Chapter 87: Chapter 87: Stalkin... Investigation
The next few weeks, Harry tried to keep an eye on Ronald whenever possible, using his Cloning Magic, which he had quite improved. He could still maintain only one clone, but the quality of the clone had improved drastically. It was a fully functional copy of himself, always connected to his mind, only without a Sacred Gear and more fragile. A few good hits would destroy it, but it could fully use magic based on the amount of demonic power Harry put into the clone.
He improved in cloning magic generally, having already learned to create a small army of illusory clones that moved based on his intentions to distract his opponents. Of course, they couldn't think or use magic.
With his sentient clone attending classes for him, Harry used his newfound time to follow Ron whenever he could. This turned out to be a far harder task than he expected. The red-headed Gryffindor was quite the elusive student, moving through the castle as if he were expecting to be followed and trying to shake off any followers. He knew the ancient castle thoroughly, using many shortcuts and secret corridors that Harry didn't even know, despite spending so much time exploring the castle.
So keeping an eye on him was a very hard task. Harry often lost the red-headed boy and stood in front of a statue, a painting, or even an empty wall while trying to figure out how to open the passage properly. Other times, he had to sit invisible on the seventh floor in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady, the entrance to the Gryffindor Common Room. Since he couldn't enter the Common Room, he had to wait until Ronald possibly stepped out.
When he saw Ronald pass his invisible self to enter the Common Room one day, he knew that sitting in front of it was a waste of time, as the redhead obviously knew some of the secret entrances and used them. Each Common Room probably had a few secret passages. Harry knew of two for the Ravenclaw Tower himself, which he usually used at night. He discovered them when he spent nights searching his Common Room, wanting to enter and leave without using the official entrance, which he felt was monitored by their Head of House.
Now he was sure that the Gryffindor Common Room had at least one secret passage too. Otherwise, Ronald couldn't have left. Even if he used the Disillusionment Charm, he still would have to open the portrait to leave, which Harry would have noticed.
And yes, Ronald Weasley could also use the Disillusionment Charm, a fifth-year level spell. Harry had seen him use it to disappear in the Castle during his following of Ronald.
In the end, it turned out to be an impossible task to keep track of Ronald. The only times he surely knew where the boy was were during his regular class schedule and eating times, which he didn't miss. But he acted quite differently during meals, no longer devouring everything like a pig but actually behaving civilly, though he still had a big appetite. Anytime in between, he could disappear to unknown places at any moment.
The only thing Harry knew for sure was that something must have happened to the boy that made him change drastically. Possession was excluded, at least a complete one, since Ronald still retained the core of his personality. His appetite, love for his family, and hate for Malfoy were all things Harry could still witness in him.
A partial possession was also unlikely; there are usually visible traces, like Quirrell having another face on the back of his head. Harry didn't see any unusual physical characteristics on Ronald, nor did he notice any new clothes trying to hide something.
In the end, he had to give up for now. His attempts to follow Ronald were a major waste of time. His current attempt to follow him just didn't bring enough results to justify these efforts. Although he somehow learned quite a few new hidden corridors and secrets in the castle, he didn't even manage to follow Ronald once to wherever he was disappearing to.
So if he couldn't learn what he was doing or where, all of this effort was just a major waste of time. Time that could be used more efficient, in something else.
With a sigh, he decided to give up for now and consider a change of strategy. Maybe there was a magical way to track the students in the castle. He would still attempt to follow Ronald from time to time, hoping for luck, but he wouldn't invest a lot of time into it.
— DXD — DXD — DXD — DXD —
In the midst of February, one day turned into one of the most annoying days of the year. There hadn't been any attacks for quite some time, and Lockhart used this fact to showcase himself again and portray himself positively in front of the students and professors.
"I don't think there'll be any more trouble, Minerva," Lockhart said loudly, tapping his nose knowingly and winking at someone during breakfast. "I think the Chamber has been locked for good this time. The culprit must have known it was only a matter of time before I caught him. Rather sensible to stop now, before I came down hard on him. You know, what the school needs now is a morale booster. Wash away the memories of last term! I won't say any more just now, but I think I know just the thing…"
After making this small spectacle of himself, pretending to have a private conversation with McGonagall while simultaneously announcing something to the entire school without making it look like he was the culprit, he left the Great Hall after tapping his nose again.
And on February fourteenth, it finally became clear what Lockhart was planning. The idea of Lockhart's morale booster became evident at breakfast that day. This was a few days after Harry gave up on tracking Ronald, feeling quite exhausted from spending most of his time following the redhead. He hadn't had much sleep since he maintained his watch almost all day, only getting 2-4 hours of sleep. It was manageable due to his Devil Physique, but doing it consistently for weeks took quite a toll on him.
So when he hurried down the Great Hall, slightly late after catching up on sleep, he thought for a moment that he'd walked through the wrong doors. The sight that greeted him was quite shocking, and it was evident that Lockhart had thought of this. The walls were all covered with large, lurid pink flowers. Worse still, heart-shaped confetti was falling from the pale blue ceiling. And Harry instantly remembered that today was Valentine's Day.
— DXD — DXD — DXD — DXD —
Please leave some Power Stones if you enjoyed the Chapter!
— DXD — DXD — DXD — DXD —
For 10 more advanced Chapters please visit: www.p_a_t_r_e_o_n.com/Ashmodai
Thank you for your Support!
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone