As the Christmas break came to an end, students gradually returned to the castle, filling its halls with life once more. Most of them were eager to make the most of the final days of vacation, laughing and playing in the snow-covered courtyard.
But amid the cheerful chaos, a piece of news spread through the school like wildfire—
The famous first-year Harry Potter and his Weasley friend had been caught sneaking out at night, attempting to break into a professor's office!
They were trapped there all night by the professor's protective wards and discovered early the next morning by Professor McGonagall. Each boy lost fifty house points, sending Gryffindor's hard-earned total plummeting in an instant.
And the professor whose office they'd tried to enter? None other than the widely admired Professor Fawley.
Tver stood before his office door, his expression caught somewhere between surprise and disbelief. The protective enchantments had already been dispelled by Professor McGonagall—otherwise, no one would have been able to enter or leave.
"I found them this morning," McGonagall said helplessly. "Frozen after a night out here, shivering like leaves."
Two Gryffindor students sneaking around at night was one thing, but trying to break into a professor's office? That was unprecedented. Especially when the professor in question was Tver, a guest instructor from another school—it was a complete embarrassment to Hogwarts.
"Did you ask Harry and Ron why they wanted to break into my office?" Tver asked, puzzled.
He hadn't paid Harry much attention recently. According to the story's progression, the boy and his friends should have been investigating Nicolas Flamel. But what would lead them to his office of all places?
McGonagall shook her head.
"They said they were curious about your magic and wanted to take a look. But honestly, even Filch could tell they were lying."
Tver nodded, his expression tightening slightly. "Good thing you came by in the morning. The wards I placed here were designed for adult wizards. If they'd stayed longer, the magic would have intensified, and the results would've been… disastrous."
McGonagall's stern features twitched ever so slightly.
Wards like that—at Hogwarts? Did he think the school's defenses weren't good enough? Hogwarts was supposed to be the safest place in the wizarding world!
"While it's reasonable to use protective spells on your office," she said after a pause, "I must remind you not to use enchantments that are too powerful."
She pressed her lips together for a moment before continuing.
"And about that imp magic of yours—while it doesn't quite qualify as dark magic, you still need to consider the students' physical limits. Don't use it on them too often."
Tver thought for a moment about the Imp Spell. It did drain a small amount of a student's willpower, though that energy was replenished when the spell faded. The real issue was that most students simply didn't have enough magical strength to sustain something so advanced.
"Don't worry," he said calmly. "Even if they wanted to use it all the time, I wouldn't have the time to cast it for them."
Reassured by his response, McGonagall gave a satisfied nod.
"I'm not doubting you," she said. "And the badges you made for the students are quite interesting. The school has approved your funding request—the money should be released soon."
She had worried that as a new professor, Tver might not yet know where to draw the line, risking the students' safety. But now it was clear he was far more capable than she had imagined—perhaps even more suited to teaching than some of the older staff.
Hearing that the funding had gone through, Tver smiled brightly. There would be plenty of expenses to cover in the future. He couldn't keep paying for everything out of pocket forever, could he?
"Thank you so much. I was worried about how future classes would proceed."
"It's the school's responsibility," said Professor McGonagall, "but as you know, the Board of Governors controls funding approvals, so things tend to move a little slowly."
She glanced down the corridor, now filling with students, and straightened her robes. "I won't keep you any longer."
The moment she left, Tver's smile vanished.
Those two—rather than properly investigating Quirrell, they've started investigating him?
He slipped into his office, reinforced the protective enchantments with a new, tighter set of wards, and sat down before pulling out the Marauder's Map.
"Everything is permitted."
The parchment instantly came alive before his eyes.
In just one Christmas break, the Weasley twins had helped him uncover several secret passages around Hogwarts. They hadn't used any of them to sneak off the grounds—just explored for fun. But that wasn't the focus right now.
Drawing his wand, he located Harry's name. As a soft golden light shimmered, voices began to echo from the map.
...
"Have you two completely lost your minds?" Hermione's furious voice rang through the corridor corner.
Harry and Ron shrank back, exchanging uneasy glances.
Her anger didn't subside—it only burned hotter.
"Instead of properly investigating Nicolas Flamel, you go breaking into Professor Fawley's office? What were you two thinking? What's next—Snape's office?!"
"Snape was watching us…" Ron mumbled weakly.
"You actually wanted to do that?!"
Harry quickly tried to explain. "That night, I just took Ron to see the mirror, but Snape caught us on the way back, so we tried to hide."
"That doesn't mean you had to hide in a professor's office!" Hermione frowned. "And what mirror are you talking about? Couldn't you go during the day?"
"The Mirror of Erised!" Ron blurted out, sensing her tone softening. "It's a mirror that shows your future!"
"It shows your deepest desires," Harry corrected.
"Right, desires. But either way, you won't be seeing it again. Dumbledore said it's being moved," Ron said proudly.
Hermione shot them both an exasperated glare.
"I don't care about that mirror! The problem is, you've just lost a hundred points and earned yourselves detention!"
She crossed her arms. "Now, tell me—what on earth made you think breaking into the professor's office was a good idea?"
Harry and Ron hesitated, nudging each other awkwardly, until Harry finally admitted the truth.
"We said we'd try to find something to use against the professor, so we thought we'd take a look around."
"Besides, Snape was chasing us—we panicked!" Ron added quickly, as if that excused anything.
Hermione immediately saw the hole in their story. "If you managed not to get caught right away, then why didn't you just find a safer way to get out?"
"..."
Neither of them dared admit the truth—they'd just been curious. They'd wanted to see what was inside Professor Fawley's office.
The air grew heavy and silent. Hermione, looking at the two pretending to be ostriches, could only sigh.
Then, after a pause, she asked, somewhat reluctantly, "By the way… did you see anything inside the office?"
Catching the hint in her question, Ron perked up instantly.
"We almost got the door open! But the handle turned into a chain and wrapped us up—and then it hoisted us into the air!"
"But it helped us dodge Snape!" he added excitedly. "You wouldn't believe it—he walked right under us!"
Harry laughed too, remembering how terrified he'd been at the time.
Hermione immediately lost interest again.
"You two should start worrying about detention instead."
...
Tver put the map away, half amused, half helpless.
So, the trio thought Snape had threatened them, forcing them to steal the Philosopher's Stone?
Still, that brought up another question.
If the Mirror of Erised was the final guardian of the Philosopher's Stone, how was he supposed to retrieve it himself?
A simple Occlumency barrier wouldn't fool the mirror—Quirrell's mental defenses weren't weak, yet he hadn't been able to claim the Stone either.
That meant he'd need Harry and the others to "help" Quirrell obtain it first.
Now, it was time to give them a little push.