The Hogwarts Emerald

Chapter 644 Birthday Gift
Ada was the first to walk out of the Burrow and head towards the direction of Stoat Hill, while Hermione and her two bastards followed in confusion.

The young trio were a little confused. They really couldn't understand why the gifts couldn't be displayed at the Burrow, but why did they have to run to Stoat Mountain in a mysterious way?
In addition, Albus Dumbledore's will was also bothering them.

What secrets are hidden in the Golden Snitch? Does the Deluminator have any other functions besides turning off lights? And there is also the book "The Tales of Beedle the Bard", which Hermione and Harry had never heard of before.

This is a collection of fairy tales, equivalent to the "Grimm's Fairy Tales" and "Andersen's Fairy Tales" in the wizarding world. Naturally, Hermione and Harry, who grew up in the Muggle world, had never heard of them.

If Ada had not read a wide range of books, she would not have been as familiar with the stories in the books as Ron.

When the four of them reached the secluded place of White Stoat Mountain, Ada finally stopped. This place was secluded and sheltered from the wind, and even if they set a fire, no one else would see it.

Harry finally resolved the doubts in his heart. He asked in confusion, "Ada, why are we here?"

"Of course it's for your birthday." Ada said as a matter of course, "RAB, he is my birthday present for you."

Hearing this name, Harry was so overjoyed that he even walked lightly. Ron and Hermione beside him were also extremely surprised. The three of them asked in unison: "Who is he? We have been looking for him for a long time and can't find him!"

"So far away, yet so close. He is someone we should have noticed earlier, but ignored." Ada sighed, "Regulus Arcturus Black, Sirius Black's younger brother."

"He's been dead for years. I heard Sirius mention him," Harry said loudly. "But wasn't he a Death Eater?"

Ada opened her handbag again and took out the locket hidden inside.

She went on to say, "Regulus used to be a Death Eater, but who hasn't done a few wrong things when they were young? Fortunately, he woke up in time and left this dark organization before he died, and took Slytherin's locket."

"You mean, Regulus Black stole Voldemort—"

"Hush!" Ada interrupted Harry, not letting him say the title of Voldemort, "Don't say his name casually."

Harry and the other two were confused again. They didn't understand why Ada suddenly became timid. Harry asked, "Why? Dumbledore would call him by his name, and you used to do that too."

"Dumbledore and I can beat him, but who among you three can do it?" Ida asked. This was the final word, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione were silent.

Ada handed the locket to Harry and continued, "There is magic attached to his name. If you call out his name, he will know your approximate location and find you. Being brave is a good thing, but you have to distinguish between what is bravery and what is reckless."

"Besides, does shouting his name prove that you are braver than others?"

Speaking Voldemort's name does require courage that ordinary people do not have, but it also requires facing more dangers. If you cannot deal with the risks that come with it, this courage is foolish and reckless.

Harry remained silent, stroking the locket in his hand.

Although he was a bit reckless and stubborn, he could still listen to other people's suggestions most of the time. The reason why he didn't speak was because he thought of Dumbledore again.

Dumbledore died because of a fake locket (or so Harry had always believed), but the real locket was right next to them, and they even threw it away as trash.

Hearing the name Regulus Black and remembering who he was, memories of number 12 Grimmauld Place came flooding back.

Not only Harry, but Hermione and Ron also remembered the glass cabinet in the living room. Harry and the other two had seen the locket a long time ago, in that glass cabinet, mixed in with a bunch of dark magic objects.

"What should we do now, destroy it?" Hermione asked. She had learned from Harry what a Horcrux was, but neither Harry nor she knew how to destroy a Horcrux.

In other words, they thought too much about the method of destroying the Horcruxes. After all, the Horcruxes were magical items that could bring Voldemort back to life and make him immortal. Even dark magic books like The Most Poisonous Magic did not introduce them, so Harry and the other two naturally thought that the Horcruxes were very complicated.

In fact, the method of destroying a Horcrux is surprisingly simple, and only requires a Fierce Fire Curse.

Ada opened her handbag for the third time and took out a small wooden box, which contained the basilisk fangs she had prepared in advance. The basilisk's venom could corrode the Horcrux, which was even simpler than the Fiendish Fire Curse.

"Open it, and then stab it with the basilisk's fangs. It's that simple." Ada held the fangs in her backhand, as if she was holding a sharp saber. "Who among you three will do it?"

The young trio looked at each other for a few seconds, and after a brief exchange of glances, Harry reached out and took the fang, and the task of destroying the locket fell on him.

Harry held the locket in his left hand and the basilisk fang in his right hand, and walked a few steps away, his steps slightly heavy.

Placing the locket on the ground, Harry squatted, holding the fang in his backhand, and cleared his throat. Squinting his eyes, Harry hissed in Parseltongue, and the small golden lid of the locket popped open with a click.

Behind each of the two small glass windows was a living eye blinking, dark and bright, like Tom Riddle's eyeballs before they turned red and the pupils became a line.

All Harry had to do now was let his fangs pierce the locket and destroy the pair of dark eyes, and everything would be over.

However, the Horcrux is the carrier of Voldemort's soul fragments, it is evil and good at bewitching people, how could it be willing to be destroyed so easily. The pair of black eyes began to rotate at a high speed, just like Moody's blue magic eyes.

The black eyes in the Horcrux are spying on Harry's inner world, trying to find his inner demons so that he won't destroy himself.

Ada and the other two who were far away could not see the strange vision in the locket. They could only see Harry raising the fangs high above his head, his hands trembling slightly, and he was hesitant to stab the locket.

The fingers holding the fangs moved, and Harry's hands stopped shaking. He was ready.

Suddenly, a voice came from the Horcrux, with a heart-pounding hissing sound. The Horcrux changed its target and began to bewitch Ada and the other two in the distance, wanting them to rush up and stop Harry.

"I have seen your heart, Esmeralda Drizzt. I have seen your true thoughts. Are you really willing to follow Dumbledore's orders? Look at this boy. He is reckless, stupid, arrogant, and inferior to you in every way. But he is the savior, the 'boy who lived'. Are you really willing to do this?"

This is what Ada heard. Instead of being bewitched by the words, she wanted to laugh.

Whether Harry is the son of prophecy or the savior, that is how other people see Harry and has nothing to do with Ada.

In Ada's eyes, Harry is her silly junior, the friend of her stupid brother Ron, and the boyfriend of her silly sister Ginny. Harry is Harry, and only Harry.

Glancing sideways at the people around him, Hermione seemed to be wearing a mask of pain, her lips tightly pressed into a line, tears welling up in her eyes. Ron didn't cry, his face became fan-shaped. Half of it was mad and hateful, as if he wanted to rush up and punch Harry down; the other half was twisted into a ball, struggling to stop himself from moving.

At this moment, Harry's raised hands suddenly fell down, and the basilisk's fangs pierced the locket!
A black, solid mist rushed out of the locket, and Tom Riddle's hideous face could be vaguely seen in the mist. Harry was knocked down by the mist, and his glasses fell off. He stretched out his hand and groped helplessly on the ground.

As we all know, when myopia reaches a certain degree, people who take off their glasses are no different from being blind.

Ron, who had regained consciousness, rushed over in two steps and dragged his best friend away from the black fog. Hermione also raised her wand, and Harry's glasses flew into her hands.

Following a roar of unwillingness, pain, and resentment, the evil and ominous black fog was blown away by the mountain wind, leaving only the tattered locket.

Voldemort lost another Horcrux.

(End of this chapter)