Chapter 24: Slughorn

Cressida's boots crunch against gravel, her arms tucked neatly into her sides. It's the first time in weeks that she is outside as herself, not even in Death Eater robes. Regulus has sent letter to Slughorn requesting to meet with him, but his status as a serving Death Eater had become known within the community and the professor was hesitant to meet with him for fear of what danger it could bring him. So Cressida sent a letter as well, under the guise of needing his help with a potion for one of her upcoming missions.

She was cautious to leave as herself once more, but this was a new operation. One outside of the Order. She didn't care what Moody thought about it or if Dumbledore had anything to say. The circle of trust grew smaller by the day. There are moles inside the Order…

Hogsmeade, for the peace of her mind, has not changed. A few students wander towards the Three Broomsticks, but Cressida had turned onto the path of the Hog's Head Inn minutes ago. A shady place for shady business.

It is just the same as always. An odd stench is pungent to the nose. A few stragglers that look like they're up to no good. Cressida digs into her purse, flinging a coin to the innkeeper. "For the firewhiskey I owe you," she smiles.

Alberfoth frowns at the coin then at her. "That was three years ago," he notes. He smiles under his beard. "Good to know you remember your debts."

"Good to know you still remember my face."

"Hard to forget the girl I had to drag back up to the castle."

"Hard to forget I owed a man who grumbled about the free firewhiskey in my ear all the way back."

They come to a mutual finish. "Can I get you anything today?"

Cressida exhales slowly, looking around the inn. "Not yet. I'm meeting someone though. I'll probably buy them something." Alberforth gestures to the inn as so to tell her that she is his guest. Smiling, she brushes past the counter to the most shadowed part of the inn near the back. It was covered partially by a corner. Cressida takes the seat in the most view, leaving the other for her companion.

Horace Slughorn wanders into the inn not ten minutes later. He looks his cheery old self, but still a bit aloof. His smile wavers at the sight of the place. "Good morning," he greets Alberfoth, the innkeeper simply raising a brow at his peculiar patron. "Ah, there you are...Quaint choice. Must say I'm a usual at the Three Broomsticks typically."

Slughorn waddles over to her chosen table, sliding into the shadowed seat. "I see that you're looking well," she greets.

"As well as one can be," he replies with that crooked smile that he would give when nobody laughed at his jokes in class. "I was quite surprised to see a letter from you. I had actually just received a letter from another student a week prior."

"Really?" she questions with faux wonder.

Slughorn nods, his eyes gazing off into the distance. "Yes," he affirms quietly. "A student that I liked very much. But… Well, it's no matter now." He leans his forearms onto the table. "I hear that you're working as a Curse-Breaker. Are you working for Gringotts? I hear that they hire the most Curse-Breakers in England."

Cressida nods. "Yes. I've just come across a particularly hard task though and I am under the impression that you might be able to help me."

He chuckles, opening his arms. "If I am the man for the job, then I am more than happy to assist. Are you able to inform me what it is that you are looking for?" He leans closer as though waiting to hear a secret.

Cressida nods stiffly, pulling her lips between her teeth. She leans forward on her folded arms and says under her breath. "I'm looking for something called a Horcrux." She watches recognition flash through his aged eyes. "I want to know more about them. Everything that you've ever heard or people that you think might have made one."

Slughorn leans back in horror. "Where did you even hear about such a thing?" he hisses.

"I am a Curse-Breaker," she hisses back. "It is my job to know about these things. And if you know something about them that could help me, then I insist that you tell me. Anything. Anything that could help."

Slughorn shakes his head, leaning back straight in his chair. "No, no. I'm sorry but I cannot help you. I don't know anything about them." Cressida pushes out her jaw in frustration, nodding to someone in the shadows that had been in the inn before her.

"Then I'm sorry about this professor," she says.

Regulus comes out from his near hidden booth, dressed in a dark jacket and hood. His wand pokes over Slughorn's shoulder. "Imperio." Slughorn's eyes widen then relax once more. His shoulders and chin drop as though all his stresses are floated out of his body. "Come upstairs, Horace."

Slughorn slid from his chair in a trance like state. "Alright."

She can't help but feel sorry for the man. He came out here to meet her of his own will. But they did not have time to play with the morals of the imperius curse. It was wrong to use, but it is a much kinder alternative than torturing or blackmailing someone for the information. And neither Cressida nor Regulus were going to make him do or say anything other than exactly what they needed.

Regulus finds an unoccupied room, leading all three of them inside.

"Tell us what you know about Tom Riddle and Horcruxes," Regulus commands.

