The Villain Died from Talking Too Much

Harry lowered his voice. "Great, we don't have to fight the Troll." He carefully stepped over the Troll's legs.

Muya moved the Troll's body aside. "Let's go." She tugged Hermione along.

Harry opened the next door. Inside was only a table, with seven differently shaped bottles arranged on it.

"Oh, it's Professor Snape's potion," Muya said.

"How are we supposed to get through this?" Ron imagined all sorts of terrible traps Snape might have devised.

Muya and Harry walked ahead. The moment they crossed the threshold, purple flames suddenly rose behind them. Hermione quickly let go of Muya's hand, leaving her and Ron behind.

The exit ahead was also sealed by black flames, trapping Harry and Muya between the two walls of fire.

"Muya, are you all right?!" Hermione shouted into the room.

"I'm fine, Hermione." Muya had been startled by the sudden commotion too.

"Muya, where are you?" Harry reached around, but he could not find her hand.

Muya caught Harry's wandering hand. "Harry, look at the table."

Harry picked up the parchment beside the bottles and quickly finished reading what was written on it.

Hermione looked excited after hearing it, while Ron looked confused. Harry and Muya were clearly just as lost.

"None of you understood?" Harry shook his head while holding the parchment. Muya was shaking her head too.

They had reached Hermione's area of expertise. "This isn't magic. It's logic, a riddle. Many of the greatest wizards have no talent for logical reasoning at all, so they would be trapped here forever."

Harry asked, "Then what about us? Can't we get out either?"

Hermione smiled confidently. "Of course we can. Based on what the parchment says, I can figure it out. Of the seven bottles, three contain poison, two contain wine, one lets us pass through the black flames, and one lets us pass through the purple flames."

"But which one should we drink now?"

"Harry, can you read it again?"

Harry read it again, and Hermione spoke once more. "Muya, describe the seven bottles on the table for me."

"Okay."

Half a minute later, Hermione clapped happily. "The smallest bottle will let you pass through the black flames, and the bottle on the far right will let you pass through the purple flames."

Then she added, "You two go in. Ron and I will go to the Owlery and send a letter to Headmaster Dumbledore."

"Okay," Harry and Muya replied.

The smallest bottle was two-thirds full. Muya had Harry drink first.

After Harry finished, he rubbed the mouth of the bottle with red ears and handed it to Muya. She took it and drank without hesitation.

"I'm a little nervous," Muya said. After all, they might be about to face that person called Voldemort.

Harry patted Muya's hand. "Actually, I'm a little..."

Before Harry could finish, he felt a pull as Muya dragged him into the black flames.

Upon entering the final room, Harry was about to say something when he noticed someone else inside. It was neither Voldemort nor Snape, whom he had suspected all along.

It was Quirrell, wrapped in his turban.

Harry was surprised, but it was still within their expectations.

Muya's invisibility was about to wear off.

Quirrell looked at Harry and smiled. Calmly, he rattled off, "I was just wondering whether I would meet you here, Potter."

Harry frowned. "I thought it would be Snape."

"Snape?" Quirrell suddenly burst out laughing, the sound painfully shrill in the room.

"Yes, Snape certainly doesn't look like a good person, does he?"

"He flies around like some giant bat, which has been very helpful to us. With him around, who would suspect poor, st-st-stuttering Professor Quirrell?" He looked extremely smug.

"Fortunately, Muya's suspicion of you made us start watching you."

"Oh, Muya. As a Hufflepuff, she really is a clever child. During the last Quidditch match, she even disrupted my curse on your broom and let Snape successfully break it!" he roared angrily.

Muya scratched her head. She had not actually begun to suspect Quirrell back then; she had merely stumbled into it by accident.

"That was also why Snape officiated the final match afterward: to stop me from attacking you again."

"It's just that the other teachers and students all thought he wanted to stop Gryffindor from winning. No matter what, I'll kill you tonight!" The moment he raised his wand, he was bound in place.

"What?!" Panic-stricken, he lost his footing and fell to the ground.

Beside Harry, Muya's figure slowly appeared. "Why do you talk so much, Professor?"

The villain died from talking too much. It really was true.

After hearing what Quirrell had said, Harry realized that he had misunderstood Snape all along.

"What should we do with him, Harry?" Muya boldly kicked Quirrell's turban. To her surprise, an unfamiliar voice instantly emerged.

"Quirrell, you useless fool!"

"Master, I'm terribly sorry. I was careless and failed to notice there was another one." Quirrell began to tremble. He was terrified of the person he called Master.

Harry pulled away Quirrell's turban and saw a shocking sight. A face had grown on the back of Quirrell's head. It was chalk-white, with glowing red eyes and two long, thin, snake-like nostrils beneath them.

"Harry Potter." His voice was like a demon's whisper, and Harry's feet seemed glued to the floor.

Suddenly, Quirrell's hand grabbed Harry's leg. A piercing pain shot through his scar. He grabbed Quirrell's hand, but soon let go, and the pain in his scar vanished.

"Stupefy." Muya put Quirrell to sleep.

Harry saw the wounds on Quirrell's hand caused by touching him and immediately pressed both hands against Quirrell's body. "Ah! Harry Potter!" The scream stopped, leaving only a pile of ash behind.

"Muya, Harry!" It was Dumbledore's voice. He had returned early, and he seemed somewhat surprised by the pile of ash on the ground.

Muya wiped the sweat from her face, looking speechless. "Old Mischief-Maker, you finally came back. Harry and I were almost killed by Quirrell." She exaggerated.

"Headmaster Dumbledore." Harry stood up and stared blankly at Dumbledore.

"Oh, Harry, I'll explain it to you later." Dumbledore rubbed Muya's head, then walked over to the magic mirror that Harry and Muya had been ignoring all along and reached inside to take out the Sorcerer's Stone.

"So that's where it was." Harry suddenly understood.

"Yes, that person was even weaker than I imagined." After saying that, Dumbledore led the two of them upstairs.