Dumbledore considered Croaker in silence for a few moments. They were not friendly with each other, but Dumbledore respected his knowledge and did not ordinarily consider him an adversary.
"There are things that I am not at liberty to disclose, even to you," he said evenly. "Voldemort found a way to ensure a kind of immortality, and Harry Potter is an essential part of destroying him forever. That is all that I can safely tell you, and I must insist that you return Mr. Potter to my custody immediately. I am his rightful guardian, and I assure you that I harbor him no ill-will."
"Albus," Croaker growled, "you are speaking to the Head Unspeakable and the Director of the DMLE. We are obligated to protect the wizarding world even more so than you are, and you won't be seeing Harry Potter again until you come clean. I've never seen a successful attempt at immortality, and I need to know what you know. Immediately. If there is some new evil upon us, you don't have the right to keep that information to yourself."
Dumbledore sighed and removed his glasses. He rubbed his eyes wearily. He was going to have to give them something to regain their trust and get his hands on Harry.
"Very well. Before his first encounter with Mr. Potter, the Dark Lord discovered a dark ritual that would allow him to cheat death. He tried to use Mr. Potter's death as part of that ritual, but something went wrong and it ended up disembodying him. He had performed this ritual before, and it allowed him to survive his encounter with young Harry. I can say no more than that, other than it is imperative that you allow Mr. Potter to return to Hogwarts."
Amelia looked between Dumbledore and Croaker in confusion. This was not her area of expertise, and she wasn't sure what rituals Dumbledore might be referring to.
Croaker furrowed his brow in irritation. "Albus, I know more about dark rituals than most anyone in Britain, so there's no reason for you to be so tight-lipped. You said he planned to use the boy's death…you…you're not referring to horcruxes are you?"
The sudden dilation of Dumbledore's pupils gave Croaker his answer.
"Bloody hell, Albus," Croaker swore. "Are you joking? Your great sodding secret is that the Dark Lord created horcruxes?"
Dumbledore paled and responded earnestly. "That information must be considered top secret, Algernon. We cannot allow the existence of such a ritual to become public knowledge, or it would destroy us. I have searched out and destroyed all of the cursed artifacts that I could find. I have every hope that the next time the Dark Lord is killed, he will not be able to return."
Croaker looked at Dumbledore incredulously, wondering if he were serious.
"Albus," he said quietly. "I don't know how the Dark Lord managed to return, but if you think it's because he created horcruxes then you're just as insane as he is. They don't work."
This seemingly absurd claim left Dumbledore nonplussed. "I…I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean, Algernon. How can you say that horcruxes don't work, when obviously they do? The Dark Lord is among us again."
"Albus," Croaker replied with some heat, "what made you think that the Dark Lord had horcruxes in the first place? Explain."
"Well, Algernon," he retorted with some heat of his own, "aside from the fact that I've already destroyed several of the abominations, I know that he was trying to create one on that Halloween in 1981. I saw young Harry's memories of what happened that night."
Croaker digested this information for almost ten seconds before he responded.
"First, Albus, you are going to show us exactly what you know. I want to see those bloody memories, and I mean now. You don't know half what you think you do about the Dark Arts. I have spent 100 years researching every aspect of them, and let me assure you that horcruxes are not the reason that Voldemort has returned. They do not work, Dumbledore. If you had told me of your suspicions a decade go, I could have disabused you of your foolishness."
Dumbledore looked between his two guests in vexation, not used to being insulted with such impunity.
"I respect your acumen, Algernon, truly I do, but you give me too little credit. The horcrux ritual is an extraordinarily old and powerful piece of soul magic, and I went to great pains to discover information about it. Clearly your understanding of them is limited."
Croaker snorted at Dumbledore. "You bloody arrogant arsewipe," he nearly laughed. "If you're such an expert on the mysteries of magic, Albus, please tell me when and where the concept of the horcrux originated."
Dumbledore looked confused at why he was being asked such a question, but responded anyway. "Approximately 4,000 years ago in ancient Egypt, and I'll thank you to keep a civil tongue."
Croaker nodded in agreement. "That's right, Albus, that's right. Now permit me to ask you another question. Do you see any 4,000-year-old Egyptian Dark Lords running around?"
Dumbledore narrowed his eyes at Croaker, but didn't respond to the glib question.
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