"I-I." Slughorn pauses, thoughts gathering. "He came to me. He already knew what they were. But he wanted to understand what the limits were; how many times a person could split their soul. He talked about ripping a soul into seven pieces. Seven. I couldn't fathom it. He…He told me it would be our little secret."

"Do you think he did, sir?"

Slughorn widens his eyes once more, staring at each of them. Regulus and Cressida glance to each other, knowing the answer. "Yes. I do."

Seven. Seven potential Horcruxes. They had possibly one and the whereabouts of another. "What were some things that were important to Riddle?" Cressida asked. "Possessions. Trinkets that he carried."

Slughorn squinted his eyes off in memory. "He always wore this ring. A ring with a black stone." Cressida nods her head in tiny movements for her own affirmation. "There was also a diary that he brought with him every year. He would write in it during class sometimes. Tom was obsessed with things that had a history to them. It made them important in his mind. Much more than something indiscriminate."

"Histories mean stories," Cressida muses under her breath to Regulus. "Stories are spread. We find out what dear old Tom thinks is important, we may find ourselves a good lead." Raising her voice, she asks Slughorn, "Could he have made seven in this time?"

"Creating a Horcrux sort of…drains a person," Horace answers sluggishly. "He would need proper time to build his strength back before creating another."

"So between when you taught him and now, how many could he have made?"

"At least five."

Cressida nods to Regulus. "I think that's all." They stride backwards and into the corridor of the inn. Regulus pulls the door shut, leaving Slughorn inside. They march back towards the ground floor, passing by Alberforth and a few curious students who were probably warned against visiting here but decided to be daredevils.

"I released him," Regulus says once they exit the establishment. "He might tell somebody."

"He won't. Couldn't you tell? He was ashamed of knowing. Ashamed of not saying anything earlier. He's just going to be praying that we don't tell anybody what he knows. As long as we don't mention his name again, he won't mention ours."

Regulus grips her jacket and they disapparate away from Hogsmeade. They reappear at her doorstep and they dart inside. "I should change," she mutters, heading back to her room to put on something darker and less her style. She arrives back downstairs, finding Regulus in her kitchen, making himself a sandwich. "Making yourself at home?" she laughs.

Regulus grins at her, mayonnaise dripping from his lip. "Absolutely. You have really good bread." Cressida rolls her eyes but keeps her smile as she makes her own with the ingredients still laying on the counter. "You were good at that."

"What?"

"I don't know," Regulus laughs at himself, leaning the small of his back against the counter next to her. "Just keeping your composure. You didn't even hesitate at using the imperius curse. I didn't…"

"Expect someone like me to be comfortable with it?" she finishes with a sad smile. Regulus nods through his slow bite. "I don't condone its use, but I think trying to save the entire wizarding world gives my sense of morality a bit of leniency. I know that we didn't harm him or make him do anything horrendous. It was no different than if we had the time to make veritaserum."

"Do you think the Order is going to like what you're doing?"

"No," she answers instantly. "I don't think that they will. Maybe some will, but the people who are in charge of everything won't be."

"What about Sirius?"

"Sirius would trust me." Cressida smiles again, leaning against the counter with her own sandwich to her mouth. "I know he would. But I don't want to bring him into this if I can help it. If the Order finds out I'm working behind their backs, they'll think I'm a mole or something."

"Aren't you going to tell them? Wouldn't it be easier if we have the Order to have our backs?"

Cressida doesn't miss the 'our backs'. He's already seeing himself fighting alongside them. "I don't think it's safe. Remember, this is something that Voldemort can't know about under any circumstances. If he does, then we'll be saying goodbye to our chances of finding them." She chews at the bread roughly. "Though I'm not sure what our chances of finding them are right now in any matter."

"I think I might be able to do something…" Cressida raises her brows at Regulus tone. Regulus smiles under his nose with a ducked head. "I've been training with Severus in both legilimency and occulamency. I'm actually really good now."

She narrows the eye closest to him. "Have you been reading my mind?" she taunts.

Regulus laughs, shaking his head. "Merlin no. I have no desire to know what you're thinking." He sobers, leaving only the crust of his sandwich in his fingers. Sirius never eats the crust either. "But I think if I got Voldemort into a relaxed state, I could do it. I could enter his mind."

"Reg, you do know that Voldemort has one of the most impenetrable minds of all time, right?"

"I think I could do it," he repeats. "It would have to be at the perfect moment. I could slip him something at the next meeting." She's never even seen him eat. "He'd know it was me. It would mark my official betrayal. I'll be the Death Eater's most wanted for at least a month."

"And what do you think about that?" she cautions. "How does the idea of it make you feel?"

"Scared. But a good scared."

Cressida smiles, kicking her back off the counter. "Then let's have a good time before that all ends. I hear there is a carnival in town."