Daphne had a winner's smile on her face. Ophelia had also seen the portrait of that girl before, she concluded. Lelouch had a special feeling for the person depicted on it, a feeling he didn't have for his real sister. The puzzle was starting to fall into order.
She left the bookcase to return to her seat and glanced back at the mop of red hair on the other side of the bookcase. Karin was there, silently leafing through a book. As soon as She noticed Daphne approach Ophelia, she conveniently placed herself in the best position to overhear what they were talking about.
Daphne smirked.
Interesting...
...
"I need a book on Nicholas Flamel..." Lelouch stated as he drummed his fingers on the table.
Kallen was with him in the Room of Requirement. She had just introduced her twin brothers to him. They were sitting on a square table the room had conjured for them while staring in awe at all the symbolism present in the room.
Soon, a large book appeared, atop of the table. "Introduction to alchemy", the title read.
"Alchemy?" Karin frowned.
Lelouch frowned. "So it seems," he said, opened the book and started to sweep the pages looking for anything about Nicholas Flamel. Meanwhile, the twins had risen from their seats to inspect the room, especially the mannequins next to the wall. Lelouch glanced at them with the corner of his eyes and clicked his tongue.
For all their talk about "swearing loyalty to his evil reign", the twins were quite guarded around him. Lelouch mused if Kallen had noticed it, was this an indication of their loyalty towards Dumbledore? Lelouch had already shared his impression of the man with them, but they seemed rather skeptical of him.
Lelouch frowned as he caught a word on the book with the corner of his eyes. "Philosopher's stone?" he said.
"Did you find anything?" Kallen asked as she raised her head from the book she was studying. She had been the one to warn him about his sister's little quest against Snape and about this Flamel person.
Lelouch nodded dully "Apparently, Flamel is a famous alchemist that created a magical artifact called philosopher's stone. It that can grant immortality to the user." he explained and snorted. "As if immortality is worth anything... C.C. had always despised her own."
Karin frowned at him "Do you think Dumbledore really has it here in Hogwarts?"
Lelouch noticed one of the twins paying attention to their conversation from where they were standing. This was a good opportunity to erode their faith in Dumbledore. "From what my sister heard from Hagrid, it is the only conclusion that makes sense. Didn't Potter visit a vault in Gringotts that was keeping something important? did he say how big it was?
Kallen frowned. "A brown packed with the size of a snitch, he said."
Lelouch leaned back on his seat and smirked. "So, we can conclude Dumbledore took the stone from Gringotts, one of the most secure places in the world, protected by homicidal goblins and hungry dragons alike and decided it would be safer in a school filled with children. Did he even consider he might be endangering us by keeping it here when it seems certain that a dangerous wizard is searching for it?"
"Hogwarts is the safest place in wizarding Britain." one of the twins approached with a slight smile on his face before seating in the chair in front of Lelouch. Lelouch nodded in agreement but added. "Indeed, but it is still a school full of children though," he said, tilting his head and explaining "Children tend to do things without thinking. Why would he announce to the entire school that the third-floor corridor would be inaccessible at the pain of death? why the third-floor corridor anyway? wasn't there a better place to hide?
"Do you have a theory then?" the other twin approached. It would take for Lelouch to be able to tell them apart.
Lelouch narrowed his eyes at the discarded chessboard on the corner of the table. He stared at the white king and tapped his fingers on the table pensively. "This is familiar..." He mused, thinking back on his time in Britannia.
He raised the corner of his mouth. "Dumbledore is setting a stage for a play," he concluded and turned to look at Kallen. She would understand what he was talking about. "He is preparing to make a move in a game he has been playing with someone."
"A trap then?" Kallen frowned.
"Possible," Lelouch answered. "He is planing to turn Hogwarts into a battlefield."
One of the twins clenched his hands. Lelouch smirked inwardly.
Kallen nodded slowly, trying to digest it. "In that case, who would be the other player?" She asked.
Lelouch leaned back and looked at his sharp Q-1 and smirked. "An old enemy of Dumbledore. One who wishes for immortality. One which Dumbledore is prepared to sacrifice a school filled with children to defeat. I don't know much about Dumbledore, but there aren't a lot of those, right?"
One of the twins frowned at him. "You-Know-Who is dead."
Lelouch blinked at him, feigning confusion. "When did I say it was Voldemort? I was just listing the characteristics of this hypothetical enemy based on Dumbledore's actions," he said. It was unimportant if it was Voldemort or not. To Lelouch, what mattered was that the twins believed it was and that Dumbledore was failing in keeping the world safe. That was his game.
"But you implied." the boy answered.
He shrugged. "Might be one of the Dark Lord's followers as well, someone Dumbledore is especially fearful of, or an old enemy from Grindelwald's insurrection," he said.
The other twin interjected. "Do you think it is Snape, then?"
Lelouch shrugged. "Not likely. He has been a teacher here for how long?"
The twins looked at each other and turned to answer. "Bill had classes with him since his first year."
Lelouch nodded. "It probably isn't one of the professors," he concluded and elaborated. "The stone was being kept on Gringotts, this hypothetical enemy had no reason to be a teacher at Hogwarts before it was moved inside it."
The boy frowned. "What about teachers that were hired after the stone was moved?" he asked.
Lelouch raised his right eyebrow. The other twin frowned and looked at Lelouch in realization.
"Quirrell." He answered. "There is a curse on the DADA teacher position. The teacher changes every year. This is Quirrell's first time teaching at Hogwarts."
Lelouch pursed his mouth. Things were now closing into a circle. "I already have some assets keeping an eye on him, there were no strange moves from him yet." The twin blinked in surprise.
"But didn't he try to invade his mind?" Kallen scowled. She had been incensed with Quirrell since Lelouch told her about that.
