A Tick In Time
Chapter 4 – First Year Part 2
"So where was I," Hermione quickly skimmed through her notes to find her place. "Oh found it. Ok then. After the match we went to back to Hagrid's hut for tea. We told Hagrid our suspicions about Snape and he tried to say it was impossible. Then Harry told Hagrid about seeing him trying to get past that dog on Halloween. We were sidetracked however to find out that it was one of Hagrid's pets, named Fluffy."
"He named a Cerberus fluffy?" asked all three marauders and Lily in unison.
"Yep. He 'bought him from a greek chappie he met in the pub las' year'." The only sounds that could be heard were the exasperated slaps of palms against their owners' faces. Wait till they hear about Norbert and Aragog and Buckbeak and the Skrewts and Grawp, Hermione mentally snorted. "Anyway, Harry then questioned Hagrid on what Fluffy was guarding and Hagrid said that was between Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel." Dumbledore immediately perked up and all eyes went to him. The old professor was aware of everyone's scrutiny but ignored them. So THAT was what the dog was guarding! Suddenly everything made sense then cold dread flooded him as he realised who wanted it and why.
"Please continue Ms. Granger," murmured Albus. The others, especially James and Lily, looked like they wanted to question him but knew from experience if the professor didn't tell them he wasn't going to say.
Hermione looked unsurprised by Albus's lack of response, "Obviously Harry latched on to that fact and we began to research Flamel. We didn't know precisely where to look and we didn't want to ask Madam Pince to avoid arousing suspicion."
"Good instincts Mya," commented Remus.
"Thanks Remus. That being said we combed through the library but couldn't find a trace of him. Christmas came and I left Ron and Harry to continue the search without me."
"You really thought they would do it?" asked Lily wryly.
"Hey I was eleven. I'm wiser to the inner workings of the male mind now. But yes I hoped they would. Well over the holidays Harry had fun with Ron and his brothers. Then on Christmas morning they opened their presents. Harry was shocked that he got any." Lily and James sighed sadly. Lily just had to ask though.
"What did the Dursleys give him?"
"Fifty pence – Harry ended up giving it to Ron who was fascinated by the money. Harry had other presents though."
"Oh good! What did he get?" Lily looked marginally happier that her son at least got some decent presents.
"A box of chocolate frogs from me, a flute from Hagrid, and mincemeat pies, fudge, and a sweater from Mrs. Weasley. His last present was by far the best though."
"What was it?" asked Sirius eagerly.
"A long silver cloak."
"A long silver cloak…" murmured James wonderingly, his eyes going wide. Remus and Sirius mirrored his expression. Was it possible?
Hermione caught the look and a tiny smile played on her lips. "Yes, oh and it just so happened that it could make the wearer invisible." She said offhandedly. A cheer went up from the marauders.
"He got my cloak!" To say James was excited would be a complete understatement. He was ecstatic! Lily was caught between being just as thrilled as James about Harry getting the heirloom but disapproving because all the mischief that was now possible for her son. Oh well, she thought with an internal shrug, he would've gotten it anyway. She settled for being happy and smiled down at the baby in her lap.
"Alright alright calm down," called Hermione. "With the cloak he found an unsigned note explaining that the cloak belonged to James and the parting line 'Use It Well'."
"Oh I bet he does." Remus said mischievously.
You have no idea, thought Hermione. "Yes well he decided to use the cloak by himself that night."
"He's barely had it for 24 hours and he's already sneaking out!" groaned Lily. James tried to look upset and failed magnificently. He quickly gave up and looked at the baby with distinct pride much to the chagrin of his wife. Remus and Sirius had no such problem openly displaying their approval, bumping fists gleefully.
"He decided to go to the restricted section of the library to research Flamel." Hermione explained.
"Aww Prongslet! The library of all places!" Sirius whined. He had been hoping for something a little more exciting and marauder-ish.
"Relax Padfoot, let him start small. He'll get a feel for the cloak. Learn to walk before you run," said Remus tongue in cheek. Sirius scowled and shot a glare at James who coughed into his hand to hide a laugh.
"Mind filling in the blanks boys?" Lily asked.
"Oh nothing Lilykins, just thinking about the first time Paddy here used the cloak." James answered sweetly while ignoring his best friend who was now shooting daggers with his eyes.
"What happened?" asked Hermione.
Remus looked all too happy to tell the story and overlooked his own daggers to answer. "We started using the cloak at eleven too. Now I'm sure you realise that the cloak is for a full grown man. Sirius, when he was eleven, hadn't hit his growth spurt yet so he was quite small; only had an inch or two above James. That being said, the first time Padfoot put on the cloak is was less like wearing a cloak and more like a child who pretends to be a ghost by throwing a large sheet over his head."
"Oh dear…" said Lily sensing where this was going.
"Well you see Sirius wanted to get something to eat from the kitchens and the rest of us didn't so after swearing on his life the safe return of James's prized possession he took off. He got to the kitchens ok but on the way back he 'ran' into a bit of trouble, otherwise known as Filch."
"He bumped into Filch!" cried Lily.
"Literally," supplied James now taking up the tale, "He wasn't paying attention ("Damn éclair," muttered Sirius) and near knocked Filch off his feet. Obviously Filch freaked and tried snatching whoever it was so Sirius decided to run for it. He got so far as the corridor that leads to the Fat Lady when he tripped over the cloak and fell right into the suits of armour." The group laughed.
"So Mya what happened with Harry?" called Sirius loudly.
"Well he got to the library alright and went to the restricted section. But he was startled by one of the books screaming and dropped his lantern which alerted Filch. He ran from the library and nearly ran into Filch who was then joined by Professor Snape."
"Oh this can't be good," murmured James.
"Actually he managed to evade them and ducked into a nearby classroom." Hermione had to stop here. She knew retelling this part of the story would be torture for James and Lily but it was important for later on so she had to keep going. "Inside the classroom was a gigantic mirror."
"A mirror?" Remus asked. Why on earth would there be a mirror inside an abandoned classroom?
"Yes. Harry stepped forward to look into it and was shocked to see people standing around him but when he looked around the room there was no one there. He quickly realised that these people existed inside the mirror."
"Inside the mirror?" repeated Lily with raised eyebrows
"Yes, and then saw the people somewhat resembled him." Hermione took a deep breath and ploughed forward, "Closest to him, there was woman was bright red hair and green eyes just like his and a man with round glasses and messy black hair. He was seeing his family for the first time in his life."
Lily covered her mouth with her hand and leaned into James. It took everything they had not to break down at the sudden reminder that their baby boy wasn't going to know them. The child they so dearly loved was going to be eleven before he even knew what they looked like. They'd never see his first quidditch victory or the first time he boarded the train. The world that they were attempting to build for him filled with love was going to crumble because of some psychopath with a superiority complex.
"Just keep going Mya," said Sirius lowly.
"Well Harry was very excited to see them but he was afraid of getting caught so he went back to the dormitory and told Ron everything. They decided to go again so Ron could see for himself but when they reached the mirror Ron only saw himself as Quidditch captain and head boy. They fought a little and then went back. Harry went again a third night and met with Dumbledore. Dumbledore explained that the mirror was known as the mirror of erised and shows the looker's deepest, most desperate desires. He told him that the mirror was going to be moved and warned Harry not to go looking for the mirror ever again."
"Oh good," murmured Lily. She did not like the sound of this mirror one little bit.
"In the following weeks Harry tried his best to keep his mind off the mirror, Quidditch being one of the main distractions. We were shocked to find Snape was refereeing the next match."
"But he'll be biased!" cried the Quidditch fanatics aka the marauders.
"Well at the same time Harry was telling us Neville came in having had the Leg Locker curse performed on him. Malfoy had cast it and after I took the spell Harry tried to cheer him up with a chocolate frog and Neville gave Harry the card. It was Dumbledore and on the back was a note about Nicholas Flamel. That's when we realised he was an alchemist and then I remembered I had a book on him and we discovered the legend of the Philosopher's Stone."
"That sounds familiar," Remus tried to remember if he had ever read up on the stone and what it was about.
"Basically the stone can turn any metal into pure gold and produces the elixir of life which make the drinker -"
"Immortal." Remus grimly finished for her, remembering the story himself.
"Yes, at any rate our first concern was the match with Snape. But it really did need to be because Harry caught the Snitch in less than five minutes - literally. It's still the fastest catch on record."
