Chapter 573: The Last Memory
Chapter 573: The Last Memory
Harry pushed open the door to the Headmaster's Office, and Liam took a look around. Everything appeared just as it had before. The star-studded black night sky outside the window added a sense of tranquility to the room.
Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk, reviewing a pile of documents. Liam noticed that the Headmaster seemed to be in good spirits, but he also looked a bit tired. It made sense; even though Professor Dumbledore was incredibly powerful, he was still a hundred years old. Without magic, someone of his age being able to live independently would be considered a miracle.
Even in the Magical World, where lifespans were greatly extended, some natural laws could not be defied. In such a tense situation, the greatest White Wizard had far too many responsibilities to handle. It was only natural that Dumbledore, a man over a century old, would appear somewhat weary.
"Oh, it's you!" Dumbledore looked up, his gaze shifting from the documents to Liam and the others. "What brings you here so late?"
"Sir—We got it. With Liam's help, I managed to get Slughorn's memory." Harry took out a small glass vial and showed it to Dumbledore. The Headmaster paused for a moment, then a smile spread across his face. "Harry, this is thrilling news! Excellent! I knew you could do it!"
With that, Dumbledore stood up, walked around his chair, and retrieved the Pensieve from a cabinet, placing it on the desk. He then poured the memory from Harry's vial into it. "Now, we will finally see it..."
Dumbledore then gestured to the three standing in front of his desk. "Right, come over here. This is important for all of us..."
This was the first time Liam and Hermione had used a Pensieve. Fortunately, Harry had previously described to them how it worked and what it felt like. Liam took Hermione's hand and leaned forward, both of them taking a deep breath before plunging into the silvery substance.
They felt as if they were floating, much like during a random dimensional teleportation, passing through a swirling darkness and falling toward an unknown place. The only difference was the absence of the squeezing or oppressive sensation. Suddenly, they found themselves in a room.
Soon, Dumbledore and Harry appeared beside them. They saw a much younger Slughorn in the room, with thick, lustrous blond hair and a ginger mustache, sitting in a comfortable wingback chair with his feet on a velvet ottoman. He held a small glass of wine in one hand and was picking at a box of pineapple candies with the other. Six or seven teenage boys were gathered around him, one of whom was the young Voldemort, whom Liam recognized by the Resurrection Stone embedded in the gold ring on his hand.
It was clear that Slughorn had high hopes for Voldemort. Liam heard him confidently say, "I believe you'll be Minister of Magic within twenty years. Maybe even fifteen, if you keep sending me pineapple candies. I have some powerful connections in the Ministry."
"Such a distasteful reality", Hermione muttered quietly beside Liam. For someone with a touch of idealism, seeing such blatant favoritism always made her uncomfortable.
Young Voldemort, then known as Tom Riddle, also seemed dissatisfied with the current state of affairs. When the laughter from the other boys subsided, he said, "I'm not sure if politics suits me, sir. For one, I lack the right connections."
The two boys beside him exchanged glances and chuckled. Liam realized that Tom Riddle had already spread the word about his lineage as a descendant of Salazar Slytherin. The boys laughing clearly knew their leader had a prestigious ancestor.
"Nonsense", Slughorn said heartily. As a member of one of the 28 Pure-Blood Families, he could discern a student's background from their mannerisms. Tom Riddle's genuine embrace of Pureblood ideals after learning of his Slytherin heritage, and the Pureblood mannerisms he had learned from his Slytherin classmates, clearly convinced Slughorn that he came from a noble Wizard family. "Your talents are too evident to come from anything but a respectable Wizard family. You have a bright future, Tom. I've never been wrong about a student."
At that moment, the small golden clock on Slughorn's desk struck eleven, and he began shooing the students away. "Good heavens, it's that late already? Off you go, children, or we'll be in trouble. Lestrange, I want your essay tomorrow, or it's detention. And you too, Avery."
The boys started lining up to leave the office, and Slughorn stood up to tidy up. But then he heard a noise behind him. Turning around, he found Riddle still standing there.
"Hurry up, Tom. You don't want to be caught out after curfew, especially as a Prefect..."
"Sir, I have a question."
"Then ask it, boy, ask it..."
"Sir, I was wondering if you know anything about... Horcruxes."
Liam and the others perked up at this. They knew the crucial part they needed was about to unfold, and each of them focused intently, hanging on every word that followed.
Slughorn stared at the young Voldemort, his plump fingers absentmindedly caressing the stem of his cup. "A Defense Against the Dark Arts topic, is it?" But the four of them could see that Slughorn knew this wasn't schoolwork.
"No, sir, I read about it in a book, but I don't fully understand it", Riddle said, perfectly embodying a student who was both ignorant of the dark magic item and extremely eager to learn.
Slughorn was taken in by this act and spoke earnestly to Riddle. "Well... yes... it's hard to find a book at Hogwarts that gives a detailed explanation of Horcruxes, Tom. They are very dark and very evil things."
"But you clearly know a lot about them, sir? I mean, a wizard like you—sorry, I mean, if you can't tell me, obviously—I just know that if anyone can, it would be you—so I thought I'd ask—"
"Truly a master of manipulation", Liam sighed. Slughorn was a man who enjoyed flattery, and this subtle praise hit just the right spot. From Riddle's well-timed question, Liam could sense that he had likely been planning this for a long time, perhaps even spending weeks practicing in front of a mirror. This showed how important the question was to him.
"Hmm", Slughorn said, not looking at Riddle but fiddling with the ribbon on the box of pineapple chunks Riddle had given him. "Well, I suppose there's no harm in giving you a brief introduction, just so you understand the term. A Horcrux is an object in which a person has hidden a part of their soul."
"But I don't quite understand how that works, sir", Riddle said, though the four people watching this memory could sense the excitement simmering beneath his calm exterior.
"You split your soul", Slughorn explained, "and hide a part of it in an object outside your body. This way, even if your body is attacked or destroyed, you won't die, because a part of your soul remains in the world, undamaged. But, of course, existing in that form is terrible, Tom. Very few people want to live like that, very few indeed. It's better to die."
Professor Slughorn's warning was heartfelt and entirely correct. Having traveled through countless worlds, Liam had asked countless powerful beings about the various aspects of cultivation. Each had a different path, but they all emphasized the importance of a complete soul.
However, Voldemort at this time might not have known this, or he might have believed he was a special case, immune to the negative effects of a Horcrux. Upon hearing Slughorn's explanation, he couldn't hide his greedy expression, his desire now fully visible.
"Power should be the master of a person, not the other way around. One must remain humble in the pursuit of power and never believe oneself to be the chosen one", Liam whispered to himself. Voldemort's case was a profound lesson, and Liam felt he could learn a great deal from it.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
