June 1991.
I entered the corridor on the third floor. I wondered why Dumbledore had called me here. To my surprise, there were many others already there: McGonagall, Sprout, Flitwick, Hagrid, and a man who stood a little way away from the others. He seemed very nervous, wringing his hands constantly. Upon seeing his face under his purple turban, I remembered him.
"Quirrell? Quirinus Quirrell, right?"
He looked up and upon seeing me, his face become even more anxious.
"K-Kingsley! Yes, I- I'm ever so pleased to s-see you."
I was a little taken aback by his stutter, which I did not remember, but before we could speak further, Dumbledore and Snape entered the room and Snape closed the door behind them. He locked it with a normal Locking Spell so that we would not be bothered, but I swear I heard him saw something like, "Muffliato", when I'd never heard before. I watched him suspiciously for a moment, but the next moment, Dumbledore called, "Please gather around", and we did so.
"First, please meet our newest addition to the staff- Professor Quirinus Quirrell, who has kindly consented to teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts this year."
We all applauded, and he gave two quick bows.
"Now, Hogwarts has an extremely important task this year," Dumbledore said. "Sir Nicolas has asked us to keep his life's achievement- the Sorcerer's Stone- safe, here at Hogwarts. To fulfill Nicolas' request, I must borrow each of your strengths. I ask every one of you to bring forth your strongest defenses and aid in defending this Stone. This corridor will be our setting. Be mindful, however, that a defender of the Stone must be able to get to the Stone to save it, should the need arise. Our aim is not to kill, but to trap."
"But this corridor is quite small," Sprout said.
"Ah, yes- I forgot to mention the most important point," Dumbledore said, raising a finger. "Excuse me, Professor Quirrell?"
"W-what?" Quirrell said nervously.
"Please move aside," Dumbledore said, gesturing.
"Oh! Yes, of c-course."
Quirrell stepped aside and Dumbledore looked down to the spot where he had just been standing on. We all followed his gaze to see a trapdoor.
I walked past Quirrell, since he seemed rather keen on staying out of Dumbledore's way, and pulled open the trapdoor myself. It was utterly dark. I knelt down besides it and tried to peer down, but to no avail. It was pitch black.
"That's a long way down," I said, still peering into the blackness.
"It leads all the way down to the dungeons," Dumbledore explained.
"After you," Sprout said to me. "Go on, you're young and sprightly. You can survive the fall."
I snorted at her remark, but obliged her. I dropped into the darkness and holding out my wand, thought Arresto momentum!
I fell a long way, but slowed just before I hit the ground, enough to land lightly on my feet.
I looked around. I was in quite a spacious room and there was a rusty door on the other side of the wall. I realized now that it wasn't just the distance that made it impossible to see down here. Being the dungeon, it was lightless down here.
"All right, I'm out of the way!" I called up.
One by one, the Professors came down.
"S-splendid spot," Quirrell said unenthusiastically when he touched ground.
"Actually, this would be a perfect place for some Devil's Sprout- dark and damp…" Sprout said, looking around.
We filed through the dungeons, trying to imagine what defense mechanisms we could install in here. The dungeons were unexpectedly vast, and it reminded me once again not to underestimate the castle and its secrets.
But while it seemed like everyone else was coming up with good ideas, I felt a bit stuck. The obvious answer was to create a Runic Circle that would trap any adventurer into one space. But how could I create a Circle that would distinguish between those running to the stone to protect it and those running to use it?
Behind me, McGonagall, who had just finished speaking with Dumbledore about her idea of a giant chessboard, noticed that both Snape and I were very quiet.
She came up to me, and when I voiced my concern to her, she replied, "Why don't you pair your magic with another Professor's?"
"Yours?" I asked.
"No. Transfiguration is self-sufficient for this task. Why not Potions? I imagine Severus over there needs some help. Potions is not normally a defensive mechanism."
"Oh no, Professor, we would do better on our own. I just know it," I said immediately.
"Nonsense," McGonagall said sternly. "Put aside your differences. This isn't about you, anymore. It's about protecting the Stone."
"I'll think of a way," I told her, tugging on her arm slightly to get her to turn away from Snape.
"I'm sure you will," she said wryly, and with alarming strength, dragged me easily to Snape, muttering about my need to "practice my underused civility".
