Harry Potter: Transmigrated Detective Link

On the messy open space, Link stood with a gloomy expression.

Black's escape had put him in an extremely bad mood.

The Dementors, who were very sensitive to human emotional perception, had long fled by now, unwilling to provoke Link in his current state.

Even Arkam and Yoyo, who were usually the closest to Link, had quietly found excuses to sneak off to the Whomping Willow side.

After a long time, Link finally took a deep breath and turned his head to look at the Hogwarts castle behind him.

Although the battle just now was intense, through the Super Sensory Charm, he still sensed that the black shadow who had saved Black flew out from inside the castle.

It was very obvious, this was a traitor hidden within Hogwarts, and quite powerful.

As for why the Dementors suddenly appeared here, that question was also easy to answer.

"Hiss hiss hiss!~" (Link, we caught a cat at the Whomping Willow!)

Arkam climbed up Link's thigh like showing off and said this, and beside him, Yoyo was flying in the air, its claws still clutching Hermione's Crookshanks.

It was very clear, the Dementors had been drawn here by this cat.

As for why it helped Black, only heaven knew.

Perhaps it was for love?

Link couldn't help but come up with such a thought.

Link glanced at that ginger-colored ugly cat and nodded, "Not bad."

With that said, he picked up Crookshanks with one hand and walked toward Hogwarts castle.

At this moment, Hogwarts Castle was already brightly lit, and everyone, under Dumbledore's order, had gathered again in the Great Hall.

Link had just entered the Entrance Hall when he drew everyone's attention. Dumbledore and a group of professors immediately came over.

The reason was simple, the professors had been searching for this missing student for a long time.

"Link! Where on earth did you go?"

Professor Sprout rushed forward first, directly grabbing Link as she spoke. While speaking, she kept patting him all over, checking whether he was injured.

Link did not resist. He casually tossed Crookshanks into the back of the Great Hall and let Professor Sprout examine him.

At the same time, he turned his head and explained to Dumbledore, "Black snuck into Hogwarts and launched an attack on me. I was chasing him just now."

As soon as Link said this, the people in the Great Hall cried out in shock.

The professors' faces also changed dramatically.

Professor McGonagall glanced at the students who had started to get excited again and instinctively felt that this was not a good place for questioning. She was about to suggest taking Link to the office for further questions.

But before she could speak, Snape couldn't wait and interrupted, "Then did you catch him?!"

"Just barely missed," Link turned to meet Snape's gaze, "A mysterious person cloaked entirely in black mist rescued him."

"Who was that person?!"

Snape became even more agitated and took two steps forward to pursue the question.

"Snape!"

"Severus!"

Snape had just spoken when Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall interrupted him.

Then Dumbledore glanced at the crowd gathering around them and continued, "Let's talk more in my office."

With that, without waiting for Snape's agreement, he led Link and the professors back to the headmaster's office on the eighth floor.

Dumbledore's office was still the same as when Link had last come. The only difference was that Harry and Ron were also inside.

When the group entered, the two of them were arguing with the portraits of past headmasters on the walls. They only stopped when they saw Dumbledore.

"Harry, Ron, you two go rest first."

"Ah? But…"

Hearing Dumbledore's order, Harry stammered, obviously a bit reluctant.

Especially Ron, he had been giving Link concerned looks, as if asking why Link had been brought here by so many professors.

But facing Dumbledore, it was clear they had no right to refuse, and they were soon driven out.

Only then did Dumbledore finally sit down behind his claw-footed desk and speak to Link, "You weren't the only one attacked by Black tonight. Harry and Ron were also attacked."

"When Ron woke up in the middle of the night, he found Black holding a sharp knife and preparing to attack. Fortunately, for some unknown reason, Black backed off in the end."

Link expressionlessly nodded. What Dumbledore said was about what he had guessed.

