Who would have guessed that Lockhart wasn't done for the day after he almost caused a scene in Snape's class? Out of all of the things that man could have done at Hogwarts he brought Cornish Pixies to class. If that wasn't all, he didn't bring them for older students, no, he brought them to second-year students, in particular for Potter's class which ended up disastrously for them.
"As much as it pains me to admit, Headmaster, out of all of the second-year students only Mr. Grayson is more than qualified to deal with those creatures."
Dumbledore didn't respond immediately, instead, he starts slowly playing with his long beard while thinking about the boy. Yes, Harry was the supposed boy in the prophecy that would end the dark lord once and for all, but Thomas… he was an enigma for the Headmaster. Not only was the boy absurdly strong for a twelve years old boy, but he also bears relationships with other factions, good relationships that would definitely help in the long run. Not to mention the boy's not-so-secret deal with the devils. After all, it was easy to determine who was supplying the underworld with those above-normal quality potions, and while it wasn't easy to deter the ministry, Dumbledore used all of his power to make sure that the boy will not be hindered, mostly because he could see that the boy didn't have any evil in his heart.
However, no matter how much Dumbledore wanted to help the boy, the truth was that no wizard family other than the neutral and good blood families will support his decision of training the boy to become the second Merlin. Nevertheless, right now we had more important matters to deal with.
"In the end, the kids managed to capture back the pixies didn't they Severus?"
"They did indeed, Headmaster, even though Potter's display was nothing short of a drunk man fighting a shadow."
"Now, now, as you said earlier, Harry is nothing like Thomas, who from what I've managed to learn had been taught how to fight by both a rather famous Exorcist, a Nordic witch, and a devil that fought in the wars that plagued our continent for centuries. And from what Amelia Bones told us, the boy might even be trained by one of the Satans in the near future, which I have to admit is making me feel somewhat worried for him. Tell me Severus, how does that matter regarding the boy's mind progress over the summer?"
Snape let out a sigh before speaking. "Mr. Grayson to some degree managed to learn and perfect the first layer of defense Occlumency could give to a wizard."
"However?"
"However, for some bizarre reason, despite him not having learned the next step, I can't look into his mind, no matter what I try."
"A natural born. That's definitely a welcome surprise, don't you think Severus?"
"I wouldn't call it a welcome surprise Headmaster. Mostly because I fear that Mr. Grayson might do something stupid that would put his mind at great risk if by some misfortune one of the beiges stronger than us were to attack his mind."
Dumbledore stopped talking and stroked his beard, thinking about how Severus should start teaching Thomas the next step of Occlumency, which was strengthening his mind and attacking the intruder. He knew that the boy had a lot of potential, but also a lot of enemies, especially among the dark wizards and the devils. He wanted to make sure that Thomas would be able to protect himself and his friends in case they were going to be attacked once again.
"Severus, I think it's time for you to teach Mr. Grayson the second layer of Occlumency. From what you have told me earlier, he has shown remarkable progress in shielding his mind, but he also needs to learn how to counterattack and repel any invader. This is not only for his own safety but also for ours. We don't want anyone to discover our plans or our allies through him."
Snape nodded reluctantly. He was not fond of the idea of teaching the boy more advanced offensive spells, however teaching him spells for defense might be another story, since Thomas seemed to be doing well enough on offensive spells from what he had managed to find out. He had seen the boy perform some impressive feats of magic, such as utilizing a similar form of magic to that of the devils.
There was definitely more to this than the Headmaster was telling him, but it didn't matter all that much to him.
"Very well, Headmaster. I will teach him the second layer of Occlumency."
"I trust you to handle him with care, Severus. And remember, he is not our enemy. He is one of us. He is a valuable asset in our fight against the dark forces. We need him on our side."
"I understand, Headmaster. I will do my best."
"Good. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some other matters to attend to. Please keep me updated on Mr. Grayson's progress and if Lockhart does anything stupid again like that stunt with the pixies."
"Of course, Headmaster, but I reckon Minerva and I could deal with the aftermath of whatever Lockhart might do."
Dumbledore smiled and dismissed Snape with a wave of his hand, before turning his attention to the letter he just got from one of his old friends from America, Mephisto Pheles. The old devil rarely contacted him after the civil war, but from time-to-time Mephisto will drop by to drink some good wine and talk about old times. But this letter… this was the first time he had ever sent something like this, which made Dumbledore worry even more.
Dumbledore let out a sigh before opening the letter and reading it.
