Hello people of the Potter-verse! Hope this finds you all well! I'm going to be totally honest the last chapter really disappointed me, it was probably the crappiest one in the series and I just wanna say that I'm so sorry about that. It was rushed and sloppy, tons of mistakes… ugh! Again I'm very sorry about it.
Well this chapter is the confrontation between Harry, Andrew and Quirrel. It'll also be the last chapter of the first book. So please enjoy!
I don't own Harry Potter or the characters except for Andrew.
Chapter 16: Burn in hell.
Andrew watched his brother go before a sound caught his attention, he turned to see the potion refilling, he grabbed it and downed the whole thing before stepping out of the room and froze at what he saw.
Professor Quirrel was sneering at Harry.
"Well, well, well. Welcome to the party, Potter two." He said in a mocking tone.
"Wa-Wait what?"
Andrew stared at the usually timid professor and was absolutely stunned, he suspected Quirrel was a dirty liar since that day with the Troll, no DADA professor would act like such a pansy when facing something they should be trained in defeating. Then there was his lack of stutter when Andrew had called him out on his bravery that night.
No Andrew always suspected him but that wasn't what had shocked him. Why was he here tonight? And how did he get past all those tests without leaving a trail? Just what was happening here?!
"Surprised? Yes I knew you would be coming for the stone tonight and attempted to get to it before you arrived." He said with a sneer at the two boys.
"But- But how?!"
"What, how did I know?" Quirrel asked mockingly. "A little skill known as Legillimence, it's dead useful when searching for anyone who would try to foil my plans."
"Legillimence?" Harry asked as he moved next to his brother.
"Yes, it allows one to search the memories of their victims, without their knowledge and without Occlumency training; a person's mind is an easy target." He told them with a superior smirk.
Andrew made a mental note to search about these two forms of magic before concentrating on the man in front of him.
"You read our minds." Andrew said with a small glare.
"Yes, I suppose in a sense I did. Now quiet, I need to figure out this last puzzle." He stated before turning back to the mirror. Harry shot Andrew a look, they knew that mirror. It was the Mirror of Erised.
"I see myself holding the stone… but how do I get it?!" he muttered angrily.
"Wait, how did you get down here without getting past those traps?" Andrew asked looking for a way to stall the man.
Quirrel laughed loudly when he heard the question.
"That old fool Dumbledore, his office has a passage that leads directly to this room. He informed the teachers who helped prepare the trials that if ever they needed to check on the room to use his office."
"So he knows you're in here then." Harry stated hoping to scare the man.
"The senile old fool replied to a fake summons to the Ministry, truly, how he was named the greatest wizard since Merlin is a mystery to me." Quirrel said with a laugh.
"So why tonight? Why not tomorrow during the game?" Andrew asked thoroughly confused about this.
"Snape; the overbearing bat has taken to stalking me, he was so certain of my intentions that he even followed me into the Dark Forrest to threaten me."
Harry's eyes widened as the memory he had of Snape's confrontation with Quirrel played in his mind.
"That must've been annoying." Andrew muttered.
"Oh trust me, it was." Quirrel sneered.
"Enough! Can you not see that they have been stalling you for time, you insolent fool!" yelled a raspy fourth voice.
"M-Master?" Quirrel asked with a genuine stutter.
Harry turned to his brother to find him staring at Quirrel with furrowed eyebrows.
'Who the hell was that?' Andrew asked his brother while his mouth was shut in a thin line.
'I don't know but, I'm not sure if I want to know.' Harry replied as he bit his tongue from asking Quirrel who it was who had spoken.
They looked at each other and slowly moved backwards.
"Let me speak to them." The voice said after reprimanding Quirrel some more.
"Master, you are not strong enough." Quirrel instantly replied.
"Yeah man, you probably want to rest some more…" Andrew offered as his nervous tick kicking in. "I mean you don't want to randomly fall over and show two eleven year old first years that you err, don't have enough strength for them r-right?"
"Silence! I have strength enough for this." The voice said.
