"Alright Hagrid, where did you get it?" Daphne asked, crossing her arms and tapping her foot.
Hagrid smiled happily. "Won it. Las' night. I was down in Hogsmeade havin' a few drinks an' got into a game o' cards with a stranger. Think he was quite glad ter get rid of it, ter be honest." He bent down with a large poker and began tending to the fire.
Harry and Daphne exchanged a look. "And what are you going to do with it?" Harry asked him.
"Raise it, o' course! I've always wanted a dragon." Hagrid told them happily.
"Hagrid, you live in a wooden house," Daphne told him shrilly, but Hagrid was having none of it and launched into an explanation of the books he had taken out of the library to help him rear the dragon - a Norwegian Ridgeback, apparently - and whenever one of them raised a concern he would merely hum to himself and continue tending to the fire.
As the two of them were walking back to the castle, Daphne was in disbelief that Hagrid thought he could get away with raising, and owning, an illegal dragon in his hut.
"I mean honestly, what is he thinking?" She ranted as she stormed up to the castle.
Harry coughed. "Cerberus." As he hurried to keep up with her.
She turned and gave him a filthy look. "Basilisk!"
They ended up visiting with their large friend every day after that, both determined that if they couldn't talk Hagrid out of it, then they wanted to observe the incoming train-wreck for themselves. Besides, how many opportunities would there be in life to watch a dragon hatch?
It was three days after there initial visit that they were hurried into the man's hut quickly as he greeted them only with "It's hatching."
The egg was now laying on the table, deep cracks formed in the black shell. Something was definitely moving inside and a strange clucking noise could be heard from within.
"It's nearly out." Hagrid beamed proudly.
Harry and Daphne sat at the table with bated breath as Fang lay his head mournfully in Daphne's lap; perhaps the poor boarhound felt like he was being replaced?
Suddenly, with a sharp keening noise, a scaly leg kicked a hole through a crack, bits of the shell shooting away and lodging itself in Harry's hair, and with a few more struggles the baby dragon flopped out onto the table.
"Isn't he beautiful?" Hagrid simpered, reaching out a large finger which the baby dragon immediately tried to eat. "Bless 'im, look, he knows his mummy!"
Harry and Daphne shared a look.
"Congratulations, Hagrid."
"He looks just like you."
"What's his name?" Daphne asked the large man, and Harry immediately panicked at the thought that Daphne would suggest one; it had taken long enough for Hedwig to receive a name, the poor baby dragon would be the size of Hogwarts before she found one it accepted.
"This here is Norbert," Hagrid told them, scratching the little black dragon under its chin, causing it to sneeze and sparks to shoot out of its nose and set fire to his beard. Hagrid was unconcerned and merely patted his beard down with a fond smile.
Daphne reached out whilst the baby dragon was glaring at Hagrid and lightly picked it up by its tail from behind.
"Ahem, Hagrid?" She coughed. "Norbert doesn't seem to have a-"
One week later, Norberta had grown three times the size, which Harry and Daphne discovered when they arrived and the cheerful little thing was bullying Fang from his dog bed, smoke furling from his nostrils as he flared his wings at the poor dog. Littered all around Hagrid's hut were empty bottles of brandy and chicken feathers.
"Have you been having a party? Why weren't we invited?" Daphne demanded as she looked around at the mess.
Hagrid chuckled. "No, no, its wha' they eat, see?"
Harry looked around at the cramped hut and the baby dragon that was now almost as big as Fang. "Hagrid, give it two weeks and you won't be able to fit Norberta inside anymore." He reached out and patted the large man's arm. "You can't keep her."
Hagrid bit his lip. "I - I know I can' keep her forever, but I can' jus' dump her, I can'"
"Professor Dumbledore will help, Hagrid," Daphne told him consolingly.
"'An where would she go? She's too little ter be on her own." Hagrid complained, big watery tears forming in his eyes as he looked at the sleeping menace.
"She'd go to a dragon reserve, Dumbledore wouldn't just abandon her to the wild. You know that, Hagrid," Daphne told him patiently.
"I'll think abou' it." Hagrid told them unconvincingly, and sure enough, one week later and Norberta was still in his hut, though by now she had moved on to eating dead rats by the crate.
"Hagrid, this is getting silly. You haven't been doing your gamekeeper duties, and people are starting to notice the large plumes of smoke coming out of your windows at all hours." Harry told him, throwing up his arms in consternation.
Harry glanced over to see Daphne bending down near the dragon as it tucked into a new crate of rats, but he was distracted by Hagrid's reply.
"Some things are more important, Harry, yeh'll know this when yeh have one o' yer own." Hagrid told him, shooting a loving smile at Norberta.
Harry threw his hands up. "One of your own? Hagrid-"
"SON OF A - SHE BIT ME!" Daphne suddenly screamed, jumping back from the dragon and holding her bleeding finger.
Harry rushed over and saw four large puncture marks on either side of her index finger, which was indeed bleeding profusely.
Harry shot Hagrid an angry look. "Look Hagrid! She's bitten Daphne! Next thing you know, she'll have eaten Fang!" Harry said, pointing towards the dog who was cowering under the table.
Daphne, animal lover that she was, fixed Hagrid with a hard look. "Get rid of her."
In the end, Hagrid agreed to enlist the help of the Headmaster, and three days later found the two of them walking down to Hagrid's hut, where two figures and a large crate could be found.
Professor Dumbledore was speaking comfortingly to the sobbing Hagrid, whilst behind them, Norberta was destroying whatever was inside the crate she was held inside.
"Not to worry, Hagrid. Norberta is going to a good home, Charlie Weasley himself works at the sanctuary and he will take very good care of her." Dumbledore told him, reaching up to pat Hagrid on the shoulder.
"About damn time," Daphne muttered as they arrived, waving her now-swollen and bandaged hand angrily.
"Oh hello yeh two, come ter say goodbye?" Hagrid asked them with a watery smile when he noticed their arrival.
