Chapter 4
A smile sat squarely on Harry's face as he walked down the hall, passing a pair of Gryffindors engaged in a furious argument, the two students seconds away from drawing their wands. After he passed them, Harry tilted his head to the left to avoid the curse that the younger of the duo had shot off, although the movement was unnecessary, as a shield blocked the curse before it reached its target. The smile on his face grew wider as Harry heard the sounds of a duel erupting in the middle of the corridor.
Gryffindor baiting had become a popular pastime among the Slytherins, as their mere presence was usually enough to ignite even the most level headed Lion into a curse flinging fury, which almost always ended up in a duel as nearby Griffins attempted to intervene. The resulting examples of intra-house warfare were very entertaining to watch, with some of the more exciting incidents actually being watched by Slytherins sitting in conjured lawn chairs. The last time that had happened, one of the spectators had used their family elf to bring in some popcorn for himself.
This particular incident was fairly tame by comparison, involving only two students and very little magic above the basic jinxes and hexes taught in DADA. Speaking of which, Harry's next class happened to be Defense Against the Dark Arts. While Harry had high hopes when he first entered the room, he was almost immediately disappointed by his teacher's timidity and the lack of practical knowledge imparted. Even now, almost halfway through the school year, Quirrel had yet to teach any spells beyond the very basic, although he had gone into extensive detail on the various methods of dealing with magical creatures. However, when it came to fighting other people, Quirrel barely taught anything.
In addition to that, Quirrel seemed to have a strange fascination with Harry himself. Whenever Quirrel brought creatures into the room for practical demonstrations, Quirrel always seemed to be observing Harry. Whenever a test on the theory was given, Quirrel's eyes were always fixed on Harry. This observation occurred even outside the classroom, as Harry discovered that Quirrel's eyes were constantly tracking his every move.
In an attempt to discover the source of the professor's fascination, Harry had decided to use a skill he had obtained through a ritual he had read about in Rituals Most Foule, which involved the sacrifice of another wizard's magical core in order to give one the ability to 'see' the magical cores of others. It was not a technique that Harry used often, as it was unable to focus on one specific core, and instead showed all magic in the vicinity. As the cores were highly luminous, using the skill in a crowded area, like a classroom, would temporarily blind a normal human, and could cause permanent damage to Harry's eyes, which had begun to adapt to a Vampire's more nocturnal lifestyle, thus making them more sensitive to light. Despite the risks, however, Harry felt that the ability was more than worth it, as a proper observation of a magical core could reveal many things about the people who were being observed, such as whether they were 'Light' or 'Dark', as well as any abnormalities present in their magical cores. Harry had practiced this skill by looking at his own core in a mirror, and his had been light grey when he had at first performed the ritual, but by his eleventh birthday, it had darkened slightly, as Harry had learned and performed more dark magics in between observation periods. In addition, the vampiric influence on his core was clearly shown as well, as several blood red veins had spiderwebbed their way around the gray mass of his magic core, the tendrils slowly increasing in number as the vampiric virus in his body re-wrote more and more of his genetic code, changing his body as it did so.
Thus, in order to do so, Harry intended to purposefully get a detention with the stuttering professor, and while he was alone with the man, observe his magical core while simultaneously attempting to interrogate the man conventionally. Harry would only be able to observe briefly before he would risk ocular damage. Of course, he would be able to repair that damage with little trouble, but the pain would still give him away very quickly, especially if Quirrel was as attentive as he appeared.
It was with that plan in mind that Harry sat down in Quirrel's classroom, noticing the professor staring at him from across the room. There were several other students in the classroom, two of which were Gryffindors from opposing parties, who were shooting stinging hexes at each other from under the table. Another was Daphne Greengrass, whom he sat down next to, and the last was Draco Malfoy and his entourage.
After the students had finished trickling in, Harry watched as Quirrel stood, and began his stuttering lecture. At that moment Harry put his plan into action, closing his eyes and using his magic to gradually slow his body functions until, for all intents and purposes, he was asleep.
After what seemed like a few minutes, Harry was 'awoken' by a sharp rap on the desk beside his head. Blinking the sleep out of his eyes, Harry looked up to see Professor Quirrel's face inches from his own.
"See m-me after c-class Mister P-P-Potter!" The professor stuttered as he stared directly into Harry's eyes. Sensing a light legilimency probe, Harry quickly averted his eyes, resolving to read more on mental magics when he had the chance, as his occlumency defenses were rudimentary at best.
"Yes, sir." Harry mumbled as he released his suppression of his body functions, feeling the tiredness disappear almost immediately. The rest of the class went by fairly quickly, although Harry caught Daphne looking at him questioningly several times. He would explain things to her after class.
Harry stayed behind as the rest of the students left, watching Quirrel just as the professor watched him. Then, when the last of the students left, Quirrel waved his wand and the door slammed shut.
"Mr. Potter, it was so nice of you to join us here today." Quirrel said, strangely without his usual stutter.
"I am sorry for sleeping in class, sir." Harry said, all the while gathering energy in his eyes for the observation.
"Oh, that? It is not a problem. I understand what it is like to be... bored with the basic, first year curriculum when there are such powerful magics available just beyond your reach..." The voice trailed off. The professor was speaking in a lower tone now, and his voice had taken on a slight hissing quality.
"I assume that you had a similar experience in school, sir?" Harry asked as he finished his preparations.
"You could say that." Quirrel said, slowly walking up to Harry, wand in hand. At that moment, Harry blinked briefly, the motion being the final step in activating what the book had called Mage Sight. With that motion, the color vanished from the room, with every mundane object simply becoming a grey piece of scenery. Small pinpricks of light indicated magical objects of varying power, the brighter the light, the more powerful the object. As it were, everything in the room was fairly insignificant in terms of power, but those were not what Harry was focusing on. Instead, Harry's entire focus was on Quirrel's magical core. Said core was a bright, luminous white, like that of a normal light wizard, save for one glaring abnormality. Thick, black tendrils gripped the core, as if strangling the bright ball of magic.
It was then that Harry noticed the colorless Quirrel's wand being raised, the instrument being aimed directly between his eyes, while the tendrils simultaneously expanded, as if trying to take more of the core than they already held. Then, with a blinding pulse of light, the core seemed to fight back, and the tendrils retreated, only to immediately start surging back to regain the ground they lost.
Harry blinked again, and the sight of Quirrel's core vanished, while color returned to the room. He saw Quirrel's wand shaking as it was still pointed between his eyes, although no curse came.
"G-get out, H-Harry P-Potter!" The professor suddenly shouted, his stutter returning, and Harry quickly gathered up his belongings, his plans of an interrogation ruined. Quickly walking towards the door, Harry felt the surge of magic behind him, and he quickly turned, raising his hand to conjure up a shield, but the curse was already in flight.
With a loud BANG!, the Reductor curse slammed into the wall next to Harry, showering the boy with debris.
"T-the third floor c-corridor! It's in t-the th-third floor c-corridor!" The professor shouted, right before Harry opened the door and ran out, slamming the door behind him. That had not gone as planned, Harry thought as he quickly walked away from the classroom. As he did so, he heard a muffled scream of agony coming from the room he had just left.
Harry entered the Slytherin common room, only to find it almost completely empty. Normally, it would have been full of students from all years, working, talking, or simply relaxing, but at the moment only Daphne Greengrass was present.
"Where is everyone?" Harry asked as he caught sight of the blonde girl lounging on one of the couches.
"Watching a duel. Apparently a pair of seventh years' families both proposed a pair of very lucrative marriage contracts to Marie Enoby, and her parents ordered the issue settled via a duel between the two suitors." Daphne replied, gesturing towards the entrance to the Slytherin dueling strip, which was the unique feature of the Slytherin common room. Every house's common room had something to set it apart from the others, such as Ravenclaw's library, Hufflepuff's kitchen and dining room, and it was rumored that Gryffindor's common room contained a gym of some sort, although nobody knew where the entrance was.
"It's about to start. Do you want to watch?" Daphne asked after a moment, and Harry nodded his acceptance, walking towards the dueling room. Said room was already packed full of students, who were watching the pair of seventh years bow to each other from behind ancient wards.
