『Isabella Lestrange and The Two-Faced Reflection 』
Two-Faced
(3.402)
After being told that he wasn't allowed to kill her, Quirrell's new tactic seemed to be trying to ignore her. He stormed through the door and went ahead into the next chamber as she slowly walked behind him, if he wanted to take all the risk that was fine with her.
The next room was stunning, it looked as if they had stepped inside on of the castle's many turrets, but the space was much larger. The walls were made of smooth beige rock all perfectly in line with one another, they ascended up and up towards the ceiling above them, which was so high she couldn't see the top without tilting her head all the way back. When she did see the ceiling, she knew it was made of stained glass and as the moonlight shone through from the outside it cast shadows of all different colours over the walls and floor of the turret. In the middle of the perfectly circular room there was a broomstick hovering mid-air, and on the floor beneath it there were piles and piles of keys.
Quirrell immediately walked towards the pile and started searching for a key that might open the next door. She watched him for a while without helping, just standing with a small smile on her face, which grew larger the more he became annoyed with her.
"Aren't you going to help!" He eventually shouted at her, standing from his previously knelt position.
"I don't want those keys." She said slyly, "I want that one up there." She pointed above her at the ceiling, and sure enough there was one singular key floating directly in line broom stick, only 50ft above it.
Quirrell looked murderous after being shown up yet again, without thinking he walked through the piles of keys and reached his hand out to grab the broomstick. She didn't even have the time to tell him not to, it would have been much more prudent to just levitate themselves up rather than risk whatever spell was cast on the broom. Evidently Quirrell was lacking the elementary common sense that most wizards were equipped with at birth.
As soon as he grabbed the broom all the keys surrounding him began to shake violently, one by one they each grew a set of winds and flew into the air, all of them in different directions and in the confusion at the scene, Isabella lost sight of the original key.
By now all of the keys were in the air, flying smoothly in different directions; all blocking the sight of the original key.
"Now you've done it!" She snapped at him losing her temper, "tell me Quirinius, how does one become so useless?"
Instead of replying he mounted the broom and kicked off into the air, leaving her stood on the ground and unable to help him.
As soon as his feet left the ground the keys synchronised and darted towards him, it seemed there were several groups all with different charms on them. One group circled around his head blocking his sight from what was in front of him, another group was intending to do harm; they flew at him as fast at they could crashing into his body. The third group surrounded the key they needed to get the door open, making it near impossible to grab.
Isabella had had enough of waiting for Quirrell to get his act together, she drew her wand and aiming at the key she needed she shouted, "Labellum!" The key immediately stopped flying and dropped harshly to the ground, when it collided with the floor one of it's wings broke making it easier for her to catch. Quirrell was still on the broom and completely unaware she even had the key, all the others were still attacking him and blocking his vision so he didn't even see when she left the room.
She followed the next path on her own, vaguely hearing Quirrell's struggle in the distance despite her best efforts to ignore it. At the end of the dimly lit corridor was a set of large double doors, they opened by themselves as she approached as if they were welcoming her. She held her wand cautiously at her side as she walked through the threshold, looking around the room for any potential threats. There were fire pits covering the perimeter of the room that lit themselves as she entered, casting the chamber in shadows and deep orange light.
The first thing she noticed was the large ominous statues dotted around and then the black and white checked floor they were stood upon. It was a chess board, only the pieces were twice the size she was and oozed magic.
Fortunately, she was a well experience chess player and most games she played ended in 5 minutes. When she was younger she and Lucius played all the time and he taught her every tactic and strategy he knew, wanting to be the best, she had memorised them all. She took the place of the king's side castle and began the game. As she suspected, within 5 minutes the game was over, clearly the person who had enchanted the board had never heard of 3-move-check mate before.
She had just stepped from her square and began to approach the next set of doors when Quirrell stormed in with ripped clothes which showed several cuts and his turban almost falling from his head.
"Honestly Quirinus, on occasions like these we really should be looking our best." She said snottily before turning her back and walking away, it was really rather joyous for her to not be acting like a Hufflepuff, even if it was just for the time being.
The next door had two white stone knights stood in front of it, and as they tried to approach they crossed their spears in front of the door threateningly and wouldn't let them through. In the stone archway above the doors there was a carving, 'intres licet tantum pro tempore'.
"It says that only one person can enter at a time." She said as she read the carved letters.
"You know Latin?"
"You don't?! What kind of pureblood are you?"
"Well then Isa, ladies first." He spoke through gritted teeth and made a grand gesture at the doors as he stepped away, leaving the entrance free for her to pass through. Not wanting to show any weakness she walked in, head high and shoulders back.
As soon as she was over the threshold the doors behind her slammed shut, turning she noticed they had been completely covered in purple fire, she could feel the heat coming off the flames burning the skin on her cheeks. She turned again and walked further into the room where the temperature was more comfortable. The doors opposite had also been set alight with black fire, she was stuck in the room.
