Chapter 35
14 May 1992 - 8:59 PM
Good evening, Mr. Potter. This is Professor Quirinus Quirrell, writing to you by way of Miss Granger's rather ingenious little parchment. This is what the muggles call - I believe - telephone! How utterly delightful, no?
But enough of that. I believe it's time we had a little chat.
Exactly Four Hours Earlier…
Hermione paused suddenly, her quill hovering over her parchment. She was currently in DADA class in the middle of an impromptu quiz, which Professor Quirrell had indicated was meant to simulate their final exam.
Oddly enough, the young Gryffindor witch had been experiencing a peculiar fuzziness in her mind the minute she'd started taking the quiz. Utilizing the little she'd learned from her Occlumency text, Hermione had gone through some self-meditative techniques, muting the fuzziness enough for her to concentrate on completing the quiz. Knowing of Quirrell's true nature, she'd feared that the man was legilimizing her thoughts, much like he'd done to Jim and Harry.
Glaring at the man, she noted that he wasn't looking at her (or any other student) at all. Rather, he was keenly reading a piece of parchment, brows furrowed in concentration. Though Hermione was sure he felt her pointed expression, he did not deem to make eye contact with her. Taking a few more deep breaths to calm her still cottony thoughts, Hermione continued on with her quiz, dutifully working her way through the questions until she reached the end. Unlike any other quiz she'd ever taken, there was a line requesting her signature of all things. She frowned at the oddity, but focusing too much attention made her feel oddly sluggish. Slowly, she signed as requested, and no sooner had she finished did her mind finally settle, and everything just felt… right.
Suddenly, Professor's Quirrell's silver bell began ringing rather cheerfully, signaling the end of class. Looking up from his parchment, Quirrell gave a sharp twirl of his wand, gathering all of the quizzes into a floating pile he gently guided onto his desk.
"A-alright, you are a-all dismissed. Y-you'll have your f-final g-g-grade tomorrow. Have a wonderful e-evening!" He gave a small wave and a smile, eyes momentarily flashing with a ratlike gleam as he watched his students - especially four completely oblivious Gryffindors - exit his class.
"Psst Hermione. Over here Hermione!" Turning to her right, the witch-in-question saw Jim Potter and Ronald Weasley frantically gesturing to her in a hidden alcove. With an internal roll of her eyes, Hermione approached them, pausing to genuinely smile at Neville as she felt him join her. Though Jim and Ron threw furtive glances Neville's way, they nonetheless said nothing rude.
"Well? What's going on?" asked Hermione.
"It's going to happen tonight," responded Jim, expression completely serious. Hermione exchanged a curious glance with a very confused Neville, neither knowing what on earth he was talking about.
"Exactly what is going to happen tonight?"
"The Stone," hissed Jim, "Snape is going to go after the Stone tonight!" Hermione resisted the urge to roll her eyes, annoyed that the two idiots still believed Snape was the culprit, in spite of already knowing that it was Quirrell who'd attempted to turn him to a bloody splat on the Quidditch turf.
"How do you know that?" asked Neville with narrowed eyes.
"We… we just know alright! Listen, Dumbledore's gone and there's no one else and we have to protect it!" Jim looked frantic, his expression mirrored by Ron.
"Wait what? Dumbledore's gone?! What do you mean Dumbledore's gone?!" asked Hermione, feeling a very latent sense of panic brewing deep within her.
"We told McGonagall before class that Snape was going to steal the Stone tonight and that Dumbledore needed to be there, but she told Ron and I that he was gone, and wouldn't be back until tomorrow afternoon." Jim rubbed a frustrated hand over his face, looking close to tears. Though he looked slightly green with worry, Ron was bravely maintaining a sense of calm. "Please Hermione, please Neville. We need your help, please. McGonagall won't listen to us and we have no one else left to help us, please."
And just like that, Hermione was filled with that same sense of rightness upon hearing his pleas. Turning to Neville, the two exchanged quick nods of agreement.
"Yes, we'll help you. Here's what we'll do…"
Exactly Three Hours Earlier…
Lily watched as all her necessary supplies gently packed themselves into her magically reinforced doctor's bag. She and Severus were going to begin his mother's treatment for her dementia, a process which was expected to take at least three consistent weeks. After months of experimentation, she'd finally succeeded in creating a hybrid medication potion composed of muggle and magical ingredients. Specifically, a tincture of donepezil, rivastigmine, and memantine, infused with a very potent draft of Wit-Sharpening potion.
