Chapter 8 – Murderer
10th June 1992
"Master, shouldn't we wait until e-everybody has left the c-castle?"
"Silence you fool! Do not question my judgment!" rasped a weak but piercing voice.
"Y-yes m-master, when do you w-wish to retrieve t-the stone?"
"Tonight my dear Quirrell, tonight I will be reborn. Tonight the world will witness the return of Lord Voldemort! And the first thing I am going to do is to take over this school and kill that Muggle loving fool, Albus Dumbledore."
"What about Potter, My Lord?" Quirrell asked, trembling.
"Potter will join me after I show him the power of the dark side. He is meant to be by my side if he is a true Slytherin, if not he will die."
"Tonight is the dawn of a new era!" Lord Voldemort said in glee.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
It was the last week of the year at Hogwarts and Harry and Blaise had just finished their last exam of the year, practical transfiguration.
"Finally exams are over and we can go home!" Blaise said cheerfully.
Harry and Blaise were sitting at the edge of the lake, chucking stones into the water, seeing who threw the furthest.
"Hurray, I'm so thrilled I'm going home," Harry said sarcastically.
"What's wrong?" Blaise asked frowning, "Not looking forward to the summer?"
"In answer to your questions Blaise, you know how the Dursley's are and I might have forgotten to tell you that I hate summer."
"Why do you hate summer? It's like the best time of the year!"
"I hate the summer because I've to stay with the bloody Dursley's for two whole months, do their chores, eat terrible food and feel the bloody heat trying to vaporize me," said Harry irritably. He really hated summer!
"I feel for you mate," Blaise said sympathetically patting his friends back. "Maybe you can come over to my place. It's the best mansion amongst all the purebloods. My mom has great taste."
"That would be great only if they allow me to go," he replied sighing. "Anyway, we'll see what to do later," he added walking towards a spot by the lake.
On the way he noticed Lillian, Hermione and Ron running towards the gamekeepers hut near the forest with a look of worry and anxiety on their faces.
"Where are those three running to?" asked Blaise.
"Probably interfering in other's business, they're Gryffindor's after all," he said in a bored voice.
Blaise sniggered, "Well said Mr. Potter, 10 points to Slytherin."
"Yeah, whatever, so how did your exams go?" Harry asked Blaise.
"They were alright. Defence, astronomy, potions and charms were pretty good. Almost failed in transfiguration and nearly fell asleep during history," he said with a grin. "What about you?"
"Walk in the park," Harry said shrugging. "I was expecting something harder."
Blaise rolled his eyes, "I thought you might say that, after seeing that quill you transfigured!" he exclaimed.
"It was nothing," Harry said amused.
"Please," scoffed Blaise. "Everyone barely managed to transfigure theirs into a wooden box and you transfigured yours into a silver box with the Slytherin crest on it!"
"I'm good aren't I," said Harry with an air of self importance.
"Even Granger just managed to transfigure hers into a pretty slick polished box and don't even get me started on yours charms practical!"
"Are you comparing me to Granger? Because if you are I'll fry you and feed you to the giant squid, besides Granger is all books and no skill."
"Hate to break it to you Harry but the giant squid is a vegetarian."
"How do you know that?" Harry asked raising his eyebrows.
"I just do," he said sticking his nose in the air, "Privileged information which cannot be shared with non Zabini's."
Harry sighed at sat on the grass leaning against a tree, "Whatever you say Blaise, whatever you say."
Blaise sat next to him and said in a serious tone, "Harry, what's bothering you mate? You should be happy the exams are over, not depressed."
"I don't want to go back," Harry confessed.
"Then don't, come and stay with me, my mum won't mind at all. Ask Dumbledore I'm sure he'll help you," said Blaise.
"Blaise I'd love to come over to your place for the vacations but I can't."
"And why the hell not?" Blaise asked not understanding his friend's behaviour.
"I have things stuff to do and things to figure out," Harry said evasively.
"What stuff?"
"Look Blaise, just drop it, it's really complicated. Now come on let's go pack," he said firmly. "Besides, how come you never talk about your dad?"
Blaise sighed. "Do you know why Malfoy and other purebloods dislike my family?"
Harry shook his head.
"My mother is what you would call an alleged gold-digger."
"Seriously?"
"I've had seven fathers since the time I was born. I don't know who my real dad was but ever since he disappeared by mom's become something of a black widow."
Harry was stunned. He didn't know whether to be impressed or horrified. His impulse was to be amazed instead of feeling horror. "I…"
"Don't bother trying to decode if she killed them or their deaths were accidents," Blaise said warily. "They were all dicks and I never really cared what happened to them. All that matters is my mum treats me like her little prince."
"Incredible," Harry said, making up his mind about what he thought about Blaise's mother. "Your mom is awesome."
Blaise laughed. "Awesome? That's a new one!"
