A/N: I'm so sorry for the huge delay in chapter updates, first I had classes but then I just lost so much motivation and energy after term. Meant to update on Oct.1 but I had writer's block.

"Spoken dialogue or signs"

'Thought'

flashback/''dialogue"/'thought'

Chapter 11 Recap: Harry tells Allison and Hermione about the Stone. Tracy attempts to get Daphne to talk to her but Daphne having been reminded of her role in life deigns to shut everything out. Slytherin vs Ravenclaw Quidditch with Slytherin as the victor. Quirrell becomes more nervous and it pushes the three towards finding the Stone and getting it out of reach. Learning that Hagrid has the dragon egg, and how he got it and all that that entails. Tracy forces Harry and Daphne to accept a reluctant friendship. Harry, Hermione, and Allison head back for the Stone but due to not knowing how to play chess, turn to Ron for help.

I hope you enjoy all enjoy this chapter.


Understanding

Taking a deep breath, Harry softly said, "Hello Ron, I want to talk."

"What do you need that you would ask me out here just before bed?" Ron asked, puzzled.

Crossing his arms tightly, Harry replied with, "Considering the animosity between the two of us these last few months, I want to know if you're willing to trust us to help with a problem we're facing right now."

"Trust. Trust. Trusting you," Ron wondered aloud, "Before I answer you, can you confirm something for me?"

"If I'm able."

"Back before the holidays, you're the one who made Malfoy prance around like a fool right? Hermione was talking to you that day and you were watching where he was, I could have sworn you were almost laughing!" Ron asked eagerly, glancing at Hermione who was watching quietly.

Allison chuckled and asked, "Anyone else says that Harry looks like a dead man, what do you mean almost laughing?"

"I know!" Ron exclaimed, "That's why I have to make sure! It was almost nothing but I swear his face changed for a second! I wanted to thank H-I was hoping I could thank whoever did it."

"I did. I didn't want the attention so I didn't make a scene out of it, it's a spell called Tarantallegra." Harry sighed with relief and uncrossed his arms.

"But why?" Ron grimaced. "The entire term I've been a prat to you!"

"Malfoy insulted you and your family." Harry looked to Allison and Hermione who were giving him encouraging nods. "Your family are trying their best with what they're given I'm sure, you and your brothers seem to get along well enough but I couldn't let it pass. As for the past few months, I understand why people hate Slytherin witches and wizards considering how many turned out to be dark during the war and Voldemort himself, but there are others like me. Miss Davis and Miss Greengrass are not like the Death Eaters in any capacity." Harry took a deep breath and continued, "The pure blood doctrine that birthed the rise of Voldemort and his Death Eaters is many centuries old but the world is growing, slowly but surely, you just need to take a closer look."

"I-I'm sorry, but yes I'll trust you," Ron said solemnly.

"Excellent! Then to the task at hand!" Allison exclaimed, clapping her hands together. She walked up close to Ron, making direct eye contact and said, "By telling you this information, we are placing our trust in you and hoping you'll not tell another soul, do you agree?"

Ron simply nodded and grabbed a chair.

"We have been investigating the third floor corridor and we think we know why it has been forbidden," Harry began, also taking a chair for himself. Continuing, he explained, "Let's start from the beginning. Back before classes began, there was a break-in at Gringotts in the same vault in which Hagrid had withdrawn an item belonging to an unknown witch or wizard and had done so for Dumbledore so clearly whatever item that this witch or wizard wanted would be very valuable or powerful right?"

"Why else would Dumbledore and the other professors go to such great lengths to keep it guarded on the third floor corridor?" Hermione reasoned.

"The professors have set up defenses such as the three-headed dog that we all saw back in October," Harry recounted, Ron shivered with fear at the memory. "Devil's Snare, enchanted flying keys, and finally, why we've come to ask for your help, is a giant chess set. This is all to guard a famous alchemical object known as the Philosopher's Stone."

"A stone? What can this stone do?" Ron asked, taking a sharp breath.

"It supposedly is used to create an elixir which can heal and make the drinker live longer as well as turn metal into gold," Allison answered.

"So, so a person could become rich with this 'Stone?!'"

"If they wanted to then yes but it isn't ours to keep. We should give it back to Nicholas Flamel, hopefully he'll know of a better way to hide it this time."

Ron nodded. "No of course. Yes I'll keep this a secret, when do we start?"

