Chapter 16: A Double-Header
I do not own anything, I had a long A/N here, but thought, eh it was silly.
Harry was left gaping as he tried to understand the empty chamber. He walked down the steps closer to the mirror when suddenly Draco came running in, wand high up in the air ready to cast. Draco slowed down and almost fell when he realized the room was empty except Harry. "... Where's Professor Quirrel? Voldemort? ANYONE?" He shouted that last one. Harry shrugged as he walked closer to the mirror. "I recognize this mirror, Ron and I found it during winter holidays." he said, "It's called the Mirror of Erised. Desire backwards, because of the inscription." Hermione soon came in calmly, "I heard Draco shouting, is there... yeah, there's really no one here." The room was empty, with nothing but the mirror.
They all gathered near the mirror, "Don't look in the mirror, it will show you only you hearts true desire." Harry cautioned.
"A wise precaution Mr. Potter, now if you all would kindly drop your wands." A voice came from behind them. They did as they were told, "Now turn around, so I can see your faces, no tricks tonight." They turned around to face Professor Quirrel. "I was almost surprised to see you all tonight... Almost. My master warned me someone had seen him in the forest, and I knew it wasn't a professor. We both thought it was likely one person. Harry Potter." "But why-" Hermione started, and Quirrel raised his wand, "I think no speaking would be in order. If you're wondering why I let you lead the way through the enchantments? Well, I knew you were likely going to be with your friends, so instead of dealing with five annoying brats, I only have to deal with three. Now, if you would all please move over there." He pointed to somewhere in the room where he could see them and ignored picking up their wands as he stepped over to the mirror. "Ah of course, leave it to Dumbledore to come up with something like this.. but he's in London... I'll be far away soon enough."
Harry knew he had to keep Quirrel talking, "I saw you and Snape in the forest-" he blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "Yes," said Quirrel idly, walking around the mirror to look at the back. "He was on to me by that time, trying to find out how far I had gotten and why, Tried to frighten me – as though I could be frightened when I had Lord Voldemort on my side." He had come back to the front of the mirror, "I staged a fight between Mr. Crabbe or was it Mr. Goyle... doesn't matter, I staged a fight in the Slytherin Common rooms with massive amounts of bizarre spell damage and potion effects that Professor Snape will have to treat before coming down here." he laughed, then focused back on the mirror, "I see the stone and I'm presenting it to my master... BUT WHERE IS IT?"
"What about McGonagall?" Harry tried, "Please, McGonagall had a soft spot for P-p-p-poor P-p-professor Q-q-q-Quirrell after his run in with vampires. And I spoke to her about how I needed to make up for my lapse by protecting Hogwarts to the best of my ability, the curse could never get me... not when I had him by my side."
"Where is he? Where is Voldemort?" Harry tried demanding. Quirrel turned to face them, anger on his face. "You dare speak his name?! As if you were strong enough to face him? Lord Voldemort is in this very room." Quirrell now spoke solemnly, "He is with me wherever I go. Especially after I... made the mistake of failing to get the stone from gringotts..." Harry remembered suddenly that he had failed to shake hands with Professor Quirrell that very day.
"I don't under stand is the Stone in the mirror? Should I break it? What I want more than anything else in the world is to get the stone to my master, but it should tell me where to find it or what to do! Help me master!" Quirrell complained to the room, and to Harry's horror, a voice answered. "Use the boy..." "Yes Potter, come here." Harry looked to the others, then winked with his eye away from Quirrel, the others nodded imperceptibly, knowing that it was likely to come to combat soon and to be ready.
Harry stood in front of the mirror, what I want more than anything else in the world is to keep the stone away from Quirrell. But what will I see? Whatever I see, I need to come up with a lie and fast. Quirrel moved out of the way and Harry faced himself in the mirror. His reflection was there, paled and scared. Then it smiled at him, it took out a blood-red stone. It winked and then tossed it away behind him, then mock whistled as if pulling a prank. Harry fought the urge to laugh, especially since he didn't hear a clunk behind him that the stone must have made. The stone was in the mirror, and only a fool right now would take it out. "Well?" said Quirrell impatiently, "What do you see?" Harry screwed up his courage and said the answer he knew would be the most truthful, "I think I see my family surrounding me, happy, healthy and whole." Quirrell cursed, "Of course, get out of the way!"
Harry moved aside, and made a couple steps back to get into the prime position for his surprise attack. "He lies... He lies!" the voice came again, "Let me speak to him... face-to-face." "M-Master," Quirrell studdered for real in surprise and terror, "you are not strong enough!" "I have strength enough... for this..." Harry watched as Quirrell began to unwrap his turban... of course, his turban... this would be perfect if he could time it right. The turban fell and Quirrell turned slowly on the spot.
"Harry Potter..." it whispered.
Moving as quickly as he could, Harry shouted, and felt the strange sensation wash over him as he did so, "Conjura Acidious, Ortra Mordax!"he smiled as the Acid Orb launched itself at Voldemort's face and knew he had time to make one more move before the surprise was over. "Sibru Incanterous Prestidigitorious!" He shouted, the wands his friends had to drop suddenly flew back to their owners, who were ready for just such a thing. "Incendio!" Hermione shouted firing a jet of blue fire at Quirrel, it caught him unawares and he burned, Draco's spell missed as Quirrell dived out of the way. "Grab HIM!" Quirrell shouted and turned towards Harry and charged. Harry divied for the flame door, but Quirrel managed to grab his wrist. At once, a needle-sharp pain seared across Harry's scar, his head was about to split in two. He struggled with all his might and to his surprise Quirrel let go of him. He knew he only had an instant to try again before Quirrell tried again, 'I really hope this does SOMETHING' Harry thought, "Abjura Salus, Malus Projecta!" He shouted. The pain in his head suddenly vanished as a cyllinder surrounded him. "SEIZE HIM!" Voldermort shrieked and Quirrel made to grab both hands around Harry's neck. His head stayed remarkably clear as Quirrel screamed and knocked Harry to the ground keeping him pinned with his foot."Master, I cannot hold him – my hand – my hands!" "Then kill him, fool , and be done!" screeched Voldemort,
"Oh no you don't!" Hermione shouted, "INCENDIO! INCENDIO! INCEndio." Her voice trailed off at the last casting as the first blue spell came flying at Quirrel, the second was a pale yellow and the third didn't cast as Hermione fell down to a sitting position, very winded. Quirrel screamed as the flames hit him and fell over, Harry jumped aside as the burnt man fell down, bleeding violently.
"D-Did I?... Is he?" Hermione struggled, "Dead? Good riddance if so." Draco responded, and at Harry and Hermiones stares, he shrugged, "What? It was VOLDEMORT. We stopped him!" No sooner than he said that a pale black shadow leaped out of Professor Quirrel's body. It tried to attack Harry, but failed due to the cylinder a marvelously scary screech came from it and it flew away.
Harry sighed, "Thank gods for the Arts." he said. The others looked at him then shrugged and smiled, "You'll need to come up with some more tricks if that shadow was what I thought it was." Hermione said, the look on her face spoke both seriousness and joy. Harry nodded. "Did you get the stone?" Draco asked. "Nope, no one can get the stone." Harry responded. "Well that's not entirely true Mr. Potter." A kind voice came ringing behind them, "Looks like I'm very late indeed." Headmaster Dumbledore stood behind them, his eyes serious as he looked them all over then he smiled and his eyes regained their twinkle, "But it looks like you didn't need me after all. Like usual, eh Mr. Potter?" Harry laughed, "I think you're doing far more than you let on to keep us safe, sir." The Headmaster nodded at that, and offered Harry his hand through the cyllinder, "Now then... shall we away to the infirmary? I think your friend would like to see you when he wakes up. Oh and Harry," Harry looked to the Headmaster, "I believe we should have perhaps a true discussion before you leave for home tomorrow. If that would be alright." Harry nodded and took the hand to help himself up.
Later that evening, Harry was in Dumbledore's office. "Sherbert Lemon?" Dumbledore offered as Harry finally settled in to the chair across from the Headmaster after a brief tour of the bizarre office. "Er- No thanks Headmaster." Dumbledore shrugged and popped one into his mouth, "Now then, before the school magically catches wind of 'what happened down there', let us talk about it ourselves. I suppose you want to skip straight to the Mirror and Voldemort?" Harry thought about it, "Did I really lead Quirrel and Vol- You-know-who to the mirror?" "Call him Voldemort, Harry. Though a respectful distance from names is wise, fear of the name leads to fear of the thing." "Right, Voldermort." Harry nodded. "No Harry, from what I finally picked up from Professor Snape, the man knew most of the enchantments down there. And you likely would have faced him three on one regardless of who got to the chambers first, though we are incredibly lucky he thought my enchantment was more dangerous than his own or Professor Snapes." Dumbledore smiled to himself.
