#406 - Chapter 406 Old Deng's Troubles

Dumbledore picked up his Coke and took a pleasant sip. After a while, he took out the Pensieve, along with a small bottle containing a memory.

He tapped the bottle lightly with his wand, and the stopper immediately flew to the side. The memory within slowly flowed into the Pensieve.

Looking at the silvery-white substance rippling in the Pensieve, Dumbledore extended an invitation: "Sebastian, shall we take a look together?"

Sebastian readily agreed. He leaned forward slightly and reached his hand into the Pensieve.

In a daze, he found himself in a lavish room.

An old woman, as plump as a frosted cake, sat there with a ginger-colored wig perched squarely on her head, and a pink robe piled around her like melted ice cream. She held a small, jewel-encrusted mirror in her hand, dabbing rouge onto her already exaggeratedly red cheeks with a large powder puff.

Beside her, a house-elf, as skinny as a rake and as frail as if it would scatter in the wind, was laboriously fastening a pair of satin shoes onto her taut, fat feet.

"Hepzibah Smith, a descendant of Helga Hufflepuff, extremely wealthy, and a fanatical collector of magical antiques."

The name Hepzibah was slightly unfamiliar to Sebastian, and he had never met this old woman before.

However, upon hearing that she was a descendant of Hufflepuff, Sebastian immediately understood.

Old Dumbledore was preparing to talk about Horcruxes!

Impressive, to be able to find such clues.

"Sebastian, for the past six months, I have been gathering clues about Horcruxes."

Dumbledore came to Sebastian's side, softly explaining the scene before them.

"Through researching, I discovered that the previous owner of Slytherin's locket was this woman. In addition to Slytherin's locket, she also had the Hufflepuff cup as a family heirloom."

The scene shifted, and a tall young man was welcomed into Hepzibah's home. He wore a black suit, and politely and gentlemanly kissed Hepzibah's plump little hand.

"That's Voldemort, isn't it?" Sebastian watched with interest as the young man conjured a bouquet of roses. "Honestly, I've never seen Voldemort like this before. I must say, he's quite handsome. No wonder he could make Mrs. Hepzibah so happy."

This was the first time Sebastian had seen this memory, so even though he knew the outcome in advance, he still watched with interest.

"Indeed, this is Tom in his younger days," Dumbledore said, a hint of reminiscence in his eyes. "Handsome, polite, eloquent, always able to easily win the favor of everyone around him."

"He was truly ungrateful," Sebastian said regretfully. "So many people would kill for such a handsome appearance, and he actually dared to ruin it into that strange and bizarre form later on."

"Perhaps... for Tom, all of this was a price worth sacrificing on the path to immortality," Dumbledore said softly.

"At this time, he had just graduated not long ago and was working at Borgin and Burkes. It was because of this job that he met Mrs. Hepzibah."

"Tom knew how to please this woman so well that she brought out her most precious treasures for Tom to admire."

The scene shifted, and at Hepzibah's command, the house-elf brought out two exquisite boxes.

After seeing what was in the boxes, an astonishing greed was revealed in Voldemort's eyes, to the point that even Hepzibah was somewhat frightened.

The scene ended, and Sebastian returned to the Headmaster's office.

"Just two days later, Mrs. Hepzibah died of poisoning," Dumbledore leaned back in his chair. "The Ministry of Magic ruled that it was because the house-elf Hokey's eyesight was failing, and she mistakenly put poison into the tea instead of sugar."

"This memory is from Hokey. From this memory, I can be sure that Tom was behind it."

"Because after Mrs. Hepzibah's death, Tom resigned from Borgin and Burkes, and along with him disappeared Mrs. Hepzibah's treasures—the locket and the cup."

"You said the locket has already been destroyed by you," Dumbledore said. "Now it seems that the cup must also have been made into a Horcrux and hidden somewhere."

I know that, in Gringotts, in Bellatrix's vault.

Sebastian said silently in his heart, but on the surface, he maintained a thoughtful expression.

It's not a bad thing to keep Old Dumbledore busy.

I'll tell him when the time is right.

"Sebastian, I can slowly search for the cup, but there is a problem that has been bothering me for a long time, and that is that I need evidence to prove just how many Horcruxes Tom would make."

"I also have a memory here from your former Head of House, Horace Slughorn, but that memory is obviously fake, so I won't let you see it."

Dumbledore sat up straight, staring intently at Sebastian: "Horace must know something, but whenever I mention Tom, he becomes very wary of me and is unwilling to reveal more information."

How could he not be wary!

The karmic consequences of this secret are too great. If it were revealed, it would be enough to ruin the old Head's reputation.

If some unscrupulous person knew about it, it would be enough to use this secret as leverage to have the old Head in their grasp for the rest of their life.

It's only you, Dumbledore, asking. If it were someone else, the old Head would definitely get angry with them.

Old Dumbledore, Old Dumbledore, if you want to figure this out, you'll have to work hard.

Just as he was complaining inwardly, Sebastian saw Dumbledore sit up straight, looking at him expectantly.

"Sebastian, you have a good relationship with Horace. I would like to ask you to go and get that memory. It's really important to us."

Well, how did this task fall on my head?

Sebastian felt uncomfortable under his gaze.

That look... it's a little unbearable.

You're an old geezer over a hundred years old, what are you doing trying to act cute?

Besides, the old Head considers this secret more important than the sky. Wouldn't going be offending him?

Moreover, I clearly know the answer, so why bother with all that effort?

Troublesome...

Or how about this? Sebastian's eyes darted around, and he came up with a brilliant idea.

Let's pass this hot potato to Harry and give the kid some sense of participation and accomplishment.

"Headmaster, I can try. If it doesn't work, I suggest that Harry step forward later. You know, the old Head's favorite student was Lily. Harry might be more effective than me."

Sebastian's suggestion gave Dumbledore a completely new idea. He nodded, agreeing to the plan.

With a load off his mind, Dumbledore relaxed a lot. He picked up his Coke again and took a big, pleasant sip, saying with a smile.

"I remember, you have been teaching Harry Occlumency. How far has he progressed now?"

"Pretty good," Sebastian smiled. "He hasn't had any nightmares related to Voldemort anymore."

Speaking of Harry's Occlumency, Sebastian's thoughts began to wander.

The kid's energy had been mostly focused on the competition before, and I hadn't been pushing him too much.

Now that there are only four months left, it's time to put some pressure on him.

Increase the intensity, we must increase the intensity!