The only thing wrong with Dumbledore's intelligence was that Black wasn't planning to harm Ron and Harry at all, his real target was the rat Scabbers, who was sleeping in Ron's arms, also known as Peter Pettigrew.

And after briefly explaining the situation, Dumbledore finally got to the main topic and said seriously, "Now it's your turn. Tell us, Link, what features did the mysterious person who rescued Sirius Black have?"

"He was entirely shrouded in black mist at the time. I didn't even see a single strand of his hair."

Link said this, and upon hearing it, everyone present showed disappointed expressions.

But then, Link changed his tone, "But if I'm not mistaken, it should be Professor Lupin."

Now the room got excited again, especially Snape.

Dumbledore raised his hand to calm the room and then asked, "What makes you say that?"

"Lupin, Sirius, Pettigrew, and Harry's father James Potter were very good friends during their school days. It's perfectly reasonable that they would help each other, right?"

"But Sirius betrayed James and Lily. There's no way Remus would help a traitor!"

Hearing this, Link grinned.

Of course, he couldn't say that the real traitor was Peter Pettigrew, because he had no way of explaining how he knew that.

But that didn't mean he couldn't prove that Lupin was the one who rescued Sirius.

"There's no need to argue about this." Link smiled. "If you want to know whether it was Lupin, just check whether he's still in Hogwarts."

As soon as Link said this, Snape didn't even wait for Dumbledore's instruction and rushed out of the office.

Dumbledore and the other professors fell silent when they saw this and quietly waited.

Shortly after, Snape returned.

"Lupin is gone!"

He first announced the result, then used those deep, well-like eyes to look at Dumbledore and angrily said, "I told you long ago, Lupin, that wolf pup, must never be allowed into Hogwarts! Now look what happened? He brought Sirius Black, the traitor, in as our insider! Dumbledore! You must take responsibility for this!"

With that, Snape slammed the door and left, leaving behind a Dumbledore with no expression and a group of silent professors.

Professor McGonagall stepped forward to try and comfort Dumbledore, but he shook his head to refuse.

Then he looked calmly at Link and said, "Link, you go rest too. We'll handle this matter."

Link didn't refuse. He nodded politely and quickly left.

He came back to Hogwarts Castle this time to confirm whether Lupin was still in school, to verify if his guess was right.

Now that the goal was achieved, it was time to do serious business.

And the so-called serious business was to launch the operation to capture Sirius Black ahead of time.

After all, Black clearly knew the secrets of his body's past, so there was no need for Link to keep making deals with Snape.

But just as Link went downstairs, he saw Snape standing in a corner in the shadows.

The other party didn't speak, only gave a slight nod of his head, then walked into a nearby empty classroom by himself.

Seeing this, Link chuckled and followed.

If Snape still wanted to make a deal with him, he wouldn't refuse.

At least he could compare it with Black's version.

———

Inside the empty classroom where the Mirror of Erised had once been placed, Link and Snape stood face to face.

At this moment, Snape had returned to his usual calm, clearly having activated Occlumency.

"I need you to capture Black."

Without any pleasantries, Snape immediately stated his purpose.

Out of respect for Professor Snape, Link did not respond with a mocking smile as he used to. Instead, he also activated Occlumency and said expressionlessly, "That's something I can certainly do. My lovely hounds are already itching to go."

Then Link's tone changed, "But, shouldn't you now tell me the things I want to know?"

Hearing this, Snape fell silent, then after a long while coldly said, "Sorry. I can't say."

"Phew…" Link stretched his neck and sighed. "So, you're trying to freeload, huh."

"Freeload? Apt comparison, but I wouldn't do such a thing."

As Snape spoke, he took out a thick, dictionary-sized black notebook from his robe pocket and said, "This is a notebook summarizing all the potion formulas and experiment records I've made over the past twenty years."

"You've studied Potions with me for so long, you should know its value."

"I'll give this to you now, as long as you promise to capture Sirius Black."

Snape's words almost broke Link's Occlumency.

