Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or its characters.
AN: Okay I've gone back over the old chapters and fixed them up. Hopefully it's easier to read with less obvious mistakes now. There are a few alterations and additions to many of the chapters but it is basically still the same. I changed the confrontation in this chapter again. If any are still mistakes around let me know via a review or pm and I'll fix it up. The next chapter should be out by the 22nd May hopefully.
"Give me a warning next time you prat" Daphne muttered when they landed, Harry quickly noticed something was wrong and jumped to the side causing the girl in his arms to squeak. Something was moving underneath him trying to wrap around his legs like a pit of snakes but he kept shaking it off. "What is under us? I haven't been bitten so it can't be snakes."
He was so focused on what was beneath him and with a hunch on what it might be he muttered an incantation. Blue flames were wandlessly conjured up and he looked around ignoring Daphne's gasp since she noticed where the light was coming from. Harry let out a grown and nearly dropped her when he realized he had just revealed another secret unintentionally. He hoped she just thought of it as his elemental ability and not wandless magic. Harry was far too comfortable around the girl and seemed to be doing these things a lot around her. He quickly put the fire out and flung his wrist before lighting up the area again but this time a blue ball of flame from his wand.
The narrowed blue eyes went from him to the tendrils backing off from the light but still trying to get around Harry's legs and she cocked her head "Well I guess you were right, Devil's snare. All you need is fire to get it to back off. Any first year should be able to figure that out" He blinked at the girls comment before looking down and sighing. It was solid underneath and looking around he couldn't see a door anywhere.
"Hey Harry is it right to come down or what?" Harry looked up at the two dark shapes in the light above them before shouting back "Yeah just devil's snare down here. Just get your wands ready and cast something like a flame when you land"
His own flame got bigger and brighter as he channelled more magic in it and soon the entire room was just barely visible. The plants moved away enough that he could put Daphne down and she cast her own ball of flame death eyeing Harry's before they made their way over to the twins. Fred whistled when he saw the size of Harry's burning blue ball of flame as his yellow flame wasn't even half the size. Fawkes flamed down and landed on Daphne's shoulder. He trilled in disapproval at the plant.
Harry chuckled and took another look around. There seemed to be a large concentration of Devil's snare in one corner of the room. "That way, the thicker it is the more likely it will be the way forward" He got grunts of approval and he kept Daphne close as they manoeuvred their way through the mass of tendrils in their way.
Fawkes squawked angrily before flaming away but they could see the bird reappear on the other side of an archway covered by vines. As they got nearer Harry stopped them suddenly "Look there, those tendrils are actually moving towards us. Hmm they are also getting excited and growing in number. Clever hiding a heat absorbing plant amongst Devil's snare, most people would use a flame since it actually makes the vines move away while light just freezes it. Aguamenti"
He said straight after letting his flame die out. With a smirk he stated "Okay as I thought, can the three of you switch to Lumos charms. I'll fire off a strong Aguamenti and we'll charge through. Alright we'll have to be quick here. Try not to get caught by the vines when we do it. Alright NOW" All three looked at him in surprise but followed his direction. The black tendrils moved away as quickly as the green tendrils did against the fire.
They ran through the darkened archway and Fawkes trilled happily before landing back on Daphne who voiced their collective unspoken question "How fast would they have grown if we kept the flames going Harry?" He gave her a blank look and shrugged not actually knowing for sure. He wasn't aware of a plant so similar in appearance to Devil's snare. She turned to glare at the plants behind. "Well guess it's a good thing you were here then Harrikens" "You seem to be a natural leader" George added after Fred causing him to grin happily.
Light was seen ahead and they moved cautiously forward curious as to what will be next. Harry and Daphne remembered what they overheard so they quickly realized that the plants must have been Sprout's trap. If each first year teacher had a trap that left one based on charms, one on transfiguration, potions and DADA. The mirror Harry encountered was likely the final trap but Harry had no idea how it could be used to house the stone.
As they neared the room the lights went out and they began to hear fluttering that resulted in them looking at each other curiously. "Lumos" Harry muttered and they entered the room and the flapping became much more frantic. Looking up he saw small birds flying above. No small keys with wings flapping around frantically. The speed they were moving rivalled that of a snitch making looking for any distinct features difficult. Maybe he shouldn't have caught the snitch in under a minute during his last game after all.
