Harry and his friends, having learned about Nicolas Flamel and the Philosopher’s Stone from Will, fell into a state of anxiety.
They were convinced that Snape intended to steal the Philosopher’s Stone and give it to Lord Voldemort, and they were trying to come up with a countermeasure.
“If you ask me, we should go and protect the Philosopher’s Stone,” Ron said, then added, “Or we should get our hands on the Philosopher’s Stone; that way it would be easier to protect it.”
Harry nodded in agreement, “Ron is right, we should get our hands on the Philosopher’s Stone.”
“Are you insane?” Hermione’s face was full of disbelief.
“Harry defeated You-Know-Who, remember? Maybe it would be safest if Harry held that stone,” Ron’s eyes darted around a bit.
“That’s not what I’m talking about,” Hermione glared at Ron, “How are you going to get past the trapdoor guarded by that big dog? It could swallow both of you in one gulp, and it has another head watching the others, wondering whether to add them to the meal!”
“Harry, it’s too dangerous, you’re going to your deaths, you can’t possibly get under the trapdoor,” Neville also tried to dissuade them, though his words were a bit harsh.
“Don’t be silly, Neville, we’ll figure something out,” Ron mumbled, “Anyway, we absolutely must get the Philosopher’s Stone before Snape.”
“We could ask Hagrid how to subdue that big dog,” Harry had just proposed the idea when Ron shot it down.
“Harry, Hagrid doesn’t seem just angry; and I don’t think he’ll tell us how to deal with that big dog. He doesn’t even want to believe Snape would hurt you.”
“I meant we could ask him after he cools down. Hagrid reveals a lot of information when he’s happy, remember just now?” Harry’s words made everyone realize that Hagrid wasn’t good at keeping secrets.
“Maybe we could give Hagrid some Christmas presents to cheer him up.”
“But what does Hagrid like?” Neville wasn’t very familiar with Hagrid yet.
“He loves everything related to magical creatures,” Harry said decisively, “We can give him some gifts related to magical creatures.”
“I’ll write to Charlie and ask him to send me a bag of Dragon scales,” Ron thought of his second brother, who was studying Dragons in Romania.
He wanted his second brother to get him some scraps.
“Ron, Dragon scales are very valuable magic materials; they can be used not only for alchemy but also for making Potions or as special materials. Also, I read in a book that staff members cannot arbitrarily take any Dragon products. Are you sure your brother will really send you a bag?” Hermione reminded him, which made Ron pause.
“I can pay, I still have a lot of Galleons in my vault,” Harry volunteered, the most important thing to him now was to stop Lord Voldemort.
“And, I think we should tell Professor Dumbledore,” Hermione proposed her idea.
Neville stood beside Hermione, “I, I also think we should tell Professor Dumbledore, we can’t compare.”
“Hermione, what are you talking about?” Ron stared at Hermione, a bit confused, “Wouldn’t that be equivalent to confessing to Professor Dumbledore that we entered the corridor on the right side of the fourth floor?”
Hermione looked at Ron and Harry, and said seriously, “Don’t be foolish. What if we can’t stop Snape? He’s an adult Wizard and a Professor at Hogwarts. You don’t think you can handle Snape, do you? We should tell Professor Dumbledore. Don’t forget, he’s the only person You-Know-Who fears. If we want to stop You-Know-Who’s plot, we should tell Professor Dumbledore.”
Hermione stared at the three boys seriously…
Harry stood in front of the Principal’s office, feeling a bit dry in his throat.
Would Professor Dumbledore deduct points from Gryffindor because he trespassed into that corridor?
Would he believe his words?
Would he believe Snape wanted to steal the Philosopher’s Stone?
He suddenly felt that his friends sending him was a mistake, and he didn’t know the password to the office.
What if Professor Dumbledore wasn’t in the office today or didn’t come back?
Would he have to wait all day?
Fortunately, a few minutes later, his doubts were dispelled.
Professor Dumbledore opened the door and came out, his eyes behind his half-moon spectacles revealing a look of surprise: “Harry, what are you doing here?”
Harry swallowed, “Professor, I want to talk to you about the Philosopher’s Stone.”
Dumbledore raised an eyebrow and let Harry into the office.
An hour later, Harry came out of the office and faced his friends, Harry told them a piece of news: “Professor Dumbledore said that Snape is absolutely trustworthy and he couldn’t possibly steal the Philosopher’s Stone.”
Their investigation had hit a dead end…
As for Will, Will didn’t get involved in these troublesome matters; he tirelessly grinded for experience day after day.
[You have used a spell multiple times, you are more proficient with a certain spell, Charms experience +1]
[You have acquired new Curses knowledge, Curses experience +1]
[You have acquired new Dark Arts knowledge, Dark Arts experience +1]
[You have acquired new spell knowledge, Charms experience +1]
The past month had been quite peaceful for him.
Before Christmas, he finally leveled up twice, raising Curses to Level 2 and Herbology to Level 3.
Most importantly, he had accumulated a lot of Runes experience, having grinded Runes to [Runes LV2 (100/200)].
It wouldn’t be long before Runes also gained an additional ability.
[Potions LV3 (99/300)]
(LV2 additional ability, Eye of Discernment: You can more easily distinguish changes in Potion states; LV3 additional ability, Potion Proliferation: The yield of Potions you brew increases by 5%)
[Curses LV2 (79/200)]
(LV2 additional ability, Curse Factor: Your resistance to Curses increases by 10%)
…In a period of “peace and tranquility,” Christmas was approaching, and the young Wizards were becoming restless due to the impending holidays.
One morning, as Will was eating breakfast, his owl flew into the Great Hall and dropped a letter for him, landing right on his fried egg.
Will opened the letter, which had a few oil stains on it — this was the first letter he had received at Hogwarts.
The first line made him raise an eyebrow in surprise.
Dear Son:
I already know you have gone to Hogwarts to study…