A Chance to Settle Things Once and For All

In fact, Boggart didn't just transform into Voldemort.

James Potter's corpse, the pleas, blocking the Killing Curse, Lily Evans falling, telling Lily to go away, the "hee hee hee" laughter, and Voldemort casting the Killing Curse were all part of the Boggart's transformation.

It was just that Basil only had the Boggart imprint a part of it – Voldemort (fake) who could cast the Killing Curse.

For this, Basil even gave up on Lily Evans, who had died casting the protective charm of love.

When he wanted to imprint only a part, he discovered it was either only a part or everything.

Lily and Voldemort were mutually exclusive.

Snape might be an option.

But he would likely only get Lily's corpse.

Moreover, the Boggart's power probably couldn't penetrate the mind of Snape, who was skilled in Legilimency.

What made Basil even more depressed was not just this.

Although almost everyone heard Harry shout Voldemort at Quirrell and then faint.

Everyone exclaimed, thinking Quirrell was the problem.

Quirrell was so scared he almost fainted.

Snape immediately pressed his wand to Quirrell's throat.

But Voldemort, on the back of Quirrell's head, remained motionless.

Dumbledore didn't apprehend him here either.

Instead, he overruled the objections, patted Quirrell's shoulder as if to comfort him, and declared the feast over.

He then had Hagrid take Harry to the hospital wing.

Why was Dumbledore so calm?

He should have roared, "Harry, Harry Potter!"

And personally carried Harry to the hospital wing!

This was bad enough, but because of this, Basil only gained 500 new Gems.

He could only dejectedly follow the crowd out of the Great Hall, led by Percy towards the Gryffindor common room.

Everyone was in a state of panic.

Fred and George didn't even have time to joke around.

Except for Ron.

Firstly, because when he saw Harry being carried to the door by Hagrid, Harry had already woken up and was struggling to get up. He was fine now.

Secondly, in his own words, "I can't see Professor Quirrell being misunderstood."

The result was that when Percy led them to the portrait of the Fat Lady on the eighth floor, said the password 'Caput Draconis,' and the portrait automatically moved aside, revealing a circular opening.

Almost all the young Gryffindor wizards knew Ron's theory about Voldemort's power resonance.

Percy, leading the way, was only focused on guiding them and dealing with Peeves, who suddenly appeared along the way.

He didn't pay attention to what Ron said at all.

He only noticed that after Ron said what he said, everyone's emotions stabilized.

He walked up to Ron and patted his shoulder, "Well done, Ron! You're a credit to your brother, the prefect!"

Basil suppressed a laugh as he walked past the bewildered Ron.

After crawling through the hole in the wall, they entered the Gryffindor common room.

He looked around the room.

Besides the first-years waiting to be taken to their dormitories and Percy, the prefect in charge of them, there was no one else in the room.

Since there were classes tomorrow and everyone was exhausted from today, the older students had all gone to their dormitories on their own.

The room looked very comfortable; it was circular, filled with plush armchairs, and a large fireplace dominated one wall.

The walls were decorated with scarlet tapestries depicting many wizards and witches, as well as many animals.

Near the exit, there was a bare wooden board.

Then, his gaze shifted to the other side of the room.

There were two doors.

Percy was leading the girls towards the door on the right.

They disappeared through the door together.

Basil was stunned, and he pulled Ron over, "Boys aren't allowed in the girls' dormitories, are they?"

He remembered Hermione explaining this when she was sharing knowledge, mentioning that the stairs to the girls' dormitories were enchanted.

If a boy walked up them, he would fall down after only a few steps.

He clearly remembered Hermione's smug declaration at the time, "According to 'Hogwarts: A History,' this is because the founders of Hogwarts found girls to be more trustworthy than boys."

Ron nodded. "That's true. The great Ravenclaw thought teenage boys were too dangerous. Percy could come because he's a prefect, and it's the first day of term. Prefects are allowed into the girls' dormitories at this time. The same goes for the Head Boy."

