Chapter 203: Reduction and Exit

Although Ivan himself would never use this dark magic, this book was very informative, and the dark magic recorded in it inspired him greatly.

In addition to the Horcruxes and the three unforgivable curses, there was other dark magic that Ivan had never heard of before. Now, with this book, Ivan knew exactly how to deal with them if Voldemort or one of his followers ever used them.

He read some more and then lifted his head.

He suddenly remembered that this was not the time for leisurely reading. Dumbledore and Sirius would be back soon, so he didn't have much time left.

They won't let him touch these books of dark magic, especially "The Secrets of the Darkest Art" in his hand which also contained the method for making Horcruxes.

He couldn't read it there, he had to take these books of dark magic with him and study them thoroughly when no one was there.

Ivan frowned at the books of dark magic in front of him. They were too large and thick to carry easily.

Hiding and carrying 'Secrets of the Darkest Art' was difficult enough. It should be impossible to take all the other books with him, but he had to find a way.

The best method would be the space-widening Undetectable Extension Charm. Using it on a backpack or handbag allows one to put things they need to carry with them, regardless of size or weight.

However, this spell was very complicated and extremely difficult to use. Ivan had tried it several times before, but was unsuccessful. It should be impossible for him to do it in a hurry.

He thought for a moment and took out his wand.

Since the Undetectable Extension Charm shouldn't work, he was going to use the Reduction Charm.

A few days ago, when he met Aragog in the Forbidden Forest, Ivan originally intended to use this spell, but it was unsuccessful at the time.

When he returned to the castle, he practiced it many times and mastered it completely.

"Reducius!", At Ivan's word, the wand glowed purple. The heavy, thick magic book on his knees quickly shrank to half the size of the palm of his hand.

Ivan nodded with satisfaction and looked at it. The actual size of this book was very small, but its weight had not changed. If it weren't for the Reducio enchantment, it would be hard to believe that this kind of pocket-sized magic book would have that weight.

He put the shrunken Secrets of the Darkest Art on his arm, and then selected a few magic books to shrink until he couldn't hold it any longer.

Shortly after Ivan finished, Sirius returned with Dumbledore.

Dumbledore was wearing a long black traveling cloak, had the Slytherin medallion in his hand, and a serious look on his face like never before.

"Professor, we just heard Kreacher say..." said Hermione.

"Regulus is in that cave, and we have to...," said Harry.

Seeing Dumbledore, Harry and Hermione ran over, spoken at the same time.

Ivan also walked slowly and stood next to Sirius. He was afraid of going too fast, and letting the magical books hidden in his arms fall out of his arms.

"Harry, Hermione, I know, Sirius told me everything on the way." Even though he was talking to Harry and Hermione, Dumbledore's eyes were fixed on Ivan. His light blue eyes were full of scrutiny. He said slowly, "To tell you the truth, I didn't expect you to discover and destroy this thing."

"It was just a coincidence. The Slytherin emblem on this locket was so striking that I was curious enough to pick it up and look at it. I wasn't expecting..." said Ivan.

"And then, you kept the Basilisk's fang, that's an amazing coincidence, Ivan!" Dumbledore handed the locket back to Ivan, "But I have to thank you, thanks to all your coincidences and efforts, the locket has been thoroughly destroyed, and the things inside are completely gone."

Ivan stepped back half a step and hung the locket around his neck.

Looking at Dumbledore's wrinkled face, he wasn't sure if he had noticed anything. Under Dumbledore's gaze, Ivan had the feeling that there was nowhere to hide, that all his secrets were known.

Without speaking, he seemed to have seen the books of dark magic hidden in his arms.

"I don't understand, Professor." Harry's expression was confused. He and Hermione couldn't understand what Dumbledore was telling Ivan. "What is this locket? Why does Voldemort want to hide it? And why did Regulus also secretly replace it?"

"Like last year's diary, this is a Dark Magic item made by Tom Riddle himself. It's very bad and very important. Tom probably never thought Regulus would take it from the cave under his nose." There seemed to be a hint of disappointment in Dumbledore's tone. "In my opinion, he had blind confidence in his defensive magic. He didn't think Kreacher would come out of the cave. He had always been like that and never wanted to pay attention to such things."

"Professor, what is this locket?" asked Hermione.

"If I'm not mistaken, it should be a Horcrux," Dumbledore said.

"Horcrux?!", Harry's face was even more confused, and he turned his head to look at Hermione.

Hermione shook her head and didn't know what a Horcrux was. She hadn't even heard of it before.

Unlike them, Ivan was genuinely surprised. He hadn't expected Dumbledore to say it outright. He thought he would keep it a secret.

It seemed that after seeing Tom Riddle's Diary and the Slytherin Locket, Dumbledore had confirmed that Voldemort had made Horcruxes. Or maybe he told him because he had a new plan.

As for Sirius, after hearing Dumbledore's words, his face turned pale. Although he had his own speculations about the locket before, he never imagined that this thing would be a Horcrux.

Sirius had heard of this ancient and evil magic.

Although the specific use of the Horcrux was unknown, there was no doubt that it was very important.

No wonder Regulus would rather lose his life to steal it from Voldemort.

Thinking about what his brother had done, Sirius, who was originally grieving, had an infinity of pride well up inside him, and he felt proud of Regulus.

"Professor..." Harry insisted, he wanted to know what the Horcrux was.

But Dumbledore didn't seem to want to answer this question. He looked at Kreacher and continued. "I just heard Sirius say that this locket was originally hidden in a cave by Tom Riddle. I want to go to that cave and take a look; there may be clues there, would you like to help us, Kreacher?"

"Yes, sir," Kreacher answered hoarsely in a bullfrog voice. "Kreacher is willing to take you to the cave. But Master Regulus..."

"We will bring Regulus back." Dumbledore looked at Kreacher. "No doubt, he is a hero and deserves to be honored as such."

"Wait, Professor, we're coming too" Harry said quickly, no longer asking what a Horcrux was.

He was afraid of saying too much and losing the opportunity to accompany Dumbledore.

"I can take the three of you together." Dumbledore's eyes wandered between them and finally settled on Ivan. "But you must promise me that you will keep the secret before I agree. You can't tell anyone else, including Mr. Weasley, okay?"

Ivan nodded; Hermione hesitated, then nodded as well.

"We can't even tell Ron?" Harry looked a little hesitant.

"Of course," Dumbledore said.

They looked at each other for a moment, and Harry nodded. "All right, Professor."

"Very well, I think we can go now." Dumbledore turned around and pulled out his wand.