Quirrel bowed slightly before reaching up and slowly untying the knot of his turban. He started unwrapping it, as layer after layer was pulled off Andrew and Harry started seeing a bald scalp but that wasn't what caught their attention; the back of his head started pulling. As Quirrel pulled off the last of the fabric he turned and the two boys could do nothing but stare at the man in front of them in complete horror and disgust.
"Harry and Andrew Potter, oh how many years has it been, eleven already? Oh how time does fly." The face attached to the back of their Defence teacher greeted the two boys with the same amount of familiarity as one would greet an old friend.
"I-I'm sorry, I don't believe we've met." Andrew said before he could stop himself.
"Oh, yes, you were just babies when you last saw me. I am the Dark Lord Voldemort." The face said with a slight wheeze. "Do you see what has become of me? Do you see what you have forced me to become?" he asked in an unsettlingly calm tone.
"H-Have you tried some lotion?" Andrew asked mentally cursing his bloody mouth.
"You think me a joke?!" Voldemort roared angrily.
"Master…" Quirrel said softly. Voldemort took a small breath and looked at the two boys again.
"Use the boys." Voldemort commanded before his face was facing the other way.
"Come here, Potter; both of you!" Quirrel said as he turned and levelled his wand at the two boys.
Not seeing much of a choice the two boys moved reluctantly towards the man before he moved out the way and showed them the mirror.
"What do you see?" he asked as he watched the two boys.
Harry and his brother saw their reflections staring back at them, then Harry's reflection turned to Andrews and started laughing; Andrew's image soon followed before Harry's image pulled out a large red stone and winked at the two boys before dropping it into his pocket. Andrew's reflection simply raised a finger to its lips and grinned at them.
'Harry, is the stone…?'
'Yeah…'
'Act calm!' Andrew thought before cutting off their link.
"What do you see?!" Quirrel commanded as he grabbed Harry's shoulders.
"I see m-me and Andrew, f-flying our brooms…" Harry lied.
"He lies!" Voldemort's voice stated angrily.
Andrew turned back to the mirror and saw Harry's image take stone out and throw to Andrew's who then dropped it into his jumper jacket. Andrew felt a sudden weight by his stomach and nearly coughed in surprise.
"Tell me boy!" Quirrel said as he searched Harry's body before turning to Andrew. As he advanced, Andrew felt the weight disappear and was suddenly short of breath. He gasped for air that refused to come.
"Tell me what you see!" Voldemort demanded angrily.
"I-I see my- myself, standing on your corpse as I piss in your eye hole!" Andrew sneered back angrily. He felt a sharp pain around his eye as he was slapped by Quirrel's hand before being thrown to the ground and was repeatedly kicked. He hasn't been beaten for a year so his body had once again grown soft; he felt every kick with a heavy amount of pain.
"You arrogant brat, you're just like your traitor of a father!" Voldemort yelled before a huge amount of pain ran through his host body.
"Quirrel what are you doing?!" Voldemort screamed angrily.
"It's the boy master, he- he punched us." Quirrel replied.
Sure enough there stood Harry, his chest heaving as adrenaline ran through his body, he had never thrown the first punch but Andrew always looked out for him, he felt it was about time he paid him back for all that. Looking at Quirrel exchanging words with his master, Harry took the initiative and charged the man, with two swings he caught the man's solar plexus and followed through with a hard right hook.
Andrew took a few breaths to regain his senses before pulling himself up and running over to Harry and Quirrel, not to save his brother, but to help him kick the bastard's arse. He ran up and kicked the man in the shin hard, helped by his momentum he caused the man to fall down to one knee- making the fight equal.
Harry grinned at his brother as he jabbed Quirrel in the nose causing him to rear back where Andrew did the same thing to the supposed 'Most feared man in Wizarding England'.
"You dare punch Lord Volde-" he was cut off when Andrew threw a hard left hook where Harry took the hint and got Quirrel with a strong uppercut.
"Enough!" Voldemort yelled as he let off a huge amount of magic which blew the two boys away from him. "I shall not be treated like some mudblood weakling!" before he controlled Quirrel's arm, ignoring the yell of pain from Quirrel as his arm was bent backwards for Voldemort's use on Andrew.
