Chapter 14: More Questions than Answers

Disclaimer: You know the routine, i dont own anything that you recognise :)

"The item isn't even on the third floor." Harry muttered in frustration as they dropped through a trap floor to the lower level. Why did they need Fluffy to protect a corridor if the person trying to steal the item could just blast through the wall on the floor below? But at the same time, he knew just how much magical protections were involved in the castle itself. To be able to blow walls up in the building would require a lot of magical energy, not to mention that it would most likely alert everyone in the building. They looked around the room that they were in, a tall room with the only light source a dim torch by the door and the light that came through the trapdoor above.

"So, whatever would be in this room would most likely be something that likes the dark." Elizabeth guessed and Harry found himself nodding. She knew that the rooms in question would give clues as to what the actual defences would be, part of her wondering just what they were going to find if they did try to investigate what was there when it was all set up. "Shall we continue? Just because you tried for a location where the traps weren't in place doesn't mean there isn't some way for them to know that we're here." Elizabeth warned as the thought slipped into her head. Thoughts to open a rift were important, the phrasing of the thought was also significant, just because he asked to be in a location where the object was here but without the protections that were in his time doesn't mean there isn't other protections that are in place. The two pushed open the door walking through into the next room, blinking as the light assaulted them, the contrast between this room and the last in terms of lighting was incredible. "A tall room." Elizabeth said as she looked up, seeing the ceiling in the distance. "There's got to be some kind of magic extending the room or something." She hazarded a guess as she continued to look up. "We'd have noticed a room that rose up at least three floors just by the lack of rooms on higher floors but there's nothing there on the upper levels."

"So, what? something that we have to get down from a height? Wouldn't an older student or a thief just be able to summon it to them?"

"Depends I guess there must be some way to protect items from summoning like that." Elizabeth guessed as they moved to the door, stopping as she noticed the lock. "See the lock on the door?"

"It's old?" Harry questioned, gaining a slight nod.

"It means there's an easy way to spot what would unlock the door, the lock is old so the key would most likely be an old styled key."

"Why would you even have the right key here in the first place? Why not just have a room full of fake keys?" Harry asked in confusion. If he had set up the room then that's what he'd do, a standard lock a standard set of keys that all looked almost identical and then have none of them work, you'd have the thief distracted and trying to work out what he had to do to get through and all the time he'd never actually have the right key to get through the room needing him to either remove the door or give up. The questions were adding up as they progressed, guess work leading to possible conclusions based off the evidence that the room would give them.

"It's strange, isn't it, the answers are all seemingly pointing to not keeping someone out more as a test for someone." Elizabeth stated as they moved into the next room, from first looks they could already see a difference, a walkway leading to a large square area with two trenches on either side of the area and another small pathway to a door that no doubt led on to where they needed to go. They walked up to the square area looking at the black and white tiled area. "Is this meant to be for a chess set of some kind?" She asked, glancing at the two trenched areas. "I guess that's where pieces would go if we had to remove them after they were taken but something like this could be easily passed by just blasting the pieces, no need to play a game if no pieces are able to be used."

"Unless the way to open the door would be linked to the game itself, having you win the game to progress would not only be time consuming but if it's like wizards' chess then surely they'd be a lot more dangerous than ordinary chess pieces." Harry had played a few games of Wizarding Chess with a few of the Ravenclaws in the dorm and each time he had lost but some of them had been closer than others. He was still trying to learn to not only tune out the words from the pieces that were enchanted to both talk and play in the violent variation of chess but to also practice thinking several steps ahead of those he was facing. It wasn't as easy as he thought it was.

"More and more like a test." Elizabeth muttered as they walked over the smooth tiled floor her heels clicking with every step. "It's not that I don't believe them when they say that it is designed to stop an intruder but so far we've seen nothing special that would stop anyone from being able to get their way through. With enough determination, I'm pretty sure with just first year magic you could get through." She said as they opened the door. The next room was darker, there were some enchantments in the room that seemed to generate warmth and they looked around in confusion. "It's like its designed for something to stay here." She said as she saw what looked like a hasty thrown together bed for something big, bigger than Hagrid and she frowned, her memories drifting back to Halloween. "Trolls are not native to England or Scotland, are they?" She asked Harry who was pretty sure they weren't but didn't know for sure. "Is this meant to be for a Troll to stay here? Did the one on Halloween come from here or was it one they were bringing in for the trials or was it another one? One by chance made its way here?"

