Hogwarts: Voldemort, don't stop me from studying!

The second sentence convinced everyone, and the group rushed to the school clinic as quickly as possible. Along the way, they encountered students with terrified expressions—they probably thought these young wizards had been engaged in a life-or-death brawl.

When they arrived at the school clinic, they saw a tall, thin figure in the distance, with long, silvery-white hair that could almost be tucked into his belt.

—Dumbledore was hurrying toward the school infirmary, carrying a dark-haired boy in his arms.

"Harry—" Hermione jumped off her broom and pounced on him.

Harry Potter's eyes were closed, and he was covered in wounds. The lightning bolt-shaped scar on his forehead was red and swollen as if he had just been injured, and his hands looked like they had been scalded by boiling water.

The girls immediately burst into tears.

Wade looked at Dumbledore—

The greatest white wizard was not as calm and gentle as usual, or as eccentric as a child... his face showed obvious worry.

But beyond the worries, there was something else... an emotion as deep as the ocean...

Chapter 104 Returning to the Secret Room

Upon suddenly receiving so many wounded, Madam Pomfrey initially thought that some dark wizarding army had stormed Hogwarts. Fortunately, for wizards, severed limbs were minor issues, and she quickly took care of them all.

The problem was Harry Potter, who remained unconscious. After speaking with Dumbledore, Madam Pomfrey arranged a private room for Harry.

Wade took out the packed food and shared it with everyone—they seemed to realize then that they had been starving for a while. Between bites of their food, the young wizards told Wade what had happened under the trapdoor.

To protect the Philosopher's Stone, the professors at the school set up numerous traps. The first was a devil's net placed under the trapdoor to prevent them from falling to their deaths. Unfortunately, Neville didn't choose a good landing spot and broke his leg in the first challenge, after which he could only wait nearby.

Then it was a race of keys, like birds flying around, to find the right one. Harry used his Seeker talent to catch the key, while Theo got scratched all over by the key while protecting the others.

Then came a dangerous game of wizard chess. Ron, who came down with Harry, won the game, but was punched hard on the head by an opponent's piece and passed out. He is still unconscious.

Next came a giant monster, much larger and more ferocious than the one they encountered on Halloween. The young wizards used all their skills to defeat it, and Ryan broke his arm there, while the others also sustained some injuries.

Vader was somewhat surprised: "--A troll?"

“Yes, a horribly stinking monster,” Theo sighed. “I can’t believe you defeated that monster unscathed six months ago!”

"If the troll was a trap set up by Quirrell, then the one on Halloween must have been released by him to cause chaos," Michael said. "I heard he even pretended to faint from fright!"

Wade frowned but didn't say anything more.

—The original trio did not encounter the giant.

The butterfly effect? ​​Or...?

"In the final challenge, we were trapped in a room by flames. Professor Snape left behind one potion that could take us forward, one that could take us back, and the rest were poison and nettle wine."

Hermione's lips trembled slightly as she said, "I solved the riddle Snape left behind. Harry went forward, the rest of us each drank a potion, and then we found Ron and Neville, wanting to go back the way we came... You all know the rest."

She clenched her fingers tightly, her tone remaining calm, rational, and articulate. But her hair seemed to stand on end, and her body was as taut as a fully drawn bowstring.

“Hermione!” Padma suddenly leaned over and hugged Hermione. “Don’t worry…and don’t blame yourselves…fighting that person was Harry’s choice, not your fault…and he’ll recover, won’t he?”

She gently pulled the girl's hand away, and saw that Hermione's hand was covered in bloody scratches from her own claws.

“You don’t understand, Padma.”

Hermione leaned on Padma's shoulder, and tears fell without warning.

She choked back tears as she said, "The bottom of the trapdoor was bottomless. Harry didn't know there was a Devil's Web to catch us, and he was the first to jump down... He even said... if anything happened to him, we would come back immediately... I really..."

Padma gently stroked her back, and a vague understanding dawned on her why Hermione was crying.

It wasn't just because I was worried about my unconscious friend... it was also because, after returning to a safe environment, the despair and fear of watching my friend go to their death surged up from the bottom of my heart...

She looked around at the people—the boys weren't crying, but something seemed different in their expressions… as if, silently, they had all undergone some kind of transformation…

A commotion suddenly arose at the doorway—

“No, Potter hasn’t woken up yet, no visits are allowed!” Mrs. Pomfrey said sternly.

“Madam, we have come to visit Theo and Ryan—we are both from Hufflepuff Academy,” someone at the door pleaded.

“…Alright, no noise allowed.” Mrs. Pomfrey conceded.

Then a bustling crowd squeezed in through the doorway—these students had probably seen Theo and the others, injured and riding brooms through the corridor, and had come to inquire about the news.

