Chapter 9 - 9: 09: Lord Voldemort isn't dead!

The three professors who had just arrived looked at the clean washroom, their faces full of confusion. "It was a twelve-foot-tall Mountain Troll, and I've already dealt with it." Seeing that no one was talking, Sagres said calmly and composedly. The professors had varied expressions, and Snape couldn't help but ask, "Dealt with? How did you deal with it? Stunned? Expelled? Or killed?" "The situation was a bit critical just now, so for Mr. Potter's safety, I had to resort to some drastic measures." Sagres gestured to the floating spherical corpse, causing a few of them to frown repeatedly—but this also answered the questions in their minds. Seeing that everyone understood the situation, Sagres nodded and snapped his fingers at the sphere. Woosh~ A white flame rose out of nowhere, engulfing the spherical corpse, which was burned to ashes in an instant. A breeze swirled by, carrying the last bit of ash into the toilet and closing the toilet lid along the way. Flush! The flush button was pressed, and the enormous troll was thus completely disposed of… Professor McGonagall then noticed there were three young wizards still in the washroom—and worse, all three were from Gryffindor. "You three, how did you end up here?" Professor McGonagall demanded sharply, her lips white with anger. She pointed at Ron, who was closest to her, and spoke sternly: "Weasley, you tell me what happened!" The red-haired boy awkwardly stepped forward, various excuses frantically popping into his head, but none seemed to make sense. So he gave up, hanging his head weakly and admitting his mistake: "I'm sorry, Professor McGonagall, it was…" "It was me. I came looking for the troll…" Hermione tremblingly interrupted Ron, quickly saying, "I read about them in a book and thought I could handle it… Harry and Ron came to save me." Professor McGonagall was a bit surprised; she probably hadn't expected Miss Granger—who was always so sensible—to have such a reckless moment. However, she quickly composed herself and sternly announced her judgment to Hermione: "Miss Granger, your foolishness has cost Gryffindor five points." Hermione lowered her head in disappointment. Professor McGonagall then turned to the two boys and said, "As for Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley, your courage in stepping forward when your classmate was in danger will earn Gryffindor five points each." Harry and Ron exchanged glances and broke into bright smiles. "But let this be a warning: next time something like this happens, do not handle it yourselves. You are still only first-year students." "Pro… Professor McGonagall… is right… you… what you did was truly… too dangerous." Quirrell stammered in agreement, earning him a contemptuous glance from Snape. Professor McGonagall ignored them and instead made a request to Sagres: "Sagres, I must also ask you to take these three back to their common room. Filius just told me that a few students were knocked off the moving staircase on their way back from the Great Hall and are currently in the infirmary…" Sagres nodded. "No problem, Professor McGonagall. I will personally see them into the Gryffindor common room." After he finished speaking, he waved to the three young wizards. "Let's go, you three." The three little ones obediently turned and left like quails. Sagres glanced at Snape's torn trouser leg, then expressionlessly recalled the raven that had been perched on the cubicle door, and followed the young wizards out of the washroom. On the way, none of the four spoke. It was clear that the three hadn't fully calmed down yet—but that was normal; asking first-year students to face a dangerous troll was indeed a bit beyond their scope. Sagres turned to look at the silent trio, uncharacteristically initiating conversation. "Cheer up. You just fought a mountain Troll side-by-side… and came out unscathed. That's something to be happy about, wouldn't you say?" Upon hearing this, the three immediately looked embarrassed. They thought of their performance just now, and truthfully, it hadn't been good at all. "T-Thank you, Professor Greengrass," Hermione said, expressing her gratitude to Sagres. Harry and Ron also nodded repeatedly. "Yes, Professor, thanks to you for saving us this time—otherwise…" Ron shivered as he spoke, remembering the blow the troll hadn't managed to land. Sagres smiled and shook his head. He pulled out his wand and lightly tapped Harry and Ron, respectively. The two immediately felt a warm, peaceful energy fill their bodies, and they instantly relaxed. "Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, you possess extraordinary courage. That is a valuable quality—especially for Gryffindor." Sagres praised their actions, and his compliments made the young wizards blush. They instinctively raised their hands to scratch their heads. He then tapped the still somewhat dejected Hermione with his wand tip and asked her a question: "Miss Granger, have you heard of Amortentia?" Hermione was a little surprised by the question, but still answered honestly. "Yes, Professor, I have." At the same time, an unknown force made her feel invigorated, so she couldn't help but add, "I've read descriptions of this potion in my Potions class textbook." Sagres nodded. "Amortentia can create false love… but there is no potion in the world that can create friendship out of thin air," he said seriously. "Not even false friendship." "This precisely proves the preciousness of friendship… doesn't it?" He then ushered the thoughtful trio into the common room. In front of the Fat Lady's