Harry let out a snort, many first years wouldn't have the magic to do what he was about to do and hold it. It was obviously set up to see how magically strong he was but still he put his wand out and stated "Lumos Maxima" A ball of light shot out of his wand and hovered illuminating the room. The twins looked at him with incredulous stares "You really are magically strong aren't you Harrikens" George stated "Keep this up and you'll give the headmaster a run for his money by the time you graduate"
Harry didn't respond but was laughing mentally since he would be stronger magically then Dumbledore by the time he was 13 according to Merlin. He just looked around the room curiously. He took note of the old shape lock on the door to continue. A broom on the side and the speed the keys were moving at. The broom looked old and was probably charmed to move slower as well to make it harder to catch.
They had never gone over the charm to slow objects down but it was in the first year textbook. Obviously they wanted to know just how far he had read ahead. With a shrug he pointed his wand at the keys "Immobulus" They all froze in place before he got onto the broom and checked each one. He heard one of the twins go up to Daphne and state "Okay freezing that many so easily, casting that lumos charm that's still going strong. The power he put behind that flame and Aguamenti back there. So tell me Miss Greengrass were maybe those books we read growing up right after all?"
Daphne scoffed and said nothing to give the boy a bigger head as Harry flew down a moment later with an old key. Fawkes however began trilling a long line of notes making the twins look at the bird in confusion as it was almost like he was trying to answer their question. Harry walked over to the door and turned it before gesturing them through. As they entered he cancelled the spells and followed them through. Harry looked around curiously and noted a line of roughly 50 suits of armour. At closer look they had wands instead of swords. As the four students walked up four of the suits walked out to meet them.
"Uh I think we have to duel them to continue. Wonder what the rules are?" One of the suits stepped forward and spoke in a deep voice none recognized but Harry picked up the slight Scottish accent and nearly laughed if not for the serious situation they were in. "A free for all battle, no unforgivable curses permitted or we all attack. Defeat us to continue forward, step back and we shall allow you to leave unharmed. Do you accept?"
Harry turned to look at Daphne but she sent a glare and stepped forward to the line "I accept" Fawkes flamed to the far side and landed on a certain suit of armour that caught Harry's attention. The twins followed her and did the same. Harry let out a sigh before doing the same. "Very well, begin" The suits all fired at George at once, the boy was hit by a stunner and was tied up almost immediately. Fred got distracted by George going down and that was his mistake as a moment later they got him too.
"Idiots did they think it was a game. Ok they did say free for all after all. Well then since they aren't organic stunners will be pointless. Expellimarus" Daphne muttered after dodging two spells. The spell hit and as the wand flew towards her it turned to ash and the suit fell into pieces. Daphne got distracted by the sudden dismantlement of her opponent that Harry had to tackle her to the ground when a spell was heading for her.
She looked up in shock at the rage she could see in Harry's eyes as he stood back up. "Bad move tinman" He muttered lowly before he charged at one of them. Ducked under the first incoming spell, side stepped the second and rolled under the third. He brought his arm back after standing from the roll and smashed his fist into the closest suit's chest leaving a large indent and sending it back a few feet. "Depulso" The suit was flung back with force and a loud smash could be heard as it hit the wall on the far side. Not hesitating Harry rolled out of the way of a curse that harmlessly hit the ground near him. He quickly noted that they weren't sending dangerous curses. Just curses to immobilise him.
Harry also took the time to think of whether or not there was some form of recording built into their design. He looked again to where Fawkes was watching intently and realized if that was the case he couldn't use anything too fancy. "Expelliarmus" His eyes widened when a shield erected to block the curse. He wondered why Daphne's was able to get through but his wasn't. Shrugging he growled as one sent a stunner to him as the second aimed to his right as he began to dodge. Seeing this he decided to take things up a notch and time slowed down slightly. He watched the incoming spell and realized he might hit it but he managed to just barely avoid the second spell by a few inches.
He narrowed his eyes at the one that shielded his last spell and charged more magic into his wand. "Incendio" The spell hit the shield again but he kept the spell going and this time shattered through it and collided with the suit. The suit's wand burst into flame and turned to ash before the suit fell apart like the first did. Harry again avoided an incoming volley of spells from the last standing suit and he cursed not wanting to reveal anymore of his skill. The suit seemed to see him as a greater threat now so was firing faster and smarter "Carpe Retractum" A rope came out of his wand and he directed it towards the suits arm that was casting the spells.
