The material fell to the floor with a dramatic flutter, from the darkness within two blood red eyes shone out, light touched a pale skull, veins criss-crossing lazily. Fear gripped Harry's insides as the eyes began to shine with glee.
"N-no your dead, DEAD!" He yelled in desperation, tears beginning to form in his eyes, was this it, was this to be the end of Harry Potter, the illustrious boy-who-lived.
"Ah," came a raspy voice, filled with hatred and contempt. "Yet here I am, boy."
"I'm not giving you the stone bastard, my parents were the last you killed and the last you will ever kill." He said defiantly.
"Id like to see you try." He sneered, "Come on, hit me with your best." He laughed.
Harry knew he had no chance, no lethal spells, nothing powerful
'I swear if I ever make it out of this alive I'm going to learn spells that actually do stuff.'
He knew his only chance was something Voldemort wouldn't expect, even then it was slim.
"Hahaha, fool, nobody here to die for you this time, just you and me. So ill give you one last chance. ~Where is the stone?~" He finished, slipping into parseltongue in his anger.
Harry looked at the ceiling and noticed the chamber he was in was a dome, the centre, where Voldemort was was in the middle of the room and the dome was held up by a cornerstone right at the top. It was then he had a flash of blind desperation, a scene involving a rampant troll suddenly came to mind.
'Maybe I can…? Well, what other choice do I have.'
He raised his wand slowly, determination set in his face, blood dripped down from where he had impacted with the wall.
"~You wish to fight me? You are as foolish as your father boy~" He had foregone using English in an attempt to infuriate Harry, not realising Harry understood him perfectly.
"~I don't care~" He started, shocking Voldemort, "~I hope you die for bloody good this time monster, goodness knows I won't be around to take you out a second time to remove you~"
He pointed his wand up.
"~Ha! I must've knocked something loose, I'm over here idiot.~"
Harry ignored him.
'Looks like my last act in life will be a murder, funny, started with one, now it ends with one.
I'm sorry Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore, you all believed in me, mum, dad, I'm on my way.' He thought with a smile.
"WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA!" He yelled, and with a mighty downwards arc the cornerstone moved with his wand and hurtled towards an unsuspecting Voldemort, who barely began to raise his arm when the roof collapsed on him. Harry closed his eyes, but rather than feeling the pain he was expecting he felt a different sensation. The same he realised as the time he had accidentally teleported from Dudley's gang; except this time, it was accompanied by the feeling of someone holding his arm.
He reappeared in what he recognised as the hospital wing, he could hear a great crashing and crumbling sound in the distance, felt the vibrations of the castle, until it abruptly stopped.
He looked up, distraught, and saw a familiar white beard.
"Professor! It-it was Voldemort, and-I I, I kill-I, Hermione! Ron! Are they ok?"
"Harry, Harry, calm down, all is resolved, Ron and Hermione are fine, right next to you in fact." He motioned to his side where Hermione and Ron were occupying beds, Hermione looking at her, her eyes shining with happiness. "Tonight's events were, trying. Perhaps," he offered a bottle of dreamless sleep draught. "You ought to rest and I will explain in the morning."
He took the potion and the moment it touched his lips he was gone, waking almost instantly, to him, yet far more refreshed and relaxed. He pulled his head out the pillow the moment the doors opened and Dumbledore walked into the room.
"Professor, I shouldn't have gone in that chamber." He started.
"All is forgiven Harry, all is forgotten."
"But was that Voldemort?"
"Yes, yes that was, but it was merely a shadow, a shadow which you yourself have stopped." Dumbledore placated him.
"But, I killed him, hell I thought I'd Killed me, I'm Just, just as…"
"Bad as him?" Dumbledore asked. "But you see you did not kill in cold blood, you had no choice, you wanted to stop him. You had no other way of ending it, overpowering him wasn't an option." He said in a kind voice. "It would not do to dwell on it."
"But it wasn't just him sir, there was the man he possessed, Quirrell, he, he had nothing to do with it." He said, tears forming in his eyes.
Dumbledore took on a sad look, it always pained him greatly to see one lose their innocence.
"For that, I have no simple answer Harry, but know this, with or without you, Quirrell was dead the moment Voldemort took hold of him."
