Volume 5: The Burning Golden Flame Chapter 310 Lies
"The Dark Lord's proposal to hold the Triwizard Tournament?"
Jon asked with wide eyes.
It's no wonder that Jon was shocked. Before he traveled through time, he had just finished reading the first four books of the original novel for the second time, which was up to the Goblet of Fire, where the Triwizard Tournament ended.
The Triwizard Tournament was held in the last year of peace in the wizarding world.
But now the whole of Europe is in chaos after Voldemort occupied France. John never thought that the Triwizard Tournament could be held as in the original book, not to mention that history has undergone tremendous changes.
But the reality was far from what he thought. Not only was the Triwizard Tournament held as scheduled, but it was also proposed by Voldemort himself.
Dumbledore told John about the Wizarding World's attack on the French Ministry of Magic. After listening to it, John fell into deep thought.
"He shouldn't have recovered so quickly." Jon said doubtfully, "He spent so much effort and abandoned everything he had in England to go out to sea. From what I can see now, the most fundamental problem is to solve the troubles in his soul. After I left Starr Tower and tore up the contract, it must have had a great impact on him. It's a bit unreasonable for him to recover so quickly."
"But what's even more unreasonable is that he's actually going to host the Triwizard Tournament?"
Jon frowned.
"According to what you said, Professor, if his strength had been restored to its fullest, he should have the advantage and the chance of winning. But he intended to solve the problem by means other than war in the name of preserving the French Ministry of Magic..."
"I don't think he would give up trying to save the face he lost when he was defeated in public by you last time just to save the French Ministry of Magic."
Dumbledore chuckled as he crossed his arms and placed them on his stomach.
"This question is actually not difficult to guess, Jon. When a person gives up the option that seems to be the best for him and chooses another option, it means that he knows very well which option will bring him greater benefits."
"Now that he has chosen to use the Triwizard Tournament to solve the problem, it means that he believes that hosting this tournament can bring him greater benefits, including the problems reflected in this newspaper that he is instructing to publish."
"He wants to stabilize the situation and pave the way for the upcoming Triwizard Tournament. What we need to think about is what kind of huge benefits this Triwizard Tournament can bring to him."
His expression was serious, and it was obvious that he was discussing this issue seriously with Jon.
Because wizards are in an emotional state of casting spells for a long time, they lack rational and logical thinking ability. However, Dumbledore is obviously different from normal wizards. He can reach the peak of sensibility, but he is also not lacking in rationality.
"We can work backwards from his most pressing needs to see what it is about this game that would benefit him so much."
"The first is the damage you caused to his soul after you tore up the contract."
"His strength recovery is very strange. Let's assume for the moment that his recovery is temporary and special, and cannot be maintained for a long time. His most urgent need now is to find a way to fully recover."
"Secondly, the contract is unique in its function. Once it is torn up, it cannot be repaired. However, he has left another backup plan to ensure that the contract can be replaced if there is a problem. "
"Assuming that the reason why he didn't want to fight me in the French Ministry of Magic was that his subsequent contract to stabilize his soul was not as stable as the first one, but it could also ensure the maintenance of his power, then the problem he is facing now is how to reverse his defeat in France."
"Third, the prerequisite is the same as the first one. The contract is damaged. He used a special method to temporarily recover his condition. However, he has also determined that after this period of time is over, his strength will never be able to return to its peak."
"Then what he has to do now is to get rid of me. As long as he can bring my level to the same level as his, or just kill me directly, he can still satisfy his needs."
The three situations deduced by Dumbledore basically cover all the possibilities.
Although there are three types, the core of each one actually lies in the current state of Voldemort's personal strength.
But if the Triwizard Tournament is held, what kind of changes will it bring to Voldemort?
Jon looked up and said thoughtfully.
"Could there be a fourth possibility? The strength recovery he showed in front of you, Professor, was actually an illusion. Proposing to hold the Triwizard Tournament was just a way to delay time. Is he still looking for other ways to restore his strength?"
Dumbledore nodded slightly.
"I don't rule out this possibility, but first of all, if he could really hide it from me, it means that at the moment he hid it from me, he was already at his peak and surpassed me, unless he used some means that I was not aware of."
After hearing what he said, Jon suddenly remembered what his purpose was in coming to see Dumbledore.
He had just finished reading the Daily Prophet and had forgotten all about his business.
Jon hurriedly took out the portrait of Slytherin and spread it out in front of Dumbledore.
"Professor, I almost forgot. I followed Headmaster Bagshot's instructions and went to the last point of the North Pole. There I entered an underground maze and found this magical portrait of Mr. Slytherin. From him, I learned what the Dark Lord did after he found him."
After introducing Dumbledore, Jon bowed his head and apologized to the Slytherin in the portrait.
"I'm sorry, sir, I forgot about you."
On the wall behind Dumbledore where there were portraits of all the headmasters of Hogwarts, the headmasters who were dozing off saw the portrait that Jon took out and couldn't help but let out a cry of relief.
Although Slytherin had a bad temper, he didn't care much about Jon's little problem.
After placing the book on the table, he looked at Dumbledore, who also looked at him with surprise at the same time, and greeted the old man in the portrait with some strange emotion.
"Hello, Mr. Salazar Slytherin."
Slytherin nodded slightly at him in response.
"I heard two different versions of you from your two different students, but now I should be able to make my own judgment on who I should believe."
