HP: The Duelist of Hogwarts - 440

Chapter 440: Unexpected

Sean heard about Arthur Weasley’s attack the following day.

When the news reached him, he could not help but sigh. It had been barely a month since he had dealt with the giants, and trouble was already flaring again. Then again, with Voldemort still at large, there was no way life would go back to peaceful research as before.

With a Time-Turner in hand, Sean could afford to leave Hogwarts without rushing.

He went straight to St Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.

As a member of the Wizengamot, Sean received different treatment than an ordinary visitor. A nurse personally led him to Arthur Weasley’s ward. Inside, all the Weasley children, Molly Weasley, and both Harry and Hermione were gathered.

When she saw him, Molly stepped forward and hugged him, eyes red. “Thank you for coming to see Arthur, Sean. Really, thank you.”

“Mrs Weasley, I asked the nurses on my way up,” Sean said gently. “They told me Mr Weasley’s condition has stabilised. There should not be any major problems. With continued treatment, he ought to make a full recovery, so you do not need to worry too much.”

“Oh, that is… that is wonderful.” Molly clasped his hands. “Thank you, Sean. If that is true, it is the best news I could hope for.”

Sean stayed with her for a while, offering what comfort he could, then moved over to Harry. There were things he needed to discuss with him.

“Harry,” Sean said quietly, “the Occlumency I taught you. You have not been practising it, have you?”

Harry’s smile froze. He turned his head away. “I have been,” he said. “I just have not worked up to the point where I can keep those things out yet.”

“You are lying, Harry.”

“I am not lying, I just…”

“Saying you are not lying is another lie. You have lied to me twice in a row.”

“I…”

Meeting Sean’s eyes, Harry suddenly remembered just how strong his Legilimency was. Even Dumbledore had mentioned, when they spoke after Mr Weasley’s attack, that Sean’s skill in Legilimency was no worse than his own.

Harry let out a breath and nodded helplessly. “All right. I really have not kept up with Occlumency practice.”

Sean drew him over to a quieter corner and lowered his voice. “Why not, Harry?”

“Because I thought… if I can see what Voldemort is doing, I can help everyone. I can see things for the Order of the Phoenix that we could never find out otherwise.”

Sean nodded slightly. “That is honest.”

He paused to marshal his words, then said, “Harry, I am sure your intention is to help us. I am grateful for that. But, Harry…

“You know perfectly well that what you see are Voldemort’s own perspectives, his own line of sight. So, have you considered that Voldemort might know that you are using the link between you to spy through his eyes?”

Harry’s eyes went wide. For a moment, he even forgot to breathe.

He stared at Sean in disbelief. “S–Sean… what are you saying?”

“I am saying,” Sean replied, “what if Voldemort knows you can watch him through his own eyes?”

“T–that is impossible. It has to be impossible…”

His mouth denied it, but Harry’s suddenly bloodless face showed he believed the possibility.

Seeing his expression, Sean went on, “If Voldemort knows you can see what he is doing through his eyes, do you think he might deliberately show you certain things, so that when you tell us, he can mislead us through you?”

“Yes,” Harry whispered. “He… he could.”

All the colour drained from his face.

Sean swallowed the next part.

He did not voice the darker thought—that Voldemort might also be using Harry’s eyes to observe what the Order was doing. If Sean said that aloud, Harry would not know how to live with himself.

“Sean, then Mr Weasley…” Harry began.

Sean met his gaze. He had to admit, Harry’s mind could move quickly when it mattered. With barely a hint, he had already leapt to the truth of Arthur Weasley’s attack.

Exactly so.

The reason Arthur Weasley had been targeted was, in all likelihood, because Voldemort wanted to confirm whether Harry truly could see things through his eyes. If Voldemort simply wanted someone dead, he would never have gone to such trouble, nor bothered to send Nagini in person.

The moment Sean heard Arthur had been attacked, that was his first conclusion.

Some things, even if the exact details of his previous life’s stories had faded, could still be reconstructed from the pattern.

Voldemort never did anything without a purpose.

If he had begun to test the connection, it meant he had plans for it.

But this could not be laid on Harry’s shoulders. That burden would crush him. Dumbledore, though—Dumbledore needed to be told.

Sean went looking for him, only to discover he could not find him at all.

No one in St Mungo’s seemed able to reach the Headmaster quickly either.

Maybe a trip to Grimmauld Place…

He was still weighing the idea when an owl suddenly appeared at the window outside the ward. The Weasley twins hurried over and opened it. The owl hopped in and flew straight to Sean, dropping a letter into his hands.

He glanced at the signature—Aldrich—and broke the seal at once. As his eyes ran down the page, his brow tightened.

Aldrich wrote that Death Eaters were gathering outside the orphanage, and that three children had slipped out and not returned since the previous night.

“Harry, Hermione,” Sean said, “tell Mrs Weasley for me that I have something urgent to deal with and must leave first.”

“Sean, that letter… is it serious?” Harry asked.

Sean looked at him and smiled. “Do not worry. I can handle it. You know what I can do.”

Even so, the reassurance did little to ease the worry on Harry’s face. He watched Sean stride quickly from the ward with a single, gnawing thought: he was never any help. If, just once—only once—he could do something that truly helped, that would be enough.

Outside the orphanage, Sean appeared on a nearby street.

His sharpened senses immediately picked up several suspicious presences lurking around the area.

He did not head for the front door. Instead, he vanished from the pavement under a Disillusionment Charm and began to stalk the shadows, drifting silently toward those hidden figures.