"Of course, Hagrid, we wouldn't leave you alone." Harry told him sincerely, ignoring Daphne's mutter from next to him "Making sure she's gone."
Dumbledore smiled happily at the pair of them as Hagrid gave them a grateful smile, but the man was soon back to sobbing.
Harry turned to the Headmaster. "Hello sir, Hagrid won't get into any trouble for this, will he?"
Dumbledore shook his head. "I should think not, Hagrid did his civic duty by taking responsibility for an illegal Class X creature, ensured that it was well cared for in its infancy and now is taking the correct steps and sending her to a professional sanctuary." He finished, placing his arms into his robes, eyes twinkling.
"Of course, sir." Harry grinned at him, whilst Daphne continued to give the crate an evil look.
It wasn't long until four figures on brooms arrived, landing softly on the grass before him. The leader, a burly man with ginger hair, bore a stark resemblance to the Weasley family and was clearly the "Charlie Weasley" who had been mentioned earlier.
"Hello, Professor Dumbledore, Hagrid, two children I've never seen before, how are you all?" The jovial man greeted them all with a nod, before walking briskly over to the shaking crate. "This her, then?"
"It is indeed, Charlie. This is young Norberta." Dumbledore told him, walking over to stand beside him as Hagrid bawled loudly into his handkerchief.
"She's got lots o' rats an' some brandy fer the journey," Hagrid croaked. "An' I've packed her teddy bear in case she gets lonely..."
"Well, best get her loaded up, Headmaster. It'll be a long flight." Charlie Weasley said over the sounds of Teddy clearly being ripped apart. He clapped his hands together, and the three other dragon handlers rushed over and helped him carry the crate back to the brooms, which they could now see had a harness rigged up that they could use to carry the crate between them all.
The four dragon handlers soon had Norberta buckled up, and with a final cheerful wave, they were ascending into the air and flying off over the Forbidden Forest.
"Bye-bye, Norbert!" Hagrid called loudly, before breaking down into great heaving sobs once more.
"Come along, Hagrid, a spot of tea I should think," Dumbledore said kindly to the large man, beginning to lead him back inside the hut. He turned to the two first-years. "Will the two of you be joining us?"
Daphne shook her head. "That's okay, Professor, we really just came to make sure the dr - Hagrid was okay."
Harry gave her a side-long glance. "We've got revision, we just wanted to be there for Hagrid." He told the Headmaster, who smiled happily and nodded at the pair of them before turning and entering the hut.
They walked amiably together back up the castle, glad that the saga of Norberta was finished.
"Finally it's over. This won't be back to normal for weeks." Daphne bemoaned, lifting up her damaged hand and looking balefully at it.
"At least it's your right hand, otherwise you wouldn't be able to write or hold your wand." Harry tried, hoping to cheer her up a little.
"Oh, small mercies. Why did we make friends with someone who thinks raising a dragon on the grounds of a school is a good idea?" Daphne asked grumpily.
Harry nodded. "I know what you mean." He clapped his hands together suddenly. "So! Cerberus or Basilisk tonight?"
Daphne glared at him. "Why do you even ask?"
Luckily, Daphne's hand healed within the next week and her mood improved, though they were hard at work revising for their upcoming end-of-year examinations. Marie and Daniel had told them they expected them both to earn Outstandings in all their subjects, though they'd be happy with at least an Exceeds Expectations in Potions and History of Magic (and Herbology for Daphne).
The Friday before exam week began the two were on their way to visit Hagrid for their usual afternoon catch-up, but they arrived just as the man himself was leaving his hut, crossbow secured over his shoulder and Fang at his heel.
"Hagrid? What's going on?" Harry asked, taking in the serious demeanour of the large man.
"Sorry yeh two, bad business in the forest, I've gotta go an' see wha''s bin goin' on." Hagrid rumbled, casting his gaze toward the forest beside them.
"Why, what's been happening?" Daphne asked him, concerned.
Hagrid glanced between them and sighed. "Summat has been killing Unicorns." He told them sadly, and Daphne gasped in shock.
"Hagrid...not the ones I met? Tell me they're okay?" Daphne breathed, worry etched on her features for the family of three she had met all those months ago on her birthday.
Hagrid shrugged and shook his head. "Can' say, Daphne, I haven' seen 'em. They mighta gone ter ground ter protect the baby."
Harry jumped in, frowning. "What could kill Unicorns? Aren't they really fast?"
Hagrid nodded. "They are, not much tha' can catch a Unicorn, tha''s why I'm goin' in ter see wha' I can find out."
"Can we come with you?" Daphne pleaded, wanting to help find out what was hurting the animals she felt a great connection to. Beside her, Harry nodded, wanting to find out what was going on himself.
Hagrid looked between them again and nodded. "Stay close ter me, an' the firs' sign o' trouble yeh both run fer the castle, got it?" He told them seriously, to which they answered with determined nods.
So, once again, they were following Hagrid's large footsteps into the Forbidden Forest in search of Unicorns, only this time, neither of them particularly wanted to find any.
"Found five o' 'em so far, all dead. Awful." Hagrid rumbled over his shoulder to them, causing them to glance at each other in worry.
"Well, we know it's not Serana if there are bodies to be found," Harry whispered lowly to Daphne.
She nodded and called to Hagrid. "What's in the forest that could kill Unicorns, Hagrid?"
Hagrid shook his head as he looked around them. "Not much, Centaurs don' hunt 'em an' the Spiders aren' quick enough."
"Spiders, Hagrid?" Harry asked incredulously.
"Aye, Acromantula. Their leader, Aragog, is an old friend o' mine, found 'im when I were in school an' raised 'im. He started a colony 'ere with his mate." Hagrid explained but raised a hand quickly to shush any response and pointed towards a bush at the side of the path. "There." They walked over to the bush where, pooling below it, was a thick, silvery substance.
