CHAPTER 13: Follow your heart

A/N: Hey guys, want to apologize firstly for being a day late. This is the second last chapter of Harry's first year, which means next chapter will conclude the philosopher's stone storyline. Won't say much except that I hope you enjoy this chapter and without further ado...…

Headmaster's office, Hogwarts Castle

Dumbledore was leaning forward in his leather chair with his elbows placed on the table and his chin resting on his clasped hands. His eyebrow was raised in question and one side of his mouth was lifted at the corner as he stared at the three students sitting before him, appearing quite nervous as they kept looking at each other every few seconds and twisting and turning their hands in their laps.

"Lemon drops" He said a little too loudly to gain their attention, which made them jump a little in their seat.

Harry and Hermione shook their head. "No sir, I'm good thank you," said Harry, as Hermione nodded her head.

"Yeah, I'll take one" Ron leaned over before opening the jar that held the sweets. He grabbed one before looking at Dumbledore with his hand still in the jar. Dumbledore smiled kindly before nodding his head. Ron smiled back before he grabbed a handful of different coloured sweets. He closed the jar before sitting properly once more as he filled his pocket with the candy before popping one into his mouth.

"Mmmm" he moaned blissfully, savouring the taste of the orange flavoured candy. "Ow" he yelped, scowling at Hermione who had elbowed him in his ribcage and was glaring at him.

They all turned their attention towards Dumbledore who let out a chuckle. Hermione's faced turned red from embarrassment before she ducked her head. Ron, however, took out a green coloured lemon drop after swallowing the first one and popped it into his mouth.

"Oh, this one is even better" He said excitedly.

"I'm glad you think so, Mr. Weasley. Not everyone shares my love for lemon drops, but that has never stopped me" He took out a purple looking lemon drop from the jar and put it in his mouth. Harry and Hermione sat awkwardly as they waited for the headmaster and their 'idiot' friend, thought Hermione, to finish their candy.

"Are you sure you don't want one, Harry? I thought you liked them," said Dumbledore.

"I do Sir!" Harry leaned forward. "It's just that I don't particularly feel like eating at the moment" He finished, not wanting to offend the headmaster.

"That's alright, I understand completely" Dumbledore said, giving him a warm smile, which made him relax and brought his nerves down a bit.

"So," Dumbledore clapped his hands, before rubbing them together. "Whenever you're ready" he said raising his eyebrows, peering over his half-moon spectacles.

Harry turned to Hermione and Ron. Dumbledore watched with close inspection and utterly fascinated with the silent conversation that was happening between the first years. After a few seconds Hermione nodded her head.

Harry took a deep breath before he faced the headmaster once again. "Sir," He started but stopped. Dumbledore motioned with his head for him to continue, smiling encouragingly at him. "Umm, remember when we talked about Halloween night at the lake." He waited for the headmaster's response which came right away.

"Absolutely, I always try, and try being key," his mouth quirked into a smile as he continued. "To restore all the important conversations I've had or been a part of, and the one we shared was most certainly important if I may so in my humble opinion"

"Restore Sir?" asked Harry with a frown. Hermione and Ron sporting similar looks.

"A conversation for another time" Dumbledore waived his arm. "One I'm sure you'll find quite intriguing" Dumbledore finished with a wink.

Not wanting to get off track, Harry simply nodded his head. "As I was saying, I asked you about the dog and what if someone gets past it, even though it is nearly impossible to imagine how one would do it" Harry paused, reminding himself time and time again not to mention Hagrid's name. He didn't want his friend to get in trouble, especially if he was the reason behind it.

"Well...I heard from someone..." Harry groaned inwardly. 'Hermione was right, I should've thought about it first, Idiot' He wanted to hit his head against the wall for once again not listening to her even when she is always right, something he often realizes after he has gone through with his own stupid plan. 'Scratch that, I don't have any plans. She is right. I act first, think later.'

His hands had started to sweat as he fumbled with them in his lap. He was hoping Dumbledore to just say that they could come some other time, so he couldn't embarrass himself any further or put his friends in a vulnerable position. His inner turmoil was broken by the person sitting to his right, who grabbed his hand before speaking.

"What Harry means to say headmaster is that Hagrid told us that months back, sometime in October or even before, we don't know the exact date, someone tricked him into giving information about how to get past Fluffy" Harry's eyes turned wide as he sharply turned his head in her direction. Hermione, however, paid him no intention and kept looking straight ahead, maintaining eye contact with the headmaster.

She gulped when Dumbledore kept staring at her with a blank look before a wide smile broke out on his face, making him look twenty years younger. He turned to Harry as Hermione released a breath, she didn't realise she was holding and loosened her grip on Harry's hand.

"Well done, Harry, I must say you've done a quite splendid job on befriending someone as smart and brave as Ms. Granger" He then turned to Hermione who was blushing deeply. "A true Gryffindor in every sense" His eyes lingered on her for a moment before he noticed Ron who was looking at Hermione amusedly, always happy to see the ever so confident bookworm get a tad uncomfortable, even when someone is singing praises of her.

"And Mr. Weasley of course," Ron turned his head at the mention of his name and stared wide eyed at the headmaster before his own face quickly changed colour and resembled that of a tomato.

He swept his eyes over all three of them. "Let me just save you all the trouble and tell you what I know" After seeing them nod their heads, he continued. "Hagrid came to me after you all helped him get rid of the dragon" They all had varying expressions of shock on their faces as Dumbledore continued. "He is a very good man, Hagrid, with a pure heart and his conscious is too strong for him to not right a wrong that most people wouldn't even spare a second thought about" He paused as a dry chuckle escaped him. "I know I would've kept quite if I was in his place" He looked up from staring at his desk.

