The Potter Timeline
Chapter 16 - The Riddle Solved
Harry shot down the stairwell toward the main corridor as fast as he could, leaping from the fourth to last step right onto the landing. He spun ninety degrees and bolted toward the library. Several students in the corridor were stunned as the boy with the lightning-shaped scar whizzed past them with a face full of fright.
Harry was panicking.
The image of Hermione struck by the killing curse played over and over in his mind, keeping his heart racing and his soul in torment. The boy didn't know how he would cope with his best friend, the girl he had not only become used to, but was now very much attached to, departing this world and leaving him...alone.
The very thought struck him with terror.
He couldn't lose her...he cared for her so much...indeed, he...loved the dear girl.
Harry reached the library doors and threw one of them open without regard for the commotion it might make. Madam Pince, however, had much regard for the commotion as she shot up from her desk and threw the ugliest look at Harry he'd received from a Hogwarts staff member yet, Snape included.
"MR. POTTER!" Pince's voice flew at him in anger.
Harry ignored her - someone's life was at stake. He shot right past the woman toward the back of the library, toward the table where he left Hermione.
Flying past the first shelves and shooting down the last aisle to the left, Harry saw the table just ahead. When he came to a crashing halt before it, his heart sank. All their books were still there, but...no Hermione!
Her chair was knocked over. Harry glanced at the mess of items on the table and noticed Hermione's wand was sitting out in the open next to her transfiguration textbook. He picked it up and stared at it in puzzlement. Why would she leave her wand? Glancing around the aisles near the table, there was no sign of the girl. Pocketing the wand, Harry scoured the rest of the library.
"Hermione!" he shouted, "Hermione!"
Students reading or studying glared at the boy as he passed them, then looked at each other in puzzlement. But after searching the entire place, Harry didn't find her.
Where did she go?
He ran back to the table, frantically trying think of what to do, where to look next. And then he saw it.
A parchment sat on the table in front of the spot she had occupied. Her quill, the multi-colored one he gave her, was sitting on top of the parchment as though she had stopped writing midstream. Beneath a paragraph Hermione had written for her transfiguration homework, Harry was stunned to see something quickly scratched beneath it.
He's here! HELP...
'NO!' he thought with alarm, his heart hammering again...
"Mr. Potter!" Madam Pince startled the boy, jumping in front of him, ready to scold him and have him thrown out of her library.
"Have you forgotten the rules? You must..."
"Pardon me, Madam, have you seen Hermione?" he asked the woman in panic.
This stunned her.
"...Hermione? She left several minutes ago with Professor Quirrell. Why? What's the matter?"
"PROFESSOR QUIRRELL?" he shot at her, more frightened than ever.
"SHHH, Mr. Potter!" the woman gave out fiercely, "Please! Mind the rules!"
But Harry didn't have time to discuss library rules. He dashed around her and sped back toward the library entrance.
"MR. POTTER!"
Arriving back in the main corridor, Harry stopped and tried to think what might have happened, where Quirrell might have taken Hermione. As Harry didn't pass them moving straight down to the library from the Hall of Reflection, they must have headed off somewhere else. But where? The castle was too big to search by himself. He needed help. Thinking frantically again, the thought hit him.
Professor McGonagall!
Harry flew down the main corridor in the direction of her office - it wasn't very far off. After skidding to a halt in front of the door, he shoved it open without bothering to knock. The door slammed against the wall and the Professor shot up from her seat behind her desk quite perturbed.
"HARRY POTTER! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE..."
She stopped mid-sentence at the distraught look on Harry's face, his eyes rimmed with tears.
"Professor! Where's Dumbledore? I need help! Hermione's in danger! Professor Quirrell's going to kill her and try to steal the Philosopher's Stone!" the boy got out desperately.
McGonagall never looked so shocked before.
"Professor Dumbledore? He's been called away to the Ministry, young man. But what do you mean Professor Quirrell is going to kill her?"
"I saw it! In the mirrors! He's..."