Hagrid crouched down and pointed at it. "Tha''s Unicorn blood. There's a Unicorn around here bin hurt badly by summat. Second one this week. We're gonna try 'an find the poor thing, we might have ter put it out of its misery."
They both gulped but nodded as Hagrid lumbered on through the forest. Their journey now was silent after the discovery of the Unicorn blood, none of them in much mood for small talk. Harry figured it must have been almost an hour before Hagrid suddenly stopped in front of them, holding out an arm to keep them back.
"Centaurs." He said, lowering his crossbow as two horse-like figures emerged from the thicket in front of them. "Hello Bane, Ronan."
The two centaurs trotted slowly over to Hagrid, casting their eyes over his shoulder to Harry and Daphne, before they focused back on the large man. "Good evening." The one who Hagrid has called Ronan greeted, before he turned again to the two children. "Students, are you? And do you learn much, up at the school?"
Harry glanced confusedly at Daphne before answering. "Err-"
The other Centaur, Bane, stamped angrily on the ground, cutting him off. "They should not be in here at all. Why are you here, humans?" He said toward them.
Harry scowled. "We're helping Hagrid look for what's been hurting the Unicorns."
"And what business is it of yours?" Bane asked them again, shuffling in place in agitation.
Daphne glared at him. "Because we care about the creatures here, why else?"
Hagrid interrupted before the Centaur could say any more. "Listen, I'm glad we've run inter yeh, 'cause there's bin another Unicorn hurt - you see anythin'?"
Bane didn't answer, choosing instead to stare angrily at the two students, though Ronan lifted his head and looked skyward. "Always the innocent are the first victims, so it has been for ages past, so it is now."
"Yeah, but have yeh seen anythin'? Anythin' unusual?" Hagrid tried again.
Ronan looked back down at Hagrid. "Mars has been unusually bright recently."
Hagrid sighed in frustration. "Yeah, but I was meanin' anythin' unusual a bit nearer to home. So yeh haven' noticed anythin' strange?"
It took Ronan a long moment to answer, until finally he said. "The forest hides many secrets."
Hagrid shook his head, beyond frustrated now. "Well, if either of you do see anythin', let me know, won't yeh? We'll be off, then." He told them, gesturing for Harry and Daphne to follow him as he stalked off. "Ruddy stargazers, never give yeh a straight answer." He muttered angrily to himself.
It was almost another hour of walking the forest until Hagrid spotted it, leading them slowly toward a small clearing, where, they were all distraught to see, was a dead Unicorn with its throat slashed open and its long slender legs sticking out at odd angles. It was the most depressing sight either of them had ever seen.
Hagrid crouched down next to it sadly, shaking his great head. "The father."
Daphne gasped and crouched down next to the fallen beast, stroking his white mane. "Oh, no! It can't be, you said they'd have run!" She cried sadly to Hagrid, who had an understanding look of grief on his own large face. Harry walked over and laid his hand on her shoulder as she began to sob at the loss of the Unicorn she had met.
Harry remembered this Unicorn, how it had been the first to approach Daphne and make sure she was safe for his family to approach and wondered what could have killed him, wondered if his mate and fawn were safe.
They stayed in the clearing with the fallen Unicorn for a long while, whilst Daphne cried silently and Harry tried his hardest to comfort her, but eventually they had to leave, there was nothing they could do for the Unicorn now.
As they were walking slowly back out of the forest, Harry held his arm around Daphne's shoulders as she clung to him and mourned for the death of the Unicorn, Harry couldn't help but think about what Ronan the Centaur had said, and if he had been correct.
"I hope the Mum and baby are safe," Daphne murmured sadly in a broken voice.
"Me too, Daph."
Neither of them heard much more from Hagrid about the Unicorns, but they had little time to visit him as the exams were now upon them, and they spent the next week writing paper after paper, answering questions until their hands cramped around their quills and frantically reading their textbooks at night to check if their answers had been correct. Luckily, neither had found a question too difficult and had yet to discover that they had answered completely wrong.
Their practical exams were much easier, the requirements for a passing grade coming easily to both of them. Professor Flitwick had asked them to make a pineapple tapdance across the desk (Harry's did a tapdance, then a tango, then a foxtrot...), Professor McGonagall had asked them to turn a mouse into a snuffbox (she had given them both secretive winks after they had performed the task) and Snape had assigned them the Forgetfulness Potion, which they had both already done over the holidays with Marie, and when they presented him with their final product he gave them both a short nod and sent them on their way.
Overall, they were both delighted with how the exams had gone but were exceedingly glad that they were over until the next year. They only had a few more weeks before the summer holidays would be upon them, and they were both hoping that the time would pass quickly.
At dinner the night they had completed their final History of Magic exam, Harry had noticed that Dumbledore was absent from the staff table and pointed it out to Daphne.
Her head swiveled to look but she seemed entirely unconcerned. "He's a busy man, Harry, he's probably at the Ministry."
Harry just shrugged and tucked into his dessert, accepting her answer. They had plans that night to go and visit the Cerberus and then Serana, and Daphne wanted to get a few hours of sleep beforehand, knowing that once Harry was in the company of the Basilisk she wouldn't be able to get him to leave for hours.
But when they arrived in the forbidden corridor on the third floor, they were confused when they could hear music playing, getting louder and louder as they approached, and when they arrived at the locked door at the end of the passage and Harry had turned the door see-through, they were bemused to find a harp in the corner of the room.
"That's new," Daphne stated, staring at the harp whose strings were plucking themselves.
"So is that," Harry said, turning her body slightly in the other direction. "The trapdoor is open."
And so it was. The sleeping dog had been moved off the trapdoor it had guarded diligently for the entire year, and now the trapdoor was uncovered and wide open.
"Is someone trying to steal the stone? Is it Snape?" Daphne asked him, turning her head to look at him.
"Maybe, Quirrell must have cracked," Harry suggested.
Daphne nodded. "Well, whoever it is is already down there." She gestured with her head toward the trapdoor
"So, what? We go down and stop them?" Harry said with a sigh, already knowing where this was leading.
