Harry Potter: The Path of Destiny

Dumbledore's office at Hogwarts

"Are we really going to let that child drop out of school like this?" Snape asked Dumbledore.

"Depriving a child of the opportunity to receive an education is certainly not what I want to see, but Mr. Field sent an owl to deliver a letter today. This matter seems to have room for negotiation. He put forward a condition, which is what I asked you to do. The reason for coming.”

"You actually have to negotiate terms with us." Snape found it a bit ridiculous. "With all due respect, I don't understand what Mr. Field is worried about. Is he afraid that the Dark Lord will come to compete with him for the custody of his daughter?" I understand that the Dark Lord is never a person who cares about family ties. Just think about what happened to the Riddle family."

"We all know that he is not someone who cares about these people, but I'm afraid Mr. Field's worries are not without reason." Dumbledore sat on his seat, "Severus, have you heard about the rumors circulating in France? Is there a southern legend about the protective spell of sacrificing one’s life?”

"Is it the spell that sacrifices half of one's life to protect the one he loves from fatal attacks? It's just a legend." Snape dismissed such unfounded legends. If such a spell really existed, he He had already sacrificed his life for Lily.

"Legends are not necessarily groundless. The Sacrifice Curse does not exist, it only requires people of a specific bloodline to use it." Dumbledore said while looking at the wand in his hand. "Doris Lefebvre, Nydia's mother, she may have been the only person with the bloodline to use the Sacrifice Curse at that time. Voldemort didn't know where he got the news, and relied on his best trick of bewitchment. The human heart deceived Doris Lefebvre into casting the Sacrifice Curse for him. This is also the reason why Voldemort did not die completely after suffering the backlash of Avada's Life-locking Curse. It was just that Voldemort had too many fatal attacks at that time. Liz Lefevre's physical condition was probably not very good, so she was unable to truly exert the power of this spell, which made Voldemort what he is now."

"This is really unexpected news," Snape said thoughtfully.

"Yes, Voldemort spent a lot of effort to fight against death." Dumbledore took out the diary that Harry had destroyed and placed it on the table. "Let's take a look at the gift from our old friend. Well, if my judgment is not wrong, this should be a Horcrux, what a troublesome discovery it is."

"Fortunately it has been destroyed." Snape looked at the diary carefully.

"Yes, but the question is will this be the only one?" Dumbledore rubbed his temples, looking a little tired, "We can no longer let Voldemort get the protection of the Sacrifice from Nydia. It’s not easy to make him disappear completely.”

"I think this worry may be a bit unnecessary. Judging from the child's current behavior, she does not seem to agree with what the Dark Lord has done." Snape said.

"No one is the same. When Tom Riddle was studying at Hogwarts, who would have thought that the smart and handsome boy student union president would eventually become the most evil Voldemort in the wizarding world?" Dumbledore paused for a moment, his eyes Suddenly looking at Snape, "I remember that Nydia and Harry had a pretty good relationship."

"What do you think?" Snape frowned. He understood Dumbledore's plan. "According to my observation, Nydia seems to be closer to Draco Malfoy. I'm afraid your idea is difficult to understand." Got my wish."

"As I just said, people are not static. She and Harry are both in Gryffindor House, so they will spend more time together, and it was Harry who rescued her in the Chamber of Secrets this time. "

"I'm afraid this is beyond our control." Snape looked a little unhappy.

"Of course, it's just that it would be great if it could be like this." Dumbledore said, "Okay, let's go back to the previous problem. Mr. Field agreed to let Nydia return to school, but only if Nydia returns to school." Tia must learn Occlumency before school starts."

"It is simply impossible for a student who has just finished her second year to learn Occlumency. He might as well continue to insist on letting her drop out of school." Snape said coldly. It was obvious that Dumbledore had given this task to Gave it to myself.

"You just need to learn the basics, and I think it is necessary for her to learn this. The Gaunt family's violent characteristics have already appeared in her. After all, demulcents are not a long-term solution. Let her learn to control her emotions. That's the key." Dumbledore said calmly, he didn't seem worried about the length of these two months.

"When it comes to mastery of Occlumency, my little tricks are nothing in front of you." Snape wanted to refuse the job.

