It seems that every time I think I'm writing the last chapter to this story, it turns out that there's too much for one chapter. Well hopefully this is the penultimate chapter.
P.S. I do not own Harry Potter or anything related.
"I was once a naïve young man, confident in the goodness of wizards and witches and the wizarding world. I decided to explore the Forbidden Forest some time after my position as Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher was confirmed, hoping to learn something about the dark arts there. There I was captured by the centaurs, and they brought me to Eago, who opened my eyes; that the world we live in is corrupt, full of prejudiced humans who consider themselves superior above all other races; Wizards and Witches who have exploited the compassion and selflessness of the so-called 'House Elves', who place barriers on non-human races to preserve their status, who usurp lands that do not belong to them, and drive away or kill the natives, and who view those without magical talent as stupid and subhuman. Not even within Wizarding society is there justice: There are those who are exalted and others trampled on, simply because who their parents or grandparents were! And there are those without magical talent, who are maltreated and discriminated against. Others who are shunned for an illness they have no control over, and who are not given any help. We have a corrupt government that uses dark creatures to do their will, and a press that freely spreads lies and destroys lives without any opposition! And a house of people who are clearly evil and are at the root of all this, yet their existence is tolerated!
"When I realised this, I was no longer a wizard. I was now part of a new magical order of humans, dedicated to the destruction of this corrupt wizarding society, and in its place a new order shall be established, a society of freedom and justice and righteousness and equality where the evil shall be eliminated! It is a shame that you have to die in order for this society to become a reality, Harry Potter. You are one of the few individuals free of the evil trappings of Wizarding Society. But you are a necessary sacrifice, an obstacle."
Quirrell now turned his attention towards the mirror. Getting frustrated at it, he called upon his master for guidance. A high-pitched voice that sounded a lot like the cry of an eagle told him to use the boy. Harry, helpless, was forced to look at the mirror and tell Quirrell what he saw. To his amazement, the reflection winked at him, and showed that the Philosopher's Stone was in his pocket. At that very moment he felt something round and hard materialise in that very pocket. Quirrell demanded to know what Harry saw, who told him that he saw himself holding the Quidditch Cup. Frustrated, Quirrell pushed Harry out of the way. Harry considered whether to stay put or risk it and get out of here.
He decided to run.
"Stop him!" The same disembodied high-pitched voice he had heard earlier cried.
"STOP, POTTER!" Quirrell shouted.
Harry ran for the flame filled doorway. He backed away after the flames burnt him. Oh no! He thought. The effect of the potion must have worn off! Harry turned to look at Quirrell, who was walking threateningly towards him.
"That was foolish of you, Potter, very foolish," He told him. He had a murderous glance in his eyes. He raised his hand.
"Harry! Duck!" A hoarse voice behind him whispered.
Harry did as he was told, and as he fell to the steps he heard a spell whoosh through the air. Quirrell gave a surprised yelp as Harry heard him to have lost his footing on the stairs and tumble down. As Harry got up, he saw the still moving, large green bubbly jinx fly through the air and burst on the wall. Darren had missed Quirrell. Seemingly still, Quirrell managed to get up, looking more outraged than ever. He pointed his hand at the doorway and a lightning bolt shot from it.
"DARREN!" Harry screamed. He turned back to look at the fiery doorway. There was no answer.
"DARREN, TALK TO ME!"
There was still no answer.
"DARREN, PLEASE!"
"He can't hear you, Harry. Your friend is dead."
Harry turned to look at Quirrell.
"No," He shook his head. He didn't care that he was crying. Quirrell just smiled. He advanced forward.
"Did you really think that a handful of first years could challenge a Hogwarts professor and the most powerful sorcerer who ever-"
Quirrell halted. He seemed to be looking at something above Harry. His eyes were wide and full of fear, and his mouth was partly open. A jet of red light hit him squarely in the chest. It sent in flying across the hall, his robes billowing in his wake. Quirrell smashed into the mirror.
"NO!" The same high voice cried, and as Quirrell fell to the ground as if in slow motion, it shrieked, "CURSE YOU, DUMBLEDORE!"