"Nice job Harry," said James ruffling the baby's hair.
"After the match Harry saw and overheard Snape and Quirrell talking at the edge of the woods. The conversation made it seem as if Snape was threatening Quirrell about the stone. We thought that Snape was trying to get the stone but needed to break the enchantments first. But he seemed to be holding up. Then we got another distraction." Hermione grimaced, "We were studying in the library when we saw Hagrid in there."
"Since when does Hagrid go to the library?"
"Well Ron checked what section he was in and it was about dragons."
"Dear Lord please let this go where I think it's going!" McGonagall cried.
"Well we went to down to his hut to speak with him. After some careful flattery on my part we managed to find out who had a hand in guarding the stone. Hagrid with fluffy, then Sprout, Flitwick, Snape, Quirrell, McGonagall, and Dumbledore of course. That was when we noticed the dragon's egg."
"But he lives in a wooden house!" Lily was shocked.
"That's what I said. But he wouldn't listen. He had gotten the egg from someone he met at the pub. He was looking after it in his fireplace, then the egg hatched. We were there but unfortunately Malfoy overheard us talking about it and followed us to the cabin and saw the dragon too. We tried to convince Hagrid to let him go but Hagrid said it would die because it was so young. In the meantime he named the dragon Norbert and tried training him." Different expressions of exasperation could be heard at this point. "In the end, we sent a letter to Ron's brother Charlie who replied that he would glad to take the dragon but not for few weeks. Then one day Ron was bitten by Norbert and had to go to the hospital wing. It was there that Malfoy visited to goad Ron about the dragon."
"How very Slytherin of you cousin," said Sirius scathingly.
"His excuse was that he wanted to borrow a book and took the book that had Charlie's letter in it and so found out about the plan. But we had no choice but to go through with it anyway. So we got Norbert from Hagrid and took him to the Astronomy tower and met with Charlie's friends who were going to take him. We were caught by Filch on the way back down because we had forgotten the invisibility cloak at the top of the tower. Malfoy was also caught sneaking out and unfortunately Neville as well. Obviously McGonagall wouldn't believe the story about the dragon so we lost fifty points each and received detention."
"150 points in one go?!" James exclaimed. "That was – is going be – a little don't you think Minnie?"
"I have to punish rule-breaking but I think I should fact check my students' stories more often."
"Believe we would've rather you take more points away than have a detention like that again. You see detention was to help Hagrid with some work in the Forbidden Forest."
"How could they let small children in there," Lily glared at the professors.
"Well to be fair," said Hermione, "It would have been alright under normal circumstances but as you know this year was far from normal. Hagrid wanted us to help him find an injured unicorn. Apparently something strange was lurking in the forest that was attacking them."
"I bet my cousin was scared," said Sirius.
"Terrified might be the better. He threatened to go to his father about it. He kept on talking about werewolves." Remus long since accustomed to wizarding beliefs only shook his head while the others laughed.
"Anyway we ventured in the forest and found a small patch of the unicorn's blood. Hagrid split us into groups to go a look for it. Malfoy was originally paired with Neville but because he scared him, Harry took his place. The two of them found the unicorn and the creature was there, drinking its blood. Malfoy ran away but Harry's scar really started to pain him so much so that he couldn't move. But before the creature could attack a centaur named Firenze chased him off. Firenze allowed Harry to ride on his back and he took him back to Hagrid."
"Wow. Centaurs never let anyone ride on their backs," said Remus.
"Firenze is a far more open-minded centaur. During the ride Firenze and Harry discussed the creature. Firenze explained that unicorn blood only gives the drinker a half-life or a cursed life. Harry wanted to know who would choose that way of life to which Firenze responded what if they needed to live just long enough to drink something else."
"The Elixir of Life," said Dumbledore gravely.
"So that thing in the woods…the creature…was…him?" Remus asked horrified.
"Yes," Hermione still got chills just thinking about how close they all had been.
"Harry was literally feet away from the half dead remains of Voldemort." Lily looked like she was going to be sick.