"It's a pity that I can't escape at all. Professor Kettleburn of our Care of Magical Creatures class has retired this semester. We need to find a suitable person to teach again. There is also Professor Lockhart. His unfortunate experience has made us I have to look for a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Fortunately, I already have a good candidate, but I still need to go over and have a good talk with him. He seems to have a lot of concerns." Dumbledore spread his hands. , expressing that he was also helpless. "Speaking of which, this new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is an old friend of yours."

"I don't have that many old friends," Snape said coldly.

field manor

After Mr. Field finished everything, Nidia fell into a long silence. She looked down at the box in her hand, feeling that it was particularly dazzling at the moment.

"So he approached his mother just to deceive the protection of the Sacrifice Charm. And the reason why you insist on not letting me go back to Hogwarts is also because you are worried that he will repeat his same tricks to get me to use the Sacrifice Charm for him?" Nettie Ya said calmly.

"It's not that I'm worried, but he will definitely do this. He will definitely come back to you, and then use all methods to get the protection of this spell from you again." Mr. Field said with certainty, "So now your decision is still Isn’t it still the same?”

"No." Nitya answered without hesitation.

"You can go back to Hogwarts to study, but there is a prerequisite, that is, you must learn Occlumency before school starts. Of course, you only need to learn the basics. The Dark Lord is best at Legilimency. If you If you can't close your brain and allow him to read your thoughts and memories at will, you will be vulnerable to him, and it will be easy to find your flaws. "

"Two months." Nydia couldn't believe it. How could she learn Occlumency in two months, even if it was just the basics? This was simply more powerful than the potion formulas that Snape had arranged for him to brew. It can't be done.

"If you still agree, Professor Snape will come over to teach you Occlumency from the day after tomorrow." Mr. Field looked at Nidia seriously. He actually expected Nidia to refuse.

"Professor Snape," Nydia said in surprise, "I thought it was you who would teach me."

Nydia was a little embarrassed. If she asked Snape to teach her, wouldn't it mean that many of her memories would be seen by him?

"Professor Snape is more professional than me in Occlumency. You only have two months, so I think it would be more appropriate for him to teach you." Mr. Field looked at Nydia, "Why do you want to go back on your word? "

"No, I don't regret it." Although he was reluctant to be taught by Snape, this was his only chance to return to Hogwarts. His father had already given in, and he could no longer push his limits. "I accept your request, and I will definitely do it." successful."

Mr. Field sighed, "Okay, now that you have made up your mind." Although he had already guessed that Nidia would stick to her decision, she still felt worried and unsure whether her approach was correct. "These two Please rest well. Learning Occlumency is not an easy task."

"Well, I'll go back to the room first." Nidia stood up and saluted Mr. Field, then walked toward the door of the study with the box her mother left for her.

"You have decided to face the Dark Lord, then you need to think carefully about your relationship with Draco. I am not opposed to your relationship, but if the Dark Lord wants to ensure that your Sacrifice Spell will If you use it on him, he will definitely eliminate all the threatening people around you." When Nidia was about to walk to the door, Mr. Field suddenly stopped her.

"I see"

Nitya answered softly and then left the study and returned to her room.

She sat cross-legged on her bed, in a daze thoughtfully. It wasn't until Yiwan jumped forward and rubbed her arm with her head that Nidia came back to her senses. She held Yiwan's arm with one hand. She hugged her and opened the box with her other hand. There was a letter inside, which was left by her mother. She unfolded the letter with one hand and read the contents carefully.

The letter was a bit long, and it took Nidia some time to read it completely. She sighed, and then smiled wryly at herself.

"Yiwan, do you know that I originally thought that I would be disappointed after knowing the truth, but in fact I was not." Nidia put the letter back into the box and walked to the window with Yiwan in her arms. "I feel much more relaxed now. I don't have to worry so much about how to face him. Now I can completely hate him. It was his use that killed my mother. My mother is the stupidest person I know." I am the second stupidest, because I also had expectations like her."

Nidia murmured to herself while caressing Yi Wan. She looked up at the sky that was already as dark as ink, "What a pity there are no stars tonight."

Don't you have stars yourself? Nitya sat back on her bed. She opened the starry sky stone bracelet and let the stars fill her whole room. Yiwan called out to the stars in the sky as if sighing, Nitya Ya gently touched its head and said, "You think it's beautiful too, right?"

Nydia was a little distracted looking at the starry sky, Draco, what should I do?

"Before, I always thought that my relationship would be a trouble. I didn't expect that this would not only be a trouble, but also a disaster."