Chapter 17: What needs to be Done

Disclaimer: This is the song that never ends, it goes on and on my friends, it includes lyrics that point out that I do not own Bioshock or Harry Potter.

Flitwick listened to what he said, he didn't dismiss it out of hand as he explained the evidence that he came forward with and Harry did realise how lucky he had been for the professor to take more attention to what he was saying. In another time, he wasn't so lucky, McGonagall had dismissed his concerns in regards to the stone and had threatened punishment for attempting to do what was right. Now though, he just sat in thoughtful silence as Harry finished retelling the shortened version of what was going on, having left out just how he had discovered what was in the Third-Floor Corridor. Well less the dog but more that he knew what was in the rest of the rooms. Everyone knew about the Dog; the professors knew that the students knew and that it worked as a deterrence for the majority of them.

The removal of the books to the Restricted Section for the year that the stone was here had also stopped people for just looking to find ways to get past the Cerberus as well. At least, as far as Flitwick was aware, the book was in the Restricted Section, Dumbledore had removed the books to his personal Library for temporary safekeeping, the only ones able to access the room that the books were held in were the Headmaster and his Deputy. No information meant they were highly unlikely to get by the dog and the Cerberus was not on the syllabus for Care of Magical Creatures so there would be no way around asking the professors under the guise of coursework. To do so would tip their hand and let the Professors know that they had been around the Forbidden Corridor. Of course, the information was still out there, a few had written home to parents and had learnt how to deal with the dog but after that they didn't pursue as much as they could, one thing that had become abundantly clear was that the information was good enough for the majority. They had been more distracted by the Dog and hadn't noticed the trap door that it guarded.

But here Harry was, information that painted the picture that the Stone would be in danger. Flitwick waited in silence, thoughts darting across his mind as he tried to think on how to move now. No doubt the person would strike, with Professor Dumbledore out of the way, the stone would be at its most 'vulnerable' at this point.

"I don't know who it is that's going to make the attempt," Harry explained though his tone said more to Flitwick than he probably realised. Harry had an idea as to who it was but wasn't completely sure about it. With that he was playing at being evasive, but even a hint could possibly be useful to Flitwick and the others to plan to counter the theft.

"Who do you think it is Harry?" Flitwick asked calmly and Harrys head snapped up, looking at Flitwick intently, now seeing that he saw through the slight deception.

"I believe it's Voldemort..." Harry said slowly, Flitwick flinched but didn't say anything else, another look of deep thought crossing the diminutive professor's features.

'could it possibly be him? Dumbledore has said that he didn't think he was dead, that he was weakened that night. The stone would be worth the risk for him if that was true... but how would Harry know it was him?' Flitwick sat pensively trying to work it out, no doubt Harry would want to keep the information quiet, he had no doubt that somehow Elizabeth was involved in this but she wasn't here to ask. "How do you know it's him?"

"Something Professor Dumbledore said, beyond that I can't say." Harry said with a steel in his voice that showed he wouldn't betray the information that he had be given. A noble trait to say the least.

"Then I won't ask further in that regards." Flitwick conceded, making a mental note to speak to Elizabeth when she returned. "Have you told anyone else this information?" He questioned again and Harry answered.

"Susan Bones, she's gone to speak to Professor Sprout." Harry explained and Flitwick nodded again. "She wanted to contact her Aunt but said something about her being out of contact." Harry explained getting a small smile from Flitwick.

"Clever and quick witted young Miss Bones is. Mr Potter, I need you to return to your common room. No doubt he will try and steal the stone this evening as it's the only guaranteed day that Professor Dumbledore will be gone. I want you to return to your dorm and if you come across anyone else, subtly tell them to return as well." Flitwick said as he stood up, walking over to the fireplace in his office and grabbing a handful of what looked to be dust, throwing it into the flames. "Professor McGonagall." He called as the flames turned green. Harry sat in shock, not knowing what Flitwick was doing and was even more surprised as a head started to appear in the fire.

