A certain Hogwarts professor of runes.

“Uh, and then the next sentence is obviously asking us to find something, probably three things, or three categories?” Harry looked at Hermione hesitantly, but Hermione smiled and didn’t reveal any information.

"Okay, whatever it is, they're all different, divided into power, wisdom, and... growth? I guess it's some kind of test. The next two sentences are a reminder to be careful, and they involve choices, which is strange... Finally, when the gold overflows, we'll see each other, does that mean we have to separate? Only when this condition is met can we meet again?"

When Harry deduced this clue, his eyes widened, and the three pairs of eyes looked at each other.

Ron let out a wail.

Just then, a small, silver swift flew through the library window and landed lightly in front of them. The guardian of language opened its beak, and Professor Hyp's voice came from within—

"Harry, come to my office at eight o'clock tonight. You'll be the only one there."

Chapter 421 Explanation

At eight o'clock in the evening, Harry pushed open the door to the Ancient Runes office right on time.

“Just find somewhere to sit,” Felix said, sitting in a chair behind his desk. He was reading a paper. Harry looked around, and Niffler Varen pointed to an armchair to Harry’s left.

Harry quietly thanked Varen, pulled up a chair, and sat opposite the professor, waiting patiently. After two or three minutes, Felix put down his paper and smiled: "You might be wondering why I called you here. It's quite simple. I've been commissioned by Headmaster Dumbledore to teach you Occlumency."

He briefly explained, "This is a spell to prevent outsiders from invading your mind."

"Why would I need to study this stuff?" Harry asked blankly. The next second, his heart started pounding. He realized the reason and said with difficulty, "Is it because of that nightmare I had?"

“As far as I know, this isn’t the first time?” Felix asked softly.

“I… uh—yes, one more time during the summer holidays,” Harry had to admit. “But—”

He looked at Felix eagerly. "Sirius said it might be related to my scar. When I was in first year, Headmaster Dumbledore also said that Voldemort's unsuccessful Killing Curse connected me to him."

Felix shook his head and said in a low voice, "That's a fair assessment, though."

"From what I can see right now, it's just you prying into Voldemort's thoughts. That might be because he's not powerful enough yet and hasn't noticed your little tricks, but..." He paused, looking at Harry.

Based on their long-standing understanding, Harry followed Felix's train of thought, and a terrifying idea emerged. He couldn't help but swallow hard. "You think Voldemort might be spying on my thoughts? This...this is really—"

"It doesn't seem like such a big deal," Harry thought blankly. He was just a student, worrying about completing assignments for different subjects every year. If Voldemort really saw these thoughts, he'd probably be quite impatient.

“Don’t underestimate your importance in Voldemort’s eyes, Harry,” Felix said calmly. “You personally destroyed his dark rule. If there’s anyone he hates most and can’t understand the most, it’s most likely you. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have sent his most trusted servant to infiltrate Hogwarts and risk throwing your name into the Goblet of Fire…”

At this point, he looked at Harry thoughtfully.

This reminded him that Voldemort was severely understaffed, and his first priority was to arrange the resurrection, not to cause trouble at Hogwarts and expose his existence—even though Voldemort desperately wanted Harry to attend his resurrection party.

Unless Harry's role is more important than imagined, even directly determining the success or failure of Voldemort's resurrection...

"Professor? Professor Hep?"

"Sorry, I got a little distracted. Besides what I just mentioned, you also know a lot of information that could be valuable to Voldemort, such as Dumbledore's whereabouts, or some people close to you, or... Horcruxes. You don't want to reveal any of this, do you?"

Harry's expression was conflicted. On one hand, he desperately wanted to enter Voldemort's mind again, especially since Voldemort now had a powerful henchman and was at a crucial moment in his quest for resurrection; on the other hand, he was, of course, aware of the risks involved.

“Then teach me Occlumency—” Harry began, and Felix glanced at him. “I mean Occlumency.” Harry quickly added, “That’s right, Occlumency. Is it to cut off my contact with him? To prevent the leak of our intelligence?”

Felix remained noncommittal.

So your opinion is—

"My opinion?" Harry asked, puzzled.

Do you agree to learn Occlumency?

"Can I refuse?" Harry looked at him and asked softly.

"Of course I respect your choice; it's never good to force someone into something like this."

Harry laughed. "It's good to learn more, Professor." He felt that his words sounded remarkably like Hermione's.

Felix tapped the table, and the perspective shifted silently. All the colors and decorations in the office turned gray and white, leaving only some magical items radiating magical light. He stared at Harry, making Harry feel extremely uncomfortable.

“Now that you’ve made up your mind,” he straightened up, “let’s begin.”