With their bows complete, the two students turned around and moved ten paces each, before turning back to face each other, wands at the ready, before opening fire. A scarlet stunner flew from the wand of one boy, impacting a silvery shield that the other boy had erected. While Harry was too far away to hear the muttered Stupefy and Protego, he easily identified the spells used. He would have loved to observe the duel with his Mage Sight, but doing so in such a crowded room would have blinded him as soon as he opened his eyes.
The duel rapidly escalated as the spells used moved away from stunners, the two seventh years now throwing puncturing curses, severing charms, and blasting curses at each other, with the occasional darker spell thrown in. After nearly a minute of neither wizard getting anywhere, a blasting curse from the boy on the left slammed into the ground beside the other dueler, the blast knocking the other boy off balance and making him an easy target for a puncturing curse, which pierced through the fallen boy's thigh, and knocking him out. At that point, the boy who was still standing turned to face the crowd, bowing to a tall, aristocratic looking girl in the front row. That was when a bludgeoning curse hit him in the head, knocking him out and breaking both his nose and his jaw, permanently ruining the seventh year's good looks. With that, the winning duelist limped over to where his opponent lay, and hit the downed boy with a stunner to make sure he stayed down.
Harry made note of how the winner glared at his opponent as he shot the stunner. Had this duel taken place outside of Hogwarts, one of the boys would have likely left the dueling strip in a casket. As it was, a pair of house elves appeared in the center of the room and picked up the loser and disapparated away to the Hospital wing, while the winner healed his wound with a muttered Episkey.
The duel now over, the students inside quickly left the room, returning to whatever it was they were doing before. Soon, only Daphne and Harry remained in the dueling room.
"Allright, now that that's over, why don't you tell me the reason you faked sleep in Quirrel's class." Daphne said.
"It's simple. I wanted to know exactly why he was so creepily fascinated with me." Harry replied.
"That's it? If that was your only reason, you didn't have to risk point loss for our house." Daphne said.
"If all you are worried about is points, then think about this. When has Quirrel ever taken points from Slytherin?" Harry asked, causing Daphne to think for a moment before drawing a blank.
"Exactly. Even when he saw me sleeping, he simply told me to wait after class without taking any points away. Suspicious, right?"
"Not really, I mean Snape does the same thing, only much more noticeably."
"True, but we're getting off topic. The point is, I needed to get into a situation where I am alone with Quirrel, so I could interrogate him without risk of eavesdroppers."
"I see. So, did you find anything?" Daphne asked.
"Yes. There is something else merged with Quirrel's magical core, and that something wants to kill me." Harry said.
"So, you used some form of magical scanning to check Quirrel's core on a whim?"
"I did. If I didn't snap out of it when I did, I would have taken a reductor to the face, or worse. As it was, a reductor nearly hit me when I was leaving the room, although I think Quirrel missed on purpose."
"Wait, Quirrel actually tried to kill you?" Daphne exclaimed.
"I don't think Quirrel wanted to do it, rather, whatever is in his core made him, and he barely managed to stop himself from doing so." Harry explained.
"How can you be so calm about this? One of the professors, or whatever was possessing him at the time, tried to kill you!"
"Would panicking help?" Harry asked,
"No, I guess it won't. Did you learn anything else?" Daphne asked.
"Yes. Right before I left the room, Quirrel shouted something about 'It' being in the third floor corridor."
"What's in the third floor corridor?"
"I don't know, the professor just said 'It'."
"Funny you should mention the third floor corridor, Harry." Tracey Davis' voice made Daphne jump, while Harry turned to face the brown haired girl who had crept up on them while they were speaking.
"Oh? What do you know about the third floor corridor?" Harry asked.
"Surprisingly, not a lot. All I know is that I overheard the Weasels and Neville talking with Granger in the library. They were asking her about how they could, and I quote here, 'Get past that bloody three headed dog in the third floor corridor'." Tracey replied.
"Did they say anything else?" Daphne asked.
"No, Ron saw me nearby and quieted down. All I know is that there is a three headed dog, a Cerberus, in the third floor corridor, and it is guarding something, or else those boys wouldn't have been trying to 'Get past it'."
"And Quirrel's after whatever it is as well, so it must be something powerful." Daphne said.
"What about Quirrel?" Tracey asked, and Daphne briefly summarized what she and Harry had been discussing earlier.
"So let me get this straight. Quirrel is possessed by something, which wants to kill Harry and is after something on the third floor." Harry and Daphne nodded.
"Alright then, what do we do about it? Do we tell a professor, or do we sort things out ourselves?" Tracey asked.
"I want more information first, and I have just the way to get it. I want to know exactly what is in that corridor, and if possible, how to get at it. Daphne, can you inform Blaise of the situation?" Harry said.
"I will. What will you be doing in the meantime?" Daphne asked.
"I will be gathering information. Tracey, do you know where I can talk to Granger? Preferably alone?" Harry asked.
"She spends most of her time studying alone in the library." Tracey replied.
"Lead the way then." Harry said, standing up, the two girls doing the same, and walking out of the room. Once in the common room, Daphne went off to find Blaise, while Harry followed Tracey to the library.
"So, how are you going to get the information out of Granger?" Tracey asked as they walked through a corridor.
"She must do as I say. She has no choice in the matter." Harry replied without breaking stride.
"Blackmail?" Tracey asked.
"You'll see." Harry replied, and said no more. Soon, they reached the library, where Hermione was sitting, poring over a large volume on famous wizards of recent times. Tracey stood back and watched as Harry strode over to the girl, who was so engrossed in her reading that she didn't notice the presence of the two Slytherins.
"Hermione Granger, attend to me." Harry muttered, and the effect was immediate. Hermione stiffened at the words as a pang of agony shot through her body, her life debt's way of warning her. After a few moments, the twitches of pain subsided, as Hermione turned to Harry, her face betraying her anguish.
"What will you have me do, Harry?" Hermione asked, fearfully.
"First, you shall address me as Master when I am commanding you." Harry said.
"Yes, master." Hermione choked out through a fresh pang of agony.
"Good. Now, you will tell me what you are researching for the Weasley boy and why you are doing it." Harry said.
"Yes, master." Hermione began, "I am researching Nicholas Flamel, and I am doing so because Neville and the Twins said it was a good way to start making amends for the life debt I called in on Ron."
"Did any of them give you a reason as to why they wanted to know about Nicholas Flamel?" Harry asked.
"Yes."
"What was that reason?"
"They said that something belonging to Flamel was stolen from Gringotts and brought here for safekeeping, and they wanted to know what it was so that they could protect it from you and Professor Snape." Harry stifled a laugh at that.
"Did they tell you how they found out about Flamel's property being here?"
"Yes, Ron said that Hagrid had invited him and Neville over for tea and accidentally let slip that Flamel was involved in the Gringotts break-in. Ron then said that he saw Hagrid at Gringotts the day of the break-in, and he had read in the Daily Prophet that the vault robbed had been emptied earlier on the same day, so Hagrid must have taken what was in the vault to Hogwarts to protect."
"Interesting. Did Ron let anyone else know about this besides you, Neville, and the Twins?" Harry asked.
"Not that I know of." Hermione replied.
"Thank you. Tell no-one of this conversation."
"Yes, master."
"Good. Hermione Granger, your services are no longer required." Harry said, and Hermione sighed audibly as the constant ache of the life debt vanished. She then looked around, and saw Harry and Tracey leaving the library, having gotten the information they needed.
"Remind me not to let you save my life any time soon." Tracey said as soon as they were out of earshot.
"Was it that obvious?" Harry asked.
"Well, only the Imperius curse or a life debt could have gotten such absolute obedience, and given how Hermione was in obvious pain, it points towards a life-debt, as an Imperius is painless and once a person is under its thrall, there is no resisting it. I am sure there are other ways of getting that level of obedience, but a life debt is most likely, given how you saved her from the troll." Tracey explained.
"Very well then. Next time you're in mortal danger, I will just leave you for dead." Harry said, causing Tracey to laugh.
"Don't worry, I do not intend to place myself in mortal peril any time soon."
"Good." Harry said simply.
