Trying to keep Molly Weasley from kicking him out of the kitchen the next morning had been more difficult than he'd ever admit. After spending far too much time copying every grimoire in Salazar's study, when they'd finally returned to Grimmauld Place they had missed supper and Tom had instead opted for the longest shower he'd ever taken before passing out in his newly cleaned and linen room.
When he'd finally awoke, it was barely light out, and no one else seemed to be awake yet. He'd set to work putting breakfast on, only for Molly to have an utter conniption upon finding him reading while standing at the stove. She'd managed to take back control of the eggs and sausages, but Tom had retained the spatula in his hands as he flipped pancakes and skimmed Eirlys' Grimoire. He had read it twice before in full, so instead, he skimmed through and made notes in the margins of the copy and dog-eared pages as he thought it necessary. His big project he knew would be starting Phoebus's Grimoire and seeing whatever it was that Burke thought necessary to conceal, outside of the existence of the Resurrection Stone itself.
The smell of food eventually roused the rest of the house- the horde of teenagers piling into the room with sleepy faces and grumbled half-answers to questions as Molly plated the food, handing it over to them.
"Oh good, I told Remus you didn't drown in the shower last night, but he didn't believe me," Sirius said, far too chipper compared to the rest of the room, already shoveling food into his mouth.
Tom made a noncommittal noise, flipping through the last few pages of the grimoire, stepping to the side to allow Molly to retrieve the pancakes from the stovetop.
"There is no way you read that already," Harry grumbled from beside Sirius, looking at Tom over his glasses.
Tom held up a finger as he finished skimming the last page and then shut the grimoire, tossing it gently onto the table, "Read is a strong word- I just skimmed and made notes for everyone else- in most cases I would not offer the family grimoires up for just anyone to read, but considering what you have had to deal with, I think an exception is to be made." He said, taking a plate from Molly, as well as a cup of tea and standing at the edge of the table.
"I'm going to work under the assumption you've told everyone about what was discussed last night in the chamber," Tom said, and when Harry nodded, food in his mouth keeping him from saying anything else, he continued, "Wonderful, so previously when I had read Eirlys' grimoire I had assumed her discussion of doing something to her soul was more metaphorical or figurative rather than literal- I assumed the guilt and grief of killing her own brother, even as a measure to protect her husband and herself, had simply resulted in a very severe bout of depression and disassociation, not that she had physically or magically cleaved her soul in half, but I was also unaware such a thing was even possible, at least in the accidental nature it appears to have happened with her. I think perhaps Voldemort made the connection I did not that it was not figurative and searched out how to replicate it."
"Why would he do that- cut his soul in half?" Hermione asked, looking horrified.
"Listen, if anyone would choose to do that, it would be You-Know-Who," Ron said, slurping from his cup of tea.
"I am uncertain, however, as he had to have sought an outside source for further explanation
- on what the consequences of the process were and the ritual to complete them," Tom continued, slowly cutting up the food on his plate in thought. "As none of that information was provided, and I do not think that Voldemort found Phoebus's grimoire, given the state of it."
"So we're looking for a needle in a haystack," Harry complained, shoulders slumping.
"Not quite," Tom said, smirking slightly. "We are only a floor away from one of if not the largest collections of Magical texts in all of London- honestly the only comparable collection would be the Bodleian Library at Oxford, so we're more looking for a book, or several books, in a library, which is arguably easier than a needle in a haystack."
Harry and Ron both groaned simultaneously, and Tom frowned at them until he felt an intense energy overtake Hermione, who looked like she was practically vibrating with excitement.
"Absolutely not!" Molly said, waving her spatula around threateningly, "The Black Library is filled to the brim with all sorts of Dark Magic!"
"I have to agree with Molly on this one," Sirius said with a frown, "I tried to start clearing out sections of it, and large chunks of it have been enchanted so they can't be removed, so I've mostly been ignoring it until I figured out what can be done. At least a quarter of the books are cursed."
Tom frowned, knowing he'd meet resistance at the suggestion but annoyed at having to counter it all the same. "I am one man, and even if I manage to corral Severus and Albus into assisting, it will take quite a bit of time. It would be more practical if I went through dispelling any curses and passing them off to Harry or whoever else wishes to assist-"
"ME!" Hermione said, practically jumping out of her seat, and several other voices all began talking at once. "
"If it's something that can help stop Voldemort-" Harry was insisting to Sirius and Remus, who had only just appeared and seemed confused about the ruckus, while the Weasley twins were arguing heatedly with their mother that they were of age and she couldn't stop them, while Molly looked very much like the only in the room who would be able to stop them if she put her mind to it.
