In an apartment in Devonshire, Nico was sitting in an armchair reading a book, his eyes occasionally falling on the mechanical clock by the fireplace. He was waiting for a visit from a good friend, but there was no doubt that the other party was late.
After a while, there was a knock on the door.
"Albus, it's rare that you're late."
The owner of the apartment opened the door and greeted the old man outside with a smile. Only this old friend could knock on the door of this apartment without triggering defensive magic.
"There are watchers." Dumbledore explained why he was late. "Several Muggles were under the Imperius Curse. It took me some time to send them away."
"It seems that Voldemort has indeed set his sights on the Philosopher's Stone." Nico's face was full of helplessness.
"He'll never get in, right?" Perenelle smiled and greeted him. The two had lived for hundreds of years, what big scenes had they not seen
"Yes, he is still very weak, and it is difficult for him to break through the outer protective magic." Dumbledore nodded, "But it is still a problem after all."
Life was not affected much for the Flamels. They seldom went out, and although the elixir of life made them immortal, their bodies became weak due to age.
The incident happened a month ago. Nico sensed the threat coming and hurriedly left France and returned to the apartment in England that was protected by the Fidelius Charm.
The other party did not give up and still found Britain, but was finally defeated by the Fidelius Curse.
Later, Dumbledore told Nico that the person looking for them was most likely Voldemort, who probably wanted to use the Philosopher's Stone to restore his power.
This is not good news.
The Flamels needed the elixir of life made from the Philosopher's Stone to continue living. Once the Philosopher's Stone was taken away, their lives would come to an end.
They contacted Dumbledore, who offered to help them solve the problem.
Because once Voldemort uses the Philosopher's Stone to restore his power and make a comeback, the entire wizarding world will probably never have peace again.
"But how did you find time to come? I remember today is the time for the alchemy party." Nico glanced at the purple invitation on the fireplace. "Sera will probably be very unhappy. I promised to attend the party last time."
"I participated a few times before, but later I felt it was boring, so I stopped participating." Dumbledore added three sugar cubes to his tea. "It's been a long time since any new members joined."
"It seems that you haven't paid attention to this matter for a long time. Sera told me that he found an excellent child, as outstanding as you once were." Nicole didn't seem to take Voldemort's matter to heart.
"I know. His name is Albert Anderson. He is a very good kid and is very good at ancient magic runes." Dumbledore didn't pay much attention to Albert, but he still had a deep impression of him. "He is a bit like me. He often keeps in touch with famous magic masters. Hertog has suffered a great loss in front of him."
"Hetok?" Nico thought for a moment and suddenly realized, "So that's it, it's that kid!"
"You know him?" Dumbledore was surprised that Nico actually knew Albert.
"We met once at the opera house in France, and Hertog asked me to tell his fortune regarding the gold card," Nico explained.
"What happened to them afterwards?" Perenelle was more concerned about the result. "Did Hetok get his gold card back?"
"Yes, they reconciled in the end." Dumbledore smiled, "Hertok helped Mr. Anderson resolve the misunderstanding."
"We know why you're here. If you really need it, we can give you a Philosopher's Stone." Nico sighed and brought the topic back. The Philosopher's Stone was too important to them. Once they lost the Philosopher's Stone, it would mean death. They would not take any risks.
Of course, Nico was also aware of how much his friend valued Voldemort, and he didn't mind lending Dumbledore a piece of it.
"Here." Perenelle placed the Philosopher's Stone in front of Dumbledore.
"Is this a fake?" Dumbledore was very surprised, because he had seen the Philosopher's Stone, and the one in front of him was almost exactly the same as the one he had seen.
"Yes, this is a failure!" Nico grinned. "Even you can't separate it, right?" In fact, the success of the Philosopher's Stone came more from an accident. Even Nico couldn't copy it again. Although he made a similar Philosopher's Stone, he couldn't have the effect of the Philosopher's Stone.
"That's a good idea." Dumbledore picked up the stone and examined it carefully, then suddenly said, "But now is not the time."
"Isn't it time yet?" Nico repeated in confusion.
"Yes, it's not the right time yet." Dumbledore said, "I need to lure Voldemort out and see what his current situation is. You know, almost no one can live like him, like a ghost, but not a ghost."
"As far as I know, there is a case that agrees with what you said." Perenelle recalled the past: "According to records, the despicable Herpo was the first dark wizard recorded to have created a Horcrux."
"Despicable Hailbo?" Nico Zhou frowned, obviously recalling some bad memories.
"About two hundred years ago, we met him." Perenelle's voice drifted farther and farther away. "I don't know where Herpo got to know us and wanted to take the Philosopher's Stone. It wasn't a very pleasant thing. Later, we defeated Herpo with the help of some friends."
"Is Herbert dead?" asked Dumbledore.
"I don't know, maybe he's dead." Nico shook his head and said, "After that, we never heard any news about him again."
Horcrux.
Dumbledore naturally knew about this mysterious and evil black magic, and there were books related to Horcruxes in the Hogwarts library.
Of course, Dumbledore had no evidence to prove that Voldemort had created the Horcruxes.
Later, during the years when Voldemort disappeared, Dumbledore found traces of Voldemort in the forests of Albania. All the signs showed that Voldemort was still alive after being hit by the rebounded Avada Kedavra curse, most likely because of the Horcrux.
This is not a good sign. If a wizard who possesses a Horcrux cannot find and destroy the Horcrux, he cannot be completely killed.
Even if ordinary wizards create Horcruxes, the threat is not great. After their physical bodies are destroyed, they will only become extremely weak and can only live in humiliation in the end.
But for a powerful wizard like Voldemort, even if he becomes weak, it is only temporary. He can always find many ways to regain his strength.
"What's wrong? You don't look well." Perenelle looked at Dumbledore worriedly.
"If that's the case, it's really bad news." Dumbledore sighed, "Based on my understanding of Voldemort, that crazy guy may have created more than one Horcrux."
"That's impossible." Nico frowned, "Cutting the soul will make it very unstable and create many Horcruxes, unless he is crazy."
"Yes, Voldemort is indeed a madman, just think of the new name he gave himself."
Fly away... die