The Admiral of Hogwarts

The morning after Mrs. Weasley's visit, Hugo and his two companions finished breakfast and each dragged a suitcase towards their destination on the other side of the city.

Grimmauld Place was located in a dilapidated area of London, so there weren't many people around. For safety, Hugo and the others got off the bus one stop away from Grimmauld Place.

After confirming that there were no suspicious people around, the three of them quickly checked each other's disguises, and then dragged their suitcases towards their target destination.

"Do you think our disguises are a bit much?" Hermione, sporting blonde hair, said as she walked along the sidewalk. "This place probably isn't that dangerous, is it?"

The three of them were now wearing slightly hip-hop-style hooded sweatshirts, looking like students on vacation together. They had seen several young people dressed like this on the bus.

"You're right, the situation probably isn't that dangerous now," Veneto nodded, saying. "But we've already entered a state of war, so we should hold ourselves to wartime standards—ah, we're here. This should be it."

"This place looks pretty run-down," Hermione said, looking around after Veneto, who was walking in the front, stopped.

Her assessment was accurate. The houses around the square were all dilapidated, some with broken windows that gleamed dully in the sunlight.

Paint was peeling off many doors, and the front steps of several houses were piled with garbage. A pungent, rotten smell emanated from the bulging garbage bags in the dilapidated doorways.

The three of them stood in the square, recalling the contents of Dumbledore's note. Just as they thought of number 12 Grimmauld Place, a dilapidated door suddenly appeared out of nowhere between numbers 11 and 13.

Then dirty walls and gloomy windows appeared, as if an extra house had suddenly expanded, squeezing the things on both sides apart. Finally, a very old-looking house appeared there.

"Who is it?" An alert voice came from inside as they walked up the dilapidated stone steps, grabbed the silver door knocker in the shape of a coiled serpent, and knocked on the old door, its black paint peeling and covered with scratches.

Hugo recognized Mrs. Weasley's voice from her visit to the Hood family yesterday. Clearly, as the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, this place was not only protected by various magical enchantments but also guarded by very vigilant people.

"We are Vittorio Veneto, Hermione Granger, and Hugo Granger," Veneto said, walking up the steps to the door. He then spoke towards the wooden door.

"Come in," Mrs. Weasley said, opening the door after Hugo and the others gave their names. "Headmaster Dumbledore is waiting for you in the room."

No wonder Mrs. Weasley seemed so relaxed when she asked the question just now. After all, Headmaster Dumbledore was in the room, and nothing could be safer than that.

After entering, the group quickly took off their wigs and removed the colored contact lenses they were wearing. Then, they followed Mrs. Weasley into a somewhat dimly lit room.

"Your vigilance is much better than my children's. No wonder Moody said that you could become Aurors," Mrs. Weasley said as she led the way. "By the way, you should stick close to me and don't touch anything."

As soon as Hugo entered the dark hall, he smelled a damp, dusty odor, mixed with a sweet, rotting smell.

The further they walked into the house with Mrs. Weasley, the stronger the smell became, giving the impression that this place was an empty house that had been abandoned for a long time.

The entire hall was long, in a standard Victorian residential style. From the peeling wallpaper and the threadbare carpet, one could faintly see the former glory of this house.

A cobweb-covered chandelier flickered overhead, and some portraits, darkened by age, hung crookedly on the walls.

Hugo heard what sounded like small animals scurrying behind the baseboards. The chandelier overhead and the candelabra on a rickety table nearby were both shaped like large snakes.

"You're here early. Everyone is usually busy during the day, so they may only gather in this room at night," Mrs. Weasley said as she led the two people into the room.

"Because the Black family are all Slytherins, this house is full of pure-blood-style things, which makes people feel a little uncomfortable, but the Headmaster thinks this is a very good place, so we can only be here."

"Honestly, this place hasn't been lived in for more than ten years. Although I've been cleaning this room with the children, the condition of the entire house is still not optimistic."

"—Alright, the Headmaster is inside. You can go in," Mrs. Weasley said, leading Hugo and the others to the kitchen door. "I'm going upstairs to clean up your rooms now. You can go in by yourselves."

"Good morning, Headmaster," Hugo said as he walked into the kitchen. Hugo saw Headmaster Dumbledore sitting by the fireplace reading a book. Hearing the sound of the door opening, the Headmaster put down the book and looked up.

"It's good to see you, Miss Veneto, Miss Granger, and Mr. Granger," Dumbledore closed the book and placed it on the nearby table. "I didn't expect you to arrive so early—"

"Alright, I saw in the information you sent that you were bringing me something important. Can I see what it is specifically?" After a few pleasantries, Professor Dumbledore quickly got to the point.

"Of course, Veneto found this in the Room of Requirement at school, so it has now returned to its original owner," Hugo said, opening the suitcase next to him and taking out the silver box, handing it over.

"This is—" Hugo saw an expression of surprise on Dumbledore's face across from him. Clearly, as the Headmaster of Hogwarts, he would not mistake the relics of the school's four founders.

"If our previous judgment is correct, this thing is Ravenclaw's diadem, which was stolen by Ravenclaw's daughter and then disappeared," Hugo explained to Dumbledore, who was holding the diadem.

"When we first discovered it, there was some kind of obscure evil entwined around this thing. After everyone checked it, we confirmed that it was someone's Horcrux."

"Horcrux!" Hearing Hugo say this, Dumbledore, who was holding the diadem, trembled and drew his wand. However, before he could cast a spell, he heard Hugo continue.

"The piece of soul inside has been completely destroyed, and the diadem has been repaired at the same time," Hugo said, taking out a milky white crystal and placing it on the table. Then, he said,

"The person who destroyed the Horcrux asked us to give this to you and asked us to tell you that this Horcrux should be one of the Horcruxes of the newly resurrected Voldemort—"

"I understand," Dumbledore said after hearing Hugo's words, picking up the milky white crystal and sensing it. "No wonder—"