"It's important to know why Tom hates muggles so much. He didn't know his mother had ensnared his father with magic. He thought his father had abandoned his mother because he found out she was a witch. He blamed his father for the life he led, for the life he hated at the orphanage he lived in. Later in fact, his father and his family were found murdered by what was obviously a killing curse."
"Voldemort did it?" Harry asked, again knowing he'd get the tale of Morfin.
"In public records you'll find that Tom's uncle, his name was Morfin Gaunt confessed to the crime. It was confirmed that his wand was used to commit the murders."
"But you don't believe it do you?" Hermione asked.
"No...again I wish I had my pensieve," Dumbledore repeated in a wistful voice as he glanced at the cabinet he normally kept it in. "Near the end of his life I was able to visit Morfin and secure his memory of that night. It took a bit of coaxing but I learned a lot. You see Tom Riddle came to visit him the day the murders happened. It was then he discovered who his father was. I believe Tom stunned Morfin and took his wand. He then killed his father and his family before returning to the shack where the Gaunts lived. He changed his uncle's memories and then left his wand near him."
"How did you get the memories if Tom changed them?" Harry asked.
"A skilled Legilimens can coax modified memories out especially if it was done poorly. Riddle at that time was only a student, a gifted student but not enough experience to truly do the job well," Dumbledore explained as he leaned forward in his chair.
"So basically because an uneducated witch potioned a muggle an untold number of people have died?" Hermione asked.
"That's a very succinct way of stating such a complex issue but yes."
"Do you think if Ginny had succeeded, she and I could have had a kid that grew up to be the next Dark Lord?" Harry asked his wife only half joking.
"Maybe," Hermione answered. "Especially if you named the child Albus Severus like we joked about earlier."
"What about Severus Albus? He could then have been a SAP like his namesakes," Harry replied before a shudder ran through him as he quickly shunned all thoughts of such a future out of his mind. "So, what does that have to do with Voldemort's immortality?" He asked the Headmaster.
"To defeat someone, you must understand them Harry," Dumbledore explained. "Especially Tom Riddle. As powerful as he is, I feel he has many weaknesses, but maybe you're correct and this isn't the day for that discussion," He sat back in his chair again and studied the two young people for several seconds before continuing. "As I said earlier, what I'm going to tell you must not get out. If Voldemort knew I had found out his secret, he'd make finding them much harder."
"Finding what sir?" Harry asked jumping on the next thing.
"His Horcruxes," Dumbledore replied after only a small hesitation.
"What's a Horcrux?" Harry asked as he struggled to keep his faced inquisitive.
"The darkest magic imaginable. You see, a magical person can split his soul and if he has enough power, he can put a part of it in a...a container shall we say," Dumbledore explained. "That container is called a Horcrux. As long as a part of a person's soul remains locked away in a Horcrux, that person cannot die. His body can be destroyed, but his soul would remain behind waiting to return."
"A ghost sir?" Hermione asked what would have seemed to be a logical question.
"No, a ghost is but an imprint of a departed soul, not a part of the actual soul itself."
"And that's how Voldemort did it? Stayed alive I mean? And that thing in the Room of Requirements that Pettigrew was..." Hermione asked but left the sentence suggestive.
"I do believe..."
"The diary," Harry exclaimed trying to move the conversation along. "It was his Horcrux wasn't it? I mean I remember him saying he poured some of his own soul back into Ginny...Voldemort's soul!"
"Yes Harry that was indeed a Horcrux. When you handed it to me that evening all those years ago, I finally had the proof I'd been searching for. I had proof that Voldemort had indeed split his soul."
"But...but Harry destroyed it so how could Voldemort still be alive?" Hermione asked as they tried to push Dumbledore into admitting more Horcruxes. "And if it's not a Horcrux, what do you think Peter was here to get?"
"Ah...Harry you mentioned earlier something that bears on this conversation at this point," Dumbledore stated. "You said Voldemort told you he'd gone further than any other wizard down the path of immortality."
"So he...he must have made more than one?" Harry asked trying to appear shocked.
"Exactly," Dumbledore beamed as he was sure he'd led the teens down the path of enlightenment.
"How many did he create?" Hermione asked.
Dumbledore sighed as the happiness left his face. "That is a question that I have pondered for a while now. Ever since I was certain it was Horcruxes that Riddle had created."
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