Tom lifted his fingers to his lips and let out a long, sharp whistle, and it only took a moment for everyone to cease and look back to him.
"I understand your reservations about whatever contents may be in the books, especially with the knowledge of what damage Voldemort has wrought, but that does not mean all Dark Magic is inherently evil," Tom said sharply and he could see Molly sucking in a breath as if about to go into a tirade, so he cut her off at the pass, "Magic is a tool, there is no morality assigned to it except for whatever the magical user has intended to use it for, the only exceptions being the Unforgivables. Good and evil can be highly left to interpretation and is more nuanced than stating all forms of a certain branch of magic is evil. "
There was a beat of silence. Molly and Sirius both looked like they were formulating a response but were interrupted when Harry spoke up, drawing all four of the adults' attention.
"There is no good and evil, there is only power and those too weak to seek it," Harry said, resting his chin in his palm, looking at Tom. "Voldemort said that to me my first year, when he was on the back of Quirrel's head."
Tom frowned. "I would disagree."
"Isn't that what you just said, though?" Harry asked. For the first time in the last two days, he saw a darkness flicker through Harry. Or maybe not a darkness, but a cloud, someone who had seen too much too young. He'd been welcoming to Tom, understanding of him in a way the others hadn't, if anything too trusting, but it was clear in that look that Harry very much had simply decided to withhold judgment, but that swung both ways- he was waiting for Tom to show him who he was. Oddly very Slytherin of the boy, even if he had hidden it underneath the lackadaisical Gryffindor side of him.
"No," Tom said decisively. "It is not. Good and evil do exist on a sliding scale, not quite so black and white, but they exist. I said magic is a tool, as much as a quill or a knife or a gun or a car is a tool. You can choose to use them in a way that will better the world around you, or you can choose to use them in a way that may meet the ends to a goal at the expense of everyone else. Those choices are what determine good and evil, right and wrong. Not the spells themselves, but rather how they are used and yielded. That is what I mean when I say not all Dark Magic is inherently evil, same that not all Light Magic is inherently good."
Harry's shoulders relaxed some, his chin tilted up in through and then nodded, appeased by his answer.
"That makes a lot of sense, actually," Hermione still seemed to be practically buzzing with energy, bouncing slightly in her seat excitedly, "A knife is a tool when used to prepare meals or used constructively, but people can also use it to hurt someone, but that doesn't make the knife bad, just the person using it."
Tom nodded his head. "I have had this discussion at length with many a magic user, and many disagree, but I have never met someone who became a bad person only from using Dark Magic alone. It is simply the ease at which certain spells can show how dark a person is themselves, the sides that they've hidden from their friends and family, rather than the magic itself corrupting them. I believe the muggles have a similar argument in regards to the access to firearms, that the ease of access to something that has the potential to be deadly is something to be controlled- which I will agree to an extent."
Molly, Sirius and Remus all seemed to take what he said to heart, processing it rather than throwing themselves back into an argument, which he could appreciate if nothing else. He reached out and touched Eirlys' grimoire. "All of the philosophy of spells and their nature aside, I will always take the stance that books should never be banned or made nonaccessible to the general public at large- no one who has ever decided to restrict the flow of knowledge has ever been on the right side of history. Perhaps regulated for those who have enough of an understanding of the material and the history behind it, but not inaccessible at large. For example, would I argue that a child or underclassman should be given unfettered access to potentially dangerous and advanced magic? No, of course not, but there are no underclassmen or children in this room. I believe Miss Weasley is the youngest, and she will be a fourth year this year. Using the books to find the information we need to put a stop to Voldemort and having adults there to assist with any curses on any of the books negates the main concerns in handling them."
"What would we need to be looking for?" Sirius asked curiously.
"Anything to do with souls and magic dealing with them," Tom said decisively. "Eirlys cut her soul in half." He pointed to Harry, "We know that Voldemort when he was in the school did a dark ritual in Nirah's nesting ground and that later on you came across a journal which appeared to house a part of him in it."
Harry straightened, blinking. "You think he put his soul inside the diary?"
Tom nodded, "Yes. At least, it's certainly a possibility. I don't know enough about soul-work to determine what the ins and outs of it would be, and it still doesn't explain why his body wasn't left behind when the killing curse rebounded on him, but it does explain why he remained to linger as a wraith, if a vessel or phylactery of some kind was keeping his bound by housing the other part of his soul."
