Chapter 65: Professor Quirrell's Irritability

When Allen returned to the Gryffindor common room, he discovered Hermione had actually come back; she was enthusiastically chatting with Harry and Ron about various Christmas anecdotes, and Allen quickly joined in.

Then she began to worry that her friends had been wandering the castle for three consecutive nights over a certain mirror.

Allen silently grumbled in his heart, because he felt Hermione's true concern was that the three of them might get Gryffindor House deducted points again.

Then Hermione grew angry that the three of them still hadn't figured out who Nicolas Flamel was, and since none of the three had cared about this matter throughout the entire Christmas break, they all felt guilty and dared not meet Hermione's gaze.

After the holidays ended, they resumed using their break times to search the library for Nicolas Flamel, while Allen felt this approach was meaningless, so he used that time to begin studying Ancient Runes instead.

Unexpectedly, on a sunny afternoon, Harry suddenly ran over excitedly to tell Allen he had found out who Nicolas Flamel was, while Hermione handed over an open book, the page displaying a brief introduction to Nicolas Flamel.

"So, what the giant dog on the fourth floor is guarding is the Philosopher's Stone?" Allen quickly read through those few pages.

"Yes! I'd bet anything that Nicolas Flamel asked Dumbledore to keep the Philosopher's Stone for him!" Ron stated affirmatively.

"A stone that can turn things into gold and grant you immortality," Harry said. "No wonder Snape wants it; everyone wants it."

Allen felt convinced, because he wanted it even more—sigh, it's all caused by the sickness of being poor.

Suddenly, Allen felt Professor Quirrell's suspicion was also quite significant; after all, he had said his days were numbered, so he might want to use the Philosopher's Stone to extend his life. However, Allen quickly dismissed this thought; Professor Quirrell was more focused on news from the Forbidden Forest and had never shown interest in the things on the fourth floor.

Therefore, Snape's suspicion remained the greater one.

The second Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin was scheduled to begin in the afternoon.

The weather today was somewhat gloomy, but visibility was decent; there weren't many clouds in the sky, and it didn't look like rain.

A week ago, Harry received bad news: Snape would be refereeing. This made Ron and Hermione very nervous, fearing Snape might cast a spell on Harry during the match, so they kept asking Allen to teach them the Leg-Locker Curse, planning to strike first if Snape tried to cast a spell on Harry.

Allen found this idea strange—Snape would never cast a spell to harm a student under the watchful eyes of everyone.

However, he was always happy to see the protagonists enhancing their combat capabilities, so he enthusiastically accompanied them to practice the Leg-Locker Curse.

On the day of the match, Hermione even assigned him a task: stay at the edge of the Quidditch pitch, and if he saw Harry fall off his broom, immediately cast a Levitation Charm on him.

Hermione also required Harry to bring his wand to the match; upon noticing anything wrong, he was to cast a Levitation Charm on himself and jump straight down.

Allen was stunned by the whirlwind that was Hermione; he hadn't expected she had such a side to her.

But all these preparations went unused; from the stands, they spotted that iconic white beard—it was Albus Dumbledore. With him present, everyone relaxed, believing no one could play tricks under Dumbledore's watchful eye.

Freed from worries, Harry displayed magnificent prowess and won the match quickly.

After the match, Harry discovered Snape threatening Professor Quirrell in the Forbidden Forest, which made them even more certain that Snape was the mastermind behind it all, yet Allen always felt a bit uneasy in his heart.

Meanwhile, Allen's journey of learning dark magic continued; he wasn't progressing too smoothly with the Fiendfyre Curse, mainly because there was no suitable place to practice.

The flames summoned by the Fiendfyre Curse were too powerful,

easily igniting various things, so he dared not practice within Hogwarts or the Forbidden Forest; after all, propaganda about fire prevention from his previous life was deeply ingrained in his mind, and slogans like "One wisp of fire on the mountain, a trip to the police station when you descend" were still vivid in his memory.

This resulted in him only daring to practice this spell in Professor Quirrell's office; that way, even if a fire broke out, Professor Quirrell could control the situation, so his mastery of this spell progressed very slowly.

Allen liked this spell very much, but not for its offensive capabilities; rather, he felt the Fiendfyre Curse could be used to cover a retreat, allowing him to escape in the chaos.

Having learned two dark magic spells, Allen began to doubt the classification between light and dark magic; these two "dark" spells seemed fine, and he couldn't see anything bad about them.

Finally, Professor Quirrell grew puzzled by the endless stream of Ancient Runes Allen produced; eventually, Allen explained that he had bought an old book from a bookstall in Diagon Alley, which recorded many Ancient Runes.

Although Professor Quirrell looked utterly unconvinced, he seemed not to care much about it, and thus Allen managed to fool him successfully.

In the following weeks, Professor Quirrell rapidly became thinner and paler.

Harry speculated this was caused by Professor Quirrell frequently being threatened by Snape, since he had encountered Snape threatening Professor Quirrell a few weeks prior.

However, Allen, who knew Professor Quirrell better, did not agree with this assessment; Allen recalled the health issues Professor Quirrell had mentioned before.

Could it be that Professor Quirrell hadn't lied to him back then? Allen's heart began to waver.

Professor Quirrell's teaching in recent weeks grew increasingly irritable; his desire for news from the Forbidden Forest became less and less concealed, and before every class, he would grab Allen to inquire in detail about the previous day's observations in the Forbidden Forest.

Moreover, the smell of potions in his office grew stronger and stronger; Allen speculated this was due to the deterioration of his physical condition, which caused such irritability.

Watching Professor Quirrell grow thinner day by day, Allen couldn't help but generate some desire to help him.

However, Allen's recent patrols in the Forbidden Forest had indeed uncovered no valuable clues, so he was powerless to do anything about it.

On another Saturday night, as soon as Allen entered Professor Quirrell's office, he was dragged into answering questions about yesterday's Forbidden Forest observations; hearing only disappointing results, Professor Quirrell became even more irritable.

He even lost the mood to guide Allen, so today's lesson ended earlier than usual.

Allen could see Professor Quirrell was in a bad mood and dared not say anything, merely cautiously continuing to practice the Fiendfyre Curse off to the side.

Professor Quirrell gradually calmed his emotions and continued hiding in the shadows, watching Allen diligently practice the spell; suddenly, he spotted a book Allen had brought, the title written on its spine—"The Rise and Fall of the Dark Lord"—and instantly took interest.

He stepped out from the darkness, picked up the book, flipped it open, skimmed through it hastily, and let out a cold snort.

Allen also keenly noticed Professor Quirrell's movements and stopped practicing; that book was one he had borrowed from the library, as recently he had suddenly wanted to learn more about You-Know-Who.

"Why have you suddenly started reading this kind of book?" Professor Quirrell asked Allen in a low voice.

"I feel You-Know-Who is an unavoidable figure in modern history, so I wanted to understand more; lately, I've read many books about him," Allen replied quickly, observing Professor Quirrell's expression.

Unexpectedly, Professor Quirrell took interest in this topic and asked with amusement:

"Then what kind of person do you think the Dark Lord was?"