Declaration: I write for my own pleasure and not for profit. I do not own Harry Potter Universe.

With You by My Side

Chapter 14- Picking the Fruits of Their Labour

After their forbidden jaunt into the third floor corridor and obtaining the Philosopher's Stone, Harry and Hermione were unusually jittery. They expected to be caught at any moment and so put extra effort into the preparation of their second manuscript in order to keep their minds busy. With each passing day, they relaxed a little more and after a week they were back to their cheery selves.

The couple was a little dismayed at the total lack of any other surveillance on the stone. They were surprised that Professor Dumbledore was so confident on the ability of the teacher's to provide the obstacles to stop someone from breaching them that he did not have any fail safe. What they did not know was that the headmaster did have a monitoring ward below the trapdoor in Fluffy's room and as soon as it was breached a trinket in his office began its 'merry' tune. The trinket kept it up for about two hours before falling silent, by which time Harry and Hermione were safely in the hospital wing and under the healer's tender mercies.

Harry and Hermione were fortunate in their timing that the headmaster was away on his Wizengamot duties. Dumbledore for all his years was not a very trusting man at his own peril and if he was he should have placed a similar trinket in his deputy's office, a woman he had known for more than thirty years. It was fortuitous that the stone was saved by two inquisitive but vigilant students of impeccable ethics.

Though Madam Pomfrey was skeptical at the two blaming a snow ball fight for the injuries inflicted on their person, she appeared satisfied at Hermione's explanation of a 'drying charm' for the distinct lack of wet clothes. It did not take her long to treat the minor scratches and aches before shooing Harry and Hermione out of the hospital and she went her way humming a jaunty tune much to the amusement of the two students.

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With the apprehension over their little adventure in securing the Philosopher's Stone now almost all but forgotten, Harry and Hermione were looking forward to their published manuscript. It would be the first major achievement for them in the wizarding world and even Professor McGonagall was looking forward to it. It would be many years since she had something to look forward to anything.

On the last day of February, Professor McGonagall came to their places on the Gryffindor table during breakfast and handed them their copies of the periodical that had their accomplishment for the entire world to see. Hermione squealed and grabbed Harry in a tight hug while matching his grin. The rest of the students were intrigued by her behavior as Hermione was generally very restrained.

Their article had a foreword from Professor Dumbledore who was an acknowledged Transfiguration master and he took the opportunity to not only lift the authors of the article to unheard heights of praise but also skillfully managed to scrounge praise for Hogwarts with a little embellishment.

'It is amazing to find how little inquisitiveness for all things magical or innovative thinking prevails in our society today. It gives me great pleasure to present to you a glimpse of work that is being done by some of Hogwarts best. Pioneering work by renowned professor of Transfiguration Minerva McGonagall and two of the brilliant students challenged popular notions prevailing in Transfiguration…..' Dumbledore's introduction though full of praise for the work, it implied that it was his persistence and the professor's zeal that brought about such remarkable results. It totally ignored that it was Harry's interest and Hermione's support that even brought the idea to life. Dumbledore went on to entice the readers that they should be able to have a front row seat to all the amazing things that would soon come out of Hogwarts.

Professors Flitwick and McGonagall shared a wry shake of their heads on reading that with Harry and Hermione. They were resigned to give him the leeway as he was the headmaster and that too because he did not claim anything directly only through the school. But all this was secondary as the couple's primary focus was on the article which they had to agree, came out quite good when the wizarding photos accompanied it.

Matter is Conserved during Transfiguration

Authors: Hermione Granger, Harry Potter and Minerva McGonagall

(Correspondence can be addressed to any of the three at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry)

Our goal was to dissect the laws of Transfiguration a bit more in detail in an effort to define their limits of any. Our experiments in this regard have been detailed in this article with proof of the obtained results in the form of wizarding photographs. The …..

The article was very well received over the next few days, as all three were inundated by owls with congratulatory letters from quite a few prominent citizens and well known educators most of overseas. Not really surprising perhaps, as there clearly was a dearth of well thought out and executed research in an attempt to unearth the truth of some of the common theories. Harry and Hermione in particular took great care to write back to everyone and thank them for their time and compliments.

They felt a little guilty when they saw one such letter from Nicolas Flamell but managed to hold their guilt back and also from revealing anything about their knowledge of the Philosopher's Stone. Harry managed to slip in a few sentences that praised Mr. Flamell in return and even succeeded to say that he was one of his heroes and was inspired by his enormous amount of work.

