Hey everyone! Thanks for all your great reviews! It's inspiring me to keep writing, which is always fun.
This is a massive re-edit after several comments in regards to the unlikelihood of Quirrell keeping a journal. I don't necessarily agree that he wouldn't keep a journal, because he would have no one to brag to, except himself. But, I take all constructive criticism on board. So, here's what I hope will be more believable.
CHAPTER NINE: THE EXPLORATION
Hermione's eyes swept the empty corridor, her ears straining for the slightest noise. So far, so good. Quirrell's office was on the third floor, and thankfully most everyone was at the Quidditch pitch, watching Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw battle it out in the air. Hermione was grateful that nearly eighty percent of the school was currently outside, and the remaining twenty percent seemed to be nowhere near Quirrell's office.
The door was locked, but Hermione had prepared for that. She'd been brushing up on her unlocking skills, and had taught herself the incantation 'alohamora'. The door opened quietly and Hermione slipped inside.
She swallowed nervously, her heart pounding rapidly in her chest. She'd never done anything like this before, and she was almost certain that she would be caught and expelled. She'd never be able to explain this to her parents!
She took a deep breath and reminded herself of how terrified she'd been last weekend, watching Harrison's broom bucking wildly underneath him. If Professor Quirrell was the culprit, she intended to find out. And discover why on earth the man would try to kill her best friend.
Hermione tiptoed lightly to Quirrell's desk. The man was freakishly neat, and had stacks of papers waiting to be graded in one pile, while another was the finished product. She resisted the urge to rifle through and find her own assignment to see how she'd done. That wasn't the goal, she scolded herself.
When the top of his desk yielded no clues, Hermione opened the desk drawers, and carefully continued her search. The top two drawers contained nothing more interesting than odds and ends. The bottom drawer, however, was locked.
Hermione pointed her wand and whispered 'alohamora' again. The drawer clicked open and Hermione carefully rifled through the contents. She lifted out a book on chess strategy, another on managing botanical nightmares, and a book that went into detail about the charms needed for the safe flight of a broomstick. Hermione scowled at the book which had probably let Quirrell know exactly what weaknesses to aim for.
At the very bottom of the pile was a tattered leather-bound portfolio.
Her hands shook as she carefully removed it and sitting herself down on the floor, she opened it hesitantly.
Inside the document folder was filled with newspaper clippings, textbook pages, and hand-written bullet point notes on frayed and torn parchment.
A page from a book detailed Nicolas Flamel's discovery of the Philosopher's Stone, and showed a picture of a ruby-red stone. Hermione scanned the information, reading the details of how the Stone produced an elixir that would turn any metal into gold, and if ingested, would give the drinker immortal life. The words 'immortal life' had been underlined aggressively.
The next few pages were hand-written research notes that seemed to be about high-security vaults, and how Gringotts' goblins enchanted their high-security section. There was several pages of words Hermione had never heard of, and she deduced that it was extremely advanced magic. The page after the notes held a single newspaper article that was dated August 14th.
GRINGOTTS BREAK-IN LATEST
Investigations into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July, widely believed to be the work of Dark wizards or witches unknown.
Grinngotts' goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken. The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied the same day.
'But we're not telin you what was in there, so keep your noses out of it if you know what's good for you,' said a Gringotts' spokesgoblin this afternoon.
Hermione gasped. She'd read about the break-in, though she hadn't realised its significance at the time. How could she have? But, if Quirrell was researching security vaults, and then including a clipping about the Gringotts break-in, then what other conclusion could she have come to, other than Quirrell was behind it.
But, if whatever vault he'd broken into had been empty, what had he been trying to take?
She turned to the next page, and saw a note from Professor Dumbledore.
Professor Quirrell,
You are invited to attend a meeting, to be held in my office on August 17th, along with Mr Hagrid, and Professors McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick and Sprout. Bring an open mind.
Yours, Albus Dumbledore.
What followed was a hand-written section with the Professors names, and a short descriptor.
Me - Troll
McGonagall – Chess (49)
Sprout – Plants (71)
Snape – Potions
Hagrid – Beast (32)
Flitwick – Charmed keys
Dumbledore - ?
