"What? You and Tom got caught night-wandering by the Headmaster, and your punishment is patrolling the Forbidden Forest with Hagrid?!"
In the Great Hall, after Harry recounted their encounter from the previous night, the group—who had originally planned to go see Hagrid with him—stared in absolute disbelief. Ariana, in particular, looked stunned.
They could understand Harry getting caught. But Tom? How was that possible? They had all personally experienced Tom's bizarre teleportation ability! With the power to pop into any corner of the castle instantly, how could he possibly get caught?
And knowing Tom's personality, even if he was discovered, there was no way he'd just obediently surrender!
"Yeah," Harry nodded earnestly, completely oblivious to their confusion. "That's what Professor Dumbledore said. He also said Hagrid had to leave Hogwarts for a couple of days on business, so we'll serve our detention with him later this week."
"But what if Quirrell makes his move during these two days?" Hermione frowned, her face clouded with worry.
They still didn't know who was pulling Quirrell's strings, but what if their slight delay gave him exactly the window he needed to succeed?
"It... probably wouldn't be that much of a coincidence, right?"
"Better safe than sorry." Hermione shook her head, looking deadly serious. "What if he actually steals the Sorcerer's Stone while Hagrid is gone? I say we take turns standing guard near the third-floor corridor at night. The moment we see Quirrell go in, we run straight to Headmaster Dumbledore!"
"Is that really necessary?" Ron muttered, sounding a bit unconvinced. "And why only at night? If he's going to steal it, couldn't he just do it during the day?" In his opinion, Hermione always overthought things and always assumed the worst-case scenario.
"There are too many people walking around during the day. If he startles Fluffy and causes a scene, he's finished. He won't risk it," Hermione analyzed logically. "So his only window to act is at night."
"...Alright, you make a fair point." Ron might not have liked it, but he had to admit her logic was sound. He puffed out his cheeks but didn't argue further.
"But how are we supposed to keep watch? It's an empty corridor! Filch, Mrs. Norris, or any patrolling professor could walk by at any second."
"I have a solution for that!" Harry reached into his robes and pulled out the Invisibility Cloak he had kept on him. "The Headmaster gave this back to me yesterday. It belonged to my dad. As long as we wear this, we don't have to worry about anyone seeing us!"
And so, the plan was happily finalized. Unfortunately, it fell apart before it even began. As for the reason...
"Wait, what did you say? Professor Quirrell is out of the school for the next two days too?!"
That's right. To be safe, they had tried to track down Quirrell's whereabouts, only to make a surprising discovery: the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor had also taken a leave of absence!
Since the "thief" wasn't even in the castle, there was naturally no need to guard the "treasure." Thus, the newly minted plan died in its infancy.
---
The pleasant weekend flew by, and dark Monday arrived exactly on schedule.
During Potions class, Snape glared unblinkingly at Tom for the entire hour. But no matter how closely he observed, he simply could not figure out how the cat was successfully brewing potions.
Tom's process was ridiculously simple: he dumped all the ingredients into the cauldron at once, stirred haphazardly a few times, waited for the liquid to cool, and—ta-da—potion complete. Under normal circumstances, doing that should only result in a massive explosion!
There must be something I'm missing! I stake my pride as a Potions Master—I will figure out exactly what he is doing! Unfortunately for Snape, he failed completely.
The ingredients were standard, the cauldron was standard, and his wand wasn't emitting any magical fluctuations... Yet somehow, this utterly illogical sequence of actions yielded absolutely flawless potions!
The only explanation was that Tom's character class was simply too overpowered.
---
"Did you guys hear?"
At lunch in the Great Hall, Ron leaned in and mysteriously shared some intel he had gathered. "The older students said Professor Quirrell looked awful in class today. Like he was seriously injured or something. He was limping, kept clutching his chest, and looked like he'd lost a ton of weight! Do you think he actually went after that monster over the weekend?"
"It's a three-headed dog," Hermione corrected out of habit, then nodded. "It's highly likely. In fact, the reason he disappeared for the last two days might have been to treat his wounds. Injuries caused by a three-headed dog aren't easy to heal."
"Since he's back, let's go find Hagrid right now!" Ron suggested excitedly. "While he's still injured, we can take him down in one fell swoop!"
[There's no rush.] Tom waved a paw calmly. [Quirrell took a massive beating from Fluffy. He won't make another move lightly until he figures out a way to deal with the dog. Plus, he needs time to heal and prepare for whatever other traps Dumbledore has set up... My guess is, he won't try anything again until at least Halloween.]
"But—" Hermione started to object, but after catching a warning glance from Tom, she wisely clamped her mouth shut. She still vividly remembered the steep price Ron had paid for doubting Tom last time!
Truth be told, Tom wasn't just guessing; part of his reasoning came from blurry memories of the original story. While he couldn't remember the exact traps, the mention of Devil's Snare in One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi had jogged his memory. If he remembered correctly, Devil's Snare was one of the obstacles guarding the Stone, but it also acted as a safety net to prevent intruders from plummeting to their deaths.
Since Professor Sprout hadn't even covered Devil's Snare in Herbology yet, they absolutely didn't need to worry about the Sorcerer's Stone right now. In fact, at this point in time, Dumbledore probably hadn't even hidden the Stone under the trapdoor yet!
"Alright, well, regardless of whether Quirrell can deal with Fluffy now or not, it's still better to find out where the professors stand as soon as possible," Hannah mediated. "Why wait until things get worse to act? Since he's injured now, wouldn't it be better to nip the risk in the bud?"
[Makes sense,] Tom nodded. [But we still don't need to rush to find Hagrid now. Harry and I have our 'detention' with him tonight anyway. We might as well all go together then.]
Sure, Tom had essentially volunteered for this "detention," but an adventure like this was obviously merrier with more people!
"That was your plan all along, wasn't it?" Ariana saw right through him, though she smiled and nodded. "But that sounds fine. I'm actually quite interested in the Forbidden Forest myself!"
In stark contrast to her enthusiasm, Ron's face drained of all color. "Um... can I... can I maybe sit this one out?" he asked, his voice weak. Ever since Hagrid had casually mentioned that the Forbidden Forest was home to Acromantulas, it had officially become Ron's least favorite place on the entire planet. Bar none.