"Right then, about the mirror, the Stone, Nicolas?" Harry asked, " Oh, you know about Nicolas?" Dumbledore asked, sounded pleased, "Excellent research on you and your friends parts! The stone will sit in the mirror forever, I'm afraid. My good friend Nicolas and I had a chat and agreed it was for the best." "But that means he and his wife will die, won't they?" "They have enough Elixer stored to set their affairs in order and then, yes, they will die. To Nicolas and Perenelle, death is like going to bed after a long day. Death is but the next great adventure! Well.. At least in my opinion, though I do like the adventure I'm in now." Dumbledore then smiled, "Of course, the stone wasn't the most wonderful thing, as much money and life as you want! Of course, humans do have a knack of choosing precisely those things that are the worst of them."
"And... Voldemort? My scar hurt when Quirrel tried to touch me, too bad the burns on his hands are hard to tell from his other ones...We saw a shade leave his body, when he... " Just remembering the shade was enough to make Harry grimmace. "Voldemort is still out there somewhere, perhaps looking for another body to share. You have likely only delayed his return to power, or maybe if he is delayed again and again, why, he may never return." Harry nodded, "Is there some way we can keep an eye out? I feel like there's more... like why he didn't die in the first place, why he's not dead this time." "Suffice to say, even I cannot track where he is, his actions or otherwise. But I will have my best eyes being as wary as I can, circumstances being what they are, most of the wizarding world believes he died the first time." "And why do you believe he... for lack of better terms, became the shade the first time? If anyone knows, it must be you." Dumbledore sighed very deeply this time. "Alas, the first thing you ask me, I cannot tell you. Not today, not now at least. I'll be up front, I'm still researching the very matter myself."
Harry nodded at that again, "Three more things I believe, then it's definitely time for bed." Dumbledore smiled. Harry furrowed his brow, then opened them again, "Do you know why Quirrel couldn't touch me?" Dumbledore nodded, "This much I do know, or can infer from what I have picked up. Your mother was killed because she tried to stop him from killing you, Your mother died to save you. If there is one thing Voldemort cannot understand, it is love. He didn't realize that love as powerful as your mother's for you leaves its own mark. Not a scar, no visible sign... to have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection forever. It is in your very skin. Quirrell, full of hatred, greed, and ambition, sharing his soul with Voldemort, could not touch you for this reason. It was agony to touch a person marked by something so good." Dumbledore now became very interested in a mysterious device that was producing steam at a fixed rate, which gave Harry time to dry his eyes on his robes. When he had found his voice again, Harry said, "And the invisibility cloak - do you know who sent it to me?" "Ah - your father happened to leave it in my possession, and I thought you might like it." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "Useful things... your father used it mainly for sneaking off to the kitchens to steal food when he was here."
"And there's something else..." "Last one, Harry, I must insist." "Yes, Headmaster, do you think Voldemort was behind the monsters I've been battling this year?" The headmaster shook his head, "Are they... because of the spell-book?" Harry asked, "Now that's a curious question. I have been over the wards as much as I can, there has been no summoning, calling, conjuring, illegal transfiguration that would lead to that. I suspect the answer I gave you before is still applicable and do hope you accept my apologies." "Er- that's alright Headmaster, it helped me defeat Voldemort in the first place. Well, that and Hermione's knowledge and spellwork, Ron's skills, Draco's flying and fighting, and Neville's knowledge as well." The headmaster was positively beaming at this, then nodded, "Now, off to bed we go." Harry nodded and stood up, "Oh and Harry, though your spell-book is glowing, please keep away from all wandwork and do only minimal Art work, I'd rather not have to explain your Arts to the Ministry."
The end of term meal was an interesting affair, the Slytherins had won the House Cup, but Harry found he didn't mind at all. Hagrid had cried about letting them get themselves into danger and had given Harry the best belated Christmas present ever. The great hall raved with the events that had happened last night, though everyone seemed to think Quirrell had just gone barmy due to the curse. To his surprise, his exam scores were good marks. It took them a while to get off the platform, Ron invited Harry, Hermione, Neville and even Draco over for the summer. Draco in return invited them for 'an unofficial gathering' at his house, rolling his eyes as he said it to let them know he was making fun of his family and their political standing. Harry promised to write and asked Hermione for some good book suggestions and that he would try to get ahead of her. Hermione just laughed and responded that she would trounce them all on broomsticks. They smiled as they split up from each other, and even the Dursleys couldn't mark his good mood, it had been a wonderful year.
And so ends the school-year, I am in the middle of deciding if I want to make a spell I am working on that would be incredibly useful, but perhaps overpowered. I'm running it by other DMS I know, and hopefully all the kinks will be worked out in time. I'm also researching second year spells both book canon and game canon that actually make sense, a way to charge Flipendo (maybe Flipendo maxima or something silly like that, but then that involves more tables) and more detailed magical core research/stuff I have to work on. Should be some fun times! See you book 2!