"So, he told you everything?" Harry asked with a frown, wondering why Hagrid seemed so shock when he realized what he told the stranger regarding Fluffy, information only a select few people were meant to know.

"He only told me what he thought was important from what he could remember. I filled the rest of the pieces myself," said Dumbledore.

"So, you know?" asked Ron with a hint of awe in his voice.

"That whoever this person was their primary motive was to extract information from Hagrid on how to get past Fluffy?" Dumbledore said while fiddling with the ring on his finger before looking up. "Yes" he said tonelessly.

"Wow" gasped Ron. "No wonder everyone says you're so smart. I wish I was as smart as you, so I won't have to study" he said dejectedly, inwardly cursing his brain for not being smart enough.

Dumbledore gave him a rueful smile as Hermione looked at him in disbelief, shaking her head in the process.

"My only advice would be to have a clear mind in anything you want to achieve and have patience, and not long after you would be able to taste the fruits of your hard work" he said, giving Ron a warm smile.

"But that's the problem. I don't want to work hard" whined Ron, making Dumbledore and Harry chuckle as Hermione's shocked expression turned to one of disapproval, her head shaking even more imminently.

"Well then I wish you good luck," smiled Dumbledore.

"Sir?" Dumbledore looked at Harry. "Are you not worried about this person getting past Fluffy?"

"I'm always worried, Harry," said the headmaster evasively. "But I don't dwell on it, and I would encourage you to do the same" He raised an eyebrow at him to which Harry nodded. "There is only so much we can do but that doesn't mean I or the members of the staff are not taking it seriously and not making it as our topmost priority. Trust me, we are."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" He stopped when Dumbledore raised his hand.

"You didn't" Dumbledore said warmly.

Harry shifted in his seat uncomfortably. 'This is it. Don't be a chicken and say it' "There is one more thing, Sir,"

"I'm all ears, Harry" said Dumbledore with a small smile.

"I had detention yesterday"

"Following in your father's footsteps, I see" Dumbledore cut in with a smirk. "Not sure if I should say this for not wanting you to think of him badly but the more I observe you, the more you remind me of him, so I think that you would only find it amusing, something that I'm sure your mother would've highly disapproved off, but your father would be jumping up and down from wherever he is watching you. To learn that his son, has just served his first detention, trust me when I say that very few things would bring him more joy"

"Really!" Harry asked, having forgotten momentarily about what he was going to say.

Dumbledore nodded his head. "Oh yes, if I'm not mistaken, and I very well could be, but I believe his record is still unbeaten of most detentions. 104 was the number of times he found himself cleaning a room or sorting out potion's lab or any other chore that was available at the time" Dumbledore recalled fondly as he stared out the window before turning to Harry who had a huge smile on his face, totally in contrast with the disbelief etched on Hermione's face as she turned to Harry with wide eyes, or Ron's state of shock, whose mouth was open comically.

"Please continue, my apologies for interrupting you," said Dumbledore.

"It's okay" said Harry, trying to think what it was he was saying a minute ago. "As I was saying, I had detention yesterday" He turned to Ron and Hermione. "We all did actually" Ron and Hermione nodded their heads, trying to look apologetic. "But we went to forbidden forest-"

"The forbidden forest" all lightness gone from Dumbledore's voice as he looked at Harry alarmingly.

"Umm yes... Hagrid said we were only going a little way in but then I got side-tracked and followed a trail of what turned out to be unicorn's blood, which led me to..." trailed off Harry.

"Led you to what, Harry," Dumbledore said, leaning forward.

"To...someone sucking off blood of a dead unicorn" Harry saw Dumbledore close his eyes for a second before he stared back at him.

"You think it was Voldemort" A gasp left all three of them upon hearing Dumbledore say that name.

Harry could only nod his head in response.

Dumbledore looked at him with a painful expression. "My dear boy, why didn't you come see me sooner" said Dumbledore gravely.

"I did actually," Dumbledore's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "But I didn't know the password"

"Oh, I am so terribly sorry, Harry, I'll make sure that would never happen again," said Dumbledore.

Harry nodded his head. "Okay. Now you know why I didn't tell Prof. Quirrell the whole truth. Even though I trust him, I still-"

"Prof. Quirrell?" Dumbledore cut in, halting him mid-sentence, the lines on his forehead becoming more visible as his eyebrows rose.

Harry nodded his head. "Yeah, I met him right outside your office" He narrowed his eyes in confusion. "Wait, he didn't mention it to you?"

It took Dumbledore a moment to reply. During which he stared blankly towards Harry. "Oh yes, he did. Sorry, must've escaped my mind." he said, offering him an apologetic smile. "He was very vague in his description"

"Yeah, I didn't mention Voldemort to him" Harry said.

"What happened then?" Dumbledore asked.

"Umm..." Harry was slightly baffled by the headmaster's question. He was expecting him to ask more about Voldemort and not to brush him off the way he did. "Then a centaur named Firenze came to my help and scared him away" he said slowly, a tension building inside him from the way Dumbledore's eyes turned wide, and his face became stoic at the mention of Firenze.

"Firenze" said Dumbledore, his voice devoid of any emotion. Harry nodded his head in response.

Silence enveloped them as Harry watched Dumbledore stare out of the large round window to his left that overlooked the beautiful mountains and the shimmering waterfall cascading between them.

"Sir?" He asked tentatively.

"Hmm" Dumbledore's head was still turned to the side as he ran a hand through his long beard.

"About Voldemort..." Harry paused, hoping that was enough for Dumbledore to understand what he wanted to talk about.

"Yes," Harry wasn't sure if the headmaster was even aware that there were other people in the room with him as he kept stroking his beard and had a contemplative look on his face.

