Chapter ten: Stone
Later, Dove would never be able to tell how she had gotten through exams, half expecting Voldemort to come through the door at any moment. Her grounding was over, but she still stayed in Severus' chambers- more often than not waking him and Remus up with her nightmares. She tried to deal with her scar burning as there was nothing Severus was able to do for it. No pain reliever worked against it.
On occasion, she or one of the others would press their ears against the door on the third floor to be sure they could still hear Fluffy's growl. So far so good. It was innervatingly hot, especially in the large classroom where they did their written papers. They had been given special, new quills for the exams, which had been bewitched with an Anti-Cheating spell.
They had practical exams as well. Professor Flitwick called them one by one into his class to see if they could make a pineapple tap dance across a desk, hers did more of a drunken tango. Professor McGonagall watched them turn a mouse into a snuffbox - points were given for how pretty the snuffbox was, but taken away if it had whiskers, hers was fairly nice looking even if it did have tiny whiskers. She argued that it just made it look cuter. Severus made them all nervous, breathing down their necks while they tried to remember how to make a Forgetfulness potion, hers was a shade off- but still very usable. The last one they had was History of Magic, which she wasn't too worried about.
"That was far easier than I thought it would be," Hermione said as they joined the crowds flocking out onto the sunny grounds. "I needn't have learned about the 1637 Werewolf Code of Conduct or the uprising of Elfric the Eager."
Hermione always liked to go through their exam papers afterward, but Ron said this made him feel ill and Dove was inclined to agree, so they wandered down to the lake and flopped under a tree. The Weasley twins and Lee Jordan were tickling the tentacles of a giant squid, which was basking in the warm shallows. "No more studying," Ron sighed happily, stretching out on the grass. "You could look more cheerful, Dove, we've got a week before we find out how badly we've done, there's no need to worry yet."
"Is it your scar again?" Draco asked, worriedly. "You should tell Uncle- "
"Why?" She burst out in anger. "There's nothing he can do about it, I've already told him. None of us knows what it is. I just wish it would stop!"
Dove couldn't get rid of this feeling she had forgotten something important. It was like a whispering between her ears. The Stone, she wished she could get it out of her head. It's not like anyone would be able to get past Fluffy anyway. Hagrid- she bolted upright, suddenly going pale.
"Dove? What's wrong?"
"Hagrid! We have to go see Hagrid." Without waiting for an answer, she ran toward his hut. She banged on his door until he opened it and she slip past him. Pacing back and forth with her hands in her hair- acting amusingly like Severus when he was stressed, she asked "You know that night you won Norbert? What did the stranger you were playing cards with look like?"
"Dunno," said Hagrid casually, "he wouldn' take his cloak off."
Everyone is stared at him.
"It's not that unusual, yeh get a lot o' funny folk in the Hog's Head -that's the pub down in the village. Mighta bin a dragon dealer, mightn' he? I never saw his face, he kept his hood up."
Dove sank down next to the cuppa Hagrid set out. "What did you talk to him about, Hagrid? Did you mention Hogwarts at all?"
"Mighta come up," said Hagrid, frowning as he tried to remember. "Yeah... he asked what I did, an' I told him I was gamekeeper here... He asked a bit about the sorta creatures I took after... so I told him... an' I said what I'd always really wanted was a dragon... an' then... I can' remember too well, 'cause he kept buyin' me drinks... Let's see... yeah, then he said he had the dragon egg an' we could play cards fer it if I wanted... but he had ter be sure I could handle it, he didn' want it ter go ter any old home... So I told him, after Fluffy, a dragon would be easy..."
"And did he - did he seem interested in Fluffy?" Dove asked, trying to keep her voice calm.
"Well - yeah - how many three-headed dogs d'yeh meet, even around Hogwarts? So I told him, Fluffy's a piece o' cake if yeh know how to calm him down, jus' play him a bit o' music an' he'll go straight off ter sleep -"
Hagrid suddenly looked horrified.
"I shouldn'ta told yeh that!" he blurted out. "Forget I said it! Hey -where're yeh goin'?"
