Chapter 3
Year 1, Part 3.
The Philosopher's Stone
Hogwarts at Christmas, if you can believe, was even more magical than the school usually was. Snow would fall over the vast grounds giving that special wintery feel. Those spending Christmas inside the school, would while away the days having snowball fights, enjoying great feasts and waiting for that special morning, when they would receive gifts from loved ones. For Harry, Neville, Hermione and Draco, they all left in the early morning of a chilly December day, to board the Hogwarts Express, which would take them back home to their families. The ride back to London had been one that was pleasant and peaceful, where Draco and Neville would play a game of exploding snap, While Harry and Hermione finally had found the time to discuss what had happened to them all, just two nights ago.
"But why, why would they keep a 3 headed dog like that in a school?" Harry asked her. Ever since the night they had made the misguided attempt to pass through the 3rd floor corridor, the mystery of the giant beast lurking at the end of it, had plagued Harry's mind. The thing was, that all four of them had agreed not to talk about it until it was safe to do so. This was because they were very aware of how much trouble they would be in, if anyone had caught them or even heard about them being near that dog.
"Hard to say, I mean, it's clearly guarding something," Hermione said knowingly, while also looking over a book on magical beasts. She was determined to find the origins of three headed dogs, searching for a weakness for fear it would ever get loose.
"Guarding something?" Neville asked, his face covered in smoke from his many losses to Draco. Hermione looked up to see all three of the boys looking at her curiously.
"Weren't any of you paying attention?" Hermione asked them patiently, "it was standing on a trap door,"
"Yeah, Hermione, I was busy avoiding the heads," Draco said lazily, leaning back against his seat to get more comfortable, "In case you never noticed, there were three of them,"
"What's so important that they'd need a great big thing like that watching over it?" Neville asked, he had been the most shaken over the incident, plants and venomous tentacula he could handle, but rabid 3 headed dogs didn't really bring out the hero in him.
"This is Hogwarts we're talking about," Harry said, reaching down into his bag and pulling out a book entitled "Hogwarts, A History," and showed to Neville, "The school has all kinds of stories and myths about it,"
"Anything on trap doors guarded by a Cerberus?" Draco asked casually.
"Nope," Hermione and Harry said together. Harry looked at Hermione, who blushed and said, "I thought it would shed some light as well, but I really don't think that dog has always been there,"
"I could always ask my Aunt if she knows anything about it," Draco suggested, "She's a Governess on the school board, I'm sure they'd notice if Dumbledore snuck a great big mutt like that in,"
"Good idea," Hermione said brightly, "I'll be going to Diagon Alley before going home, I'll see if there are any books that can help,"
"I'll stop Harry from going too far," Neville said bravely.
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Harry demanded, making Draco and Hermione laugh.
What that meant, was that Harry tended to get more than a little obsessed if he couldn't work out a problem right away. History had dictated that something as mysterious as a three headed dog, that was guarding a trap door, in a school, was likely going to be too much for him to resist. He'd already been thinking of ways to approach the subject with Severus, knowing full well that he'd be coming for Christmas dinner. Remus also had a healthy knowledge of magical beasts, but that would lead to a lecture, and since Remus didn't work at the school, he wasn't likely to know it was hiding there. It was with slight sadness that Harry had wished Draco and Hermione a Merry Christmas before saying goodbye, He'd gotten so use to their presence in the last few months that he knew he would miss them. It didn't change the fact that he was so happy to see his mother, that he felt no shame in hugging her in front of the other students, even when Ron passed by and made a face at him.
Christmas at the Potter's was always such a busy affair. Neville would stay the night on Christmas eve while his Gran slept at their house. Remus wasn't always in the best shape, because he would be getting ready for the first night of the full-moon. Dobby would be running around the place, making everything look as festive as possible, while Lily threated over the Christmas dinner because she always wanted things to be perfect on the day. Harry couldn't recall a time when he had a bad Christmas, even that year when Lily had put Remus in charge of cooking the turkey, and due to an unfortunate fire accident, were all forced to have pasta with their roast potatoes. His Christmas' had often been filled with the usual cheer and joy, that anyone would expect from the day. When Christmas morning came, Harry's door swung open and a very excited Neville appeared, heavily laden with presents.
