HP: Wizardry’s a Hassle, Wand in the Right Hand, Gun in the Left

"Three additional chapters are now available!"

___________________________________________________________

Hermione noticed Snape's lips moving slightly, muttering something while his eyes remained fixed intently on Harry.

Could Professor Snape be trying to harm Harry?! Hermione was shocked, though it seemed plausible given how he always singled out Harry during Potions class.

Well, if it's Professor Snape up to something, perhaps we shouldn't interfere...

No, absolutely not! What was she thinking?!

Shaking her head to clear away such thoughtless notions - since when had she become someone who would ignore others in danger?

Besides, how could Professor Snape possibly harm a Hogwarts student? He was a professor, after all!

Some might suggest Professor Snape would harm young wizards, but I, Hermione Granger, categorically refuse to believe it.

Even if he is rather unpleasant, I must admit.

While Professor Snape wouldn't harm Harry, his moving lips clearly indicated he was casting something.

"Counter-curse," Glenn explained. While Hermione had been lost in her thoughts, he had already used his super-sensing to scan the area in Hermione's line of sight. He discovered that not only was Snape muttering, but Quirrell's lips were moving too, both men's eyes locked firmly on Harry in the sky.

This immediately ruled out Snape. It had to be the suspicious Quirrell causing trouble. Given Harry's predicament in the air, it was clear Quirrell was cursing Harry's broom, which meant Snape could only be attempting to stop him with a counter-curse.

But why would Quirrell want to kill Harry?

Glenn pointed at Quirrell, and Hermione shifted her gaze, confirming what Glenn had said.

"We must do something, at least disrupt Quirrell's spell-casting," Hermione said gravely. She might have stumbled upon this by chance, but she couldn't just stand by and watch. Whether Harry lived or died, it would leave an unbearable burden on her conscience if she did nothing.

That was just how Hermione was - always caring, always involved. Once she became aware of a situation, she felt compelled to help resolve it, even if it didn't directly concern her.

And this situation involved the life of a fellow student, even if she wasn't particularly fond of that point-losing little lion.

Glenn nodded. If that's what the young lady wanted, he would help.

He took a handful of soil from his waist pouch, placed it on the stands, and silently activated his alchemy.

The soil gradually transformed, taking shape until a lifelike small cat statue appeared.

Seeing this, Hermione immediately understood Glenn's plan. She drew her wand and gripped Glenn's hand.

She wanted to cast a rather advanced Transfiguration spell, but her current magical reserves were insufficient.

But that wasn't a problem - she had her personal magic battery right beside her.

Glenn transferred his magical power to her as Hermione pointed her wand at the statue.

"Kitty, obey!" she whispered. After spending time learning from Professor McGonagall, she had gradually mastered the Transfiguration spell for animating and controlling statues. Now, with Glenn's magical support, she could barely manage to animate small statues and have them follow her commands.

The stone cat gradually came to life under the dim light, its lifeless eyes becoming animated. It stretched lazily, yawned, and following Hermione's command, padded stealthily toward the professors' stands.

The cat successfully avoided everyone's notice and reached the space beneath Quirrell.

Hermione cancelled the Transfiguration spell, taking small, quick breaths.

After handing Hermione a magical power potion, Glenn released her hand and placed both palms on the ground, using alchemy to connect with his creation.

"Stone pillar... transmutation," Glenn channeled a large amount of magical power, beginning to reconstruct the small cat statue in the distance.

The cat statue gradually melted and quickly reassembled itself. Suddenly, a thick, solid stone pillar emerged from beneath Quirrell.

It rapidly grew both taller and wider.

The next moment, Quirrell, who had been quietly muttering spells, was launched into the air by the suddenly appearing pillar beneath him. His expression was one of complete bewilderment.

Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?

One moment he had been fully concentrated on cursing Harry Potter's broom, the next he felt a sharp pain from below as he was launched from his seat, causing Snape in front of him to stumble. Quirrell himself flew off, fortunately not falling from the high stands but sliding down between the curtain and the wall, landing with a thud on the Quidditch field below, unconscious.

Snape looked around suspiciously. His attention had been completely focused on Harry's predicament, leaving him no time to consider who might be causing trouble, let alone notice the surrounding commotion.

How did this garlic-reeking man suddenly go flying? Snape wondered, but didn't concern himself with Quirrell's fate, quickly turning his attention back to Harry.

Thankfully, Harry's broom seemed to have returned to normal.

Snape unconsciously let out a sigh of relief, regaining his usual composure. Something seemed to occur to him as he cast a suspicious glance at Quirrell.

Could this all be coincidence?

Snape's eyes grew cold.

Up in the air, Harry had regained control of his broom and suddenly dove toward the ground, tumbling as he landed.

"Oh my, that must have hurt," Hermione winced, imagining the pain.

Harry was coughing, spitting something out of his mouth...

...It was the Golden Snitch!