"Never once has anyone been able to pin anything on her have they?" he said grinning.
"Her alibi has always been impenetrable," Blaise agreed.
"I would really like to meet her," Harry murmured. "I'm sure she's amazing."
"Come home with me instead of going to those Dursley's."
Harry immediately closed up. "I'm sorry Blaise. I just can't. Maybe next time." He stood up and started walking back to the common room.
Blaise hated it when his friend became all secretive and broody. But he just nodded and quietly followed him back, thinking deeply about his friend's mysterious behaviour.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
In the Gryffindor common room, three Gryffindor's were pacing up and down anxiously.
"What are we going to do?" Hermione cried. "Snape maybe after the stone this very minute!"
"It's still day time, I think he'll go after it as soon as it's dark," Lillian said.
"Well how are we going to stop him?" Ron said. "I mean even if we pulled our wands on him, I'm quite sure we'd be dead before we knew it."
Hermione bit her lips thinking hard, "We have to tell Professor Dumbledore, only he can stop this from happening."
"Right then, what are we waiting for? Time to find the big head!" Lillian said, jumping to her feet and heading to the portrait hole. Ron and Hermione hurried after her.
They ran all the way towards the headmaster's office following Lillian since she was the only one who knew where it was. On the way they encountered Filch who screamed at them to stop but they didn't bother.
"Where do you think you're running to?" said the strict voice of professor McGonagall.
All three Gryffindor's froze in their tracks all turned around sharply to see McGonagall standing behind them.
"Professor, we have got to find professor Dumbledore. It's extremely important!" Lillian said urgently.
McGonagall was surprised, "Whatever it is, I think you lot can tell me," she said sternly.
They didn't answer.
"Well?" she demanded, "Are you going to just stand there with your mouths open or are you going to start talking?"
"Err… you see… professor, we can tell only professor Dumbledore, only he'll know what to do," Hermione stammered.
McGonagall's lips thinned and her nostrils flared, which was never a good sign. "As the deputy headmistress of this school, I think you can tell me what you want to tell the headmaster," she said barely controlling her temper.
"Someone's trying to steal the philosopher's stone!" blurted out Ron.
Whatever McGonagall thought they were going to say, this definitely didn't cross her mind. She dropped the books she was carrying and looked at the three in pure shock.
"How on earth did you find out about the stone!" she whispered harshly.
"It doesn't matter ma'am, what does matter is that Snape's trying to steal the stone!" said Lillian, "We have to tell the headmaster!"
McGonagall looked at them incredulously but composed herself. With a wave of her wand she gathered the books she had dropped and said, "The headmaster is out on important business. The stone is quite safe and I assure you professor Snape is not trying to steal the stone when he's helping to protect it."
"But," Lillian protested.
"No! Do not say a word. I do not know how you came to know about the stone, but what I want is for you three to go back to your common rooms and stay there else you will be expelled!" she said in a no nonsense voice.
All three of them had defiant looks on their faces.
"Now or you will be spending the rest of night in detention with Filch!"
The defiant looks changed to defeat and they scarpered back to their common room before McGonagall decided to actually go through with her threat.
"What now?" Ron asked Lillian and Hermione.
"Isn't it obvious? We're going to stop Snape no matter what," said Lillian firmly.
"But Mary! Didn't you hear McGonagall? We'll be expelled if we're caught!" Hermione said.
"I don't care, the stone is extremely important if Dumbledore is protecting it and if Snape gets his hands on it god only knows what a disaster that will be!
"Dumbledore gone too, it's too much of a coincidence. It can only mean he's going after the stone tonight and when he does we're going to stop him." Lillian said with so much passion and fierceness that Ron and Hermione agreed with her with equal vigour.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
It was after curfew and Harry was wandering around the castle, he couldn't stop thinking about what the whispers in his head had told him just after he had beaten the troll when he had passed out. Almost every night he was reminded by them about the consequences of not unlocking his magic. But the thing was he didn't understand what they meant by it or how it had to be done.
Ever since that day he had been stuck in the library trying to find out if one could unlock or lock his magic but he couldn't find a single thing. So he settled for becoming stronger by practicing and studying magic harder.
The only thing he was sure of was that the whispers came from his wand and it wanted Harry to unlock his magic.
"What the hell does it mean by that!" he thought growling in frustration and kicked a suit of armour only to wince in pain.
All of a sudden he heard footsteps in the distance and it sounded like someone was running and was running fast. He tried to put on his invisibility cloak so he wouldn't be caught, but was too late as the person caught sight of him.
"Potter!" it said, in a tone of relief.
Harry was surprised when he realized who it was. "Freckles?" he said incredulously, "What the hell are you doing down here?"
"Potter… Harry," she said placing her hands on her knees panting hard, "There's no time! Snape going to steal the stone tonight and we got to stop him!"