"But Harry destory the diary," Ginny said, pushing forward her empty plate. "Shouldn't that have finally done away with him?"
"I have a couple of theories- the first being that similar to a ghost because his wraith was already about it was grounded in way and it is simply that he is now capable of being killed, but honestly that one is further down the list because I don't know if a wraith would or could linger in such a way, the only version of that I've ever heard of outside of a ghost is an obscurus, but that is repressed malignant magical energy, which hypothetically could be what he was for all intents and purposes but an obscurus is-"
"You're rambling again," Ginny interrupted, only for her mother to hiss her name.
Tom waved a hand, "No, she's right, feel free to set me back on the path when I do, I'm terrible about it- the second and more likely situation is that he may have divided his soul more than once."
There was a shocked silence, with the only noise being Remus, who had choked on his tea and was trying to gain back his composure.
"But, if he'd already cut his soul in half, then…" Hermione's eyes got large as she realized the implications.
"Erilys discusses at length that while her emotions were repressed and subdued, everything felt like she was making analytical and sound thinking, even when looking at it objectively it was clear she was under reacting to some things and overreacting to others. Her emotions were repressed, yes, but she was also not regulating them in a healthy manner, swinging between extremes when they were not appropriate. Again, when I was reading this the first time I simply assumed that it was her processing the depression and disassociation that comes with killing one's brother, but if she had physically ripped her soul in half in the process, then-" He paused and reoriented himself to the point he was trying to make, "If Voldemore was intentionally trying to split his soul so as to effectively make himself immortal, then if one were to subdue and suppress the emotional and moral side of things, it wouldn't be a leap to infer he might make another in case something happened to the first."
Once again, there was silence at the time, the implications hanging there for everyone to absorb and Tom took the time to finish eating his breakfast, which was growing cold. Everyone else was largely done or had lost their appetites with the discussion and moved to help Molly clean up before all of them, Molly included, ended up in the Black Library.
It was clear the bare minimum had been done in this room out of all of the restoration projects underway. Dust clung to most everything and there were a handful of boxes that held books Sirius had clearly started trying to go through at some point, but had given up. It wasn't surprising given the sheer volume of material in the room. The room itself was enchanted, perhaps the most enchanted room in the house if this Grimmauld Place was anything like the one of his side of things. It went up to a third story and sprawled larger than the physical confines of the room itself, giving the impression of a countryside manor's library. Despite all the talk of how expansive the Dark Magic collection was in the Black Library, it still only actually made up a percentage of the overall collection. Like with many libraries of old wizarding families, there were many sections.
Molly instructed the twins to grab some of the cleaning supplies so they could dust and wipe off some of the furniture, and Tom was vaguely surprised they did so with little complaint, but he assumed that they were just grateful she wasn't fighting them any further on allowing them in the room in the first place.
"Sirius, you mentioned a decent number were cursed?" Tom asked, turning to look at the man, who nodded. "Let's start there, and the grimoires and other texts on soul magic or darker magic and rituals- I can break the curses on the books which will make them physically safe for anyone to flip through- once those are largely complete I can begin circling back to books that Hermione and whoever sticks about to help have flagged."
He turned and pointed at Hermione, already knowing it was going to be an issue, "We're not trying to get sucked into the books, madam, utilize the index for any mentions of the soul or soul magic, use the Verbum Invenio charm if necessary but know any heavily enchanted books may not respond to it."
Hermione nodded her head excitedly, looking to Sirius, "Do we have extra parchment? If any of the books are charmed enough that Verbum Invenio doesn't work, then it likely won't let me use a placemarker charm on it either-"
Tom turned to begin pulling books from the shells, feeling ancient magic under his finger, resting underneath decades of dust. As long as Molly didn't have a conniption about any of the books, this would work out.
Molly did, in fact, have three whole conniptions. Tom was surprised that was it.
The first was when Ron asked his mother why they hadn't done any of the Beltane rituals, and at first, neither had thought anything of it. Molly explained a lot of the wizarding familys only celebrated the solistices and equinoxes, not the inbetween ones like Beltane (the exception being Samhain) but Tom didn't know the woman could move that fast until Ron asked cheekily if she and Arthur had ever done any of the Beltane fertility rituals and the redheaded matriach damn near vaulted over a couch to grab the book from her son.
The second was that evening after dinner when Hermione screamed bloody murder because one of the spells about flaying men alive was in true wizarding fashion, animated with a multistepped process and the picture in question let out loud pleading screams for mercy, trying to claw his way up the page and into another section.
