Hogwarts: Dumbledore reigned over the wizarding world.

Chapter 82 Watching the Show and Tacit Understanding

Why Voldemort went to Albania is a question that is difficult for book fans to understand, even in Vaughn's previous life.

Although, in Vaughn's view, the truth is quite simple.

It's hidden in a later sentence from Helena—"It's a lonely place!"

Voldemort, who grew up in an orphanage, was accompanied by loneliness throughout his life. He had no relatives or friends. Perhaps it was because Helena had once mentioned the "Land of Solitude" that he subconsciously hid there after his death.

The specific reasons are not important; what matters is the event that led to those reasons.

Voldemort knew about Albania because Helena told him, and it was there that he found the Ravenclaw tiara that Helena had hidden.

Vaughn had been trying to find the Horcrux that was thrown into the Room of Requirement, but he had returned empty-handed time and time again because there was just too much junk in the Room of Requirement.

Since the end of last year, when he focused on the research and development of wolfsbane medicine, Warn has completely given up on finding it.

Anyway, Dumbledore must be more anxious than him!

Even Snape didn't know that Dumbledore was tracking Quirrell's whereabouts in order to find the Horcruxes!

Vaughn said calmly, "Now that we've traced it back to Albania, with that destination in mind, I think you could try investigating whether Tom ever went there, when he went, and then try to figure out why he went based on that time period."

Dumbledore pondered for a moment, then nodded: "That makes some sense, but it's been too long, and investigating it would be very difficult."

Vaughn shrugged. "There's nothing we can do about it. If you can't find the Horcrux, you'll never be able to kill Tom... Think about it, what's the difficulty of finding the Horcrux? You'll have to arrange for Tom to be resurrected before you can kill him again. Doesn't that feel even worse?"

"..."

Dumbledore's old face wrinkled like a chrysanthemum.

In this world, the dead cannot be killed again. To kill Voldemort, you have to bring him back to life!

After a moment of frustration, Dumbledore put his arm around Vaughn's shoulder: "Alright, let's not talk about these unpleasant things anymore. Come on, Vaughn, let's go see Harry."

"What, what kind of show have you prepared for Mr. Savior this time?"

"Don't say that, child. I was just giving him a little guidance, a gentle push on his way to the stage!"

Vaughn scoffed, "Be careful not to push him off the stage... Who's the villain this time?"

Dumbledore did not answer, and with Vaughn, they disappeared from Slytherin.

They saw Malfoy as they passed the common room.

For some reason, he was staring blankly at the door of the lounge.

So when Dumbledore and Vaughn opened the door, they saw the common room door suddenly open but no one in sight. Malfoy's face turned deathly pale, and he screamed and ran away.

"Oh, sorry, I think I startled him when I came here."

"Your apology lacks any sincerity. You should at least compensate him for his emotional distress. I don't mind passing it on, Albus!"

"I have no money!"

Having already been swindled out of more than 10,000 Galleons by Vaughn, Dumbledore has become shameless.

This time, Dumbledore arranged for the stage not to be in the castle.

The two stealthily left the castle, followed the stone path, and bypassed the deserted Quidditch pitch.

Finally, they arrived at the Forbidden Forest.

From afar, Vaughn saw Harry riding a flying broomstick, using the dense canopy of trees to hide in mid-air.

Below where he stood, beside a huge oak tree, Snape grabbed Quirrell by the collar and said something.

That fierce and menacing look, he's definitely a villain!

Vaughn felt there were absolutely no surprises:

"Yes, Professor Snape, there's no one in all of Hogwarts more like a villain than him!"

……

"Snape... he really is that villain!"

Harry's hands were trembling with excitement.

He felt as if he had been kissed by Lady Luck today.

This afternoon, he caught the Golden Snitch and helped the team defeat Hufflepuff.

This was a long-awaited victory, and Gryffindor temporarily moved up to second place in the House Cup, with only Slytherin ahead of them.