Dove, Draco, Ron, and Hermione didn't speak to each other at all until they came to a halt in the entrance hall, which seemed very cold and gloomy after the grounds.
"We've got to go to Albus," Dove stressed. "H-he told the stranger how to get past Fluffy. I bet you anything it was either Quirrell or Voldemort. Where's Albus' office?"
They looked around, as if hoping to see a sign pointing them in the right direction. They had never been told where he lived, nor did they know anyone who had been sent to see him. The one time she had gone there, she was too out of it with anxiety to remember.
"We'll just have to -" Dove began, but a voice suddenly rang across the hall.
"What are you four doing inside?" It was Minerva, carrying a large pile of books.
"We want to see Professor Dumbledore," Hermione said firmly.
"See Professor Dumbledore?" Minerva repeated, as though this was a very fishy thing to want to do. "Why?"
Dove swallowed- now what?
"It's sort of secret," she said, but she wished at once she hadn't, because Minerva's nostrils flared.
"Professor Dumbledore left ten minutes ago," she said coldly. "He received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and flew off for London at once."
"He's gone?" Dove said frantically. "Now?"
"Professor Dumbledore is a very great wizard, Miss Potter, he has many demands on his time -
"But this is important."
"Something you have to say is more important than the Ministry of Magic?"
"Professor- it's about the Sorcerer's Stone -"
Whatever Minerva had expected, it wasn't that. The books she was carrying tumbled out of her arms, but she didn't pick them up. "How do you know -?" she stuttered.
"Professor, I think - I know - that- that someone's going to try and steal the Stone. I've got to talk to Professor Dumbledore."
She eyed her with a mixture of shock and suspicion.
"He will be back tomorrow," she said finally. "I don't know how you found out about the Stone, but rest assured, no one can possibly steal it, it's too well protected."
"But Professor -"
"Miss Potter, I know what I'm talking about," she said shortly. She bent down and gathered up the fallen books. "I suggest you all go back outside and enjoy the sunshine."
But they didn't.
"It's tonight," Draco thought aloud, once he was sure Professor McGonagall was out of earshot. "Quirrell's going through the trapdoor tonight. He's found out everything he needs, and now he's got Dumbledore out of the way. He sent that note, I bet the Ministry of Magic will be surprised when Dumbledore turns up."
"But what can we -"
Hermione and Ron gasped. Dove and Draco wheeled round.
Severus was standing there. "Good afternoon," he said smoothly, eyeing his daughter suspiciously. "What are the four of you doing inside on a day like this? Weren't you just telling me how excited you were that the weather was nice?"
"W-we were just heading out there now," Dove lied, and hated herself for it. Outside on the steps, she turned to the others. "We've got to tail Quirrell. Tonight, we've got to go after him before he can get to the Stone."
"We'll be expelled," Hermione said.
"I know," Dove said thickly. She would be expelled, and this time there was no way Severus wouldn't get rid of her, but she felt like she had to do this. "I have to. This is more important. Voldemort killed my parents. He killed more than just them and if he comes back, he'll do worse. But I can stop it. I'm going to stop it. Tonight I'll take the cloak and go after him."
"Will it cover all four of us?" Draco asked decisively. Dove looked at him stunned.
"A-all four of us?" She echoed.
"You're my best friend," Hermione said with a smile. "Of course I'm coming with you."
"From now until forever," Ron said, rather poetically. "You have us. We're coming with you. Always."
Dove hugged him tightly. "You'll all be expelled too."
"Father's on the Board of Directors, and he works at the Ministry. I think I'll be fine."
Ron shrugged. "Mum'll kill me, sure. But maybe after that she'll send me off to live with Charlie."
Hermione smirked. "Professor Flitwick's told me in confidence that I scored a 120 on my exam. They're not going to expel me after that." Draco glared at her, not having let go of the competitiveness.
