Let Dumbledore Decide

The Weasleys looked at Wade.

Wade thought for a moment. He did not mention the plot he knew, merely recounting word for word what he had overheard that day.

His memory in this life was excellent. Although more than a month had passed, there was almost no discrepancy in his recollection of the conversation.

An invisible chill seemed to creep up from the soles of their feet. The Umbrella Room fell into a long silence, and no one spoke for what felt like an age.

At last, Fred broke the silence. "I have to say—this joke isn't funny at all. Do you understand, George?"

George nodded silently, his face unusually pale.

"So..." Ryan tried to make sense of it, frowning. "Professor Quirrell isn't Professor Quirrell? No—rather, a Dark Wizard has possessed him? He wants to kill Harry Potter? Our Defense Against the Dark Arts professor... is a Death Eater?"

He looked from side to side, as if expecting someone to suddenly shout, "Got you! Hahaha!"

But no one said anything.

Ryan braced himself against the table and sat down. After a long while, he said hopefully, "Should we... go to Professor Dumbledore? All Death Eaters are afraid of him. As long as Professor Dumbledore acts, he'll definitely be able to—"

Hermione gave a slight shake of her head and said softly, "No, you don't understand, Ryan—'He stepped over my corpse and became a huge star.' Think about that sentence, Ryan. Who else would say something like that?"

The color gradually drained from the boy's face. Ryan clenched his fists, his body trembling slightly. "But... that's impossible... He's already dead, isn't he? Everyone knows he died... killed by Harry Potter..."

It was as if he had suddenly bitten his tongue. His voice cut off abruptly.

Hermione looked at him with pity. She could tell that the boy already believed it; he simply did not dare admit it.

—As though refusing to admit it would keep that man from returning.

There was nothing to mock about that, because she felt a shiver run through her as well.

Hermione, who had been born in the Muggle world, should not have felt much about Voldemort. But she had read many books before entering the Wizarding World, so she understood even better than most students from wizarding families just how many horrifying massacres the man whose name could not be spoken had once caused.

Before that man disappeared, his power had swelled to its peak. A terrifying shadow had blanketed the entire British Isles. Even Dumbledore... everyone said that the one person he feared most was Dumbledore, because the flames of war had never reached Hogwarts. Yet even Dumbledore had been unable to stop the endless deaths.

Without realizing it, Hermione had developed a deep fear of that man too. When she tried to say his name, she opened her mouth but could not bring herself to speak it directly.

As though doing so would awaken some terrifying monster.

"Volde... I mean, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named..." Hermione looked at the others and said, "If He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named really is attached to Professor Quirrell... then I think we should tell Dumbledore! Wade, why didn't you go straight to Professor Dumbledore back then?"

Wade considered it. "Perhaps because... I find it hard to believe Dumbledore knows nothing about this?"

Fred nodded. "Dumbledore must have noticed something strange about Quirrell a long time ago. I just don't know why he hasn't dealt with it."

George said gravely, "He knows everything."

"But what if?" Hermione countered. "What if Dumbledore only suspects something and is still looking for proof? Maybe he thinks Professor Quirrell merely turned to the dark side, without knowing that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is inside him! We should find Dumbledore, tell him the truth, and let him decide what to do!"

"Of course, Hermione, you're right," Ryan said. "That's exactly what we should do."

"Then why don't we act now?" Fred sprang to his feet decisively. "I saw Dumbledore in the Great Hall during dinner! He must still be at school."

Hermione had not expected him to be so decisive. She hesitated before asking, "Should we bring Harry? I mean... He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named wants to kill him... Harry should know where the danger is coming from..."

Wade thought for a moment. "Just as you said, Hermione—let Dumbledore decide."

Remembering the "test" he had mentioned, Hermione nodded silently. Her eyes were full of worry, as though she feared Harry would be killed by Voldemort before they could even reach Dumbledore.

Standing in the corridor, Wade took out a bright silver whistle and blew it.

The sharp, urgent whistle pierced the air. Before long, an owl flew over from the western Tower, spread its wings through the window, and landed precisely on Wade's outstretched arm.

"Cool!" Fred whistled.

Eva the owl cocked her head and glanced at him, hooting twice.

Wade rolled up the note he had written and let Eva take it in her beak. He instructed, "Deliver this to Professor Dumbledore, then bring his reply back to me."

Eva nodded and spread her wings, flying away. Everyone watched as she circled through the sky, then aimed for a window in a small spire and flew inside.

Biting her finger, Hermione said worriedly, "Professor Dumbledore won't dismiss our letter, will he? Maybe I should have written it in more detail, so he'd know we aren't fooling around..."

Fortunately, Dumbledore did not make them wait long—perhaps only a minute or two. Eva flew back out of that window.

The owl handed Wade the reply. Written on the parchment in a thin, looping script were the words:

"Welcome to my office. The password is Rainbow Sundae."

"Rainbow Sundae?" George muttered. "I don't think I've ever seen that dessert in the Great Hall."

Fred said, "They had it at the end-of-term feast last semester. What were you doing then? Oh, right—you secretly slipped a jar full of Cockroaches onto Montague—"

"Made him think he'd bought Cockroach Clusters himself..." George remembered the prank and grinned. "He hasn't eaten Cockroach Clusters since! Wait—you took the chance to steal my sundae?"

"How can you call it stealing?" Fred argued. "I took it openly. You just didn't see me—"

The two of them bickered and tussled all the way to the entrance of the Headmaster's Office. On the way, they happened to run into Michael returning from the Quidditch Pitch. He greeted them and naturally joined the group, and no one thought anything was strange.

An incredibly ugly stone gargoyle sat before the Headmaster's Office door. Dodging George's attack, Fred jumped to the front and said, "Rainbow Sundae!"

The gargoyle sprang aside. The wall behind it split in two, revealing a slowly rising spiral staircase. One after another, they stepped inside. With a rumble behind them, the wall closed again.

The stairs carried them higher and higher. Wade was secretly amazed—escalators were common enough in the Muggle world, of course, but this was his first time seeing such a thing in the Wizarding World.

So why did it have to resemble something from the Muggle world in this respect? Elevators should always be installed wherever the Headmaster needed them.

Just as the turning stairs began to make them dizzy, they finally saw a gleaming oak door, fitted with a brass knocker shaped like a griffin.

This was Dumbledore's office.