Year 1 – The Philosopher's Stone

Chapter 6 – The Riddle

Chapter Summary: The holiday is nearly over, and then it will be time to return to Hogwarts where Draco is alternately clever, and artless, and things are getting busier and busier with Slytherin's second quidditch match coming up.

Author: Khodexus

Rated T: For occasional graphic concepts and atmosphere, very minor violence, and strong "wizard" language. No adult situations.

Disclaimer: I do not own any rights for the worlds or characters in Harry Potter. Those rights are owned by Scholastic Publishing Inc and J.K. Rowling. I do own the rights to my original characters depicted here, in as far as they differ from the worlds created by J.K. Rowling.

The last Saturday of the break Harry accompanied the Malfoys to London, for a Christmas party they'd been invited to, and met some more of their family friends, including Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle's parents, Barnabus Cuffe, the chief editor of the Daily Prophet, and a graying and exuberant round man named Horus Slughorn, who was already a little drunk, but seemed more interested than most to get to know Harry, and started talking to him about advanced potions, most of which was far beyond Harry's current knowledge and skill level.

It seemed to Harry that he was quickly becoming the talk of the party, though aside from Slughorn, the guests here seemed better at hiding their interest than most. He enjoyed talking to a few of the guests – once he managed to get away from Slughorn – but mostly found the atmosphere a little oppressive. As evening was setting in, he found his way to a balcony to get some fresh air, standing near the snow coated rail and looking up at the darkening sky, little flakes of frozen white gliding gently down around him.

"It can be a bit tiring, can't it?" A man had emerged behind him, and when Harry turned he found this newcomer was looking up at the sky as he had been a moment before. Clouds obscured much of the stars, but the moon was about three quarters full, and its light pierced the sky even through the weather.

"I suppose." Harry replied, looking at this guest, whom he didn't think he'd been introduced to before. "I'm sorry; I don't think I caught your name."

"How rude of me." The man's long hair shone silver in the light of the moon, but he didn't look especially old, though neither was he still young. His voice was deep and rich, and he sported a short goatee that matched his hair. "My name is Valarios Vladescu, you may call me Valarios." The name sounded exotic, but he spoke without an accent.

"I'm Harry. Harry Potter." He replied, mentally bracing himself for any reaction but the one he received.

"I know." Valarios said simply then moved next to Harry at the rail. It was a moment before he began again, "I understand you've been surprising people. Most do not seem to know what to expect from you anymore." Vladescu wasn't surprised, or awed, or any of the things Harry was used to, merely indulgent as if Harry had done something a little dull.

"I hadn't thought about that much." Harry's cheeks were a little red, and he wasn't sure how much of it was from the cold. This man was a touch unsettling, he decided. "There's still a lot I need to figure out."

"I think you'll get there. You seem clever enough. Just look at how well you're doing in potions, considering you don't get along very well with your professor. Or the accomplishment of being the youngest seeker for a house team in a hundred and twelve years? I'd say you're quite a bit ahead of many of your classmates, and that's just scratching the surface, isn't it?"

"You seem to know a lot about me."

"I consider myself to be a good judge of people, and I have a few friends on the staff at Hogwarts. They've talked a lot about you." He chuckled softly as he said it, and then turned away, "I'll leave you to your thoughts for now. I had wished to make your acquaintance, and now that I have, I'm sure we'll have more opportunity to speak in the future. Take care, and don't be afraid of taking a few risks, my young Mr. Potter. We all expect great things of you."

Then Harry was alone, left to wonder about Valarios' cryptic remarks, which made him remember another encounter at the end of July, where the wand maker had said much the same thing. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, and gasped, withdrawing his soothstone, warm to the touch. He glanced behind him at the doorway, wondering if he should be worried about this man who'd taken such an interest in him. He was soon joined by Draco, and they spent the rest of the evening discussing all the new people Harry had met, until it was time to return to the Malfoy's home. Harry didn't, however, mention Valarios to his closest friend.

Once again they were back on the train, the Christmas Holidays over all too soon. Harry and Draco waved goodbye to the Malfoys as the engine pulled out of the station to the sound of the train whistle and a great puff of steam overhead. During the trip, they played another game of chess – which Harry lost – and then they were back at Hogwarts, settling in for another term.

Classes would begin the following morning, so they made the best of their time, sorting their new things, finding out what their friends had gotten for Christmas, and avoiding Seamus, Ron, and Dean. Harry had to spend most of the afternoon at quidditch practice, but spent the rest of the evening before dinner chatting with Draco. He'd very nearly forgotten about the mysteries they'd been attempting to unravel, when Draco announced that his plan to learn about the treasure was just about ready.

"You still haven't told me what this plan is." Harry reminded him.

"I know; and I don't want to spoil it. I've just been working out the kinks, so don't worry, you'll see."

It was a few days before they had caught up enough to have any real free time. They spent one afternoon roaming the halls, talking about nothing in particular. Harry stopped Draco from practicing a new curse he'd learned on Neville Longbottom, but then they encountered a small group of Ravenclaws walking down the hall in the opposite direction they were going.

"Here we go. Watch this!" Draco said, grinning as he picked up his pace.

Draco continued before Harry could do more than think about stopping him, "Ravenclaws think they're so smart, but I could stump any one of them." He said it to Harry, but his voice was loud enough to be easily overheard.

