Since the last broadcast, the number of students wanting to join the "Defense Association" has increased suddenly.
Perhaps, for most students, it is necessary to learn some useful skills in such a chaotic era. No one knows how long the Second Wizarding War will last.
As for who to side with in this war
Probably no one, except Slytherin students, really needs to think about this.
Because they only have two choices: fight Voldemort, or remain neutral.
As for turning to Voldemort, no one would be willing to die unless they were stupid or had been controlled by the Imperius Curse.
Looking at the number of dark wizards who have been killed by the Aurors of the Ministry of Magic, it is obvious that there is no future in joining Voldemort's camp.
Moreover, due to Albert's interference, the Ministry of Magic played an active role in combating dark wizards, causing wizard families that might have previously remained neutral to inevitably tend to confront the mysterious man.
It’s not that they don’t want to remain neutral, but after Scrimgeour built the shelter, many wizards felt a sense of crisis.
Since the goal is to fight against dark wizards and confront mysterious people, we naturally have to choose a good place.
The Order of the Phoenix formed by Dumbledore is the best choice. After all, Dumbledore is famous and everyone is willing to gather around him, but it is not easy to join the Order of the Phoenix, and there are few ways.
As for joining the Ministry of Magic's crisis response team, there are also certain thresholds. After all, during duty, you may face dark wizards directly, which involves great risks.
The "Defense Association", which focuses more on protecting everyone's safety, naturally becomes the first priority for many people.
No matter how you look at it, Albert is a very competent leader. After joining the Defense Society, he not only taught everyone how to protect themselves, but also did not require everyone to fight against the mysterious man. He just hoped that they would secretly support Harry Potter.
As a result, more people secretly expressed to Harry that they wished to join the Defense Society.
This made Harry feel inexplicably irritated, and in the end it was Hermione who helped write down the list.
"I really don't understand why they all like to join the Defense Society? If it were me, I would definitely join the Order of the Phoenix."
Ron stared at the long list and couldn't help but ask his doubts.
"They only know how to join the Defense Society, and most of them just want to become peripheral members and don't want to be actually involved in this war." Hermione put away the list and looked at Harry, somewhat worried about his situation.
"It's okay, just a little depressed."
"What are you upset about?" Ron asked in confusion, "Because everyone is rushing to join the Defense Society? Maybe you can ask Dumbledore to see if the Order of the Phoenix is recruiting new members."
"I originally thought that my Defense Against the Dark Arts level was pretty good, but after listening to the broadcast that day, I suddenly realized that I was no different from everyone else." Harry was indeed very depressed. He suddenly realized that he was just a rookie. At most, he had more experience than others and mastered more magic.
This makes him seem to be better than others, but in fact, others are just too bad.
Ron and Hermione looked at each other, not knowing how to comfort Harry.
"Okay, it's almost time, I have to go to class." Harry took out his pocket watch, checked the time, and went straight to the principal's office.
Dumbledore looked at Harry, who remained silent after entering the office, and asked, "You seem to be unhappy."
"I don't think the chances of convincing Professor Slughorn to hand over that memory are high!" Harry said unconfidently.
"It's important that you believe in yourself and have faith in yourself, Harry."
Dumbledore motioned for Harry to sit down, and conjured a glass of butterbeer out of thin air and placed it in front of Harry.
"I plan to try to get Professor Slughorn drunk on April 28, his birthday, and make him hand over that memory." Harry lowered his voice and spoke of his plan: "Although I have never mentioned the Horcrux to Professor Slughorn, and I will take the Felicis potion by then, I still can't be sure whether the plan will succeed. I always feel that Professor Slughorn seems to have seen through my purpose."
Dumbledore looked at Harry with a gloomy face and fell silent. He found that the boy in front of him seemed to be under a lot of pressure.
"You should have confidence in your plan." He comforted her, "It doesn't matter if you fail. You still have time, so don't feel any psychological pressure and do it according to your own ideas."
However, these words did not have much soothing effect after all, because Harry still needed to complete this task, and he absolutely could not fail. It was obviously impossible to say that he had no pressure.
Harry never had the confidence in himself that Dumbledore had, and the pressure placed on him made him feel suffocated.
"Sir, what are we going to learn today?"
