After the match was over, Harry returned to the dormitory and became, quite literally, the hero of Gryffindor.
Not only had he led the team to victory, but he had single-handedly added 150 points to the house score by catching the Snitch.
Even Percy went so far as to tacitly approve of the boisterous party being held in the common room late into the night, which just went to show the mood.
Since the students were not of age, it was a party without even butterbeer, let alone beer, but the Gryffindor students were all enjoying themselves with joy.
The party finally came to a close as the time passed midnight and headed towards dawn.
Even Percy, who had been enjoying the party with a drink in one hand and an apple pie in the other, finally seemed to come to his senses and said to the students.
"Ah, ahem! Everyone, it's already past twelve o'clock! I won't tell you to go to bed right away, but let's start cleaning up and be considerate of those who want to sleep by lowering our voices! Remember that we have classes tomorrow!"
With those words, Percy, as if to set an example, finished the food in his hand and went straight to the bedroom.
But the Weasleys, who had seen the look of regret on his face as he entered the bedroom, snickered.
"Oh, poor Percy. Did you see that crestfallen face?"
"Of course. The sight of him, shackled by his position as prefect, looking so gloomy!"
Ron, whose face was still flushed red as if his excitement had not yet subsided, said to us.
"Percy pretends to be a stick-in-the-mud, but he actually likes to have fun! He's just been acting like that more since he became a prefect to save face."
Harry smiled and said.
"Why, maybe he was just really tired and went to bed? Hermione already went to sleep."
As he said, Hermione had already gone up to the girls' dormitory a long time ago, saying she had to prepare for tomorrow's classes.
Ron shook his head and refuted Harry's words.
"Nah, no way. You should have seen Percy's face. Besides, who would want to go to sleep already on a great day like this?"
"I was just thinking of heading back to bed with Aisen soon."
"What? No way! The hero of the day is going to bed already?"
Regardless of Ron's shock, Harry waved his hand and went up to the dormitory. I didn't have anything else to do either, so I was just thinking of going up to sleep.
After going up to the bedroom, I changed into my pajamas with a light snap of my fingers and got into bed. A boy's body certainly needs a lot of rest.
"Master."
Just as I was about to fall asleep, Harry called me quietly from his bedside.
"What is it?"
Seeing Harry glance around, I immediately cast a privacy charm.
Even if someone came right up to us, they wouldn't be able to hear our voices now.
Harry's green eyes sparkled as he said.
"Did you happen to see what happened earlier?"
"Of course I did. There probably wasn't a single person in the school who didn't."
"I mean, did you see me use magic?"
At those words, I let out a small laugh.
"Yes, it was a non-verbal spell, wasn't it? It wasn't perfect, but you did well."
I had thought that Harry would solve the problem himself, but I had never imagined he would just up and fire off a non-verbal Crucio.
Of course, considering Harry's situation at the time, it was a rather rational decision.
Harry's expression brightened at my praise, but then his face clouded over with worry again.
"But do you think any of the other professors saw me use the Cruciatus Curse?"
"So what if they did? In my day, there were professors who would have praised you for being so great."
Hearing my words, Harry squinted his eyes and looked at me. Right, right, it's the 20th century now.
"Don't worry. Unless it was Albus, even if they saw you use magic, they wouldn't have even imagined it was the Crucio."
For some reason, I thought I could hear Albus sobbing from one of the towers, but it must have been my imagination.
And most importantly, I had long since cleaned up any lingering traces of the spell.
Hearing my words, Harry was finally relieved.
"Master. But why do you think Quirrell was targeting me?"
I taught Harry the precious lesson I had learned.
"Harry, don't try to understand the reasons of people who attack you. In this world, there are more strange people than people with reasons. The heavier your name becomes, the more that will be the case."
And most people with a story to tell would be so scared when they were about to die at my hands that they would spill everything. So, you can just fight back first and find out later.
Hearing my teaching, Harry nodded his head in agreement.
"That's true. They attacked me first, so it's only natural that they should be the one to explain their reasons."
"If you're really curious about their background, it would be good to learn Legilimency."
"Legilimency? You mean the magic that reads minds?"
At my words, Harry showed interest and asked.
I thought for a moment about whether Harry could learn Legilimency now. Since Legilimency and Occlumency are fundamentally mental magics, if the young-minded Harry were to attempt it incorrectly, he could become a vegetable.
It was true that Harry's talent was outstanding, but even so, there were some concerns about teaching him mental magic right now.
"It might be a bit difficult right now, but if you seem ready next year, let's give it a try."
"Yes, alright!"
By next year, Harry will have already been through real combat. Perhaps Harry's mind, which will have been hardened through real combat experience, will be able to handle Legilimency.
Or we could postpone it a bit more.
More importantly, Christmas was just around the corner.
To be honest, I still don't really know why wizards celebrate Christmas so diligently. I've never seen a single wizard who believed in Christianity.
Let alone Christianity, there are probably more wizards who don't even know what the Bible is.
If a wizard were to see the Bible, they would probably think of Moses as a great archmage who parted the sea, and Jesus as a wizard who was good at turning water into wine with Transfiguration.
My personal opinion was that I was about half-sure that it all started when some wizard saw the Muggles having fun and decided to copy them.
