Chapter 27. Two Horcruxes
Barely more than a minute passed between our asking Fawkes to deliver the message and the headmaster's subsequent appearance before us. The first thing that caught the eye was a small black box he was holding in his hand.
"What could this matter possibly be, that you'd dump all your affairs on others, yet come running at the first call from first-years?" McGonagall asked irritably.
"I'm glad to see you as well, Minerva," Dumbledore replied with a smile. "However, I must ask you to cover for me a little longer, for the reason these children wrote to me is directly connected with my absence."
"I'm all ears." By the look in McGonagall's eyes, it was clear this time she wasn't going to let him dodge answers. Apparently, it stung that there was information first-years could be trusted with but she could not.
"Minerva…" Dumbledore sighed, then looked at us. "Would you mind?"
"…It's connected to our father." Honestly, we didn't want to involve anyone else in anything related to our secrets. It was one thing with Hermione, who had sworn an oath, and Dumbledore, on whom we could, it seemed, pin most of the problems.
"All right. I'll leave," McGonagall said, pursing her lips in displeasure. She looked at those present and headed for the exit.
Once the deputy headmistress had finally left, Dumbledore spoke:
"So, which Horcrux did you find?"
"Kreacher," we called, and in the next moment, with a gentle pop, the house-elf appeared before us, holding out Salazar Slytherin's locket on his outstretched hand.
"Our father learned about this Horcrux and was able to retrieve it from some cave at the cost of his life. Unfortunately, house-elves are not powerful enough to destroy a Horcrux, so it was kept at Grimmauld Place all this time," we explained briefly.
"It's a pity he didn't dare contact me," Dumbledore sighed before catching the locket's chain with his wand and taking it from the house-elf.
"Evil thing needs to be destroyed," Kreacher said at once.
"Don't worry, I will," the old man nodded, laying the Horcrux together with the box on his desk.
"As for the most reliable methods of destroying Horcruxes, they are fiendfyre and basilisk venom."
"In the absence of the latter, I'll have to use something cruder." He closed his eyes, as if pondering something, then suddenly opened them and, with a decisive swish of his wand, conjured a dense ball of blue flame that hovered in the air, constantly pressing against the boundaries Dumbledore had set for it. Then the locket was thrown directly into the flames.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
The headmaster's office was instantly filled with a loud howl, and from the fire, where the locket was dissolving, a huge phantom face seemed to break free for an instant, failing to reach any of us before dissipating.
Next, the headmaster's hand moved toward the box. He hesitated briefly before finally grabbing it and throwing it into the fire just as he had moments before with the locket.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
The scene repeated itself, and finally Dumbledore extinguished the flames.
"Was that fiendfyre?" we asked.
"Yes and no."
"What do you mean?" we didn't understand, while Dumbledore was searching for something on the floor.
"There it is!" For the first time in our memory, Dumbledore dashed to the spot above which the fire had burned, almost with obsession, and picked up a small, smooth black stone from the floor.
Piecing everything together, we finally realized which Horcrux the headmaster had found.
"Professor, are you all right?" we asked, slightly worried, remembering all too well that canonically, this very Horcrux had led to Dumbledore's death.
"Yes, I'm all right," the old man replied somewhat distantly, examining the stone in his hand.
"Ugh…" Suddenly Fawkes flew over to Dumbledore, pecked him on the crown, and then, returning to his perch, emitted a melodic trill.
"You're right, I got a bit carried away," sighed the headmaster, then, coming over to his desk, opened a drawer and put the stone inside.
"As I've said, I'm fine," Dumbledore focused his attention back on us. "And I'm grateful to you. Your unexpected choice to reach me through Fawkes saved my life. Thank you."
"You're very welcome," we replied simply.
"And now, if you don't mind, I'd like to be alone for a while."
"Sorry, sir, but in fact we didn't come just about the Horcrux. We need advice and maybe also some help," we were in no hurry to leave.
"…." Dumbledore's gaze shifted involuntarily to the desk—it was obvious he was feeling impatient. No wonder the Resurrection Stone had tempted him to carelessness with Voldemort's Horcrux. Still, he was no longer a young man unable to suppress his desires.
"All right, what's happened?"
"Kreacher found another child of Sirius's, and we're not sure what to do with her. Sirius is hardly stable enough to trust her to him, especially since, when she was found, she was, to put it mildly, in a very traumatizing situation," we began explaining.
"What situation?" the old man frowned.
"She was beaten half to death and lying next to the corpse of her dried-up mother. We haven't examined her yet, but Kreacher said she's at our house now."
"She needs to be taken to St Mungo's—" Dumbledore began, before pausing. "What did you mean by 'another child'? There are others?"
Honestly, his question surprised us a little. Given how openly we'd told Potter and the Weasleys, we'd assumed he already knew.
"There were," we corrected with a slight grimace. "The Malfoys killed them all."
"All of them?!" Dumbledore exclaimed in shock, seeming to forget about the Resurrection Stone.
"What's the meaning of this?!" suddenly shouted the portrait of Phineas Black. "Are you telling me we're just getting slaughtered as people please, and the guilty haven't even been punished?!"
To this outburst, we didn't respond—at least not yet ready for revenge.
"Phineas, calm down, they're only first-years and can't do anything right now," Dumbledore tried to soothe his predecessor.
"They shouldn't have to solve it! There are still two flighty girls bearing the Black name!" Phineas raged on.
"You?" The headmaster looked at us in genuine astonishment. Against this information, saving Malfoy might indeed seem absurd. But for a wizard who preached second chances and love, our actions would be seen differently, and after a moment's silence, he spoke:
"…the girl must be moved to the Hogwarts hospital wing, here she'll be safe. As for Sirius—I'll be the one to talk to him and make sure he doesn't make things worse. But as for talking with the girl… You're orphans from an orphanage and she's your sister. Perhaps it would be best if, when she wakes, you talk to her first, and if necessary, I'll join you afterward. Just remember, you must be careful with your words and never lie. Lies will be found out sooner or later, and the consequences could be catastrophic."