Lying on the grass, basking in the sunlight, and enjoying a moment of tranquility, Tewell had never felt his body so relaxed.
"Hey, hey, where did you just go?" the ring suddenly spoke.
Realizing that his recent experiences were not so simple, even the ring he carried with him couldn't "see" his adventures as usual.
Tewell teased, "Somewhere I could get rid of you."
The ring panicked immediately.
To be blunt, it had been with Tewell for more days than most people.
In the past, Tewell's spirit was always tense, carrying with him a sense of urgency. Seeing him so relaxed now was a first.
"You can't do this, Tewell!" the ring exclaimed anxiously. "I've been by your side for so many years, helping you learn dark magic!"
"More importantly, you've been gradually awakening my soul, filling in the missing pieces. You can't let all that effort go to waste!"
Normally, a Horcrux, or even Voldemort's own soul, would be incomplete.
But the ring absorbed Tewell's life force and was intentionally nurtured, making its soul much more complete than other Horcruxes. That's why the ring seemed a bit smarter, thanks entirely to Tewell's contribution.
To some extent, the current ring was a combination of his life force and Voldemort's soul.
"Don't worry, if I wanted to destroy you, I would've done it long ago," Tewell said, taking out the ring and playing with it in his hand. "I can't bear to let you be destroyed like that."
He did have means to destroy a Horcrux, but as the ring said, it would be a waste of his life force to do it directly.
Even a blade of grass had its purpose.
The ring breathed a sigh of relief but then noticed something on Tewell's right hand. Upon closer inspection, it noticed a small mark on his wrist.
"Wait, did you really break the curse?!"
"Of course not, just temporarily restored my life force," Tewell said, feeling his body. "Hmm, I won't be lacking for about fifty years."
He had two curses on him, now just suppressed. They would only be fully resolved after meeting with Lady Ravenclaw.
"Shall we still go steal the Philosopher's Stone?"
"Of course we shall, after all this planning, we can't waste it. I'm quite thrifty, you know."
Tewell paused. "And even if I don't need it, someone else will."
"Who?" the ring asked casually.
He was completely under Tewell's control now, unable to muster any other desires.
"Of course, it's you," Tewell said with a teasing smile in his eyes.
"!!!"
If the ring's Voldemort soul could be seen, it would surely be astonished by his widened eyes.
"You're not lying to me, are you? Wizards don't deceive wizards!"
"Yeah! Since you don't have much need for the Philosopher's Stone, what's the use of having it? Better to give it to me, right?"
"Sob, sob, my original form abandoned me in a dilapidated house, didn't care about me at all. You're the best to me."
"From the moment you touched the ring, I knew you were a good person!"
Receiving an unexpected 'good person' card, Tewell knocked on the black stone on the ring.
"Stop pretending, we agreed to make this act more convincing."
The ring quieted down.
Taking the opportunity, Tewell observed the resurrection stone on the ring.
This angular black stone was engraved with the Peverell crest (the symbol of the Deathly Hallows), as deep as a black hole, absorbing any magic detection every time.
To be honest, he didn't dare to study this stone casually.
The contents inside and the divergence from the wizarding world were too much. At least until his research on souls reached a higher level, he wouldn't invest his time in the Philosopher's Stone.
Speaking of which, the moment he realized it was the Philosopher's Stone, he unexpectedly thought—what would his state be if he recalled his soul at the moment of death? A superposition of being dead and not dead?
Pondering for a moment, a massive shadow suddenly blocked the sunlight shining on him. And in front of him appeared a face with a full beard.
"Professor Fawley?" Hagrid said, puzzled. "What are you doing here?"
With no sunlight, Tewell stood up straightforwardly. Despite his towering height of six feet three inches, he still fell short compared to the half-giant.
Speaking of which, this was their first formal meeting, so Hagrid introduced himself first.
"You might not know me. I'm Rubeus Hagrid, the keeper of keys and grounds at Hogwarts."
"How could I not know you? People like you are quite memorable," Tewell replied.
Tewell then glanced around.
This place was already on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, between the snow-covered ground and the dense forest.
He hadn't expected Hagrid to be so considerate as to directly send him back here.
Five stars!
Hagrid scratched his head with his free hand. He often heard such words.
But he held most professors in high regard, even the unreliable ones like the previous Defense Against the Dark Arts professors, maintaining a student-like respect.
"Although I don't know what you're doing here, it's better to appear less often in the Forbidden Forest recently."
"Oh, has something happened in the Forbidden Forest?" Tewell speculated inwardly, especially with Hagrid holding a giant crossbow in one hand and a full quiver on his shoulder.
"I'm not sure who it was, but there were quite a few disturbances in the Forbidden Forest last night. When I went to check, all I saw was a dark figure."
Hagrid glanced worriedly toward the depths of the forest.
"I could sense clearly that the animals were restless. When I patrolled just now, I even found some dead acromantula bodies."
"They were killed swiftly. Though I know you're powerful, Professor," he paused, seeming to realize something, discreetly eyeing Tewell.
"—still, Professor, it's best to stay away from the Forbidden Forest as much as possible to avoid any unnecessary misunderstandings." His tone became sterner.
Was he suspecting himself?
Honestly, he didn't mean to offend. With Hagrid's behavior pattern, these small actions were more apparent than normal people's big actions.
"Alright," Tewell nodded, looking in the direction where a little rabbit had just hopped away.
He didn't want to disturb Quirrell's meal. Let him live well so he could focus on his career.
"I probably won't come to the Forbidden Forest again. Please take good care of the little cutie here."
But Hagrid obviously misunderstood Tewell's meaning of "little cutie." After all, for him, dragons were the cutest creatures!
Still, he smiled understandingly, waving his big hand cheerfully. "That's my duty, just like teaching you!"
I knew it! A professor with such a good reputation couldn't possibly be plotting to steal the Philosopher's Stone!