"Exactly. Come on, Harry, the last time we jumped down a hole in the ground we made a new friend, what could possibly go wrong?" Daphne said enticingly, reaching forward to open the door.
Harry just shook his head but followed her through the door, closing it behind him. Luckily, the harp continued to play and the Cerberus remained fast asleep.
"Do you reckon music is what keeps it asleep?" Harry asked as they walked slowly toward the trapdoor. They took off the cloak and Harry folded it up and placed it in his robes as they peered down into the dark abyss.
"Probably, I didn't know that Cerberus' could be put to sleep by music, that must be why it took Snape so long to find it out," Daphne said, glancing at the still-sleeping dog.
"You're definitely going first this time," Harry told her, to which she just shrugged. She stepped closer to the trapdoor, gave him a cheeky smile, and jumped in, disappearing from his view instantly. He heard a soft 'Oomph' when she landed.
"I assume you're still alive?" Harry called down as loudly as he dared.
"No, I've been horribly mangled - mourn me, Harry," Daphne called back up. "Come on, it's a soft landing."
Harry braced himself, checked once more that the Cerberus wasn't awake, and jumped down the hole. The fall was much shorter than it had been jumping down into Serana's chamber, and soon enough he landed with his own 'oomph' onto a soft surface, but immediately he felt the surface begin to move and something begin to wrap around his legs. Focusing harder, he realised what it was he had landed on.
"Incendio!"
Soon, the entire patch of Devil's Snare had been incinerated, and as Harry stood amidst the ashen remains, he could see Daphne standing by a door, her wand tip lit with a 'Lumos'.
"That was overkill, don't you think? You could have just done what I did. You didn't even check if I was still in there." She said lightly, a small smirk on her face.
"Shut up." Harry scowled, embarrassed that he'd overreacted slightly. Ah well, better safe than sorry.
"Shall we?" Daphne said, gesturing with her wand toward the door, and together they walked through to find themselves in a sloping passageway. They walked along silently until Harry turned to the girl next to him.
"Do you hear that?" Harry asked her quietly.
"Yeah, it's...rustling?" Daphne answered with a frown, not recognising what it could be.
They received their answer when they reached the end of the passageway and arrived in a brilliantly lit chamber, with a high arching ceiling, and filled with hundreds of golden, winged keys. On the opposite side of the chamber was a heavy wooden door.
They walked over to the door where Daphne tried the doorknob, only to find it was locked. She pulled her wand and tried an Unlocking Charm, but there was no accompanying click of the door unlocking when she did. Harry tried it as well, but the door remained firmly locked.
Daphne turned around to look at the keys. "One of those will probably open the door, look, there are brooms-
BANG!
She whirled to find Harry pointing his wand at what used to be the door, which had now been blown inward and turned into a thousand splinters littering the next chamber
Harry looked at her, smirking. "This seemed quicker."
"Show off," Daphne muttered, stalking over to him. "It might have been fun to look for the right key."
Harry rolled his eyes as she walked past him and into the next chamber. "The whole idea of being down here is to stop Snape, not have fun."
Daphne threw him a pitying look over her shoulder. "That doesn't mean we can't do both."
Harry followed her into the dark chamber, and when they had both entered torches lit suddenly along the four walls and the challenge within was revealed to them. It was a gigantic, life-size chessboard. The pieces all looked to be made of stone, and as the black chessmen were on their side of the chamber, they were only able to see the faceless white chessmen on the other side.
"Well that's creepy," Daphne said with a sniff, beginning to walk around the chessboard toward the door behind the white chessmen, but when she did so two of the black pawns jumped into her path, barring her way with their axes crossed.
Daphne stepped back quickly as Harry leveled his wand at the pieces. The two pawns pointed back at the chessboard, indicating to them what it was they had to do to gain entry to the next chamber.
"So we need to play to get across," Daphne said with a sigh. "If only Astoria was here, we'd be across in about five minutes."
"Or..." Harry said, gesturing with his head to his wand.
Daphne nodded her head reluctantly. "Go ahead, we're both pants at chess."
It took around two minutes until Harry had destroyed all of the chess pieces, and though they had put up a valiant defence of the door they were unable to stand up to his Reductor Curse. Daphne had a lot of fun, however, throwing her own spells at the pieces, knocking off small chunks from the stone until their path to the next chamber was clear.
"Now you can't say that wasn't fun," Harry said to the smiling girl.
Her grin widened as they strode towards the door. "Apology accepted, Harry."
"So, I'm guessing that the Devil's Snare was Sprout's protection, the keys were Flitwick's, and the chess set must have been McGonagall's." Harry said as they opened the door to the next chamber, only to find a huge troll lying against one of the walls that were coated in thick, dark red blood. The reason why was plainly obvious - the troll was completely missing its head.
"...Quirrell's?" Daphne murmured as they stood frozen in the doorway and stared at the clearly dead troll.
"Let's just..." Harry said lamely, gesturing towards the door on the other side, and they both walked slowly toward it, glancing back at the troll every now and then in shock.
Suddenly, coming down here struck them as having been a very bad idea.
They opened the door to the next room, but both frowned when all they could see was a small table with seven different-sized bottles atop it and a dark, open doorway beyond. However, when they stepped further into the room, they jumped when the doorway behind them was suddenly engulfed in purple flame, blocking the way back, and the same had happened in the doorway behind the table, blocking the way forward, though this flame was pitch black.
"We're trapped," Harry said flatly.
"This must be Snape's room," Daphne said, walking slowly over to the table. "Look, here's a note." She picked it up, and Harry walked over to read it over her shoulder:
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 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.
"Fantastic, a puzzle." Daphne sighed, looking at the bottles. "Overdramatic tosser..."
Harry focused on the bottles and held his hand over each, and immediately he found the three poisons after getting a sense of death from them, which meant he also found the two bottles of nettle wine.
"It's one of these two that'll let us go forward." He told her, pointing toward the smallest bottle and a rounded bottle.
