Professor Snape's words made Dumbledore pause for a moment, but he soon burst into laughter.
Shaking his head, still smiling, a mischievous glint flashed in his eyes. "Severus, really, when will you learn to tone down your sharp tongue? Be careful, or you'll scare away the students you've so carefully nurtured."
"Scare them away?" Professor Snape raised an eyebrow, a mocking smirk curling at the corner of his lips as he glanced at Dylan, who was standing off to the side with an awkward smile.
"That would be perfect. It would save me the trouble of wasting time on a fool. If they're that hopeless, why bother learning from me? They might as well go to Flitwick and play with his little wand, doing silly tricks to amuse children."
At that moment, another voice interrupted.
—"Snape, no matter how small a wand may be, like potions, it holds infinite possibilities—you know that."
A short but imposing figure walked in, his face carrying a smile that was both warm and subtly sharp.
Upon entering, he first acknowledged Snape before turning his gaze toward Quirrell, who was lying on the ground.
When he noticed the unwrapped turban revealing Quirrell's twisted, pitted, and grotesque-looking back of the head—now left deformed after Voldemort's soul was extracted—he hesitated for a moment.
"So Quirrell was the one trying to steal the Sorcerer's Stone? You've been standing around chatting for so long—aren't you going to help him?"
Professor Snape's expression remained cold. "He's not dead. Let him lie there."
With that, he cast a glance at Harry, Ron, and the others.
"And you little troublemakers—why are you here?"
Though he addressed them all, Snape's gaze was fixed solely on Harry.
"Especially you, Potter. Were you the one who brought Dylan and the others here?"
Having spent so much time with Dylan, Harry hadn't developed the same sharp tongue, but he had picked up an appreciation for certain phrases.
Faced with Snape's questioning—especially since exams were already over and Snape could no longer punish him academically—Harry's mouth moved faster than his brain.
"Funny mud go pee! We were worried Dylan might get hurt by Quirrell, so we rushed over!"
"…What?"
Professor Snape froze, completely baffled by what Harry had just said.
His brows furrowed deeply. "What nonsense are you spouting? Is that some kind of mysterious incantation? Has this spell made you lose your ability to speak properly?"
Dylan hadn't expected Harry to say something like that right in front of multiple professors. He immediately clamped his mouth shut and stood still like a wooden post, not daring to make a sound.
—Harry, I declare you the true king of Gryffindor!
—So brave!
Dylan had taught Harry that phrase before, even explaining its meaning.
Harry didn't actually understand the Chinese words but, after Dylan's explanation, found them oddly satisfying to say.
He had assumed it was just a casual phrase from Dylan's dialect and would often say it jokingly with Ron.
This time, under the stress of being unfairly singled out by Snape, he blurted it out without thinking.
Realizing what he had done, he quickly shut his mouth.
"N-Nothing, Professor."
Snape narrowed his eyes.
He didn't understand what Harry had just said, but he could sense the regret, nervousness, and unease swirling in the boy's mind.
"What exactly—"
"It's nothing, Professor!"
Suddenly, Hermione interjected, "Professor Dumbledore, what's going to happen to Quirrell?"
"He tried to steal the Sorcerer's Stone but failed. Will the Ministry of Magic send him to Azkaban?"
Dylan also turned to Dumbledore. "He was possessed by the Dark Lord—they were parasitic on each other. Now that Voldemort's soul has been removed, will he die?"
Hearing this, Dumbledore still didn't bother looking at Quirrell. Instead, with his usual kindly expression, he answered, "Professor Snape will handle it. You should all leave for now."
Then, turning his gaze to Snape, he continued, "Alright, Severus, please take Quirrell away. Then gather the faculty and meet me in my office."
Dumbledore's words shifted Snape's full attention.
His brows knitted tightly. "What? The Dark Lord? What do you mean?"
Professor Flitwick, who had just entered, was also stunned.
He had noticed the once-sealed door standing wide open as he passed through the corridor and decided to step inside.
