Chapter 89: Through the Trapdoor

Allen quickly put on his mask.

Harry and the other two were still lost in the shock of what they had just seen.

Harry and Hermione were utterly stunned by the sight of Allen’s nose—anyone who saw a person with a flat nose and slits for nostrils would be shocked.

Ron seemed to have realized something, his gaze darting away, unable to look at Allen.

After hesitating for a long time, he said: “I heard before that Voldemort’s nose looks just like this—I never believed it, but now that I’ve seen Allen’s nose...”

Allen’s smile grew even more bitter; he knew exactly what Voldemort looked like, and that was why he had covered his nose so thoroughly today—to avoid causing panic.

After hearing Ron’s words, Harry and Hermione looked at Allen again—and their eyes had changed.

Professor Quirrell’s office.

The room was as dim as ever.

Voldemort’s voice sounded: “I just had a brief nap—how did things go?”

Quirrell hurried to answer: “Everything is arranged. I sent invitations to all the professors, inviting them to gather at the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade at nine tonight, under the pretense of introducing my fiancée. They all agreed gladly.”

“Excellent!” Voldemort’s cold, sharp voice rang out again. “Then our plan is perfect!”

“Master! Why have you suddenly become so cautious?” Quirrell hesitated, then asked.

Voldemort fell silent for a moment, then said: “Though that boy Finis cannot easily break the Unbreakable Vow, his actions are always unpredictable—so we must be even more careful today!”

“Yes, Master!”

After dinner, the four of them nervously avoided others and sat in the common room.

Hermione busied herself flipping through all her notes, hoping to stumble upon a spell they would need to dispel soon.

Allen carefully wiped his wand with a velvet cloth, mentally reviewing every combat spell he knew, like a warrior preparing for battle.

Throughout this school year, he had imagined countless times what it would be like to step onto the battlefield—he had expected to feel nervous, afraid—but now, at this moment, his heart held only calm and indifference.

He did not know what he would face soon, and he had even considered the possibility of death; suddenly, he realized he had left no trace of himself in this world.

So after dinner, he gathered all his notes and wrote down his theories on the true nature of magic in this world, placing the notebook inside his bedding.

If he Buxing died, Professor McGonagall would find the notebook when sorting through his belongings—this would be his final contribution to this world, Allen thought silently.

Harry and Ron spoke very little, each lost in thoughts of what they were about to do.

One by one, their classmates went to bed; the number of people in the common room gradually dwindled.

When the common room was empty, they rose in unison and pulled on the Invisibility Cloak.

Even with the Invisibility Cloak, the four of them were cramped—so as not to let their feet show, they had to hunch over as they walked.

Walking like this was exhausting; they stopped twice along the way, but fortunately, no one noticed them.

They reached the corridor outside the fourth-floor door—the door was already ajar.

Someone had entered ahead of them! Allen’s heart shot up instantly.

This was not part of their plan—Quirrell had already gone in! Or rather, Quirrell and Voldemort had already entered! Allen felt a surge of panic.

“See?” Harry whispered. “Snape has already passed Fluffy.”

Under the Invisibility Cloak, Harry said to them: “If you want to back out now,

I won’t blame you. You can take the Invisibility Cloak—I no longer need it.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Ron said.

“Let’s go together,” Hermione said.

Allen hesitated, then voiced his concern: “This isn’t what we planned! We planned to retrieve the Philosopher’s Stone before Snape—now that he’s already inside, the four of us can’t handle a full wizard!”

“No! This might be our chance—Snape might get injured by the traps, and that’s our opening!” Harry immediately countered Allen.

Ron supported Harry’s view: “Exactly! We ambush Snape from behind, subdue him, and the Stone is safe!”

Hermione leaned toward Allen’s view: “I think Allen is right—we should go find Professor McGonagall. She’ll see what’s happening and realize we’re the ones who are right!”

“There’s no time! We don’t know when Snape went in—by the time we find McGonagall, he’ll have escaped Hogwarts with the Stone!” Harry said, then pushed open the door.

Ron hurried after him; Allen and Hermione exchanged a glance, then followed.

With the creaking of the door opening, a low, furious growl immediately filled their ears. Though the giant dog could not see them, all three of its noses twitched and sniffed furiously toward their direction.

They spotted the harp left behind by the previous visitor; Allen blew the flute Hagrid had given him, and the giant dog soon fell asleep...

They removed the Invisibility Cloak and crept silently toward the trapdoor. As they neared the three massive heads, they could feel the dog’s hot, foul breath.

They pulled open the trapdoor—below lay utter darkness, nothing visible, no ladder.

“Looks like we have to jump!” Harry said firmly. “I’ll go first!”

He slowly slid down the edge, gripping the rim with only his ten fingers.

Allen blinked desperately, but Harry and the others didn’t notice—he stopped playing to warn them, but the moment he paused, the dog roared again and began writhing, forcing Allen to resume playing.

He looked up at Ron and said: “If anything happens to me, don’t follow me down. Go straight to the owlery and send Hedwig to Dumbledore, alright?”

“Alright,” Ron said.

Harry let go. Cold, damp air rushed past his ears as he fell, fell, fell—and then—thud. With a strange, muffled impact, Harry landed on something soft.

“Soft landing! You can jump now!” Harry’s voice called up from below.

Then Ron jumped, and Hermione followed...

Things happened too fast—Allen had no time to warn them; he reached out to grab them, but missed!

Now only Allen remained in the room—he felt for the first time how reckless his friends were.

He finally said what he had wanted to say all along: “Why didn’t you use a Cushioning Charm?”

Then he cast a Cushioning Charm on himself and slowly descended through the opening...