Twilight of the Parasite (V) (CH - 129)

Harry stepped forward taking uneven breaths and entered the next chamber by himself. This time, there would be no Hermione or Ron to help him if things went wrong, and that thought made his heart pound in his chest.

But he did not stop for a second.

His grip tightened around his wand as his eyes scanned the room. Then, in the dim glow of the chamber, he saw a figure standing before something he was very familiar with. The Mirror of Erised.

And it was not Snape who stood there.

"Professor... Quirrell" Harry stammered, struggling to process what he was seeing.

The man turned slowly, his pale face illuminated by the soft light. It was indeed the DADA Professor, Quirrell. But not the Quirrell Harry knew. Gone was the nervous, anxious looking professor who shied away from loud voices and sudden movements. Instead, he saw a composed, confident man.

Harry watched as his usually timid-looking professor sneered at him, curling his lips in a mix of amusement and contempt.

"Yes, Potter... me," Quirrell said smoothly.

---

Meanwhile, Maverick, hidden under True Concealment and observing everything, suddenly felt his Magical Sense flare as it picked up a spatial fluctuation nearby. A familiar magical signature followed, and he instantly recognized it—it was the headmaster. Sure enough, the next moment, Dumbledore stepped inside, cloaked under an invisibility spell.

Maverick hesitated only briefly before deciding to reveal himself. He moved closer and sent a subtle magical signal.

Dumbledore, unsurprised, responded in kind, wordlessly inviting him nearer.

Both remained hidden from sight and presence, so neither Harry nor Voldy were aware of their movements.

Had Voldemort been at his full strength, he might have noticed the spatial fluctuation caused by Dumbledore's arrival. But in the Dark Lord's current weakened state, detecting an Archmage's presence was impossible if the said Archmages were trying to remain hidden.

"Thank you for looking after them in my absence, Professor Caesar," Dumbledore said.

They were now inside a magical barrier Maverick had just conjured. Within its confines, they could see and hear each other, but to those outside, they would see nothing.

Maverick did not respond to Dumbledore's sudden gratitude. Instead, he focused on clearing some things from his mind.

"I've been keeping an eye on them for a while now," Maverick said. "They brought up some rather interesting things to me a few nights ago... something about a Philosopher's Stone being hidden in the school."

"I see…" Dumbledore murmured, offering no further comment.

Maverick's gaze sharpened. "I also recently learned that a very dangerous wraith—the lingering remnant of the most recent Dark Lord—has been lurking in this castle for a year, living among the students." Maverick did not hide the accusation in his tone. "You know, Headmaster, I hear all sorts of things about you. Some say you're too incompetent. Some say you're too righteous for your own good. Others claim that behind all your benevolence lies a scheming, manipulative man. And some even believe you're a Dark Lord hiding in plain sight."

Dumbledore listened without interruption.

"Tell me honestly. When you hired Quirinus Quirrell, was he already under Voldemort's influence?"

Dumbledore sighed. If it had been anyone else, he might have brushed off the question. But Maverick wasn't just anyone.

"No," he admitted. "When I hired him, I'm fairly certain Quirrell was still himself."

Despite the weight of their conversation, neither of them took their attention off Harry, ready to intervene at any moment.

Maverick's expression remained unreadable. "Then after… whatever happened to him... why did you still allow such a dangerous entity to roam freely among the students?"

A brief silence fell between them. Then, as if reaching a decision, Dumbledore began to explain everything.

He started with Quirrell's appointment as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Back then, Quirrell had been normal. But just days later, when Dumbledore saw him again, something was different. A quick investigation revealed the truth—Voldemort's wraith had latched onto the man.

There had been little Dumbledore could do because typical magic simply does not work on Wraiths. They were also incredibly difficult to seal, especially one belonging to a powerful and knowledgeable Dark wizard.

Then he explained his plan. By using the Philosopher's Stone as bait, he ensured that Quirrell remained within the castle until he could find a way to neutralize the threat.

