Chapter 406 Old Deng's Troubles
Dumbledore picked up the Coke and drank it happily. After a while, he took out the Pensieve and a small bottle containing memories.
He tapped the bottle gently with his wand, and the cork immediately flew aside, and the memories inside slowly flowed into the Pensieve.
Looking at the silver-white substance rippling in the Pensieve, Dumbledore invited: "Sebastian, let's go and take a look."
Sebastian agreed readily, leaning forward slightly and reaching his hand into the Pensieve.
In just a trance, he came to a gorgeous room.
An old lady as fat as an icing cake sat there, with a ginger wig neatly perched on her head and a pink robe piled around her like melted ice cream. She held a small jeweled mirror in her hand and used a large powder puff to apply rouge to her already exaggeratedly red cheeks.
Next to her, a skinny house-elf, who looked as if she would be blown away by the wind, was struggling to put a pair of satin shoes on her tight fat feet.
"Hepzibah Smith, descendant of Helga Hufflepuff, very wealthy and an avid collector of magical antiques."
The name Hepzibah was a little unfamiliar to Sebastian, and he had never seen this old lady before.
But when it comes to the descendants of Hufflepuff, Sebastian reacts immediately.
Old Dumbledore is preparing to talk about Horcruxes!
It’s pretty impressive that they can find clues like this.
"Sebastian, I have been collecting clues about Horcruxes for the past six months."
Dumbledore came over to Sebastian and quietly explained the scene before him.
"Through some research, I discovered that the previous owner of the Slytherin locket was this lady. In addition to the Slytherin locket, she also has the heirloom Hufflepuff gold cup."
The scene changes, and a tall young man comes to Hepzibah's home. He is wearing a black suit and kisses Hepzibah's chubby little hand politely and gentlemanly.
"This is the You-Know-Who," Sebastian looked at the young man who conjured a bouquet of roses with great interest. "To be honest, I've never seen the You-Know-Who look like this. He's really handsome, no wonder he can make Lady Hepzibah so happy."
This was the first time Sebastian had seen this memory, so even though he knew what the outcome would be in advance, he still watched it with interest.
"Yes, this is Tom when he was young," Dumbledore said with a look of nostalgia in his eyes, "handsome, polite, good at talking, and always able to easily win the favor of everyone around him."
"He is so ungrateful," Sebastian said with regret, "Such a handsome appearance is something many people would rather have, but he was willing to ruin it and make it look so weird."
"Perhaps... for Tom, this is the price he can give up on the road to eternal life." Dumbledore said softly.
"At this time, he had just graduated and was working for Borgin and Burke. It was through this job that he met Ms. Hepzibah."
"Tom knew how to please the lady so well that she took out her most precious collection for Tom to admire."
The scene turned, and at Hepzibah's command, the house-elf came out with two exquisite boxes.
After seeing what was in the box, the mysterious man's eyes revealed such an astonishing greed that even Hepzibah was a little scared.
The scene ends and Sebastian returns to the principal's office again.
"Just two days later, Madam Hepzibah was poisoned to death," Dumbledore leaned back in his chair. "The Ministry of Magic determined that it was because the house-elf Hokey was old and dim-sighted that he mistakenly put poison into the tea instead of sugar."
"I got this memory from Hao Qi. From this memory, I can be sure that it was Tom who did it."
"Because Tom resigned from Borgin and Burke's after Lady Hepzibah died, and Lady Hepzibah's collection of items—the locket and the cup—disappeared with them."
"You said you had destroyed the locket," said Dumbledore. "It seems certain that he has made a Horcrux of the cup as well, and hidden it somewhere."
I know this; it's in Gringotts, in Bella's vault.
Sebastian said this silently in his heart, but on the surface, he still looked like he was thinking.
It's not a bad thing to keep Old Deng busy.
Tell him when the time is right.
"Sebastian, I can take my time to look for the golden cup, but there is a question that has troubled me for a long time. That is, I need evidence to prove how many Horcruxes Tom can make."
"I have another memory here from your former headmaster, Horace Slughorn, but it looks fake at first glance, so I won't let you see it."
Dumbledore sat up straight and stared at Sebastian. "Horace must know something, but he was very defensive when I mentioned Tom and was unwilling to reveal more information."
How can we not be on guard?
The consequences of this secret are too serious. If it were revealed, it would be enough to ruin the old dean's reputation.
If some people with ulterior motives get to know about this, they can use this secret as a threat and control the old dean for the rest of his life.
In other words, it was you, Dumbledore, who went to ask. If it were someone else, the old dean would definitely be angry with him.
Old Deng, oh Old Deng, if you want to figure this out, you'll have to work hard.
Just after he complained in his mind, Sebastian saw Dumbledore sitting up straight and looking at him eagerly.
"Sebastian, you have a good relationship with Horace. I would like to ask you to find him and get this memory. It is really important to us."
Why did this task fall on me?
Sebastian felt uncomfortable being stared at.
This look... is a bit unbearable.
You're an old man over a hundred years old, why are you trying to be cute here?
Besides, the old dean takes this secret more seriously than anything else. Wouldn't it be offensive to ask me to go?
Besides, why bother when you already know the answer to the question?
trouble......
How about this, Sebastian rolled his eyes and came up with a great idea.
It would be better to assign this hot potato to Harry to give the young man some sense of participation and accomplishment.
"Principal, I can give it a try. If it doesn't work, I suggest that we can ask Harry to come forward. You know, the old dean's favorite student is Lily. Harry might be more useful than me."
Sebastian's suggestion gave Dumbledore a new idea. He nodded, agreeing to the plan.
Having resolved a problem, Dumbledore relaxed a lot. He picked up the Coke again, took a big sip, and said with a smile.
"As I recall, you have been teaching Harry Occlumency. How far have you progressed?"
"It's good," Sebastian smiled, "I haven't had any nightmares about the mysterious man again."
Speaking of Harry's Occlumency, Sebastian's mind began to wander.
Most of the young man's energy had been focused on the competition, and I didn't urge him too much.
Now, with only four months left, it's time to put some pressure on him.
Increase the intensity, you must increase the intensity!
