Harry's secret operation continued.
First, while Aisen was asleep, he sent a letter to Professor Dumbledore. Hedwig helped.
[To Professor Dumbledore.
Professor. The reason I'm writing is that my master has asked me to catch a Kraken as a snack for the phoenixes.
As a way to deal with the ban on underage magic, he said I should go with you. I would be grateful if you could let me know when you might be available.
With a sense of camaraderie, Harry Potter.]
Just asking to go Kraken hunting would have obviously been met with a "What are you talking about?" reaction, so Harry didn't forget to use his master's name.
In fact, it wasn't really using his name, since there was no lie involved. Aisen had indeed told Harry to go with Dumbledore.
And above all, wasn't Professor Dumbledore a 'comrade' who had braved life-and-death situations with him? He had a firm conviction that the headmaster would surely help him.
Next was coordinating a date with Sirius to go get his gift. Once again, Hedwig helped deliver the letter in secret, though she was starting to get annoyed.
For now, he had diverted his master's attention to Hermione, but Hermione couldn't hold Aisen's focus for a thousand years.
After Hermione had her fill of phoenix-watching and left, Aisen's interest would surely return to the Nightmare Hat. In fact, even now, with Hermione's visit approaching, Aisen was tinkering with the Nightmare Hat whenever he had a spare moment, so the situation was already dangerous.
Therefore, Harry had to escape with Sirius before Hermione even left.
No, not escape. He was, after all, legitimately going on an errand for his master. It would just take a little longer than usual. This was definitely not a bad thing like running away or leaving home.
It was… yes, more like a stroll.
Having completed his excellent self-justification, Harry nodded.
Anyway. For that reason, Harry also sent a letter to Sirius, asking him to call for him on the day Hermione was scheduled to arrive.
Naturally, Sirius, a wealthy, unemployed man with nothing better to do, was overjoyed at Harry's letter. Wasn't it a win-win situation? (TN: The original text uses a Korean idiom meaning "good for the sister, good for the brother-in-law," which is equivalent to a win-win.)
Finally, he sent a letter to Ron's family to coordinate a time to go to Diagon Alley. This time, Hedwig acted cute, as if it was a bother, but in the end, the soft-hearted owl-dragon granted Harry's earnest request.
Harry made a firm mental note to catch a present for Hedwig on his way back from this Kraken hunt.
In any case, Harry mentally reviewed the rough plan he had formulated.
Go buy the gift with Sirius, then spend time in Diagon Alley buying supplies with the Weasley family, then go to the Mediterranean with Professor Dumbledore to kill some time catching a few Krakens before heading to Hogwarts.
It was a perfect vacation plan!
Harry fell asleep with a smile, imagining himself free from the Nightmare Hat.
Except for one very minor problem.
His master had already figured out his plan.
***
*Tsk, tsk.*
I clicked my tongue inwardly as I looked at the sleeping Harry.
If you're going to hatch a plan like that, you should at least practice enough to maintain Occlumency in your sleep. You're still inexperienced.
Still, I smirked and shook my head.
Then again, he must have been really struggling to resort to this. And it wasn't like the kid was planning to do anything bad; a small rebellion of this degree was well within acceptable limits.
…Still, I couldn't help but feel a little hurt.
I looked at the hat I'd made and muttered with a slightly gloomy feeling, "Did he hate it that much?"
This thing was a true masterpiece.
It seemed Harry was calling it the Nightmare Hat, but its official name was the 'Magic Training Hat'.
As the name suggests, it was a hat inspired by the 'Magic Sorting Hat'. The design was quite similar, to begin with. It was basically the same, just colored white.
But the hat didn't just resemble the Sorting Hat in design.
On the day I re-enrolled at Hogwarts and was sorted, I had used Legilimency to peer into the Sorting Hat's distant past.
To the moment the four legendary founders created the hat.
Even by my current standards, the magic involved was incredibly original and fascinating.
Naturally, I had firmly stored the festival of spells used in that moment in my mind, planning to use that knowledge someday.
And I had applied that very magic to create this hat.
If the Sorting Hat was made by imbuing it with the four founders' ways of thinking and judgment criteria, this Magic Training Hat was an item created with my own way of thinking and judgment criteria.
There are stories that the Sorting Hat was made by inserting fragments of the founders' brains, and it's a creation of such advanced magic that its results are not much different from the four founders choosing themselves.
Naturally, this Training Hat, with its artificial personality based on me, also selects the most appropriate level of training from my perspective and helps him perform it in his dreams.
If Albus were to see it, he would recognize the greatness of the magic cast on this hat in a single glance.
…That's how hard I worked on it. I made it carefully, even while my own magic was fluctuating.
My melancholy was brief. As I thought about it, I started to feel annoyed with Harry.
I tried to give him something he really needed as a birthday present.
No, how dare he reject a gift his master worked so hard to prepare and plan to run away?
Fine. I can overlook a small rebellion. But it seems he has no solid plans until Hermione arrives, does he?
