Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing.
HOGWARTS A HISTORY: Scary Epiphany
"But Harry- what if You-Know-Who's with him?"
"Well- I was lucky once, wasn't I?" said Harry pointing at his scar. "I might get lucky again."
Hermione's lip trembled and she suddenly dashed at Harry and threw her arms around him. "Hermione!"
"Harry you're a great wizard you know."
"I'm not as good as you," said Harry, very embarrassed as she let him go.
"Me!" said Hermione, "Books! And Cleverness! There are more important things, friendship and bravery, and – oh Harry- be careful!" (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Jk Rowling, 1997/1998)
After Hermione left to retrieve their other friend Ron from the previous room, Harry swallowed the potion in one gulp, placing the vial back in its space feeling the icy chill Hermione had described after she drank her potion. Taking a deep breath, he moved forward to the final room. It was at that moment, when another boy appeared from his hiding spot in the now vacant room. The blond haired boy glared at the empty space. He had overheard when the trio went to Professor McGonagall about his head of house, Professor Snape, and something about stealing a stone. Hoping for one last opportunity to get them all into trouble, he snuck out of the common room after everyone fell asleep, and went to wait for them in the third floor corridor. Once they arrived, he waited for the trio to get through whatever was behind the door.
Listening best he could after they had entered the room, he had heard a bunch of barking, then…music (?), and then silence. As quietly as he could, he opened the door enough to see what they were doing, trying not to shout as he saw the giant three-headed dog, sleeping and the three friends looking down into the floor. The monstrous dog wasn't asleep for long, so Potter, Granger, and Weasley jumped. While the dog was distracted he spotted a music box on the floor and whispered the levitating charm, rushed to grab it and started the music box again. All three heads were once again asleep. He peeked at the hole in the floor. There was screaming, before a bright light flashed in the room, and then silence. Waiting just a few seconds more, he decided to jump in right after he heard the music box begin to slow. Landing in a part of a shriveled plant, he began to panic as it began to move, and not even bothering to try and figure out what he was sitting in, he remembered the light spell he'd seen his mum do. Grabbing his wand, he shouted out lumos and screamed as the plant shriveled back, dropping him from its grasp. Landing with a loud thump, he stood glaring at the plant above, grumbling to himself about Potter and his friends, before seeing the door to the next room.
Peeking through, he overheard Granger saying something about birds, and then being corrected. Keys were flying all over, and of course Potter was on the broom flying to catch one of them. After they passed this obstacle, Draco followed, and he continued this pattern through the rest of the rooms (one of the rooms which had an already unconscious mountain troll, made him shout aloud.) Seeing that it was knocked out, he didn't hesitate to even enter the next room, not wanting to wait for the others. He'd rather be in the company of the Gryffindor's than wait and see what else was in store. As he rushed in, he saw Weasley telling Potter and Granger to take a space on an enormous set of wizard's chess. There wasn't any place to really hide behind so he stayed close to the door, and was admittedly impressed as he saw the Weasel's command of the board. Then the sacrifice play was made, Weasley was knocked out, as Potter went to check the king. After the game had been won, the other two ran to check on Weasley, before moving forward to the next room. In this room, there was a curtain for him to slip behind as he watched the little witch, (excited that this challenge was about logic), go on to solve the riddle with confidence. After he watched the sickeningly sweet scene between the two play out, he stepped out of his hiding spot once both Gryffindor's left the room.
"Think you're so clever Potter," he muttered, "Friendship and bravery—please, that's enough to make me sick." Standing in front of the table with the riddle, he found where Harry had placed the empty vial and saw nothing but a tiny drop. The blonde haired boy known as Draco Malfoy (established school enemy of Harry Potter) was about to pick up the bottle when he saw the drop glow—the bottle had refilled itself (measured out enough for one gulp). Now smirking, he picked up the bottle, drank it in one swallow, and like Harry, felt the icy chill from the potion before walking through the flames. Before he could be caught, Draco instantly darted behind the first pillar he saw. At first, he was confused when he saw Potter standing, his back facing a full length mirror, not in front of their potions professor and head of Slytherin house, Professor Snape, but their pathetic stuttering defense against the dark arts teacher, Professor Quirell.
