Complementation

During lunch Sev told Lily that he had taken Audrey to his glade in the Forest to learn Occlumency. (I won't tell her about the rest, but she's already imagining it by the time I tell it to her.)

Lily thought, He doesn't tell me, but I'm sure he's done more with her. I'm not going to ask him, he'll tell me later, when we can be together. "And how about? Has she been good at it?" she asked him.

(She doesn't ask me anything, she already told me that I didn't have to give her explanations or details of what I did.) "She has. She's gotten it almost half the time."

I'll encourage him to continue helping her without fear that I will suffer, she thought. "Great, Sev. Between now and the end of the school year she will get it and you can take her to the fir tree, you are going to help her a lot. Dedicate one morning a week to it too, when you can."

(She must think that I am going to be with her once a week too, and she does not mention the subject to me. How delicate she is, how lucky I am. I am going to clarify it, also delicately,) he thought. "I will take her, but for a short time. Just enough for her to have enough time to extract her memories and me read her for an hour."

He doesn't want to do it with her every time they go, he cares more about helping her than what he can get, and also not encouraging her too much. Very typical of him, and he tells me so that I don't suffer, but I don't suffer at all. I'm going to encourage him to be with her in other ways too, like the other day they slept together, it's going to suit them both. "Very well, Sev. But dedicate time to her in other ways too, give her love."

(She has also guessed that I want to sleep with her some night. I can tell her that.) "Sure, Lily, I will."

"And don't tell Lauren anything for the moment."

"No, Lily, I didn't mean to."

"Shall we chat with her for a while?"

"Sure."

The next day, after lunch, Sev used the Time-Turner two hours back and went to the Headmaster's office. He knocked and the door opened, Dumbledore was already waiting for him sitting at the desk.

"Wow, Prince. How long."

"Yeah, Albus. I've missed you." He sat across from him.

"What a displeasure you gave Horace. He was hoping to become your friend, he was thinking of inviting you to his Club."

(To take advantage of my fame.) "Well, let him wait sitting down. I don't intend to speak to him in the years that remain in my relationship with him, other than to scold him if he tries to claim any merit that is not his."

"I don't think he'll do it again, he's very offended," said Dumbledore.

"Better. So he won't talk to me either."

"You're going to run out of congratulations in class."

"I don't need them at all, and even less coming from him," Sev replied. "It is enough for me to know myself that I do it well."

"You are lucky that the OWL court is external, because I see him as capable of lowering your grade."

"I think so too, he is not a good person. Beneath his good-natured appearance there is a real viper too, remember his fondness for the Dark Arts."

"If you want, I can dismiss him for next year, he has been saying for years that he wants to retire," said the Headmaster.

(Wow, I'm Acting Headmaster indeed, he's consulting me on whether to fire Slughorn. But no, we absolutely don't want a new, younger Potions professor coming in.) "Wow Albus, you're giving me the opportunity to bring up the first topic I wanted to talk to you about."

Sev took the list of demands out of his pocket. (Although I already know them by heart.)

"Tell me," Dumbledore asked.

"Lily is going to apply for the Potions OWL at the same time as Defense, because at first she thought that her future profession could be a teacher of the subject at Hogwarts."

"Oh…"

"Yeah. She already told Minerva about it at the beginning of the school year and she encouraged her to do it," Sev continued. "Lily is an excellent witch, she never goes down from Exceeds Expectations, and that's only in two or three subjects, the rest are always Outstanding."

"Of course."

"The fact is that I would like, if possible, that Slughorn stays in the position for another five years, the two that Lily has left to graduate and another three until she can be a Potions teacher. And let him train her, so that she lives in the castle all this time and she is protected from the strife."

"Sure, of course," the Headmaster replied. "And if Horace didn't, I'd hire a teacher for the remainder of the time until she could be one."

(We'd be without Sly's Head until I can be a teacher. No, he must be the one to hold the job. Albus is not a quick thinker.) "You can't do that, Albus. We would be left with no Head for Sly, there is no other Sly on the faculty."

"Of course, it's true."