Harry looked to his left at Hermione as she turned her head towards him. She gave him a little nod with a small smile, silently encouraging him to continue. His respect for her went up even higher because even though she herself had doubts about his story, she still fully backed him and supported him.

Gaining confidence, he didn't he needed, Harry looked back at the headmaster before addressing him.

"Sir!" he said a little loudly, hoping this would gain the headmaster's attention. It did as Dumbledore turned his head towards him before blinking a couple of times as he looked at all three of them. Harry was right, it seemed Dumbledore did forget that there were other people in the room beside him.

"Oh, forgive me Harry, I do have a ridiculously short attention span. Something I've been trying to improve for a very large part of my life but I'm ashamed to say that I've haven't made any improvement for as long as I could remember." He gave them all an apologetic smile.

"It's okay Sir," said Harry.

"You're very kind Harry, this habit of mine often irks people in the wrong way, and they are not as lenient about it as you" he finished with a wink which made Harry smile.

Harry cleared his throat just to delay what he was about to ask a little longer. He had everyone's full attention now, even Dumbledore's, who had his hands folded on the table.

"I wanted to know if you believe me...if you believe-" He stopped talking when Dumbledore lifted his hand.

"Let's just get one thing out of the way, Harry, so that it never comes up again alright?" Harry nodded his head, not sure what the headmaster was going to say. "I will always believe you no matter what" A huge sigh of relief escaped his lips before a smile started to form on his lips.

"Now, moving on, before I make any comments, I want you to tell me in detail what the person looked like," said Dumbledore.

"He was dressed in all black, a hood covered the top half of his face. But I could see his eyes"

"His eyes?" There was a warning laced with the headmaster's words.

Harry nodded his head. "They were red, but I couldn't see his face because right after he looked at me my scar started to hurt worse than it had ever before, and my vision got blurred"

Harry watched as Dumbledore pulled the brass ring from his left hand before placing it on the table. He then started circling the ring with his right forefinger. The sound of the ring scratching against the table was oddly soothing as he kept his eyes on it.

Dumbledore stopped moving it and pulled his hand back before placing it right next to the ring. He lifted his forefinger of the table. Three pair of eyes turned wide as the ring lifted a couple of inches of the table before slowly dropping to the table, completely in sync with the headmaster's finger. He then did the same trick with his forefinger and once again they were in awe at this simple display of non-verbal magic being performed without a wand.

Even though Harry had seen Dumbledore perform wandless magic quite a few times by now, he still got wonderstruck every time. He had seen other teachers do it as well but there was something different about the headmaster's way of doing it. It made him forget everything else for the time being, which in his opinion is always welcome since he doesn't like half the stuff that goes on in his head.

"I can't give you a definitive answer right now, Harry" Dumbledore's deep voice snapped them back into reality as they looked up into his eyes, which were closely watching Harry. "All I can tell you is that I've never come across another person with red eyes, except Lord Voldemort" He finished.

Harry gulped before slowly nodding his head. He kept his mouth shut only because he didn't believe he was capable of producing a coherent word let alone a sentence. Luckily for his sake, he didn't have to as Dumbledore continued.

"But" said the headmaster, putting great emphasis on the word. "Even if it is him, and it very well could be, you need not to worry, Harry." Dumbledore got up from his chair and walked around the desk to come stand in front of Harry. Even in a situation as serious as this, Harry couldn't help but admire the ease with which the headmaster crouched down to be on his eye level.

"I don't have the answers yet, Harry, but I promise you that when I do, so will you. My responsibility to protect you" He looked towards Hermione and Ron who were watching him with rapt attention. "Or any student for that matter isn't affected by how dangerous the threat is, it doesn't matter if Lord Voldemort is at his full power or in his weakest form, I spare no expense when it comes to the safety of my students or staff."

Harry released a shaky breath; only now realising how much he needed to hear Dumbledore say those words.

"I believe that he is trying to steal the stone to come back to full strength" Looking for any signs of shock on Dumbledore's face, Harry was surprised when the headmaster simply gave him a small smile. "I also believe that someone in the school is helping him since he can't do it himself...A teacher perhaps" He added the last part hesitantly, not sure how the headmaster would respond to such an accusation.

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow at him, his smirk still in place. "Oh really, that's rather presumptuous of you, won't you say" Harry released a breath when Dumbledore's lips curved into a small smile. "Good, very good" said Dumbledore, before standing up. Harry was slightly confused when he didn't continue further, wondering the reason behind the compliment.

"What are you going to do now professor?" asked Harry as Dumbledore went over to the phoenix perched upon a wooden stick high in the air. He started stroking its feathers which the bird seemed to enjoy.

"I'm afraid all we can do for the moment is wait" said the headmaster calmly.

Harry didn't like that idea, not one bit. "But Sir, that would just give him more time. He can stay alive by drinking unicorns' blood till he finds a way to get the stone" he said standing up.

"He won't be able to." Dumbledore turned his head in his direction. "I've been meaning to have a talk with the head of the centaur clan to let the unicorns stay in their land for a while till we figure out what is causing these attacks. After the events of last night, things have escalated faster than I anticipated which doesn't change much except the time and date of our meeting." He waived his hand over the empty bowl next to the phoenix. A moment later the bowl was filled with water.

"Do you think they'll agree Sir, I have been to their colony and apparently only a select few people have ever been inside it" argued Harry.

"I'm sure they will. Helping those in need is in the very nature of a centaur. Although they value their traditions highly, they are not opposed to go against them when it's for the greater good."

Harry nodded his head as Dumbledore walked over to him.

"My advice would be the same I gave you early morning on the day of your first match. Enjoy your youth and let me worry about everything else. Hmm" Harry looked at him for a moment before nodding his head. "You have wonderful friends, maybe for a change have a talk about quidditch or whatever kids these days are hung upon instead of conspiring against teachers." Harry's lips lifted at the corner as he nodded his head.

