Longer chapter than usual since I wanted to get to the fight.
Chapter 10
Harry and Hermione had continued to act as normal as they could but they both would often watch the teachers' table during any meal and they'd feel relief when they saw Dumbledore was still there. The day after the detention Hedwig had returned carrying a package that contained a book about learning basic occlumency. Gringotts transferred the money to Flourish and Blotts to pay for the book, when they were done with their classes that day Harry pulled Hermione into his empty dorm where he handed her the book. Harry told Hermione about occlumency and how it would help her protect and improve her mind, Hermione was stunned to find out about this and was eager to start learning since it would take her mind off Quirrell and Voldemort.
Harry still worried about Quirrell or Snape finding a way past Fluffy so often after class he'd put on his invisibility cloak and head for the third floor and listen through the door. Thankfully he could hear the Cerberus on the other side, he even tried lightly knocking only to then hear powerful barks so he knew the dog would do a good job at guarding the stone. Harry questioned Fred and George if they ever figured out how to get past the Cerberus only for the twins to say nothing worked, Fluffy could sniff out any potion laced food, one head always remained focused so distractions wouldn't work, even trying to play with the Cerberus to gain his trust wouldn't work since it would become defensive when they approached the trap door, Harry and his friends felt relieved after hearing this.
When July arrived so did final exams, summer was quickly approaching and Harry hoped Dumbledore would return the stone to Flamel after the school year was over. Harry felt confident he'd pass since Hermione made sure to push all of them to study although Harry had to sometimes stop her from going overboard. She wanted them to study as much as Oliver wanted them to practice, thankfully they decided to quiz each other on each subject to prepare for the exams.
Harry and Hermione kept trying to tell their friends it was fine for them to use the dueling room without them but they all refused since they wanted them to join them. Thankfully they found an abandoned classroom on the sixth floor where they could all study together, while the room wasn't as good as the dueling room it had everything they needed to prepare for their exams. Harry glanced around the room as they all studied, he saw Ron was listening to Lilian as she explained a part of history, Blaise was helping Susan and Tracey with astronomy, Neville and Hannah were helping Fay and Sally-Anne with herbology, and lastly he, Hermione, and Daphne were going over the study guides they all made and fixing any mistakes they found.
Harry smiled at seeing all twelve of them were working with each other and helping, he remembered how a year ago he had no one but now he had his own group of friends. He hadn't had the chance to approach any Ravenclaws since most of them like to stay to themselves but he hoped maybe next year he could make more friends.
For the first week of July Harry and his friends had to take their exams, thankfully Harry had plenty of practice with his spells and thanks to all the studying they did the exam felt much easier. That Friday Harry and his friends were heading to the great hall for breakfast but as they ate Harry noticed something and pointed it out to his friends, they saw Dumbledore wasn't there. Ron spoke "Maybe he just decided to skip breakfast, I'm sure he'll show up for lunch."
Even Ron didn't sound convinced by his own words, the four decided to wait until lunch and hope that Dumbledore would return by then. They all soon arrived for potions for their final exam, when the exam started Harry couldn't help but notice something was different about Snape, he was smiling. Harry had never seen Snape smile when he wasn't punishing a student so Harry was immediately worried, he felt something was going to go wrong today.
Harry finished brewing a forgetfulness potion and handed it in, once they left the classroom he asked his friends if Snape seemed different and they said they noticed it too. The four started to wonder if Snape might have found a way to get past Fluffy so they suggested they'd go visit Hagrid.
Hagrid was happy to see them and after they started to talk they found out Hagrid had been in contact with Charlie about Norbert. The mention of the dragon made Harry ask who he got the egg from to which Hagrid retold the story about winning the egg from a stranger and explaining after raising Fluffy a dragon shouldn't be too difficult. The four friends looked worried at Hagrid mentioning Fluffy and Neville asked if the stranger asked about Fluffy, Hagrid told them how he told the stranger the best way to calm Fluffy down was to play music for him and he'd go to sleep. The four looked at each other now worried as Hagrid said he shouldn't have said that.
The four quickly returned to the castle now worried Snape or Quirrell might try to steal the stone, they decided to wait first to see if Dumbledore was at lunch before they decide to tell anyone. When it was finally time for lunch they arrived and kept an eye on the door and the teachers' table hoping Dumbledore would show up, they felt too worried so they didn't have much of an appetite. Lunch soon ended and Dumbledore hadn't shown up, they decided to go ask Professor McGonagall where Dumbledore was.
Knocking on the deputy headmistress's door they heard "Enter." McGonagall saw four of her students showed up and asked "How may I help you?"
Harry asked "Professor we were wondering if the headmaster was here?"
"The headmaster was called away for important business at the ministry so he won't be back until tomorrow."
Their fears were now confirmed, Harry asked "Why is it taking him that long to get back, shouldn't the floo get him there right away?"
"The headmaster thought it was a beautiful day to enjoy the scenery and decided to head to the ministry by broom."
"Broom, really!? Most adults know how to apparate and the floo can take you there instantly, why would he choose a slower way to travel when it's important?!" Harry finished yelling in his mind before worrying that with Dumbledore gone this meant the stone was vulnerable.
Hermione spoke "Professor we think that someone is trying to steal the philosopher's stone!"
McGonagall's eyes widened before they narrowed and she asked "What do you mean someone is trying to steal the stone, who, and how do you know about the stone?"
Harry spoke up "We found out about Nicolas Flamel and the Cerberus on the third floor and we think Snape or Quirrell are trying to steal the stone."
McGonagall cut in "That is enough, the stone is perfectly safe and both Professor Quirrell and Professor Snape are helping guard the stone, you four know that the third floor corridor is forbidden to any student!"
