Book I :: Chapter 13 :: The Unseen
Harry stared mindlessly at the stone until his grandfather clock tolled. Harry glanced over briefly as rang low in melancholy, informing him that it was finally morning. As it rang, he waited silently as the sound rolled over him into silence.
He mindlessly rolled the stone in his hand in wonder. It looked and felt like the genuine article. Like he had read before, the stone was a deep blood red color. Its abrasive coal-like shape, jagged and rigged, glimmered beautifully against the prismatic river of colors shining from the jewel like glass bead on his night stand.
How many years did he spend investigating the stone? How many failed trials and errors to create the stone and from it, its antithesis? Why now, after finding a new drive to live did he finally acquire the legendary stone lost to the ages.
It was like some kind of cruel joke. A mockery to all his trials and tribulations.
"How did I even get the stone?" Harry asked aloud. Tossing it up into the air Harry caught it passively. It was in his pocket. His oversized jeans pocket.
Thinking back Harry retraced his steps. Did he acquire it from the Room of Requirement? No, that was unlikely. Even if it slipped into his pocket, he surely would have noticed it. Then again, he didn't notice it until he laid on it in his bed.
While pondering Harry thought back to how the mirror had shown him the stone in his possession.
"Was it the mirror? But it was only an artifact that reflects one's inner most desires..." Harry pondered aloud.
It couldn't be. He had no interest in the stone, no real desire for it. He didn't even get a good look into the mirror either. It didn't make any sense.
To say he was befuddled was like saying Ron Weasley ate three times his body mass in food. Still the question alone stumped him. He needed to know. How did he get it? Why was it in the school in the first place? Wasn't supposed to be underneath that trap door in the third-floor corridor?
Everything Harry knew told him that the stone was on the third floor underneath the trapped door guarded by Fluffy. That was the best place to put it… unless the protections weren't completed or something else was at work.
"Dumbledore…" Harry mumbled out. It was a possibility. The man he knew was a clever, manipulative bastard. However, what wasn't the point. Getting a Tribusos Canis of all things to guard a trap door meant that whoever placed it there was sure as hell determined to protect whatever lied within. If the stone should be anywhere, it should have been beyond that trap door. It should have been there for a long time too. The headmaster at the start of the term said none should enter unless they wished to face a painful death.
"… Then again, he never said not to go to the third-floor corridor…" Harry thought aloud. That pretty much meant the man intended people to go there. Was that a trap then? Was the dog and the trapdoor a ruse to trick someone?
Even so, it didn't make sense to Harry. Taming a Tribusos Canis was hard work, managing it even more so. That at least to his mind was far too much effort for a mere ruse and that wasn't even taking into consideration how many other 'protections' existed beyond the dog.
"Snape's one of the teachers protectin' the stone…" Harry said to himself. "One of… more than one teacher… multiple protections… and yet…"
And yet here it was shimmering in his hand, the very stone that was supposed to be protected.
If it was because of the Mirror, why would the Mirror of all things hold it on the fifth floor, two floors above where it should have resided. Thinking back Harry tried to recall if the mirror was always there but he didn't know if he had ever been in that particular classroom before.
"Hogwarts, you just have to be a massive castle don't you." Harry sarcastically complained.
Twirling it in his hand Harry could feel the warmth of the magic flowing within the magic gem like stone. "So… what do I do with you now?"
He could try to destroy it, but would that change anything? He could make use of it, but again it wasn't like he wanted anything to do with immortality to begin with. He could reverse engineer it and make his own. Not a bad idea but what would he do with said duplicate?
What would he do with his own stone? Transmute dirt into gold? Why bother. He already knew where the Hand of Midas resided, it was just a matter of getting to it. Money was a concern but making rare gems was a far more lucrative venture honestly.
With magic and a few runic arrays, he could easily produce and cultivate and sell high quality gems so cheap that even Harry Winston and Cartier would salivate with galleons in their eyes.
Sitting up Harry paced the stone on his writing desk he glared at it menacingly.
The stone was the pinnacle of alchemical knowledge and Harry now had that very stone. To someone like Harry who had search for such a thing, the stone was a great temptation not in what it could do but what it represented. Knowledge.
Harry had wealth and no need for gold. What gold he would need he could make on his own and should he truly need an absurd amount, he could easily acquire with a bit of tomb raiding.
As for eternal life, Harry already had that once already and lived the majority of his trying to end it. He could recall every attempt he had made to die and be reunited with his loved ones. Every painful ritual, every knife cut, every scar, spike, flame, burn, potion, blood ritual, and curse used in an attempt to end his own life.
Harry no longer feared death. What Harry feared was living, or more accurately living alone.
That primal fear of solitude that had haunted his future self. Eventually that accursed immortality would return in his later years and curse him again, if he didn't retain it.
