Chapter 253

"What is Rodolphus's conspiracy?" Harry couldn't help but ask. "Do you know?"

"What I definitely know is that Voldemort secretly rescued some core Death Eaters two years ago and replaced them with Muggles of similar build. In this way, they had plenty of time to erase all traces of Rodolphus, letting him execute that secret mission without anyone knowing," Snape said. "And from Grindelwald's memory, I guess he is active in Europe, connecting Grindelwald's former followers and calling himself an Acolyte. He seems to want to connect Grindelwald and Voldemort."

"When Grindelwald was active, he never called himself the Dark Lord, but Rodolphus insisted on calling him the first Dark Lord. This might be to let the Acolytes see Voldemort as his successor," Snape said, analyzing his own thoughts. "This way, as long as Grindelwald dies, the Death Eaters can get a batch of fresh troops."

"Now that Grindelwald is dead, where have these people gone?" Harry asked.

"These people have been collected under Rodolphus's command. Moreover, with the operation of these two years, he successfully became the headmaster of Durmstrang. Now his power cannot be underestimated," Snape took a breath. "The inside of the Death Eaters is not monolithic. Once Voldemort dies, each family will start to compete with each other."

"That is to say, we can provoke them to fight internally..." Harry's eyes lit up instantly.

"These can be discussed later, let's take a look at this painting," Snape uncovered the canvas, then nodded knowingly. "Neville killing Nagini, the concept is quite good, but there is a fatal flaw. Where are Deng Buliduo and Voldemort?"

"Uh, final battle in Trenzalore," Harry scratched his head. "Maybe the name of this painting can be changed to: Deng Buliduo and Voldemort's Final Battle in Trenzalore."

"This joke is not funny," Snape shook his head, then pointed at his own mind with his wand. "I can help you fill it in."

He extracted a wisp of silver silk and pointed it at the canvas. A lifelike Deng Buliduo appeared on the left side of the painting. A red light shot out from his wand. The red light and green light intersected. Along the green light, a ferocious bald head appeared on the right side of the painting. That was Voldemort.

Then, Snape rolled up his sleeves, used his wand to pick out a wisp of black smoke from his Dark Mark, pointed it at Voldemort, and then pressed the mark with satisfaction.

"Now, your lie has 99% credibility," he said. "I'm considering hanging this painting near the headmaster's office, replacing that silly Barnabas tapestry. By the way, what was its original name?"

Hogwarts Falls, or, Stop Here. Harry hesitated, because a painting can generally only have one name, so he said: "Hogwarts No Longer Falls."

"Very good, the students will like this name," Snape said slowly. "You can go back. If one day you decide to tell me the truth, I will be very happy to listen."

When Harry came out of the headmaster's office, it was already past breakfast time. However, Ron brought him a sandwich. This time the sandwich tasted quite good.

Besides the sandwich, there was also a letter. Harry glanced at the envelope; it was sent by Sirius. He opened the letter in the dormitory. There was only one sentence on it: Meet at the Three Broomsticks at one o'clock in the afternoon.

"Harry, what I'm about to say is very important," as soon as they met, Sirius said eagerly. "Let's go somewhere else to talk."

Harry obediently grabbed his arm. After Disapparating, they appeared in Grimmauld Place. Sirius took him into the old house of the Black family, then shouted: "Kreacher, stay in the kitchen and don't come out, and don't listen to our conversation."

After sitting down on the sofa, Sirius leaned forward, took a deep breath, and said: "I caught the Dire Wolf."

Harry nodded and looked at him expectantly.

"That girl, we found a strange musical instrument in her home, which revealed the secret of the Dire Wolf: she had undergone some kind of surgery and could split herself into two personalities. One of them is an ignorant Muggle, and the other personality hides all the secrets and the magic on her. Every time, it was the wizard personality casting the Imperius Curse in front of the mirror, briefly controlling the Muggle to act," Sirius said the unbelievable truth. "We controlled that wizard personality and used Veritaserum on her. It's terrible, it turns out the Doctor plan was a conspiracy from beginning to end."

"I already know. Freezing time, sealing Deng Buliduo and Voldemort, these were all within their plan. Barty Jr. told me."

"Barty Jr.?" Sirius was obviously a bit puzzled.

"You interrupted his recall ritual, he was trapped in that space-time forever," Harry said. "I was also trapped in it at the time, so he told me everything."

"Trapped there, right, the Dire Wolf also said so," Sirius nodded. "But how did you get out?"

"Zhang Qiu used some Chinese methods," Harry said. "The price is that she needs to be in a coma for one or two months. Now she is lying in the school hospital."

