Chương 46: Hogwarts Library and The Baddie Librarian

The Hogwarts library was on the first floor of the castle, just down a wide corridor to the left after climbing the marble staircase, which made it surprisingly easy to find. The staircase choosing not to relocate itself for once also helped. Less than five minutes after parting ways with Anthony and the others, Tyson found himself standing before a pair of towering oak doors polished so thoroughly that he could almost see his own reflection in them. Hogwarts house-elves were truly working overtime.

Intricate swirling carvings ran across the wood, resembling the illustrations of the runes he had seen in 'Runes for Beginners'. Mounted beside the entrance was a simple brass plaque that read: HOGWARTS LIBRARY As Tyson stepped inside, the first thing that hit him was the faint musty scent of old paper, leather bindings, and ink. He couldn't help but take a deep, eager breath.

'Man… this smell alone has to be one of the main reasons people visit libraries.' At least, it certainly was for him. The only other scent that came close was the smell of fresh paint. After a moment, his eyes slowly swept across the room. The place was so enormous that Tyson wouldn't have been remotely surprised if the space had been expanded with the Undetectable Extension Charm. It was large enough to make every public and university library he had visited in his previous life look like an oversized bookstore.

Then again, most of them weren't responsible for preserving nearly a thousand years of magical knowledge. Towering bookshelves stretched toward the ceiling, many with rolling ladders leaning against them. They formed long, orderly rows that disappeared so far into the distance that Tyson couldn't even see where they ended. Large reading tables occupied the spaces between them.

Warm sunlight poured through towering arched windows, bathing the library in a soft golden glow that somehow made the whole place feel cozy and homely.

'Wait, homely?' Tyson couldn't help but shiver. Was the aura of Ravenclaw already starting to rub off on him? Terrifying. His gaze eventually drifted toward the left side of the library. The section immediately stood out. Unlike the rest of the hall, it had been cordoned off behind thick ropes supported by iron chains. The lighting there was noticeably dimmer, as though someone deliberately wanted to keep the place gloomy and dark to demotivate the students from approaching. Several signs hung from the barrier.

RESTRICTED SECTION Tyson stared at it for a few seconds, his eyes gleaming with a greedy light before he quickly schooled his expression.

'Not yet.' His time would come. He tore his eyes away before temptation got any worse and recalled why he'd actually come here. Occlumency. It had been high on his priority list of things he needed to learn before he'd even boarded the Hogwarts Express. The Sorting Hat casually admitting it could rummage through memories like someone flipping through a family photo album had bumped it even higher. This morning's Potions lesson with Snape finally pushed it to the very top.

Snape was said to be a master Legilimens in the canon. Tyson doubted the man considered him important enough to go out of his way to mind-rape him just because he was close to Harry, but he would rather not test the moral bottom line of a former Death Eater. Besides… Who was to say Snape was the only one? Tyson's delusions about this whole thing of being reincarnated into a book series had long been destroyed. He didn't believe for a second that he was in a fictional world.

This was very much a reality, which meant canon wasn't gospel anymore. For all Tyson knew, there could be dozens of accomplished Legilimens walking around Hogwarts whom the books had simply never mentioned. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. And the last thing he wanted was a Legilimens stumbling across memories of smartphones, nuclear weapons, the internet, Pornhwa's, modern medicine…

or worse, discovering that their entire civilization had somehow become a bestselling children's book series. Yeah. That sounded like an outstanding way to spend the next decade being dissected by Unspeakables. No. Tyson needed to learn how to protect his mind, and he needed to hurry. Taking one last look around, Tyson started making his way deeper into the library, his eyes moving from shelf to shelf as he searched for anything remotely related to mind magic.

The place was organised well enough that finding a particular subject shouldn't have been too difficult. Every subject, from mandatory to electives, had its own separate section. … Or so he thought. Ten minutes later, he found himself standing exactly where he'd started.

"…You've got to be kidding me." It turned out there was no section for Mind Magic. Either Hogwarts had somehow forgotten to catalogue an entire branch of magic, or the books had been deliberately filed somewhere ordinary students weren't expected to find them. As he thought this, Tyson's gaze drifted towards the Restricted Section.

'But it doesn't make sense.' Well… it did make sense to keep something as dangerous as mind magic out of the general student body's grasp, but that logic shouldn't apply to Hogwarts, since they literally taught the Memory Charm to second-years. Yup. It was a second-year charm! He had been just as shocked when he saw it in the Charms textbook a month ago.