"It's that nasty Slytherin, Grey-dope isn't it?" Said a girl several years older than them. Harry didn't want to antagonize this group, because the two of them were outnumbered, and the Ravenclaws were bigger and older to boot. But Draco ignored the insistent tugging at his sleeve.

"It's Draco." The blonde snarled, "Not that I'd expect you to remember it. Don't mind us."

Harry was growing mildly alarmed, and just hoped that Draco somehow knew what he was doing. As a precaution, he slipped his hand into his pocket to grasp his wand, and prayed fervently he wouldn't have to use it.

"You said you could stump us." The girl continued, "Well, put your money where your mouth is, or shut it. But I'd very much like to see you try."

One of her friends grinned, "This'll be good; you show 'em Sidney."

"Fine, here's a riddle for you!" Draco snarled right back, and then took a moment to compose himself, before continuing,

"I am a treasure most coveted, though not gaudy or impressive,

in fact, I can be hidden easily in the palm of your hand.

Those who can claim me guard me with their lives, power, and more,

while those who would seek me out would go to any lengths to capture me.

I am unique, with no more than a few like me in the whole world,

yet my identity is kept a secret, my keepers gain their prize without flaunting me.

What am I?"

Harry had to fight to keep his surprise from his face. He realized now this must be what Draco had been working on: a way to trick an older cleverer student into speculating on the nature of the treasure Fluffy was guarding, and he thought it sounded very good. He held his breath as Sidney considered her answer. She no longer looked angry, but genuinely interested. No Ravenclaw, it would seem, could resist a good riddle.

"When you say 'unique', that means there is only ever one. But no more than a few, implies that there might be more than one. So which is it? Do you mean that it's perfectly unique, as in there's only ever been one in all of existence, or do you mean exceptionally rare, in that you aren't likely to ever see or hear of more than one at a time?" she asked at last.

"That's part of the riddle, I'm not giving that away." Draco said hastily, since Harry guessed he didn't actually know the answer to the question.

"Fine then." She continued, her tone once more annoyed, "Is this something mythical, or something confirmed to exist?"

Harry could almost see the wheels turning in Draco's head, "Confirmed to exist." He said after a moment.

"So… not the resurrection stone… or… a djinn ring." She quieted again, everyone watched her with baited breath, even Draco, who no longer even pretended to be taunting her.

Finally she sighed, and shook her head, "Well I can think of two things it could be. The Kronos' eye, or the philosopher's stone."

"I'm surprised, guess I couldn't stump you after all." Draco offered, barely hiding his smile.

"Well, which is it?" She asked, frowning at him.

"Oh, the Kronos' eye, of course." He answered, already starting to walk away.

"Next time you're feeling self-important, you just remember that Sidney Fawcett easily overcame your challenge." She called out to them as they continued down the hall.

Once they were out of earshot, Harry asked, "Do you know what any of those are?"

Draco shrugged, "Not yet. But we'll find out soon enough. Just need to do a little research now, but I'll bet you my new broom that Fluffy's guarding one of those four things."

"Four things? You mean two?" Harry blinked.

"We should look up the resurrection stone and the djinn ring too. Just because they're not confirmed to exist doesn't mean they can't be real."

"I hope you're right, and I hope whoever's trying to steal it doesn't hear that we might be looking for it too."

And so the search began. Draco and Harry started spending some of their free time in the library looking for information on the four objects Sidney Fawcett had mentioned. They checked out books on myths, fairy tales, magical lore, and even a few newer books on more modern magical accomplishments.

The first one they found was the djinn ring. "It says here – 'The first djinn ring was created in Maghreb in North Western Africa. The secrets to the binding of a djinn to a ring are closely guarded by those few known to have possessed them. One such ring is believed to have been owned by the Emperor of China for a few generations, see MA one twenty-eight, while another, perhaps the most famous of all djinn was owned by Sultan Ababwa of Damascus, see WD three hundred…' "

"See what? What do those numbers mean?"

"Numbers?" Draco paused, and looked back over what he'd read, "References, I think, to help us find other books. Should be a glossary in the back."

"Well don't read them aloud."

"The other books could help us find more information though."

"So write down notes, but stop reading the references aloud, it's confusing."

Draco shrugged, and grabbed a sheet of parchment and dug through his stack of school supplies for a note taking quill, which – after a few false starts where Draco had to set it upright again and make sure it had enough ink – started jotting down references as he read. " 'Sultan Ababwa of Damascus, who is alleged to be the only man to ever voluntarily release a djinn from servitude. His son, Ali, spent much of his life searching for djinns and studying lore on djinn binding, and rumors persist of an unrivaled library of lore and gathered research that he built by the end of his life. But if it exists, its location remains a tantalizing mystery to historians, scholars, and treasure hunters alike.

" 'The Persian witch, Scheherazade, is perhaps the most well-known verified collector of lore on djinns, but her stories are embellished and fanciful and it is unknown how much truth they contain. The most recent encounter with a bound djinn occurred when muggle astronaut, Anthony Nelson, discovered a djinn trapped in a bottle on a deserted island after landing off course from his planned landing zone in nineteen sixty-one. The affair was hushed up by the Magical Congress of the United States of America, though the information apparently could not be entirely concealed, and some rumors persisted in muggle society for many years after.' "

"What does it do?" Harry wondered, crowding closer to look at the book.

