A/N: Sorry about the delay. COVID was an absolute bitch.
Tuesday April 7th, 1992
Harry walked out of History of Magic with a sluggish gait. He had -once again- passed out during class despite his best efforts to pay attention this time. Hermione and Kevin have been frantic for the past two weeks in preparation for their final exams, and Harry found himself swept up in their enthusiasm. Unfortunately, their efforts weren't enough to keep them awake during Professor Binns' droning monotone. Even now, as he walked by empty classrooms and supply closets, it was a great effort just to keep his eyes open.
"SUPPLIES!" A female voice boomed. Slamming a closet door open, a figure jumped in front of him with a broom drawn in sword-like fashion.
The sudden noise made Harry jump out of his half-sleepwalk, ultimately causing him to fall on his rear. He wasn't the only one. Several other first years managed to shriek or fall at the sudden appearance. With a grunt of pain, Harry looked up at the person who had jumped out at them. The first thing he noticed was the broom pointing menacingly at his throat. Then he noticed the holder was Melly, armed with a smug smirk and a bucket for a helmet.
"Melly! You scared me half to death! What are you even doing here?"
"I'm here," she began in a serious tone, "because there comes a time in every witch's life when she has to look the potato of injustice right in the eye. There's a powerful, evil force in the universe and it's making you not come home for Easter!"
At that point, the other first years rolled their eyes and moved on to their rooms. Harry, having a broom-sword pointed at his throat, could only blink. Feeling bewildered with only a slight level of guilt mixed in. "I was going to tell you…"
"When? On Friday? The morning of?" The girl then shifted her stance. As if in defeat, she backed down onto the floor and had the broom draped across her lap. In a childish groan she continued. "Come on, Harry, it's our fifth year friendaversary! We were supposed to watch Hook together. I even told Sirius to bring Remus along, only for him to write back and say you aren't coming home. What gives?"
Harry urged his brain to his planned excuse. "Hermione and Kevin have been pushing to keep our study schedule on track to have us ready for exams. I won't be able to focus if we're always going out to watch films."
"Harry," she whined. "That's, like, two months away; and this is Hook! It has Robin Williams and one of my favourite John Williams scores, how can you possibly resist?"
The tangent opening gave Harry a moment to smile. "Why would I care about who the composer is? You're the music fan, not me."
Melly gave him the stink-eye. "Harry James Potter, the fact that you don't appreciate the music of John Williams is an absolute travesty!" Funny enough, the tangent worked as planned. Melly stretched herself back, eyes to the ceiling, and groaned loudly. "Fine!" She collapsed forward again, finger jabbing at his nose. "But you're paying me back with a John Williams movie marathon this summer. No take-backs."
"Deal." Harry smiled. "I also get to lord over my higher marks than you to your parents."
"Eh, it's not like they'll be surprised." She waved off. "They'll be happier with me spending the holidays writing songs for the Weird Sisters than studying for third year classes."
The casual dismissal caused Harry to raise his brow. "I can't imagine Aunt Sophie or Uncle John ever preferring music over marks."
Melly shrugged passively. "Different Bennetts, different priorities. Come on, I'll walk you back to your house." With that, Harry and Melly got up from the floor and began their trek towards the Hufflepuff common room. Their way went without conversation, though Melly loudly sang out The Imperial March and mimicked lightsaber battles the whole way down.
A week later Harry found himself in an unused classroom among a ring of eager third years. The six of them, Ron, and himself, looked at a crude sketch of the third floor as Corin marked off each section. "So, here's the plan. Lee, Roberta, you're on Filch duty. When it's close to curfew, we need those fireworks off on the fifth floor. Make sure both him and Mrs. Norris stay there."
"You got it!" Lee grinned.
"Gladly." Roberta smirked.
"Now, Filch might not be the only guard around, and we don't know how much Professor Quirrell will do to help us; so I'm keeping you in charge of guard duty, Sierra." The blonde girl nodded. "This is important, Merton needs to keep playing for the Cerberus to stay asleep. If anyone comes and you can't distract them, go down the trapdoor and warn the rest of us."
"Will do." Sierra assured them. Merton also agreed as he was instructed to hide behind the dog and stop playing music if someone else should walk in.
"Once we're in, the devil's snare is easy enough to get passed. Now, Harry, are you sure you can handle the keys?"
Harry nodded. "I can do it. Madam Hooch has been pushing me to go for seeker next year. Says I'm a natural for it. Plus Hawkworth already told me what to look out for."
