To Unlock Bonus Chapters:
Reach 50/100/200/400 Power Stones! 3 Extra Chapters!
Reach 800 Power Stones to activate NP!
Resets Weekly! [Monday]
—————————————————————————————————————————
But he didn't plan to get up - the little girl beside him hadn't woken yet.
Might as well lie down a bit longer.
Habitually activating his heightened senses to scan surroundings, Glenn noticed something odd on the ceiling.
Focusing his perception, he found what appeared to be burn marks on the ceiling, leaving regular patterns.
Is this... English?
It seemed Dumbledore had Fawkes deliver a message. Seeing Glenn and Hermione asleep, the phoenix hadn't disturbed them, instead scorching black marks into the ceiling.
"I'm not at Hogwarts today. Do me a favor - after curfew, go to the trapdoor under the sealed door in the fourth-floor corridor and bring Harry and Ron back to the Gryffindor common room."
Glenn glanced at it expressionlessly.
Not at Hogwarts today? And wants my help? At the place hiding the fake Stone too.
You old fox, your intentions seem questionable.
If Voldemort isn't dead, then your absence from Hogwarts would be his only chance to try getting the fake Stone.
And having me bring Harry and that Weasley back to the Gryffindor common room - aren't you worried your scheme might fail and get two young wizards killed by accident?
Don't really want to get involved, better pretend I didn't see it.
Out of sight, out of mind. Glenn was about to change position to let the little girl sleep more comfortably when the ceiling text trembled and automatically changed.
"5,000 Galleons."
Voldemort.
"8,000."
I'm not short on money.
"...10,000, that's my final offer."
Deal.
Glenn's expression remained unchanged.
Sitting in his office eating snacks, Dumbledore felt a pang - damn this greedy brat, he was nearly emptying out his retirement savings.
But for Harry's growth, worth it!
Casually erasing the black marks on the ceiling, Glenn tucked the blanket around Hermione and lay back down.
What's the rush? It wasn't curfew yet - better think about self-protection spells for tonight, since Voldemort still had some vitality.
But by Glenn's calculations, barring accidents, there shouldn't be much left.
Still, he couldn't be careless - he needed to bring his full strength to handle tonight's situation.
Glenn's expression turned cold as his past life's assassin instincts unconsciously took over his thinking - having accepted the target, regardless of cost, he had to complete the objective of bringing Harry and Weasley back to the Gryffindor common room.
Perhaps his movement was too big while adjusting position, or maybe the little girl had slept enough - Hermione, hugging Glenn, drowsily opened her eyes, still seeming half-asleep.
Seeing Glenn's face so close, the little girl smiled goofily, moved her little face closer, and lightly pecked Glenn before lying back down into deep sleep, a happy smile still on her face.
Hermione's kiss brought Glenn back from that strange state. His eyes, covered by black silk, looked tenderly at the little girl in his arms as his cold heart warmed again.
Right, his life was different from his past life now.
He couldn't just carelessly die.
Glenn directly gave up - to hell with mission objectives, he'd be the first to run at real danger.
Wasn't it better to keep his precious life to spend more time with his little girl?
Pressing his face against Hermione's, Glenn went straight to sleep.
...
Glenn was woken by Hermione. The little girl sat on the bed with a troubled face, hands propped on her knees.
"This is bad - feels like we slept too long. It's curfew now, I won't be able to sleep later." Sleeping together with Glenn, they'd overslept, and now she felt dizzy.
Glenn patted her head.
Since it was already curfew, Glenn planned to take Hermione back to her dormitory before going alone to bring back Harry and Weasley.
Voldemort was still Voldemort - even a bloodied, half-crippled Voldemort possessing someone else's body was dangerous. Though Glenn had the ability to protect the little girl and escape unharmed, it was better to reduce any unknown risks.
"Friendship," Hermione told the Fat Lady today's password as they climbed through the Gryffindor common room entrance.
Inside the common room, they saw someone who shouldn't have been there at this time.
It was Neville.
The little boy looked bitter, his feet seemingly stuck together, unable to move as he tried hopping toward the common room exit.
"Neville? Why are you here, and what's with the Leg-Locker Curse?" Hermione frowned, immediately recognizing what had caused Neville's condition, and cast the counter-curse to free his locked legs.
"Oh, thanks Hermione!" Neville was also surprised - strange, why were Glenn and Hermione back so late...
Wait, why was Glenn even entering the Gryffindor common room?
No no, now wasn't the time to think about that!
