NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 49: Chapter 24: After the Incident
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"Professor, your leg?" The day after the troll incident, Glenn visited Snape's office alone following Potions class.
During the lesson, he had distinctly noticed Snape's awkward gait and pronounced limp. Perhaps he had been injured the previous night.
Could it have been... the creature behind the door on the fourth-floor corridor?
He decided to investigate.
Snape's face darkened instantly at Glenn's words. How had this boy managed to be so observant?!
Blast it, the boy had witnessed his moment of vulnerability.
Eliminate the witness (not really)
"Don't ask questions that aren't your concern," he snapped coldly, unwilling to engage with Glenn and preparing to dismiss him from the office.
Some knowledge was dangerous to possess, and he had no intention of dragging Glenn, an uninvolved party, into Dumbledore's machinations.
However, to his surprise, Glenn didn't follow the expected line of questioning. Instead, he cut straight to the chase, succinctly stating the conclusion he had drawn the previous night.
"Professor Quirrell is trying to achieve something behind that sealed door on the fourth floor, isn't he?"
Snape's expression shifted. How did Glenn know about this?
Surely Dumbledore hadn't decided to draw the boy into this scheme!
That meddlesome old bee, could he be so ruthless?
Dumbledore: I'm innocent!
Silently cursing Dumbledore's irresponsibility, Snape asked icily, "Did Dumbledore tell you all this?"
Glenn's lips curved into a slight smile. "It's merely a deduction based on available information, Professor."
...
Snape: Damn it
He had let his guard down.
Seeing Snape's dark expression, Glenn remained unfazed. He proceeded to explain his complete theory, including his and Hermione's experience from the previous day.
Snape fell silent, for Glenn's deductions were spot-on. When he had reached that door, the Cerberus had already been awakened by someone and was lurking silently behind it, waiting viciously for the return of whoever had disturbed its sleep.
Unfortunately, Snape became the scapegoat. The moment he entered, that cursed Cerberus lunged at him. The only consolation was that the trapdoor remained firmly secured beneath the beast's weight - Quirrell hadn't succeeded, though Snape's leg had paid the price.
The Cerberus's saliva contained properties that inhibited physical healing. Potions couldn't immediately repair the injury. For now, he could only roughly bandage it and wait several days for the residual saliva to decompose before proceeding with proper treatment.
As a result, every step Snape took caused his robes to brush against the wound, leading to his conspicuous limp.
At least only Glenn had noticed his compromised state - a small mercy in an unfortunate situation.
"Don't tell anyone else. This information isn't meant for young wizards like yourself. It's dangerous."
"And don't investigate! No one can guarantee your safety if you do!" Snape warned menacingly.
Glenn readily agreed but ventured one question: "I'm not interested in what Quirrell's trying to do, but Professor, could you tell me what kind of creature it was?" He merely wanted to know what could have injured Snape.
Not realizing he was rubbing salt in the wound, Glenn noticed the increasingly dark expression on Snape's face and sensed the atmosphere turning sour. Assuming rejection, he prepared to take his leave.
"A Cerberus," Snape muttered after a moment's silence, before shooing him out.
Leaving Snape's office, Glenn had no desire to investigate the fourth floor. Instead, he went to the library, found information about Cerberuses, noted their characteristics and abilities, and left it at that.
...
As it turned out, the Cerberus belonged to Hagrid.
Well, that was unexpected. Glenn discovered this when he saw Hagrid carrying a bucket of fresh meat into Hogwarts one night during his spider-hunting expedition in the Forbidden Forest. The next day, when Glenn mentioned it to Hagrid, the gentle giant accidentally let it slip.
"Don't worry, Hagrid. I'm not interested in what's inside, and I won't tell anyone. Dumbledore won't blame you, but if you really want to keep this secret, you should be more careful with your words." Glenn reassured the remorseful giant repeatedly, advising him to be more discreet.
He had only mentioned the word "Cerberus"!
Was the rumor true that Hagrid was raised on Veritaserum?
Though he couldn't recall any documentation about prolonged effects from overconsumption of Veritaserum. Perhaps it was due to Hagrid's unique constitution?
It seemed his knowledge of potions still needed work. He made a mental note to practice more.
