Chapter 77: Auto-responder Personality
Harry clutched his chest, the despairing pain from moments ago seemed to still be lodged there.
It was so clear, as if he had experienced it himself.
The outcome was fake?
Sensing his confusion, Vaughn placed a piece of chocolate in his hand and returned to the sofa opposite him. “This is an experiment, Harry. Do you remember what I said before about Legilimency? You lack a sense of urgency, which prevents you from mastering Occlumency.”
“Of course, from my heart, I don’t want to force you using your most precious memories, but you genuinely need some extra means to apply pressure, to eliminate your disorganization and laziness. So, I just used a technique I’m experimenting with in your mind.”
After speaking, Vaughn asked, “Want to see?”
Harry blinked. “See how? Go into my mind world?”
Vaughn nodded.
Hesitating for a moment, Harry nodded. “Okay…”
He still felt that the so-called fake memory from earlier was too real, completely different from before.
Even when his actions were beyond his control before, he was actually aware. He knew that fake memories were guiding his loss of control, which is why, after confronting Snape during the day, he quickly suppressed the influence of the fake memory and apologized to Snape.
But just now…
Harry suspected that Vaughn might have done something to his mind.
For example, blurring his perception of reality and falsehood.
“Legilimency!”
A wave of dizziness washed over him again, but this time, what appeared before Harry was his familiar mind world.
He was still sitting opposite Vaughn, suspended in the air, with boundless darkness below and around him. Only a desk lamp floated between him and Vaughn, providing a little illumination.
Crack!
Vaughn snapped his fingers. Harry flinched instinctively. He heard Vaughn chuckle across from him, “Don’t be afraid, I’m adjusting some things… Ah, it’s out.”
Harry saw wisps of grayish mist floating out from him after Vaughn snapped his fingers.
It rose and swirled, quickly forming a blurry mass above his head.
Harry strained to look up, watching the mist gradually take shape, then twist and stretch. Eventually, it transformed into a human-like silhouette.
Immediately, a point of light flickered within the mist, dim and unsteady, like… breathing!
No, that wasn’t right.
Harry watched closely and noticed that with each flicker of light, countless tiny arcs of electricity surged from the depths of the mist. These minuscule arcs spread densely over the surface of the human-shaped mist, tracing intricate, winding patterns!
He suddenly recalled some Muggle television programs he had seen, scientific documentaries that used visual representations of electrical currents to depict brain activity and the transmission pathways of electrical signals in nerves.
The mist’s current behavior was very similar to what he had seen on television.
Harry asked blankly, “What… is that?”
“I don’t know.” Vaughn’s answer surprised Harry. Seeing his astonished expression, Vaughn shrugged. “It’s a half-finished product, still far from my vision. There’s no need to define it yet…”
He beckoned to the human-shaped mist, and it floated down.
Vaughn leaned in to observe it. “In my vision, it should be an entity embodying all of a person’s thought processes, emotions, and behavioral characteristics. A personality that is false, yet indistinguishable from the real thing. For example, it should automatically respond to stimuli, whether internal or external. This current framework, for instance, has been infused with your affection for your parents and the fear of losing them.”
As he spoke, Vaughn smiled at Harry. “The scene you experienced earlier was actually your love and fear spontaneously deceiving you. It’s a bit like dreaming. Dreams are, of course, false, but when you’re dreaming, you’re very sure it’s real, and sometimes you can’t tell even after waking up. Isn’t that interesting?”
“…”
Harry was speechless. “Interesting…” Were you a devil?
Feeling annoyed, Harry stared at the human-shaped mist in front of him, somewhat puzzled. “Then, why did you put it in my mind?”
“Of course, to help you, Harry.” Vaughn said with apparent sincerity. “Originally, I hoped to provoke your rebellious spirit by altering your memories, making you exhibit feminine traits, or believing you were a frog, thereby resisting my Legilimency.”
