Replenishing Magic Power

Cassandra was clearly surprised that Harry would so bluntly reply with a "no".

She was breathing as if she couldn't catch her breath, her chest heaving violently with each breath.

She was really angry. She didn't quite understand why the timid, soft-spoken little Harry had turned into this.

It's all Grindelwald's fault!

Cassandra clutched her chest, filled with deep regret, utterly and profoundly regretful.

If I had known it would turn out this way, why did I take Harry to the Austro-Hungarian Empire that Christmas?

I was so stupid, really.

All I knew was that taking Harry to the Austro-Hungarian Empire to broaden his horizons would allow my father to groom him into someone who could stand on his own within the family...

Harry noticed Cassandra's change and, feigning ignorance, asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

Cassandra's expression turned cold, and she raised her hand again, pointing her wand at Harry.

"Potter, I hope you can concentrate and practice this Charms properly!"

"Legilimency!"

This time, Harry tried his best to control his mind, but his inexperience made him unable to mount an effective defense against the skilled Cassandra.

The unstable Occlumency was broken in an instant, Cassandra once again entered Harry's mind world.

Slytherin's Study, 1992.

Harry paced anxiously in his study, trying to find a way to break Veratia's seal.

However, he did not notice that Veratia's eyes had been moving from the very beginning.

"Harry?"

A barely perceptible sound rang out, and Harry quickly moved closer to her.

"I am here!"

Veratia slowly opened her eyes, revealing her violet pupils.

"Harry?" she whispered. "I've been waiting for you..."

She slowly straightened up from the back of the chair, but Harry was astonished to find that Veratia's golden hair had suddenly begun to fade.

It faded from a dazzling gold to a silvery-white...

"Your hair?" Harry asked in surprise.

"Oh." Veratia reached out and picked up a strand of hair, chuckling softly, "This must be the result of the erosion of time— Harry, if I become an old woman in a while, you won't mind, will you?"

"How could that be?" Harry's nose tingled with emotion. He knew that Veratia's dazzling blond hair was her greatest pride.

However, it has now turned silvery-white.

Fortunately, Veratia's changes only appeared in her hair—perhaps this was just a superficial change.

"Can you stand up?" Harry asked.

Veratia tried to stand up, but her legs gave way and she slumped back into the chair.

"No, I've been stuck here for too long, my legs are a bit weak," she said with a wry smile.

"Let me help you try," Harry said, placing his hand on Veratia's clothes.

However, what he didn't expect was that this action would have serious consequences. Veratia's clothes suddenly appeared to him as if they were disintegrating into sand.

Harry swallowed hard.

"Is it pretty?"

This statement was not made by Veratia.

Harry turned around and saw Cassandra with a gloomy face.

A dizzying sensation washed over them, and they found themselves back in the empty classroom.

Harry was slightly out of breath, trying to concentrate on resisting Legilimency, which was an extremely mentally taxing task.

"It seems you two have already gone this far." Cassandra held her head high, no one knowing what she was thinking. "I really didn't know, Potter, how could you be so shameless, even taking off a girl's clothes and letting her be naked in front of you..."

Is it honest?

Harry thought about it and realized he was indeed quite honest.

Anyway, I've basically seen everything I was supposed to see, and as for things I shouldn't have seen, I've seen most of them too. There are some things I need to look at from a different perspective.

So that's the situation. As for the specifics, we'll have to see how things develop.

That being said, we still need to make an explanation.

Harry gathered his thoughts and then said, "Actually, it's not entirely my fault, Cass... You have to understand, she was sealed in time for a hundred years, and her clothes had long been eroded by time. I only touched her lightly, and I swear I had no idea what the consequences would be, otherwise I would never have touched her on my own!"

That's the truth. At that time, he didn't have the audacity to be so lecherous; he was still struggling with his own thoughts.

However, Cassandra paused for a moment upon hearing Harry's words.

She narrowed her eyes slightly, looked up, and asked, "Are you telling the truth?"

Harry held up three fingers.

"Of course, I can swear on the name of my future child..."

Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, Cassandra, who had just thawed slightly after seeing Harry raise three fingers, instantly plummeted back to freezing point.

"Shut up!" she snapped angrily. "I believe you are, but you're not allowed to make such a promise!"

"Oh," Harry replied honestly.

"Get ready!"

Cassandra raised her wand again. "Remember what I said, and control your thoughts!"

Harry took a deep breath, clenched his teeth, and tried to expel certain emotions from his mind.

"Legilimency!"

It must be acknowledged that Harry's progress was actually quite rapid.

After all, he had the Philosopher's Stone in hand, and he was also a veteran of many battles, so his speed in learning Occlumency was unmatched by ordinary people.

At first, Cassandra could use Legilimency to see large fragments of Harry's memories.

After these two practice sessions, she could only see fleeting fragments of memories.

For example, Harry boarding the train to school, Ron the Chicken Leg sitting next to him, Miss Granger with her thick front teeth, and that annoying Draco.

She frowned subconsciously; even from just fragments of memory, she felt that this grand-nephew hadn't been a good person before.

If she were there back then, she would definitely have given this idiot a good scolding for not knowing what decorum is.

The scene continues: Harry's first Quidditch Match, catching the Golden Snitch, throwing Chinese chomping cabbage at the back of Professor Quirrell's head...

Finally, she managed to capture a slightly longer clip.

It must have been last year when Harry obtained the letter left by Cassandra and went to her vault.

Just as Harry was about to start searching, Cassandra's cold, sarcastic remark came from behind him again.

"I feel like throwing up..."

Harry woke up with a start, and after a familiar dizzying sensation, the two were back in the empty classroom.