Suddenly, a heart-wrenching thought crossed Harry's mind at his own words and his eyes went wide in shock.
"Oh no!" he uttered at the realization he was wasting time talking to McGonagall.
If Quirrell killed Hermione in the Hall of Reflection, that's where he'd better go...now!
"Excuse me, Professor!" he shouted and bolted out of her office.
"HARRY, WAIT!" the woman yelled out to no avail.
Harry flew back down the main corridor and with fierce determination double stepped the stairwells leading to the second and third floors. He had to get back to the Hall! If the mirrors indeed showed the future, then that's where the confrontation would take place - he had to stop it!
Harry would never know how he scaled those stairwells so fast without tripping, but he made it to the third floor corridor and sprang toward the door to the Hall of Reflection. He pulled his wand just before slamming his entire body into the door and bursting it open.
When he came to a halt inside, the pyres were already on - someone was here.
Harry glanced at the door to Fluffy's chamber and saw...the black cloaked figure! The figure's back was turned to Harry. The boy's heart was beating wildly, and fear struck him to his core.
Where was Hermione? Did Quirrell already kill her?
"PROFESSOR QUIRRELL!" he yelled at the top of his lungs.
The cloaked figure spun around, wand in one hand and harp in the other. Then, from behind the figure...Hermione appeared!
"HARRY!" she rang out, her face etched with fear.
"HERMIONE!" Harry shouted back.
The figure dropped the harp on the floor, turned, grabbed a handful of Hermione's hair, then jerked her forward.
"OW!" she cried out in pain.
"HERMIONE!" Harry screamed in rage, stepping toward the figure, pointing his wand at him. But he froze the moment the figure pointed his wand at Hermione's head.
"Now, now, boy!" the man in the cloak shouted at him, "don't make me do something rash! Like killing your girlfriend!"
Harry was stunned. The voice sounded like Quirrell's, but there was no stutter!
"Drop your wand, Potter, NOW!" the man fiercely commanded. He wrenched Hermione's hair tighter and the girl shrieked once more. Distraught and desperate, Harry realized he had no choice. He dropped his wand and it clanked onto the stone floor.
"That's better," Quirrell spoke with a much calmer tone, "and since the two of you somehow managed to see through my disguise, I suppose we need not play any more games."
He reached up with his wand hand and pulled back the hood of his cloak, revealing the cut-up face and purple turban of the Dark Arts professor. The man sneered at Harry and smiled.
"By the stunned look on your face, you still seem shocked at the appearance of st-stammering, st-stuttering, P-Professor Quirrell!"
The professor gave out an eerie laugh. But his true self was now revealed. And yet Harry sensed fear in the man. Harry also noticed the reflections in the mirrors starting up again - Hogwarts students and staff moving back and forth through the reflected Hall while this macabre showdown was in progress as though nothing out of the ordinary was occurring. It was bizarre.
"Now then. The three of us are going through that door and you will help me retrieve the Stone, understood?"
Harry and Hermione exchanged glances, both of them determined to resist the man.
"We can't let you do that, professor," Harry muttered, though not knowing how they would stop him.
The man pointed his wand at Hermione's head once more.
"I don't think either of you are in a position to decide what you will or will not do. You will OBEY ME!" he shouted hard causing Harry to jump. Hermione whimpered as the man gripped her hair even tighter.
...let me speak to him...
Harry's eyes went wide at the sound of a voice which seemed to come from everywhere. He knew that voice. It was the same awful unearthly voice he heard coming from Quirrell in his Confundus dream!
Fright appeared on the professor's face as his eyes darted back and forth.
"But...Master! You're not strong enough yet!"
...I'm strong enough for this...
Harry suddenly felt his entire body seize up as though he was being hit by the body-bind spell even though Quirrell still pointed his wand at Hermione!
Harry couldn't move!
...release the girl...they can do nothing...
The fright deepened on Quirrell's face.
"Yes...Master."