A gloomy look appeared on his old and monkey-like face.
"Tom Riddle deceived me!"
Dumbledore and John looked at each other. He had obviously just learned that Voldemort's last stop at sea was to the North Pole to see the portraits left behind by his ancestors.
Slytherin looked at Dumbledore and the wall of portraits of past headmasters behind him, and spoke in a hoarse and angry voice.
"I know you want to know from me what he got after he found me."
There was darkness and reminiscence in his eyes.
"The labyrinth in the North Pole is a secret room under the ice that I created for my magic research after leaving Hogwarts. There are many magical creatures that are different from those now sealed in the ice and snow that have not melted for millions of years. At that time, I went there to find something."
"The portrait was also left there at that time. I used some tricks. The portraits left behind when I was alive were just ordinary portraits. But after my death, the prepared potion will be sprinkled on the ordinary portrait on time, turning it into my current self. This will monitor the research I left in the Arctic and control Haas, a basilisk."
"Riddle came to the maze and found me fourteen years ago. He said he found this place through clues passed down by the Slytherin family. Now the wizarding world is in darkness, and he needs my help."
"He told me a story about wizards being oppressed by Muggles and pure-bloods hiding from the world. In the story, Albus Dumbledore was a traitor who had surrendered to the Muggles. He was the headmaster of Hogwarts and implemented a policy in the castle that was centered on Muggles and oppressed wizards. He also joined forces with the Muggle king to enslave all wizards. Wizards all over the world were in a more miserable state than a thousand years ago."
"Except for wizards born to Muggle families, all other children born from wizarding families will be domesticated into slaves and serve Muggles. The wizards who defected to Muggles made a contract with these newborns from the moment they were born. Just like house-elves, they can only serve Muggles for eternity and even become tools of war for Muggles."
Dumbledore and John were listening attentively, and the portraits of all the former headmasters were frowning and whispering.
"He said that the Slytherin family had changed their name to the Gaunt family, and had been hiding like rats with several other ancient pure-blood families, without being cursed to be enslaved by Muggles. His mother was deceived by a despicable Muggle and fell into a trap, which not only brought disaster to her family, but also gave birth to him, a half-blood. After he was born, his Muggle father abandoned his wife and children, causing his mother to die of depression."
"When he grew up, he learned the true purpose of establishing Hogwarts. In order to save the wizarding world and prevent wizards from becoming slaves of Muggles, he built a second Hogwarts . Every year, he competed to raise newborn wizard babies who had not yet been discovered by Muggles. While educating the next generation of wizards, he wandered around and resisted Dumbledore's pursuit."
After listening to Slytherin's story, all the former headmasters were shocked.
"Shameless! Really shameless!" The kind headmistress, Dalis, had a face full of indignation and anger.
Sirius's ancestor Phineas kept shaking his head: "How could you make up a story like this? Even I don't have such a thick skin..."
Dumbledore's predecessor, Armando, also sighed: "He is a good performer. At that time, he deceived everyone in the school. I even always felt that he would definitely make the most outstanding contribution to the wizarding world in the future."
The headmasters in the portraits cursed, lamented, and regretted this, while Dumbledore shook his head helplessly.
"There is no one in the world who lies better than him. All the things he told you have come true now, but the ones who are oppressed are not the wizards with blood, but the Muggles without blood. When he met you, he had not yet taken over Hogwarts Castle, nor did he rule the whole of Britain like he does now, but he could think of building a slavery farm in Hogwarts. I guess he had already made plans for the future at that time."
When Jon was in the maze, he already knew how Slytherin was deceived. What he really wanted to know was what Voldemort ultimately wanted Slytherin to do for him.
"So, sir, when he told you this, what did he want you to give him?"
Slytherin did not hide it this time, he continued with a grim expression.
"He told me at the time that in order to avoid being hunted down by the Muggles led by Dumbledore and to continue protecting the seeds of the next generation of wizards, he had no choice but to use a magic that could make him immortal."
Hearing this, Jon and Dumbledore looked at each other, and they instantly knew what this magic was.
"He split his soul many times and made them into Horcruxes. He told me that he knew it was evil black magic, but he had no other way. After successfully making the Horcruxes, he survived many crises through this method, but then he felt the harm that the Horcruxes had on his soul."
"He became more and more irritable and emotional, and almost lost his original rationality. At this time, he realized that something was wrong with his situation. If he continued to rely on the Horcruxes, he would become a different person, completely controlled by the Dark Magic."
"So he thought of taking back all the remaining souls that were split into the Horcruxes , so that he could become whole again. But after the soul was split, it was not so easy to get it back again. He stuffed the remaining souls in the Horcruxes back into his own body, but there was no way to connect the souls into a whole."
" In the old house of the Slytherin family, he saw through some fragments that I had done a lot of research on the soul a thousand years ago. Then he found me under the ice in the Arctic and wanted me to help him find a way to perfectly repair his soul."
Jon looked at the Slytherin in the portrait.
"Did you tell him the method?"
"Yes, I believed him. Based on the situation he described, I helped him come up with a plan to make his split soul whole again!"
Jon was stunned. Only now did he suddenly realize one thing.
The soul-separating contract that Voldemort induced Sir Stoker to sign for him in the Starr Tower and the soul-completing contract that he found in Slytherin to split the Horcrux were not aimed at the same soul problem!
