Beta: None
Original release date: 11/27/14
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the Harry Potter or other famous universe. This computer however is mine.
Chapter 18 – Confrontations
With almost every exam completed for the quartet but the History of Magic, Hermione leads a study session in a secluded corner of the common room, quizzing Harry, Neville, and Ron. Spotting something odd his map, Harry asks Neville, "Have a second?"
Pushing away the piece of parchment he had been working on, Neville stretches and replies, "What is it?"
Sliding the map to his left, Harry points to a spot on the map and Neville's eyebrows raise so high that they threaten to become lost in hairline.
"So what should we do?" asks Neville quietly, as to not interrupt Hermione instructing Ron on the History of Magic exam the next day.
"We can't be certain that the rest of the professors aren't in with Dumbledore, we're fairly certain that there's a Philosopher's Stone in the castle, so we confront them ourselves" replies Harry equally as quiet.
Noticing the lack of sound in the area, Harry and Neville look around and notice that Hermione and Ron are no longer sitting in their seats. Out of the blue Hermione's comes from behind Neville, "So, what are you two up to?" with a smirk on her face.
"Uh, nothing?" replies Neville.
"That's not what it sounds like to me" says Hermione smirking.
"How much did you hear?" asks Harry somewhat wearily.
"Enough to come with you two" replies Hermione.
Sighing, Harry replies, "Well, if you're coming with us, I'd better get a few things that Sirius sent."
Carrying a crate down the stairwell, Harry nods his head towards the in house potions lab, and the quartet make a rough circle around the crate. Opening the crate, Harry says, "Ron, Hermione, if you two are coming with Neville and I, you might need some protective gear. Sirius also sent a few test items that should help make an explosive time possible."
Shouldering a bag, Harry states, "Neville, disillusion Ron and I, and you and Hermione go under the invisibility cloak."
Leaving through the portrait hole, the quartet make their way to the third floor corridor where the door to Fluffy was. Looking up and down the hallway for the door and only finding a wall, Harry murmurs and the map begins to form itself.
Walking over to where the map indicates the doorway is, Harry places his hands on the wall and pushes for multiple seconds before the wall gives and a door appears, leading them into Fluffy's lair. Entering Fluffy's domain, Fluffy raises its three heads sleepily when Harry slides a Personal Wireless across the wooden floor, playing instrumental jazz, lulling Fluffy back to sleep as quickly as it had awoken.
"Neville, can you lift the disillusionment spell, please?" whispers Harry loud enough to be heard but not loud enough to disrupt the music.
A few brief minutes later, the quartet now visible, Harry whispers, "I'll lift the trapdoor up, and go down first."
Dropping into the pit, Harry tries to move when his movement is stopped by vines wrapping themselves around his ankles and up his legs. Whipping his wand out, Harry casts a quick lumos, illuminating the area, spotting the plant now beginning to snake its way around his waist. "Devil's Snare! Lumos Maxima" shouts Neville as he falls next to Harry, forcing a mass retreat of the Devil's Snare, freeing Harry. Ron and Hermione arrive and make a safe landing.
Exiting the room full of Devil's Snare, the quartet makes it way through passageway sloping gently downwards, deeper into the bowels of the castle. Nearing the wooden door, Hermione speaks, "Is that the sound of wings?" comments Hermione.
Pulling open the door, Ron states rather obviously, "Are those flying keys?"
Shaking his head gently to possibly clear his vision, Harry comments, "Yes."
From across the room, Hermione calls out, "The door's locked. We need a key that looks-" looks at the doorknob "well, silver."
Without a second thought, Harry strides to one of the nearby brooms, jumps onto what looks like one of the school brooms, and zooms off into the spacious room, with flying keys all around. Spotting a silver key, Harry dodges in and out of the keys, failing to dodge a few keys, resulting in a few shallow cuts on his face. Hand darting out, Harry catches the silver key, and lands the broom roughly by the opposite door, leading to the next room. Jamming the key into the keyhole and pushing the door open, Harry leads everyone out of the room.
Continuing down the passage way, Ron speaks what everyone else is thinking out loud, "What happens when we, uh, find, You-Know-Who?"
Stopping in his tracks, Harry replies, "Well, Neville and I will worry about that. You and Hermione just go back to the surface and get McGonagall."
Arriving at a wooden door, Ron cautiously opens the door before opening it wider, spotting the giant chess set. Spotting the door on the opposite side of the board, Harry walks across the board towards the white piece side. Without warning, the white pawns draw their swords, blocking Harry's way. Backing up a few feet, Harry unshoulders his bag, pulls out a brick sized package, lights the wick using a match, before throwing it at the white pieces and running back towards his friends.
"Harry, what-" begins Hermione before a booming sounds resonates throughout the chamber, peppered by the sounds of stone breaking into many pieces. Turning back towards the white chess pieces side, the quartets' eyes widen as the chess pieces start reassembling themselves.