Hermione had never thought of it like that, she shuddered and try to focus on the story. "Well we didn't think about it too much because we had exams. Harry couldn't shake the feeling that he was forgetting something. Then after our history of magic test it hit him. He ran off to Hagrid's with myself and Ron trying to keep up with him. He explained on the way that it was odd that the one thing Hagrid wants most, a dragon's egg, just happens to be someone's pocket and they find Hagrid of all people. We found Hagrid and Harry asked him about the stranger and Hagrid said he didn't what he looked like because he kept his hood on. Apparently the stranger kept buying him drinks and questioned him about the animals he worked with. Hagrid mentioned Fluffy and revealed that he told the stranger how to put Fluffy sleep." The marauders looked disgusted and revolted that the very tactic they joked was being used this way.
"Please tell me you went to a teacher," Lily all but begged.
Hermione threw McGonagall an apologetic look, "We did, we tried to go to Dumbledore but McGonagall found us and told us that Dumbledore received an owl from the ministry and left. Then we told her about our suspicions but she told that the stone was well guarded and to forget about it. Obviously we did it, Harry sent me to stand guard at the staff room for Snape while he and Ron went to the third floor corridor. McGonagall caught them and sent them to common room and Snape found me, I said I was waiting for Flitwick and went and got him. Harry decided to go down the trapdoor that night and Ron and I decided to go with him. We snuck out that night and ran into Neville. He tried to stop us and I had to put a body bind on him. We got to the trapdoor and saw a harp which meant that someone had already gone down. We played the flute Hagrid gave Harry to put Fluffy to sleep. We fell through the door and landed on Devil's Snare. I managed to pull free but freaked out because 'there was no wood' to light a fire." Hermione blushed in embarrassment.
"Are you witch or what woman?" Sirius demanded laughing.
"Look I was eleven, I panicked okay! That was the first time I was in a dangerous situation." Hermione's anger was belied by her mouth twitching. "Anyway, I lit a fire and the boys got free. We next came to room filled with hundreds of flying keys, the three of us worked to together to catch the right and moved on to the next room.
"Seeker skills in action," announced James.
Inside the room was a giant chessboard, we joined the black pieces to play our way across the room. Ron directed us because he was the best at chess and we won only Ron had to sacrifice himself first."
"Was he alright?" asked McGonagall, after all the pieces were mostly likely transfigured by her.
"Yes, he was just knocked out. The next chamber had a huge troll inside but luckily it was knocked out so we didn't have to face it. The next place had a table with a series of bottles on it and a riddle to solve."
"Logic. Sounds like Severus's handiwork." Oh how he loved riddles. Lily had a small smile at the thought of a vestige of the boy she grew up with. Maybe deep down the Sev I knew still exists, the idea was somewhat heartening.
"It was. Fire appeared at both doors and the riddle said that there was potion to take us back out and one to take us forward. I worked out the riddle but there was only enough potion for one person to enter the next room which housed the stone. Harry sent me back to get Ron and contact Dumbledore. I left him and he went into the room by himself." Hermione paused here. She had another note, this time addressed to all the marauders and Lily. She handed it to them and they clustered together to read.
Dear everyone,
At this point you are about to hear what happens when I go into the final room. I wanted to write a note when you found out about the mirror but I didn't know what to say. I'm not even quite sure what to say now. I figured the words would come to me as I started to write. You already know that I love you all dearly even Sirius for whatever reason. The final part of this story will be hard for you to hear, you might even partially blame yourselves for what happens but like I said before none of it is your fault. As much as I know you would have preferred for me to stay out of danger, I have no trouble saying that if you were alive and I was faced with the same situation again I would still go, not for bravery, not for revenge, but because it would still be the right thing to do. Just hang on to the fact that I get out of it alive and well. As for the mirror, I realise now words are not necessary, my deepest desire was to have not just any family, but my family, the one I was meant to have. Hopefully that desire comes true if this plan succeeds. Until then, just know that I was, am, and will always be proud to be your son.
Love,
Harry
Tears welled in the group's eyes. James took the letter and stared at it as if he could see the man who wrote this letter, his son. Pride and sadness rose fiercely in his heart, he couldn't have grown into a better person but I wasn't around to help him, support him, I wasn't there. The thought alone shook his very core. Lily held her baby close to her chest trying hard not to cry. Little Harry sensing her sadness, twisted in her arms to touch her face and pat her cheek. Lily kissed his fingertips and snuggled him closer. Remus and Sirius looked at each other morosely, what was to become of their family? This was the only place other than Hogwarts that they were ever truly happy.
