great-warnovel Chapter 332 A Belated Death
Chapter 332 A Belated Death
Chapter 332 A Belated Death
"There's more good news." McGonagall couldn't hide the smile on her face.
"The centaurs have lifted the curse of Longbottom and promised to take us deep into the Forbidden Forest to renew our covenant with the ancient Forbidden Forest Tree."
"And the only price is that they continue to live in the Forbidden Forest, under the stars."
The secret of the Forbidden Forest dates back a thousand years to how the founders made a pact with this magical forest. Even the headmasters don't know the answer. Now, the centaurs have returned this secret, making the Forbidden Forest a safe haven for Hogwarts once again.
"Everything is getting better, isn't it?" Dumbledore smiled, somewhat lost in thought, as if recalling everything that happened here fifty years ago.
"Ah! That's right!" McGonagall slapped her forehead.
"Regarding the tanks, artillery, and weapons captured on the battlefield."
"Beauxbatons is interested in acquiring a batch of them."
The headmistress rambled on, "We've selected some intact ammunition to arm our own forces in the future, but without a Muggle production line, the captured ammunition certainly won't last long enough for many battles. If we sell some to Beauxbatons, we can actually gain the right to purchase Muggle ammunition in the future."
Lately, she has been dealing with too many trivial matters, which has left her physically exhausted, but mentally she is particularly excited because everything is turning for the better. This old woman spent her childhood on this high ground in a college by the Black Lake.
Returning here to rebuild and re-establish herself has given her a second spring, filling her with boundless passion.
"You can decide those things, Minerva," Dumbledore interrupted her softly, smiling.
"We all trust you and all your decisions."
"Me too!" Hermione interjected.
McGonagall looked at the old headmaster, then at Hermione, who was also smiling at her, and her eyes reddened slightly. The three of them stood by the window, basking in the sunlight of the new students.
"You guys are really something. You order people around, dumping all the work on me—"
She turned her head away and wiped her eyes with her hand.
"Alright, alright! I still have a ton of things to take care of. Don't sit idle for too long, I'll have Pomona come with mandrake to urge you on."
As if afraid of being seen as vulnerable, McGonagall hurriedly turned and left the principal's office.
Hermione and Dumbledore exchanged a smile as they watched their professor flee as if he were running away.
"With an assistant like this, you've really been able to slack off a lot!"
Dumbledore chuckled, "Yes, but you're quite relaxed now, aren't you? Most of your work has been dumped on Hilmi."
This half-body is very enthusiastic about teaching students, especially the 7th graders, who are impressed by his 14-year-old body.
Education for a guy whose soul age is 0 years old.
"Your half-body," the white wizard carefully chose his words.
"I have never seen such magical power. I can feel that it originates from that part of your soul, and yet it is itself a complete, newly born soul."
"This is amazing; the birth and nurturing of souls is the realm of God—"
Hermione knew what he meant. As an old man who had seen it all, he understood all too well the unpredictability of human nature. No one except Hermione knew who this boy who suddenly appeared was.
Does he feel a sense of belonging to Hogwarts? Would he do anything detrimental to the school? Is his personality stable, and would he harm any students?
Hermione pondered for a moment: "He is my childlike and rational side, but also a soul born from pure magic. He inherited the chaos and unpredictability of magic, but I can assure you that his interests are highly aligned with mine."
Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully: "Larger versions of the Weasley twins, huh? We'll have to keep a close eye on them."
"Even after immersing oneself in magic for hundreds of years, one cannot fully comprehend its entirety. To divide the soul without harming oneself and to create a magical self of the opposite sex is far more sophisticated than Voldemort's methods."
Hermione narrowed her eyes: "Speaking of the Earthshaker, he's not quite dead yet. You said his soul is incomplete; did you sense something?"
The White Wizard nodded: "Coincidentally, during this trip to Malfoy Castle, I finally managed to pry some of the secrets from back then out of that old man Slughorn."
"Tom was his most outstanding student, and the initial method he used to escape death was a clue he got from this Potions Master."
He took out a slender glass bottle from his pocket, inside which was a luminous white thread of memory.
An old man and a young man came to the Pensieve and buried their heads in it together to relive that memory.
"Hordeal: The Secrets of Cutting-Edge Dark Magic"—" Hermione repeated the two terms.
Dumbledore beckoned and summoned the most inconspicuous book from the bookshelf in the headmaster's office.
"You haven't seen it yet, but it won't hurt to take a look beforehand." Dumbledore was no longer worried that Hermione would be seduced and corrupted.
This is considered one of the most accomplished books on dark magic in the world, but Hermione flipped through it very quickly; at her level...
Many spells can be deduced by simply glancing at the theory and understanding the concept, and besides, she had no intention of delving into these evil techniques.
"So, he tore his soul into many pieces by killing people and made Horcruxes, which allowed him to escape death many times," Hermione said.
"Not bad." Dumbledore nodded, making inferences based on the student's trajectory after graduation.
"This book was once kept in the restricted section of the library. It was only after Tom started acting strangely that I moved it to the principal's office." "Now it's confirmed that he did indeed thoroughly study this book during his student days, and regarding the magic of the Well of Immortality..."
That only came about after he arrived in Albania.
"So, he split his soul at least several times and created multiple Horcruxes until he discovered the method of immortality and had a more efficient means, at which point he abandoned the technique of splitting his soul," Hermione added.
"In a sense, this saved him. Repeatedly tearing the soul apart would cause unspeakable harm. His timely correction, though not intentional, prevented him from becoming a mindless madman," Dumbledore commented.
"This death destroyed his largest physical body, but ironically, it made the methods he had once discarded come into play."
"We don't know how many Horcruxes he made, but I think with the amount of his remaining soul, it's not enough to continue splitting him." This was the only good news, so Hermione wouldn't have to spend the rest of her life searching the world for the dark wizard who kept splitting himself.
"Myrtle!" Hermione exclaimed.
"The Basilisk in Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets! After he found it, the only person the Basilisk killed was Myrtle. He didn't originally need to risk exposure to kill her, but if it was for the sake of creating his first Horcrux, then I think it makes perfect sense!"
"The good news is that we've finally figured out Tom's ultimate weakness, and coincidentally, the fangs of the Serpent Hunting Spear can also be used to destroy Horcruxes," Dumbledore smiled.
"So, the next question is, how many Horcruxes did he make, and where did he hide them?"
"We are going to deliver his belated death."