Harry Potter: Transmigrated Detective Link

Frowning and pausing briefly, Link then spoke seriously, "Emily, don't go too far with Harry over there, he's Dumbledore's favorite."

Emily said, somewhat surprised, "What do you mean by 'favorite'?"

"The relationship between them involves many things, and I'm not at liberty to tell you,"

Link said sternly, "but you need to know this, even though Dumbledore often doesn't manage Harry much and regularly pushes him into the fire, if you really go too far, he will definitely step in."

Emily lowered her head, as if thinking about something, and after a while raised it and said,

"Don't worry, I absolutely didn't take action in person. I only pushed things in that direction indirectly. Even if Dumbledore wanted to settle things, he definitely wouldn't come after me."

"As long as you understand that internally, it's enough."

Link said this while standing up and heading toward the door.

Seeing that, Emily's eyebrows furrowed, "Where are you going?"

"Of course, I'm listening to you, I'm going out for a walk."

"Are you joking?" Emily also stood up. "It's the middle of the night!"

Upon hearing this, Link finally stopped in his tracks, turned his head, and gave Emily an exasperated smile, "All right. Actually, I was planning to go confront Professor Snape, he dug such a big hole for me with those notes, he owes me an explanation. You go rest early."

At those words, Emily finally relaxed. She stretched out and lay down in the spot where Link had been, saying, "Of course I'm going to rest early. You know sufficient sleep and rest are a woman's best skincare, and I intend to be like Aunt Leoni, staying youthful forever."

As she spoke, Emily even took out a bottle of beautifying potion and applied it to her face, meaningfully saying, "Not like certain people, who use Time-Turners so recklessly they're overdrafting their life. I suspect if she keeps using it like this, she'll be a grandma before twenty."

Link of course knew exactly who "certain people" referred to, but he really didn't know how to respond to that, so he cleared his throat twice and continued walking out.

But just as he reached the door, Emily stopped him.

Link turned around and saw that Emily's cheeks had turned red again.

She clasped the hem of her robe in both hands, fidgeted, and said, "Well, the Hogsmeade open-day is in a few days…"

"Go! We absolutely have to go!"

Before Emily could finish, Link loudly agreed.

Emily's mouth couldn't help but curve upward.

Still rubbing her robe's hem, she bit her lip, trying to keep her smile from widening.

"Love you!"

"Love you too!"

———

After a bit more playful entangling with Emily, Link finally made his way to Snape's office.

Everything inside the office was exactly the same as always, not only the inanimate objects, but also Snape, who was brewing a potion.

Sometimes Link truly felt that Snape was an extremely boring person.

Having spent so much time with him, Link had never seen Snape engage in any pastime beyond making potions, preparing lessons, and plotting conspiracies.

It was as if those three pursuits were the only things in his entire life.

Such a dull, flavorless life, Link really didn't know how Snape managed to keep living it.

After all, human beings still need joy, if there's none, the only result is becoming mad, like a prisoner in Azkaban.

So Snape must have some way of obtaining pleasure himself, but he never let Link discover it.

Of course, it might also be that Snape could derive pleasure simply from concocting and researching potions.

In a potion prodigy like him, that's not impossible.

Shaking his head to clear those random thoughts, Link went over to Snape, peered into the boiling cauldron, and muttered to himself, "Fire ash snake egg, pearl powder, tulip concentrate…"

Link was just halfway scanning the ingredients when he froze, and then burst into laughter in a tone of disbelief, "Love Potion?! You're actually brewing a Love Potion? Hahaha!~"

His laughter grew louder and louder, until finally he was clutching his stomach and leaning against the wall, saying, "Are you in love? But honestly, I don't think a Love Potion would do you much good, after all, you're already like this."

Veins bulged on Snape's forehead. The hourglass in his hand creaked under his grip as if it might shatter any moment.

"Link!"

Finally, Snape yanked out his wand with a flick of fury, "Tongue-seal Throat-seal!"

A flash of gray light erupted.

Link's pupils shrank, and his ebony wand instantly appeared, he thrust it out with force.

Buzz!

The gray light was obliterated, dispersing into a ripple of energy throughout the office.

"Seriously!? Professor Snape!" Link exclaimed, palms open in shock. "The wand you're using right now, you're still borrowing that from me!"

Snape raised his wand again, offering his reply through action.

At that point, Link backed down, and began to speak, "I was joking, Professor Snape! I mean, with your talent and looks, you definitely don't need a Love Potion, girls would fall for you without it!"

At that, Snape finally lowered his wand, but just by looking at how his hands still trembled, it was obvious his anger hadn't subsided.

After a moment, Snape grunted coldly and thudded back onto his chair.

"What are you doing coming to me in the middle of the night!?"

Snape muttered irritably, and Link, smiling, took out the thick black notebook, "Well then, Professor Snape. There seems to be something wrong with the notebook you gave me, I really can't understand the later recipes. Did you mistype something when you originally wrote them?"

He said it as politely as possible. Snape sneered and replied, "They're not mistyped. It's just your giant troll brain that can't grasp such advanced potion knowledge."

He wasn't the type to swallow his losses silently.

Link had tried approaching him with that attitude before, trying to trade favors, and Snape would never allow such an easy victory.

To be accurate, Snape already predicted that someone like Link, a junior wizard, wouldn't understand the advanced notes anyway.