That night she told Severus and Remus, who had been rather secretive lately, that she would be sleeping in the Gryffindor Tower that night. Draco, who'd been sleeping in Gryffindor Tower most of the year anyway, stayed up with Ron playing Wizard's Chess until everyone in the dorm was asleep. Hermione and Dove met them downstairs, but before they could go out of the portrait, Neville stopped them.
Neville stared at their guilty faces.
"You're going out again," he accused.
"No, no, no," Hermione said. "No, we're not. Why don't you go to bed, Neville?"
Dove looked at the grandfather clock by the door. They couldn't afford to waste any more time, Quirrell might even now be playing Fluffy to sleep.
"You can't go out," Neville said, "you'll be caught again. Gryffindor will be in even more trouble."
"You don't understand," Dove pleaded, "this is important."
But Neville was clearly steeling himself to do something desperate. "I won't let you do it," he said, hurrying to stand in front of the portrait hole. "I'll - I'll fight you!"
"Neville," Ron exploded, "get away from that hole and don't be an idiot -"
"Don't you call me an idiot!" Neville said. "I don't think you should be breaking any more rules! And you were the one who told me to stand up to people!"
"Yes, but not to us," Draco said in exasperation. "Neville, you don't know what you're doing."
He took a step forward and Neville dropped Trevor the toad, who leapt out of sight. "Go on then, try and hit me!" said Neville, raising his fists. "I'm ready!"
Dove turned to Hermione.
"Do something," she said desperately. Hermione stepped forward.
"Neville," she said, "I'm really, very sorry about this." She raised her wand. "Petrificus Totalus!" she cried, pointing it at Neville.
Neville's arms snapped to his sides, his legs sprang together, and before they could catch him- he fell onto his face with a snap and a whimper. Draco nodded approvingly, Ron looked at her warily, Dove just turned him over, feeling awful. His jaws were jammed together where he couldn't speak, but his eyes darted back and forth, frightened. Dove put a pillow under his head and kissed his forehead.
"I promise to explain everything later," she swore before following everyone else outside. At the foot of the first set of stairs, they spotted Mrs. Norris sneaking about near the top.
"Oh, let's kick her, just this once," Ron whispered in Dove's ear, but Dove shook her head. As they climbed carefully around her, Mrs. Norris turned her amber eyes on them, but didn't do anything.
They didn't meet anyone else until they reached the staircase up to the third floor. Peeves was bobbing halfway up, loosening the carpet so that people would trip.
"Who's there?" he said suddenly as they climbed toward him. He narrowed his wicked black eyes. "Know you're there, even if I can't see you. Are you ghoulie or ghostie or wee student beastie?"
He rose up in the air and floated there, squinting at them.
"Should call Filch, I should, if something's a-creeping around unseen."
Dove had a sudden idea. "Peeves," she said, in a hoarse whisper, "the Bloody Baron has his own reasons for being invisible."
Peeves almost fell out of the air in shock. He caught himself in time and hovered about a foot off the stairs. "So sorry, your bloodiness, Mr. Baron, Sir," he said greasily. "My mistake, my mistake - I didn't see you - of course I didn't, you're invisible - forgive old Peevsie his little joke, sir."
"I have business here, Peeves," Dove croaked. "Stay away from this place tonight."
"I will, sir, I most certainly will," said Peeves, rising up in the air again. "Hope your business goes well, Baron, I'll not bother you." And he scooted off
"Brilliant, Dove!" whispered Ron.
A few seconds later, they were there, outside the third-floor corridor - and the door was already ajar. "He's already gone," Dove said. She turned to the others. "I would understand if you all wanted to turn back. Take the cloak, I won't need it."
"Don't be stupid- "
"We're coming with you."
"Always," Draco quoted Ron, squeezing her hand. She nodded, pulling out the flute Hagrid sent her for Christmas. Once inside, she only barely had to blow on it before the three-headed dog's breathing slowed.
"Keep playing." Ron told her. "It probably needs constant music to stay asleep."
Hermione pulled the heavy trapdoor open with a grunt. "Who's going first?"