For this particular treatment to be effective, each dosage would need to be mixed with the specific memory her dementia had impacted. Once the mixture was complete, it would be poured directly into a pensieve so Eileen could view and then absorb the repaired memory, which would seamlessly blend back into her mindscape. It was an extremely time consuming process, and she and Severus would be working through the night and much of the following morning to ensure the process went smoothly without any error.
Frowning lightly, Lily glanced down at her metal cuff, noting the ever-present golden glow of the krait symbol. Her parselward hadn't been activated for months, linked directly to her cuff. Had Quirrell breached the ward, her krait would have glowed green and vibrated, alerting her of his breach. She'd even ventured down to the Third Floor corridor to ensure the ward was still active, briefly conversing with Matilda to keep an extra eye out. Fortunately, Quirrell had been keeping a surprisingly low profile, but Lily had a nagging feeling that it wouldn't last for long.
'Well, no time like the present.' With that, Lily summoned the doctor's bag and bade Solon goodbye, before taking the Floo to the Prince Palace.
Exactly One Hour Earlier…
Meeting her friends in the thankfully sparse Gryffindor Common Room, Hermione confidently led them out, stopping in an alcove to huddle under Jim's invisibility cloak. Together, all four slowly trekked their way to the Third Floor corridor without incident.
They were greeted with the Cerberus, who looked a tad groggy but nonetheless still capable of ripping them all to chunks of flesh. Ripping off the cloak and stuffing it into his jean pocket, Jim pulled out, of all things, a wooden flute!
"What on earth is that for?" asked a bewildered Neville.
"Well according to Hagrid, Fluffy here likes a bit of music, helps put him to sleep. He gave me this flute for Christmas, and there's no time like the present." And with that, Jim played a surprisingly passable rendition of 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star', as three nervous students watched as the massive beast was lulled to sleep. Once it started snorting, Jim pocketed his flute and directed them to the already open trapdoor. Before they could proceed, Neville suddenly stopped and took a deep sniff, before turning to say:
"There's Devil's Snare down there. Very dangerous, it'll constrict us and strangle us to death if we just jump down." Three expressions of alarm met that statement. "Thankfully, they are extremely vulnerable to light and fire, so I'll go down there and clear a path for the rest of us. Make sure your wands are lit with Lumos when going through, just in case." And with that, Neville jumped down straight down the trapdoor, immediately releasing multiple Bluebell Flames that successfully cleared a path for the remaining three. The plants actively recoiled at the flames and their lit wands, leaving them untouched.
A minute or so later, they entered a small room filled with hundreds of winged keys that fluttered lazily by. A locked door was on the opposite side, and it seemed that one of the keys would be needed to unlock the door. A broom was hovering nearby, and putting two and two together, Jim utilized his Seeker abilities to gain the right key suited to the unique lock. Again, Hermione was struck by the oddness of there being a defense so keenly designed for a seeker. It seemed too convenient… too right. But then she shook off her concerns when Jim unlocked the door and the four made their way into the next room.
"Blimey!" Ron exclaimed, "it's a game of Wizard Chess!" The board was absolutely massive, filled with giant black and white pieces. A shudder of trepidation passed through Hermione upon realizing they'd have to play their way across. The game was completely barbaric in miniature scale, and she was fearful of the implications of their life-sized counterparts.
"Alright, we'll have to play our way across then," said Ron, bearing the most calculating expression Hermione had ever seen on his face. She was well aware of the boy's status as a burgeoning chess prodigy, and once more, she was struck by the oddness of there being yet another challenge that was so well-suited to the skillset of a member of their group. But just as before, her mind grew fuzzy when she focused too much attention and she shook those thoughts off.
"Alright, I'll be a knight," said Ron, walking to stand next to a white knight. "Neville, you'll be the kingside rook," he pointed to the piece and Neville dutifully assumed his position. "Jim, you'll be the king, and Hermione, you'll be the queen." The two scurried to stand by their pieces, and the game began. It was a dizzying blur of flying chunks of broken stone as many of the pieces were rendered to dust. Hermione hadn't a clue about chess, but their side seemed to be winning.
After some time, Ron declared that he would have to sacrifice the knight - meaning himself - to ensure that their king - Jim - would remain protected and thereby ensure their side's victory.
