Chapter 3
Draco Malfoy spied Potter reading a massive tome in the library. His father told him to make 'friends' with Harry, meaning keep him close and have a watchful eye on him. The boy was the very picture of a perfect student and above all the perfect pureblood. He was polite, had good grades from the get go and did not react to the insults thrown his way as if those badmouthing him were not worth the dirt beneath his feet. Right now he was engrossed in his book at a secluded corner, his usual company absent. He could make his move.
"Potter." The boy looked up over his book, piercing Avada Kedavra eyes locking on his own. He put down the book "Draco Malfoy, right?" Draco found himself lost for words for a second, that smooth calm voice drawing him in. A raised eyebrow from Harry brought him back to the task at hand. He felt annoyed when he noticed an amused smirk on the taller boy's face. He held his hand out "We didn't get ourselves properly introduced. I'm Draco Malfoy, heir to the house of Malfoy." He said primly, chin raised and shoulders square. Harry looked even more amused. He took the hand and shook it once firmly "Hadrian Potter, heir to the ancient and noble house of Potter. But I must say, if you are going to be formal do it properly." Draco blushed, realizing his mistake in introduction.
He sat down across from Harry and cleared his throat "I was surprised you got sorted to Ravenclaw. I pegged you for Gryffindor." Harry looked back down at his book, paging it. "I don't know how you came to that conclusion." "The books show you as the brave hero." "And you believe them?" Harry still hadn't looked up. Draco frowned "No. Even if I did there was nothing else to look at." Harry did not reply. They stayed in silence for a moment. "Where were you?" Draco asked curiously. Harry stared at him once again "If you must know I was living with my muggle reletives." Draco wrinkled his nose "Sorry." "There's nothing to feel sorry about. Contrary to popular belief they do not carry some incurable disease."
"I would like you to meet some of my friends." Harry folded his arms on the desk, book momentarily forgotten. "Why? Because we are friends now?" Draco fidgeted a bit. "Sure. If that's acceptable." Draco swears he saw Harry wince but he covered it up so well. He hummed without answering and went back to his book. Draco stood up and left.
Draco was surprised when Harry sat down next to him during lunch. "I hope you saved this seat for me.' He said. Draco nodded. "Sure. Let me introduce you to my friends." Said friends looked on curiously, more than a bit surprised that the golden boy sat willingly on the Snake's table. Harry nodded as each child was introduced, noting that the Parkinson girl did not particularly like him. He noted Snape glaring daggers at him from the head table. "So Potter, what was the muggle world like?" Blaize Zabini asked with blatant curiosity. The raven shrugged "Not bad." "Bet your mudblood genes loved it there." Pansy Parkinson sneered. Harry did not reply but instead looked amused at it all. Pansy seethed silently. Harry listened to them talking around him, sometimes adding his own input when required. Pansy wiped her mouth on a napkin and said "You had been missing for quite a while Potter. Scared of the wizards after you?" A small smile appeared on Harry's face at her attempts to tick him off. "Quite the opposite, Miss Parkinson. I just did not want to deal with my supposed fame. I'd rather be left alone."
"I thought a half-blood like you would be an attention seeking brat." The girl smirked. Harry's smile became a bit more sinister "I thought a slut like you would have never bothered to come to Hogwarts." Pansy gasped and those in earshot went silent. "W-what?" Harry took a sip of his pumpkin juice and almost grimaced at the sweet taste. "Pansy Parkinson right? Parkinson. A family that sells out its heiresses to gain social status and money. If that does not make you sluts I don't know what does." Pansy stood up abruptly, seething in her rage. "You bastard, stop lying! Stop tarnishing my name!" Harry put down the goblet "It's not me tarnishing your name, It's your own family's reputation. I recall multiple marriage contracts were sent out a few days after you were born. I just happened to discover a copy a while back. It states a 1 000 000 galleon bride price with a 'Total dominance and Treat as you see fit' as the only conditions." He then lowered his voice so only Pansy could hear. "Be careful, I might just sign that contract as the sole heir and ship you off to my Holiday home where I can explore you to my heart's desire. After all, sex slaves don't need education, especially if gained with pocket change."
Pansy's eyes were wide and they filled with tears. She slowly sat down as if in shock. "Sorry." Harry's smirk widened at the whispered apology. "Sorry, I didn't catch that." Pansy screwed her eyes shut "My apologies Heir Potter, I stepped out of line." The group watching was shocked at the apology, staring transfixed between the two. Harry switched to an accepting smile "Don't worry Pansy, I meant nothing of it, just a spat between peers." Just like that Harry put the matter aside as if it was nothing. Everyone turned back to their previous conversations but Pansy was clearly shaken. Harry had made his statement clear. 'Don't fuck with me.'
McGonagall was on her late night patrol but her mind was not on her duty. Lately Albus had been more secretive than usual, she knew he was keeping things from her. Harry has also been driving her up the proverbial wall. The boy had done nothing wrong; he was well-mannered and behaved perfectly, but there was just something about him. She couldn't put her finger on it. Was it the way he held himself, the way he talked in that politic voice, how he seemed to be agreeable with everyone but no one. She scowled deeper. There was something wrong with Harry, she could feel it. Was it this that Albus was keeping from her?
The shuffling of feet and cursing broke her out of her thoughts. She went to investigate and stumbled on some wondering third years. She quickly forgot about her thoughts. She had some rule breakers to discipline.