Draco scanned down the page, and then smiled before continuing, " 'A djinn ring summons the djinn bound to it, who must do the master's bidding, even up to the fulfillment of wishes within the power of the djinn, though once three wishes are fulfilled, the djinn is released from the bearer's service forever, though it may not in the future work to harm its former master. The most powerful of the djinn can conjure great wealth, transform one person into another, and even make one's master nearly invulnerable to harm. They can influence people's thoughts and desires, and alter recent history, but they cannot bring back the dead, manufacture true and lasting love, or – contrary to popular belief – make someone immortal. They can reverse the effects of aging and ensure a wizard lives a very long life, but no more.' "

"Wow, that certainly sounds like something Snape would…"

"Or McGonagall, or someone else they were trying to stop." Draco interrupted.

"Yes… or them. It sounds like something someone would be willing to release a troll into a castle full of students in order to get at." Harry continued.

"But it's also one of the 'mythological' answers that Ravenclaw gave us." Draco frowned. "Even though this book talks about it like it's real." He turned the book over to re-read the cover, and he sighed when he realized it was entitled, 'Magical Men, Myths, and Mythology'.

"So where does that leave us?" Harry asked.

"It means – I think – that we keep looking." Draco shrugged, "Maybe once we find out about the other three we'll have better luck narrowing it down." He tapped his finger as his brow furrowed, "I'm almost certain I've heard of the resurrection stone somewhere, but I can't remember where, or when."

Harry nodded, and smiled, "And just because it says it's a myth, doesn't mean that it is, or that there isn't at least some truth to it. Do you have any idea how many things I thought were myths just a few short months ago which turned out to be real?"

They both smiled at that.

Within just a few weeks, Draco had compiled an impressive stack of notes on the books they'd found in the library, but also had owled an order for a book he felt certain would have the information they needed. It was entitled, 'Famous Artifacts of History, Myth, and Legend', and since it wasn't in the Hogwarts library, Draco purchased it from a shop called Demarcationers.

"I wonder why they don't have this one in the library." Draco grumbled as they waited for his package to arrive. "To my knowledge, it doesn't have any dark magic or anything dangerous in it."

"I'm just glad you had a catalogue for that store." Harry smiled.

"Father gave me the catalogue when I came to Hogwarts; he said if I wanted to look into something that wasn't on the curriculum I could order books from Demarcationers with it."

"You're not going to get into trouble, are you?"

"Nah, you can't even order anything restricted or forbidden, not until you're seventeen at least."

"Well, I think it's safe to say that we still have time, I'm pretty sure Fluffy wouldn't still be up in the third floor corridor if whatever it's guarding wasn't still there."

Draco couldn't argue with Harry's logic, so they turned their conversation to other topics.

It was a few more days before Draco received his book by owl post, and they immediately returned to their rooms to open the package and start reading it.

"It's got an index." Draco announced, " 'Artifacts by name.' – Let's look at Rs – 'radiance in a bottle, rainbow staff, rancid devourer flakes…' " he skimmed down the page a little further, " 'red cobalt, Reginald's redolent rowan rhetoric…' "

"What on earth is that?" Harry laughed a little, and Draco just shrugged.

"We'll look at it later." Draco assured him, " 'rent life thread, reparative unguent, ah, the resurrection stone!' "

He began turning pages, until he found the page he was looking for, leaned back against his pillows and began reading. " 'There is a stone, mentioned in far too many tales and myths to be purely fantasy, imbued with the power to erase death. Little is known about its origins, or even the specifics of its power, but it is always ascribed with the ability to bring back those its bearer knew who have passed on. Some stories, such as in the tales of Beedle the Bard…' – I knew I'd heard of it somewhere, Mother used to read those to me when I was younger." He grinned, then turned back to the page, " '…such as in the tales of Beedle the Bard, the stone is flawed, in that it brings back a shadow or ghost of the individual, and cannot return them to true life, whereas other stories insist that it can return a departed soul to its body, and that body can return to true life, provided the individual has not been dead for too long.' "

"I could see that being valuable as well." Harry interrupted, "A lot of people would kill to get it. And if they wanted, they could then bring the person back to life afterwards."

They both laughed at that for a moment. Draco composed himself first, "Definitely. We'll have to look into this more when we get back from class. It should help us find books with more detailed information on these objects, like the one I found about the djinn ring. I really hope at least one of these stands out; so far, it's hard to say which is more likely to actually be here."

Unfortunately, Harry had quidditch practice later that day, and he didn't get a chance to sit and chat with Draco until late in the evening. Their match with Ravenclaw was coming up before too long, and while they still had several weeks, Flint was pushing them hard. Harry returned to his room a bit sore and exhausted.

"Ready for the next one?" Draco asked, opening his book and propping it on his knees as soon as Harry looked mostly settled.

"Maybe we can do some more in the morning." Harry mumbled, shifting a bit to get comfortable on his bed.

"All you have to do is listen." Draco admonished, and began to read while they were still alone. " 'Kronos' eye!' " He paused for effect, but Harry just lay and listened silently. " 'The Kronos eye, also known as the Eye of Odin, in books such as…' "

"Skip references…" Harry muttered.

" 'The orb of Kronos, the seer stone, or the phoenix eye, is an object which appears in several ancient stories and myths, with subtle variations. It is described as a crystal orb no bigger than a large man's eye, and perfectly clear like a lens. Holding it to one's eye and peering through reveals the future, and it is said one can learn to control the visions the eye shows, though only with significant time and practice. It's uses vary from telling to telling, such as granting the user immunity to illusions, preventing the telling of lies or breaking of vows made in its presence, even translating any written or spoken language.' "

"Not sure how useful that would be, suppose if you can change the future you see, or maybe use it to win raffles and such." Draco mused.

"Could use it to win chess." Harry murmured sleepily.

"Yeah, you could use it to predict someone's moves. Shall I go onto the next one?"

"No, I'm really tired," Harry said through a yawn, "Tomorrow."

Draco might have said more, but if he did, Harry was too far gone to hear it. But they never found time the next day, or the next; each day busier than the last. Between the St. Valentines holiday, studying for quizzes and exams, checking on their potions, and Harry's quidditch practice, they were getting swamped. Draco started spending time reading his book on his own when Harry wasn't around, and summarizing what he'd read when Harry had a little bit of time between classes. Harry wondered idly on some of his nights, if other students were working as hard as he was.

" 'The philosopher's stone is considered the ultimate expression of alchemy.' " Draco read to Harry one night. " 'Only a handful of wizards throughout history have been confirmed or rumored with the knowledge and capability to make one, perhaps the most famous of which is Nicolas Flamel, the six hundred year old French alchemist whose other achievements include working with Leonardo de Vinci on the creation of the De Vinci Time Gate and the creation of the first Grand Materia, magical crystals that can capture and amplify the essence of even the most powerful of spells. The philosopher's stone is a necessary reagent in the creation of the elixir of life, a potion which makes the drinker immortal and unaging. It is also used in advanced transmutation, such as in turning lead into gold, or repairing incorrectly brewed potions…'

"This thing really does sound like something Snape would love to get his hands on." Draco admitted in a low tone.

"It does sound that way." Harry agreed. "Then again who wouldn't want eternal life? Still, it might require someone truly skilled in potion making to make full use of a philosopher stone, while the other artifacts seem pretty useful just as they are."

"Good point." Draco nodded, "You know, there's a book I think talks about Nicholas Flamel in the library, but the last time I checked, it was checked out, and has been the whole term."

"That's interesting! You don't suppose whoever's trying to get past fluffy has that book?"

"It's certainly possible." Draco agreed, "Maybe we can find out who checked it out?" They continued speculating until they fell asleep.

The teachers started giving them extra homework, even with Slytherin's next quidditch match rapidly approaching, and both Harry and Draco found they were spending more and more time in the library, along with quite a few other students. They grabbed books on the four artifacts whenever they found them, but barely had time to look them over as they studied for their upcoming exams.

The djinn ring was very potent and powerful, they agreed, but it also seemed fully powerful enough to stop someone trying to steal it, especially if you knew they were making the attempt. Similarly, the Kronos' eye should allow one to predict when someone was trying to steal it as well. With those things in mind they focused on the resurrection stone and the philosopher's stone.

Hermione Granger was almost always in the library between classes, often with her friend Parvati Patil. Draco held his tongue, but it was obvious there was something about Hermione that he found highly distasteful. Harry was afraid to ask.

Things came to a head in the middle of March, the day before the Slytherin versus Ravenclaw game. Hermione had been bumping into them more and more frequently, and had been getting a little nosey. At first she had asked Harry if he was looking for something specific, he assured her he was just browsing. But when she bumped into Draco carrying a book on the history of necromancy (for information on the resurrection stone), she very pointedly asked him, "You're doing research on something aren't you? You should be focusing on exams, they're not too far off, and you don't want to fall behind, especially not for something like necromancy, I know I wouldn't want to fall behind, you won't even be allowed to return to school your second year if you don't do well on the exams, you're studying with Harry right, I ran into him just the other day, he wasn't looking up class material either, I really think that if you…"

Draco had tried to duck past her, and started walking away, but she followed, still talking, while Draco turned a bit red in the face. He was trying not to get into fights or be too nasty to other people – around Harry at least – but it seemed he'd finally reached his limit this time, "I don't care what you think, Mudblood!" he shouted all of a sudden, and in the next moment, the library went deathly quiet! Hermione looked shocked, and horribly offended. But even though Harry had no idea what the term 'mudblood' meant, from the look on Hermione's face it was definitely bad. Very bad. He couldn't remember ever seeing Hermione silent for that long unless her nose was in a book.

When the silence stretched, Draco continued, "Don't you ever shut up? Why don't you just go back home, and leave magic to those who know what they're doing?!" His normally pale face the color of beets.

"Draco, that's enough!" Harry stood up, his studying forgotten, and shouted at his friend, but the damage had been done, Hermione fled, and Harry thought he heard a sob.

Parvati and Lavender Brown rushed after her and a moment later the librarian, Madam Pince, stormed up to them, as angry as Draco had been a few moments before. "What is the meaning of this?" she scolded in a whisper sharp enough to carry clearly across the entire library. "Out of my library right now, and leave those, you can find another place to study. Go!"

She shooed Draco out, with Harry right behind, and he turned swiftly on his friend the moment they were in the corridor. "The hell was that, Draco?!" Harry growled, "Now they may never let us back in the library; we won't find out anything more about the stones, and how are we going to study for exams? Bloody brilliant! I'd like to know how you could have possibly botched things for us any more."

"It's not my fault, it's that bossy Granger, she's always poking her nose in other people's business, and I just got tired of it."

