Chapter Eleven: Silver Blood

Severus Snape strode into the Hogwarts library after getting a tip from Professor McGonagall. His quarry, it would seem, spent a significant amount of their spare time in this part of the castle.

It took him several minutes of searching the spaces between bookshelves before he located Harry, who was seated on the floor with a pair of snakes on his shoulders, an open book propped on his knees, and a pile of yet more books stacked neatly beside him.

Damn him, but he reminded Snape of Lily more with each passing day.

Upon rounding the corner to find the boy, Harry's gaze jerked up from his book in near-perfect tandem with the pair of magical serpents. Snape was not frightened in the slightest by the way they all stared at him, but he had to admit it was…a little unnerving.

"Mr. Potter," he greeted simply.

Harry set a bookmark between the pages he was reading and closed the tome, gathering the stack of books at his side and standing up to face the older man. "Hello, Professor."

"I require more Basilisk venom for analysis," he told the boy. "The curses woven into the venom were more…volatile than I'd anticipated."

Harry's eyes widened in alarm. "You aren't hurt, are you?"

"I am unharmed," he waved his hand dismissively. "Damaged equipment can be repaired or replaced. It is of no concern. But I did not finish the initial testing procedure."

He extracted the familiar vial and Harry glanced at Selena, who simply slithered up the boy's rising arm to reach the vial and envenomate it. Snape waited a bit longer this time to obtain a larger sample before he told the young Basilisk to cut the supply off.

Snape observed the sample with a measuring eye and nodded more to himself than anything. "That should do."

He carefully returned the vial to a small pouch in his robes and looked up at the boy to say his farewells. His eyes, however, caught sight of the book title Harry had been reading, and he found himself frowning. "What do you have there?"

Harry blinked at him and looked down at the books. "I, um. I wanted to learn more about Potion Theory and application."

Snape raised an eyebrow as he checked the titles of the other books—all of which were familiar to him. "In addition to 'A Study of Advanced Potions', 'A History of Potions and Poisons', and 'Magical Venom Most Vicious?' Specific books for very specific topics."

The boy colored some and looked down at the books in his arms. "I wanted to know more."

"I trust you've already finished the work I assigned you, then?"

Harry frowned and looked up at Snape. "Yes? I finished it the day you gave it to us. I read the next few chapters in our textbook, too."

Damn him, he really was his mother's son.

Snape gave the boy a calculating look and realized he'd already drawn his own conclusions. He repressed a sigh.

"How long will it take you to read through these?"

He had a feeling he already knew the answer, but Harry eyed the books for a moment in consideration. "Um. Maybe a day? I finished the work for my other classes earlier, so I've got some spare time to read this weekend."

"Finish them and then meet with me after class this coming Monday," Snape told him. "I'll have a task for you to complete. Consider it extra credit."

Harry cocked his head to the side curiously, but nodded. "Ok."

"Good. I suggest you read thoroughly."

He turned then and stalked off, curious to see if the boy would meet his expectations.

One good thing about the weather being cold was that it was perfect to practice elemental charms. It was clear out, too. No snow, not terribly windy, just a still, steady cold. Great weather, all things considered.

Harry had taken some time to himself at the edge of the Black Lake. Although it wasn't freezing over, the water was still horribly cold. Good thing he wasn't interested in taking a swim.

Bundled up in plenty of layers, Harry pulled out his wand and pointed it at the lake. He frowned, concentrating hard. "Glacius."

A thin lance of pure white magic flew from the tip of his wand, impacting the water and freezing it over upon contact. Harry still wasn't skilled enough with the spell to form ice out of the moisture in the air, but this was a good way to practice his control.

The ice initially formed quickly, but Harry focused and slowed the formation of the floe, trying to shape it to his will. Instead of spreading out, it began to climb upwards—a bobbing stalagmite growing like a sprout seeking the sun.

Once he was satisfied with the size of it, (about two or three feet high) Harry ceased the flow of magic and changed his intent. He exhaled, watching the pale cloud of his breath wisp and fade in the cold air.

"Incendio."

Fire hissed forth, first in sparks, then in a blast of flame when he tried to up the power. Harry scowled and cut the magic, irritated. Aguamenti and Glacius were easy enough for him, but Incendio was trickier. Too little power and the spell just made sparks. Too much and the flame grew out of his control.

He wanted a small, focused flame. Something practical.

"Playing with fire, Potter?"

