The Weasleys looked at Wade.
Wade thought for a moment. He didn't mention the plot he knew, only repeating, word for word, what he had heard that day.
He had an excellent memory in this life, and despite more than a month having passed, his retelling of the conversation was almost perfectly accurate.
Subtly, a chill seemed to rise from their feet. A long silence fell over the Umbrella Room; no one spoke for a long time.
Finally, Fred broke the silence: "I have to say—that's not funny at all—do you understand, George?"
George nodded silently, his face uncharacteristically pale.
"So you're saying—" Ryan struggled to comprehend, frowning, "Professor Quirrell isn't Professor Quirrell, no—it should be, a dark wizard possessed him? He wants to kill Harry Potter? Our Defense Against the Dark Arts professor—is a Death Eater?"
He looked around at everyone, seemingly expecting someone to suddenly shout, "Did I scare you? Hahaha!"
But no one spoke.
Ryan sat down, leaning on the table, and after a while, he said with a glimmer of hope, "Shouldn't we—go find Professor Dumbledore? All Death Eaters are afraid of him. As long as Professor Dumbledore acts, he's sure to—"
Hermione shook her head slightly, saying softly, "No, you don't understand, Ryan—'He stepped over my corpse to become a big star'—think about that line, Ryan—who else would say something like that?"
The color drained from the boy's face little by little. Ryan clenched his fists, his body trembling slightly: "But—it's impossible—that person is dead, isn't he—everyone knows he died—by Harry Potter..."
He sounded as if he had suddenly bitten his tongue, his voice cutting off abruptly.
Hermione looked at him with pity. She could tell the boy already believed it, but was just afraid to admit it.
It was as if by not admitting it, that person wouldn't return to life.
There was nothing to mock about it, because she, too, felt a shiver.
Hermione, born in the Muggle world, should have been indifferent to Voldemort, but she had read many books before even entering the Wizarding World. So, she understood even better than most students born into wizarding families how many shocking atrocities "the one whose name must not be mentioned" had committed.
Before that person disappeared, his power had also swelled to its peak. A terrifying shadow hung over the entire British Isles, and even Dumbledore… Everyone said that person feared Dumbledore most, because the war never reached Hogwarts. But even Dumbledore couldn't stop the continuous deaths.
This subtly instilled a deep fear of that person in Hermione. But when she wanted to say his name, she opened her mouth but couldn't bring herself to say it directly.
It was as if it would awaken some terrifying monster.
"Voldem—I mean, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named—" Hermione looked at everyone and said, "If He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is really possessing Professor Quirrell—I think we should tell Dumbledore! Wade, why didn't you go to Professor Dumbledore immediately then?"
Wade thought for a moment: "Perhaps because… it's hard for me to believe Dumbledore knows nothing about this?"
Fred nodded: "Dumbledore must have already noticed Quirrell's abnormality, but for some reason, he hasn't done anything about it."
George said seriously, "He knows everything."
"But what if he doesn't?" Hermione retorted, "What if Dumbledore only suspects but is still looking for evidence? Maybe he thinks Professor Quirrell has simply turned to the dark side, not knowing He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is inside him! We should find Dumbledore, tell him the truth, and let him decide what to do!"
"Of course, Hermione, you're right." Ryan said, "That's exactly what we should do."
"Then why don't we act now?" Fred stood up decisively: "I saw Dumbledore in the Great Hall at dinner! He must be at school now."
Hermione, however, hadn't expected him to be so decisive. She hesitated, asking, "Should we call Harry? I mean—He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named wants to kill him—Harry should know where the danger will come from—"
Wade thought for a moment: "Like you said, Hermione—let Dumbledore decide."
Hermione thought of the "test" he had mentioned and nodded silently, her eyes full of worry, as if she feared Harry would be killed by Voldemort on their way to Dumbledore.
Standing in the corridor, Wade took out a shining silver whistle and blew it.
A loud, sharp, and urgent whistle pierced the air. Soon, an Owl spread its wings and flew from the western tower, through the window, landing precisely on Wade's outstretched arm.
"Cool!" Fred whistled.
The Owl, Eva, tilted her head and looked at him, hooting twice.
Wade rolled up the written note and had Eva hold it in her beak. He instructed, "Deliver this to Professor Dumbledore, and then bring his reply back to me."
Eva nodded, spread her wings, and flew off. Everyone watched her circle in the sky, then aim for a window on a small spire and fly inside.
Hermione bit her finger, worriedly saying, "Professor Dumbledore won't take our letter seriously, will he? Maybe I should have written more details in the letter so he knows we're not fooling around…"
Thankfully, Dumbledore didn't make them wait long—perhaps only a minute or two—before Eva flew out of that window again.
The Owl handed the reply to Wade. On the parchment, written in long, looping script, it said:
"Welcome to my office. The password is Rainbow Sundae."
"Rainbow Sundae?" George mumbled, "I don't think I've ever seen that dessert in the Great Hall."
Fred said, "They had it at the end-of-term feast last semester. What were you doing then? Oh, right, you secretly put a bottle of cockroaches on Montague—"
"Making him think they were his own Cockroach Clusters—" George remembered the prank and laughed, "He hasn't eaten Cockroach Clusters since! Wait—did you sneak a bite of my sundae?"
"How can you call it sneaking a bite?" Fred argued, "I took it openly, you just didn't see it—"
The two bickered as they arrived at the entrance to the Headmaster's office. On the way, they happened to run into Michael, who was returning from the Quidditch pitch. He greeted them and naturally joined the group, and no one found anything amiss.
A hideously ugly gargoyle squatted at the entrance to the Headmaster's office. Fred dodged George's attack and jumped forward, saying, "Rainbow Sundae!"
The stone beast jumped aside, and the wall behind it split in two, revealing a slowly ascending spiral staircase. The group walked inside one by one, and with a rumble, the wall closed behind them.
The staircase carried them higher and higher. Wade secretly marveled—escalators were common in the Muggle world, but this was his first time seeing such a thing in the magical world.
So why be like Muggles in this regard?—elevators were always installed where the Headmaster needed them.
As the stairs made everyone a little dizzy, they finally saw a gleaming oak door with a brass griffin-shaped knocker.
This was Dumbledore's office.
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