The transfer of Norbert(a) went well. With Mcgonagall's help, they got down to Hagrid's with minimal trouble. Hagrid was waiting outside with a large crate, looking a bit cowed.
"Have you said your goodbyes Hagrid?" Mcgonagall asked. Hagrid blew his nose into a large handkerchief and nodded.
Will felt bad, this was definitely better than the alternative, but- "Can Hagrid come with us? That way, he can talk to Charlie and his friends. They'll be able to reassure him that the dragon is going to a good home."
Mcgonagall looked between Will and Hagrid, and then sighed, "Alright, just try to be quiet. We don't want to wake the whole castle."
Hagrid beamed, "Thanks Will, I know I was mad at yeh earlier, but this means a lot to me. I'll find a way t' make it up to yeh, I promise." Will smiled at him.
"Should we get going?" Hermione asked, looking around nervously.
"I suppose so, you students need to get to bed, and midnight is fast approaching," Mcgonagall said. Hagrid lifted the large crate he had prepared, some ripping noises coming from inside.
Hagrid blushed at the look Mcgonagall gave him, "I packed him a teddy bear so he wouldn't get lonely for the journey."
Mcgonagall led them all to the top of the Astronomy tower and, after a bit of waiting, Charlie and his friends appeared. They seemed excited. Hagrid was not.
"He'll be happy there, righ'?" He asked, sobbing, "The other dragons won' pick on him, will they?"
Charlie gave Hagrid a hug. Huh, guess they were close during his Hogwarts years. "He'll be fine. We have a nesting Norwegian Ridgeback mother that will be willing to adopt him. She won't be able to help it, just one look and her instincts will kick in. He's going to be just fine."
"But maybe Hagrid can come visit sometimes?" Will piped up, looking hopeful.
Charlie looked thoughtful, and conversed with his friends a bit, "We can probably make that work, but not until summer I'm afraid."
"That'll work for me too," Hagrid said, now smiling a little through the tears, "I couldn' come until summer anyway."
Hermione looked relieved, "And that way, you'll be able to take some time and look around, and see how happy he is there!"
Charlie nodded. "We'll get… Norbert did you say?, Hooked up to this harness we rigged and we'll be off."
As they lifted off, with the crate holding Norbert(a) strapped between them, they waved and turned, flying away.
Will, Hermione, and Mcgonagall stayed with Hagrid as he sobbed, watching until they were no longer visible in the sky.
The next morning, Will filled the others in on what would have happened.
"So Harry, Hermione, and Neville would have gotten detention and lost one hundred and fifty points for Gryffindor." He finished.
"What happened?" Hermione asked. She probably had some idea how bad it was.
""The whole of Gryffindor house started to shun you guys, well, except Ron." Will said. "You ended up having that detention with Hagrid and Malfoy in the Forbidden Forest."
"The Forbidden Forest!?" Harry said, "Isn't that place off limits?"
Will shrugged, "Maybe Mcgonagall didn't know what Hagrid was having you do. You were looking for something in the forest that is killing the unicorns, by the way." In one of his trips to help Hagrid feed the Thestrals, Will had confirmed that it was happening this time as well. Will had told him to be careful.
Hermione was pale, "What would want to kill a unicorn?" She whispered. Neville nodded, pale as well.
"Harry and Malfoy had a run in with it, and saw it drinking a unicorn's blood," Will continued, "Malfoy ran off, and it attacked Harry, but he was saved by a centaur named Firenze. He told Harry that whatever was drinking the unicorn's blood was doing so to stay alive. Unicorn blood, when taken unwillingly, has properties that will keep a person alive, but only barely. They'll be cursed for the rest of their existence, living a sort of half-life. Can you think of someone who would be willing to do that?"
Everyone was pale. Harry gasped suddenly, "Voldemort," He said. Will nodded. Neville looked about ready to pass out.
"But we're safe as long as Dumbledore's here!" Will said, at their frightened faces. "Voldemort won't make a move unless he's gone."
"It makes sense," Hermione said, "That's why Snape wants the stone."
"To bring back his master!" Harry said, "We thought he just wanted to get rich or something this whole time, but he really wants to bring back Voldemort!"
"Can we stop saying the name?" Ron said, looking paler and paler.
"Anyway, there's nothing we can do right now, and we've got some studying to do. Finals are coming up, after all." Will finished.
With finals upon them, they buckled down on their work. Will though he did pretty well, all in all, once finals were over. He was pretty sure Harry did better this time around as well. They were all sitting around outside, talking, and Harry was rubbing his scar.
