Harry Potter: Shadow Eminence

Chapter 11

The danger of this action lies in two points. The first is that if Quirrell does not intend to reveal anything about the Dark Lord to him and recklessly attacks, he will find himself in a very dangerous situation.

No matter how hard he has been studying lately, he is no match for Quirrell at this point in time.

He has made a lot of preparations for this, and his main reliance is on an alchemical item.

Brian looked at the small ring hanging around his neck and sighed softly.

This was given to him by his mother before coming to Hogwarts; it is a powerful and precious alchemical item worth its weight in galleons.

It can unleash the shield Charm, the Counterattack Charm, and the Escape Spell, among others, making it an excellent defensive tool against dark magic.

This magical item should hold out long enough for him to create a commotion and attract the professors' rescue.

Moreover, since Quirrell currently does not wish to expose himself, the likelihood of him taking action will be minimized.

Then, he pretended to be bold and mentioned his father's name, subtly hinting at his admiration for the Dark Lord.

There is a high probability that this would lead Quirrell to talk about the Dark Lord, enticing him to serve him.

Even if he keeps his lips sealed and does not disclose anything about the Dark Lord, there is still a good chance he might be tempted to help him with his tasks.

It must be said that his father's name alone played a significant role.

Mr. Walker is loyal to the Dark Lord, rational enough to understand self-preservation, and has a good reputation among the Death Eater community.

Additionally, due to Mr. Walker's good relationship with the Lestranges—who the Dark Lord always trusts—he has also gained the Dark Lord's confidence.

The second danger lies in the Dark Lord's Legilimency.

Although he is currently in a state of weakness and may not have the ability to perform Legilimency.

In the original work, he only gained the ability to converse with Harry after drinking unicorn blood. At that time, he could tell that Harry was lying, clearly indicating he was capable of using Legilimency.

Brian was also unwilling to take risks, so before meeting Quirrell, he used a Witness Point to elevate his Occlumency from beginner to mastery.

This should be sufficient to deal with the weakened Dark Lord's Legilimency, which he would not fully exert.

During his conversation with Quirrell, he displayed the emotions one should have during a performance.

It was evident that he had initially gained the Dark Lord's trust.

"In any case, things are getting back on track," Brian murmured, "this truly is a difficult path to tread."

"However, it can be considered a great adventure."

His gaze held a hint of sarcasm, though it was unclear who it was directed at.

...

"Hahaha, stupid snot and chicken feed, I heard you two sneaked out last night to find a troll and got caught by the professors?" Malfoy laughed loudly in the Great Hall, his voice carrying throughout.

"Oh, you should thank the professors for catching you before you could go feed the troll, with your small pea size stupid brains!"

"Malfoy, shut your foul mouth." Harry's face turned red.

Ron's face turned as red as his hair, and he waved his wand as if trying to swat Malfoy away.

"Oh, this is the dumbest thing I've ever done." Ron said angrily, looking at Malfoy's smug face.

Last night, Harry and Ron were worried about Hermione, so they broke away from the group to find her in the girls' bathroom, only to find the already unconscious troll, and then they were caught red-handed by the arriving professors.

Professor McGonagall's lips turned pale with anger, her gaze as cold as a knife, threatening to slice them into pieces, and her voice trembled as she spoke.

After examining the troll, Snape stated that someone had knocked it out with the Draught of Living Death and remarked, "A very clever move, but it clearly couldn't have been Potter and Weasley, could it?"

According to Snape, Potter and Weasley are brain dead trolls in human skin.

Furious, Professor McGonagall spoke in a trembling tone, "How dare you? If it hadn't been knocked out ahead of time, you would... Oh, each of you will lose five points for Gryffindor. Now, go back to your common room!"

The two of them returned to the common room, dejected, where they found Hermione.

"Where have you been? Don't run around in dangerous situations." Hermione said with some concern.

"Hermione, come on, we thought you were still in the girls' bathroom, and we ended up getting caught by the professors." Ron complained, "You should have told us when you came back."

"So... you went to look for me?" Hermione stood up, "Do you know how dangerous that is?"

"Also, you guys got caught? No, I need to find the professor to explain that it was because of me that you..." Hermione hurriedly planned to leave.