"I'll try" he murmured.

"And that's all I ask. Plus, you also have the final quidditch match coming up if I'm not mistaken and the final round of the duelling competition, which I must congratulate you on. You'll be proud to know that your father won it in his first year," said Dumbledore.

"Really?" a huge smile enveloped his face. "Cedric told me that he won it five times, but I didn't know that he won it in his first year. He also said that no one has one both quidditch cup and the duelling competition more combinedly"

"As of yet" Dumbledore said raising an eyebrow. Harry cheeks tinged pink as he understood the meaning behind his look.

"What about my mother. I know that she was very smart but how well did she do in the duelling competition since I know that she never played quidditch"

"She won it the other two times your father failed to, even defeating him once and if I correctly recall she beat Prof. Snape the other time. And she made it to the final round four times. It was always those three during their time at Hogwarts. Your parents and Prof. Snape." Harry nodded his head as Dumbledore continued. "Whereas your mother and Prof. Snape abided by the rules, your father, let's say was not afraid to bend them to his advantage"

"Bend the rules?" asked Hermione.

Dumbledore turned towards her. "Oh yes, that doesn't mean he wasn't a brilliant duellist, one of the best I've ever seen rather but, whereas the others, in this instance, your mother and Prof. Snape" he turned to Harry as he continued. "Accepted defeat as part of the game, your father took it rather, shall we say, not so graciously. Words were said, which once led to massive rows which I will not go into now. But it did take his friends a couple of days and though they didn't know this and believed I wasn't aware of it, bottles of Ogden's finest to bring him back to his true self which was very jovial and mischievous in nature" Dumbledore finished as a wistful smile came over his lips.

Harry let out a chuckle while inwardly hoping now more than ever that he got to spend time with his father because from everything he heard about him up until now, he seemed like a great guy, and he believed would have been an even greater father. He wanted to be like him, competitive, strong, brave, and not afraid to protect those he loved. He was brought out of his musings by Dumbledore.

"Regarding the conversation we just had, you'll know what to do when the time's right" Dumbledore walked over to his chair before taking a seat.

Harry furrowed his brows in confusion as he followed his movement all the way. He turned to Ron and Hermione who looked at him with similar looks.

"Umm-" started Harry but was cut off by Dumbledore.

"Well, if that's all I'll see you all at the feast," said Dumbledore smiling before he clapped his hands once as to signal the end of their time.

Ron and Hermione stood up and alongside Harry headed towards the door. Ron opened the door and walked out followed by Hermione. Harry was about to close the door behind him when Dumbledore stopped him.

"Harry!" He turned around to face him.

"Yes professor?" he asked with his hand still on the knob.

"Learn anything interesting at the centaur colony?" asked Dumbledore nonchalantly. "It's a fascinating place I must say, as are the people that call it home."

Harry debated with himself about what he should tell him. "Umm...yeah really interesting like you said, also really beautiful"

"I couldn't agree more" Harry noticed Dumbledore was still waiting for him to say more. "I've met Firenze quite a few times. He is very noble. I assume you spent majority of your time with him."

Sweat was starting to form on his forehead as he dreaded where this was heading. He didn't want to lie to him, but he also knew telling him the truth would break the promise he made to Firenze.

"Yes, He was real good company" he hoped that to be good enough answer.

He was slightly unnerved by Dumbledore's gaze. It was eerily similar to when he was watching Quirrell wake up from his unconscious state in the great hall on Halloween.

He didn't realise how strong his grip was on the knob as his knuckles turned white from the pressure. The tension in his body was escalating quickly as he couldn't force himself to break eye contact.

"I'll be sure to thank him for keeping you safe" Dumbledore said with a huge smile. All the tension left his body as he quickly said 'Goodbye' before hastily closing the door. He leaned back against the door and took deep breaths. He didn't ever want to experience that again. It was like a feeling of claustrophobia, as if he was locked in a tiny room and couldn't get out.

He pushed himself off the door before making his way down the spiral staircase.

…...

Harry's jersey was flapping behind him, and his ever-unkempt hair were flying in every direction as the wind got stronger. He inclined his broom upwards and flew over to the Gryffindor goals. He wanted to get a good vantage point from a spot that was also safe, so he had time to scan the pitch without getting hammered by the bludgers.

"See anything, Harry!" shouted Oliver, who had one hand on his broom, the other holding the bat. His eyes were following Angelina's movement as she raced towards the Slytherin goal, the quaffle nestled to her side as she ducked before a bludger flew over her head.

"Not yet" he shouted back.

"C'mon, c'mon!" Harry could hear Wood yelling as the crowd had gone silent.

Harry's grip on his broom tightened as Angelina dodged another Slytherin player and now only had the keeper to beat. "C'mon Angelina, you can do it"

"JOHNSON TAKES THE SHOT AND...SCORES!" The Gryffindor stand erupted in cheers but there was no celebration from the players, who quickly went back to their positions. "GRYFFINDOR FINALLY HAVE SOMETHING TO CELEBRATE IN THIS FINAL THAT HAS BEEN TOTALLY DOMINATED BY HUFFLEPUFF UNTIL NOW. THE SCORELINE NOW READS, HUFLLEPUFF 140, GRYFFINDOR 10, AS THEY FINALLY GET THEMSELVES ON THE BOARD."

Gryffindor supporters couldn't celebrate for much longer as Romando Yorick, the Hufflepuff chaser and the leading scorer in the last three years, was zooming towards the Gryffindor goal.

Wood had his arms widespread as he shifted between the side posts, probably to distract Yorick, thought Harry. He did this several times, during which Yorick cruised past Gryffindor's defence.

