The rest of the term passed in a blur, a hectic yet enjoyable blur. It had been a very hard pill to swallow for Harry to admit he possibly couldn't pass the exams without studying. The practical parts were not a matter of concern for him in the slightest. However, when it came to the theoretical parts of the exams, he realized the burden he took on. While the theoretical parts for the First Year were just basics of the topics, the following years were a different matter. Apparently, a significant portion of his grade was coming from the essay part in the exams.
Therefore, when the last weekend before the exam week of lower years came, Harry was in the library trying to write a better essay for the Third Year Charms exam. Putting the last dot on the parchment he sighed, 'At least, I have one more week for the Third Year exams.'
Looking up he saw Daphne focused on the First Year Transfiguration book trying to fully memorise principle behind the transformation formula. A small smile appeared on his face involuntarily. Before coming to Hogwarts, a friend was not something Harry knew he wanted. In fact, in the deepest parts of his mind, he would say he actually needed one. At first, Daphne's support simply was flattering. As time passed, Harry found he loved her dry wit and protective vindictiveness.
The bell indicating the dinner time broke his reflection about his friend. Daphne looked up to him looking at her with a smile and asked, "What? Did I do something?"
Paying good compliments to people was a skill Harry learned quickly. Yet, voicing genuine compliments was not something he was used to. Therefore, he stammered "I… I just am glad that you came to my compartment." and he busied himself with collecting his belongings.
Daphne sat there shocked, hearing the warmth in his voice for the first time. Then with a quick move, she stood up and hugged him. The Harry Potter before Hogwarts, before Daphne, would have reacted in a similar manner he did when McGonagall touched him. But this Harry stood there shocked, feeling the love radiating from Daphne with a smile. Gathering his courage, he tentatively raised his arms and hugged Daphne back softly. Harry learned that day that people could cry from happiness.
After a while, he cleared his throat and mumbled a "thank you". Daphne with the smile he had come to love seeing, said "You're welcome.", seeing that they were almost alone in the library, whispered "We can always hug whenever you want, just ask." Then she continued "But now we have to leave for dinner."
Harry simply nodded with a smile and followed her out of the door.
In second floor, Daphne told him she would use the toilet and sent him to save a seat for her. After checking he was alone in the corridor, he opened the Map to see if there was a shortcut to the Great Hall. As he was searching for the shortcut, he saw Professor Quirrell in the Forbidden Corridor. Wondering what a professor, the Muggle Studies Professor at that, was doing there, Harry donned his cloak quickly and set to the Third Floor.
He arrived as Quirrell finished charming a harp to play continuously. The man then opened the door with a wave of his wand and levitated the instrument inside. Harry watched raptly what the beast was going to do. To his surprise, the Cerberus' eyes started to drop slowly and not long after the magical dog was asleep once again. He then heard the man mutter to himself, "The fool was right after all." and cautiously stepped inside.
Thinking that Dumbledore was already aware that someone was there, Harry decided to follow the man. The man lifted the beast's paw and opened the trapdoor with a wave of his wand. Following the man to the edge of the trapdoor, Harry looked inside.
It was pitch black down the trapdoor. Then he heard Quirrell muttering "Lumos Solem!" and a bright orb of sunlight travelled down the open hole. Harry saw tentacle-like roots of Devil's Snare retreating from the light. The professor then jumped down the hole to Harry's surprise and just before he hit the ground, he heard him incantating "Arresto Momentum!" After the man's footsteps faded into the silence, Harry jumped down the hole too before the plant's root started to cover the hole once again.
Silently following the man, Harry watched him blasting his way through several complicated rooms which Dumbledore probably thought would be protection for what he was keeping in the last room.
After dispelling the roaring black fire, the professor and his silent pursuer came to a room with no way out other than the way they came. In the middle of the room, a long mirror adorned with elegant decorations stood.
The man walked towards the mirror waving his wand to discover the secret of the mirror. He then spoke to himself agitatedly "I can see the Stone, master, but I do not know how to reach it."
