Harry Potter’s Defense Professor

(One more chapter and free, reason: a lot of original content. Ask for a recommendation ticket!)

Lockhart and Harry threw Ron down to accompany the two old men to sleep... Carry Hermione to their dormitory, cover with the quilt, and follow Harry to the headmaster's office.

into memory...

"Sir, I want to ask if you know... Horcrux." Lockhart also had to admit that Voldemort in school looked handsome and gentle, no wonder Slughorn could answer this kind of question without any defense. .

Slughorn glared at him, fat fingers caressing the cup's foot absently. "The subject of Defence Against the Dark Arts, isn't it?"

"No, sir, I don't understand what I read in the book." If it was Lockhart, he might have admitted that this was a subject of defense class, but Tom Riddle was obviously smarter. He also knew Slughorn better, and his frankness obviously impressed the potions professor at the time.

"Well...yeah...it's hard to find a book detailing Horcruxes at Hogwarts, Tom. It's very evil, very evil," said Slughorn.

"But you obviously know, sir? I mean, a wizard like you--sorry, I mean, if you can't tell me, obviously--I just know if anyone can tell me, it's you-- So I wanted to ask-"

Just the right amount of hesitation, casual tone, clever compliment, nothing too much. Lockhart is also very good at acting, but he thinks that Voldemort is far superior in this regard.

"Well," said Slughorn, who didn't look at Riddle and played with the ribbon on the box of pineapple preserves, "of course it wouldn't hurt to give you a brief introduction, just to give you a sense of the term. Horcruxes are objects that hold part of a person's soul."

"But I don't quite understand what that is, sir," said Riddle cautiously.

"That is, you split your soul," Slughorn said. "Hide a part in something outside your body. That way, even if your body is attacked or destroyed, you can't die, because there's a part of your soul left in the world. Untouched. But, of course, with this Form exists..." He shook his head "... Few people think like that, Tom, less and less. It's happier to die."

But Riddle's ** is now evident. His expression was greedy, and he couldn't hide his **. "How to split the soul?"

"Oh," said Slughorn uneasily, "you must understand that the soul should remain intact. To split it is a transgression, it is against nature."

"But how to split?"

"By wicked deeds--the most wicked deeds,

by murder. Killing splits the soul, and sorcerers who want to make Horcruxes use this destruction: to seal the split soul fragments—"

"Storage? But how—?"

"There's a spell, don't ask me, I don't know!" Slughorn shook his head like an old mosquito-bitten elephant. "Do I look like I've tried—do I look like a murderer?"

"No, sir, of course not," said Riddle hastily. "I'm sorry...I didn't mean to offend..."

"Where, where, no offense," said Slughorn gruffly, "it's normal to be a little curious about these things... talented wizards are always drawn to the dark side of magic..."

"Yes, sir," said Riddle, "but what I don't understand is--just out of curiosity, what I'm asking is, is a Horcrux useful? Can a soul only split once? How many more pieces? Isn't it better. Makes you stronger? For example, isn't seven the most magical number? Seven—?"

"Merlin's beard, Tom!" cried Slughorn. "Seven! Isn't it evil enough to want to kill a man? Anyway... it's evil enough to split a soul... and into seven pieces..."

Slughorn looked very disturbed now: he glared at Riddle as if he hadn't seen him before, and he now clearly began to regret his participation in the conversation. "Of course," he whispered. "These are hypotheses we're talking about, aren't they? It's just academic..."

"Yes, sir, of course," said Riddle at once.

"Still, Tom... what I'm talking about—what we're talking about, don't say it. People don't like to know we talked about Horcruxes. It's forbidden at Hogwarts, you know... Dumbledore was especially intense..."

"I won't say it, sir," said Riddle, and, despite trying to hide it, his face was still visibly full of ecstasy, the same ecstasy that didn't make him feel like he had just discovered he was a wizard. The face is even more handsome, but it looks a bit hideous...

The memory is over.

Lockhart and Harry fell back to the ground in the office. Dumbledore tremblingly supported the table and sat on his chair. For some reason, Lockhart felt that Dumbledore was a little uneasy. Could it be that he was afraid? , so that he sat for a while before speaking.