"If it is a troll that was meant to be in here." Harry pointed out and Elizabeth nodded her head in agreement.

"It makes sense though." She said as they quickly made their way through the room out into the next one. The room itself was empty except for a table that sat against the wall next to the door that would lead on. "Not much to go on here then." She mused with a smile. "Let's think quickly, each room would have been done by a different Professor, with no one telling the other, at least that's how I'd do it." She commented with a glance, seeing Harry nod in agreement she continued. "If they don't tell anyone else other than Dumbledore what the traps are then that would stop someone being able to work it out and how to avoid each of them by using the person's own knowledge against them."

"But if they know who was working on the traps then they'd know who the person responsible for each one and could predict what was going to come as they moved."

"True, but the first room we already know is something Hagrid brought in. He's essentially told you about it already, the next room I don't know... there's too many options now."

"The room after has to be Professor Flitwick, a room like that there'd probably be some charms to keep the keys up on the upper area and moving around to confuse whoever came." Harry explained with what evidence they had so far.

"The next is another easy one, Professor McGonagall would be the only one to do that level of detail for a chess set, probably with a final tie in from Professor Dumbledore to link the game to the door." Elizabeth said as she thought about it, smiling at the idea of playing a giant chess game like that. It could be fun, once the year was over she'd have to suggest using it to show a practical application of Transfiguration to the upper years. Who knows, she may have already done that, Elizabeth didn't look too much into the coursework set for the upper years but sometimes, people, even teachers overlooked something that would be a great tool without even realising that they were doing it. "With that last room, I'd say that was Professor Quirrel."

"Really? He fainted the last time a troll was involved." Harry snorted in disbelief and Elizabeth frowned, having not heard that before.

"He fainted?"

"Ran into the Great Hall, mid meal and shouted about a troll in the dungeons, then collapsed to the ground." Harry explained shaking his head as he recalled the memory, to think their Defence against the Dark Arts professor was that cowardly that he'd be unable to do his job when dealing with what was essentially Defence. But it could be that he was more a theory person rather than the practical application that others would do. They did learn a bit of magic but it was largely theory in his class, the reason given that a lot of the spells were draining and the groundwork needed to be set for the second year.

"That doesn't sound that good." She said with a sigh, if that was the case then perhaps her theory about the last room was mistaken. "Unless he wasn't alone when it was brought in." She hazarded a guess, it was a long shot if he was as cowardly as Harry seemed to imply but at the same time he could have just made the suggestion to Dumbledore. "So how many are left?"

"Vector, Sprout, Snape, Bathsheda, Sinistra." Harry rattled off a few names that he remembered.

"I don't think Vector and Sinistra are involved in this, nothing about their specialisations match what we have already seen. A table is the only clue we have for here. It's not Bathsheda, she's already hinted as much that she knows what's here but she has not been involved with its security." Elizabeth said, remembering an earlier conversation she had with the Professor. "Which leaves Snape and Sprout, there are plants that thrive in the dark with little to no light... that first room we dropped into could possibly be hers maybe? Which would leave this to be Snape's." The theory did have merit but it was just a theory, all of this about the defences was largely guess work that they were making but it was one that could be drawn from the evidence they were seeing and the people who were involved. "With a table like this it's probably a potion related thing, it'd be interesting to see how it works, I'll admit, the man does have a brilliant mind." She said and Harry again found himself nodding his head in agreement with her. He was not so much invested in the hatred of the man anymore as he had essentially been neutral to him with only a few cases of acting like an ass since the Winter Holiday but he was intelligent and knew what he was doing. The two walked forwards, opening the next door and walking in to another large room that had a sunken circular area, steps the ran around the entirety of the area led down and in the middle, they both saw sitting on a small stand was an item wrapped in brown paper, tied with a single bit of white string. "And there it is... Do you think this room is what Dumbledore was going to set his trap in?" She asked as they walked down the steps towards the room

"This is indeed the room where I was going to set my part of the puzzle." The voice of Dumbledore spoke, the two jumping to spin around and face the man that stood at the entrance to the room. He looked at them, puzzled by their appearance. "I did not expect there to be someone here to steal the stone before any of the defences were in place.

