"So let me get this straight, you believe that Professor Snape is the person who allegedly wanted to attack Harry?"
"No, he definitely did it."
"And how would you know that? Any proof?"
"He hates Harry!"
"I'm sure he has a dislike towards all Gryffindors."
"Yeah but especially towards Harry!"
Xing looks up disinterestedly from her breakfast. "And that explains the reason for him to attack Harry? What benefit does he gain from that?"
Ron and Harry side-eyed each other, having a silent conversation between themselves.
"We believe that Snape was injured because he went to look for Fluffy, which made sense since he was limping during the Quidditch match"
"And? What does that have to do with Harry?"
"..."
"Look, just because he's a gryffindor, that is not the reason for him to outrightly hate Harry like that." Xing concluded.
"Sounds like you're protecting him?" Ron muttered.
This only makes Xing raise her eyebrows. "Oh young lads, I'm a Slytherin for Merlin's sake. What do you think your lack of persuasion skills can tempt me?"
This made them speechless.
"If you want me to join this expedition of yours, give me proof will you?" Xing hinted, "...so this was why you are so secretive these days." She suddenly stood up.
"Now I think the dining hall is no longer appropriate for this topic. Follow me, shall we?" With that she stood up and began to walk away. "Oh, clean up the chess and bring it with you, will you?"
With that, Harry and Ron scramble to clean up and ran outside of the dining hall to catch up to Xing.
Walking through the halls lit by thousands of candles, the trio now walk in complete silence. "So where are we going?"
Xing stopped, looking down at the hand pulling her sweater. "The library of course, isn't that the place where you wanted to lead me?"
The duo once again, were brought into complete silence as they glamoured the figure walking in front of them. "You seem to know a lot?"
"Of course, I am a few years above you after all." Xing answered with a simple dismissal, which the boys quickly caught on.
"No, wh–" Ron intercepted but the words came to a stop when they arrived at the library.
"Ah, I love the smell this place has. Wouldn't this be a good scent for a candle?"
Once they have settled, Xing looks up at the two first years sitting opposite of her. "Now, where were we... ah, tell me the reason for you telling me all of this?"
"Mhmmm, as we've said, we're suspecting Snape of trying to steal..." Harry came to a pause as Ron touched his shoulders, motioning him to look around.
The table that they have chosen to look at is secluded from the rest of the world, but with this secret that they were about to spill, Xing had a feeling, it was far from being a safe place. Once again, the trio fell into complete silence as the boys were conducting a conversation between themselves.
This made Xing roll her eyes. "Finish your little prep talk and I'll be right back." Xing suddenly said, standing up and walking away. The duo froze, eyes darting back between themselves and the figure faraway. "Xing where are you going?" But she was out of reach to be able to hear his whispers.
Walking through the isles of books, many of which have collected dust from the underside of them. Xing came to a sudden stop at what's in front of her. Staring at it for a moment, she could only smile before turning sideways to grab a book from one of the bookshelves. "This will do." After that, she proceeded to walk back.
"Have you finish your conversation boys?" Xing smiled, settling back down to her seat. This made the duo uneasy, seeing the off-putting smile from her.
Plopping the book down, the sound that it made was loud enough to shock the duo but not enough to alert the librarians. As she flips through the pages, Xing muttered, "Do tell me what you are thinking."
Taking a last look at each other, Harry was the first to speak up. "Well, a few months ago, there was a section in the Daily Prophet talking about the Gringott's bank getting robbed..."
Xing hummed in interest.
"That was about the same time as when I was taken by Hagrids to go down there..."
Ron nervously shuffled in his seat, shifting his gaze between Xing and Harry, not knowing where this conversation would go. "And that day, Hagrids happened to stop by a vault..."
With this, Xing stopped her mindless flipping and looked up. "And?"
"...it was the same one that got stolen from."
With that, a veil of silence came upon them, now with the intensity and tension as being in the same class with Snape.
"Interesting. So you think this is a coincidence?"
Ron shakes his head, "Of course not. Because Hagrid took something out from it. Tell her, Harry!" Accepting the pats on the shoulders, Harry nodded in agreement. "That day, hagrid took something out from the vault."
