All the way there, Hermione remained lost in thought over what Draco had said. It was not until they reached the Great Hall that she slowly came back to herself and realized where she was.
A quick glance around told her that, perhaps because everyone had gone too wild at last night's Christmas party, or perhaps because the Christmas holiday was almost here, there were barely any wizards up early enough to come to breakfast. If anything, Draco and Hermione, appearing here at this hour, were the truly unusual ones among that tiny handful....
"Well? Thought of anything?"
"No.... There are just too few clues. If we knew what Horcrux Dumbledore destroyed, then maybe we really could figure out the logic behind the Dark Lord's choice of Horcruxes."
Hearing that, Draco did not look disappointed in the slightest. Instead, the hand holding his knife and fork paused noticeably, and the corners of his mouth lifted without the least attempt to hide it.
Catching that detail, Hermione leaned toward him in surprise, her voice brightening at once. "Why are you smiling? Don't tell me..."
"It's exactly what you think. After you all left my room last night, I had Dobby go back to the family and ask whether there was any information on the matter."
In truth, the possibility Hermione had thought of was naturally something Draco had considered as soon as he finished using the Pensieve the night before, and he had not waited around. He had acted on it immediately.
The result, in the end, had not fallen outside Draco's original expectations...
"So... what was it?"
"What's interesting is that Dumbledore did not seem to have any intention of hiding it, almost as though he wanted everyone to know. The Horcrux that contained the Dark Lord's soul was the very one we saw in the memory yesterday. Marvolo Gaunt's ring!"
Hermione's eyes widened as she murmured, "...the Resurrection Stone."
"That's right. But that was very obviously a trap the Dark Lord had specially prepared for Dumbledore. It seems to have failed and only left him with an injured right hand, but even so, it was still both mad and bold. He actually used a precious Horcrux to lure Dumbledore in."
"Lure him? But that was Dumbledore..."
"As long as someone is human, they have weaknesses. I think the Dark Lord must have known that, in Dumbledore's heart, there was someone he desperately wanted to bring back to life."
As the saying went, the person who understood you best was bound to be your enemy.
If that Horcrux had not been the Resurrection Stone, then perhaps Dumbledore, who otherwise would not have hesitated when destroying it, would not have fallen into the trap Voldemort had set specifically for him.
It was madness.
It was hard to imagine that, while still a student, the Dark Lord had already thought that far ahead and carried it through.
Because of that, not only Hermione but even Draco came to understand more deeply just how brilliant and dangerous Voldemort truly was...
...
Although Hermione did not know who Marvolo was, that did nothing to lessen the shock and wariness rising in her heart when she heard all this.
Noticing that Hermione's face had gone a little pale, Draco reached out and gently patted her on the head. "Don't worry. I already said just now, he planned that while he was still a student."
"What do you mean?"
"Don't you think it's strange? The Dark Lord when he was young and the Dark Lord now feel rather different, don't they?"
Compared with the personal charisma Voldemort had as a student, the kind that made Slytherin students follow him from the bottom of their hearts, and compared with the clever, calculating figure they had just pieced together, the Voldemort of today was like a madman with something wrong in his head.
He had absolutely no tolerance for his own followers now, and he used all kinds of extreme, abnormal methods without the slightest restraint.
His cruelty even extended to his own people.
It could be said that these were not traits a qualified ruler should possess at all....
Seeing the curious, slightly irritated look in Hermione's eyes, Draco removed his hand from her head before she could flare up. "I'm certain this is the side effect and consequence of splitting the soul."
"Madness..."
"Yes, extreme madness. Especially after splitting his soul into seven pieces, no one can predict what sort of problems that would cause. Perhaps even the Dark Lord himself never realized it."
"...."
After a moment of silence, Hermione tried to change the subject and brought up something else instead.
"Mm... after I went back, I looked carefully into the Dark Lord's past, especially the period when he was still at Hogwarts."
As expected of serious Hermione, Draco had not thought that after everything ended, Hermione would have taken action on her own as well.
After a pause, Hermione softly said what she had spent the entire night thinking through. "Based on what you just said, things are clear now. One of the Deathly Hallows was turned into a Horcrux and then destroyed by Dumbledore, so we can set that aside for the moment."
"Mm."
"Then I made a small guess. If that diary was something important that could reveal the Heir of Slytherin, then perhaps the Dark Lord had a special preference for treasures like that."
At this point, a captivating light shone in Hermione's bright eyes.
Draco, who also thought the reasoning made sense, nodded. "I think I know what you're getting at."
"Exactly. And the most interesting part is that, while the Dark Lord was still a student, two treasures just happened to go missing during that same period."
As though they had reached the same conclusion at once, Draco and Hermione looked at each other and spoke the answers in their hearts at the same time.
"Slytherin's locket."
"Hufflepuff's cup."