Dumbledore had Hagrid take Quirrell to the infirmary.
He and Snape escorted Harry and Draco back to the common room, while Hoare went alone to the Headmaster's office to wait for them.
Inside the Headmaster's office, there was an entire wall covered with framed portraits of past headmasters, with their names written below.
Curious, Hoare leaned in closer, and the former headmasters in the portraits leaned in as well, intrigued.
By the time Hoare had almost finished examining each portrait, Dumbledore and Snape finally arrived.
"Headmaster, Professor," Hoare greeted them.
"Henry, Severus, have a seat."
With a flick of his wand, Dumbledore moved two chairs behind them.
Hoare sat down.
"Henry, was it you who injured Professor Quirrell?" Dumbledore asked directly.
"Yes," Hoare admitted without hesitation. "I thought he was possessed by an evil spirit, and I was terrified."
He trembled slightly. "He was going to kill me... I just happened to have a herb-digging knife in my hand—"
Hoare didn't need to say more; Dumbledore understood what he meant.
Snape, with a stern expression, said, "Albus, Henry is the victim here. If that's all you wanted to ask, I'll let him go back to rest."
"Hahaha, Henry, what were you going to say at the edge of the Forbidden Forest earlier?" Dumbledore, under Snape's gaze, changed the subject.
"This," Hoare said, taking out his storage bag.
"Unicorn blood!?" Snape was ecstatic, carefully taking the heavy, square box from Hoare's hands.
"And some meat and organs," Hoare added. "All gifts from the unicorn."
Hearing it was unicorn blood and flesh, Dumbledore was also surprised and came over. "Henry, how did you obtain these? You know unicorns are very averse to humans and won't approach them unless absolutely necessary."
"Because it felt I avenged it, so it willingly gifted them to me," Hoare explained the situation.
"Headmaster, we might succeed," Hoare knew it was certain.
At this moment, the two potion enthusiasts couldn't wait to set up a cauldron and start experimenting.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
"Ahem, Severus, let's let Henry go back to rest. Tomorrow is not too late," Dumbledore stopped their impulsiveness.
Hoare raised an eyebrow knowingly and took the initiative to bid farewell.
It was clear Dumbledore had something to discuss with Snape.
Hoare declined the headmaster's offer to accompany him and left alone.
The potion ingredients were settled, but the Philosopher's Stone still needed to be obtained.
One reason was to prove his innocence.
The other was that Hoare had calculated that using the Philosopher's Stone to create a perfect, long-lasting Squib Potion had a success rate of ninety percent.
Yes, Hoare hadn't given up on the perfect version.
Whether long-lasting or short-term, Hoare wanted both.
The long-lasting version would be expensive, requiring only a few uses.
The short-term version would be cheaper but needed to be taken regularly.
This business was worth it.
-----------------
The next day.
Hoare handed his formula to Snape.
Snape pondered it with a furrowed brow.
Hoare thought there might be a problem. "Headmaster, is something wrong?"
"Let's try it," Snape said nothing more and took out his personal cauldron.
Made of pure gold, crafted by dwarves, it was engraved with many magic arrays to accelerate heating and improve potion success rates.
Hoare was dazzled for a moment before he could open his eyes.
He silently raised an eyebrow at the golden cauldron before him.
It seemed Snape had complete confidence in Hoare's formula.
Otherwise, he wouldn't use this precious cauldron.
Snape handed the matching golden stirring rod to Hoare.
The formula was provided by Hoare, and Snape knew Hoare had his own calculations.
He was confident in leaving the operation to Hoare, while he prepared all the materials as required.
Hoare was extremely careful in his operation, and after the final infusion of magic power.
Previously, at this step, the potion would appear light blue.
But this time, the potion turned silver, like unicorn blood.
The batch only produced three bottles.
Hoare carefully sealed the crystal bottles.
Snape would take one bottle to Filch to test its effectiveness.
Once confirmed successful, the remaining two bottles would be presented to the board of governors for valuation and then promoted.
Of course, since Hoare already had a price estimate, this step was directly changed to promotion.
From then on, Hoare had nothing more to do with it.
Naturally, Hoare didn't mention the long-lasting Squib Potion to anyone, as revealing it would make it obvious he was eyeing the Philosopher's Stone.
The matter of the Philosopher's Stone was a secret.
Hoare wanted to conduct other experiments in the dungeons next, but the ruthless Snape drove him away.
Because the annual Quidditch match was about to begin.
Even Snape, the headmaster, rarely gave a very brief pre-match talk to the Slytherin Quidditch team.
He said something like, although previous results were good, don't get too arrogant. The expectations for this year weren't high, just casually win the championship and make sure to knock Gryffindor off their brooms.
Of course, Snape didn't say it like that; it was Hoare's own translation.
He regretted agreeing to Snape's request to join the Quidditch match.
Riding a broom was indeed fun, but the repetitive training was mentally exhausting.
For the past two days, Hoare would collapse into bed as soon as he returned to the dormitory.
Finally, after half a month, the Quidditch match officially began.
The day before the match, each house announced their team rosters.
Slytherin Quidditch announced their new member, Seeker, first-year Henry William.
Gryffindor quickly followed suit, announcing their new member, also a Seeker, also a first-year, Harry Potter.
When this news came out, Draco exploded, grabbing Marcus Flint's broom and charging toward the Gryffindor table.
Hoare hurriedly stopped him. "Draco, what are you doing?"
"That Harry Potter is a traitor!" Draco said through gritted teeth. "He knew all along you were the Slytherin Quidditch team's Seeker."
"But he never mentioned he was one too."
"That Potter! He's been hanging around you a lot lately. I bet he's been spying for information."
Draco's eyes were red with anger, wishing he could bite Potter to pieces.
Hoare scratched his head; he had actually guessed it.
Not to mention that Oliver Wood had been secretly taking the Bludger box to the small field for training every day, acting all mysterious.
And as for Harry, he couldn't hide it.
For the past two days, whenever he saw him, Harry's eyes would keep darting away, making it obvious he was hiding something.
Moreover, Hoare remembered in the original story, Harry became a Seeker in his first year.
Hoare wasn't angry, just felt a bit helpless.
No matter what he did, the story seemed to return to its original course.
The crazed Quirrell, possessed by Number 2, still went to drink unicorn blood.
Although there were some minor issues, the situation was still under his control.
Starting with winning the Quidditch championship!
And claiming the prize money!
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