Something white and wispy rose from Quirrell's motionless body, like a soul leaving the body. It flew in Harry's direction. The sudden pain in his scar caused Harry to fall backwards. Despite the pain, he could still see the apparition. The steam seemed to have taken on the form of a bird. As it passed his shoulder, the ghostly bird turned its head to look at Harry. Harry screamed.
It had a human face.
And yet it was unlike any human face that Harry had ever seen. There was a great bulge in the centre that curved from his head and was pointed at the end that reminded Harry of an eagle's beak. It even had nostrils that resembled a bird's. Its eyes were yellow and hawk-like, the only things that had colour against the white, partly transparent body. As Harry looked around to see the ghostly bird fly away, he saw Professor Dumbledore standing in the archway, the flames gone. After the bird disappeared, he heard two screams, one boy and one girl.
"Professor Dumbledore!" Harry cried, "You're here!"
"So it seems," He replied.
"Then, you got Hermione's message-?"
Wait, Harry thought. Hermione couldn't have sent it this soon…
"We crossed paths," Dumbledore explained, "I was halfway to London when it occurred to me that I should be here."
He now walked towards the mirror.
"Dear me," Dumbledore muttered, staring at the shards of glass on the floor, "He's not going to be happy with me. I promised him to bring back the Mirror of Erised in one piece."
He spoke as if he was a school child who was in trouble.
"Just as well that I didn't use the unbreakable oath, isn't it? Oh well, let's see what I can do."
He waved his wand, and the glass shards flew up back into the frame, the cracks disappearing, as if they were never there.
"Damn. The charm no longer works. Just as well, I guess. Still he's not going to be happy. Oh do pardon my French, Harry. I would never hear the end of it from McGonagall if I showed a bad example to the students."
He bent down to check on Quirrell.
"Quirrell, is he-?"
"Dead, I'm afraid. But not from my spell. It was a simple stunning charm. A bit more powerful than usual, I'll admit, but a stun nonetheless. It seems that when Eago left his body, Quirrell instantly died."
"Eago? That thing was-?"
"Yes."
It was then that a thought occurred to Harry that he should have responded to the moment the fire disappeared.
"Darren!"
Harry ran to the exit and back into the previous chamber. The table was knocked over, all of the bottles broken and their contents across the floor. In the corner were Ron and Hermione, helping Darren up. Adam and Michael were standing beside them.
"DARREN!" Harry cried, running to them, "You're alive!"
Darren looked dazed.
"Oh, hey Harry. You all right?"
"All right? No I'm not all right! Quirrell told me he killed you!"
"And you believed him? Eago wouldn't have let him harm his own grandson!"
Harry could not help but smile.
"You had me worried, mate."
Suddenly feeling angry, he punched Darren in the arm.
"Ow! What was that for?"
"What were you thinking? You almost got killed!"
"Well sorry for saving your life. Anyway you're one to talk! By the way Harry, you're face looks wet."
Feeling himself blushing, Harry quickly turned away and wiped his face with his sleeve.
"I'm all right, by the way," Ron's voice interjected, slightly hurt.
"Ron! You're okay!"
Harry felt slightly ashamed that he had ignored Ron up until now, having been worried about him since McGonagall's protection. Ron smiled slightly.
"Yeah. It will take more than that to kill a wizard!"
"You had me worried as well, mate."
"We're okay too if anyone's interested," Adam said.
Harry just ignored him.
"Harry," Hermione now spoke, "Did you see that thing-? That man faced bird? What was it?"
"It was Eago," Dumbledore answered, walking into the chamber.
"What?" Ron cried, "Eago?"
"Yes."
"Was it like his ghost?" Harry asked.
"No. Not a ghost. It was definitely still living. It seems that he has procured himself a way to survive normal mortal attacks."
"Then- what does that mean?"
"Put it aside for now. A more immediate situation needs to be dealt with. Follow me, children."
The six-some did so. As they walked, Dumbledore slipped something in Harry's pocket. He recognised it as the marauders map as he felt it. Dumbledore winked at him.
"Professor, we're not in trouble, are we?" Hermione asked, "I mean we tried to tell Professor McGonagall that someone was after the stone but she wouldn't believe us! So we thought that someone had to do something-"
Dumbledore raised his hand.
"All will be sorted once we reach my office."