"Whoa, whoa slow down, you're not making any sense. What do you mean Snape's stealing a stone?" he asked confused.
"The philosopher's stone Harry! He's going to steal it tonight!" she cried.
"And how do you know that?" he demanded, "I know for a fact know that professor Snape is in his office right now brewing a potion which requires his full attention."
"What? No! We saw him sneaking to the third floor corridor right after dinner!"
"So go to professor McGonagall, why tell me out of all the people available?"
"Look Potter, we don't have time for this! McGonagall won't believe us and Dumbledore is out of the castle!" she said impatiently. "So will you please come and help us!"
"I'm not moving until you explain to me why do think someone's stealing the stone tonight and why in heaven's name would you come to me for help," he said sharply.
Lillian let out a frustrated yell, and took a deep breath and said, "I know someone is stealing the stone because Hagrid told someone how to get past the dog when he was drunk in Hogsmeade. The stranger gifted him a dragon egg in exchange for information on how to tame that three headed dog and now the headmaster is gone plus we just saw someone sneak into the third floor corridor, so yes the stone is in danger!"
"As for why I came to you, I didn't! I just happened to run into you and you're the only other person who knows about the stone and you are pretty skilled and I don't know why but I can trust you," she said breathlessly.
"I'm going to Professor Snape," he said turning around.
"No! You can't! What if he is the one trying to steal it!" she cried.
"He is not," Harry said firmly.
"But we don't know that!" she cried. "Why do you want to take that risk? Please help!"
"No," he said again and turned away from her.
Lillian caught his hand and pulled him back. "Please Harry," she said desperately. "You could be right but why take the risk! If we go down and find Snape not in his room it would just give him enough time to escape and if he is in his room he most certainly will not help us! So will you please come with me and help! I'm begging you!"
Harry looked at her with conflicting emotions. On one hand he wanted to listen to the rational part of his brain and go and find professor Snape and on the other hand he didn't want to say no to her when she was pleading this much and there was a small chance she could be right too.
"Alright fine, I'll come and help you," he said after a moment's pause without any conviction in his voice.
"Thank you!" she cried and moved to hug him but Harry stopped her.
"I don't want any hugs from you and this does not change anything between us. I still think you're being rash and it ain't going to change," he said firmly. "The only reason I'm coming is to protect the stone you get it?"
Lillian just nodded happily and ran towards the third from corridor with Harry hot on her heels.
"Damn she runs fast," he muttered trying to keep up with her.
They reached the forbidden corridor to find the door leading to the stone ajar.
"Where are Ron and Hermione?" she whispered.
"I don't care, now let's go," he whispered back.
"No they were supposed to be here!"
"I said I don't care! Now do you want to get in or not?"
"Fine, fine," she said and they walked cautiously into the three headed dog's room.
They found a harp playing a slow musical tune and the dog fast asleep with the trap door wide open.
"Shit we're late!" Lillian cried, panicking.
The dog stirred a bit on hearing her voice and Harry quickly moved forward and roughly covered her mouth. "Do you want that monster to wake?" he growled harshly.
She shook her head and he let her go. She turned around and glared at him.
Harry glared right back and pointed toward the trap door and said, "Jump in."
"You jump in first!" she hissed.
"You dragged me into this! Now jump in or I'm leaving."
Lillian peered into the hole and could see only darkness. She then closed her eyes took, took a deep breath and jumped. She felt herself land on something soft and sighed in relief.
"It's safe!" Harry heard a muffled voice come up from the trap door. A few seconds later Harry landed beside her with a soft thump.
"Now what?" she said looking around. Harry didn't reply. He felt something slowly crawl up his body while tightening its grip on him.
"Harry! Now what do we do?" she asked again.
"Freckles, try to move your legs and hands," he said in a strained yet calm voice.
"What?" she said and tried to move but found that she couldn't. "Harry what's going on!" she said panicking.
"Lillian, conjure some flames now!" he said sharply, "I can't move a muscle!"
"I-I don't know how," she cried struggling to free herself.
"Do anything," Harry yelled, now panicking as he felt something begin to wrap around his neck. "Lumos, fire, anything or we're going to die before even seeing the stone!"
Lillian tried to reach for her wand but couldn't, "Fire, fire, fire, I need fire or light," she whispered, her heart beating wildly as something reached for her neck and started tightening around it.
"Freckles!" Harry screamed. The thing was now tightening its grip and in a few minutes time Harry knew his neck would snap. The lack of oxygen was dulling his senses and he couldn't bring himself to use his wandless magic to try and free himself.
"Fire, fire, fire!" she cried desperately and then it happened. Miraculously, fire shot out of her hands and spread all around her not harming her in the slightest.
Immediately the thing holding her let go and both her and Harry were dropped onto the ground below.
Harry lay on the floor gasping for breath. "T-took you b-bloody long enough," he said hoarsely, massaging his neck.
