A certain broken Hogwarts

Chapter 20: Questions about Occlumency

Owen calmly left the corridor, putting away the wand he had once again gripped in his hand.

If the twins had chosen to attack him, Irving wouldn't have minded practicing his newly mastered spells on them. As for the friendliness represented by the bouquet of fake flowers? That's fine, but it can be plastic, after all.

After exploring the last few areas on the eighth floor of the castle, Owen paused in front of an ugly, enormous stone monster statue and made a mark on the map.

"What is it?" the stone monster asked in a low voice.

"Nothing, just passing by," Owen said casually. Although he could guess the password to the principal's office—it would probably be something like "sizzling honey," "cockroach pile," or "lemon ice cream"—he had no intention of sneaking in to take a look.

After leaving the area, Irving carefully examined the map in his hand and then started walking downstairs.

Peeves stalked him again halfway there, remaining quiet for a while under the spell's effect. Once the spell's duration expired, he became even more incessantly noisy, almost bursting into an ear-piercing song if Owen hadn't threatened him with the spell.

As they passed the fourth floor, Pippi looked towards the corridor on his right and winked at Owen: "Pippi knows there's definitely treasure hidden in that corridor! Pippi saw them put a three-headed dog in there!"

"Then why don't you go and steal the treasure?" Owen said casually.

"It's enchanted there; Peeves can't get through." Peeves rolled around in mid-air, clearly frustrated by his inability to go in and explore.

As they were talking, Owen suddenly caught a faint smell of garlic. He continued down the stairs a few steps and, sure enough, saw Professor Quirrell coming up, his large purple scarf particularly eye-catching.

"Good afternoon, Professor Quirrell," Owen greeted him naturally, his smile flawless and his every move elegant and self-assured.

"Good afternoon, Sha... Shafik." Professor Quirrell nodded, glancing quickly at Peeves, and continued, "Don't... don't get close to that corridor, it's dangerous." He had obviously overheard Owen and Peeves' conversation.

Pipi Ghost's eyes darted around, seemingly scheming something wicked. Clearly, he held no respect whatsoever for this stuttering professor who lacked any semblance of authority.

"Of course, Professor. I don't want to be a big dog's dessert." Owen said humorously, his clear and calm eyes meeting the other's the moment they met.

Quirrell nodded, and the two passed each other calmly.

Owen silently descended the stairs, and once he was back on the first floor, he glared at Pippi. He had a feeling that this guy was doing everything he could to sabotage him.

"Hmm, should we look into Occlumency?"

Because he had no memory of the plot before enrolling, Owen didn't learn Occlumency beforehand. Of course, even if he wanted to, he probably wouldn't have been able to. This forbidden technique, so closely related to the brain and mind, could easily turn him into an idiot without precise control of magic and the supervision of a skilled wizard!

"However, now that I have a mental space, I do have the conditions to cultivate on my own," Owen pondered.

Owen hasn't been in a hurry to learn Occlumency these days, because he has learned about Legilimency from some books and understands that it doesn't allow one to arbitrarily look through a person's memories.

The human brain is not a book that can be opened at will and read in one's spare time; rather, it is a complex, ambiguous, and multi-layered entity. A mind-grasping practitioner cannot read another's thoughts like reading a newspaper; instead, they must navigate through the complexities of the other's mind, analyzing what they discover and interpreting meaning from seemingly meaningless images.

Those who can grasp at thoughts can determine whether someone is lying and analyze their true inner thoughts. They can also guide others through words and emotions to help them interpret what they need from the changing thoughts of others.

Of course, a skilled legatomic master can also invade another person's mind to find specific memory fragments. However, this is a violent application of legatomic techniques, requiring intense concentration and making it easier for the target to detect. This falls into the realm of interrogation.

Of the few people at Hogwarts who possess Legilimency, Dumbledore usually doesn't use it on his students lightly, even though with his intelligence, he could easily see through most people's minds even without using Legilimency. As for Snape, although his bottom line is more flexible, he would only use it on his students if he had nothing better to do than interpret their childish, snickering thoughts.

As for Voldemort, given his current weakened state, whether he can use Legilimency is still unknown. Even if he could, his target wouldn't be a minor wizard who poses no threat to him, unless that minor wizard has caught his attention or is under his watchful eye; even then, he could only sense the other's current thoughts.

For him to risk aggravating his physical condition by using legitimation to forcibly invade someone's mind and peer into their memories, that would require someone to arouse his strong suspicion or vigilance. In fact, his current weakened state might not even be able to do it.

If he could truly achieve that, he probably would have already found a way to access the dog from Hagrid's mind, since Hagrid is definitely not someone who would hide his thoughts. Although Hagrid is a half-giant, which would make Legilimency more difficult to some extent, it shouldn't be enough to stop Voldemort's spying.

Moreover, if Voldemort could really use Legilimency like that, he would have already gone to Snape by now, instead of having to rely on the mediocre Kino. After all, Snape, the master of Occlumency, was absolutely "loyal" to him.

Owen wasn't really afraid of others discovering his inner thoughts at that moment, since he wasn't going to dwell on plots he already knew. As long as no one saw his memories of the original novel, there was always room for maneuver.

"So there's no need to rush, because rushing won't help."

Owen knew that even if he started practicing Occlumency now, it would be difficult to make any progress in a short time, and the time required to reach a level that was sufficiently useful was unpredictable. He also didn't want to find a Legilimency master to help him learn quickly, because that would mean opening his memories to others.

"However, just in case, I should find a textbook on Occlumency and study it to see if I can find a way to specifically hide my memories of the original work." Owen glanced at the mischievous Pikachu beside him. "I think we have a few related books at home. I guess I should write a letter home."

"So, don't tell me you're up to something again." Owen temporarily put the Occlumency issue aside, tilting his head to look at Peeves with a slightly mocking smile. "Or are you planning to publicly rip Professor Quirrell's scarf off his head and let everyone see if it's stuffed with garlic?"

"Petty Ghost has principles!" Petty Ghost shouted, but his malicious black eyes betrayed his restless nature.

"Alright, how long are you going to follow me?" Owen took out his pocket watch and glanced at the time, intending to take a walk in the area outside the castle and soak up some sun. Having a noisy guy around at a time like this would be too much of a mood killer.

"If you just tell poor Peeves that insignificant little secret..." Peeves lifted his nose and did a somersault in the air.

"I told you, that's impossible." Owen's smile was firm, but then he looked amused. "However, I can consider teaching you the magic trick I performed for the Weasley twins."

(End of this chapter)