Chapter 693: Horrocrux (Edited)

"Why me?" Harry asked, astonished, after listening in silence to the prophecy about him and Voldemort. "I mean, according to you, that person could also be Neville, right?"

"You forgot the next part of the prophecy, the boy who could defeat Voldemort had one of the most important identifying features... Voldemort himself would have marked him as a formidable enemy," Dumbledore explained.

"And he did, Harry. He chose you instead of Neville. He gave you this scar, which turned out to be both a blessing and a curse."

"But he could have been mistaken! He could have marked the wrong person."

Harry panicked; he had only wanted to do his part in destroying Voldemort, and now Dumbledore was telling him that he was the one who could truly defeat Voldemort, leaving Harry somewhat disoriented.

Dumbledore sighed. He didn't want to burden Harry with this so soon if he could avoid it, but he had to prepare him now, as he didn't know if he would recover.

Fortunately, with Fish nearby, even if he died, there was someone who could face Voldemort.

He thought as he looked at Fish, who was playfully swishing his tail, unconcerned about the prophecy.

Dumbledore turned to Harry and explained, "He chose the one he thought had the highest chances of posing a threat to him. Pay close attention, Harry. He didn't choose a pure-blood, but a half-blood like himself."

He pointed at the lightning-shaped scar on Harry's forehead and continued, "Voldemort saw himself in you before he saw you, and when he marked you with that scar, instead of killing you as he intended, he gave you strength and a future... like your Parseltongue ability."

"Why did he do that?" Harry asked, feeling cold and stiff all over his body. "Why did he try to kill me when I was a child? He should have waited until Neville and I were older, to see who was more dangerous, and then try to kill that person..."

"Yes, that would probably be more practical," Dumbledore said. "But Voldemort's knowledge of the prophecy is incomplete. Don't forget that, as I told you before, the spy only heard the beginning of the prophecy, which was that at the end of July, a child would be born whose parents had thrice defied Voldemort before he was driven from the Hog's Head pub."

"So, he couldn't have warned his master that attacking you would transfer power to you and mark you as his archenemy. Voldemort had no idea that attacking you would be dangerous; he should have waited patiently and learned more. That's why Voldemort wants to obtain the Orb of Prophecy now, he believes that the second half of the prophecy will tell him what he needs to do to kill you... and so it is."

Dumbledore sighed again and then looked at Harry with his deep blue eyes, calmly.

"But... but how did he lose to him? Voldemort is so powerful... why not Fish? He has already defeated Voldemort several times." Harry asked, confused but calming down.

"That's right, nya! Harry is so weak! He can't defeat Voldemort!"

(`н´)

Fish wasn't happy either. Voldemort was his prey, how could he give it to a weakling like Harry!

"It's not enough to just defeat Voldemort," Dumbledore said, shaking his head. "That wouldn't be difficult for me, even the Ministry of Magic Aurors could do it using their numerical advantage."

Then he saw Fish's disdainful look beside him...

(?ω?)

Fish, who had beaten many Aurors, was highly skeptical about that.

"Ahem..." Dumbledore amended his statement, "Well, they probably... have a chance..."

Now even Harry wasn't so convinced.

"Well, let's go back to Voldemort," Dumbledore hurriedly changed the subject. "To effectively destroy him, it would be necessary to mention an ancient and dark form of black magic: the creation of Horcruxes."

"Horcruxes? What's that?" A new term emerged, successfully diverting Harry's attention.

"It's an ancient and cruel form of dark magic, and the reason we haven't been able to destroy Voldemort..." In a low voice, Dumbledore explained to Harry what Horcruxes were.

"Every time you create a Horcrux, you need to kill someone... and it's almost impossible to destroy it..." Harry's pupils contracted, suddenly recalling the black diary from his second year that had been attacked by a group of magical creatures without any harm.

"Does that mean...?"

"Yes," Dumbledore nodded. "That diary was one of Voldemort's Horcruxes, and my guess is that it was the first Horcrux he made."

"...one of them?" Harry's mind froze.

"Indeed, you see, we destroyed the diary, but Voldemort was still able to come back, and that's the best evidence." Dumbledore shook his head. "Actually, after destroying that diary, I've been tracking down Voldemort's other Horcruxes, and I've managed to destroy several, but..." He shook his head again, with a sense of helplessness.

