Chapter 44

o—o—o—o

By the time the smoke cleared, Milo's hearing had mostly returned. His robe was in tatters, and he was covered in soot and dust.

"Wh-wh-what was that?" he asked.

"A Muggle chemist, if a Muggle chemist had ever analyzed Flobberworm mucous, would tell you that it reacts with the glycerol to form nitroglycerin."

Milo blinked blankly.

"Nitroglycerin is a volatile explosive," Snape said.

"And you let newborns do this?"

"No. A wizard's inborn magic prevents the chemical reaction from occurring, as it is superceded by a magical one."

"Then why did it... ah," said Milo. One could practically hear the copper piece drop.

Milo looked at Snape.

Snape looked at Milo.

Not a word was said, until...

"Severus! There's a Troll on the second floor—thought you ought to know," said a translucent silvery Phoenix that Milo could swear hadn't been there a moment before.

"HolycrapghostPhoenix!" a living Phoenix was CR 24, and being a ghost only made it more powerful. Fortunately, they were Good-aligned. A Phoenix's fire could deal up to 40d6 damage, although Milo was pretty sure Phoenixes were generally somewhat larger than a horse—this one was rather a lot smaller. A baby, perhaps?

"Get up, boy, and come with me—now!" said Snape. Milo wasn't about to refuse a direct command from a man who a Phoenix had apparently asked for help, and followed. After leaving his office, Snape broke into a dead run towards the stairs.

"Are we going after the Troll?" asked Milo as they ran up the spiraling staircase. Judging by the dull look in the monster's eyes, Milo was fairly confident its Will save was low enough that it would fail to Glitterdust for certain.

Snape paused for a moment.

"Boy, look at me," he commanded. Milo shrugged and complied. "Now, what were you and Quirrell talking about before I arrived?"

"Troll feeding and grooming," Milo lied blandly. Snape stared at him in the eyes for a moment.

"Very well, we've delayed too long," he said, and started climbing again at a hustle. Well, that was weird, Milo thought.

"Professor," Milo said as they continued climbing the stairs, "we missed the second floor. This is the third floor," but Snape said nothing as they rounded the corner to the forbidden third floor corridor.

Snape stopped at the door and waited, still without an explanation.

"Professor," Milo pressed, "I think I deserve an explanation now. What are we doing in front of the corridor of 'Die a horrible and painful death?'"

"Stop questioning me and be silent," Snape snapped.

"What, do you expect me to be able to simply Detect Thoughts or something? I won't be able to understand what's happening and act appropriately unless you tell me," Milo said, swapping out Invisibility. Detect Thoughts was a 2nd-level Wizard spell that allowed one to listen to the surface thoughts of another. Milo didn't really expect it to beat Snape's Will bonus, but everyone rolls a 1 once in a while. For once, it appeared, it was Milo's turn to be lucky. Snape turned around, catching Milo's eye.

"Five points from Gryffindor, and five more if you don't stop talking," the Professor said.

Fortunately, it appears I got here before Quirrell, Snape thought.

Why is beating Quirrell so important? Milo wondered.

The boy suspects we were racing Quirrell here. Well, it wasn't too hard to figure out, I suppose, Snape thought to himself (or so he thought). When he goes for the Stone, I'll be ready.

Is Quirrell going for the Stone? Milo wondered. That makes no sense at all, unless... Something's going on here I don't know about. Maybe Quirrell is trying to prevent Snape from getting the Stone? Or they're both going for it? Or Snape knows I'm reading his mind and—

The boy is a Legilimens? Snape thought sharply. There was a sudden pain in Milo's temple, and he felt a sudden sense of vertigo that knocked him to his knees.

"H-how did you... what was... what just happened?" Milo asked, clutching his head. His nose had started running, and he brushed it with his sleeve. The Detect Thoughts spell no longer even registered Snape as an intelligent being, it was like he wasn't even there.

"Answer me truthfully;I'll know if you're lying," Snape said imperiously. "Are you a Legilimens?"

"Ah," Milo said, "No?"

Snape frowned. He's telling the truth, Snape thought to himself (and, this time, only to himself), and yet... he must be lying somehow. Could he be an Occlumens as well? At eleven? No. He's not even a wizard. He must have some other powers, similar to Legilimancy in effect, but called something else.

"Can you read minds?"

"Ah. Um. No," Milo lied.

Snape grinned. It faded quickly.

"Tell me," he said oddly, "do you smell something?"

"As a general rule, no," Milo said. "But now that you mention it..."

The silence was only broken by a particularly large spider scurrying across the floor, and then a quick flash of emotion from Mordenkainen. FEAR, DISTRESS, HORROR.

And then the wall exploded.

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