Chapter Eight: The Philosopher's Stone and the Beginning of Summer

Raiden calmed himself as he stood outside the third floor corridor door. He took a breath and then opened the door, moving into the room and sideways along the wall. Once inside he closed the door and observed his surroundings.

The monstrous dog that was guarding the entrance to where he would have to go was currently asleep thanks to a magical harp that was playing a soothing melody. Raiden looked at the harp, then at the dog, and shrugged before moving the dog's paw off the trapdoor and opening it. His senses registered the end of the music and the dog waking up just in time.

Hearing the growl from above him Raiden jumped into the dark hole, feeling wind move above him as massive jaws snapped shut on the space where his head had been minutes before. Shivering inwardly he smiled when he landed on a large soft plant.

'Wait, large soft plant that moves and restrains you?' he thought as the plant moved to entangle him. He relaxed and thought for a second, not wanting to panic. He wasn't one of the top students in his year for nothing, as he remembered from his Herbology exam what the plant was.

'It's Devil's Snare, hates the light, likes dark and damp. Well I know how to get out of this' he thought with a smirk just as he sent a very powerful Incendio charm at the heart of his enemy. The plant shrieked in agony as it turned to ash in seconds. Dusting himself off, Raiden moved through the room he found himself in until he came to the next room which was full of fluttering objects. Frowning, Raiden moved over to the other door, seeing as the one he'd entered through had slammed shut behind him.

'Looks like there's no way back, only forward' he thought. He tried to open the door he was in front of only to glare at it when he saw it was locked. Looking carefully at the lock he took note of what it looked like and then he knew what the fluttering objects were.

'You IDIOT they're keys!' he snarled to himself before taking one of the brooms by the wall and flying off after the right key. He knew he was searching for a silver, old fashioned one and spotted one with a bent wing that looked like what he was looking for. After about 5 minutes he grew fed up and just summoned it. Key in hand he flew down to the door, with all the rest of the keys following him like a lot of silver and brass bees.

He hurriedly opened the door, threw himself through and then closed it, hearing the multiple thuds as the keys buried themselves in the other side of the door. Turning round he breathed deeply for a few minutes, taking in his narrow escape from the demented keys of doom as he privately called them. Taking a step forward he narrowed his eyes as a huge chess board came into sight.

"Hmm, well, Sprout was the Devil's Snare, Hagrid was Fluffy, we had the keys which were Flitwick, now this, this must be McGonagall. Only Snape and Dumbledore left after this, I hope Master hasn't figured out the way to get the stone yet. Now how do I get out of this?"

Walking forward he found that he had to play the game in order to get across. The pieces were explosion proof as the young Dark Apprentice found out to his chagrin. His original plan had been to blast the pieces into rubble and go on his way. With that out of the question he had to use his chess skills to get through.

Now, Raiden had been taught to play chess by Draco and while he wasn't a stellar player, he was good enough. Taking a position as a Knight on the Black side and snickering when he thought of explaining to Voldemort that he had destroyed the Light Side in a chess game, he played the game, and won although not without a few hair raising escapes from danger. Finally though he got through and got to the Potions challenge.

"OK, well this is obviously Professor Snape's contribution, now how the hell do I get through this one," Raiden mused out loud. As he moved over to the table which held seven bottles and a piece of parchment, he heard flames erupting behind and in front of him. Frowning he looked up to see flames guarding both his exit and his way back.

"This won't do at all," he growled as he returned his attention to the parchment, swiftly gathering all the pertinent information from it. He then studied the row of bottles.

"The parchment says that two are wine, three are poison, one will get me back and one will move me forward. I need to figure out the riddle in order to get the right one."

Thinking about it carefully he finally admitted that he wasn't all that good at logic problems and decided to cheat. Looking round he spotted a spider scurrying along the wall. He summoned it with wandless magic and enlarged it so he could see the effects. After that he duplicated it so he had more than one test subject and fed the first spider a few drops of the first bottle.

Writhing in pain, the spider died horribly. Raiden raised an eyebrow. "Nasty. OK that one isn't it." He duplicated the remaining spider and then carried on. Finally he had the right bottle and held it up.

"Cheers, Professor," he said as he drained the contents. He felt a brief icy sensation in the pit of his stomach but walked forward through the flames guarding the way forward. Once he was through, he grinned in triumph and threw the bottle away.

"Now what? Oh yes, Dumbledore's protection. Hopefully Master hasn't figured it out yet."

Walking forward cautiously, he automatically silenced his footsteps and slowed his breathing, not becoming invisible but staying in the shadows which made him harder to spot. He peered round a corner to see a large room with the strange mirror in the centre of it. Quirrell was standing in front of it, muttering about getting the Stone. Raiden's eyes narrowed as he stepped forward into the light, so he could be seen clearly.

"Ah, Raiden, good of you to join us," Voldemort hissed having taken over Quirrell's body again. "I trust you've worked out the secret of this mirror so we can get the stone and I can have my body back?"

Raiden frowned. "I think I know what the mirror is, Master, but I haven't got the foggiest idea how to get the Stone out. You don't want to use it anyway."

