On May 12th Harry made his way to Dumbledore's office wearing simple black day robes with silver detail on the hem and the crests of his families on the side.
"Candyfloss." He said clearly and the griffin sprang aside to reveal the spiral staircase. He travelled up slowly, taking his time and not rushing.
"Come in, Mr Potter." The mellow voice floated through the wooden door.
Walking in, Harry immediately took notice of the new position the headmaster had, the once great man was bent over a silver contraption by the left bookcase and had his hands braced on the sides.
"Good afternoon, Headmaster."
"Good afternoon. The floo powder is in the china dish on the right, are you sure I can't talk you out of this. It's quite dangerous out there and there are people who do wish to cause you grief."
"I appreciate your concern, but my guardian and I have taken measures to ensure my safety."
"Won't you at least tell me where you're going. Or what time you'll be back?"
"I am going somewhere secure and safe and I will back tomorrow as I will spend the night with my Godfather."
"That's unacceptable, as a Hogwarts student you must spend the night in the castle during term time."
"According to the Hogwarts charter, section 12 any heir can spend time outside of the castle with their guardian's permission which I believe you are aware of?"
Dumbledore sighed and went to sit behind the grand desk.
"Yes, indeed I am. Very well then, I see that I cannot make you take the sensible decision."
Harry refused to take the bait and instead went to the fire and climbed in calling out the destination as 'The Three Broomsticks'. Whirling around he kept his arms at his side and kept his eyes closed until the funny sensation had stopped, then he gracefully stepped out into the pub and smiled as Rosmerta sidled near.
"The dining room is clear for you to use and has a privacy charm around it to ensure no one can hear."
"Thanks Rosie." He replied and gave her a galleon to which she winked at him for before bustling off.
Quickly he went to the dining room and recast the privacy charm before stepping into the grate.
"12 Grimmauld Place, Nunquam Domum!" Which meant never a home, Sirius had said it as soon as he'd first asked about his home and Remus had decided it made a good password, it helped that although they were using it as their London base none of them wanted to stay there.
As soon as he came out of the fireplace he was wrapped in a giant bear hug which he eagerly returned.
"How are you Prongslet?" Came the rough voice of his godfather.
"Better Padfoot, I'm doing better."
The fire call had helped Harry's feeling of guilt, insecurity and a forced sense of feeling as though he was still in the wrong and they'd discussed the possibility of Harry seeing a mind healer during the holidays to get some clarification on his emotions and how his past was still affecting him. Daphne and Sirius were able to sit and listen as he tried to muddle his way through his mind and the occlumency had helped him to see sense of what he had experienced, but there were still some things that triggered past behaviours and he couldn't help the effects they had on him.
The two men pulled away and Harry looked around the kitchen of the Black home.
"Looking good, what time is the appointment?"
"Yes, Moony and I have managed to make it look liveable at least. And we'll leave in about an hour, the appointment is at 3.00pm. Come on I'll give you the tour."
They moved out of the kitchen and up the staircase with Sirius cheerfully updating on the numerous paint fights he and Remus had had during the redecorating.
"This floor are the family rooms, this is mine, yours and Remus' hope you don't mind but he will be a permanent fixture."
"More the merrier."
"Knew it, he seemed to feel he would be imposing"
"The idiot." They both said in unison.
"Anyway as I said, your humble abode."
Opening the dark oak door with Prongslet engraved on it, Sirius stood back to let his godson through first. He and Remus were particularly proud of the decorating and he hoped to receive a positive reaction. Harry did not disappoint.