Hermione spoke up "Please Professor, Professor Quirrell causes Harry's scar to hurt from time to time and we know Professor Snape had his leg bitten by the Cerberus, one or both of them are trying to steal the stone and they waited until the headmaster left for them to-"
"Enough!" McGonagall shouted causing Hermione to stop, McGonagall pinched the bridge of her nose and thought "I was hoping I wouldn't have to deal with another generation of marauders, whatever prank it is Harry and his friends are trying to pull is going too far." McGonagall took a deep breath and looked at the four and spoke "I will not hear of any more accusations being made about two teachers, both Professors are trusted and they, along with the rest of the heads of houses, helped with the security of the stone, you four aren't even supposed to know about the stone anyways, if I hear one more word about you accusing a teacher of stealing the stone then you four will be in detention for the remainder of the year and you will lose fifty points each!"
The four students looked shocked at what she just said, Hermione tried to speak one more time "B-but-"
Harry held up his hand and stopped her, McGonagall saw a look of hurt on Harry's face as he spoke "We're sorry Professor, we'll leave it alone."
The other three followed Harry out the room and closed the door behind them, McGonagall shook her head and thought "I expected better from them, making such serious accusations about two of their teachers, the stone should be safe."
The four friends walked away from McGonagall's office, once they were far enough Hermione asked "Harry why are we leaving, shouldn't we try and convince her?"
"She won't believe us even if we accepted the punishment, trying to convince her would only waste our time even more since she won't believe anything we say." Harry saw the look McGonagall gave them and he'd seen it before, whenever he tried to tell an adult the truth they would give him the same look before calling him a liar.
Neville asked "What do we do about the stone then?"
Before Harry could answer they turned the corner and ran into Snape, the potions professor asked "What are you four doing inside on such a lovely day, wouldn't you four prefer to spend your time outside now that exams are over?"
Harry saw Snape look at him but still not make eye contact, Snape then turned to Hermione, he noticed Hermione seemed a bit surprised and slightly shook her head before looking away, Snape seemed surprised as well. Snape turned to look at Neville before then turning to Ron and staring at him a moment longer before speaking "One would think you four were up to something."
Harry spoke "No Professor, we were just on our way to the common room to relax after exams."
Harry walked away with his friends following him, no one said a word along the way until they made it back to the common room, once they were alone Harry spoke "Snape knows we know."
Ron asked "How are you so sure?"
Harry looked at Hermione before saying "I could see it in his eyes, he knows that we know someone is going to try and steal the stone."
Hermione nodded, with her recent practice in occlumency she felt how Snape tried to look in her mind so she quickly broke eye contact to stop him. Neville asked "What do we do then?"
Harry remained silent for a moment as he thought of what to do, if both of them are working for Voldemort then once they get the stone he will return, Harry made his decision and said "I'm going after the stone."
"What!?"
Harry could see all three were shocked by his decision, he decided to explain "The teachers aren't going to believe us and Dumbledore won't be back until tomorrow so the stone might be stolen by then, if I don't do something then Snape or Quirrell will end up bringing back Voldemort."
They all flinched and Ron said "Please don't say his name."
Neville asked "Are you sure Harry, shouldn't we tell a prefect or something?"
"They won't believe us, they'll just go to the teachers and we'd get in trouble, it's better if I go and try and stop them from stealing the stone."
"I'll go with you!"
Harry turned to Hermione surprised that she'd say that, Harry spoke "Hermione you can't, you could end up-"
Hermione cut him off "I know it's dangerous and it's stupid that you're thinking of going alone, we've been practicing with our spells since our first day and we've improved a lot because we worked together, if we both go then we'll have a better chance at stopping Quirrell or Snape."
Before Harry could speak he heard Neville say "I'm going too." Harry turned to Neville looking surprised, Neville explained "If the three of us go then we'll have a better chance at stopping them, I-if they're trying to bring back you-know-who then we need to stop them even if it means we might get expelled."
Ron seemed hesitant but he spoke up "I'll go too, if we stick together then I'm sure we'll stop them, besides we're Gryffindors doing something brave and stupid is who we are."
Ron's attempt at a joke managed to lighten the mood a bit, Harry saw all three were serious about joining him, while he would have preferred they weren't put in danger he couldn't help but feel happy they were helping him, he smiled at seeing he had three amazing best friends. Harry nodded and said "Alright, tonight after everyone goes to bed we'll meet back up in the common room and head out."
The four agreed and decided to pass the time, Hermione pulled out a book to read while Neville and Ron decided to play chess, Harry went up to the dorm to try and relax. Harry rested on his bed while he stared up at the ceiling, he remembered back to when they saw that cloaked figure in the forest that was most likely Quirrell and how he deflected all of Hermione's spells and even avoided Frictionless, he hoped they'd stand a better chance this time.
Harry was pulled away from his thoughts when he heard tapping coming from the window, he turned to see Hedwig was on the other side. Harry let her in and Hedwig asked "Harry what's wrong, I've been feeling how anxious you've been feeling all day, is everything alright?"
Harry explained to Hedwig what was going on and she seemed worried for Harry, Hedwig asked how she could help when Harry got an idea, he pulled out a piece of parchment and wrote a quick message before turning to Hedwig and telling her "Hedwig, I need you to deliver this to Dumbledore as fast as you can, if he can get the message and return soon enough then hopefully he can handle the issue before we have to."
Hedwig agreed and seemed determined, she held out her leg for Harry to tie the message too. Once she was ready Hedwig took off hoping she could reach Dumbledore in time, Harry watched her leave and thought "Good luck Hedwig."
