"Can the soul only be split once?"
Tom Riddle looked at Slughorn, asking impatiently.
"Sir, I mean... since the soul can be split, wouldn't it be better to split it several times?
Splitting it into more pieces would make you even more powerful, wouldn't it?
For instance, isn't seven the most magically powerful number? What if the soul were split into seven parts..."
As Riddle asked this question, he gently stroked the black gemstone on his ring, his eyes practically overflowing with excitement.
At this moment, Sherlock understood everything clearly.
"Tom! Good heavens, Tom!"
Compared to Sherlock, Slughorn's expression management completely failed upon hearing Riddle's words.
He stared at Riddle in horror, as if he had never truly seen this boy he had regarded as a rising star.
"Seven!
Isn't killing one person evil enough?
Killing to split one's soul is evil enough already... and you actually want to split your soul into seven pieces..."
Slughorn looked extremely uneasy.
Clearly, he was already beginning to regret participating in this conversation.
From this perspective alone, Slughorn was undoubtedly in the good alignment.
He looked deeply at Riddle and said quietly.
"Tom, Tom... what we've been discussing is all hypothetical, isn't it? Just academic speculation..."
"Yes, sir, of course."
Riddle immediately said, "All of this is merely academic speculation. It's perfectly normal to be bold when hypothesizing."
His words put Slughorn somewhat at ease, who cautiously warned.
"Even so, Tom... what I've told you—what we've just discussed—shouldn't be spoken of to anyone.
No one would be pleased to know we discussed Horcruxes, no one at all!
This is forbidden at Hogwarts, you know... Professor Dumbledore, the Transfiguration teacher, is particularly adamant about this..."
"Don't worry, sir, I won't tell anyone."
After Riddle finished speaking, he gave Slughorn a polite bow before leaving with light steps.
At this moment, Harry caught a glimpse of Riddle's face.
It was filled with wild joy, just like when he first discovered he was a wizard.
But this joy didn't make his face more handsome—instead, it made it somewhat twisted.
Slughorn's memory officially ended here.
"Thank you both," Dumbledore said in a low voice. "Sherlock, Harry, let's go..."
When Sherlock's feet touched solid ground again, he found Dumbledore already seated behind the square table.
Sherlock sat down accordingly, and then Harry returned from the Pensieve. He glanced at Sherlock and obediently sat beside him, quietly looking toward Dumbledore on the other side of the table.
"I've been waiting for this evidence for over a year. Thank you both for finally allowing me to obtain it, thereby verifying some of my judgments."
After a brief silence, Dumbledore finally spoke.
To Harry's surprise, the old headmaster didn't express his own views but instead asked.
"Sherlock, what do you think?"
Asked by Dumbledore, Sherlock didn't demur and answered directly.
"First, I must apologize to the respected Professor Slughorn."
"Oh, whatever for?"
Even though the topic they were discussing was very serious, hearing Sherlock say this, Dumbledore couldn't help but ask curiously.
"Originally, I thought Professor Slughorn had told Voldemort how to make Horcruxes, but through this memory, I've discovered that's not the case.
Tom Riddle already knew how to make Horcruxes long ago. He went to Professor Slughorn merely to clarify his thinking.
Specifically, he wanted to know the feasibility of making multiple Horcruxes.
His ignorance about Horcruxes in front of Slughorn was all an act, merely to deceive our knowledgeable professor.
The result is obvious—although Professor Slughorn didn't give a definite answer, Voldemort had already obtained the answer he wanted.
From this perspective, Professor Slughorn's guilt and sense of wrongdoing are somewhat wasted.
Because even if he had said nothing, Voldemort would still have taken this path of no return.
He would simply have verified this knowledge through other means, which wouldn't have taken him much time."
"Very good, Sherlock."
Dumbledore was first stunned, then showed an approving look. "I knew you would never disappoint."
He turned to Harry. "And you, Harry. I trust you understand the importance of that conversation.
At around your age, Tom Riddle was already trying every means to find out how to never die.
His evil came earlier than I expected, much earlier."
