Harry Potter and all associated characters and situations are the property of J.K. Rowling. I make no claim to ownership.

CHAPTER 29: Final Exam (pt 1)

"Good evening, Mr. Potter. This is Professor Quirinus Quirrell, writing to you by way of Miss Granger's ingenious little parchment. I think it's time for us to have a little chat."

Harry read Quirrell's message three times before he thought to run through a quick Occlumency exercise to calm his thoughts from utter panic down to cool rationality. Then, he snatched up his wand and instantly sent three whispered silencing charms to the beds of Draco, Crabbe and Goyle so that they wouldn't hear anything before yelling for Blaise and Theo to wake up and come over to his bed. The parchment dinged again.

"I'm a busy man, Mr. Potter, so I'd appreciate a quick response, before I assume that Miss Granger misled me as to how this parchment functions and I'm forced to interrogate her more forcefully."

Harry gritted his teeth, took a deep breath, and replied: "I'm here. What do you want of me? And what have you done with Hermione?"

"Nothing yet, I assure you. Well, nothing beyond a few minor psychic manipulations, anyway. You're a clever little serpent, Potter, but you're still only eleven, and not quite so clever as you may think you are. Your efforts to avoid all eye contact with me made it patently obvious that you know of my ... information-gathering skills, but your Gryffindor friends were not so well-prepared, and I pieced together most of what I needed from their memories. I know you have deduced that I was behind the troll incident and your brother's subsequent Quidditch difficulties last semester. I know you have deduced that I am here at Hogwarts in order to acquire a certain object hidden on the Third Floor. And thanks to a particularly vivid memory from your brother, I know that you have interacted with a certain enchanted mirror and successfully escaped its clutches under your own power. Or perhaps you merely took advantage of special characteristics imbued within the Mirror by the Headmaster that make it less dangerous for children than for adults. Regardless, I would like to engage your assistance in retrieving the object of my heart's desire from its current resting place which is, I believe, within said mirror."

Harry responded: "Why on Earth would I help you with that?" As he waited for the reply, he told his two friends to get dressed quickly, as he started pulling on his own trousers over his pajamas to save time.

"Because I am presently in the same room with that mirror along with four little Gryffindors who thought they could sneak in and steal the Stone in order to 'save it' from the nasty old DADA instructor. Well, two of them. The other two apparently expected to find Severus Snape down here. Silly boys. I am, of course, speaking of Miss Granger and Messrs. Longbottom, Weasley and Potter Minor. While your disdain for the latter two is well-known, Potter Major, so is your affinity for the first two."

Blaise shook his head. "Hermione and Neville would have never gone along with something as stupid as helping the Git and the Weasel steal the Stone." Harry agreed and sent that statement as a message. Quirrell quickly responded.

"Unlike your Headmaster, boy, I am not in the habit of leaving things to chance. I penetrated to the last room of Dumbledore's gauntlet three weeks ago. But when I recognized the Mirror from Potter Minor's memories, I came to suspect the nature of the old man's trap. It took me months to learn the secret of dealing with the Cerberus without raising alarm, but everything else was challenging but hardly insurmountable ... until the room with the Mirror. I imagine the Headmaster expected me to easily pass through the first six rooms and then, pluming myself on my own ego, plunge headfirst into the Mirror and become trapped by my 'heart's desire.' I think not. Instead, I choose to invite you to join me here, Potter Major, to see if you can recover the Stone for me. You've already proven your ability to gaze into the Mirror without being trapped, so it seems logical to assume you can penetrate the Stone's protections. To ensure your compliance, I placed a Confundus Curse on the DADA exams of your pet Gryffindors, one designed to lure them here tonight in spite of your warnings to avoid the Third Floor. I would have put one directly on you, but you are clearly strong-willed and have obviously received some training in psychic defense, so I thought it more prudent to target your more pliable associates, all four of whom currently lie at my feet, bound by the Incarcerous Charm."

"I await you at the end of Dumbledore's gauntlet, Potter Major, although you will find most of his traps already deactivated. Those remaining should be no problem for such a clever young serpent as you. Tell no one, and come alone. You have twenty minutes before the bad things start. Do the math, Mr. Potter. Four Gryffindors equals forty fingers and forty toes before I move on to the larger extremities. Your time starts – Now!"

