Year 1 – The Philosopher's Stone
Chapter 8 – The Beginning of the End
Chapter Summary: The end of the year is fast approaching, and with it, Slytherin's final Quidditch game, and of course… exams.
Author: Khodexus
Rated T: For graphic concepts and descriptions, and dark atmosphere. No cussing, 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 little Norwegian Ridgeback was gone, but Harry kept thinking about him even as he prepared for Slytherin's final Quidditch match of the year. When Saturday came, he was actually able to eat breakfast, and found himself once again on the quidditch pitch, this time facing off against eleven tall Hufflepuff players.
"Hufflepuff has to beat us by a hundred points in order to have a chance at the cup." Flint had informed them in the locker rooms. "If we can win this match we'll have a straight shot, so long as Ravenclaw doesn't thrash Gryffindor too badly."
Harry knew that a win here could also help them recover the lead for the house cup, since quidditch victories were factored into house points at the end of the year.
"It's your last game this year." Madam Hooch told them all as they faced each other, "So let's keep it friendly, and safe. Captain Henderson, Hufflepuff is counted as visitors for this match, so you call the toss. Heads or beasts?"
The Hufflepuff captain, Laura Henderson, called beasts, and when the knut landed in Hooch's waiting hand, she echoed her, "Beasts! Which goal will you defend, Laura?"
"We'll take the South goal, always a favorable wind from that direction this time of year." She announced, and smiled at her team as the 14 players who were starting took to the air, and into the now familiar opening formation. They waited as Hooch released the snitch and the bludgers then launched the quaffle high into the air between Flint and Henderson.
"Henderson takes the quaffle, and dashes past Flint! She passes to Cadwallader, and she… Higgs intercepts, Slytherin has the quaffle…!" Lee Jordan's voice carried across the stadium as Harry rose and immediately began circling wide around the perimeter of the field.
Harry kept an eye on his rival seeker, a third year boy this time, named Cedric Diggory. He was grateful Draco wouldn't be able to tease him about any more girls liking him if he somehow 'saved' Cedric too, but he put that thought aside to concentrate on the match.
"…Macavoy steals it back, and makes the first score…!" Lee Jordan shouted excitedly, once again favoring the team playing against Harry. But Harry steeled himself. He had a job to do, and he was determined to focus as he never had before. He heard and saw the other players, but it was almost as if it were happening somewhere far off. Almost, but not quite.
He was forced to dodge a bludger, and the beater who'd come after it, as he searched the skies above and the fields below him for a glint of gold while weaving back and forth. "…Pucey dodges a bludger, and Macavoy, but Henderson checks… no wait, he got his shot off, Fleet misses the block. No! Slytherin's on the board…" Harry could only shake his head at Lee's obvious bias as announcer, even though he could hear McGonagall's voice occasionally trying to remind him to keep it 'fair'.
"…Henderson passes to Macavoy, who passes back to Henderson, Henderson dodges Derrik's bludger. Pass to Cadwallader, then Macavoy again, then to, no wait Macavoy shoots, but Bletchley blocks…!" Lucian Bole saved Harry from one of the vicious bludgers, but then Hufflepuff beater, Maxine O'Flaherty, knocked the same heavy ball towards Miles Bletchley, just as Laura Henderson came in for another shot at the goal. "…Henderson scores…!"
Harry continued to circle, but slowed a little when Terrence Higgs came his way a few moments later with the quaffle, and shouted, "Potter!" while pointing past Harry's shoulder. Harry turned, and saw Cedric Diggory flying almost on an intercept course towards him. He weaved out of the way then lay along his broom to follow him at speed while scanning the air ahead for the snitch. "…Diggory has spotted the Snitch, but Potter's right on his tail…" Jordan announced.
After a moment Harry wondered if there was some mistake and slowed just a little. Cedric glanced back at him grinning, and his expression told a sheepish Harry that the maneuver had been nothing but a ruse, and Harry had fallen for it.
Red faced, Harry banked off, and renewed his search, flying above the stands, noting that Terrence or one of the other Slytherin chasers had scored while he'd been briefly distracted. The day was warm enough that even at this altitude he was sweating lightly. He wiped at his brow with his glove and glanced briefly across the field. He could spot Hagrid easily in the stands, and if he'd taken the time to look he was certain he would be able to pick out Draco's blonde hair below him without much difficulty as well.
"…Macavoy has the quaffle, she dodges Flint, and a bludger and… she scores, another ten points for Hufflepuff!..." Jordan cried.
"Come on, let's do this!" Harry muttered under his breath, offering quiet encouragement to himself and his team. "For Slytherin. And the cup!" He added, smiling. Harry noted that the Hufflepuff's beaters were timing their bludger strikes to send them at the Slytherin keeper when their chasers were approaching the goal. He hoped his teammates would find a good counter for that strategy.
Slytherin was starting to score more and more regularly, but Hufflepuff was really good at penalty shots. With how fond most of Harry's team was of fouling, that meant they were increasing their lead at little more than a snail's pace. Harry's search pattern widened, as he winced and mentally chided his teammates for every penalty shot the Hufflepuff's made, particularly since the Slytherin team had yet to be fouled even once. Nor were any of the Hufflepuff players cleverly drawing fouls as some of the Ravenclaws or Gryffindors had.
It was a while before Harry spotted the snitch, but it was still far too early in the game in his mind to collect it. It hovered above the Ravenclaw section of the stands and he had to restrain the impulse to chase it down, and instead quickly located Cedric.
