VIII: Questioning
Suggesting that information is sought.
The Golden Quartet falls through the trapdoor to escape the snarling Cerberus above with a scream and lands safely on mushy black ropelike wines with a gasp. Jayla looks closely, recognising the breed of plant, and it could be better. "Whoa. Lucky this plat thing is here, really." Ron comments, and the young Heiress remains calm as the vines wrap around her.
"Whoa!" Harry gasps as the vines begin to move toward them. "Oh. Ahh!" the boys struggle in fright at the vines as they try wrapping around them.
"Stop moving, both of you." Jayla warns them. "This is Devil's Snare. You have to relax."
"It will only kill you faster." Hermione explains, but it worsens the boys' actions as they struggle more.
"Kill us faster?!" Ron exclaims. "Oh, now I can relax!" He thrashes around, and Hermione manages a smile before sinking below, and Jayla finds herself falling into an open area underneath.
"Hermione!" The boys shout, thrashing around. "Jayla!" They scream again, seeing the other girl has disappeared. The wriggling around worsens the Devil's Snare speed as it wraps around them.
"Now, what are we gonna do?!" He shrieks in a frantic voice.
"Just relax!" Jayla shouts up to them, safely below.
"Jayla! Where are you?! Is Hermione safe!" Harry shouts back, wriggling around to see if he can spot her.
"Yes! She's right here with me! Do what I say. Trust me." She tells them, and Harry scrunches his eyes shut, listening to her and slowly descends through the vines joining the girls.
"Ahh! Harry!" Ron screams in a panic as the ravenette falls through the vine-filled ceiling, landing on the ground by the girls. Jayla rushes to his side, helping him to his feet. "Harry!"
"Are you okay?" Hermione asks with concern.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." Harry answers, fixing his jumper.
"Help!" The redhead screams louder as he thrushes around violently.
"He's not relaxing, is he?" Jayla snaps, looking up at the ceiling at their frantic friend above.
"Apparently not." Harry replies, growing worried for his best friend.
"Help! Help me!" Ron shouts.
"We've got to do something!" Hermione warns them as Ron continues to shout above them.
"What?" Harry questions, looking at the girls urgently.
"Uh! I remember reading something in Herbology." Hermione mutters, looking at Jayla, who mumbles everything from the Herbology textbook.
"Help!" Ron screams.
"Um, Devil's Snare, Devil's Snare." Hermione mumbles, clicking something in Jayla's mind as Ron goes quiet with the plant covering his mouth.
"It's deadly fun… but will sulk in the sun!" Jayla finishes, and the girls look at each other. "That's it!"
"Devil's Snare hates sunlight!" The girls exclaim, and they take out their wands, pointing them toward the ceiling. "Lumus Solem!" Beams of bright light shoot from the tip at the Devil's Snare, which lets out a shrill shriek before recoiling, letting go of Ron, who falls to the ground in front of them.
"Ron, are you okay?" Harry asks him.
"Yeah." Ron answers, getting to his feet.
"Okay." He replies, and Ron looks around the small chamber.
"Whew, lucky we didn't panic!" The redhead remarks, making the others glare at him.
"Lucky Hermione pays attention in Herbology." Jayla snaps at him.
"Lucky Jayla remembers everything she reads," Harry adds, glaring at his friend when they hear flapping from the corridor.
"What is that?" Hermione wonders, looking at the others.
"I don't know. Sounds like wings." He replies, and they walk down the hallway. Jayla hits Ron on the back of the head as she passes, causing him to let out a yelp and groan, rubbing his head in pain.
"I can't believe you. We said to relax. Not to scream your lungs out." Jayla snaps at him.
"Sorry." Ron mumbles. "I'll listen to you next time."
⒴⒠⒜⒭ ⑴
The Golden Quartet enter the next chamber, seeing the large room with its tall ceiling, and they look up to see dozens of golden birds fluttering around. "Curious. I've never seen birds like these." Jayla wonders, looking around.
"They're not birds. They're keys. And I'll bet one of them fits that door." Harry says, walking further into the room with the others, spotting a broomstick suspended in the chamber's centre.
"What's this all about?" Hermione questions.
"I don't know. Strange." He comments, and Ron creeps away to the door on the far side of the room, taking out his wand and rattling the lock, keeping them out of the next chamber.
