Disclaimer: I own nothing

Well, I have to admit that I hurried a great deal on the last chapter, and it wasn't exactly my best work. So, sorry for the sloppy work. Trust me, though, it will get better. I have an outline of the next few chapters in my story, and it will get more interesting. There are a few plot holes that I need to fill in, but other than that, the chapters from here on out are practically going to write themselves. (Still might take me a little while between updates, especially with finals coming up, but I'll try.) I have to say Wytil, that's not a bad idea. You should write that one yourself as a comedy. (I'm not too good at the whole funny thing.)

Anyways, Thanks to my reviewers for giving their opinions. I always appreciate reading what you have to say. And don't forget to visit my web group at: groups(dot)yahoo(dot)com(slash)group(slash)twilightauthor488

Here goes nothing! Please don't forget to read/review!

Chapter 19: The Green Stone

Harry turned the stone in his palm, studying it carefully. It was almost perfectly shaped, in an icicle shape that fit into his hand, almost palm-length. The green seemed to be almost the same color of the eyes he saw every time he looked in the mirror. It was eerie, as he held it in his hand. It was like it was giving off some strange sort of magic of its own. It had a hypnotizing effect on Harry, as he turned it over in his hand, admiring the fine detail of the stone. On the side, his finger felt grooves in the smooth stone. He turned it over to see small symbols, etched in its own strange form. Harry had never seen such characters before, and wanted to know what they said. The sound of footsteps heading toward the hospital wing startled Harry into almost dropping the stone. He carefully placed it into a robe pocket a moment before Madame Pomfrey entered the room.

"Are you sure there is nothing I can do for you before I leave?" the medi-witch asked him carefully.

"Absolutely. I need to meet with Professor Snape soon anyway. Thank you for all your help."

"Alright then," Pomfrey said, looking as though she felt sorry for the boy. "Remember, if Professor Snape is unbearable, just contact Dumbledore and he'll make things right."

"I will," Harry responded, standing. "Good-bye, Madame Pomfrey." Madame Pomfrey turned, and with one final good-bye, was gone. Harry sighed, then began trudging from the hospital wing, not wanting to meet with Professor Snape again.

The journey to the dungeons was normally a long one, and yet the dread of the upcoming lesson made it seem to pass all the more quickly, and before he knew it, he was standing before the door of the office. "Enter," Snape said, as Harry rapped lightly on the door.

Harry obediently entered, not wanting to keep the ill-natured professor waiting. He entered, to find Snape sitting at his desk, the pensieve already sitting on a high shelf away from the desk. "You're late," Snape sneered, glaring at the boy.

"Sorry. Sir."

"You will not be tardy again. Otherwise, I will give you another writing assignment, and you will find this one even more, unpleasant, than the last."

"Yes, sir."

"Now, I believe we should get started. You are seriously lacking in your occlumency skills, and we need to get them as good as possible soon."

"Why soon?" Snape glared, and Harry added, "sir."

"Because, Dumbledore feels that the Dark Lord will attack soon. And if he does, you need to be ready. Special wards were placed on the hospital wing to keep your mind safe, but they are only temporary. Soon, he will be able to find his way into your mind again, and you need to be ready."

"Why didn't anyone tell me about the wards?"

"You do not need to be told everything that goes on in the school. Now, prepare yourself."

Snape stood up and walked to the other side of the room, and Harry followed suit, standing a few feet in front of his professor. "One, two, three… Legilimens!"

The familiar flood of memories hit Harry suddenly, seemingly almost knocking him off of his feet. He was seeing Barty Crouch, begging him to find Dumbledore, and then his son, confessing to the horrible crimes of fourth year. Harry's mind reeled with the memory of the second challenge, where he was underwater, threatening the mer-people with what he had been sure was a pretty-worthless attack. 'Fight back,' a familiar voice in the back of his head reasoned. 'You don't want him seeing your memories, do you?'

'No," Harry answered himself. The memories flashed of Dudley's third birthday, a memory Harry didn't even know he possessed. Dudley shoved Harry into the dining room table, and he banged his head into the hard wood. No one helped him up or bandaged the bleeding spot on his head near his ear. His aunt and uncle merely laughed, praising Dudley's strength. 'So fight back!' the voice commanded. And Harry seriously tried. He tried blocking the memories, to make them disappear. 'Focus.' The voice was the same one that helped him to resist the Imperius curse. If it could help him then, it could help him now. The memories began to fade, as Harry saw the memory of Hermione handing him and Ron goblets filled with the Polyjuice Potion. The memory faded into the back of his mind, and he saw Snape standing before him. Harry shouted the first curse he could think of, and sent Snape staggering backwards.