"I am," Dove said. Fluffy stirred, growling, and Dove pushed the flute at Hermione. With the first note, it slumbered again. Dove turned to Ron and Draco. "If something happens to me, don't follow. One of you go to the Owlery and send a letter to Albus. The other go get Daddy. Okay?" Ron nodded and she turned to the dark hole. You couldn't see anything at all down there. No way of knowing what awaited her. She took a deep breath and prepared to jump before someone pushed her backwards.
"NO!" Draco said, jumping himself. What if something awful was down there? He couldn't send Dove! He fell with a wet smek!
"DRACO!" The other three yelled after him in alarm. Fluffy growled, snapping at these intruders. They lunged down in a procession, Dove, Ron, then Hermione.
"Ugh!" Ron complained. "What is this?"
"Draco!" Dove scolded. "Why would you do that?! You could have gotten hurt!"
"So could you!" Draco defended himself. "All the more reason for me to go first."
"Guys, what is this?"
"Some sort of plant I think. Hermione? How is everyone?" There was a chorus of everyone being okay, until there was a squeak of panic.
"Ron?"
"Something touched my foot!"
Tendrils from the plant began winding around them, tight, tight, and tighter. The faster they pulled at them, the tighter and faster they became.
"Wait! I know what this is! It's Devil Snare." Hermione informed them.
"Oh, I'm so glad we know what it's called, that's a great help," snarled Ron, leaning back, trying to stop the plant from curling around his neck.
"How do we kill it?" Draco asked.
"I'm trying to remember."
"Could you hurry?" Dove gasped, choking.
Hermione groaned. "Devil Snare, they like dark and damp."
"So light a fire!" Draco said.
"There's no wood."
"HAVE YOU GONE MAD? ARE YOU A WITCH OR AREN'T YOU?!" Ron bellowed, tugging off a vine from his chest.
There was a bright blue light, her infamous blue bell flame, and the four of them fell through the plant to the ground. Draco helped Dove up.
"Are you okay?"
She nodded. "Lucky Hermione pays attention to Herbology."
"Lucky Draco doesn't lose his head in a crisis." Ron panted. "Honestly, 'there's no wood'?"
"This way," Dove interrupted, pointing down a stone passageway, which was the only way forward.
All they could hear apart from their footsteps was the gentle drip of water trickling down the walls. Dove shivered violently and looked around nervously. What would be next? A dragon? Norbert was bad enough!
"Do you hear something?" Ron whispered.
Dove listened. A soft rustling followed by a clink seemed to be coming from up ahead.
"Do you think it's a ghost?"
"It sounds like wings to me."
"There's light ahead. I can see something moving."
They reached the end of the passageway and saw in front of them them a brightly lit chamber, its ceiling arching high above them. It was full of small, jewel-bright birds, fluttering and tumbling all around the room. On the opposite side of the chamber was a heavy wooden door.
They crossed beneath the strange creatures and tugged and heaved at the door, but it wouldn't budge, not even when Hermione tried her Alohomora charm.
"Now what?" Ron asked.
"These birds... they can't be here just for decoration," Hermione said.
They watched the birds soaring overhead, glittering - glittering?
"They're not birds!" Draco said suddenly. "They're keys! Winged keys -look carefully. So that must mean..." he looked around the chamber while the other three squinted up at the flock of keys. "Look! Broomsticks! We've got to catch the key to the door!"
"But there have to be hundreds here!"
Ron examined the lock. "You're looking for a big, old-fashioned one - probably silver, like the handle."
Dove mounted her broom and went up, looking through as Draco joined her. They snatched and grabbed, but the enchanted keys darted away and tried to avoid them. It was almost impossible to catch one. Not for nothing, though, was Dove the youngest Seeker in a century. After a minute's weaving about through the whirl of rainbow feathers, she noticed a large silver key that had a bent wing, as if it had already been caught and stuffed roughly into the keyhole.
"That one!" she called to Draco. "That big one - there - no, there - with bright blue wings - the feathers are all crumpled on one side."
"I got it!" He called. He leaned forward and with a nasty, crunching noise, pinned it against the stone with one hand. Dove, Ron and Hermione's cheers echoed around the high chamber.