"Alohomora!" Ron casts, but it doesn't work, and he turns back to the others, shrugging. "Well, it was worth a try."
"Everythings worth a try." Jayla remarks. "But I think it's got a spell on it."
"Ugh! What're we going to do? There must be a thousand keys up there!" Hermione complains, looking up at the flying keys above their heads.
"We're looking for a big old-fashioned one. Probably rusty like the handle." Ron guesses, and the others look around at the multitude of keys above their heads.
"There! I see it!" Harry exclaims in excitement, pointing at one right at the top. "The one with the broken wing!" He sobers up as he looks at the floating broomstick.
"What's wrong, Harry?" Jayla asks him in concern.
"It's too simple." He answers, and she nods, knowing what he means.
"Oh, go on, Harry! If Snape can catch it on that old broomstick, you can! You're the youngest Seeker in a century!" Ron encourages their friend, which works as Harry nods, grabbing the broomstick. Suddenly, all the keys move, diving in one direction, seeming to sense the broom and incoming threat. They follow Harry as he climbs on, swiping at them.
"This complicates things a bit." Jayla mutters and watches with Hermione and Ron as Harry pushes off into the air, flying around the roof toward the top. The ravenette grabs the key and flies down towards the others with the other keys in hot pursuit.
"Catch the key!" Harry shouts at his friends, zooming by and throwing the key to Hermione, who jumps to catch it and heads to the locked door while Harry distracts the other flying objects on his tail. The bushy-haired girl hastily puts the key in the lock as it fights her.
"Hurry up!" Ron shouts at her.
"Shut up!" Jayla snaps at him when the door swings open, and they rush inside as their flying friend loses the keys, flying through the open door. The others slam the door shut quickly as the other keys try to get them, piercing the wooden door.
"I can't believe Snape got that key." Jayla mumbles. "There's no way that greasy bat did it." Harry gets off the broomstick and walks toward the next chamber with the others. Hopefully, the next part is where Snape is because Jayla feels it might worsen.
⒴⒠⒜⒭ ⑴
The four tweens walk into a gloomy-looking room with broken pieces of marble lying around the chamber. "I don't like this. I don't like this at all." Hermione whispers, walking closely behind the others closer to the centre of the room onto what looks like a chessboard.
"Where are we? A graveyard?" Harry wonders, looking around like the other, the room full of tall marble statues that look too close to chess pieces for Jayla's liking.
"This is no graveyard," Ron replies with a sigh. "It's a chessboard." The four Gryffindors walk onto the marble board, lighting the flames surrounding it and illuminating the chamber and the giant chess pieces. More broken pieces are around the clearing, meaning someone has already gotten through.
"There's the door." He announces, pointing across the chessboard where the large wooden doors stand. The tweens try to cross the board, but the white pawns bring out their swords, stopping them from moving and making them jump back to avoid getting hit.
"Now, what do we do?" Jayla questions, pointing at the army in front of them, stopping them from getting to the door.
"It's obvious, isn't it? We've got to play our way across the room." Ron suggests, stepping around. "All right. Harry, you take the Bishop's Square." He points at the ravenette, who nods. "Hermione, you'll be the Queen's side castle." The bushy brunette nods. "As for me, I'll be a knight." He looks at them, and they take their spaces, leaving Jayla alone, standing in the middle of the board, waiting.
"And what am I going to do?" The young Heiress demands, looking at Ron as he hops on the marble horse.
"Oh, right. Sorry." He cringes, knowing he's going to pay for that.
"I guess I'll be the Queen." She replies, not letting him answer. "I've always liked the Queen best anyway." Jayla walks to the last vacant spot, smiling, facing the opposing side.
"Well, white moves first, and then… we play." Ron says from his high horse, and the game begins as a white pawn moves forward.
"Ron, you don't suppose this is going to be like… real Wizard's Chess, do you?" Hermione asks, and Jayla looks at him and the others.
"You there! D5!" Ron yells, pointing to the black pawn, which moves forward, and a white pawn moves diagonally before raising its swords, smashing it into pieces and making the tweens jump. "Yes, Hermione, I think this is going to be exactly like Wizard's Chess!"
"If I die, Ronald Weasley, I am going to haunt you so bad!" Jayla shouts at him. "So we better win!"