"Right now, we don't know when it may be stolen but it will happen," Harry replied.

"Then let's go."

oOoOo

With Harry's cloak, the group of four made it back to the third floor corridor without much incident, though they had nearly run into Professor McGonagall on patrol duty. When they reached the door, Harry took the cloak off of them and placed it back into his bag, as he did this he told the group, "Wait here, and be ready to close the door just in case." With his Faerie wand in hand, Harry opened the door and stepped inside to the immediate growling and sniffing by Fluffy. He looked around quickly as Fluffy stepped forward and found the smashed up instrument from their first venture down into the underground. "Accio, reparo!" The smashed violin and bow was reassembling itself as it flew towards Harry and Fluffy bound forward, all three heads with teeth bared ready to consume human flesh. Harry caught both and drew the bow across the strings without care, a screeching tune sounded from the instrument and Fluffy collapsed to the side, snoring.

He let out a deep breath and kept playing, surprised that the horrendous 'music' that he was playing didn't shock Fluffy back into action. Hermione, Ron and Allison then shuffled in then closed the door behind them.

"How did you do that?" Ron was shocked that the massive dog was down so easily.

"From what I have been told, this Cerberus falls asleep to music," Harry spoke over the screeching of the violin.

Ron pressed his hands harder against his ears. "That's music?"

"Apparently so," Hermione said placing her hands over her ears, face twisted. "Come on, let's go before Professor McGonagall or someone else hears this." They led Ron to the trapdoor and he stood still, unmoving.

"You're asking me to jump down there?" Ron took a step back from the edge.

"Yes, come on, we don't have all night," Allison urged and she jumped without further thought and Hermione followed.

Ron looked down the hole, shrugged, and jumped in after Hermione called up to them to hurry.

Harry dropped the violin and followed the group, Fluffy having already awakened once again.

They had quickly disabled the Devil's Snare after Harry landed, made their way through the Key room, though Harry had caught the key this time, and now the quartet was faced with their primary objective. "The first objective was Professor Sprout's defense, then clearly Flitwick worked his magic on the keys before us, and now McGonagall's work."

Ron stared at the giant board. "If I want to play giant chess in the future, I should start taking transfiguration more seriously. The white pieces take the first turn... Do we have to play as each individual piece?" The pieces all nodded in unison. Ron was taken aback but he gathered himself, looked back at the group and said, "Harry, you take the place of the left rook, Hermione the place of the queen, Allison the right bishop and I'll be taking the right knight." Each corresponding piece stepped off and the quartet took their place among the board.

Over the next twenty minutes Ron dictated every move, carefully scanning and making sure that they all remained unharmed. The pieces that Professor McGonagall had transfigured were fast and smooth in spite of their size therefore whenever any piece was taken by the other, the result was rather brutal. Though nothing had broken they could all see that if they had been that piece, they would for sure be knocked unconscious. Some pawns, the right rook, and the other knight had been taken but they could see that Ron hadn't let these pieces get taken in vain and was slowly gaining ground on the right side of the board. Eventually he had stopped talking. "Ron?" Allison asked, "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

With a frown on his brow, Ron looked at Harry. "To be able to win in just a few more moves, I have to sacrifice you Harry."

"Just do it," Harry hoped the pieces wouldn't turn hostile and took out his Faerie wand, "This isn't about me. If I get my lights knocked out, don't take me to Madam Pomfrey and keep going."

"But Harry, you could be seriously hurt here, at least one of us should take you to her!" Allison called from her position on the board.

"Don't worry about it! I'll be back on my feet in no time! Where do I have to go Ron?" Harry called back then thinking to himself, 'I usually do and I hope I do now.' Ron moved aside, leaving Harry open to be taken by the queen that dashed towards Harry, its movement causing the ground to tremble beneath them.

Harry was struck to the side with an audible thwack by the queen's raised hand but not before he threw up a shield charm by his face and was sent flying backwards towards the pile of other taken pieces where he lay motionless on the hard stone floor, his wand clattering to the floor away from him.

The shield charm took the brunt of the damage but he was still disoriented from the attack and so Harry just focused on recovering his state of mind. He listened to the sound of Ron's voice which penetrated the fog of confusion around him. It felt like hours passed yet he knew from within that only some minutes had passed when they cheered at their victory. He then heard Hermione speak. "-leave him here?" Hermione asked.

"-gotten up yet," Allison's voice cut through the fog. "Maybe we should-."

