Chapter 128: The Truth About Horcruxes

Dumbledore kept the evidence separated on his desk. 

The destroyed diary was represented by photographs and residue reports. The Slytherin locket remained in its warded container, preserved as evidence after the soul fragment inside it had been destroyed. The black notebook from the Chamber lay under its own protective cover. Edward had supervised access to none of the originals without an adult present. 

"The family text gave you the word," Dumbledore said. "The diary and locket gave us proof that Tom Riddle acted on it. Horcruxes." 

Edward had read the definition more than once. Hearing Dumbledore say it still made the office feel colder. 

"Murder damages the soul," Dumbledore continued. "A further act of Dark magic can fix a torn fragment to an object. The result anchors the maker to life while that fragment survives." 

"And he did it more than once." 

"At least twice," Dumbledore corrected. "The diary and locket establish two. Anything beyond that remains an investigation." 

Edward looked at the locket's broken shell. 

He had spent the summer imagining a hidden set of objects spread across Britain, each one waiting to restore Voldemort. The idea was plausible. It was not yet a count. 

"The notebook suggests repetition," he said. 

"It suggests interest in repetition. We should not turn suggestion into arithmetic." 

Edward nodded. 

Dumbledore explained what could safely be inferred. Creating a Horcrux required deliberate murder and further soul damage. Repeating the act would not make Voldemort evil if he had somehow begun innocent; Tom Riddle had chosen cruelty long before. The divisions instead showed how repeatedly he had been willing to mutilate himself in pursuit of survival. 

"Can a destroyed fragment return to him?" 

"Not the fragments destroyed in the diary and locket," Dumbledore said. "Their anchors were broken by Basilisk venom. We preserve the remains because they are evidence, not because the fragments are sleeping inside them." 

That distinction removed one of Edward's private fears. 

He wrote it down. 

"What about Peter?" 

Dumbledore folded his hands. "What about him?" 

"If he served Voldemort, he might know where another Horcrux is." 

"He might know nothing of the subject. Peter was useful because he betrayed people who trusted him, not because Tom necessarily admitted him to every secret. We capture Peter to establish the truth of Sirius's case and prevent further harm. If lawful questioning later reveals information about Voldemort, we evaluate it then." 

Edward heard the warning beneath the answer. Do not turn a justified arrest into permission for an unrelated interrogation. 

"No private questioning," he said. 

"Correct." 

"No Veritaserum without authority and supervision." 

"Correct." 

"No trying to frighten him into telling us where Voldemort is." 

Dumbledore's eyes sharpened. "Especially not that. A terrified prisoner says what he believes his captor wants to hear." 

Edward closed his notebook. 

The Peter plan was already difficult enough. Remus had verified the Marauder's Map, and scheduled observations had shown the name Peter Pettigrew inside Gryffindor Tower. McGonagall had witnessed the latest reading. That evidence was stronger than the missing toe or Scabbers's age, but Dumbledore still wanted the capture arranged away from sleeping students. 

"Professor Lupin believes Ron can be separated from Scabbers during a routine health inspection," Edward said. 

"Madam Pomfrey can provide a legitimate reason to examine an unusually old animal after Professor Lupin raises the concern. No invented emergency is required." 

"And Sirius?" 

"He remains away from the castle until Peter is secured." 

Edward imagined telling Sirius that again and decided Remus could enjoy the privilege. 

Dumbledore's mouth twitched as though he had guessed the thought. 

"There is one more matter," he said. "Harry." 

Edward became more attentive. 

Harry knew the old case was under review. He knew Scabbers matched two details from Sirius's account. He did not yet know that Sirius had been the Potters' intended Secret Keeper before the plan changed, nor that Sirius claimed Peter had taken the role. 

"He deserves the truth," Edward said. 

"Yes. He also deserves the truth in an order that does not make him responsible for catching the man who helped orphan him." 

That was harder. 

Edward had spent enough time treating information as a weapon that he sometimes forgot it could also be a burden. Giving Harry every detail immediately might feel honest while quietly handing him an adult investigation. 

"After Peter is secured?" 

"If we can secure him soon, yes. Remus should be present. Sirius as well, once we know the meeting is safe. Harry must be allowed to be angry with all of us." 

Edward glanced toward the window. 

"Including me?" 

"You are part of the secrecy now." 

He disliked that answer because it was fair. 

When the meeting ended, Edward found Remus outside the office waiting to speak with Dumbledore. Harry stood with him near the corridor window, listening while the professor explained a Patronus lesson scheduled for later in the week. 

Harry noticed Edward and straightened. 

Their relationship had never been simple. Different houses, different friends, and Edward's own early habit of sorting people by usefulness had built distance before either of them understood what they were doing. 

Edward stopped beside them. 

"Harry." 

"Edward." 

Remus glanced between them. "I need a word with the Headmaster. I will be inside if either of you needs me." 

He did not go far enough to pretend the two thirteen-year-olds were handling a dangerous matter without adult support. 

Harry waited until the office door closed. 

"Is Scabbers Peter Pettigrew?" 

Edward could have answered with the Map. 

He did not. 

"The evidence is much stronger than it was on the train. Dumbledore is arranging a safe way to confirm it physically. Until then, I am not going to call it finished." 

Harry stared at him. "You used to sound more certain about everything." 

Edward almost laughed. 

"I used to be wrong with more confidence." 

Harry's mouth moved despite himself. 

The brief humor disappeared when he looked toward Dumbledore's door. 

"If Sirius did not betray my parents, then someone let me believe he did for twelve years." 

"Yes." 

"And if he did, you're helping him." 

"Yes." 

There was no answer that removed both risks. 

Edward understood then why Dumbledore kept returning to procedure. When the facts were incomplete, fairness could not mean guessing the right person faster than everyone else. It meant building a way to discover the truth without destroying whoever happened to stand under suspicion. 

Harry looked down the corridor. "Tell me when you actually know." 

"I will make sure you are told." 

He did not promise to be the one who told him. That choice belonged to Harry, Sirius, Remus, and the adults responsible for the case. 

Harry nodded once and left for the stairs. 

Edward remained by the window. 

Two Horcruxes had been destroyed. Peter appeared to be within reach. Sirius might finally receive the hearing he had been denied. 

None of those facts meant the larger war was solved. 

For once, Edward did not need them to. 

He returned to the Slytherin common room with no new object to hunt and no secret assignment from Dumbledore. What he carried instead was a narrower understanding of the problem. Voldemort had made at least two Horcruxes. Two had been destroyed. Everything beyond that required proof. 

It was less satisfying than a complete theory. 

It was also true.