He was breathing heavily, his forehead covered in sweat from the effort he had just put in to fight back.

"Is this what you mean by control?"

Cassandra's voice was devoid of any emotion, completely businesslike.

"Ha... ha..." Harry was still trying to calm his pounding heart. He didn't know why resisting Legilimency was such a difficult thing.

However, Cassandra raised her wand once again.

"Wait..." Harry tried to stop Cassandra, "Let me rest for a bit, I can't concentrate..."

"But the Dark Lord doesn't rest!" Cassandra stated expressionlessly, "The Dark Lord doesn't care whether you can concentrate or not—he can break through your defenses at any time if he wants to..."

She lowered her eyelids, and what came into view was Harry, who was still catching his breath.

Cassandra gave a disgusted look, then suddenly grabbed Harry by the collar and rattled off a string of words. "You and Grindelwald, you two are really birds of a feather... You two are like carefree little brats, full of nothing but willfulness... Perhaps you haven't even realized the serious consequences of willfulness. If you hadn't underestimated yourselves and acted rashly..."

At this point, Cassandra suddenly stopped talking.

Yes, it's already like this, what's the use of complaining anymore?

Harry knew perfectly well what Cassandra had just said.

In fact, what she said was true. If he had been able to proceed cautiously and steadily, perhaps he wouldn't have been tricked by Runcorn.

"Lift your head up!"

Cassandra's wand pointed at Harry again. "Every memory of yours can be used as a weapon against you... If he can truly invade your mind at any time, as we suspect, it won't be long before you become his complete puppet... Or do you want us to perish with you?"

"No." Harry shook his head.

"Then prove it to me!" Cassandra said coldly, "Control your emotions! Control your thoughts! Don't let me see your weakness again... Legilimency!"

Even as Cassandra was speaking, Harry had already focused his mind and even used magic to create a protective shell around his brain.

That's the theory. Anyway, Harry just had this sudden idea, and who knows, it might actually work.

As it turns out, it actually seems to work.

This time, Harry's memory fragments flashed even faster than before, almost several fragments per second.

It's faster than turning the pages of a book.

"Well done." Cassandra lowered her wand. "Building a protective barrier around the brain is indeed a good idea... and you don't need to be a double agent like Professor Snape, so you don't need to go to his level..."

"That's not enough," Harry shook his head. "At least you can still glimpse some of my memories, so perhaps I can improve this method a bit..."

"It's good that you realize you're just being clever by taking shortcuts." Cassandra put her wand back in her pocket. "That's enough for today's practice. We'll continue tomorrow... When you get back, think carefully about how you want to strengthen your barrier, understand?"

"Of course," Harry nodded, then suddenly remembered something and asked, "Is your Life Force... still sufficient?"

"What are you going to do?" Cassandra's eyes narrowed.

"Oh, well..." Harry scratched his head, "Just checking up on you—I remember it's been a long time since we last replenished our Life Force together."

A suspicious blush suddenly rose on Cassandra's face.

She instinctively wanted to scold Harry for being shameless, but then she remembered that several months had passed since the last time he recharged his Life Force.

Although she didn't know how to perceive Life Force, Cassandra didn't really want to die.

"No need."

Cassandra stood up, and the stool slid back several steps as her leg bumped against it.

"I have some things to do," she said, and started to walk outside.

While replenishing her Life Force is indeed something that should be done, it's really unacceptable for her to accept Harry's invitation with such shyness and pride.

So she could only stand up and pretend to leave, but her steps were slowly moving outwards.

"Etc."

Harry quickly called out to Cassandra.

The idea of replenishing his Life Force came to him suddenly, but in reality, he had ulterior motives.

Mr. LeMay's solution, which aimed to replenish Cassandra's Life Force, required the two to have some contact.

Harry certainly wanted to take this opportunity to deepen their relationship; it was truly a case of killing two birds with one stone.

Cassandra stopped in her tracks upon hearing Harry's voice.

She turned her head to look at the desk beside her, without saying a word, just staring.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked tentatively.

Cassandra simply stared at the desk, offering no reply whatsoever.

"Then... shall I begin?" Harry asked tentatively again.

"Shut... shut up! Potter!"

Cassandra scolded, her face flushed.

"Oh." Harry obediently shut his mouth. He knew Cassandra was easily embarrassed, so he didn't say anything more that would upset Cassandra. He reached out and put his arm around her slender waist.

It should be said that although Cassandra's waist is not as slender as Veratia's, which has an Austro-Hungarian flair, it is still quite slim.

Veratia isn't even human, so there's no comparison. After all, her aunt, Princess Sisi, was the epitome of a slim waist.

Boys grow taller later, Harry is only fourteen years old. He is indeed much shorter than Cassandra, a seventeen-year-old girl.

He hugged Cassandra from behind, and his face could only reach her back.

He actually misses the Ageing Potion quite a bit, since Ageing Potion can make people grow up quickly.

According to his estimation, he would be taller than Cassandra and Veratia when he grew up.

However, we shouldn't be completely careless. We should look for books on Potions and see if there are any Potions that can increase height.

It's good to be prepared for both possibilities.

As a man, Harry is generally not comfortable with being shorter than his partner, but this situation is another matter, since he's still in the "terrible elementary school" stage.

Oh wait, at this age, she's already a middle Britain student.

The two remained embracing, and the atmosphere gradually became visibly awkward.

Harry decided to speak first, since he had to say something eventually.

"Aren't you getting a little tired?" he asked tentatively. "We've been standing for quite a while now, why don't we go sit down for a bit?"

Cassandra didn't speak, and just when Harry thought she was ignoring him, he heard a barely audible "hmm".

(End of this chapter)