Harry Potter: Transmigrated Detective Link

This skill-point Link basically without much hesitation just added to Occlumency, raising Occlumency to LV5.

At this stage, what matters most to Link is still Mike's stability; this is a matter of life and death.

Afterward, one person finally returned to Hogwarts.

At this time the students had already once again been gathered into the Great Hall, only this time those guarding the students were no longer prefects and professors, but rather about ten Aurors in black trench coats, posture upright.

With Aurors present, the students' sense of security strengthened considerably.

This caused now the entire Great Hall to not at all feel like an emergency refuge; instead it felt more like a party of a unique kind, with laughter and cheerful voices nonstop.

Some students even surrounded the Aurors, asking childish questions like "How does one become an Auror?"

Aurors wouldn't enter Hogwarts certainly if no one led them.

And indeed that was the case. As soon as Link and the others entered the Headmaster's office, they saw the plump Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge.

At this time Fudge looked extremely nervous, pacing back and forth nonstop in the office.

Upon seeing Dumbledore again his eyes lit up; he hurriedly stepped forward several paces and called out, "Dumbledore! Have they been caught?"

Dumbledore did not speak; he just slightly stepped aside, revealing Sirius standing behind him alone.

Fudge immediately burst into wild joy, pumping his fist and shouting, "I knew it! I knew you could do it!"

Then turning he glared viciously at Sirius, "This time you can't run away! Such a vicious fellow need not even face Wizengamot Tribunal, I can sentence you to death right away!"

Sirius also became enraged; snarling, he was about to lunge, but was held back by Lupin beside him.

But that also scared Fudge a lot; he dodged behind Dumbledore.

"Don't rush, Minister," Dumbledore said, somewhat speechlessly as he pushed Fudge aside, then pointed to the rat-slouched, crying mass that was Peter Pettigrew, "Here's the thing, in capturing Black, we also found the Peter Pettigrew who should have died twelve years ago; after preliminary…"

Dumbledore slowly narrated the full course of events.

With Dumbledore's account, Fudge's expression also became remarkable.

His eyes widened; his gaze continuously flicked between Sirius and Peter, occasionally rubbing his eyes as if afraid he was hallucinating.

"Minister, the matter roughly is like this. Although I feel Black may have been wronged. But after considering again and again, I still think we should hand both Black and Pettigrew over to the Ministry. I trust the Ministry will give them a fair judgment, yes?"

Seeing Fudge stunned, Dumbledore finally spoke to remind him.

His tone was very gentle, yet Link could still sense a tone of threat.

Fudge of course could sense that too.

He trembled slightly, then a bright daisy-like smile bloomed across his plump face.

"That's for sure! Under my leadership in the Ministry of Magic, we will absolutely not wrong any innocent person, nor will we let any evil person escape! Dumbledore, you may rest assured!" Fudge said with glee.

His smile was immensely sincere, his joy genuine.

Everyone present could see that.

And regarding his thinking, Link actually could understand.

A normal person's first reaction, upon encountering an old wrongful case, would certainly think that things are serious, that it would cause great loss of reputation to the Ministry, and might even fear their own political future would be ruined because of it.

But in fact that's not necessarily so.

Because the person who wrongfully accused Sirius and sent him to prison back then was not Fudge, but the former Minister for Magic.

Fudge has fundamentally no need to cover that up.

One could even say, if he handled this cleverly, he could come forward, apologize, harshly criticize past bad practices in the Ministry, and then cooperate with the Prophet for broad publicity.

That indeed would directly raise the public's goodwill toward him.

After all, back when reckoning with Voldemort's old regime, the Ministry messed up so badly, for instance, freeing Lucius Malfoy as innocently under the excuse of being controlled by the Imperius Curse, so its reputation among the public has long been rotten.

As for whether this matter affects his predecessor, Fudge cares even less.

People after death-holding tea cools, this is an immutable principle.

Holding such sentiment, Fudge's gaze on Sirius and Peter became increasingly feverish, as if a hungry wolf gazing at prey.

This made Sirius and Peter highly uncomfortable, the latter nearly fainted from fear.

Just then, unable to stand it any more, Dumbledore coughed twice, "Ahem, Minister, there is another matter I must tell you."

"Hmm? What matter?"

"This entire operation was orchestrated and carried out by our Professor Snape and Mr. Flamel," Dumbledore said with a smile. "I think it's necessary to reward them."

"A reward! Absolutely a reward!"

Fudge jerked back to reality, cried out loudly, then ran over to Snape, "Professor, many thanks for your contributions to the security of the wizarding world! Rest assured, I will..."

Snape impatiently interrupted, "This matter has not the least relation to me. You go find Link directly."

At these words, Fudge faltered, then as if realizing something, winked at Snape softly, "I understand, I understand! I will fully count the credit for this on Mr. Flamel."

Saying that, he cleared his throat and adopted a kindly expression toward Link, "Mr. Flamel! Your excellence astonishes me! I think in nearly ten years at Hogwarts you must be the most outstanding student!"

"We at the Ministry cherish talent above all! Rest assured, your contributions will not be buried. I think only the Order of Merlin Second Class can match you!"

"Oh, then really thank you, Minister."

Link rolled his eyes and replied indifferently.

He had long heard talk of awarding him the Order of Merlin Second Class, many times, from Fudge, never followed through.

Link just considered him to be full of hot air.

Fudge didn't pay much mind to Link's less-than-respectful attitude. He continued small talk with Dumbledore, then eagerly commanded the Aurors to bind Sirius and Peter and return them to the Ministry of Magic.

Incidentally, they also withdrew all the Dementors.

