Hogwarts: I'm Harry's older cousin

Chapter 313, page 311: I heard that Senior Tom is extremely obsessed with the number 'seven'.

"Too unsatisfactory" is already a very euphemistic way of putting it. If it weren't for the fact that Moody, a former Auror, was there and we had to give him face, Dudley would have said something like, "These useless guys in the Auror office probably can't even beat our fourth-year students."

The key point is that this is very likely true. The learning pace of a fourth-year student is what Hogwarts is known for, being the most diligent student. Now that he has also learned Durmstrang magic, his knowledge base is far beyond what those wizards who have just entered the Auror class can compare to.

Before Dudley entered Hogwarts, there was no Duelists Club. In a sense, these young wizards who graduated from Hogwarts had virtually no practical combat experience.

A pure academic wizard

The key to getting into Aurora is that the vetting process only looks at grades and knowledge reserves, not actual combat experience.

Many people are strong in theory but terrible at practical application.

Imagine a group of Aurors with no combat experience rushing onto the battlefield, only to face a group of ruthless and vicious dark wizards.

Saying that they're being delivered vegetables is an insult to them.

The reason why Aurors suffer such high damage is largely due to their lack of practical combat experience.

The only good thing Lockhart did during his entire second year was to establish the Duelist Club and entrust Dudley with organizing it regularly.

Apart from a few elite Aurors, the other Aurors really couldn't beat the little wizards who would challenge them to duels all the time.

"As far as I know, an Auror squad has gone missing."

Dudley spoke again, and the news he revealed made Dumbledore and Moody both frown.

They had no doubt about the accuracy of the information; Dumbledore had just been informed by Fudge, and the fact that Moody Dudley could tell them meant that the information was already confirmed.

Although Dudley denigrated Aurors as utterly worthless, every wizard who became an Auror was great; they were the ones fighting on the front lines against dark wizards.

Each of them harbors a dream.

There are already few wizards who want to become Aurors each year, and even fewer who actually succeed in becoming Aurors through training.

According to Dudley's information, following the original trajectory, no wizard will pass the Auror training program to become a full-fledged Auror in 1995, which is next year.

Every Auror is a valuable resource.

The fact that an entire Auror squad has gone missing is already a very serious problem.

No wonder Fudge was so nervous.

Theoretically, the scapegoat should be the Auror office chief, but it was Fudge who ordered the search for the missing "Bertha Jorkins".

Dali has always believed that the saying "with great power comes great responsibility" is nonsense. The correct understanding should be "with great power comes great responsibility." Since one enjoys the convenience brought by power, one should bear the corresponding obligations.

If you can't do it, then just get out. If you don't have the corresponding ability but still cling to a position that doesn't belong to you, issuing some extremely stupid orders, and even occasionally causing trouble to drag your teammates down, then this kind of person is more dangerous than a Death Eater who rises to power.

Of course, there are advantages to being useless, namely, being obedient. If you don't even have this quality, then when you have no more use, that's when you should step down completely.

"Do you know who did it?" Moody asked in a deep voice, his remaining single eye staring intently at Dudley.

He was once an Auror and was proud of it, even now that he's retired.

The annihilation of an entire Auror squad was an unimaginable loss for the Auror Office, as well as for the Ministry of Magic and the entire wizarding world.

"Most of the powerful Dark Wizards and Death Eaters are in Azkaban. The other small fry don't have the ability to wipe out an Auror squad without missing a single one."

"It can only be that senior, Tom."

"Damn it! That damn lunatic!"

Moody cursed and slammed his fist into the seat.

Dumbledore's expression remained unchanged, after all, he already knew about this news.

"That's exactly what Tom would do, so we need to seize this opportunity and eliminate him completely before he fully recovers."

"It's too difficult, Professor." Dudley shook his head. "I'm afraid even if we eliminate him this time, he'll reappear next time, unless we can completely eliminate him."

Dumbledore's expression shifted slightly, his deep blue eyes fixed on Dudley: "You know?"

"There is only one way that can save him from death, and time and time again."

Dudley looked at Dumbledore as well: "You probably guessed it too."

Dumbledore's eyes flickered: "I'm not sure; I haven't confirmed it with the professors who may have taught him."

"Why do we have to confirm it? Let's think about the worst-case scenario."

"So how many do you think he manufactured?"

Just as Dudley was about to answer him, Moody interrupted him.

"What are you talking about? What do you mean by 'several' or 'next time'? Does he have several more? Brothers and sisters?"

Moody looked at the two figures, one big and one small, with frustration. They had been speaking in riddles for a long time, but he still couldn't understand a word they were saying.

"Professor Moody, in a sense, is indeed a brother."

"Say something I can understand," Moody said, even more frustrated.

Dumbledore sighed. "Hordeal. We suspect Tom made the Horde."

"What?!"

Moody's face showed shock; clearly, he also knew about Horcruxes.

"You mean... that one that makes life worse than death?"

Horcruxes are extremely evil things, not only because their creation requires killing, but also because splitting one's soul is a cruel act and a taboo in the wizarding world.

Any research involving the soul is taboo.

"That's right."

"Dumbledore replied."

"But wouldn't the method for making such an evil thing be lost?"

The method for making Horcruxes has been lost; otherwise, if these things were in circulation, many dark wizards would choose to make them.

"No, there used to be someone at Hogwarts who knew how to make Horcruxes."

"Who?"

"Horace Slughorn".

Moody remained silent.

Moody's would have expressed disbelief if it were anyone else, but this person...

The Slughorn family is the oldest among the so-called pure-blooded holy twenty-eight clans, so if it's him, it's quite possible.

If Voldemort really created Horcruxes, that would be the most troublesome thing. He would be immortal unless the Horcruxes were destroyed.

"What should we do?"

"Destroy all of his Horcruxes."

"All of them? He made more than one?"

"We've already destroyed two so far."

Moody opened his mouth, only then realizing what Dudley meant by "brother."

"How many do you think he made?"

All the problems have come full circle.

"Seven is a magical number. I heard that Tom was obsessed with the number seven when he was a student."

(End of this chapter)