Adrian suddenly understood why Voldemort had chosen today to steal the Philosopher's Stone. If he knew some of Hogwarts' secret passages and could slip in quietly, Dumbledore would be too busy to interfere.
Given that Voldemort had hidden a Horcrux in the Room of Requirement and found the Chamber of Secrets, he'd clearly explored the school thoroughly during his time here. Knowing a few secret passages was hardly surprising.
"So what do we do now? Just wait here for Quirrell to steal the Stone?" Ron sounded desperate. They were trapped with no good options.
"We can't stay here. When Quirrell gets the Philosopher's Stone, he'll have to come back this way. And Fluffy might wake up any minute!" Hermione tugged at her bushy hair, frustrated. No matter how hard she thought, she couldn't find a solution.
"Then we stop Quirrell from getting the Stone. There are four of us and only one of him!" Harry said with determination.
"Quirrell's not as weak as you think. He might be connected to You-Know-Who. To Voldemort." Adrian said the name deliberately.
"Voldemort?" Harry stared.
Ron and Hermione looked shocked. They'd thought dealing with a rogue professor was bad enough. Now their opponent had been upgraded to the Dark Lord himself.
"Then we have to stop him!" After his initial surprise, Harry's voice became firm again. "If Quirrell wants the Stone, he's either giving it to Voldemort or using it to bring him back."
Adrian's mind raced.
'Go or not?'
If his plan was good enough, he might catch Quirrell by surprise like he had during the Forbidden Forest. He could use the protective magic in Harry's blood to skip the whole battle and eliminate Quirrell directly.
All he had to do was hit Quirrell with the Killing Curse while Harry's touch held him frozen.
That would complete the system's task, unlock blood magic, and give him more protection before returning to Knockturn Alley.
But Adrian wasn't naive enough to think everything would go smoothly. If something went wrong, he'd be facing the final boss himself.
Even a Voldemort reduced to just a soul fragment was extremely dangerous.
"If you want to leave, there are brooms here." Harry pointed to the broomsticks by the door. Now that he knew Quirrell was working with Voldemort, he was determined to stop him.
"It's not about whether we're willing to let Quirrell go. It's whether Quirrell will let us go. I don't want to spend my whole summer watching my back for an enemy in the shadows." Adrian sighed.
Adrian knew that without their help, Voldemort wouldn't get the Stone anyway. But that wouldn't solve the problem. When Voldemort realized Dumbledore had tricked him, he'd be more cautious and angrier. They'd all be in danger once they left school for the holidays.
Hermione and Ron had no plans to leave either. For Gryffindor students, danger was acceptable. Abandoning a friend to face danger alone wasn't. Besides, Quirrell didn't seem that clever to them.
They could... probably... maybe... beat him?
Just as Adrian made his decision, the system chimed in his mind.
[Activating new mission...]
[Mission objective: Obtain the Philosopher's Stone]
[Task reward: Alchemy knowledge]
[Mission description: This is a series of tests carefully prepared by Hogwarts Headmaster Dumbledore. Although most have been destroyed, the difficulty remains high. Be prepared for serious danger.]
The sudden task made Adrian feel better. This meant if he successfully dealt with Quirrell, he'd complete two missions at once.
The rewards were generous.
As for the danger, well, he already knew about that.
"Let's go." Adrian steadied himself and walked out of the small room. Since the wooden door had been destroyed, they didn't need to ride brooms to find keys.
---
Moving forward, Adrian expected a simple wizard chess challenge. Instead, when they got closer, it looked more like a battlefield.
Broken chess pieces littered the ground. Under the influence of magic, they slowly repaired themselves. The ten remaining intact pieces all turned toward the doorway.
These stone figures had no faces, no eyes, yet Adrian felt them staring. They clearly didn't rely on sight to detect intruders. The Disillusionment Charm probably wouldn't work here.
The moment Adrian stepped inside, the stone soldiers drew their swords. A knight with a broken arm climbed onto his horse and gripped his spear. The king raised his scepter high.
"Are we really playing live-action wizard chess?" Ron swallowed hard as he stared at the stone pieces, each two or three meters tall. His chess skills were decent, but this was something else entirely.
Unfortunately, by entering the room, they'd already triggered the attack. The stone soldiers advanced with heavy steps. The lone knight charged forward on horseback.
"Diffindo!" Adrian cast a severing charm. The stone horse's front legs exploded mid-charge. The knight tumbled forward like a dropped sack, half his head shattering on impact.
But the knight stood up again, pulling scattered stones toward himself and slowly repairing the damage.
"They repair themselves automatically. How are we supposed to fight this?" Harry said helplessly.
"Attack their legs to slow them down, then cast Protego on yourselves and make a run for it!" Adrian pointed his wand at himself. An invisible magical barrier wrapped around his body, giving him some sense of safety.
The Shield Charm was normally used to defend against and reflect spells, but that didn't mean it lacked physical defense. Its essence was creating a magical barrier around the caster's body, which offered some resistance to physical attacks too.
"But we don't know the Shield Charm at all!" Ron tried hitting one of the soldiers with a Leg-Locker Curse, but it had no effect. He shouted in despair.