To create a Horcrux, one must commit a heinous act like murder, which shatters the soul. A fragment of this broken soul is then extracted from the body and sealed within a vessel.
However, according to the laws of nature, a person's soul should remain whole. To fragment it is a perverse and evil act that can drive a person insane and strip them of their sanity. This is why even a great number of Dark wizards are unwilling to create Horcruxes; they would rather face death directly.
"It seems I'm getting old. My mind isn't as sharp as it used to be," Dumbledore said with a self-deprecating chuckle, scratching his head.
"No one can defeat the erosion of time, can they?" Victor replied calmly. "Just like your friend, Nicolas Flamel. Can his body really sustain him living forever?"
"You knew about that?"
"I studied the power contained within this stone," Victor said, pulling out the Philosopher's Stone. "I'm guessing the legendary Elixir of Life doesn't actually grant eternal life. The potion created by the Philosopher's Stone might be a concoction that can forcibly anchor the soul to the body and, to a certain extent, strengthen the soul. Am I right, Professor?"
"Yes, that's right!" Dumbledore nodded slightly and then sighed. "I didn't expect you to have such a deep understanding of alchemy!"
One would need a very deep understanding of alchemy to be able to discern the true nature of the Philosopher's Stone's power.
"But I don't actually know alchemy!" Victor shook his head in denial. "It's just that the runes in alchemy are very similar to the magical arrays I have mastered, so it wasn't too difficult to study."
"In truth, Nicolas has long wanted to destroy the Philosopher's Stone. He also understands that it is his time to embrace death," Dumbledore said, a hint of sorrow for his old friend on his face. "The Philosopher's Stone was born into this world, and it has carried too much sin. With Nicolas alive, the Philosopher's Stone is a legend that people can only touch upon. But once he is gone, this object will only incite unnecessary bloodshed."
"Are you going to take this stone back?" Victor asked, holding the Philosopher's Stone.
"That depends on whether you need it," Dumbledore replied.
"Alright then, although this stone is a bit useless to me, it still has some use." Victor put the Philosopher's Stone back in his pocket and then took out a book. "But I won't take it for free. I think the things inside this book will be of some use to you."
With that, he turned and prepared to leave.
"Wait!" Dumbledore called out to Victor, then took a money bag from a cabinet in his desk. "I think you should take this back."
"Oh, I almost forgot about that!" Victor quickly took the bag and weighed it in his hand. "How much is in here?"
"There isn't a single Knuts missing. After all, they are very afraid of this scandal getting out," Dumbledore said.
"Heh, they're a stubborn bunch! Their family caused such a scandal at school, and even if I don't say anything, others will. But that's just how they are…"
"Fine, since they've paid the ransom, I will also keep my promise," Victor said, putting the money bag away. "Those Slytherin students won't be pinned to the wall when they come back next term. But Professor, I also hope that you or Hogwarts can reflect on my suggestion because of this incident. Otherwise, there's no guarantee that the same thing won't happen again. The so-called unity of Slytherin was used to obstruct students and conceal things from professors. I think you can see that if this continues, it's hard to imagine how out of control Slytherin students will become."
"Minerva and I have discussed this, and some things will be implemented next term…"
The next day, at noon, Hogwarts held its end-of-term feast as scheduled and was about to announce the winner of the House Cup. However, because of the ripple effect Victor had caused, Dumbledore could no longer create a massive rigging of the outcome.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
The feast was about to end, and the clear sound of a bell rang out. Professor McGonagall used a bronze spoon to tap a tall glass cup, and the bustling Great Hall of Hogwarts instantly fell silent.
Dumbledore then stood up from the High Table, his expression serious but with a slight smile, and began to speak. "Another year has passed, and today is the day we award the House Cup! On behalf of Hogwarts, I now announce the scores for each House…"
"In fourth place, with 309 points, is Gryffindor."
Upon hearing this score, the little lions of Gryffindor all sighed and lowered their heads. Although they weren't as concerned about the House Cup as Slytherin, this score was still a bit too low.
This past school year, first, there were the points deducted from Snape's constant targeting of Harry Potter, which added up to at least sixty or seventy points. Then there were the points deducted from the Weasley twins' constant pranks. But the most serious were the three instances with Harry, Ron, and Hermione: they lost 30 points on Halloween, and another 150 points for their late-night wandering after Christmas.
