AN: Sorry for the late post on this one! This chapter was also hard to write, but for totally different reasons! With this though, most of Year one is done, and there's only a pseudo-epilogue for the year left. After next chapter, there will be a bit of a hiatus while I get all the groundwork laid for year 2, figuring out how the story changes with the new world I've created. Hopefully you all enjoy!

Even harder than making the decision to live with the Tonks for Harry, was telling Susan that he wouldn't be living with her. Harry liked Susan, she was one of his closest friends, and he would have loved to get the chance to live with her, but he did think that it would be better for him to live with the Tonks.

Susan hadn't taken it well at all, and it took a giant cuddle pile of reassurance to let her know that they would still be friends after this. She did eventually get the message.

Harry had continued his workout regiment, and true to their word, Lavender, Parvati, and Padma had taken to joining him. With the warming scarves he had, and a few more procured by Flitwick, the quartet had taken to running along the shores of the Black Lake, which Harry also insisted their route swing near Hagrid's house so they could say hello during the mornings. A result of that was that on mornings when he felt particularly playful, Fang would also join in on their run, and was more than happy to chase any stick that Harry or the girls threw for him.

The quartet had been on one of these runs in mid-April when Hagrid bid them inside to see something.

"What is it Hagrid?" Harry asked, patting Fang on the head.

"Yew four get to witness summit real special. Watch." Hagrid said, pointing his large finger at a bundle of blankets near the firepit in his house. Inside a small nest of the blankets was an oblong object, onyx black in color that reflected the warm firelight. The object wiggled a little bit in the nest, before a crack appeared in the side. A small set of claws poked through the edge, and Harry quickly came to a realization of what this was. Hagrid had somehow obtained a dragon egg.

The hatching lasted only a minute or so, as the newborn dragon broke out of, and then promptly ate the shell it emerged from, before cozying into the blankets for a nap. "Beau'iful ain't it?" Hagrid said, wiping a tear from his eyes.

"Ooh! It's so cute!" Lavender squealed, her eyes never leaving the tiny draconian.

"Norwegian Ridgeback he is, gonna call him Norbert." Hagrid said, pouring everyone some tea.

"Hagrid, surely you realize you can't keep a dragon here right?" Harry said, looking worriedly around.

"What do ya mean Harry? I keep all kinds of beasties in check, from the Nifflers to the Thestrals, even ol' Fluffy." Hagrid said.

"I thought his name was Fang?" Parvati says, patting the dog on the head when he glanced to her for saying his name.

"Ya, thas Fang, Fluffy's the big one. More bark than bite he is. Bit o' music and he goes roight to sleep." Hagrid said absentmindedly, looking through a book he had. The cover read "An Essential Guide to Dragons."

Harry filed that tidbit away, he could take a guess who Fluffy was, and the look that Padma gave him from across the table said that she had made the connection too. The Ravenclaw trio, that is, Harry, Hermione, and Padma, had elected to not inform the rest of the club about the presence of the Cerberus in Hogwarts, even Daphne they had just told that Malfoy had never shown up for their duel.

Refocusing, Harry said "Hagrid, you need a license to raise dragons, plus he's going to get really big, while you could maybe handle him for a while, there are full teams of people who work with these things. Norbert should probably be at a dragon sanctuary, with other dragons."

"Aw, Harry, I'd be takin' real good care of 'im. I promise." Hagrid said, his eyes once more glancing at the bundle in front of his fireplace.

"Even so, without a license if he was ever found you'd be arrested. Sure, you could probably keep him here unseen for a couple months, but what if he starts breathing fire? You live in a wooden house near a forest. One uncontrolled spark and most of the area around Hogwarts is in flames!" Harry said, frustration in his voice.

Hagrid's eyes widened at that, and he seemed to glance around. He fought within himself for a moment, and sighed. "Yeah, yer probably roight Harry. But what am I gonna do? I don't know how to get in contact with a dragon sanctuary, and if Dumbledore found out, I could lose me job!"

