“Scarlet, just when I thought you couldn’t surprise me further, you manage to outdo yourself once again,” Professor Dumbledore remarked, his gaze soft but inquisitive as he stood in Professor Snape’s office.

Professor Snape, stationed by the scorched wall, carefully scraped a small portion of the residue into a test tube. He examined it, casting a few silent detection charms over the sample, observed it closely before nodding. “This is unmistakably linked to the Dark Arts,” he confirmed before passing the test tube to Professor Dumbledore, his voice smooth but serious.

Professor McGonagall, standing nearby, regarded the young girl with a blend of disbelief and fascination. Professor Snape had mentioned that Scarlet was handling some ingredients in his office and instructed McGonagall to keep an eye on things “in case something unusual happens.” Snape had added his unusual sharpness: “You can’t expect students with hare-brains to do much better, though Ms Hong might be the exception, her brain being just a tad sharper than the rest.”

Yet nothing could have prepared Professor McGonagall for the traces of dark magic and a mummified body she found when loud, shrieking noises suddenly echoed from Professor Snape’s office. She had assumed a typical cauldron mishap when she was to keep an eye on a student – until she saw the evidence herself.

Scarlet, meanwhile, showed no signs of fear or nervousness, only quiet confidence.

After studying the test tube for a moment, Professor Dumbledore shifted his attention back to Scarlet. “Why do you believe that the soul fragment you destroyed belonged to Voldemort? Surely, you know that many dark wizards have dabbled in Dark Arts. What leads you to this conclusion?”

Because I saw it in the movie, Scarlet thought, but obviously, she couldn’t say that. Instead, she replied, “Because Harry’s scar hurts whenever he makes eye contact with Professor Quirrell. I assume the only dark magic strong enough to trigger such a reaction is connected to that one and only dark wizard?”

Professor McGonagall gasped, clearly shocked to hear of Harry’s pain. However, composed expressions on Professor Dumbledore and Professor Snape’s faces suggested they were already familiar with this information.

“Additionally,” Scarlet continued, choosing her words carefully, “I believe there’s a reason why Professor Dumbledore choose to move and hide the Philosopher’s Stone here at Hogwarts.” She glanced at the professors, watching for their reactions.

Professor Dumbledore’s eyes twinkled with intrigue as he regarded her. “Scarlet, you’re not merely surprising us – you're positively astonishing us. How did you learn of the stone? No, perhaps a better question is, how much do you know?”

“Honestly, I’m not sure how much I know,” Scarlet admitted. “But I have a theory.” She decided not to hold back, knowing she would need the professors’ trust and support to continue her hunt for the other soul fragments. “Before the start of the term, your friend Nicolas Flamel sensed something strange happening. I know the two of you are friends because Harry told me your names appeared together on a Chocolate Frog card. It mentioned your work in alchemy.”

She saw professors exchanged glances, but she pressed on. “Flamel linked the disturbance to the Philosopher’s Stone, and sought your advice. You both decided to place the stone in Gringotts for safekeeping, but when someone attempted to break into the vault – I saw that on the newspaper – you transferred it to Hogwarts. Harry must have figured it out somehow, considering how often he’s been poking around the third floor. It’s not exactly subtle.”

Scarlet paused, gauging their reactions. The looked surprised, but not angry. Encouraged, she continued. “Hagrid’s not great at keeping secrets, from what I’ve heard from Harry. Too much information slipped out around him, and Harry’s curiosity got the better of him. No other students seem as interested in the third floor...except maybe Fred and George Weasley, but their curiosity is always off the charts. My guess is, you’ve been favouring Harry – not just because of his father, but because of what happened to his parents. I suspect this entire situation with the stone is a test for him. A challenge to help prepare him for the future, while also capturing the thief targeting the stone.”

Professor Dumbledore’s gaze remained thoughtful as she spoke, but Professor Snape’s expression shifted to one of mild impatience.

She paused again to catch a breath, “This whole plan seems like a clever way to kill two birds with one stone - help your friend and push Harry to grow. But there’s one flaw in the plan. No one realised that the thief was being aided by a dark wizard. And not just any dark wizard - but He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.”

Professor McGonagall’s hand flew to her mouth as Professor Dumbledore expression deepened with concern, nodded thoughtfully as Scarlet continued her explanation.

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“Harry was timid in the beginning of the term,” Scarlet went on. “He was afraid of looking strange because he didn’t know much about the wizarding world’s common knowledge. At first, he thought the pain in his scar was just some magical quirk. But one he grew more comfortable, he began sharing his doubts about it. That’s when I realised what was happening. I believe the professors standing before me are already aware that the magic I’ve inherited from ancient sources deals with death and souls. I could see the soul fragment attached to Harry’s scar.”

