Sherlock Holmes at Hogwarts.

Chapter 447 Voldemort's Road of No Return

"Can the soul only be divided once?"

Tom Riddle looked at Slughorn and asked impatiently:
"Sir, what I mean is... since the soul can be split, wouldn't it be better to split it into more pieces?"

Will dividing it into more pieces make you stronger?
For example, isn't seven the most magical number? If you divide the soul into seven parts...

As Riddle asked the question, he gently stroked the black gemstone on the ring, his eyes practically overflowing with excitement.

At that moment, Sherlock understood perfectly.

"Tom! My God, Tom!"

Compared to Sherlock, Slughorn completely lost control of his expression after hearing Riddle's words.

He stared at Riddle with a look of horror, as if he had never truly seen through this boy he regarded as a rising star before:
Seven!
Isn't killing one person evil enough?

Killing someone just to split your soul is evil enough... but you actually want to divide your soul into seven pieces..."

Slughorn looked very uneasy.

It's obvious that he's now starting to regret participating in this conversation.

From this point of view alone, Slughorn is undoubtedly on the side of good.

He gave Riddle a deep look and whispered:

"Tom, Tom... what we've just been talking about are all assumptions, aren't they? Just academic assumptions..."

"Yes, sir, of course."

Riddell immediately said, "All of the above are just academic assumptions, and it's perfectly normal to be bold when making assumptions."

His words reassured Slughorn somewhat, and he cautiously added:
"Even so, Tom... don't tell anyone what I've said—what we've just discussed."

No one, no matter who it is, will be happy to know that we've talked about Horcruxes!

This is forbidden at Hogwarts, you know... Professor Dumbledore, the Transfiguration professor, is particularly vehement on this matter..."

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone, sir."

After Riddle finished speaking, he politely bowed to Slughorn before leaving with light steps.

At that moment, Harry caught a glimpse of Riddle's face.

He was filled with the same ecstasy as when he first discovered he was a wizard.

But that joy didn't make his face look more handsome; instead, it made him look somewhat ferocious.

This memory provided by Slughorn has now officially come to an end.

"Thank you," Dumbledore said in a deep voice. "Sherlock, Harry, let's go..."

When Sherlock's feet touched the ground again, he found Dumbledore already sitting behind the square table.

Sherlock sat down, and Harry returned from the Pensieve. He glanced at Sherlock, sat obediently beside him, and quietly looked at Dumbledore on the other side of the table.

"I have been waiting for this evidence for more than a year. Thank you for finally giving me it, which has verified some of my judgments."

After a brief silence, Dumbledore finally spoke.

To Harry's surprise, the old headmaster did not offer his opinion, but instead asked:
"Sherlock, what do you think?"

When asked by Dumbledore, Sherlock did not refuse and answered directly:
"First of all, I must apologize to the esteemed Professor Slughorn."

"Oh, why is that?"

Even though they were discussing a very heavy topic, Dumbledore couldn't help but ask a question out of curiosity after hearing Sherlock say that.

"I originally thought that Professor Slughorn had told Voldemort how to make Horcruxes, but through this memory, I found that this is not the case."

Tom Riddle already knew how to make Horcruxes; he only went to Professor Slughorn to clarify his thoughts.

To be precise, he wanted to know the feasibility of creating multiple Horcruxes.

His ignorance of Horcruxes in front of Slughorn was all an act, merely to deceive our knowledgeable professor.

The result was obvious: although Professor Slughorn didn't provide a definitive answer, Voldemort had gotten the answer he wanted.

From this perspective, Professor Slughorn's own guilt and remorse are somewhat wasted.

Even if he said nothing, Voldemort would still go down this path of no return.

It's simply a matter of verifying this knowledge through other methods, which won't take him much time.

“Very good, Sherlock.”

Dumbledore was taken aback at first, then looked at him with approval. "I knew it. You never disappoint."

He then turned to Harry and said, "And you, Harry, I believe you understand the importance of that conversation."

At about your age, Tom Riddle was already trying to figure out how to make himself immortal.

His wickedness came much earlier than I expected.