Lavender chimed up. "Ooh! I can help. The Weasleys have an older brother, Charlie, he works at a dragon sanctuary. The twins were telling people about it when people were asking why they were staying at Hogwarts over the holidays. They could probably send him a letter and see if he could take it."

"Wouldn't I get in trouble for having a dragon still?" Hagrid asked.

"Probably not, in 'The Definitive Defensive Dictionary of Dark Creatures and other Daemons' it talks about how the duty of care if you find a Griffin egg or hatchling, beyond ensuring that it's abandoned or orphaned, is to ensure its safety, and then contact your nearest sanctuary. Griffins also need a license, so while they aren't as dangerous as dragons, the procedure is probably the same." Harry said, happy to have really studied up on that book. It had certainly proved to be his favorite one, although he would tell Hermione that his favorite was the one she got him, which was his second. A little lie to make her feel better was worth it in his eyes, besides he did really like the book.

"So it's settled. Hagrid, you're going to try and keep little Norbert here safe and secret while I get the twins to write to their brother. We'll get him to come and take little Norbert here to the sanctuary, and we'll have fond memories of getting to help this cute little guy." Lavender said, once more gushing at how cute she thought Norbert was.

Harry couldn't see the aspects she found cute about it other than its size in comparison to normal dragons, its limbs were thin and gangly, and its eyes bulged out of its head. He'd trust her word though, and he did imagine that in time he would also find it cute, were they not planning on moving it away.

"Oh, thank you four so much. If ya hadn't a been here I might've lost everything." Hagrid said, solemnly looking at Norbert. "Shame though, always wanted to raise a dragon."

"There are plenty of dragon breeders out there Hagrid, but you're the only person in the world who has managed to breed Thestrals." Harry said, remembering Hagrid's accomplishments. After Hagrid had mentioned them, Harry had done some research with Hermione's help. Hagrid's Thestral colony was famous among magical beast enthusiasts.

A couple weeks later, the plan to get Norbert to Charlie's Dragon Sanctuary was a rousing success. The twins had been more than happy to help, they liked Hagrid, and knew that Charlie would do anything to help Hagrid, and also work with dragons. So this was perfect. Charlie, as well as two other dragon handlers had arrived and safely put Norbert in a travel case, and the entire Sphinx Club was invited to watch them transport it away. Charlie and Hagrid got on like a house on fire, and Charlie was more than happy to talk about what it was like to train dragons. Charlie mentioned his hopes that after he got his mastership in Care of Magical Creatures, which required a minimum of five years working with magical creatures, he had hoped to come back to Hogwarts and teach the class, or at least assist the current professor as an apprentice. A letter the next week had said that Norbert had been a perfectly healthy Norwegian Ridgeback, and had taken up with a family of Hungarian Horntails, a closely related Dragon species. Norbert also turned out to be a Norberta, as proper sexing revealed her to be female, which meant someday Norberta might lay eggs of her own. Hatched in captivity female dragons were a rarity, so the hopes that she may come to accept humans enough to be considered 'tame' while also being a breeding mother were very high.

Academics-wise, the Sphinx Club continued to dominate across the board, with improvements trickling down, due to students having classmates they can go to with questions as well as the teachers, giving those who were struggling more 1 on 1 time with professors.

Harry was somewhat nervous when Professor Quirrel asked him to stay after class one day in the beginning of June.

"What did you want, Professor?" Harry asked, worried. Harry had of course been doing very well in class, but was worried perhaps he was doing too well, and not allowing other students to participate. Harry simply enjoyed the subject matter of defense that much, even if Professor Quirrel's teaching style was something Harry didn't particularly enjoy.

"Settle down Mr. Potter," Quirrel stuttered out, a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes on his long face. "I simply wished to congratulate you on your performance in this course, and offer you a challenge."

"Thank you Professor, I quite enjoy Defense Against the Dark Arts, learning about spells and creatures is very enjoyable to me. What is this challenge?" Harry said, some of the tension leaving his body. Some tension was always present whenever Professor Quirrel was around though, his very nature seemed to infect everyone with the same anxiety that seemed to plague him daily.