The pair re-entered the Slytherin common room and found Blaise and Daphne waiting in a corner. Once the pair caught sight of Harry and Tracey, Daphne gestured towards the Girls' dormitories before standing up, with the rest of the group following her through the maze that made up the Slytherin dormitory complex until they reached Daphne's room. The inside of said room was much different from Harry's, as where Harry had a small library and a large desk for working inside his room, Daphne's room contained a smaller bookcase and writing desk, although her bed was much bigger and more comfortable looking, while a small circular table sat in the middle of the room. Once the door was closed, Daphne and Tracey sat down on the bed, while Harry sat down at the table, Blaise leaning against a wall.
"So, Professor Quirrel is possessed by something and is trying to kill Harry, while simultaneously trying to obtain something located in the forbidden corridor which is guarded by a Cerberus." Blaise said.
"Yes, that is all correct." Harry said.
"Did you find out anything?" Daphne asked, and Harry nodded.
"Whatever is in the corridor belongs to Nicholas Flamel, and given how someone was willing to brave Gringotts' defenses to acquire it, it must be extremely powerful. Given that Flamel is its owner, it is most likely the Sorceror's Stone." Harry said.
"The what?!" Daphne exclaimed.
"As I said, it is most likely the Sorceror's Stone that Quirrel is after."
"I know what you said. I was merely shocked at Dumbledore's stupidity in placing that in a school full of children! If word got out, all sorts of unsavory characters would come after it, with Quirrel only being the first of many!"
"What is the Sorceror's Stone?" Tracey asked.
"It's a stone that can transmute any metal into pure gold, and can be used to create the Elixir of Life that allows its drinker to live forever." Blaise explained.
"I see. What was Dumbledore thinking?" Tracey demanded.
"You're all looking at this the wrong way. What if Dumbledore knew of this, and decided to leave the stone here anyway? What if the stone was simply the bait in a trap?" Blaise suggested.
"That could work, but who would merit such an elaborate set up? Surely not Quirrel!" Daphne said.
"It's Voldemort." Harry said, ignoring the slight gasps from the rest of the people in the room.
"You-know-who is dead, Harry, you of all people should know that." Tracey said.
"Not according to Dumbledore he isn't. When Dumbledore invited me into his office at the start of the year, he told me that he believed Voldemort to have used some sort of dark ritual to tie his soul into the mortal world, thus allowing him to survive the rebounding killing curse." Harry said.
"I see... it all fits! Whatever is left of You-know-who is possessing Quirrel, hence his behavior around Harry. The Stone would allow him to restore himself to his former self, and he is using Quirrel to obtain it for that end, but Dumbledore knows of this and has used the stone as bait in a trap of some sort. It all fits!" Tracey deduced.
"That makes sense. However, the question remains. What do we do about it? Do we just stay out of it, or should we take a more active role?" Daphne asked.
"I think we should just stay out of it. Dumbledore already has it under control." Blaise said.
"Does he? I am not so sure. If it weren't for Quirrel fighting back against Voldemort's possession, I would be dead. Dumbledore didn't seem to have that under control now, did he? Besides, now that we know of the stone, we might be able to take it for ourselves. I know I would like to study it." Harry said.
"That does sound like the better idea. If we were to get the stone, we would have a source of immortality and infinite wealth available to us for future use, thus securing our position in the Wizarding world." Daphne said.
"I agree. If Flamel was stupid enough to entrust such a powerful artifact into the care of another, he deserves to have it taken from him." Tracey added.
"I see that I, the sole voice of reason here, am outnumbered. I may as well go along with this stupid plan, if only to be the one who pulls you out of the fire." Blaise said.
"So it is agreed then. We will find a way to get to the Sorceror's stone and acquire it for our own use." Harry said.
"It is agreed." The rest of the room said.
"Good. Our first order of business is to find a way to get to the stone undetected. I already have the Marauders' Map, which will allow us to avoid teacher patrols, but magical wards and defenses will still detect us. We will need a way to bypass those." Harry said.
"I'll get on it." Daphne said.
"Good. Tracey, I want you to keep an eye out for anyone else involved with this. I want the stone to remain as secret as possible. If that means assassinating Ron for running his mouth, do it. Just contain the secret if at all possible."
"Sounds good." Tracey said.
"Excellent. Blaise, I want you to research possible ways of subduing a Cerberus, as well as to attempt to discover what other defenses are in place. Judging by the information I got from Granger, Hagrid might be a good place to start. However, until we are sure of what defenses are in place, you are not to enter the corridor itself."
"I understand, Harry. I'll see what I can do. Oh, and as for the Cerberus, they are pretty easily subdued. My family got much of its wealth from Magical Creature farms, and back when it was legal, we had a Cerberus as one of the creatures we were raising. As a result, I read quite a lot about various magical creatures, and a Cerberus is pretty easily subdued. Just play a little music and it will go straight to sleep."
"Good. That's one defense bypassed. In the meantime, I will keep an eye on Ron's group's progress via Hermione. I'll try to hinder their progress as much as I can while still getting as much information as I can. Are we all clear on our roles?" Harry asked.
"Since when did you become the leader?" Daphne asked.
"Is that a problem?" Harry asked.
"No, you would make a pretty good leader for our group." Tracey said, and Daphne nodded.
"Speaking of which, what do we call ourselves?" Daphne asked.
"Do we really need a name?" Blaise asked.
"We do." Tracey said firmly, locking eyes with him.
"Right! Every notable organization has to have a good name! I mean, You-know-who had his Death Eaters, and Dumbledore had his supposedly secret Order of the Phoenix, so we should have our own name as well!" Daphne said.
"How does Order of the Serpent sound?" Tracey suggested.
"Nope."
"No."
"Hell no." Came the responses of the other three people in the room.
"Order of the Dragon?" Tracey suggested again.
"Nope."
"No."
"Hell no."
"Oh, I got it! How about 'The Shadow Walkers!'"
"Nope."
"No."
"HELL NO!" Blaise Zabini screamed.
"Hey, at least I am suggesting something!" Tracey said indignantly.
"Fine. I think we should be called 'The League of Extraordinary Wizards.'" Blaise said. The rest of the room looked at him, disappointment clear on their faces.
"League of Extraordinary Serpents?"
"Even worse." Was the only response he got.
"Grrr... All the good names either sound pretentious, or like something out of a bad work of fiction, or both!" Tracey shouted.
"The Fictionals, maybe?" Blaise said, causing the rest of the room to look at him like he had grown a second head.
"HYDRA?" Blaise suggested.
"Already taken." Harry replied.
"How does Arcanum Association sound?" Daphne asked, thinking of the books.
"Pretentious, but I can't think of anything better." Blaise replied.
"I say we use it for now, at least until we can think of something better." Harry said.
"I agree with Harry." Tracey said.
Thus, it was on that day that the Arcanum Association was born. It's first order of business? To find a better name for itself. The search for a better name would later turn out to be a long, arduous journey for the Association members.
The next day was Sunday, and it was the day of the first Quidditch match of the season. While Harry had next to no interest in the sport, he still had to attend, if only to have a conversation with his fellow Association members. However, Harry had underestimated the noise of the crowd, and thus could barely hear what Blaise was saying.
As for the game itself, it could hardly be called a game, as the Gryffindor team, much like the rest of the house, was split into two parties. While most of the team was in the Griffin category and wanted nothing more than to win the match, the Weasley twins, who took the role of Beaters, had a different opinion as to how the game should be played. Harry had heard that the twins had gotten into a shouting match with Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor Keeper and team captain, with the twins claiming that they should use the opportunity to send as many Slytherins as possible to the Hospital wing, while Oliver advocated fair play. Thus, it wasn't a surprise when one of the twins smacked a bludger directly at Wood, who, unprepared for the attack from his own teammate, took the bludger directly to the head, sending him out of the game. Apparently, the Gryffindor Seeker, a rather arrogant second year named Daryl Chuffley, noticed this, and flew up to the twin that hit the ball and started berating the older student for his behavior, only to have the second Bludger hit him in the back of the head, courtesy of the other twin.
With two critical players out of the game, Gryffindor's loss was ensured, and the Slytherin team soundly thrashed them, the game ending with a score of 490-20, with the Slytherin team spending nearly an hour toying with their red clad opponents, until they finally got sick of the game and told their Seeker to start looking for the Snitch, which was found in short order.