He paused and looked over his shoulder at the familiar voice, spotting Nym walking towards him in her own winter clothes plus a Hufflepuff scarf. Her hair was a hot pink—clearly, she was feeling rather cheerful.

"Hey," he called back to her.

"Wotcher, Harry," she grinned, coming to a stop next to him. She eyed the bobbing ice floe with a raised eyebrow. "Up to no good?"

"Just practicing," he shrugged, pointing his wand back at the ice floe. "Incendio."

Once again, he got sparks at the start, and this time eased the power up more slowly. He still got a brief jet of uncontrolled flames, but managed to channel it into a steady stream after a few moments of focusing. When the fire was cut off, he was satisfied by the sight of the ice floe having been reduced to a few small chunks already melting into the lake.

Nym clapped a few times. "Nice. When I want to melt some ice, I'll come find you."

Harry snorted. "At least I haven't singed my eyebrows. Seamus tried to turn water into wine at dinner last night and found that they aren't a permanent feature of one's face."

"Hah! I wondered what that little explosion was all about," she sniggered. Her hands stuffed themselves into the pockets of her jacket. "I'm guessing your better halves are tucked up in the suitcase?"

"Snakes and cold weather don't mix," he confirmed. "They ate a lot this morning, too. I think they're still sleeping off the food coma."

Nym smirked. "Never let it be known that Harry Potter lets his pets go hungry."

"Hey, they'll nag me for ages if I don't feed them," he joked.

"True," she cocked her head to the side in agreement, then fell silent for a moment. "What are you really doing out here, Harry?"

He paused. "What do you mean?"

"We have practice rooms in the castle for stuff like this, you know," she pointed out. "I know you've been shown them before. All first years are. But whenever I peek my head out this way, more often than not, I see you out here during our spare time. What's going on?"

Harry pursed his lips, tapping his wand again the leg of his pants as he thought up a response. Nym watched him with a mixture of curiosity and concern. "Is it just too many people? I know you're still getting used to them."

"It's…" He scratched the back of his head and looked down at the ground. "It's stupid."

"Stupid? With your marks? Pull the other one," she scoffed. "I'm no slouch in school, but you're making grades I would've killed for in my first year."

"Not like that," he kept avoiding looking at her. "It's just—it's…it's magic."

Nym blinked at him. "Magic? Is something wrong with your magic? Did you tell Professor Dumbledore?"

"No, I—it's—" Harry huffed and crossed his arms. Nym couldn't see his whole face, but she saw the way his cheeks flushed with color. "I'm not sure you'd get it."

She frowned, but didn't take offense. "Explain it to me anyways?"

"It's just…I didn't grow up with magic, ok? Until the house snakes at the Dursley's taught me how to make Selena's egg, I always thought magic was just a fairy tale. Now I can use magic all the time and…I don't know. It's something I'm still getting used to. All of these spells are so amazing, but everyone else treats them like they're common, everyday things, and I just—I want some space so I can enjoy them without someone telling me how easy or boring a spell is. I want to be able to enjoy magic because it's still new and incredible to me."

Nym considered that point of view for a minute, cocking her head back and looking up at the sky. "I…never really thought about it like that. I guess I'm just so used to magic by now that it…ah."

"See?"

"Ok, point taken," she inclined her head. "But you know what would be fun?"

"What?"

"How about you invite me out here sometimes when you want to test out some magic and I'll show you some of my favorite spells? I won't make fun of you for this, you know that."

He thought about that. "I wouldn't mind that."

"Good," she nudged him playfully with her arm, causing him to smile wryly. "Now that that's cleared up…have you ever tried Reducto?"

He shook his head and Nym grinned dangerously. "Make another one of those ice floes, Potter. And you might want to give it some distance—expect chunks to fly."

On Saturday, Harry took a brief break from his reading to eat lunch with Hagrid. The half-giant had offered for him to spend some time at his hut and meet some of the less dangerous animals he kept up with. Harry accepted the invitation, although he kept in mind that Hagrid's version of "less dangerous" included baby dragons.

For once, however, Hagrid's standards were probably equal to the average person.

It was cold out, so Selena and Aurelion were safely kept in the suitcase, but Harry (after being given a basket of fresh apples) walked with Hagrid (who carried a full barrel of water with ridiculous ease) to the edge of the Forbidden Forest after they had their lunch and waited, somewhat warily, as Hagrid put his fingers to his lips and whistled, long and loud.

They only had to wait a few moments before two blurs of motion practically flew out of the forest at supernatural speeds. He tensed initially, but relaxed out of wonder as the shapes slowed to a trot and approached them.

