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During dinner, the Great Hall of Hogwarts bustled with noise and laughter. The long tables were piled high with food, and golden candlelight illuminated the faces of the wizards gathered there.
The air was thick with the mouthwatering aroma of a grand feast.
At this hour, everyone was at their most relaxed. Earlier, a joke Ron had unintentionally made at the Gryffindor table had become the subject of cheerful discussion across the hall.
The Weasleys didn't seem to mind. In fact, the twins were mimicking how their younger brother had choked on his food. To be fair, though, they had been concerned for Ron at first.
However, considering that this was already the sixth time Ron had choked, their family's concern had understandably dulled somewhat. Gryffindor's prefect, Percy Weasley, was too embarrassed to mention his perpetually famished little brother anymore.
"Now this plan has potential."
Ian wasn't interested in Ron's eating habits. His attention was entirely on Harry Potter, or, more precisely, on the mysterious house connected to him. He was already calculating how to use Potter as bait to draw out Lily.
How to put it...
Ever since Ian learned that Lily Evans was a member of the Soul Hall, he'd been deeply curious about her. By all accounts, she should have died the night Voldemort fell.
Furthermore, her name should have long been changed to Lily Potter. These contradictions made Ian not only curious but also convinced him that they might be the key to unraveling the entire mystery of the Soul Hall.
The wolf spirit he'd sealed away in the Room of Requirement was clearly worthless, just an "apprentice." Using it to find or lure out the Soul Hall was practically impossible.
But Lily Evans was different.
Based on the information Ian had gathered from the Duke and Duchess, Lily Evans should be at least a mid-level member of the Soul Hall. Someone of that status would know far more than a mere apprentice, such as the wolf spirit. Harry Potter would be the perfect bait to draw her out.
Of course, that was assuming that Lily Evans was still lurking in this era.
Even if Lily and James Potter's relationship had crumbled after his death, Harry was undoubtedly her son. There was no way she wouldn't care about him; the protective magic born from her love for Harry proved how deeply she loved him.
That was exactly why...
If the Lily Evans mentioned by the Duke was indeed Harry Potter's mother, then it wouldn't be strange for a Soul Hall member capable of crossing time to occasionally check in on her son. Ian was confident that his plan to use Harry to find Lily and, through her, uncover the truth about the Soul Hall had a high chance of success.
"Potter…"
Ian murmured softly, his voice nearly drowned out by the lively chatter filling the Great Hall. Just as he was considering how to convince Harry Potter to do him a small favor--
"Ah-choo!" Ah-choo! Ah-choo!"
A sudden string of sneezes echoed from the staff table. The noise wasn't particularly loud, and most of the students didn't even notice.
However, Ian's senses were far sharper than the average person's—legendary, even. He immediately noticed his dear uncle sneezing and wondered if it was some kind of magic. Something like a "pure-hearted spell that alerts you whenever someone in the crowd harbors ill will toward you"?
"This is ridiculous," Ian muttered, shaking his head.
He withdrew his gaze.
After sneezing, his "good uncle" was now scanning the room warily. Perhaps it was his instincts as a seasoned wizard; he sensed something odd about the sneezes. His eyes darted rapidly across the Great Hall, searching for any possible source of hostility.
Snape didn't notice Ian's gaze because he reacted a beat too late.
"How strange. I can't possibly have caught a cold." Snape frowned, his trademark gloomy expression shadowing his face as his black eyes swept across the Great Hall like twin searchlights.
He found no malicious stares.
But when his gaze fell upon Ian and Harry sitting together, his brows furrowed tighter still. His lips pressed into a thin line as though the sight itself offended him.
In the end, he only gave a soft, disdainful snort and turned back to his plate. Still, his eyes kept flicking toward the wizard who had "invaded" Slytherin's table. The fork in his hand stabbed into a piece of meat with unnecessary force, perhaps as a way to vent his irritation or the familiar sense of disapproval he couldn't hide.
Meanwhile, Ian calmly ate as well.
He scooped up a spoonful of mashed potatoes and watched the butter melt slowly in the rising steam before bringing it to his mouth. A true lover of good food always knew when a dish reached its peak flavor.
What's that?
What if you miss the perfect moment?
Well, of course! You just cast a bit of magic to restore it to its best possible state.
This casual display left Harry Potter wide-eyed in disbelief, and even the nearby Aurora seemed at a loss for words.
Knowing it was pointless to comment, Aurora said nothing in the end.
"What kind of magic is that?" Harry couldn't help but ask aloud.
"Just a little trick," Ian replied lightly. "Once you've mastered advanced transfiguration, become proficient with the principles from The Deception of Time, and possess roughly the same level of magical power as Professor Snape, you'll be able to do it, too."
Ian blinked innocently as he continued eating his buttery mashed potatoes.
"?"
Harry was completely bewildered.
He had no idea what level of skill was required to "master" Advanced Transfiguration, nor had he ever heard of The Deception of Time. However, he knew that Snape was the Head of House and a renowned wizard.
So, was a spell requiring Head of House-level mastery just a "little trick"?
Honestly, Harry wanted to complain. Then he remembered that this same wizard had once made even Voldemort feel genuine fear. Perhaps Ian wasn't being arrogant. Maybe he truly didn't understand how slowly normal people learned.
Harry stared at the spoon in Ian's hand, which subtly reshaped the food it held.
Then he suddenly said, almost to himself,
"Ron would probably love that kind of magic. That way, he wouldn't have to worry about choking every time he eats."
The Boy Who Lived had somehow managed to bring the conversation back to Ron Weasley.
Whether that connection was fate or mere habit, who could say? Fate's tendency to "correct" itself was peculiar, but it was clear that Harry Potter's life would never return to its original path.
Take the so-called Golden Trio, for example. He was supposed to be at the center of the group, yet now he was more like the fourth member standing on the outside. Whether that was good or bad for the Boy Who Lived was anyone's guess.
"Without Voldemort's threat, maybe that's its own kind of happiness," Ian mused quietly. However, his mind was actually wandering to the possibility of a knockoff Voldemort appearing at Hogwarts. He felt that life might be getting too peaceful for Harry, which wasn't exactly a good thing.
And no, it wasn't because he was scheming to lure Lily out.
(To Be Contnued…)