Corin looked to Roberta to confirm the first year's claim. In the end, the boy sighed. "Alright, but only because you have some hints for the last obstacle." Not that Harry bothered to tell them what the obstacle is. …Mainly because he only had a guess, himself, and didn't want the others to know that. "After that, it's Ron's turn. You have your lists for the four positions, right?"
"Yeah." Ron nodded, though a slight concern entered his voice. "Only trouble is that there's a half chance that one or two of us will be knocked out." Which was worse than they had hoped. Any chance of saving five people was too small to risk having Roberta with them for the task.
Corin breathed out roughly. "In that case, Willamina and I will have the riskiest roles. We know more defensive spells so the strikes won't hurt us as badly. That said, if we both get too hurt, we end the night entirely. If we make it out fine, the four of us will go to the next room. If it's a brain test, I'll handle it. If it's an offensive test, Willamina will. You two just stay back and stay safe."
Both boys agreed to the plan. With everything set in motion, they departed from the room and prepared for Lee and Roberta's signal.
When the explosions fired off overhead, the group watched carefully as Filch and Mrs. Norris bolted for the stairs. "Ready… now!" Sierra whispered loudly. The five others ran from their hiding place and into the locked corridor. Once inside, Harry looked through the room and found the jaws of the Underworld.
"Bloody hell." Ron whispered hoarsely. Frankly, Harry was too scared to make a sound.
An enlarging spell, followed by a deep, vibrating tone broke through the boys' fear. Merton Graves, well prepared for the challenge, didn't even have his eyes on the beast as he played a deep and soothing nocturne from his cello. Mesmerized by the sound, the three heads of the mighty cerberus swayed and drooped. Then, soon after, the dog fell asleep.
"Come on!" Willamina half-whispered. So caught up in the enchantment, Harry hadn't noticed that the brunette was already at the trapdoor. It was already wrenched open by the time he broke eye contact with the dog. Corin then jumped down the hole, followed by Ron, Harry, then Willamina -keeping the door open for Sierra's potential warning-.
After what felt like ages, Harry and the others landed on something soft. Something soft and creeping. "Incendio!'' The third years cried. With fire illuminating the darkness, Harry watched the tangle of vines wither and jerk away from the flames, leaving two openings in the mass. At their beckon, Harry and Ron jumped through. The teens followed suit and led them to a door with a buzzing sound on the other side. Inside they found the flying keys. Recalling Hawkworth's instructions, Harry quickly took hold of the provided broom and searched the room for the silver key. Once he retrieved it, the four of them raced out of the room and into the chess obstacle.
The key had been easy. The chess game was not. Ron directed everyone as best he could on a knight, rook, bishop, and a pawn meant to guard the king. Unfortunately, a moment in time came when Corin's rook had to be sacrificed to get their king out of check. Ron was positively ashen when he relayed the news to the others. It was a dangerous but necessary play, which made it all the more shocking to the first years when the Ravenclaw boy met Ron's eyes with a grim smile.
"It's alright, Ron, we knew this was a risk. Don't worry. I'll be fine." With that declaration made, Corin stepped forward in the path of White's bishop. The holy piece moved towards his square, and Corin brandished his wand, securing a charm on himself. The bishop made its attack, launching Corin from the board where he bounced and rolled off onto the stone floor.
"Joyce?" Ron called. His body didn't move.
"Corin!" Willamina shouted in alarm.
At the second call a cough answered them. Then came a groan. Slowly, Corin pushed himself up against the board. His head swayed, eyes roved to each of the three other adventurers. Then, for some unfathomable reason, the boy smiled and raised his thumb up. "I'm good!" He scratched out. He then coughed quietly, grimacing in pain, before smiling again to placate the others.
"Blimey. You're more Gryffindor than I thought, Joyce."
"And you're more Ravenclaw than I expected, chessmaster." Corin retorted with a bloody grin. "Now get the bloody king already!"
Ron flushed at the reminder. "Right. Right." He muttered to himself. Mind refocused on the game, Ron guided Harry and Willamina through the rest of the game. Fortunately, no one else needed to put themselves at risk for the rest of the match. Even better, Willamina's knight landed them at a checkmate. The White King looked at them in anger, then defeat, as he threw his stone crown at Willamina's feet.
"We did it!" Harry celebrated. He and Ron high-fived each other on a job well done, then met up with Willamina so that they could get Corin to his feet.
"I'm fine. I'm fine." Corin winced. "Not like my head's caved in. We'll be fine with the next task."
"If you say so." Ron nodded. "If things get rough, we'll protect you!"
Oddly, Corin didn't seem assured so much as amused. "I'm sure you will." The teen nodded.
A troll. Harry thought in disbelief. A fifteen foot mountain troll with a club and menacing growl stood between them and the way through. It had already hurled a rock, blocking their way in, so now there was no way out but through.
Why didn't Melly write anything about a troll!
"Get back!" Willamina snarled, wand at the ready. A quick shield charm blocked the troll's swing from reaching them. At once, Harry and Ron dragged Corin over to the lea of the boulder.
"There's no way we can sneak all of us around him. Not with Joyce like this." Ron analyzed rapidly.
Looking back at the battle, they saw Willamina shower the troll with rocks. A few of them hit the monster in the eyes, nearly blinding it. The troll roared in outrage, swinging violently towards the witch.
Harry's mind worked quickly to find a plan. "I know, but I have an idea. Cover me." Harry bolted from the spot, arcing his way around Willamina and the troll. Swishing his wand he called out a spell. "Sphaera tonitrua!" At the command, a flurry of bubbles expelled from the wand and drifted towards the far corner. Silently, Harry met Willamina's eye and pointed towards the ground, his hand then swept across in a flat line. The witch grinned in understanding before having to dodge yet another attack.
With a cacophony of BOOMS, the bubbles went off against the rocks. The loud noises caught the troll's attention. It ran, blind, towards the noise. With a slam, the troll went head-first into the wall with a loud crack! Before it could land on the ground, Willamina fired a freezing charm on the stone floor, turning it to ice.
"Weasley, Corin, come on! Potter, get the door!" Willamina shouted at them, her wand focused on the troll, just in case it got up. The beast struggled to get up from the ice. Ron and Corin, meanwhile, shuffled their way over to the door.
"They're in, MacFusty. Come on!" Harry called out to her. Keeping half her focus on the troll, Willamina ran over to the door. Once through, Harry quickly shut the door and raced after them in case the troll attempted to beat it's way in.
Once they got to the middle of the room the four of them stopped to rest. Panting and shaking with adrenaline, the four of them noticed belatedly that the way they came went aflame in enchanted purple fire.
"Guess it won't get through." Willamina noted.
"Though neither can we." Harry added.
Corin looked ahead and found the other way blocked with black fire. "The other way is blocked, too. Though it looks like we have our next task." The four of them slowly made their way forward towards a collection of seven bottles. Each one was unique in shape and size. Near them was a parchment with instructions written on it. Harry took the parchment and read it aloud.
Ron and Willamina listened to the contents with puzzled faces. Corin, though, couldn't help but grin. "So it's a logic puzzle. Nice!"
"Um, sure, mate." Ron muttered. "How does it work?"
Harry answered his friend. "We just have to follow the clues to find which one is the bottle to pass through."
Corin perked his head at Harry. "Are you a fan of logic puzzles, Potter?"
"A bit. My school librarian would let me help her do puzzles sometimes when I came to visit during our lunch break."
"Alright then," Corin nodded, "in that case, let's both work at it alone. Either we both get it right, or one of us makes a mistake and we work on it to be absolutely sure which is the right bottle."
Willimina shrugged, and she and Ron stepped back from the two half-bloods. "Sure, have at it."
The two boys each took turns reading over the list of clues. They would mutter quietly or move their fingers as though writing down ideas. Occasionally they looked up to compare the sizes of the bottles. When they finished, they revealed their answers. To their fortune, their findings were identical. "Perfect!" Corin cheered. "Alright, so we take the third bottle on the left. ...Not much of it, though."
"We can ration it." Harry reasoned. "Unless any of you want to stay behind?"
The other three looked at each other, then nodded in resolve. "No, we're coming." Corin assured, as did Willamina and Ron. Secure in their decision, each of them took small sips of the potion. A sense of the potion's magic took over them, giving them confidence as they walked through the black flame.
When they emerged, they found themselves in a stone chamber with no other door to follow. The chamber was alight with gentle torchlight. The rest of the room was barren, though, save for a large, ornate mirror displayed at its centre. Harry walked forward and looked over the mirror. On its frame a collection of words were carved in. The message on it read Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi.
"So, Potter, there aren't any doors, so how do we finish the task?" Willamina asked.
"Maybe it's like an inkblot?" Corin suggested. "Maybe not everything in the reflection is what it seems?"
Harry ignored their queries. Instead, he looked over the mirror, the words of Eurydice Waltz playing in his head.
This promise I keep with a joyous heart,
In reflection to my love.
With all I desire, I climb on higher
Back to the land up above.
"With all I desire…" Harry muttered to himself. He then looked at his reflection. It seemed like an ordinary reflection. Until it wasn't. Against all logic, his reflection smiled at his shocked face. Then, with a wink, the reflection produced a small red stone and placed it in his pocket.
Harry's own pocket suddenly became heavy.
"Well?" Willamina asked impatiently.
"This mirror shows you what you desire." Harry answered. "Have a look? Maybe Professor Quirrell left a trophy or something?"
The other three shuffled forward, each looking intently at the mirror.
"Whoa! I'm older!" Ron exclaimed. "I'm Head Boy, and I'm holding the Quidditch Cup! I look good!" Ron stared in amazement.
"I'm riding a Chinese Fireball." Willamina added in awe. "I'm leading a team, doing formations for a huge tournament."
Harry then looked at Corin, who looked mildly confused. "How about you?" He asked.
Corin shook his head. "I'm trying to see the stone the Professor told me about," he confessed, "but I keep seeing myself at a NASA ceremony. I have my own Mars colony with wizards and muggles working together. It looks so cool!" After a beat he gestured to Harry. "What about you?"
Harry took another look at the mirror. This time the image was different. "I'm with my friends and family. I… think those are my parents." He blinked in surprise and flinched slightly, keeping his emotions in check. "It's Christmas, and we're giving gifts to a bunch of little kids. I'm running an orphanage, and they're all my kids now. My family's now bigger than I could ever hope for." He couldn't help but smile. This, this right here is a future he could live for. It was only the image of his mother and father smiling and hugging him that made him realize that none of it was real.
Harry wasn't sure how long they stayed in front of the mirror. It wasn't until Corin spoke that he realized that any time passed at all. "I've tried every spell and countercurse I can think of but it won't budge. I guess the only way to get the stone is through the mirror, but I don't think we want it enough to see it."
Harry looked to Corin, then looked to the others. Their gazes were locked in on the mirror, much as he had been. "No, I suppose not."
Corin sighed. "Damn. I was really hoping to get that stone. Oh, well, at least it gave me an idea to look forward to for after I graduate." With that remark settled, Corin got Harry to help him snap the other two out of their reflections. Once they moved far enough away from the mirror, Corin led them out to the potions room. "Alright everyone, I'm not sure if the ice is still there or not. So, once we take the potion to get through the fire, be ready to blast that boulder and run like hell."
After escaping the underground chambers and dropping Corin off to the infirmary, Harry and Ron made their way up to Gryffindor Tower. Ron led them in, wherein they found an impatient Hermione waiting for them. "I've been here since MacFusty went to Professor Quirrell. What happened? I heard her say you had to go to the hospital wing!"
"It's alright." Harry assured.
"Yeah. Joyce just got a bit banged up, is all." Ron added.
"So what happened? Did you get it?" She asked.
To affirm, Harry pulled the stone from his pocket. "I got it."
"Amazing!" Hermione stepped forward. Harry allowed her to take the stone from his hand to admire it. She twisted the stone, watching it glint against the firelight in awe. "The greatest feat of alchemy, one of the greatest pieces of magic, right here in our hands." Hermione then sighed at the shortness of the moment and handed it back to Harry. "I hope your hiding place is secure enough?"
"It is." Harry nodded. "No one will know it's there; and, once Quirrell's teaching contract ends and he's forced to leave Hogwarts, we'll be able to send it back to Mister Flamel no problem."
"I still think we should give it to Professor Dumbledore." Hermione lamented. "He obviously was the one to hide it in the school."
Ron and Harry met each other's eyes briefly. Ron was the one to step in. "Don't get me wrong, I don't mind the bloke, but he doesn't always have the best ideas."
"Like making me stay with abusive relatives." Harry added to emphasize the point. "Sorry, Hermione, I'm just not comfortable being in a room with the man."
Hermione could only pout at the reasoning. "Alright. We'll send it to Mister Flamel. Just... be careful. MacFusty told the professor that you knew about the mirror. He seemed adamant to know how you got that information and whether or not you knew about the stone."
That statement put Harry on alert. "That's good to know. Thanks, Hermione." After a brief farewell, Harry put on his new invisibility cloak and stepped out of the Fat Lady's portrait. From there, he crept his way down to the second floor loo and hid the stone in a place only he and his most trusted friends could reach.