"Merry Christmas Harry!"
"Huh?" Harry muttered, half distracted with his wall again, "It's Christmas morning already?" He asked surprised.
"You've been up all night!" Neville said, knowing it was fact and not possible for Harry to lie about having gotten sleep.
"Must have," Harry said, suddenly feeling like he could really use a nap, "Merry Christmas," He told Neville, while trying to fight back a yawn, "Those for me?" He asked brightly.
"Yeah, there's some from Hermione and Draco as well," He said, happily putting the pile on Harry's bed, then turning to look up at the wall. A wall, that Harry had swapped spells and potion notes, for pictures of 3 headed dogs, a sketch of a trap door, a few newspaper clippings and a letter from Draco.
"They got ours, Hermione sent a note last night to say they'd arrived at her house, Draco's letter arrived a few minutes ago," Harry informed Neville, while plopping down on his bed and eagerly pulling the pile of presents to him.
"That's good, Draco said he'd be spending Christmas with just his cousin," Neville told him, scanning all the little notes that Harry had placed on the wall. "How did you get this much information from only knowing about the dog and trap door?" he asked.
"Well, to be honest I'd almost given up until Hermione sent that newspaper clip," Harry replied, while ripping open a present from Remus, which turned out to be a very good book on shield magic, "Have a read," He told Neville, who looked closer at the picture of a few irate goblins and read aloud.
"Employees at Gringotts bank, were baffled by a failed vault heist that took place at exactly 11am on Christmas Eve morning, Goblins were astounded to find that the vault, 713, had been broken into by dark witches or wizards unknown, the vault itself had been emptied earlier in the day, no comments have been made," When Neville finished, he looked at Harry, who was now eating one of the cauldron cakes that Draco had sent him for Christmas, and was wearing the new jumper that Peter had given him, and asked, "Right, and?"
"Read the letter from Draco," Harry said, his mouth half-full of cake.
"Dear Harry, Hermione just told me about the break in at the bank, I already knew because Andromeda and Ted were both called away last night. It's connected! I overheard Uncle Ted talking to Tonks about it, he said that Hagrid had been the one who emptied the vault, at first they suspected him, but he gave what was in it to Dumbledore, bet you anything that's what the dog is guarding!"
"Which naturally will make you ask," Harry said, almost magically appearing behind Neville and making him jump.
"What was in that vault?" Neville said.
"No idea," Harry sighed, "all the pieces fit together, but until we know what the thing in the vault actually was, we can't figure out who would try to steal it,"
"You sound like you're planning to catch this person," Neville chuckled, Harry just smiled and shook his head, "Nope, it's in Hogwarts, no one is going to try and break into there, I just want to know what the fuss is all about,"
"And what kind of dastardly deeds are happening in here?!"
Both Harry and Neville fought a cringe against the voice they had just heard, both turning quickly and making sure the evidence on the walls couldn't be seen.
"Nothing Uncle Peter," Harry said innocently, doing his best not to laugh at the horrible green suit that Peter Pettigrew was wearing.
"Ha, if you two aren't up to something, then I'm Minister for magic," Peter cackled, eying up Harry in the jumper, "Like it eh?" Peter asked with a smug smile.
"Yeah, it's really nice," Harry said brightly. He knew it was a nice jumper for one reason and one reason only, because Lily picked it out for Peter to buy.
"Far better than any book," Peter said proudly, obviously indicating the presents Harry had gotten from Remus and Severus. "Anyway, breakfast is ready, your mum wants you both down in 3 minutes,"
"Yes sir!" Harry and Neville said in unison, adding a salute for good measure, making Peter chuckle and say, "Don't let me keep you from your top-secret operations," then left the room, humming a festive tune.
"Can you smell beetroot?" Neville asked with a wrinkle of his nose, when Peter had closed the door.
"Dobby put some in Peter's shoes," Harry chuckled, "He bet me 3 sprouts that Peter wouldn't notice,"
Neville laughed and wandered over to Harry's bed, scanning the pile of presents that lay open in a neat pile. Neville always thought it odd how Harry treasured everything he was given, noticing how he'd folded up the wrapping from the cauldron cakes. Anyone else would have thrown them out, but Neville knew that Harry would keep it, either for putting to good use or tucking away in a large scrap book he had, hidden under his bed.
