Say NO to Saintly Behavior

When Harry came to his senses from the dizzying sensation, he found himself on a rocky outcrop.

The sound of surging waves filled my ears, the salty smell of the sea lingered in my nostrils, and when I looked up, the bright morning sun was rising slowly from the sea.

"It's a bit cold."

Sirius tightened his clothes, after all, it was winter, and even though the North Atlantic Current prevented the seawater from freezing, the air temperature was still cold.

Harry turned to look behind him, where a towering, steep cliff loomed, barely visible in the darkness.

The huge rocks around them, along with the one they were standing on, looked as if they had collapsed off a cliff.

The surrounding area was desolate, without a single blade of grass or a single grain of sand.

"I must say, he's a smart man," Sirius said again. "Look at this place, I really doubt that seagulls and albatrosses would come here to lay their eggs, let alone whether anyone would come here at all."

"If I were Voldemort, perhaps I would have made the same choice as him," Dumbledore said.

He paused for a moment and then said again, "However, I have only heard bits and pieces about this cave from certain places. We still need to explore to find out what's inside."

"About what?" Sirius asked curiously.

Not to mention Sirius, even Veratia looked at Dumbledore with curiosity.

Everyone loves to hear gossip like this.

"These are just rumors, and they may not be true."

Dumbledore said, looking around, "I've heard it from others, that there's a valley-like place somewhere in the middle of these cliffs behind us. I think that's where Tom took the orphans under the guise of smelling the sea and watching the waves. No, I think that's the only place Tom and his young victims could have visited. No Muggle could have come to these rocks except for a very few exceptional mountaineers."

"They couldn't come to this cliff by boat either, the water around here is too dangerous for them... I think Tom used a rope to climb down, although magic would have been easier. He also brought two children with him, maybe just for the fun of scaring them."

"When did this happen?" Veratia asked, frowning. "Was it after he came of age?"

"No, to be precise..." Dumbledore frowned and sighed, "Actually, this happened before he enrolled at Hogwarts... when he was just over ten years old."

Upon hearing Dumbledore's answer, Veratia instinctively gasped in surprise.

She never imagined that Tom was already so evil at such a young age.

"It seems he really is a born evil seed. I still don't understand why you thought you could reform him, Headmaster?" Veratia looked at Dumbledore in confusion. "You should know that Voldemort was a product of Love Potion and was born without understanding what love is. Also, I need to remind you that he showed his evil nature at a very young age. What we need to do most is to nip him in the bud."

"Everyone has the right to be redeemed, Miss Grindelwald." Dumbledore remained steadfast in his belief. "Even if he is a born bad seed."

"Is that so?" Veratia sneered. "How many people have suffered because of your momentary act of sainthood? How many people have been torn apart by their families because of your indulgence... I really can't understand it. If it were me, I'm afraid he wouldn't even have time to leave the orphanage before I drowned him in this sea with my Charms."

Unexpectedly, applause suddenly broke out from the side.

Sirius was getting to know his daughter-in-law, who was much older than him, in a new light. Her decisive and ruthless personality was truly... quite suitable to be Harry's girlfriend.

"I must admit you're right, Miss Grindelwald," Sirius nodded in agreement. "To merely drown him in this sea is the greatest mercy you could bestow upon him!"

Dumbledore chose to ignore their conversation, and the argument could have gone on forever.

He's feeling a bit exhausted, but he doesn't want to convince anyone anymore.

Tired, let's destroy it.

Perhaps they are right.

"Let's go," Dumbledore continued. "This isn't their final destination. That cave is the one Tom discovered when he was eleven. When he wanted to store Horcrux, this was almost the first place he thought of—it's just ahead."

He gestured for everyone to walk down a crooked, narrow stone hollow along the edge of the reef, which led down to the huge, half-submerged rocks closer to the cliff.

It's very slippery. Because the stones are constantly immersed in seawater, there is a sticky, slippery film on their surface. It's incredibly slippery to touch with your hands, let alone step on with your feet.

Sirius recited a magic Charms to prevent people from slipping and falling in the water because it was too slippery.

The waves crashed against the rocks beneath their feet, and Harry could even feel the fine, powdery, and icy mist of water pattering on his face.

This area is somewhat dark, perhaps because it is obscured by rocks.

"Lumos!"

Dumbledore chanted Charms, and the shimmering Charms light reflected countless points of light on the surrounding slippery rock walls.

"See that?" Dumbledore said, pointing ahead. "There's a set of steps over there. Once we go up those steps, we can enter the cave... But there's one problem: would you mind getting a little wet?"

"Get wet?" Harry asked, frowning. He didn't understand what Dumbledore meant.

Why wet it?

"Oh, the entrance to that cave is blocked by seawater. You'll have to swim to get through," Dumbledore said nonchalantly, as if he weren't the one going swimming.

"I mind."

Before Harry could answer, Veratia spoke first, "But I have a better way, without us having to learn anything about Merpeople."

With that, she drew her wand and looked at Harry.

"Harry, do you remember the Charms I taught you?"

"What Charms?" Harry asked, bewildered.

"It was during the second semester of fifth grade," Veratia guided Harry to recall the scene, "When the two of us went to rescue Fiona..."

Harry remembered that the poachers' camp was underwater in the lake. Veratia taught Harry to use Charms to drain the lake completely, wiping out the poachers effortlessly.