"Your performance in my class has been so exemplary, that I devised a bit of an obstacle course for you. Should you succeed in making your way through it, I would recommend you for… advanced classes in the following year." Quirrel stuttered out.

That was something to think about. More advanced Defense classes? Harry was certainly intrigued.

"The others are almost as good as I am in defense, will they get to do this obstacle course as well?" Harry asked. Advanced classes wouldn't be very fun without his friends there with him.

"Depending on how well you do, if it proves too much for you I likely won't invite them to try, as I do believe that you have the best chance of succeeding." Quirrel stuttered out. "Are you interested Mr. Potter?"

"Yes, I am. When will we be doing this?" Harry asked. He hoped he had some time to prepare, refresh himself on some spells, maybe grab some equipment.

"Tonight at ten o'clock, you may bring whatever you feel you may need to succeed. You will meet me on the third floor. Do not tell your friends of your trial, I do not want them to get their hopes up before we see if you are capable of the task. I shall see you tonight then. Do not be late." Quirrel said, before leaving.

Harry's anxiety kicked into overdrive, as his brain revved up to start problem solving. He needed to plan, and to pack, get everything he needed ready for this evening. He bolted to his room, not even stopping to say hello to Padma and Hermione in the common room.

Harry had only 6 hours to attempt to prepare for this obstacle course, and Harry doubted that it was going to be a simple test of athleticism. If it was for Defense Against the Dark Arts, it likely meant that there would be some kind of dark creature for him to fight, or at least avoid. Harry ran through the list of creatures he could possibly encounter.

Zombies would be pretty easy, they didn't like fire at all, so the Bluebell flames spell that Hermione found and had become infatuated with would be useful, especially since she had found a way to make it lash out like a whip. Harry had never tried that move, but simply producing it was something he was proficient at, and Hermione had told him the theory behind the technique.

Gnomes wouldn't be particularly dangerous obstacles, they were more nuisance than anything else, but also not prone to actual violence, simply leaving them alone would likely be enough, or a basic knockback spell to make them keep their distance.

They had learned about Vampires and Werewolves during the year, but Harry sincerely doubted he would see one of them. It wasn't a full moon, so a werewolf would just be a person anyway. A brief flash to his earlier experiences in the year made him think of trolls and cerberuses, so Harry thought about what he could do about those. His flute could possibly lure a cerberus to sleep, like Orpheus had done in the myth. Hagrid had all but confirmed that such a thing also worked on the cerberus that was here in Hogwarts, so Harry packed it away.

A troll gave him pause. He had gotten lucky last time, while Harry did believe his strategy to overpower a knockback jinx to send something into it's head was worthwhile still, and he could likely do it without passing out this time, he didn't have much in the way of objects that he could prepare for that with. Carrying a loose stone, even if he could find one would be very heavy, and not particularly useful in other situations. Harry had a small penknife that he used to trim his quills to keep them sharp, but didn't believe it would manage to pierce a troll's skin. He packed it in anyway, just in case. His idea of a stone had given him another idea, and he reached under his bed to pull out a set of Gobstones. This was a set that the boys he dormed with had gotten him for Christmas, after realizing that they hadn't gotten him anything. The gobstones themselves were marbles, roughly two centimeters in diameter, and weren't very heavy. They had some weight to them though, and were easy to throw, so they might be a good distraction for something.

He grabbed a ballpoint pen and a small notebook as well. His own research into curse-breakers and their work had known that occasionally they would find puzzles or riddles in tombs and the like, or strange symbols that needed investigating. This way, Harry would have something to write clues in, instead of needing to remember them.

Another hour of panicked thought passed, and Harry could think of nothing else that would be particularly useful for him to take with him. His anxiety deflating, but still present, he went down to the common room, and saw Padma and Hermione sitting on what had become their couch. He walked over to them.

"Hey guys, sorry I didn't stop by earlier." Harry said, easing himself onto his section of the couch.