No, if anything the stone was a godsend. Right now, Harry had no way of safely confirming his own mortality. With Ginny and Hermione alive again, Harry had reason to live. The question wasn't 'did he want to live', It was 'would he have to live and suffer alone again'.
Could he do it? Yes. Harry had plenty of experience and knowledge regarding the stone, just not the knowledge to make one.
If he did, then atop of the added knowledge of the stones existence and creation he could also have a means of securing their lives.
But should he? Closing his eyes Harry thought carefully. He thought, and thought until finally a thought gave rise to a single question, 'What do I have to lose from learning?'
At worse he actual succeeds in creating a Grand Elixir, at worse he creates a failed production. The sweet spot would be creating something that doesn't grant immortality but rather prolongs life and reduces the degradation of aging.
Creating an elixir that promotes or delays death would be better than any immortality elixir. After all an out was what he had been searching for his entire life.
Hearing a knock coming from the roof of his trunk Harry left the stone into his dresser. Climbing out and was surprised to see Hedwig in all her feathery glory looking quite peeved at him.
"Hey girl, looks like you had a long trip." Harry greeted picking her up and brushing out some of her ruffled feathers. The poor girl must have had quite a flight as she was considerably ruffled. Her beautiful feathers where a mess and all over the place, her head was slightly drooped, and most incriminating was her lack of retort. So tired was she that she simply slept within Harry's arms as he gently tried to brush out her ruffled feathers.
"Sleep well girl, you'll get all my bacon tomorrow morn' for this last week's jobs. Looking at her leg Harry pulled off her load and placed it on the desk within his dorm room. He was thankful that he wouldn't need to send the poor girl off again for so many messages at one.
The first was a letter from Ginny.
Dear Harry
Sorry I haven't replied lately the gnomes in our garden have been particularly pesky. I tried your advice, you know the one about punting them. I think it worked, there seem to be less this time but they're a lot more cautious now than usual.
Can't wait for Ron to return, then I can dump this on him. I'm still looking forward to Hogwarts. Don't tell anyone else but I've been practicing magic myself without anyone finding out. I can't wait to show my brothers next year when I'm beating them out in tests and stuff.
Speaking of brothers, the Twins sent a letter home to us. Sucks they got detention. Mom wants to know why but didn't say. Thanks for that by the way. I'm so glad told me it's because they pelted their teacher with snowballs. From what I've heard I don't really like Professor Quirrell that much. Call me crazy but something is off about him if he is a defense teacher with the temperament of a shaking leaf.
Harry wondered who told her about Quirrell. Did the twins tell her?
Don't tell Ron but I'm really glad he isn't going to be here this Christmas. He's my brother and all but sometimes he can be such a prat. I mean he's just sooo immature at times. Once he's made up his mind that he hates something there's no changing it.
Speaking of which, I'm sorry about that.
You know what I mean being in Slytherin and all. He's probably said all kinds of things about you just cause you're in Slytherin. I mean come on, my whole family knows how much I wanted to go and the only person who's really given me the whole Hogwarts tour thing is you. By the way, do you regret being a Slytherin? I mean from what I've heard and what you've said being a Slytherin really sucks yet you always sound so proud that you're a Slytherin. Maybe I shouldn't ask but why is that?
Anyway, I'm really excited for Christmas this year. My family and I are visiting one of my brothers. He works with dragons and he's super cool. Hope your Christmas is just a cool, though being in the castle dungeons you'd probably want something warmer. Hey there's an idea I'll see if I can get mom to send you a sweater, merlin knows you could use it in the cold dungeons right.
Anyway, I can't wait to hear from you soon. Knowing you, something interesting is bound to happen. At least that's if you take what Ron says as true. I mean letting a Troll into the school, come on. Anyway, Marry early Christmas.
Sincerely Ginny
P.S. give Hedwig a break, she looked pretty tired from flying all the way here.
Harry reread the letter twice. Did Ginny always have a negative view about Ron and what was that about 'his owl'? How did Ginny know Hedwig was his owl let alone her name? She could have been a regular out from the owlery. Did she already know about the owlery? He couldn't recall telling her about it since he didn't really use it himself.
Before he could follow this train of thought, Hedwig's cry reminded him that he still had a very grumpy girl to take care of.
"Sorry Hedwig, I'm going, I'm going." Harry replied as Hedwig sleepily demanded breakfast.
Leaving his trunk Harry shivered at the crisp cold air as it touched his skin. Pulling himself out of his trunk Harry closed it quickly and made his way down into the common room. There Harry looked around to find that the inhabitants were long gone from the dormitory. Unwrapped paper from presents and gifts lay strewn about the room as the common room fire sucked away what little warmth was present in the dungeons.
"Can't believe how much I miss the warmth of the other common rooms." Harry muttered as a shiver shot through him.
