Mysterious Journey
Chapter 801 The Underestimated and the Unsent Warning
Aileen chuckled, took out a roll of parchment from her chest, and flipped through it casually.
"Professor Quirinus Quirrell, don't you know that Hogwarts keeps records of the past experiences of all outstanding graduates and faculty members, and keeps them in the archives? In the school archives, you are recorded as: Ravenclaw Prefect, Head Boy, one of the few Hogwarts students to get outstanding scores on both O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s, and—"
Aileen's eyes flashed with a strange light, paused, and continued.
"—Defense Against the Dark Arts professor who made outstanding sacrifices and contributions in his dealings with the Dark Wizard Voldemort."
The world's most adorable fairy queen recited softly, while looking at Quirinus Quirrell's face, a hint of very subtle curiosity and playfulness hidden in her lake-blue eyes.
Unlike his previous anxious expression, Quirrell fell silent after hearing Aileen's description.
"How interesting, you didn't refute such an evaluation," the girl narrowed her eyes slightly and continued, "Of course, this passage has not yet been officially written into the archives - after all, regarding the secret struggle in the shadows after Voldemort's possession, no one knows except you. I can only speculate from some side information... such as the request for help you secretly gave, and some clumsy bad things that have not yet been implemented."
"Request for help? Clumsy bad things that have not yet been implemented?"
Quirinus Quirrell blinked, looking at Aileen with a confused expression.
"Troll. If I'm not mistaken, you thought about secretly letting a troll into the school before, right? For example, on Halloween night, Christmas, Easter, when the students are gathered in the hall. Or, you planned to secretly cast a spell during the Quidditch match to make Harry Potter fall off his broom, to deal with the tasks assigned by Voldemort?"
Aileen tilted her head and asked in a cute voice, as if she were a child asking about the ending of a fairy tale.
In an instant, Quirinus Quirrell felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.
Even Voldemort didn't know about these things. Most of them were just plans that hadn't yet taken shape in his mind, and they were aborted halfway because he encountered these two demon kings during his first trip to the Forbidden Forest.
Accompanied by the girl's demon-like voice, Quirrell suddenly felt a fear as if he had been completely stripped naked.
"H-How could you..." Quirinus Quirrell said in a dry voice.
"Obviously, just some insignificant divination skills."
Aileen spread her hands and said generously, "I remember there is such a course at Hogwarts, right? Some wizards have an innate ability to see the future, and I just happened to see some tributaries of the river of fate. The future that is observed may not come as expected, but we can still use it to understand the world."
"That's impossible, I've never heard of such a seer." Quirrell's face was full of absurdity.
"Yes," Aileen nodded with a smile, "Professor Dumbledore thought so at first. Perhaps you can have a good exchange with the professor later. If there is enough time, I am actually very happy to tell you stories: for example, how we merged with Gringotts, how we rescued the former Soviet "wizarding traitors", how we occupied public opinion imperceptibly, and how we detained Voldemort's Horcruxes in the Chamber of Secrets and studied them bit by bit..."
Quirinus Quirrell's breathing gradually became rapid, and his fists clenched unconsciously under the quilt.
Although he didn't know what the girl was talking about regarding some of the stories, just based on the news he and Voldemort saw in the *Daily Prophet* before he lost consciousness some time ago, and his little common sense about the wizarding world, it was enough for Quirrell to sketch out a terrifying shadow covering the world in his mind silently.
Without a doubt, having just escaped from Voldemort's hands, he had now encountered an even more terrifying demon king.
"But, you still haven't told me, why me?"
The young wizard took a deep breath, calmed his mind, and tried hard to keep his tone steady.
"Even if I did think that way, what does that prove? It just further proves that I am not the kind of outstanding wizard you expect. I am not cruel and smart enough in the dark wizard aspect, and on the other hand, there are no noble qualities worth saving. If those righteous wizards were here, I believe they would be much braver than me."
"Oh, that's right. Professor Quirrell, courage and wisdom come in many forms."
Aileen shook her finger and said with a sweet smile.
