Clay Pinions
By Lochar
Disclaimer: You shall all bow down before the true owner of the Harry Potter series. Hey, wait a sec, why are you bowing to JKR? Grrr….
A/N: I will be directly answering all reviews that are more than 'good/great story' at hannibalbarca.proboards46. com/index. cgi Remember to remove the spaces, under author responses.
Chapter 20
Hagrid led the way into the forest, Harry behind him and Fang in the back. Hagrid was holding his massive crossbow easily.
"Hagrid, do you even have any idea what's in here?" Harry questioned from behind him.
"Nah, but whatever it is 'as teh be Dark. Unicorn blood will keep anyone alive, even if they're 'bout ter die, but it's a cursed life. Ain't no way teh live, like that." Hagrid stopped for a moment, looking about. "Dunno where it might be though." He said quietly as he continued walking.
They went another hundred feet into the forest, down a little-walked path before Harry spoke again.
"Hagrid, if we do find it, what am I supposed to do about it? You've at least got your crossbow and Fang can either attack it or run off, but I don't know what I could do to it. I doubt the Jelly-Legs jinx is going to do anything to it." Hagrid stopped again and turned to look at him. "I mean, what was Professor McGonagall thinking? What good am I going to be out here, really?"
"She probably wants ter scare yeh a bit, Harry. Make yeh be good." He thought for a moment. "Yeh know how to shoot sparks, right?"
"I do, but what good are sparks going to do me?"
"Easy enough. Blind wha'ever it is, or mehbe catch summat on fire between yeh and it. Somethin' enough to give me time to get it."
Harry nodded. "Okay, I'm pretty sure I can do that."
Hagrid watched as Harry closed his eyes and noticeably calmed down. Inside the Void, Harry saw that his Chi was still at less that half of what it normally was. That's still out then. Channeling a small portion of his magical core into his wand, -still several times more than what was required to cast sparks- Harry opened his eyes. He then grinned at Hagrid. "What do you know; maybe this will work out."
"Let's hope fer the best then, Harry." Hagrid again resumed walking.
The path they were taking seemed to wind through the whole forest, twisting in on itself almost. The longer they walked the path, the more nervousness seemed to beat against the Void in Harry's mind. In response, Harry kept adding a little more magic into his wand, his eyes alert and constantly on the lookout for anything that moved.
A rustle of branches came from the right, and Harry spun to face them, wand held out and nearly vibrating with the magical potential Harry had already pushed into it.
"Hold on a sec, Harry." Hagrid put his much larger hand over Harry's own, keeping his wand tilted down, away from the bushes.
Heavy footfalls were heard first. Harry frowned, as it sounded like more than one person. As the sound drew closer, a man with black, scruffy looking hair appeared from the bushes, even taller than Hagrid was. The man stepped away from the bush, and when Harry looked down to size him up, gasped to see the man's body was connected to a horse at the waist. "Wow." He breathed out.
Hagrid nodded to the creature. "Hullo Bane." He looked down to Harry and quietly said, "He's a Centaur, Harry."
"Hagrid." Bane replied. He looked at them both for a moment, then spoke again. "Neither of you should be in the forest this night." Bane looked up into the sky. "Mars rises high, and seeks conflict."
"Sorry, Bane, but I hav' teh. There's summat in the forest killin' teh unicorns." Hagrid patted his crossbow. "'Sides, Professor Dumbledore gave me a coupla enchanted crossbow bolts. Supposed to pierce through anything."
"I'll not stop you, but do attempt to have your corpses removed from the forest if the night turns tragic." Bane his head and looked to Harry. "Jove's Bolt. How… unexpected." Bane turned and walked back off the path, disappearing into the trees.
After waiting a moment, Hagrid knelt down next to Harry and whispered, "Centaurs are a strange lot, Harry. Stargazers, every one of them; always got their heads stuck in the clouds. Don' let that fool yeh though, they're smart enough not teh let on how smart they are; if yeh catch my meanin'." He then straightened up, and spoke louder. "Now c'mon Harry, no time to waste."
As Harry continued to follow Hagrid, he kept a very close eye on the sides of the path. "Hey, Hagrid! What's this?" He stopped and bent over, looking at a branch. Hagrid stopped and peered at it as well.
"It's unicorn blood Harry. And it's fresh. Mehbe we kin catch up to wha'ever's out there." Hagrid checked over his crossbow again, then pushed through the bushes, off the path.
