Chapter 10 Flitwick

Alice told the Mavens that night about what she'd heard Quirrell say. She looked all through her papers for the missing note.

"What if it gets back to Quirrell somehow?" Alice worried. "I'll be done for."

The next day the Mavens went to the office of Professor Flitwick, the head of Ravenclaw. His desk was scaled to his diminutive size, but it was set on top of a table so that he could speak to visitors at eye level. Steps led up to the table top from the back side.

"Well, well," he said cheerfully. "What can I do for you young ladies?"

"I have something to report about Professor Quirrell, Sir," said Alice. "I heard him talking to himself yesterday, and what he said was really scary. It was like he was possessed by the ghost of You Know Who."

"Who?" said Flitwick.

"V-He Who Must Not Be Named," said Alice. He said 'Please don't hurt me, Master. I'll get the Stone for you. It takes time to get through the traps. You will live again, Lord...' and then he said the name."

"What name?" said Flitwick.

"The name of He Who Must Not Be Named!" said Alice in frustration.

"Well, you know that Professor Quirrell has had some hard experiences in his life, such as fighting vampires in Romania. You must make allowances if he gets little fancies sometimes," said Flitwick.

"It's not just a fancy. He really wants to steal the Philosopher's Stone!" said Mandy.

"Wait a moment. How do you know it's the Philosopher's Stone?" asked Flitwick sharply.

Hermione jumped in to cover for the slip, "That's what Alice told us before, Professor Quirrell said 'the Philosopher's Stone'. She just forgot to say it this time."

"Hmmmm. I can understand why he might have such a thing on his mind. It's been a concern to many of us on the staff," said Flitwick.

"You mean the Philosopher's Stone is really here?" asked Lisa.

"That's a school secret, but now that you've heard about it I might as well tell you to avoid wild rumors. It was moved here for safe-keeping. Don't worry, it's perfectly safe."

"But what if Professor Quirrell meant what he said?"

"There are several traps, each set by one of the instructors here, to prevent anyone getting the Stone," said Flitwick. "They were created by me, Professor Sprout, Professor Snape, Professor McGonagall, Professor Quirrell, and Professor Dumbledore. Oh yes, and one by Mr. Hagrid."

"So you're quite sure it's safe," said Hermione.

"Even if Professor Quirrell or someone else got the wild idea of stealing it, they would have to get through the traps of all the other teachers. That explains why Professor Quirrell has traps and the Stone on his mind. But it's nothing for you to worry about."

They were about to leave disappointed, when he called them back.

"One more thing. I must ask you to promise not to tell anyone else. This is top secret; rumors will only threaten the security of the Stone, not to mention the reputation of Professor Quirrell. If I hear that you've told anyone about this, I'll be forced to take one point from Ravenclaw."

He was not in the habit of punishing infractions with large penalties because Ravenclaws were normally very rule-conscious. The Mavens, especially Hermione, took the loss of even one point very seriously.

"He didn't listen to us. What are we going to do now?" asked Hermione after they left the office.