The same horrid thought now occurred to Harry. Surely they weren't in trouble for what they had done, were they? They did just stop an evil dark wizard from returning after all!
"What about Quirrell?"
"Someone will take care of him in due course."
After they got out through the trapdoor (Dumbledore was able to levitate them all, and for some reason Fluffy was tame when Dumbledore was around, who just patted the middle head's nose) and exited the chamber, Dumbledore turned his attention to Adam and Michael.
"You two will return to your dormitories. I'm sure you're exhausted over what you've just experienced!"
"Wait a minute!" Adam exclaimed, "Why not the others?"
"What I have to say to them concerns only them."
This made Harry's stomach looser. If he was sending the two Eago brothers to bed, it means that they can't be in trouble since it would include all of them. After Adam and Michael grudgingly left them, Dumbledore shot several jets of light in different directions.
"Just to alert the staff," He explained.
When they had reached Dumbledore's office, the wizard sat behind his desk and put his fingers together.
"Now then, tell me everything, right from the beginning."
And they did.
After finishing their tale, there was a knock on the door.
"Ah, it seems that everyone has arrived. Enter!"
Professors McGonagall, Loki, Sprout and Flitwick, along with Hagrid, all in their nightgowns, walked into Dumbledore's office.
"Professor, you're back!" McGonagall exclaimed, "What happened-?"
She caught sight of the four students. Her face slowly turned in her direction. She looked more terrifying than the bird bodied Eago.
"YOU FOUR! You didn't- you wouldn't- AFTER ALL MY THREATS, you just- does Gryffindor mean nothing to you at all-?"
McGonagall stopped talking after Dumbledore raised his hand.
"Professor, please don't get angry with them. They just stopped Cain Eago from returning to power."
"Wh-What did you just say?"
"Exactly as I said it."
"I-is this some kind of joke?" Loki demanded.
"I'm afraid it isn't." Dumbledore replied sombrely, "He tried to take the Philosopher's Stone with the aid of Quirrell."
"Qui-QUIRRELL?"
"Yes. Don't worry it's all thanks to Harry and his friends here."
Dumbledore told them everything that the four students had told him.
"But why didn't you tell some teacher?" McGonagall demanded after Dumbledore had finished.
"We tried to tell you, but you wouldn't listen!" Ron said angrily.
"Ron!" Hermione chided.
McGonagall looked shock, as if she had been slapped.
"Oh my God!" She uttered. She then turned towards Dumbledore.
"Professor, it's all my fault! They did try to tell me, but I wouldn't listen! I didn't take their fears seriously! I wouldn't hear them out! I didn't think anyone could get through and I was still angry about the dragon incident-"
"Relax, Minerva. I do not blame you. You merely acted as best as you thought. Do not worry, they all came out unharmed. Although I cannot say the same for Quirrell."
"But how did they even get pass the first protection?" Flitwick asked, "I thought that only you and Hagrid knew how to get passed the dog-?"
At that moment, it was Hagrid's turn to feel guilty.
"It's all my fault!" He roared as he buried his face in his hands. "I told him! I told him how teh ge' pass Fluffy!"
"What?"
"I didn't realise it was him! It's all my fault! All for a dragon e-!"
At that moment Hagrid stopped himself.
"Dragon? What dra-?" McGonagall questioned before realising something. She looked at the First Years.
"YOU MEAN THERE REALLY WAS A DRAGON?"
"Don't ge' angry with them, Professor!" Hagrid pleaded, "It's all my fault! I go' the egg from wha' I though' was a trader in the village! Then when I was having problems, these four were kind enough to help me send him to the colony in Romania!"
"Hagrid, what were you thinking?" McGonagall hissed, "haven't your previous experiences with dangerous monsters taught you anything? And to get these four students involved as well! Why didn't you four come to the Headmaster about it, you should have done that instead of sneaking into the Astronomy Tower late at night and costing your house two hundred points!"
"We didn't want Hagrid to get into trouble," Harry told her.
"That was highly admirable of you Harry," Dumbledore spoke, "But your fears were unfounded. Hagrid would have not got into any trouble, although I would have arranged for the dragon to be sent to Romania."