"Yes Filius?" the distinctive sound of McGonagall came through the fireplace.

"I need you to come to my office, there's something important I have to speak to you about."

"Is everything okay?" She questioned curiously.

"Potentially not, I'm still waiting to find out but it is something that concerns us all."

"Very well, I will be there soon." She finished and her face disappeared from the fireplace. Flitwick turned back to Harry.

"Thank you again for bringing this to my attention, now I ask you to leave it in our hands, I assure you we'll keep the stone safe from whoever is attempting to steal it." Flitwick said, confidence in his voice as Harry stood up, pausing for a moment to dust off his clothing. "Please return to your Common Room Harry, I'll have Professor Sprout do the same with Susan."

"Of course, Professor." Harry agreed as he was led out of the office.

"Your mother would be proud of you Harry for bringing this to me instead of trying to confront the thief on your own." Flitwick added and Harry turned back to look at him. "She would have attempted to speak to one of us and leave it in our hands if the situation required it but she also liked to investigate things herself... there's a story I want to tell you at a later date, I think you'll like it." Flitwick said with another smile and Harry found himself nodding almost eagerly. He didn't know much about his parents and stories like this were things that he was eager to get a hold of, for the history of both of his parents.

Flitwick closed the door and Harry turned, not in the direction of the Common Room but towards the Library, he had a feeling that even if Professor Sprout did order Susan back to the dorm she would also detour to the Library. He pushed open the doors walking into the Library, looking around for her, walking between the bookcases looking out for her. He was tempted to call out for her but he didn't want to get thrown out by Madam Pince, the woman could be scary when anyone disturbed the silence of her library. Slowly, he made his way back to the area the group normally sat and found the table to be empty. He sighed, realising that Susan was probably not yet finished with Professor Sprout and let his bag slip off his shoulder, dropping to the floor with a dull thud. Pulling out a chair he sat down, folding his arms, and letting his head rest on them for a moment as he tried to calm himself, the anticipation for what was about to happen starting to get to him.

"The professors will stop the theft attempt, but this person, if it is him... surely he'd outclass professors in a fight." Harry muttered to himself, taking another deep breath as he tried to come up with a plan just in case it backfired and he got past the professors. The only thing that he could think of was to either go now while the professors were still rallying to sort out what they were going to do and steal the stone ahead of them, to keep it out of the way but that was stupid. Why paint a giant bullseye on his back when there was one already there through the circumstances of who he was instead of working more subtly.

There was also the potential to set things up with his other ability. The tears and rifts. he had started to see them as Elizabeth thought he would and she had said they would be there for him to access at any time but he was also to keep them a secret from others, somehow, he didn't think that summoning things from different timelines would go over too well. But what good would this power be if he never used it, what was the point of him having it if he couldn't use it to help others. It was something that had quietly bugged him since he had been told to keep it secret. He knew the logic behind it, a power like this to go anywhere, to anytime would be a goldmine for those who wanted power but...

He stopped the thoughts, if push came to shove he'd use the powers to stop the thief, he'd just have to try and do it in a way that wouldn't alert the professors as to what happened. Easier said than done really...

Movement amongst the library stacks caught his attention, the footsteps in the otherwise quiet room drawing his attention as he lifted his head to see Susan walking towards the table. "How did it go?" He asked her as she sat down, still looking slightly on edge, watching the shadows as if the thief could jump out at any time.

"Professor Sprout listened to what I said, she didn't seem convinced that I knew what I was talking about but she said she would speak to the others about it regardless." Susan explained and Harry nodded his head in understanding.

"Professor Flitwick listened as well and even if he didn't believe me he didn't say anything only promising that he'd take it seriously. When I left, he was informing Professor McGonagall. Though I don't know how much it's going to do even with them there."

"Harry, they're the best in their area of study, why do you think they're not going to do too well?"

"Because they're teachers not Police." Harry responded and Susan went to respond but stopped, conceding the point.