As Hagrid began muttering to himself, Glenn quickly slipped out of the hut. No way - if he stayed any longer, he'd learn everything. Time to run; let Dumbledore deal with these matters. He needed to find Hermione.
...
Since November's arrival, the weather had grown increasingly cold. Their study location had shifted from the library to comfortable sofas before the warm fireplace in the Room of Requirement.
Currently, Glenn's favorite activity was studying with Hermione, cuddled together. He couldn't explain why, but it felt wonderful - a comfortable serenity and an indefinable feeling.
But it felt good, making Glenn feel content and peaceful.
They both tacitly accepted their closeness, blaming it on the cold.
It really was quite cold. To keep the young girl warm during winter, Glenn worked late into the night to add a heating function to the protective charm he'd given her as a birthday present. Now Hermione was like a walking hot water bottle, with girls clustering around her to determine their seating positions during class.
If you wanted to find Hermione in class, you only needed to look at the center of the densest concentration of girls.
Even Professor McGonagall, when she had nothing else to do during Transfiguration class, would transform into a cat and jump into Hermione's lap for warmth. This delighted the young girl, who was both honored and thrilled.
She loved cats, and she admired Professor McGonagall - it was a double blessing.
The boys could only watch enviously, too embarrassed to push through the girls to compete for positions. They could only yearn for the warmth that leaked from the circle of chirping girls, catching what little heat escaped.
But what did this matter to Glenn? He sat invariably beside Hermione in every class, enjoying both his alchemical creation and the soft, sweet presence of little Hermione. This made the freezing boys even more envious.
Why did he get to be so warm? Traitor to all boys!
(Boys! Is this all you care about!)
This envy reached its peak during Potions class.
The cold, damp dungeon classroom became even chillier with November's temperatures, and the young wizards had to prepare themselves for shivering through each lesson.
Here, the students' desire for warmth reached its zenith.
The Gryffindor boys glared angrily at Glenn - why should this Slytherin enjoy the warmth reserved for girls! Why?!
Traitor to all boys!!!!!!!!!
Glenn: Wouldn't you like to know.
He had originally thought Snape, who wore only thin black robes in winter, was some special being immune to cold. But after Glenn upgraded Hermione's charm, Snape's teaching position changed from the podium to the seat on Hermione's other side, much to the distress of the Gryffindor girls.
They wanted to stay warm, but the old bat was sitting there. As for driving him away...
That was impossible - he was a professor after all!
To prevent his Head of House's popularity from plummeting further among the students, Glenn had to take out one of the Christmas presents he had prepared for the professors and give it to Snape early - indeed, Glenn had prepared heating devices for all the Hogwarts professors who taught him, including Dumbledore, and had also given one each to Madam Pince, who specially looked after him and Hermione in the library, and their big friend Hagrid.
Clearly, Snape appreciated this, slowly yielding the seat beside Hermione while openly awarding Glenn many points.
Snape: All according to plan.jpg
The girls who wanted to get close for warmth were very grateful, though they wished Glenn would give them one too.
Faced with the eager gazes of the young witches, Glenn pretended not to notice. He was thinking: dream on.
Oh, he was wearing black silk anyway, so they couldn't see his expression.
Never mind then.
Apart from this, the days were peaceful, with no troublesome incidents like the troll event occurring.
This satisfied Glenn greatly - no days were more wonderful than ordinary ones.
Worth mentioning was that the Slytherins he had beaten up were gradually preparing to duel with him. However, due to the approaching annual inter-house Quidditch tournament at Hogwarts, they hadn't made any moves yet. Glenn had already arranged times - they would duel with him successively after the Quidditch matches ended.
Seeing the upper-year snakes flexing their muscles, they had apparently prepared well, recovering from their trauma after being beaten. They started making threats to Glenn again, seemingly ready to stake their blood status pride on redeeming themselves. This included Draco, who had been working incredibly hard lately and finally gathered the courage to challenge Glenn. He even sought training from Snape occasionally, attempting to master more dueling spells to improve his chances of victory.
He just didn't understand why Snape kept smiling at him. Could it be! The professor had faith in him?
Draco was very excited, suddenly feeling his future was full of light!