This is going to be very quick, hopefully. Wand held in front of him, Harry followed Hagrid through the brush, again adding to the magic he held ready in his wand.
After crashing through the brush for a few minutes, Hagrid stumbled out into a clearing with Harry closely behind him. In front of them lay a dying unicorn, with a strange shadowy creature hunched over it, feasting on the blood welling up from the unicorn's neck. It spun around, hissing at them as it heard Hagrid's approach.
Hagrid immediately let off the bolt from his crossbow, and it flew true, straight at the head of the creature. At the last moment, an arm came up and the bolt suddenly veered off it's path, going through a tree trunk before imbedding itself in another outside the clearing.
Cursing, Hagrid started fumbling with the crossbow to draw it back and load another bolt. "Harry! Blind it so I can get another bolt at it!"
Grimacing, Harry nodded. Lifting his wand, he pointed it at the center of the slowly approaching creature. The movement drew the creature's gaze towards Harry, and he felt a sharp pain go through his forehead, centered on his scar. Pushing the pain away and fully entrenching himself into the Void, Harry pushed as much as of his magic he could safely control into his wand.
"Creating sparks from your wand does not even require a spoken spell. Just like when you first received your wand, a movement with the proper mindset can create a few sparks. Enough to light a small campfire perhaps." The words of Professor Flitwick echoed through his mind as Harry jabbed his wand towards the creature, intent on creating enough sparks to blind it long enough for Hagrid to reload and fire another bolt.
Instead of a few or even a handful of sparks however, an absolute deluge of sparks flowed from his wand, looking almost like a jagged beam of magic arcing towards the creature. Harry felt the magic in his wand slowly fade as the bolt went on for a few seconds, striking the creature dead center.
The creature screamed and dove deeper into the forest. Hagrid shot another bolt into the forest after it, but neither saw if it had been hit.
Hagrid lowered his crossbow, then looked at Harry with wide, astonished eyes. "Where in the world did yeh learn a spell like that, Harry? And yeh did it wordlessly too!"
Harry shook his head. "I was just trying to make sparks Hagrid. But I put a hell of a lot of magic behind it, so maybe that's what made it different?" He shrugged. "Either way, I think we drove it away. Can we go back now?"
"Sure, sure. I don't think that beast is goin' to stay around much longer, if it survives wha'ever you managed to do to it, Harry." Hagrid looked around the clearing, and then looked up into the sky. "Looks like Hogwarts is back this way, c'mon."
Harry quietly followed Hagrid, yawning.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Harry sunk down at the Gryffindor table the next morning, his eyes still bleary from the night before. He nodded to Ron and Hermione, then started picking through his food, intent on eating enough to wake himself up.
"I see you survived your detention in the forest, Potter. Pity really. Had you not, it would have made one less idiotic Gryffindor walking the halls." Malfoy's voice rang out from behind Harry, at the Slytherin table.
Harry turned around slowly. Yawning, he looked Malfoy over, and then turned back around to his breakfast. Speaking to Ron and Hermione, Harry made sure that his voice was loud enough to carry over to Draco. "You know, I wish I had one of Hagrid's enchanted crossbow bolts. I could test their ability to pierce through anything. See if they could manage to get through Malfoy's overly large ego."
Amidst the snickers from the Gryffindors, Harry calmly finished eating. He could almost hear Malfoy's teeth grinding from across the hall. It actually made a somewhat pleasant background sound.
Once they were done, Harry stood up and motioned for Ron and Hermione to get up as well. "Come on, we've got class shortly."
Hermione nodded. "And exams are next week. We want to make sure we know everything that might be on the tests."
Ron groaned, but got up and followed as well.
-
The trio had managed to make it to the Charms classroom early, and Hermione had decided she wanted to discuss Harry's detention the night before.
"So what happened last night, Harry? Why on earth did you have to go into the forest?"
Harry sat back in his chair, thinking over the night before. "Something was killing the unicorns in the forest." Hermione gasped and covered her mouth, while Ron's eyes widened and he went pale. "Yeah, I know. Hagrid said there shouldn't have been anything in there able to kill them. But there was. After wandering around in the forest for over an hour we met a Centaur, and then a little while afterwards found the creature."
Hermione was digging through her pack and had pulled out a copy of Fantastic Beasts. "What was it Harry? Maybe we can look it up."
