Harry Potter and the Great Old Ones

Chapter 618 Ron's Astonishing Prophetic Talent
Upon hearing Snape's reply, the narrow peephole in the door slowly closed, and then the sound of a lock being opened came from the other side of the door.

About a minute later, the doors to the Boginberg Museum of Dark Magic opened from the inside, revealing the somewhat thin and hunched-over Boginberg standing behind them.

“The Dark Lord is very unhappy with you, Snape.” Borginberg stepped aside to let Snape in, but frowned and looked indignant as he said, “Think about what you can report today. We have serious doubts about your loyalty.”

Snape didn't speak, but walked with a cold face into the depths of the Borginborg Museum of the Dark Arts.

That evening at dinner, Harry received a reply from Sirius Black.

The reply was simple: Sirius expressed his keen interest in Harry's physical and mental health and arranged for him to contact him at 7:30 p.m. that evening through the Floo Network in the Gryffindor common room.

In addition to the letter, a small, square wooden box, resembling a music box, was also delivered. It was only the size of Harry's palm and looked very worn, but it was surprisingly smooth and shiny like metal to the touch.

Sirius Black didn't explicitly state what the little box was, only mentioning in the letter, in a mischievous and joking tone, that it was a very, very interesting little magical item that could prevent Snape from using private lessons to torment Harry again.

Soon, Snape's second private lesson arrived. Just like the first, the second lesson was equally bad, and there was no improvement whatsoever, not even a hint of improvement. On the contrary, Harry felt his condition was getting worse and worse—

It made Harry feel like he was back in fifth grade.

Before learning Occlumency, or rather since the Ministry of Magic battle last semester, his scars no longer hurt, especially at night. Harry no longer has strange dreams or hears strange noises.

But now the scar stings almost constantly, and he often feels waves of annoyance or joy unrelated to his actions at the time, always accompanied by intense pain from the scar.

Harry felt a chilling sense of dread; he felt himself gradually becoming an antenna, capable of detecting the slightest fluctuations in Voldemort's emotions. He was certain this heightened sensitivity had begun after his first training with Snape, which involved Occlumency.

Moreover, he now dreams almost every night, and they are all inexplicable dreams that he can't remember after waking up.

“It’s probably a bit like being sick,” Hermione said with concern after listening to Harry’s story. “Well, like having a fever, it gets worse first and then gets better.”

“Snape’s tutoring made it worse!” Harry asserted, adding dejectedly, “I never felt like this before Snape’s tutoring; the scar hurts terribly!”

"Then you'll have to work even harder to learn Occlumency," Hermione said, offering only a futile consolation.

"I tried! I really tried!" Harry's anger flared up instantly. "You go and see for yourself. Snape enters your head almost every week, sometimes twice or even three times. That's not a pleasant thing!"

Perhaps it's because Harry's progress is too slow, or perhaps Snape wants to torment him; Snape is now using the weekly Confinement World to tutor Harry in Occlumency.

Or rather, torturing Harry would be a more accurate description.

“Hmm, maybe Harry…” Ron began hesitantly.

"Maybe what?" Hermione asked irritably.

“Maybe it’s not Harry’s fault that he can’t shut down his brain,” Ron said ominously.

“What do you mean?” Hermione asked. “Well, I mean maybe Snape didn’t really want to help Harry…”

Both of them stared at Ron, while Ron gave them a meaningful look.

“Perhaps,” Ron said softly, “he actually wanted to open Harry’s mind a little wider… to let Vader—”

“Don’t talk nonsense, Ron!” Hermione interrupted him angrily. “How many times have you suspected Snape, and when have you ever been right? Dumbledore trusts him, he works for the Order of the Phoenix, that’s enough, not to mention even Tyella admitted that having Snape teach Harry Occlumency is a great idea.”

“But I heard from my father that he used to be a Death Eater!” Ron stubbornly argued. “You know, we’ve never seen any real evidence of his conversion…and have you forgotten what Sirius said? If a man is a Death Eater, he’ll be a Death Eater for life!”

“Dumbledore trusts him, and Tyrell trusts him,” Hermione insisted. “That’s enough. If we don’t even trust Dumbledore and Tyrell, then we have no one to trust.”

“I’m not saying you don’t trust Tiara and Dumbledore. What I mean is,” Ron said mysteriously, “is it possible that Tiara and Dumbledore don’t trust Snape at all, or to be more absolute, that Tiara is certain Snape is untrustworthy, which is why she had Snape teach Harry Occlumency.”

"Wh-what do you mean?" Harry and Hermione were momentarily stunned.

“What I mean is, is it possible that because Snape is untrustworthy, Tyella and Dumbledore had Snape teach Harry Defenses of the Brain so that Snape could help Voldemort better open Harry’s brain and then deliberately reveal some things inside Harry’s brain to Voldemort?” Ron asked.

"Are they crazy? Why would they do this?" Hermione screamed hysterically.

“What I mean is, perhaps Dumbledore and Tyrell are telling Harry some false information, even everything Harry sees through his eyes—like Tyrell being too busy, Dumbledore not being very involved—is all an illusion, a facade to mislead Voldemort. It's all to send a false message to Voldemort through Harry's mind,” Ron said mysteriously. “That way, the message will be more reliable, more likely to deceive Voldemort—”

Meanwhile, Tiera, who was reading a book or newspaper in the principal's office, looked up, sighed helplessly, then stretched out her right hand, rolled her right eyeball, and time began to reverse.
“Perhaps,” Ron said softly, “he actually wanted to open Harry’s mind a little wider… to let Vader—”

“Don’t talk nonsense, Ron!” Hermione interrupted him angrily. “How many times have you suspected Snape, and when have you ever been right? Dumbledore trusts him, he works for the Order of the Phoenix, that’s enough, not to mention even Tyella admitted that having Snape teach Harry Occlumency is a great idea.”

“But I heard from my father that he used to be a Death Eater!” Ron stubbornly argued. “You know, we’ve never seen any real evidence of his conversion…and have you forgotten what Sirius said? If a man is a Death Eater, he’ll be a Death Eater for life!”

“Dumbledore trusts him, and Tyrell trusts him,” Hermione insisted. “That’s enough. If we don’t even trust Dumbledore and Tyrell, then we have no one to trust.”

“I’m not saying I don’t trust Tierra and Dumbledore. I mean…” Ron said mysteriously.

Just as Ron was about to voice his guess, he suddenly felt as if a light veil had been draped over his thoughts.

One minute
Two minutes.
Five minutes.
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked angrily. "Just tell me already, Ron."

"Huh?" Ron was startled at first, then lowered his head in shame and whispered, "I, I forgot."

"I had the words on the tip of my tongue, but I forgot them."

(End of this chapter)