"Oh man, this is so awesome!" Came the verbal response as the fourteen-year-old slowly circled. The room was large about 12ft by 12ft with three dark red walls and one cream, the double bed was on the left cream wall and covered in black and grey bedsheets with a thick deep crimson coloured blanket on the end. There was a bedside table and Harry immediately headed for it as he spotted the photos; there were three, the first was at his parent's wedding. His Dad was holding his wife as he spun her away from a mock scowling Sirius who was being held back by a laughing Remus, the second was clearly the first time his parents held him as his Mum was evidently in a hospital gown, James had crawled onto the bed and was holding his wife in front of him as they both stared down at the bundle in her arms before James would press a kiss to her head. The third was taken at the Hogsmede weekend just last week; Colin had come across just after they'd met up, and they were all pushing each other and talking over one another before stopping and busting into laughter as one. Opposite the bed was a dark oak desk, it had several ink pots and quills with four drawers on each side, to the left of that was a large black wardrobe that had gold doorknobs. On the wall in front of the door was a large window that overlooked the small garden/courtyard area of no. 12, and a large book shelf with a mix of magical and muggle school books and fiction novels were crammed in together. Photos were hung around the room, a mix of Harry and his friends, his parents and theirs and a mix of the two. Several posters were around including a Skulduggery Pleasant one (he and Remus had bonded over the series) the English Quidditch team and a woodland with dark creatures hiding in the shadows.
Sirius found himself being squeezed to death by his godson.
"So you like it then?"
"I love it, thankyou Siri." Came the hoarse reply and the two remained in a hug for a second before hitting each other on the back and retreating.
"Right, well come on then lets get on with it."
Sirius led him round the rest of the house, including the library which housed all sorts of spell books taken from the ages.
"This collection was started by the first of the Blacks, back then we didn't even have a name we were simply a clan along with the others that had realised they had something extra not many others did. The earliest records are from the 8th century, when Vikings and the Normans came, the Blacks made deals or simply killed all those that came for them. The family Grimoire is in Black Monor but we originally found it here, it has enough darkness oozing from it that I've only opened it three times, and two of those were with my grandfather and father."
"What were they like?"
"Well I've told you about my father, he was very into the dark arts and Voldyboy and all that. He allowed my mother to do with us whatever she wanted and spent all his time in the Ministry trying to get anti muggle and creature laws passed. My grandfather was better though, he stopped my parents from the worst torture, made sure I was still alive during the summer and when he realised my parents were teaching my brother the heir duties he shut them down and taught me himself. He still believed all that rot but he had class, he could silence a room, charm politicians for breakfast and he always put family first. I remember just after I had returned from Hogwarts from my first year, my mother had used every curse available on me and Regulus had been worried enough to get him over. My father had just shaken his head at me and retreated to his study, my grandfather had entered and immediately stunned my mother, he took me to his house and made sure I would live before returning here. I don't know what he said to her, but my mother never went that far again except for the night when I ran away, his word was always law."
"Why didn't you just live with him?"
"I needed to make sure Regulus was alright, until I went to Hogwarts I made sure he was cared for and in that one year he had changed from my little brother who hugged me and wanted to read him bedtime stories into this cold perfect little heir. I just wanted to make sure he was okay..."
Harry placed a hand on his godfather's shoulder as Sirius tailed off with a lost look in his eye before shaking himself and smiling reassuringly at Harry.
"We should get going, we can carry on with the history lesson later."
Arriving by floo into the foyer of the Ministry of Magic the two men made sure to keep a distance from each other and by the time they had reached the security desk no one had yet to recognise them; too involved in their daily tasks and moving about. The guard took a second look but otherwise kept silent and merely handed their wands back with a "thank you sirs". They moved into the elevator and pressed the button for level 9, the lift travelled down and they felt their ears pop. The gold gilded doors opened up into a black room with several candles hovering to emit a light glow, the walls were black as was the floor and ceiling and no windows with several doors that were handleless. A figure came forward, it was a woman of early 40's with dark hair and a stern face.
"Heir Potter, Lord Black it is a privilege I am Unspeakable Vexmoor. If you would come this way, my colleagues and I have set up an area to determine what is happening in your head, Mr Potter. Especially considering the latest information discovered in his occlumency that you were kind enough to send on to us. After that we can proceed to the Prophecy room."
