Chapter 532 Night Talk

Many miles away from the city of London, a huge chimney stood eerily high. It was a relic of an abandoned mill. There was no sound everywhere, only the dark river water was whimpering, without any sign of life. The mist lingering outside the Prime Minister's window is now floating on a dirty river, winding with overgrown weeds and piles of garbage on both sides.

Along the river are rows of old gatehouses. The house numbers are covered with dust, but the writing is still clear - Spider End Alley.

His footsteps echoed on the cobblestone path. Snape came to a house, paused for a moment, reached out and opened the door and returned to his home.

There were two sporadic lights on in the spacious living room, but no one could be seen. However, Snape had long been accustomed to such an environment, with dim lights and a gloomy atmosphere. The same was true for the Slytherin Dean's office at Hogwarts where he had lived for a long time. He rarely comes back here. This overly spacious house has been vacant all year round and is quiet most of the time.

Perhaps it was for this reason that Voldemort chose to live here temporarily instead of the luxurious Malfoy Manor.

It was quiet everywhere in the house. The sound of the door opening alerted the house elf who was seconded from the Malfoy family to take charge of cleaning and washing. His slightly ugly head poked out from the kitchen door: "S...Mr. Snape, have you had dinner? Do you want it?" Don’t want anything to eat?”

Snape glanced at it lightly and shook his head. He understood why this poor little servant was so cautious. Ever since the great Dark Lord decided to stay here temporarily, this empty house has been shrouded in a gloomy and terrifying atmosphere for a long time. In the atmosphere.

A house elf has already turned into the mud at the bottom of the creek outside. The despicable non-human magical creature is no different from an insect in the eyes of the Dark Lord.

Would anyone blame themselves for stepping on an ant?

At least Voldemort certainly wouldn't...

Snape quickly changed out of his coat, hung his robe on the stand in the hall, glanced at the trembling thin figure by the kitchen door, ignored the frightened house elf, and walked upstairs.

He came outside the study where the Dark Lord was and knocked on the door: "Master, Harry Potter has new information."

"Severus, come in..." A low and lazy voice came from the door, with pleasure and a hint of interest. Voldemort sat behind the desk and raised his head. Even if he had seen it many times, his eyes were scarlet and his nose was red. The grotesque snake face with only two blowholes left will make people shudder. "Have you found where he is hiding?"

Snape suppressed the weirdness in his heart, lowered his head respectfully, and quickly adjusted his expression: "He was hidden by Dumbledore in a place that I cannot reveal. What I want to say is another piece of information."

The light in the room was dim and dim. Compared with it, the scarlet snake eyes that chose to eat people were more attractive, as if there was some kind of strange black hole hidden inside, which made people dare not look directly: "You said …”

"Someone from the Ministry of Magic sent dementors to attack Harry Potter. They were not our people. According to the information investigated by the Order of the Phoenix, it was Minister Fudge who believed that Dumbledore was plotting to overthrow his rule. He survived the catastrophe. The boy is his tool, so..."

"Oh?" The red light in Voldemort's eyes lit up, and the corners of his mouth curled up with pleasant sarcasm, "Now, that old guy Dumbledore has finally tasted the bitter consequences of being indecisive and timid... I heard that the Ministry of Magic has recommended many candidates He was appointed minister, and he always refused to serve, and during the years when I was dormant, he finally chose this Cornelius Fudge as minister. "

Snape nodded and glanced at the book on his desk leisurely, about the making of the wand: "The original candidate was Barty Crouch, and he was implicated..."

"This is just rhetoric to fool the public. If Dumbledore uses his reputation to speak for him, what can't be saved?" Voldemort said coldly, "It's just that he doesn't like Mr. Crouch, who has tough methods and a cold personality. Albus Dumbledore, who always had the best interests in mind, thought that the Ministry of Magic needed a minister with a gentle personality, so he recommended Cornelius Fudge, who was not on the stage. "

"Ha..." Voldemort sneered, seeming to recall certain experiences emotionally, and sneered as if he felt the same, "A short-sighted fool, a fat-headed waste, a cowardly and incompetent mediocrity, stupid without knowing it, Dumbledore I would rather put such people in positions of power than appoint those who are truly knowledgeable and far-sighted.”

