The next evening, after Aragog's burial, Teddie and Harry stood in Dumbledore's office facing the headmaster. He had returned the previous evening, but it had been gone midnight when Harry and Teddie had left Slughorn and Hagrid asleep in the hut.
"This is spectacular news, you two!" said Dumbledore, delightfully. "Incredibly well done, I never doubted that you could do it."
"It took some work, but we managed," said Teddie, grinning at Harry.
"Indeed, it did, my dear, indeed it did," Dumbledore agreed. "So, I did say that we would not be discussing anything further until we have seen this memory. Should we proceed?"
Teddie and Harry nodded. They were both eager to see what Slughorn had told Tom Riddle about Horcruxes when he was just seventeen years old.
Retrieving the Pensieve from the cabinet, Dumbledore took the phial with the untainted memory inside, uncorked it and emptied it into the basin. "After you," he said.
Harry bent forward, his face disturbing the swirling waters, and he surged forward. Teddie followed suit, and this time, so did Dumbledore.
~X~
The office was the same as before. A younger Horace Slughorn sat at the head of a long table, his feet up on a velvet pouffe while he ate crystalized pineapples from a box to his left, all along the table sat half a dozen teenage boys, amongst whom was Tom Riddle, his grandfather's black and gold ring gleaming on his finger.
"Sir, is it true that Professor Merrythought is retiring?"
"Tom, Tom, if I knew that I couldn't tell you," said Slughorn, chuckling. "I must say, I'd like to know where you get your information, boy, more knowledgeable than half the staff, you are."
Riddle smiled; the other boys laughed.
Teddie rolled her eyes.
"What with your uncanny ability to know things you wouldn't, and your careful flattery of the people who matter – thank you for the pineapple, by the way, you're quite right, it is my favourite -"
Several boys tittered again.
"– I confidently expect you to rise to Minister of Magic within twenty years. Fifteen, if you keep sending me pineapple, I have excellent contacts at the Ministry."
Tom Riddle merely smiled as the others laughed again. "I don't know that politics would suit me, sir," he said. "I don't have the right kind of background, for one thing."
"Do many at the Ministry?" Teddie asked.
Harry bit back a laugh.
"Nonsense," said Slughorn briskly, "couldn't be plainer you come from decent Wizarding stock, abilities like yours. No, you'll go far, Tom, I've never been wrong about a student yet."
"Slughorn didn't know that Riddle was a Halfblood?" Harry questioned.
"Can't have," said Teddie, shrugging. "Although, I don't think that is what he means. I think he means that the Gaunts were known by the Ministry for being Muggle haters."
Harry nodded once. "Oh," he murmured.
The small golden clock standing upon Slughorn's desk chimed eleven o'clock, and the Potions master looked around in shocked surprise. "Good gracious, is it that time already?" he asked. "You'd better get going, boys, or you'll be in trouble. Lestrange, I want your essay by tomorrow or it's detention. Same goes for you, Sutherland."
"I still find it strange that my grandfather was in Voldemort's group in school, but he never sided with him during the war," said Teddie, "according to Marcus and the others, the Sutherland family puts the Blacks to shame when it comes to hating the Muggle Race, but they never lifted a wand to them, either."
"Maybe they don't know them as well as they think they do," said Harry.
Teddie shrugged, watching as Emry Sutherland filed out of the room with Lestrange and the others. "Yeah, maybe," she murmured. The only way she would know for sure was if she were to ask either of the two remaining Sutherland sisters.
As the door closed behind the last boy, Slughorn stood from his winged chair and waved his wand; the glasses the boys had been using flew away from the table and disappeared through a side door. They clinked as they settled down out of view.
"Look sharp, Tom, you don't want to be caught out of bed after hours," said Slughorn, noticing that Riddle remained. "You may be a Prefect, but you'll still be in trouble."
"Sir, I wanted to ask you something," said Riddle, and Teddie felt the same constriction she had felt in her stomach the night she had confronted Slughorn in Snape's office.
"As away then, m'boy, ask away…"
"Sir, I wondered what you know about… about Horcruxes?"
Slughorn stiffened and stared at the teenager. "Project for Defense Against the Dark Arts?" he asked.
