Malfoy sat in front of Greengrass, sending her a questioning look.
'Well! He at least knew not to raise his voice in the library.'
Leon pitied Malfoy. While he agrees Malfoy is a product of his environment, it doesn't mean he feels sorry for him, especially with other Slytherin students who were raised in worse situations and didn't feel the need to boast about their perceived superiority.
The three unforgivables were at the top of dark arts for the right reason. They let a wizard sacrifice everything for power above their own, especially their sanity.
And Leon didn't want to think how people who experienced a drug that gave power and ate away their sanity raised their kids. Unlike the kids of the top lieutenants of Voldemort, one can identify the children of the grunts- they are more withdrawn but… cautiously optimistic.
'I guess, Snape was doing something right.' He thought, the visages of some Slytherin students flashing in his mind.
The guy sitting with Greengrass, her friend, barely concealed his loathing of Malfoy which the smug Slytherin didn't notice as he was busy looking down at Greengrass with his nose in the air.
"It-"
Malfoy cut off Greengrass with a grin.
"And look at that fat girl, she is gorging on her better's food and it's showing. My father always says Dumbledore doesn't know how to treat someone of low station."
Hannah sniffled and Susan turned to glare at the smug Slytherin.
'Haa! He certainly isn't helping me to feel sorry for him. Is it the stupidity I dislike or his smug face?' Leon sighed.
"Squeak!" "Argh!" A high-pitched scream and a surprised grunt echoed in the silent library as two dim balls of light followed Leon's sigh and crashed into Malfoy and one of his tagalongs, unnoticed by the Slytherins.
"You and you, out!" A hiss filled with fury rang out.
"And you too! Out!" The librarian pointed at Leon too.
'Come on, how does she know I used a spell?' he grumbled.
As Leon was stuffing his assignments into his bag, Malfoy and his goons quickly disappeared as Madam Pince glowered at them.
Leon left under the confused gaze of his friends; even they didn't notice him using the spell.
'I did finish my assignments quickly. So, I have some time to learn a new spell and then I can start the boring mental exercises.'
The Hufflepuff hurriedly walked away from the library hoping to find an interesting spell in his charm's textbook.
As Leon's eyes shined at the thought of a new spell, he didn't notice a Slytherin sneaking up on him.
"You shouldn't have done that." The figure chided, standing behind him.
A light orb appeared behind Leon before a bright light flashed in the hallway. He turned around with his wand in hand to see Daphne Greengrass looking at him with a raised eyebrow and a wand pointed at him.
'How the hell she isn't blinded?'
While the brightness wasn't enough to burn a retina- this time- it was enough to blind people for a couple of seconds.
'Damn! Why do I want her blinded? She is innocent.' Leon admonished himself, looking at the unimpressed stare of the Slytherin.
The thought of learning a new spell didn't leave much space in his mind to think of Malfoy and his ilk ambushing him outside the library. Thus, the sudden voice made him react instinctively, his dumb mind suddenly remembering the weasel.
'Well! It's a good thing I didn't blind her.. right?' He thought as he took in the Slytherin's appearance.
A braided ponytail accentuated her sapphire earrings, matching her ocean-blue eyes. The Slytherin had an air of confidence and surety around her like everything was under her control.
"Silent casting! That too two spells, three if we count the spell you used in the library. It seems you embody the hard work part of Hufflepuff very well." Greengrass spoke softly like they weren't in a tense standoff.
Common sense dictated that Leon should sheath his wand and apologize as he was the one who started it. But he was reluctant to subject himself to the mercy of someone whom he just attacked.
'And I don't know how she countered my spell too.'
"I do try to make my house name shine," Leon responded.
It's not like he didn't know the girl, he did spend a train ride with her. So, he took a deep breath and sheathed his wand.
'Please don't make me regret this,' he thought and apologized.
"I am sorry for suddenly attacking you, Greengrass. You surprised me."
"Apology accepted." The Slytherin also sheathed her wand and calmly stared at him.
"Do you want something?"
"Yes, A moment of your time. Walk with me." The girl started to move, turning her back against Leon, fully expecting him to follow.