"What was that?" she said still shaking.
"That, my dear Lillian was the devils snare," he said dryly. "Which would have almost killed me if you hadn't conjured that fire, though how did you do it?"
"I don't know and don't call me your dear," she said. Seeing Harry's raised eyebrow she elaborated, "I was panicking, terrified and I kept wishing for fire to help me and then fire shot out of my hands and here we are."
"Fire shot out of your hands?" Harry said, the disbelief clear in his eyes.
"Yeah and this isn't the first time something like this has happened."
She was about to explain to him what happened the first time when he cut her of saying, "We don't have time to hear your story, let's move forward," he said and started walking towards the door in front of him.
Lillian huffed and followed him through the door.
In the next room they saw silver birds flying in the air, glittering, although there was no light.
"What is this?" Lillian asked in wonder. "They look like silver birds!"
Harry didn't say anything but gazed at the birds as surprised as Lillian was.
"They aren't birds!" he said suddenly making Lillian jump.
"Then what are they?" she asked frowning.
"They're keys, to the door ahead of us!"
"Huh," she said looking closer at the birds and realized that they were indeed keys with wings.
She looked around and spotted a few brooms lying around.
"Look, brooms," she said pointed towards them "Looks like we got to fly and catch the right key."
Harry nodded and they went and picked up a broom each. The instant they touched the brooms the keys immediately changed directions and headed straight towards them all together.
"Dodge them!" Harry shouted, scrambling onto the broom.
They shot into the air trying to look for the key they needed. After two minutes of flying and dodging keys that were trying to punch holes in them Lillian yelled, "This is impossible!"
Harry knew she was right. But they kept looking nonetheless. Then he spotted it, a key with a broken wing.
"Lillian," he yelled, "Look for a key with a broken wing! It's straight below me. Do you see it?"
"Yeah I see it," she yelled back.
"Good, I'm going to shot downwards to catch it and you come sideways in case it tries to escape got it?"
"Yeah."
"Alright GO!" he yelled, speeding towards the key. As he neared it, it sensed his presence and moved away only to end up in the hands of Lillian who shouted in victory.
They flew towards the door unlocked it and flew straight in and shut the door.
"That was intense!" Harry said feeling the addictive rush of adrenaline pumping through his veins.
"Yeah it was," agreed Lillian, panting, her eyes alight with excitement even though their mission was a serious one. "Come on let's move."
They took a step forward and the room was flooded with light. Harry and Lillian shielded their eyes in pain and when their eyes adjusted to the brightness, they realized they were standing at the edge of a huge chess board.
"The doors at the other end," Harry said. "Want to try to go for it?"
Lillian nodded and walked ahead slowly, but as soon she reached the other end the black pawns drew their swords and pointed it at her neck.
Lillian slowly backed away with a gulp, "I don't think they're going to let us pass Harry."
"Come back I got an idea," he said.
"Get in here," he said removing his cloak from within his robes. "It's an invisibility cloak," he added seeing her confused look.
"Wow! That's cool!" she said in awe.
"Yeah, yeah now get in," he said covering himself and holding it open for her to get in. As soon as she got in Harry made sure that they were properly concealed but found that Lillian had to be a little too close to him.
"Freckles, you mind not sticking so close to me," he said trying to lighten the atmosphere. "You're stinking."
Lillian rolled her eyes, "Shut up you, now's not the time for all that so just get closer and stop being such a prick," she said grabbing his waist and pulling him closer causing him to make a weird sound erupt from his throat.
"Okay let's move," he said holding his breath.
"You don't need to act like we're doing something forbidden!" she said annoyed.
"It's not that, it's just that you really stink right now."
"Do you think you smell like roses?" she hissed angrily. "Stop making a face and move!"
"Ok, ok," Harry said and they moved ahead slowly hoping the pawns wouldn't chop them into pieces. They got closer and closer and then walked past the chess pieces eyeing them carefully for any sign of violence and successfully reached the door.
They sighed in relief and Lillian removed the cloak and pushed him away.
"No don't," cried out Harry, but it was too late. The chess pieces sensed their presence. They instantly turned around and withdrew their weapons, ready to strike.
Harry wrenched the door open and yelled at her to get in. Just as they got in they heard the sound of the chess pieces slamming against the door and a sword came through it missing them by inches.
Harry and Lillian quickly scrambled away from the door and sighed in relief again.
"That was close," said a happy to be alive Harry. "What's next?"
"Our next task has been done before hand I think," she said covering her nose.
"What?" asked Harry as a horrible smell filled his nostrils, "Urgh, what is that smell?!"
It was a troll lying dead on the floor giving out a foul odour.
"Let's get out of here," Lillian said, tugging Harry along to the next door and moving out of the room. As soon as they entered the next room the door behind turned to flames.
This small room had a table with seven vials placed on it. Harry and Lillian walked towards them and found a parchment with something written on it near the vials.