Latching on Harry yanked it pulling the suit towards him. He cancelled the spell and smirked as he grabbed the suit's arm when it was within reach and pulled out its wand causing it to fall apart. Harry stood up calmly and dusted off his robes before turning to Daphne and helping her up. "So what you think of that, awesome skills huh"
She scoffed but couldn't help look at him curiously. She was watching the fight intently and had the feeling that if Harry wanted to he could have taken them out easily. But the boy was holding back for some reason and she felt it wasn't to hide his skill from her. The twins were unconscious. Then it hit her suddenly as she looked over at Fawkes who was on a certain different coloured suit. Harry was avoiding revealing anything in case one of the suits is recording the battle.
Harry began to walk towards the twins when all the suits began to move towards them. Looking at them curiously he stopped and asked "I'm guessing we're not allowed to wake them up since they lost then" One of the suit's simply shook it's head and pointed behind him to the door that now opened up. With a shrug he took Daphne's hand and began to walk towards it but stopped before walking through. "What will you do with them though?"
One of the suits spoke "When they awaken they can leave or take the challenge again" Harry shrugged again before walking through with Daphne. This actually was a good thing in his mind. It meant he wouldn't have to worry about them seeing anything. He was likely going to have to at least try and distract Quirrell/Voldemort long enough for Dumbledore to sweep in and save the day. Maybe he would take him out himself, especially because he wouldn't stun the girl next to him and the bastard would probably try and hurt her. Thankfully he still had his cloak so they might not even have to confront him and just observe the bastard.
Harry smelt a horrid smell long before they even reached the room and his face contorted in disgust. Daphne noticed this and said "What is that fa- oh Merlin what the hell is that stench?" They walked into the room to find two massive trolls lying on opposite ends of the hall. Various destruction could be seen all over, cracks in the ground. Troll blood scattered around and damaged pillars. Looking closer at the trolls wounds Harry started laughing.
"I don't believe it. They must have beaten each other to death Daphne. Look at the wounds and that's why the smell is so bad. Is Quirrell a retard or what? Putting two trolls in one place together, they would have fought out of boredom or to protect their territory." Harry tried clearing the air out with a few mutters and waves of his wand but nothing was working. He picked Daphne out bridal style and charged through the stench with a scream as if it was poison in the air making the girl let out a stream of laughter.
Reaching the other side he walked through with her to see a room with 5 tables set up with ingredients on them. He blinked in confusion as they walked up towards the closest table and a purple fire sprang up on the door they came through while black flames sprung up on the door to go forward. He walked up and read the riddle before letting out a humourless laugh as he walked to each table. It stated three of the sets of ingredients would make a deadly poison once brewed. One would take them forward while one would take them back. As well as brief notes on how they are brewed. Without in depth knowledge of ingredients or potions it would be difficult to solve.
"Daphne your head of house is a bastard. I swear he did this just to frustrate me. Luckily I have read some advanced potions books just in case he would try something annoying in class. Out of curiosity I read what fires can be protected against by potions in case I ever wanted to... uh never mind." She sent him a mock glare at the insinuation but the twitch in her lips gave away what she was really thinking. She pointed at one and said "I'm guessing that one since there's some residue on it?"
He chuckled "No that's just to trick idiots actually beautiful. Think about it, these tests are designed for me probably. So..." She laughed lightly "Ahh so he wants to see if you actually have any skill and if you picked the obvious one you die so just a bonus huh"
He just sent her a grin before beginning the potion. It was actually very smart of Snape in reality. One you need knowledge of such potions somewhat as well as skill in making them. He plants a fake obvious one to trick any who come for the stone with residue on one of the poison cauldrons. Plus they all can be made within 20 minutes if you do know what you're doing.
Black flames take quite some time to prepare and can't just be frozen, moved or vanished as normal flames can. They also have an odd function that they only burn what they are made for. Harry guessed this was humans and after throwing one of the ingredients at it as expected didn't burn. The flames are rumoured to be able to burn through anything even other flames if designed to do so. To use them as a ward is ingenious.
Snape might be an arsehole but the man was very smart if he came up with this on his own. Once the potion was made Harry tried it first and when his arm didn't catch on fire he smirked happily and got Daphne to drink some. "Fawkes you better flame back to the twins. Make sure they are okay. We will be fine I promise" The bird looked at each of them for a long moment before rubbing his head against each of them and flapping twice vanishing in a burst of flame.
"I wonder if I can learn that somehow" Harry muttered and Daphne looked at him surprised wondering the same now. Harry pulled out his invisibility cloak and passed it to her "Daphne put this on. I don't want you in unnecessary danger alright" She looked about to defy him before he stated "Please Daphne, this is the famous dark lord remember. Plus you can watch my back better if you're invisible and I might get distracted by you during the inevitable duel. Maybe that's why they banned beautiful cheerleaders from cheering during duels I guess"
She smacked his arm "Like I'd ever cheer for you. Fine I'll wear it Harry but if you get hurt you're going to see something far worse than any dark lord once this is over" Harry got a broad grin on his face before making sure she was covered and walking through the door.
He felt Daphne latch onto his arm and he could just picture her panicked face now it was hidden from view causing him to snicker. Finally the flames ended and they entered a large chamber surrounded by fire. In the centre was Quirrell screaming at the mirror in frustration, it took all his effort to not burst out into laughter hearing the rant. "You blasted mirror. Give me the stone. I said give it to me. When I ask you to give it you give it, do not argue with me you stupid contraption. I swear I'll-"
"Uh why are you arguing with yourself?" Quirrell froze for two reasons. One he had someone else in the room with him hearing him argue... with a mirror. Two he recognized the voice and couldn't believe whose voice it was. He turned and looked at the boy who lived in surprise for making it this far through the traps. Harry squeezed what he assumed was Daphne's leg and she took the hint and moved away.
"Mr Potter. This is a surprise. How did you make it so far on your own? Interesting it appears I may have underestimated you a bit. I would have gotten here before this blasted mirror hid the stone if you didn't cause me to get trapped with the rest of you during Halloween. Because of that Snape started watching my every move. Then your Quidditch match I tried to kill you and again it was thwarted when someone set my turban on fire" Quirrell drawled without one stutter and was nearly yelling at the end of it.
Harry ran a hand through his hair "Uh my bad?" Quirrell narrowed his eyes and clicked his fingers. Harry saw the ropes coming up to bind him and he avoided it. Quirrell tried a few more times and actually brought his wand out and kept started throwing spells at him going before hissing "Arrggghhh just stand still and get tied up you infuriating brat"
Harry blinked and shouted back "Uh no thanks, I'm stuck in a room with a freaky guy in a turban. I don't think I want to be alone with him tied up. I was wondering whether it was you or Snape that wanted the stone though" Quirrell roared in outrage and began firing faster. Harry was rolling, jumping, side stepping with great ease all of the man's spells.
"What in Merlin's name? Your reflexes are impressive Potter. Yes I can see why you thought Severus was behind it. Even the unicorn blood could be used in some rare potions. But I grow tired of this little game AVA-" Harry was about to whip out his own wand and start his own flurry of attacks when a raspy hiss roared "NO, I shall speak to him" Quirrell got a look of complete fear on his face and actually stuttered truly this time "B-but m-master. Y-you are not s-s-strong enough"
There was an eerie silence for a few moments and Harry watched the conversation intrigued "I have strength enough for this. Do not question your lord" Quirrell began to unravel his turban before his eyes glazed over and he turned around. Harry raised an eyebrow at the disfigured face of Voldemort "Harry Potter" It hissed as Quirrell began walking backwards towards him. Humouring him Harry walked towards him as well.
"Tom Riddle I presume" Harry calmly said back and the head roared in outrage "Do not speak that name in my presence. How do you know it?" He felt a force slam into his Occlumency shields but he batted it away like it was nothing. Voldemort's outrage quickly turned to one of shock. "Such powerful occlumency shields, how can this be? I was told you were raised by muggles. Earlier I thought it was merely natural defences but to have such walls protecting your mind at your age..."
"I did live with my muggle relatives growing up. I learnt Occlumency quickly since I don't want anyone poking around in my head. Plus I don't trust Snape or Dumbledore enough to stay out of my head which doubled my efforts. Why don't you use your real name though? Or at the very least change your name through a magical oath to Voldemort. But seriously Voldemort you couldn't choose anything else?"
Voldemort again hissed out in outrage "You watch your tongue boy or you'll end up just like your parents. Join me and I shall give you more power then you can imagine. You are not Dumbledore's pet like I expected. Hmm in fact you remind me quite a bit of myself in my youth. You obviously despise your muggle relatives. You are magically powerful to have made it this far. You could go far walking by my side Potter. What do you say? Join me and together we will conquer the wizarding world. No one would be able to stand against us"
Harry's eyes narrowed dangerously at that statement and his eyes began to glow. "Do not speak of my parents Voldemort. I might have never known them but it is because of you that I ended up with those muggles. I might not be a blind follower of Dumbledore but I won't become a follower of your single minded views. You don't have enough power to make me serve you" Voldemort's slit red eyes widened in surprise before he yelled "It's a shame Potter. You could have served me well. Very well KILL HIM. He has too much potential to challenge me to let live"
Quirrell spun around and went to grab him but Harry saw it coming and ducked before slamming his fist into the man's gut. Quirrell coughed from the force but Harry didn't let up he swept his leg causing the 'professor' to fall on his back. In his panic Quirrell fired off an arc like spell that hit Harry in his chest causing him to scream out in pain and move back a few steps. The wound was magical so was healing very slowly but the fact it was healing at all caused Quirrell to look up in complete shock. "HARRY" Daphne screamed.
Harry turned to the sound of the voice and Quirrell shot off a spell in that direction. An explosion and a scream made his heart stop for a moment "NO" He shouted out thinking Daphne had gotten hit. He turned back to see an evil glint in Quirrell's eye and the man's wand pointed at his chest. Before he could mutter a word or fire a spell Harry bellowed "Confringo" While pointing his wand at Quirrell's wand arm. The amount of magic Harry put in it caused the spell completely destroy the man's limb and left flame covered pieces scattered around the area.
He briefly wondered whether his rage caused the spell to be much stronger than normal for but a moment since it used heat. Quirrell let out a scream in pain and held his burnt stub with his other hand. Harry picked up Quirrell's wand and snapped it in two. "KILL HIM. KILL HIM YOU FOOL" Quirrell tried to launch himself at the boy but Harry levelled his wand at the man's head. "I'm okay Harry" He heard from behind and his eyes widened. He lowered his wand but slammed his foot into the man's face and then stomped on it a few times. He could hear Voldemort painful grunt from having his face being forced into the ground a few times.
Then suddenly Quirrell's body burst into flame and turned into ash. "Wasn't me I swear" Harry muttered when he heard Daphne gasp in surprise. A shade came out of his body and roared in rage "This isn't over Potter. I will not underestimate you when we next meet. You will pay for defying the Lord Voldemort. You will join your parents I will make sure of that boy" Harry fired off a few spells at the shade but Voldemort laughed at the attempt before flying through the ceiling above. Daphne pulled off his cloak and turned him around. He looked at her like he was seeing a ghost and brought her into a tight hug.
"Harry are you alright my boy? What happened?" Harry looked up in shock at seeing Dumbledore standing there at the entrance with wide eyes. He looked down at the wound that was healing and cursed under his breath wondering what he could say. Deciding to just play ignorant he replied.
"Sir, I kind of snuck out to meet Daphne under my cloak. When we were exploring we ran into the twins and we all saw Quirrell heading to the third floor. Long story short I never trusted him so after a while we decided to follow. Well when we got here we found Quirrell possessed by Voldemort. We duelled and when I thought he killed Daphne I got angry and fired a confringo at his wand arm. Voldemort left his body and he turned into that" Harry indicated the ash that was Quirrell. Harry noticed the look of relief that passed over the aged wizard's eyes when he heard how Quirrell died and either didn't register or didn't care of the spell Harry used to 'disarm' his opponent.
Dumbledore was in shock when he arrived back at the castle to find Fawkes squawking angrily. Confused at his old friend's behaviour he tried to calm the bird down but Fawkes flew to him and flamed them down to the twins on the third floor. After disabling the charms on the suits he revived them and questioned them. He sighed in relief when he heard Harry had guided them to that point and that they must have gone on. He was curious on their knowledge it was Tom Riddle possessing Quirrell but they didn't seem scared indicating they weren't aware that was Voldemort's real name.
Fawkes flamed the twins to the hospital wing just in case while he pressed on to the next few areas. He had honestly been expecting to find Harry in Severus's room but he was shocked to find he must have completed the task. He felt quite proud the young man had come so far with only the skills of a first year. He pulled out the spare potion for the fire he always kept on him and gulped it down before marching through to the final room.
