章 29: Chapter 29
To read up to 15 chapters ahead: https://www.patréon.com/SlyOW
-------------
"I don't understand why they still haven't taken him in."
"I heard they aren't sending him to Azkaban because he would scare the Dementors away."
Two Gryffindor students were talking to one another in the common room, not really bothering to whisper.
"You two are stupid!"
The two students turned to look at a little black haired girl, in Gryffindor clothes. They were about to say something when the noticed the rest of the group, among which was Harry Potter.
So one of the two snorted and said, "Isn't' it obvious, Potter? Who else than a student could have sneaked in five magical beasts into Hogwarts?"
Sophia, who was the one who defended Ethan, replied, "Why would he kill the Lamia then?"
One of the two snickered, "Obviously to get people to like him. The Lamia said it herself, she had a deal with Grindelwald."
This time, it was Cassia who intervened, and said, "You bunch of morons, everyone knows Grindelwald was in Dumbledore's office before the feast."
"Said who? Grindelwald's goons. Wake up sheeple, the school hasn't been attacked for like fifty years, and there is an attack in his first year in. I guess some people won't wake up to reality until there are casualties."
Cassia wanted to add something, but Harry patted her shoulder and shook his head, as they watched the group walk away.
As they were left alone in the Common Room, the group of five remained silent for a moment, before Hermione muttered, "What if he really is the one who attacked?"
The four all looked at her, and she hurriedly added, "They do have a point, outsiders can't so easily sneak into the school, especially with five magical beasts. Moreover, there was an attack on each of the houses, but all three other beasts were found by teachers, except for the Lamia."
Sophia shook her head and said, "I can't believe you, how many times will I have to tell you he isn't a bad person?"
Harry chose to intervene, "I know he has been nice to you, but Grindelwald was known for easily swaying good people to his side. I know we shouldn't just blame him because of his family, but it does look like he is trying to do something."
Neville asked, "But what about the monsters? Even Headmaster Dumbledore had to strike twice to take down one of them. You can't say he successfully tamed all five of them by himself and led them in."
This time, it was Cassia who replied, "He's not just any first year."
They looked at her, and she sighed before revealing, "He looks talented, but I think he is hiding a lot of his talent. Back during our first Potion lesson, I tried to look into his mind…"
"What?"
"Why didn't you say anything?"
The other immediately reacted, but Cassia raised her hands to quieten them up, and added, "I surprised him, yet I barely got the time to harmlessly bump into his mental defences when he attacked me. My defences crumbled right away, and he easily looked into my head. If not for Professor Snape helping me, he would know everything about me."
There was a moment of silence, before Harry asked strangely, "Snape helped you?"
Cassia rolled her eyes and replied, "Who cares about that! Harry, even Dad's Occlumency and Legilimency didn't feel this strong. If he has such mastery over his mind in his first year, who is to say he isn't hiding anything else?"
Sophia asked, "I get what you're saying, but you can't be saying Ethan almost pulled a theft on Gringotts?"
Cassia shrugged and replied, "Who knows?"
There was a moment of silence, before Neville asked, "Hagrid did mention someone called Flamel. Have any of you found who Flamel is?"
This time, they all shook their head.
---
"Headmaster, something has to be done against these rumours!"
In the headmaster's office, Dumbledore was in a meeting with the four heads of each house. Snape, McGonagall, Flitwick and Sprout.
Following McGonagall's inquiry, Flitwick added, "The boy's only been good ever since he came here! He even saved the lives of his fellow students when the 7th Year Prefects were knocked out, and the others cowering!"
Snape's face turned cold at the reminder of his students' failure against the Lamia.
Dumbledore said, "Unfortunately, there isn't much that we can do to help with the situation. Besides, we have bigger problems."
Sprout muttered, "No one is born evil. If the boy has to go through seven years of abuse from his fellow students, I fear for the future."
Dumbledore shook his head and replied, "No matter what we say, many students have already made their own mind. What we need to do now is find who sneaked those beasts in, and once we do and apprehend them, all of the suspicion on Mr Grindelwald will naturally disappear."
Snape said at that, "Whoever that was, they got closer to the package. Unfortunately, I did not manage to catch them while in action, I was slowed down by that Giant."
McGonagall said, "I find it more worrying that whoever is acting to get the package is trying to harm Mr Grindelwald. Although many hate him for his name, only a few would go as far as this to undermine him, and try to hurt him."
Dumbledore said nothing, but he obviously knew what she was talking about. He had been fearing Voldemort hadn't died all these years ago, and was in hiding. And if he was, then it would be surprising that he would feel offended by the rise of a 'Third Dark Lord'.
Snape then said, "Since that's covered, I do have one issue to raise."
The other four looked at him, and Snape said, "Grindelwald is, in the end, but a boy. We cannot simply ask him to endure the slights of his peers while waiting for us to deal with this issue. It would be wiser to explain what is happening to the boy. Besides, having someone help from the student's body…"
McGonagall abruptedly cut him off, "You can't be serious Severus!"
Dumbledore looked deep in thought as he said calmly, "Severus does have a point. Out of the entire school, he happens to be the person I have the least suspicions about. After all, he was with me the only time he could have brought the beasts in."
Flitwick exclaimed, "As much of a talent the boy is, you can't seriously be considering to have him participate in the defence of the package?"
Snape crossed his arms and replied, "I am serious, Filius. If the boy has any of the cunning of his grandfather, he could very well be the key in finding our spy."
McGonagall looked exasperated as she said, "How are we even having this discussion?! The boy's eleven by Merlin's beard! How do you expect someone so young to carry such a burden? You are only going to crush him."
Snape replied immediately, "The boy's Occlumency has reached an expert's level, I think he will do just fine holding up. Besides, I never said he would be working for us all year round. We will simply tell him about the problem, and he will be free to investigate or ignore the problem."
Flitwick muttered, "But he's only a boy…"
Sprout, who had mostly remained silent until now, finally spoke up, "But he isn't just any boy, is he? Have you thought of what he would think of this?"
All eyes turned to her, and Dumbledore, who caught on to what she wanted to say, even smiled.
Sprout continued, "The poor lad has been accused of all kinds of wild accusations since he got here, and probably for his whole life. I do not find him excelling in Occlumency to be surprising in the least with what he must have gone through.
"He has been nothing but a sweetheart's since he arrived here, yet all I've heard was that he had an agenda, that he was gathering followers for what people qualify to be an inevitable rise of the Third Dark Lord of the century. But I think the truth is far simpler than that."
The others also understood what she wanted to say, and McGonagall sighed, while Sprout finished, "I think he really is a good boy, who wants nothing more than to prove all those rumours on him to be false. That he isn't a Dark Lord on the rise, but a boy like any other."
週次パワーステータス
-- 推薦
ランキング 
-- 推薦
チケット