An "Astronomical" Bounty

The night was deep, but the Gryffindor Common Room was still filled with revelry.

To celebrate their first victory, Fred and George disappeared for two hours, returning laden with bottles of Butterbeer, hissing Pumpkin Juice, and several large bags of Honeydukes candy.

The two also invited William, Cedric, and Cho.

William and his friends certainly wouldn't refuse such a free meal.

"So Hagrid mentioned the name ' Nicolas Flamel '?"

Sitting in a corner of the Gryffindor Common Room, William held a cup of black tea and took a small sip.

"Yes, Hagrid also said it was an agreement between Professor Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel," Harry replied.

"Moreover, the day Hagrid and I went to the vault to retrieve something for Dumbledore, Gringotts was robbed."

William rubbed his temples; he had basically figured out the whole situation.

Based on the available intelligence, Nicolas gave something to Dumbledore, Dumbledore then stored it in the vault.

After Hagrid took it, the black-robed wizard went to steal it, and William and his companions happened to run into him.

Dumbledore then set up a trap to hide the object inside.

So the black-robed wizard is Quirrell?

But Quirrell doesn't seem like such a powerful dark wizard.

Or rather, if he truly possessed the strength he had that night at Gringotts, Dumbledore would never have allowed him to remain at the school.

William faced the black-robed figure directly and was fully aware of the opponent's terrifying strength.

Could it be... that Quirrell was controlled by the Black Robe using the Imperius Curse, or that he was one of the Black Robe's subordinates?

All of these are possible.

"Who is Nicolas Flamel? You still haven't told us," Ron asked.

Harry also looked at William curiously, trying to keep his attention away from Cho, who was standing next to Diggory.

William looked at Hermione strangely, "You didn't tell them?"

Harry and Ron both looked at Hermione.

Hermione blushed and explained, "Mr. Flamel instructed me before he left that I must not tell anyone about him."

Harry and Ron's eyes widened. "You know Nicolas Flamel?"

"Of course we know each other." Cedric, who was fiddling with cards with Autumn, turned around and smiled, "William and Mr. Flamel have been corresponding for months!"

"Well, we're kind of... pen pals," William explained.

The term "pen pal" is inaccurate; a teacher-student relationship would be more appropriate. The other person instructed William extensively on Alchemy.

However, to avoid trouble, William certainly couldn't say.

The Gringotts affair was something he couldn't talk about, at least not to Harry and Ron; he had promised Fudge to keep it a secret.

In fact, William only told Cedric, Cho, and the twins about the Gringotts incident; they were all his close friends, and he wouldn't reveal it to anyone else.

As for Hermione, she's someone who's been through it all, so she already knows.

"I have a book about Nicolas Flamel in my dorm, I'll go get it for you." Hermione hurried off.

Ron felt uneasy sitting in front of William and the others, and after a while he quickly pulled Harry to get some drinks.

Harry glanced at Cho longingly, then left.

Hermione ran out of the dormitory and saw Harry and Ron eating snacks. She walked over, quickly flipped to a page of the thick book she was holding, and handed it to the two of them.

The two were stunned after reading it; Nicolas Flamel's resume was terrifying.

"It must be Flamel's Philosopher's Stone! I dare say Flamel asked Dumbledore to keep it for him, because they are friends, and he knew that someone was after the Philosopher's Stone."

"That's why he moved the Philosopher's Stone from Gringotts," Harry said.

"A stone that can turn into gold and make you immortal—no wonder Quirrell is eyeing it too! Everyone wants it!" Ron said enviously.

"If I got the Philosopher's Stone, I'd buy my own Quidditch team."

"By the way, Hermione, how did you meet Nicolas Flamel?" Harry asked, puzzled.

"During the summer vacation, William... fell ill, and he came to visit William," Hermione explained vaguely.

Nicolas had instructed that the Gringotts affair should not be told to anyone.

"By the way, I can ask Mr. Flamel if what he lent to Professor Dumbledore was the Philosopher's Stone," Hermione suddenly said.

"What, you managed to contact Flamel?" Harry and Ron exchanged a glance.

"I can't reach him, only William can, but..." Hermione smiled sweetly, "But Mr. Flamel has invited us both to his 665th birthday party at Christmas."

"What?" Ron's eyes practically blazed with envy.

He wants to go too!

Not far away, William told Cedric and Cho about his guess.

Cedric asked in a low voice, "Could it be the Philosopher's Stone?"

William shook his head. "It's hard to say. Mr. Flamel has so many good things; who knows what they might be?"

"But whatever it is for now, I'm more curious about something else."

"What's up?"

What's hidden under Quirrell's scarf?

Quirrell always wore a scarf around his head; I used to think it was a quirk, but now I see he was hiding something.

You should know that he wouldn't even take off his scarf when his clothes caught fire.

"That's easy," Cedric said with a wicked grin. "We can put up a bounty at the school."

"That's right." William immediately understood, and he smiled, "Let's offer a reward for what's under Professor Quirrell's scarf."

"Getting students to attack a professor isn't easy." Qiu raised an eyebrow and asked, "How much of a reward are you planning to offer?"

"Fifty Galleon it is," William said after a moment's thought.

"This price will drive many students crazy!"

Achoo!

In the Defense Against the Dark Arts Office, Professor Quirrell pulled his robes tighter; he felt like he was catching a cold.

"Damn Snape, it's all because he poured cold water on me," Quirrell cursed inwardly.

However, the sneeze had a serious effect; the man on the back of the head immediately felt his face being pulled, making his injury even more serious.

"Fool!" A shrill voice rang out, and Quirrell began to tremble.

"Quickly give me the burn Potions!" the shrill voice commanded.

Quirrell picked up the Potions from the table and handed it to the back of his head.

Where should have been the back of Quirrell's head was a face, a deathly white as chalk, with glowing red eyes and two long, thin nostrils like snakes.

The most terrifying thing was that her face was covered with countless red blisters, all from burns.

The man opened his mouth and took a large gulp, but before he could swallow, he immediately spat it out and shouted:

"What's in this Potions? Why does it taste so... disgusting?"

Quirrell trembled.

This is the Potions he got from Pomfrey, why would he add anything strange to it?