The third didn't even make it out of Tom's hands- she'd read the title and Tom had stared her in the eyes, watching her face grow red as he placed the book into the growing pile of "none of these are safe for anyone's consumption" books. Molly kept alternating between looking smug about and outraged about them, but when Tom made it clear he didn't think these mones in particular were appropriate for the teenagers, she'd lost some of the wind in her sails. Most of the books that were cursed were basic and easily dispelled before he handed them over, but a smaller pile ended up with the Not Safe for Consumption pile of ones he'd have to invest more time into breaking the curses of.
No one found anything that day, or the next. The following evening after dinner Remus came in with several large books and scrolls and dumped them unceremoniously onto one of the free desks. Tom was baffled and horrified to find that the standard reading curriculum for the Defense Against the Dark Arts had changed very little, given all of the curricula were direct copies of Merrythought's and that several chunks were redacted for being unnecessary or too advanced. Tom scoffed loudly and proceeded to spend the rest of that evening with Remus, rewriting his entire damn curriciulum, which was harder than he thought it would be, given he'd been teaching for over forty years.
Remus had the list of textbooks he'd provided when he'd been the professor, about half of which were perfectly fine, but Tom also found that several of his references and texts simply did not exist in this world, for one reason or another and had to spend an inordinate amount of time perusing the Florish and Blotts catalog for suitable replacements. That following morning, the second to last Saturday before the start of term, Tom sent off an owl to Albus to let him know the texts he'd be requiring and returned his full attention back to going through the library.
Apparently, Sirius, Remus, Hermione, and Ginevra were the fastest readers of the group and therefore had set Harry, Ron, and the twins to organizational tasks while they skimmed anything that might contain the relevant information they were looking for.
There were already four or five books they'd flagged that might be helpful, two of which were old enough that the books were starting to fall apart at the seams. The first book, one of the newer ones, was about several ancient and illegal forms of magic, and it went on at length about souls and their impact and correlation with one's magical ability. There had been several attempts to quantify one's magical ability, but as many had difficulty doing so in a way that did not negatively impact the one being studied, it had never really become a staple of measurement. The book took time to discuss those methods, and as fascinating as Tom found it, at no point did it discuss anything about a splitting of souls. Obscurials were mentioned, but it was the only thing that came closer to it, and eventually he chucked the book into the pile of tomes they'd made for advanced magic.
A patronus interrupted them around lunch that Sunday from Minerva, informing them there was to be an Order Meeting that evening, and the relevant parties had already been informed about the house guest. Harry and Sirius had told him at length about the Order Meetings being hosted there earlier that summer, but since Harry's hearing (which Harry then had to explain to a flabbergasted Tom that he'd had a hearing about using defensive magic to protect himself from dementors in a Muggle neighborhood and that he could produce a fully corporeal patronous at the age of thirteen) they had died down considerably.
Tom had given up at that point, thrown his hands into the air and gone back to the library. He grabbed the next book based on the amount of parchment had been shoved into it. It was one of the more ancient books- the pages were stiff and watermarked in some places, like the book had had something spilled on it ages ago and was never properly dried out. It was a theoretical book- any rituals were described in vague terms with no real instructions on how to do any of the incantations or rituals, outside of the requirement for a human sacrifice, but it at least gave a couple of names to the piece of soul that had been split off from the 'host'.
Fractanima. Corviles. Dichasménipsychí. Fasaruhd. Nifshra. Horcrux.
All of the variations felt ghastly and vile, heavy on his tongue. There was no further information about the process or even the reason someone might do it. Instead, the book took its time explaining that the process took someone of great magical talent and a large magical core to complete, as anyone else would be devoid of their magic if done improperly, or just kill them. Either or, no big deal.
Tom felt like he was going mad as he explained this to those who had been sitting in the library with him- Sirius, Remus, Harry, and Hermione. The others had been dragged off by Molly to assist with chores, though he knew the moment Harry and Hermione found the others, they would pass the information on, hopefully before the Order even arrived. Frustrated, but ultimately done with that particular book, he shifted his attention to what remained, pacing back and forth even as the rest cleared out of the library.
"Oye," Sirius said, several hours later, whistling to get Tom's attention. "Meeting is about the begin, dinner and show to follow."
Tom sighed, marking his place and tossing the book onto the desk- he'd need to read Phoebus's Grimoire but had been putting it off since he knew it would be a much more dense read than the books the others had pulled aside for him. He only had one left and unless it miraculously had the information he needed, he'd begin on Phoebus's grimoire that evening.