It was after the match ended that something of note happened, coming in the form of both bludgers suddenly pausing in midair when ordered to return to storage and, instead of returning to their storage case, the pair of bludgers made a bee-line for Harry, slamming into the stands where he was sitting not a moment before with enough force to pulverize bones, sending splinters flying. The two balls then circled around for another pass, only for Harry to reach for his wand. His wandless capabilities were, to the best of his knowledge, only known to Professor McGonnagall, the Association, and the unfortunates who had been on the receiving end of it. Thus, Harry raised his wand and fired a blasting curse at the first ball. The feeling of casting with a wand was much different from casting without, as when Harry cast wandlessly, it required some concentration on his part to shape and direct the spell, although Harry's experience with the art made focusing almost second nature to him. However, with a wand, it felt to Harry as if something else had just siphoned away a portion of his magic, a feeling that Harry found most unpleasant, hence his avoidance of the wand outside of class.
Regardless of the sensation it caused, Harry's curse hit true, and one of the bludgers exploded, the blast wave shoving the other ball off course, allowing Harry to dive out of the way when it came for him again. The ball didn't have a chance to go around again though, as another curse fired from the Teachers' stands shattered the second ball.
Harry scanned the stands for the source of the second curse, and saw Professor Snape holding his wand in the air. Harry would have investigated with Mage Sight, as he had found through experimentation that many spells left behind a residue as they traveled through the air, but the sheer amount of people in the stands would have permanently blinded him as soon as he activated the ability.
At that moment, Harry noticed that Snape was standing directly behind Professor Quirrel, and even from across the pitch, Harry could see the murderous expression on the professor's face. It was then that Harry realized that the Bludgers were only the first of many future attempts on his life by the possessed professor, and if he wasn't careful, an arranged 'accident' might just succeed in taking his life.
The next time Harry saw Professor Quirrel, he was in a classroom full of Slytherin students, and thus he was as safe as he could be in such close proximity to the man. The professor's creepy observation had taken on an even more malevolent aspect, as while before the professor was simply happy to observe, now the man was obviously analyzing Harry for possible weaknesses.
However, Harry was observing the professor as well, and had noticed several changes about the man. Although not immediately apparent, the man's eyes, which had once darted nervously around the room whenever they were not focused on Harry, were now dull and lifeless, as if all the life behind them had been sucked out. The stench of Garlic, already irritating due to Harry's vampiric nature, (The stench of Garlic was extremely irritating to Vampires, although it usually manifested itself as a minor allergic reaction rather than the repulsive effects that many modern wizards attributed to it.), had increased in magnitude, being powerful enough to cause Harry's eyes to tear up whenever he was in the vicinity of the professor. However, within the foul scent lay another one, barely detectable. Even to Harry's nose, which was a good deal stronger than a normal human's, the scent was barely detectable, but it was a scent that Harry was very familiar with, as it was prevalent in the back alleys of Knockturn. It was the scent of corpses that had just begun to rot. It was still faint, but even with preservative charms and garlic reducing and masking the smell, it would eventually overpower any attempt to hide it. In short, Harry had realized that whatever Voldemort had done, it had effectively killed the Professor, leaving behind his body as a puppet for the Dark Lord to control.
The Professor's stutter had taken on a slight, barely noticeable hissing quality, although said hissing seemed to reverberate within Harry's ears, making it so that whenever Quirrel stuttered out his S's it sounded like a snake had briefly made its home within his throat and was now hissing its displeasure at the class. Strangely, when Harry asked Daphne about this, she said that she had not noticed anything out of the ordinary.
Harry had shared his findings with the rest of the Association, at least, he had shared what he could justify without revealing his partial vampire status. His three associates had shared their own findings as well, and Harry was pleased for the most part.
While Blaise and Daphne had been inconclusive in finding out much more about the Stone's defenses, Tracey had effectively contained the secret, starting a rumor that the Third Floor Corridor was a containment area for incredibly dangerous creatures such as Nundus and Manticores that were being harvested for potions ingredients. As soon as Harry heard of her plan, he had forced Hermione into telling Ron, Neville, and the Twins that she had started the rumors to throw Harry off the trail, which had convinced the group of Gryffindors once she dropped Harry's name. Now that the secret was contained, the hunt for the stone had become a race between Harry's and Ron's groups, the latter having decided to call themselves the 'Order of the Lion'. Despite their new name, the Order was firmly behind the Association in the race to the stone, and it was an advantage that the Association was not going to lose in the near future.
Hermione Granger had elected to stay home over Christmas Break, although it was not her decision to do so. At first, Ron and the Twins had tried to pressure her into staying so that they could use the time to look for leads on Flamel, but Hermione had refused. She wanted to spend time away from Harry Potter, the boy she once admired before she saw the true face of the supposed Boy-Who-Lived. Now she hated the black haired Slytherin with all her might. The life debt Harry had put on her had filled her entire waking day with a dull ache as she still subconsciously denied the fact that, with a single command, she was Harry's to do with as he pleased.
Her hatred for the boy had only increased when, as she was walking down to the Great Hall to put her name on the list of students going home for the holidays that she ran into Harry himself, who had quickly used that accursed command of his to subvert her will and order her to stay at Hogwarts over Winter break.
She had been reduced to little more than a puppet, Hermione mused as she sat alone in the corner of the Common Room, watching a pair of Gryffindors engage each other in a duel. She was a puppet now, and Harry held her strings in an unbreakable grip. All Harry had to do was utter a simple phrase, and she would be his, with no choice but OBEY HARRY!
As that last thought crossed her mind, the ache from her life debt suddenly abated, causing Hermione to nearly shudder in pleasure as the pain that had been constantly coursing through her body suddenly abated. The relief was only momentary though, and the pain soon began to seep back into her body. Had she really been that blind? All this time, the pain had made her life a living hell, and all she had to do to stop it was think of OBEYING HARRY! At that thought, the pain disappeared again, but only for a brief moment.
However, it was during that moment that Hermione smiled for the first time in a month. She had done it! She had found a way to stop the Life Debt's pain! There was no point in resisting it, that just made the pain increase. All she had to do was OBEY! and the pain would fade away...
"Hey 'Mione, what are you smiling about? Have you found a lead on Flamel?" The voice of one of the Weasley twins sounded out right beside her. Looking up, she saw Fred, (or was it George?) looking down at her.
"Not really..." Hermione said, her smile fading away and the pain returning.
"Too bad for you, because Ronniekins found out exactly who the man is!" The other twin materialized beside his brother.
"Really?" Hermione asked, an excitement that had nothing to do with pain relief coloring her voice.
"You might not believe it, but it was on a chocolate frog card of all things! It said that Flamel worked with Dumbledore in discovering the twelve new uses of Dragon Blood and is supposedly a famous alchemist."
"I'll start looking through books on Alchemists then." Hermione said, and the twins nodded as one and left, firing off a pair of curses at an unlucky Griffin first year that happened to be in their line of sight. To his credit, the boy leaped out of the way and returned fire, a jelly-legs jinx striking one of the twins. That was when one of the boy's older friends noticed, and the Gryffindor Common room became a battlefield once more. Deftly dodging her way through the spellfire with practiced ease, Hermione made her way out of the common room and set off towards the library.
Harry, meanwhile, had originally intended to leave the school for his home in Diagon, where he would be both safe and free to practice darker magics without needing to worry about the Headmaster, but he had eventually reconsidered, deciding to stay with Blaise at Hogwarts and continue with his attempts to get at the stone. Tracey and Daphne had elected to return home, and Harry had allowed them to go without a fuss on the condition that they bring back some equipment that could be used to assist the Association in its efforts.
Daphne had promised to bring back something useful for detecting wards, while Tracey, being a half-blood, would attempt to look for a muggle solution. Sadly, Harry had to reject her original proposal of a pack of demolition charges, as those, while certainly effective, would draw too much attention to them. Then, he realized the suggestion was a joke and felt like an idiot.
The days leading up to Christmas saw the school being decorated with boughs of holly and sprigs of mistletoe, while a giant tree was set up in the Great Hall. Then, when the Break began, the castle suddenly emptied, with Slytherin in particular losing most of its inhabitants as the various pureblood heirs went home to attend various family functions.
The great hall itself had emptied, although some students could be found there throughout the day as there were no more classes, excluding remedial and accelerated courses. It was on one of those mornings that Harry saw Ron Weasley playing a game of Wizards' Chess against Seamus Finnigan. Leaning against the wall behind the redhead, Harry watched the game progress. He was soon forced to admit that Ron was actually quite skilled at the game, although Harry was no slouch at the game either, having spent hours playing against Arnold Grey in the bookstore down in Knockturn Alley. Of course, those could hardly be called games, what with the elderly wizard soundly thrashing Harry almost every time. In fact, Harry had only ever won once against the man, and that was on his eleventh birthday. The games of chess were often played during bouts of conversation, as Arnold told Harry stories of his childhood and of his life after Hogwarts.
A nostalgic smile on his face, Harry walked up to the pair, noticing that Ron had Seamus' king in check, and was exactly two moves away from winning. Evidently Ron noticed this too, and was quick to capitalize on the fact.
"Do you mind if I play the winner?" Harry asked, standing over Seamus' shoulder, watching as Ron made the final move and checkmated the king, which threw down its sword in disgust and bowed.
"Sure. I would love to see your face when I win." Harry smirked at that.
"Even if I lose, Chess is an excellent way of getting to know someone. Who knows? We might even come out of this on good terms." Harry said, his voice dripping with sickly sweet venom.
"You're on." Ron said, and reset the board, the match beginning Ron taking white, while Harry took black. The first game was over quickly, with Harry losing on purpose to the redhead in an attempt to discern the boy's strategy. It was immediately apparent that Ron's strategy depended on his choosing white and moving first, with an extremely aggressive yet effective playstyle.
"Aha! Looks like you're not so skilled after all you slimy snake!" Ron crowed as Harry's king was checkmated.
"Hmm. I think the stakes of this match were too low. How about a deal, Weasley?" Harry asked, keeping his voice neutral.
"Oh? What kind of deal?" Ron asked.
"Well, we both have an interest in the third floor corridor, do we not?" Harry asked.
"Yes..." Weasley said cautiously. Harry's eyes narrowed. The boy was a fool. Had Harry been in his place, he would have denied it, thus keeping his opponent unaware of the information.
"Well then, I propose that the loser tells the other something that they know about what's behind that door. How does that sound, Weasley?" Harry asked, and smiled as he saw his opponent's face light up in glee.
"I accept." Harry's smile grew broader as the redhead agreed.
"Very well then. Since I lost the first game, I'll start. The Sorceror's Stone is what I've found out to be behind that door." Harry said. It was a reply that simultaneously met the requirements of the deal whilst telling Ron nothing at the same time. Harry knew that Ron's group had already found out about the stone, but apparently Hermione had not been trusted with all the information, as she had simply told Harry that the Twins had, along with Ron, done something two days prior in order to probe the defenses of the Third Floor Corridor, but had not shared the information about what they found or how they found it. Harry hoped to use Chess as a way to get the information out of the group's weakest link, namely Ron. After all, while the Twins clammed up and intimidated Neville into doing the same, Ron was as loose lipped as ever.
"Ha! We already knew that!" Ron shouted again. Fool.
"Very well then. Shall we play?" Harry asked, and in response, Ron moved a pawn.
The game continued for nearly an hour, the two contestants soon realizing that their opponent was not one to be underestimated, often taking several minutes to plan each move. The piles indicating taken pieces on each side of the board were almost equal in height as the game progressed.
The game then shifted in Harry's favor as a particularly aggressive move from Ron put the white Queen in danger, and it was promptly taken by one of Harry's knights, the black knight trampling the Queen into rubble. With his primary offensive piece taken out, Ron's offensive strategy was broken, and Harry promptly began his own offensive, favoring his knights. Even as Harry's pieces slowly and systematically eliminated Ron's pieces, the young Weasley attempted to regain his offensive initiative, although he failed to do so. Soon, Harry's victory was clear as day, but Harry decided not to end the game. Instead, he hunted down and exterminated every last piece on the board, until only the king was left. It was then that Harry finally allowed Ron to be checkmated, ending the game.
"Well? I believe you lost, so you have to tell me what you know." Harry demanded.
"I don't care! I don't have to tell you anything!" Ron retorted.
"How very Slytherin of you, Ronald. I'm surprised, maybe the hat made a mistake in sorting you. Maybe I should spread the word amongst the rest of my house, that Ronald Weasley is a little snake in disguise!" Harry said, and was pleased to note Ron's face turn purple.
"Fine!" The redhead said, and leaned over to whisper something to Harry.
"Fred and George were looking around the room with the dog and saw that the trap door was damaged somehow, like someone had tried to blast through but failed. It was probably Snape, but anyway, they got Neville to hand over his rememberall, which they cast some kind of remote viewing spell on, and rolled it into the room and down the crack in the trap-door. It then fell into some kind of plant, Devil's Snare I think Neville called it, and after it fell through that it rolled into a room full of flying keys with a pair of brooms in the room to catch them. I don't know anything else, I swear!" Ron leaned back, leaving behind a very shocked Harry. After all, while he knew that Ron was somewhat lacking in the intelligence department, he never thought that the Weasley boy would be that stupid.
"Thank you for your time, Mr. Weasley. It has been a pleasure." Harry smiled. Checkmate indeed, he thought as he walked away, intending to share his findings with Blaise.
"Are you sure Weasley wasn't lying?" Was the first thing Blaise responded with when Harry shared the news with him.
"Had it been anyone else, that would have been my first thought. However, Ron isn't exactly the fastest broom in the closet if you get my drift." Harry replied.
"I know that, but this seems a bit much, even for him!" Blaise replied.
"It was too specific to be a lie that Ron came up with on the spot, and even if the twins had told him what to say in that situation, he would have been obviously lying. Ron isn't a Slytherin, Blaise. If he is destined to become a liar, he sure as Merlin isn't one yet." Harry said, and Blaise nodded his head in agreement after a few seconds of thought.
"Very well. Now, what do we do with this information, Oh Great Leader?" Blaise said, smirking.
"We find a way to get past them, of course. Devil's Snare shouldn't be too hard, and we'll be covering it in Herbology come Spring. As for the Keys, I believe we have a few options. We can either blast down the door, which would save us a whole load of trouble as none of us play Quidditch, much less as a Seeker, unless of course, the door is warded to prevent such a thing. The alternative is to either summon the key with the spell we conveniently learned last month, or jump on the broom and catch the key we need." Harry replied after a few moments of thought.
"The keys will probably be warded against summoning. Dumbledore wouldn't want Quirrel thinking that the trap is too easy." Blaise replied.
"That is unfortunately likely. So, the only two choices I see would be to either play the game or to blast the door down, and the door might be reinforced against that as well."
"Well, we have plenty of time to look for possible solutions." Blaise said, and Harry agreed. The two boys then parted ways, one heading up to the Library to converse with a certain witch, while the other stayed downstairs to study.
Meanwhile, while Blaise and Harry were discussing the stone's defenses, a second conversation was going on in the Headmaster's office.
"I assume you have summoned me here for a reason?" A slightly irate looking Professor Snape asked, sitting in a chair across from Dumbledore.
"Yes, Severus, I must confess that I did not just call you up here for an idle chat." Dumbledore replied, taking a deep breath before continuing.
"I am concerned, Severus, about one of your students, and I believe you know which one."
"Who, Potter?" Snape asked.
"Yes, I am concerned about young Mr. Potter. How is the boy settling in? Have any students from more... questionable families tried anything overt?" Dumbledore asked.
"Not that I am aware of. Many have written home to their parents, or at least, their closest family that have managed to stay out of Azkaban, and awaited for instruction, but in general they seem to have left Potter alone, with the exception of Malfoy and Nott. My Godson has attempted to make several moves against Potter, but has been soundly rebuffed every time. I believe that the last attempt left him unconscious on the Dueling strip with several nasty wounds. As for Nott, the boy seems to be acting more like a member of his house. The boy is plotting something, that is for sure, but what that is I cannot say for certain. What I do know, however, is that the boy has lately received several parcels via the Owl Post, and I had the opportunity to examine one. It contained several ingredients needed for the Draught of Eternal Nightmares, namely Boggart Blood and Brain Fluid from a Chimpanzee. Amateur, Human brain fluid achieves much better results." That last sentence was whispered rather than said aloud.
