Hogwarts 1991

Chapter 530

McGuffin stood in Dumbledore's office, and he was the only one here now.

While looking around boredly, he wondered why Dumbledore asked him to come up...

I guess I want to know if he and Black have found clues to [Horcrux]...

The circular office still looked the same: delicate silverware on slender-legged tables, which swirled and spewed little puffs of smoke;
After refurbishment, the portraits that have been rearranged show the old headmasters, men and women... Some are looking at the McGuffin with great interest;
The golden-red phoenix Fox is standing proudly on a shiny stick...it shakes its head, combs its tail feathers with a golden beak, and sings a song from time to time, with a melodious voice.

Just as McGuffin moved his feet and quietly approached the new bookshelf (he saw a very conspicuous and familiar book - "The Alchemy Book of Alchemy")... There was a sudden movement from the fireplace.

He was so scared that he stopped immediately and looked over there carefully.

The refurbished fireplace is licking a mass of flames,

The flames were like ocean waves, one wave after another, and at the last...spout from the fireplace, forming an arc of light in the open space of Dumbledore's office.

Inside the Flame Gate is a very familiar scene for McGuffin - the old classroom,
There was a very intense argument coming from inside.

"You know... Albus!" Fudge yelled angrily.

The sound echoed in the empty space of the old classroom, even though McGuffin could not see him standing here, he could still hear it clearly.

"The two of us are bound together, helping me is helping you... If I fall into the quagmire, you will not be much better."

"Did you hear that too? The news brought by Bagman and Crouch,...in the London sewers, in the Muggle subway passages...the monsters that appeared in the Ministry of Magic last time have begun to spread. This mess can't be hidden for long."

"Albus, you must help me..." He changed his tone and begged again.

Dumbledore came to the front of the aperture, and he had already stepped a foot. Hearing this... he had to turn around again, facing Fudge and said, "Connelly! You must know that I have told you clearly-Voldemort has been resurrected. What happened during the Ministry of Magic and Quidditch match...It has proved that he is trying his best to create panic, announcing to his servants that he has begun to make a comeback..."

"I can temporarily help you stabilize the situation in the magic world, but you must do something..."

"These sneaky and terrifying things happening in London are just a precursor to Voldemort's coming back. He is accumulating his own dark forces in a way we didn't expect. You must be more vigilant and transfer some Aurors to London...and even announce an emergency order in the wizarding world..."

"No, no... The matter is not serious enough, is it? Albus Dumbledore!" Fudge's hesitant and flustered voice sounded.

"Connelly... You must know that I am a very old wizard now. As I said when I discussed the 'Top Ten Tournament' with you, I have no extra energy to deal with things other than Hogwarts school. Voldemort... This student of mine will most likely be the last important thing I deal with in my life."

Dumbledore relaxed his tone, and suddenly played the tragic card.

"Don't... stop kidding, Albus. Now I need... no, the Ministry of Magic and the British wizarding world also needs you...Albus Dumbledore, especially at this time..."

Hearing Fudge's faltering words, one can also know that this guy can't deal with the old bee's trick of relying on the old and selling miserably.

"Okay...well, even if what you said is true, then why do you agree with me to gather wizards from all over the world to hold this event... Do you want to drag them into the water to deal with the Dark Lord? You must know that the Mysterious Man cannot be killed... It has been proved more than once 13 years ago that the accumulation of wizards alone cannot kill that monster." Fudge said helplessly.

"Of course I know... Didn't I already talk to you about this matter? Voldemort's matter, I will deal with it. What I'm more worried about is... In the coming world changes, Voldemort will be more adaptable to the changes in his magic than us. The unknown that he showed in the Ministry of Magic... The brand-new magic has shown this possibility! This is a racing competition, Fudge! You must be vigilant... What happened in London must be hiding some kind of trick of his..."

"Okay, I'll pay attention to it. Let some Aurors investigate first."

