Chapter 139
Chapter 139
“Meow?” Crookshanks tilted a head at the returning Suer. A look of alarm then crossed the cat’s face.
“Meow, meow, meow?!” Crookshanks’s fur stood on end, the back arched and claws sprang free with a scrape.
Halt, fiend!
In badger form, Suer responded with a puzzled tilt of the head and a twitch of rounded ears. Crookshanks looked ready to unleash eighteen furious cat swipes. Had the little cat never seen an Animagus?
“Meow, meow, meow, meow?”
“Rrrr…”
It turned out that different species could communicate after all.
Suer spent a great deal of effort convincing Crookshanks of the truth: this was not a monster which had transformed into a human; magic was the reason Suer could become an animal.
A short while later, in the hospital wing.
Crookshanks sat at the foot of the bed with both front paws tucked beneath the chest and chin held high, contempt filling those eyes.
Hah. Spit!
Was this what you learnt magic for — chasing girls?
No, wait. Was this what you learnt magic for — pleasing your mistress?
If not for the dried fish, this cat would roll over several times and compete with you for her affection.
Meanwhile, badger-Suer lay happily in Hermione’s arms.
Ah… wonderful.
So long as no one knew, it did not count as dying of embarrassment. Only by abandoning his dignity could he ascend on the spot.
Hermione’s embrace was so soft…
Only Suer understood Hermione this well. She had virtually no resistance to any creature capable of acting adorable. All he had done was imitate a few cute pet mannerisms — tilting his head and exposing his belly — and he had “bewitched” her. It was humiliating, but remarkably effective.
Now he merely had to keep acting adorable until Hermione “liked” him, then casually return to human form and let her discover the truth before offering a sincere apology.
Yes. A flawless plan.
Suer had completely overlooked one point: approaching Hermione as a badger without revealing his identity was itself another form of deception.
He had also thoroughly underestimated Hermione’s intelligence.
Over the following days, Suer settled into a routine: lessons, hospital wing, become a badger, read the books Dumbledore had given him, become a badger again, return to the dormitory.
It had to be said that Dumbledore’s books were far too advanced for a second-year student, even one with an adult soul.
Animagus magic, put simply, depended upon talent. Someone with the necessary gift could master it in their second or third year.
The same was true of the Patronus Charm. It was magic driven purely by emotion; magical power, wand movement and incantation served only supporting roles.
Although Suer had learnt these two advanced forms of magic, that did not make him a powerful wizard. In truth, he was merely fortunate enough to learn them through talent.
Occlumency was different. It was advanced magic in the purest sense. The knowledge required to master it was tremendously complex and even extended into matters of the soul.
Whenever Suer encountered something he could not understand, he had to rely on the library’s enormous collection: searching, reading and doing everything possible to resolve that single doubt.
As a result, the number of books he needed to read only continued to grow.
Why did he not simply go to Snape? The reason was even simpler. Dumbledore had principles and limits, and would not casually pry into a young wizard’s thoughts or memories. Their conversation had confirmed that much.
Snape, on the other hand… was not necessarily so restrained.
One only had to consider Harry’s experience while studying Occlumency under him, though it was difficult to say whether Snape had indulged in a little private revenge.
As Suer read more and more, he discovered that mastering Occlumency required an understanding of Legilimency. Legilimency was advanced magic on the same level as Occlumency and likewise concerned the soul.
To learn the strongest shield, he first had to understand what made the strongest spear so dangerous, then construct his defence accordingly.
Trying to study knowledge far beyond his year left Suer’s head perpetually full and aching. It also made him drowsy throughout this period.
It was like a university lecturer deciding that a gifted student should tackle one of the world’s great unsolved problems just as they began studying calculus.
Lately, Suer had begun to wonder whether he was suited to studying magic at all.
Fortunately, visiting Hermione as a badger required no such thought. All he had to do was expose his belly and relax in her fragrant embrace.
Hermione’s ears had vanished, however, and very little time remained before she would leave the hospital wing.
He could hardly follow Hermione into the Gryffindor common room.
Her dormitory, perhaps?
The badger was tempted, but absolutely not! He was a principled male badger. Behaviour like that was beyond the pale.
One day in early February, Suer attended his lessons as usual, stopped by the hospital wing to show his face, then quickly slipped into a corner, transformed into a badger and ran back inside.
While he rolled about in Hermione’s arms, Ron arrived.
“Talk some sense into Harry, Hermione. He’s been completely mad these past few days,” Ron complained resentfully. “He doesn’t do his homework or read his books. All he does is scribble in some notebook that came from goodness knows where.”
“I think that strange thing has bewitched his mind.”
At Ron’s words, Suer’s rounded ears immediately stood upright. He quietly shifted position. A notebook? Harry?
Why did that sound so familiar?
“Oh, where did this little thing come from?” Ron finally noticed Suer in Hermione’s arms and extended his wicked hand, attempting to stroke the badger’s head. “When did you get this one? I remember your pet looking rather different.”
The badger was nestled in Hermione’s arms. If Ron reached any farther, that hand might brush somewhere sensitive.
Before Suer could bare his teeth or show his claws, Hermione irritably slapped Ron’s hand away.
Ron looked down and rubbed the stinging skin, momentarily unable to understand why he had been struck.
Good grief. Suer had been planning to take pity on Ron and find an old wand to tide him over.
You brought that on yourself. The badger secretly bared his teeth.
Hermione sat up straighter and wrapped both arms around badger-Suer. He distinctly felt the back of his head brush against the faintest budding curve.
Well, where had this unexpected blessing come from? The badger grew pleasantly dazed.
“What notebook? What’s wrong with Harry?”
Ron then gave Hermione a complete account of how they had found a notebook on Harry’s bed, how Harry had investigated it and how he had gradually become obsessed.
“Oh, and there was a name written in the notebook.”
“What name?” Hermione asked.
“T. M. Riddle!”
The badger raised his head. Suer’s thoughts grew ever clearer as he recalled his conversation with the old bee some time ago and that inexplicable remark: “I shall be away from the castle for a time.”
He understood. He finally understood.
The great snake was dead. That was a fact. Yet the notebook had not been destroyed and had still found its way into Harry’s hands…
Plainly, Dumbledore intended to use it to temper the Chosen One while employing it as bait. Suer did not care what they hoped to catch. That was a matter for the adults.
He did wonder what could serve as the final boss now that the original one was gone.
And why had the notebook not been destroyed?
Suer did not believe that Dumbledore had left it untouched.
Which raised an interesting question: was the Riddle inside the notebook truly still Riddle?
And what did Dumbledore want Suer’s help with?
Things had suddenly become interesting…