The smile on his face widened as he realized exactly what he was going to do. He gripped his broom, and turned in a narrow loop to face downward, settling into a nose dive right past the hovering Madam Hooch. "…Potter's spotted the snitch!" he heard Jordan's commentary, and listened intently hoping he already knew what the next line would be, "Diggory is hot on Potter's tail, they're… they're gonna crash!" but Harry pulled up just in time to avoid even brushing the grass, rising back into the air a little ways and looking down at Cedric below him. He seemed to just be realizing, he'd fallen for the same ruse he'd used on Harry a little earlier, and Harry couldn't hold back his telltale grin.
Harry's gaze quickly returned to the stands, and as he'd expected, the snitch was gone, but he also knew Cedric could find it at any moment.
Flint had taken advantage of Harry's distraction to score once more against Hufflepuff, putting them ahead 120 to 80. Harry resumed his circling, staying a bit lower than usual this time, hoping to be able to hold Cedric off long enough for his team to really increase their lead. "…Flint passes to Higgs! Higgs fakes out Henderson, he shoots, Fleet goes to block, Higgs scored another one for Slytherin…!" Harry heard Lee distantly. Part of him wished he could tune him out completely, but then, he supposed it helped him keep up with what was going on; if he could just learn to keep his eyes looking for the snitch and let his ears tell him what everyone else was doing. "…Cadwallader passes to… no wait, Higgs just intercepted and, and Fleet misses the block, Higgs scored again?!" Lee was, of course, aghast at yet another Slytherin score. "…It looks like Hooch called a foul on Pucey for roughing the keeper. Higg's shot is waved off…!" Harry glanced at where Pucey was, and frowned. Higgs was one of the few Slytherins who seemed to avoid fouls. "…Macavoy lines up her penalty shot. She shoots, is it…? No! Bletchley blocks it. Slytherin still leads one-thirty to eighty"
Harry didn't know if another feint would work if he spotted the snitch again, and he worried that Cedric would find it first. The Hufflepuff seeker seemed to really know what he was doing. Harry widened his search pattern yet again, but schooled himself not to show his excitement should he spot the snitch.
A quick glance periodically told him that Slytherin was indeed increasing their lead; though Hufflepuff wasn't going down without a fight. A time out was called when Lucian Bole took a bludger to the face, and had to be taken to the hospital wing. That left Slytherin team with no remaining reserve players, as two of their starters had been benched for fouls already. Harry wondered if he'd ever come to terms with the viciousness of some of his teammates, especially Marcus Flint, who would usually take any opportunity to incapacitate an opposing player even if it meant earning a penalty for their team.
As Peter Connolly readied himself to take over for Lucian, Flint addressed the huddled players. "C'mon guys; Connolly is a pretty solid beater. His… cousin is it? Plays for Ireland. We're doing well, and we're going to keep doing well. Let's give them hell, and end this with a bang. We've run out of reserves, so we need to ease off of the fouls until Pucey can get back in the game. We don't want to have to play short-handed. Harry, it's time to get that snitch so they don't outlast us. Their chasers have stamina, if nothing else, let's get back out there and win the cup!"
Harry agreed, but secretly thought he should still wait a little longer to see if they could increase their lead even more.
Marcus scored a few times, and remarkably, Hufflepuff wasn't awarded any more penalty shots.
Another twenty minutes passed, and Adrian Pucey was released from sitting out. Almost immediately, Flint managed to ram Cedric when he thought he'd spotted the snitch, but the Hufflepuff seeker seemed to be made of stern stuff, and he got right back into the game after making his penalty shot.
Harry spotted the snitch twice, and each time his rival wasn't close enough to see it, so he didn't pursue it. Suddenly, Hooch's whistle sounded out, and play ceased. Harry descended with his teammates and alighted near Flint. "Was there another foul? What's the time out for?"
"You didn't know? Oh, we get a fifteen minute stretch every two hours for Hogwarts quidditch. Professional teams typically go longer." Harry nodded, then drank down a large mug of water brought to him by a Slytherin fan, and waved at Hagrid before taking to the air once more.
Slytherin was leading by a lot now, with the scoreboard reading 230 to 140. The rest allowed them to get back into the game with renewed vigor, and the Hufflepuff captain, Laura Henderson, who'd been knocked from her broom a little earlier was able to return to play as well.
Both teams let their reserve keepers play – since neither starting keeper had had a break – and Harry hoped Graham Montague would be able to hold onto their lead the way Miles Bletchley had been. Almost right away Harry noticed the fresh keepers seemed to be holding out just fine against the weary chasers. Cedric Diggory even took a break and allowed his reserve seeker, Heather Bennet to play for a few minutes in his stead.
Harry felt a surge of panic when Heather streaked across the edge of his vision a few minutes later. He immediately gave chase, scanning the air ahead for the snitch. He saw it right in her path, and gasped, wondering what he would do. "…Bennett's on the snitch, with Potter right behind, he's catching up but can he…?" Jordan's voice seemed distant as Harry focused on his target. Heather's broom was only a little slower than his, and he didn't think he'd catch up to the weaving snitch before she did, so in a moment of shear panic, he reached out, and grabbed his opponent's broom tail.
"…Potter blagged Bennett!" Jordan screamed in glee; seeming to gain particular excitement from Harry's first foul, or perhaps he just relished the idea that Hufflepuff would get yet another penalty shot – which Heather easily scored – while both teams regarded Harry, who looked down guiltily. He hadn't really meant to foul her, but he'd reacted instinctively. Her teammates did not look kindly on Harry, while some of the Slytherins seemed to observe him with renewed respect, not that he felt he deserved respect for what he'd done.
