HP: Wizards at Hogwarts

Chapter 114 They were destined to be friends.

After class that day, Elaine was once again called to Professor Quirrell's office.

"Elevit, how's your learning of the dark magic I gave you last time?"

Quirrell continued to stammer.

However, his voice today carried a hint of weariness and a palpable sense of urgency.

Ask me how well I'm doing with black magic?

Of course I know them all!

Without any hesitation, Elivin replied, "Those spells are a bit difficult; even I would need time to fully learn them."

"But—but you're already very strong!"

"You can even—wipe out—a 25-man poacher squad!"

Quirrell pointed to the newspaper on the table as he spoke.

The newspaper article was about Elaine's annihilation of the poachers' organization.

"Those poachers in the gang are all useless, they're not very skilled!"

"But the fourth-floor corridor is different; it's full of traps set by the professors themselves, and there's a Cerberus guarding the first checkpoint!"

Upon hearing Elaine mention "Cerberus," Quirrell's eyes flashed with a sharp light: "Look—it seems—you've already been there, haven't you?"

"Yes, I've been there."

"Although I returned unharmed, I'm completely helpless against that three-headed dog~"

Quirrell had no doubt that it was fake.

He also knew that the Cerberus was not so easy to deal with.

"That—that big dog—is Hagrid's pet!"

"Oh~" Elivin exclaimed, feigning sudden realization, "Oh, I see—Professor, do you have a way to deal with that big dog?"

If I had a way, would I need to ask you for help?!

Quirrell continued, stammering, "Hagrid trusts you a lot, and if you ask him, he'll definitely be willing to tell you!"

"I'll ask him about it in a while."

"No—no need to wait, you—go in the next few days!"

Elivin hesitated upon hearing this: "We agreed that I would train for three months first, and only two months have passed. I should still have another month, right?"

"It's too late—"

"What's too late?"

Quirrell then realized he had said too much and quickly changed the subject to cover it up: "No—nothing, never mind, anyway—"

"Hurry up and do it!"

"Alright."

It looks like Quirrell's life force is almost gone!

Ten minutes later, Elaine left Quirrell's office and headed to Hagrid's cabin.

Dumbledore's office.

Snape stood before Dumbledore, reporting his observations from his journal.

"Elevit went to see Quirrell again today!"

"After leaving Quirrell's office, he went straight to find Hagrid."

"I'm 100% certain that kid is working for Quirrell right now!"

"Are you really going to just stand by and watch?!"

Both Quirrell and Elaine were key targets of Snape and Dumbledore's attention.

Their private interactions naturally caught their attention.

"Don't worry, Snape."

"I can guarantee that Elaine and Quirrell are definitely not on the same side!"

Dumbledore sat in his chair, chuckling as he chewed on a pile of cockroaches, completely at ease.

Snape frowned. "Why?! Where does your confidence come from?!"

"Well—okay, I'll tell you, because Elaine has already broken into the room in the fourth-floor corridor once."

Dumbledore's words were startling, and Snape's heart skipped a beat.

"When did this happen? How come I didn't know about it?!"

"It happened in the first few days of the semester."

Dumbledore replied, "At that time, I hadn't even put the Philosopher's Stone in the room, nor had I finished setting up the protective barriers; I only had Fluffy guarding the door!"

"In an instant, Lou Williams was frozen in place—that 'instant freeze' spell, you know?"

"Louis Williams can't stop him at all!"

At this point, Snape understood: "So—if Elaine really wanted to help Quirrell get the Philosopher's Stone, he could have done it long ago, but the fact that he's been dragging it out until now shows that he doesn't really want to help Quirrell."

Dumbledore nodded with a smile: "That's right!"

"But why would that be? Did he also notice Quirrell's unusual behavior?"

"Maybe so, you know, he's always been very smart."

Snape scoffed, "I think he's just being presumptuous!"

"He has no idea what a terrifying enemy he's facing; he's playing with fire and will get burned sooner or later!"

Dumbledore's gaze was teasing: "I didn't realize you cared about him so much."

"I had long predicted that one day you would, like Minerva, Flitwick, and Sprout, genuinely acknowledge him."

"Now it's proven that my hunch was absolutely right!"

Snape's face darkened instantly: "I'm worried that if he dies, it'll be a real hassle to get magical herbs later!"

The new potion, a collaboration between Elaine and Snape, sold very well after it hit the shelves. All 600 bottles were sold out in less than a week, and buyers placed several more large orders.

So after Christmas, Elaine got another batch of herbs and sent them to Snape to make potions.

Having learned from his previous experience, Snape nearly doubled his potion-making speed this time, and most of the orders have now been completed.

The two made a lot of money as a result.

"Elevit isn't just being clever; he's genuinely smart."

"Even if Quirrell's heart truly falls into darkness, his strength will only increase to a limited extent. Based on my observations over the past few months, do you think he will be a match for Elavin?"

So far, Dumbledore and Snape have only deduced from Quirrell's unusual behavior this year that he may have joined Voldemort's side and become a Death Eater, and that his current activities in the school are to steal the Philosopher's Stone for Voldemort.

Neither of them ever considered the possibility that Voldemort was possessing Quirrell, nor did they realize that Quirrell was actually stealing the Philosopher's Stone for himself.

"You mean, Quirrell was also manipulated by Elaine?"

"So, does that mean that kid is even more dangerous than the mysterious man?!"

Snape frowned again. "Perhaps letting him associate with that Potter kid was a mistake from the start!"

Dumbledore shook his head and said meaningfully, "Severus, we cannot stop those like-minded young wizards from forming friendships."

"Believe me, with him guiding him, Harry's future will only be brighter!"

Elaine is highly talented, strong, eloquent, and a good leader, combining the strengths of both himself and Gellert, but he is more like Gellert.

Then look at Harry: he is determined, kind-hearted, courageous, and daring. He combines the strengths of both himself and Gellert, but is more like himself.

It was only natural that these two children became friends! It was a match made in heaven! It was destiny!

Who gave Severus, that middle-aged man with such terrible interpersonal relationships, the right to comment?!