They landed quickly, and Dove ran to the door, the key struggling in her hand. She rammed it into the lock and turned - it worked. The moment the lock had clicked open, the key took flight again, looking very battered and dazed now that it had been caught twice.
"Ready?" She asked the other three, her hand on the door handle. They all nodded, and with a grin she pulled the door open.
The next chamber was so dark they couldn't see anything at all. But as they stepped into it, light suddenly flooded the room to reveal an astonishing sight. They were standing on the edge of a huge chessboard, behind the black chessmen, which were all taller than they were and carved from what looked like black stone. Facing them, way across the chamber, were the white pieces. Dove, Draco, Ron and Hermione shivered slightly - the towering white chessmen had no faces.
"Now what do we do?" Dove whispered.
"It's obvious, isn't it?" Ron said in amazement. "We've got to play our way across the room."
Behind the white pieces they could see another door.
"How?" Hermione asked nervously.
"I think," Draco said slowly, sharing a look with Ron, "we're going to have to be chessmen."
He walked up to a black knight and put his hand out to touch the knight's horse. At once, the stone sprang to life. The horse pawed the ground and the knight turned his helmeted head to look down at him.
"Do we- have to join you to get across?" The black knight nodded. Draco turned to the other three.
"This needs thinking about," he said. "I suppose we've got to take the place of four of the black pieces..."
Dove and Hermione stayed quiet, watching the other two think. Finally, Ron said, "Now, don't be offended or anything, but neither of you are that good at chess -"
"We're not offended," Dove said quickly. "Just tell us what to do."
"Well, Dove, you take the place of that bishop, and Hermione, you next to her instead of that castle. Draco is going to be that pawn."
"What about you?"
"I'm going to be a knight," Ron said dramatically.
The chessmen seemed to have been listening, because at these words a knight, a bishop, a pawn, and a castle turned their backs on the white pieces and walked off the board, leaving four empty squares for their replacements.
"White always plays first in chess," Ron said, peering across the board. "Yes... look..."
A white pawn had moved forward two squares.
Ron started to direct the black pieces. They moved silently wherever he sent them. Dove's knees were trembling. What if they lost?
"Dove - move diagonally four squares to the right."
Their first real shock came when their other knight was taken. The white queen smashed him to the floor and dragged him off the board, where he lay quite still, facedown.
"Had to let that happen," Draco said comfortingly to Ron, looking shaken. "Leaves you free to take that bishop, Hermione, go on."
Every time one of their men was lost, the white pieces showed no mercy. Soon there was a huddle of limp black players slumped along the wall. Twice, Ron only just noticed in time that Dove and Hermione were in danger. He himself darted around the board, taking almost as many white pieces as they had lost black ones.
"We're nearly there," Draco muttered suddenly. "Let me think let me think..."
The white queen turned her blank face toward Ron and Draco stopped.
"Yes..." Ron told him softly, "It's the only way... I've got to be taken."
"NO!" Dove and Hermione shouted.
"That's chess!" Ron snapped. "You've got to make some sacrifices! I take one step forward and she'll take me - that leaves you free to checkmate the king, Dove!"
"But -"
"Do you want to stop Quirrell or not?"
"Ron -"
"Look, if you don't hurry up, he'll already have the Stone!"
There was no alternative.
"Ready?" Ron called, his face pale but determined. "Here I go - now, don't hang around once you've won."
He stepped forward, and the white queen pounced. She struck Ron hard across the head with her stone arm, and he crashed to the floor Hermione screamed but stayed on her square - the white queen dragged Ron to one side. He looked as if he'd been knocked out.
Shaking, Dove moved three spaces to the left.
The white king took off his crown and threw it at Dove's feet. They had won. The chessmen parted and bowed, leaving the door ahead clear.
"Draco, you have to stay with him. Make sure he's okay."
"I'm not leaving you."
"I have Hermione," Dove insisted. "Next is Daddy's. Hermione is good at Potions and she knows more spells than either of us." He nodded somberly, hugging her tight before she left.
