Chapter Five: The Greatest Desire
The spring semester started in blink of an eye. And Harry didn't even notice it, until the students came back from wherever they stayed during the holidays.
The boy was too deeply buried in his studies – lessons with Dumbledore and Snape and reading the books that he took from the private quarters of Slytherin took a huge chunk of his time.
He didn't event went to the Hogsmeade station to meet his friends and saw them for the first time in new year only when they arrived in the dorms.
The redhead was first to greet him. Apparently Ron and Draco both weren't upset with Harry at all.
"Hi, Potty, how was your boring break?" Ron asked, while squeezing the green eyed boy in very strong manly hug.
"Much, better than yours, overgrown brat." Potter answered with a smile.
Ron stepped to the side, revealing Draco who stood behind him.
He extended his right hand to our hero.
"Hello, Harry. I see you've enjoyed your own dose of Weasley's hug. He almost broke all my bones when he squeezed me, you know. How is your training going?"
"Great, Draco." Harry said, while shaking Malfoy's hand.
His other dormmates came in and greeted him. After talking a little with them, they went to the common room and occupied the chairs in front of the fireplace.
"Guys, we need to talk." Harry said.
He cast a privacy ward around them – for everyone but the Trio, their discussion would seem to be some usual nonsense about the quidditch, girls and so on.
"Wow, Harry, mate, how come you are know how to cast the privacy ward? What have the old fart done with you?" Ron asked. He was completely surprised by how far his friend gone already in his studies.
Harry dismissed the question as rhetorical.
He was deadly serious now.
"I wish to share some information with you, but before I start spilling it, I must ask you both to swear on your magic that what I tell you won't be passed to someone else in any way. Do you accept this condition?"
His red-haired friend became excited in instant.
"I'm game, Harry."
Draco thought through, carefully weighing all For's and Against's.
Finally, after three minutes, he made up his mind.
"I'm in too."
After they swore the vows, Harry told them everything that happened with him during the holidays. His story excited the boys, especially the part about the Chambler of Secrets.
"Now I see why You-Know-Who was afraid of Dumbledore." Malfoy muttered, shaking his hand disbelievingly.
"Is afraid, Draco" Harry corrected "But he also is secretly afraid of me too, I think."
Draco arched his left eyebrow in silent question to him.
"What do you mean?" Ron asked.
"There is a prophecy about me being the only one who can kill Voldemort and vice versa." Potter answered, revealing the Prophecy to them.
Weasley and Malfoy were sceptical at first when Harry told them that it was Trelawney who made the Prophecy, but he reasoned it by saying that if his mentor and nemesis both believed in this piece of rubbish so was he too.
"You are utterly deep in flobberworm shit, Harry. Have you written the Wish already?" Draco joked, relieving the atmosphere a little.
"No, but I have outlined it already. You know, at least I'm prepared informationally-wise now. And who's forewarned is forearmed." Harry replied, cancelling the privacy ward.
When Harry went to his lesson with Dumbledore that day, he saw a unlikely picture – the old wizard was looking into magnificent seven feet tall mirror, whose golden frame glittered enigmatically in the warm light of circular room.
'Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi' Harry read silently.
"Hello, uncle, I would have never guessed that you are a narcissistic person." Harry joked.
"Huh? Ah, hello my boy, I was so entranced by the image this mirror showed me. Come, look in it." Albus said and stepped aside.
Harry stood in front of it and was completely taken by surprise from the image he saw – instead of his usual eleven year old self, a man stood, almost as tall as Dumbledore, black haired, green eyed, with kind, if not a little bit sly, smile on his face. He was clothed in majestic white robes with fancy golden trimmings of the Supreme Mugwump of ICW. Then the realization struck him, once he saw a lightning-bolt-shaped scar on man's forehead – it was him!.
"I see myself, but.. older and.. being the Supreme Mugwump. Does it mean something bad, uncle?" Harry asked worriedly.
Dumbledore chuckled kindly.
"Of course not, Harry. Although I thought you would see your parents, most of children your age have this kind of dreams..."
"They are dead, uncle, and as you told me already dead will be dead and nothing, even magic can change it. The only thing I can do now is preparing myself to face Voldemort and stop him from harming anyone else." Harry replied with a look of unbreakable determination.