"Is it hurting?" Will asked.
"It has been for a while now." Harry said, "I think it means danger's coming."
"It functions as a connection to Voldemort," Will informed him, "Giving you little warnings as to what he's up to." Will glared at the scar. He hated that thing.
Ron couldn't get worked up about the name, seeing as he was too hot.
"Thankfully, finals are over," Neville said, "We have some time to relax."
But Harry jumped up. "We need to go to Hagrid's. Now."
"What?" Hermione asked, sensing the tension, "What is it?"
Harry looked at Will, and Will nodded. He knew what Harry was thinking, and he was right.
"Isn't it strange that Hagrid's always wanted a dragon, and some guy just so happens to be carrying one around in his pocket?" Harry asked, already heading off. The others raced to catch up with him.
"It was a trap, to catch Hagrid's attention," Will added, "To try and get information out of him."
Harry knocked on Hagrid's door. He answered.
"Hello, you lot! Here for a drink?" Hagrid asked.
"Unfortunately not Hagrid," Will said.
"We've got some questions for you, if that's alright." Harry said, frowning.
"Sure," Hagrid said, confused, "But are you sure you don't want to-"
Harry cut him off, "What did the guy you got the dragon look like?"
"I don' rightly know, he kept his hood up, see?" Hagrid said, and they all stared at him, "You get those types 'n the Hog's Head sometimes, it's not tha' strange."
"What did you talk about? Hogwarts?" Will asked.
Hagrid looked pensive. It was probably hard to remember exactly what they'd talked about so long ago. "It might've come up. I think he asked what I did, an' I told him I was the Hogwarts Gamekeeper, and he asked what sort o' creatures I looked after here. He kept buyin' me drinks, so everythin's a little fuzzy, but I think I said I'd always wanted a dragon. Then he tol' me that he had a dragon's egg, and we could pay cards for it, so we did. He wasn't to be sure I could handle a dragon though, so I said, after Fluffy, a dragon would be easy-"
"Was he interested in Fluffy?" Harry asked, voice deceptively calm.
"How many cerberus' do you see 'round these parts?" Hagrid laughed, "'Course he was, so I said, that Fluffy was easy if you know the trick to it. Jus' play him a bit o' music and he goes righ' to sleep- I shouldn't have said that. Hey, where're yeh goin'?"
They'd all taken off, running back to school. They ran into Mcgonagall while looking for Dumbledore's office.
"What are you all doing inside?" She asked, arms full of books.
"We need to speak to Headmaster Dumbledore," Hermione said bravely.
Mcgonagall said, "He received an urgent message from the Ministry of Magic and left about ten minutes ago."
"Now?!" Harry yelped, "He's gone now!?"
Professor Dumbledore has many important duties and can't be expected to-"
"Okay," Will butted in, "But this is about the Philosopher's stone, someone is going to try to steal it."
Mcgonagall was so shocked, she dropped her books. "How do you-"
"Do you remember the dragon Hagrid had?" Will continued, "He told the person he got it from that Fluffy goes to sleep if you play him music. The stone is in real danger."
Mcgonagall magicked up her books and grabbed them. "I don't know how you all know about this- but thank you for informing me. I'll try to let Headmaster Dumbledore know that he should come back right away. In the meantime, the stone is very well protected, so you don't have to worry. Why don't you go and enjoy the sunshine outside."
Almost immediately after, they ran into Snape, but all he said was suspicious and unhelpful nonsense. Why did he have to be such a drama queen?
Will didn't know if there was more than one way for someone to get the stone out of the mirror. It's very possible that with enough time, Voldemort could get the stone and be on his merry way. And with Mcgonagall being dismissive and Snape unhelpful, it looked like it was up to them. They'd tried to talk to some of the other teachers, but Mcgonagall had found them outside the teacher's lounge and threatened to give them detention that night if they didn't go outside. So they crafted a plan to go through the trapdoor, while outside, of course.
Unfortunately, the cloak would only fit four of them, so Neville stayed behind. He was sort of happy about that, actually. He would wait an hour, then find Mcgonagall and tell her what had happened. They'd take whatever punishment, just as long as the stone was safe. Will had also informed them about what the traps would be beforehand, and Neville gave them all of the information he had on devil's snare before they left.
So, inching their way slowly to the third floor corridor,they ran into Peeves. Harry was able to trick him into letting them go by pretending to be the Bloody Baron, and they finally made it to the right door.
They could hear growling from the inside, so Will started to sing, even before they opened the door.
Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme.
Remember me to one who lives there.