"Guess we play across the board" remarks Ron.
With a voice ever strengthening, Ron instructs Harry, Neville, and Hermione across the board, alongside himself on a knight. Time after time, chess pieces both black and white fall to the ground, none of them that the pieces that had been replaced by Harry, Neville, and Hermione.
Without warning Ron moves and checks the king before calling out, "Harry, this allows you to checkmate the king."
The opposing queen steps forwards and swings her sword at the knight Ron rides, causing him to fly backwards.
"Checkmate" calls out Harry after moving.
The king takes off his crown and throws it into the middle of the chessboard. Ron is helped to his feet and then speaks, "Thanks. The protective gear has helped."
"Are you ok?" asks Hermione.
"I think so. But bloody hell, that hurt" remarks Ron.
Exiting the room and continuing down the passageway, Harry opens the door and the roar of a troll comes from the door before Harry quickly shuts it.
"What was that?" asks Hermione.
Turning around, Harry replies, "Another a troll", turning to Neville says, "looks like we need to knock another troll out. Any suggestions?"
"What supplies do we have in the bag?"
Rummaging through the bag, Harry says, "Five or so Double Trouble Tubes, a dozen of the explosive bricks, a few small bags of the hair color changing dust, three Dial-A-Decoys, and…one Padfoot's Amaranth Wind. Oh, and a few packs of matches."
Pausing to think, Neville finally suggests, "I think a Dial-A-Decoy in there will knock the troll out and not kill it."
Pulling out a Dial-A-Decoy, Harry sets the dials, opens the door to the small room with the troll, tosses it in, and then closes the door. A roar comes from behind the door when a loud ear piercing sound drowns out the roar, with a few seconds of silence before the sound of an explosion goes off. Opening the door to a crack, Harry peers inside before opening the door wider and proceeding inside. The quartet make their way past the knocked out fully grown mountain troll and through the next door leading to another room.
As they come upon the next room, Hermione remarks, "There isn't a door…"
After the last of the four step across the threshold and thin streams of fire flare up behind them and in the doorway leading out of the room to the next room.
"How do we exit?"
Looking at the only piece of furniture adorning the room with varying sizes of bottles, Hermione walks over to a piece of parchment with a logic puzzle. Harry and Neville look over Hermione's shoulder and quickly start tapping their fingers from either end of the line of bottles. Hermione looks at the bottles before going directly to a small bottle with liquid in it, and holds it up.
"This is the bottle you need to go forward, but it looks like only one person can go through the flames" states Hermione.
Smirking, Harry wordlessly pulls out half a dozen of the explosive bricks, sets them down at the wall, pulls out a match and lights all of the fuses in a brief two seconds, before running across the room and hiding behind the table when a series of explosions rock the room, temporarily deafening the quartet. After a few minutes of letting their senses recover, the quartet look over the table and see a gaping hole in the wall.
"So, what's next?" asks Hermione.
"Well, we've pretty much gone through every core class professor, so I figure the stone is close. Hermione, Ron, you two get out of here and go get McGonagall or Dumbledore, and Neville and I will take on Voldemort."
Taking a mouthful from a much larger bottle, Hermione passes it to Ron, before both disappearing back through the flames, towards the chess room. Nodding their heads at each other, Harry and Neville progress through the hole in the wall.
Crossing over the chessboard, Hermione exclaims, "Oh! We should get Mr. Black or Mr. Remus to come here."
Stopping in his tracks, Ron asks, "Why?"
"Because Harry and Neville! Don't you see it?"
Lights go off above Ron's head, and he replies, "Yeah, now I do!"
Turning to their watches, Hermione and Ron begin calling Sirius and Remus.
Progressing ever deeper, Harry readies his wand, alongside Neville as a doorway appears. Walking through the doorway, they find Professor Quirrell staring into a golden mirror.
"Professor Quirrell?" exclaims Neville in surprise.
Quirrell turns around and disarms Harry and Neville. "Ah, yes, Mr. Harry Potter and Mr. Neville Longbottom. How wonderful of you two to join us here."
"Join…us?" asks Harry hesitantly.
"Yes, my master and I. Because you are here, that means you know of the Philosophers Stone, am I correct?
"Why are you after the Philosopher's Stone?" shouts Harry.
"For immortality for the dark lord, of course. But it is of course hidden in this accursed mirror" replies Quirrell angrily.
Wordlessly and wandlessly Quirrell conjures ropes to bind Harry and Neville when they jump out of the way and draw their swords, slashing at the ropes as they go.
"You won't take us down that easily" shouts Neville rolling out of the way from another curse.