"Well, you really showed her! We're the ones banned from the library! What was that you called her anyways?" Harry was walking quickly back towards their dorms, in a foul mood, with Draco trotting to keep up.

"Oh, um…" Draco was suddenly sheepish.

Harry frowned at him. "It's something really nasty, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it's a term for someone muggle born." Draco sighed, "And yes, it's nasty, but I'm not sorry I called her that, she's not much of a witch, and she's a disgrace to the purity of…"

"My mother was muggle born!" Harry snarled.

"I… I… I didn't mean that you…"

"Look, I don't want to hear it. If you're going to pick fights, can't you at least do it where we're not going to get in trouble?"

"I hardly ever get us into trouble…" Draco protested, "It's her fault, she shouldn't even be here. My father's been trying to get…"

"I said I don't want to hear it!" Harry stormed off, and grabbed a few books from his trunk, and ignored Draco on his way back out through the common room.

He found an empty classroom, made sure Peeves wasn't lurking about, then sat down to study. As hard as he tried, he just couldn't keep his mind on his books. He didn't speak to Draco the rest of that day, and didn't sit by him at dinner either, instead sitting between Blaise Zabini, and Gemma Farley, who both seemed happy to have him there. They chatted mostly about the upcoming quidditch game, and how they sincerely hoped to trounce Ravenclaw. It helped Harry's mood a little, but he and Draco still weren't speaking when they retired for bed. Harry lay awake a long time, his anger simmering, too restless to sleep. Finally he got up and wrapped his invisibility cloak around himself before heading back to the library to finish some of his studying in secret.

The next morning Harry was exhausted and nervous, but also excited. He'd been practicing for months, and he was looking forward to the quidditch match. He wasn't nearly as anxious as he had been the first match, as he had a much better idea now what to expect. The day was chilly, and cloudless, the sky more of a cold grey than a vibrant blue. Harry marched onto the field with his team, and looked across at the Ravenclaw players. They seemed fairly evenly matched, and this time Harry could put names to the entire team.

The Ravenclaw captain was a 5th year boy named Duncan Inglebee. He and another boy named Jason Samuels played as beaters. As Harry had seen during the Ravenclaw versus Hufflepuff game just before Christmas, their keeper – a boy named Malcom Sanders – was very good. They also had a brand new seeker this year, a 2nd year girl named Cho Chang, who was even smaller than Harry, and rather skinny with a boyish figure. He'd seen her fly and thought she was amazing, but he doubted her Comet 260 would keep up with his Wind Chaser.

"And they're up!" Lee Jordan announced, his voice amplified once more by magic to carry throughout the stadium. Harry rose up above the other players, and noticed Cho doing the same, watching him just as he was watching her.

As in their previous match, Flint was ruthless and even a little mean, earning Ravenclaw a penalty shot before the game had really even begun via a thinly disguised "accidental" elbow to the jaw. Trenton Sif made the shot easily, and players from both teams took their starting positions once again. As the match drew on, it became evident just how solid Ravenclaw's defense was; Slytherin's chasers were having a hard time just getting the quaffle on Ravenclaw's side of the field.

"Kempston steals the quaffle!" Lee Jordan cried. So far Slytherin hadn't even gotten a shot on goal. The Slytherin team's frustration was obvious, and they were more and more resorting to cheap shots, taunts, and hard play. "Samuels' bludger just knocked Flint from his broom. Kempston takes the shot, Bletchley dives, but he's too late, Ravenclaw scores! Ravenclaw now leads sixty to zero!"

Adrian Pucey had made a hard cut to intercept Sarah Kempston, but was a second too late, merely adding a penalty. The penalty shot was good and a time out was called by a wincing Flint from the ground.

Flint held his arm close as he stood by his broom, but brushed off the pain to address his team huddling close. "Look, there is no way we are going to win this game if we lose our cool. We need to focus on smart play, and that means no more taunts, and NO MORE FOULS!"

"But, in practice, you said…" Lucian Bole protested.

"I know what I said. But they're too good at scoring, we can't afford these penalty shots. We've got to focus on SMART fouls, or no fouls at all, got it? And Harry! We are going to need that snitch!"

Madam Hooch stepped into the huddle at that point, and asked, "Mister Flint, I presume by the look of your arm that I need to turn this into an injury time out, and you'll be sending in your reserve chaser?"

"Yeah," Flint said reluctantly and called in Urquhart as a substitute while Hooch called for Snape to look at Flint's arm.

Three more times Lee called out Ravenclaw's scores and Harry felt a little dread creep into his stomach. A shut-out would be downright humiliating, but at least Slytherin hadn't been penalized for any more fouls. Finally, Terrence got the quaffle past Ravenclaw's chasers, beaters, and Sanders' impenetrable defense, "Inglebee just checked Higgs, but his shot is good. Slytherin is on the board." Lee described the events as Harry watched. "Higgs makes the penalty shot, Slytherin scores again, now trailing a hundred to twenty!" He said with just a little more enthusiasm, seeming to take a certain satisfaction in the fact that it had taken Slytherin this long just to start scoring.

Sanders was beside himself – as if he'd just lost the game instead of only two shots – even though the score now stood at 100 to 20. Flint returned to the field after the penalty shot and the entire team's morale seemed to be restored.

Slytherin – back under Flints direction – started playing more like a team, making timely passes to keep the quaffle in their control, and away from the Ravenclaw's chasers. With their renewed fervor, Slytherin was able to continue scoring.

