Chapter Eleven: Separate Paths
Riley and Tony continued their way down the hall, both trying to stay as quiet as possible in case they ran into anyone suspicious or otherwise. Upon finally reaching the other room, the two boys stopped in the center of the room in confusion.
"Okay, now where are we?" asked Tony.
"Don't know." replied Riley.
He then saw some carvings on the wall in front of them, and nudged his best friend.
"Tony, look." he said.
Tony looked up at the wall, and his eyes narrowed in confusion and surprise. The wall was covered in odd markings that seemed to have been carved out like words on a paper. Riley quickly took out a book, and started flipping through the pages, much to his friend's confusion.
"What are you doing?" the Slytherin boy asked.
"Remember the symbols from the tombs our dads let us explore? Same thing." Riley explained, without looking up from the book. "These are runes. We've also seen these in Deran's books."
"I guess all that research paid off after all then. Don't tell Hermione I said that."
Tony watched as his friend scanned the pages, occasionally looked up at the wall again, then repeated the process a few more times. Then the Gryffindor student closed the book.
"It's a riddle." he concluded.
"A riddle?" repeated Tony. "Another test?"
"'We hurt without moving. We poison without touching. We bear the truth, and the lies. We are not judged by our size. What are we?'"
"That is a good question. What does that?...Cyanide? A potion?"
"Liquids move and touch, Tony."
Tony sat back against the wall, and slunk to the ground, groaning.
"Come on, brain!" he shouted, slapping himself on the side of the head. "Work!"
Riley paced back and forth for a few minutes, then stomped his foot onto the ground in frustration.
"We need Hermione for this one, she'd have the answer." he declared.
"Or Malfoy," joked Tony. "He'd demand the wall to answer him, or he'd tell his father."
"After he's done calling us 'Mudbloods'. Who thought up that stupid name anyway? It doesn't make any sense."
"Talking trash because we're not pure bloods like him, saying our blood is a hazard to their kind. I've heard of words being weapons, but not blood."
Riley chuckled in agreement, then his laughter died down. He frowned a little, as in deep thought, and the gears in his head began to turn. Something about what Tony said had made sense.
"'Words being weapons'." he repeated, softly. "Words."
The wall suddenly started to pull upwards toward the ceiling, and Tony got to his feet, smiling surprised.
"Tony, you're a genius!" laughed Riley.
"Huh, I'll have to give Malfoy a bit of credit for this one." Tony said, stunned.
"C'mon, let's see if we can meet up with Harry and the others."
The two of them shot off down through the passageway, hoping to meet up with their friends, until they saw a light at the end of the tunnel. As the exit came nearer and nearer, the boys slowed down to a quiet walk, and began to hear voices.
"...Come here, Potter!" a familiar voice shouted. "Now!"
The two boys looked at one another, nervously, the continued to creep forward through the tunnel. They walked until they found themselves at the end of the tunnel, leading to a staircase.
"How can we see anything without the bad guy noticing us?" Tony asked, in a hushed voice.
Riley quietly took off his backpack, and searched through it to pull out a small compact mirror.
"Isn't that your mom's?" asked Tony.
"Shut up, and hold it up around the corner." Riley responded, shoving the mirror into his hands. "Mom said it's like a pedestrian's rearview mirror. Comes in handy when you're dealing with stalkers, strangers, that sort of thing."
"...Sweet."
Tony held it up around the corner, and saw a glimpse of Harry standing in front of a taller mirror, with Prof. Quirrell beside him. The mirror Harry was in front of looked incredibly ancient.
"It's Harry." whispered Tony.
"And Ron and Hermione?" asked Riley.
"Only other person that's there is Prof. Quirrell."
"So, he's after the Stone. I should've known after he tried to knock Harry off his broom."
"But what about Prof. Snape, and Halloween night?"
"Questions for later. What are they saying?"
Tony looked into the small mirror, and saw Harry gripping his side pocket, which seemed to bulge a little.
"Riley, besides his wand, was Harry carrying anything else when we all came here?" the former asked.
"No." replied Riley.
"He lies." a strange, foreign voice hissed.
The Muggleborn wizards jumped a little, and looked at each other.
"Did you say something?" asked Tony.
"I was hoping that was you." replied Riley.
