If you've been reading this story so far, I hope you found it funny.
But I warn you, this chapter will be legitimately scary.
I hope you'll still be able to sleep at night. I'd feel guilty if you couldn't.
Chapter 13: The Face of Pure Evil
After getting past the three-headed dog, our heroes found themselves in a room that had vines on the walls.
It seemed Pomana Sprout had designed this room.
Suddenly, a vine grabbed Mary's leg.
She gasped.
More vines grabbed her friends.
"Oh no!" exclaimed Neville.
"What is that?" asked Ron, pointing to the large plant that was pulling them towards it.
"It's a Devil's Snare!" explained Hermione.
It was a dangerous, carnivorous plant.
She had been studying her herbology.
Pomana Sprout would be proud.
"How do we get past it?" asked Ron. He wasn't looking forward to being coated in digestive juices.
Unfortunately, herbology was not his fine suit.
And he couldn't set it on fire when he risked burning his friends.
"In order to get past it, we have to do…nothing at all." explained Hermione.
"Really?" asked Mary.
Hermione nodded.
The devil's snare specialized in agile prey…so slow prey ironically had little to worry about.
The four of them kept still…and found themselves in the next room.
The third room was full of flying keys.
Professor Flitwick had designed it.
One of those keys would open the next door.
The only question was…which one?
Luckily, Neville managed to find it.
It stood out from the others due to its black wings. The others has white wings.
The fourth room had a mountain troll…which was knocked out.
Why wasn't he awake?
Well, maybe they shouldn't question something that they liked.
So our heroes progressed to the fourth room.
"Gee, that was one hard obstacle to get past." snarked Hermione.
"That troll looked familiar." remarked Ron.
Where had he seen it before?
The fifth room had a chessboard. A giant chessboard.
It looked as if Minerva McGonagall had designed this security measure. After all, Albus Dumbledore himself couldn't beat her in a game of chess.
It seemed in order to win, they had to capture the king.
Ron chose a knight, Mary chose the queen, Hermione a bishop, and Neville a rook.
"Any one good at chess?" asked Mary.
"I am." nodded Ron.
"Alright then, what's our strategy?" questioned the girl.
"Go for the queen!" exclaimed the Weasley.
That worked surprisingly well.
Afterwards, they systemically targeted the king's other defenses. The rooks, the bishops, and the knights.
The king pulled out a white flag afterwards. It looked like he was going to have to build another army for the next game.
They managed to win the game, so the door opened.
But near the end of the game, Ron was seriously injured.
An enemy knight had pierced him with his spear.
"No!" exclaimed Mary.
And yes, he was bleeding.
Hermione was forced to take him to the infirmary.
"I hope Madam Pomfrey can mend this." remarked the girl. She wasn't sure how she would spend her second year without him.
They were a lot alike, though there were noticeable differences.
One could only hope that he would be alright.
This left Neville and Mary alone to stop the Sorcerer's Stone from being stolen.
The sixth room had a bunch of potions in it.
No doubt Severus Snape designed this room.
Apparently, in order to get past this room, they needed to find a specific potion.
It would open the way to the next room. The final room, in fact.
However, if they guessed incorrectly, they would ingest a deadly poison.
So said the instructions on the wall.
"How are we to figure out which potion to choose?" asked Neville.
It could be any one of them.
And he wasn't experienced with potions. At least, Snape didn't think so.
"Hmm…" thought Mary out loud, putting her head on her chin.
Wasn't Snape head of Slytherin?
A house that was known for their cunning?
She had an idea.
Mary decided to cast the Revelio spell.
It revealed a potion that had been hidden out of sight.
"Are you sure this is the right one?" asked Neville.
"I have a pretty good feeling about it." explained Mary.
She gulped it down.
As it turned out, she was right.
As soon as she finished the potion, the door opened.
"Are you sure you shouldn't be part of Ravenclaw?" asked Neville. She had thought outside the box.
"I could, but then I wouldn't be in the same house as you." pointed out Mary.
"Oh, right." recalled the boy. He felt a lot better with Mary in the same house as him, so he didn't complain.
In the last room was the Mirror of Erised.
Mary had been wondering where that went.
Seemed it had been here this whole time.
Professor Quirrell was standing in front of it.
Seemed he was addicted to the mirror.
"Professor Quirrell? What are you doing h-"
Neville was cut off when Mary put her hand on his mouth.
"Shh shh shh! Don't get his attention!" exclaimed Mary.
Neville raised an eyebrow.
"I think he's the one who's after the Sorcerer's Stone!" whispered the girl.
