The Master of Death
Chapter 4
WARNING: THIS IS NOT AN UPDATE.
A/N: Just to let you know, when my next chapter is uploaded the poll will be closed. So, if you haven't yet voted, go other and do that now. If for some reason it's not working, just send me who you want to be in the harem in a review. Also for those that want to know, romance is not the main focus of the story.
I would also like to thank Parati, InfinityMask, Otsutsuki no Yami, AdamH312, Omni-Creator Kami of Anime, Red Archer, hunzbookwrym, naruto, anarion87, mwinter1, hellfire45, DBZx Skyfall, doctor of supreme awesomeness, man13port, Taliseth, millerm740, gord, Namikaze Uzumaki Potter, Reader of Harry Potter and Guest for your reviews.
"Normal speak"
'Normal thought'
"Spells,"
§Parseltongue§
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It had been a month since Harry had last seen the Mirror of Erised. Despite telling Dumbledore that he would not go searching for it, he had. Each trip around Hogwarts had turned out to be fruitless. The Mirror of Erised had disappeared and with it the image. Every night he would replay the images of the enemies.
Of course, he never told Blaise, Theodore, Neville, Peter and Graham of the mirror.
Speaking of Neville. The two had been researching tirelessly on the man Nicolas Flamel. Sadly, nothing turned up. They asked the librarian, Irma Prince on information about Nicolas Flamel and there were no books.
Thankfully, Blaise Zabini informed them about Nicolas Flamel and the Philosopher's Stone. A stone which was the key ingredient to making the Elixir of Life. A Potion that would extend the life of the user. Of course, there was one very big downside to this potion. If you didn't take another dose before the last one lost its affect, you would die instantly. However, the pros outweighed the cons in his opinion.
Immortality. Living forever, in that time Harry could become the strongest wizard in existence. No one would be able to defeat him. He would become a living legend, a God amongst men.
It was the end of the day and Harry and his six friends were sat around a table in the library. These were the only people that were aware of what could possibly be hidden in the third-floor corridor; besides the Professors.
"So, what exactly do you plan to do about the Philosopher's Stone, if it's even down there?" Blaise asked.
"I'll return it to its rightful owner of course." Harry answered as if it was obvious.
"For free?" Theodore questioned sceptically.
"Of course not. But I have to have some secrets." Harry replied.
"Quick question." Peter piped in. "How do we even know that the Philosopher's Stone is even down there?"
"The Philosopher's Stone is one of if not Nicolas Flamel's most valuable object. Hogwarts is also one of the most secure places in the world, that and the fact that Nicolas and Dumbledore were once good friends, it makes perfect sense that they would hide it here." Neville explained gaining shocked looks from everyone around the table. "What? I can be smart when I want to be, besides I've been working with Harry for a while, I was bound to pick something up."
Peter, Blaise and Graham raised their arms up in surrender.
"Sorry bout that." Neville said sheepishly.
"Meh, its fine." Graham replied. "Now that we've established that it is most likely to be the Philosopher's Stone hidden away on the third-floor corridor, they won't just leave it there for any student to come along and take it. They will have traps which will cause you to 'die a most painful death.'" Graham quoted from Dumbledore's announcement.
"We know the first one, a Cerberus guarding a trap door."
"Is he insane?!" Theodore exclaimed in a rare moment. All six of them felt a cold shiver go down their spines as they turned to see Irma Prince staring at them murderously, more specifically, Theodore.
"Be quiet." Her voice was a whisper, but to them it felt like she shouted.
"Y-yes ma'am." The six boys nodded their heads quickly. After studying the boys, she too nodded her head before leaving.
"Bloody hell she's frightening." Blaise whispered getting nods of agreement.
"Right, back to the fact that Dumbledore has a Cerberus in school." Theodore said. "That alone is a powerful trap and if the Cerberus escaped it would kill any student it comes across until it was put down."
"Yea, but no doubt they will have more defences." Blaise added. "The matter is, how are you going to find out what those other defences are?"
"Hedwig and Balthazar will do that for me." Harry said.
"Your pet snake and owl?" Peter's voice was full of bewilderment.
"They're my familiars and each have gained some extra abilities since I first got them." Harry replied simply.
"Like what exactly?" Peter asked.
"I fed each of them part of the Troll and they have gained their own version of a magic resistant hide. Balthazar has gained an ability to completely disappear from one's senses. Hedwig also has an ability to travel through walls and I believe she may also be able to travel through wards, however, I haven't been able to test this theory out yet." Harry said, gaining a few whistles of amazement from the rest of them.
"Forget I asked." Peter said.
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Curfew had just been put into effect and there were very few students still out of the common room. Most of them were Prefects with the other small amount being students caught by the Prefects after curfew.
In the past month, Harry had discovered many things about his cloak. The first being that it not only hid his body away from plain sight, but it also masked his smell and any sound he created. This made it perfect for him to sneak in and out of any area; it also seemed that Balthazar's abilities were based off his cloak's.
Moving along the third-floor corridor he walked past the door where Neville ran into the Cerberus. Taking off his cloak, he opened the door slightly to allow Balthazar and Hedwig inside before pulling the cloak back over his head.
Balthazar looked around the room and saw that the only thing present was a Cerberus.
§The human child wantsss usss to know the defencesss. I need you to dissstract the dog, so I can get through the door. § Balthazar hissed towards Hedwig. The owl turned to look at the anaconda before turning back to the face the Cerberus with her head held high. Balthazar listened to what Hedwig had to say and he stared at her in what could only be bewilderment. §Really? Your feminine pride isss acting up now. Honessstly, owlsss. Even worssse when they're female. §
There was a hoot from a Hedwig causing Balthazar to hiss back to her in response.
