Looks like Quirrell's hands were finally about to freeze solid.
Ethan felt extremely satisfied with this arrangement.
After all, he had nearly completed his Dungeons & Dragons sandbox adventure and urgently required new entertainment.
When Ethan returned to the Gryffindor common room late that night, all the students should already have been asleep.
Instead, three suspicious figures sat gathered together in the common room whispering intensely.
"Who's there?!"
Harry immediately spun toward the portrait hole in alarm.
Then Ethan climbed through.
Harry visibly relaxed.
"Are you plotting a rebellion?" Ethan asked lazily. "Why aren't you idiots asleep?"
"Ethan, I heard something today!" Harry immediately dragged him over excitedly. "Outside Quirrell's office!"
"I heard Quirrell compromise!"
"Quirrell's office?"
Ethan instantly sensed something suspicious.
Because he had specifically warned Quirrell to maintain secrecy.
"Yes!" Harry whispered loudly in the least stealthy way imaginable. "I heard Quirrell say, 'Alright… alright…'"
"Snape must've threatened him for the method to bypass the protections around the Philosopher's Stone!"
"But there's still Fluffy," Hermione reminded him more rationally. "Remember? Hagrid's three-headed dog."
"Snape can't get past it."
"Hagrid…"
Harry's face suddenly turned deathly pale.
"What's wrong?" Ron asked nervously. "You look awful."
"Hagrid might've already told someone," Ethan answered calmly.
He needed Harry to reach exactly this conclusion.
Because Dumbledore's enchantment on the Mirror of Erised required it.
Only someone who wanted to find the Philosopher's Stone without using it could retrieve it from the mirror.
Neither Ethan nor Quirrell qualified remotely.
The mirror couldn't directly read Ethan's mind, but Ethan definitely possessed inappropriate intentions regarding the Stone.
Which meant Harry Potter remained absolutely essential.
"What?" Hermione and Ron asked together.
"You think so too, Ethan?" Harry asked anxiously.
The moment Ethan agreed with him, Harry's heartbeat visibly accelerated.
"That day," Harry said rapidly, "Hagrid went to buy Butterbeer for Ethan's unicorn and met some hooded stranger carrying a dragon egg."
"Hagrid wants a dragon more than anything."
"And somehow a random stranger in a pub just happened to have one?"
"How many people casually walk around carrying dragon eggs?"
"That's illegal!"
"Doesn't that sound suspicious to you?!"
Harry finished in one breath.
Ethan immediately added fuel to the fire.
"And Snape's a former Death Eater."
"I heard it directly from Quirrell."
"What?!" Ron nearly shouted.
"What's a Death Eater?" Harry asked immediately.
"Voldemort's former followers," Ethan explained darkly. "If Snape obtains the Philosopher's Stone…"
"Maybe he can resurrect Voldemort."
"Then why would Dumbledore let him teach here?!" Harry looked horrified. "He works for Voldemort!"
"Can you not say that name…" Ron shuddered violently.
To wizarding children, Voldemort's name remained basically equivalent to a bedtime horror monster.
"I shouldn't have let Ali stay with Hagrid…" Ethan muttered with fake regret.
"Don't blame yourself," Harry immediately reassured him with complete sincerity. "None of us knew."
"As long as we stop them—"
"Hagrid might not actually have told anyone," Hermione interrupted quickly before Harry fully spiralled into panic. "Harry, calm down."
"We can ask him tomorrow."
"You look like you're about to storm into the Forbidden Forest tonight."
"And Dumbledore's still here," Ron added hurriedly. "As long as Dumbledore's around, the Philosopher's Stone is definitely safe."
Eventually, Hermione and Ron managed to calm Harry down temporarily using the ultimate weapon:
Potential point deductions.
After all, at the moment, Dumbledore remained the greatest guarantee protecting the Stone.
That night, Ethan could hear Harry tossing and turning endlessly in the neighbouring bed.
The Chosen One truly possessed an overwhelming sense of responsibility.
Which made Ethan — one of the main conspirators behind the entire disaster — feel mildly guilty.
Very mildly.
The situation reminded Ethan of a joke from his previous life.
A teacher once asked students what they wanted to become in the future.
One child answered:
"A police officer."
The teacher then pointed at his deskmate and said:
"Then keep an eye on him. He wants to rob a bank."
Ethan's dead memories suddenly launched a critical hit against his conscience.
Still, Harry's insomnia had nothing to do with Ethan.
Even with Harry rolling around noisily beside him, Ethan still enjoyed an absolutely excellent night's sleep.
The next morning, Harry violently shook Ethan and Ron awake before sunrise.
Massive dark circles hung beneath his eyes.
"Hurry!" Harry urged frantically. "We need to talk to Hagrid!"
"If boys were allowed into the girls' dormitories," Ethan warned sleepily, "you'd probably drag Hermione out by force right now."
"That would make you a hooligan, Harry."
"The Daily Prophet would absolutely publish: 'The Boy Who Lived Assaults Female Classmate.'"
Unfortunately for Harry, the entire day only became worse.
Because Hagrid accidentally revealed the method for controlling Fluffy almost immediately.
Music.
That was all it took.
"I knew it…" Harry muttered weakly while dragging Ethan and Ron back toward the castle.
They encountered Hermione during breakfast.
"What happened to you three?" Hermione asked immediately after seeing the mud covering them. "You went to Hagrid's this morning, didn't you?"
"Hagrid slipped up," Harry whispered urgently while leaning across the table. "We need to tell Professor Dumbledore everything."
Then came the truly bad news.
Dumbledore wasn't at the staff table.
And throughout breakfast, Snape repeatedly glanced toward them with an expression Harry interpreted as deeply sinister.
"We need to find Dumbledore's office," Hermione said nervously.
Once Harry confirmed the conditions for stealing the Philosopher's Stone were complete, he would absolutely head for the forbidden corridor.
Which meant all of them would probably get expelled if discovered.
And neither Hermione, Ron, nor Ethan would allow Harry to face that danger alone.
"But where even is Dumbledore's office?" Ron asked blankly.
"I know," Ethan replied immediately.
"It's also on the eighth floor. Hidden entrance. Password-protected gargoyle."
Unfortunately, several months had passed.
The password almost certainly wasn't "Cockroach Cluster" anymore.
When Ethan finally led them to the hidden staircase, the stone gargoyle refused to move no matter what password he tried.
"Cockroach Cluster?"
"Lemon Sherbet?"
"Sugar Mice?"
Nothing worked.
"It must've changed," Hermione muttered anxiously.
Then—
"What exactly are you doing here?"
Professor McGonagall's voice suddenly echoed behind them.
All four students froze.
McGonagall stood at the corridor entrance with pursed lips and sharp eyes.
"We need to see Professor Dumbledore," Harry blurted out immediately.
"It's about the Philosopher's Stone…"
....
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