Chapter 7: Philosopher's Stone
Two months Later
Great Hall
Sunday Before Finals
Nathan and Hermione were sitting at the lunch table before their exams started. "So Nathan, are you ready for you History of Magic final?" Hermione asked.
"More or less. Though, I am surprised by something." Nathan said, drawing Hermione's attention.
"What is it?" Hermione asked.
"Do you notice how Binns talks only about the Goblin Rebellions? And I mean, that's all he talks about. Yet our final exam for tommorow is over this stuff." Nathan said as he pointed out it out to Hermione.
"You're right. I noticed it before never thought of it like that. Binns doesn't talk about those subjects." Hermione said, as she was aware that most of the class, aside from her and Nathan, use History of Magic class as nap time, since Binns was good at putting the students to sleep.
"I'm pretty sure your parents to pay for you learn from a book." Nathan said, and upon saying that, he realized he had never asked about Hermione's parents and didn't know much about her life at home. He resolved to fix that after the exams were over.
"No, they didn't. The tuition would have included the History of Magic class." Hermione said as other students at Gryffindor table were starting to gather around as they were interested in the conversation.
"If P-Proffessor Bins had his way, we would let someone else handle our money," Neville hesitantly agreed.
Nathan and Hermione looked up as they started to see the other students from Gyffindor gathering around them. Hermione got an idea, "Why don't we write a petition and see how many students will sign it? Maybe we can convince the Headmaster to force Binns out and hire a real history professor."
"That's bloody brilliant!" Nathan looked up to see Angelina Johnson and the twin Weasely's grinning. "Why didn't anyone else think of that?"
"Because Hermione is one of the most brilliant witches in the school," Nathan praised, wrapping his arm around her in a hug, Hermione blushing at the praise while being touched by it at the same time.
Fred and George faked kissing sounds which saw Nathan pointing his finger at them for teasing him. Dean got the conversation back on topic, "So how is this gonna work?"
Hermione vacated her spot next to Nathan and came back into the Great Hall with a long sheet of parchment and began to work out the wording of the petition. With assistance from the older Gryffindors, Hermione soon had the wording perfect:
We, the students of Hogwarts, feel that our education is sorely inadequate in History of Magic. Our textbooks are more informative and interesting than Professor Binns, who will not speak of anything besides the goblin rebellions and is incredibly monotonous in his lectures. We demand that our education be taken seriously and a new professor of history be hired.
Hermione then signed the document. Nathan took the quill and followed suit and one by one every Gryffindor, save Ron who was still sleeping, signed the document.
Once Hermione finished her breakfast and walked over to the Ravenclaw table, explaining the petition. No sooner had Hermione said, "A petition to fire Binns and get a real history professor", she had all of the Ravenclaw signatures. Hermione was glad she'd chosen a particularly long parchment. When Ravenclaw finished, she went to the Hufflepuff table where they quickly all signed as well.
By that point Slytherin House was curious and a few of them went to see what was going on. Most of the Snakes ended up signing, even Pansy Parkinson who followed Draco around more often than not, signed the petition. The only ones that did not were Draco and his two goons, Crabbe and Goyle, along with some of the stupider Slytherin's, like Marcus Flint.
At lunch, Hermione walked up to the head table right in front of the headmaster. "Professor Dumbledore, on behalf of the student body, I present to you this petition to have Professor Binns removed from his post and to hire in his place a proper History of Magic teacher. Our parents didn't pay good money for us to learn from a book." She unfurled the long parchment and the professors watched the parchment roll down the steps, "Almost all the students in this school have signed this petition and we are prepared to also send a copy to the Board of Governors."
Albus Dumbledore could not recall the entire student body ever signing a petition. The school could never fully agree on anything, not even when he had attended as a student himself, and considering how long ago that was, that was saying something. He took the parchment from Miss Granger and read the actual petetion at the top. He was well aware that the entire hall's attention was on them. He finished reading the paragraph and gazed at Hermione Granger. "Thank you for bringing this grievance to my attention Miss Granger. I will take immediate action. Thirty points to Gryffindor for your initiative."
"Thank you sir," she said before walking back to the Gryffindor table. Nathan smiled as she sat down next to him.
"You're awesome," he said with a smile. Admittedly his research time would now be cut down, since he had used the time to research and come up with new spell ideas, but Voldemort had never learned much about the History of Magic anyway, so he could stand to learn some things from it.
"Right back at you," she whispered. He grinned in response.
After Finals
The trio of Gryffindors walk down a path to the courtyard. "I've always heard Hogwarts' end of the year exams were frightening, but I found that rather enjoyable. I'm also glad that we will be getting a real History Teacher next year." Hermione states happily as she felt glad that her education would not be as wasted as it had been next year.
"Oh speak for yourself, you and Nathan have been studying non-stop for weeks" Ron pointed out.
"Hey, if you wanted a good grade, then you should've studied Ron." Nathan replies with a bit of bite while he rubs his scar, since it was giving him a headache all day and leaving him irritated.
"Yeah well… hey, you alright there, Nathan?" Ron asks when he see's Nathan rubbing his scar.
"Scar's burning up," Nathan replies.
"It's happened before?" Hermione asked.
"It has but it's never been this bad," Nathan said when it suddenly flared up and he dropped to his knees, causing Hermione and Ron to come to his aid. He looks up and sees Hagrid across the field, at his hut. With a growl erupting from Nathan's throat, things seem to start clicking into place.
'Its weird and suspicious that Hagrid wants a pet dragon more than anything, and a stranger shows up and just so happens to have one? I mean, who the hell wander's around with dragon eggs in their pockets? How did I miss this until now?' Nathan thinks to himself.
Nathan was finally piecing everything together. Dumbledore's weird eye color changing aside, he was up to something and it concerned Nathan and Voldemort. Why else would he have the Philosopher's Stone moved to Hogwarts when it was perfectly safe with the Flamel's!? Voldemort was weakened from trying to kill him, at least Nathan figured he was, and the Flamel's have 600 years of experience under their belts, they should easily be able to defend the stone. Was Dumbledore testing Nathan? Why else would he tell everyone where the Philosopher's Stone was, which caused him to go looking for it and stumble onto someone's plot to steal it? He didn't know but he didn't like it one bit! It had put Hermione's life in danger! He needed to verify his suspicions first though by coaxing it out of Hagrid.
Later that afternoon
After they went back to their dorm and Nathan gave them the slip, he went back to Hagrid. "Hagrid, who was it gave you the dragon egg?" Nathan asked.
The half-giant stopped playing and turned to the young wizard. "What did he look like?" Nathan pressed.
Hagrid shrugged. "I don't know, I never saw his face, he kept his hood up" he replied.
Nathan narrowed his eyes. That aroused and confirmed more suspicions. "The stranger, though you and he must've talked about things, like magical creatures," he interrogated.
"Well, he wanted to know what sort of creatures I looked after. I told him. I said 'After Fluffy, a dragon's gonna be no problem" the half-giant replied.
"And did he seem interested in Fluffy?" Nathan asked.
Hagrid nodded. "Well of course he was interested in Fluffy! How often do you come across a three headed dog, even if you're in the trade? But I said, 'The trick with any beast is to know how to calm him.' Take Fluffy for example; just play him a bit of music and he falls straight to sleep," Hagrid explained before his jaw dropped, matching Nathan's own jaw. Nathan was just shocked at how clueless Hagrid really was. He knows and yet it's astounding at the same time.
"I shouldn't have told you that," he said, before whipped his wand out and a green light hit Hagrid and his memories were altered.
Gryffindor Common Room
That Night
Nathan was sitting in front of the fireplace, thinking about what he needed to do. He could tell a teacher but he wasn't sure if he should. The times McGonagall had dismissed him before concerning Halloween left a bad taste in his mouth and made him wary of trusting the other teachers with such sensitive information. And Nathan was not about to put either Hermione or Ron in danger, which meant he would have to go down the trapdoor tonight and get past the traps, get the stone, and destroy it, by himself.
Nathan stood in front of his bed as he quickly and quietly switched from his PJ's to something casual, mainly black pants, black longsleeved shirt, belt and shoes. He strapped his wand holder around his forearm and hefted his invisibility cloak over his shoulder.
Zeus looked at his master with confusion as it tilted his head. "Shh-" Nathan said as he fed the bird a small chunk of meat, Zeus chowed down as his master quietly left the bedroom.
Common Room
Nathan walked down the steps silently and made to leave when he heard a croak, turning his head to see Neville's toad.
*Croak!*
"You shouldn't be here", He watched as Neville walked from around a chair, "You're sneaking out again aren't you?"
Nathan tried to reason with him, "Now, Neville, go back to…"
He was cut off by the boy, "No! I won't let you! Y-You'll get Gryffindor into in trouble again!" he stated. Nathan sighed knowing he was right, that is if he got caught… or if Neville tells. " I-I'll fight you if I have to."
Nathan massaged his forehead. "Sorry Neville, but this is gonna hurt me much more than it will you." he said as he flexed his hand and his wand shot out of his holster. Catching it, he pointed at Neville. "Stupefy!" With a red shot, Neville was knocked out hitting the ground.
Nathan moved him onto the chair. "I'm sorry I had to hurt you Neville, but I can't let Voldemort get his hands on the stone." He said as he thought in annoyance how he had gotten rusty with his pranking and sneaking around. First, Snape and Quirell detect him while underneath his invisibility cloak, now Neville catches him. He needed to start doing more sneaking around and get his stealth level back to where it used to be, because this was just embarrassing.
Nathan made his way to the third floor, while he didn't notice he was being followed, because he figured everyone was as non-aware of their surroundings as Konoha had been of him.
Third Floor
Nathan gets to the door and points his wand at the keyhole, "Alohomora!" he said, unlocking the door and walking in as quietly.
The dog seemed to wake up as he walked in, but couldn't see Nathan under the cloak, though that wouldn't fool the dog's sense of smell for long. Quickly, Nathan transfigured the nearby bench into a harp and enchanted it to play peaceful music, putting the dog to sleep. Nathan uses a quick Levitation Charm to move the dogs paw off the hatch and opens it. Seeing no other way down, Nathan jumps.
Nathan lands on a pile of soft plant vines and examines it. He see's two plants mixed together. One is Devil's Snare, and he stops himself from using Lumos Solem because the other is one is-
His train of thought is interrupted when up above him he hears the dog barking. "What the hell!? Did someone follow me without me noticing again!?" he wonders in frustration.
And he hears a feminine scream, one he recognized, especially when the owner of the voice dropped down and landed on the vines, bushy hair and all.
"Hermione!? You followed me?" Nathan said with worry as he left her behind so she wouldn't get hurt!