As if persuaded by Dumbledore, Fudge agreed wearily and helplessly.

"There is one more thing... besides Voldemort, the more important thing is... we are not ready to face the upcoming changes in the wizarding world, so I support you to hold this grand event... Gather all the wizards of the wizarding world to communicate, and use this as an opportunity to strengthen the connection between us. It will lay the foundation for the governance and unity of the global wizarding world in the future."

"This matter is even more important than Voldemort's survival. You must take this opportunity to facilitate this matter as much as possible. This is also beneficial to you..."

"It won't happen, Albus...Of course I will try my best." Fudge's voice suddenly rose, sounding very guilty.

"As for the safety of Hogwarts...you don't have to worry, I will call Moody in advance, based on his rich experience in dealing with black magic and dark wizards...plus we have nine more powerful foreign guests, and you have fire dragons...these are enough to protect the smooth progress of the 'Top Ten Tournament'." Dumbledore said again.

"This? Moody?...Then Azkaban!?"

"Fudge, don't worry. Hasn't Lupine won your trust yet? He should guarantee the safety of Azkaban... What's more, Azkaban doesn't have a new prison management system. Once things go wrong, can't all the prisoners be transferred out of there directly?"

"Okay?... Crouch and Bagman will be in charge of the progress of the next game, and I will monitor the current situation in London at the Ministry of Magic... If something goes wrong... Albus, you must stand by my side!" Fudge finally pleaded.

This time Dumbledore replied helplessly, "Well, I will help you."

"Okay, that's good, that's good... that's it!"

Standing in the principal's office, McGuffin finished listening to the conversation between Dumbledore and Fudge.

This made him confirm that Ms. Hopkirk's warning to himself before leaving England was indeed not groundless.

London...or the whole of Britain was indeed shrouded in inexplicable darkness.

"It seems that I have to inform my family to leave here in the UK during this year... it is best to stay away from Europe. '

And Barty Crouch...

McGuffin pondered another warning from Ms. Hopekirk: beware of Crouch, Acting Minister of the Ministry of Magic's Law Division...

If this is the case, then whether the old Crouch has been replaced by his own son... Little Crouch.

Does the old fox Dumbledore know this?

When McGuffin was very puzzled by this, Dumbledore finally stepped in from the flame door.

Dumbledore didn't seem to be surprised at all, McGuffin was guarding outside the flame gate, and looked at him with strange eyes.

It was as if his conversation with Fudge had been deliberately overheard by the MacGuffin.

After Dumbledore looked at the room where only McGuffin was alone, he sighed slightly. He turned around and waved his hand, and the flame door automatically turned into flames and returned to the fireplace, and then immediately re-formed another flame door smaller than before.

Hagrid, who was dressed up... was very happy. He was serving Sirius with a huge naan, while Black was not in the mood and was waving his hands and refusing.

"Professor Dumbledore! This is..." The Flame Gate suddenly appeared, causing Hagrid to exclaim.

"I have something to do with Black... Hagrid."

"Okay, professor!" Hagrid quickly agreed, he put down the naan bread in his hand quickly, then stood up from the small stool, and stepped aside from the flame door... in front of the fireplace to get away from his huge body.

Black immediately saw the MacGuffin standing in front of Dumbledore.His expression immediately became a lot more awkward, looking very uncomfortable.

Dumbledore saw the locket held tightly in Black's hand at a glance.

"Black? Is that thing... your harvest this time?" Dumbledore asked eagerly.

Sirius had to turn his gaze to McGuffin,
McGuffin shook his head, indicating that he hadn't said anything yet.

"Forgive me, Professor Dumbledore, this is not what you are looking for... Wait a little longer, and you will be able to..."

Before the words were finished, Kreacher suddenly appeared in this hut with a snap.

He hummed in pain, and held his right hand high...'It (hand)' was scorched, like a scorched bark, and on that long finger, hung a locket that constantly exuded a black aura.