A disgusting smell filled their nostrils when they moved to the next room, making both of them pull their robes up over their noses. Eyes watering, they saw, flat on the floor in front of them, a troll even larger than the one they had tackled, out cold with a bloody lump on its head.
"I'm glad we didn't have to fight that one," Dove whispered as they stepped carefully over one of its massive legs. "Come on, I can't breathe."
She pulled open the next door, both of them hardly daring to look at what came next - but there was nothing very frightening in here, just a table with seven differently shaped bottles standing on it in a line. "Dad's" she said. "What do we have to do?"
They stepped over the threshold, and immediately a fire sprang up behind them in the doorway. It wasn't ordinary fire either; it was purple. At the same instant, black flames shot up in the doorway leading onward. They were trapped.
"Look!" Hermione seized a roll of paper lying next to the bottles. Dove looked over her shoulder to read it:
Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,
Two of us will help you, which ever 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.
Hermione let out a great sigh and Dove, amazed, saw that she was smiling, the very last thing she felt like doing.
"Brilliant, he really is, " Hermione said. "This isn't magic - it's logic - a puzzle. A lot of the greatest wizards haven't got an ounce of logic, they'd be stuck in here forever."
"But so will we, won't we?"
"Of course not," said Hermione. "Everything we need is here on this paper. Seven bottles: three are poison; two are wine; one will get us safely through the black fire, and one will get us back through the purple."
"But how do we know which to drink?"
"Give me a minute."
Hermione read the paper several times. Then she walked up and down the line of bottles, muttering to herself and pointing at them. At last, she clapped her hands.
"Got it," she said. "The smallest bottle will get us through the black fire - toward the Stone."
Dove looked at the tiny bottle.
"There's only enough there for one of us," she said. "That's hardly one swallow."
They looked at each other.
"Which one will get you back through the purple flames?"
Hermione pointed at a rounded bottle at the right end of the line.
"You drink that," Dove said. "No, listen, get back and get the boys. Grab brooms from the flying- key room, they'll get you out of the trapdoor and past Fluffy - go straight to the owlery and send Hedwig to Albus, we need him. And my dad. Get him. Once I have the Stone that's where I'm going to go."
"But Dove - what if You-Know-Who's with him?"
"Well - I was lucky once, wasn't I?" Dove said, terrified. "I might get lucky again."
Hermione's lip trembled, and she suddenly dashed at Dove and threw her arms around her.
"Hermione!"
"Dove - you're a great witch, you know."
"I'm not as good as you," she said, very embarrassed, as she let go of her.
"Me!" said Hermione. "Books! And cleverness! There are more important things - friendship and bravery and you taught me that - oh Dove - be careful!"
"You drink first," Dove whispered. "You are sure which is which, aren't you?"
"Positive," said Hermione.
"Only fools and charged particles are positive," she quoted Severus. "Whatever that means."
Hermione smiled weakly before taking a long drink from the round bottle at the end, and shuddered.
"It's not poison?" Dove asked anxiously.
"No - but it's like ice."
"Quick, go, before it wears off."
"Good luck - take care."
"GO!"
Hermione turned and walked straight through the purple fire. Dove took a deep breath and picked up the smallest bottle. She turned to face the black flames.
"Here I come," she said, and she drained the little bottle in one gulp.
It was indeed as though ice was flooding her body. She put the bottle down and walked forward; she braced herself, saw the black flames licking her body, but couldn't feel them. For a moment, she could see nothing but dark fire - then she was on the other side, in the last chamber.
"Hello, Professor."
He turned around with a nasty smile. "Miss Potter," he acknowledged. "I wondered whether or not you would be here tonight. Though, I almost bet to myself against it. What with Severus keeping you under lock and key these days."
"Your stutter is gone." She felt stupid for blurting that out, but it was what was throwing her the most. He sneered.
"Yes, well, I admit I rather enjoyed playing p-p-poor, st-stuttering P-Professor Quirrell. However, I did not expect to be suspected so early. You're too nosy to live, Potter. Strutting around on Halloween." He snapped his fingers and she was bound by rope.