"—I'm never alone," sneered Professor Quirell.
"Let me speak to the boy!" said a harsh voice that sent chills down Draco's spine.
"But master you are not strong enough!"
"I have strength enough for this"
As Professor Quirell unwrapped his turban, Draco bit back a scream and shrunk even further behind the pillar so as not to be noticed.
"You!"
"Harry Potter...we meet again"
"Voldemort"
"Yes. You see what I've become? See what I must do to survive? Live off another. A mere, parasite. Unicorn blood can sustain me… but it cannot give me a body of my own. But there is something that can. Something, that conveniently enough, lies within your pocket" (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone 2001). He saw Harry try to run as Voldemort yelled at Quirell to stop him. Panicking as he watched Quirell capture Potter and wrap his hand around his throat, Draco stepped out from behind the pillar looking around for anything that could be used to hit with or throw. He may not like, (liked?) Potter, but that didn't mean he wanted to witness the murder of his schoolyard enemy. Especially, at the hands of something as scary as his father's so-called master. Without thinking, he yelled out, "Potter push!" while grabbing at Quirell's arms to pull the possessed professor away from his nemesis.
Harry's eyes went wide with disbelief, when he'd heard Draco Malfoy's voice, and even more so at the fact that one, his professor was actively trying to murder him, but also getting help from his declared enemy. Harry then instinctively grabbed at Quirrell's hands trying to free himself from his grip when Quirell shouted out in pain and instantly let go.
"Master! What is this magic!" Quirrell cried.
Both boys watched in disbelief as they witnessed the hand Harry had grabbed turn to ash right before their eyes. Both glanced down at Harry's hands, then as they heard Voldemort order Quirrell to kill them both, Harry without thinking rushed to Quirrell and put his hands firmly onto Quirell's face, holding his hands there as long as he could. Both servant and master yelled in pain as the possessed man tried to continue his advance. Backing away as quickly as he could, Draco and Harry saw their professor completely dissolve into nothing but a pile of bone dust. They awkwardly stared at each other, not knowing how to process what they both just witnessed, nor process the fact that they both came together against the murderer of Harry's parents and the master of Draco's father.
"Thanks for that-" Harry started. Before Draco could respond, they felt the temperature in the chamber drop and the dust began to stir. Both boys screamed as the angry wraith of Voldemort formed from the ashes and went straight through Harry's body, before it gave the most chilling scream of its own, leaving behind the castle and both boys passed out in the chamber, with Harry's hand gripped around the blood red stone that was powerful enough to bring back Lord Voldemort to full power.
Draco was the first to wake up in a dark room, feeling disoriented, it took him a minute to realize that he was in the hospital wing, in a bed right next to Harry Potter, who was still passed out. He groaned as he sat up, and after realizing it was late into the night, he stared at the boy he had grown to despise and began to reevaluate. Potter refused his hand from the beginning. He had decided to associate with blood traitors and filthy muggleborns. Draco was thinking about his father. He was taught, that purebloods were superior and anything muggle was repulsive. He had been told muggleborns were unworthy, unintelligent scum compared to purebloods. Yet it was a muggleborn in the form of one Hermione Granger who (though he would never admit out loud) was impressive, outranked everyone in their year group, and appeared to be the top student with ease (results would come out soon from their exams).
Then, there was Ron Weasley, a pureblood, but a blood traitor. That boy had shown he could actually strategize, had an intelligent side when he wasn't being lazy if seeing the giant game of wizard's chess was anything to go by. Then back to Potter himself. He was attacked, as a baby by Lord Voldemort, the most powerful wizard there was, who had the wizarding world in his clutches. No one knew how, but as a baby, Potter had destroyed the Dark Lord. Then tonight, (or was it yesterday night?) Potter had rid the world of Lord Voldemort again. Potter, was a natural leader, and (and this he definitely hated to admit) powerful (they hadn't even reached their majority yet).
