He hadn't even finished changing before he bolted from his home to the Ministry of Magic.
The Ministry was already in a state of total chaos; someone had actually attacked Azkaban!
In all the centuries of its existence, no one had ever dared to do such a thing!
To make matters worse, the Floo connection to Azkaban had been manually cut, and restoring it would take at least an hour!
An hour? In ten minutes, the job would be over!
At the thought of every prisoner in Azkaban escaping, Fudge felt his world spinning...
His career felt just as bleak in that moment.
He had only just managed to settle the previous scandal, and now this!
With a look of utter misery, Fudge spoke weakly to his secretary, "Quickly, go to Hogwarts and fetch Dumbledore!"
Lucius and his group had finally managed to locate their 'friends.'
Several of them were lugging the prisoners, preparing to make a hasty exit.
At the same time, Lucius felt a nagging sense of dread, because the black-robed figures had somehow mostly vanished already!
Something wasn't right!
Lucius and the others sprinted toward the breach.
However, just as they reached the opening and were about to pull out their broomsticks...
A blinding flash of red light streaked across the area.
Dumbledore's tall figure appeared before them, his sapphire-blue eyes filled with rage and scrutiny as he stared at the group of ten or so people...
Lucius felt a cold chill surge from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.
"We're finished..."
They knew exactly what kind of man Dumbledore was; having a powerful wizard who could go toe-to-toe with the Dark Lord blocking their path meant escape was out of the question!
Victor Wick, standing behind Dumbledore, also looked completely shocked.
He seemed to find it utterly inconceivable that Lucius and the others were here.
Lucius understood the shock; Victor's people had already pulled out, yet he—someone who was only supposed to be tagging along—had become the last to leave, only to be cornered by Dumbledore.
Dumbledore drew his wand...
To Lucius and the others, this was no different from a regular person watching someone pull out an RPG!
Snap!
Victor Wick's hand landed on Dumbledore's shoulder. "Many of the cells are empty... which proves many have already escaped. I'm not much of a tracker..."
Dumbledore nodded and tucked his wand back. "I'll leave this to you. I'm going after them!"
Whoosh! Dumbledore grabbed Fawkes's claw and vanished on the spot.
Lucius and the others felt as if they'd been granted a royal pardon. "Victor—"
"Victor what!" Victor Wick barked in fury. "Damn it, you can't even play a side role properly! Lucius, what the hell were you thinking?"
Lucius looked at Victor in shock. Being scolded was expected, but...
"My face is covered. How did you know it was me?"
"Next time you try to hide your identity, could you maybe hide that conspicuous hair of yours along with your face? You idiot! No wonder the Dark Lord didn't trust you with important things back then!"
His face flushing red, Lucius quickly pulled up his cloak to hide his flowing blonde hair.
"You can't blame me. Your people actually carried those guys out..."
"So you decided to carry a few too? Moron! I was acting! And if you're acting, you have to make it look real! I intended for Dumbledore to chase them. Once he was close enough, they were supposed to just drop the prisoners in front of him to finish the job! What are you doing? Did you actually want to take them home?" Victor scolded him angrily.
"Being chased by Dumbledore and dropping the cargo to run is the most normal thing in the world. Not everyone has the Dark Lord's power. But if you get caught, the whole play is ruined!"
Goyle and the others hurriedly dropped their 'friends' onto the ground nearby...
"Then... what do we do now?"
"You're asking me? Either leave right now, or I'll arrest you all and throw you in with them!"
"But... how will you explain this to Dumbledore?"
"I'll have to think of something else... Stop causing me trouble!" Victor roared.
The group looked at each other. Finally, Lucius stepped forward and said apologetically, "I know this makes things difficult for you. Don't worry, we'll compensate you well afterward..."
"Scram!"
As soon as Harry stepped through the door of the fourth-floor forbidden area, he saw Fluffy the three-headed dog lying on its side, belly up, looking as though it had been knocked out by a spell...
The trapdoor Fluffy had been guarding was wide open, revealing a square, pitch-black hole.
Harry ran over and peered down into the opening.
Ash drifted out of the hole occasionally, accompanied by the smell of something charred... as if something had just been burned to a cinder.
Harry pulled out his wand and cast Lumos to light up the interior.
It was a sheer drop, and the walls showed traces of where plants had once grown.
From this height, a direct jump would be fatal!
Harry thought for a moment, pointed his wand at the floor nearby, and several familiar rune sequences flashed through his mind...
Crack!
The floorboard split open, and a long vine grew out, extending straight down into the hole!
Harry set his Invisibility Cloak aside, bit down on his wand, and began to climb down the vine...
His athletic ability was decent; years of being chased by Dudley had trained him to be a good climber, so this height wasn't much of a challenge for him.
Soon, he reached the bottom, stepping onto a thick layer of ash...