Because he was so excited, he stayed in the locker room a little longer than usual. He was worried that he might miss dinner, but unexpectedly, it was during this extra time that he discovered Snape sneaking off to the Forbidden Forest.

Harry didn't think twice and immediately mounted his broom and followed.

He didn't consider why Snape, as a powerful wizard, hadn't discovered him; he was simply proud of his own cleverness and excited about the secret he had discovered.

He saw Quirrell standing under a huge oak tree, waiting for Snape.

As darkness fell, Harry couldn't see Quirrell and Snape's expressions clearly, but he could glean their meaning from their conversation, which was all the more obvious:

"Severus, why do you want to see me?"

"Don't play dumb, you know what I want to ask, the Philosopher's Stone..."

Hearing that familiar word from Snape made Harry almost lose control of his broom for a moment. He quickly used Occlumency to calm himself and focused intently on eavesdropping:

"...Have you figured out how to subdue Hagrid's monster? Don't try to fool me, Quirrell, your little tricks won't work on me..."

Harry gripped the handle tightly.

This dialogue is so clear. Poor Professor Quirrell, he's being pressured by the evil Snape!

He was so frightened that he stammered and couldn't say a word.

Just by listening to his rapid breathing, you could feel his fear!

But Harry knew he couldn't stand up for Professor Quirrell alone.

Recalling his near-death experience in the fourth-floor corridor a few months ago, Harry was both furious at Snape's ruthlessness and somewhat fearful.

So he tried to hide himself and make sure he wasn't discovered.

Only after Snape finished threatening Quirrell, put on his cloak, and hurried away did Harry quietly pilot his flying broom, gliding silently through the soft canopy of the jungle, taking a detour back to the Quidditch pitch.

Before leaving, he glanced once more at Professor Quirrell, who was shivering under the big oak tree.

His eyes were full of respect!

What a respectable person! He didn't even yield to Snape's threats!

Harry decided to quickly share this information with his friends and discuss how to respond.

On the other side, seeing Harry riding away on his broomstick in the distance, Vaughn turned his gaze to Quirrell under the big oak tree.

His magical eyes could see that Quirrell's life force was weak and ephemeral, like a candle flame in the wind, as if it would be extinguished with the next flicker.

Vaughn asserted, "He won't live much longer."

"well……"

Dumbledore sighed, "Yes, that's why I decided to move the plan forward. It seems Tom has recently awakened again. Without unicorn blood, he can only feed on Quirinus's life force..."

"Speaking of which, why didn't you let Harry know that Quirrell was the one in the black robes?"

"To borrow a phrase you once said, prejudice is a poison in the heart. Harry's prejudice against Severus is something I want to teach him—don't let prejudice blind you!"

"That makes sense... but to be honest, Albus, I think you'd better teach the professor a lesson first; his prejudice against Harry is even more outrageous."

"..."

The pleasant atmosphere was immediately ruined by Vaughn's words.

Dumbledore was speechless.

When Harry rushed back to Gryffindor, the entire Gryffindor was celebrating.

Since Charlie graduated, the Gryffindor Quidditch team has declined year after year, losing more than winning, and every victory has been hard-won.

Harry saw the twins running around in the crowd, and to celebrate their victory, they decided to sell Canary Cookies at half price.

However, Harry suspected they were clearing out inventory, as their products had been sluggish since the end of last year when the twins ruined many small groups with their Canary Cookies.

The two are reportedly trying to develop something new.

After politely declining the twins' sales pitch and brushing off the enthusiastic greetings of the lion cubs, Harry found Hermione and Ron.

The latter, sporting a lion's head, was competing with Seamo and Neville to see who could roar the loudest.

Upon seeing Harry, he let out a huge roar of joy, which blew Harry's hair askew.

"What is this?"

Harry stared at Ron's lion head and wiped the drool off his face.

Ron shook his head and changed back to normal: "Zoko's Lion Throat Candy, isn't it cool? Wood went all the way to Hogsmeade to buy it."