Daphne re-read the note again before she pointed at the smallest bottle. "I think that one will get us through the black fire."
"You think?" Harry prompted, and she nodded.
"It will." She said, trying to sound certain.
Harry shook his head and walked back over to the purple flames, pulling out his wand and casting the strongest Flame-Freezing Charm he could. Hesitantly, he reached out with his hand and found that the flames did not harm him.
"See, we can just do that rather than risk drinking the wrong bottle. Besides, the little one doesn't have enough for both of us." Harry said with a smile, beginning to walk over to the black-flamed doorway.
"Assuming we don't get expelled for this, I can't wait to see all the teacher's faces when they find out you just blasted your way through all their challenges," Daphne told him with a small laugh.
Harry grinned at her in return, but suddenly his world exploded in pain, his scar burning harsher than it ever had before. He gasped in pain as his knees buckled slightly.
"Harry!" Daphne called out in alarm as he sank to the ground, crouching quickly to grab him by the shoulders.
"Ah - my scar, it's burning." He gritted out, teeth clenched in an effort not to cry out.
"Why, Harry why is it burning? Do you think Quirrell is with Snape?" Daphne asked frantically, casting a look toward the black flame behind him.
"Maybe...I'll try to sense if there are two of them," Harry said grimacing, slowly getting back to his feet and sending his sphere of magic outwards until it passed through the flames and the wall into the chamber beyond.
Daphne watched as he did and saw as his skin suddenly went pale and his mouth dropped open. "Harry? Is it them?"
Harry shook his head numbly. "No...it's one person - and they're powerful. Daphne, whoever is beyond that doorway is stronger than Dumbledore! And the stone is in there." He told her as he started to panic. There was only one wizard he knew of that could be stronger than Dumbledore, and if he was here and after the Philosopher's Stone...
Daphne paled herself, she knew who he was thinking of. "Harry, it can't be-"
Harry cut her off. "Daphne, go back, go and get McGonagall, Flitwick, anyone. Send help." He told her, eyes blazing despite the fear in his gut as began to walk toward the black flame.
Daphne dived after him, grabbing him by the shoulder to turn him around. "What?! Harry, I'm going with you, I told you I'd be by your side-"
Harry grabbed her shoulders in turn and shook her. "No! If it's him, he'll kill you." He told her, swallowing hard. "He'll probably kill me, but I can't let him get the stone, he'll come back tonight! Please, Daphne. Go and get help, I'll try and stall him." He finished, eyes begging her to listen.
Daphne's blue eyes welled up in tears as she stared into his green eyes, but eventually, she nodded her acceptance. "Fine, I'll go back, but Harry?" She grabbed his head on either side, forcing him to keep eye contact with her. "You are not allowed to die in there."
Harry swallowed again but nodded, his eyes staring into hers before they began to roam over her beautiful face like it was the last thing he would ever see. "Go on, Daph. I'll promise I won't die."
Daphne looked into his eyes for another moment and, before her nerves could fail her, she kissed him quickly on the lips. His face was shocked when she stepped back, but she kept eye contact with him.
"That is not a kiss goodbye, Harry Potter. Come back to me." She told him as her lip began to tremble.
"I will." He told her, the ghost of her kiss still playing on his lips.
Daphne began to walk backward toward the purple flame, keeping his face in view until the last possible moment. He watched her go until she finally stepped back through the now-harmless flame and was gone, leaving him alone. He turned toward the black flame, his wand held firmly in his hand, and pointed it at the fire and cast the Flame-Freezing Charm once more.
He took a final deep breath, steeling his nerves, and stepped forward.
Harry's wand immediately flew from his grip the second he appeared in the final chamber, the disarming charm from the wizard standing in front of the familiar mirror slamming into his chest, his wand flying into his outstretched hand.
"Oh yes, this wand is a much better match."
He fell backward heavily, winded, and looked through narrowed eyes at Professor Quirrell.
Only, his teacher looked very different than he had at dinner that evening. Gone was his trademark purple turban, the cloth laying on the floor a few metres away, discarded. His eyes, however, were the biggest change. His eyes were now a deep, blood red with slitted, cat-like black slits for pupils which glittered malevolently at him.
"Hello, Harry." The man said to him with a shark-like grin, his voice a cold, high, sinister hiss, the stutter non-existent.
"Voldemort?" Harry guessed, pushing himself to his feet on shaky legs.
The man narrowed his eyes at him but inclined his head. "You are correct, Harry, though you knew that before you entered, did you not? After all, you and your young friend were there for some time before you came forth to meet me."
"How are you here?" Harry growled, baring his teeth.
Voldemort smirked at him. "Why, I have been here all year, Harry. Quirinus is my servant, and was kind enough to host me in his own body."
"Then where is he now?" Harry bit out.
Voldemort shook his head in mock sadness. "Unfortunately, I knew that Quirinus would be quite unable to break the ingenious enchantment Dumbledore has placed upon this fine piece of magic, and I was forced to take over, as it were. He will be remembered for his sacrifice for his Lord."
"You took over his body? You've possessed him?" Harry asked in disgust.
Voldemort's eyes glinted. "He swore his life, body and soul to me, Harry, as all my followers have. His body was mine to do with as I saw fit."
"Then why do you need the stone? You have his body now." Harry questioned harshly, eyes looking the man up and down.
Voldemort sighed. "Alas, my time in this body is limited. It cannot hold up to my power, as all others I have tried to inhabit during the last eleven years have. Sharing Quirinus' form worked only as a temporary measure and I was forced to consume Unicorn blood to sustain myself." He told him before suddenly he was glaring at Harry murderously. "You cursed me to a life as a wraith, wandering the wilderness, but no more. I will have the stone, and with it, I will restore my own body and rise again."
Harry glared at him in return. "Not if I have anything to say about it."