"That was quite a simple curse," Snape remarked. "Knock me over? I thought you could do better."

"The first thing I could think of," Harry said.

"You did better," Snape sneered. "Except I want you to completely expel me from your mind, not curse me from it."

"I'm trying!"

"Well you're not trying hard enough! You won't always have a wand to rely on. You need to learn to rely on the power of your own mind. Otherwise, you will be easy prey for the Dark Lord." Snape turned for a moment to his desk, giving Harry a moment to recuperate. "What was that last vision?" Snape asked suddenly.

"Which one?"

"The one where you and your lackeys are in a lavatory. Was that a Polyjuice Potion Miss Granger was handing you?"

"What does it matter? You can't punish me for the things that you see in my memories. And don't call them my 'lackeys' again."

"And just what are you going to do about it, Potter?"

Harry hesitated for a moment, unsure of what he would do. "Dumbledore wouldn't like the way you're treating me," Harry stated.

Snape sneered. "How childish. Do you think you can always go running and complaining when something doesn't go your way?"

Harry said nothing except, "Let's get this lesson over with."

"You never answered my question. Was that a polyjuice potion?"

"Yes. Now, can we please continue?"

Snape nodded. "This time, though, put your wand down, and try to rid me from your mind on your own." Harry nodded, placing his wand in the pocket of his robes. "One, two, three…" Harry never even heard the curse being uttered. The sheer force of it almost caused him to fall down. He saw the memory of Dobby, visiting him in the hospital wing after the bludger had attacked him, and then one of awakening in the cupboard under the stairs with Dudley jumping on the stairs overhead. The scene flickered before his eyes to him being restrained to a table, as a worm coursed through his body, eating flesh and tissue as it traveled. 'Concentrate,' Harry though. 'Go away. I don't want you in my head!' As he thought, he tried blocking the memory from his mind. He focused on the darkness and emptiness as much as he could, and the memory began to fade as it did last time. 'Out of my head!' he thought, the sharpness of the thought reverberating into an almost shouted command. Snape did not withdraw from his mind. The vague memories still appeared in his head, and although he barely saw them, they were still there. Harry closed his eyes. 'No emotion,' he thought. 'No thought. Just emptiness.' And then it was gone. Harry felt unbearably weak and tired, but opened his eyes to see a shocked professor staring at him.

"I did it?" Harry asked in amazement.

"Finally," Snape sneered, not wanting to commend the sudden progress Harry had achieved.

"I can't believe it! I actually did it!"

"Took you long enough."

"At least I finally did it!" Harry said, still amused at himself.

"Yes, wonderful you. You did it all on your own. Look at the amazing Harry Potter. Get over yourself, boy. You still have a long way to go."

"Excuse me?"

"It took you a good long while to get me out of your head. You have to train yourself so that I don't get into your memories in the first place. It will be easier from here on out, but you are still required to practice considerably. Make sure to clear your mind before you go to sleep, and be here tomorrow at the same time. Tomorrow night, the wards to protect your mind in the hospital wing will fall, and your mind will be unprotected. You are to stay in a room down at the end of the hallway until the start of term. Report here tomorrow for your lesson, and afterwards I will show you where you will be staying."

"Yes, sir." Harry turned, and left. His mind felt fuzzy and tired, and yet he was remarkably happy at the progress he had made. He had actually gotten Professor Snape out of his mind without using his wand! If only he could tell Ron and Hermione. The thought of being separated from his friends dampened Harry's spirits a little. He wished that he could see them.

The hospital wing was dark as he entered in. The sun had moved so that now little light seeped in through the windows. Dinner would be soon, and a house elf would come in with his meal. The wing was unbearably large and lonely, and Harry felt empty inside. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the green stone, turning it almost unconsciously over in his hands. "I need to find out what this is," he said out loud. It was at that moment that Harry decided what he needed to do. That night, he would venture into the library and find out what it was.

The house elf came in with Harry's meal exactly at six thirty, and by that time, Harry's stomach was not wanting to eat, but fluttered with nervousness and anxious awaiting to see what he could find about the stone. He ate most of what was put on his plate, and waited for the house elf to come and take his food away. As soon as the clock began to chime eight thirty, Harry picked up his wand and began the journey to the library. "Lumos," he said quietly, and began walking through the halls. "Nox," he said, as he reached the portraits on the wall, so as not to disturb them. He made it to the library in a surprisingly short amount of time, especially since his limp hindered his traveling time normally. The door was locked up tight until the start of term, although Harry really had no idea why. No one was normally in the school at this time of year. "Alohamora," he said, and the doors unlocked, creaking open slightly. Harry pushed the door open and walked inside, carefully closing it behind him and relocking it.

