Laus Saint Julius
Summary: A.K.A how Harry was adopted and raised by a squib, and take the Wizarding World by storm. Follow his story as he entered Hogwarts as one Henry Julius Prewett, the power of smiles shall prevail! The fun has just started!
A/N: Look at the time, it's time to duel study! Do you know that getting a T on your exam on purpose is harder than getting an O? I'm not sure how the curriculum works, never been the type to bother with school rules before. See the end of the chapter for more notes.
Guest: Thanks for caring! Reviews are always appreciated no matter who you are, it keep me motivated to write more. It has been a long journey, but this isn't the end.
Viracious: Worry not! I will keep this story floating around in my head until I get to know how to end it properly. I planned to write all the seven years, let's see if I can get it done before I'm done with life.
Disclaimer: What is the name of a clam with a disc-shaped shell? A discla(I)m! In other words, I disclaim the ownership of the wonderful world of Harry Potter. Let everything belongs to J.K.R and her brilliant mind.
Chapter 10: It's Not Over Yet
In years to come, Harry would never quite remember how he had managed to get through his exams when he half expected Quirrellmort to come bursting through the door at any moment. Yet the days crept by, and there could be no doubt that Fluffy was still alive and well behind the locked door guarding the fake stone.
It was sweltering hot, especially in the large classroom where they did their written papers. They had been given special, new quills for the exams, which had been bewitched with an Anti-Cheating spell after the twins patented their self-writing quills that could fill in the correct answer.
They had practical exams as well. Professor Flitwick called them one by one into his class to see if they could make a pineapple tap-dance across a desk. Professor McGonagall watched them turn a mouse into a snuffbox. Professor Snape made them all nervous, breathing down their necks while they tried to remember how to make a Forgetfulness potion. Professor Prewett, on the other hand...
Let's just say she expected her students to duel each other until one of them is either knocked out or couldn't continue the fight for another reason, watching the students try to kill each other with every spell they have learned in the sidelines. They're free to use anything on their opponent, as long as it's not an Unforgivable.
"Everte Stratum!" Draco Malfoy chanted the incantation of the knockback hex, causing Harry to fly back through the air and flip over. He underestimated Draco all of these times, thinking he is just a pampered prince without the skills to back up his attitude.
"Not bad for a Malfoy, you're pretty good. This ends now. Expelliarmus!"
Draco didn't expect Harry to recover that fast from the spell and used the disarming spell on him, sending his wand flying towards his opponent. Harry did the best he could, trying to ignore the pains spreading through his body and won in the end. Wasting no time to relieve himself from the pain similar to being hit over the head with a saucepan, he has been there before.
Their last exam was History of Magic. One hour of answering questions about batty old wizards who'd invented self-stirring cauldrons and they'd be free, free for a whole wonderful week until their exam
results came out. When the ghost of Professor Binns told them to put down their quills and roll up their parchment, Harry couldn't help cheering with the rest.
"That was far easier than I thought it would be I needn't have learned about the 1637 Werewolf Code of Conduct or the uprising of Elfric the Eager."
Hermione always liked to go through their exam papers afterward, but Ron said this made him feel ill, so they wandered down to the lake and flopped under a tree. The Weasley twins and Lee Jordan were tickling the tentacles of a giant squid, which was basking in the warm shallows.
"No more studying, you could look more cheerful, Harry, we've got a week before we find out how
badly we've done, there's no need to worry yet."
"I'm just worrying about Fluffy, Quirrelmort is going through the trapdoor tonight. He's found
out everything he needs, and now he's got Dumbledore out of the way. He sent that note, I bet the Ministry of Magic will get a real shock when Dumbledore turns up."
"Have you been spying on the Headmaster again? What did I tell you about privacy?" Hermione gasped, her friends is at it again. Didn't they have something else to do?
"Good afternoon, you shouldn't be inside on a day like this." Professor Snape said smoothly with an odd, twisted smile. They stared at him for a moment until he started talking again.
"You want to be more careful, hanging around like this, people will think you're up to something. And we really can't afford to lose any more reputations, can we?" He strode off in the direction of the staff room, leaving the trio wondering what he is up to.