In the magical world, 'knowledge is power' isn't just empty chicken-soup talk, it's something you can truly see and feel.

In theory, knowledge, which gives a stronger sense of return, should inspire people to study harder and become stronger.

But the magical world often had a strange phenomenon, for many low-tier wizards, graduating from school was already the peak of their strength.

After that, not only did their power not improve, but it even gradually declined with age.

Most newcomers to the magical world would assume this was due to lack of talent or laziness.

But was that really the truth?

Absolutely not.

The real reason these people's power didn't grow was that all advanced spell and potion knowledge (xxx materials) were monopolized by the Ministry of Magic and major families.

They wouldn't let you learn for free.

Take Apparition and advanced potion knowledge, for example.

Ordinary little wizards usually only get one chance in their life to learn either.

To learn Apparition, you must score Outstanding in at least 10 N.E.W.T. subjects upon graduation and then join the Ministry of Magic, pass Auror training, it's harder than crossing a single-plank bridge with a thousand troops.

To learn advanced potion knowledge, you must score at least 'Exceeds Expectations' in your Potions O.W.L. to continue attending Snape's advanced Potions class in higher grades.

With such high difficulty, most people simply can't do it.

And in such a closed-off environment, the notebook Snape held in his hands became even more precious.

This was the life's work of a Potions Master.

If put out in the world, a notebook like this would absolutely cause all potion masters to go crazy.

Everyone knew that just possessing it, even if they couldn't understand the deep knowledge inside, the potion formulas alone would make them top-tier potion masters.

But after being excited for a while, Link calmed down.

He suddenly realized, if he truly accepted the notebook, then this deal would change from a forced pursuit of truth into a profit-driven, somewhat coercive exchange.

This would greatly damage his relationship with Snape.

To be honest, Link truly didn't want that.

Because Snape had genuinely been good to him.

Whether it was teaching him Sectumsempra or standing up for him in critical moments, Snape had already done the best he could.

Facing such an elder, Link really didn't want to hurt his heart.

So, after struggling for a while, Link, who always called himself a "refined egoist", sighed and softly said, "Sorry, I can't accept it."

"Why not?!"

Snape was angry. He clenched his fists and said with some loss of composure, "You want the truth, I truly can't say it! Dumbledore and I swore an Unbreakable Vow back then!"

Snape then stepped forward and forcefully shoved the notebook into Link's arms, "This is already the best thing I can give! Take it, and capture that trash Sirius Black! Do it, for the sake of our teacher-student bond!"

By the end, Snape's Occlumency couldn't be maintained anymore.

What he said was already the lowest posture he could adopt.

Hearing this, Link closed his eyes in pain.

Because he realized, he had been tricked.

The Unbreakable Vow, that was an extremely rare wizard contract.

If you broke it, you died instantly.

Swearing such a terrifying vow meant Snape and Dumbledore really couldn't tell him anything.

"Why didn't you say so earlier? If you'd said that sooner, nothing would've happened, right? Now look, you've wasted my feelings!"

Link pulled his hair while constantly complaining.

Seeing this, the expression on Snape's face turned a bit dazed, as if he hadn't processed it yet.

"Sigh! Say no more, I will catch Sirius Black."

Seeing this, Link sighed. "Of course, it's not for this book, but because you, Professor Snape, just begged me like that."

"Who, who begged you?! Are your ears bitten deaf by a Veela?!"

Snape cursed in anger and shame.

Link also sensibly shut his mouth.

Because he knew, with Snape's tsundere personality, if he kept teasing, he really would get hit.

Grinning, Link was about to stuff the notebook into his Undetectable Extension Pocket.

But at that moment, Snape suddenly grabbed Link's hand and said with a furious face, "Didn't you say you didn't want it?!"

Hearing that, Link also put on a straight face and questioned, "What, someone didn't give me any Christmas present this year. Isn't it only right to give me some compensation?"

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