Third floor corridor.
The next set of papers seemed to be research about the Potter family. A family tree that went back hundreds of years, and contained various textbook and newspaper blurbs that detailed the defeat of Lord Voldemort at the hands of Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived. Hermione took a moment to rejoice in the fact that she finally had a name for the Dark Lord.
A piece of parchment that looked extremely out of place was next in her pile. It showed a moving picture of a dying husband and his weeping wife, and the words 'sharing a soul with your spouse'. Hermione wondered whether Quirrell had ever been married. She put it aside for later contemplation.
Another memo from Dumbledore dated September 1st was in the folder.
To my faithful Professors,
I write to give you notice that Harry Potter will henceforth be known as Harrison Evans. His adoptive mother had his name changed in the muggle world, and Mr Evans wishes to use this name, and keep his identity as Harry Potter a complete secret. I feel it is imperative to honour his wish.
Regards, Albus Dumbledore.
Next she found a ripped out page, number 32, from a book on the care and feeding of various magical creatures. The page referred to a Cerberus, a giant three-headed dog, that Hermione had thought only existed in mythology. Her eyes found a sentence underlined in the passage.
Each Cerberus will have a different trigger to lull it to sleep. For the cautious Cerberus owner, it is useful to know this trigger before attempting any type of training.
At the bottom of the page in Quirrell's hand-writing, a single word stood out. Music.
Hermione swallowed nervously. If this page was anything like the Gringotts article, then it obviously meant something very real to Quirrell. Why would he need to know how to lull a Cerberus to sleep?
Another page of hand-written magical words and diagrams. From the looks of the illustration, it was a curse to knock a rider from his or her broom. Hermione felt compelled to rip it to shreds, but she hastily placed the piece of parchment back in the portfolio.
Page 71 from a textbook, and one that she recognised, gave details about the plant called Devil's Snare. Deadly to any attackers, it had a built in defensive system. Underlined on the page were the words 'will sulk in the sun'.
Next she found another section ripped from a book, page 46, ripped from another book on magical creatures. This particular page dealt with the development of a dragon called a Norwegian Ridgeback. It detailed incubation time in an egg, and then gave a guide on what to expect in the years until it was fully grown.
Hermione shook her head fearfully. What on earth was Quirrell up to that he was researching such disparate topics? She went back to the handwritten page that listed the Professor's by name. The number's beside each of them corresponded with the page numbers from the ripped textbooks she'd found.
Except for McGonagall's. Chess (49). Hermione's eyes widened and she scrambled back to the small pile of books she'd taken from Quirrell's draw. The book on chess strategy had a bookmark in it, and was set at page 49. She opened it up to find a beginner's guide to trick chess moves. 'Checkmate in six easy moves' was the title of the particular chapter that was bookmarked.
It didn't make any sense. Quirrell was obviously researching something. And it had to do with Nicholas Flamel's famous Philosopher's Stoner, plus the Gringott's break-in, plus a dragon, a Cerberus, the Devil's Snare plant, and a Chess Game.
That made no sense at all.
She went back to the list of Professors, and pondered the words 'third floor corridor.' They'd been told by Professor Dumbledore at the beginning of the year that the Third Floor corridor was strictly forbidden to anyone who didn't wish to die a terrible death.
At the time, she hadn't given it all that much thought. She'd been far too excited by the prospect of firstly being accepted into magic school, and secondly at having made a friend.
What had Dumbledore been hinting at?
Whatever Quirrell was trying to do, it had to do with the forbidden corridor. And after having read about the Ceberus and the dragon, and a troll, Hermione wasn't entirely keen to go wandering about to find out exactly what was behind the door.
Hermione's body stiffened as she considered another meaning of the word troll on Quirrell's list. After her unpleasant encounter with a troll back in October, she wasn't exactly keen on having another one on Hogwarts grounds.
It had never been explained satisfactorily about how the troll had gotten onto Hogwarts grounds in the first place, or what it was doing there. So...if Quirrell had had something to do with the troll being in the castle, then what had been the point?
A muffled cheer came from the Quidditch stands, and Hermione knew that the game was over. She replaced the journal and crept back to the door. She quickly checked to ensure the corridor was empty, and then locked the door behind her.