When it was time for dinner the four friends showed up but they remained silent since they were still worried about what was going to happen. They managed to eat enough to fill their stomachs but they kept watching the teachers' table hoping Dumbledore would return already but sadly his chair remained empty the entire meal. The four returned to the common room and waited for everyone to head to bed before they would finally leave, once it was late enough they went to their beds and closed their curtains until they knew their dormmates were asleep.
The sound of snoring told Harry Dean and Seamus were asleep, he got out of bed and reached into his trunk to pull out the invisibility cloak and a flute to play to put Fluffy to sleep. Glancing over he saw Ron and Neville got up as well, the three boys made sure to keep their curtains closed in case Dean and Seamus wake up. The three boys nodded at each other and snuck down to the common room, once there they waited a few minutes until Hermione showed up. Once all four were there they were about to head out when they heard "Where do you think you're going?"
Turning around they saw Fay and Sally-Anne showed up, Hermione asked "What are you two doing here?"
Sally-Anne answered "We've been worried about you, all day you've seemed more nervous than usual so we knew it wasn't because of the exams, why are you four sneaking out at night?"
Hermione tried to think of something to say "I, uh, we were, uh."
Fay spoke up "Hermione, please tell us, we're friends aren't we so can't you trust us?"
Hermione looked hurt by her words and didn't know what to say, thankfully Harry spoke up "One of the teachers is going to break into the forbidden third floor corridor to steal something."
Everyone turned to Harry in surprise, Fay and Sally-Anne both asked "What?"
Harry continued "I asked Hermione to not tell you because we didn't want more people to know and get hurt but recently we learned what's being guarded there, with Dumbledore gone one of the teachers is going to try and steal it and they wouldn't believe us when we told them so we're going to try and stop them."
Fay asked "Which teacher?"
"It's either Snape or Quirrell, we aren't sure which one so we are going to try and stop them."
The two girls looked at each other before Fay said "Let us come with you."
"You can't, the four of us can barely fit under my invisibility cloak, if you two join us then we're more likely to get caught."
Both girls looked upset but they could understand why they couldn't go, Hermione spoke up "You can help us a different way, if we're gone for too long then we need you to tell a teacher."
Both girls agreed and said they'd inform McGonagall only for Harry to say "No, not Professor McGonagall, tell Professor Flitwick instead."
Sally-Anne asked "Why Professor Flitwick, wouldn't Professor McGonagall be the better choice?"
Harry shook his head "She won't believe you, she'll likely just punish you and send you back to the tower, Professor Flitwick is more likely to believe you if you tell him someone is trying to steal the stone."
In the end both girls agreed, before they left Sally-Anne hugged Hermione and said "Be careful out there Hermione."
Once she let go Fay walked up to Hermione and said "Good luck out there, if it is Snape then remember he graded my homework as acceptable so kick his ass for me."
"Language Fay!"
Hermione shook her head at seeing Fay would still speak like that from time to time but she was a bit more use to it by now and smiled at her friend before the two hugged. Once they were ready Harry said "Remember if we aren't back in an hour then go wake up Professor Flitwick."
The two girls agreed and the four friends left to head for the third floor. Other than a few ghosts the four friends didn't run into anyone on the way there, they soon reached the door Fluffy was behind, Neville unlocked it and slowly opened the door, inside they heard snoring and the sound of a harp playing. They walked in and saw Fluffy for the first time and they understood why they used him to guard the stone. Fluffy was a huge Cerberus and Harry wondered how they got him in there in the first place, Fluffy looked peaceful while he was asleep but they could tell if he was awake he could easily tear them apart.
Looking around the room they saw a harp that was charmed to continuously play and they knew Quirrell or Snape were already after the stone. They looked until they found the trapdoor but they saw Fluffy had one of his paws on the door, they tried to push the paw off but it was too heavy for the four of them to move. Harry started to wonder what to do but then he got an idea, taking out his wand he pointed it at the paw and said "Wingardium leviosa."
They saw Fluffy's paw move slightly but it still wasn't enough, Hermione was about to help when suddenly they all realized they heard the room go quiet. They turned to see the harp stopped playing and Fluffy started to stir, the three heads sniffed the room and they started to let out a growl that showed their sharp teeth. Harry stopped the spell and grabbed his flute before he started to play and it seemed to calm Fluffy down enough that he went back to sleep.
Harry continued to play but he looked over at his friends and they could tell they had to use the spell, Hermione, Neville, and Ron all pointed their wands and cast "Wingardium leviosa!"
Even with magic the paw was heavier than they thought but slowly they were moving it out of the way. Once the paw was completely off the trapdoor they dropped the paw and Hermione opened the door. They looked down and saw it was too dark to see anything, before they could think of a way to see what was down there Ron decided to jump in. They listened before they heard Ron yell "It's fine, there's something down here to cushion our fall!"
The three looked at each other before Neville jumped in next, Hermione followed right after, once all three of his friends were in Harry stopped playing and before he jumped in he saw Fluffy start to wake up. Harry quickly jumped in and landed on something soft, he was able to see his friends and asked "Are you guys ok?"
Neville answered "We're fine but try not to move, stay as relaxed as you can."
Ron asked "Why?"
"We landed on Devil's snare."
Harry realized he could feel the plant move underneath him, he almost started to panic but was able to take a few deep breaths before he felt the plant relax its hold on him. For Ron however he started to panic and the plant started to tangle itself around him, Hermione called out "Ron, try to relax!"
Ron couldn't relax since he didn't know much about devil's snare so he didn't know that relaxing would cause the plant to release its hold on him. Neville saw the plant was strangling Ron more so he grabbed his wand and called out "Close your eyes!" The other three closed their eyes and Neville lifted his wand and yelled "Lumos solem!"
A light as bright as sunlight came from Neville's wand and the plant started to release its hold on them and retreat to escape the light. All four fell to the ground below, thankfully it wasn't too high up, Neville canceled the spell and they opened their eyes before Hermione said "Ron, devil's snare releases you if you relax instead of panic!"
