Everyday Life of a Top Student at Hogwarts

Chapter 172 The Shadow Bottle and the Cautious Plan

Chapter 172 The Shadow Bottle and the Cautious Plan

Inside the Eagle's Nest, the air seemed to freeze. Ren solemnly placed Nicolas Flamel's letter in the center of the alchemy table, along with four bottles that had accompanied it. Fabian, Ernesto, and Wesley gathered around, the atmosphere in the room unusually heavy.

"Master Nico's reply," Karen's voice broke the silence. He pointed to the vials, "and a note from Professor Castor." He didn't directly repeat the contents of the letter, but extracted the core information: Nico's affirmation of Voldemort's remnant soul's "torn, forced symbiosis, and unstable" state, and his speculation on its compatibility with an extremely evil form of dark magic called "Horregularities."

"Hordeals? That doesn't sound like anything good." Fabian frowned in confusion. "What are they? Literally, they seem to be some kind of artifact related to the soul?" As a child who grew up in an environment where Muggles and wizards lived together, he was unfamiliar with the term.

Wesley looked utterly bewildered: "Horregularities? Sounds like jars for holding souls? What would you do with souls in them?" He scratched his reddish-brown hair, clearly unaware of the seriousness of the term, just like Fabian.

Ernesto's reaction was quite different. His gray pupils contracted sharply, and his fingers on the table unconsciously tightened, crumpling a corner of the parchment. He took a deep breath, his voice low and solemn: "I once stumbled upon a few words in the family library."

This is a very ancient and extremely evil form of black magic. It's said to involve murder—he paused, seemingly choosing his words carefully to avoid frightening Wesley and Fabian—"...through an extremely evil ritual, forcibly tearing apart one's own soul and sealing the fragments in specific objects. The aim is to achieve a kind of 'immortality,' but I've heard that even among black wizards, this is taboo, because many believe the soul is one of the sources of magic."

After introducing the Horcrux, Ernesto looked at Cullen with sharp eyes, "If Master Nico's speculation is true, then what's on Quirrell's head might be a fragment of the mysterious person's soul caused during the creation of the Horcrux?"

Although there were some discrepancies, Karen nodded, affirming Ernesto's understanding: "Yes. Ernesto is basically correct. Horcruxes, in essence, tear apart the soul resulting from murder, and then immediately seal the fragmented soul into an object through some kind of spell. Afterwards, as long as the Horcrux is not destroyed, even if the caster's body is destroyed, he will not truly die. This is the most thorough desecration of the origin of life." He looked at Fabian and Wesley, adding in a language they could understand, "Imagine someone, out of fear of death, cutting their soul into pieces like a cake and hiding them in different safes. The piece stuck to the back of Quirrell's head is one of those rotten, spoiled 'cakes'."

"Cut himself?!" Wesley gasped, his face draining of color. He instinctively touched the back of his head, as if something terrifying was stuck there. "Just to avoid dying? This madman!" He finally understood the horror and madness behind the word "Hordeal".

Fabian's face turned pale, his eyes behind his glasses filled with shock and physical disgust: "Murder, tearing apart a soul, it's unimaginable! More evil than any curse!"

“That’s right.” Karen picked up a small bottle; the warm, smooth ash wood felt cool to the touch. “And Master Nico sent these: the Shadow Bottle and the Revealing Powder. They can help us determine the exact state of the mysterious man’s soul, making it easier for us to formulate a plan to capture him.”

He then explained their principles in detail: the array of stasis and resonance runes embedded in the bottle, the infusion of the potion's essence, and the extremely weak attraction of environmental debris; the revealing powder used to confirm whether any fragments tainted with the target's soul qualities have been captured; and most importantly, the strict limitation that Nico repeatedly emphasized: only tiny debris can be captured, never core fragments; the placement distance must be far enough; the timing must be well controlled; any abnormality must be immediately abandoned, and all actions must be based on ensuring one's own safety.

"The core principle of the plan: just this once, never go too deep." Karen's voice was resolute, her gaze sweeping over her three roommates. "Our goal is merely to capture a tiny fragment, to analyze the current state of this Voldemort fragment—how fragmented is it? How unstable is its bonding? With this 'diagnostic report,' we can know whether the 'entry point' for further research into Professor Castor's curse truly exists, and how to plan the 'entry point' more safely. This operation itself is fraught with uncertainty, as Master Nico also said..."

It's more like picking up a bargain; success would be best.

"Then how do we make it 'crust'?" Ernesto asked immediately, his brow furrowed. "It can't crumble every day, can it?"

"It needs a strong stimulus, to make it experience intense frustration or anger, like when George and his gang played a prank on it on us during Halloween." A glint of light flashed in Karen's eyes. "And the location where I'm going to carry out the plan must be a place Quirrell frequents, a place with a lot of foot traffic, preferably in the public eye."