"Yes, ma'am." He gulps, continuing the game with too many hits to their army. More of their pawns get destroyed by the White Queen when it comes to her turn to play, and she smashes more pieces. Jayla winces as dust flies around the chessboard, and marble hits the board with another hit.
"Wait a minute." Harry suddenly says, looking around the board and then at Ron.
"You understand right, Harry. Once I make my move, the Queen will take me… then you'll be free to check the King." Ron explains, and the girls look at him in disbelief at his idea.
"No, Ron! No!" Harry and Jayla shout at their friend.
"What is it?" Hermione asks, confused and looking at the others for an idea of what's happening.
"He's going to sacrifice himself!" Jayla shouts, looking at Ron.
"No, Ron, you can't! There must be another way!" She shouts to him, and he closes his eyes, turning to face the others.
"Do you want to stop Snape or not? Harry, it's you that has to go on. I know it. Not me, not Hermione, not Jayla. You." Ron reminds him, making a good speech, and Harry nods, glad he's made some amazing friends. "Knight… to H3." The marble horse moves forward three spaces before sliding toward the White Queen and stops. "Check." He mutters, and the others watch as the Queen turns around to face the red-haired knight before menacingly advancing. She stops before the boy and raises her sword, piercing the horse. Ron flies off the marble creature, landing on the board with a scream of pain and shock before falling unconscious.
"RON!" The others shout, and Hermiones tries to go to him, but Harry stops her.
"NO!" Harry shouts in warning, making her stop. "Don't move! Don't forget. We're still playing." She steps back, careful not to move again, and Harry walks diagonally in front of the White King. "Checkmate." The King's sword falls onto the ground before the ravenette with a deafening clang. The game has ended. The four Gryffindors have won. The girls race to Ron, and Jayla checks on him as Harry steps over, seeing his friend has some minor injuries and is unconscious. "Take care of Ron. Then, go to the owlery. Send a message to Dumbledore. Ron's right… I have to go on." Jayla nods, watching Hermione stroke Ron's hair from his forehead.
"You'll be okay, Harry. You're a great Wizard. You really are." Hermione remarks, looking up at him.
"Not as good as you two." He replies, looking at the girls.
"Us? Books and cleverness? There are more important things. Friendship and bravery. And Harry, just be careful." She warns him, and Jayla looks at the doors on the far side, creaking open a little.
"I'm coming with you. Something about this doesn't fit right with me." Jayla announces, and he nods. "Will you be okay on your own?" She asks her best friend, both looking at each other.
"Just be careful, the both of you." Hermione warns them again, nodding, and the young Heiress smiles, nodding with Harry before they walk toward the large wooden doors. The remaining white chess pieces part for them, and they walk to the end of the board to the door. Jayla and Harry give one last desperate look back at their red-haired friend lying on the marble chessboard and their brunette friend looking after him before charging through the door and up a flight of stairs to the next passageway.
⒴⒠⒜⒭ ⑴
The remaining two tweens walk through the dark passageway to the next part of the secret chamber. "What if they're -?" Jayla questions but stops herself, not wanting to go into that dark thought.
"They'll be all right." Harry assures her, trying to convince her and himself. "What do you reckon's next?"
"Well, we started with Herbology. Professor Sprout, with that deadly Devil's Snare. Then there were those charmed keys. That's Flitwick's work, of course. The chess set was McGonagall's handy work, seeing as that's apparently her favourite pass time, according to my mother. That would leave Quirrell and Snape." She explains, and they reach another door. "Defence Against the Dark Arts and Potions."
"All right?" He whispers, looking at her, seeing the dust over her face, but it doesn't make her any less beautiful.
"Go on." The young Heiress replies, and he pushes the door open.
⒴⒠⒜⒭ ⑴
A disgusting smell fills Harry and Jayla's nostrils, making them both pull their sleeves up over their noses. Their eyes water, and they see a Troll flat on the floor in front of them, even more, extensive than the one they had tackled on Halloween. The beast is out cold with a bloody lump on its head. "I'm glad we didn't have to fight that one," Harry whispers, carefully stepping over one of its massive legs.
"Come on. I can't breathe." Jayla gasps behind him.
⒴⒠⒜⒭ ⑴
Harry pulls open the next door, both of them hardly daring to look at what comes next, but there is nothing very frightening in there, just a table with seven differently shaped bottles standing on it in a line. "Snape's." Harry sighs. "What do we have to do?" They step over the threshold, and immediately a fire springs up behind them in the doorway. Making it impossible for them to retreat. These were no ordinary flames either. They are purple. At the same instant, black flames shoot up in the entrance leading onward. They are trapped.
