The Half-Blood Prince

This was perhaps the grimmest start-of-term feast yet. For the first time, Dumbledore spoke to all the students about the Dark Lord, whose name had once been unspeakable.

Even as Dumbledore delivered a reassuring speech in the Great Hall, several streaks of black mist came howling toward Hogwarts Castle, only to slam into its protective shield.

As soon as the feast ended, Eli hurried to the Headmaster's Office.

Eli was in such a rush that he did not even stop to touch the statue before pushing through the door. Dumbledore, however, looked perfectly at ease.

Eli was frantic. Dumbledore was as calm as a summer breeze.

Only after a while did Eli realize that Dumbledore already had a plan and knew he had nothing to fear.

Dumbledore told Eli about his conversation with Snape and shared some of his plans.

After hearing them, Eli could only marvel at how formidable the greatest white wizard was.

His cunning bordered on the supernatural.

Eli almost felt sorry for Voldemort. Faced with an opponent who never lost, he had been caught in Dumbledore's scheme from the very beginning, every move anticipated.

"I hope you can get close to Professor Slughorn. He thinks highly of you, so that shouldn't be difficult."

"What do you need me to do?"

"We've confirmed that Voldemort made Horcruxes. Now I want to know exactly how many he made. I'll speak to Harry as well. With the two of you working together, I'm sure we'll soon have the real memory."

Dumbledore had a memory of Tom Riddle asking Slughorn about Horcruxes years ago.

Unfortunately, the memory had been altered. In it, Slughorn angrily sent Tom Riddle away.

From his investigation, Dumbledore had concluded that Slughorn had lived with guilt ever since Voldemort rose to power, because he had told