“But unfortunately, it seems to have had no effect so far.”
Vaughn sighed and shook his head. “As I said before, you trust me too much. Subconsciously, you believe I wouldn’t harm you. Even if altering your memories caused you embarrassment, you knew it was temporary, that you could control it and rectify it. So, you started… to not care, to become shameless, Harry!”
Harry: “…”
“Alas, this is my mistake. I overestimated the impact of brief embarrassment, not realizing that when controllable shamelessness becomes a habit, people will continue to be shameless indefinitely.”
“…”
Harry began to feel that Vaughn might be indirectly calling him names.
But upon reflection, he found the words made sense. In the past few days, as his abnormal behavior was discovered, he had indeed gone from initial resistance to gradual habituation.
Staring at the human-shaped mist for a long time, Harry asked with confusion, “You said earlier that the experience of you erasing my memory of the Mirror of Erised was generated spontaneously by it using my love and fear?”
Vaughn sat back down opposite him and nodded. “Yes, the human brain is a very complex system. It has its own deception mechanisms. Let’s take an example.”
He raised his hand, and the darkness of the mind world churned. He pulled out a long string of swirling scenes.
Then, one scene detached itself and flew between the two of them.
Harry looked at the scene. It showed the school dining hall, but it was hazy and unclear.
Vaughn continued, “This is your memory of lunch from the day before yesterday, Harry. Now, tell me, what was placed in front of you for lunch that day?”
This…
Harry was a bit dumbfounded. Who would remember such a detail?
He began to recall what he had been doing at lunch that day. He seemed to have passed a roast quail to Ron or Neville.
Thinking this, he nodded with certainty. “It was roast quail!”
Vaughn smiled. He reached out and grabbed at his own body, pulling out a scene. This one was much clearer; it was Vaughn’s memory.
Through Vaughn’s perspective, Harry saw a plate of apple pie in front of him. Ron was asking Neville on the other side for roast quail, and he had helped pass it.
Harry’s mouth fell open.
“You see, you actually didn’t pay attention at all. Theoretically, you shouldn’t remember it. But when you need to recall something due to your own needs or external stimuli, like my question just now, your brain, unable to access the memory, will automatically ‘imagine’ and ‘fill in’ details from that time. Essentially, it’s deceiving you.”
“The brain’s deception is to maintain its own stability, to prevent you from wasting energy on obsessive thoughts. So, the deceptions it creates, you will subconsciously believe them to be true.”
“This thing I’ve put in your brain, you can think of it as an auto-response personality. It utilizes the brain’s imagination and deception mechanisms. As long as some conditions are set for it, such as requiring you to constantly keep your mind blank, once you fail to do so—this time, you really won’t be able to control yourself.”
Vaughn revealed a meaningful smile, a smile that made Harry tremble.
For some reason, Harry suddenly began to miss the serious-looking Vaughn from the earlier fake experience…
He asked with a trembling voice, “Do I have to?”
“Yes, you have to, Harry. You need stimulation, you need pressure!”
Harry walked away in a daze, while Vaughn remained in the Room of Requirement, taking out his notebook and recording his recent experiences with Harry and his future expectations:
“…Simple memory modification, as I predicted, cannot fool the entirety of human consciousness, let alone use it to mobilize emotions. The ‘outer shell’ must be shaped as a completely new personality. It should connect to the real personality and the real brain mechanisms to possess genuine thought processes, responsiveness, and behavioral characteristics. Only then can the rich emotions I need be born…”
“…Next plan: train Harry to master Occlumency as quickly as possible, test its protective and filtering capabilities, and test whether the contamination of the real personality by the fake personality can be blocked by Occlumency.”
Writing this, Vaughn hesitated a bit.
If he kept shearing the wool from just one sheep, Harry, would he truly break him?
But besides Harry, who else was suitable?
He recalled the people he knew and fell into deep thought…
“Merlin’s beard, Scabbers—”
A scream from the dormitory jolted Harry awake.
