"A dilapidated old manor in Little Hangleton... perhaps it had something to do with the Gaunt family?"
Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully. "That is indeed a very likely place for Voldemort to have stored a Horcrux. He seems to be particularly fond of placing his Horcruxes in locations closely tied to his own life experiences... That seaside cave you explored before was one such place he found during his childhood in the orphanage."
"However, Mr. Ken, permit me one question."
He could not help but carefully examine the two Horcruxes in front of him once again. He still seemed unable to fully accept the fact that two priceless founder relics and Horcruxes had suddenly appeared before him just like that. Only after a while did he look back at Avada.
"Since you obtained these two Horcruxes as early as a year ago... then how have you dealt with them during this past year? Or rather... why have you chosen this moment to tell me about them?"
Avada's pupils contracted slightly.
Dumbledore had finally asked the real question.
"For the past year and more,"
he said after adjusting his breathing,
"I've been searching for a way to separate the soul fragments inside them without damaging the objects themselves. These artifacts are simply too precious. They shouldn't just be destroyed for nothing because they were tainted by Voldemort's soul. And I also wasn't sure whether, after seeing these Horcruxes, you would immediately decide to destroy them, so I kept this from you for a year... I'm sorry."
"Haha, then you've underestimated me too much, Mr. Ken."
Dumbledore could not help but laugh.
"Did you think I would also be willing to destroy relics left behind by the founders of Hogwarts, artifacts of immense value both magically and historically, just for the sake of a few soul fragments? I imagine only in the most extreme of circumstances—if I were already near death, barely clinging to life, while Voldemort had returned and was rampaging through magical society—would I make such a wasteful decision... Even last year's diary is still being kept here intact."
"And speaking of that, I must mention another of my achievements over the past year..."
He lifted his tone somewhat proudly.
"By measuring the soul capacity of the diary, the crystal ball, and Voldemort's main soul, I was able to roughly calculate the extent of the damage to his soul, which in turn allowed me to estimate the true number of his Horcruxes... Based on the previous results, the number should be somewhere between five and seven."
"And with the two you've provided, we now already have three of them in our grasp, while another is currently under investigation. Yes—the one beneath that basin of green potion in the cave you just broke through. And if I'm not mistaken... you've probably already figured that out, haven't you?"
"There really is a Horcrux in there?"
Avada deliberately put on a surprised expression.
"When I heard that cave was connected to Voldemort, I suspected as much, but during the exploration I actually dismissed the idea... I didn't expect it to be true after all?"
"Was Voldemort really that careless with the defenses on his Horcruxes? The magical traps in that old manor were more reliable than those stone walls and Inferi!"
"Because splitting the soul damages a person's intellect."
Dumbledore spoke with some regret.
"You can see it from those protections alone. Those spells were clearly so powerful, advanced, and sturdy, yet when it came to actually breaking them, they felt almost like a joke... By the time he set up those defenses, his thinking must already have become somewhat chaotic and his mind unstable."
"...That's probably true, Professor."
Avada nodded in full agreement.
Those defenses had been set up less to block enemies than to conveniently give Voldemort someone to torment whenever he went to inspect his Horcrux.
"Oh, perhaps we've gone a bit off topic—don't forget, you still haven't answered one of my questions, Mr. Ken."
Dumbledore's regretful look faded.
"Why are you telling me about the existence of these two Horcruxes now?"
"It's directly related to that basin of potion in the cave, Professor."
Avada's expression turned serious.
"In fact, after successfully building a bridge to the island in the middle of the lake, Percy and the others and I used the remaining time to specifically study that potion, and we also came to some preliminary conclusions. And combined with what you said before—that you intended to study that potion to explore the mysteries of the soul—we also formed a rough guess..."
"That potion must be drunk by a living being with a soul in order to be consumed, correct?"
This too was the result of Avada's deliberate push.
Ordinarily, with the skill level of a bunch of students like them, discovering that the potion had to be drunk would have taken at least three days and nights of research before they even had the slightest chance of arriving at that conclusion. But under Avada's coaxing and near-blatant hints at the time, they had basically confirmed the guess before even entering the deeper stages of study...
Of course, none of them had any intention of actually trying it.
"I'm surprised the lot of you were able to guess that."
Dumbledore once again showed surprise.
"You were not wrong. Having a living being with a soul drink that potion is indeed the quickest way Voldemort set up to get through that stage. Other than that, almost no conventional magical method can shake that basin of potion. And that also means the potion contains secrets of the soul within it. That is why I intend to gather the world's top wizards to study it together—this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to explore the soul."
"I see."
As he responded, Avada picked up Hufflepuff's Cup from the desk and held it in his hands.
"What I'm trying to say, Professor, is that I may already have found a way to transfer that potion away and directly obtain the Horcrux beneath it... using this Cup."
Dumbledore's eyes lit up, as though only now realizing something.
"This Cup contains a fragment of Voldemort's soul,"
Avada said with a look of emotion as he gazed at Hufflepuff's Cup. In truth, this bizarre solution had come to him on a sudden whim, and even he had been quite shocked when he confirmed that it actually worked.
"So in a certain sense, it also counts as 'a living being with a soul,' similar to last year's diary. And it just so happens to be shaped like a cup..."
"Most importantly, Hufflepuff's Cup bears enchantments personally cast by Helga Hufflepuff, giving it an almost unlimited capacity, allowing it to hold greater quantities of food and drink for transport back in the day, so..."
"Mr. Ken."
Before Avada could finish, Dumbledore had already completely understood what he meant, and interrupted him directly. For the first time, an anxious expression appeared on his face.
"Would it be convenient for you to go out with me right now?"
"Of course, Professor."
"Excellent. You've been an enormous help, Mr. Ken... Fawkes."
As Dumbledore took the Cup, tucked it away together with Ravenclaw's Diadem, and extended a hand toward Avada, he said,
"We're going to the Horcrux cave at once."
(End of Chapter)