§You were meant to hear that. § Balthazar shot back causing Hedwig to huff and hoot. §Look, can we not do thisss now? Yesss, we will talk to the child about him ssspending more time with you? Yesss, I will make sssure that he ssspendsss more time with you whether he likesss it or not. Yesss, I will ssstop hogging- wait a minute, I do not hog anything! I do not! Ssstop looking at me like that you ssstupid bird! Right, let'sss ssstop thisss now. We have work to do. §
He went to go towards the Cerberus before a hoot from Hedwig stopped him once more.
§Really?! You want me to ssswear an oath on my pride asss a male? Fine, I ssswear on my pride asss a male to ssspeak to the child about your unfair treatment. There, done. You happy? Good, now can we pleassse get on with our job? Yesss? Good. § Balthazar slithered forwards only to stop when he heard a growl. §For fucksss sssake. § He turned to face Hedwig. §I'm blaming you. Yesss you, don't try and act innocent in all thisss. §
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"Did you get them in to the third-floor corridor?" Blaise asked once Harry entered the room. Harry nodded his head and placed his cloak back inside his trunk. "So now we wait?"
"Yes, Blaise. Now we wait." Theodore said from his bed. "How many times do I have to tell you?"
"Well, I'm sorry." Blaise snarked.
"You two really need to stop arguing." Harry butted in. "It makes you sound like an old married couple." Both boys spluttered causing Harry to burst out in laughter. Slowly calming down, Harry pulled out one of his books and began reading. It was the gift from Theodore.
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§This is all your fault. Don't even try and argue that it wasn't your fault. § Balthazar hissed. The anaconda wasn't exactly happy with the way its current assignment was going. First he had to hide from the Cerberus and try and find a way through the trap door after been abandoned by Hedwig. Then he had to find a way round the Devil's Snare due to the fact that Hedwig didn't wish to get her feathers mucky. Though he suspected that the owl did it on purpose to annoy him further. Then Balthazar had to spend at least five minutes arguing with Hedwig to get the key, but once again he suspected her laziness was due to her wishing to annoy him.
Once Hedwig got the key they went into the next room and had to avoid multiple strikes from the chess pieces. Then they had to go through a pit of fire, luckily Hedwig managed to fly over it, while his scales could withstand the heat.
The final test was a simple mirror.
While on their way back (Hedwig to the owlery and Balthazar to Harry's dorm room) they had run into the poltergeist Peeves. They had been chased all the way down the corridors of Hogwarts and by the end of it were covered in paint and smelt awful due to the dozens of stink pellets.
Entering the dorm room, he saw that Harry was asleep on the bed. Slithering up, Balthazar moved onto the bottom of the bed and curled up in a spiral, allowing his eyes to close as sleep claimed him.
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Waking up the next morning to an awful smell was a shock to him. Normally the room smelt, well, clean. This time however, it smelt like someone had covered the entire room in manure. It smelt awful. Slowly sitting up in his bed with a groan, Harry looked around his room to see where the smell was coming from. Instantly his eyes narrowed in on Balthazar who was sleeping right now.
'Probably one of the traps? Though I doubt someone will stop just because they smell bad.' Harry thought. 'It's probably to allow the Professors to know whether someone has tried to steal the stone.' With that thought in mind, Harry went out to start his exercises.
His daily run was becoming longer, running a quarter of the black lake before running back and then doing multiple sit-ups and push-ups.
Having a quick shower to get rid of the smell of sweat, he entered quickly began using an air clearing spell to get rid of the smell of manure. Once that was done, Harry woke Blaise and Theodore up before they woke up Balthazar.
§Balthazar. § Groggily, the anaconda familiar woke up and stared at Harry in confusion. §Balthazar, what are the defences like? §
§Can't you let me sleep? § Balthazar hissed in a hopeful tone. Only to receive a blank stare in response. §Didn't think so. § Sighing, Balthazar rose up. §The first defence like you said, was a Cerberus guarding a trap door. Then there is drop that leads into a pile of Devil's Snare, I think it was anyway. After that, you have to get a large tattered key out of millions of others with a broom stick. Once you get that one the rest will attack you. Then there is a chess game which you will have to win, me and Hedwig managed to get past due to our smaller size. Next is a riddle, solve it and you can find a potion that will make to immune to fire. Finally, there is a mirror. §
Harry tensed in shock.
'A mirror? Does he mean the Mirror of Erised?' Was that the only thing down there, unless Dumbledore had made it so that the Stone was hidden in the mirror? That was the only explanation he could come up with. Nicolas Flamel had something to do with whatever was hidden down there, and Nicolas Flamel has nothing to do with the creation of the Mirror of Erised.
"So, it's guarding a mirror and not the Philosopher's Stone like we believed. Well, that's just fantastic." Blaise muttered.
"Not necessarily. So far each of the defences have been given by a Professor with Dumbledore's close confidence. The first was obviously put in by Hagrid, with help probably from Professor Quirrell. The next, no doubt from Professor Sprout, next one would be from Professor Flitwick, followed by Professor McGonagall." Theodore explained. "The last one would no doubt be from Dumbledore himself, which is probably the mirror."
"So, are any of you willing to go down with me?" Harry asked after a few moments.
"Depends what's in it for us." Blaise said. "What is in it for us?"
"Gold and the fame that comes with saving the Philosopher's Stone. Anything else?" Harry asked.
"An alliance between House Potter and Nott. With your promise of protection and a few favours." Theodore bargained.
"Two favours." Harry suggested gaining a nod of the head from Blaise and Theodore.
"So, it will just be us three in a quest for the Philosopher's Stone." Blaise said in an exaggerated manner.
"And Neville." Harry butted in.
"Yes, and Neville. It just doesn't sound as good. The three Slytherin's and Neville. It just doesn't have the same ring to it." Blaise pouted. Gaining laughter from Theodore and Harry, even Balthazar was laughing, or at least it sounded like he was.
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It was finally time for the Slytherin leadership vote. After the Troll incident it had been postponed to allow people more time to think clearly and when their mind was not clouded by fear.