"You make me proud, showing how mature you are already, my boy." Albus said quietly.
"What do you see in the mirror, uncle?" the boy asked his mentor.
Dumbledore's gaze met Harry's eyes. The old man weighed his response and finally decided to tell boy the truth – there was no need to keep it a secret from the youth."
"I see my deceased sister, Ariana, whom I failed utterly as an older brother. I used to be young and foolish once, my boy, and had a very radical set of views on life. My arrogance killed her, Harry – I will never forgive myself for it."
Albus' light blue eyes became unfocused – the old man was somewhere far-far away for a moment.
He collected himself, at long last, and looked in Harry's eyes.
"But this is a story for another time and place, my boy. Let us begin our lesson - today you will learn the Patronus Charm..."
The time passed fast and Harry studied hard.
He asked Albus once if the old man knew some place for him and his friends to study together, and his mentor just happened to indeed possess a knowledge about such place. Room of Requirement, or Come-and-Go Room, as the elves called it. It was located on the seventh floor and its entrance was located on the opposite from the portrait of some knight that tried to teach trolls ballet. The machinations of revealing it was explained to the boy, so the Trio started occupying it every day.
Harry's friends had completely different strong sides - while Ron had a lot of raw magical power, which suited his impressive frame and fiery temper, Draco was not as powerful, but fascinatingly agile, and quick and precise with his casting.
Summer exams were a piece of cake for Harry – all teachers were completely fascinated by his abilities. He was surely going to be the top first year student – he knew that, his head of House knew that and already was constantly sneering arrogantly whenever he saw McGonagall, Flitwick or Sprout.
A few days before the end of the year, he was approached by certain bushy haired young witch. She drugged him into an empty classroom by force and his wrist hurt even after she let it go.
"Ok, Granger, we are alone here. What do you wish to talk about so hard? Obviously it's not because you want to confess about your feelings towards me." Harry said sarcastically. His stunning-incarcerating-disarming contingency was ready to neutralize her faster than she would say 'Library', if she stupidly tried to harm him,
"Potter, do you know what is kept in the forbidden corridor on the third floor?" she questioned him.
"Dunno. Dumbledore's private collection of sweets?" Harry answered sarcastically, not wanting to tell her that he knew exactly what was kept there – his mentor told him about the stone and asked him to not try finding some adventure there.
Granger was utterly irritated with his insufferable behaviour, but she needed him.
"There is no room for jokes. Professor Snape will try to steal the Philosopher's Stone today!"
Harry looked down at the girl as if he was a tired professor who tried to drill something into the stone head of small ignorant child.
"You surprise me with your exceptional deduction, Granger. Do you really think that my Head of House is such an idiot? If there is someone who tries to steal the stone, he is not the one for sure."
"Then who?" she asked him irritably.
"How I should know? It can be even this stupid stuttering DADA teacher with turban on his head, I don't care." he answered her, bored.
"But we must stop whoever tries to steal the stone, Harry!" she exclaimed desperately.
"Oh, great. Now I'm 'Harry', huh?" He sighed tiredly "Well, it seems like you won't leave me be any time soon.. Follow me"
"Where are we going?" she asked him, while trying not to fall behind.
"To my common room. We must first take Ron and Draco with us..."
"Why don't we warn the headmaster first?"
Harry shook his head, irritated by the constant flow of stupid questions from Hermione.
"Because he is on the ICW meeting today. Granger, you've just surprised me again! Do you think Dumbledore would just let the thief steal the stone?"
They finally made their way to the stone dead end in the dungeons . He pushed her back a little and cast a privacy ward around him. After telling the password to the entrance he cancelled the ward.
"Although it's only a few days before the year ends, I won't ever let some idiotic gryffindor know our password. Wait for me here." Harry said and entered.
The stone wall closed behind him.
He returned with his two friends after about ten minutes.
"Hi, bookworm. How are you miserable life?" Ron asked her conversationally. Unlike him, Draco completely ignored Hermione, not even saying "Hi".
She was enraged by these words, but Harry abruptly stopped them.
"There is no time for arguments right now. Let's go, you can kick each other's asses after we deal with our little problem." he said.
They entered a large room, from which the thunderous snoring could be heard. A huge three-headed dog was sleeping sweetly by a trapdoor, which was opened by somebody before them. A harp was playing some simple tune by itself and Harry automatically recalled the required charm.
