Neville now believes that Snape has solid evidence, otherwise he wouldn't have waited here in the middle of the night pointing his wand at him.
Quirrell kept nodding, his submissive attitude was noticeably unusual.
Neville quickly pieced together a picture in his mind: Snape discovered Quirrell's suspicious movements, cornered him when he returned injured, and interrogated him with his wand, forcing Quirrell to admit his mistake, leaving Quirrell with no choice but to bow his head and confess.
After talking for about two minutes, Snape put away his wand and turned to leave.
Quirrell stood in the corridor for a while, touched the wound on his arm, and then dragged his feet in another direction.
Only after the two men's footsteps had completely disappeared did Neville dare to peek out from behind the stone pillar, letting out a long breath. " Professor Snape must have noticed Professor Quirrell's unusual behavior," he said in a low voice, "Otherwise he wouldn't have come out to ambush him in the middle of the night."
Hugo pushed up her sunglasses and lifted the lenses a crack. "So it seems Professor Quirrell went to that place again tonight, and he was injured. What's hidden behind that door? A precious spellbook, or a super powerful magical artifact?"
Ron squatted down beside him, straightening his askew sunglasses. "Let's not talk about that now. Professor Snape already reprimanded Quirrell, and he admitted his mistake. So, shall we still go see it?"
Neville paused for two seconds. "Go! What if he's faking it, pretending to apologize but actually plotting something?"
Hugo added from the side, "Indeed, Professor Quirrell is no ordinary person to have snatched the Dark Magic Defence Class position from Professor Snape; he certainly wouldn't give it up so easily."
The three of them continued walking along the corridor, crouching low.
When they reached the wooden door from the previous night, Hugo took out her wand, pointed Alohomora!" The lock clicked softly, and the door opened.
The three people crowded at the doorway and peered inside, then froze in surprise.
A large dog with three heads was curled up asleep in the corner, its three heads close together, emitting a deep, even snoring sound.
But that wasn't the main reason why the three were stunned.
The main reason was because there was another person standing next to him. The dark blue robe was almost indistinguishable in the dim light, but the profile was clearly visible in the faint light coming through the crack in the door.
Professor Malin was crouching in front of the three-headed dog, gently parting the fur on the neck of one of its heads with her wand to reveal a wound that had not yet fully healed, before taking out a bottle of green Potions from her sleeve.
The medicine bottle hovered and tilted, a drop of emerald green liquid fell onto the surface of the wound, and the red crack began to close and heal at a speed visible to the naked eye. The fur at the edges also stretched out again, and in less than a few seconds, it was impossible to tell that there had ever been an injury there.
The whole process was smooth and quiet, without even the Cerberus's snoring being interrupted.
Marlene straightened up, tucked the medicine bottle into her sleeve, then slowly turned around, her gaze passing over the three people in the doorway, and slightly raised an eyebrow. " Neville, what are you doing here?"
Neville stood in the doorway, his sunglasses askew, his shoe covers dusty, and the collar of his school uniform turned up halfway, looking like a wildcat caught red-handed.
He opened his mouth, but found he couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation right away, so he could only ask dryly, "Professor, do you know me?"
Marlene's tone was as calm as if stating something everyone already knew. " Son of the Champion, who doesn't know you? Dumbledore even told me to keep an eye on you, but my classes aren't open to first-years, so I haven't had the chance to meet you in person—but this is a good opportunity. Truly worthy of being the Son of the Champion of Gryffindor."
Neville was visibly uncomfortable when he heard the words " Son of the Champion," and being mentioned in the same breath as Gryffindor made him feel that Professor Malin's praise had ulterior motives.
He opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say.
Fortunately, Marlene didn't seem interested in hearing his reply, "However, the Son of the Champion shouldn't be here at this time. There's no need for self-introduction today."
Neville was about to explain when Marlene raised her hand to stop him. Her gaze swept over the three men's dusty shoe covers and dark sunglasses. Her tone didn't rise, but the oppressive aura she exuded was enough to silence all three of them simultaneously.
"I understand that students are curious, but sometimes you have to consider whether your own abilities are sufficient to support your risks."
She pointed to the sleeping three-headed dog in the corner, "Luckily it's asleep, otherwise, given its condition tonight, you guys would probably be its dinner."
Neville quickly apologized, "I'm sorry, Professor, we—"
Marlene interrupted him, "I won't deduct any points from you, and I'm not interested in why you're here."
She tucked her wand back into her belt. "It's time to go back. Hogwarts Castle hasn't been quiet at night lately."
Neville hesitated for a moment before speaking, "But I suspect Professor Quirrell wants to get in here; he seemed to have been bitten by a dog just now."
Marlene glanced at him, her tone remaining calm. " Professor Quirrell certainly has the right to come in; he's a professor. Let's go."
After she finished speaking, she took the lead and walked out, her steps slow but leaving no room for discussion. Neville and Hugo exchanged a glance, then looked at the sleeping three-headed dog behind them and the Trapdoor on the ground, and finally followed.
Along the way, Neville tried to bring up Quirrell several times, but each time he was stopped by Marlene with casual remarks like "Professors have their own plans" and "Students should trust the school." Her words were polite but cold, and it was clear that she didn't want to spend any more time on the topic.
The three were taken directly back to the Gryffindor Common Room.
The lounge remained empty, and the embers in the fireplace grew even dimmer.
Neville sat in an armchair, Hugo sat on the edge of the sofa next to him, and Ron curled up in another chair with his knees drawn up to his chest.
After a few seconds of silence, Ron spoke first, "I feel like I made a wasted trip tonight."
Neville shook his head. "It wasn't a wasted trip. At least we saw Quirrell was injured. He must have been trying to go through that door and got bitten by the dog."
Hugo suddenly straightened up and pushed up her sunglasses. "Did you notice? There's a Trapdoor on the ground next to the dog."
Neville paused, trying to recall what he'd seen when he entered, "There seemed to be a square gap..."
Hugo chimed in, "There should be another floor below; that's probably where Quirrell really wants to go."
Neville was silent for a moment, then said, "It seems I need to figure out what Quirrell really wants first. Otherwise, even if we tell the professor, no one will believe us."
He recalled the whole evening's events, " Professor Snape was probably fooled by Quirrell's apologetic attitude. Professor Malin simply wouldn't listen to me, probably thinking I was making baseless accusations. The other professors, even the headmaster, probably felt the same way. We need solid evidence."
Ron stood there bewildered, watching them jump from "what's in the room" to "what does Quirrell really want?" She felt like there were more and more tasks to do, and wondered when she could finally go back to sleep.