“I understand that, but what I don’t understand is…”

Harry turned to Sherlock, a look of confusion in his eyes, "Sherlock, how do you know that Voldemort already knew how to make Horcruxes before he questioned Slughorn?"

“Dear Harry, it’s actually quite obvious.”

“Obvious?” Harry blinked, thinking he had grown a brain after following Sherlock for so many years.

But even after carefully recalling what just happened, it's still impossible to see exactly where this "obviousness" lies.

Sherlock sighed:
"At the point in time in Professor Slughorn's memory, Voldemort not only understood how to make Horcruxes, but had already successfully made one."

"what?!"

Harry was taken aback, but then quickly realized what was happening:

"You mean Riddle's diary? But how can you be sure this conversation happened after the locked-room incident?"

"Because you don't have complete information. I once saw Tom Riddle in the Pensieve. By observation, it's easy to see that the time difference between the two is not too far."

Sherlock laid out his deductions directly:
"First, the Tom Riddle that Slughorn remembers is taller and looks more mature than the Tom Riddle I saw in the Pensieve last time."

This is enough to prove that this incident occurred after the previous locked-room incident.

Secondly, I think you must have noticed the black gemstone ring on Riddle's finger.

Judging from Riddle's various actions, this ring held special significance for him.

With his personality, once he gets his hands on it, he'll always wear it.

But I didn't see it in my previous memory.

Third, he spoke to Slughorn very skillfully, but I could not hide it from him.

This is enough for me to confirm that he had successfully created a Horcrux before his conversation with Slughorn.

It was that diary that we destroyed.

Fourth, we can also indirectly verify this with Mr. Dumbledore.

Sherlock then turned to Dumbledore, his tone full of certainty despite his questioning:
"Professor, my friend Hermione searched the entire Forbidden Library to help me, but couldn't find the purpose of Horcruxes."

She told me that only one sentence was mentioned in the preface of the book "The Most Poisonous Magic":

'Regarding Horcruxes, this most evil magical invention, neither discussion nor instruction will be given here.'

As Sherlock spoke, Harry also recalled Hermione angrily closing the old book and shoving it into her bag.

Sherlock abruptly changed the subject:
"But I think that during Tom Riddle's school years, the school library should still have information about Horcruxes, right?"

“You’re absolutely right, Sherlock.”

Dumbledore looked at Sherlock, his joy evident in his eyes.

"There was indeed a book in the restricted section that detailed how Horcruxes were made, but after I became the principal, I removed the book from the library."

Where is it now?

"My office."

"Really? I'll definitely read it when I have the chance."

"There will be a chance."

Harry: w(Д)w
"Continuing our topic, according to my deduction, even if Voldemort has successfully created one Horcrux, he still doesn't understand the consequences of creating multiple Horcruxes."

That's why he thought of asking for help, and that's the most crucial issue.

Because he would not learn any experience from his predecessors, since no wizard had ever split his soul more than two pieces.

Am I right, sir?

"That's true, but the truth might be even more exaggerated."

"Even more outrageous than this?"

"Yes, not only has no one successfully created multiple Horcruxes, but apart from Voldemort, there has only been one person in history who successfully created a Horcrux."

He was the wicked Horcrux, a dark sorcerer from ancient Greece, and is generally considered the first person to create a Horcrux.

"Despicable Halbo? That name sounds familiar."

"Dear Harry, have you already forgotten that you can crawl and speak?"

The first recorded basilisk was bred by this despicable Herpo.

He was the Greek dark wizard Mr. Dumbledore mentioned, and he even spoke Parsley.

"Oh, I remember now, Hermione mentioned this in second grade!"

"That's right, your friend has a wealth of knowledge, so in that respect, Voldemort has indeed accomplished something unprecedented."

He not only became the first person to create a Horcrux since its inventor, Helbo, but also the only person to create more than one Horcrux.

"I'm sorry, but I have another question."

Harry couldn't help but ask again:

"If he wants to live forever so badly, why doesn't he make a Philosopher's Stone, or just steal one?"

To use murder to split one's soul—that sounds absolutely terrifying!

(End of this chapter)