Snape stayed and listened to McGonagall's proposal long enough to humor her and then, once McGonagall had gone, left me immediately without a word. Clearly, he'd also had enough of me.
About a week later, when I had just returned to my room after dinner in the Great Hall, I found a rather sizeable wooden cabinet outside my door. I picked it up and brought it in. I had to unlock it magically to open it, but when I did, I found seven potion bottles, all of different sizes and colors. They were labeled. Three were poisons, essentially strong versions of the Draught of Living Death, that would not kill the drinker, but cast them into a very deep sleep. Two were simply nettle wine. The other two were Ice (or Fire Protection Potions), though of varying degrees. One was more concentrated than the other. A note read: Do with these what you will, and I heard Snape's greasy voice in my mind.
I took the chest and made my way to the third-floor corridor. I knew that Hagrid was supposed to bring in an animal to guard the trap door, but for now, it remained quiet. I pulled open the trapdoor and landed lightly. I grimaced a little as I saw the soft seedlings of Devil's Snare beginning to sprout under the mounds of soil Professor Sprout had brought in. Professor Sprout really did have the greenest thumb I'd ever seen. It was quite an achievement to be able to grow something as greedy and complicated as Devil's Snare from a few pounds of dirt. But I definitely preferred to admire it from a distance.
Passing the Devil's Snare, the passageway sloped downwards and the gentle drip of water trickling down the walls sounded in time with my footsteps.
The passageway opened up into a now-brilliantly lit chamber (Professor Flitwick always preferred lots of light) with the ceiling arching high above me. On the floor, there was a mass of keys of all shapes and colors and sizes. I wasn't entirely sure what Professor Flitwick intended to do with them quite yet, though.
I crossed the chamber and slipped through the propped-open heavy wooden door. The next chamber was filled with Professor McGonagall's Transfigured chessmen, though at the moment, they stood silent, tall, and solemn.
The next room was still empty, but it had been reserved for whatever Quirrell was intending to do or bring. Finally, there were only two rooms left. Dumbledore was responsible for the final protection, I knew. So, Snape's Potions and whatever Runic protection I was going to conjure was going to have to be set here.
I sat down with the chest in the middle of the room and thought. I had these Potions and I knew I needed to draw a Runic Circle of some kind. But what kind of circle- and how to connect it to the Potions now? Snape had, as McGonagall predicted, given me the thing that would allow my Circle to distinguish between those it needed to trap and those it needed to let go forward. Snape had given me two different trigger points because the Ice Potions were of varying degrees.
I slowly began to map out in my head a basic circle, all the while staring at the seven bottles laying before me.
If half of the Circle goes towards the door moving forward and half of the door towards the door going back to Quirrell's and McGonagall's tasks, that could fit in with the two Ice Potions of varying degrees.
I paused. That's it!
I stood up and began to pace out the room.
Then, I drew my wand and murmured a version of the spell that James had helped me to master a long time ago in McGonagall's Transfiguration Class: "Speculus arenae."
A trail of sand flowed from the tip of my wand and slowly poured to the floor. I walked the room, drawing the lines and Runes as needed.
Finally, when I had come (literally) full circle, I walked to the middle of the circle and lightly pressed the tip of my wand against the spoke of sand traveling from the middle of the circle to the left of the circle. Slowly, the sand began to bleed purple, traveling to the outer bounds of the left side of the circle, spreading as though the color itself were reading the runes and being directed as to where to go. I removed my wand and then pressed it against the right side of the circle and the sand, grain by grain, slowly turned black.
Once it was complete, I raised my hand in the air and all at once, the flames roared to life. On my left, towards the door heading back, purple flames, less intense in its temperature, rose. On my right, black flames licked the air hungrily, blocking the way to the door beyond.
And now what?
I conjured a table and magicked the Potions onto them.
I hesitated. How do I test the person?
Some part of me resisted setting some kind-of magical test. Perhaps it was because I was Muggle-born or perhaps it was because I had seen too clearly that one's magical ability did not correspond to one's morality and integrity, but I knew that it was not the magical abilities of the person seeking the Stone that I wanted to test. I wanted to test the worth of something that all human beings could be skilled in, Muggle-born or magical. And then it came to be- logic.