Worth mentioning, those Dementors seemed to have been frightened by Link's previous explosion of power.

Each of them became slack.

Fudge was extremely dissatisfied, vowing that later he would have them removed from the Azkaban guard corps.

Whether he means it or not, after he left, the atmosphere in the Headmaster's office turned gloomy.

Finally, Dumbledore took the lead to speak, "Link, regarding what has happened to you, perhaps you already know some of it, yes?"

"That's right, Sirius Black already told me everything." Link said. "Though in a not-so-friendly manner."

Hearing that, Dumbledore sighed, "Well then, though I don't know exactly what Black told you, what I want to tell you is, your father was a great and kind person. Please do not hate him."

At those words, Snape, who had basically had little reaction until now, was also drawn in. He raised his eyes and stared at Link, waiting for Link's reply.

Only, Link said nothing. He just stared expressionlessly at Dumbledore.

He is not the original Link, so in theory he could harmlessly forgive the original-owner's father.

But Link did not want to do that.

He had personally felt that original owner's supreme kindness, even to willingness to sacrifice himself for others.

'Such a good kid to be treated so cruelly by his own biological father.'

'Although according to Dumbledore there are other hidden truths in this matter. But that is not a reason enough to absolve the original owner's father.'

Silence continued.

Because the matter involved Link's family, Emily did not speak.

She just silently held Link's hand tightly, giving him support.

And seeming to feel Link's determination, Dumbledore's eyes glowed twice, and he lightly patted Link's shoulder,

"Alright then, for now it will be like this. Severus, please take Mr. Flamel and Miss Victoria out."

Snape and Link said nothing, and with Emily, turned to go.

At that moment Harry ran over and blocked them in front.

Harry's expression looked quite fierce.

He is not foolish; from what happened just now, he thought that Link and Snape did such nasty things, yet received no punishment, on the contrary, the Ministry rewards them, awarding the Order of Merlin Second Class?

He simply could not accept that.

Clenching his teeth, Harry said sharply, "Wait, Dumbledore! How can you let them leave so easily! They…"

"That's enough Harry!" Dumbledore interrupted without courtesy.

At that, Harry still looked unwilling, but in the end stepped aside.

Link and Snape did not argue with Harry; they simply left.

Only Emily looked somewhat angry; before leaving she gave Harry and Hermione a deeply hateful look, Harry instinctively took two steps back.

With the heavy door closed, the office returned to silence.

Dumbledore stroked his long beard, then somewhat emotionally said to Harry and Hermione, "Link hasn't had it easy either; actually, you have all misunderstood him. He…"

———

After leaving the office, Link and Emily did not, as Dumbledore had instructed, directly return to their respective dorms; instead they followed Snape all the way to the Potions Office.

Emily had too much to say to Link; along the way she softly asked him what had really happened earlier.

Unfortunately, Snape's expression was difficult; to avoid irritating him further, Link only spoke very briefly.

In the end, he even directly said that "he and Snape are going to have a man-to-man talk," and told Emily to go back first.

Emily gave Link a big eye-roll, then quietly disappeared into the darkness.

Link, following Snape, entered the Potions Office.

Snape's mood was still bad; entering, he sat down beside the workbench without a word.

Link seemed very relaxed; he immediately pulled out the recliner he often used, sat in, even crossed his legs.

He wasn't going to say any of the comforting words, Snape had surely heard thousands of such empty comforts over the years.

If those had worked, Snape wouldn't still be like this now.

In Link's view, all he needed to do now was quietly keep Snape company; that was enough.

Taking advantage of this downtime, Link finally examined the effect of Occlumency at LV5.

Compared to LV4, the upgraded Occlumency already can stay active twenty-four hours, forming something like a passive skill mode.

And the defensive effect of Occlumency, as well as the strength of the mind-wall, also greatly improved.

In addition, the upgrade of Occlumency seems to have also strengthened Link's soul, enabling him to actively project consciousness into the Soul-Sea, that void.

Through this ability, Link once again observed Mike's current state.

The current Mike has fully reverted to that timid little boy; he is squatting in the prison built by the mind-wall, looking at Link pitifully, completely harmless.

But Link would no longer show him any pity.

One must know that when Mike went mad earlier, he nearly took out Link's own soul.

Mike is nothing but a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Link directed his mental energy to further solidify the mind-wall, then directly exited the Soul-Sea, and continued reviewing the knowledge infused into his mind by this upgrade.

This is something he must do each time he upgrades a skill.

His system is not simply granting power; it is more like assistance.

Every skill Link has, he must fully understand and learn all the knowledge in order to truly master it.

Otherwise, it remains half-baked.

Normally, this process is rather hard to endure, because the knowledge Link obtains after upgrades is extremely profound, looking very dry and laborious.

But this time, barely after skimming that knowledge, Link erupted in joy.

Because before him, a brand-new golden message floated across,

[Legilimency lv1 obtained!]

Staring at that message, Link almost couldn't help laughing out loud.

("Every Occlumency master will also be a superb Legilimens!")

That was what Snape said when teaching Link Occlumency, that mentally, Occlumency and Legilimency are a spear and shield pair, sharing many commonalities.

Once you learn one, learning the other becomes far more efficient.

At that moment, Link had already had plans to learn Legilimency.

But had abandoned it because its control was too strict.

Never expected that with this Occlumency upgrade, he would directly obtain this skill he had coveted for so long.

A truly unexpected delight.

After savoring the emotion a while, Link prepared to test Legilimency lv1 effects.

But before he could act, Snape's cold voice sounded again, "Does how I look now make you find this funny?"

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