"Dunno. It was like it was made of shadow or something. Hagrid shot at it with his crossbow, but it knocked away the bolt without even touching it, so I guess it was magical as well." Harry thought for a moment. "I tried to shoot sparks at it to blind it so Hagrid could try shooting it again, but the spell messed up."
Ron looked at Harry strangely. "Messed up? Shooting sparks? How can you mess that up?"
"Dunno. I jabbed my wand at it, intent on hitting it with enough sparks to give Hagrid time, but instead it was like… a lightning bolt. Hey, Hermione. Who's Jove?"
Hermione looked up from her book. "It's another name for Jupiter, a Roman God who was the leader of that pantheon. He had lightning bolts made for him by Vulcan, forger of the Gods, why?"
"Because that Centaur looked at me and said something about 'Jove's bolt'. He wasn't really looking at me though; he was looking at my wand. I'd put a lot of magic into it before I tried casting those sparks." Harry froze for a second, realizing what that meant. "He knew!"
Both of the others were impressed as well. "Maybe he was able to see what you were going to cast, Harry." Ron remarked.
They had to be quiet after that, as the rest of the class started filtering in, and Professor Flitwick showed up. Class went well, with Harry doing his best to earn back all the points he had lost for Gryffindor.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
The week of exams went easily, with the Trio impressing their instructors on practical knowledge. Only Hermione had managed to do decently in History of Magic, -as the entire thing was written- which had turned out to be their last exam.
They were eating dinner in the Great Hall, discussing their exams and what they had hoped to receive for grades when Harry noticed something.
"Uh, anyone see the Headmaster?" He quietly asked of the table.
Seamus looked up. "Hmm? No. He was here at lunch, but I don't think I've seen him since then."
The rest of the first years agreed, so Harry looked to Ron and Hermione and asked them, sounding hopeful. "Either of you see him since lunch then?"
They shook their heads slowly, realization dawning on them.
Harry sighed, then nodded. "After dinner then, you think?"
"Yes. We need to tell Professor McGonagall; She might be able to find him. She's the Deputy Headmistress as well, so it's only proper." Hermione said.
Neville overheard them, and looked at her oddly. "What would you need to tell her?"
Hermione shrugged. "It's something we were working on for extra credit. She told us to check with the Headmaster after exams, but he's not here. Maybe she can help us, as she's the Deputy Headmistress."
Ron looked at her, amazed at the story she had made up seemingly on the spot.
"Oh, ok." Neville went back to eating dinner, and the trio looked at each other, considering what they were going to do.
-
It was an hour or so before curfew when they managed to find Professor McGonagall in her office, going over papers.
"Professor, do you have a moment to talk?" Hermione started.
"Of course Miss Granger. What brings the three of you to my office this late?" McGonagall laid down her quill and looked expectedly at them.
Harry took a breath, and wanting to waste no time, jumped to the heart of their problem. "The Philosopher's Stone."
McGonagall looked shocked for a moment, before she narrowed her eyes and set her lips into a fine line. "And just how do you know about something like that?"
"We know it's being protected in the third corridor, Professor. Where's the Headmaster at? It's important." Ron added.
"Professor Dumbledore was called away for an emergency meeting at the Ministry."
"Someone tricked him then. Snape's going to go after the stone tonight, Professor. He got the Headmaster out of the school, and now he's going to go after it!" Harry quickly blurted out.
McGonagall frowned. "Professor Snape," she stressed, "was one of the people to help protect the stone. I don't know how you found out about it, but it is very well protected. You should just forget about it, and go to bed." She waved them off. "If there is nothing else?"
"No, Professor McGonagall." Hermione's voice was quiet.
Once they were outside the office, Harry spoke quickly and quietly. "I'm going down there tonight. I don't care what she says, Snape's going after it."
Ron nodded. "I'm going with you. You're going to need help."
"Hermione? I take it you're coming as well?" Harry asked as they walked towards their common room.
"My not going isn't going to stop you, is it?" She asked, and Harry shook his head. "Then I'm going to keep you two out of anymore trouble than we're already going to get into."
Harry stopped a little distance away from the Fat Lady's portrait. "We'll leave an hour after curfew, sound good? That should be a long enough time that everyone else will be in bed."
They nodded and the trio made their way into the common room.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
The three met down in the common room, an hour after curfew started.
"So, you two ready?" Harry asked.
They both nodded. They were making their way towards the portrait when a voice spoke up.