Harry unconsciously glided closer towards the goal as Yorick successfully dodged another bludger sent his way. The Hufflepuff chaser zig zagged as he shortened the distance between Wood and himself.

Wood left his post and stormed towards Yorick, trying to follow his sharp movements. Harry's eyes were rooted at both players as Yorick cut a sharp angle to his right and pulled his hand back to throw the ball but found his path blocked just as he was about to release it by Wood who dived to his left.

Harry's eyes turned wide in astonishment as Yorick jerked his broom to the left and shifted the ball in his left hand. It was a rouse, realised Harry too late, so did everyone else including the Gryffindor keeper, as Wood wasn't able to stop his momentum and was still moving to his right. Wood watched with wide eyes as he craned his neck at an odd angle just as the quaffle left Yorick's hand before it whizzed through the middle post.

The noise that followed was twice as louder than a couple of minutes ago when Gryffindor scored their first point, because along with every Hufflepuff in the stadium cheering and hollering, their celebration was boosted by the Slytherins, who have been cheering alongside them with equal fervour since the game started.

There was no love lost between Gryffindor and Slytherin and today's game was a perfect example of their rivalry in a nutshell. Whenever either house failed to make it to the final while the other does, it is an unsaid rule, which is only told once to every house member after they've been sorted into their house, that they must cheer for the opposite team in the final even if they lost to said team and they were the reason for them failing to make the final. That was the case this year for Slytherin. After losing their opening game against Gryffindor, they beat Ravenclaw in one of the biggest margins in Hogwarts History, 520-40. It all came down to the last game for them against Hufflepuff, which they lost by 210-70. They were leading the game by ten points when Cedric Diggory dazzled everyone in the stadium by performing a Wronski feint and grabbing the snitch just as he was about to hit the ground. Everyone was used to Cedric perform crazy stunts by now that it wasn't even a surprise anymore, whereas if it was any other person, they would've blown the proverbial roof of the stadium if it had any.

"YORICK EXTENDS HUFFLEPUFF'S LEAD BY 150-10. GRYFFINDOR BETTER START PLAYING SOME REAL QUIDDITCH BEFORE THIS THING GETS OUT OF THEIR HAND AND NOT TURN INTO ANOTHER EMABARASSING DEFEAT, WHICH SEEMS THE DIRECTION THIS MATCH IS HEADING IN." Jordan's comment brought Harry back to reality as he turned to see Wood with his head hung low flying back to the goal.

He flew over to him. "You'll get him next time" Wood turned his head in his direction and Harry was shocked with the deflated look on his captain's face. He had never seen Wood look so lost, so defeated, it seemed he had already accepted defeat. "We can still win this" He didn't know what made him say it because he also lost all hope after that last point. Up until the last point he still believed that they could pull this off, but after Yorick score that goal, he felt they were facing a team who were simply better than them.

Wood's lips curled into a sad smile as Madam Hooch called time out. The Gryffindor team quickly flew over to their captain as he turned towards his players. Harry flew from behind the goal post to join his team. "I so desperately wanted to win this year." started Wood. "I wanted to cement my legacy...so that my name would be on the trophy room. But my reasons were not purely selfish, because I also wanted to give our house something to cheer about...something to remember" His eyes swept over his team who had their eyes locked on his face as he looked down for a couple of seconds before lifting his head. "It's been 13 years since we last held the championship" He then looked at Harry. "I was 5 at the time and my dad, who owned the Three Broomsticks Inn at the time, took me and my brothers to the game and even though I don't remember anything else when I was that old, I remember every play from that game.

I remember when everyone Gryffindor in the stand erupted and started screaming at the top of their lungs when your dad caught the snitch." He let out a chuckle while shaking his head. "I remember when he flew over to our side and I was in complete shock when he stopped in front of me. I couldn't believe it. The best seeker in Hogwarts history, who my dad used to tell us stories about, was looking at me. I remember thinking it was only in my head, I was dreaming cause surely it couldn't be true. I remember when my brother snapped me out of my daze and he was still there, but this time was holding his hands in front of my face...like this" Wood demonstrated by stretching his arms forward with closed fists as he continued before holding on to his broom.

"He told me to pick one and it took me a while to understand what he meant. I remember touching his left hand and he opened it to reveal the snitch he caught. He placed the snitch in my hand and winked at me before doing the same thing to the person to my left. I remember being in shock as everyone started clapping around us before going silent again. I remember turning to see the person standing next to me look at him with narrow eyes, almost like a glare. I remember the person roll their eyes before shaking their head and lazily touching his right hand. I remember when he just kept staring at the person with almost like an evil grin on his face before opening his fist.

I remember when everyone gasped, and I had to stand on my toes to see what it was. I remember feeling disappointed when I saw nothing but a small circular object, silver in colour. Not special like the golden snitch in my hand. I remember feeling confused when the person next to me covered their face and started crying. I remember feeling even more confused when the same person leaned over the railing and yanked your father by his jersey before kissing him in front of everyone. I remember when the person got on the broom in front your dad and he circled the stadium and everyone in the stadium erupted even louder when he caught the snitch" Wood nodded his head at Harry's eyes started to fill up.

"I was there when your dad proposed to your mum, Harry. It was the only time I ever saw Slytherins clapping for a Gryffindor. That's what makes quidditch special. It brings everyone together and I..." He released a tired sigh. "I wanted to be remembered as well. I wanted to be the inspiration for the next generation like your father was for us. And you inspire people by winning and not..." He shook his head.

"Anyway, I am not going to say anything after the match because I won't have the strength to so I'm just going to say it now." He said looking at every member of the team. "I'm proud to call you guys my team, I'm proud to call you my friends and I just want you to know that I don't blame any of you for today. I can see that you gave it your all and that's all I can ask from you. Sometimes you just have to admit that the other team were better" He shrugged his shoulders.