To be honest, if Hermione hadn't been actively raising her hand to answer questions in class and earning some points back for Gryffindor, the little lions would have probably gotten less than 300 points this school year.
However, the third-place announcement that followed brought some color back to the little lions' faces.
"In third place, with 312 points, is Slytherin," Dumbledore continued.
As soon as this score, which was only 3 points higher than Gryffindor's, was announced, the little lions applauded enthusiastically, while the little snakes and Snape's faces turned ashen.
The Slytherin House's score had been far ahead, but they had lost 300 points for ambushing Victor. If Snape hadn't desperately found all sorts of reasons to add points back, this year's Slytherin would definitely have gone down in history.
"In second place, with 365 points, is Hufflepuff."
Although they had rarely taken second place, the little badgers just shrugged, indicating that they didn't care. Their House was the one that cared the least about the House Cup. They felt that eating was more important than chasing some empty honor.
However, as soon as the second-place result was announced, a flicker of emotion finally appeared on the faces of the little eagles, who usually only cared about knowledge. Because this meant that Ravenclaw's title of "forever second place" had finally been washed away today.
"And in first place, with 412 points, is Ravenclaw House!" As expected, as soon as Dumbledore finished speaking, a burst of cheers erupted from the Ravenclaw table, and Professor Flitwick also raised his hands in joy.
"YEAH!! YEAH!!!" The little eagles cheered and jumped for joy. Because of their fight with Slytherin, Ravenclaw House had also lost 100 points. The little eagles had originally thought that they would be in second place again this year, but it was all thanks to Victor, their superstar. The points he alone had earned for the House accounted for more than half of the total score.
At this moment, Dumbledore looked at the Ravenclaw table and said with a loud voice, "Excellent! Very, very good! Well done, Ravenclaw! Well done!"
Then he raised his hand, and the blue raven banners fluttered throughout the Great Hall. The Ravenclaw table erupted once again. Professor Flitwick clapped his hands red, and joyful tears streamed down his face.
However, while the little eagles were excitedly celebrating their House Cup win, they were also looking for their House's great hero. But after looking all around…
Where is he?!!
Everyone finally realized that Victor hadn't come to the end-of-term feast. The little eagles immediately felt a bit deflated because with their biggest star missing, they felt like something was missing.
Next, Ivanna went up to the stage to accept the House Cup on behalf of the House, and the end-of-term feast officially ended. But just as the young wizards were bustling about, preparing to go back to their dorms to pack, a voice that was very familiar to all the Ravenclaws suddenly rang out.
"What is the highest form of human wisdom?"
The voice sounded like a great bell being struck, echoing far and wide throughout Hogwarts, and could be heard in every corner of the castle. The little eagles looked around in shock.
Penelope mumbled softly, "That's the voice of the Ravenclaw knocker." The other little eagles also started chattering among themselves:
"What's happening?"
"Why is the knocker's voice coming all the way out here?!"
"And I've never heard the knocker ask that question before!"
The little eagles chattered, and the professors on the High Table were also completely bewildered. Dumbledore, too, frowned, but he had a feeling who was behind this unusual scene.
And just as everyone was looking on in confusion, another voice, also familiar to the entire school, answered the question that the knocker had just asked.
"The highest form of human wisdom comes from humanity itself!"
"How is that achieved?"
"By swallowing the bitter fruit of history and not repeating past mistakes!"
"A piece of advice?"
"The only thing humanity can learn from history is that humanity never learns from history!"
"Noble and profound!"
These few short lines of dialogue made the entire Hogwarts Great Hall fall silent. It wasn't until the knocker said its final line of praise that everyone finally started to come to their senses.
Hermione looked up in shock and said, "That's Victor's voice!"
The little eagles looked at each other and then started running upstairs like crazy. Some of the little eagles who had already learned flying charms even took off directly and flew quickly towards the common room.
The students from the other three Houses, as well as the professors and staff on the High Table, also followed them out of curiosity.
The first to arrive at the knocker were some of the older Ravenclaw students. Ivanna, as the prefect, was at the very front, and she was also dragging Penelope, who had just learned a flying charm.
Everyone saw that the door to the Ravenclaw common room had been opened at some point, and strangely, it didn't automatically close. The knocker on the door was also still the same knocker, completely unchanged.
However, when everyone walked inside, they found that they weren't in their common room at all but in a completely unfamiliar place.
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