Professor McGonagall gasped again, but Scarlet pressed on, unwavering. “And yes, I saw a similar fragment attached to the back of Quirrell’s head. Both fragments were from the same soul - full of darkness, hatred, and nothing positive. I’ve known this since my very first Defence Against the Dark Arts class. So, that mystery was solved – the soul fragments belonged to an evil being, and the only one connected to Harry is the dark wizard.”

Scarlet gestured to her battle attire. “As you can see, I’m more capable than most students my age. I’ve been keeping an eye on Quirrell, unsure of what to do with him. That’s when I noticed him hunting unicorns in the Forbidden Forest.”

Professor McGonagall muttered, “So that’s why Hagrid kept finding dead unicorns.”

“I stopped him,” Scarlet explained. “I wounded him in the shoulder and left a curse on the wound – unintentionally, since my weapon has that effect. I also gave protection talismans to the unicorns, so he can’t harm them for their blood anymore. To heal himself, he had limited options: either retrieve the stone as fast as possible - which he failed to do, thanks to Professor Snape vigilance – or rely on healing potions.”

“That explains the repeated thefts of potions from the hospital wing!” Professor McGonagall exclaimed.

“Madame Pomfrey had been on alert, so he had little chance of stealing more potions from there. The only other place he could get them was from Professor Snape’s office,” Scarlet concluded, glancing briefly at the Potions Master. “That’s why I suggested setting up a trap. Everything went according to plan. I’m relieved that this threat has been removed, and my friends are safe from danger.”

Professor Dumbledore regarded the young witch in front of him with admiration. “Scarlet, you would make an excellent chess player.”

“No, I’m actually terrible at chess.” Scarlet shook her head, her thoughts briefly flickered to her previous life. A teacher at the Caster Academy had once made the exact same remark.

The professors exchanged looks. Scarlet’s expression softened as she gazed at the professors, sincerity evident in her eyes. “I don’t enjoy competition. I’m not driven by the desire to win. If I had a choice, I’d rather sit quietly in a corner, watching everyone else live happily, enjoying their lives. I’d be content to let others be the heroes, and I’d gladly clean up the aftermath for them. I’m good at paying attention to details, and I don’t like being on the front lines.”

Her thoughts briefly drifted back to her previous life, where she had watched her colleagues shine like diamonds as they fought against the abnormalities. Those characters had become the most popular in her novel - some even more beloved than Akahime, the protagonist.

But she quickly pulled her mind back to the present, where she stood before the greatest wizard in Britain of this era, and Professor Dumbledore’s gaze was warm as he considered her words, seeing the soft smile on her face.

“Professor Dumbledore,” she began, drawing herself up slightly, “I’d like to make a request.”

The old wizard nodded, inviting her to continue.

Scarlet took a deep breath, her voice steady. “I’d like permission to hunt down the remaining soul fragments.”

Professor McGonagall gasped, and even Professor Snape gave her a strange glance. However, Professor Dumbledore responded with gentle smile. “I’m afraid I must decline, Scarlet. You’re far too young--”

“And successfully thwarted the dark wizard’s plan,” Scarlet interjected, polite but firm. “Once I figure out how to remove the soul fragment attached to Harry, I can use it to track down the others and eliminated that stupid ghost for good. In the meantime, I can study the Dark Mark and see if I can locate any of his followers still at large. Professor Dumbledore, I’m making this request based on my abilities, and I don’t intend to take on more responsibility than I can handle.”

“One successful does not guarantee another,” Professor Dumbledore replied gently with concern. “You managed to defeat him this time, perhaps because of luck, or because he was weak. We cannot assume other fragments would be vulnerable, and there’s no telling how many may exist. We cannot afford to make guesses and assume we’ve gotten them all.”

He has a point. Scarlet mused, taking a deep breath, swallowing her frustration. It’s fine. Just like with any project, if the first proposal was rejected, I could always present a second or even a third.

“I understand,” Scarlet nodded. Then, to everyone’s surprise, she added, “I’ll do more research and return with a more comprehensive proposal. Next time, I’ll prove that I’m truly suited for this hunt, and I’ll detail all my safety precautions.”

“...” Professor Dumbledore looked at her for a long, silent moment before finally nodding. “I’ll be awaiting your next proposal. For now, take a good rest and leave the rest to us. Is that clear, Scarlet?”

“Crystal clear,” Scarlet replied with a grin. She bowed politely before mentioning how to dispel the magic circle.

“Oh, one last note. This body,” she added, gesturing to the mummified body, “will likely crumble to dust once the magic circle’s dispelled, so...thank you, Professor Snape, for lending your office.”

With that, she made a swift exit, escaping before the gloomy bat of a professor could deduct House points or assign her detention for messing up his space.

Scarlet felt a small sense of triumph as she checked another task off her to-do list.

Now, about that second proposal...How could she convince the great wizard to approve her plan for hunting down the other soul fragments? She’d need more time to figure that out.