96 Chapter 96 "Aftermath"

Dumbledore clasped his hands on the desk. He wasn't surprised when he heard Sherlock's words but was thinking about something. Sherlock didn't bother him; he knew there were many secrets in his mind. Every time he was thinking, it meant that what he said next would involve extremely secret information.

A moment later, Dumbledore's eyes returned to Sherlock, "I didn't expect you'd find so much about it in a short time, Sherlock."

He said seriously, "About that, it can be said to be something he has pursued all his life. If I tell you about it, then you will have no turning back. He will do everything possible to kill everyone who knows it."

Sherlock knew that the real Tom Riddle or Voldemort was not dead. The reason he asked about Dumbledore's diary was simple. The diary contains Voldemort's soul, and Sherlock needs this soul for him.

When he woke up in the school infirmary, he discovered that his soul seemed to be too big. The line formed by the soul in the diary was only sewed about one-fifth of his whole soul. While it was just both of their soul combined, Sherlock realized that the strength of all the spells he used had increased significantly.

It's like eating a strengthening pill.

The most important thing is that he finally seemed to be stronger than ever, and he felt that he could kill the Basilisk easily. He seems to have learned a type of magic without a medium.

A type of magic that doesn't need to swing a wand or chant a spell. Just use his thought, and he can directly cast it. It's just that the strength of this magic is far from the invincible state it was when his soul was stitched together.

In the process of stitching the soul, Sherlock also found that his soul did not seem to be torn. The stitched one is not the torn soul but Sherlock's two souls.

One of them is his own soul, which has traveled through this world and has a dominant consciousness. The other is the soul of the original Sherlock, who has completely lost his mind.

When Sherlock traveled through, the soul of the original Sherlock was already dead and was gradually disappearing. But the Soul Stitching magic is equivalent to forcibly merging the original Sherlock soul with him.

The more powerful his soul will be, the more powerful the spell he will use.

Sherlock was thinking about Voldemort's soul. He felt that there must be more than one such thing as a diary, and it seems that only Voldemort has the thing necessary for his soul to be stitched together.

This also made Sherlock, who planned to be a Defence Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts for a year and would resign if he had survived at this point, change his plans.

While it is safe, there is less contact with Voldemort. By staying in Hogwarts all the time, with Dumbledore and Harry Potter, the two leading enemies against Voldemort, he follows them to get what he wants.

Facing Dumbledore's words, Sherlock had nothing to hesitate. He waved his hand and said, "Professor, do you think he would let me go when I destroyed part of his soul?"

Dumbledore was also dumbfounded. Sherlock was right. No matter whether he knew about the Horcrux in the future, he had destroyed one now. If Voldemort had known about it, he would definitely not have let him go.

"What he wanted most in his life was immortality." Dumbledore said softly.

"Sounds pathetic." Sherlock said with a shrug.

Dumbledore laughed, "Compared to other great goals, his journey for immortality is a little less grand. But he has a goal to fight for."

"When he was at Hogwarts, he was given a method of immortality. By creating a Horcrux."

Sherlock was stunned for a moment and repeated it in his mouth, "A Horcrux..."

He was familiar with this term. He had seen it in the forbidden area of ​​the library, and the book "Analysis of High-End Dark Magic" described such extremely dark magic.

"Yes, Horcrux." Dumbledore continued, "It's a method that can split someone's soul and put it on different items. As long as the Horcrux is not destroyed, the one who creates the Horcrux will never die."

"And Voldemort has mastered that magic."

Sherlock asked, "How many Horcruxes can you make?"

"Theoretically, there is no limit."

"How many Horcruxes did Voldemort make for himself?"

Dumbledore shook his head, "That's something that I wanted to know. If you want to kill Voldemort, you must not only defeat him but also destroy all his Horcruxes. After I found out about this, I searched for his Horcruxes, but I haven't found anything yet. The diary you destroyed is the only known Horcrux now."

He turned to look at the portraits of past principals on the wall, and Dumbledore said softly, "But we still have time, Sherlock. By studying his past, we will always find out what he has made into Horcruxes and how many Horcruxes he has made."

After chatting with Dumbledore, Sherlock left Dumbledore's office. Next, he received many guests from Neville's grandmother, Harry, Ron, and Lucius Malfoy.

He didn't blame Neville. Tom Riddle had deceived many people. It was amazing for a child like Neville to struggle out of his control. Harry also learned about the diary in the office, which Lucius deliberately planned to bring into Hogwarts.

Dobby knows all this, so he keeps preventing Harry from returning to Hogwarts.

When Lucius left, Harry set something so that Lucius inadvertently gave Dobby a sock, which was equivalent to freeing Dobby from the Malfoys.

There was a dinner at Hogwarts, and the students and the professors were so happy about it.

Flitwick and Professor McGonagall came to toast with Sherlock, and even Snape, who had always had a cold expression, saw Sherlock by clinking glasses and asked him about the magic that killed the Basilisk.

Dumbledore did not reveal who the heir of Slytherin was, nor did he say that Neville was under control, so he opened the Chamber of Secrets to release the Basilisk.

But the Chamber was opened, and the monster inside was B basilisk. Sherlock and Harry finally kill it and do not hide it from the outside world. Even a reporter from the Daily Prophet even took a photo of Sherlock, Harry, Ron, and Neville for the news the next day.

None of them took credit for defeating the Basilisk, and Harry and others helped Sherlock solve the mystery of the Chamber of Secrets.

The Basilisk's body was also bought by Snape at his own expense, along with the snakeskin found. He gave five thousand Galleons, which was split equally between Sherlock, Harry, and others.

After Ron had gotten the money, he handed over most of the money to the family and used the remaining money to get himself a new wand and new clothes.

Harry didn't take the money alone. A thousand Galleons was not a lot of money for him, and he shared the money with Hermione. If he hadn't gotten the information left by Hermione, he would not have been able to find the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets.

Not only did Neville not get punished this time, but he also got an unexpected fortune for him for a long time. His grandmother was proud of Neville after hearing that he had received Godric Gryffindor's approval and drawn his sword from the Sorting Hat.

The reason why they could get Galleons was the result of Sherlock and Snape's bargaining. The value of the Basilisk that has lived for thousands of years is immeasurable.

Snape actually only offered a thousand Galleons at the beginning. He insisted that Sherlock smashed the snakeskin of the Basilisk, most of the internal organs were damaged, and the medicinal value was not very high.

If Harry and the others were embarrassed to speak because of Snape's demeanor and his status as a professor, they would agree at that price. He and Snape quarreled for a long time; Snape gave up and finally offered 5,000 Galleons.

Even if it was five thousand Galleons, Sherlock felt that he could sell it more. If it is sold outside, the value of the Basilisk is estimated to be even higher. But in the end, this Basilisk is dead. It is not bad to sell it for 5,000 Galleons.

This time, his biggest reward came from Voldemort. His soul.

The Ministry of Magic also released Hagrid after the Chamber of Secrets incident was over. He had not been happy for a long time when he returned to Hogwarts. He received some unfortunate news from the centaurs.

On the night he was captured, a fire broke out in the Forbidden Forest. Aragog and his colony were all destroyed by the fire.