Spotting a lone package sitting on a table to the side Harry was about to ignore it when he spotted something odd about it. The brown packaging was nothing to look at and poorly wrapped, although hastily rapped seemed more precise description. What stood out was the fact that Harry could have sworn his name was on it.
A closer look revealed it did. In elegant cursive the note read:
To: Harry James Potter,
Your father left this in my possession before he died. I now return it to you. Use it well.
"This is a scam or trap if I've ever seen one." Harry stated blandly.
Staring blankly at the letter Harry passed it aside to look within the contents of the parcel.
Upon its unwrapping Harry pulled out a shining and almost silvery mahogany piece of cloth which upon closer inspection was actually a very oversized cloak. It looked eerily familiar. Harry looked at it intently for a moment before placing it down and waving his wand over it, casting what detection spells he knew.
"one, two, three... four... eleven..." Harry counted as with each draw of his wand relieved a glowing light on some point of the cloak. Three tracers, two markers, and six spells he couldn't identify other than one which was some kind of anchor. Two were relaying something, and three seemed to be placed with the purpose of disrupting something, but without knowing what the spells were, he couldn't identify what that something was.
Heading back into his trunk Harry went to one of his drawers and pulled out a large vial the size of one's hand. "Glad I took the time to brew these up." Harry muttered.
Within was a putrid gray liquid that when Harry uncorked released vivid purple smoke. Handing up the cloak Harry placed the vial underneath wafting it so the smoke passed over the cloak and all of its folds.
Within a matter of minutes on top of the eleven spots Harry had already found, another eight locations on the cloak started to turn purple as the smoke made contact with it.
"A total of nineteen forms of magic cast on this thing." Harry concluded re-corking and applying a sealing charm on the vial. Looking over the old looking cloak Harry wondered why someone would place so many spells on something they were returning to him. The first thought that popped into his mind was someone had cursed it and wanted to do him harm.
The first few spells he found however dissolved that suspicion. No, in all likelihood someone wanted to keep track of him when and if he chose to wear the cloak. The question was why? Why would someone give him an old cloak and expect him to wear it? What cloak would require nineteen different spells as a precaution to keep track of him, eight of which seemed more like concealment and anchor charms if his suspicions were correct.
His eyes shot wide as a stray idea crashed into his mind.
"No – it couldn't be." Harry shouted as he spit out the words in a single breath.
Deciding to take a leap of faith Harry placed the cloak on him and didn't see anything strange happen. Looking down Harry started to understand why someone would put so much effort in order to track it.
"An Invisibility Cloak." Harry thought aloud as he looked down and saw his body was gone. "No, it's MY Invisibility Cloak." Harry realized in a shout of amazement. This was the same cloak he had carried with him for years. It was one of the most powerful and well-made Invisibility Cloaks in the world.
No wonder someone put so much effort to track him. What it didn't explain was the need for nineteen damn spells, some of which were concealed with clearly great effort.
A simple invisibility cloak had plenty of easy counters to combat its use. Sound, smell, summoning charms, trace charms, disturbance detection charms, trap hexes, plenty of methods. Someone clearly went to a great wealth of effort to keep track of him.
Without the knowledge of how to make a Magic Clinging Potion, something he picked up and learned from some surviving Chinese wizards, Harry wouldn't have been able to know the existence of those concealed eight spells.
Removing them wouldn't be an issue since he now had a Runeforge but it did make Harry wonder. Now that he thought of it, he never did try to see if the cloak had any spells on it. He also lost the cloak before he found his last Runeforge. Harry's curiosity on if he could replicate the cloak died when he placed it onto the forge. The Kaleidoscope like pattern of its original magic was way beyond his current skill levels. He'd have to wait until he was in fourth or fifth year when his magic had time to develop before he even attempted something of this level.
For now, Harry went about meticulously removing each magic tracer, and spell placed on the cloak, all the while he wondered who gave it to him and why they went to such lengths to keep a tab on him.
A cloak of invisibility was indeed valuable but placing nineteen spells on it when only five spells would suffice was overkill, borderline obsessive.
'Your father left this in my possession'
"Dumbledore." Harry concluded. Dumbledore must have sent it to him. He was one of the last few individuals that had met with his parents before they were killed. It also felt like it would match his MO. Only Dumbledore – to Harry's knowledge anyway – would be so manipulative and cautious as to place so many spells on anyone's possession. Anything like his cloak which granted someone that much freedom just didn't mess with his obsessively controlling nature.
Completing the task of removing the last mark of foreign on the cloak Harry watched as its mahogany color faded away and left a diamond like shimmering silk cloak, white and thin like a paper-thin sheet of snow. It sparked and hummed softly with a warm and gentle magic.
His eyes shot wide at the sudden change. "Well… that just happened." He whispered aloud in stupefied shock.
Taking in the drastic change in its appearance Harry smiled. He didn't know why but he felt happy with the change. It felt, it just felt right.
