Her voice was steady, but a subtle tremor lay beneath it, a faint trace of unease that hinted at her growing dread. The more she thought about it, the more terrifying the possibility felt.
All the while, Neville had been silent. But at Hermione's last words, his face went white. He swallowed hard and spoke in a shaky, cautious voice. "I know… it has to be the Imperius Curse. It has to be the Imperius Curse. Anyone affected by it completely loses their own mind. They become nothing but a puppet, a servant of the caster."
He nervously rubbed his hands together, tiny beads of sweat forming on his forehead. "The way you describe Harry… it really sounds exactly like someone under the Imperius Curse," he whispered.
To explain the depth of his fear, he continued: "This is an extremely vile, extremely terrifying kind of magic… an Unforgivable Curse. My family… my family is in the state it's in because of Unforgivable Curses." His voice was laced with sorrow.
Hermione quickly put her book aside and gave Neville a comforting hug, speaking softly to reassure him.
Ron, meanwhile, froze for a moment, then nodded vigorously. "Yes, yes, yes, if it's not the Imperius Curse, then it's some other dark magic. I even suspect that the Harry Potter we see now isn't the real one. Even if he seems normal these past couple of days, I can't forget the way he looked at me before."
Ron's voice trembled slightly with a mix of excitement and indignation as it echoed down the empty corridor. He was genuinely bold, completely unconcerned that his loud voice might attract the caretaker or a professor. At this moment, Ron was definitely the type to shout his thoughts at the top of his lungs.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Can you two stop exaggerating? Harry's been completely normal these past few days."
She still thought Ron's claims were over the top. Unforgivable Curses were horrifying, after all, and Hogwarts was supposed to be the safest magical school in the world. She'd even read about its protections in Hogwarts: A History.
The current Headmaster was Albus Dumbledore, the greatest white wizard alive. What kind of dark wizard would dare step foot in Hogwarts, let alone cast the Imperius Curse on the Boy-Who-Lived? You-Know-Who had been dead for many years!
Although she had been unsure earlier, after reasoning through the logistics, she felt it was far more likely that Harry Potter was simply fine.
But Ron clung to his own perspective. "That's because he's good at hiding it! I can't forget the way he looked at me that night, like he was looking at some creature more insulting than a bug!" He couldn't come up with a better description, but his pride flared up, turning his face red, and he grew increasingly convinced something was deeply wrong with Harry Potter.
Not far away, Ian raised an eyebrow.
In his memory, Harry being sorted into Slytherin was a major deviation from the original timeline. While he still interacted with the trio, the house separation had made their friendship far less close.
They might exchange a few words during shared lessons, and because Harry wasn't a typical Slytherin, there was some interaction, but they were barely more than acquaintances. It was understandable that ever since Ron noticed Harry's personality change, he had grown uneasy and suspected Dark Magic.
After all, they were no longer tight-knit friends. Trust naturally decreased.
It wasn't that Ron was paranoid or malicious; Harry Potter had indeed had problems before. This time, it was simply that Ron's information hadn't been updated quickly enough.
Ian couldn't help but let out a quiet, internal sigh.
Just then, Hermione bit her lip, thought for a moment, and said, "Even if something has happened to Harry, we should tell a professor… or maybe tell Ian."
"Ian Prince is really capable. He might be able to figure out if there's something wrong with Harry. I bet he'll use Divination, and his Divination will definitely be impressive." A flicker of hope shone in Hermione's eyes, as if she expected Ian to be the key to solving the problem.
The moment Ron heard Ian's name, he leapt up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. "No! We absolutely cannot tell him! That Ravenclaw guy gets along so well with my two elder brothers, he definitely won't want to help us. He might even prank us like he did Fred and George!"
"We cannot go to him, absolutely not. He's also on good terms with Harry Potter," Ron said firmly, his eyes betraying a deep bias against Ian.
Neville, hearing Ron, whispered softly, "Ron, you can't say that. Mr. Prince is a really nice person, he even helped me before."
"I'm sure he would help us. Mr. Prince is very kind and always willing to lend a hand," Neville added, his eyes full of sincerity. His impression of Ian was always excellent.
Not far away, Ian silently gave the little chubby boy a mental thumbs-up. Sure enough, people who understand gratitude are always likable. Hermione was a good girl too; his small efforts to look out for her hadn't been in vain.
Only one person in the new trio hadn't praised him. Guess who.
Still, it didn't annoy Ian. In fact, he was listening with genuine interest.
"Ron, do you have some kind of prejudice against Mr. Prince?" Hermione furrowed her brow, suspicious of Ron's extreme reaction.
"It's not prejudice! You don't understand! Anyone who can hang out with my two elder brothers must be… must be…" Ron's small brain struggled for the right adjective.
"A troublemaker?" Neville offered helpfully.
"Much, much worse than that!" Ron insisted. "Prince also gets along with Harry Potter. Didn't you see during meals? Aside from talking to his girlfriend, he often chats with Harry. If he knew we were suspicious of Harry, he'd definitely tell him. Then we'd alert the target and it'd be even harder to uncover the truth." Ron's voice grew louder and more agitated as he spoke.
Good grief.
Same formula, same familiar feeling.
At this moment, Ian stood quietly in the nearby shadow, listening to their conversation. A trace of understanding appeared on his face. So this was the key factor turning the whole trio into reckless fools!
The new trio. It still felt like Ron would drag everyone into mindless recklessness!
(End of Chapter)
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