He took a deep breath and changed the subject.
"Let's talk about topics that I'm sure you'll be interested in." Dumbledore didn't seem to intend to let him see someone's memory. Instead, he smiled and picked up the milk tea, looking like he was going to chat with Harry.
"What topic?" Harry asked, raising his eyebrows slightly. "It must be something about Horcruxes."
"right."
Dumbledore opened the drawer of the headmaster's desk and took out several Horcrux fragments that Harry had seen in his memory.
"Sir, how many Horcruxes have you destroyed so far?" Harry looked at the remains of the Horcruxes on the table and said to himself, "Riddle's diary, Marvolo Gaunt's ring, and Slytherin's locket."
"Is this the Horcrux that Albert helped find?" Harry's eyes fell on the locket.
"Yes, the situation is a bit complicated. Slytherin's locket was originally hidden in No. 12 Grimmauld Place." Dumbledore picked up the remains of the locket and fell into a brief memory. "Later, it was taken out of No. 12 Grimmauld Place by Mundungus, who planned to find an opportunity to secretly sell it. I was lucky to find it before Mundungus sold the locket."
"How did Slytherin's locket end up at Sirius's house?" Harry couldn't understand.
"I think this matter is most likely related to Kreacher, but Sirius killed it, which made it all a mystery, but at least we are lucky to have found it and have the honor to destroy it completely."
"If Voldemort has seven Horcruxes, that means there are four left." Harry muttered as he looked at the remains of the Horcruxes on the table.
"No, Harry, if Voldemort divided his soul into seven parts, then one of them must be his main soul, so he would only create six Horcruxes," Dumbledore corrected.
"This is really good news. It means that Voldemort only has three Horcruxes left." Harry's mood suddenly became happy. This meant that they were one step closer to destroying all the Horcruxes.
"Among them, one is definitely the Hufflepuff gold cup, and the remaining two are likely to be relics of other Hogwarts founders. I think the legendary Ravenclaw crown is very suspicious. Do you know the whereabouts of the crown? Perhaps, we can consider asking Albert to help us divine the location of the crown. Maybe he can really help us find it."
As he spoke, Harry suddenly looked up at Dumbledore, remembering that the other party had said that he would take him to find the Horcrux. He couldn't help but wonder if Dumbledore had already predicted the location of the Ravenclaw Diadem through Albert.
This means that the last Horcrux remains unknown.
"Perhaps, we can seek help from the school's ghost, such as... Professor Binns. I remember that he was the ghost of Gryffindor back then. Maybe he has heard some rumors."
"Your idea is very good." Dumbledore said with relief, "However, I have found the sixth Horcrux, which is the snake named Nagini beside Voldemort."
"Snake? Living creatures can be made into Horcruxes." Harry was very surprised.
"It was indeed unexpected." Dumbledore said with a smile, "Luckily, I accidentally killed the snake named Nagini when I went to the Crouch family last time."
"So, now we only need to find the remaining two Horcruxes?" Harry was so happy that he almost jumped up. This meant that as long as the last two Horcruxes were destroyed, Voldemort would be close to death.
What's more, Dumbledore promised to take him to find the Horcruxes, which means that the whereabouts of the last Horcrux is actually unknown.
"In addition to the golden cup, there is one last Horcrux that is suspected to be the Ravenclaw Diadem that has not been confirmed." Harry suddenly thought of something, looked up at Dumbledore and asked, "Since you have already determined that Voldemort has divided his soul into seven parts, why are you still obsessed with getting that part of the memory from Professor Slughorn?"
"I need it to confirm my speculation. It is unreliable to rely solely on speculation." Dumbledore took a sip of milk tea and said calmly, "Our enemy is Voldemort. If the number of Horcruxes is wrong, all our efforts may fail."
"But why do you think Voldemort only divided his soul into seven parts?" Harry asked his doubts again. Dumbledore obviously did not tell him everything, but he was sure that it was not just Albert's prophecy.
"But what if Voldemort split his soul into eight parts?" Harry hypothesized. "I mean, if he split his soul into more than seven, wouldn't all our efforts be in vain?"
Dumbledore's eyes swept over the lightning scar on Harry's forehead and explained softly, "Seven is the most special and magical number of all numbers. I think Voldemort must know this."