"Merry Christmas boys!" Remus called, when Harry and Neville finally appeared in the kitchen a few moments later. There was a few moments of hugging and handshaking, the wishing of merry Christmas and so on, before Harry finally got around the table to hug his mother.
"Merry Christmas Sweetheart," She told him warmly, "Thank you for the scarf, I hope Augusta made you earn it," She said with a fond smile.
"Oh, I did," Augusta said proudly, "Remember that day he came in with that lump on his head, my gutters have never looked so clean,"
Everyone else chuckled, and Harry took a moment to look around the table.
Neville was sat with his grandmother, happily going through a new Herbology book that Lily had given him, because she knew Augusta would never buy Neville something like that. Remus was sitting next to Peter, doing his best to sound interested in the story that Peter was telling him. But when he looked at the empty seat that Severus usually sat in, he looked up at his mother curiously.
"He had to work, all that business with Gringotts," Lily explained, pressing her lips to Harry's forehead.
"Nasty business if you ask me, can't trust those goblins with nothing," Augusta said loudly, "they should be sacked and replaced with house elves, grand workers they are,"
Harry was used to hearing Augusta going on about how everyone else was bad at their job. He did feel that was a bit rich for a woman who had never worked a day in her life, happily having spent her whole life living off the money that Neville's grandfather had passed on. So, it was with ease that he took no interest in the conversation and had gone into the wash room to find Dobby.
"You really shouldn't be working today," Harry told the little elf, finding Dobby happily putting some socks into the wash.
"The work never stops for one day Master Harry, Dobby has said this before," The elf said cheerfully.
"It's Christmas, don't make me order you to take the day off," Harry said jokingly, Dobby giggled knowing Harry would never give him an order, but stopped all the same to peek up at his young master.
"Did Harry Potter like his presents?" Dobby asked curiously. Harry knew that Dobby was eager to know if Harry liked the socks Dobby had knitted for him.
"Yup," Harry said with a wide grin, pulling up his trousers to show off the bright yellow socks with wands on them, "And I got you a present," Harry said brightly, passing Dobby a little package.
Considering it was only a new trowel for the garden, Dobby reacted as if Harry had given him a rare jewel. It was only when the crying was making Harry feel uncomfortable, that he slipped back into the kitchen, just in time to hear Peter say.
"What was in that vault, is strictly between Albus Dumbledore and Nicholas Flamel!"
"Nicholas who?" Neville asked a bit too eagerly, something that Lily noticed and instantly put a stop to before Peter lost his right to eat Christmas dinner.
"That is none of anyone's business," She had said sternly, ushering Harry to his seat and putting a plate of food down in front of him.
"Agreed, what goes on in that bank or that school is of no concern of ours," Augusta seconded, But Harry and Neville both gave each other knowing looks while they tucked into her food, and they were both wondering the same thing, who was Nicholas Flamel?
"Severus told me that you're faring well in potions Harry," Remus said conversationally, "Not thinking about taking his job one day, are you?" He joked.
"No, but I think Draco might have his eye on it," Harry grinned, making Neville chuckle.
"Poor boy that Malfoy, given the history," Augusta said knowingly, "A bit risky making friends with him, giving all the bad luck his families had,"
"Augusta," Lily chastised, "Andromeda and Ted have done wonders raising that boy, such a polite young man when he comes to the ministry,"
Harry had spent a great deal of time telling Lily about his new friends and all the things he'd gotten up to in his first few months at school. He'd magically forgotten to mention the duel with Ron, fighting a troll and discovering a 3 headed dog, that he was now investigating the need for such a beast and was going to continue investigating this odd case, he didn't want to worry her. The curious thing was, that she'd mentioned having met Draco's aunt and uncle, even meeting Draco himself, but Draco had never mentioned meeting Harry's mother. Harry felt that there was a great deal of things that Draco hadn't told him yet, but trusted that in time, he would find out.
Christmas day had passed by without so much as a hiccup, the one hiccup being when Peter barked an order at Dobby, which led to Lily throwing Peter out of the house. The order had been to "Get out from underneath the table," but Dobby was only collecting his winnings from Harry, 3 sprouts for one prank on Peter was a better gift than Harry could have ever gotten from Dobby.