"Avada-" he didn't get far though as he was cut off from his own screaming, magic ripped through him, before he could ask what had happened he felt more magic flow painfully through him. He looked down and saw Andrew with his hands wrapped around his neck squeezing with everything he had in him. He assumed Harry was doing the same thing with Quirrel. Voldemort felt Quirrel's magic deplete at an alarming rate and knew that this shell of a body would soon be of no use to him. Gathering all of the magic left in Quirrels body Voldemort separated himself from the man and watched as the body then crumbled to the floor in ashes. He let out a huge yell of rage before going for the two boys.
Harry felt nothing but pain; it had started in his scar and soon had affected his entire body, he looked at the charred remains of Quirrel and crawled over to his brother who seemed to be in just as much pain as he had been if not more. Finally reaching him, he looked and found him grinning.
"What's so funny?" Harry asked.
"I can't believe I told Voldemort that my heart's desire was to piss in his corpse's eye socket." He said with a laugh before Harry joined in.
They had just calmed down when a huge amount of pain ripped through their bodies; they felt as if they were on fire before both boys were enveloped in darkness.
0o-o0-0o-o0-0o-o0-0o
The first thing Andrew remembered was the smell of medicine; he wrinkled his nose before sitting up slightly and wincing at the pain in his ribs. Opening his eyes he was blinded by the bright white ceiling of the hospital wing Andrew looked around and groaned slightly. He heard cheering in the distance and furrowed his eyebrows. Then he suddenly the remembered the match; leaping out of the bed and ignoring the pain in his body Andrew was about to rush over to the door when he froze in place.
"Now, now, now Mister Potter you need your bed rest." Said a stern voice before the school's nurse; Madam Pomfrey came into his line of vision. He then felt himself being levitated and placed back onto the bed before being unfrozen.
"But the game…!" he tried while pointing towards the direction of the Quidditch pitch.
"… has already begun without you being there." Madam Pomfrey said in a stern tone.
Grumbling Andrew allowed the nurse to tuck him into the sheets and heard a small chuckle. He turned to see Harry smiling at him.
"I tried all that too, but Pomfrey seemed set on keeping me prisoner here."
Andrew groaned and flopped back onto his pillow. "You doing okay?" he asked his brother.
"Yeah, I'm a bit stiff but otherwise fine." The raven haired boy replied.
"Well, I am certainly happy to hear that, and I am very glad to see you two safe."
The two boys turned to see Dumbledore walking into the Hospital wing with a smile on his face.
"Professor Dumbledore!"
"Headmaster."
He saw both boys and bit back a sigh at Andrew's suspicious look in his direction.
"Why?" Andrew asked Dumbledore, as he took a seat in-between their beds.
"Why? Well, I must be honest I don't really know myself." He stated before he caught the boy's eyes and saw that no idle words were going to get him out of this conversation. Sighing Dumbledore continued.
"I'd always suspected that Voldemort was never truly destroyed, so I set up this little trap to capture him."
"Why in a school of children though? Couldn't you have used an abandoned house or something? Somewhere where no one would have been injured?"
"When you and Harry turned eleven it was public knowledge that you'd be attending Hogwarts, so I decided to hold it here so the temptation for Voldemort would be too great to pass up." Dumbledore admitted.
"So you used us." Andrew stated with a blank look.
"Yes, I am very sorry, but I had to be certain. I apologize and hope you do not hold it against me as I am an old man who had a bad lapse in judgment."
"Why is he after us?" Harry asked, speaking for the first time.
"There are many reasons Harry, most of which I do not believe you are ready to hear." Dumbledore replied.
"And who gave you the right to determine what we are or are not ready for?" Andrew asked indifferently.
"Andrew, Harry do you know why Voldemort couldn't stand to be touched by you in the chamber?" Dumbledore asked.
'How did he know about that?' Andrew thought.
'Maybe he suspected it?'
'Bull… the old geezer's hiding something from us.'
"No sir." Harry replied as he broke off the contact.
"Love." Dumbledore said with a sad smile. "When your mother, Lily, gave her life for you two she enacted a strong magical bond connected to the both of you, her love is what Voldemort couldn't stand."