"Of course, I followed you, because unlike Ron, I realized you were trying to give us the slip so you could come after the stone. I figured you would try to leave us behind so I waited for you to leave the Gryffindor common room and I knew which room you were going to so I followed you." Hermione answered.
"Hermione!" Nathan said with as he gripped her arms, "I left you and Ron behind because I didn't want you to get hurt anymore! Whoever is trying to get the stone has already put your life in danger once and I couldn't-" Nathan is interrupted when the vines wrapped him up.
"Nathan!" she shouted as Hermione met the same fate.
Hermione examines the plant. "Wait I know what this is! This is Devil's Snare. We have to relax," she explained.
Hermione only smiles before the vines loosen their grip on the girl and suck her down.
Nathan laid his head against the vines as if he were trying to lie down, seconds later he's pulled under.
"Nice of you to join me!" She said with a smile.
"Normally, I'd be happy to see you unharmed, but I didn't want you following me for a reason, Hermione." Nathan exasperated.
"I know you want to protect me Nathan, but I can stand by your side. You can trust me." Hermione pleaded with him to make him understand that she could handle herself.
"I know you can and I do trust you. Between you and Ron, you are the only I trust to have my back and stand at my side." Nathan said, causing her to smile at his level of trust. "But you don't understand. These traps were made for fully matured wizards. And it's a good thing you didn't cast a sunlight spell when you realized that plant was Devil's Snare because I noticed Sol Mors Mortis was mixed in with it.
"Death by sunlight," Hermione explained. "Or Sun Death. It's a dark red plant, similar to Devil's Snare, that grows in the darkest caves and if introduced to sunlight, it shoots out poisonous thorns in the light's direction. The poison kills instantly."
"Exactly. A person gets caught in the Devils Snare, to which the obvious solution is to cast Lumos Solem. They would set the Sol Mors Mortis off and the intruder dies instantly. There are more difficult light spells that Devil's Snare does not like, but will not trigger the Sun Death plants, but none that a student would likely know. Not to mention, the Devil's Snare hid the Sol Mors Mortis so well that I almost missed it and was seconds away from casting Lumos Solem before I caught on." Hermione was now starting to see what he meant by these traps being made for someone older than them. Quite the clever trap too, as one part of this trap had an obvious solution, yet that same solution would work against you in the right circumstances, ensuring your death.
"Come on," Nathan said as he held out his hand for her to join him. "I said I trusted you above anyone else, and we can't go back until the stone is destroyed. Let's go." Hermione takes his hand and the two walk further down the path.
Key Trap Corridor
They walked through the corridors until they came to the entrance but, stopped when they heard a flapping sound.
"What is that?" Hermione asked.
"Don't know. Sounds like wings" Nathan responded as they entered the room.
They stared at the ceiling for several seconds as it was filled with 'golden birds'. "Strange… never seen birds like these before" Nathan thought as he narrowed his eyes, trying to get a closer look when he made them out more clearly.
"Those aren't birds… they're keys with wings," he said, before turning to a door next to a broomstick suspended in the air, "And I'll bet one of them fit's that door."
"What's this about?" Hermione asked before she sees what he means. Hermione walks over to the door. She brings out her wand, "Alohomora!" she said… nothing happened.
"Ugh, what are we going to do? There must be hundreds of keys up there!" Hermione stated as she squinted her eyes at the winged keys.
"Try looking for an old fashioned one. It's probably rusted like the handle," Nathan explained as they looked at the various keys.
2 minutes later, Hermione sees it. "There it is! I see it!" She said as she points, "That one, with the broken wing." Nathan then walks back to the broom and almost grabs it but draws his hand back.
"What's up Nathan?" Hermione asked she saw him hesitate to grab the broom.
"Remember what I said. It can't be as simple as this," Nathan states.
Remembering that they could have died earlier for Sol Mors Mortis, Hermione watched as Nathan scanned for any enchantments, jinxes or hexes on the broom.
"I thought so," Nathan said when he finds one on the old broom, "The broom is hexed to immediately go to top speed when someone get's on it and crash into the ceiling." Nathan and Hermione look at the ceiling to find sharp stalactites pointing down at them. "Even if that doesn't kill you, the fall probably will. The other keys are probably another distraction to confuse us."
"Then we will have to use the Freezing Charm to immobilize the old key when it get's close." Hermione said as she had read ahead and learned quite a few of the 2nd, 3rd , and 4th year spells from the gift Nathan had got her for Christmas.
Nathan nods and joins Hermione near the door and they cast Immobulus a multitude of times until the old key was close. Hermione used Accio to summon the key to her and they opened the door and were on to the next challenge before the Freezing Charm wore off on the other keys.
Next Trap
Nathan and Hermione walked into a dark room, they notice several broken pieces of marble here and there.
"I don't like this. I don't like this at all" Hermione said, feeling a tad nervous vat the ominous feeling she was getting.
"Stay Strong. Wands out, Hermione." Nathan orders while comforting her at the same time. He flexes his wand arm and his wand in his hands. Hermione pulls out her vinewood wand as well.
Nathan steps onto one of the tiles and immediately, a large stone spear shoot's towards them. "Down!" He shouts, pushing Hermione and himself to the ground, both of them avoiding getting skewered.
When Hermione fell, her hand hit another tile, causing a transfigured lion to appear. Hermione saw it and raised her wand just as it pounced. "Reducto!" She shouted, a bolt of blue light coming out of her wand that smashed the transfigured lion apart.
