Christmas vacation was over before he knew it and right now, Auden was infiltrating the Gryffindor tower to return the cloak of invisibility. It was an easy exchange with Harry and Dumbledore none the wiser about what happened.
Auden easily returned back to his room with Helena right behind him.
"Don't worry Auden, Filch was easily distracted by the Weasley twins who decided to roam the entire castle tonight because of the strict curfew that Dumbledore put forward during the vacation.
There might be a chance they saw you in the map. But since they never confronted you, maybe not. Be careful about it"
'Hell' Auden thought as that was another thing that skipped his mind. The twins might not use the maps unless they were in the corridors otherwise they would have seen him hiding in the Gryffindor living room with the cloak of invisibility.
The map was actually able to find even Harry who was hiding under the cloak. Granted the cloak was weakened by Dumbledore, its abilities were still better than any other invisibility cloak in the market.
"I got a plan for that; I'll deal with it tomorrow." Auden said as he was tired by the travel taken through the train today. Sometimes he wonders whether the trains were made so as to follow some kind of unknown tradition like the quills. It would have been way easier to come by a fireplace.
Plus, he was able to give the shoes to Luna, which earned him a few looks from his other friends, but he didn't mind. He was waiting for what would happen to the bullies when they try to take the shoes away from her this time.
"You should work on your poker face, little brother. Its makes me worry about what is going to happen to those who pissed you off" Helena suddenly commented from the side.
'My expression?' Auden wondered as he looked into the mirror, but by that time, it was gone. 'Must work to be like Aizen' he made the promise to himself again.
"Well, we can worry about that later. What happened to the others, did they fit in well" Auden asked as he had brought the spirits of the founders with him to the castle and they had gone their own way to look around.
"Yeah, my mother went to change the settings of the room of requirements so that she can access it even while being in spirit form. Dad went to look at a few creatures in the forests who survived the last millennia and were his friends. Uncle Salazar went to meet the few ghosts who were waiting for him so as to get an idea about the entire castle and Aunty Helga went to meet the elves in the castle kitchen" Helena recalled everything that happened in this evening.
We had completed the spell by which the spirits will be able to interact with the physical plane so now the spirits themselves can act as a sort of defence for Hogwarts when the time comes. But for now, it was better to keep it as a secret from the world.
"What about the kid who was injured, was it Lockheart?" Auden asked to which Helena nodded and replied. "He did, it might have been a stunt of his to get back the respect he lost to the students all throughout the year. The ghosts informed Dumbledore about it, but other than telling the ghosts to monitor him more and tell no one, Dumbledore had not done anything about it. Though Harry Potter and Ron Weasley has been seen to be snooping around the castle while looking for its cause.
Some students are gossiping about how it might be related to how Potter knew Parseltongue. Though there are people talking against it, there is still a bit of talk from the students about whether he was directly behind it" Helena informed him about the happenings of the castle, earning another sigh from Auden.
He knew Dumbledore was behind it as he uses these kinds of methods to prepare Harry for the future. But it still pisses him off slightly knowing that a kid is being pushed into it without knowing that he was acting like a puppet all this time.
Plus, another thing that makes Auden think is the fact that Harry was easily disliked by the student body. When any problem happens, he is being accused for it even though a bit of thinking might reveal that he is just a victim of the circumstances.
'Is that because Harry is a horcrux. If so why did it not affect the Weasley family and Hermionie. Is some kind of spell being used for it' Auden speculated and found out that the books he had on hand does not give him enough information on it.
'Should I look into the forbidden section. I only need to stay there for some time to get information about it. And in cannon, before Slughorn told Tom about the Horcrux, Tom already had knowledge about it. So, there must be a book to get that information' Auden then began to plan for away to get permission to get into the forbidden section and realised it was really easy for him to get it this year.
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Auden came out of Lockheart's room with a smile and permission slip in his hand. All it took for him to get that was ask Lockheart some complicated questions, then say that the great Lockheart would want him to learn on his own and then subtly ask him the permission slip. With his current infamy in the castle, Lockheart easily gave Auden, his die heart fan the slip while saying that Auden read his mind with a smile.
'Hook, line and sinker' Auden thought as he moved towards the library. In the library, Madam Prince looked closely at the slip and Auden again and again.
"I heard you are some kind of genius from the teachers, but the restricted section is still dangerous for a kid like you" she then took out a glass stick "Some of the books inside are cursed. Use the wand and if it glows, you should not touch that book. Do you understand?" Madam prince asked in a no-nonsense tone.
Auden nodded and took the glass.
A/N- hope you like it.