"Slughorn must be maintained, and if five years from now you have obtained the Duel Chair that I mentioned, which I hope so, because we will be in the middle of the war, when Slughorn retires, you already have a new Head of Sly," Sev suggested.

"You had already thought of all this."

"Of course, for something I told him that I am already the Head of my House. And indeed I am, I even have an office in the Common Room."

"You aim high, my boy, and the truth is that you deserve it," Dumbledore said.

"Much more than him."

"Of course. Okay then, I'll get to it as soon as possible. Next week I'll go to the Ministry to start the paperwork for the Chair and I'll see to it that Horace holds out in his position."

(Take that! I'm going to be Sly's Head! Lauren is a wonder, I'm looking forward to tell her!) Sev thought.

"I'll tell him about Lily, I know he adores her, he'll do it for her," the Headmaster continued. "But instead, try not to have any more clashes with him, it would be contradictory to have such a different attitude towards him when you both can come to light."

(And Lily the Potions teacher! I got it! Too bad she's going to have to put up with him knowing about the Horcruxes. But she'll understand and resist, it's worth it. Another complicated thing I'm going to have to explain to her in the summer.) "You're right, Albus, I'll try to stay cool. And speaking of the subject. I have been studying the book of Red Magic, specifically the Bond as a Couple and the Union of Souls, the last rite of initiation. You know them, don't you?"

"I do, of course," the old man replied.

"And I have discovered that the Bond is broken if one of the two people stops trusting the other."

"Yes that's how it is."

"But this is not the case if you also perform the Union," Sev continued.

"Indeed."

(Speaking of sex with Albus, what a shame.) "I want to make the Union with Lily, to be able to continue protecting her even if she leaves me."

"She will find out about the Horcruxes," Dumbledore said.

"I know, Albus, but my first task in life is not that, but to keep her alive, at all costs. If anything happened to her I would sink, and we can't afford it."

The Headmaster thought for a couple of minutes.

(I am going to make it very clear that we are going to do it anyway,) Sev thought. "I don't expect you to give me permission, Albus, I'm just informing you. If I get the ingredients for the recipe, which I hope to do with Professor Belby's help, we'll do it anyway." (And if it's not for Belby they must be in the woods in the Room of Requirement, but I'm not going to tell him about that. I've got him well caught with the books in my possession. Now he'll tell me something about that.)

"I want you to return the books you stole."

(I already know him by heart. But now we have them in duplicate, ha ha.) "Anytime, Albus, but keep them well. As they were it was not way." Sev laughed, Dumbledore didn't.

"Also those of Mental and Dark Arts," said the Headmaster.

(No way.) "No. Those, for the moment, no. I must know the enemy, it is I who is going to face it and teach the warriors how to do it, not you. I'll teach you what you need. By the way, you know that several people can be projected to at the same time, it is enough to focus the speech on both."

"Yeah. I already knew that."

(He's mad at me, I'm going to make him reconcile. Even if we sacrifice a bit of the time we have to talk to each other and Lauren,) Sev thought. "You can talk with Lily and me in the Great Hall whenever you want." (Giving him support and strengthening our bonds.)

The old man thought for a minute.

(He has been moved. I know him by heart, in less than two weeks. He is about to cry, he is a crybaby.)

Albus composed himself. "Thank you Prince. I will do that."

(The anger has passed. In the end, I am the one manipulating him and not the other way around. I really want to tell Lauren.) "Let's drop the subject for now. I have more demands to make of you."

"Tell me."

"That the seventh-year students who are going to graduate this year can continue coming to train and also be instructed in Occlumency, Dark and Ancestral Magic," said Sev.

"Ugh, Prince… a lot of work."

(And despite I have not told him anything about the Aurors.) "Albus, the war is imminent, lives must be saved. We will plan it well and organize ourselves."

The Headmaster thought about it for a minute. "You're right, as always. The Training Hall will have to be expanded."

"Yes, I already thought about that too."

"There will be no problem, I will do it in summer."