Harry – in the meantime – had only caught glimpses of the snitch, or a flash out of the corner of his eye that might have been the snitch, but Cho hadn't made any sudden moves indicating she might have seen it either. Harry had only spotted it at the beginning of the game and during time outs, but during plays, it just vanished. He began to wonder if the snitch had been hexed or otherwise misenchanted. It wasn't very likely that that could have happened and no one noticed, but then, who would be looking except he and Cho.

So Harry started watching his rival seeker. She didn't seem befuddled, but just kept flying a steady figure eight pattern, looking left, right, up, down, and then at Harry. Left, right, up, down, Harry. Left, right, up, down, Harry. Very methodical; only Cho's glances at Harry started getting longer. Left, right, up, down, Haaarrry. Harry hadn't realized just how intense Cho's eyes could be. But suddenly she dropped altitude, circling with obvious intent. He followed, trying to find whatever had caught her attention, and then he saw the snitch, just for a moment, and it was no where near Cho.

"Potter may have spotted the snitch!" Lee announced as Harry turned his broom and put on speed to go after it, looking around to spot where it had gone. "And Chang is right on his tail!" But neither of them caught sight of it again, and they both had to return to the search, Cho with her figure eight and Harry to his random gliding. Being seeker was 30 minutes of boredom interspersed with 30 second periods of pure adrenaline, he decided.

He looked to the scoreboard, and was happy to see Slytherin had not only held their own but had started closing the gap. 150 points to 90, "Sif Scores, Ravenclaw leads one sixty to ninety!" Lee called just at that moment as Harry watched the board change. He went back to searching, and dodged out of the way of a bludger hit in his direction by Inglebee. He had heard that school snitches – already much slower than professional ones – continually reduced speed during the course of a match. Maybe someone had swapped theirs with a professional snitch, he mused.

"Chang's spotted the snitch!" Jordan crowed, bringing Harry's attention forcibly back to the game. The announcer was obviously rooting against the Slytherin team, just as he had their previous match. Harry sped upwards towards Cho, and found she really had noticed the snitch while he'd been checking the score and lost in his own thoughts. He was closing the distance, but he wasn't going to get there in time. Suddenly, Peregrine Derrick slammed into her from one side, and she spun out of control.

Harry was so shocked, he lost what little time he might have had to react. "That cheater rammed Chang, and she's hit Potter!" Jordan announced as Harry and his rival impacted painfully. He lost his grip on his broom, and next he knew they were falling together, Chang's eyes wide as the laces on her glove caught on Harry's robe. She screamed, while Harry tried to shift his weight, to reach out and grab his broom, but only ended up starting them both spinning. He managed to touch the wind chaser with his boot, and somehow his foot ended up in the stirrup after that slight contact. In the next moment his hand closed on Cho's wrist and Harry, Cho and broom continued to plummet to the ground.

With great effort, Harry reached up with his free hand while pulling his caught foot closer to his body and grabbed his broom. They all slowed, and not a moment too soon. Harry saw stars as they hit the grass with a whump, all in a heap. There was a roaring in his ears – from his head or from the crowd, he wasn't sure. Time seemed to stop, and he didn't know how long he lay there, but gradually became aware that Madam Hooch was standing above him, speaking.

"…just stunned I think." She was saying, to no one in particular. He saw Marcus Flint and several of the other Slytherins standing or hovering close as well. Flint must have called a time out for him.

"Is Cho?" Harry croaked, remembering what had happened, and how he'd ended up on the ground and blacked out.

"I'm fine, Harry." She told him, looking embarrassed but fierce standing a little ways away with the rest of her team.

He sat up and shook his head, finding he wasn't really dizzy, mostly his chest hurt a bit, but he thought he could go back into the game. He had to; they had no reserve seeker after all.

"Can you fly, Potter?" Flint asked him, and he nodded.

"Let's get you back into the game then." He grinned, and helped Harry to his feet.

"That Wind Chaser saved you." Madam Hooch told him, "You might have broken something, falling from that height, and I saw how you caught your broom with your foot, you wouldn't have been able to do that with most brooms, but that one's got hands-free charms."

"I thought that sounded useful." Harry smiled and mounted up, and then Hooch resumed the game. Cho Chang seemed much better off than he was, but hadn't he landed on top of her? He would have to ask about it later. Cho missed her penalty shot though, so the score stayed 160 to 90. Maybe she was more shaken than she had let on.

Soon he was putting the incident from his mind, though he noticed that Peter Connolly was playing instead of Peregrine Derrik. Hooch had evidently not liked his foul, and it looked like he might be sitting out the rest of the game. So much for Flint's 'no more fouls', Harry thought. On the other hand, had Derrik not fouled, Cho would have almost assuredly caught the snitch and won the game for Ravenclaw, by a landslide no less. Harry suddenly understood what Flint had meant when he'd said they needed 'smart' fouls. Even if Derrik was ejected from the game; that, was a smart foul.

Ravenclaw continued their steady scoring, and Slytherin would answer with a score of their own, almost, but not every time. Ravenclaw was clearly a solid team, with great chasers, an even better keeper, and an obviously talented seeker in Cho. Harry hoped he could best her, but the way things were going he was no longer quite so confident. At least Slytherin's beaters seemed to be doing better than Ravenclaw's.