The party approached the hatch, staring into the darkness beyond it.
"Does somebody really think we, I mean Ron, me and you, Harry, are so ridiculously stupid to just jump inside?" Draco asked incredulously.
Ron snorted when Hermione sent a murderous look Malfoy – she hated the blond boy already.
"Uh-uh. Levitation on three?" Harry asked, subtly winking to his friends.
"One! Two!... Four!..." Ron and Draco laughed madly when Granger jumped alone.
"Three!" They proceeded themselves.
The floor was soft and slippery – that worried them all greatly.
"Lumos!" the trio chorused.
"It's Devil's Snare! It's afraid of fire only!" the bushy haired girl panicked.
"Oh really? So what? From what I've heard you are the pyromaniac who likes fiendfyre!" Ron parried her.
Suddenly she had a little bit crazy glow in her eyes
"Oh..." was the only coherent word from her mouth.
They took a step away from her.
"Ron, Draco! Levitate yourself as up NOW!" Harry shouted and the trio quickly levitated themselves as high as possible. Ron even hit the ceiling with his head, loosing his concentration, but, fortunately, Draco's reflexes saved the boy from getting his ass fried.
It seemed like Hell fell on the large carnivorous plant: a fiery inferno, which changed its shapes from one terrible form to another, was rapidly consuming the Devil's Snare.
Hermione's voice crackled in a mad laughing
"HA-HA-HA! YES! BU-U-U-RN!" she exclaimed in sheer euphoria.
When the plant turned into ash, Harry subtly stupefied her, making the flames disappear.
"She is crazy, mates." Ron stated slowly. He was shocked, to say the least.
"She is." Draco agreed, looking carefully at stunned girl.
He actually started to respect her a little for accomplishing such a feat. Just a bit.
Harry woke her, casting a spell
'Rennervate'
She slowly opened her eyes and looked around, completely disoriented.
"Ah... What happened?" she asked them and suddenly the memories returned to her, making her shudder as if a bucket of ice cold water was shed on her.
"You've seen everything, haven't you? Do you think now that I am mad?"
"A mad, dangerous witch, Granger. But you did your work." Draco said.
"Let's see what lies further, guys - you may both solemnly declare your love for each other once we are done here." Harry said.
They proceeded further, entering a large room with huge chessboard with human-sized figures on it.
"We must have a party of chess, really?" Ron asked loudly no one in particular.
The queen of white started to tell them the rules but was interrupted by the redhead, who lost his patience already.
"Shut up!" Weasley shouted, casting 'Bombarda' at the talking figure.
It exploded in a shower of stone shrapnel thus triggering the retaliation from the rest of figures, which started approaching the quartet.
"I hate you, Ron" Draco mumbled irritably.
He, Harry and Hermione followed Weasley's eloquent example.
Chess figures, being extremely slow, were very easy targets.
Once the redhead had finished off the last one they moved onwards through the sea of stone debris.
They entered a vast room with high ceiling.
"Is that birds?" Ron asked.
"No, idiot, they're keys." Draco answered.
They went to the opposite side of the room, stopping by a door, which, after being checked by Ron, was proven to be closed.
"So we need to open it with some particular key." Hermione stated.
"Oh really? Such a shame. I thought we needed to dance Step in front of it!" the redhead snapped at her.
"Try it, Ron. I'm sure there is nothing more funny in the magical world than dancing Ronald Weasley.", Draco joked.
"While I too do want to see such an extraordinary show, we need to find, and then somehow catch the right key, guys. Wait, I know!" Harry exclaimed.
He stepped under the swarm of flying keys and dispelled them all, making an arch-like gesticulation by his right hand, wand firmly gripped in it. The clung of metal falling on the stone floor was heard by everyone in the room.
"It's good to be friends with Harry Potter." Ron said half-seriously, half-quizzically.
Draco just shrugged his shoulders, and Hermione was awed by how easily Potter controlled his magic already. But she knew better than to start asking him some questions again.
Harry came close to the pile of keys on the floor and rummaged through it.
"Aha! Here it is, people!" he exclaimed happily, shaking his left fist in the air, with a large winged key squeezed between his fingers firmly.