Upon arrival he was shocked to see the destruction around the room as well as pieces of what was obviously flesh and bone near Harry and Daphne. Then the pile of ash nearby that would indicate Harry killed him. After the explanation he let out a obvious sigh of relief thinking Harry had murdered the man. "I'm glad to see you're both alright. Come we should get you to the-"
"We're fine I assure you headmaster, all I need is... " Daphne smacked him and sent him a glare and he let out a long sigh "Okay sir, let's go" Dumbledore chuckled in a grandfatherly way as he took note of the broken wand near the chunks of burnt flesh. He looked at his students again to see that they didn't appear too hurt. Harry shirt was ripped like a cutting curse was used on it but he only had a light 'gash' that would easily heal on its own in a week.
He then walked over to the mirror and was surprised Voldemort didn't try and use Harry to get the stone. But after looking at the room again maybe he did try but failed. Pocketing the stone he smiled at the images of James and Lily in the mirror before calling Fawkes and getting the first years to the hospital wing. Harry made sure to grab his cloak first of course.
When they arrived Harry let out a groan "I'm fine I don't need to be here Daphne" Daphne turned to yell but when she noticed his wound could hardly be called that anymore. It looked more like a light gash now. She had seen it when it first happened and it looked bad. She narrowed her eyes at him since she had never heard of someone's own magic healing a wound that quickly. "We're talking later Potter"
He grumbled for a while as Madam Pomfrey checked him over and gave him a fit bill of clean health. She had tried to heal the cut but Harry refused stating "My own magic can fix it up in a few days and I want it for stories" The matron looked ready to stun the boy if need be until Dumbledore chuckled and she reluctantly let him go after a talk with the old man.
Harry asked Fawkes to return Daphne to her room much to her protest but the bird did as requested. Dumbledore than asked Harry to follow him to his office but Harry declined and stated he would talk after the Quidditch game in the morning. The man let out a long sigh but agreed since it was late and the game was indeed the following day. Fawkes came back and took him back to the common room to get some rest for the game the following day.
The twins practically jumped on him as soon as he landed in the common room. With a sigh he altered the story of the confrontation saying he stunned Quirrell and the Riddle guy left his body as a shade killing the man. He also went into great detail that he wasn't going to try and defeat around 50 suits of armour just so they could have come along as well and they accepted that fact eventually. Unfortunately he realized he should have told them not to go and spread it around as the next day it was obvious people knew what he did from the whispered mutterings.
Daphne sought him out as soon as he walked into the great hall and practically dragged him out onto the grounds. Everyone looked on and wondered what was going on between the two while a certain brunette first year was laughing loudly "Daphne let me eat first" She didn't respond just kept walking with him before suddenly stopping and whirling around "Explain"
He merely raised an eyebrow in confusion before she started tapping the part of his chest where the curse was making him sigh and make sure they were alone. "Okay I might have an uh... regeneration ability" She blinked at him and frowned "What do you mean?"
Harry once more checked their surroundings before brought out his wand and he cut his palm with a spell. "Harry what are you doi-" Her eyes widened when he showed her the cut slowly but surely closing up, damaged skin healing further to look untouched moments later. "What are you Harry?"
"Warrior of fate. Boy who lived. Harry Potter" Was his response and she looked at him with a calculating gaze "What else can you do?" He looked away knowing if he looked her in the eye he might feel like telling her. She seemed to notice this as well and huffed in annoyance. "Will you ever tell me?" He grinned before pecking her on the cheek.
"Of course I will eventually. You already know far more than anyone else. But now isn't the time, maybe when you admit I smash all the potential husbands in Hogwarts" She smacked him in the chest before turning her back to him and he laughed before wrapping an arm around her shoulders and leading her back to the castle. "I know you won't do it but don't reveal it was Voldemort possessing Professor stutter" She rolled her eyes at him while he just grinned brightly at her. "I told Tracey you stunned him and the shade came out. Seems that was right since it sounds that's what the twins spread around minus me. She won't spread me being there around. You on the other hand will likely be talked up"
She left to her table once they entered the table and he saw Tracey giving him the thumbs up gesture confusing him. His eyes travelled to the other first year Slytherins and he saw Blaise glaring heatedly at him. Draco had a curious look on his face looking between him and Daphne. Ignoring everyone else he began to make his way to the Gryffindor table when a redhead grabbed him and dragged him out again. "Really? I do need to eat Susan"
Susan ignored him and he again had to explain why he went after Quirrel. Granted this time he went into a bit more detail since now it was over he trusted her with the whole truth. The fiery redhead was practically screaming at him at the end. She eventually reluctantly forgave him for not confiding in her about the stone since she honestly was sure she would have told someone. He walked back inside and took a seat next to Katie and began to pile food onto his plate. "What was that about Harry?"