"Too many people? That would easily anger it, and it wouldn't dare to retaliate?" Wesley reacted quickly, his eyes lighting up. "Another prank? In front of a lot of people, poking its sore spot? Especially targeting the head coin area, and we can have Fred and George do it, they won't easily arouse Voldemort and Quirrell's suspicion!" He immediately thought of the best candidates.

"Yes, that's what I was thinking too," Karen nodded. "Everyone's used to their pranks. It's only natural for them to do it. Besides, George and the others told me before that they wanted to take off Quirrell's turban, but of course that's too dangerous. But I think we could throw a dung ball on the turban. That way, even if Quirrell and Voldemort are furious, they wouldn't dare to lay a hand on two 'naughty students' in front of everyone. At most, they'd get a point deduction, and they'd have to endure it. And that intense humiliation and anger is exactly the 'stimulus' we need."

Then Karen emphasized, "Although we get along well with Fred and George, we absolutely cannot tell them anything about Voldemort and the Horcruxes. Given their personalities—they're too prone to slips up, or they might do something even more risky because they find it 'exciting.' The risk is too great. They just need to know: we want to see Quirrell make a big splash, especially on Headcoin, and we're willing to provide some 'technical support,' plus we can share the prank photos we've taken."

"Understood. The fewer people who know, the better," Ernesto said, expressing his understanding. Fabian nodded in agreement, and although Wesley felt a little regretful that he couldn't share the "excitement" with the twins, he knew the importance of the situation.

Karen walked to the blackboard, picked up the chalk, and said, "Now, let's finalize the specific steps. Ernesto, you're meticulous; analyze Quirrell's recent public activity patterns and find out when and where he's most likely to appear in crowded public areas in the next few days."

The library entrance? The main staircase landing? The auditorium entrance? The corridor near his office? List a few options, assessing their privacy and foot traffic.

"Leave it to me." Ernesto immediately went to his desk and spread out the parchment and the simple map of Hogwarts.

“Once the location is decided,” Karen continued, “I’ll go find Fred and George. Using the excuse that we want to see Quirrell make a fool of himself on the headband, along with some novel prank ideas and some alchemical gadgets, we’ll ask them for a favor. The prank needs to be eye-catching enough and targeted at the head coin, but it absolutely cannot cause any real damage or actually knock the head coin off. The key is: quick, precise, make Quirrell and George angry, then they’ll immediately retreat and blend into the crowd. I’ll make sure they don’t know about the bottle or our real purpose.”

"Place the bottle," Karen turned to Fabian. "Once the location and time are set, you'll be in charge. Half an hour before the prank, take only one Shadow Bottle, cover it with the Concealment Rune that Professor Castor gave you, and place it in a very well-hidden corner near the target location—a corner that's at a convenient distance and easy for you to retrieve quickly. You need to be relatively inconspicuous and calm."

Fabian took a deep breath, adjusted his glasses, and said with unusual focus, "Okay, I'll take care of the placement and recycling."

"On-site monitoring," Karen said, looking at Wesley. "Your most important task is environmental vigilance. Like a Quidditch Seeker, keep your eyes and ears open! During the mission, all your attention should be focused on your surroundings: Are any other professors approaching? Are any other students behaving strangely? Is there anything that could threaten Fabian's retrieval or expose our intentions? If you detect anything unusual, immediately issue a warning using our agreed-upon safety hand signal! Fabian must immediately halt the retrieval, and everyone must evacuate according to the predetermined evacuation route, abandoning the bottle! Safety first!"

Wesley straightened his back, his face more serious than ever before: "Understood! Karen! My eyes are the watchtower of the Eagle's Nest! I guarantee that not a single beetle that shouldn't be there will escape! Safety hand signal, got it!" He slapped the back of his head to indicate.

"When the prank happens," Karen concluded, "I will be with you, Ernesto, at the scene, blending into the crowd, but never near Quirrell or the bottle. The mission: First, confirm the prank's effect and observe Quirrell's reaction; second, in the instant the crowd stirs and attention is drawn, Fabian must quickly and discreetly retrieve the bottle. After retrieving it, immediately move away and return to the Eagle's Nest. The entire process must be completed within five minutes. Back at the Eagle's Nest, examine the revealing powder in a safe environment. Regardless of the outcome, seal the bottle immediately."

He put down the chalk and glanced at the three men: "Remember, if the bottle doesn't light up when you collect it, it means the stimulus wasn't enough or you didn't find a bargain. Stop immediately and don't try again. Never get close to Quirrell, never take any risks, and give up immediately if you fail the first time. Your first priority is your own safety, understand?"

"Understood!" the three answered solemnly.