Yo! Sorry about the wait. I know I said somewhere else that I was planning on updating two or three weeks ago, but I got sick not long after that. It was just a cough, so I'm not sure if it was covid or not, but it only lasted nine days. I was better for five days, and then I, uh, got sick again with the same thing, whatever it is. It's been a week now and I seem to be getting better, so let's just hope I don't get sick for a third time in a freaking month, especially since I can't take my meds while I'm sick and that fucks up my eyes more. Anyway, thank you to all readers so far!

September was nearing an end and things were going along kind of...peacefully. It was making Harry a little suspicious, if he was being honest. Snape was being mostly tolerable towards him, Malfoy wasn't a terrible teacher, he and Draco were talking more, Dumbledore hadn't asked to talk to him again yet, and his old friends were acting perfectly normal.

The only real problem was Remus' lack of communication. Harry wasn't sure whether it was better to just wait for Remus to contact him first, or if he should just take the initiative and do it himself. When Sirius' death was the cause of the silence, it was hard to judge what the better option would be. M was silent for a while too-long enough that Harry couldn't help but wonder if the questions he had asked had put the man off of contacting him again at all.

Fortunately, on the morning of September twenty sixth, the gyrfalcon returned with another letter, and Harry secluded himself in the nearest loo so he could read it in relative privacy, without having to worry about someone looking over his shoulder.

'Dearest Harry,

Forgive me for taking so long to answer, it was not my intention to make you wait. Urgent business came up, and I had very little time for myself until now-I am writing this at the earliest moment I am able to.

I was glad to see a response from you, Harry, and I will have to admit that I was wondering whether you would actually send one. It seems your curiosity is as insatiable as I have been told. Or perhaps that is just your reckless Gryffindor side. Nevertheless, I'm happy to answer your questions because frankly, we will never be able to progress further otherwise, and I would very much like for our correspondence to progress.

1. You're right in that it does not hurt to try, but I'm afraid I still can't tell you my name. Not quite yet.

2. I'm afraid my age is another thing I can't answer at the moment. But I will say that I am older than you are likely thinking.

3. I was born in London.

4. I grew up in an orphanage.

5. My birthday is on the thirty first of December.

6. I am an only child.

7. Ha, what a cheeky question! You are, essentially, asking my age without using those exact words. Don't think I didn't notice, Harry. When I attended Hogwarts, Slytherin's Head of House was a man named Horace Slughorn. He was the Potions professor at the time.

8. I do not have a favourite Quidditch team, no. To be honest, I pay very little attention to Quidditch, and doubt I would even be able to name a single team. I would only watch the matches the Houses would put on at Hogwarts, but that was all, and I wasn't incredibly interested in those either.

9. I'm not sure whether I have one specific colour that I can call a favourite, but I suppose I am rather fond of both green and red.

10. My job is both specific and incredibly difficult to explain. You may say that I am in a leadership position, in a business and political standpoint. I'm afraid I really do not know how to, and cannot explain any further just yet.

11. I was told I was an exceptional student. I received all O's on both my OWLs and NEWTs. I was always eager to learn, and while I admit it all came easy to me, I did work quite hard to achieve the success I had.

12. I was fond of almost all of the subjects I studied. Defence Against the Dark Arts was, perhaps, the one I liked most, but it depended on the subject matter. I also enjoyed Potions (not the professor though, unfortunately) and Ancient Runes. My least favourite subject was most definitely Divination, and Muggle Studies was also rather dull, though that was likely because I lived in the Muggle world and already knew everything that was being taught.

13. You must focus on your intention. Up until now you are taught that the most important part of spell casting is the pronunciation of your spell, and while that is indeed an important part, it is not entirely accurate. Intention is. The intention of what the spell is, what it is meant to do, and what you want it to do.

For example, saying 'Lumos' will light up the end of your wand. But your intention will change the light. Is your intention to have a bright light? Or perhaps a dim one? If you focus on the intention of wanting a dim light, when you cast the spell-saying the incantation, your wand will light up with a dim light. You should practice on this intention first-try casting various simple spells while focusing on what exactly you are intending to do.

Once you understand that part, you next have to learn to visualize your spells. Using Lumos as an example again, visualize the end of your wand lighting up-visualize how bright or dim you want that light to be. And when you can see it clearly in your mind, wave your wand the way you would normally do to cast that particular spell, but don't speak the incantation. If you visualized it clearly and your intention was strong enough, your wand will light up.

