"Is that the end of it?" Harry said immediately. Pen %Fun %Pavilion www.biquge.info "Why did it get dark, what happened?" ”

"Because Morfen can't remember anything that happened after that moment,"

Dumbledore motioned for Harry to sit back in his seat.

"He woke up the next day alone on the floor with the ring gone.

Meanwhile, in the village of Little Hangleton, a maid was running down the street, screaming that three bodies were found in the living room of the house: Tom Riddle Sr., his father and his mother.

"The Muggle authorities were confused. As far as I know, they still don't understand how the Riddles died, as the Avada Curse usually doesn't leave any signs of harm...... Exceptions sit in front of me," Dumbledore added, nodding at Harry's scar. On the other hand, the Ministry of Magic immediately understood that it was a murder of a wizard. They also knew that across the valley near Riddle's house lived a Muggle hater with a history of being imprisoned for assaulting one of the deceased.

So the Ministry of Magic visited Morfen again. They didn't have to use truth potions and dementors to interrogate him. Because he immediately confessed to his murder, telling them details that only the murderer could know. He said he was proud of killing those Muggles, and that he had been waiting for his chance for so many years. The wand was confiscated, and they immediately confirmed that it was the wand that killed the Riddles. So he was tied up and sent to Azkaban. But to his dismay, his father's ring was missing. 'He's going to kill me for it,' he told his captors over and over again. He's going to kill me for it. Evidently, he never said anything else. He spent the rest of his life in Azkaban, lamenting the loss of Mavolo's last heirloom and being buried next to the prison, along with others who died within the walls. ”

"So Voldemort stole and used Morfin's wand?" Harry straightened up.

"That's right," Dumbledore said. "No memory can tell us that, but I think we can be sure of what happened. Voldemort used the Unconscious Charm against his uncle, took his wand, and walked through the valley to 'the big house over there'. He killed the Muggle man who had abandoned his mother, as well as the man's Muslim parents, thus erasing the last of the blood of the despicable Riddle family and avenging his biological father, who had never wanted him. Then he returned to Gonte's house, cast a complex spell on his uncle, implanted a false memory, placed his wand beside his unconscious owner, removed the ancient ring from his hand, and walked away. ”

"Didn't Morphy know she didn't do that?"

"I didn't know," Dumbledore said. "As I said, he made a complete, complacent confession."

"But he always had this real memory!"

"Yes, but it takes a lot of skillful devotion to induce it," said Dumbledore, "and who wants to delve into his memories even though he's already confessed?" However, in the last weeks of his life, I paid a visit to him, and at that time I was trying to find as much of Voldemort's past as I could. I struggled to extract this memory. When I saw the contents, I tried to use it to force Azkaban to release Mofen. But before the Ministry of Magic could make a decision, Morfen died. ”

"But why didn't the Ministry of Magic find out what Voldemort did to Morfen?" Harry asked angrily. "He wasn't a teenager at the time, was he? I thought they could detect minors using magic! ”

"You're right - they can detect the use of magic, but they can't detect who is using it: you must remember that the Ministry of Magic once accused you of using a hover spell, but it was—"

"Dobish," Harry said with a low growl; He was still annoyed by the unfair treatment. "So if an underage wizard was doing magic in a house where an adult wizard lived, the Ministry wouldn't know?"

"They certainly have no way of knowing who is doing the magic," Dumbledore smiled at Harry's angry face. "They relied on their wizarding parents to restrain their children at home."

"Come on, that's ridiculous," Harry said angrily. "Look at what they're doing now, look at what they're doing to Mofen!"

"I agree," Dumbledore said. "No matter what kind of person Morfen is, he is not guilty of death, and he should not be blamed for murder that has nothing to do with him. But now it's getting late, and before we part, I want you to see another memory......"

Dumbledore pulled another small crystal bottle out of his inner pocket, and Harry immediately fell silent, remembering that Dumbledore had said that it was the most important memory he had gathered.

Harry noticed that the memories were not easy to pour into the meditation basin, they seemed to be a little sticky; Do memories also go bad?

"This one won't take much time," Dumbledore finally emptied the bottle. "It's back in the blink of an eye. So, let's meditate on the basin again......" Harry fell into the silver memory again, this time just in front of a man, and Harry recognized him immediately.

In front of him was Horace Slahhorn, much younger than he is now. Harry was used to his baldness, so he was horrified to see Slavhorn grow shiny, thick straw-colored hair; It looked like he had a thatched lid on his head, but a shiny area had already appeared on top of his head, about the size of a gold Galleon.

His beard was ginger, not as much as it is now. He wasn't as fat as the Slavhorn Harry knew well, but the gold buttons on the embroidered waistcoat were quite tight.

His tiny feet rested on a small velvet-cushioned stool, leaning comfortably on a winged armchair, holding a small glass of wine in one hand and fumbling in a box of candied pineapples in the other.

Dumbledore appeared next to Harry, and Harry looked around to see them standing in Slahhorn's office. Around Slavhorn sat half a dozen boys, all of them in harder, lower chairs, all of whom looked to be about fifteen years old. Harry recognized Riddle immediately. He has the most handsome face, and he also looks the most relaxed. The right hand rests carelessly on the armrest; Harry was suddenly shocked to see that he had put on Mavolo's gold ring set with black stones; This means that he has killed his own father.

