Norbert descended toward the tree line above Hagrid's hut. Kevin let her take her time.
"I've known about pairs like these for years," Dore said. His voice was unhurried, the way it got when he was being genuinely precise rather than deflecting. "Soul-binding bracelets. Very rare — there are maybe three or four pairs in existence, and most of them have been lost or destroyed. The specific mechanics aren't widely understood."
"Tell me the mechanics you know," Kevin said.
Dore looked at the bracelet on Kevin's wrist. "It nourishes the soul of the wearer. That's the basic function — it was designed as a soul anchor for someone who needed one. Someone with a damaged or incomplete soul."
Kevin thought of Voldemort. "Like a Horcrux without the murder."
"Conceptually similar. But a Horcrux is an anchor — a backup copy. This is more like a support structure. It reinforces the soul rather than duplicating it." Dore paused. "The deeper function only manifests when two people wear a matching pair simultaneously. Over time — years, not months — the bracelets mediate a gradual soul entanglement. Each wearer ends up carrying a fragment of the other's soul."
Draco had gone very still in front of them.
Kevin turned this over carefully. "They become each other's Horcrux."
"In functional terms. Not by intent, but by effect. If either wearer dies with the bond established — the fragment in the survivor keeps them anchored. Not immortal. But the soul isn't lost."
"And you've known about this how long?"
"Years." Dore's voice didn't change. "I was looking for a pair once. For a reason that no longer applies." He glanced away, briefly, at the dark tree line. "It doesn't matter now."
"You mentioned ten-plus years ago. Someone was hunting these."
"Voldemort. Before Harry Potter redirected his priorities." Dore looked back at Kevin. "The pair you have — there was a couple who wore them. Then they disappeared. The trail went cold."
Kevin looked at the bracelet on his wrist.
It had come from his parents in this world. He'd known that. He hadn't known what it was. He'd stopped investigating when the trail seemed to end.
"My parents wore these," he said.
Dore was quiet for a moment. "That explains why they dropped off the map." He said it carefully, without affect. "If a pair was worn by two people who disappeared after Voldemort fell — no one would have known to keep looking. Everyone was too busy surviving what came next."
Norbert settled at the edge of the tree line. Kevin climbed down, Draco after him, Dore last. The bracelet was warm against Kevin's wrist.
"The sensing," Kevin said. "Without wearing it. How?"
"After sufficient entanglement, the soul-fragment bond doesn't need the physical object to transmit. The bracelet is the medium at first. Becomes a habit." Dore looked at him with something careful in his expression. "You and Hermione can find each other without the bracelets on."
"Yes."
"That started when?"
"Gradually. Last year, mostly."
"Then you're well-bonded." He said it in the tone of a mechanic identifying a well-maintained engine. "The bracelets are still useful as amplifiers, but you don't need them to maintain the connection." He paused. "There's something else you should know."
Kevin waited.
"There's a dark function. If one wearer dies — truly dies — the bond doesn't just preserve the fragment. It absorbs the dead person's consciousness. Their soul anchor prevents them from moving on. They exist inside the bracelet, intact, but trapped."
The silence on the edge of the Forbidden Forest was absolute.
"Trapped," Kevin said.
"Until the bracelet is destroyed." Dore held the bracelet back out to Kevin. "I don't know if your parents ever wore these long enough for the bond to establish. But if they did — and if they died with them on—"
Kevin took the bracelet back. Held it for a moment.
"My parents might be inside these," he said quietly.
"I don't know," Dore said honestly. "I'm sorry."
Somewhere in the distance, the Hogwarts lights were warm and yellow. Kevin looked at them for a moment. Then he slipped the bracelet back onto his wrist.
He would need to find out.