From Azkaban to Hogwarts.

William nodded. "By the way, in any case, you need to communicate well with Ms. Susan after this matter. If our plan succeeds, that's fine, but if it fails, she is a necessary person to get involved."

Dumbledore, who had been both amused and exasperated, fell silent for a moment before nodding.

Chapter 602 The Lost Horcrux

'What on earth happened? Everyone at Hogwarts is so secretive, even Dumbledore is a fake?'

In the headmaster's office at Hogwarts, Susan felt her mind was in complete disarray.

She had just tried to distract the person opposite her with some subtle movements, but the imposter Dumbledore saw right through her and, without any manners, confiscated her wand.

'Where did that missing professor go? What's Dumbledore doing? Damn it, have those Hogwarts guys put Dumbledore under house arrest?'

The two professors present clearly obeyed Vice-Principal McGonagall, and the painting in the Principal's office didn't even question their impersonation of Dumbledore. Most suspiciously, after her wand was taken by the fake Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall casually started working on the documents on the Principal's office, and it all seemed so natural!

A flicker of fear crossed her mind—they could replace the birds with birds on Iphamoni's side, but what about here…

Perhaps someone else wouldn't dare to think so far ahead, but for Susan, it wasn't impossible. Even someone as powerful as Mr. Grindelwald fell at his peak, let alone Dumbledore…

Just as she was considering how to escape, the young professor who had disappeared earlier returned using the door key.

Susan secretly pricked up her ears to eavesdrop on the conversation.

'Assassination', 'Attack', 'Escape', 'Concealment'...

These words, when put together, were incredibly powerful. She secretly attempted to cast spells without a wand, but was closely watched by the sharp-eyed fake Dumbledore.

After another unsuccessful attempt, she could only helplessly watch as the young professor suddenly swung his wand, smashing a window in the distance. Professor McGonagall then took out her wand and smashed several decorative items as well.

Then, Susan watched as an incredibly fast beam of light disappeared into the sky, and then Professor William and Professor McGonagall worked together to blow the door open.

"At least blow it up from the outside!"

Susan heard the fake Dumbledore muttering.

"It's alright, we'll handle the investigation..."

The young professor's voice rang out, and Susan was plunged into despair. She finally understood what had happened—these people were staging an assassination to cover up their evil deeds of imprisoning Dumbledore and seizing control of the school, and the unfortunate murderer was her!

And the information she had smugly told these people would be used against her. Voldemort, the gullible fool in America, would smugly admit that it was his people who assassinated Dumbledore, making this damned plan seem flawless!

'Foolish Dumbledore, he was actually used by his own student!'

'Foolish people, you've dealt with Dumbledore now for this little bit of power—but when Voldemort comes, who will stop him?'

'Oh...right, they might not know that if I persuaded them to cooperate with Mr. Grindelwald...'

Countless thoughts raced through Susan's mind in an instant, but before she could speak, she saw the young professor take out his wand and point it at her.

He collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

-

“Hidden,” William said, knocking Susan unconscious and then using a Disillusionment Charm to hide behind the wall. “Now we can call someone to tell them that this Ms. Susan tried to assassinate Dumbledore and then ran away.”

"Albus still likes to cause trouble..."

Professor McGonagall's face still held a hint of helplessness. "He faked being assassinated... I think he just doesn't want to go back to work at the university."

Not wanting to interrupt, William turned to Moody and said, "Professor Moody, you should lie there, preferably looking half-dead... just show us your profile..."

"Next, we need to urgently purchase a batch of spices, then stop the food deliveries from the kitchen, halt the laundry service for used clothes, and throw some of the delivered candy in the trash..."

As William spoke, he felt a sharp, piercing pain, and his pale face made Moody admire him greatly—he began to understand why he couldn't be the head of the self-defense department's office...

"Also, inform the remaining professors and students that Dumbledore was unharmed and has begun actively searching for the next Horcrux..."

-

Susan's assassination attempt on Dumbledore fails!

When the latest issue of the Daily Prophet was delivered to Bella, she was completely stunned.

This intelligence report arrived almost simultaneously with the previous one, giving her no time to react.

"Barty, how dare he..."

Bella rubbed her eyes, her gaze somewhat dazed.

She continues to serve as the headmistress of Evamony, despite having made a serious mistake—the Dark Lord's Horcrux was discovered in her family's vault. However, the Dark Lord forgave her and generously allowed her to continue in her position.

This unexpected event made her incredibly grateful, and she no longer felt resentful about being imprisoned in Azkaban. She even inexplicably felt a sense of atonement.

But now, looking at Barty again, her self-blame only intensified…

She read the news with intense guilt and then delivered it to the Dark Lord.

……

"Barty?"

Voldemort looked at the newspaper in his hand, but his expression terrified Bella. "He went to assassinate Dumbledore. Who gave him the order?"

In his plan, Dumbledore had to die, but he hadn't given such an order yet. He was forcing another version of himself to do it, but now Barty, who should have obeyed his orders, had carried out the assassination without any premeditation and hadn't even informed him!

"It wasn't me, Master!"

Bella knelt on the ground in fear; she had never imagined the Dark Lord would react this way.

"They failed, and he himself disappeared..."

Voldemort's voice was very soft, but Bella lay there, too afraid to move.