"Not exactly, sir," admitted Riddle. "I came across the term while reading and I didn't fully understand it."
Teddie felt like she was going to be sick. Now he definitely sounded like her, or she sounded like him. Either way, her stomach churned.
"You'd be hard pushed to find a book at Hogwarts that'll give you details on Horcruxes, Tom, that's very Dark Magic, very Dark indeed," said Slughorn.
"But you obviously know about them, sir? I mean, a wizard like you – sorry, I mean, if you can't tell me obviously – I just knew if anyone could tell me, you could – so I just thought I'd ask -"
Teddie huffed and rolled her eyes. "Well, he's got the hesitant puppy technique down pat, hasn't he?" she muttered. "He stammers more than Quirrell did."
Harry smirked as Dumbledore chuckled lightly.
"Well," said Slughorn, not looking at Riddle, "well, it can't hurt to give you an overview, of course. Just so that you understand the term. A Horcrux is the word used for an object in which a person has concealed part of their soul."
"I don't quite understand how that works, though, sir," said Riddle. His voice was carefully controlled, but the excitement he radiated could be felt in the air around him.
Slughorn, however, seemed oblivious, for he continued with reckless abundant. "Well, you split your soul, you see," he said, "and hide part of it in an object outside of the body. Then, even if one's body is attacked or destroyed, one cannot die, for part of the soul remains earthbound and undamaged. But, of course, existence in such a form…"
Teddie turned to Harry and Dumbledore.
"How do you split your soul?" Riddle asked.
"Well," Slughorn was obviously very uncomfortable at this point, "you must understand that the soul is supposed to remain intact and whole. Splitting it is an act of violation, it is against the nature."
"But how do you do it?"
"By an act of true evil – the supreme act of evil. Murder. Killing rips the soul apart. The wizard intent upon creating a Horcrux would use the damage to his advantage. He would encase the torn portion -"
"Encase? But how -?"
"There is a spell, do not ask me, I don't know!" said Slughorn. "Do I look as though I have tried it – do I look like a killer?"
Teddie half-shrugged. "Neither does Riddle, but there we go," she muttered.
"No, sir, of course not," said Riddle quickly. "I'm sorry… I didn't mean to offend…"
"Not at all, not at all, not offended," said Slughorn gruffly. "It's natural to feel some curiosity about these things. Wizards of a certain caliber have always been drawn to that aspect of magic."
"Yes, sir," said Riddle. "What I don't understand, though – and this is merely out of curiosity," he added, "would one Horcrux be much use? Can you only split your soul once? Wouldn't it be better, make you stronger, to have your soul in more pieces, I mean, for instance, isn't seven the most powerful magic number, wouldn't seven -?"
Teddie furrowed her brow, unconsciously linking one finger over the other – Ring, Locket, Diadem, Cup – that was only four, what other three objects had Voldemort used to create Horcruxes.
"Merlin's beard, Tom!" yelped Slughorn. "Seven! Isn't it bad enough to think of killing one person? And in any case… bad enough to divide the soul… but to rip it into seven pieces…"
Riddle schooled his face impeccably as Slughorn blinked at him.
"This is, of course, all hypothetical, isn't it?" Slughorn asked. He seemed to have come to his senses about the conversation topic, and probably realised he should not have been speaking about such dark objects with a student.
"Yes, sir, of course," said Riddle quickly.
"But all the same, Tom, keep it quiet, what I've told you – that's to say, what we've discussed. People wouldn't like to think we've been chatting about Horcruxes. It's a banned subject at Hogwarts, you know… Dumbledore's particularly fierce about it."
"I won't say a word, sir," said Riddle, and he left the office.
~X~
When they landed back in the present day, Teddie immediately turned to Dumbledore, her eyes alight with questions, all of which died on her lips when Dumbledore held his hand up to stop her.
"I see the questions on your face, Miss Green, but first, allow me this moment to thank you for retrieving the memory," said Dumbledore. "I have been hoping for this piece of evidence for a very long time, it confirms the theory on which I have been working, it tells me that I am right, and also how very far there is still to go…"
"What theory, Professor?" Harry asked.