Upon seeing Quirrell lying on the floor, he quickly deduced that this was the man who had tried to steal the Sorcerer's Stone.
But he had never imagined that Quirrell was the one possessed by the Dark Lord!
That meant they had been working alongside Voldemort all this time?!
At the thought of the sinister Dark Lord, Professor Flitwick shuddered.
Dumbledore cleared his throat. "I had my suspicions about Quirrell, but I never expected him to be carrying a fragment of Tom's soul."
Dylan shot him a glance.
Liar.
Snape immediately gritted his teeth and glared at the headmaster. "Did you shove all your lemon drops and cockroach clusters into your brain?!"
"When hiring a professor, did you not conduct a thorough background check? How could you allow someone like him into Hogwarts?!"
Hermione actually agreed with that sentiment.
How had a professor managed to get possessed by Voldemort in the first place?
Was there no proper vetting process when hiring staff?
But since the professors were the ones talking, she kept her thoughts to herself.
Dumbledore sighed in exasperation. "Severus, calm down."
Harry, on the other hand, spoke up from the side. "So Voldemort really was inside Quirrell? No wonder my scar hurt every time he looked at me!"
"Professor Dumbledore, did you recruit him on purpose?"
"Whoa! Potter, you can't just say things like that!" Dumbledore glanced at Snape, then at Harry.
Dylan almost lost it.
Harry hadn't said anything explicitly, but somehow, it sounded like he had—and it sounded really bad…
Dumbledore stroked his beard. "Potter, when did you become even more cutting with your words than Severus?"
"It almost makes me wonder if you're really James's son. If I didn't know for sure that Severus never even held hands with—"
Snape gritted his teeth, spitting out each syllable through clenched jaws. "Dum-bul-dore."
"Alright, alright, I get it."
Dumbledore immediately shut his mouth—just as Dylan had earlier.
He hurriedly directed Dylan and the others to leave quickly.
Dylan also wanted to return as soon as possible to check on the achievements he had gained and had no desire to linger in front of Dumbledore.
So, he quickly took Harry and the others away from the scene.
On the way, they ran into Professor McGonagall.
Professor McGonagall was in a rush, moving at lightning speed. However, upon seeing Dylan and the others, she suddenly halted.
"You all..." She hesitated for a moment.
Dylan reminded her, "Professor McGonagall, Headmaster Dumbledore wants you to go to his office. You should have already received the message, right?"
Professor McGonagall frowned, glanced at them briefly, and then, without asking further questions, hurriedly continued on her way.
Walking beside Dylan, Harry clutched the Invisibility Cloak that had just been handed to him. "Dylan, what just happened?"
Ron and Hermione immediately turned their eyes toward him.
"Nothing much. I just noticed someone had broken into the room where Fluffy was being kept. I didn't have time to alert you, so I went through the professors' obstacles myself and reached the final room—where I caught Quirrell attempting to steal the Sorcerer's Stone."
"Then Professor Dumbledore showed up?" Hermione asked.
Dylan nodded. "Yeah. I didn't do anything. Professor Dumbledore arrived and scared Voldemort away."
"My god... Dylan, you actually dared to face the Dark Lord alone?" Ron was still shocked as he thought about it.
"The Headmaster was there—how could that be considered facing him alone?" Dylan shook his head and then quickly returned to the Gryffindor common room.
After saying a quick goodbye to Hermione, he headed straight to his dormitory.
"I'm going to start reading now," Dylan said to Harry and the others before sitting on his bed, leaning against a pillow, and taking out a book, engrossed in it.
During Voldemort's spellcasting, Dylan had gained new insights into Dark Magic.
Now, he really wanted to read more books to validate his thoughts.
Harry and Ron exchanged glances. Although they had many things they wanted to talk about with Dylan, they ultimately just nodded.
"Let's go. We should find Professor Dumbledore and ask him. Before we left, didn't he say he wanted to see you in his office later?" Ron said to Harry.
"It'll probably take a little while. Let's go with Hermione first," Harry agreed.
The two then left the dormitory.