She passed the corridor that was forbidden, and swallowed nervously. Behind that door was, quite possibly a Cerberus, or a dragon, and she had no desire whatsoever to see it. She couldn't believe that something so dangerous was being kept in a school full of children with only the warning from Dumbledore to keep them out. She would bet that the simple unlocking spell she'd taught herself would give her access to the room.
The library was barely four hallways from where she stood, and she decided to make her way there to wait for the end of the Quidditch match. It would be more interesting than waiting in the common room.
She crept further down the hallway, and stopped abruptly when she heard the distinct sound of footsteps, and a muttering voice coming from around the corner. Taking a chance, she poked her head around and saw a teacher she recognised as the Divinations Professor. She couldn't afford to be caught so close to Quirrell's office. The door across the hallway beckoned to her, and after a moment of indecision, she raced towards it and slipped inside, closing the door behind her.
She stayed perfectly still, her ear pressed against the door, listening for sounds of anymore people. The footsteps finally passed, and Hermione breathed a sigh of relief.
She leant against the door, and curiously studied the room she'd ended up in. It looked like a disused classroom. The dark shapes of desks and chairs were piled against the walls. In the centre of the room stood a large mirror, which seemed incredibly strange to Hermione. The mirror itself was magnificent, as high as the ceiling, with an ornate gold frame standing on two clawed feet.
There was an inscription carved around the top: Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi.
Hermione tried to translate the words, but they weren't in any language she'd ever heard.
"Strange," she whispered to herself.
She stepped in front of the mirror, and nearly jumped back in fright. The reflection wasn't a reflection at all!
She steadied herself and stared into the mirror. It was herself staring back, only she was older!
Her bushy hair was tamer, curly and sitting beautifully over her shoulders. Her teeth were smaller too, and she was smiling happily. If she had to guess, it looked as though she was about eighteen in the mirror. And pinned to her robes was a badge that read HG. Head Girl.
"Impossible."
Another figure appeared in the mirror, and Hermione spun, startled. But no one was behind her. She turned back to the mirror and saw her future self embracing the young man in the mirror. He had scruffy black hair, and a day's worth of stubble on his chin and cheeks. His eyes were a familiar piercing green.
"Harrison?"
She looked closer at the young man, and saw that it was her dearest friend. The couple in the mirror kissed lovingly, and Harrison spun his Hermione in a dance move that made the older girl laugh gaily.
Hermione's attention was caught by the matching rings on the couple's left hands. Wedding rings.
Her heart was pounding, her mind trying to take in the overload of information. Was this the future that she was seeing? Or a possibility of the future? Were she and Harrison going to be in love with each other one day?
She had to admit that the idea was appealing. Harrison was the best and truest friend she'd ever had. And despite only being twelve years old, she knew in her heart that she would never love another the way she loved her friend. But did that mean that one day they would be married?
Hermione stepped away from the mirror, confused by all that she'd seen. One thing was for sure, she had to bring the boys here so they could see their own reflections in the mirror.
Hermione made her way quickly back to the common room, forgetting about the library for the moment. She wanted to talk to the boys as soon as possible. She chose a spot in front of the fire, an enormous old book resting across her lap. She'd checked it out for a bit of light reading, but hadn't managed to get very far into the book. Actually having friends had seriously decreased the time she would have spent reading had she been by herself. She wasn't complaining, however.
By the time the boys made it back to the common room, Hermione had reached a very interesting chapter about alchemy, which reminded her of her expedition to Quirrell's office yet again.
The subject of alchemy was fascinating, and she wondered what it would be like to be able to turn any metal into gold. Tempting, she realised. Too tempting. The Philosopher's Stone would make a man nearly a god, she thought. And wondered if greed was driving Professor Quirrell to search out its whereabouts.
Harrison and Neville bounded into the common room and made a beeline straight to Hermione. She closed the book and gave them her full attention.
"Who won?" she asked.
"Ravenclaw," Harrison replied. "340 to 120."
"That's a pretty close match really," Hermione said. "I don't see why the snitch is worth so many points. It makes the other players almost superfluous."
"It's been that way for nearly five hundred years," Neville replied. "It'll never change."
