Chapter 403 Peverell's Badge

10 at night.

The sky was completely dark. At this time, Dumbledore and Sherlock disapparated through Fox's apparation and arrived at a village that was already shrouded in night.

"This is where the old house of Riddle's grandfather, the Gunter family, is located. Of course, his father's house is also nearby. The houses on both sides are not very far apart, on the other side of the valley, but now there is no one on either side. there is none left."

Dumbledore led Sherlock to a dilapidated house in the biting cold wind. They did not go in immediately. Dumbledore was still telling him how he found this place.

"I followed the clues and found the Gunter family where Riddle's mother, Merope Gunter, belongs. However, Riddle's maternal grandfather, Marvolo Gunter, had already passed away, but fortunately, he still has One son is alive, Morfin Gaunt, Riddle's uncle. He was sentenced to life in Azkaban for killing an entire Muggle family with magic."

"Fortunately, he didn't escape with the others during the Death Eater prison break some time ago. He was seriously ill, and even if the dementors ignored him, he had no way to escape. Just when he was dying When I was about to die, I found him on the island where the dementors had long since left, and I was lucky enough to gain the precious memory of the first and only meeting between him and his nephew.”

"Due to limited time, I didn't let you read that memory again when we were in the office, but it's easy to repeat the contents."

"When he was still in school at Hogwarts, Riddle began to investigate his own life experience during the summer vacation. The orphanage once received his mother. Merop said two names when he was dying, one was It's his father's name - Tom Riddle, which is exactly the same name his mother gave him, and the other is his grandfather's name - Marvolo."

"He had searched for traces of old Tom Riddle in the trophy room, in the prefects' lists of old school records, and even in the History of Magic books, but found nothing, and was finally forced to admit that his father had never been to Hogwarts. I believe it was then that he abandoned the name, adopted the name Voldemort, and began to investigate the family history of his mother, whom he had previously despised - a woman he had believed had no right to surrender to the shameful human weakness of death. Maybe a wizard."

"His only clue was the name 'Marvolo', which he learned from the orphanage administrator was the name of his maternal grandfather. After some painstaking research in old books and wizarding families, he finally discovered Slytherin. The remaining branch of the family. In the summer when he was sixteen, he left the orphanage he returned to every year to look for his relatives in the Gunter family. "

Sherlock looked at the dilapidated, haunted house-like cabin in front of him and said softly.

"He came here then?"

"Yes, of course he found this place and met his uncle Morfin."

"Riddle and his father looked alike, both were equally handsome, so Morfin recognized him at first sight. Because old Tom abandoned Riddle's mother and returned to this town, Marvolo and Marvolo Morfin is well aware that Merope has been abandoned."

"But they have always looked down upon the only female member of their family. After learning about this incident, they would only curse her for what she deserved. They had no intention of venting their anger or revenge on their daughter or sister."

"Riddle learned everything from him, and then Morfin's memory was interrupted here. After he woke up, Riddle's father's house and the entire Riddle family were all dead, and someone used it on them. It was Morfin's own wand that cast these spells."

"Morfin confessed to his guilt and showed off in a big way, but the last heirloom of the Gaunt family left to him by his father was lost. It was a black ring, which was originally worn on his finger. But after waking up, the ring was missing."

"At that time, the magical world was in great chaos because of another person. Morfin's case was not carefully examined at all. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in Azkaban. Not long after I got this memory from him, He died on that island and was buried there."

After clarifying all the causes and consequences, the truth of this case can be easily determined.

Sherlock analyzed.

"Voldemort knocked out his uncle, took his wand, crossed the valley to the big house on the opposite side, killed the Muggle who abandoned his wizard mother, and also killed his Muggle grandparents. He went to the unlucky Riddle family and took revenge on his biological father who never wanted him. Then he returned to the Gunter family and used some complicated magic to implant false memories into his uncle's mind, and then used the wand. Place it next to its unconscious owner, take the ancient ring and walk away."

His analysis was approved by Dumbledore, but there was still a small problem that Sherlock had not figured out.

"Morfin never thought it was him?"

"No. As I said, he confessed and showed off."

"But he kept this real memory?"

"Yes, but it takes a lot of highly skilled Legilimency to draw it out. Morfin has already pleaded guilty, so who would dig into his mind? But I visited him in prison during his last few days. I finally extracted this memory, and after seeing these contents, I tried to save Morfin from the island, but Morfin died before the Ministry of Magic made a decision."

Sherlock didn't have too many feelings about this. After all, Morfin was arrested, and it couldn't be said that he was completely wronged. Since Voldemort added false memories of his murder into his brain, he didn't feel any regret. Maybe he had already thought of killing the Riddle family before Voldemort found him.

However, Sherlock still complained about another thing.

"From this, we can see that the Ministry of Magic's supervision of Hogwarts students not casting spells outside the school during the summer vacation is just superficial. There is no way to supervise those students whose parents are wizards or who live next to wizards. They can only rely on their own consciousness."

"This is indeed a loophole in the magic law." Dumbledore also nodded and said, "But we don't have the energy to pay attention to these for the time being. Sherlock, you should have guessed what the last Horcrux we are looking for today is."

Sherlock stared at the shabby house in front of him.

"Is it the ring that Morfin lost?"

"Yes, and you have seen this ring before. Can you remember it?" Dumbledore said.