"You seemed really focused, what's going on?" Hermione asked. Her face scrunched up as she closely examined him.

"I'm working on something with Professor Quirrel for Defense class, can't say more than that for now. I'm nervous about it though. I want to do well, you know how much I like Defense." Harry said, releasing some of his tension.

"Ah! That'd do it. You are the best at defense in our year, so if he wanted a first year for a project you're the best choice." Padma said, rubbing her hand over Harry's back. It felt nice, and made him relax a little bit.

"Well, if you're studying some creature or whatever, make sure to stay safe, and also to take good notes! I wanna know everything, even if I don't enjoy the class as much as you." Hermione said, pulling out her Defense textbook.

"Let's see… first year creatures… Zombies, Gnomes, Imps, Hags, Gytrashes, Vampires and Werewolves…" Hermione listed off from her text book, then flipping open her notes from class. "Pop Quiz! Give me a spell to use against a Gytrash!"

"Vermillious, or Red Sparks, although most light spells will work. Don't use green sparks, they seem to be resistant to them." Harry answered quickly.

"Good! Next!" Hermione said, moving onto the next creature. The trio worked through all of the creatures they had studied in the first year, getting Harry mentally prepared for what was happening. Harry was glad his friends cared so much.

Ten o'clock rolled around and Harry waited at the stairs to the third floor with his bag he had filled for this excursion. Hermione had insisted that he take some of her first aid equipment with him, just in case he got injured, the worry she had on her face had made it impossible for Harry to say no.

Professor Quirrel arrived, and Harry followed him to a door he recognized. This was the door that the cerberus was behind. "As you may be aware, Hogwarts houses many magical artifacts for safekeeping, your obstacle course will be to simply make your way to the artifact by any means necessary. I will be watching you, and will stay out of your way." Quirrel said. Harry's stomach dropped a bit, but he trusted the professor to make sure nothing happened to him. He wished he had Professor Flitwick here with him as well however, as the small professor would have been a comforting presence.

Harry took a deep breath and opened the door, the massive mound of fur that was Fluffy the cerberus raised his heads and growled. Harry reached into his bag and pulled out his flute, playing a quick lullaby and lulling the cerberus to sleep. That had been easier than anticipated.

"Good job Mr. Potter. I'll be disillusioning myself to stop from distracting you. Just know I will be here in case anything were to happen." Quirrel said, before waving his wand. Harry lost sight of the man, but a quick examination showed that he was still there, just easily ignorable.

Opening the trapdoor that Fluffy guarded, Harry fell down, his fall broken by a plant of some kind. Harry examined the plant, it's inky black tentacles revealing it's true nature to him quickly. This was Devil's Snare, a plant Neville was particularly fond of. It didn't like light or heat, so Harry quickly produced some of Hermione's favorite Bluebell flames, which had the plant drop him to the floor below.

"So far so good Harry, nothing you can't handle." Harry said to himself, trying to ready himself for whatever trial awaited him next.

The door to the next room wasn't locked, and when Harry entered he was surprised to see it's high ceiling, as well as the plethora of birds flying about within the room. Harry moved to the next door and found it locked. A quick cast of the unlocking charm failed to open it as well. "Okay… door is locked and the unlocking charm doesn't work.. Where would I find a key?" Harry wondered aloud, before glancing at the birds. They weren't birds at all, but keys with enchanted wings. "Alright, now there's a thousand keys, which one would it be?" Harry looked to the door. It itself was old, made of a very sturdy wood, and likely magically reinforced to stop him from simply blasting his way through it if he were so inclined. The doorknob and lock assembly were a distinct blue-ish silver color… was that a clue?

Harry looked through the cloud of keys, he saw many old and new styled keys, but only spied one old style key that was the same color as the door fittings. That had to be it. Now how to get it? Harry glanced around, and found a broomstick in the corner, one of the practice ones he had used in class six months ago. Getting on and kicking off, he rockeded through the cloud of keys, managing to snag the one he needed within a few seconds. Harry descended, putting the key in the lock and unlocking the door. He kept a firm hold on the broom stick, it could be useful for later challenges.