"The stone?" Harry asked in confusion and Dumbledore looked at him, seeing the green eyes and lightning bolt scar, his eyebrows raising in surprise.

"That is an interesting appearance you have," he said as he walked into the room, his wand still pointing at the two. "If I did not know any better I'd swear you were related to Emily Potter." He spoke as he studied the two.

"Emily Potter?" The two responded in confusion and surprise.

"The Girl Who Lived. I'm sure you know of her, especially with that scar he has on his forehead."

"Girl Who Lived?" Harry repeated dumbly, turning to look at Elizabeth who glanced at him as her brain realised what Harry had done.

"Harry, you took us into a different time, a different set of situations, remember what I said about you."

"You said I was the constant."

"Correct, you as an entity are a constant but there could always be changes."

"Such as me being a girl?" Harry questioned and Elizabeth nodded her head. "Wait a minute... He said Stone!" Harry said his mind snapping back to the topic that they had come here to solve.

"What about it?" Elizabeth asked as she glanced back at the elderly wizard who seemed to be willing to let this conversation go on for the moment.

"Nicholas Flamel, Check the Cards, Stone... I remember!" Harry cried out as he put the pieces together. "I remember seeing it on Professor Dumbledore's card, he worked with an Alchemist called Nicholas Flamel and discovered several uses for Dragons Blood."

"Ok that doesn't tell me who... alchemist, of course the Philosophers Stone." Elizabeth said in realisation before trailing off and looking at the aged headmaster. "Wait, that stones actually real? I thought it was a myth."

"You are not here to steal the stone, are you?" Dumbledore asked, hearing the conversation he had pieced together that they were not here to steal but more to work out the puzzle. "Time travel?"

"From a certain point of view... we're travellers, there's someone trying to steal the stone where we're from, we didn't even know what was here until just this moment, this was all just an attempt to find out what was going on so we could work out if we needed to step back and let it play out or if we needed to step in." Elizabeth explained to Dumbledore, not bothering to hide the fact that they were from a completely different dimension, the likelihood of them even returning here was slim to none and who knows it may force this Dumbledore to beef up defences if he thought they could be so easily bypassed.

"I believe I may know who is trying to steal the stone." Dumbledore spoke after a momentary pause, lowering his wand and walking towards the stand. "If what you say is true and you are from a parallel location, then I assume you had the same problem with Voldemort?" He stopped, the two nodded. "I do not believe he died on that fateful night that took the Potters from us." Another pause and another nod, though Harry had a look of sadness cross his features he dismissed it quickly. "I know that the return of a Potter to Hogwarts, the Potter so to speak would no doubt draw him out and I wanted something else to guarantee that he would appear. If my theory is correct then he is nothing more than a Wraith, clinging to life through various dark rituals, this stone would be the best way to get his body back and return to the life that he once had before he was beaten."

"And you put it in a SCHOOL!" Elizabeth cried out in disbelief. Dumbledore looked at her but didn't say anything.

"There is no place safer than Hogwarts, it is the only logical place to bring it. Gringotts itself was broken into barely a week ago, shortly after I had the vault emptied. The safety of the students has been my primary concern all along."

"It's a school." Elizabeth repeated, "a boarding school with not a lot to do outside of a weekend trip every now and again for the older students, you ban them from coming to this corridor and I can guarantee that they will be trying to get in here from the word go. Trust me, they really do. Some aren't so subtle about it either." Word of the Cerberus had spread around slowly, the gossip picking up more and more as to what it was guarding simply because they knew that something that dangerous would definitely be guarding something important and curiosity led to more curiosity and chances taken to try and see. Thankfully no one knew what was going on. "Harry we're leaving, we have the answers we need. Take care Headmaster, it's a dangerous game you're playing." She finished with a warning, a tear opening behind them back to Bathsheda's office. wrapping around the two and closing before Dumbledore could say anything else.

