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chapter 158 part 4
William would definitely believe that Hagrid could fight, but a trap set by Hagrid playing a huge role? What kind of joke was that!
"Of course, it was set up by Hagrid. Although the incident with the Philosopher's Stone was widely rumored, the design of the mechanisms and the specific ways to get past them never got out," Adams said, biting into a piece of preserved fruit. "In fact, Professor Snape got bitten because Professor Quirrell played a trick on him at the first mechanism, and then he was bitten by Hagrid's dog."
"Fang?"
William began to doubt his reality. Today's news was just too explosive. Was even a dog in Hogwarts that formidable?
Whenever he went to drink with Hagrid, he'd often pet that dog's head. It felt quite nice. But that timid-looking creature was actually so brave?
"Pfft, haha, of course not! If he were bitten by Fang, Professor Snape would have jumped into the Black Lake." Adams spat out his preserved fruit and quickly cleaned it up with his wand, waving his hand as he spoke. "It was a big, Three-headed Dog."
'The one the old professor said he'd show me?'
William remembered the old professor's joke. That must be it.
"So you should know, William, Hagrid is a pretty good Keeper of Magical Creatures. If he's guarding something, even He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named would be held up for a while."
Adams wore a proud, boastful expression.
'And I suppose my average height with Hagrid is over eight feet?'
"What about you, Adams? What kind of mechanism did you make?"
William mercilessly poked at the sore spot.
"Eh, well, I made a Devil's Snare. The Professor and I did it together. It was a huge Devil's Snare—" Adams stammered.
The professor he mentioned was the Head of House for Hufflepuff, but William guessed Adams wasn't the main contributor.
"And it was bypassed?"
"Who would've thought a first-year student would know about a niche plant like Devil's Snare?" Adams said dejectedly. "Isn't it the same with Hagrid's Three-headed Dog? Whether it's Magical Creatures or deadly herbs, as long as you have the relevant information, even a new student can handle them easily."
"First year?"
"Yes, it was that student who's now top of the second year, Hermione Granger." Adams looked like he was questioning his entire existence. "That thing isn't even on the exam! Even a graduate wouldn't have much knowledge about it!"
'The Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook does mention it, but only briefly on how to deal with it—and that's in the advanced class content. After all, it's a wild plant, so those who haven't passed the exam would never come across that knowledge.'
William rubbed his forehead.
He finally understood just how obscure and difficult his own exam questions were. And by the way, Adams, you definitely never took the Defense Against the Dark Arts advanced class.
"Anyway, no matter what, those roosters are perfectly safe for now," Adams said, patting his chest confidently. "It's not like after Miss Weasley, Potter will bring his friends to steal them too, right?"
...
The two of them talked about protective magic for nearly two hours before stopping.
"Heavens, it's time to collect spores from those mushrooms! They're only effective at dusk. William, I have to get to the greenhouse," Adams said, glancing at the sky and hastily standing up. "See you later, William!"
The office door was pulled shut by the hastily departing Adams, and the sound it made caused William to chuckle.
"That guy," William said, happily unwrapping a piece of chocolate and popping it into his mouth.
"What's with all the mystery?" William shook his head. "He came here just to tell me that, didn't he?"
Deliberately bringing up the topic, then spinning a whole yarn of relevant and irrelevant details—most of that information was probably content that the professors were strictly ordered to keep secret, yet Adams had revealed almost everything he knew.
'I've been acknowledged,' William thought as he pulled out a fresh sheet of parchment and picked up his quill.
Without a doubt, although he and Adams had a certain friendship, openly violating a gag order to mention names that could cause chaos was not something a guy like Adams would do. At most, that fellow would slip him some materials and give him an instruction to be careful of his surroundings and watch out for danger.
'I've finally been acknowledged by the Headmaster. Otherwise, how could the details of the previous professor's death be revealed so easily? That guy Adams was probably given permission when he went to see Dumbledore, and then he found an excuse to come and tell me all this.'
'The Philosopher's Stone,' William couldn't help but write down the name. 'Dumbledore was actually willing to destroy it. No wonder he wants to destroy the Diadem too. He's a complete destruction maniac.'