He swallowed what he was eating before shrugging "Just discussing what really happened last night since the story has been changed as it's gone around. And they needed to tell me off for taking on Quirrell alone" The twins burst into laughter at the response since they left out Daphne's involvement in the story in case it caused problems for her in her house. They were pranksters not idiots. The statement and laughter did cause questioning glances around the room.
Katie made a note to get the truth out of him later. She heard from the twins they were knocked out early on so they likely didn't even know the full story since Harry has a habit of altering it to suit his needs. Harry noticed Hermione had a shocked look on her face and he looked at the girl in confusion. "You alright Hermione?"
She looked up shocked that someone spoke to her and responded "Fine, was just wondering how no one realized it was Quirrell after the stone" Harry raised an eyebrow before he stated. "Don't you mean why you thought it was Snape the whole time Hermione." She looked at him with wide eyes that he knew the truth and Ron blurted out "Who would have suspected weak stuttering Quirrell when you have that evil git though. Hermione don't worry about it no one could have known"
Dumbledore stood up and stated "Before the game I have an announcement to make. You shall not be seeing Professor Quirrell again I'm afraid. He has gone on to his next great adventure and will not be returning to see you all off. Not to worry his records are stored so you will all still receive your marks. Thank you and enjoy the final Quidditch match"
Curious mutterings went around the room for the rest of the meal as they realized the rumours might be true after all. "So that really is why you didn't come back to the dorm last night Harry. We thought you got caught sneaking into Katie's room and were taken to the headmaster or something" Dean stated and Katie looked at Harry with narrowed eyes "Hey now Katie, me trying to get in your room or going after a professor at the forbidden corridor. What's more believable?" Harry stated reasonably and Katie snorted but turned back to her meal.
The match itself was good fun, Ravenclaw knew there was no chance of winning but they still put up a fight. Harry was flirting with Cho trying to distract the girl but she would flirt right back not bothered by his attempts. He did a few feints annoying her as well as interfering in a few plays much to both team's chaser's annoyance. The end result was Gryffindor winning after Harry caught the snitch and winning the cup.
McGonagall had tears in her eyes and the whole team was lifted by the Gryffindor's in the middle of the pitch after a photo was taken. As promised Harry made his way to the headmaster's office after the game to have a talk with him. The man wanted the memory of the encounter but Harry wasn't sure if he should give it or not. After reviewing it he really couldn't see much harm but removed the pieces of the conversation about Dumbledore. After the old wizard watched it in his pensive he was beaming proudly at how Harry handled himself if not a little disappointed that he used such force after 'Daphne's' death.
The party that night was far more exciting than all the others. It went on well into the night. Harry noticed Katie had tried some of whatever the older students tended to drink and she had dragged him to his room and demanded to know the truth. Of course people knew Katie was drinking some firewhiskey and they all thought she dragged him up there for another reason.
After explaining the entire situation she smacked him before giving him a kiss on the cheek and leaving the room. He decided to just stay there instead of going back down. Ron came up later on and asked "Hey Harry if you knew I knew about the stone how come you didn't ask me to come along last night?"
Harry blinked innocently at him wondering what he could say that wouldn't upset the boy before he stated "Figured you would rather not go after it, that massive dog was hard enough to get past. But the Devil's snare, snitch like flying keys in the dark. A duel with 5 suits of armour, 2 massive trolls and a difficult potion to brew I thought you might not like it"
Ron paled at the explanation of what he might have had to face before he walked back to his bed in a daze. Harry nearly mentioned an army of acromantula but that would have probably pushed the boy too far. Harry laid down that night with a smile. The year had gone very well in his opinion. Tomorrow he would talk to the others and see about what to do during the summer. Harry wasn't planning on staying with his relatives all summer now he was exposed to the wizarding world.