In the office, Bathsheda was sitting behind her desk, she had heard the sound of the tear opening and looked up to see Elizabeth and Harry appear in the room and in front of them Dumbledore watching in amazement. "So, you know what's there now?" She asked in resignation as the Tear closed on them.

"We do now, what is Dumbledore thinking?" Elizabeth asked as she sat down in one of the chairs, Harry sitting in another one as he still focused on the information that he had learnt about himself in the other Hogwarts. He was a girl in that timeline. He understood the concept but the actual fact that it was real was really weird and difficult to wrap his head around. "He's using it as bait to test a theory." She muttered in disbelief. "In a school with innocent children." Again, the disbelief was evident in her voice and Bathsheda called out for a House Elf to bring them drinks which moments after a serving tray with several cups and a pot of tea appeared on the table.

"We argued with him about it, Minerva tried several times to get him to reconsider but Dumbledore just ran with his usual grandfatherly attitude and left others with the task of guarding it. Did you see any of the traps that were set?" She asked in curiosity and Elizabeth shook her head.

"No traps or spells other than something that must have alerted Dumbledore to our presence. We've guessed at who was going to be involved in each room but if someone does try to steal it I can't see many a problem with getting past them, the traps that we guessed seem really easy to bypass. Were they designed to stop an Adult or a Child?" Elizabeth asked in suspicion.

"Or were they designed to trap anyone that goes to it. To wear a person down so that the final room could stop them." Bathsheda guessed and Elizabeth frowned.

"Well that's wrong on multiple levels, why not just try and make all of them stop everyone? after all what good is a defence if several layers are already weak? Though either way, it doesn't matter... the traps are less designed to trap someone and to test a theory he has as to whether or not Voldemort." A flinch from Bathsheda stopped her for a second, "is alive or dead."

"Really?" Bathsheda said in numb shock. The theory had been said before by a couple of people, though they were largely dismissed as rumours and crazy talk, mainly crazy talk but Dumbledore had always held the belief that Voldemort was still alive. "He wants to lure He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named here? Wow, that's... I knew he wanted to protect the item but to do that? Geez... I should have asked for a raise when he first announced the idea." Bathsheda groaned shaking her head. "I'm surprised that the Dumbledore you met actually said that, he always seems to play everything close to his chest."

"Alternate Dumbledore... perhaps he's a bit more open about his ideas in that time. Perhaps something happened that shifted his views on keeping secrets from allies?" Elizabeth suggested and with no other conclusion on which to go with Bathsheda found herself nodding her head in agreement, it made sense that there could be different Dumbledore's with slightly different personalities.

"And now I've had a scary thought." She muttered, trailing off as she shivered, looking at Elizabeth she saw the look of confusion on her face. "An alternate Reality with an Evil Dumbledore."

"Yes... I can see how that would be quite scary." Elizabeth agreed nervously, so glad that from everything she had seen so far, they were not in one of those realities. Evil Dumbledore, a very scary thought if he was as powerful as everyone seemed to believe he was. "How long were we gone for?" Elizabeth asked, glancing at the clock. "Hmm, two hours, less than I thought it was going to be when I pulled us back."

"I thought you'd be able to choose when and where you turned up."

"I opened that portal in a rush, not wanting to risk anything happening if Dumbledore decided to react. Harry, I think you can return to your Common Room, detention is over for now. We can continue the training at a later time but already you're showing incredible steps. Just remember the rules."

"I know, don't tell anyone who doesn't already know what is going on and don't open rifts around other people... even if I wouldn't mind pushing Blaize through one of them." He added with a slight chuckle and saw the looks of the two. "I joke, I joke! Don't worry I won't do anything to reveal this if I can help it." Harry promised seriously and Elizabeth nodded though there was still a slight frown. "Goodnight you two."

"Goodnight." They both replied as he left and Elizabeth waited for several moments for him to properly go before turning back to look at Bathsheda. "All right, spill... what is Dumbledore planning?"