Once they were gone, Dylan finally put down his book.
He glanced at their departing figures before shifting his gaze to the system screen.
At that moment, a small icon representing the achievements page was flashing brightly.
Dylan clicked on it.
---
**[Achievement]: Attacking a Professor (IV)**
**[Description]: You actually did it! You attacked your professor with powerful offensive magic and even attempted to kill them! How thrilling!**
**[Requirement]: Attack a Hogwarts professor and make them bleed.**
**[Reward]: One max-level advanced spell**
---
"Finally, it's not just another max-level Dark Magic spell!"
Dylan's eyes gleamed with excitement.
With Voldemort demonstrating Dark Magic firsthand, Dylan had already mastered various levels of Dark Arts by combining them with his own max-level spells.
So, rather than Dark Magic, he was now more interested in studying White Magic.
However, he didn't immediately claim the reward. Instead, he looked at the next achievement.
---
**[Achievement]: Sorcerer's Stone Holder**
**[Description]: In a battle against a Dark Lord, you successfully seized the Sorcerer's Stone! You're practically a powerful, ambitious, and utterly selfish new Dark Lord in the making!**
**[Requirement]: Possess the Sorcerer's Stone.**
**[Reward]: *The Book of Abraham the Jew* (handwritten fragment)**
---
"..."
Dylan couldn't help but twitch at the corners of his mouth.
"So, even briefly holding it counts as 'possessing' it?"
This system sure had a generous definition of achievement conditions.
"But this reward... I thought it would be something directly related to the Sorcerer's Stone. Well, I guess it is, but it's just a damaged book?"
Dylan sighed lightly. There wasn't much he could do about it.
After all, he hadn't truly owned the Sorcerer's Stone in the full sense. It made sense that the reward wasn't that valuable.
If he had completely taken control of the stone—perhaps even using it to transmute gold or research the Elixir of Life—he might have unlocked an even greater achievement with a more substantial reward.
Shaking his head slightly, he moved on to the next notification.
---
**[Achievement]: I'm the Boss Here!**
**[Description]: So what if you're the terrifying Dark Lord? In the end, you still had to perform a magic show in front of me, using your Dark Arts like a circus act, begging for my mercy and pity!**
**[Requirement]: Make Voldemort perform Dark Magic tricks in front of you for two and a half minutes.**
**[Reward]: Shadow Ring**
---
"A magic ring..."
Hearing that name, the first thing that popped into Dylan's head was a wizard wielding a staff—yet still engaging in melee combat.
Clicking his tongue, he retrieved the so-called "Shadow Ring" from the system panel.
---
**[Item]: Shadow Ring**
**[Description]: A cursed ring filled with dark energy. Wearing it will erode your mind. Over time, it will affect your consciousness, flooding your thoughts with negativity. The more you use it, the greater the risk of succumbing to darkness.**
**[Abilities]: Grants temporary perfect invisibility when worn. Also enhances mental strength and significantly increases resistance to magical interference and mental attacks.**
---
"Oh?!"
Dylan hadn't expected this ring to grant him the ability to turn invisible.
Which meant—
"I just saved myself a ton of money?"
Every time he crafted an invisibility cloak, it cost him 10,000 Galleons.
10,000 each time, 100,000 after ten times.
All this accumulated bit by bit—money that could have been used to unlock other advanced spell mastery tasks!
And this ring—unbelievably—it could even enhance his mental strength while in use!
That made it even more perfect!
What was he lacking the most right now?
It was the ability to continuously cast spells without exhausting his mental energy!
If he got drained after just a short while, how could that possibly work?
He still couldn't even fire off a hundred consecutive *Avada Kedavra* spells—that was way too weak!
With this ring, Dylan wasn't exactly sure how much it would improve his endurance, but one thing was certain—it would definitely help!
A smile curled on Dylan's lips.
"This is a great reward."
As for the negative side effects mentioned in the description…
Dylan simply responded—
"Huh? What? There are side effects? Where?"
*(End of Chapter)*