During the TriWizard Tournament, when I had been outmatched by Julian's magic powers and Jared's physique and quick thinking, I had been able to solve riddles. I waved my wand again and a scroll of parchment, quill, and bottle of ink appeared on the table beside the Potions.
I looked at the Potions and re-arranged them. Then, I began to write:
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…
I thought I had done a decent job at putting together the obstacle, and this was confirmed when Snape angrily came up to me in the staff room and muttered, "Some warning might have been called for, Kingsley."
"What are you talking about?" I said.
"When I went down to the dungeons to check on my Potions, your fires entrapped me-"
I laughed, suddenly realizing that I'd never told Snape of what I'd done.
"Surely, it was easy for your big greasy brain to solve," I said to Snape.
Snape glared at me and opened his mouth to retort, but just then, Professor McGonagall came in.
As both of us were keen to avoid being told off, we hurriedly separated.
As I left the staff room, it struck me how in some ways, nothing had changed from the old days- pulling pranks on Snape and avoiding McGonagall. I was sure that the Marauders would have been very, very proud of me in this moment.
The days until Harry's birthday were ticking down. Soon, his Hogwarts letter would be sent out. Dumbledore called me to his office, and I went excitedly, in anticipation of the fact that surely I would be the one to welcome Harry back into the Wizarding World and to explain all about Hogwarts and his parents.
"Professor Kingsley," Dumbledore nodded at me. "Please, take a seat."
I felt so excited that it was difficult to calm down, but I did as he requested.
"Before term begins, I must ask you to go on a very important mission," Dumbledore began.
"Yes?" I said eagerly.
"The sirens harbor a very valuable artifact- The Mirror of Erised. I require this mirror to complete the protection of the Sorcerer's Stone."
A flash of shocked disappointment showed in my expression.
"The Mirror of Erised shows nothing less than our heart's deepest desire," Dumbledore explained, pretending not to have seen my disappointment. "It is a creation of the sirens from time immemorial. Sirens' songs lure beings of all natures. It is music mixed with desire and more dangerously- the promise of being seen as you wish. That magic affects the Mirror, and therefore it is a most powerful tool of distraction for anyone who is after the Stone."
"But Headmaster…" I said quietly. "Who will look after Harry? It's nearly his birthday and-"
"Do not worry yourself about that, Ms. Kingsley," Dumbledore said. "It is my intent that Hagrid lead Harry back to Hogwarts in safe arms. Hagrid will be able to explain everything that Harry will need to know." And nothing beyond that was the underlying message here.
"Harry will require stability. I presume this will be a great shock for him. The Dursleys, as you have seen, have told him nothing," Dumbledore told me. "Let the boy find his footing and let him come to you in his own fashion and on his own time. I realize that takes great resistance on your part, Ms. Kingsley, but it will be for the best."
I couldn't find any words to argue with, but my heart felt heavy.
"Present the Queen of Sirens with this." Dumbledore said brought up a cloth, which he gently threw back to reveal what looked to be a chunk of solid ice, engraved in an intricately snowflake pattern. It was as large as his palm and glittering brilliantly.
"The ice is melting," Dumbledore explained. "Summer has lingered too long in the past few years. This will help them to stabilize the ice that structures their kingdom."
He carefully covered the charmed snowflake again and handed it to me.
I took it quietly.
Seeing my expression, Dumbledore said gently, "Ms. Kingsley, you will be there for him when he most needs you, I promise you."
"Fine," I said. "On one condition."
"Yes?"
"Just don't pair me with Snape for this mission."
The corner of Dumbledore's mouth twitched, and he said humorously, "Very well. Go free, then."
I landed in the blistering cold wind. The sun was beaming down in strong rays, throwing rainbows everywhere. I screwed up my eyes, blinds by the intensity of the sunlight reflecting off the ice caps.
No wonder the ice caps are melting, I thought. If this intense sunlight stays longer than the seasons normally allow for, the ice doesn't stand a chance. I checked inside my cloak to make sure I had the snowflake ice, and then I set off.
I made my way to the entryway and then gingerly picked my way through the cavern of stalagmites and into the network of passageways.
I paused. The last time I had been here, on an Order for the mission with a group of friends, it had been utter chaos and Remus and I had wandered through the passageways in such a rushed manner that I remembered nothing of it now.
