Harry Potter and the Secret Treasures

“You’ve done very well. Voldemort will not succeed, we all know that,” Dumbledore said. “Whether it is the Horcruxes or the attempt to transform himself into that vile, Dark creature, the Dark magic Herpo left behind can only drive his soul toward utter and irreversible ruin. He believes he has gained immense power, that he has conquered death, when in truth he is becoming ever more fragile.

“All the memories we have seen prove this. Once Voldemort ceased to be Tom Riddle, once he lost his talent for seduction and persuasion, what was there left to fear? Yes, he appears stronger, but the price he paid was a soul rendered dangerously unstable. He proclaims himself invincible and immortal, yet every act of murder carries him one step closer to destruction. Twenty years ago, when he last attempted those unspeakable crimes — when he murdered James and Lily and tried to kill a child — his soul shattered. It is rather ironic, isn’t it? Without us lifting a finger, the wizard who claimed to be the most powerful Dark wizard in history brought about his own defeat.”

“But I thought that was because of Harry’s mother’s magic,” Evan said.

“Lily’s sacrificial protection did indeed play its part,” Dumbledore replied gently, “but it was not magic alone. There was love. It was Lily’s love for Harry that truly rebounded the curse and defeated Voldemort. That is a power beyond any spell.”

“Love?” Evan muttered. “You’ve said that before, but I still don’t understand. How can love defeat Voldemort? Especially now, Professor, when the situation has become far more complicated. We need more practical help than intangible love.”

“Love is not intangible, Evan. We may not be able to see it, but it is real. It is a form of magic that remains unexplored, unknown — at least, that is what I believe,” Dumbledore said, his gaze turning to the crimson rune before them. “Voldemort does not understand this. Nor did Herpo, nor the Dark wizards and ancient sorcerers of the previous magical age. They devoted their lives to the pursuit of power, relying on magic to dominate everything, and what they gained in the end was only destruction. Herpo was eternally imprisoned; immortality became his punishment rather than his triumph. The ancient sorcerers drew the attention of Dark entities from the void, whose arrival annihilated an entire magical era — and that war has yet to truly end. These were their punishments. Believe me, if Voldemort truly used that spell, his fate would be even worse.”

“But then how are we supposed to defeat Voldemort with love?”

“You already have the answer, don’t you?” Dumbledore countered.

“I’m not sure!” said Evan. “If you mean the connection between him and Harry, then… I do know something about that…”

Dumbledore smiled, gesturing for him to continue.

“On the night Voldemort failed twenty years ago, when his soul was already unstable, it split once again,” said Evan. “A fragment of it remained inside Harry. That’s why Harry himself is a Horcrux, and why he and Voldemort are connected. But Voldemort doesn’t know this. Or rather — he knows that some force is protecting Harry, something that prevents him from harming him. So, upon his resurrection, he took Harry’s blood, hoping to gain the protective power Lily left behind in her son’s blood.”

“Generally speaking, when the object a protective charm is meant to repel becomes the very object it protects, the charm loses its effectiveness,” Dumbledore said with interest. “He attempted to use this principle to break Lily’s sacrificial protection. It was a remarkably clever approach.”

“But Voldemort didn’t break Harry’s mother’s magic; instead, this made him and Harry even more tightly connected.”

“More tightly than any bond ever forged between two wizards in history,” Dumbledore added. “Voldemort strengthened this double connection with his own hands. As I have always said, he understands nothing of love. He has never grasped its power. Whatever he does not value, he never bothers to understand — house-elves and fairy tales, love, loyalty, innocence… Voldemort knows nothing of these things. If he could only have understood the precise and terrible power of that sacrifice, he would not, perhaps, have dared to touch Harry’s blood!”

“Well, if that’s the power of love, then it is indeed formidable!” Evan admitted. “Under its protection, Voldemort cannot kill Harry, or even touch him. But that alone is not enough to defeat Voldemort. After Harry turned seventeen, the power of the sacrificial protection his mother left behind ceased to function. The power of love is gone!”

“No, no, no, Evan, the power of love has always existed. As long as you understand love, as long as there is someone you wish to love or something you wish to protect, it will always exist — and it will become part of your magic.”

“But that still won’t defeat Voldemort!” Evan raised his voice in rebuttal. “After you’re gone, there will be no wizard left who can stand against him. Do you expect him to fail again, as he did twenty years ago, when he tries to kill Harry?”

“It is not impossible!”

“It’s impossible. Without the protection of the sacrificial charm, how can Harry defeat Voldemort?” Evan scoffed. “We all know that if Voldemort makes another move, he will truly kill Harry.”

Dumbledore’s smile vanished. Evan stared at him and continued, “Of course, when Voldemort kills Harry, he will also destroy the fragment of his soul within him. But Voldemort doesn’t care. After acquiring Herpo’s Dark magic, he no longer cares about the instability of his soul. Fragments of it already reside within the statue of the evil god — and within Ron.

“If he intends to use the Dark magic left by Herpo, he needs to maintain the stability of his soul as much as possible. He needs to reclaim all the existing Horcrux fragments,” Dumbledore said slowly. “Maintaining the integrity of the soul is crucial. Whether or not we succeed in destroying the other Horcruxes, Harry will ultimately be the final one.”

“So, once he kills Harry, we can all rush in and kill Voldemort? That’s your plan?”

“First, I believe Harry would not fear death. In that regard, he possesses more courage than many others, and he has already proven it time and again. He is a true Gryffindor. Second, I do not believe Voldemort will truly kill Harry. Though I did consider that possibility, what would be destroyed would only be Voldemort’s own fragment of soul.”

“But what if Voldemort chooses not to do that,” Evan pressed, “and instead directly uses the spell Herpo left behind? Or what if he does kill Harry, but we are still unable to defeat him — and he succeeds in casting that spell?”