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[Thursday Night - 1:03 AM]
[Staff Quarters - Professor Quirrell's Room]
The door slammed shut with more force than necessary. Quirrell's hands trembled—not from his usual performance, but from genuine rage and humiliation as he tore the turban from his head.
"FAILURE!" The voice erupted from the back of his skull, cold and venomous. "You incompetent fool! One unicorn! One simple creature, and you return empty-handed!"
"Master, I—" Quirrell began, but the pain that lanced through his skull silenced him immediately.
"Silence! I did not give you permission to speak!"
Quirrell gasped, clutching his head as Voldemort's fury manifested as physical agony. The parasite's consciousness burned like acid through his mind, punishment for tonight's failure.
"The centaurs," Voldemort hissed after several agonizing seconds. "Always the centaurs, interfering with their pathetic sense of forest justice. But that is not what concerns me most."
Quirrell straightened slowly, wiping sweat from his forehead. "Master?"
"The disturbance. The explosion that alerted both the unicorn and centaurs." Voldemort's voice dropped . "That was not natural. There was someone there. Someone knew we were there. Someone interfered ."
"It could have been—"
"Do not insult me with coincidence," Voldemort cut him off. "Someone is watching. Someone knows enough about our movements to anticipate the hunt."
Quirrell moved to his small mirror, allowing Voldemort's face—visible on the back of his skull in the reflection—to study their shared expression. The red eyes burned with paranoid intelligence.
"Dumbledore," Quirrell suggested carefully. "He has spies throughout the castle, throughout the forest. That old fool—"
"Would not be so subtle," Voldemort interrupted. "If Dumbledore suspected me, he would act directly. Confrontation that is his way. This... this was different. Calculated without revelation. Someone who knows but does not wish to be known."
"There are rumors," Quirrell ventured after a moment. "Whispers among the portraits and ghosts. Of movement in the castle at night. Of magic that doesn't quite belong to any known student or staff signature."
"A spy then," Voldemort mused. "But whose? The Ministry? Some vigilante Or..." His eyes narrowed. "Something more local. Someone within these walls who has taken an interest in our activities."
"The Kael boy," Quirrell said slowly. "You mentioned him before. His abilities, his advancement—"
"Would a second-year, however talented, possess the knowledge and courage to interfere with our hunt?" Voldemort's tone was skeptical but not dismissive. "It seems unlikely. Yet... unlikely is not impossible. Keep watch on him. On all unusual students. Someone knows too much."
Quirrell nodded, his mind already cataloging suspicious individuals. "What of the blood, Master? You grow weaker daily. Without unicorn blood—"
"I am well aware of my condition," Voldemort snapped enough to make Quirrell recoil, fingers twitching at his side. "Each day without sustenance, every wretched day, draws me nearer to dissolution. This half-life cannot endure. Not without the Unicorns blood."
"Then we must try again," Quirrell said. "Tomorrow night, or the night after. Different location, different approach—"
"No." Voldemort's voice was sharp, decisive. "Tonight proved the centaurs are alert, watching for us. Any attempt will fail. We need... a different strategy. A distraction large enough to draw attention away from the forest entirely."
Quirrell's expression shifted to understanding. "The Halloween plan. We move it forward?"
"Not forward we modify it." Voldemort's red eyes gleamed with malicious calculation. "Halloween will provide the perfect chaos. Every professor focused on the castle, on students, on containing whatever threat manifests. The Forbidden Forest will be unwatched. The centaurs themselves may investigate the disturbance. And in that window..."
"We take what we need," Quirrell finished.
"Precisely. But the distraction must be substantial. A troll, you suggested before. One troll would certainly create panic, occupy Dumbledore and the staff—but would it be enough? Would it truly empty the forest of all watchers?"
Quirrell considered this, pacing the small room. "A troll in the castle would require immediate response from all available faculty. McGonagall, Flitwick, Snape—all would be needed to contain it and protect students. Dumbledore himself would be occupied with coordination and damage control."
"And our mysterious rat?" Voldemort prompted. "If they are within the castle student or staff—they too would be distracted by immediate danger to innocent lives."
"Chaos on several fronts," Quirrell said, warming to the strategic planning. "Not just the troll. Perhaps... accidents in other locations. Small fires, spell malfunctions, anything that spreads the faculty thin across the entire castle."
"Yes," Voldemort hissed with satisfaction. "Death and destruction on a scale that demands every authority figure's full attention. And in that glorious chaos, we slip away to the forest. The hunt succeeds. The blood sustains me" His voice dropped to something almost tender in its malice.