Everyone from Slytherin was in the common room. In the centre stood the Head Prefect for Slytherin house, Jackson Winchester. Harry sat on one of the few sofas in the centre of the room, with Blaise and Theodore sat beside him on either side; behind him stood Peter and Graham.
On the nearby sofa was Daphne Greengrass, Tracey Davis, the Carrow Twins and Millicent Bulstrode. Then on the furthest sofa sat Draco and his cronies. The Malfoy heir seemed to be quite pale and nervous.
"So, as we all know. The election was postponed due to the Troll incident. However, now it is time to decide. Have we all placed our votes?" No one said a word, something which he took as them saying they had voted. Nodding his head, Jackson continued. "Good." He looked down at the parchment in his hand, unrolling it he began calling out names. They started from the seventh year and then went down. Some of the upper years left after their years leader had been called out. "Finally, the first-year leader is, Hadrian James Potter."
Those that had still remained gave a light applause before dispersing.
Standing up from his seat, Harry walked towards Draco who was frozen in shock at the events.
"What's wrong Draco? You look a little pale." Harry mocked causing Draco to glare at him venomously. He opened his mouth to say something, but then seemed to have thought the better of it as he looked as if he had swallowed something bitter.
"You're right Harry, he does look a little pale." Blaise said from behind him. Harry watched as Blaise leaned forward as if to inspect the Malfoy heir closer. "Perhaps you should go see Madam Pomfrey."
"I doubt she'll be able to do anything." Theodore joined in. "Malfoy's are famous for their pale skin, it comes with their cowardice." Before the year began, Theodore would have never said anything like this to Draco's face for fear of Lucius. However, his father had told him to befriend the Boy-Who-Lived and gave him permission to act as he pleased, as long as it did not bring shame to the Nott family.
Draco glared at them hatefully before standing up and storming out of the common room. Crabbe and Goyle followed after him, while Pansy glared at them too before following the three other boys.
Smirking as they left, Harry turned around and sat back down.
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The following weeks were filled with careful planning between the group of six friends. The four that were actually going to get past the traps were Harry, Neville, Blaise and Theodore, while Peter and Graham would cover for them in case they did not make it out by the next day.
They had all agreed to wait until after the exams as to make sure that they didn't have to worry about the exams whilst trying to get the Philosopher's Stone.
With that in mind they had begun to plan on how to get past each of the traps implemented. The first trap, while being quite dangerous, was easily avoided. Most Cerberus' were weak to music; it helped to lull them to sleep. If the Cerberus guarding the trapdoor was not weak to music, it would make things impossible for a first year to ever get past it. Blaise was in charge of making sure this was successful and would stay there to make sure that their exit was secure.
The second trap was Devil's Snare which was easy to get around thanks to Neville's superior knowledge of magical plants. They only had to stay still, and the plant would not register them as being present, or they would have to use its greatest weakness, sunlight. Neville would be in charge of making sure this happened.
The third trap was the keys with broom stick. Harry would use his skills in flying to get the key while Theodore and Neville would wait at the door.
Then came the chess board. Theodore and Harry had agreed to use their tactical minds combined to pass the board.
Finally, was the potion riddle. Theodore had this one covered and, so he would answer the riddle himself. However, after this one, only one person could progress and therefore it had been decided that Harry would be the one to do so.
Now, it was just a matter of waiting.
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Transfiguration with the Gryffindor's had just finished. The exams had finished last week and since then the lessons had become a waste of time. Most of it was recapping what they had done over the year and it was surprising to see the number of Gryffindor's that still struggled. Obviously he wasn't the only one as his group of friends had spent a large amount of time wondering how they could be that bad.
It had been even more hilarious when Professor McGonagall had deducted at least a hundred points Ron in a single lesson and then giving him detention for the rest of the year. All because he had tried to cause a fight between himself and Harry who the young Weasley believed to be You-Know-Who.
The Scottish woman had torn into the young Weasley verbally and with each word he had ducked his head in embarrassment. Harry knew then that he could count on the Transfiguration Professor if he ever needed her help.
Now they five of them, Harry, Blaise, Theodore, Peter and Graham were moving down the corridor.
"We'll see you later." Peter said.
"Don't worry, we'll make sure no one knows you three are gone." Graham assured them. Nodding their heads, Blaise, Theodore and Harry turned left, while Peter and Graham turned right.
As they were walking down they saw Neville waiting at the bottom of Grand Staircase.
"Ready Neville?" Theodore asked. The Hufflepuff looked at the Slytherin before taking a deep breath.
"As well as one can hope to be." He said getting a few smiles of amusement at the Neville-like answer. Despite becoming more confident in himself and establishing himself as the second most gifted first year in practical magic, there were still times when Neville became nervous like his old self.
"Don't worry about it Neville, you're the second most powerful person here right behind our resident smartass." He indicated to Harry who returned by kicking him in the leg. "Ow, don't damage the merchandise. In a few years' time the ladies will love me!" The three others laughed at Blaise's main concern.
"Have you remembered to bring the harp?" Neville asked to Blaise, who nodded and pulled out a small harp, no larger than his palm from his robe.
"Let's get going shall we." The four of them began walking up the stairs until they came to a stop outside the door that led to the third-floor corridor. Theodore, Neville and Blaise looked around to make sure that no one was coming.
"It's quiet for now." Harry nodded his head and pulled out his wand.
"Alohomora." Harry whispered and from his wand a small bit of magic went into the door's lock. With a small click that indicated the door was now unlocked, pushing it open, he looked in in both directions to see if anyone was there before quickly entering inside followed by the other three.
Closing the door, they looked around before going down towards the right-hand side.
"Neville, which door did you say it would be?" Blaise asked. Neville took the lead, his eyes studying each door they went by before stopping in front of one. "Are you sure it's this one?"
"Pretty sure, though there's only one way to make sure." He pointed his wand at the door and whispered, "Alohomora." The door clicked and the four entered into the room and were instantly assaulted by the sound of music playing.
