Chapter 111: The Phoenix’s Tears
“Quidditch is completely over today, and he cried and fussed about going to London. I really had no choice. You know me, I can never bring myself to refuse.”
Vaughn was speechless.
The shameless old man actually used him as a shield behind his back!
Seeing that Professor McGonagall seemed to believe him and was beginning to hesitate, Vaughn quickly coughed loudly and strode over.
Upon seeing Vaughn, Dumbledore showed no change in his expression and cheerfully called out, “Vaughn is here! We were just talking about you… Oh, by the way, Minerva, you don’t need to worry about school matters for now. I’ve just asked Vaughn to explain the situation to Severus, and he will temporarily take over your responsibilities for the next few days.”
“Vaughn, dear, what did Severus say?”
Vaughn said with a half-smile, “Professor Snape isn’t too pleased. He said he’s more interested in Defense Against the Dark Arts, and of course, the Headmaster position isn’t entirely unacceptable. He’s quite dissatisfied with the current Headmaster because that fellow is full of lies and even uses children!”
Hearing Vaughn’s “treasonous” words, Professor McGonagall first glared at him sternly, then looked at Dumbledore with suspicion.
Unfortunately, Dumbledore, with over a hundred years of experience, had an immeasurable thickness to his skin. Amidst Vaughn’s sarcasm and Professor McGonagall’s suspicion, his expression remained unchanged. He calmly changed the subject and said cheerfully:
“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go! If we hurry to London now, we’ll still have time to visit the Muggle night market. There are a few stalls with particularly good desserts. I strongly recommend you all try them…”
As he spoke, Fawkes flew over and landed on Dumbledore’s shoulder.
Fawkes didn’t look to the side, trying its best not to look at Vaughn, but Vaughn’s gaze still made it feel as if its back was on fire. Therefore, after Professor McGonagall rambled on about why they weren’t using Floo Powder, and linked arms with Dumbledore, ready to go.
Fawkes spread its wings, and with a burst of flame, it whisked the three of them away with a snap.
The Eighth Floor corridor returned to silence. About ten minutes later, Fawkes emerged from the air again, panting from exhaustion.
After resting for a while, it finally caught its breath. It tilted its head and looked around. Perhaps it was because that great villain named Vaughn Weasley had left, it suddenly felt that the air of Hogwarts tonight was exceptionally sweet.
But it knew that this good mood was merely an illusion caused by the temporary absence of the great villain, and it had not escaped his clutches!
Fawkes did not fly back to the Headmaster’s Office but stood still, preening the feathers on its wings. After a while, a cat’s meow echoed from the depths of the corridor:
“Meow~”
Fawkes heard the sound and looked, only to see a giant cat ambling around the corner, its amber vertical pupils reflecting its own image.
Humph, the great villain’s lackey!
Alas, Hogwarts today had become a place where morality had collapsed and humanity was distorted. Demons walked openly among men, and even Dumbledore was deceived and colluded with them!
Thinking of this, Fawkes felt pathetic and couldn’t help but shed a tear.
Guoguocha, who was squatting in front of it, saw the tear under the phoenix’s eye and immediately leaned in. A small bag hung around its neck, usually used for dried fish, but today it had a different purpose.
It clumsily opened the bag, took out a small potion bottle emitting wisps of mist, and held the opening under Fawkes’s eye, carefully catching the tear.
Throughout the entire process, Fawkes remained motionless, seemingly immersed in its own world of sadness.
When Guoguocha was finished, Fawkes also “coincidentally” finished recalling its bitterness and sweetness, flapped its wings, and prepared to go back to sleep.
But Guoguocha stopped it.
“Meow!”
Hmm?
Fawkes perked up its head, its eyes keenly fixed on Guoguocha, watching as it clumsily took another bottle from its bag.
Unlike the previous one, the new bottle was very small, only about two-thirds of an inch, about the length of a finger joint, but it was exceptionally beautiful, shimmering with a golden hue.
Fawkes’s eyes widened.
Felix Felicis!
One of the most precious and difficult-to-brew potions in the wizarding world. And to a phoenix that loved to eat herbs, it was a rare delicacy and supplement.
Guoguocha carefully placed the small bottle of Felix Felicis on the ground, and its chubby paws gently pushed it towards Fawkes.
“Quack?”