"I don't know why you put up with him," Augusta said, her speech getting a bit more slurred from all the sherry she had been drinking, "Rotten little man, always has been,"
When it was deemed that Harry and Neville were no longer able to be in the same room as Augusta, who when drunk tended to call Neville names, both boys retreated upstairs to Harry's room, where they discovered a package laying on Harry's bed.
"Present from Severus?" Neville suggested, looking at the silk wrapping around the squishy item.
"He already gave me that potions book," Harry frowned, picking up the label and reading it.
I thought it best to give this to you, when those who fear recklessness weren't around, your father left this in my possession before he died, it is time it was returned to you, use it well.
"Those who fear recklessness?" Neville asked, having read the label over Harry's shoulder.
"Mum, I think," Harry frowned, he then looked at Neville and said, "Get the door,"
Neville rushed across the room while Harry unwrapped the package. Inside it, was a strangely beautiful cloak that felt light as a feather. Without thinking about it, he flung it around himself at the same time Neville closed the door, and when Neville turned around, he gasped and leapt back against the door with a loud thud.
"Your body's gone!" He shouted, which instantly prompted Lily to call from downstairs, "Boys, keep it down, we're listening to the radio!"
Harry dashed over to the full-length mirror and gasped in shock when he saw that he was now just a floating head. With a quick pull, he dragged the cloak from his body, which reappeared instantly.
"Amazing!" Neville said approvingly.
"An invisibility cloak?" Harry asked himself, "When did my dad have an invisibility cloak?"
"You'd think Remus would mention that one," Neville said fairly, "these are really rare, no wonder Severus didn't want your mum knowing, she'd have it off you in a second,"
"Severus?" Harry asked, holding the cloak in both hands, admiring it closely.
"Well, he has to be the one who sent it, who else would know your mum was so paranoid about stuff?" Neville said, his theory being quite sound, "Give us a shot then,"
Until bed time, Harry and Neville took turns hiding beneath the cloak. It wasn't until their stomachs started to rumble that Harry found a new use for it. when he returned to his room with a few left-overs from the fridge, which had involved sneaking, invisible, past Remus, who was asleep on the couch, he found Neville had fallen asleep on the floor. Taking the time to be alone, Harry had stayed under the cloak while he sat at his desk going through a photo-album that his mum had once given him. Harry didn't believe that Severus would give Harry this kind of gift, he was just as concerned about Harry being reckless as she was. Strangely, he found himself not caring who had given it to him, because for the first time in his life, he had something that once belonged to his father.
The rest of the Christmas holidays had passed in the blink of an eye and the only time that Harry wasn't with Neville, was when Augusta had taken Neville to visit his parents. Neville was never in a talking mood whenever he came from visiting them, so Harry had spent one of those days alone his room, reading his new books under his new cloak. But soon it was time to return to Hogwarts. When finally, Harry and Neville were joined by Draco and Hermione again, they talked about how their Christmas' had gone, discussed the various gifts they had gotten and even asked about Draco's cousin, who had turned up to the train station with bright pink hair.
"She's a metamorphmagus," Draco had said, "She can change her appearance at will, it's pretty rare actually, says it will help her pass her Auror exam,"
"she must be a really good witch if she's training to be an Auror," Hermione said, sounding very impressed.
"Yeah, she'd probably be as good as Dumbledore if she wasn't so clumsy," Draco chuckled, "Seriously, any dark wizard will hear her coming a mile off, all he needs to do is make sure she walks in a straight line,"
"Did either of you manage to find out anything about Nicholas Flamel?" Neville asked them. They had finally come to the subject that Harry had happily put out of his mind since Christmas day. Now that they were talking about it again, Harry was eager to hear anything new that Draco or Hermione might have found.
"Nope," Draco sighed, "I even asked Andromeda,"
"What did she say?" Harry asked curiously.
"To mind my own business and stop eating in the bath," Draco responded, grinning at Harry's confused expression, "I get peckish,"
"He's not in any history books either, I don't have access to a wizard library at home, so I'll check the school library," Hermione said, clearly upset that the power of books had failed her so far.
