Harry Potter and the Candy Factory

“Which way should we go?”

“This way… I remember there's a portrait of a long-bearded old man here. Once we pass it and turn right, then pass the classroom where we have Transfiguration, we should reach that corridor!”

After reaching the third floor, the two young wizards were clearly on high alert. The thought of sleeping that they originally had in their minds was completely washed away by the adrenaline surging through them. Google Search Read

Draco picked up his wand. To be safe, he deliberately didn't use Lumos to light the way, but instead relied on the faint moonlight from the window and his memory to grope his way towards their target.

“If we encounter him… what should we do?”

While feeling the cold wall beside him, and carefully following step by step, Harry pursed his lips. With some worry, he still voiced his concerns.

“It's okay, we don't need to confront him directly. We just need to know what he's doing… then we'll immediately return to the dormitory and tell Headmaster Snape… or some other professor about this as soon as it's daylight tomorrow.”

Clearly, Draco wasn't a reckless fellow. The moment he decided to follow, he had already made corresponding plans and arrangements.

However, upon hearing this, Harry couldn't help but be stunned… His mind subconsciously thought,

“So we're still going to get caught, aren't we?”

No, this wasn't just getting caught… it was directly delivering themselves to the professors, telling them that they had secretly snuck out yesterday and even followed a suspected criminal! How brave of them!

It was too weird… Harry couldn't help but mutter to himself.

But Draco in front of him didn't have time to pay attention to Harry's thoughts, because at this moment, his hand was tightly gripping his wand, fully prepared for battle, paying attention to any disturbance in front of him, as if any slight abnormality would be met with a direct curse.

It must be praised that Charlie's education of Draco in those short seven days was clearly very effective.

At this moment, even though he was highly focused, the way he held his wand hadn't changed, still as elegant as ever, just like his uncle.

Suddenly, as if noticing something, Draco stopped. His ears twitched, and then his eyes lit up.

“I think I heard his footsteps—over here!”

He said in a deep voice, then immediately quickened his pace, striding towards the direction of the sound.

Helpless, Harry saw Draco quicken his pace, and to prevent any accidents, he had no choice but to closely follow him.

Turning around and around, following Draco's progress, the sound of footsteps became more and more obvious.

In the dim environment, the rustling sound brought out some echoes, rippling in the empty corridor… If it were normal times, no one would pay any attention to this place, but only now, under such circumstances, it was particularly noticeable.

So there was no way Draco and Harry could have gone the wrong way. They just needed to carefully follow the trail and there wouldn't be any problems.

Sure enough, just as Draco had imagined, following the trail of that strange figure, the two of them began to get closer and closer to the so-called forbidden area on the third floor.

“We're getting closer and closer to him!”

Fine beads of sweat flowed down his forehead, causing two strands of golden hair that had just been neatly arranged to quietly slip down.

Draco stopped. At this moment, the figure's movements seemed to be close at hand. The other person's footsteps landed on the floor, but each pause felt like stepping on his own heart. Even he couldn't help but start to fall into some kind of nervous emotion.

“Just one more right turn… and it's the forbidden corridor that Headmaster Dumbledore mentioned, right?”

Harry was equally nervous. He tried to calm his breathing and carefully asked Draco.

Draco nodded, not saying anything else… That strange figure had already entered this corridor. It wouldn't be long before they could find out what the other person wanted to do, and the remaining time was just waiting… waiting for his footsteps to stop, waiting for his next move.

The man didn't make them wait too long. The footsteps that had been stepping on Draco's heart finally stopped, and there was no more sound.

“Here it comes!”

He immediately became alert. His heartbeat not only didn't ease up, but instead beat even faster.

He even vaguely suspected whether this violent heartbeat would be more obvious than the figure's footsteps in this dark and secluded corridor?

But Draco shook his head, no longer thinking about anything else.

After refocusing all his energy on the front, he grabbed the hard stone edge of the corridor corner, and little by little, he poked his head out, while holding his breath, not daring to even pant.

At this moment, how similar was it to the scene at the staircase just now…

However, just when Draco thought everything would go as smoothly as he imagined, an accident happened.

Raising his eyes, he saw that in the corridor, the pale moonlight shone on the floor, and vaguely reflected the light on the walls on both sides, allowing people to see a row of locked wooden doors.

It was empty and unnerving, without even a shadow of anything, let alone the figure they had just been chasing…

Draco's pupils suddenly shrank to the size of pinholes, and his violently beating heart suddenly stagnated. The sweat that had only been trickling down became dense and almost instantly covered his forehead.

“What's going on!?”

He asked incredulously, as if asking Harry, as if asking himself, and even more like directly questioning that strange figure.

“Draco, what did you see?”

Harry, hiding behind Draco, saw the other's reaction and became anxious for a moment. He reached out and tugged at the other's cloak, wanting the other to give some reaction.

However, after Draco asked this question, there was no more movement. Helpless, Harry had no choice but to personally stick his head out as well.

For a moment, the two of them were all silent… They looked at each other, and both saw the same expression on the other's face as they had at this moment.

“He… where is he?”

Harry was so frightened by this scene that he stuttered, gesturing with his hands as he asked Draco.

“I don't know!” Draco frowned tightly, shaking his head vigorously, even if his hair fell down, he didn't care at this moment, letting them vaguely block his vision.

