12 The Trapdoor

Adam stayed with Gryffindor for a while longer, before heading to the Ravenclaw table, where he was bombarded with questions about last night, now it wasn't just Terry asking.

Anthony and Michael had joined him.

Adam laughed, and joined in the fun, agreeing when someone asked if it wasn't one troll but two of them, and that they were more than twenty meters.

He couldn't care less about Ron spilling the beans about last night's events, especially now after seeing where they all pointed.

By spreading the story, he ended up helping to keep the truth hidden, after all amid so many lies, the truth was just another story.

Nobody believed in any of the versions, even the closest to the truth, the reason was very simple, everything was very unrealistic. Two trolls ? twenty meters? Ron, who couldn't cast a simple levitation spell, had defeated them...

Sometimes the best way to hide a truth is to tell it, especially in a school, where the second person will already increase all reports to an unrealistic level.

What Adam thought for a moment was.

'Dumbledore thought of that? '

He had this doubt. The factor that most contributed to Ron's story gaining so much importance was the fact that Gryffindor and Ravenclaw gained so many points in a single night.

Everyone listened when Professor Quirrell spoke about the troll in the great hall on Halloween night.

Some students were able to confirm that Adam, Harry, Ron, Isabella and Hermione returned to their common rooms late that night. And the next morning, the absurd story of first-year students fighting the troll and defeating it emerges, and to back up the information, many points were won by the houses of the five students who were at the center of the alleged event.

In this way, many understood some things.

Something really happened that night, and the five of them were involved, but what really happened, nobody knew.

With the curiosity of many young people aroused, this would remain the main topic for the next few days. Many trying to unravel the truth.

These stories circulated around Hogwarts over the next few days. Making everyone forget the old topics of conversation.

Nobody remembered Professor Snape giving points to a Gryffindor.

Nobody talked about Harry anymore, being Gryffindor's newest Seeker.

Now, everyone just wanted to know where the troll ended up, that was, until a new subject came along, and stole all the attention.

That way, the pressure Harry had to deal with was less, even Snape should have been more relieved, not that he cared what the students thought of him, but he didn't want anyone digging into his past, and curious students would do that.

Did Dumbledore think that far ahead? he could have given less points, he would have drawn less attention.

But the way he did it, it seemed he did, not only did it shift the focus of the students' attention, it seemed to teach the five involved a few things.

He rewarded Harry and Ron for their courage and determination to help one another in the face of danger. Clearly advocating the reap what you sow logic, if you do good things, rewards will follow.

The way he arrived, just after the events were over, as if he arrived just in time to hand out rewards and get the kids out of trouble.

That way, he gradually gained the trust of Harry and the others. There was no doubt about it, Dumbledore was a great manipulator.

Only when Harry's debut match as Seeker finally arrived did people remember that Harry Potter was going to play. Many wanted to see how the Boy Who Lived would fare in his first match.

Adam didn't really care about the match, but he still wanted to see if events played out the same, so he joined Terry and the others from Ravenclaw and went to watch the match from the stands.

In the end the events were the same as in the canon. At one point, Harry seemed to struggle to stay on the broom, as if he'd lost control.

But the whole show only lasted a moment before Harry regained control and triumphantly caught the Golden Snitch.

Of course, as if it were a coincidence, such a thing happened, right after a mess formed in the stands because of a small fire.

'clearly is unlucky.' thought Adam after the game came to an end

Adam could easily tell it was a jinx, there was no way the teachers couldn't see that too.

He knew that Snape was trying to make a counter hex, but was mistaken as the one behind the hex by Hermione.

Because of the confusion Hermione caused by setting fire to the professor's cloak, Quirrell, who was nearby and the real culprit, ended up losing eye contact.

Anyone who realized that this was a jinx could connect the moment Harry regained control of the broom with the moment of the fire. That way it was easy to reduce the number of suspects, separating them by where the confusion happened.

Knowing the events happening behind the scenes by knowing the original story. Adam knew Snape was already suspicious of Quirrell, there was no way the dumbledore couldn't connect the trail of crumbs the two-faced Wizard was leaving throughout the year.

Quirrell was the one responsible for placing a troll as one of the obstacles to the philosopher's stone. And as if it were an extreme coincidence, when a troll showed up at school, he was the first to find the troll. He, who was a defense against the dark arts teacher, ran away when he found a troll loose around the school, broke the news in front of all the students, bringing chaos and confusion that night and finally fainted from fear.

