Chapter 74: Quirrell exploded again!

At night, Harry and his four companions tiptoed to the Gryffindor common room and met Neville, who had the courage to try and stop the four from breaking school rules. Hermione hastily used the Full Body-Bind Curse to subdue Neville, and then took the three of them out of the Gryffindor common room, just as she would typically do in this situation.

On the way to the fourth floor, they also encountered Peeves. Fortunately, Harry disguised his voice as the Bloody Baron's and scared him away, in typical Harry fashion.

In just a few minutes, the four of them came to the outside of the corridor on the fourth floor. 

Harry looked at the door and his heart skipped a beat. The door had been left ajar, and it was obvious that they were late.

"It seems the intruder has got past Fluffy already. We have to speed up and try to stop him before he takes the Philosopher's Stone!" Harry said anxiously.

The four of them also quickened their pace, and Harry pushed the door open.

This door was really old. When Harry pushed it open, it kept creaking loudly, which actually woke up the three-headed dog Fluffy.

"Play the harp!" Irina saw a harp at Fluffy's feet. She quickly waved her wand and cast a Summoning Charm to bring the harp into her hand.

Irina quickly played the harp. Although her musical skills were not very strong, it was at least music.

As the melodious sound of the harp rang out, Fluffy's eyelids drooped, his body swayed, and he fell to the floor again with a heavy thump and fell asleep.

Although Fluffy fell asleep, Irina did not stop playing the harp. She signaled the three of them with her eyes to enter the trapdoor quickly.

Harry looked at the seemingly bottomless hole inside the trapdoor. He was a little scared, but he didn't have time to think too much. He jumped down with his eyes closed.

Ron and Hermione followed closely behind, just like they typically would when accompanying Harry.

Irina played the harp while approaching the trapdoor. She dropped the harp and jumped into it. Fluffy woke up outside the trapdoor, but he was too big to chase the four people, so he could only rage helplessly outside.

At this moment, another figure appeared at the door of the room.

"Has it started? Oh, how unworthy for a gutter-dweller to desecrate the master's work..." Lynn walked slowly towards the trapdoor.

Dozens of alchemical floating cannons had appeared around him, floating around. The golden luster flashing on these alchemical floating cannons showed that they had completed charging.

The three-headed dog Fluffy in the room noticed Lynn's presence, and it roared, wanting to tear apart this intruder.

Seeing this, Lynn gently waved his right hand holding his wand, and a purple beam burst out, instantly knocking the huge three-headed dog several meters away.

Fluffy's body fell heavily to the ground and lost consciousness. 

Lynn loosened his left hand, and in the palm of his metal glove, a magic crystal used to store magic power lost its original luster and dimmed.

This glove was a temporary equipment he made, which could serve as a bridge connecting Lynn and external magic artifacts, absorbing the magic power of the magic crystal for his own use.

Although this was made by Lynn according to the template of the Infinity Gauntlet, its function was very simple and limited. In addition to absorbing external energy to supply Lynn, it had no other effects, and it couldn't even be equipped with a Power Stone to increase Lynn's strength.

Lynn understood that in the next stage of facing Voldemort directly, the other party would never hold back, so he must increase the power of his spells, and borrowing the energy of external objects was a good way.

Although only one's own strength is truly one's own, there is also an old saying that a true wizard does not rely on innate gifts, but skill in employing assistance! The reason why Lynn, who cast a spell silently just now, was able to knock down the three-headed dog Fluffy and render it unconscious was because he borrowed the magic power of the magic crystal in his hand.

Lynn casually discarded the depleted magic crystal, and then cast a layer of illusion on himself and the surrounding alchemical floating cannons, and headed towards the trap door...

At the same time, in the final chamber, Quirrell broke through the flames and walked into this room. Not far from him, there was a tall mirror, which was the Mirror of Erised! "This mirror is the key to finding the Philosopher's Stone..." Quirrell muttered to himself, "Trust Dumbledore to devise such a challenge..."

Quirrell gazed into the Mirror of Erised, and in the scene presented by the mirror, he saw himself with the Philosopher's Stone. "I see myself presenting the Stone to my master! But where is it?!"

Looking at the Mirror of Erised, Quirrell was a little confused.

At this time, Voldemort spoke from the back of Quirrell's turban, "Use the mirror, it is the key to the Stone. There is nothing else in this room!"

"Master," Quirrell said respectfully, "but how do I obtain the Stone from the mirror?"

Voldemort pondered for a while and said, "Perhaps you need to express your desire for the Stone to the mirror, and it will present you with the Stone!"

Quirrell nodded and looked into the Mirror of Erised again.

"I need the Philosopher's Stone, I want to present it to my master and revive my master fully!"

Quirrell stared at himself holding the Philosopher's Stone in the mirror's vision, muttering to himself.

At this moment, Quirrell found that his mirror self smiled, and took out a bright red stone from his pocket, which was the Philosopher's Stone, and then put it back into his pocket. 

At the same time, Quirrell felt that a heavy object had really fallen into his actual pocket! Quirrell showed a look of surprise on his face, and quickly reached out to take the heavy object out of his pocket. However, the appearance of this object was beyond Quirrell's expectations. This was a round pineapple-shaped object, and a part on its top seemed to have been removed and was smoking...

"Master, this doesn't seem to be the Philosopher's Stone..." 

Quirrell fiddled with the round pineapple-shaped object in confusion, and said to Voldemort at the back of his head. Sensing the familiar alchemical magic emanating faintly from the round object, Voldemort felt a rising sense of dread. "Fool, you've been tricked! Throw it away! Now! Quickly!"

Voldemort roared madly, and his anger made Quirrell's head feel like it was about to explode with pain. 

Quirrell didn't hesitate and immediately threw the round pineapple-shaped thing in his hand.

However, as soon as the Mk2 grenade left his hand, a violent explosion occurred. 

The familiar shockwave swept the fragments of the Mk2 grenade and destroyed Quirrell's body.

If Quirrell was not a wizard with extremely strong inherent magic sustaining his body, otherwise, as an ordinary person facing the explosion of the Mk2 grenade at a distance of less than one meter, or the explosion of the Mk2 grenade enhanced by alchemical arrays, he would probably have been killed instantly!

(end of chapter)