“We were clearly following him all the time, listening to his footsteps coming this way! How could it be…”

He lowered his head, muttering to himself in a voice only he could hear, his brain racing as he tried to figure out where things had gone wrong.

However… just as both of them were losing their composure, focused solely on repeatedly checking the empty corridor, the figure that Harry and Draco had been closely following quietly reappeared behind them.

“H-hey… y-you, what are, are you doing?”

Unexpectedly, the sudden voice startled Harry and Draco, sending shivers down their spines.

Grabbing his companion, he stumbled forward in a roll. Almost without thinking, acting on instinct, Draco raised his wand towards the direction of the voice.

“SERPEN—(Serpensortia!)”

Draco had barely uttered half the incantation when a red light flashed, transforming into a chain that struck his wrist directly. With almost no time to react, a powerful force pulled him. The next second, the wand was knocked out of his hand and flew into the other person’s grasp…

“C-calm down, you, you two Sly… Slytherin gentlemen.”

With the wand in hand, the person didn't do anything else, simply raising both hands holding the wand as if to show that he was not a threat. He continued, stammering as usual,

“I-it’s… it’s me, your Defense A-Against the Dark Arts teacher, Quirrell.”

Only then did the two of them recover from their shock, noticing the familiar, harmless face of Quirrell beneath the signature purple turban.

He was currently wearing loose blue and white striped pajamas, his face showing a hint of bewilderment mixed with the drowsiness of just waking up.

“Professor!?”

Harry’s eyes widened, one hand clutching his heart, the other trembling as he pointed at the man, clearly still quite frightened.

“What are you doing here?!”

Quirrell looked at him, his expression strange.

He tossed the wand he had just confiscated back to Draco, then countered,

“T-that… that’s what I should be asking you, you two. If, if I’m not mistaken, it, it should be bedtime now, right?”

“Why are you here?!”

With the wand back in his hand, Draco couldn't help but steady himself.

He secretly exhaled, the tension in his shoulders easing as they drooped limply.

Harry, however, after recovering, immediately remembered the most important reason he and Draco had come to the third floor.

So he quickly spoke again, eager to report what had happened to the professor.

“Just now, Draco and I, we—”

However, he had only spoken halfway, not yet finished, when Draco suddenly stomped hard on his foot, forcing him to abruptly stop what he was about to say.

Draco took another step forward, naturally stepping in front of him, smoothly taking over the conversation, and continued,

“We couldn't sleep tonight, so we wanted to buy some candy for a treat… but the candy vending machine in the Slytherin common room was empty. We had no choice but to sneak out, wanting to see—I remember there’s a candy vending machine on the third floor too, right, Professor?”

Draco flashed a harmless smile, shrugging his shoulders and spreading his hands to show his helplessness.

Harry wasn't stupid either… After hearing what Draco said, his expression changed, and then he nodded naturally, smiling at Quirrell, no longer mentioning what he had originally been about to say.

“Indeed…”

Quirrell didn't think much of it, nodding, then turning sideways, the wand in his hand emitting a warm yellow glow, illuminating the direction of another corridor.

“There is indeed… a, a candy vending machine on the third floor. Only, only, it’s, it’s for the exclusive use of the professors’ dormitories.”

Quirrell said, lowering his head to think for a moment, then looking back at the two of them.

After a moment, he continued,

“But… if you, you really want to eat some, I can take you to, to buy some, how about that?”

As he spoke, he smiled. Just like during the day, he was still the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor that all the students liked.

… … … … … … … … … … … … …

Some time later, Harry and Draco, carrying another full bag of candy, swayed as they walked down the stairs.

Quirrell stood warmly at the top of the stairs, waving goodbye to them, and thoughtfully reminded them,

“Go back, get a good night’s sleep… I won’t, won’t tell Mr. Filch.”

“Thank you, Professor Quirrell!”

Hearing his words, Harry, who had already descended almost halfway down the stairs, couldn't help but turn his head and look up, intending to thank Professor Quirrell.

But the next moment, just as he finished speaking, he suddenly noticed… when the blurred darkness obscured Quirrell’s kind and gentle face, leaving only the simplest outline, both his height and build were actually the same as the figure they had vaguely seen… indistinguishable.

“Glup…” Harry’s Adam’s apple trembled violently, as if he had formed a conditioned reflex, and he looked at Draco beside him.

Draco was also smiling, waving goodbye to Quirrell, but Harry could clearly hear him squeeze out a few words from between his teeth,

“Don’t say anything, just go back.”

… … … … … … … … … … … …

Although Harry was shocked and wanted to pour out a million words to Draco, he still held back.

Draco took out his favorite licorice wand from the candy and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing it with a “crack, crack” sound.

Just as he said, the two of them didn't say a word all the way, just walked straight back to the Slytherin common room, and then straight up to their beds.

However, lying in bed, Harry couldn't fall asleep anymore…

He tossed and turned in bed, constantly moving his body. His mind was filled with thoughts about Professor Quirrell and the figure they had seen.

He began to unconsciously recall what Quirrell was like in his memory.

Weak, timid, stuttering, insecure… Could such a person really be connected to that terrifying figure?

Harry asked himself, but couldn't give himself a so-called answer.

There was only the calm breathing of his sleeping partners and two discordant sighs.