"Looks like were not the only ones after the Philosopher's Stone." Theodore said his eyes, just like the rest of them was fixated on the three-headed dog sleeping. Its three heads raising slightly as air rushed into its lungs. Slobber hanging from the edge of its mouth.
"No, really. What gave it away?" Neville whispered sarcastically.
"Now is not the time for you to be sarcastic." Theodore shot back. Neville opened his mouth to say something, but stopped when he saw Blaise and Harry walk towards the creature. The Hufflepuff and Slytherin watched as Blaise pulled out his harp and enlarged it before casting a playing spell on it. Harry meanwhile, walked towards the Cerberus and rose his left hand. Copying his action, the paw laid over the trapdoor rose.
Knowing what needed to be done, Theodore and Neville walked forwards and lifted up the trapdoor.
Nodding his head, Neville jumped down first followed by Theodore. Turning to Blaise to make sure that he was ok, he chucked the brown skinned Slytherin his Invisibility cloak as extra insurance.
If a teacher or the Cerberus woke up, Blaise would be protected from been sensed by both. A safety precaution they had taken.
Jumping down through the trapdoor, he immediately was assaulted by the darkness of the room they were in. It made sense, Devil's Snare was weak to light and therefore the room had to be dark. Landing with a grunt, he felt multiple vines begin to coil around him.
"You guys down there?" He shouted.
"Yea, we're down." Theodore shouted back. Nodding his head, Harry took a calming breath as he felt the vines of the Devil's Snare begin to constrict tighter around him. Slowly, the vines began to loosen as he went still. Eventually they loosened completely allowing him to drop to the ground.
Landing in a crouch, Harry got to his feet and stared at Theodore and Neville. The three shared a nod, neither needing to communicate as they walked down the dark path. Their wands outstretched as they used the wand-lighting charm called lumos, to light the path.
Opening the next door, they stopped to take in the room that they were currently in. it was amazing. Hundreds upon hundreds of keys with wings flew around the room. Harry's eyes took in each key, flickering from one to the next until he spotted the one they were looking for. It was old with its wings disfigured and broken.
Walking forwards, Harry looked at the broomstick in the centre of the room.
"Are you sure you're going to be able to find it?" Neville asked. "I'm not doubting your skills or anything. It's just; there's so many."
"I have to agree with Neville on this one." Theodore continued. Harry gripped hold of the broom and swung his leg over the top. Instantly the keys shifted their priorities from flying aimlessly, to attacking Harry.
Neville and Theodore quickly ran to the door, while Harry kicked off the ground. The broom he was on shot into the air at great speeds.
"He's never going to be able to find it." Neville spoke up as they watched Harry fly through the air at great speeds with skill they didn't know he possessed.
"No wait." Theodore stopped Neville before he could become too disheartened. "He seems to be flying towards something." Both looked closer to see that Harry was in fact flying towards a single key. The only key that wasn't flying after him, but instead flying away from him.
Harry leaned forwards, pushing the broom to fly faster. It did so, and he reached out his hand. With a yell of triumph as he gripped hold of the key, he leaned to one side causing him to spin down towards the ground.
Neville and Theodore prepared themselves for what was about to happen. There were many things that could possibly go wrong, but two problems stood out the most. The first thing that could go wrong was that neither would catch the key and the whole thing would start again. The second was that they would catch the key, but Harry wouldn't be able to turn away quick enough causing some of the keys to kill them.
It was all a matter of what could happen and what will happen.
Harry got closer and closer and chucked the key towards them. Once it was free, it began to fly. However, due to it been held tightly in Harry's grasp, it's already damaged wings were damaged even further. So, it could no longer fly as high as it once could.
Thankfully the height it could fly out was low enough for Neville, the tallest of the friends to jump up and catch the key in his hand.
Landing on the ground he passed it to Theodore who unlocked the door and rushed inside.
"Harry!" Neville shouted before he also ran inside. The Boy-Who-Lived used a series of loop-the-loops, sharp turns and dives to avoid the keys, while getting closer to the door. As soon as he was close he placed his feet on the back of the broom before leaping forwards through the door. Neville and Theodore at the same time were also beginning to the close door.
They timed it perfectly, for as soon as he got past the door it had closed behind him. All three of them listened to the sound of the keys impacting against the door causing dull thud sounds.
"You good?" Theodore asked. Taking a shaky breath, he nodded his head, the adrenaline still pumping through his body. "Right, let's get going then." The three moved forwards into the room until they came across a large chessboard. All around it were the broken remains of multiple chess pieces. However, on the chessboard itself, were the pawns, knights, rooks, bishops, queen and the king, but on the black side a bishop, knight and queen side castle were open.
"So, who wants to be whom?" Harry asked. Neville walked forwards, taking the place of the queen side castle, Theodore went next and took the position of the rook. Leaving only a knight remaining. The whites went first and moved one of their knights to F-3.
"I guess I'll start things off." Theodore said. "Knight to C-6." The knight Harry was on moved forwards till it was in its assigned position. Things continued with it starting out slow, both sides simply moving their pieces into position. Then things got really heated up. Sides were losing pawns left and right. Bishops, rooks and knights going all over the place.
Theodore worked to isolate and defeat the White Queen, the most dangerous piece on the enemy's side. Once that was done, they managed to use their own Queen with dangerous effect. The small amount of pawns they had left, they used as bait to draw in the enemy's stronger pieces into a trap. Eventually they managed to corner the White King and put him in checkmate.
"Rook to F-6." Neville moved forward and instantly the White King's sword dropped to the ground as a result of it been put into checkmate. Harry was a little ways behind it, covering what areas Neville couldn't reach along with a pawn, another knight and a bishop.
Giving a sigh of relief the three stepped off the chessboard and began walking towards the door at the other end.