"I understand that, but what I don't understand is..."
Harry said, turning to Sherlock with a confused look, "Sherlock, how do you know that Voldemort already knew how to make Horcruxes before asking Slughorn?"
"Dear Harry, this is actually quite obvious."
"Obvious?"
Harry blinked. He thought that after following Sherlock for several years, he had developed some brains.
But carefully reviewing that scene, he still couldn't see where this "obvious" was.
Sherlock sighed.
"At the time point of Professor Slughorn's memory, Voldemort not only understood how to make Horcruxes but had already successfully created one."
"What?!"
Harry was shocked, but immediately realized.
"You mean Riddle's diary? But how can you be certain this conversation happened after the Chamber incident?"
"Because you didn't see all the information. I once saw Tom Riddle in the Pensieve, and through observation, it's easy to see the time difference wasn't too far apart."
Sherlock laid out his deduction completely.
"First, the Tom Riddle in Slughorn's memory was taller and more mature in appearance than the Tom Riddle I saw last time in the Pensieve.
This alone is enough to prove this happened after the previous Chamber incident.
Second, I'm sure you noticed the black gemstone ring Riddle wore on his finger.
From Riddle's various behaviors, this ring held special significance for him.
With his personality, once he obtained it, he would always wear it.
But I didn't see it in the previous memory.
Third, what he said to Slughorn was also very skillful, but this couldn't fool me.
This is enough for me to confirm that before this conversation with Slughorn, he had already successfully created one Horcrux.
That was the diary we destroyed.
Fourth, we can actually verify this indirectly with Professor Dumbledore."
Sherlock turned to Dumbledore, though phrased as a question, his tone was full of certainty.
"Professor, my friend Hermione searched the entire Restricted Section trying to help me but found no information about Horcrux usage.
She told me that only one book, Magick Moste Evile, mentioned in its preface.
'Of Horcruxes, wickedest of magical inventions, we shall not speak nor give direction.'"
At this point, Harry also remembered Hermione angrily closing that old book and stuffing it irritably into her bag.
Sherlock continued.
"However, I imagine that during Tom Riddle's school days, the school library still had materials about Horcruxes available?"
"You're absolutely right, Sherlock."
Dumbledore looked at Sherlock, the joy in his eyes evident.
"At that time, there was indeed a book in the Restricted Section that detailed the method of making Horcruxes, but after I became headmaster, I removed this book from the library."
"Where is it now?"
"My office."
"Is that so? I must read it if I get the chance."
"You will have the opportunity."
Harry: w(ﾟДﾟ)w
"Continuing our topic, according to my deduction, even though Voldemort had successfully made one Horcrux, he still wasn't clear about the consequences of making multiple Horcruxes.
That's why he thought to seek help from someone. This is also the most critical question.
Because he wouldn't get any experience from predecessors, as no wizard has ever split their soul into more than two pieces.
Am I right, sir?"
"Correct, but the reality may be even more extreme than that."
"Even more extreme?"
"Yes, not only has no one successfully made multiple Horcruxes, but aside from Voldemort, there has only been one person in history who successfully made a Horcrux.
He was the ancient Greek Dark wizard, Herpo the Foul, who is generally considered to be the first person to create a Horcrux."
"Herpo the Foul? I feel like I've heard that name somewhere?"
"Harry, have you already forgotten about your Parseltongue ability?
The first recorded Basilisk was bred by this Herpo the Foul.
He was the Greek Dark wizard Professor Dumbledore mentioned, and he was also a Parselmouth."
"Oh, I remember now! Hermione mentioned this in second year!"
"That's right. Your friend has a wealth of knowledge, so from this perspective, Voldemort did accomplish something unprecedented.
He not only became the first person to make a Horcrux since the inventor Herpo, but also the only person to make more than one Horcrux."
"Sorry, but I have another question."
Harry couldn't help but ask.
"If he wanted immortality so badly, why not make a Philosopher's Stone or just steal one?
Splitting one's soul by killing people—that sounds absolutely terrible!"
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