That wasn't the end of it either. Before play resumed, Hooch told Harry that because he'd snitched Heather – that is, fouled her while she was tailing the snitch – he would be sitting out for 5 minutes while Heather was allowed to search without his interference. Harry determined he'd stop stalling as soon as he was let back into the game. They were ahead now a hundred and thirty points, and he felt that was enough of a lead. Besides, if he kept delaying someone else was liable to get really hurt, as the players were worn and their reflexes no longer at their best.
Flint and Urquhart had something sinister in mind, Harry realized, when they teamed up to fly on either side of Heather when she was somewhat distracted, and hedged her in as she tried to outpace them only to ram into the side of the Ravenclaw stands, hitting the decorative drapes over the wooden framework and tumbling down toward the ground. Hooch saved her from serious injury with a spell to slow her descent, but both chasers were put on penalty, forcing Miles Bletchley to return to the goal posts so Montague could play chaser once more.
Cedric resumed play for Heather, while she was taken to the hospital wing. Harry scowled, at no one in particular; he wasn't Flint's biggest fan just then. Sure, Heather was a rival, but she hadn't done anything to deserve that.
Harry took to the air when his penalty was over, and began searching again in earnest. He took deep breaths to calm himself, and kept on high alert, startled when he actually spotted his target almost right away. He hadn't gained much altitude yet, so he was in a good position to see the snitch hovering just under one of the stands. He glanced towards Cedric, but that was a mistake, for the older boy caught his eye and he followed his gaze to the snitch. Harry turned ahead and put on speed, determined to end the game.
Cedric had the speed advantage of a controlled dive, and it looked like he was going to beat Harry to the snitch, which was actually moving up towards him. "…Pucey scores, Slytherin now leads by a hundred and sixty points…!" Harry heard Jordan announce, and Cedric hesitated, knowing now that catching the snitch would not earn his team the victory they wanted.
But that was a mistake. That moment allowed Harry to catch up. When Cedric saw him, he turned his broom to block Harry's path. Harry gasped, and dropped to his right, letting his weight carry him to the underside of his broom, narrowly missing the Hufflepuff seeker. When Cedric realized he hadn't blocked Harry, he instead reached out and swatted the snitch down toward the ground.
Harry released hold of his broom entirely and grabbed the snitch a moment before he hit the grass, rolling repeatedly with the object held firmly in both fists. When he stood up, holding the golden ball high, the entire stadium erupted, many into cheers, but most the stadium, it seemed, jeered and booed Slytherin's victory, and their massive lead. It was looking nearly impossible now for Ravenclaw to take the cup from them, and Harry hoped this would make up for all the house points he and Draco had lost to Snape over Norbert.
Still, his victory was just a little bit sour, when he thought about how he'd stalled Heather, and what Flint had done in retaliation. Harry had reacted without thinking, and he didn't really like how it felt. But thoughts of Heather fled from Harry's mind as his teammates descended on him, congratulating him in awed tones. Bletchley slapped Harry's back as Terrence proclaimed loudly that he'd never seen a maneuver quite as impressive as the one Harry had just pulled.
Harry retrieved his broom, and was brushing bits of dirt and grass from his uniform, hair, and glasses, when Draco caught up to the team as they were leaving the field, already working themselves up for the planned victory party. "Harry! It's not broken is it?"
"What?" Harry drew himself up short.
"Your broom, I saw you tumble, and you lost hold of your broom when you landed on the pitch."
Harry gave his best friend an incredulous look, "I'm fine Draco, thanks for asking." He intoned after a moment, and resumed walking back toward the dungeons.
"Oh, yeah, sorry, you're okay?"
Harry nodded.
"And… your broom?"
"Oh shove off, it's fine too." Harry growled, though with some humor in his eyes.
He attended the after game party, as usual, but he was more subdued, despite now being more popular than ever with his fellow Slytherins.
With the quidditch season over for the year (at least for Slytherin and Hufflepuff), Harry felt like he could finally relax, and spend more time with Draco. It also gave him more time to study for exams, which were less than a month away now. His house mates were friendly to them once again, and it was no longer such a chore to get books borrowed from the library. The only thing that marred Harry's mood in the days that followed was thinking of Hufflepuff's reserve seeker, Heather Bennett.
Early in the next week, he resolved to talk to her, and see if she was okay. She'd already been released from the hospital wing, and it became tricky to find a chance for them to speak. He got his opportunity on a Thursday afternoon when she was emerging from the library from her own studying.
"Hello, Heather." Harry said, having come alone so Draco wouldn't interfere or tease him yet again.
She gave him an acidic look, and continued walking without speaking to him, but Harry wasn't ready to give up. "I understand you're angry with me, and I came to apologize." He said, matching his stride to hers. She was only a little taller than him, despite being a few years ahead.
"I have nothing to say to you, Potter." She muttered, continuing to walk briskly. "I know half the school thinks you're the greatest thing since magic beans, but…"
"I feel really badly, about what happened." He interrupted, "I wish I could take back what I did to you, and I wish I could have stopped my teammates too. None of that was my idea, I acted without thinking, but my teammates are just bullies, most of them."
She paused and looked at him, tilting her head to one side, then finally stopped walking and turned to face him. "I've been snooty." She admitted, "And I'm sorry for that too. Your apology is accepted."
Harry brightened a bit, and she shook her head, smiling a little, "You know, you're not like most Slytherins. I'm so used to them being nasty that I guess I just assumed you were too."
"My parents were in Gryffindor." Harry blurted, by way of explanation, though he had no idea if it really explained anything.
"It shows." She told him. "Apologizing like this takes courage. If you feel very strongly that your team was in the wrong, you should tell them as much; that would take courage too."