"He is? I thought it was Snape." murmured Neville.
He happened to be afraid of the potions master, though he felt less worried when Mary was around.
"I thought so at first…but as time went on, I became less suspicious of him and more suspicious of Quirrell." explained Mary.
"How come?" asked Neville.
"Snape never acted like he had anything to hide. Quirrell's been speaking with a stutter ever since I first met him." pointed out the girl.
"Anything else?" questioned the Gryffindor boy.
"He's been all around the world. You tend to find interesting things when you explore the world, like a dragon egg." remarked Mary.
"A dragon egg?" asked Neville.
"Mm-hmm. I suspected he gave that to Hagrid to distract him while he stole the flute." explained the girl.
"That's clever." remarked the boy.
"Also, if Snape could make a Sleeping Draught, why would he need a flute to put Fluffy to sleep?" questioned Mary.
It seemed like an unnecessary risk, risking getting discovered by Hagrid and reported to Professor Dumbledore.
Maey's logic was making more and more sense to Neville.
"Finally, he claimed that he lost his turban during the game of Quidditch. It would be the perfect distraction to stop him from casting a spell…like the jinx that was cast on my broom." remarked the girl.
"Was Quirrell the one who sent the troll to the dungeons?" asked Neville.
"It was the guardian he picked for the stone, so yes." explained Mary.
"You've really thought this out, haven't you?" asked Neville rhetorically.
"Mm-hmm. Let's confront Quirrell, shall we?" questioned the girl.
He nodded.
The two of them confronted Quirrell.
"Freeze, Professor Quirrell!" exclaimed Mary.
She and Neville were pointing their wands at him.
Quirrell turned around.
"Bravo, Mary, bravo. You managed to figure out I was trying to steal the Sorcerer's Stone." remarked Quirrell.
He clapped his hands.
"You can't do this, Quirrell! Voldemort is evil!" requested Mary.
"There's no such thing as evil, Mary Potter. Only people who seek power…and people who are foolish enough not to seek it." contradicted Quirinus.
"Voldemort taught you that, didn't he?" questioned the girl.
"How did you guess?" asked Quirinus.
"I find it hard to believe that you turned out to be a dark wizard." said Neville.
Was it always the one you least expected?
"You were probably expecting Snape, weren't you?" questioned Quirrell.
"Well, I heard a rumor that he tried casting a spell on Mary's broom." noted Neville.
Considering that students who weren't part of Slytherin were afraid of Snape, it was a small wonder how that rumor got started.
"That was a counterjinx. Severus knew what was happening and tried to put a stop to it. Still, I think I could have pulled off the spell if my turban hadn't been blown off at such a crucial moment." remarked the man with the turban.
"Now I get it." comprehended Mary.
"It is surprising that I turned out to be a Death Eater, isn't it? I'm not even part of Slytherin. On that note, I have another surprise for you." spoke the defense against the dark arts teacher.
He unwrapped his turban, exposing his bald head.
"Wait, the surprise you've been hiding is that you've been bald the whole time?" asked Mary.
She was expecting something different.
However, there was something else Quirrell had been hiding.
Something far more disturbing.
Suddenly, Neville screamed.
Quirrell had a face on the back of his head!
He could tell because of the mirror's reflection.
And it wasn't just any face.
It was the face of Lord Voldemort!
Seemed that was what he had been hiding this entire time.
"You've been possessed by Voldemort?!" exclaimed Mary.
That explained the strange voice she had heard earlier. The same, sinister voice.
"It's been a painful experience, I can assure you." assured Quirrell.
Hopefully after he accomplished this mission he would finally be free.
"Your parents aren't here to save you this time, Mary Potter! Prepare to die at the hands of Lord Voldemort!" exclaimed Voldemort.
Mary shivered.
Quirrell cast a spell, and the two of them were lifted in the air.
They were then knocked into a wall.
Unfortunately, they dropped their wands in the process.
It seemed they were at a serious disadvantage against a Hogwarts teacher. Was he not more or less teaching them what they know about magic?
Mary attempted to grab them, but Quirrell put his foot on them.
"Finish them off!" demanded Voldemort.
"Yes, master." agreed Quirrell.
He raised his wand.
Neville decided to look in the mirror.
Maybe if he was lucky it would help him find a way out of this.
Much to his surprise, his reflection put the Sorcerer's Stone in his pocket.
He then felt the Sorcerer's Stone inside his own pocket.
Neville was surprised at the occurrence.
Turned out Dumbledore had enchanted it so that only someone who wished to protect the stone could obtain it.