"Well, we could always ask Severus," Neville said, looking right at Harry, who snorted and said, "Yeah, and I'll just take Dumbledore's job while I'm at it,"
"Head-Master Potter certainly has a ring to it," Draco said jokingly.
"Come on, why not?" Neville demanded.
"Because he's only in first year, Harry's good at spells, but there is no way he could be Head-master just yet," Draco replied, making Harry and Hermione laugh.
"I meant about Sev!" Neville fumed.
"Neville, he didn't even turn up to Christmas dinner for the first time in what?" Harry had a think, "Ever! That means this is serious, he's not going to tell students what's going on,"
"If only we could get into the restricted section," Hermione sighed, "I'd bet there would be something there on Flamel,"
"Why can't we?" Neville asked curiously.
"I think the whole, Restricted thing, might have something to do with it," Draco said with a roll of his eyes.
"No, I mean," That's when Neville looked at Harry. Harry knew what Neville was getting at, and he appreciated his best friend not instantly blurting out that Harry had an invisibility cloak stashed away in his trunk. It was without hesitation however, that Harry told Draco and Hermione about it, both being impressed and amazed that Harry would get a gift like that. Harry also felt a warm feeling in his heart, when Hermione and Draco both promised not to tell anyone that he had it, then once Hermione had caught on to Neville's plan, told Harry exactly how to get into the restricted section.
When classes started up again there was a fresh buzz about the school. 5th years were getting ready to set their O.W. L's – Ordinary Wizarding Levels, which were tough examines that helped decide what classes you took in your last 2 years at Hogwarts, but the work was also getting tougher for the 1st years, who were being heavily laden with homework now. This meant that it was getting more and more difficult to go looking in the restricted section, because Harry was too busy getting all the extra assignments done.
It wasn't until they were steadily moving closer to spring time, that Harry was able to perform his mission. Waiting until dark, he had used the invisibility to cloak to sneak out of the Gryffindor common room and headed straight to the Library. The restricted section was easy enough to find, but nothing of what Hermione suggested was even there. Instead there had only been books that gave Harry the chills, some that even spoke when he picked them up. After a long time searching, he heard the caretaker, Mr Filch coming, and decided that it was best to make a quick escape. Feeling like his mission had failed, he barely noticed when Severus swooped around the corner.
"There you are," Severus said, his voice sounding very dark and dangerous. Harry jumped thinking that he could be seen under the cloak, sighing in relief when Severus rushed passed him and moved towards Professor Quirrell.
"S-Severus, b-bit, l-late for a, f-for a, stroll, isn't it?" Quirrell said, his voice far shakier than usual, he even looked tired, almost ill Harry thought.
"Don't, think, I don't know what you're up to," Severus told him, grabbing Quirrell and shoving him roughly against the wall, "It's high time you decided where your loyalties lie,"
"I, I d-don't know what you mean," Quirrell stuttered, looking positively frightened now. Even Harry had to admit that he was finding Severus a little scary now.
"You don't want me as an enemy Quirrell," Severus warned him, "We'll have another chat like this soon, when the time is…"
"Professors!"
Harry jumped and ducked back towards a classroom, watching Mr Filch run towards Severus and Professor Quirrell. He was just slipping backwards into the room when he heard the caretaker complaining about students being out of bed, even more when he said that someone had been in the restricted section of the library. As the classroom door shut, he watched Severus and Quirrell run off, giving a sigh of relief and turning to see where he was. For a moment, it seemed like any old classroom, except for the tall mirror on the far side of the room. Harry didn't know what it was that pulled him closer to it, but almost felt like a strange force was luring him in. The cloak fell from his frame and he stood, gazing into the mirrors reflection only seeing himself, a moment later, a tall man with messy black hair, glasses and a handsome smile appeared. Harry whipped around quickly, then noticing that no one was there, looked back at the mirror. The man, who looked exactly like Harry, smiled down at him and for a moment Harry wondered if this mirror showed people the future. It was only after staring up at the man, who had the same eyes as he did, that he realised who it was looking back at him.
"Dad?" Harry asked, feeling a great swell that caught in the back of his throat.