"Are you bloody mad?!" screamed Jim, bearing an expression of horrified shock mirrored on Hermione and Neville's faces.
"It's the only way mate!" Ron looked uncommonly serious, briefly closing his eyes before opening them and issuing the command. Hermione screamed in horror when the opposing queen charged at Ron, but at the last second, Neville cast the Levitation Charm on the screaming boy, lifting him out of the way of the attacking piece and setting him down gently by the side of the board.
"Well done, Neville," she'd said with no small amount of relief.
"Yeah!" he replied in excitement. "And I didn't even set him on fire!"
"Wait, WHAT?!" exclaimed Ron, turning slightly green. "Was that a thing that might have happened?!"
"Never mind!" said Hermione quickly. "Forget he said anything. Jim, take the king so we can get out of here."
Jim nodded and proceeded to do just that, all finally exhaling in relief when he removed he tossed aside his stone crown in defeat. Quickly, the quartet hurried to the next room and all balked at the already incapacitated troll, gagging at the horrendously foul stench of offal and troll blood that permeated the room. Quickly crossing that room, they finally arrived in the penultimate room, filled with a wall of roiling black flames and a small table filled with seven potion vials and a piece of parchment bearing a riddle.
Hermione snatched up the parchment and quickly read through, realizing it was a logic puzzle. Though she made quick work of it, she once more had to push down the ever growing feeling of it all being not right. Quite possibly, of it all being terribly wrong. Equally as worrisome was that there was only one potion to go forward and one to go back, which meant that two people would be stranded in this room until help arrived .. which would take a while. Or possibly forever, since in their seeming haste, they hadn't bothered to tell anyone of where they were going or exactly what they were doing. Upon further rumination, Hermione suddenly realized was entirely out of character for her. She hadn't even told Harry, and she keenly remembered promising that she'd tell him if Jim and Ron attempted to pursue Quirrell in his quest for the Stone!. But before she could further ruminate on that thought, Jim distracted her with an observation about the potion vials.
"Hang on, these are auto-refilling vials. My dad carries a set of these, him and all other aurors. They use them in the field to carry healing potions, draughts, all sorts of things. When you've completely emptied one, it refills exactly one minute later with more of the potion that gets summoned from a central reservoir at DMLE headquarters."
"That makes sense," said Neville. "It wouldn't do for a thief to figure out how to get past those flames and leave no way for a pursuer to go after him. Besides, if Quirrell or Snape or whoever has already been this way, then he must have used the right potion but none of them are empty. So who's going first?" He looked around at the other three with an expression of very put on joviality, though his eyes glittered with his nervousness.
"Me," said Jim somberly. "This ... this is my job. It always has been. Once I go through, I want each of you to take turns using the other potion to get out of here and bring help. If I can't figure out how to beat Snape," he glanced at Hermione as she loudly snorted, "or… maybe Quirrell, I guess, it's up to you to get the other teachers down here."
Without waiting for a response, the elder Potter brother downed the potion and went through the black flames. None of the others made any move towards the potion that would allow passage back through the purple flames. After exactly one minute, the potion vial Jim had drunk from refilled itself. Ron picked it up and said, "Jim is my friend and I'm going with him. You two… can stay here if you want." He tossed back the potion without so much as a flinch, before setting it back down and venturing straight into the black flames, carrying his wand like a sword.
Neville looked back at Hermione with an anguished expression, silently questioning her with what they should do. With a loud frustrated groan Hermione furiously scrubbed at her face and temples, wondering how on earth they'd gotten themselves into such a mess! They were supposed to be sensible for Merlin's sake! Try as she might to calm herself down, do her meditative breathing and just think, she found that her head hurt entirely too much. She suddenly looked up at the sound of Neville guzzling down the potion to go forward. Then, he put the empty vial back on the rack, picked up the vial to go back, and placed it in Hermione's hands, gripping them fiercely.
"Go back, Hermione. Please, go back. You're the smart one. I don't know how in Merlin's name we even got ourselves into this mess! But I know that you'll be able to help us out of it. Get out of here and bring us some backup. I'll help Jim and Ron hold the fort as long as possible." Then he hugged her fiercely before turning and running through the black flames leaving her alone.