I stepped close to the wall, examining the ice. Follow the blue ice. That had been our strategy before. I breathed on the ice and veins of blue appeared in the otherwise opal and white wall. I tried to follow where there were more clusters and then made my way down the passageway until I could see a layer of blue beginning to take over the white. I hurried forward.
And then, finally, I saw it- the archway carved from the ice.
I paused. I knew that there were guards nearby. I raised my wand and gold sparks shot out of the tip.
Immediately, two siren guards appeared at the gate, their armor and skin throwing light just as ice did.
"Declare yourssself."
"I'm a messenger for Albus Dumbledore," I said. "I come bearing a gift for the chieftain."
"Wait here, ssstranger."
One of the guards slithered away.
The remaining guard looked at me and said, "I remember you. Last time, you asked usss about our armor."
I looked at the guard and I recalled too- he had told me that his armor was made of lumeare and not of pearl, as I had first guessed.
The guard's eyes glowed brighter as he said, "You were not treated ssso favorably last time. But I sssee you did not bring the accursed werewolf back thisss time."
"That werewolf is a better man than you could hope to meet," I retorted.
The guard hissed angrily, but just then, the other guard had returned and beckoned with her trident for me to follow.
As soon as I passed through the gates, the air became so cold, my breath came out in near-clouds. Shivering, I followed the guard up a grand ballroom-style staircase. It was only when the huge double doors began to open that I realized I had never met the siren Chieftan before. It had been Remus who had met her last. She had forced Remus to transform and sent him flying back out. I winced at the memory. Remus hadn't been himself for days after that.
"I see Dumbledore finally had the witsss not to send our greatest enemy to us when asking for favorsss."
A blinding light shone before me and I couldn't see anything for a moment.
And then, as the light dimmed and my eyes adjusted, I saw-
"It's you," I breathed out in utter shock.
Before me, sitting in an engraved ice throne glittering with diamonds and sapphires was none other than the fortune-teller I had met in my third year, on my first visit to Hogsmeade. It was she who had given me the lumeare. She had also aided me on my quest for the King's Wand, providing me with the stones to each of the sword's locations and which had saved me both from Merlin and the basilik.
She smiled and it was the same mischievous smile she had given me when I first met her and she invited me to pick a package.
Still sitting back in her throne, she beckoned to me with one finger to approach her.
I did so, cautiously.
"Closer," she demanded. "Now kneel."
I hesitated.
She continued to smile, waiting and knowing I would obey her.
And I did.
When my knee touched the floor, she leaned forward ever so slightly and slipped her fingers under my chin.
Her eyes, seemingly blue-green but flashing grey the next moment, scanned my face.
Then, she frowned. "Child, you've lost it," she said. "The power of the lumeare… Where has it gone?"
"Into the Earth," I replied.
She let me go, and I stood before her.
"Have you always been the Queen of Sirens?" I ventured to ask.
She smiled again and cast one arm and swept it before her, indicating for me to look around. "Always- that is a word for mortal beings," she said. "I am what time requires of me, and therefore, immortal. I was both the Queen of Sirens since time immemorial and not the Queen of Sirens."
I could neither make head nor tail of her words. I looked at the guard standing a few feet away, wondering what her reaction to the Queen's odd speech was, but she seemed neither to comprehend nor question what the Queen had said. In fact, she seemed not to hear it at all, as though somewhat entranced.
"But surely, you came for something else, something more," the Queen said. "Tell me what Albus Dumbledore desires."
"A mirror," I answered. "The Mirror of Erised."
"And what gift does he present me with?" the Queen asked.
"Ice," I told her, revealing the charmed snowflake. "To replenish and strengthen your domain."
"A shield from the long summer sun," she murmured, staring with possessive eyes at the snowflake sitting in my palm.
"Yes."
She snapped her fingers and the instructed the guard, "Bring the Mirror of Erised."
When the guard brought forth the Mirror, I started, for I recognized the sparkling glass and the inscription written in its bronze frame.
"Impossible," I whispered.
The Queen turned her eyes onto me.
"I know that Mirror," I said, confusion bleeding into my voice. "I saw it in the Room of Requirement at Hogwarts. How can it be here?"
