"Are you ready?"
In Grindelwald's cell at the top of Nurmengard Tower, Gellert Grindelwald sat facing Nathan Clarke, whom Avada was controlling. Avada still held his wand in his hand. Under the vision of his magical senses, Grindelwald's vigorous golden spiritual power was boiling violently, slowly revolving around the thread that connected to the depths of the magical world as it accumulated strength.
And in reality, even inside a room with its doors and windows shut, the gusts stirred up by some invisible force made Grindelwald's robes whip and flutter noisily.
That was the precursor to him activating his prophetic ability.
There was no doubt that Grindelwald was a true master of prophecy, one whose talent, knowledge, and technique were all top-tier. In terms of upper limits, he was in no way inferior to Professor Trelawney, who could produce a true Prophecy. Yet his lower limit was far higher than hers—at the very least, Grindelwald could genuinely control his own gift, unlike Trelawney, whose ability could only be triggered passively...
"I'm ready, Mr. Grindelwald."
Avada nodded with absolute certainty. "Then let's begi—"
"Uh, wait a second."
His expression suddenly turned awkward. Under Grindelwald's resentful stare, he scratched his head.
"Professor Dumbledore is calling for me."
"...Make it quick."
Grindelwald gave a muffled snort. He said nothing more, only urging him to deal with the Hogwarts side of things as fast as possible.
"I'll do my best."
Avada nodded and shifted his focus back to his main body at Hogwarts.
Just now, a beautiful crimson feather had appeared out of thin air in his hand alongside a burst of fire.
He's actually using Fawkes's power directly to send for me... Did something urgent happen?
After frowning slightly, he quickly straightened his clothes, then gripped the feather the way he had done before, waiting for the warm power within it to spread from his palm through his whole body...
In the next moment, his vision was filled with sudden fire. When the flames faded, he once again saw Albus Dumbledore's aged face—and at that moment, it looked somewhat grim.
"Professor."
Seeing that, Avada said nothing more. He simply nodded lightly in greeting, then kept silent, waiting for Dumbledore to speak first.
"The potion from the Cup has already been transferred."
Dumbledore first took the now-emptied Hufflepuff's Cup out of a drawer beneath the desk and placed it on top.
"You can take it back. But besides that, there's one more thing I need to give you..."
Then, under Avada's surprised gaze, Dumbledore pulled another gleaming golden object from his pocket and set it on the desk as well.
It was Slytherin's locket.
The real one.
"This is... the genuine Horcrux that was switched out?"
Avada touched the locket in surprise. He could clearly see the soul fragment inside it, along with the Horcrux magic wrapped around that fragment. And on the outermost layer, there was an additional restraint like a chain, firmly suppressing the activity of the soul fragment.
That was precisely the magic he himself had developed two years ago based on the dragon egg, specifically for dealing with Voldemort.
"You found it that quickly?"
He really was somewhat surprised.
According to the information from Leach University, that secret werewolf organization had still not been completely eradicated, and the Auror Office had already intervened in the matter. So logically, Sirius Black should be at his busiest right now.
After all, he was still technically a wanted man. Not only did he have to do his utmost to help the Order of the Phoenix hunt down the remaining werewolf fugitives, he also had to make sure he did not expose himself to the Aurors.
And even if Sirius Black had managed to come over in time, it still should have taken some time to connect the matter to Kreacher. If Avada remembered correctly, Sirius had always despised his Death Eater relatives, and Kreacher most of all...
"I received help from a special friend."
Dumbledore did not look pleased despite having recovered the real locket in such a short time.
"Regulus Black made a great sacrifice in order to obtain this Horcrux. At the time, he chose to drink the potion himself and let his companion carry the Horcrux away and hide it... And as it happened, I knew that companion personally, so I was able to find him quite easily."
"It was a house-elf. For more than ten years, he had actually been living in a place within my immediate reach, carrying the true Horcrux with him... He remained right under my nose the entire time, but that elf still kept the secret with unwavering determination and, in accordance with Regulus's final wishes, tried every possible means to destroy it."
"He was willing to hand over something he had guarded for more than ten years just like that?"
Avada asked the sort of question anyone would ask.
"I found his new master—who also happens to be one of my friends."
Dumbledore replied, "He ordered the elf to hand over the Horcrux. To be honest, by then the poor creature had already fallen into despair. He had spent more than ten years trying without being able to damage the Horcrux in the slightest. So after we promised that we would deal with it as soon as possible, he handed it over quite readily. And as limited compensation, we also recovered Regulus's body... That elf is probably still weeping beside it right now."
"...That's good."
Avada let out a sigh of emotion.
The story of Regulus and Kreacher had, in the end, reached a conclusion far more complete than it had in the original.
Sirius had been able to personally witness the resolve of both his brother and Kreacher. With the misunderstanding removed, the way he treated Kreacher in the future would probably improve quite a bit as well. And once Sirius cleared his name, the name Regulus Black would ultimately resound throughout magical society as that of a hero...
"So now, Mr. Ken,"
Dumbledore pushed the locket forward.
"I hope to entrust this Horcrux to you as well. The soul fragment on it originally possessed a strong aggressiveness, but I have already suppressed it, so you may store it safely."
"You said that you were searching for a way to separate out only the soul fragment, and I am fully convinced that you can do it."
Seeing that Avada accepted the locket without being overly surprised, Dumbledore nodded as well.
"However, I must still remind you not to celebrate too early. This is not the final Horcrux. According to my measurements, a portion of Voldemort's soul is still missing. The missing part is likely enough to form one or two Horcruxes... We still have much work ahead of us."
(End of Chapter)