Chapter 033 Harry almost stumbled and fell from his broom. He turned around only to find Alex looking at him with a smile, but it made him feel apprehensive. ' Why is he being all nice and smiling towards me?' Potter thought. "Earth to Harry! Are you listening?" Alex waved in front of Potter. "Huh... What are you doing here?" Potter asked, coming out of his thoughts. "That's what I want to ask you," Alex whispered, " I don't think students are supposed to roam around at this hour". "I--- I--- I---" Harry was stammering non-stop, he could not think of an excuse. He looked through the corner of his eyes and Snape and Quirrell were still there, but he could no longer concentrate on listening as to what they were talking about. "I was just giving one last check to my broom, before storing it back in the broom shed". Finally, Potter came up with an excuse, " What about you? What are you doing in the forest so late?" Potter asked Alex. Potter has been on edge because of Alex all this time. He felt that Alex was somehow involved with Snape, and the two of them are targetting him. "I saw you enter the forest, so I followed you here" Alex lied with a straight face. Harry looked towards Alex for a while, " Now that you know I am fine, do you mind leaving me alone?" Potter said. Alex stared at Potter and then towards the direction in which Professor Snape and Quirrell were, " Fine, but before I go, I want to tell you something". "What?" "I would suggest that you don't roam around the school so late at night. The number of enemies you have out in the open is much less than those in the shadows. You are not strong enough to face them, and you can't expect that someone will come to save you whenever you are in trouble". Alex said, and the next moment he was nowhere to be seen. After Alex left, Harry looked in the direction he hurried to, " How come he knows every time where I am?" Potter threw those thoughts at the back of his head and turned towards the direction where Professor Snape and Quirrell were, but now they were nowhere to be seen. * * * * * "Harry, where have you been?" Hermione asked when she saw Potter entering the Gryffindor tower. "We won! You won! We won!" shouted Ron, thumping Harry on the back. "And I need to tell you all about how I gave Malfoy a black eye, and Neville tried to take on Crabbe and Goyle single-handed! He's still out cold but Madam Pomfrey says he'll be all right — talk about showing Slytherin! Everyone's waiting for you in the common room, we're having a party, Fred and George stole some cakes and stuff from the kitchens." Ron kept on going in a single breath without noticing the seriousness on Potter's face. "Never mind that now," said Harry breathlessly. "Let's find an empty room, you wait 'til you hear this. . . ." He made sure Peeves wasn't inside before shutting the door behind them, then he told them what he'd seen and heard. "So we were right, it is the Sorcerer's Stone, and Snape's trying to force Quirrell to help him get it. He asked if he knew how to get past Fluffy — and he said something about Quirrell's 'hocuspocus' — I reckon there are other things guarding the stone apart from Fluffy, loads of enchantments, probably, and Quirrell would have done some anti-Dark Arts spell that Snape needs to break through —" Ron tried to find the crux of the situation despite his limited brain capacity. "Yes, and I think that Ashbridge is working with him," Potter told them. "Guys, I think you are blowing it out of proportion, and I don't think Alex has anything to do with this" Hermione tried to defend Alex. "Will you stop being biased towards him? If you just take Alex into the equation, everything falls in place" Ron rebuked Hermione. Hermione could not retort to what Ron said. What Ron said was right, she did not want Alex to be on the wrong side of this whole matter, and she was inclined towards everything he said. If she calmly studies all the pieces of evidence in front of her, Snape was the likely perpetrator. "So, you mean the Stone's only safe as long as Quirrell stands up to Snape?" said Hermione. She was going to believe what was in front of her for now and try to get some answers from Alex. "It'll be gone by next Tuesday," said Ron. * * * * * Alex, on the other hand, went straight to Professor Snape's office. When he entered, he found the professor fiddling with some of the potions on the shelves. Hearing some sound, Professor Snape turned around. He was surprised to find Alex in his office so late. "What are you doing here?" Professor Snape asked, getting back to what he was doing. "I followed Potter into the forest. He was following you" Alex said, coming to the matter at hand. Professor's hand stopped for a moment before he resumed what he was doing, " Did you hear what we were talking about?" "No, I think, I was quite late," Alex told him. "What about Potter?" Snape asked without looking at Alex. "I think he did". Professor Snape did not say anything else, and there was pin-drop silence in the office. Alex could feel that the matter was not so simple and whatever Professor Snape and Quirrell were talking about was meant to be kept a secret. After some time, Alex broke the silence, " Professor, Harry thinks that you want to harm him". "Hmmm" "I don't understand why do you want to portray yourself as the bad guy? Why don't you come clean with him?" Alex asked. "I think I told you, I don't really care about that Potter boy. I don't really care what he thinks of me" Professor Snape told Alex. There was not an ounce of emotion in his voice. "But---" Alex tried to point out his opinion but was stopped. "You may leave now" Professor Snape brought the discussion to an end. Dejected Alex left the office leaving the conflicted professor behind. * * * * *