"How was I supposed to know that!?"
"It was in the study guide we made!"
Harry cut in to stop the argument "Come on we need to continue, we don't know if Snape or Quirrell have reached the stone yet."
They walked down the path before they came across a door, opening it they walked into a huge room that had light so they could see better. Observing the room they noticed small flying creatures above them but they also saw a door across the room. They moved slowly in case the flying creatures tried to attack them but soon they reached the next door, they tried to unlock it only to see the lock was magically resistant against any unlocking charm. Harry got an idea and reached into his pockets only to remember he left the hairpin back in his trunk. They glanced around the room and saw a broom was there and when they looked closely at the flying creatures they realized they were actually flying keys.
Hermione and Neville couldn't fly confidently enough to try and catch the key they need, while Ron probably could he agreed Harry was a better flier than him so Harry would be the one to fly. They all looked around until they noticed a key with a bent wing that looked bulkier than the others so they realized it was the key they needed. Harry got on the broom and pushed off but as soon as he did he noticed the keys act differently, suddenly they all swarmed around the key they needed and they realized the other keys were protecting it. Harry flew up and watched the swarm closely until he noticed the key they needed was flying around in the swarm so he waited until it got close to the edge then moved to grab the key however everything went wrong.
The keys suddenly went wild and attacked Harry and he felt some of them give him small cuts, Harry quickly pulled back and he saw the swarm return to protect the key they needed. Harry decided to test something and moved slowly closer to the swarm and when he got a few feet away the swarm started to go crazy again so Harry pulled back and the keys calmed down. Harry didn't know what to do until Hermione called out "Harry, try throwing something, it might distract them!"
Harry reached into his pockets and pulled out his flute, Harry didn't know what else to throw so he hoped this would work. Harry thought "Sorry Hagrid." Harry waited until he spotted the key they needed, once he saw it he threw the flute to the opposite side and thankfully the keys went crazy and flew to attack the flute. Harry pushed the broom to its fastest speed and grabbed the key they needed, looking back he saw the keys destroyed the flute and started to follow him. Harry flew around to avoid the keys but he wondered something, he held the key out to the side and saw the others slowly shift to that side and he realized they were following the main key.
Harry yelled out "Go to the door, I need to make some distance first then I'll throw the key, open it before the rest can attack you!"
All three moved closer to the door and Hermione yelled "We're ready!"
Harry flew far enough before turning back to their direction, he didn't want the key to fly off so Harry brought it to his mouth and bit the wings off. The key stopped moving and became a normal key so Harry threw it towards his friends. Neville caught the key and quickly put it in the lock and opened the door, they pushed their way in and Harry quickly followed after. The three slammed the door shut and heard all the keys collide into the door but thankfully none of them got through.
Hermione helped Harry up and asked "Are you ok?"
Nodding, Harry said "Yeah, it's just a few light cuts."
Hermione ripped off parts of her sleeves and used them to cover some of the cuts on Harry. Once Harry was bandaged up the four continued forward, they realized the last two were put there by Professor Sprout and Professor Flitwick so now all that was left was McGonagall, Snape, and Quirrell. Walking through the hall they came into another large room and torches lit up the room to reveal a giant chess set. At first they tried to walk through only to stop when they noticed the chess pieces start to take out some weapons, once they stepped back the pieces put their weapons away.
Having no choice, they had to play but there was a problem, Ron tried to tell the pieces to move but they remained still. Neville noticed writing on the back of one of the pieces and they saw it said 'All players in the room must take the role of a piece', they saw it was written on all the pieces so they had to take their own role. Ron, being the best at chess, assigned all of them their own role, Harry was made the king, Hermione the queen, Neville a rook, and Ron was a knight, once they all had their own roles Ron ordered one of the pawns to move and soon they saw the pawn was destroyed.
Knowing that he and his friends were in danger Ron gulped as he needed to carefully think of every move he made otherwise he and his friends would be hurt or killed. The game continued for a while as Ron carefully thought of every move he could make, he had managed to keep his friends safe however Ron hesitated when he saw the only available move left to make. Harry saw the move and said "Ron don't! You don't have to do this, I'm sure we can find a way around it!"
Ron took a deep breath and said "We probably can but we don't have the time to try, if Quirrell or Snape get the stone then they'll bring back you-know-who, we don't have time to waste." Ron looked at his friends and said "You guys need to go on without me, you're better at magic than I am, I've hardly used the dueling room to practice while you guys went there almost every day so I know you guys are better at magic than I am, I'll be counting on you guys."
Ron took a deep breath and ignored the protest his friends were giving him, he ordered his piece to move and just as he thought the queen moved to take him out but created an opening for one of his friends to checkmate the king. The queen attacked Ron and destroyed the horse he was on and knocked him to the ground. The queen grabbed Ron and dragged him to the side before throwing him and likely hurting him more. Harry stopped Neville and Hermione from moving to help him since they were still playing the game, Harry told Neville to finish the game, once Neville moved he checkmated the king and caused him to drop his crown.
The three ran off the board and rushed to Ron to see he was unconscious, bleeding, and they thought his arm might be broken. Harry and Neville used torn pieces of their clothes to cover the wounds that were bleeding and to make a sling for his arm, once they were done Neville said "I need to get Ron out of here, you two go on ahead."
Harry asked "Are you sure?"
Neville nodded and said "Yeah, you two are better at magic than I am, Ron needs help so I'll get him to the hospital wing."
Harry and Hermione agreed and continued forward while Neville tried to take Ron back. Harry and Hermione entered the next room but they stopped when they smelled a horrible smell. The two covered their noses wondering where that smell was coming from, as they walked into the room they noticed something laying in the middle of the room, when they got close they stopped when they saw it was a mountain troll.
