HP: It's a snake, not a badger.

Chapter 33 The Kitten Fishes Quirrell

Ever since they almost got caught last time, Harry and Draco have been sneaking around kissing and hugging, but lately Emerick has been constantly by their side, and the two of them are very resentful.

"Brother Allie, aren't you going to help out in the dungeons lately?" Harry stabbed Emeric directly in the heart, adhering to his principle that if he's unhappy, no one else should be happy either. "I've seen Mr. Alethe of Ravenclaw going to the dungeons quite often these past few days. Brother Allie, aren't you going to go check on him?"

"Heh, you should worry about yourself first. Wait until you're married into the Malfoy family before you talk to me. Have you won over the Malfoy yet?" Emerick no longer felt sorry for Harry. They were mutually in love, but he had to hide his feelings. If he were discovered, he could be sentenced to death.

Moreover, it was he who sent Garian to pester Severus, to let Severus know that not every student is as considerate, obedient, and well-behaved as him.

A few days later, he went to the cellar to fawn over Severus and then had another argument with Gallian, hoping that this would dispel Severus's suspicions.

"Brother Elijah, Quirrell has been going into the Forbidden Forest again these past few days. Hagrid has seen him sneaking in several times in the middle of the night." Draco obediently didn't get involved in the clashes between Emerick and Harry. No matter who he sided with, the other would definitely cause trouble, and he wasn't going to do something thankless.

Emerick found Quirrell incredibly annoying. He wouldn't have gotten involved if he hadn't promised Dumbledore he'd protect Harry. This whole thing was incredibly frustrating; he was already unhappy about being kicked out by Severus, and when he was unhappy, he wanted to cause trouble.

"Harry, Draco, do you want to get rid of Quirrell as soon as possible?"

"Brother Ellie, do you have any good suggestions, the kind that won't hurt anyone else?"

"Do you guys remember last Halloween? Quirrell ran into the auditorium saying there was a troll. He probably went into that classroom that day, but he probably couldn't solve the puzzle inside and tried to follow the people checking it in."

"If Quirrell knew you were about to embark on an adventure, and that the Savior wanted to put Dumbledore through his trials, would he follow you? When he gets to the final test, we can call Dumbledore. Leave that to me; he'll be caught red-handed and won't be able to escape."

Harry's eyes lit up when he heard this. He didn't want to follow Quirrell around smelling garlic every day. Now, apart from classes and Quidditch training, he spent all his time with Quirrell and had no time to date Draco. He wanted to settle things sooner so he could start dating sooner.

"But Ellie, we're just kids. We can't possibly beat Quirrell, and Harry's safety isn't guaranteed."

"Little Dragon, you still care about me the most. Brother Ellie just wants to use me to complete his plan."

Emeric smelled tea, but it was clearly poorly brewed. Draco pinched Harry's mouth shut, manually silencing him; he didn't want to hear any more sour remarks.

"And Ellie, how to leak information to Quirrell is also a problem. If you say too much or too little, the other party won't take the bait."

"Draco's grown up. Your question is excellent. Let's address the first issue: the safety of adventurers." Emeric took out four brooches, each unique. He handed Draco a small peacock brooch. "This one was made by my father. It can withstand three Unforgivable Curses. I think if someone uses an Unforgivable Curse at school, three times should be enough time for the professors to get here. You can divide the remaining three among yourselves."

"The second question, regarding how much to reveal, I think Miss Granger is well-suited for this task. A studious little witch, wanting to help her reckless friend complete an adventure, asks the professor for protective spells. What do you think of this approach?"

A hint of amusement flashed in Emeric's eyes as he watched the four children with interest. Hermione thought it was a good idea, as it would both lower Quirrell's guard and allow her to learn something. Ron thought it was too risky; what if Quirrell tried to blackmail her into exchanging the Philosopher's Stone? Draco thought it was a good idea and could be used, but someone would need to accompany Hermione to find Quirrell. Harry offered to be that person.

The four of them argued noisily for a while, but none of them could convince the others.

"Alright, now the issue that arises again is Hermione's safety. Have you forgotten that the brooch can withstand three Unforgivable Curses? And who said we had to talk about this in Quirrell's office? Why didn't we do it right after class? You're still kids, it's normal to ask questions on the spot."

The next day, Hermione stayed until the very end as planned, and trotted up to Quirrell. "Professor Quirrell, I'd like to ask what Cerberus's weakness is. I've looked through many books but haven't found it."

Quirrell found it strange. "Of course... Cerberus falls asleep at concerts, Miss Granger. Tell me... why do you want to see Cerberus?"

"Tomorrow we'd like to... I'm sorry, Professor, this is a secret between Harry, Ron, and me. Thank you for explaining it to me."

After saying that, Hermione ran away immediately, afraid that if she stayed any longer she would be caught by Quirrell. Quirrell, who was left behind, looked into the distance with a gloomy expression.

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the next night

The three boys slipped out of Gryffindor. Hermione and Ron hid at the professor's door first, while Harry went to the Slytherin door to meet Draco.

"Little Dragon, where's Brother Ellie? Wasn't he supposed to be coming with us?"

"Ellie said he would stay out of the way as a last resort to prevent Quirrell from doing anything else."

In reality, Emerick just wanted to watch the show. He knew they would be fine; putting aside his brooch, Harry's bloodline magic was enough to give Voldemort a run for his money.

They stood at the classroom door, took a deep breath, looked at each other, and Harry pushed the door open and went in first.

The enormous three-headed dog looked at the four tiny human cubs, preparing to scare them away, but soon a melodious tune came from the witch's hand, and the three-headed dog immediately swayed and fell asleep.

"Hurry inside, the music box needs to be wound up again in a while, and Cerberus will wake up."

The four of them worked together to push open the trapdoor and jumped down. Emeric helped them clean up by closing the door, leaving the music box behind.

All four of them were entangled as soon as they went down, and Harry and Ron tried to break the vines with all their might.

"Fluorescent Light"

"It's a devil vine. Use light, it's afraid of light." Hermione recognized what was entangled with them by the glow of Draco.

"Thank you, Hermione. Without you, we wouldn't have even made it past the first hurdle." Harry had learned another little skill and found it worked quite well after trying it out.

"Let's hurry up, or we'll be in big trouble if Quirrell catches up with us at the door."

Emeric, who was hiding in the corner, was happily eating a large handful of sunflower seeds. He only put his things away and followed Quirrell after Quirrell came in.