Eccentric Wizard Chapter 19 (Patreon)

Not beta read yet.

This chapter is a bit short, though more will be added soon enough.

Next update: An Archer's Promise, A Fake Familiar Reborn and then Date Coiling Sword

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-???-


"Heee kneeew," a sinister voice spread inside an old bathroom connected to the staff lounge, this one belonging to the teacher of the Dark Arts. 


Barren with barely any decorations or furniture aside a bed, dresser, chair and table. The other trait one would identify this room belonging to Quirrell would be the numerous bundles of garlic and scented candles covering every corner of the room, endangering the room to go up in flames if another candle was added.


"I don't know how…, my lo-lord. My cover was perfect, even Dumbledore did not suspect m-me." The stutter continued, rather than being a forced habit to sell a cowardly image, this time he wasn't doing it just for show. "Snape may have suspected something but it would have been too late."


A hand mirror held firmly, the man examined his face and winced at the extent of the damage. Blackened eyes that had swollen twice their size from the accumulated blood. One red eyes from a probably burst vein, building heavily bruised cheeks and a broken front tooth. The misaligned nose was thankfully healed by now but the process was slow. He wasn't an expert healer like Madame Pomfrey who would have returned him to his uninjured self in a matter of a day or two at most. But for certain reasons, Quirrell refused to let anyone get close to his face let alone try to take off his turban — that would have been a disaster. 


"Yet heeere you aaare, a pathetic dog liiiicking his woounds. The chaaaance of it beeeing a unfortorte aaaacident is neeegligible." 


The words of his lord held weight in Quirrell's mind, the chances of it being an accident were low but not impossible. If it was the former, then question changed to why? Why aim to harm him? 


Jarius Malfoy for all accounts didn't hold any form of friendship with Harry Potter as far as he had researched and observed. Both in class and outside, they probably spoke twice at most and even then the conversation looked quite formal and quick to end. Unlike how he treated his twin brother and even the Muggle girl. On many occasions had his brother even showcased dislike towards the boy who lived, a sentiment he thought was shared by Jarius. 


His observation was further improved after getting word from some of the teachers that the entire Slytherin team received a generous gift from the Malfoy family head. This happening the time Harry Potter received his broom. He even became a Seeker of all things! Clearly showing the boy's desire to rival Harry Potter.


One matter still confused him.


"But my lord, we have conversed quite generously last time. The boy had showed a favourable impression and we finished on good terms. Not once did we our words resort to enemity and we ended on good terms. I sincerely fail to see what could have led him to dislike me to such an extent." Had something happened in the background he wasn't aware of?


"Foooool!" The voice hissed, sending a creeping feeling of fear and anxiety within his bones. "Use your braaaiin for once!" 


Was he missing something crucial here? The man frowned, pondering heavily on everything he knew so far. Yet for every idea he found the end path reached a dead end or didn't make sense. Quirrell was immaculated in his disguise, despite being a former Ravenclaw known for his curiosity and wise nature — he managed to fool the entirety of Hogwarts with a fake backstory. Using the truth coupled with fabricated facts, he weaved a web of lies and deceit concerning his time after graduating. Exaggerating the tragedies about vampires, his fear of shadows and much more to make himself look as much pathetic as possible. 


To be honest, even he never expected to be possessed by the remnant soul of 'He who must not be named'. Voldemort exceeded Quirrell in every way possible, all mental defence crumbled within seconds and he lost his free will. On more than one occasion did he try to resit the Dark Lord's control but his endevours were fruitless. 


"Even if Lucius Malfoy researched my background, he wouldn't find anything of importance or abnormal. Then it's impossible for Jarius to suspect me or known about my secrets, that's just an impossibility." 


"Gooood, you're finally using your heeeaed." The slithery voice spoke, complementing him with a tinge of mockery within them. Something Quirrell ignored due to getting used to it. "Contiiinue."


"Right, sometimes the most complicated of puzzles have the simplest solutions. I concur that the accident must have truly been just that — an accident. He was planning on hitting Harry and due to some unfortunate circumstances the attack missed and hit me. He's a Seeker and not a Beater, so it's logical why he wouldn't be able to properly aim th—"


"You idiot!" The voice screamed, giving Quirrell a head splitting migraine that made his nose bleed. "Itsssss obviously Dumbledore whooo is behind thissss! He obviously… cough!" It got weaker, starting to have a coughing fit which worried the Professor. 