"Incredible! Harry Potter has caught the Golden Snitch! He's ended the game with a twenty-point lead - Gryffindor wins!" Lee Jordan jumped up excitedly at the announcer's stand.

The Gryffindor lions erupted in cheers, and Hermione excitedly hugged Glenn, screaming with joy, completely forgetting that Glenn belonged to the losing side.

Glenn couldn't care less whether Slytherin won or lost, focusing instead on enjoying Hermione's embrace.

As for Quirrell? Who was that again?

That evening in the Gryffindor common room, the little lions were enthusiastically celebrating their Quidditch victory over Slytherin. Though it had been a close win, Harry had played a crucial role and was now Gryffindor's great hero.

But the hero himself wasn't present in the common room, and neither was Ron.

What did that matter to their celebration? They could still party to their hearts' content!

The Slytherin "traitor" was also there, quietly enjoying his dinner, seeing nothing wrong with his presence.

The others had grown used to his presence - after all, Glenn barely spoke and couldn't even see, so they just let him be.

Hermione sat beside him, her face red as she struggled to handle her friends' teasing. Seeing Glenn remain unmoved and unresponsive, she irritably gave him a light smack.

Glenn's train of thought was interrupted - he had been concentrating on the details of a particular spell, and now the magical circuit construction he'd been working on was disrupted.

"What's wrong?" he asked, puzzled.

The young girl rolled her eyes, while the surrounding girls exchanged glances and broke into knowing smiles.

At that moment, two young wizards climbed through the portrait hole - Harry and Ron. They both looked excited, as if a long-troubling question had finally been answered.

But they seemed to be hiding something, looking around searchingly. Harry's eyes lit up when he spotted Hermione, and he dragged a reluctant Ron through the crowd toward them.

"Hermione," Harry called softly, "I know you're the smartest and most knowledgeable witch, and I wanted to ask you about Ni-"

Ron noticed Glenn beside Hermione and his expression suddenly changed. He quickly covered Harry's mouth, nudging his waist and gesturing toward Glenn's presence.

Wait a minute - this was the Gryffindor common room, what was this Slytherin doing here? Ron wondered, noticing something odd.

Harry also seemed to realize something, his expression growing strange.

"What is it?" Hermione asked, confused. Harry was Gryffindor's hero today, so she had decided that just for today, she would mercifully ignore his previous point deductions and answer his question. But Harry's question remained unfinished.

"Nothing, nothing, I haven't thought it through yet. I'll ask you later," Harry laughed awkwardly, pulling Ron away toward their friends.

Hermione looked puzzled. Oh Harry, Harry, you'd better think carefully - after today, you'll go back to being that troublemaker who's always losing points.

Of course Harry and Ron wouldn't dare mention the secret they'd discovered today in front of Glenn, a Slytherin wizard.

--Flashback to Several Hours Earlier--

Right after the match, Harry went to celebrate at Hagrid's hut with Ron and Hagrid.

Ron told the others what he had seen.

"I saw it - Snape was jinxing your broom!" he whispered, glancing around to make sure no one was eavesdropping. "He was muttering, and his eyes never left you."

"If Professor Quirrell hadn't suddenly gone flying and crashed into Snape, interrupting his spell, you would have been in real danger! Harry, he truly wanted to kill you!"

"Rubbish," Hagrid said disapprovingly, completely unaware of what had happened in the stands right beside him. "Why would Snape do somethin' like that?"

"I found out something about him," Harry told Hagrid. "You might not know this, but there's a sealed door in the third-floor corridor at Hogwarts with a monster behind it! And on Halloween eve, Snape tried to get past that monster to do something, but he must have failed - his injured leg is proof!"

However, Hagrid's attention wasn't on any of this. He ignored Snape's injury and proudly said, "How could I not know? I bought three-headed Fluffy from a Greek chap I met in the pub last year - lent him to Dumbledore to guard the- wait, what am I saying?!" Halfway through, Hagrid clutched his head in dismay.

This simple giant seemed to have grown up drinking Veritaserum - he'd spill everything with just a simple question.

The information overload left both young wizards' heads spinning.

"Wait, wait, wait - three-headed Fluffy? And what's Dumbledore having it guard?"

"That's enough, stop asking!" Hagrid said roughly. "It's top secret!"

"But Snape's trying to steal it."

"Snape's a Hogwarts professor, he'd never do that!"

"Then why did he try to kill Harry? He was cursing him all afternoon!" Ron protested angrily, frustrated that Hagrid kept defending Snape.

"Impossible!" Hagrid bellowed. "I don't know what happened to Harry's broomstick, but Snape would never try to kill a student!" He was breathing heavily with anger.

Impossible! Ab-so-lutely impossible!!

"You're meddling in things that don't concern you. It's dangerous - forget about Fluffy, forget what it's guarding, this is between Professor Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel-"

Damn.

Hagrid slapped himself - why couldn't he control his mouth!