159 Waterlogged

Potter and Ron fell right into the fountain in the castle courtyard, so other than being wet and a humiliating landing, all was well after using a simple spell to dry the clothes.

No, the spell was used skillfully by Ginny.

Did you think, even for a second, that these two know anything about domestic magic?

But it also made me realize that due to the flying lessons and quidditch matches going on at the school, there seems to be a major gap in the castle's defenses.

Flying brooms.

I mean, I already took measures against flying invaders, but I had to purposely drop this exception because of Hooch's lessons and the sport. And I admit, maybe it was also due to my disdain for the magical vehicle itself.

But because of Potter and Ron, perhaps now the Death Eaters also know that they can use brooms to get in without crossing the booby-trapped bridge. I'm going to warn everyone not to use the flying brooms anymore, because I'll remove the barrier exception just in case before the enemies try to take advantage of that spot.

The silver lining is that with them here, it'll be a short time before we're done with all of this once and for all. They only have to kill Potter once to eliminate his side as a Horcrux and we may need to find another snake if Voldemort makes another one at the last minute.

But it has to be Voldemort who kills Potter or it won't count, right?

-I thought you weren't coming back to Hogwarts," I said as I approached them along with other teachers and some students, "At least, not like this.

-It's not our fault! -Ron protested as he looked at the burnt broom he pulled out of the fountain with pity- We wanted to enter through the Hog's Head, but the way was blocked and Harry's invisibility cloak is starting to fail- Ron considered that since it couldn't work properly anymore, it wasn't a problem to talk about his friend's cloak.

Oh? It seems that the Demiguise cloak I traded the genuine Invisibility Cloak for was of a worse quality than I expected.

-That's not important," Potter interrupted when he heard Ron talk about the cloak, wanting to avoid being asked about that specific detail, "What's important is that we're on a mission from Dumbledore and we have to find something in the castle. If we succeed, Voldemort will be one step closer to falling never to return.

-If you're referring to the Ravenclaw Diadem Horcrux, I took care of it years ago," I blurted out.

-How do you know about the diadem? -Ron asked, so puzzled that he didn't even hide the fact that that was in fact his goal.

-Who do you think wrote and sent Dumbledore the letter with the identity and locations of all the Horcruxes? -I raised my eyebrow to express my completely illogical wizard logic- -Do you have any idea how hard it was to get that information?

-Was it you? -Potter couldn't believe it.

Had he been following Soisen's instructions, when he originally thought it was information Dumbledore obtained at the price of his life?

-I hope you were able to finish with the locket, the goblet and everything else without leaving anything behind.

He needed confirmation that they really had destroyed all the Horcruxes mentioned in the list, it would be a real pain in the ass if they had skipped one because it wasn't easy to get to.

-Of course, the sword of Gryffindor came to Harry's call! -Ron stuck out his chest when he said that.

I had to restrain my urge to roll my eyes.

Why don't they mention how my Patronus guided them?

Right, Ron has the syndrome of altering the reality of stories, I forgot for a second because of his non-existent importance in my life.

-Wait a minute! -McGonagall interrupted as her gaze fell on Soisen, "Is that why you went up to the office one day, pulled the sword out of the Sorting Hat and covered it with what she later deduced was basilisk poison?

-There are few things capable of damaging a Horcrux and I had to give Potter something he could use," I shrugged and explained, "I couldn't give him the poison because with his poor abilities to handle potion ingredients, I feared he would kill himself, so I let the sword absorb the properties. It was safer that way.

The professors exchanged sympathetic glances, it was better to give a magical sword to a Gryffindor, than to give a pot of poison to someone with few abilities when it came to handling dangerous and lethal substances.

Ron and Potter were having second thoughts about their lives.

They followed the instructions in Soisen's letter, when they thought it was from Dumbledore.

They used the sword prepared by Soisen, when they believed he had gone to Potter for his noble cause.

Wait, the Patronus they saw...?

So, everything they had been doing and suffering through these months was orchestrated by Dumbledore or Soisen?

-Don't make those expressions, you've done an (unexpectedly) excellent job," I congratulated.

Yes, I really didn't expect them to be able to complete the list on their own without Hermione's support.

The details don't matter to me, only the results speak for themselves.

-Why? -Potter asked blankly, "Didn't you hate me?

-If I have to choose a future where the dark lord triumphs or one where you do, I choose to support the lesser of two evils," he made it clear that he still doesn't like me, but at this point, there is only a choice to be made.

If all else fails, just move out of Britain and let the worldwide magical community jump on Voldemort and tear him apart like hyenas.

-Wait," this time it was Sinistra who interrupted, "Is it possible that all the tension and conflict of interest between you and Dumbledore was just a brilliant ploy to divert the attention of the spies while Potter received support from someone they would never suspect?

Suddenly, everyone had a realization and put on sympathetic expressions.

Soisen went blank after hearing Professor Sinistra's stilted explanation.

...

What brand is the weed this woman smoked?!