Gemini did not know whether Moaning Myrtle could keep Quirrell occupied, but it did not matter. He happened to run into Peeves, who was wandering around the castle.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Peeves."
With a gentle smile on his face, Gemini greeted Peeves.
"Oh~ Gemini~ Gemini~ severing left from right~"
"That sounds like quite a catchy rhyme." Gemini smiled. "May you be this happy every day."
"Ha~ Of course I'm happy~ I'm happy every day! Bleh bleh bleh~" Peeves spun several circles in midair and stuck his tongue out at Gemini.
"Come to think of it, I just thought of something rather interesting." Gemini raised one finger with a smile. "As the king of pranks at Hogwarts, Mr. Peeves, you must know plenty of interesting secrets, right?"
"Oh—crafty little Fox." Peeves's black eyes fixed directly on Gemini. "Trying to worm information out of me, are you? Even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you!"
"You misunderstand. I'm not trying to pry anything out of you." Gemini spread his hands. "I merely made a bet with the Weasley twins. They said Professor Quirrell has male-pattern baldness under his turban, while I guessed he's completely bald. Do you know what's beneath it?"
Peeves froze at once, hovering in midair at a loss.
"Looks like even you don't know..." Gemini sighed. "Forget it. They've already gone to investigate anyway. When it comes to pranks, those two really are more professional..."
"No, they're not!" Peeves shrieked as if he had suffered some tremendous insult. "Just you wait! I'll show you who the true king of pranks is! And besides, I bet his turban is covering nothing but pus-filled sores!"
Whoosh—
In the blink of an eye, Peeves vanished around the end of the corridor.
With weeping Moaning Myrtle and prank-loving Peeves together, Gemini figured Quirrell would have a headache for a while.
After some time, Gemini finally learned Hermione's whereabouts from Parvati.
Knock, knock, knock...
A knocking sound rang out.
"Hermione, are you in there?"
With a bang, the stall door before him opened. Hermione stood there with red-rimmed eyes, staring at Gemini in shock.
"Gemini? What are you doing here? This is the girls' bathroom!"
"I know." Gemini nodded gently. "But it's fine. When I came in, all the girls screamed and ran out, so I won't disturb anyone."
Hermione's mouth fell open. "There must be something seriously wrong with the way your mind works!"
"I'm joking. There was no one else when I came in. The feast is about to start, so everyone should be in the Great Hall by now."
Gemini waved with a smile, and only then did Hermione let out a breath of relief. She certainly did not want the owner of that handsome face to be a pervert.
"You... you go ahead. I'm not very hungry yet." Hermione seemed to recall something upsetting, and her gaze dimmed.
"Not very hungry?" Gemini glanced into the stall behind Hermione. "Are you full?"
"Of course not!" Hermione flushed with anger. "Just as I thought! There really is something wrong with your head! Oh, honestly... this is the girls' bathroom! It's a toilet!"
"Fine." Gemini shrugged. "I thought the food in the Great Hall didn't suit your taste and that you wanted to eat something more exotic."
The moment he finished speaking, a small hand pinched his waist, making him suck in a breath.
Hermione kept a straight face and glared at Gemini indignantly. A few seconds later, she burst out laughing.
"Looks like you're feeling much better." Gemini smiled. "Let's go eat. I hope those two idiots, Crabbe and Goyle, haven't touched my roast potatoes."
"You like roast potatoes?" Hermione asked, studying Gemini's profile intently.
"That's right." Gemini smiled as he pushed open the girls' bathroom door. "The aroma of baked potatoes, that soft, fluffy texture, and you can season them however you like with salt and pepper or black pepper... Mm... as a staple food, they're simply perfect—blegh!!"
Before he could finish, a wave of overpowering stench rushed into his nostrils, and Gemini grabbed the door as he began retching.
It smelled like filthy socks mixed with a toilet that had not been scrubbed in who knew how long. The odor was so vicious that it brought tears to Gemini's eyes and nearly blew the top off his head.
Thud, thud, thud...
Heavy footsteps sounded from the end of the corridor. Gemini stared in shock at the shadow cast by moonlight around the corner.
Trolls...
Two of them!
"What is going on?" Gemini asked in astonishment, pinching his nose.
Hermione beside him had clearly smelled the stench too and was rolling her eyes in disgust.
"FACE!!!!!"
A scream echoed through the corridor as Peeves flew frantically past Gemini. "There's a face on the back of Quirrell's head! Ah—scared the ghost out of me!!!!!"
Gemini's mouth fell open, his face full of disbelief. "No way..."
Peeves had taken off Quirrell's turban!
At that thought, Gemini was completely dumbfounded.
What the hell, was it really this careless?
Gemini also understood what the two trolls in the corridor were about. Quirrell had obviously realized that his secret was exposed and immediately unleashed the trolls, hoping to catch everyone off guard and take the Philosopher's Stone while he had the chance.
Fortunately, he probably still did not know how to get past that Three-Headed Dog...
"Grrr..."
Low, rumbling breaths came from the other side of the corridor. Gemini stiffly turned his head and met three pairs of glossy black eyes.
What a magnificent Three-Headed Dog from hell~
Gemini's face darkened.
He had only wanted Peeves to hold Quirrell up for a while. He had not expected the ghost to be so capable that he would directly rip off Quirrell's turban.
Didn't the turban have any magical protection on it? How had it been exposed so easily?
In truth, Quirrell had not expected this either. Who the hell just walked up and tore someone else's turban off for no reason?
Even the most cowardly professor was still a professor. At Hogwarts, professors carried considerable authority. Even Peeves, who feared nothing and no one, gave professors a measure of respect. He never went into classrooms to cause trouble while students were having lessons.
However, while Peeves gave professors a measure of respect, that did not mean he would not prank them—for example, by taking off their turbans...
Neither Quirrell nor Gemini had considered that.
Gemini could clearly see that Quirrell had probably decided to go all in. His actions had changed from stealing the Philosopher's Stone to seizing it outright. Though the goal was the same, the process was completely different.
Under normal circumstances, Quirrell's plan should have been to steal the Philosopher's Stone without drawing Dumbledore's attention as much as possible.
But after Peeves suddenly pulled this stunt and exposed Voldemort on the back of his head, Quirrell could only go all in and seize the Philosopher's Stone by force.
Still, this was not entirely disadvantageous for Quirrell. He could now lure away the Three-Headed Dog that had previously left him helpless.
That thick-skinned Three-Headed Dog possessed spell resistance comparable to a dragon's, leaving Quirrell with no way to deal with it. Luring it away would also cause a disturbance, and Dumbledore would notice him immediately.
But now he did not need to worry—he had been completely exposed.
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