That night, although the wind and rain outside the castle had already stopped, the air still carried a damp, biting chill.
After attending Gryffindor’s victory celebration, Harry did not go straight to bed. Instead, he threw on the Invisibility Cloak, crept quietly to the Defense Against the Dark Arts office, and knocked on Lynn’s door.
"Well, if it isn’t our star Seeker. What brings you here so late instead of sleeping?" Lynn had already changed into pajamas when he opened the door. Seeing Harry pull off the Invisibility Cloak, he gestured for him to come inside.
The fireplace in Lynn’s office was burning brightly, driving away the cold.
"Professor Gray... I have a few questions I want to ask you," Harry said awkwardly.
He had seemed rather distracted even during the celebration feast, and the reason was naturally the Magic Missile he had used high in the air at the end of the match.
"During the Quidditch game today, that rogue Bludger was chasing me. I was thinking about using Magic Missile to blow it apart, but what came out didn’t seem quite the same as what was written in The Adventurer’s Handbook, or what Hermione’s looked like when she cast it..." Harry said nervously.
And on top of that, the stabbing pain in his scar before and after casting, along with that ominous dark green light when the spell went off, kept making him think of things he really did not want to think about.
Lynn motioned for him to sit in the comfortable high-backed chair in front of the desk, then asked,
"I saw the spell you used during the match." Lynn sat across from him and smiled. "First of all, you can relax. Although it was dark green, what you cast was not any kind of evil Dark magic."
Harry’s tense body loosened a little, and he leaned back into the chair.
"But your concern is justified. What you cast really wasn’t Magic Missile."
"But I was definitely thinking about Magic Missile, and the words I said were Magic Missile. Does that mean there’s something wrong with the way I’m casting?"
Lynn did not answer immediately. Instead, he adjusted his glasses, activated his divination, and looked at Harry.
[Name: Harry Potter]
[Race: Human]
[Class: Sorcerer]
[Level: 1 (0.5%)]
The attributes and feats listed below had not changed from before.
"Other than that spell, have you learned any other spells recently?" Lynn asked.
"Um..." Harry thought for a moment, then answered, "Mage Hand, Minor Illusion, and the 1st-circle spell Disguise Self."
Ever since arriving in this world, aside from that little girl who had appeared at his manor, this was the first time Lynn had truly felt puzzled.
Because no matter whether it was the spells Harry had learned or the results shown by his divination, everything clearly told Lynn that Harry Potter had already become a Sorcerer.
But then how could a Sorcerer use Eldritch Blast?
"Tell me exactly what happened, Harry." Lynn closed his notebook, his tone gentle. "When you cast that spell, did you feel anything unusual?"
Harry thought back, then unconsciously raised a hand to touch his forehead.
"I got... angry. There was this urge... to destroy that ball, tear it apart..."
He hesitated, but said it anyway. "And my scar was hurting all day. I don’t know if it was because of the weather."
"Your scar... Has it hurt like that before?"
"It has..." Harry seemed to remember something, and his eyes filled with fear. "Last year... when Professor Quirrell, no, Voldemort, grabbed my wrist..."
Voldemort, the scar...
At once, a suspicion took shape in Lynn’s mind.
Although Voldemort was now little more than a remnant soul, his status really was that of a Demilich. Lynn had personally verified that much.
Could it be that, in this world, Voldemort also functioned as some twisted kind of patron?
Through the scar, he had established a soul-link with Harry. In Faerûn, that would be practically equivalent to the pact between a Warlock and some fey, fiend, or Great Old One.
"Professor, am I..." Harry looked at Lynn’s grave expression, and his voice grew smaller and smaller. "Am I not supposed to use that kind of magic?"
"No, Harry."
Lynn stood, walked around the desk, and patted Harry on the shoulder.
"Your casting method was perfectly correct. In fact, you could say it’s an exceptionally powerful talent. You do not need to deliberately change anything."
"But I do need to give you one piece of advice." Lynn’s voice turned serious. "This is an extremely rare kind of power. It comes from a certain connection buried deep in your soul. It is powerful, but it is often accompanied by chaotic and violent emotions."