Instead, he shoved his hands into his pockets and followed the younger man down the stairs into the kitchen to find it significantly more crowded than his first night, and that was still without the hoarder of teenagers he'd grown used to seeing over the past week.
Sirius smirked when he saw Tom's questioningly glance and elbowed him. "Glad we agree on that, then." He'd showered somewhere in the meantime since disappearing from the library a couple of hours before, his shaggy hair looking more kempt. It took Tom a moment to undertsand why he'd even noticed it, only to realize that Sirius, in the week since he'd been there, often look like he'd only just rolled out of bed, his hair sticking up at odd angled, his clothes wrinkled and patchy at best, if they weren't filled with holes.
Tom shifted his gaze from the room at large to the younger man, making a mental note to check in with him later, after all of this was done, "What do you mean?"
"Albus didn't think we should let the kids in to the War Meetings for the Order. I said Harry should be here, but I was vetoed in my own damn home." Sirius said, his smirk twisting into a grimace as he leaned forward onto the table.
"I would normally understand sheltering the youth from such information, but given everything Harry has been through, it seems… illogical," Tom said slowly. Minerva and Severus were standing at the far end of the table with Filius standing on a stool beside them so he could see over the table, and the half-goblin was boring holes into Tom. He wasn't the only one.
Shaklebolt and Moody were both watching him as well, thought Shaklebolt remained passive while Moody appeared openly hostile- though it may have just been the enchanted eye, because it would whizz around and then glare at him and then whizz again. The only other person there who seemed to recognize him, but surprisingly didn't stare, was Rubeus Hagrid, who was occupying two seats not far from Minerva, Filius, and Severus. He reocognized others, but only in passing, just barely being able to put a name to the faces- Dealus Diggle, Mundungus Fletcher, Hestia Jones, Nymphadora Tonks, Elphias Doge, Emmeline Vance, and Sturgis Podmore.
Albus and Remus joined moments later, followed by Molly and Arthur and their eldest son Bill, who shut the door and locked it. Bill waved a silencing charm towards the windows and doors, and Albus cleared his throat.
"Is everyone present and accounted for?" Albus asked, confidence and concern in equal measure.
There were murmurs around the room, and Bill nodded his head, "Except for the respective field agents, of course."
"Of course, of course," Albus said with a nod, holding ahand out, gesturing towards Tom, "I would like to introduce you to Mister Tom Riddle, he will be taking over the Defense Against the Dark Arts position at Hogwarts this year and I have invited him to join the Order as well." Nothing further was said about alternate realities or who he was, and Tom chose to keep his mouth shut, even though he could feel Filius and Moody still watching him closely. Tonks, he believed she preferred to be called, kept glancing at him now and again, as if sensing Moody's unease, but no one else commented on his presence except to offer murmured greetings.
Most of the proceedings that followed made little sense to Tom, each of the Ministry workers, of which there were at least eight or nine, giving detailed reports on the comings and goings of certain individuals in the Ministry and meetings between officials and also the leanings of different pieces of legislature in the Wizengmont. He still listened closely, filing away everything he could in case it became necessary to him at a later date.
That bit of the meeting took a little under an hour, ending with Albus giving them orders like a general in charge of his soldiers, as if Molly weren't also bustling around the kitchen behind him, finishing off dinner while he spoke. Tom waited, expecting Albus to bring up the Chamber, the Grimoires, and was only a little surprised when he didn't, over half the room dispersing slowly. He sat perched uncomfortably on the stool, watching the headmaster, but this Albus was so different from his own. He was delegating not only tasks but also information.
As Molly pulled the chicken she'd baked from the oven, Albus gently asked her to give them a few moments before fetching the children, as he called them, for dinner. The only Weasleys in the room took the hint and vacated, and when Albus looked to Sirius and Remus, the former man folded his arms and raised an eyebrow. Tom could practically hear the man's words radiating off him, "This is my goddamn kitchen; good luck kicking me out."
Albus finally signed in resignation and gave a small nod of the head. The group had narrowed down to the Hogwarts professors present, along with Moody, Sirius, and Remus.
"Everyone that remains in this room currently are gifted Occulumens and would not divulge anything accidentally, even under duress," The Headmaster explained, "and you all are also aware of who Tom Riddle is, as well as how he came to be here." His words were met with silence, no one jumping up to interrupt or interrogate him, for which Tom was grateful, but several simply nodded, acknowledging the Headmaster's words.
