"Are you hoping to destroy it too?" Dumbledore finally asked, after a long moment of silence following Wade's words.
"I think that should be your decision," Wade replied. "This Horcrux is quite unusual… I've actually been unsure myself about what to do with it."
Dumbledore was silent for a moment, then said, "…Let me see it, then."
"Of course, I wouldn't carry something so important around with me," Wade said. "To avoid any accidents, I left it at school."
"In your dormitory?" Dumbledore frowned slightly. "That's not a safe choice. A Horcrux could very well entice students or House-elves to help it escape."
"Not the dormitory, the Room of Requirement, on the eighth floor of the castle," Wade clarified. "Do you remember? That's where I found Ravenclaw's Diadem, which Voldemort also made into a Horcrux."
The last time Wade had spoken so openly with Dumbledore was also in this cave, on the small boat leading to the center of the Black Lake.
He had mentioned the process of finding the Diadem in the Room of Requirement, but at the time, another of Voldemort's Horcruxes was close at hand, and Dumbledore hadn't pressed him for details.
Wade believed Dumbledore couldn't possibly have forgotten something like that after hearing it. Yet, the Headmaster hadn't pursued it further.
Wade used to think that this sense of mutual respect and distance was more reassuring and trustworthy. There was no need to repeatedly bring up Horcruxes that had already been dealt with.
But at this moment, he felt… perhaps Dumbledore wasn't unwilling to use more extreme measures to investigate; he simply possessed a degree of restraint and patience that was difficult for ordinary people to imagine.
"Ah… a very clever idea."
Dumbledore closed his eyes, seemingly breaking free from some emotion.
He said casually, "If it's in the Room of Requirement, then besides yourself, no one else could easily find it… It might just be the safest place in the world…"
He thought of Voldemort's attempt to get a job at the school, of the Diadem Horcrux hidden at Hogwarts for decades, and of his own accidental discovery of the Room of Requirement.
"Voldemort realized this quickly, but I never did… I was always so smug about my knowledge of the school… Ralph was right, I truly was too arrogant…"
Ralph?
Wade found the name familiar, as if someone had mentioned it to him before.
After a moment of careful recollection, he remembered.
Mikey had mentioned him.
He had said that Ralph was the oldest House-elf in the school, even much older than Dumbledore.
House-elves could live for over 200 years, and in ancient Wizarding families, a House-elf often served several generations, holding the most secrets of the family.
Wade waited a moment for Dumbledore's self-reflection to end before asking, "So, shall we head back to school? I'll find the Horcrux for you."
Dumbledore didn't object.
He took Wade's arm, and at the same time, Fawkes landed on Dumbledore's shoulder.
With a flash of fire, they appeared on the eighth floor of the castle.
Barnaby the Barmy's portrait was nearby, still being whacked on the head with sticks by Trolls in ballet tutus, looking quite silly.
Wade walked back and forth in the corridor three times, and a familiar door materialized on the wall. He turned to Dumbledore and said, "Professor, please wait a moment."
"Alright," Dumbledore waited patiently.
Wade pulled the door open and stepped inside. After closing it, he let out a long breath.
He took off the pen case from his waist and tossed it onto the ground. In the blink of an eye, the pen case transformed into a suitcase.
Wade opened the case and found the magic-shielding box. When he opened it, he saw the black notebook lying quietly inside.
This was Tom Riddle's Diary.
The Horcrux… had actually been on Wade's person the whole time.
Even during classes, the case was with him in the form of a schoolbag; when he transformed into a Peregrine Falcon, he clutched the pen case in his talons.
Although the diary had always been perfectly still, and despite Wade having locked it in the shielding box, Wade would never allow that cursed thing to be in the same house as his parents.
And to leave it at school, risking it being discovered and taken by someone? That was even more out of the question.
The reason he had said what he did earlier was simply because of the atmosphere in the cave… or perhaps Dumbledore's suppressed emotions… which had made Wade uneasy.
But back in the familiar environment of the school, not only did Wade relax, he could also clearly sense that Dumbledore quickly returned to being the elder he was familiar with.
Thinking of the cold hand that had just gripped him, Wade couldn't help but let out a soft sigh.
Ariana—Dumbledore's sister's death—even after a hundred years, remained a hurdle Dumbledore couldn't overcome.
Wade closed the box with a click, transformed it back into the pen case, slipped it into his pocket, and then walked out of the Room of Requirement, holding the box.
"Professor, this is the Horcrux I mentioned, and the last one I managed to find," Wade said.
Dumbledore hesitated for a moment before taking the box. When he opened it and saw the diary inside, he couldn't help but be slightly taken aback.
"This is Tom Riddle's Diary."
Wade explained, "At the start of my second year, I saw Lucius Malfoy discreetly slip it into Ginny Weasley's Cauldron, so I found an opportunity to get my hands on it."
"This diary has a mind of its own; it even tried to communicate with me. But I've kept it locked in the box the whole time and haven't taken it out."
Wade didn't explain why he had done this.
Given Dumbledore's understanding that he was a Wizard with a kind of precognitive ability, wasn't it perfectly reasonable for him to foresee the danger of Voldemort's diary?
Dumbledore took the diary, his gaze fixed intently on its tattered black cover. He opened to the first page, where the name Tom Marvolo Riddle was written.
In the Headmaster's hands, the diary appeared docile and ordinary, as if it held no trace of peculiar magic.
But Dumbledore seemed to have found something of interest, his eyes scanning the blank pages.
After a long moment, he closed the diary.
"Thank you, Wade," Dumbledore said gently, looking down. "This diary might be the first Horcrux Voldemort ever created... I believe it will reveal many useful things to us..."
"As long as it helps you," Wade replied. "I just hope that once you're done studying it, you won't destroy it with that Fire Charm you used earlier. You could use a Basilisk Fang instead, and leave it 'intact.' This diary might still have other uses..."
He lowered his voice and whispered a few words.
Dumbledore showed a look of surprise, then smiled.
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