"Jerry..." Once everyone had left, Dumbledore turned to him with a questioning look.
"I don't think they had anything to do with it!" Jerry shook his head. "Catherine wouldn't do something like that right under my nose without telling me. I don't know yet whether they're bad people, but they're certainly not that stupid!"
"No?" Dumbledore frowned. "I didn't expect a Diary to hold so much power. I underestimated Voldemort's Horcruxes."
"That's understandable. Voldemort split his soul so many times. His Horcruxes couldn't all be for immortality. One or two were bound to have other uses—like this Diary."
"You mean?"
"We should be careful whenever we come across a Horcrux. Who knows what Dark Magic Voldemort put on it?"
Jerry was warning Dumbledore to be careful, so that when he retrieved Marvolo Gaunt's Ring, he wouldn't fall into Voldemort's trap as he had in the original story.
Dumbledore heard him out and nodded thoughtfully.
"Still, Professor, you're remarkably calm about letting a Basilisk roam the school! Aren't you afraid a student might die and the Ministry of Magic and the School Governors would come after you?"
"Because I know Voldemort. Killing isn't what he wants right now. He wants Harry. And I wasn't the one who chose Harry. Voldemort chose him that night more than ten years ago."
"As for the Ministry of Magic and the School Governors... let them send someone to investigate."
"No wonder Fudge and those Pure-blood families are afraid of you! I bet they even call you the White Dark Lord behind your back," Jerry teased.
Dumbledore smiled but did not respond to the nickname.
"When will Fawkes be reborn?" Jerry walked over to the desk and stroked his feathers.
"Within a month, I expect. But if you want his help against the Basilisk, you'll have