The Admiral of Hogwarts

After a brief greeting to those present, Dumbledore immediately turned his attention to the matter that had summoned him and asked directly.

"You said you found a Slytherin relic locket that Voldemort hid with various mechanisms years ago, and you all believe it's impossible to damage the box? Could you let me see the box?"

"It's this one." Hugo handed the locket to Dumbledore, then added, "Veneto told me this locket feels somewhat like the diadem we found last time."

"I see." Dumbledore nodded solemnly, drew his wand, and levitated the locket into the air with magic. Then, he aimed his wand at the locket and began to cast a spell.

Streams of golden-red flames erupted from the tip of his wand, eventually forming a phoenix-like phantom that revolved around the locket.

After a dozen seconds, the locket was completely enveloped in golden-red flames in the air, forming a man-made sun. Dumbledore slowly began to utter a series of unfamiliar pronunciations.

Having previously studied runic magic, Hugo quickly recognized that Dumbledore was using a variant of runic magic known as Celtic runes, a localized adaptation of traditional runes by the famous archmage Merlin.

Compared to authentic runic magic, this type of rune is easier to learn and less selective of its users, but the price for easy entry is difficulty in mastering it.

Therefore, it is now mainly learned by those who make magical道具 for production, using some simple Celtic runes. Only top-tier wizards like Dumbledore delve deeply into this magic.

As the incantation was recited, wisps of black smoke emerged from the locket, accompanied by unpleasant sounds. Seeing this, Dumbledore dispersed the flames surrounding the locket and then reached out to take it.

"Hugo, your feeling was correct. This is indeed another Horcrux of Voldemort's." Dumbledore said, his face showing some helplessness.

"Unlike the diadem last time, the core of this Horcrux is hidden inside the Slytherin locket, the vessel of the Horcrux, rather than being intertwined with the vessel."

"So, we are now facing the dual protection of Slytherin and Voldemort, which is much stronger than the magical defenses last time. Such protection is naturally difficult to open directly with brute force."

"However, this is not without its advantages." Dumbledore said, seeing that what he had said seemed to have discouraged everyone.

"Because the two are not entangled, we only need to break through the outer layer of defense to eliminate the piece of soul inside, which is much easier than eliminating the piece of soul on the diadem last time."

"In that case, the situation is much better." Veneto nodded at this time. "You don't know how troublesome it was to deal with the entangled soul and Horcrux last time."

"Professor, what is a Horcrux?" Harry asked curiously after listening to Dumbledore and Veneto's conversation, as he had never heard of it before.

"It is a very evil magical item." Dumbledore said after a few seconds of hesitation. He felt that since Voldemort had been resurrected, some things should be told to Harry.

"Voldemort placed a piece of his soul into something through murder, and this thing is called a Horcrux. This way, even if he himself is killed, he can be reborn through this thing."

After a brief explanation, Dumbledore refocused his energy on the Horcrux and asked, "What kind of magic do you think Voldemort would hide on it?"

"Since this is a Slytherin locket, the magic on it should also be related to Slytherin, such as requiring certain skills that only Slytherin can master to open it," Hugo said after thinking for a moment.

"Are you saying Parseltongue?" Dumbledore immediately reacted.

"Very likely. He may have chosen this item as his Horcrux after discovering this."

Hugo spoke in a tone of conjecture, revealing the information he possessed.

"Your analysis should be correct." Dumbledore nodded. "But the problem is, wizards who can speak Parseltongue are not easy to find."

"I remember Harry should be able to. He once said that he talked to a python before he entered school," Hugo said.

"Yes, before my first year, during that summer vacation, I released a python at the zoo due to a magical surge, and I also heard the basilisk speaking in my second year."

"Ah, yes, I remember, you seem to have told me about this, but I'm getting old and didn't think of it all at once." After being reminded, Dumbledore immediately remembered the incident and said.

"If that's the case, Harry, you can come over and try. But everyone else should go downstairs now. It's not better to have more people here at the moment. Voldemort is good at bewitching people's hearts, and I'm worried that too many people here might have a negative effect."

So, most of the people, including the house-elf, retreated downstairs, leaving only Hugo behind with the headmaster, who was preparing to construct some barriers using alchemy.

Before going downstairs, Veneto looked at her admiral with some nervousness, and Hugo gave her a reassuring smile.

After all, according to the original text, the Horcrux's greatest strength lies in launching strange attacks on the souls of everyone around it, but this is useless for Hugo, who has the admiral network.

"Youth is good, isn't it?" Dumbledore's voice came from behind. He had just placed the locket on a dilapidated cabinet and winked at Hugo. "Alright, let's begin. Do you need any preparations?"

"Yes, Professor, it does require some preparations." Hugo said, taking out the material box he had prepared for cleaning the display cabinet earlier, and then began drawing rune after rune around the cabinet.

"These runes are for defending against various soul shocks. Considering the biggest feature of Horcruxes is attacking the souls of those around them, having such a defense will make the subsequent handling safer."

"Yes, your choice is correct." Professor Dumbledore nodded and took out his old wand from his robes, pointing it at the box. "You should retreat a little later. I will use Fiendfyre to destroy the piece of soul inside."

Because Enterprise had killed the basilisk in the second year, there was no Sword of Gryffindor that had absorbed the basilisk venom, so the sword could not damage the Horcrux.

However, as the recognized strongest white wizard in Europe, Dumbledore obviously also mastered many powerful dark magic spells, such as Fiendfyre and the Killing Curse.

Although Professor Dumbledore would not use these spells in battles with humans for certain reasons, he did not mind doing so when destroying Horcruxes.

"Yes, Headmaster Dumbledore." Hugo said, taking out a long, narrow box from the box and then taking out a dagger made of bone. "I also have something that can deal with Horcruxes here, which can also be used if needed."