"He's going to come back again isn't he? Voldemort I mean." Harry said with resignation.
"Yes, I fear that may indeed be the case." Dumbledore added ramosely.
"Why? Why me?"
"I, had wished to save you, your innocence, but in that I have failed, it may now be merely a question of saving your life". He stated sorrow filling his voice. "One evening, before your birth I was interviewing one Sybill Trelawney, a seer. For a position as a teacher here, when she uttered a prophecy." He picked up a piece of paper from within his robes and touched his wand to it, the words began crawling up the page and Harry read:
The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies...
Harry was dumbstruck, This was his purpose.
"I'm sorry to have to show you this," Dumbledore said as he magically burnt the paper in a brilliant lilac fire.
"No, thank you professor, I, I have a goal now don't I." Harry said looking up at him. "Besides, II already promised myself I would become stronger if I ever made it out alive." He said giving Dumbledore a determined look.
"You are commendable Harry." Dumbledore started. "Not many young witches and wizards would have acted as honourably as you do. If you ever find yourself in need of help remember that Hogwarts provides help for all who need it." He said, his eyes twinkling like crazy. "Ah but you've listened to me rambling on for long enough now, I do believe your friends wish to see you." He sat up and left the room as Ron, Hermione and the twins came bounding in.
"Harry!" Hermione started, "I was so worried, I'm glad you're ok."
"Thanks Hermione I'm fine."
"We all felt the castle shake," the twins said "It was amazing, could hear the slytherins shrieking from miles out."
They all laughed and chatted away, Madam Pomphrey gave up attempting to chase them away after a while, much later she declared that he was fit to roam again, with a stern warning of being safer next time.
Fred and George bid them farewell and broke off to get up to their usual hijinks. Harry, Ron, and Hermione decided that they hadn't explored the castle well enough with all the hassle the stone caused.
So they began exploring, they had searched nearly the entirety of the first floor when Harry stopped.
"Ron, Hermione, I have to tell you something."
"What is it Harry?" Hermione asked.
"I, I can talk to snakes." He said.
Hermione looked confused but Ron gasped.
"Snakes? Blimey Harry, you're a parseltongue."
"Is it bad? I mean, Yesterday Voldemort was speaking in it and I've not seen anyone else do it either."
"Well, of course you haven't, parseltongues are very rare mate, they say it's a sign of a dark wizard" He finished with a whisper.
"But im not a dark wizard."
"Well no, but its genetic, so it may be a case of having a dark wizard in the family," he rationalised, "or youre a Black."
"A black?" Harry and Hermione asked.
"Yea, very old family, and very dark." He finished.
"Oh." Harry said softly.
"Don't worry, they weren't all dark wizards you know, in fact the one I know of that wasn't dark was in Gryffindor, well, wasn't until the end."
"Who?"
"Sirius Black, Dad knew him, not sure how though." He mused.
"Ah well, guess I've gotta do a better job then Hey?" He laughed.
"So like, what does it sound like."
"Well, like this," he said, "~This day will be your last~" He started to laugh.
"Blimey mate that's creepy"
"I know right man, but end of the day snakes are just another animal right?"
"Its not just that, theres a whole load of spells that only people with parseltongue can do, even if someone practised the hissing and did it perfectly they'd be lucky for a spark."
"that's interesting." Harry said.
Hermoine looked to the two of them, "Guys, according to Hogwarts a History, there is rumours of a chamber created by Salazaar Slytherin himself, maybe there are tomes of this magic in there?"
They all nodded in agreement but accepted that three first years were hardly going to find the chamber of secrets. So, they laughed and continued exploring, finding many spectacular things in the few days before classes resumed. For one they realised that there was a decent amount of the castle which was plainly unused except for a few hidey-holes the twins utilised. They found an old abandoned duelling arena that Harry realised would be perfect for the training he would be doing in the coming years, it was in the lower part of the castle, under the first floor at the least and the walls glowed faintly. Harry, in his curiosity sent his best curse, petrificus totalus, at the wall and watched in fascination as it was absorbed into the wall in a grey light. Hermione and Ron had stopped searching the castle with him after the fourth day, not everyone was as insanely curios as him it seemed, and Hermione preferred reading about exploration.