"What? How am I supposed to know that?" Bathsheda asked in hurt anger.

"He's had almost ten years to work out whether or not Voldemort is alive and here he is doing this stunt the moment Harry comes to Hogwarts?" Elizabeth questioned. "If our guesses were right then those traps and tricks couldn't hold a talented first year student. Is he doing this to test Harry?" She pushed slightly more aggressively.

Bathsheda sat silently, her mind running a mile a minute as she took the evidence that had been presented so far and the guess work that Elizabeth and Harry had come up with, there were trials made by the Professors to stop a thief, they were each to their speciality which could be predicted if the thief coming to steal the stone knew anything about the possible opponents. "I don't want to admit it because I don't want to believe it's true... it could possibly be designed to test Harry." She admitted after a few more moments of silence, she sighed looking at Elizabeth sadly. "How are we going to deal with this?"

"For now? Nothing... we'll keep an eye on things and see how it progresses, we're pretty sure what the traps are so we can try and be prepared for them when the thief no doubt makes his move."

"We're going to let Harry go through with it?" Bathsheda questioned and Elizabeth shook her head.

"I have no intention of letting him go through with it but we both know that if he wants to do something he's going to do it. Look at the Midnight Duel trap that he walked into, he knew it was a trap and he still went. If he believes it's the right thing to do or that he can properly handle the situation, then he is going to do his best to get involved. With the fact that his ability to see the tears and open doors is already getting to an advanced level and he's more than likely going to get involved with it regardless of what any of us say. He'll wait and he'll watch but I don't think he'll turn to any of us for help if he learns that someone has gone to steal it if we're not near." Elizabeth stated and chuckled, "He reminds me of my father in a way. Headstrong and determined." She stopped, closing her eyes thinking back to the end.

"You don't speak about your parents." Bathsheda observed and Elizabeth smiled.

"That obvious? It's because I know so little about them," she stopped, she was going to speak the truth and the truth while she had dealt with it was still painful to her. "My mother died during childbirth, I never got the chance to actually meet her, my father was... he was a drunk and a gambler, unable to recover from some of the actions he took in conflicts before I was born. I told this to Harry when I took him away at Christmas, I was given away to another man, to wipe away a debt... Bring us the girl and wipe away the debt." She muttered, pained at the thought. No matter how you try to look at it, it didn't bring happiness to her, it brought sadness, with the inability of her father to clean himself up when she needed him most... she banished the thoughts, it didn't do to dwell on what had happened because it had allowed so many things to happen in her life, if it wasn't for that she wouldn't have this gift. If it wasn't for that she wouldn't have had the ability to come here and meet so many new people and make several new friends. "There's more, but not now." She said cutting herself off from getting too into it at the moment and Bathsheda nodded her head in understanding.

"What do you plan to do now?"

"Speak to Dumbledore, confirm my suspicions, though I'm not sure how I can do that. It isn't as if I can walk up to him and just say 'so Professor Dumbledore, I notice you have a trap corridor designed to lure in the spirit of the Dark Lord... are you sure that's wise to have it in a school of children?' somehow, I don't think it'd go over too well... and it would lead to too many questions that I don't want to answer right now. He thinks he knows how my powers work but he doesn't really. "And again, I'm working under the assumption as to what the tests are, I do not believe for a second I'm right if that is the case. at least I really hope that I'm wrong because he seems to be a good person but I don't see how a good person could knowingly place an entire school of children at risk like this just to test a theory." She sighed deeply as she tried to think on the situation. "We know what is in there now, we know roughly who is going to steal it though we have no proof as to whether it is him or not and now we just lack the how they're going to try and steal it."

"You-Know-Who feared Dumbledore, rumour had it that there was only one person who could truly cause fear in the former Dark Lord." Bathsheda explained, glancing back out the window. "As long as he's here then I doubt he will try anything overt."

"Like sending a Troll in?"

"You and I know that it was only a distraction, if he truly is alive, he has to be weakened at the moment." Bathsheda commented, "if he is weakened then there is no way he will try for a direct confrontation, he'll wait and bide his time, find some way to get his strength back up and then make his move when Dumbledore is distracted by something. With the Wizengamot, the ICW, his headmaster duties and various other small obligations he's going to be out of the school eventually."