Both boys felt a twinge in their hearts at Dumbledore's words.
"Sir, do we have to go back to the Dursleys?" Harry asked remembering the summer started in two days and that they'd have to go home.
"Yes, I do believe you do… it is none negotiable there are certain spells around your home-"
"It isn't our home." Andrew said heatedly.
"Well, the Dursley's residence is surrounded by spells designed to protect you."
"From…?"
"Voldemort, so I must ask that you please remain there for a while." Dumbledore said with a smile.
Neither boy replied but simply lay back on their beds and looked out the window.
"I do believe that your adventure down in the chamber has been kept a secret, so naturally the entire school knows about it." Dumbledore said with a slight chuckle.
"Right, Professor, I was wandering if it would be at all possible to go to Diagon Alley tomorrow; since we leave for summer in two days." Andrew asked suddenly sitting up.
"Oh, I am afraid that wouldn't be possible as you would need a teacher to accompany you…"
"I'll ask Professor Flitwick!" he stated quickly.
"Really, I'm surprised you didn't say Professor McGonagall, seeing as she is your Head of House." Dumbledore said with furrowed brows.
Remembering what Quirrel said about Occlumency and most of the teachers being able to do this ability he looked away and continued.
"It's important sir. Besides, it has to do with Professor Flitwick's extra wand practice his providing us with next year."
"Hmm, well I suppose I could ask Fillius if he wouldn't mind." Dumbledore said giving in; while Harry was a boy who would have backed down albeit reluctantly, Dumbledore learnt quickly that Andrew was the complete opposite. He would be persistent about it until the day Dumbledore finally agreed.
"But Harry must come with you." Dumbledore stated.
"Of course, I was going to bring him along anyway." Andrew said looking at Dumbledore weirdly.
"Well, I had better go off and talk to Madam Pomfrey about letting you two out earlier and also go speak to Fillius about the Diagon Alley trip." The headmaster stated as he pulled himself up and went into the nurse's office.
"What are you thinking?" Harry asked as the headmaster left.
"Quirrel; he said something about a type of magic called Legillimency and Occlumency, remember?" Andrew asked, recalling the encounter. He saw Harry nod and continued.
"Well, I think it'd be a useful skill for us to learn, I mean he said that he figured out our plan just by seeing out memories, and we didn't even realise it. It's dangerous; I mean anyone could use it without us even knowing it was being used on us. So, I propose we learn them. It'll help keep our secrets, and also if we can get the Legillimency right we could use it to determine if anyone lies to us." Andrew told Harry.
"Okay and what does that have to do with Diagon Alley?"
"Books, we can't practise something we don't know about, so I'm using Flitwick as a cover to get those books. I have a feeling Dumbledore will be against us doing it as it might not be something innocent kids do."
"Ah, smart." Harry agreed with a nod.
0o-o0-0o-o0-0o-o0-0o
Dumbledore entered the charms professor's office after being invited in and greeted the short man warmly.
"What can I do for you Albus?" he asked curiously.
"Well Fillius, it would appear as though Andrew and Harry Potter would like your assistance in Diagon Alley tomorrow." Dumbledore said as he sat in one of the chairs in the room.
"Hmm, whatever for? Tea, Albus?"
"Yes thank you. Andrew is planning on getting books on Occlumency and Legillimency." Dumbledore said as he accepted the cup of tea happily.
"Oh, why would one so young wish to learn such a skill?"
"You're guess is as good as mine, my friend. What I wanted to ask of you is if you would overlook these purchases, I do believe it will do nothing but good for the boys in when they get older."
"This is quite upsetting, Albus. Why me, why not Minerva?"
"I do believe it has to do with the extra lessons you are providing next year."
"Oh yes, that is a rather smart reason to ask me to join, they could simply claim that they wouldn't know what books to get if they had gone by themselves. Oh the simplicity is beautiful, so childish yet very refined. I do believe Andrew might be a handful in his older years." The charms Professor said with a small laugh.
"Yes, well I hope Harry will keep him grounded." Dumbledore said light hearted. "Oh yes Fillius, if you don't mind an old man's prying but why do young Andrew and Harry need help with their wands?"
