Tom's Nesting-Doll Horcruxes

Headmaster's Office.

There was no one there, only milky white mist swirling within the Pensieve.

After an unknown amount of time, Dumbledore and William returned to their office from their memories.

After reading through Harry and William's memories, Dumbledore leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and seemed to be deep in thought.

William waited quietly, glancing around as he did so.

Fawkes returned to the shelf, completely bald, and buried its head in its nest to sleep.

It plans to wait until its fur grows out before going out for a stroll.

After all, a plucked phoenix is no better than a chicken!

The Sorting Hat returned to its original place, next to Sword of Gryffindor.

William hadn't expected that the Sorting Hat could summon Sword of Gryffindor.

It's unclear whether it was Gryffindor's magic or Dumbledore's doing.

He prefers Dumbledore; the headmaster loves playing these little games, which can be unexpected and give you the illusion of being chosen by someone else.

See? Only the true Gryffindor can pull the sword out of the Sorting Hat!

Instantly, his courage buff doubled, and he charged forward with a roar!

After Dumbledore opened his eyes, picked up the destroyed diary, and sighed:

"Truly remarkable. Needless to say, Tom is probably one of the most outstanding students in the history of Hogwarts."

William agreed and gave Tom the middle finger. If the Dark Lord wasn't excellent, he wouldn't be the Dark Lord.

William did not inquire about the other "several outstanding students"; now was not the time for idle chatter about wizards or mutual flattery.

"William, you've done very well, as excellent as ever," Dumbledore said softly.

"But I made a serious mistake, relying too much on the ring's power in the hope of training Harry."

Countless facts have proven that I, like ordinary people, make mistakes. In fact, because I—please forgive me—am much smarter than most people, my mistakes are correspondingly more serious.

I never imagined that the Chamber of Secrets held records of Slytherin.

Dumbledore's tone was filled with deep self-reproach.

"So, we're in trouble, big trouble, even more troublesome than Voldemort."

"Sixteen-year-old Riddle?"

"That's right, I've said it more than once: young Tom was more terrifying than Voldemort."

The two men had different ways of doing things. Voldemort, having gained immense power, lost his patience, believed himself to be immortal, and preferred the simplest form of killing.

Riddle was young and inclined to win people over and use scheming and intrigue.

Having learned from Voldemort's lesson, I think he'll be more cautious when facing me.

Dumbledore put down his diary and leaned back gently in his chair.

"Professor, there's something I don't understand. Why didn't either Riddle or Voldemort die after being hit by Avada Kedavra?"

Riddle said he was Voldemort's soul, banished to the diary.

What kind of magic is this? I've thought about it for a long time, but I can't remember which magic book contains something similar.

Dumbledore's expression turned serious as he carefully examined William, the tips of his ten long, slender fingers gently touching together.

After a long silence, he finally asked cautiously, "William, have you ever heard of the term Horcrux?"

"Hmm... I've heard of it. It's mentioned in the Restricted Section book 'Magick Moste Evile,' which says, 'The most evil magical invention, Horcrux, will not be discussed here.'"

Apart from that, I haven't seen this word in any other books on Restricted Section.

"That's because I moved all the books that detailed Horcrux."

Dumbledore slightly raised his hand, and a thick book flew out of the cabinet.

It was a book with a brown leather cover and the title read "Secrets of the Darkest Art".

"This book is full of Dark Magic, and it contains the most detailed steps on how to create and destroy Horcrux."

Dumbledore opened the book and turned to the page about Horcrux.

On the page is a man who has killed someone, letting out a painful roar, and his soul appears to be torn apart.

"Through killing, the soul is separated and sealed in an object."

In this way, even if your body is attacked or destroyed, you will not die, because a part of your soul remains in the world, unharmed...

"So this is the secret to Voldemort's immortality—the diary is his Horcrux?" William raised an eyebrow.

Dumbledore nodded seriously. "That's right. I realized a long time ago that Voldemort might have created Horcrux."

So I moved all the books about Horcrux into my office to prevent others from seeing them.

I've been searching for evidence all this time, and I finally found the diary.

"Then there's another question, Professor," William asked astutely, "How did the diary end up in Ron's hands?"

"I think it was Lucius Malfoy who gave it to me; he's been too conspicuous and high-profile lately."

Malfoy's House-elf has approached Harry more than once, hinting at an impending attack... All these signs indicate that the diary previously belonged to Malfoy.

William thought about it carefully, "The only time Malfoy had contact with Ron was at Flourish and Blotts, where he fought with Mr. Weasley."

It was probably given to Ron around that time.

"But how could he... dare to give Voldemort's Horcrux to Ron?" William asked, puzzled.

Malfoy probably didn't know it was a Horcrux; Arthur's repeated searches made him anxious.

"He's eager to get rid of his master's things and also wants to frame Arthur," Dumbledore analyzed.

"This raises another question, Professor," William said, his brow furrowed. "Why is the Horcrux in Malfoy's possession?"

I mean, why would Voldemort entrust something so important to his servant?

Given Voldemort's personality, shouldn't something so important be kept in a very safe place, where no one could find it?

"Was he too... careless?"

"William, your observation is very keen." Dumbledore nodded slightly. "I've been thinking about this as well."

"Voldemort was too careless with this Horcrux, which means he may have already made more Horcrux, so losing one is not so dangerous."

I don't want to believe it, but there seems to be no other explanation that makes sense.

William hesitated for a moment, then said helplessly, "Does that mean we'll never be able to kill Voldemort? We don't know the number of Horcrux, nor their exact locations."

Voldemort really was a "Voldemort"... carving out his own niche for himself.

If William were him, he would find a beautiful island to hide on and outlive Dumbledore.

"I'm still investigating the location of the other Horcrux, and I have a few leads," Dumbledore said.

William was stunned; the principal's efficiency was a bit too high.

Indeed, those who understand you best are always your enemies!

As for the quantity, perhaps one person knows.

"Who?"

"My former colleague Horace Slughorn. He used to be the head of Slytherin House, and he was a big fan of Tom; the two were very close."

"Voldemort wouldn't tell him about this, would he?"

"I think Tom may have consulted Horace about this matter," Dumbledore said cautiously.

"Twelve years ago, Horace was extremely relieved and almost lost control of his joy when he heard that Voldemort had been defeated by Harry."

His reaction was so strange; he had drunk a lot of alcohol while talking to me and inadvertently let slip a few words.

So I began to suspect that Horace might have shared some dark secrets with Tom.

"Later, I cautiously inquired several times, but he refused to speak. A few days later, he directly submitted his resignation to me."

William nodded; this reaction did indeed give off a feeling of guilt.

"Then, Professor, I have one last question."

Dumbledore nodded, signaling William to bring it up.

"Did you notice that Tom has broken free of the diary and resurrected in a spirit state?"

Although he was condemned to Avada Kedavra, he did not die; instead, he became a shadow like Voldemort, waiting to be resurrected.

"This may be due to other Horcrux. If Voldemort created multiple Horcrux, they have now become shared Horcrux for both of them," Dumbledore explained.

"But is it possible that even if we find all the Horcrux and successfully destroy them, we still won't be able to defeat Little Tom and Old Tom?"

Because they all belong to Tom Riddle's soul, and each exists independently and well, they become Horcrux, forming Horcrux doll?

(Thanks to "Hell Cat" and "Elffire Wind" for their generous donations)