The two kids immediately pulled out their wands and slowly approached the troll, they could see it looked bigger and stronger than the one they faced in the bathroom. They got close but the troll still didn't move, they quickly moved past it but when they looked back they saw it still wasn't moving. The two were confused until Harry noticed the troll was completely still and he hadn't seen it raise its chest at all, he realized the troll was dead. Harry pointed this out to Hermione and she realized he was right but what confused them was that they couldn't see anywhere where the troll might have been killed. They couldn't see a single cut, no bruise where it might have been hit, the troll looked like it was healthy but somehow it just fell over dead.
The two continued through the room until they reached the entrance to the next room, they saw the next room looked mostly empty except for a table with seven different sized potions on it. Slowly they walked in and wondered what might be waiting for them in there but when they finally got past a certain point suddenly black flames erupted and completely blocked the entrance to the next room. The two kids jumped when they heard the same behind them, they turned to see purple flames were blocking their only exit. The two kids looked around wondering if something else would happen but after a moment they decided to approach the table where they found a piece of parchment.
Hermione picked up the parchment and read it, Harry read it over her shoulder and looked confused but then Hermione smiled and said "I got it, it's a riddle and the answer is easy to see, three of these are filled with poison, two of them are filled with wine, one potion makes you immune to the purple flames and one makes you immune to the black flames!"
Hermione pointed out which was which until she stopped at two and they realized the smallest one would help them get through the black flames but it was small enough that it was barely one gulp. The two realized one would have to go forward while the other would have to go back, Harry reached for the two potions and handed Hermione the bigger one and said "Go and warn the teachers, I… I'll go and try and slow down whoever is trying to steal the stone."
Hermione had a few tears appear in her eyes as she realized Harry would have to go alone, Harry saw this and tried to reassure her "Hey it'll be ok, I was lucky enough to survive V- you-know-who when he tried to kill me, maybe I'll get lucky again."
Hermione took hold of Harry's hands and said "Don't sell yourself short Harry, you're a great wizard."
Harry realized she was trying to reassure him, if he was being honest with himself he was terrified of going through those flames to face whoever was there but he knew he needed to. Harry responded back "I'm not as good as you."
Hermione seemed surprised and said "Me! Books and cleverness! That's what I am but with you there's so much more, I only became this good because you were there to help me, I never would have been this good if it was just me. you told me before I made you a better wizard well the same is true for me, you made me a better witch. When I'm with you I see there are so many more important things than books and cleverness like friendship, bravery, and l… and lo…" Hermione felt the word was on the tip of her tongue but she felt she couldn't say it, instead she threw her arms around Harry and said "Oh Harry, just be careful!"
Hermione hugged Harry tightly and Harry hugged her back, Harry was surprised to see just how important he was to Hermione, he never felt important to anyone before. Harry tightened the hug and said "I'll be back Hermione, I'll come back to you, we make each other better so when I come back let's keep making each other better."
Hermione buried her face in Harry's shoulder and nodded, neither one wanted to separate but they knew they had to. Once they pulled away from each other Harry took out the cloak and handed it to Hermione and said "Here, I get the feeling you'll need this more than I will."
Hermione took the cloak and they both drank their potion, Harry turned to face the flames but before he could walk forward Hermione called to him "Harry!" Harry turned to her and to his surprise Hermione leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. The kiss lingered for a moment before she pulled back, she blushed but said "For luck."
Hermione turned to the purple flames and left but as she was about to walk through she glanced back and saw Harry staring at her, slightly opened mouth as he placed his hand on where she kissed him. Harry saw Hermione go through the flames but his mind was still on the kiss on his cheek, he lightly touched where she kissed him and he wondered why did it feel like a comforting warmth. Harry gave a small smile before saying "Thanks." Harry turned to the flames and held on tightly to his wand as he stepped forward to face whoever was on the other side.
Harry stepped through the flames but didn't feel any heat, he almost thought the flames felt cold, once he stepped through he saw the final room, glancing around he saw there were drapes hanging from the ceiling around the entrance and there were rolls of columns lining the room but then he focused on a familiar mirror in the room with a man wearing a turban standing in front of it.
"Quirrell, so you are the one trying to steal the stone!"
Harry heard slow clapping before Quirrell turned around and said "Congratulations Mr. Potter, I thought I had acted well enough to trick everyone but it seems you were not easily fooled."
Harry saw he no longer stuttered, he stated instead of asked "You were the one who tried to kill me during my first quidditch match, you were the one killing unicorns in the forest, and you let that troll in on Halloween while everyone was at the feast."
"Correct Mr. Potter, five points to Gryffindor, I would have succeeded in making you fall to your death if Severus hadn't countered my jinx and gave your team enough time to realize you were in trouble, I would have gotten the stone if Severus didn't chase after me when I went to the third floor during all the confusion, and if that filthy centaur hadn't shown up when it did I would have killed you and your mudblood friend!"
Harry was surprised to hear Snape was trying to save him but then he glared when he heard him call Hermione that word, Harry was about to speak when Quirrell spoke first "No matter, you are just in time to witness when I retrieve the stone for my master, now Potter…" Quirrell lifted his hand but he wasn't holding a wand, "Be patient and observe."
Quirrell snapped his fingers and suddenly the drapes from the ceiling came down and wrapped themselves around Harry, Harry was shocked but managed to hold onto his wand but he felt the drapes were too tight around him for him to move. Harry was left stunned and worried, he just saw Quirrell perform wandless magic. Quirrell turned back to the mirror and looked around it and said "I don't understand, I can see myself in the mirror, I am presenting the stone to my master but how do I get it, do I need to shatter this thing to get it!?"