Snape suddenly remembered that the Dark Lord had been rejected for a job at Hogwarts. The person in charge of the interview happened to be Dumbledore, who had just taken over as principal, and his expression suddenly became strange: "..."

Voldemort's eyes flashed with blood, and he closed the book and threw it on the table: "Can the current idiot minister be controlled by us? With his name, our business will be easier."

Snape was silent for a moment: "As you said, Cornelius Fudge is a stupid and unaware guy, greedy for power but cowardly. If we really appeared in front of him, he would probably be frightened immediately. Must seek refuge with Dumbledore."

"Then forget it and proceed as planned."

Voldemort said casually, no longer caring about the Ministry of Magic's affairs, "Have you found out about the wand?"

Snape was expressionless and spoke calmly: "I concealed my identity and talked to Ollivander in Diagon Alley. According to him, twin wands with the same origin will not be hostile to each other. If the attitudes of both parties A determined duel, there are certain rays that trigger visions..."

After hearing his report, the vertical snake pupils in Voldemort's eyes slowly shrank, and there was no expression on the gloomy snake face: "What a fateful coincidence, what do you think, Severus, the prophecy back then was... Connecting Harry Potter and me, the cores of both wands also echo destiny!”

"Just change a wand next time you deal with Harry Potter." Snape said casually.

"Change a wand, that's what I think too, and it's the most powerful wand in the world." Voldemort breathed out a breath and said matter-of-factly, "Bellatrix has already taken action for this. I believe that with It won’t be long before he brings the good news back…”

"Bella..."

Snape's eyes narrowed slightly, and then he noticed the wand book in Voldemort's hand. He forcibly controlled his emotions, calmed down and pretended to be relaxed and asked: "Can she do it alone? Does she need to send more people?" Someone go over and help?”

"No need, I just went to Germany to deal with an old guy." Voldemort seemed not to want to talk more and asked about other things, "How is the progress of your study of Horcruxes?"

Snape memorized the information such as "Germany" and "Old Guy" in his heart, his eyes radiated hot light, and his voice was no longer as calm as before: "I have carefully deduced it many times, and I can start at any time..."

Voldemort narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at this servant who was different from other Death Eaters. He raised the corners of his mouth with a ferocious arc and said sullenly: "Although you have read the book carefully before, the actual refining and theory There's a big difference, it would take guiltless murder to split your soul, Severus, are you sure you can do that?"

"Never wavered."

"Don't worry, Severus, we can start soon, soon..."

…

Late night, 12 Grimmauld Place.

The lively and cheerful dinner was over. Many questions accumulated by the young wizards were answered by Dumbledore himself. Although they still did not get the real answers, the emotional value was sufficient. Harry and the Weasley brothers and sisters left the party with satisfaction. , happily went upstairs to sleep at Molly's urging.

The joyful mood made people relax their vigilance, so that no one noticed that Loren and Hermione returned to the bedroom, but then returned, sitting at the long table in the basement, having a conversation with only three people.

"It's really admirable..." After listening to Regulus' story, Dumbledore wiped his eyes with a hint of tears in his tone.

The goose-yellow candlelight was not very bright, so Loren and Hermione couldn't see clearly whether he was crying or not. After nearly two months without seeing each other, the principal still looked the same, with silver beard and hair, deep blue eyes, and a long but twisted nose. Crooked, he looked as if he had been beaten several times, and his gray cloth robe softened his demeanor.

Nothing seems to have changed, but it feels like the principal has aged a bit.

But Loren couldn't remember how many wrinkles he had or how many hairs he had, so he wasn't sure if it was an illusion. He put a pen on his chest and stretched out his hand to hold the locket toward the old man. The principal handed it over.

"Headmaster Dumbledore, this is Slytherin's locket."