"The Mirror of Erised is under my care," the Queen said. "Just as the Sword of Gryffindor is under Merlin's by Godric Gryffindor's command and the King's Wand is under that dragon who once aided Uther Pendragon. Thus, this Mirror appears when someone has need of it, and disappears and returns to its original state to me when that mission is accomplished."
"Would you like to look inside the mirror?" the Queen asked me.
I hesitated, but then shook my head. "No. I've only just begun to live the life I have. I cannot waste energy hoping for another one."
"Very well." The Queen snapped her finger again and a great tapestry of navy blue and gold appeared and covered the Mirror.
"Now, if you would," the Queen said, and held out her hand.
I stepped forward and placed the snowflake in her palm.
A rush of wind blew through the cavern, howling and echoing, and the sharp splintering sound of ice rang out as new ice formed and solidified, tightening all of the cracks that had begun to appear in the kingdom walls. Snow fell from the ceiling and coated the entire cavern floor. The Queen stood and then dropped the snowflake onto the floor and the snow turned into solid ice, all of its fractal designs ultimately swallowed up and smoothed out by the strong, diamond-like ice, lacing all snowflakes into one pane of ice as smooth as glass.
"The deal is complete. Take your prize," the Queen announced.
I pulled out my wand and flicked it so that the Mirror hovered towards me.
I turned to the Queen and said, "Last time, you told me we would not meet again."
"And we did not," the Queen said. "I am not that young woman who was a fortune-teller anymore. She has gone, out of time and out of reach."
"Then who are you?" I asked.
"I was born to play a role," she answered, and suddenly, her mischievous and manipulative aura dropped away and was replaced by a certain melancholy and loneliness. "I am what you see, but I can be re-forged at any moment. History requires players, you see."
"Can even your desires be taken from you?" I inquired.
She fell silent.
"Lady, what do you see when you look into the Mirror of Erised?" I pressed.
Her lips barely moved as she said, "I see a new life entirely."
Cautiously, I asked, "Is Merlin a part of that new life?"
Her eyes flashed up to me, suddenly sharp.
"I'm sorry," I said quickly. "It's just that I… I still stand by what I said last time. Maybe you're not the same person anymore, but I…"
"Do you still wish to help me?" she asked. I thought she was crying, but she laughed softly and hid her face away from me.
"I do," I said softly.
She turned her face to me, and even though her eyes glistened, she was smiling as she said, "Of all the lumeare-bearers, you might just be my favorite. Oh, I pity you, dear girl. Do not think of saving me. Not when you are unable to save even yourself. You, too, are just one of history's many pawns, though I see Albus Dumbledore is taking great paints to save you from such a fate. Go back to him now."
Before I could ask her anything further, she suddenly threw her arm into the air and the sleeve of her cloak rustled a strong vortex of air that captured me and the Mirror. I was being held by the howling wind, barely able to breathe, and I was blinded by bright white light when-
"Ah!"
I let out a short half-gasp and half-shout as I fell through the air and onto the floor- not hard enough to actually hurt, just hard enough to knock the wind out of me. I had landed on carpet- no, on a plush orange, gold, and purple rug that was all too familiar...
"Well, well, she must have liked you enormously, to transport you directly to where you needed to go." Dumbledore's twinkling laugh sounded in my ear.
I groaned and got to my feet, trying to catch my breath after that windstorm. The Queen of Sirens had sent me and the Mirror straight into Dumbledore's office. How had she done so when Apparition inside and outside of Hogwarts was strictly prohibited? I had no idea.
"Albus, is that-?" Professor McGonagall was also in Dumbledore's office. Clearly, the two of them had been discussing something before I literally fell from the sky. The Mirror had stopped short of the floor and continued to hover. Me? Not so much. I suspected that was the Queen's way of playing a joke, though it was hardly funny to me.
"Yes, it's the Mirror of Erised. The final piece of the puzzle," Dumbledore said. "Ms. Kingsley, if you could, for now, put it by the unused classroom beside the library."
I nodded. Magicking the Mirror to float alongside me, I began to turn away when Dumbledore spoke again.
"Oh, and by the by," Dumbledore said. "Hagrid has made contact with Harry and has just sent his reply- Harry is, in fact, coming to Hogwarts. You should expect him September 1st."
