Hogwarts: From Little Wizard to White Lord

When Hermione got angry, she was like a ferocious little lion, leaving Ron speechless.

Harry also scratched his face uncomfortably.

In terms of being distracted while doing homework, he and Ron were almost exactly the same, so naturally he didn't dare to offend Hermione and attract her attention.

Fortunately, Hermione didn't dwell on the issue.

She continued, "Based on our previous investigations and the feedback I've received recently, the other professors can basically be ruled out as suspects. Between Snape and Quirrell, I'm more inclined to believe that Professor Quirrell is the dark wizard!"

This answer did not satisfy Harry and Ron.

"why?"

"Yeah, that old Snape... I mean, you saw how Snape treated Harry. He almost wished he would die. In comparison, Professor Quirrell was so good to Harry. He was even Harry's admirer!"

Harry scratched his face again, feeling a little embarrassed.

"That's the problem." Hermione's eyes sparkled as she looked at Harry. "Harry, do you remember what you told us about the day you first entered Diagon Alley?"

"Well, of course I remember. I'll never forget that day."

Harry replied, his expression a bit bewildered. "Why do you ask?"

Hermione didn't answer directly, but said, "I find that we have been wandering in misunderstandings. We always want to find out who the dark wizards are by observing the suspicious behavior of professors, but the fact is that we don't have that ability or vision."

"So I tried to think from a different perspective. Since we can't judge professors based on their current behavior, can we investigate their past whereabouts and analyze them?"

"Harry, the day you went to Diagon Alley was also the day Hagrid took the Philosopher's Stone from Gringotts, and the day the Gringotts theft occurred. Of all the professors in Hogwarts, how many did you meet that day?"

"I..." Harry was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized what Hermione meant. His eyes widened: "...There's only one, the Leaky Cauldron, Quirrell!"

Hagrid takes the Philosopher's Stone, Gringotts is robbed, and Quirrell is in the Leaky Cauldron.

Everything that seemed like a coincidence suddenly became a thread at this moment.

Seeing Harry's surprised expression, Hermione nodded in satisfaction. "Yes, I investigated. During that time, except for Professor Quirrell and Professor McGonagall, all other professors were at Hogwarts and never left. Excluding Professor McGonagall, only Quirrell was there. The time and place are extremely consistent with the theft at Gringotts."

Neither Ron nor Harry questioned the exclusion of Professor McGonagall.

Her severity and fairness had long been deeply rooted in people's hearts. Even though Harry and Ron had been scolded and reprimanded by her, they never resented her.

The two looked at each other.

Harry still didn't give up. "Was Snape at Hogwarts at the time? Maybe he sneaked out?"

"Yes, he's there!" Hermione opened her bag and pulled out several newspapers and records, unfolding them for the two to see. "These are the 'Extraordinary Potions' newspapers from those days, as well as the school owl usage records. Snape was arguing with someone over the newspapers those days. The reason was that Vaughn was about to enroll, and some pharmacists who opposed Vaughn's magic extraction method were clamoring for Hogwarts to rescind his admission."

"Look here. On the day of the Gringotts theft, Snape used owls 46 times, covering almost every time of the day. Unless he could write a letter and invade Gringotts at the same time, it definitely couldn't be him!"

Harry and Ron looked over the records.

It was indeed as Hermione said, Snape used owls very frequently during those days, and the fierce "war of words" in the newspapers was also consistent with this frequency.

The Owlery at Hogwarts is enchanted, and all owls that inhabit it have a contract to authenticate their presence, with their entries and exits automatically recorded.

Harry felt his mouth dry and was stunned for a long moment before he raised his head with a complicated expression.

Although he was still reluctant to admit it, after listening to Hermione's analysis and the corresponding evidence, no matter how unlikely it was, at the moment, Quirrell was indeed the most likely suspect.

This made him feel particularly absurd and unreal.

Because all along, perhaps because of the similar situation, he was once as weak as Quirrell, bullied and looked down upon, so he has always sympathized with Quirrell.

Quirrell was also the professor in the school who valued him the most and was the most friendly to him.

Dust-forgotten memories emerged again, and he seemed to see again the terrifying figure wandering in the corridor on the fourth floor on Halloween night last year, with powerful and evil magic that distorted the light around it.

My forehead ached slightly because of this.

Harry touched the scar on his forehead, lay down on the sofa, and asked Hermione: "Then, what should we do?"

The unexpected truth made him very confused and he couldn't even make up his mind.

Hermione sighed, "Nothing much, there's nothing we can do."

"what?"

"These are all speculations, Harry. We have no evidence. No dark wizard has appeared since Halloween. We can't use such reasons to question a professor. Not only will we fail to expose him, but we will also alarm him!"

Harry's forehead was bulging with veins, and he was a little emotional: "Are we just going to watch?"

Unexpectedly, the usually reckless Ron also agreed with Hermione this time: "Harry, Hermione is right. We have no evidence. It is impossible to identify a professor based on speculation. It's just like in Muggle society. Even if you know someone is a bad guy, you can't do anything to him without evidence."

Harry gasped heavily. He didn't want to hear such words. He only knew that he felt very uncomfortable, like angry and disappointed.

Although it was not very strong, the fact that someone who was usually very nice to him secretly wanted to harm him undoubtedly hurt him.

He sat down for a while, then stood up and paced back and forth. After thinking it over, he could not bear it any longer. "If you don't do it, I will do it. I will go find Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore!"