"I may do that." Harry agreed, though he wasn't sure he was all that brave. Still her words struck something inside him, and he knew she was right.
"I should be going." She added when the moment stretched, and Harry nodded. She walked off, continuing to her next class, or wherever it was she was heading.
When he got back to the Slytherin wing, Draco was cross referencing his transfiguration notes with Harry's. The blonde wizard guessed immediately that something interesting had happened, and managed to wheedle the story out of Harry.
"You… apologized?" He asked; a little shocked at the idea. "What for?! Strategic fouling is pretty normal in quidditch…"
"Maybe, but I still hadn't meant to do it, and I know Flint only did what he did because she made her penalty shot, and I was benched. And that was a little extreme, even for a 'strategic' foul."
"Maybe…" Draco thought about it, but then sighed, "No, you're right… as usual. I guess the team can be a little extreme, it's a little rough out there. So, are you going to tell them off for it?"
"What?! I uh… I don't know." Harry admitted, wondering if he had the nerve to approach Flint and tell him what he thought of his tactics. "I'll think about it, but I'm not going to do it right away."
"I wouldn't blame you if you didn't. It's not like he's going to change just because you don't like it, and he might do something like kick you off the team, even if you are the best seeker Slytherin's ever had."
"I don't know about that." Harry protested, "I'm sure there've been more talented seekers than me."
"Not first years, and not in the last eleven decades, I looked it up back around Halloween, it's been a hundred and twelve years since a first year made a quidditch team at Hogwarts."
"That's a… really long time…" Harry admitted.
"So, what's this you put here in your notes?" Draco asked, referencing Harry's papers in front of him, and they were soon deep into conversation about techniques for transfiguring match boxes.
The next day Harry actually had some free time, and since it was the start of the weekend, he decided to spend most of the afternoon practicing on his broom.
He couldn't use the quidditch pitch – Gryffindor and Ravenclaw were still training rigorously – but he was allowed to fly up to the edge of the forest, and weave in and out of the towers and parapets along the top of the castle. It was a very nice day, and he felt lighter than he had in a long time.
After flying for the better part of an hour he landed on the battlements just outside the owlery. Draco was due to join him soon, and take a turn on his Wind Chaser himself, but for the moment Harry just watched the people below coming and going, and in the distance he could even make out Gryffindor practicing out on the quidditch pitch. Their red and gold quidditch robes were distinctive and he noted that they'd divided their team in two, and were basically practicing maneuvers against each other.
He wasn't close enough to glean any real information, but it was kind of pleasant to watch the two seven man teams move back and forth across the field, looking like little more than fourteen crimson bees buzzing around each other.
Harry sat up as he heard the door behind him open and smiled as Draco emerged, carrying some books. "I've got my Potions notes. You want to review them while I fly around a bit?" Draco asked.
"Sure!" And he relinquished his broom to his best friend for a time while he looked them over.
It was the last week before exams, and Harry had forgotten all about the detention he and Draco still had to serve; until they received a pair of identical letters Tuesday morning.
Report to Mr. Filch at 11 o'clock sharp this evening in the entrance hall.
Professor S. Snape
"Suppose it was too much to hope Snape would have just forgotten about our detentions…" Draco muttered, but shrugged. "Guess we'd better get it over with though, and don't bring it up with the other Slytherins, no sense reminding them."
Harry attended all his classes with a knot of dread forming in his stomach, and an ache forming in his head just behind his scar. Something bad was coming, but he didn't understand why he knew, or how he could explain it to anyone. He just knew that tonight was going to be something more than a mere detention.
Draco saw no point in dragging their feet so they arrived at the entrance hall a little before eleven. Filch found them only a moment later, and informed them they were waiting for one other student to join them. They spent the next few minutes speculating quietly while trying to ignore Filch, who was describing in detail some of the 'old punishments' the school had let die out.
Their companion for their detentions turned out to be a second year Ravenclaw student named Marcus Belby, who apparently had been hazing first year students particularly viciously. He'd even managed to get on Crabbe and Goyle's bad side, as Harry recalled them coming to Draco for ideas on how to get back at him.
They exited the castle, and started in the familiar direction of Hagrid's hut. Harry brightened when he realized Hagrid might be administering their detention. Soon, Filch was gone, and Hagrid started to explain they were headed into the dark woods tonight for their detentions.
"We should be copying lines or something, not going off into the forest." Draco grumbled.
"It's ben decided a'ready." Hagrid told them sternly, "Ye'll do summat useful if yer want ter stay at Hogwarts."
"My father would never allow–"
"He'd tel yer that that's how it is at Hogwarts." Hagrid insisted, already in a bad mood.
"But we can't go in the forest." Marcus spoke up, "It's… well it's forbidden."
"I've told them a'ready, there's nothin' 'at lives in the forest that'll hurt yeh if yer with me er Fang." Hagrid glared at the three of them until they subsided, then continued, "Now listen up, cause it's dangerous what we're gonna do ternight. Don't want no one takin' risks." Harry felt that last part might have been mostly for his benefit, but Hagrid didn't single him out.
"Right then. Follow me o'er here a moment." Hagrid picked up a heavy crossbow which had been leaning against his door frame, and held his lamp high as he led them to the edge of the trees where little spatters of something metallic puddled on the ground. "Look there," he told them, "see that stuff shinin' on the ground? Silvery stuff? That's unicorn blood. There's a unicorn in there ben hurt badly by summat. This is the second time in a week. I found one dead last Wednesday. We're gonna try an' find the poor thing. We might have ter put it out of its misery."