As soon as he woke up, he felt something was wrong. Something was wriggling in his mouth. Before he could react, Ron, from the next bed, lunged at him with a contorted face and grabbed his lips.
“What are you doing, Harry? Let go of Scabbers, heavens!”
Harry finally knew what was in his mouth!
Ugh—
He forced his mouth open, allowing Ron to pull the wretched fat rat out, then he hunched over the edge of the bed and vomited.
Scabbers looked terrified. Its fur was covered in slimy saliva, and the rat squeaked and struggled in Ron’s hands.
Ron hugged it protectively, but was bitten by it, forcing him to put it back in its cage.
He said angrily, “Why did you put Scabbers in your mouth, Harry? He likes you so much! Every time I let him out, he scurries to your side to sleep with you. How could you treat him like that?”
“Shut up! Ron!”
Harry was disgusted.
After a bit more vomiting, Harry couldn’t stand the strange sensation in his mouth and stumbled into the lavatory to rinse it.
When he came out again, he still felt uncomfortable.
But what made him feel worse was… he already realized why he had put Scabbers in his mouth—the auto-response personality!
According to Vaughn, he had to constantly maintain the various techniques of Occlumency. This could be an empty mind, or a mind full of useless thoughts.
The only thing he couldn’t do was let his thoughts and memories be unguarded.
If he violated this rule, there would be punishment!
Last night, he had a dream. At that time, he definitely wasn’t maintaining Occlumency, so he was punished—this morning, he inexplicably woke up and put Scabbers, who was sleeping at the head of his bed, into his mouth.
He had put it in himself… At the time, he hadn’t even felt anything was wrong!
And he also knew that the reason he was aware of the problem now wasn’t because he had already mastered Occlumency, but because the punishment mechanism of the auto-response personality was progressive.
After the punishment, it would make him understand that his behavior was inappropriate. If he repeated the offense today, the punishment would be increased.
Until he completely turned into someone else, only to await automatic reset at midnight!
Harry’s face was pale.
His first punishment today was swallowing Scabbers. If it increased, wouldn’t that mean…
He couldn’t help but look at Ron, who was still angry.
…
“So, you wanted to eat Scabbers because Vaughn put something in your head, and you would turn into someone else?”
There were no classes on Saturday. After eating at the dining hall, Ron, who had calmed down after hearing Harry’s explanation, and Harry were sitting in the courtyard, listening to him recount the detailed situation.
Harry maintained a blank mind with great difficulty, his expressionless face and slow reactions were side effects of the early stages of learning Occlumency. He even had to stretch out his words to ensure his gradually sluggish mind could respond.
“Yes—that’s right. In that state—my behavior would be very abnormal, and I wouldn’t be aware of it at all.”
“Cool!”
Harry’s listless eyes stared at Ron. Ron quickly coughed. “I mean, Vaughn is too much. I should have realized it earlier. Only he would have such malicious intent towards Scabbers.”
“No—eating Scabbers was just today’s—punishment, and it was the first stage. If I do it again…”
“What happens if you do it again?”
Ron was curious when a pair of hands suddenly reached from behind and pressed down on both his and Harry’s heads. “Weasley, Potter, have you finished your Potions essay? Or are you planning to hand me a blank parchment next class and continue to mock me?”
The two turned back stiffly. Behind them stood Snape, dressed all in black, resembling a bat.
Snape was pleased to see Ron’s face quickly turn to fear, but Harry…
Harry’s icy expression was identical to his, including his lifeless eyes.
Recalling yesterday’s events, Snape immediately scowled. “What, Harry—Potter, are you trying to imitate me again?”
“No—Professor!”
“…Gryffindor loses 10 points!”
“Please—listen to me—”
“Another 10 points!”
Harry finally couldn’t hold back. He released his mental blankness and shouted, “Professor Snape, I’m practicing…”
He suddenly stopped, turned his head stiffly, his bright eyes gradually shifting to Ron’s head next to him!