"That was tiring." Neville said. Harry and Theodore nodded their heads in agreement. It wasn't physically draining, but the amount of mental effort they had to put in to stay one step ahead was difficult. Even when there was two very intellectual people, and a person of slightly above average intelligence.
They walked through the door and into a dimly lit room; using the wand-lighting charm to help them see through the dark. They were on constant alert for something to attack them, but nothing happened. Either this was to inspire false hope into any would-be trespasser or they had never got around to create an extra defence. It was probably both.
The next room they came across was brightly lit, illuminating a small table with seven bottles on it. On the end was a single piece of parchment that was slightly unrolled revealing some writing.
Harry walked through first and just as he did, purple flames sprung up and stopped Neville and Theodore from getting through.
"Neville, Theo! You guys alright?" Harry asked.
"Yea, we're fine." Neville answered. Harry nodded his head and moved forward towards the table. Once he reached it, he picked up the parchment and read through it.
"What does it say?" Theodore asked over the fire.
"Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind you, two of us will help you, whichever you would find, one among us seven will let you move forwards, 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 four clues: 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 onward, neither is your friend; third, as you see clearly, all are different sizes, neither dwarf nor giants hold 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."
Theodore closed his eyes and allowed himself to think over what Harry had said.
'So, there are two potions that are nettle wine, three that are poison and two that will help you walk through the fire.' Theodore thought. 'The second on the left and second on the right taste the same but look different. They must be nettle wine.'
Theodore looked over the fire and saw that the first bottle on the left definitely contained poison; as would the fifth one from the left.
"Harry, the second and the sixth ones are nettle wine." Harry looked at the nettle wines, before throwing them onto the ground. The liquid inside spilled out on the floor and the bottles lay in pieces.
'Poison will always be on the left-hand side of the nettle wine. Meaning that the first and the fifth are poisons.' Theodore nodded his head, agreeing with his deduction. "The first and the fifth are poisons." Nodding his head, Harry also chucked the two bottles on the ground. 'That leaves only the third, fourth and seventh bottles. So, if you moved onward neither would be your friend. The first one is poison, meaning that the end one is the potion to bring you back.' He went through the thought a few more times in his head to make sure that he was correct before telling Harry. "The end one is the potion to bring you back and the third one is the one to bring you back."
Harry moved forward and picked the end potion up and placed it in his robes before drinking the third one.
The three waited for a few moments to make sure that it was the right one and to also give the potion time to take effect. Once it had done, Harry walked forward towards the fire that blocked off the entrance that led onwards. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, he stepped forwards through the fire.
Coming out on the other end, Harry released a sigh of relief that it had worked. Turning back to Neville and Theodore he called out, "you two, go back to Blaise. I'll be quick."
"What about the other person who's down here?" Neville questioned, and Harry cursed internally. He had forgotten about the second harp that had been playing. Hopefully, it had been put there by the Professors to allow to keep the Cerberus asleep during the day.
"I'll try and catch him by surprise." Harry replied. Both nodded their heads as a sign of good luck before they walked away.
Harry entered the largest of all the rooms they had been in. His eyes roaming around to see that multiple steps led down to the centre of the room where the Mirror of Erised stood proudly – with, shockingly – Professor Quirrell stood before it.
"Where is it?!" He heard Professor Quirrell seethe.
"I need that Stone!" A raspy almost snakelike voice said back to the Professor, who in turn ducked his head like a child being scolded by his mother. The most shocking thing about the voice though, was where it was coming from: The back of the Professor's head.
"Forgive me master." Quirrell said back.
"I don't want your apology! I want that Stone!" To Harry, the person speaking sounded much like a child who wasn't getting what he wanted.
Preparing himself, Harry drew his wand. He wasn't the only one that wanted the Stone, now he knew that he would definitely have to get the surprise on the Professor. He didn't know why, but for some reason the second snakelike voice sounded familiar. Too familiar, and the separate entity in his head seemed to call out to Professor Quirrell. Luckily, his mental defences stopped that from happening as the only advantage he had; was surprise.
"Diffindo! Depulso! Bombarda!" He shouted and with it the spell taught to him by Professor Flitwick shot forwards and shot towards the Professor. It was a spell chain the Charm's professor had taught him after he learned the Bombarda spell. It was a perfect spell chain that worked perfectly.
The severing charm would cut the target, the banishing charm would knock the person off balance and the exploding charm would break the enemy's bones. That was if the enemy didn't get a shield up in time. If they did, then the severing charm would weaken the shield enough for the banishing charm to knock the enemy back, then the exploding charm would be aimed to destroy the ground at the enemy's feet. This would cause debris to break through the shield and hit the enemy. After all, a shielding charm defended against magic attacks, not physical.
Professor Quirrell heard the spells being cast and quickly turned around and summoned up a shielding charm. When the first spell struck his shield, he straightened up to his full height and allowed the second to strike his shield. Confident in the fact it would do nothing to him. He was surprised when he was knocked back and was then assaulted by the debris from the exploding charm.
With a grunt, Professor Quirrell stepped backwards covering his face from the debris.
"Move you fool!" His master's voice screamed at him and he did so, just as he heard the next three spells.
"Afflicto! Eviscero! Obtrunco Deripio!" The Bone-Breaking curse splattered harmlessly against the ground. Luckily for him he rolled across the ground and avoided the Entrail-Expelling curse; however, the Mutilating curse struck his hand and completely severed it.
With a scream of pain, he turned around and fired the first spell that came to mind.
"Avada Kedavra!" He roared, and the Killing curse shot forwards. Harry marvelled at the colour of the spell that was the same colour as his eyes before leaping to the side.
"No, you fool! Do not harm him!" The voice stopped the Professor from doing anything further to harm Harry. Something for which, the Boy-Who-Lived was grateful for. That single spell had nearly killed him. Yet it took six of his spells to only remove a single hand. "Let me speak with him."
"Master you are not strong enough." Quirrell tried to argue.
