Mission successful

There was a bit of an inconvenience with Legilimency, and that was that there is no actual way to find a specific memory. It wasn't like opening a textbook to a certain page and reading what you wanted. Sure, it was easier on people who didn't practice occlumency, but it would still take a while.

I made sure to knock him out for a while so that he doesn't wake up in the middle of it. I thought about using the confundus charm when he was awake and making him think about the protego spell since that would have been easier but the chance of being found on was higher the longer he was awake.

Images began to surge into my head one by one. Images pertaining to the kid's family, school life, even his crush which was uncomfortable to read through. I continued to no avail. There were simply too many memories flowing in no specific order. This went on for 15mins until there was a series of memories pertaining to the use of protego.

I perked up and read through them closely while making sure not to miss anything. I was getting tired and with it sloppy in my magic. If this went on much longer I could cause serious damage to the kid's mind. I scanned through them and found the relevant image of a teacher performing the different kinds of protego.

Normal protego which was good for blocking spells in a certain direction, it didn't cover you completely, at a maximum of 90 degrees around you. Protego duo was a spell that made two shields, one that stopped magical attacks and one that stopped physical ones. There was a difference between the two.

A physical attack is one that has physical properties to it such as fire, ice and things like that. Magical attacks are those that don't have a physical property. It covered the same range as Normal protego being 90 degrees but had two that different jobs.

The cool thing was that the caster could change the position of the shields at any time and could even overlap them. Then there was protego with the reflection modification. What this did was add an extra property to the magical shield in protego duo spell which allowed the reflection of spells back at the attacker or at the angle the attack came from.

Lastly, there was protego totalus which was harder to achieve than the rest but when successfully done, covered the entirety of the caster in a shield. This allowed them to focus on other things instead of worrying about moving the shield to protect from all angles. Having read all the necessary memories, I pulled back on the spell to find the same quiet place.

I peered over at the kid to see him sleeping there just like I left him, but with some subtle moves. It seemed that he was waking up or would do so soon. Having accomplished my goal, I dragged him out of the room and left him right under the painting.

I knew that Dumbledore had access to this painting which would mean that he might have found out about me doing something, but to hell with him. I looked deeply at the painting before grinning and walking away while humming a merry tune.

Making my way back to the common room I came upon the same painting that served as the gatekeeper to the Gryffindor house. The fat lady sported black hair and a pink silk dress, and she was just as annoying as the third movie one. She tried to show me her singing which I tactfully rejected by coming up with an excuse.

Giving her the password, she swung the portrait open to reveal the short passageway to the Gryffindor tower where I soon saw the familiar faces of all the Gryffindor students. I walked towards the couch where Hermione sat with a book in hand as always. A sudden idea popped into my head. I should find a chance to get the half-blood prince's potions book. That would be great material to read and would give us much more insight into potions.

We were already far ahead compared to our peers but that wasn't an achievement. There was also sectumsempra which was an amazing spell I wouldn't mind learning.

"Where did you go to arrive back here so late?" said Hermione, her voice bringing me out of my thoughts. I smiled brilliantly at her which seemed to have caught her attention.

As soon as I sat down, she turned to me with an expectant gaze. "Oh, nowhere, just getting the information we were missing for the Protego spell," I said with a grin. She looked at me with sparkling eyes before her face turned gloomy suddenly.

"And how exactly did you get that information? You didn't go ahead with that ludicrous plan of yours, did you?" she asked suspiciously.

"Of course I didn't, I'm not that reckless," I said with an offended look. I attempted to keep the straightest face I could muster. It seemed to work since her face softened.

"I got it from one of the students, seems he was kind enough to explain it to me. I have it all down, so I'll teach it to you later," I said with a smile. She nodded happily, Sure, it sounded like a dumb excuse, but she was just a 12-year-old at most after all.

We read on the couch until it was bedtime, after which we headed to our separate rooms and slept. All this time Hermione had been getting better in her physical activity and her stamina was reaching higher standards. We went for our morning run around the school before doing our weighted exercises in the classroom. After which we went to the great hall for breakfast when Aria came flying in before perching herself on my shoulder after dropping off her package. I received letters from the Knights telling me all about what is happening in the muggle world.

They sent over newspaper clippings and other stuff which was interesting to read. I wrote back telling them about my time here and how my academic performance was going before sending the letter back. Aria was still as beautiful as ever, still as temperamental but for some weird reason liked Hermione a lot and even perched herself on her shoulder. Hermione was stunned at the bird's actions.

After telling her about Aria's personality Hermione was overjoyed and wore a wide smile all breakfast. Before Aria left, I also handed over the homework that was due for regular school. I had asked the knights to let me do distance ed ever since Luke convinced me of continuing normal muggle school. He had a point, if I ever quit the magical world, I wouldn't have a place to go so having a certificate that proved you finished school was a useful thing to have any way you look at it.

"What is that Tom?" she said staring at my homework. "This is homework for muggle school," I said simply. But I didn't expect the over-the-top surprise from Hermione. "Why are you still doing normal school homework? We go to a magical school," she said in sudden confusion. I smiled before shaking my head.

"And what would happen if, by some stroke of bad luck, you are forced to live in the muggle world again. You would only have a primary school completion certificate that isn't worth shit. So at least finishing high school is a must," I said adamantly.

Hermione was stunned speechless for a minute. "Why didn't I think of that, it's pure genius! Oh my god, I need to send my parents a letter!" she panicked and yelled before storming off. Seeing Hermione rush off made me laugh to no end.

An: Sure losing your magic or going back to living in the muggle world will probably not happen but having only a primary school completion certificate seems a bit ridiculous to me in any case. Don't worry it doesn't take up space in the novel, to begin with, just small background info.