The gap in their scores was gradually widening again. Harry realized that if Ravenclaw pulled ahead too much further, even catching the snitch might not win the game for Slytherin. Time passed, with both Harry and Cho catching sight of the snitch but neither able to catch it before it disappeared again to wherever it hid when they weren't chasing it.

Harry became increasingly uncomfortable whenever he made eye contact with Cho, so he decided to just concentrate on finding the snitch and being aware enough to dodge chasers and bludgers. He also kept a little further away from Cho, and that ultimately paid off; when he finally spotted the snitch, Cho wasn't nearly close enough to catch up to him before he swiped it out of the air in the middle of a high speed corkscrew maneuver.

The cheers were louder than last time, but there were still a lot of the crowd screaming or booing their disappointment. Harry's team was elated, and praised him as well as the others who'd made the win possible, including Derrick for 'saving' the snitch from Cho. He saw Cho, sort of hovering outside the press of Slytherins, like maybe she wanted to congratulate or thank him personally, but whatever her intent, it was not to be – at least not at that moment; the Slytherins were in full celebratory riot.

The victory party after the match had lost a little of its novelty for Harry, and this time he didn't sit with Draco, at least not at first.

"Harry." Draco approached him part of the way through the celebration, looking a bit nervous. Harry sighed, and turned to face him, "Congratulations…" He blurted out, but when Harry's expression became slightly stern, he quickly added, "Oh, and I'm sorry about the library."

"Thanks." Harry forced a smile. He really didn't want to stay mad at Draco, especially not when he was still enjoying his victory. "Come on, sit down, we can put that behind us." He added, patting the seat beside him on the bench.

"That was amazing, the way you got your broom under control." Draco was saying.

"It was the hands-free charms." Harry explained, in case Draco hadn't guessed.

"I know, and you saved the Ravenclaw seeker. You're making a habit of this sort of heroics, bet you she's going to come thank you tomorrow and blush all over you just like Katie Bell did." He teased.

"You would bring that up, wouldn't you?" Harry growled. "At least Katie Bell was nice. Cho Chang is kind of scrawny and mostly glared at me after we landed."

"You like her! A Gryffindor, and a girl, and you LIKE her!"

"What?!" Harry was shocked, and blushing even harder, "No, she's… she's…" Harry couldn't think of any words to describe the dark haired witch that wouldn't sound like a compliment so he shut up.

"I knew it, you like a girl!" Draco cried, and laughed, singing, "Potter's got a crush on Bell!" drawing jeers and laughs from nearby Slytherins.

"I'm going to go study some more." Harry muttered, getting up and heading out the door. Draco didn't follow right away, but Harry didn't object when he sat next to him after a while in the nearly empty Slytherin common room, and pulled out some of his books.

"It says here, when juicing hard shelled nuts or seeds, it can help to crush them with the flat of your knife, instead of trying to cut them open." Harry read aloud from his book: "Secrets of Potion Masters and Alchemists".

"Really? That sounds interesting, I wonder if that would have helped with our effervescence potions." Draco leaned across and scanned the page a bit, then went back to his own book.

Harry continued reading, and took notes as he read, particularly anything that might help on any of their potions work. He was yawning by the time he realized he was just reading, and no longer taking notes, finding the subject fascinating. He started, as he read a very familiar but unexpected word, then sat up straighter and caught Draco's attention. "Draco, listen to this?!"

Draco turned to regard him as Harry read, " 'The elixir of life is a wondrous and nearly mythical potion invented by a fourth century Egyptian alchemist named Zosimos, who was the first creator of the philosopher's stone, the single most important – and elusive – reagent in the elixir's creation. In its least refined state the potion reverses the effects of aging, and grants the drinker prolonged life. Refined techniques learned in more recent centuries have improved the various formulae, though the creation of the philosopher's stone is still a closely guarded secret by the only living alchemist known to be capable of crafting it. The recipe used by Nicolas Flamel and his wife Perenelle for the last few centuries grants not just extended youth and life, but also improved natural healing, and can restore lost limbs, or even regenerate a person from near death, or dismemberment…' – That's kind of gruesome…" Harry paused, grimacing.

"Lovely thought that." Draco offered to fill in Harry's pause. "It sounds more… reliable than the resurrection stone, that's for sure. And in some ways more powerful than the djinn ring, since most djinns can't bring people back to life, though I get the feeling the elixir of life wouldn't work on a ghost."

"Yeah… How would they drink it?" Harry chuckled.

"Oh there's spells for that, I hear, to allow ghosts to be effected by certain spells and potions."

"Oh." Harry blushed, and then shrugged. "We shouldn't rule out the others, but it's sounding more and more like the stone might be the one that's really here."

He continued reading aloud a little longer, but soon put the book away so they could head to dinner. When they returned and were getting ready for bed, Harry asked Draco, "I wanted to ask you earlier; what is it about Hermione Granger that upsets you so much? Is it just that she's bossy, nosey, and talks too much? …It's not that she's muggle born… is it?"

Draco grumbled, and didn't answer for a long moment, "Well… she is muggle born." He said at last, and before Harry could ask what that had to do with it he added swiftly, "Muggle born witches and wizards don't know our ways, they bring shame to pureblooded wizards like the Malfoys, the Blacks, and even the Potters, it's just not right, letting them take opportunities that are meant for real wizards who've been doing this for generations. Father says they shouldn't even be allowed to attend Hogwarts. They really need to know their place, and…"

"Stop it." Draco finally noticed Harry's dark look, "You sound just like my cousin Dudley, and he's just about the biggest prat I've ever known."