"She's a good girl," Sirius paused. "Right, I remember now, you told everyone that Voldemort and Deng Buliduo were sealed in that painting by you. Is this your way?"

"That's right, Grindelwald said in front of Renata that as long as the Death Eaters collect the Horcruxes and then destroy that painting, Voldemort can be resurrected," Harry said. "This is very exquisite, not only can it scare any foreign wizard with ulterior motives, but you can also pretend to still be loyal to Voldemort, and use this to openly inquire about and collect Horcruxes."

"This statement..." Sirius pondered. "Undoubtedly, Bellatrix is the one who is truly loyal to Voldemort, and I now command a large number of Death Eaters, and I can completely hold troops and pretend that I have the ambition to stand on my own. As long as the locket is still in my hands, she can only be coerced."

"Is the situation on the Death Eaters' side very complicated?" Harry asked.

"You could say that. Lucius must also be keeping some Horcrux, and he is the richest one. Voldemort has always had reservations about him, and he should also have the idea of standing on his own," Sirius said. "Bellatrix should also have at least one Horcrux, but she has nothing special, only Voldemort's favor."

"Now there is," Harry added. "Rodolphus is secretly active in Europe, luring a large group of Grindelwald's supporters to work for him. Now he is the headmaster of Durmstrang."

"Hiss..." Sirius revealed a solemn expression. "Oh right, and Snape, he is now the headmaster of Hogwarts, this greasy git."

"Perhaps the diadem Deng Buliduo found is in his hands," Harry suddenly remembered something. "Oh right, the ring Deng Buliduo already destroyed is with me, and Draco has a diary in his hand."

"Six pieces?" Sirius calculated. "Voldemort is quite superstitious about the number seven. Several times, in order to gather seven people at the dinner table, he didn't hesitate to let Crabbe and Goyle sit at the table, which means there is one more."

"Perhaps that is me," Harry pulled up his hair, revealing that scar. "Deng Buliduo told me that a small fragment of Voldemort's soul was attached to me. When I saw him at the final battle, perhaps he already knew about this."

"Then that's right, he only made one Horcrux after resurrecting, stored at Malfoy's," Sirius breathed a sigh of relief. "The next question is, how can we guess what the Horcruxes are, where they are hidden, and then steal them out."

"Or use some other means to make them willingly hand over the Horcruxes to Regulus Black," Harry suggested.

"You're right, now Regulus's role is greater than Sirius's. I will plan it well," Sirius nodded in agreement. "Since you already know everything from Barty Jr., I won't talk too much. Let me send you back first, you still have to prepare for the final exams."

Although Harry wanted to say he didn't need to take exams, he didn't refute. Sirius seemed to have some idea and was about to get busy.

A week later, under Snape's presiding, Deng Buliduo's funeral was held by the lake at Hogwarts. Every professor wore the most upright black formal wear, showing the most solemn expression. Snape combed his hair for a rare time. He led the students toward hundreds of chairs arranged in several rows.

On those chairs, quite a few people were already sitting. Every face Harry had seen in the Wizarding World could almost be found among them. Even Bellatrix was sitting next to Rodolphus, wearing a black veil—he came as the headmaster of Durmstrang.

Harry couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed: Was this Death Eater here to mourn Deng Buliduo, or to mourn their dark master?

The merpeople of the Black Lake made a melodious and ethereal funeral music. Hagrid walked slowly, holding a box. For some general public, the news released by the Ministry of Magic was that Deng Buliduo and Voldemort killed each other in a duel, but slightly better-informed wizards could hear the statement about the painting. McGonagall and the people of the Order of the Phoenix didn't cry. They perhaps still held a faint hope.

After the funeral, Harry took Sirius to Trenzalore. No one went to maintain that Pandora Magic Tower anymore, and they easily climbed to the top of the tower.

Sirius slowly put down a bouquet of flowers and said softly: "Is this Deng Buliduo's true burial place?"

Harry could no longer hold back his tears. For a moment, he even fooled himself. He felt that Deng Buliduo was sealed in the painting, and perhaps there was a possibility of rescuing him in the future. But when he stood here, in this familiar yet strange tower, Harry finally remembered that terrible fact: Deng Buliduo would never come back.

At this moment, he forgot all layouts and plans, just kneeling on the ground, sobbing and holding his head. This boy had too many identities in the Wizarding World and had prepared too many masks for this. But only here, Trenzalore, that burial place, Harry was truly Harry Potter, the kind, emotional, occasionally stubborn, not-so-smart Harry Potter.