Fawkes finally let out a sound, a bit harsh, but its meaning was clear: Is this for me?
Guoguocha nodded, “Meow meow!”
Payment?
Fawkes suddenly felt the whole world brighten.
What? Vaughn Weasley is a great villain?
Who said that? What slander!
He is clearly a generous benefactor whose whole body is golden and who is enthusiastic and magnanimous!
Overjoyed, Fawkes felt the air of Hogwarts become sweet again. Its feathers trembled with excitement, and inevitably, a few fell out.
Guoguocha quietly raked the fallen feathers into its bag, but Fawkes no longer cared. What was a tear or a few feathers?
Even if its entire body were plucked bare, what would that matter?
Speaking of which, it was rather sad. Fawkes had followed Dumbledore for many years, but due to the old man’s mediocre potion-making skills, it had rarely been able to eat Felix Felicis.
Snape could brew it, but that greasy man who never washed his hair, in Fawkes’s opinion, never even considered caring about the great Fawkes. Instead, every time it underwent nirvana, he would come to pick up its feathers and blood for free.
After so many years, someone finally knew to give it compensation!
In its excitement, Fawkes couldn’t help but shed two more tears.
Guoguocha, with equal tacit understanding, took out two more small bottles and collected the tears.
A phoenix and a cat, cooperating with each other, looked exceptionally harmonious.
Meanwhile, in the basement, Snape, who was staring into his cauldron, suddenly sneezed. He awoke from his reverie and looked around in confusion.
Snape had been sitting there for a long time.
Legilimency allowed him to control his expression with ease, but it could not control the turmoil within his heart.
Although Dumbledore’s plan had begun before the start of school, and although he had long been prepared for Harry to face Voldemort directly, now that the time had come and the plan was about to be implemented, Snape found that he was not as calm as he had expected.
The potion simmering in the cauldron churned, emitting a rich fragrance. Normally, even the most anxious mood would be calmed by such an aroma.
But today, they were ineffective, just like that night over a decade ago.
“Expecto Patronum!”
In the dimly lit basement, as he whispered softly, a faint silver-blue light gradually appeared. The light was so gentle, as if it contained endless tenderness and affection.
Snape did not intentionally control it, but simply stared blankly, watching the light bloom, and watching a translucent doe emerge from within the light.
Its bright, pure eyes looked over, and at the sight of those eyes, Snape was lost in a trance for a moment, then awakened by a sudden pang in his heart.
A long time ago, his Patronus had not been a doe, until more than ten years ago.
On that night, his world had collapsed. Ambition, resentment, ideals, obsession… all turned to nothing with the death of the one he loved.
In a sense, the former Severus Snape had also died that night, as he wailed over Lily’s corpse.
What lived on was merely an empty shell filled with love and regret!
His cheeks felt a little warm. Snape expressionlessly raised his hand to wipe them, and in the faint light of his Patronus, his palm was stained with a few strands of damp crystal.
He watched indifferently, letting them turn cold, then evaporate.
He turned his head away, no longer looking at his Patronus, and simply commanded, “…Go into the castle. Watch out for Harry Potter…”
The doe gently touched him. With his seemingly scalded recoil, it lightly leaped and slipped through the wall.
Snape was left alone, continuing to sit rigidly in the re-darkened room, like a stiff puppet.
…
“Harry, wait, why are you running so fast?”
Outside the castle, on the path from the Forbidden Forest Edge to the castle’s side entrance, Hagrid, holding a lantern, struggled to keep up with the trio of Harry, who were running at full speed:
“You went into the Forbidden Forest late at night to see the centaurs for divination? And the centaurs revealed the prophecy about Harry and Voldemort? Quirrell is Voldemort? Merlin’s beard, can someone please explain to me what’s going on?”
The mountain road at night was not easy to navigate. Harry had stumbled several times already. Running at full speed made his lungs burn.
He was in no mood to answer Hagrid. Hermione’s stamina wasn’t much better; she was relying on sheer grit to keep going. Only Ron, whose mind was average but whose muscles were solid, still had some strength left:
“Isn’t it clear enough? Hagrid, You-Know-Who… the Dark Lord is not dead. He’s inside Quirrell right now, maybe a remnant soul or something. He wants to steal the Philosopher’s Stone to prolong his life! We told you long ago that someone wanted to steal the Philosopher’s Stone, but you adults just wouldn’t believe us!”