Had he not seen it with his own eyes, he would not have believed one word of what would definitely be rumored come morning. The Dark Lord, his father had said, was about preserving blood purity. He had said no pureblood, so long as they were loyal to him, would be killed for being in their rightful place. This rightful place, Draco was still unsure about, as his father had never really elaborated on what that was (his mother insisted that he be at least 17 so he could truly understand the meaning, whatever that meant.) Seeing his father's master tonight though, had been utterly terrifying. A shell of the person he probably was, had also ordered that he, Draco Malfoy, be killed. Him! A pureblood wizard, a Malfoy! That alone was enough to completely alter Draco's opinion about wanting to follow his father's path and become a member of the elite group known as Death Eaters. Why should and would he want to follow someone who wanted to kill him? His father had also told him that every Malfoy had always been cunning, and aligned themselves with those that would be most advantageous to achieving their own ends. In other words, a Malfoy was the consummate Slytherin, and never backed a losing dragon.
Draco had realized he had in fact, without meaning to, made a very, very dangerous decision down in that chamber. He had gone to Potter's aid, had actively defied the most feared Dark Lord, and had declared an allegiance through his actions. He didn't think he was being dramatic thinking in those terms, but he had only just turned twelve. Draco gave a frustrated sigh, flopping back down on his pillow, staring at the ceiling. When he first arrived at Hogwarts, his father had told him to try and gain Potter's friendship, observe and report if the boy was displaying any type of unique talent. He was to make sure that he had the right sort of people around him, meaning purebloods that were not traitors. When he had failed, his father had expressed extreme disappointment in Draco. The fact that he could feel his father's dismay so acutely, made him lash out, and he determined that Potter should feel what he was feeling. It clearly didn't work, as it only seemed to get Potter to continue showing off that he was better. Now, Draco knew what he did not want. He did not want to follow someone who would kill him for no reason. Draco knew that if he wanted to avoid that, then there was another choice to make. In this instance, he knew what he saw. Voldemort was not dead, Potter was clearly not afraid, but was powerful, and at least, didn't seem to want to kill him. No, Saint Potter is definitely not the kind to want to kill, (even though he did technically kill Quirell in self-defense). Draco would not back the losing dragon, and this time the winning dragon was actually Potter.
He wanted to scream, and hit something. Right now, he was tired, frustrated, and at a loss. The whole entire year passed where he and Potter had been at odds. He had picked on him and his friends constantly, had even set up traps for Potter to try and get him expelled more than once. Now though, he needed to form an alliance, he needed to convince Potter that he wanted to call a truce. If he was successful, then whatever would happen would be able to work in his favor… maybe he would actually be able to have an actual friend in Potter… but that was probably not going to happen. He made a lot of mistakes. Then of course, there would also be one major challenge (even more challenging than having to accept Weasley and Granger as possible allies). His father and those that still believed in the dark lord…If it got out, even amongst his so-called friends that he was essentially changing sides, things could become even more difficult than they already were. He shuddered to think what his parents would think let alone do. There really was only one thing he could do. He needed to talk to Potter and convince him that he was being genuine about wanting to bury the wand and start fresh. With that he closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep. Maybe with some more rest, he'd be able to figure out how to approach Potter. Yawning, Draco could no longer fight off his fatigue as sleep claimed him once more.
Author's Note: So the stage is set! This story was initially meant to start in a different year altogether and I was actually attempting to work on my take of a "going back in time" situation. But when I began putting pen to paper, it morphed into something different all together. Either way I hope you've enjoyed this chapter and this is definitely going to be a multi-chapter story (The count is still undecided) but I've already begun working on the next chapter in hopes that I can stay ahead of this story. As usual, constructive criticism is welcome. Till next time.
P.S. I realized that this chapter mostly takes on a point of view through Draco Malfoy's eyes, and there may be future chapters where we see things mainly from his perspective, but it won't be all the time.