"Harry, you're going to get in trouble and lose more points."
Harry spun around, and found Neville sitting in one of the chairs, which had been turned to face the exit.
"Guess you didn't believe Hermione at dinner, did you?" Harry grinned slightly, looking to Hermione.
"Not quite. I can't see Ron doing anymore work over the summer than we've already been assigned." Neville stood up and looked at Harry. "We won't come in last right now, Harry. But if you get caught tonight, we'll be dead last with no way to catch back up."
"Petrificus Totalus." came Hermione's voice, catching Neville unaware. Neville's body froze, arms and legs snapping together as he fell back against the chair. "Sorry, Neville. We don't have any choice."
"We'll let you go after we get back. Don't be too mad at us." Ron said.
The trio walked out of the common room, Hermione sparing one last glance at Neville.
"You think he'll be okay?" She asked as they walked down the stairs.
"If nothing else, someone will find him in the morning if we don't let him out of it earlier." Harry replied.
They reached the stairs leading to the third corridor; the stairs had already turned to the correct area. They quickly ascended the stairs, and stopped at the door leading to Fluffy.
Ron paused before opening the door. "You think we'll be able to get past the dog?"
"Either Snape's already gotten by it and we can too, or he's not made it here yet and we can stop him before he gets here. We've gotta open the door either way, Ron." Harry explained.
Sighing, Ron quietly pushed open the door.
"I'll look first." Harry said, and quickly stuck his head past the door, looking into the room. He then pulled back. "Fluffy's asleep, and there's a harp in there playing by itself. Looks like Snape already got past him. Come on, we need to hurry up and catch him."
They walked into the room, seeing the trapdoor was already open and Fluffy was far enough away that they wouldn't wake it going past.
Hermione looked down the trapdoor into the darkness. "There's no ladder. We're going to have to jump if we want to get down there."
Harry frowned, peering into the darkness. "Listen, I'll go first. If it's a hard landing down there, I should be able to land without breaking anything." Taking a deep breath, he leapt down the trapdoor entrance.
He landed on something soft, which gave enough to where he didn't have to try to land. "It's safe! There's something soft; go ahead and jump down!" Harry yelled back up.
In quick succession, Ron and Hermione landed nearby. "Where are we?" Ron's voice came from his left.
"I think we landed on a really big plant." Hermione said. "It looks like this is what broke our fall. Do either of you two see the exit out of here?"
After a few seconds Ron spoke up. "Hey, you see that? There's some light over there. I think that's the way out." Ron could be heard moving around, trying to get off the plant. "Hey, what? It's not letting me go. I'm tangled in the bloody thing! One of you two come get me lose?"
Harry laughed. "Yeah yeah, hold on a sec." Attempting to dig himself out, the vines of the plant grabbed onto him even tighter. "Blast! The plant's grabbing me too! What's going on?"
The boys heard muffled movement coming from where Hermione was, and then her panicked voice. "It's Devil's Snare! The more you try to escape, the harder it holds onto you! I can't believe it's so big! I've never heard about one growing to this size."
Harry quickly stopped moving, and the vines greatly slowed their constriction. They didn't relax their hold though. "It still doesn't let us go! How do we get out?"
"Um… It likes the dark and damp, so fire? Yes! Fire makes it retreat!"
Ron's voice rung out. "But where are we going to get fire? I don't exactly carry it in a jar or anything."
"Are you, or are you not a wizard, Ronald?" Hermione pulled out her wand and pointed at a part of the plant not near any of them. "Incendio!" A small jet of flame raced from her wand to the plant. Where the fire touched, the plant pulled back sharply, leaving a view of the ground underneath it. Hermione then directed the flame closer to herself, and the plant pulled away, leaving her free to walk away from it.
Harry and Ron pulled their own wands. "Only cast near yourself Ron. You know how close you are to hitting yourself; I don't want to get burned by you accidentally." Harry said.
"Would I do that?"
Harry laughed a bit. "I'm not answering that."
With that, the two boys also starting casting "Incendio" at the plant near them, forcing it to draw away from them, and they burned their own path out of the gigantic Devil's Snare.
"Well, that was fun. What's next?" Ron asked, grinning.
Hermione frowned at him. "That plant could have very easily ripped you into pieces, Ron, and you say it was fun?"
Ron shrugged. "But it didn't, so now I can laugh at it."
"Come on guys, we're not getting any closer to Snape just standing here." Harry pulled them towards the door, where they could see light shining through.