"Great, Albus." (Let's see how he takes the Aurors thing.) "We could also invite already trained Aurors to do so," Sev continued.

Dumbledore thought about it. "It is not a bad idea, but it would be convenient to choose very well who to communicate it to and who not. They have not experienced the revolution that has taken place."

"I've already thought about that too. We have a contact between them, Steed's uncle is an Auror."

"Certainly, his mother's little brother."

"He encouraged the Guard to learn Mental Arts, Steed has a lot of confidence in him," Sev went on. "I think he will know how to judge who should be informed."

"Yes, he will be able to do it, it's Sly. Get on with it, then."

(I already knew that, all of Jack's family are. And Albus is a good judge of the qualities of each House, he has been Headmaster for thirty years.) "I myself will speak with him in summer."

"Great," Dumbledore said.

"Do I continue?"

"Sure, keep going."

"That students who so wish be allowed to sit mixed in the Great Hall or in classes," Sev proposed.

"Ugh… complicated. The space in classes and at the Great Hall tables is very limited."

(He doesn't say no outright. It's just a logistical issue, but not a problem at all.) "I don't think it's that bad. It would be a gradual thing, as the relationships that are emerging in training are forged, and now there is a lot of free space on the Sly table and there is also in the elective classes. At least that, give permission, and the groups would reorganize themselves."

The Headmaster thought, Sev waited a minute. (I'm going to give him good reasons.)

"If we are going to form an Army of squads by affinity groups, it would be good to leave people free to create ties and strengthen them, and it will always be better that said affinity groups are made up of people from different Houses, who communicate their qualities to each other," Sev continued. "You could already verify it with the collaboration that Sly and Rave had on the day of the revolution, and also with ours. We are Gryff and Sly, enemy Houses, and we understand each other perfectly."

The old man continued to think for another minute.

(He's not quick to make decisions. He wants to, but he doesn't know how to do it. I do.) "Talk to the teachers so that they don't oppose it and that they communicate it to all the students in class. And you could do the same in the Great Hall, perhaps taking advantage of the end-of-year feast or the opening of next year. You would give all a great joy, because by then many ties will have been forged."

"How brilliant you are, Prince."

(Of course, this came to me on my own, with no help from Lauren. And indeed, he wanted, but he didn't know how. We complemented each other perfectly.) "I'll continue with the demands."

"Do it…"

(Totally interested. I'm opening up a world for him, evolving Hogwarts. He'll go down in history for this,) Sev thought. "Give the elves the option to free themselves and choose whether or not to work, and whoever wants to, receive a salary for it."

"Well, yes, we should. They will be very few if any, we can afford it. You know how elves break free, don't you?"

(He has not had to think about that, he is compassionate.) "Yes, giving them a piece of clothing. How many are in the school?"

"About a hundred and fifty," the Headmaster replied.

"I will propose a sock collection on Saturday in training, for example, that they bring them to me on Sunday, I leave them in the meeting room and you are in charge of distributing them."

"Perfect. Leave them in the closet."

(How well we complement each other.) "I continue," said Sev.

"Yes, do it…"

(Eager to hear what more ideas I have.) "Change the menus for higher quality and healthier food."

"Of course. School food doesn't suit me at all," said the old man. "At my age I should eat much lighter, I almost never finish the dishes."

(Take that! I'm going to fix his life and make him live longer.)

The Headmaster continued, "But it will be complicated. The elves will have to be taught to cook new dishes."

"Yeah. I have already thought about it, and also elaborate balanced menus. In St. Mungo's it is done. Do you know if elves cook there?"

"No, witches cook there."

"Well, that's it, fixed," Sev said. "I'll talk to Professor Belby about it this summer and he'll put us in touch with the menu makers and cooks and you can hire them part time to come teach them. Nor will it be an excessive expense and you will deduct it from the food, healthier food will be cheaper."

"Right, absolutely right. I'll count on it for next year's budgets, and maybe before Christmas we'll have everything up and running."

"Wonderful." (How well we complement each other. Let's go for the next one, which is the most difficult. You'll see how scared I give him.) "Install electricity in the castle."