Another two tiles had unleashed a swarm of vampire bats that Nathan burned to ash with Ignis and another saw a transfigured Mammoth smashed apart by another Reductor curse by Hermione.
"This is getting ridiculous. Every time we step on another tile a new trap activates." Nathan growls as they stay on the four tile they already had activated
Hermione then remembers the charm to reveal enchantments, jinxes and hex's that Nathan often uses. "We can check to see what traps are where. Magica Revelio!" Hermione said as she cast it on the room to reveal all the enchantments, jinxes, hexes, curses and magical traps in the area. This was the same spell Nathan used when he was checking for curses on stuff. Though neither of them was prepared for the shimmering forms of every transfigured monster that came out of the tiles, as all but a few connecting to the exit were spelled with traps or hiding transfigured monsters.
There must have been some kind of detection rune in room because right after Hermione cast the spell, the traps activated and the transfigured monster's were brought to life, surrounding Nathan and Hermione. This was clearly McGongall's trap and no ordinary wizard was getting through that.
"Stay Close to me, no matter what!" Nathan shouted as he held her close before he pointed his wand at the ground in front of him. "Protego Diabolica!" A blue flame was conjured a few feet in front of Nathan, before he spun around, the blue flames forming a circle around the two young wizards. He had mastered this spell from Grindelwalds old journal.
Hermione Marveled as some transfigured humming birds darted at the two wizards to pierce their necks, only for the blue flames to rise into the birds path and burn them to ash in seconds. She watched as Nathan directed the flames like maestro directing a band, tendrils of blue flame spreading out and consuming the transfigured monsters and traps, until only a sea of blue flame covered the room, illuminating it with it's blue light.
"Come on, lets go." Nathan said as he urged her on.
"What is this spell, Nathan? I don't know of any spell like that?" Hermione asked.
"A dark protection spell I found in a journal that doubles as an offensive weapon. Come on, I'll explain once this is all over." He said, holding his hand out for her. "These flames will not harm you. Trust me." She took his hand, as she trusted him, and Hermione was not harmed by the flames due to her loyalty towards Nathan.
Potion Room
Their next challenge had technically been Quirell's, which was the troll trap. However, Hermione had merely used a levitation charm to use it's club to knock the dumb beast out and Nathan's Severing Charm made sure it stayed down, since it now had no head.
Now, they were in a large room, where at the end, was a tunnel that led likely lead to their target, but the hallway was blocked by a wall of flame. Close to that was a wooden board with 7 potions of varying sizes along with a message that read…
"Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,
Two of us will help you, which ever you would find,
One among us seven will let you move ahead,
Another will transport the drinker back instead,
Two among our number hold only nettle wine,
Three of us are killers, waiting bidden in line.
Choose, unless you wish to stay here forevermore,
To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four:
First, however slyly the poison tries to hide
You will always find some on nettle wine's left side;
Second, different are those who stand at either end,
But if you would move onward, neither is your friend;
Third, as you see clearly, all are different size,
Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides;
Fourth, the second left and the second on the right
Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight."
"…Yeah, I'm not falling for that." Nathan said as he cast Magica Revelio to reveal the nature of the potions. To his dismay and proving his suspicions correct, all of the potions were Draught of Living Death. "Each one of these potions is Draught of Living Death. The message is just there to entice us to drink one of the potions." With that, he blasted the board and potions with a Bombarda, blasting it to pieces.
"The Flame-Freeze charm will protect us from the flames well enough. Flamma Rigentum," Nathan said as he cast it on himself and was about to do the same with Hermione, when a large runic circle glowed red on the floor, Nathan's foot within the edge of it.
A dark, silhouette version of Nathan rose from the middle of the glowing circle. 'Some kind of Doppelganger trap rune, probably in case the intruder figured out how to get around the potions!' Nathan thought. The dark shadow aimed its wand. Nathan cast the Shield charm as he was pushed back by a stream of black flames.
"Ngh!" he grunted as he was pushed back. He would have gotten burned from the head but the Flame-Freezing charm he applied earlier nullified the effects of the flame. Hermione pulled out her wand and made to help him.
"No, don't!" He warned her and she heeded his warning, "It's will just make another version of you if you step in the runic circle! Destroy that first!" He also did not want her fighting this shadow version of himself, which likely had all of his spells, and he knew a number of ones that could be used lethally.
Hermione thought of the spell she needed before preparing a Reductor curse on the runic circle while Nathan fought the dark version of himself. It aimed and fired a blast of dark flames at him. "Protego Duo!" he shouted as he blocked the spell with a bright transparent blue shield.
The black haired Potter waved his wand, "Reducto!" shooting blue light from his wand, the shadow doing the same, the curses canceling each other out. At the same time, Hermione hit the runic circle with her Reductor Curse, cracking the floor, rendering the runic circle inert.
Nathan gripped his wand as he concentrated on the fight. "Let's see how you like this, Incedio Pluma!" Nathan shouted as he fired a blast of red flames at the silhouette.
The shadow brought up its shield but was pushed off of it's feet by the force of the flames, falling onto it's back near the flames that blocked their path to the stone. It quickly got up and twirled its wand, shooting wave arcs of black flames.
"Protego Duo!" Nathan said as he blocked the arcs, but was unable to do anything about the Expulso his shadow-self cast at Hermione pushing her back, causing her to hit her head, knocking her out.
"Hermione!" Nathan shouted in worry before that worry to turned to rage at not being able to safe-guard her. "Expelliarmus!" Nathan shouted as he fired his spell, his shadow-self mimicking him, using the same spell as they collided and fought for dominance.
The advantage of who was going to overpower who went back and forth, neither really gaining any ground. Nathan quickly figured out the doppelgangers weakness. It may have the same spells and dueling skills as he did but this shadow of him wouldn't fight it's opponents with anything but magic from it's wand. Not to mention, it couldn't think outside the box. Nathan used a Wingardium Leviosa on a piece of broken wood to move it in front him while aiming it at his shadow self, before using a Banishing Charm on it, launching the broken piece of wood like a bullet into the shadow self chest, killing it. It melted back into the shadows, not to be seen again.
Nathan hurried over to Hermione and checked her over. Thank God she was alive but he would have to leave her here as he did not know of any way to create a clone of himself to carry her to the infirmary, though maybe he should look into it. He healed her injuries and covered her with his Invisibility Cloak before continuing.
With Nathan
The lightning scarred wizard continued his trek as he walked down a long staircase; he came into an empty room with pillars surrounding it, in the center stood a familiar mirror and a head wrapped figure.
As Nathan stepped closer, his scar began to burn. "You?" he said in shock. The figure turned revealing it to be, Professor Quirrell.
"I have to admit, I wasn't sure about you, but I figured Snape was the one" Nathan said as he took a few steps closer.
Quirrell smirked. "Yes, he does seem like the type, doesn't he? Next to him, a former Death Eater, who would suspect, 'p-p-poor s-stuttering Professor Quirrell?" he mocked.
"So, that day, during the Quidditch match. The one trying to hex my broom and kill me was you." Nathan said.
Quirrell nodded his head. "Indeed, I tried to kill you! And trust me, if it hadn't been for the enchantment you put on the broom, I would have succeeded."
"I must, however, thank you for taking care of the traps for me. While you were dealing with the doppleganger Rune trap, I snuck past you and Ms. Granger while Disillusioned. I knew you were a danger to me and my plans right from the off, especially after Halloween. It showed me a glimpse of how much you were holding back. I knew you would be coming down here once you realized that idiotic oaf Hagrid had blabbed about how to get past the dog. It wasn't that hard, as I'm sure you realize. Hagrid can't hold his liquor." Quirrell stated with a smirk.
"Then you let the troll in" Nathan realized with a growl, which his anger was further increased by the fact that he had cleared all the traps for Quirell.
"Very good Potter, yes. Snape, unfortunately wasn't fooled and neither was Dumbledore. While everyone else was running to the dungeon, Snape went to the third floor to head me off. He of course, never trusted me again. He rarely left me alone and Dumbledore made sure someone was always watching me when Snape wasn't." he replies, before turning back to the mirror causing Nathan's scar to burn more.
"But they doesn't understand, I'm never alone, never… now… what does this mirror do? I see what I desire, I see myself holding the stone, but how do I get it?" he asks himself.
"Use the boy" Both he and Nathan heard in a raspy tone. Nathan's eyes widened for a moment as he was pretty sure he knew who that was.
Quirrell snapped his vision towards Nathan, "Come here, Potter!" he commanded. Nathan does so. "Tell me… what do you see?" Quirrell demands.
Nathan looks into the mirror and resisted the urge to gasp. In the mirror's reflection; Nathan sticks his hand into his pocket and pulls out a red stone, he winks at his outer-self and places the stone back into his pocket.
Nathan, outside the mirror, slowly reaches into his pocket and felt a lump, giving no indication anything had changed. He was still confused how the stone appeared in his pocket.
"What is it!? What do you see!?" Quirrell demanded.
Nathan tries, "I'm standing with my family again. They're right next to me." he states with emotion that would have fooled anyone else.
"He lies," they heard the voice say.
"Tell the truth! What do you see!" he shouted.
"Let me speak to him," the voice said, making Quirrell straighten up.
"B-but master, you are not strong enough," he says.
"I have strength enough for this" Quirrell nods and un-wraps his turban.
Nathan retches in disgust as he sees a snake-like face planted behind Quirrell's head. "Voldemort." Nathan said with a growl.
"Yes, you see what I've become? See what I must do to survive? Live off another like a mere parasite. Unicorn's blood can sustain me, but it cannot give me a body for my own… but there is something that can. Something that conveniently enough, lies in your pocket!" Voldemort states.
Quirrell snaps his fingers causing flames to erupt around the room, including the route back before Nathan could make a decision.
"Why suffer a horrific death when you can join me and live!?" Voldemort states.
Nathan shakes his head, "What's makes you think I would ever join you!?"
Voldemort laughs, "Ha, bravery. Your parents had it too… tell me Nathan, would you like to see your family again? Together we can bring them back" he says as an image of his family appears in the mirror's reflection.
"All I ask in return…" he said, trailing off, before Nathan reaches into his pocket and slowly brings out the Philosopher's Stone.
"That's it Nathan. There is no good and evil, there is only power, and those too weak to seek it. Together, we'll do extraordinary things. just give me the stone!" Voldemort said, as the images fade away.
Nathan contemplates his move before moving the stone into his other hand. He tosses it to Voldemort, saying "Catch." Quirell reaches his hand out to catch it, while Nathan's wand appears in his hand, pointing directly at the stone. "Reducto!" The curse hit the Philospoher's stone, shattering it into a thousands little pieces, never again to be remade.
