Chapter 761: The Seventh Horcrux (Edited)

When Sirius saw how serious Dumbledore was and heard that it was about Harry, he didn't rush to reach Kreacher.

He returned to his seat, anxiously looked at Harry beside him, and seeing that he also seemed confused, he impatiently asked, "What's going on? Is it some kind of curse from Harry's fight with Voldemort?"

"Calm down." Dumbledore reassured Sirius, then looked at Harry with guilty blue eyes and took a deep breath before continuing, "Before I tell you anything, you must promise me that, no matter what you hear next, you will stay calm, and I will explain it to you gradually."

However, the more discreet Dumbledore acted, the more panic Sirius felt, but he forced himself to calm down and tightly held Harry's hand, never taking his eyes off Dumbledore.

Professor McGonagall also put aside the matter of Fish for the moment and gave Harry a worried look.

She knew Harry's true condition very well and knew that Harry was a problem she would have to confront if she truly wanted to defeat Voldemort.

"I just... I don't know if Harry will be able to handle the shock of the truth..."

Professor McGonagall sighed inwardly and then hugged Fish as if to console him.

Fish looked at Professor McGonagall with suspicion, and seeing that she seemed a bit down, he wrapped his arms around her and rubbed his head against her cheek.

The interaction between mother and son didn't interfere with Dumbledore's narration, and after Sirius had calmed down, he continued, "What I want to tell you is... about Harry's scar... Earlier, I told Harry that Voldemort had left part of his magic in that scar, which wasn't entirely accurate... because Voldemort had left something else there besides his magic."

"What is it?" Sirius leaned forward unconsciously and impatiently asked.

"A fragment of Voldemort's soul." Dumbledore's voice was soft, but his tone was heavy as he spoke the answer.

"A fragment of a soul? Doesn't that mean...?" Hermione was the first to respond, looking at Harry in astonishment, swallowing hard, and exclaimed in disbelief, "Does that mean Harry is also...?"

"The Horcrux..." Dumbledore sighed, catching up with what Hermione couldn't bring herself to say, "Yes, Harry is also Voldemort's Horcrux... a... seventh Horcrux that Voldemort himself didn't realize was there."

He ignored Sirius, who stood up, and continued, "The night Voldemort tried to kill Harry, when Lily put her life between them, the Killing Curse rebounded on Voldemort, and a fragment of Voldemort's soul flew off, attached to the only living soul in the collapsed house. As long as that fragment of Voldemort's soul, which Voldemort didn't find, remained attached to Harry, protected by Harry and the Guardianship Spell, Voldemort couldn't die."

"Do you mean that in the end, we have to kill Harry to truly defeat Voldemort?!" Sirius slammed the table hard, shocked and furious, growling at Dumbledore, "I won't allow it! There must be another way. How can we win by sacrificing a child?!"

"How ugly!" mocked Phineas from the portrait. "It's sad that the Black family is stuck with such a foolish and reckless Gryffindor."

However, there was no sadness on his face, only disdain and displeasure.

Sirius turned to his godfather, looking at him angrily.

The disdain and displeasure on Phineas' face became even more evident. "You're not even as good as these students, even though they're all Gryffindors," he sarcastically and mercilessly said to his grandson. "Incapable of maintaining basic composure, no wonder your own friends betrayed you and landed you in prison for over a decade..."

"That's enough, Phineas," Dumbledore interrupted, preventing him from further irritating Sirius. He then looked at Sirius and said, "I've asked you to calm down and listen to me."

By then, Harry had finally recovered from the shocking news. He tugged at Sirius' robe and, in a somewhat dry voice, said, "If... if that's all it takes to defeat Voldemort... then I... I'm actually... expendable..."

After saying this, Harry felt drained of all his strength and slumped into his chair.

Sirius looked back at Harry, who was still trembling slightly but had a determined gaze. Instead of shouting, Sirius sat back down and stared at Dumbledore with an expressionless face.

He had mentally decided that if Dumbledore ended up sacrificing Harry, he would grab him and run.

"I must say, Harry, you have more courage than I expected," Dumbledore admired Harry for making that decision and then said, "But things aren't so simple... and you don't necessarily have to be sacrificed."

Sirius' eyes lit up with hope, and Harry stopped trembling, surprised as he looked at Dumbledore, while Fish, Hermione, and Professor McGonagall perked up their ears.

"Because Voldemort made a very grave mistake," Dumbledore explained to them, not wanting to be left behind. "When he returned to life, he took Harry's blood, believing it would make him stronger."

"What a pity that he's always ignorant, Harry!" exclaimed Dumbledore. "Voldemort never bothered to understand what he undervalued. Love, Voldemort knows nothing about it. It possesses a power greater than his, a power beyond any magic, but he has never grasped that fact."

But few were interested in the topic at that moment, especially Sirius and Fish.

"Fish doesn't want to hear about it! Albus, tell me how Harry is going to survive!"

(ΦДΦ)

Fish protested loudly.

"Voldemort took a small part of the spell that Harry's mother left behind when she died for him. His body prevented Lily's sacrifice charm from dying..." Dumbledore returned to the previous topic at Fish's insistence, looking gently at Harry and saying, "He took your blood and used it to reshape his own flesh and blood body. Your blood runs through his veins, Harry, and Lily's spell is in both of you. As long as he lives, your life will not end."

"While he lives... I live? But I thought... I thought it was the other way around! I thought both of us had to die, right? Or is it actually the same?" Harry said amazed.

Dumbledore shook his head. "Do you remember what that prophecy from Sybill said?"

"Neither can live while the other survives, and one of them will have to... go away forever," Harry murmured the prophecy that hadn't let him sleep all night and had stayed engraved in his mind.

"Yes, only one will survive," Dumbledore said. "I believe only Voldemort can destroy the part of his soul that is hidden within Harry, and when you are 'killed' by Voldemort, your soul will be complete and truly yours."

"What do you mean by that? Are you going to make Harry sacrifice himself?!" Sirius shouted again.

"Harry is not going to truly die... if my suspicions are correct," Dumbledore said. "Fortunately, my conjectures are usually not far off, and even more fortunately, the effects of Felix Felicis potion have not yet worn off."

"But what if you're wrong?"

Sirius wouldn't accept it; what he wanted was to be sure that Harry would be absolutely fine.

Dumbledore said nothing more, simply observing them in silence.

Harry was more prepared for this than Sirius, who refused to accept the offer.

"I trust Professor Dumbledore," he said, looking at Sirius with seriousness and determination. "And even if Dumbledore is wrong this time, I won't regret it... I'm sure Mum and Dad would support me."

"No! I won't allow it. I only met you two years ago! We have plenty of time to live together!" Sirius shook his head frantically, refusing to accept it.

"Albus, isn't there really any other way?"

Professor McGonagall looked at Harry with anguish and held Fish tighter in her arms. She understood perfectly how Sirius felt, and she would never have accepted Dumbledore's offer to sacrifice Fish.

Dumbledore shook his head helplessly and said, "I wouldn't risk my student even if I could, but it's the only solution."

"If you're concerned that Harry will die at Voldemort's hands... maybe Fish has a solution, meow."

At that moment, Fish, who had remained silent, suddenly spoke up.