Lillian picked it up to read it while Harry looked around for the next door but found purple flames guarding it instead of a door. Purple flames in front and normal flames behind - This room was intended to be a trap.
Lillian read out loud from the parchment,
"Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,
Two of us will help you, whichever you would find,
One among us seven will let you move ahead,
Another will transport the drinker back instead,
Two among our number hold only nettle wine,
Three of us are killers, waiting bidden in line.
Choose, unless you wish to stay here forevermore,
To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four:
First, however slyly the poison tries to hide
You will always find some on nettle wine's left side;
Second, different are those who stand at either end,
But if you would move onward, neither is your friend;
Third, as you see clearly, all are different size,
Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides;
Fourth, the second left and the second on the right
Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight."
"This is a riddle," Harry said with a frown and read it again trying to figure it out.
Lillian just rolled her eyes, "There's a simple way to find out which is the correct vial, Harry."
"Huh, and what way is that?" he asked perplexed.
"Simple. All the vials are of the same size so whichever bottle has the least potion must be the one to drink otherwise there would be a dead body right here," she said smirking at his shocked face.
Harry just gaped at her, "That's smart," he exclaimed. "Who knew Gryffindor's actually had a brain," he said and earned a whack on the head from Lillian.
They checked each vials contents and struck gold on vial number 6.
"There barely anything left," Harry said quietly. "Probably enough for just one."
"I know. So what now?" she asked him looking into his eyes.
"I'll go ahead, but how are you going to go back?"
"I'm not letting to you go in there alone! You could be killed!"
"Look I'm the stronger one out of the two of us and you know it. You should go back and get help, but the question is how're you going to get past that fire?"
"Don't worry about going back," she said fiercely "It's dangerous in there; you read the parchment didn't you!"
"I did, but think rationally, if we both manage to get through who will call for help?"
Lillian didn't respond.
"You see? It makes sense. Now how are you going to get past those flames if we don't figure the riddle?"
"I told you don't worry about that, fire won't harm me… Watch," she said and put her hand in the fire and nothing happened.
"How the hell are you doing that?" Harry said, stunned.
"I don't know," she replied. "All I know is that fire doesn't harm me. I tried to tell you about it before but you didn't listen."
"Alright it's decided then, I'm going ahead and you're going for help. Here take the cloak. It'll help you pass that stupid chess board. After that, take the broom and get help."
Lillian just looked at him, her features expressionless. "What?" asked Harry a little unnerved by the staring, "We got to get moving."
"Good luck Harry. Please be careful," she said softly and with a last look at Harry she jumped through the fire covering the cloak so that it wouldn't get burned.
After she disappeared Harry sighed, "Here goes nothing," he murmured and gulped down the potion and walked through the purple flames.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Harry entered a large chamber with a high conical ceiling and found a man with a turban standing in front of a mirror muttering something under his breath.
"Good evening professor Quirrell," Harry greeted calmly, though he felt his heart beat faster. Inside he was hoping Lillian would get help soon.
"Good evening to you too Mr. Potter, I'm surprised to see you here."
"Well I'm not surprised to see you and you can stay surprised until professor Dumbledore gets here," Harry said and drew out his wand only to find it ripped out of his hand instantly. He was bound in ropes before he could even comprehend what had happened.
But something unusual happened when Harry's wand reached Quirrell. It disappeared in a flash of white light.
"What the?!" Quirrell gasped, looking surprised. "Where did it go?" he demanded looking around but couldn't spot it anywhere. "Oh well, I better get back to business," he said and turned back to the mirror.
Harry meanwhile was staring at the back of his wand hand. A tattoo had appeared there the moment this wand had disappeared. It was a triangle with a circle inside it a line passing through its midpoint.
He looked back at Quirrell and was shocked when he saw the mirror; it was the mirror of Erised.
He was filled with a deep desire to go and look at his parents again regardless of the fact that he had lost his temper the last time he laid eyes on it but then he remembered Dumbledore's warning and realized what he meant.
Quirrell, meanwhile, was muttering under his breath and waving his wand at the mirror. "I'm looking at the stone and I can see myself reaching for it, but I can't catch it!" he said in frustration "What do I need to do get it?"
"Use the boy," a voice suddenly hissed.
Harry looked around trying to locate the source of the sound but couldn't see anyone apart from Quirrell.
Quirrell pointed his wand at Harry and Harry was yanked forward and placed in front of the mirror.
"What do you see Potter?" Quirrell asked him.
Harry looked into the mirror and was astonished to see his reflection and nothing else. His reflection winked at him and removed a blood red conical stone with jagged corners from his left pocket. Mirror Harry smiled and dropped the stone in his right pocket.
Harry was even more surprised when he felt something heavy in his left pocket.
"What do you see Potter?" Quirrell said impatiently.