"The evening after he arrived, I returned to Grimmauld Place with Severus to discuss a plan of attack, of sorts. Since even before the start of the first wizarding war with Voldemort, I have been collecting information about him to better understand him, especially now to better anticipate his movements," the Headmaster explained, "Only Riddle already had an idea in mind, and escorted Severus and I down to the Chamber of Secrets."
Several deep breaths were drawn, surprised, curious, but still no one interrupted, so Albus carried on, "He revealed that there was a hidden room inside that housed grimoires and journals from the previous Lords and Ladies of Slytherin House, which Voldemort would also have had access to in his youth when he attended the school, giving us access to what he might have learned in regards to Dark Magic before he began to travel abroad."
Albus looked to Tom then, tilting his head. "Did you finish reading the grimoires?"
Tom's lips twitched, but he did not smile. "No. I reread Eirlys's and annotated it, but I have held off on Phoebus's. Instead-"
"As if you have something more important to do here?" Severus drawled, eyes narrowed.
Tom tilted his head, and he felt Sirius bristle at his side. It was interesting that the roles seemed to have swapped in this circumstance- he'd always been close with Severus and Regulus, both having been his Slytherins and under his care in their time as students, and colleagues as adults, while more slightly more adversarial with Sirius simply due to his being placed in Gryffindor and being a bit of a trouble maker when he had been a student. "If you had allowed me to finish, I was about to explain that before I could begin Phoebus's grimoire, I decided to peruse the Black Library for any mentions of souls being used in rituals and soul magic."
Severus made a noise that Tom ignored and continued. "Burke had revealed that Eirlys had split her soul in two over the death of her brother, and while she uses that phrase once in her grimoire, I had always taken it to be metaphorical- a hyperbole to explain how heartbroken she was at having to kill her brother. But if we take it literally as Burke told us, then there is an explanation as to why Voldemort did not simply die the night the killing curse rebounded."
"Which is?" Albus asked softly and Tom watched his eyes harden.
"He also split his soul when he killed Myrtle as a student and used the diary as a vessel for it," Tom explained, drawing shocked breaths from Filius and Minerva. He narrowed his eyes at Albus, "But I'm beginning to suspect you already knew that."
Albus paused, his head tilted only ever so slightly to the side, also eyeing Tom in return. "I suspected, but given the… extreme nature of the ritual, and how rare any information on it was, I did not wish to make an assumption that would lead me down the wrong path and waste time and resources," the headmaster explained. "Though I will admit it is relieving and horrifying all at the same time someone else was able to come to the same conclusion."
Tom nodded his head, understanding what he meant, unfortunately. "Awful as it sounds, I suspect that he likely did this more than once."
Albus's eyes narrowed further and Tom had another feeling this was also something he suspected. He understood playing it close to the chest, but it was hard to assist if he was not willing to divulge his ideas to the group as well.
Tom ignored the stare and looked back to the other professors at the table, watching the exchange with unsettled horror growing in their eyes. "Harry used a basilisk fang to stab the journal and said it was as if he killed the copy of Voldemort inside- but if that piece was no longer there to bind him then hypothetically the rest of his soul that was still floating about and unbound as a wraith should have moved on, for a lack of a better word. But he didn't. Ergo, he had completed the ritual at least one more time and put his soul into another vessel in case his first should fail."
"You mean to tell me that You-Know-Who at this point only has a quarter of his soul remaining?" Filius asked quietly, and Tom could see the wheels turning in his head.
"At least that much, if not less if he did it more than twice," Tom confirmed and then looked back to Albus, "Looking through the Black Library was helpful though, as one of the books provided several names that we can use to try and find further information on it. The author gave few in different languages but used the term Horcrux to describe the vessel in the book when he expanded upon it."
"Three or seven," Albus said quietly, folding his long fingers together and resting his elbow on the table. "I suspected this may have been what he did since Harry brought me the diary at the end of his second year, for the same reasons you gave. But I had been amassing information about his personal life long before the killing curse rebounded, back during the first war. The magical properties of three and seven were important to him."
"Well, that's horrifying," Tom muttered, earning a choked laugh from Sirius. "Given we know he is a serial killer, it isn't a stretch to include seven, but that also seems…" He trailed off, trying to find a way to verbalize his thoughts and doing math in his head. "Highly impractical, given it would mean he'd have less than two percent of his soul remaining after all was said and done."
"Ron did say if anyone was crazy enough to do it, it would be him," Remus said quietly.
"I had originally discounted seven for that reason," Albus said, steepling his fingers in thought, "But based on the memories and information about Voldemort's life prior to his initial rise to power, it exceeded three rather quickly."