"We're proud of you too mate" said Fred, giving him a smile.

"You're the best, simple as that" continued George.

"But you're wrong about one thing" said Fred, making Wood raise his eyebrow at him.

"You were and still are an inspiration to us," said George. Everyone in the team nodded their heads in response. Harry noticed Wood's eyes getting shiny as he avoided looking at them and in a poor attempt in which no one was fooled, wiped his eyes with his sleeve.

"Alright, everyone in" Everyone made a small circle and placed their hands on top of each other with Wood's hand on the top. "Let's have some fun shall we" His smirk was matched by George and Fred as he continued. "I don't care if we lose by a thousand points but let's give our house something to cheer about."

"And remember" added Harry. Wood looked at him before a warm smile came over his face.

"And remember" he echoed.

The sound of the whistle indicated the end of the time out as everyone went back to their position.

Harry went higher in the air as he started circling the stadium and flew closer to the stands. Obscenities of all kinds were being shouted at him by Hufflepuff and Slytherin students, but he made them no mind. Only one thought was running through his brain, which he kept reminding himself. 'I have to find the snitch; I have to find the snitch'

He turned his head down to examine the ground before looking back up. He was about to look to the right when he caught sight of something. He whirled his head to the middle of the stadium, slightly below his eye level and there it was, the golden snitch, peacefully floating in the air, oblivious to all the ruckus going around it.

He took a moment to figure what was the best of the two options, to make his way slowly and nonchalantly towards it so to not alert the opposition seeker and more importantly the snitch or, to hell with it all and make a dash for it.

He didn't have much to ponder about when his were locked with a Hufflepuff player who was positioned right across from him on the opposite end, and Harry didn't need a closer look at him to know he too had caught sight of the snitch.

Their staring contest didn't last much longer as both players took off in the next second. The entire stadium went silent, including the other players who stopped moving around because they knew the match was going to end one way or another in a matter of seconds as both seekers reached their hands out when they were less than 5 meters away from the snitch.

Harry had no intention of backing or moving away and it seemed neither did Cedric as they got even closer. Time seemed to slow down as everyone watched with bated breath. Some covered their eyes as they didn't have the stomach to watch the play happening before them, one of them was Hermione Granger.

"C'mon Harry, you can do it, I believe in you" she kept murmuring to herself. A collective gasp went around the stadium and Hermione opened her eyes to see both players flying vertically towards the clouds, their arms still stretched.

Both seekers were getting smaller with every second as they flew higher and higher before getting lost in the clouds. Everyone had their necks craned back, looking for any sign of movement.

"C'mon Harry!" shouted Ron.

"NO SIGN YET OF EITHER PLAYER. JUST TO REMIND EVERYONE THAT MADAM HOOCH WILL FLY UP TO LOOK FOR THEM IF THEY DON'T COME BACK IN TWO MINUTES, WHICH IS LESS THAN A MINUTE NOW" announced Lee.

"There they are" shouted someone from the crowd and in the next second everyone could see both seekers diving towards the ground at a breakneck pace.

"BY MY ESTIMATION AND I COULD BE WRONG SO DON'T BITE MY HEAD AFTERWARDS BUT, I BELIEVE CEDRIC IS LEADING THEM"

Hermione's grip tightened on the railing and this time she couldn't cover her eyes no matter how much she wanted to. Her eyes fixed upon her friend, whose features she could make out as he reached the stadium. His face showing absolute determination before she couldn't see it as he went below her.

"BOTH PLAYERS ARE CLOSING IN ON THE SNITCH AS THEY ARE CREEPING CLOSER TO THE GROUND. THEY ARE ABOUT TO HIT THE GROUND AND I CAN'T THIS ANYMORE!" Lee stopped commentating and like everyone else held his breath as both seekers adjusted their weight back and pulled on the handle with one arm, the other still outstretched, but it wasn't fast enough as they both hit the ground hard. Luckily for them, they had pulled their broom up enough, so the end of the handle didn't hit the ground, which could've caused them fatal injuries. Instead, the broom skidded on the ground sending both players flying forward before they hit the ground.

A collective 'OH' was heard around the stadium as they waited for the dust to clear that was hiding the players.

Hermione couldn't stop the gasp from her lips as her eyes landed on Harry's unmoving form lying on the ground.

"Oh Harry" she whimpered, before quickly turning around and trying to climb her way out.

"Hermione wait," Ron grabbed on to her hand and tugged on it.

"Let go of me Ron," she shouted back.

"The match has not ended yet." He motioned with his head.

Hermione looked behind at the ground to see some movement happening. She got back to her spot and leaned over the railing to get a good view.

Both players shifted on their backs as Madam Hooch flew down to them. She pointed her wand to her throat, casting a sonorous, so that everybody was able to hear her voice.

"Are you two alright?" she asked.

Both players nodded their heads in response.

"Good. Now, do I need to pause the match or has it ended. My bet is on the latter since I don't see the snitch"

"It's ended," said Harry. He turned his head in Cedric's direction. A small smile crept on both their faces before Cedric lifted his right hand to reveal the golden ball, held between his thumb and forefinger.

Madam Hooch blew the whistle before shouting. "HUFFLEPUFF WINS THE CUP" The noise that followed was deafening as the stadium shook with the weight of every Hufflepuff and Slytherin jumping up and down, screaming on the top of their lungs.

Hermione paid them no intention as she hurtled past everyone and started making her way towards the pitch, Ron right behind her.

Harry closed his eyes as the sunlight peeked through the clouds and blinded his vision.

