Chapter 33: Chain reactions
The next day, I go to classes as usual. I did not know what happened to Professor Quirrell yet because I didn't have his lesson today. I kind of hope it worked. I wanted to get rid of him quickly, if possible.
My first class was History of Magic with Professor Binns. Contrary to what I usually did, I slept in his class today. I was exhausted after my shenanigans last night. I put a cushioning charm on my book to act as a pillow. It was very satisfying. I might have drooled a little.
My friends looked at me weirdly after class. It was unusual for me to sleep during the lesson, even if it was Professor Binns' class. But they did not say anything to respect my privacy. Did I say that I love them? No?
Our second class was Transfiguration. Professor McGonagall had us review all spells we have gone through so far. She corrected some of our work and answered any questions we had.
Anthony is very good at Transfiguration. I'd say that he is a natural. I am good at it too, but not as smooth as him. There's just something about his method that makes it very fluid. He even tried to do them wordlessly a few times and succeeded one time. I am happy for him. He has been working hard.
After our transfiguration class, we headed to the Great Hall to eat lunch. I was distracted as I was still sleepy. I really wish to be back in my room to sleep now.
I sluggishly took a seat at the Ravenclaw table and piled some food into my plate from the buffet. The Hogwarts elves made a lot of food today. Or do they usually make this amount of food? Well, I wouldn't know. I eat Jelly's food, usually.
While I happily eat my food, I suddenly notice that the Great Hall is noisy with murmurs. What is going on?
"Yo, Kevin. Do you know what's going on?" I asked Kevin, asking about the murmuring.
Kevin is the unofficial gossip king in our Ravenclaw year. He's got mad spying skills.
"You don't hear it from me. But, one Hufflepuff student said Professor Quirrell's gone. He didn't attend any of his morning classes", Kevin said.
"Does this Hufflepuff guy know why?" Sue asked him.
"Heard from a Slytherin gal he dead. But you don't hear it from me, of course", said Kevin.
"For real?? How did he suddenly di... erm.. go? What's going on?" Anthony asked.
"That's the thing, isn't it? People are wondering about it. Nobody knows", Kevin said mysteriously. He likes to do that. It's quite annoying, to be honest.
Well, I actually have an idea, but I kept silent, obviously. I wonder if he died last night or sometime after? The book mentioned that the process was quick and efficient. Although it specifically said the wraith would be gone. The book did not mention a wraith that possessed a host. So I was unsure if Professor Quirrell would be spared or not. I took a gamble and was done with it. Whatever the result, it would be a great experiment on my part. I would scribble Professor's Quirrell fate on the side of the book later.
I wished I cared about Professor Quirrell's well-being, but I did not. I took a very clinical approach to this and deemed it as necessary experimentation for the greater good. *hehehe*
I never said I was a good person.
_________________
We did not get any news after Kevin's explanation. We thought that at some point the staff would tell us something, but they actually didn't. Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall were not even present at the Great Hall during lunch hours. I wonder where they were? Did they investigate Professor's Quirrell disappearance? And by extension, checking the stone's condition too?
I figured they would connect the dots and suspected him to be possessed by Voldemort now. They would also suspect him to try to steal the stone due to Voldemort's presence.
I believe they also know now that the stone's gone too. Have they figured out a third party was responsible for the theft? I don't suppose they found any stone in Professor Quirrell's possession.
Oh well. Whatever it is, I am glad that I've shipped the stone to my House via Gilly after I woke up this morning.
_______________
After lunch, we go to our last class, which is Charms. We would learn about a cushioning spell, spongify.
I don't want to brag, but we Ravenclaws are pros at this spell. We need it to cushion any chairs in the library as we read there for hours. We are some die-hard bookworms, after all.
So, at the end of the class, we had a very excited Charms professor giving 50 points to the Ravenclaw house. We all succeeded on our first try, much to the jealousy of the Gryffindors.
I notice that Ron hasn't realized Scabbers' gone yet. It was not uncommon for the rat to go missing for days before. So he could simply think of it as a normal occurrence and that the rat would be back soon. Well, he will be surprised I suppose. *hehe*
I don't have any grudges toward Ron, honestly. I just like to mess things up a bit for my profit. *smile evilly*
At the end of the Charms class, I went straight to my room. I would use my time before dinner to get my much-needed sleep. I would worry about everything else later if I actually care to.
________________
Hours after my beauty sleep, I sit at the Ravenclaw table in the Great Hall to eat dinners with my comrades. We talk about nonsense things, main gossip about who's dating who. I, being informed daily by Jelly, am very knowledgeable about it. So, I use it to fuel up the gossip. Subtly, of course. I don't want to seem too eager. I do have an image to uphold. *meh*
At the end of the dinner, Professor Dumbledore got up from the table and addressed Quirrell's issue.
"May I have your attention, please. Thank you. I have announcements to make. Professor Quirrell is, unfortunately, unable to teach due to an incident last night. And therefore, I would be substituting him in DADA class for 4th-7th year students, while Professor Snape will help the 1st-3rd year class until I get a new DADA teacher. I hope it won't be long. That is all students. Now that..."
*flap* *flap**flap**flap**flap**flap**flap**flap*
Coincidently when he was about to close the dinner, tens of owls come inside the Great Hall bringing newspapers (?) It is very unusual. They usually come at breakfast. There must be breaking news for it to be delivered so soon.
Getting my copy of the Daily Prophet, I see the headline:
'
Wednesday, 13th of April, 1992
SIRIUS BLACK ESCAPED AZKABAN!
Readers, alarming news has reached us this evening from sources inside the Department of Magical Law and Enforcement (DMLE) that Sirius Black has escaped Azkaban. He was believed to have escaped earlier this morning by blasting through the wall of his prison cell. Less to be known of his whereabouts at the moment.
Sirius Black was responsible for the murder of 12 muggles eleven years ago. He was believed to be the right-hand man of the Dark Lord Voldemort. He was incarcerated in Azkaban since then, until his ultimate escape, TODAY!
The Ministry and DMLE have not been responding to our owls for comment. We are waiting for their response soon.
We in the Prophet suggest you stay vigilance and report any sighting. Enclosed was a picture of him from his arrest.
Stay safe everyone.
Daily Prophet Correspondent
Benjamin Pullman
For more information about Sirius Black see page 2
For more information about Dark Lord Voldemort see page 4
For more information about the murder case 11 years ago see page 7
'
There was a minute of silence when we were reading the paper. But then suddenly, people just panicked.
I was in a daze. Sirius escaped.
I really hope he doesn't go here. No dementors, please.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone