Chapter Twenty-Two

As Harry had suspected, it wasn't long before Quirrel made his move. On checking the map that evening, he found that both Quirrel and Dumbledore were missing from the map. Where ever the trap door lead was not shown on the map, so Quirrel had probably already gone down, and it seemed he had succeeded in tricking Dumbledore into leaving Hogwarts.

Although he'd originally come here for curiosity's sake, he had every intention of hindering Quirrel. Allowing people who wanted to kill you to get a hold of powerful magical objects didn't seem like a particularly intelligent idea.

Harry headed straight toward the third floor. There was always the possibility Snape would realize that Quirrel was making his move and stop him, but Harry doubted it, and was hardly about to fetch the man himself. Voldemort was involved, after all, and while he had no personal dislike for the man, the double agent was hardly an ideal person to have along in such situations.

Entering the forbidden corridor, he made a dash for the trapdoor. He was invisible, so the dog couldn't see him. His feet treading on air sounded no footsteps. Unfortunately, breathing makes noise, and dogs have a keen sense of smell. As he jumped forward for the trapdoor, which had already been opened, as he'd suspected, one of the three slobbering heads lunged at him, beginning to close its jaws over him. It wasn't quick enough to hold him, but as he fell through the trap door, the bloody gashes in his side from where its teeth scraped in attempt to grab him hurt terribly. He almost didn't manage to resume his floating in order to slow the fall.

Looking down as he now floated about a foot above the floor, however, he wondered for a moment if it had even been necessary. The ground was covered in some sort of plant-thing, which would assuredly soften the fall. He wondered why-

Devil's Snare. He'd studied it with Hermione. It was a good thing he was floating. Despite that the pain in his side made it harder to concentrate, he decided to remain floating and invisible for the time being. It was probably best to remain undetected, not to mention avoid any further traps that might be lurking on the floors.

Stupid dog. There had to have been an easier way. After all, there had been no blood on the floor when he'd arrived. It wasn't as if he'd had much time to ponder, however, and Snape obviously hadn't known either.

That Harry made it through at all is rather remarkable, and due mainly to one simple unexpected advantage. He'd been able to make himself "invisible" for years. What he'd truly been focusing on the first time was not to be found, the result of which was to be invisible, but also to be blocked from magical detection. It was, of course, the only reason he hadn't been tracked down years before. Not that a powerful wizard couldn't sense that he was alive, especially if alone with him and paying attention, since all living things have an mount of basic life energy, but it was enough to fool the chess set, which didn't react to his presence, and the doorways where fire should have appeared.

It took a while for Harry to get the winged key, having never flown on a broom before, as well as being injured. It was a lucky turn that he was able to sneak by the rest, he thought as passing the chess set. Despite his games with Ron, he doubted he was good enough to beat the giant set, and even if he was, he wouldn't have been able to concentrate well with the pain in his side. He never knew that flames were supposed to spring up in the doorway ahead after he passed through. He just floated through the room ahead, then took a moment to observe the scene before him.

"I see it, myself giving the stone to my master, brewing the elixir of life... but how do I get it? Should I break it?"

Quirrel's ponderings were interrupted by a voice seemingly out of nowhere, a voice that Harry belonged to the one Quirrel referred to as 'Master': Lord Voldemort.

"There's someone there."

Harry shifted to transparency, smirking at the startled, incompetent professor.

It was the Dark Lord who addressed him.

"You're no ghost."

Harry snorted.

"I should think not."

"Don't be too smug. It's only the fact that you were around crowds of people whenever powerful wizards were around that saved you from discovery."

Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Partially, perhaps. I'd attribute it to your overconfidence as well; you're far more alert tonight than you have been all year. I've spied on you on several occasions."

Voldemort blatantly ignored this statement, though his patience was obviously wearing thin.

"Join me, Potter-"

"Why the hell would I do that?"

"Don't be a fool. There is only power, and those too weak to seek it."

"I beg to differ."

"Idiotic child. So naive."

"Let's put it this way, Voldie. Power is a tool. It's used to get what you want. It's damn moronic to use tools to get more tools. What are you, a tool collector? What's the point of power if you can't even use it properly-"

"Stop blabbering, and come look into this mirror."

Harry shrugged.

"Sure."

He walked forward, thinking quickly.