In the centre there was a table that held seven different bottles, all contained some sort of potion within them. Some of the bottles were tall and narrow, others were thin and they were all different colours and corked; she couldn't see or smell the potions to figure out what they were.
She was cursing Snape knowing that this was his challenge, when she noticed there was also a piece of parchment on the table. It read:
Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,
Two of us will help you, whichever you would find,
One among us seven will let you move ahead,
Another will transport the drinker back instead,
Two among our number hold only nettle wine,
Three of us are killers, waiting hidden in line.
Choose, unless you wish to stay here for evermore,
To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four:
First, however slyly the poison tries to hide
You will always find some on nettle wine's left side;
Second, different are those who stand at either end,
But if you would move onwards, neither is your friend;
Third, as you see clearly, all are different size,
Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides;
Fourth, the second left and the second on the right
Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight.
It took forever but eventually Isabella decided on one potion. She knew for sure that it wouldn't be a poison it would either let her move forwards or backwards, she would just have to see which. She grabbed the bottle it was in and drunk the contents in one swallow, cautiously she walked towards the black fire and held her hand out in front of her. Her fingertips hit the fire first and she immediately paused and waited for the burning sensation to start, after a few moments though she felt nothing. Relaxing her whole body, which had tensed up as she approached the flames, she grabbed the door handle, pushed open the doors and walked through the fire into the next chamber.
Immediately after she passed the doors they slammed closed behind her and the fires stayed lit, it was Quirrell's turn now.
She assessed the room she had entered into, in here there were no fancy enchantments, no games, no riddles and no beautiful stained-glass ceilings; in fact, it was all rather boring. The walls were old and falling apart in places, there were no windows only the candles giving off light and the chamber was completely empty, except for one large item in the middle of the room which was covered in a red sheet.
Not one for taking chances Isabella pulled out her map and tapped it with her wand. The ink slowly started to fill the page, she could see Quirrell in the room behind her and she could see herself stood in front of the 'Mirror of Erised'. She desperately didn't want to see what was in the mirror, but if that was the only way to get the stone, she knew she would have to. She was starting to fold up the map and put it away when something else caught her eye, at that exact moment Harry, Ron and Hermione were running up the third-floor corridor towards Fluffy.
'They're too late,' she told herself, 'there is nothing they can do to stop us now.'
She walked towards the mirror and reached out to grab the red fabric, taking a deep breath first she waited, then pulled it off the mirror leaving her stood facing her own reflection.
At first, nothing happened, but then the reflection of herself seemed to change before her eyes. She was looking at her Hufflepuff persona, she was smiling sweetly and genuinely as the mirror started to fill up with people, some she knew and some she didn't. There was Snape, Harry, Hermione, Ron and Dumbledore, there were also other ginger people there who she assumed were the rest of the Weasley family. But the two people sanding closest to her she couldn't even guess their identities.
One of the men had waist length black hair and grey eyes, he was dressed finely in a wizarding robe and suit underneath, his eyes were light and laughing. Despite the wrinkles on his face he seemed much younger than he must have been. The other man was much less well kept, his clothes were ragged and old, the hems coming undone and fabric starting the fray, but despite this he was very handsome. His sandy hair was tied on the top of his head, allowing his scarred face to show in the light, but even the scars didn't take the beauty away from his smile.
Isabella found herself smiling for real as she stared at the mystery men in the mirror, not knowing who they were but wanting to. In that moment she was a direct reflection of the Hufflepuff everyone thought she was, but before she could get used to it the image began to flicker and the faces of the people began to change.
The men by her side turned into Lucius and the dark lord, and all the people stood behind them were wearing Death Eater masks looking on menacingly. The most dramatic change however was herself, the smile changed into a smirk and her eyes narrowed. Even the colours on her robes changed from yellow and black to silver and green, this was her true self, her Slytherin self. The girl in the mirror lifted her sleeve and showed off the tattoo on her left forearm. This is what she wanted most, to be in the service of the dark lord beside her fellow comrades, to be back within the ranks of her family and friends.
The two different images began to flicker between one another, every second they switched as if the mirror didn't know which it wanted to show her, before eventually all that was left were the two versions of herself. They both had her face but they looked so different, one cruel and calculating and the other open and kind. They began to merge together and when it was done she was looking at her own reflection again and nothing else. Her face had turned slightly white and sweaty, her eyes wide in shock and her mouth hanging open.
"What the hell was that?!" She muttered to herself quietly, so that Quirrell wouldn't hear her from the next room.
She thought it was over as she began to turn away from the mirror, but her reflection didn't move with her. She stared at it until something happened.
The girl in the mirror finally turned around shocking Isabella. On the back of her head was another face, her Slytherin face, it looked exactly like Quirrell did without his turban on, only they were both her. She was staring at her own two-faced reflection.
