After the Malfoy family departed.
The Weasley family looked on proudly as Arthur wore a thoroughly refreshed smile.
Later, an elated Arthur offered to treat all of us to an expensive meal, only to balk at the prices on the menu, but it was no great matter.
Percy, who joined us midway through the meal, remarked with a smile, "Father's standing at the Ministry is on the rise thanks to this recent emergency search operation. It should help when I apply for a job there in the future."
Hearing this, whether out of pride as the man of the house or something else, Arthur paid the bill with a strained smile, trying his best to appear cool as he left.
After the meal was over, Ron said his goodbyes with a look of regret.
"It's a shame. It would've been great if you could have come to visit the Burrow."
"Haha, we had a lot to do this holiday. It would've been a bit difficult to make it all the way out to the Burrow."
And with that, the Weasley family returned home via Floo powder.
"Harry, Aisen, Hermione. We'll see you on September 1st."
The Grangers watched in fascination as the Weasleys took a handful of Floo powder and stepped into the fireplace one by one.
Once the last of the Weasleys had vanished, the Grangers and we walked out of the Leaky Cauldron's exit together.
If it had just been us, we could have simply Apparated back to the hotel, but with Hermione watching, we decided to return the Muggle way for a change.
"Meow!"
A cat's cry came from the carrier Hermione was holding.
Incidentally, she had named him Crookshanks.
"I can't believe we're getting a cat. There's going to be fur all over the car," Mr. Granger grumbled at the sight of Crookshanks, revealing they had driven their own car.
A moment later, he started the engine of a rather handsome car parked near the Leaky Cauldron and asked us, "Aisen, Harry. Where do you two need to go?"
From his tone, it seemed he wanted to give us a ride, but I politely declined.
"We live in London, so we're planning to take a taxi."
It seemed he was trying to be nice to his daughter's first wizarding friends, but considering my mental age, it was honestly a bit burdensome.
Hearing this, Hermione's eyes sparkled as she asked, "Is it anywhere near King's Cross Station?"
"It's not too far. About a twenty-minute drive?"
"You have to invite me over sometime. I want to see Ardeura."
"Not today, but later. We have things to do today."
***
That evening. The Savoy Hotel, London.
"Fall in."
At my command, Albus Dumbledore stood ramrod straight, his hands clasped behind his back and his feet shoulder-width apart.
The sight of a small child sitting with his legs crossed before a standing old man couldn't have been more subversive, but I had my reasons.
"Albus. Explain."
"My decision to appoint Gilderoy Lockhart as the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor was prompted by something strange I noticed during recent meetings with some acquaintances. They were wizards I was close with, and…"
"Too long. Just the key points."
"To summarize, Lockhart is stealing the achievements of other wizards."
What. Wasn't that a bit too summarized? How on earth did that lead to him being appointed as a professor? Or was being a criminal a prerequisite for the Defence Against the Dark Arts position? If so, wouldn't it have made more sense to just hire Voldemort himself?
"…A little more detail."
"The achievements recorded in Lockhart's autobiography were, in fact, stolen from others. It is presumed that after hearing of the accomplishments of those who shun the magical society's spotlight, he uses a Memory Charm on the victims to erase their memories of said accomplishments."
Albus then listed the information he had gathered on Lockhart, such as how he'd grown suspicious when a friend couldn't recall his own achievements, only to investigate and find them detailed in one of Lockhart's books.
I clicked my tongue as I listened.
I had expected him to be a fraud, but I never imagined he would be a full-fledged criminal. I had assumed he was just a braggart who genuinely believed the stories in his novels were his own, or a con man who pretended they were for personal gain. Who would have thought that someone with such a gift for writing would use it to steal the deeds of others?
And yet, there was certainly something extraordinary about it.
The Memory Charm, Obliviate, is an extremely delicate and difficult spell. While it can be cast quite simply if the memory to be erased is small, it becomes exponentially harder the longer the memory's duration. For example, even Harry could easily erase the few minutes of memory Filch had of encountering us in the middle of the night after hearing a cat's meow.
But to erase a memory that spanned years, like the achievements Lockhart had stolen, and to excise it so cleanly from someone's mind that they felt no sense of incongruity while leaving all other memories intact—that was an incredible feat. It was akin to a surgeon successfully performing a complex cancer operation.
So, he did have at least one trick up his sleeve.
I nodded and said, "I see. If he can perform Memory Charms with that level of precision, he must possess a certain degree of magical skill. Of course, Albus. You intended to teach the students Memory Charms to use against Dark Wizards."
Blink, blink. Albus's eyes blinked at my words.
"Sunbae-nim, what did you say?" (TN: Sunbae-nim is a formal honorific for a senior in a school or workplace.)
"I mean, isn't that why you brought in a specialist—to teach the students Memory Charms? And thanks to the jinx on the position, you can dispose of him naturally after a year. You're squeezing him for all he's worth."
Truly, Albus. He hadn't wasted the last hundred years; when it came to this sort of scheming, he was a step above me.
As I was admiring Albus, I noticed beads of sweat trickling down from his snow-white hair for some reason.
"Sunbae-nim, that's not it. If I let him roam free, he could harm other wizards, so to gather concrete evidence…"
"If that's not it, surely you didn't grant a criminal a teaching position just to properly apprehend him? It's not as if you think of a Hogwarts professorship as some kind of holding cell."
