Hogwarts Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor Peter

Chapter 99 Horcrux
After Snape left, Peter and Dumbledore had another private conversation. Peter described in detail what happened in Jacob Johnson's shop, mainly about the skulls that bound the soul and Muggle black magic.

"...the souls of those who died were in agony," Peter said, "and I don't know how to relieve them."

"This is indeed a very evil and remote black magic," Dumbledore thought thoughtfully, "there is no record of this kind of magic in the wizarding world."

"Maybe, Voldemort also used a similar method to keep his soul in the world," Peter said, "but I don't think Voldemort would take Muggle occultism seriously, and Voldemort and Jacob Johnson's victims There's a big difference between."

"The souls of the victims are passively transferred to the skull after death, but Voldemort actively prepared everything for himself before his physical body died. When he was alive, there must be a soul in his body, so we It can be speculated that there are more than two pieces of Voldemort's soul in the world at the same time."

Dumbledore folded his hands, nodded and said: "I have the same speculation: he split his soul. Then there is only one possibility, a possibility that I am very reluctant to see—"

"Horcruxes," Peter whispered.

"Yes, this also explains Voldemort's change in appearance, as well as his evil and cruelty beyond the scope of ordinary people's understanding." Dumbledore said.

An idea flashed in Peter's mind, "I see—on the night of the Christmas ball, I met Voldemort when I was a student. He was handsome at the time and wore a Slytherin school robe. Now that I think about it, it was a piece of his soul. He put The younger self was anchored in that way."

"Very well, Peter, I think the truth is very close to us." Dumbledore raised his eyes, looked at the smoking silver magic instrument on the table, a poisonous snake coiled in the air, his eyes were focused, like a mystery The answer to the mystery was in it, and after a long while, he spoke again.

"'One kills the other, neither can live', if this prophecy is true, we can't defeat him without paying the price, it will never end so easily, Voldemort will return, it's just a matter of time The problem."

"But I think the prophecy has failed," Peter said firmly, "Voldemort didn't mark Harry as his rival, at least there was a problem in one link, this prophecy went astray, just like most things that will never come true As prophesied."

"Yes, Peter, we can't act mechanically according to the prophecy, but we have to take into account the importance Voldemort attaches to it." Dumbledore lit the smoke with his wand, and another poisonous snake appeared, and the two became entangled, "Voldemort paid attention Ritual, focusing on all the things that made him special, he dropped his name because 'Tom' was so unremarkable."

Peter smiled: "Prophecy, prestige, and Horcruxes all made Voldemort feel that he was different. Presumably he would not put his precious soul on an ordinary gravel. I think I probably know the gold in the cave." What is a quality locket."

"Horcruxes..." Dumbledore whispered, "very delicate, in a dark cave, guarded by a group of Inferi, he tested his defenses with a poor house-elf, but he underestimated the house-elf Fairy magic."

"Regulus told Kreacher to destroy the locket. I think he already knows what it is, but so far I haven't been able to find a way to destroy it. On Christmas day, I made sure it was under my control Underneath, but young Voldemort still appeared."

"It can be seen that there is more than one Horcrux," said Dumbledore with deep concern on his face. "Voldemort may not be the most powerful and influential Dark Lord, but he is definitely the craziest one. Make a Horcrux Enough to affect a person's mind, making more than two..."

Dumbledore raised his wand upwards, and the two snakes began to bite each other.

He continued: "There are three kinds of people who are loyal to Voldemort: the ambitious who succumb to lust and desire power and status, the cowardly who want a taste of the Death Eater's majesty, and the cruel who are attracted to higher forms of cruelty. Who is it? After his death, he still persists and continues to be his loyal servant?"

Finally the clichéd topic: who is the spy in the castle.

Peter shook his head lightly: "I have investigated many people, but none of them are very suspicious. This spy is cautious, and he will never act easily until the critical moment. The attack on Christmas was carried out by Voldemort himself. This also verified my previous conjecture that as long as the Horcruxes are not destroyed, Voldemort can easily obtain new entities."

Peter lifted the transfigured left arm, tapped it with his wand, and it disappeared, leaving only the empty sleeve.

"He almost used a chance to materialize in exchange for my life, and in the last attack, he almost killed me with a black magic trap. I think his first target is not Harry, but me."

Dumbledore stood up, and the two poisonous snakes disappeared.

"We can't take it lightly, maybe these are the smoke screens that were released before attacking Harry," Dumbledore said, "As I said before, I hope you all protect yourselves, and nothing will happen again...you arm, and Severus..."

Peter subconsciously put his right hand on his left shoulder, the arm that was no longer there was still aching, and Dumbledore's expression was more serious than he thought.

"We also said that time is running out, but this time... Severus was here just now, so I didn't say it. The curse in him will continue to grow with time, and the Phoenix's tears can only delay the effect. I think he should know better than me."

"You mean, if Voldemort cannot be eliminated within a certain period of time, he will—" Peter asked in shock, his right hand subconsciously clenched into a fist.

Dumbledore closed his eyes, "I don't know how much time he has. If he doesn't hide it from me and insists on receiving the phoenix tears treatment, he may still have a few years or ten years to live. Voldemort must have ignored the phoenix. Magic, like he ignored the house-elves, but now..."

"So that's why you're angry." Peter frowned and said, "Once the wound is allowed to worsen, it can no longer heal... so how long can it last?"

"I don't know, it may be a few months, it may be a year, but the process must be extremely painful," Dumbledore sighed, "Voldemort's cruelty has reached a level, I believe that in his vision it is You take it all, and it doesn't take that long, a week of brutal torture is just right."

"So, is he avoiding you for the sake of a quick death? Since he knows that the curse is fatal..."

"Maybe," Dumbledore said, "he should be doing some kind of black magic experiment, and if he fails, he will die quickly... If I don't find out tonight, death may be within a few days."

Peter waved his wand, and a left arm took shape in an instant, "Voldemort is far from achieving his goal. He didn't kill me, and he didn't kill Harry. I hope he will come to me next time." He said calmly, "The more shots he takes, the more obvious his tell is, and the quicker this crisis will end."

(End of this chapter)