Hogwarts Study Panel

Chapter 197: Quirrell and Snape

As darkness fell, Sheen, led by Hagrid, even spotted some Bowtruckles.

These little guys are quite shy, but overall they didn't reject Sheen, allowing Sheen to raise the affinity level of one of them to the apprentice level.

Hagrid loudly praised Sheen for his great talent in magical creatures, just like one of the old men in Hufflepuff.

It was time for dinner at Hogwarts.

Just at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, a flying broomstick took off. Harry glided silently over the castle, following a hooded figure into the Forbidden Forest.

Sheen was saying goodbye to Hagrid when he saw Harry sneaking around.

He raised his hand, and a broom flew out of the castle like lightning.

In a safe and unmanned environment, Sheen unleashed the full potential of the broom, leaving even the fastest Seeker likely to be left trailing behind in dust.

Above the Forbidden Forest, Harry was restless. The trees were too dense for him to see where Professor Snape had gone after leaving the castle.

He circled, lower and lower, skimming the treetops, until finally he heard voices. He flew gracefully towards them and landed quietly on a tall beech tree.

Below, in a shadowy clearing, stood Professor Snape, but he was not alone. Professor Quirrell was there too.

Harry couldn't see his expression, but he was stuttering worse than ever. Harry listened intently to what they were saying.

"...No, I don't know why you...why you chose to meet here, Severus..."

“Oh, I don’t think this should be made public,”

Snape said in a cold voice,
"After all, students shouldn't know about the Philosopher's Stone."

Harry's heart skipped a beat, and he listened even more intently to the conversation that followed.

"...Not long after you have had time to think things through and decide who you are loyal to, we will talk again."

Professor Snape pulled his cloak over his head and strode out of the clearing. It was almost completely dark, but Harry could still see Quirrell standing there motionless, like a clay or wooden statue.

Harry's face had turned deathly pale by then.

If Professor Snape wasn't the mastermind—after all, he once stopped the mastermind's curse on the Quidditch pitch.

Therefore, the person he has his eye on, Professor Quirrell, is very likely to be involved.

Why would Professor Quirrell want to harm himself?
And for whom is he... loyal?
Harry had clearly thought of a possibility.

"Harry?"

A voice sounded.

"Voldemort!"

Harry blurted it out.

Then he saw Sheen looking at him with a puzzled expression.

“I wasn’t talking about you, I was talking about Sheen—”

The moment Harry saw Sheehan, his panic, fear, and anxiety seemed to be released.

He was much calmer.

"You heard that too, Sheen?"

Harry asked cautiously.

"Ah."

Sheehan roughly understood that because of his confidence in Professor Snape, none of the young wizards in Hope Hut suspected Professor Snape.

Harry didn't completely misunderstand Professor Snape this time either. Although he still thought Professor Snape was his enemy, he at least didn't think the professor wanted to kill him.

"Professor Quirrell...is he trying to steal the Philosopher's Stone?"

Harry seemed to be asking Sheehan a question, or perhaps talking to himself. ...

"What should we do, Sheen?"

Inside Hope Cottage, Harry shared this important information with everyone, and the round table was now filled with wizards.

Everyone held their breath, waiting for Sheen's answer.

The fireplace burned fiercely, illuminating the cabin. Because it was an emergency assembly, no candles were lit, making the young wizard's face at the head of the table appear enigmatic.

After asking the question, Justin fell silent; he was always a bit smarter than the young wizards present.

So he easily came up with certain possibilities, regarding the plans of one of the greatest white wizards.

Neville was trembling, while Hermione frowned deeply. She suddenly thought that if she had stopped Professor Snape from the stands that day, would Quirrell have succeeded?

So she pursed her lips, her heart filled with panic, until she felt a little better when she focused her gaze on Sheen.

Sheen stopped her in time. This suggests that Sheen may have already discovered it...

Sheen sat in the main seat, but he wasn't actually thinking at all.

Regarding the first year, Voldemort had a hundred ways to die, but none of them would have resulted in him obtaining the Philosopher's Stone.

Unless a young wizard goes to the fourth-floor corridor and gets taken hostage by Voldemort, he will never be able to get past the final test of the Magic Mirror—only wizards who do not desire the Philosopher's Stone can obtain it.

Headmaster Dumbledore had noticed Professor Quirrell's unusual behavior long ago. In fact, the reason he didn't deal with it immediately was more to give Harry an opportunity to gain experience.

"Just keep your distance from Professor Quirrell and keep an eye on him. Use this if there are any special circumstances..."

Sheen said softly, and took out a stack of white paper that looked quite ordinary.

"what is this?"

Everyone looked at the stack of white paper with curiosity. Ron asked in a low voice, somewhat puzzled.

Sheen calmly wrote a name with a quill and picked up the paper. It immediately folded into a paper airplane and flew with incredible speed through the inside of the round table to Ron's hand.

"A seven-second paper airplane. At Hogwarts Castle, it can arrive in seven seconds. Write the name on it beforehand, and when you use it, just touch it and think of the name of the person you want to deliver it to."

This is the contact information that Professor Terra gave to Sheen. Since it is reusable, there are actually a few extra, which are now coming in handy.

The firelight illuminated every face.

After leaving Hope Hut, everyone seemed to be carrying a heavy task on their shoulders.

A Voldemort henchman has infiltrated Hogwarts Castle...

Harry and Ron didn't even know if Headmaster Dumbledore knew, while Hermione and Justin's thoughts went much deeper.

They did not believe that Headmaster Dumbledore was completely unaware; he clearly had some kind of plan.

Therefore, the two harbored some hidden anger:
“Headmaster Dumbledore knew about this. But instead of resolving it, he put Hogwarts in danger. I don’t think it was a good plan.”

Hermione said, somewhat angrily.

She recalled the three-headed dog they faced, at which point she thought she was going to die.

"Do you know what I've realized, Hermione?"

Justin nodded in approval.

"Relying on others is useless... We have a better chance of winning if we rely on ourselves."

Justin seemed to understand why Sheen was always studying magic non-stop.

He and Hermione remained silent for a long while in the hallway.

The two seemed to have undergone some subtle, unique changes.

(End of this chapter)