Hogwarts, Dumbledore's Headmaster's Office.
[Dear Sirius,]
[I was very glad to receive another letter from you. To be honest, after confirming that the magical signature on the parchment was indeed yours and that there was nothing unusual about it, I could not help but breathe a sigh of relief. Even knowing that you do not fear infection by the werewolf curse, and that you are unafraid of those despicable and savage werewolves in direct combat, the forces behind them are still difficult to predict...]
[And your performance has exceeded my expectations by a great deal. I had originally thought that being able to capture Fenrir Greyback, the chief culprit, while also bringing the attacking werewolves under control would already count as a very smooth success. But I never expected you to bring me so many pleasant surprises. The clues and conjectures you provided are all extremely valuable, and they also corroborate the intelligence Peter has recently sent back... If all goes according to plan, it should not be long before we can bid farewell to that greatest enemy for good.]
[As for the follow-up issue of how to handle those werewolves, you need not worry. Remus has already come to me specifically about this matter. He told me that after this term ends, he will resign from his position as professor and return to magical society under the identity of a werewolf, in order to fight for the rights of the werewolf community and do everything in his power to mediate the conflict between both sides...]
[To be honest, the pressure on him is a little too great. In my expectations, once these matters are exposed, society's hatred toward werewolves may reach a degree that neither you nor I can currently imagine, and extreme incidents will likely become more and more frequent. And yet Remus has chosen of his own accord to place himself in the most dangerous area of all, while from the current situation, the help he can rally appears to be extremely limited...]
[However, I do have one piece of good news to tell you. Some time ago, a former Hogwarts Defense Against the Dark Arts professor took the initiative to contact me. His name is Benjamin Baker, and he is also the one who introduced the werewolf academic authority Damocles Belby to me... He told me that Mr. Belby is very likely to make new progress on improving the Wolfsbane Potion soon. When that happens, both the cost and brewing difficulty of the potion should decrease significantly, which may greatly ease the conflict...]
[Oh, right—aside from those major matters, Harry's recent situation is also worth mentioning. Ever since receiving your gift and letter at Christmas, he has not stopped trying to uncover the identity of his mysterious godfather for even a moment. He even went so far as to deliberately get himself put in detention by Argus, taking the opportunity to flip through student archives from more than ten years ago in his office... But that also resulted in his detention being extended by another week, and the person supervising him has now become Minerva...]
[From my observations, he may already have formed a guess very close to the truth. So once this matter has come to an end, perhaps the two of you may be able to meet a little earlier than planned..."]
Knock, knock, knock.
"Hm?"
Albus Dumbledore, who had been bent over his desk writing, set down the quill in his hand with some surprise and looked toward the door.
Who would come looking for him at a time like this, on a weekend?
So he sensed the information relayed by the stone gargoyle at the entrance—it was Mr. Ken.
Coming to see him at this hour, was it probably about participating in the experiment a few days from now?
"Please, come in."
Dumbledore gave a gentle wave of his hand, opening the door and allowing Avada to walk in. "Is something the matter, Mr. Ken?"
Avada's expression was extremely grave, no less serious than the time they had met last year when Dumbledore had been driven out by the Board of Governors. That immediately made Dumbledore tense up as well—when this deeply hidden student showed such a grim expression, it usually meant something major had happened...
"...Professor."
Avada slowly took a deep breath, then, with a look of sheer resolve, rapidly pulled several objects from his pocket and thrust them toward Dumbledore as if afraid he might suddenly change his mind. "Please take a look at these."
The moment he said that, it was as if some heavy burden had finally been lifted from his shoulders. His expression visibly relaxed, and before Dumbledore could react, he placed the objects on the desk and pushed them over.
They were two exquisitely made items that also seemed to carry quite a few years of history—one was a glittering golden cup, and the other a delicate and luxurious diadem.
"These are?!"
Dumbledore first studied the two objects in confusion for a moment, but then his eyes widened more and more.
"Hufflepuff's Cup, and Ravenclaw's Diadem?!"
"The magic on them does not seem to be false... Are these really relics left behind by the founders of Hogwarts? Where did you find them?!"
"Wait, no, there's something else on them. I need to take a closer look..."
Without waiting for Avada to answer, he immediately drew the Elder Wand and pointed it at the two objects, sending out wave after wave of invisible magic as he examined them with painstaking care.
This, in turn, left Avada very satisfied.
This was yet another chance to observe the Elder Wand, and he had to make the most of it. To ensure that, he had even temporarily shut down the duplicate on Grindelwald's side, all so he could split his focus between talking to Dumbledore and carefully studying the Elder Wand...
"These are... Horcruxes?!"
Dumbledore finally looked up in shock.
"These are... two more of Voldemort's Horcruxes?!"
"How did you find them? Or rather... have they actually been in your possession this whole time?"
His gaze made it seem as if he were getting to know this student in front of him all over again.
"...They've been in my hands for a year now, Professor."
Avada gave a bitter smile. "And I learned of their existence even earlier than that... It was before the diary opened the Chamber of Secrets. You know about my previous gift of prophecy..."
"Of course I do."
Dumbledore nodded somewhat absentmindedly, his eyes still fixed tightly on the two Horcruxes that had seemingly fallen from the sky.
Only after quite some time did he curiously look back at Avada.
"Can you tell me where they were originally hidden, Mr. Ken?"
"Of course, Professor."
Avada nodded in reply.
"Ravenclaw's Diadem had always been hidden inside Hogwarts, in that room that can change its form according to the needs of the user. I call it the Room of Requirement..."
"The hidden room not far outside my Headmaster's Office, yes?"
Dumbledore suddenly let out a sigh.
"So for all these years, a Horcrux and a precious founder's relic were right under the nose of me, the headmaster... Ah, pardon me for interrupting, Mr. Ken. What about the other one?"
"The Cup was hidden in a dilapidated old manor."
Avada began making up nonsense with a perfectly straight face.
"The manor was in a place called Little Hangleton. It was extremely desolate, with hardly any people around, but the Cup was surrounded by magical traps... Back then, I also had to go through a great deal of trouble before I managed to get it."
There was no helping it. The existence of the Resurrection Stone could not be revealed to Dumbledore yet, and Avada also had no good way to explain how he had infiltrated the most heavily protected vault in Gringotts without leaving a trace.
So he could only use this ready-made excuse instead.
After all, judging from the diary and that basin of green potion, Voldemort had not exactly used especially rigorous protective measures for his Horcruxes, right?
(End of Chapter)