I, Hogwarts Second Time Around.

Chapter 526 Memories Acquired

(Previous chapter has been revised)

Suddenly, the oak door to the office was pushed open a crack, revealing a small gap.

A few seconds later, the gap widened and something got in, but Irving didn't see it.

The door then closed again.

"Huh? Invisibility cloak? No, it's an invisibility cloak."

Only that Deathly Hallows can be called the Invisibility Cloak.

The invisibility cloak is a precious magical garment made from the fur of an invisible beast, a creature that can become invisible when threatened. Its properties can be used to make the cloak invisible. However, the invisibility effect of this cloak is not permanent; after a while, the cloak will reappear.

It can also be made by casting an illusion spell or sleight of hand on an ordinary travel cloak.

The former can fetch thousands of Galleons each, while the latter, unless cast by a wizard of Dumbledore's caliber, is easily detected by the True Form Charm from ordinary wizards, as their Disillusionment and Sleight of Hand spells are easily detected.

Irving stared at an unseen figure, wandering around the office.

It has a specific purpose.

Because Owen discovered that the documents on Dumbledore's desk and on the bookshelf behind him were floating in the air, being opened and flipped through one by one.

Clearly, that person was looking for some kind of confidential document.

Hmm—I think I've remembered something?

Irving suddenly remembered that someone had mentioned he was going to sneak into the principal's office when the school year started.

"The true nature is immediately revealed."

With that thought in mind, he walked straight out from the corner, casually raising his hand without even taking out his wand.

The golden light was dazzling yet fleeting, instantly revealing the true image of the invisible person.

"Are you prepared for both possibilities?"

"No—it's because they know I can get here without a password."

The cloak fell off.

A figure with the exact same face as him appeared.

He was completely stunned.

"Your old man has already betrayed Voldemort. And you're still working for him?" Owen asked. "No, this is a backup plan. If we find what Voldemort wants, it might save Lucius's life if he gets captured later."

That's what you think, isn't it?

Draco.

Yes, Draco.

Irving easily saw through the true identity of the person in front of him.

The person in front of him, whose emerald green eyes were similar to his, instantly filled with panic.

He was holding onto the cutting board with one hand, his body swaying slightly, and he was unsteady on his feet.

This year has been the most painful year for him.

His own parents betrayed Voldemort and then disappeared.

At the beginning of the semester, I received an order from Voldemort delivered by a Death Eater.

He may be unable to sleep all night when faced with the choice between carrying out his mission and being separated from his parents.

Unfortunately, his father kept many things from him in order to protect him.

Some absurd realities are intricate and complex, unlike stories where the underlying threads are easily discernible. The reality is that he must do something for himself, his parents, and even the future of the Malfoy family.

As for what to do?

that's not important.

The important thing is to keep yourself doing something, because once you stop—it's too painful.

To bear loneliness, to bear being neither black nor white, to bear the pain of being neither truly Voldemort's servant nor able to wield the wand against Voldemort.

In the cracks of nothingness, people can go mad.

So in the end, he still chose to carry out Voldemort's orders and steal Dumbledore's information about the Tower of God.

Having this information might not stop Voldemort from raising his sword against them, but at least he could sleep peacefully tonight.

Yes, that's what he thought.

The revelation of the truth left Irving somewhat disappointed.

Because he was definitely not the one who poisoned him.

He had no motive for the crime, nor did he have the courage to do it.

Tsk tsk—the real culprit is hard to find.

"Don't you want to say anything?" Irving stared at him, his tone flat.

"Are you going to capture me and hand me over to Dumbledore?" Draco, disguised as him, said indifferently.

"Heh—I don't think the principal has the time for that. Breaking into his office isn't really a crime. At most, he'll just get a few days of solitary confinement." Owen strolled leisurely to the table in the center of the room and picked up a few candies from the plate on it.

"But Snape," he said, stuffing a candy into his mouth—mmm, so sweet. Nauseatingly sweet. "He's really furious with that thief who dared to steal his collection."

"I'm not afraid of him," Draco said.

"Yes, yes, you're not afraid of him. You'll be afraid when he beats you up." Owen braced himself on the edge of the table with both hands, then lightly pushed off with his legs and sat on the table. "You won't find what you're looking for here. Because Dumbledore prefers to keep important information in his head, not on paper."

Upon hearing this, Draco's face darkened.

"That's right, you've wasted your time."

"I...I wanted to."

“Lucius didn’t tell you much,” Owen interrupted him, then continued, “He betrayed Voldemort a long time ago, five years ago. The Saints cooperated with him.”

"Voldemort himself was well aware of this. The reason he didn't destroy your family was because your family still had value, whether it was in terms of funds, intelligence, or prestige. In short, Voldemort chose to spare Lucius's life until Lucius truly broke with him."