"He said not to," Ron chimed in.

Harry wasn't sure of what happened next, but he felt a hand squeeze his right arm and the place was quiet again.

He didn't feel quite so off anymore, the fog not so thick and Harry slowly sat up, something embracing him as he had never experienced in many years. The memory was merely a whisper. Looking down, a soft, bright green light grew, spiraling and twisting around, from his chest, a warmth and the light spreading to the rest of his body. The light sank beneath his skin and vanished, gone as quickly as it had come yet leaving Harry refreshed.

Harry stared and patted himself all over, marveling at his healed form, no scratch nor sign of the last few hours except for traces of dirt. Nearby came the sound of Hermione's scream which shocked Harry out of his thoughts and he picked up his wand and scrambled to his feet. He ran passed the now dormant white chess pieces and through the doors to the next room where a great stench filled the air. Harry blinked away the tears forming in his eyes and saw a massive troll, like the one that had attacked Hermione months before.

He looked lower and saw the troll having smashed its club by Hermione, having missed by a thread. Allison and Ron's cast spell after spell but the sparkling lights did no more than splash uselessly against the troll's thick hide before fizzling out. The troll lifted its club back up and swung it towards them, they ducked to the floor and it passed over harmlessly with naught but the whistle of wind. "It's doing nothing!" Ron shouted.

"You've said that already!" Allison huffed.

Getting back to her feet, Hermione shouted, "Incendio!" The spell had struck the troll's big club, setting it alight but the troll quickly smashed the flame out.

Harry prepared a number of spells to knock the troll off of its feet when Ron shouted, "Wingardium Leviosa!" The troll spent several seconds trying to swing the club that was now floating above its head before its eyes widened and it looked up. The spell ended and the club came cracking down upon its skull, knocking it back. It stumbled back and fell into the wall on the far side of the room with a thud, shaking dust from the ceiling of the chamber. "Is it out?" Ron asked.

"I believe it is, it hit its head pretty hard against the wall there and with its own club too, that was pretty clever, Ron," Harry said peering over at the great beast.

"Harry!" They cried. Hermione and Allison rushed over and squeezed the air out of him, Ron stayed where he was, giving Harry a small smile.

"Are you alright? Should you be standing up again? You barely made a sound when we won against the chess set," Allison said, biting her lip.

"Yes, I'm okay now, though I don't really know how or why," Harry shrugged. "Congratulations on facing the troll, I didn't even get the chance to help."

"I'm glad you didn't," Hermione said, breathing hard. "At least, not in your condition before."

Ron looked sheepish. "Glad you're alright, sorry Harry."

"It's alright, you did what you had to, it's thanks to you that you all managed to get to fighting the troll at all," Harry said.

"Thanks, but we should keep moving on right? You need to get the Stone," Ron reminded them.

"Indeed."

Crossing the room, Hermione wondered aloud, "I wonder what the next challenge will be, so far we've had to face Hagrid's Cerberus Fluffy, Professor Sprout's Devil's Snare, Professor Flitwick's flying keys, Professor McGonagall's chess set, and now this troll-," she stopped mid-sentence as her eyes widened with realization.

"What is it, Hermione?" Allison asked.

"The troll at Halloween! That must've been Professor Quirrell! Why would he have set a troll on the castle when all he did after was go to the Great Hall screaming then faint? It had to have been an attempt at a diversion but he couldn't do it when half the students and some staff were there!"

"Something did feel off to me about him that day..." Harry muttered.

"The troll at Halloween?" Ron questioned, "What happened with it? There were rumours but the professors never told us anything."

"The rumour mill here really has to stop." Hermione shook her head. "Harry came to save me and he used some kind of accidental magic to blast a hole in its chest, we just didn't get caught."

Ron looked at Harry wide-eyed. "I wish I never tried dueling you before!"

"It's in the past now, let's continue on, the shaking caused by the troll here might get the professors' attention," Harry said, and turned to the door.

"And to get away from this horrid smell," Allison pinched her nose, blinking away tears. They all agreed.

The next room was smaller, just a table with seven bottles of varying sizes and shapes. As they all entered the room, black fire sprung up behind them while purple flames sprung up to block the next door.

Upon closer examination, Harry said, "Well, it's not hot but we won't be able to go back through them."

Hermione went up to the table and picked up a note beside the bottles. "Aha! It's a puzzle. Many witches and wizards would be kept trapped her forever lest someone else comes to find them."

