Auden did not even seemed surprised that Hermionie had asked him for a talk. He gave his book to Luna and began walking with Hermionie to further down the lake.
After a few minutes they stopped and Hermionie turned around facing Auden. For a minute both of them stood there in complete silence.
Auden had expected this meeting to happen, that was why he was not surprised when she sought him out just now. From what he had seen from the golden trio, he knew only Hermionie would care about why his name did not pop up when the entire castle was talking about how Lockheart was taken down last night.
Auden had asked the teachers to leave his name out of the report since he believed it was better if he did not come to the spotlight right now and wanted to keep his current peaceful life in the castle. The teachers agreed as they knew that with time Auden will become one of the most influential person in the wizarding world.
They also knew that his talent can be easily recognised by anyone who digs deep enough. And the pureblood society will try their best to keep him under their control and there is also a chance they might go too far and sent people to harm him directly. So, they decided to keep it as a secret so that the boy will not have any difficulty right now.
"Why are you trying to hide your accomplishments?" Hermionie finally asked, bringing Auden's focus to the present.
"You have to be more specific" Auden calmly replied.
"You were the one who reached Lockheart before us and you were the one who saved Malfoy from being his victim. But when the news broke out today morning, there was no mention of you at all. Even the teachers did not speak about your contribution to capturing Lockheart" Hermionie finally stopped to take a breath and then continued. "Plus, I'm sure you could have easily taken out Lockheart without our help. So why were you left out when the teachers reported what happened last night"
"That's very simple" Auden replied "I asked them to leave out my name"
Hermionie was confused but expected something similar to happen. She knew the only reason why someone like Flitwick or McGonagall would hide information is when they decide it was reasonable to do so. And Auden asking to keep himself out is a pretty good reason for them to do it.
"Why are you hiding yourself from everyone. From what I know, you are considered as one of the smartest student in your year, but from what I can see your abilities surpasses many who are older than you by at least three or four years" she then took out the paper that Auden once gave her.
"I never saw you take your wand out during that day, so the only way for the paper to reach my pocket is for you to perform a wandless and chantless spellcasting which are only attempted by seventh year students. So can you please tell me what you are aiming at?"
Auden was impressed. More and more reasons are appearing in front of him, showing him that the world he is inhabiting in contained many things that were not in the movies or the books in his own world.
The deductions made by Hermionie might not seem like much to many people, but for a kid at that age, they were brilliant. The reason Ron and Harry did not have the same doubts as her was because like kids their age, they should have ignored most things when they win.
"The main reason for doing that is because I want to have a peaceful life and anything else is personal" Auden replied "My friend is waiting for me back there, so I will be leaving now Ms Granger"
Auden decided to go back as he did not want to give away anything by accident. He has already recognised that Hermionie had a high intellect and just depending on her character from the books will not help him manoeuvre around her at all.
Hermionie wanted to stop him, but she had no idea on how to do it. Auden does not owe her anything at all and if you looked back, it was her who owed him for the information about Parseltongue she got that day from him. But suddenly Auden stopped and turned around.
"Ms Granger, do you remember the time when Harry accidentally revealed he knew Parseltongue and within days the students easily turned one him just because he had that ability?" Auden asked to which Hermionie nodded a bit confused. Auden continued as she was listening to him.
"He was considered as the saviour of the wizarding race ten years ago. So, a bit of common sense is more than enough for people to considered him as not a dark lord. But even then why do you think that people other than a few feared him completely?"
Upon hearing the question, Hermione wanted to answer, but an answer did not appear in front of her.
"Why?" She asked
"Because other than being the saviour of the wizarding world, the students of Hogwarts have no idea who Harry Potter is and therefore they judge him based on what was written about him on books by people who had never even met him before.
It might not seem like a big deal right now, but he needs more allies. Harry Potter is an important person in the wizarding world, if you want him to have a peaceful life then you need to encourage him to connect with others."
Hermionie's brows furrowed when Auden gave his advice.
"Again, why are you telling me this?" She asked as she questioned Auden's intentions in helping them this way.
"Let's just say its an investment for the future" Auden replied as he began walking once more, but this time he did not turn back.
At the same time in the castle, a spirit cunningly inserted a socks into the replica horcrux made by Dumbledore.
A/N- hope you like it.