Harry cursed and then tapped the parchment five times to lock in the writing on it before it reset. Then, he handed the parchment to Theo. "Get that to Snape. Both of you. Make sure he understands that Quirrell has hostages."

"No," said Theo quickly.

"Theo..."

"No, shut up! You're not going to face him alone! It's not happening, and you don't have time to argue with me about it, so just accept the reality that I'm coming with you!"

Theo handed the parchment off to Blaise, who just looked back and forth between the parchment and his friends before holding the paper out to Harry, who had just put his wand holster on and was pulling a jumper on to conceal it. "What he said."

Harry wasted three whole seconds fuming at his friends before he snatched the paper out of Blaise's hand in a fury. "It's like I'm surrounded by bloody Gryffindors!" he snarled as he bolted out the door, the other two close behind. It took another fifteen seconds before he was racing down Prefect's Row, practically yelling the password for the Lair as he did. Inside, he found what he was looking for: Rodney and Olivia poring over old NEWT questions. They both looked up him in surprise.

"No time to explain!" he said breathlessly. He handed the parchment to Olivia. "Get this to Snape as fast as you can. If you can't find him, then McGonagall or Flitwick. Lives depend on this." Then, he turned and ran out again, hoping that the two prefects took him seriously.

Four minutes later, the Sytherin Trio was at the forbidden door. Harry looked at his friends once again as he struggled to catch his breath. "You really don't have to do this. It's dangerous and reckless. He just wants me."

"You're wasting time, Potter," said Theo. "Neville and Hermione are my friends, and they're in trouble. So I'm there for them. Just like I'm there for you."

Harry's face flushed at having his own words used against him, especially by the boy who had once been so timid and who'd claimed that he wasn't any good at "all this kindness stuff." Harry turned and cast the Alohamora on the door. It clicked open, and the three quietly entered the room. Inside, they looked around in the gloom. The Cerberus appeared to be asleep. Harry's eyes widened – he'd heard about the monstrosity in September, but this was his first chance to actually see it. Off in a nearby corner, Blaise noticed a golden harp lying on the floor. Harry took a step forward, and the floor creaked. Instantly, the right eye on Fluffy's middle head flicked open, and the creature started to stir. Harry and Theo froze in terror, but Blaise simply pointed his wand at the harp and calmly said "MUSICA – BRAHMS LULLABY." Instantly, the harp floated up into the air and started playing a soothing tune. The Cerberus quickly drifted off back to sleep.

"What spell was that?" Harry asked in relief.

"Wasn't a spell," Blaise said softly. "That harp's a fairly common enchanted item. You say 'Musica" and then name a song, and the harp will jump up and start playing it automatically. Quirrell probably bought that in a music shop in Diagon Alley. My mom's got at least three of them."

"How did you know music would put Fluffy to sleep?" asked Theo as the trio edged around the hellhound towards the trap door behind him.

"I didn't. I walked into a room with a sleeping Cerberus that five people have somehow already gotten past, and I noticed a magic harp in the corner looking obviously out of place. Two plus two equals four."

Harry and Theo nodded at his impeccable Slytherin logic. The trap door was still open, and they could make out a faint bluish light from below. "Now what?" asked Blaise.

"Now, you two lower me with the Levitation Charm," said Theo. Harry started to say something but Theo cut him off. "I'm lighter than either of you, and you're both better with the Charm than me. This way, you can lower me slowly and at a controlled rate, I can check out the room safely, and you can pull me right back up if there's any danger."

Harry reluctantly agreed. "This should be Sprout's room, so you're looking for dangerous plants." Theo nodded and fired of a Lumos with his wand, while the other two cast the Levitation Charm on him and slowly lowered him into the room. After about five seconds, he called back up. "Definitely plants. Looks like some sort of thick moving vines at the edges of the room. There's a circle of Bluebell Flames keeping them at bay and then a path leading to the door. Better hurry though – the flames look to be dying out."

With that, the other two lowered Theo all the way to the floor, and then, they all took turns levitating each other. By the time Harry touched down, one of the more aggressive vines had slithered past the openings in the circle of flames in the direction of Theo's foot. Harry saw it and instinctively said "Back off!" The vines instantly withdrew, and the other two boys stared at Harry in surprise.