Perhaps Ron’s words finally helped Hagrid clear his thoughts, and he was shocked by the amount of information. Hagrid slipped and fell to the ground with a thud.
The trio had no time to mind him. Amidst Hagrid’s cries of “Harry, don’t be rash,” they continued to rush towards the castle.
They finally reached the castle’s side entrance, Harry was so out of breath he could barely stand, but the sense of urgency in his heart urged him not to stop. He was about to push the door open.
But Hermione stopped him: “If we go in like this, what do we do if we run into Filch?”
“There’s no time to worry about him now…”
“Filch won’t listen to your explanation. He’ll just think we’re making excuses and pester us endlessly. That will waste more time.”
“Then what should we do?” Ron’s eyes widened, and a malicious thought crossed his mind: “How about we cast an evil curse on him?”
Hermione rolled her eyes at him: “Stop thinking about casting evil curses on everyone. I know the Disillusionment Charm, and although it’s not very advanced, it should be enough to fool Filch…”
Ron urged, “Then hurry up and cast it!”
“Ronald, can you let me finish?” Hermione said angrily.
Seeing her really getting angry, Ron dared not speak and obediently shut his mouth.
Hermione couldn’t be bothered with him and looked at Harry: “Harry, do you have any plans? Are you going to find Professor McGonagall or Dumbledore?”
Harry blurted out, “Dumbledore, of course!”
“Then do you know the password to the Headmaster’s Office?”
“I…” Harry was dumbfounded, realizing his oversight. Of course, he didn’t know. The password to Hogwarts changed every day.
Although he had heard Vaughn say that the Headmaster’s Office password was usually the name of a wizarding world candy.
But… there were so many candies in the wizarding world, who knew which one Dumbledore used today? Besides, as a magic novice, he didn’t even know all the candy names!
Seeing him frozen, Hermione was not surprised. She was already accustomed to the recklessness and thoughtlessness of her two companions: “If you don’t have a plan, can you listen to my idea?”
“Uh, sure.”
Hermione nodded with satisfaction: “My suggestion is that we split up. Harry, you’ll go find Professor McGonagall. I’ll handle Vaughn. I know the password to the Slytherin Common Room. As for Ron, you go to the Eighth Floor and wait outside the Headmaster’s Office as quickly as possible. You can also try to guess the password. The password is the name of a wizarding world candy, and you know them best among us.”
Harry shook his head blankly.
Professor McGonagall was the Deputy Headmistress, so she would definitely know the password. Vaughn, even more so.
“Very good.” With a few words, Hermione, who had taken control of the small team’s command, began to assign tasks: “Harry, you go to Professor McGonagall. I’ll handle Vaughn. I know the password to Slytherin Academy. As for Ron, you go to the Eighth Floor and wait outside the Headmaster’s Office as quickly as possible. You can also try to guess the password. The password is the name of a wizarding world candy, and you know them best among us.”
Seeing Hermione efficiently assigning roles based on each person’s strengths, Harry suddenly felt that he had never truly understood her.
At least, before today, Harry had never realized that Hermione had such leadership qualities.
He felt a bit strange about it, but he didn’t reject it. On one hand, Hermione was his good friend. On the other hand, he was self-aware.
“Okay, I’ll listen to you.”
Seeing him agree, Ron, who was already used to letting others make decisions, naturally wouldn’t object.
After confirming the plan of action and catching their breath, Hermione cast the Disillusionment Charm. Following her spell, the three of them gradually disappeared.
At the same time, Snape, who had been lost in thought in the basement, looked up and saw his Patronus return, bringing news that Harry Potter had returned to the castle.
“I’m sorry, Lily. Dumbledore said this is all for Harry’s growth…”
Muttering to himself, Snape dismissed his Patronus and stood up.
When he walked out of the basement, the Snape who could be lost in thought, cry, and apologize was completely gone, leaving only a shell encased in coldness.
And with this shell, he would again approach and deceive his former master, fulfilling Dumbledore’s plan, and also fulfilling the vow he made more than a decade ago in pain and regret.
Harry felt that Hermione’s claim of being unskilled at the Disillusionment Charm was likely an exaggeration.
Far from unskilled, it was downright rusty!