He yanked Hermione forward and let go. She nearly stumbled but caught herself and ran to Harry. She immediately wrapped an arm around his shoulder and took his hand, her expression revealing deep worry. It was all Harry could do to turn his eyes at her.
...well, Harry...it's about time you and I finally met...
Harry's body was instantly released and he glanced down at himself in surprise. Ignoring Quirrell momentarily, he looked at Hermione and took her hand. She squeezed it tight in her own, her eyes glistening back at him.
Whether they lived or died from this horrifying encounter, both of them fully understood just how much the other meant in that brief moment - a moment that might be their last on earth. Harry realized that from the time they met on the Express, all those experiences and time together had forged an amazing bond between them. Because of this, the simple clasping of their hands and the look in their eyes communicated more care and love than a thousand words.
And this fueled Harry's resolve.
He would find a way to keep Hermione alive and safe - even if he died in the process. He loved his friend that much.
Harry threw a steely gaze at Quirrell, though recognizing that someone else was now present here.
"Who are you?" he asked the voice.
An evil laugh echoed around the Hall and caused the pyres to flicker.
The professor reached up and unwound the purple turban from his head. When the last strand was released, the cloth fell to the floor. Quirrell's head was completely bald just like Harry remembered from his nightmare the previous September. Then, the face of the professor went blank as though someone simply turned off Quirrell's lights. He spun around and the kids both gasped in shock.
On the back of Quirrell's head there was a face!
Two eyes with red pupils sat above a small nose with snake-like slits. And beneath these a grim-looking mouth sat with no lips. The two stared at this face dumbfounded. Harry's quip to Hermione about Quirrell having eyes in the back of his head was simply a figure of speech at the time he said it - he would never have imagined the man actually did have eyes in the back of his head!
But suddenly, Harry felt his scar burn like never before.
"AAAHHH!" he cried out, reaching up to press his hand against his forehead in pain.
"Harry!" Hermione shouted, wrapping her arm around him, trying to help the boy.
The evil laugh filled the Hall once again though this time it came from the snake-face on the back of the professor's head.
"Do you recognize me now, Harry?" its snake-like voice uttered.
Harry looked up at the face and winced, his scar still throbbing.
"You're Voldemort!" he managed to say. Hermione's eyes went wide in shock.
The evil laugh erupted once more.
"Very good, boy! Your schooling at Hogwarts hasn't been for nothing, I see!" the dark lord mouthed sarcastically.
But the two pupils were stunned. The dark wizard had been in possession of Professor Quirrell and had been in Hogwarts this entire time! The wizard continued.
"And now we meet face to face after that dreadful night so many years ago."
Harry's resolve kicked back in, scar pain or not.
"You killed my parents!"
"I've killed many, Harry. Your parents were just an inconvenience. They refused to join me. So, I dispensed with them the way I almost dispensed with you, were it not for that unfortunate setback. However, I plan to rectify that mistake once I get the Stone. When I take the elixir and regain my body, I'll make sure you die this time, unless you wish to join me and my followers on our path to greatness?"
"NEVER!" Harry spat at the wizard in anger.
Harry reached for his wand on the floor, but before he could touch it, it flew from the floor into Quirrell's hand.
Voldemort's laugh echoed around the Hall again.
"An amusing little boy you are, Harry! What were you going to do, cast another cauldron at me?" the dark lord mocked him. But the red eyes now darkened at the pair and an evil grin appeared on the snake-like face.
"Now, let me show you real power!"
To Harry and Hermione's shock, Quirrell's arms bent around backwards in a horribly contorted fashion, causing Quirrell to cry out in agony. He was now merely a puppet to Voldemort. The professor's arms raised up behind him with both his and Harry's wands pointed outward.
The pyres in the Hall flickered. The outer door slammed shut and locked. Then, Hermione cried out as her body froze and the dark wizard lifted her from off the floor! Harry tried retaining her hand, but it slipped out.
"HERMIONE!" he shouted in fear.
But the pain in his scar grew so intense he nearly fainted. Falling to his knees, Harry looked up at his friend hovering above the floor.
