Chapter 202. Heavy Workload
"There is one more matter, Professor Wesson," Dumbledore's expression suddenly grew serious. "I have received some relatively reliable information—about Lord Voldemort."
Adrian Wesson, hearing this, grew alert at once.
"Voldemort's main soul is probably hiding in a forest in Albania," Dumbledore said gravely. "However, because of the Horcruxes, even if we know where he is, it's useless. So long as the Horcruxes are not all destroyed, even if he dies for the time being, he will return."
Wesson nodded.
A forest in Albania—this location happened to coincide with his earlier guess.
That place was probably special to Voldemort, and familiar as well.
"And what's worse," Dumbledore shook his head, "is that the number of Horcruxes he created may exceed what we imagined."
"How should we respond, Professor Dumbledore?" Wesson asked.
Dumbledore's deep gaze met Wesson's eyes. "I will find a way. But, Wesson, I need you to promise me one thing—if you obtain another of Voldemort's Horcruxes, hand it over to me at once rather than acting on your own, as you did this time."
Wesson shrugged—he feared this was a promise he would find hard to keep.
Voldemort's Horcruxes were important to him.
Oh, to be precise, the fragments of Voldemort's soul were important to him.
"If I run into one again, I will do that, but…" Wesson said, "this time was entirely an accident. I don't know the locations of the artefacts that contain his soul."
"I only said if," Dumbledore went on. "They are extremely dangerous."
"All right." Wesson nodded his assent.
After that, Dumbledore left at once.
Wesson, however, was puzzled.
He did not know why Dumbledore would warn him not to handle Horcruxes on his own.
Could Dumbledore know that he would encounter Voldemort's Horcruxes again in the future?
Even so, even if Wesson did not hand the Horcruxes over to Dumbledore afterwards, he would treat them with far greater caution.
He had already paid enough of a price in the diary incident this time.
Indeed, anything connected with Voldemort demanded the utmost caution.
Back in his own office, Wesson unsealed the notebook he used to sort his memories and added a few more lines.
He could not recall many details, but he knew the general arc of the original plot.
Unfortunately, because of the time that had passed, those memories had lain dormant in the depths of his mind.
He could only keep recalling, bit by bit, to sort them out.
Lately, the memories had grown a little clearer.
Two of Voldemort's Horcruxes had already been dealt with: the diary, and Ravenclaw's diadem.
As for the rest—Gaunt's ring seemed likely to be found later by Dumbledore; Slytherin's locket seemed to be with a House-elf named Kreacher for the moment; as for Hufflepuff's cup, he really could not remember where it was.
And Nagini—at this point in time she should not yet have become a Horcrux.
Oh, and lastly there was Harry Potter, who had been by his side all along.
At this thought, Wesson sighed.
It could only be said: the workload was heavy.
Morning.
Today was the second day of the summer holidays. Wesson woke in the bedroom on the second floor above his own shop, and for a moment he still hadn't quite got used to it.
He changed slowly and went downstairs, to find Lupin already on duty early.
Lupin was standing beside the table, absorbed in reading a letter. Five or six unopened letters and a copy of the Daily Prophet were scattered on the table.
Hearing footsteps, he looked up and gave a weary smile. "Good morning, Wesson."
"Looks like you're very busy today."
Wesson walked to the table and took the Daily Prophet he subscribed to.
In passing, he glanced at the letters on the table. They were all names he didn't recognise; apparently they were addressed to Lupin. "Run into some trouble?" Wesson asked with concern as he opened the Daily Prophet.
Ordinarily, Lupin did not receive so many letters.
Lupin folded the letter in his hand and slipped it into his pocket, forcing a wan smile. "Nothing major, just… letters from some old friends."
Wesson glanced again at the letters on the table. "Oh? Seems you've quite a lot of friends."
Lupin gave an embarrassed little laugh.
Wesson asked no more. He waved his wand, prepared a cup of self-brewing coffee for himself, and sat down to read the paper.
A moment later, Wesson closed the paper and muttered, "How interesting. Umbridge…"
He looked over at Lupin, who was standing nervously off to the side, watching Wesson with a complicated expression.
It was no wonder Lupin was so on edge.
Today's Daily Prophet carried a very bad piece of news for him—Umbridge had drafted an Anti-Werewolf Legislation bill.
It read: Senior Undersecretary to the Minister for Magic Dolores Umbridge today drafted Anti-Werewolf Legislation. If the bill passes, werewolves would not be permitted to hold any job in the wizarding world. The werewolf community has expressed strong protest…
Wesson, for his part, felt the bill would not pass; otherwise, those desperate and cornered werewolves might well resort to some extreme measures against Umbridge.
Still, since the news had already been printed in the paper, it would more or less affect the werewolf community in the wizarding world.
After all, werewolves were unpopular to begin with.
But this did not much matter to Wesson, since he had only Lupin, a single werewolf, under him; it would not affect him.
Thus Wesson skimmed a few more pages of the Daily Prophet and set it aside.
"I have a piece of news, Lupin," Wesson said suddenly.
Lupin had just let out a small breath, but at hearing Wesson call to him, his heart leapt again.
"What is it?" he asked, trying to sound calm.
"I've hired a new employee," Wesson took a light sip of coffee. "It's a…"
"—!"
Lupin's eyes went a little wide. His face blanched at once, and he said in disbelief, "I've been dismissed?"
At his reaction, Wesson was momentarily taken aback.
Then Wesson couldn't help but laugh. "Relax, Lupin. I didn't mean that. You know I don't discriminate against werewolves—otherwise I wouldn't have kept you working here for so long."
Lupin was instantly relieved, as if a heavy burden had been lifted.
However, he quickly realised something, and looked at Wesson in shock. "Wait—you've always known I'm a werewolf?"
"I thought it was obvious," Wesson shrugged and waved a hand casually. "There's always one day every month you take off, and after your leave you look completely drained… I'm not a fool, Lupin."
Lupin's expression shifted from shock to bitterness. With a wry shake of the head, he said, "That's also why I was so down-and-out before. That's how it is with werewolves—it's hard for us to find a respectable job."
"These letters," he added helplessly, "are from some werewolf friends I know. They've all lost their jobs. A real pity—they're all good lads."
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