Hogwarts: Even Voldemort Can't Stop Me From Studying

Chapter 887: Chapter 258: Counting the Soul Artifacts

”And then there’s the ring.”

Vid didn’t ask where Dumbledore had placed the diary and said in a calm tone, ”Found in the ruins of the Gaunt family, burned with Fiendfyre.”

Dumbledore’s fingers trembled slightly, as if he wanted to say something but swallowed it back, instead saying, ”And the Ravenclaw’s diadem... you all burned it in the cave.”

Later, when the two sides were honest with each other, Dumbledore even went to that unnamed cave to check; the charred stones and rock walls still bore traces of Dark Magic burns, and there wasn’t even a spider weaving a web in the cave.

Back then Lupin was the one who used the Fiendfyre Curse, and to Vid, that seemed like a long time ago.

”The fourth, Slytherin’s pendant box,” Vid said in a low voice. ”Destroyed in the cavern where Regulus Black perished.”

That time, it was Dumbledore who used the Flame Curse, and unlike Vid and Lupin, who had to burn with Fiendfyre for a long time, Dumbledore’s flames took only a few seconds to burn the pendant box and the soul fragment inside it completely.

At that time, Vid thought it was due to the headmaster’s powerful magical prowess. After learning the Flame God, he then understood what that blue-white flame signified.

”So there are only two soul artifacts left...”

After a pause, Vid continued, ”Hufflepuff’s Golden Cup, and... an unknown soul artifact.”

Dumbledore slowly shook his head. ”An accidentally created soul artifact, not part of Voldemort’s plan.”

They tacitly didn’t mention Harry’s name, even though both understood in their hearts.

”As for the cup... Lucius Malfoy speculates that Hufflepuff’s Golden Cup is in the Lestrange family’s vault, still preserved in Gringotts,” Dumbledore said.

Vid looked tentatively at the headmaster. ”Voldemort had once broken into Gringotts as well... a wizard like you, the defenses of the goblins wouldn’t stop you...”

His voice paused, suddenly realizing his manner and tone of speech now felt somewhat familiar...

A bit like Tom Riddle in Slughorn’s memory, who advanced step by step, setting traps with his words.

Vid quickly pulled back his leaning posture, straightened his back, his fingers unconsciously tapping the armrest twice.

The Dark Lord’s influence was quite strong, leading him to unwittingly emulate. By the time he came to his senses, that strange deja vu still lingered in his mind.

Dumbledore, not knowing if he felt the same way, also remained silent for a few seconds before continuing the previous topic:

”I prefer to use more reasonable means, but this matter... perhaps Voldemort himself can help us complete it.”

The old headmaster changed the subject: ”As for the last soul artifact... perhaps it has already been destroyed by you unintentionally.”

Vid was taken aback: ”What?”

Then he suddenly recalled the giant serpent that turned to ashes along with the infant form of Voldemort at the cabin door.

—Could it be that Voldemort didn’t turn Nagini into a soul artifact after truly resurrecting, but impatiently completed the last soul artifact ceremony after regaining a temporary active body?

It makes sense...

Voldemort always believed splitting the soul into seven parts granted the greatest power. And in his weakened state, he would surely desire to grow stronger more eagerly.

He had lingered as a ghost for over a decade, and the pain and loneliness only made him more impatient instead of stable and patient.

Thinking of Nagini, Vid suddenly remembered another snake—the king cobra seen in the monastery church.

After the battle, Vid hadn’t seen the snake’s corpse and had to ask the poppets to learn that when Voldemort and the Death Eaters withdrew from the church, the snake didn’t aid its master in battle but slipped away at an opportunity. It was unclear if Voldemort went to retrieve his new pet afterward.

And Dumbledore did not answer Vid’s question, merely waved his magic wand, and the fog around them swirled again, suddenly transforming into a new scene.

The familiar outline of the monastery gradually emerged in the mist, the glass cracks appearing like menacing spider webs under the moonlight. Vid felt he could almost smell the odor of decay in the air of memory.

Their current location was not the church or courtyard of the monastery but the graveyard behind it, where most of the once towering tombstones had collapsed, and the cemetery fence was entwined with dead vines and iron-gray thorns.

Infant-form Voldemort sat on a specially made chair, which Vid thought resembled a high chair for feeding babies, except the small table in front had been removed, and some sinister, cold decorations had been added.

”Bang!”

Slughorn was dragged over by the scar-faced man and dumped on the ground before a tombstone.

He still looked plump at the moment but was tortured beyond recognition, his limbs twisted at unnatural angles, his robe covered in overlapping bloodstains both old and new.

Voldemort’s deformed little hand gently lifted, making a gesture of invitation, and in a hoarse voice, he said:

”Dear Professor Slughorn, you must still remember... our class that wasn’t finished, right?”

Slughorn curled up in front of the tombstone, his blood-stained fingers clawing at the dirt on the ground, not daring to raise his head. ”I-I know nothing... please... let me go...”

”That’s not possible,” Voldemort said coldly. ”You certainly weren’t so stingy with knowledge when you taught me in the past. Or would you prefer to become this child’s dinner?”

As he raised his hand, the enormous king cobra slithered out, coiling around Slughorn’s body, its amber eyes fixated greedily on the ”dinner.”

”No... no...”

Slughorn trembled all over, keeping his eyes tightly shut as he said, ”I am sorry, I truly don’t know what the spell for making a soul artifact is... and... and... since you’re still alive, you must have succeeded...”

”Ah, that spell... I found a way to obtain it later, there’s no need to mention it... what I want to discuss is another matter.”

Voldemort’s polite voice abruptly turned icy cold, becoming spiteful and angry:

”Tell me... if a soul artifact was destroyed, how should one make amends? After splitting the soul into seven parts... can it still be split further?”

Upon hearing this, the old professor could no longer restrain himself, terrorly glancing up at Voldemort, then collapsing onto the ground in fright, huddling into another ball.

”Split... splitting the soul...” Slughorn muttered in a trembling voice: ”That’s wrong... the soul should be intact...”

”I don’t want to hear that nonsense!” Voldemort suddenly screamed sharply and waved his wand: ”Crucio!”

The spell’s light hit Slughorn’s chest, and he immediately arched his body, uttering a heartrending scream—

”Ahhhhh——”