Harry Potter and the Secret Treasures - H.P.S.T Chapter 1458: Dust-Laden Memory

Evan and Harry turned their heads at the same time. Nearly Headless Nick was gliding toward them, his head wobbling as usual upon his ruff.

“I had it from the Bloody Baron, who saw him arrive,” said Nick. “Dumbledore appeared, according to the Baron, to be in good spirits, though a little tired, of course. That’s understandable, given how busy he is. The Baron…”

“Where is he?”

“Oh, groaning and clanking up on the Astronomy Tower, it’s a favorite pastime of his —”

“Not the Bloody Baron — Dumbledore!” said Harry.

“Oh — in his office,” said Nick. “I believe, from what the Baron said, that he had business to attend to before turning in —”

After confirming Dumbledore’s whereabouts, Harry immediately turned around and looked at Evan and said, “Evan, let’s go find Dumbledore.”

Excitement was blazing in his chest at the prospect of telling Dumbledore he had secured the memory.

“Yeah, we should go talk to Dumbledore. I said he’d know we got the memory!” Evan replied. “Maybe that’s even why he came back.”

He had no objection to going to Dumbledore’s office, but what about Elaine in his arms?

If she woke up, she’d definitely be a trouble. Who knew what else a drunken Elaine might do besides biting people?

Besides, even though Elaine was very light, it was still exhausting for Evan to keep holding her.

No — to be more accurate, Elaine was the one hanging onto him, and he was tired from supporting her!

She was clinging to him like a sloth to a tree — no, like a sloth clinging to his body.

Before they could make a move, the Fat Lady suddenly cried out in a rush:

“Don’t go to the headmaster, I lied! I was annoyed you woke me up! The password’s still ‘tapeworm’!”

As soon as she finished speaking, the portrait door swung upwards, revealing the entrance to the common room behind.

“Wait for me, Harry, I’ll go hand Elaine over to Hermione,” Evan walked in with this trouble.

It was already quite late, but Hermione hadn’t gone back to the dormitory yet.

She was curled up by the sofa near the fireplace, asleep, with a thick magic book fallen beside her.

Evan woke her up and handed Elaine to her, briefly explaining her current situation: drunk and prone to biting.

Anyway, it was extremely bad behavior and very violent, so he warned Hermione to be careful.

From the look on Hermione’s face, it was clear she didn’t take Elaine’s situation seriously — her mind was entirely focused on how Evan and Harry had gotten Slughorn’s memory, what was in that memory, and the fact they were going to see Dumbledore.

After a quick explanation, Evan and an impatient Harry made their way to Dumbledore’s office.

“The Headmaster’s definitely going to be happy when he sees this memory. He has urged us many times and must be very anxious,” said Harry.

“Yeah, he must be eager by now. After all, to defeat Voldemort, the first major obstacle we face is the Horcruxes — a hurdle we simply can’t avoid. Dumbledore needs to know every bit of information about them,” said Evan quietly.

He had a rough idea about it, but he couldn’t reveal everything, especially since so much had already changed.

The information Dumbledore had gathered, and the judgments he made based on it, were far more reliable than what Evan knew about the so-called future.

A few minutes later, Evan and Harry arrived at the gargoyle guarding the Headmaster’s office. They spoke the password and ascended the spiral staircase.

They knocked on the door, and Dumbledore’s exhausted voice came from inside: “Enter.”

They pushed open the door. There was Dumbledore’s office, looking the same as ever, but with black, star-strewn skies beyond the windows.

“Ah, Evan, Harry!” said Dumbledore in surprise. “To what do I owe this very late pleasure?”

“Sir, we’ve got it. We’ve got the memory from Slughorn,” said Harry immediately, pulling out the tiny glass bottle to show it to Dumbledore.

“We’ve just got it. Now we can confirm the crucial information about Voldemort’s Horcruxes,” Evan added, though he was actually even more concerned about what Dumbledore would do next once he verified the contents of this critical memory. Perhaps they could finally move on to the next stage!

After all, for Dumbledore, the final missing pieces of the puzzle should now be complete.

Sure enough, the headmaster looked stunned for a moment after seeing the tiny glass bottle that Harry took out, and then his face split in a wide smile.

“This is spectacular news! Very well done indeed! I knew you could do it!”

All thought of the lateness of the hour apparently forgotten, he hurried around his desk, took the bottle with Slughorn’s memory, and strode over to the cabinet where he kept the Pensieve. He placed the stone basin upon his desk and emptied the contents of the bottle into it.

“And now, at last, we shall see. Evan, Harry, quickly … this is a vital piece,” he said, motioning for them to join him at the Pensieve.

Evan followed Harry into the Pensieve and felt his feet leave the office floor. … Once again he fell through darkness and landed in Horace Slughorn’s office many years before.

There was the much younger Slughorn, with his thick, shiny, straw-colored hair and his gingery-blond mustache, sitting again in the comfortable winged armchair in his office, his feet resting upon a velvet pouffe, a small glass of wine in one hand, the other rummaging in a box of crystalized pineapple. And there were the half-dozen teenage boys sitting around Slughorn with Tom Riddle in the midst of them, Marvolo’s gold-and-black ring gleaming on his finger.

“Sir, is it true that Professor Merrythought is retiring?” Riddle asked.

“Tom, Tom, if I knew I couldn’t tell you,” said Slughorn, wagging his finger reprovingly at Riddle, though winking at the same time. “I must say, I’d like to know where you get your information, boy, more knowledgeable than half the staff, you are.”

Riddle smiled; the other boys laughed and cast him admiring looks.

“What with your uncanny ability to know things you shouldn’t, and your careful flattery of the people who matter — thank you for the pineapple, by the way, you’re quite right, it is my favorite —”

Several of the boys tittered again.

“— I confidently expect you to rise to Minister of Magic within twenty years. Fifteen, if you keep sending me pineapple, I have excellent contacts at the Ministry.”

Tom Riddle merely smiled as the others laughed again.

When he was about to speak, the other boys all shut up.

It was obvious that he was not the eldest of the group of boys, but they all seemed to look at him as their leader.

Among these students, Tom Riddle had absolute control, even far more than Slughorn and other professors.

It was easy to imagine that during his time at school, Tom Riddle had been the leader among Hogwarts students, second only to the headmaster and Dumbledore.

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