Maverick was speechless. He wondered if this old man was just lazy or he simply couldn't think of any other way.

And sensing his disbelief, Dumbledore elaborated on the precautions he had taken. Maverick, as he listened, found them reasonable to some extent, but if he was being honest with himself, it all sounded like the work of a tired old man.

Quirrell was apparently under Dumbledore's constant surveillance—every step he took, everywhere he went within the castle, Dumbledore was aware of it. There was tracking magic, and the castle itself, with Dumbledore as its highest authority, served as his eyes and ears.

Yet, despite these measures, many risks remained. One glaring issue was that Dumbledore could not act instantaneously. For example, if Voldemort suddenly got the inexplicable urge to cast the Avada curse on a student from just a foot away, Dumbledore wouldn't be able to stop it in time.

It was a reckless gamble, one that put students in danger.

But Maverick buried those thoughts and continued listening as Dumbledore then began to explain why—why he hadn't simply eradicated Voldemort's wraith outright.

Apparently, unlike in the original timeline where Dumbledore had only discovered Voldemort's Horcruxes later, this version of events was different. He had known from the very beginning that Voldemort had created Horcruxes for his twisted ambition of immortality.

It was the moment the old wizard first saw baby Harry that he realized this truth—Harry himself was a Horcrux.

Since then, he had been searching for a way to remove the soul shard but had found no solution.

And later, he discovered a second Horcrux, the Gaunt family ring, and in the process, he had been afflicted with a deadly curse—one that was now rapidly consuming his life.

To this day, he had found only one viable method to truly save little Potter. Voldemort had to strike Harry with a soul-infused killing curse while Harry willingly sacrificed himself. It sounded nonsensical and illogical, but Maverick could not raise the many doubts in his mind because he had very little knowledge in that area.

Dumbledore explained that when Voldemort struck Harry with the killing curse, it wouldn't be Harry's soul that would perish, but the fragment of Voldemort's soul, thereby destroying the Horcrux.

Harry would be free of Voldemort's fragment of a soul, but for all that to happen, one very important condition had to be met—Voldemort had to resurrect first.

Maverick listened carefully. While he wasn't well-versed in this particular field, Dumbledore's reasoning was sound. It even aligned, albeit not exactly, with how things had played out in the original work.

Dumbledore then explained his intent to train Harry throughout his time at Hogwarts, preparing him for the inevitable confrontation without making him aware of the full truth. Tonight's events were part of that plan. He admitted he hadn't expected Granger and Weasley to accompany Harry, but he had been certain that Maverick would be there.

When Maverick asked how he had known, Dumbledore merely smiled and muttered some nonsense about an old man's intuition.

Maverick wasn't convinced, but he didn't press the issue. One thing he was certain of was that Dumbledore couldn't possibly see through his True Concealment, meaning the old thing wasn't entirely sure he was here watching over the children.

Once again, it meant Dumbledore had taken a gamble, relying solely on his deduction from the trio's recent visit to his office—that Maverick would take action when necessary.

Was this wise? Or even scheming? No, neither. This damn old man had been betting on things to work out the entire time. It was merely a coincidence that everything had fallen into place in the end.

No wonder his teacher Edward always looked like he wanted to punch someone in the face whenever he talked about Dumbledore. Maverick wondered what stories might exist between them and made a mental note to ask later.

Finally, Dumbledore made a sincere request. "Please, Professor Caesar, help Harry... If possible, take him as an apprentice under you—"

"Stop. No." Maverick raised his hand and interrupted resolutely. No way was he going to be a babysitter. He had far too many things to constantly watch over.

But—

He glanced sideways at the old man, the pleading look in his eyes, and couldn't help but twitch his brows.

Listening to the short but brief explanation cleared most of his doubts and made him realize that this old man wasn't a scheming villain arranging little Harry's life for his own benefit, but was actually doing it for Harry's own good. Although the methods were highly questionable.