It was the Sunday before classes started and Harry was resting on a ledge high up in the castle on the abandoned side overlooking the lake. Hearing footsteps behind him he saw Fred and George approaching, they sat across from him in a diagonal cutoff.
"Hi harry." They said at once.
"Hey guys." Harry said solemnly, looking over the beautiful sights.
"Its good aint it? Sometimes we like to cause chaos, others just observe the peace." George started.
"What's better is that no one thinks to look for the exited maniacs sitting still on a ledge."
"Convinced we'd fall of ey Fred?"
Harry smiled, he hadn't talked to the twins much but he knew that all the times he did were good conversations.
"So"
"Harrikins."
"what seems,"
"To be getting you down,"
"Way up here?"
Harry chuckled a little, appreciating their antics.
"Well, musing I s'pose . Ive realised that what I learnt in the past year is downright useless if im in a tough spot, and, well, Voldemort came after me this year, he might do it again right?
The twins had already heard about Harry's battle the past week from the Hogwarts grapevine so they were not incredibly surprised.
"My my my Freddie, it appears we have one Potter in need of a good ol' Weasley makeover.
"Why you are right Georgie, there's only one solution for this problem."
And with a wink they grabbed Harry's arm and jumped forward off the tower.
"WHAT THE SHIT!?" Harry screamed. The ground fast approaching, he had his wand in hand and in desperation willed them to stop.
And to his surprise they slowed down halfway to the ground and stopped, Harry looked around in shock and like that he began falling once more. Realising his mistake, he willed himself not to stop but to slowly float to the ground, once nothing was happening and he was still speeding to the ground he was about to crash when the twins arms wrapped around him and two familiar brooms came into view. He was too shocked to say anything until he was unceremoniously dumped onto the ground back at the spot where they were sitting previously. Dazed he looked around before giving the twins his nastiest glare.
"Hold up there, before you eviscerate the two fine specimen right here think about the lesson." Fred Placated, to, mixed results.
Harry decided, against his better judgement to humour them. "I was falling, but when I was desperate I managed to make myself stop?"
"Ah but what was your thought process?"
"Um, I just sorta, knew, I could do it I guess. I'm not sure, it was an in the moment sort of thing really. Though now I feel drained."
"You see Harry, magic is more than just intent, its belief, and knowledge. You may want someone to blow up, but your magic won't respond unless you know it will happen, and it can't do anything unless you mentally direct it in some way, so you need to know what is happening." Harry, nodded, that all made sense.
"What about wand movements and incantations?" He asked
"Well, wand movements shape the magic without you having to think about it, and incantations help you visualise the spell you are performing, as well as circumventing the need to believe in what you are doing."
"If that's the case? Isnt magic limitless in what it can do?"
"Well Harry, that is about as far as our professorly knowledge goes, from what weve seen people have limited magical cores, and the more you use it the more you have, like a muscle."
Harry nodded, that all made sense.
"Where did you learn all that from anyways?"
"Bill, our oldest brother, he's super smart, works as a curse breaker, would've gone into research as an unspeakable if it wasn't for his more Gryffindorish nature."
"You guys mostly seem intelligent eh?" Harry teased,
"Yea mostly, skipped Ronnie though." They laughed.
"Hearts in the right place but brain got lost somewhere along the way." George laughed.
Harry chuckled and looked to the horizon once more, noticing small distortions in the distant clouds and mountains.
"Damn I'm drained though."
"Id Imagine Boy Wonder."
"Surprised you even stopped us all without passing out, far better than we did." They mumbled.
The sun had begun to set, casting a golden orange sheen across the land, throwing everything into a beautiful light.
"Well, guys, nice talking to you, I should probably get back before Hermione busts an artery in worry. Keep in touch."
"Cya Harry." They chorused.
Harry made his way back into the castle, exited at the piece of information the twins gave him, he resolved to spend at least an hour a day practising magic in the old duelling room which he'd be fixing up.
