Memories

The group was caught in the act as expected. It seemed to be a coincidence, but everything may have actually be planned; however, Pro had no time to worry about these things at the moment. He was in a silent daze throughout as the plot progressed unknowingly.

"Pro? Pro? You all right?" Hermione's voice brought Pro out of his daze.

Looking around, Pro already realized that they were on their way back to the common room.

"Mate, you seem out of it. You were awfully quiet when we had to talk with the professors," Ron chimed in as he glanced at Pro, "You could've helped us explain. The professors might have believed you more."

"Yeah," Harry nodded in agreement.

"Don't worry, I'm alright. Just thinking about something. You can continue your talk," Pro assured them.

Nodding, the two boys continued on their way and continued their talk about Harry's voice.

Falling behind a bit to stay behind Pro, Hermione reached out and softly squeezed Pro's hand as she stared at him with worried eyes, "You can tell me if something is wrong. Maybe I can help."

"Then ... do you remember the diary?" Pro tried to ask.

"Diary? What diary?" Hermione replied in confusion.

"The one we got, in the bookstore in Diagon Alley," Pro replied.

Hermione frowned as she thought in silence for a moment before she replied, "No, Pro. There's no such thing. If I had really seen a diary, I would've never forgotten it. I mean, with my memory, it's easy to remember things other can not."

"I see ... then, never mind," Pro mumbled before he put on a smile and assured Hermione, "Don't worry. It's nothing. I'm fine."

"Mmm. Just tell me if you need help. You know I'll always be there for you," Hermione firmly stated as she stared with a smile.

"Got it."

Returning to his dorm, Pro glanced around before locking his eyes on his trunk.

"The diary ... if that piece of memory is true, it should still be there!"

Hurrying over to his trunk, Pro began to dig through it. He hoped to find the familiar box in his memories, but even after he dug through his whole trunk, there was nothing there.

"As expected. It's not there. Did I already give it to someone? Is there anyway for me to confirm that my memories aren't false ... wait! The system!"

With a hint of anticipation, Pro pulled up his system quest list and scrolled through it. As expected, he saw a familiar quest that he had completely ignored for a while now. Opening the quest description, Pro noticed that multiple steps had already been completed, including the choice of delivering the diary to the relevant authorities! Now there was a new step in the quest.

[Secrets of the Diary] You have delivered the diary to the relevant authority, but you were ambushed by a memory charm! You have failed to cut off the chains of destiny, but your journey must go on! Complete the following tasks and be rewarded based on your effort. Prevent the basilisk attack (0/5). Acquire the secrets of the diary (0/1). Enter the Chamber of Secrets (0/1). Kill the basilisk (0/1). Destroy the diary (0/1).

Frowning at the difficulty of the quest, Pro closed the quest log and sunk into deep thoughts. Although he managed to recover a fragment of his memory regarding the diary, most of the deleted memories were still a blank. So, Pro had to piece together the truth behind what happened.

"Knowing me, I should have turned over the diary to someone who could destroy it, and the most likely option from all the professors is the headmaster. This means that ... he was the one that wiped my memory," Pro easily confirmed with a hint of fear inside.

"As expected of the most powerful wizard, only he could do it so cleanly. Perhaps if parts of my memories were not protected by the system, I probably will not even notice anything wrong throughout the year."

"Fortunately, I have the system, and that man didn't meticulously search through all my memory. Instead, he only removed the traces of my memories that had anything to do with the diary. He also seemed to have done the same for Hermione."

Pro gritted his teeth with a bit of anger. It was not a comfortable feeling to know that someone had messed with his memory, and also messed with the memories of his girlfriend. If that person wasn't the most powerful wizard, Pro might have turned coat. Unfortunately, he is now helpless.

"I can't show any hostility. There's nothing I can do except accepting it. This is the result of being weak. I need to get stronger, and fast. Otherwise, my life will always not be in my control," Pro grumbled in melancholy, "It seems I will really need to get that time-turner at all cost. Even if I have to give up many years of life spans, I must grind harder than ever before. It can't be harder than playing Ironman Mode."

Taking a deep breathe to calm himself down, Pro then began to plan his future. Avoiding Dumbledore was a must. Now, Dumbledore should believe that he has no memories of the event, and that everything is in his control. So, Pro didn't want to provoke him and end up having his memory wiped once more.

As for the new parts of the quest, most of them are nigh impossible. Perhaps, entering the chamber of secrets is actually the easiest part. The other parts are simply difficult or extremely dangerous. It wasn't worth risking his life over. Maybe he would only try to prevent one of those basilisk attacks because there's someone that he must protect, even though he knows she will only end up petrified.

"But I can't rule out that my butterfly wings could cause an accident. So, it's better that I keep her safe. Even if it meant redirecting the target to someone else, I will still keep her safe," Pro grimly thought.

Gripping his fists and relaxing them, Pro then began his arduous grinding of magic. Time waits for no one, and some things must be sacrificed for others. For now, that sacrifice would be Quidditch. He had no times to grind XP for a sport when his life is in potential danger. Only stronger magic can make him feel safer. Money was also another needed factor.

Well, he was only a substitute player anyways. Although Wood wanted to drag him to practice, he eventually let him off when Pro insisted on focusing on his studies. Pro told him that he would come tryout again next year. Oh wait ... next year won't be safe either ... but if he can get the time-turner, then he would have time for Quidditch.

Pro wasn't the only one working hard. Hermione was also seeking knowledge herself. It seems that she also had a sense of crisis, and the hard-working Pro only encouraged her to work even harder. Not only did she focused on her studies, she also dug for the secrets of the Chamber of Secrets.