Harry told his few friends from Gryffindor as well as Susan Bones and Hannah Abbott from Hufflepuff and Padma Patil from Ravenclaw when they approached them for the news. To their disappointment, they only gave their polite congratulations and a smile without any real understanding of the magnitude of their work. Only Neville asked them for the details of their work in the common room that evening and borrowed Harry's copy. 'Maybe the others had their own copies or know someone who had their own copy?' the two had to console themselves.

Unfortunately, no one in the school even knew about their achievement but the couple was not overly worried about it. Even the teachers noticed this utter lack of any scientific inquiry among the students and were determined to change that. Harry and Hermione meanwhile, were content that those who knew the subject or meant something acknowledged their achievement which was enough for them. They were unaware that their work would actually give an awakening to the other professors to pursue their own interests and also bring about a change in not only Hogwarts but also all of wizarding Britain. Harry would get his desire to be known for something that he accomplished by hard work rather than the superfluous tag of 'Boy-Who-Lived'.

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A couple of days later Dumbledore was prepared to move the stone into the 'mirror of Erised' from the last trap that he set. It took him a couple of months to find the required enchantments but he was now sure that he would be able to put the Philosopher's Stone into the mirror and charm it. The current trap that he designed could be broken but someone like Lord Voldemort would not be able to steal the Stone from the mirror. He would charm the mirror so that anyone who wanted to get the stone to safety only would be able to breach it but who wanted to use the stone for their benefit could not even understand how to get the stone out of the mirror.

He was not vain but he could not help marvel at himself, if all the other traps would fail his ingenuity would keep the stone safe. A brief thought crossed his mind that the only one, or should he say two, that could even come close to his line of thought were Mr. Potter and Miss Granger.

Dumbledore was surprised and amazed when Professor McGonagall approached him to write a piece introducing their work on Transfiguration. He had to admit that even as a master, he would not have thought to dissect the laws of Transfiguration to such an extent. He was proud to admit that they were his students, though not technically correct, it was not a lie too as Minerva was his apprentice during her mastery, Mr. Potter and Miss Granger were also his students by association. Students like that bring out the hope in him that most of the laws laid out in magical theory would one day be definitively proved. 'Alas, there are not more students like them' he groused and judging by the total lack of response in the students to their brilliant article he had to make a decision about ordering the periodicals for the library.

Dumbledore asked his phoenix, Fawkes, to take him directly into the chamber where the stone was safely tucked away. He cast all the protective charms on the mirror before he cancelled the levitation charm on the iron safe and before it could crash to the floor, Fawkes grabbed it with his talons giving the aged wizard time to cast a cushioning charm to get it safely down.

Nothing could prepare him for the shock when he found the stone missing. His immediate thought was that Voldemort succeeded but only a few seconds of contemplation told him that if the Dark Lord got hold of the Stone then the whole world would have known about it. Besides, Professor Quirrell was still around and Professor Snape had told him that the stuttering man did not make any more attempts at the stone after Halloween. 'No someone else had managed to get hold of the stone. Hopefully it's not someone who would try at world domination' Dumbledore thought. They do not need two demented maniacs.

Entering the room with the potions he saw that both the potions that would get the drinker through the flames were empty. He could only surmise that whoever got here would have neutralized the other traps too. With a troubled heart he requested Fawkes to flame him back to his office, he needed his two trusted professors for a chat and ease his conscience.

"WHAT!"

Dumbledore knew that this was what he was to expect, but still did not prevent his ears ringing from the exclamation from both professors McGonagall and Snape. He was lucky that they were enclosed in his office, otherwise the whole of Britain would have known by this time.

He exhaled deeply in a resigned sigh, "It looks like all the obstacles have been overcome and the Stone taken away. I do not think that it is Voldemort's doing though."

It was a thoughtful McGonagall that asked the question, "Do you suspect that it is one of the students?"

"It would take not only a very powerful student but also a very intelligent one" Snape reluctantly agreed.

Dumbledore reluctantly floated the idea, "What do you think about Mr. Potter?"

To say that McGonagall was shocked was an understatement, but she had to defend the two that were worming into her heart much faster than the slow crawl of a Flobberworm, "If you think that two first year students could overcome your traps then they were of not much use, were they?" Looking at the bemused expression on Dumbledore's face she shook her head ruefully, for a headmaster he was surprisingly unconnected with his students. She looked at Snape who had a wry grin on his face, something she seldom saw, "Wherever Mr. Potter goes Miss Granger is sure to follow."