Harry had only ever seen a Unicorn in books, but there was no mistaking the pure, silver coat of the adult and its long, majestic horn. A golden foal dutifully following its parent could have been mistaken for an oddly colored horse, had it not been for the small, growing lump on its head.

"Keep yourself steady, Harry," Hagrid told him quietly. "Be respectful. Unicorns prefer a woman's touch, but if you're trustworthy, they might let you handle them. Let them approach you first. If they spook, you'll never be allowed ta get close."

The mare snorted and slowed to a walking pace, though her young foal was clearly more eager and continued to trot forward. The youngster had locked onto the basket of apples in Harry's arms.

Harry remained still in place, watching the pair of equines curiously as the juvenile moved forward, dipping its head down to snatch an apple. As the foal turned and trotted a short distance away with its prize, the mare reached them and regarded Hagrid briefly (who she was undoubtedly familiar with, why else would she have answered his call?) before her gaze fell to Harry and stilled.

He couldn't see the same, intelligent gleam in those big, blue eyes that he saw in Selena and Aurelion, but there was an innocence and purity that was difficult to put into words. The mare snorted, leaning down to get a whiff of his scent. Harry kept still, fighting the temptation to set the basket down and touch what looked like an unbelievably soft, silver coat. He wanted her to trust him.

The Unicorn pulled back slightly, pawing at the ground with a hoof that was deep gold. She blinked at him slowly. If she caught the smell of snakes on him, she clearly didn't care.

Hagrid spoke again, voice still low. "Put the basket down careful-like. Try ta give 'er an apple."

Harry did as he was told, slowly kneeling to place the basket on the ground and take an apple out. He rose back up at that same, steady pace, and carefully lifted his arm, palm-up, to show the mare her treat.

She'd watched him very carefully the whole time, and did not move for a while, even when her foal trotted back over to claim yet another apple for itself. Finally, she leaned down and plucked the apple out of Harry's hand, consuming the treat at a leisurely pace.

Harry made to lower his hand, but Hagrid set a hand on his shoulder to get his attention and shook his head. "Wait for 'er. Let 'er come to you."

So he kept his hand in place, palm-up, and waited for the mare to finish eating. Once she was done, she regarded the boy for a minute more before she stepped forward to place her head lightly on his hand.

The silver coat felt like warm, living silk, softer than Harry had expected and soothing to the touch. She blinked at him again and he couldn't help but smile in response.

"Show 'er your other hand, now," Hagrid instructed quietly. "Let 'er get a sniff and place it next to the one you've got on 'er. Keep both hands on 'er body while you're pettin' 'er and move back to the front before you back off. Let her see and feel where you are."

"Ok," he replied in a hushed voice. He watched the mare's ears flick from hearing his voice and steadily offered his second hand, which she accepted. Slowly, he slid his hands up the jaw to scratch carefully behind the ears.

"Tha's it," Hagrid told him encouragingly, beaming. "Tha's where you're gonna be. Atta girl, let's get you another apple."

The half-giant knelt carefully (probably no small feat for his size, but Harry was otherwise occupied at the moment) and lifted the basket, offering the mare a second apple in thanks for allowing Harry to touch her. She snorted and accepted the gift. Meanwhile, her foal simply planted its head into the basket to claim more apples for itself.

Harry was slowly petting the Unicorn down the neck to her torso, feeling the warmth of the magical creature and the pulse of a strong heart beneath her chest. After eating, she turned her head to regard him, but her tail was swishing behind her and she seemed relaxed.

Except…she didn't feel relaxed.

Harry might not have ever worked with Unicorns or any species of horse for that matter, but he knew what a tense animal felt like beneath his hands, and he didn't think it was because of him. If she'd been this tense about meeting him, he'd have never been allowed to touch her in the first place.

"Easy," he murmured, slowly rubbing her flank. As he tried to soothe her, he felt something wet make contact with his fingers. Frowning, Harry turned his hand so the back of it was still touching the mare the inspect his palm. He froze.

"Hagrid."

The half-giant squinted at Harry as the boy lifted his hand away from the mare to show his hand and blanched at the sight of silver droplets on his skin. The Unicorn, to her credit, didn't look bothered, but she was still tense.

Hagrid set the basket of apples down (much to the foal's delight) and slowly walked around the mare—in full view of her the whole time—to reach Harry. He inspected the mare with a trained eye, frowning deeply. His gaze turned to the foal for a few moments, then returned to Harry.