Slinging it over himself again Harry was surprised at how light it was and how it clung to him without feeling intrusive. It didn't so much as drag and mysterious it seemed to fade as it reached his feet. Yet despite that when Harry looked in a mirror there was no indication of him being there.
Heading to the letter Harry picked it up. A small purple smug lay in the bottom left side of the note. Casting a removal charm Harry removed another tracer from the letter this time.
"Seriously Dumbledore... I'm gonna have to be careful around you if your putting tracers on object around me." Harry stated to himself. He didn't know why, but somehow, he drew Dumbledore's attention. So much for keeping under the radar.
"… Really Harry." He asked himself as several reasons popped into his head. "Your and Obscurus, disappear and reappear regularly throughout the castle, defeated a troll, and you already no he has some form of interest in you since he placed you with your relatives."
Harry decided to ignore his bout of stupidity and instead grabbed the newly liberated cloak from the Runeforge.
Deciding to take the cloak for a test drive, Harry made his way out of the dorm and traversed through the halls.
It was amazing. As Harry made his way down, he noticed several key features of the cloak. The first was that it felt weightless. If not for the dim shimmer of the cloth as he moved Harry doubted, he would be able to tell if he had it on or not. The second was that everyone in the hall seemed to avoid him unconsciously. Walking down Harry saw Ron rushing to the great hall to fill his gullet, and for no reason swerved to avoid Harry.
The only reason Harry knew Ron didn't see him was because there was a distinct lack of a scowl on Ron's face as he passed.
It was also soundless. Not so much as an echo of his own footsteps reverberated in the halls. Harry wondered how other senses were affected by the clock. Could his smell be detected while underneath it? If not, this might very well be the stealthiest cloak he'd ever seen.
"Now I feel annoyed that I didn't check this out back when I had it before." Harry grumbled, angrier at himself more than anything else. It was such a waste.
What about magic?
Harry thought about that for a moment. Did the cloak hide him from magic? He wished he had one of the seven All-Seeing-Eyes-of-the-Gods. Harry used to use the powerful Persian relics to detect the placement of runes and magic based traps back when the Muggle War was at its peak. Shame he didn't have one now. It would have been dead useful in finding out the limits of the cloak. Then again, he didn't know from where he got the one in the first place.
When Harry approached the Great Hall, he removed the cloak and folded it under his arm. In hindsight he wished he thought about bringing it into the most populated spot in the school a little more carefully before he arrived, but Hedwig's breakfast was more important to him as the girl justly deserved her reward.
Walking in Harry with the cloak hanging over his arm he quickly sat down, grabbed a few eggs and a slice of treacle tart, and proceeded to eat it quickly. A few people already there glanced at his arrival. As a few Gryffindor's left they gave him a 'Merry Christmas' before leaving.
Ever since the Quidditch match his acceptance within Gryffindor was a thing of legend. The first welcome Slytherin in Gryffindor.
"Then again," Harry thought as he spotted the twins arrival, "With friends like them it was only a matter of time before they gave him consideration."
Fred and George greeted Harry with great big smiles.
"Sup Harry." George greeted cheerily.
"Merry Christmas, Harry." Fred declared happily.
Harry returned their wishes but sputtered into a fit of laughter as Ron glared at the twins associating with said Slytherin.
"Looks like your brother still doesn't like me." Harry confirmed once he had collected himself.
"Ignore the git Harry." Fred said.
"Wanker isn't worth it really." George continued.
"We know you're a cool chap." Fred added.
"True dear Brother,"
"Nothing like the other Snakes."
"By the way Harry,"
"Get anything good for Christmas?"
"Our Mom sent you a gift,"
"Probably a sweater,"
"Family tradition, it is." The Twins concluded as they went back and forth like a tennis match. George presented Harry with a package who's packaging was significantly better than what his cloak was wrapped in.
"Thanks George. Give Mrs. Weasley my regards." Harry said.
The twins looked at each other awkwardly.
"What the matter?" Harry asked noticing the change in expressions.
"Harry, bit off question this is but," Fred started.
"but can you tell us apart?" George continued.
Now it made sense. "Yeah," Harry confirmed pointing at them respectively, "You're Fred and you're George."
"How?" the twins began in sync.
"Secret." Harry stated smugly.
"Come off it Harrikins, how do you know?" Fred asked.
Harry pondered for a moment and thought about what the hell. "It's your magic. Everyone has their own magic and that's how I can tell."
"You can feel-"
"-our magic?"
The twins said in pairing.
Harry shrugged. "Sort of. Its more accurate to say I feel a slight difference when looking at the two of you. I say magic because it's honestly the only thing I can figure out. Don't really get it myself, but I get the same feeling on a much bigger scale when I'm around Professors McGonagall and Flitwick. Fred, you remind me of Professor McGonagall and you George remind me of Flitwick a bit." Harry explained.
The twins looked at Harry and shrugged, looked back, and spoke in unison.
