NOVEL NEXT Chapter 88: Professor Kahn's Puzzle
"Slower, Harry. The chicken blood needs to blend completely with the brandy."
Crouching beside a bubbling cauldron, Hagrid stirred the contents with meticulous care while Ron and Harry each gripped large basins, slowly pouring two entirely different liquids into the pot with concentrated effort.
On the opposite side of the hut, Hermione held something resembling a cat toy and was playing cautiously with the little dragon, maintaining a careful distance.
She had to exercise extreme caution because Professor Kahn had specifically warned that Norwegian Ridgeback teeth contained potent venom. Although a young dragon's fangs weren't immediately fatal, they could still make her suffer agonizing pain for ten days to half a month.
From this ominous statement, Hermione had keenly deduced another terrifying implication.
Once this adorable creature left its juvenile stage, this dragon could kill any wizard with just one bite!
Contemplating this horrifying reality, she couldn't help but become even more cautious, ensuring the little dragon's razor-sharp teeth never touched her skin.
Simultaneously, she mentally cursed Hagrid for having the audacity to raise such a lethally dangerous creature within school grounds.
"Alright, let's take a break. You all look exhausted."
Hearing this blessed reprieve, the two young wizards immediately set down their heavy basins and began massaging their aching arms and shoulders.
This task hadn't sounded particularly demanding, but maintaining a perfectly steady flow rate while pouring liquid from the basins into the cauldron proved surprisingly torturous.
After resting for approximately thirty seconds, Ron felt his arms had recovered somewhat. He gazed curiously at the dragon attempting to bite the dangling cat toy.
"By the way, Hagrid, how exactly did you acquire the dragon egg? It must have cost an absolute fortune, right?"
"I'll have you know, it didn't cost me a single penny!" Speaking of this achievement, Hagrid proudly patted his massive chest. "I won this beauty fair and square!"
"Didn't cost anything?" Harry stared at Hagrid with genuine surprise.
Even he understood that a dragon egg cost at least a thousand Galleons, and even with that enormous sum, you still couldn't purchase one.
Dragon eggs were legendary items with astronomical prices but no available market!
"What exactly did you do to win a dragon egg?" Harry's eyes reflected growing worry. He feared Hagrid might have done something illegal or dangerous.
Ron and Hermione also perked up their ears attentively. They were equally curious about how Hagrid had managed to obtain this priceless dragon egg.
Observing the three young wizards' intensely curious expressions, Hagrid waved his enormous hand dismissively as if the matter were trivial.
"Actually, it really wasn't much of anything. That particular evening I was drinking in Hogsmeade and won it playing cards with some mysterious stranger."
"Just playing cards?" Ron sounded distinctly doubtful. He couldn't comprehend why anyone would wager a dragon egg on a simple card game.
"No, no, we also made an additional bet." Hagrid smiled with mysterious satisfaction.
"What kind of bet?"
"He questioned my abilities at the time because he was concerned the dragon would cause tremendous trouble once it reached me!"
"So I confidently told him that I could manage even a three-headed dog obediently. One little dragon was absolutely nothing!"
"He looked incredibly surprised then, since everyone knows wild three-headed dogs possess no exploitable weaknesses whatsoever. But he didn't realize that domestically raised three-headed dogs are fundamentally different from their wild counterparts. You can artificially create specific weaknesses through careful training."
"For example, my beloved Fluffy is extremely sensitive to music and falls into deep sleep whenever he hears melodic sounds. After he learned this fascinating detail, he genuinely admired my expertise. We played several rounds, and he lost the dragon egg to me!"
Hagrid spoke with unmistakable pride resonating in his deep voice and concluded by reminding the young wizards not to share this information casually with others.
"Oh, so when you were playing cards, you casually mentioned the three-headed dog's weakness to a complete stranger."
Nodding with sudden, terrible understanding, the three young wizards lowered their heads again. Harry and Ron flexed their hands and feet, preparing to retrieve the brandy and chicken blood they had set aside, while Hermione picked up her cat toy once more.