The next week was uneventful, revision had begun and whilst others were worrying about doing well Harry was fairly confident that He'd be ok, though that was probably because he spent a lot of time in the old chamber. So far he had made a small amount of progress, he had never realised it before but he had a lot of magic at his disposal, using it in the volumes he was for practise was helping calm him down. Though it was good so far it was difficult enough merely causing a small breeze to come out his wand but he knew it was all a matter of practise.
Exam time rolled around and Harry found little trouble completing them, that wasn't to say he was brilliant, he just refused to succumb to the stress, he had other far more pressing worries. His practise was showing some fruit, he could now create a strong gale.
'Perfect, ill make sure to send a breeze Voldemort's way, that'll do it for sure.'
It appeared that his now more frequent dealings with the twins were showing, he had become rather snarky, but dammit he liked it.
Snarky comments aside, even this seemingly small achievement meant a lot to him, currently he was trying to get his magical power higher and come control going so that he could spend the holiday researching and be ready to start broadening.
In this month he also discovered that he became far more skilled at transfiguration than before, earning a raised eyebrow and a compliment from Hermione. Though he was a bit of an ass when she had asked him what he did differently.
"Harry, when did you get so good at transfiguration?" Hermione inquired.
"Well, I had a brilliant idea when I was facing Quirrelmort, I said to myself, 'Hey Harry, you know what'd really get on good ol' botched nosejob's nerves? Turn him into a newt.'"
"A newt?" She asked, incredulously.
"He'll, get better."
Ron was looking at them quizzically, Hermione's cogs were almost visibly turning until she burst out laughing. Ron was even more confused now, as were many of their classmates besides the muggleborns and some half-bloods.
"Seriously Harry, I warned you, the twins have right rotten your brain."
They all laughed and carried on their way.
All too soon for Harry's liking it was time to board the train to go 'home', Hogwarts was his only home far as he was concerned.
Himself, Ron and Hermione were on a carriage as the train started moving, Harry noticed a familiar giant man out the window.
"Hagrid?"
"Oy 'Arry, Iv'e got you someth'ng fer you to rememb'r yer parents by." Hagrid called passing a large book into his arms.
"Ill see you September Hagrid, have fun, don't get eaten."
"Bye 'Arry." Hagrid called as the train sped off into the distance.
Harry made sure to use the last moments he would have for magic by transfiguring the floor into ice every time a Draco or his musclemen walked by, causing them to slip. Eventually Malfoy caught on but wasn't able to walk into the carriage due to a particularly strong wind. Ron couldn't stop laughing, and Hermione was torn between reprimanding him and congratulating his magic. She eventually settled for both, at the same time.
It was with great sadness that he parted with his friends at Kings cross, and no particular surprise at the lack of Dursleys. However, this was a good thing for Harry as it meant he could travel to Diagon alley. He decided there wasn't anything for it and walked there, it wasn't far anyways.
He arrived at the Leaky Cauldron half an hour later and approached Tom, the barman.
"Hi, Tom was it? Is opening the alley against the underage magic restrictions?"
"No, not at all, you can practise magic under dupervision in Diagon alley and Hogsmede for the record."
"Wait, really?" Harry asked bewildered.
"Yea, not sure why they don't tell people that."
"Ah well, thanks." He said and went to the wall and tapped in the correct orientation.
He marvelled the first time and marvelled still as the bricks opened up, though he knew why now, the past month he had connected with magic far more that when he first entered, so he could just barely feel the magic radiate to him. He looked forward to developing himself further so he could feel it better.
He looked up and began on his way to Gringotts, he had errands to run today.
Walking to the goblin he presented his key and requested to withdraw from his vault, The goblin made the transaction without much fuss and he was soon wandering down the alley to Flourish and Blotts.
He walked into the store and took some books on transfiguration and wandless magic theory, figuring it'd help his goal as he was more interested in power based magic than precise spells which was what the book explained in the abstract. He also picked up a book on alchemy as it claimed to be linked to muggle chemistry and "Thermodynamics" not that he knew what on earth that meant but he was happy nonetheless. His last purchase was an interesting tome on elemental magic, which he realised was what he'd been attempting the past month at Hogwarts.
He walked out with those as well as the next level of his school books, figuring that's what would be required next year and made his way to Ollivander's wand shop, he had hit a wall in the last week as he realised that his wand was weirdly limited in how much power it could output. It was almost as though something was limiting it and he couldn't figure out what.