The next room was not quite as tall, but much larger, with most of the room being taken up by a massive chess board. Harry saw that he was on the Black side of the board, and that the only other door to the room was immediately behind the White King. Harry understood the rules of chess perfectly well, and enjoyed an occasional game against Daphne, who was a big fan of the game. His skill however was quite lacking and he didn't trust his chances to play a game for this test…

Well, Quirrel did say by any means necessary.

Harry kicked off with the broom again, sailing over the Black side pieces and over the board. The white pieces though began to try and swing their weapons at him as he passed overhead, the queen swiping at him with a large greatsword made of marble. They couldn't handle his speed however, and Harry sailed to the door and opened it, making it into the next room.

Behind him, purple flames shot up, and Harry jumped, spooked by their sudden appearance. At the same time, menacing black flames shot out of a hallway on the opposite side of the room. The only other objects in the room were a table with seven bottles and a roll of paper on it.

The paper informed Harry that of these seven bottles, three were poison, two were wine, one would let you walk through the purple flames, and one would let you walk through the black flames. Poison? In a test for a child? Harry waved the idea off, and thought that it was simply a simulation of a puzzle he might find in a tomb of some kind. He had read about Curse Breakers extensively, and had thought that it might be a fun career path, maybe this was a test to see if he was capable of it? That thought had Harry excited, but he refocused himself on the clues that the paper provided. Pulling out his notepad and pen, Harry made a table of the possible options that each clue could be, and eventually found the potion that would allow him to pass through the black flames. He drank it, and made a tentative motion towards them. They were still quite warm, and tickled somewhat against his body but did not harm him. Harry dashed through the flames, hoping the potions protections would last long enough.

On the opposite side of the flames however, was a room with no other exits, and a large ornate mirror sitting in the center. Making his way up to the mirror, taking a closer look at it. It's an ornate mirror with clawed feet and gold trim, across the top it read "Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi". Looking into the mirror, Harry was shocked at what it showed. In it was Harry's reflection, but also the members of the Sphinx Club, and Ted and Andromeda Tonks… and his parents alive and well. Looking behind him, Harry saw nothing, but looking back in the mirror he saw all of the smiling faces of people that cared about him. Mirror Harry waved, an action Harry didn't initiate, before pulling a red stone out of his pocket, then stealthily putting it back in. Harry felt something land in his pocket, but before he could investigate, he heard Quirrel sound out.

"Well done Mr. Potter! Truly excellent work from the one who defeated Voldemort." Quirrel said. Harry turned to look at the Professor, as he just noticed his stutter disappearing… had he not had it all night? A red flash shot from the professors wand and into Harry's wand hand, his wand flew across the room, a second shot from the wand knocking Harry down.

"Professor? What's going on?" Harry asked, scared and confused. Was this still part of the test?

"Let me speak with the boy Quirrelous." A third voice spoke in the room, it's tone raspy and muffled, but betraying a sinister intention. Quirrel took off his turban, revealing a misshapen bald head, before he turned around to reveal a second face on the back of his head.

"Well now…Harry Potter, the boy who so rudely removed me from my body years ago. Our meeting is perhaps overdue." The face said, its expression a sneer that Professor Snape would be proud of.

"Who… what are you?" Harry asked, his tone quaking in fear.

"You kill me eleven years ago and do not even know my name? I am offended. I am Lord Voldemort, cheater of death. You and your mother might have destroyed my body all those years ago, but I avoided moving on to the next life. Your mother's worthless sacrifice only delayed the inevitable, a world where I rule over all of mankind." Voldemort said, he tone high and haughty. "With the Philospher's Stone that you so graciously acquired for me, I will be able to build a new, perfect body and begin my takeover of Britain. I'll be sure to let everyone know that the one that they can thank for their subjugation is their little savior… Harry Potter." Voldemort advanced towards where Harry was on the floor, moving Quirrel's legs in a sickening backwards walk.

