bacchusnovels Chapter 584: The answer cannot be found in the book.
Chapter 584: The answer cannot be found in the book.
Chapter 580: The answer cannot be found in the book.
"No, sir, I saw it in a book—but there were some parts I didn't quite understand."
"Hmm...yes..."
Slughorn touched his hand and pondered.
"At Hogwarts, you'll hardly find a book that explains Horcruxes in detail, Tom. It's extremely evil magic, very evil."
"But you clearly know a lot about this, don't you, sir?"
Riddell said with considerable flattery.
"I mean, a wizard like you—excuse me, I mean, if even you can't tell me, then obviously no one can. I just thought that if anyone knows, it must be you, so—that's why I dared to ask—"
Sure enough, Slughorn fell for it.
"Hmm"
As Slughorn spoke, he avoided Riddle's gaze and fiddled with the box containing the pineapple preserves.
"Of course, it wouldn't hurt to give you a brief explanation, just so you can understand the concept. A Horcrux is an item that contains a part of a person's soul."
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"But I still don't quite understand what that means, sir."
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"That means you've torn your own soul apart."
"Slughorn explained patiently."
"Hide a part of yourself inside an object outside your body. That way, even if your physical body is attacked or destroyed, you won't truly die, because a part of your soul will still exist in the world, unharmed. But, this way of existence—"
Riddle's desire was barely concealed; it was practically written all over his face.
"Then how can one split their soul?"
"oh----"
Slughorn hadn't intended to answer, but the conversation had already reached this point.
"You must understand that the soul is meant to be whole and complete. To split it is blasphemy, an act against nature."
"But how can it split?"
"Through evil acts—the most evil acts—through murder. Murder tears the soul apart, and those wizards who intend to create Horcruxes use this tearing to seal away the separated fragments of the soul—"
"Seal it off? But how do you seal it off—?"
"There's a spell, don't ask me, I don't know it!"
Slughorn grew impatient and retorted.
"Do I look like I've been through this? Do I look like a murderer?"
"Of course not, sir."
Riddle quickly apologized for his reckless behavior.
"I'm sorry—I didn't mean to offend you—"
"It's okay, it's okay, it's not offensive."
Seeing Riddle's frightened expression, Slughorn couldn't help but offer words of comfort.
"It's normal to be curious about these things—talented wizards are always drawn to the magical side—even the dark side."
“Yes, sir,” Riddle replied softly, “but I don’t quite understand—I just wanted to ask out of curiosity—”
Is a Horcrux really that useful? Can a soul truly only split once? If it's divided into more fragments, would it become—more powerful? For example, isn't seven the most magical number? What if there were seven Horcruxes—?
"My God, Tom!"
Slughorn suddenly cried out.
"Seven! Isn't killing one person evil enough? In any case—splitting a soul is already an unforgivable evil—and you're actually considering dividing it into seven parts—"
His words abruptly stopped, and his expression became very uneasy.
"Of course, what we're discussing now is all hypothetical, right? It's purely an academic discussion—"
“Of course, sir, of course,” Riddle replied immediately.
"However, Tom—what I just mentioned about what we talked about—don't tell anyone. People will be very uneasy if they know we discussed Horcruxes. You know—it's a taboo subject at Hogwarts. Especially Dumbledore, he's particularly vehemently opposed to it—"
"I will never tell anyone, sir."
After saying that, Riddle turned and left.
With him departed was Dumbledore, who had been standing nearby watching the Pensieve memories.
Harry returned to reality and found Dumbledore staring at him blankly.
That look in his eyes was strange.
There was something strange about it, like—like—watching something terrifying.
Whenever Harry had this feeling, he felt ridiculous.
How could I possibly make the famous and omnipotent Dumbledore feel afraid?
"I've been waiting for this evidence for a long time."
Dumbledore finally spoke.
"It confirmed my suspicions, proving that I wasn't mistaken—and it also reminded me that there's still a long way to go."
"Harry, I believe you've realized how important that conversation was. At your age, maybe only a few months apart, Tom Riddle was already relentlessly pursuing the question of how to achieve immortality."
"So you think he succeeded, sir?"
Harry seemed to realize something and suddenly asked.
"He really created a Horcrux? That's why he didn't die after attacking me that day? Because he hid his Horcrux somewhere? And a small fragment of his soul remained unharmed?"
"A small piece — perhaps more than one piece."
Dumbledore shook his head and replied with a touch of melancholy.
"You also heard what Voldemort really wanted from Slughorn."
"What if a wizard creates more than one Horcrux? What would happen if, in order to escape death, he repeatedly killed and tore his own soul apart, hiding it in multiple objects?"
The answer cannot be found in books.
"6
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