"Do it!" The voice commanded. Shakily, Quirrell turned around and Harry had to stop himself from attacking with the opportunity presented to him. However, curiosity won him over and he watched as the DADA Professor undid his turban, revealing a second face.
A face he instantly recognised from his mind after the Troll incident.
"Hello, Harry Potter." The voice said.
"Do I know you, you seem familiar, but I do not recognise you?" Harry questioned.
"My name is Lord Voldemort!" The head exclaimed. Harry raised his eyebrow; was that meant to fill him with awe and dread?
"Aren't you meant to be dead?" Harry replied in a deadpan tone of voice killing the dramatic mood that had followed after Lord Voldemort's exclamation.
"My master cannot be killed by you. He is a God!" Professor Quirrell shouted in outrage.
"You have some serious hero worship; that's not healthy." Harry said in a matter of fact tone. "I would suggest going to see a doctor about that."
"Why you little…"
"Enough Quirrell." Voldemort said in his commanding tone. "Come here boy."
"You must think I'm stupid. As soon as I get close you will just try and kill me. What I meant to say was that you would get your pet to kill me." Harry corrected himself quickly. While he couldn't see Quirrell's face, he knew the man was angry by the way he tensed.
"I promise you that no harm will come to you. After all, we both want the same thing." Harry tensed and clamped down on his mind just in case Voldemort had somehow managed to read his mind. "That is why you're here isn't it; the Stone?" Voldemort continued. "Join me Potter, and together we could rule the world as equals. I could teach you magic beyond your wildest dreams and help you accomplish all your goals."
"Tempting offer, but I'll have to decline." Harry said, however, he still walked forwards to stand beside Professor Quirrell. Not because he wished to help Voldemort get the Stone, but because he wished to look in the mirror once more.
"What do you see?" Voldemort questioned. Harry looked into the mirror to see the image the same as before. He and his parents stood together on top of a mountain of bodies. But he also saw Neville, Blaise, Theodore, Peter and Graham in the image as well. Each were older and wore armour. Another thing that was different was the Stone on his right gauntlet. In the centre was the same black one, but one below it was a smooth, red stone. He pulled out the Stone and Harry watched as it became larger and jagged.
His mirror self smiled and he (mirror) de-aged before his eyes until he was an exact replica of himself (original). His mirror self raised the Stone and placed inside his robe. Instantly he felt a weight in the exact place his mirror self put it.
"What do you see?" Voldemort questioned again, however this time his voice was edged with frustration. Smirking at the thought in his mind, Harry spoke.
"I see myself holding a pair of thick, woollen socks." He mocked, causing Voldemort to hiss in outrage.
Leaping towards Quirrell he lashed out with a punch to the man's face knocking him off-balance before following it up with a wandless and nonverbal banishing charm. Knowing that escaping from Quirrell now would be futile, he drew his wand and fired a Bone-Breaking curse at the man's wand hand. It struck true as the man dropped his wand to the ground with a scream.
It was then Harry took in the Professor's pale complexion. His mind instantly locked onto the fact that blood was still dripping from the man's severed hand. Harry quickly rushed back towards the entrance.
Hearing a scream, he turned around to see a shadowy outline of Voldemort flying towards him. The creature entered him and quickly he found himself dragged into his mindscape.
-X- Line Break -X-
Harry quickly found himself on top of Barad-dûr. The Eye of Sauron above him was looking upwards. That was good, it meant that he had not got past the first defence. Quickly, Harry began to organise his mind.
Drawing magic towards him.
He didn't have any magical creatures beyond Centaurs in the magical forest. Hopefully, that would slow him down even longer. He could already feel Voldemort getting closer to the actual bottle.
-X- Line Break -X-
When he had first thought of possessing the Boy-Who-Lived, he had expected it to be easy. He had expected there to be no mental defences and so would allow him to possess the boy easily. In doing so, it would act to spite Dumbledore.
However, when he entered the boy's mind, he found himself in a small wooden room with only two shelves. On the top shelf were three bottles, and on the bottom was four. Each of them filled with black smoke. It was a very impressive defence; very impressive for a boy his age. Not even he had been anywhere near this level of Occlumency shields when he was double Potter's age.
Obviously, inside one was the boy's real mind. It was just a question of which one.
Moving forwards, he allowed what little magic he had to reach out and touch each of the bottles. Five of them felt familiar to him, but two felt completely foreign. Reaching forward he touched one of the bottles that felt different, believing they held the boys real mind and was instantly assaulted with the image of boy killing the Troll.
Pulling back with a shock, he tried once more.
Three different bottles he tried. Each of them were ones that felt familiar to him, but all he got was darkness and screaming. Trying once more, he reached forward and touched the only one that didn't feel familiar that he hadn't tried and wasn't disappointed as he felt closer to the boy's mind.
The place he found himself in was filled with fog. A very thick fog.
Moving quickly, he had to be careful to avoid trees and also watch the ground to make sure he avoided the tree's roots. He stopped though when he felt a shift in the air. Galloping soon reached his ears.
Quickly he hid behind a tree. He saw a Centaur race past the position he once was. A Centaur! The Boy-Who-Lived was truly a talented individual.
While he detested hiding, he knew that to fight mental defences such as these in his current weakened state was foolish. If he did so he would be pushed out instantly. So, he sneaked around, though he had the feeling that the Centaurs knew exactly what he was doing and were simply waiting. Or something was out there waiting for him.
Looking ahead of him he saw that the fog was beginning to become lighter, so he made a quick dash in that direction, knowing that if he stayed any longer in there it would cause him to get caught.
Once he made it out of the forest he found himself on a slightly raised ground. Looking down he saw a mountain range in the distance with a very large and wide river running freely. Truly, the Potter boy had paid a lot of attention to the details of his mind. It just goes to show how talented the boy was in Occlumency.