He remembered clearly how terrified the poacher leader looked when they appeared dry and clean at the poacher's hideout.

With that in mind, Harry also took out his wand.

Holly Wood, Phoenix Feather.

The ruby at the tip of the wand was emitting an eerie glow.

"Let's do it together." Veratia stood next to Harry, and the two of them aimed their wands at the water in the underground cave.

Suddenly, ripples appeared at the cave entrance, followed by a long water dragon that shot into the sky and landed in the sea not far away.

The water dragon's momentum grew stronger and stronger, showing no sign of stopping.

"It seems Voldemort has taken some precautions here," Sirius said. "Perhaps he just has this twisted sense of humor, wanting us to swim into this cave instead of using magic..."

As soon as he finished speaking, the diameter of the waterspout shrank slightly.

The waterspout grew thinner and thinner until it became just a tiny line of water.

"Of course, I might be wrong." Sirius changed his tune quickly; he wasn't one to be stubborn, especially in this regard.

"Looks pretty good," Harry said with a grin. Whatever the magical protection, all that's needed is a powerful enough brute-force Charms to break it.

The legendary strength that could fly bricks is based on this principle.

"Indeed excellent." Sirius gave a thumbs-up to his good son and Veratia, praising them sincerely.

He was unaware that his godson had absorbed the Philosopher's Stone, but he could still discern the surging magical power within the Charms.

Let alone James, even if you tied Gryffindor graduates of his class together, they might not have one percent of this godson's magical strength.

"Then let's continue on," Dumbledore said to them.

They walked down the cave wall. It was dark inside, but the light from the Charms in Dumbledore's hand was enough to see the walls clearly.

Following the path upwards, they finally reached the true entrance to the cave.

After stepping onto the stairs, Dumbledore raised his wand and examined the walls and ceiling.

"This should be a Entrance hall," Dumbledore said softly. "We need to go further in... Now we are facing obstacles set up by Voldemort himself, not just the natural ones."

"So, all that water just now wasn't an obstacle Voldemort set up?" Sirius asked, frowning.

"Perhaps yes, perhaps no," Dumbledore replied ambiguously, using nonsensical literary language.

He approached the cave wall, gently stroked it with his hand, and mumbled some strange language that no one could understand.

Dumbledore circled the stone wall twice, touching as many rocks as possible, occasionally stopping to stroke a particular spot with his fingers until he finally stopped.

He pressed his palm against the wall, turned to Harry and the others, and said, "The entrance here has been hidden by Voldemort's magic."

Having said that, he stepped back from the wall and pointed his wand at the rock.

A moment later, an arc appeared there, bright and dazzling, as if there was a very powerful light source behind the gap.

"Looks like you succeeded, Professor," Sirius said with a grin.

"No," Dumbledore said, taking a small silver knife from his pocket and slicing his palm, from which blood gushed.

He pressed his hand against the wall, and the gap in the wall that was letting in light shook violently. After a moment, an entrance large enough for two people to pass side by side was revealed.

"Just as I thought, we'll need to pay a price to get through."

After saying that, he withdrew his hand and touched the wound on his hand with his wand.

A miracle occurred; the wound on his hand was healing at an astonishing speed.

"Perhaps we have a better way, Dumbledore," Veratia said, frowning. "I can sense that your body is a little weaker after you sacrificed a part of your blood... I hope you can inform us before you take action, after all, you are not only the Headmaster of Hogwarts, but also my junior schoolmate."

"I understand, Miss Grindelwald." Dumbledore wasn't offended; in fact, she seemed to enjoy it. "But sometimes, such situations are unavoidable."

"How will we know if we don't try?" Veratia said softly.

Dumbledore nodded to Veratia, looked up at the rock wall, then at the open door, and said, "Well then, we can go in... If I'm not mistaken, this is where Voldemort wanted to place Slytherin's Locket, and... also where Regulus died."

Sirius's Adam's apple bobbed. Although he was about to get an answer, he couldn't help but feel nervous.

This is understandable; anyone would have such a reaction if they were about to see the body of a loved one.

The passage was very narrow at first, only wide enough for one or two people to pass side by side, but after a few steps it opened up and they walked until they found themselves standing on the edge of a huge Black Lake. The lake was so big that they could not even make out the shore in the distance.

Here is a tall cave with no visible ceiling. A green light, shrouded in mist, shines brightly in the distance, reflected on the completely still lake surface, making it appear as if it is in the middle of the lake.

The green light and the glow from the wand pierced the velvety darkness around them, though the wand's light didn't travel that far.

For some reason, the density of darkness here is much greater than elsewhere.

It was pitch black, making it hard to breathe.

"Is this where the Horcrux are hidden?" Sirius asked cautiously. "It doesn't seem like a very pleasant place, at least that's how I see it..."

"I still can't imagine that eleven-year-old Voldemort would dare to come to this place," Harry said, looking around. "Not to mention, he had a premeditated plan to murder two of his orphanage friends... I think Veratia is right, some people are just born evil, and that can't be changed."

As they were speaking, the green light that had been wandering in the distance suddenly shone brightly, turning the entire lake surface into patches of ghastly green.

"That's where Voldemort hid the fake Horcrux in the middle of the lake," Dumbledore said, looking at the Islet in the middle of the lake. "And he hid the Inferi at the bottom of this lake. I don't know how to lure out the Inferi, but I know how to retrieve the Horcrux."

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