Harry Potter and the Hidden Treasure (Volume 3)

Chapter 522 Openness And Honesty

After class, Evan and Colin went to the Great Hall for lunch.

Evan had made the decision to speak with Caresius, who was posing as Moody. After what had happened this morning, he could no longer pretend in front of Evan.

By the second day of his arrival, he had already caused quite a stir. Powerful as he was, Caresius was not exactly a skilled actor, to say the least.

They had barely reached the second floor when they saw Moody limping out of the classroom.

Evan asked Colin to go ahead, then turned and greeted Moody.

"Hello, Professor, do you have a moment?" Evan said with a smile. "I would like to talk to you about what happened earlier."

Moody turned around, his long gray hair hanging along his twisted and scarred face. His normal eye gazed coldly at Evan, while his magical eye swiveled in the other direction, closely watching the young wizards descending the stairs.

Everyone watched them with curiosity, wondering what Evan was going to say to Moody.

"Of course, if you don't have time, I can inquire with Professor Dumbledore instead," Evan continued. "A wizard as powerful as him must have experience in dealing with vampires..."

"Come in!" Moody growled, with a grim expression on his face.

Evan followed Moody to his office. When they both entered, Moody closed the door.

He turned to look at Evan, both eyes fixed on him.

"What do you have to say?" he asked softly.

"I'm here just to chat about things, like the dreadful monster I saw in your memory, or the purpose behind your arrival here; whatever you wish to discuss," Evan said, placing his hand behind his back, "but before that, Professor, I believe it would be best if you kept your hand away from your wand first. You know it won't work. You just tested it. The Imperius Curse has no effect on me."

"That's hard to say!" Moody stared at Evan. "It's not the only curse in the world..."

"Of course, vampires possess a great deal of special and highly effective magic, but it would be so obvious that Dumbledore would easily detect your magical fluctuations," he looked at him intently. "You don't wish to be discovered by the headmaster, do you?"

Moody didn't respond, but his right hand didn't move away from the wand at his waist.

"I believe I have shown my sincerity by coming to you instead of going directly to the headmaster's office," Evan said, "I am very grateful for your assistance in the ruins of fallen Centaurs in Albania a few months ago, and I have a very close relationship with Elaine. In fact, considering that, you should be my ally. You've said the same before, unless you simply want to wholeheartedly follow Voldemort, cooperation would be the wisest choice for both of us."

"I don't understand what you're talking about," Moody said, but his right hand released his wand.

"Come on, playing along is very dull! I recognize your magic, Caresius!" Evan said sharply, turning and looking around. "You are using Polyjuice Potion to transform into Mad-Eye Moody. It is truly a very practical potion that works even under the protection of the castle's many ancient protective spells. The only inconvenience is probably that you need to have Moody by your side to obtain the 'source material' from him for the transformation. Let me see... Where are you hiding it?"

Evan had been in this office many times under the gaze of three of its previous occupants.

In the days of Professor Lockhart, the walls used to be filled with radiant and winking photos of the Professor himself.

When Lupin moved in, it was more likely to encounter some fascinating dark creature that he had acquired for his students to study in class.

As for Sirius, he maintained Lupin's style, but it was much more cluttered; with intriguing gadgets in every corner.

However, now the office was filled with an array of exceptionally strange objects that Evan supposed Moody had used in his days as an Auror. Caresius had ruthlessly relocated them.

On his desk sat what appeared to be a large, cracked glass spinning top; it was a Sneakoscope.

In the corner, on a small table, there was an object that looked somewhat like an extremely wavy golden antenna. It buzzed slightly.

What seemed to be a mirror hung in front of Evan on the wall, but it didn't reflect the room. Shadowy figures moved inside, none of them clearly focused.

"It seems you've broken all these artifacts," Evan said softly. "Whether it's this Esconzumio, the Secrets Sensor, or the Mirror of Enemies on the wall, they are all very useful magical objects that can clearly detect the dangers surrounding them. It's not surprising that they should always react to you if you keep their owner, Moody, inside this chest."

Beneath the window, there was a large chest with seven locks in a row.

"I hated these things, they are too sensitive!" Moody replied softly, or more precisely, Caresius.

Though he maintained the appearance, he left behind Moody's tone and way of speaking, abandoning his act.

"Evan, you really surprised me. During the last World Cup, I thought you and that girl were dead. I didn't think you would use the power of the Philosopher's Stone." He took out his flask and poured two hot teas. "This time was no different; you uncovered my identity so quickly! Well, I was too careless; I should have suspected that you wouldn't be easily controlled by the Imperius Curse. I thought I was well disguised, and not even Dumbledore noticed anything!"

"It's hard to say. The headmaster may have noticed and simply chose not to say anything," Evan stood up from the chair across the table and said slowly, "There is nothing at Hogwarts that could remain hidden from him!"

"Crafty human wizards," Caresius murmured quietly, looking at Evan with great interest. "What do you plan to do now that you've discovered who I am?"

"As I said, I hope to cooperate with you. In a sense, our goals are aligned."

"Our goals are the same?!" Caresius repeated with a smile on his face. "Well, my people and I have no reason to reject goodwill!"

"Before we cooperate, I have several questions that I hope you can answer first. Firstly, what was the monster I just saw in your memory? Is it the 'dilemma' you must face?" Evan inquired, "I mentioned before that perhaps I can assist you. You know, I fulfill the conditions set in that prophecy!"