"C'mon" He opened them to see Cedric standing above him, holding out his hand. "Up you get" Harry grabbed his hand before Cedric pulled him to his feet. Harry leaned into him to gather his footing as he was still feeling a bit lightheaded because of the impact.

"You're alright, you're alright" Cedric patted him on the back.

"I think I'm going to die" said Harry as he brought his hand to his forehead. He felt like his head was about to explode.

"Oh, don't be a baby. It's just a concussion. Nothing Madam Pomfrey couldn't fix in a jiffy." Harry nodded his head as he looked up at him. "Also act strong. You don't want to show any weakness because believe me every girl in the stadium has their eyes on you, which is why I'm still standing and not crying my eyes out because my ankle is absolutely killing me"

Harry chuckled loudly and instantly felt a lot better as Madam Hooch reached the ground before getting off her broom. "You have 2 minutes to be with your respective teams before I take you both to the hospital wing." They nodded their heads in response as both teams reached the ground.

Harry walked the small distance to his team as the Hufflepuff team ran over to Cedric, seeing he was finding it hard to walk, before engulfing him in a bear hug.

Wood had a huge smile on his face and before Harry knew it, he was enveloped in big hug by his captain. Harry put his arms around him as his feet were lifted off the ground. He saw his team standing before him in a group with proud smiles on all their faces.

Harry's grin widened when Fred winked at him.

"Thank you, Harry," Wood whispered to him. "For making my last match special and...for giving me another thing to remember because I will never forget this."

They broke apart as Wood put him down. "It's funny how my first time in this stadium was watching your dad" He said looking around. "And now my last game was playing alongside with his son"

Harry's eyes filled up as all the emotion of the past couple of minutes got to him. He found it very hard to speak but managed to do so. "Yeah, but you'll be back, right? If we make it to the finals next year" He said with hope shining in his eyes.

Wood let out a small chuckle before speaking. "Of course. You just keep working hard and I have no doubt in my mind that you can one day reach your father's heights. Although that's quite a tall order"

"From everything I've heard about him, I'd be more than happy if I'm even half as good as him," said Harry, making Wood scoff.

"See that's the difference between you and him. He would've never said that you know why?" Harry shook his head as Wood leaned down. "He simply wasn't that humble" he said conspiratorially. Both teammates burst into laughter.

"Alright, times up" Harry looked behind Wood to see Madam Hooch standing with her hands behind her back. "Time to go" Harry nodded his head before he started following her.

"You're a legend Harry," shouted Fred.

"Get better soon cause we're having a huge party tonight" continued George.

"I hope you have made sure to tell your head of house about this party Mr. Weasley's." said Madam Hooch.

"Of course, professor. You're welcomed to join as well" quipped George. She harrumphed in response.

"Professor, I'm not sure Cedric can walk to the hospital wing"

"He won't be walking Mr. Potter"

"Then how-" His cut his question when his eyes fell upon two hospital beds floating in mid-air, at about his waist level.

Cedric was already lying on one as Harry reached him before hopping on to the other. He was about to lie down when a voice he was all too familiar with stopped him.

"Harry!" he turned his head to see both his friends running towards him. Hermione slightly in front of Ron. She reached him and engulfed him in a hug. "Oh, I'm so relieved you're alright. I was so worried." Harry didn't need her to tell him that because he could still hear the worry in her voice.

"I had to stop her from going down when the game wasn't called off yet" Ron shook his head in exasperation. "Mental" he mouthed to Harry, who smiled at him.

Hermione pulled back before addressing Madam Hooch. "We'll go with him. We're going leaving any way"

"Fine, but you are not allowed to enter the hospital wing until Madam Pomfrey says so" she said sternly.

"Fine" It seemed Hermione wanted to argue that point but bit her tongue for the time being.

Madam Hooch waived her wand, making the beds glide in the air at a slow pace. Ron and Hermione walking right beside Harry's bed.

…...

Harry was sitting in the great hall, enjoying his breakfast of eggs and bacon. The hall was mostly empty except a dozen students scattered around. A week of easter holidays had already passed and just like Christmas holidays, majority of the student population went home to spend time with their family. That included both of Harry's friends. Ron, who really wanted to stay back said his mother wouldn't allow it this time no matter how much he insisted. The whole Weasley clan was getting together after a year.

Unlike previously, Harry didn't mind being alone this time, at least not nearly enough, since he still missed his friends. He found himself not too bored mostly even though his days were passing in a similar routine.

Majority of his day was spent wandering around the castle, trying to locate every secret path there was. He had found 7 until now. 4 of the passages were hidden behind tapestries and the other three were camouflage as part of a wall.

He didn't want to admit it but 5 of the 7 passages he found were totally accidental and not because he was a genius explorer.

Apart from that he would play chess with Dean, who had also stayed back. His fear of spending time at his grandparents' house because that's what his parents had planned for the holidays made that decision for him.

Harry found his company quite enjoyable, and they had some similar interest since they both came from muggle backgrounds. He learnt that Dean was an avid football fan, a sport Harry himself enjoyed playing back in his old school. They also talked about movies and music, stuff Harry didn't have much experience with, but he could still have a conversation about.

"Hey Harry, your owl dropped this on your bed" Harry looked up from his plate as Dean dropped a letter in front of him.

"Thanks" he said as he picked it up.

"Don't mention it" said Dean as he sat opposite him before filling his plate with eggs.

Harry didn't need to open the letter to know who it was from; he knew that just by looking at it.

"Umm...I'm going back to the common room. Once you're finished, we can go look for more passages." He said as he stood up.

"Works for me mate" Dean gave him a thumbs up.

Harry closed the door to the dormitory before plopping onto his bed. He unfolded the letter with urgency, his hands shaking in the process.

He quickly scanned the letter just to make sure. He was right. The letter was signed in his aunt's name at the bottom.