"Ugh… what are you saying, Prince?"

Sev laughed. (What I was telling you, I know him by heart.) "I know that it is very complicated and expensive, but I think about it in the long term, I'm telling you now so that you can fight it with time ahead. That would be a real revolution."

"It would not only be about the installation. We would need to generate our own current, there is no possibility to connect to the network."

(He does want.) "I already know."

"And we don't know how it would interfere with magic," said the old man.

(What is he saying? Mum does magic at home whenever she wants. He's a bit silly.) Sev laughed. "At St. Mungo's it doesn't."

Dumbledore too. "Yes it's correct. So in that respect there is no problem. We will need Muggle staff and counsel to instruct witches to do this, for as you know, Hogwarts does not exist for Muggles. In St. Mungo's, the Muggles themselves did it, later they were Obliviated. All this depends on the Ministry."

"Of course, then take advantage of the visit you are going to make for the Chair to propose it too. So you kill two birds with one stone."

"I will do that."

(He will get it. In the end it may not take so many years. I go for the last one, the one I most want,)Sev thought. (If he does not grant it to me, I will do it in the Room of Requirement.) "I'm going for the last one, something for me. May we be allowed to bathe in the Lake."

"And that, Prince?"

"I feel like doing sports outside of training."

"You should not. You're going to expose yourself, and now you have a lot of work."

"I would do it at dawn, when everyone is sleeping," Sev clarified. "It's important to me. Before, I used to walk a lot in the Forest and precisely for this reason, because now I have so much work, I can't afford it."

"I understand. You are young, you are growing and you need to burn energy and develop properly also physically. It's okay, but you have to be careful, always stay close to the shore. Deep-dwelling grindylows might attack you, and mermaids would be upset if you invade their space, too."

"And the Giant Squid?"

"It's harmless. In fact, it is there as a guardian, it rescues the one who is drowning," the Headmaster answered.

"Wow, I didn't know that."

"You can dive too if you use Gillweed, but never too deep, you know, grindylows and mermaids. I'll leave a flask for you in the meeting room, in the closet, I'll ask Horace for them this afternoon. Do you know how to use them?"

"I don't," Sev replied.

"You must swallow two. It's quite unpleasant to do. Your neck will grow gills and you will no longer be able to breathe air. Then you go under the water and you will breathe through them, the effect lasts for an hour."

"Wow, how interesting."

"Of course. That was how I got in touch with the mermaids," Dumbledore explained. "I have a good relationship with them, I even learned their language and I can speak to them."

"Oh…"

"I'll also talk to them so they don't bother you. But you still have to be careful around grindylows. So you know, don't dive too deep."

"Of course not, Albus. I only pretended to swim," said Sev.

"But diving with Gillweed is fantastic. Try it too."

(Wow… I don't need to learn to swim anymore, I'm going to be able to breathe underwater. I have to try it with Lauren in the Lake of the Room, we're going to have a great time.)

"When you run out, ask me for more," the old man added.

"Thank you very much, Albus."

"But you know, always carry the Map and make sure the malefics don't see you."

"Sure, Albus."

"Have you finished?"

"At the moment, yes."

"We would have had enough with an hour of Time Turner," said Dumbledore.

"It's true, but I'll take the opportunity to talk to you about another thorny issue."

"Yes."

(I've already overwhelmed him. I'm going to unload him a bit, there's plenty of time yet,) Sev thought. "Don't you have anything to tell me?"

"I have. How are you getting organized with the OWLs?"

"Very well, I have everything up to date, I will reach the level without problem."

"You are exceptional, Prince."

"Thank you."

"Could you afford to take a couple of afternoons a week off to start flying on a broomstick? If you start now and also take advantage of the few days of the term after the exams, I think you will be perfectly capable of doing it before the summer and continue practicing during it. If you can't afford to buy one, take it from school."

Sev thought, (I won't be able to at Cokeworth, but I can at Jack's house. I'm not going to have enough summer for everything. In the end I'm going to learn to fly on a broomstick this summer, as if I had become a Death Eater.) "Wow… of course I want to."

