Meanwhile, Professor McGonagall hurriedly finished the Sorting Ceremony for the remaining freshmen.
Normally, the start-of-term feast would begin immediately after the sorting.
But after tonight's events, Dumbledore decided to have the students from each house return to their common rooms early to eat.
The crowd bustled out of the Great Hall.
"Are you certain none of the other students are under the Imperius Curse?" Dumbledore asked in a low voice, leaning toward Victor Wick as if making casual conversation.
He knew that while others couldn't detect the curse, Victor could.
Suddenly, Dumbledore felt something flat and cold pressed into his palm.
"Rest assured, I've checked everyone. No one was missed. Goodnight... Professor Dumbledore. I'll be heading back now; I still need to prepare for tomorrow's classes..." Victor said, turning to leave.
Quirrell stood in a corner, his gaze fixed on Victor's back from the depths of the shadows.
Snape had intended to follow and speak with Victor, but after glancing at Quirrell in the corner, he ultimately abandoned the idea.
A moment later, Snape turned and walked toward the hospital wing.
Shafiq... was a Slytherin, after all...
...
Victor Wick opened his office door to find Lucky waiting for him, a food tray clamped in his jaws.
"Ha! Sorry, things got a bit messy at the feast tonight. But I didn't forget your dinner!" Victor smiled, pulling a greaseproof paper bundle from his robes and placing the steak inside into Lucky's tray.
After scratching the dog's head for a while, Victor sat back in his chair and pulled out a small mirror.
Dumbledore's face was already visible in the mirror; he seemed to have been waiting for some time.
"Unless absolutely necessary, I shouldn't go to the Headmaster's office too often from now on. We'll use this two-way mirror to communicate," Victor said.
Dumbledore nodded. "Tonight's incident... was it Quirrell?"
"Yes. I noticed Shafiq was under the Imperius Curse long ago, but... Quirrell was watching me. He was waiting to see if I'd make a move... so I had to use other means to save Harry and maintain my cover," Victor explained.
"You did well tonight," Dumbledore said with a smile. "And I don't just mean saving Harry... I'm glad you considered Mr. Shafiq's situation."
Victor curled his lip. "I think Hogwarts needs a course on ethics and social conduct! You know full well how difficult things would have been for Mr. Shafiq if I hadn't spoken up tonight."
Despite being a victim, he would likely have been isolated and bullied by his peers... Victor truly felt that the mindsets of the younger generation in the British wizarding world were somewhat warped.
"That was my oversight, Victor. Schooling indeed shouldn't just focus on teaching magical knowledge; it should also teach them how to be decent human beings," Dumbledore said, sounding a bit melancholy.
Victor suspected Dumbledore was thinking of the young Tom Riddle at that moment.
"Anyway, you have the gist of the situation. I need to head out again in a bit," Victor said.
"Where are you going?"
"I'm going to meet with Quirrell... or rather, have a long-overdue reunion with the Dark Lord on the back of his head," Victor said calmly.
Dumbledore hummed thoughtfully for a moment before saying, "Be careful. Always remember, your safety is paramount, even if your cover is blown..."
"I know." Victor shook the bottle of Felix Felicis in front of the mirror. "I'll go fully prepared."
...
"Ugh... aaaah..."
Quirrell cowered in agony on his office floor. "Master! Please, have mercy!"
"Fool! Useless wretch! You couldn't even manage to control a single student!" a cruel, cold voice hissed inside Quirrell's head.
Clearly, Voldemort was aware of what had happened and was cruelly torturing Quirrell as punishment.
If this waste of space hadn't botched it at the last second, Harry Potter would be dead by now!
"I... I truly don't know how that student broke my control..." Quirrell sobbed.
"You underestimated the boy's status in the wizarding world! Everyone believes he is the one who defeated me! Any student would feel an immense internal resistance to killing such a person! You should have anticipated this and strengthened your hold with the Imperius Curse!"
As soon as the words fell, Quirrell began writhing on the floor in agony again...
A moment later, Quirrell lay huddled weakly on the ground, drenched in sweat like a fish out of water.
"Master... at least... this proves Victor Wick hasn't betrayed you..."
Quirrell pointed out this one piece of good news to Voldemort, hoping to avoid further punishment.
"Oh? Is that what you think?" Voldemort's voice echoed in his mind again. "Though... at the very least, he didn't choose to save Potter directly! Nor did he sell you out to Dumbledore."
"Then... should I find an opportunity to meet him?" Quirrell gasped.
"No... there's no need for you to seek him out... he will come to you. And perhaps as early as tonight... Quirrell, he must have realized I am with you."
Just then, there was a knock on Quirrell's office door.
Quirrell started, but he scrambled to his feet nonetheless. Trembling, he drew his wand and cleared the sweat from his body and the floor.
Weakly, Quirrell opened the door.
A cold-faced Victor Wick stood outside!