"Look!" Jayla seizes a roll of paper lying next to the bottles. Harry looks over her should to read it.
Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind, Two of us will help you, whichever you would find. One among us seven will let you move ahead, Another will transport the drinker back instead, 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 would move onward, neither is your friend. Third, as you see clearly, all are different sizes. Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their sides. Fourth, the second left and the second on the right are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight.
Jayla lets out a great sigh after he reads the riddle, and Harry looks at her in amazement, seeing the smile on her face, which is the last thing he feels like doing. "Brilliant." Jayla smiles. "This isn't Magic - it's logic - a puzzle. A lot of the greatest Wizards haven't got an ounce of sense. They'd be stuck in here forever."
"But so will we, won't we?" Harry questions, looking at her and earning a glare.
"Of course not." She snaps. "Everything we need is here on this paper. Seven bottles: three are poison. Two are wine. One will get us safely through the black fire, and one will get us back through the purple."
"But how do we know which to drink?" The ravenette wonders.
"Give me a minute." The young Heiress reads the paper, then closes her eyes before, moments later, walking up and down the line of bottles, muttering to herself and pointing at them. At last, she claps her hands. "Got it." She announces. "The smallest bottle will get us through the black fire - toward the Stone." Harry looks at the tiniest bottle.
"And only enough there for the both of us." Harry comments, looking at the remaining liquid.
"But Harry - what if You-Know-Who is through those flames?" Jayla asks, and he sees a flicker of fear in her eyes.
"Well - I was lucky once, wasn't I?" He tries to assure her, but it doesn't work as he points to his scar. "I might get lucky again." Jayla's lip trembles slightly, and she suddenly dashes at the ravenette, throwing her arms around him. "Jayla!"
"Harry - you're a great Wizard, you know." She smiles, looking into his eyes.
"I'm not as good as you." Harry replies, very embarrassed, and she lets him go, much to his disappointment.
"Me?!" The young Heiress questions. "Book! And remembering things that are sometimes completely useless! There are more important things - friendship and bravery! Which you have in abundance. We should go now. I think I've stalled myself enough."
"I'll drink first." He smiles at his friend and crush.
"No, I will." Jayla argues.
"You are sure which is which, aren't you?" The ravenette questions, not wanting anything to happen to her.
"Positive." She assures him, taking a quick sip from the tiny bottle and shudders, feeling ice spread through her veins.
"It's not poison?" Harry asks anxiously, looking at her.
"No - but it's like ice." The young Heiress replies.
"Quick, go before it wears off." He tells her, and she walks through the black fire, leaving Harry alone. He takes a deep breath, picks up the same miniature bottle, and turns to face the black flames. "Here I come." He whispers, draining the little bottle in one gulp. It indeed feels like ice is flooding his body. He puts the bottle down and walks forward, bracing himself, seeing the black flames licking at his body, but he can't feel them - for a moment, he can see nothing but dark fire - then he's on the other side, in the last chamber with Jayla waiting for him.
⒴⒠⒜⒭ ⑴
Harry and Jayla walk down a long staircase in the next. Hopefully, the last chamber going deeper under the castle. The room has pillars around the outer area where the stairs lead down to a small rectangular space with a sizeable familiar mirror at the end. There is already someone there - but it isn't Snape. It isn't even Voldemort. Harry lets out a yelp of pain, touching his scar. "You?" Jayla snaps, making Professor Quirrell turn around to face them.
"No. It can't be… Snape. He was the one." Harry questions in disbelief, but the Darkmore Heiress always had a feeling that it wasn't the Potions Master. Something never added up, but she can't claim her misgivings now. She has to watch out for Harry and protect him.
"Yes. He does seem the type, doesn't he? Next to me, who would suspect, p-p-poor s-stuttering Professor Quirrell?" His whole demeanour has changed from the quivering teacher they were used to, but a man with utter confidence.
"B-But, that day, during the Quidditch match, Snape tried to kill me." He argues, telling him the theory they all thought they saw.
"No, dear boy. I tried to kill you! And trust me, if Snape's cloak hadn't caught fire and broken my eye contact, I would have succeeded. Even with Snape muttering his little counter curse." Quirrell explains, smirking at the thought of the moment.