If the spells the professors are asking you to cast non-verbally are too difficult at the moment, practice with very low level spells. Start with first year spells, spells you have long since mastered, and progress from there. I recommend doing this regardless-not only is it good practice, it will help you cast wandless magic later on as well, and if you are magically powerful enough, you may eventually be able to cast magic both without speaking incantations or needing a wand. Though wandless magic is something not taught at Hogwarts, so very few can cast that way. And as I have a feeling you will ask, yes, I am one of those few who can do both.

Please feel free to ask me for any help or advice you may require. I will not always be able to answer you immediately, as this letter will no doubt attest to, so you might not want to ask me for help on any immediate homework, but I would love to help you further your magical skill, Harry.

Will you answer some questions of my own? I will ask you some of your questions back as well, as I am curious to know some of these things myself.

1. Where did you live growing up?

2. When is your birthday?

3. Do you have a favourite Quidditch team?

4. What's your favourite colour?

5. How are you as a student?

6. What is your favourite/least favourite subject?

7. Do you have a favourite food or dessert?

8. Tell me about your closes friends. (You needn't give me their names if you do not wish to.)

9. What did you name your owl and why?

10. What is your favourite book?

You do not, of course, have to answer all of those. Please only answer whatever you feel comfortable with. I have no desire to force information out of you. I am seeking to woo you, not frighten you off, after all.

Take care of yourself, and let me know if you have any more questions or need more advice on casting non-verbal spells.

Yours eternally,

M'

Harry scanned through the letter twice more before he figured he'd been locked up in the loo long enough and hid the parchment away in his bag, heading back into the dreaded civilization of the rest of the school, though his mind remained on the letter, and the information that had been contained within it.

He wasn't surprised he hadn't been given a name or age, or even a profession, though that last one was a bit odd to withhold. Maybe it was something super specific that would immediately give away M's identity, and that was why he wasn't willing to say what it was just yet? He was also probably either a Muggleborn or a Half-Blood, seeing as he'd said he'd grown up in an orphanage. There weren't any magical orphanages.

Nothing else in M's letter was all that surprising, though he sounded like a damn genius, that was for sure. Of course that intelligence only meant the tips he'd given on non-verbal spellcasting were probably very good, and things Harry had to be sure he tried following. He had no problem casting spells with their incantations, but for some reason casting spells without them just seemed so strangely hard. If what M had said truly helped, then he'd be grateful. Harry wanted his grades to rise, not drop, after all...

Harry continued with his day, acting as casual as possible. Ron and Hermione weren't the only ones who had noticed the gyrfalcon, and Harry wanted to avoid as much attention as possible. If he was seen sending a letter so soon after M's had arrived, people would realize he was communicating with the gyrfalcon's owner, and he didn't want that. He'd have to find some kind of excuse for the bird too.

Of course, what that excuse would be he had no idea just yet. And while he thought on that excuse, he also thought about how he would answer the newest letter he had received. He'd asked M a bunch of questions, but he hadn't actually been expecting to be asked any in return, weirdly enough.

Still, the questions seemed fairly innocent, and would probably be easy to answer, if he decided he wanted to. He was inching towards doing it as well. He kind of hated to admit it, but his curiosity was really starting to grow. Caution was growing too.

The letters themselves seemed innocent enough, but it was odd that this was happening now of all times. He'd finally learned about the betrayals, finally decided to take his life into his own hands, finally decided to stop being a puppet, and suddenly he had a secret admirer? It could've and probably was just a coincidence, but even then, it was odd.

Yes, he was definitely suspicious about the whole thing, but...it seemed he wasn't suspicious enough to just ignore it. That was always an option he had. No one was forcing him to read and answer these letters. Ron and Hermione appearing confused about the letters also helped matters, because it made it less likely that they had anything to do with them. But that didn't mean Dumbledore had nothing to do with them either. Even then, something was telling him there was something genuine here. M wanted to woo him, and Harry believed it, whether it was suspicious or not.

That's it for now. I've already started the next chapter, and know what Harry will do to explain the gyrfalcon as well, which is more than I can say about a lot of other fics. Sorry about any mistakes-my vision hasn't improved a whole lot because I keep missing doses of my meds due to being sick, so I've still got blind spots. Anyway, looking forward to reviews! Laterz!