"And when he does, Voldemort will strike." Elizabeth said watching as Bathsheda shuddered. She didn't say anything in regards to it though it did intrigue her with just how badly people reacted to a name. "I think I'll take my leave now, another early start tomorrow." She said, finishing the conversation as a thought crossed her mind, "good night Bathsheda." Elizabeth said politely and the Professor just nodded her head confused at the sudden stopping of the conversation but also realising that when Elizabeth had an idea that she was going to run with it almost as quickly as she came up with it. Elizabeth exited the room and practically ran back to her room. As she ran she heard a couple of the portraits making comments about her rushing through the corridor but she didn't pay attention to it. While the thought was in her head she had to make a note of it, she wasn't going to forget this. Turning the corner to her room she stopped, catching herself and calming down. "I have to keep some form of dignity, running through the corridor like that. What would people say?" She questioned jokingly to herself.

"I would assume it would be the same in regards to talking to yourself." A voice spoke, startling Elizabeth, she spun round, looking where she had just come from to see Dumbledore standing there. "Good Evening Miss DeWitt." He greeted as Elizabeth let out a sigh, calming herself down.

"Has anyone ever told you to wear a bell?" Elizabeth deadpanned, "you are way too sneaky for someone your age." She chided and Dumbledore smiled, his eyes sparkling in the way that only he seemed to be able to do.

"I apologise Miss DeWitt, though you seemed to be in your own little world," a definite emphasis was put on those words and Elizabeth knew what he was implying. "I was wondering if I could have a word with you." He politely requested and she nodded her head. It was not how she wanted to progress with this but perhaps at the same time, it was something that could be used to her advantage and just get everything out in the open. Secrets were not her strong point, she could keep quiet but she hated keeping them and with the way things were going with her interactions with the Malfoys, she wasn't sure how it was all going to play out and she was taking a big risk with it. But it was worth the chance that she was going to take.

"Of course, please, come in." She said politely, giving the password to the portrait and walking into her room, Dumbledore following after her. "I assume this is about what I've been up to this evening?" She asked and Dumbledore nodded his head, allowing her to speak to him. "Yes, Harry and myself did leave the grounds again, no I didn't get your permission for which I apologise... actually no, tell a lie, we never left the grounds." She corrected herself and saw the look of confusion that Dumbledore gave her. "I was vague before when we spoke and I have no doubt that you already know a little bit more than what I explained."

"From what I have learnt you open doorways, to places and times that could have been?"

"In essence yes. So, when we left, it was not myself who guided the way. I opened the tear that Harry thought about. You know he has access to this power, at least some form of it." She trailed off, focusing on downplaying how much Harry had access to. "He can see the rifts and he can manipulate them to an extent, the detention while it was meant to be for him to work on something because of his actions the previous evening," she didn't go into detail again, if Dumbledore knew then she wasn't going to waste time explaining it, if he didn't know then she wasn't going to get Harry in even more trouble. "It was also designed to test how much he can use the ability."

"How does he progress?" He asked in curiosity and Elizabeth smiled slightly.

"To be honest, what we did was a practice for myself as well as him, I pulled the door open from his thoughts, the tear had started to form and I was able to open it fully allowing us to take a look at where he wanted to explore."

"Forgive my curiosity, but your power is extraordinary, may I ask where you went?"

"Hogwarts, I couldn't tell you the date but I can tell you exactly where." She responded and Dumbledore gave her a knowing look.

"I believe I already know where you went and what you went to find."

"What are you doing Professor? Why are you playing such a huge risk by having the stone here in the school?" She questioned sharply, throwing all sense of avoidance on the topic out of the window. "What do you plan to gain from this? If Voldemort is still out there, then you know full well how the public would react to you baiting him to enter the school. If he's not, you're putting the safety of students at risk just by the process of having a Cerberus behind a door that can be unlocked by a spell that can be cast by even a first year. What were you thinking?" Elizabeth said not even giving him the chance to answer her question before she continued on. "And you've had ten years since his disappearance to find out whether or not he truly exists still and you wait until the moment that Harry comes to Hogwarts? What is the goal? Is it to test Harry? Is it to throw him to the wolves into a situation that he would more than likely not have had any preparation to deal with it?" She rattled of question after question, her annoyance at the fact that Harry had been drawn into the situation seeping in as she spoke.