Malfoy started to say something, but Harry shook his head, and he changed his mind. Both the other boys looked more than a little nervous, but Harry hoped his show of determination and calm would help them keep their heads.
Marcus Belby spoke up, however, "But what would hurt a unicorn? It'd have to be something really evil. What if it's still in there, what if it finds us?"
"That's why we keep ter the path." Hagrid informed them, "An' why we're gonna split inter two parties at the first fork, an' follow the trail in differ'nt directions. There's blood all over the place, it must've ben staggerin' aroun' since last night at least."
"Now," Hagrid looked them over, and made a decision. "Right, I'll take Marcus. 'Arry, Draco, you go with Fang, and keep yerselves out of trouble yeh hear? Now, if any of us finds the unicorn, we'll send up green sparks, right? Get yer wands out an' practice now."
They all did as instructed, finding the charm was easy enough, even for the first years. "That's it. An' if anyone gets in trouble, send up red sparks, an' we'll all come an' find yeh – so be careful – let's go."
The darkness of the forest was oppressive at first, since Hagrid had left his lamp at the hut. But soon their eyes grew more accustomed to the starlight, which lit up the silvery-blue blood of the unicorn along the path ahead where it filtered down through gaps in the trees. They came to a fork, and Harry and Draco were sent along the right hand path, where they proceeded cautiously and nervously, but with a determination Harry hoped wouldn't just get them killed.
"I knew tonight was going to be something terrible." Harry whispered after they'd continued a ways. He paused when he thought he'd heard voices, but after a moment whatever sound he'd caught faded with a subtle shift of the wind. The forest wasn't easy on their nerves as they progressed further. Harry wasn't sure how much time had passed, but he had to start talking softly to keep Draco from jumping at every sound.
"They wouldn't send us in here if they didn't think there was a good chance we'd be coming back. Fang might not be much help, but we've been practicing those dueling spells you taught me, remember? We should be able to…" There was a sound nearby, like cloth being dragged over the leaves, though no boot steps accompanied it.
"Come on…" Harry dragged Draco by the sleeve towards the sound, his wand at the ready, not giving himself a chance to think too hard about what it was he was doing. They caught a glimpse of a dark figure, hooded and cloaked slithering along the ground, following the path of the unicorn blood. They crept closer, keeping quiet, but also maintaining a healthy distance.
Harry was just about to send off some red sparks from his wand when he spotted a clearing up ahead, particularly noticeable since the moon had risen somewhere beyond the trees, highlighting something white at the far edge of the open space.
"What's that?" Harry hissed under his breath.
"I think… that's… the unicorn." Draco whispered, his voice trembling as the hooded figure approached the creature and bent over its neck.
They stood, transfixed, until Fang started up a low growling, drawing the cloaked thing's attention. It rose to its feet, silver blood dripping down its front as it began to approach them ominously. Draco raised his wand, his hand shaking only a little as he pointed it at the creature. Harry cried out as pain like he'd never felt before burned through his body, centered on the scar on his forehead.
"Harry Potter!" A voice came from under the creature's hood. "We meet at last." The voice was a sibilant hiss which reminded Harry of snakes talking. "And young Malfoy, it's good to see you here too…"
Harry stumbled backward, gritting his teeth as the sound of hooves pounded the path behind them, and a large form leapt over him and Draco to charge the hooded figure. Harry closed his eyes until the pain in his head passed. When he opened them again the cloaked thing was gone, and in its place was a… he realized it must be a centaur, with a very humanoid upper torso and a lower body very much resembling a palomino horse.
He offered a hand to Harry, and helped him to his feet. Draco came forward from where he'd stumbled, and regarded both of them and the place where the shadowy creature had been with wide eyes.
"Are you all right?" the centaur asked.
"Yes – I think so… Who, who was that?" Harry asked, shivering a little at the memory of the thing, and the serpentine voice.
"And what about you?" the centaur turned to Draco, ignoring Harry's question, for the moment.
"I'm… I think… yes, I think I'm all right." Draco was shaken, but apparently unharmed. "We should send up sparks. Did you see where my wand went, Harry?"
"No, sorry." Harry replied, as the centaur regarded them, while Draco searched the ground.
"You are the Potter boy," the centaur said at last, his blue eyes fixed on Harry's scar. "You had better get back to Hagrid. The forest is not safe at this time – especially for you. My name is Firenze." He greeted them, bowing slightly at the waist.
"Why especially for me?" Harry asked, and noticed Draco sending up red sparks from his wand to summon Hagrid.
Firenze did not answer at first, and Harry thought he wasn't going to, but finally he said, "Harry Potter, do you know what unicorn blood is used for?"
Harry blinked at the question, but recovered quickly, "Yes." He said after a moment, "Unicorn blood is an ingredient in the rudimentary haemonculus potion…" He remembered something of that nature from the book he'd received at Christmas. "But what does that have to do with…?"
"That is not its only use." Firenze appeared startled; perhaps he hadn't expected Harry to have such a ready answer. "Drinking the blood of a unicorn will keep you alive, even if you are an inch from death, but at a terrible price. One must slay something pure and defenseless to gain such a prize, and only one who has nothing to lose, and everything to gain, would commit such a monstrous crime, for the moment the blood touches your lips, you will have but a half-life, a cursed life."
"Who would be that desperate?" Draco wondered aloud, cutting into their conversation.
Firenze turned to him, "Can you think of no one? Do you know what is hidden at the school at this very moment?"
"The philosopher's stone!" they said in unison. Then Harry continued, "It doesn't have to survive cursed forever, it only has to survive long enough to steal the stone!"