"Harry, chap, that's weird."
Harry smiled. "You're telling me."
Harry and the Twins looked up as the doors to the great hall opened as several people snickered around the hall.
"Yo, Harry, check out Greengrass and Davis." George chuckled out completely distracted by the scene entering the hall.
Both Daphne Greengrass and Tracey Davis had their hair in matted layers of blue and green and bed head that was impressively worse off than Harry's own crow's nest.
Harry watched along with the Twins as the two made their way to Professor Snape, reluctantly.
"Wonder what happened to those two?" Fred asked.
"Potions failure I bet." George guessed.
"Forgetfulness Potion" Harry said causing the twins to give him an appraising eye. "They were in the common room last night studying and they left the 2 drops of Lethe River Water to gently heat over 20 seconds."
"And their hair?" The twins asked in sync.
"No idea. Side effect of trying to clean up maybe?" Harry suggested.
"I can see that happening." George added as he compiled an assortment of biscuits to his plate.
"So, Harry, get anything good for Christmas?" Fred asked.
Harry shrugged, "I got one present thought I don't know exactly who it's from."
The twins looked at each other and George still holding a mouth full of eggs shrugged in a gesture for Fred to reply. "How do you not know who it's from?"
"The letter didn't say. Though if I had a guess, I'd say it was the headmaster who sent it."
Swallowing George coughed slightly to regain his wind. "Why would he send a gift to you?"
Harry smiled slyly. "It's not really a gift, more like he was returning it. Apparently, it was a cloak my dad owned."
"A cloak?" George asked with a raised eyebrow. "What kind of gift is a cloak?"
Harry laughed at this, "What kind of gift is a sweater."
As both of the twins shouted, "Hey!" in response, Harry couldn't help but laugh mirthfully. "Sorry, sorry. I'm joking. Though you have to see my it from my point of view."
Shrugging Fred agreed, "Yeah I see your point, but seriously the sweaters are a family tradition of sorts."
"Hey, maybe the cloak is something similar; Something passed down in your family." Fred suggested.
"Yeah, that be totally wicked." George agreed. "Mind if we see it?"
Harry looked at them with a contorted face of confusion. Looking down at the bench, Harry's cloak was stuck beneath George's bum. "Sure, but you're already sitting on it."
George eyes shot wide as if he suddenly felt the folded mass of said cloak beneath him. Shifting around he pulled out the silvery silk cloak his eyes wide. Harry observing carefully noticed that until he had pointed it out, George was completely oblivious to the item in question.
"George, not cool dude. Sitting on his family's heirloom like that." Fred teased with contained laughter.
"It wasn't on purpose, I swear… besides we don't know if it's an heirloom." George retorted before looking apologetically at Harry. "Seriously, sorry mate. I swear, I didn't even feel it until a second ago." He muttered handing it over to Harry. Harry just waved it off as he took the cloak from George.
"So, what kind of cloak is it?" George asked. Now that he had a better look, he realized it wasn't just any ordinary cloak.
Looking down Harry face turned hard. Holding his tongue his eyes were lost in contemplation.
"You okay there mate?" George asked.
"Either your thinking too hard or you seriously need to use the bathroom." Fred jokingly added receiving a playful shove from his brother.
"No, I'm fine… was just considering if I should or not…" Harry mumbled out. Sharpening his eyes at touch he looked at the twins. "How good are you at keeping a secret?"
The grins on their faces vanished.
"Harry, Harry, Harry…" Fred said with a shake of his head and look of disapproval.
"All this time I thought you were smarter than that." George added.
"Indeed, brother of mine. How can you think that we-"
"-the resident pranksters of Hogwarts-"
"Could ever not be capable of holding a secret." The stated in unison after trading on and off in quips.
Harry's gaze remained firmed and the two recognized that this was a serious consideration.
Looking at each other they nodded. "We can keep a secret Harry." Fred stated confidently.
"Weasley honor." George stated proudly.
Harry smirked and raised an eyebrow higher.
"Gryffindor's honor?" Fred suggested.
Harry shook his head, "How about on your ambition." Harry replied with a smirk.
"How do you-" George started to ask but stopped as Harry raised his finger.
"Nyphadora-don't-say-my-name-Tonks" Harry smugly stated.
"Figures she'd rat us out." George stated.
"She never did like that valentines prank we pulled on her last year after all." Fred contemplated.
"If your quite done?" Harry asked a smidge annoyed he stood up and looked over at the Slytherin's table.
Greengrass and Tracey were still there, a good sign since it meant the dorm was currently empty.
"Sorry Fred, George I promised Hedwig some bacon. Do you mind coming with me? There's something I want to ask you." Harry said with a sparkle of insanity in his eye. A gaze that Fred and George knew quite intimately as it was the look of someone plotting a plan, a look they had themselves before ever prank.
