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Chapter 550: Memories and the Past (Part 2)
Chapter 550: Memories and the Past (Part 2) (Request for Subscriptions, Favorites, and Votes)
The first memory Harry saw with Professor Dumbledore today was that of the house-elf Hokey, whose master was a very old and wealthy witch named Hepzibah Smith.
Back then, Voldemort, still known as Tom Riddle, gained the trust of the eccentric but wealthy old lady through his good looks and manipulative skills. During one of their meetings, the old lady proudly showed Tom her treasures: a golden cup passed down from her Hufflepuff ancestors and Slytherin's locket. She noticed a red light flash in Tom's eyes, but she assumed it was just a trick of the light.
This was a fatal mistake, Dumbledore told Harry. Hepzibah Smith died two days later, and the Ministry of Magic ruled that her house-elf Hokey had accidentally poisoned her master's evening cocoa.
Harry firmly believed this was impossible, thinking that Voldemort had tampered with Hokey's memory, just as he had with Morfin. Dumbledore agreed with his deduction.
"When Hokey was convicted, Hepzibah's clan discovered that her two most valuable treasures were missing. Meanwhile, the young man from Borgin and Burkes, who often visited Hepzibah and knew how to please her, had resigned and disappeared", Dumbledore said.
"Harry, at this point, I need to remind you of some details in the story. Voldemort committed another murder. This time, it was not for revenge, but for gain. He wanted the two valuable items that the poor old lady had shown him. Just as he stole things from the other children at the orphanage and his uncle's rings, this time he stole Hepzibah's cup and pendant box."
"Even I have some evidence suggesting that Voldemort, in his early days when he was not yet powerful, did not commit many murders to hide himself. The first murder was of his father's family, the second was the accidental killing of a Hogwarts student using the Basilisk. And what we are seeing now is his third murder, and the first one after leaving school", Dumbledore explained slowly.
"But", Harry frowned, "this is just crazy... risking so much, killing an innocent person, losing his job, and even leaving under suspicion. Just for..."
"Perhaps", Dumbledore said, "but Voldemort believed he was a descendant of one of Hogwarts' four founders, with a great lineage. It is understandable that he had a special fondness for the precious relics of the four founders."
After that, Dumbledore shared his own memory with Harry, the memory of him refusing Voldemort's request to return to Hogwarts as a teacher, after Voldemort had already been disfigured by Dark Magic.
"Why?" Harry asked, looking up at Dumbledore's face, "Why did he come back? Have you figured it out?"
"I have, thanks to your friend Liam. He found something at the school that confirmed my suspicions and gave me new insights into some of Voldemort's actions. I believe you have already learned about Horcruxes from Liam, but I still need the most important piece of the puzzle. Once you obtain Professor Slughorn's memory, I will tell you everything, Harry", Dumbledore said.
After hearing Harry's account, Ron looked at Liam with shock. "I can't believe it, mate. You actually helped Professor Dumbledore. Can you tell us exactly what you did for the Headmaster?"
As Ron spoke, Harry turned to look at Liam, clearly interested in the question as well.
“No, I can’t.” Liam smiled and shook his head gently. “Since Headmaster Dumbledore doesn’t want you to know, there must be a good reason. The information I have is incomplete. If I were to share what I know, I’m afraid it might give you a false impression.”
“Alright.” Harry nodded, somewhat reluctantly. “I guess my only option is to figure out how to get that crucial memory from Slughorn as soon as possible.”
“Well, then I can only wish you good luck.” Liam genuinely wished him well, though he wasn’t sure how Harry would manage to get the memory now that the Giant Octo-Eyed Spiders in the Forbidden Forest had all been cleared out.
Over the next week, Harry racked his brain trying to come up with a way to get Slughorn to hand over the real memory. He even discussed it with Liam and the others from time to time, but they didn’t have many good ideas.
However, while frantically flipping through the Half-Blood Prince’s Potions Textbook, Harry stumbled upon an interesting spell. It was scribbled in the margins: “Sectumsempra,” followed by the intriguing words “for enemies.”
Initially, he thought about practicing it on his own, but after remembering what Liam and Hermione had said before, he decided to show it to Liam, who was busy working on an essay. He didn’t want to ask Hermione because she would undoubtedly give him a lecture.
“Sectumsempra?” Liam looked at the spell after Harry led him to the sofa. He couldn’t immediately recall what it was, as he had mostly read translated versions of the novel in his past life. Some transliterated spells were easy to recognize, like Avada, but this one stumped him for a moment.
“Got it, wait a moment.” Liam pulled out a golden plate encircled with Mithril Runes and drew his wand, uttering the spell over the blank center of the plate.
Instantly, a crack appeared in the center of the plate, and two runes near where Liam was holding it turned blood-red and black.
“Oh, I see!” Liam finally recognized the spell. This was the infamous Sectumsempra. Unfortunately, the Chinese version of the novel had used a descriptive translation, which is why he didn’t recognize it at first.
“What?” Harry asked curiously, having missed Liam’s muttered words.
“It’s like this: this spell is an offensive spell that can create a wound on a person or object as if it were slashed by a sword.” Liam put away the plate and explained to Harry.
“Sounds pretty useful, like a cutting spell, right?” Harry said, a bit excitedly.
“It’s more than that.” Liam pointed out the crucial difference. “The key distinction is that any part of the body injured by this spell cannot regenerate through any means, though it can be healed with a counter-curse. It’s a rather dangerous form of Dark Magic. I strongly advise you not to use this spell on your classmates until you’ve mastered the counter-curse.”
“So it’s that serious?” Harry looked visibly shaken, recalling Sirius Black’s lost hand. “Thank you so much. I would have made a huge mistake otherwise.”
“Exactly, as I said before, whether it’s a spell or a potion, it’s best to fully understand its effects before using it. Otherwise, the worst-case scenario is not just failing to achieve the desired effect, but causing a disastrous backlash.” Liam earnestly advised, then returned to his seat to finish the assignments the professors had assigned, alongside Hermione.
(End of Chapter)
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