"I think you'd be surprised with Professor Flitwick though." She said and Harry looked at her in confusion. "He was a professional Duellist, won a couple of championships back in the day." She explained and Harry now found himself thinking of Flitwick in a new light, he respected the smaller teacher a lot but he had underestimated him and what he was apparently capable of. "The thief would have to be very good or very crazy to duel with him. "But they don't have any clue as to when the thief is going to strike."

"It'll be this evening, when the students who stayed here are asleep... Hagrid couldn't have had that egg for long and no doubt it was used to distract him... to learn something." He trailed off, sighing, and rubbing the bridge of his nose, still trying to find the last few pieces of the puzzle. "Fluffy..." Harry muttered thoughtfully, it all came back to pets.

"What about Fluffy?" Susan asked in confusion though realisation was slowly dawning on her features.

"It all comes back to the dog, it belongs to Hagrid, no doubt they were trying to get past him and they couldn't work out how. It's no secret that Hagrid likes dangerous animals so the egg was probably bait for him to give out information."

"We could ask him?" Susan suggested.

"No, Hagrid's a bit more interested in the egg at the moment, we'll work under the impression that he has told him." Harry dismisses the idea of going to Hagrid's if only to protect the giant of a man from Susan's Aunt. Plausible Deniability was a powerful thing. "The professors will guard the entrance, most probably hidden somewhere, they won't want to tip off the fact that they know someone is after the stone until the person makes the move."

"So, what do we do?"

"No clue, I'm making it up as I go along..."

They were cut off from continuing the conversation as a shout of surprise mixed with fear echoed through the library. At first, they thought it was another student but when the usual demands for quiet from Madam Pince didn't come both looked at the other with confusion, slowly getting up from their seats and making their way towards the scene. Both gripped their wands in anticipation, not that they knew much in the way of offensive spells but they were ready to do what needed to be done if there was some form of trouble ahead. Turning the corner Harry and Susan stopped, Madam Pince was standing there staring at the aisle looking in shock, in between the stacks Harry saw something that he didn't think anyone else could see.

A rift was partially open, through it he could see the library but it was burning, the other side able to be seen but from the looks of it, not pulled through but why could they see it? He glanced to his side to see the confused fear on Susan's face and a look to Madam Pince saw an equivalent level of confusion but not fear. Seeing as how the attention wasn't on him, he stepped backwards away from the two and turned, quickly making an escape hoping that the tear would distract them. "Talk to Professor Babbling..." He muttered to himself, Elizabeth had probably mentioned something about this to her so perhaps she'd have some clue as to what was going on.

Making his way up through the Castle his thoughts kept drifting away from the rift and back to the thief. What would be the best way in? what would be the quickest route? which way would they try to flee? There were secret passages across the Castle, ones that led up to the tallest of towers and ones that led to the deepest parts of the dungeons but that left the question. Were there any that led out of the castle itself? He walked past a couple of Gryffindor students, he didn't know what year they were nor was he going to ask but they looked at him as he passed by, possibly curious as to what he was doing up here as the first years didn't have any classes this high up in the school, they knew there were no classes but at the same time, it was uncommon for a Ravenclaw first year to be up here. Harry snorted in amusement as he rounded the corner. They couldn't have been paying that much attention to him over the year, he had spent numerous afternoons up here talking to Bathsheda and Elizabeth. He shook his head, bringing his attention back to the important topic.

Rifts that weren't in use were visible to others, how was that even possible? she hadn't mentioned anything like that happening.

"What do you think it is?" A female voice asked and Harry froze as he came to the corner, stopping, and looking around the edge at whoever it was that had spoken. Another Gryffindor student, one he recognised, Katie Bell a chaser for their team stood with the other two chasers looking at another tear that had appeared. They were a bit calmer about it than Madam Pince had been but that was to be expected considering she had seen the library that she cared for and maintained burning, here, he couldn't notice anything discernibly different at a glance but without being closer to peer through it, there could be nothing there at all.

"Do you see that?" Alicia Spinnet questioned and Harry frowned, wanting to get a closer look but at the same time remain hidden in case he accidentally caused it to open properly.

"There's people there." Angelina added and as they moved to look past the tear into the corridor seeing no one, Harry looked to see robed figures wearing what looked to be masks walking down the hallway in the rift. This had the potential to turn bad. Could the people on the other side of the rift see it or were they oblivious to it? Too many questions, not enough answers.

"Wait a minute. That mask!" Katie spoke, fear clutching at her as she grabbed her friends and pulled them away. "We need to go, now." She spoke attempting to forcibly pull the two away from the rift. Harry pulled back, ducking into a doorway as the three left quickly and let out a sigh as they passed by, unaware that he was even there. He walked around the corner again, looking to where the tear had been but it was now gone, shut away by whatever determined it be open in the first place.

"What did she see? What was the relevance? I don't understand why she was so scared." Harry muttered, again rubbing the bridge of his nose as he felt a headache starting to form. He pushed on, round the final corner and stopped at the office of Bathsheda Babbling, knocking on the door, and waiting for a response.

Nothing.

He tried again, a bit more forcefully but still no reply.

"She's not in at the moment." The portrait behind him spoke up startling Harry. He spun around to see the picture of a Wizard holding up an apple, studying it carefully for some reason that he didn't want to know about right now.

"Do you know where she's gone, it's an emergency?"

"Everything is an emergency with you young ones now a day, she left about an hour ago, another student needed her help with something, they seemed in a right state." The portrait said dismissively as if the student's actions were nothing outside the norm and Harry resisted the urge to curse.

"Thanks for letting me know." Harry replied politely as he walked away. Now unsure as to who to speak to, Elizabeth was not an option being completely out of contact, Bathsheda was somewhere and the only other person who had any clue as to this ability was Dumbledore and he was out of contact as well. That left no one.

Unless...

He stopped at a door to a classroom and opened it up, walking into the room and closing it behind him. Two possible options now. One, he opens a rift to Elizabeth, hoping beyond all hope it didn't set off any wards or protections that the Malfoy family had set in place. Or Two... the two people that Elizabeth had spoken about, the Lutece Twins.

Tap tap tap

He heard something at the back of the room and turned, there the two that must have been the Lutece twins were, one, a woman standing at the black board with a ruler in hand pointing at some age-old writing that had been on there the other a man sitting at a desk looking at the writing as he seemed to be taking notes down on a piece of parchment.

"It's happening a lot faster than I anticipated." the woman spoke up.

"His understanding or the tears?"

"Both. He is quick to learn and quick to decide on how to use them even if he doesn't truly understand it yet. The Tears forming though are something I did not predict appearing just yet."

"How long were you off?"

"Two months, but it has happened and as such we'll need to explain before he accidentally pulls something through."

"You know what's going on?" Harry asked, stepping forwards but then stopping.

"Of course, a tear is a hole in time and space, your powers allow you to bend reality to an extent but nothing is free with these powers, every use makes the barriers between slightly weaker." Rosalind begun explaining.

"Like clothing torn, when sown together they are fixed but weaker still, the fabric holding them together just not as effective as they were before."

"Is this dangerous?"

"Doubtful, for years the tears would open in Columbia and people were unable to access them outside of a few sights and sounds, though there is something different here in comparison."

"What would that be?" Harry asked hesitantly but part of him already knew where they were going to go with this.

"Magic, it's an unknown to us and so we don't know if a way can be used to open them through magic. If it can then there is a potential problem. Hmm, isn't it strange." Rosalind spoke, changing the topic immediately causing looks of confusion on both Robert and Harry. "You would think that with how dangerous magic can be there would be more of an effort to teach more effective safety measures." She said giving a glance around the room, Harry followed her vision trying to see what had caught her attention but didn't see anything jump out at him, he glanced back to the front of the classroom and stared in shock.

They were gone again.

But it answered a question he had, were the tears something that he needed to focus on at the moment, with them being sealed shut except through his or Elizabeth's abilities it could be put to one side for now. Back to the thing at hand. The thief, whoever it was, whether it was Voldemort or someone else entirely. Now he just had to wait and see what they would do and how to act in response.