However, Quirrell noticed Neville had obtained the stone as well.
He forgot what he was doing and tried to pilfer the artifact from the boy.
"Give me that!" demanded Voldemort's lackey.
He attempted to grab the Sorcerer's Stone.
However, Mary did not intend for Neville to get hurt.
"Leave him alone!" exclaimed the girl.
She grabbed Quirrell's leg.
This caused him to scream in pain.
"Why aren't you seizing the stone?!" exclaimed Voldemort.
"She burned me!" shouted Quirrell.
Mary wasn't sure what was going on, but it was best to take advantage of it.
She decided to grab Quirrell's right arm, which he used to wield his wand.
Quirinus screeched, and dropped his wand.
She then put her hands on his face.
He covered them in pain.
The evil teacher then fell unconscious on the floor.
As this point, Voldemort decided he had been in Quirrell's body long enough.
He decided to take his leave.
Mary saw his spirit…and once again, her head began to spin.
"Mary? Mary!" exclaimed Neville.
When the girl who lived next woke up, she was in the infirmary.
"Ah, Mary! You're finally awake!" exclaimed Dumbledore.
While she was unconscious, the Gryffindor Quidditch team played against Ravenclaw.
Unfortunately, while the team did reasonably well, they ended up losing in the end.
Seemed Mary really was their good luck charm.
"What happened?" asked the girl.
"You passed out. Luckily, Neville was here to take you to the infirmary." explained Dumbledore.
Oddky enough, Ron recovered faster than she did.
"Where's Quirrell?" asked the girl.
"In Azkaban. He doesn't mind it too much though. He was ecstatic to finally have Voldemort out of his body." explained Dumbledore.
He was horribly burned, but fully recovered within the timeframe of Mary's stay in the infirmary.
"Where's Voldemort?" asked Mary.
"You say his name as well? I was starting to think I was the only one. But I digress. Unfortunately, Voldemort still out there. But you've managed to slow down what I suspect shall be his eventual return." explained Dumbledore.
Mary was glad to hear that.
"Wait, why was Quirrell burned when I touched him?" asked the girl.
"That's because you have your parents' protection. You'd be surprised what love can do for people." explained Dumbledore.
Mary was happy to hear that.
"Anyways, it's time for one of the houses to be awarded the house cup. Follow me." said the professor.
Potter nodded, though she figured she already knew who was going to win.
Sure enough, the four houses were all seated at separate tables.
"Fourth place is Hufflepuff with 300 points. Third place is Ravenclaw with 400 points. Second place is Gryffindor with 500 points. And first place is Slytherin with 690 points!" exclaimed Professor Dumbledore.
Slytherin's lead was impressive, to say the least.
Draco planned to gloat how much they had creamed the competition.
"However, before I award the house cup, allow me to award some last-minute points as well." said Dumbledore.
The four houses were confused.
"Hermione Granger, for demonstrating your knowledge of herbology in a dire situation, you've awarded your house 50 points!" exclaimed the professor.
That was not bad for a first year.
Hermione was applauded.
"Ron Weasley, for showing such expertise in chess, you've also awarded your house 50 points!" shouted Dumbledore.
Ron too was applauded.
"Neville Longbottom, you've shown yourself to be exceptionally brave, making you a true Gryffindor. By that logic, you should be awarded house points as well. 50 points for Gryffindor!" exclaimed the professor.
Neville noted that made sense. After all, he did help his friends get past the three-headed dog. And he went into the forbidden forest to find Vector.
It looked like his Gryffindors would treat him with respect.
"Last but not least, I shall award Mary Potter 50 points…for saving the Sorcerer's Stone from falling into the hands of darkness!" exclaimed Dumbledore.
"Wait, if you're giving me 50 points, then that means-"
Dumbledore finished that sentence for Mary.
"Gryffindor has won the house cup!" bellowed the headmaster.
It looked as if Mary, Hermione, Ron, and Neville were the heroes of Gryffindor.
They would be the most popular students in their house.
Mary surely was going to remember her first year at Hogwarts fondly.
However, it was time for her to go back home.
Still, perhaps she could keep in touch with her friends.
After all, could she have saved the Sorcerer's Stone without them?
Perhaps her second year would be just as good as the first.
It was a pleasing thought.
THE END…FOR NOW
Well, it looks like the Sorcerer's Stone is out of Voldemort's hands now.
That doesn't mean Mary has seen the last of him though.
It's time for the Chamber of Secrets arc to begin!
And yes, we'll be seeing the Dursleys again.
Sorry about that.