"Again, terrifying." Tom deadpanned, "Do you think he was counting his own soul that he housed inside himself as part of the number of three or seven, or as three or seven individual horcruxes?"
"I am uncertain; either is possible," Albus said, lifting a hand and stroking it down his beard in thought.
"Besides the journal, what others do you suspect?" Filius asked. Tom couldn't remember the last time he'd seen the other man look so dour, but it was a rather grim subject.
Albus's gaze grew distant, lost in thought, and there was a pause as everyone waited for the Headmaster to answer. He finally took a deep breath, closing his eyes. "I know that before graduating, Voldemort's father and his parents were killed in their home in Hangleton. Morfin Gaunt, Tom's uncle by way of his mother, was arrested for the crime. This was one of the earlier pieces of information I collected, well before I suspected anything about horcruxes or soul magic being involved, but looking back, I suspect this was likely one of the ritual deaths as well."
The Headmaster paused once more, but it no longer felt like a hesitance to reveal anything, rather just that he was trying to gather his thoughts to order. "After he graduated, Voldemort worked at Borgin and Burke's in Knockturn Alley. I was able to retrieve a memory from the house elf of Hepzibah Smith before she was executed for the death of her mistress via poison. Voldemort had visited Ms Smith the evening she died, where she had shown him two pieces she had curated- Slytherin's Locket and Hufflepuff's Goblet. Unfortunately, I had no proof that he was the one that killed her as I suspect he implanted a false memory in that of the house elf that explained an accidental poisoning due to a mistake from an old and forgetful house elf."
Tom blinked, his eyes drifting in thought. "I know of Hepzibah Smith, as she was the great-aunt of one of my friends. After she eventually died, and they were going through her assets, they found the locket among her possessions. At that point, I had already claimed the Slytherin Lordship, and my friend gifted it back to me, since she felt it was wrong for it to be outside of the Slytherin line." Tammy hadn't mentioned anything about the Hufflepuuf Goblet, but at that point, she was already married to Theon and had had two children, and they spoke less and less due to their conflicting schedules. If- when- he made it home, he'd have to ask her if it was in her possession.
"I suspect Voldemort was trying to reclaim parts of his Slytherin ancestry, but I know that he had to have taken both the locket and the goblet, as neither were found among her assets when I inquired," Albus said, "Ms Smith's death would account for a third horcrux, if we assume his father's death was the second, but then he also had the locket in his possession as well, which would be a fourth, four suspected horcruxes in addition to his remaining soul fragment in his body would be five pieces there, which is why I assumed seven may be the correct amount, instead of three."
"How long have you known about this, Albus?" Minerva demanded, her sharp features narrowed, the lines around her eyes and on her forehead more prominent as her brows furrowed with worry. "Why did you never tell us?"
Albus was silent, looking at the woman, his eyes still betraying how hard the headmaster was thinking. "I didn't know about the horcruxes until after Harry brought me the diary. And even then, I was not positive. I just knew that it was very likely. Before that I had memories that he had killed and stolen, reclaiming trophies from his victims, but I would never had imagined a fifteen-year-old would have had the ability, let alone the knowledge, to create something as dark as a horcrux, then to do so again and again."
He paused and signed, straightening on the stool, setting his shoulders back. "My thoughts very much followed a similar course to Tom's- I had hoped that the diary would be the only one, that when Harry's third year began and there was no hide or hair of the Dark Lord that perhaps that was the last of it. I had visited his old Head of House, Professor Slughorn that year, to see if there was any way he would have insight into how a fifteen-year-old had come to make a horcrux. Horace was always a good occulumens himself, but when I broached the subject, he threw me out. I finally managed to convince him to give me the memory, but what I received had been tampered with- altered by Slughorn. To what degree, I am not certain, but it was clear Tom, in his time at Hogwart,s had asked the man about them. Then, when he returned last year, I knew it couldn't have only been the one. I immediately refamiliarized myself with all of the memories I'd collected previously and began seeing the pattern emerge. A horrifying pattern, but a pattern nonetheless."
"He can't be killed unless we destroy all of the horcruxes," Remus said breathlessly, his voice filled with horror.
Albus nodded his head solemnly. "I had hoped that I was being paranoid when I couldn't shake the feeling he wasn't dead, but I could not be so lucky."
"Ron said Lucius Malfoy put the diary in with his sister's things," Tom said suddenly, a thought tugging incessantly at the back of his head. "Did Voldemort give him it for safe keeping, or did Lucius acquire it by other means?"
