More than a dozen small, glowing birds, chirping and twittering, swooped down on Snape as if playing a trick to amuse children.
Snape showed obvious displeasure at such weak magic.
He reached out and grasped at the air, instantly extinguishing the ball of light and the little bird, as if it had never existed.
"No wonder Malfoy complained to me about wanting his father to expel you... Is this all you've got, Defense Against the Dark Arts... Professor Quirrell?"
"What...what are you going to do?" Quirrell's eyes widened as he backed away.
He looked utterly terrified, and before he knew it, he tripped over his robe and fell to the ground while backing away.
Snape's lips twitched, and just as he was about to say something, he noticed that Quirrell's eyes had changed; they were filled with intense focus.
Silent spellcasting!
Snape instantly became alert, and at the same time felt a wave of heat erupting behind him.
The clusters of light and birds reappeared and gathered together, burning like a phoenix rising from the ashes, forming a huge fireball.
The fireball distorted the surrounding air, trailing a fiery red tail, and hurtled toward the wooden door at an astonishing speed, like a meteor streaking across the sky.
"Finite Incantatem!" Snape hissed.
The fireball was almost extinguished, but then it quickly grew larger again, clearly because Quirrell had cast another spell.
Everything happened so fast; the wooden door was engulfed in flames in the blink of an eye, and fierce barking came from inside.
Three enormous dog heads suddenly emerged from the doorway, their mouths full of fangs opening wide as they lunged forward to bite.
Despite Snape's quick reflexes, he couldn't escape the bite from one of the dog heads.
The three-headed dog's teeth pierced through Snape's calf, and it made a defiant growling sound from its throat.
Quirrell's face was grim. "A three-headed dog! Such creatures in the school!"
Having obtained this important information, he decided not to linger and quickly got up and left.
Snape brandished his wand with a chilling expression, "Take three feet back!"
With a tremendous roar, an invisible force slammed into the three-headed dog, causing it to instantly lose control from the sudden impact.
It let out a painful scream, flew backward in a sorry state, and crashed directly into the wall, causing a tremor in the surrounding area.
Snape gritted his teeth, stood up, and looked at Fluffy.
Fluffy had just regained its balance when it saw Snape's chilling gaze and couldn't help but shudder.
It let out a low growl as a warning, but did not rush forward.
Snape pursed his lips, then swung his wand across the room, conjuring an iron door and locking the three-headed dog back inside.
"Trying to run?" Snape turned to look at Quirrell, only to see that Quirrell had already run some distance.
He endured the excruciating pain in his calf, gripped his wand, and pulled it upwards sharply, shouting, "Sectumsempra!"
Quirrell had just heard Snape's voice when a sense of crisis surged through him—a sense of crisis of facing death!
He waved his wand wildly, frantically chanting spell after spell: "Protego! Protego! Protego! Protego!"
...
Several invisible protective spells converged in front of him, solidifying into a solid gray magical barrier.
However, his sense of crisis did not diminish at all, and he could only try his best to set up protective magic to defend against it before the magic arrived.
The eerie magic finally struck, silently bombarding the magic barrier.
The solid magical barrier shattered instantly, and a tremendous force slammed into Quirrell.
He was thrown out like a rag doll by a tremendous force, his body drawing a grotesque arc in the air.
Quirrell flew backward, his arms swinging limply, a look of disbelief and terror still on his face.
boom!
He slammed hard against the wall, the plaster shattering instantly, dust and debris spreading outwards amidst the shockwave, raising a cloud of smoke.
"Cough cough cough..." Quirrell coughed repeatedly, spitting out mouthfuls of blood.
He felt dizzy, as if his body had been hit by a fire dragon, and every inch of his skin and every organ was groaning.
"Quirinus Quirrell!" Snape's eyes were cold as he limped toward Quirrell.
His wand continued to tremble, scattering specks of emerald light to stop the bleeding from the wound on his calf.
As Snape pressed closer, the sense of impending death grew stronger.
Quirrell forced himself to calm down and stammered, "Professor Snape, this is... a misunderstanding!"
He held up his wand. "It really is...it's a misunderstanding! The wand backfired! The wand backfired!"
"So my magic... my magic went out of control and burned... burned through that wooden door! Luckily you're... alright!"
"You still have to pretend…" Snape's words were on the tip of his tongue, but he stopped himself.
The reason for this was that his real target was not Quirrell, but rather the mastermind behind Quirrell's actions—You-Know-Who.
You-Know-Who was the sword of Damocles hanging over his head.
If You-Know-Who were still alive, his every word and action now would affect You-Know-Who's attitude towards him in the future.
Even without considering You-Know-Who, he had other things to consider.
Times have changed. This is a relatively peaceful era, and committing murder at Hogwarts would easily attract the attention of the British Ministry of Magic.
He also has the identity of a Death Eater, so if there is any outrageous act of killing, even with Dumbledore as a guarantor, it will not be easy to quell the matter.
Moreover, once Dumbledore intervenes, it will clearly indicate a connection between the two, making it even more difficult for him to rejoin You-Know-Who's ranks in the future.
Snape thought about the past, and perhaps it was because he walked in the gray area that he encountered so much.
Lily, Hogwarts, Harry Potter, You-Know-Who, Death Eaters...
Memories flooded his mind, and that unforgettable smiling face seemed so close...
He took a deep breath and forced out the words through clenched teeth, "Quirinus Quirrell! What are you doing? Are you working for...?"
Quirrell raised his hands, letting out an awkward, short laugh: "I'm just a... professor, what else can I do? I'm working for... Headmaster Dumbledore, of course..."
Just then, a sharp shout suddenly rang out, followed by tremors and a loud bang.
In the blink of an eye, Snape erected a magical energy field.
"What mischief have you gotten yourself into now?" he hissed, pointing his wand at Quirrell's forehead.
"I...I don't know either." Quirrell spread his hands, indicating that he hadn't done anything.
The two stood facing off for a while, then the voices of three boys rang out.
"Wow! Vizette, the fireworks you improved for us are really awesome!"
"This year's Halloween dinner was so innovative, I loved it!"
"Can't you guys be serious for once? The situation is critical! Fred, watch out!"
Then came a steady, clear chant: "Fred, fly here!"
"What happened?" Quirrell looked anxious as he scrambled to his feet. "Why was Vizette targeted by the troll?"
Snape seized the opportunity, waved his wand to conjure a rope, and bound Quirrell.
Bound by ropes, Quirrell looked even more anxious. He pleaded, "Snape, please let me through..."
"Oh?" Snape remained unmoved, snatching the wand from Quirrell's hand. "You seem quite concerned?"
Another shout came from downstairs: "Vizette, run! It's after you! Run!"
Quirrell continued pleading, "If that child fights the troll, it will cause the Obscurus to go berserk... You must stop him..."
Snape twitched his jaw and waved his wand, making the rope disappear.
"Thank you! Thank you!" Quirrell struggled to his feet, not even bothering to grab his wand, and ran downstairs.
Snape watched Quirrell walk away with a strange expression, and finally gritted his teeth and followed him.
...
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