A Certain Scientific Harry Potter 48

"Roar..."

Behind him and Hermione, the scarred, blood-stained Dragon Norbert was crawling toward the two of them step by step...

A roar filled with a hint of ferocity kept erupting from its throat, and the thick killing intent within its scarlet slit pupils had yet to dissipate!

"It's okay." Harry's voice was soft, as if he hadn't noticed the threat at all. "I trust Norbert; it'll be fine!"

Facing the approaching Dragon, Harry proactively reached out his hand.

The Voice of Magic would not lie; Norbert was merely excited from its first battle, and this was absolutely not an eruption of wild, unrecognizable savagery!

It was definitely not the irrational creature most people assumed it to be; it possessed its own emotions just like anyone else!

Harry had always believed that as long as one treated it with heart, Norbert would absolutely be his best partner, and one that would never betray him!

"Woo..." Finally, the Norwegian Ridgeback nudged Harry's palm with its snout, letting out a soft, slightly aggrieved whimper.

After the excitement of defeating the enemy gradually cooled, the pain from the severe wounds inflicted by the Troll followed, and so, little Norbert instinctively wanted to complain and act spoiled toward its 'guardian', Harry.

"Yes, yes, you've really worked hard this time. I'll treat you right away!" Seeing this, Harry hurriedly offered soft praise while immediately using the ointment he had prepared in advance to treat its wounds.

"Reducio." After simply dressing Norbert's wounds, Harry knew it likely couldn't continue to accompany him through the trials, so he could only let it rest for now.

However, this time, Harry placed Norbert into Hermione's pocket.

There were some things that needed to be prepared starting now...

"It was really all thanks to Norbert just now."

Hermione, meanwhile, was beginning to feel that Harry's decision to raise a dragon was absolutely the right one~

"Let's go, let's see what difficult trials Snape has set up!"

After a brief rest, Harry took Hermione's hand, and together they walked into the final room before facing Voldemort!

The last room contained nothing terrifying, only a simple table with seven strangely shaped bottles placed upon it.

"We can't go back!" Hermione looked back, only to find that the wooden door behind them had been engulfed by a wall of purple flames.

At the same time, the door in front of them that led out of the room had been replaced by another set of black flames.

"So the final trial is actually a puzzle; we have to choose the correct potion from the seven bottles. Should I say as expected of Snape? Even the trial design is this clever~"

While buttering up Snape, Harry looked at the parchment on the table, which recorded the clues to clearing the trial.

Hmm, it really 'just happened' to align with the warning Quirrell gave him during the day... be careful of the potions~

(p.s. Since the potion clues are from the original text, they are posted below and do not count toward the word count of the main text. Additionally, an image of the potion trial is attached; those interested can try to deduce it themselves. The specific reasoning process and the answer will be revealed in the next chapter~)

'Danger lies before you, safety lies behind, two of us will help you.

Drink them, one leads you forward, the other sends you back to where you came from.

Two contain Nettle Wine, three are killers, waiting in line, choose, unless you wish to stay here forever.

We also provide four clues to help you choose:

First, no matter how cunningly the poison hides, it actually stands to the left of the Nettle Wine;

Second, the contents of the bottles at the two ends are different; if you want to move forward, neither will be of use to you;

Third, you will find the bottles are of unequal size; there is no Death hidden among the giant and the dwarf;

Fourth, the second on the left and the second on the right, though different in appearance, taste the same.

That is all~'

Chapter 90: Life and Death Together Is Not Just Talk

For Harry, the puzzle left by Snape was actually not hard to crack.

Stripping away the unnecessary rhetoric, the meaning on the parchment was, plainly put, that among these seven bottles, there were two bottles of wine, three bottles of poison, one Forward Potion to move ahead, and one Return Potion to go back.

If you numbered the seven bottles from left to right, you could actually determine it immediately: the No. 1 bottle on the far left was definitely not wine, and the No. 7 bottle on the far right was definitely not poison.

Because the first clue stated that the poison was to the left of the wine, the wine certainly couldn't be on the far left; by the same logic, the poison couldn't be on the far right.