Out on the stone steps, Harry turned to the others. "Right, here's what we've got to do, one of us
has got to keep an eye on him. He is obviously trying to take over Hogwarts by replacing Dumbledore. Wait outside the staff room and follow him if he leaves it. Hermione, you'd better do that."
"Why me? Why don't you do it yourself?"
"It's obvious, you can pretend to be waiting for Professor Flitwick, you know." Ron then started his best impersonation of Hermione, putting high voice. "Oh Professor Flitwick, I'm so worried, I think I got question fourteen b wrong..."
"Oh, shut up!" said Hermione, but she agreed to go and watch out for Snape while Harry teaches Ron how to make things seemingly disappear from view. Joined by Neville and Tracey who wanted to see how it's done up close.
"You have to trick the audience into thinking they're seeing what they want to see, like this." He explained to them how things really work. First, find a willing volunteer, Trevor is a perfect volunteer for this.
"And then you find a hiding spot for the object to go, like in our school robes. Prepare our audience, say the magic word and we're done."
"Can we use it on a living person?" Asked Tracey. It must have been easy, once they all got how it works. Neville looked around for his toad and suddenly found it in his pocket, what kind of sorcery is this?
"You will need a bigger hiding spot for that, and maybe a mirror. Don't forget that person must be a willing subject, you shouldn't kidnap someone to be your guinea pig."
"We'll just have to-" Ron said, but a voice suddenly rang across the hall. It was Professor McGonagall, carrying a large pile of books.
"What are you four doing inside?" The Transfiguration teacher said, stern as usual. Harry could see she is late to the party, the faculty meeting started five minutes ago. The only person who wasn't there was Professor Binns and Quirrellmort. They're supposed to talk about him and the Philosopher's Stone after all.
"We're trying to make a living person vanish, would you like to be a volunteer, Professor?"
"What are you talking about? I have no time for such things, I'm in a hurry."
"How's Hermione doing inside? She is taking too long." Said Harry, once he was sure Professor McGonagall was out of earshot. Neville and Tracey are busy trying to make the first object they saw vanish, magician style.
"She will be fine, she is not the teacher's pet for nothing. I don't know why you asked her to spy on the meeting when we already have the portraits doing it for us. You just want her to be away from us, don't you?"
Harry's smile grew wider, Ron was certainly less ignorant than how he looked. All they only need to do was to wait and hope the meeting resulted in the teachers agreeing that they should just let Quirrell get the stone and then ambush him when he leaves. Quirrellmort is severely weakened and outnumbered, he had no chance of winning against five full-powered teachers.
"Why don't we go to your brother's shop while we wait for the meeting to be over? Let's ask Verity for an invisibility cloak, do you want to be a ninja?"
"Of course, I want to be there when the teachers make a fool out of Quirrellmort. It will be fun watching your grandmother spam her castration curse on him."
"Let's just hope they let him get the stone, we're all dies if he decided to use that ritual instead, Tanislav's last will. Voldemort is getting desperate."
"What are you doing?" Said a voice from the corner of the room. Neville appeared from behind an armchair, clutching Trevor the toad, who looked as though he'd been making another bid for freedom.
"Nothing, Neville, nothing. Just keep practicing your magic trick, okay?" said Harry, Neville stared at their guilty faces. Tracey doesn't look interested.
Harry and Ron didn't talk again until they reached the twin's shop, where only Verity is present because the twins are outside enjoying the sunshine with their friends. Including another third-year Gryffindor, his tarantula, and the Giant Squid. The twins get along with everyone, as long as they appreciated their brilliance.
"Don't ask, I know why you're here."
Verity pushed back a curtain beside the Muggle tricks and Harry saw a darker room. The packaging on the products lining these shelves was more subdued. Wait, Aurors used those, too? Inside it are some protective equipment using some kind of an enchanted leather, dragon skins? It's supposed to make the wearer sticks to the wall and ceiling.
"Handy." said Harry, impressed.
"Where is the invisibility cloak? We need a big one that could fit three people on it, just in case Hermione is joining."
"Right away, sir. Follow me." Harry found it very odd to hear the older girl called Ron "Sir" but Verity herself doesn't look normal. Where did the twins get this kind of an assistant? One of them said they met her on a broom cupboard, whatever they're doing there. The girl is obviously a pureblood, judging from her odd mannerism.