"Oh it is fantastic, Albus! I'm surprised you haven't noticed them."
"Oh well, I haven't had the opportunity."
"Black Ash wood with a silver flamed phoenix feather and White Ash wood with a golden phoenix feather! The fact that these two boys received these wands is a big deal, especially in the Goblin Race."
"What do you mean my friend?"
"Well you know how phoenixes are magically bonded to those who exhibit a strong affinity to the light?" At Dumbledore's nod he continued. "Well the Golden and Silver Phoenixes were extremely rare, they have only been two recorded times when these birds gave feathers to a wand maker. What makes them so amazing is that they were given at the exact time, so the wands would never be separated one could not work without the other, and if they chose their masters, the people to wield them had a bond stronger than anything in this world. It's old magic, a bond that surpasses blood. Harry and Andrew are the last two people recorded to have these wands. The first were Morganna and Merlin."
"But they hated each other." Dumbledore said shocked at this news.
"That may be true but they had a bond that ran through their magic, connecting them together. We do not know why as legends say that those two would battle anytime they laid eyes on each other. The point is, after those two were buried with their wands, the gold and silver phoenixes didn't appeared again until the late 1800's and passing on two more feathers before disappearing and no one has ever seen the phoenixes since." Fillius finished.
"That is rather fascinating." Dumbledore said as he finished the last bit of his tea.
"Yes, well, as you can imagine these two wands are very powerful. So I offered to help the boys channel their magic properly so that they wouldn't get thrown off by the wands." Fillius said answering the Headmasters earlier question.
"Thank you Fillius, please enjoy your day." Dumbledore said as he stood and turned to leave before turning back. "So may I tell the boys that you are free tomorrow?"
"Yes, I shall get them early so that we can get in before people crowd the streets of the Alley." He agreed.
After Dumbledore told the two boys about Professor Flitwick's acceptance he stealthily removed the listening charm on Harry and left the room thinking about all he had learnt today. Andrew was definitely a different person around Harry than he had been with him, but then again they grew up together. He sighed and moved his thoughts to their want to learn Occlumency; two children who felt that it was necessary to hide their thoughts from potential threats. Andrew was right in thinking that Dumbledore would have rejected the idea, but the more he thought about it the more it made sense.
These boys would be powerful in their later years, Dumbledore's test proved that, and their allies, Hermione Granger; the brightest first year Dumbledore had ever seen, she was no slouch either, her magic power was large for one so young. Ron Weasley; Dumbledore knew the Weasleys from the Order of the Phoenix, they were a good family, they would keep the two boys who learnt about their extensive bank account grounded and finally Nymphadora Tonks; a third year Hufflepuff, the metamorph had a high level of skill and power to boot. Dumbledore shook his head, they were also very different in personalities and each of them would be a fantastic leader but had chosen Harry as their Alpha. Andrew was definitely the Beta, taking the spot of second in command and probably the future strategist with his amazing recall. Hermione was third in command with the battle plans and research, Nymphadora was their muscle he supposed, her higher level of magical knowledge would be an advantage to the group and Ronald, he was the supporter, his role may have been small, but it would be important none the less.
Dumbledore thought of all this and shook his head slightly, if he was correct and he really hoped he wasn't the answer to Voldemort's non destruction would be discovered soon enough, he just hoped there were no victims this time.
0o-o0-0o-o0-0o-o0-0o-o0
The following morning saw a rather chatty Harry and Flitwick walking over to the Headmasters office to floo into the Leaky Cauldron while Andrew dragged his feet behind them muttering about annoying morning people.
They made it into the room and greeted the Headmaster who was waiting for the boys and his employee to come through.
"Good morning, Harry, Andrew and Fillius."
"Good morning, Albus."
"Morning, professor Dumbledore."
"Ughh…"
"Now, I'm sure you haven't used a floo before, so I would like to explain, pay close attention." Flitwick said as he snapped his fingers in front of Andrew's face.
"Oh, before that Fillius, here are their account key, so they may withdraw some money before going to Flourish and Bott's." Dumbledore said as he handed the tiny teacher Harry and Andrew's bank key.