Xing hummed in interest, eyes darting between the two as if inspecting their body language before falling back on to Harry. "And did you happen to see what it was?"
"No, but I think I know what it might be." He then proceeded to throw his hands into the pockets of his jacket, pulling out a card.
"Isn't this the collectible cards from the chocolate frogs?"
"Yes.." Ron pointed to a certain passage.
Of course, it will be Professor Albus Dumbledore.
Albus Dumbledore, currently Headmaster of Hogwarts.
Considered by many, the greatest wizard of modern times, Professor Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grinwelward in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel.
Professor Dumbledore enjoys Chamber music and tenpin bowling.
Scanning it through, Xing finally notices where Ron's finger was pointing to.
"Nicolas Flamel, is it?" Xing mumbled out. "Interesting thoughts that you three have been brewing these past couple of days huh? But what does this have to do with anything?"
"Well, Nicolas Flamel is best known for creating the Sorcerer's Stone or whatever, and we believe that was what Hagrid carried back so Fluffy can guard it."
Going with the adrenaline flow, Ron carried on, "And Snape wanted to get it but couldn't get through Fluffy's defense."
"..." This brought Xing back to silence as she organized the information. "Right? But what for?"
...
Xing sighed internally. Maybe not asking it was the better option since this resulted in a congestion in the discussion as the boys went back to having a silent talk of their own.
"Either way, how does this relate to him presumably hating Harry?"
Again, she was met with a wall of silence.
"You know what, scratch that!" Ron grumbled out, sounding frustrated.
This only made Xing raise her eyebrows, amused by the reaction. "You've hit a dead end, haven't you?"
...
Xing sighed, "I guess this is where I come in." Xing looks back down at her book before turning it towards the duo. "I'm sure Hermione has already informed you about the effects about the Sorcerer's Stone. Whether that helps with answering my previous questions are up to personal interpretations."
The boys looked down at the newly presented information. "Now, I am unsure of what and how you will proceed with the information. Consider me a long-distance acquaintance, if you will."
"... You already know what we were trying to tell you?" Ron spoke out in horror.
Xing only chuckled, standing up, she then walked around the table. "Well maybe a little first year has already hinted at the possibility."
"...so you've been teasing us the whole time?"
Xing simply shrugged at the accusation.
"As I was saying, the information is very limited for this person here, so you would have to do further research."
"Where?"
Xing only smiled before crouching, settling her head in the gap between their own, before raising her fingers. "There."
With just a glance, Xing could not help but chuckle at their reactions.
"Oh bloody hell!"
***
"Even if I give them the details, figuring it out would be their responsibility. Doesn't that sound intriguing, fitting for a detective novel, Yueyue?"
Xing was now back to the comfort of her room. With there being no school, lazing around took away the majority of her time, not that she was complaining. The ability to properly watch the world rotate in its full glory while doing nothing was a feeling that she would not trade away for anything.
"Ron commented that I knew a lot about this topic..." patting Yueyue's head, she let out a sigh. "Wouldn't that be kind of expected?"
From the moment Harry Potter step into this school, everything was changed, from the event of him becoming the youngest quidditch player in a century, to Halloween's accident, and everything else, it has all rendered down to him always being there, at the right moment, and the right place.
"He's truly The Boy Who Lived, isn't he?" Xing propped her chin on her hand. "But maybe it wasn't from the moment he stepped into the school, but before that...getting the letter? Maybe..."
Everything can be interpreted as being connected to him, but Xing felt uncomfortable with the thought. After a while, Xing decided that it was best to not continue with the thought. "Anyways, I've given them some leads, now let's see how far they can get."
Within the silence of the room, all that could be heard was the crackling of the wood in the fireplace, and the gentle purrs coming from the feline.
***
"Having an out of this world Christmas morning, Xing?" Hearing the playful comment, she couldn't help but roll her eyes.
___
Merry Christmas, everyone! It's been a while since I have updated this book, apologies for that. Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season and see you soon. A few special updates are coming up as a gift for y'all so don't miss it!
- Mint 🌿