The Hufflepuff shrugged and jogged up to her.
"I am not saying I am not glad you didn't get blinded. But how did you.. you know not get blinded."
"Ask your housemates. We aren't here to discuss me."
The duo moved a little distance away from the library before Greengrass stopped.
The Slytherin slipped into an abandoned classroom and turned around, fixing her gaze on him.
"Hmm! Are you as naïve as other Hufflepuffs too? You followed me alone, aren't you afraid my friends are waiting to ambush you."
"I know Susan and Hannah are your friends, not the Malfoy gang. And you did say I was hardworking; wouldn't it be a waste if I didn't get to test the spells I practiced?"
Leon believed that she wouldn't stoop low enough to be bait, but he also didn't mind testing the results of his training if she was a bait.
"While I won't quibble about what Malfoy deserves, using a mind spell on Goyle is too much," Greengrass spoke unconsciously touching her bracelet.
"What do you mean by that? It's just a spell."
They stared at each other as Greengrass's expression slowly shifted to one of incredulity.
"Oh my god! You don't really know." Her mask slipped for a second, letting surprise color her face as she looked at Leon's confused stare.
"Did you skip reading the rules regarding the mind spells?" she asked in a low voice like he had committed some taboo.
"Well! There were no rules mentioned."
She stared at him for some time to see if he was joking before realizing he wasn't.
"But! How? I mean any house books will mention the rules you have to follow regarding the mind spells before they mention the spell. How can someone be so irresponsible?" She muttered the last sentence in a low voice like she couldn't believe it.
'Yeah! A narcissistic guy who doesn't think rules apply to him comes to mind,' Leon grimaced, remembering the inane ramblings of the Mastering the Senses author.
"Instead of explaining, it is better if I show you," Greengrass took out her wand, making him take his out.
"Hey! Aren't you asking for too much? I only know you for a couple of hours and now you want me to subject myself to a spell in a corner of Hogwarts."
His words caused the Slytherin to smile, her eyes radiating curiosity like she was watching something interesting.
"You will have to trust me. Because it's very important and I don't think you will find books about mind magics lying around in Hogwarts," she said, her eyes reminding him of the way a predator evaluated its prey.
'Well! That's true! Mind magics aren't even alluded to in the books I had access to in the library. And I think I trust her. Susan and Hannah won't be friends with someone cruel.' Leon eyed the blonde Slytherin as he came to a decision.
"Walk with me." He walked towards another corridor, openly looking for others before walking into an abandoned classroom.
Greengrass followed him with an amused smile.
Leon waved him towards the door after closing it.
"Be quick."
'A notice me not and locking charm don't provide much of a protection but they will have to do.' He was absolutely sure that Greengrass wasn't looking to hurt him, for one he was a friend of her friends and she didn't seem like the type to do her dirty work.
Still, he went through some security motions for his peace of mind.
With a wave of her wand, Leon felt some weight in his mind.
And he suddenly started to heave.
'So gross.'
He felt like someone forcefully fed him a rotten roadkill that was sprinkled with maggots.
If the example was taken literally, it wasn't the smell or gore that was causing him to heave but an instinctual sense of revulsion at his (mouth) mind being violated.
'No! Go away!' Leon tried to grasp the presence in his mind. But it was like an unseen barrier stopped him, he clawed at the barrier with vengeance and rammed into it, breaking it apart.
With a flex of his will the presence was ejected from his mind.
Leon slowly opened his eyes, not even remembering when closed them.
Greengrass was down on her butt looking at him with incredulous eyes which narrowed as she was him take his wand into his hand.
Leon ignored her and closed his eyes again.
He can 'feel' his mind.
Before his mind was like a fishbowl and he was someone who could make changes to the bowl by shaking it or control his thoughts- the fish- with some food.
Now he felt like he was master of the water in the bowl. Of course, his control of the water isn't advanced enough to easily control the fish, but it was way better than before.
'I think I reached the Un stage.' Excitement thrummed through Leon's body before he remembered that he took half a dozen more days than the author and that the author's time to move to the next stage only decreased after the first stage.