"Now, where were we, Harry? Ah, yes! The two of you were going to willingly accompany me through the trapdoor and retrieve my Philosopher's Stone. And I suggest you obey this time, otherwise I might have to feed your girlfriend to that loathsome three-headed dog!"
The door to Fluffy's chamber creaked open and to Harry's horror, Hermione began slowly moving through the air toward it. The boy panicked, trying desperately to think of what to do outside of simply rushing Quirrell and knocking him to the ground. But before he could conjure the courage to do this, both he and Voldemort noticed the reflected outer door open in the mirrors.
In walked...Professor Dumbledore!
"Ah! My old nemesis, that nitwit Dumbledore!" Voldemort uttered in disgust.
The three in the Hall watched as the headmaster entered and gazed around the room. Behind him, Professors McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick, Sprout, and even Quirrell entered. After this, Hagrid walked through, having to bend over so as to not hit his head. When the professors and the gamekeeper were assembled, Dumbledore soundlessly explained something to them and then pointed to Fluffy's door. The headmaster then instructed them to proceed through that door into the next corridor.
Harry guessed this was a recording from when Dumbledore had his staff set up the traps protecting the Philosopher's Stone!
Snape opened the door to the corridor, and everyone entered Fluffy's chamber...save the headmaster. The old man then reached into his pocket, pulled something out of it, and stuck it inside the mouth of the nearest gargoyle. Though Harry couldn't see what the professor placed inside the statue, he had a sneaking suspicion as to what it was. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end. The headmaster now turned to go through Fluffy's door, but before disappearing through it, he looked right at Harry, throwing him a wink and a smile! The boy was floored.
From his vantage point next to Fluffy's door, it seemed that Voldemort had not noticed this.
"Come, now, Harry. Enough gazing into the past," the dark wizard snarled at him, "I need to retrieve the Stone before the real Dumbledore returns from the fool's errand my servant sent him on. Or shall I give your annoying, bushy-haired little friend as a snack to the dog?"
At this, Hermione floated past Quirrell and was almost to the door, the girl screaming in fright.
"WAIT!" Harry shouted at the professor, holding his hand out to stop him.
"I can give you the Stone! It's here, in the Hall! Please! Don't kill Hermione!" the boy cried out in desperation.
Hermione stopped moving toward the door and the dark lord threw a severe gaze at him.
"The Stone is here? In this Hall?" the wizard asked in disbelief.
"Yes! Dumbledore never placed it below the trapdoor! I know where it's located!"
The red eyes glared at him for a moment.
"Very well, Potter. But no tricks! You'll bring the Stone directly to me! Now!"
Harry nodded at him. He then gazed down at the floor. His textbooks were still lying there along with his dad's invisibility cloak. He'd left them in his hurry to find Hermione earlier. Harry reached down and grabbed the cloak. Looking up at Hermione, who gazed at him in distress, Harry threw the cloak over his head. The room inverted and everything took on that double edge. Harry then turned and walked to the gargoyle statue. He reached up into its mouth and felt something. Retrieving it, he gazed at his hand. There, in his open palm, was a two-inch long crystal of deep ruby red color.
This was it! This was the Philosopher's Stone!
Staring at the object in wonder, Harry realized he only had a few moments before Voldemort expected the Stone from him. And there was no question that once the dark wizard had it in his possession, he'd kill both him and Hermione anyway. What could Harry do?
"By the way, Harry..." a voice suddenly chimed at him from behind.
The boy spun around to find the reflected headmaster peeking back through Fluffy's door at him! Harry was gobsmacked. The professor, with that double-edged look about him, smiled.
"...don't forget Miss Granger's wand in your pocket!" the old wizard uttered before winking at him and disappearing behind the door.
Harry's jaw dropped.
'That's right!' he thought in amazement. He reached down and felt the wand beneath his robes. He then threw off the cloak, reappearing before Quirrell and Hermione.
"Well?" Voldemort uttered impatiently.
Harry raised his left hand and opened it, revealing the Stone.
"Ah! Good boy! Now, bring it to me!" the snake-like face commanded.
Harry swallowed hard and walked toward the professor who he noted was whimpering in pain. When he was close, the dark wizard reached out with Quirrell's hand to take it. Harry's heart was beating out of his chest. When the hand went to grab the object, Harry...dumped the Stone on the floor and grabbed hold of the hand. The boy was prepared for a struggle and also ready to pull out Hermione's wand. Instead, he was stunned as Quirrell cried out in agony.
"AAAHHH! Master! It burns! It burns!"
The professor struggled to release himself from Harry's grasp. He had no idea what was happening but gripped even harder out of instinct. Quirrell cried out louder.
"QUIET, YOU FOOL!" Voldemort shouted while bringing Quirrell's wand hand around to point it at Harry. The poor professor yelped. Adrenaline coursed through Harry's young veins as he reached up and grabbed the back of Quirrell's neck just beneath the dark lord's face.
"AAAHHH!" the man cried out again and collapsed to the floor. Voldemort's face turned to surprise as he seemed helpless to overcome his servant's struggle.
At the same moment, Hermione was released from the bind and she dropped to the floor next to the screaming professor. She looked up at Harry.
"Hermione!" he yelled, tossing her wand in her direction. The girl reached up, caught it, shoved the professor over with her elbow, and stood back from him.
"Incendio!" she muttered, pointing her wand at the bottom of his cloak. Flames erupted from the cloth and Quirrell yelped in fright.
"HOLD STILL, YOU IDIOT!" Voldemort called out, but to no avail. The professor struggled to his feet and yanked off the smoking cloak. The man then threw a fierce gaze at Hermione, slapping the wand from her hand. She started backing away from him in fear as he snarled at her. But before Quirrell could take another step, Harry lunged at the floor, retrieving his own wand. Quirrell turned to face him.
"Locomotor harp!" Harry rang out, flicking his wand at the man's head. The small harp flew from the floor. But there was no spectacular catch in the air this time as the harp hit the stunned man square in the face causing him to stumble backwards.
"AAAHH!" he let out with a shriek.
Tripping on a crease in the floor, Quirrell tumbled right through the door into Fluffy's chamber.
Harry then pointed his wand at the door.
"COLLOPORTUS!" he yelled.
"NOOO!" Voldemort cried out as the door slammed shut and locked the dark wizard and his possessed servant inside.
Hermione grabbed her wand and ran to Harry's side. They both gazed at the door intently. Then, the sound of a deep growl was followed by three loud barks. Quirrell started yelling and banging on the door. There was a loud thump and the professor screamed. But that scream lasted only a second before it was swallowed up in silence.
Hermione winced, burying her face in Harry's shoulder at the horrific thought of what Hagrid's dog did to the man. They both heard shuffling inside Fluffy's chamber and then silence. Breathing hard, his heart still beating heavily, Harry turned to Hermione and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
The girl nodded at him with teary eyes and threw her arms around the boy.
"You came for me!" she uttered brokenly.
Harry wrapped his arms tight around her, grateful she was alive.
"I had to save my friend," he said, "she means a lot to me."
Hermione's hug tightened as the two stood rapt in deep emotion. But before either could say another word, they heard a commotion coming from behind Fluffy's door. Stepping apart and gazing at the door in wonder, there was a terrific yelp as though the dog had been struck hard.
Harry and Hermione stared at each other slack-jawed.
Then, the door to the inner corridor unlocked and slowly creaked open. Both kids' hearts hammered. The pyres in the Hall flickered and a deep roaring sound filled their ears, causing the Hall to shake. Cracks formed in the mirrors on either side. Frightened, Harry and Hermione grasped each other's hands, staring into the darkness behind the door.
Suddenly, a black form like a plume of smoke flew out of the doorway with the sound of a snake-like hiss. Before either could react, the form shot at Harry and...passed right through him!
Harry heard Hermione scream just before he blacked out.