"Snape was trying to… save him?" Jayla grimaces, looking over at their DADA Professor.
"I knew he was a danger right from the off. Especially after Halloween. Along with you, Miss Darkmore." he says, looking at the young Heiress with a mean glare, who gives it back.
"Th-Then you let the Troll in." Harry realises.
"Very good, Potter, yes. Snape, unfortunately, wasn't fooled. While everyone else was running to the dungeon, he went to the third floor to head me off. He, of course, never trusted me again. He rarely left me alone." The Professor says, turning to face the mirror again, making Harry hiss in pain, touching his scar. Jayla looks at him and back at Quirrell, cradling the boy in her arms. "But he doesn't understand. I'm never alone. Never. Now… what does this mirror do? I see what I desire. I see myself holding the Stone. But how do I get it?"
"Use the boy and girl." A raspy voice comes from Quirrell and echoes around the chamber, but his lips don't move.
"Come here, Potter, Darkmore, now!" Quirrell thunders, and Jayla takes Harry's hand in hers, slowly walking down the rest of the steps, facing the mirror. "Tell me. What do you see?" She looks into the mirror and sees herself and Harry. Her mirror self brings her hand into her jeans front pocket, pulling out a red glass-like Stone. Jayla's eyes widen at her mirror self, which gives her a cheeky wink, and she puts the Stone back. Harry's mirror self warns them to remain quiet, giving them both a massive grin. Jayla slowly and carefully moves her hand to the outside of her jeans' front pocket, feeling a lump and letting out an unintentional gasp. "What is it?! What do you see?!"
"I-I'm shaking hands with Dumbledore. I've won the House Cup." Harry lies through his teeth.
"I'm receiving an award from the Minister of Magic. I'm taking over as Minister of Magic." Jayla fibs, but the strange voice sees through them.
"They lie." The voice hisses.
"Tell the truth! What do you see?!" Quirrell shouts at the tweens, making them jump a little.
"Let me speak to them." The dark voice requests, surprising the man.
"Master, you are not strong enough." He argues, pleading with the voice.
"I have strength enough for this." The evil voice assures him, and the DADA Professor faces the students, beginning to unwrap his turban on the back of his head with another face emerging. It is one of many nightmares as it stretches and glances at them through the mirror. "Harry Potter. We meet again. And Jayla Darkmore. We finally meet." The Dark Wizard greets them.
"Voldemort." Jayla and Harry mutter, looking at the reflection in horror.
"Yes. You see what I have become? See what I must do to survive Live off another - a mere parasite. Unicorn blood can sustain me, but it cannot give me a body of my own. But there is something that can. Something that conveniently enough lies in your friend's pocket!" Voldemort snaps, and the young Heiress grabs the ravenette's hand and makes a break for it, running up the steps. "Stop them!" Quirrell snaps his fingers, and fire erupts around the room, blocking the tween's exit, meaning there's no escape. "Don't be a fool! Why suffer a horrific death when you can join me and live?!"
"Never!" Harry shouts, and Jayla shakes her head in protest, making the Dark Wizard let out a hissing-like laugh.
"Bravery. Your parents had it too. Tell me, Harry, would you like to see your mother and father again? Together, we can bring them back. All I ask for is something in return." He bribes the ravenette, and he looks at Jayla. She feels guilty at the look he gives her and takes the Stone out of her pocket. "That's it, Jayla. There is no good or evil. There is only power and those too weak to seek it. Together, we'll do extraordinary things. Just give me the Stone!" Jayla looks at Harry again as he stares at the mirror, seeing his parents' faces.
"You lair!" Harry shouts, denying him.
"Kill them!" The Dark Wizard orders, and within a second of the command, Quirrell soars into the air toward the students, smashing into them. The young Heiress goes down, knocking her head against the stone steps and looks through her fallen hair, seeing Quirrell choke the life out of Harry. Jayla sees the Stone between them and reaches for it, pulling out her wand.
"Expelliamus!" Jayla shouts, whipping her wand at the teacher, knocking him back.
"Kill her!" Voldemort rages, and Quirrell turns to Jayla, but Harry being the courageous idiot, gets in the way, and the DADA Professor gets back to choking the life out of him. Then, suddenly, Harry puts his hand over Quirrell's, trying to stop him and smoke billows from under the contact, making the teacher cry out in pain, backing up as his hands crumble into the air.