Shrugging he entered the shop, noticing his absence he realised that Ollivander pulled the same stunt on everyone who walked in here.
"Holly, 11 inches nice and supple." A mysterious voice called from above him.
"I feel like you take it as a personal challenge to remember every wand?"
"Oh its more than that, wands bond with a wizard, I created the wand, I can sense its presence, it's much an instance of me remembering a wand as it is magic itself remembering the wand."
Harry was in awe yet, it made sense.
"Magic is sentient, isn't it?"
"I think you find that magic goes beyond merely sentient." He said with a chuckle. "But alas, what are you after, I sense your wand is in good order so it can't be that."
"Yes, I came because my wand feels off, I was trying to add power to spells but I felt like my wand was restricting it somewhat, I figured you might have an explanation."
"That is most unusual, here bring me your wand."
Harry gave him his wand and he observed it, gave it a wave and fireworks came out.
"Most unusual, curious, very curious, trying to use more power you say? Are you able to channel pure magic through your wand?" he said raising his eyebrow.
"Um, yea? Makes a nice breeze but I've been busy trying to make it more forceful"
By now both his eyebrows were thoroughly raised.
"And how powerful have you made the breeze?"
Harry was confused at the line of questioning but answered anyways.
"Uh, pretty powerful, gale force I guess, ive been trying to use it to cut but the progress is slow, I sheared a pillow the other day." He laughed, thinking his achievement was rather small, but it quickly died down when Ollivander's eyebrows attempted to escape his face.
"That is most impressive, you are incredibly magically gifted, I have figured out what is wrong, the problem is not in your wand specifically but wands in general."
"What do you mean?"
"Wands were invented by my ancestors around 300BC, Before that people either used wandless magic, staves, or any other medium which resonated with them, the problem with this is that teaching magic to other is incredibly hard when each person uses magic differently, thus wands were born, and they allowed a standerdised way to teach magic to others."
"And for almost all this is fine, however some have larger magical cores, like yourself and need either a better medium, like the elder wand in the case of Dumbledore."
"Elder wand? As in THE, elder wand?"
"Yes, it is common knowledge amongst those old enough to see the battle between him and Grindlewald. In any case, I doubt you'll be able to claim it so we can go for the next best thing, a stave."
"But you said staves were discontinued."
"That is true, most wizards were not powerful enough to warrant a stave, so the fact it can channel more magic than a wand wasn't as useful compared to the added intricacies you can create with a wand merely by waving it as opposed to having to consciously mold magic for a stave."
"If that's the case, why not just use wandless magic?"
"Because a stave doesn't just channel your magic, it resonates with it, amplifies it, not many walk into this store after acquiring a wand, not many need to, I created a charm I placed on all wands so that those who would need staves will feel the need to seek me out."
"Really? And have people come?"
"Oh yes, not many, only a handful, powerful wizards, old wizards though, with mature cores, it is most curious that you came here so young."
"Ok, staves sound quite interesting, do you have one I could see?"
"Have one?" He laughed jovially, "I can make one, as I said it is very rare to do this, thankfully I will only need to make the one despite your, difficulties." He said winking, poking fun at his first visit.
"Well, how can we create it?"
"Follow me." He walked tote front og the store and flipped the sign to closed then led Harry to a room down a hallway. They walked into a room which had a floor which was silvery and shiny, it was liquid and looked a lot like mercury, there were floating steps leading to the middle of the room where a slightly larger platform sat.
"Your wand." He motioned, Harry nodded and took out his wand which was levitated by Ollivander.
He heard an odd shifting sound as the bark which formed the handle unraveled and a single beautiful feather floated out. A few strands of fibre were pulled off the feather and put back in the wand which closed back up save for a splinter of holly. The splinter floated to Harry.
"I want you to put your finger on the bit of wood and channel as much magic into it as you possibly can."
Harry nodded and began doing so, the bit of wood vibrated, then a spark flew out, until it exploded, but mid explosion it froze, the now incredibly tiny particles fell towards the silvery floor, twisting and writhing as the fell, flowing along some unknown path. They were joined by the phoenix feather which had all the fibers pulled off and floated, intermingling with the particles. They impacted with the floor.
