Chapter 375: Four Horcruxes
Chapter 375: Four Horcruxes
"House-elves generally live longer than wizards. By the year Smith died, Hawthorne was already quite old, but she is still alive today."
Dumbledore spoke with a grave expression, lowering his voice to ensure no third party could overhear.
Sherlock naturally understood the importance of secrecy. At this moment, he dispersed his control field to check for any eavesdroppers.
"Her memories have been clearly tampered with."
"Riddle was invited to her home by Smith. There, she showed him her two most precious treasures and asked him to keep them a secret from Borgin and Burkes, as she never intended to sell these items."
"One of these treasures is the Hufflepuff's Goblet, which you have already found and destroyed."
"The other is the Slytherin's Locket."
Upon hearing this, Sherlock furrowed his brow.
"I remember that Riddle himself is a descendant of the Slytherin family?"
"That's correct. The locket was once sold to the Smith family by a Slytherin descendant, which gave Riddle even more reason to reclaim it."
"Later, he poisoned Smith, stole the two founders' relics, and modified Hawthorne's memory to frame the house-elf, making her believe that her mistake led to her master's death."
Dumbledore softly recounted all the information he had gleaned from Hawthorne's memories to Sherlock.
Sherlock's frown did not ease.
"The diary, Hufflepuff's Goblet, Slytherin's Locket, and Ravenclaw's Diadem—these are the four Horcruxes we know of so far. The diary and the goblet have been destroyed. We are certain that the Hogwarts Room of Requirement still hides a Horcrux, but we don't know if it is one of the known ones."
Even if they discovered what Voldemort's Horcruxes were, it wouldn't help much at the moment, as they had no idea where they were hidden.
However, Dumbledore seemed much more optimistic than Sherlock.
"The more information we have, the closer we get to the key. I am gradually investigating Riddle's past and believe new discoveries will come soon."
In terms of understanding Voldemort, no one in the wizarding world could surpass Dumbledore, not even Riddle himself.
Sherlock could do little to assist Dumbledore at the moment and could only wait passively for news.
Taking this opportunity, he also inquired about Mrs. Mathews and why she initially refused to help.
"Ah, speaking of that, we must mention Horace (Slughorn)."
Dumbledore seemed eager to recount these old stories and smiled as he spoke.
"Mathews liked Horace. When Horace was the Slytherin Head of House, she came to Hogwarts specifically to ask me for a position at the school. However, Horace had no intention of settling down and kept finding ways to reject Mathews' advances, so he asked me not to accept her job application."
"Moreover, there were no suitable positions available at Hogwarts at the time, so I politely declined Mathews' request."
"She's indeed a rather petty witch, believing that I was the one sabotaging their relationship. Along with some other misunderstandings, she has harbored resentment towards me ever since."
"However, Matthew has always been an upright person. It would just be better if she weren't so petty sometimes."
At the Feast, Sherlock couldn't keep chatting with Dumbledore the entire time. Today, so many people had come to this award ceremony, all for him.
Even though he disliked such superficial socializing, he still had to put on a smile and exchange pleasantries with the important figures of the Wizarding World.
Among them were pure-blood wizards, such as Ollivander, who has been focusing on wand-making for over a thousand years. His is a historic pure-blood family that has never shown any inclination towards Voldemort.
However, very few pure-blood families were present. For instance, Sherlock didn't see anyone from the Malfoy family.
On the night of the final task of the Triwizard Tournament, the Aurors didn't capture Lucius Malfoy. Whether he was among the Death Eaters that night remains a mystery, as the captured Death Eaters have not revealed his involvement.
Lucius fell silent after Scrimgeour took office. Previously, he had a good relationship with Fudge, spending Galleons and cultivating connections with the Ministry of Magic's upper echelons. Now, all that has stopped.
He seems to have holed up at home, completely disengaged from the outside world.
The banquet ended around ten o'clock in the evening.
Tomorrow's Daily Prophet front page will undoubtedly feature the content of this award ceremony. This is likely the last time the Ministry of Magic will boost Sherlock's reputation in the Wizarding World.
After all, no matter how sincere his conversation with Scrimgeour was, as long as he refuses to accept a position within the Ministry, the Ministry will naturally not focus all the public attention on him.
This has indeed been the case during the remaining time of the summer.
After the award ceremony, Sherlock stayed home with Silke, taking care of her eyes until they fully recovered.
On the day Silke removed the black ribbon from her eyes, they both made a special trip to 12 Grimmauld Place to celebrate with the Weasley family and the Order of the Phoenix members stationed there.
Harry is living safely there, protected by the Fidelius Charm, which prevents the Death Eaters from finding him.
During the following month, they rarely saw Dumbledore. He was always busy with matters only Sherlock knew about. The other Order of the Phoenix members were constantly monitoring the movements of wizards connected to Voldemort, hoping to find Voldemort's hiding place through them.
However, Voldemort hasn't shown up during this time, and Azkaban has remained problem-free, which Dumbledore and Sherlock were particularly concerned about.
Apart from the frequent actions of the Aurors, who have been arresting and interrogating pure-blood wizards with criminal records, the Wizarding World seems no different from usual.
In such a situation, time passed quickly. By the end of August, it was almost time for Hogwarts to start the new school year.
(End of Chapter)
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