Harry Potter and the Great Old Ones

Chapter 159 Initial Cooperation Strategy Reached
Tierra, or rather "Giddy Lohart," left Dumbledore's office in the evening. Gilderoy Lohart's eyes were lifeless, and his curly, fluffy blond hair hung limply on his head like instant noodles.

During the few hours Tierra spent in Dumbledore's office, Dumbledore had kept her in the Pensieve for half the time, forcing her to watch all the memories Dumbledore had collected about Voldemort or Tom Riddle.

After watching the video, Gilderoy Lockhart asked Dumbledore for permission to travel to Azkaban.

"Why?" Dumbledore asked.

“We all know Voldemort is a reclusive, arrogant, and distrustful Dark Lord, so we all assumed he would hide his Horcruxes in some remote corner—that’s a normal assumption,” Tierra said. “Voldemort would certainly wonder what his enemies think, so what if Voldemort doesn’t follow the usual path? After all, as you said, if Voldemort has more than one Horcrux, it doesn’t seem impossible that he would hide one in a secluded place and entrust another to his most trusted subordinate. And Voldemort’s most loyal subordinates… are all in Azkaban now.”

“That seems to make sense.” Dumbledore nodded and said, “Alright, I’ll arrange it for you. Who would you like to start with?”

“Bellatrix Lestrange and Sirius Black, those crazy siblings,” Tierra said.

Dumbledore silently tapped the armrest of his chair—

“Actually…” Dumbledore said, “I have always had reservations about Sirius Black’s arrest. Although the evidence provided by the Ministry of Magic is irrefutable, and Black has confessed to the crime… I still feel that there are some doubts… But it’s alright, I will make arrangements for you, and I hope you can make some new discoveries.”

"Anything else?" Dumbledore asked. "After seeing so many memories, you must have some other thoughts, right?"

“Our first Horcrux was the Ravenclaw tiara, found in Wool’s Orphanage. Wool’s Orphanage was a place of great significance to Voldemort, and the Ravenclaw tiara… forgive me for being confused, Voldemort was the heir to Slytherin, why would his Horcrux be the Ravenclaw tiara? So I guess…” Tierra said, “So I guess, if Voldemort really had multiple Horcruxes, Voldemort’s Horcruxes should at least include one relic from Slytherin, and even, if we dare to guess further—”

"Voldemort should possess at least four Horcruxes, each a relic from one of the founders of one of the four Houses. Ravenclaw's tiara has already been destroyed. That means three Horcruxes are still missing—"

“Two things. He didn’t get the relic of the founder of Gryffindor,” Dumbledore interrupted. “After Voldemort graduated from Hogwarts… he went back to the school once, and it was very similar to this incident. On the surface, he wanted to apply for the position of professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts, but in reality, he wanted to steal the relic of the founder of Gryffindor—the Sword of Gryffindor.”

"So he didn't succeed?" Tierra asked.

“No, the Sword of Gryffindor is an extremely special magical artifact. It…” Dumbledore paused before continuing, “It is not made by a goblin, it is made by The Goblin, the one and only goblin—the goblin alchemist Hephaestus. It is an alchemical artifact with divine characteristics. The Sword of Gryffindor possesses its own consciousness; it can choose who wields it.”

“Perhaps Voldemort chose other relics from Gryffindor?” Tyella asked.

“That’s impossible,” Dumbledore said with a smile. “At the time, I didn’t expect him to use Gryffindor’s relics to make Horcruxes. I just thought that Godric Gryffindor’s relics might contain some secrets, so I used my influence to collect all of Gryffindor’s relics.”

"You see, Professor Lockhart, you're clearly very intelligent," Dumbledore said, offering a sweet compliment. "So, I wish us a pleasant collaboration?"

“It’s a pleasure working with you,” Tierra said.

After reaching a preliminary cooperation agreement with Dumbledore, Tierra left the headmaster's office.

After Tierra left, Dumbledore leaned back in his chair and stroked his beard.

