July 8, 1996
A week went by, with little activity happening for Harry and his friends. For most of the British teens, it was boring, to say the least. However, it was quite refreshing for Harry who had survived repeated attempts on his life ever since he was an infant. Canada was starting to feel like the perfect getaway from the mess that was Magical Britain.
Today, Harry and the other five teens remained at the Greengrass residence for the day. Michelle Greengrass had left after breakfast with the two youngest Greengrass children for a summer day camp north of Barrie. Sirius and Colonel Greengrass had also left after breakfast, saying that they had very important business to attend to. The teens soon found themselves in the living room relaxing on the sofas. Hermione was reading a novel she had borrowed from the local library, while Sam, being a studious young wizard, was reading up on a charms textbook for the upcoming school year. The others were talking about they were going to do this year; with the slow train wreck known as the Ministry of Magic about to get worse, they couldn't go back to Britain now.
The chatting stopped when they heard voices talking from the driveway leading to the front entrance, then moments later heard the front door open.
To everyone's shock, there, standing at the doorway, was Professor Albus Brian Wulfric Dumbledore, wearing a forest green trench-coat and matching fedora, looking very much like a wizened godfather, though one with a very British accent. Colonel Greengrass and Sirius Black stood on either side of the headmaster, both looking rather somber and uneasy.
"Good morning everyone, I am very glad to see that you are all doing well. We do have a few things to discuss." He greeted as he removed his coat, revealing a mauve business suit underneath.
The Colonel called out, "Leslie!"
The house-elf quickly apparated from the kitchen.
"Yes, Master Greengrass?"
"Could you please help Professor Dumbledore with his coat, after which could you please set up some tea and refreshments in the living room?"
"Certainly, Master." She cheerfully replied.
With that, she gingerly took Dumbledore trench-coat, snapped her fingers and went to work. Within seconds, a large tea set and a platter of biscuits appeared on the coffee table, and the little house-elf went back to washing up dishes in the kitchen. Dumbledore walked into the room with evident haste and took a seat on one of the reclining chairs. Harry and Daphne had been sitting with Tracy and Neville on the sofa, which had magically extended itself to fit the four teens. The Colonel gave the remaining chair to Sirius, after which he pulled out his wand and conjured an ottoman seat for himself.
Dumbledore took one of the teacups and poured himself a fresh brew of tea. After taking a sip, he sighed and began to speak.
"As I'm sure you are all aware, the Ministry of Magic in Britain is turning into a dictatorship under the Minister Fudge. He has enacted over a dozen draconian laws, and has begun arresting political opponents and dissidents. The Order has been declared "A subversive element" and we have been forced to go underground. Known members like me are now closely watched by the ministry and are constantly under attack by supporters of Minister Fudge. So far, he has not made any moves to remove me as headmaster of Hogwarts, but with Umbridge returning this year, I fear he may try again."
"I'm afraid that Cornelius Fudge, no doubt encouraged by certain individuals, has also personally issued an arrest warrant for you, Harry, as well as similar warrants for Miss Granger, Miss Davis, and Mr. Longbottom on the charges of under-aged magic, vandalism of the ministry, magical attacks on Umbridge, the destruction of official Ministry property, and many, many other pointless charges. Miss Greengrass, your father has managed to clear you of all charges, so you could return to Hogwarts this coming year. However, I have a feeling that you want to stay with Harry and the others, is that correct?"
Daphne answered with a suddenly and firm determination.
"Absolutely, Professor."
Dumbledore eye's twinkled brightly at Daphne's dedication to her boyfriend.
"Very well..."
Taking another sip of his tea, he continued.
"This year, I, along with the other professors in Hogwarts, have come to the conclusion that it is best that all of you are to remain in Canada for your sixth year. After pulling a few strings and calling in some favours, Colonel Greengrass and I have arranged for the five of you to study in the Orenda School of Magic, which is where Mister Samuel Greengrass," he gestured at the Canadian teen, "is currently studying. I am an old acquaintance of the headmaster, Professor Hezekiah Thompson, and I can assure you that you will learn far more in the School than back at Hogwarts.
Hermione was slightly confused and asked, "Professor, I don't understand. Are you saying that Hogwarts has not taught everything that should have been taught?"
"I'm so sorry, Miss Granger, but the school has long been suppressed from modernizing and teaching everything students needed to learn. As you know, the British Wizarding community has been held back for several centuries behind the rest of the wizarding and non-magical world. The curriculum and policies at Hogwarts unfortunately reflects this reality. Miss Granger, do you ever wonder why all school work must be done on parchment and quills instead of paper and pens? Ever wonder why the "Muggle Studies" classes seem absolutely absurd? Or why there is little mention of other Magical nations in History of Magic? All of the school's courses and regulations are tightly controlled by the traditionalist board of governors, and lest we all forget who has a significant influence there."
Harry spat bitterly, "Lucius Malfoy."
"I'm afraid so, Harry. Even as headmaster of the school, I have no say over what the students are taught here. And even before Tom Riddle's rise to terror, the ministry has long haeld a tight leash over what we can officially teach you. For that, I am truly sorry and I honestly wished I could have done something to fight this policy."
Hermione was surprised at the sudden apologetic tone of the headmaster, who just admitted that all this time, Hogwarts has not been properly teaching young witches and wizards like Harry all they needed to know in order to make it in the wizarding world.
"As it stands, Mr. Malfoy and his numerous associates are increasing their influence over the ministry and there are rumours that they may accelerate their plans to take complete control of the Ministry. Minister Fudge," Dumbledore continued with an irritated and frustrated voice, "has regrettably allowed his own paranoia to overcome common sense and justice. He is inching closer and closer to becoming a figurehead of Malfoy. And I trust we all know what that means."
