Quirinus Quirrell's Story (5)

In the morning, as the sun rises above the horizon and the sky begins to lighten, a new day is about to begin.

On the hill, the ancient castle has regained its vitality. Beside the Forbidden Forest, Hagrid opened the door of his hut and stepped out to begin his busy day.

The caretaker Filch, had finished inspecting the Girls' Washroom and was preparing to open the castle's oak gates.

At this moment, the sunlight cast a golden glow on the west side of the castle, shining through the window onto the wooden table beside the bed. The room's owner got out of bed and stood by the mirror, gazing at his pale face. His lips trembled slightly as Quirrell felt that his life might be coming to an end.

Voldemort once told Quirrell that if he couldn't hold on any longer, he would have to hunt unicorns in the Forbidden Forest. Fresh Unicorn Blood could prolong his life and restore Voldemort's strength.

Quirrell knew, of course, that fresh Unicorn Blood could prolong his life, but unicorns were social animals, and these creatures possessed great magical power, making them extremely difficult to deal with. Quirrell couldn't be sure whether he could successfully hunt a unicorn with his current strength.

Even if one could successfully hunt a unicorn and use its blood to prolong one's life, it would come at a terrible price.

Using fresh Unicorn Blood to prolong life would mean that Quirrell would be completely cursed by the unicorn, possessing a half-dead life.

In the History of Magic, very few wizards have done this, and the limited records do not provide Quirrell with much useful information.

Quirrell wasn't entirely sure what the cursed, half-dead life meant, but it was definitely a terrible situation, and he didn't want to end up like that.

Otherwise, even after Voldemort leaves him, Quirrell's life will still be cursed by the unicorn, which would certainly be a terrible situation.

However, the worst part isn't even that. Given the current situation, Quirrell himself might not be able to hold out until then. Voldemort has warned him more than once that he must obtain the Philosopher's Stone as soon as possible, but Quirrell can't even handle Hagrid's damn pet dog yet.

At times, Quirrell really wanted to kill the Three-Headed Dog with magic, but he held back. He had to be careful; the plan to steal the Philosopher's Stone absolutely could not fail, and he couldn't afford to attract Dumbledore's attention. He only had one chance.

When it comes to life and death, Quirrell would never tolerate failure, nor could he accept it.

As for Snape, who had already become wary of him, Quirrell couldn't be sure if Snape would go to Dumbledore to inform on him. Voldemort told him that Snape had once been a Death Eater, and as a loyal servant of Voldemort, would Dumbledore trust such a person? Although Voldemort said that Snape was his man and there was no need to worry too much about Snape going to Dumbledore to inform on him, Quirrell still had doubts.

Quirrell had considered asking Snape for help in stealing the Philosopher's Stone, but Voldemort rejected the suggestion, as the Dark Lord did not want his situation to be known by others.

After all, the fewer people who know, the more secretive and safer you are.

Quirrell naturally believed Voldemort's words, but he still thought that Voldemort didn't really trust his former servant, especially after he had become like that, and perhaps didn't want others to know!

Even Voldemort was afraid.

This amused Quirrell; perhaps Voldemort was worried that Snape would betray him if he saw him in such a disheveled state.

After all, Snape protected Harry when Quirrell murdered him, and his stance is now uncertain; he might even tell Dumbledore about Voldemort.

After all, they are wizards from Slytherin, so it's perfectly normal for them to use any means necessary to achieve their goals.

Of course, Quirrell didn't want anyone else to diminish his image in Voldemort's mind. He was gambling; if he won, he would gain everything, and if he lost, he would lose everything. Quirrell didn't think he would lose.

Although Snape had doubts about him, his presence still provided Quirrell with considerable help.

There's no way around it, Snape was just too unlikeable. He was like a giant bat flying around everywhere all day long, practically a villain.

With him there drawing everyone's attention, who would doubt the poor, stuttering Professor Quirrell? "Cheer up, you have to get the Philosopher's Stone as soon as possible," Quirrell muttered, wrapping his freshly washed Large Scarf around his head and patting his cheeks.

Lately, Quirrell has been avoiding loitering outside the Fourth Floor Forbidden Area Corridor as much as possible. He's noticed Harry Potter seems to be paying attention to the Philosopher's Stone, which he doesn't think is a good sign; the savior is far too nosy.

On Halloween Eve, Potter seemed to see himself checking the mechanism of the Philosopher's Stone. Snape also rushed to the Fourth Floor Forbidden Area. Quirrell really had a hard time figuring out who Potter saw at that time and who he suspected.

Moreover, Potter always gave him a strange smile when he met him. Did that have some special meaning? With these thoughts in mind, Quirrell went to the hall for a meal.

The morning owl finally brought him good news: the dragon egg he wanted was finally secured.

The smuggler had already obtained the dragon egg for him, and they needed to agree on a location to complete the final transaction.

Great, now we can finally deal with that Three-Headed Dog.

As Quirrell got up to write a reply to the smuggler, he suddenly felt a strange discomfort in his stomach. Quirrell's excitement vanished instantly, and his face turned pale. Could it be...?

Quirrell immediately thought of what had happened a few days ago, when several Slytherin students had inexplicably gotten stomach upsets, supposedly because Peeves had added a small amount of Ba Shu Bean to their food.

Could it be that even the professor...? Quirrell felt he might have accidentally fallen victim to Peeves's prank.

Clutching his stomach, he rushed toward the Boys' Washroom closest to the lobby, under the astonished gazes of the other professors.

Shortly after, Quirrell emerged from the toilet stall, his face even paler. He dragged his weak body to the second-floor School Hospital to seek help from Madam Pomfrey.

Quirrell only asked Madam Pomfrey for a small cup of Antidiarrheal; he dared not let Madam Pomfrey treat him, for heaven knows if the head nurse would notice anything amiss.

At the School Hospital, Quirrell saw two unfortunate souls in their hospital beds. Flint and Montague from Slytherin had been lying in the School Hospital bed for two days with severe diarrhea and were only just beginning to recover.