Allison's eyes widened "Hang on, Harry, before we ever went to Diagon Alley, you'd discovered and destroyed spells that were bewitching my parents, could you not do that but with potions or this flame?"

"I don't think I've ever really tried and as of now I would rather we not upset the magic of this room in case it tips Quirrell off or any of the other professors," Harry replied.

"I suppose, but then, none of the professors have come down to check on us yet." Allison shrugged and went over to Hermione to read the riddle.

"You can see spells?" Ron shook his head, dumbfounded.

"Yes, I lost my sight when I was younger, it seemed dark but maybe that wasn't the right word for it, in actuality I don't know what I 'see' in this state but I can see more than normal now with the help of some magic, I don't know if it's possible to cure it or if even magic will stop helping some day and I dread that moment, with the abilities I have now, I can move and break spells as well," Harry explained, recalling the day he discovered magic.

"That must be awesome."

"In some ways yes, I suppose it is," Harry said softly. "But it is bothersome at times and I feel sorry for anyone else like me."

"Oh."

"One will let us move into the next room, one back, two is wine, three are poison..." Hermione said. "Poison to the left of wine..."

Allison let out an "Aha!" noise and removed the second and sixth bottles and placed them off to the side. "Fourth, the second left and the second on the right — Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight. The potions to go forward or back are unique and therefore can't be the same. Easy enough, but the others are harder to figure out."

"Second, different are those who stand at either end, But if you would move onward, neither is your friend. So in order to move on, the bottles on either end will not help." Moments pass in silence, Ron and Harry standing around waiting. Hermione broke the silence and said, "Got it. The second and sixth bottles are wine, that means the first is poison, the smallest, fourth bottle is to go forward and that means the third and fifth bottles are poison and the seventh will allow us to go back."

"Brilliant!" Ron looked at Hermione, impressed.

Looking at the smallest bottle, Harry said, "But to go forward, there's not enough for all of us, enough for one of us."

"So what can we do?"

"I have been working on a spell that I've been reading about in my spare time, it's called the Refilling charm. You said the second and sixth bottles are wine?" Harry looked to Hermione who nodded. "Then let's give it a try," he said. Grabbing the largest bottle he poured it all out onto the floor and pointed his wand at the bottle in his hand. It refilled. "Yes." Allison, Hermione, and Ron all gave him questioning looks and to their awe and surprise, Harry poured out the wine onto the floor again. He whipped his wand at the damp stone and blasted hot air towards it, drying it quickly. "Now all of us will be able to proceed."

"I guess I'll go first," Ron declared. He grabbed the smallest bottle and downed it, shivering. "Urgh, it's like ice!" He hesitantly stepped into the fire which did not burn him and then continued. Then Allison went through the flames.

Hermione went third but not before giving Harry a look and saying, "You have to teach us all you know someday, Harry."

"I will but these are basic spells, we'll likely learn them during the rest of our time here at Hogwarts," Harry had replied with a small laugh. Harry then refilled the smallest bottle once more and downed it. "It really is like ice," he said to the now empty room. Harry then walked through the painless flames and into a small chamber, pillars lining the walls and at the end stood Ron, Hermione, and Allison all marveling over a tall, gold framed mirror.

"What is this?" Harry asked, walking up to them.

"Not sure." Allison looked closer at the mirror's frame "There is an inscription though and it reads 'erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi.' Some foreign language maybe or perhaps..." Allison trailed off and clapped her forehead. "It's so obvious. A mirror, read it backwards!"

"I show not your face... but your heart's desire," Harry read slowly. "So what have you seen?"

"I haven't actually seen anything but Ron, Hermione, and I in the glass." Ron and Hermione nodded in agreement.

"Try only one of you standing in front of it then," Harry said. Allison and Hermione went to stand by Harry, leaving Ron alone in front of the mirror.

Ron gasped. "I-I'm head boy captain of the Quidditch team! I have both the house and Quidditch cup!"

"Is there anything else?" Hermione asked.

"No, nothing, just me. I-," Ron paused and shook his head.

"Alright, let me go have a look." Ron moved out of the way and Hermione took his place in front of the mirror. Her eyes widened.

"Well? What do you see, Hermione?" Allison prompted.

"I'm surrounded by you, Harry, my parents, and the professors and I'm a professor here," Hermione mumbled.

"I think you could absolutely be a professor! You're the smartest person in Gryffindor!" Allison grinned at her.