"I've decided!" Basil punched his fist into his palm. "I'm going to be a prefect!"

"Excellent! I knew I wasn't wrong about you!" Percy, who had led the girls to their dormitory and come down from the door on the right, said with great approval.

"Ron, you need to learn from Basil."

Then, he turned his head to the other first-years. "Everyone, follow me."

Five minutes later, Basil was lying on a four-poster bed draped with deep red velvet curtains, panting.

"Gryffindor Tower, I finally understand where the 'tower' comes from. This spiral staircase is so long. And why is our dormitory at the top of the tower!"

His earlier grand ambitions had completely vanished.

All he wanted now was to get a good night's sleep.

In the Headmaster's office, the greatest white wizard, Albus Dumbledore, sat regally in his high-backed chair.

His elbows rested on the desk, his chin supported by his clasped hands.

His piercing blue eyes, seen through half-moon spectacles, were incredibly calm, like a steadily burning fire.

Opposite him, Severus Snape paced restlessly back and forth in front of the desk.

"Dumbledore! What were you thinking?"

"McGonagall and the others might not know, but I can see it! The Dark Lord is on the back of Quirrell's head!"

"If it weren't for that boy, I would never have known!"

"Do you remember what you told me a day ago? Keep an eye on Quirrell, he's acting strangely."

"You knew he was acting strangely all along!"

"And you did nothing!"

Dumbledore blinked, saying calmly, "This is a wager between Tom and me. He knows that I know he is here. I know that he knows that I know that he is here."

Snape was furious. "A wager! Have you forgotten that you are the Headmaster of Hogwarts!"

Then, he sighed again.

He knew that he could only obey the decisions Dumbledore made.

Moreover, Dumbledore's decisions were often correct, the best ones.

This was why none of the portraits of past headmasters in the office, despite knowing what Dumbledore was doing, spoke up and pretended to be asleep.

"What is the stake?"

Dumbledore narrowed his eyes. "Quirinus Quirrell's life. And my chance to capture him once and for all."

Snape strode forward. "Can't we do it now?!"

He was incredibly agitated, and a joyous flame, as if to ignite the entire room, overflowed from his usually serene eyes.

Dumbledore shook his head. "Voldemort uses an extremely evil and insane dark magic to prolong his immortality. Quirrell's current body, besides being his hostage, is also a consumable he uses to escape this castle instantly."

"My chance to capture him is fleeting. The moment he obtains the Philosopher's Stone and injects his soul into it, forging a perfect body."

Snape took a step back. "Just capture him?"

Dumbledore said calmly, "Just capture him. Until certain conditions are met, I cannot kill him."

As the sun just peeked its head over the horizon, and the air was still filled with the morning mist, Basil woke up.

Although his body was still that of a normal eleven-year-old before the [Dragon Blood of Red Dragon] was activated, his body had been optimized in a way.

Not only were his muscles bulging, but his energy was also more abundant and easier to recover.

With only four or five hours of sleep, his body could shake off all fatigue and feel refreshed and energetic.

After a brief moment of surprise at his three plain black robes, all of which had Gryffindor house crests sewn onto them, he turned his gaze to the entire dormitory.

Like the common room, the entire dormitory was circular.

The floor was covered with scarlet carpets, and the walls were decorated with deep red fabric strips.

Against the walls stood five four-poster beds.

Their luggage was placed by the beds.

To his left was Ron, to Ron's left was Harry, to Harry's left was Neville, to Neville's left was Seamus, and to Seamus's left was him.

These five beds also formed a circle.

In the center of the circle was a large hexagonal table, complete with five high-backed chairs.

Beneath it was a red carpet embroidered with golden lions.

The room had two doors; one was the entrance, and the other led to the washroom for the five of them.

He changed his clothes and got out of bed.

Harry's bed was empty.

Last night, Harry must have spent his first night at Hogwarts in the hospital wing.

Thanks to God loves his classmates for their rewards, Min Tongluo classmates for their monthly tickets, and other classmates for their recommendations!