Mentioning Horcruxes didn't make Link especially surprised. Dumbledore clearly had already expected this, and said with a meaningful look, "Seems like you already know what a Horcrux is, don't you?"
"A cruel and evil magical creation," Link replied expressionlessly.
"The maker can perform a murder as a ritual, thereby tearing off a piece of their own soul from the body, and preserving it inside some object to create a Horcrux."
"Until the Horcrux is destroyed, the body of the Horcrux's owner will not die."
What Link said was word-for-word what was recorded in Secrets of the Darkest Arts.
Hearing this, Dumbledore immediately fell silent, and only after a long pause sighed, "At your age, it's still too early to be reading that kind of book. You should understand, right?"
"Whether it's Horcruxes or other dark rituals, their essence is all about unequal exchange. Take Horcruxes, for example."
"While they might grant the maker a sort of theoretical immortality, in truth a soul without the nourishment of the body also has a lifespan, and that lifespan is far shorter than we imagine."
Link glanced sideways at Dumbledore.
"I know what you're trying to say. I have no interest in Horcruxes or any other evil rituals. In my opinion, tearing apart one's soul is the single stupidest thing in this world."
At this, Dumbledore's eyes brightened slightly. Though he said nothing, his expression still showed that he wanted Link to keep talking.
Link didn't disappoint him, and continued, "Think about it. The soul is the most fundamental essence of a person."
"It contains everything that makes a human being human. Ripping apart the soul not only brings unimaginable pain, it also causes irreversible damage to the victim's personality, humanity, and even intelligence."
"If you study Voldemort's history of 'entrepreneurship' carefully, you'll see it clearly. In the early stages of his career, he wasn't just powerful, he was talented, and had a strong, charismatic personality."
"Most importantly, the ideas he proposed did, in a certain sense, carry some value, perhaps even the potential to develop into something as grand as Grindelwald's great vision."
"That's why so many pure-blood wizards and aristocrats were willing to abandon their homes and fortunes to follow him."
"But later? Voldemort's entire character changed dramatically. He became extremely tyrannical, cruel, and unreasonable."
"His intelligence started plummeting rapidly, to the point where he even began believing in prophecies."
"And the ideas and theories he had put forward at the start of his career never got developed further after so many years. Instead, he just fell back into extreme pure-blood supremacy."
"I believe all of these terrible changes came from him tearing apart too much of his own soul in order to make Horcruxes."
"Also, based on the timeline, that diary Horcrux I destroyed back in the Chamber of Secrets was most likely created when Voldemort was still a student."
"Combined with the changes he went through afterwards, and the fact that he's still alive now, I deduce that Voldemort must have made multiple Horcruxes."
Link said all this in one breath, then smiled and looked at Dumbledore.
Since he had already decided to go to all-out war against Voldemort, the plan to locate and destroy Horcruxes obviously had to start immediately.
And since it wasn't something he could accomplish alone, forcing Dumbledore to take part was a necessary move.
In Link's view, it didn't matter whether Dumbledore had already known about Voldemort's multiple Horcruxes or whether he wanted to start destroying them right away, now that Link had put this out in the open, Dumbledore had no choice but to put effort into it. Otherwise, his image of being noble and righteous would collapse.
But what Link didn't expect was Dumbledore's strange reaction.
It was as if he had just heard something that made him very happy. His eyes shone, his entire expression and energy lifted, and in an unusually eager tone he asked Link, "You think Gellert Grindelwald's ideas were great?"
That question made Link fall silent immediately.
Remembering all the strange rumors from his past life about Dumbledore and Grindelwald, Link's gaze toward Dumbledore grew increasingly odd.
At the same time, he quietly took a few steps back, trying to put some distance between them.
"From a purely theoretical perspective, Grindelwald's ideas did carry a certain correctness and foresight."
"In recent years, the explosion of Muggle technology directly caused their military power to grow at an explosive rate, which truly did squeeze the living space of wizards."
"In fact, it even threatened wizards' control over this planet. But in carrying out his ideas, he acted too idealistically and too impatiently. That's what led directly to his failure."
In the end, Link still gave his honest opinion on Grindelwald, and then added flatly, "But Headmaster Dumbledore, I think our focus should be on Horcruxes, shouldn't it?"
"Yes! You're right!"
Dumbledore looked even happier, smacked his own palm hard, and said. It wasn't clear whether he meant Link was right about Grindelwald or right about returning to the topic of Horcruxes.
After that, he seemed to calm down somewhat, and with a smile said to Link,
"You don't need to worry about the Horcruxes. In fact, I already started investigating Voldemort's Horcruxes last year."
"According to the information we have, it's true Voldemort has more than one Horcrux. As for the exact number, I personally guess seven."
"Seven?"
Though Link had already known this bit of intel long ago, he still wisely asked again.
Sure enough, Dumbledore took a deep breath, winked mysteriously at Link, and said, "Seven is the most magical number!"
Link just nodded silently. Right now, Dumbledore's act of pretending to be mysterious was more awkward than impressive, it even made Link want to laugh.
Dumbledore, too, knew when to stop.
He chuckled and shook his head, not continuing the topic of seven, but instead said directly, "Voldemort's seven Horcruxes are all hidden away in various secret places. Based on investigations, I've already identified a few possible locations."
"As for finding and destroying them, you don't need to get too involved. I'll handle it myself."
After saying this, Dumbledore even patted Link kindly on the shoulder.
But Link immediately jumped up and shouted, "No way! I have to go too!"
"Uh, why?"
Dumbledore asked in confusion, which left Link momentarily stuck.
What could he say?
Was he supposed to admit destroying Horcruxes gave him skill points, and he needed to go steal kills for points?