Before long, a commotion erupted in the courtyard.
“Help! Help! Pull Harry away quickly!”
“Harry Potter! Let go of your… let go of your mouth!”
“Don’t pull me, let me gnaw again, let me gnaw again! You bunch of scoundrels, I only want to eat one skull, let go of me!”
Vaughn and Dumbledore, passing by on the drawbridge in the distance and noticing the commotion in the courtyard, chatted leisurely:
“It seems you’ve devised a method.”
“Exactly. I plan to construct a virtual personality to cloak myself.”
“Oh, a fascinating idea, different from mine, but very interesting… However, can you spare Harry?”
“Hmm? Don’t you think this method is effective? I believe Harry won’t dare to slack off after today. Or, should I stop helping you train him? I don’t mind!”
“Ah, the weather is quite nice today.”
Vaughn’s prediction was correct.
That day, at the cost of Ron’s hair being partially chewed off, and Harry being locked to his hospital bed for an entire day by Madam Pomfrey with restraints.
Harry never dared to slack off again, lest he trigger the auto-response personality’s mechanism.
In reality, Occlumency couldn’t be mastered quickly just because of his fear. Even though his progress was quite good, starting from being able to maintain a blank mind for only two hours.
After a month, he could maintain it all day while awake.
But the hardship involved was known to Harry and the entire Hogwarts…
“Potter, I heard Hagrid found you in the Forbidden Forest yesterday, eating grass? Tsk tsk, what have you turned yourself into this time? A horse? Or a deer?”
“Potter, I heard you caused chaos in the owlery yesterday. What were you doing? Oh, yes, the great Mr. Potter thought he was an owl and even tried to fly, smashing all the perches.
“Potter…”
This month was Malfoy’s happiest.
Harry Potter’s bizarre human behavior provided Malfoy with a full month of amusement. It was a pity that the frequency later decreased, much to Malfoy’s regret.
On the other hand, there was Slytherin’s great demon king, Vaughn Weasley. As the Wizengamot convened meetings regarding the establishment of the “Werewolf Affairs Committee,” he became increasingly elusive, making him difficult to see.
Without the great demon king to suppress them, Malfoy finally dared to swagger with Goyle and Crabbe, bullying all the first-year Slytherins, and even took on another follower named Pansy Parkinson, a girl who looked like a pug.
However, Mr. Malfoy never valued looks when making friends; as long as they were strong and able to fight for him, Miss Parkinson fit the bill perfectly.
At noon, Malfoy, along with his followers, blocked the entrance to the Great Hall, awaiting his dear Potter.
Today, Harry had caused trouble again. In the early morning, he suddenly rushed out of Gryffindor Tower and hurled himself against the door of the Ravenclaw common room, desperately wanting to get in and no longer wanting to be with the idiots of Gryffindor.
A crowd had gathered to witness Harry’s betrayal.
Until Professor McGonagall, who had rushed over upon hearing the noise, dragged him to the hospital wing.
“You really should have seen it, Harry. Percy’s face turned completely black with anger. Although everyone knew that your behavior was abnormal due to learning magic from Vaughn, your betrayal of Gryffindor clearly embarrassed Percy.”
In the hospital wing, Ron said with great interest.
Harry looked pained. As his mastery of Occlumency deepened, he no longer experienced side effects like a blank expression, dead eyes, or slow reactions while maintaining a blank mind.
Although the act of betraying his house wasn’t genuine, Harry still felt guilty.
Because in that state, he genuinely thought Gryffindors were all idiots, fools, and brutes, and he had said many nasty things.
Thinking of the older Gryffindor students who had witnessed it, and Professor McGonagall’s trembling lips in anger, Harry wanted to bang his head on the ground.
When would this kind of day end!