This locket is much more exquisite than the one in Sirius' hands. There is a capital ''S'' snake-shaped letter in the center of the octagonal box.

Perhaps the locket has accumulated too much magic power in the past 13 years; or the changes in the world have caused Voldemort's soul fragments to gradually begin to recover; or maybe it already knows that it is about to face the fate of destruction... This thing is struggling fiercely, shaking the silver chain constantly, emitting dark magic power tormenting the house-elf, trying to escape from him... trying to control him...

But it was obviously unsuccessful, Kreacher still managed to bring Slytherin's locket from Black's old house here, and brought it to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore looked at the fake locket in Black's hand, then at his sad and indignant expression, and the unspeakable silence on McGuffin, and said, "It seems that you have traveled a long journey..."

"Put it down, elf...you've punished yourself enough."

A light flashed under Dumbledore's glasses, and he seemed to have understood what the elf was thinking through [Remembrance].

Dumbledore stepped into Hagrid's hut first, and he stretched out his skinny left hand towards Kreacher.

Kreacher turned his head with difficulty to look at his master Black. Black didn't care about the elf's injury and pain. He just stared sadly at the locket in his hand and nodded after a while.

Kreacher immediately put down the [Horcrux], and sat weakly on the ground.Then he let out a terrible gasp of breathing.

After Dumbledore cast a protective spell on his left hand, he reached out and took the [Horcrux].

[Horcrux] As if knowing that his end is coming,... trembling, let out a terrifying scream, like a ghost howling.

The thing spun around rapidly, as if it had its own will to live, swinging from side to side, trying to break free from Dumbledore's grasp.

Those dark and ominous auras appeared...they turned into hundreds of worms in the air...trying to erode Dumbledore's arm time and time again, but were repulsed by the white light shrouded in Dumbledore's arm time and time again.

Dumbledore held it firmly in his hand and did not let it escape.

Afterwards, he didn't say much. Instead, he first checked Kreacher's injuries, and then let Hagrid follow them into the principal's office.

Then he ordered Hagrid to take Kreacher to find Professor Snape for treatment.

After that, only Dumbledore, Black, and McGuffin were left in the room.

And each of them held a locket.

Just stood there silent.

After a long time, Dumbledore asked what happened to them.

McGuffin looked at Black as if he really didn't want to explain now.

So he could only talk about it, the two of them started their journey of looking for [Horcrux] under that cliff last night.

It started with Little Geffen's army... found that cave, that arched passage... then dealt with infernal corpses, white phosphorous bombs... and finally on that small island... through ingenious body transformation... broke through the magic mechanism left by Voldemort...

"Amazing! Really amazing! Albert... this approach is very interesting, very different...Even I can't do better there. Albert, you have minimized the damage you have suffered."

"Voldemort can only do some clever things... He has been like this since Hogwarts school, and has not changed...Those who think they are afraid, and fear is powerless... Everyone else will be the same."

"So what happened next? Why are there two lockets??" Dumbledore asked a series of questions again, "How did the elf get the real locket?"

"The elf thing... I don't know either. It's just that there is a piece of paper in that box..."

McGuffin then talked about how Black found the piece of paper in the locket, the contents of the letter... and the matter of RAB and Regulus.

"RAB... Regulus?" Dumbledore thought slowly, and he looked at Black with a heavy expression on his face.

At this moment, an angry shout suddenly sounded in the principal's office, which startled McGuffin.

"You idiot Mudblood...how dare...you dare to burn the corpse of the heir of the Black family..."

One of the portraits featured a former Hogwarts headmaster, yelling at the McGuffin with an angry face.

Then he yelled at Black again, "Incompetent, idiot...coward! You are simply not worthy of being part of the Black family...you can't even take care of your own brother..."

McGuffin looked under the photo frame, on which was written the name of a wizard:

— Phineas Nigellus Black.

(End of this chapter)