He went to move forwards, but he felt something wrap around his neck before he was pulled back to the ground. Clutching at the roughly formed rope around his neck, he looked upwards to see at least a hundred Centaurs, all stood proudly at the edge of the forest.
Except for the one holding the rope that was wrapped around his neck, the rest all had bows drawn back with arrows pointed at him. With a roar, Voldemort was expelled from the boy's mind as the arrows pierced his spectral body.
-X- Line Break -X-
With a groan, Harry pulled himself to his feet and watched as the wraith-like form of Voldemort was expelled from his body and with a scream disappeared behind the door.
With deep heaving breaths, Harry dragged himself through the chambers one by one until he came to the chamber that had Devil's Snare in it. His vision was blurring slightly. The adrenaline had long since worn off, that and the amount of magic he had used in his short fight against Professor Quirrell/Voldemort had taken its toll upon him.
While he had only used six spells in total, the final four where by far the most taxing. Each of the spells had been overpowered so as to maximize their effectiveness against the shield Professor Quirrell had erected. Even when he stood beside the possessed Professor, he had felt exhaustion creeping up on him. Thankfully the adrenaline and channelling a bit of magic throughout his body kept him standing, despite his body protesting against such an action.
"Neville! Blaise! Theodore!" He shouted upwards. Harry waited for a few moments, his eyes growing heavy as his legs began to shake from the exertion of staying upright. Neither of the three gave him any indication they heard him, or were even up there. His mind began to wander; perhaps Voldemort had done something to them, or perhaps the Cerberus had.
"You alright Harry? You look a little tired." Blaise said as he popped his head over the edge of the trapdoor.
Giving a sigh of relief, Harry dropped to his knees. Despite what they said, those three up there were the only people he trusted explicitly. He trusted no one more than them three. Perhaps he was wrong in believing that being alone was the best solution.
-X- Line Break -X-
Opening his eyes, Harry sat up to see that Blaise and Theodore were already up and getting dressed. Groaning, Harry got out of bed and made his way towards the bathroom for a quick shower. Once he had done, he found that Blaise and Theodore had already finished getting changed and were currently reading.
"You won't believe what happened after you three went down through the trapdoor." Blaise said, more to Harry than Theodore who obviously knew what was going to happen.
"What?"
"Weasley and Granger turned up."
"Why?"
"Dunno, but they must have passed by Neville and Theodore at some point because they came up half hour after they went down. Before Neville could get under the cloak however, McGonagall came in. They went down back into the trapdoor and when they came up she gave them a right telling off." Blaise explained.
"So, they didn't see you?" Theodore shook his head.
"From what I heard, they were talking about how they made it past the chessboard." That made Harry freeze. If they had made it into the next room and passed that test he would have been found and so would his ploy.
"Why were they even there and how did they even know about it in the first place?" Harry asked quickly, before a look of realisation came over him. Hermione had been there with Susan and Neville, so she would have kept it secret. That didn't answer why Weasley was with her.
"So, what exactly happened after the Potion riddle?" Theodore asked curiously.
"Yeah, I've never seen you so exhausted before." Blaise continued, Harry nodded.
"Professor Quirrell happened." Blaise and Theodore snorted, believing that Harry was joking. That was until they saw that he wasn't laughing; he was in fact serious.
"Wait! You're serious!" Blaise exclaimed. "We are on about the same stuttering, utterly useless Professor Quirrell."
"Yes, Blaise. That Professor Quirrell." Harry said, his voice filled with mirth at Blaise's apt description of the DADA Professor.
"Now that Blaise has made sure we are on about the only Professor Quirrell that we know about." Here, Blaise glared at Theodore in mock anger. "What happened?" Harry mulled over what he could and would say.
"Professor Quirrell was there to get the Stone for his master; he didn't say who." He elaborated when he saw Blaise's inquiring stare. "I attacked him first, but then we talked for a bit. However, that then turned into a fight again and last I saw him he was on the ground with his left hand severed and right hand broken." Harry informed before going into a bit more detail about the fight.
"So, Professor Quirrell, who we believed to be a stuttering fool, is in fact a Dark Wizard who used an Unforgivable?" Harry nodded his head. "Ok. Next question. Did you get the Stone?"
§Balthazar. § Harry hissed. His anaconda familiar slithered across the ground and wrapped around his neck. Balthazar opened his mouth and regurgitated up a ruby red stone into Harry's hand. Blaise and Theodore moved in closer to get a better look. "This, my friends, is the Philosopher's Stone." Harry said proudly.
"It's beautiful." Blaise whispered with Theodore nodding his head in agreement.
The three took a few more moments on all the possible things they could do, now that they had the Philosopher's Stone, before they made their way down to the Great Hall. To their surprise they found that it was decorated with the sigil of Slytherin house.
Many of the students were already sat at their house table, chatting animatedly amongst one another. The three of them, along with those students that had not yet sat down, did so.
"What's going on?" Blaise asked to Peter and Graham.
"Don't know. It was like this when we came in." Peter answered. Harry tuned out what they said after that and looked towards Hufflepuff table to see Neville talking with Susan and Hannah. The two shared a nod. Before anything else could be said, Professor McGonagall repeatedly tapped her spoon against the side of her goblet attracting the attention of the student body.
"Welcome. I know many of you are wondering why we are doing this now. Even though there is still two weeks remaining till the end of the school year. However, recent events that have caused us to lose a valued member of our staff." All students looked to the empty seat that once belonged to Professor Quirrell. "So, we have decided to end the school term early."
Most if not all students cheered loudly at the piece of information and Dumbledore stood there, smiling at them all.
"Another year, gone." Dumbledore began after the chatter quietened. "And now as I understand it, the House cup needs awarding and the points stand thus." Harry for some reason found himself thoroughly amused by the disheartened look that came across Ron Weasley's face. The boy deserved it in his opinion. "In fourth place, Gryffindor with three hundred and twelve points. Third place, Hufflepuff with three hundred and fifty-two points. In second place, Ravenclaw with four hundred and twenty-six points." Each announcement earned a polite applause, with Ravenclaw gaining a few cheers. "And in first place with four hundred seventy-two points, Slytherin house."