On the other side of the castle the subject of Minerva's thoughts was doing his own wandering. Harry touched the walls every once in a while, feeling the vibrations there. He took a left and came upon the abandoned third floor corridor. He could hear the beast behind the door snoring and growling. Why would Dumbledore keep a Cerberus in the school? He opened the door quietly and closed it just as silently, trapping himself with the creature. He took his time to study the large room, bare as it was. He crouched down, placing fingers on the ground, and pumped magic into the floor. The shadows answered eagerly. There was a room below this one containing the devil's snare. Below that there is a corridor that leads to a series of rooms. One with floating keys, the second with golems, another with a table containing bottles, presumably vials with potions. Following that a room with a foul smelling creature and the last was empty except a magical artifact. He got up again, contemplating a way to get past the obvious test without crossing the designed path.
Calling the shadows again, he navigated the path mentally until he got to the room that felt strongly of a magical artifact. He grasped on the coordinates of the room but before he could shadow walk there he had to roll to the side, avoiding the razor sharp maw of the Cerberus. The shuffled back away from the creature as it stalked him. Lelita snarled in his head and he reciprocated, baring his fangs menacingly. The three-headed dog hesitated, startled by the opposition. This gave Harry enough time to re-establish the link with the shadows and disappear within their dark embrace. He reappeared in a large bare room. He stepped out of the shadows and just stood there, taking stock of the room. There were wards around the room, proximity wards. Luckily those could not sense him when he was already within the wards, but unfortunately the sensitive wards surrounding the mirror would tip Dumbledore off.
His Lethifold blood wand slipped into his hand as he approached the mirror and he started weaving his own wards. He drew various runes around himself; runes of stealth, silence, invisibility, subtlety and evasion. The runes flared around him and settled on his person, bringing a familiar comfort to the young wizard. He walked past the wards around the mirror causing the runes to glow yellow as the hastily erected protection struggled to hold up. Harry knew he only had a few minutes to finish what he came for.
He cut his left hand across the palm and allowed the blood to drip to the ground. Using his foot he scattered the blood across the floor shaping it into the rune for detection. He hissed its name under his breath and it flared to life. A screen of smoke rose before him, encompassing the mirror. The smoke became less dense until it was only a thin screen. Behind it he saw a myriad of symbols and colors denoting the mirror which he now knew as the Mirror of Erised. Within all that he saw traces of magic that did not belong. Frowning he added another rune, one for clarity. A foggy image came into focus. A ruby red stone was within the mirror. "The Sorcerer's Stone? What the hell is it doing here? Anyone can find it here with such simple protection." Harry muttered to himself. It was like Dumbledore wanted someone to find the stone. Merlin, if Voldemort wanted the stone he would have no problems with it once he saw through the old man's ploy. He frowned. 'Voldemort. He wants the stone. That's it, it all makes sense now. I bet the dark wanker is already in the castle. It's the reason for this whole test, I have to save the stone from Voldemort. That scheming old bastard!' But how could the dark lord have gotten in at all?
One of Harry's runes broke, bringing him out of his musings. He immediately vanished the blood runes on the floor and quickly got out of the ward range before the most important of the runes came apart. He stopped pumping magic into the runes and watched them dissipate as his thoughts ran a mile a second. The stone was still in the mirror and he had to do something about it. 'My Lord, Erised is bound by foreign magic to hold the damn stone. She cannot willingly give it to you if you do not follow the requirements.' Lelita informed. Harry asked 'How do I force her.' The daemon frowned 'It would be difficult.'
Following Lelita's instruction, Harry raised his wand towards the mirror then chanted in ancient Latin. 'Let me in, let me in. I seek entrance into your deceptive beauty.' Over and over again. The mirror glowed a bright blue. He felt the magic draining out of him, being sucked into the mirror and it's inherent magic. Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead as his magic sensed the loss of strength and responded violently, his inner demon fighting to stop the slow approaching trauma. Harry wrestled back control just as the inner demon lashed out, almost breaking the steady flow of magic. After what seemed like hours of struggling with himself, the small ritual came to an end, and he almost collapsed in fatigue. 'What do you seek, young Lord?' Erised's melodious voice asked.
Dumbledore ran as fast as he could down the corridors. How could this be? How could Voldemort have discovered the stone so soon? He bumped into Minerva on the way. "Minerva, oh good I found you." The Scottish woman was startled "Albus, what is the problem? Where are you going?" "Someone has found the stone. We must hurry!" McGonagall gasped in horror and followed Dumbledore in his run down the corridors. "Do you think it is HIM?" Dumbledore looked grim. "Let us hope not, Minerva."
As they ran through a secret passage leading straight to the mirror they did not notice the passing shadow. Once they got there they found nothing wrong. The wards were intact and the mirror was fine. Dumbledore waved his wand intricately and the mirror glowed a light green. He lowered his wand. "What is wrong, Albus?" McGonagall asked, wringing her hands nervously. Dumbledore said with a grave tone "It is gone. I'm afraid Voldemort has got the stone." Minerva became even more nervous. "Are you sure, Albus? Are you certain it was him?" "Yes. No one else could have used this kind of magic to draw the stone out."
Dumbledore paced his office anxiously. It hasn't even been the end of term and Voldemort had gotten the stone. If Voldemort got his hands on the Philosopher's Stone he could come back to the living and continue his reign of terror! But then again, if Voldemort has the stone, why is Quirell still in the school? His job is done, right? If he has given the stone to his master then why has he been in the school teaching for the past two weeks since the stone went missing.
He stopped his pacing. What if Quirel doesn't have the stone? What if he doesn't know where the stone is at all? Assuming that Quirel still has no idea of the whereabouts of the Sorcerer's Stone, who could have it? He sighed and tried to stave off his headache. He had to go to the great hall for breakfast this Halloween morning.