章 53: Chapter 53: The Room on the Fourth Floor

In the end, Neville was still sent to Madam Pomfrey's infirmary—not for any serious reason, but simply because Snape couldn't stand looking at him any longer.

The more he looked, the angrier he became.

Once order was restored to the class, everyone resumed brewing their potions.

Under Taylor's patient guidance, Luke quickly brewed his own potion.

He observed the light brown liquid in his cauldron and smelled the distinct medicinal aroma. Satisfied, Luke nodded approvingly.

Of course, this didn't change his opinion about his own talent.

The success was largely due to Taylor's help.

"You've got a real knack for Potions"

Luke said to Taylor.

Taylor shook her head. "It's just decent, really. My grandmother always told me not to get too full of myself. She says my talent is a bit worse than hers was at my age."

Luke couldn't help but twitch at that statement.

Dude, If your grandmother was joking, fine, but if she was serious, she must've been a Potions master on a whole other level.

"Be more confident. If your talent was only 'decent,' the professor wouldn't be watching you this closely."

Luke wasn't just being polite. It was true—Snape's gaze alternated between a cold stare at Harry and an almost eager look at Taylor.

Even though this was a simple potion, and the brewing process wasn't particularly difficult, Taylor's speed—despite her practice at home—was only a fraction slower than Snape's own.

Considering that Snape had been brewing potions longer than Taylor had been alive, and that the recipe was one Snape himself had modified, her performance was impressive.

Taylor's potion had met the exact effects Snape had intended, extracting every ounce of potency. Otherwise, Neville's boils wouldn't have disappeared so quickly.

This kind of talent was enough to catch Snape's attention.

Of course, Snape wasn't the only one looking at her. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and even Malfoy were all staring at the quiet girl beside Luke with surprise. No one had expected her to suddenly shine like this.

If it had been Luke who saved Neville, everyone would have easily accepted it. By now, they were used to Luke surprising them.

But Taylor? That was unexpected.

Hermione, on the other hand, was thrilled. She loved the idea of having friends who excelled academically. Whether it was Luke or Taylor, they clearly fit the bill.

Of course, if she didn't have a choice, Hermione would pick friends she liked or maybe just skip having friends altogether.

By the end of the lesson, most students handed in their potions. The quality was average, but considering this was the first time many of them had brewed anything, simply finishing was an achievement.

A few students made mistakes and ran out of time, failing to complete their potions.

However, Snape was in a good mood today and couldn't be bothered to penalize them, so they were lucky enough not to lose house points.

"Class dismissed. Miss Barbara, please stay behind."

Snape's tone was calm—about as gentle as Snape ever got.

Taylor glanced at Luke, who gave her an encouraging nod.

Only then did Taylor walk toward Snape.

Snape noticed the exchange, narrowing his eyes at Luke.

Luke offered an impeccable smile, gave Snape a slight bow, and then exited the classroom.

Snape watched Luke's retreating figure with a deep frown.

"Professor, is there something you wanted to discuss?"

Taylor asked, feeling a bit nervous.

She couldn't read Snape's thoughts. From the beginning of the class, his mind had been completely closed off, as though Occlumency had become second nature to him.

This left Taylor feeling quite insecure.

But Snape pushed thoughts of Luke aside for now. Whether this girl was part of a larger bait or not, he intended to test her abilities to see just how talented she really was.

Maybe she could become an excellent assistant.

"Miss Barbara..."

---

Luke hadn't expected this pleasant surprise. Taylor's talent was so impressive that it moved Snape, and it might even reduce the number of professors who were staunchly opposed to him, or even hostile.

Whether it was Dumbledore or Voldemort, having Snape as an adversary was never beneficial for Luke.

"Luke!"

A voice called his name from afar.

Luke looked up and saw Fred and George, so he walked over.

"What's up? Oh right, the property is secured, but I reckon it'll take until Christmas to sort everything out."

Luke assumed they were asking about the Diagon Alley shop. After all, the visit from the Lance family yesterday had made waves, if not a citywide uproar, then at least enough to get everyone talking.

"No, it's about something else"

George began.

"Do you remember Dumbledore mentioning the room on the fourth floor during the opening feast?" Fred jumped in.

Luke's heart skipped a beat, but outwardly he remained calm. "Yeah, I remember. What about it? You two didn't try to sneak in, did you?"

Despite his words, Luke secretly hoped they had.

Just taking a peek wouldn't be a big deal—at worst, they'd just see Fluffy, and that wasn't much of a problem.

"We were thinking about it, so last night we decided to check it out"

Fred admitted. "But when we were using the Marauder's Map to head that way, we saw Professor Quirrell entering the room."

George added, "Fred and I figured it was a good chance to see what was inside. We don't like Professor Quirrell, but he's still a Professor after all."

Luke noticed the twins' expressions weren't great, especially when they mentioned Quirrell.

This made Luke genuinely concerned.

"You didn't actually follow him inside, did you?" Luke asked.

The twins shook their heads.

"No, we didn't go in," Fred said. "But we saw Professor Quirrell come out later, and he didn't look too good—his arm seemed injured."

"The weird part was, we heard him talking to himself, but we couldn't tell who he was speaking to"

George added with a shudder.

Although the twins were usually fearless, Quirrell's unsettling expression and menacing tone had clearly shaken them.

Fortunately, they had hidden well, and Quirrell didn't seem to notice them.

"Did you tell any of the other professors? Anyone besides Quirrell?"

Luke asked again.

"No, not yet. We're not sure what to do, and even if we told a professor, they might not believe us"

Fred said with a sigh. After all, sometimes adults had a frustrating streak, trusting only their own observations and dismissing what students said.

"They might even scold us for sneaking around at night," George added.

Luke pondered for a moment, then said, "You need to tell Dumbledore. Whether he believes you or not, just tell him."

"It's an obvious trap. We don't know who it's for, but it's best not to walk right into it."

Luke wasn't sure if this event happened in the original story, but with the twins' frequent and skilled nighttime adventures, it didn't surprise him that they'd uncovered something.

The key now wasn't Quirrell's actions—it was distancing Luke and the twins from any suspicion of being involved with him.

"Alright, we'll go tell the headmaster," Fred and George agreed.

Just as they finished speaking, Luke heard a low voice behind him.

"Oh? Gaunt, what is it you need to tell the headmaster?"

Luke's heart skipped a beat.

It was Quirrell...

*****

Upto 20 chapters ahead on patreon :-

patreon.com/ReduxMagister