"However, after Voldemort planned to use Deadroot to transform his men into Imposters in exchange for absolute loyalty, Lucius's betrayal was a foregone conclusion. I guess you weren't in London last summer, right?"

"Our family has assets in New Zealand," Draco said.

"Oh? New Zealand?" Irving raised an eyebrow. "That's quite a coincidence."

"So, you see? Lucius has been preparing to betray Voldemort for at least two years. He didn't just start this year."

"You're safest at Hogwarts. Summer vacation is the most dangerous time, but I bet Lucius has discussed it with the Saints. Maybe Dumbledore knows the truth, and he'll arrange a safe place for you."

"I don't need it!" Draco suddenly became agitated, his long silver hair trembling. "I don't need charity, it's just death."

"That sounds so righteous," Owen said dismissively, giving the idiot pretending to be him no face at all. "Alright, enough with the 'you're just a teenager with so many ideas."

He tilted his head back, his gaze falling on the portraits on the wall, only glancing out of the corner of his eye at the face that looked exactly like his own. "Just live peacefully. If you die, the Malfoy bloodline will end."

After saying that, he jumped off the table and turned to walk towards the oak door.

"Aren't you leaving? Waiting for Dumbledore to come back?" he said, glancing at Draco.

"snort--"

"Because of you, I didn't eat dinner tonight." A dangerous glint flashed in Owen's eyes. "You dare give me that attitude!"

As he spoke, he stood still, waiting for Draco to come over, and then kicked him.

"Let's go, let's go check the kitchen. We don't know if there's any leftover food left."

The two of them, almost like twins, left the principal's office.

Through the oak door.

The portraits on the walls seem to echo with conversations coming from outside.

"I'm warning you, don't try to look like me again. Where did you get my body parts from? And—what's the meaning of dressing up as a woman in Myrtle's bathroom? And being seen by someone."

The principals all had black lines on their faces.

They were all thinking to themselves, "Students these days really know how to have fun."

Outside the castle at this time.

In Hagrid's cabin.

Slughorn and Hagrid were already very drunk.

Both of their faces were flushed.

"For Harry Potter!" Hagrid roared, downing the fourteenth barrel of wine in one gulp, drooling slightly on his chin without him noticing, and then reaching for more wine to fill his large glass.

"Yeah!" Slughorn slurred, "For Barry Water, the savior boy, um, something like that." He muttered, then downed his drink as well.

The two held hands, swayed, and suddenly began to sing a mournful song.

—Hero Odo was carried back to his hometown.

—It was carried to a place he knew well from his childhood.

—Turn the hat inside out and bury it in the ground.

—How sad it is when the magic wand breaks in two.

As he sang, Hagrid's disheveled head rolled into his arms, and he began to snore softly.

He fell asleep.

"Sorry!" Slughorn said with a burp. "I'm always off-key."

"It's alright, Professor," Harry said softly. "I've been through this before, haven't I? When I was one year old."

"Oh no—" Slughorn wailed, "How terrible, so young, it's truly heartbreaking."

"I suppose you don't remember that, Harry?" he continued.

“I don’t remember,” Harry said, staring at the candlelight flickering in Hagrid’s heavy snoring. “Even their appearance. It’s as if they never existed, just vanished.”

"No—" Slughorn cried out in agony again, unable to stop himself. Just like the tears streaming down Hagrid's face, he trembled all over, and his eyes became moist.

"I once had a fish named Francis, which was very precious to me, but one morning when I got up to check on the fish tank, I found that it had suddenly disappeared."

Disappeared.

The old man's weathered face was etched with sorrow, and the yellowish-brown firelight shone on him as if a handful of yellow earth had been laid upon him.

Her eyes were moist, reflecting a light of regret.

Harry suddenly realized that the old wizard in front of him was over 120 years old and nearing the end of his life.

Slughorn stared at Harry, staring into his eyes.

Those are the same eyes as Lily's.

“Francis was a gift from a student,” he said haltingly, like a dying old man making his final arrangements. “It was springtime. One afternoon, I found a bowl on the table. The water in it was shallow, only a few inches deep, with a single petal floating on top. I glanced at it twice, and the petal started to sink. Just as it was about to reach the bottom, it suddenly changed—”

"It turned into a little fish, what wonderful magic. Absolutely amazing," the old man murmured, his voice trembling with tears. "That lily petal was given to me by Lily, your mother."

"The day I went downstairs—the day the bowl was empty—your mother, I knew why you came here."

But I can't say it, because if I do, it'll all be over.

"Do you know why I survived, Professor?" Harry's eyes burned as he pointed to the lightning bolt scar on his forehead. "The night I got that scar."

"It's all because of her, because she sacrificed herself. Her love for me outweighed Voldemort's magic."

"No—don't mention that name," Slughorn suddenly cried, raising his trembling hand, his face filled with fear. "Really, I'm just an old man."

“I’m not afraid of that name, Professor!” Harry stood up. “I have something to tell you about that rumor circulating in the wizarding world. Yes, that’s right, I am the Savior. I can destroy it, but before that, I need your memories.”

My mother gave her life to fight Voldemort, and you? You won't even give me a single memory of her.

Hagrid's thunderous snores filled the cabin, and Harry stared intently at Slughorn.

"Don't say that, Harry, please, please stop!" he whispered, tears welling in his eyes. "If it could help you, of course it wouldn't be a problem, not at all, but that thing is useless..."

"It's useful!" Harry said clearly. "Dumbledore needs to know, I need to know, it's the greatest help to us, we need that memory."

"Be brave, Professor..." Harry said, "just like my mother."

Slughorn raised his fat hand and pressed his trembling fingers to his tear-stained lips.

"Alright." He looked like a giant baby for a moment, and he murmured softly through his fingers, "The memory you want, I've always been ashamed of what it showed. I feel disgraced. I may have caused a lot of harm that day... I should have stopped him. I had an obligation to stop him. He was once my student, and I bear a great responsibility for how he turned out this way. I've confessed countless times at night, wondering if I had done more, or if I hadn't done it that day... Would things have turned out differently today?"

Slughorn slowly, very slowly, reached into his pocket, pulled out his wand, and with his other hand, took a small empty bottle from his cloak. He kept his eyes fixed on Harry, pressed the tip of his wand to his temple, and then removed it.

The tip of the cane trailed a long, silvery thread of memory, which stretched longer and longer until it finally broke, its silvery light shimmering and drifting on the tip of the cane.

Slughorn put it into the bottle, and the silver threads curled up, then unfurled, swirling like gas.

Then he took out another bottle and pulled out a silver piece in the same way.

Finally, with trembling hands, he tightened the bottle caps and handed the two bottles to Harry across the table, as if he had used all his strength.

"You're a good boy, Harry," Slughorn said, tears once again streaming down his plump cheeks and into his walrus beard. "You have eyes like hers, I hope you won't think too badly of me after seeing this..."

"I know, Professor!" Harry said softly.

Looking into Harry's eyes, he seemed to have a thousand words to say, but in the end, he said nothing more. Under the influence of alcohol, he put his head in his arms, sighed, and fell asleep!

Harry leaned back in his chair and let out a sigh of relief.

I finally got my hands on the memories.

Now, he should go back to the castle and find Dumbledore immediately.

He had no idea that Dumbledore was not in the castle that night.

His information network was far less developed than Draco's.

"Irving!"

A deep voice rang out from the dimly lit corner.

Hermione suddenly appeared at the corner of the corridor.

They appear and disappear without a trace.

"So? Did you catch that imposter?"

She stared intently at the silver-haired boy in front of her.

I desperately want to know the truth from him.

However, after staring into those emerald green eyes for a few seconds, a sense of unfamiliarity suddenly arose in her heart.

Because Owen's gaze was filled with anger, disdain, and an inscrutable envy. Perhaps it was only for a moment, and Hermione simply thought she was seeing things.

But the next sound convinced her that she hadn't misread it.

"Hey! I'm here!" Owen's voice came from behind the boy in front of him.

Hermione turned her head, and another figure that looked exactly like the boy in front of her came into view.

"This..." The little witch quickly took a step back, then drew her wand.

"who is he?"

"He's a pervert," Owen replied.

"No!" Draco roared angrily, his face grim.

"Well, looks like you two know each other?" Hermione caught the teasing in their voices; it was clear they knew each other. However, she remained wary and didn't lower her wand.

“You all know him,” Owen shrugged. “And he’s not the poisoner. Well—for his sake, I won’t say who he is.”

Draco breathed a sigh of relief.

My tense nerves relaxed.

However, he didn't relax much. The effects of the compound decoction he brewed only lasted for a little over half an hour, and it was almost time for it to expire.

"Him?" Hermione blinked. "A boy?" She put away her wand, feeling a little relieved.

"Alright, we should go find Harry. He should be back by now."

Irving gave Draco a look, and Draco nodded knowingly before taking off and disappearing from sight.

"Hey—" Hermione was about to stop him, but Owen held her back.

"We have more important things to do," Irving said with a hint of regret.

He had originally planned to go to the kitchen, but now that's probably not an option.

"I feel like you're protecting him," Hermione pouted, displeased. "He's impersonated you and done a lot of bad things. Even boys might do some shady things."

"Hmm—cough cough." Hearing this, Owen coughed a few times and said with a sigh, "That's enough. I have no interest in exploring the dark side of a person's heart."

"Except for you, of course."

After saying that, he pulled Hermione up and they walked quickly down the corridor together.

They are now going to the foyer.

That place is a necessary stop on the way to many places, and it's easy to run into Harry there.

(End of this chapter)