The next room met them with insufferable stench, making all four young people cover their noses with hands. There were two huge mountain trolls lying on the floor apparently dead.
"At least they're not alive." Harry tried to cheer them up.
They left the room, entering the next one.
When the last of the quartet, which was Hermione, entered, the passage behind them was blocked by purple flame. The next one was also inaccessible, thanks to the wall of black flame. There was a stone table with seven bottles of strange potions and a roll of paper on it.
Hermione seized it.
"It's a riddle. Seven bottles: three are poison; two are wine; one will get us safely through the black fire and one will get us back through the purple." she said after a long pause.
"Aww... I hate this place! Bombarda Maxima!" shouted Ron, casting an empowered exploding charm at wall on the right from the blocked path.
The charm took a large chunk of the wall off.
"I know, I know – I'm a genius, thank you." the redhead stated snobbishly and bowed to them artistically.
Harry and Draco laughed at Ron's antics and the trio started to make an improvised passage, while Hermione stared incredulously at them.
Making large enough hole in the wall, they entered the circular room with the Erised Mirror at the centre. Quirinus Quirrell stood in front of it, muttering some nonsense.
"Blasted mirror! Give me the stone right now!" he loudly ordered to his own image in the mirror.
"I see myself claiming it and giving it then to you, master, again and again. Why can't I just blast it?" he asked.
"You may accidentally destroy the stone too, Quirinus. But do turn around now, there are guests waiting for you. Show them your hospitality, be a nice host." a sinister voice, that was coming from the turban on the man's head, instructed
"Potter! And you three, too! I though The-Boy-Who-Lived would come alone, you know." Quirrell said silently, turning around sharply.
" Potter, you will get the stone from this stupid mirror and give it to me before I begin to torture and kill your friends here! With the stone's power, my master will be revived again, even more great than he was before!" He exclaimed with fanatical flame in his eyes.
Harry looked bored with their DADA professor's rantings, as much as Ron and Draco. Hermione, on other hand, had a crazy glint in her eyes again.
'Expelliarmus!' their DADA professor cast loudly, trying to disarm Harry.
But the boy hadn't been studying so long for nothing – he swiftly side-stepped the spell, letting it pass a mere inch away from himself.
"My turn..." Harry said, pointing his wand at the pathetic man in front of him.
'Brat'
A single word released his contingency, stunning incarcerating and disarming Quirrell - all at once.
He caught the man's wand and snapped it in halves.
His fresh display of power and knowledge awed his friends and Hermione, making their eyes open unnaturally wide and eyebrows fly unnaturally high.
"Why haven't you teach this kind of stuff to us, Harry" Ron asked, faking a miserable tone.
"Dumbledore made me swear him a wizard oath, promising not to teach this technique to anyone, but my future protégé. And I'm not going to take one for the next hundred years, at least"
"Oh well. I know that you would show us if you could, mate." the redhead said, approaching the idle form of Quirrell.
He kicked him on the back of the head. A distinct noise of something breaking was heard by the four.
"Argh! You petulant child! How dare you to touch me, Lord Voldemort. I will torture and kill all your family in front of you, making you watch their suffering and death, and then finish you off!" the sinister voice exclaimed.
The party was shocked for a moment.
Harry, ragaining control over himself faster than the others, quickly vanished the turban on the Quirrell's head with a swish of his wand, revealing a scaly nose-less face with crimson-red eyes.
Voldemort.
"Hermione," Harry called Granger, making the girl turn her gaze to him. "I would like a portion of Roasted Voldemort, without salt and pepper, please."
Hermione didn't need to be asked twice: she burnt Voldemort/Quirell with fiendfyre, making the mistake of nature wail in excruciating pain. The air in the room was filled with a distinct odor of burnt human flesh.
In a few moments, only a pile of ash was left on the stone floor.
A dark apparition left the body before it was burnt – fiendfyre burnt everything - and rocketed forward through the air in a desperate attempt to possess Harry.
The-Boy-Who-Lived felt a huge burst of excruciating pain in his scar, but something made Voldemort leave his body.
The spirit of the Dark Lord left the room through the ceiling as fast as it could.
Harry's sight blurred and he fell on the floor, unconscious, his friends and Granger standing in circle around him with worried expressions.
