A Sudden Dire Situation

Chapter 86 A Sudden Dire Situation

Baron didn't have to wait long—Harry was an excellent Seeker, and with the perfect teamwork between his two partners, he quickly grabbed the key, then hurriedly jumped back to the ground and ran to open the door.

"Don't open the door yet."

Baron stopped them again: "Who among you is the best chess player?"

"It should be me."

Ron stepped forward this time: "Does the next level require us to play chess to pass it?"

"That's right, but that's not all. In the next level, we need to replace the pieces on the board to make a move. If the piece we're playing is captured, it's like our body is directly attacked... So to avoid unnecessary damage, the fewer people on the field, the better. Ideally, only the person who is best at chess should be on the field."

"I see."

Ron hesitated for a moment, then took the key from Harry and inserted it into the lock: "Then I'll go in first."

Baron, Harry, and Hermione watched Ron's retreating figure as he replaced the black rook, commanding his large pieces to battle against the white pieces. The colossi wielded their weapons, mercilessly pulverizing their prey. Ron cautiously moved forward, issuing commands with a serious expression, as the number of pieces on both sides gradually dwindled…

Finally, the bishop under Ron's command smashed the White King to pieces, picked up the fallen crown, and handed it to Ron.

"I did it!"

He wiped the sweat from his face with his sleeve and waved and shouted to the three people watching from the doorway.

"Well done, Ron!"

Harry and Hermione excitedly ran over and gave Ron a high-five. Ron turned to look at Baron, who was standing to the side with his arms crossed, and sincerely thanked him, saying, "Thank you, Baron."

"Thank goodness you reminded me to go alone, otherwise, given the difficulty of this game, one of us would definitely have been defeated. Looking at how ferocious those pieces are... God, I can't even imagine what it would feel like to be hit by them!"

Baron smiled at him: "No need to be polite, it's all just to minimize losses."

"And don't get too excited yet. This is just a trap; the real difficulties are yet to come."

Harry and the others felt a chill run down their spines—yes, Snape was still waiting for them in front of that spell left by Dumbledore!

"Then let's get moving!"

In the next room were two giant monsters that had been knocked unconscious. They lay limply on the ground with their eyes rolled back, each with a large bump on its head almost the size of its own.

"Ha, Snape saved us some trouble! Hopefully these trolls will wear him down and weaken him a bit..."

Baron glanced at Ron but said nothing.

Soon, they entered the next, second to last room—he opened the next door, and for a moment, the two of them dared not look at what awaited them—but there was nothing frightening here, only a table with seven bottles of different shapes on it.

"This must be Snape's magic," Harry said. "He must have gotten through without any trouble, but what should we do?"

Suddenly, a burst of flame erupted from the entrance through which the four had entered, completely blocking the doorway. The flames emitted a dazzling purple light, and the waves of heat they generated caused a slight burning sensation even from several meters away. At the same time, ominous black flames also surged from the doorway leading forward—they were trapped in the middle.

"look!"

Hermione grabbed a roll of parchment next to the bottle. Harry and Ron stood behind her and read aloud together: "Danger is ahead, safety is behind. Two of us can help you. Drink these; one will lead you forward, the other will take you back to where you started. Both contain nettle wine..."

"Stop guessing, the smallest bottle is for moving forward, and the round bottle on the far right is for moving back."

Baron ruthlessly interrupted their guessing game: "Ken already deduced the result. If you don't believe me, you can calculate it again yourselves, but we may not have much time left."

"Well……"

Harry, his two friends, and their companions exchanged glances, then turned to the smallest bottle: "But there's only a single dose of the potion left. I'm afraid only one of us can get in..."

"I suggest Harry go on, and the rest of you go back."

Baron said in a deep voice, "Harry has a special quality that can protect him from misfortune to the greatest extent possible—that's why Ken and I dared to bring you first-year students in."

"But... but... isn't there any other way? Baron, can you find a way to put out that flame?"

"I can't do it."

Baron shook his head: "That's magic left behind by Snape himself. His skill is far superior to ours. If we were to acquire it, it might take some time to break the spell, but even then, the Philosopher's Stone would probably have been stolen long ago..."

"I see."

Harry suddenly stepped forward and grabbed the smallest bottle.

"Harry! You..."

"There's no other way! Just like Baron said, every second we delay increases the chances of something going wrong! We have to stop Voldemort from getting the Philosopher's Stone, or it won't just be a question of whether I die or not!" he shouted solemnly to his companions.

"...You're amazing, Harry."

Hermione rushed over with tears in her eyes and hugged Harry tightly, while Ron, with a somber expression, could only pat Harry's shoulder forcefully: "You're back alive, buddy."

"Definitely." Harry forced a smile. Then, he and Ron simultaneously tilted their heads back and drank their respective potions, followed by Hermione's potion to leave...

"Sometimes you have to admit that Slytherin and Gryffindor have quite similar ways of thinking."

Baron took the potion from Hermione but didn't drink it. Instead, he put it back on the table, saying, "I don't know why we've developed such a deep grudge."

As he spoke, to the astonishment of Harry and the others, he pulled a small bottle of potion from his pocket, the same color as the one Harry had just drunk.

"You even have magic potions?!"

Hermione almost screamed out loud.

"Of course! Since Ken has already figured out the mechanism beforehand, isn't it normal for him to bring back some potion, figure out the ingredients, and then make an exact copy?" Baron glanced at Hermione with a puzzled look, then tilted his head back and drank the potion. "Of course I have to go in with him. I can't just shirk responsibility for my actions, can I?"

"Then we..."

"That's it, just this one bottle. What's next is too dangerous for you two freshmen who don't have any special abilities and aren't very strong in combat. Going there would only be a burden. What you need to do is immediately return to the school and write to Dumbledore for help."

"..."

Finally, Ron and Hermione awkwardly passed through the purple flames, leaving behind a mumbled message: "I really can't bring myself to like Slytherin people..."

"alright."

Baron turned to Harry, his expression grave. "Shall we go in—are we ready?"

"certainly."

He murmured, then took a deep breath, stepped into the black flames, and exclaimed in surprise at the person already standing in the room: "Cult of Quirrell—"

"They'll all turn to stone!!"

A loud shout rang out from behind him, and then he felt something hit his back—a petrification spell, a petrification spell that came from the most unexpected direction.

In an instant, Harry felt his body freeze, as if he were a statue. He strained to open his eyes wide, his pupils darting around, and watched as Baron, with an excited expression, walked around from behind him and stood in front, bowing deeply to Quirrell, a smile involuntarily playing on his lips.

"I've brought you Harry Potter."

"Dark Lord Professor".

(End of this chapter)