James Potter, smiled and nodded, watching his son with nothing but love and pride in his eyes. Harry watched, as the man stepped backwards and several more people began to appear, all of them with smiles, all at different stages of life, all of them smiling at Harry. He did not know for how long he stood there, watching his father, but eventually a new person appeared, someone who did not belong to the mass number of Potter's, instead, when Harry realised who it was, he jumped and turned to face Albus Dumbledore, who was smiling at Harry.
"I daresay, I've been sitting here for some time, you didn't even notice me when you came in," Dumbledore said calmly, "Amazing, that when one becomes invisible, how short sighted they can become,"
"I'm sorry Professor, I didn't mean to,"
"Harry, whether you meant to be here or not, you are in fact here," Dumbledore said with a kind smile, sliding from the desk he was sitting on and walked over, pausing to stand next to Harry, "A curious mirror, wouldn't you say?"
"It's amazing," Harry said, not helping but look up at his father again.
"I trust you know what it does?" Dumbledore asked, "Let me give you a clue, the happiest man in the world, would look into it and only see himself, standing there exactly as he is,"
"So, it shows us what we want?" Harry asked, "And not the future?" He could feel the disappointment rising in him slowly.
"The future, no, as for what we want, that is debateable," Dumbledore him wisely, "You Harry, do not grow short of family, yet you have always desired to meet your father, and I can tell you, he would be very proud of the boy you have become,"
Harry smiled only a little, knowing now that there was never a chance, he would get to meet James Potter, to hear the words said by him.
"This mirror, does tend to have a rather strong pull for some people, those have looked upon it before, some have gone mad, wishing they could have what they desired," Dumbledore said, lightly placing a hand on Harry's shoulder, "Which is why I will be having it moved, for it does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, now, you should best get back to bed, I fear Severus may not be so forgiving with you as he was last time, should he find you," Dumbledore said with amusement.
With little else to talk about, Harry gathered up his father's cloak and took one last look into the mirror. He could already feel the longing inside of him, that urge to want to keep looking and so without another word to Dumbledore, he pulled himself away and headed towards the classroom door. In the days to come he wouldn't speak of what happened in the mirror room, except to one person. He did not know why he told Hermione about his odd meeting with Dumbledore, only that he felt slightly embarrassed talking about how he felt with Neville and Draco. Naturally, she swore to never tell anyone.
"What do you mean it was a failure?!" Neville demanded. They did however tell Draco and Neville about Harry's failed mission in the restricted section. They were all sitting together for breakfast a few days later, While Harry and Draco were playing with Draco's collection of famous witches and wizards' cards.
"Meaning it was a fail, it led to nothing, there was no information, Harry, for once, was useless," Draco said, giving Harry a teasing grin.
"Thanks," Harry said, chuckling as he slapped a card with Dumbledore onto Draco's hand.
"I'm still curious about what Professor Snape was saying to Quirrell, you don't think they're plotting to steal whatever it is that the dog is guarding, do you?" Hermione asked Harry. Harry snorted once and held back a chuckle, "Severus would be too afraid of my mum to steal anything,"
"And Quirrell is hardly the right person to be doing dark magic, is he?" Neville said, attacking a scone as if it had offended him.
"Maybe we should call this investigation stuff a day?" Draco suggested, "We can't all be like Dumbledore," He said, picking up Dumbledore's card and reading, "I mean, he defeated the dark wizard Grindelwald, found 12 uses for dragon's blood, and is noted for his work on Alchemy with noted Alchemist, Nic…" Draco paused, staring at the card with wide eyes.
"Did you sense that your hair was getting neater?" Harry asked, as if hair being neat was a serious thing. Draco looked at him and slapped the card hard into Harry's hand, then pointed at the thing that made him stop talking, "Nicholas Flamel!" Harry shouted.
"Alchemy?" Neville asked curiously.
"Alchemy!" Hermione suddenly shouted, packing up her books quickly and leaning forward, "Follow me!"
It turned out, that the dramatic run to the library had not been for nothing. Harry, Draco and Neville all waited while Hermione went searching for the right book. When she returned carrying an extremely large book, she slammed it down on the table and started flicking through the pages.
"I'd checked this out weeks ago for a bit of light reading," She said, casually flicking through the pages.
"Well, if you ever want to do some heavy reading, let us know, we'll help you carry the book," Draco said, his grin getting wider when Hermione shot him an angry look.