Who knows, with the tears starting to appear around the castle maybe he could pull something to fight him if necessary. He stopped his walk again, smiling to himself as he did. Now that had some potential. He turned back the way he came, making his way to the Owlery, he couldn't send a note to Elizabeth with all the details but perhaps he could give her enough of a clue to get her to come back if she felt there was a need.

A simple note. One that clued her in while still being vague enough to not really mean anything more than what was written. Something simple like "Dear Elizabeth I've heard some people talking about possibly breaking into your room to steal your necklace."

HPCVHPCVHPCV

Night fell and Harry was hidden in the School Grounds under his invisibility cloak, if there were any secret Passages out that the person would use they'd probably lead out onto the Grounds and here he could keep an eye on any movement and possibly move to stop it if need be. keeping an ear out for anything going on, his mind wandered slightly, a bit of guilt gnawing at the back of his mind, he felt slightly bad about never returning to Susan after he had ditched her in his failed attempt to find professor Babbling but dismissed the feeling of guilt.

It was better if she wasn't involved in this situation. It was too risky for her to be out here. Okay that was a slight lie, it was less the risk to her and more the want to keep the Tears and that he could use them secret for as long as possible. Not that the secret would last much longer if he had to get involved in the situation. Flashes of light drew his attention, snapping his thoughts back into focus, they were up on the higher level and he could tell it was spell work in action. Did they wait for him to enter or did they try and strike before he could fully make his move? It wouldn't make sense to let him go for the stone if they could avoid it, why take the risk that he could get away with it if they failed to stop him, whereas they could put the pressure on him here and now.

A window shattered, glass falling to the ground and Harry shifted his position looking around, gripping his wand, not that it would do much good against this person, no doubt they'd have a magical advantage over him if it came to a fight but he had to do it. There was shouting, flashes of different colour lights that must have been a whole variety of spells. Did spells intermingling change colour and effect? again, tangents that he didn't need to come to mind were drawing his attention away. The waiting was killing him, watching the windows he could see the spells starting to shift across the castle, moving down through the buildings.

Almost as fast as he had noticed it the spell fire vanished. Harry frowned, wondering what this could mean. Had the thief got away from them? had the thief beaten them? He didn't know but he would find out.

'There'

Movement at the Main Entrance, a figure staggering slightly, making their way from the castle as quickly as they apparently could. Harry frowned, walking forwards, his cloak still wrapped tightly around him. This had to have been the thief. He moved closer, making sure to move as quietly as possible.

Years of avoiding Dudley had proved effective in that...

As he got closer he started to pick out the details, the man was bald, his robes torn and tattered from the conflict that he had just been in and from the looks of it, he was already exhausted from what he had done, shaking with each staggering step he took.

Harry cringed, a sharp jolt passing through his head, originating from his scar.

The man froze, looking around.

"Potter..." He hissed, the sound cold and almost ethereal. "I know you are there... Show yourself." The man ordered and Harry grinned as the man looked around but something in his actions didn't add up when he looked around, it was like his eyes weren't actually looking at anything as he did.

He wasn't going to reveal himself to the man, he had no intention of purposely putting himself in danger. he stepped back, looking around, feeling out with the ability that he had started to learn... 'Think what you want to appear and pull it through, ' Harry thought to himself and a flash of light drew both their attentions.

"Be vigilant, citizens of Columbia! For liberty, once lost, is lost forever!" A new voice spoke up and Harry turned to where the rift had been and stared in confusion... that hadn't been what he wanted. the thief looked at it unsure as to what it was.

Ahead of them both stood something larger than a man but smaller than Hagrid, he stood holding something that Harry couldn't identify and had two flags attached to its back as it stood there in a military uniform of some description.

"Master what is this?" The thief asked in confusion as it raised the item it held pointing it at the cloaked thief.

