The Hogwarts Emerald

Chapter 183 Change of plan
Ada had made all the potions here, except for the nettle wine. Although these potions might not be made by her, she was very familiar with them. So Ada just looked at them and smelled them to determine which one was the potion that could pass the black flame.

Ada's pockets were usually filled with snacks, but before coming here today, she put two kinds of fireproof potions she made herself in her pockets. She thought these things must be useful, otherwise why would Snape let her make them.

The three people who drank the fireproof potion walked straight through the flames. The black flames licked their bodies but could not cause them any harm.

Passing through the black flames, the three men arrived at the last room.

Looking at the Mirror of Erised in the center of the room, Ada breathed a sigh of relief. It was great that there were no levels with ancient runes.

But then Ada started to get worried again, because they had it so easy along the way. Not to mention them, even a similar person could have gotten through.

"Is this the magic mirror you mentioned before?" Fred pointed at the mirror and asked, "The mirror that can reflect people's deepest desires?"

Ada nodded and said, "Go and see how ugly your hearts are..."

"Don't worry, it's definitely not as ugly as your heart." George walked over first, "We won't see ourselves conjuring a pile of gold with the Philosopher's Stone."

When Ada was looking at the magic mirror of Tieris with the twins, she told them what she had seen, about her parents whom she had never even met in this life, and about the scene where she could turn stone into gold.

The two brothers stood in front of the mirror and said with disgust at the same time: "Fred (George), why do I want you in my heart!"

Of course, they are not dislike each other, they have been with each other since the beginning of their lives, and in their hearts, the other person is the most important person to them, these two guys who say one thing and mean another.

"What do you see?" Ada also stood in front of the mirror. What she saw in the mirror was no different from before, her healthy self and a strange young couple.

"I saw that George (Fred) and I opened a joke shop, and our product was a huge success, it brought joy to everyone and of course made a lot of money." The twins said at the same time, obviously they saw the same thing.

"There is still a difference." George said, "In my mirror, I am the older brother..."

Fred looked at George in confusion. He couldn't figure out why George would have such an idea. What difference did it make who was older or younger?

There was a pair of twins in Ada's orphanage before, and the two sisters quarreled every day over who was older. Fred and George never argued about this, and Ada thought they didn't care who was older. As a result, George really wanted to be the older brother.

"Anything else?" Ida asked. "Your desire is really simple."

"Of course, I saw you counting the coins at the counter," said Fred.

"Although you look embarrassed when counting a pile of money," George added, "I believe you are happy in pain."

Ada was speechless for a moment and couldn't think of any rebuttal. Counting money must be a very happy thing, unless the money was too little, or if you were counting money for others, like the curse breakers in Gringotts.

After learning about Bill's job, Ada envied him for a while. It was a cool job to find treasures for Gringotts and solve the curses attached to the treasures. But after thinking about it, Ada stopped envying him because they saw so many treasures every day, but they didn't belong to them. It was really sad.

The three of them stood in front of the Mirror of Erised for a long time. The twins tried hard to control themselves and not let their imagination run wild, but the scene in the mirror was still the same as before, without even a shadow of the Philosopher's Stone.

Even if Ada used Occlumency, she couldn't get the Philosopher's Stone from the mirror.

The previous levels are indeed very simple, and any first-grade student can probably pass them, but those levels are just for show. As long as this last level is there, the Philosopher's Stone is safe.

The three people who had looked in the mirror returned the same way. The troll was still unconscious and did not react to Ada and the twins passing by again. The chess pieces in the chessboard room also returned to their original positions, but Ada did not need to win another game after returning, and the chess pieces automatically made way.

All the checkpoints have been restored, and the three people returning home don't have to worry about being discovered.

The three people who were chatting and laughing had just opened the door to the corridor on the fourth floor when they saw Professor McGonagall standing at the door with a sullen face. There was no doubt that Professor McGonagall, who had not slept so late, must be waiting for Ada and the twins to come out.

Professor McGonagall walked in front without saying a word, and Ada and the twins followed behind with their heads lowered.

None of the three people tried to escape. They were caught by Professor McGonagall. It was useless to escape. Their fate would be even worse. Professor McGonagall led them directly to the eighth floor of the castle. Dumbledore was waiting for them in the headmaster's office.

