"Severus, I have no such intention. There are no two people in this world who are truly identical." Dumbledore smiled, a glimmer of amusement in his eyes.
"It's like two feathers from the same phoenix—change the wood or the length, and you'll have two entirely different wands."
"Another weapon, then?" Snape's expression soured. "Even wands never submit completely. Surely you understand the risk of wand backfire?"
"Of course I do." Dumbledore let out a long sigh, his brow deeply furrowed. "Back then, I was so focused on facing Grindelwald that I overlooked young Voldemort, still a student here."
"Now, Severus, my strength isn't what it once was, but the dangers we face remain just as grave. I need others' help more than ever."
"Why do you always share these things with me?" Snape narrowed his eyes. "Is it just because I gave him points?"
"He's not like Voldemort. He's willing to see the beauty in the world around him." Dumbledore shook his head gently. "Surely you've noticed something unique about him?"
"Perhaps a touch of cleverness." Snape didn't deny it, settling into the chair across from Dumbledore. "But those eyes of his—they can see past appearances, straight to the heart of things."
"Just as I thought... That explains a lot!" Dumbledore nodded, his expression softening. "And it's not just you. I've asked Minerva and the others as well."
"You don't need to go out of your way—just guide him when you can, keep him pointed in the right direction. I believe his character will lead him to make the right choices."
"Minerva and the others? Hmph..." Snape crossed his arms, a cold smile tugging at his lips. "Does that include Professor Quirinus? I don't need to tell you how important Defense Against the Dark Arts is."
"He..." Dumbledore's face clouded with pain. "That's what I wanted to discuss. Could you help me keep an eye on Quirrell?"
"So it is him!" Snape's gaze turned razor-sharp. "And you still let him take part in the challenge on the fourth floor?"
"Set a trap for him, Severus. At least for now, Quirrell seems to be acting alone. I want to draw out whoever is pulling his strings."
"And what about Harry Potter?" Snape pressed. "If that person really shows up, what happens to Harry?"
Dumbledore folded his hands, his thumbs tracing slow circles. "If my judgment from ten years ago was correct, there shouldn't be any mortal danger."
"Your judgment from ten years ago?" Snape drew a deep breath. "Because of that, he spent a decade with those two foolish Muggles!"
"And now you speak so lightly of it—letting him face Quirrell head-on, maybe even the Dark Lord himself? And you say he 'shouldn't' be in mortal danger?"
"It's precisely because I must keep my focus on Harry that I can't afford to be distracted." Dumbledore sighed again. "Wyzett will have to rely on all of you."
"Just remember what you've said." Snape stood, sweeping his robes around him, and strode quickly out of the office.
The weekend found Wyzett's days as full as ever.
After sending off his morning owl post, he entered the Great Hall, where his roommates immediately surrounded him.
"Morning, Wyzett!" Chris handed him a glass of pumpkin juice. "I saw you working on your homework last night. Did you finish it already?"
"Thanks." Wyzett accepted the juice. "Almost. I'm hoping to find a few more references to flesh out my essay on the match-to-needle transformation."
"How much did you write?" Chris pressed. "Didn't meet the length requirement?"
"I went over, actually," said Wyzett. "Professor McGonagall taught me some extra material, so I want to add a bit about Animagi."
Terry jumped in, "Once you're done eating, how about we hit the library? I still haven't written enough for my Transfiguration essay."
Anthony chimed in, "And the Potions homework—those properties for the Boil-Cure Potion ingredients. I think I missed something."
Michael nodded. "Same here. I haven't finished that either. My notes from One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi are even shorter than Anthony's."
The unpleasantness from flying class had faded quickly. He and Anthony had already made up, and now everyone was back to discussing homework as usual.
As they passed him buttered bread, bacon, and roasted ham, Wyzett gave them a wry smile. "Did you lot plan this?"
His roommates grinned sheepishly.
"Just a bit more to go!" Terry said. "Once we finish, we can go out and have fun!"
Michael shrugged. "There's Quidditch tryouts this afternoon. Anthony and I are going to watch."
"No more homework, no more guilt," Anthony added.
"Oh, right—the Quidditch tryouts this afternoon." Wyzett remembered that Cho Chang had mentioned it to him last night, too.
She was planning to try out for the Ravenclaw team and had invited him to come along and cheer her on.
Under the hopeful gazes of his friends, Wyzett nodded his agreement.
It was the first weekend of term, and the library was quieter than usual.
Most students came in small groups, either hunting for books along the shelves or whispering together in the reading areas.
"That looks like a Gryffindor—how rare," Michael said, glancing toward the far corner of the reading section.
There sat Hermione, alone, her bushy brown hair curtaining her face as she bent over her homework.
Ravenclaw had its own library, but its collection was incomplete—sometimes you had to come to the main library for certain materials.
Wyzett wasn't surprised. He often saw Hermione here, always by herself.
He leaned in and whispered to his roommates, "For the Potions homework, check the 1986 issue 7 of Practical Potioneer. There's a relevant article by Professor Snape."
"And for the match-to-needle essay, look for the 1895 issue 2 of Transfiguration Today. Headmaster Dumbledore wrote a piece on it. I used both journals for my assignments."
"Brilliant!" His roommates all gave him a thumbs-up. "You've read so much!"
Wyzett waved them off with a smile. "It's all thanks to Madam Pince—she helped me discover how fascinating magical journals can be."
Irma Pince was Hogwarts' librarian. As long as you didn't break the library rules, she was quite a decent sort.
She rarely smiled, but her knowledge was encyclopedic. Wyzett could always count on her to know exactly where to find any book he needed.
His roommates hurried off to the periodicals section, while Wyzett approached Madam Pince. "Madam Pince, I'd like to read up on Animagi. Where should I look?"
She gave him a long, appraising look. "At your age... dabbling in Animagi could be dangerous, you know."
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