Hagrid was tall and took large strides as he walked, with Harry Potterbustling alongside him, rapidly moving his short legs.
Quirinus was somewhat weak at the moment and couldn't keep up with Hagrid's pace, so he could only stop helplessly and call out to his retreating back, "Hagrid."
Hagrid heard the voice, stopped, and turned around. Harry Potter, who was following behind Hagrid, couldn't stop in time and bumped directly into Hagrid, nearly falling from the rebound.
"Oh, Harry, be careful." Hagrid reached out and steadied Harry, then looked in the direction the voice came from.
"Oh, it's Professor Quirrell." With that, Hagrid pulled Harry and walked towards Quirinus.
"Professor Quirrell, I heard you've been appointed as this year's Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, that's truly amazing. This little fellow is Harry, Harry Potter, yes, that Harry Potter." Hagrid seemed very happy, and saying this, he patted Harry, making him stumble. "Harry, this is Professor Quirrell, the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor at Hogwarts. Of course, he'll also be your Professor in the future, a very excellent Wizard. He even taught Muggle Studies Class before."
"Hello, Professor Quirrell." Harry Potter said somewhat shyly.
"Hello, Mr. Potter." Quirinus assessed Harry Potter: thin and short, wearing ill-fitting clothes, with a timid expression, and a messy head of black hair that clearly hadn't been groomed much, covering his eyebrows. The lightning scar was not visible, hidden by his black hair. Based on this first impression, if someone else were to say this frail boy would later become a brave and fearless savior, no one would believe it.
Quirinus looked at Harry Potter, and the back of his mind stirred, then suppressed itself. Afterwards, Quirinusextended his hand to Harry Potter, "Quirinus Quirrell, your Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor."
Harry watched the handsome Wizardin front of him extend his hand, his expression completely devoid of the fanaticism of the crowd just now, and without Hagrid's pity, just a normal appraisal. He then extended his own hand and shook his.
"Hmm." As soon as their hands met, Harry frowned and clutched his forehead with his other hand.
"Harry, what's wrong?" Hagrid saw Harry's reaction and knelt down, asking anxiously.
"Harry?"
Quirinus subtly withdrew his hand and also knelt down with Hagrid to ask. Just now, Lord Voldemort had given him an order in his mind to touch Harry Potter, which made him tense, fearing he might accidentally eliminate him. Fortunately, apart from a slight burning sensation at the point of contact, there was no discomfort.
"It's nothing, my scar suddenly hurt a bit just now, but it's fine now." Harryshook his head, pushed up his fringe, revealing the iconic lightning-shaped scar, and said.
Hagrid breathed a sigh of relief. Escorting Harry Potter was a task he had finally managed to secure from Dumbledore. If anything happened to Harry, he would be consumed by guilt.
Then Hagrid stood up and said to Quirinus, "Apologies, Professor Quirrell, I need to take Harry to buy his textbooks and supplies for the new school year, then send him back to get some good rest. After that, I also have an important task to complete that Headmaster Dumbledore assigned me. We'll have a good drink when school starts." With that said.
Quirinus's face darkened, then he smiled and said, "Alright, Hagrid, you go on and be busy then." He then gave Harry a kind smile and said, "You too, Harry, finish your shopping early and get some good rest. We'll see each other when school starts."
"Goodbye, Professor." Harry said timidly.
With that, Hagrid pulled Harry and walked forward.
Quirinus stood silently in place, watching their retreating figures, thinking to himself: "It seems the original Professor Quirrell was eliminated with a touch because his life had already been drained by Lord Voldemort, leaving only an empty shell."
...
Back in the room, Lord Voldemortmade no movement, as if he had fallen back into a deep sleep. Quirinusopened an old Potion book he had found in a second-hand bookstore a few days ago, continuing where he left off yesterday.
Currently, he had no clue how to get rid of Lord Voldemort, but his body was weakening day by day, so he had to find a way to recover.
That could only be achieved through Potion. Although his Potion grades were good in school, that was only in comparison to other students.
During this time, Quirinus had already perused over a dozen famous Potionbooks, but he couldn't find a single clue for replenishing vitality.
The only close thing was a Potioncalled a Blood-Replenishing Potion, but this Potion could only replenish blood, and it had miraculous effects for people who had lost a lot of blood, but it was useless for the loss of vitality.
The more Potion books Quirinus read, the more anxious he became. He had initially thought that since magic was so wondrous and the magic of this world had developed for thousands of years, there should be no lack of methods to replenish vitality. Unexpectedly, he found nothing.
Even if there were such methods, they would likely be hidden. These public books most probably wouldn't contain them. Now, he could only place his hopes on the Hogwarts library, the largest and oldest in all of Britain.
...
Late at night.
Quirinus quietly got up, dressed neatly, and put on a hooded cloak, hiding his face. Then, with a turn, "Puff," with a slight pop of air, Quirinus's figure had already vanished from the room.
Gringotts Wizarding Bank is the only Wizarding Bank in all of Britain, controlled by the Goblin race, a humanoid species, and all its employees are Goblins.
Quirinus didn't understand why such an important department was entrusted to Goblins. Even though the Goblin rebellion failed and Wizards were the victorious party, they still handed over financial power.
Diagon Alley was pitch black late at night; the Wizarding World had no nightlife.
Quirinus stood outside Gringotts, hidden in the shadows of an eave under the effect of a Disillusionment Charm, quietly observing Gringottsahead.
During this time, Quirinus wasn't just slacking off at The Leaky Cauldron. Every midnight, he would come here, because Lord Voldemort believed that whether Nicolas Flamel truly entrusted the Philosopher's Stone to Dumbledore for safekeeping or if it was a trap against him, Dumbledore, as the President of the International Confederation of Wizards, was very busy before Hogwarts started. Dumbledore traveled all over the world, so there had to be a place to store the Philosopher's Stone, and Gringotts was the best choice.
Of course, Quirinus knew the answer; the Philosopher's Stone had definitely been taken by Hagrid by now. But why would he tell Lord Voldemort?
Looking at the tranquil surroundings, Quirinus sighed, took out a broom from a cloth bag on his person that had an Undetectable Extension Charmapplied, straddled it, and with a gentle push off the ground, instantly lifted off and flew towards a window on the third floor of Gringotts.
In his previous life, as a socialist youth born under the red flag and raised in the spring breeze, the worst thing he had ever done was watch adult films. Now, he was about to sneak into a bank, kidnap, interrogate, and steal. He had to admit, it was a little thrilling.
Quirinus, riding the flying broom, gently stopped in front of a window on the third floor. Through the window, by the moonlight, there was an office desk right below the window, piled high with parchment. Directly opposite the window was a door, which was the door to this room. To the right of the room was another door, leading to a lounge. After all, he was already familiar with the layout; these offices and lounges in Gringotts were almost all identical.
Quirinus pulled out his wand, lightly tapped the window, "Alohomora."
With a "click," the window opened in response.