As she gasped at the mirror, Quirrell finally walked through the doors behind her. She collected herself in a matter of milliseconds and turned to look at him, forcing the images the mirror had shown her out of her head.
"Finally, thought you were going to rot in there forever Quirrell. Bit too tricky for you was it?"
"Where is the stone?"
"I don't know, the map says it's where the mirror is but I can't see it."
"What map?!" He looked as if he didn't want to know the answer to the question.
"I have a map, that lets me see where every person, creature and magical object is within the castle and Hogsmeade at any given point." She said smugly, enjoying his shock, "and before you ask, no. I've spelled it so I'm the only one who can read the ink.
"The marker for the Mirror of Erised appears directly above the Philosopher Stone. It should be where I'm standing right now."
Quirrell walked over to the mirror and began to cast spells on it, obviously trying very hard to ignore his own reflection. She walked over to the stone steps and sat down watching him work, it was about time he did something useful after all of the effort she had been putting in. Some muffled hissing interrupted their silence a short while later, and Quirrell began to unravel his turban again, allowing her to speak with Voldemort face to face.
He looked at her assessing before he even spoke, she felt as though she were rooted to the spot with his eyes on her. It was something she truly found unbelievable, that the greatest wizard of all time was currently stood before her after surviving his own death 11 years prior. She felt so insignificant in comparison to him and his power, she wanted more than anything to become one of his people and help him re-shape their world.
"Tell me child. You looked into the mirror, what did it show you?" He asked her with a challenge in his eyes.
"It showed me myself, standing by your side with the dark mark on my arm. I was in your service, among the ranks of other death eaters including my old family." Hoping her reply would appease him, she sat and waited for his response.
He smiled as well as he could, with the stretched skin on the back of Quirrell's head. "My child, one day such a vision will be true. You have already done so well, you almost fooled even myself with this little act of yours. Continue with it for as long as I need it of you, and don't tell anyone of your true loyalties, when I am at full strength you will tell me everything you have learned from the light. Then I will reward you with you mark, once you have proven yourself to me."
She was about to reply when they doors behind them were set alight, someone had entered the potion room.
"Who is that?!"
She pulled her map out quickly and checked, "It's Harry Potter my lord." She said nervously looking up at him.
"Go and hide yourself girl, do not be seen! Quirrell cover me!"
She immediately got up and walked over to a pillar near the door, hiding herself behind it. Just as Quirrell's hands fell back down to his sides after re-wrapping his head, Harry ran into the room wand at the ready.
Isabella couldn't really remember what happened next, somehow Harry managed to get the stone after looking in the mirror and Lord Voldemort ordered Quirrell to go on the attack and get the stone for himself. But then… He was gone.
Harry had somehow defeated the dark lord again.
She didn't care that Quirrell had just died, she just wanted to know what had happened to Lord Voldemort. She had seen his spirit lift up out of Quirrell's ashes and slam through Harry's body leaving him unconscious on the floor, but then he just disappeared. She was stood in shock not quite believing that the dark lord was gone again, everything she had done was for nothing, she was certain it was all over when a voice filled the room.
"Leave girl!"
It was Voldemort's voice, he was still there, and she didn't hesitate in following his command. She walked towards the double doors and back through the potions chamber, where there was thankfully no fire blocking her exit this time around. When she walked into the next room she saw Ron's body lying in the centre of the chess board. She stood over him and watched as his chest rose and fell with ease, but before she had a chance to rectify that there was a crashing noise coming from the corridor, followed by thundering footsteps as several people ran towards her.
She quickly managed to hide herself behind some of the discarded chess pieces as Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape and Pomphrey all ran into the room and straight to Ron's side. She held her breath from where she was standing, peaking around the rubble quietly so she could see what was going on. The tension in the room was thick as the Professors spoke quietly among each other, if any of them looked around she would definitely be caught, and Merlin knows what they would do with her then. Thankfully, after some quick diagnostic spells they deduced that Ron would be fine for the time being and left him under the close care of McGonagall, the other three proceeded on to find Harry.
This would be her only chance to escape without being caught, she cast a disillusionment charm on herself and silently escaped the room without catching McGonagall's notice. Once she was clear she ran back through all of the rooms, blasted a hole through the Devil's Snare with a spell and levitated herself up through the trap door into the third-floor corridor, where Fluffy was still peacefully sleeping.
It was a quick journey back to the Hufflepuff common room, and not a single person was patrolling the corridors making it easier than it should have been. She rushed passed the sleeping portrait and ascended the stairs to her room before casting silencing charms around herself, only seconds before she broke down.
She spent the night screaming, crying and sobbing out her grief and misery. She was once again trapped in self-loathing at her failed attempt to resurrect the dark lord, but she swore to herself that night.
She would resurrect him. Whatever the cost.