Minutes of fighting later, Harry rolls tightly into close range of Quirrell and pops out with a punch to Quirrell's chin, causing Quirrell to fly a few feet backwards, knocking him right into the golden mirror, causing it to break.
Taking deep breathes, Neville opens his mouth to speak when Dumbledore enters the room, somehow brightening the room without casting a single spell. Right behind him enter Sirius, Remus, Director Bones, Alice and Frank Longbottom, and the Heads of House, all with wands out.
"What happened here?" commands Director Bones.
As both adult Longbottoms near Quirrell, a spirit explodes from the body, a high pitched and piercing sound as the spirit flies around the room before exiting through the only doorway. Returning their attention to Quirrell's body, everyone watches as it ages rapidly before finally turning into dust.
Stroking his beard, Dumbledore remarks, "I think this discussion would be best held in my office, don't you think, Director Bones?"
Exhaling loudly, Amelia replies, "I think Messrs Potter and Longbottom should be checked over by Madam Pomfrey first, then we can hold our discussion in your office, Headmaster.
A long half an hour later of being checked out by Madam Pomfrey, Harry and Neville make their way to Dumbledore's office, gaining immediate access to the upward bound stairwell. Arriving just outside of Dumbledore's office, Harry and Neville hear, "…AND I TOLD YOU TO HAND ME THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE! YOU HAVE NOT LISTENED TO ME, AND IT WAS BY CHANCE THAT SIRIUS, REMUS, ALICE, AND FRANK THAT THEY HAD PREPARED HARRY AND NEVILLE FOR COMBAT THAT YOU DON'T HAVE TWO DEAD STUDENTS AND THE MINISTRY MAKING A FULL INQUIRY!" before knocking lightly on the door.
The door swings open and Harry and Neville walk in, and take a seat in front of their respective guardians, with a livid Director Bones at Dumbledore's desk.
"Mr. Potter and Mr. Longbottom, I have some questions for you. Why did you proceed to search out the Philosopher's Stone and the late Professor Quirrell instead of contacting myself or your guardians?"
Harry opens his mouth to explain when the door opens and Professor McGonagall stands in behind Hermione and Ron.
Sirius looks at Ron and Hermione, smirks, remarks, "Looks like things just got more interesting. Remus, Alice, Frank, interested in something that muggles call 'caffeine pills'? They give you the energy to stay awake. Oh, and Director Bones, would you like to get Mr. Weasley's and Miss. Granger's parents in on this shindig? I'm sure Molly would have some choice words to add in" before laughing and offering a small bottle of pills.
Hours later with the sun over the horizon, Director Bones states, "Now that we've finished everything up, I think we all should take breakfast before getting everyone onto the train to go home. Oh, and Headmaster? I will be petitioning for a more thorough looking over of the castle, just in case you try to hide any other secret locations over this coming summer break."
Trooping down to the Great Hall, the group enters and murmurs go throughout the Great Hall, before Dumbledore arrives at the staff table and announces, "For those who were concerned about the explosive sounds last night, fear not. Now as the Quidditch Cup has been awarded, I must award the House Cup. In first place Slytherin with 432 points, Ravenclaw at 402, Hufflepuff at 375, and last Gryffindor at 325" with Slytherin making thunderous sound.
"Good job Slytherin, good job. However, I need to award a few last minute points. To Mr. Longbottom for his quick thinking and Herbology knowledge, 30 points, to Mr. Weasley for one of the best games of Wizarding Chess that I've seen in my lifetime, 30 points, to Miss Granger for her use of logic in the face of a raging inferno, 30 points. To Mr. Potter for finding an alternative solution to logic, I award 30 points. And finally to Messrs Potter and Longbottom for a spectacular duel, I award 20 points apiece. That means that Gryffindor wins the House Cup."
Roars of approval erupt from three of the house tables in the Great Hall, as Dumbledore claps and waves his hands, causing the Slytherin banners to be replaced by Gryffindor's colors. Seconds later thunderous claps erupt from the entrance as fireworks explode high above the tables in scarlet and gold.
"Thank you Messrs Weasley and Weasley for our spectacular fireworks display" announces Dumbledore with a smile.
Hours later on the ride back to London, Hermione comments, "Hogwarts isn't what I expected, but then again it hasn't been a normal year either, has it?"
Popping their heads in, the Weasley twins chorus, "No it hasn't. Will see you over the summer, Harry."
"Quidditch practice?" queries Harry.
The twins just smirk and their heads leave the compartment.
"Can't wait to see what happens in the fall" remarks Hermione.
Author note: Thanks to everyone for reading, especially for those who have stuck around with this fanfic for the past year. Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow American readers, and anyone else who has anything to celebrate. To my newer readers, I try to post updates on story progress on my profile page, but please remember that my coursework comes before this fanfic. Each chapter takes between 4 to 8, and sometimes more to write, so understand it does take me a while to write these chapters.