And it had made his impression of the old wizard improve a few points. He can finally send the many portrayals of him he had read about in fanfictions from his previous life, straight into his mental trashcan.

He sighed. "I'm sorry, Headmaster. I can't. I don't have time. But I will give him attention, help him, aid him even, but I can't take the responsibility of making him an apprentice. At least... not yet."

"I understand. And thank you, Professor Caesar..."

"Just call me Maverick, Headmaster," Maverick said, shrugging.

Dumbledore smiled. "Well then, Maverick, even so... your word to assist young Potter means a lot." He showed a melancholic smile. "You know, his parents' deaths are somewhat my fault as well. I wasn't there when they needed me, when they pledged their service to my order without even questioning... so I truly wish to make it up to them. It will never be enough, but I shall try my best to make up for all the lives lost in Tom's chaos, as much as possible, until this curse finally takes me whole."

The atmosphere was starting to feel awkward for Maverick, so he quickly changed the topic. He thought about how both Dumbledore's and his goals aligned in some way. He wanted Voldemort to resurrect for his own reasons, and Dumbledore wanted the same to save Harry.

But Dumbledore had no idea why Maverick would want this, nor would he ever tell him. Maverick would show that he wouldn't oppose Dumbledore's arrangements, but at the same time, he wouldn't approve of them either.

So, in the future, if anyone dug into how Voldemort managed to resurrect himself under the noses of two Archmages, they would all blame Dumbledore.

Was he being selfish or inconsiderate? He didn't care.

"I'll be blunt, Headmaster." His expression hardened as he said. "About your plan—letting Voldemort return just to rid Harry of the horcrux—it has too many 'ifs.'"

Dumbledore remained silent, listening intently.

"So You had better keep searching for another way to remove the soul piece from Harry," Maverick warned. "Because if Voldemort returns and threatens innocent lives, I will kill him—whether Harry's Horcrux is still inside him or not. And if he returns with another Horcrux, I will kill him again. And again."

Dumbledore closed his eyes briefly before nodding.

"It must happen immediately after his resurrection," Maverick continued. "Harry has to be there to confront him. That's the only way."

Dumbledore opened his eyes and gave a melancholic smile. "I understand. And I hope things unfold as you say."

So the old fox and the young fox continued discussing Tom Riddle's resurrection and inevitable death, while the verbal confrontation between Harry and Quirrell reached its climax and finally turned violent.

Boom!

---

Some time earlier, with Harry Potter and Quirnius Quirrell.

Harry shook his head, refusing to believe what he was seeing. "Where's... where's Snape then?" His voice wavered with disbelief. He had spent weeks convinced that Snape was after the Philosopher's Stone. It hadn't even occurred to him to suspect Quirrell.

Quirrell let out a quiet laugh and shook his head. "Ah, yes… Snape," he mused. "I can't blame you for suspecting him... He certainly looks the part of a villain, doesn't he? Always sweeping around in those dark robes, scowling at anyone who dares to breathe in his presence."

His posture shifted subtly, his shoulders hunching slightly, his hands fidgeting at his sides. When he spoke again, his voice took on that familiar nervous tremor. "P-please, Professor Snape, d-don't hurt me!" he mocked, his expression twisting into one of exaggerated fear before straightening again, his smirk returning. "A convenient role, don't you think? Standing beside someone so obviously suspicious that no one ever looks twice at the weak, stammering fool."

Harry frowned, taking a cautious step forward. His confusion deepened, and his grip on his wand tightened. None of this made sense.

"But I heard Snape threatening you earlier—he was trying to force you to tell him how to get past Fluffy!" Harry argued.

Quirrell's brow creased slightly. "I haven't even spoken to Severus today," he said. "Whatever you think you saw or whoever you heard speaking, I can assure you, it certainly was not Severus Snape." His lips curled into a creepy smile as he finished speaking.

Harry opened his mouth, but no words came. His mind raced, grasping for answers, but nothing fit. The pieces weren't aligning the way he had expected.

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