She once was a true love of mine.
As they inched inside, Fluffy didn't so much as twitch. Closing the door behind them, they threw off the cloak.
Tell her to make me a cambric shirt.
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme.
Without no seams nor needlework,
Then she'll be a true love of mine.
They inched around Fluffy's sleeping form, and found the trapdoor. Thankfully Fluffy hadn't fallen asleep on top of it.
Tell her to find me an acre of land.
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme.
Between salt water and the sea strands,
Then she'll be a true love of mine.
Carefully, they opened the trapdoor, trying to make as little noise as possible. Looking down, all they could see was darkness, but they knew that the Devil's Snare was waiting at the bottom.
Tell her to reap it in a sickle of leather.
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme.
And gather it all in a bunch of heather.
Then she'll be a true love of mine.
Ron nodded, then jumped down. Harry gave him a moment to get out of the way, then quickly followed. After another pause, Hermione followed.
Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme.
Remember me to one who lives there.
She once was a true love of mine.
Will finished off, then jumped. The fall seemed to take a while, but who knows how long it really was. Magic, ya'know? As soon as he landed, he jumped up and ran over to where the others were waiting, away from the grasping vines. Hermione had already summoned some blue flames, and they headed down the passageway to the next obstacle.
Catching the right key was easy when you knew which one to look for, and had Harry the-wonder-flier Potter with you. Unfortunately, they couldn't bring the brooms with them.
"Why supply the brooms at all though?" Will asked, "Why not make them leave and come back with their own? Isn't the point of this to make it as difficult to get through as possible? Why is it so easy?"
Next was, of course, chess. Will was terrible at chess, so he would leave this one to Ron. He had a couple of suggestions though.
"Ron, can you make Harry the king? It's important that we have him for what's coming up."
Ron nodded. "Okay, Harry'll be the king, Will, you be that bishop over there, Hermione the castle next to it, and I'll be a knight."
The pieces he gestured to moved off of the field.
"One more thing Ron," Will said, stopping him before he could move, "I'm going to be the knight, okay?"
The game played the same as Will remembered, though it was a little more alarming to see the huge chess pieces in real life. As they destroyed one another, the bits of shattering stone would slice cuts on their arms and faces as they flew by. Nobody was left completely unmarked by the time Ron cried out.
"NO! Will, was this on purpose!?" Will looked at Ron and nodded. He wasn't going to let one of his friends get hurt if he could help it.
"What!? What is it!?" Hermione asked, frantic.
"I need to be taken." Will said, serious.
"NO!" Harry and Hermione shouted.
"It's okay, I'm going to be fine. I'll be knocked unconscious. It's probably going to hurt, but I'm going to be fine after. Maybe a quick trip to Madam Pomfrey is all." Will assured them. They didn't look very relieved.
Will stepped forward, and the white queen advanced. While she was approaching, Will had a thought. He'd never tried it when he was unconscious before, only when sleeping. Maybe-
The white queen swung her arm and after a ringing in his head, all Will saw was black.
Will became aware of a strange feeling, something like warmth, he supposed. He'd felt this before, where-
"Will! You've done amazing so far sweetie!" A familiar voice said. It was Grandma!
"Grandma?" Will asked, "What are you doing here?"
"I've been watching you, just so you know. I'm very proud of you. Do you remember that glowing orb I gave you before this all started?"
"Yes, why?" Will hadn't figured out what it was yet. It had disappeared when he woke from his coma.
"It was a gift from the upper brass. They created it for whoever decided to take the mission. A bit of extra insurance, I suppose you can call it. It's a sort of energy. It's similar to Harry's protection from his mother, but yours works on spirits that have been fractured the same way that Voldemort's is. You'll be able to do some damage to him in his spirit form, maybe physical form too, though I'm afraid the only way to get rid of him for good is to get rid of his Horcruxes."
"Really?" That sounded pretty neat. "Is astral projecting part of it?"
"Not exactly," His grandmother explained, "Astral Projection is just a sort of natural consequence from throwing a soul without a body together into a new body and adding magic into the mix. Though it's interesting you've been able to teach someone else how to do it. Once his soul knew how it felt to be out of a body, it was able to replicate it without too much trouble. But be careful if you teach anybody else, it is a bit dangerous, what you're doing."
Will nodded, and his Grandma went on, "There's a reason the ghosts were afraid of you before, you know. Upper brass has sent people on missions here before, and gave them similar powers. They were to send the spirits that haven't moved on to the other side, though upper brass doesn't really care about that too much anymore. Let them do what they want, it's not a big deal. If this is what they truly want then they're fine where they are for now, and they're not hurting anyone. If anything, you should enlist their help. They might know something we don't."