"So, you think that young Theodore Nott may attempt to poison Harry?"
"Exactly. The Draught of Eternal Nightmares does exactly what its name suggests, namely ensuring that its drinker experiences terrible nightmares whenever asleep. The Dark Lord ordered me to make it on several occasions, and I saw firsthand how it reduces its victims to gibbering wrecks who see their worst fears manifest whenever they close their eyes."
"That is grave news, Severus. I thank you for alerting me to this development. Hopefully, we can nip this thread in the bud before it takes root. I trust you know how to brew the antidote?"
"I do, but it will take a month to brew, much like the poison itself, and it is only good for a week after brewing. In addition, several ingredients are quite rare, so it is not something that I can just make on a whim. Thus, Harry would need to be exposed to the poison before I can brew the antidote, lest I risk some incredibly expensive and difficult to replace reagents."
"Very well. However, you are to make every possible effort to make sure that Nott does not succeed. I believe you know the consequences of this plot if it were to succeed, do you not?" Dumbledore asked, and Snape growled, remembering the life debt that James Potter had called in shortly before his death.
"I understand. Now, is there anything else you wish to ask of me?" Snape asked.
"Yes. What can you tell me about Harry himself? I ask this, partially out of simple concern for his well being, but also due to something else. When I last spoke with him, Fawkes had indicated his concern about the boy. While Fawkes cannot speak directly with me, he is capable of sending me various emotions, and when he investigated Harry, he send me one of caution. So I ask again, Severus. Is there anything about the boy that would cause Fawkes to worry so?"
"To the best of my knowledge, no there is not. Although he is often quiet and tends to isolate himself from those that are not members of his little group of friends, he does not seem to have any particularly dark quality about him. However, I have taken the opportunity to observe him during our Supervised Study sessions, and have found him to be in possession of some rather questionable reading material."
"Really now? What has Mr. Potter been reading?"
"It seemed to be an encyclopedia of some sort. I was unable to catch the title, but it seemed to contain information on rituals, albeit it seemed to hold very little in terms of practical examples. The theory, on the other hand, was rather advanced, being far beyond anything an ordinary First Year student should be able to comprehend."
"Rituals? That is cause for concern, although I don't believe that Harry has had the opportunity to delve too deep into that particular art. Still, he may have performed a few minor rituals that require fairly little in terms of sacrifice, and that may have been what tipped Fawkes off. Thank you, Severus. Unless there is anything else you may want to report, you may leave." At that, Severus stood and left, his robes billowing about him as he walked out. Dumbledore sighed as Snape left the room, his mind hard at work, looking for a good way to approach the boy. He already planned to gift the boy his father's invisibility cloak, which, while it was never his, would be a move to make Harry more trusting of him. It truly sickened Dumbledore to manipulate a child's trusts like this, but if Voldemort still lived it would be necessary to ensure the prophecy's completion.
Oh how he loathed that prophecy! Because of it, two truly wonderful people were dead and their child had been robbed of a normal childhood, his life written away before it had even begun. Had Trelawney not made that prophecy, Dumbledore would have tracked Voldemort down and dueled him to the death much like he had with Grindlewald, but once the drunken seer spoke those accursed words it was all useless. Dumbledore had wept with joy, much like the rest of the Wizarding world, when Harry had defeated the Dark Lord, and it was then that he swore to himself that he would ensure that Harry would have as happy a childhood as possible before Voldemort returned. Dumbledore swore that he would do everything in his power to ensure that Harry's final defeat of Voldemort was as simple and easy as possible. Harry would only need to do the bare minimum to fulfill the prophecy, and Dumbledore would take care of everything possible behind the scenes. Then, when Voldemort was truly gone, Dumbledore would pass the mantle of Leader of the Light to the young boy, and thus ensure the stability and prosperity of the wizarding world.
With that in mind, Dumbledore decided on a course of action. He would place the Mirror of Erised in an area where Harry could easily find it under the invisibility cloak. As the boy doubtlessly yearned for a family, he would most likely see his parents in the mirror, and then Dumbledore would speak to him, console him, and ensure that he was both happy and motivated to overcome the obstacles in his life.
The thought of the cursed mirror brought a tear to Dumbledore's eye as the old wizard remembered what he saw reflected. He saw his sister Arianna, who had grown into the beautiful woman that Dumbledore always knew she would become. He saw her living the life that he had denied her, first through neglect, then... Dumbledore still lived with the guilt from that fateful day. He never did find out if he was the one who cast the curse that killed his sister.
Sighing, Dumbledore reached out and popped a lemon drop laced with Calming Draught into his mouth. He was getting old, that much was certain. He only hoped that he could, in the final years of his life, impart as much as possible to the young Harry Potter.
It was on Christmas Day that Harry was awoken by an overly enthusiastic Blaise outside his door.
"Harry! Wake up! We've got presents!" The normally composed boy screamed as Harry blearily opened the door in his face. While Harry normally got up early in the morning, he had stayed up late the previous night taking part in the celebrations within the Slytherin common room, and decided to sleep in.
Brushing his hair out of his eyes, he stumbled out of the room, following the now hyperactive Blaise into the common room, where several piles of presents lay, each labeled for their respective recipients.
Quickly sorting out the gifts meant for him, Harry began to quickly and efficiently open each package, a neat pile of wrapping paper soon forming on one side, with the gifts being laid out on his other side.
The first gift Harry had opened was from Arnold Grey. The old shopkeeper had sent him a Wizard's Chess set, and the note said that the old man had made it himself. It had obviously been the product of several months' hard work, with the white pieces being carved of marble, while the black ones were made of obsidian. However, what truly made the set unique was that, as the pieces were apparently soaked in a modified variant of the polyjuice potion, they could be changed at will to take the form of anyone who had touched them, and the effect would last as long as the runic array on the bottom of the piece was charged. Attached to the instructions was a note thanking Harry for the handmade jewel based lamp that Harry had made. Apparently Harry's gift had arrived early.
Harry had briefly read through the Exotic Magics volume of the Encyclopedia, looking for a particular field that he could use for a gift. He eventually had decided on jewel based magic, and had used an emerald from his vault as the light source within the lamp, with the framework being made of magically shaped silver. Although Harry's knowledge of jewel based magic was extremely basic, with him only being able to utilize gemstones as magical batteries instead of using them to their full potential, Harry knew enough to combine the jewel with his much more advanced knowledge of runes to turn the lamp into a passable anti-vampire and werewolf weapon, with the runes acting to reinforce and magically sharpen the silver edges of the lamp, while the stand could double as a hilt. However, while it was only a mediocre weapon, Silver was extremely poisonous to vampires and werewolves, provided that the metal got into the victim's body. Even in his partially transformed state, it would only take a quarter of a gram of silver to cause permanent damage to Harry's body, provided that the metal got into his bloodstream. However, even a fully transformed Vampire or Werewolf could touch silver and not be affected, the metal only being dangerous if it entered their blood.
Daphne, meanwhile, had sent Harry a book on Warding and Ward detection, which in turn reminded Harry that there was an entire volume of the Encyclopedia devoted to the subject, albeit it was a book that Harry had not yet started to read. In return, Harry had sent her a silver and emerald necklace that he had found in the Potter vault and enchanted by carving a runic matrix into the emerald which would absorb incoming spells and store their energy within the emerald. Of course, it would do nothing against the unforgivables and a physical blow would be completely ignored, but it could stop most spells in the Hogwarts curriculum. The only problem was that, if the energy was not somehow discharged, the emerald would eventually overflow and explode in a blast akin to a Muggle fragmentation grenade. Thankfully, it was fairly easy to discharge the energy within the emerald, and the jewel would glow brighter as the amount of energy contained within increased, but in a prolonged duel it was a very real danger. Thus, Harry had cautioned Daphne about using the pendant, and had promised to 'Fix it later'.
