[Note: Read up to Chapter - 114 on P patron at: p-atreon.com/Knockturn_Alley]
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Perhaps to break the awkward silence, Harry quickly changed the subject.
"But we still don't know what's actually in there!"
It worked a treat. Both Ron and Hermione, who'd been sharing in his embarrassment a moment ago, looked far more at ease now.
"I tried asking Hagrid about it before, but he wasn't having any of it. Wouldn't spill a single detail about that mysterious object."
Harry and Ron exchanged glances—then, as expected, turned their hopeful eyes towards Aris.
"You lot really think I know everything, don't you?" Aris sighed, clearly exasperated.
At this point, he couldn't afford to say anything more. The fewer people who knew about the Philosopher's Stone, the better. Even if Harry and the others did manage to guess it later, it couldn't be him who let it slip.
Otherwise, old Dumbledore might just drag him in for a "chat"… or worse, whip out a bit of Legilimency.
"If there's nothing else, I'm off."
He had no intention of wasting more time with these three troublesome little adventurers. There were still plenty of things waiting for him in the lab.
"Wait, Aris—are you heading to the library?" Hermione called after him, hurrying to catch up.
She clearly already knew about his special privilege of skipping classes if he wanted.
"Nope. Got somewhere else to be," he replied simply.
"Oh…" she murmured, a flicker of disappointment crossing her face.
"You don't have lessons?" Aris asked, raising a brow.
First-years didn't have too many subjects yet, but they weren't usually this free either.
"I do!" Hermione's eyes darted slightly as she quickly added,
"I just thought… maybe we could go to the library together after school? I've got a few questions I wanted to ask."
Seeing the little witch so flustered made Aris chuckle to himself.
Looks like the clever know-it-all had finally worked up the nerve to ask him for help.
He'd thought the little witch would need more time to gather her courage.
But just then, a sudden idea popped into Aris's head—perhaps there really was something he could use her help with.
Up until now, he'd only used his own magic to test and analyse magical properties. While he'd already confirmed the presence of elemental traces, he still needed more data—more magical samples—to run further experiments.
After all, science demands rigour.
And magical science was no different.
Only with sufficient data could he hope to revive the lost system of elemental deconstruction in this world.
It would be a long and arduous path.
But standing in front of him was a bright, determined little witch—wasn't she the perfect living test subject?
That thought brought a sly grin to Aris's face.
"I'm not heading to the library today..."
"But if you're keen, I can take you somewhere quieter. Much better for studying than the library, actually."
"Huh?" Hermione blinked, caught off guard.
"Sorted, then!" Aris made the decision for her, not giving her a chance to hesitate.
"I'll swing by the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom and pick you up after your last lesson this afternoon!"
"Wait—how do you know what my last class is...?"
"You forget, I'm a first-year too. Some of our schedules match," Aris replied with a wink.
With that, he turned and walked off, leaving Hermione staring after him.
"A quieter place to study...?" she repeated under her breath.
The little witch furrowed her brow in thought.
"Where could that be?"
She mulled it over for a bit but got nowhere, and in the end just shook her head and gave up trying to guess.
Humming a little tune, she made her way toward the Charms classroom, her steps noticeably lighter.
Though she didn't want to admit it… there was a flicker of excitement bubbling in her chest.
Even she wasn't sure whether that little flicker of excitement was because of Aris himself…
Or simply the thought of learning from someone far more capable than the rest.
Meanwhile, Aris was making his way down the corridor on the eighth floor of the castle.
After parting ways with Hermione, he'd headed straight here—ready to continue his research into elemental magic within the Room of Requirement's makeshift laboratory.
It wasn't an easy task, not by a long shot—but Aris rather enjoyed the challenge. Failing over and over didn't faze him in the slightest.
He understood all too well: before success comes, there's always struggle.
"Huh?"
As he passed a window, something outside caught his eye.
"Iris is back!"
He scanned the corridor. No portraits nearby, no enchantments or detection spells either.
Good.
With a subtle wave of his hand toward the sky, he signalled.
In the next instant, a strong gust of wind whooshed through the window as a small, invisible presence soared into his arms.
"Back into the pet space for now," Aris whispered.
Before the little dragon could even drop her invisibility, Aris returned her to the magical space he used to house her.
This part of the castle was far too exposed.
A stray student or curious professor could walk by at any moment—and if anyone spotted her, well… things could go sideways fast.