Voldemort laughed at him, a cold, cruel laugh. "Oh Harry, you cannot stand against me. You have great potential, of course, and I have watched you closely this year. I see many similarities to myself," He praised. "But you are no match for me, Harry, so do not be foolish and labour under the delusion that you can stop me." He whirled suddenly, returning his attention to the Mirror of Erised. "Now, Harry, are you familiar with what this is?"
Harry walked slowly over toward the man and the mirror, staring at the back of his bald head, and noticed the scarred, red mark on the back of his scalp. "I am." He answered lowly.
"Very good, Harry. Stand here, Harry, and tell me what you see." Voldemort instructed, stepping to the side and pointing with Harry's wand at the spot he was previously standing in.
"And why would I do that?" Harry said slowly, eyeing his wand.
"Because if you do not, I will kill you here and now. And when I leave this place, with the stone, I will find your friend Greengrass and I will flay the flesh from her bones," Voldemort told him menacingly, pointing again with his wand. "Now, do as I say Harry, and tell me what you see."
Harry felt a wave of anger wash over him, but rather than feeling it boil inside of him, it felt like icy flames were running through his veins as he stepped slowly into the instructed spot and gazed into the mirror once more.
The image of himself and Daphne, their arms encircling one another, appeared once more, though this time Daphne had turned to look at him to give him a warm, encouraging smile and a wink.
Harry felt himself smiling back at her as the man beside him hissed out. "Well? What do you see?"
Harry turned to look at him, meeting his eyes once more. "I'm older...I'm living in my own home, sitting in a chair by a fireplace." He told the man, seeing the impatience slowly growing on his face as he did. Harry gave him a cold look as he continued.
"And your head is mounted on my wall."
And then, Harry moved. His right hand shot out to summon his own wand to his palm, whilst his left conjured a sharp dagger and banished it into Voldemort's shoulder. The dagger embedded itself in the flesh of his stolen body, and he let out a loud scream of pain as Harry's wand was ripped from his grasp and returned to his own. In his agony, the Dark Lord lashed out with his left arm and Harry found himself thrown back by a blast of wandless magic just as his fingers wrapped around the handle of his wand, landing hard on his back and skidding along the floor before coming to a stop four metres away from the furious man.
Voldemort glared hatefully at him and pulled Quirrel's wand from his robes. Without removing his gaze from Harry, he waved his wand and the dagger popped out from his shoulder, landing on the stone floor with a clatter. "You will die for that, Harry. But first..."
"CRUCIO!"
Harry had no time to move, to get to his feet, to roll to the side, and all he could do was watch as the sickly red bolt of the Cruciatus Curse hammered into him.
It was agony, unlike anything Harry had ever felt. It was as if a thousand red-hot knives were stabbing him repeatedly, his nerves electrified in response to the pain.
Unknown to Harry, the second the torture curse had taken effect, a burst of raw magic had blown in all directions from him as he writhed in pain, and only the quick reactions of Voldemort raising a shield in his defence had prevented him from being destroyed.
Harry didn't know how long he was under the effects of the spell, for it felt like an eternity before it was lifted, and when it was he found his throat was raw from the screams he hadn't even realised he had let loose.
"That hurt, didn't it Harry? That curse is a specialty of mine, after all." Voldemort told him in what he must have believed to be a soothing manner, his voice a mockery of the word. "Allow me to introduce you to another of my favoured spells - Imperio!" And Harry, already on his back and weak from the previous torture, was once again unable to avoid it.
"Get up, Harry, get up and bow to me. Bow to Lord Voldemort." It was as if he were in a dream, the most relaxed state one could imagine, as every worry and anxiety were washed away, the pain of the Cruciatus but a distant memory now as the enticing voice in his mind commanded him to do nothing but bow, and Harry felt his body begin to move, to follow to command.
Bow to Voldemort.
"NO!" He thought frantically, fighting against his own limbs to remain where he was, to refuse the order. He clamped down his Occlumency shields, trying to block out the invading voice of Voldemort, and fought to regain control of his own body. Slowly, the deafening voice and dreamy state disappeared, and he felt his body return under his own power.
"I will never bow to you." Harry breathed out, the pain of the Cruciatus still searing through him. He tried weakly to get to his feet, but his body did not respond and he fell back down heavily.
"Very well, Harry," Voldemort sneered, raising Quirrell's wand and leveling it at him once more, and Harry watched as if it were in slow motion. "Then allow me to conclude your education. The very first words I ever spoke to you shall be the last - AVADA KEDAVRA!"
The green curse flew toward him with a strange whooshing noise, and to Harry, it was still happening as if it were in slow motion. Rather than his life flashing before his eyes, a jumbled collection of images and memories, there was only one memory that entered Harry's mind the moment the man had raised his wand.
Harry, in his cupboard, with flames dancing in his palms.
The curse was inches from him when scorching hot, bright blue flames burst from his feet, incinerating his shoes, and Harry was suddenly shot backward along the stone floor, feeling his robes rip and tear and his skin following, and from his hand he fired a curse at Voldemort, a curse that had no incantation, only the intent to harm.
The killing curse slammed into the space he had been occupying only seconds before and gouged a deep crater into the ground as Harry rose up, the jet-engine-like flame keeping him hovering in the air as he stared at Voldemort and the wide hole that had been blown through his chest, as the man himself looked down in disbelief at the damage. But before Harry could take advantage of his opponent's distraction, someone else did as a bright purple spell slammed into the side of the Dark Lord and he was thrown into the Mirror of Erised, whose surface shattered upon impact.
Harry turned to the left, toward the doorway, and he saw the figure of Albus Dumbledore, his white wand held firmly in his grip and his blue eyes dancing with fury.
Harry turned back to look at the Mirror, and saw that the body of Professor Quirrell had been pulverised by the force of the Headmaster's spell and the impact with the Mirror, his red eyes wide open and unseeing. But as Harry watched, a black mist began to emerge from the body, seeping out from the hole in his chest, and once it had the mist coalesced in the air above.