"The defenses are mapped," Quirrell confirmed. "Music for the three-headed beast. Devil's Snare fears fire and light. The flying keys require Seeker skills—nothing insurmountable. McGonagall's chess set will be more challenging, but not impossible. And the final protection—"
Voldemort gave a soft, humorless breath. "Nothing. The old fool has placed nothing there yet. He is waiting"
Quirrell hesitated. "Then… what shall we do, Master?"
"We wait," Voldemort replied . "I am certain the Stone is already within this castle. Dumbledore is not finished—he will be preparing some final locking enhancement, something layered atop the others to protect it. He always saves his priorities for last."
There was a brief pause, then his voice sharpened. "Our concern, for now, is simpler. The blood of the unicorn. Without it, nothing else matters."
Quirrell stood straighter, purpose renewed despite his exhaustion. "Yes my Lord, I'll revise the plan—by the time the feast begins, we'll be ready."
"See that you are," Voldemort said coldly. "I will not tolerate another failure, Quirrell. The centaurs humiliated you tonight. These insults will be repaid. "
"Yes, Master."
"And Quirrell?" The voice softened which was somehow more terrifying than the rage. "Find out who interfered tonight. Use whatever resources necessary. Question the portraits, bribe the ghosts, monitor anyone who shows suspicious knowledge or behavior. Someone is watching. Someone knows. And I want them identified before they become a true obstacle."
"It will be done, Master."
Voldemort said nothing more, retreating into whatever dark corner of Quirrell's mind he occupied during rest periods. The professor carefully rewrapped his turban, hiding the monstrous face, and moved to his desk.
Planning. Always more planning. The hunt had failed, but failure was merely a temporary setback. Halloween would provide opportunity—chaos and blood and eventually, resurrection.
And whoever had interfered tonight... they would learn the price of standing between Lord Voldemort and his objectives.
[CAM-QUIRRELL-QUARTERS Recording - Archived]
[Alert Status: CRITICAL PRIORITY]
Darius sat up in bed, torn from sleep by Nano's urgent alert. His roommates remained unconscious around him, but his mind was instantly sharp, processing the flagged conversation the surveillance had captured.
[Priority Intelligence: Subject Quirrell and Voldemort discussed failed hunt. Key findings:
They suspect deliberate magical interference, not coincidence
Searching for spy/interferer within castle - portraits, ghosts, suspicious behavior
Halloween plan being enhanced - multiple points, not just troll
Hunt will be attempted during Halloween distraction when forest unwatched
Post-Halloween objectives confirmed: Stone retrieval, then Potter elimination
Partner specifically not ruled out as potential interferer despite being "unlikely"
Paranoia level: Elevated. All unusual students under suspicion.]
"They know someone interfered," Darius whispered. "They're actively looking for who."
[Affirmative. Partner's cover at increased risk. Recommend: Absolute normalcy in behavior. Zero suspicious activity. No unusual forest proximity. Maintain perfect student persona. Any deviation may trigger investigation.]
"And Halloween..." Darius said. "It's going to be bloody"
[Confirmed. This complicates Partner's strategy. Canon timeline showed single troll, single location. Enhanced chaos creates multiple simultaneous threats requiring response. Difficult to predict optimal intervention point.]
Darius lay back, staring at the canopy of his four-poster bed, mind racing through implications and contingencies.
They were hunting for him—or at least, for someone like him. He'd saved one unicorn, but the cost was a paranoid vigilance from the most dangerous dark wizard in the history.
And Halloween—just six days away—would be far worse than canon suggested. It will overwhelm the castle's defenders while Quirrell slipped away for his hunt.
[Recommendation: Partner should appear to focus exclusively on academics and social obligations. No suspicious movements. No forest proximity. No unusual magical displays. Become perfectly, boringly normal until Halloween. Then, when chaos erupts, Partner can act under cover of general confusion.]
"Six days," Darius murmured. "Six days to prepare for a catastrophe while pretending I know nothing."
[Affirmative. The waiting game begins. But Partner has critical intelligence advantage. We know their plan. We know their timeline. We know their objectives. That knowledge is power—if used carefully.]
Darius closed his eyes, but sleep felt impossible now. Somewhere in the staff quarters, a monster plotted death and resurrection. In six days, those plans would collide with reality.
And Darius would need to be ready for everything.
[Partnership reminder: You are not alone in this, Partner. We face this threat together. Halloween will be chaos. But chaos can be navigated—if one is prepared.]
Thank you, Nano, Darius thought as he forced himself toward sleep. We'll get through this.
Together.
[Always together, Partner. Always.]