Scott Peck sat with the rest of his house at the Ravenclaw table.
It was dinner time, a few days before their first-year examinations were to
take place. During his time so far at Hogwarts, Scott had been recongnized by
all of the teachers as being the top of the class in every subject he had taken
so far, nearly surpassing the intellect of the Gryffindor student Hermione
Granger, who he had become close friends with along with Harry Potter and Ron
Weasley, also in his year. As he sat eating his dinner around his Ravenclaw
friends, Scott's head of house, Professor Filius Flitwick approached him and
spoke to him.
"Mr. Peck," he said in his
squeaky voice. "Professor Dumbledore told me to give you this note and to
follow its instructions immiedately."
Scott took the note and thanked Professor
Flitwick. He then opened the note, which was written in Dumbledore's scriggly
handwriting.
Dear
Scott,
I
request your prescence this evening in my office once you are done with your
dinner. Please come alone, as this matter is meant to be private. I will see
you soon.
Yours
most truly,
Professor
Albus Dumbledore
P.S.:
The password is "Chocolate Frog"
Wondering what Dumbledore himself could
want from him, Scott got up from his house table and left the Great Hall,
heading towards Dumbledore's office. Once he reached the stone gargoyle that
stood outside the office, he paused and looked around, not sure what to do.
"Er...Chocolate Frog?" he said
uncertainly to the gargoyle. At once, it sprang to life and jumped aside,
allowing him access into the office. He made his way into the office and up the
stairs, finding himself outside Dumbledore's office. Scott knocked on the door
three times.
"Enter," came Dumbledore's calm
voice from within. Scott opened the door and found himself in Dumbledore's
office. He noted that all of the previous heads of Hogwarts hung in their
portraits throughout the office. As he strode across the office, he noticed
that he wasn't the only visitor; Professor Snape, the potions master sat in one
of the chairs in front of Dumbledore's desk.
"Ah, Scott," said Dumbledore,
smiling cheerfully. "Thank you for you coming. Please sit down."
Scott nodded and sat down next to Snape.
"Good evening, professors. To what due I owe this pleasure?"
"Well, Professor Snape and I have been
talking and we both agree that you are one of the most bright students in your
year, along with Miss Granger of Gryffindor. We also believe that you are
trustworthy enough to be told some information that is only between Professor
Snape and myself."
"And what information is that?"
"Severus, I think you can explain from
here."
Snape nodded and turned to Scott. "As
you know, the Dark Wizard known as Voldemort was defeated almost eleven years
ago somehow by Harry Potter. Well, Professor Dumbledore and myself have reason
to believe that Professor Quirrell is acting under the Dark Lord's
orders."
"How so?"
"We think that he is somehow being
possessed by the Dark Lord which is why he wears that turban of his, to hide
that fact that the Dark Lord is possessing him."
"Oh my," said Scott, obviously
shaken.
"Yes," Dumbledore replied.
"That is why we ask you to keep extreme caution when you do the job we are
about to ask of you to complete."
"And what job is that?"
"We need you to keep an eye on
Professor Quirrell. See what he is up to. We need to find out if he is indeed
under the influence of Lord Voldemort and attempt to stop him from carrying out
his goal."
"What is his goal?"
"Scott, did you hear about the
break-in at Gringotts back at the end of last summer?"
"Yes," Scott replied. "I
overheard Harry, Ron, and Hermione talking about it after it was in the Daily
Prophet."
"Well, Gringotts was not robbed. I had
ordered the object in that vault removed moments before the attempted break-in.
Hagrid himself brought it to me so I could keep it safe here."
"What was it?"
"The Sorcerer's Stone. You've heard of
it I trust?"
"It creates a potion known as the
Elixir of Life."
"Very good. It does indeed do that.
Professor Snape and I believe that Lord Voldemort is after the stone in an
attempt to resurrect himself and give himself his powers once again. We
obviously do not want that to happen so that is why we ask your help. We know
that you can ask Quirrell questions we couldn't ask without raising suspicion
as he is most fond of you. Are you prepared to accept our request of you?"
Scott looked from Dumbledore to Snape
before nodding. Dumbledore smiled.
"Excellent. Now, all you have to do is
simply observe Professor Quirrell and if you find him doing anything
suspicious, question him about it, ask him if he is doing all right or if he
needs help with anything and then report what you find to Professor
Snape."
"I understand, Professor."
"Then I wish you a good night and good
luck with your quest," Dumbledore said and Scott stood up and left the
office. Once the door behind him had closed, Snape spoke to Dumbledore.
"Are you sure we can trust him with
this information Albus?" he asked.
"Oh yes," Dumbledore replied.
"I believe that he is very trustworthy, as much as you yourself are
Severus. I know he will do the job well, he has the traits his mother did when
she served as a spy for us in the First War. Keep an eye on him, will
you?" Snape nodded. "I want to make sure that everything works out in
our favor."
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