"You are surprisingly astute, young Potter. Yes, can you think of someone who has waited many years to return to power; who has clung to life awaiting their chance?"
Harry felt a chill grip him, and he heard Draco's reply only distantly. "You mean, You-Know-Who?"
Harry's heart was heavy as the ramifications of the Firenze's revelation hit him all at once. He remembered his conversation with Hagrid in the Leaky Cauldron almost a year ago: "Some say he died. Codswallop, in my opinion. Dunno if he had enough human left in him ter die."
"Why… how…" Harry gasped, the pain in his scar returning, "Is that why?" He thought about the times his scar had burned in the past, he wondered if every time it had had something to do with Voldemort. Was Snape secretly serving the dark lord, is that why his scar sometimes burned when he met his gaze?
"I'm sorry if this has come as a shock." Firenze steadied Harry with a hand on his shoulder.
"No, it's… I needed to know."
Draco came close, watching him with a concerned expression. "What do we do?"
But Harry didn't have a chance to answer, the sound of galloping hooves the along forest floor became audible, and drew closer, until two more centaurs rounded a bend in the path and came into view. Harry wasn't really aware that they'd moved at all, but Firenze had apparently drawn them away from the clearing a short distance.
"Firenze, what are you doing?" One of the centaurs said.
"Do you realize who this is?" Firenze turned to greet the newcomers. "This is the Potter boy."
"What have you been telling him?" the new centaur growled, inching closer. "Remember Firenze, we are sworn not to set ourselves against the heavens. Have we not read what is to come in the movements of the planets?"
The third centaur pawed the ground as he spoke up for the first time, "I'm sure Firenze thought he was acting for the best."
The larger of the two centaurs turned towards him, kicking out his rear legs in his agitation, "For the best! What is that to do with us? Centaurs are concerned with what has been foretold!"
"Did you not see that unicorn?" Firenze asked his fellows. "Do you not understand why it was killed? I set myself against what is lurking in this forest, Bane; yes, with humans alongside if I must." They both looked taken aback, but they didn't back down, particularly Bane. "The planets have been read wrongly before now, even by centaurs." Firenze continued.
They glared at one another for a moment, fidgeting as they each waited for the others to back down first, then the sound of heavy boots approaching reached them, and they turned up the path in time to see Hagrid come into view through the trees, along with Marcus Belby and Fang, whom Harry suddenly realized he hadn't seen since the cloaked figure had approached them.
"This is where I leave you," Firenze turned back to him and Draco. "You are safe now. Good luck, Harry Potter." He turned and cantered back into the forest, and shortly the other centaurs followed.
Hagrid checked the unmoving form of the unicorn solemnly. Then, with tears in his eyes, he led them back to the castle, sending them down to their rooms. None of them spoke more than a few words throughout the trek.
Harry barely contained himself until they were back in the Slytherin common room, where he could talk to Draco about all they'd learned. "You think he's coming back to finish the job? Is that why he attacked us in the forest?"
"Just calm down, and think about this." Draco urged as Harry paced, "He didn't attack us, he greeted us; maybe he thinks we could be useful to him."
"He killed my parents, Draco!" Harry hissed, anger boiling up inside him.
"I know." Draco worried his lip between his teeth then added, "But, he doesn't care about that sort of thing. From everything my father has told me about You-Know-Who, he was pretty ruthless. He might expect you to be the same; you are a Slytherin."
"We can't let him have the stone, I've heard about what it was like when Voldemort was alive."
"Don't say the name…" Draco hissed.
"We have to stop him. We have to find out when he's sneaking into the castle next. There's got to be a way to find out."
Draco was thoughtful for a long moment, "Well… I've heard it said that the only wizard You-Know-Who ever feared was Dumbledore. So – if it were me – I'd wait until Dumbledore was out of the way somewhere; maybe create a diversion. We can also try to keep an eye on Fluffy, and look for any other clues."
"What if we steal it first?" Harry wondered.
Draco blinked several times, "We'd have to learn about the things guarding the stone. We might not have much luck at that."
"Maybe we can trick Hagrid into… Norbert!"
"What? What's in your head?" Draco looked thoughtfully at the sudden expression of realization on Harry's face.
"Don't you see? We have to talk to Hagrid at once."
"Not in the middle of the night, we'll lose more points if we rush out there right now, Hagrid's gone to bed, I'm sure."
"First thing in the morning. Think about it. Hagrid's using Fluffy to guard the stone, he's probably the only one who knows how to get past that thing. But what is it Hagrid wants more than anything in the world? And isn't it odd that someone just happens to show up with a dragon egg for him when we know Voldemort is trying to steal the stone that Fluffy is guarding?"
"Stop saying the name!" Draco frowned then added, "Do you think it was Him that Snape stopped on Halloween?"
"I don't know. Maybe Snape's working for Voldemort, maybe he really did try to steal the stone on his behalf."
"Would you stop?!" Draco glared at Harry a moment until he looked down, "Ask him."
"What?!" Harry was taken aback.
"Ask Snape, or let me ask Snape. Use the soothstone, Snape's on our side, you'll see…"
Harry couldn't find much fault with Draco's idea, except that if he were wrong, it could get them in a lot of trouble to reveal to Snape that they knew about the stone too. But if they could figure out a clever way to ask…
Now they had two new tasks to keep them occupied, but they weren't going to get anything more done tonight.
"Let's go to bed, we'll figure the rest of this out in the morning." Harry suggested.
