The Weasley twins looked at Wade.
Wade thought for a moment, but did not mention the plot he knew. Instead he just repeated what he had heard that day, word for word.
He had a very good memory in this life, and despite more than a month having passed, the dialogue he recited was almost without deviation.
An invisible chill seemed to rise from the ground. The umbrella room fell into a long silence, and no one spoke for a long time.
Finally, Fred broke the silence. "I've got to say — this joke is not funny at all — did you understand, George?"
George nodded silently, his face was unusually pale.
"So —" Ryan struggled to understand and frowning as he spoke:
"Professor Quirrell is not Professor Quirrell. No — rather, a dark wizard has possessed him? He wants to kill Harry Potter? Our Defense Against the Dark Arts professor — is a Death Eater?"
He looked around at everyone, seemingly expecting someone to suddenly shout, 'Got you! Just kidding!'
But no one spoke.
Ryan slumped into a chair, holding onto the table. After a while, he said hopefully, "Shouldn't we go find Professor Dumbledore? All Death Eaters are afraid of him. As long as Professor Dumbledore takes action, he'll definitely—"
Hermione shook her head slightly and said softly, "No, you don't understand, Ryan — 'he stood on my corpse and became a star' — think about that sentence, Ryan. Who would say something like that?"
The color slowly drained from the boy's face. Ryan clenched his fists and his body trembled slightly. "But — it's impossible — that person is already dead, isn't he — everyone knows he's dead — killed by Harry Potter…"
It was as if he suddenly bit his tongue, and his voice cut off abruptly.
Hermione looked at him with pity. She could tell that the boy already believed it, but he was too afraid to admit it.
—As if by not admitting it, that person would not be resurrected.
There was nothing laughable about it, because she felt a shiver herself.
Born in the Muggle world, Hermione should have had no personal feelings about Voldemort.
But she had read many books even before entering the wizarding world, so she understood, perhaps even more than most students from wizarding families, just how many horrifying atrocities the He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had committed.
Before that person disappeared, his power had swelled to its peak, casting a terrifying shadow over the entire British Isles, even Dumbledore…
People said that the person he feared most was Dumbledore, because the flames of war had never reached Hogwarts. But even Dumbledore couldn't stop the relentless wave of deaths.
This had left Hermione with a deep, subconscious fear of that person. But when she tried to say his name, she opened her mouth, yet couldn't bring herself to say it aloud.
It felt as though it would awaken some terrifying monster.
"Volde— I mean, the Dark Lord," Hermione looked at everyone and said, "If the Dark Lord really has possessed Professor Quirrell — I think we should tell Dumbledore! Wade, why didn't you go straight to Professor Dumbledore at the time?"
Wade thought for a moment and replied, "Maybe because... it's hard to believe Dumbledore knows nothing about this?"
Fred nodded. "Dumbledore must have noticed something unusual about Quirrell, but for some reason, he hasn't acted on it yet."
George said seriously, "He knows everything."
"But what if?" Hermione countered. "What if Dumbledore only suspects and is still looking for evidence?
He might think that Professor Quirrell has just sided with the dark forces, but doesn't know that the Dark Lord is possessing him! We should find Dumbledore, tell him the truth, and let him decide what to do!"
"Of course, Hermione, you're right," Ryan said. "That's exactly what we should do."
"Then why don't we act now?" Fred said decisively and stood up. "I saw Dumbledore in the Great Hall during dinner! He must still be at the school."
Hermione hadn't expected him to be so bold. She hesitated and asked, "Should we bring Harry with us? I mean — the Dark Lord wants to kill him — Harry should know where the danger is coming from—"
Wade thought for a moment. "Like you said, Hermione — let Dumbledore decide."
Hermione thought of what he had mentioned about a "test" and nodded silently. Her eyes were full of worry, as if she feared that Voldemort might kill Harry on their way to find Dumbledore.
Standing in the hallway, Wade pulled out a bright silver whistle and blew into it.
The sharp, piercing sound cut through the air, and soon, an owl flew over from the western tower, flying through the window and landing precisely on Wade's outstretched arm.
"Cool!" Fred whistled in admiration.
The owl, Eva, tilted her head to look at him and hooted twice.
Wade rolled up the written note and let Eva hold it in her beak. He instructed, "Deliver this to Professor Dumbledore and then bring his reply back to me."
Eva nodded and flew away. Everyone watched as she circled in the sky, then headed toward a small tower window and flew inside.
Hermione bit her finger nervously and said, "What if Professor Dumbledore doesn't take our letter seriously? Maybe I should have written it in more detail, so he knows we aren't just messing around…"
Fortunately, Dumbledore didn't keep them waiting long — after just a minute or two, Eva flew out of the window again.
The owl delivered the reply to Wade. On the parchment, in long, looping handwriting, were the words:
[You are welcome to come to my office. The password is Bertie Bott's Sundae.]
"Bertie Bott's Sundae?" George mumbled, "I don't think I've ever seen that dessert in the Great Hall."
Fred said, "It was at the end-of-term feast last semester. What were you doing then? Oh right, you were sneaking a jar of cockroaches into Montague's bag—"
"—To make him think he bought a pile of cockroaches." George recalled the prank and laughed, "He hasn't eaten cockroach clusters since! Wait—did you sneak some of my sundae?"
"How can you call it sneaking?" Fred argued. "I took it right in front of you, you just didn't see it—"
As they bantered and playfully argued, they reached the entrance to the Headmaster's office.
On the way, they ran into Michael, who was returning from the Quidditch pitch. He greeted them and naturally joined the group, with no one thinking anything of it.
At the entrance sat an incredibly ugly stone gargoyle. Fred avoided George's attack, jumped to the front and said, "Bertie Bott's Sundae!"
The gargoyle jumped aside, and the wall behind it split in two, revealing a spiral staircase that slowly ascended. One by one, they stepped inside, and with a rumble, the wall closed behind them.
The staircase carried them higher and higher, and Wade was quietly amazed. In the Muggle world, escalators were common, but this was the first time he had seen something like this in the magical world.
So why mimic Muggle inventions like this? — An elevator always appears wherever the Headmaster needs it.
As the rotating staircase began to make them dizzy, they finally saw a gleaming oak door with a brass knocker shaped like a griffin.
This was Dumbledore's office.
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