Harry stood up, unconsciously looking around for a spot, genuinely hoping to find a mat or something on the floor. Then he noticed Professor Hyp staring at him strangely. "What are you thinking about?"

“Um… Professor, don’t we need to put out a mat?” Harry gestured. “We’ll be using it in the Duel Study Group…”

Felix looked at him and breathed a sigh of relief. "It seems you don't know much about this." He beckoned, and a piece of parchment and a quill on the table flew up automatically. The blue quill dipped into the ink bottle, filled with ink, and "swish, swish, swish" wrote a string of book titles. Harry watched in awe.

When the book list floated in front of him, he took it absentmindedly, stared at it for a few seconds, and then made out the first title, "Lock Your Brain," followed by a long list. Harry felt incredibly frustrated, as if he had gotten a zero on the second project.

“This is a reference book for you to read when you get back,” Felix said. “I’ll give you a brief overview of this subject below.”

“Speaking of Occlumency, one has to mention Legilimency, the Forgetfulness Charm, Mind Hut, and a whole host of other spells,” Felix said, gesturing for Harry to sit on the sofa. He then sat opposite Harry, drew his wand, and with a gentle wave, the fire in the fireplace roared to life.

"They are all classified as memory magic, but they are actually very different. Among them, Occlumency and Legilimency are the most closely related, yet they are also opposite to each other."

"Professor, what is Legilimency?"

"In a way you can understand, it's similar to what people generally call mind reading—a kind of magic that invades the other person's brain and reads their feelings and memories. Of course—I must emphasize that Legilimency and mind reading are very different. I need you to read books to understand the specific concepts, which will be reflected in your thesis, and you must analyze the differences between the two."

Harry felt a bitter taste in his mouth.

But then he suddenly realized something and hurriedly asked, "Professor, do you want to read my thoughts so that I can use Occlumency to defend myself?" He felt uneasy; if the professor saw any hidden memories, he would definitely be furious.

“This is just one method,” Felix commented. “An efficient strategy—to accelerate your mastery of Occlumency through mental combat. But frankly, we have plenty of time; we don’t need to worry too much until Voldemort is resurrected. Of course, if you’re in a hurry to learn…” Felix looked at him with ill intent.

“I’m not in a hurry,” Harry said quickly. “I’ll choose another method.”

Chapter 422 First Experience

“A wise choice will make you feel much better.” Felix slashed his wand, and a golden trail spread between them, like snowflakes swept up by the wind, with golden powder falling down in a flurry.

“Let’s do a test first.” He leaned back in his chair, gazing happily at the golden rain.

Harry looked up, feeling as if he were a part of the gold dust floating in the air, forgetting all his worries and troubles… He involuntarily drifted into a hazy dream, his mind finding immense relaxation, light and airy, as if enveloped in warm light. Harry subconsciously tried to chase this feeling, but a voice inside him told him that this scene seemed familiar.

What was it? If he had ever experienced such a wonderful feeling before, he would remember it vividly, Harry thought ecstatically, his mind like a rusty alarm clock, each thought jumping through his head only to pause for a moment, until Professor Moody's ugly face flashed before his eyes. How disgusting… This brought Harry, immersed in a sea of ​​pleasure, to a sudden jolt.

Why did I even think of him? Could it be because I've developed feelings for him from being tormented by his classes? Wait, Moody's class? Imperius Curse?

Harry's heart was instantly doused with cold water—no, it was directly immersed in the Black Lake of late December. He shuddered, snapping out of his daze. Before him, gold dust drifted down, piling up in a cone shape on the ground, shimmering and beautiful.

However, Harry no longer sees this as a good thing. Besides what he has just experienced, another direct piece of evidence is that Professor Hyp is holding Varen tightly, and the little guy is reaching out a small hand from between the professor's arms, trying hard to reach for the gold dust.

Harry leaned back in fear, and only felt a little safer after feeling the solid touch of the sofa back against his back.

"Three minutes."

Felix picked up a pocket watch, looked at it, and said, "Faster than I expected, that's remarkable."

Harry stammered, "I...I thought of Professor Moody..."

“I understand,” Felix said. “His appearance is indeed frightening.”

“No, no, Professor,” Harry said. “It’s not because of Professor Moody’s appearance that I…” He blinked and explained in a low voice, “He’s recited the Imperius Curse to us in class.”

“Oh, that makes sense,” Felix nodded slightly. “It seems you must have done exceptionally well in that class?”

Harry nodded hesitantly.

"Professor, what is that?"

He watched as Professor Hyp waved his wand, and the gold dust that had been falling from the sky and the handful of powder on the ground vanished at the same time.