"You let the troll in?" She asked, struggling.
"But of course. I have a special gift with trolls, you see. You must have seen what I did to the one in the chamber back there? Unfortunately, while everyone else was running around looking for it, Snape, who already suspected me, went straight to the third floor to head me off - and not only did my troll fail to beat you to death, that three-headed dog didn't even manage to bite Snape's leg off properly.
"Now, wait quietly, Potter. I need to examine this interesting mirror."
It was only then that Dove realized what was standing behind Quirrell. It was the Mirror of Erised. "This mirror is the key to finding the Stone," Quirrell muttered, tapping his way around the frame. "Trust Dumbledore to come up with something like this... but he's in London... I'll be far away by the time he gets back..."
All Dove could think of doing was to keep Quirrell talking and stop him from concentrating on the mirror, but she couldn't think of what to say. Quirrell came back from behind the mirror and stared hungrily into it.
"I see the Stone... I'm presenting it to my master... but where is it?"
Dove pulled against the ropes binding her, but they didn't give. She had to keep Quirrell from giving his whole attention to the mirror.
"I heard you a few days ago, sobbing- "
For the first time, a spasm of fear flitted across Quirrell's face.
"Sometimes," he said, "I find it hard to follow my master's instructions - he is a great wizard and I am weak -"
"You mean he was there in the library with you?"
"He is with me wherever I go," Quirrell said quietly. "I met him when I traveled around the world. A foolish young man I was then, full of ridiculous ideas about good and evil. Lord Voldemort showed me how wrong I was. There is no good and evil, there is only power, and those too weak to seek it... Since then, I have served him faithfully, although I have let him down many times. He has had to be very hard on me." Quirrell shivered suddenly. "He does not forgive mistakes easily. When I failed to steal the stone from Gringotts, he was most displeased. He punished me... decided he would have to keep a closer watch on me..."
Quirrell's voice trailed away. Dove was remembering her trip to Diagon Alley -how could she have been so stupid? She'd seen Quirrell there that very day, shaken hands with him in the Leaky Cauldron.
Quirrell cursed under his breath.
"I don't understand... is the Stone inside the mirror? Should I break it?"
Dove's mind was racing.
What I want more than anything else in the world at the moment, she thought, is to find the Stone before Quirrell does. So, if I look in the mirror, I should see myself finding it - which means I'll see where it's hidden! But how can I look without Quirrell realizing what I'm up to?
She tried to edge to the left, to get in front of the glass without Quirrell noticing, but the ropes around her ankles were too tight: she tripped and fell over. Quirrell ignored her. He was still talking to himself. "What does this mirror do? How does it work? Help me, Master!"
And to Dove's horror, a voice answered, and the voice seemed to come from Quirrell himself
"Use the girl... Use the girl..."
Quirrell rounded on Dove.
"Yes - Potter - come here."
He clapped his hands once, and the ropes binding Dove fell off. Dove got slowly to her feet.
"Come here," Quirrell repeated. "Look in the mirror and tell me what you see."
Dove walked toward him.
I must lie, she thought desperately. I must look and lie about what I see, that's all.
Quirrell moved close behind her. Dove breathed in the funny smell that seemed to come from Quirrell's turban. She closed her eyes, stepped in front of the mirror, and opened them again.
She saw her reflection, pale and scared-looking at first. But a moment later, the reflection smiled at her. It put its hand into its pocket and pulled out a blood-red stone. It winked and put the Stone back in its pocket - and as it did so, Dove felt something heavy drop into her real pocket. Somehow - incredibly - she'd gotten the Stone.
"Well?" said Quirrell impatiently. "What do you see?"
Dove screwed up her courage. "I'm with Dad, he- he's telling me how proud he is of me."
"She lies!"
Quirrell shouted. "Tell me the truth! What did you just see?"
The high voice spoke again. "Let me speak to her... face-to-face..."
"Master, you are not strong enough!"