"Parseltongue works on killer vines?" said Blaise in surprise.

"I dunno. Was I using Parseltongue just then?" asked Harry.

"Yes. Didn't you know?"

Harry shrugged as he headed for the door. "Honestly, it all sounds English to me. Snakes born in other countries sound like they have foreign accents and most snakes drag their 'S' sounds, but I always hear it in English. I never even realized I was hissing back to them until Theo told me the first time I brought him into the Lair."

The next room was a large empty chamber. On the far side was a heavy wooden door that appeared to have hundreds of quivering metal keys forcefully embedded into it. As the boys drew nearer, they saw that each key had a set of wings that was fluttering uselessly. To the side of the door was a rack of brooms with one empty slot. Blaise tried the door, but it was locked and resistant to the Alohamora. Harry looked around speculatively.

"So, a big room with a high ceiling. Winged keys. And brooms. Obviously, the keys were airborne and you had to fly after them with a broom until you found the right one ... at which point the rest of the keys became hostile and attacked. Someone – probably Jim – got the key, threw it to someone on the ground who opened the door, and then the Git flew through ..." Harry looked towards the door and the twitching keys imbedded in it. "Which means the key is on the other side!" he finished angrily.

Blaise knelt and examined the door. "Yep. I can see the key still in the lock." He pulled out a piece of parchment from one of his pockets.

"Is that one of Hermione's parchments?" asked Harry.

"Yeah, sometimes we like to talk about homework and ... other stuff." Blaise unfolded the parchment and carefully slide it most of the way under the door. Harry watched his friend, feeling curious and mildly jealous that Blaise and Hermione had "stuff" to talk about that he wasn't privy to. Then, Blaise carefully aimed his wand into the keyhole and said "WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA." He jiggled his wand gently, and after a few seconds, there was a clink as the key fell out of the lock and onto the parchment. Then, he pulled the parchment back underneath the door with the key resting on top. Blaise snatched up the key triumphantly and unlocked the door.

"That was BRILLIANT!" exclaimed Theo in amazement.

"Well, I am brilliant and normally would be happy for it to be acknowledged, but I must confess that in this case, I got the idea from an old episode of Scooby-Doo." The other two looked at him blankly. "Okay, I understand Theo, but do you mean to tell me, Muggle-raised Harry Potter, that you have never heard of Scooby-Doo?!"

Harry shrugged. "The only time I ever got to watch television was when I stayed with the crazy cat lady across the lane while my relatives went on holiday. She preferred soap operas and spaghetti westerns, so if you want to talk about Sergio Leone films or maybe Coronation Street, I'm your guy."

Blaise sighed as the three passed through the open door. "We are getting you a TV and a cable box for your room at the Dursleys, Harry, whatever it takes."

The next room was equally large but with a much lower ceiling. There was a giant chessboard covered in huge – and mostly broken – pieces.

"A chess game," said Harry. "But of course."

"It's just a good thing these traps didn't reset after the Gryffs made it through," said Theo. "There's no way we'd be able to play a chess game in the amount of time we have left."

As they made their way through the rubble of the chessboard, Blaise spoke out with feigned casualness. "So, we've been through a Herbology trap, a Seeker's trap, and now a Chess Prodigy's trap. Anyone else sensing a pattern?" Theo's eyebrows shot up as he considered the significance of what Blaise said. Harry just looked grim.

"Yes, I've noticed," he replied tersely. "But at the moment, it's not at the top of our to-do list, so let's table that matter for now." The next room contained an unconscious troll which they passed quickly. The one after that was a small room with a table situated in an alcove. As soon as the three passed inside, purple flames arose from the archway behind them and black ones from the one up ahead. On the table was a row of potion vials and a parchment containing what appeared to be a riddle which Harry started reading aloud.

"Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind, Two of us will help you, whichever you would find... OH COME ON!" He glanced at his watch. They had less than three minutes. "We won't get finished reading this thing in three minutes, let alone solve it!"