In any case, even in the wizarding world, Christmas was a rather large holiday.
Perhaps for that reason, even at Hogwarts, they give a short break for Christmas. They go home for about a week for winter break.
I didn't really have anywhere to go, but I didn't want to just stay at Hogwarts either.
As I was having these thoughts, a letter flew to me.
After checking the sender of the letter, I was a little surprised and opened it.
—Sent by Nicolas Flamel.
I had sent him a letter a while ago when I had thought of him, but I hadn't really expected a reply.
I never thought he would remember a pen pal from a hundred years ago. Feeling a little touched, I unfolded the letter and read.
[To my dear Aisen Knightly.]
[Aisen, it is a great pleasure to receive your letter once again. The exchange of knowledge with you, who were so brilliant even as a child, was always a source of new inspiration for me. That is why I could not hide my sorrow when you suddenly disappeared ninety years ago.]
[And I never imagined that you would send me a letter again. I had already heard the general news about you from Albus. Magic is a truly capricious power, is it not? And ancient magic, even more so.]
[In any case, please enjoy the youth you have regained with joy. As a pioneer in that field, I can say that living younger than your age is not always a happy thing, but nevertheless, we always find joy in our lives.]
[But I digress. In that spirit, if you are amenable, may I invite you to my Christmas party this year? A reunion that transcends time is one of the many joys we can find, after all. Well then, I shall await your reply. —With sincerity, your old friend, Nicolas Flamel.]
After receiving the letter, I was filled with a nostalgic emotion that was hard to put into words for a while. It was as if I had returned to the 19th century for a moment.
At the same time, I also felt a little regretful that I hadn't sent a letter sooner.
Well, it should be fine since I've sent it now. In any case, I have a long life ahead of me, and old Mr. Nicolas can live forever with the Philosopher's Stone.
With a happy heart, I hurriedly wrote a reply.
It was decided that we would be going to France this winter.
"Mr. Nicolas Flamel?"
"Yes, Mr. Nicolas."
Harry, who had heard about Nicolas when we were talking about the Philosopher's Stone, said in surprise.
"You mean the person who made the Sorcerer's Stone?"
"That's right. He's probably the most skilled alchemist alive."
Though, I suppose it's possible that a once-in-a-generation genius who surpassed old Mr. Nicolas's six hundred years of achievements has appeared in the last hundred years.
Harry asked cautiously.
"Uh, but is it okay for me to go to a place like that too?"
"Don't worry about such things. Of course, Harry. You're my disciple, aren't you?"
Harry, who was only reassured after hearing my confirmation, nodded his head.
"Then shall we go to the Room of Requirement and pack our things first? We have to take Ardeura and Hedwig too. And Deek, of course."
After thinking for a moment, I shook my head.
"Ardeura and Deek said they're staying at Hogwarts. They said it's a hassle to go all the way to France."
There was a more important reason than that, and it was the little rat in a corner of the Room of Requirement. But there was no need to explain this.
"Ah... then it would be better to leave Hedwig behind, too."
"Right. If you're really worried, we could send her to the Black family and ask them to look after her."
Of course, I was joking, but Harry seemed to be seriously considering it.
Harry grinned and said.
"Then, since we'll be leaving Hogwarts tomorrow, how about we go for one last 'stroll' before we go?"
Of course, I was not one to refuse.
"Alright. Is there anywhere you want to go?"
"Well, anywhere would be fine, wouldn't it?"
And we immediately put it into action.
Harry put on the Invisibility Cloak, and I covered my body with an Invisibility Charm, and we left the dormitory.
Hermione, who was reading a book in the common room, tilted her head, but at her level, she couldn't see through the Invisibility Charm.
At the thought of leaving Hogwarts for a while, I gave Harry a detailed tour.
Specifically, we started from the kitchen and worked our way up, and I was explaining the various secret passages.
"If you tickle this, you can go to the kitchen."
"Wow, so Hogwarts has a kitchen."
"Of course. There's no magic to create food."
Then, at some point, I realized that I couldn't hear Harry's voice.
"...Harry?"
Oh dear, how could I have missed such a simple fact.
If we had been under the same Invisibility Cloak, it would have been different, but a situation where one person is using an Invisibility Charm and the other is using an Invisibility Cloak was an environment where it was very easy to lose each other.
If I just went back to the Gryffindor dormitory, Harry would probably come back soon, but that would be too irresponsible.
After thinking for a moment, I waved my wand to find Harry's tracks.
As I used the tracking spell, Harry's footprints shone with a yellow light.
No matter how much of a Deathly Hallow the Invisibility Cloak is, all it does is make the user invisible.
I followed the direction the footprints were pointing.
After going up one or two more flights of stairs, the footprints finally ended.
"Harry, are you there?"
I heard Harry's startled voice.
"Master! Where did you go?"
"I think that's my line."
But that was brief. Harry rattled the old door in front of him and asked me.
"What do you think is in here?"
"Well. If my memory serves me right, that was just a storeroom."
Of course, that was the Hogwarts of a hundred years ago, so there was a high possibility that it was being used for a different purpose now.
"We'll know if we go in, won't we?"
Shrugging, we opened the door, and inside, we were met with a single mirror.
The very mirror with the strange English written on it.