"My lord, it's imperative that you rest! You're still not ready." He feared for his own life rather than Voldemort's. If the latter died then there was a large possibility for him to follow along the same path. They were connected to a deep level that only the soul could connect to and the severance of just a connection through the soul dying meant the main body would die as well — which was himself. 


"You neeeeed to… more blood… as soon as posssssible." The Dark Lord's voice became fainted and weaker, as if trying to combat the urge to fall asleep.


"I need not to worry, my lord. I shall depart for the forest tonight and feast on unicorn blood." 


"..."


He wasn't replying, which meant that Voldemort truly did fall back into his deep slumber. The attack from the Bludger woke the old soul back for a few minutes in his weakened state. 


Quirrell sighed, feeling his face still burn from rhe impact. Right now, it was better he'd postpone his classes and make preparations for this night's hunt and recover the next day. Unicorn blood held a tremendous amount of magic inside used for different rituals and potion making. In his younger days, he learned to brew a healing potion from using this ingredient. 


This gave him more incentive to go inside the forest that night for the blood. Even sleeping uncomfortable as applying the slightest bit of pressure upon his face caused an enormous amount of pain.


"Everything is a mess…" First came the incident with the troll which nearly crippled him, Quirrell was no slouch when it came to magic to defend himself, but the even happened so unexpectedly that the first image his mind managed to register was the body sized club heading straight for his face and a white feather.


No matter what, he decided to wait for further orders on Jarius to decide what to do with the boy. Lucius Malfoy was a Death Eater, trying to kill his son could potentially earn the ire of his lord and rage of the Malfoy family. 


"I still don't understand why doesn't he just reveal his return to Snape, Malfoy head and the other Death Eaters. Surely knowing of this they would go to extreme length to revive him and remove the need to acquire the stone." He did suggest bringing Snape in and reveal everything to the man, but Voldemort vehemently opposed this idea and even tortured him for days to never get such an idea. 


Admittedly, he had reason to question Snape’s loyalty; the former spent eleven years working for his most feared and hated enemy after all. But the Malfoys was another story entirely, their sour relationship with Albums Dumbledore was no secret. 


In the end, all he could do was release a long sigh, taking a bag of ice and applying to his face with a wince. 


"My lord is quite paranoid… there is nothing I can do about this." 


The first trial should have been a breeze for him. Quirrell uncovered the existence of a three headed dog as the first challenge. In all of Hogwarts, he only knew a single person who could have raised such a creatures and and fortunately enough, he managed to dig out some information concerning this beast and its weakness — by exchanging an egg he found during his ventures within the deepest ruins around the world. 


A small price to pay in order to get done with this matter as soon as oossible.


{Break}


-Headmaster's office-


When I first set food inside Hogwarts, there were many areas inside I dreaded placing my foot in, one of them being Fluffy's room for obvious reasons — but I ended up doing it anyway. The castle held many secrets, some rather benign while others deadly for anyone unlucky enough to discover them. 


Dumbledore's office was among the top forbidden areas in my mind. 


He was an ancient man that held many secrets and plans for things even I couldn't predict. I was old, but that didn't mean my wisdom and cunningness would contest against these terrifying monsters and claiming that no one could surpasse was the epitom of foolishness and a sign of an ego far too big for my own good. I was confident but not blind, mistakes were bound to happen sooner or later due to my own hubris if I wasn't careful enough. 


"That was quite a exciting game to specate, both houses performed perfectly. Sherbet lemon?"


In front of me sat the old Headmaster offering me a piece of like green candy which was his favourite given the small pile he had on the corner of his desk.


"Thank you," I accepted, having something sweet helped my mind to focus and to lower my stress. It wasn't a Drought of Peace by any means, though trying a few of these in a day wouldn't put my health at risk in comparison. Potions were a double edged sword, Snape made sure to hammer that concept deep inside my brain many times in the past. "And thank you for the praise, our team has trained for months to keep their current position."


"Yess indeed, Markus Flint in particular has quite the… ferocious way of competing against the Gryffindors."


More like deadly, the man was one bad incident away from becoming a full on murder. The boy was breaking bones and teeths on the regular so I began wondering if he didn't hospitalize the last captain and just took his place. 