"It's not 'ers," he muttered. "If she was 'urt, we wouldn't be able to touch 'er. Isn't 'er foal's, either. Another Unicorn, then."

"There are werewolves out there, right? Could one of them have…?"

"Not a chance," Hagrid shook his head. "Unicorns can outrun werewolves without even trying. No…no, there isn't a natural predator out in those woods that could've hurt one of 'em. This was done by a person. Someone's tried to hunt 'em."

Harry swallowed. "That's…"

"Illegal? Evil? Tha' it is. I need to get on this. Sorry 'Arry, gonna have to cut this short."

"That's ok," he replied. He looked the mare in the eye and pet her with his clean hand a few more times before backing off, still in view of her. "Some other time, maybe?"

"We can make that 'appen," Hagrid nodded. "Come on, let's get yer hand cleaned up in my hut. Then I gotta track down Professor Dumbledore."

They left the pair of Unicorns to finish off their apples (and drink from the water barrel that Hagrid open with ridiculous ease) and returned to the hut. Harry kept his hand away from his body the whole time.

As Hagrid prepared a bucket of cleansing potion for Harry to wash his hands off in, the boy's suitcase started to rattle. He frowned and managed to open it up with his spare hand, allowing Aurelion to slither out with Selena close behind him.

The Horned Serpent's tongue was flicking in and out of his mouth on overdrive. "What is on your hand?"

"Unicorn blood," he replied, causing the pair of magical serpents to go absolutely still. "Hagrid showed me a pair of them and one of them had blood on it from another Unicorn. We think someone was hunting them."

Aurelion's tongue flicked out and he puffed up until he was almost twice his original size. "That's what I smelled on your ill Professor. The blood. I am certain of it."

Harry froze. "Quirrel? Are you sure?"

"It's unmistakeable!" Aurelion hissed. "This is it. This is what I scented."

Hagrid had been watching the exchange curiously, eyes flitting back and forth from Harry, who was paling more by the second, to Aurelion and Selena, both of whom looked like they might bite if someone so much as looked at them funny. He wisely didn't approach and instead searched for answers from Harry. "What's wrong? 'Arry?"

Harry swallowed. "We need to find Professor Dumbledore."

Dumbledore had summoned Snape, McGonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout after Harry finished telling him and Hagrid what Aurelion had detected. The Unicorn blood had been on Quirrel. And while Unicorn hair and horn were used in potions, (even then, rarely) the blood itself was cursed. It was most definitely not an ingredient used in any Hogwarts classes.

Once the Heads of Houses were in his office, he asked Harry to repeat what they'd discovered. The boy looked nervous, but did as was asked of him.

The Professors bore varying degrees of alarm on their faces, save Snape, who simply looked pensive about the matter.

"Quirrel?" Sprout asked disbelievingly. "The man can barely stutter out a complete sentence, let alone do something as vile as…"

Flitwick regarded the Horned Serpent curled up on Harry's shoulder. "You're certain? There's no chance it could've been a mistake?"

"Unicorn blood is unique," Snape interjected, garnering the attention of everyone else in the room. "It's scent and properties are incomparable to the blood of other creatures, even magical ones. And snakes have an extremely sensitive sense of smell. They can taste the particles on their tongues. No, even a young and inexperienced serpent wouldn't be able to mistake Unicorn blood for anything but. Especially if they'd scented it twice. The snake is telling the truth."

"We'll have to confront him," McGonagall told Dumbledore. "Whatever he might be using the blood for, killing a Unicorn is a heavy crime in itself."

"I'm aware," Dumbledore replied. "Earlier in the week, Aurelion told Harry that Quirrel smelled not just of animal blood, but illness. Rot. And yet, he has not reached out to Madame Pomfrey for any reason whatsoever. I checked on him at Harry's request, but Quirrel assured me he was fine. Now, though…"

Snape became very still. "It's possible he's drinking the blood to sustain himself in the face of a fatal illness. It will keep him alive, but he will live out a cursed existence for the rest of his days."

"Something that atrocious is—" Sprout took a deep breath and went on. "This makes no sense. If he were that ill, he would've seen a healer or told someone!"

Dumbledore frowned. "Unless he is not truly ill. Unless he has something to hide."

The atmosphere was so thick, you could've cut it with a knife. Harry swallowed. At his shoulders, the pair of serpents were wound up tight with agitation.

