Vaughn raised his hand. Wisps of white mist seeped out of Harry's eyes, circled through the air in the Hospital Ward, then flowed back into his eyes.
Only after finishing did Vaughn continue, "I left this in your Mindscape when I taught you Occlumency. As long as it's there, it can at least protect you from being controlled by Voldemort."
"As for the basilisk and Draco-"
"Hermione was right. I was there the whole time, so no one was going to die."
"Did you really think it was just a coincidence that the basilisk happened to collapse right in front of Draco?"
"That was Sirius!" Ron finally seized a chance to argue back. "Sirius saved him!"
"Really?" Vaughn smiled. "But why didn't you stop to think about how Sirius ended up at Hogwarts-or even in the Chamber of Secrets?"
Ron froze. They all knew Vaughn had rescued Sirius, so the two of them had to be in close contact.
That meant Sirius's appearance at Hogwarts hadn't been a coincidence!
"But why didn't you tell me everything?" Ron remained defiant. Vaughn raised an eyebrow, giving him a peculiar look that made him squirm. Once again, that toe-curling embarrassment crept over him.
Vaughn hadn't expected this to be Ron's real grievance after all that buildup.
Huh. How did I never notice that little Ronnie was such a sulky softie?
What kind of younger brother gets jealous of his brother's girlfriend?
"Ron, this isn't about me playing favorites-" Vaughn began by making his position clear.
"I never said it was!" Ron's face instantly flushed red. "I'm just saying-even if you couldn't tell Harry, the rest of us at least had a right to know!"
Harry had a soul connection with Voldemort, but he didn't!
Vaughn shrugged. "I don't think you could have fooled