The next evening, Link finally slowly walked out of the dormitory.
With the help of Elixir of Life and Death, he completed a full fifteen-hour sleep, and at this moment, he was full of energy.
Taking a deep breath, Link drank a bottle of hunger-relieving and nutritional potion. Only after the feeling of hunger in his belly completely disappeared did he step out and head to the Great Hall.
And at this time, the Great Hall was also extremely lively. A large number of Gryffindors and Slytherins were gathering near the entrance hall, glaring at the four hourglasses that represented each house's points.
This special scene also caught Link's attention. He slowly shifted his gaze to the hourglasses and then discovered that the ones belonging to Gryffindor and Slytherin had already decreased significantly.
This made the corners of Link's mouth unconsciously curl up.
But Link, who wasn't reassured, didn't leave. He quickly approached the nearby crowd of Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws. At this moment, in the center of the crowd, a Ravenclaw student was repeatedly describing what had happened.
After listening for a while, Link finally understood everything.
It turned out that last night, Harry and the others' plan to escort the dragon did run into some accidents.
On the way back, they were unfortunately caught red-handed by Filch. And just as unlucky was Malfoy, he was reportedly following Harry at the time.
As punishment, Gryffindor was docked a total of 150 points according to the number of people, while Slytherin was docked 50 points.
The Ravenclaw student speaking seemed very excited. That was understandable, because after Gryffindor and Slytherin were docked points, Ravenclaw had now temporarily become the first place.
Such a surprise would bring the same reaction from anyone.
Unfortunately, he wouldn't be excited for long. Because his behavior of going around announcing Harry and the others' misfortunes quickly drew dissatisfaction from Gryffindor and Slytherin.
Watching the crowd crashing and squeezing into a mess, Link smiled slightly, then slowly retreated into the shadows and walked toward the girls' bathroom on the third floor.
Rustle~
As Link moved, a faint rustling sound came from the wall beside him.
Immediately after, a familiar voice sounded from within the wall.
"Link, sorry, I still haven't found the whereabouts of that liar."
"Don't worry, Arkam," Link replied with a smile. "He'll definitely show up tonight. We just need to wait in the Forbidden Forest."
"Tonight? Yay!" Arkam spoke happily.
It actually also found it strange why Link was so confident. But that didn't matter. What mattered was that tonight, Link would go out running with it again. Whether or not they ran into that liar tonight, having Link with it was enough.
Thinking this, Arkam's little tail wagged happily.
Link knew nothing about Arkam's reaction. He hid inside the bathroom and only when curfew time came did he silently pull out the Felix Felicis potion from his chest and drank it.
"Hooo~"
He let out a long, deep breath. A glimmer of excitement flashed in Link's eyes.
Soon, he would reunite with Voldemort. But unlike last time, at this moment their identities had been completely reversed.
Link firmly believed that he would be the hunter, and Voldemort and Quirrell were nothing more than his prey.
Thinking this, the corners of Link's mouth curled up again. He turned his head and looked at the rustling wall like a whispering snake, and gently said, "You can't wait either, can you? Hehe, let's set off, Arkam."
"Tonight, let's hunt to our heart's content!"
———
[At the same time, in the Headmaster's Office of Hogwarts.]
Dumbledore was sitting behind his eagle-clawed desk with no expression, reviewing sheets of parchment. Across from him, sat a clearly restless Snape.
"You know what will happen if the surveillance on Quirrell is suddenly lifted, right?" Snape finally couldn't hold it in. He stood up with a whoosh and shouted.
"I know." Dumbledore didn't even lift his head.
"Then do you know that tonight is also the day Harry enters the Forbidden Forest for detention!"
"Of course I know."
"Then why did you deliberately choose to fully lift the surveillance on Quirrell on this very day!?" Snape slammed the desk and roared. "Do you want Harry to die!?"
The desk shook violently, making Dumbledore's pen slip and completely ruin a previously neat signature.
He sighed, finally raised his head, and said, "This is a test for Harry. Not only that, the trapdoor, the Mirror of Erised, and even the Philosopher's Stone are all part of his trials. As for safety, Hagrid isn't someone to be underestimated. Severus, you know that. We don't have much time left, and we can only use this method to help Harry grow quickly."
"Is that so!?" Snape took a few steps back with a twisted expression. "Then do you know that Link also went out tonight? If I'm not mistaken, his target is also Quirrell!"
"Hmm?" Dumbledore's face finally showed a trace of surprise, but it was soon replaced by a smile.
"Isn't that perfect? Link's recent performance has exceeded our expectations, and he indeed needs a turning point to test what he's become." Dumbledore said with a smile. "Severus, don't worry. As far as I know, didn't you already teach him Sectumsempra and Occlumency? That child will be fine."
"If I had known he learned offensive spells just to deal with Quirrell and that mysterious man, I definitely wouldn't have taught him!"
Snape roared in anger. But as he stared at the smiling Dumbledore behind the eagle-clawed desk, he suddenly seemed to remember something, and the corner of his mouth also lifted into a smile.
He slowly leaned closer to Dumbledore, squinted, and said with a playful tone, "Aren't you afraid Link might just kill Quirrell outright? If that happens, no matter how many traps you've set up with the Philosopher's Stone and trapdoor, without Quirrell as the key character, all your year-long plans for Harry would be ruined, wouldn't they?"
Dumbledore chuckled lightly at that and shook his head.
"Severus, I think you may have misunderstood. Just like Harry, Link is also our hope to completely eliminate Voldemort. So if what you said really happens and Link kills Quirrell, that would actually be good news. Because it means our efforts are finally getting some results. As for Harry's trials and training afterward, you don't need to worry, I have arrangements."
"I'm sorry, Severus. I hope you won't blame me."
Hearing Dumbledore's sincere words, Snape's face turned extremely ugly.
"You're nothing but a cold-blooded butcher!"
With that, Snape swung his black robe dramatically and stormed toward the office exit without looking back.
Watching his back, Dumbledore behind the desk sighed and slowly said toward Snape's figure, "Go, Severus. Go protect those children. With you there, I can be at ease. And while you're at it, take a look, see how outstanding the children we've nurtured truly are."
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