Harry awoke the next morning in the Hogwarts infirmary, feeling the hard mattress of the bed under his back. He stared at the ceiling for a few minutes, getting himself together. Once he recalled all events, he went to madam Pomfrey' office and asked her to fire-call the headmaster.
The worried headmaster entered the medical wing in half an hour.
"Hi, uncle. Why didn't you use your familiar's ability?" Harry asked, sitting on the bed he slept in recently.
"Hello, my boy. I don't wish to disturb Fawkes every time some problem emerges, and also my old legs need to be in good shape. How are you?"
He conjured a comfortable looking chair and sat on it.
"I'm alright, I guess." Harry answered."
"Good. When I returned from the ICW meeting, Severus immediately informed me about you being in the infirmary. Tell me what happened beyond the trapdoor."
Harry told his uncle everything that happened on that day.
"I see. Also it was very bad that you allowed Miss Granger to kill Quirinus, I understand your logic there: he was possessed by the spirit of Voldemort, who would destroy him sooner or later, after the professor wasn't of any use for him any more, so he was damned. I will speak with her later today and assure the girl that she won't be expelled for what she did. Now, Harry, you should prepare yourself and go to the Great Hall in two hours – there'll be Parting Feast. See you there, my boy." Albus told Harry and left him alone.
Harry quickly cleaned himself with a few charms here and there and left the room too, thanking the matron on the way out.
He first went to the Slytherin common room and was greeted there by his two best friends, whose worry for him evaporated as soon as they saw the green-eyed wizard.
The Great Hall's dominating colours were green and silver this day – the House of Slytherin was victorious. For the seventh time. This fact made Harry chuckle.
"The magic of numbers indeed." he thought.
After everyone sat behind their respective tables, Albus stood up and gave his parting speech for the current academic year.
"Another year has passed! Before you sink your teeth in delicious food that our elves prepared for us today, I must trouble you with an old man's ranting. What a year it has been! Hopefully, your heads are all a little fuller than they were... you have the whole summer ahead to get them nice and empty before next year starts.."
"The House here needs awarding and the points stand thus: in fourth place, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty-two; in third, Gryffindor, with three hundred and eighty; Ravenclaw has four hundred and twenty-six and Slytherin, four hundred and seventy-two."
A storm of cheering broke out from the Slytherin table, the trio being the most enthusiastic.
"Yes, all hail the Slytherin House! But I need to take in account a few recent activities. First, to Miss Granger, for the use of... cool logic... in the face of fire, I award the Gryffindor House a hundred points!"
The red and gold house burst in happy exclamations, those who were close to the heroine of the moment congratulated her happily. And their head of the House was looking proud – Harry could swear he saw how she smiled with triumph to Snape, making the man's right eye twitch in irritation.
The entire Slytherin table looked pissed.
"Second – to Ronald Weasley, for extraordinary and creative use of 'Bombarda' and 'Bombarda Maxima' charms, I award the Slytherin House with thirty five points!"
The snakes cheered like never before.
"Third – to Mr Malfoy for his unquestionable help to his friends, I award Slytherin with another set of thirty five points!"
All slytherins were ecstatic now.
"The last but not the least. I award Harry Potter with seventy points, for being able to stop a dangerous person from taking the Philosopher's Stone."
Every one of his housemates, but a certain black haired witch, congratulated him.
"The Slytherin House remains on the first place!"
Snape stopped his urge to grin maniacally, which took him a great deal of self-restrain.
"Now, dig in!"
The mountains of delicious food appeared and everyone started eating.
Harry went to the headmaster's office to speak with him for the final time during current academic year.
"Hello again, uncle. I wish to discuss with you my summer time." he told the old wizard.
"It's nice to see you so soon, Harry. I think you are able enough to defend yourself, so you may spend your summer break in one of your friend's house."
The boy's eyes lit with happiness and Dumbledore chuckled and shook his head, seeing it.
"I personally recommend you to spend Summer with the scion of the House Malfoy. A connection or, in ideal, a warm relationship with such strong pureblood family, will help you a lot in the future, especially, on the political arena of the Wizarding world. By the way, why have you stopped courting the young miss that you liked so much?" he finished talking with a knowing smile.
Harry stiffened a bit.