"You've seen a lot, haven't you?" Dumbledore asked calmly as she finished her rant, catching her off guard at both at the blunt statement that the question was and the fact that he had ignored the questions that she had asked. "This gift you have, it's not something that someone would take lightly, to see everything, to know what could possibly happen... what will happen, just not here." He spoke softly, Elizabeth looked at him, trying to hold onto her anger at the actions that he had taken before sitting down on the edge of her bed looking at the Headmaster.

"I can't see it unless I focus on it." Elizabeth said calmly. "The mind knows how to protect itself, the amount of information that would come from seeing everything, it's too much for the brain to handle, it's blocked it off, I can tap into it whenever I need to but without that, I don't have the ability to know everything that is happening. If I did, we probably would have never met, I never would have been knocked unconscious and I never would have been stuck in that glass box all those years."

"The pressure on your shoulders, seeing all this, knowing that even if you interfere, there are still an infinite number of scenarios that happen where you didn't get involved," he started, sounding tired as he summed up her situation all too well, a hint of knowing in his voice as she looked down at the floor.

"I was compared to a God, I had power that others would kill to have, I have been controlled, manipulated, isolated and tortured all because of this power. Because My fa... The Prophet decided I was going to be the one to bring destruction on the world." She had almost stumbled, referring to Comstock as her father. It was something that she had sworn never to do even though technically, in a way he was her father. It got into a bit of a loop when you tried to think about it. The look of suspicion that Dumbledore gave her when she said this made her sigh. "Don't you see why I kept my past a secret? This power would be a boon to anyone except the person who has it. Expectations, demands, requests, everything will be directed at them, after all, you can see and be anywhere you want, you could change anything. Unless the person understands how it will not change anything here, they will never stop trying to get myself or Harry if he fully develops the power to do something that they believe would make their life better." Elizabeth explained sharply.

"How likely is it that Harry will develop the power to this level?" He questioned her, she stopped, thinking carefully about it. Already Harry was showing immense potential with the ability, he had opened the doorway, he had opened the rifts, she had pulled them back, that was it.

"Going off current evidence, the end of the year at least to have a full grasp of it." She admitted finally spelling it out to Dumbledore.

"A burden, for one as young as him."

"But a rewarding one, the things he can learn, the places he can go, the people he could meet. The limits are only his imagination... and his self-restraint. But we've become side-tracked, your plan... what was it?"

HPCVHPCV

"It's a Philosophers stone?" Terry muttered in sleepy amazement. Although Harry had made it back before Curfew had fully begun, terry had been tired, working on his Transfiguration spell, leaving him drained and he had fallen asleep quite early, he had not been happy that Harry had woken him up. "How do you know this? What's a Philosophers stone?" He asked, his mind not fully alert and paying attention to what he learnt.

"The clue we had been given, it's in the cards, the name clicked earlier, it had to be related to Dumbledore, so I thought about cards with him and any information on it. It led me to Nicholas Flamel, an Alchemist that worked with Dumbledore on the uses of Dragons Blood and with that being common knowledge it left me one thing that could possibly be kept a secret, something so valuable that anyone who knew about it would definitely try to get it if they knew it was there." Harry quickly explained.

"Okay, but for those of us that have just woken up, remind me again what the stone does?"

"If legends are true, you can use it to make gold, an infinite amount of gold, but it's other property is just as, if not infinitely more valuable, the Elixir of Life." Harry quickly explained and he saw the sleep vanish from Terry almost instantly.