Harry said nothing and continued to listen to what Dumbledore was saying.
"In the entire history of the wizarding world, no wizard has ever split his soul into more than two parts," Dumbledore said calmly. "I think Voldemort should be the first. He must have realized that splitting the soul would make it unstable, even if he only made one Horcrux."
"So, Voldemort divided the soul into seven parts in order to maintain the stability of the soul?" Harry felt incredible.
"Perhaps, he wants to use this to enhance his own power." Dumbledore said softly, "But it is undeniable that his idea is actually correct. Seven is indeed a magical number."
"But... we have destroyed four of Voldemort's Horcruxes, so the number of seven should not be reached, but his power shows no signs of decline." Harry asked again, expressing his unique insight.
"It is well known that Voldemort is afraid of death."
"I mean, if Voldemort finds out that all his Horcruxes have been destroyed by us, will he risk trying to split his soul again and create a new Horcrux?"
"You ignore the role of a complete soul, Harry." Dumbledore shook his head. "It is valuable to keep a complete soul."
"I don't think Voldemort would care about this, otherwise he wouldn't have split his soul." Harry expressed his concerns, "Maybe there is an upper limit to how many times a person can split their soul, but I don't think this way of thinking is suitable for Voldemort. That guy doesn't seem like a human being."
"I think that if his magic power is not damaged, once Voldemort realizes that his Horcruxes are being destroyed one by one, he will definitely secretly split a small piece of his soul into a Horcrux and hide it to ensure that he will not be killed easily."
"If I were Voldemort, I would definitely do this. Once all the Horcruxes are lost, Albert will definitely kill him with lightning speed."
Yes, Harry felt that Albert was hiding just to wait for them to destroy all the Horcruxes and then come out to give Voldemort a severe blow.
"What you said is not impossible." Dumbledore did not deny this possibility.
Will Voldemort create a seventh Horcrux
In fact, Voldemort did so unintentionally, and although Harry was not actually a Horcrux in a sense, he could have the effect of a Horcrux.
As long as the small piece of soul fragment on Harry's forehead was not destroyed, Voldemort would not die completely, but Dumbledore obviously did not intend to tell Harry about this.
At least not now.
"It is unheard of for Voldemort to divide his soul so madly." Dumbledore said calmly, "The soul cannot be divided infinitely. Voldemort obviously realized the potential risks of dividing the soul too many times, so he chose to divide it into seven parts. As I said just now, it is not only for greater power, but also to make the soul more stable."
"But... the number seven is completely broken, isn't it? The Horcruxes don't provide any significant magical protection for Voldemort as he imagined, and I think he must have realized that." Harry still insisted on his point of view.
In his opinion, Voldemort didn't really care about the loss of humanity or the instability of his soul. As long as it didn't affect his strength and could keep him alive after losing all his Horcruxes, Harry believed that Voldemort would definitely not mind dividing his soul again.
"If that happens, I think Voldemort won't be a threat anymore." Dumbledore noticed Harry's puzzled look and explained calmly, "As his soul becomes more and more damaged, he will be doomed."
"Harry, you think that Voldemort has not changed after splitting his soul because you don't really understand Voldemort." Dumbledore drew out memories from his temple and put them into the Pensieve. "I taught Tom Riddle for seven years and I know very well what he was like when he was young. He was a smart and cunning child. Maybe not as dazzling as Mr. Anderson, but not much worse. But look at Voldemort now, you can't imagine that they are the same person."
"The repeated division of the soul caused Voldemort to gradually lose his humanity and become somewhat mentally abnormal." Dumbledore continued, "Soul division is not without side effects."
"The instability of the soul has caused the connection between Voldemort's main soul and the Horcrux to be completely severed, and he can no longer sense the status of the Horcrux. It is thanks to this that we have the opportunity to destroy his Horcruxes one by one without Voldemort noticing."
"The best proof is that when I destroyed the ring and the locket, Voldemort didn't react at all." Dumbledore picked up the two Horcrux remains and looked at Harry. "If Voldemort was in a spirit state when the diary was destroyed, he couldn't sense the diary being destroyed. But now that he has been resurrected, he still can't sense the destruction of the Horcrux. This is one of the sequelae caused by splitting the soul too many times."