Will made a face, "What about Peeves? I'm pretty sure he's not going to help, willingly anyway."
"Well, as far as we can tell," Grandma said, thinking, "Peeves and other Poltergeists are a bit different from other spirits. They're different in that they've never really been alive in the first place. They're born from surplus magical energy, especially in places with lots of young people. Got to get all of that mischief from somewhere."
"What about the Thestrals?" Will asked, "Why are they so attached to me?"
"You release a sort of aura that other creatures associated with death can feel," Grandma explained, "So creatures with a strong magical sense will all react differently. Thestrals, ghosts, phoenixes, vampires, banshee, and maybe unicorns too will all be attracted to you. Other creatures with a strong magical sense, such as Werewolves, Goblins, or Hags might be slightly off put by you. It depends on the individual, really though."
Will nodded, and Grandma continued, "About the dementors, they're really going to be the biggest part of your mission here. From what we've gathered, Harry Potter and Dumbledore will have the Horcrux thing handled, though if you want to get involved you can. The thing about Dementors is that no one is really sure where they come from, or how they continue to multiply. That energy I mentioned before should be useful here as well. It's a sort of ability that shapes itself to your wishes a bit, so hopefully that will help."
She smiled at him, "We're all really proud of you, you know? Just don't tell too many people about everything, okay? Only those you trust." Will nodded.
"Alright, I'll see you later, okay honey?" Grandma said, and hugged him again, "Ooh, I've missed you. Be careful okay? And take care of your friends. You've picked out a good group. They'll take care of you as well."
Will nodded and found himself floating above his body. Not much time must have passed, because he was still on the square where he'd been brained by the white queen. As he watched, the queen grabbed his legs and dragged him off of the board.
Harry was looking at him, shaken. In fact, Ron and Hermione were looking at him as well.
Will gestured to them while looking at Harry.
"Don't move!" Harry yelled, as Ron and Hermione started to...Will wasn't sure. He was focusing on forming a bond between him and them. Why didn't he ask the ghosts how to talk to the living while he had the chance?
{Hermione? Ron? It's just me, Will.} Will said softly. Trying not to spook them. They spooked a bit anyway.
"We need to finish the game first," Harry said, "Then we can explain."
Ron nodded and moved three spaces diagonally left, "Checkmate!" He called out.
The White King let his crown fall, and Harry ran over to check on Will's body.
"You're not dead." He called with relief. Will was relieved as well. He turned to Hermione and Ron, the former of which was looking at him curiously, the latter somewhat suspiciously.
{I can astral project, meaning I can leave my body. I'm still connected to it, see?} He gestured to the glowing cord tailing to his body.
"I've never heard of astral projection before," Hermione said curiously. That wasn't really a surprise. When Will and Harry had first entered the magical world, they'd tried to sneakily ask around about it, but nobody they talked to had ever heard of it either.
"Can we fully explain this later? We need to keep moving," Harry said, "Can you get back in your body?"
Will hovered a bit closer to his body, before stopping, {I get the feeling if I do that right now, I'll be unconscious until my body wakes up. Let's leave it here, and we can come back for it later.}
Everyone nodded, and they moved into the next room. It stunk. In a familiar way, of course. They moved past the troll, and into the Potions room. The fires flared up in both doorways.
"Here you go Hermione," Ron said, "This one's on you." Will couldn't remember which bottle was which, so he asked Hermione to figure out the riddle. She did so in record time.
"The smallest will allow us to go forward, and this round one will allow us to go back." She said, gesturing to the two bottles.
"There's only enough for one person to drink to go forward," Ron said, dismayed. Will had a suspicion that the bottles filled up after use,or the little one would be empty right now. He wasn't going to tell the others that, though. No reason to give Voldemort hostages to force compliance.
Harry gestured to the round bottle, "Ron, Hermione, you two drink the one to go back. Get Will's body to Madam Pomfrey, and find Mcgonagall. Hopefully she'll have Neville with her and will have contacted Dumbledore. I'll drink the one to go forward. Will, can you come with me in astral form?"
Will tried to pass through the wall, but was unable to. He was able to pass through the flames however. He nodded to Harry, and everyone drank their potion. Well, Ron drank first, then Hermione, but whatever.
They all walked through the flames and made it to the other side. Of course, the one waiting wasn't Snape.
Next is the battle with Voldemort, Will has a talk with Dumbledore, and explains astral projection to his friends.