"Voldemort used the Founders heirlooms to create Horcruxes," said Teddie. "That is why he came back seeking a request in the last memory we saw, yes, he was interested in the Defense position, but only because it would give him unrestricted access to Hogwarts so he could search, I'm guessing, for Ravenclaw's diadem."
Dumbledore nodded at Teddie. "Right, as always, Miss Green," he said.
Teddie felt elated that her theory had turned out to be corrected.
Dumbledore's gaze shifted to Harry. "I am sure you understood the significance of what we just witnessed, at the same age you are now, give or take a few months, Tom Riddle was doing all that he could to find out how to become immortal."
"I was ripped from my body. I was less than spirit, less than the meanest ghost… but still, I was alive," said Harry, but he wasn't speaking as in conversation, but rather as if reciting something from memory.
Teddie turned to him.
"That's what Voldemort said when he came back two years ago," answered Harry. "After he killed Cedric and before he tried to kill me."
"So, he succeeded then," said Teddie. "And not just once, I believe."
Harry raised an eyebrow.
"If he used the four Founders heirlooms then he only had four – the Locket and Ring of Slytherin, the cup of Hufflepuff, and, granted he found it, the Diadem of Ravenclaw – what about the other three?"
Dumbledore was smiling encouragingly at her. "Four years ago," he said, once Teddie had seemingly run out of steam, "I received consecutive proof that Voldemort had ripped his soul."
"Where? How?" asked Harry.
"When you handed this to me, Harry," said Dumbledore, holding up a very old leather-bound book.
Instinctively, Teddie stepped away from the desk. The book was the same book she had written in during her second year of school, the same book that she had given Faye control over her body whenever she, Teddie was asleep, and used her to open the Chamber of Secrets.
"I don't understand," said Harry.
"Well, although I did not see the Riddle who came out of the diary, what you described was a phenomenon I had never witnessed. A mere memory starting to act and think for itself? A memory, sapping the life out of the girl into whose hands it had fallen?"
Harry turned to Teddie, she was staring at the book still, her eyes wide and face pale. He reached for her, his fingers brushing her arm as they wrapped around her torso and causing her to jump.
"Something much more sinister had lived in this diary," continued Dumbledore, "a fragment of soul, I was almost sure of it. The diary had been a Horcrux. But this raised as many questions as it answered."
"What do you mean, Professor?" Teddie asked.
"Well, Teddie, what both intrigued and alarmed me most was that the diary had been intended as a weapon as much as a safeguard."
Teddie glanced at Harry, he looked just as confused as she felt.
"It worked," continued Dumbledore, seeing the confusion, "as a Horcrux is supposed to work – in other words, the fragment of soul concealed inside it was kept safe and undoubtedly played it's part in preventing the death of its owner. But there could be no doubt that Riddle really wanted that diary read, wanted the piece of his soul to inhabit or possess somebody else, so that Slytherin's monster would be unleashed again."
"He wanted the recognition he couldn't get when he was the one doing it at school," said Teddie. "He couldn't come out and say, 'I'm the last remaining heir of Salazar Slytherin' because people would know he was opening the chamber."
"Indeed," said Dumbledore.
"So why put a piece of his soul in the diary?" said Teddie, her mind catching on to what Dumbledore was trying to say. "If a Horcrux is meant to keep a person's soul safe, why put it in something that he intended to use as a tool to open the Chamber in the future?"
Dumbledore nodded. "I think, Teddie, he intended for you to have the diary all along," he said. "He intended to survive the night he killed Harry's parents, and, if things should've gone badly, and his daughter at the right age for school, she, armed with the diary and his intent, be knowledgeable to open the Chamber and finish what he started."
"But I wasn't raised in the magical world," said Teddie, "and no one knew about me until fourth year. Lucius Malfoy gave me the diary; I'm convinced of it. That day in Diagon Alley, or it could've been Cyrus Nott, the day he broke into my house looking for Theo."
"Either one would've been ripe to involve you," said Dumbledore, "both were in Voldemort's inner circle, after all, and both despised you for what you stood for – a Muggleborn Witch that refused to bend to their will."
"They wanted to kill me but not before I killed people who they believed were like me," said Teddie.