"Right you are, Verity, I'm coming."
It took them a little over ten minutes to track down everything they needed. At last, they had managed to get their extra-large sized Invisibility Cloak, they then made their trip back downstairs. Harry was disappointed to discover that Hermione was not waiting in the hall, which meant that he had to return to the living room and wait until the time is right to launch their operation.
After dinner the three of them sat nervously apart in the common room. Nobody bothered them, none of the Slytherins had anything to say to them anymore. Hermione was skimming through all her notes, wanting to know if she gets the answer to the exams right. Harry and Ron didn't talk much. Both of them were thinking about what they were about to do and communicated by having a staring contest.
Slowly, the room emptied as people drifted off to bed. Theo is still there reading an empty tome, but it's not like he would care if any of his friends will be out of the common room tonight.
"Better get the cloak." Ron muttered, as Blaise Zabini finally left, stretching and yawning. Harry put out the cloak with Hermione's help. She has nothing else to do than worrying about the result of the exam, that's why she decided to join Harry and Ron just for tonight.
"We'd better put the cloak on here, and make sure it covers all three of us, we're busted if Filch spots one of our feet wandering along on its own."
Harry looked at the grandfather clock by the door. They couldn't afford to waste any more time, he doesn't want the show to be already over by the time they arrived at the forbidden corridor. He saw Theo raising an eyebrow on what they're doing, staying silent and doesn't do anything to stop them.
As they climbed the staircase, every distant breath of wind sounded like Peeves swooping down on them. Harry knew Peeves wouldn't try to bother a Slytherin because of the Bloody Baron, but what if he did something to alert Filch instead? At the foot of the first set of stairs, they spotted Mrs. Norris skulking near the top.
"Oh, let's kick her, just this once." Ron whispered in Harry's ear, but Harry shook his head. As they climbed carefully around her, Mrs. Norris turned her lamplike eyes on them but didn't do anything.
"See? She is a good cat, what do you think? Isn't she cute?"
They didn't meet anyone else until they reached the staircase up to the third floor. Peeves were bobbing halfway up, loosening the carpet so that people would trip. The trio already brought the perfect equipment for the job from the twins' shop, they wouldn't trip over as easily as before, sticking charm is the best.
"Who's there? Know you're there, even if I can't see you. Are you ghoulie or ghostie or wee student beastie?" He said suddenly as they climbed toward him. He narrowed his wicked black eyes, rising up in the air and floated there, squinting at them.
"Should call Filch, I should, if something's a-creeping around unseen."
"Peeves, the Bloody Baron has his own reasons for being invisible." Harry said in a hoarse whisper, mimicking his house ghost. Peeves almost fell out of the air in shock. He caught himself in time and hovered about a foot off the stairs.
"So sorry, your bloodiness, Mr. Baron, Sir. My mistake, my mistake. I didn't see you. Of course, I didn't, you're invisible - forgive old Peevsie his little joke, sir."
"I have business here, Peeves, stay away from this place tonight."
"I will, sir, I most certainly will. I hope your business goes well, Baron, I'll not bother you." said Peeves, rising up in the air again, and he scooted off, never to be seen again... or so Harry hope.
"Brilliant, Harry!" whispered Ron. Harry took the compliment by a stride, brilliant is his middle name and birthright. Hermione doesn't look happy about this, she should be the one with the idea instead.
A few seconds later, they were there, outside the third-floor corridor, and the door was already ajar. Seeing the open door somehow seemed to impress upon all three of them what was facing them. Underneath the cloak, Harry turned to the other Ron.
"Open your map, let's see if Quirrelmort and the teachers are already in position."
"Roger that, I solemnly swear I'm up to no good." Ron chanted the password required to open the all-new Marauder's Map 2.0, and prepared to see what is up ahead. If they were to see Quirrellmort lose so badly to the teachers, they must see that in the place offering the most view.
Hermione has no idea what they will be doing next since she is only here to see what her friends were doing most of the time. She has a camera on her, just in case her friends wanted to watch Quirrellmort's defeat over and over again. Harry took the lead, Ron becomes the navigator, and Hermione is the cameramen.