Professor McGonagall’s office was on the Second Floor, the closest location, but halfway there, Hermione’s spell began to fail.
Worse still, he also saw Peeves, that prank-loving fellow. Ever since he was taught a lesson by Vaughn last year, his psyche had become twisted.
He dared not retaliate against Vaughn, so he spent his days finding ways to trouble other night-wandering young wizards, even cooperating with his “mortal enemy,” Filch.
If he saw them, he would surely shout loudly and call Filch, and perhaps even alert Quirrell, whose office was on the same floor but in a different corridor.
Seizing the moment while Peeves wasn’t looking, Harry quickly hid behind a thick pillar.
He could only pray that Peeves would leave quickly, or that someone would lure him away.
For example, the older students who knew Hogwarts’ secret passages and loved to wander at night.
Unfortunately, perhaps due to the increasing exam pressure recently, or perhaps because the Quidditch match today had exhausted their enthusiasm, the older students who were usually seen battling Peeves and Filch were nowhere to be seen today.
Instead, as time passed, the Disillusionment Charm cast by Hermione completely wore off, and Peeves was also approaching nearby.
Just as Harry’s heart pounded and he desperately wondered what to do, regretting not bringing his invisibility cloak today.
A voice suddenly came from afar.
The voice drawled, each word squeezed out as if from the throat, and said slowly, “Peeves – what are you doing here?”
It was Snape!
Harry pricked up his ears. He was sure he hadn’t misheard. No one else in Hogwarts spoke like that old bat.
Sure enough, Peeves’s wicked, slippery voice called out his name: “Severus—oh, no, you’re not that crybaby anymore. You’re the respected Professor Snape now, hee hee!”
“Ah, and Quirinus Quirrell, the new crybaby, hee hee. Two crybabies not sleeping, what evil deeds are they up to here?”
Quirrell?
Harry’s heart tightened!
He struggled to control the urge to peek, and could only concentrate his attention on listening to the commotion.
He heard Snape say, as flat as a stagnant pool, “Leave here, Peeves!”
Then, Snape did something, and Harry only heard a *dong*, followed by Peeves’s enraged curses: “Damn Snape, damn Quirrell, Peeves remembers you, we’ll see!”
Peeves ran off, flying over Harry’s head. Harry, startled, curled up under the pillar, not daring to make a sound.
However, the cursing Peeves didn’t notice him. Harry saw a faint black mist clinging to him, which seemed to cause him discomfort.
After Peeves left, silence fell in the corridor.
Just as Harry suspected that Snape and Quirrell might have already left, he heard Quirrell’s stuttering voice: “S-Severus, why did you call me out? W-what is it?”
Snape’s voice became low, reminding Harry of a snake slithering on the ground: “Quirinus, are you still after the Philosopher’s Stone?”
“Oh—”
Quirrell let out a suffocating sob, “I, I’m not…”
“Hmph, you can’t fool my eyes, Quirinus,” Snape snorted. “I can only say that your stupidity amazes me. That dragon from Hagrid was a gift from you, wasn’t it? You wanted to find out how to get past that three-headed dog from him?”
“It’s really a shame for your dried-up brain. And I must congratulate you, Vaughn Weasley brought that dragon to Dumbledore. That old madman easily connected Hagrid’s loose mouth, and then he readjusted the protective enchantments for the Philosopher’s Stone, excluding that three-headed dog from the mechanism. How about that, genius?”
But facing Snape’s taunts, Quirrell only sobbed, “I didn’t… I, I don’t know what you’re saying…”
Bang!
With a dull thud, Harry heard Quirrell groan, as if Snape had pressed him against the wall.
“You should be grateful that I, who am loyal to the master, am here to clean up your mess. Otherwise, Dumbledore would have caught you long ago. You should also be grateful that I have cultivated some connections in the Ministry over the years, and after much effort, I finally used Vaughn Weasley’s matter today to have him, along with Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall, transferred to the Ministry.”
“Tomorrow… no, it should be today. Today, I can secure the longest possible duration. For this, I will temporarily disrupt the functioning of the Floo Network to ensure they do not return.”
“The biggest obstacle has been removed. You’d better complete the task assigned by the master today!”
“This is the last chance before the summer holidays. By the time summer arrives, Dumbledore will have moved the Philosopher’s Stone. So, if you mess this up again… you’d better think carefully about what kind of place to find for your grave!”
