Welcome one and all to another installment of PAKC. This chapter will wrap up Year 1, I hope you enjoy.
"You!", Both Harry and Clark said at the same time, they had expected Snape to be there, but instead it was Quirrell. "Me.", he said calmly his face wasn't twitching at all. "I wondered if I would meet you here, Potter and Kent."
"But Snape..."
"Severus?", Quirrell laughed and it wasn't his usual either, but cold and sharp. "Yes, Severus does seem the type, doesn't he? So useful to have him swoop around like an overgrown bat. Next to him, who would suspect p-p-poor st-stuttering P-Professor Quirrell?"
"But Snape tried to kill Hary!", Clark exclaimed.
"No. I tried to kill Potter. Miss Granger knocked me over as she rushed to set a fire to Snape at that Quidditch match. She broke my eye contact with him. Another few seconds I could have gotten him off that broom. Snape was muttering the counter-curse, trying to save him."
Harry and Clark looked at each other in shock. "Of course, Snape was trying to save you. Why do you think he wanted to referee your next match? He was trying to make sure I wouldn't do it again. Funny really, he needen't to have bothered. I couldn't do anything with Dumbledore watching. All the other teachers thought Snape was trying to stop Gryffindor from winning, he did make himself unpopular. What a waste, I am going to kill you tonight anyway."
Both Harry and Clark stood ready to defend themselves. Quirrell gave a small laugh, snapping his fingers, ropes sprang out of thin air and wrapped themselves around Harry and Clark. They were trying to break free, but it was of no use.
"You and your little friends are to nosy to life. Scurrying around the school at Halloween like that, when I was trying to see what was guarding the Stone."
"You let that troll in!?", Harry asked.
"Certainly. I have a special gift with trolls. You must have seen what I did to the one in the chamber back thre? Unfortunately, while everyone was running around looking for it, Snape, who already suspected me, went straight to the third floor to head me off. and not only did my troll fail to beat you to death, that three-headed dog didn't even manage to rip Snape's leg off properly. Now be quite, I need to examine this mirror."
It was only then that the duo noticed the Mirror of Erised behind Quirrell. "This mirror is the key to finding the Stone.", Quirrell murmured, "Trust Dumbledore to come up with something like this.", he stood in front of the Mirror and stared into it. "I see the Stone... I am presenting it to my master... but hwere is it!?"
"But Snape always seemed to hated us.", Clark said, trying to struggle free but to no avail.
"Oh he does. He was at Hogwarts with your father, Potter. They loathed each other, but he never wanted you dead." Quirrell cursed under his breath, "I don't understand... is the Stone inside the Mirror? Should I break it? What does this Mirror do? How does it work? Help me, Master!"
A voice answered, though it seemed to come from Quirrell himself, but he wasn't moving his lips. "Use the Potter."
Quirrell tturned around and with a claps of his hands, the ropes that were on Harry fell off, as the young boy slowly got to this feet.
"Come here Potter! Look in the Mirror and tell me what you see.".
Harry walked in front of the Mirror, he felt something heavy drop into his pocket. "Well? What did you see?", demanded Quirrell. Harry told him he saw himself shaking hands with Dumbledore, and that he had won the House Cup. But the mysterious voice told that he was lying.
"Use the spare.", the voice said. Quirrell turned to Clark, but unbeknownst to him, the other young boy had slowly cut himself lose using his magic. Just as the deranged professor rised his wand, Clark send a Leg Lock curse to Quirrell, who was to slow to react.
Clark rose to his feet, "Let's get out of here!", he said as the two friends made a mad dash for the exit, but Quirrell raised his hands as the exit was blocked off by flames. "Let me speak to them... face to face...", the voice said, but Quirrell pleaded that it wasn't strong enough. "I have strength enough... for this..."
Harry and Clark watched as Quirrell reach up and began to unwrap his turban. It fell to the ground, his head looked strangely small without it. Thanks to the Mirror the two could see a face at the back of Quirrell's head. It was chalk white with glaring red eyes and slits for nostrils, like a snake. "Harry Potter... Finally we meet.", it whispered.
