Hoare helplessly followed the name Helena's tail poio.

  Peter Pettigrew.

  Hoare quickly ehat part of the map. Peter Pettigrew was running very fast, and the positions marked on the map looked like—"like he's in the pipes."

  How do you cateone in the pipes?

  "Hiss~"

  Hoare turned his gaze aside.

  Who at Hogwarts knows all the secret chambers and passages best?

  Who move freely without being noticed by the portraits?

  Only the thousand-year-old Helena, who was so bored she could only py with her own tail in bed.

  "Helena, are you bored? Want to py a game?" Hoare picked up Helena and pced her in his palm.

  Helena nodded repeatedly, her tiny eyes revealing a pitiful look.

  "Shall we py a game of snakes catg mice?"

  Hoare said, drawing Scabbers' likeness in mid-air with his wand.

  "Ha~" Helena was very ied.

  Although Hoare couldn't uand Parseltongue, he could see the excitement in Helena's eyes, like the thrill of seeing prey.

  "Go."

  As soon as Hoare finished speaking, Helena had already darted away.

  No doubt about it, being a thousand-year-old Basilisk, she was incredibly effit.

  Hoare watched Helena's name dart across the Marauder's Map, rapidly closing in oer Pettigrew.

  A few mier, the two names pletely overpped, then began moving swiftly together, clearly heading towards Slytherin, Hoare's dormitory.

  Hoare tossed the Marauder's Map into a drawer, theo the on room to see if there were any props he could use for eai.

  Chair, rope, dle, whip? Axe? Mace?

  Hoare curiously held up a shackle, a question mark in his mind.

  Does Slytherin py this openly?

  Hoare eventually gave up on those strange props.

  Helena appeared in the on room, carryier Pettigrew in her mouth, ready to head to the dormitory when Hoare called her.

  "Helena," Hoare shouted, "drop it here."

  Hoare poio the small table in front of him.

  Helena obediently slithered over and dropped the barely scious Scabbers from her mouth.

  "Long time no see, Scabbers?" Hoare sneered, skillfully tying Scabbers up like a dumpling.

  Just as Scabbers was about to scream, Hoare stuffed a smelly soto his mouth. "A house-elf's rag, a gift for you." Hoare had just asked for it, and the elf thought Hoare was trying to steal its job and cried for a while.

  Helena slithered around the on room, found it b, and then climbed up Hoare's body to his head, hissing at Scabbers.

  After tying up Scabbers, Hoare pointed his wand at Scabbers' legs, using a very small amount of magic to cast a "Reducto."

  A destined wand is indeed better than a sed-hand one, allowing for more precise use of magic.

  Hoare finally uood why even someone as powerful as Dumbledore preferred using a wand.

  Using a wand allows magic to be drawn into threads, trolling the spell's damage.

  But wandless magic is the plete opposite, enhang damage but uo reduce it.

  The "Reducto" Hoare cast was something he had always wao try, trolling the magic to a very low level.

  After casting it, he saw Scabbers trembling, his furry body breaking out in a cold sweat, tears streaming from his beady eyes.

  Hoare leaned in to listen closely, hearing a tinuous crag sound from Scabbers' legs.

  When the sound almost stopped, Hoare touched it.

  Sure enough, it was already shattered inside.

  Scabbers bit down on something, letting out a series of shrill screams.

  Hoare raised an eyebrow and sneered.

  Helena, watg from atop Hoare's head, was very pleased, drooling with excitement.

  Hoare handed her over to the house-elf for dinner.

  The energy from the Philosopher's Stone had been successfully extracted, thanks to Sazar Slytherin's books.

  They tained a wealth of knowledge lost over the ages, like a vast gaxy, providing immense be.

  Due to time straints, Hoare could only imprint the tents of the books he needed into his mind.

  A formation for st arag magic.

  At this moment, the Philosopher's Stone was in the dormitory, pleting its final transformation.

  Hoare returo the dormitory, bringing the y shell of the Philosopher's Stoo the on room.

  Each house's on room has a firepce.

  In fact, the firepces between the houses are interected, as long as you know the other firepce's password.

  Hoare thought, isn't that like a phone number? As long as you dial it correctly, you ect to the other firepce (phone).

  Unfortunately, firepces only transmit messages one way, not for versations.

  Luckily, Hoare knew Dumbledore's and Snape's firepumbers.

  After all, they were btantly posted o the firepce, impossible for Hoare to miss.

  "Angelica" ected to Snape's firepce, "Headmaster! Help!"

  "Sour Bst" ected to Dumbledore's firepce, "Headmaster! Help!"

  After firming they saw his message, Hoare coughed twice, quickly putting on a terrified expression, waiting by the firepce.

  And the shattered Scabbers y on a nearby table, covered by a rge rag, with the Philosopher's Stone beside him.

  Sure enough, shortly after, two fmes emerged from the on room firepce, revealing Headmaster Dumbledore and Headmaster Snape.

  "You better have a reason! Or you'll be ing the public bathrooms for the rest of your school years!" Snape's whole body smelled of potions.

  Huessed that with Snape's love for potions, he robably experimenting with that snake skin before ing.

  "Henry, is there something you need?" Dumbledore, wearing a starry robe and a pointed nightcap, looked ready for bed.

  "Headmaster, Headmaster. I actally obtained a map that shows people's names. Earlier, I was bored in the on room and decided to take a look."

  Hoare took out the Marauder's Map, ope, and pced it in front of them.

  "I saw this." After speaking, Hoare shivered as if he had seen something terrifying.

  Snape's pupils dited when he saw the map.

  Dumbledore's gaze drifted for a moment, as if reminisg, before he snapped back to reality and took the Marauder's Map from Hoare.

  Dumbledore skillfully ehe space they were in.

  In the space they occupied, several names appeared, showing Albus Dumbledore, Severus Snape, Henry William, and a hat should have been dead for many years, Peter Pettigrew.

  Snape frowned deeply.

  "Dumbledore—" Snape's face turned very unpleasant.

  Dumbledore was er, looking at the map's marked location.

  Not far away, on a table covered with a rag, something was clearly underh, but definitely not a person.

  "I was so scared, I just covered it up," Hoare expined.

  It?

  Snape and Dumbledore exged gnces, both realizing Hoare's description wasn't meant for a person.

  Dumbledore approached and lifted the rag, revealing what was underh.

  "The Philosopher's Stone!?" Dumbledore excimed.

  "Rat!?" Snape's voice was filled with disgust, as rats reminded him of a certain group.

  0Niffler0