"I... we... After one encounter with her during the fall semester, my feelings... dulled a bit, I guess." he mumbled.
"Harry you are too young to speak such nonsense! You must not let some little things stop you on this front, you know. But. If nothing happens between you two, maybe you'll find another girl, and another... until you find the one for who you will make the mountains crumble and the oceans dry." the wise wizard said with twinkling in his eyes.
"Continue your studying. Especially your practising of Mind Arts. I'm sure the next academic years will be very eventful. Now go to your friends, my boy."
"Bye, uncle Albus." Harry left the office and went to his common room.
"So, Harry, what are your plans for the summer break?" Draco asked his friend "If you don't have any, maybe you would like to spend it in the Malfoy manor? Weasley, you are invited too, by the way."
"I'll spend a week or two with my own family and then come to your place, blondie." Ron agreed.
"I accept your invitation, oh great heir of the Noble House of Malfoy!" Harry agreed, bowing to his blond friend jocosely.
"I wouldn't even thought you could dismiss my invitation, oh Heir of the Ancient and Noble house of Potter!" Draco played along in a fake snobbish manner.
Weasley laughed at their antics.
They found an empty compartment in the Hogwarts Express and occupied it. Harry locked the door with an advanced closing charm and cast a privacy ward.
The trio spent their day-long trip chatting and playing the Exploding Snap, not being disturbed for the whole way.
The platform nine and three quarters was as crowded as it was ten months ago. Draco, Ron and Harry approached their respective relatives.
"Hello, uncle Vernon, you look as well as you did before. Aunt. Dudley." Harry greeted his last blood relatives.
"Hello boy. How was your school year?" Vernon grunted – what? He was paid for being civil with the boy.
"It was very enjoyable, thank you very much, uncle Vernon. I wanted to inform you that I won't spend Summer in you pleasant company. Instead, I'll go to my friend's place. So goodbye. And do take care of yourselves."
The Dursley patriarch looked like Christmas came half of a year sooner.
"You too, boy." Vernon pressed out from himself.
Dursleys left, almost jumping in joy.
Harry went to greet the family of redheads then.
"Hello there, mister and missus Weasley, Harry Potter, your youngest son's best friend." he said with a polite smile.
The Weasley couple smiled back kindly.
Mr Weasley extended his hand and Harry shook it firmly.
"Hi, Harry! The name is Arthur, here's my wife, Molly, the rest you know already. It's nice to finally meet you. My son told me about you and.." here Arthur looked like he swallowed a lemon sherbet, which Harry's mentor liked so much, ".. another friend."
His wife took over then
"Hello, my dear! I'm so happy that Ron found such a great friend in Hogwarts. Let me introduce my youngest one – Ginevra, do come closer."
A petite girl with fiery red hair and cute freckled face smiled shyly at Harry. He smiled back brilliantly and was poked painfully on his right side by Ron for it.
"Don't even think about it, scar-head! I see you closer than three feet to her and I break your tiny neck!" he threatened.
"Ron, why are you so protective? I didn't even think about what you think I think!" Harry replied.
Ron patted him on the back friendly
"Good."
"Emm... Ok... I should go now. Goodbye, everyone." Harry said and left them to meet the whole blond family.
"Good day, lord Malfoy." he said, shaking the man's hand, "And you, my lady."
He turned to the voluptuous woman and gently kissed the back of her elegant hand.
"Mr Potter, may I call you Harry?" the Malfoy patriarch asked him.
"Of course, lord Malfoy."
"Then, call me and my wife Lucius and Narcissa, Harry." the tall man with blond, almost white, hair said.
"Our son spoke about you so ecitedly during the Christmas holidays, Harry. He said that you don't have equals in skill and talent in your year." Narcissa told, giving the green eyed wizard a beautiful smile.
"Mother, Father. Harry agreed to spend the summer break in our manor." Draco wedged in their conversation.
"Excellent! Harry, I'll make sure that this summer is the most perfect for you." Lucius said, taking a long thin golden chain from his pocket
"This is a portkey, Harry. I'll activate it now - everyone make contact with it."
They complied.
"Malfoy Manor"
Harry felt hooked under his navel and the colourful blur began to swirl around him, or he began to swirl around the colourful blur – who knows for sure?
AN(02.10.2011): another chapter revised, hope you like it more than before.