Scarlet spent aire day p over the report Alexis had left behind. That blonde girl had departed with a dreamy expression, clearly still lost ihrill of watg Scarlet’s impromptu cospy performance.

  Scarlet, however, had more serious matters to sider: 7 Horcruxes.

  1 on Harry’s scar, which she o deal with carefully. It might be useful as a tracker to find the others, so for now, it would stay where it was.

  1 on Rowena Ravencw's Diadem, already eliminated.

  1 on a diary, currently in the possession of Lucius Malfoy. He was set to subtly slip it into Ginny Weasley’s belongings during her school supplies shopping trip before the erm started.

  Scarlet wondered whether she should intervene by Ginny a stack of fanotebooks in exge for the diary...or, it would be more effit te a business meeting with the Malfoys and simply steal it.

  She put the thought aside for now and tinued down the list.

  1 on Sazar Slytherin's Locket, currently in the care of Kreacher, the Bck family’s house-elf. It was a keepsake frulus Bck, who had stolen it from a cave, a potoriously difficult to reach. The cave held a ke, and on an isnd in its tre stood a stone basin filled with a potion cealing the locket. The potion couldn’t be removed by normal means - it had to be drunk to access the Horcrux. The ke itself was filled with Inferi, reanimated corpses trolled by dark magic, lying in wait beh the water for anyone who disturbed the Horcrux.

  Scarlet tapped her fingers lightly on the desk as her eyes lingered on those words. Neancy was a magic the Queen loathed, as it robbed people of their right to die in peace. Scarlet suspected that the souls of the victims were trapped iwisted corpses. As the Queen’s priestess, it was her duty to set them free. She decided this would be her mission during the summer holiday, her Easter break was already dedicated to the ritual for Neville’s parents.

  As for the locket, she could ask Sirius Bck for it before setting out for the cave. Perhaps she could bring Kreacher along as a guide, since he khe way.

  1 on Helga Hufflepuff's Cup, currently locked away irix Lestrange’s vault. Breaking into the vault seemed impossible. Maybe Professor Dumbledore would have a solution for retrieving it?

  1 on Marvolo Gaunt's Ring, a g with a bck stohat had once beloo the dark wizard’s maternal grandfather. Scarlet had no idea where the ruins of the Gaunt family shack were, and Alexis couldn’t remember the locatioher. However, acc to Alexis, Professor Dumbledore knows about the dark wizard’s past as Tom Riddle, so the old wizard would likely be able to track it down. No worries there.

  That left just one more.

  Nagini, the dark wizard’s pet snake, had been made a Horcrux after he escaped from Quirrell’s head and regained a body with Peter Pettigrew’s help. However, with Pettigrew now in Azkaban and the fragment in Quirrell already elimihere was no longer a Horcrux on Nagini.

  2 down, 5 to go.

  Scarlet leaned ba her chair, her mind ing. Now, how am I going to expin all of this to Professor Dumbledore? And more importantly, how could I vince him that I am fully capable of hunting down the remaining Horcruxes?

  She couldn’t cim to be a Seer. She already carried too many roles on her shoulders, and if she were in the headmaster’s shoes, it would look highly suspicious...Okay, Alexis would be the Seer. Scarlet made the happy decision, and her proposal-writi so smoothly that she skipped her night training and fi the same day.

  Finally, she colpsed onto her bed, filled with hope that Professor Dumbledore would grant her permission soon.

  However, when Alexis heard the pn the day, she looked shocked and nervous.

  They were sitting beside the ke. The cold had started to ease, with snow beginning to melt, and students were scattered around, enjoying the day. Scarlet and Alexis sat under a tree, appearing to have a piic. Many students waved to Scarlet from afar, but none approached, assuming she was scribbling away w on her novel. In fact, almost half of Hogwarts was eagerly awaiting her book, and they were delighted to see her hard at work. Some even thought she was getting inspiration from the ransfer girl.

  Alexis kept her voice low, despite the distaween them and everyone else. “But I’m not a Seer! He’ll totally figure it out the moment he sees me.”

  “He won’t. Seers are rare.”

  “But Sybill Trewney is like, a legit Seer! Just look at her, and then look at me. Of course, he’ll know I’m not one!”

  “There’s no rule saying a Seer has to look like Professor Trewney. Besides, yift’ is far more extraordinary than the average Seer,” Scarlet whispered. “You’re a Seer who dreamt about a boy, and you saw his future in the form of books and films. You’ve been having these dreams for years, which led you to transfer here because the dreams disturbed you so much.”

  Alexis gasped as Scarlet tinued, “You were so scared, and that’s why you’ve been ag strangely since you arrived at Hogwarts. And you got even more nervous when you realised things werely as you’d dreamt, for example, the much more handsome version of Professor Snape.” Scarlet winked.

  Alexis’s face flushed with embarrassment, but Scarlet pressed oually, you had a mental breakdown. You didn’t know what to do, so you sought me out. I’ll take you to Professor Dumbledore, where you’ll reveal your Seer ability by sharing things only he would know.”

  Scarlet stopped scribbling for a moment, not writing but sketg the view of the ke. “There’s a good ce he’ll believe you. Of course, I ’t guara 100%. After all, we’re both underage, and if he’s responsible, he’ll try to keep us out of danger. Well, except for Harry, of course, because he’s the protagonist.”

  Alexis looked Scarlet up and down, as if seeing her in a new light. “That’s like, su impressively detailed and believable story. No wonder you’re a .”

  “I’m fttered,” Scarlet grinned. “So, what say you?”

  “t me in. But I’ll need some time to, like, mentally prepare,” Alexis sighed, “I’m about to present myself to the mastermind of like, half the fanfics I’ve read. You ’t bme me for being totally chi.”

  “He’s a kind and funny old man, though not that funny when we’re alone for...obvious reasons. What makes you thihreatening?” Scarlet asked, her curiously piqued.

  “Not me, but those fanfic authors,” Alexis shrugged. “Some of them bme him for all the crazy stuff Harry went through. Others hold him responsible for like, a ton of the deaths. And some are just grossed out by how he maniputes Harry’s trust, thinking he seems all ni the outside but is totally cold on the inside – like how he even pnned Harry death and his own just to take down his oppo. I don’t like the sad, angsty fanfics, though. I always look for the funny and happy ones, so I’m irely sure why they portray him like that...These are just my guesses.”

  “And I’m still totally vinced we’re in some kind of fanfiiverse!” Alexis whispered. “Who knows if this version of Dumbledore isn’t the same kind of mastermind that I’ve read about.”

  “Well, from what I’ve seen so far, he’s reliable,” Scarlet reassured her.

  “Okay, sensei, I’m trusting you in this,” Alexis said, grabbing Scarlet’s arm dramatically. “And I’m so ting on you if anything goes wrong.”

  Scarlet rolled her eyes and shot back, “Just shut up.”

  Qiya