"I see myself shaking hands with professor Dumbledore," he invented quickly, "I just got an award for getting rid of the stuttering dark arts professor who smells awfully like garlic," he added.
"Don't mock me boy!" Quirrell roared and slashed his wand at Harry. Harry gasped in pain and blood spurted from a long cut on his chest.
"Stop Quirrell, let me speak to the boy," the voice hissed again weakly.
"My master, you are not strong enough for this," Quirrell said and instantly fell to the floor screaming and holding his head.
"I am strong enough for this! Now do it," the voice said angrily.
"Y-yes master," Quirrell stammered.
He stood up and started unfolding his turban. "Behold Potter, the greatest wizard alive in the world," he said removing his turban and turning around.
Harry yelled in shock and tried to move but he couldn't, the pain in his chest was too great and the ropes binding him were still firmly in place.
"Hello Harry Potter, I've waited a long time to meet you."
"What the hell are you?" Harry gasped, he was feeling dizzy and his body was going numb.
"I am Lord Voldemort, and I killed your parents," it said giving a very horrific and ugly smile.
Harry's eyes widened as he realized who exactly this was.
"You're supposed to be dead!" he said, inhaling sharply, not in fear but in revulsion and hate.
"I assure you I am quite alive but without a physical form thanks to you. Can you see what I have become? I am a mere spirit, I am weak and I have to live off unicorn blood to survive!
Look at me Potter!" Voldemort hissed.
"I-I don't want to l-look at someone a-as ugly as you," Harry said moaning in pain as the cut on his chest grew larger and deeper.
"Look at you," said Voldemort cruelly. "The life slowly slipping away from your body and you still have the cheek to mock me. Now why don't you give me that stone which is in your pocket and I just might be kind enough to save your life."
"Untie me and I'll think about it," Harry said. Breathing was becoming a difficult task and everything was becoming blurry.
"Untie him Quirrell; let us see what this half blood has up his sleeve."
Quirrell untied him and Harry stood up shakily on his feet and looked into Voldemort's eyes with pure loathing.
"You killed my parents," he said, his voice filled with hate.
"Yes I did, young Harry, now give me the stone!"
"Go to hell," spat Harry. "I don't know how you could imagine me actually giving you the stone willingly."
"Quirrell, kill the boy," Voldemort hissed angrily.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Harry dodged ignoring the terrible pain and jumped at Quirrell, surprising him and grabbed his neck.
Pain exploded in Harry's head as soon as he touched Quirrell and Quirrell too yelled as his neck began to burn and turn black.
Harry somehow saw this through a haze of pain and immediately tightened his grip. Quirrell howled in pain as his entire body began to burn and turn into ash.
Voldemort was screaming, "Kill him, kill him now!"
Harry's head felt like it was going to explode, his chest felt like it was on fire and yet he still held on to Quirrell hoping everything would end soon.
Then everything just stopped. Harry just lay on the floor on top of a pile of ash. His hands were shaking violently and he then realized that the ashes were the remains of Quirrell.
Suddenly a pale black smoke with the face of Voldemort rose from the ground screaming like a banshee and disappeared through the wall.
Harry watched the form of Voldemort flee. The pain in his head slowly reduced and the pain in his chest came back tenfold.
He gasped in agony pressing his hands to his chest and fell to the ground. Just before he passed out from the pain he glanced back to the mirror and saw his parents watching him with tears in their eyes. They were mouthing to him "We love you."
Harry smiled at them and laughed. Immediately coughed blood but he kept his eyes fixed on his parents as his consciousness slowly faded.
"I'm joining you soon," were his last thoughts before he surrendered to the darkness.
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14th June 1992
It was dark, it was cool and it was comfortable were Harry's first thoughts when he woke. "Am I dead," he croaked.
He heard a chuckle and a voice spoke up, "No my boy, you are not, although you came an inch close to death that night."
Harry turned towards the voice and winced as his chest started aching again.
"Well I'm glad it wasn't a centimetre."
"You shouldn't be moving Harry, that was quite a slash you had there," said Dumbledore said coming into Harry's line of sight. "I've been waiting quite a while for you to wake."
"How long has it been?" Harry asked.
"Three days," replied the headmaster. "Your friends have been quite anxious to know about your condition, especially Mr. Zabini and Ms. Austin, who is intent on blaming herself for your injuries. She even offered to give her blood in case you needed a transfusion but you're blood types are different."
"You say especially Blaise and Freckles like I have other friends too," said Harry snorting.
Dumbledore chuckled, "Interesting nick name."
Harry grinned, "Yeah, she hates it."
Dumbledore smiled.
"Well, I have been wondering, what happened in the room with Quirrell, Harry?"
Harry didn't know what to say. The night was somewhat a blur to him.