If he was responsible for putting a troll in the stone challenge, how could he be afraid of one? It was ridiculous.

Now, Quirrell, was in the area where the suspect of hexing Harry's broom was located. And of course Snape knew that, after all he was paying attention to Two-Face. How could dumbledore not know that?

It was obvious he knew, perhaps he had known since the first day Quirrell arrived at the school this year. But he didn't seem to choose to interfere directly, choosing to watch and control everything from the shadows.

The only answer Adam could come up with was that Dumbledore had everything, or almost everything under control, and was letting Harry venture out and take his chances, so that the boy would understand that Voldemort was alive, and that he should be prepared to eventually confront the Wizard. of darkness.

Adam had no desire to get in the way of the bearded old man's plans, the sooner Harry learned about what awaited him the better.

Furthermore, Adam thought that Harry and Voldemort's confrontation over the stone was even more important than it appeared.

''Snakeface finding out he can't touch him is extremely important,'' he murmured, thinking about what he knew about the story.

It was in that first year that Voldemort would understand that there was something preventing him from touching Harry, and it was this information that would plant a seed in the Dark Wizard's mind.

This seed would germinate into a return plan that would be, in the end, his worst choice.

Adam sighed and looked out his bedroom window.

''Until Dumbledore found out how Voldemort had returned in his fourth year, he was ready to sacrifice Harry... all for the greater good''

''Is this the Wizard who leads the righteous faction of light? ''

Adam remained silent after that, wondering what the future held.

After a long time he got up and walked towards the exit, becoming invisible the moment he left the room.

Shortly afterwards, he was in a place said to be 'forbidden to all who do not wish to die an exceedingly painful death' in Dumbledore's words.

Adam was in front of the door to the third floor hallway.

Putting his hand under the lock he felt no strong protection.

What prevented anyone from entering was just the fact that the door was closed, which meant nothing to anyone who wasn't stupid.

''It would be right to think that that old man really wanted Harry to find this place...''

After hesitating for a brief moment, Adam used a silent 'Alohomora' and heard the door latch being unlocked.

He didn't go in right away. With a wave of his hand, a small flute formed in the air, and floated beside him, starting to play on its own the moment he opened the door.

Inside the room was the wide awake giant three-headed dog, ironically named Fluffy.

All three heads were aimed at Adam, he could see himself in the reflection of those six black eyes, the half-closed mouths with bared teeth and the drool running.

For a moment Adam put his hand on his shirt, where he held his wand. But in the next instant he could relax, the thing he expected happened, when the sound of the flute reached the dog's ears, the beast soon showed signs of drowsiness.

Slowly the guardian of the first challenge was closing his eyes and falling into a deep and peaceful sleep, only the strong sound of his three-nose breathing remained.

Adam moved across the room and waved his hand causing the dog's large paw to move to the side, thus revealing the entrance to the trapdoor.

Without delay, Adam opened the door, and jumped out. Only when the door closed did the flute stop playing and disappear. Without music, Fluffy woke up, but when she didn't see anyone in front of her, she closed her eyes again, although now she was alert and only seemed to sleep.

At the trapdoor, Adam landed on something soft, a large plant.

'Devil's Snare' He recognized it, and after confirming that it was the same as the original, he made a movement and a sphere of light formed in the center of the room.

The sphere floated in the center and then split into five, four of the small spheres of light scattered to the corners of the room, only one remaining in the center, this way the whole place was lit.

As if afraid of the light, the Devil's Snare instantly flinched. After that happened, the passage to the next area was clear, and Adam headed in that direction.

The silence that permeates the place has been replaced by the rustling of metallic wings. Adam arrived in the room where there were hundreds of keys with wings flying randomly, and at a decent speed.

The effect caused by so many similar keys flying together, making it difficult to find something different, it was like an optical illusion.

''An old key'' Adam stood in the center of the room, his eyes traveling among the hundreds of keys. ''I found it,'' he said upon seeing an old key.

Adam pointed at the key and a thin stone dome formed in an instant around it, trapping it.

With a second wave, the dome floated towards him, stopping in front of him.

Adam touched the dome and it opened, he quickly grabbed the key that was trying to escape. Key in hand, he opened the door without difficulty.

The next room was McGonagall's challenge, no less than a game of chess, on a life-size board.

Adam didn't know if the room had different enchantments that prevented him from cheating. He liked chess and didn't mind accepting the challenge and playing the game.

A little over twenty minutes later, he walked towards the door behind the white pieces.