Harry also had a solemn expression. He had wondered before why Fish and Dumbledore had to be so careful if they could confront Voldemort. Now he finally understood why. If Voldemort's Horcruxes weren't destroyed once and for all, he could keep coming back, so it made no sense to limit themselves to defeating him temporarily.

And after a long moment of contemplation, Fish looked up and said with shining eyes, "So, that's how it is? So Fish doesn't have to worry about accidentally hitting him and killing him?"

(?ω?)

"Eh?" ×2

Dumbledore and Harry looked at the suddenly happy Fish with confusion.

Then Fish excitedly explained his "Voldemort Reward Plan"...

"It's just that Minerva doesn't seem to approve of Fish doing it... It's about making money, who cares!"

(〃｀3〃)

Fish crossed his arms, pouting and murmuring in a very unconvincing manner.

Being interrupted by Fish, the originally serious atmosphere suddenly became more relaxed. Dumbledore chuckled twice under his breath and then said with seriousness, "But if that's the case, other people will still be in danger. Even if Voldemort loses strength, that's not something ordinary wizards can compete with... like Professor Quirrell, and the poor Bertha Jorkins and old Barty."

"And an old Muggle." Harry couldn't help adding, "I dreamed of Voldemort when he was killed before coming back to life, and the Priori Incantatem spell also showed it."

"So, for the safety of others, we must destroy Voldemort once and for all," Dumbledore said quietly but firmly.

"Very well, then..."

(?ω?)

Fish sighed reluctantly, having to give up his idea of easy money.

Then Dumbledore returned to the topic...

"Harry, do you remember the dream where Arthur was attacked?"

"Yes..." Harry nodded, confused, and asked curiously, "What's the matter, Professor?"

"Well, do you remember the original perspective?" Dumbledore recalled. "Although Voldemort attached himself to Quirrell once, it was due to his state at that time, so it's more likely that you could see everything from the perspective of that snake because..."

"It's also a Horcrux!" Harry exclaimed.

"That's right," Dumbledore nodded, with an apologetic look in his eyes. "So I suppose the reason why the prophecy states that you're the only person who can defeat Voldemort is because you're the only one who can find all of Voldemort's Horcruxes and destroy them all."

After a long consideration, Dumbledore chose to keep Harry in the dark about his situation. Dumbledore had already made some conjectures about how to solve the problem, but this particular conjecture couldn't be shared with Harry at the moment.

"But... if that's the case, why did you make me practice Occlumency?" Harry, after a moment of excitement, felt confused again.

"Learning Occlumency doesn't prevent you from glimpsing Voldemort's emotions," Dumbledore explained. "It only prevents Voldemort from gaining information from you and creating illusions in your mind."

Harry felt a little embarrassed at the thought of the illusion he had recently dreamed about.

But he quickly adapted and asked, "So how do we find the Horcruxes now?"

"My guess is that maybe you can sense that inexplicable connection you have with Voldemort when you're near the Horcruxes... Didn't you have a similar feeling when you saw the diary?" Dumbledore stood up, his voice becoming lighter.

"So for now, we just have to gather clues and search for places where the Horcruxes might be hidden... but for now, that's my job, so when I find the Horcruxes, I'll let you confirm them. Of course, you might 'see' where Voldemort's Horcrux is hidden in the future."

He winked playfully at Harry, then lifted his leg and headed towards the village in the distance.

"Now, just follow me to meet someone for now."

"Who is it? Is it the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor?"

(?ω?)

Excitedly, Fish followed him and asked aloud, "Can Fish beat him up?"

"Oh... no," Dumbledore waved his hand. "Because I was going to hire him to be the Potions professor."

"Potions class? What about Professor Snape?"

Harry also felt encouraged, despite having learned Occlumency from Snape, their relationship hadn't improved.

"Severus..." Dumbledore shrugged helplessly, "He has always wanted to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, and it's too difficult to recruit someone else from outside to take over the course. So..."

Upon hearing this news, Harry's spirits dampened again, but he perked up at the thought that it had been over a year since there had been a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.

Fish, on the other hand, frowned, distressed. "If it's Severus, Fish won't be able to do anything about it, nya..."

(??ˇ?ˇ??)