Harry tried to struggle out of the drapes while Quirrell was distracted but then he heard a familiar hissing voice speak "Use the boy."
Harry wondered where that voice came from but then he heard Quirrell say "Potter, come here!" Quirrell waved his wand and the drapes fell to the ground, he kept his wand focused on Harry and said "Don't try anything, otherwise the result will be quite painful."
Harry managed to slip his wand back into his pocket and slowly approach, when he was close enough Quirrell grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him to the mirror and asked "What do you see?"
Harry looked into the mirror but he let his mind wander "Quirrell just snapped his fingers and the drapes wrapped around me, was that a different version of Incarcerous since it wasn't ropes, but he had to use his wand to drop it, does that mean his knowledge of wandless magic is limited?"
Harry was pulled from his thoughts when Quirrell jabbed his wand into Harry's neck and said "I asked what do you see!?"
Harry focused on the mirror and once again he saw his family appear, he saw those two men appear again, and once again he saw his friends appear however he noticed this time Hermione was holding onto him and she was holding something in her hand. Harry saw it was a strange rock that was the mixture of red and orange and he realized it must be the philosopher's stone. Hermione winked at him and placed the rock into his pocket and Harry felt a weight appear in that same pocket, he realized he had the stone.
Harry realized Quirrell was becoming impatient so he spoke "I can see my friends, my family, they're all together supporting me."
Quirrell grew angry and tossed Harry back making him fall to the ground as he refocused on the mirror to try and figure out how to get the stone. Harry got up and saw he might be able to escape, he was about to move when he suddenly felt his scar twitch in pain, he quickly put up his shields but then he heard the same voice speak "The boy lies, he has the stone!"
Quirrell turned to him and pulled out his wand as Harry did the same, the two stood still for a moment as they waited for who would make the first move but then the same voice spoke "Let me speak to the boy."
"Master you aren't strong enough!"
"I have waited ten years for this, I will not wait a second more."
Quirrell seemed to turn from worry to relaxed as he spoke "Yes master."
Quirrell turned around and started to unwind the turban and let it fall to the ground, Harry noticed something was under it and when the last of it fell Harry stepped back in horror as he saw a face was on the back of Quirrell's head. The face started to move and slowly open its eyes and Harry saw red eyes staring back at him, he realized who this was and whispered "Voldemort."
The face spoke in the familiar voice "Harry Potter, I have waited so long to finally meet you. Look at what you did to me, look at what you reduced me to, for ten long years I was nothing more than a wraith that was unable to interact with anything physical unless I possessed a living creature! For ten long years I was reduced to a mere fraction of my power because of you!"
Harry could hear the anger in his voice, he had his hand ready on his wand and said "You did that to yourself when you murdered my parents and tried to kill me!"
"Ah yes, James and Lily, I still remember that day as though it had just happened, James had the right breeding and I could have even seen him becoming a member of my inner circle if only he hadn't decided to dirty his proud family with a mudblood." Harry glared at the mention of that hated word but then his glare turned to horror and disgust as suddenly Quirrell started to let out painful yells as the sound of bones breaking echoed in the chamber. Harry saw Quirrell's body was shifting as a way to make it easier for Voldemort to move as he controlled the body, soon the sound stopped and Voldemort faced Harry and continued "For a mudblood Lily was special, I would have spared her life if only she had stood aside, instead she cried and begged me for mercy, she would have been allowed to live and rewarded if she had handed you over."
Voldemort's face softened and he spoke "I know you miss them Harry, what if I told you there was a way for me to bring them back?"
Harry's face turned from anger to surprise as he asked "What do you mean?"
"There is a way for me to bring them back, for you to be reunited with them, I would spare your life and their lives if you agree to work with me.
I have seen glimpses in your mind Harry, even if it was just of your early life, I know how you have been treated. You are alone with no family to love you, you feel as though you have no home merely a prison for you to return to, there are none who show even the slightest amount of care for you, you have no one. Answer me this Harry, are you happy living in the muggle world?"
That question made Harry think about the Dursleys and everything they put him through, the school where he was bullied, how everyone looked at him with disgust and ignored his suffering and believed the worst in him, the only joy Harry could think of from the muggle world was finding the journal.
Voldemort could see the boy was hesitant and continued "It did not have to end the way it had, we don't have to fight, if you accept my offer then I can promise you that you will be reunited with your parents and I will not harm you. Hand me the stone Harry, if you join me then I can promise you that you will never return to those muggles, you will be allowed to stay in the wizarding world, I will even promise to not harm those you care for. Understand that I do not want to be your enemy Harry, let us work together and I can reunite you with your family."
Harry seemed to hesitate at the offer he was just given, he felt he should reject it but the idea sounded appealing to him, he wouldn't have to go back to where he keeps suffering, he wouldn't have to leave the wizarding world, Harry didn't know what to do. Looking up Harry looked at Voldemort but then noticed the mirror behind him and he saw his family, his friends, they all smiled at him and Harry realized what he had to do. Harry thought back to when he read in the journal about everything that happened in the war, Harry then spoke "When you say we can work together do you mean you expect me to join you in continuing the war?"
Voldemort's eyes narrowed as Harry continued "I will never join you, I know your word can't be trusted! you said you intended to kill me so what's stopping you from completing your goal once you have a body again, you're nothing more than a psychotic madman who will tell any lie he can just to get what he wants, I would rather die than join you!"
Voldemort glared and said "It seems you're not as stupid as I thought. Avada kedavra!"
Harry quickly jumped to the side and avoided the green curse, he pulled out his wand and cast "Expelliarmus!" Voldemort deflected the spell only to hear "Incendio!"
Raising his wand Voldemort blocked the flames and spoke "Your mudblood friend already tried that against me."