"Nothing you wouldn't be able to figure out," Harry said shrugging. "When I entered the room I saw Quirrell standing in front of that cursed mirror. I tried to attack him but he disarmed and bound me. But when he was unable to get the stone from the mirror a voice hissed at him to make me look into the mirror and when I did imagine my surprise when I see myself in the mirror and not my parents like last time."
"My reflection then winked at me and drops the stone in my pocket and lo behold there it is in my left pocket. Quirrell then untied his turban and it turns out Voldemort was living in his head. Voldemort and I had a chat for a while and then I miraculously killed Quirrell with my bare hands and passed out."
"I see," Dumbledore said after a few minutes of silence "And you do not have any questions?"
"Of course I do! My mind is swimming with questions that need to be answered desperately, I was merely being polite and letting you ask the first question."
"Well ask away then, my boy," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling in amusement.
"How did Quirrell get down there so easy and why did the mirror give me the stone?"
"Ah you see Harry, I had received a rather urgent mail from the minister of magic, but half way through the journey I realized something was wrong and came rushing back only to find you unconscious along with the ashes of ex-professor Quirrell. As for why you were able to retrieve the stone… only someone who did not want the stone for personal uses could retrieve the stone, so no matter how hard Quirrell tried he would have never been able to get the stone."
"So there was no need for me to go down there after all and get torn up," Harry groaned.
"I wouldn't put it that way Harry, I think it was rather brave of you to chose to protect the stone and not just ignore the threat," he said kindly.
"Please," Harry scoffed, "I would have never gone down there if it wasn't for Freckles. First thing I wanted to do was go to Professor Snape and inform him about Austin suspicions but she was convinced that he was the one after the stone."
Dumbledore smiled, "A Slytherin at heart I see."
"Of course," Harry said "Sorting hat was pretty sure about that too. So what's going to happen to the stone?"
"It is destroyed. Nicolas and Perenelle agreed with me, the stone was too dangerous to be kept around and if it fell into the wrong hands the result would be devastating."
"So they're going to die?"
"Yes. For them it is like going to sleep after a very, very long day. After all death is the next great adventure."
"Why couldn't Quirrell touch me? Or rather why did my touch harm him?"
"Quirrell's mind had been taken over by Lord Voldemort and Voldemort cannot touch you because of the protection your mother has left in your blood. She sacrificed her life to save yours and when a mother who loved her son so deeply died to protect her child it left an ancient protection in your blood which prevented Voldemort from killing you that fateful night. I could also say that the essence of your mother's soul flows in your veins protecting you from Voldemort."
"Oh," was all Harry would say, he didn't know whether to be pleased or sad that his mother was in other words living through him.
"One more thing professor… Why did Voldemort want to kill me in the first place?"
The smile and twinkle vanished from Dumbledore's face and he seemed to age a hundred years before Harry's eyes. "That, Harry, is a story for another time."
"I see," Harry said softly.
"Well Harry, I'll take my leave. You might want to get some sleep, tomorrow is the last day you will be at Hogwarts and some people are anxiously waiting to meet you as soon as the sun rises. Good Night," said Dumbledore walking out of the hospital wing.
"Wait professor," Harry said suddenly "If you tell me what you see in that cursed mirror, I'll tell you what I see."
Dumbledore stood still for almost a minute before turning around and answering, "I see what my life would be like if it weren't for the mistakes I made in the past," he said sadly.
Harry nodded and replied, "I see my parents and myself laughing and playing with each other in the season of winter. The reason you saw me angry was because it reminded me of the life I should have been living, not the life I have now."
Dumbledore bowed his head.
"It's a sad world Harry, when children lose their parents and are brought up without love. Have a good night Harry."
"You too professor," Harry said as the headmaster left leaving behind a very pensive, overly matured eleven year old.
As soon as he left Harry rolled up his sleeves and examined the new tattoo on his right wrist. It was still there, as dark as ever and then Harry realized his wand wasn't with him.
Suddenly he felt the urge to touch his tattoo and say something. He slowly touched the tattoo with his left hand and whispered, "Come forth."
There was a flash of white light and his wand appeared in his right hand, ready to be used.
Harry stared at his wand in wonder and said, "You are a very powerful want aren't you?"
He could have sworn he heard a 'yes' when he said that.
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The next day when Harry woke he saw Lillian dozing in a chair next to his bed beside a huge pile of gifts and chocolates.
He decided to have some fun. He slowly got up from his bed and went next to her. He leaned in closer to her face and positioned himself in front of her ear and yelled, "WAKE UP FRECKLES!"
Lillian screamed bloody murder and fell of the chair with a loud thump. She looked around wildly and saw Harry standing behind her grinning like mad.
"You… you bastard!" she shrieked "Why the hell did you do that! To think I was actually worried to death about you but now I just wish you had died!"
Harry still grinning went and sat on his bed and hissed in pain grabbing his chest.