"Come on, Harry, take in the cheers! What a joyous day! We've finally won! Did you see the Slytherin guys' faces when the game ended? They were as black as the bottom of a pot! We'll catch up to their House Cup points soon!"

"Wait, let's go out."

Harry had to interrupt Ron, who led his two friends out of the common room and into a secluded room.

Hermione asked in confusion, "Harry, is something wrong? I was just about to ask where you went. We went back to Gryffindor and found you weren't there."

Harry took a few deep breaths to calm his racing heart and left himself at the Quidditch pitch, only to unexpectedly discover that Snape and Quirrell were meeting in the Forbidden Forest, where Snape was forcing Quirrell to reveal what had happened.

He concluded, "It's obvious that Snape is the man in black from Halloween; he wants the Philosopher's Stone and is threatening Professor Quirrell to help him deal with Fluffy."

"Are you sure?" Hermione's expression was conflicted. Although she thought about it and felt that among the professors, Snape was the most likely to be the villain, it still didn't make sense: "Snape... he taught Vaughn a lot, how could he be the man in black?"

Ron looked like he'd discovered the truth: "Maybe that's how Snape disguised himself. You see, because of your misleading information, we've been deliberately avoiding suspicion of him for months, and now it turns out we've wasted months of time because of it, Hermione!"

"..." Hermione puffed out her cheeks. "What have you investigated, Ronald? Spending all day holed up in the common room playing wizard chess is what you call investigation?"

Seeing that the two friends were about to start arguing again, Harry quickly stopped them:

"In short, we have to inform Hagrid and Dumbledore, and we can't let Snape's plot succeed."

But Ron was worried about his suggestion: "Have you forgotten, Harry? We mentioned Snape's suspicion to Hagrid before, but Hagrid believed Snape because Dumbledore trusted Snape too!"

"...Oh right!"

Harry was a little annoyed. Why were these adults so unsuspecting?

The trio discussed the matter for a while and realized they had reached a dead end.

They can do nothing but warn the adults, and the adults are unlikely to believe them.

After a moment's hesitation, Ron stammered, "How about... we go find Vaughn?"

Hermione agreed, and she was also surprised by Ron's reaction: "Ronald, you actually offered to ask your brother for help?"

Ron's face turned red.

Ignoring his predicament, Harry thought he could approach Vaughn, but the problem was...

He sighed, "Vaughn isn't at Hogwarts. He's busy with the werewolves, and it's been a month since I asked him to help investigate Snape, and he hasn't given me a reply. I think he might be like Hagrid and Dumbledore, believing Snape is trustworthy!"

Hermione frowned. "Perhaps Snape really is trustworthy... Seriously, Harry, I have a feeling something's off about what happened to you today. Don't you find it strange?"

"Hmm? What's strange?" Harry wondered.

“Everything’s strange!” Hermione said. “First of all, after the game, none of us—Ron, Percy, Fred, George, and I—noticed that you were still in the locker room, which would never normally happen.”

"Secondly, there are many ways to get to the Forbidden Forest, so why did Snape choose the Quidditch pitch route? Besides, how could you track Snape while riding a flying broomstick? He's an adult wizard, and a professor at that. Harry, he should have a hundred ways to find you."

"Finally, regarding your retelling of Snape's threat to Quirrell, I have a feeling... he said it to you on purpose?"

The little witch's analysis left Harry speechless.

Only Ron nonchalantly remarked, "Maybe Harry was just lucky!"

"Luck can't explain everything, Ronald. Do you expect luck to help you with your exams?"

"...Merlin, why do you always manage to bring up studying in everything?"

A corner of the room.

The seemingly empty place was filled with the power of an invisibility spell, and Vaughn and Dumbledore stood there.

Vaughn glanced at Hermione, who was arguing with Ron, and then looked at Dumbledore with a smile: "Look, your plan is full of loopholes. It can only fool those two silly boys, Harry and Ron."

"Miss Granger is such a clever witch..."