The Hufflepuff didn't think that would be the case with him though. His weird talent for being good at anything that has a connection between him and the target helped him reach the first stage quickly.
After he reached the Un stage, his mind became a part of him, not something that was out of his reach. But at the same time, he would need to maintain a connection to it for better control.
So, while he doesn't have much hope of reaching the future stages when the author himself said the difficulty increases exponentially for chumps, he will be at least faster than normal chumps.
'Maybe I can subject myself to Daphne again?' He squashed the thought lighting quickly as even the memory of the sensation made him want to puke.
'Ha! I should have gotten Susan from the library even if Pince could have given me a detention for loitering around after getting kicked out, I was impatient.'
He didn't expect Daphne to straight up peer into his mind and for it to be this intense.
"Ahem!" Greengrass cleared her throat, trying to get his attention.
"That's how the target generally feels when you invade their mind. A good legilimens can obscure their presence but it doesn't mean they aren't polluting the target's mind. While Hogwarts doesn't care if there is no irreversible or serious harm, it isn't the same with the parents. Your spell has left its marks in their minds that their parents can find.'
Leon sighed at the thought of sitting in court and getting questioned by wizards.
'I will have to talk to Suan about this. But first, let me satisfy my curiosity.'
"How did you find out that I used a mind spell in the library? Maybe I used a spell that makes people scream." Greengrass gave him an amused smile.
"Ask your friends. But aren't you afraid of Malfoy's Father finding out?" She asked with a tone that implied isn't it getting caught supposed to be your first thought.
"What can I do about it, now? I will ask Susan and see what my options are." Leon thought, suppressing his active imagination which showed dementors and him having a snog session. He knew he was looking at year-long detection at most, but nobody let his imagination know.
"You don't have to worry. As your spell was harmless and didn't touch any memories, I can make Malfoy drink some potions which will erase your marks. But as slipping potion into someone's food isn't easy due to the enchanted cutlery, you will owe me two favors."
At his dubious look, she added. "I will have to make the potion too."
"Let's say, I tentatively agree, but let me ask Susan if you are lying or something." He didn't think she was lying but better safe than sorry.
She nodded. "I will see you later, farewell."
Leon watched the Slytherin girl walk out of the room, her long blond hair sashaying as she walked.
'Hmm! I don't know her properly, but I think she isn't the type to point out my mistake just for the sake of it. She got two favors from me and I did feel like she was probing to get a better measure of me the whole time I talked with her.' Leon didn't care much about the favors.
After all, he wasn't afraid of boring work and had higher limits than others for what constitutes risky business.
'Hmm! Now, I want to know what she will cash in the favors for. As long it isn't against law or something, I don't see why I will refuse.'
…..
The Hufflepuff sat in his room ruminating about the conversation he had with Susan.
She just waved her hand, assuring me that her aunt would listen to her when he asked about the traces he left in her mind and gave him a lecture on proper mind etiquette after he said that he didn't know anything about mind spells.
'Man! I thought she was fiercely loyal before, but knowing she still subjected her to my spell even when she knew it would leave traces in her mind makes me appreciate her resolve in a whole new light.'
And of course, Leon wasn't simply sitting. He was waiting for the clock to strike 10 with the Mastering the Senses on his lap.
'45 more minutes, I have some time to check on my reward, promised by the author, for reaching the Un stage,' he thought eyeing the numerals floating in the air.
On the way from dinner, a small paper plane floated into his hand. Rose contacted him, they were going to see the Cerberus today at 12. Thus, Leon was eagerly waiting for the clock to strike 12.
'Today is a very good day if you don't consider Malfoy spoiling it. I reached the Un stage, and I am going to see Fluffy. And of course, we can't forget the surprise my narcissistic ancestor promised.'
Leon shook his head and opened the book.
"Ha! You reached the Un stage, good. Of course, you couldn't have beaten my record. Even my master was jealous of my talent- In case you forgot I took 3 days to reach the Un stage."
'Ah! What wouldn't I give to smack this guy's head?' Leon bristled at the author but continued reading.