"Though you have played wonderfully, playing the role of a Seeker but chiming in at specific intervals to keep to help out your team — a wonderful display of showmanship and teamwork." He said, making me uncomfortable with how genuine he looked given what happened at the end. I was expecting some kind of scolding and punishment when summoned to his office. "You and Miles Bletchley performed a marvelous feat of teamwork, for your first game I was quite taken back by your performance, Jarius"


Was he trying to get on my good side? These compliments were appreciated but I didn't know how to react to them afterwards. So instead, I just smiled and nodded. 


"Yes well, too bad the play ended on a sour note due to my recklessness." It was better to stop this fake scenario and proceed to the main reason why I came here. "There is no need to ignore the elephant in the room. I'm sure you called me here in relation to what happened to Professor Quirrel, right?" 


Dumbledore nodded, "I'm afraid so. Before I cast any sort of judgment, I would like to hear your side of the story."


For some reason, I suspected Dumbledore already knew everything. "I did it to protect Harry." That sounded noble enough, saving the hero would earn me some good points — especially if I hurt a villain in the first place. "His broom was being jinxed, I remembered our previous conversation and naturally started to suspect Quirrell. You could understand my panicked state when he dangled on his broom, barely able to hold on. Harry Potter and I aren't close enough to be considered good friends, but I certainly think of him as a rather friendly fellow student who has a good personality." 


I wasn't lying exactly, my words were mixed with the truth and some exaggeration but calling it a lie would be false. 


"I wanted to catch him if he fell or wanted to have one of his teammates proceed to help him — but I was afraid that it would be too late. So I did the only thing I thought would solve the problem."


I saw him continuing to nod, not showing the smallest sign of anger or disappointment. 


"I understand you must have been in a lot of stress, if Harry were to fall in a potentially deadly fall, then I would have saved him regardless. Furthermore, assaulting a Professor in such a public environment is a foolish mistake, Jarius." 


"To be fair, I was aiming for anything but his head, the spot next to him to be more precise." 


"Hah," the Headmaster sighed. "Nevertheless, I acknowledge that you acted as Harry's protector in a crucial moment but your methods were anything but acceptable. And for that, I'm afraid I'll have to deduct some points from your house. Fifty points."


That was to be expected. Calculating the total points in my head, we were nearly equal to the Gryffrindors still with a small lead. 


"But I advise you to be careful," this time he looked at me with a worried face. "I can't protect you this entire time, if Quirrell tries to take a step over the line then your life might be in danger. It would be best if you keep your distance from him, and let fire die down naturally with time" 


Agreeing with him, we talked for a few more minutes before he dismissed me. 


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Outside the office, I was surprised to see three boys waiting for me. The Potter gang with Harry, Ron and Neville. 


"Uh, surprised to see you guys here." I said, not knowing why they came to see me… or was it to talk with the Headmaster?


Ron was the first one to speak, he looked quite furious. "You backstabbing Slytherins are all the sa—"


"Ron." Harry stopped him from going any further. 


Oh, they must be here for what happened during the Quidditch match obviously. Ron looked like he was ready to sucker punch me in the face, Neville hid behind the two while Harry's face was a mix of many emotions. 


"How are you, Harry? Hope you didn't get injured or hurt, if I were you I'd get the broom checked for any damages or curses. You never know with such things, best not let it happen twice."


"Curses that you put ins—"


"Ron! That's enough, he wasn't the one responsible for what happened!" 


"But he shot a bloody Bludger at you!" 


"It didn't hit me, he was aiming for someone else. Weren't you?" The bespectacled boy watched me intently, almost trying to see past my veil and peer into some clue upon my face. Too bad for him, I kept my poker face.


"I'm afraid I don't understand." 


"You!" That further infuriated Ron, "You know exactly what we're here for!"


"No I don't."


"Yes, you do!" 


"Like I seriously don't." 


"Stop playing dumb with us!" 


Ron sure was stubborn.


"Jarius, we know about Snape… Neville saw him jinxing my broom. I realize you weren't aiming for me but at him, and unfortunately the shot ended up hitting Quirrell. And… even if others don't see it, I want to thank you."


"..."


Wow, I was speechless at the level of misunderstanding going on here. I guess no matter what, Harry would still have some form of wariness toward Snape. Though given how ominous the man looked I couldn't blame them from believing so. 