Dumbledore dramatically wiped the sweat from his brow, but immediately burst out laughing again: "...Luckily, she and Harry are good friends. What's even more interesting is that she and our respected new Potions Master seem to be getting ready to commit to a romantic relationship. Ah, what a touching youth—"

Vaughn: "..."

Ugh, that's disgusting!

Too lazy to pay attention to Dumbledore, who was wiping away tears again, Vaughn looked at the trio who were still arguing and discussing their next move, and shrugged, saying, "It seems that I'm not really suitable to be in front of Harry anymore."

"...Yes!" Dumbledore also had a bit of a headache. "I'm sorry, I somewhat overlooked your role in the whole thing. You're their age and have powerful magical abilities, so they'll inevitably rely on you...which doesn't align with our original intentions."

"What about Harry's Occlumency?"

Dumbledore rubbed his temples. "Let me think."

Vaughn smiled: "Actually, I have a plan..."

Seeing his smile, Dumbledore knew he wasn't up to any good, but he was still curious: "What plan?"

"Harry's Occlumency procedure is actually progressing quite well. The reason it's not completely finished is because he doesn't have enough of a sense of urgency. Even though I've used some methods, I haven't been able to make him truly experience danger."

Vaughn's smile grew even brighter: "Perfect! Now that Harry has discovered the true nature of the villain Snape, why don't we let the professor teach him the final step? I'm sure Harry will be terrified!"

"...You're a genius..."

The trio ultimately failed to reach an agreement.

Harry and Ron were convinced that Snape was the Man in Black. Although Hermione found many things suspicious, she didn't have any strong evidence to prove that Professor Snape was a good person.

This made Harry and Ron realize even more how impressive Snape's disguise was, that he had even fooled Hermione!

Therefore, they dared not tell the adults casually, lest they alert the enemy.

"We can observe for now and hope that Professor Quirrell can withstand Snape's pressure while we investigate and gather evidence in secret!"

Ultimately, this is the only way.

To the trio's relief, when they met Professor Quirrell the next day in Defense Against the Dark Arts class, although he was pale and looked frail and on the verge of dying, he did not appear to be mentally broken.

This earned him the respect of Harry and Ron.

Ron said admiringly, "What a strong person! I can't imagine anyone being able to attend classes and assign us homework normally under Snape's threat!"

Harry stared blankly at the eight-foot-long paper format, beginning to question the meaning of life.

Even Hermione, while finding the idea that Snape = the Man in Black somewhat illogical, never doubted Professor Quirrell; she simply felt sorry for him.

"Whatever Snape is going to do, he shouldn't be pressuring Professor Quirrell; he looks too pathetic."

The compassionate girl stopped the twins from playing a prank on Professor Quirrell that evening—they were trying to stuff a toad into Quirrell's turban.

Harry and Ron also changed their attitude towards Quirrell.

They even advised the Gryffindor students to stop mocking Quirrell's stutter and to stop being mischievous in class, so as to give the respectable professor less trouble.

Unfortunately, not many people listened. Everyone thought that Harry's strange magical side effect had kicked in again, and this time he had become a saint.

That evening, upon hearing the rumors, Malfoy ran to the Gryffindor long table and made faces at Harry:

"Come and see, everyone! Saint Potter! Anyone short of money? Come and borrow some, Saint Potter will surely lend a hand—he even pities stinky Quirrell!"

Then Harry, Ron, and Malfoy and his henchmen got into a fight.

Harry and Ron were no match for Crabbe and Goyle, not to mention Malfoy's constant sneak attacks. The two were left with black eyes and swollen faces.

However, they didn't suffer any losses. In the end, the two of them risked getting beaten up and pinned Malfoy down, giving him a sound beating.

That night, Ron emerged from the school clinic, sporting dark circles under his eyes that hadn't completely faded, looking quite smug.

"Malfoy had no strength at all. I mean, I could sit right on his bottom and all he could do was scream 'Mama' in a shrill voice, his resistance weak and feeble... Oh dear, I was stunned by the beating. I should have made him call me 'Papa'!"