William couldn't help but rub his face, pushing aside the pang of pain in his heart.
Even though that precious stone wasn't his, he still felt the loss. 'So the Philosopher's Stone really isn't just a legend. Maybe I could dabble in some alchemy? I just don't know if I have the talent for it…'
'There's no use regretting it now. To think the Dark Lord was already planning so much to attack Hogwarts during Harry Potter's first year!'
'Speaking of which, he'll be back. So now, in the second year, surely he won't be back again, right?'
The sense of relaxation he felt after finding the Diadem was suddenly destabilized, and William grew tense.
'Wait a minute?'
'The Dark Lord?'
William realized something was wrong. 'Dumbledore said he couldn't withstand the Diadem's magic and that the Dark Lord might cause trouble this year—could the Diadem have been left by the Dark Lord?'
'It's possible—the Diadem grants unparalleled wisdom.'
'For a Wizard, the most important things besides talent are probably wisdom. Without talent, you can't learn, and without wisdom, you can't improve quickly.'
'I believe that if the Diadem belonged to the Dark Lord, he must have made good use of it for his own improvement. Just as the old professor said, shortly after putting it on, he solved a problem that had troubled him for a long time.'
'Even Dumbledore studied at Hogwarts for seven years, and his exam records can still be looked up today. What about the Dark Lord? Did he study at Hogwarts? Or was he like me, a self-taught Wizard?'
'If he studied at Hogwarts, what was his name?'
William's eyes lit up—he thought of the name Helena Ravenclaw had mentioned.
'Tom?'
'Could that Tom be the Dark Lord?'
'Did he use the Diadem to become a master of Dark Magic of his generation?'
'Right, Dumbledore said the Dark Lord was his student! That means he must have studied at Hogwarts!'
'I need to check the records. I have them here. For the purpose of revising the History of Magic, I have most of the information—the followers who rose with the Dark Lord, those first generation Death Eaters. Then, I'll check the years around when those people were here and see if there's a Tom!'
(end of chapter)
William would definitely believe that Hagrid could fight, but a trap set by Hagrid playing a huge role? What kind of joke was that!
"Of course, it was set up by Hagrid. Although the incident with the Philosopher's Stone was widely rumored, the design of the mechanisms and the specific ways to get past them never got out," Adams said, biting into a piece of preserved fruit. "In fact, Professor Snape got bitten because Professor Quirrell played a trick on him at the first mechanism, and then he was bitten by Hagrid's dog."
"Fang?"
William began to doubt his reality. Today's news was just too explosive. Was even a dog in Hogwarts that formidable?
Whenever he went to drink with Hagrid, he'd often pet that dog's head. It felt quite nice. But that timid-looking creature was actually so brave?
"Pfft, haha, of course not! If he were bitten by Fang, Professor Snape would have jumped into the Black Lake." Adams spat out his preserved fruit and quickly cleaned it up with his wand, waving his hand as he spoke. "It was a big, Three-headed Dog."
'The one the old professor said he'd show me?'
William remembered the old professor's joke. That must be it.
"So you should know, William, Hagrid is a pretty good Keeper of Magical Creatures. If he's guarding something, even He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named would be held up for a while."
Adams wore a proud, boastful expression.
'And I suppose my average height with Hagrid is over eight feet?'
"What about you, Adams? What kind of mechanism did you make?"
William mercilessly poked at the sore spot.
"Eh, well, I made a Devil's Snare. The Professor and I did it together. It was a huge Devil's Snare—" Adams stammered.
The professor he mentioned was the Head of House for Hufflepuff, but William guessed Adams wasn't the main contributor.
"And it was bypassed?"
"Who would've thought a first-year student would know about a niche plant like Devil's Snare?" Adams said dejectedly. "Isn't it the same with Hagrid's Three-headed Dog? Whether it's Magical Creatures or deadly herbs, as long as you have the relevant information, even a new student can handle them easily."
"First year?"
"Yes, it was that student who's now top of the second year, Hermione Granger." Adams looked like he was questioning his entire existence. "That thing isn't even on the exam! Even a graduate wouldn't have much knowledge about it!"