"The Dark Lord entrusted it to Lucius," Severus drawled, tapping his fingers on the table slowly. "He would brag that he was entrusted with his possessions often."
Tom wrinkled his nose and shook his head, "Do you think he might have done this with the rest of them as well?"
Severus paused his tapping and his brows furrowed in thought. "No," he finally said, shaking his head, "Even among his original inner circle, there were very few he entrusted enough to give something of such importance to- he didn't disclose to Lucius what the item was or else I doubt he'd have been stupid enough to pass it along to anyone. If he did make six or seven of them, then perhaps he entrusted one or two, such as the diary, but I cannot see him having entrusted more than half of them outside of his control."
"Fan-fucking-tastic," Sirius hissed, crossing his arms, and everyone paused as Molly stuck her head in.
"Pardon, Headmaster, but I don't know how much longer I can keep them at bay- it is nearly eight."
"Of course, Molly, thank you for giving us some time," Albus said, smiling gently, and Molly nodded and disappeared again, likely going to rally the teens for dinner. "If possible tomorrow, we will need to begin our hunt properly. I will return to discuss our plan of attack before lunch."
Tom nodded his head in agreement, but nothing further could be said because the teenagers chose that moment to swarm the room.
A/N:
1. Hermione: I VOLUNTEER AS TRIBUTE! SACRIFICE ME TO THE LIBRARY!
2. Because they will never go into this as the information was never written down, I did want to add the why and how Eirlys accidentally made a horcrux. Her brother, Arwel, had been studying them extensively in general and had a part a and b to his plan. He wanted to use the resurrection stone to bring his wife and son back, put them back into their bodies, and then make horcruxes so that they couldn't die so easily again. As such, the ritual space was already set up for the creation of a horcrux, unbeknownst to Eirlys, and after she killed Arwel, she remained for a time, crying and trying to come to terms with what she'd done, even if it had been necessary. She spent a lot of time trying to pour over and make sense of not only his grimoire but different letters and notes left about and when she realized the full extent of what he'd been planning is when she instinctively began tugging at the frayed strings of her soul and Arwel's death was there and the ritual was there and that's all she wrote. She was completely unaware that she accidentally placed part of her soul into her brother's wedding ring, which she'd been holding, as it was their father's. Then her poor husband thinks he's dealing with the world's worst case of Post-Partum Depression (not that they had a term for it but still) only to realize, no no that's not it.
3. Want some philosophy? Have some philosophy. Tom wouldn't consider himself philosophical if you asked him, but he tends to relate it more to logic and common sense. He understands that many people are more easily swayed towards bad things when partaking in the Dark Arts, which is why they are considered Dark, but that doesn't mean that all Dark Magic should be banned. He would rather they teach students about regulation and logical thinking and questioning and provide an array of tools than try to corral them to one said because someone might be worried that they might become bad. Bad people choose to do bad things, regardless of the type of magic (or lack thereof) they use to do it.
4. Verbum Invenio is a made-up spell, basically think CTRLF, but it doesn't always work on heavily enchanted books.
5. Would canon Albus have been willing to tell this many people about the horcruxes? I don't think so, but also I think his handling of the horcruxes as we know them was expedited by the fact that he knew he was dying and also knew for certain by the beginning of Book 6 that Harry was likely a Horcrux as well. If he revealed this to anyone else, besides Snape, then they likely would have tried to shield this information from Harry. This Albus isn't dying, this Albus has time and also is only suspicious that Harry may be a horcrux, not certain of it, if anything he feels guilty that he thinks this and is trying to convince himself that it is just a cursed link due to the rebound of the curse, which is why Albus is avoiding him like the fucking plague. Tom threw several wrenches into all of those plans and Albus is having to change a lot of his plans around to accommodate. Tom is a wild card, he's an adult, a genius, he can't be easily manipulated and this Albus doesn't know enough about him to properly do so subtly enough for it to work. So he's circling the wagons and bringing in Minerva, Severus, etc. He's hoping beyond hope harry isn't a horcrux because he has yet to come to terms with those implications, but if the horcruxes exist like he believes they do, then once Voldemort finds out about Tom he will likely make an attempt to recollect them all, just in case. After all, Voldemort doesn't know that Tom has never made them himself.
6. Please know I have not forgotten Kreacher but Kreacher also recognizes Tom for who he is and has been spying and listening in on these conversations and staying clear the fuck away. He has an idea of what is going on but is like "yeah no i'm not touching that with a twenty foot pole fucking byyyyye"