Harry laughed out loud, but then a sharp pain shot through his bruised cheek, almost bringing tears to his eyes.

"Are you so smug? Gryffindor lost 30 points!" Hermione scolded them with exasperation as she picked them up from the hospital.

Harry and Ron didn't care at all; Hermione would make it back anyway!

All they knew was that they were happy.

This joy lasted until Professor McGonagall appeared before them.

The stern vice-principal had the ability to quiet any student, especially when she had a stern face.

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, you two have truly brought glory to Gryffindor tonight!"

Ron exclaimed in surprise, "Really?"

Then Professor McGonagall glared at him with a sharp look, which made him shut up immediately, and Harry gave him a hard elbow.

Professor McGonagall took a few deep breaths, her gaunt face appearing even more terrifying, but to their surprise, she didn't continue her reprimand. Instead, she said, "Mr. Potter, please come with me. Dumbledore wants to see you..."

She glanced at the dazed Ron, took a few more deep breaths, and said, "...Weasley, go back and rest. Come to my office tomorrow for solitary confinement...Miss Granger, you should go back too. It's late, and curfew is coming soon."

After saying goodbye to his two friends, Harry nervously followed Professor McGonagall to the eighth floor.

He kept thinking about why Dumbledore wanted to see him. Also, could he take this opportunity to report the truth about Snape to Dumbledore?

But when Harry actually stepped into the headmaster's office, he immediately dismissed the latter idea—

The office wasn't just occupied by Dumbledore; there was another figure dressed in a black robe, looking gloomy and indifferent.

Snape!

He seemed to be arguing with Dumbledore about something, and when Harry came in, he heard him angrily shout, "...What kind of trick are you playing, Dumbledore!"

He stopped talking when he saw someone come in.

But Harry noticed that Snape was staring intently at him, and the way he looked made Harry suspect that if Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore weren't around, Snape would just rush up and chew him up and eat him!

"Did he discover I was following him?"

Harley, harboring ulterior motives, was lost in thought and instinctively shrank behind Professor McGonagall, avoiding Snape's fierce gaze.

All he could think about now was getting Dumbledore to finish what he had to say so he could leave.

Too scary!

Professor McGonagall put her arm around Harry's shoulder and led him to her desk. "Albus, Mr. Potter is here."

"Ah, Harry—"

Dumbledore smiled. "I was just talking to Severus about you. We need to speak with you about something."

"..."

Harry suddenly had a bad feeling. He tried to force a smile, but found his cheeks stiff as stone. "Uh, Headmaster Dumbledore, what is it?"

"It's nothing, here, have some candy... Oh, no appetite? Okay."

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Dumbledore, sensing Harry's increasingly ominous premonition and under Snape's murderous glare, smiled and said:

"Well, Harry, Vaughn has been very busy lately, and as we can foresee, with the establishment of the Werewolf Affairs Committee, he'll be even busier. So, he's reassigned the task of teaching you Occlumency to me..."

Harry, who had been feeling uneasy, suddenly felt relieved.

However, before he could even manage a smile, Dumbledore, behind the desk, beamed and said, "...But unfortunately, I've been busy with some personal matters lately, so I'm going to have Severus teach you!"

boom!

Harry's mind went blank; a wave of immense fear washed over him, and his first instinct was to stop Dumbledore's outrageous decision:

"headmaster--"

"Oh, child, don't worry. Your potions professor is a master of Occlumency and has a wealth of experience. He will definitely be able to teach you quickly and well."

"I'm not worried, I am—"

"Even better, it's decided then, Minerva, take Harry back... Oh, and classes start tomorrow, same place as always, Harry!"

"Dumbledore—"

Harry, with Professor McGonagall's arm around his shoulder, desperately reached out to Dumbledore, and then he heard Snape on the other side grit his teeth and call out, "Dumbledore!"

Their shouts overlapped, and Dumbledore clapped his hands and laughed:

"Great! I'm already looking forward to seeing your teamwork!"

Harry & Snape: "..."

What a terrible day!

(End of this chapter)