"This is my favourite part, Ollivander whispered."
The floor started swirling and began lifting up in the spot where the strands hit, from this bump wood began to grow, it grew up, twisting and gaining gnarls and bumps, yet to harry, it looked beautiful. Finally it was finished and floated into Harry's outstretched arm. Immediately he was filled with intense happiness and felt his connection to the stave. A breeze blew around the room and sthe floor swirled tumultuously.
"This, this is amazing." He whispered in awe.
"Here's your wand, you'll still need it for schoolwork, but after that nobody will mind."
Harry nodded, still bewildered.
Harry left the store an incredibly happy customer, even happier when he was informed that the sly dog hadn't put the trace on the stave and that as long as his wand was wrapped in special magical filled paper the ministry wouldn't detect ambient magic either so he would be free to use it at home.
Not even the Dursleys could get his spirits down today. They tried, specifically, they attempted to lock his trunk in the downstairs basement but he tapped his stave on the ground three times and levitated his trunk along with him, silently. It was a trick he had perfected with his wand to the point of not requiring an incantation or wand movement, he could do it merely by molding magic and willpower, the taps were for dramatic affect.
'Im definitely going to use that for intimidation.'
"Boy," his uncle started, face purple and spittle flying like a deranged minigun, "I will not tolerate such…Freakishness in my house. Didn't your people ban you from using magic outside of school anyways." He finished smugly.
"Hmm, there's always a loophole uncle." He winked, mischeviously.
He didn't know if it was possible but his uncle's face turned even more purple.
"Though I must say, I do tjink I have outgrown the cupboard, I guess I can take Dudleys second bedroom."
"Youll do no such-"
"Yes, but first I must clean it up, oh its filthy, scourgify."
The dust and grime in the room flowed inwards and formed a floating ball which disappeared as though sucked into a black hole.
'Magic is amazing, yet absolutely insane, muggles remove dirt by using fibers on a stick, we destroy the very molecules and turn it into magical energy which then disperses, incredible really. A bit of a shame most wizards are unaware of this during school, I got lucky to stumble across it in the library on my, uh, unsavory adventures.
He had taken to browsing through the restricted, and higher difficulty levels of the library, it had taken him three weeks to figure out how to get the books to stop screaming at him but it was worth it.
Dudleys toys all levitated out and were packed away in the cupboard, he stepped in and marveled at the now fresh air, clean bed and desk and general just-got-spring-cleaned feel.
Vernon's face was alternating between going purple, and red with steam almost visibly rising off his head. Well, until the door slowly closed in front of him and a muttering of Clostrum the door was locked.
"This is not BLOODY over freak." Vernon shouted before storming off.
Harry took this as an admission of guilt and unpacked his trunk into his new room before sitting at the desk, taking out the book on alchemy he got stuck right in. He got about 5 pages in and was cursing at his lack of materials and equipment to work on it.
'Dammit! Guess another trip to the alley is in order. Ugh, but its late, guess ill go over the magical theory book instead.'
He closed the book and placed it to one side of the table and walked over to Hedwig and stroked her feathers while sitting in the open windowsill. He began reading and watched as the sun set, the rays of sun filled him with an odd warmth, he had a, funny…feeling, that next school year something amazing would happen, but he couldn't place it. Taking a deep breath, he tried to feel the magic in the air, it was barely a twinkle to his still very low sensory ability to magic but it was a start, the sun he noticed, was magical, the rays themselves permeated happiness.
Hedwig let out a gentle trill, adding to the serene atmosphere, had anyone paid attention to the pariah they would see the wind blowing in his face, would see the happiness on his closed eyes, and the light of the sun causing him to radiate in a way that could be nothing but magic. He felt something unlock inside himself, something he hadn't truly found training the last month. He found serenity and happiness. But he wasn't the only one to find it, many hundreds of miles away, a girl lying in the grass on a hill, feeling the sun herself felt this shift in the magic. She opened her eyes and looked in his direction and saw the air laced with magic, swirling around a point. She smiled, 'almost…' the wind changed direction and a flower petal flew past the girl, yet she had disappeared, with naught a trace she was ever there.
-X-