"Nonetheless," Loki now spoke, "Seeing what Hagrid's actions have done- acquiring an illegal animal, revealing secrets of the protections for the Philosopher's Stone, involving four students in rule-breaking activity, surely acts of this nature deserve the proper punishment, hmm?"
"You're right, Luke. However, it seems that Hagrid is already undergoing the consequence of his actions. His guilt is more effective than any punishment I can fish out."
Loki spluttered.
"Headmaster, I must protest! Tougher action must be taken! Your leniency towards your staff is probably why this happened in the first place! If you were a lot tougher with Hagrid in the past this might not have happened!"
"If harsh punishments were to stop Hagrid from getting his hands on dangerous creatures, it would have worked years ago," Dumbledore told him, "Besides, if you really wish me to become the strict Headmaster you want me to be I can always start by evaluating your er questionable teaching methods."
Loki looked more furious than ever.
"MY QUESTIONABLE-?"
A stare from Dumbledore silenced him.
"Anyway, little permanent damage has been done. Eago has been thwarted, the stone is safe. However, Hagrid, I need you to clean up the mess in the West Wing. That can be your punishment if you like."
Hagrid sombrely nodded, looking as if he deserved more of a punishment that Loki was thinking of. So Dumbledore dismissed his staff.
"Harry, if you'd be so kind as to give me the stone?"
Harry took it out of his pocket.
"How did it get there?" Harry asked him, "One minute I was looking at the mirror, then the next it was here!"
"Ah, one of my most ingenious spells," Dumbledore chuckled, "Only someone who wanted the stone, but not to use it, would have been able to get it out."
Harry gave it to the headmaster. He put it in his draw.
"Will you be giving it back to Nicholas Flammel then?" Harry asked.
"That's the idea. I shall be sending him an owl telling him that the stone has been saved and is ready to be returned to him. The four of you should be glad. You helped stop a dangerous wizard from returning to power!"
Dumbledore's words stirred something uneasy in Harry, something that had been there since hearing from Firenze about Eago, what was possibly there ever since he learnt that Eago was a Gryffindor. Dumbledore frowned.
"You seem troubled, Harry. You should be proud of yourself!"
"Professor, there's something I want to ask you."
"Certainly!"
"All my life, or since I was first told about Eago, I always thought that he was this pure evil dark wizard who cared about nothing except power. But then I learnt things about him, things which made me question whether he was such an evil guy at all."
"Harry!" Ron chided.
Dumbledore just nodded. Harry thought back to the year before, when he was getting his school things for the first time, how his parents had told him and his siblings that Eago sought to kill all the prejudiced humans in the world, and how Dan asked if this actually made him good.
"Why? If all Eago wanted was to make the wizarding world a better place, then why did you and my parents sought to stop him?"
"Harry!" Ron and Darren both shouted, but Harry just ignored them. Dumbledore's expression remained the same, and he just nodded.
"You ask valid questions, Harry. And you deserve valid answers. Tell me, do you believe in the traditional wizarding hierarchy, where those with wizarding ancestors deserve more rights than those without?"
"What? No, of course not!"
"Do you believe that squibs deserve to be treated as if they don't have feelings?"
"No!" Harry said indignantly. Why was Dumbledore asking him these things? Of course he wouldn't!
"Do you believe that werewolves deserve to be shunned without treatment like your Uncle Remus?"
"No!"
"Do you believe that the Daily Prophet is allowed to publish any sought of rubbish about people as fact?"
"No."
"Do you believe it's fair that Goblins and House-Elves aren't allowed wands whereas humans are?"
Harry thought about this.
"No. It doesn't sound fair at all."
Ron laughed.
"Oh come on! It's not like the Goblins allow us any of their magic-!"
He was silenced when Dumbledore raised his hand. He turned his attention back to Harry.
"Do you believe that the Giants or the Centaurs deserved to have their lands taken away, only left with very little?"
Harry thought about this as well.
"No. They don't."
"Oh come on-!" Ron protested again, but Dumbledore interrupted him.
"Very good, Harry! Now answer me this: Are you willing to murder and destroy just to undo all of those injustices that I have listed?"
Nothing that Dumbledore had said previously shocked Harry more than what he just asked him.
"What? No, of course I wouldn't-!"
