Chapter 303: Marvolo Gaunt's Ring

After a brief rest, the trio continued their search.

They began in the living room, meticulously examining every jar, drawer, and container in the house, hoping to uncover something valuable.

Of course, it was challenging to distinguish magical items from potential traps amidst the chaos.

However, they hadn't forgotten to bring along a valuable asset for their search—Himari.

The feline creature had an intuitive and perceptive ability far beyond that of an ordinary wizard, making her adept at identifying anything amiss.

By the way, Orianna had been assigned to stay with Penelope and Cho Chang as their safety measure.

Yet, despite their vigilance, they hadn't found a single magical trap in the old house, as if Voldemort had only set up the Inferi as a defense mechanism.

Given that Inferi were present, it logically suggested that Voldemort had hidden something valuable here.

Creating Inferi required considerable effort; unlike zombies, Inferi did not have the ability to spread infection.

Voldemort and his followers had to create them individually, which was labor-intensive and costly.

Thus, it was clear that the Inferi had a purpose.

Hermione and Fleur had this thought after encountering the Inferi, and their analysis seemed correct.

However, their confusion grew during the subsequent search.

If there was indeed a Horcrux here, the lack of defenses was puzzling.

Despite this, the girls continued their cautious search and soon had a breakthrough.

In a secluded small room, from the deteriorating decorations, they could discern it had once been a woman's room.

Upon entering the room, Himari began to show signs of distress.

She abruptly jumped into Alaric's arms, meowing anxiously.

Alaric immediately understood that something dangerous was present in this room.

Before coming here, they had researched Voldemort's background.

He was born into the Gaunt family, with his mother, Merope Gaunt, being a witch and his father, Tom Riddle Sr., a Muggle.

Merope's father, Marvolo Gaunt, was the previous head of the Gaunt family.

The Gaunt family was said to be an ancient pure-blood family with a lineage of over a thousand years.

To maintain the so-called purity of blood, generations of inbreeding occurred.

They prided themselves on opulence, and while they were once quite wealthy, their fortune had been squandered long before Marvolo Gaunt's time.

In addition to Merope Gaunt, Marvolo Gaunt had another son, Morfin Gaunt, who was the rightful heir of the Gaunt family.

However, Morfin Gaunt had been sent to Azkaban long ago for murdering Tom Riddle Sr.'s family and had died there.

Before their visit, they had also accessed records at the Ministry of Magic, which showed that while Morfin Gaunt had confessed to murdering the Riddle family, his mental state at the time was not sufficient to commit such a crime.

It was evident that the real perpetrator was Voldemort, who had always denied his Muggle heritage, and Morfin Gaunt had been implanted with false memories.

This was the reason why the Gaunt family home was their first stop in the investigation.

Since Morfin Gaunt had remained unmarried, this room was clearly associated with Voldemort's mother, Merope Gaunt.

In a drawer within the room, they found a highly suspicious item.

It was a gold ring set with a black stone, looking quite ordinary at first glance.

However, the mere presence of the ring in such a location was already highly suspicious.

The most notable feature was the symbol on the black stone.

It was a peculiar design resembling a triangle with a vertical line through the center, although the triangle and line were faint, while the circle forming the eye was exceptionally clear.

Alaric recognized this as the symbol of the Deathly Hallows.

According to the original story, the black stone was one of the three Deathly Hallows—the Resurrection Stone—and this ring was one of Voldemort's Horcruxes, inherited from Marvolo Gaunt.

Before he could say anything, he noticed the girls' expressions were off.

Their gazes were fixed on the ring, unable to move away.

Fleur Delacour, in particular, was visibly affected.

Alaric could clearly hear her rapid breathing as she seemed to be in a trance, slowly reaching out towards the ring, on the verge of touching it.

Alaric acted quickly, grabbing her hand and pulling her back, then grabbed Hermione and yanked both girls away.

Hermione and Fleur stumbled back two or three steps, their bodies swaying, and finally stopped staring at the ring.

"How are you both? Are you okay?" Alaric asked with concern.

The girls looked dazed, and it took them a while to regain their composure.

"I... I'm fine," Fleur said, her gaze conflicted as she looked at the ring.

"I'm sorry, I lost control."

"This ring seems to be exerting a powerful allure," Hermione said, shaken.

"It's so bizarre. If we had touched it, there would have been dire consequences."

Alaric nodded and pointed his wand at Marvolo Gaunt's ring.

An eerie black smoke began to slowly emerge from the black stone.

Immediately, Alaric, Hermione, and Fleur felt a dangerous aura emanating.

Hermione transformed a nearby tattered book into a white mouse and, with a wave of her wand, sent the mouse towards the black smoke.

The mouse, which had been squeaking, let out a horrific cry upon contact with the smoke.

The three watched as the mouse turned black, its muscles decaying, and eventually, it died.

Yet, the black smoke continued to linger around the ring, showing no signs of diminishing and even seeming to expand.

"Is this... the Dark Lord's Horcrux?" Hermione shivered. "It's a dangerous curse.

No wonder he didn't set up any other traps besides the Inferi.

The temptation and this terrifying curse alone could deter any intruders."

Alaric nodded in agreement.

Indeed, Voldemort had cleverly exploited psychological patterns.

If someone was searching for Horcruxes, finding the ring would be the moment they felt most relaxed.

The combination of mental temptation and curse was potent.

Even in the original story, Dumbledore had fallen victim to this trap.

With the aid of dark wizard master Severus Snape, the curse still rendered Dumbledore's hand unusable and shortened his life to less than a year, forcing him to make the sacrifice of becoming Snape's double agent.

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