Harry pulled open the door and they walked through.
"Bloody Hell, it's a giant chess set." Ron's eyes were wide. "Wonder what it's doing here?"
"You can admire it later. Let's just get across it." Hermione started across the board, with Harry and Ron cautiously following. They were just about to the black pieces when the pawns came alive and pulled swords on them. They quickly stopped.
"Okay… Looks like they don't want to let us past. I guess we have to play and win to get across." Ron looked around. "All the spaces are set up right. Let's go behind white and let me play."
They quickly got off of the board, and Ron went and stood behind the white King. "Let's get this started. Pawn to A3."
The pawn in question turned around and looked at Ron. It shook its head and remained where it was.
"Damn it. Looks like we're going to have to play as the pieces before they'll listen to us. Harry, you go take the spot for the kingside rook, Hermione you've got the queen. I guess I'll be the queenside knight." The pieces in question quickly moved off the board, the knight leaving behind his horse.
They got into position and Ron called out the move to the pawn again. "Pawn to A3." This time, the pawn moved forward as requested.
Immediately, the black side made its move, leaving Ron to make another move for white. After a few moves, black took the first piece. The bishop smashed the stone pawn, drug it off of the playing field, and then took its place.
Ron gulped. "Looks like it's real wizard's chess then. I'll make sure we don't get hit." Harry and Hermione nodded, both slightly shaken.
The game continued, with Ron racing around on the board taking many pieces, sometimes barely noticing before his piece was taken. Harry and Hermione he ordered about, making sure of their safety first.
Eventually, Ron looked around. "Great, we're almost there guys. I have to move, and then the queen will take me. Harry, then you can checkmate the King, got it?"
Harry shook his head. "Ron, you're going to get yourself hurt, maybe even killed." He eyed the destroyed chess pieces off to the side of the board.
"It's the only way, Harry. You need to keep going, catch up to Snape." Ron made to move.
Harry glared at him. "Do it, and I'll run to you instead of finishing the game. Isn't there anyway to win without losing your piece?"
Ron looked over the board again for a moment, thinking through the moves. "No, if we don't do it this way, you'll be lost in two moves, Hermione in three, and then me two moves after that."
"Let me think on this for a moment then. Hold on." Harry stood there, thinking. "Hermione, do you have any ideas on stopping this stupid game before Ron gets hurt?"
Hermione was thoughtful for a moment. "I don't think we've learned any spells that could stop something this big. And they're probably enchanted against any other magic that could affect them."
Harry looked over to Hermione, across the chessboard. "Hold on a second, that rings a bell. Where do I remember that from…" His eyes lit up. "Professor Maison! When I transfigured the Slytherin table into a pig, he said I did it a lot easier because I was using my Chi to do it instead of magic. Let me try that."
"Harry, test it on one of the pieces off the board. If you do it to a piece on the board and it doesn't work, they might attack us." Ron quickly said.
Harry nodded, and then closed his eyes. Bringing up the Void, he pulled the connection between his magical core and his wand, and attached it back into his Chi. He opened his eyes again. "Here goes nothing. Finite Incantatem, you think?"
Hermione nodded. "If it's strong enough you should be able to undo any of the enchantments on the piece."
Harry looked at the remaining pieces on the chessboard that they were against. "Okay, 5 pieces including the king. I'll try it on a pawn off the board, first." Channeling a small amount of Chi into his wand, he noticed the wand quickly seemed to resonate with the energy in it. He chuckled slightly. "I think I've got a lot more Chi than I did before." Pointing his wand towards the pawn farthest away from the board, he called out "Finite Incantatem!" The energy shot out of his wand, hitting the pawn center mass. The pawn's sword dropped out of its hand, crashing to the ground where the stone shattered. It did not rebuild itself.
Ron grinned. "Bloody hell yes, looks like we've got a way out of here without losing. Hit the king first, Harry. Maybe we can end the game automatically."
Harry nodded. "Ok, the King goes first." He again channeled a small amount of Chi into his wand, pointing it at the king. Another "Finite Incantatem" rang out, and streaked towards the black king. The king brought up its sword to try to deflect the energy, but it struck the sword instead of rebounding. The energy surrounded the king, and its sword fell down, along with the crown from on top of its head. The rest of the pieces put down their swords as well.
