Albus Dumbledore's POV

Albus sat in his chair, twirling the Elder Wand in his hands and thinking about what had happened. Everything had not gone quite as planned. Voldemort had not been sucked into the painting for too long; it was good that he had hoped for reinforcements and had not expected that Albus would be able to block the call by the mark for a short time if he was close to the author of the spell. Voldemort could not be shaken out of the painting in the right place, and the signal itself for communication "with the spatial pocket" was completely lost. So Voldemort is alive, but no one knows where...

"Albus, I understand—conspiracy, conspiracy, and more conspiracy," Alastor Moody was tearing himself apart. "I have long stopped asking questions about what and why. But there is a limit to everything! First, in front of me, you pump enough energy into a painting with the Elder Wand to make a hundred holes the size of a man in Azkaban, and then you order me to burn this painting in Hellfire! And so I did. Why, Albus?"

In the silence that followed, Alastor Moody waited for an answer. But he was forced to be distracted by the signal of his communication amulet. Having muttered something in response, Moody deactivated the amulet and stared at Albus Dumbledore with admiration.

"Albus, I was informed here that all the captured Death Eaters lost their Dark Mark thirty-four seconds ago, and then it reappeared. And that the place from which you came, smashed by Dark Magic, was recorded. Moreover, the magical duel lasted only a few seconds. What do you mean by this?"

"I managed to meet Voldemort. One of the werewolves betrayed him, and I infiltrated the Death Eaters' laboratory where they were feeding the Boggart. There I deactivated the protection, disguised myself, and waited, hoping that sooner or later one of the officers of his organization would come there. Imagine my surprise when Voldemort himself came there."

"I already understood that. I always believed that you could handle him. It's just strange that not only were you not wounded, but you weren't even tired. And you did it in a few seconds. Make me happy—tell me that You-Know-Who was a weakling."

Today, Dark Magic performed by the Lord did not impress him personally. But there could be many reasons for this: he ate little porridge, shared his eregha with the werewolves, or experienced a temporary rollback from the experimental ritual.

"Unfortunately, I cannot say that the Dark Lord is defeated. He will return. Maybe in an hour, maybe in a year, maybe never."

"So you defeated him today?" Moody clarified.

"We were just fighting. I left here, and where he is—I do not know. But he left absolutely healthy; I did not hurt him even once. If you do not count a couple of minor wounds that he inflicted on himself. In my defense, I can say that Voldemort does not know where he is either."

"Albus... Let's declare victory? To disprove this, the Death Eaters will have to show a living Dark Lord, and when they cannot do this, they will panic. Maybe they'll fight among themselves, maybe the organization will split, and some will start handing over their own under guarantees of immunity."

"We'll look very pale when he comes back. So let's postpone the celebration and the awards until we have his body."

"Not when he comes back, but if he comes back. And if you're worried about public opinion... Let's make some kind of crumb out of bread and say that he defeated You-Know-Who? For example, You-Know-Who couldn't Avada a Muggle because he had too much love?"

"No, Alastor."

"Okay, I'll try to approach it from a different angle. If I start burning paintings, will that help our fight? I can apparate to a Muggle museum right now and..."

"No, Alastor. Go to work. The author of the painting I burned will be under increased guard, and there will be more ambushes around him. If anything happens, call me, don't be shy. Find me the Lovegoods; I think they may be held captive by Voldemort."

Albus was ready to swear that his opponent saw the effect of the painting towards the end, but it was too late. And who are the Seers in England, besides those who sit in the Department of Mysteries all the time? Only the Lovegoods.

"For now, I'll send Severus to find out what's going on with the Death Eaters, as soon as I dump the memories into the Pensieve."

"And that will help us win?" Moody asked skeptically.

"Yes," they answered him.

When Alastor left, Dumbledore stood thoughtfully over the Pensieve, sharing his last memories with it.

Based on the facts he had collected, Tom Riddle's story could be considered complete. Another Dark Wizard had ruined his personality and soul, although he did not understand how. Apparently, this happened at the end of last year.

Another wand, another Antipatronus, another familiar, a slight adjustment in political direction, interest in werewolves, interest in Muggles, interest in Muggle technology, a disguise on the face that concealed the human appearance. How did no one else guess? The only way to unmask yourself was to listen to Muggle music at a Death Eater meeting!

And here is the story of the Dark Lord Voldemort continues. The Dark Lord is dead; long live the Dark Lord. Who are you? Why do you continue his work? Is it just greed, or is there something of Tom in you? And more importantly, how can you be stopped?

Albus was sure that Tom Riddle created the Horcruxes. But in what form and with what functionality did the Horcruxes go to his successor? In none? Unchanged? Something in between? Riddles in the Darkness...

But there is one obvious difference between the old and the new Dark Lord. Tom Riddle did not spare not only others, but also himself. Even if he knew about the negative effects of Horcruxes and Dark Magic, it would not have changed anything. This one is different. The new Dark Lord is afraid of the accumulation of ereggu and fights it. He protects himself from irreversible consequences. He was even afraid to destroy his own eyes with Dark Magic, fearing that he would not be able to restore them!

That is, we should not expect irreparable victims from the new Voldemort; it is unlikely that he will create new Horcruxes.

Albus closed the Pensieve and sat down in the chair. "Come in, Severus," he ordered politely. "I have business for you."