Chapter 13
"Sorry! I need to go back and organize some teaching tools."
Regulus waved his wand, using 'Shrinking Charm' to make everything smaller, packed it into his pocket, and left.
In the afternoon, there was a flying class for first-year students. Harry Potter, with his excellent family genetics, was the first to summon his broomstick.
During Draco Malfoy's daily routine of provocations afterward, Harry Potter demonstrated excellent qualities of a Seeker and was successfully spotted by Professor McGonagall, who immediately recommended him to Oliver Wood, the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team.
As the youngest Seeker and a rare first-year player recommended for the official team, Harry Potter began his journey as the protagonist.
"I didn't expect to become a Seeker."
Although he was very excited inside, Harry Potter felt a bit insecure. Why did Professor McGonagall confirm that he was the Gryffindor Seeker after only seeing him fly once? That seemed too hasty!
"You have to believe in yourself; you come from a distinguished family." Hermione smiled brightly, gesturing for Harry Potter and Ron to follow her to the trophy room.
Sure enough, in the Quidditch Cup over a decade ago, Gryffindor had won, and the Seeker at that time was James Potter.
Harry Potter didn't expect his father was also a Seeker and had even won the House Cup. Now that he was also a Seeker, he became more popular among his classmates. After seeing this evidence, he felt more confident and wanted to show himself well.
Outside the trophy room, Regulus coincidentally appeared, following the three protagonists from a distance.
It was already dusk, and the three were preparing to return to the Gryffindor tower.
Sure enough! As if by fate, when only the three of them stepped onto a certain staircase, the moving staircase began to shift.
In fact, these moving staircases were designed to facilitate the flow of people during certain times, not to confuse them. If any student got lost in these staircases, they were either hopelessly directionally challenged or appeared at an inappropriate time, in other words, skipping class.
Regulus was sure that none of the above reasons applied, so the three of them ended up on the third floor's restricted area, and this could only be orchestrated by Headmaster Dumbledore!
"Where is this? These stairs keep changing, it's confusing me."
Ron was very dissatisfied with the school's facilities. "Why can't the stairs just let me walk past without moving?"
The three arrived at a dark passage, where a statue of a wizard stood in a strange pose beside them.
With their arrival, the braziers ignited automatically, but instead of bringing warmth, it made the atmosphere even more eerie and terrifying.
"I think we shouldn't be here; we should leave quickly."
The three little lions only wanted to get out, but as the ones who had arranged for them to enter here, there would naturally be follow-up measures.
"Meow!" Suddenly, Mrs. Norris, the cat of the school caretaker Filch, appeared.
Damn! Has it already turned night? The three little lions were blocked by a cat, feeling a rush of panic.
They immediately turned around and ran deep into the dark passage until they encountered a wooden door blocking their way.
"This door is locked."
"Get away! Alohomora!"
Under Hermione's spell, they finally entered the restricted area, but were startled by the three-headed 'Fluffy' that appeared behind the door.
Neither Mrs. Norris nor caretaker Filch mattered at this point; all they could think about was how to avoid being eaten by the three-headed dog that had just woken up.
They turned and fled the room, never imagining that their small bodies could exert such strength to push the giant dog's head back, locking the door behind them. Mrs. Norris had already left; thankfully, cats couldn't talk.
Regulus, who had been invisibly watching from the side, was neither discovered by the little lions nor by Mrs. Norris.
He observed the entire process; this was definitely not a coincidence. Filch had come to check because of the staircase's movement, which ultimately pressured the trio to understand the significance of the restricted area.
Having seen the situation in the third-floor forbidden area, Regulus did nothing and left the room.
He walked all the way to the eighth floor and directly arrived outside the headmaster's office. "Chocolate frog!"
The guarding gargoyle glanced up, and immediately the platform it was on revealed a spiral staircase extending upwards.
"Dumbledore! Is it appropriate to let the Savior get so close to the three-headed dog like this?"
Dumbledore seemed not to hear the accusation. "You finally called me Dumbledore, instead of that distant title of headmaster."
"Don't change the subject. Harry Potter is special; he is the only choice to completely defeat the Dark Lord."
Regulus Black was somewhat angry. Although he knew that the old man was watching everything from behind, what if something unfortunate happened? Could he really react in time? Or did Hogwarts have any headmaster's privileges that could ensure that?
"Ha! It seems you know quite a bit."
Dumbledore wasn't worried about what Regulus would do; he was more concerned about what he might not do. However, it seemed that Regulus was now standing on Harry Potter's side.
"Having lived three lives, as an ordinary person or a Muggle, the knowledge learned includes viewing problems from different perspectives."
Regulus pushed aside Dumbledore's snacks, staring intently at him, waiting for the answer he wanted.
"Aren't you supposed to be protecting him?"
Dumbledore wouldn't reveal his thoughts to others, so he could only deflect with humor.
"Who told you I was protecting Harry Potter? Among those three kids, I prefer Hermione. If the three-headed dog were to bite all three of them, and I could only save one, I would definitely save that girl."
Was Dumbledore really trying to find a babysitter for Harry Potter? Regulus wouldn't fall for that!
"I must remind you, Hermione is a minor." Dumbledore was clearly willing to abandon all decorum to brush this off; the conversation was already heading in a questionable direction.
"You don't need to remind me. I am not monster and not interested in them like that." Regulus said somewhat irritably.
"Then! Who else are you interested in?" Dumbledore's expression was one of utter surprise, but this topic felt even more inappropriate.
"Damn it! You've led the topic astray." Regulus felt a mix of embarrassment and anger. "Regarding the situation in the third-floor forbidden area, I know the Philosopher's Stone is in your hands, and you deliberately sent Hagrid to vault 713 to retrieve it, allowing Harry Potter to see it. Isn't it excessive to start using this child so early?"
Dumbledore stopped pretending to be the old gossip and suddenly fell silent.
"When did you find this out?"
"The Daily Prophet mentioned the Gringotts invasion incident. Harry Potter revealed that he had previously followed Hagrid to the vault, and you had Hagrid's dangerous creatures kept on the third floor, and today you guided that child to discover the secret of the forbidden area, piquing his curiosity."
Regulus calmed his emotions.
"I don't know who this trap is set for, but it must include those three little lions. If this trap is set for me, then I directly request it here: please hand over the Philosopher's Stone to me; I really need it."