"Try to get in touch with him, and... ask those new recruits what happened..."

"Yes, Master..."

-

"Dumbledore is unharmed... and has even started searching for Horcruxes again?"

"He's hiding in his office and won't come out no matter what?"

"Another one?"

As new intelligence reports arrived, Voldemort's face showed a sense of helplessness.

His loyal Death Eater Barty Jr. had disappeared without a trace, while Dumbledore was hiding in his office, continuing to plot his precious Horcruxes.

But the other self also swallowed his anger and refused to do anything... Wait a minute!

He unfolded the newspaper and read the latest news.

The new Horcrux wasn't found where all his dreams began! Not in the cave he frequented at the orphanage he considered home, but among the belongings of Umbridge, a Death Eater he himself didn't even know!

"I didn't do it! I didn't make that Horcrux!"

He looked at the completely unfamiliar thing and began to doubt himself.

"Umbridge...Ministry of Magic office...Horregular..."

Voldemort paced back and forth in the room, countless thoughts swirling in his mind.

Umbridge is a Death Eater, the kind the Ministry of Magic has decided against, and they wouldn't even let Barty Jr. rescue her...

She betrayed Barty Crouch at the height of his power, then developed the Death Eaters, became the Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Magic, and nearly rose to the position of Minister.

These are all undeniable facts, but now she also possesses a Horcrux...

'The development of Death Eaters required my personal training… but Horcruxes can also be communicated. The reason I have no related memories is because those Death Eaters weren't developed by me personally, but rather by Horcruxes controlling Umbridge… that's why I have absolutely no memory of them, and that's why I can't find any gaps in my memory.'

'A sudden, inexplicable attack on the Ministry of Magic… It was indeed Death Eaters who carried it out. They didn't go there aimlessly to demonstrate their power or assert their presence; they were there to protect 'me'!'

"Because at that time, the 'me' inside the Horcrux had already been taken to the Ministry of Magic, and was in constant danger of being destroyed! That's why the Death Eaters attacked the Ministry of Magic, trying to rescue me!"

'And that Horcrux, that Horcrux… the only possible place it could be is that before I became a wandering spirit, because I couldn't control my soul, a fragment of it attached itself to some object!'

'Umbridge was able to obtain the Horcrux because he was Barty Crouch's second-in-command, and he found it while searching the ruins of that house! Only she had the authority to take it from the scene! She must have been eyeing my power to secretly conceal it!'

Tom's eyes were flashing red; everything made sense now...

The reason he lost his memory is because that part of his memory was completely missing, which is why it's possible that someone could have messed with his memories, those of the great Dark Lord!

The Horcrux that was accidentally created did not come back to life until it was destroyed, which is why he couldn't wait for his opponent to make a move in this battle of patience!

'So, it wasn't that my memory was faulty; rather, there was an extra Horcrux...'

He was also planning to create a new Horcrux before he killed Harry Potter, so it's not surprising that a new Horcrux was generated at that time...

"That's great... I'm still me..."

Tom breathed a sigh of relief; the heavy weight in his heart finally lifted.

But a moment later—

"I'm going to kill you, Dumbledore! I'm going to kill you!"

The Horcruxes, which were considered his lifeblood, were all destroyed in one fell swoop, leaving only one. And judging by Dumbledore's hound-like speed in finding things, the last Horcrux was in imminent danger.

What's even more ridiculous is that he had watched helplessly as the Horcruxes were destroyed, hoping that another Horcrux, which hadn't even been resurrected, would save everything!

"I must find the Horcrux quickly, then move to another location..."

This is his only remaining Horcrux! He must find it quickly! He must cherish it as much as he cherishes his own life!

Chapter 603 What you protect is your life.

"Absolutely not, absolutely not, can I let that old bastard Dumbledore destroy my precious Horcruxes..."

Tom's eyes gleamed red, and his hand involuntarily gripped the wand from Slytherin tightly.

He only has one Horcrux left—he originally planned to create six Horcruxes to make up the perfect number seven, but the sixth Horcrux was formed without his knowledge and was recently destroyed by Dumbledore.

"We must retrieve that Horcrux and then forge another one as soon as possible..."

The fact that he only had one Horcrux left caused him great unease, but he couldn't create a Horcrux in the short term—because there was simply no better vessel to hold his soul.

His diary records the glory and secrets of Slytherin. The ring is not only a precious family heirloom, but also the honor of killing his father, the Muggle. The Slytherin locket, the Ravenclaw tiara, and the Hufflepuff cup are the only containers worthy of his precious soul fragments. Even the most disappointing sixth Horcrux is a warning given by his death!

Pick one at random? You're kidding. If he hadn't discovered the secret hidden in Ilfamoni, even if he wanted to resurrect someone, he would only use Harry Potter's blood. At the very least, it would be the Philosopher's Stone. What else could be worthy of his noble status?

Since it's impossible to create a Horcrux in the short term, the only remaining Horcrux must be moved and relocated before that old bastard Dumbledore finds it.

Moreover, no one can be involved in this matter, not even Bertha—thanks to that old bastard, the entire magical world knows that he is relying on Horcruxes to maintain his immortality, and he will absolutely not put this fatal weakness in the hands of anyone else!