Sherlock thought for a while and thought of what Dumbledore said, where he had seen the ring.

"Are you talking about the black ring that Riddle wore on his hand in Professor Slughorn's memory?"

Dumbledore drew out his wand, and he waved it lightly, and the door in front of them opened.

"Yes, when I saw the memory you brought back, I already had my suspicions. Although I haven't seen the real thing yet, I'm basically sure that the Horcrux hidden here is the ring."

They walked into the dusty room. The ceiling was covered with cobwebs. It looked like no one had cleaned it for a long time.

"Can you feel it, Sherlock?" Dumbledore looked at Sherlock and asked.

Sherlock was much more sensitive than anyone else in terms of the perception of Horcruxes.

After entering the door, the mark on his left arm really produced a strong burning sensation.

He was naturally familiar with this feeling. Dumbledore was right in finding the place. The only Horcrux they didn't know before was hidden in this room.

Sherlock spread the control magic. After using the residual soul of Voldemort in the Slytherin locket to make a line, the range of the control magic doubled, which could completely cover this small house.

But Sherlock didn't find any shadow of the black ring in the house.

He frowned. There were only two possibilities for this situation. Either Dumbledore guessed wrong. There was indeed a Horcrux here, but that Horcrux was not the ring they had seen before.

Or Voldemort had used some means to hide the ring. This hiding method was very special and could even block Sherlock's perception.

He repeated the results of his detection to Dumbledore. Both of them were more inclined to the second explanation.

Because the ring undoubtedly fits the characteristics of the Horcrux material selected by Voldemort. It was a family ring of the Gaunt family and proof of Riddle's wizard bloodline.

Sherlock's control magic did not find the problem, but Dumbledore, relying on his experienced experience, found something wrong with the position next to the bookcase.

From the outside, this place looks empty and the ground is covered with dust, which is no different from other places.

But when Dumbledore raised the old wand in his hand and tapped the wall next to him, a string of sparks suddenly burst out on the open space.

The two of them looked at each other. It was obvious that someone had used some magic here.

Dumbledore's ability to explore and remove the curse is undoubtedly much stronger than Sherlock's, but this does not mean that Sherlock's strength is much weaker than Dumbledore's.

After all, old Dumbledore has lived for a long time, and he has seen a lot of strange magic, and knows what method to use when encountering special situations.

Not long after, Dumbledore's face showed a look of enlightenment. He held the wand, muttered something, and finally waved it gently, and a hidden wooden cabinet appeared in front of them.

The cabinet was as shabby as the house, with only two simple drawers on it. Dumbledore opened all the drawers, leaving aside other miscellaneous things, and the extremely conspicuous black gem ring came into their eyes.

Dumbledore stared at the ring and narrowed his eyes, and Sherlock's breathing also slightly accelerated. They all knew that finding this ring meant that they had already known the storage locations of all Voldemort's Horcruxes.

Seeing Dumbledore reaching out his hand without hesitation, Sherlock subconsciously reminded him.

"Professor."

Dumbledore knew that he was worried that there was still a curse on the ring, so he shook his head and said.

"It's okay. I can see that the person who picks up this ring will not have any problems, but it is not certain if he wears it."

As he said this, he had already taken the Gaunt ring from the drawer. Seeing that nothing happened, Sherlock couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"If someone didn't know the details of this ring, they might bring it under Voldemort's spell. But since we all know that it is a Horcrux, how could we bring it with us?"

Sherlock said easily, he was indeed in a relaxed mood now.

Although not all the Horcruxes have been collected yet, one of the remaining two is in Hogwarts Castle, and the other has always been with Voldemort.

As long as you know the specific location, all you have to do is wait for the opportunity, and there will always be a chance.

And just as Sherlock finished speaking, he realized something was wrong with Dumbledore.

After getting the Gaunt ring, Dumbledore seemed to have discovered something. His blue eyes were fixed on the notch in the center of the black gem set in the ring.

Sherlock had never seen Dumbledore's expression and gaze like this before.

His hand holding the ring was trembling, and his eyes staring at the ring were full of excitement and excitement, mixed with sadness and sorrow, which seemed very complicated.

"Professor, what's wrong with you?"

Sherlock frowned tightly, thinking that Dumbledore had not discovered that the spell Voldemort had set on the ring was the same as the poison in the stone basin in the cave.

As soon as you get the ring, you can't help but want to wear it!

Dumbledore seemed to be very excited now, but he seemed to have used a lot of willpower not to take the next action rashly. Instead, he stretched out the hand holding the ring in front of Sherlock.

"Can you recognize this sign?"

Dumbledore's voice completely lost the gentleness and calmness of the past. The slightly trembling tone was something Sherlock had never heard before.

Sherlock saw the pattern he was talking about, located in the center of the black stone.

There is a circle drawn in a regular triangle, and there is a straight vertical line between the triangle and the circle.

Sherlock naturally felt familiar with this symbol, and after just a moment's thought, he remembered where he had seen it before.

"Is this the emblem of Grindelwald's saints at the beginning of the twentieth century?"

Dumbledore never took his eyes away from the ring. He took a deep breath before speaking.

"Yes, Gettler did use this logo as the emblem of his organization, but before that, it already existed in the world, and it had its own name - the Peverell Crest."