"It was Harry and Ron - Professor McGonagall asked me to watch them tonight, to stop them sneaking out after curfew, but I didn't expect them to use the Leg-Locker Curse on me."
Neville smiled bitterly - he'd been careless and hadn't dodged.
He'd thought just catching them in the act would make them give up. He hadn't even brought his wand, just sat on the common room sofa in his pajamas holding a book, waiting to intercept them. But Neville really hadn't expected Harry to use the Leg-Locker Curse on him.
What's worse, they were quite polite about it - both apologizing to Neville while carrying him back to their dormitory, one holding his arms, one his feet.
This left Neville hopping all the way back from the dormitory.
Hearing Neville's description, Hermione held her head.
"Are those two trouble magnets?" The little girl saw Neville's sleepy eyes, thought for a moment, and voluntarily took on this task.
"Glenn and I already slept for a while before coming here, and I won't be able to sleep if I go back to the dormitory now anyway, so why don't we help catch those two? You should go get some sleep."
At this thought, the little girl suddenly got excited for some reason.
Sneaking around at night! First time this term!
And with Glenn too!
Just thinking about it was thrilling!
Neville felt it wasn't appropriate to trouble Glenn and Hermione like this. He was about to speak but was stopped by Hermione's dangerous look. Though he didn't fully understand, he wisely chose to obediently listen after seeing the threatening meaning in the little girl's eyes.
Bidding goodbye to Glenn and Hermione, Neville returned to his dormitory.
Now Glenn was in a difficult position - he hadn't wanted to bring Hermione along. Though she was quite strong now with self-protection abilities, and he could help her escape together, it was still quite dangerous.
But he wanted to hear the little girl's opinion and respect her choice.
Glenn held Hermione back and told her about Voldemort coming to Harry's location tonight.
"Professor Dumbledore told me this." Glenn threw Dumbledore under the bus.
"How could Professor Dumbledore do this? Even though you're very capable, you're still just a young wizard." Hermione was worried and somewhat resentful toward Dumbledore.
But her fear of Voldemort wasn't as great as Glenn had imagined.
Probably because she hadn't experienced Voldemort's actions firsthand, only reading reports in books and papers - not direct enough. Maybe it was also Dumbledore's repeated emphasis not to fear Voldemort too much that kept the little girl's emotions relatively stable now.
Glenn held her hand and seriously told Hermione: "Hermione, what's ahead is somewhat dangerous - I suggest you wait in the dormitory for my return."
At these words, the little girl got angry instead, grabbing Glenn's collar and saying through gritted teeth: "Have you forgotten your promise to me? You want to face danger alone again - I told you, don't think about shaking me off."
Glenn wasn't angry at the little girl's forceful collar-grabbing, but smiled instead.
"I haven't forgotten."
He respected the little girl's choice and prepared to head to the fourth floor with Hermione.
"Since you chose to come along, we need to prepare first." Glenn crouched down and took out equipment from his waist pack - things he'd already prepared for Hermione: a tactical suit loaded with Glenn's current best alchemical protective devices, its outer material the most flexible and durable he could currently transmute, with the most comfortable lining available for purchase. Even Glenn's own tactical suit hadn't received such effort.
This suit for Hermione could be said to represent the pinnacle of Glenn's learning.
"Wow, it looks so cool!" Hermione's eyes lit up, clearly liking it. "When did you make this?"
"A long time ago, prepared for situations like today - better safe than sorry. You can change here, I'll use spells to conceal you." Glenn handed her the clothes and drew his wand, layering multiple concealment and presence-erasing spells on the little girl while using alchemy to set up a simple changing room.
Even Dumbledore wouldn't be able to peek!
Try peeking and I'll knock your head flying!
Glenn stood guard seriously, seeming even more careful than when sniping Voldemort before.
Seeing this setup, Hermione was both amused and touched, her heart feeling sweet as she took the clothes and went in to change.
As for whether Glenn would betray his guard duty? Where would he get such courage and thoughts!
Hermione rather wished... well not exactly wished, just wished this blockhead could become more aware!
Dummy, hmph!
After Hermione changed, Glenn also quickly changed.
As for the time spent - well, if Harry had already encountered Voldemort, he could've died hundreds of times by now.
But Glenn wanted exactly this effect - he rather hoped Voldemort would quickly kill Harry, take the fake Stone and flee Hogwarts, then there'd be no danger.
Though he'd agreed to let Hermione come along, Glenn still played a trick.
Secretly dragging out time to reduce chances of directly meeting Voldemort - the little girl wouldn't notice.
Harry, Weasley, rest in peace - I'll properly preserve your remains for Dumbledore.