The mist floated in the air above Quirrell's body for a short second, before it suddenly accelerated toward Harry faster than Harry could react, but before the mist could come into contact with him a bright golden dome surrounded Harry and the mist rebounded from off it, and when it did Harry heard a voice from within the mist scream in pain, and he knew that this mist was the wraith of Voldemort.
Once its access to Harry was denied the wraith changed course, flying out of the back wall of the chamber and disappearing, and as soon as it did the flames from Harry's feet followed suit and he dropped to the ground, his shaky legs unable to keep him upright.
He found himself staring up at the ceiling, and within moments the old, wrinkled face of Albus Dumbledore swam into view as strong hands grabbed hold of his body. The man opened his mouth to speak, but Harry could not hear a word he was saying.
Harry closed his eyes and knew no more.
When Harry awoke, he found himself in a bed in an unfamiliar location, with sunlight streaming through the window opposite him. Blinking his bleary eyes, he looked down at his body and found himself wrapped in a clean, white sheet.
"Hospital wing?" He croaked to himself, looking around and blinking furiously to clear his eyes as he looked at the empty bed to his right whilst he struggled to push himself into a seated position.
"HARRY!" A loud voice shouted from his left side, and he turned in time to get a glimpse of blonde hair before something slammed into him, wrapping its arms tightly around him and throwing him back down.
"Harry! You're awake!" Daphne exclaimed happily as she hugged him fiercely, her familiar voice bringing the boy out of his daze.
"Daph? What happened?" He asked weakly as he felt her shudder against him. "Are you crying?"
Daphne nodded into his chest. "I-I was here when Dumbledore brought you in, you were so pale and you were shaking." She sobbed, finally lifting her head to look at him. He could see that her hair was in disarray and her eyes were red from her tears. "It was like you were dying. I was so scared, Harry."
Harry hugged her as his memory of what had happened in the final chamber came back to him quickly. "I nearly did die." He whispered, remembering how closely the killing curse had come to hitting him.
Daphne dropped her head back onto his chest and shook it weakly. "Don't say that. Please, I couldn't bear it."
"What happened, Daph? Did you find Dumbledore?" He asked her, tapping her on the back to get her to move back enough for him to sit up properly. She did, but refused to move any further away from him as she grabbed his hand.
Once he was comfortable, she held onto his hand as she answered. "No, he found me. I'd just got back to the key chamber when he appeared with McGonagall, and he rushed off when he saw me. McGonagall brought me here and I had to wait for him to bring you back." Harry nodded, understanding how the man had suddenly appeared as he had. "What happened to you, Harry?"
When he had finished, she pulled him into another bone-crushing hug and cried her eyes out. They held each other for a long time until Daphne finally spoke, whispering softly to him. "This is my fault, I never should have made you go down there-"
Harry cut her off, shaking his head. "No, it's not your fault, if I didn't want to go there would have been no way for you to make me. It was as much my decision as it was yours. You weren't to know what was down there." He told her.
She shook her head weakly but didn't argue with him, instead she just sighed and enjoyed the feeling of his arms around her, feeling guilty every time she felt his body shake from the pain he still felt.
Madam Pomfrey chose that moment to rush over, giving the two embracing children a look before she simply shook her head and waved her wand over Harry. A few seconds later, a pain reliever was summoned and passed to Harry to down in one. She gave them both another look, before telling them that she would be back soon with further potions that Harry needed to take.
They were still holding each other when Dumbledore walked into the Hospital Wing, and when they looked up at his entrance they saw the two people who had followed him inside.
Daniel and Marie Greengrass both ran past the Headmaster when they saw their children, coming to a stop at the edge of Harry's bed. Daniel grabbed Daphne by the shoulders, looking her over for any injuries, whilst Marie reached Harry and immediately saw that there was something wrong.
Marie swallowed and gently reached up to hold his face as she looked into her boy's eyes. "Harry, what happened? Why are you shaking, and why did we get a floo call from the Headmaster telling us you'd been hurt?" She asked quickly, feeling fear grip her heart when all Harry could do was lean slightly into her touch. She looked him over again and saw the full-body shakes every few seconds, and the fear inside her intensified.
Because how often during the last war had she seen people shake like that?
Dumbledore approached them then. "I would suggest you all take a seat, so that we may get to the bottom of the night's activities." Once they had all done so, Harry and Daphne sitting on his bed with Marie on Harry's left and Daniel on her right, the old man continued. "I will ask Fawkes to bring my Pensieve here, and we may view Harry's memory of the events. I believe it may be easier for him to show, rather than tell." Harry nodded gratefully, and the old man whispered a command for his familiar, who soon appeared in a flash of flame, the Pensieve held in his talons, which Dumbledore took from him. "Thank you, old friend."
Marie turned to Harry. "Harry, don't leave anything out," She told him seriously, to which he could only nod. "We need to know everything."
Dumbledore conjured a table and placed the Pensieve atop it. He pulled his wand, the black wand, from his robes and brought it up slowly to Harry's temple. "You know what to do, Harry."
Harry nodded, and began to think. He thought of the night they had first found the Cerberus, how they had visited it thereafter by staying outside and charming the wall to be see-through, then he thought about meeting Serana (he felt guilty for including this, but he knew that the time for keeping secrets was over), he thought about the confrontation between Snape and Quirrell they had witnessed in the forest, he thought of finding the dead Unicorn with Hagrid, of the Headmaster being absent at dinner that night and them finding the trapdoor, he thought of them going through the obstacles and finally, him going on alone and meeting Voldemort.
Daniel and Marie watched as thread after thread of memories were removed from Harry's mind to swirl inside the Pensieve and shared an apprehensive look with each other. How much had their children been keeping from them?
Once all the memories had been collected, Dumbledore tapped his wand on the side of the basin, and one by one the memories played out. When they had first visited the Cerberus, they received chiding looks from the Greengrass parents. When they had met Serana, Dumbledore paused the memories and gave Harry a considering look, giving the opportunity for Daniel and Marie to question their children.