"I'm sure you'll get it by the end of the term, you're in good physical shape and you have excellent reflexes. You will do very well."

"Great. When I start?"

"What days of the week are good for you?" the Headmaster asked.

(It would be nice on Friday afternoons, since we finish classes earlier, and then Monday or Tuesday,) "Fridays and Mondays or Tuesdays."

"Do you want to start today?"

"I do," Sev replied.

"Then go to the Quidditch pitch at six. Go with an escort. From four to six there is Quidditch training. Professor Wing will be waiting for you."

"Great, I'm going to have a great time."

"I'm sure you would have made an excellent Quidditch player, a good Seeker," Dumbledore added.

"Bah… I'm not interested in competitive sports at all. And at school it also contributes to the competition between the Houses. I don't even know how the league is going this year." (I used to hear from the vipers, there was a seventh-year on the Sly team, I know we won the first game against Huffle. But since I stopped hanging out with them after Christmas, I haven't heard from anyone about it.)

"Well, that's relative too. The bonds that are created between the members of a team are very strong, and a healthy competition is appropriate to stimulate the ability to overcome, as when you fight."

"Yeah, you're right about that," Sev admitted.

"This year's final is Sly against Rave."

(Wow, my House and my loyal eagles, and me not knowing anything. Too bad not to have been interested.) "Oh! So I don't care who wins. Both Houses deserve it."

"Of course, abundantly," Albus agreed. "And I'm sure it's going to be a great match, clean and without rivalry, because you've created strong ties between all of you. I don't plan to miss it."

"I will also attend. I haven't seen a Quidditch match since first year."

"It will be the last Saturday of the school year, after the exams."

"Brilliant."

"Those of your House are at a certain disadvantage, because they have needed to replace one of the malefics that played, a Beater," the Headmaster continued.

"Yeah, I already know who. But I think it will make up for it now that the team will be much more united."

"Of course."

"And do you know who trains today?" Sev asked.

"I think the Slys."

"Wow, then I'll go a while before to see them. Can I?" (I would still go even if it was the Raves.)

"Of course," Dumbledore replied.

(And tonight I will have a meeting with them at home after the curfew, I don't even know who makes up the team. They never talk to me about it, despite they must have changed the training sessions from Saturday mornings to afternoons to be able to come to the Army. Maybe I can also fly with them on a broom, between now and the end of the school year, it will be fun to do it in a group.

(Well, we've relaxed a bit more and there's still a lot of time left, I'm going to throw it out now.) "Well, I'll move on to the thorny issue, so we'll have time to think and recover before I have to leave."

"Sure, tell me."

(Okay, he's got it, he recovers fast.) "It's about our beloved Riddle," Sev announced.

"I imagine."

"I didn't tell you the first day because I already saw that I gave you a great upset with the Horcruxes, nor when we returned from Little Hungleton because we had a very tense morning and this is also quite serious. Go preparing you."

"Whenever you want," Dumbledore emcouraged him.

(Good. He's whole.) "I'm going to tell you from the beginning how I found out. Before you gave me the memory of the Gaunts, I already knew that Riddle was Salazar's heir."

"Oh… how?"

"I already told you that my mother told me about him," Sev explained. "Do you know what an anagram is?"

"Yes of course."

Sev took the anagram of Voldemort's name out of his pocket, in his own handwriting, and showed it to the Headmaster.

"Oh! It's true… he modified his own name to create the new one. It never entered my mind," Albus was amazed.

(Lauren is a wonder.) "My mother also told me rumors about him. That he was the one who accused Hagrid of releasing Salazar's monster from the castle."

"Yes, indeed, he was."

"And that a student died petrified in a bathroom on the fourth floor, Moaning Myrtle," Sev continued. "The last person to have died at Hogwarts."

"Yes that's how it was. It was a great misfortune."

(He doesn't know anything, he hasn't connected the two facts, and even Mum did. He's a little short of wits, he needs me.) "Relating that information and being Marvolo a very old magical name, I deduced that it was Riddle himself who released Salazar's monster."