The library seemed even more dark and threatening in the empty school; more so even than all of the times he had ventured here after dark during normal school days. Even then, he had known that there were other people nearby. But now, there was no one close enough to interrupt him unless one certain professor should chance to make a visit to the hospital wing.

Harry began scanning shelves for any books that looked helpful. The titles all looked so vague and unhelpful that he began to give up hope. Eventually, he found titles that seemed as though they could be useful. "Magical Gems", "Powerful Possessions", and "More than Ordinary Objects" seemed interesting enough, and he thought they might have been helpful in some sense.

Harry trudged to a table. He transfigured a pencil into a candle with a nifty spell he had learned a couple of years ago in class, and lit it, hoping that the light would stay on long enough. He quickly skimmed the books for any useful looking texts. Two hours dragged by, and yet never did he see a picture or description of the green stone he had in his possession. Harry returned the books back to their shelves, looking around for some hint as to what to do next. The shelves spanned for a great distance, and he really didn't want to search through every single shelf to find the information he needed.

Harry scanned through the rows of books on history and famous sorcerers, finally seeing a book that grabbed his attention away from all of the others. "The Color Green in the Wizarding World." He cautiously picked up the book, opening the cover to the first page. "The color green in the wizarding world is used most commonly to represent pure magic, useful in purposes to defeat dark magic. The color is found in many random places, from the ordinary to the extraordinary." Harry flipped through the book, skimming pictures for anything that looked helpful. His eyes finally found it. The Green stone was hidden away in the middle of the book, on an obscure page. But there it was. The picture was perfect. It possessed every detail of the stone, from every corner of it to the fine calligraphic writing on the side. He leaned closer into the page and began to read the words from the page:

"The Green Stone of Truth, as it has been known, is said to be the key to the answers to all questions. According to Celtic legend, the green stone was made by an all-knowing wizard, who crafted the stone from his own knowledge. The stone was to be used in a time of great need, when a good wizard or witch would need to defeat a dark evil in the world. The stone would serve as a key and a guide to the witch or wizard. Although the stone has been proven to actually exist, the legend behind it has never been proven.

"In the year 1752, a committee of wizards learned of an attempt to steal the green stone, and hid it away in a secretive place. The stone will only be found by the person who is truly meant to use it. The location of the stone has remained unknown ever since that day, and the story of the Green Stone sinks more and more into folklore. It has never been known if the stone really was a key, or how the key could ever be used. Only the one who was meant to find the key will ever truly know the answers.

"The Green Stone contains writing on the side, which supposedly tells the user how to unlock the answers. The language and writing is one that no scholar, wizard or muggle, had been able to translate, although both have often tried. Only the user will translate this ancient text into the vernacular."

The three paragraphs were all that the article contained. No more on the Green Stone could be found anywhere. Harry was disappointed, to say the least. And then, at the same time, he was mystified. Had he really found a stone that had been lost for hundreds of years? And was it really a key to answers? Could the answers be how to defeat Voldemort in this war? So many of his questions remained unanswered, and so many more found their way into his head.

Harry closed the large book, but did not put it back. Instead, he shrank it down and put it in the pocket of his robes. He blew out the candle, and re-transfigured it into the pen it had once been. Now badly burned on the end, the pen was placed in the security of his pocket, next to the book.

Harry sat down hours later, not able to sleep and quite unable to take his mind off of the stone. He took it out and ran his fingers on the writing. He wished he knew what it said. Harry had a hard time believing that he was meant to find the stone. And yet, it seemed to fit. He was supposed to be the one person who could defeat Voldemort, the darkest wizard of their time. If only the stone could give him all of the answers!

Harry put the stone back in his pocket, locking his trunk as though he feared someone would take it from him. He lay down on the bed, and though his mind wandered constantly over many questions, he was soon asleep.

The next morning, Harry was awoken by a house elf. "Master Potter! You need to get up! You is late for breakfast, and now it is lunch!"

Harry opened his eyes and realized that the meek house elf had been correct. He had way overslept! "The Headmaster gave this to Linky to give to Master Potter when he had awoken." The elf gave Harry an envelope with his meal, and then disappeared. Harry opened it, wondering what could possibly be in the letter.

It read:

"Dear Mr. Potter,

I have carefully considered the idea, and I believe it would be a good idea for your friends to visit you. As you are not to leave the school, they will be arriving here. Only Miss Granger and Mister Weasley will be visiting. They should arrive in two days. Enjoy your visit.

Sincerely, Albus Dumbledore"

Harry, filled with a sudden happiness, put down the letter and began to eat.

A/n: Don't forget to read/review. Next chapter: Harry tells his friends about the Stone, and dances around the topic of his disease.