"Wait, how did Neville see Snape jinxing your broom?" 


"A-Ah, my gran sent me a pair of binoculars to watch the game." The shy boy answered. 


"..."


Talk about timing. It seemed that one way or another, one of the Potter group would always find Snape in the middle of countering Quirrell's jinx and misunderstand the situation. 


"Right… well good for you guys, I'm going to go now." I said before leaving the place quickly, I didn't want to get mixed in another layer of misunderstanding.


"H-Hey! Don't think I'm not on to your schemes Malfoy!" Ron shouted at me. 


Good for him.


{Break}


-Slytherin Dorm-


"Hey, is everything alright?" 


Going back to the dorm room, I was met with both Hermione and Draco waiting for me in the main living area. Theodore and the rest were nowhere to be seen, probably up in their room, and the general area was silent and calm.


"Hey you guys, yeah, nothing major aside from some slight scolding and losing a few points." I tried to calm them down, they were stressing over the matter more than me. "Come on, let's sit down and calm ourselves."


They followed suit and we sat down near the fire. I looked around to see if there were other people nearby and found the coast to be clear. 


"Well, I guess I can tell you guys what happen given you all have a basic idea with matters relating to Quirrell." 


"Wait, you told her about Quirrell!?" Draco exclaimed, most likely pissed that I involved a stranger in his eyes to this matter. I wondered if I should tell him that Hermione knew about this entire thing before he did?


"To be fair, she found out about the matter the first time I tried to go through the trial chambers." I then looked at Hermione. "So I guess that gives you the right to know that we tried the trials once again and I made it to the end."


"What!?" Now it was her turn to be flabbergasted. "When!?" 


And just like that, I started to put both of them up to date with the entire situation putting aside some information concerning my first attempt at using the troll to kill Quirrell — keeping it between me and Draco. Of course, I also stayed silent about the matter concerning Voldemort's involvement and his parasitic nature. Or at least… not yet.


"This is crazy," the girl muttured with her hands holding up her face. "So not only is the Headmaster aware of Quirrell's nature as a thief here to steal the philosopher's stone but he's letting this criminal stay as a teacher… And you got through the many trials and didn't even say anything to me!? No wonder I couldn't find you last time, even your brother was missing!" 


"It happened out of nowhere, the troll attack was an opportunity I did not account for thus could not have called you since everyone was in a panic to rush out. Draco was closest to me thus I brought him with me." 


"Humph, of course even if we could it wouldn't have happened. You were bound to ruin it one way or another." Draco added, eliciting a furious response from the Brunette. 


"Excuse me!? Do you want me to remind you who helped you and your little friend group with their homework all this time? Me! With my knowledge of spells and artifacts as a whole, I would have been a bigger boon to the team than you, Draco. Tell me, what did you do? Following Jarius around while unable to contribute anything I bet."


That caused Draco to lose his temper.


"Why you little filthy mud—"


"Enough!" I shouted, fluctuating my magic a bit to cause the cups to crack and the fire the grow dim for a few seconds. Both kids stopped shouting and I made sure to garner their attention. "Look, fighting between ourselves is pointless and acheives absolutely nothing. Instead, we need to focus on more pressing matters with the future of this school and Quirrell's situation. I started off on the a bad note by trying to do everything by myself initially and held back many information to each of you, but now it's time to put our resources together and act as a team." 


There were still some things that I preferred to keep under wraps and deal with them by myself, though that didn't mean this wasn't important descision. Having a group to face the challenges in the upcoming years was a necessity. Ever book needed a villain more impressive than the last, a sense of danger that scaled with the older the cast got and possibly getting darker with each passing year. That was what my guess we're for everything after the first year, given the second movie was vastly more dangerous as well — I couldn't imagine how horrifying the third, fourth and everything after that would be. 


I just needed to be ready with people by my side to help out. 


I hoped nothing bad happened to either of these two in the later years. Like a tragic death of a major character or something similar to that. 


'Even if it happened, I'll make sure theybstay safe.'


I clapped my hand. 


"Let's not get hung up with depressing thoughts. I have a plan in mind that will lift your spirits." 


"What is it?" Hermione was curious and asked. 


I smirked, "I made a new friend not that long ago, I want to introduce you all to her!" 


I asked Dobby to prepare a bag filled with the finest piece of meat, it was time for me to meet the Thestral from last time.