"Holy-!" Ron shouted, as the horse he was sitting on fell from a charge position to a normal trot. Ron quickly got off the horse, and walked over to Harry. "Good job, mate. Let's go find Snape."
They quickly ran through the door, which closed behind them. Hermione spun around. "The door!"
Harry looked at it with a grimace. "Well, if we can get through to the end, I bet the door opens back up. Now what do we have to do in this room?"
Looking around, they saw an old, ornate door across the great stone room. Getting closer for a better look, they saw it had a heavy lock.
"So, where's the key?" Ron looked around and noticed broomsticks leaning against one of the walls. "Brooms?"
Harry followed Ron's attention and caught sight of the brooms. Frowning, he looked higher and spotted what appeared to be birds perched high up, along the walls. The way sparse light from the unseen ceiling glittered on them, belied that they were birds. Squinting his eyes, he could just make out the shape of a few. "Keys! With wings!"
Now that all of them saw the keys, Hermione looked back at the door. "It's probably an old key, like the lock. I can barely fly a broom though, so you two are going to have to look for the key."
Harry and Ron nodded. "Come on, Ron. Betcha I can find it before you." Harry grinned at him.
"Of course you can, Mr. Seeker. I'll give you a run for your Galleons though." Both boys quickly grabbed a broom and rose from the ground. As they did, all of the keys took off, flying around the giant room. After a few minutes of searching, Harry shouted back down to Hermione. "There's too many of them! I can't tell which one might be the right one!"
Hermione thought for a moment. "See if you can find any of them that have already been tried. He got past here, so the right key had to have been used."
They nodded to each other, and kept looking. After a few moments, Ron pointed it out. "There it is! Harry, help me catch it!"
Harry quickly rose to block the flying key from getting away while Ron sped towards it. They managed to grab the key, which already had a bent wing from being used before. Wrestling it down to the door, Hermione managed to jab its 'head' into the lock and turn it. Both doors opened, and the winged key flew away, spinning out of control from the continued misuse.
"Okay, we got past this one. Hopefully we can get to the end of this stuff before Snape makes off with the stone." Harry looked at his friends. They both nodded, and they quickly pushed through to the next challenge.
"Great Merlin, what is that smell?" Ron asked.
Hermione walked in as well, then immediately held her nose. "I think… it's that thing." She pointed to a nearby troll, which was lying unconscious on the ground.
"It's even larger than the one from Halloween." Harry remarked. "I don't think any of us could have even made a dent in that thing. I'm kinda glad Snape got to this one ahead of us."
Ron laughed. "Yeah. Maybe it took a chunk or two out of him before he got rid of it."
They quickly moved into the next room, which again had the door slam behind them, sealing itself shut.
"Great, another key room." Ron sighed. "So, where's the key this time?"
Hermione looked around the room, including up towards the ceiling. "I don't see anything immediately obvious. Let's look at the door."
The trio cautiously walked up to the door. The door and all the walls were covered in a strange pattern.
Hermione examined the pattern closely. "A rune? It looks somewhat familiar. I can't tell what it is though. Where would I have seen it?"
Harry looked at the rune, then looked closer at the door. "Hey, there's a different rune written on the lock itself."
"Inscribed on the lock, you mean. Let me see." Hermione looked closer. "I don't have the faintest idea what this one is."
"This time it looks familiar to me. What could it be?" Harry continued to examine the lock.
Ron kicked the door. "You know, sometimes it's simple. Alohomora!" The spell shot out of his wand at the lock, but the runes around the lock glowed for a moment, pulling the spell apart. A glowing light also came from the other runes moving away from the lock. "I guess it's not that simple." He grinned ruefully.
"Hold on, maybe it is. Those runes absorbed your spell, right Ron?" Hermione looked closer at the runes when Ron nodded. "This rune… That's why it's familiar! We look at it every day. It's the rune inscribed onto our wands."
Ron looked down at his wand and laughed. "That'd explain it then."
"It's a Rune of Absorption." Harry said. "It's pulling any spell sent at the lock apart, and there're so many other runes that you can't just destroy this rune and get by." Harry looked down at his wand. "Mr. Ollivander put a Rune of Control on my wand. It looks kinda like what's on the lock. Instead of just shooting the spell, maybe you have to actually control the spell after casting it and making it ignore all the Runes of Absorption."
Hermione nodded. "That sounds right, but we can't cast spells like that. It's probably a very difficult thing to do, and you'd have to be experienced to do it."