Quirrell's heart skipped a beat—Victor had actually come!
"Pr-Professor Wick, what brings you here?" Quirrell asked timidly.
"Enough... drop the act." Victor walked in, and with a flick of his hand, the door behind him swung shut and locked.
"What... what do you want with me..." Quirrell's eyes darted nervously.
"I'm not here for you," Victor said coldly.
Victor's gaze sent a shiver down Quirrell's spine; this was a far cry from the gentle image he had maintained in the Great Hall!
"Let me speak to him..." a raspy voice suddenly commanded.
Following the sound, Victor's eyes immediately locked onto the purple turban on Quirrell's head.
Quirrell nodded, turned slowly, and began to unwrap the turban...
On the back of Quirrell's bald head, there was a face!
It was a chalk-white face with thin, glowing red eyes.
There were no nostrils, only two thin slits like a snake's.
And the mouth was completely lipless...
It looked exactly like the face of a venomous serpent!
The face was pressed flat against Quirrell's skull, looking eerie and grotesque.
"Long time no see, Logic!"
At the mention of the name 'Logic,' Victor's hand, hidden beneath his robes, involuntarily clenched into a fist...
This was the name Voldemort had used exclusively for him back then...
Because Victor had always tried to explain magic through logical thinking, Voldemort had mockingly dubbed him 'Logic.'
Of course, aside from Voldemort, no one else would have dared call the ruthless Victor by such a name...
"It has been a long time... though your current state is quite surprising," Victor said calmly.
Quirrell was shocked. How did Victor dare speak to the Master like that? A true Death Eater should be on his knees by now, welcoming his master's return!
Yet Voldemort didn't seem to mind Victor's lack of deference; he appeared quite used to it.
"Do you think I am too weak now to fulfill our bargain?" Voldemort asked coldly.
"I only wish to know if you can truly be resurrected, and if your state can be restored to what it once was," Victor said, frowning.
"Naturally! With the Philosopher's Stone, I shall be reborn! My power will far exceed what it was before! Though I am curious about your secrets... my understanding of immortality is far beyond your imagination!"
"Excellent! In that case, our deal stands." A flicker of joy appeared on Victor's face. "I've spent far too long by Dumbledore's side these past few years. I'm sick to death of that hypocritical old man, and even sicker of pretending to be as sanctimonious as he is!"
"Heh... Dumbledore, that old fossil, is exactly like that! Hypocritical, a fake saint... I saw through his true nature years ago!"
Victor's assessment of Dumbledore resonated deeply with Voldemort.
Quirrell was speechless with shock. The relationship between Victor and Voldemort was clearly not what anyone would have imagined.
And... what was this 'bargain' they were talking about?
"I already know where the Philosopher's Stone is hidden, but... Dumbledore's method of concealing it is peculiar. Obtaining it smoothly will require a certain approach... I need the boy, which is why he absolutely cannot die!" Victor said calmly.
"Is that why you prevented the boy from being killed tonight?" Voldemort asked.
"Yes..." Victor replied.
Voldemort was certainly different from a piece of trash like Quirrell; he had easily spotted the flaw in Victor's performance tonight...
At that moment, none of the professors could have reached him in time! Had Victor hesitated for even a single second, Harry would be dead!
But Victor had saved Harry with impeccable timing.
This was why Voldemort had found Quirrell's comment about Victor's loyalty so laughable.
But now, Victor was plugging that hole.
To Voldemort, Victor's actions tonight not only preserved the useful boy but also bolstered Dumbledore's trust in him once more!
"Must it be the boy?"
"Yes, the boy is irreplaceable!" Victor took a deep breath. "Dumbledore hid the Stone inside a peculiar mirror. He boasted to me that only someone who wants to find the Stone, but not use it, would be able to get it out. You should know what that implies."
Voldemort went silent. He knew exactly what that meant...
Whether it was Quirrell or Victor, even if they didn't intend to use the Stone for themselves but rather present it to him, that still counted as 'using' it!
This meant that no one in this office tonight met the criteria to obtain the Stone!
As for trying to break the mirror by force... that was surely out of the question. If Dumbledore dared to put the Stone in there, he wouldn't be afraid of someone trying to smash it!
"That is indeed the old fossil's style! So... what do you plan to do?" Voldemort asked slowly after a long silence.
"After tonight, the boy holds me in high regard... I only need to give him a little guidance, and he will retrieve the Stone for us. Then, we take it from him. At that point, you can do whatever you wish with him." A sinister smile played on Victor's lips. "As you know, the boy holds a special place in Dumbledore's heart, so he is the only one who can do this without raising suspicion!"
"Hehehe... See that, Quirrell? That is Logic! That is how things get done!"
[Support the story with Reviews, Power Stones, and Comments—they mean a lot and keep me going! 30+ chapters waiting on patreon.com/elite_reads]