"Then, we'll do it the Slytherin way," said Theo as he started emptying his pockets onto the table. "We'll cheat." Out of the pile he'd made, the boy picked up a small leather case that could fit in the palm of his hand. Opening it, he removed what appeared to be a monocle on a brass chain. He breathed on it softly which immediately caused the clear lens to tint itself amber. Then, he slowly started moving it across the potions.

"Another gift from Alex?" asked Harry.

"Yes. It detects poisons, dangerous potions, and other potentially harmful things that might be added to food or drink. Just the thing if all your meals are provided by a filicidal monster."

"Fili-what?" asked Blaise.

"Filicidal. It means someone who wants to kill his or her own children." Theo glanced up at the other two who seemed doubtful. "It's a real word. I looked it up. Anyway, these three are poisonous," he said pointing out different vials, "while these two are non-poisonous but have a fairly high alcohol content. Now, if we plug that additional information into the logic puzzle..." he thought for a moment, "that means this potion lets you go forward and this one lets you go back."

"Great job, Theo," said Harry. "Okay, here's the plan. We dump out one of the vials of nettle wine, and I'll use the Gemino Charm to duplicate enough of the backwards potion for both of you to leave and make sure help is coming. I'll distract Quirrell until you get back."

"Hmm, that is one option," said Blaise. "Here's another. We dump out two vials of nettle wine, and you use the Gemino Charm to make enough of the forwards potion for all of us."

"You can't go with me, guys. He said to come alone."

Theo raised his hand to show off his family ring. "I don't know if I ever mentioned it since you haven't done anything crazy enough to need it in a while, but this ring can confer a Notice-Me-Not effect on multiple people if they all maintain physical contact and can all hold their breathe long enough. You can go in and distract him while we creep in behind you and set up a sneak attack."

"No, it's too dangerous..."

"It's just Quirrell! If we can get at him from behind, we can..."

"It's Voldemort," interrupted Harry.

"What?" said Blaise dully. "I'm sorry, WHAT?!" Theo just stood still, speechless and horrified.

"Quirrell is being possessed by the spiritual remnants of Voldemort. He wants the Philosopher's Stone to create a new physical body for himself. And when he realizes that the Stone's a fake, he's going to start killing everybody. That is, unless I go in and stall him until help arrives."

"And why precisely are we finding this out now," hissed Blaise as he grabbed Harry's arm to look at his watch, "with less than a minute and a half to go?!"

"I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you, but Voldemort has access to this power called Legilimency that lets him read minds. If I'd told you anything about it, you'd have only been in danger. And I assume if he can sense your thoughts with it, he could probably see through the Notice-Me-Not."

"Uh-huh," said Blaise sarcastically. "Apropos of nothing, but did you ever figure out the secret behind that VHS tape I gave you for Christmas?"

Harry blinked. "Yeah, of course. It was a ... transfigured ... Occlumency ... book..." He trailed off sheepishly.

"Right. And it never occurred to you that maybe I gave it as a gift because I got it myself at the age of eight and had already learned everything I could from it?!"

Harry's mouth opened and closed repeatedly before he finally blurted out "I've had a lot of things on my mind since Christmas! I ... I got distracted!"

"Obviously," deadpanned Blaise.

"Which book?" asked Theo curiously. "Moste Hidden Arte or Aegis Mentalis?"

"Neither. It was Pathways of the Mind."

"Oooo, I've heard good things about that one, but it's banned in Britain."

"Well, you can borrow Harry's copy since, evidently, he's never opened it," Blaise replied acidly.

Harry looked back and forth between the other two Slytherins in consternation. "Do you mean to tell me that I've been keeping all of this to myself since November in order to protect my friends from danger, and my two best Slytherin friends have been studying Occlumency since the age of ...?"

"Eight," said Blaise.

"Nine. Of course I learned how to conceal my thoughts! Filicidal dad, remember?" added Theo.

Harry drew breath to scream "GAAAAAAH!" at the top of his lungs, but his two friends hastily cast a Silencing Spell on him since there was a dark lord somewhere nearby and so some degree of subtlety was called for.


The next update will be posted on Monday, July 13, between 4 and 6 pm CST. "Final Exam (pt 2)." Ever wonder how that scene between Harry and Quirrelmort in front of the Mirror would have gone down if Harry hadn't been completely clueless about everything?