As the new term began, none of them mentioned the mirror again. Neville looked stronger than ever, and Harry wondered whether he should be glad that he was no longer flustered by Snape in Potions.
He swore he would help Neville's parents recover, even if it would arouse the old fox's suspicion.
Strange things were happening at Hogwarts, people were secretly playing tricks on the students, and even the professors. Professor Quirrell, in particular, had been to the infirmary three times since the start of the semester. George and Fred had been summoned several times by Professor McGonagall for questioning, and each time they had returned, they had vowed to find the guy.
During the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff match, Harry caught the Snitch in three minutes, breaking the record for the quickest match ever to end at Hogwarts. Gryffindor was way ahead of the other three Houses, the team celebrated for a night, and Harry's cooking was exposed by the twins, and trouble never stopped.
The next evening, as Harry was preparing to go back to his dormitory to rest, Hermione winked at him. Puzzled, he sat back in his armchair and continued reading, secretly guessing what she was going to do.
When everyone else had left, Hermione lowered her voice and said,"Harry, you won't believe what I heard today.”
Ron and Neville pricked up their ears, but Harry had a vague idea.
Hermione said,"I saw Snape and Quirrell sneaking off into the forest today, so I followed them.”
Harry looked at her helplessly and said,"Hermione, you told me to be careful, why didn't you pay more attention to your behavior?”
said Hermione impatiently,"Well, that's not the point-you know what? Snape was pressing Quirrell about the Stone-"
Ron opened his mouth, presumably to ask what the Sorcerer's Stone was, but Hermione glared back at him.
"-they've also mentioned Hagrid's Cerberus, Fluffy, and Snape's trying to get information from Quirrell on how to get past it.”
Neville and Ron were stunned.
Hermione looked at the indifferent Harry and said anxiously,"Don't you know what this means? The trap door under the Cerberus was guarding the Sorcerer's Stone, and Snape wanted it. I suspect that there are other mechanisms besides Fluffy guarding the stone, probably a whole bunch of magic. Maybe Quirrell did some anti-Dark-Arts spells, Snape needs to break them-"
What a clever witch. Unfortunately, she had suspected the wrong person.
Again lamenting the Potions Professor's distrust, Harry said,"The Sorcerer's Stone is a magical substance with powerful magic, capable of turning any metal into pure gold, and of making the Elixir of Immortality-I'm sure a lot of people would do anything for it, but Professor Snape is not one of them.”
"Harry, it's obvious enough, why do you have to believe that old man?!”asked Ron, puzzled.
Because he was using his life to protect me, and the only thing I could do in return was to trust him wholeheartedly.
Harry was silent for a moment, and under the questioning gazes of the three, he said with a wry smile,"Instinct. Hermione, you only heard part of their conversation, didn't you?”
"Yes." Hermione admitted.
"You have to know that many things can't be seen on the surface. Perhaps you misunderstood? Personally, I'm more suspicious of Quirrell.”
Hermione and the other two looked as if they thought he was being unreasonable, but seeing how insistent he was, they said nothing more.
Harry knew they didn't believe him, but time would tell.
Severus? Snape, if someone believed in you until the last moment, would your future not be so bleak and hopeless?
――――――――――――――――――
Harry watched Charlie and his friends fly farther and farther until they were nothing more than specks of light on the horizon, then turned and left the Astronomy Tower.
Slowly descending the spiraling staircase, Harry felt a sense of relief.
The days of hiding and being frightened were finally over. At least his appearance did not expose Hagrid's dragon. Ron and Neville wanted to see Norbert off that night, but he refused.
"It's easier to avoid being discovered if I'm alone-the box is too big? You can still use the Levitation Charm!"
He had left the Cloak in the tower, hoping Dumbledore would find it. Well, he didn't want to get into trouble, but it was better to use this excuse to go to the forest than that old fox to think of other ways to torture him.
Filch had suddenly emerged from the darkness.
"Alright! Potter,"he said gloatingly," you're in trouble!”
