Harry Potter: Even Voldemort Can't Stop Me from Studying

The Weasleys looked at Wade.

Wade thought for a moment, deciding not to mention the plot he knew, and instead, word for word, recounted everything he had heard that day.

His memory in this life was excellent; despite over a month having passed, his recounting of the dialogue was almost perfectly accurate.

An unseen chill seemed to rise from their feet. A long silence fell over the Umbrella Room; no one spoke for a long time.

Finally, Fred broke the quiet. "I have to say—this joke isn't funny at all—do you understand, George?"

George silently nodded, his face uncharacteristically pale.

"So—" Ryan struggled to comprehend, frowning. "Professor Quirrell isn't Professor Quirrell? No—it's that a dark wizard possessed him? He wants to kill Harry Potter? Our Defense Against the Dark Arts professor—is a Death Eater?"

He looked around at everyone, seemingly expecting someone to suddenly shout, "Scared you, didn't we? Haha!"

But no one spoke.

Ryan sat down, steadying himself on the table. After a long while, he said hopefully, "Should we—should we go find Professor Dumbledore? All Death Eaters are afraid of him. As long as Professor Dumbledore acts, he'll surely—"

Hermione shook her head slightly, softly saying, "No, you don't understand, Ryan—'He stepped on my corpse and became a big star'—think about that sentence, Ryan—who else would say that?"

Color slowly drained from the boy's face. Ryan clenched his fists, his body trembling slightly. "But—it's impossible—that person is dead, isn't he—everyone knows he's dead—killed by Harry Potter..."

He suddenly seemed to bite his tongue, his voice cutting off abruptly.

Hermione looked at him with pity. She could see that the boy had already believed it but dared not admit it.

—As if by not admitting it, that person wouldn't return.

There was nothing to mock; she, too, felt a shiver.

Hermione, born in the Muggle world, should have been unafraid of Voldemort, but she had read many books even before entering the wizarding world. So she understood even better than most students from wizarding families how many shocking atrocities "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named" had committed.

Before that person vanished, his power had swelled to its peak, a terrifying shadow cast over the entire British Isles. Even Dumbledore... people said that person feared Dumbledore most, as the war never reached Hogwarts, but even Dumbledore couldn't stop the continuous deaths.

This subtly instilled a deep fear of that person in Hermione. When she tried to utter his name, she opened her mouth but couldn't bring herself to say it directly.

As if it would awaken some terrifying monster.

"Voldem—I mean, You-Know-Who—" Hermione looked at everyone. "If You-Know-Who is really possessing Professor Quirrell—I think we should tell Dumbledore! Wade, why didn't you immediately go to Professor Dumbledore back then?"

Wade thought for a moment. "Perhaps because... I found it hard to believe Dumbledore was completely unaware of this?"

Fred nodded. "Dumbledore must have already noticed Quirrell's abnormality; he just hasn't done anything about it for some reason."

George said grimly, "He knows everything."

"But what if he doesn't?" Hermione retorted. "What if Dumbledore only suspects but is still looking for evidence? Maybe he thinks Professor Quirrell has only sided with the dark, not knowing You-Know-Who is actually on him! We should find Dumbledore, tell him the truth, and then let him decide what to do!"

"Of course, Hermione, you're right," Ryan said. "That's definitely what we should do."

"Then why don't we act now?" Fred stood up decisively. "I saw Dumbledore in the Great Hall during dinner! He must be at school right now."

Hermione, however, didn't expect him to be so resolute. She hesitated, asking, "Should we call Harry? I mean—You-Know-Who wants to kill him—Harry should know where the danger comes from—"

Wade considered it for a moment. "Just as you said, Hermione—let Dumbledore decide."

Hermione thought of what he said about "the test," and nodded silently, her eyes full of worry, as if fearing that Harry would be killed by Voldemort on their way to Dumbledore.

Standing in the corridor, Wade took out a gleaming silver whistle and blew it.

A loud, sharp, and urgent whistle pierced the air. Soon after, an owl spread its wings and flew from the western tower, through the window, and landed precisely on Wade's outstretched arm.

"Cool!" Fred whistled.

The owl, Ava, tilted its head, looked at him, and hooted twice.

Wade rolled up the written note, letting Ava hold it in her beak. He instructed, "Deliver this to Professor Dumbledore, then bring his reply back to me."

Ava nodded, spread her wings, and flew off. They watched her circle in the sky, then aim for a window on a small spire and fly inside.

Hermione bit her finger, worried. "Professor Dumbledore won't dismiss our letter, will he? Maybe I should have written it in more detail so he knows we're not messing around..."

Fortunately, Dumbledore didn't make them wait long—perhaps only a minute or two, Ava flew out of that window again.

The owl handed the reply to Wade. On the parchment, written in long, looping script, were the words:

"Welcome to my office. The password is Fizzing Whizbees."

"Fizzing Whizbees?" George mumbled. "I don't think I've seen that dessert in the Great Hall."

Fred said, "It was there at the end-of-term feast last semester. What were you doing then? Oh, right, you secretly stuffed a bottle of cockroaches onto Montague—"

"Making him think they were his own Cockroach Clusters—" George laughed, remembering the prank. "He never ate Cockroach Clusters again after that! Wait—you took advantage and stole my sundae?"

"How can you call it stealing?" Fred argued. "I took it openly, you just didn't see it—"

The two bickered and played as they headed towards the Headmaster's office entrance. Along the way, they happened to run into Michael, who was returning from the Quidditch pitch. He greeted them and naturally blended into the group; no one thought anything amiss.

At the entrance to the Headmaster's office, a remarkably ugly gargoyle crouched. Fred dodged George's attack, jumped ahead, and said, "Fizzing Whizbees!"

The gargoyle leaped aside, and the wall behind it split in half, revealing a slowly ascending spiral staircase. The group entered one by one, and with a rumble, the wall closed behind them.

The staircase carried them higher and higher. Wade secretly marveled—in the Muggle world, escalators were common, but this was his first time seeing such a thing in the wizarding world.

So why be like Muggles in this regard? The elevator was always installed where the Headmaster needed it.

As they grew somewhat dizzy from the twisting staircase, they finally saw a gleaming oak door with a griffin-shaped brass knocker.

This was Dumbledore's office.