'The Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook does mention it, but only briefly on how to deal with it—and that's in the advanced class content. After all, it's a wild plant, so those who haven't passed the exam would never come across that knowledge.'
William rubbed his forehead.
He finally understood just how obscure and difficult his own exam questions were. And by the way, Adams, you definitely never took the Defense Against the Dark Arts advanced class.
"Anyway, no matter what, those roosters are perfectly safe for now," Adams said, patting his chest confidently. "It's not like after Miss Weasley, Potter will bring his friends to steal them too, right?"
...
The two of them talked about protective magic for nearly two hours before stopping.
"Heavens, it's time to collect spores from those mushrooms! They're only effective at dusk. William, I have to get to the greenhouse," Adams said, glancing at the sky and hastily standing up. "See you later, William!"
The office door was pulled shut by the hastily departing Adams, and the sound it made caused William to chuckle.
"That guy," William said, happily unwrapping a piece of chocolate and popping it into his mouth.
"What's with all the mystery?" William shook his head. "He came here just to tell me that, didn't he?"
Deliberately bringing up the topic, then spinning a whole yarn of relevant and irrelevant details—most of that information was probably content that the professors were strictly ordered to keep secret, yet Adams had revealed almost everything he knew.
'I've been acknowledged,' William thought as he pulled out a fresh sheet of parchment and picked up his quill.
Without a doubt, although he and Adams had a certain friendship, openly violating a gag order to mention names that could cause chaos was not something a guy like Adams would do. At most, that fellow would slip him some materials and give him an instruction to be careful of his surroundings and watch out for danger.
'I've finally been acknowledged by the Headmaster. Otherwise, how could the details of the previous professor's death be revealed so easily? That guy Adams was probably given permission when he went to see Dumbledore, and then he found an excuse to come and tell me all this.'
'The Philosopher's Stone,' William couldn't help but write down the name. 'Dumbledore was actually willing to destroy it. No wonder he wants to destroy the Diadem too. He's a complete destruction maniac.'
William couldn't help but rub his face, pushing aside the pang of pain in his heart.
Even though that precious stone wasn't his, he still felt the loss. 'So the Philosopher's Stone really isn't just a legend. Maybe I could dabble in some alchemy? I just don't know if I have the talent for it…'
'There's no use regretting it now. To think the Dark Lord was already planning so much to attack Hogwarts during Harry Potter's first year!'
'Speaking of which, he'll be back. So now, in the second year, surely he won't be back again, right?'
The sense of relaxation he felt after finding the Diadem was suddenly destabilized, and William grew tense.
'Wait a minute?'
'The Dark Lord?'
William realized something was wrong. 'Dumbledore said he couldn't withstand the Diadem's magic and that the Dark Lord might cause trouble this year—could the Diadem have been left by the Dark Lord?'
'It's possible—the Diadem grants unparalleled wisdom.'
'For a Wizard, the most important things besides talent are probably wisdom. Without talent, you can't learn, and without wisdom, you can't improve quickly.'
'I believe that if the Diadem belonged to the Dark Lord, he must have made good use of it for his own improvement. Just as the old professor said, shortly after putting it on, he solved a problem that had troubled him for a long time.'
'Even Dumbledore studied at Hogwarts for seven years, and his exam records can still be looked up today. What about the Dark Lord? Did he study at Hogwarts? Or was he like me, a self-taught Wizard?'
'If he studied at Hogwarts, what was his name?'
William's eyes lit up—he thought of the name Helena Ravenclaw had mentioned.
'Tom?'
'Could that Tom be the Dark Lord?'
'Did he use the Diadem to become a master of Dark Magic of his generation?'
'Right, Dumbledore said the Dark Lord was his student! That means he must have studied at Hogwarts!'
'I need to check the records. I have them here. For the purpose of revising the History of Magic, I have most of the information—the followers who rose with the Dark Lord, those first generation Death Eaters. Then, I'll check the years around when those people were here and see if there's a Tom!'
(end of chapter)