"Sure." Fred said realizing what was going on.
"Give us a second." George finished.
Harry picking up his cloak and his bacon and left the Great Hall. A moment later Fred and George had joined him, and Harry guided them to the Slytherin Dormitory.
"Wait seriously? Your bringing us into..." George whispered.
"Slytherin's dormitory?" Fred finished.
"Yeah, it's not against the rules to bring someone with you. Is that a problem?" Harry asked.
"Nope not a problem. Just wicked." They both declared with wild grins.
"You two have never been here before?" Harry asked in a bit of a surprise. "I'd figure you'd have snuck in at some point to prank someone at some point given their reputation."
"We've tried but…" George petered off to be finished by Fred.
"The bastards are a surprisingly tight-lipped bunch… unlike some of our roommates."
Harry nodded even as he read a little of their surface thoughts. Turned out this was their first time inside the Slytherin Common room but more importantly was the feeling of suspense and faith that emanated from them. Harry smiled warmly.
Trust was something he valued greatly, and Harry knew that he'd need allies in the future. But for right now Harry felt like he finally gained something more important. Friends that were loyal and trustworthy. Harry swore he'd make sure that he'd look out for them in the future.
They were funny when it was needed but could always turn it down a bit when in the presence of matters most grave. While Harry might want to keep most of himself hidden from the world, these two he felt would be life long friends and allies. In Harry's mind this was a good month overdue, but there was no better time than now when the house was all but vacant.
"Wow, it's a lot greener than I expected" Fred stated with a chuckle the sarcasm rolling off his lips. Harry rolled his eyes at the comment seeing as most of the common room was bland and gray.
"Just be quiet and follow me." Harry snapped. "I'm pretty sure no one's here and it's best if no one knows we, that means the two of you are here."
The twins mimicking a zipper closing over their lips and followed after Harry to his dorm room. Gesturing them inside he closed the door.
"So, what did you want to talk to us about?" George asked.
"Not that sneaking around the snake pit isn't fun on its own." Fred said grinning at his twin.
"I'm going to share with you two secrets of mine. Think of them as my Christmas presents to you." Harry explained. Opening his trunk Harry stepped inside and disappeared into its depths, leaving Fred and George gobsmacked outside.
"Get your arses moving and get in here…" Harry's voice demanded as it carried out into the room.
Moments later the two entered mimicking Harry. It was funny watching the two twins looking around speechless at the interior of Harry's trunk.
"Merlin's sagging balls Harry!" Fred explained.
"You have an expanded Trunk!?" George asked.
"Inspired and bought after seeing Newt Scamander's trunk." Harry explained.
"Wicked."
"Wicked."
"Sorry that there's so little space, haven't had the chance to clean up yet." Harry laughed. He really liked the twins and the fact they never seemed to take life too seriously. Surrounding them was more magic than one could find in any classroom with a few artifacts that were practically priceless and all they could mutter was, 'wicked'.
"In any case for my first secret," Harry began, drawing their attention. With a dramatic flourish of movement Harry wiped his cloak open and wrapped it around himself, vanishing before their eyes.
"Bloody hell is that…!?"
"I believe it is, dear brother."
The two gazed gob-smacked at Harry as his head reappeared from out of the cloak.
"Yup an invisibility cloak." Harry confirmed with a grin. "And if I had to guess it's not an ordinary one. I might be wrong, but I think it's a more powerful version of one with a notice-me-not charm powered on steroids and caffeine."
Handing the clock to George, Fred and Harry watched as he put it on and vanished completely. Interestingly enough Harry was shocked as he could still see the silver cloak covering George.
"I can't believe it, it really is an invisibility cloak." Fred cheered. "How'd you get it?"
Glimpsing at Fred it was clear that George was invisible to him, yet for Harry it looked like he was doing a poor imitation of a Halloween bed sheet cosplay of a ghost.
"Already told you it was a gift, remember the one I think Albus sent." Harry stated handing Fred the letter that came with it. "And I'm pretty sure it's not a normal one."
"Oh right… Sorry bout that. I'm just shocked. These are bloody rare they are."
"I know," Harry responded to George, "But something is different about this one."
"You already said that Harry." Fred chuckled out.
Harry sighed as he nodded, "I know, Fred."
"What makes you say that?" George asked popping his head out of the cloak. "I mean, what makes you think it's special?"
"Well for starters I could still see you even when you put on the cloak and secondly everyone seems to avoid me when I was wearing it. Even going so far as to swerve in an empty hallway for no reason." Harry explained. "You even sat on it and didn't notice it until I told you that you were.
The twins looked at the cloak like it was the most amazing and mysterious object they had ever seen. "That's not normal I'm guessing." Harry guessed to which they both agreed nodding with eager interest. Harry's cloak wasn't normal.
"Its not." George answered, "Most cloaks are simply invisibility. If it makes people avoid you, blimey that's some wicked high-level magic that is."