"Thanks." Hermione smiled back. She made her way to where they stood and Allison took her place.

"I think I've known this for a while but it looks like I'm a magical inventor! All of my friends and family are with me!" Allison said, beaming.

"I believe you could become one but remember this mirror only shows us what we want most deeply, I don't think it could show the future," Harry reminded her.

Ron, Hermione, and Allison all looked sheepish at that. "Oh, right." Embarrassed, Allison chuckled and stepped out of the way, gesturing to Harry to stand in front of the mirror too. Harry took a deep breath and stepped forward.

Closest to him, Harry saw a tall young man and woman. The man had unkempt black hair and glasses like him while the woman had gorgeous dark red hair and emerald green eyes. Just like him. There were others with unkempt black hair and those with dark red hair and green eyes just like the man and woman by his side. He saw Allison and Hermione standing to the left side while the reflection of the actual Allison, Hermione, and Ron were on the right. "Mum. Dad," Harry said softly. He half raised his hand to reach out to them but he shook his head clenched his fist and brought his arm back down to his side.

Harry took several deep breaths and focused. The task, they were there for the Philosopher's Stone. But where was it? There were no other doors besides the one behind them. Harry's reflection then smiled at him, pulled a blood red stone from his pocket and winked before putting it back. The real Harry jumped back at the object that was now in his pocket. He looked back up and there was his family and Hermione and Allison all smiling back with his reflection acting as a reflection would.

"What is it Harry? What do you see?" Allison called.

"I see you, Hermione, my parents and other family. I never really thought about my extended family beyond the aunt that I'm living with, maybe it's showing what I think they look like," Harry said softly. "I haven't been with a real family yet."

"Then it's up to you to make your own," Hermione asserted.

"You're right, it is up to me," Harry agreed. "Now for the Philosopher's Stone, for a second, my reflection acted of its own accord and put this in my pocket." He pulled out the blood red stone and held it up for them to see.

"How would one use this? It just looks like a pretty rock," Ron asked.

"Nicolas Flamel would know, we should get it back to him as soon as possible before it's lost and we get into trouble," Hermione urged.

Harry held the blood red stone at eye level and squinted at it. "Harry what are you doing? We need to move quickly!" Hermione said, glancing at the black flames behind them.

"I just wanted to check it out before we go," Harry reassured her but Hermione looked unconvinced. He focused his magic into his eyes and peered at the Stone. Harry turned the Stone over and frowned. "I don't understand. There's nothing about this Stone that would say magical in any way shape or form. It really is just a red stone!"

"Are you sure?" Allison asked. "What if this is something your magic just can't detect?"

"There's only one way to find out," Harry whispered. He raised his arm up at chest-length and whipped the stone at the wall of the chamber. Ron shouted. The moment the blood red stone struck the wall, it shattered like glass, the tinkling sound of the falling shards rang in the air. Ron was speechless. Allison covered her mouth with her hand staring at where the fake 'Stone' had been. "That for sure wasn't the Philosopher's Stone, how could it break so easily? It would probably require several strong spells to destroy it completely."

Hermione let out a groan and asked the question they were all thinking. "Then was this a trap? Where's the real 'Stone' and Nicolas Flamel? Why did the professors set all this up for a fake?"

"Maybe this was all just a ruse to lure Quirrell into the open and Nicolas Flamel isn't associated with any of this whatsoever," Ron surmised.

"Regardless," Harry said, summoning the 'Stone' shards. He repaired the fake with a wave of his wand. "We have to get out of here now."

"That's a great idea," Hermione rolled her eyes. "But what are we going to do about the fake? Do you know how to put it back in the mirror?"

"Not a clue," Harry said and sighed. "We could just anonymously send it to one of the professors."

"What if only Dumbledore knows about this? We should send it to him," Ron suggested.

"No, Dumbledore is one of the smartest wizards in the world, he would likely be able to track it back to us," Allison shook her head. "Let's throw it into the lake, no one knows we're here and I doubt they would think that we would throw away a supposedly powerful magical artifact. I doubt Dumbledore would look there either, especially not for a fake Philosopher's Stone. Can we all agree on this?"

With a quick glance to each, they nodded. "Then let's finally get out of here, we've stayed for far too long and there's no way of telling how long before Dumbledore or the other professors will check on their defenses," Harry suggested, putting the fake 'Stone' back into his pocket.