"Flitwick, block the floo system. Double check the wards. Quietly," Dumbledore ordered. The diminutive Professor nodded and strode for the door. "Pomona, get Harry and the rest of the students to the Great Hall. Announce to them that the Quidditch Game set for tomorrow is being postponed to next weekend due to unforeseen complications. Minerva, Severus, you two stay with me. Dippet! Find Quirrel and report back to us."

One of the Headmaster paintings dipped his head and left the portrait in a hurry. Dumbledore walked over to Harry and knelt in front of the boy.

"You've done splendidly well," he murmured. "All three of you. Leave the rest to us."

Harry just nodded as Dumbledore stood up, his commanding presence reminding the boy that this was the greatest Wizard of their time.

In the face of that, he couldn't help but feel reassured, even as he followed Professor Sprout out of the Headmaster's Office and towards the Great Hall.

Dumbledore strode through the corridors with Minerva and Severus flanking him on either side as students made their way to the Great Hall. None of them looked particularly alarmed, (as was the intention) although the sight of their Headmaster walking with two Heads of House drew a fair amount of attention. He offered the children a smile, but kept his brisk pace.

Dippet had reported that Quirrel was in his office, likely grading assignments from class the previous week. He didn't know they were coming for him.

They entered the classroom quietly and Minerva immediately set up a series of wards to defend them. Snape broke off and started trailing along the edge of the room towards the door to Quirrel's office, pulling his wand out.

Dumbledore opened the office door with a wave of his wand.

Quirrel looked up from his paperwork and blinked at the sight of the Headmaster and Minerva in surprise. "P-P-Professors! Wh-what an u-u-unexpected p-pleasure!"

"Good afternoon, Professor! Might we bother you for a social visit?" Dumbledore queried. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as Snape positioned himself just outside the office in case Quirrel somehow got past him and Minerva.

"O-oh! O-of course! P-p-please, sit!"

"Oh, I think we're comfortable standing, my friend. This shouldn't take too long. I was simply dropping by to inquire about your health again."

"M-my health?"

"Of course! Unicorn blood is terribly unhealthy for the human body."

Quirrel's eyes grew horribly wide for a split-second too long, and Dumbledore knew he was guilty.

"For what purpose have you been hunting Unicorns?"

"I-I assure you," Quirrel stood up slowly from his desk. "I do not know what you're talking about."

"Your stutter seems to have cured itself, my friend," Dumbledore pointed out, exposing his wand. Minerva matched him at his cue. "Please, sit. We can discuss this like civilized individuals."

"I think not."

Dumbledore felt his skin crawl at the sound of an unfamiliar, rasping voice. Quirrel froze in place.

"Master?"

"It seems I will not find the answer I seek here," the voice hissed. "I take my leave."

Quirrel's body convulsed and he threw his head back, shrieking as the back of his skull distorted until a wraith burst free of his body. The formless shape screamed at them and fled, tearing through the room even as its lifeless host collapsed in a heap on the ground.

Dumbledore rushed out of the room and spotted Severus sliding down the wall, clutching at his arm in agony. "Minerva! Tend to Severus!"

He threw himself after the wraith in a burst of changing light, pursuing the intruder outside the castle as it attempted to flee the grounds. It was fast—faster than he was, he realized quickly.

Dumbledore apparated to the edge of the grounds and unleashed a blast of magic from his wand. The spell smote the wraith at its core, causing it to howl in agony before exploding. Even then, wisps of the creature broke off and fled in different directions.

He scowled, wand at the ready, but knowing his foe had escaped. His attack was a flesh wound to the incorporeal thing, nothing more. It would regain more of its presence in time.

Spinning around, Dumbledore flew back to the castle and stormed into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, finding Severus trying to stand with Minerva's help.

"Severus?" He demanded, concerned.

Severus' eyes were wide as he regarded the Headmaster and, shaking, pulled the sleeve of his left arm up. The Dark Mark, once barely visible, had become bold and black. Even now, it was fading again, but it was all Dumbledore needed to see.

Minerva stared at him with shock. "It was him."

It wasn't a question. Dumbledore nodded to her regardless. "Yes. It was him."

He walked into the office and looked down upon the corpse of Quirinus Quirrel, and knew that he was only the first of many casualties to come.

A/N: GAH, IT'S BEEN TOO LONG.

I really need to work on updating this story more. Let's try to make that happen!

Also, this chapter is going up before I go into work, but when I get back, I'm going to be updating previous chapters to fix grammar errors and some plot stuff. Nothing huge, but you'll want to read through the story again once everything is fixed just to make sure you don't miss some of the little things.

Anyways, as ever, please review and thanks for reading!