After leaving the Forbidden Forest, Snape returned to the castle, striding through the winding corridors directly to the Headmaster's office.
Though he had always suspected Quirrell had ulterior motives, he never imagined Quirrell's body would be possessed by Voldemort!
He guessed that Quirrell's consciousness had likely been completely erased, otherwise Voldemort would certainly not have revealed himself as "Voldemort" to him.
In fact, Snape never believed the Dark Lord truly trusted him. This time, exposing his true identity before him was probably out of necessity.
He needed to report this news to Dumbledore immediately.
Meanwhile, Harry was flying back to the broomshed on his Nimbus 2000.
The night wind whistled past, and he had never felt his heart beat so fast.
Just now, he had overheard the conversation between Snape and Quirrell.
Although he had only heard part of it, it was enough.
First of all, Snape had actually called Quirrell "Master"!
The normally arrogant Snape would actually address someone like that—Harry found it inconceivable. There must be a relationship between Snape and Quirrell that he didn't know about.
Also, from the fragments of conversation he'd heard, he could tell that Voldemort and Quirrell were in league with each other and wanted to steal the Philosopher's Stone.
Harry quickly returned to the Gryffindor common room. After dealing with the classmates celebrating his Quidditch victory, he pulled Hermione and Ron to a secluded corner.
"What's wrong?" Ron, still excited about Gryffindor's win, asked. "Have you figured out how to embarrass Malfoy tomorrow?"
Harry shook his head—he was in no mood to think about that now.
"Quirrell and Snape are planning to steal the Philosopher's Stone," he said. "I overheard their conversation in the Forbidden Forest. Quirrell asked Snape to help him find a way past Fluffy."
"The Forbidden Forest?" Hermione, who was holding a thick book, perked up when she heard Harry's words. "What were you doing in the Forbidden Forest?"
"That's not important," Harry said. "What's important is, why do Snape and Quirrell want the Philosopher's Stone? And why would Snape work with Quirrell?"
"Who wouldn't want the Philosopher's Stone?" Ron said carelessly as he munched on a biscuit. "Gold and immortality—if I could, I'd want it too."
"But they're professors."
Ron grimaced. "Maybe Dumbledore wouldn't give them the Philosopher's Stone, so they decided to steal it. Snape seems like that type."
Harry suddenly realized his previous assumption that the fourth floor was a challenge set up by the professors might be wrong.
Perhaps it was simply a place set up to protect the Philosopher's Stone?
"Do you want to stop Snape and Quirrell from stealing the Stone?" Hermione put down her book and asked. "Or do you want to get the Stone before they do?"
"Neither," Harry shook his head and said, "I think..."
Harry paused, at a loss for words.
Well, it seemed that even if Snape and Quirrell got the Philosopher's Stone, it wouldn't really affect him.
At most, it meant he wouldn't have a chance to get the Stone himself.
"The Philosopher's Stone is a magical stone," Hermione raised her head and said. "I've found a lot of information about it in the library. The books say that the Stone's powers aren't limited to creating gold and producing the Elixir of Life—it might have other uses as well."
"Then Snape definitely plans to use it for something evil," Harry concluded.
For the rest of the evening, the three discussed what Snape might want to do with the Philosopher's Stone.
Early the next morning, at breakfast time.
Harry still appeared distracted. Just yesterday, he had figured some things out.
Ron sat beside him and, noticing his mood, patted his arm. "Are you still thinking about the Philosopher's Stone?"
"Not entirely," Harry shook his head and suddenly asked Hermione across the table, "Hermione, do you remember what types of books were on Professor Westeros's bookshelf?"
"Let me think," Hermione furrowed her brow, then counted on her fingers. "A recipebook, the book about Nicolas Flamel, then alchemy..."
"Wait!" Hermione suddenly realized something. "Is Professor Westeros also interested in the Philosopher's Stone?"
Harry nodded and said, "I'm afraid so."
Ron spread jam on his bread while casually saying, "That thing is really popular—Snape, Quirrell, and now Professor Westeros. Harry, it looks like we probably won't get the Philosopher's Stone after all."
Ignoring Ron's comment, Hermione asked Harry, "So what do you plan to do?"
Harry thought for a moment, then whispered to the two, "First, let's tell Professor Westeros about Snape and Quirrell's plot. I'd rather the Philosopher's Stone be in Professor Westeros's hands than Snape's."
Hermione nodded in agreement, and Ron indicated he didn't mind either way.
"Let's go now," Harry decided decisively, turning on his chair and jumping to the floor. "If Professor Westeros isn't in the Great Hall at this hour, he's probably in his office."
While the three were engaged in their heated discussion, Snape sat at the professors' table with a grim expression, coldly staring at Harry.
However, his thoughts weren't on the boy right now.
Just last night, he had told Dumbledore that Voldemort had returned and was possessing Quirrell's body.
Yet Dumbledore had merely instructed him to continue monitoring Quirrell and not to act rashly for now.
What was that old man thinking!
Although Voldemort was very weak at the moment, barely surviving by occupying Quirrell's body.
But it was still Voldemort!
Dumbledore was actually allowing Voldemort to roam freely in Hogwarts!
The only good news was that Voldemort still appeared to trust him for now, which meant that if handled properly, he could protect the school's students and Harry.
Of course, he didn't think the current Voldemort had any reason or ability to run wild in Hogwarts.
After all, the current Voldemort couldn't even handle a small three-headed dog.
Voldemort's current goal was likely to obtain the Philosopher's Stone and then recreate his own body.
And what he could do now was to keep a constant eye on "Quirrell." Then wait for further instructions from Dumbledore.
"Damn it, what is Dumbledore thinking..."
Back to Harry and his friends.
The three once again arrived at the door of Adrian's office.
As Harry was about to push the door open, a sentence suddenly appeared on the door panel: Please knock, thank you.
So, Harry obediently knocked twice.
However, after the three waited at the door for half a minute, there was still no response.
Harry was about to leave when Ron patted his shoulder, pointing at the door panel, indicating Harry should look.
The message on the door had changed to: If you are Harry Potter, please enter.
"Professor Westeros really does favor you," Hermione whispered to Harry.
Harry shrugged and led the three through the door into the office.
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Author's Note: Hey everyone! I know most of you commented for double simple chapters over single improved-reworked ones, but I'm trying to do better—I'm going to try for double improved-reworked chapters with daily uploads now starting from Chapter 142, Chapter 143 on Patreon.
You'll see the same quality double chapters out on Webnovel from Chapter 142 as well, assuming I can maintain the pace.
Just to clarify, I won't be going back to rework the earlier chapters (that would be a ton of work), but moving forward, you can expect the reworked chapters from Chapter 142 on Webnovel.
Thanks for your patience and continued support!
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You can read more chapters on:
patreon.com/IamLuis