"Tell the truth!" barked Prof. Quirrell. "What do you see?!"
"Let me speak to him." the new voice hissed again.
Riley and Tony pressed their backs against the wall now, looking freaked out.
"Superboy, I don't know what's going on here, but I think Harry might be in trouble." Tony decided, trying to remain calm.
"Okay, so what's the plan?" asked Riley.
"I have strength enough for this." the mysterious voice had spoken.
"Jump Quirrell, get Harry, and get the hell out of here." Tony declared, looking at his friend with a smile.
"I like that plan." Riley nodded, smiling back. "Let's do it."
"Good. You go first."
Riley looked up at his friend, alarmed.
"I'm not going out there!" he hissed, pointing towards the stairs.
"I'll be right behind you," Tony reassured him. "By a good few inches."
"You're the one who came up with the plan!"
The two friends' argument was then halted, when they heard the voice speak once again. This time, however, it was a little louder than before.
"Harry Potter," it greeted, eerily. "We meet again."
"'Again'?" repeated Tony. "So Harry knows this guy?"
Suddenly, what he had heard from Harry, Ron, and Hermione the night they came back from their first detention together echoed into his mind once again. He had a good idea who that voice belonged to.
"Oh, God." gasped Riley. "That's Voldemort."
"The guy who tried to kill Harry?" Tony whispered, looking at him. "That Voldemort?"
"Yeah. Harry said he was back. He was in the Forbidden Forest."
Tony stared at him in horror, while Voldemort continued to talk to Harry.
"See what I have become? See what I must do to survive?" it spoke. "Live off another, a mere parasite. Unicorn blood can sustain me, but it cannot give me a body of my own. But there is something that can, something that conveniently enough...lies in your pocket!"
That was enough for the two boys to rush out of the hidden corridor and down the stairs to get to their friend.
"Harry, c'mon!" shouted Tony.
Harry turned and ran towards him and Riley, while Voldemort's voice ordered for Prof. Quirrell to stop them, followed by the sound of someone snapping their fingers. Then a wall of flames shot up behind where Riley and Tony were standing, causing them to jump in surprise, and tumble down the steps. Once reaching the bottom floor, the two of them pushes themselves up onto their hands and knees, then looked up at Prof. Quirrell. They saw that his turban was removed, but what shocked them most of all was the second face on the back of his head.
"I think I've been reading too many comic books, Tony." Riley stated, stunned.
"You're not imagining things, Riley." Tony agreed. "I see it, too."
"Guys, get back!" Harry shouted at them. "That's Voldemort!"
Not waiting to be told twice, the two eleven year olds shot up to their feet and backed away towards the stairs. Voldemort looked through the mirror at them, and frowned.
"Mudbloods." he spat, disgustedly. "The true parasites."
"And yet we have bodies of our own." cracked Tony.
"You're not going to kill Harry," Riley declared, pointing a finger at Voldemort and Quirrell. "Neither of you! Not so long as we're standing! We stopped you before, Quirrell, we'll do it again!"
"So, it was you two who set fire to Snape's cloak, and broke my eye contact?" asked Prof. Quirrell.
"Yes! Yes, we did!" Tony lied, boldly. "And we'll do it again, too!"
Voldemort remained silent, as he looked up at Harry, who was trying to see a way out of the wall of flames.
"Don't be a fool." he spoke, causing the boy to turn to face him again. "Why suffer a horrific death, when you could join me and live?"
"Never!" Harry responded, shaking his head angrily.
Voldemort merely laughed at him.
"Bravery. Your parents had it, too." he said, arrogantly. "Tell me, Harry, would you like to see your mother and father again? Together we can bring them back."
Harry stared at him, suddenly appearing indecisive.
"Don't listen to him, Harry!" Riley warned him.
"Silence!" commanded Voldemort. "All I ask is for something in return, Harry."
Harry took out a red rock from his pocket, and Riley and Tony stared at it in awe.
"Is that it?" asked Tony.
"The Sorcerer's Stone." breathed Riley. "He found it after all."
"That's it, Harry." Voldemort encouraged Harry. "There is no good and evil. There is only power, and those too weak to seek it. Together we'll do extraordinary things, just give me the Stone!"