After repairing any other damage they caused on their way in, Harry escorted each of them back to their house towers underneath the cloak and then made the long journey back to Slytherin house. "What a waste of time," Harry whispered. "But Quirrell will still go for the 'Stone' at some point and I'll have to be there to stop him before he can escape." He made it back to his room undetected and crashed upon his bed unchanged, the fake still in his pocket.

oOoOo

In the early morning, after tossing the fake stone a fair distance away into the lake, Harry took his seat under his favourite tree and began to think. 'If I go down to stop Quirrell when he inevitably cracks, I wonder if Dumbledore will find out and try to interfere. What will he do? What kind of trouble would we be in?' Harry watched the giant squid broke the calm surface of the lake sending waves to the shore. It then dove back beneath the surface sending yet another set of waves to the shore. Harry turned his attention away from the water to watch the sky. 'There's a lot of freedom in the sky. Maybe I should figure out if it's possible to fly without a broom, after all, it is a tool like a wand is for people to channel their magic.' A flock of school owls made their way to the Owlery. Harry closed his eyes as he lay back against the tree, letting his senses drift out through the area.

Magic was quite thick throughout the castle, an uncountable number of spells intricately woven all around the castle and Harry marveled at the enormous amount of energy that gave off a steady, gentle pulse that he could feel in his magically enhanced state All the defenses and intricacies that allowed Hogwarts to run and remain fully guarded from threats for over a millennia. 'Unfortunately, they don't help much once the threats are inside.'

Taking a deep breath, Harry let go of his magic and things returned to normal, now feeling only the tree behind his back and the grass he sat upon, the gentle breeze of the early morning and the faint touch of his own magical energy flowing out from him separate yet connected. 'I was healed like it was nothing yesterday, what could that have been? I doubt even master healers can command the use of such magic. This all seems tied to my magic itself, but how? I discovered my magic when I was six years old yet I have had an unparalleled level of energy and control compared to others at that age. I have only heard of tales of people like myself and I can only imagine Merlin being one of them. Then there was that magic that struck me and Allison a while ago, what was that? It came from nowhere yet now she and I know a little information about each other. With the knowledge available to the world today, I don't think I'll ever find out why. This is an unsolvable mystery.'

Harry opened his eyes and got up, dusted himself off, and headed back to the castle.

oOoOo

Sitting in a secluded area of the library, under a bubble of silence, Hermione asked, "So what's the plan? The 'Stone' is somewhere at the bottom of the lake and Quirrell will be planning to go for the mirror soon enough, do we head him off before he reaches the chambers? Should we get Ron's help again?"

"That would take too much time," Harry said. "If I go alone-."

Allison slammed her hand on the table. "You're not going alone that would be suicide!"

"No, it won't, remember before when we needed Ron's help? If I go alone I could blast the pieces apart and stop Quirrell, that way we won't gain the attraction of the professors by fighting him off in the castle's corridors," Harry reasoned.

Hermione posed the question, "Yes but what if you get injured and are stuck down there then Quirrell catches you on the way out and kills you?"

Harry shook his head. "It would be far safer for me this time around, I could fight without worry because I wouldn't have to focus on the chess pieces attacking the two of you. Plus, if I get horribly injured and we're fighting the chess pieces together, we would be in even worse trouble than before." Hermione opened her mouth to object but Harry quickly said, "No, listen, I'll go alone, that's the end of the discussion."

Allison sighed. "Fine, you'll go alone."

"Thank you," Harry said. Tracy Davis rounded the corner with Daphne Greengrass in tow. He dropped the bubble and quickly wrote a couple of notes which he passed to Allison and Hermione.

"Hello Davis, Greengrass," Hermione greeted cautiously.

"Oh just call me Tracy, and you should call her Daphne," Tracy said cheerfully.

"Why am I here?" Daphne asked.

"Hey, it's not like these two are going to try to court you, come on, you can have more friends than just Harry and me," Tracy casually dismissed her concerns with a wave of her hand. Daphne's mask broke for a moment as she flashed a glare at Tracy. Hermione and Allison sent questioning looks at Harry who just shook his head.

"We are not friends, acquaintances at best," Daphne said, resuming her stony expression.

"Nothing says we can't study alongside our acquaintances!" Tracy said rather loudly. Madam Pince came over to see what the noise was and shushed her.

"You're welcome to join us whenever you like!" Allison said. "It'd be nice to have more friends."

"You think we're friends?" Tracy asked, taken aback.