If even the second-year students had access to knowledge that would allow them to edit memories like a video editor, why place restrictions on how to defend against it? With a quiet sigh, he abandoned the search and made his way back toward the entrance. The librarian's desk stood exactly where he'd noticed it earlier, positioned so its occupant had a view of the entire library. Behind the desk sat a thin witch with sharp features and even sharper eyes, a thick leather-bound tome resting open before her.

Madam Pince, the librarian of Hogwarts library. Tyson stopped several feet away from the desk before speaking.

"Excuse me." She looked up from her book. Her uncanny hawk-like eyes bore into him over the rim of her spectacles. The woman's expression looked both leisurely and stern at the same time.

"Yes?"

"Sorry to disturb you," Tyson said politely.

"I was hoping you could point me towards any books covering Occlumency." Almost as soon as those words left his mouth, the leisurely part of her expression evaporated at lightning speed, and only sternness remained. Then, without saying a word, Madam Pince carefully closed her book, making sure to insert a bookmark and put it aside. Only then did she look up at him, one eyebrow slightly raised.

"And what makes a first-year believe he has any business looking for books on the mind arts?" she asked evenly.

"I've been reading ahead," Tyson replied, having already prepared an answer.

"While looking through the second-year syllabus, I came across the Memory Charm." Madam Pince said nothing, waiting for him to continue.

"I found it… unsettling. The idea that someone's memories can simply be altered or erased." He shrugged lightly.

"So I naturally started wondering whether there was any branch of magic dedicated to defending against that sort of thing. That's how I eventually came across Occlumency." He paused before asking, "Is it considered especially advanced?" The question itself wasn't entirely innocent. If Occlumency existed solely to defend the mind, why restrict access to it? Madam Pince studied him thoughtfully for several long seconds. Tyson met her gaze without looking away. Eventually, she spoke.

"Mr…?"

"Tyson, ma'am." Her eyebrows rose further.

"Your surname?"

"Steward," Tyson answered with a shrug.

"Mr. Steward." She folded her hands atop the desk.

"There is a dangerous misconception among young witches and wizards that because a branch of magic is defensive, it must therefore be harmless.

"It is not. Occlumency protects the mind, yes. To learn it properly, however, one must first understand the mind itself. That understanding inevitably overlaps with Legilimency. One cannot build a lock without first knowing how a thief would pick it.

"The Memory Charm you mentioned is introduced to second-years for a very specific reason." She adjusted her spectacles as she continued.

"One day, some of those students may find themselves responsible for preserving the International Statute of Secrecy. And they do not cast it on one another. They begin with animals. And they remain with animals for quite some time. And even if they wanted to cast it on a wizard or Muggles, it wouldn't succeed. The Memory Charm is far too complex for second-years. They are only taught some rudimentary applications of it, and the more dangerous and intricate applications are only taught in the later years.

Only a few are able to truly learn them due to the difficulty involved." She regarded him for a second before continuing, "So fret not, nobody will be altering your memories. I doubt even the seventh-year students are capable of that." Tyson blinked and nodded slowly. Everything clicked after her explanation. That was surprisingly responsible of Hogwarts. Which felt almost out of character for a school whose preferred method of detention seemed to involve sending children into a forest full of murderous creatures.

Madam Pince continued before he could drift any further down that train of thought.

"As for Occlumency…" She shook her head.

"The books are not available to ordinary students. But if you are genuinely interested, you may intern in the Auror Department after graduation."

"Is there… really no other way?" Tyson asked, trying his luck one last time.

"There is," Madam Pince replied, making Tyson's eyes light up. Then she added, "If you can get a professor's permission." His eyes Noxed. In the end, Tyson could only thank her for her time before stepping away from the desk. The plan had collapsed far faster than he'd hoped, but the visit hadn't been entirely fruitless. At least he'd confirmed the books actually existed. They were simply inaccessible. That was… annoying, but hardly the end of the world. Every problem had more than one solution.

He just had to find another. For a brief moment he considered approaching Professor Flitwick. Their Head of House seemed approachable enough, and Occlumency certainly wasn't Dark Magic. Then common sense kicked him in the head. Walking up to a professor during his second day at Hogwarts and asking for advanced books on mind magic was equivalent to introducing yourself to your chemistry teacher by asking them where the dope was.

Even if his intentions were completely innocent, it would still sound unbelievably suspicious. Breaking into the Restricted Section at night sounded like a much safer method. For that, though, he first had to learn the Disillusionment Charm. With a small shake of his head, Tyson turned away from the entrance and headed toward the Charms section instead. Might as well browse some defensive charms while he was at it.