After the Christmas break ended, Hogwarts buzzed back to life. Students returned with bags stuffed full of luggage and unfinished homework. The hallways echoed again with Filch's roars and Peeves' over-the-top prank laughs.
[System environment scan: The illusion of peace has cracked.]
[Detected mass unit return. Alert level: Medium.]
Rove sat at the edge of the Gryffindor table, holding a slice of toast, scanning the room.
"You look like you're guarding that toast from thieves." Hermione dropped her bag on the bench. "How was your break, Rove? Did you keep up with Transfiguration review?"
"Review?" Rove raised an eyebrow, swallowing his bite. "If you mean swinging a sword five hundred times a day and practicing weighted runs, then yeah, I reviewed pretty hard."
Hermione rolled her eyes and turned to Harry and Ron. "And you two! Don't think I don't know you spent the whole break playing Wizard's Chess and nothing else."
"We did important stuff!" Ron protested, mouth full of mashed potatoes. "We were hunting for Nicolas Flamel the whole time! But darn it, thousands of books in the library, and no sign of the name."
Harry was about to pop a Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Bean into his mouth when he froze. His eyes locked on the Chocolate Frog card next to him—one he'd just unwrapped casually, showing an old man with half-moon glasses: Albus Dumbledore.
But this time, Harry's attention snagged on the text on the back.
"I found it!" Harry whispered excitedly. "Listen: 'Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the Dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel!'"
"Nicolas Flamel!" Hermione jumped up, nearly knocking over the pumpkin juice. "I knew I'd seen that name somewhere! Hang on!"
She bolted toward the dorm stairs like a whirlwind.
Rove kept munching his toast slowly, but his eyes were glued to the card in Harry's hand.
[Key plot item detected.]
[Item identified: Chocolate Frog Card (disguised) → Fragment of Isildur's Scroll.]
[Info parsing...]
[Warning! Detected "Dark Lord" historical clue.]
A few minutes later, Hermione came racing back with a brick-thick old book. She slammed it on the table and flipped through the pages noisily.
"Here! I knew it!" Hermione pointed to a passage, whispering. "Nicolas Flamel is the only known maker of the Sorcerer's Stone!"
The words "Sorcerer's Stone" hit like a spell, lighting up Rove's system interface.
[Alert! Alert! Alert!]
[Detected world-ending artifact keyword!]
[Term analysis: Sorcerer's Stone]
[System mapping: The One Ring / Prototype Ring of Power.]
[Attribute breakdown:]
[1. Turns metal into gold → Infinite wealth (sparks greed and corruption).]
[2. Grants immortality → False eternal life (stretches existence until you become a wraith).]
[Danger level: SSS.]
[Related figure: Nicolas Flamel → Celebrimbor (Lord of Eregion, Ring forger).]
Rove's fork clattered onto his plate. His face went pale, like he'd just spotted an entire orc army scaling the walls.
"That explains everything!" Ron waved his fist excitedly, oblivious to Rove's reaction. "That's what Snape's after! Whoever's guarding it, it's worth stealing! Think about it—infinite gold, and you live forever!"
"I want it too." Harry said honestly. "With that, I could buy a Firebolt and fill a vault."
"Shut up! You idiots!"
Rove growled low, grabbing Harry's shoulder.
"Ow! Rove, what the—?" Harry yelped, trying to pull away.
But Rove stared him down, his dark eyes burning with a fear Harry didn't recognize.
"Listen, Harry. Don't even think like that." Rove's voice shook. "That thing's no gift—it's a curse! It won't bring happiness, just twist your mind, make you greedy like a monster, and turn you into a bodiless ghost in the end!"
"What are you talking about?" Ron looked totally lost. "It's just the Sorcerer's Stone—the book says it lets you live longer..."
"Live longer?" Rove snorted, letting go of Harry and raking his hair like a maniac. "That's not real life! It's torture stretched out forever! Like butter scraped over too much bread! You'll feel thin, empty, until you fade into shadow!"
Hermione frowned, thinking Rove's reaction was way over the top. "Rove, the book doesn't mention side effects. It's just alchemy's greatest achievement!"
"Books? That's what 'they' want you to see!" Rove jabbed at Hermione's thick tome. "The maker, Celebrimbor... I mean Nicolas Flamel—he was tricked! He thought he was creating a miracle, but he was forging chains! If that falls into the Dark Lord's... I mean Voldemort's hands, the world's done!"
The trio swapped looks. They were used to Rove's ramblings, but this was next-level intense.
"Okay, okay." Harry rubbed his sore shoulder, trying to calm him. "We're just trying to protect it from Snape stealing it. We don't want to use it ourselves."
"Protect it?" Rove sucked in a breath, his eyes turning steely. "No, Harry. We don't just protect it. If we get the chance, we have to... destroy it."
"Destroy the Sorcerer's Stone?" Ron yelped. "Are you nuts?"
"For Middle-Earth, for Hogwarts' safety, it's the only way." Rove muttered, his gaze drifting through the Great Hall's ceiling like he could see a distant volcano.
...
That night, Hufflepuff common room.
By the warm fireplace, Susan Bones was watering her cactus. She noticed Rove hunched over a table, scribbling intensely on a piece of parchment.
"What's that? Treasure map?"
Rove jerked up, covering the paper, relaxing when he saw it was Susan.
"No, it's a tactical map." Rove said seriously. "I'm planning a route."
Susan peeked over. It looked like a sketch of Hogwarts' third-floor corridor and the trapdoor area. But the labels were weird enough to confuse anyone.
The third-floor corridor was marked "Black Gate."
Fluffy (the three-headed dog) was labeled "Carcharoth the Wolf."
The Devil's Snare spot had twisted tentacles drawn, with "Watcher" written next to it.
And the bottom room was sketched as an erupting volcano crater, with bright red ink: [Mount Doom - Drop Point].
"Rove," Susan pointed at the crater, "planning a picnic? Why draw a furnace?"
"This isn't a picnic, Susan." Rove carefully rolled up the parchment and tucked it into his robe pocket. "It's a one-way trip. If we fail, the whole world falls into darkness."
Susan blinked, then shook her head with a smile.
"You're always so dramatic. But if you're going exploring, remember the dragon-hide gloves I gave you. Heard the third floor's chilly."
Rove looked at this kind girl, a surge of heroic protectiveness welling up.
"I will." He nodded solemnly. "As long as I'm breathing, the shadows won't touch a blade of grass in the Shire... I mean Hufflepuff."
[System settled:]
[Discovered main storyline: Trace of the One Ring.]
[Current quest updated: Stop Sauron (Snape/Quirrell) from seizing the One Ring (Sorcerer's Stone).]
[Optional quest: Toss the Ring into Mount Doom (???).]
[Reward: Willpower +10.]
Rove eyed the optional quest on his system screen, a wry smile tugging at his lips.
"Toss it into Mount Doom?" He griped inwardly. "Where's the volcano at Hogwarts? Do I chuck the Sorcerer's Stone into Hagrid's oven?"