Dumbledore nodded. "But, as you said, no one knew the truth about you until two years later," he said. "No one knew that the diary would activate the part of you that belonged to this world, that was connected to Voldemort through more than just blood – his heir, but also, the last remaining Heir of Salazar Slytherin. You were the perfect catalyst, my dear. Powerful enough to fulfil his wishes of eradicating Muggleborns, but also to bring his soul out of the diary."
"I still feel bad about that," said Teddie. "The more I think about it, the more I realise that I wasn't entirely possessed. I mean, in the beginning I was, but once Faye was strong enough, she would take control when I was at my most vulnerable, and asleep."
"You are not to blame for what happened, Teddie," said Dumbledore. "You had no control over what you did not understand."
"Did you know then, Professor?" Harry asked. "About Teddie, I mean?"
Dumbledore stared at the young girl. "Yes. I have, in fact, known from the moment young Caroline took you to Spinner's End," he said. "It was my suggestion that you be raised away from this world, just like I believed it was best that Harry be raised in the Muggle world, too."
Harry and Teddie shared a look. It seemed they were more connected than had previously thought.
"Then, Harry, two years ago, you told me that Voldemort had made an illuminating and alarming statement on the night of his return," continued Dumbledore, drawing the conversation back to its original roots. "I, who have gone further than anybody along the path that leads to immortality. Further than anybody.' And I thought I knew what that meant, though his Death Eaters, it seemed, did not."
"I think Avery knows," said Teddie. "She knows everything else."
"Maybe she does, Teddie," said Dumbledore. "But she is the lucky few."
"So, he's made himself impossible to kill by murdering other people?" Harry asked. "Why couldn't he make a Philosopher's Stone, or steal one?"
"He tried," said Teddie. "Remember? He had Quirrell kidnap me at the end of first year."
Harry nodded in remembering.
"But there are several reasons why, I think, a Philosopher's Stone would appeal less than Horcruxes to Lord Voldemort. While the Elixir of Life does indeed extend life, it must be drunk regularly, for all eternity, to maintain its potency."
"If Voldemort were to miss a dose, or it were to be stolen or contaminated, he would die," said Teddie, nodding. "Yeah, Mason told me about the properties of life Elixirs."
"With the exception of Avery," said Dumbledore, "Voldemort also prefers to work alone. The idea of having to depend on something, even an Elixir would be intolerable to him."
"He seemed so willing to use in first year," said Harry.
"But only because it would give him what he desired – a new body," said Teddie. "In first year, if you remember, he said so himself, he was living like a parasite. Had to do everything through Quirrell, and he hated that, because it made him dependable on someone."
Dumbledore nodded. "Which is why, I am convinced that he intended to continue to rely on his other Horcruxes. He would need nothing more if he could only regain a human form. He was already immortal, or as close to immortal as any man can be."
"There is just one thing I still don't understand, Professor," said Teddie. "He wanted to make seven Horcruxes, but I still only count, possibly, five – Locket, Diadem, Cup, Ring, and Diary – do you have any theories on what the other two are?"
"Firstly, Teddie, we have six accounted Horcruxes," said Dumbledore.
"But -" Teddie started, her brow furrowed.
Dumbledore held a hand, silencing her. "The five you listed," he said, patiently, "and the sixth one that still lives inside him. The spectral existence that, no matter how maimed it may be, that lived for so many years during his exile, the one piece that tried to possess you after you destroyed Quirrell…"
Teddie lowered her gaze again.
"The sixth piece of soul will be the last that anybody wishing to kill Voldemort must attack – the piece that lives inside him," said Dumbledore.
"But if he made seven," said Harry. "There is still one unaccounted for. How are we supposed to find it?"
"You are forgetting," said Dumbledore. "One has already been destroyed – the diary, and I have destroyed another."
Teddie glanced at his injured hand. "The Ring," she said.
Dumbledore nodded. "Very perceptive of you, Teddie," he said.
"How did you know that?" Harry asked.
"It was the first night we started these sessions," said Teddie, "when you found the ring beside the door. It was cracked and destroyed, yes, but it still radiated magic – dark magic, I could feel it. It reminded me, briefly, of the surge I felt with the diary in second year, then we saw the rest of the memories, and everything started to make a little more sense."
