Dumbledore nodded. "We will destroy it, of course."

"But before that, we need to do something else with it."

He looked at Kreacher with tenderness in his eyes.

Kreacher asked anxiously, "Can I trust you?"

"Why not?" He remained patient, spreading his hands and revealing his palms.

Kreacher hesitated, then reached out his hand and placed the locket, which he had been holding tightly and was covered with sweat, in Dumbledore's hand. "Can you let Kreacher watch while you destroy this thing?"

It's very old.

Every day he struggles with the pain of not being able to destroy the Horcrux.

I live in the memory of my little master's death every day.

As a house-elf, it is old enough to have willful ideas.

"Of course." Dumbledore nodded. "I promise you."

Sirius knocked on the table: "Take this away." He gestured to the pendant on the table and the neatly folded note that he had filled in.

Kreacher looked at Sirius.

"This is an order. This is the Black family's treasure." Sirius said hastily and impatiently, "Protect this thing with your life."

Kreacher bowed respectfully, as pious as every house-elf Harry had met at Hogwarts before: "Yes, Master."

It carefully picked up the inferior imitation and closed the lid affectionately.

With a snap.

Disappeared before their eyes.

Sirius closed his eyes again and slumped on the sofa, his expression unclear. No one knew what he was thinking - after all, he was no longer the nineteen years old when he entered Azkaban. Without him having any awareness, his age had already reached his early thirties, stepping from a young man to middle age, and was about to walk on that path.

Harry and Dumbledore sat in silence, saying nothing.

After a while, Sirius seemed to have just fallen asleep. He opened his eyes sleepily and looked at the two of them: "Don't we still need to investigate other Horcruxes?"

"Why don't you do it?"

Dumbledore looked at him and teased, "It seems that our Professor Black has recovered well."

"Then I won't be afraid that the following scene will irritate you."

Sirius woke up completely. He shook his head and said dissatisfiedly: "Professor Dumbledore, I am not that fragile."

Dumbledore placed the locket on the table and murmured, "Let me see it, Tom."

He took out his wand, thought for a moment, stood up, sat on the other side, and then waved it gently.

An evil aura emanated from the wand.

It seems to have undergone some kind of amplification.

It was just a tiny ray, but the horrible and hideous side was magnified several times.

A thin layer of black mist surged over the pendant box, and a shrill and sharp cry emerged along with the black mist.

It is black magic related to the soul and is extremely evil.

Harry and Sirius both looked serious.

After a while, a piece of soul was extracted, a small piece as long as an index finger, floating on the pendant box. It was a several times smaller version of Tom Riddle, but his eyes were no longer dark, but blood red. During this period, he seemed to have undergone a major physical transformation.

"Dumbledore." He opened his eyes with resentment and glared away.

Dumbledore flicked his wrist.

The soul body closed its mouth tightly.

"We don't need to study the Horcruxes anymore, so let's finish this quickly." Dumbledore spoke, as if explaining his actions, or as if he was finding a reason to convince himself.

Silver threads gushed out.

With a "pop", Tom Riddle's head was opened and his brains spilled out.

The silk tentacles crawled, spread in the brain grooves, and took root and pierced into them.

Tom struggled in pain, his mouth open, his limbs struggling and dancing. Under the influence of magic, his expression was miserable, but he could not howl.

"Let me see." Dumbledore looked serious and searched quickly.

Soon, his expression relaxed: "Found it."

He pressed his palm downward, the magic power was withdrawn, the silver threads disappeared, Tom's expression gradually relaxed, and he was quickly pressed back into the pendant box.

"Good news," Dumbledore muttered. "The locket is a Horcrux that was made much later in the order of creation."

"Before making this Horcrux, he had already made four Horcruxes."

He paused, took a breath, and then continued: "But the bad news is that we have seen three of the first four Horcruxes."

"Harry, your diary from your second year."

"The Resurrection Stone we found last year."

"The Hufflepuff gold cup for resurrection at Christmas."

"There is only one thing we haven't seen, but our speculation is correct. It is the Ravenclaw's Diadem, which Voldemort also made into a Horcrux."

He paused again: "Even worse news."

"When the locket was made into a Horcrux, Tom had only graduated two or three years ago. At that time, the tiara was carried with him. We have no way of knowing where the tiara was hidden."

Harry frowned.

This way they knew the clues to the five Horcruxes, and there were still two unknowns.

Dumbledore shook his head and rubbed his temples. "Perhaps I should go to Albania and take a look."