"No!" Voldemort roar's as Quirell's soars into the air with his arm stretched out, intent on strangling the boy, but not before Nathan aims his wand.
"Expulso!" Nathan shouts. Quirrell is hit and is sent flying back into the stairs at the base of the mirror.
"You didn't really think I was going to join you, did you? You, who slaughtered my father, murdered my innocent twin brother and killed my helpless mother right in front of me!? What kind of a fool do you take me for, Thomas Marvolo Riddle!?" Nathan shouted, igniting a rage from within Voldemort as he invoked Voldemorts true name.
"You useless fool! Get up and KILL HIM!" Voldemort shouted Quirell, who slowly got up and draws his wand. Voldemort was not sure how the boy knew of his true name, but he was not about to let him live for invoking it.
"Expelliarmus!" Quirell said.
"Protego!" Nathan countered.
Nathan's shield spell block and countered Quirell's Disarming charm. Quirell fired a Stupefy at Nathan and Nathan blocked it with another shield charm. Quirell tried an Incedio on Nathan and Nathan blocked it with Protego Duo. Quirell fired a Cutting Curse of some kind at Nathan and Nathan blocked it with Protego Maxima, ending the block with a bit of a flourish. Nathan believed he saw an opening and fired a Diffindo at Quirell, who was able to get a shield up in time to weaken the spell but not block it completely, giving Quirell a small cut in his shoulder.
They went back and forth like this for several minutes, Quirell firing spells and Nathan blocking and countering when he saw an opening, cutting Quirell with the Severing Charm. Voldemort watched the fight from the back of Quirell's head, and while he would never admit it out loud, he was in awe of Nathan's natural talent with dueling, to a degree. The boy may not have any experience with dueling, but he had a naturally defensive style. He seems to have mastered several variations of the Shield Charm and could cast them all wordlessly, allowing him to easily deflect, block, or parry his opponents efforts, before counterattacking and putting them off balance or taking them out. He also noted that Nate would mix up when he counterattacked, making it difficult to predict when he would counter.
Voldemort knew that the young Potter heir held back on how skilled he was. He knew that Nathan had placed that enchantment on the broom he got, and he and Quirell watched as Nathan took out the traps with his little mudblood friend, traps designed to trip up and take out intruders with full mastery of their magic, but he didn't really expect this level of dueling ability from him. Granted, Quirell was no great Duelist, but he was capable, and his powers had been increased by Voldemorts possession of him. Voldemort started to notice that Quirell was getting winded.
"D-Damn you, Potter! Avada Kedavra!" Quirell said as he cast the Killing Curse at Nathan, who's eyes widened and he ducked at the last second, narrowly avoiding getting hit. Unfortunately for Nathan, he lost his momentum, allowing Quirell to close the distance and wrap his hand around Nathan's throat.
"Ready to meet your parents Potter?" he asks with a bit of insanity laced in his voice. Nathan grip's Quirell's hand and pry's it off, allowing him to breath again.
Nathan went wide-eyed when Quirrell yelled in pain. He pulled his hand free from Nathan's grasp as smoke emitted from his one hand. The two stood in shock as Quirrell's hand began to crumple up into ash.
"AHHHHHHHH! What is this magic!" he yelled.
"You Fool! Don't give him a chance to regain his ground!" Voldemort yelled at Quirell.
Nathan did not give Quirell a chance to do anything as he summoned his wand and pointed it at Quirell, shouting, "Expulso!", which blasted Quirell through the Mirror of Erised, shattering it to pieces on impact.
"Quirell, you useless fool! You have failed me for the last time! I am going to finish the Potter Boy once and for all, myself!" Voldemort shouted in rage as he prepared to take over Quirell completely.
"No! Master don't!" Quirell pleaded but it was no use as Voldemort forcibly took control of his body. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Quirrell yelled before his body was Voldemort's.
Voldemort flexed Quirell's one remaining hand. Voldemort needed to hurry. This body would not last long now that Voldemort had taken over, but it would be plenty to deal with Nathan, especially since Voldemort managed to use part of his power to slow the disintegration of Quirell's body. He looked at Nathan and Nathan saw that Quirell's skin was paler now, as white as ash, and had red eyes now. "Come boy. It's time for you to join the rest of your filthy Muggle-loving family. But try not to die too quickly." Voldemort wanted to see everything Nathan was capable off before he crushed him.
Voldemort fired a curse at Nathan and the young Potter blocked it with a Shield Charm. Nathan had expected the power of the attacks to go up, but he noticed that the power had not increased enough to overpower his shields. Nathan prepared to counter attack but was forced to block a stronger curse with Protego Duo. Their duel progressed once again, with Nathan resorting to his defensive style and Voldemort utilizing his own style of dueling. As their fight progressed, Nathan began to see the difference between Voldemort and Quirell. Voldemort left far fewer opening's in his dueling than Quirell did and knew many more combat oriented spells than Quirell did. Plus, Voldemort was a faster dueler than Quirell was. Though Nathan realized that if he had been fighting Voldemort in his real body, he believed he would have already lost, since Voldemort was fighting with a severe handicap.
