The Gaunt Shack

When Harry suddenly opened his eyes, he found himself lying in the Hospital Wing.

The Gryffindor Quidditch team members, all dressed in clean robes, gathered around his bedside.

Harry twisted his neck uncomfortably. Judging from everyone's looks, it seemed like he was about to die, and they were all waiting for him to go out for a meal after his farewell.

Especially Ron, holding a bunch of white chrysanthemums and a black-and-white photograph... what does that mean?

"Harry!" Fred exclaimed, his face pale. "How are you feeling now?"

Harry shook his head, his memories rushing back: the black dog... Cho and the Golden Snitch... the Dementor... William and Riddle...

"What happened?" he couldn't help but ask.

"You fell," George said, "About forty meters."

"What about the match?" Harry's heart pounded. "Did Cho catch the Golden Snitch?"

"No, Qiu didn't catch the Golden Snitch." Angelina shook her head.

"Autumn was less than five meters away from the Golden Snitch, but she gave up and chose to save you."

"She swooped down from a height of tens of meters," Fred said admiringly.

"You were unconscious at the time and didn't see what happened... Everyone was terrified, thinking she was going to fall to her death..."

"Where is Cho now? Is she hurt?" Harry sat up straight, moved, and asked loudly.

Harry looked around but couldn't find her in the next bed.

"Qiu is fine. She's very skilled; she caught you when you were only a few meters from the ground," George quickly explained.

Cedric arrived just in time and cast Slowing Charm.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief, feeling both happy and somewhat disappointed.

I'm happy that Qiu is alright, but I'm also sad that Qiu... is alright.

It would be great if Qiu could come and stay with him in the hospital.

The two happened to be in adjacent beds, and during the long nights when they couldn't sleep, they could discuss ten Quidditch ball-playing techniques.

"How will the final score be calculated?" Harry asked again, concerned.

"William was very gentlemanly; he suggested a rematch, but Professor McGonagall refused," Arya said, like a devoted fan.

William had a bad reputation before, with many rumors saying he was a scumbag who liked to play with young girls' feelings.

But after the morning's match, especially his use of the Patronus Charm... it was so cool!

He's a scumbag, so be it.

Arya joined the Stark Support Group " at noon, preparing to become a disciplinary committee member and purge those heretics who spoke ill of him.

Fred poured Harry a glass of water and continued, "I also think Professor McGonagall should refuse."

Aki could have caught the Golden Snitch, but she gave up.

"And even according to the rules, we should continue the competition."

But Ravenclaw is already seventy points ahead of us. Without you catching the Golden Snitch, we would have suffered a crushing defeat in this match.

After all, Ravenclaw has the best Chaser in Hogwarts history... William!

"That's right." George nodded. "Ravenclaw won fairly, they won honorably... By conceding outright, we actually gained the upper hand, even Wood admits that."

"Where's Wood?" Harry asked, suddenly realizing Wood wasn't there.

"He's still getting soaked in the rain," Fred said. "He's probably planning to drown himself."

Harry buried his face between his knees and grabbed his hair with both hands.

Fred grabbed Harry's shoulders and shook him roughly. "Alright, Harry, no one can win all the time, Ravenclaw is no exception."

"That's right, the match isn't over yet," Fred said. "We've lost seventy points, haven't we? So, if Ravenclaw loses to Hufflepuff, and we beat Slytherin and Hufflepuff..."

"Ravenclaw is going to lose at least two hundred points."

George fell silent.

This is too difficult!

"By the way, where's William?" Harry suddenly looked up and asked.

Harry was eager to find William and discuss with him how to deal with the Dementor.

Also, why does he always seem to see the scenes of William and Riddle fighting in the Chamber of Secrets?

Harry was very curious about what Voldemort had done to him.

But everyone remained silent.

"What's wrong?"

William and Dumbledore eliminated all the Dementor that entered Hogwarts.

Minister Fudge arrived at noon, and during lunch, he had a gloomy face and seemed very unhappy.

"After finishing their meal, William and the principal left the school," Fred said.

The Gryffindor Quidditch Team were all taken aback.

"They won't be going to the Ministry of Magic for questioning, will they?" Alicia asked, her face full of worry.

"They killed so many Dementor at once; those were Azkaban's guards."

Everyone looked at Hermione.

Hermione's face flushed red. She shook her head and lied, "I don't know either..."

Hermione seemed a little distracted.

Horcrux... she wanted to go with them too.

Two figures suddenly appeared on a country road.

On both sides of the road, there are tall, intertwined shrub hedges, and overhead is the autumn sky, as clear and blue as forget-me-not flowers.

William looked up and saw a wooden signpost protruding from the brambles on the left side of the path, with two opposing directional arrows:

Great Hangleton, 5 miles.

Little Hangleton, 1 mile.

They were heading towards Little Hangleton.

"Is this the Gaunt Shack?" William asked.

"Yes," Dumbledore said, "A very remote place where the Gaunt family has lived for many years."

"Professor, why did Voldemort place the Horcrux in Gaunt Shack?"

"There are some memories I'm still searching for, but I can still tell you some of what I've deduced," Dumbledore said.

Tom's full name is Tom Marvolo Riddle.

"Marvolo?" William said absentmindedly. "I've looked up the Gaunt family genealogy; there's a man named Marvolo Gaunt."

"That's right, that's Voldemort's grandfather." Dumbledore nodded.

No wonder Voldemort Parseltongue and could open the Chamber of Secrets; he was a descendant of Slytherin.

The two walked along the road for a while and soon arrived at a valley.

A village can be seen in the valley; that is undoubtedly Little Hangleton.

The church and cemetery are clearly visible, and on the hillside opposite the valley stands a grand mansion surrounded by vast expanses of green lawn.

Dumbledore gazed at the house and said softly, "That's the home of old Tom Riddle, Tom's father."

Was his father also a wizard?

Dumbledore shook his head. "Old Tom is just a Muggle."

William was taken aback.

Voldemort's mother was Pure-blood, and his father was Muggle... yet he was a fanatical advocate of Pure-blood?

I wonder how those Death Eaters would feel if they knew their master's father was a Muggle.

Led by Dumbledore, the two did not head towards Little Hangleton, but instead turned right onto a path, entering a narrower intersection.

"William, we've arrived. This is Gaunt Shack," Dumbledore said calmly.

William looked up and saw a dilapidated house at the end of the road.

The walls were covered in moss, many roof tiles had fallen off, and in many places the rafters were exposed.

The house was surrounded by dense nettles, which grew so tall they reached the windows, which were very small and covered with thick layers of old grime.

There's a doorknob on the front door of the house, made of some unknown material.

That was an ouroboros.

Its eyes gleamed with an eerie light.

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Thank you to the three esteemed individuals "Shanshuzhe Shanle", "Daoyou Qing Liubu You", and "Fanxing Suiyun" for their generous donations.