Harry looked between the Stone in his hand, and the mirror, as if contemplating the answer. Tony looked at Riley, worriedly. They knew how much their wanted to see his parents again. Then Riley looked up at Voldemort.
"And just how do you plan on bringing his parents back to life?" he asked, bravely. "I've read a lot of books this year, gone through a lot of tutoring, and I haven't found a single thing about how to bring people back from the dead. Otherwise, his parents and the rest of your victims would've been resurrected after your defeat."
Harry looked down at him, as did Tony. Riley was right. Voldemort simply growled, and glared at the young Gryffindor.
"Be quiet, Mudblood!" Voldemort snarled, angrily. "Filthy creatures like you and your friend should learn your place!"
"You're the filthy creature here, you scum of the Earth!" Tony retorted, angrily. "I've seen mummies and other corpses that looked better than you!"
As Voldemort glared at him, Harry looked at his parents' killer.
"You liar!" he shouted.
His would-be killer's face suddenly twisted into an expression of rage.
"Kill him!" the parasite commanded.
Tony and Riley charged at Prof. Quirrell, ready to defend Harry, only to get launched back into separate walls on the opposite sides of the room. Harry didn't have time to react as Prof. Quirrell literally flew towards him and grabbed him by the throat, pushing him against the stairs. He felt the Stone tumble out of his hand, and tried to reach for it, while Prof. Quirrell started to strangle him.
"Harry!" Riley screamed, jumping to his feet.
"We're comin', pal!" Tony shouted, as he leapt up also.
The two boys rushed at Prof. Quirrell and tried to pull him off of their friend.
"Get your filthy hands off of this body, Mudbloods!" snarled Voldemort.
"I'd punch you in the face, but I'm afraid to know what your bite feels like!" said Tony.
"I'd be more worried about him latching onto one of us!" Riley piped up.
Suddenly Prof. Quirrell started to scream in agony, and got up, causing the two Muggleborn boys to release him in confusion. Prof. Quirrell's hand started smoking and turning to stone.
"What happened to him?" asked Tony.
"I don't know, I just grabbed his hand." answered Harry.
"What is this magic?!" screamed Prof. Quirrell.
"Fool! Get the Stone!" ordered Voldemort.
Prof. Quirrell obediently charged towards the boys again, aiming to get the blood red rock behind them.
"Ry, like with the troll!" Tony shouted, looking at his best friend. "Harry, whatever you did, do it again!"
Riley nodded in understanding and they tackled into Prof. Quirrell, stopping him in his tracks, while Harry charged behind them, and grabbed at their attacker's face, pushing him back. As Harry's hands made contact with Prof. Quirrell's face, the latter's face started to smoke and turn to stone as well, while he screamed in agony once again. Harry, Riley, and Tony stepped back to watch their teacher's skin completely change into stone, cracking as it transformed, then stepped back as the professor started to charge at them once again. Fortunately, the body completely crumpled to dust after taking a couple of steps forward. Prof. Quirrell was now dead.
"Neat trick, Harry." Tony complimented his friend, thumping him on the back as he did so.
"I never did that before in my life." Harry told him.
"Then I guess you had the element of surprise, very helpful in battle."
"Yeah, but how do we explain all of this to everyone else?" asked Riley.
Tony and Harry looked at him, both wondering the same thing. Then Harry walked back towards the steps and picked up the fallen Sorcerer's Stone.
"Where are Hermione and Ron anyway?" asked Tony.
"After the giant chess match, Ron got hurt and Hermione had to take him back." replied Harry. "I told her to get Dumbledore."
As they talked, Riley slowly turned around when he heard a strange noise. Like a soft hissing. He saw that the cloud of dust from Prof. Quirrell's body starting to rise up, and take shape.
"Harry? Tony?" the brown-haired boy called out, weakly.
His two friends slowly turned around to see what he was looking at, and to the trio's collective surprise, a smoky figure with what looked like Voldemort's face floated above the ground. It let out a roar, and charged straight at Harry. Harry gave a frightened shout as a gust of wind suddenly blew into him and his friends, and Voldemort's ghost plowed through his chest, making him stumble backwards onto the concrete flor. Riley and Tony watched as the ghost flew around the room, then through the wall of flames, never to be seen again. They looked behind them and saw that Harry was laying on the floor, unconscious, then rushed to his side.