"There it is!" Hermione whispered excitedly, pointing to the passage that Harry, Draco and Neville all squashed around to read.
"What's a, philosopher's stone?" Neville asked curiously.
"It has the ability to create an elixir that makes the drinker immortal," Hermione said knowingly.
"Why don't I know about this?" Harry frowned, looking up at Hermione, who was looking back at him with a smug smile on her face.
"Because I'd imagine the ability to get immortality, is not something that someone wants written in every book," Draco said, "You'd really have to go looking for it," He then smirked and looked at Hermione, "You're not trying to stay small and bossy forever, are you Hermione?"
"No, I, Am, Not!" She snapped, slamming the book closed over Draco's fingers.
Since it had been such a nice day, the four had retreated out into the grounds, finding a tree that nestled right next to the black lake. Draco was standing near the water throwing a stone high up into the air and catching it repeatedly and every so often making sounds like a crowd cheering. Neville was pulling at some plants and stuffing them in his robes pocket, while Harry and Hermione were sitting together beneath the tree, re-reading the passage on the Philosophers stone.
"So, let me get this right," Draco said, catching his stone and looking at Harry, "Some old guy creates a stone that makes you immortal, gives it to Dumbledore for safe keeping, who hides it in a vault, it then becomes unsafe, so Dumbledore moves it to here, and puts a great big dog in charge of protecting it, why?"
"Because someone is trying to steal it," Harry said, "That's obvious,"
"Yeah, but a dog?" Draco said unsure, "I asked Tonks if she knew anything about them, she said that the trick with any beast is to know how to calm it, said that some bloke named Kingsley once played music to put a Cerberus to sleep,"
"Yes, but there wouldn't just be that dog," Neville said, standing up to dust the mud from his robes, "There will be spells, enchantments, Remus once said that the current staff at Hogwarts, were the greatest in their field, you best believe they've added their own touch to the security,"
"And Dumbledore wouldn't let them help if he didn't trust them," Harry said, knowing Hermione was likely to suggest that Severus was the thief again.
"It all seems a bit odd really," Hermione said thoughtfully, "given the protection around it, who is going to even try and break into Hogwarts?"
"A moron if you ask me," Draco said, "Look, so long as Dumbledore is here, no one is going to try and steal that stone,"
"You're right," Harry said, finally sensing that his investigation days were coming to an end.
In the days that followed, Harry, Hermione, Draco and Neville, all focused on their school work, enjoying what free time they had together and getting back to the day to day business of life at Hogwarts. Things were really beginning to heat up with the competition between the houses, and since Slytherin didn't have anyone that could compete with Harry and Hermione, they were taking new measures to stop them getting points. Ron Weasley had been given detention by Professor Mcgonagall when he tried to turn Hermione's needle into a tiny snake, attempting to scare her. This then earned Draco a detention, when he successfully turned Ron's watch, into a spider. In Charms class, Harry and Draco ended up losing 20 points and were forced to tidy up professor Flitwick's classroom without magical means, when the two of them leapt on Crabb and Goyle, who were attempting to squish Neville after he had fallen on the floor. Hermione had even managed to earn herself a detention, when a girl named Pansy Parkinson, tried to curse Harry. Hermione had done such a good job with her lock-locker curse (Which Harry taught her) that Professor Quirrell, didn't feel right taking points from Gryffindor. It was after this detention, that Harry had gone to meet Hermione and escort her to dinner, when they overheard someone talking in Quirrell's classroom.
"But Master, I am trying, I promise I am trying!"
Neither Harry nor Hermione could mistake the trembling voice of Professor Quirrell, but both noted had the added amount of terror that was in his voice. The conversation was difficult for either of them to ignore, so they'd pressed themselves quietly against the door to list in.
"Yes, yes, I understand Master, but Severus Snape, he thwarts me at every turn, he doesn't trust me, what can I do?" There was a moment of silence then Quirrell said, "Yes, a very good idea Master, I will see it done,"
Harry quickly took Hermione by the hand and ran, pulling her into a nearby broom closet, just in time to see Quirrell passing by the door. The two of them let out a sigh of relief then looked at each other closely, the spark of investigation strong in their eyes again.