"Get out of the way you fool!" The ethereal voice cried out as a whirring sound started, the things hand turning a crank. It was at this point that Harry realised it was a gun that the thing was holding and quickly jumped out the way, diving away from where the thief had been standing.

Bullets started firing peppering the area where the thief had been moments before, kicking up chunks of dirt and grass "My aim is true, as my eye is the Prophet's." the thing called out in its mechanical voice as it continued to fire at the thief, walking after him with barely a concern as they struggled to stay out of the sights of the weapon.

"Kill it you fool!"

"Avada Kedavra!" The figure shouted, a sickly green light flashing from his wand at the mechanical man, staggering it, its face shattering revealing a skeletal metal and wooden frame underneath.

"How can we escape if we refuse salvation?" The mechanised man called out almost mockingly as it continued its attack barely phased by the attack upon it.

"Destroy it now!" The more ethereal voice called out and Harry still struggled to focus on it, pain tingling from his scar as he watched, the other shouted something, drowned out under the gunfire and the head of the machine exploded this time, sparks flying everywhere as it staggered, dropping its weapon, and falling to the ground. "Impressive Potter, that is impressive magic for one so young. You've been holding back in lessons." The voice taunted and Harry gasped, another wave of pain passing through his head.

"Accio Harry Potter." The thief called out and Harry found himself being pulled forcefully from under his cloak straight to the man in question. Just before he would have collided, he stopped, floating in mid-air.

"Professor Quirrel?" Harry said, confused at the revelation, of all the people that had crossed his mind throughout the year to be anything suspicious or dangerous, Quirrel wasn't there, the man that stuttered so badly and was seemingly afraid of his own shadow? Not who Harry pegged as the thief.

"Surprised? Did you expect to find someone else? Professor Snape perhaps?"

"Not him, the attempt wasn't subtle enough for him." Harry responded through gritted teeth as the pain in his scar seemed to increase as the attention was focused on him.

"No, even with his lack of tact when teaching, credit where it is due, he is one for subtlety." Quirrel agreed before frowning. "Though the fact you are out here means that you knew I was going to attempt to take the stone. You tipped the others off."

"You overplayed your hand." Harry said, remembering a card game reference he had heard in a TV show during one of the few evenings he hadn't been forced to remain locked away in the cupboard. "Giving Hagrid a Dragon Egg like you did? Knowing full well that he would more than happily talk about whatever he could to try and make sure the person he was gambling against knew he could handle it. The injuries to the Unicorns, a half-life." He paused as the pain flared up and he closed his eyes gritting his teeth. "And Dumbledore gone... Too many clues that gave you away... but it wasn't you I expected." Harry hissed out as the pain increased again.

"Oh, who did you expect."

"Voldemort."

"Don't say the Lords names!" Quirrel snapped holding his wand dangerously.

"Quirrel... let me speak to him." the voice came, from Quirrel but he never moved his lips to say it.

"Master? you are not strong enough for this, especially after the duel in the school."

"Quiet you fool, I am strong enough for this."

"Y...yes master!" Quirrel simpered slightly, wincing as if stung by something as he turned around.

"Oh... what have you done?" Harry whispered horrified as he looked at the face protruding from the back of Quirrels head.

"Do you see what I have become because of you Potter? A shadow of my true self."

"A parasite you mean." Harry taunted foolishly, though at the same time he was hoping he could keep this distraction going long enough for someone to get here... a shred of dread ran down his spine, Quirrel seemed less in a rush and more leaving because he was injured before Harry had stepped in. Were the others dead? Or were they just incapacitated somehow.

"Yes, forced to live like this, all because of the spell backfiring when I tried to kill you all those years ago, With the stone I could restore my body, there are many things I could do with the stone, things others would not dream to do."

"Like enslave everyone to your will?" Harry questioned mockingly. "Are you a comic book villain or something? The lines you spout are so cliché!" Harry continued to taunt with a braveness that he really wasn't sure where it came from in this situation and if it was truly how he felt. "What's next? You're going to ask me to join you even after you killed my parents."