“I’ve collected some wonderful memories,” Felix said with a smile. “Many of them come from creatures in the Forbidden Forest. These little animals find happiness easily, which might not fit your definition of ‘wonderful’?”

“No, I feel great, pure joy,” Harry said with some reluctance.

Felix said slowly, "This is an inspiration I got from Dementors. Since Dementors can extract happy memories, I naturally thought, why can't they extract other memories and emotions?"

"If you absorb all the happiness, all that's left is negative and pessimistic feelings; if you absorb all the arrogance and conceit, all that's left is humility and respect... You'll find that emotions can easily swing from one extreme to another. It's worth studying, but I have to say—it's not very useful to me, and it's easy to be criticized."

Harry felt this assessment was too lenient; "evil" or "weird" would have been more appropriate. He glanced at Felix furtively. Most of the time, Professor Hyp was gentle and friendly enough, his words like a breath of fresh air—not to mention that after the Christmas Ball, many girls' opinions of him had skyrocketed. But when it came to his attitude towards certain types of magic, the professor's standards were shockingly low.

For example, if he hadn't had that nightmare that night, he might never have known that Professor Hyp was so skilled at using the Killing Curse...

He felt that some of his beliefs had been shaken.

"Would doing this help me learn Occlumency?" Harry asked tentatively.

"Of course it helps. In the early stages of your learning, you'll find that the strength of your will is especially important."

He handed Harry a book.

“Every page of this book has been enchanted by me. Besides the ones you just saw, there are other ways to manipulate emotions and memories. You need to read it while ignoring the effects of the enchantments. This book is somewhat dangerous, so I can't let you take it away. My plan for this special training is that you come every two days during the Christmas holidays, and once the semester starts, you come once a week. When you can read from the first page to the last page without any effort, it means you've truly mastered the basics. Then we'll move on to the next stage.”

Harry nodded to indicate that he understood. He took the book; it didn't look thick, with an ordinary cover and no title, but he didn't think it was any less harmful than Hagrid's carefully chosen "The Monster Book of Monsters."

He nervously turned to the first page. At first glance, it seemed unremarkable, with an unfamiliar talisman drawn on it, surrounded by a purple, arc-shaped pattern. But as he tried to decipher it, the talisman exerted a strong attraction.

He stared intently at the pattern on it, his expression one of rapture, as if the ultimate answer to all the unknown mysteries was hidden in that tiny talisman.

Felix released his grip, and Varen jumped out of his arms, ran to Harry's sofa, and stood there curiously watching the motionless Harry. He then glanced at the illustrations in the book. At first glance, he saw nothing; at second glance, he thought, "Hmm? It's quite nice, so I'll take another look..."

Its gaze became increasingly focused. At that moment, Felix came over and picked it up. Valen blinked, remembering what had just happened, and let out two shuddering cries.

“That book isn’t for you. I’ll make you a ‘Wallen’s Wonderful Adventure’ sometime,” Felix joked.

Varen patted his heart, kept his distance from Harry and the book on his lap, ran to the workbench, took out gold coins from his pocket, and stacked them on the table to build a castle.

Valen felt that building a castle with exploding cards was too dangerous, and that using Galleons was better—it was both beautiful and safe, and the sense of accomplishment after completion was immense.

Felix and the Niffler would stop every now and then to glance in Harry's direction. Harry's forehead was covered in sweat, a sign of his rapidly depleting mental energy. Felix's brow furrowed deeper and deeper.

Still, nothing seems amiss...

Was it hidden too deeply? The realm of the soul is indeed full of unknowns.

Time ticked by, the sweat on Harry's forehead evaporated, but he still hadn't turned to the next page; he was completely lost. Felix glanced at the time; it was almost lights out. He stood up, intending to interrupt Harry.

Just then, he stopped. Under his magical vision, a deep darkness peeked out, appearing abruptly in his field of vision, perched on Harry's forehead, as if it had always been there, only obscured by layers of mist.

Felix could not hide his shock. His and Dumbledore's guesses had come true. Although he did not know the specific process, there was no doubt that Harry harbored a piece of Voldemort's soul.

……

“Harry, this is a calming potion. Drink it and go back to get a good night’s sleep,” Felix said gently.

“Yes, Professor.” Harry yawned widely; he was so sleepy he just wanted to get back to bed and have a good night’s sleep.

When he returned to the common room, there weren't many people left. Hermione and Ron were waiting for him. Hermione chattered and asked, "What does Professor Hyp want with you?"

“Headmaster Dumbledore had a professor teach me Occlumency,” Harry said wearily.

"Obestomy?"