As the wounded were surrounded by "visitors," Michael and Wade exchanged a glance—probably because they were both unharmed and were being treated as mere spectators by others, who didn't pay much attention to them.

So the two of them managed to squeeze out of the school clinic.

"I want to go back to the secret room and take another look."

Upon reaching the door, Michael exhaled and said to Wade, "Now that Dumbledore brought Harry out, the flames blocking the way might have disappeared... I want to go and see what happened in the last Chamber of Secrets."

Wade said, "Let's go together."

“Of course.” Michael laughed. “I bet you’re also wondering—how exactly did Harry Potter manage to escape danger once again?”

Actually, Wade wasn't curious.

He just... wanted to go and see.

The checkpoint under the trapdoor was almost completely destroyed. The two rode brooms and easily passed through the stone corridors and brightly lit rooms until they reached the end.

It was a fairly spacious room with an arched roof, tall stone pillars embedded in the stone walls, and remnants of flames still burning around it.

There was also a huge mirror in the room, with a magnificent gold frame and a string of characters engraved on it, supported by two claw-shaped feet.

“Look, Wade.”

Michael suddenly crouched down, poked a wizard's robe at the edge of the steps with his wand, and whispered, "If I remember correctly, this is Professor Quirrell's robe—look, the scarf's here too—"

His words suddenly stopped, his gaze fixed in horror on the dust shrouded in his robe, and he stiffly retreated step by step.

Instead, Wade stepped forward and conjured a cylindrical bottle, collecting some of the dust from the ground.

"Wade!" Michael felt a chill run down his spine and shrieked, "Do you know what this is?"

"Professor Quirrell's remains—also the vessel of the Mysterious Man."

Wade capped the bottle, looked at the smoky gray dust inside, and said, "What if it comes in handy?"

Suddenly, as if something had been startled awake, eerie sounds came from all directions—

"Dust to dust, ashes to ashes..."

"Disturbing the dead will bring death to the living... The dead are nameless and will not receive any reward..."

“Wade Gray…Michael Conner…Do you wish to embark on a journey to eternal rest…”

Michael's limbs went weak, and goosebumps rose all over his body. He grabbed Wade's arm, his face ashen, and said, "Wade...you...you...you throw those things away right now..."

Wade felt a chill run down his spine for a moment, but then he quickly realized what was happening—

"Weasley?"

"Wade said softly."

Chapter 105 Investigation, Rumors

As soon as the words were spoken, the eerie voice vanished. Michael's terrified expression froze for a moment, then quickly turned to silence.

A moment later, two red-haired heads peeked out from behind the mirror, one on the left and one on the right.

"Huh, how did you know it was us?" Fred asked curiously.

“You must have mishid your feet!” George said as he stepped out.

"Aren't we the same?" Fred retorted.

They had thought the professor had arrived, and in their haste, they hid behind the mirror, one foot tucked behind the claw-shaped support foot, while the other foot was raised, clinging to the mirror like an octopus.

Upon hearing that the visitors were Wade and Michael, the twins were immediately seized by a mischievous impulse. They pretended to be ghosts and made a sound, hoping to see Wade and Michael panic. However, they were caught red-handed.

“What are you doing here?” Wade asked.

"Just like you guys—come see why our little Ronnie got knocked out."

Fred walked up to the gray mass, squatted down, and curiously poked it with his finger.

Michael said, "Then you should go to the school infirmary!"

“Percy went,” George said, winking. “And investigating in the restricted area is much more interesting!”

"So this is Quirrell?" Fred asked in disbelief. "What kind of magic can burn someone like this?"

“Fiercefire?” Michael guessed. He had only heard of this dark magic by name, and guessed that it must be much more powerful than ordinary [Blazing Flames].

“Impossible,” George said. “Fireburner burns everything that can burn, it won’t leave clothes alone—it’s more like some kind of…black magic.”

“Why don’t we just ask Harry when he wakes up?” Wade asked, shifting to his more pressing question: “Have you researched Fiendfire?”

Fred chuckled smugly, "We sneaked into the library during our nighttime stroll...and read a few books the professor forbade, like 'The Complete Book of Spells' and 'The Secrets of Cutting-Edge Black Magic'..."

“Fire is too dangerous and difficult to control. But ‘Fighting Poison with Poison’ is good; you can learn some very useful little curses.” George generously shared his experience.

The group studied the mound of earth for a while without any results. The twins, however, collected some dust to take back, saying they wanted to make a souvenir for their younger brother, Ron.

Michael walked around the stone house without finding anything. He walked past the mirror twice and suddenly felt like he saw something strange.

He stepped back and slowly turned to look in the mirror.

Michael's eyes widened in surprise, and he suddenly blushed.