Hermione stared at the flames for what seemed an eternity and then looked down at the potion in her hand, the one that would allow her to leave this place and summon help. Closing her eyes and taking as many deep meditative breaths as she could, the young witch willed herself to open the stopper and do what she knew was the proper and sensible thing to do. She went through all the mental motions of envisioning herself removing the cork, drinking the potion, and going back to find help. Any help. She continued to focus on the potion in her hand for several minutes even after the vial the others had used refilled itself. But alas, it was not meant to be. Despite the force of her will and the greatness of her intelligence, she just couldn't get herself to do the sensible thing. Rather, she could only focus on doing the right thing. So almost on autopilot, the supposed-to-be-sensible Hermione Granger swapped the potion in her hand for the one Neville had just used and gulped it down without a thought. Pulling her vine wand, she darted through the flames, bolstered by the feeling that she was doing the right thing.
The minute she crossed the flaming threshold, she realized that she had done the absolute wrong thing. Because at the other end was an uncommonly smug Professor Quirrell who smirked shamelessly at her gobsmacked expression. And at his feet were Jim, Ron, and Neville, all bound bearing varying expressions of grim fear. Without thinking, Hermione quickly reacted.
"FLIPENDO!" Her Knockback Jinx was immediately blocked by Quirrell, who then disarmed and bound her to lie alongside her housemates.
"Most impressive Miss Granger," said Quirrell quietly. "You're the only one who thought to use an offensive spell, and did so quite effectively! Well, not effectively, considering you're now bound and gagged at my feet." He giggled at his own joke, further terrifying the four captured Gryffindors. "I would award you House points, but I imagine that would be… redundant, given our current situation."
With an alarmingly cheeky smile, he pulled out a piece of parchment and waved it in front of her face. "I removed this from your person earlier in my class today, do remember to keep your rucksack properly closed. I'd noticed you using it to communicate with Potter Minor and Mr. Longbottom here. How does it work?" She stared stonily at him, eyes churning with growing rage. While terrified that Professor Quirrell would very well murder all four of them, she was angry that she'd allowed herself to be rendered powerless yet again.
"Miss Granger, if I have to ask you a second time, it will only be after I've introduced one of your friends to the Cruciatus Curse." Quirrell's kindly expression turned dangerous, and his eyes took on a noticeably…rat-like gleam. "I'm sure your friend Mr. Longbottom has mentioned it, given that it's the curse that rendered his parents into permanently infirmed catatonic vegetables." He gave an expression of patently false pity." Would you like for me to reunite Longbottom with his parents? Permanently?
"Don't tell him anything, Hermione," said Neville firmly. The blond looked furious and defiant in spite of the fear he felt.
"Ah, there's that delightful Gryffindor courage. How…nostalgic," Quirrell said with an almost fond smile, though his eyes glowed with malice. In a flash, he pulled his wand out and pointed it at Neville's head as the curse formed on his lips.
"STOP!" exclaimed Hermione. "Please… please don't hurt him." She took a deep breath to calm down her racing heart, lest she offended the monster and he gruesomely tortured them all. "I ... I'll tell you." And then she shakingly explained how the parchments operated.
"Thank you Miss Granger! I appreciate your cooperation! Oh do try not to look so disappointed Mr. Longbottom. I'm certain she believes that if I send a message to Potter Minor, he, being a sensible young Slytherin, will go straight to a teacher. What Miss Granger fails to appreciate is the flaw in Potter Minor's otherwise snakey Slytherin nature – when his friends are in danger, he quite loses all sense of proportion. Isn't that right, Potter Major?"
Jim gritted his teeth at Quirrell's familiarity, but he couldn't deny the truth of the madman's statement. Ever since the events of Boxing Day and their… confrontation, Jim was well aware that if Harry believed any of his friends were in danger, he'd pull on every one of his hidden Gryffindor reserves to rescue them.
Smiling with all his teeth at Jim's realization, Quirrell idly conjured a chair, sat down, and began sending messages, presumably to Harry. Then, after a few minutes, he pocketed the parchment and pulled out a silver pocket watch.
"Twenty minutes! That ought to be enough! We'll soon see just how much Gryffindor spirit Harry Potter has in him." With a casual wave, another set of ropes bound the struggling Gryffindors, along with gags. Then lightly reclining back on the two back legs of his chair, Professor Quirrell closed his eyes.
AN 1: Part 1 is finally done!
Next Up: Part 2, and the Dark Lord's reveal!