Chapter 120
Chapter 120
The stone gargoyle outside the headmaster’s office was alive.
Or rather, it possessed awareness. It told Suer that Headmaster Dumbledore was not presently in the castle, and that when the headmaster returned, it would inform Dumbledore that someone had come looking for him.
Suer had no system, nor did he have anything like Occlumency conveniently supplied by one.
Naturally, he knew that telling Dumbledore about the Horcrux would very likely expose a great many things, including his own origins.
He was making a wager: that Dumbledore would not relentlessly pry into the secrets hidden by a young wizard, and that, as a figure on the side of light, he had his own principles and limits.
Suer had naturally looked into Legilimency, the spell every big shot transported to the wizarding world guarded against with the utmost vigilance. It had been mentioned in Advanced Magic, the book he found in the Restricted Section.
The prerequisite for casting Legilimency was that a wizard had to look directly into the target’s eyes. Only then could the caster read the target’s current emotions and thoughts, or stir up a portion of the target’s buried memories.
Suer regarded it as a kind of magic that could determine whether someone was lying without the use of Veritaserum.
It had many limitations. For instance, the target had to be unwary, relaxed or vulnerable. If the target could see the caster’s eyes during the spell, that also made it easier to cast, and so on…
Furthermore, this magic could also be used to extract memories and emotions.
Suer did not doubt that Dumbledore had already modified and innovated upon the spell, making it even more powerful.
Nor did he doubt that Dumbledore could read his memories without making eye contact.
But for the sake of his happy magical life to come, and to protect the people he cherished, this was a step he had to take.
Ideally, it would also secure Dumbledore’s protection…
When that happened, whose protection could possibly be stronger than his?
Even if the old bee ended up using that spell, Suer had another response — namely, that strange ability which not even magic could explain in the magical world — prophecy.
In any case, at least he would not lose his life over this.
The worst outcome would be living under the surveillance of the collective headed by Dumbledore. So what? It would not interfere with his future life of happy romance and happy study.
He had no desire to research any blasted Dark Arts anyway. Look at how most wizards who studied dark magic ended up: either mad or gone to meet Merlin.
Nor did he want to unite the wizarding world, much less unite the Muggles along with it. Please, that would work a wizard to death.
Was it not better simply to live well?
Suer had made this decision after thinking through the worst possible outcome.
As he had said before, if one could walk openly beneath the sun, who would willingly hide in a gutter and cling to life?
Moreover, Suer’s age was his greatest weapon. What wizard would deliberately target a powerless young wizard who was only in his second year?
Since he could not find Dumbledore for the time being, he could not keep the diary on his person either. It was too dangerous. Suer did not believe Riddle was entirely unable to sense what was happening outside. The little thing must already have absorbed a fair amount of energy from Ginny.
This was the moment to turn to an old friend.
“I need an absolutely secret place where I can hide something.” Suer walked back and forth before the tapestry three times, and a door appeared in the blank wall opposite it.
Suer found a good number of boxes. First, he bound the diary with a length of rope, then put it in a bag and locked the bag inside a small chest. He placed that chest inside another box, nesting layer after layer and adding safeguard upon safeguard.
To be safe, he put a lock on every layer.
Finally, he used Transfiguration to turn the entire thing into one of the battered old trunks found everywhere in the room, and added a mark so he would be able to find it again.
Ha… That should be safe. Suer nodded in satisfaction and slipped the key into his pocket.
Now Riddle could not get out and outsiders could not get in. Even if someone did enter, finding the one real trunk among countless pieces of junk would be very difficult.
It was time to find Professor Flitwick and learn the Patronus Charm.
The door gently swung shut and then vanished.
The cover of the diary, now locked in complete darkness, suddenly stirred. A translucent figure passed through the boxes and emerged.
“Where… is this?” he murmured. He looked around blankly and, from his limited memories, worked out what sort of place this was.
“The Room of Requirement?”
“Why… am I here?”
He had merely gone to sleep. How had he arrived here upon waking? Tom Riddle’s mind was now full of questions.
Who had brought the diary here, and who had put it in this place?
Riddle looked down and could not help the twitch of his lips. Naturally, he could see what his true body had been locked inside.
And why was his true body soaking wet…?
Ten thousand question marks appeared over his head, one after another.
Unfortunately, the only person who could answer them was Suer, who was happily making his way to Professor Flitwick’s office.
“Before you learn the Patronus Charm, I believe it is necessary for you to understand what a Patronus is.” Professor Flitwick stood atop a stack of books, wand in hand.
“Expecto Patronum!” Professor Flitwick gave his wrist a gentle flick. Fine strands of silver spread from the tip of his wand, but unlike Mr Pix’s Patronus, they did not take the shape of an animal. Instead, under Professor Flitwick’s control, they drifted merrily between the two of them.
“A Patronus is the embodiment, the manifestation, of a wizard’s happiness and positive emotions. It is happiness, light and the hope of surviving.”
“It is magic composed entirely of emotion.”
“In a sense, it is another self lying dormant within you. Every Patronus has a personality of its own, determined by the person who casts it.”
Suer reached out in wonder. As if alive, the silver threads wound twice around his finger. Just like touching that squirrel, the contact conveyed a feeling of happiness to him.
“Professor, why is Mr Pix’s Patronus a squirrel? Is every wizard’s the same?”
“No, they are not the same, Mr Bones.” Professor Flitwick smiled and shook his head. “Every person’s Patronus is unique. Even when their outward forms are alike, the personalities of their Patronuses are different.”
“I read in a book that an Animagus form can sometimes be the same as a Patronus. Is that true?” Suer asked.
“You know about Animagi?” Flitwick raised his eyebrows in surprise, but still answered patiently. “In truth, there is no reliable information to support that conclusion. Far too few wizards ever become Animagi. Fewer than ten Animagi are registered with the Ministry of Magic.”
“And whether those wizards who became Animagi can also cast the Patronus Charm is another unknown. You could, however, ask Professor McGonagall to show you what her Patronus looks like.”
“To tell the truth, I am curious as well.” Professor Flitwick winked.
Suer smiled knowingly too. Would the old cat lady’s Patronus be a cat?
“After all that, do you know the most important thing about the Patronus Charm, Mr Bones?”
Suer actually knew, but he still pretended to consider the question. “Happiness. A feeling of happiness.”
“Correct.” Professor Flitwick nodded in satisfaction. “I told you in class that emotion is a wizard’s greatest weapon. The emotion present when magic is cast influences the spell’s power.”
“Now take out your wand, Mr Bones, and watch my movements closely.”
Suer drew his wand as instructed and fixed his eyes on Professor Flitwick’s wrist.
“I also mentioned this point in class. Wand movements and incantations are tools invented by modern wizards to assist in casting magic. In truth, because this is a form of emotional magic, its principal component is not the magical power inside a wizard, but emotion.”
“Still, when you are beginning, the appropriate wand movement will make it somewhat easier to cast.”
“The Patronus Charm is a special spell. It is very difficult, very, very difficult,” Professor Flitwick stressed. “Yet for happy people, it is extraordinarily simple — so simple that merely speaking the incantation correctly can be enough to cast it.”
“That leads into other questions for later. We shall discuss those another time.”
As he spoke, Professor Flitwick demonstrated the correct wand movement for the Patronus Charm.
“Here, your wrist needs to sway ever so slightly. Very slightly. Relax, Mr Bones. Let the weight of the wand itself move your wrist, but maintain control. You only need the gentlest flick…”