Nathan cast the Impediment Jinx to try to slow Voldemort down when he saw one of Voldemorts openings, before casting Confringo immediately afterwards, and a Bombarda Maxima at the ground directly in front of Voldemort. Voldemort blocked both the Impediment Jinx and parried away the Confringo but was blasted of his feet by the force of the Bomb charm that exploded in front of him. Nathan then disarmed Voldemort with Expeliarmus before using Expulso to send Voldemort flying into the far wall, blasting his defenseless form with several cast's of Confringo, Incendio Pluma, and Ignis the moment he hit the wall, resulting in a large explosion.
"Impressive," Voldemort said as he walked out of the smoke created by the curses, his hand on Quirell's wand, having summoned it after he exited the flames. Quirell's body looked worse for wear, burned beyond recognition and his one arm had disintegrated more, but Voldemort would not stop until he killed the boy. "You've lasted far longer than your parents did. But you are not at my level, boy." With that, Voldemort raised his charred arms and the pieces of the Mirror of Erised rose into the air, alarming Nathan as he cast a Protego Maxima in thes form of a bubble, protecting him as Voldemort sent the debris flying at him.
Voldemort reached out with his magic and levitated a large pillar before Banishing it in Nathan's direction. Nathan did not like his chance's with trying to block that pillar, so he blasted it with a Reductor curse, reducing it to dust. Unfortunately, he missed the Disarming charm sent at him by Voldemort. His wand flew out of his hand, before Voldemort cast several Cutting Curses at Nathan, leaving a large X-shaped cut on his chest, as well as a deep gash on his wand arm. As Nathan clutched his bleeding chest and arm, using the Fire-Making spell to cauterize the wound's and stop the bleeding, Voldemort cast a spell that caused Nathan's arms to lock behind his back. Nathan's wand, which sensed the trouble it's master was in thanks to one of it's core's being a Thunderbird Tail Feather, cast the Blasting Curse on it's own at Voldemort, who not knowing the nature of his opponent's wand, was unprepared for the spell, blasting him back. Nathan summoned his wand to his hand, casting Finite Incantatem on the arm lock Voldemort had put on him, allowing him to move his arms again and cast Protego Diabolica around himself, conjuring the protective ring of blue fire before falling to his knees after casting it as he clutched his wounded arm, as he was exhausted and critically injured, his small body having lost a lot of blood from those Cutting Curses Voldemort used on him.
"You don't really think that will protect you, do you!? Goodbye, Potter! Avada-" Voldemort very nearly cast the Killing Curse at Nathan, and that spell could not be blocked. Or rather, there was no known way to block it. Nathan didn't know if the Protego Diabolica could block the killing curse, but in his current condition, he would not be able to dodge it again. But Quirell's last arm was suddenly blown off in a bloody mess, to Voldemort's rage.
"That will be enough of that, Tom," came the voice of Albus Dumbledore who slowly walked to stand next to Nathan's protective ring of fire.
"Dumbledore! I thought you were gone!" Voldemort said as Dumbledore gave a playful smirk.
"And miss the chance to confirm you were still alive? Not likely, Tom," Dumbledore said before he cast a spell that turned Quirell's body to stone before another blasted it to pieces, the spirit of Voldemort roaring in anger as it flew away.
"Cool," Nathan said as he felt his grip on conscious slip. He may not trust Dumbledore, but he was grateful for the assistance. He just hoped Hermione was okay as he could no longer keep himself awake, hitting the ground as he fell.
Hospital Wing
Next Day - 5pm
Nathan woke up to find himself in the Hospital Wing, in the clothes he was wearing last night, though he had no shirt, as his torso and arm was covered in bandages. He sits up and notices some a bunch of get well cards, candy, and balloons.
"Good afternoon, Nathan," he heard and turned to see Dumbledore walking up into the young boy. "Ah, tokens from your admirers."
"Admirers?" Nathan asked about that while wondering how anyone could know about what happened last night, while also wondering about Hermione.
"What happened down there in the dungeon between you and Quirrell is a complete secret… so in other words… the whole school knows" Dumbledore explained.
"Sir, what about Hermione? She was down there with me and she got hurt-" Nathan said, his worry for Hermione making him forget for a moment that he did not trust this guy, before Dumbledore raised his hand, assuring him that it was alright.
"She is fine, Nathan. You did the right thing, treating her injuries. Madam Pomfrey checked her over this morning and last night, and has seen to it that Miss Granger made a full recovery. She was released from the Hospital Wing early this morning. She's been coming down every 3 hours to check up on you. Your other friend Ronald, I'm afraid, is a bit cross with you for leaving him behind, I'm afraid." Dumbledore explained and Nathan layed back, as he was glad that Hermione was okay.
Nathan shook his head, "Um… Professor Dumbledore…what about the Flamels? The second Voldemort realized I had the stone, I blasted it with a Reductor Curse. I don't think he could repair it, but what will the Flamel's do?" he asked.
"Relax, dear boy. My old friends Nicholas, Perenelle and I had a little chat and we all agreed it was best decision you could have made. They have come to terms with it." he explained.
"But the Flamel's, they'll die without the ability to make more Immortality Elixir, won't they?" Nathan asked.
Dumbledore shook his head, "They have enough elixir to live comfortably for another 300 years and to settle their affairs, but yes. Eventually, they will die. But as I said, they have made their peace with it. I believe Perenelle said that their deaths would be like going to bed after a very, very long day," he stated.
