The Shopkeeper of All Worlds in the British Wizarding World

Chapter 575 Secret
"I'm very curious why Voldemort chose this way to gain eternal life? Ryan once told me that this method has many flaws." Harry asked his question after Professor Dumbledore told everyone that Voldemort had more than one Horcrux.

"Any other methods?" Dumbledore said after looking at Ryan and Hermione. "But the other methods don't meet his requirements."

After that, Dumbledore straightened up and explained, "You know, Voldemort actually grew up in the Muggle world. Although he claimed to be the descendant of Slytherin, he actually did not get many resources from his family. Therefore, the sources of his knowledge were very scattered. There was knowledge from the professors in the classroom and the tutoring after class, as well as knowledge he obtained from his classmates by various means, and some of it was self-taught in the school library. Under this circumstance, Voldemort was not as knowledgeable as he was later when he was a student."

Ryan and the others were all attracted by what Dumbledore said at this time. The headmaster waved his hand and produced a cup of hot tea. He took a sip and then continued, "So for Voldemort when he was a student, if he wanted to escape death, he had no choice but to make Horcruxes. He was not unaware of the problems that might exist, but he believed that he was a descendant of Slytherin, the chosen one. He would not fall into those problems like those who made Horcruxes before."

"Besides that, Voldemort is also an insecure person. He can't allow his life to be pinned on something fragile. Just like if you use the Philosopher's Stone, you need to drink the Elixir of Life constantly. What if the Philosopher's Stone is damaged or the Elixir of Life is swapped? Voldemort needs a way to immortality with the highest degree of freedom."

"It seems that there are only a few ways for wizards to achieve immortality." Ryan thought of this after listening to Dumbledore's words. The method he now has comes from another world, and the method Hermione has mastered is the method Ryan learned from other worlds and combined with other methods in this world to guide her to obtain under certain unexpected circumstances. In short, there are not so many ways to immortality in the Harry Potter world.

Just as Ryan was thinking, Dumbledore began to summarize. "Now with this key memory, we are closer than anyone else to the secret of how to destroy Voldemort. You just heard him say: "Wouldn't it be better to divide it into more pieces? It would make you stronger... Isn't seven the most magical number...' Isn't seven the most magical number? Yes, I think dividing the soul into seven pieces is very attractive to Voldemort."

"Seven Horcruxes?" Harry's face suddenly turned very ugly, and several portraits on the wall also made sounds of shock and indignation. "So they could be anywhere in the world - hidden - buried or invisible -"

"It's not that bad." Dumbledore smiled. "First of all, Harry, there are not seven Horcruxes, but six. The seventh part of his soul, whatever it may be, is still in his newly created body by the Dark Arts. This part of his soul existed in a ghostly form during his years of exile. You should have seen it in your first year. Without it, he would not be himself. This seventh part of his soul will be the last thing that anyone who wants to kill Voldemort must attack - the part inside him."

"Then he has six more Horcruxes." Harry asked anxiously. "How can we find them?"

"In fact, we have destroyed most of the Horcruxes." Dumbledore said, and then opened the drawer on the desk and took out one golden box after another. "But I personally think it's best for you to sign an unbreakable vow with me now, because there is a mysterious connection between Voldemort and you, and he must not know that we destroyed the Horcruxes."

"--No problem, your consideration is indeed very thorough." Harry stretched out his hand and shook Dumbledore's hand. "I hope that the terrible thing that happened to me in my fifth year will not happen again."

Soon, with Ryan as a witness, Professor Dumbledore and Harry signed an unbreakable oath to ensure that Harry would not leak out what he saw today, especially not to be seen by Voldemort from his brain.

"Well, this is what we have achieved so far." After signing the Unbreakable Vow, Dumbledore opened the golden boxes one by one. "After Voldemort's first Horcrux was destroyed, I realized that he had made more than one Horcrux, so I started looking for it. Fortunately, as his former teacher and lifelong enemy, I have been trying to understand Voldemort's past life for many years, and have traveled to many places to look for his traces. Finally, I tracked down some clues. The ring you see now is the second Horcrux I found -"

Next, Dumbledore introduced the locket, the crown, and the golden cup in turn. However, when he introduced them, he was a little vague about the origin of the Horcruxes and ignored Ryan's contribution in finding and destroying these Horcruxes.

"Then, we just need to find the last Horcrux, right?" Harry looked at the five Horcruxes on the table and his tone became relaxed. "But what will that Horcrux look like? If it's an old newspaper, an empty tin can, or a torn leather boot, I think it will be hard for us to find it." "No, no, no, you're thinking of the portkey, Harry. The portkey must be an ordinary object that is easy to overlook to avoid being taken by mistake, but Voldemort's Horcrux is definitely not like that." Dumbledore said seriously, "As far as I know, he has always believed that he has noble blood in his body and is superior to others. His pride, his sense of superiority, and his determination to occupy an amazing position in the history of magic will not allow him to put his soul on those insignificant things. So he will definitely find something that he thinks is worthy of his noble soul as a container for his soul. You can see this tendency from the Horcruxes I have destroyed."

"Slytherin's relics, Ravenclaw's relics, Hufflepuff's relics, could Voldemort's last Horcrux be Gryffindor's relics?" Harry asked, looking at the things in the open boxes on the table.

"Probably not. As far as I know, the only relic of Gryffindor is now well preserved in the Hogwarts castle. Even in this office." Dumbledore stood up and took down the Sorting Hat from the table next to him, and then took out a ruby-studded sword from the hat. "The Sword of Gryffindor, every true Gryffindor can take this sword out of the hat."

"Then what do you think is Voldemort's last Horcrux?" Harry gave up after thinking for a while and asked Dumbledore this question directly.

"I have suspected many things, but recently I have come to a vague conclusion," said Dumbledore. "I think I know what the sixth Horcrux is. If I tell you frankly that I have been paying attention to the behavior of the snake, Nagini, for some time, I wonder what you will say."

"Snake?" Harry seemed surprised. "Can living things be used as Horcruxes? Ryan told me before that the Horcruxes in history were often just some magical props. Using living creatures as Horcruxes is a very risky act."

"What Ryan said is correct." Dumbledore looked at Ryan and said, "Because it is very risky to entrust a part of your soul to something that can move and think. According to my guess, when Voldemort went to your house to kill you, he was preparing to make his last Horcrux. Judging from his previous behavior, the murder targets Voldemort chose when making Horcruxes were very special to him, and you were certainly such a target. He believed that if he killed you, he would eliminate the danger suggested by the prophecy. He believed that this would make him invincible. I think he must have intended to use your death to make his last Horcrux."

"We all know that he failed. But when he made a comeback a few years ago, he used Nagini to kill an old Muggle man. Maybe that's when he thought of turning the snake into his last Horcrux. Because the snake is the symbol of Slytherin, and this snake is extraordinarily powerful. At the same time, his ability to control the snake is also extraordinary."

"So all we have to do is kill this snake, and then we can remove Voldemort's so-called immortality and completely defeat him?" Harry asked excitedly.

"Very good, a concise and accurate summary, this is the current situation." Dumbledore nodded in approval. "Without the Horcruxes, Voldemort is just a mortal with a damaged soul. But don't forget that although his soul is damaged beyond repair, his brain and magic are still intact. Even without the Horcruxes, killing a wizard like Voldemort still requires extraordinary abilities and skills."

"But I believe I can defeat him." Harry clenched his fists.

"Then I wish that everything you said can come true. Well, I see it's getting late, Harry, you can go back and rest first. Ryan, you and Hermione stay for a while. I need to talk to you about some recent things about the production of alchemical props." Dumbledore said.

(End of this chapter)