"Wraah~"
The moment Iris landed inside the space, she let out a string of disgruntled little growls.
"Oi, easy now," Aris muttered with a small smile. "You'll get your chance to stretch your wings later."
He could sense her sulking through the bond.
"You know it's not safe here. If anyone sees you, I won't be able to explain it away—not without a whole lot of trouble."
"Wraaaaah!!!"
Another sharp cry of protest.
Aris sighed. "Honestly, you've got to stop picking fights."
He softened his tone, more coaxing now.
"Until we're strong enough to make the entire wizarding world think twice, you need to keep a low profile, alright?"
The space fell silent for a moment.
Aris could only hope she'd listen—just this once.
"Raaah~"
The little dragon whimpered again, clearly unimpressed.
"Alright, alright—stop acting so hard done by," Aris muttered with a chuckle, shaking his head in amusement.
He continued walking toward the Room of Requirement, casually asking, "So? Did you get into any trouble today?"
"Raah~ Raaah~!"
"You what? You bumped into someone?"
Aris froze mid-step, brows furrowing. "What sort of person? What did they look like? What were they doing?"
The idea that someone had entered the Forbidden Forest and was spotted by Iris sent a jolt through him. Had they seen her?
The dragon whimpered again, explaining in her own series of chirps and growls.
Aris listened carefully, piecing it together.
"Hooded figure, sneaking about in the Forbidden Forest, was it?"
He let out a slow breath, tension easing just a little.
"This all sounds a bit too familiar..."
"Hooded bloke, lurking about... could it be Quirrell?"
"What's he doing skulking around in daylight—scouting the area? Planning to nick unicorn blood or drag that monster into the castle?"
Aris mulled it over as he arrived at the stretch of blank wall where the Room of Requirement appeared.
After a quick glance around to make sure he was alone, he focused, and the hidden door appeared like magic—well, actual magic.
Without a word, he slipped inside, vanishing from the corridor.
As for whatever Quirrell was up to in the forest—frankly, Aris couldn't bring himself to care much. So long as Iris stayed hidden, that was all that mattered.
A lumbering great troll rampaging through the castle wasn't exactly going to cause any lasting damage—not with Potter and friends destined to save the day. Just like in the storybooks.
Let the Dark Lord stew in his own schemes.
That wasn't Aris's concern.
Right now, he had a far more important mystery to focus on—what the hell was going on in his lab?
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Later that afternoon, as the final class of the day drew to a close…
In the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, Hermione Granger was growing noticeably restless. She kept glancing at the clock, fingers twitching over her notes. Something—or someone—was clearly on her mind.
Hermione kept glancing toward the classroom door every now and then.
"Is Aris waiting for me outside?" she muttered under her breath.
But that thought was quickly dismissed.
No way Aris would waste his time waiting around like that. Most likely, he wouldn't show up until the very moment class ended.
On the side, Harry noticed her odd behaviour.
It was unlike Hermione. She was usually the most focused person in any lesson.
Curious, he leaned over and asked quietly, "Hermione, you alright?"
"I'm fine," she replied quickly, suddenly straightening up and pretending to study the textbook in front of her.
What she didn't realise was that Professor Quirrell had long moved on from whatever was on the current page.
"Oi, Ron—did you notice something weird?" Harry whispered, nudging his best mate.
"Eh—what?" Ron blinked blearily, jolted from his half-doze. Quirrell's droning voice had a knack for making Defence Against the Dark Arts feel just as dull as History of Magic.
"I mean, look at Hermione," Harry nodded toward her.
Ron glanced over and saw the bushy-haired girl resting her chin on her hand, staring at the book like she was a million miles away.
"She's definitely hiding something…" Harry said with quiet certainty.
"So what?" Ron muttered, shrugging. "What's it got to do with us?"
To be honest, he'd never been the biggest fan of Hermione's know-it-all attitude. If it weren't for her being on such good terms with Aris—and them all being friends with him—Ron wasn't sure the three of them would get along at all.
After all, if they were sticking to how things happened in the original timeline, the trio wasn't even supposed to become proper friends until Halloween. Not until after that odd business with the troll.
"Maybe it's got something to do with Aris…" Harry shrugged, tossing the thought out casually.
It was just a reasonable guess. After all, Hermione and Aris did seem quite close.
In fact, she probably knew him better than anyone else.