"What were you thinking?!" Daniel exclaimed with wide eyes, looking between the two of them, who could do nothing but stare at the floor of the Hospital Wing,
"How could you be so foolish?" Marie asked, anger clear in her voice, but they both heard her throat hitch as she continued. "You could have died, you could have been killed and we'd never have known where you were or what happened to you."
Harry winced. "I'm sorry," He said in a small voice.
"It's my fault, it was my idea," Daphne told them, shaking her head at her own actions. "I should have known better."
"Why did you not tell us when you were home for Easter?" Daniel asked, a strange emotion in his voice.
"I was scared, scared that Serana would be blamed for Myrtle." Harry tried to explain, swallowing heavily. He looked to the Headmaster. "You won't try and get rid of her, will you?"
Dumbledore shook his head and smiled softly. "I will not, Harry, though I would ask once this is all over if you would take me to meet her for myself." Harry could only nod at his request.
They watched as the two of them eavesdropped on the confrontation in the Forbidden Forest between Snape and Quirrell, and once again the memory was paused so Daniel and Marie could question them.
"Why did you not tell us this?" Daniel asked, more frustrated than angry at this point.
Neither of them could answer.
"Didn't you trust us?" Marie asked in a small voice, and Harry chanced a look at her and saw the upset on her face, and the disappointment. Harry immediately hated seeing that look, and decided that it hurt him more to see it than any Cruciatus Curse ever could.
The memories resumed, but there were no pauses anymore as no one wanted to speak to request any. They watched them visit the Cerberus, see that the trapdoor was closed and decide to go down after the thief (Daniel and Marie just shook their heads at this decision), watched as they worked their way through the obstacles, and they watched as they reached Snape's chamber and Harry realised that it was Voldemort on the other side, and the two children said goodbye to each other.
Marie had grabbed Harry's other hand, her arm around his shoulder as she watched on in fear as he stepped through the flames and was disarmed, the words he had exchanged with Voldemort, Harry's attack on him once he was close enough.
She couldn't stem her tears and her own shaking once Harry was on the ground and being tortured by the most feared Dark Lord of all time, how he had lashed out in his pained throes and screamed until he was hoarse. Daphne had hold of his other hand in a death grip as she had to watch what he'd already told her, and it was a thousand times worse for her. Daniel could only stare as the memory played, but his tears began when Harry was put under the Imperius Curse and ordered to bow to the man who had killed his parents, and he felt so much pride for his boy when he fought against him.
They all watched in abject fear when the killing curse followed, too quickly they thought for Harry to do anything, and they all watched as he defied death yet again, and his own magic saved him in time, and they watched as he blew a hole right through the heart of the body the Dark Lord possessed, and finally, they saw Dumbledore arrive and Harry drop, and the memories were over.
As soon as they were, Daniel and Marie hugged their children tightly, never wanting to let them both go again, and they cried unashamedly at what they felt was their own failure to protect them.
None of them knew how long it was until they broke apart, the tears long dried up but the desire to be close remained. When they eventually did, relaxing from their grips enough on one another for any to speak, it was Harry who found his voice first.
"Are we in a lot of trouble?" He asked quietly.
Marie shook her head and sighed. "Oh, you are in a lot of trouble, both of you, but right now we're just happy you're okay."
Daphne jumped in quickly. "Harry can't be in trouble, he got hurt - Greengrass rule."
Daniel and Marie pulled their children back in for another hug, and neither of them knew if they were laughing or crying at their daughter's words.
And here's Chapter 13.
Bit of a long one, mainly because I wasn't able to get ahead and write another chapter past this one, so hopefully I can write one on holiday otherwise this is it until after the 27th. Sorry!
Hopefully it was to your liking, it was difficult at times to have to go back over canon events and change them enough to be somewhat interesting but I'm happy with how it turned out, especially the fight between Harry and Voldemort.
In this story, Harry is obviously powerful, so it's my challenge as a writer to still have Voldemort be a credible threat, and hopefully I did so, the guy was literally seconds away from killing Harry then and there.
To answer any questions, such as why was Voldemort there and not Quirrell? Well, we all know that Voldemort was hitching a ride on the back of Quirrell's head all year, as he did in this, but rememeber book 5? When Voldemort possesses Harry in the Ministry? He doesn't hitch a ride on the back of his head, he fully just takes his mind over for a moment. That's what he did here, but Quirrell couldn't fight him off and Voldemort fully took over, which to be honest is what he would have done in the first book if book 5 rules were being followed, and it makes it more interesting to me to have it be fully him.
So why did he want the stone if he had Quirrell's body? Because it wasn't going to last. Voldemort himself says that in Albania he would possess things, but eventually their bodies would die and he would return to wraith form, and that's what would happen to Quirrell's body eventually, which is why he still needs the stone. He takes Quirrell over as soon as he knows Dumbledore is out of the castle, uncaring that the body won't last because he's confident he can get the stone and restore his body before it does.
Some of you in the reviews for the last chapter pointed out that Harry and Daphne should have told Marie and Daniel everything at Easter - you're absolutely right, they should have. But they didn't, because they're 12 & 11 and no matter how smart they are, they made a mistake, which they will now learn from. They were more concerned with getting in trouble than getting help, because when you're that age and you do a really dumb thing, or something you know you shouldn't have done, your first thought is 'My parents can never know about this'. They're overconfident, with Serana they trusted that she was being genuine, and with the stone they thought it would be Quirrell or Snape and they could deal with it - they had no idea that Voldemort was even an option, and Harry nearly paid for that overconfidence with his life.
The response to the last chapter was actually amazing, I think that was the largest amount of followers gained during the gap between one chapter and the next so far, so thank you to all you new people for discovering this and deciding you like it, and thank you once again to all you guys who have been here since chapter 1 and supported me.
Please leave a review and let me know what you think of this chapter, it took me like 12 hours to do on and off because I kept going back and tweaking things, and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.
Enjoy.