Harry and Ron stopped her, saying, "Come on, trust me, that snake will find a reason to take points from you."

"By the way, did you take down that troll?" the two asked curiously, "Snape said someone used some weird named potion."

"Of Course not!" Hermione exclaimed, "I never even considered that there would be a troll at Hogwarts. My goodness, I've always thought Hogwarts was the safest place in the world, if it weren't for Brian..."

"What? You mean it was Walker?" Ron's eyes widened.

"That's right, he saved me," Hermione nodded.

"Well, he certainly loves to show off," Ron said, feeling a bit uncomfortable, and received a glare from Hermione.

"No, he couldn't possibly have known there would be a troll here, could he?" Harry pondered, "But who would carry a vial of the potion with them?"

"Harry, do you really think it was Brian who released the troll?" Hermione countered, "Then he would need to prepare a bigger box."

"No, what I mean is, this is too much of a coincidence, isn't it?" Harry believed he was close to the truth.

"I'm not in the mood to discuss this matter anymore." Hermione fixed her hair and turned back to the dormitory.

...

After Harry and Ron finally got rid of the mocking Malfoy, Harry continued the topic from last night:

"I think Walker is suspicious; his timing in the girls' bathroom last night was too coincidental, and he just happened to have a vial of that weird name potion on him."

Ron stuffed a sandwich into his mouth and mumbled, "He must have heard Professor Quirrell's words and went to show off."

"Taking down a troll by himself, what a bloody thing to brag about!" Ron said a bit enviously.

"But he didn't brag about it, did he?" Harry glanced at Brian, who was quietly eating breakfast, and insisted, "We should say that very few people know he did this besides us."

"Right, and the night of the duel was also too coincidental; how did he just happen to wander down that corridor?" Harry's eyes lit up, "Walker was leading the way that day; perhaps he wanted us to discover it!"

"But if this is true, why would he do that?" Ron asked.

"Maybe he or someone behind him wants to get the things hidden there, so they went to investigate," Harry speculated.

"Stop guessing; we should go to class," Ron stuffed the last bite of his sandwich into his mouth.

...

After the Defense Against the Dark Arts class ended, Brian pretended to stay behind to ask questions and talked with Quirrell.

"I'm sorry, Professor Quirrell, I caused you trouble last night," Brian said apologetically.

"It's fine; I got the information I wanted," Quirrell sneered, "Snape tested that big dog's abilities for me quite well."

"So what do I need to do... to help the Dark Lord return?" Brian lowered his voice, his eyes filled with excitement and urgency.

"Ah, I think you could find a way to learn how to deal with that big dog. There must be some method," Quirrell pondered, "It's Hagrid's silly little pet; you could find a way to get some information from him."

"Alright." Brian looked at him and nodded with a smile.

...

Time continued to pass slowly, and Hogwarts remained peaceful.

Brian set aside Quirrell's instructions and continued his routine of studying.

The level of his mastery in Transfiguration was basically enough to handle all the first-year Transfiguration courses, and he had already started previewing the second-year courses.

In Charms class, his abilities were sufficient, and his Charms level had successfully changed to beginner.

The same was true for Potions; he was already able to independently brew all the first-year and even second-year potions.

Professor Snape was quite satisfied with this, and even though his leg was severely injured and his mood had been quite poor lately, he was still patient enough to answer Brian's questions after class.

He even gifted Brian a potion notebook that recorded many improved potion formulas. If it weren't for Brian not having the energy to delve deeper into potion study this semester, he suspected Snape would have taken him as a closed-door pupil.

This was one of the conveniences provided by this identity.

As for Alchemy... he really didn't have the energy to study it and could only set it aside for later.

Finally, regarding the memory/general knowledge aspect, through continuous recitation and memorization of various knowledge, it has successfully progressed from a beginner level to a mastery level.

There are still 1.2 witness points remaining, which he has temporarily kept unused. Among them, 0.2 points were gained from two Quidditch matches.

The new Quidditch match is about to start, Slytherin vs. Gryffindor. This match is bound to be filled with tension.

Brian had no intention of intervening in the plot at the moment; he just wanted to observe the entire process and gain basic witness points to grow his shadow.