified memory?” Harry couldn’t help but ask. “Why would he do that?”

“Because, I think, he is ashamed of what he remembers,” said Dumbledore. “He has tried to rework the memory to show himself in a better light, obliterating those parts which he does not wish me to see. It is, as you will have noticed, very crudely done, and that is all to the good, for it shows that the true memory is still there beneath the alterations.”

“Sir, this memory is about Horcruxes, isn’t it?” Evan interjected.

“Yes, an important memory about Horcruxes,” said Dumbledore with interest. “We have long known that Riddle wanted to make Horcruxes. He believed that he could gain eternal life in this way. In fact, when he took the ring and returned to Hogwarts, he had already successfully made a Horcrux, but this Horcrux was an uncontrolled accident. I talked to him. Voldemort thought he was a trouble, but he kept him in hopes of uncovering something useful…”

“And did he succeed?” asked Evan, knowing that the “he” Dumbledore was referring to was the fifteen-year-old Riddle.

“No!” said Dumbledore. “So, Voldemort turned to Slughorn for advice on how to make a Horcrux. He had likely found some information in books, but it was not comprehensive and there were still some details that needed to be confirmed.”

“Like the number of Horcruxes one could make…” said Evan.

“A keen observation, Evan. The exact number of Horcruxes is one of the important things we need to figure out. After all, from what we know so far, Voldemort made a lot of Horcruxes, including Riddle’s diary, Slytherin’s locket, Ravenclaw’s diadem, the statue of the evil god, and this ring that came into existence by accident,” said Dumbledore, his bright eyes quickly swept over Harry, then turned back to Evan, “I said before that he has the habit of collecting trophies. The number of Horcruxes we have found so far is already a lot, but it is definitely not all. We must confirm the final number of Horcruxes.”

“What is the limit to the number of Horcruxes a person can create? How many times can a soul be split?”

“Theoretically, it is infinite, with no limit to the number, but no one has ever truly tested this, because it requires unimaginable evil. The amount of pain inflicted when the soul is split will be equal to the amount of pain inflicted on the soul,” said Dumbledore. “But Voldemort is obviously no longer a normal person, so we cannot measure him by general standards. In fact, regarding the memory we just saw, I am giving you both homework. It will be your job to persuade Professor Slughorn to divulge the real memory and find out what Riddle said to him, which will undoubtedly be our most crucial piece of information of all.”

It was not easy to get Slughorn’s real memory.

Evan certainly knew that Voldemort had consulted Professor Slughorn and eventually made seven Horcruxes, but he could not guarantee that this was the final number of Horcruxes Voldemort had. That guy was obviously crazy, and who knew what he would do after cooperating with the evil god.

For most people, splitting the soul was an impossibility. But for Voldemort, it was as natural as eating or breathing.

Slughorn’s memory might not provide all the answers, but it was better than having no leads at all.

“Sir, can’t we use Legilimency or Veritaserum to get the memory?” Harry asked.

“Unlikely, Harry. Professor Slughorn is an extremely able wizard who will be expecting both. He is much more accomplished at Occlumency than poor Morfin Gaunt, and I would be astonished if he has not carried an antidote to Veritaserum with him ever since I coerced him into giving me this travesty of a recollection,” said Dumbledore gently. “I think it would be foolish to attempt to wrest the truth from Professor Slughorn by force, and might do much more harm than good; I do not wish him to leave Hogwarts. However, he has his weaknesses like the rest of us, and I believe that you are the ones who might be able to penetrate his defenses. Especially you, Harry. Compared with his vigilance against Evan, Slughorn is obviously more interested in you. It is easy for you to gain his trust and make him willingly hand over the memory if you appeal to him in the right way. It is most important that we secure the true memory. … How important, we will only know when we have seen the real thing. Well, this was the second memory. We have two more to watch. The next memory is what happened on the night Evan and I found the ring, and my conversation with Riddle.”

“Your conversation with Riddle?” Harry still didn’t understand what Dumbledore was saying.

He followed Evan into the Pensieve again, and this time they returned to the Gaunt family’s shack.

But compared to the last time, this place had been reduced to nothing more than crumbling walls and rubble.

Dumbledore had deliberately skipped over certain parts of his memory — namely, the moment Voldemort’s magic on the ring, containing the Resurrection Stone had ensnared him, and started directly from the part where the fifteen-year-old Riddle came out to communicate with Evan.

Harry stared in astonishment at the suddenly appearing Riddle and the conversation between him, Evan, and Dumbledore.

It was unbelievable — he had never imagined that the ring on Dumbledore’s right hand was actually that Horcrux.

No, he knew it was a Horcrux, but he had assumed it was a destroyed one, not an intact, fully formed piece.

Half an hour later, the three of them returned to Dumbledore’s office. Harry glanced warily at the ring on Dumbledore’s right hand.

“We are fortunate to have found this ring and had the opportunity to communicate face-to-face with the fifteen-year-old Riddle inside it. This will be of great help to our future plans,” said Dumbledore, seemingly unaware of Harry’s gaze. “Next, I will show you another crucial memory — an event that took place after Riddle graduated from Hogwarts. Hidden within this memory is key information about the House-Elves Homeland…”

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