"It's how you theorized the other Horcruxes were linked to the founders," said Harry.
Teddie nodded. "History of Magic may be an impossible subject due to Professor Binns, but when you have a brother that devours everything he hears, sees, touches, and reads, you pick up on a few things. Mason told me all about Salazar Slytherin before I started Hogwarts, and then as the years passed, he started telling me about the other Founders. It was easy to piece things together with him."
"Is that how you injured your hand, Professor?" Harry asked Dumbledore. "Destroying the Ring?"
"Indeed, it is," confirmed Dumbledore. "A great and terrible curse lay upon it, and had it not been – forgive me for the lack of seemly modesty – for my own prodigious skill, and for Professor Snape's timely action when I returned to Hogwarts, desperately injured, I might not have lived to tell the tale."
"But, injuring yourself doesn't seem like a reasonable exchange for a piece of Voldemort's soul," said Teddie.
"Maybe not to you, Teddie, but it is through my actions that the ring no longer exists," said Dumbledore.
"I..." Teddie stammered. "I didn't mean it like that, Professor."
"I know, my dear," said Dumbledore. "But there is a reason I chose to show you these memories, Teddie, and a reason I was particularly hopeful that you would be successful in retrieving the one from Slughorn."
Harry and Teddie shared looks.
"Unlike my hand, Teddie, you destroyed Riddle's diary without any harm," said Dumbledore.
Teddie gasped. "Oh yeah!" she said.
"How?" Harry asked. "I mean, no offence, Teddie, but you're the greatest wizard that ever lived, Professor. How did you injure yourself and Teddie didn't?"
Teddie gaped at Harry. "While I agree with your sentiments," she said. "Rude!"
Harry chuckled.
Dumbledore smiled at the pair. "It is my belief, that Teddie's exceptional abilities as a shield is what protected her against the curse of the Diary," he said. "Which is what brings me to my reasonings for including you in these meetings, I do believe that the prophecy was right."
"Which part?" Teddie asked.
"The part that states, that the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord using the power he knows not."
Teddie paused, swallowed, and then met Dumbledore's gaze. "You think it means me?" she asked. "You think I am the unknown power that will stop Voldemort."
Dumbledore nodded. "You are protected by your abilities," he said. "You can destroy Horcruxes without consequence or injury."
"I still don't understand what this has to do with these memory sessions," said Teddie, shaking her head.
"You will," said Dumbledore. "And then, once you do, your part in this fight will become clear."
Teddie stared at Dumbledore. When she realised, he wasn't about to disclosure anymore information, she sighed and turned to Harry.
"So, if there are two Horcruxes already destroyed," said Harry, "we still have five more to find. But they can be anything – old tin cans, empty potion bottles…"
Teddie shook her head. "Voldemort wouldn't leave pieces of his soul in things that could carelessly be discarded as useless items," she said. "He used the Four Founder's heirlooms because they meant something to him, he used his diary because as a trial run. Think of things that he values."
"You think Avery has one?" Harry asked.
"It is possible," said Teddie. "He would trust his mistress with something as important as keeping him alive, I mean, why not? He asked her for an Heir, and she agreed to give him one… and not because she loved him, but because she knew it would make him more powerful."
Harry squeezed her shoulder comfortingly. "Something that he finds valuable – well, if he did use Slytherin's locket, ring, and Hufflepuff's cup, what about Gryffindor's sword?" he asked, spying the ruby-encrusted blade high above the mantelpiece.
It was encased in a glass case.
"Do you think he found the Diadem, Professor?" Teddie asked. "And, if so, how? He wasn't at Hogwarts long enough to give a thorough search, and, according to Mason, the Diadem has been lost for centuries."
"We can only speculate if he found it or not," said Dumbledore, "but, I do agree with you when you say he wanted a position here so that he could search undetected."
"That still doesn't help us identify the last remaining one," said Harry. "What else would Voldemort value so highly?"
"If I may," said Dumbledore.
Teddie and Harry offered him their full attention.
"I wonder what you will say when I confess that I have been curious for a while about the behaviour or the snake, Nagini," said Dumbledore.