Harry grinned. "Or have control of your magical core like I do. Let me try." Hermione and Ron stepped back, and Harry took a step towards the door. Leveling his wand at the lock, he cast the unlocking spell. "Alohomora." As the spell came out of his wand, Harry focused on the magical energy moving towards the lock. Holding it together to ignore the pull of the Absorption runes, it managed to hit the lock, and it fell open.
"Way to go, Harry! You did it!" Hermione beamed at him.
"Come on, we're starting to run out of teachers that could be protecting the Stone. We've gotta hurry." Harry quickly opened the door and ran through. Ron and Hermione following closely behind.
They stopped when they came to a table with several potions lined up. Flames roared up at both of the ways out of the room.
Ron groaned. "Locked into another room. They're don't have very good imaginations, do they?"
"Actually Ron, if you lock someone into a room, they don't have a choice but to complete it. Otherwise, they could leave and come back time and time again." Hermione patiently explained. "I think we'd better figure out this room as well."
The flames picked up, shooting out and forming into words. Hermione quickly started repeating them to herself.
"It's a logic puzzle." She grinned to both Ron and Harry. "Most wizards don't use any logic and they'd be stuck in here forever."
"You've got that one right, Hermione. I wouldn't ever be able to figure this one out." Ron grinned sheepishly.
Hermione worked it out comparing the bottles several times, before finally turning around. "Alright, the smallest bottle is the way forward. The one next to it is the potion that allows you to go back."
Harry looked at the two bottles in question. "The smallest one, huh? Guess they only wanted one person to get beyond here. There's barely even a swallow in it." He glanced at Ron and Hermione. "I guess I'm the one going then. You two take the other potion and go get McGonagall. Make her get the Headmaster."
Ron nodded. "Right. He'll never be expecting you to use Chi, so you should be able to surprise him. Good luck, mate."
"Don't you get hurt, Harry. I'll be ever so mad at you." Hermione sniffed. "Alright?"
"I'll try my best, both of you. Go." Harry grabbed the smallest vial and quaffed it quickly. It made him shudder.
"Oh no, is it poison? Did I get it wrong?" Hermione's voice was quickly becoming frantic.
"No, it just feels like it froze my insides. Hurry up and get back." He dove through the flames in front of him, Hermione and Ron quickly disappearing from sight.
Passing through the flames, Harry skidded to a halt, seeing someone standing in the middle of the room, staring into a full-length mirror.
"Professor Quirrell?" Harry asked, amazed.
The man turned around, proving it was him. "Ah, Potter. I'm surprised you would come down here."
"But- but- Snape. I thought it was him!" Harry sputtered.
Quirrell gave a sadistic smile. "Ah, yes. Snape. So nice of him to unwittingly help me. Stalking around, making a general nuisance of himself. He understood in the end, though."
Harry shook his head. "Whatever. You're not getting that stone, so you might as well leave."
Quirrell raised his eyebrows and looked at Harry, speaking in a derisive tone. "And you think you are going to be able to stop me? I think not." Lifting his hand, Quirrell snapped his fingers. Ropes appeared in front of him and raced towards Harry.
Momentarily surprised, Harry dropped to the ground right before the ropes reached him. They wrapped up in each other, then fell to the ground in a knot. Harry quickly stood back up. "Magic without a wand? You've got your surprises, I've got mine." Harry channeled some of his Chi into his body, easily falling into the Void. He stood back into a defensive form, waiting.
"So, the little boy has decent reflexes, does he? I guess I should have assumed that, seeing as you managed to make your way onto a Quidditch team." Quirrell pulled out his wand. "Let us try this again, but a little more powerful this time." Quirrell pointed the wand directly at Harry. "Incarcerous!" Ropes again appeared and flew towards Harry. They moved much faster this time, and Harry didn't have a chance to react before they wrapped him up.
Harry fell to the ground, surprised. He flexed against the ropes, seeing how tight they were. If I channel enough Chi, I can probably break them. Better wait on him to not notice me though.
Quirrell turned to face the mirror again, and Harry got a better look at it. Shock showed on his face when he realized it was the Mirror of Erised.
Harry could hear Quirrell talking to himself. "I see me giving the stone to my master, but where is it? Inside the mirror? Must I break it?" He walked around the mirror, carefully looking it over.
A voice seemed to reverberate from Quirrell. "Use the boy… He can retrieve it…" The voice seemed to be a low hiss. Quirrell turned to Harry. "You. Come here." He motioned with his hand, and Harry was pulled up and in front of the mirror. "What do you see boy?"