"Infinite money and immortality? Are you sure we don't want to try and get it?" He asked jokingly though there was a hint of seriousness behind it. The temptation would be there for anyone and everyone. No matter what they thought, no matter how much they considered themselves against the thought, there would be that sliver of desire for it. Hell, Harry would freely admit if asked that he had been tempted to go for it when they were in the other dimension, but at the same time he stopped himself, he had no need for the gold at the moment with the amount that was in his vault and he had no need for the elixir of life at this point in his life. Besides it didn't stop you from being killed... whoever the attempted murderer was, they were still out there, plotting their actions carefully, of that he had no doubt. He didn't need to paint a bigger bullseye on his back by getting the stone. "What are we going to do about it?"

"Us? nothing... my first thought was to speak to Susan; her aunt works for the Law Enforcement and she'd probably have a thing or two to say about it being here."

"Works for? She is the Law Enforcement, she's head of the department." Terry explained quickly and Harry shrugged.

"Still, there's something going on with the stone and I don't want to force the hand of the person unless we have more answers when we can use the fact we know it's there to set a trap... I think I may have heard a few too many crime show phases." Harry muttered, thinking back to his time a the Dursley's, he may not have been able to watch the shows but he had heard the TV, Dudley liked to listen to it on a high volume, more to try and antagonise Harry than because of any need to have it that loud. "If they learn about the stone, there is no doubt they'd take it out of the school, it could force the thief to act without any concern for subtlety and that could lead to more people getting injured. With the stone being where it is and with us knowing it's there, we'll know if something goes wrong. But all of this just leads back to the same questions: Who is it? Why are they after the stone? Is it the same person as the one who cursed my broom? Too many questions and as we get answers we find more questions. I want to know what is going on and the only way we can do that is if we leave things as they are and watch."

"In other words, watch and learn like a Ravenclaw and not charge in like a Gryffindor." Terry said, summing it up in the form of Houses and Harry nodded his head, they would watch and they would learn and when they had what they needed then they would act.

HPCVHPCVHPCV

"Before you leave Headmaster, I have one final question to ask you." Elizabeth said, stifling a yawn, looking at the aging headmaster who looked as fatigued as she felt.

"You just did, but I suppose I can allow one more." He said and Elizabeth shook her head, even after the seriousness of this evenings conversations, he still took the time to lighten the mood.

"Why the Dursley's?" She asked quietly, it had been at the back of her mind since she met them, of all the places that Harry could go to, why them?

"Harry being left with the Dursley's was not an easy decision to make. I know his Aunt, I knew that it was possible that he would not have the best childhood with them, but it was where he was safest. There are protections that surround him, I will admit that I am still unsure as to their extent but when his Mother died she left a powerful protection, one that was fuelled by the sacrifice. But even that would wain over time, but there was something that could charge it." He stopped, giving her a pointed look.

"Family."

"As long as his aunt was willing to take him into her home, to raise him, he would be protected and safe from those that would wish him harm."

"Except from those covered by the protections."

"True, not the most pleasant of homes but a home that kept him protected from Voldemort's followers." He sighed, his form showing his regret over the decision. "As long as he is welcomed at Privet Drive, the protections will keep him safe, to keep the protections charged at this time all he would need to do would be to spend one month a year."

"I'm surprised you're telling me all this."

"Conversations with both yourself and a few other associates have made me think, a person is never too old to adapt, to change their attitudes and learn from past mistakes." He explained with a smile, Elizabeth nodded but didn't meet his eye as she looked away, thinking back to some of her mistakes. They had been costly and she had learned from them. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." She replied politely to him as he left. as the exit closed, she sighed. "One step forward, two steps back, I was ready to tear him apart for his actions... but he listened." She smiled, turning, and walking to her desk, a closed notepad rested on the top, one that she had started writing in shortly after Christmas. She opened it up, turning to her last entry and frowning as she stared at it, focusing on what she had written, two lines that continued to sit at the back of her mind, making her question her ability ever so slightly.

Who was I chasing?

Who attacked me?

TBC

Chapter 14 is here and I hope you enjoy

The more I think about it though the more I think they worked out what each room was going to be a bit too easily, chalk it up to subconsciously drawing upon their power for a little bit of insight into whats going on.

Chapter 15 has been completed and is ready for upload next Saturday and I've started on chapter 16 now, my goal is to try and write 1000-1500 words a day so that next Saturday I'll have completed chapter 16 and will be working on chapter 17.