A Strange Question.

After classes finished and his work in classroom 2-21 with the newspaper was done, Loki finally got the opportunity to relax in his room for a while.

It was only when the time on his stopwatch struck eight that Loki walked out of his room and towards a specific room in the dungeons, the potions classroom.

Reaching the door, Loki stayed outside for a while as he thought of all the various ways the conversation would go from how he was planning it to happen.

'Hmm…won't Professor Snape feel bad about it though? Since he wanted to make me a Beyonder of the Apothecary pathway?'

'Although this was why I wanted to talk to Professor McGonagall about all this…I'm sure he won't mind too much.'

'After all, isn't it all mostly the same thing? A package of powers and madness?'

After thinking about what he was going to do for a few more minutes and then taking a few deep breaths to calm himself down, Loki put on his best smile and straightened his posture before knocking on the door.

*Knock* *Knock*

The door flew open as if pulled by the wind, and even before Loki stepped into the room, he heard Snape's voice complain.

"Are you done peacocking in front of my door Mr. Loki. I have no interest in helping you start a new business. I'm sure you've earned enough already."

Loki *gulped*.

'Ok. He's not in a very good mood.'

Loki's strained smile handled the news, even though not as effectively as he'd have liked, he managed somehow without frowning at his misfortune.

"Why would you say that Professor!!? Aren't I your favourite student!? And I'm here for you! I'm here to thank you for the pocketwatch you gave me last christm-"

"I don't need a peacock in my office~." Snape said in a sing-song manner as he carefully stirred a bubbling cauldron.

"Come on Professor Snape, I'm not that bad. You should see Malfoy, he spreads his fanboys and girls and keeps showing off his power to everyone. That is something really annoying. Me? I'm just a chick when compared to him."

"Let me remind you Mr. Loki that chicks do not carry platinum memberships. And especially never flaunt it in front of everyone by wearing the clip on their Hogwarts robes."

'Ah…now I get what has been annoying Draco all this time, it's my tie clip that I got for being a platinum member.'

'I can see how he took that as a sign of provocation.'

'Poor Malfoys.'

'Should I change it a little?…should I place it in a more obvious spot?'

"Mr. Loki? Have you become so good at puppeteering that you need one to talk to me?"

"Ah…yes, I mean no! No Professor Snape I was just here to-"

"Tell me why you're really here."

"Ah…erm…"

Loki fell silent for a minute.

Snape didn't disturb him since his potion was at a critical stage and he needed to concentrate on what he was doin-

"I'mbecameabeyonderoftheMysteryPryerPathway." Loki blurted out words in rapid succession.

Snape's head snapped so fast that Loki thought he had gotten whiplash from turning so fast.

"What did you say Loki?" Snape asked with narrowed eyes.

"Ah…that…you heard it the first time professor?" Loki asked while pretending to feel even more nervous after having said it the first time.

But Snape just stared at him like he owed him his salary.

"..."

"Well…I said I became a beyonder of the Mystery Pryer Pathway." Loki said, slowly this time, speaking each word clearly and smoothly.

Snape's eyes narrowed further, so much so that Loki wondered if he could even see anything through them anymore.

Suddenly Loki felt a chill pass over him.

'Is he using spirit vision on me to confirm by checking my astral body?'

'I doubt he can do that though…'

'Even a Seer could only do that much later down the line…'

Loki stood there under Snape's scrutinizing gaze waiting for him to speak when finally Snape closed his eyes for a moment and Loki felt normal.

"So….?"

Snape looked at his potion which was now ruined because of his lack of attention and then looked at Loki and scowled.

With a flick of his wand, Snape was about to toss the potion away but Loki interrupted and dropped into it a little bit of rat blood.

"The potion isn't wasted, all you have to do is drop the rat's blood to reveal its true colour…now you can use it to heal any diseases by simply helping the body to become friends with the enemy cells and then backstabbing them."

Snape looked at the potion once again and its golden colour like the chrysanthemum flower slowly turned baby pink like that of a snapdragon.

Snape cleaned his hands with a towel before looking at Loki with a little bit of annoyance.

"Do you think I don't know that? That was not what I was trying to do."

Loki's eyes turned listless at Snape's insistence but before he could say anything Snape spoke calmly, "Meet me at Professor McGonagall's office in an hour."

Loki nodded and quietly returned to his room.

Making sure that this time as he stepped through the common room he would show off his proud platinum tieclip even further. He even charmed it to look extra shiny much to Draco's dismay.

Entering his room, Loki spent the time thinking about various things he had to do and made himself a check list.

After he was done he burnt away the paper before thinking about his meeting with Professor Snape.

'That went…better than I expected?'

'I wonder why he wants me to meet Professor McGonagall though.'

'Some random rule of the school?'

'No…Professor Snape's never been a rule book kinda guy…'

'So is Professor McGonagall from the Mystery Pryer pathway too?'

'Perhaps he could detect that I was a Beyonder just not which one, so he wants Professor McGonagall to confirm?'

'No. Probably not. He probably just wants Professor McGonagall to guide me since she's on the same pathway I guess.'

Time soon passed and Loki finally appeared in front of the old cat lady's office.

*Knock* *Knock*

"Come in." Loki heard a soft voice speak from the other side.

As soon as Loki entered he saw Professor Snape was already there and he seemed to be in the midst of a discussion with Professor McGonagall.

Professor McGonagall was looking at him from the top of her glasses with a slight head tilt and Loki had that weird feeling of being watched again.

'Spirit vision?'

But Professor McGonagall's check was much quicker. She only looked at him for a few seconds before looking back at Snape and nodding.

"Erm…is everything going to be alright?" Loki asked with slight confusion.

"I have a question to ask Mr. Loki, if you don't mind." McGonagall stated rather than asking. It was clear from her tone that she would ask Loki the question anyway, and so he nodded.

'Well, at least I prepared well.'

"How did you become a Beyonder of the Mystery Pryer pathway?"

The question sent alarm bells ringing in Loki's head. There was something about the way it was worded that Loki felt he couldn't quite digest. It felt off.

And when he thought about it Loki came to a soft conclusion.

'What a strange question to ask…can people not become a Mystery Pryer in this world?'

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