Snape’s venomous words made Harry’s face turn pale and cold sweat stream down his forehead.
He suddenly felt that everything that had happened today was like a nightmare with no end in sight.
The centaur’s prophecy, Voldemort, the cruel reality of his greatest reliance, Dumbledore, being transferred away, and… Snape’s true face!
He suddenly felt like mocking himself for having studied Legilimency with Snape. During that time, he had changed his opinion of Snape more than once, thinking that the Potions professor was not a bad person, and that his ill feelings towards him were probably too biased!
You are such an idiot, an incorrigible fool, Harry Potter!
Harry’s heart tightened, making it difficult to breathe. He wanted to shout, to vent his indignation wildly.
But he controlled himself. He knew now was not the time for resentment and wilfulness. He had to pass on the intelligence gained from this accidental encounter to his friends.
He would protect the Philosopher’s Stone on this day when Vaughn, Dumbledore, and Professor McGonagall were away!
At some point, the corridor had fallen silent, and Quirrell’s sobbing could no longer be heard. Harry cautiously peeked out. In the direction from which the voices had come, only a few candlesticks were burning quietly. Both Quirrell and Snape had left.
Harry dared not delay and quickly ran back to Gryffindor Tower.
Harry had not lost his mind.
Even though he felt like his chest was burning, he could still distinguish what was most important.
He had to return to Gryffindor Tower, retrieve his invisibility cloak, and pick up Ron and Hermione. He needed to tell his two friends the information; he needed their wisdom, their support.
Vaughn’s existence prevented Harry from becoming inflated and opinionated by immersing himself in the unique “Chosen One” persona, as he might have in his original destiny.
This was also a normal phenomenon.
When someone your age completely outshines you in every way, even if he doesn’t intend to influence you, his very existence is a constant reminder:
What are you being arrogant about? There’s someone even more powerful!
Under Vaughn’s daily blows and abuses, Harry now had a very clear understanding of himself. He knew he was not the “Chosen One,” nor did he possess any powerful magic capable of killing Voldemort. His brain wasn’t even that sharp.
He was like the ordinary young wizards around him, perhaps even worse in some aspects.
His only advantage was probably having the title of “The Boy Who Lived” and being well-liked, at least holding a unique position in the hearts of professors and the Headmaster.
But this only advantage had also disappeared with the information revealed by Snape just now.
Professor McGonagall, Dumbledore, and Vaughn had all been ingeniously transferred away from Hogwarts by the sinister Snape. Harry was horrified to realize that his main pillars of support at Hogwarts were all gone!
Now, all he could rely on were Ron and Hermione.
Back in his dormitory, he rummaged under his bed for his invisibility cloak. Neville, in the bed next to him, was woken by the noise. He rubbed his eyes and sat up: “Harry, what are you doing? You look terrible.”
Harry didn’t know what his complexion looked like now; it must have been very dishevelled. He replied perfunctorily, “I’m fine, Neville. Go back to sleep!”
He didn’t ask Neville to join him because he didn’t want to involve more people.
If possible, he wouldn’t even want to involve Ron and Hermione.
Putting on the invisibility cloak, Harry hurried out.
…
Hermione stood in Vaughn’s empty dormitory, looking bewildered.
Her journey had not been smooth at all. First, she had overestimated her Disillusionment Charm. After descending to the dungeons from the First Floor （Slytherin Academy occupied only part of Hogwarts’s dungeons, located in the dungeon maze ）, the spell began to fail.
Fortunately, even Filch and Madam Rosmerta rarely patrolled the dungeons. It was gloomy and dark, and even animals were afraid.
Peeves never came here either, because the Bloody Baron, the ghost Peeves feared the most, was here.
This gave Hermione enough time to solve the problem of getting lost in the maze. The dungeon maze at night seemed to have different routes than during the day. It took her a long time to barely find the stone wall where Vaughn had carved the words “Sea View Room,” and utter the password to enter successfully.
As a result, Vaughn wasn’t here!
Hermione didn’t know where he had gone, and there was no one to ask.
Just as she was at a loss, she heard light, bouncing footsteps outside. She quickly ran out and saw Guoguocha leaping about, sniffing, as if trying to figure out who had intruded into its territory.