"This doesn't look so good, Harry. We're in the middle of five disillusioned Professors and the twins. We better move somewhere else that wasn't this crowded."
"Alright, let's take a step back. We better go hide near that statue."
That's weird, In their current state, every statue's shadow looked like Filch. What if Filch wasn't actually a powerless caretaker and is actually something more terrifying instead? Like a ruler of the underworld who could wield the power of shadows and bent it to their will. Look at his cat, is Mrs. Norris normal? Since when normal animals could appear on the map?
As the door creaked, low, rumbling growls met their ears. All three of the dog's noses sniffed madly in their direction, even though it couldn't see them. It was Quirrell emerging from the door relatively unscathed, with the fake stone in his hands and a triumphant look on his face. Of course, he didn't know the stone he is holding was a replica, that information is only known to the trio, the twins, and Professor Prewett.
"Better start recording, Hermione. Three, two, one, action!"
A number of weird-looking black horn-type objects that were indeed attempting to scurry out of sight started appearing before Quirrell who didn't give them much mind until he picked one and it exploded on his face, the turban fell away. Quirrell's head looked strangely small without it. Then he turned slowly on the spot.
"That's the twins' decoy detonator, they explode." Whispered Ron to Hermione who doesn't know what's going on.
Hermione would have screamed, but she couldn't make a sound or it would make Quirrellmort discover them. Where there should have been a back to Quirrell's head, there was a face, the most terrible face Harry had ever seen. It was chalk white with glaring red eyes and slits for nostrils, like a snake. It was a face no mother would love.
"Someone is there..." it whispered. It looked so ugly, like a certain discarded painting done by a rookie artist.
"Holy water?" Said one of the twins, dropping their invisible disguise and started attacking with Muggle's exorcism kit. Actually, it was a modified version of Muggle's vampire hunting kit, but it also worked well against anything else unholy.
"Weasleys... I should have killed them all in the first war, but that doesn't matter. You're just a kid, prepare to meet your maker."
The other professors minus Professor Prewett are either too stunned at the revelation that they're up against Voldemort that they're not making any move, or they could be waiting for the right time to strike. Most of them didn't expect the twins to go all out using Muggle methods and is actually winning.
"Die monster, you don't belong in this world!"
"Don't be a fool, better save your own life and join me... or you'll meet the same end as your namesake..." Quirrellmort lunged, knocking the twins clean off their feet' landing on top of them, both hands around their neck.
He pinned the twins to the ground with his knees, let go of his neck and stared, bewildered, at his own palms. Harry could see they looked burned, raw, red, and shiny. The twins laughed at this, giving each other high-five as the monster before them screamed in agony.
"Behold! The power of religion!" Fred's twin said.
"We bathed ourselves with the holy water before we went here!"
"We're invincible!" Shouted both of them in unison, their voice filling the rooms.
Quirrell raised his hand to perform a deadly curse to the twins, but someone reached up and grabbed Quirrell's face before he could do the deal done, repeatedly slamming him into the door until his face is as deformed as the face on the back side of his head. Harry summoned a popcorn to enjoy the spectacle, while everyone else is busy watching Professor Prewett joining the fight.
"Wisteria, I never thought I will see you again... you doesn't age a day since we last met. How about joining me this time? I will spare the life of those children for you."
"Never, you filthy half-blood! What are you waiting for, residents of Hogwarts? Less hiding and more curse! Incursio!"
The concealed teachers dropped their invisibility one by one and started casting every kind of spells that comes to mind. Professor Snape looked conflicted on his actions, but he still contributed in filling the room with colorful lights aimed towards the horrific monstrosity called Quirrellmort. Harry wanted to join in the fun, but maybe later. He still hasn't finished eating his popcorn yet.
"You make me laugh, is that the extent of all your power combined? Pathetic..."
Voldemort reached through his wands and started casting a long-range deadly curse that engulfed the room in dark explosions, knocking his attackers away from him and give him some free time to decide their fate. He looked disappointed at Snape and focused his attention on him.
"Severus, you're a disappointment. How about joining that mudblood woman you're so fond of? It will be a quick death, you better feel honored."
"Not so fast! Make a way for Ronald Billius Weasley, the rightful descendant of Salazar Slytherin!"