"What is this magic?" Quirrell quivers in shock as his hands dissolve into ash.
"Fool! Get the Stone!" He snaps, and the teacher walks toward the pair, but Jayla quickly whips her wand around.
"Depulso!" Jayla shouts, pointing her wand down at the Stone in her hand, and it goes flying past the fire, angering the Dark Wizards, who walk toward her, but Harry jumps to his feet and puts both hands on the former Professor's face, making Quirrell scream out in panic and pain. He stumbles backwards as his horrendously burned face crumbles, beginning to walk forward, his whole body crumbling to ash falling to the floor. Jayla and Harry let out a gasp at the sight of their former teacher's body, and she looks around before lifting her wand. "Accio: Philosopher's Stone." She summons the Stone, and it flies into her open hand. "Are you okay, Harry?" She asks him, and he lets out a sigh of relief.
"I will be," Harry answers and the tweens get to their feet, hearing something behind them, and turn around, seeing a dust cloud with the face of Voldemort forming behind them. The cloud rushes forward, going right through the Boy Who Lived, making him scream as he falls to the floor, unconscious, and Voldemort flies through the fire, escaping.
"Harry!" Jayla shouts, rushing to his side, kneeling and checking his pulse when she hears fast-approaching footsteps toward them. She stands to her feet with her wand drawn at the ready. But it falls to her side when she sees Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape and Flitwick.
"Dear girl." Professor McGonagall gasps, looking at the young Heiress, seeing the dust covering her clothes, hair and face with a cut lip and eyebrow, blood dripping down her face.
"Professor. I'm sorry." She mutters, feeling her knees buckle under the pressure of the fear weighing her down and the adrenaline slowly leaving her body, making her fall to the floor, smacking her head on the stone steps, and everything goes black.
⒴⒠⒜⒭ ⑴
Four days later, Jayla opens her eyes, seeing the natural light shining through and leans on her right elbow, looking around the room to see she's in the hospital wing with Madam Pomfrey sitting at her desk writing something. Jayla groans, feeling a sharp pain on the left side of her head and puts a hand to her head, feeling bandages wrapped around her head along with some on her hand. The young Heiress gains the nurse's attention, who gets up from her desk and walks over to her patients. "Welcome back, Miss Darkmore." Pomfrey greets the young girl while checking the bandages. "You gave us all a fright, you four." She unwraps the head bandage, checking the wound, and Jayla looks around, spotting Harry still unconscious in the bed next to hers with gifts and cards on the bedside table. She glances down at the end of her bed, seeing the same thing.
"Is Harry all right?" Jayla asks, looking at the boy.
"He's doing just fine." She assures the girl.
"Are Hermione and Ron okay, too?" The young Heiress questions as the nurse unwraps the bandages around her hand.
"They left the other day, both doing fine." Madam Pomfrey replies, and the hospital doors open, revealing Headmaster Dumbledore strolling inside. The Matron hurries over to him, and the pair whisper among themselves while Jayla looks to see Harry stirring awake. The two adults seem to notice, too, stopping their chat, and Dumbledore steps to Harry's bedside, seeing him waking up and putting on his glasses before sitting up.
"Good afternoon. Harry, Jayla. Ah, tokens from your admirers?" Dumbledore comments, staring at the cards and gifts at the foot of their beds.
"Admirers?" Harry questions with a frown.
"What happened down in the dungeons between you both and Professor Quirrell is a complete secret, so, naturally, the whole school knows." He informs them, and they smile. "Ah, I see your friend Ronald has saved you the trouble of opening your Chocolate Frogs." He mentions and they look to see all the boxes open on both their tables.
"Harry struggles with the Frogs, sir," Jayla remarks, earning a kind smile from the Headmaster.
"Ron was here? Is he all right? What about Hermione?" Harry asks frantically.
"Fine. They're both just fine." Dumbledore assures him, and the boy relaxes into his pillow.
"But, what happened to the Stone?" Jayla asks him, and Harry glances over at her, smiling in relief, which she returns before looking back at the Headmaster.
"Relax, dear girl. The Stone has been destroyed. My first Nicolas and I have a little chat and agreed it was best all around." He informs the children.
