Chapter 341

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"An incredible self-made curse," I said quietly, continuing to complicate the diagnostic charms. "I'm not an expert, but the curse is quite nasty and complicated. It penetrated instantly and immediately throughout the entire triad. It seems that it even touched the soul a little, but you, apparently, stopped this process yourself at the very beginning."

"You're right," the Headmaster nodded. "That's the only thing I could do. Professor Snape brewed a potion to stop the process."

"It's not a panacea," came Snape's quiet voice, but the very subtle nuances of the voice spoke of hidden irritation and even anger. "You have acted as recklessly as possible..."

"Later, Severus," Dumbledore shifted his tired gaze to the potions master, and he fell silent.

"A very powerful, complex curse," I continued to speak. "It appears to have merged very organically with you, triggering processes of change in the body on all levels. It diverges cyclically, stage by stage, starting from a place of... Contact with something."

Putting the wand back into the holster on my forearm, I looked carefully at the headmaster.

"Have you contacted other specialists?"

"Of course, Mr. Knight. Very high-class ones. Although... My fame as the Great Light Wizard has a downside."

"Not every dark wizard will agree to meet with you."

"Yes. The Healers expressed their opinion. So did Severus. What say you?"

"With the current progression of development and the spread of the curse... No longer than a year."

Dumbledore nodded in agreement.

"I told you so," Professor Snape said again.

"Not now, Severus. Let me have a word with Mr. Knight alone."

Snape stood there for a few seconds, glaring at both of us.

"I'll be in my office," he said sharply, then turned and left.

The headmaster leaned back in his chair, relaxed, and was quiet for a dozen seconds.

"You must be wondering how I managed to find myself in such an unseemly situation."

"I would be lying if I said no."

Dumbledore pointed with one glance to the chair across from his desk, in which I immediately sat down.

"Remember last year, your mentor narrated the essence of an object?"

"Horcrux," I nodded.

"Exactly. Voldemort's Horcrux. Tom Riddle's. It was only then that I realized what exactly the reason for his immortality was. I couldn't even think... I don't think anyone could. But the question arose - how did a piece of Voldemort's soul get into Harry? A long search for information led me to some disappointing conclusions. It could only happen to a wizard from an Avada hit if his soul was split multiple times. But how many? That question remains open for now."

The headmaster turned his head toward the window, looking out at the moon.

"Long searches, memories, analysis... They led me to one of the Horcruxes, but the defenses proved too cunning and strong, and together with the object..." the Headmaster looked at me. "Do you believe in fairy tales, Mr. Knight?"

"I believe, Headmaster, that there is no smoke without fire."

Dumbledore smiled into his beard, opened his locker, and took out a ring with a black stone.

"The Gaunt family ring. It is the lineage to which Tom Riddle belongs. After the Horcrux was created from it, it ceased to have value as an ancestral ring, but the stone... Have you read The Tales of Beedle the Bard?"

"The Resurrection Stone?"

"Yes. That's exactly what it is. Every person, Mr. Knight, accumulates a load of mistakes and regrets with age. Some are insignificant, while others torment him until death. The magic of the Horcrux, the knowledge of the essence of the stone... They were stronger. It was the ring that had that curse."

Dumbledore straightened up in his chair, taking a more serious pose.

"At the moment, the Horcrux in this ring has been destroyed."

"That's good, I guess. But tell me, Headmaster, why are you telling me this?"

"The reason is simple, Mr. Knight. Harry Potter. Mr. Potter has an extremely difficult fate, partly through my fault. But far worse than that is what lies ahead for him. There are reasons, irresistible reasons, why he must fight the Dark Lord and prevail. Or not."

"Irresistible reasons?"

"Yes. That cannot be changed..."

"Prophecy? True prophecy, am I right?"

"I didn't want to tell you that."

"If you didn't want to, you wouldn't have said «irresistible». Only a true prophecy heard by someone can make any reasons «irresistible»."

"Yes, you are right, Mr. Knight. Over the summer, I was able to reach out to the Necromancer Lodge to discuss Mr. Potter's problem. Extracting a Horcrux from a living person after all these years is absolutely impossible. Mr. Potter has a chance of survival only if he dies voluntarily from Tom's Avada. But in the future... It will be Harry who will have to defeat Tom if he survives. And if he doesn't... There will be no one to defeat Tom. He will lead England to disaster, but none of the powerful will intervene until it's too late. I am sure that Tom, coming to power, will sooner or later bring the world to the verge of a new war, but not such as they were in the past. A war between wizards and ordinary people."