He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled it before shifting his eyes to the first word on the paper.

Harry,

I must say I never expected this. Your letter really surprised me and that's the main reason why it took me so long to reply. After everything that has happened and the way you left; I was half expecting you to never come back. But I'm glad you did this.

I have been thinking a lot after you left, about everything, but mostly how badly I treated you. I know you might not believe me, but I wanted to apologise to you during the last few days before you were going to leave. I don't have any excuse except to say that I was afraid, knowing you inherited your father's temper I was scared you might take it the wrong way.

But now I can do that through this letter, which I know is complete cowardice on my part, but I have never been a brave person.

I'm sorry Harry, I'm not lying when I say that I'm crying as I write this, you could probably see the evidence with the tear stains all over the paper. When your headmaster came to the house, a part of me that I had closed off for so long woke up. Hearing your parents name being said after so long really shook me as I'm sure you would have noticed.

I'm so ashamed of myself, of all the things I said to you, the lies I told you about who you were, and about her. About my own sister, who always looked after me even though it was my responsibility, who always forgave me and never judged me even though she should've done the opposite.

We loved each other and there was never a moment where we weren't together. I still remember when she used to come to my bed because she was afraid of lightning. We slept with our arms around each other because even though I never told her, I was scared too.

That all changed when she got her letter and left for Hogwarts. I won't go into much, simply because I don't think you can fully understand yet how a mind of a teenage girl works, but slowly we grew apart and it was all my fault.

I became envious and jealous and made nasty comments towards her that fractured our relationship. But we still talked and hung out whenever she used to come back during her holidays, but those were rare occasions.

That's why I was so surprised after I read your letter because I'm not the person she spent most of her time with even when she was home for holidays. It was always Severus, a boy who lived a couple of houses from us. He was also magical like her and they were in the same year too.

They were inseparable, joined at the hip most of the time, one of the reasons that usually started our fights.

I don't know if he is still alive or not, you might have to ask your headmaster that. The last time I saw him was the night Dumbledore delivered you to us. I was about to close the door after he left when I saw Severus standing right across the street. He had blood all over his face and we just stared at each other for I don't know how long but then he was gone, doing what Lily mentioned was 'apparatus' I think, I'm not sure. It used to scare the living daylights out of me every time she did that.

But if he is still alive than you need to get hold of him if you want to really learn about your mother. I can tell you stories about her or what she was like as a child but I'm afraid not much regarding when she got older.

She never told me or our parents what was going in the magical world, so we didn't have a whole lot to talk about as her interests also changed. When once we used to spend an entire day watching Disney movies, she had her head stuck in one of those heavy tombs most of the time after she came back for holidays.

But that's life I guess, something I realized a lot later in life and the one thing I wish I could tell my younger self.

As I mentioned above, if you want to really know what she was really like and how she changed as she grew up, then try and get in contact with Severus. Though I'm not sure he would be of much help since I never saw him talk civilly to anyone else except your mum. God, if I could tell you how much I hated him, but he did save your mum's life once so I guess I can't get too mad. Probably the only reason why I didn't kill him.

P.S. I know it's not going to be easy to talk face to face for either of us when you come back so if you still want to do this, I'm more than happy.

Your aunt Petunia.

Harry put the letter on his bed as he stared outside the open window. He got up from his bed and walked over to it. He sat on the windowsill and leaned his head against the wall. He looked down at the ground below, watching a couple of first years, Ravenclaws it seemed from their uniform, playfully pushing each other.

He released a slow breath as he closed his eyes, his mind filled with different kind of thoughts, but one at the centre of it that included his potions professor.

'Talk with Snape, sure, that would be easy. Why would mum ever be friends with a twat like him?'

…...

The great hall was filled with students as the finals of the duelling competition were about to start. Harry envied as he looked around at the students who were calmly standing, amusedly watching people like him break into sweats and shake nervously.

His eyes caught Malfoy's who was standing next to his friends, his face stoic and not showing any emotions, but Harry knew by looking at him that he was just as nervous as him.

"Harry, over here" Hermione tugged on to his sleeve and pulled him with her.

"I thought we had more time" he said in a panicked voice.

Hermione shook her head before pointing her hand towards the front of the hall. "No, Prof. Dumbledore has an announcement to make. See"

He nodded his head as his eyes found the headmaster standing with his hands folded at the front. "Thank you" started Dumbledore with a smile. "I'm afraid I have some bad news, for me that is as I have just been notified by this letter" He lifted his hand that held the letter. "That my presence is required at the ministry urgently, so I'm afraid I must take your leave" A chorus of 'No' went around the hall.

"Oh, don't pretend" chuckled Dumbledore, making everyone laugh, except Snape. "Well, I wish you all good luck and always remember, never be afraid to follow your heart and rely on your instincts whenever in doubt" Harry's eyes turned wide when he found himself staring into the twinkling blue eyes of the headmaster. "They will always lead you to the right place. But I suppose I don't need to tell you that, you already know what to do"

He felt as if he was specifically talking to him. He inhaled sharply once he understood the hidden meaning behind his words.

'He was talking to me'

Dumbledore started walking towards the oak doors, taking large strides as students cleared his path. Harry kept his eyes glued to him all the way. He let go of Hermione's hand and walked towards the centre of the hall.

"Professor-" he was cut off by Dumbledore as he went passed him.

"You know what to do Harry" he winked before exiting through the doors. Hermione and Ron came to stand by his side.

"What was that, Harry?" she asked, with a hint of nervousness. He guessed she already knew but wanted to hear from him.

"It's happening tonight"

A/N: So guys, what did you think. Post your comments and let me know. Extremely excited to bring you guys the final chapter of this storyline. Stay safe and I'll catch you in the next chapter.