And according to the second clue, the No. 1 and No. 7 bottles on the ends were not the Forward Potion, so the situation for the No. 1 bottle was poison/Return Potion, and the situation for the No. 7 bottle was wine/Return Potion.

Following the third clue, the giant was the largest No. 6 bottle, and the dwarf was the smallest No. 3 bottle; neither contained poison, so the possibilities for them were Forward Potion/Return Potion/wine.

But then the fourth clue stated that the No. 2 bottle and the No. 6 bottle contained the same thing. Due to the uniqueness of the Forward/Return Potions, these two bottles could only be wine!

And once this point was confirmed, it could be deduced that No. 1 was necessarily poison, and the No. 7 on the far right, being neither poison nor wine, could only be the Return Potion!

So finally, when the positions of the Return Potion and the wine were all determined, the potion to move forward could only be in the smallest No. 3 bottle!

Very good, this way, Hermione's safety could also be guaranteed...

However, just as Harry was about to reach for the smallest potion bottle, Hermione suddenly beat him to it, grabbing both the No. 3 bottle containing the Forward Potion and the No. 7 bottle containing the Return Potion at the same time!

"It's these two bottles, right, Harry~" Hermione shook the bottles in her hands at Harry, a hint of small triumph appearing on her face.

"I didn't expect to be beaten to it by you this time..."

Harry gave a helpless, wry smile. The female top student was indeed a female top student; while her magical prowess had improved, her brain hadn't fallen behind at all~

"No... actually, we analyzed it almost at the same time." Hermione shook her head, the smile on her face gradually fading. "It's just that you consider more things than I do... when I was analyzing which two bottles were the potions, you were already considering how to send me back!"

Crash!

As she spoke, Hermione slammed the round bottle containing the Return Potion onto the floor, and the liquid inside spilled everywhere.

"Hermione... I'm sorry."

In this situation, all Harry could do was apologize.

The reason he had brought Hermione all the way here was that he knew it would be useless to leave her behind; she would have found every possible way to follow him anyway.

But knowing full well that Voldemort had already set his heart on killing him, how could he possibly bring Hermione along to risk her life?

"Harry, do you remember what we said to the Mirror of Erised back in the Room of Requirement?"

Hermione looked at Harry earnestly, yet she only uttered one simple word...

"Us."

Yes, they had both seen each other in the mirror and had made a pact: "It was us when we left, and it will be us when we return." But...

Living and dying together is easy to say, but how could it be easy to do?

"Hermione... before you act on impulse, can you look at the bottle in your hand?" Concerned for her safety, Harry refused to back down. "There is only one mouthful of potion in there. It's destined that only one of us can continue forward! Besides, this is ultimately between me and Voldemort; I don't want to drag you into this! So... be a good girl, give me the bottle and your wand, and wait here safely!!"

"You've already dragged me into it whether you wanted to or not! Besides, you're my younger brother, so your business is my business!" Hermione shook her head stubbornly, refusing to listen to a word of Harry's persuasion. "Furthermore... how do you know this potion works by dosage?!"

Suddenly tilting her head back, Hermione poured the only remaining mouthful of the Forward Potion into her mouth, not leaving a single drop!

"Hermione? You..."

Harry was stunned at the sight, but the girl across from him strode toward him, locked his face in her hands before he could react, and slammed her lips against his!

"Mmph~" As their lips met, Harry's eyes widened in disbelief!

The first thing he felt was pain; Hermione's movement had been so urgent that her front teeth had collided with his lips, and both of them were likely in pain now.

But immediately after, the soft sensation of her lips and the icy chill flowing into his mouth quickly occupied his senses, leaving him with a complex mix of emotions.

Hermione... she was willing to go to such lengths just to face the final enemy with him?!

So what else did he have to hesitate about!!

Thinking this, Harry reached out to wrap his arms around Hermione's waist, pulling her tightly into his embrace as they both stepped into the black flames ahead!

The leaping flames scorched their bodies at close range, but Harry and Hermione had no time to care. They only wanted to hold each other tightly and face the final enemy together...

And then, go home together!

They finally arrived at the last room, where they saw the first boss who had arrived long ago: Quirrell-Voldemort!

