At ten o'clock in the evening, the castle of Hogwarts fell into silence. Because of the curfew, there was not a single person in the corridors, only the whispering sounds coming from the portraits on both sides.
Suddenly, not far away, there was a flash of light, it was a door being opened, and the light from inside shone out.
Then came the sound of stone scraping the ground, and the sound of footsteps.
Harry took a couple of steps, couldn't help turning back to look at the Gargoyle which had jumped back to its original position, and sighed softly.
He originally intended to use Slughorn's memory to avoid being put in detention. It seemed to him to be a sure thing, but he hadn't expected to fail.
"I am pleased that you can get this memory, Harry. If you wish, I can give you an additional reward, but I cannot help you avoid punishment; those are two different things and can't be offset that simply."
That's what Dumbledore said.
This meant that from now on, every Saturday he still had to go to Professor McGonagall's office for detention, and he wouldn't be able to participate in the final crucial Quidditch match.
The only thing that gave him a bit of relief was that Kael seemed to have other engagements and wouldn't be participating in the match for the time being.
Since everyone only had one match left, Hufflepuff and Gryffindor were far ahead in points, and there was only a 10-point difference between them.
In other words, whichever of these two teams scores higher in the last match will likely win the championship.
Now that both sides are missing a main player, it's fair to say neither has an advantage.
"I hope Kael still won't participate in the match then." Harry sighed and turned towards the common room.
Due to the time, there weren't many people left in the common room, but Hermione and Ron were still there, and judging by their expressions, they had been waiting for Harry.
"Why did it take so long?"
"Well, Headmaster Dumbledore didn't expel you, did he?" Hermione asked.
"No." Harry shook his head, "But he docked me a hundred points and I have to serve detention on Saturday, in Professor McGonagall's office."
"As long as you're not expelled." Ron was quite open-minded about it, "It's only docked points and detention, our house is already in last place; losing another hundred points isn't a big deal."
"The point isn't the points," Harry said, "It's that I have to go to Professor McGonagall's office every Saturday."
"So what, you… wait a minute." Suddenly, Ron realized something. "You mean, you have to be in detention every Saturday?"
"That's right."
"What about the last Quidditch match?" Ron asked hurriedly.
"I can't do anything about it." Harry shrugged.
"How can the Headmaster do this…" Ron was worried, "That's the match that determines whether we can win the Quidditch Cup!
"Can you go talk to him again? Maybe he'll agree to let you play the match."
"Stop talking nonsense, Ron." Hermione pushed him away, "Do you think the Headmaster's decisions are like your homework? Can they be changed just like that?"
"But Gryffindor hasn't won the Quidditch Cup in over a decade," Ron said weakly, looking at the ceiling, "This year is clearly the most hopeful year!"
"I still can't help it." Harry said with his head down,
"Let's not dwell on this for now," Hermione interrupted their lamenting, "How about that memory? Did you give it to Headmaster Dumbledore?"
"Of course, and it's thanks to you, Hermione, or I might not have gotten it." Harry said.
"That's because you already had the ability to persuade him," Hermione said, "Felix Felicis only helped you adjust the circumstances. If it were me or Ron, even if we drank a pint of Felix Felicis, we might not have gotten the memory from Professor Slughorn."
"But circumstances were exactly what I lacked," Harry said, "Anyway, I still need to thank you, and about the Felix Felicis, I'll find a way to return it to you."
"What are you talking about, there's no need for you to return it." Hermione said, "But what exactly was that memory?"
"That's what I was about to tell you." Harry suddenly glanced around, "Come with me."
He went to sit down by a row of armchairs in the corner of the common room, lowered his voice, and said, "Slughorn told Voldemort how to make a Soul Artifact."
"So it was really him?" Hermione covered her mouth, her face full of disbelief.
"Yes, it was him who told Voldemort that creating a Soul Artifact requires using murder to split one's soul."
After that, Harry told them everything he saw in the memory.
To be honest, the content of the memory was not much, just a conversation between Slughorn and a young Voldemort, about ten minutes or so.
But Dumbledore, after watching the memory, pondered for more than half an hour and then showed a... seemingly relieved and very excited expression.
After hearing Harry's account, Ron couldn't help asking, "You mean, Dumbledore seemed happy?"
"He seemed to be," Harry nodded, "He even muttered a few words to himself."
"What did he say?" Hermione asked in quick succession.
"Let me think..." Harry frowned, carefully recalling Dumbledore's appearance after he recovered.
"He said... 'This memory confirms my hypothesis, I guessed right, it's about to succeed... Tom, oh Tom, you surely didn't expect this.' Something like that."
"Who's this Tom?" Ron asked in confusion.
"That's Voldemort's name when he was young," Harry said, "I remember I told you before, Voldemort's original name was Tom Riddle."