"Voldemort.", both Harry and Clark whispered. "Yes... Can you see what I have become? See what I must do to survive? Live off another, a mere parasite. Unicorn blood gave me strength... But it cannot give me a body of my own... But there is something that can. Something that, conveniently enough, lies in your pocket."
Harry drew his wand, as the two stood ready to protect one another. "You won't hurt him!", Clark said determent. "Don't be foolish... Clark Kent.", the face snarled, "But I can value loyalty... Join me or die like Potter's parents did, begging for mercy!"
Clark politely declined stating that he would never joing the Dark Side, as Harry called Voldemort a liar. "How touching... I always value bravery... Yes, your parents were brave... But they were misguided. There is no Light or Dark Side, there is only power, and those too weak to seek it." it sneered, before it continued to explain how he killed Harry's parents. "I killed your father first and he put up a courageous fight... but your mother didn't need to have died... she was trying to protect you... Tell me, Harry... would you like to see your mother and father again? Together, we can bring them back. All I ask is for something in return."
Harry looked stunned for a moment, he always had this fantasy to see his parents alive, but he knew that it was just that, a fantasy.
"You liar!", Harry shouted, Voldemort ordered Quirrell to kill them. With a wave of his hand, Clark was throw against a pillar, he could hear something break. Quirrell flies into the air and begins choking Harry. Clark ignoring the pain, stood back to his feet and shot a bolt of electricity from his wand, flining Quirrell back off his friend.
Clark rushed over to his friend, who was looking shocked at his hands. Quirrell let out a scream of fear, gaining the attention from the grey eyed boy, much to his shock Quirell's hands begin to burn and turn into ash. "What is this magic!?", he shouted. Voldemort ordered him to get the Stone, but Harry charged forward grabbing Quirrell by the face. Clark had protected him, now it was his turn to protect Clark.
Quirrell's face, started to burn, the professor screams in agony, and turns to ash, until there is nothing but his robes. Harry and Black took a moment to catch there breath as behind them the ghost of Voldemort rushes at them, knocking them out.
Clark woke up in the hospital wing, the smiling face of Albus Dumbledore was looking over him. "Professor? What are you doing here? Where is Harry!?", he sat up seeing the boy laying in a bed next to him. Dumbledore explained to them what happened, that when he entered the chamber he found the two knocked out on the floor. He also explained that the Stone was destroyed. Unfortunately this meant that Nicolas Flamel and his wife would die.
"Yes, they will die eventually. But, to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure: filled with fun, majesty, and a bit of mischief.", Dumbledore explained, before he continued to speak. "What happened down in the dungeons between you and Professor Quirrel is a complete secret, so, naturally, the whole school knows. I believe your friends Misters Fred and George Weasley were responsible for trying to send you a lavatory seat."
It was a few days later that Harry and Clark were dismissed from the Hospital Wing. Just before they were about to leave, Hagrid entered, tears in his eyes, telling them that it was all his fault, that it was his fault that Quirrell had found out about Fluffy, all for a Dragon Egg. Harry and Clark told him that it wasn't his fault, that Voldemort would have found out a way even if he didn't had told them.
Hagrid wiped his nose on the back of his hand, giving Harry a book, full of moving photographs, they were all pictures of his parents and their friend. Harry couldn't speak, but Hagrid understood.
Clark's presence was requested in the Headmaster's Office, after Clark left, Harry looked through his photo's and one in the photo caught his eyes. It showed his mother when she was about 14 years old laughing with another girl her age, and Harry could only describe her as a gender swap of Clark, except the woman on the picture had bright blue eyes instead of Clark's alluring grey's.
Inside the office, Dumbledore was seated behind his desk and his eyes was immediately drawn to a beautiful crimson bird sitting on its perch at the side of the room. Dumbledore explained that the birds name was Fawkes and that he was a phoenix.
The headmaster then gestured him to sit down and offered him a lemon drop, which Clark politely declined as he saw down. Suddenly Fawkes flew up from it's perch and landed on Clark's shoulders, apparently taking a linking to the young boy. Dumbledore smiled at this before he started to speak, "I know you might have been wondering who had send you that ring, this past Christmas.", Clark nodded. "That ring belongs to the Ancient and Most noble house of Kent. A very old and respected noble house which date back to the days of Merlin himself.", the Headmaster explained.