Unfortunately, Hagrid was gone when they went to see him the next morning. They still had a week left before exams began, and Harry was pretty sure that Voldemort hadn't yet stolen the stone. For one, Fluffy had still been behind the locked door when they checked. And for another thing, he felt certain they would have heard if the dark lord had returned to power.
There was a frustration, however, as Harry and Draco realized they had no idea where Dumbledore's office was, nor how to determine if he was gone from the school or merely absent from a meal. The only way they could think of was to ask one of the teachers, and they weren't yet ready to directly involve someone outside their little circle.
Harry did enlist the twins who always seemed to know what was going on at the school. They assured Harry that they'd let him know the moment Dumbledore left the castle, though they flatly refused to explain how they would know. Draco, meanwhile, was busy figuring out a way of determining Snape's true loyalties without revealing their interest in the stone.
They finally managed a visit to Hagrid a few days later, and sat drinking tea while Harry considered how he'd phrase his questions.
"I've been wondering, Hagrid." He began, "Who it was you won that dragon egg off of?"
"I tol' yer, some feller down at the pub in Hogsmead." He reminded them.
"Yes, you said that, but do you know him? What did he look like?"
"Oh, I only met him that night. He was a thin fella' in a cloak, but 'e kept his hood up. Lots'o folk like ter keep ter themselves a bit aroun' pubs, not that I'd expect ya ter know much about that."
"What did you talk about?" Harry continued, and Draco watched, letting Harry work around to the real question.
"He wanted to make sure I could take care of tha egg o' course, so I told 'im, after Fluffy, a dragon would be easy."
"Did he seem interested in Fluffy?"
"O' course he was interested in Fluffy. It's not ever'day you meet a three-'eaded dog, even if yer in the business." Harry had heard enough, it seemed safe to say that Voldemort knew how to get past Fluffy, so what was he waiting for then? Was it just as Draco had thought; that he was waiting for Dumbledore to be gone from the school?
"I bet if they'd let you keep Norbert, you could have handled him just fine. You did a great job with Fluffy, afterall, he's stopped people from stealing the stone all by himself hasn't he?"
Draco chimed in quickly when he heard his cue, "Oh, not by himself, Harry." He drawled lazily, "Afterall, he's not the only thing guarding the stone."
"I don' know how you two keep findin' out 'bout all this stuff, but you really shouldn' poke around in it."
"Oh, we're not poking, just learning. That is what we're here for, right Harry?"
"Yeah, it's a big mystery, and we can't just leave it alone until we solve it. It'd drive us mad if we didn't figure it out. Doesn't mean we're going to do anything about it, right Draco?"
"Yeah, though we're having a bit of trouble with some of it."
"Wha' sorta trouble?" Hagrid looked a bit confused.
"Well the other things guarding the stone, we've been trying to identify some of them." Harry explained, "There was the plant, it's hard to say for sure, but I think we've narrowed it down to either devil's snare or… what was the other one, Draco?"
"I keep thinking we learned about it in class sometime…" Draco mused, tapping his chin.
"Err, devil's snare sounds about right, think I 'eard Pomona call it that." Hagrid told them, "But it don' matter ter you, is tha mystery solved now? Yer gonna leave it alone?"
"Devil's snare, I knew I'd heard about it." Harry beamed, sharing a conspiratorial glance with Draco. They also knew now for certain that Sprout was involved, and the men they'd heard in the library were onto her.
"Yeah that's some nasty stuff; pretty tricky." Draco said after a moment. "Though not as tricky as McGonnagal's spell." Harry hoped guessing her would prove a good bet, and they both let Hagrid think it over.
"Dunno exactly how McGonnagal's spell works, but you can bet it's somethin' clever too." Hagrid agreed, and both Harry and Draco tried not to let their disappointment show as they wracked their brains to think of another way of leading the conversation.
Harry decided on another guess and spoke up, "Snape's has to be the most brilliant defense, don't you agree?"
"Ah, I knew he'd do summat with potions, but I'll be darned if I knew 'e was a riddler too. But don' even ask me about Dumbledore's spell, an' don' go tryin' ter figure it out neither. It'll take a cleverer witch or wizard than anyone here ter get past one o' Dumbledore's brilliant schemes. Snape's clever, Flitwick is tricky too, but they're no Dumbledore."
Harry fought hard to keep his grin from his face. If only Hagrid knew how much he'd just told them, but it wouldn't do to act too surprised. "I didn't think we'd figure that one out, did you Draco?"
"Never." Draco agreed.
They changed the subject, before Hagrid could get suspicious, but as soon as they were alone, Draco turned on Harry.
"You see? Snape is protecting the stone, he wouldn't be doing that if he had any intention of stealing it."
"We'll see." Harry now just had to think of a way to ask Snape – without asking him – when he had his soothstone at hand. Fooling Snape was going to be an entirely different challenge than getting information out of Hagrid.
Unfortunately, they hadn't figured out a plan before exams the following week, and then they didn't have much time for speculation or mysteries. The days were growing increasingly warm, and their written exams were held indoors in rooms seemingly hot enough to boil the sweat off Harry's brow as he worked at his tests. He wrote furiously with a special quill spelled with an anti-cheating charm. Potions was first, then Herbology, and in Charms they had 'practical exams' which meant less writing, and more actual spell work.
Defense against the Dark Arts was interesting, though not very practical, as they wrote essays about the best ways to ward off vampires. While History of Magic was long, and exceedingly dull, as they tried to remember the names and dates for historic events such as the goblin rebellions.
Their last final exam was in Transfiguration, where they got to turn mice into snuff boxes. Then – finally – they were off. They wanted to spend the rest of the day relaxing away from the heat, but there was still too much on their minds.
