Outside Hogwarts Castle, snowflakes drifted like goose feathers. The lawn was pitted and uneven, with snowmen the students had built and makeshift trenches for snowball fights everywhere. A strong wind swept past, and halos like specks of starlight flickered-the sign that the anti-teleportation enchantment surrounding Hogwarts was being lifted.
"I can hardly wait, Albus." Brian reached out and took one of the infant Horcrux's hands. "I'm looking forward to seeing how Voldemort reacts when I, the man he killed, appear again-of course, observing his expression will come after I seal his magical power."
"So you really do have a way to seal a wizard's magical power. But I suggest you had better not do that-" the infant-shaped Horcrux said in a muffled voice. "That's bad. That's very bad!"
"What's bad about it?" Brian glanced at the infant Horcrux.
"It would affect how I feel about him-without his magical power, his flavor would surely change. If you leave the honey out of a honey cake, can it still count as a honey cake?" the infant Horcrux said blankly. "I want him whole-the most delicious version of him-"
"-" Brian could not help shuddering. He and Dumbledore were about to set off now. Using an extremely long-range teleportation spell, they had decided to pay Voldemort a visit, and Voldemort's Horcrux would offer them powerful support in the process. Of course, that support would not come free-the story began fifteen minutes earlier, when Brian could no longer sense his Doppelgänger's existence at all.
"The Doppelgänger has vanished completely. He-he was probably killed. But at the last moment, he passed me a message-a message that reached my mind directly. Voldemort set up a magic array near my home that consumes an astonishing amount of magical power. That array should have finished activating by now.