Hogwarts: From Selling White Peppers to Becoming a God

Chapter 281 Because I am his friend

"I... I was instructed by my master to steal the Philosopher's Stone after Dumbledore left."

"I first sneaked into Dumbledore's office, hoping to find some clues. The portraits were in the way, but the master taught me a spell that put them to sleep. I looked through Dumbledore's letters, but unfortunately, I didn't find any clues about how he set up the traps. However, I discovered that he was communicating with Nicolas Flamel, which led me to Nicolas Flamel's current address."

"Later, I rushed to the fourth-floor corridor and saw two young wizards, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, tied up. I hid invisibly and waited to see what was going on."

"After a while, Snape emerged from the trap with two other students. He was furious; apparently, they had wandered into the trap and he had caught them. But I noticed Tom was holding the Philosopher's Stone, and Harry was there too. This was a good opportunity. Tom kept his word, so I knocked Snape unconscious and took them both away..."

"Wait," Rahim interrupted him, "what do you mean by saying Tom kept his promise?"

“Lucas Brettson, no, not an ordinary student…” Quirrell said, “He seems to be controlled, controlled by his master… I don’t know much about it, the master didn’t explain it to me, but he was also required to obtain the Philosopher’s Stone…”

"You mean, Lucas Brettson was also Voldemort's servant?"

"No! He wasn't!" Harry exclaimed suddenly. "He was forced to; he would die if he didn't get the Philosopher's Stone."

"Lucas Brettson wanted his freedom, and the master promised him that if he brought the Philosopher's Stone and Harry, he would be free. I don't know how he did it, but the opportunity was right, so I took them both..." Quirrell continued.

"Why does Voldemort need Harry?" Rahim asked.

"Harry Potter once caused his master to lose his power. His master wanted to find out why, so he took Harry away and even wanted to use Harry's blood to make a resurrection potion. That way, whatever power Harry had, his master would also have it, and he would become stronger than before..."

Everyone frowned; Voldemort was more cunning and cautious than they had imagined!

He actually controlled two people at the same time to steal the Philosopher's Stone, and even considered using Harry to enhance his power.

"And then?"

"Later, we left the school and came to the church cemetery in Little Hangerton, where the master's father was buried, and we needed his bones..."

"Bones?" Rahim asked.

"Yes, the ingredients for the resurrection potion require my father's bones, the flesh of my servants, and the blood of my enemies. I sacrificed my left hand for this..." Quirrell said.

Everyone looked at Quirrell's severed arm, which was almost broken off at the elbow.

You didn't just give up your hand, you gave up half an arm, didn't you?

“We had all the tools ready,” Quirrell said. “We got the Philosopher’s Stone and were about to start concocting the elixir of immortality. Then Lucas Brettson changed his mind. He didn’t want to kill Harry Potter anymore; he seemed to consider him a friend…”

"When he took out the diary, he tried to attack me with his wand, but my master stopped him, subdued him, and revived the version of himself in the diary through Lucas Brettson..."

"Wait," Dumbledore, who had been silent until now, suddenly interrupted Quirrell, "You said, the diary?"

“Yes, a diary,” Quirrell said. “The master controlled Lucas Brettson with a diary. The master referred to Lucas as ‘himself,’ and he seemed to have used a method to possess Lucas’s body… but I don’t quite understand it; the master’s magic is mysterious and unpredictable…”

"Tell me about this in detail, tell me about that diary," Dumbledore commanded.

"It was a black notebook. The owner said there was a soul inside, along with some memories. Lucas Brettson, who also called himself Tom Riddle, I don't quite understand. The owner said he was a walking corpse. He found me in the Forbidden Forest when I was drinking unicorn blood for him..."

"Ah! It's you! You bastard! Murderer!" Hagrid roared, "So it was you who killed them!"

"Quiet! Let him finish!" Barty Crouch roared.

"What happened next?"

"Later, that boy, Lucas Brettson, found us. He wanted to break free from the control of the diary and regain his freedom..."

"Freedom..." Dumbledore mused, "I see."

Harry understood. "No wonder he said he saw freedom in the Magic Mirror... He's been controlled! He's been controlled by Voldemort with evil magic; he'll die if he doesn't get the Philosopher's Stone..."

"Let him continue talking about tonight, he's almost gone," said Buddy Crouch.

Quirrell was indeed nearing his end; his skin had dulled, and he was so weak he was about to collapse to the ground.

"Continue telling me what you did tonight."

"Tonight...we got the Philosopher's Stone...we went to Dumbledore's office..."

"You already said that. You said you arrived at the cemetery and then you were making potions," Rahim reminded him.

"Yes, potions. We were making potions, and then the master took control of Lucas. He cast a spell, trying to awaken the soul in the diary from Lucas's body..."

"But it seems he failed. After that guy woke up, he pretended to ask his master about the potion of resurrection, then he used Harry Potter's wand to blow up the cauldron and took the opportunity to escape with Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone..."

"So, he saved Harry Potter and prevented Voldemort from resurrecting?" Rahim asked.

"Yes, my master was furious. When he Apparated, I hit him with a Killing Curse... He should be dead..."

"Apparition?" Dumbledore noticed a detail. "Isn't it a Portkey?"

"He used Apparition to return to the Forbidden Forest, but the master tracked him down using his own spell. We rushed over, but he vanished again..."

"I'm afraid what happened after that is what I told you all before," Murphy said. "They should have shown up here with me after that."

“Let’s go through this,” Rahim said. “A long time ago, Voldemort controlled Quirrell, and then he used another artifact, the Journal, to control Lucas. But it seems Lucas wasn’t entirely under his control; he eventually rebelled against Voldemort, disrupting his plans, and then died for it…”

"Tom is a brave boy," Murphy said. "He even fought against trolls alongside Harry and the others."

"He saved me," Harry said suddenly.

"Again."

"I know he's hiding something from us. I saw his notebook... He often looks at that notebook. It turns out he's been controlled by Voldemort all along... but I didn't know..."

"He must really want to rebel, that's why he said he wanted freedom."

“He never asked me for help…” Harry’s voice choked up. “At the very end, behind the trapdoor, I know he hesitated for a moment. He might have considered handing me over to save his own life…”

But he didn't.

"Because he is my friend."

"Because I am his friend."

Overwhelmed by grief, Harry gripped his clothes tightly, using almost all his strength to keep himself from bursting into tears.

But tears still streamed down his face, and snot mixed with tears welled up in his mouth, choking him and causing him to cough and gag incessantly. He involuntarily knelt on the ground, letting snot and tears cover his entire face.

He was unconscious for most of the time; just moments before, he and Tom had confirmed their friendship.

He decided to give Tom his full trust, and he saw that Tom had let his guard down.

But the next moment, when he woke up, he saw Tom's corpse.

He had been in a state of shock for almost the entire time, and only now did he realize that he had lost this friend.

This is the friend he just made, the one he feels is most like himself—like another version of himself.

(End of this chapter)