Hermione didn't want to break up the moment but needed to finish the story. She leant forward and asked delicately, "Are you ready to continue?" They all nodded slowly, trying to mentally prepare themselves for what they were about to hear.
"Harry walked into the final chamber and saw Quirrell standing there."
"WHAT!?" everyone cried.
"Yes Quirrell, he told Harry that it was really him behind everything that had happened. If you remember he was in Diagon Alley that day, he was the one who let in the troll as a diversion, he was jinxing Harry broom but remember I knocked into him so that's how the spell was broken.."
"Oh dear god!" Lily and McGonagall placed their hands over their mouths. The men even Dumbledore looked rather pale. James swallowed, "And Snape?"
"He explained that Snape was trying to stop him the whole time and save Harry and that Snape was only mean to Harry because of James." Lily didn't have it in her for an 'I told you so'. "So the obstacle of that room was the Mirror of Erised. Quirrell couldn't figure out how to get the stone from it until a disembodied voice said to use Harry." James clasped Lily's hand in anxiety. "Harry was forced to look into the mirror but instead of you he saw himself with stone and suddenly felt the stone in his pocket. He tried to lie but the voice seemed to know and said he wanted to speak to him."
"But if it's a disembodied voice-" Sirius began.
"Well that's what Harry thought at first but the voice was indeed coming from somewhere. Quirrell took off his turban and revealed that Lord Voldemort had possessed him and his face was in the back of his head." If everyone had been pale before now they were green and wore similar expressions of revulsion. "He had been the one drinking the unicorn's blood but to really come back he needed. He asked Harry for it and when Harry refused he ordered Quirrell to attack." James now wrapped his arm around Lily who looked like she was going to fall to pieces. Sirius was shaking even with Remus's hand on his shoulder. Hermione looked around the room and wanted to get through this as quickly as possible to spare them. "But as soon as Quirrell touched him, his hands burned like they were being scorched. He tried to kill Harry with magic but Harry ran forward and put his hands on Quirrell's face and burnt him. But the effort was proving too much for Harry and he passed out. When he awoke he was in the hospital wing and Dumbledore was there." There was collective sigh of relief that he made it out relatively unharmed. Sirius flopped backwards with his hands on his face while Remus raked his fingers through his sandy hair. James fell so far forward that his head was almost between his knees as Lily sent up a small prayer of thanks. Hermione just continued without asking, she knew they were listening.
"He explained to Harry that Quirrell couldn't touch because of Lily's love sacrifice charm and that Voldemort was still alive and out there but very weak. He told Harry the stone had been destroyed and that the whole school knows what happened. Hagrid visited him too; poor Hagrid was distraught and kept blaming himself for what happened. He gave Harry a photo album with pictures of you." Everyone grew solemn at that and Hermione hoped the last bit of this story would cheer them up. "But the year wasn't over yet, still time for a little more fun." Everyone perked up hoping to hear something good.
"The final feast was the best; it looked like Slytherin was going to win the house cup."
"How is that the best?" James asked shocked,
"I said looked like didn't I? Dumbledore decided to give out some final points. First to Ron 'for the finest chess game Hogwarts had ever seen' fifty points. Then me, 'for the use of cool logic in the face of fire', 50 points. Then Harry, 'for outstanding courage' 60 points which tied us with Slytherin."
"Awww Dumbledore!" moaned Sirius, "You couldn't have given out one more point!" Albus chuckled but said nothing.
"Hey, I'm not finished yet. I quote 'it takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to your enemies but even more so to your friends' therefore Nevile was awarded ten points. So Gryffindor won the house cup and broke Slytherin's winning streak." The group cheered, McGonagall clasped her hands together delightedly, and Dumbledore chuckled merrily. Hermione called over the noise, "That concludes Harry's first year." This was greeted by an even bigger cheer. Until they started again, they were going to listen to Harry and focus on him making it out safely. They would hold on to that, no matter what they were told next.
A/N: It's a little bit rushed towards the end so my apologies for any grammar and spelling mistakes. I had serious difficulties with this chapter but love it or hate it I will see you in the next chapter!