Harry didn't stop and continued to fire expelliarmus, diffindo, jelly legs, and leg lockers but Voldemort continued to deflect them and he seemed to grow bored. Harry slowly moved back towards one of the columns in case he'd need to take cover, with what he had planned he might need it in case it failed, the moment Harry saw Voldemort grow bored he raised his wand and closed his eyes and cast "Lumos solem!"
The sudden bright light caught Voldemort off guard and blinded him, he yelled as he covered his eyes, Harry stopped the spell then cast "Expelliarmus!"
The red spell hit and Voldemort's wand went flying out of his hand, Harry smiled but the smile vanished when Voldemort raised his hand and cast "Accio wand!" Harry saw the wand fly back to Voldemort's hand, despite having been blinded Voldemort pointed his wand in Harry's direction. Harry was caught off guard by the wandless magic Voldemort performed and didn't move until he saw he was aiming for him, they both raised their wands to cast.
"Expelliarmus!"
"Crucio!"
Voldemort cast first and for just slightly more than one second Harry experienced the worst pain he ever felt in his life, he collapsed and screamed as his nerves flared up and screamed out in pain. Thankfully the spell stopped as his spell hit Voldemort and disarmed him, Harry heard Voldemort repeat the spell "Accio wand!" Harry forced his body to move and managed to hide behind the column just as he heard "Avada kedavra!"
The green curse hit the column and shattered part of it into stones, Harry felt his hands shaking badly and he tried to calm himself down enough to focus. The pain lingered but Harry was able to calm enough to focus on the fight, Harry knew the chances of him overpowering Voldemort with magic was nonexistent since Voldemort had years of experience and knowledge Harry didn't have. One thought terrified him as he realized this was just a fraction of his power and he feared what Voldemort would be like at full power.
"Bombarda!"
Harry's instincts told him to run so he forced himself to run to the next column as the spell destroyed the one he was just at, he kept running to the next one and ignored the chunks of rock that hit his back.
"Crucio!"
Harry jumped and managed to dive behind another column in time to avoid the spell, he was breathing heavily as Voldemort called out "I grow tired of playing this game Potter, I have waited for the day I could kill you for what you did to me and I will make sure you suffer as I had suffered before I kill you!"
Harry sat up with his back to the column as he heard Voldemort's footsteps, with the only other noise in the chamber being the sound of fire crackling the footsteps seemed to echo, when he heard them stop he knew Voldemort was close, Harry didn't know what to do, he tried to take a peek around the column and saw Voldemort standing closer than before, he then heard "Avada kedavra!"
Harry pulled back and raised his arms to shield himself just as part of the column shattered into chunks of rock again. Harry cursed himself for not trying to learn more powerful spells, he promised himself if he survived he'd look for more dangerous spells to help him. He wasn't sure on what he could do, whatever spell he used Voldemort would just deflect and even if he could disarm him again he'd summon back his wand. Harry realized something, Voldemort didn't attack him wandlessly instead he focused on summoning his wand so he realized Voldemort likely has only a limited amount of knowledge on wandless magic.
Harry took a few deep breaths as he tried to think of a plan, matching Voldemort's power was obviously impossible so if he wanted any chance of surviving he'd need to trick him somehow, he needed Voldemort to lose his wand and not summon it right away, Harry looked around and saw nothing but rocks but then he got an idea. Harry looked at his left hand and gulped, he'd been practicing with wandless magic but he hasn't tried to cast silently or offhand but right now he was out of options, pointing his wand at a nearby rock Harry spoke "Wingardium leviosa."
The rock started to levitate and he heard Voldemort call out "It's useless Potter, nothing you do can save you now, just accept your fate and I will grant you a quick death!"
Harry focused on the rock and decided to overpower the spell, he looked around the column as much as he could and got a clear view of his target. Harry thought "Please let this work!" Harry cast "Locomotor rock!"
Harry flicked the rock as hard as he could and sent it flying, the sound of glass shattering echoed in the chamber and Voldemort glanced over to see Harry shattered the mirror of erised. The moment he looked away Harry pointed his left hand around the column and focused everything on the spell as he poured his magic into it and kept his mouth shut, to his relief he felt the spell was cast although it was much weaker than usual. Harry saw the black flames and needed to make a run for it but he knew he only had one chance to hit Voldemort at the right time.
Voldemort turned back to where Harry was and saw Harry start to run towards the exit, sighing, Voldemort called out as he started to follow "I am done playing games, I'm ending this now Po-ahh!" Voldemort let out a yell when he took a step and he suddenly slipped.
Harry saw Voldemort about to take that step and when he did Harry spun back around and raised his wand and cast "Expelliarmus!"
The red spell shot forward as Voldemort tried to stop himself from slipping, the spell hit Voldemort in the chest and knocked him over as his wand went flying out of his hand towards Harry. Falling to the ground Quirrell let out a yell in pain as his face crashed into the ground, Voldemort looked up and saw Harry caught his wand. Angry, Voldemort raised his hand and called out "Accio-" Voldemort was cut off when Harry grabbed the wand and let out a yell as he brought the wand down on his knee and broke it in two.
Harry smiled knowing without a wand most wizards are useless, however the smile was wiped away when Voldemort let out a scream of anger as his magic pushed him up and he flew towards Harry. The sight of Voldemort flying towards him made Harry stumble and fall back, Voldemort was about to reach Harry and strangle him when they heard "Flipendo!"
From the side Hermione took off the cloak and pointed her wand at Voldemort and hit him in midair, she overpowered the spell and caused Voldemort to crash into a column. Harry was shocked to see Hermione was there, she rushed over and helped him up and said "Come on we've got to go!"