A red carpet suddenly come out of nowhere, paving a way for a lone figure to make his appearance. The lone figure carried himself in a regal manner befitting of a pureblood, hands on both of his wands. Epic music started to play to complement the arrival of the young lord, courtesy of Hermione and her camera.
"You're joking, a Weasley? Heir of Slytherin? Get out of your delusions, boy. Or expect to meet your end here."
"For the pride of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Slytherin, let's have a duel. The loser gets disowned from the family. Are you ready, Tom Marvolo Riddle?"
"You knew my heritage, that must mean you're really the person you claims to be. Very well, but just one of you won't going to be enough to defeat me. See what happened to your teachers?"
At this point, Quirrell was walking backward so that Voldemort could see his opponents. The evil face was smiling, interested in the prospect of dueling one of the same bloodlines with him. His addled mind concluded the possibility of a past Gaunt marrying into the Weasleys to be rather high, unaware of the fact that the boy could be bluffing. A child or not, those descended from his great ancestor must be quite powerful.
"Alright then, my name is Henry Julius Prewett, proud descendant of Godric Gryffindor. And this is Hermione Jean Granger, one of the few surviving descendant of Rowena Ravenclaw. You already know Ron, I don't need to introduce him again."
What Harry said was the mix between truth and lies, it's not like Voldemort would know the difference anyway. The Prewetts are the heir of Gryffindor by blood, but Voldemort doesn't know Harry is adopted. The Grangers are shrouded in mystery, they could very well be related to the Belmonts who went into hiding somewhere in early 19 centuries. The Belmonts are the heir of Ravenclaw by marriage.
The only founder's heir wasn't present here is those belonged to the Hufflepuffs, because that Zachariah Smith boy decided to be a prat and start a war with Draco Malfoy instead. The Hufflepuff has been busy regaining his reputation since that false dueling invitation, but it's not like he is that important to Harry.
The teachers watched the trio engaging the Dark Lord who is now in full control of Quirrell's body, although he needs to walk backward. They started their confrontation by doing what most duelist would do, honor their opponent by bowing to each other. The twins started cheering, followed by Professors Prewett.
"Very well, I will let you be my guest. The first move is yours, give it your best shot."
"Risusempra!" Ron fired the spell with his broken wand and it hits the Voldemort-invested Quirrell in the middle of his chest.
It looked like the Dark Lord simply let it hit like that, unknown to the danger the spell amplified by Ron's broken wand possess. He probably thought every damage will just go to Quirrell since he is possessing his body. How very wrong of him, his nonexistent logic doesn't make him prepare for the lasting damage done to the mind.
The duel was over in under five minutes, with the trio coming out as the victor. Quirrellmort is now a laughing mess on the floor, unable to control what he is doing. Ron's broken wand sort of exploded in the process, making the effect of the spell it cast to be permanent. He took Quirrell's wand and made it his own.
"Oh, how fitting. The laughing curse? Where did you learn that, Mr. Weasley?"
"The twins taught me how to use it, Professor Prewett. "
The Dark Lord might be defeated, but everything isn't over yet. Something must be done to him or his followers could set him free from his misery by killing the body he took for himself. Quirrell must live until the professors could find a way to prevent Voldemort to incarnate in another body, everything is up to the recovering teachers by now. They know what to do.
Harry knew he doesn't get many actions today, but he just wanted to be the one who set up the stage and watch everything unfold in this moment. It's unhealthy to have that much of attention to yourself, better give the credit to someone else who needed it the most, like Ron. The professors still looked surprised, but everything turned out alright after Professor Prewett explained everything, except for the fact that the stone has been replaced by a fake.
"You saved everything on your camera, didn't you?"
Of course, their recording is the only thing Harry is concerned about other than his life right now. They only wanted to watch Quirrellmort got defeated, but ended up the one who defeated him instead. And everything is recorded on camera, imagine what will happen once the news spread.
End of Chapter 10
A/N: Quirrellmort is no longer a threat, but everything is not over yet. It was just like what Harry said some chapter before, still remember? What happened when a battle ends? Another battle starts. The first years might be over soon, but the second year awaits! As always, two weeks until next chapter. Love you, guys!