The Fool in Hogwarts

Bonus 800 PS.

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"Do you believe that, Harry?" Ron asked.

"Of course not." Harry shook his head repeatedly.

"But..."

"We know Professor Snape saved your life, so you don’t want to suspect him. That doesn’t mean you can expect us not to suspect him as well," Ron complained helplessly. "I simply can’t believe that someone who constantly targets Harry would suddenly save him at a critical moment."

"Exactly, Hermione," Harry added. "I’m more willing to believe that Snape was trying to hurt me, and someone else noticed and used a counter-curse to stop him."

"I... you two..." Hermione opened her mouth, feeling utterly exhausted.

She truly had no way to explain it. She could hardly tell them that Snape had expressed his deep regret to Harry during their very first lesson.

Even setting aside her promise to keep Vade’s explanation secret, Harry and Ron’s prejudice against Snape meant they probably would not believe her. They would only think she had read so many books that she had lost all common sense.

Seeing Hermione’s troubled expression, Ron nudged Harry with his elbow. "We might as well tell her."

"Tell me what?"

"During the holidays, I went into the Restricted Section while investigating Nicolas Flamel," Harry said quietly.

"Wait, how did you get into the Restricted Section?" Hermione stared at him in alarm. "Don’t tell me Professor McGonagall gave you written permission."

"She didn’t, but Harry received a special Christmas present.

"Someone sent him an Invisibility Cloak. It belonged to his father. It was... something his father left behind. He used it to sneak into the Restricted Section."

"That isn’t important. What matters is that, when I was leaving, I saw Snape and Quirrell in the corridor. Snape was threatening Quirrell into helping him obtain the Philosopher’s Stone."

"Are you certain?"

"He asked Quirrell whether he knew how to get past Fluffy. He also said that, before long, once Quirrell had decided where his loyalties lay, he would speak to him again."

Hermione frowned unconsciously. This seemed to complicate matters.

Could Snape truly be interested in the Philosopher’s Stone? Otherwise, why would he approach Quirrell?

Quirrell?

Hermione suddenly thought of something. Her pupils contracted slightly, and she picked up the book before turning away.

"Why is she in such a hurry?" Harry asked.

"She was probably shaken by the truth," Ron said with the air of someone who understood everything. "Snape did save her life, after all."

Hermione hurried through several aisles and found Vade and Daphne reading near a window.

"Sorry to interrupt, Vade.

"I need to speak to you about something."

"A Gryffindor coming to find a Slytherin. How unusual," Daphne said sarcastically.

"Is a Gryffindor not allowed to speak to a Slytherin?" Hermione retorted indignantly. "I don’t remember seeing that rule anywhere."

Daphne gave a quiet snort. Did she really not understand the relationship between Gryffindor and Slytherin? Did something so obvious need to be written into the school rules?

"What is it?"

Hermione glanced at Daphne and hesitated.

"It seems you don’t want me to hear," Daphne said with an amused expression. "Shall I leave the two of you alone?"

Vade complained inwardly. You’re the heiress of a prominent pure-blood family. Do you really need to be so petty with a Muggle-born witch?

"Excuse me for a moment." Vade gave Daphne an apologetic smile, then stood and followed Hermione behind a row of empty bookshelves.

"Can you tell me now?"

Hermione looked around. Only after confirming that no one could overhear them did she speak.

"I suspect Professor Quirrell was the person jinxing Harry during the Quidditch match."

Vade’s expression barely changed, but his mind was already in turmoil.

What a talent. It would be a waste if she did not become a detective.

"Don’t be ridiculous. Why would Professor Quirrell jinx Harry?

"He has no reason to do that, and as for his personality..." Vade pretended to think for a moment. "He’s extremely timid. No matter how you look at him, he doesn’t seem like someone capable of doing such a thing."

"I’m not being ridiculous," Hermione said seriously. "First, the curse and counter-curse were fighting against each other at the time, which means the two wizards casting them could not have been too far apart in magical strength.

"It certainly wasn’t Dumbledore, and there are not many people at Hogwarts capable of matching Snape. Apart from the other three Heads of House, only the more powerful professors would qualify.

"None of the three Heads of House would harm Harry. Among the remaining professors, Quirrell is the most suspicious."

"Second, you previously said that Harry escaped after I set Snape’s robes on fire because the disturbance blocked the culprit’s view.

"That means the person could not have been far from Snape, and Quirrell happened to be sitting nearby."

"That was an excellent deduction. I almost want to give you an award. Honestly," Vade said sincerely. Then his tone changed. "However, Professor Quirrell wasn’t the only person sitting near Professor Snape. There were other members of staff as well, and any one of them could have done it.

"When it comes down to it, Hermione, this is only speculation."

Hermione felt helpless. She had no evidence, but she had good reason to suspect Quirrell.

If Snape was a good man, then anyone capable of provoking such hostility from him had a strong chance of being a bad one.

Harry did not count, of course. Snape targeted him purely out of spite.

However, she could not tell Vade about Fluffy or the Philosopher’s Stone. The fewer people who knew, the better.

"That’s why I came to you. I want you to divine who was jinxing Harry that day."

Vade fell silent.

You want me to perform a divination on Voldemort? That is a rather extreme joke.

"I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I can’t do that."

Back then, merely performing an indirect divination concerning the Philosopher’s Stone had caused him to suffer a backlash. Although he had since advanced to Sequence 7, Voldemort’s level of existence was undoubtedly higher than that of the Philosopher’s Stone.

If he truly attempted to divine Voldemort, he would probably face that remnant soul the moment he began.

Suffering a backlash would be a minor problem. Being discovered by Voldemort would be the real danger. It would be far more perilous than examining him with Spirit Vision.

"Is it that difficult?" Hermione asked in confusion.

Vade pointed at his chest. "Look at me. I’m a first-year wizard, and I may not even have as much magic as you.

"You’re asking me to perform a divination on a professor whose magical power far exceeds mine. There is a strong chance that the result would be distorted."

"Can you explain that more clearly?"

"Think about Professor Trelawney during the Sorting Ceremony. She prophesied about an existence of a higher level, then her eyes began bleeding and she fainted."

Hermione looked blank for several seconds before showing an embarrassed expression.

"I had almost forgotten about that."

Forgotten?

Vade immediately sensed that something was wrong. After the Sorting Ceremony, interest in The Fool seemed to have lasted only a few days.

No one had ever spread news of the prophecy. Even now, the wizarding world did not know that such a prophecy existed, while the students and staff of Hogwarts appeared to have unconsciously overlooked that memory.

(To be continued.)