"You take a pinch of the floo powder and step into the fire place, then you say your destination; very, very clearly. Leaky Cauldron!" the tiny professor said before a huge green flame erupted around him and he disappeared.
Andrew and Harry shared a look. "Hell no." Andrew said quickly.
"Well, if you wish to get those books, I believe this would be the only way to get where you need to be." Dumbledore stated with a small hint of amusement.
"Why the hell did you crazy wizard's ban Carpets?" he muttered sulkily as he took a pinch of powder.
"Well, after the incident of 18-"
"Rhetorical question, sir." Andrew stated cutting him off. "Okay, let's do this. Ahem, Leaky Cauldron." Andrew disappeared and Harry was left alone with Dumbledore before sighing and repeating his brother and instantly saw green. He felt himself spinning as many images flashed in front of him, he realised these were other fireplaces he was passing. He felt himself becoming sick before the images stopped and he was tossed out of the narrow fireplace and losing his footing and falling on something soft.
"Gerroff you fat arse." He heard. Looking up he saw Andrew lying underneath him looking grumpy.
"Sorry." He said as he stood and pulled his brother up with him.
"Come on now, we have to get you lot back to Hogwarts so that you can pack your belongings and relax with your friends." Flitwick said as he left out the back of the quiet pub and tapped the bricks leading into the Alley.
The two boys were once again lost in the various colours of the Alley before remembering their reason for coming in the first place. The three males quickly went into the bank to withdraw some money. After finishing up there, they made their way over to the book store and started browsing the shelves when their Professor said he'd be waiting for them by the counter and started a conversation with a young looking man who worked there. The boys assumed he went to Hogwarts before working here.
"Any idea what these books look like?" Harry asked.
Andrew ignored him and moved along the isle, scanning the spines of the books, when one caught his attention.
"Hmm, this looks promising; 'Occlumency: Barriers for the Mind.' What do you think?"
"Yeah, and look at this." Harry said as he pulled out another book.
"Billistum's guide to protecting the mind." Andrew nodded and moved along, looking for more books.
When they finished they had acquired several mind art books including; Legillimency: Wizarding lie detector, Jeremy and William's Tips to Occlumency and Legillimency, Occlumency for beginners. And many more including several books on Wand lore, Wand control, Magic flow and Magical cores.
The two boys ran up quite a bill and handed over the money with a smile before the Charms Professor helped them out by putting a feather weight charm on the books, making them especially easier to carry.
What bothered the two boys though was that their teacher didn't question the large amount of books they purchased, simply smiled and nodded at them. This made Andrew slightly uneasy, he wanted Flitwick because he felt as though the small man would be easier to convince to keep secrets, but now, he wandered if he had made a mistake.
After a few minutes the two boys were back in Dumbledore's office, ignoring the raised eyebrow he shot in their direction.
"That's quite a few books boys." He stated sounding rather shocked, as he was.
"Oh, you know… Don't want to accidently kill one of our fellow classmates when we practice simple spells, better safe than sorry." Andrew stated before turning and leaving the room. Harry stood awkwardly before shrugging and smiling at the Headmaster slightly and ran out after Andrew.
When they left Flitwick turned to Dumbledore and shrugged.
"Well, they'll certainly be prepared by third year I reckon."
"Yes well, let us hope they will not require this skill. Honestly, such young boys have no need to learn such a form of magic." Dumbledore said sadly as he rubbed his tired eyes.
"Yes, well, one can never be too safe; even without the threat of You-Know-Who, there are many enemies the boys will face in the future." Flitwick provided wisely before leaving the office. Dumbledore sat and sighed.
"That is what scares me, my old friend." Dumbledore muttered sadly to the empty room.
Okay so I know, wasn't really then ending I wanted, but oh well!
Next chapter will be the beginning of the Chamber of Secrets book! At last! I know many of you will hate the telepathy gift I gave to Harry and Andrew as it seems extremely convenient for them, and yes it is, but it also has its purpose for future stories in the series. I hope you guys enjoy it!
I couldn't think of an Omake for this chap, but I should have one ready for the next chapter!
Please Review and Follow!
Love, Peace, Respect
Zak