"No! You can't!" Harry cried out in terror, scrambling to try and get to his feet. His fight or flight instincts were kicking in, but he didn't have his wand. What could he do?

"I insure you Mr. Potter, I will, but now, you must die!" Voldemort said, before Quirrel truned around and began firing a spell.

Time slowed down for a moment as Harry made his decision. This… thing wasn't going to kill him. He had too much to live for, and he wouldn't let any more people suffer because of Voldemort. Harry might not have had his wand, but he wasn't entirely unarmed, pulling out the small pen knife from his pocket, Harry threw himself at Quirrel, attempting to stab the man.

The small knife struck true into the man's stomach, but what shocked Harry more was the ashen bits that fell away from the man around the wound.

"What is this you cretin!" Quirrel hissed out, obviously in immense pain. Harry for lack of a better idea, balled up his fist and punched Quirrel in the face, Quirrel's skin flaking away as he did so.

"His touch master! It burns!" Quirrel cried out, attempting to regain his composure. Harry made one final play, grabbing the professors face in his hands and squeezing.

The effect was horrendous, Quirell began disintegrating before the young man's very eyes, the screams of both Quirrel and Voldemort echoing through the small chamber. Yet, after a moment they stopped, and all Harry could hear was his own heartbeat in his ears.

Harry fell to his knees and sobbed. And sobbed. And sobbed. Then the world went black.

Harry awoke to find himself in the Hospital wing, a sight he recognized from the night of the Troll incident, looking to his left, he saw a table full of "Get well" cards and small candies, to his right he saw a small glass of water. Noticing his mouth was very dry, he grabbed the water and drank heartily.

"Oh goody me, you're finally awake Mr. Potter." The soft, motherly voice of Madam Pomfrey rang out. Harry turned and saw the woman making her way over to him, a few vials of multicolored potions in her hands.

"You gave us quite the scare there. Severe magical exhaustion on top of physical exhaustion. You're very lucky to be able to function at all now Mr. Potter." Pomfrey said, before handing him a vial. "Drink this one, then we'll work through the others. I must tell Headmaster Dumbledore and Professor Flitwick that you are awake."

Harry took the potions down as best he could as she made for the door, a few moments later Headmaster Dumbledore enters the room and makes his way to Harry.

"Mr. Potter," Dumbledore started, his eyes twinkling, "it seems you had quite an interesting night a few days ago. Please tell me what happened."

Harry did his best to relay the information of that night, from Quirrel's test, to the Voldemort fiasco. "Was that really him Professor?"

"I do believe it was Harry, and as much as I wish it were not the case, I don't believe he's gone forever either. You say your touch disintegrated him?" Dumbledore asked, reaching and taking a piece of candy from Harry's table.

"Yes, I wasn't sure what was happening, I just acted on instinct, I was so scared." Harry said, his eyes welling up with tears.

"That must have been the protections your mother's love placed on you, keeping you safe from the man who killed her." Dumbedore said.

"Professor… am I a murderer now?" Harry asked, tears flowing from his eyes. The emotions of the event just now truly catching up with him.

"No Mr. Potter, Quirrel was likely dead as soon as he accepted the Voldemort wraith into his body. No body can sustain two full souls inside of it. I dare say I now know what had been killing the unicorns in the forbidden forest." Dumbedore said, stroking his long white beard.

"Why? Why was he after my parents in the first place that night? Was it something to do with me? He seemed really intensely focused on me when we met." Harry asked, barely maintaining his composure.

"Get some rest Mr. Potter, I'll have Madam Pomfrey get you a calming potion. The farewell feast is at the end of this week, and I hope you will be all better by then." Dumbedore said leaving the room.

True to his word, Madam Pomfrey did appear with some calming potions, and told Harry all about how the members of the Sphinx Club had come to see him while he was out, and that they had left all of the cards and sweets.

Harry smiled at that, and felt something warm stirring in his chest. Love was what killed Voldemort the first and second times? Then as long as Harry had the love of his friends, Voldemort couldn't beat him.

Harry wouldn't let him.