"Hey Harry." It was either Fred or George Weasley, who'd found him and Draco sitting in the shade of a large tree outside the castle. "Thought you'd want to know, Dumbledore isn't in the castle. You asked us to keep an eye on him, right?"
"What? Where'd he go?" They had Harry's full attention now.
"Dunno, but he left on broomstick after getting a letter just now. You going to tell us why it's so important to keep track of him?"
Harry hadn't told the twins about Voldemort yet, and he wasn't sure he was going to either. They were privy to nearly all of the rest of their mystery, but if they knew, they'd no doubt insist on coming along, and Harry couldn't put his friends in danger like that.
"We know he's keeping an eye on the dog, it's because of him that it's here." Harry began, sorting out in his mind how much he could tell them.
"So the best time to do some snooping is when he's not around. I getcha!" The twin said, "Though some things are too big, even for us. It's all well and good to snoop, but just promise us you'll stay away from the three-headed dog."
"I will, I promise." Harry lied, glad that the twins didn't have his soothstone. He then made them promise to inform him if Dumbledore returned.
"Well that does it." Harry told Draco once they were alone again. "We're out of time. We have to ask Snape now, or never. Either way, I'm going through that trap door tonight."
"You're what? But you just promised!"
"I lied, and I wish I hadn't, but I'm not letting them come with me, I have to go, and face Voldemort." Harry ignored Draco's gasp and protest, "But I'm not letting my friends take that risk."
"You're not leaving me behind!" Draco hissed, "And if you even think about trying to talk me out of it, I'll jinx you, and then neither of us will be going."
Harry stared at his friend, but decided he believed the threat was genuine. Draco knew some nasty jinxes too. "Fine! But first, Snape. Have you worked out a way to ask him yet?"
"I'm not sure, I'd thought about doing something like we did with Hagrid, and pretending like I knew more than I actually do."
"Not sure how well that would work on Snape…"
They plotted for the rest of the afternoon, before going off to face Snape. Draco wouldn't go by himself, guessing correctly that Harry might try to leave him behind to go through the trap door if he left him alone.
Harry gave Draco the soothstone, and hid himself under his invisibility cloak so Draco would know he was there, but Snape wouldn't. He wanted to hear the conversation, but they both agreed Snape would likely be more open if he thought Draco had come alone.
They found him in his office, and Draco made sure to hold the door open for a little longer than normally necessary so Harry could slip inside.
"What is it you wish to speak with me about?" Snape asked in a tone Harry had never heard from him before. It took him a moment to place exactly what was different. He realized, there was genuine fondness in his voice.
"I've heard something… unsettling." Draco began, putting his acting skills to the test, "One of the other students was talking about You-Know-Who. They say he might be coming back, and they talked about which teachers at the school might support him if he returned. Or might even be trying to help him return."
"Let me guess, they suggested I might be one of those foolish enough to entertain such notions?" A little of Snape's customary sarcasm filtered back into his voice.
"Actually… I thought, if anyone would know anything about the teacher's true loyalties, it'd be you. If you knew something about it, you'd tell me right?"
"Not necessarily." Snape leaned back in his chair as Draco took a seat in front of the desk. "Such things should not concern you right now. Perhaps when you are older you will be privy to such burdens."
Harry held back a sigh, wondering if maybe this was going to be a waste of time. "However, I can assure you that no one at this school is helping the Dark Lord's return, and there are none here who would welcome it. I think it is best if you put such things from your mind. Should the Dark Lord return, there will be time enough then to consider what it means to you personally, Draco."
Draco chatted a little longer, asking a couple more questions, but Snape was not one to waste words. Eventually Draco got up to leave, and Harry followed him out the door. As they'd planned, Draco hurried to the nearest empty class room. Once they were both inside Harry dropped his cloak, "Was he lying?"
"Nope, everything he said was true." Draco smiled, happy that Harry's fears had been proven incorrect. "But I'll bet you anything You-Know-Who is going to try another break-in tonight, after curfew. We know there are spells and things guarding the stone, and Hagrid said something about a riddle. It's not much to go on, but it's all we've got, so let's spend the rest of the evening getting ready, any way we can."
They did just that. First they 'borrowed' a book of riddles from the library – under the invisibility cloak – in order to get some practice in, and then looked up anything else they thought might be useful. They did some general research too, but they really didn't have much else to work with, and soon it was time for dinner.
Neither of them really tasted their food, and the wait for the last of the Slytherin students to vacate the common room was nerve wracking. They both wondered if they'd be too late to get to the stone before Voldemort. Finally they were alone, and they set out together under cover of Harry's cloak. The halls were quiet, almost eerily so. Shortly before they arrived at the locked door in the forbidden corridor on the third floor, they heard Peeve's distant chatter coming their way. Only once they arrived, they found that the door wasn't locked at all, and was – in fact – sitting slightly ajar.
"Why's the door open?" Draco wondered.
"He must already be here." Harry whispered, creeping closer then pausing on the threshold of the doorway. "Draco… do you hear… music?!"
Author's Comments: This was a very interesting chapter to write. Sorry for the cliffhanger ending there, I honestly could not resist. Anyways, I had a lot of fun fleshing out parts of this chapter, while other parts were tricky, or even just frustrating to write. It also underwent a lot of changes before this version, including gaining the quidditch match from the previous chapter along the lines somewhere.
As always, I hope you enjoy this, and please let me know what you think. We're almost done here, at least for Harry's first year. Cheers!
EDIT: So once again the edit hammer falls. I edited quite a lot of little things in this chapter, though most the content/context stayed about the same. As always; Enjoy!
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.