"No, I wouldn't give that choice, you're too much like your father, arrogant and outspoken, not knowing there is a time and a place for the pathetic attempt at wit." Voldemort mocked in retaliation and Harry glared, finding words stolen away from him at that moment, "Your father died and brought you little time, time that I believe has just... run... out." Voldemort finished and Quirrel turned around so that he could aim his wand properly, raising it to point at Harry's head.

'It's not going to end like this.' Harry chided himself as the wand tip was in between his eyes. 'Not like this!' He mentally cried out and lashed out, another flash of light behind Quirrel followed by an angry mechanical pained cry. Quirrel froze in his action turning away from Harry looking up at the large machine of a man that stood in a tattered suit, thick cables ran along its body feeding into something on its back as it reached down and grabbed Quirrel, hurling him away.

"Stop moving! Every sound hurts!" It cried out as Quirrel hit the floor hard, skidding across the grass and dirt. The wizard struggled to pull himself back to his feet as the machine moved over towards him. "The gears are grinding my skin!" it cried out in pain as it moved and Harry felt slightly nauseous at that, realisation dawning quickly that the machine in question had once been a man and now had been turned into this. What made him? how could anyone come up with something like this? The man swung at Quirrel, fists almost the size of Quirrels upper body slamming down into the ground where the professor had been seconds before, just barely missing him Quirrel, showing why he had been the Defence against the Dark Arts teacher aimed his wand quickly, firing spell after spell but little seemed to have an effect on the machine, "Gonna make you feel what I feel." It cried out and leapt with surprising agility barrelling Quirrel over again, the professor crying out in pain and shock from the force of the blow.

as Quirrel pulled himself back to his feet Voldemort spoke up. "Aim for its chest! You can see its heart you fool!" Voldemort snapped and Quirrel took aim.

"Comstock took my body! Wasn't even sick!" It cried out and moved to attack again. Harry had gained mobility again and could put a bit of distance between the fight, moving back to his invisibility cloak and quickly stashing it away, knowing he could be pulled out from under it, he didn't want to risk it being damaged. He turned back as a loud bang echoed through the night, he looked in awe as the machine fell, clutching where a hole had been punched clear through its chest. "My heart feels like a block of ice… heavy…" it muttered before falling forwards, hitting the floor with another loud crash.

"These toys you have are impressive Potter, how are you able to do this?" Voldemort questioned and Harry glared.

"I've barely touched the tip of the iceberg Voldemort." Harry said, more in regards to his actual training to use tears and rifts and less in commentary on how much he had left to fight with. The pain in the forefront of his mind was starting to make things difficult to focus on, the opening of tears was tiring.

"Then we shall have to stop you before you can truly learn to master this ability." Voldemort sneered, "kill him Quirrell and be quick about it, the trap that holds the Professors will be running out soon."

There, all he had to do was delay a bit longer and help would be on the way.

"Expelliarmus." Quirrel called and before Harry could even react, his wand shot from his hand, flying across the grounds.

"Time to die Potter. You were a good student but apparently, you're just not good enough." Quirrel taunted and started to cast another spell. "Avada..."

Flames erupted between the two, separating them, Harry looked around, confused as to what had happened, Quirrel stood ready, wand aimed as he looked around. To one side a figure stood, her arms folded, a look of anger on her face as she looked up from where the fire had started in front of her, illuminating her to the two others. "Elizabeth." Harry whispered, relieved that she had apparently got his message.

"Quirrel, I won't let you harm him." She snapped and Quirrel laughed.

"Of course, the ability would come from you, it makes sense, why Dumbledore was so keen to keep you around, no knowledge and expected to help teach others." Quirrel stepped away from the fire but Elizabeth shook her head.

"Dumbledore is just doing what he thinks is right, he knew nothing about this when I first arrived." Elizabeth dismissed as figures started to appear around her. "I hold powers that you could never dream of," she spoke, unknowingly throwing his words back at him in regards to the stone. "I have fought people who were willing to kill millions just to have their own ideals realised." She snapped angrily as the figures around her started to take aim. "And unlike those you faced that weren't willing to kill." She paused for dramatic effect, unfolding her arms, gesturing to the troops that were now standing around her. "I have no hesitation to remove you and your threat." With that, the troops fired.