"Oh, you actually managed to make it through, Harley Potter!"

Seeing the two of them emerge from the flames, Quirrell laughed. He no longer stuttered, and his face no longer twitched like before... though he still lacked front teeth~

However, Quirrell's performance was merely a facade, as Harry didn't reply at all, just staring at him coldly.

What a joke. You're calling for Harry Potter; what does that have to do with me, Harry Granger?

Instead of wasting time chatting with you, I might as well secretly pull some items out of my Space Ring to use on you later.

"It seems you do have some skill, not becoming a snack for that Troll." Seeing Harry remain silent, Quirrell continued his posturing. "But what surprises me is that you were foolish enough to bring this Mudblood witch along with you?!"

However, this time, Harry did not ignore him.

"You're a dead man."

Harry's tone was flat, and he looked at Quirrell as if he were looking at a corpse.

Although the two were destined to fight to the death, now, Quirrell-Voldemort had one more reason to die!

"Dead... heh, who among us isn't a dead man?!" Quirrell suddenly shrieked. "When I discovered the Sorcerer's Stone wasn't at Hogwarts, I knew... as a servant to my master, I wouldn't survive this!!"

He cursed Dumbledore bitterly while throwing a cloth bundle from his robes onto the floor.

"It was this thing when I opened the vault, and after breaking through layer after layer of defenses, it was still this thing! You should really take a good look, Harley Potter! Look at what kind of dirty tricks Albus Dumbledore, that so-called greatest wizard, used to humiliate me and my master!!"

Something that looked like a wool sock rolled out of the bag, and at the same time, Harry caught a glimpse of a fiery, bright red at the opening of the bundle!

(p.s. It's actually faster to deduce the potion logic by looking at the fourth clue backward; I just wanted to make it clear~)

Chapter 91: The Wit of Eagle House is Inherited

Inside the bag was a Phoenix Feather. Judging by the Voice of Magic, it likely came from the same phoenix as the core of his Holly Wand—the one belonging to Dumbledore.

So, Quirrell had been so certain the Sorcerer's Stone was in Dumbledore's hands because he had seen this at Gringotts!

As for the wool sock, Harry had no idea what it represented.

"Hmph... Hahaha!"

Suddenly, Quirrell let out a series of maniacal laughs.

"But... Dumbledore miscalculated after all!" Quirrell roared viciously. "Did he really think he could fool my great master with a non-existent Sorcerer's Stone? He thought that by being mysterious, he could prevent you, the Boy Who Lived, from being killed by me immediately; he thought I would be as stupid as he expected and demand the location of the Sorcerer's Stone after you chased me here! But the truth is... your only fate today is death!!"

Quirrell grinned triumphantly, his hands raised high as if everything were under his control.

Harry understood why he was so smug. If it had followed the original story, Voldemort would have needed to interrogate him for the location of the Sorcerer's Stone, so he certainly wouldn't have attacked immediately.

But now, there was no Sorcerer's Stone, so the only reason Voldemort had summoned him was to kill him!

However...

Did this guy really think he had already won just because he dared to reveal so many openings?

Harry's hand, hidden within his robe sleeve, clenched abruptly; he was already prepared to launch a sudden sneak attack!

"A sneak attack... a foolish thought, though it is certainly a courage worthy of admiration."

Yet at that very moment, a hoarse voice suddenly emanated from Quirrell, causing all three people present to freeze in place.

Harry's expression tightened, knowing that Voldemort was about to take the field himself!

"M-Master?" Quirrell's expression suddenly turned incredibly panicked. "Your strength has not yet recovered; wouldn't it be better to let me..."

"Enough!!" A roar cut off Quirrell's words. "Stop showing off your self-righteous little cleverness! Do as I say, quickly!!"

"No... Master, don't! Harry... run! Vol... ahhhhhhh!!"

Quirrell tore off his turban, clutching his head with both hands as he wailed in agony, even rolling desperately on the ground as if he were enduring some kind of unbearable torture.

Very quickly, the screaming and struggling ceased, and Quirrell stood up once more, his back turned to Harry.