Coup de Foudre [Fred Weasley] [6]

⚡️ Chapter 45 ⚡️

"Nagini?" Vega asked quickly as she stared at Dumbledore, trying to get to the point by just his expression – she had not wanted to even think that something like this could even be thought by someone. "The snake that Voldemort carries? You don't mean to say... one can use alive animals as Horcruxes? Is that even possible? How is that even possible?"

"Well, it is inadvisable to do so," Dumbledore replied. "Because to confide a part of your soul to something that can think and move for itself is obviously a very risky business. However, if my calculations are correct, Voldemort was still at least one Horcrux short of his goal of six when he entered your parents' house with the intention of killing you, Harry.

"He seems to have reserved the process of making Horcruxes for particularly significant deaths. You would certainly have been that. He believed that in killing you, he was destroying the danger the prophecy had outlined. He believed he was making himself invincible.

"I am sure that he was intending to make his final Horcrux with your death. As we know, he failed. After an interval of some years, however, he used Nagini to kill an old Muggle man, and it might then have occurred to him to turn her into his last Horcrux.

"She underlines the Slytherin connection, which enhances Lord Voldemort's mystique; I think he is perhaps as fond of her as he can be of anything; he certainly likes to keep her close, and he seems to have an unusual amount of control over her, even for a Parselmouth,"

For a moment, it was quiet as Vega processed what Dumbledore had revealed.

"So, all in all..." Vega spoke up slowly. "The diary has been destroyed, and the ring is destroyed. Now that leaves behind the cup, the locket and the snake – and you believe that there might be a Horcrux that was once Ravenclaw's or Gryffindor's?"

"An admirably succinct and accurate summary, yes," Dumbledore said, bowing his head.

"You're still looking for them, aren't you?" Vega asked. "Is that where you've been going when you've been leaving the school?"

"Correct," Dumbledore confirmed. "I have been looking for a very long time. I think... perhaps... I may be close to finding another one. There are hopeful signs,"

"And if you do," Harry said quickly. "Can I come with you and help get rid of it?"

Dumbledore looked at Harry very intently for a moment before saying, "Yes, I think so,"

"I can?" Harry asked, thoroughly taken aback.

"Oh yes," Dumbledore said, smiling slightly. "I think you have earned that right. Both you and Vega can accompany me there,"

The headmasters and headmistresses around the walls seemed less impressed by Dumbledore's decision; Vega saw a few of them shaking their heads and Phineas Nigellus actually snorted. But Vega was herself looking forward to the experience – it would help them with their own detective skills if they were to work with Dumbledore.

"Does Voldemort know when a Horcrux is destroyed, sir?" Harry questioned, also ignoring the portraits. "Can he feel it?"

"A very interesting question, Harry," Dumbledore said. "I believe not. I believe that Voldemort is now so immersed in evil, and these crucial parts of himself have been detached for so long, he does not feel as we do. Perhaps, at the point of death, he might be aware of his loss... but he was not aware, for instance, that the diary had been destroyed until he forced the truth out of Lucius Malfoy. When Voldemort discovered that the diary had been mutilated and robbed of all its powers, I am told that his anger was terrible to behold,"

"But I thought he meant Lucius Malfoy to smuggle it into Hogwarts?" Vega inquired, curious.

"Yes, he did, years ago," Dumbledore said. "When he was sure he would be able to create more Horcruxes, but still Lucius was supposed to wait for Voldemort's say-so, and he never received it, for Voldemort vanished shortly after giving him the diary,"