Back in his office, Kasen glanced at his schedule. His next class wouldn't be until tomorrow morning…
His free time was absurdly abundant. He checked the school's public timetable again and confirmed that fifth-year Gryffindor had absolutely nothing going on at the moment.
Kasen left his office and headed to the Great Hall, casually stopping a Gryffindor student. "Hey, could you call out a senior from your house named Harry Potter? Just tell him Professor Kasen is waiting for him in the office."
The student, who looked barely into second year, nodded. "No problem, Professor."
Kasen smiled, nodded back, and returned to his office. Before long, he saw Harry slowly rowing over in a small boat.
"Professor, did you need something from me?" Harry asked, puzzled.
"Sort of. Right now, for your own safety, you need to learn a rather advanced spell. Or perhaps you could call it magic—the distinction doesn't really matter," Kasen nodded as he stood up.
"What is it?" Harry asked curiously.
"Dumbledore specifically told us not to explain too much before you learn it, because it might lead to information leaks. So try not to be too curious. Once you've mastered the spell, you can ask whatever you like… if Dumbledore is willing to tell you," Kasen said.
As he spoke, he placed a hand on Harry's shoulder. In the next instant, an Ender field enveloped them both. When they opened their eyes again, they were already outside the Defence Against the Dark Arts office.
Kasen reached out and knocked on the door, and it opened soon after.
"Oh… Albus just told me about Mr. Potter. Please, come in." Grindelwald welcomed the two of them inside.
He wasn't as roundabout as Kasen. In other words, he revealed far more than the others: "Because Voldemort placed a special curse on you, there are times when he can read your memories. You're aware of that, right?"
Harry blinked in confusion.
"It's… well… when your scar hurts," Kasen added, looking at the bewildered Harry.
"Exactly. Whenever your scar aches, it means Voldemort's curse has extracted something from your mind again," Grindelwald explained.
"But… ever since Professor Kasen gave me this, I haven't felt that at all?" Harry pulled out the beacon amulet from his chest with one hand while scratching his head, clearly puzzled.
"That works both ways. Voldemort can't see your memories, and you can't see his. You've heard about Arthur Weasley being injured, right?" Grindelwald asked.
Harry nodded. "Ron was in class this morning when he suddenly got called away. When he came back, we found out it was about Mr. Weasley getting attacked…"
"That's right. If you learn Occlumency, the connection between your memories and Voldemort's will be restored. Voldemort won't be able to obtain our information from your mind, but you'll be able to use that curse to continuously gather intelligence from him. Isn't that a great thing?" Grindelwald said, placing a hand on Harry's shoulder and guiding him step by step.
Kasen stood in the corner of the office. What could he even say?
Compared to Dumbledore, who treated everyone like NPCs, Grindelwald handled this much better.
At the very least, although both approaches were about getting Harry to learn Occlumency, Dumbledore's method was to put Harry and Severus—two people who couldn't stand each other—into the same office and force them, through authority, to proceed according to his will.
Grindelwald, on the other hand, took things step by step, patiently guiding him, clearly explaining the causes and consequences of the matter, along with all the pros and cons.
There might have been some withheld information or rhetorical tricks… but in terms of the plan's practicality, Grindelwald was on an entirely different level compared to Dumbledore.
Listening to Grindelwald's reasoned and persuasive explanation, Harry gradually sorted out what was happening to him.
To put it simply…
Only by properly learning the Occlumency Grindelwald spoke of could he return to the front line in the fight against Voldemort.
Watching Grindelwald raise Harry's motivation to learn Occlumency by more than a level with just a few words, Kasen couldn't help but give him a subtle thumbs-up.
Grindelwald responded with a smug look.
Kasen raised an eyebrow, walked over to Harry, and lightly tapped the beacon amulet, disabling its soul-isolation function.
Instantly, Harry felt a sharp pain in the scar on his forehead, as if it had always been meant to hurt—only suppressed until now.
But soon, that stinging sensation gradually faded, as if it had never been there at all.
"My scar hurt just now. Was that because of Voldemort?" Harry asked.
"Perhaps… but as long as you learn Occlumency, you won't have this problem," Grindelwald said as he slowly pressed Harry down into his seat. "The process of learning Occlumency is essentially using your own willpower to resist forceful Legilimency."
"It's not the only method, but it is the most efficient and fastest one. The only drawback is that it will be very painful. I need to make that clear to you in advance," Grindelwald said calmly as he sat across from Harry.
"I can do it, Professor!" Harry said firmly.
Grindelwald nodded, then glanced at Kasen.
Kasen returned the nod, quietly left Grindelwald's office, and closed the door behind him.
…
Time passed quickly, and before long, it was Christmas.
This year's Christmas at Hogwarts wasn't exactly peaceful. After all, Voldemort was active just outside, and although he and his Death Eaters hadn't caused any major incidents yet, a shadow of dread still hung over all of England.
There wasn't much Kasen could do. He could only put his heart into preparing Christmas gifts for the students, hoping to make their holiday just a little happier.
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