They were distracted as the sound of bones breaking echoed again and were followed by the sound of fingers snapping. The drapes suddenly moved and this time wrapped around Hermione, Hermione dropped her wand and the drapes wrapped tighter around her neck as they tried to strangle the life out of her. Voldemort shouted "Kill the boy!"
Quirrell flew towards them as Harry pointed his wand at Hermione and cancelled the spell, just before the drapes fell Quirrell crashed into Harry and caused him to drop his wand, before Harry could do anything Harry felt Quirrell wrap his hands around Harry's throat and start to strangle him. Harry felt he couldn't breathe as Quirrell tightened his grip around his throat, Harry tried to hit and scratch but Quirrell wouldn't let go. Quirrell gave a wide evil smile as he saw Harry was slowly losing strength and he knew Harry would die soon, however suddenly Quirrell felt his hands start to burn.
Harry felt his vision was slowly fading and he was losing strength, he couldn't do anything to get Quirrell to let go, he thought he was about to die. Harry tried one more time to get Quirrell to let go because he thought if he died now then Hermione would be left to fend for herself, he gripped Quirrell's hands one more time but before he could try to get him to let go Quirrell let out a scream and pulled his hands away. Harry gasped for air and coughed as he was finally able to breathe, he sat up and saw Quirrell's hands looked like they were being burnt, Quirrell yelled "Master, I can't touch him, it burns!"
Harry was shocked to hear this, he wondered how did his touch burn him and why now when it didn't earlier, Harry realized not once has he ever made skin contact with Quirrell. Harry was pulled from his thoughts when Voldemort yelled "Then kill the mudblood!"
Quirrell turned to Hermione just as she got up and threw the drapes away from her, she looked shocked as Quirrell now focused on her, just as he was about to move towards her Harry pushed himself off the ground and rushed towards Quirrell and tackled him. Harry now knew his touch would burn him so he had to stop him before he could hurt Hermione, Harry wrapped one hand around Quirrell's throat and placed the other on Voldemort's face as Harry yelled "You won't hurt her!"
Quirrell and Voldemort started to burn as they both let out screams of pain, Harry held on tight as Quirrell tried to push him off, he needed to end this now. Harry felt he was also being hurt but he didn't care, he couldn't give them the chance to hurt or kill them. Harry was suddenly pulled off of Quirrell by Hermione, she told him "Harry it's ok, you're ok now!"
Harry hadn't realized he was screaming as well, he felt his scar was throbbing in worse pain than he felt before but thankfully it was vanishing quickly. They both heard the screams continue and looked back as Quirrell and Voldemort continued to burn. Quirrell's screams started to vanish as the burns around his throat became worse and as he laid on his back he looked towards them with a look of terror in his eyes as his body stopped convulsing before falling still, they saw his eyes now looked dull and lifeless.
The two kids felt horrified at what they just witnessed, they heard how the chamber fell silent except for the crackling flames and their heavy breathing, they both knew they were going to have nightmares about this even with occlumency. Hermione wrapped Harry in a tight hug for some comfort, Harry felt he also needed the comfort after what they just went through so he was more than happy to hug her back. Harry remembered the stone and reached into his pocket and said "Hermione, I got it."
Hermione saw the stone and felt some relief at knowing they kept the stone safe. Harry then asked "Hermione how did you get here, you said there was only one potion to get me through the fire so how did you get here?"
Hermione answered "The rooms reset themselves after they're empty, except for the one with the troll, when I returned to the chess room I saw the pieces were repaired and back in their original spots so I came back to see if it was true, I saw the vial was refilled so I drank it and came to help."
"When did you get through the flames?"
"Around the time you shattered the mirror."
The two held each other a bit longer before they decided to leave, Harry spoke "Come on we need to return the stone to Dumbledore, I'm sure he can-"
Quirrell's body suddenly arched as a deafening scream echoed in the chamber, the two kids stepped back and covered their ears wondering what was happening. Harry cursed that they hadn't gone right for their wands and were left defenseless, they looked towards Quirrell's body as Voldemort's face slowly vanished before a dark cloud emerged from the body. The dark cloud dropped Quirrell's unmoving body and they saw a face form in the cloud and familiar red eyes glare at the two.
Voldemort screamed "DAMN YOU POTTER, EVEN NOW YOUR MUDBLOOD MOTHER SOMEHOW PROTECTS YOU FROM ME!"
Harry was surprised to hear that, Voldemort couldn't touch him, Harry then said "It's over Voldemort, you lost, without a body you can't do anything to hurt us!"
Voldemort glared but seemed to think before a smile started to appear "The protection your mother gave you may prevent me from touching you but that protection extends only to you." His eyes shifted and Harry's eyes widened as he realized he was looking directly at Hermione.
"NO!"
The wraith rushed towards Hermione to try and possess her but Harry threw himself in front of Hermione. Harry felt the wraith enter his body before suddenly he let out an intense scream of pain as he collapsed to his knees, he felt as if his scar had burst open and started to burn through his skull, the magic of Harry and Voldemort went wild and caused the chamber to shake before Voldemort was forced out of Harry's body. The wraith screamed in the same amount of pain as Harry before flying towards the ceiling to flee.
Hermione screamed at seeing what happened to Harry before the wraith fled the scene, she saw Harry collapse to the floor and rushed to his side. She kept calling out his name begging him to still be alive but she saw Harry remained unmoving. She turned Harry onto his back and placed her head to his chest before hearing a heartbeat, she felt tears flood her eyes and realized she needed to get Harry to the hospital wing to help him. The flames blocking the exit suddenly went out as three figures appeared.
Please comment and let me know what you thought of the chapter.
Most likely next chapter is the end of first year.
I do have a question I'd like to ask the readers, are any of you hoping I bash certain characters in this story and if so who are you hoping I bash?