One or two Quirrel perhaps could have dodged the attacks, but the amount of gunfire from the fifteen soldiers, combined with the anti apparation wards that surrounded the school prevented a lot of mobility. Quirrel was peppered with gunshots, his body twitching as they tore through him, knocking him back, staggering as a wet cough left his body as he struggled to breath before he collapsed to the ground. The soldiers around Elizabeth vanished just like they had arrived, disappearing into nothing as the flames flickered, bathing everything in the nearby area in light. At Quirrels body the two could see something rising up, a black wisp of what looked to be smoke coming from his body, taking shape in the air. "You have made a mistake girl, I will be back, you cannot stop me and I will make you regret the decision to stand against me on this day." Voldemort warned before the cloud seemed to shoot off, straight at Harry.

Harry went to move out of the way, as he did, a tear started to open in front of him and he caught sight of blue, lots of blue, blue sky and blue water. Voldemort shouted out as he hit the tear, passing through it, disappearing from sight.

"Have fun returning from the middle of the Ocean." Elizabeth mocked as the tear closed. It wouldn't be a permanent solution, as whatever form he was in was apparently durable enough to survive being blown up by his own spell and then possess other people. A little trip like that would just delay him for now. She walked over to where Harry was lying on the floor, having dived out of the way and offered her hand. "You can't stay out of trouble, can you?" She asked teasingly as she pulled Harry to his feet.

"I had it totally under control." Harry protested and Elizabeth laughed.

"Sure you did," she responded with a deadpan look, gesturing around at the devastation to the grounds. "Though you did put up a fight, a motorized patriot and a Handyman? How did you even know how to bring them in?"

For a moment, he was silent as he thought about the answer before shrugging his shoulders. "I just needed something to fight him and I thought of you, I guess it was enough for it to bring things through that were strong from Columbia." Harry offered as his only possible solution to what had happened.

She remained quiet, thinking over the possibility before shrugging her shoulders again. "It's possible, there's still a lot about this that even I don't know. But I think we should head inside, I heard what he said and we should check on the others." Elizabeth said, her tone shifting to one of warning as they moved towards the school attempting to find out what had happened to the Professors that had attempted to stop Quirrel and Voldemort. "Once this year ends, we're going to take a little trip." Elizabeth said as they entered the School drawing a confused look from Harry. "You need to learn more if he's making attempts to get his body back." She continued and he nodded as they walked up the stairs. "Keep it quiet though, I know others would try and stop this trip if you speak about it." Elizabeth pointed out getting another silent nod from Harry.

They rounded the corner on the first floor and found the professors, frozen in position, mid spell cast. They were stuck like statues, held in the moments that whatever Voldemort had done to them had activated. "They don't look injured." Harry said as he looked at Flitwick who was hovering in mid-air.

"No, he seems to have done something to freeze them in time, they're exactly how they were when he must have cast the spell. I didn't even realise something like this could be possible." She muttered in awe before pulling Harry to one side. "It's probably better if we didn't stand right in front of them when it runs out."

"Why?" Harry asked, tiredness clouding his thoughts for a moment before it clicked. "Oh, right, mid battle freezing, they'll probably still cast spells when they unfreeze." Harry said in understanding.

"Then we'll wait here, to one side to make sure they don't hit us when they return to normal."

TBC

And now the very late chapter is done, I hope you enjoy it, it was a pain in the ass to write in certain parts.

It also signals the coming conclusion of Year One. One last chapter to go to tie up the loose ends and then we can get started on Year 2.

Got to give a shout out to one of my reviewers who I started talking to, gave me ideas to work with that helped me finally push the last part of this chapter out and organise a couple of things for later chapters along with some tips with my writing. So, Thank You Bearmauls for the conversation.