'This looks like... Devil's Snare?' Harry, who had memorized his Herbology textbook, immediately recognized the plant from the charred remains.
This must have been the defensive layer set up by Professor Sprout, but someone had violently burned it away...
Harry swallowed hard, trying to steady his nerves before moving forward. Only then did he realize he had left his Invisibility Cloak above.
He hesitated for a moment but ultimately decided not to go back for it.
Climbing down and climbing up required different levels of energy; Harry knew his stamina wouldn't hold out for a return trip.
So, he held his wand aloft and walked forward...
Next, he saw a room filled with fluttering keys, though the door had been blasted into over a dozen pieces, scattered messily around...
Harry guessed the correct way to open the door was to find a specific key, but clearly, the intruder lacked that kind of patience.
Then he reached a new room and saw a giant chessboard, along with the shattered remains of the chess pieces...
After passing through the room with the broken chessboard, Harry entered a room with several potion bottles and a door bearing scorch marks.
The door stood wide open now; evidently, the trap here had also been violently bypassed.
Harry took a deep breath and passed through the scorched door into a room that smelled foul.
A mountain troll lay on the floor, its head severed from its body...
Harry was secretly horrified. Snape's method of clearing the rooms was far too violent...
He was starting to regret his impulsive decision. If Snape saw him, his fate might be worse than that of this poor troll... like being sliced into several pieces.
Past the troll's room, Harry walked down a long corridor and finally reached a circular chamber.
In the center of the room stood a mirror he knew very well—the Mirror of Erised.
And standing before the mirror was...
"Professor Quirrell?" Harry blurted out in shock. It wasn't Snape? Where was Snape?
Quirrell turned around slowly, looking at him with delight. However, his pupils were vertical slits, just like a snake's!
"Long time no see... Potter... I've missed you quite a bit these past few years."
"No! You're not Professor Quirrell! You... who are you!"
"Handled?"
"Handled. All the prisoners are under control and marked, just waiting for the Aurors to come and lock them up." Dumbledore rubbed the bridge of his nose tiredly.
"Good... You'll have to help me think of a reason to gloss over the idiocy of Lucius and his bunch." Victor Wick also rubbed his temples in exhaustion. "I've never seen anyone so stupid. Getting cornered while just tagging along! I can't carry them... I really can't carry them!"
Dumbledore gave him a wry look. Victor had let them all go and was now asking him to help come up with a lie to deceive himself...
"We'll talk about that later. It's about time; we need to get back to Hogwarts now..."
"Yeah... my ring reacted. Someone touched that mirror." Victor touched the slightly vibrating ring on his finger.
Dumbledore nodded and summoned Fawkes...
"I'm worried about Harry..."
In Victor's office, Lily's expression was anxious.
"Don't worry, Professor Wick won't let anything happen to him. His plans never go wrong!" Fleur's eyes were full of trust in Victor. "Besides, Professor Snape is providing backup in the shadows."
Lily looked at her with a bitter smile. She would never have agreed to this plan originally, but...
"It's for the greater good... If Harry truly suffers an accident, I will resurrect him!"
Victor's words still echoed in her ears. The man's obsession made it impossible for Lily to refuse his demands.
She knew very well that a person so obsessed wouldn't listen to anyone's advice, and she had no way to stop him.
"Excellent! Excellent!" Quirrell... or rather, Voldemort, held the Philosopher's Stone, examining it excitedly under the light.
Harry had collapsed to the side, his wand fallen elsewhere.
He watched in despair as Voldemort held the Stone he had intended to protect with his life...
In truth, he would have rather died than obey Voldemort's threats and take the Stone from the mirror.
But he didn't know how it happened; when he was pinned and forced in front of the mirror, the Stone had simply landed in his pocket...
And then Voldemort took it.
Harry truly couldn't wrap his head around why Professor Quirrell, whom he thought was a good man, turned out to be a Death Eater possessed by Voldemort!
"Good... now that the item is in hand, it's time to settle our score!" Voldemort's snake-like eyes landed on Harry once more.
He pulled out a dagger... He would settle this with a blade this time; surely the curse wouldn't reflect again!
Thump!
A spell suddenly shot out from the doorway!
It hurtled toward Voldemort's face!
With a flick of his wand, Voldemort deflected the spell, leaving a deep gash on the nearby wall!
A ripple shimmered at the entrance as Snape threw off the Invisibility Cloak and stood before Harry.
Harry recognized it as the very cloak he had left at the entrance of the hole!
"Professor Snape?"
Harry's heart was a whirlpool of emotions. Quirrell, whom he thought was good, was Voldemort, while Snape, whom he thought was a villain, had saved him...
"Oh... Severus, have you truly decided to betray me?" Voldemort chuckled.
Snape's body trembled slightly, yet he stood tall.
"I promised her... I will protect her child with my life! Always!"
Harry froze, staring blankly at Snape standing protectively in front of him.
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