Nathan just had to ask. "How did the stone get in my pocket? One minute I was standing in front of the mirror and the next-"
"Ah, you see only a person who wanted to find the stone, find it, but not use it, would be able to get it. That is one of my more brilliant ideas and between you and me, that's saying something" Dumbledore explained with a smile.
"Does that mean that with the stone gone, Voldemort can never come back?" Nathan asked, Voldemort knew quite a few rituals by the time he came for the Potters, but Nathan, based on Voldemorts memories, did not know of any that time that could give him a body back.
Sadly Dumbledore shook his head, "I'm afraid, there are ways in which he can return. Nathan do you know why Professor Quirrell couldn't bear to have you touch him?" he asked, receiving a no from the boy.
"It was because of your mother. She willingly sacrificed her life to save her last remaining child. If there is one thing Voldemort can never understand, it is love. He didn't realize that love as powerful as your mother's for you leaves its own mark. Not a scar, no visible sign... to have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection forever."
"Sacrificial Protection magic. That's an Ancient ritual," Nathan muttered, Dumbledore smiling as the boys intelligence yet again shines through. Love alone cannot protect someone the way Nathan was protected from Voldemort. Willingly offering your life for someone that you love, however, was part of an Ancient Druid Ritual that Lily had knowledge of. Upon completion, the person who was the center point of the ritual would be protected from a single person or a group of people, that being Nathan was protected from Voldemort.
"Indeed, Nathan," he said patting the boys head and walking out, but before he could he came across a bag of all-flavor beans.
"Ah, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans… I was most unfortunate in my youth to come across a vomit flavored one. And since then I have lost my liking to them… but I think I could be safe with a nice toffee" he said taking one and chewing it down.
The elder wizard shakes his head, "Alas… earwax" he said before making his way to the door.
Before he left, Nathan heard him speak. "I understand that there is some tension between us, though I am at a loss as to the reason. When you are well again, please come to my office. I would like a chance to resolve this." Dumbledore said, which Nathan hesitantly nodded.
"But until then," Dumbledore said, as Hermione appeared in the doorway, "I believe you and Miss Granger have some catching up to do." With that Dumbledore made himself scarce while Hermione ran to Nathan with a happy smile on her face, both of them relieved that the other was okay, and engulfed her best friend in a hug, Nathan groaning as his wounds still hurt, but returning the hug nonetheless.
Headmaster's Office
The next day
Poppy Pomfrey did not keep Nathan in the Hospital Wing for more than a day after making sure his wounds were not infected, though he now had an X-shaped scar on his chest and a scar on his right arm.
Nathan could then be seen walking into the office of Professor Dumbledore.
"Okay, Headmaster, I'm here. What did you want to talk about?" Nathan asked.
Dumbledore seemed to think before he made a statement. "Hogwarts, seal the room." The moment he said that, several things happened. The Magic of Hogwarts catle enclosed around the room, sealing it and preventing anyone from entering or spying on the conversation that was taking place. Nathan, fearing he had walked into a trap, drew his wand at Dumbledore. Dumbledore snapped his fingers and Nathan's wand flew into his hands.
"There will be no need for that. I'm not about to harm my own direct descendant." Dumbledore as he got up from his desk and walked to another table that he had set up near the back of the room.
"What the heck are you talking about!? I'm not related to you in any way!" Nathan nearly shouted.
"Ah, not through your father. But your mother on the other hand…" Dumbledore said as his eyes flashed a different color for a moment.
'Okay, that is the 3rd time I've seen that happen. What does that mean?' Nathan thought as he wondered what it could mean before he lightly gasped as he thought he had it, "You're not really Albus Dumbledore, are you?"
"Very good my boy." Dumbledore with praise as he took off his pointed hat and half-moon glasses with a sigh, "Maintaining a full-body transfiguration like this used to be easy. Even 50 years ago, holding it for a full 6 months before having to relax my magic for bit would have been no great task. Now I can barely hold it for a few months before my control starts slipping, even with the boosts my old friends give me." 'Dumbledore' was of course referring to the Elder Wand and Fawkes, both of which boosted his magic power and helped compensate for the fact that he was getting weaker as he got older.
"If your not Dumbledore, then who are you?" Nathan wondered.
"I'll give you a hint," the old man said as the transfiguration wore off and Nathan could see him clearly for the first time. Nathan could see his light blonde hair on his eyebrows, and his heterochronic eyes; the right one being a light, pale blue and the left being brown. The old man's skin was wrinkled and he had short hair, not to mention was going bald on the top of his head. The robes he wore vanished as well, replaced with a black turtleneck shirt, underneath a black suit with white vertical stripes over a gray trench coat.
Nathan may not have been able to guess accurately had it not been for the eyes. He remembered on the train ride to Hogwarts that he had gotten this guys chocolate frog. His wand had a similar appearance to the Elder Wand, which this man before was rumored to have stolen from Gregorivitch almost a century ago. He had this man's journal, which contatined many of the spells, rituals, and potions that he invented after being expelled out of Durmstrang for being 'too dark', and Durmstrang was a school of magic that was famous even then for its tolerance of the Dark Arts. Sitting across from the young Potter was the most famous, dangerous, and powerful dark wizard that ever walked the earth.
"Gellert Grindelwald," Nathan said.
Chapter End
A few have guessed at this little plot twist of mine, but for those that haven't, here it is!
So, I put up a poll on my account page to see which actress you all prefer to play Pansy Parkinson, since that character has two actresses that have played her and both grew up to be very hot. Please cast your votes.