Quirrell had already returned to his office and was reporting the night's events to his master.
Snape had arrived first, leaving Quirrell with no chance to proceed inside.
Therefore, he could only use this reasoning to try and convince his master, hoping to avoid punishment.
Voldemort was initially furious that Quirrell had botched things again without even making it through the door, but after hearing his analysis, the Dark Lord lapsed into deep thought.
Victor Wick was out tonight and hadn't attended the banquet, and Dumbledore was personally dealing with the troll, leaving neither with time to check the fourth-floor chamber.
It would be natural for Snape to go and investigate.
Furthermore, Voldemort had already read Snape's reactions from Quirrell's memories.
That urgent behavior and the fact that he was bitten by the dog were certainly not feigned.
If the Philosopher's Stone wasn't there, Snape wouldn't have shown up; even if he did, he might not have entered.
He had truly been in too much of a rush, believing someone had already taken advantage of the situation to slip inside, which was why he failed to guard against the three-headed dog and charged straight in.
This urgency confirmed the reality of the Stone's location.
"Snape didn't know about the three-headed dog behind the door?" Voldemort asked suddenly.
"He shouldn't have. Since I was slated to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, I was involved in the security measures for the Stone. I know for a fact that those of us involved don't actually know what the other professors prepared..." Quirrell explained.
"That makes sense... Very well, consider it your good fortune that Snape beat you to that door tonight," Voldemort said in a raspy voice.
"Yes..." Quirrell thought back to the three-headed dog he'd glimpsed through the crack in the door and the sight of Snape lying in a pool of blood, a chill of lingering fear washing over him.
Had he arrived just a bit earlier, it would have been him lying there.
Then, unable to move, he would have been caught on the spot by the arriving Snape.
At that point, even if Snape were still loyal to Voldemort and he revealed his identity, Snape wouldn't have been able to cover for him...
In an even more extreme scenario, to avoid Dumbledore's suspicion, Snape might have even finished him off then and there!
Fortunately... he was one step behind Snape!
The Hospital Wing.
Snape frowned at the two people before him, feeling utterly miserable.
He had just learned the entirety of their plan from Dumbledore.
Those two bastards!
If he had continued to be kept in the dark...
...then given his usual style, he likely would have kept falling into the traps they'd set for others...
Furthermore, if not for tonight's incident, they wouldn't have had any intention of telling him the plan at all!
"I thought Professor Dumbledore already told you," Victor Wick muttered defensively.
Dumbledore looked at him in surprise. "Ah... I thought you had told him."
"Oh, it's all just a misunderstanding..."
"It's fine. It's good that the misunderstanding is cleared up now."
"Enough! Stop acting! Get out... I want to be alone." Snape felt mentally exhausted. He said coldly, "I won't be able to teach Potions for the next week. You two figure it out."
Dumbledore and Victor Wick exchanged a glance, a trace of panic flitting through their eyes.
"Victor... I hear you have some talent in Potions. Why don't you cover the classes?" Dumbledore suggested hesitantly.
"Professor Dumbledore, if you want me to quit on the spot, then by all means, go ahead!"
Victor Wick was instantly displeased.
He had said long ago that the workload for core professors at Hogwarts was extremely unreasonable.
Teaching six years by himself was hard enough; now they wanted him to substitute?
Impossible! Absolutely impossible!
Victor would rather go three hundred rounds with Voldemort in his prime than cover Snape's classes!
Dumbledore rubbed his temples vigorously, his face full of bitterness. "Severus..."
Snape said languidly, "You've seen my condition; teaching is out of the question. Besides, I did my duty tonight, and ending up like this is entirely your fault. It's not like you can make me teach in a wheelchair."
"Teaching in a wheelchair? That's not a bad idea!" Victor's eyes lit up.
Upon hearing this, Snape clenched his fists and began looking around for his wand.
Dumbledore's face stiffened. Under Snape's piercing gaze, he tugged on Victor's sleeve. "There's no need to be so extreme..."
"Have some heart..."
"Then what? Why don't you cover for him? After all, you're the most idle person in all of Hogwarts," Victor said, looking at Dumbledore.
Dumbledore pointed to himself. "Me? I can't. I'm not good at Potions..."
"And who was it that discovered the twelve uses of dragon's blood?"
"It... seems it was me..."
"And you still say you're not good at Potions?"
