It all seemed like a bad dream. There was a flash of light and my whole body froze before I could leap for my wand. Only my eyes would move. Unluckily, the position I was in was a half sitting up and half lying down, which made me look extremely silly.
If my arm hadn't been glued to the floor, I would have slapped myself in the forehead. If I had paid more attention the story line I would have known EVERYTHING! Instead I ran around, doing nothing useful.
The voice that I was hearing was not coming out of Quirrel's mouth, but I already knew where it was coming from. Quirrel's worried look had gone, and he was glaring down at me. I would have glared back, but my face was frozen in shock and fear.
"I really didn't want it to come to this." Voldemort's disembodied voice sighed as Quirrel levitated by body. "But you are as stubborn as ever." You never met me before! I screamed in my head. I had only ever read about him, but now that I was actually talking to him, I didn't know what to say, not that I could say anything back.
"Well, we might as well move on. Quirrel, head toward the third floor."
"Of course Master." Quirrel replied, flicking his wand so my body floated behind him. The third floor! He was taking me to the Stone! But why? And here I was, floating along like a parade balloon. None of the paintings were awake and no one was walking around this late.
I tried to wiggle my fingers, but they were no use. The real sad thing was that my wand was left on the stairs, teetering toward a great fall. I watched the walls go by and tried to make a plan in my head.
Well, they couldn't keep my frozen the whole time. If they were taking me to the stone then I would need to get through all the challenges as well. And once we got to the stone…then what do I do?
Do nothing, I thought. Sooner or later Harry is going to come down and he'll do his stuff. But if he saw me, then he would become distracted. I knew he still thought I was his mother, but I really wasn't! I would know if I had a son! And I wasn't even married, not to mention I don't remember giving birth to him, which is a big hole in everyone's theory.
We reached the third floor in rather amazing time. I could hear Fluffy growling behind the door, sensing that there were people approaching. Quirrel unlocked the door and the growling increased. I watched from my floating position and my eyes widened as Quirrel stepped inside, leaving me floating there. Fluffy let out a bark which shook the whole castle.
A painting of a little girl shook next to the door. I starred as the little girl opened her eyes, rubbing them sleepily. Her painted eyes met mine and her mouth opened. I wanted to tell her not to say a word but she seemed to get the message. She ran off, through the other paintings.
Thank Merlin, I thought. But a moment later I heard music and Quirrel came back into the corridor. My eyes shot back to him.
"Time to go Mrs. Potter." Voldemort said. I was floated (even though I am not sure that is a word) into Fluffy's room and toward the now open trap door. The huge dog was snoring loudly, its breath shooting right in my face, making my eyes water. My eyes widened as the dark hole came nearer. I suddenly stopped, teetering toward the black spot that was leading to the next challenge.
"Now listen very closely Mrs. Potter, when you drop down that hole, Mr. Quirrel's spell will end and you will be able to move. You will do as I say and wait there until I arrive. You will be joining us on a little trip. You will be wise not to try any tricks." Of course I didn't say anything back. It was a little unnerving to hear the voice and just stare at Quirrel. I drifted over the hole and suddenly, my stomach rising up into my throat as I dropped.
I found suddenly as I fell that I could move and I gasped. The sensation of falling made me want to throw up. My red hair rushed around me as I fell and I let out a "Whoa!" I landed with a thump on bottom of the hole. I was sitting on Devil's Snare and stopped moving at once.
My mind was whirling and clicking as I tried to think of a solution to my falling problem. Any moment Quirrel and Voldemort would be down here along with me and I would have to go with them. I couldn't help them, I would have to refuse. If I did anything wrong I could throw everything out of balance.
I was sinking now, into the pit of tangled vines, just as Quirrel dropped. He whirled around to find me dropping through the floor. "Stop!" he yelled, tossing a spell in my direction, as if I could. I fell for a short distance before smacking my head on the stone floor beneath the dangerous plants. I was dizzy for a moment and I quickly stood up. Everything around me started to blur. It only took Quirrel a few seconds before he was joining me, but he however landed on his feet.
He grabbed me by the collar and pushed me forward. "You catch on quick don't you?" He snarled, pulling me along behind him. I snapped my teeth together, trying not to make him angry. I did however shrug off his hold on me and walked ahead, Quirrel's wand poking into my back.
The next chamber was only a few yards away and I knew I would have to play it slow. I didn't want to give away the fact that I knew all the challenges. Quirrel opened the door and the sound of flapping came to our ears. The keys were zooming around the room, their glittering key bodies blurring together. This one would take longer. The first challenge all you had to do was sit still, this one involved movement.
I looked to me left and saw Quirrel looking around the room, his grim expression still on his face. He didn't even bother to look at the flying keys. Instead, he walked over to the brooms and picked one up. I simply stood there, thinking.
We were too far ahead. Harry, Ron and Hermione were probably not even at the trap door yet. Quirrel kicked off from the floor and shot into the air, eyes searching for the right key. So, Quirrel was not as daft as he seemed. I bit my lip and looked at the remaining two brooms. Making a split second decision, I ran across the room and snatched one of the brooms. I kicked off and lumbered/flew toward Quireel, who was giving me a confused look.
"What are you doing?" He snapped.
"Stalling!" I yelled, and rammed right into him. He had obviously not been expecting me to do this. We collided into the stone wall and I heard a snap. For a moment I thought I had broken Quirrel's arm, but it turned out to be his broom handle. He recovered and roared, kicking me in the stomach. I gasped as the air was knocked out of me and I fell off my broom. I wasn't really sure how far I fell. But I heard a crack and everything went black.
Blinking, I groaned and slowly sat up. Fading light lead to the point of Quirrel's wand, who was standing over me, the winged key in his other hand. I felt the back of my head and felt dry blood. I had shattered the back of my skull. And Quirrel had saved me.