Surprisingly, it was Neville who answered.
"The ministry will fall to Voldemort, and with it, magical Britain..."
An uneasy silence filled the air, as everyone pondered the consequences of such a takeover.
"Thank you, Mr. Longbottom. This brings us to the other important matter: Tom Marvolo Riddle; Lord Voldemort. Now I have some questions for you Harry: Have you ever wondered how did Riddle survive attacking you, despite taking the full blast of the killing curse? Ever wondered how the Tom Riddle in the Diary knew exactly who you were and what you did? How you saw those visions from Voldemort last year? And why did such a promising young man become a brutal mass murderer?"
Harry nodded slightly, "I sometimes did think about that, but I never figured it out, so I let it go." He paused. "Professor, are you saying that you know the answer?"
The Professor took some time to collect himself before answering Harry's question, with a mixture disappointment and horror in his tone.
"I believe that ever since he was Head Boy at Hogwarts, Tom Riddle decided to seize immortality for himself by storing pieces of his soul inside magically charged "vessels"; a type of dark object created from pure, malicious evil: the Horcrux."
Harry raised an eyebrow in confusion, "A horcrux? Professor Dumbledore, what is a 'horcrux'?"
Daniel Greengrass stared wide-eyed with horror, as a terrible realization set in for the veteran officer.
"My God, that explains it..."
Harry asked the Colonel, "Sir, it explains what?"
Dumbledore replied, "It explains everything that we know about Riddle. Why he became a serial killer, and why he went down his path.
A horcrux is any object that has been magically altered to keep a piece of a person's soul, so they will never die. However, a soul cannot be split into pieces unless something terrible is willingly committed by the person in question."
Hermione, who had closed her eyes in concentration, suddenly opened them in horrified and disgusted understanding. "Murder," she spat.
Dumbledore nodded, "If someone kills another person by accident or in self-defense, there is little chance that your soul is split by such an event. However, the cold blooded, wanton taking away of innocent life almost guarantees that one's soul will be broken. In this case, it was far, far worse."
From a pocket in his suit, he pulled out a familiar, tattered book.
Daphne looked at the ruined book and quickly put two and two together, "the Diary; it's a horcrux, isn't it?"
Dumbledore grimly nodded,
"Yes, this was a horcrux. I believe that Riddle used the murder of Miss Myrtle Harrison, better known now as 'Moaning Myrtle,' to split his soul and stored a piece in his Diary as a "trial run" of sorts; it would not be the last. Ever since I received Riddle's Diary from you, Harry, I have been searching for answers about Tom, mostly through watching pensive memories from various individuals. What I have found so far is nothing more than disgusting and wretched beyond anything I have ever encountered."
Dumbledore then gave the teens a brief overview of what he knew about Voldemort's life prior to his first murder, and his alarming behaviour even as a young child.
"Riddle, like many wizards, believes that the number seven is a lucky magical number. As such, I believe that Riddle had planned to create a total of six horcruxes, with himself keeping the last portion of his shattered soul.
Riddle's mother was Merope Gaunt, among the last members of the old Gaunt family. They were known to be the last pureblood family directly descended from Salazar Slytherin, meaning that Tom Riddle is indeed Slytherin's Heir. As it stands, I believe he has used at least two known artifacts of Slytherin: a golden locket and a ring.
Based on my time with him when he was at Hogwarts, he was also interested in his magical heritage, completely disowning his muggle side completely. I had also heard from fellow teachers at the time that he wanted to see if he was descended from the other founding members of Hogwarts. That is why I believe that Riddle had tried to turn several artifacts from every founder into horcruxes, as a way of "claiming descent from the founders" in his twisted mind.
After leaving Hogwarts, he made at least four more of the evil objects before attempting to make his sixth and last horcrux." He pulled out a neatly folded piece of paper and passed it to Harry, whispering to the teen that he should examine it later tonight. "As it happened, he found out about the first part of the Prophecy, and quickly marked you as his last victim and source for his sixth horcrux..."
Dumbledore started to hesitate, as if there was something he was reluctant to share. He smiled at the group, though it was clear he was hiding whatever he was thinking of from the group.
"Anyways, I also believe that to complete his goal, he may have made another horcrux recently. I suspect that the snake familiar of Riddle, Nagini, may have become this new horcrux."
"During this summer and in the coming year, I will be working to destroy as many of the cursed objects as possible. To that end, I may need your help with at least one such horcrux: the locket. I will arrive at the Orenda School of Magic when I feel that we are ready to go."
Suddenly, Dumbledore gave a big smile, as if he had not spoken about the revelations surrounding Voldemort.
"In the mean time, you and your friends will be receiving some advanced training under the Colonel, his colleagues, and a few members of the Order. Remus Lupin has agreed to stay in Canada until at least the end of the summer; I know that the Canadians have been making progress in healing those afflicted with lycanthropy, and perhaps it will do him good to be away from the prejudices of pure-bloods in Britain.
Other than that, I implore every one of you," he looked at the five teens and Sirius, "to make the most of your time here, and enjoy your stay. I daresay that your actions last month have merited rest, and you all deserve it."
His eyes started to twinkle.
"I also believe that Misters Fred and George Weasley may come and visit as well; there are rumours that they want to make a business venture of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes in Canada. And I'm sure their partner would love to help them out.
Harry, do not let worries about Lord Voldemort dampen your summer. He will not be able to reach you here, and he has no supporters in the Canadian wizarding community."
He had stood up, and gave his farewell, as Leslie apparated into the room with Dumbledore's trench-coat, which he quickly donned. "Farewell, and adieu to everyone."
He went outside with the Colonel, who Side-Apparated with the old Professor to Ottawa, where Dumbledore could then floo back to his familiar office in Hogwarts.