portrait, the three young wizards thanked Sagres again. Hermione also waved to Noctis. "Goodbye, Mr. Raven!" Noctis ignored her. ... Late at night, in the Hogwarts Library. Sagres sat at a table, a thought that had emerged during dinner earlier becoming clearer—making him feel that the truth was indeed as he suspected. Lord Voldemort isn't dead! This person who once held sway over the magical world in Britain ultimately met his downfall and vanished when facing a baby. Many people said he was dead, but Sagres now felt that his conjecture was very likely the truth. "I'll have to ask Dumbledore during Thursday's tea," Sagres decided. ... Since the Halloween troll incident, Harry and Ron had noticed that Hermione had changed a lot. In Ron's words, "She suddenly became much nicer." This clever girl had finally understood a principle—sometimes, even if you are right, you still need to pay attention to how you express yourself. Because an arrogant tone makes others feel like you're showing off. And Hermione, realizing this, quickly integrated into the class. The trio also naturally became friends after experiencing a crisis—and this was certainly not just because Hermione took the blame for Harry and Ron during the troll incident. She was no longer so resistant to breaking school rules. To be honest, if a clever person is determined to get along with you, it's hard for her not to succeed… The three were currently walking together toward the Quidditch Pitch. The Quidditch matches were set to begin at the end of the month, so Harry had to hurry with his training, while Hermione and Ron went to cheer him on. "So what was that spell?" Harry turned to Hermione, who was always the best student among the three and knew many things they didn't. "I told you, I don't know, Harry," Hermione shook her head helplessly. This was the fourth time the two had asked her this. "I heard that older students really like Professor Greengrass's class…" Ron interjected, speaking with some longing. "No homework at all, not even notes needed. Most importantly, everyone seems to get much smarter in his class…" "That's because he casts spells on the students," Draco Malfoy appeared with his two cronies, speaking in his slow, annoying tone. "He also claims it was approved by the Ministry of Magic's Department of Education, but Fudge told my father there's no record of it at all." "Oh, right, Fudge is the current Minister for Magic—you know that, right?" The Golden Trio completely ignored the sudden appearance of the Malfoy trio. Ron even turned to Harry and Hermione, as if no one else was there, and said, "Look at him acting all high and mighty—you'd think his dad was the Minister for Magic!" Draco's face turned ugly. He blocked the trio's path, his voice full of malice. "Weasley, it seems you, like your father, enjoy dealing with Muggle-related things…" He glanced at Hermione beside Ron and continued to mock him with a look of disdain. "If I were you, I'd go home immediately and see if your fat mother isn't secretly eating in the kitchen again…" "Don't insult my mother…" Ron angrily rushed up to Malfoy and grabbed his collar—but before his fist could land, a hollow voice came from behind him. "Weasley, Gryffindor will lose five points for your fighting…" Snape had appeared behind them at some point, and his first words cost Gryffindor five points. Ron was furious. He looked at Malfoy's smug expression and couldn't help but retort, "That's not fair—he insulted my mother first…" "Contradicting a professor—another five points off," Snape said expressionlessly. Ron wanted to say more, but Harry and Hermione stopped him and forcibly pulled him away. Walking to the Quidditch Pitch by the Forbidden Forest, Ron was still angrily muttering, "You shouldn't have stopped me just now…" "And let Snape keep finding excuses to deduct points from Gryffindor?" Hermione interrupted his complaining. "But he—" "I know, Ron, we all know… Malfoy is a sneaky little snake. Last time he said he wanted to duel, but then he immediately told Filch and almost got us caught…" "Then you really shouldn't have stopped me just now…" Ron gradually calmed down, but his mouth was still muttering. "If I were as powerful as Professor Greengrass—with just one spell, I guarantee, just one spell—I could make Malfoy shut his stinking mouth forever!" Hermione reminded him, "That's impossible. Even if you're a professor, you can't just cast spells on students." Harry also couldn't help but ask, "So, do you think what Malfoy just said was true?" Seeing Ron about to get angry again, Harry quickly added, "I mean about Professor Greengrass. Malfoy said he was illegally casting spells on students in class…" Ron replied, "The Malfoys like to exaggerate! If Professor Greengrass really did something illegal, then why is he still teaching peacefully at Hogwarts?!" Hermione didn't speak. Actually, regarding this, she thought Malfoy might be telling the truth—but Ron was clearly still in a huff, so she kept it to herself. Harry, on the other hand, felt Ron was right. Professor Greengrass was, after all, according to Hagrid, invited by Headmaster Dumbledore to teach at Hogwarts. He trusted Dumbledore, which meant Professor Greengrass's teaching methods were fine. "Do you think, that night, when he tapped our bodies with his wand… was he casting a spell on us?" Harry suddenly remembered that Halloween night, on the way back to the Gryffindor common room, Sagres had tapped their bodies with his wand—and afterward, they had seemed to feel much happier. "You should hurry up and train. Wood should have arrived much earlier…"