"But that's a legend," the Headmaster disagreed.

(That said, he has no idea, what a displeasure I am going to give him.) "No, it's not, Albus. It was the monster who killed Moaning Mirtle, freed and controlled by Riddle, in Parseltongue."

"How can you know?"

"Because in the bathroom where Mirtle's ghost still lives is the entrance to the monster's cubicle," Sev answered.

"How do you know?"

"There is a large structure in the center of it, surrounded by eight sinks, and on one of the faucets there is an engraved snake. No water comes out of that faucet, from all the others does."

"Oh…"

"The structure is very large," Sev continued explaining. "And I suspect that the monster must be a basilisk, because it petrifies and because it is a reptile, he controls it in Parseltongue, and it is enormous in size. It has grown there for a thousand years."

(He's speechless, what an upset I just gave him. I'll wait a bit for him to recover to continue.)

Sev waited a minute and went on, "I suppose that the faucet opens in parseltongue and moves the whole structure so that the basilisk comes out of there. Whenever you want, let's go and I'll show you."

(He doesn't recover, I'll wait until he does.) It took several minutes.

"You keep giving me trouble, Prince." The old man looked up at him at last.

Sev gave him a sad smile. "I'm so sorry, Albus. I also took them when I discovered things."

"Of course, it's not your fault. You have taken quite a bit of trouble finding out all this and putting yourself at the risk that you have put yourself without being of legal age yet. I don't know what we can do, I understand Parseltongue but I don't speak it."

"Yeah, I already thought about it."

"Well, if it's been there for so long without causing problems, it's not something so urgent, I'll try to learn by imitating the language," Dumbledore proposed. "Don't worry about it anymore, you already have enough. I myself will go to the bathroom to look for the tap, I know where it is."

(Okay… I get rid of Myrtle.) "It's okay, Albus."

"Now I explain Riddle's interest in being a professor at Hogwarts."

(Wow, we haven't talked about this yet.) "I knew that too."

"How?" the Headmaster asked.

"I figured it out too. By the date the annexes on Ancient Magics from the General Compendium of Defense disappeared, just as my mother graduated, three years after Riddle did. It was you yourself who had them removed, right? And remove the books of the R.S."

"Yes, that's how it was."

"And he applied for the position of professor of Defense," said Sev.

"How can you know that?"

(How short he is. Lauren and I realized right away, two minds thinking as one, when I Bond with her it's going to be great.) "Because while my mother studied, she only had one teacher for the subject, but from that year on, the teachers change each year. He cursed the position."

"Prince, you are a marvel."

(And Lauren.) "I had a lot of help." (He'll understand it was Mum, but it was Lauren too. I'm looking forward to tell her.)

"You also gave me a clue the other day when I proposed the Dueling Chair," Sev continued. "You said, 'How come I hadn't thought of that before?'"

"Right, I said it, you don't miss one. Boof... I had thought of taking the opportunity to show you the next memory of Riddle in the time we had left over, but I don't feel like it anymore. I had already recovered from the upset and now I have another almost worse. If he manages to gain control of Hogwarts he will release the basilisk."

"Indeed."

"I'll get to the Parseltongue as soon as possible," said Dumbledore. "In summer I will have plenty of time, and I will think about how to kill the monster. Forget about it, I'll take care of it. If I need your help, I'll wait until next year, when you're back."

(He's crazy. He plans to do it alone or just the two of us.) Sev laughed. "Don't do it alone, Albus, it is very dangerous."

"I have resources. My phoenix can blind it so it doesn't petrify me and I'm Gryff, I can use the sword."

(Poor old man. He has always done everything alone and is not used to collaborating with people. I am going to have patience with him.) "Sure, Albus. But you may not have enough strength or agility, you are ninety years old. We will form a team of occlumants, we can tell the others about this. We Slys will stun it with curses and Remus, Alice or Frank, any of them, who are also Gryffs, can finish it off."

The Headmaster thought for two minutes. "Okay. Also teach curses to your summer escort."