"Just based on your grades at school, and tracking down Voldemort alone—to be honest, especially when Voldemort probably didn't even know he was there—and finally successfully finding him and starting the battle, that's enough to show that you are different."
"That was just luck..." Quirrell chuckled dryly.
"Well, okay. Let's just count those as luck. Then let's talk about something else."
Aileen curled her lips indifferently and glanced meaningfully at the scarf Quirrell had placed by the bed.
"Why add garlic to your scarf? There is no shortage of similar situations in this world, but you chose the most awkward reason - if I remember correctly, there should be a corresponding introduction in the third-year Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook. Real vampires are not afraid of garlic. Voldemort's possession shouldn't affect your memory, right?"
"I..." Quirrell opened his mouth, a shadow flashing across his face.
"What a clever excuse. The most important thing is that Voldemort, that fool, was actually fooled by you."
Aileen crossed her legs and shook them, snapping her fingers appreciatively.
"Even Professor Dumbledore probably wouldn't be able to keep Tom Riddle in garlic for so long, right? Compared to this courage, I admire your mentality in despair even more - if this can't make you surrender, mere loss of magic and embarrassing pasts are even less likely to become arrows to crush your defensive line."
"Of course, and those warnings that you haven't had time to send out..."
Aileen sighed lightly and blinked playfully, "As a lucky person who has glimpsed a little of the future, after receiving the information you sent out in the 'future' in advance and responding in time, isn't that exactly what you expected?"
In the original plot, Quirinus Quirrell's behavior was full of doubts.
Unlike those who just watched a few movies and traveled through time hastily, Aileen's "previous life" was a very senior researcher. Combining the actual situation for reverse reasoning and verification, it is natural to draw a lot of hidden information.
Strictly speaking, the only thing in the entire Harry Potter series that was truly under Dumbledore's control was the Philosopher's Stone.
Most people usually attribute this credit to the Hogwarts headmaster's extraordinary wisdom, but few people notice the efforts Quirinus Quirrell made in the dark, and the warnings he gave with his life time and time again.
Perhaps Dumbledore noticed, but the old man ultimately chose the most ruthless and safest way.
"Troll, this was the first hint you originally intended to give us."
Aileen held up her finger and said seriously, regardless of whether Grindelwald could understand.
"The troll's weakness is in the back of the head, an uninvited guest who broke into the castle, a big guy who is not good at words, a classic description object of Defense Against the Dark Arts... These elements seem to be fine when viewed separately - but if they are combined, then Hogwarts at that time happened to have such a 'troll' lecturing, right?"
"Quidditch, this is the second hint..."
"Unicorn blood, this should be the third hint..."
Accompanied by Aileen's analysis, Quirinus Quirrell's face changed constantly, and finally turned into a long sigh.
"Looks like I did a good job in the future?" Quirrell said, his voice mixed with some trembling, "So you found out everything and ambushed Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest in advance, right? Although it's different from what I thought, but—"
"Oh, sorry, that was just an accident."
Aileen shook her head politely and replied with unusual candor.
"In the initial plan, we were going to give up on you directly, because no one knows how to separate another soul from a person's soul, and no one can ensure that the one left behind is the original soul. In that case, pretending not to know and waiting for subsequent miracles to appear is obviously wiser and simpler."
"So... I'm actually a prison?"
Quirinus Quirrell nodded thoughtfully and chuckled lightly.
"You can say that, yes. It's just that the guards didn't take good care of the prison - both sides were negligent."
Aileen turned her head and glared at Grindelwald with some disgust, and then continued unhurriedly.
"Tom Riddle is not a gambler. He lacks the kind of romantic spirit to put everything on the line. Therefore, from another perspective, only when Voldemort abandons you and allows your broken body to die in rapid decline, can you truly get rid of your suspicion and have the opportunity to be reborn... Yes, this is just an opportunity."
"So, the explanation time is almost over. Let me ask you again, what is your answer—"
The girl paused slightly, tapped Grindelwald's wand, and said meaningfully.
"Don't worry, you have many chances to answer before you completely lose consciousness..."
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*Goo~* More analysis about Quirinus Quirrell will be expanded here (delayed by one day, probably will appear tomorrow~)