"I'm not…"

"You hate her just because of who her parents are, Draco. And that's wrong."

"It's not just that, she's a bossy know-it-all, and…"

"And what?" Harry scowled, "Do you have any idea what its like to be picked on, for no other reason than where you come from? The Dursleys hate that I'm a wizard, they never told me because they hoped they could beat it out of me. They hated my mum and dad; her own sister hated her because she was a witch. Dudley picks on me, and gets his friends to pick on me too. And why? Because of who and what my parents were."

"How can they…" Draco fumed, sitting up straighter and glaring, but not at Harry. In a way Draco's outrage made Harry feel a bit better, but Draco wasn't quite finished yet, "It's not… I can't…" He struggled to find the right words to express his fury, which was plainly written on his face.

"That's… impossible!" Draco finally got out.

"What is?" Now it was Harry's turn to be confused.

"You're a wizard, Muggles can't do anything to you, how did… why did you let them get away with that?"

"Let them?" Harry squeaked, shocked at the very idea that he'd ever been given a choice. "I only just found out I was a wizard last summer, remember? I never knew any spells or had anyone to show me. Every time I did anything 'funny' Uncle Vernon would punish me, I was afraid of my magic, before I even knew I had it. Uncle Vernon even tried to keep my Hogwarts letter from me; he tore up hundreds of them before Hagrid managed to give me one in person."

"That's outrageous!" Draco sounded just like his father Lucius when he said that, "You should… er… get back at them, you're a wizard; you could do plenty to make them regret ever crossing you, put them in their place!" Draco obviously thought this was a perfect solution, his face stern with righteous indignation as he nodded approval at his own idea, but Harry shook his head. "I'll write to my father." Draco continued, "He'll take care of them for you."

"How am I any better than them if I use my magic to be nothing more than a bully?" Harry frowned, and sighed.

"But… Of course you're better. It's wrong; letting them do that. You have to stop it. If we were allowed to do magic out of school I'd go with you and help you curse them."

"Then you'd be no better than a bully. I've already gotten mad at you for bullying Hermione, I don't need you threatening my family."

"I'm not like that, and they're nasty to you, how can you defend them, they're not even magic?"

"You do act like that, Draco, maybe not all the time, but around Hermione, and sometimes around Ron or Seamus, you act like a bully, and your friends Crabbe and Goyle do too. The Dursleys may not be very nice, but they are my family, the only family I've got left, anyways."

"I don't think I'm a bully…" Draco insisted, screwing up his face like he'd just tasted a very tart lemon. "If anyone's a bully, they are. All of them, the Dursleys, Ron, Seamus, the lot! They deserve whatever we give them. But… you want me to just… let them get away with all that?"

"No." Harry ground his teeth, he felt like he wasn't phrasing himself well, "Just… don't pick fights, and stop attacking Hermione, even if she is bossy, it's just… it's just not right."

Draco sighed, and growled, and grumbled, but finally agreed, "Fine, I'll try to be… to be nice… but I still don't like her."

"You don't have to." Harry nodded, and sighed, starting to feel a bit less tense now that Draco was beginning to see reason, "But don't go picking fights just because you don't like her; Seamus and Ron start things, but Hermione doesn't."

Draco looked thoughtful at that, and finally nodded, "You're right Harry; Seamus and Ron are just bullies, but I'm better than that, I'm sorry for being so rotten, I just… never thought of it that way."

"I'm sorry for getting angry." Harry gave Draco a weak smile. "I just really can't stand things like that, 'specially not from my best friend. I guess that's why I get so mad when I see people picking on Neville, or Hermione, when I've never seen them do anything to deserve it."

"That does makes sense." Draco smiled back a little, "We'll do something to make it better, I won't try to get your family cursed, but maybe you can spend the summer with my family, wouldn't that be great?"

This time Harry's smile was much warmer. "I'd really like that, Draco, you're the best!" then he chuckled and added, "Most the time anyways."

"Oh leave it. I said I'll do better. You know, you're really smart; I haven't thought about half the things you do."

Harry blushed a little, "Thanks." He muttered, "Let's go to sleep, I'm pretty tired." Blaise had just walked in, and he really didn't want to continue this private conversation with an audience, plus he was physically drained from the quidditch match and emotionally drained from fighting yet again. "Sleep well." He added as the others drifted one by one into their room.

Author's Comments: I've been working on this one for quite some time, and it seems to be really coming into its own now. In particular, Seru Crescent and Illusor Maeneld have encouraged me to work on this when I wasn't sure if it was worth the effort. I apologize for how long it's taken me to get this chapter up, my editors have been unavailable for the most part since summer last year, but I've finally worked out a much better system for getting these finished (bribing my editors with food, and holding them captive audience at restaurants), and I think this may just be my best and most refined chapter to date. Hopefully it'll only be a few more weeks before I get the next chapter up.

Enjoy!

EDIT: And another chapter revised. Not sure I had much major to edit in here, but there were a lot of little things that I felt could be improved, hopefully you'll appreciate the effort, but if you can't tell the difference, or are reading for the first time, then I just hope you enjoy the reading. Cheers!

Once again the copyrights for the Harry Potter worlds belong to J.K. Rowling. All original characters depicted here and this story are copyrighted to me.