Luckily, Dumbledore didn't seem to care about his reason. Before Link could come up with an excuse, Dumbledore just waved his hand and said, "If you want to come, then come with me. Tomorrow evening, meet me in my office. The password is still 'vanilla ice cream.'"
"Tomorrow? That soon?"
"Opportunities slip away in a flash. Once we've decided something, we must do it as soon as possible, don't you agree?"
With that, Dumbledore pulled out an entire box of vanilla ice cream from the cupboard and set it in front of Link. Though he said nothing, the message to leave was clear.
Link didn't linger. He stuffed the ice cream into his Undetectable Extension Charm bag, and under the farewell of Fawkes and the portraits, quickly left the headmaster's office.
The horn for striking back at Voldemort had sounded.
Even though he would have Dumbledore, the legendary wizard who was practically invincible in their age, at his side on this mission, Link still felt he needed to prepare.
After all, this time he was going to fight for the kill.
And truthfully, Link had been preparing for this kind of operation for years, quietly refining his plans.
By now, he had even designed a complete combat outfit for himself, different from the usual Auror gear.
The key part was a custom combat suit he had commissioned from Transcendent Tailors, modeled after the principle of cosplay uniforms from his previous life.
This outfit resembled the workwear and tactical uniforms common in the Muggle world.
Its main color was black, and it was made from multiple layers of dragonhide, Graphorn hide, Moke wool, and other magical creature materials, giving it excellent resistance to magic and physical blows.
With the added protection of the Boggart Cloak, it could basically block most spells at a sixth-year Hogwarts level.
The outfit also had a utility belt and many storage pockets, filled with potions Link had personally brewed.
He had even designed some of them specifically for crawling through Arkam's tunnels, allowing for surprise infiltration and ambushes from unexpected angles.
Finally, Link carried a combat wand holster, a vest against the Killing Curse (its lining sewn with live white mice to absorb damage from Avada Kedavra), alchemical goggles with night vision, a magical map somewhat like the Marauder's Map but weaker, an alchemical communicator for real-time contact and distress calls, an alchemical hand crossbow, and more.
With all this preparation, the result was that when Link appeared in Dumbledore's office the next day fully equipped, looking like a walking fortress, not only were the portraits of former headmasters on the walls stunned into silence, even Dumbledore himself was speechless for a long while.
Finally, Dumbledore spoke with a complicated expression, "Link, just treat this like an ordinary adventure. With me here, you don't need to be afraid."
"I'm not afraid. I just made some necessary preparations." Link replied while double-checking his gear.
He knew that in the eyes of Dumbledore or anyone else, his approach might seem like overkill, greedy for life and afraid of death.
After all, wizards' usual combat method was simply to grab a wand and charge in. Even Aurors, the elite, didn't have equipment that was much different from ordinary wizards.
But Link didn't see it that way.
Life was only given once. As a transmigrator, he had always lived by the creed, even when a lion hunts a rabbit, it uses its full strength.
So he didn't think he was afraid of death, just reasonably avoiding risks.
Take Sirius Black as an example. In the original story, he was killed in the Ministry of Magic by his cousin Bellatrix, knocked through the Veil of Death by a Killing Curse.
But what if Sirius had been wearing gear like Link's now?
He probably wouldn't have died so easily. At the very least, a single Avada Kedavra wouldn't have been able to kill someone protected by a Boggart Cloak, tactical armor, and a vest against Killing Curses.
"Whew!"
After finishing his final checks, Link exhaled deeply, stood firm, and said seriously to Dumbledore, "I'm ready. We can leave anytime!"
Dumbledore looked at him, half exasperated and half amused. After a moment, he shook his head and said, "Alright then. Take my hand."
Link obediently reached out his dragonhide-gloved hand and gripped Dumbledore's arm tightly.
At that moment, Fawkes the phoenix let out a clear cry, flapped his wings, and seized Dumbledore's shoulders with his talons.
Orange-red flames instantly erupted from around his body, wrapping up Link and Dumbledore and sweeping them out of the headmaster's office.
Being transported by a phoenix was truly a marvelous experience.
Unlike Floo powder, Portkeys, or Apparition used by wizards and house-elves, a phoenix's instant movement was indescribably gentle.
When the flames wrapped around his whole body and tore open space for the jump, Link didn't feel the slightest bump. On the contrary, it felt warm and comforting.
And when his feet touched solid ground again, the scene before his eyes had completely changed.
Now he and Dumbledore were standing on a hillside.
It seemed to be the highest point in the area. From here, it was easy to see the small village below, with smoke curling up from chimneys.
And standing right before Link was a manor built at the very top of the hill, not too big, but not too small either.
This manor looked like it had been abandoned for a long time.
All around it were withered weeds and lifeless trees with twisted branches.
Even the building itself was in ruins. The doors and windows were all nailed shut with wooden planks. Roof tiles were broken and missing.
Withered vines of ivy crawled all over the cracked walls, as if painting abstract murals across its collapsing surface.
The rising moon was slowly climbing up behind the manor, and for a rare moment, it met the setting sun.
Under the strange harmony of day and night, the entire manor was bathed in a dreamlike, hazy glow.
All of Link's muscles tensed up instinctively. His nerves were stretched to the limit.
Holding his wand, he stared nervously at the mysterious, decaying manor.
Arkam and Yoyo also seemed to sense his emotions, and they began to stir uneasily.
This time, Link didn't calm them down.
Because he needed them to stay just as alert as he was.
He knew very well what dangers lurked inside this manor.
And at that moment, Dumbledore, also gazing at the manor, finally spoke softly, "Riddle Manor. We're here."
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