Then a muffled raspy voice came, "Show me the mirror."
The man stopped and stammered "Are.. are you sure, master? What if the old fool comes…"
He was interrupted by the voice, "Do you question me, Quirinus? Me, Lord Voldemort, who has defied death? If the old fool comes, I will deal with him."
Harry watched the professor unwrapping his turban with shaking hands. The view behind the man's head was simply disgusting. A second disfigured face was looking around the room. Its eyes skipped where Harry was standing under the Cloak and the face ordered "Show me."
Deciding it was enough, Harry focused on the Professor's clothes and waved his wand. As the man was turning around, he suddenly lost his balance and staggered. This was enough for Harry to turn the man's clothes to metal. Under the sudden weight of his now solid metal clothes, Quirrell fell face first to the ground. Then an orb of black fog enveloped the man's head and Harry cast the Incarcerous spell to be safe.
The raspy voice of now identified face of Lord Voldemort shouted through the fog "Who dares to oppose me?" and coughed. Harry, now with a golden glow in his eyes, mocked "So this is the mighty Lord Voldemort? It seems you lost to me once again."
The voice asked "Potter? I heard of your power. Join me and Lord Voldemort will help you reach the heights that no other wizard has reached before. I know magic forgotten, forsaken by many. I can teach you."
Harry was silent for a moment and then laughed "Thank you but from where I stand, I am already above you. Also, I already can do this." Then Lord Voldemort felt something he felt only a handful of times before. He was under a Legilimency attack that he didn't have the power to defend against in his current state.
Harry wandered around the shattered and convoluted mind of Lord Voldemort, or as he learned Tom Marvolo Riddle. After a couple of minutes, Harry left the man's mind and said in a mocking tone "Thank you for the knowledge. It will help me greatly in the exams. Now shush, I have a stone to get."
Turning back to the mirror, Harry closed his eyes, exhaled slowly and let the energy coursing through his body out. When his magic reached the mirror, the magic surrounding the ancient mirror crackled and burned away. He felt Dumbledore's magic all over the mirror fading away with the man not being there to keep them powered against Harry's onslaught.
When he felt he completely purged Dumbledore's magic from the mirror, he looked at the mirror. What he saw made him completely forget about the red stone that appeared in his pocket suddenly.
A grown man with Harry's face smiled at him. The golden glow was so strong in his eyes that his eyes looked like two stars with a green halo. Next to him, a blonde woman holding his adult self's hand who Harry recognized as an adult Daphne winked at him. The adult Daphne wore the traditional robes of the Master Portioners just like she always dreamed of. Behind his mirror self, a redhead woman and a bespectacled man were proudly beaming at him. Countless figures stood in rows behind his parents, all seemed to content to be there, to be his ancestors. Two small blurry figures sent shy smiles to him behind Daphne's and his adult self's legs.
He stood there. How long, he did not know but when he tore his eyes from the mirror, he was happier than ever. He knew how his dream would look like. Then he saw the inscription around the mirror's frame. 'Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi.'
"I show not your face but your heart's desire." he muttered to himself. What he read around the mirror only confirmed his belief.
Remembering why he was there; he checked the stone. He could feel the innate magic of it, just like the mirror, the stone had a powerful ancient hum. Deciding to examining it behind secure doors, he turned to the Quirrell.
'He is a threat to my dream' thought Harry and just like he did to the mirror, he directed the onslaught of his magic to the body the Dark Lord inhabited.
From the fingertips of the man, he started to disintegrate until two orbs of light hovered in his hands. One was wispy, grey and bigger, the other was tar-like, completely black and smaller. Harry then directed his magic to the orbs. The colours of the orbs started to wane slowly. At the end, both were golden in colour and cackled with occasional sparks.
Examining the orbs carefully, Harry made his decision and the orbs floated to his head. The moment they entered his head, a shockwave shook the castle.
Harry left the room with a smile on his face and a small but permanent glow in his eyes.