Chapter 77

It was too risky to put such a magical device near Quirrell and risk exposure. He'd surely just kill Harry and make a grab for the stone and run for it. He was powerful enough for it. But if he put his big in the third-floor corridor, he'd know every time someone went in there and he'd be ready.

Or so he thought.

But soon, hours turned into days, and yet nothing happened.

Harry had taken to sleeping with the earpiece on since he knew that Quirrell would be busy with classes for the day and would most probably make his move at night. He'd expected to hear something pretty soon, but it wasn't until well into the night on Wednesday next week that Harry finally heard something from the receiver of the Spy Bug.

It activated with a static buzz, waking Harry up. He promptly made sure his bed curtains were drawn and silenced and he pulled out his wand.

"Sonorus" he cast at the receiver, and Hedwig and Harry both huddled over the receiver to listen to what was going on.

There was the sound of more than one sets of footsteps, a door opening and panting. The dog, Harry thought. Someone must have come to feed it, he realized, when he heard the sound of jaws snapping and the almost nauseating sound of the three heads swallowing.

"You still won't tell me how to get past the beast?" came a smooth voice from the receiver. It wasn't Quirrell. It was Professor Snape!

"It's what Nicholas asked for. No two protectors will know each other's traps. And one simply does not refuse Nicholas Flamel, Severus. He is the reason half the students can even afford to attend the school. We have to attempt to accommodate his requests."

This voice wasn't Quirrell either. It was Headmaster Albus Dumbledore! His voice seemed reprimanding, almost as if Snape should have known not to ask such a question.

"I'm still unsure why you haven't just kept the stone in your pocket all the time. Surely it'd be safer on your person than anywhere else," Snape said, his tone unapologetic.

The headmaster chuckled "I'm afraid Nicholas doesn't believe me to be that free from temptation. And rightly so. Even I don't believe myself to be that free from it."

"But you asked me to set up a word puzzle, of all things. One that even a child could get through. I realize you want Potter to come after the stone to test if he has been corrupted by the Dark Lord or not, but after what he saw Quirinus do in the fore-"

"The boy could have been lying."

"I am fully capable of telling when someone is lying!"

"I know Severus. But he could have been mistaken. He saw a cloaked man who looked like Qurinus. That is not conclusive. While it is troubling, it could have just as likely been a passing vampire that got a bit too excited upon seeing a unicorn. The centaurs would have handled him after Harry saw him and ran off."

"But Quirre-"

"Severus! Quirinus Quirrell has been your colleague for ten years! At his personal risk, he has chosen to teach a year of Defense before retiring despite the curse the position bears out of his own free will. I fail to understand where your sudden animosity is coming from."

There was a small period of silence where the dog's sounds of eating echoed from the receiver. Snape didn't reply.

The headmaster finally broke the silence, "And even if what you suggest is true; which I honestly doubt it is; and Quirinus has been helping Lord Voldemort, then he will try to get me out of the school when he tries to make a move for it. When he does, he will be caught red-handed trying to steal the stone. No harm no foul."

There was a brief period of silence when Harry tried to string together everything he'd just heard. The Headmaster wanted him to come after the stone to test his character. So that was what Snape was warning him about! And Voldemort was involved! It made so much sense! The Stone was famous for its powers of immortality and healing, so it made sense he'd try to use it to bring himself back!

"Speaking of people coming after the stone, when I told you to clue young Harry about the stone to set him off in the right direction, that was quite a risky thing you did Severus, telling him not to go after it," the Headmaster said.

Harry stilled.

"I meant every word of it," Snape replied, his tone defiant, "Besides, what would you have had me do Headmaster? Hand the entire schematics of the third floor to him in a letter with a neat little bow on the top? If the boy will come after the stone, he will do it of his own free will. If I had outright told him to go after the stone, he would have suspected something. There is more Lily in him than his face shows."

"There was a chance he would have listened to you and not investigated it. We are lucky he went to Hagrid at all."

"It was you who suggested to him to write to Potter. Do not pretend you didn't expect him to go. It was only a matter of time before that buffoon blurted something out about the stone."

Harry was shaking. It was all a manipulation…the detention…the advice…all of it. Some sort of play to make sure that he was some sort of hero. To make it all worse, the headmaster didn't even acknowledge that Quirrell and Voldemort were a threat to the stone! This was all going downhill! Harry's mind was left reeling.

"And once again I must bow to your superior understanding of a student's mind Severus."

"I'm not sure I entirely agree with this so-called test you've set up. There have to be safer ways to test the boy. Ways to do so without risking his life."

"Not with the shields he has developed Severus." the old man's voice was almost sorrowful.

"And whose fault is that?"

There was a heavy sigh and the sound of the door closing.

"Goodnight Severus," the headmaster said, and the sound of footsteps slowly faded away.

The receiver turned off with a small buzz.

Harry looked at Hedwig, who seemed to be very distressed, before activating Gamer's Mind. Now was no time to get angry or worry about things. He needed to look at this objectively.

The headmaster was planning to test him to make sure he wasn't a dark wizard or something. It seemed that Draco and his father's stupid little Dark Lord Potter conspiracy was something the old man had considered as well.

.

.

.

🐉 patreon.com/William777🐉

Subscribe to my Patreon for more advanced chapters