"Aris?" Ron looked mildly interested, but quickly shook his head. "Come off it. Since he got that special privilege, he's hardly been in class with us. What would he have to do with Hermione now? Nah, can't be that."
"Maybe," Harry muttered, leaving it there.
Up at the front, Professor Quirrell's gaze drifted across the room and briefly paused on Harry, but only for a fleeting moment—barely noticeable.
None of the students picked up on it.
"Well then, that's about it for the second unit," Quirrell finally stammered, closing the textbook with a soft thump. "I imagine you're all rather peckish by now… if there's nothing else… class dismissed…"
Just as he finished speaking, the door to the classroom creaked open.
A moment later, a familiar face popped in.
"Sorry, Professor," Aris said with an easy smile, "I thought class had ended, so I let myself in…"
He gave the room a once-over, stepping inside.
"N-no trouble… class is finished…" Quirrell replied, clearly flustered at the sight of him. If anything, his stammer seemed worse than usual.
"Aris!" Hermione was already on her feet, hastily stuffing her books into her bag.
"Right on time," Aris grinned at her. "I came to fetch you."
Of course, this wasn't just him being polite—Hermione was a key part of his next magical experiment. He had to collect his test subject in person, otherwise things wouldn't go quite as planned.
"Then let's go!" Hermione said cheerily, hurrying to the door and tugging at Aris's sleeve.
"Hang on, I just need a quick word with the professor."
Aris turned his gaze back to Professor Quirrell and offered a polite smile. "Professor, I believe you haven't answered my earlier question about soul possession. Might you have time to explain it now?"
"W-what…" Quirrell looked completely thrown off.
His face flushed a deep red, and a visible tremble began in his limbs.
"Professor? Are you alright?" Aris asked, tilting his head.
"N-nothing… I'm fine… just… not feeling too well… I'd better get back to my office…"
Without waiting for another word, Quirrell spun around and practically fled up the spiral staircase, disappearing into his office in a flustered state.
The other students barely reacted—as though they were already used to Professor Quirrell's odd behaviour.
Aris, however, raised a brow.
Odd. When he'd mentioned spirit possession before, Quirrell had bristled, even snapped at him. But now? No anger. No irritation. Just… panic.
What changed?
Is he afraid of me now? Aris wondered.
Had Voldemort said something to him? Or was it guilt, maybe?
Then, recalling the report Iris had brought from the Forbidden Forest, things started to fall into place.
Some people… when they've done too many shady things or are juggling too many secrets, become twitchy by nature. Always looking over their shoulder.
And someone like Quirrell, who was sharing a body with the Dark Lord himself—well, he had more reason than most to be nervous.
"Forget it," Aris muttered under his breath, turning to Hermione. "Let's go."
Aris shook his head and dismissed any further thoughts of Quirrell—that twitchy little muppet.
Once they'd left the classroom, he led Hermione up towards the eighth floor of the castle.
Strictly speaking, the Room of Requirement wasn't exactly a secret amongst the professors. So, Aris had no intention of hiding his laboratory work from Hermione. Truth be told, many of his future experiments couldn't be done alone.
He needed a proper assistant—someone capable and dependable.
Not like the little dragon, who could barely manage ten simple spells and was only useful for fetching the odd ingredient.
Aris had given it a fair bit of thought, and Hermione stood out as the obvious choice. She was clever, had a good head on her shoulders, and—most importantly—had an insatiable thirst for knowledge. Far more open-minded than most first-years, she wouldn't dismiss unorthodox approaches just because they didn't align with the wizarding world's dusty old traditions.
Yes, with the right guidance, she'd make a brilliant lab partner.
"Aris, where are we headed?" Hermione asked, glancing around curiously.
"You'll see in a minute. It's somewhere quiet—completely private. No one will interrupt us," Aris replied with confidence.
Hearing that, the little witch paused for a moment. Her cheeks flushed slightly, and she ducked her head without another word—but she kept walking beside him.
As they turned into a three-way corridor, a familiar figure appeared nearby.
Cho Chang had just come around the bend when she spotted them. She stood frozen in place, watching the pair walk off together.
Somewhere quiet… no interruptions… where exactly are they off to? she wondered, her eyes lingering on their retreating backs.
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Drop power Powerstonessssssssss!
[Note: Read up to Chapter - 114 on P patron at: p-atreon.com/Knockturn_Alley]