"Harry do you mind if we use your cloak once and awhile?" Fred asked tentatively. "I mean, we'll return it and everything but, with this we could do a lot a, um… stuff, you know."
"Sure, just ask and I'll lend it to you. In fact, I brought you here so I could tell you that I would lend it to you if you wanted to use it."
"Really?" George asked inquisitively while trying not to bounce on the balls of his feet.
The lending of an invisibility cloak especially a special one like Harry's was practically unheard of. Such objects were considered family heirlooms, even a family secret.
"That be awesome Harry."
"Yeah, yeah, just don't pick on people I like too much, or I'll take it back." Harry smirked slightly.
"You two minus Hermione and Tonks are pretty much my only friends here, so I wanted to get something for you. Wasn't able to find anything to give to you that you might like." Harry smirked out as the twins both tested and examined the cloak. "Plus, I kind of needed a second opinion about it. Don't know much about commonly owned cloaks and stuff plus I don't really have the knowledge of higher end magics that you guys might know."
"Leave it to us Harry," George stated.
"No sneaky cloak is going to pull the wool over our eyes." Fred reaffirmed.
Harry watched as the two eagerly went into some kind of investigatory mode as they folded and unfolded the cloak inspecting it closely.
Leaving them to their study Harry brought Hedwig her bacon before anything else could distract him. Placing it before her, Harry watched the peaceful heave of her chest rise and fall as gentle slumber entertained his closest companion. Harry sat down, feeling more tired than ever as he watched both the twins, toiling over the cloak, and Hedwig's comforting sleep.
"By the way, what was the second thing you wanted to show us?" Fred asked drawing Harry's attention back towards the twins.
"Oh right, I wanted to ask if you wanted a partnership of sorts." Harry said as he returned to look at his sleeping companion.
"Partnership?"
Harry nodded oblivious to the fact that both were now looking at him. "Yeah, I'm not an idiot you two. I've heard of some of the stunts you've pulled from the seniors. I've also heard tales of your abysmally passable grades." Harry stated with a knowing look. "Sorry, but I doubt someone able to sneak into Sprouts office in second year and place color changing spells on all her plants could possible be barely passing charms in their second year."
Fred and George looked at each other and sighed. "We really need to stop bragging to others about our successes."
"Too true."
Harry chuckled. "I may be a first year but I'm not an idiot. I'm pretty observant and listen carefully to what people say… and what they don't."
Gently patting Hedwig, he glanced at the Twins. "I don't have a lot of fun in my life and well, being around Tonks and you guys I can't help but want to have a bit more fun in life. I'm pretty good at acquiring ingredients plus I'm wicked at Potions."
"So, you want to play with the big boys Harry?" Fred teased with a smidge of arrogance born of both confidence and pride.
Harry shrugged his shoulders. "In a way. I just want to take part and who knows, if you guys start going big, I'd be more than happy to help you guys along the way." Harry said cheerfully. "Heaven knows I don't get out of this trunk often enough and who knows, maybe you'll come up with some ploy that I can get behind and work off of."
Fred looked between his brother. "What do you think?"
George pulled his brother close with his arm over his shoulder in a two-man huddle. "Well he is supposedly really good at potions, and he's a treasure trove of inside information."
"True, true." Fred agreed as he reasoned out their decisions. Looking around he also added, "Not to mention he does have a nice collection of stuff here. Sneakoscopes, Secrecy Sensors, most of this stuff I don't even recognize."
"Not to mention he does seem to know stuff we don't know about."
Fred nodded at George's contribution. "Think we can trust him?"
"Oh, dear brother, what kind of question is that?" George asked.
"A stupid one dear Brother." Fred replied with a grin.
Pulling away the two twins grinned maddeningly, "Alright Harry I think we can consider something of a partnership." Fred replied.
"However, you got to give us some insider info on Slytherin if you do." George.
Harry smiled with a slight nod. "Fine by me, although you do realize I consider myself the only real Slytherin in this school, right?"
The twins chuckled at this and nodded in understanding. "So long as you know. Now that all that's over with," Harry stated pointing towards a wooden box on the ground the size of a coffee table, "Look inside there and take what you could use. Need more space for new products anyway."
Curious the Twins went over and opened said box. Like a wooden cabinet it opened up with an assortment of draws that opened up to reveal more drawers and doors within. Inside the many compartments were potions. Hundreds of vials of potions hand brewed by Harry himself doing his free time studies. Each vial had a color strip around it with any assortment of colors within.
"Word to the wise, blue striped is safe and helpful, yellow is used with caution, red is harmful, black stripes means deadly. Have fun." Harry smirked as he saw the look of shock on the twins' faces.
"Bloody hell, Harry." Fred shout out in dismay.
"You've been holding out on us." George added in is two pints. "When did you manage to make these."
