"I have doubted his words, and I am very clear that not all prophecies can become established facts. If people need me to step forward, then I will step forward," Dumbledore said calmly.
"I have encountered him many times. His power is immense; almost no one in the entire Wizarding World is stronger than him. Even I dare not say that I am stronger than him, but in a true life-and-death battle, I could still narrowly prevail. There were three times when I almost killed him."
"But perhaps it really is fate's arrangement. Every time I felt I was about to succeed, a strange feeling would suddenly well up inside me and tell me, 'You cannot kill him, Albus. You cannot kill him.' Even when near death, Tom never showed any cowardice. I knew he was someone who feared death more than anything, yet the gaze he directed at me contained only mockery—a kind of mockery that made me feel afraid."
"His eyes were telling me that he knew very well that, no matter how strong I was, there was no way for me to kill him. But every time I fought him to the death, my body would grow weaker and weaker. He was proficient in all kinds of Dark Arts, and there were many obscure curses that simply had no cure; once infected, you were destined to carry them for life. The longer I remained entangled with him, the more I would lose the last bit of leverage I had to deter him."
There was not much resentment or unwillingness in Dumbledore's tone, only a faint sense of regret.
"From that time on, I began to notice Tom's uniqueness. During his studies at Hogwarts, he was constantly fishing for information from various Professors, inquiring about magic related to immortality. Clearly, he had already achieved significant results, or rather, had completely fulfilled his requirements."
"I hadn't thought about Horcruxes at the time. In the Wizarding World, the number of spells—whether righteous or evil—that could allow one to avoid death seemed few, but in reality, those that truly existed were very secretive. Given Tom's talent, I wouldn't even have been surprised if he had created such magic himself."
"So, I gave up on the plan to find a way to kill him with my own hands and instead turned to researching what kind of magic he had mastered that gave him such confidence."
"I didn't tell anyone about these matters, and only a few people within the Order of the Phoenix knew the truth. After Tom became certain that I truly had no way to deal with him, he became increasingly unscrupulous. It was at this time that your mother, Sally, came to find me privately."
"At the time, she was one of the few people who knew the inside story. She told me she had made a breakthrough in her research on soul magic and that there might be a chance to successfully kill him!"
"After all, most magic regarding immortality only acts upon the physical body; very few spells have a direct effect on the soul. Even when they do, once a problem occurs at the soul level, it causes irreversible damage."
"Your mother's talent in soul magic was the highest of any Wizard I have ever seen. After hearing her detailed preparations, I felt the plan was entirely feasible, but the only problem was that if an accident occurred, there would be basically no chance for Sally to return."
"At that time, your family had just begun to live a normal life. Your father came from a prominent Muggle family; to be with Sally, he defied his parents' wishes and ran away with her. You were also just over two years old. If she had an accident, a perfectly happy family would have been completely destroyed."
"I confirmed it with her many times and also tried to persuade her to let me take her place. I'm just an old man; even if I went and an accident happened, it wouldn't be a big deal in the end. Being able to drag Tom down to death with me would count as a final contribution to this world."
"But Sally had already made up her mind at that time. That magic was created by her; she herself was the most suitable caster. Moreover, if anything changed later and Tom was not killed as a result, I could still remain as the final reliance of the Wizarding World and think of other methods."
"I finally agreed to her request and created the opportunity for her to make this attempt, and her only requirement was that she did not want this matter to involve your father and you."
Sherlock held his breath; he could already guess what had happened afterwards.
"To protect your father, she altered his memories, making him believe that she had bewitched him with sorcery, deceived him, and caused him to hate her and despise all Wizards," Dumbledore said softly.(TN: A bit on the extreme end.)
"On the day your father left, she cried secretly all night. She had never said such things in front of me, but I knew she actually hated herself—hated herself for not being a good wife and not being a good mother."
"But some things must be done by someone. No one's life can be easily discarded, and no one's family can be easily torn apart. She believed that since she had this ability, she had to do it herself, rather than hiding behind others and waiting for them to risk their lives."
"Only I knew exactly what she wanted to do, but many people knew that she was going to do something. Before she left, she had only one request: that, no matter the outcome, we protect you well. She said the only motherly duty she could fulfil was to resolve the matter while she was still alive, so that it wouldn't continue until you grew up."
"Then she erased all memories of you and your father from her mind and, with the help of the opportunity we created for her, infiltrated the Death Eaters to approach Tom."
Sherlock took a deep breath.
"As a result, she failed?"
A strange expression appeared on Dumbledore's face.
"In the eyes of others, she failed. Tom showed no changes and was still acting recklessly in the Wizarding World. However, I knew the specific effect of her magic. Later, I saw Tom in person again; although he looked unchanged, I could tell that your mother's plan had worked."
"It was also at that time that I finally discovered that the immortality magic he relied on was actually Horcruxes. His soul was split; as long as one Horcrux remained, his main soul could be reborn no matter what damage it received. Even the Killing Curse, which directly targets the soul to cause death, could not kill him."
"But your mother must have discovered this as well at the time. She had the opportunity to kill Tom directly at the soul level once, but she knew that even if she killed him that way, it would be meaningless; Tom could still be resurrected."
"So she must have chosen another method: hiding inside Tom's main soul!"(TN: So, she is alive I guess?)