Edward sighed but listened patiently as Harry laid out his suspicions and discoveries.
"You're still on about Professor Snape?" Edward asked. "I thought Hermione told you and Ron about our conversation."
"She did," Harry admitted, "but what if you're all wrong? Snape's hiding sothing deep, Edward. He's fooled you, maybe even Dumbledore. If we don't keep an eye on that stone in the fourth-floor corridor, he's going to get it!"
Edward let out another sigh. He could tell Harry's logic had ford a closed loop. No matter what evidence ca up, Harry was dead set on Snape being the one after the Philosopher's Stone. If this mindset kept hardening, who knew what this brave but stubborn Gryffindor might do?
Unless Edward could present so decisive evidence to prove Snape couldn't possibly have the ti to be up to no good.
Wait. He had an idea.
"Harry, listen. Do you rember that Wednesday night when I ran into you and Ron in the corridor? What were you two doing?"
"Wednesday night?" Harry frowned, thinking. "Oh, right! Ron and I were checking out a tapestry. Fred and George said there was a secret passage behind it. We were about to try a spell when Snape popped out of nowhere and docked us each five points!" Harry huffed, clearly still annoyed.
"And then," he continued, "he dragged us to the Potions classroom for detention until just before curfew. After that, he escorted us to Astronomy."
"So, that whole Wednesday evening until curfew, Snape was with you, right?" Edward pressed.
Harry nodded.
"Alright, Harry, this is important. Pay attention." Edward quickly recounted what had happened that sa Wednesday night.
Harry was stunned, his jaw practically on the floor. "You were practicing magic in a secret passage at midnight, ran into the guy attacking the unicorn, saved it, and fought off a bunch of giant spiders?"
"That's wilder than my entire term!" Harry added, a mix of envy and excitent in his voice. "The worst rule-breaking I've done is sneaking into the Restricted Section at night or sitting in front of the Mirror of Erised for a few evenings."
Edward could tell Harry was impressed. Now he finally understood where Draco had been learning all those spells.
"Sothing like that, but that's not the point, Harry," Edward said, cutting him off. "When we ran into that guy in the passage, what were you and Snape doing?"
"In detention," Harry replied, then his eyes widened as it clicked. "Wait—so if there's only one bad guy in the castle, Snape couldn't have been holding us in detention and attacking a unicorn in the Forbidden Forest at the sa ti?"
Edward nodded, relieved. Harry could be stubborn, but he had a sharp mind and a knack for logic—sothing many wizards lacked, since magic often defied reason. It's why Aurors struggled with cases sotis.
"But what if Snape has an accomplice?" Harry wasn't ready to let it go. "And why would anyone harm a unicorn?"
Edward's tone turned cryptic, at least to Harry. "If you're not ready to drop it, fine, let's say he has an accomplice. Who could it be? Didn't you just see soone?"
A theory exploded in Harry's mind. If Snape truly didn't have the ti, if Everywhere he went, if he wasn't after the Stone himself, he had to have an accomplice. And the only person who could pull that off—soone Harry had just seen—was Quirrell.
If Edward was right, and Snape was actually protecting him, fighting the real culprit, then Snape's hostility toward Quirrell made sense. Maybe Snape had noticed sothing off about him.
Even if Snape was the culprit, Quirrell was likely his partner. No one could be in two places at once. Quirrell had to be involved.
But Quirrell? That nervous, stamring professor who got picked on by students and could barely teach? Could he really be the mastermind? And why would he harm a unicorn and drink its blood?
Harry's head was spinning. He felt Edward was holding back key details, but he couldn't untangle it all.
"Harry," Edward said, his voice serious, "I'm telling you this so you don't wrongfully accuse a good teacher, even if you don't see him that way. Besides, if we've figured this out, don't you think Dumbledore and the others have too? As long as Dumbledore's in the castle, the Stone is safe, right?"
Their green eyes t in the dim light. Harry looked away, guilt creeping in. Snape was harsh and unfair, especially to Gryffindor, but accusing him of this? Maybe Harry had gone too far. He even rembered Snape trying to save him when Quirrell nearly got him killed.
Feeling like the Black Lake was crushing his chest, Harry mumbled a quick thanks and left.
Edward watched him go, his gaze darkening. His biggest gain today wasn't convincing Harry but learning sothing new: there was definitely a connection between Quirrell and Voldemort, maybe even the Black Knight.
He thought of Quirrell's odd purple turban. Could Voldemort be hiding in there?
After persuading Harry that Snape wasn't after the Stone and that Quirrell was the suspicious one, Edward noticed a change in Harry. In Potions, Harry focused more, avoiding chatter with Ron and Hermione. Snape, in turn, picked on him less, unable to find faults, and shifted his attention to Neville. Overall, Snape's nitpicking had eased up, especially in Gryffindor-Slytherin classes, though it oddly spiked in Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff lessons, leaving students baffled.
In Defense Against the Dark Arts, Harry, who used to sit up front, now hid in the back, glaring at Quirrell. Ron followed suit, and even Hermione, despite urging them to keep up with howork, joined their suspicion. With exams looming, she stressed the importance of grades, but Harry and Ron saw it all as one big ss.
Edward kept a close eye on Quirrell, noting his growing pallor and thinness but no further moves. Quirrell's routine was predictable: shaky lessons, breaks in the staff room, or retreating to his office. Maybe he can't find another chance to hunt unicorns?
While tracking Quirrell, Edward searched for a new place to practice magic. Secret passages were too risky now, so he tried empty classrooms during the day. But those were scarce and often interrupted by clubs—Wizard's Chess, Gobstones, Charms, even a Dessert Club. Starting their own club was an option, but their group of four was too small, and the Slytherin trio wasn't keen on new mbers yet. Edward, juggling breathing exercises, Quirrell's movents, classes, revision, and tutoring his friends, had no ti to run a club. Their spell practice stalled at the Disarming Charm.
Under Edward's lead, the Slytherin first-years dove into exam prep, poring over his notes to fill knowledge gaps. Daphne, Draco, and Pansy had little ti for new spells, as the first-year exams didn't cover Protego or Expelliarmus.
Amid all this, Edward hadn't forgotten his promise to Hagrid: to help with the Norwegian Ridgeback when it hatched.
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