HP X LOTM : Please Call Me Mr. Error.

The entire hall fell into a blunt silence.

Harry nearly stood up if not for Hermione's timely intervention to keep his bottom glued to the bench, which caused him to awkwardly fall forward into his plate but his quick reflexes saved him from being pied in the face.

Everyone looked at Loki with surprise, even the teachers felt a little bamboozled.

Snape was especially shocked as his eyes looked like saucers.

Astoria on the side was so surprised, but she quickly recognised why Loki hadn't appeared at her sister's bodyless funeral.

It was probably because he didn't want to turn the funeral into a show stage for his own adoption into the Black Family, so only Walburga appeared.

But what surprised her even more was the way this could be interpreted.

It could mean that even though Loki could've appeared by himself and made it a political show. Walburga was replacing him, it meant that he wasn't just simply adopted randomly, it probably meant that Walburga valued him deeply.

Very deeply since most nobles knew about just how strict and ruthless Walburga was.

Her name didn't bring nightmares into people's dreams simply because she was a Sequence 4 of the Sleepless pathway.

It was because everyone knew crossing her meant immediate death.

When Walburga had vanished from view during the last few years, the black market had suffered heavily from internal conflicts and violence.

It was clear that ruling with an iron fist so perfectly displayed Walburga's skill in managing the black market without letting a single unplanned massacre occur.

And so when she did return by making herself visible in the Greengrass family's funeral, everyone was surprised.

Of course Walburga had taken permission from the Greengrass family to appear otherwise she risked souring their relations, but since no one knew if she had actually died or was just secluded for some strange advancement ritual her reveal wasn't as big a political stunt as Loki being adopted.

It was at most a show of face. To tell the world that she was alive and that she's still around even though her presence had been hidden.

But this too had a big enough impact.

So much that the other Noble families that had tried gaining control over the darkness of the wizarding world all gave up and had come to sign a natural non-aggression pact that would be followed by everyone dealing with darkness.

Walburga's presence terrified them and as such made them fall in line.

But that wasn't all.

The main reason Astoria was terrified was something else entirely as she blamed herself for not putting two and two together, even though she had all the pieces of the puzzle with her all this time!

'How could I have missed this!?'

'I'm so stupid!'

'Sis wouldn't have made such a silly mistake!'

Astoria's brain was currently fixated on the reason behind the war breaking out in the underworld in the first place.

Obviously a simple disappearance of Walburga wasn't enough to make everyone turn into rabid dogs trying to tear flesh off the bone dangling over their heads.

'What if it were a trap from Walburga herself!?'

So every Noble family worth their salt had done their due diligence using every possible divination they could to determine if Walburga would actually return.

And as such, they'd all collectively decided that it was Walburga's time to die.

'But Loki is different!'

'He was able to cure me!'

'Cure me of a sickness that had been passed in our blood!'

'Cured a blood malidiction!'

'Of course he had a cure for whatever had caused Walburga to disappear!'

'I should've put this together long ago!'

And when Astoria reached this conclusion, her mind was opened to the only possible plot that this conclusion revealed.

'It means that some True God is supporting Loki!'

'Especially since Loki's interference with Walburga's life went undetected by any divination regarding her death!'

A terrifying gleam appeared in Astoria's eyes that no one noticed.

'Wow Daph…of course your taste was the best…'

'....will the promise of giving him your crane truly come to fail?'

'Will you really not come back into the frame sister?'

On the other hand, Professor McGonagall was panicking because of Loki's complex situation.

She was initially worried about Loki, wondering what the Black family would do to Loki once they knew that he was a Mystery Pryer pathway beyonder.

But once she thought about Sirius, she gained some confidence in the fact that he would be able to keep Loki safe enough, at least until she could reach the scene to save him.

But then she remembered that the Hidden Sage was supporting Loki and gained even more confidence. Since surely the Hidden Sage, which had turned Loki into a Beyonder, would protect him, right?

As such, McGonagall began to worry about which side Loki would choose.

Loki had never been greedy for mystical knowledge and as such McGonagall had never aggressively tried to introduce him to such knowledge because he was still not even a mid sequence Beyonder in her eyes.

There was time to train him when there were several other important things to consider right now with Voldemort's return.

But this had also never developed a very close bond between her and the boy.

Which meant that now that Loki was adopted by a very powerful family with eons of mysticism knowledge that stretched far beyond what McGonagall could give him herself, would he succumb to such temptations?

Would Loki finally give in and allow himself to be used like Walburga did with Regulus?

Especially when he'd already kept such big news a secret to himself until now?

'I need to inform the Headmaster about this!' McGonagall's eyes firmed.

The other Hogwarts students, especially Malfoy and Ron, were frozen stiff since they couldn't make heads or tails of the situation.

Yet in the midst of all this confusion, Umbridge's expression remained unchanged.

Loki did spot her muscles twitch, but it was so faint that no one else realised.

Especially since Umbridge was likely of the Spectator pathway, which meant that she could control herself better than most others.

Umbridge spoke calmly after that, "All students are the same at Hogwarts Student Loki."

Seeing Umbridge refusing to acknowledge his title as a member of the Black family, Loki spoke calmly.

"Of course Professor Umbridge." Loki said calmly, but then he continued, "I hope you're just ready to inform Lady Black of this. I don't want to tell her myself, you know…lest the matter turn into an issue that we both wouldn't want to deal with…after all, Grandma Walburga cares for me very much."

Umbridge's eye twitched visibly now and Loki worked hard to hold back his smile, making sure to mask his expression with the help of an illusion too.

But after another bout of silence, Umbridge spoke calmly, "I will do so Mr. Black. But I expect to see you in my office this evening, is that alright?"

Her stiff expression had given way for a genuinely kind smile.

It made everyone in the hall instantly develop a deep revolting sense of dislike for her.

It was clear to everyone.

As long as Umbridge found worth in anyone, she wouldn't fail to try and lick their boots.

A professional bootlicker.

"Sure Professor Umbridge. I shall visit you for tea. We have a lot to chat about after all don't we?" Loki said, mimicking Umbridge's smile.

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