"Master?" Neville asked. Naturally Harry and Hermione had told Neville and Draco about what they had overheard. Finding both in the Gryffindor common room, after making a hasty retreat there.
"He was really afraid of this person, Neville!" Hermione told him, "You weren't there,"
"Oh, come on, this is Quirrell we're talking about, he's afraid of everything," Neville said, brushing it off as nothing.
"This was real fear, it was like, I don't know, like he was being threatened by someone really powerful!" Hermione argued.
"Oh please, who apart from Severus and Dumbledore, who would make Quirrell quake in his boots even more?" Neville asked her.
"Well, I don't know," Hermione.
All the way through the back and forth between Hermione and Neville, Harry and Draco couldn't help by stare at each other. Both boys having a very strong understanding that they didn't speak out loud right away. They didn't suggest it for fear of the reaction it might bring, because there is one person that could strike fear into the hearts of men. One person who in this whole wide world, that Lily Potter had once sat Harry down, to explain the devastation, fear and evil that this man spread. A man, that Lily Potter, still believed to be alive, and was the reason that she feared for Harry so much. It was this man that Harry never spoke to Neville of, knowing the reaction it would bring. When Harry met Draco and this topic of discussion had come up late one night while Neville slept peacefully, Harry felt there was a new connection with Draco, because Draco was the first person besides his own family, that ever spoke the name that other wizards dreaded to even think.
"Well," Said Draco, attempting to be careful as he said his words, "There is one person who could terrify someone to their soul,"
"Who?" Hermione and Neville asked.
Harry and Draco knew that who ever said the name, was likely going to be the person who was shouted at most, so to save each other the bother, together they said, "Voldemort,"
Hermione's reaction wasn't nearly as dramatic as Neville's. Hermione simply let out a small gasp, as if she had never heard the name spoken out loud before. Given that she was raised by muggles, Harry felt that was probably the case. Neville on the other hand.
"Don't say, I, why would you!"
Harry and Draco sat through a full 10 minutes of Neville, shaking in fear from head to toe, being a living example of the fear that Lord Voldemort could cause in someone, listening to him rant about how much he hated hearing that name. When it was finally over and Draco had fetched Neville a cup of tea, and the conversation continued.
"If, you know who," Hermione said delicately, "Really is the one after the stone, how is he doing it?"
"Through Quirrell, obviously," Harry told her, "Look, when my mum told me what happened the night Voldemort," Neville winced hearing the name, "died, she said that it was like his body was destroyed, she never believed for a second that he was actually dead,"
"Uncle Ted always said that there were rumours in the ministry, that Voldemort was still out there," Draco added, "that he was just biding his time, trying to regain his strength,"
"Well, we have nothing to worry about if it is him," Hermione said confidently.
"Trolls are one thing Hermione, but Voldemort," Draco started to say, his eyes going a little wide with fear, thinking that Hermione wanted to fight the greatest dark lord of all time now.
"No," She said, "Dumbledore, the books all said that Dumbledore was the only wizard that Voldemort ever feared,"
"Which would mean that Quirrell is probably a thousand times more afraid of him," Harry added, feeling a little less tense.
"Exactly, it's like Draco said before" Hermione said brightly, "So long as Dumbledore is around, that stone can't be touched,"
Since the conversation had taken a turn where Neville refused to speak out of fear, they had all attempted to get started on their homework. Failing in this, they ended up going to bed, where Harry, found himself having the strangest dreams, of screaming ghosts and flashing green lights, and in the distance, a man crying out in rage just moments before he turned to ash. With Voldemort in his thoughts and fear that the stone could bring him back, Harry wasn't able to sleep and woken in the middle of the night, unable to return to bed. So instead, he had climbed up out of bed and curled beneath his window looking out at the black lake. He still hadn't told anyone the truth of what happened in Godrics Hollow, the night his father died. Harry didn't think that even Neville would believe, that Severus had been the one to stop Voldemort. It was information that was trusted to him, for fear that Harry would find out from someone else. He remembered the tears in his mother's eyes, watching her recount the night that James Potter had died defending his family. It was this reason alone, that Harry hoped Voldemort still lived. Harry knew that all his need to be the best, was because he desired nothing more than to face Voldemort and avenge his father.