Dumbledore was not used to anyone finding fault with his plans but his deputy finding fault with him rubbed him wrong. He had to admit though, that he got a little carried away in his attempt to put Mr. Potter in the hot seat and it back fired spectacularly. Maybe his mind was still fresh about Harry's manuscript in 'Transfiguration Monthly' or his desire to see him grow to be a powerful wizard clouded his mind but he had to be sure of his facts before he accused someone.

He had to save face and quickly, "I am sorry Minerva. It was never my intention to portray Mr. Potter in bad light. It's just an old man's wish to see him as a powerful wizard."

His apology was accepted quickly by the two whatever Albus Dumbledore might be, a vindictive man he was not. "Why are you convinced that it's not Lord Voldemort that got hold of the stone?"

Dumbledore took the time to get his thoughts in line before attempting an answer, "You know that Voldemort would have already made an appearance by this time if he got the 'Elixir of Life'. He is a very impatient man and would take the opportunity to terrorize as many people as he could. Besides, I would have expected him to ask for Severus' assistance in making the elixir" he looked apologetically at the Potions professor when saying the last bit.

The young man graciously accepted the truth of the statement. He had his own comment to add though, "I would sleep well at night if the Philosopher's Stone was in Mr. Potter and Miss Granger's possession rather than that of the Dark Lord."

McGonagall was fighting hard to prevent the grin that was threatening to break out on her face. The headmaster though was surprised; it spoke volumes of young Harry's achievements in such a short time if Severus was able to suppress his resentment against a Potter.

"I regret doing it but we may have to scan the student's minds for any signs of the stone" concluded Dumbledore he feared a rebuke from the head of Gryffindor house and was not disappointed.

"You cannot be serious Albus! Why don't we confront Quirinus rather than violate the privacy of the students in our care."

With a subtle glance at Professor Snape, Dumbledore tried to answer his deputy as best as he could without giving out much details. "While I agree with you Minerva, it is not a good idea to corner Quirinus. As you know I suspect him possessed by Voldemort and if he gets a wind of any such attempt he may not hesitate to attack the students. We cannot afford that, let us wait till the students go for their summer break, we can then question Professor Quirrell."

What Dumbledore was not ready to admit was that he was literally powerless to end the threat of Lord Voldemort; the prophecy has taken away that ability from him and given it to a young man. That was the reason for his earlier hope or premature declaration about Harry getting the Philosopher's Stone. The young man needed to be powerful and intelligent enough to take down the Dark Lord or they were doomed.

Coming out of his musings Dumbledore saw that both Minerva and Severus were contemplating his words and so roused them, "We will meet again after dinner and see if we get any indication as to the fate of the stone." With that he dismissed both the professors and turned to intense reminisce; he hoped that they would get a clue about the stone.

Unfortunately for them the conclusions they arrived at were sadly far from the truth but thankfully not truly detrimental for the safety of wizarding Britain.

That night Harry and Hermione began discussing about the attempt made by Professor Dumbledore to read their minds.

"I am sure that more than one professor was trying to probe our minds" Harry told about his suspicions while snuggling with Hermione on the couch in Gryffindor common room.

Hermione agreed with him but had other concerns, "Do you think that we should contact Mr. Flamell that we have the stone?"

"I am not sure that we tell him right now that we have the stone, if word gets out to wrong people our whole attempt would be a waste and we may be targeted by the people who Professor Dumbledore wanted to protect the stone from."

Hermione could not argue with that logic and so they decided to keep quiet about the whole incident involving the Philosopher's Stone. Unless they were told about the stone by someone else, they were not going to open their mouths about it.

Meanwhile a very different but related discussion was taking place between three professors.

"I am impressed by the shields of Mr. Potter and Miss Granger; the few seventh years that have passable shields do not have enough strength to withstand a spirited probe. Those two not only have strong enough shields but in a few years will have impenetrable minds" it was unusual for the usually grumpy potions master to praise anyone let alone a Potter.

"Yes I was impressed too. I wonder how they knew about occlumency given their muggle upbringing" Dumbledore's tone carried not only a hint of surprise but also suspicion.

The transfiguration professor was reminded of Harry and Hermione's words about using the word muggle, especially in this context and the tone of Dumbledore's voice it did sound more like an offensive label. It was now left to her to dispel any doubts, "Mr. Potter told me about organizing his mind into trunks for instant recall from the physical training instructor in his primary school. Miss Granger apparently found about occlumency and its power of recall in the library and they both worked on their defenses as their minds were already organized." She briefly enjoyed the discomfort of her two colleagues, they obviously wanted to know something but were too polite to ask, "Miss Granger has her mind organized into books" she put them out of their misery but still enjoyed a chuckle at the symbolism of Miss Granger's mind emphasizing her endless thirst for knowledge.