"Oh, Moffin." Omnius shook his head with a smile, "My nephew... he's quite peculiar and a bit crazy, which is a typical result of close familial marriages—oh, I learned that from a Muggle 'scientist'—that aside, about Moffin, there's something rather important I'd like to tell you."
Hearing Omnius's words, Harry quickly asked, "Ah? What is it?"
"You should know, initially, Moffin had a ring." Omnius closed his eyes, recalled for a moment, then said, "That ring belonged to my cousin Marvolo Gaunt, passed down from the ancestors of the Gaunt family—but the ring is merely its surface appearance; what is truly precious, is the black gem embedded in the ring."
"A black gem?" Harry repeated, not recalling having heard anyone mention a gem on the ring.
"Yes, that gem, that's the famous Resurrection Stone, one of the Deathly Hallows."
Omnius, in the calmest tone, uttered the most shocking phrase to those present.
The Resurrection Stone...
"What is the Resurrection Stone?" Ron asked in a silly manner.
Hermione rolled her eyes at him but still patiently explained, "The Resurrection Stone is a legendary gift from the Death God to the second of the Peverell brothers. It's said that the Death God picked up this black, crystal-clear stone by the riverbank and gave it to the second brother of the Peverell family, telling him this stone could bring people back to life... Of course, the Resurrection Stone, along with the Elder Wand and the Invisibility Cloak, are collectively known as the Deathly Hallows."
At this point, Hermione added.
"The Invisibility Cloak we usually use is one of the Deathly Hallows... And if I'm not mistaken, the wand that Principal Dumbledore holds is the legendary Elder Wand—isn't that right?"
"Yes, Hermione." Dumbledore smiled gently at Hermione, but he appeared somewhat absent-minded, as if something else had captured his attention.
"Did you say the Resurrection Stone?" Sirius suddenly walked to the side of Omnius's portrait, urgently asking, "Mr. Gaunt, do you know where that Resurrection Stone is now?"
"This is my godfather, Sirius Black." Harry promptly introduced him to Omnius.
"Hello, Mr. Black." Omnius nodded politely and then said to Sirius, "I'm sorry, Mr. Black, but I don't know where that ring is now either."
Seeing everyone looking at him, Omnius continued, "As far as I know, this ring was made into a Horcrux by my great-nephew... oh, whom you all call Voldemort, and he likely hid it in some secret location."
"The Resurrection Stone was made into a Horcrux?!"
Upon hearing this news, an expression appeared on Sirius's face as if he had swallowed a fly.
It wasn't just Sirius; Snape also began gritting his teeth privately.
"I never thought the Black Demon had such a dog-like habit, marking his territory everywhere." He sarcastically drawled.
But while taking a jab at Voldemort, he inadvertently included someone else.
Perhaps taking a dig at the group of Sirius and James had already been ingrained into Snape's DNA.
But honestly, he wasn't entirely wrong; Voldemort did indeed have some mental issues.
Not just the Resurrection Stone, even Hufflepuff's Cup and Slytherin's Pendant fell victim to his hands; as for Ravenclaw's Crown, this still remains to be determined, but actually... it probably wouldn't escape either.
Currently, the issue facing Dumbledore is how to destroy the Horcrux without damaging the original items.
This is a highly challenging problem.
Lupin couldn't help but laugh.
He leaned toward Sirius and whispered in his ear, "You have to admit, Bigfoot, he does have a point."
Sirius's face turned a shade of purple like an eggplant. If it had only been Snape's remark, it might have been alright, but the real blow came from Lupin's betrayal.
But Lupin didn't see it as betrayal; it was just a playful tease.
"It seems we now know of five Horcruxes, excluding Voldemort's diary, which has already been destroyed, there's also Hufflepuff's Cup—which is currently in Mr. Leme's Alchemy Room."
Dumbledore pondered for a moment and continued to tally: "And then there's Slytherin's Pendant, which is where Voldemort primarily resides at the moment."
This was said as if Voldemort were a hermit crab, carrying his shell (the Horcrux) and scuttling around.
"Of course, there's also the missing Resurrection Stone, and the last one is the potential Ravenclaw's Crown..."
The matter of Ravenclaw's Crown is merely a speculation based on the fact that Voldemort had already turned two of the Four Founders' relics, Slytherin's Locket and Hufflepuff's Cup, into Horcruxes.
As for Gryffindor's Sword, with Voldemort being such a coward, he would never find it in his lifetime.
"If Ravenclaw's Crown is also a Horcrux, then we have two unidentified Horcruxes left." Vivi spoke, "Our next goal is not only to destroy those known Horcruxes but also to find those two unknown ones."
"Regarding those Horcruxes, I believe Omnius might know something about them." Harry turned back to look at Omnius and said.
Omnius chuckled.
"You know me well, Harry," he said, "I know quite a bit about Voldemort's secrets, for instance... I know he hid the Ravenclaw's Crown Horcrux in the Room of Requirement, and I also know the Gaunt family's ring... oh, that's the Resurrection Stone, has been hidden by Voldemort in Czech Dole's Tomb."
"Czech Dole's Tomb?!" Harry asked, astonished.
"Yes," Omnius nodded, "Voldemort recruited a group of Eight-eyed Giant Spiders from somewhere and had them multiply and thrive in Czech Dole's Tomb, while helping him guard that Resurrection Stone Horcrux, in case anyone tried to steal it."
"Thank you, Omnius!" Harry said joyfully, "You've been a great help—"
"You're welcome, it's what I should do," Omnius suddenly said profoundly, "After all, part of the reason Voldemort knew how to create Horcruxes is because I told him."
"Why did you tell him? Mr. Gaunt?" Ron asked naively.
"Oh, child," Omnius shook his head and said, "You might not fully understand how evil Voldemort is—if I didn't cooperate, he would destroy my portrait and even destroy the tomb where Annie is hidden..."
"He knows where Annie is hiding?" Harry asked, puzzled.
"He doesn't know; I didn't tell him," Omnius shook his head, "But if he used Dark Magic to extract the memories within the portrait, do you think he couldn't pull it off?"
And honestly, Omnius was not to blame; even if he hadn't told Voldemort the method, Voldemort might have figured out Horcruxes on his own in a year or two.
"It's not your fault, Omnius," Harry said quietly, "We all have a deep understanding of Voldemort's evil—but Annie... how is she doing now?"
"She's doing well," Omnius said lightly, "Her body is frozen in time, so the Dark Magic curse doesn't activate... but I still need to remind you, if you're going to save her, you must be able to cure her curse, otherwise... I'm worried if she's brought out, the Dark Magic curse will further spread."
"I understand," Harry nodded seriously.
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