"But Flamel, he'll die, won't he?" Harry asks, and the older wizard sits on the end of his bed.
"He has enough Elixir to set his affairs in order. But yes, he will die." The Headmaster tells them, smiling at the amazement on their faces. "To ones as young as you both, I'm sure it seems incredible, but to Nicolas and Perenelle, it really is like going to bed after a very, very long day. After all, to the well-organised mind, death is but the next great adventure. You know, the Stone was really not such a wonderful thing. As much money and life as you could want! The two things must human beings would choose above all - the trouble is, humans do have a knack of choosing precisely those things which are worst for them." The two students lay there, lost for words. Dumbledore hums a little, smiling at the ceiling.
"How is it? I got the Stone, sir? One minute I was staring in the mirror, and the next…" Jayla asks him, confused, thinking back to the moment.
"Ah. You see, only a person who wanted to find the Stone, find it, but not use it, would be able to get it. That is one of my more brilliant ideas. And between you and me, that's saying something." Dumbledore explains, and she has to agree, smiling at him.
"Does that mean, with the Stone gone, I mean, that Voldemort can never come back?" Harry asks him, and Jayla feels herself flinch at the name even if she had faced off against him not long ago.
"Ah, I'm afraid there are ways in which he can return, Harry. Do you know why Professor Quirrell couldn't hear to have you touch him?" He asks the ravenette, who shakes his head. "It was because of your mother. She sacrificed herself for you, and that kind of act leaves a mark." Harry touches his scar at those words. "No, no, this kind of mark cannot be seen. It lives in your very skin."
"What is it?" Jayla asks for her friend, and both are curious about the answer.
"Love, Jayla, love." The Headmaster answers, patting Harry on the head before standing up and walking to the end of the bed with the gifts. "Ah. Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. I was most unfortunate in my youth to come across a vomit-flavoured one, and since then, I have lost my liking for them. But I think I could be safe with a nice toffee…." He takes out a brown coloured bean and eats it. "Mm. Alas. Earwax." The young Heiress giggles, looking at Harry, who smiles, and the Headmaster leaves them, allowing Madam Pomfrey to amble over to the boy and examine him. She gives the students the all-clear, and they leave the hospital wing in the uniforms that Hermione left for them.
⒴⒠⒜⒭ ⑴
Harry and Jayla walk out of the hospital wing, dressed and healthy, approaching the first floor with the stairwell balcony, Hermione and Ron talking at the top. The healthy students stop, spotting the injured pair, walking to the bottom and looking up at them as they lean over the side, looking down at their friends. "All right there, Ron?" Harry asks his best friend.
"All right, you?" Ron asks back.
"All right, Hermione?" He asks her.
"Never better." Hermione answers, and Jayla smiles, happy to see they're both safe and healthy.
"Well, just let you all know, I'm doing great too." Jayla remarks, making them look at her, and they share a laugh. The injured pair run up the stairs, joining their friends, and Hermione seems ready to fling her arms around her best friend, but the young Heiress is glad she holds herself back as her head is still sore from hitting the stone steps.
"Oh, Harry, Jayla, we were sure you were going to - Dumbledore was so worried -." Hermione exclaims, taking Jayla's uninjured hand.
"The whole school's talking about it," Ron informs them. "What really happened?" It's a rare occasion when the actual story is even more strange and exciting than the wild rumours. Harry and Jayla tell them everything. Quirrell, the Mirror of Erised, the Stone, and Voldemort. Ron and Hermione are a perfect audience, gasping at all the right places, and when they tell them what is under Quirrell's turban, Hermione screams out loud. "So the Stone's gone?" The ginger boy asks finally. "Flamel's just going to die?"
"That's what I said, but Dumbledore thinks that - what was it? - "To the well-organised mind, death is but the next great adventure"." Harry replies.
"I always said he was off his rocker." Ron jokes, looking quite impressed at how crazy his hero is.
"So what happened to you two?" Jayla asks them.
"Well, we got back all right." Hermione informs their friends. "I brought Ron round - that took a while - and we were dashing up to the owlery to contact Dumbledore when we met him in the Entrance Hall - he already knew - he just said "Harry's gone after him, hasn't he?" and hurtled off to the third floor with the other teachers."
"D'you think he meant you do it?" Ron questions. "Sending you your father's Cloak and everything?"
