Saturday, September 7
After the Order meeting on Friday had finished, Dumbledore and Sirius had Apparated to Potter Manor, where they had no fear of being overheard.
Dumbledore had then told Sirius in detail about the research he had been making for quite a few years. About, how Voldemort had survived the repelled killing curse the night Lily and James died. It had taken Dumbledore two days to explain the possibility that Voldemort had split his soul, possibly more than once and hid each one of them, using Dark Magic. Sirius was appropriately horrified by this information about Horcruxes.
Dumbledore told him that he would be imparting this information with Harry too, though in more detail and along with information on Voldemort's past. Sirius realised this was what Harry meant by the "private lessons" and was worried by the idea; it wasn't that he wanted to shelter Harry, but the Horcruxes were really Dark Magic and to think Harry would have to know about it didn't settle well with him.
Dumbledore reasoned, "Harry has a right to know. I made the mistake once of protecting Harry from the truth and it did more harm than good. I will not repeat the same mistake again. We will not always be there to protect Harry and it is only a matter of time before Voldemort starts to actively hunt for Harry, especially once he finishes school. He needs to be armed with the knowledge if he needs a chance to defeat Voldemort."
Sirius had no defence to that, so he merely nodded. No matter how many times he had heard that Voldemort would hunt Harry down eventually, it never stopped his heart clenching in anxiety.
Dumbledore then told him about Riddle's diary that Harry had stabbed in his second year and also the ring that Sirius had seen him wearing to Slughorn's, which he had found in the Gaunts' house. He had then speculated that Voldemort might have used an object each of the Hogwarts' founders - Hufflepuff's cup and Slytherin's locket were a likely possibility.
"But what could he have used of Gryffindor? Other than the Sorting hat and the sword, there isn't any other artefact of his, is there?" asked Sirius, curiously.
"I am confident that the Sword of Gryffindor is the only known relic of Godric Gryffindor. Alas, I do not know of the rest," said Dumbledore. "Of course, there is also the possibility that Tom could have used something else entirely."
They lapsed into silence and Sirius couldn't help but wonder how on Earth they were supposed to find all of these Horcruxes. Where does one even start to search?
"Where would Voldemort hide something as precious as his soul?" wondered Sirius.
"Can you not think of any place?" said Dumbledore, quietly.
"Ruling out any Muggle locations," said Sirius, pondering on the idea for a moment. "I can't think of a safer place than Gringotts. Or Hogwarts. Does Voldemort even have a vault in Gringotts?"
"Not that I am aware of, no," said Dumbledore. "But let us not forget that whatever Tom might show himself as to the world, he was brought up in a Muggle orphanage. We should not be hasty in ruling out Muggle locations in his case."
"Have you been to the orphanage where he had lived?" asked Sirius curiously.
"Twice. Once when I delivered him the Hogwarts letter. The next time I visited, the orphanage had been demolished."
YOU ARE READING
Dysfunctional
FanfictionPost-OotP: Sirius is cleared and finally gets to give Harry the home he had always wanted. Rebuilding his life with a war brewing in their world isn't simple. It's a good thing he has a family that he can fall back on this time. What he didn't reali...