"Huh?" Harry asked doubtfully.

Dumbledore replied, "Harry, the Diadem of Ravenclaw is hidden in the forests of Albania."

"Voldemort also hid in Albania after his first defeat."

"I think there must be something special about that place?"

Harry nodded, expressionless: "You can travel on public funds again."

"Don't worry, I will go and come back quickly." Dumbledore shook his head.

He stood up, walked over to Sirius and patted his shoulder.

He called softly, "Kreacher."

The old elf appeared and stood respectfully beside them.

"Now I will destroy the Horcrux," Dumbledore said softly.

Kreacher stared at the vivid locket on the table with wide eyes.

Dumbledore waved his wand.

Blue Fiendfyre surged out and engulfed the locket. In the flames, Tom Riddle's soul emerged again. Without any magic to block it, his miserable screams finally rang out. However, he could only wail once before he was swallowed up by the Fiendfyre and completely burned. Even Slytherin's locket was burned to charcoal.

Dumbledore took back the Fiendfyre.

"It, it has been destroyed?" Kreacher stared blankly, asking questions that a house-elf shouldn't have.

Dumbledore nodded, his tone gentle: "Of course, it has been destroyed."

Kreacher took a deep breath, held his head and sobbed softly, tears rolling down his eyes and dripping onto the replica of the locket hanging on his chest.

Dumbledore said goodbye to them, left Black House, Apparated, and disappeared.

It became extremely quiet here, with only Kreacher's soft sobbing and a few calls of "little master".

Harry did not stand up, and neither did Sirius.

They sat there quietly the whole evening.

Sirius did not mention Regulus again. He just opened his eyes occasionally and stared at the dark and somewhat dirty ceiling in a daze. Sometimes he closed his eyes and breathed steadily, sounding like he was asleep.

Until dawn.

They then flew to Hogwarts in Sirius' favorite flying car, which he had modified.

The students were surprised to find that Professor Black seemed to have changed.

A little calmer.

His attitude towards Dark Magic creatures is not as frivolous as before, and he teaches seriously. Although some bad habits are hard to change in a short time, at least the number of accidents in his class and the need to go to Madam Pomfrey for treatment has decreased significantly. Even Professor McGonagall praised Sirius for becoming more reliable than before.

Flitwick became sad, both in his mood and in his life.

Sirius always loved to pester him after class, asking for advice on spells and dueling, twice a week, once on Friday night and once on Sunday night, right by the Black Lake. Sirius was not afraid of embarrassment at all, and was much more active than when he was receiving training before.

Snape had been tinkering with the werewolf potion.

Until two weeks later.

He had just gone to Malfoy Manor on a weekend.

"Master, according to Potter, the Horcrux they found in the cave was fake." Snape respectfully reported the situation to Voldemort.

Voldemort sneered, "Of course, I know."

"I checked, and the Horcrux had been replaced long ago. But I believe it is still safe. Dumbledore has not found it yet, so it may be difficult for him to find it."

Snape whispered, "They found it."

Voldemort's expression froze.

"It was at Black House," Snape went on. "Dumbledore quickly deduced it and destroyed it."

"Destroyed?" Voldemort frowned, disbelief in his eyes.

There was a burning pain on my face.

I had just said "Dumbledore will have a hard time finding it", and before I could finish my words, which were still burning hot, a servant who was very close to Hogwarts told me that they had found it and destroyed it.

Why couldn't the servant be more tactful?

Snape nodded, expressionless.

It seems...

The Dark Lord's perception of Horcruxes was not as sensitive as they had expected?

He himself could not sense his location, nor the existence of those Horcruxes.

What could be the reason?

Too many Horcruxes were made, and the soul was split many times, becoming fragile and dull, so it cannot perceive?

Or is it that the Voldemort resurrected by the Horcrux is not the main soul after all, so he cannot sense the Horcrux?

But whatever the possibility, it's good news.

Voldemort glanced at Snape and his tone returned to indifference: "What an unexpected surprise."

"So what is Dumbledore doing now?"

Their eyes met.

Snape answered honestly: "Dumbledore is in Anibania."

A familiar place name.

"Where is Dumbledore going and what is he doing?" Voldemort asked.

Snape said, "He thinks you will keep the Horcrux there, Master."

"Really?" Voldemort nodded and uttered a noncommittal question, making it unclear what his attitude was.

"I asked you to take action against Dumbledore. How is the preparation going?" He seemed unwilling to dwell on the matter of the Horcruxes and asked again.