Voldemort looked displeased. "Why don't I want to use it Raiden? If I didn't know better I'd say you came here with the express purpose of stopping me."

Raiden swallowed before saying calmly, "I did, Master. When you hear my reason though you'll understand, I hope."

Voldemort narrowed his eyes and hissed "Continue," in a menacing tone.

"I got some information from the old coot in the guise of doing research on the Stone. He told me that the stone in the mirror is not the real thing; it's an experimental, failed version which will kill the person that tries to use it, and utterly destroy their soul. I wanted to stop you before you engineered your own demise."

Voldemort frowned. "Get the stone from the mirror and I'll see if your words are true. Dumbledore could be playing a trick on you."

Raiden moved forward and looked into the mirror. He blinked as a vision of himself as an adult, standing next to Voldemort, swam into view. The mirror image of him smirked as Raiden thought 'I need the stone, I need to find the stone,' and then Raiden felt a heavy weight in his pocket.

Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a largish blood red stone, about the size of his fist. He examined it closely before finding the flaw.

"Dumbledore wasn't lying, Master, it is flawed. See this crack down the middle. The stone needs to be whole and perfect in order to work right."

Voldemort took the stone from his apprentice and examined it carefully. He snorted. "There's one way to test this," he said matter of factly before withdrawing from Quirrell's body and becoming the ghost form that Raiden was more acquainted with.

Quirrell shook his head before fixing on the stone that Raiden now held, as Voldemort's ghost form couldn't hold a physical object. Face screwed up in greed he approached the young wizard.

"GIVE ME THE STONE!" he yelled. Raiden shook his head and backed away, reaching for his wand. Quirrell moved fast though, and was on top of Raiden in seconds. As his hands wrapped round the eleven-year-old's throat he screamed and pulled away, looking at his burned hands in disbelief.

Seeing a way to destroy the traitor, Raiden lunged, wrapping one hand round Quirell's throat and the other landed squarely on his face. Then he held on grimly as Quirrell tried desperately to shake him off. This continued until the traitorous Professor had quite literally been burnt to ashes.

Raiden picked up the stone and was just about to leave when there was the sound of running footsteps. Dumbledore and Snape burst onto the scene seconds later. Voldemort concentrated briefly and forced himself to assume a non threatening appearance. He wanted to be able to watch over his apprentice without Dumbledore knowing who he really was for the moment. Raiden smiled at the two older wizards and held up the stone saying, "It's safe. Voldemort didn't get to it."

"What about Quirrell?" Dumbledore asked.

Raiden frowned. "He attacked me but my touch burned him to dust. How'd it do that?"

"You don't need to know that now, Harry, just know that it is a good thing that that happened. Was Voldemort possessing him?"

"He left when Quirrell died, Professor. Can I go to sleep now?"

Snape moved forward to catch him just as Raiden fainted. Voldemort floated up beside the Potions Master and hovered beside him as Raiden was lifted into his arms. Dumbledore noticed this and frowned.

"Who might you be?" he asked coolly.

Voldemort looked startled for a moment before replying, "My name is Orion. You might call me young Mr Potter's guardian angel of sorts. I've been watching over him ever since he was left with his relatives."

"I would have noticed your presence," Dumbledore said, not quite willing to believe Voldemort's story.

"Orion" widened his eyes slightly. "Please, Headmaster, I mean Mr Potter no harm, in fact I've helped him out of several predicaments with his relatives. Why would I do that if I meant him harm? I merely wish to accompany him to the hospital wing to assure myself that he's well taken care of. Tonight has been stressful for him."

Dumbledore examined the ghost carefully before nodding. "You may accompany Mr Potter and Professor Snape up to the hospital wing, Mr Orion. May I assume you will be staying with Mr Potter?"

Voldemort shrugged. "I'll be here if he needs me. I'm not around all the time you know. At his relatives, yes, because they'd starve and beat him if I wasn't. But here he's relatively safe, if you don't count running after maniacal Dark Lord wannabes like Quirrell."

Dumbledore nodded and then signaled for Snape to take Raiden to the hospital wing. Snape complied and Voldemort floated after them. Dumbledore was left in the chamber, wondering what it was about Orion that made him feel uneasy. Shrugging it off he climbed the stairs and left the mirror of Erised where it was. The stone he carefully destroyed.

At the end of the year feast, Dumbledore stood to make his announcements. Raiden had recovered well, and Voldemort had quietly thanked him for the course of action he had taken, although he stated it was embarrassing for Raiden to have fainted at the end. Raiden had retorted that he'd expended all his energy and needed the rest. Professor Snape had made no comment at the banter, although his eyebrows were raised and when Voldemort had disappeared, he looked thoughtfully at Raiden.

The Slytherins were in a fine mood, Gryffindor were in last place for the House Cup, while Slytherin had won not only the Quidditch cup but were about to win the House Cup as well. They quieted and looked expectantly at Dumbledore.

Dumbledore cleared his throat and began. "The end of another year and what an eventful one it has been. I'm sure you've all learnt a lot and are eager to get back home so your brains can be emptied and ready to be filled with next year's work. For our seventh years, we will be sad to see you go, but we wish you well. For all returning years, have fun over the summer.

