The Dark Lord's Pet Princess

63. Horcrux Hunters

Even though Voldemort was suspicious of Larissa, she did not stop helping Dumbledore.
Voldemort wasn't sure what he wanted to do with Larissa. He started bringing her along with him on missions again, but he did not reveal all of his thoughts to her as he once did.
Larissa wanted to help Dumbledore as much as possible, so she had to make sure to keep close to Voldemort, so that she always knew what he was up to.
She had frequent meetings with the headmaster, especially after she learned that he knew Voldemort had Horcrux's. And the pair of them often discussed how on earth they were going to track down them all.

"I've told you before Dumbledore, no" insisted Larissa.
Her and Dumbledore were at Grimmauld Place having one of their many discussions about Voldemort.
"I can't ask him any questions without him getting suspicious" continued Larissa.
"But you said that he answered your questions once before, maybe he will do so again. We need to know how many he made, if we are going to track them all down and destroy them. So perhaps you could bring the subject up with him again" suggested Dumbledore.
"That was years ago, when he was weak and relied on me for everything. Things are different between us now. And even then, he only gave me very small details about Horcrux's, he never told me about all of them, or where they were" replied Larissa.

"Remind me again, exactly what he told you" said Dumbledore.
Larissa sighed, "He told me that he managed to get the location of Ravenclaw's diadem from Helena Ravenclaw's ghost. He then revealed that he turned it into a Horcrux, but he never told me where he hid it, after he had placed his soul inside it".
"And it definitely wasn't in the ruins of the castle in Albania?" Questioned Dumbledore.
"I'm positive. I lived there for like 14 years, I think I would have noticed a tiara lying around. Besides the castle was in such a mess that it wouldn't have been safe to leave it there" admitted Larissa.

"The ring was in the ruins of his mothers house, and he had no problem leaving it there" reminded Dumbledore, as he looked down at the ring on his finger.
"Well, that's just an old family ring, and not the lost diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw. Trust me Dumbledore, the diadem is not in Albania. But if you don't believe me, feel free to travel there and search for it yourself" offered Larissa.
"No thank you, I trust you" replied Dumbledore.
"Well, you're one of the only people who do. Not many people would trust a death eater like me"
"I believe that I am a good judge of character"
"Some people would say that you were just being foolish by putting your faith in me".

"I don't care what other people think or say about me... Now, back to these Horcrux's, do you have any idea what other objects he might have used?" Asked Dumbledore.
"I don't. The only one I know for certain is his snake Nagini, as I was there when he made her into a Horcrux. Which was not a pleasant thing to watch" answered Larissa.
"We will leave her until last, because getting to her will not be easy as she is always at his side... I have a hunch that he used other founder's objects as Horcrux's. Have you ever heard him mention Slytherin's locket, or Hufflepuff's cup?"
"He may have said that the locket belonged to his ancestor Salazar Slytherin. But he never told me that he'd turned it into a Horcrux, or that he ever had it in his possession. And he's never mentioned the cup to me".

"It makes sense that he hasn't talked about them with you. As far as I'm aware, you are the only death eater who even knows about the Horcrux's. They are what anchors him to this world, so I don't think he wants many people to know the truth about his immortality" sighed Dumbledore.
"When he found out his diary Horcrux had been destroyed, he was furious. But he never told Lucius why it was so important to him" admitted Larissa.
"But he didn't feel anything when I destroyed the ring?"
"No, nothing. He would have mentioned it to me, I'm sure, if I had realised it had been destroyed"
"That's good, because we do not want him to know that we are hunting his Horcrux's".

"No, that would be very bad... Are you sure that Harry is also a Horcrux?" Questioned Larissa curiously.
"I'm almost 100% positive, yes" answered Dumbledore.
"And you don't think the boy should know the truth?" Asked Larissa.
"Not yet, he is still very young. Besides, he is not as good at Occlumency as you, and I don't want Voldemort reading Harry's mind and discovering that he is a Horcrux"
"But if he really is a Horcrux, then at some point, he will have to die"
"That is true. But I don't want that to happen, until we have successfully destroyed all of the other Horcrux's".

"And you are certain there is no other way to rid a Horcrux from a human body?" Quizzed Larissa, who was not just asking for Harry, but for herself.
"I cannot be certain, as we are in uncharted territory. A human has never been a Horcrux before, so I can only guess that the body must be destroyed, to kill the Horcrux that lives inside the body" replied Dumbledore.
"I feel like there must be another way. With an object, the object has to be destroyed in order to wipe out the Horcrux. But there must be another way when dealing with humans and other living things"
"I didn't know you were so concerned with the boys welfare".

Larissa gulped and looked away from Dumbledore, unable to meet his piercing blue eyes.
"Well, he's just a boy, so he deserves to have a chance to live. He's also the only one who can defeat Voldemort, so he can't die yet" admitted Larissa.
"Are you sure that's the only reason you want to know about human Horcrux's?" Questioned Dumbledore.
"Why else would I want to know?" Asked Larissa.
"Well, Harry wasn't the only one there, that night in Godric's Hollow, when Voldemort was blasted out of his body. You were there too, and you even admitted to me that you have access to Voldemort's mind. So I wondered if you too, were a Horcrux like Harry".

Larissa's jaw dropped, "How long have you known about me?".
"Since I first spoke to you, after your brother died. When you revealed that you were connected to Voldemort's mind, I worked out that you were also a Horcrux like Harry. I didn't want to bring it up, because I knew that you would tell me when you were ready" admitted Dumbledore.
Larissa sighed, "Well, it's true. I knew that I was a Horcrux, pretty much from day one. Voldemort was inhabiting my body, and I heard the word Horcrux in his mind, which is when I questioned him about it. So I've known for ages that I will have to die, to bring down Voldemort. But I'm fine with that. My life hasn't exactly been great, so I'm not going to miss much by leaving. And I won't be leaving any family behind, so no one will miss me".

"That's very selfless of you" admitted Dumbledore.
"I've stood by and watched as Voldemort does awful things. So if I can help bring him down to make up for the bad things I helped in do, then maybe my soul won't be dammed. However, I don't intend on departing this world just yet. I'm going to wait until the other Horcrux's have been destroyed first" announced Larissa.
"That sounds like a good decision to me. I really wish it didn't have to be this way though"
"Don't feel sorry for me Dumbledore. I've accepted my fate, so you should too".