Lelouch nodded. "He is certainly suspicious, but let's not jump into conclusions yet."
One twin cleared his throat and addressed Lelouch. "About Dumbledore knowing your name. George has a theory."
"Hmm, what is it?" Lelouch asked.
"We think that, maybe, you were mentioned in a prophecy by your previous name." the twin called George said.
Lelouch widened his eyes.
Prophecies were a thing in this world! he should have expected that... This changed everything. Considering his extradimensional origin and his supposed ancient celt blood, it would be reasonable to consider the possibility of his real name being mentioned in a prophecy.
Lelouch almost snarled right there. That must be the reason. Someone in Dumbledore's position would certainly have access to many seers.
Lelouch felt a strong sense of urgency. He had to know what that prophecy said about him.
...
"Yeah," said Harry with happiness overflowing from his face. "My parents were there in the mirror!" he said. "I called Ron afterward, but he couldn't see them."
Ophelia heard their account with interest, but she seemed distracted by something, occasionally glancing at the Slytherin table for some reason.
Kallen narrowed her eyes in suspicion. A mirror that showed his dead parents? that didn't sound like light magic. It sounded dangerous. Why would it be left uncovered in an empty room?
Ron nodded his head hastily, food splashing around him. "I saw myself as a head boy." He said and commented dreamily. "Blimey! I looked so good."
They decided to check on it on that same night.
Before the curfew, and after dinner, they walked through the corridors. until they arrived at an average door. Harry pushed it open and guided them after him. In the middle of the room stood a two-meter tall mirror. Faded inscriptions were written on their borders. It looked old and decayed like it had been forgotten in a storage room for years on only now brought there.
Mirror of erised. The inscriptions said.
Harry approached the mirror in fascination and sat at the floor in front of it as if hypnotized by what he was seeing. Ron had a smile splitting his face as he approached the mirror.
Ophelia had the most interesting reaction. There was a strange mixture of longing and guilt on her face, she soon turned her face away and glanced at Kallen.
Kallen sighed and approached the mirror to see what it was about. She'd rather avoid it, but she was already here anyway.
Inside the mirror, there was another Kallen, an older one. She was standing beside Lelouch. He was wearing his emperor's robe. While Kallen was beside him, wearing the same robe Suzaku did when he was introduced to the world as the Knight of Zero.
Kallen sighed. She had always been aware of her jealousy towards Suzaku, but to have it thrown like this on her face was really eye-opening. His strange bond with Lelouch was far stronger than her own, it made her very insecure about herself. He was also the one to stand beside Lelouch in the end, during that blasted Requiem. There was always a small feeling of inferiority inside Kallen since they first faced off at the feet of the thought elevator on Kamine Island.
Nunnally was standing up beside Lelouch on the mirror, he had a hand on her shoulder on silent support. Surprisingly, at a corner of the mirror, C.C. stood, smiling slyly at the scene.
Kallen realized the Mirror was showing her life if Lelouch hadn't completed the Zero Requiem and had instead stayed as Britannia's Emperor. She would have stood beside Lelouch as his right arm, and maybe even his wife, from the looks they were trading with each other inside the mirror.
She snorted. As if Lelouch would stay with only a single wife...Britannia's royalty was culturally obligated to have more than one wife to have a great number of heirs, in order to realize Britannia's ideal of Social Darwinism.
The Mirror did not consider this. It was only showing Kallen her fantasies, her desires, with no root in reality. She immediately lost interest in that mirror.
...
After they had calmed down from their encounter with the mirror, Harry told them his account of the meeting between Snape and Quirrell he overheard when he was searching for clues about Flamel on the restricted section.
"You think Quirrell knows about Snape trying to get the stone?" Ophelia interjected. "Maybe he would believe us!"
"Or maybe he would tattle to Minerva and we would get a month of detention." Kallen rolled her eyes. She decided to stop the idea before it could grow roots. The entire account had a completely different meaning to her, it indicated that Quirrell was up to no good.
Ophelia was going to argue, but before she could open her mouth, Hermione arrived with a large book and dropped it on their table. She rolled her eyes in exasperation.
"I had you looking in the wrong section," she said, as she opened the book and swept through its contents. She arrived at the part about the philosopher's stone and told them how it could allow a wizard to achieve immortality.
"So, this is what Dumbledore is keeping on that corridor. This is what Snape is searching for!" Harry concluded.
...
Lelouch scowled from behind the desk as he heard Kallen's account. "Detention? In the Forbidden Forest?"
So... his sister and her idiot friends got caught by the Malfoy idiot when they left the castle during the curfew to meet with Hagrid. The 'punishment' is to do something a lot more severe than breaking curfew. The black forest is the home of an array of magical beasts and is said to be especially dangerous at night. These people lack common sense.
"What is the sense in forbidding entry into the Forbidden Forest if entering the Forbidden Forest is punished by making the guilty party enter the Forbidden Forest?" He exhaled in exasperation while pinching the bridge of his nose. "I will never understand magicals."
Kallen shrugged. "If Dumbledore is allowing this, it can't be that dangerous." Lelouch glared at her.
"What?" she challenged, glaring back at him.
Lelouch sighed and relaxed on his seat. "Forget it," he said. Cadogan still had found nothing on Quirrell, but Quirrell's recent conflict with Snape filled Lelouch with a sense of urgency. The twins were also working on it, but Lelouch still didn't have their full trust.
Kalle twirled her wand and started to practice against the dummies. Lelouch stopped his studies to watch her move. At a certain point, she abandoned the wand in favor of her fists. It seemed pounding Charles' face had the same kind of therapeutic effects to her as it had to him.
He turned back to the book and continued reading it. He felt he was very close to accessing his mindscape again.