*If that were the case, you would have died by my hand today, haha.*
Seeing my smiling face, Albus smiled back.
"Ha, haha. Of course, Sunbae-nim."
Watching us laugh together, it seemed this coming year at Hogwarts was destined to be just as eventful as ever.
***
Before long, the summer holiday was drawing to a close.
In other words, there wasn't much time left to train outside of Hogwarts.
I was focused on researching the uses of the Philosopher's Stone, while Harry was mastering Occlumency and Legilimency.
"Good, Harry. Focus your mind just like that. Think of it as building a barrier around your head. A barrier filled with serenity."
After nearly two months of practicing Occlumency, Harry had become capable of erecting a mental shield. At this level, while maintaining it constantly would be difficult, he could certainly defend himself if he so much as felt someone trying to use Legilimency on him.
I nodded with a satisfied expression. "Excellent, Harry. I'd say you're on the right track. You seem to have mastered the first stage."
Harry, who had been sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed, opened them and asked, "The first stage?"
"Yes. The stage where you can shield your thoughts if you wish, but your opponent will know that you are using Occlumency."
In truth, for most situations—unless one was on a mission that required deception, like a spy—this level was more than sufficient. After all, peering into someone's mind with Legilimency without permission is hardly polite. If the target defends themselves with Occlumency, the user would typically retreat in embarrassment, not demand to know why they were using it.
After hearing my explanation, Harry asked, "Master, is Stage 1 Occlumency enough to block Legilimency from you or Professor Dumbledore?"
I thought for a moment before answering. "In terms of ability, it's possible. However, you'd have to realize I was using Legilimency before you could use Occlumency. To defend against a subtle use of Legilimency, you'll need to reach a higher level of mastery."
"I see."
Harry nodded.
"Alright, let's practice Legilimency now."
"Um, but who will I use Legilimency on?"
"Who else? Me."
"On you, Master? Is that possible?"
"It is if I consciously stop using Occlumency. I've already set aside any memories I'd rather not show you, so don't worry and come on in."
Harry nodded, then looked into my eyes and said, "Legilimens."
I immediately felt something intruding into a corner of my consciousness. Due to his inexperience, he was hovering near the periphery of my emotions, but he had definitely succeeded in penetrating my mind.
"Mmmh…"
A moment later, I saw beads of cold sweat on Harry's forehead as he tried to navigate my vast mental landscape. I used Occlumency to expel his consciousness.
"Gasp…! *Hah*."
Harry gasped for breath as if he had just surfaced from being underwater. "Is it… always this difficult?"
"Of course. Legilimency is an advanced form of magic, no less so than Occlumency. Never forget that when you are peeking into someone else's memories, you yourself are at your most vulnerable."
Having learned a chilling lesson, Harry nodded. In any case, he had now perfectly grasped the basics.
A grin spread across my face as I asked him, "Harry, make sure to train your Occlumency well. It seems you might have to use it this year."
Harry gave me a puzzled look before nodding. "Oh, that's right. Dobby did say that something terrible might happen at Hogwarts this year."
Ah, there was that, too. I had actually been referring to Lockhart's Memory Charms that I'd heard about from Albus, but it would be helpful either way. A mind strengthened by Occlumency could resist the Obliviate spell to some extent.
This year at Hogwarts was, as always, going to be an eventful one.
Just as I nodded at the thought, Ardeura tapped on the window.
*Caw!*
"Master, Ardeura's brought something."
True enough, Ardeura was carrying something in her beak. On closer inspection, it was a scrap of grey newspaper.
I opened the window to let her in and received the paper from her.
*Chirp!*
Of course, I was only able to get it after offering the tribute (a snack) that Ardeura demanded.
In any case, the moment we unfolded the newspaper, we understood why Ardeura had brought it. The front page was dominated by an article that was impossible to say had nothing to do with us.
[SCOOP! HERO OF 11 YEARS AGO, A VILLAIN OF THE CENTURY?!]
And beneath the headline, a moving picture showed a man repeatedly transforming back and forth between human and rat.
Harry gasped at the sight. "Peter Pettigrew! Sirius must have done it!"
"So it seems. By the way, this Peter fellow really does look like a rat. I wonder if living as an Animagus for so long makes your original form start to resemble it."
Since we had always kept him in his rat form, we, his captors, had ironically never once seen Peter's human face. Not that we particularly wanted to.
Harry continued reading the article. "According to the text, Sirius Black, known as a terrorist eleven years ago, is reported to have personally tracked down Peter Pettigrew after escaping from Azkaban during the recent commotion… it says he's an innocent man who uncovered the truth the Ministry failed to find?"
"Whoever wrote this did a fine job."
"I agree. Reading this article makes the Ministry look completely incompetent, and Sirius seems like a noble saint."
He was probably the last person who could be called a saint. Harry chuckled. "In any case, this means Sirius can be active in public from now on. This is great."
"Indeed. Albus will be pleased."
Harry sounded a little wistful. "I wish this had been resolved a little earlier. Of all the days for it to be finalized."
"That Sirius is a pitiful man, isn't he? Just as he's about to be proven innocent and enjoy his freedom with his godson, said godson gets dragged off to school."
That was right. Today was August 30th. Our return to Hogwarts was just around the corner. The eventful holiday was over, and it was time to go back.
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And with this chapter the second volume is completed.
please gove some power stone or post some reviews and comments