The voice of the little wizard echoed in his ear, surrounded by the comings and goings of little wizards, Ian's eyes flickered for a moment, but in the end, he didn't draw his magic wand.
"Dumbledore wouldn't still want him to get close to the Magic Stone, would he?" In Ian's pupils, Quirrell's silhouette was reflected, this double-crossing professor had transformed from a neat young lad into a slob.
He hadn't even gotten close.
The unpleasant odor of garlic could already be smelled.
This was exactly the state Ian knew to be after being possessed by Voldemort.
Except.
It seemed like there were slight discrepancies in the details.
"I remember it should be hanging from the head?"
Ian's expression was slightly puzzled as he furrowed his brow.
Under his gaze, Quirrell gradually disappeared at the end of the corridor around the corner, the large bunch of garlic tied around his waist with even a tail hanging behind him was particularly obvious.
The swinging tail of garlic looked like a long fuse.
"Whoosh~"
Ian finally couldn't hold back.
Secretly, he set a small fire on Quirrell's backside.
Accompanied by the sudden surge of flames, Quirrell immediately jumped up in panic, and the surrounding little wizards were also taken aback.
"Fire! Fire! The professor's butt is on fire!"
"Use the Freezing Spell!"
"No! Use the Aquamenti!"
"I've never learned it! But I know how to put out fires with a broom! Flying Broom, come!"
...
Amidst the chaos.
The little wizards enthusiastically showed off their divine power. Some sprayed water on Quirrell's butt, some tried to freeze it into an ice lump, and there's always a slacker thrusting with a broom wildly.
"No! Don't do that!"
"Ah!!!"
"Stop it now!"
Amid the chaos.
Ian seemed to hear two people screaming.
...
4 Privet Drive.
The sky was growing dark, the streets slowly embraced by a layer of gentle and mysterious dusk.
The afterglow of the setting sun was like diluted golden paint, lightly brushed over every inch of space, but this brightness was gradually fading away, making way for the approaching night.
On either side of the street, the leaves on the trees in the weak light appeared as deep green, occasionally a few leaves fell gently in the evening breeze, slowly drifting to the ground, making a barely audible rustling sound.
As the night deepens, street lamps gradually lit up, their warm yellow halos spilling from the shades, draping this ordinary street in a layer of warm, nostalgic veil. The light intertwined with the diminishing daylight, neither fully bright like day nor completely dark like night.
An elderly man sat on a bench on the street, watching the houses where light was coming through and figures were flickering, his gaze fixed on the smallest silhouette.
"Do you know how chaotic the school has become?" A figure in a black robe sat beside the old man, his face full of displeasure and his tone filled with complaint.
"Severus, your insight remains as sharp as ever." The old man seemed somewhat surprised at Snape's arrival, he slightly turned his head to glance at Snape beside him.
"The impostor you found... is very poorly disguised." Snape responded disdainfully, his gaze complex as he looked towards the house in front.
They sat quietly on the bench, like two solitary old souls.
The surroundings were sparsely populated, occasionally a few figures hurried by on their way home, the sound of their footsteps echoing down the empty street, adding to the quiet of the night.
"Please forgive someone who's never thought of doing me such a favor, he really isn't good at this, and it's already a major effort on his part to fool the other professors." The old man defended his brother with a sentence.
Snape did not want to continue discussing this issue with the old man.
"Albus! We found traces of that guy in the Forbidden Forest!" Snape appeared quite displeased with the old man's reaction and attitude, he emphasized the seriousness of the issue they encountered, "No matter what you are trying to do here, that guy is a year ahead of our plans!"
Voldemort's appearance clearly didn't surprise the old man.
On the contrary, he seemed somewhat delighted.
However, this only made Snape more baffled.
"You must return to the school! Ensure... Ian doesn't attempt to provoke that guy again!" Snape felt a headache coming on just thinking about what happened in the Forbidden Forest that afternoon.
"Rest assured, I have made very proper arrangements, no one can harm Mr. Prince, it is equally important to me too." Dumbledore seemed unaware of the information in Snape's words, his attention was always on the house in front, his mind bothering with other issues.
"You don't plan to return to the school? At a time like this... that child of that wretched father won't enroll until next year, what on earth are you trying to do here?" Snape had also noticed Dumbledore's gaze.
He looked again at the window full of figures in the house ahead, the scrawny silhouette causing him to reveal a few moments of disgust, yet with a hard-to-pinpoint expression in his eyes.
"I still need some more time, this is a very important matter as well." Dumbledore's eyes were also quite complicated, his hands interlaced in front of him clasped tightly all afternoon.
"The important matter you speak of, is it staring at Lily's child in a daze here? I've been observing you for a long time, you've been sitting here for at least over five hours!"
Snape felt like he was being fooled by the headmaster beside him.
However.
Dumbledore sighed heavily, that wrinkled face seeming even older, his voice carried a heavy rasp and hesitation.
"Give me some more time, I'm contemplating better options. Trust me, Severus, the last thing you should do right now is pressure me to make a decision." Dumbledore's eyes gently flickered, the unfamiliar expression on his face reminded Snape of not long ago, when he took away the Slytherin students from his office.
"Why?"
Snape had a bad premonition in his heart.
The old man's tone was soft, not too much emotion showing. Yet for some reason, Snape felt his scalp tingling, a chill in his heart.
"Because..."
Dumbledore slightly lowered his head, hiding his eyes.
"It would make you very sad."
His voice carried a timbre of weight and helplessness.
"And of course, it includes me."