"I was already thinking of doing that, Albus. As you said, we cannot defend ourselves against Avadas with Relaxos."

"How clear you have the ideas, my boy."

"My life is in it," Sev said.

"Also, if we kill the basilisk, we can use its poison to destroy the Horcruxes, without having to resort to Fiendfire, and also the sword of Gryffindor, since it will be impregnated with it."

"Wow, that's true. I didn't know about the sword."

"Yes, the sword is impregnated with the power of everything it touches," Dumbledore explained. "We can wait until then to destroy the ring."

(He has suggested waiting until after the summer, he is going to ask me about it. Let's see how I can get by.)

"Does anyone else know where it is?" the Headmaster asked.

(I've got him down.) "Yes, Albus. And he is in charge of destroying it if something happens to me. You're not going to do it."

"But he still doesn't know how to control Fiendfire."

(Well, he doesn't ask me who he is.) "He doesn't, neither do I, but we thought we would learn on our own," Sev answered. "I have a book."

"I better teach you both."

(Impossible. He can teach me, but he can't figure out that the other person is Lauren.) "You can teach me, I'm not going to tell you who is the other person who knows where it is."

Dumbledore thought for a minute. (Let's see if he doesn't push the nuts on me.) "Alright. Next week we will do a short session to teach you."

(Perfect. He knows that he has no choice but to buy what I say, I have him well caught.) "Great. Let me know as soon as possible when it will be." (I'll wait to meet Lauren after I do it.)

"By the way, I have a question for you, regarding the Time-Turner and the Room of Requirement," Sev continued.

"Tell me."

"What happens if once inside you go back to a time when it was being used in another aspect?"

"Impossible, you can't, it's not multiple. A paradox would be created," the Headmaster replied.

"Sure. I should have guessed." (When I meet Lauren I can't go before to play the piano. What a pity. But I can when I conjure the Fidelius and we'll meet there. I have to do it as soon as possible. Maybe this weekend, and by the way I'll meet Remus to conjure one for him, too, before Albus has his Map ready and can see us.)

They continued to chat more informally for a while, and Sev learned that Alice, Frank, and Genevre were doing quite well at learning Occlumency.

"I am sure that they will achieve it between now and the end of term. Continue to strengthen ties with them," Dumbledore told him.

"The bonds are already created, Albus, we checked it on the fir tree. I would like you to also Bond Frank and Alice as a Couple, you would give them a great gift." (Otherwise, I teach them myself, and Remus and Cecile as well. It's very easy and they can do it anywhere.)

"Of course, as soon as they're ready I'll let you know and you propose it to them, now that you know what the topic is about. See that Jack creates ties too, I'll Bond the five of you together as a Clanship."

"Okay."

Sev pulled out the Map at half past twelve sharp. I'llwait for everyone is in the Great Hall and I'm leaving. We have had enough for today and I don't want to give him time to tell me to return the books, it seems that he has forgotten, he has stopped talking to me as soon as he has seen me take out the Map. Within five minutes the corridors and stairs were clear and no one was left in the Sly house.

"Albus, I'm leaving. I'm going to have a busy afternoon, so I'm going to take advantage of this time until two to do my homework."

"Sure, Prince, leave now. I also have a lot to do."

(He still doesn't have his Map, well… I'm meeting Remus tonight, if I wait until tomorrow he'll have all day to do it and finish it.)

Sev stood up and held out his hand. "We're in touch, Albus."

"Always Prince."

He left the office and ran towards the dungeons. I'm going to lock myself in bed to do my homework until two o'clock, so they don't see me double with the Time Turner. Although I have to tell Jack to tell Valerie and Andrew to escort me to the Quidditch pitch, because he and Deborah can't, they have to train the fifth-year Huffles. They and Anthony will suffice. I'll get into his bed to wait for him, I don't think he cares.

What a splendid afternoon awaits me, History with Lauren, two whole hours to tell her everything, and then, another little bit of studying and at five I'll leave for the Quidditch field, to watch my friends train, and then to fly… Good…