Alibi.

Loki's brain fired up at full speed, thinking up all the solutions possible to the question he was asked.

'I can't lie to her because she can simply divine if I'm telling the truth.'

'I didn't plan for this…'

'I didn't think it would be a problem to simply be a beyonder of the Mystery Pryer pathway.'

'But why exactly would it be a troubling thing to be a Mystery Pryer?'

'...'

'Because someone controls the sequence?'

'So even though there's no church of Hermit or Moses Ascetic Order or Element Dawn, there's someone controlling the pathway.'

'It wouldn't be any noble family since Professor McGonagall isn't affiliated with any of the nobles…'

'Professor McGonagall herself controls the pathway?'

'But if that's the case then the only way one could become a Mystery Pryer is by learning the potion ingredients from her.'

'So it's not just that I'm suspected of lying, but also that if I'm speaking the truth there's a leak in her organisation?'

'How troublesome…'

Just then an idea sparked in Loki's mind.

Using his acting skills to pretend that he was thinking a little, Loki said the following.

"I don't exactly know either."

"Huh?" Both McGonagall and Snape looked at Loki with a frown. But just before they could accuse him of anything or suggest some 'Beyonder' means to recover memories he continued.

"All I remember is that I suddenly had the knowledge about the Mystery Pryer pathway while reading a book I found."

"Hmm…" McGonagall frowned but then she asked in a strict tone, "Can you remember something about the book?"

"Not really…other than that I learnt about something called the Hidden Sage I don't know anything else…I feel like I might've seen a pair of floating eyes but I can't really tell…maybe that was a hallucination?"

Loki's well-planned words brought a tense silence to the office.

Both Snape and McGonagall had a look of astonishment on their faces. Each looked like they had seen the second coming of Merlin in front of them. They looked at each other to check if what they heard was right and then trembled with little shock.

'Got'em.'

'Now even if the divination gives them negative results they can just blame it on the Hidden Sage not wanting them to want to know more about the situation.'

'Good job me!'

Loki gave himself an imaginary high-five while maintaining a confused look outwardly as he spoke to the professors.

"Erm…did I do something I shouldn't have?"

"I mean…I didn't exactly want to do what was suddenly stuffed in my mind too. I read about Legilimency last year and thought that someone was messing with me. But then I tried the potion that was in front of me and after following the instructions in my mind I realised I was now a Beyonder."

"Potion? You didn't make the potion?" Snape asked quickly.

"No. It was in front of me. Like I blinked and the potion was in a small vial in front of me. All I remember is that it was a cool silky purple and green coloured potion. I felt rather hot when I drank it like my entire body was being changed or tuned to do something better."

Snape looked at McGonagall and she just nodded, probably referring to Loki's description of the Mystery Pryer potion.

"Can you perform divinations?" Professor McGonagall asked softly, seemingly choosing to believe Loki's story about the matter, for now at least.

Loki nodded, "Do you want me to show you?" He let down the Topaz pendulum on his hand and asked, "Pendulum divination, Dream Divination, Astrolabe divination, Tarot card readings, I can do them all! Which one do you want me to show you?"

McGonagall put up a strained smile when she looked at the way Loki was acting like he was selling his wares to her and spoke calmly, "Pendulum divination would be alright. Can you turn around for a bit so that I can set up the task?"

Loki nodded and quickly turned around, then spoke, "I closed my eyes too. You can set up your task for me now professor!"

There were a few soft tapping sounds and then Loki was asked to turn around.

"Can you discern which of these cups of tea is authentic?"

Loki nodded and quickly walked over.

He held his topaz pendulum above the right porcelain cup that looked enchantingly real and used cogitation to close his eyes as he spoke a simple statement seven times.

'I hope they don't realise I'm using the soul of a Beyonder trapped in a ring…'

"This tea is real."

Opening his eyes, Loki saw the pendulum spinning clockwise so he glanced at McGonagall and Snape and saw them focused on his divination which made him smile.

'Good. At least they can't detect me using the Ring of Harvest.'

Then Loki performed the same test with the second cup on the left.

Opening his eyes Loki saw the pendulum spin in an anti-clockwise manner.

He looked at McGonagall and then with a smile announced his results, "This tea is the one you've transfigured Professor. I must say the tea cup is rather excellent, the designs on it are exquisite."

McGonagall gained an amused smile as she spoke, "I must remind you Mr. Loki that divination is not all-powerful. While the tea indeed is a fake, the cup is real."

"Ah…" Loki stuck out his tongue a little and nodded, "I will keep that in mind."

That was when Snape looked at Loki with a suspicious gaze again and asked a question, "Why did you reveal this information to us? Was it another thing that you were compelled to do because of the sudden influx of knowledge in your head?"

"Ah! Yes, I mean no!" Loki said quickly before explaining his reasoning while pretending to act his role, "I told you guys about this because I wanted to set up a divination stall in room 2-21 to help other students find their way by solving their troubles using divination."

McGonagall and Snape's brows furrowed once again as McGonagall asked, "If I may ask, why?"

"...well this is why I said yes earlier, it's because the knowledge in my head tells me that I need to act according to the maxim, 'Do as you wish but do no harm.' If I do this, I can quickly digest the potion I've taken and move onto the next one in line."

McGonagall's eyes widened before she narrowed her eyes and shared a side glance with Snape.

They looked at Loki and she spoke calmly, "I understand your trouble Mr. Loki. We will get back to you at a later date about this. For now, if that is all you need to tell us, please go back to your dorm and rest. The matter you've brought up is a little complicated to deal with so don't expect an answer very soon."

Loki had expected this to take some time and so he nodded obediently and left McGonagall's office to go back to his dorm and fall down in his bed.

He was exhausted from thinking so much to create a perfect alibi and wanted to do nothing else but rest.

'I'm sure they'll accept my request…'

'After all, it's the Hidden Sage that's 'backing' me…'

'I doubt any other professor can directly communicate with 'Him'. And their reactions were reason enough for me to confirm that 'He' exists in this world too…'

'How scary…'

'I just almost dug a massive hole for myself and cooked myself in it.'

'Let's see how this goes…'

'I hope it goes well…'

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