"Of course you wouldn't, exactly!" Dumbledore said triumphantly, "And that is what makes you different from Eago! Myself, your parents and others opposed him not because of his goals, which were noble in themselves and of course we would have all benefited from, but because of his methods."
"But you stopped him from killing Slytherins-!"
"We were stopping him from murdering people. From destroying lives. Are you saying that you would just stand by and watch someone die, just because of their house?"
Harry thought about this. He now understood what Dumbledore was trying to tell him.
"No. I'd try to stop whoever it was that was trying to kill him."
"Oh I don't know," Ron snorted, "I might let-"
"Excellent, Harry excellent!" Dumbledore clapped, "You would make your parents proud, talking as you are! This is what makes you better than Eago, what makes you nobler than him, that you would preserve life regardless of who it was, rather than make any kind of discrimination over who you would save. Besides as you have already probably learnt not all Slytherins become dark wizards, and not all dark wizards were Slytherins. When we discriminate against groups, we end up ensnaring the innocent and ignoring the guilty. Are you truly willing to sacrifice a few innocents and let a few guilty run wild just to make the world a better place?"
Harry shook his head. Dumbledore smiled wider than ever.
"Of course you wouldn't!
"It is true that our world is full of injustice, and that Eago would have probably ended it, but it would have been far too costly. I would not want to live in such a world built upon the bones of many and the suffering of thousands. Neither were your parents. There are other ways to undo the injustice in our world. True they take longer, but they are less costly."
"So, you do believe that all the wrongs things in the wizarding world can be undone?" Harry asked.
"Yes, I do. And remember this, Harry, be wary of those who talk about justice and equality and righteousness and good, and whose way seems right, but whose primary motive is not justice, equality, righteousness or good at all."
This Harry did not understand.
"And now, I think it's time that you all go to bed. It has been a busy night for you after all!"
So they left, Harry feeling happier than he had felt before.
"You know what?" Harry said as they walked back to their dormitories, "I think Dumbledore expected us to try and stop Eago. I think he deliberately left that mirror out for us so we would know what to face."
"But that's-that would be so irresponsible!" Hermione cried.
"I think Harry's right," Darren said.
"What a surprise," Ron said.
"But look at the protections! Why would the staff deliberately leave out brooms for the thief in order to get the key? If they didn't want the thief to claim the key, then surely the most sensible thing to do was to not give him a way to claim it? And it's hardly like no one can win in Chess! As for the potions, why leave a clue to which was the right potion rather than let the thief guess it? Look at the protections! Fending off a plant that only a First Year student would know how to; to collect a key that only a top Seeker could claim; a game of Chess that only a Chess champion could possibly get through; a creature that we all faced beforehand; and a riddle that only someone with logic could pass, something that few wizards have! It's almost like they were meant for us to get through if a powerful wizard had entered the chambers! These weren't just protections: They were trials."
There was silence.
"I think Darren's right," Hermione said.
"Yeah, well, whatever," Ron said.
Eventually they entered the Common Room.
"Oh Neville!" Hermione gasped, looking at the stiff body on the floor, "I forgot all about you!"
She took out her wand, waved it and uttered the counter-curse. At once Neville was no longer frozen. Gasping for breath, he got up to face the foursome.
"What happened? Did you guys get caught?"
"Yeah. You could say that," Harry answered.
Neville looked angry.
"I can't believe you guys did that again! We've probably lost all points thanks to you."
Harry, Darren, Ron and Hermione looked at each other. Unable to control themselves, they broke into fits of laughter.
"Hey it's not funny! Why are you guys laughing?" Neville shouted
The foursome continued to laugh.
"WHAT IS SO FUNNY?"
"Neville, we'll tell you everything in the morning," Ron said as the three boys led Neville up the staircase to their dormitory, patting his back.
The ending of this chapter, from the scene in Dumbledore's office, is what I imagine happened in the original Philosopher's Stone, although the tone not as light, given that Harry had been comatosed. I also imagine that instead of the four bursting in laughter over what Neville said, Hermione would have burst into tears and hugged Ron, who would have told Neville to shut up. Well the final chapter is on its way! (At least I think it will be the last chapter. It may also not be as long as most of the chapters)