He had no desire to look into the mirror whatsoever. Perhaps it was ridiculous, but he'd lived by his own rules, and by no means would he let anyone or anything try and tell him what to do with his life, or what he wanted. That was his to decide and discover for himself.

What had Quirrel said earlier? 'Should I break it?"

He ran the last few steps, eyes closed and sent a hard blow to the center of the mirror.

Cracks spread through the mirror like singed black vines, and Harry was thrown forward as a force from the mirror bowled him over, and a tumult of shattered glass fell to the floor, and the world faded into darkness.

When Harry woke, it was to the sound of voices. He kept his eyes shut, lay still, and listened.

". . .who knows how long it might be until he recover. I've healed the physical injuries he sustained, but that type of magical exhaustion . . . he's already been asleep for three days!"

"He did quite a nice job stopping Quirrel though."

"Albus!"

"Well, it's true. Not all children his age could have accomplished what he did."

"Or hid under everyone's noses for a year!"

"Which is why he'll be fine Poppy."

She sighed. "I'm sure your right, Albus, it's just that this is the worst case we've had up here in years."

"Even worse than the Quidditich injuries you're always complaining about?"

"Yes. Those never take longer than a day or two to heal, at worst, as you know perfectly well."

"Ah well . . . with luck he'll be out of bed soon enough. It's been nice visiting with you, Poppy. I think I'd best head down to the Great Hall for dinner now. Would you care to come along?"

"No, I need to organize the Potions Severus sent up this morning, and keep an eye on my patients. I'll have one of the house-elves bring me some dinner. Get on with you, and enjoy yourself."

"Alright then, see you later Poppy."

Harry waited until he had heard the door shut behind the Headmaster as he left the hospital wing, and the matron's footsteps fade as she walked into the back room before opening his eyes. After glancing around to make sure no one else was in the room, he switched to invisibility. Then he floated across the room, opened the door as quietly as possible, and slipped outside.

He almost made it out of the school without being noticed. However, as he neared the front door, he found a ghostly figure in his path. It was the Bloody Baron, who had no trouble whatsoever at finding him when he was invisible.

"Mr. Potter."

"Your Bloodiness."

"As you've decided to leave, I'm calling in my favor now."

He paused for a moment, then continued. "Be here September first."

"What?"

"Attend Hogwarts next term. That is what I require."

Harry stared at him for a moment, then nodded.

"I'll be here."

That said, Harry was soon out the door, running across the grounds on his way back to the one place no one would suspect. Who would think to find Harry Potter at the Riddle house, after all?

Thinking back on those last hurried moments later on, Harry wondered what the results of his return might be. It was with both anticipation and apprehension that Harry awaited the summer's end. It was, after all, the end of something much larger.

Dudley's "Harry hunting" had kept him on his feet, and he had never really lived on level with his muggle classmates either. It came down to running and hiding. He was good at running.

The last words his aunt had ever spoken to him were these:

"Run away, as fast as you can, and don't look back."

He'd been running before that, and would be for years after. Returning to Hogwarts, as himself, would mean an end to something, for you see, he'd never stopped running.

A/N: So, I've finally managed to get another chapter up. It was rather difficult to decide whether to try and put in more classes, etc., but since I didn't have things such as quidditch games for fillers, and wanted to just get on with the story…

So, what did people think? My plot made this a rather difficult part to balance, but as always, Harry has different information and advantages in the AU than in cannon because of circumstances.

This is not the end. I plan to continue, though I haven't decided whether to start the next year as a sequel or just put it in with this. Second year should be… interesting. I'll try to post again relatively soon. What's your vote: keep it in one fic, keep it in one but divide it into sections, or start the second year as a sequel?

For anyone who wondered, Quirrel was knocked out as well when the mirror cracked, and Voldemort ditched him. I couldn't have Harry ask since he was pretending to be asleep…

Harry can apparate and become invisible wandlessly currently, so yes, he can do some wandless magic. Hermione does remember that Harry isn't a ghost.

Harry didn't mention the Voldemort at first because he was trying to find out where Snape stood, and not afterwards because Snape was/is a double agent. I'm rather fond of Snape, and am obviously not making him out as really evil, but I'm trying to fit in what we know from cannon as well. Having cannon!Snape and Harry semi get along is a rather interesting challenge to write. There will be more interactions with Snape and other characters when the next term starts. I have a feeling the former will be a bit annoyed…