“Yawn…”
A few days later, in the Great Hall, Will sat at the Slytherin table, yawning as he cut into a sausage that was almost bursting open.
Sylvia handed him the ketchup after noticing the dark circles beneath his eyes.
“What’s been going on with you these past few days? You haven’t been sneaking around every night, have you?”
“No, I just got too absorbed in studying.”
Will yawned again as he spoke, wondering if he should drink a Draught of Living Death this weekend and sleep soundly for the entire weekend.
His intensive study of Ancient Runes over the past few days had yielded significant results.
His Runes progress had already reached LV1 (89/100), and even his Charms experience had increased considerably.
If anyone else had claimed they were so absorbed in studying that they forgot to eat and sleep, Sylvia might have been skeptical.
But coming from Will, she didn’t doubt it at all.
“You haven’t been staying in the Room of Requirement every night these past few days, have you?”
“Where else would I go? The Room of Requirement is much more comfortable than the dorms.”
Ever since Will had requested a “comfortable and livable room” from the Room of Requirement, he rarely returned to his dormitory to rest.
After all, he had a single room, so no one would notice if he didn’t go back.
“That’s true.”
Sylvia thought for a moment.
That “comfortable and livable room” was not only spacious and luxurious but also warm and cozy.
Although the lack of windows was a major drawback, Slytherin’s dormitories didn’t have windows either.
This gave Sylvia a few ideas of her own.
“Will, can I stay in the Room of Requirement too?”
“Hey, hold on. There’s an Eastern proverb that says, ‘Men and women should not touch each other intimately.'”
Will righteously refused Sylvia.
“Instead of thinking about that, why not think about what we’re going to do in class later?”
Today’s first class was Defense Against the Dark Arts.
The young Wizards basically did whatever they wanted during this class.
Some would sleep, some would play around, some would read books, and others would catch up on homework.
In any case, almost no one listened to Professor Quirrell as he stammered through stories at the front of the classroom.
Albanian vampires, old hags, and other such topics interested no one.
Will usually spent the class reading and gaining experience.
“Yawn…”
Today, however, he was wondering whether he should catch up on some sleep.
At the professors’ table, Dumbledore looked at the yawning Will, his expression unreadable.
“Today, today we will talk about… about… Ancient… Wendigo, and the Dark… Dark Wizard… Metis’s inven-inven-invented Wendigo Transfiguration Spell.”
Just as he finished pronouncing the incantation for the Wendigo Transfiguration Spell, Will, who had been half-asleep, suddenly looked up and raised his hand.
The gesture immediately attracted attention.
Even some of the students who had been fooling around looked at Will in surprise, wondering what the top student was up to.
After all, Professor Quirrell’s classes were generally considered to be about as interesting as Professor Binns’s.
“Mr. Be-Behrens, is there… something… you need?”
Professor Quirrell had probably never encountered a first-year Wizard who actually raised his hand during one of his lessons.
“The Spell structure of the Wendigo Transfiguration Spell is very similar to Runes, and even the pronunciation of the incantation is close to several Ancient Runes. However, to my knowledge, those Runes don’t have any Transfiguration effect.”
Will looked at Professor Quirrell.
“So how did Metis use those Runes to create a Transfiguration effect?”
His question left the young Wizards in the classroom confused and stunned.
As first-year Wizards, many of them didn’t even know what Runes were, yet Will was already discussing Spell structures with the professor.
It was like zoning out in a basic mathematics class, only to hear the teacher suddenly discussing advanced calculus with the top student.
Who am I?
Where am I?
What are they talking about?
What is this guy even talking about?
That was the reaction of most of the students.
Professor Quirrell’s gaze swept across the noisy classroom before he walked over to Will.
“This… this is the… characteristic of Runes, and the… the effect of combining it with… with… Rune structure… structure variations. For example…”
Will’s face twitched as he listened.
Professor Quirrell’s explanation was incredibly frustrating.
For nearly ten minutes, he stammered and stumbled through his explanation, yet Will still felt as though he had barely understood anything.
The man hadn’t explained it clearly at all.
Seeing Will’s confused expression, Professor Quirrell sighed.
“Mr. Be-Behrens, after… after class, come… come to my office. I… I will… tell… tell you about Runes…”
“?”
A look of complete confusion appeared on Will’s face.
For the rest of the class, Will had no interest in listening.
Instead, he kept wondering whether he should actually go.
He even considered going straight to the Headmaster’s office after class and asking Dumbledore for help.
But then there was the obvious problem.
How would he explain knowing Professor Quirrell’s true identity?
After thinking it over for a long time, Will eventually arrived at Professor Quirrell’s office.
Lord Voldemort’s most urgent task right now was obtaining the Philosopher’s Stone.
If he acted against Will and exposed himself prematurely, there would be no benefit in doing so. New chapters come out on g.com first.
So what would be the point?
And if he could gain a large amount of experience from this, it wouldn’t be a bad thing.
After all, every time he consulted Professor Flitwick, he gained experience.
Professor Quirrell, at the very least, was an excellent graduate and a proper professor.
He was merely hiding his true abilities to conceal Lord Voldemort.
Just in case, Will had also given Sylvia a heads-up, telling her to find Dumbledore if she noticed anything unusual about him later.
“Professor.”
Will pushed open the door.
Professor Quirrell was leisurely drinking tea, leaning back on the sofa as he gestured for Will to sit.
He completely lacked his usual timid demeanor.
Instead, he appeared confident and elegant, as if everything before had been nothing more than an elaborate disguise.
Will appropriately showed a look of surprise.
“You are…?”
“Sometimes, a proper disguise can make people underestimate you while also allowing you to avoid a lot of unnecessary work. I’m merely a new professor, and I don’t really want to take on too much trouble.”
Professor Quirrell poured Will a cup of black tea.
“I used to not understand the master-apprentice system among Wizards, but later I realized that a Wizard’s energy is limited. We simply don’t have enough time to devote ourselves to mediocre people. I can only choose intelligent students in this way.”
“Thank you for the compliment.”
Will sat opposite him, feeling slightly suspicious.
Was this still Professor Quirrell, or was Lord Voldemort already in control?
He quickly filled his mind with thoughts of shock.
After all, Lord Voldemort was also a master of Legilimency.
It was better to fill his mind with irrelevant thoughts than allow his true intentions to be discovered.
Will didn’t want to use Occlumency right now and draw unnecessary attention.
Old Dumbledore might respect his privacy, but Lord Voldemort certainly wouldn’t.
“This is not merely a compliment. Mr. Behrens, intelligent and talented students always receive special treatment.”
Professor Quirrell smiled.
“You know, Behrens, when I look at you, it is almost like looking at my younger self. Intelligent, confident, excellent. Although, compared to me, you are still lacking a little humility.”
“Professor Quirrell” wore a nostalgic expression as he recalled his youth, his tone carrying a hint of wistfulness.
Will was now certain.
This was definitely Lord Voldemort.
“Then, Professor, please instruct me on the Rune structure variations.”
Will blinked.
He clearly noticed that the moment he called him “Professor,” Professor Quirrell’s smile became even brighter.