Now onto the House Cup. In last place, we have Gryffindor, with two hundred and seventy five points. In third place, Hufflepuff with three hundred and fifty points. In second place Ravenclaw with four hundred and twenty points. And in first place Slytherin with four hundred and eighty points. Well done Slytherin."

The Hall exploded with cheering from the Slytherins and polite clapping from the other houses. Gryffindor sulked and Ron Weasley in particular glared at Raiden and his friends with hatred. Raiden merely turned round and waved mockingly which infuriated the red head even more.

Soon their trunks were all packed and they were on the way home. Raiden was silent and his friends wanted to know why. Draco sat down opposite the brooding Raiden while Daphne sat next to him. There was silence for a few minutes and then Raiden asked, "Daphne, why are you stroking my hair?"

Daphne looked not in the least bit embarrassed as she replied, "You looked tense and upset, Harry, and I've found that when I'm in that sort of mood, someone stroking my hair helps me out of it. I was hoping it would work for you too."

Raiden smiled slightly. "It does to a certain extent, Daph but I'm just depressed because I hate going home. It's not even really my home, it's just the house that I am grudgingly allowed to live in by my relatives. I wish I could stay here but that's not possible."

Draco looked thoughtful. "I'll talk to Father, Harry; maybe we can spring you from there for part of the summer at least. And if not, we can always meet in Diagon Alley. What about you Daphne?"

The girl nodded. "I might not be able to offer you the prospect of a visit, Harry, but I can say that I will owl you at least once each week, maybe more if I feel like it. Send that owl of yours, Salazar, for some exercise. And for Merlin's sake, train him not to bite people that want him to deliver mail will you. You'd think he was the Dark Lord in owl form the way he acts sometimes."

Raiden fought the snort of laughter that welled up inside him and failed. The image of his master as an owl, with black feathers, a forked tongue and malignant red eyes had crossed his mind and he couldn't get rid of it. The three friends laughed for a while before sobering up as the snack trolley came round.

At the end of the train ride they got off and grabbed their trunks. Raiden had already shrunk his and put it in his pocket. He let Salazar go with a request to fly to Privet Drive and make himself hidden in the trees. Salazar hooted and gently nibbled on Raiden's ear. Raiden was the only one that Salazar would be nice to; all others had to watch out for his talons or beak, or even both. With those taken care of, he walked through the barrier, to see Vernon, Petunia and Dudley waiting for him.

Sneering at them, he turned and said goodbye to his friends and their parents, noticing Daphne's father giving him an assessing look when Daphne hugged him and he hugged her back. It was a friendly hug, nothing more, but Raiden felt a bit unsettled at Daphne's father's reaction. Shrugging it off as her father being overprotective he left with his relatives, not seeing Draco's worried gaze behind him.

When he got back to Privet Drive, he walked upstairs to his room, and noticed lots of locks on the door. He found himself shoved roughly through the door and then it closed behind him. As he tried to turn the handle he heard the sounds of the multiple locks clicking into place and he realized that the muggles had completely locked him in.

Snarling, he yelled, "LET ME OUT YOU BLOODY BASTARDS!!!!" along with quite a few other swear words that had Voldemort growling at him mentally. Raiden banged on the door a few more times and then sat down heavily on the bed.

"At least I still have my trunk so I can do my homework," he growled. At that point Voldemort materialized and scowled at him.

"Raiden, I realize that the situation is not ideal but the language you used just now has me wishing that I could hold a wand again."

Raiden glanced warily at his master before asking, "What for?"

Voldemort glared at him. "So I could properly wash your mouth out! That language was vile even for me and I'm a Dark Lord! Kindly refrain from such language in the future please."

Raiden shrugged. "OK, Master, but really, what's next, bars on the fuc, uh windows?"

Voldemort shrugged. "Have you forgotten your wandless magic, apprentice? You can unlock doors with it you know."

Raiden stared at Voldemort in disbelief and then groaned, before smacking himself on the head. "You're right, Master, I'm an idiot. I forgot that wandless magic can't be traced. Now, I need to send a letter to Draco and Daphne, telling them of the situation. Am I to continue my martial arts lessons, Master?"

"If you wish to then certainly. However, it may be difficult to pick up where you left off. Certainly do running and other stuff to keep yourself in shape, but practice your magic as well. Don't forget your homework."

"No, Master, I won't forget that," Raiden sighed as he unshrunk his trunk and put it on the floor. A wandless unpacking charm had everything unpacked and neatly put away in minutes, although Raiden spent the rest of the time that evening doing a general tidy up of the room and getting rid of the broken down stuff that Dudley had thrown in there over the years. It took him a while but eventually his room was clean and he settled into bed tired but relatively happy, knowing that he could leave the room any time he wanted, even though the muggles had locked him in. A quiet hoot over by his window woke him and he waved his hand lazily, opening it so his owl could swoop in and settle on his perch. Another hand wave closed the window again and peace descended on Privet Drive.