My heart's desire, you idiot. Harry snorted to himself. He looked into the mirror, expecting to see his parents again. Instead, he just saw himself standing there. His reflection winked at him, then stuck a hand in its pocket. Pulling it out, Harry saw his reflection holding a large, blood red gem, which it then put back into its pocket and patted it. Harry felt a sudden weight in the same pocket.
Realizing what had happened, Harry quickly spoke. "My parents. They're standing there, proud of me for kicking your arse."
Quirrell grabbed him by the shoulder and threw him back. "Worthless brat." Harry felt the stone in his pocket break into several pieces as Quirrell stood in front of the mirror again, staring at it.
Harry grinned. Quirrell had thrown him backwards to where he could not see Harry break out of the ropes. Channeling a larger amount of Chi into his body, Harry pushed out against the ropes, which quickly split, falling to his sides. Harry quietly stood up, getting ready to attack.
The voice from inside Quirrell spoke up again. "He lies! The boy lies!" Quirrell turned around, intent on getting the truth this time, only to find a foot crashing into his stomach, knocking him back onto the floor.
Harry grinned at him viciously. "Told you I've got my own surprises."
Quirrell stood back up, and the voice spoke again. "Let me see him. I will deal with the boy, personally." Quirrell shuddered. "Are you sure, Master? Are you strong enough?"
Quirrell winced as the voice spoke again. "I am strong enough for this. NOW!" Wincing the whole time, Quirrell nodded. "Now you shall meet my Master, Potter." Quirrell started unwinding the turban around his head, and Harry saw that Quirrell did not seem to have any hair. He turned around, and Harry gasped. Protruding from the back of Quirrell's head was another face.
"Ah, Potter. After so many years, we meet again." The grotesque face seemed to stare hungrily at Harry. "I lost my body that night, and now you see what I am reduced to. A shade, forced to use others as my host."
Harry frowned. "That night? You mean…" Harry's eyes widened. "Voldemort…"
An eerie smile came from the head. "Correct. Now, give me the Stone, so that I may restore my body. Unicorn blood allowed my host to live long enough to make it here, now I will claim what is mine!"
Harry grinned and spoke. "So, that was you in the forest. Want me to hit you with that bolt again?"
Voldemort hissed. "Kill the boy, Quirrell, and retrieve the stone for me!"
Quirrell turned around again, glaring at Harry. He held his wand high. "Give me the stone, and I will make your death quick."
Harry shook his head. "Gotta take it from me." Channeling his Chi again, Harry rushed forward.
Quirrell slashed his wand down, a nameless spell coming from it. Harry rolled, dodging the red light. He came up and punched Quirrell in the stomach. His Chi seemed to jump out of his skin and at the creature. Both Quirrell and Voldemort seemed to scream.
"Master! It hurts!" Quirrell quickly backed away, wand held out. Voldemort was hissing in pain, ignoring his host.
"Okay… You don't like my Chi, do you?" Harry took a step toward Quirrell again, ready to attack once more.
Another spell came from Quirrell. Sidestepping, the spell past by his left. Every time Harry attempted to get close to him, Quirrell would unleash another spell forcing Harry back.
After a few times of this, Harry realized he couldn't get close enough to hit him again without taking a spell in the face. Stepping back, Harry glared across the intervening space between them. Quirrell glared right back. OK, maybe I can throw my Chi at him. Hope I can hit him first shot. Harry fell back into an aggressive attack form, his right hand pulled behind his back. He started channeling as much Chi as he could into his hand.
Quirrell took a step back, seeing an odd energy start forming around Harry's hand. "Potter, what in the world?"
Trembling because of the almost complete draining of his Chi, Harry threw his hand forward. The luminous silver energy quickly left his hand, losing all its color. The now invisible energy raced across the space separating them and struck Quirrell.
A piercing shriek came from both Quirrell and Voldemort, as they writhed in the hold of the Chi attack. Harry quickly ran up to him, knocking him on the ground, holding onto Quirrell's throat. The remaining Chi in his body seemed to just jump out of him into Quirrell, and Harry saw the body start smoking. The face started flecking off into ash when Harry finally succumbed to the loss of his Chi and fainted.
There, end of chapter. At about 7k words too. Next chapter will be the last, and it will be a shorter epilogue type thing.
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