"Professor, is Professor Melisot really retiring?" Riddle asked.

"Tom, Tom, I just know and can't tell you," Slavhorn shook a sugar-stained finger and winked at him, which diminished the blame. "I must say, I wonder how you got the news, kid; You're better informed than half of your faculty members. ”

Riddle laughed; The other boys laughed and gave him admiring glances.

"Considering your bizarre ability to inquire about things you shouldn't know, and your thoughtful and meticulous flattery of important people—thank you for sending me these pineapples, they are indeed my favorites—" The boys were laughing and laughing when a strange thing happened. The room was suddenly filled with a thick white fog, and Harry couldn't see anything but Dumbledore's face standing beside him.

Then Slahhorn's words came out of the fog in an unusually loud voice: "--You will go astray, child, take my words to heart. "The fog disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared, no one mentioned it, and no one looked like they had just experienced something abnormal. Harry looked around suspiciously, and a small golden clock on Slahhorn's desk was chime, and it was eleven o'clock.

"Oh my God, is it that late?" Slavhorn said. "You'd better go back, boys, or we'll all be in trouble. Lestrange, I want you to turn in your papers tomorrow, or you'll have to be locked up. So do you, Avery. ”

As the boys rushed out, Slavhorn stood up and placed the empty cup on his desk. Riddle, however, stayed behind. Harry could tell that he was deliberately stalling for time, wanting to end up alone in the house with Slahhorn.

"Let's go, Tom," said Slahhorn, turning to see that he was not gone. "You don't want to be caught out of bed at this time, and you're still a prefect......"

"Professor, I want to ask you something."

"Then ask, my child, ask......"

"Professor, do you know...... Horcrux thing? "Everything happened again: a dense cloud of smoke covered the room, and Harry couldn't see Riddle and Slavhorn at all; Only Dumbledore beside him smiled calmly at him. Then Slahhorn's voice came out again, exactly the same as the one before.

"I don't know what Horcruxes are, and even if I did, I wouldn't tell you! Hurry up, and don't let me find out about you again! ”

"Well, that's all," Dumbledore said calmly beside Harry. "It's time to go." Harry's feet left the ground, and a few seconds later, they were back on the carpet in front of Dumbledore's desk.

"Is that all?" Harry said blankly.

Dumbledore had said that it was the most important memory, but he couldn't see any significance in it. The fog was unsurprising, and no one noticed it, except that nothing seemed to be happening, and Riddle was just asking an unanswered question.

"You may have noticed," Dumbledore sat back in the chair behind him, "this memory has been tampered with. ”

"Tampered with?" Harry repeated, and he sat back down.

"Of course," said Dumbledore, "Professor Slavhorn intervened in his own recollections. ”

"But why did he do that?"

"I think it's because he's ashamed of what he remembers," Dumbledore said. He tried to rewrite his memories to make himself a little more polished, erasing the parts he didn't want me to see. You must have noticed that the memories are very crudely modified, which is good for us, because it shows that the real memories are hidden beneath those changes.

"So, I asked Duten, Harry, to help me get this memory.

"Professor Slavhorn is a very capable wizard, and he is far more skilled in Occlumency than poor Molfen Gonter, and I would be surprised if he was not ready to take any means of stealing memories after I forced this distorted memory.

"Yes, I think it's foolish to try to snatch the truth from Professor Slavhorn, and it will do more harm than good; I don't want him to leave Hogwarts. However, he also has his own weaknesses like us, so I asked Du Teng, who has some special abilities that no one else has, and thanks to his help, I got this completely different memory. ”

Dumbledore said, pulling out a vial and directing the liquid into the meditation basin.

"So, let's move on."

With that, the two of them buried their heads in the meditation basin again. Harry felt darkness before his eyes, and once again fell into the darkness, landing in the office of Horeth Slahhorn, many years ago.

Slavhorn, much younger than he is now, with glossy straw-colored hair and a ginger-yellow beard, sat once again in the comfortable winged armchair of the office, his feet resting on a velvet cushion, a small glass of wine in one hand, and a box of candied pineapple in the other. Half a dozen boys sat around Slavhorn, Tom Riddle among them, and Marvolo's black gold ring glittered on his finger.

Dumbledore landed next to Harry, and Riddle asked, "Professor, is Professor Melisot really retiring?" ”

"Tom, Tom, I just know and can't tell you," Slahhorn reproached and shook a finger at Riddle, but also blinked. "I must say, I wonder how you got the news, kid; You're better informed than half of your faculty members. ”

Riddle smiled; The other boys laughed and gave him admiring glances.

"Considering your bizarre ability to inquire about things you shouldn't know, and your thoughtful and meticulous flattery to important people—thank you for giving me these pineapples, they are indeed my favorites—" the boys laughed again.

"—I confidently expect that you will climb to the position of Minister of Magic within twenty years. If you've been sending me pineapples, it's only been fifteen years, and I've got excellent acquaintances in the Ministry of Magic. ”

Tom Riddle just smiled like the others. Harry noticed that he was definitely not the oldest of the boys, but they all seemed to have taken him as their leader.