"Only if you want to be," Allison said beaming at her and Daphne who averted her gaze.

"Then as of now, this group of three has become a group of five!" Tracy declared.

"If we're friends then we should get to know each other better," Hermione chimed in. "I'm Hermione Granger, muggle-born. My parents were surprised but very pleased about me being a witch."

Raising her hand, Tracy said, "Tracy Davis, half-blood, my father was shocked and left when he found out." When they gave her looks of pity, Tracy said, "No, don't, my father was a right bastard before then anyway. I'm hoping to be a healer like my mum when I get out of Hogwarts."

"I'm Allison Taylor, muggle-born, I hope to work and create extraordinary magical objects and artifacts the world has never seen!" Allison said, striking a pose with her right hand outstretched.

"Harry Potter."

Tracy had a look on her face like she was about to laugh. "Anything else?"

"What else would I have to say? Everyone knows about my parents and I don't know what career I'll aim for out of Hogwarts," Harry said, shrugging.

They all turned to look at Daphne who sighed. "Daphne Greengrass."

"You two are way too alike, that's creepy," Tracy gestured to Harry and Daphne. Daphne said nothing more.

"We're not alike," Harry mumbled.

Tracy chuckled "Yes you are. Daphne is a pure-blood of the Ancient and Noble house of Greengrass, set to be the heiress when her father, Lord Corvus Greengrass, passes."

"You brought me here to study, we should do that," Daphne said stiffly.

"Yes dearest," Tracy joked.

Hours passed and they studied in relative silence. As Madam Pince starting kicking everyone out, Daphne spoke up first, breaking the quiet that covered them. "What is it Granger? You continue to look at me without saying a word." They looked at Daphne then to Hermione who stood there, opening and closing her mouth, looking akin to a fish. "Speak your words Granger, we don't have all day!" Daphne said sharply.

"Could you tell us about your life as a future head of an Ancient and Noble house?" Hermione said quickly, biting her lip nervously as Daphne looked at her dead in the eyes.

"You are not entitled to that information, don't ask me again." She turned on her heel and quickly walked away, her long hair bouncing with every step.

"Sorry about her," Tracy said, sighing. She grabbed her books and chased after Daphne.

Hermione, stunned, said nothing. Looking away from their departing new friends, Allison said, "You know what Harry is like Hermione, you should have expected that kind of response. Nothing you can do about it right now though. Anyway, I shall see you two tomorrow." She lifted her bag onto her shoulders and walked away.

"She isn't like you though, she's far more reserved than you are," Hermione said to Harry as they left the library.

"You're right. I didn't expect her to get angry, but it seems like her heiress lifestyle is not at all warm," Harry agreed.

"Do you think Tracy will tell us about her?" Hermione wondered.

"It's possible but as her closest friend I don't think she would divulge those kinds of details," Harry answered. The shadows in the castle were deepening, nearly empty as the remaining student body headed back to their own common rooms. They reached the moving stairs and Harry turned to Hermione. "This is good night then, see you tomorrow Hermione, remember the note I wrote for you."

"I will, good night Harry," Hermione turned and headed up the steps.

The speed at which Harry walked allowed the other few Slytherin and Hufflepuff students to outpace him and they quickly disappeared from view. Harry was entirely alone as he arrived at the entrance to the Hogwarts dungeons when he heard a rough, wheezing, high-pitched voice. "Harry..." He froze. "Harry Potter..."

Harry spun around to face the empty hall."Who's there?" He left the dungeons entrance and walked to the nearest portrait.

"Harry Potter!"

"Did you hear that?" Harry asked the half-sleeping figure in the portrait.

"Was probably just one of the ghosts. Let me embrace the night." The figure gestured their hand at Harry dismissively.

"Find-!" The voice began to call out but something cut it off before it could continue. A hacking sound echoed around the air before it vanished, leaving the hall as quiet as it had been before.

"Find what?" Harry posed the question to the air. With no response from the voice, Harry ran through the dungeon's entrance down to the Slytherin common room.

"Something, someone in this castle, they're watching me. For what reason?"


I removed the word 'said' some twenty odd number of times during editing. This chapter was also rewritten 3 times, this being the third. Also some odd number of the uses of the word 'sigh' was removed.

A/N: I was going to continue until the end of the year where Harry would face Quirrell alone but I realized that would make this chapter far too long and honestly I had to make a break before it started going bad.