CHAPTER 50

A/N: If you want to donate or read up to 35 chapters ahead, you can visit my p-a-t-r-e-on/kurowashi 

If you see grammar errors, please let me know so I can fix them. I'm always open to constructive criticism. 

I would like it if you guys left some reviews.

Thank you for your good words and support.

------

CHAPTER 50

 Elmi approached Ron, Harry, and Hermione after hearing his name, and they were talking about Voldemort and how Quirrell could be a death eater. Elmi sighed; they were too thoughtless to talk about those kinds of things out in the open, where everyone could hear them.

After telling them not to talk about those kinds of things out in the open, Elmi had to shut Ron up; Ron was feeling down. Every time he tried to talk to Harry or Hermione, Ron was biting at him like a dog. Since he was so simple and harmless, he was more like an aggressive chihuahua. Elmi said,

"Let's go to a more secluded place; this is not the right place to talk."

After leaving the library, they found a secluded place in one of the corridors; there was a window alcove. Four of them sat there and started talking with hushed voices,

"You guys are really reckless talking about all that in the middle of the library; you do know not everyone in this school is rooting for the good guys, right?"

Ron arrogantly said, "Yeah, and most of them are your housemates."

Elmi smiled and said, "Oh, right... Everyone from Gryffindor is a warrior of justice, right? There were no Gryffindor in Voldemort's army."

When he heard this, Ron stopped talking, and Elmi continued, "I have told Snape about the aura I have seen around Quirrell."

Hermione realized what this meant right away, "But this means you told him about your ability. Elmi, are you sure Professor Snape is someone trustworthy?"

Elmi nodded, "Yes, he is. He will die before he helps Voldemort ever again. I wouldn't trust the young Snape since he was arrogant and had a superiority complex. That is why he became a follower of Voldemort, but you could say his harsh life tamed him. That man lived a life full of regrets, and the only reason he continued to live is for redemption."

Ron couldn't help but ask, "How do you know all that?"

Elmi realized what he had blurted out, so he said, "I... I heard about this from my mother, who was in the same year as him."

Harry shook his head and said, "Elmi, I don't know; I still can't trust him fully."

"That is why I made him take the unbreakable oath. You know what they say: put your faith in god, but keep your powder dry." 

Harry nodded and smiled, "Yeah, that was smart of you, but why did you tell him?" Now, Elmi had to offer the reason he had thought of; he couldn't just say he was changing the canon and didn't know how Voldi would act, so Elmi needed powerful wizards to be present. If possible, he wanted McGonagall and Dumbledore to be at the scene by coincidence.

"I just have a bad feeling about him. I don't think he is a bumbling coward, and I think he is acting. Once in a while, I could see his eyes empty of any emotion and without mercy. Maybe I can notice those things because I know he is using dark magic, but I have a strong gut feeling he is really dangerous."

Ron shrugged his shoulders and said, "I think you are overreacting; you think Quirrell is a dark wizard. The guy can't ever walk straight without tripping. I can't think someone is acting that much of a fool. He is the teacher of Defence Against the Dark Arts; he might be cursed or something."

This train of thought was unexpected for Ron, and his reasoning was sound, but there were two flaws. One, Elmi knew Quirrell had Voldi at the back of his head. The second, Elmi had seen a cursed item in their family vault, so he knew the difference between someone cursed and someone practicing dark arts. This was the reason he was going to give.

"I have seen cursed objects before. So, no, he is not cursed. In my eyes, a cursed object looks like a burning candle. If it is a powerful one, it radiates like a dark and insidious sun. It is the same for a cursed person; it looks like they are on fire, but if someone uses dark magic themselves, it is like there is a dark fog around them. 

When you use dark magic, it sticks up to you like gunk, but since you are not the source of it, the dark aura doesn't burn around you; it is similar to the smoke that rises from that fire. That is exactly what the aura around Quirrell looks like."

Upon this, Ron could not say anything more, and Elmi continued,

"You do not need to believe me, and you won't lose anything by being cautious. We will test what will happen when the protective pink aura around Harry interacts with Quirrell's dark aura, but I think we shouldn't do it without at least having Dumbledore someplace close to us."

Harry looked into Elmi's determined eyes, and he said, "I do believe you, Elmi; I do believe you are suspicious of Quirrell, and I trust your instincts. You always know what to do; as you said, we won't lose anything by being cautious."

...

Elmi decided to call the others. He had to give them a reason for all the things he shouldn't know. He was starting to run out of excuses.

 After they found Daphne, Tracy, and Zabini, they all got out of the courtyard and reached the clearing leading to the stairs to the boat house. The air was chilly with the winter weather, but fresh air felt good.

Elimi turned to Harry and said, "As you might have realized, Quirrell is always acting cautious around you. So we need to catch him by surprise. When we do this, I want you to touch both of his hands or his face."

 Harry looked confused and said, "Why?"

Now Elimi had to make things up, so he said, "I'm going to tell all of you something, but I want you guys to keep it between us. I don't want anyone else to know it."

They were all looking at Elmi with eyes full of curiosity. "Sometimes I have prophetic dreams; they don't happen that often, but once in a blue moon, I see something that hasn't happened yet."

Hermione, ever the voice of reason, raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"Are you saying you have talent in divination and having prophetic dreams? Elmi, you can't be serious. Divination is hardly a precise art."

Undeterred, Elmi persisted; he had to convince them he could see the future sometimes. "I know it sounds unbelievable, but they feel different." 

Ron, always ready to contradict what Elmi said,

"Predicting the future? That's a bit hard to swallow. Are you going to read tea leaves now?" 

"I understand your skepticism, but I can't ignore what I've experienced." 

Hermione crossed her arms with a hint of skepticism.

"Well, dreams can be influenced by various factors—stress, imagination." As always, when it comes to divination, she thought it nothing more than party tricks, and she was trying to offer logical reasons for his dreams.