On the other hand, the two trouble-making boys were still innocent as ever. They were even complaining about how hard working Pro and Hermione were. This is probably why Hermione turned out to be the hard carry while they ended up as toolmans to move the plot forward. Still, no one managed to jump out of the chessboard of Dumbedore even after his death, not even Voldemort.

Time passed as the events fermented. The trio learned about the Chamber of Secrets and were off to look for clues, but Pro didn't participate. He fully focused on grinding in order to increase his strength. As for their child's play that was under the control of a certain wizard, Pro did not want to intervene nor did he dare to intervene.

Without Pro butting in, the plot progressed smoothly forward on its destined trajectory. Hermione, his brilliant girlfriend, came up with an idiotic idea for once, the polyjuice potion. Perhaps she had gotten infected by the two idiotic boys.

Whilst the potion plan was brewing, the school life must continue. The brutal Quidditch game versus Slytherin in the rain was an event that Harry can't escape. Pro also got a random encounter quest when he came to watch the game.

[An Arm in Need] Prevent Harry from breaking his arm or prevent his arm from losing its bones.

Unfortunately, this was the first quest that Pro had failed. There was no consequences for him, but poor Harry ended up with a boneless arm. Honestly, if Dumbledore was serious, the results could easily be changed.

There was no way house elf magic can trump Dumbledore's magic if he even had an inkling of wanting to stop the out-of-control bludger, but Harry suffering is Dumbledore's way to go. It's kind of like a certain Hokage who wanted a nine-tailed fox boy to suffer.

Not long after, Harry Potter's fan boy, Colin Creevey, was nailed to the hospital bed. Why was the poor guy targeted? Probably because he was Harry's fan boy. Jealous Ginny wants Harry all to herself, and anyone else will get targeted.

Then, the trouble-makers began to brew their potion. Pro was a bit surprised that Hermione didn't use the Room of Requirements to brew it. When asked, she only blushed and replied that place was their secret hangout.

Well, Pro won't complain. Brewing in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom was a part of the hint that Dumbledore arranged for Harry. Honestly, it's too much of a coincidence to believe otherwise.

When she tried to drag Pro down into the waters with her by offering to brew him a portion, Pro instead warned her not to drink her potion. At least she listened and even asked if something was wrong, but when Pro refused to tell her, she could only sigh.

Another noteworthy event was the dueling club. Pro also took some time from his grinding to join the event, and got a new quest from participating.

[Dueling Victor] Win a duel against someone of the same year or higher.

Well, Pro didn't actually get the chance to duel during the event because the event was ended by Harry's amazing Parseltongue.

As the events progressed, Pro had a greater sense of urgency. Every time he walked the corridors, he made sure to pay attention to his mini-map in order to avoid encountering any NPCs. He couldn't distinguish between enemies and normal NPCs, so he can only choose to avoid them all.

It wasn't long before Justin Finch-Fetchley ended up as a victim. When Pro heard about that, he only breathed a sigh of relief that it wasn't him.

Christmas holidays approached once more. Although it would be safer to go home, Pro gritted his teeth and decided to stay back. Besides the fact that he needed more time to study, Hermione staying back was another reason. Although she didn't tell the other two boys to surprise them, she didn't hide it from Pro.

After an exchange of gifts, the group enjoyed a Christmas feast together. It wasn't long before Hermione ushered the group off to drink the potion. Of course, Pro didn't have his share, and he did his best to persuade Hermione not to drink her share.

In the end, Hermione still drank the potion despite his advice. When Harry and Ron left, Pro calmly waited outside of the stall for Hermione.

"Go away!"

Hearing Hermione's panicked voice, Pro sighed and had the giggling Moaning Myrtle open the door for him. Looking in, Pro saw Hermione curl up under her robes in an attempt to hide herself from him.

"G-Go away ... please ... don't look, Pro!"

Reaching out, Pro tugged Hermione into his embrace and gently stroked her head, "Ugly or pretty, young or old, I won't change my feelings for you. You will always be my Hermione."

Hermione's robe slipped off to reveal her cat face. The furry Hermione stared at Pro with her narrow cat eyes before she buried herself against his chest and sobbed for a while.

Petting her furry head with cat ears, Pro didn't feel any disgust. Instead, he had a sense of novelty. For those who experienced transmigration, cat girls are the fantasy that they may pursues. Although the Harry Potter verse cat girl was a bit ugly, but Pro was still happy to cuddle with her because she was Hermione.

Planting a kiss on her furry forehead to encourage her, Pro then led Hermione to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey was not happy.

Pro wanted to continue cuddling with Hermione, but Madam Pomfrey wasn't having any of that. Poor Pro was kicked out after a short cuddle, but at least Hermione wasn't as sad as before. Instead, she only glared at Pro as if blaming him, "You knew about the potion but didn't tell me!"

Pro told Harry and Ron about Hermione after their endeavor. Of course, Pro also took over the job of visiting and taking care of Hermione. After all, she is his girlfriend, and he did enjoy spending more sweet time with her. He sometimes even sat in the hospital wing and read his books in there.

Hogwarts life passed by and became a part of Pro's memories. It wasn't long before Harry got his hands of the diary that was thrown into the bathroom. Seeing the diary, Pro had a glint in his eyes.

Although he didn't want to come into contact with the diary himself, Harry was certainly a good middleman. If he planned well, maybe he would be able to complete a part of his quest without having to put himself in danger.

"The secrets of the diary ... will it give me more magic XP? Can I still complete it indirectly? Well, it doesn't matter. It ain't escaping from me until I get what I want."