In the next room he found an old acquaintance, an adult mountain troll. This one was even bigger than the other one.

''It's a pity I can't play with you''

Not wanting to face the troll, Adam cast some spells and became invisible, in addition to his scent and the sound of footsteps disappearing.

Stupid as the troll was, there was no chance of him finding Adam under the camouflage.

Nothing happened and Adam arrived in the penultimate room, the room with the potions.

The moment he entered the room, his front and back were blocked with flames, Adam had expected that.

He examined the potions under the table, but didn't go near them. His gaze shifted to the fire in front of him and he examined it closely.

After a while, Adam got an understanding look. He reached inside his shirt and pulled out a small vial and downed it in one gulp.

He waited for a moment before taking a step towards the fire, nothing happened. He wasn't burning in flames, although there was a slight discomfort on his skin that didn't hurt.

Determining it was safe, Adam walked through the flames for good. Arriving at the last room.

''Definitely these challenges were not meant to keep Voldemort out''

After facing all the challenges and reaching the mirror room, Adam had confirmed something that already seemed to be understood.

These challenges felt more like tests for little students than really something that would keep a strong wizard away from the philosopher's stone.

Adam looked around and saw the large room empty, or nearly empty.

In the center of the room was a beautiful mirror, the Mirror of Erised.

''No other challenge is really needed to stop Voldemort,'' he muttered looking into the mirror.

Even if the challenges were easy and Voldemort could get here with ease, what good would it do? The stone's true protection has always been the mirror, and the spells Dumbledore placed upon it.

Adam walked over to the mirror.

「Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi.」

He smiled softly and repeated, "I do not display your face, but your heart's desire."

Adam didn't look directly at his reflection in the mirror. He circled the object and admired it, studying its details. There were carved runes and their design was truly unique, a masterpiece.

He couldn't feel what the material of the mirror was or examine how it worked, but he could sense that the object was incredibly mystical.

After a while, he finally stood in front of the mirror, he wasn't nervous, he knew his heart, he knew his greatest desire, at least now.

He looked at his reflection in the mirror and laughed, it was himself.

The Adam in the mirror was older, though still young, in his early twenties. He was dressed in black robes, and had a calm and wise look, as if he knew everything.

But the most incredible thing was the feeling it gave off. Power overflowed from his body.

Adam looked at his reflection in amazement, comparing himself to the Adam in the mirror, he felt like the light of a firefly in the glare of the sun.

Adam felt his heart beat faster. It was a feeling of longing, as if he just wanted to stare at the scene in front of him for eternity, dreaming of reaching that scene.

Taking a deep breath, he did his best to calm down.

''It's not worth living dreaming, and forgetting to live..'' He muttered closing his eyes, and using that will that grew in his heart, just to firm even more his desire to be unrivaled in magic.

Adam opened his eyes and looked at his reflection that was there, staring at him. He smiled and waved at his reflection, who waved back in response.

Adam sighed and with determination turned and left the room.

His eyes gleamed with determination.

In the mirror, Adam still hadn't disappeared, he watched little Adam who walked further and further away, he smiled and then disappeared...

At no time did Adam desire the philosopher's stone. There were a few reasons for this.

The first was the most important, if he could get the stone now, what would he do? he had zero confidence in getting her back in the mirror.

The second reason is the same that would make him return the stone after seeing it. Wealth and immortality, that's what the stone offered.

Cash ? he had a lot.

Immortality? yes, he wanted her.

But not the immortality offered by the stone, where the body ages, and you become one depending on the stone.

That's why he didn't come here tonight for the stone, it was more like a walk, an adventure, visiting the place where the main stage of the first year's plot would be, being able to see the tests along the way and most importantly see the mirror.

Not only for the reflection, but for the unique opportunity to see such a magical artifact.

It wasn't hard for Adam to leave the place, when he walked out the door to the third floor hallway, everything behind him was exactly as it was at the start of this night, anything he came into contact with was repaired to its previous state. Nobody could say that he was in that place.

Back in his room, Adam had a few questions on his mind.

''With Harry's father alive, the Cloak must not be with Dumbledore...''

Adam didn't know who the invisibility cloak was with, but it must have been with James.

Now came the question, would the former member of the Marauders present his son with the cape, so that he could 'adventure' through the castle?

Adam didn't know the answer, but he was curious about how things would play out.

If Harry were without the Cloak, would Dumbledore still make the boy find the mirror?

However, as curious as Adam might be, he wasn't going to care about the subject.

He would let things happen the way they were meant to be.