The remaining houses gave very light applauses, obviously only doing it because it was the polite thing to do. Many of the first, second and third year Slytherin's cheered loudly.
"Yes, yes, well done Slytherin, well done Slytherin. Recent events must be taken into account and I have a few last minute points to award." All students looked around in confusion. "To Miss Hermione Granger. For your keen intellect and quick thinking in the face of overwhelming danger and your forethought to warn you're Head of House, I award you a hundred points." There was a large round of applause from everyone in the room. "Secondly, to Mr Ronald Weasley, for the best played game of chess which Hogwarts's has seen these many years, I award you, fifty points." There was another round of applause.
Harry quickly did the math in head and realised that Gryffindor were now in second, only ten points behind Slytherin.
"And finally, to Mr Neville Longbottom. For your excellent knowledge of Herbology and your courage and loyalty to your friends. I award you, fifty points." Dumbledore said in his grandfatherly tone of voice.
"Despite these new points, Slytherin is still the winner of the House cup, so please, another round of applause for this year's winners." The point system meant nothing to him however, the fact that points were not awarded to him, Blaise or Theodore showed either that Dumbledore was unaware of the three of them being down there, or he knew but was not going to give them anything.
He looked to Dumbledore and he watched the elderly man tip his head in his direction. It infuriated him, he couldn't tell what he was thinking. Deciding to let this go for now, Harry turned to his friends and together they began speaking about the plans they had for the summer holidays.
-X- Line Break -X-
Dumbledore looked at the students around the Great Hall and found himself smiling benevolently. Sitting down, he piled on some bacon, sausages and eggs. His eyes wandered around the Great Hall, until he felt a pair of eyes upon his own. Looking in the direction he saw that it was Harry Potter who was staring at him. He returned the stare and inclined his head in the boy's direction.
Watching the boy turn back to his friends, his mind wandered to what happened to the Philosopher's Stone.
When he returned from his meeting with the Wizengamot he had found that Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger and Neville Longbottom had gone down to rescue the Stone. The first two he expected because of the compulsion charm he had placed on Hermione Granger. The compulsion charm made her want to tell Ronald Weasley.
He had hoped that Hermione would tell Harry, who would in turn join them. However, it seems that despite her recent success in joining Harry's study group, she wasn't able to tell him; but it seems Neville was more than willing to take the Boy-Who-Lived's place.
That was good news, at least one of the two boys born as July neared its end had the necessary qualities to be his puppet in later events.
The thing that had been the most annoying had been the apparent disappearance of the Philosopher's Stone. Professor Quirrell had been killed by blood loss and Voldemort had disappeared. According to Minerva, Neville was the only one, besides Ronald and Hermione that had been down the trapdoor. Meaning that Neville was the only one who could have possibly killed Quirrell.
That had surprised him. From what he had heard, the boy had made leaps and bound in terms of his education, but not enough to have defeated Quirrell. Least of all, a Quirrell possessed by Voldemort.
That part of the puzzle was troubling. As he did not know who killed Quirrell.
The whereabouts of the Philosopher's Stone was also unknown to him. Even when he lightly scanned the Longbottom heir's mind, he had got nothing. It seems the boy had some training in Occlumency. Which meant that he had no clue what happened to the Philosopher's Stone.
Explaining this would be difficult to his old master and his wife. Originally he planned to say he had lost it, while using it for his own means. They would have been more understanding of that as they tended to lose many things, but due to their vast knowledge and wealth could easily replace what was lost. The Philosopher's Stone had apparently been created by accident and Nicolas had never been able to recreate it.
That's why he needed it. Nicolas was content to do nothing with unlimited time in his grasp. He, however, planned to use endless time to make sure that his dream world would never end.
Now that he had no idea where it was, he would have to tell the Flamels what happened to their prized possession. He could only hope that Perenelle would be gentle in the punishment she would give him. Dumbledore wouldn't bet on it though, she could be quite fearsome once you got on her bad side.
-X- Line Break -X-
Harry, Theodore, Blaise, Peter and Graham were one of the first to get on the train and get a compartment. Their stuff packed and placed on the shelves above. Terry was the next one to come in, followed by Susan, Hannah and then Neville being the last one.
The train ride back was much more enjoyable than the one here. Susan and Hannah sat talking amongst each other, occasionally joined by Harry and the others. Peter, Graham, Blaise, Theodore, Terry and Neville would play a mix of Exploding Snap and Wizards chess. Harry meanwhile, would spend most his time thinking upon what he could do with the Philosopher's Stone, while occasionally joining in with the others.
His mind was set on three things.
The first was to keep it for himself and maybe share some of the gold he gained as a result with the Goblins to gain their favour. The next was to return it to the Flamels in return for a constant supply of the Elixir of Life. However, his mind was mainly focused on the third choice. Where he returns the stone in return for training at the hands of the Flamels.
No doubt the Flamels had learnt more than just Alchemy in their long lifetime. He wished to learn that knowledge to rise to greater power.
A/N: Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I was wondering if you would all write a review, even if it's just a simple "good chapter," or anything of the like just to let me know that the fic should be continued. Also, if you have any questions about this chapter please let me know and I'll answer them in the next one.
As for what happened in the duel, please let me know what I could do to improve it because it was my first time writing one. Keep in mind though, that Quirrell was unsuspecting of Harry's attack and his knowledge of Dark Magic something he does not expect of the Light factions 'poster boy.' Then there is the fact that Harry is a prodigy of magic, greater than even Dumbledore and Voldemort were at his age, as they have stated.
As for what happened with Ron and Hermione. The reason Ron knows about it is because of Dumbledore, however, Ron and Hermione try to save whatever was down there, but Hermione told a painting who in turn told Professor McGonagall.