As a master, isn't it my duty to point out the flaws in his plan?
In that case, you should at least feel the full extent of this master's grace until then.
Nodding, I grinned and gently placed the Magic Training Hat on the sleeping Harry's head.
***
[Hmm, interesting. You have outstanding potential, but you're trained beyond that. Very good.]
*What is that sound?*
That was Harry's first thought.
*Where am I, and what is that voice?*
As Harry pondered for a moment, the mysterious voice kindly answered him.
[This is inside your dream, and I am the Magic Training Hat.]
*Ah. I see. The Magic Training Hat.*
*…The Training Hat? That Nightmare Hat!?*
At that moment, Harry's groggy mind—though calling it groggy was odd since he was still in a dream—snapped awake.
He looked around, but it was an empty world filled with white.
Devoid of even a desolate landscape, the place, filled with a clean white, looked like a shimmer of light, or perhaps an empty void.
There was only one thing there: a conical hat, as white as the surrounding background.
It was the very magical tool his master had been tinkering with for the past few days, the Nightmare Hat.
Harry's mouth fell open. Only one thought entered his mind.
*I've been had! He found out!*
Regardless of Harry's panic, the Magic Training—Nightmare—Hat looked at him and spoke.
[Good, good. You have an excellent mindset. And the resolve to endure any hardship! Truly excellent!]
"No, wait. I think you've misunderstood something."
Harry tried to stop the hat urgently, but the hat, which had inherited a part of Aisen's way of thinking, was not one for misjudgment.
[Remarkable, Harry! You can joyfully overcome even the most difficult training! Well then, I wish you luck!]
"Wait---!"
With those parting words, the hat melted into the air and vanished before Harry could even finish his sentence.
…*So what happens now? Maybe if I just wait here, I'll wake up?*
*Wooooong!*
As if to prove Harry's hope futile, the all-white space began to fill with multicolored lights and change its form.
And what appeared was…
"The Chamber of Secrets?"
The very Chamber of Secrets Harry had experienced not long ago appeared before him. And it was the Chamber in its complete state, before it was destroyed by Harry's hand.
The changes didn't stop there.
*Whoooooosh!*
In the center of the Chamber, something like white smoke rose from the floor.
The amorphous shape writhed and took on a human form, and then, as color filled it in, it transformed into a complete person.
It was the image of Tom Riddle.
Harry reflexively took a defensive stance, but there was no way for the dreaming Harry to have a wand in his hand.
The moment he realized that, white smoke writhed in his hand and transformed into his holly wand.
Startled, Harry examined the wand from all angles, but it was in no way different from his real one.
Just then, the hat's voice was heard again from the air.
[Harry, this place reconfigures the dream environment based on your memories to help you undergo the most suitable training for you right now.]
Harry asked the hat, "So you're saying the Tom Riddle in front of me is a fake from my memories, created by my dream?"
[That is correct.]
*What the. My master described it with all sorts of fancy words, I thought it would be a literal nightmare, but this is fine.*
No, it was a good opportunity.
A chance to fight Tom Riddle once again. Harry welcomed this level of practical combat.
"And here I thought it would be on the level of the natural disasters from before. I guess it really is a Magic Training Hat."
Harry sighed in relief, but it was a premature judgment.
*Whoooooosh!*
*Whoooooosh!*
*Whoooooosh!*
The sound of rushing smoke was heard, and then new Tom Riddles appeared around Harry.
In an instant, Harry's expression hardened as he found himself surrounded by four Tom Riddles.
[Well then, have a good training session.]
"Alright. I take back what I just said."
This damned hat was definitely a Nightmare Hat.
Screaming, Harry swung his wand at the four Tom Riddles charging at him.
***
The next morning.
Harry, who had woken up in a daze, stared for a moment at the white hat on his head and then flung it far away. "Aaaaargh! Nightmare Hat!!!"
For the record, Harry's score against the Riddles in his dream was three kills and four deaths.
Getting hit by the Killing Curse was painless, but the fight would reset completely. The Tom Riddles he had just managed to defeat would revive, and he would have to face all four of them again. Just like a game, when you die, you start over from the beginning.
Perhaps because it was a dream, the intense battle left only a faint afterglow, and there were no side effects like mental exhaustion.
His body, on the other hand, had gotten a full night's sleep and was bursting with energy.
And yet, the lessons learned from the training were clearly imprinted on Harry's subconscious.
It was truly a hat for perfect training, with no side effects…!
Harry shuddered at this fact, but also felt a deep despair at the situation, knowing he couldn't possibly tell Aisen he couldn't do it. The functions were so ridiculously perfect that he couldn't find any fault with them.
As he sat blankly on his bed, he could sense someone watching him from the doorway.
He turned his gaze to see Aisen looking at him with an expression of schadenfreude.
Aisen gave the awakened Harry a mischievous grin and asked, "Sleep well? Did you plan your trip?"
"…Haha. Of course, Master. I'll be sure to catch something delicious."
And just like that, Harry's small rebellion was quelled in a single night.
***