Seeing it was her, Guoguocha snorted, then meowed and happily rubbed against her feet.
In normal times, Hermione would have hugged and petted it, but she wasn’t in the mood today: “Guoguocha, is Vaughn behind you?”
Hermione noticed the dew on Guoguocha’s body. It had come from outside. A cat that couldn’t speak couldn’t utter passwords and needed someone to open the door for it.
But to Hermione’s surprise, Guoguocha shook its head repeatedly. It broke free from her embrace, squatted on the ground, opened the small bag hanging around its neck, and fumbled inside with its chubby paws, pulling out a portable music player of the same style as hers.
Guoguocha extended its paw, carefully pressed the play button, and Vaughn’s voice immediately rang out:
“Pure-blood forever!”
This was the latest password for Slytherin.
Hermione’s expression was a little strange. Guoguocha’s demonstration was clear: Vaughn was not with it, and in fact, had likely left Hogwarts.
But the problem was here: what kind of urgent matter had made Vaughn not even have time to notify and entrust her with caring for Guoguocha?
He had never done this before when he had something to do.
As she was thinking, Guoguocha meowed twice and continued to rummage in its bag, pulling out a transparent potion bottle.
Wisps of mist swirled in the bottle, but the mist was not the point. The focus was on the crystal-clear water droplet encased in thick mist inside the bottle!
Hermione could sense that the water droplet contained a peculiar power!
This is…?
Seemingly understanding her confusion, Guoguocha put down the bottle, then flapped its front paws twice, and then held the bottle opening to its eyes.
“Uh…” Hermione was stunned for a moment before realizing that Guoguocha seemed to be demonstrating the origin of the water droplet in the bottle. She watched Guoguocha blink frequently and use the bottle opening to catch it, tentatively asking, “Tears?”
“Meow!”
Guoguocha cried out happily, then began a new demonstration. It struggled a few times as if gravely injured and dying, lay down, then held the bottle opening to its mouth, simulating the action of “drinking” the water droplet, and then immediately stood up energetically, looking at Hermione with bright eyes.
“Meow~”
Understand?
Hermione certainly understood. Tears, drinking, resurrection… There might be many magical things in the wizarding world she didn’t know, but tears with such powerful effects were something she happened to know of, as it was also one of Hogwarts’s Headmaster Dumbledore’s trademarks, recorded in 《Hogwarts, a chapter of school history》.
Phoenix Tears!
There were many drugs in the wizarding world that had miraculous healing effects, such as Comfrey, which they learned in their first year. However, Phoenix Tears were still highly praised in 《a chapter of school history》 because, in addition to healing injuries, they could also detoxify and even alleviate some damage caused by Dark Arts.
Hermione didn’t know the conditions for the formation of Phoenix Tears, but according to the records, they were undoubtedly precious.
And this precious treasure was now being pulled out of a bag of dried fish by a cat and placed before her in 3 bottles.
Guoguocha’s chubby paws pushed the 3 bottles of Phoenix Tears towards Hermione.
“For me?”
“Meow!” Guoguocha nodded.
Hermione frowned slightly and thought, “Did Vaughn tell you to give them to me?”
Obviously, a cat couldn’t possess such treasures.
And in her impression, Guoguocha wasn’t a particularly generous personality.
Unless it was at its owner’s command.
Guoguocha didn’t respond this time, as if suddenly becoming an ordinary pet that couldn’t understand human language. It licked its paw, “Meow meow!”
Things were getting a bit strange.
Leaving the Slytherin Common Room, Hermione stood in Vaughn’s empty dormitory, holding the 3 bottles of Phoenix Tears, feeling a peculiar sense of dissonance.
Why did Vaughn leave so suddenly?
And why did he give her Phoenix Tears, and 3 bottles at that?
She couldn’t figure it out, just subconsciously felt it was strange.
“Hermione!”
As she was thinking, she heard Harry’s voice.
Turning around, she saw Harry and Ron’s heads floating in the deep darkness of the dungeon maze a few steps away.
Hmm, it looked a bit scary at first glance.
It was the invisibility cloak; she had used it many times.
Hermione walked over, and Harry pulled aside the invisibility cloak, covering her as well. He glanced at the Phoenix Tears in her hand and asked, “What is that? You didn’t find Vaughn, did you?”
