The Silent Bookstore Manager at Hogwarts

"Professor Snape, may we say 'How have you been?'?"

Red stood behind the three unfortunate men who were loudly plotting. Beside him, Snape was staring at Red, seemingly brewing something viciously.

"If I were you, I wouldn't do what I want to do in such an awkward and roundabout way... You could have just explained everything to Harry. Neither he nor I know what happened, but I know it must be related to his background."

Red's words made Snape's face turn very ugly.

"You... do you really think you can lecture me with your shallow experience?"

"No, it's just a suggestion... Professor Snape, ideas can't be conveyed without being spoken."

Seeing Snape's almost stressful reaction, Red knew that Snape had hit the nail on the head. Before Snape's emotions exploded, Red grabbed his bag and ran away. As for Hermione, who was talking badly about Snape, and Harry, who had always been disliked by Snape, Red could only wish them good luck.

Red returned to their secret base ahead of time, where he practiced armor protection.

Compared to the armor protection released through the [Decree of Thresholds], the armor protection enhanced by the [Decree of Inviolability] is closer to its original effect. Red can even turn it into a wall, an invisible but insurmountable high wall.

"This is terrible, that bastard Snape is like a powder keg today..."

Hermione walked into the empty classroom with a bitter face. Actually, it wasn't exactly empty; there were many small handicrafts made by Harry, such as various kinds of lenses, or some more whimsical things.

"Isn't this... a pebble from the roadside?"

Ron looked at the strange black shards that had been newly placed on the shelf. The thing that looked like coal dust was placed solemnly next to the lenses that Harry had polished himself. This was incredible to Ron, since he had actually seen how Harry used those lenses.

"No, Ron...it's some kind of substance that alchemy produced from the very beginning...it shouldn't be explained that way, but I can't find a better explanation."

Harry spoke somewhat awkwardly, explaining that after understanding the knowledge gained from the "Commandments of the Hammer and Anvil" and the "Bell and Bronze," he successfully used his magic and the power of his soul to conjure a strange bottle of black crystals out of thin air, under Red's guidance. This was what Red had called the beginning of "Theft of Fire."

【Bitter Black Salt】: Bitter as chicory, black as a secret, but this is the first step in traditional alchemy. (Attribute: 1 Casting) (Can be used as a pigment.) (Making requires specific Great Arts combined with the power of 5 Castings.)

Harry rubbed his neck; the illusory flame still coursing through his veins. When he felt anger, that power would appear, seemingly the influence of the Golden General, more violent and powerful than the Colonel's.

"Harry... you should get ready. We need to bring everything today. I think we already asked Hagrid, right?"

Harry nodded. Hagrid always failed when he tried to keep quiet, as if they hadn't put in much effort at all to learn from Hagrid that Fluffy, who guarded the trapdoor in the fourth-floor room, would fall asleep whenever he heard music.

"We need to hurry, or Voldemort's minions might get the Philosopher's Stone first..."

Hermione couldn't even imagine the disaster that would ensue if such a powerful artifact fell into Voldemort's hands. What made her even more uneasy was that the professors who remained at the school seemed completely oblivious to this potential danger. Professor McGonagall even advised them to go back to their dormitories and prepare to enjoy their vacation, but she simply couldn't bring herself to do it.

"Even in an emergency, make sure you have all your equipment. The fourth floor is still closed. We can't risk getting caught going there."

Although Hermione was extremely anxious, she understood the situation. The other people at Hogwarts wouldn't agree with what they knew, and if they were caught now, getting back to the place behind the trapdoor would be incredibly difficult. So they could only wait until late at night to take action.

That's why Red returned to Hufflepuff's common room, where he bumped into several enthusiastic classmates.

"Red, we've finally found you!!"

"That's what one Hufflepuff said," Red slapped his cheek. He rarely appeared in the Hufflepuff common room, or rather, rarely appeared in front of his classmates. He preferred to be alone or with his apprentices.

"What's wrong? Is there anything you need my help with?" Red asked instinctively, but his Hufflepuff classmates shook their heads with smiles on their faces.

"Red, let's take you to the kitchen for something different!! You've never been to the kitchen before! That's not how a proper Hufflepuff should behave."

Red paused for a moment, probably not quite able to connect the kitchen with Hufflepuff, but he touched his stomach and realized he was indeed hungry, so he gladly accepted his classmates' invitation and went into the Hogwarts kitchen, where he met a group of house-elves preparing various foods.

"It may be a bit presumptuous of me, but may I order?"

Red asked a question, and the house-elves looked at him in great shock.

"Of course, my dear little wizard! What would you like to eat? Hughes will do everything in his power to serve it to you!"

A house-elf wearing a chef's hat spoke solemnly, and Red began to order, not only describing what he wanted to eat, but also detailing how it would be prepared. After Red finished speaking, he sat down quietly, hoping that the house-elves could recreate the taste he remembered.

"Speaking of which, Reid, where do you usually go? Do you know everyone's started betting on who can find you after class?"

As Hannah said this, Reid hadn't expected it. He would indeed start using his time efficiently as soon as get out of class was over, to the point that after a semester, he was almost becoming one of the Hufflepuff legends.

"Ah, it's probably because I run fast, I've been really busy lately... By the way, I wish you all sweet dreams tonight and a happy holiday."

Red put the bun in his mouth and quietly savored the taste he missed. From this moment on, he would be fully prepared to face a battle, a battle that might be very dangerous.