"Harry!" yelped Tony. "Talk to us!"
"He's out like a light," said Riley. "We better get him to the hospital wing."
"How? We'd be burned alive."
Riley shook his head at him, then rose to his feet, and whipped out his wand.
"I hope this works." he muttered, facing the wall of flames. "Aguamenti!"
A jet of water shot out of the tip of his wand, and hit the fire, dousing it within seconds. Once it was extinguished, Riley pocketed his wand once again, and walked back over to Tony, who had placed one of Harry's arms around his shoulders, and did the same with the latter's other arm before standing up to head back up the stairs through the corridor they came through. They trekked through the room with the riddle, then through the room with the flying keys, until they reached the first room below the Devil's Snare, where a gaping hole was seen from when Hermione helped save Ron's life.
"Okay, pop quiz." Tony announced, jokingly. "How do we get up there?"
"Shout for help?" guessed Riley.
"I don't think anyone would hear us."
"You might be surprised." a new voice rang out from beside them.
Tony and Riley looked at each other, then towards the side of the room, where Prof. McGonagall, Prof. Snape, and a woman in a black and white nurse's uniform were standing.
"Madam Pomfrey will take care of Mr. Potter." said Prof. McGonagall.
Madam Pomfrey, the nurse, conjured up a stretcher, and instructed for the two conscious preteens to set Harry onto it. She then led the stretcher away, leaving Riley and Tony at the mercy of their Heads of Houses.
"Uh, here's the Sorcerer's Stone, sir." Tony spoke, digging into his pocket.
Prof. Snape watched as his student quickly took out the Stone and hand it to him, then pocketed it into his own pocket.
"Ms. Granger and Mr. Weasley explained everything up to the point where they got separated from you two, and defeated the chess game I had set up." Prof. McGonagall explained, her tone indicating that she was trying to remain calm. "Would you two mind filling in the blanks?"
"That depends on which name you want us to use: 'You-Know-Who' or...his real name?" answered Riley. "When we solved the riddle in the corridor we headed through, we found Harry standing in front of some mirror, with Prof. Quirrell beside him, and then he took off this turban. The one who tried to kill Harry when he was a baby said he became some kind of parasite, and was attached to Quirrell, on the back of his head."
"Sounds like someone has been reading one too many of his comic books." Prof. Snape mused.
"He's not making this up, professor, it was Voldemort." Tony defended his friend. "And he tried to get Harry to give him the Stone, offering to bring his parents back to life. Harry said no, Quirrell attacked, knocked us into a wall, and tried to strangle Harry. What I don't get though is how Harry did that trick with his hands."
"His hands?" Prof. McGonagall repeated, curiously.
"The moment he touched Quirrell's skin, when Harry himself did, it seemed like he was killing Quirrell. He finally did when Harry grabbed at his face. Quirrell crumpled into dust, then I guess Voldemort's ghost floated up and attacked Harry again before flying away."
Prof. McGonagall and Prof. Snape looked at each other, surprised, then back at their students.
"You two are to report to your Houses." the former ordered, sternly. "Granger has also returned to Gryffindor Tower by now. Weasley will be in the hospital wing for the time being."
Riley and Tony nodded numbly, then walked up the stairs back into the familiar maze of staircases, then stopped at the intersection of the corridors that would lead to their dorms.
"Crazy night, huh, Superboy?" asked Tony.
"See you tomorrow." replied Riley.
"See you."
The two friends separated, and headed off to their Houses. Riley reached the portrait with the Fat Lady at last, and looked up at the woman in the painting.
"Excuse me?" he called out.
"Password?" the Fat Lady said, looking at him.
"Pig Snout."
After facing an obstacle themselves, the two Muggleborn Wizards help Harry in his second face-off against Voldemort (I'm not counting the event in the Forbidden Forest), and were left to tell their Heads what had happened, while surrendering the Stone to them. Next up, the end of the story. And yes, I am well aware that "Aguamenti" is a higher-level spell.
Disclaimer: I own the Cross family, and the Gabriels. I don't own the Harry Potter series (books, movies, you get it), or any of the DC comics, books, the Walkman player, any artists or songs that appear in this story. If I did, I'd be richer than Lex Luthor, Bruce Wayne, the Malfoys,...okay, you guys get the picture.