Then their movements froze simultaneously in horrified realization.
Wait just a moment...
"You told someone else WHAT???"
Meanwhile, in the forbidden depths of Hogwarts, dark flames burned with quiet menace. Though they appeared deceptively unremarkable, the hooded figure could sense with absolute certainty that if he rashly attempted to pass through these magical flames, this borrowed body would instantly turn to ash, leaving not even a trace of his existence behind.
However, this particular puzzle wasn't especially challenging for someone of his capabilities.
Gripping an unremarkable small bottle in his pale hand, the corners of his mouth beneath the concealing hood curved into a satisfied smile.
"Severus's puzzle demonstrates considerable ingenuity, but unfortunately, such elementary problems cannot possibly stump his master."
"Master, you're absolutely amazing! I could never solve such a complex puzzle myself!"
A disgustingly fawning voice emerged from behind the hooded figure's head. Since he found himself in an exceptionally good mood, he didn't bother scolding Quirrell for speaking without explicit permission, instead quietly studying the black fire blocking his path.
His emotional state was remarkably relaxed at this moment. He had anticipated facing a series of fierce magical battles, but unexpectedly, after bypassing that troublesome three-headed dog, there hadn't been a single genuinely challenging puzzle.
Trivial obstacles like catching flying keys and navigating wizard's chess posed absolutely no difficulty for someone of his extraordinary abilities. The Devil's Snare had proven rather troublesome since mature Devil's Snare represented a genuine threat to most wizards, but this plant's fundamental weakness was painfully obvious. Just a modest flame could drive the entire mass back immediately.
Ultimately, it was actually Severus's potion puzzle that had consumed the most time.
But the next challenge should represent Dumbledore's final protective puzzle, correct?
Through conquering it, he would finally lay eyes upon the legendary Philosopher's Stone.
He couldn't comprehend why Dumbledore would rely on such childish puzzles to protect the Philosopher's Stone. If the old fool had simply employed sophisticated protective wards to isolate the artifact, he might not have been able to penetrate the defenses.
But these protections were also impressively comprehensive. Who could have possibly imagined that the individual coming to claim the Philosopher's Stone was this century's most feared dark wizard?
Smiling with overwhelming pride, he drained the entire contents of the small bottle in one decisive gulp. The world before the hooded figure's eyes swayed slightly, and an intensely cold sensation flowed throughout his entire body alongside the magical liquid. He relaxed his entire form, stepped forward with confidence, and walked directly toward the menacing dark flames.
The dark flames licked hungrily at his body but caused him absolutely no harm. This type of magic should theoretically represent the most deadly threat to any wizard, but the correct antidote potion could completely neutralize all its lethal dangers.
This was precisely why skilled potion masters commanded such tremendous respect and compensation.
Once he successfully recovers his original physical form, he should summon Severus back to his service immediately. His spy had hidden his true allegiance quite masterfully. Dumbledore appeared to harbor no suspicion whatsoever regarding his Potions professor's actual loyalties.
But after summoning him back, he would definitely need to test his continued loyalty thoroughly.
If Severus had somehow betrayed him during this extended separation... a trace of murderous ferocity flashed dangerously in the hooded figure's serpentine eyes. He forced himself to stop contemplating other matters and focused entirely on walking through this treacherous path constructed of pure black flames.
Several tense seconds later, successfully emerging from the dark flames completely unscathed, the hooded figure casually raised his head and looked ahead with eager anticipation.
The next obstacle would represent the final puzzle, wouldn't it?
"Let me see exactly what Dumbledore has prepared for his ultimate challenge..."
His confident voice stopped abruptly mid-sentence, and the triumphant smile on the hooded figure's face gradually became rigid with shock. Within his field of vision appeared three absolutely massive creatures crouching ominously on the stone ground, staring directly at him with enormous, unblinking eyes. This sudden, completely unexpected intruder.
He instantly identified the exact species of those three monstrous beings, and this terrible recognition made his mood plummet to rock bottom.
A single drop of cold sweat slowly trickled down from his pale forehead.