HP/LOTM: Visionary - 379

Chapter 379: The Final Lesson

The password to the Headmaster's office was Cockroach Clusters—after all, it wasn't strange for a new headmaster to change the password to something he preferred.

Harry walked into the office and was surprised to find Professor Trelawney was also there.

He hesitated for a moment before sitting down nearby.

"I must inform you very seriously that if Firenze continues to teach Divination, I will submit my resignation to the Board of Governors!" Professor Trelawney had been working only half her previous workload since Firenze arrived at the castle.

This had made her miserable over the past two years, and a persistent sense of being replaced troubled her constantly.

"Professor Trelawney, you know the Board has never been difficult about salaries," Aiden said, his hands crossed under his chin.

"Yes, so what?" Trelawney was confused, but the Discerner had successfully redirected her focus.

"Look, since your salary hasn't changed and your workload has been reduced by half, isn't that a good thing? Moreover, Divination itself is a talent-dependent subject. Having multiple instructors also provides students with more choices," Aiden said sincerely, as if he were thinking of the students' welfare.

"I... I suppose that's true," Trelawney was persuaded, scratching her head as she left the office.

"Shouldn't these matters be handled by Professor Dumbledore?" Harry asked once Trelawney had left.

"He's on vacation. Right now, the school is theoretically run by us two as governors," Aiden explained.

"Two?" Harry glanced around as if asking where the other one was.

"The other is Edmund. That fellow is practically allergic to paperwork. Putting him in charge of school affairs would be a disaster," Aiden said, holding his forehead.

"Then Professor Trelawney..."

"Neither she nor Firenze can leave the school. Right now, anyone with divination abilities is sought after by Tom. If we let them leave Hogwarts now, it would be like throwing meat into a tiger's mouth," Aiden said, tapping on the desk. The cabinet beside him opened again, and a black Pensieve floated out.

"This is our final lesson. By the way, did you get Horace's memory?" Aiden asked.

"No..." Harry lowered his head, not daring to look at Aiden.

"Alas," Aiden sighed with disappointment. "Did you really try your best? Did you truly use your intelligence? Did you try every method available to you?"

Harry suddenly felt as if he were facing Dumbledore. He was filled with regret.

"I promise you, Professor, I will get that memory!" Harry cried out in his panic, even getting the title wrong.

"Good," Aiden nodded.

Aiden pulled out a memory—it came from a house-elf named Hokey.

He poured the memory into the water, and the Pensieve enveloped them both again.

Before them appeared a witch named Hepzibah Smith.

Her home contained many treasures, and Harry soon saw the young Tom Riddle entering with Borgin to conduct business.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Smith!" Tom bowed.

"Oh, Tom, you've come. This suit of armour is quite expensive, you know. It was seized from a goblin leader by a powerful wizard during the First Goblin Rebellion." Mrs. Smith waved her hand, and a suit of armour—its chest seemingly torn by a dragon's claws—walked out on its own.

"Who is she?" Harry asked curiously, turning to Aiden.

"She's a descendant of Helga Hufflepuff," Aiden introduced.

Harry was startled upon hearing this, and suspicions began to form in his mind.

Tom and Mrs. Smith conversed pleasantly. In their discussion, Mrs. Smith showed the two her most precious possessions: relics of two Hogwarts founders—Hufflepuff's golden cup and a locket that Merope Gaunt had sold to Borgin's shop when she was destitute.

When Mrs. Smith described the locket's origins, Tom, now aware of his own identity, felt intense longing flash through his eyes.

Finally, after haggling between Mrs. Smith and Borgin, the suit of armour was sold to Borgin for five hundred Galleons.

The memory ended abruptly here.

Aiden stepped out from behind and grabbed Harry's arm.

"What comes next is a secret I glimpsed myself," Aiden's voice reached Harry's ears as he felt himself consumed by gray mist.

He fell into the sea of consciousness, then plunged downward rapidly. Finally, the mist dispersed, and they arrived outside Mrs. Smith's house.

Harry saw Tom in a dashing suit, holding roses as he entered. Mrs. Smith was applying her makeup.

Tom passed through the crowded room and came to Mrs. Smith's side. He took her hand and carefully kissed it.

"I brought you flowers," Tom presented the roses to Mrs. Smith.

"Oh, you naughty boy," Mrs. Smith squealed, accepting the roses and placing them in an empty vase already prepared beside her. "You're spoiling this old woman."

Next, the house-elf Hokey brought them tea. Harry noticed that Hokey's eyes seemed to have a shadow over them.

"That's... an Imperius Curse?" Harry looked at Aiden. Aiden said nothing, only nodded.

Mrs. Smith was completely unaware of the malice approaching her. As always, she drank her tea.

Soon, she convulsed and collapsed to the ground, black blood flowing from her mouth.

Tom calmly modified the house-elf's memory.

Afterward, Tom reported to the Ministry just as he had with Hagrid.

Aurors came to the door, threw Hokey into prison, and the entire incident was classified as house-elf rebellion and murder of the master.

But hidden beneath the Ministry's investigation, two investigators were shocked to discover that two treasures from Mrs. Smith's collection had disappeared.

"He killed someone just to obtain two artifacts?" Harry, back to reality, could scarcely believe it.

"Given how much Mrs. Smith liked him, he could have simply revealed his Gaunt family identity and redeemed the locket. Yet he chose murder instead?" Aiden asked.

"This is his true nature. So now you understand how to oppose him?" Aiden looked at Harry.

Special magic was beginning to awaken within him—born from his mother's sacrifice, connected through blood, channeled through Dumbledore, who wielded the same power, this force had gestated within Harry Potter for fifteen years.

"People. More people. The cherishing of life, and love for others!" Gold light flashed through Harry's eyes.

Without needing to draw on the Deep Realm Kings' power, created by his own spiritual strength combined with his magic, the power of love manifested.

Soon, Harry's thoughts scattered, and his magic settled down with them.

Still needs guidance... Aiden's eyes flickered with an emotion impossible to name.