"Fascinating, but I don't think you have summoned me up here to give me a history lesson about a Noble House who I share a name with, sir.", Clark said as he stroked Fawkes head. "That is the thing, my boy. The ring's jewel remained Sapphire blue right?", the headmaster asked, his student nodding, he wondered how the headmaster knew that. "The then head of House of Kent, asked me to keep that ring save, until her heir would come to school.", Clark was catching on to what Dumbledore was getting at.
"I see you get it now. You are that heir, had you not been the jewel would have turned to black.", Dumbledore explained, Clark felt in his pocket, pulling out the ring as he studied it. "My mother was nobility?", the boy wondered, Dumbledore nodded, "Then why was I dumped in a orphanage? Surely, there would have been someone who would have raised me.", he muttered. But the headmaster couldn't answer that.
"What happens now?", Clark asked, maybe he didn't need to return to the orphanage after all. Dumbledore explained that when the school year was over, Clark should try to make an appointment with the account manager of the Kent Vault. "When you are at Gringotts, just show them the ring. They will tell you what happens next.".
With that, Clark placed Fawkes back on his perch before leaving the room. As he watched the boy go, Dumbledore couldn't help but be remembered of another prodigy who was raised in an orphanage, had a loyal group of friends, was of an Ancient House. "Let's hope Clark doesn't become like Tom.", Dumbledore though, before turning to Fawke's smiling, the phoenix had apparently chosen the young boy as Dumbledore's replacement when he himself would take on the next great adventure.
Clark met up with his friends just as they were about to enter the Great Hall. When they entered, there was a sudden hush and then everyone started talking again at once. The five sat down, as moments later Dumbledore arrived.
"Another year gone!", the headmaster said cheerfully. "And I must trouble you with an old man's wheezing waffle before we wink our teeth into our delicious feast. What a year it has been! Hopefully your head are all a little fuller than they were. You have the whole summer ahead to get them nice and empty before next year starts. The House Cup needs to be awarded, I believe. The points standing as thus: in fourth place, Hufflepuff, with 352 points. In third place we have Ravenclaw with 426 point. In second place, we have Slytherin with 472 point and in first place we have Gryffindor with 487 points."
Someone standing outside the Great Hall might have thought some sort of explosion had taken place, so loud was the noise that erupted from the Gryffindor table. Harry, Clark, Ron, Neville and Hermione stood up to yell.
Clark had almost forgotten that the exam results were still to come, and come they did. Unsurprisingly, he and Hermione tied for top of that year. Harry, Ron and Neville also had great marks, not as good as Clark's or Hermione's but still above average.
"We will speak each other over the summer... right?", Clark asked worriedly, he had grown accustomed to the company of his friends. Yes, they were his friends, the only ones he had ever had and he was proud to call them that. "Of course! You must come and stay this summer. I will send the four of you owls.", Ron said to his friends. "Thanks. I will need something to look forward to.", Harry said as they moved forward to the way back to the Muggle world.
"Feels strange to be going home, doesn't it?", Hermione said as the five of them passed through the gateway together. "I'm not going home... not really.", Clark said and his first friend agreed with him.
Suddenly they heard someone say "There he is, mum, there he is!", it was Ginny Weasley, Ron's younger sister, but she wasn't pointing at Ron.
"Be quiet, Ginny, and it is rude to point.", Mrs Weasley smiled down at them, "Busy year?".
The five looked awkward at each other, before all of them replied, "Very."
"Thank you for the fudge and jumper, Mrs. Weasley.", Clark said with a slight bow. Mrs. Weasley waved it off, saying it was nothing. After each of them were picked up by their parents or guardians, Clark set out to his orphanage, he would go to Gringotts within a week or so.
And that's a wrap. It is a little short but there wasn't much left to say in Year 1. Think you can guess the pairings I am planning before Year 4? Let me know what you think. Many thanks to everyone who reads and favorite this story. I hope you have a fantastic day and I will see you ladies and gents, next time.
