In the dead of night, a figure draped in a black cloak silently avoided the patrolling Filch and slipped up to the fourth floor.
Since encountering the Dark Lord in Albania, Quirrell's previously monotonous life had undergone a dramatic transformation.
He now had a new life goal, which was to help the Dark Lord rise again.
As long as he succeeded, he would ascend to a position he had never dared to dream of before.
For example, replacing Barty Crouch, who once looked down on him, as the new Minister of the Ministry of Magic Law Enforcement Department, or if he dared to be even bolder… Minister of Magic!
This wasn't beyond the realm of possibility.
Although he wasn't among the first to join the Death Eaters, if he succeeded in stealing the Philosopher's Stone and helping the Dark Lord resurrect, he would become the greatest hero through a shortcut.
What of Bellatrix, what of Sirius Black, they were famous, but what good was that?
Where were they when the Dark Lord needed help the most… in Azkaban.
Now, the only one who could help the Dark Lord rise again was him, Quirinus Quirrell!
Why should those people compete with him, because they had been Dementors' food reserves?
Moreover, the Dark Lord had promised that if he could help with the resurrection, he would gain unparalleled power and countless wealth.
And most importantly… immortality!
Staring at the dilapidated wooden door before him, an abnormal flush suddenly crept onto Quirrell's face.
As soon as he passed through the checkpoints set by the professors here, power, wealth, and status would all be within reach!
Throughout this school year, he had probed openly and secretly, and had basically figured out all the other checkpoints except Snape's.
The most troublesome of these, the Three-Headed Dog, he had managed to deal with using a Dragon Egg.
To be honest, it wasn't easy, because following last year's incident with Oren, the Ministry of Magic had been intensifying their inspection of Fantastic Beasts.
He had nearly emptied his entire savings and paid ten times the market price to buy that Dragon Egg from a European wizard.
Though he felt like a fool, as long as he could get the Philosopher's Stone, it would be worth spending even more Galleons.
Now, he had tricked Dumbledore to London with a letter, and Snape was in the Forbidden Forest looking for a nonexistent Death Eater.
Everything was progressing according to his plan; no one could stop him now!
Quirrell took out a large harp and cast a spell to make it play soothing music, then pushed open the door with trembling hands.
"Sleep, big guy, have a good nap…"
As Quirrell pushed open the door, he suddenly froze.
The room was empty. Not to mention the Three-Headed Dog, there wasn't even a strand of dog hair.
"Did I enter the wrong room?"
Quirrell retreated in confusion and took a look around.
This was definitely the right place… he remembered the statue holding an axe on the opposite side, he couldn't be wrong.
"Fool, don't waste time here!"
Another voice suddenly spoke from within Quirrell's body.
"Forgive me, Master."
Quirrell dared not linger any longer and quickly stepped into the room.
Only when he saw the unguarded trapdoor did he feel a pang of heartache.
The Galleons he had saved for over a decade… if he had known, he wouldn't have bought that Dragon Egg.
"Hurry up!" Voldemort urged again, "What are you waiting for, Dumbledore could come back at any time!"
At the mention of Dumbledore's name, Quirrell shivered all over and quickly opened the trapdoor and jumped down.
He had already investigated, below was where Sprout had placed the Devil's Snare, which could completely support him.
And dealing with the Devil's Snare was simple; a simple Lighting Spell could solve it.
Quirrell was confident.
However…
"Thud!"
With a dull thud, Quirrell landed flat on the hard floor.
"Ah… my leg… ah, my arm… my back…"
Quirrell curled up on the floor groaning in pain. The fall was so severe that he felt like his whole body was in excruciating pain.
"Damn it, Sprout actually dared to deceive me!" Quirrell roared in his mind.
He was just about to explain when he suddenly heard the Dark Lord's angry roar!
"Fool, get up, do you want to die here?!"
Quirrell instinctively lifted his head, only to realize there was a large pile of round things in front of him… they looked like cabbages?
But who would grow cabbages here, what a joke.
As he was thinking this, one of those "cabbages" rolled forward a bit, revealing a mouth full of sharp teeth!
Then the second one… the third one…
Quirrell's face turned pale instantly.
He remembered now, these were Chomping Cabbages… a dangerous plant on par with Poisonous Tentacles, capable of killing an adult wizard when two are close enough.
And here, there were dozens of them…
At this moment, Quirrell felt the greatest malice in the world.
"Sprout… damn you!"
"Ahhhhh!"
The next second, Quirrell's heart-wrenching scream echoed through the room.
The sound was filled with anger, unwillingness, and terror… and had immense penetration.
...
"Hmm?"
At the end of the corridor, Kael, who was studying The Mirror of Erised, suddenly looked up and curiously asked: "Did you hear something just now?"
No one responded.
But that was normal; after all, apart from him, there was only a Niffler looking at itself in the mirror in the room.
"What did you see…" Kael walked over and asked.
The Niffler was startled and looked at Kael in fright, simultaneously backing up a few steps with its little hands instinctively guarding its pouch.
"You're being unfair now…" Kael said with a pout, "As if I often steal your stuff."
The Niffler chattered angrily.
"Just that one time, alright? You still remember it now. Besides, you took someone else's stuff then; I was just returning it to the rightful owner."
The Niffler turned its head, ignoring Kael.
It had picked it up, after all…
Seeing its expression, Kael shook his head with amusement and said, "You've had enough fun, it's time to come back."
The scream he heard earlier wasn't a hallucination; it looked like Quirrell… or rather Voldemort would be here soon.
This was not the time to let it stay outside.
But the Niffler didn't move, still watching him warily.
"Don't worry, I won't steal your stuff." Kael said seriously, "And soon a bad guy who eats Niffler sandwiches every day will come here, and what he likes most is a little Niffler like you who isn't even a year old…"
The Niffler's eyes widened instantly, and it scampered into Kael's arms and into the box.