"I have strength enough... for this..."
Dove was frozen to the spot as Quirrell began to unwrap his turban from his head, which looked much smaller without it. She almost wished she was back at the Devil's Snare and it was swallowing her whole. Then Quirrell turned around.
Severus sat up straight in a panic. Dove.
"Severus?" Remus asked. "What's wrong?"
"Dove." He threw the blanket off and went to his wardrobe to get dressed. "Something's happened. Something's wrong."
"What are you- the spell. You used puer salvus erit at Christmas. Is she okay?"
"She's terrified. Something's going on."
Then he was out the door with Remus right behind him. Severus followed the spell, presented by a golden thread between himself and Dove, to the third-floor forbidden corridor.
"She-she wouldn't."
"She did. I don't know how to get past the dog."
Remus laid a hand on his arm. "I have your back. I think between the two of us, we can handle it. Dove's in there."
Severus nodded and pushed through to find the dog, Fluffy was its ridiculous name, growling at the trapdoor. It was still open with an object or something on the floor beside it. The dog turned its heads toward Remus and Severus.
"Stupefy!" Remus cried. It hit Fluffy square, but all the animal did was shake its heads with a whimper.
"Great. You've pissed it off."
"Do you have anything constructive to say?"
"Maybe next time try to not to?" Severus made his way to grab the object, a flute. He looked back up at the dog and blew a note. It stopped cold and laid down. Severus, still playing, motioned Remus over so they could go down together. They landed with a cold, wet smek!
Dove stumbled backwards, away from the horrible face with glowing red eyes and slits for a nose. She wanted to scream, but she couldn't make a sound. Grab the locket, she told herself. Say the words and go to Dad. But she couldn't make the muscles move.
"Don't be a fool," snarled the face. "Better save your own life and join me... or you'll meet the same end as your parents... They died begging me for mercy..."
"LIAR!" Dove shouted suddenly.
Quirrell was walking backward at her, so that Voldemort could still see her. The evil face was now smiling.
"How touching..." it hissed. "I always value bravery... Yes, girl, your parents were brave... I killed your father first; and he put up a courageous fight... but your mother needn't have died... she was trying to protect you... Now give me the Stone, unless you want her to have died in vain."
"NEVER!"
Dove ran toward the flame door, but Voldemort screamed "SEIZE HER!" and the next second, Dove felt Quirrell's hand close around her wrist. At once, a needle-sharp pain seared across Dove's scar; her head felt as though it was about to split in two. She yelled, struggling, and to her surprise, Quirrell let go of her. The pain in her head lessened - she looked around wildly to see where Quirrell had gone, and saw him hunched in pain, looking at his fingers - they were blistering before her eyes.
"Seize her! SEIZE HER!" shrieked Voldemort again, and Quirrell lunged, knocking Dove clean off her feet' landing on top of her, both hands around Dove's neck - Dove's scar was almost blinding her with pain, yet she could see Quirrell howling in agony.
"Master, I cannot hold her - my hands - my hands!"
And Quirrell, though pinning Dove to the ground with his knees, let go of her neck and stared, bewildered, at his own palms - Dove could see they looked burned, raw, red, and shiny.
"Then kill her, fool, and be done!" screeched Voldemort.
Dove looked at her own hands and laid them on Quirrell's face, smoke sizzling from where their skin met. They both screamed in different pain and Quirrell leapt away from her. She jumped to her feet and caught him by the arm, the pain in her head building. She couldn't see anything, only hear the shouts. Quirrell's in pain, Voldemort's "KILL HER!", and random voices in her head whispering her name frantically.
"DOVE!" And then blackness.
~~~~~
HEY GUYS!
I am so happy everyone is liking this. To answer a question: yes. As of this moment I am planning to go through all of the books, though it may be a LOT different than canon. I am always open to suggestions. There's one more chapter for this one and then we are on to the second book! I usually try to update every day or every other day, but here in the next few weeks I may not be able to. My fiancé's daughter is in the hospital so just try to bare with me on this.
Love always- Skye