In Professor McGonagall's office, Malfoy was bowing his head in a penitent gesture, and when he saw Harry following Filch, he said in surprise,"Why is it you?"
Snape was sitting in the chair opposite him, looking at them coldly and saying nothing.
Filch chuckled and said,"Professor McGonagall, I found this student on the stairs of the Astronomy Tower.”
"Harry, I always thought you were a good boy!”Professor McGonagall looked at him incredulously." Can you explain to me what you were doing in the Astronomy Tower at one o'clock in the morning instead of staying in your dormitory?”
Harry pursed his lips, looked troubled, then lowered his head and whispered,"I'm sorry, Professor,"
Professor McGonagall's voice was sharp."It wasn't hard to guess, actually. You told Malfoy that ridiculous story about the dragon and tried to pull him out of bed for a prank.”
Harry jerked his head up and opened his mouth as though he wanted to explain, but he didn't. Tears of grievance welled up in his green eyes. He lowered his head again and said gloomily,
"I'm sorry, Professor,"
"I'm very disappointed in you, Harry," said Professor McGonagall coolly."You have no right to wander the school grounds at night, especially during this period, which is very dangerous-now, Gryffindor will lose fifty points!”
“50？”Harry gasped and looked pleadingly at Professor McGonagall."Professor-please-"
"Don't tell me what I should and shouldn't do, Potter. Now, go back to your dormitory-I've never been so ashamed of a Gryffindor!”
Snape stood up and said coldly,"Minerva, you rest. I'll send them back.”
Snape was hurrying along the long corridor, Malfoy and Harry trotting at his heels.
Malfoy hesitated several times as he watched Harry's depressed face. He was left at the door of the Slytherin lounge. Snape led Harry upstairs.
In front of the portrait of the Fat Lady, Harry bowed slightly to Snape and said,"Thank you, Professor."
"You-"
Harry stole a glance at him and said sadly,"I'm sorry, Professor. But it wasn't me about Malfoy-I really didn't-"
His voice began to choke.
Snape looked at him with a complicated expression and left without saying anything.
Why did he leave without saying a word?
He felt a little depressed as he looked at her receding figure.
Forget it, could it be that he was still hoping for that guy to comfort him tenderly?
Harry felt a chill run down his spine at the thought.
He said to the Fat Lady,"Lucky stars!”
The Fat Lady opened the lounge door in a daze.
Harry climbed inside and saw Neville and the others sitting by the fireplace, waiting for him.
"Neville!" He rushed in front of them, his tears falling.
Neville said nervously,"What's wrong?”
Harry sniffed and said,"I left the Invisibility Cloak in the Astronomy Tower and ran into Filch on the way. Professor McGonagall... Professor McGonagall took fifty points from Gryffindor! Wuuu…what should I do…"
Neville breathed a sigh of relief and said,"I thought Norbert had been discovered.”
Ron shook his head and said,"Harry, you don't have to scare people like that, do you? Wasn't it just a deduction of 50 points? Gryffindor was already leading by so many points, so it was not a big deal.”
Hermione said,"It's a good thing we didn't go together, or we'd have lost a lot of points. Harry, don't worry, nobody's going to blame you. You've earned enough points in lessons and won enough Quidditch matches.”
"Yeah, it's enough to deduct a few more times.”said Ron seriously.
Hermione rolled her eyes at him and said,"Since you're fine, go and rest. You still have classes tomorrow.”
The next day, when the Gryffindors found out about what happened last night, they really did not have much of a reaction.
Wood just looked at Harry with a headache and said,"Harry-why are you alone again? Well, it's rare to have a good Gryffindor student who's been led astray by Weasley-"
George happily put his arm around his shoulder and said,""Harry, Harry, how disloyal of you to go out at night without us. I say, when did you become so passionate about exploring the castle?”
Fred winked at him and said,"Next time, we'll take you to a few fun places. Don't wander around by yourself again. It's very dangerous at Hogwarts at night without a guide.”
I'm innocent…
A few days later, he received a note:
"Your detention starts at eleven o'clock tonight. Look for Mr. Filch in the hall. - Professor McGonagall "
——
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