"Don’t become addicted to the thrill of destruction, Harry. No matter what happens, stay rational, and remember that you are the true master of your magic."
"I’ll remember, Professor." Harry nodded, only half understanding, but he still felt a great weight lift from his chest.
Suddenly, Lynn sensed the faintest ripple in the air of his office.
It was a form of magic he had never encountered before, different from his own spells, yet also subtly different from the native magic of this world.
But he was absolutely certain of one thing.
There was a third living being in the room besides himself and Harry.
Without hesitation, he instantly cast the 2nd-circle spell See Invisibility, scanned the room, and immediately spotted a small ugly creature huddled in the shadows behind Harry’s chair. It had bat-like ears and huge tennis-ball eyes.
Lynn raised his wand at once and cast:
"Hold Monster!"
The 5th-circle spell flared in pale blue beneath the creature’s feet, interrupting the Apparition it had been trying to use the instant it realized it had been discovered, and froze it in place.
Lynn was an extremely cautious person. The fact that a creature had managed to slip into his room without him noticing put him instantly on edge. In the same instant, he used Misty Step to teleport to the opposite corner of the room. Dark green light gathered at the tip of his wand as Disintegrate stood ready to fire.
"Dobby?"
Startled by Lynn’s sudden reaction, Harry turned and let out a shocked cry.
The house-elf, dressed in a filthy old pillowcase, could not move a single inch now, though its eyes were darting madly around in terror.
"Dobby? Harry, you know this creature?"
"Yes, I do. He’s Dobby. He’s a house-elf."
Lynn had seen the films before transmigrating here, but the creature in front of him still felt a little different from what he remembered.
Uglier, somehow.
And the house-elves’ unique magic left Lynn deeply shocked. They used no wand, and even the magical fluctuations were extraordinarily hard to detect, which was why he had failed to notice Dobby at first.
Lynn flicked his wand and lowered it, then walked over to Dobby and looked down at him.
"A house-elf. Why did you sneak into my office?"
"Dobby did not mean to offend Lynn Gray!" Dobby screamed in protest. Though he could not move, he could still talk. "Dobby only wanted to warn Harry Potter! Harry Potter must go home! Hogwarts is too dangerous!"
"Go home? Unless I’m mistaken, that Bludger during the Quidditch match today was your doing too, wasn’t it? That’s your idea of a warning?"
Harry looked at Dobby in confusion as well.
"Dobby only wanted Harry Potter to be hurt! If Harry Potter was badly hurt, then he would have to go home!" Dobby was sobbing so hard that tears and snot were streaming down his face. By habit, he tried to hurl his head against the nearby cabinet to punish himself, but under the effect of Hold Monster, he could not move so much as a finger.
Lynn waved a hand, and Mage Hand lifted Dobby up into the air until they were eye level.
"Dobby, let me ask you this." Lynn stared into his eyes. "The danger you’re talking about, is it a black diary?"
Dobby’s eyes bulged even wider. He began trembling violently, making muffled noises as though trying to smash his head into something and failing.
"All right. I don’t need your answer. Your reaction has already told me everything."
Lynn dismissed both the paralysis and the Mage Hand, and Dobby dropped onto the carpet.
"Harry Potter is safe. Stop trying to ’protect’ my student with methods that verge on murder. Go back and tell Lucius Malfoy this." Lynn’s voice was ice-cold. "If he dares to reach his claws into Hogwarts, then he’d better be prepared to have them cut off."
Dobby cast one terrified look at Lynn, then another at Harry, let out a loud crack, and vanished.
Harry had not yet recovered from the chain of shocks. "Professor, Dobby is connected to Malfoy’s father? Then that attack..."
Knock knock knock.
The urgent knocking cut Harry off.
Lynn waved a hand, and the door opened.
Standing outside was Professor McGonagall, her face pale.
"I’m very sorry to disturb you so late, Professor Gray." Her voice was low. "Dumbledore is summoning all the teachers to the Great Hall."
"A student has been attacked."
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