Dumbledore found someone breaking into the restricted area on the fourth floor. He thought Quirrell had finally lost his temper, but it turned out that only Ada and the other two broke in, which disappointed Dumbledore. So the headmaster notified the deputy headmaster and asked him to wait for them at the door and bring these three ignorant students to see him. In the headmaster's office, the mist from the silver utensils was lingering. The phoenix Fawkes stood on his shelf, tilting his head to look at the people in the office. No one spoke, whether Dumbledore and McGonagall who were sitting, or Ada, Fred, and George who were standing.

The calm before the storm is the most frightening, and what is even more frightening is that after the calm, there is no storm.

The twins were nervous. Although they often violated the rules, this was the biggest one and they were a little nervous. Ada always had a good attitude to admit her mistakes, but she didn't feel any fear in her heart. Dumbledore "allowed" her to get the Philosopher's Stone, but she just didn't get it.

"Where are you going and what are you doing?" Dumbledore asked knowingly, his half-moon glasses reflecting the candlelight.

"Look in the mirror." Ada said truthfully. They looked in the mirror for a while and then came back. They didn't even see the shadow of the Philosopher's Stone. The twins looked at Ada in surprise. They admired Ada for being able to say such a sentence without blushing or beating their hearts.

"Ada!" said Professor McGonagall sternly.

"How is it, did you get it?" Dumbledore didn't care about the frivolous answer and continued to ask.

"Of course not. The barriers set by the professor are impeccable. We haven't found a way to pass them."

In other words, the atmosphere is not suitable, otherwise the sentence should be changed to: You set up the levels yourself, don’t you have any idea about the situation?

Dumbledore did not blame Ada for taking the twins with her, because he and Ada had an agreement that he would lend the Philosopher's Stone to Ada as long as she could get it. Dumbledore asked again, "Have you given up?"

"I've given up hope a long time ago. I just wanted to go take a look today when I had nothing to do..."

"By the way, let's find out if I have any other preparations, right?" Dumbledore stood up, walked around the desk and stood in front of Ada.

"What I promised you is still valid, but I hope you can say hello to me or Professor McGonagall next time you go." Dumbledore said, "Also, you don't have to go through this to prove that you are better than Harry. You are not on the same path. When you took the initiative to compete with Harry, you had already lost."

"I didn't." Ada said this very forcefully. She raised her head, which had been lowered since she entered the door, for the first time. She looked directly into Dumbledore's blue eyes and expressed her dissatisfaction.

Dumbledore could feel Ada's anger from her eyes and words. He also knew that such words would cause her dissatisfaction, but he still said it.

Dumbledore wanted to find out what she thought of Harry and perfect the extra link in his plan, so he made this test.

"Professor, we went to the fourth floor because we were really bored today. We didn't have any other ideas!" The twins, who had been silent, hurriedly spoke up to help explain. They didn't know how much Dumbledore and McGonagall valued Ada, but they knew that Ada's importance was definitely not as high as Harry's!

"Albus, I know Ada. She wouldn't have such an idea." Professor McGonagall said softly, "She is unique and the best. She doesn't need to compare with anyone."

The office was silent and the atmosphere was depressing and uncomfortable.

"You have been resting in the dormitory tonight and have not been anywhere." Dumbledore continued to speak after a long while. He did not punish them at all, but just waved his hand and asked the three to leave.

"Yes, we understand..."

The twins were still talking to the two principals, but Ada didn't say anything. She left the principal's office angrily. Fred and George hurriedly followed her, trying to catch up with Ada.

Dumbledore and McGonagall were the only ones left in the office. Professor McGonagall said, "Albus, you shouldn't think about her like that..."

"Perhaps I was wrong from the beginning, Minerva," Dumbledore said, removing his half-moon glasses. "I ignored her own thoughts."

In Dumbledore's plan, everyone serves the ultimate goal, and if necessary, anyone can be sacrificed, including Harry and himself.

There was no place for Ada in this plan originally, but her sudden appearance attracted Dumbledore's attention. It had been a long time since he saw a child like this. Dumbledore believed that such an Ada would achieve more than himself one day.

Dumbledore tried to integrate Ada into the plan to add a layer of insurance to the plan. But Dumbledore found that he was wrong. Ada could not be integrated into the plan. Her joining would cause the whole plan to tilt, and this uncontrollable tilt was what Dumbledore did not want to see.

Looking at the wide-open wooden door, Dumbledore was lost in thought and didn't even notice McGonagall leaving.

(End of this chapter)