"Why," I started, when he pointed his wand at me again and pain came over me. It was horrible, terrifying and made me wish I was dead. It felt as if someone was stretching my ribs apart and removing my heart, snapping the cords one by one. I was screaming in agony, rolling over and grasping my chest, trying to make it go away. I thought it was going on for years, but it was only perhaps, thirty seconds.
Then it all went away. I gasped, my body drenched in sweat, my heart thumping. Quirrel bent over me and grabbed a handful of my hair and lifted me up. I glared at him, my face dripping, breathing through my nose like an angry bull.
"You will be wise never to try that again." Voldemort's voice said. It was low and slow, but obviously angry. "I was kind to you. Quirrel saved your life. It took nearly twenty minutes and you have wasted much of my precious time." I simply starred into Quirrel's face, still breathing. I would be crying, but I would not stoop that low in front of my own enemy. But the good thing was that I had bought the Trio some more time. Quirrel pulled me and up and pushed me toward the opposite door. Stuffing the key into the lock, Quirrel turned it and it swung open.
Pushing me into the dark room, he tossed the key back and closed the door. It was silent. I didn't move until Quirrel shoved me forward. Torches suddenly sprang out along the walls. The large chess board was revealed and the graveyard along the side glowed menacingly, the fire flickering along their dead faces.
Quirrel stepped forward and looked over the landscape of the chess board. He didn't make a move to try and get to the door on the other side. He pointed to the Queen and it stood up out of its seat and walked off of the board, leaving a large marble seat on the square.
I suddenly felt a hand grip my throat. I gagged as my face was turned to face Quirrel. "You are in position of the Queen." He said matter affectedly. "I am to get you to the stone alive. Sit in the chair and do not move." I stomped over to the chair and climbed up onto the marble seat. It was much too large but it was nice to see the chess board from another angle. Quirrel took the position of the knight and the game began.
I had never played much chess, but Quirrel seemed to breeze through the game. The pieces jumped around the board and the first time the marble smashed I jumped, nearly falling out of my chair. The same thing happened when I was commanded to move. The chair moved forward with a jerk and I griped the arms of the chair.
Sometimes I saw myself in danger, like when a knight made a move toward me. But Quirrel would leap around the board, taking a nerving amount of black pieces. All I had to do was sit in my chair. It actually gave me a lot of time to think and plan ahead. I just had to make sure to stay behind Quirrel and let him do the work. I was knocked out of my reverie when someone walked up to my white throne. Quirrel was out of his spot which must have meant the game was over.
I saw the white king lying across the floor, facedown. Quirrel didn't have to say anything, I automatically jumped down. We walked across the board to the door behind the white pieces. Quirrel didn't hesitate to open the door, and I knew why. It was his challenge; he already knew what was coming.
The moment that the door opened Quirrel ducked his head. I was confused for a moment until I saw the ten ton club swinging toward my own head. I yelled and ducked, dropping to the floor. The troll was huge, a color that looked like vomit and it had a nose that looked like a pig snout. Quirrel was up again in a flash and he pulled out his wand. What he did, I didn't see. Because at that moment the troll took another swing at me and I dived away into a corner.
When I looked back, the troll had Quirrel by the throat, lifted six feet off the ground. He didn't look at all scarred or panicked. Instead, his thin eyebrows where knitted together as if he was concentration. He pointed his wand at the stone roof above the trolls head and spluttered out a large word that I didn't catch.
The roof shuttered and a large chunk of earth fell of the trolls head. Its tiny coconut head was rammed into its wide shoulders and it fell at once, dropping Quirrel. I was terrified of trolls ever since Halloween. Quirrel was standing up and looking down at the dead troll and then looked up expectantly at me. I glared at him.
"You're so full of it." I muttered, standing up and watching him. Quirrel didn't respond, but just stood, his cold eyes watching me as I passed. He opened the door and we both stepped through.
The moment that our feet passed over the threshold, flames burst up behind us and the door on the opposite wall along with it. Quirrel's eye brows scrunched together. He knew he was in Snape's challenge, which would be much more difficult. Quirrel walked over to the table and snatched up the piece of paper. His eyes darted across the page, his face shrinking. I could see frustration building up and I wished I had a chair.
Snape was much smarter than Quirrel but I wasn't so sure about Voldemort. Then again, he was a double agent. It was only a little while ago that I had been walking with him. I desperately wished that he was here. His snide remarks were much better than Quirrel's cold glares and Voldemort's hissing. I slid down the wall, watching Quirrel struggle over the scrap of paper in his hand. I wondered why Voldemort was being to quiet. I thought that he would have helped Quirrel along, but he evidentially thought that Quirrel was capable to do it by himself. Boy was he wrong.
Quirrel was reaching toward one of the bottles which were one of the poisioned ones. "No!" I shouted, scrambling up and snatching the bottle just as he was raising it to his lips. "Wrong one you idiot!" I snarled, picking up the small, round bottle and thrusting it into his hand.
Quirrel simply stood there, eyes boarding into mine. I starred back at him and then my mouth fell open. Quirrel had known it was poison, and he was drinking it anyway. My mouth opened and shut, not knowing what to say. Quirrel's face turned red and he drank and small bottle, his eyes never leaving mine.
He had apparently hated his situation so much he was willing to kill himself to end his suffering. Voldemort didn't know it, but I had just saved his life. Quirrel however was not very pleased as he pushed the bottle into my hand and pointed to the flames, angry at the fact that I had taken away his only chance at freedom.
I threw the black liquid into my mouth and shivered, the feeling of freezing ice falling down into my stomach overtaking my haughty attitude. I opened my eyes and followed him through the flames, trying to breathe slowly as we took our final step to the stone.