Harry shyly rubbed his head as he answered, "I've been rather bored this last week. I just kind of felt like doing it, so I just kept brewing new potions I learned or thought up."
"Blood hell," George whispered under his breath as he looked over all the potion vials within the box.
"Speaking of, why did you want to work with us in the first place. Don't get us wrong, we like working with a fellow prankster an all," Fred asked-
"But honestly we can't help but wonder why you're doing this. What's in it for you?" George finished. "By the way you got some dust on in your hair."
Harry chuckled aloud as he shook his head. "Besides making sure I'm on your good side and making sure Hermione and Tonks don't end up on the wrong end of your Pranks… just because I want too."
Turning to face a mirror Harry realized that George was right and a bit of fluff from Hedwig's stand somehow ended up in his hair.
George laughed at this, "So that's the great Harry Potter's desire huh. For some reason I thought it be grander."
Harry jerked forward... a though resting dangerously on his tongue at risk of toppling over.
Georges words playing in his head like a bad echo from a recorder. 'Harry Potter's desire'
George spotted Harry's frozen movement. "You alright there Harry? You kind of stiffened up."
Harry however was oblivious to the twins his mind racing.
"The mirror..." Harry croaked out. Fred and George looked curiously at Harry. "Something wrong Harry?"
But Harry didn't hear them. His mind racing over the possibility of an answer to his greatest question. The overbearing doubt that had hounded and haunted the recesses of his mind and deep in his heart. The single question that he had ignored and kept repressed ever since he met with Hermione on the train. Ever since she distances herself from him.
"Who was Harry Potter?"
The answer to such a question… was it really that simple?
Harry bolted from his station and ignoring the world around him tore through and out of his trunk.
He raced out of the dormitory and much like the seeker that he was sought out his objective with a reckless passion. So bold and careless was his want that he failed to notice the person he had knocked over as her flew down the fourth-floor corridor.
Reaching the door in question Harry flung the door open and saw the mirror draped and covered in a large cotton sheet. Charging forward Harry grabbed the canvas with both hands and flung it off.
With a hand still grasping the fabric tightly, Harry stared blankly at the mirror. His heart was racing, his chest forming great mountains and valleys with each breath. Sweat pooling along the rivets of his body as his lungs pound against him in desperate gulps of needed air. His old cousins over-sized clothing clinging to his body as he remained motionless.
In his hand the sheet that covered the mirror was gripped, shaking slightly in anticipation.
The mirror stood in all its foreboding glory, mocking him as it revealed nothing. Nothing was reflected with its empty form.
Stepping forward with a hesitant step Harry stared blankly at his reflection. Slowly as his fears rose his form shifted slightly within the mirror. His eleven-year-old self-blurred ever so slightly and did more so as he stepped closer towards the great artifact. Hope choked his throat as if a bezoar was lodged inside it.
With cautious and stiff legs Harry moved closer still, his legs dragging as if weighed by lead. There stating before him was reflected his one and deepest desire.
Harry felt all his strength give way from his legs. Like water without a glass Harry fell to the floor on his knees, a twisted smile warping his face. A slight chuckle passed his smiling lips before the impending collapse.
Snape shouted, "Mr. Potter. What do you think you're doing!"
After being ignored and nearly run over by Harry on the fourth floor the Professor's mood was almost as flammable as his oily hair. Harry sat there before the mirror immobile.
Indignation at being ignored the professor pressed forward with rising agitation.
"Mr. Potter fifty points from Slytherin for your arrogance and assaulting a..." Snape chided but halted upon seeing Harry's face.
Professor Snape was a man of many things. Pride, failures, cruelty, duty, dedication, but most of all he was a man rapt with grief. Grief could have been said to be what made up his drive to continue living, second only to revenge. So, for a man who had been haunted by his own grief for so many years the look upon Harry's face was one of the few that would give the nearly heartless man pause.
Relief. A crippling mad smile flaunting a form of insanity mixed with rationality that only those saved from insanity could bare. A smile that was more like a whimper of pain and tears then that of laughter.
Yes, it was a relief.
That was the only word that could describe Harry's expression as he broke out into tearful and mad laughter. Like a mad man Harry croaked and choked on himself as his strength left him.
Snape watched as Harry Potter, the son of the man he loathed and the woman he loved, laughed like a loon, tears balling form his eyes as he gazed emptily at the stone sky.
The man was left unsure what to do and for the first time in a long while, he was truly stumped as to what to do. A side of him was disgusted at the appearance of the boy, and yet on another side Snape couldn't help but find the sight of the boy enviable and equally terrifying.
xXxXx
This chapter took forever to get right. Also, I may or may not be distracted by this really fund game, Ancestors. Who knew apes were so much fun? In any case I tried really hard to get the flow right for this chapter so hats off were they're due. Next chapter the Conclusion to the Mirror and Harry's freedom from self-angst rationalization, mostly.