I Was So Foolish!
"Yes... Professor, theoretically we should be in our dormitory," Harry said, swallowing hard under Professor McGonagall's stern gaze.
"But in practice, things turn out differently."
McGonagall's expression darkened immediately, sensing trouble. Harry quickly added, "What I mean is Ron and I heard about the troll at the feast and remembered that Evan and Hermione were still around here. We were worried, so we came to check."
Ron bit his lip, ready to confess about the unkind remarks that had driven Hermione to tears and into the girls' lavatory.
"They came looking for me!"
However, Hermione suddenly interjected before Ron could continue, then turned to address McGonagall.
"Professor McGonagall, I came looking for the troll, thinking I could handle it. You know, I read about how to deal with such creatures in books..."
"I didn't expect the troll to be so formidable. If Evan hadn't arrived in time, I would have been a goner."
"As for Harry and Ron, they must have sneaked over here because they were worried about us..."
It was Hermione's first attempt at lying, and her cheeks flushed with the effort. But she quickly found her stride, smoothing over the story with growing confidence.
"How could you think that, you silly girl? You're only a first-year, how could you possibly take on a troll?" scolded McGonagall.
"Cough cough..." Evan coughed lightly, reminding McGonagall that here stood a first-year who had indeed taken on the troll single-handedly.
Evan's blunt honesty made it difficult for McGonagall to save face. Thankfully, Dumbledore arrived just in time, called by Filch, to relieve the tension.
Upon arrival, Dumbledore's gaze settled on the scattered iron thorns and the troll's corpse, especially lingering on the spike that had pierced through the troll's skull.
"An excellent use of Transfiguration. Among wizards of your age, I doubt there is anyone who can use it as effectively as you. If this were a class, I am sure Professor McGonagall would have awarded Gryffindor ten points," Dumbledore said, not hiding his admiration.
"Albus, we should be discussing why these children sought out the troll on their own," McGonagall interjected, nodding in acknowledgment of Evan's Transfiguration skills, though clearly this was not the time for such discussions.
"Very well, then..." Dumbledore pondered for a moment and then addressed the group.
"Miss Granger will cost Gryffindor ten points for her recklessness. Potter and Weasley, though they broke the rules, their friendship is commendable, so they will not be punished."
Harry and Ron exhaled in relief, while Hermione bit her lip, finding the loss of points difficult to accept.
"And as for Halse..." Dumbledore paused, causing Hermione and the others to tense up again. However, Dumbledore continued in a lighter tone.
"For your actions, I will award Gryffindor twenty points!"
Hermione's heart finally settled, her face lighting up with joy as she looked at Evan, the sting of the lost points fading.
Evan, too, smiled as he received the twenty academic points from the system, equating to several days' worth of hard-earned points from answering questions in class.
"Isn't this a bit too lenient?" McGonagall frowned, concerned that Dumbledore's approach might encourage Evan and the others to take further risks.
"Not every young wizard can defeat a troll so soon after starting school," Dumbledore countered with a shake of his head.
"By the way, Professor, I won't have to compensate for the troll, will I?" Evan asked casually, in a good mood.
"Of course not, but..." Dumbledore smiled at Evan, "could you come to my office later? I am very interested in how you managed to defeat the troll. Perhaps, after I have taken care of things here, we can have a thorough chat."
Evan's smile froze. What could he say? Could he refuse?
Evan felt a wave of frustration. If only he hadn't spoken up!
...
I was so foolish, if only I had read 'Occlumency' a few more times when I was in the restricted section... I was so foolish...
On his way to the headmaster's office, Evan found himself in a loop of regret for not having learned Occlumency in advance.
Of course, it wasn't entirely his fault.
To complete the challenge task and earn academic points, he had invested nearly all of them into Potions and a few key spells, with none left for Occlumency.
And to learn Occlumency without the experience card, on his own?
Evan thought better of it. He vividly remembered the exceptionally talented 'chosen one' Harry, who, even with Snape's expert guidance, failed to master Occlumency. Evan feared self-study might be a nightmarish challenge.
However, this recollection did remind Evan of a detail from the original story: the Legilimens can only access memories that the subject is currently recalling.
To learn more, a more powerful Legilimens spell would be needed to force the subject to recall further memories.
This is why, in the original story, when Snape read Harry's memories, it caused Harry to replay those memories in his mind.
With these thoughts, Evan felt somewhat reassured. He just had to focus on irrelevant things during their conversation. Dumbledore surely wouldn't forcibly search his memories, right?
With a mix of apprehension and curiosity, Evan approached the headmaster's office, guarded by an immensely ugly stone gargoyle. After he uttered the password Dumbledore had given him, the gargoyle rotated upward with a heavy grind, revealing the hidden staircase behind it.
Evan climbed the stairs to a spacious, circular room. The walls, rich with the patina of age, were adorned with portraits of former headmasters of Hogwarts, each captioned with the name and tenure of the headmaster below.
But what intrigued Evan the most were the Pensieve on the side table and Dumbledore's pet phoenix, Fawkes.
The Pensieve was something Evan coveted. With mastery of Legilimency, he could use the Pensieve to sort through his memories.
Phoenix blood, on the other hand, was a key ingredient for the Blood-Replenishing Potion, and the best of its kind at that.
If it weren't for the lack of tools and the possibility of Dumbledore's imminent return, Evan might have considered drawing some of Fawkes' blood right then and there...
That is, if he could... handle Fawkes, that is....
Tips:
For some reason, some special episodes cannot be uploaded here.
I uploaded the whole thing on Patreon, plus 20 new chapters.
If you're interested, check out Patreon
Website:patreon.com/user?u=111514881