After saying that, he hurried out of Gryffindor Tower.

Ron shouted quickly, "Harry, don't be impulsive, wait for me!"

Followed.

Hermione sighed and followed behind. In fact, when she deduced the "truth", she told Vaughan the first time.

Vaughan didn't say whether her speculation was correct, but simply asked her, "How are you going to prove it to Dumbledore and the professors?"

She couldn't prove it, and she didn't think Professor McGonagall would listen to a student.

Sure enough, when Hermione followed and rushed to Professor McGonagall's office, she heard the stern voice of the Vice-Principal:

"Mr. Potter, what evidence do you have to prove that Professor Quirrell is the dark... dark wizard on Halloween night?"

"I……"

"Mr. Potter, is this your new trick to avoid doing your homework? Honestly, you're incredibly bold. No student has ever dared to use slandering a professor as an excuse!"

"I'm not, I didn't—"

"Oh, so Mr. Potter, have you finished your homework?"

Harry: "..."

Outside the door, Ron's hand froze as he was about to knock, and Hermione covered her face.

The words "Have you finished your homework?" extinguished Harry's anger.

He should be thankful that Professor McGonagall still expected him to do well in the Quidditch match after Easter, so she rarely showed favoritism and concealed the matter.

If it were usual, the punishment of double homework would definitely be inevitable.

Along with his anger, Harry's dependence on adults was also extinguished.

On the way back, he said angrily to his two friends, "I shouldn't have relied on those adults. They have been searching for such a dangerous dark wizard for half a year and still haven't found him. Since they don't believe us, then we should do it ourselves!"

Ron was stunned: "What do you mean by yourself?"

"Of course, we're keeping an eye on Quirrell!" Harry said solemnly with a determined expression, "Ron, Hermione, from today on, we have to keep an eye on Quirrell's every move. He's definitely not going to give up the Philosopher's Stone. Sooner or later, he'll give up and reveal his true colors."

"Since the adults can't be relied upon, we will guard the Philosopher's Stone!"

Ron swallowed his saliva. He had never met the dark wizard face to face, but he had heard Harry talk about him more than once. Unlike Harry who was ignorant of magic, Ron knew very well how powerful and crazy a dark wizard who dared to cast the Killing Curse in Hogwarts was.

But he was a Gryffindor after all.

It would be impossible to ask him to give in and show fear of a "mere" dark wizard.

So he quickly thought of a way to reduce the risk:

"Harry, I think we need to tell Vaughn about this. We can't rely on the professors. Only Vaughn can help us now. At least he stopped that dark wizard before!"

Hermione couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Don't you always hate asking your brother for help?"

"These are two different things." Ron said righteously, "I didn't ask him for help normally because of my dignity. Now I want to ask him for help because of the safety of both of you. As long as I can keep you safe, what does it matter if I sacrifice my dignity?"

Hermione: "..."

Harry's eyes sparkled with emotion.

……

The next day at noon, Ron appeared stealthily outside Vaughn's dormitory door.

Guoguocha greeted him with her paws.

Perhaps because he needed a favor, Ron didn't scold it this time.

He even brought a bag of dried fish for Guoguocha, but Guoguocha didn't even smell it and just swept it away with her tail in disgust.

Ron told Vaughn what had happened and what they were planning, then looked at him expectantly: "You'll help us, right?"

In the spacious dormitory that originally could accommodate 4 or 5 people, but now only Vaughn is there, the shimmering light reflected from the Black Lake makes everything seem quiet and mysterious.

Vaughn sat behind his desk, half his face hidden in the darkness, making it difficult for Ron to see his expression. He could only see that he had his chin supported by one hand, and his eyes seemed to be filled with interest.

"What if I say 'no'?"

"Merlin!" Ron opened his mouth wide. "Harry is your friend, Hermione is your girlfriend, and I, your brother..."

"Ha—Ronald Weasley, we grew up together. How many times have you admitted that you are my younger brother?"

Ron blushed. "Why all that nonsense? Are you going to agree or not?"

"Huh? Is that how you ask for help?" Vaughn played with his quill and said with a smile, "I don't quite agree. I'll give you another chance."

Ron's cheeks tightened, and he gritted his teeth.

But he didn't resist in the end, and squeezed out a mosquito-like voice from between his teeth: "Brother! Brother! Please help us!"

Seeing him hesitant, Vaughn laughed heartily. Seeing Ron on the verge of collapse, he finally nodded. "No problem, my dear brother. Even though you're stupid, bad-tempered, and smelly, like a stone in the toilet, as a brother, I will never dislike you or give up on you."

Ron: "...I've never met a brother like you!"

"Well, now you see, Ronald. Speaking of which, if you were so reluctant, why didn't you let Hermione tell me?"

Ron snorted, "I was the one who proposed it, so I can't just hide behind it!"

Tsk!

It seems that he really underestimated this guy's courage and responsibility. Bravery and brainless recklessness are two different concepts. In the past, Vaughn always felt that Ron was a bit like the latter.

After sending Ron away, Vaughn went straight to the principal's office.

He told Dumbledore, who had just finished lunch and was enjoying dessert, that Harry and the other two had decided to monitor Quirrell.

Dumbledore was not surprised. "As expected, Vaughn. Harry is not one to give up easily. He can be reckless at times, and it is precisely because of this flaw that he needs to be tested."