And if Link hadn't come back and reconciled, Snape might even have prevented him from reading the most basic potion formulas.

"Professor, I know you have a way. Just tell me, you tell me how I can learn them."

Link said softly, still smiling warmly as he leaned closer to Snape.

Snape, who had just been provoked, had intended to continue making things difficult, but as his gaze fell on the pinewood wand in his hand, his expression softened.

He gave a cold snort and said, "You lack the prerequisite systematic learning. You simply can't understand the material in the short term. So, like before, come by after dinner every weekend and I'll tutor you."

(What tutoring, my foot. He just wants me around as his assistant, right? Revenge, definitely.) Link thought, while outwardly nodding profusely.

Snape, satisfied, handed the pinewood wand back to Link and said, "You can have this wand back, mine is fixed now."

"Alright."

Link took the wand, and discovered that the many scratches it once bore had inexplicably vanished, a result of Snape's care and maintenance.

At that moment, Snape adopted a serious expression and asked Link, "And concerning your physical condition, your mother, I believe, told you she'd thought up some way to solve the problem already?"

At his words, Link became serious and nodded.

In fact, soon after the Sirius Black incident, Madam Flamel had written to Link asking about these exact issues.

After learning the details, she said she had already found a solution and was negotiating preparations.

But when Link asked her what that solution was, she wouldn't say, only urging him to be reassured.

And now, listening to Snape, he seemed to know something?

Link's eyes narrowed and he asked directly, "Professor Snape, do you know what method my mother is planning to use?"

"You'll learn the specifics in due time," Snape sighed, his tone somewhat wistful, "I can only say this, your mother made a tremendous sacrifice for you. Cherish that."

Upon hearing that, Link nodded silently.

———

After a bit more discussion regarding the thick black notebook, Link left the office.

By now it was past midnight, and Hogwarts was submerged in darkness.

Honestly, the gloomy castle vibe was pretty eerie.

Yet Link felt not even a bit afraid.

He didn't even cast a Light-Stunner charm, he just walked into the darkness.

The sensation of being enveloped in darkness felt strangely comforting to him.

He understood that his current state was somewhat off.

He was not the kind of person who liked eerie, dark environments.

The first thought that came to mind was Mike.

But that was impossible.

The mind-wall created by Occlumency LV5 blocks all external influence, and Mike, trapped inside, would not be able to do this.

So now the only possibility left is what Snape said, that there was still an unresolved issue within his body.

For instance, some bloodline within him could be subtly, and imperceptibly, altering his personality and soul, making them vicious and drawn to darkness.

If that hypothesis holds, then Mike's existence can be explained.

He was very likely the dark soul cleaved from Link by long-term influence of that evil lineage.

Because, just by how the soul was depicted, Mike and Link looked exactly identical.

So the question becomes, if Link continues down this path, will he also split off a dark soul?

Or, perhaps, he may not split off any dark soul at all, and instead be outright seized by darkness and madness, losing himself entirely?

If so, then the solution Madam Flamel and Snape hinted at becomes all the more crucial.

But if they refuse to detail that solution, is it really effective?

Link had his doubts.

As he thought this, he strode quickly deeper into the darkness.

Yet he hadn't gone far when he spotted a dim yellow glow ahead, around which were four figures, tall one, three short.

They were Filch and the three friends.

"Mr. Filch, did you catch them sneaking around at night?"

Link emerged from the dark and asked expressionlessly.

At his words, the four by the light were startled.

Only Mrs. Norris reacted excitedly, she meowed and rushed to Link's side, rubbing herself between his legs.

"M-Mr. Flamel, good evening. This is how it was, these three little rascals came to me saying they had very important business with you. I was afraid of delaying your matters, so I brought them here to wait for you."

Filch stammered, looking nervous and chaotic, clearly afraid Link would be angry.

Not hard to understand.

In the past years, Link had been behind many big events, combined with his heritage from the Sacred Twenty-Eight, Filch by now regarded him as someone not to offend.

"Alright. Thank you for your trouble."

Link said gently, and his mouth displayed a soft friendly smile.

Filch, as if relieved of a burden, lost his tension and agitation.

Luckily, he knew Link still had to deal with the three of them, so after a few more words he bowed out.

Before exiting, he scolded the three with his eyes, as if he was looking at something filthy.

Ron grumbled under his breath and made a rude face at Filch's hunched back.

But Harry and Ron remained low and silent.

Seeing this, Link didn't waste words, he relaxed his neck and said, "So, talk. What did you need to see me about?"

At this, Harry and Hermione lowered their heads even further.

They were extremely ashamed now.

After Sirius was taken back by Fudge, Dumbledore revealed some of Link's secrets to them.

Combined with Sirius's offhand remarks, that was enough for them to piece together the broader truth.

Link was a kind, compassionate person.

And as friends, they had failed to treat him kindly, even misunderstanding and hurting him!

That was an unforgivable betrayal.

At once, they decided they must apologize.

But Link soon returned to isolation, and since they were not the same year, they rarely saw him.

So today, desperate, they had Filch bring them to Link.

Finally, Harry bit his lip and bowed to Link, saying, "I'm sorry! Link! We misunderstood you!"

The moment he finished, Hermione softly sobbed and bowed to Link.

And as she looked at them, Link remained expressionless, still silent.

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