Tracey, on the other hand, had simply sent a large collection of Wizarding Candies, while Harry sent her another necklace similar to Daphne's, with an identical warning attached.
Blaise, on the other hand, had gotten a book on runes, while Harry had received a wizard's metalworking kit. Apparently the boy had noticed Harry working on Arnold's present and decided to make future jobs easier on him. Harry thanked the boy in person, remembering how hard it was to bend the silver into shape, both with magic, which Silver was resistant to, and later by hand, with protective gloves on to prevent the metal from cutting into him. However, Harry was surprised when, after he had incinerated an obviously booby-trapped present from the Weasley Twins, there was another, hastily wrapped present addressed to him. Opening it, Harry found a silvery, almost immaterial cloak contained within. The ancient looking garment seemed unblemished, and shimmered as its new owner passed it through his hands. That was when Blaise looked over and gasped.
"Harry, that's an invisibility cloak!" The boy shouted.
"So it makes me invisible?" Harry asked.
"Obviously! They're really rare though... who would go through the trouble of sending one to you?" Blaise mused, and his question was answered when a note fell out of the cloak. It was short and to the point, reading:
Your Father left this in my possession before he died. I now return it to you, use it well.
"It doesn't say who it's from, but I can take a guess." Harry said.
"You think it was Dumbledore?" Blaise asked.
"He does seem likely. After all, my parents both fought alongside him during the war." Harry said, before putting the cloak on.
"Wicked..." Blaise gasped as Harry completely vanished from view.
"Can you see me?" Harry asked.
"What do you think?" Blaise replied.
"Good. You know what this means, right?" Harry asked. After a few seconds of thought, Blaise replied.
"We have our method of infiltration." The boy said, grinning.
"Precisely. With this, we will be able to travel the school after curfew and remain undetected. In fact, shall we take it out for a test run tonight?" Harry asked.
"Can we both fit under it?" Blaise asked.
"I am pretty sure that all of us can fit under it at the moment, although I doubt that will remain unchanged." Harry said.
"Then by all means, let's go!" Blaise said, and Harry grinned under the cloak. Dumbledore, if that was indeed the gift's sender, had all but handed the stone to the Association.
That night, the door to the Slytherin common room briefly opened, despite there being no-one there. Under the cloak, Harry and Blaise exchanged looks, and set off on the first of many nocturnal ventures, safely hidden from prying eyes. Their job was simple- To detect any wards around the third floor corridor using the knowledge they had gained from hurriedly reading through the Wards and Enchanting volume of the Encyclopedia and 'Warding: A Primer', the book that Daphne had sent them. From that reading they had learned that most wards were very easily detected, although disabling them without the caster's permission usually took a team of highly skilled wizards. As Blaise and Harry lacked the knowledge, skill, and equipment to successfully disable even basic wards, their job that night would simply be detection. Once they knew of the wards placed on the entrance, they would then head back to the common room.
After arriving unimpeded at their destination, the pair split up, with Harry slipping out from under the cloak, as magical artifacts such as invisibility cloaks would interfere with the ward detection process, while Blaise stayed under the cloak as a lookout. Then, when Blaise tapped his shoulder, signalling that the coast was clear, Harry knelt down and got to work.
"Reveal Ward: Visibly" Harry incanted. He loved multilingual incantations, they made it so much easier for him to visualize and focus on the desired effect. He had practiced the spell in the Slytherin Common room, using it to detect the Hogwarts Wards, and thus the spell was cast successfully, with a bright white ribbon appearing out of thin air. The ribbon stayed white for a few seconds as the spell searched for wards in the immediate vicinity. Then, the ribbon changed color, becoming striped with hundreds of multicolored bars, some bigger than others. It was stated in both the Encyclopedia and 'Warding: A Primer' that each ward had its own frequency range, which showed up on Harry's detection spell as a bar of color. The more powerful the ward, the greater its frequency range, making said ward appear as a thicker bar on the detection spell. In the case of multiple wards being cast in the same area, each ward had to have its frequency range set so that it does not overlap with any other ward, otherwise both overlapping wards will interfere with each other and either render themselves both inert or worse, the two overlapping wards would mutate into something strange, as was evidenced in 1949, when American Warder John Hope accidentally planted an identification ward completely inside a powerful Magical Creature repelling ward, which resulted in the first, last, and only documented case of what was termed to be an 'Eldritch Abomination', which rampaged and destroyed the Quodpot Stadium that was being built, along with several acres of surrounding land and killing nearly thirty wizards before finally running out of energy and dissipating into thin air. The survivors of the incident were reported to have developed an extreme irrational fear of tentacles afterwards. This tale proved that Warding was indeed a very serious business.
However, while two wards' frequencies overlapping could lead to some very nasty issues, it was also true that wards became much harder to undo when their frequency ranges were very close together but not overlapping. Thus, a truly skilled warder could put two wards together until their frequencies were so close that one would need a microscope to see where one ward ended and another began on a visual detection spell like Harry's. Of course, the spell Harry was using was extremely basic, but it was the best he could do on such short notice.
His spell complete, Harry reached out to Blaise, who handed him a long roll of parchment that Harry had one of the older Slytherins paint for him. On it was a depiction of the detection spell results from the Slytherin Common Room. Now, all Harry had to do was search for discrepancies between the two pictures.
It quickly became apparent to Harry that the door did not have any particularly powerful wards placed on it, as the two detection spell results seemed identical at first glance. It was then that Harry pulled out another tool from his pocket, this one being a transfigured magnifying glass, which he used to start searching for minor wards, such as identification and tracking wards, that would barely register on the detection spell due to their incredibly small frequency ranges. Harry's meticulous efforts eventually paid off when he found a tiny identification ward placed next to what he had tentatively identified as the Hogwarts Tracking Ward, which kept track of the positions of all people within the school. It was most likely designed to identify anyone who entered. A second ward, also nearly undetectable, was placed right beside it, most likely a notification ward. It was a classic Identification-Notification setup described in 'Warding: A Primer', where the two ward were placed next to each other and linked together. It was barely detectable without scrupulous investigation, making it a perfect method of alerting Dumbledore when his prey took the bait.
Harry had finished going through about half of the results when Blaise tapped him twice on the shoulder. It was the signal that they agreed would mean that someone was coming. At that, Harry cut power to the detection spell, causing the multicolored ribbon to disappear into thin air, while the parchment was rolled up with a flick of his wrist. Then, Harry got under the cloak and was hidden from view.
Sure enough, Harry had barely gotten himself situated under the cloak when a group of four Gryffindors came around the corner.
"Remind me, what are we doing again?" Ron asked.
"Well, 'Mione here thinks she has found a way to get past that dog, and we're here to check." One of the twins said. It was then that Harry noticed that Hermione had a flute clutched in her hands.
"Alohomora!" One of the twins incanted, waving his wand at the door, and with a loud click, the door was unlocked.
"Allright 'Mione! You're up!" The other twin said, gesturing towards the door. However, before the clearly frightened girl could open the door, there came the sound of footsteps approaching, and the group scattered, with Hermione hiding right next to where Harry stood under the cloak. Leaning over to her ear, Harry quickly whispered.
"Hermione Granger, Attend to me." At that, Hermione stiffened.
"Do not say anything." Harry whispered as Hermione moved to ask him what he wanted.
"Give me the flute." Harry continued, and with that he quickly took the instrument from her. Then, less than a second later, Professor Quirrel walked around the corner.
"Now sneeze." Harry ordered, and with that, Hermione cast a sneezing jinx, a fairly useless spell they had learned in DADA, on herself. The resulting sound immediately drew Quirrel's attention.
"W-Whoever's th-there, c-c-come out n-now!" The professor stuttered.
"Tell no-one of this conversation. Hermione Granger, your services are no longer required." Harry whispered, and Hermione turned away. The movement, however, was noticed by the Professor, who quickly strode over and grabbed the Gryffindor First Year. As he did so, his hand brushed over the cloak, causing the man to stiffen and turn towards the pair of Slytherins. For a moment, Harry's eyes met Quirrel's, causing Harry to gasp. Although it was not very noticeable in the dark hallway, the man's eyes were now a dark red. The gasp alerted Quirrel to his presence, however, and the man reached out, attempting to grab the cloak. Harry quickly stepped back, but he bumped into Blaise as he did so, the boy stumbling and barely managing to avoid falling. However, the noise caused Quirrel's eyes to narrow, and the man strode forward, briefly ordering Hermione to stay where she was.