"Well," Hermione explodes. "If he did - I mean to say that's terrible - you could have been killed."
"No, it isn't." Jayla says thoughtfully. "He's a funny man, Dumbledore. I think he sort of wanted to give him a chance. I think he knows more or less everything that goes on here, you know. I reckon he had a pretty good idea we were going to try, and instead of stopping us, he just taught us enough to help. I don't think it was an accident. He let Harry find out how the mirror worked. It's almost like he felt he had the right to face Voldemort if he could…."
"Yeah, Dumbledore's off his rocker, all right." Ron says proudly. "Listen, you've got to be up for the end-of-year feast tomorrow. The points are all in, and Slytherin won. Of course - you missed the last Quidditch match, we were steamrolled by Ravenclaw without you - but the food'll be good."
"You always think about your stomach, Ronald." Jayla jokes, making the others laugh and Ron blush.
⒴⒠⒜⒭ ⑴
The Golden Quartet's first year at Hogwarts has ended, and Jayla has to say it's not going so great as they sit in the Great Hall for the end-of-year feast. Everyone dresses in their school uniforms with their classic black pointed hats, and the room is covered with green banners with snakes on them. Slytherin has won the House Cup. All the staff members, minus their former Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, sit at the High Table. Jayla sits between Hermione and Neville, facing Harry and Ron, when Professor McGonagall clinks her glass, making the chatter stop, and Dumbledore rises from his seat. "Another year gone. And now, as I understand it, the House Cup needs awarding, and the points stand thus. In 4th place, Gryffindor with 252 points." The Headmaster announces, and the Gryffindors sigh to themselves, grumbling in disappointment, clapping with minimal effort. Jayla spots Draco smirking over at them, and she grumbles under her breath. "3rd place, Hufflepuff, with 352 points." The Badgers and some of the other Houses applaud a little louder. "In 2nd place, Ravenclaw, with 426 points." The Ravens celebrate, but everyone knows what's coming next. "And in 1st place, with 472 points, Slytherin House." Cheers erupt from the Snakes' table, and Jayla shakes her head, looking at her friends.
"This is a joke." Jayla mutters, seeing Draco sneering over at their table. "I'll show him once I get my hands on him over the summer."
"Yes, yes, well done, Slytherin, well done, Slytherin. However, recent events must be taken into account. And I have a few last-minute points to award." Dumbledore interrupts the celebrations, making the students stare in confusion at the man, and Harry's head pokes up, looking at his friends. "To Miss Hermione Granger, for the use of cool intellect when others were in great peril, 50 points." Even if they're still in 4th place, everyone claps as Gryffindor moves up.
"Good job." Harry praises Hermione.
"I guess saving Ron's ass has some rewards." Jayla jokes, looking across at Ron, who grows the same shade of red as his hair.
"Second, to Mr Ronald Weasley, for the best-played game of chess…." Dumbledore continues, and Ron looks at Harry.
"Me?" Ron mouths, pointing to himself, and Harry nods back.
"You!" Harry mouths back.
"...that Hogwarts has seen these many years… 50 points." Dumbledore announces, and Jayla claps with everyone at the table.
"We're tied with Hufflepuff." Harry mutters, looking at the table, who don't seem to mind as they clap.
"And third to Miss Jayla Darkmore, for use of advanced Magic and a calm mind in the face of danger, 60 points." He announces, and she points to herself, winking at Harry, who laughs with the others as everyone claps. "And fourth, to Mr Harry Potter, for pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor House 60 points." Jayla claps and cheers with the others in the Great Hall.
"We're tied with Slytherin!" Hermione whispers to her friends, leaning on the table.
"And finally, it takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to your enemies but a great deal more to stand up to your friends. I award 10 points to Mr Neville Longbottom." The Headmaster announces, and the Gryffindor table erupts into cheers as Neville sits in shock while the table breaks out into loud cheers. "Assuming that my calculations are correct, I believe that a change of decoration is in order." He claps his hands, changing the green and silver banners into red and gold. "Gryffindor wins the House Cup!" The Great Hall breaks into cheers from the Gryffindor table and even the two other Houses, minus Slytherin. Jayla stands, throwing her hat into the air with the others in celebration.
"Neville!" Seamus shouts over the noise, shaking his hand as everyone congratulates the Golden Quartet on their last-minute points, they're minds seeming to change after they lost 150 points.