Sasuke Uchiha in Harry Potter

Hogsmeade I

The following week passed in the blink of an eye. Additionally, this weekend would mark the Apparition test. In Defense Against the Dark Arts, there were no more nonverbal spell practices, meaning there would be no more duels between Snape and Sasuke, as the topic had shifted.

Sasuke spent most of his time in the Forbidden Forest, training both his physical and spiritual strength. With the book on dark magic he obtained from Draco, he was learning the Unforgivable Curses: Cruciatus and Avada Kedavra. At that moment, he was focused on mastering the correct wand movement while his clone attended classes.

Later, he went to speak with the Acromantulas and Grawp to congratulate them for faithfully following his orders and to inform them that they would be training in the Forbidden Forest the following week. He warned them that if they attacked his friends, he would ensure the extinction of each of them, his eyes turning red as he spoke.

The Acromantulas were intelligent creatures, and over time, they could learn to speak the human language. They understood that Sasuke's threats were not empty. As for Grawp, even though he couldn't speak the language properly, his instincts warned him that he should not attack anyone, lest he suffer the most painful death imaginable.

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One week earlier, in Professor Dumbledore's office, Harry managed to obtain Slughorn's true memory. As he viewed the content alongside Professor Dumbledore, they listened to the real conversation between Slughorn and Voldemort about Horcruxes:

Dumbledore: Well, Harry, I'm sure you grasped the significance of what we just heard.

Harry: He made a Horcrux? Is that why he didn't die when he attacked me? He had a Horcrux hidden somewhere? A piece of his soul was safe?

Dumbledore: Yes, he made a Horcrux, or perhaps more than one — he said, observing Harry's worried expression. — You heard Voldemort; what he particularly wanted from Horace was his opinion. He wanted to know if it was possible to create more than one Horcrux.

Dumbledore: What would happen to a wizard so determined to avoid death that he would prepare to commit murder repeatedly, tearing his soul apart time and again, to store it in several Horcruxes hidden separately?

Dumbledore: Four years ago, I received what I considered irrefutable proof that Voldemort had split his soul.

Harry: What? — he asked. — How?

Dumbledore: It was Mr. Uchiha who provided me with this proof — he said, picking up a charred book. — The diary, Tom Riddle's diary, which contained instructions on how to reopen the Chamber of Secrets.

Harry: I don't understand, sir.

Dumbledore: Well, although I didn't witness the Tom Riddle who materialized from the diary, what Mr. Uchiha described was a phenomenon I had never experienced. A mere memory starting to act and think for itself? A mere memory consuming the life of the girl it had ensnared? No, something much more sinister had lived within that book. A fragment of soul; I'm certain the diary was a Horcrux.

Harry: So he became impossible to kill, but to do that, he had to kill multiple people in the process? — he said, confused. — Why didn't he make a Philosopher's Stone or steal one if he was so interested in immortality?

Dumbledore: Well, you know he attempted just that five years ago. But there are several reasons why I believe a Philosopher's Stone did not attract Lord Voldemort as much as Horcruxes did. While the Elixir of Life certainly extends life, it must be consumed regularly, for all eternity, if the drinker wishes to maintain their immortality. In that way, Voldemort would be completely dependent on the Elixir, and if he ran out, was contaminated, or if the Stone were stolen, he would die like any other man.

Harry: He made seven Horcruxes — he said horrified, recalling Slughorn's memory.

Harry: But they could be anywhere in the world. Hidden... Buried or invisible...

Dumbledore: I'm pleased to see you understand the magnitude of the problem — he said, smiling. — But first and foremost, no, Harry, it's not seven Horcruxes; it's six.

Dumbledore: The seventh part of the soul, while diminished, resides within the regenerated body. That was the part of him that lived a spectral existence during so many years of exile; without it, he is nothing. That seventh part of the soul will be the last that anyone wishing to kill Voldemort must attack... the part that lives within his body.

Harry: So there are six Horcruxes, then — he said, a bit desperate. — What are we going to do to find them?

Dumbledore: You forgot that Mr. Uchiha destroyed one four years ago. Additionally, I have suspected that Voldemort's snake, which you described to me in the graveyard at Little Hangleton, due to its strange behavior, was also a Horcrux. However, thanks to Snape's information, I know for certain that the snake was also destroyed by Mr. Uchiha two years ago while escaping from Voldemort in the graveyard.

Harry: So, the diary no longer exists, the snake is gone too, leaving only four.

Harry: But the remaining Horcruxes could be anything.

Dumbledore: You forget, Harry, that Voldemort preferred objects that, if not grand, at least appeared to have some significance. I have therefore investigated Voldemort's past to find traces of artifacts with these characteristics that may have disappeared around him.

Dumbledore: Things that meant a lot to him, like Hufflepuff's cup, the locket, and Slytherin's ring, which belonged to his mother's family.

Harry: The cup, the locket, and the ring... do you think he made the last Horcrux with some object belonging to Ravenclaw or Gryffindor?

Dumbledore: I would lean more toward Ravenclaw since the only known relic of Gryffindor remains safe — he said, pointing to a sword in a display case.

Harry: So... is that what you've been searching for while you were away from school?

Dumbledore: Correct, I've been searching for quite some time.

Dumbledore: I feel that I am close to finding one of the Horcruxes.

Harry: And if you find it — he said quickly — can I go with you and help you get rid of it?

Dumbledore looked at Harry intensely for a moment before saying:

Dumbledore: Yes, I think so.

Harry: Can I? — he said, certainly shocked.

Dumbledore: Yes — he said, smiling slightly. — I believe you have earned that right.