As the possessed professor drew closer, Harry nudged Blaise, and together they began to slowly move away, careful not to make too much noise. However, the professor continued to follow them, and Harry soon found out why. It was the cloak. The cloak sliding against the ground made a faint, normally unnoticeable hiss, but in the silent halls it may as well have been a siren advertising their position.
"Blaise. Keep moving until you see an open room. We'll duck in there and stop moving." Harry whispered and Blaise nodded. After a few minutes that seemed like hours to Harry, Blaise nudged him, gesturing towards a room with its door ajar. As one, the pair moved towards the door and slid inside the room, their small frames allowing them to enter without moving the door itself. As soon as they were inside, the pair pressed themselves against the wall. Peeking outside the door, Harry saw Quirrel stalk past. About a minute passed, and Harry was about to sigh in relief when the door was pushed open again and Quirrel barged in. Staying absolutely still, Blaise and Harry watched the professor carefully look around, searching for his prey.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Quirrel growled in frustration and stormed out of the room. A minute passed, then another, and then another, before finally Harry released the breath he had been holding, sighing in relief. It was then that Harry noticed the mirror. A tall mirror with an ornate frame was the only piece of furniture in the room. Across the top of the gilded frame was an inscription, reading: "Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on whosi". The mirror itself was completely blank, with its surface frosted over.
"We'll wait here for a while, then head back to the common room." Harry said, and Blaise nodded. Sighing, the pair slipped off the cloak and sat down. That was when Blaise gasped.
"The mirror! Look at the Mirror!" Blaise said, and Harry turned. The Mirror's surface was no longer frosted over. Instead, Harry saw himself staring back at him. However, it was no reflection shown within the mirror.
Mirror-Harry was older, for one, and much better dressed. The image was sitting down on a rather ornate throne, a silver crown studded with emeralds on his head. Older versions of Blaise, Tracey, and Daphne stood around him, while Hermione lay on the ground in chains at his feet. Meanwhile, a red-headed boy knelt in front of him, likely an older Weasley. As Harry looked on, Mirror-Harry smiled cruelly, showing off a pair of elongated fangs, and with a flash of scarlet light, the Weasley's body exploded in a burst of blood, some of which landed on Mirror Harry's face and was promptly licked up. Upon closer inspection, Harry saw that his mirror self's eyes were still bright green, but the pupils within were slitted and catlike.
What was the mirror showing him? Harry wondered as he watched his mirror self pause to take a drink of a reddish liquid, either wine or blood, from a crystal goblet. Did it show the future?
His eyes were then drawn to the top of the mirror, and he read the inscription once more.
"It seems that two of the brightest students in Hogwarts have discovered the delights and perils of the Mirror of Erised." The wizened voice drew Harry's attention. Tearing his eyes away from the mirror, Harry turned to see Albus Dumbledore smiling benignly at him.
"Professor?" Harry asked.
"In the flesh, my boy." Dumbledore replied.
"Why are you here?" Harry asked.
"Why, I am the current owner of this delightful mirror. It is truly a powerful artifact, the Mirror of Erised. Powerful, but perilous, as greater men than myself have wasted away before it." Dumbledore replied, still smiling.
"What does it do, sir?" Harry asked.
"It gazes into your heart, my boy, and reflects what it sees."
"What does it show?" Harry asked, letting a little irritation creep into his voice.
"I am sure you can determine it yourself, but I shall give you a clue. The happiest man in the world will look into this mirror and see nothing but himself." That line caused Harry to think, and then it came to him as he imagined the inscription.
"I show not your face but your heart's desire. The mirror shows what we want most in this world!" Harry exclaimed.
"Correct, my boy. Now, can you see why it is so dangerous?" Dumbledore asked.
"I do..." Harry said, turning back to the mirror only to see Blaise standing up against it, his hand touching the glass. Harry could see tears in the boy's eyes.
"Blaise!" Harry said. The boy did not respond.
"Blaise! Snap out of it!" Harry ran up to the boy. "Blaise, it isn't real!"
Those last words cause Blaise to turn to Harry.
"I... I know." The boy, who was normally the picture of calm composure, choked out.
"Do not worry, Blaise. Greater men have fallen under the mirror's sway and wasted away." Dumbledore said, walking over and putting an arm around the crying boy.
"What did you see?" Harry asked, curious as to what could have done this to his friend.
"I... I don't want to talk about it. It will never happen..." Blaise trailed off.
"What about you, Harry? What did you see?" Dumbledore's question set Harry's thoughts racing. If he told the truth, Dumbledore would see through the web of deception that Harry had been trying to weave around him, but Harry did not know what Dumbledore would want him to say, so he decided to make something up.
"I'm minister of magic, sir. I'm sitting down, having tea in my office with my friends. I can see in outside through a window... and the world looks better. We're all smiling, anyhow." Harry said. It was true, his friends' mirror selves were indeed smiling, although in a manner much crueler than what Dumbledore would have liked, while flashes of scarlet light indicated the execution of people Harry would doubtlessly have hated.
"It warms my heart to hear that, Harry. It truly puts an old man's mind at peace knowing that people like you will succeed him..." Harry smiled at that, "... Now run along! I am sure that Professor Quirrel has left by now." At that, Blaise walked over and picked up the cloak, but Harry stayed behind.
"Professor... what do you see?"
"I see... I see my funeral. I see myself leaving behind a world that is a better, happier place." Dumbledore said after a few moments.
"A noble desire, Professor." Harry said.
"As is yours, my boy. Now, off you trot! You cannot make your dreams into reality if you spend all your time staring at what could be!" Dumbledore smiled, and Harry smiled back, before turning around and ducking under the cloak, disappearing from view. As he left the room with Blaise, his mind raced. He clearly had Dumbledore's trust at this point, and he would be a fool to waste that trust.
After all, if the old man trusted him, then that meant his plans were going as planned, and a good plan was what set Slytherins apart from the others. Despite a certain blonde's attempts to prove the contrary, a Slytherin was not defined by his lineage or the purity of his blood. A true Slytherin was a planner and a snake. A true Slytherin was ambitious, and had the cunning to achieve said ambition. A true Slytherin was a man who would give a charming smile, all while planning how to best use another. A true Slytherin would gain his enemies' absolute trust before twisting a dagger into their backs, and Harry considered himself a true Slytherin in all respects.
Smiling under the cloak, Harry left the room, leading Blaise back to the Slytherin common room. As he left, he could have sworn he saw Mirror-Harry wink and smile in his direction, before raising his goblet and toasting to his success.
A/N: Whew! Finally done with this chapter! I hope this chapter meets your expectations, and that future chapters continue to do so. I hope you like how I portrayed Quirrel, because I sure do! In addition, I am particularly proud of the Mirror of Erised scene. Twenty points to whoever can correctly guess what Blaise saw.
With regards to the Deathly Hallows, I will be buffing them quite a bit as the canon versions are a little disappointing IMO. I mean, a supposedly unbeatable wand that was confirmed to have been defeated in a duel at least once (I'm looking at you, Grindlewald), a stone that kinda, sorta, not really brings back the dead, and a cloak that supposedly allows you to hide from death but can be easily seen through with an enchanted eyeball are all pretty disappointing when it comes to artifacts that were supposedly made by death itself.
In addition, I will be buffing Voldie a bit, as well as making him seem more 'Dark Lord' ish, as in the books he is built up to be pretty strong, but eventually ends up becoming just another generic evil dude. In fact, I think Umbridge was portrayed better than Voldemort as a villain, but that's just my personal opinion on the subject. Regardless, I'll be making Voldemort a more realistic threat to Harry that won't be Care-Bear'd away by the power of love. No, Harry will have to work hard in order to beat the man.
Anyway, I think that's all, folks! If you notice any glaring plot holes or inconsistencies, please don't hesitate to alert me so I can rectify the problem. Suggestions and constructive criticism are appreciated!