“While that is the case…” Dumbledore said, “I still feel that Tyella…was involved in the whole affair in some way…”

“Ah—ah—, ah—, ooh—, ah—” Phoenix Fox said.

“I know, I know, Tyella was petrified and has been lying in the university hospital bed ever since,” Dumbledore said, stroking his beard. “From both a temporal and motive standpoint, it’s impossible for him to have been involved in the whole thing, but I still think…”

“I still think he’s too mature, too confident. His ability to react to things and control the overall situation is nothing like that of an ordinary Muggle-born wizard,” Dumbledore said. “I find it hard to believe that he was controlled by Voldemort.”

“Ah—, ah—, ah!” said Fawkes. “Yes, perhaps I should write a letter to Gellert,” said Dumbledore, taking a piece of paper from the drawer—

"Hopefully, it's not our old friend repeating his experiments, creating an artificial life form that has escaped." Dumbledore unfolded the letter, dipped his quill in ink, and began to write:
“Darling, Gellert,”

It's been so long since we last spoke. I wonder if you're doing well...

Meanwhile, thanks to Tierra's brilliant performance at the entrance of Hogwarts Castle as "Giddy Lockhart," he received hero's treatment when "Giddy Lockhart" appeared in the Great Hall at dinner time—

Applause and cheers accompanied him from the auditorium hall to the teachers' seats.

Even Harry and Ron, the two young wizards who had always disliked Lockhart, started clapping and cheering, not to mention the Lockhart fans, who clapped their hands like groundhogs.

Some of the excited little witches even turned bright red and looked like they couldn't breathe—

However, most professors remained indifferent and stood by.

For example, Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape were cutting the steaks on their plates ever since Gilderoy Lockhart came in, while Professor Flitwick only looked up briefly before continuing to focus on the chicken cutlet on his plate.

As for the other teachers, although they all reacted to varying degrees, their reactions were far less enthusiastic than those of the students.

"Students, students!" Tiera raised her hand and said. The students below were so enthusiastic that Tiera felt she wouldn't be able to eat properly if she didn't say something.

"Classmates, I know you're all excited and thrilled," Tierra said. "I think you all witnessed the great battle this morning. Yes, I defeated Voldemort, but I hope that while you're cheering and applauding for me, please don't forget someone else, someone who silently contributed but was the first to be harmed—a genius little wizard—"

"I hope you will reserve your applause for him, for our Tyella, if not for his prophecy, if not for his courage—"

Then Tyella repeated her explanation to the Ministry of Magic in front of everyone.

After Tiera finished speaking, all the students present were visibly stunned for a moment, and then—

Harry and Ron started clapping, which started at the entire Gryffindor table. The applause then spread to almost the entire Great Hall. Except for the sparse applause at the Slytherin table, almost all the students were clapping enthusiastically.

In the Headmaster's office on the eighth floor of Hogwarts, Dumbledore finished writing the letter, checked his wording again, neatly folded it, and was about to put it into the envelope when he suddenly paused—

“Fox, you mean…why would Gilderoy Lockhart praise Tierra? He’s not exactly someone who’s willing to share his fame.”

Meanwhile, in the auditorium, as everyone applauded for Tiera, Tiera felt as if a faint weight had been added to her spirit, her soul, and her body.

--------split line--------

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I made a small change to Chapter 152, I'm really sorry. Sometimes I forget about foreshadowing myself after it's been buried for so long. I changed Tiera finding the Horcrux from the general store to Tiera finding it in Wool's Orphanage, which makes more sense.

Because the author's note can only be up to 500 words, the acknowledgments can only be placed in the main text. This isn't intentionally padding the word count.
Given everyone's enthusiasm, I should have added more chapters, but I had to spend yesterday and today with my girlfriend, so the extra chapters will have to be a few days later.

This is the first update; the second update might be posted later tonight.

Thank you again for your enthusiastic support!
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(End of this chapter)