"Calm down, calm down. You'll see them again soon." Dumbledore forcibly suppressed the anxiety in his heart and consoled himself.
At that moment, he recalled Albert's warning and realized that he had been far too hasty.
Even if there were no traces of magic left on the door before him, reaching out to touch it directly was hardly wise. Moreover, it was only a wooden door, yet after such a long time, it had remained relatively well preserved instead of rotting away completely. That alone was highly unusual.
Dumbledore murmured an incantation and lightly tapped the wooden door with his wand. Nothing happened.
"Am I overthinking this?" Dumbledore muttered.
Still, he had no intention of touching it himself. Instead, he waved his wand and made the wooden door open on its own.
A ball of light flew from the tip of his wand and drifted straight into the pitch-black house ahead, illuminating its interior completely.
The house had long since been abandoned. Thick cobwebs covered the ceiling, and the walls and roof had collapsed to varying degrees. One end of a rotten rafter had fallen down, creating the illusion that the entire house would collapse at the slightest touch.
Dumbledore stepped inside cautiously and carefully examined the place. Yet he found no trace of magic having been left behind.
The Horcrux wasn't here?
The old man turned his gaze back to the strange wooden door at the entrance. When he reached out with his dragon-hide-gloved hand to touch it, there was still no reaction.
After studying the wooden door for a while and confirming that it truly bore no trace of dark magic, he removed his glove and reached out to touch it. A strange pulling force seemed to spread from the door, sucking Dumbledore inside.
When he came back