Hermione shrugged, and Harrison glanced around the common room that was quickly filling with people now that the Quidditch match was over. Raising his voice so as to make certain he was heard, he said "come on Hermione. How about you put that book down, and come for a walk with Nev and I?"
Hermione mock-pouted her reluctance, but took the book back to her dorm, and then followed the boys outside. They wandered down to the Great Lake and found a spot in the sun, stretching out on the grass away from any other students.
"So," Harrison demanded. "Did you find anything in Quirrell's office? Like why he was trying to kill me?"
"Loads," Hermione replied. She gave them a rundown of Quirrell's areas of research, and watched as their expression ran the gamut from confusion to shock to outrage. She'd felt the same when she'd been reading it.
"So, Quirrell's probably working for You-Know-Who," Harrison stated as Hermione finished.
"Oh! I do know who!" Hermione exclaimed happily. "t was in one of the articles about your family. Lord Voldemort was his name."
"Voldemort?" Harrison repeated.
"It means 'flight from death' in French. I wonder if that should tell us something about the man," Hermione mused.
"Weird name. I wonder if he was actually a Lord. I mean, for real, and not just calling himself one," Neville said. "A lot of old families are actually titled."
"We'll have to look into it. Now that we have a name, it could be easier to trace him."
"So, do you reckon that Quirrell is after this Philosophy Stone?" Harrison asked.
"Philosopher's," Hermione corrected. "And I think so. I think that's what was taken from the Gringotts vault the morning before the break in."
"And that the Stone is what's in the Third Floor corridor? Being protected by a dragon?" Neville asked.
"Or a Cerberus, or possibly another troll," Hermione said. "And...I think its protected by a few other things as well. If we're right, then, that list of Quirrell's is what's between him and the Stone."
"So, Quirrell already knows a lot of the protections," Neville said. "Hagrid's, Sprout's, McGonagall's, Flitwick's, Snapes and his own. He only has to get through one more."
Hermione shook her head. "I don't think so. There was nothing about Potions in his folder. I don't think he's got to Professor Snape's trap yet. There's no guarantee that he'd know anything about Potions, and Professor Snape is a Potions Master. He wouldn't have made his trap easy."
The trio sat thoughtfully for several moments.
"Who should we tell?" Harrison asked.
"Dumbledore, maybe?" Neville suggested. "Or McGonagall."
"Professor Snape already knows, and is trying to stop him," Hermione said. "Doesn't that suggest that Dumbledore already knows?"
Harrison narrowed his eyes. "That's not exactly comforting. If Dumbledore knows that Quirrell's trying to get the Stone, why wouldn't he just fire Quirrell?"
Hermione shook her head. "I don't know."
"Well, we have to tell someone that Quirrell's working for Voldemort. Maybe no one knows that part. Snape might just think that Quirrell wants the Stone for himself," Harrison reasoned.
Hermione nodded. "We'll tell Professor Snape."
"When?" Neville asked.
"Right now," Harrison replied.
Neville winced. He still hadn't lived down the incident from the first potions lesson when he and Ron Weasley had exploded their cauldron and ended up covered in boils. Snape had taken a distinct disliking to him. Not even his friendship with Harrison and Hermione had been able to change Snape's opinion.
He took a deep breath and nodded at his friends. "Alright. Let's go see Snape."
And in all the excitement of discussing Quirrell's true nature, Hermione forgot about the mirror entirely.
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A/N: So, this chapter had the bulk of information for the trio in it. Trying to think of a way to get that information to them was very trying. Without Hagrid to 'accidentally' tell them about the Stone and Flamel and about Fluffy meant re-routing a lot of that info to someone else.
I know that this isn't much better than Quirrell's journal, but Quirrell is a scholar; an academic. He would research everything he had to in order to find the best way to go about a problem. Also, in the books, it took him eight months to get through all the traps. Wouldn't it make sense for him to have researched everything he could get his hands on in order to make sure everything went to plan?
Also, we never got to see Hermione's hearts' desire in the books. I always wondered what it was. For a girl who'd never really had any friends before, I thought that her seeing a life-mate would be within the bounds of realism. (Also, it's just fluffy and cute, which is always nice.)
