Lord Voldemort was utterly perplexed.
Who exactly killed Quirrell? Could it be some being hiding in the Forbidden Forest?
He knew the Forbidden Forest was mysterious, and its depths held many secrets.
But even so, Quirrell had only killed a unicorn. What grudge could warrant such a powerful Avada Kedavra?
He was unwilling to accept this.
The Philosopher's Stone was right there; he was just a step away from reviving himself!
No, he hadn't failed yet. He still had a chance to obtain the Stone.
Yes, he still had that young wizard, Dana Emrys! As long as he could bewitch him, he could bypass the barrier at the end of the fourth-floor corridor and acquire the Philosopher's Stone!
Quirrell couldn't handle the three-headed dog, but Emrys could! If he could control that body filled with magic, wouldn't he be a hundred times stronger than that piece of trash, Quirrell!?
Thinking this, Voldemort made a turn and headed back towards Hogwarts.
Entering a hidden entrance beside the castle, Voldemort wandered through the pipes, eventually arriving in a vast underground space filled with green mist. A huge statue of Slytherin stood at the end of this space.
Floating before the statue, the black mist cried out:
"Speak to me, Slytherin, the greatest of the four founders!"
The mouth of the Slytherin statue gradually opened, and after a long while, a huge serpentine creature crawled out—the Basilisk that would dominate Harry Potter's second year.
Voldemort said softly:
"Hiss hiss hiss… [Long time no see.]"
The Basilisk shook its head, still somewhat sluggish from waking up, and responded:
"Hiss hiss hiss… [Little master… is that you?]"
Voldemort regretted that he hadn't come to find the Basilisk sooner. With the Basilisk, killing the three-headed dog Fluffy would have been easy. If Quirrell were still alive, he could have retrieved the Philosopher's Stone for him.
Perhaps because he had separated too much of his soul to create Horcruxes, Voldemort's mind wasn't as sharp as it used to be.
But finding the Basilisk now wasn't too late—
The black mist twined around the Basilisk's head. Although Voldemort was currently too weak to possess the Basilisk as he had Quirrell, it wasn't difficult to use the Basilisk to relay some information.
"Hiss hiss hiss… [Go, find a young wizard named Dana Emrys, deliver my message, and bring him here.]"
"Hiss hiss hiss… [As you command, little master.]"
—As for why he didn't go to find Dana himself, Voldemort thought that if he approached Dana in such a weakened state, the young wizard might not be receptive! But if the powerful Basilisk was merely a messenger, his prestige would instantly increase, and the little guy would be more likely to believe what he said!
The events in the Forbidden Forest were not widely publicized. Harry was asked to keep the matter a secret, and the only people who knew Quirrell was dead were Hagrid, Dumbledore, and Professor McGonagall.
Of course, if Hagrid knew, Harry Potter would know sooner or later, because, as everyone knew, Rubeus Hagrid couldn't keep a secret.
Harry stayed in the hospital wing for two days.
His mood was terrible—
Missing only two days of classes felt like there was an endless amount of homework to catch up on. Although Hermione was willing to tutor him, it was clear she had a low tolerance for stupidity. Sometimes Harry even suspected that Hermione was Snape's illegitimate daughter.
That sarcastic tone was exactly the same!
Seeing the empty hourglass in the Great Hall that belonged to Gryffindor made his mood even worse.
"Ron, why am I so stupid! I forgot to take the Invisibility Cloak!"
Ron pursed his lips. He didn't know how to respond, because all three of them had been too caught up in the moment that night—after all, sending Norbert away and seeing Draco Malfoy punished seemed like the best thing ever.
"So, instead of considering the root of the problem, you're thinking about how to make the next rule-breaking more perfect?"
Hermione retorted angrily.
Although she was also one of the culprits that night, she felt she would learn from the experience and never go out at night again (though everyone knew she couldn't do it).
So, hearing Harry's words, she subconsciously snapped back—
The meaning was that I'm working hard to earn points for the House now, so you better be honest and not lose any more points!
"Look at Dana! From that day to now, he's added over a dozen points to the House! You're his friend too, why don't you learn from him?"
Hermione's words seemed to touch a nerve with Harry. He suddenly stood up.
"Dana, Dana, it's always Dana! Stop mentioning Dana to me!"
Harry stormed off, leaving Ron and Hermione behind, and rushed out of the Great Hall.
He ran into Dana, who was coming to eat. Harry didn't even greet him, as if he didn't see him at all, and brushed past him.
Dana was a little confused. Who had provoked this silly boy?
When he reached a section of stairs on the second floor, Harry suddenly stopped.
Because he heard a cold, gloomy voice whispering in his ear:
"Dana Emrys… where is Dana Emrys? The master wants me to find Dana Emrys…"
Harry shuddered all over. He heard the voice continue:
"The master needs Dana Emrys's help…"
Gradually, the voice disappeared.
Harry was stunned for a long time. He wanted to go back to the Great Hall and tell Dana about this, but inexplicably, he didn't go back and quietly returned to the Gryffindor common room.
Dana came out of the greenhouse. Herbology class put him in a good mood. Being able to fiddle with flowers and plants occasionally was good for his tired brain—although those flowers and plants might be a little dangerous.
Today, he had asked Professor Sprout some questions about cultivating magical plants, so he came out a little later.
The Quidditch professional player craze had gradually faded away, and Dana's life had returned to peace—Quirrell wasn't wrong, the Azkaban filter was always worn by the young wizards of Hogwarts. Their attitude towards Dana had become lukewarm again, as if the previous frenzy was just an illusion.
But today, Dana always felt like he was being followed.
His ardent fans?
They didn't exist. The goodwill of these classmates he spent every day with wasn't even as good as the fans of the opposing team during away games.
Taking the opportunity to turn left into the castle, Dana inconspicuously glanced back—
No one was there.
But after walking only a few steps, the feeling of being followed came back again. He pricked up his ears and sure enough, he heard faint footsteps, as well as some barely perceptible rustling sounds.
Dana was somewhat familiar with those footsteps. He had heard them under Harry's feet when he went to see the Mirror of Erised during the Christmas holidays.
So, Harry was following him?
Dana was stunned. Why was he following him?
Just then, the strange rustling sound became louder.
Dana was now going to the second floor. He needed to go to the library first. At this time, there were very few wizards going to the library. Most people would go back to the common room first, so the corridor leading to the library was very quiet, almost empty.
Thump!
A sound like a tire landing from the air came from the corner ahead. Dana stopped, and the next second, he saw a huge snake head sticking out from the corner, with a pair of waxy yellow eyes as big as washbasins!
You can't look directly into the Basilisk's eyes—that's fatal.
Suddenly encountering the Basilisk, Dana didn't panic. He quickly closed his eyes, and the magic in his body quickly spread out.
Like a bat, after receiving the rebound of magic, he could roughly "see" the outline of the Basilisk. He also "saw" Harry Potter, who was thirty yards away from him, bending over and being sneaky—
This skill of magical positioning could not be done by ordinary people unless their magic was strong to a certain extent.
"Dana!"
Harry's exclamation came from behind. Dana quickly turned around and shouted:
"Go away! Don't come over! Go find a professor!"
End of the Chapter.
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