"The snake?" Harry repeated. "You can use animals as Horcruxes?"
"Well, it is inadvisable to do so," said Dumbledore, "because to confide part of your soul to something that can think and move for itself is obviously very risky. However, if my calculations are correct, Voldemort was still at least one Horcrux short of his goal when he entered your parents' house with the intent of killing you."
Teddie gnawed at her bottom lip. "'It's not only magical folk I can possess'," she muttered.
"What?" Harry asked.
"It's not only magical folk that I can possess," Teddie repeated. "Voldemort said that to me in first year, when I refused to give him the stone. I thought he was only talking about Muggles, because he mentioned they were also susceptible to him, but they burn out quicker, then he showed me an image of Mason, but with his voice."
Teddie turned to Dumbledore.
"What if he was trying to tell me then that he could also possess animals?" Teddie asked.
"It is possible," said Dumbledore. "He has reserved the process of creating Horcruxes to significant deaths only. Harry should certainly have been that. He believed that by killing him, he was destroying the danger the prophecy outlined."
"But unknowingly raising another at home," said Teddie.
Dumbledore nodded. "I am sure he was intending to make the final Horcrux using your death, Harry," he said.
"But he failed," said Teddie.
"Yes. But, after an interval of some years he used Nagini to kill an old Muggle man, and it might have then occurred to him to turn her into his last Horcrux."
"Makes sense," said Teddie.
"It does?" Harry asked.
Teddie nodded. "Nagini underlines his connection to Slytherin," she said. "She reminds people that he is a direct descendant of Slytherin's because of the Parselmouth ability, which, in turn, amplifies his mystique as the Dark Lord."
"So, the diary's gone, the ring's gone. The cup, the locket, and the snake are still intact, and there is a possible Horcrux in Ravenclaw's diadem," said Harry.
"And the seventh is in Voldemort," said Teddie.
"And accurate summary," said Dumbledore, bowing his head.
"So, are you still looking for them, sir?" Harry asked. "Is that where you've been going when you leave the school?"
"Correct. I have been looking for a very long time. I think… perhaps… I may be close to finding another one. There are hopeful signs."
Teddie hesitated. "Um, may I ask you something, Professor?" she asked.
"Of course, Teddie," said Dumbledore.
"Over Christmas, I overheard Professor Snape arguing with Ursula and Mo Flint about me," Teddie admitted. "Professor Snape said that you didn't want me know about something. I wanted to confront him about it, but when the time came, it didn't feel right. So, I lied, instead."
"But now you want to know what it was I didn't want you to know?"
Teddie nodded. "I guess I'm just curious if it was about this?" she asked. "And if so, why show me these memories if you wanted to keep me in the dark?"
"I did not want you to know until I was completely accurate," said Dumbledore. "Now I am sure that you are the one who has the power to stop Voldemort, now I see no reason in you knowing the truth. Your abilities, the ones that you inherited from the Sutherland line, make you susceptible to finding Horcruxes. It was drawing you to the Diary during your second year, and what made you so protective of it, even caused you to curse a fellow Slytherin to retrieve it after you had tried to dump it."
Teddie closed her eyes as she remembered what she had done to Sierra Waterstone. Her act had resulted in Sierra getting attacked by the Basilisk, but she had managed to get the diary back from Harry, without him suspecting her.
"You want me to help you find the rest, don't you?" Teddie asked.
"Eventually, yes," said Dumbledore. "Although, right now, you are not strong enough. I want you to, not only find the Horcruxes, but destroy them, also, but to do that, you must merge with your other half."
Teddie looked up, startled. "You want me to merge with Faye?" she asked. "Is that possible?"
"It is, indeed," said Dumbledore. "But I warn you, Miss Green, it is an incredibly dangerous and painful transformation."
"But will it help?"
"Yes, I believe it will."
Teddie nodded and lowered her gaze once again.
"I am not asking for you decision right this second," said Dumbledore. "Take time to think about it, and consult your friends, if you need to, they have not led you astray yet."
Teddie took a deep breath and nodded. She would do as Professor Dumbledore had suggested, even though she was certain that she would choose to do it, anyway.