Voldemort's Soul Fragment

Secrets were secrets because only a very few people knew them.

If eleven people knew...

It would be fine if the six kids knew, but Hagrid was the key—he couldn't keep a secret.

Just look at him, wiping his tears and blowing his nose. Everyone present knew that the moment he walked out that door, he would tell Harry everything.

Even if he did not say it this time, he would sooner or later.

Rather than be mistaken for deliberately concealing it, it was better to come clean openly.

Twelve was a sensitive age.

Ages two to three were a toddler's rebellious phase;

Ages seven to nine were a child's rebellious phase;

Ages twelve to eighteen were adolescence's rebellious phase.

If good intentions were mistaken for malice, Dumbledore might have one more thing to regret.

The Owl Court common room.

When Hagrid appeared with red-rimmed eyes, Harry already sensed that something big had happened.

When Hagrid blew his nose and told Ron to come along too, it became something extremely serious.

As the three of them walked out the door, a pair of little eyes peered through the crack of the not-quite-closed door opposite.

What was that big dummy of a gamekeeper up to?

He was such a grown man, yet he was actually bawling his eyes out.

More importantly, he had taken Potter and that red-haired skunk upstairs. Surely one of them was about to be expelled.

His foul mood from yesterday vanished completely. He was going to laugh as loudly as he pleased.

"Ho ho ho ho—"

Seamus, who was playing cards near the door, jerked his hand and dropped the Fudge card he had hidden so carefully.

Dean grinned wickedly and played an Abraxas Malfoy card.

The chibi Fudge on the table, who had been