Immediately Lillian stopped yelling and her eyes softened, "Are you ok Harry, does it hurt?"
"Na, I just did that so that you'd stop screaming like a banshee," he said lying down again smirking.
Lillian had a murderous expression on her face; she looked at him and then whacked him on the unhurt side of his stomach."
"Ahh!" Harry cried, "What's with you and physicality!"
Lillian just gave a smirk worthy of any self respecting Slytherin, "Now that it is clear who is in the bed and who is unhurt, I shall say what I came to say."
Harry just nodded not wanting another blow to his body. "I wanted to apologize for dragging you with me to save the stone."
"Damn right, I'm all messed up because of that," Harry muttered.
"And," she said a little louder trying to control herself, "And I regret not going with you to face Voldemort."
"Tch, if you would have come I could have gotten more torn up trying to protect you and nobody would have saved me."
"God damn, Potter! Can't you just accept my apology?!"
"Typical Gryffindor, always wear their emotions on their sleeves." "But," he added quickly seeing her clench and unclench her fingers, "I accept your apology and it isn't your fault this happened. You were only trying to do what you thought was right."
Lillian smiled in relief, "I'm glad you're alright," she said.
"Does that mean I can call you Freckles?"
A twitch formed on her forehead, "No it means you can call me Mary," she ground out gritting her teeth.
"Mary is a lame name for a girl like you. It makes me imagine you as some silly girl which you're definitely not. I'd rather call you Lillian or Freckles," he said scoffing.
"I don't know if that was a compliment but yeah, whatever. So friends?" she asked hesitantly.
"I'll think about it, if there's any profit in being your friend that is," he replied putting his hands behind his head.
"You are a moron, Potter," she said shaking her head.
"Oh back to surnames are we?" he asked her smirking.
"Yes, you make it impossible for me to talk to you for a minute without making me want to pound you. And here's your invisibility cloak."
"I hope you didn't tell anyone about it."
"No I didn't," she replied. "Well, see you around Harry."
"You too Freckles," he said grinning.
She grinned as well. Somehow the name wasn't so bad after all.
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Harry left the hospital wing sometime in the evening. Blaise had come to visit Harry sometime in the afternoon and of all the people, Malfoy had come along too.
It was the last feast of the year at Hogwarts and he was sitting with Blaise and Draco joking and laughing.
"May I have your attention please?" Dumbledore said loudly, clapping his hands trying to get the attention of the students.
"Now I understand the house cup here needs awarding so here it goes. In fourth place, the Hufflepuff house with 320 points. In third place Gryffindor with 400 points," a few Gryffindor's clapped at that, "In second place Ravenclaw with 450 points," cheers came from the Ravenclaw table, "And in first place the Slytherin house with 455 points."
Everybody in Slytherin started yelling in joy and banging their goblets on the table. "Yes, yes congratulations Slytherin but I have a few last minutes points to give out," said Dumbledore.
Everyone went still.
"To Ms. Lillian Mary Austin, I award 60 points for not backing down in the face of danger and approaching and confronting it like a true Gryffindor."
Everybody on the Gryffindor table exploded in cheers at winning the house cup and many started thumping Lillian on her back in congratulations. All the Slytherin's were looking on in disbelief.
"And too Mr. Harry James Potter," added Dumbledore and it was the Gryffindor's turn to fall silent.
The Slytherin's held their breath in anticipation.
"For being calm and collected in a life or death situation and for thinking rationally when it comes to confronting dangerous tasks, I award 70 points."
This time nobody cheered and waited for the headmaster to drop any more bomb shells. "So I believe it is now safe to declare the Slytherin's as the winner's of the house championship!"
Most of the Slytherin's sighed in relief and cheered raising their goblets high in the air.
Harry looked over to the Gryffindor table and spotted the sour face of Weasley and gave a victorious smirk. He looked around for Lillian and he found her sitting between the Weasley twins. She raised her goblet in acknowledgement and smiled at Harry.
"Now that we are all fed and watered, let us go to bed and have a good night's sleep for tomorrow we will be going back to our families," Dumbledore continued and sat back into his chair.
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16th June 1992
The last day at Hogwarts was uneventful. Harry sat with Blaise, Draco, Daphne and Tracey in one compartment up to kings cross. The journey was terribly boring except for the time the girls wanted details from Harry about what had happened with Quirrell. After all the rumours making rounds in the castle were unbelievable. The most famous version was one in which Harry had transformed into a giant snake and eaten the Professor. Harry had a few ideas as to who came up with that one.
As the train slowed down, Harry gathered his stuff with Hedwig's cage on the top, put them on a trolley and rolled it out to go out and meet the Dursley's after a year without their nasty presence.
"See you later Blaise," said Harry and waved at him as he walked out of the barrier back into the world of muggles.
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A/N: Ron and Hermione were caught by Percy trying to sneak out of the common room and that is why they never showed up.