"Why did Professor Dumbledore ask you to go to the Headmaster's Office?"
Hermione had recovered from her earlier shyness. Looking curiously at the letter, she asked,
"I don't know either." Harley put on an innocent, confused expression.
"I've never been caught breaking the rules, I don't bully anyone, and my grades are fine!
"Maybe Professor Dumbledore just wants to check on me. After all, both my parents are gone."
At the same time, Harley quickly went over everything she had done the night before, searching for a suitable explanation.
"That face of Voldemort's looks familiar..." Harley thought to herself.
"Where have I seen it before? A face that ugly shouldn't be easy to forget!
"That's right! The fragment of a soul that was once inside me! It looked just like Voldemort!"
Harley immediately settled on a plan. Whatever the problem was, she could just blame it on that soul fragment! It wasn't as if Professor Dumbledore could ask Voldemort to confirm her story.
Besides, Voldemort really had invaded the night before, and his soul fragment had once been inside her.
According to the Law of Beyonder Characteristic Convergence... or rather, the Law of Soul Convergence, because she had once carried a fragment of Voldemort's soul, she had taken on certain traits.
When Voldemort invaded, Harley had been drawn to him through her dream. It made perfect sense.
Of course, Harley couldn't explain it so directly. She would just guide Professor Dumbledore toward that conclusion.
At ten in the morning, Harley sat alone in a chair in the Headmaster's Office, feeling a little dazed.
Things seemed to be going differently from the way she had expected.
Harley had thought Professor Dumbledore would look stern, or even fly into a rage, list all the school rules she had broken, and then give her a thorough interrogation.
In the end, Harley would probably lose points and get detention, assigned to help Professor Snape process ingredients.
But that wasn't what happened. Professor Dumbledore wore a smile the whole time.
"Harley, how are you finding life at Hogwarts?" Professor Dumbledore asked. His first question after she sat down took Harley by surprise.
All the excuses she had prepared, starting with an apology and then an explanation, were suddenly useless.
Harley reacted quickly, though. "Thank you for asking, Professor. I'm very happy at Hogwarts.
"The living conditions here are far better than they were at the Dursleys', and my classmates are very kind to me."
"That's good." Professor Dumbledore nodded with a smile. "I recently looked into how you were treated at the Dursleys'.
"I truly hadn't imagined your living conditions would be so... difficult. I've spoken with Petunia.
"I believe they'll treat you much better after the holidays."
Harley scoffed inwardly. Would they dare bully her now?
Even without magic or supernatural abilities, her finely honed Assassin skills alone were enough to make them think twice. They wouldn't dare pull any more stunts.
Still, she couldn't refuse the Headmaster's kindness.
Harley stood and raised the hem of her robe slightly. "Thank you for your concern, Headmaster!"
"You don't need to be so formal." Professor Dumbledore waved a hand. "I failed your parents."
After they had talked about Harley's life, Dumbledore changed the subject. "Harley, can we talk about what you were doing last night?"
Harley nodded to herself.
As expected, though Professor Dumbledore's attitude was different from what she had anticipated, the inevitable question had still come.
Harley thought for a moment, then decided to answer honestly. "Last night, I went to the forbidden area on the fourth floor."
"Then can we talk about why you went there?" Professor Dumbledore didn't get angry about the area being breached. He remained gentle and pleasant.
"I felt like I was supposed to go there." Harley answered with a determined expression. "Last night, I had a dream.
"In the dream, I saw that noseless man again. He called himself Voldemort—the Voldemort who killed my parents.
"In the dream, he told Professor Quirrell to steal a treasure. I felt I had to stop him, so I went."
"Very well done, Harley." Professor Dumbledore didn't question her obviously flawed answer, much less ask how she had stopped Voldemort. He simply nodded and praised her.
"You didn't back down in the face of a Dark Lord like Voldemort. You've done Gryffindor proud."
Harley dipped her head in thanks and said nothing more. At a time like this, the more she said, the more likely she was to slip up.
"Do you know what this is?" Professor Dumbledore changed the subject again, and a deep-red stone appeared in his hand.
"Is that... the Philosopher's Stone?" Harley asked tentatively. A book Hermione had borrowed for her to read for fun described a deep-red stone called the Philosopher's Stone.
Harley didn't know whether that Philosopher's Stone was connected to the Life Stone she knew of, but choosing a name that existed in the Wizarding World was always a safe bet.
"That's right." Professor Dumbledore nodded approvingly.
"I'm glad you recognized it. I'm also glad you were able to take the Philosopher's Stone and then leave it where it was, rather than take it away.
"Do you know, Harley, only someone who wanted to find the Philosopher's Stone but didn't want to use it could take it from the Mirror of Erised.
"So, seeing that you could obtain the Philosopher's Stone and still follow your heart by leaving it behind makes me very happy.
"Well, it's getting late. You should go enjoy the rest of your weekend. Exams are coming up, so don't forget to study."
Professor Dumbledore politely dismissed her.
Harley nodded, stood, and gave Professor Dumbledore a slight bow before leaving the Headmaster's Office.
The moment the door to the Headmaster's Office closed, the old headmasters on the wall, who had been pretending to sleep, opened their eyes and began chatting.
"That girl is lying!" Headmaster Phineas exclaimed. "At the very least, she hasn't told us the whole truth! She's hiding plenty of secrets!"
"Thank you for pointing that out, Phineas," Professor Dumbledore replied softly. He leaned back, and his chair turned into a recliner.
"Armando, I don't understand." Headmaster Armando spoke up as well.
"You watched the whole battle with us in the Headmaster's Office yesterday, and you know what that child can do.
"I'm sure you can tell that it wasn't ordinary magic. It had the nature of Dark Magic.
"You also know exactly how that child got the Philosopher's Stone. It wasn't at all the way you described it. She came straight out of the mirror!
"You should understand what I'm getting at."
"That doesn't matter." Professor Dumbledore raised a hand, and a thick book flew down from the shelf.
Nearly all the color had faded from the words on its cover: Secrets of the Darkest Art.
As Professor Dumbledore leafed through the book, he spoke to himself. "I don't think I'm mistaken. Tom's soul was once inside that child.
"Though I don't know whether Tom's soul has disappeared, I believe that fragment left her with certain traits and gave her some abilities.
"It was my mistake, all those years ago, that set this in motion. That child is an innocent victim.
"She should never have had to bear this. How could I possibly blame her?"
Professor Dumbledore's gaze settled on a page in the book. He continued,
"The only thing I can do now is guide her, make sure she stays on the right path, and help her know love and courage so she won't follow Tom's footsteps.
"There's no need to ask why. But if there has to be a reason, it's because I'm a professor."
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