Hermione, who had also come to visit Harry, paid no attention to Harry’s distress—he had been distressed for a month anyway. Hearing Ron’s words, she closed her book and corrected him, “Percy wasn’t angry because Harry betrayed Gryffindor, but because Harry was clinging to Penelope Clearwater’s leg, with snot and tears all over the place!”
Ron looked stunned. “Pen… what?”
“Penelope Clearwater, the Ravenclaw Head Girl!”
Ron felt a bit confused. “Wait, what does Harry hugging her leg have to do with Percy?”
Hermione looked at him disdainfully. “Because Clearwater is Percy’s girlfriend, Ronald Weasley. Perhaps you’ll even become family in the future!”
“…How do you know?”
“Percy told me.”
Ron looked dumbfounded.
When the twins came to visit Harry later, he received an even greater blow.
“That’s right, little Ronny. Remember last summer, Percy received a lot of letters? They were all from Clearwater.”
“Mom kept them all at home when school started, and Percy was quite angry about it.”
“So he decided to tell everyone that he and Clearwater were in a passionate relationship, to avoid similar incidents in the future.”
“We all know, even Ginny knows. I heard she and Clearwater exchanged gifts on Christmas.”
Ron, who felt like he was the only one who didn’t know, looked dumbfounded. He asked Harry persistently, “Harry, did you know?”
Harry: “Uh…”
No answer was needed.
Ron’s face turned ashen, and he looked very disappointed.
“Uh, Ron, I knew because I encountered them. It was last time I ran into the Forbidden Forest, they were dating over there. Thanks to Percy calling Hagrid, I might have gotten lost. You know, I thought I was a stag at the time.”
Ron sat listlessly on the edge of the bed, as if abandoned by the whole world. After a while, he asked persistently, “Did Vaughn know?”
“Of course I knew. Percy told me first.”
A voice came from outside the door.
Hermione smiled happily and stood up. “Vaughn, is everything going smoothly?”
Vaughn, dressed in a velvet suit and looking very sharp and handsome, entered the infirmary, greeted Harry, and then was pulled by Hermione to sit beside her, shaking his head.
“The committee’s establishment went reasonably smoothly, but politics are never entirely smooth. Someone will always find fault, and then you have to resolve it or compromise.”
Looking at his slightly furrowed brow, Hermione bit her lip, took his hand, and softly advised, “Don’t rush too much. Every problem has a solution, it’s just a matter of time.”
“Thank you.”
Hermione’s palm was warm. It was only then that Vaughn noticed that the girl in front of him had suddenly grown taller at some point.
She was now a little taller than him, and her figure was subtly showing curves.
It was as if she had grown from a childish child to a budding young girl overnight.
Hermione’s cheeks flushed, but she didn’t let go of his hand, even ignoring the two spectators beside them.
“Are you still going to the Ministry of Magic this afternoon?”
“I have to go in the evening. This meeting will continue for a few more days.”
“Then we can consider it this evening. Shall we go to the Black Lake later to play? Enjoy the scenery, read some books, and relax our minds.”
Vaughn thought for a moment and nodded. “Let’s bring Guo Guo Cha too. How has it been these past two days?”
Hermione, who was as decisive as ever, didn’t want to wait a moment longer. She immediately pulled Vaughn. “Let’s go now. Guo Guo Cha misses you. Although it’s been very good and hasn’t made a fuss, it’s always spacing out. It’s almost mealtime, so let’s go to the dining hall and get some food, and then bring a few fish for Guo Guo Cha. How about a picnic?”
“That’s a great idea!”
Chatting, the two quickly disappeared out the door, leaving Harry and Ron, two foolish young students, staring blankly and bewildered.
After a long pause, Ron suddenly said, “Harry, did you really see Percy’s situation by accident?”
“Of course.”
“Then why did he tell Hermione?”
Harry said dryly, “Perhaps he thought Hermione would also become family?”
The foolish Ron began to sulk again.
He was even inferior to Hermione!