Dear old friend,
I hope this letter finds you in good health and spirits. I am writing to you to warn you about a potential threat that might endanger one of your students. I have received some disturbing reports from my sources that a wild card is targeting a boy in your second year. A boy who has a connection to both the devils and the angels.
You might be wondering who this wild card is, and why he or she is after your student. Well, I can tell you that this wild card is no ordinary being. He or she is a devil and while it is by no means strong enough to fight you or me, it does possess something that should not exist, but somehow does. I don't know much about its power, but what I can tell you is that it can summon creatures from another dimension to fight for it.
Luckily, one of my students managed to find out the name of that being. Nephilim that's what it calls itself when my dear heir cornered the being.
The Nephilim have been gathering followers from among the rogue magicians, stray devils, and even fallen angels, promising them power and revenge.
I urge you to take this matter seriously, old friend. The Nephilim is a dangerous enemy, one that could pose a threat to the balance of your magical community if by some misfortune it allies itself with that boy you left unchecked. You must find who that boy the Nephilim seeks and protect him at all costs.
I hope to hear from you soon, old friend. Please be careful, and don't treat this lightly,
Yours sincerely,
Mephisto Pheles
Letting the letter down, Dumbledore didn't know how to react, but he knew very well who the boy was and who the Nephilim was now.
"Fawks, would you be so kind as to keep an eye on one of the students from now onwards?"
The phoenix looked back at his partner and rolled his eyes at him. He knew that Dumbledore was asking him to watch over the boy named Thomas Grayson, and if necessary, protect him from the being called Nephilim.
Nevertheless, Fawkes let out a soft trill, conveying his agreement to Dumbledore's request before flying out of the window, heading towards the second-year Ravenclaw dormitory, where Thomas Grayson was staying. At the same time, the phoenix hoped that the boy would not be too troublesome and that he would not have to use his fire to fend off any attackers and maybe, just maybe Dumbledore would reward him with some nice treats later.
Meanwhile, the boy in question, was in the library with his friends talking about how awful Harry's DADA class was. Other than Luna and the twins, everyone else was sitting at a table listening to Harry, Ron, and Hermione complaining about how awful Lockhart was as a teacher and how could he let some pixies amongst the students.
"It was a nightmare!" Harry exclaimed. "He just opened the cage and let them out, without any warning or instructions. They were flying everywhere, knocking over books, pulling hair, biting ears, and making a terrible racket."
"He didn't even try to stop them," Hermione added. "He just stood there, smiling and waving his wand, as if he was expecting us to applaud him. He had no idea what he was doing. He couldn't even cast a simple Freezing Charm on them."
"I think Thomas was right when he said that the man was a fraud, he let the pixies loose and run away when everything went bad," Ron said while nodding at Thomas.
However, truth be told, even for fraud, Lockhart should have at least known a spell or a charm to deal with those little buggers, yet he ran away letting the kids do all the work. At least now Hermione won't look at the man like he was some second coming of Merlin or something.
"Anyways about you guys? Did something happen in your potion class or your transfigurations?" Hermione decided to change the subject.
James and Tracey let out a sigh before telling Hermione about their potion class and how they were making a Shrinking Solution, which was supposed to reduce the size of any living thing that drank it.
"We made the potion correctly with the right smell and color when out of nowhere Lockhart barges into the room with a lot of books in his arms before dropping them on Snape's desk." James begin and the Gryffindor trio could hear the sadness in his voice.
"After that, the bastard start bragging about himself when he saw our cauldron, the perks of being in the front seat and not at the back of the classroom like Thomas and Daphne."
"Blimey, don't tell me he came to you two to 'test' your potion?"
"I wish I could have said no, Ron. But that's precisely what happened. He picked up the beetle and dropped it into the cauldron. However, for some reason, instead of shrinking to microscopic levels, the beetle grew to the size of a rather fat cat terrifying Lockhart until Snape took care of it."
"That's horrible! How could he do that to you? He ruined your potion and endangered your lives!" Hermione exclaimed while looking between James and Tracey.
James didn't say anything, but Tracey slowly nodded her head, not being all that excited about her DADA class tomorrow morning.
Unbeknownst to most of them, a pair of eyes were watching all nine of them from above a row of books. It didn't take him long at all to find the boy he was supposed to watch when he didn't find him in his room, though he had to admit that for a young human, Thomas Grayson was quite special, especially when he turned his head towards him as soon as he appeared in the library.
Being detected by a young boy did give Fawks a sour taste in his mouth, but at least the boy wasn't as weak as he thought.
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