"Well... I have many other matters to attend to," Dumbledore argued.
"Then I'll have to have a proper talk with Professor McGonagall. I must ask what our esteemed Headmaster is busy with on a daily basis... Could it be providing free taste-tests for Honeydukes' new products?"
"Ah! Your words are too cruel for an old man!" Dumbledore's face turned red from the badgering.
"No, no, no, you're not old at all!"
"I'm over a hundred years old..."
"For a wizard, a hundred is the prime of life! It's the perfect age to work hard!"
"Enough!" Snape glared coldly at the two. "If you want to argue, go outside! I've just taken my potion and I need to rest..."
Victor Wick and Dumbledore were subsequently kicked out.
"Sigh... I've said before, it's unreasonable to have only one professor per subject. Once something happens to them, everything gets delayed. Plus, with so many students and so few teachers, it's hard to pay attention to everyone's progress," Victor lamented.
Dumbledore nodded. "I will seriously consider your suggestion. I'll bring it up with the Board of Governors at the end of the school year..."
"For example, the O.W.L.s in the fifth year and the N.E.W.T.s in the seventh... there must be professors specifically dedicated to these major exams," Victor said seriously.
The fifth and seventh-year exams were crucial, almost no different from high-stakes entrance exams in other worlds.
This meant a core professor had to manage the studies of junior students while also focusing on the senior students' big exams and even providing career advice.
It was equivalent to a single teacher being responsible for every grade of high school simultaneously...
A professor's energy is limited, after all.
"You make a lot of sense, but... let's solve the current problem first. How about... Victor, could you endure a bit of hardship and cover the Potions classes?" Dumbledore pleaded.
Victor Wick hesitated for a long while before saying reluctantly, "It's not out of the question. However... I'll have to ask you to fill in for my Defense Against the Dark Arts classes, Professor. You told me before that you used to teach this subject, didn't you? It's not that I'm unwilling to work hard, it's just... I'm worried my energy is limited, and I might hinder the students' learning! If that happened, how could we face the parents who trust us?"
Dumbledore's mouth hung slightly open. After a long pause, he sighed. "Perhaps we should go back to discussing the plan for Severus to teach in a wheelchair..."
"Professor, I think you're being a bit extreme..."
In the end, neither Victor Wick nor Dumbledore dared to suggest to Snape that he should teach from a wheelchair.
Naturally, neither of them liked working overtime, and Victor couldn't keep arguing with his boss forever.
So, he resorted to... pulling out some Galleons in private and suggesting that Professor Dumbledore re-hire a retired professor to return to Hogwarts as a substitute.
Dumbledore initially felt this wasn't quite right.
But Victor pointed out that while Snape's injury would heal in a week, no one else needed to know that!
Therefore, they might as well take this opportunity to find a sub for Snape's classes and let him pretend to still be recovering. He could then act as a flexible 'third man,' ready at any time to do things that neither Victor nor Dumbledore could easily do themselves.
When they informed Snape of this idea, the look he gave them was murderous enough to breathe fire.
He was injured! He needed to recover!
Yet even in this state, these two schemers still managed to count him in! They wanted him to run errands for them!
Snape had intended to refuse flatly, but after Dumbledore was sent away, Victor leaned in with a devious grin. He told him that he wouldn't have to teach, would still get paid—which was great—but most importantly, he'd have more time for his research! Lily's resurrection progress would speed up considerably!
Snape, who had been on the verge of exploding, settled down instantly.
Those two old schemers certainly wouldn't send him on errands that often, so in theory, his free time had actually increased!
With that in mind, Snape agreed to the plan. Of course, he had one condition: the returning professor was not allowed to use his office or the dungeon classroom!
He needed to stay in his own territory, using his recovery as an excuse to continue his secret research!
This condition was perfectly reasonable. After all, they were only hiring a substitute, not firing Snape; there was no reason to touch his office.
And so, the matter was settled quite happily.
Dumbledore was somewhat surprised when he found out. Why was Snape, who had been so resistant just a moment ago, now so eager?
He had no idea how Victor Wick had managed to convince him...
However, Dumbledore had a faint suspicion.
Perhaps... it had something to do with whatever Victor and Snape had been secretly working on lately.
'Quiet children are usually up to no good...'
Thinking that these two might be cooking up something major, the heart Dumbledore had just set at ease was once again filled with a quiet sense of foreboding.