Chapter 65: Chapter 65
"But, I thought he was friends with—"
"But, I thought we want Firebolt to look—"
"Oh, he cares about as much about Potter as I care about you two oafs!" Malfoy said angrily. "And once we can tell Milo's rigged the game and it's a shoo-in—or, should I say,—slither-in for Slytherin, then we'll have some of our players lose control of their brooms, crash, and blame it all on Firebolt. Slytherin wins the match, Potter never forgives his friend so Milo can't examine the prototype anymore, and Firebolt will be ruined."
Crabbe and Goyle were silent, staring in awe up at their boss.
o—o
"I've got it all planned out," Milo said confidently. "I'll break into Snape's office on Friday right before the game and steal some Veritaserum. While Harry is dazzling the school with his flying prowess, Hermione, Ron and I will sneak some into Draco's water. Then we kidnap him, tie him to a tree in the Forbidden Forest and beat him savagely until he tells us everything. We can bury his body where the Acromantulas will find him, then go back and watch the rest of the match."
Harry spat out the water he was drinking.
"We could be sent to prison for that," he exclaimed.
"Or worse," Hermione said, her face pale. "Expelled."
"Might be worth it, though," Ron said with a dreamy expression on his face.
"Fine, fine," Milo said. "Veritaserum is totally tasteless—rather like that Umbridge woman, actually. Malfoy will never know he's been drugged, and we can just ask him in the hall what his evil scheme is and he'll spill the beans without ever knowing why. We can deal with Malfoy later when it's more convenient."
"Let me get this straight," said Ron. "You are going to break into Snape's office."
"Yeah."
"Do we know any other Snapes?" Ron asked.
"Not to my knowledge."
"So... you're going to break into Professor Snape's office."
"Yeah."
Ron stared at him with a mix of fear and respect.
"You're mad, mate."
"There's no other choice," Milo insisted. "It's time we go on the offensive; we can't just keep waiting here for the next 'Troll' or giant spider or whatever. I mean, what's next, dragons?"
"Don't be ridiculous," said Hermione sharply. "Nobody would dare try and bring a dragon into Hogwarts, not while Dumbledore's here."
"Yeah, Dumbledore'd go nuts," Ron agreed.
"So," Milo pressed, "are we all in?"
"Yeah," said Ron. "Anything to get one over Malfoy."
"I don't see that there's much I can do," said Harry, "seeing as how I'll be playing Quidditch. But... yeah, I'm in."
Everyone turned to look at Hermione, who remained silent, looking troubled.
"We did have a deal," Ron said. "Remember? Milo found proof that Snape's evil, though I think his treatment of Harry should have made that clear enough."
"Oh, fine," she eventually snapped. "But only because you lot are hopeless without me."
o—o
Snape lay back in his worn leather office chair, thinking in silence. He couldn't imagine how the Headmaster managed to get anything done surrounded by those accursed ticking silver machines.
Quirinus Quirrell was trying to get the Stone. That much was obvious. The nervous Professor's sudden change in personality was highly suspicious, but the Headmaster refused to listen to Snape's warnings. Dumbledore, Snape decided, could be far too trusting for his own good. Snape would have to take matters into his own hands.
But... what of the boy? What's Milo's role in all of this? If Snape had thought Quirrell seemed attached to the boy earlier, Hallowe'en had confirmed that. Quirrell had tried to get Milo out of detention with Snape...
Snape frowned.
That wasn't all he'd been trying to do. Milo had been helping the Defence Professor with the Troll, so...
Snape blinked.
Milo was helping Quirrell steal the Stone. That must be why Malfoy wanted him thrown out of Hogwarts, realized Snape.
So. Lucius knows about the Stone.
Snape ran his hands through his greasy hair. He had a fine line to walk: he had to protect Potter without anyone realizing it, protect the Stone, help Lucius have Milo expelled to maintain his cover with the Death Eaters, and, now, also keep Lucius from getting his hands on the Stone—without Lucius realizing he was trying to do so. It was only a matter of time before Lucius commanded him to steal Flamel's Stone.
Snape's next move, obviously, was to discover everything he could about Quirrell. For whom was he working? What, exactly, was his relationship with Milo? What really happened to him over the summer?
Unfortunately, it wasn't as if Snape could just ask him these questions—and if Quirrell was ready to play the game at this level, he'd be too clever to let anything slip accidentally. Even dosing him with Veritaserum would be unlikely to succeed. Snape, for one, always carried the antidote in a small flask on his person and drank it whenever he began feeling particularly honest (a rare enough feeling to be immediately suspicious); there was no reason to believe Quirrell did not do so as well.
Fortunately, Snape had a plan. There were potions other than Veritaserum for learning what others wanted kept secret. It took a month to brew, but was useful enough that Snape always kept some on hand.
All I have to do now, he thought to himself, is get the boy alone.
Snape smiled. There was no trace of humour whatsoever in it.
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