"Gildrow, and Harry, you did well this time..." Dumbledore finally said, "but this memory... is worse than I thought..."

The old principals in the portraits on the wall were all awake, eavesdropping on their conversations. A fat wizard with a red nose pulled out a hearing aid.

"He actually made six Horcruxes," said Dumbledore, "one more than I had worst expected..."

"Isn't it seven?" Harry asked curiously.

"The seventh soul is in him, Harry," Lockhart explained, and the eighth is in you, Harry.

"More than ten years ago, when Voldemort disappeared," Dumbledore paused to collect his thoughts, and then said, "The Ministry of Magic arrested a large number of Death Eaters and found that the black magic marks on their arms had not disappeared, and then they A genius wizard, guess Voldemort made Horcruxes."

"He didn't die just by using the Horcrux?"

"Yes," Dumbledore nodded haggardly, "but it wasn't until four years ago, when Gilderoy was attacked by Ginny, that I got the first evidence from Ginny that Voldemort had split his soul."

"Where?" Harry asked. "How do you know?"

"Remember the Horcrux we destroyed not long ago," said Dumbledore, "that clearing was when the Order of the Phoenix destroyed the first Horcrux, Riddle's diary, which taught people how to reopen the Chamber of Secrets. , leaving the destruction."

"Ah, so that's what happened." Harry suddenly realized, "Is that diary taking control of Ginny?"

"Yes, but based on what I know about Voldemort, since he dared to release the soul in this diary to teach people how to open the Chamber of Secrets," Dumbledore continued, "it means that this is definitely not the only one. So for the next time, I have been looking for traces of other Horcruxes through various channels... With the help of my preserved memories and the information of Voldemort's whereabouts provided by Mundungus, I found the second one. The ring and the third locket..."

"And three more?"

"From memory, we can be sure that Hufflepuff's golden cup has also become a Horcrux. I also boldly guessed that Ravenclaw's relic also suffered misfortune..." Dumbledore nodded, " This is four, this is a worse situation, and now it seems that Ravenclaw's relics must be taken down, and we know nothing about the whereabouts of the remaining two Horcruxes."

"And there's one more?" Harry looked at Lockhart, then at Dumbledore, as if he thought Dumbledore didn't know how to count.

"There is another one that I have some thoughts on..." Dumbledore also looked at Lockhart: "At that time, several members of the Order of the Phoenix once encountered a snake that was well protected by magic. It was Voldemort's pet Nat. Genie, I'm guessing it's also a Horcrux."

"Using a living creature as a Horcrux is obviously an adventure, but it's also more difficult to deal with..." Lockhart shook his head, he kept thinking about how to deal with the snake, Gryffindor's sword was useless, he had to Think of a new way, "As long as all the Horcruxes are destroyed..."

"Voldemort has become a mortal!" Harry figured out.

"Accurately, a wizard with extraordinary mana," Dumbledore said approvingly. "Obviously, making Horcruxes made his strength abnormally strong. I don't understand the reason, but I can feel it. So, his mana is far higher than mine, which is theoretically impossible, and any potion that stimulates potential cannot have such an effect, and defeating him requires extraordinary abilities and skills."

"But I don't have extraordinary abilities and abilities," Harry blurted out.

"You have," said Dumbledore firmly, "you have powers that Voldemort never had. You have—"

"I know!" said Harry impatiently. "I have love! What a great thing!"

"Apart from love," Lockhart agreed with Harry's last sentence, "you are a powerful wizard. Didn't you realize that your grades in Defence Against the Dark Arts were not my favoring you, yours? The magic is stronger than most students, and learning spells almost only takes a few attempts, this is your bloodline, and it is your ability and ability."

"Yes, Harry, you're going to be a powerful wizard," Dumbledore seemed to understand Harry's words under the pressure of his tongue, "in fact you are now, it's just that your professors are stronger, so that the future You don't look great as an adult. You're too young to know how special you are, Harry."

"I'm so amazing, so why did Hermione join the Order of the Phoenix, and I have to be protected by you?"

"When you are an adult, you can join too." Dumbledore interrupted Harry's complaint. "Now, you go back to rest, we must hurry up to find the Horcrux." (To be continued.)