The three of them looked at the exquisite locket together. The snake-shaped pattern inlaid with emeralds shone slightly in the yellow candlelight, as if the snake's scales were reflecting every inch, making people wonder that the little snake had come alive and was twisting. move.

Dumbledore observed the locket without saying a word, and then raised his head slightly to look at the two people sitting side by side across from him. They were already about the same height as adult wizards. Although his long life had witnessed the growth of enough young wizards, he saw Now Loren and Hermione's eyes were still in a trance.

Since Voldemort was resurrected, everyone in the Order of the Phoenix has tightened their minds, fearing that one day they would see the familiar mark of the Dark Lord again, or seeing the obituary in the newspaper after more than ten years... This member of the Order of the Phoenix The leader was not idle either. While dealing with outside surveillance, he also visited the places where Tom Riddle once stayed, trying to find some clues about the Horcruxes.

Slytherin's locket was the focus of the search. Unexpectedly, after going round and round, Loren finally handed it over to him...

"I have rubbed the magic words on it and identified thirteen of them, and there are four I don't recognize..." Loren pointed to the four mysterious characters.

"Hmm..." Dumbledore came back to his senses and squinted his blue eyes to identify it carefully for a while, "I have seen the abandoned ancient magic script on the coffin of the Egyptian pharaoh. The magic targeted at the soul..."

"Can you confirm what it means?"

"cannot."

"..."

Although Hermione was also curious about the meaning of the magic text, she was more curious about what was hidden in the locket and asked softly: "Are we going to open it here?"

"Why not?" Dumbledore smiled gently. "With Loren Morgan and Hermione Granger watching over me, there is no place where I feel more at ease."

It would have been a big problem if we just relied on the two of us. Loren complained silently in his heart. He lowered his head and looked at the locket: "Open it in Parseltongue, Principal."

Dumbledore waved his wand at the teacup on the table. The white porcelain trembled slightly and turned into a coiled little white snake, twisting its body and slowly crawling towards the locket.

The things in the locket seemed to be startled, like some uneasy little animal rustling and wagging its tail for mercy.

The little white snake spat its tongue at the snake-shaped pattern inlaid with emeralds and made a hoarse hissing sound: "Open..."

The last word was slightly louder, and the small metal cover of the locket popped open with a click. Two flexible eyeballs appeared behind the two small glass windows, black and white, bright and energetic.

A crystal blue light floated in Loren's eyes, and he clearly saw a trace of weak but clever magic power spreading rapidly. Just when he was about to wave his wand to defend himself, he found that this trace of magic power was retracted and did not cause any damage to him and Hermione.

As the eyeballs rolled around, a voice hissed from the Horcrux.

"I saw your heart, it's mine."

"I saw your dream, Albus Dumbledore, and I also saw your dissatisfaction. You don't want to be confined to the small Godric's Hollow, and you don't want to be implicated by your family for your whole life..."

Loren turned his head to look at Dumbledore, and the Fiendfyre was ready to go. As long as he found anything wrong with the headmaster, he would set fire to the Horcrux immediately. Hermione also held the wand tightly, and many healing magics and spells to awaken consciousness were ready to go.

However, Dumbledore looked calm and sober: "Tom? Is this your original eyeball? When did it leave behind?"

"You dare not recall what happened that day, you dare not think about who cast the fatal spell... You made a mistake, you will be trapped in guilt for the rest of your life, you are afraid to move forward..."

"Is this the information you investigated, or did you use the magic left by Slytherin on the locket to read my memory?" Dumbledore was unmoved and even asked for interaction, "Then did you see that I have collected several other Horcruxes? Your attempt to defeat death will fail..."

"Shut up!" The locket sounded a little angry.

The metal box glowed red, and the two small glass windows shook gently. Many scarlet bloodshot suddenly appeared around the eyeballs, and the dark black mist suddenly rose, spreading in the air like steam. Three grotesque bubbles slowly emerged in the black mist, and the top slowly turned into a human head, then a torso, limbs, and finally turned into three clear human figures.