"I beg your pardon?" Sirius questioned instantly.
The woman barely glanced back at them.
"The Hall of Prophecy's, we assumed that was the other reason you wanted to speak to us about. In your letter you speak of another matter you wish to bring up, we assumed it was your want to see your prophecy orb, is that not the case?"
"I have a prophecy!"
"I'll take that as a no. Yes, Mr Potter you have a Prophecy at least we believe its concerning you."
"What's it about?"
"That I have no idea, only those who the prophecy is about can hear it."
"So how do you know it is about me?"
"The person who listened to it, believes it could be about you. They listed your name but it is not for certain, the only way we can say for sure its you is as you try to listen to it."
"Can you tell us who listened to it, please?"
"Yes, it was Albus Dumbledore he was privy to it as the seer spoke."
The two men stopped and the woman carried on several steps before realising she was alone and turned to them with a quizzical eyebrow raised.
"Dumbledore knows I have a prophecy." Harry asked his voice mild and his eyes cold.
"I believe he was the witness, yes."
"Why have I not been informed."
The woman lifted her other brow in mild surprise.
"I have no idea, if Headmaster Dumbledore did not want you to know he must have had a reason or perhaps he simply forgot. As for us not informing you sooner, as I have said we couldn't be sure it was you or even what it was about and as an Unspeakable…well we do have rather important jobs to be getting on with."
The reproachful tone immediately had the young man blushing.
"Of course, I apologise."
She inclined her head and motioned forward, by this time they had gone through one of the doors and into a long corridor that never seemed to stop. Doors lined the walls, all the same plain black and it was impossible for the two outsiders to say which number they stopped at when the woman opened it for them and led them into a circular room with a desk, blackboard, chair and sofa. A small stone fireplace was carved out in the wall opposite the door. Vexmoor sat at the desk and waved them to the sofa.
"Now I have read your letters but would like more of an understanding so if you don't mind, start at the beginning. First though; I vow to Lord Black and Lord Potter that the information I receive shall never be shared with others unless I have your express permission, your secrets are safe with me and I shall not waver in that." A brief glow enclosed the woman as magic accepted her vow and then she nodded at Harry to begin.
Harry immediately talked about the dreams he'd had, how they had seemed so real, so forceful. How he knew it was more than a dream. He talked about the smudge he'd found, how he sensed the fear and hatred oozing from it. He moved on to the pain that he felt in his scar after he'd try to remove it and the pain he felt during the dreams.
"Has your scar always twinged like that?"
"Yes usually when Voldemort is near."
"What do you mean, near?" Came the sharp reply.
"Well in my first year, he possessed a teacher to take the philosophers stone. Then in second year he came back in the form of a memory and possessed a student. That's why I was so concerned about the dreams."
"Are you telling me that you have met the spirit of the Dark Lord known as Lord Voldemort and recently?!" The woman was incredulous.
"Well, yes."
A mask slid into place and she pulled a wand from her robes and waved it quickly immediately a small silver bird – "a blackbird" Sirius whispered- burst from it and settled on the desk in front of the woman.
"Unspeakables Arran, Killick and Robins to come to my office immediately, this is urgent." At once the silver bird disappeared through the door and she turned to the two.
"I fear, this is much graver that I thought, at first I merely thought it was residual magic that had been left in your scar. Something we could banish easily, unfortunately I now am unsure quite what we are dealing with. The others are all trustworthy but we shall make them cast a vow of loyalty first."
"Do you have any idea what it could be?" Sirius said urgently as his hand gripped Harry's knee.
"I am afraid I do, however I will need my suspicions confirmed before I say anything else."
Just as Vexmoor had finished her sentence three silver animals came through the door; a fox, buzzard and crow.
They looked at Vexmoor without moving and she quickly nodded. "Yes, yes I am unharmed but you must come." The animals disappeared and only a few moments later was there knocking on the door. She quickly stood to open it and two other woman and man came through.
"First a vow of loyalty to keep Lord Potter and Lord Blacks secrets." There was barely a twitch as though the newcomers expected something like this and vows were quickly given.
Unspeakable Arran was the taller of the women at about 6ft, bright yellow hair, pale skin and brown eyes that jumped around the room never settling. Harry had the feeling that she was uncomfortable being around so many people. Unspeakable Killick was richly tanned skin with dark hair and matching eyes with a firmness that echoed the blunt nod she gave the both of them before turning her attention back to her colleague. Unspeakable Robins was a touch shorter that Arran, dark blonde hair and green eyes with strong shoulders hidden underneath the black robes they all wore.
"Lord Potter, if you don't mind repeating what you said to me, all of it please."
Once more Harry relied everything, including the two incidences at Hogwarts.
"He possessed a teacher?"
"Yes, Professor Quirrell. He had been acting strangely all year, I even remember Percy Weasley saying that he had changed from the previous teaching year. It was only at the end though we realised what he had, but we didn't actually know it was him until the last minute we thought it was Snape."
"I don't understand though, how did you figure it out?" Arrans questioned.
"Its kind of a long story." At once the three conjured chairs and sat facing Harry with expectant looks on their faces. He exchanged a look with Sirius who nodded encouragingly at him and began.
"When I first entered Hogwarts and went through the sorting, I looked towards the teachers table as I sat down at the Gryffindor table, my scar hurt; at the time I thought it was just a headache then as the year progressed I realised it was as I was looking at Professor Snape but he was next to Quirrell, Dumbledore also warned us that there was something in the third floor corridor that was out of bounds because we could die a horribly painful death."
"Why on earth would he tell that to a group of school children? Its asking for trouble!" Robins huffed.
"Lessons passed as usual until a few weeks before Halloween when Ron and I snuck out with two others to go to a dual that Malfoy had arranged, unfortunately he chickened out and told Filch about us instead so we made a run for it to the third floor corridor where we found a massive three headed dog."
"…Sorry…you found a what?"
"A three headed dog, a Cerberus. The other student we were with, Hermione Grange noticed that it was standing on top of a trap door."
All 5 adults were staring at him in complete amazement and Sirius was opening and closing his mouth like a fish, although he'd told his godfather a lot he hadn't told him everything. As it didn't look like any of them were going to get their mouths working any time soon, Harry decided to simply carry on.
"Then at Halloween there was troll loose in the dungeon-"
"A troll? How on earth did it get in?" Killick asked, finally able to speak again.
"At the time that wasn't even a question but later we found out that Quirrell had let it in, apparently he speaks it. Dumbledore sent everyone back to their common rooms-"
"Wait a minute, aren't the Slytherin common rooms in the dungeons?"
"Where the troll was?" Robins piped in looking aghast.
"…Yes…I never thought about that before actually."
"Carry on, Harry." Vexmoor urged.
"Right, as we started to make our way back, Ron Weasley and I realised that Hermione Granger wasn't with us. She was in the girls bathroom after Ron had made some not very nice comments about her, we ran to it immediately and found the troll just outside instead. We managed to fight the troll and knock it unconscious when the teachers arrived."
"Sorry, you're telling me that three first years managed to take down a mountain troll?" Arrans said sceptically.
"Bloody marvel he is, though you're grounded now." Sirius said with a grin but extremely pale face, Harry turned to him gobsmacked.
"What for!?"
"Placing yourself in danger, your mother would have my head if I didn't at least try to supress that."
"Siri, it was years ago."
"Don't care." Came the petulant reply and the four Unspeakables had to work to keep their smiles from showing at the way the rough man sat back with his arms crossed as his Godson stared at him.
"You were saying Harry." Prompted Vexmoor.
"Err, oh right. Then we had my first Quidditch match."
"Ah yes, I remember reading something about that, youngest player in a century weren't you?"
"Yup." Harry blushed but beamed too, he still wasn't used to taking compliments but he knew this was earned. He worked damn hard at his Quidditch and deserved praise, at least that's what Daphne and Sirius had drilled into his head.
"I knew you were on the house team, I didn't realise it was a record to! We'll need to celebrate that later." Sirius promised and Harry practically glowed with the joy he felt at sharing something with his guardian.
"So the first match was going well until my broom started to well tip me off."
"What do you mean?"
"Well it kept jerking and twitching erratically, I couldn't control it."
"What on earth was going on?" Robins asked urgently.
"Turns out that Quirrell was jinxing it, however my friends had seen Snape's mouth moving and assumed it was him. Hermione caused a distraction-"
"Which was?" Asked Sirius, his grey eyes glinting maliciously.
"Erm, she set Snape's robes on fire. But on the way back she bumped into Quirrell and that's when I got my broom under control. Ended up almost swallowing the snitch too but we ended up winning. Anyway then we went down to Hagrid's where Ron and Hermione were telling me what happened and Hagrid wouldn't believe what Snape was doing. Then we told him about him being injured by the dog and he let slip that Fluffy was –"
"Fluffy?!" Yelped all 5 adults.
"Oh yeah, the Cerburus was called Fluffy."
"Of course it was." Said Arrans faintly.
"So Fluffy was guarding something and that was between Dumbledore and Nicholas Flamel."
"The same Flamel, who created the Philosophers stone?"
"The very same, but we didn't know it then." Harry said.
"So for some reason Dumbledore, the man considered the greatest mind and wizard decided to put an ancient artifact in a castle full of curious children and decided to set a three headed dog as a guard. Does that sound about right, Harry?" Vexmoor asked.
"Yes ma'am."
"Right. Do carry on." She said while writing down on a pad in front of her.
"Right, we spent ages looking for something on Flamel and then Christmas happened next and I got…well…"
Here he stopped and looked at Sirius for confirmation, they'd spoken about how much to reveal to Unspeakables and although the vows had made it clear how seriously they took this he still needed to know it was okay. Sirius nodded at him and smiled encouragingly so he dove in and shared one of his biggest secrets.
"I got an invisibility cloak, it used to belong to my father."
"Who gave it to you?"
"At the end of the year Dumbledore revealed it was him but I had no idea at the time and the note only said 'use it well'. So I went down to the restricted section which we'd been unable to get into until then, unfortunately Filch and Snape were wandering around and I had to make a run for it into the nearest classroom. And there I found another strange thing."
"Not another dangerous beast?" Half joked Robins though the pale face gave away his worry.
"Nope instead it was a large mirror, and when I looked in it, I saw my family. I kept going back until one night when there was someone else with me, Dumbledore had realised someone was going into the room and investigated. He told me it was the Mirror of Erised or mirror of desire and showed us our deepest wish." Sirius shuffled a little closer, Harry had told him about the mirror and while a part of him wanted to see his desire, he recognised the grief it had caused his godson even through the ash of the fire call.
"I know of it, I was analysing it five years ago for a project I was working on. One day the head came to me and told me they were removing it for further observation and use and my project was shut down. Its quite a dangerous piece." Killick said with a huff.
"Yes the Headmaster told me to not dwell on the past and that the mirror was being removed to a different area and I was not to go looking for it. The next bit is entertaining but not needed about Quirrell, do you still want to know?"
"Why not, onwards Harry." Vexmoor said with a strained smile.
"Right, so a couple weeks after Christmas we bumped into Hagrid in the library and he was reading a book about dragons and their care. We went down to visit him and found out that he had a dragon egg, ready to hatch."
The four unspeakables burst out laughing, unable to believe what they'd heard. Sirius who had already knew through one of Harry's earlier letters kept a solemn face and the laughter gradually died as they realised the teen wasn't joking.
"Oh Hagrid…where does the man get his idea's from." Killick said shaking his head.
"Anyway, we knew we needed to get rid of Norbert and so – "
"Norbert? He names a fire breathing dragon Norbert?" Grinned Robins.
Harry shrugged hopelessly and then remembered what Hagrid had told him when he was researching for the first task. " He actually should have called it Norbeta at least according to the dragon sanctuary we managed to get him to by contacting Charlie Weasley who agreed to come and retrieve him, unfortunately we got caught by Professor McGonagall who had been told by Draco Malfoy who had got his hands on the letter that arranged the time and place of the pick-up. Our detention was to go into the forbidden forest along with Hagrid and Neville Longbottom; apparently something had been killing the Unicorns and it was the job of the games keeper and 4 first year students to discover what."
"What sought of imbecile would decide such a stupid thing! Do they want to get their students killed? Do they no longer care about children's welfare? Of all the ridiculous foolish things to do! And with a man who isn't even allowed to hold a wand anymore! Oh sure lets just send them off into the FORBIDDEN forest to die! Oh yes students you're not allowed in there but get a detention and we'll send you with a cheerful smile!" Ranted Arrans as she waved her arms in the air and seemed completely oblivious to her colleagues attempts to calm her, in the end Vexmoor immobilised her for a few seconds and once released sat gingerly back in her chair and waved Harry on.
"Erm right…so we were walking through when Hagrid got us to pair up and go off –"
"Sending pigs to slaughter, I just can't beli-"
"Carry on, Harry." Robins said twirling his hand that he'd just used to stop another rant from Arrans happening.
"Malfoy and I were together and started down one of the paths with Fang, Hagrid's dog. We had only been walking for a few minutes when we saw a Unicorn lying away from us with a figure bending over it, I couldn't really see it but it looked like it was drinking its blood. Malfoy started screaming and shoved past me as he ran and I fell, the figure turned towards me and it felt like my scar was on fire! Just pain. It was so strong I could barely see it coming towards me, but then out of nowhere one of the centaurs came and rescued me and drove the figure away, Firenze delivered me back to Hagrid and we all immediately left. Soon after we figured that Snape was going after the stone - especially as Hagrid let slip that he'd told the man who gave him the dragons egg how to handle dangerous beasts - but none of the teachers were believing us and so we kind of decided to go after it ourselves…" He trailed off under the disbelieving and gobsmacked expressions around him. He glanced at Sirius who was holding is still pale face in his hands as he muttered at how Lily was going to tear him apart when he saw them again.
"Sorry let me get this straight, you decided to go after an adult wizard who was much more skilled then you." Robins spoke calmly. Arrans had risen and was once again ranting in silent mode as the charm hadn't been removed yet, Killick was looking at Harry with a calculating expression that had him squirming while Vexmoor scribbled on her pad.
15 minutes later they were all still in the same positions and Harry was starting to get worried at the lack of movement when Sirius leaned towards him and wrapped him in a hug.
"Prongslet."
"Yes, Padfoot."
"You are never leaving the house again."
Harry didn't even bother arguing and instead let his guardian believe he had his way, for a little while at least.
"I believe my godson has a story to finish."
The Unspeakables all seemed to unfreeze themselves and sat back in their chairs with dreading expressions.
"What we hadn't realised was that each teacher had put an obstacle up to ensure that people couldn't get to the stone. The first one was obviously Hagrid's, Fluffy was already asleep when we got there as there was a harp playing in the corner. We went down the trap door and landed on Devil's snare, it was only because of Hermione that we managed to get out of it. The next was a room of flying keys and we had to catch a specific one to open the door which led onto McGonagall's and it was a giant chess set, Ron Weasley told us what to do while I played the part of a bishop and Hermione was a rook, Ron sacrificed himself but he was breathing and we went to the next one which was Quirrell's, a large troll was unconscious in his room. The final one was Snape's, as soon as we came through the room two fires broke out over the doorways and was a riddle which ended with having to take a potion to go forward or back. There was only enough for one of us to go forward so we decided Hermione would go and get help and I'd see what I could do, I went through the fire and there was professor Quirrell standing in front of the mirror. He revealed that he had been after the stone all year and Snape had been onto him from the start, suspecting something to be wrong. He said that the stone was in the mirror and that he couldn't remove it. He tied me up and forced me to move nearer to him, he told me to look in the mirror and tell him what I had seen. To my uttermost shock my reflection slipped me the stone and I felt a weight in my pocket."
"I don't understand, how did you retrieve it?" Vexmoor asked in a confused tone.
"I'm not sure, Dumbledore said that only a person who wanted the stone but no intention of using it could retrieve it."
The Unspeakables face took on a more understanding expression.
"Ah that is an old spell, quite ingenious of him to be honest."
"Well anyway I told Quirrell that I had won the quidditch cup or stuff like that but he didn't believe me, he started to unwind his turban and he revealed a face attached to the back of his head."
"Attached to his head!" Robins said totally aghast.
"Full possession, how incredible." Mused Killick. The others turned incredulous expressions on her. "What? As terrible as it is, very rarely has there been a possession that's manifested itself like that." At the raised eyebrows she huffed and crossed her arms. "I'm a Ravenclaw for a reason." The others finally smiled despite the still tense atmosphere and Vexmoor took another shot of fire-whiskey then turned back to Harry with expectant faces.
"The face said it was Lord Voldemort and he'd taken over Quirrell." He stopped speaking and allowed the news to sink in.
"Okay."
Sirius looked between them all a little shocked at the lack of fear they were all presenting.
"You aren't surprised?"
"You'll find that there isn't much that surprises an Unspeakable, we surround ourselves with the impossible and the unknown well apart from the antics of school children it seems. Over the years, several of us have gone missing only to reappear months sometimes years later. The fact that the most evilest being that this world has ever seen has taken steps to ensure his survival doesn't surprise, after all there wasn't a body. That tends to create doubt." Vexmoor said softly.
"Then why aren't you doing something?" Sirius demanded suddenly feeling angry that there were people who believed Voldemort to be alive and who had done nothing.
"What would you have us do? There was no evidence he was still alive just a lack of him being dead. We are above many things but even we cannot conjure evidence and speculate simply because we choose to."
Harry put his hand on Sirius' arm and squeezed it. He understood his godfathers pain but understood how little there could be done. Sirius looked back into Harry's emerald eyes and for a split second saw the same green but surrounded by auburn hair with hazel eyes peering over her shoulder slightly magnified by the thick glasses he wore. He blinked the image away and wordlessly reached out his arm to draw his godson in for a quick hug.
"So." Arrans said brightly. "Creepy face says he's the undead dark lord and…"
"And tried to order me to give him the stone, eventually he told Quirrell to attack me except when he laid his hands on me his skin started to crumble away. I'm not sure how else to explain it, he kept coming at me and bits of him broke away. The last thing I remember before waking up in the hospital was this wraith leaving his body."
"How absurd, usually after the possessed object or body is destroyed an apparition will cling to the nearest other thing, in this case you but I'd like to think someone would have noticed if you'd been possessed by now."
"Well no one realised that about Quirrell or Ginny in second year."
"What do you mean, Ginny?"
"Ginny Weasley, she was possessed by the memory of Voldemort from his diary and unleashed a giant snake that killed peopled in Hogwarts."
There was a soft click as Vexmoor drew a bottle of fire whisky out from under her desk and took a large gulp.
"Brings us a dark lord and we're fine, give us schoolchildren finding ancient artifacts and monsters and we break down." Robbins said, looking at Arrans who had slid off her chair her eyes wide and focussed on Harry who was looking quite concerned for the state of the adults around him.
"Prongslet, I think you're going to need to do a hell of a lot more talking before we leave here."